The Age of Dragons (Year 1051)

[BadgeAddict]

*Lean on me*
Sapphire summons up her healing magic and pushes it out toward willow, ready to hold back, as she is unwilling to be sucked dry. A connection, of a magical nature, is formed between dragon and dryad, and the magic flows from one into the other and the transformation is quite obvious. New life comes into the dryad and her face lifts, no longer looking as thin and weak as it had. Sapphire continues until she is tapped out for the day and the dryad looks much better and more alive.

Something more happened with their connection, something inexplicable. With the connection came increased understanding and feeling of each other and now sapphire was able to sense the tree that she now stood on in an almost magical way. Her senses, so filled with the dryad and her tree that she became a part of them and she found that she could sense the seeds in the pocket on her arm in an almost tangible way.

(Sapphire is now...one with the tree and can always sense it's location as well as the location of any of the trees that she plants, acting almost like a compass)

With her newly acquired senses, Sapphire feels the magical energy of another dragon like herself and when she tries to look out from the branches and leaves they seem to part as if at her beckoning. There, circling around the tree, she spots one of her nest mates, Malerack.

*When you're not strong*
Using a great amount of care, Tha'kzrel begins to reach into the house and extract the items that are clearly too big for the small girl to handle on her own. Once extracted from the house without hitting the walls, he places them on the ground and grabs another and then another until finally the house was empty. Scarlet stared longingly at the empty space before turning around toward Tha'kzrel. With her direction and his help, the dragon and girl packed the cart until it was overflowing with furniture and other things and after tying everything down, he carefully launched himself into the air and returned to the cave.

Upon his return, he found that his brother was gone and one of the kobolds informed him that he had left earlier in the day to seek out his nest-mates.

*I'll be your friend*
Azabik lands in the small clearing as directed by willow and begins looking around for anyone. It isn't long before his crashing through the woods in his search for someone brings attention to himself. From somewhere in the woods comes a beautiful almost song like voice. "What do you seek dragon, that has you breaking everything that the Leaf Lord has created?"

*I'll help you carry on*
Winter, perhaps overly eager to show off to his new friends, invites them, in their current form to enjoy the city to it's fullest, even perhaps visiting the local tavern to try something called a beer.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Crashing? Az has flight 11.

Azabk detects evil as he carefully looks at the creature, ready to take off at any moment. "i am looking for sky sorrow, it is urgent."

[BadgeAddict]

you've landed...in the clearing..and you are crashing around in the undergrowth of the forest,.....you landed perfectly...please read what I wrote.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Okay i was in the impression that he was flying while crashing sorry

[spiderwrangler]

Tha'kzrel waits for the Saberhagens to untie the ropes holding things in the cart, and begins lifting them free, setting them to the side. He checks in with the progress of the projects the kobolds are working on and then sends a thought image to Scarlet asking if she'd like to make another trip (not sure what time it is, but assuming we're still somewhere in the morning hours?).

[BadgeAddict]

Time:
Northern Kingdom group - Noon
Tha'kzrel - Noon
Malerack, Spaphire & Azabik - Afternoon

[GathersIngredients]

Amazed by this new development Sapphire tries to tell the tree to hide willow and keep her safe. If there is no "reaction", or if that reaction is just a sensation to guide her - Sapphire - to the safest room, she will very carefully pick Willow up and carry her there (or, if there is no guidance, into the deepest, most remote room in the tree that she can find), laying her to rest there with equally painstakingly gentle motions.

When she feels Willow is hidden as well as currently possible, she returns to the surface and leaps into the air - preferably where her nest mate can't see - making a little manoeuvrer to come and fly at him from seemingly another direction (the hunting grounds at the cliffs to the south, maybe) than from the tree. If he spots her at some point, she doesn't try to keep up the charade, but for now, she isn't sure she wants him near Willow. He slay and ate that frog creature, after all and right now, Willow is pretty much defenceless.

