FIVE HUNDRED SEVENTY FOUR
(I/C)
Sitting all the way up and then pushing herself to her feet, Lyra looked over at the dragon and broke into a pain filled smile, “Holy shit we actually killed him.” She grinned, taking in the entire room, “SWEET AINE WE KILLED THE BASTARD—oh shit Kovid.” She wandered over to the burnt remains of the dwarf an did her best to make sure that his remains were laid out neatly. She took out her scroll of Raise Dead and the last over sized diamond, readying herself to cast her spell.
“Priestess... Offop… “ Wyn asked floating around, heading towards the vault, eye on Corfard’s remains. “We… sure … it’s… dead … dis … time?
Brendon gave a deep sigh, brushing the worst of the grit and soot off of him and limped towards the Vault with Wyn. “Thank Poseidon it’s finally dead.”
“Lake… cen… ye… check… vault… fer… traps?”
“On my way,” he replied with a grunt. “Just everything that is part of me is kind of hurting.”
“Oui! Tell me about it”
"Well that was unexpected.” Lannis scowled, frowning at the damage to his hat. He put it on and seemed unsatisfied the way it was fitting. “Do dragons always explode or just this one? I feel like someone would have told me if dragons explode. For once however I am okay with not finding out the answer to this mystery.”
“I’m amazed Lannis didn’t know dragons exploded,” the Scout said with a slightly superior tone, with which the wizard refused to acknowledge or reply to.
Instead he headed over to Lyra with his cat book and proceeded to watch her work her spell on the dwarf. “You know Lyra, from a purely hypothetical standpoint, there are arguments to me made for...wait...ing.” He saw her give him a withering side eye glower and let his comment trail off. “You know what? Never mind...I'll be over here collecting samples or something.”
Nodding Wyn agreed, “Dere… be… so… much gore everywhere!” His speech cadence sped up and he smiled. “Oh, look. No more poison! Très bien!”
Brendon was giving the vault a once over, eyes sharp and fingers working. “It wouldn’t have hurt the story if Corfard didn’t explode and I walked away with a horn to drink from.”
"Wow... amigos... I TOLD YOU El Dragon no eres un Dios! Matatamos El Limp Wyrm y ahora vayamos en el Vault Grande! Maybe hay es algun pieces de ese dragon podemos sell por mas oro? Y puede Señora Lycheera fix Señor Kovamos?" As Abraxas looked over the dragon he frowned. “Senors..eh..he’s not in pieces!”
“Eh?”
Abraxas kicked the dragon hard. “Si! He’s whole. Con agujeros en el.”
Lyra nodded. “Whatever necromantic “whatever” was inside him, that’s what exploded. Remember, he was dabbling in his own necromancy, probably as a conduit for whatever dark dragon god had goosed him on this quest. The revenants, the guardian zombies, each of them had a little piece of Corfard in them, powering them. When we killed him…twice; it let go and that’s what blew out.”
Wyn tossed his woodcutter axe to Abraxas who caught it and nodded. He spat in each hand and hoisted back, eyeing the dragon’s left head horn for now. “Bueno! Let’s see what puedo cosechar”
The elf, his three images, and the Scout spent some time on the Vault and outside of the 4 key holes marked by the goddess designs on the back of the keys and the center handle to be turned when unlocked, (no roll needed), Brendon was totally confident that there was no lingering traps waiting to be sprung.
Meanwhile Wyn was frowning, hearing noises from outside the Castle through the skylight. He floated up and passed through, looking around with care. He could see smoke rising in distant parts of the city of Acreage. And there were cries and shouts, the sounds of battle and distant yells and screams. He wandered over to the wall and looked over, noting that the campsite that had been established by the reinforcement forces the dragon had called for was currently disheveled and uninhabited. He floated back to the skylight, noting that the 2 rust monsters were not visible either up here but could see where they had climbed down and were running around the base of the Ispan’s Castle, bumping their heads on the pale remaining shimmer of the rainbow ward in their attempt to get out.
He came back inside and said, “I tink dat whatever de dragon’s charisma was involved in keepin all de mongrelmen, orcs, and wotnot is over. Dere is a lot of fightin’ in de city right now.”
