Umber

A lizardman and his dragon thank the party for liberating the holy site of Nakimas from the clutches of evil. (sab)

The foes are fallen and the field is silent. The party pauses a moment to collects its wits, assess injuries, and ensure that there truly are no more enemies hiding in the rubble of the ruined walls.

From deep within the swamp the party hears the beat of leathery wings. Out of the darkness it comes, a gigantic, ancient dragon, mounted by an equally ancient Lizard-Man. The dragon lands on one of the few remaining stable towers, just to the southwest of where they stand. The mount is easily mistaken for a black dragon, but closer inspection reveals that its skin covers its face instead of rotting away to expose the skull beneath, as a black dragon’s does, and its scales reflect light in a subtle show of colors, predominantly reds, though greens and golds can also be seen.

“Greetings, oh liberators of this holy site!” says the Lizard-Man. “I am Yiss, King of the Folk, and I come to thank you personally for ridding it of its foul occupants. While the keep’s spoils are surely yours by right of conquest, I would know your long-term intentions with regard to this place. I will give you a few moments to consider your words.”

The adventurers withdraw to speak among themselves.

Bane: Kill the f*cking dragon and his chimp too!

Psydney: If you plan on taking on an ANCIENT dragon and about 1,000 lizard men, please to wait until I’m not in the immediate vicinity. Personally, I don’t want to form any long-term intentions regarding a bunch of ruined rocks in the middle of a swamp. I’m up for telling him that we’re here to investigate the cult of the black flame, roast Alf’s ferlow seeds, and then we’re going our merry way, preferably far away…

Frito: I’m still not convinced the roasting of the seeds gives Alf what he professes. I think we are doing something here that will further Alf’s ambitions but has nothing to do with dousing black flames, unless incidental. Remember, if he can douse the black flame, he can then wield it as a weapon with impunity!

Um, we should also give him [Psydney’s] sword. There’s something wrong with that too. But otherwise, Psydney echoes my feelings. An open, honest approach would behoove us at this point. At worst he can tell us we can’t roast the seeds, which we can agree to, and then do anyway.

Bane: Yeah, the honest approach seems fine with me. I just think we should clean the place up a bit more, find the wizard’s spell book and be on our way.

Magnus: I agree. Let’s be honest about what we want to do – minus the “oh, let’s douse the black flame someday” part. That is the result of the seed-roasting, is it not? They might get pissed if we tell them that we want to kill the fire.

On a side note, wouldn’t it be interesting if the dragon was illusory?

Then, we pillage the place.

Psydney: Wrong color, I think? They care about the green beacon, not the black flame…

Bane: That’s one thing I think we should say…we have no interest in disturbing the beacon light. In addition, we should also mention our treatment of our friend from the hill giant encounter, and reiterate what we promised that guy (which was not to disturb the beacon).

Magnus: Who is going to speak to Yiss?

Frito: I’ll do it.

Magnus: Haha. I should have said – Bane or Psydney, would you like to speak to Yiss, or should I?

Frito: Look, I was only going to offer the sword as a token of our good faith! Jeez, try to be friendly, what do you get?

Psydney: And it’s always best if the tokens belong to someone else, isn’t it? I’d be happy to communicate with Yiss, unless we want our high-charisma mage to handle it.

Frito: That would be the one who suggested, and I quote from memory here so forgive me if I miss some of the nuances: “Kill the f*cking dragon and his chimp too!”

By the way, it’s a lot harder to give something that belongs to somebody else. I think he would have appreciated the extra effort on my behalf.

Magnus: While Frito’s “evil-o-meter” may be tipping in the undesirable direction, the other alignment gauge is still firmly pegged at maximum Chaos.

Frito: What do you mean? I’m not ‘Good’ yet! Undesirable direction indeed.

Their edifying discussion concluded, Bane steps forward and says to Yiss,

“Hail King Yiss. You have put forth the question of our long term intentions of this place. Let me assure you that we have none. This place, one of your most holy sites, is not our place. We seek only to find information regarding the leaders of the dead yeti dung that lie at our feet. We do not seek to disturb or further damage this site. Furthermore, we seek to complete our business quickly and be on our way. In addition, our promise to your captured tribesman not to disturb the beacon remains. Any information that you feel could place our feet upon our path more quickly, to both our mutual benefits, would be welcome.”

King Yiss seems greatly pleased by his words. “Well spoken. Yes, you may certainly explore the ruins further. Take what you find, slay those you encounter, your actions are your own to take. Beware, there are certainly dangers within. Long ago, before Nakimas chose to curse those who resided within, great evil was awakened. I believe that these demonic forces still remain within. If you choose to exorcise this force, you certainly would have our support in the form of healing and whatever mundane items we would be able to provide.

“Nakimas be with you. Should you need our aid, you need only come to the edge of the marsh and raise the strange green torch of yours high.”

The dragon leaps from the tower. Yiss raises his staff high as he flies back to the heart of the marsh.