<Malerack!> she calls out to her nest mate eventually. <Where have you been? You guys just up and left, never leaving any message on your whereabouts. Where is your brother, Tha'kzrel, is he with you? > she inquires, her mind-voice a little stern and at the same time resonating with concern for them.

[Quarg]

Cyrano turns his head slightly, "I am quite interested in this 'Tavern' place but I'm far more interested in the place where humans work metal..."

[thinkslogically]

Krazk wrinkles her nose.

"You want to go out there? Looking like this? I think I will stay and learn from your parents. If, of course, they will allow it?"

Krazk looks questioningly to the queen. If she lets Krazk stay, Krazk will ask her for stories about the city and what they've learned of humans. She'll also ask them how they came to be here, and what they remember of the war and their opinions on it.

[Patdragon]

"hmm..Shame about the tavern but if i remember rightly the forge might accommodate a small dragon. What say you father shall i take him to the forge down by the mountain spur? I think old Josh could do with a bit of a lively day and seeing a mini dragon might just do that. Mother can entertain the dear Krazk is she has time and i'm sure this quiet dragon might want a word with you in private from his looks"

(ooc: giving extra bg reasoning for our wayward dragon player)

[Runsaround]

"Ah, Sapphire, it is GREAT to see you. My brother and I have been through some... big life changes. I heard something bad happened to one of us, would you happen to know who and what? I heard something about a demon."

[GathersIngredients]

Sapphire is a little taken aback by Malerack being in on the bit with the demon, but eventually figures that it's just as well, as she can send him off, after Az, instead of him checking out the tree.

Flying alongside him, gradually directing her course towards the clearing of the elves, she "talks" to her nest mate:<How do you know about that?

But yes, it's true. Azabik and me went to confront a coven of witches to stop the spreading of the swamp land here and they somehow subdued him and chained him until they summoned a demon of some sort. A slimy creature, much like a slug. It just crawled towards him, and there was nothing I could do to stop it or to help Azabik, it was awful!> Sapphire swiftly recounts what happened, shuddering and ruffling her scales at the unpleasant memory, still so fresh in her mind.
<Then the being touched him and its body went limp and lifeless, as its essence has passed over into Azabik's body, possessing him somehow. It managed to take over for long enough to break free of the chains and cremate all the witches that were present, then receded to being a mere whisper at the back of Azabik's mind, trying to get him to use the power of the demon, thusly giving the demon more power over him.> she frowns at this prospect, swishing her tail.

<We don't know how to rid him of it, but we were told that the people of Skysorrow might be able to help us, so Azabik went to this clearing in the north> she describes the way there the best she can <to find some elves there, who can tell him the way. If you hurry, you might still be able to catch up with him. Mind you, the elves might not be friendly to you. They don't like outsiders.

Oh, and you shouldn't eat the frog people. There's a very powerful being who protects them, doesn't fancy you hurting them or snacking on them and promised that it -will- take action, if you ever do that again. Be sure to tell that to Tha'kzrel, too, when you see him again, as you seem unwilling or unable to reveal his location to me.> she adds pointedly, to warn her nest mate(s) of impending danger the best she can.

[BadgeAddict]

*U-Haul*
Having landed carefully on the now slightly widened ledge, Tha'kzrel waits for the Saberhagen family to exit the cavemouth in which they had hurried into so as not to be stepped upon. The family quickly untied the ropes binding their furniture to the cart and with Tha'kzrel help, the furniture was quickly unloaded. From the smiles on their faces, he could tell that he was winning them over as some of the children ran up and hugged his lower haunches before darting away again. Edward himself, with Martha at his side, even nodded his head in thanks to the dragon who had become something like a friend to them. Tha'kzrel looked at the rock wall that the kobolds had indicated would serve as a path towards what would eventually be the new home of the Saberhagens and was quite impressed to find that in the few hours that he had been gone, the now 12-15 of them that were working on it, had hewn a pathway into the mountain leading away from the ledge and going out about 20 feet so far. They told Tha'kzrel that their intention was to take the path about 250 feet or more away from the ledge before digging into the mountain for the Saberhagen home. The pathway consisted of a lip of stone that remained as they dug through the mountain which would serve as a fence, so that travelers would not easily fall down the mountainside and then a path that was about 2 humans wide. The fence/lip of unfinished stone rose about 3' up from the path.