“Then I’m glad the ward is still up,” Brendon said.
“Might fall down tomorrow,” Lannis offered, scooching closer to the dwarf’s remains, noting that Lyra’s hands had taken on a silvery white shimmering hue.
“You are just mister cheerful, aren’t you?”
Lyra was coming to the end of her spell, the scroll’s contents burning away, the diamond crumpling to dust. “Come on you grizzly bastard, time to come back.”
Kovid was hoisting a tankard of the smoothest ale he had ever seen before. The head was perfect, the amber color was crisp, even the temperature of it was spot on. He could feel his mouth watering at the thought of taking his first sip. His grandfather, a warrior who had died at least 2 decades ago, had one arm wrapped around the young Manslayer, tugging the side of his beard with a grin the same way he had done when Kovid was a wee lad.
The table was laden with ribs, pies, roast turkey, poached quail, braised fish, and blackened seared steak. A busty dwarven shieldmaiden was singing a ribald tune while sitting crosslegged on a nearby chair, a 6 stringed lyre in her hands. Dogs were running around the base of the table, eating scraps off the floor and stopping now and again for a head rub or scratch. There was merriment, cheers, and happiness in the great hall as well over 100 dwarves were feasting and singing and enjoying their just rewards.
“Kovid!”
The dwarf looked up to see the red bearded dwarven aspect of Thor stride over, Mjolnir hanging idly in one hand, a drinking horn made from some great beast in the other. “Glad you made it!”
“Thanks Thor!”
“I always knew my Grandson would do the family line proud,” he grandfather said, beaming with pride. “Apple might have skipped over his good for nothing father, but By Thunder…”
“BY THUNDER!!” all the dwarves in the Valhallan mead all echoed with a cheer.
Kovid’s grandfather hoisted his own tankard and continued. “…I always knew you’d make it here, boy.”
“Thanks,” Kovid said looking around. He noted the woodwork, the architecture, everything about the place, but most importantly, the feeling that he made it. That he was one of them and that he belonged here. “I can’t thank you all enough.”
Thor clapped Kovid on the shoulder and hoisted his horn high. “Drink up, Lad! This is Valhalla! Land of the Fallen Brave! Why Brunhilda herself brought you here, Viking maiden, plucked right when you were burned to a crisp by that Jormungdurun spawn of shit, Corfard. Ha ha!”
“HA HA!!!” The crowd cheered.
“To Kovid!”
“KOVID!”
“May his deeds and death be sung for centuries to come!”
“HERE HERE!”
And as Kovid tilted the mug back, feeling the first drop of Heaven’s Ale touch his lips, he heard a faint whinny, the smell of summer grass, and a woman’s voice say, “Don’t mind me, just gotta get this one back…Ooo, that looks tasty! Save me a spot, I’d like to try some of that ale.”
And then Kovid drew in a ragged breath, his lungs hurt, there was something burnt in his mouth, his skin felt like it had been dipped in acid. His hair had been burnt partially from him, bones seemed to be fitting poorly. Lyra was over him with a hand on his forehead and from his good eye, he could see Lannis scowling at him from 3 feet away, cat book in his hand. “Wot?” the dwarf croaked, tears running down his cheeks as he realized he had been whisked away from Valhalla.
“I hope you’re happy with yourself,” the Magic User scolded him. “We wasted a diamond on you. A big diamond. Our last big diamond.” His frown deepened. “You disappoint me, Kovid. But that’s to be expected I guess.” He looked closer and asked, “What the fuck now? Why are you crying? Lyra, why is Kovid crying. Ugh, embarrassing!”
Time now is Day 13, 9:14 AM
(OOC)
Water Breathing (Abraxas): Expires 7:48 AM on Day 14!!
Giant Strength (Brendon): 54 Minutes
Haste (Abraxas): 44 Minutes
Invulnerability (Lyra): 34 Minutes
Mirror Image (Wyn): 20 Minutes – 3 images
Fly (Wyn): 6 Minutes
Alright! Welcome back Kovid> Vault is not trapped. Talk to me!
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