"I don't think it's getting back up.  Keep an eye on it and the highlord, just in case they're really good pretenders."  Still gripping his spear and shield, Olven Wolf jogs over to where the girl is leaning against the statue.

"Are you all right?" he asks with concern in his voice.  He examines the black shards around her to see if they are somehow trapping her.

Roisin called out to Utrecht "Stop, and return to my side please....and thank you." she said, suggesting that she thought of the golem as a person.

"No," the girl said. "I want to go home." This has definitely been a distressing experience for her.

The guardian returned to Roisin as she commanded.

The mercenary nods his head.  "We'll get you home," he assures her.  "We've already rescued your brother."  He extends a hand to help the girl to her feet.

OOC:  Olven check the dragon highlord for any useful equipment/weapons/keys/spare change.  Then, he will explore the rest of this room.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:14, Sat 06 Jan 2018.

She clasped his hand and rose to her feet. "Is he well?"

There is a large hole in the ceiling high above them, leading up to the floor above. And there are two doors on opposite sides of the room that the heroes haven't explored yet.

"He's safe now," Olven says.  "We freed him from his prison, and he's waiting outside.  We'll take you back to your father soon."

Olven looks up to see if he can see through the hole in the ceiling.  He then removes the dragon highlord's weapons and stows them in his pack.  "We can come back for his armor, unless you want to take it now," he says.  "Now, let's see where those doors go."

OOC:  Take the highlord's weapons.  Randomly choose one door and go to it and check it for traps.  If it looks clear, open it and look through the door.

Olven picked up the weapons.

And going to the left room first, he found it empty.

In the right room, he found gold plated chests, their lids open and mostly filled with platinum coins, but with the odd jewel here and there.

Agog at the wealth on display, Olven stares at the chests for a moment.  "Well, this is going to go a ways toward rebuilding the kingdom," he says, shocked at so much wealth.  He examines it for a moment to determine if it is a trap or an illusion.

"Alvin, we were commissioned by the king to find what resources we could here to help rebuild Kalaman, but you're entitled to a share of this wealth for your help, I'm sure.  Roisin, do you think your golem could carry one of these chests?"

OOC:  Look for traps or evidence of an illusion.  If it looks safe, begin filling his pack with loot.

How much treasure are we talking about here?  Can we carry it out in one trip, or will we need to make several trips?

"Rebuilding the city is a good cause," Alvin said. "How much would my share be?"

The four chests were small. About seven inches, or so, wide. But that would still mean thousands of platinum pieces.



[OOC: 1,000 platinum pieces is $500,000]

D'aden is examining the dragon, and occasionally glancing at the high lord. He turns and says, "what's the going rate for dragon teeth?"

"Fancy aarmor made from dragonhide?  Although that would give dracs one more reason to hate you if you wore it."

To Alvin, he says, "I'm not sure, but I'm sure the king will richly reward you.  Come with us back to the capital."  Olven examines the armor from the fallen dragon highlord.

He looks around the room.  "Well, I guess this is it, right?  Let's return the kids to their father and report back to the king.  We've explored everywhere here in the Lyceum, haven't we?"

OOC:  Remove the highlord's armor and bring it along, too.

D'aden attempts to remove dragon parts, focusing on those portable enough to carry. "I wasn't thinking about the hide, skinning a dragon isn't a skill I managed to pick up. But I suspect the scales, claws, and other smaller pieces would be rare, and therefore valuable."

Roisin raised an eyebrow at D'adens comment "Perhaps dragons teeth are too costly to sell at any price." she motioned to the dragons body and chests "Utrecht, be a dear and please carry all of this for us."

"Might as well," Alvin said. "I don't think I've ever worked for a King before."

The guardian picked up the four small chests under one arm and the head and feet of the dragon in the other.

"I hope that he grants us title to the lyceum. It would be a superb place to train up and coming wizards." Roisin mentioned as she followed the others.

Olven nods his head.  "It's a fine idea, reopening the Lyceum as a place of learning."  He takes the point position and begins walking back toward the entrance.  "Though I can't say this place has much hold for me."  He grins.  "I'm a fighter, not a scholar.  Though if all these dracs are any indication, we may have another incursion on our hands to beat back."

OOC:  Are we finished exploring?  If so, head back to the entrance.

"It may hold no particular hold over you my friend, however wizards, especially the fledgling ones that I hope will be trained here, will all have need of some protection and defence. Sadly in the world at large, we're not held in high esteem. Fear perhaps, but not esteem." she shrugged <Blue>"Nevertheless, you hold a large sum in your hands. With it, the kingdom will be rebuilt, but more than that...what are your intentions with your share?"

Olven Wolf shrugs his shoulders.  "I don't know, to be honest.  Before this mission, my goal was to one day become the Captain of a lord's guards.  Perhaps I could found my own mercenary company."

He laughs, crinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes.  "Whatever we do, I feel like we've accomplished something here, clearing this place of the draconians."  He sniffs the air.  "We should stay on guard, however, in case we didn't find them all.  Enemies may still be lurking nearby."

"Share? Oh, I forgot about that."
Seeing the Guardian had the carrying well in hand, D'aden approaches the statues, and examines the "shards of black stone".
"No use counting eggs, they're not all gonna be chickens. Which makes me think, why do you think they brought the little girl here? Could it have anything to do with the significance of these statues? Just where did these black pieces come from, anyway?"

Pausing as D'aden goes to inspect the shards of rock, Olven raises an eyebrow.  "I have no idea.  No doubt they were going to use her for some dark purpose."  He looks to the girl and then back over to D'aden.  "Whatever they were going to do, we stopped them from carrying it out."

[OOC: You are done here. Or almost done. As I recall, the books you found in the library are still there. If you want to bring them with you. The first half of msg #7 in the Recap thread recaps your first interaction there.]

Alvin joined D'aden at the statues and the shards. She looked at the girl and back to the rocks.

"Worst case scenario," she started, "they were attempting to open a portal to the Abyss so that the Queen of Darkness could return in full force, as she did in the war. It would probably be best to turn those rocks into dust."

D'aden nodded, but said, "you would think that would require more than a single highlord and one fairly young dragon, but maybe that's a good thing. If these two were the dragon equivalent of a rogue faction, we might not have to worry about more being nearby."
"You know, if we went back to the library and asked nicely enough. Those draconians we left behind might be able to tell us about this highlord and the red. If nothing else, their reaction could prove enlightening."