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May Event Log B: Return to Einjar
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| 🜙 Mod Note | |||||||||||||
| Return to Einjar's resolution is dependent on the choices the involved players make and will affect the resolution of Song of Suffering. It is not too late to sign up There will be a comment below for plot-specific questions and exploration we encourage everyone to use to help drive the resolutions/plot of the event. After you have read through this post please respond to This Poll as soon as you feel comfortable making the choices in it. Please respond even if your character is not participating in either event as the choice made effects the game world/all players. | |||||||||||||
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| 🜙 Trouble in Preciposte April 26th | |||||||||||||
| The first stop on the excursion is Preciposte. Arrival to the Northern Outpost is greeted by near silence. Only a handful of people remain in the deserted outpost and all of them are waiting for the excursion team within the town's tavern. Stew and Hot Mead are available to anyone who needs or wants it and the outpost's designated healer has one of the larger rooms set up with beds for rest and recovery if anyone is injured during the side mission. The mountain goat satyr and her assistants, a very short kobold and a cheerful blue orc, are around to offer their help where needed but they won't leave the tavern. Once everyone is off the airships and crammed into the building, Ser Medraut has a few of his men hand out supplies and split the group into teams with different dedicated tasks. He explains the dangers of the mountain cliffs and the creatures that live at this altitude, including the cliff hawks that do not often differentiate between an easy animal meal or a person. He says that reports from Preciposte citizens that have been relocated to Krimnos claim a large flying beast with scales has been picking people off, and that at dusk its roars and screeches can be heard throughout the outpost. As he finishes and the teams are formed up the kobold in the tavern gets up on the bar to speak to the group. He explains that the little outpost might not look like much but for a lot of folks it's home and they'll do what they can to help the team while they search for the cause of the attacks. Whatever is hunting the mountains is big enough to take on the cliff hawks and it has already carried off a few of the Krimnos mountain horses (Clydesdales). The excursion company is split up into three teams with the Defensive team being made up of people on both teams to allow them to rotate.
Rescue team's job is a grim one. Recover the bodies and any evidence of lives lost from the ravines and paths. Collect any obvious personal belongings and remains and send them back to Preciposte for the loved ones of those lost or for proper burials. The same risks exist for both Search and Rescue team, but Rescue team's instructions are to get to cover and hide immediately if the threat is spotted. A portion of the team is dedicated to stealth and illusion to help the team get through their tasks without having to directly confront the creature causing the disappearances. A tracker is on the team to help locate signs of life in the mountains and avoid following beast tracks rather than people ones. The Defense team is made up of members of both teams and their job is to protect the ships and Preciposte from cliff hawk/creature attacks or thieves. A company of around 12 knights goes with Search team, 3 with Rescue team, and the other 15 knights and Ser Medraut remain in Preciposte to help with Defense team.  All three teams can encounter the creature, though only search team should directly try to contain or kill it. Being bitten by the creature or looking into its gaze will cause the characters to begin slowly turning to stone from their extremities or the point of the bite. The injury starts with a slow, creeping discoloration of the skin to gray and a stiffness of the limbs. It progresses to a hardening of digits and then lower extremities followed by upper extremities and eventually the entire body will turn to stone. The whole process takes about 1-2 weeks depending on the size and health of the individual. The creature is small, only around nine feet tall with an eighteen foot wingspan. It breathes fire and unusual metal fixtures on its chest, wings, legs, and tail appear to be armor and spikes made of a golden alloy of some kind. It is highly aggressive but will attempt to flee back to the caves if wounded. When the creature is killed, or contained in the airship hold if captured, the excursion company boards the airships once more, sends word to Krimnos of their progress, and continues on to Einjar. | |||||||||||||
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| 🜙 Eroding Memories April 28th | |||||||||||||
| The flight from Preciposte to Einjar is tense. The ship crews have to call out to one another as the airships drift through dense, freezing cloud cover. Silence hangs heavy over the whole excursion team other than the echoed call outs for jutting rocks or turns. Progress is a slow drift in the blinding white and gray, and freezing condensation clings and freezes to the ships and everything on board. The air clears as they approach Einjar without hindrance, and the ships grind to a rest on stone dwarf reliefs carved out of the cliff edges.
