Session 01: Trials of the Dragon God
The world was changing...
Where once times of peace outnumered those of strife and war, now the people were beginning to see peace and celebration as but a momentary reprieve - a break in the fear and danger they experienced time and time again.
The world was changing...
Some saw the signs all around them as warnings that a great evil was approaching - that omens of disaster were everywhere around them... In the averted Planar Junction, in the war against the Wormgod, in the ressurgence of long-lost artifacts such as the Hand and Eye of Vecna or the Rod of Seven Parts... Even the creation of the Amalgamation was cause for panic in the eyes of some self-proclaimed prophets of the End of Days.
In the eyes of many, everyday life was but the calm ahead of the storm.
The world was changing...
And while the world changed, people began to cling more and more to tradition and the glorification of heroes - those legendary individuals who had averted disaster before... and whom the people were counting on to save them from whatever new evils might spring up.
So it was in the coastal city of Sasserine, where two big causes for celebrations were fast approaching, both of which the people of the city were embracing as signs of hope and optimism in this darkening world.
The first event was to be the wedding of Lavinia Vanderboren and Anzak Guildenstern. She the daughter of wealthy parents, retired adventurers and explorers Verik and Larissa; he the orphaned son of Isaac Guildenstern, the city's most prominent shipbuilder - as well as the twin brother of the newly-crowned Queen Elena of Alhaster.
The wedding was now two weeks away, and the entire town was gossiping about it, and the famous guests it would attract to the city.
Meanwhile, a second event loomed further on the horizon - six months away- and was perhaps cause for even greater anticipation: the first annual Wormfall Festival. In honor of both the Outsiders, champions of Cauldron, and the Harbingers, vanquishers of Kyuss, the Wormfall Festival was to be held in honor of their successes, a celebration of the peace that had now returned to the land.
Indeed, though the world was changing, people were clinging to their traditions and the heroes, trying to keep it from changing too soon...
Yet the change was inevitable, and the tide of change that would soon rise was already gaining its momentum in a location not too distant from Sasserine: an infamous and mysterious island to the south of the city, a couple of months' journey by ship.
This island had been thought lost, shrouded in mystery, for centuries - until being rediscovered by civilization two decades ago. We speak of no less than Thanaclan, the Isle of Dread. First revisited by the famed captain of the Sea Wyvern, ruffian Gabriel Gansworth. Yet his journey there ended in terrifying fashion, as he and his crew braved the dangers of the island's central mesa, where even the Olman natives fear to return. A more successful mission followed, as Verik and Larissa Vanderboren founded the trade colony of Farshore on one of the Isle's periphery island, safe from Thanaclan's true dangers. Yet, despite the colony's successes and steady profit from pearl-hunting, it has also remained terribly dangerous - suffering many losses since its inception.
The Isle of Dread's cursed legacy remained, 1500 years after the great tragedy that had struck down the city of Thanaclan and nearly wiped out the entire Olman population of the island. Few today can recount the story of what happened all those years ago - even to the wisest of Olmans, many details remain shrouded in rumor and speculation.
Yet all agree, that the day Thanaclan fell, coincidentally enough, was also a day of celebration - it was the day of the Festival of Huhueteotl, the Dragon God. And as if a curse from the Gods themselves, none - not even children - were spared from the chaos and torment that washed over the land.
Still, if the Olman people knew who to seek, they could find one who could retell in full the details of those tragic days... for she had been there, and yet still lived today, centuries later. In time, perhaps she could pass along her story to them - if only they could look beyond her disfigured visage... For though she survived it, the Savage Tide had not left her unscathed...
However, her memory did remain, as did the mental picture of those three heroes who came before her so long ago... Bakura, Meleeki and Immortal... Yes, though the three of them may be no longer, Lithira was still one with this world, and through her, their memory lives on...
But it did not begin with her. No, the story of those three began about one week prior, when the Olman clan patriarch, Karta, had the three summoned to his meeting chamber...
