January 5th, 9:15 PM, the Church of San Lorenzo in Venice:
The priests of the Church of San Lorenzo in Venice are already quaking with dragonfear as they kneel in prayer in the sanctuary, when the ethereal shade of one of Venice’s old heroes manifests, rising up through the floor beside them! They scream in terror and make the sign of the cross... The ghost chides them in Italian: Fear not, good fathers! It is only I, your fellow son of the Republic, returned to give what aid I can to our city in her dark hour of need! I have been in my tomb for a long time now... More than a century, yes? But I sense that our beloved Venice faces a dire foe this hour...The dragon of Mount Vesuvius attacks us, no?
The stunned priests, ashen-faced, nod affirmation to the ghost. Very well! I will go and confront this monster, and see if I might convince him to go away!
The Ghost of Marco Polo flies up through the rooftop of the Church of San Lorenzo and high into the night sky, where it perceives in the great red wyrm hovering over the blazing rooftops! Soaring over to appear a few yards in front of the roaring and chuckling monster, he assumes his most horrific appearance, a maggot-ridden specter of his mortal self, clad in worm-eaten Tartar dress, and shouts in a booming, sepulchral Draconic: WOE TO YOU, EVIL FIRE WYRM!! I AM THE GHOST OF MARCO POLO, AND I SWEAR TO YOU, THAT IF YOU DO NOT DEPART FROM HERE AT ONCE AND RETURN TO YOUR LAIR IN THE VOLCANO, I MYSELF SHALL GO AND HAVE A PEEK AT YOUR DEFENSES!! THAT IS RIGHT, YOU GREEDY SWINE!! I WILL SEE WHAT DEFENSES YOU HAVE ADDED TO PROTECT YOUR MISERABLE RUMP AS YOU LAY IN SLUMBER, THEN I SHALL SEEK OUT THOSE LUCKY FOOLS WHO SLEW YOU BEFORE, TELL THEM YOU ARE ALIVE AGAIN AND CAUSING MORE TROUBLE, AND DESCRIBE TO THEM IN GREAT DETAIL YOUR DEFENSES AND WHAT LOVELY TREASURES YOU HAVE ADDED TO YOUR HOARD SINCE THEY LAST LOOTED IT!! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE THAT, LAPDOG OF SATAN!? HAHAHAHA!!
The Ghost of Marco Polo makes a rude gesture at the startled dragon before flying off southward toward Mount Vesuvius to make good on his threat!