Happy to see how hard the kobolds were working as well as looking back to see that the cart was now empty, Tha'kzrel asked if Scarlet would like to fly again which she answered yes and had started climbing aboard before he had even finished the thought.

*Tavern*
Krazk wrinkles her nose at the thought of being close enough to a human to smell, let alone accidentally touch one, especially in her current form. She turned her eyes to the Queen with questions in her eyes. The Queen smiled softly "Oh Winter, it doesn't look good to try to force a female to do something that they don't want to do, haven't you learned anything from the humans." She tut-tutted him softly, such that winter blushed as his mother gently rebuked him in front of Krazk. The Queen invites Krazk to sit with her on a bench on the balcony and answers all of her questions as best as she can. (Fluff, though I'll fill in with hard details depending on which questions you want hard details for.)

Cyrano seems unsure of what to make of such a place as a tavern, and instead inquires about a place where humans work metal. Please that he can show his new friend something, Winter offers and the proceeds to lead the small dragon through a maze of giant hallways to a small porch along the outside of the castle. Here, set into the wall is an odd construction of metal and wood with a grated door and a human sized lever within. Off to the other side was a series of stairs leading several flights down the side of the castle to its base where a several clusters of buildings lay neatly arranged in a small circle. The obvious difference between this village and the others that they had seen, is that this one did not have a landing circle at its center. (Elevator or you can use the stairs, The castle is used only by the dragons themselves as well as the servants which are allowed to enter. Otherwise, any humans that have been allowed to stay in the area live in the village set near the base. The village contains nicely built homes, shops and markets. It's a small village containing less than 250 villagers, most of whom are either farmers or craftsman. Other than any other city that you dragons may have seen before, this village and the others on this island lack any sort of upper crust/nobility. All of the houses are finely built, but everyone who is able to work does so.)

*Reunion*
Amazed at her new found transformation, she tries to imagine the tree hiding willow and keeping her safe. As she thinks it, branches form upon the surface of the tree and surround the dryad, pulling her into the tree until she becomes one with it once again. Once she feels that Willow is protected, she leaps into the air on the opposite side that Malerack is flying before approaching him. As she approaches, she calls out to him. <Malerack, Where have you been? You guys just up and left, never leaving any message on your whereabouts. Where is your brother, Tha'kzrel, is he with you? >

Malerack replies: "Ah, Sapphire, it is GREAT to see you. My brother and I have been through some... big life changes. I heard something bad happened to one of us, would you happen to know who and what? I heard something about a demon."

Sapphire is a bit taken aback by Malerack being aware of a situation that he shouldn't know, and asks him directly how he came to this knowledge. <How do you know about that? But yes, it's true. Azabik and me went to confront a coven of witches to stop the spreading of the swamp land here and they somehow subdued him and chained him until they summoned a demon of some sort. A slimy creature, much like a slug. It just crawled towards him, and there was nothing I could do to stop it or to help Azabik, it was awful!> Sapphire swiftly recounts what happened, shuddering and ruffling her scales at the unpleasant memory, still so fresh in her mind.
<Then the being touched him and its body went limp and lifeless, as its essence has passed over into Azabik's body, possessing him somehow. It managed to take over for long enough to break free of the chains and cremate all the witches that were present, then receded to being a mere whisper at the back of Azabik's mind, trying to get him to use the power of the demon, thusly giving the demon more power over him.> she frowns at this prospect, swishing her tail. <We don't know how to rid him of it, but we were told that the people of Skysorrow might be able to help us, so Azabik went to this clearing in the north> she describes the way there the best she can <to find some elves there, who can tell him the way. If you hurry, you might still be able to catch up with him. Mind you, the elves might not be friendly to you. They don't like outsiders.
Oh, and you shouldn't eat the frog people. There's a very powerful being who protects them, doesn't fancy you hurting them or snacking on them and promised that it -will- take action, if you ever do that again. Be sure to tell that to Tha'kzrel, too, when you see him again, as you seem unwilling or unable to reveal his location to me.> she adds pointedly, to warn her nest mate(s) of impending danger the best she can.