And so, let us travel back through the centuries, an entire span of 1500 years...
Back to the city of Thanaclan in its prime...
To tell the story of Bakura, Meleeki and Immortal...
The story of life ahead of the storm...
The story of life before the Tide...
The story of the Trials of the Dragon God...
It was a bright and scorching midsummer day, the hot sun beating down upon all the people of Thanaclan, the Land of the Pearl. For warriors, hunters and laborers alike, the summer heat was nearly unbearable, yet bear it they did, for they knew it to be the Dragon God's way of punishing them for their sins of the past year. The more they did to displease their Dragon God, Huhueteotl, the greater and longer the summer heat was to be. So it was every year, until the day of the Fire Festival, when the town offered up their sacrifices to the Dragon God, begging him for mercy from the scorching rays of the sun. And if their sacrifice, usually in the form of town's chosen Dragon Shaman burning up priceless pearls and other items of value in the Dragon God's name, proved enough - them the heat wave would calm down and grant the people a reprieve... until the following year, in any case.
As for which Dragon Shaman received the honor of conducting the ceremony, tradition held that every year a new young shaman would be granted the chance to prove his worth in a test of manhood - the Trials of the Dragon God. The elder dragon shamans chose who they deemed ready for the Trials, as well as assigning to him two guardians to assist in the tests to come. Then, after a pilgrimage to the throne of the Dragon God, the trials began - with three possible outcomes:
- success, in which the newly-proven Dragon Shaman would return to Thanaclan a hero, and be given the honor of conducting the Fire Festival himself,
- death, in which the two guardians may return to Thanaclan without the young shaman, having perished at some point in the deadly trials,
- or worse of all, failure, in which the young shaman did not perish, but simply failed to complete the trials in the required time - the punishment for which was banishment from the city, a life as an outcast to fend for oneself in the wild of the island, never allowed to return to Thanaclan, nor even be spoken of by those loved ones left behind.
Given the dire possibilities, it was not unheard of for displeased elder Dragon Shamans to occasionally select what they deemed to be an unready young shaman to send into the Trials, expecting death or failure. It was a convenient way of disposing themselves of those they saw as unworthy apprentices.
And so it was that when young Bakura Ilk presented himself to clan patriarch Karta, the elder chief asked him for the second time if he truly believe himself ready. The past seven shamans to undergo the Trials had not returned - a seven-year streak of misfortune that had Karta suspecting a conspiracy among the town's Dragon Shamans to keep sending poor young men to their slaughter, years before they were ready. At age 16, Bakura did not strike Karta as being any more ready for the Trials than those of the past seven years...
Nor did the elder Dragon Shamans' choices of guardians bode well in Karta's eyes, either. To be sure, Meleeki was a fine selection. She was one of the city's most prominent hunters - her and her wolf companion Vaask being very knowledgeable about the island and its secrets, in addition to being highly skilled at the hunt, be it a jungle panther or even a Thunder Lizard. Given these skills, she surely could be of great use to Bakura in the days to come.
Yet the other selection was what frightened Karta - for Immortal's reputation was a dangerous one. The warrior had certainly been successful, to that there was no argument. Whenever justice needed to be applied against one of the outcast tribes on the island's southern coasts, warriors were tasked with putting it to effect. And Immortal had been on many such missions, earning himself the reputation of a true warrior and great survivor. Yet that was what troubled Karta - for whenever Immortal led a band of warriors out on a mission, he was always the only one to return. Despite his own personal successes, to be assigned Immortal as a group member was effectively a death sentence, for whatever reason - it was almost as though the barbaric warrior bore some curse...
And that, couple with his youth, was why Karta asked Bakura one last time if he was sure he was ready to do this. Karta liked the young boy, and did not want the tribe to lose him. In asking again, he was nearly begging Bakura to request more time - another year alone might suffice...
