Kairo-uonar allows Toben and Ryland to climb up.  Ferb scrambles up as well.  Shock has a little bit of trouble with Klale, but Gwaelind helps with a bit of wind.  Ano follows and is seated behind the blacksmith.  With admonitions to relax, that the dragons knew how to keep the riders aboard, they launch into the air.  Gawelind and Delunar follow on wind and wings.

The flight from the mountains to the west started cold and stayed that way even when the dragons glided down out of the mountain tops.  Though the wind whistled past at a rapid pace, the dragon's were able to project their voices through the air and their bodies so that they could be heard.  It did not take long before the passengers realized their normal speaking voices could be heard by the dragons as well, if not each other.

Kairo-uonar and Shock explained to their respective riders that the trip would take two days.  Their path to the Withered Heath and even the Heath itself were in the northern reaches of the world and remained cold.  However, they explained, a couple of the volcanoes ringing the Heath had become active in recent years, so it would not be unbearable within the maw of those mountains surrounding it.

At the end of the next day, the dragons landed near a pleasant lakeside.  The water was clean and clear.  Fish swam near the surface, oblivious to the predators lurking on the bank.  The dragons helped create a solid campfire out of stones and limbs from a copse of nearby trees.  They also supplied fish - lots of fish - for dinner.  Once the food was well on its way to being finished, the pleasant ambiance turned to talk.

Delnuar takes a seat on a nearby flat rock.  She takes a delicate first bite of one of the fish and her eyes rise in surprise.  With a smile, she devours the fish with gusto.  Four more follow.  By the time she is sated, Gawelind is chuckling.  She gives him an embarrassed smile and deflects by turning to the adventurers.

"You have questions for me.  I am ready to answer.  No lies this time."

[ I'm assuming the trip had breaks...otherwise...stinky poo.]

Klale thanks the dragons and takes the opportunity to wash himself and his clothes, and see to his armor and weapons. He is happy to eat and eat and eat and then sleep and sleep. However, he is awake for the questions; he apparently has a lest one, but waits.

Ano sits with the others and eats little.  After thinking for some time he asks the question  he has been holding into since the battle. He looks at Delunaur "Before we fought the discord you referred to us a dragon masters.  What did you mean?"

Delunar tilts her head.  "I sense the power of the dragon in you, Ano.  There is fire and earth flowing through your spirit.  You have the ability to tap into the spirit of dragons and draw on that to do wondrous things.  Though you will not 'control' dragons, as you might infer from the name, you will master the dragon spirit within yourself and connect to any others you may come into contact with should they allow that connection."

She closes her eyes and reaches out a hand for Ano's.  "May I?  I'd like to know a little more about the dragon you have already connected with.  It is a powerful one."

Ano holds out his hand. " He was young.  His name was Kornari"

Delunar grasps Ano's hand gently.  Her eyes go wide and her grip becomes more firm, even slightly painful.  A nimbus of flame explodes around her, surrounding her, but not harming Ano or anyone.  "It cannot be!  The spawn of Smaug lives!  Duath'gur was hiding something."  She lets go of Ano as the flames die down, a deep frown on her face.  "Kornari, you say?  What happened to him?"

Klale becomes alert but waits for Ano to speak.

Ano hangs his head "he was lost to us.  We do not know what became of him after one of our battles"

"Perhaps your dragon friend is at the Heath. Tell me, does the place function like some sort of migratory area? Dragon kind are driven by instinct to the place, like water fowl to the south lands?"

Similar to the others, Toben takes his time recovering from the journey and cleaning up. He spends an inordinate amount of time by the water after freshening himself up. Perhaps in meditation, possibly contemplating all that transpired in the recent weeks, or maybe he was just staring blankly out over the water. Whatever the case may be, well into the conversation the others were having with Delunaur, he rouses himself, grabs some of the fish provided, and joins everyone else.

"Thank you for providing our meal", he says as he tosses a healthy portion to Ferb. "I couldn't help but overhear mention of Kornari. He was quite a character, wasn't he, but we lost track of him shortly before reaching the Duke's castle."

He looks over to the fiery lady. "What sort of connection do you think Kornari has to Duath'gur?"

Shock stands at Ryland's question and stomps toward him.  She lowers her face to his to speak.  "We are not birds, little man.  We do not...migrate."  The dragon holds her face there for a moment longer, a matter of emphasis.  Then she returns to her spot near Kairo'uonar and very much like a cat, circles a few times before settling in.

"The Withered Heath is no longer what its name suggests.  Once we were freed from the Dark Fang's power, the dragons began to transform the Heath into a land more to our individual tastes.  We have quite literally moved mountains to accommodate all of us, allowing each of us to have our own territory.  Now, the land has multiple biomes within the mountain barriers.  We have stayed in the Heath because if mankind knew we still existed, there would be war.  Most of us have rejected wholesale the desires of the Dark Fang, and so wonton killing is no longer in our nature or desires.  We stayed in the Heath for your protection."

