Quite what in the world inspired anyone to haul Vova DoMedvyed out of the gutter he spent the night in to join the briefing is anyone's guess, but somewhere between said gutter and the meeting he manages to find, summon or stumble into enough magic to clean himself up a little even if his eyes are still impressively bloodshot.

 Vic, the singularly angry-looking peacock who hangs around with him is of course, always rather better groomed.

 Still, whatever passes for his point of focus actually manages to pass through the here-and-now as matters are discussed and he helpfully (for a given value of helpful) comments "Oh, the lizardfolk? They're alright. Can handle their mead too... A couple of them were going to eat me at one point, but I talked them around. Sort of. Good weekend!"

 And then someone mentions a dragon and he blanches a little, grimacing and opening his mouth to speak, only to emit a small strained whimper and put his hands over his ears (this appears to achieve nothing) as if he's being shouted at, a hypothesis given more credence a moment later when he whines "Inside voice, inside voice!" before asking, shakily "Uhm, did anyone catch the colour of that dragon?"

"Descriptions are ... confused."  Henry replies.  "Some have described it as dirty green, others as  brownish-green while we have at least one report that it is brown.  Size is reported to be anything from fifteen feet long to twenty-five feet long."

Henry raises his eyebrows slightly, "That is why I am asking you to have a look."

Dom nodded to the other members of the order as they arrived, he listened as the first group were given their instructions Lizardmen while dangerous he had heard they could be reasoned with and this was potentially an ally depending on the situation.

A dragon on the other hand was far less likely to great them in a friendly manner, though if it could be reasoned with there was potential there as well.  Still he had travelled with most of his group before and he had no doubts of their courage, the newcomer on the other hand he wasn't quite sure what to make of him.  Still he was a member of the order and as such deserved respect.




"Kiera, Safiya, Marceline it will be good to head back out into the field with you again.  Vova welcome to the group I look forward to seeing your talents." Dom said to the members of his group. Then he turned to Lord Henry "My Lord, which peak is this dragon living in and do we have any other information?  Like which villages have been raided and how often is it happening?

"It is believed to be on a high mountain spire, just north of Lake Silverstep, and has been raiding along that stretch of the Tors.  It has been reported from Eastgate and Mound, as well as by hunter trappers in the area.

We also believe that there might be cyclops in the area.  I know we disturbed a family of them out that way, in the early days."

"Aah yes I do believe I have read that report on the Cyclops, very well Lord Henry my sword is as always yours to command.  Once we have dealt with the drake we shall return or did you wish us to explore the lake area while we have the opportunity?" Dom replied stroking his beard.

Henry considers for a moment.  "Use your own discretion.  I will send for you, if I need you."

"Oh, Lizardfolk.   I've dealt with some of those back home.   They are funny," she waved a hand casually.  "I look forward to being part of the team, my lord, and will do my very best to help plan and work toward a harmonious outcome."

 "Talents? Well, yes I suppose I must have a couple... I mean, other than that thing I can do with my t..." - here, Vic hisses and pecks the back of his hand, eliciting a much put upon "What?" and a pout, one which only deepens as he winces under the verbal lash of a (presumably) angry (well, it is taking to Bova) voice no over else can hear after which he grudgingly recites "Uhm, greens get darker the older they get... Green-brown could be an unwell copper but they're worthless mayfly gadabouts as great a disgrace upon their noble blood as... Hey!"

 The pouting intensifies at this point.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:20, Mon 16 Aug 2021.

She already felt a little lost- what with Alisa staying home to take care of her new kids, it felt like she was missing one of her weapons.  But still, she'd made arrangements out the everything to make sure she was taken care of- making sure that she knew no matter what if she needed anything, to send word to the Nectar and someone would run whatever she needed to her.

(She might have had others more capable, true, but it was all Ki could do to not fret about the situation- well, that and promise to drag Dom back by his ears if it came down to it- but it hadn't, not yet... and she guessed that it was her protective streak coming out.  After all, they were family, and one didn't screw with her family and expect to come out of it with all the appendages they'd gone into the fight with.)

"...a possible dragon, and cyclops on top of that.  With any luck, maybe the dragon's eaten the cyclops, or breathed something on them and they're not a problem any more, and all we have to do is placate or destroy a hopefully not-too-old dragon."

She'd just sigh.

"...I'm gonna need more applejack before we leave, then.  If it's not a dragon, there's still a whole heck of a lot it could be, honestly.  We shouldn't assume 'dragon' of any color until we get our eyes on it, though.  For all we know, it could be a drake, or a wyvern, or something.

Are there any villages or towns out in the region we can find our way to if we need to refill supplies, or are we pretty much packing everything we need with us and hoping for the best?"

In reply to ~Socha (msg # 10):

"Lizardfolk would come and go round where my sister and I grew up. Never saw much trouble except from those that brought it to the lizards. They seemed mostly interested in buying and selling. Or trading, as it were. Then again, don't think I've ever seen two that looked alike, so I imagine they're all kinds of different."

"The nearest settlements will either be Eastgate or Mound."  Henry says in response to Kiera's question.

OOC: Think hex 29/38  (or there about) for the dragon.  Hex 52/Tower for the Lizardfolk.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:27, Mon 16 Aug 2021.

"If I had to pick, a cyclops would be easier to handle than a dragon, but I agree," Marceline says with a wry smile to Kiera "Maybe we'll be lucky and one will have solved the other." If she had to pick, she'd choose cyclops over dragon any day, but figured it unlikely that was the case.