But Bakura said he was ready, and Karta's heart broke... He feared there was nothing more to be done. And so, as the three heroes departed through the city's gates, wolf in tow, Karta whispered to himself a prayer for their safety. Yet as he saw Bakura's mother break down in tears once he was gone, Karta feared that neither he nor the mother would ever see the boy again...
Yet in Bakura's mind, fear was not of prime importance. What mattered most to him was time - for he only had two weeks left before the Fire Festival, in which to complete both his pilgrimage to the throne of the Dragon God, and all of the Trials set before him. Thankfully he had Meleeki as his guide, for she led her allies through paths and shortcuts through the jungle landscape that avoided any sign of danger. Indeed, she laid her path as though in communion with the entirety of the jungle's life, both plant and animal, knowing in her mind exactly where every danger was, and choosing the best way to avoid it and make the fastest possible time to their destination - the throne of Huhueteotl which lay within a marsh on the northern peninsula of the Isle.
At Immortal's request, they made a quick diversion toward the coast, in order to gather a proper sacrifice to lay before the Dragon God when they met him. As the custom in Thanaclan was to sacrifice pearls to him at every year's Fire Festival, the coastline was already full of fishermen, busy setting out their nets and diving deep in search of giant clams. Within each clam, difficult though they were to retrieve from the ocean's depths, lay hope: for either the clam would contain nothing but meat, or - if lucky - might contain one of Thanaclan's famous giant pearls. Making their way to the coast, Immortal and his allies could see a few decent-sized pearls already piled up along the beach - today's catch, thus far.
Seeing the approaching threesome, many of the fishermen took a brief pause from their work to watch the foolish amateurs who had come to try their hand. They recognized the attire of a young dragon shaman on Bakura, and figured that he was the latest fool to be sent out for his Trials. Meleeki they offered more respect - both for her known skill as a hunter (a job the fishermen appreciated) and her physical attractiveness, which was a nice distraction from the hard labor of the day. As for Immortal, he was the brunt of their laughter, for his silly face-paint and odd manner of dress did not at all fit the image of a fisherman, yet he seemed to be the one who wanted to try his hand at finding a pearl.
And their laughter proved valid, for after a couple of dives, Immortal turned up nothing but worthless clam meat for Vaask to feast upon. Meleeki decided to test her own luck with it, since she feared they were beginning to waste precious time. And as she and Immortal spotted another clam worth investigating, they silenced all onlookers by producing from it a pearl of remarkable size - easily overshadowing any of the rest of the day's prizes. For their purposes, it would do perfectly, as a generous gift to the Dragon God, which might pay him proper homage.
Immortal took the pearl upon his shoulders, and the group continued on, still led through safe paths by Meleeki, until the came at last to the marshland where the Dragon God was said to dwell. There, things got eerily quiet as they drew nearer to the marsh's center. Around them, fires hovering in the midst of marshy areas began to increase as they advanced, while all around them, signs of any other life began to diminish - as though no creature dared come too close to the Dragon God himself.
Yet for this mission, they had no choice but to press on, and so the trio mounted up their courage and pressed on, as the fires grew thicker and thicker. At last, believing themselves to be in the center of the marshland that was known as the throne of Huhueteotl, Bakura called out to the Dragon God and asked for an audience. Suddenly, all the fires that surrounded them raged, and began to fly up into the air, converging and uniting in the sky above Bakura and his two guardians. At last, once all the fires were merged, the fiery ball changed into a colossal draconic shape - the physical aspect of the Dragon God.
Before his imposing presence, Bakura and his companions knelt in deferrence, while also presenting their pearl offering. Pleased with it, the Dragon God burnt it to ash with a fiery breath - destroying this product of the sea as a sign of fire's superiority over water. Through all of this, Bakura, Meleeki and Vaask were able to overcome their fear of the powerful presence before them - though Immortal seemed far more frightened. The Dragon God then questioned the visitors about their purpose, and when Bakura identified himself, he spoke to them about the Trials of the Dragon God which they would now have just over a week to complete. [See handout here]
Thanking the Dragon God for his assistance, our heroes set out once more, believing their best path to be one due west, which would take them past the fishing coast, the aranea caves and the mountain slope: the three locations they believed they needed for their quest, which first consisted of collecting three items...
