n/a
People live and die, as countless as the stars in the sky, as fleeting as foam in water.
Why are we brought into the world, only to depart so quickly?
On a cosmic scale our lives flash by in the blink of an eye.
The Dragon Clan built a mighty empire, then faded fast, like a falling star.
During their short reign, the Dragons fought meaningless battles in pursuit of empty dreams.
Now, an ominous force emerges and to repeat the cycle.
You all are having a dream as you sleep in your own beds upstairs in a shared home you’re being raised in. At first it’s hard to see as you’re overwhelmed with darkness but slowly something comes into your vision. You see the face of a white dragon but it changes and becomes darkened until it’s black. Flames engulf it and you are awaken by Elder Eden. Your eyes open and you see flames all around. As your eyes focus you become aware the building is on fire and the Elder is rushing about the room.
”Hurry, you must get up and get downstairs. The village is on fire and the clan of Dark Dragons is outside destroying everything.” Elder Eden quickly ushers you all out of your beds and grabs a few of your belongings and rushes down stairs hoping you will follow her.
Startled by what is happening, Korg shoots up out of bed and begins to grab his backpack, Falchion, and anything else of his that is around him. “Elder Eden, has anyone been hurt? Do you know how many are out there?” If possible Korg tries to take a look out the window to see what he can see. He doesn’t want to be caught off guard, but he also isn’t willing to get burned if the fire is at the windows.
Looking to those around him. “Get up! Come on, lets get down stairs.” Korg helps the others by grabbing any of their backpacks that might be laying around their beds.
When Korg looks outside, it's hard to see in the darkness but you are certain you see a few of the villagers racing out of the village. Across the way you see a building engulfed in flames, its roof collapsing.
"Too many Korg, too many are out there. Sara wants everyone gathered for an escape together." Elder Eden responds.
”Mmmmph… Morning already?” a half asleep Lucas asked, not quite comprehending what was going on until he saw the flames. His eyes widened, ”Gathered? Gathered where?” he asked, quickly shaking off the initial surprise as he grabbed his backpack, ready to move.
Pulling his pillow over his head Tazo mumbles, "Just 5 more minutes." He here's the others stirring and looks out from under his pillow to see Korg looking out the window. Seeing the reddish glow from outside highlight Korg's face triggers his consciousness and Elder Eden's words sink in. He jumps out of bed and also takes a quick look out the window. He grabs his armor, shield, and weapons and runs out the chamber door.
Running downstairs is a 6'5" 235 pound wyveran with silver-blue scales arms full of weapons, armor, and his shield. He gets to where the others are gathered and thanks Korg for grabbing his backpack as he drops his belongings to the floor. Tazo's gear hits the floor with a crash and he begins to don his scale mail. "Lucas . . . Korg, if one of you wants to help me, this'll go a bit faster," he says with a somewhat forced smile, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
“Brother! Is there time for this? The buildings are on fire!” Korg sets down his pack and helps Tazo don his armor.
Once outside Korg looks around seeing if he can see or hear any of the villiagers possibly trapped within a building. “Do we know if everyone has made it outside?”
You all get downstairs to the main room where some of the village and council are gathered. They are all speaking to each other in whispers and it doesn’t take long to recognize they are all very scared. The fire has not engulfed this building but for some reason the council won’t let you leave. You can’t hear anything outside. Suddenly the door opens and in walks Sara. She says to everyone, ”Please everyone, gather close and be quiet.” She looks over at you three and waves for you to get closer.
Lucas moves closer, trying to keep the growing fear off his face.
Tazo shrugs at the other two and moves closer.
While waiting, Korg rushes to put his armor on. “Tazo, give me a hand?”
Tazo nods at Korg, "Thought we didn't have time for this."
Sara whispers to everyone, ”The Dark Dragons are outside and it appears they intend to destroy everything. I am sorry I have to do this.” Sara slips a note into Tazo Stalgrero’s hand and before you can do anything, everyone around you including yourself is turned to stone.
Your vision darkens to a black. You have a dream. You see a dragon with white scales that almost look pink. It is fighting a larger darker dragon that looks black but is almost jade. Lightning strikes blurring out the images of these dragons, so much lightning filling your vision, escalating. Suddenly it stops, the white dragon collapses and you wake up.