Unsure on how she'd fare switch from undead hunting to dragon hunting, Marceline acknowledges Vova, Safiya and Dom, addressing the latter two with "It'll be good to travel again with you. I, uh, don't suppose anyone know what we should bring on a dragon hunt?"

"Well if we encounter it outside it's lair then missile weapons would come in handy.  Some sort of resistance magic though as we don't know what type of dragon that does make it harder. " Dom paused before continuing "If we can sneak up on it and catch it unawares that would be ideal, but it may have defenses and allies of it's own.  Kobolds are known to work with dragons.  Still it could be a wyvern or a drake or something else, we don't really have a reliable witness it seems." he gives a slight shrug indicating he was unsure about what else they may encounter.

Safiya greets everyone present. "Glad to be with you all again."

On hearing the news, she comments on the not exactly clear nature of the threat. "Our first goal should then be to determine what we are up against. There are too many possibilities here, making preparing for a fight very difficult if not impossible. And I fear that if this really is an actual dragon, even a young one, we would need a small miracle to take it on. It's location on the top of a mountain only makes things worse. So, let's just hope that the witnesses exaggerated and what we are dealing with is a lesser beast of some kind."

D'oh, Safiya does not even have a missile weapon. I better get a bow, and some tangleshot arrows, those seem like a good way to ruin the target's day. Assuming that whatever this is is not just too big to care.

 "Hello!" Vova replies merrily to Marcy, taking a sip out of a hip flask that smells as though it could crinkle paint and recapping it before admitting happily "I suppose I could try talking to them... Not sure what other kind of help I could be... Well, unless we wanted to get them good and drunk?"

 ---

Vova has a dagger... And I think his longest-ranged spell is Acid Splash! ^_^

"Well there lies my expertise! Swimming and boating are what we do up on the Lake, and I spent my first few years of adventure out on a ship, earning a living and weathering storms. These waters will be easy enough to traverse!"

Vik had brought her best boots and coat for rainy river weather, clearly excited to be heading out on the water rather than atop a horse.

She'd look for a map, and then give it a solid gaze, just focusing on it for a second.

"...how hard do we want to rough it?  Could just head east from here and take the road towards Barleyboro and then straight-arrow it, or we could just follow the road north up past Ringbridge and go south to Mound and come at it from the northwest- wouldn't be the fastest or the most direct, but it'd let us come into the area on fuller packs and fresher supplies.  Plus the trip would be safer and less risky.

Could just cut through Barleyboro and catch the road heading north to Mound as well... Eastgate might be out of the question unless it's bigger because it'd take a little time to go round the mountains to get to our destination."

Safiya looks at the map as well before offering another proposal. "We could also follow the river up to Silverstep Lake, or even sail up there. As for what is best, it depends on exactly where this dragon has its nest. East to the Tors leaves much to be desired when it comes to directions. Can we pinpoint locations where the dragon has been spotted snatching livestock?"

"The nearest settlements will either be Eastgate or Mound."  Henry says in response to Safiya's comment, then  adds "The folding boat, Helga and her crew will be heading south, to support Vik in her expedition to the Lizardfolk."

OOC: Think hex 29/38  (or there about) for the dragon.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:48, Thu 19 Aug 2021.

At an appropriate interval, Socha spoke up: "My lord, pardon me.   It seems that no one in our group is fluent in the Draconic tongue.   Which is the racial tongue of lizardfolk.  And it isn't necessarily usual for those people to speak the common tongue, although some do.   Our work is going to be much hampered, if we cannot communicate.   Is there, by chance, any item that might help?  Or someone who might accompany us as a translator?"   

She added- "We do have one among us who can perform the spell of language comprehension. But, that won't allow us to speak to them."     
This message was last edited by the player at 18:39, Thu 19 Aug 2021.

"This will help," Henry says reaching up to his ear, and removing an earring and passing it to Socha.  "The command phrase is Cunning Linguist, although you will have to have your ear pierced to use it.  However," he adds firmly "I will expect you to return it when you get back from this expedition."

 "Aren't they? Lucky bastards, it's a real tongue-twister and my tutor was an absolute beast about it... Day in, day out it was all [Language unknown: ortounera m ruthaster ndtofi ndema forareles derio olmend ng uras wh!n] and [Language unknown: prant m he st hasfo ndeur erllwa es conaveillare hououlres, menie niet ioni tedastnti enckortin not icaevelesess roaspo ca ol ntiecttedill?a]." Vova chips in as his point of attention passes briefly through the here and now for long enough to register the conversation and then break down in giggles over the command word for the ring.

"I do believe that is one of those talents I was talking about, was that Draconic Vova?" Dom asked his new companion.  "If it is well at least we have someone to talk to the dragon."

Socha stepped up and accepted the item. A tinge of crimson crept onto her cheeks, along with an expression that suggested she might be restraining some degree of mirth.    "Yes...my lord, of course...of course that is the command phrase!   Thank you my lord, thank you. I shall make certain it is returned as soon we come back," she assured, inclining her head, then walking back toward the group she was to be part of.

Her ears were pierced, but she would pose it as a question to the group, and its leader, who should wear it.   Socha was a little too late to put it in, and so hear what was said by the man.   Just as well, probably; she was blushing enough already.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 01:20, Fri 20 Aug 2021.

Henry calls the briefing to a close, and wishes you luck in your new missions.