- the tail hand of an ahuizotl
- the spidersilk of an aranea
- the wing of a mooncalf
At the coast, inquiries with the fishermen informed the party that the ahuizotl was a feared creature of the sea, known for attacking pearl-divers foolish enough to venture down alone. It was because of the creature that nowadays, divers tried to stick in groups of 3 or more, whenever possible. Bakura said not to worry, that the power of the Dragon God could crush a creature of water and the sea anyday. At these words, the fishermen entered a panic, fearing that Bakura had just angered the Water Gods... Bidding the party good luck, they rushed off into the jungle, their fishing day now at an end, for fear of the angry waters.
And so, the group tried to lure the ahuizotl into a trap, but sending down a seemingly unarmed and frail Immortal and Bakura, with Meleeki invisible with the help of one of her magical trinkets. The creature soon fell for the bait, and made its move. Attacking with its tail hand as a primary weapon, it attempted to choke both Bakura and Immortal, latching its tail hand around their necks, one after the other. Both times, however, it let go, in order to strike again. And in both of them, the reaction was similar and unexpected - they entered a full panic, attempting to flee the scene as soon as they were released. A few moments later, they were able to regain their senses, but it was enough to keep them from being truly effective in the fight. It was as though they had shared a similar trauma in their youth, and the idea of being held was enough to drive them to terror. Thankfully, Meleeki's cooler head prevailed, and she methodically weakened and crippled the creature with precise arrow shots. At last it was unconscious - drawing her scimitar in a flash, Meleeki sliced off its tail hand. The first task was completed.
Pressing on, as time was of the essence, the trio rushed to their next destination - the aranea caves. There, they met the one mentioned previously, who lives on today and could recount this story to any seeking it: Lithira the elder aranea. Asked for some of her spidersilk, she claimed to be willing to part with some, in exchange for some "entertainment" for her and her children. The party was offered a choice: eight lesser spiders, or the single greatest one there? It would be a non-lethal fight, purely for sport. Should the heroes prevail, the silk was theirs...
Discussing the matter, the Olmans chose to fight the single opponent, however strong it may be. Tactically, it should be a simpler fight, one they could apply more strategy to. And so they readied themselves, deciding that Bakura would be in charge of distracting the beast, while Meleeki and Immortal hit it with everything they had. Yet, this tactic proved dangerous, as with a single bite, Bakura was infused with a massive dose of highly toxic spider venom. He tried to fight off its effects, without hope - the venom was too potent... and Bakura soon found himself robbed of nearly all the strength in his body. Forced to fall back or risk passing out from a second shot of venom, Bakura was saved further anguish by a charging Immortal, who unleashed a massive critical strike on the spider, taking advantage of his distraction with Bakura. The slicing falchion cleave one of the colossal-sized spider's legs right off, leaving it off-balance for a moment. It tried to right itself, but another strike by Immortal, combined with piercing shots from Meleeki, were enough to render it unconscious, yet still alive - sticking to their agreement of non-lethal combat. As Lithira approached to heal her favored child, she gave recognition for the heroes' skill, and gave them the promised bundle of silk.
And so the three advanced toward their next destination. Finding the patch of lotus flowers which marked the needed location, they scanned the region and found the perch where the mooncalf was likely to arrive come nightfall.
Seven days remained to complete the Trials. Thus far, success has been achieved thanks to Bakura's two guardians, Meleeki and Immortal. Yet Bakura knew that after the mooncalf, the next Trial would require him to fight alone. Still nearly crippled by the spider venom within his blood, the young boy feared what may lay ahead for him. He could only pray that the Dragon God would watch over him in this, his time of need.
Little did he know that his success would grant him a front-row seat for the destruction of his entire civilization...