Before the excursion company, in the clearing air, is an unsettling sight. The doors to Einjar lay in crumbled ruins at their base, blocking up the rivers that flowed down Einjar's steep staircases. An overflow tunnel beneath the great landing pours forth torrents of clear water and at the base of the waterfall the lake that rests in the valley before Einjar and the river that flows from it are now visible below the clouds. The lake is a deep blackish-red, and the river sluggishly flowing from it runs red like blood. Ser Medraut calls his knights and volunteers together, the company of knights and a few hands worth of volunteers is small, but the vast landing and doors of Einjar make the team feel impossibly small. Scorch marks in arcing lightning bolt patterns and hardened ice cover the open entrance and crumbled doors to Einjar, the 3 foot deep stone doors have been smashed like clay and lie in a rubble heap blocking the lower half of the entrance in. Ser Medraut gathers Alucard, Trevor, Lauralae and two of his knights and asks them to go over the rubble and quietly, carefully, check ahead into the entrance. They will be the first group back inside of Einjar. He sends Daenerys, Sansa, Poe and Robb to seek out the kobolds the last excursion team met in the hopes of getting information from them. Medraut says Daenerys should be able to lead the group back to the kobold's home a little ways back along the mountain. Nike, Jon, Kylo, and Sypha are tasked with guard duty while the rest of the knights work to clear the rubble, and will quickly have their work cut out for them, as large dire wolves begin to appear on the cliffs to the left and right of the landing, their lips curled back in threatening snarls. | |||||||||||||
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| 🜙 The Enemy Within April 28th-May ?? | |||||||||||||
| Once the team enters Einjar they find the city bathed in an eerie reddish-purple light. The dome above the city's mountain spring fed lake is cracked and stained red, a slow and steady drip sounding from the back of the city. Many of the buildings inside Einjar have been damaged, some cracked and others now housing crumbling holes where something caved part of them in. The waterfalls barely trickle down into the river, the water pinkish-red. The river, partially drained, is at half its level leaving the heads and helms of stone kobolds and dwarves visible in the canals. Deep claw marks scour the stone floors and some of the buildings and bridges are coated in a thick, beautiful white-blue ice. Each time a drop falls from the dome and hits the lake a ripple of ringing sound echoes through the city, sending a shiver of Paranoia Reflection through anyone who hears it. Touching the water or disturbing it in any way causes the Song of Suffering to ring out, while direct contact and prolonged contact cause the excursion team members who touch or drink the water to be overtaken by Fury or Desperation.
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| 🜙 Einjar's End | |||||||||||||
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As the last member of the team enters Einjar a thunderous roar sounds from outside the city, and the screech of a dragon sounds, deafeningly loud through the cavern. A blast of blue and white light blinds anyone who looks back at the entrance, the sound of crystals shattering and bumping against one another accompanying it. With the muffled sound of wing beats the excursion team looks up to see the entrance barricaded by a thick wall of blue-white ice at least ten feet thick. The team is temporarily trapped within Einjar and the heavy beat of wings and further screeches and shattering sounds can just barely be heard outside the thick stone and ice walls. With the effects of Paranoia gradually increasing, affecting more and more of the excursion team more strongly with the passage of time and the trapped waters of the Einjar river gradually rising the clock is ticking. Behind the team comes the sound of cracking stone and shifting earth. From out of the broken ravine a creature crawls, leather skin pulled tight over dense bones, ancient armor hanging loosely off its thin form. It slams its axe into the stone and pulls itself up out of the ravine, glowing blue eyes fixating on the nearest knight. It pulls itself up and charges with its axe raised, taking four arrows to the head and chest without slowing before bursting into flames with a horrifying shriek. Behind the draug the familiar tall form of Monty stands, his hands glowing with yellowish-orange light. "Come on, quickly." Monty forms a ball of light in his hand, throwing it down into the ravine to the shrieks of the draugs below and waves his other hand with urgency, breaking into a sprint for one of the towers that had previously appeared to be made of solid stone in an earlier visit. He leads the excursion team along and over the river, the sounds of the emerging draugs echoing behind them until they reach the building. Monty shoves his shoulder into a large circular stone slab