31 May 2024

I may have to tweak this. I haven’t decided if the foreshadowing here is accurate enough to be appropriate or not.

…decided to follow her. Perhaps a minute later, Sasha stopped, spun around, and studied him for an uncomfortably long time. Finally, she said, “If you’re ever going to come along, you might as well walk next to me, instead.”

George smiled wryly and came up beside her, and the two continued through town. Along the way, Sasha asked, “You learn anything useful at the bar?”

“The medicine they have there tastes just as terrible as the stuff I make myself.”

Sasha gave him a side-eye, but then she shrugged. “It’s all basically poison anyway.”

George chuckled, and to thank her, he added, “Heard about the mess at the temple. Some lady named Eliza Peckham? Officials say there's no way it could have been vampires, which means… it was probably vampires.”

For a moment or two, Sasha pondered that. “I want to sneak in, see the body up close. Will you help?”

With one eyebrow raised, George answered by taking a particularly heavy step, which caused his armor to clank and rattle all over. “But… If you’ve got something intriguing enough planned, well… I wouldn’t mind being the distraction.”

25 May 2024

Had some ideas for what Valia’s powers might be. I knew they had to be necromantic in nature, if she was going to raise the dragon, but in what form? How showy was she? How is there fight going to be visible, or at least noticeable, all the way from Birchwood? Once I came up with a couple ideas, I wanted to start over to weave that into the opening discussion. Overall, I’m quite happy with how this turned out.

…play with its food.

Fortunately for Valia, the darkness didn’t bother her, especially with the number of soul-lit ghost flames lingering about the place. It seems more people had attempted to slay this dragon than she’d been aware of.

As she approached the first ghostflame, a deep voice rumbled through the cavern. “Well, what have we here?”

Rather than reply, Valia touched the ghostflame and drew it into her core. The anger and fear she’d expected, but was that… betrayal, she sensed? Curious.

Scales scraped on stone deeper inside. “A lone adventurer, a woman, has the audacity to challenge me? Are you so eager for death?”

Valia ignored him at first, instead moving from soul to soul, absorbing the ghostflame. Nearly all of them carried that same tang of betrayal. Most curious indeed. A theory about the situation had finally started taking shape, but she’d need a bit more proof. She finally responded, “I have no intention of being the one to die today.”

A burst of fire flared from a far corner of the cave, almost blinding Valia. “What can an insignificant creature like you do?”

Valia cocked her head. This dragon was arrogant enough; maybe she could simplify the fight a bit? “The stories don’t even name you, dragon.”

After a few seconds, the dragon chuckled, shaking the cave to its foundations. “Clever. When I was younger, I might well have fallen for that sort of provocation.”

Ah well. It had been a long shot, anyway. She could have done a lot with its name; soul magic made nearly as much use out of names as the fae. But she hadn’t been relying on that anyway. Instead, she merely edged her way towards the next ghostflame, doing her best to keep some kind of cover between her and the dragon’s presumed location. “A serious question, then. Why is the town so carefree? Most other dragons would be terrified the townsfolk would figure out a way to steal their hoard.”

The dragon roared with laughter. “Woman, they are my hoard! For just a few trinkets and baubles, they turn on their own so quickly! Didn’t that guild of yours offer you a drink before you came up here?”

“Hm. I didn’t touch it, though.”

“Yes, I had surmised as much. You are far to coherent.”

That pretty much confirmed Valia’s theory. They probably had other contingencies to cripple parties, too, that just weren’t worth using on a lone adventurer. Their loss. Not that those were any more likely to succeed against her, but still.

After a few moments, the dragon spoke again. “You intrigue me. Not many would challenge a dragon alone, no matter their hubris. You are either driven by bloodthirst, or truly desperate, no? Either way, wealth or blood, I can provide.” the dragon lowered its head until it nearly touched Valia nose to snout. “What do you think? Won’t you join me?”

Valia allowed herself a wry smile. The truth seemed so impossible, he didn’t even bother to consider it. “I thank you for the invitation, but I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse.” She shot a necrotic blast towards the dragon’s eye, then summoned the souls she’d gathered into an armor of ghostflame, just in time to counter the dragon’s breath.