Where once times of peace outnumered those of strife and war, now the people were beginning to see peace and celebration as but a momentary reprieve - a break in the fear and danger they experienced time and time again.
The world was changing...
Some saw the signs all around them as warnings that a great evil was approaching - that omens of disaster were everywhere around them... In the averted Planar Junction, in the war against the Wormgod, in the ressurgence of long-lost artifacts such as the Hand and Eye of Vecna or the Rod of Seven Parts... Even the creation of the Amalgamation was cause for panic in the eyes of some self-proclaimed prophets of the End of Days.
In the eyes of many, everyday life was but the calm ahead of the storm.
The world was changing...
And while the world changed, people began to cling more and more to tradition and the glorification of heroes - those legendary individuals who had averted disaster before... and whom the people were counting on to save them from whatever new evils might spring up.
So it was in the coastal city of Sasserine, where two big causes for celebrations were fast approaching, both of which the people of the city were embracing as signs of hope and optimism in this darkening world.
The first event was to be the wedding of Lavinia Vanderboren and Anzak Guildenstern. She the daughter of wealthy parents, retired adventurers and explorers Verik and Larissa; he the orphaned son of Isaac Guildenstern, the city's most prominent shipbuilder - as well as the twin brother of the newly-crowned Queen Elena of Alhaster.
The wedding was now two weeks away, and the entire town was gossiping about it, and the famous guests it would attract to the city.
Meanwhile, a second event loomed further on the horizon - six months away- and was perhaps cause for even greater anticipation: the first annual Wormfall Festival. In honor of both the Outsiders, champions of Cauldron, and the Harbingers, vanquishers of Kyuss, the Wormfall Festival was to be held in honor of their successes, a celebration of the peace that had now returned to the land.
Indeed, though the world was changing, people were clinging to their traditions and the heroes, trying to keep it from changing too soon...
Yet the change was inevitable, and the tide of change that would soon rise was already gaining its momentum in a location not too distant from Sasserine: an infamous and mysterious island to the south of the city, a couple of months' journey by ship.
This island had been thought lost, shrouded in mystery, for centuries - until being rediscovered by civilization two decades ago. We speak of no less than Thanaclan, the Isle of Dread. First revisited by the famed captain of the Sea Wyvern, ruffian Gabriel Gansworth. Yet his journey there ended in terrifying fashion, as he and his crew braved the dangers of the island's central mesa, where even the Olman natives fear to return. A more successful mission followed, as Verik and Larissa Vanderboren founded the trade colony of Farshore on one of the Isle's periphery island, safe from Thanaclan's true dangers. Yet, despite the colony's successes and steady profit from pearl-hunting, it has also remained terribly dangerous - suffering many losses since its inception.
The Isle of Dread's cursed legacy remained, 1500 years after the great tragedy that had struck down the city of Thanaclan and nearly wiped out the entire Olman population of the island. Few today can recount the story of what happened all those years ago - even to the wisest of Olmans, many details remain shrouded in rumor and speculation.
Yet all agree, that the day Thanaclan fell, coincidentally enough, was also a day of celebration - it was the day of the Festival of Huhueteotl, the Dragon God. And as if a curse from the Gods themselves, none - not even children - were spared from the chaos and torment that washed over the land.
Still, if the Olman people knew who to seek, they could find one who could retell in full the details of those tragic days... for she had been there, and yet still lived today, centuries later. In time, perhaps she could pass along her story to them - if only they could look beyond her disfigured visage... For though she survived it, the Savage Tide had not left her unscathed...
However, her memory did remain, as did the mental picture of those three heroes who came before her so long ago... Bakura, Meleeki and Immortal... Yes, though the three of them may be no longer, Lithira was still one with this world, and through her, their memory lives on...
But it did not begin with her. No, the story of those three began about one week prior, when the Olman clan patriarch, Karta, had the three summoned to his meeting chamber...
And so, let us travel back through the centuries, an entire span of 1500 years...