Delunar listens to Shock speak.  When she is done, she turns to Toben.  "I am unsure of what the connection is, though based on what I learned from Ano, I imagine it was not pleasant for Kornari.  We - that is, the other Dischords and I - knew that Duath'gar was the most powerful among us.  Yet he seemed far beyond the power of a Maia.  His favor with my master was ill at best, so we concluded that power did not come from him.  My conjecture is that somehow Duath'gur was drawing power from Kornari in some way.  However, a young whelp - even the scion of Smaug - would not explain the enormous strength Duath'gur has compared to the rest of us."

Delunar looks back toward the Soul's Rest Mountains and takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly.  "I would have defeated that avatar, but it would have taken me some time to do it.  It is difficult for you to imagine what that means should you face the real Dischord of Earth.  It is likely that he would have simply turned you all to stone with a thought and have done with you."
This message was last updated by the player at 01:23, Thu 19 Oct 2017.

Toben nods as Delunuar as she speaks. "Given the circumstances surrounding both Ceven's and Kornari's rescue from Duath'gur's grasp, perhaps the imbalance in power is the combination of the two. Maybe even more? There's no telling how many other higher beings he could be siphoning energy from."

Ryland shrinks back ever so slightly from Shock's advance, though meet's her stern gaze with a smirk. "It was purely a question of academia, not one meant to offend. It's not like I have a manual for the where's and the why's of dragons after all".

Kairo'uonar chuckles.  "Perhaps you should write one, friend Ryland."

"Perhaps I shall" says Ryland, pondering the thought and rummaging through his things only to come up short handed on a means to record and document.

"So, if we're speaking candidly here, can you tell us more about what we're up against? Melkor, Duath'gur, Basarshakath, some unseen trickster of minds." He looks at Delunaur and Gwaelind and asks, "What roles do you two play in all this? Frankly, I thought we were going to have a much bigger problem with you, Delunaur."

Kornari was small when imprisoned. He has not been unfriendly to us, though he was mulling over how we might serve hem when he came to rule the world. He many have thought he was unique; we dindn't know otherwise. He has fought for us a few times between appearances. It's been quite a while since we've seen him. I don't know how fast dragons grow, but it seems to me he sprouts as spring weed, with a weed's toughness.

I bode we'll meet him...nature is nature—copper, iron, tin are different—But there's something to friendship and making one's own decisions too.

"Delunar is not your enemy.  If anything, she has been an inside source for us working against the Fallen One.  She-"  Gwaelind's voice is not angry, but definitely passionate.

Delunar placed a gentle hand on Gawelind's arm to stop him.  "It is a fair question that the young wizard asks.  As to my role in all of this, I had been an enemy, second only to Duath'gur in might in service to my master.  I relished in destruction and when we were locked away at the end of the first age during the War of Wrath when our master was cast into the Void.  When my master began his return into the world, we were freed from our prison.  Unsure as to what Eru Iluvatar would do, we bided our time, waiting to sabotage whatever efforts the Creator made."  Her eyes were cast down, guilt and sorrow evident on her face for her part.

"When the Stars came to Middle Earth, we were ready.  As they took mortal forms, we altered their entry into the world, caused them to crash and then imprisoned them through various means.  Duath'gur was the captor for Ceven and Gwaelind, but I was Gwaelin'd jailor.  I taunted him almost daily, but he returned my hatred with love..."  She looked over at Gwaelind who took her hand and smiled encouragement.  "Love won me over, but I was still chained to my master.  So I had to continue a charade as a servant looking for a way to be freed.  The dragon, Uoanar, presented that opportunity in the tome you now hold.  It contains a rite that will free me from my service and grant to me one single choice.  An act of free will the Ainur don't typically have after my master's betrayal.  I will chose to bind myself eternally to Eru Iluvatar if He will forgive my transgressions and welcome me back as a Maia."

Toben sits quietly and listens to her speak. He thinks upon her words for a while before responding. "I feel that your intentions are true and sincere. If I can, I will help in your transition back to the light, to become the Song of Fire once more. Though this tome is cursed, it appears that perhaps some of us are not affected by its protection."

He looks over to Shock, the one who first told him about the dark magic protecting the book. "When Torak first inspected the book, I expected the worst, but nothing happened. I looked through it as well to the same avail. It was risky, but it paid off. I'll need help with the translation in order to know how to proceed."

Delunar holds up a hand.  "Oh, I'm not the Song of Fire.  Never was.  Naurel is the Song of Fire.  He's with the dragons in the Heath.  We're about to met him.  But...thank you.
 Thank you for believing me and for your help."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:32, Mon 23 Oct 2017.

"You never had me fooled, even for a minute. I've always believed in you, from first sight. I said to my self, I said 'Ryland Vance, that there is an absolutely beauti- benevolent being in front of you, with a fire that will illuminate the brilliant pyres of our enemies, and the hope for us all'. Or.. something like that, rather".

21:33, Today: Ryland Vance rolled 21 using 1d20+13.  bluff

Delunar gives Ryland a half-smile.  "You're incorrigible.  You know that, right?"  She folds her hand in Gwaelind's and leans again him as she continues to answer Toben.

"I imagine that the curse you sense on the tome is aimed at beings like myself, the very ones who would seek to use it.  If you read the instructions to us, Gwaelind and I can help you prepare the ritual without having to read the tome ourselves."