An unknown amount of time has passed as everyone becomes flesh again. The villagers are looking concerned and frantic and the council members attempt to calm them. The building you were in is now burnt to a rubble and you can see the blue sky above as the roof has collapsed over while you were stone. None of you appear to be harmed by the fire.
"...So, uh... what just happened? How long were we out?" an increasingly disoriented Lucas asked, glancing up at the sky in an attempt to judge how much time had gone by.
Tazo looks around a bit disoriented, "I. . . I'm not sure." He then finds the note in his hand and opens it . . .
The Note:
If you are reading this, a Dark Dragon named Zog has raided Drogen in attempts to destroy any possible surviving Light Dragons. You are some of the last, but you are not strong enough. Not yet. Help the people get to Camlon, then travel to Nanai and acquire the Earth Key. You will have to use your abilities I have been teaching you. The council can give you more information on the Earth Key. Remember to be careful with who you trust and who you give your knowledge to, but allies are important. There are others like you out there. Be proud you are descendants of the Light Dragons. Be strong. When you’re warriors, you’ll bring peace to the world.
“yeah, yeah. Just give me a hand here.”
After coming to and an overwhelming sense of time loss is becoming a reality, Krog looks around for Elder Eden and Sara. He is not leaving the group. “Where is Sara and Elder Eden? What happened to us? How are we still... alive?”
Looking at Lucas and Tazo; “Are you two ok? What’s that in your hand?” Korg peeks over Tazo’s shoulder as he is reading the letter, if allowed.
You look around, Sara is no where to be found. Elder Eden is calming some of the villagers but glances over at you when you say her name. She see's you're distracted again and continues helping others.
Tazo reads the letter to himself. Feeling a bit lightheaded after reading it, he hands the letter to Korg and Lucas then slowly sets himself on the floor while they read the letter themselves.
Lucas read the note a few times over before handing it to Korg.
"Right then..." he muttered, starting to gather himself, "Sounds like we're supposed to get the people to Camlon... sounds reasonable, but everything after that..."
He sighed, surveying the chaos, "Even Camlon is easier said than done..."
“Camlon? I wonder if their King would take us in under his protection. Regardless of what happens, we need to get these people to safety. Tazo, Lucas. Lets help Sara calm everyone down and get them organized. Then we can talk to the council about the Earth Key.”
Korg waits for the other two to follow before heading over to Sara. “Sara, what needs to be done?”
Korg walks up to someone he thought was Sara but they turn around it's just one of the local villagers. "Where is Sara? Did she save us? Where did she go, what happened to her?" The woman starts to cry.
“Camlon? I wonder if their King would take us in under his protection. Regardless of what happens, we need to get these people to safety. Tazo, Lucas. Lets help Sara calm everyone down and get them organized. Then we can talk to the council about the Earth Key.”
Korg waits for the other two to follow before heading over to Sara. “Sara, what needs to be done?”
"It would seem, that Sara is no longer here," Lucas noted, "Regardless, we should start getting organized, else we'll be here all day. We'll need to gather up those still able and search what's left of the village for any other survivors, or supplies, for we shall surely need them. And, we should probably talk to the rest of the Council regarding all of... this. Anyone feeling particularly persuasive today?" he asked of his two companions, as he was really not much for public speaking.
Tazo shakes off the initial shock from the letter and gets to his feet There will be time to contemplate its meaning in the future. "You're right, Lucas, we need to help organize the people."
Tazo makes his way to Elder Eden, "How can we help?"
Korg follows Tazo and Lucas to where the crowd is to find Elder Eden. Seeing the distressed people Korg pulls out his water skin. “Here take this and drink, share it with eachother.” Hopefully the drink helps them feel refreshed.
Elder Eden turns to the three of you, "Sara sacrificed herself for the sake of the village. This is bad times. Here help me get these people outside. We need to find shelter. Our home has been ruined, burnt down, destroyed." She looks like she's about to panic but then collects herself again. "Can you boys go look for any surviving villagers and gather them in the town center."
Tazo nods at Elder Eden, "Sure, we can look for other survivors. Anything to help." Tazo turns to leave, then turns back around, "Just out of curiosity, how long were we out for?"
Elder Eden responds, "I do not know, it was night and now it's day. If you find out let me know."
Tazo just nods. He throws his backpack over his shoulder, picks up his shield and straps it to his arm, and grabs his weapon. He turns to Lucas and Korg, "I'll be right outside when you're ready."