Back to the city of Thanaclan in its prime...
To tell the story of Bakura, Meleeki and Immortal...
The story of life ahead of the storm...
The story of life before the Tide...
The story of the Trials of the Dragon God...
It was a bright and scorching midsummer day, the hot sun beating down upon all the people of Thanaclan, the Land of the Pearl. For warriors, hunters and laborers alike, the summer heat was nearly unbearable, yet bear it they did, for they knew it to be the Dragon God's way of punishing them for their sins of the past year. The more they did to displease their Dragon God, Huhueteotl, the greater and longer the summer heat was to be. So it was every year, until the day of the Fire Festival, when the town offered up their sacrifices to the Dragon God, begging him for mercy from the scorching rays of the sun. And if their sacrifice, usually in the form of town's chosen Dragon Shaman burning up priceless pearls and other items of value in the Dragon God's name, proved enough - them the heat wave would calm down and grant the people a reprieve... until the following year, in any case.
As for which Dragon Shaman received the honor of conducting the ceremony, tradition held that every year a new young shaman would be granted the chance to prove his worth in a test of manhood - the Trials of the Dragon God. The elder dragon shamans chose who they deemed ready for the Trials, as well as assigning to him two guardians to assist in the tests to come. Then, after a pilgrimage to the throne of the Dragon God, the trials began - with three possible outcomes:
- success, in which the newly-proven Dragon Shaman would return to Thanaclan a hero, and be given the honor of conducting the Fire Festival himself,
- death, in which the two guardians may return to Thanaclan without the young shaman, having perished at some point in the deadly trials,
- or worse of all, failure, in which the young shaman did not perish, but simply failed to complete the trials in the required time - the punishment for which was banishment from the city, a life as an outcast to fend for oneself in the wild of the island, never allowed to return to Thanaclan, nor even be spoken of by those loved ones left behind.
Given the dire possibilities, it was not unheard of for displeased elder Dragon Shamans to occasionally select what they deemed to be an unready young shaman to send into the Trials, expecting death or failure. It was a convenient way of disposing themselves of those they saw as unworthy apprentices.
And so it was that when young Bakura Ilk presented himself to clan patriarch Karta, the elder chief asked him for the second time if he truly believe himself ready. The past seven shamans to undergo the Trials had not returned - a seven-year streak of misfortune that had Karta suspecting a conspiracy among the town's Dragon Shamans to keep sending poor young men to their slaughter, years before they were ready. At age 16, Bakura did not strike Karta as being any more ready for the Trials than those of the past seven years...
Nor did the elder Dragon Shamans' choices of guardians bode well in Karta's eyes, either. To be sure, Meleeki was a fine selection. She was one of the city's most prominent hunters - her and her wolf companion Vaask being very knowledgeable about the island and its secrets, in addition to being highly skilled at the hunt, be it a jungle panther or even a Thunder Lizard. Given these skills, she surely could be of great use to Bakura in the days to come.
Yet the other selection was what frightened Karta - for Immortal's reputation was a dangerous one. The warrior had certainly been successful, to that there was no argument. Whenever justice needed to be applied against one of the outcast tribes on the island's southern coasts, warriors were tasked with putting it to effect. And Immortal had been on many such missions, earning himself the reputation of a true warrior and great survivor. Yet that was what troubled Karta - for whenever Immortal led a band of warriors out on a mission, he was always the only one to return. Despite his own personal successes, to be assigned Immortal as a group member was effectively a death sentence, for whatever reason - it was almost as though the barbaric warrior bore some curse...
And that, couple with his youth, was why Karta asked Bakura one last time if he was sure he was ready to do this. Karta liked the young boy, and did not want the tribe to lose him. In asking again, he was nearly begging Bakura to request more time - another year alone might suffice...