covered in runes at the entrance, encouraging others to help him push it. It takes the force of four of them to roll it over in time and they just barely make it, the stone slab dropping down slightly and sliding forward with a thin flash of light until it forms what looks like a solid wall between them and the draugs. A pack of frightened young kobolds are huddled in the back of the main tower room and a large table rests at its center, a single dwarf sitting at its head. Closer inspection reveals the dwarf to be entirely made of stone, a grim expression on her face, her eyes locked on the now solid former doorway and her hand clasped tight around something. Monty pulls off his hood and warily greets the knights before going to check on his siblings, looking them over for injuries and asking them questions with reassuring head pats or back rubs as he goes. A series of five doors cover one circular back wall of the cavern room and stacks of papers and books cover the table, covering dwarf history, dragons, draugs, curses, the long night, and various other events. Ser Medraut sets the volunteers to work on the documents and the kobolds to try and find some answers about what is going on. The knights and their leader climb up the tower to the upper levels, watching the draugs through the barely visible arrow slits, keeping an eye out for trouble, ready for another fight. Ser Medraut descends to give the team the good and the bad news not long after. They can't count how many draugs are out there, but the draugs don't seem to know where they are. The bad news? The river is starting to flood the city, and the ringing sound from everything the water hits is gradually growing louder. | |||||||||||||
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| 🜙 Escape From Einjar | |||||||||||||
| After the fifth of May the dragon's roars can no longer be heard outside the city. The water's levels have risen, covering the ground in four inches of red water. The draug's numbers have been considerably cut down, and the creatures themselves seem to mill about, sloshing through water and adding to the constant ringing echoing throughout the cavern. Their weapons drag in the water and the blue glow to their eyes has lessened. They appear to have grown sluggish, but their speed will return if they realize there are still living among them. With the dragon gone, at least one way out is available to the excursion team: Through the ice wall at the city's entrance. Once out of Einjar the team will discover the wreckage of two smoldering airships, covered in ashes and ice and shattered against the stones far below the cliff. The ship whose hold contained the creature from Preciposte remains intact, listing slightly where it is anchored to the cliff. The knights immediately go to check on the ship and grow concerned when there is no sign of the creature that was captured in the ship's hold. They begin to open up the side of the vessel to search for damage and fire blasts outward from the hold, catching several of the knights in its path. The basilisk emerges from the hold, its scales shimmering back into their normal coloration. Its tail slams into part of the team, trying to sweep them off the cliff, and it makes a horrible crowing hiss as it charges out of the ship. Free of the ship the feathers around its head extend out like a mane and shake threateningly. After that display it ignores the team, running straight for Einjar's entrance and launches an attack on the stone statues that stand guard outside the city. Any dragonets present when the basilisk crows will become temporarily paralysed by fear. | |||||||||||||
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Her gaze lingers on Jon a touch too long when they're grouped before she turns her attention to those she's working with. It doesn't seem right to have her on a team meant to track and possibly kill the creature which sounds suspiciously like a dragon. The only positive is that she either knows or recognizes most of those she's been paired with.
"Feathers?" she voices to no one in particular, lifting one of the red feathers to twist it between her gloved fingers. "And scales as well. They kept saying this was a dragon."
The dragonet on her shoulder is disguised as a winged cat, and Balerion chooses to curl close to her neck, his tail wrapped around her throat as he watches their surroundings. If you step closer, he'll lift his head and watch you through the unblinking eyes of a cat illusion.
"Have you found something else?"
( ooc: Let me know if you want to write anything out for catching and/or killing the creature, search party! C: )
II. Team Track the Kobolds (Sansa, Poe and Robb)
( a. ) "Try not to act surprised when you see Monty," she says by way of warning, as they make their way along the mountain. Her steps are sure, and her bow is nocked with an arrow. She'd warned the others to remain on guard in case direwolves appeared. "He's a sweet thing, and that's far more important. He and his family saved us the first time we came here."