Tazo walks outside carefully stepping through the rubble. Over outside he takes a long look at his surroundings for any indication of life, fire, or how long the fire has been out.
Things are indeed still smoldering. Nearly every building has been burnt down, not a single roof still stands. There are a few dead bodies on the ground with loved ones crying over them when discovered. Tazo see's a child wondering around alone, you recognize her as one of the locals. You know she doesn't have a father, but you don't see her mother anywhere. The girl looks dirty from the ashes but no indication she was burnt or harmed.
You also see marks on the ground that might have been caused by lightning strikes. There are many and they seem to be trailing outside the village to the south.
Lucas follows Tazo outside to help search for survivors.
Tazo lets out a low whistle at the sight of the destruction, At least we haven't been stone for too long, but . . . His thought gets interrupted as Lucas comes outside with him.
Tazo motions for Lucas to follow and heads toward the child with a smile, "Hi there. What's your name? Can we help you find someone?"
She turns to look at you, "oh my name is Wendy, I can't find my mom."
Tazo smiles, "Why don't you come with me, I'll take you to Elder Eden, then we're going to gather everyone in the town center. When I find your mom I'll let her know where you are and that you're ok." Tazo will lead Wendy to Elder Eden real quick, then join the others outside to corral the rest of the survivors.
Korg nods. “We will be sure to gather everyone. One question I have, was there not any warning of this attack or their coming? Did no one see this coming?”
“You can say that again... We are small enough that I am not sure if we can rebuild after this... Maybe smaller villiages are no longer safe.” seeing Wendy approach and talk to Tazo Korg becomes even more angry and frustrated with this act of violence and hate. “Tazo, Lucas... I was just thinking, what did the note mean by saying we were some of the last light dragons?”
Lucas shrugged, "It's all gibberish to me. Get to Camlon, makes sense, everything after that... not so much. I think I can say with some certainty that I am not a dragon," he said with a weak chuckle.
Eden responds, "I had no clue this was going to happen. I don't recall the council talking about it. We haven't seen Dark Dragons since shortly after you were born."
Tazo takes the girl up to Elder Eden and she thanks you, "Will you find my mommy?"
Eden looks up at you and points to the south where you see a burnt down hut. "They lived over there, look and see if you can find her mother, Molly." Eden then picks up the girl and carries her to where the others are gathering in the town center.
Lucas heads on over to the hut, to see if there was any signs of survivors.
Tazo smiles at Wendy, "We'll head over there now." Then turning back to Elder Eden, the smile gone, "It's a mess out there. We'll start sending as many as we find to the town center. See you in a bit."
Tazo walks out with a somber look. He points toward Wendy and Molly's hut, "The girl's mother lives over there. Let's make our way that direction and we can tell anyone who will listen to meet up at the town center on the way." Tazo starts heading in that direction, stopping for anyone on street to tell them the council is gathering everyone at the Town Center. Tazo will also peak into any dwellings along the way to check for survivors.
Perception:
Lucas approaches the hut and calls out, "Anyone here? on the off chance there were any survivors who could answer.
Lucas does not get a response. He looks around and can't find any signs of life form. The hut is burnt to a crisp and all you see is burnt timber and soot.
After carefully poking around the ruins of the hut, Lucas said, "Well, looks like nobody's here. Perhaps we'll find her elsewhere," though, given the circumstances, that seemed rather optimistic. Still, he returned to searching for other survivors.
Perception:
Lucas, you see a feather on the ground just outside the house where it leads into a small wooded area you used to play in. You look closer when you pick up the feather and see a few foot prints that lead past the trees. After examining the feather, you now recall a woman from town named Molly that always wore feathers in her hair and this looks a lot like hers.
Tazo catches up with Lucas, "Whatcha got there? Anything inside?" Tazo looks around through the rubble to find any signs of Molly.
"Looks like she headed this way," said Lucas, holding up the feather and gesturing towards the footprints, "Come, let's see where this leads."
He starts in the direction of the footprints to see if they led to any signs of survivors.
“Have you been able to find the council members? We should find them and have them say something to the people, possibly helping calm their nerves. We also need to talk to them about what they think is best to do.”
Korg comes over when Lucas finds a feather and footprints. He isn’t good at tracking, but will lend a hand in finding this girls mother. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
“Should we leave Wendy with Elder Eden while we follow these tracks to Molly... We don’t know what we will find.”