But Bakura said he was ready, and Karta's heart broke... He feared there was nothing more to be done. And so, as the three heroes departed through the city's gates, wolf in tow, Karta whispered to himself a prayer for their safety. Yet as he saw Bakura's mother break down in tears once he was gone, Karta feared that neither he nor the mother would ever see the boy again...
Yet in Bakura's mind, fear was not of prime importance. What mattered most to him was time - for he only had two weeks left before the Fire Festival, in which to complete both his pilgrimage to the throne of the Dragon God, and all of the Trials set before him. Thankfully he had Meleeki as his guide, for she led her allies through paths and shortcuts through the jungle landscape that avoided any sign of danger. Indeed, she laid her path as though in communion with the entirety of the jungle's life, both plant and animal, knowing in her mind exactly where every danger was, and choosing the best way to avoid it and make the fastest possible time to their destination - the throne of Huhueteotl which lay within a marsh on the northern peninsula of the Isle.
At Immortal's request, they made a quick diversion toward the coast, in order to gather a proper sacrifice to lay before the Dragon God when they met him. As the custom in Thanaclan was to sacrifice pearls to him at every year's Fire Festival, the coastline was already full of fishermen, busy setting out their nets and diving deep in search of giant clams. Within each clam, difficult though they were to retrieve from the ocean's depths, lay hope: for either the clam would contain nothing but meat, or - if lucky - might contain one of Thanaclan's famous giant pearls. Making their way to the coast, Immortal and his allies could see a few decent-sized pearls already piled up along the beach - today's catch, thus far.
Seeing the approaching threesome, many of the fishermen took a brief pause from their work to watch the foolish amateurs who had come to try their hand. They recognized the attire of a young dragon shaman on Bakura, and figured that he was the latest fool to be sent out for his Trials. Meleeki they offered more respect - both for her known skill as a hunter (a job the fishermen appreciated) and her physical attractiveness, which was a nice distraction from the hard labor of the day. As for Immortal, he was the brunt of their laughter, for his silly face-paint and odd manner of dress did not at all fit the image of a fisherman, yet he seemed to be the one who wanted to try his hand at finding a pearl.
And their laughter proved valid, for after a couple of dives, Immortal turned up nothing but worthless clam meat for Vaask to feast upon. Meleeki decided to test her own luck with it, since she feared they were beginning to waste precious time. And as she and Immortal spotted another clam worth investigating, they silenced all onlookers by producing from it a pearl of remarkable size - easily overshadowing any of the rest of the day's prizes. For their purposes, it would do perfectly, as a generous gift to the Dragon God, which might pay him proper homage.
Immortal took the pearl upon his shoulders, and the group continued on, still led through safe paths by Meleeki, until the came at last to the marshland where the Dragon God was said to dwell. There, things got eerily quiet as they drew nearer to the marsh's center. Around them, fires hovering in the midst of marshy areas began to increase as they advanced, while all around them, signs of any other life began to diminish - as though no creature dared come too close to the Dragon God himself.
Yet for this mission, they had no choice but to press on, and so the trio mounted up their courage and pressed on, as the fires grew thicker and thicker. At last, believing themselves to be in the center of the marshland that was known as the throne of Huhueteotl, Bakura called out to the Dragon God and asked for an audience. Suddenly, all the fires that surrounded them raged, and began to fly up into the air, converging and uniting in the sky above Bakura and his two guardians. At last, once all the fires were merged, the fiery ball changed into a colossal draconic shape - the physical aspect of the Dragon God.
Before his imposing presence, Bakura and his companions knelt in deferrence, while also presenting their pearl offering. Pleased with it, the Dragon God burnt it to ash with a fiery breath - destroying this product of the sea as a sign of fire's superiority over water. Through all of this, Bakura, Meleeki and Vaask were able to overcome their fear of the powerful presence before them - though Immortal seemed far more frightened. The Dragon God then questioned the visitors about their purpose, and when Bakura identified himself, he spoke to them about the Trials of the Dragon God which they would now have just over a week to complete. [See handout here]
Thanking the Dragon God for his assistance, our heroes set out once more, believing their best path to be one due west, which would take them past the fishing coast, the aranea caves and the mountain slope: the three locations they believed they needed for their quest, which first consisted of collecting three items...