( b. ) When they reach the kobold's home, she stops short on a sharp inhale. At the back of the cave are a number of unmoving silhouettes, something that wasn't there before. Her footsteps echo as she rushes inside, hooking her bow around a shoulder. "Do you see any of the children?"
Upon venturing further inside, it's not silhouettes but statues. Kobold statues, their arms raised. There are scorch marks, charred things on the ground.
She's standing by one of the statues, staring at it when she says to you, "It can't have been the same creature we'd seen out there."
III. Paranoia
I could have protected the kobolds. She glances at a nearby bridge coated in ice. If I'd convinced them to return with us, they'd be safe.
She knows well enough to stay away from the lake. Any body of water, really, is regarded with wariness since the Pit and her second death. What she doesn't know is to stay out of earshot of the lake. So when the ringing begins, her features twist.
It's just like my people. I could have protected them.
Someone makes a comment near her and she twists to look at you. Fire blooms to life in her palm. The air snaps near you, like it's suddenly alive.
"This isn't a game. They're dead."
And she won't allow those she has left to face the same fate.
IV. Einjar's End
Draugs. Whatever those creatures are, they're called draugs, and they swarm like some mindless army. She'd seen far more than she ever wished to when she and Alucard attempted to break free from Einjar earlier.
Now, she has both hands pressed flat to the circular table, staring down at a book. Her hair, though braided and pulled back, is disheveled, and there's a marked unhappiness to her that has less to do with their current situation and more to do with--
"The dragon from the pit. That's what's keeping us trapped here." There's a slight tremor to her hand as she flips to the next page in the book. Too near a miss with that second sheet of ice. "The man did something to it with that ritual. It must have been a curse."
II. B.
"No sign of the children," he answered, searching the rooms carefully for any place they might be hiding. Growing up with Arya, he knew how easily a nook or cupboard could become a hiding place. But there was nothing, only a musty scent that seemed to indicate 'beast'. He would know it better were he changed, but he had no intention of doing that now and not with those he barely knew around him.
Instead, Robb sheathed his sword and moved to Dany's side, glancing at the statues curiously. "You think a creature did this? They're statues."
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Her nostrils flare at the thought, lips thinning. Balerion, illusioned to look like her winged cat, stirs against her shoulder, looking over at Robb lazily. Used to another Stark already, is he?
"They weren't here the last time we came. Don't you think it's strange to have scorch marks and chaos, and then at the center of it, panicked looking statues?" It's a sharp huff which finally signals her tearing her gaze from the statue she's staring at. Is Robb much better to look at, though? "They helped us. Someone or something did this to them. This is their home and they had no desire to leave it."
She'd offered as much to the younger ones.
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"It isn't magic," he didn't have proof, but he suspected that was true. Not the sort of magic that someone could wield in a fight. This was...different. He knelt beside them, inspecting the kobolds. They looked real. "Could it be poison? The fangs were like a serpent's. It might be that they were bit and turned to this?"
But he didn't have any manner of certainty in his voice.
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This is terrible. She balls her hands into fists, tight enough for the leather of her gloves to quietly creak. Whoever--whatever did this. The kobolds did nothing. They were kind, open to strangers and protecting them from harm.
"There were dwarf and dragon statues in one of the mines during our last visit. One of the women traveling with us believed that the statues might've held dwarves trapped inside."
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Their faces told a different story. He let go of Daenerys, not realizing he had been holding her arm this whole time. His focus was elsewhere now and she occupied only a small part of his attention.
Stepping behind the statue, he looked up at the direction the kobold's eyes were. He crouched, getting to the small child's height. "He was staring up at it. I think he made eye contact and this happened."
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Remember your words, Dany. Remember that she's not a sheep, but a dragon, and dragons don't show this sort of fear... if any.
"So not a physical attack," she murmurs. "Which means magic? But the cave reminds me of the creature we hunted earlier with its scorch marks."
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I.
So far, the only person she has spoken to has been Dany herself.