She subtly begins leading Malerack away from the tree, in the direction that Azabik had flown.

*Hidden Voices*
Azabik peers through the thick underbrush in an attempt to see who is talking but he is unable to find the owner of the voice. "I am looking for sky sorrow, it is urgent."
Another voice speaks from somewhere "Perhaps if you used your magic you could find Sky-Sorrow instantly."

Another rustle in the bushes and song-like voice answered "Sky-Sorrow you say...How did you find your way to this place, who sent you here?"

*Sorry this took so long folks, I hope you haven't given up on me yet*

[Arch Lich Burns]

Az looks to see who suggested he used his magic, and tries to shake that thought off. They weren't exacly wrong, but how can he trust himself to use his magic with something other than minor spells? "I was sent by Willow, she told me of this location." He follows instructions to sky sorrow, with upmost speed (flight).

[Quarg]

Cyrano ponders the scene and asks "Where are the roads?" to Winter.

[spiderwrangler]

Tha'kzrel takes to the air, cart and all, once Saberhagen-Scarlet is secure and everyone has moved back a safe distance. After a brief flight, he puts down at the old homestead, and unless something has changed, will begin loading the cart with the next bunch of belongings, before taking off and heading back to the cave again.

[Patdragon]

"Ah your noticed did you, we don't have roads here for some very good reasons as my father put it. The first and main reason i suppose is father likes his isolation and his isolated kingdom. Father thought the best way to keep to ourselves and take care of the few who were willing to live under him was too remain distanced from the rest of the human and dragon world. Having no roads meant very few invading armies were willing or able to quickly spread across and into this nation and if they ever got to the capital getting up the side of the mountain without wings is a problem.

Each little hamlet in this kingdom is mostly self sustaining and when it isn't my family provide the means to distribute needed goods by flying in. We go to each hamlet when needed with news and goods and take taxes to maintain... other areas. It's a fairly efficient system.

Anyway this is the descender, it will take us down to the main village. I'll operate the lever you just need to stay still and then i'll show you the way to the forge..."

[BadgeAddict]

*Final Load*
With the unloading complete and scarlet seated once more, Tha'kzrel carefully took off and flew the now familiar path back to the homestead. As he landed, Scarlet quickly untied herself from her safety harness and ran over to the small hut built slightly within the mountain itself. She waved him over and with the same amount of ease and gentleness, he pealed back its roof to reveal what was inside. Within the small hut was a variety of tools and unfinished weapons and pieces of what would eventually be armor. The prominent feature was a large anvil and an equally large furnace with an interesting apparatus attached to one side. Quick to show off her knowledge, Scarlet explained to him that furnace was always kept lit as it generally took several days to reach optimum temperature. The apparatus at the side was something called a bellows, which blew the air that it sucked in with each motion. She showed him how it opened and closed and Tha'kzrel found he could hear the whistling of wind as she heaved the bellows closed. It was all very interesting, but moving it would be difficult. With great care, Tha'kzrel lifted the bellows and furnace from the hut and placed it into the cart which creaked as he set the weight of it down. He did the same with the large anvil and again the cart protested loudly, evening bowing under the immense weight of the items. Finally he and Scarlet gathered the rest of the equipment and armor and weapons and piled them into the cart as well. Mounting up behind his head and tying herself off once more, Tha'kzrel positioned himself, placing front paws on either side of the cart and leaped skyward.

He almost didn't make the jump, as even to him, the weight of the items was great. Though unwieldy as it was, Tha'kzrel safely made it back to the cave, but as he landed , the cart fell to pieces as it was set upon the ground.