- the tail hand of an ahuizotl
- the spidersilk of an aranea
- the wing of a mooncalf
At the coast, inquiries with the fishermen informed the party that the ahuizotl was a feared creature of the sea, known for attacking pearl-divers foolish enough to venture down alone. It was because of the creature that nowadays, divers tried to stick in groups of 3 or more, whenever possible. Bakura said not to worry, that the power of the Dragon God could crush a creature of water and the sea anyday. At these words, the fishermen entered a panic, fearing that Bakura had just angered the Water Gods... Bidding the party good luck, they rushed off into the jungle, their fishing day now at an end, for fear of the angry waters.
And so, the group tried to lure the ahuizotl into a trap, but sending down a seemingly unarmed and frail Immortal and Bakura, with Meleeki invisible with the help of one of her magical trinkets. The creature soon fell for the bait, and made its move. Attacking with its tail hand as a primary weapon, it attempted to choke both Bakura and Immortal, latching its tail hand around their necks, one after the other. Both times, however, it let go, in order to strike again. And in both of them, the reaction was similar and unexpected - they entered a full panic, attempting to flee the scene as soon as they were released. A few moments later, they were able to regain their senses, but it was enough to keep them from being truly effective in the fight. It was as though they had shared a similar trauma in their youth, and the idea of being held was enough to drive them to terror. Thankfully, Meleeki's cooler head prevailed, and she methodically weakened and crippled the creature with precise arrow shots. At last it was unconscious - drawing her scimitar in a flash, Meleeki sliced off its tail hand. The first task was completed.
Pressing on, as time was of the essence, the trio rushed to their next destination - the aranea caves. There, they met the one mentioned previously, who lives on today and could recount this story to any seeking it: Lithira the elder aranea. Asked for some of her spidersilk, she claimed to be willing to part with some, in exchange for some "entertainment" for her and her children. The party was offered a choice: eight lesser spiders, or the single greatest one there? It would be a non-lethal fight, purely for sport. Should the heroes prevail, the silk was theirs...
Discussing the matter, the Olmans chose to fight the single opponent, however strong it may be. Tactically, it should be a simpler fight, one they could apply more strategy to. And so they readied themselves, deciding that Bakura would be in charge of distracting the beast, while Meleeki and Immortal hit it with everything they had. Yet, this tactic proved dangerous, as with a single bite, Bakura was infused with a massive dose of highly toxic spider venom. He tried to fight off its effects, without hope - the venom was too potent... and Bakura soon found himself robbed of nearly all the strength in his body. Forced to fall back or risk passing out from a second shot of venom, Bakura was saved further anguish by a charging Immortal, who unleashed a massive critical strike on the spider, taking advantage of his distraction with Bakura. The slicing falchion cleave one of the colossal-sized spider's legs right off, leaving it off-balance for a moment. It tried to right itself, but another strike by Immortal, combined with piercing shots from Meleeki, were enough to render it unconscious, yet still alive - sticking to their agreement of non-lethal combat. As Lithira approached to heal her favored child, she gave recognition for the heroes' skill, and gave them the promised bundle of silk.
And so the three advanced toward their next destination. Finding the patch of lotus flowers which marked the needed location, they scanned the region and found the perch where the mooncalf was likely to arrive come nightfall.
Seven days remained to complete the Trials. Thus far, success has been achieved thanks to Bakura's two guardians, Meleeki and Immortal. Yet Bakura knew that after the mooncalf, the next Trial would require him to fight alone. Still nearly crippled by the spider venom within his blood, the young boy feared what may lay ahead for him. He could only pray that the Dragon God would watch over him in this, his time of need.
Little did he know that his success would grant him a front-row seat for the destruction of his entire civilization...
posted by Markus the Mad | 9:57 AM
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