"Nothing yet," she admits, voice quiet. "But I could attempt to use scents. The wolves have warned me fo the dangers of this place already - it may prove useful."
It's not as if she cares much for sharing that particular talent with strangers. Transformation magic is not forbidden.
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"Dangers worse than what we faced last time?" With the large scorch marks a few feet away, it's really not that surprising. Still, what's this about using scents and communicating with the local wolves? She can't recall that detail. "I've no desire to risk your safety if what they say is true. Is that what you wish to do?"
Because while she cares a great deal more for Lauralae than she had, she also recognizes she has no claim over what Lauralae does or doesn't do, and she'd never assume that responsibility lest it was something she was allowed.
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Lauralae accepts the invitation for what it is, moving closer to hover at Dany's side. There's something like discomfort curling in her stomach, a knot she cannot deny - while she might feel safer here, with someone she trusts (as much as she might trust anyone) there is still too much danger. Her priority is protecting her hatchling, making sure she returns safely, that nothing befalls them.
She cannot kill a dragon.
"I would not venture far." Carefully, she turns to face forward. "And I can return to myself quickly. My magic is not so easy to defend against."
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How flippant she sounds. It's remarkable, even to her own ears, how she manages it. There's still a tension to her, eased only slightly by familiar faces, but it still persists. Surely the dragon's not so hostile that they can't talk sense and avoid unnecessary slaughter?
"And Urmyria?" Return to herself quickly--Dany's beginning to suspect what this is. "Will she ride you?"
An unspoken offer to watch Balerion's possible kin. And an equally unspoken 'be careful' layered even further beneath that offer.
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Lauralae is a touch concerned and it shows; there's tension in her shoulders, a set to her jaw, something dangerous under the surface of her skin. She's on edge - she always is - and she trusts so few people here that she does not know how to handle herself. It would be worse, surely, if Dany was not here, but even now she is not sure how best to manage her emotions.
Being around so many people remains such a concern fro her.
"She can. Or she might ride you." Lauralae hesitates for only a moment before she lifts her hands to the dragon around her neck, pale fingers stroking against soft scales. "Be good with her, Urmyria. I will not be long."
The mournful sound her dragon makes is enough to make her grimace, pained.
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That tension is palpable, one they all share, she thinks. But unlike the others, Lauralae holds Dany's concern and need to offer a reassurance, however trite it may be. Out of the two of them, Lauralae is the one best fit for a physical battle... which is why it almost seems silly for her to reach out and curl her fingers around the other's in a gentle squeeze.
She'll let go whenever Lauralae shows the contact is unwelcome, of course, but she'll hold on as she says, "Stay close."
Balerion stirs on her shoulder upon hearing the sound, stretching closer to the two, making a clicking sound.
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I. Poe would lean toward killing the creature unless someone talks him out of it.
Bey wags his tail, sniffing the air and searching for Ruby when he catches the somewhat familiar scent of another dragon nearby, but Ruby is far from where they are.
"I'm not sure that's what we're dealing with, though. From what I can tell, none of the people in town have actually seen the creature we're after." He can't provide a definitive answer on what it is, but- "If that feather came from the beast, and not a second creature, Bey can help us track it. His nose hasn't failed me, yet." He holds out a likewise gloved hand, temporarily tucking his unloaded crossbow under one arm.
"May I?" He could transform and get an aerial lay of the land, but if the creature can fly it might not be best to draw it out before they know what they are dealing with.
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His companion's regarded briefly, is even met with a faint smile. She's a soft spot for dragons because of her upbringing, but canines also seem to draw that pleasantness out of her as well.
"We need a good nose, whether it's a dragon or not. I'd have thought we'd see more carnage if the creature managed to fell its prey--assuming the prey had feathers." She pushes to her feet, handing Poe the feather. "Can the two of you share thoughts?"
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"Time for hide and seek, Bey." It may sound childish, but Poe has seen Bey as both a partner and a son since finding the beagle. He holds it so Bey can sniff the feather and pick up a scent if there is any. Despite Bey's adorable charm and somewhat dopey looks with his odd coloration, and large ears, he takes scenting the feather seriously, and there is an answer to Poe's comment in the form of a soft, quiet growl. Bey has the scent, and judging by the rise of his hackles, he doesn't like it.