A quick found the kobolds about a quarter of the way finished with the path.

*Into the Woods*
Azabik whipped his head around again, trying to find the voices that spoke to him, but the thought of using his magic was tucked away, lest something happen that he didn't want to happen. "I was sent by Willow, she told me of this location."

The song like voice continued with it's questions"Ahh, you have met the Dryad, she really sends a thrill up my leg every time I see her. But you are mistaken, I am unable to give you directions to Sky-Sorrow; no one can. Tell me now, why do you seek it? And why are you in such a hurry Dragon, we both have all of the time in the world to seek the lost city."

Again, the different voice called out to him. "I sense a powerful magic within you, I'm sure that it could help you find a way to Sky-Sorrow"

[Arch Lich Burns]

Azabik is not sure if he can trust these creatures, espessially the one that says to use his magic, even if they are not evil. He cannot tell them what happened for they may try to kill him or worse, take the power for themselves. He has not even seen their faces, they must be hiding something from him, he can feel it.

"I seek the city of Sky Sorrow to aid Verdin in a peculiar predicament, for he is not what he once was, but is now a golem. We were told of the great mages, and thought that perhaps they can help him in restoring himself. Time maybe an illusion, but I must not forget the task we set ourselves for. If you do not know the direction of Sky Sorrow then perhaps you will know of the location of a great mage."

[Runsaround]

"Hmm. I see. Thank you. Goodbye."

Mal hurriedly wings off to the clearing.

[GathersIngredients]

Sapphire tilts her head and furrows her brows a little at the terseness of her nestmate, but then recalls that they never were a dragon of many words. She shrugs, turns around and flies to find some food. After that, when Mal is out of sight for sure, she returns to the tree to check on Willow.

[BadgeAddict]

*Whispers*
Azabiks paranoia increases as he looks around trying to find out whoever or whatever is talking to him. "I seek the city of Sky Sorrow to aid Verdin in a peculiar predicament, for he is not what he once was, but is now a golem. We were told of the great mages, and thought that perhaps they can help him in restoring himself. Time maybe an illusion, but I must not forget the task we set ourselves for. If you do not know the direction of Sky Sorrow then perhaps you will know of the location of a great mage."

Verdin remains silent in his vest shape, still clinging to Az.

There is an uncomfortable silence before the voice speaks again. "I did not say that I couldn't help you find Sky-Sorrow, only that I could not tell you where it is. In fact there are none who know its exact location except perhaps for those who currently reside upon it. There are two people who may be able to help you find the island, but they are in opposite directions from one another. One of them is a dwarf who lives far to the north, in the dwarven kingdom of Iron Hills. The problem lies in the fact that most dwarves do not care much for dragons or much for any other race. Your other option is an ancient Elf who lives near the original location of the city which is now called Sky-Sorrow. He lives far to the east in the middle of the Burning Sands. Either choice you make, you will need to fly to the northern kingdom and then to the main continent known as Eden which is home to the largest population of humans you or I have ever seen and finally westward towards the dwarves or eastward toward the Burning Sands. I hope this helps you, but I still have a meal to catch and now that you've scared away all of the game in this forest, I'll be hunting until dark, so if you don't mind, I'll just be leaving now."

The other voice that Az had heard earlier was silent.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Azabik nods in thanks before he heads northward until he is certian the creatures cannot see him, which he tales off to the northren kingdom, flying as fast as he can to the kingdom

[thinkslogically]

Krazk would like to know about the kingdom that the dragons set up here and their general thoughts on humans. She's interested in the politics of the region and will absorb any and all information relating to other kingdoms, their rulers, other races etc. etc.

[spiderwrangler]

Tha'kzrel sends an image of regret. While the cart had worked admirably to convey they household belongings, with it in shambles, there was no quick way of bringing back the herd of goats.


((Would I know if it can be traversed by the goats with some kobolds to lead them, from what I've been able to see from the air? How long would that be likely to take?))