The beagle puts his nose to the ground, and Poe stands again and hands the feather back before taking out his gifted crossbow. The way he holds it suggests he is less comfortable with the weapon, but he's a good shot and the speed of the crossbow is likely to prove more helpful dealing with the creature that has been terrorizing the outpost. Especially if it's as good at not being seen as the lack of eye witness descriptions of it seem to suggest.
"I have only seen a few, and they were nothing like birds." He agrees, thinking back to the massive dragon brothers of his last life, the dragon from the pit, and Ruby. He doesn't mention that other dragons he has since or heard since don't all look like those five, because he doesn't want to put anyone else under scrutiny where the knights might overhear them.
"What do you think we're dealing with, if not a dragon?" His knowledge of creatures isn't very deep. He spent most of his life in the cities, and his travels had been largely aerial. It was much faster to go as the crow flew than traverse the land, and Poe had been lucky enough to be born a shiftling, though he knew most others like him didn't call that luck.
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But when the other woman speaks up, Nike's attention will be on her only to realize the other woman was quite beautiful. Her blond hair reminded her slightly of a friend from the distant past. Very distant. Along with a feeling over her stomach as well. Either way, she will attempt to offer a response, but it was difficult to find her tongue. After all, Nike couldn't help realize,
"....no, I haven't. I'm not usually good at this sort of thing."
She was absolutely useless unless it had something to do with spirits or her usual duties of the wild lands of rescuing those who get lost. The mountains was somewhat a mystery to her, even when she was from Krimnos. Or one of its territories anyway.
"All I know is -- this silence is similar to the one in Einjar from the last trip. It has finally reached up to this point in such a short amount of time. That's the detail I am most concern about," began to explain Nike as she is reminded of the warning the spirits of the temple had informed her. It made her wonder out loud, "I wonder if this has anything to do with 'the eyes'?" It was all she could say on the matter as it was all she knew.
"What do you think we should do? If it's a dragon or something else?"
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"The eyes?"
She's not quite sure what to make of that. As for the silence... there's less happening around them. Far less than their first trip, anyway.
"Dragon or something else, I imagine capturing it would be preferable to killing it. But we need to find it, first."
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At the very least, she wants to believe it is a mistake to blame the sudden disappearance and attacks on a dragon without actual proof. For all she knew, "the eyes" may have something to do with the sudden change of atmosphere.
A small smile may appear on learning about the other woman's thoughts concerning the creature they were asked to track down. There may be a hint of spark in the tiefling's eyes as she nods her head in full agreement,
"R-Right! I think so too! We don't know the reason behind the attacks. For all we know, there may be a valid reason behind it. We shouldn't kill anything or anyone until we get to the bottom of it!"
At the very least, that is how she saw it. Nike wanted to avoid spilling as much blood as possible.
IV. Einjar's End
"He controls it. A dragon on its own is dangerous enough. A dragon with someone like that choosing its actions..." He shakes his head. If he could find the masked man now, he'd put his sword through him, but he's felt that way since they saw the ritual itself.
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"He wanted Monty," she tells him in a hushed whisper, once he steps closer. "That creature we captured near the outpost? There was a larger one, called the City Ender. Monty said he took its eyes and shoved its body into the water."
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"What would he want with its eyes?"
The one near the outpost hadn't been small, but the eyes of a bigger creature might be as large as the dragon eggs had been
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Why were they considered tainted? She looks back down at the book she's been skimming.
"The waters turned red when the body was shoved into it."
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He shakes his head.
"Sitka knows something of this. It must be why we've had to swear to silence. Word of what was happening here reached the masked man. He came here looking for something."
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"The eyes, perhaps?" She gives him a helpless sort of look. "It sounds like the masked man was here before talk of the second expedition."
At least from what she understands of what Monty's told her. Really, though, there were too many missing pieces to all this.
"Sitka may be who we wish to speak with next, regardless of timing."
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