'Hmmmm... dragons suddenly showing up with unreal and possibly dubious intentions... now that's a slice of history if I ever heard one...' He hesitates for a split second '...Maybe I should go with you to visit my sister, perhaps together we can persuade her...'

"That sounds like a fine idea! And I can tell you the whole story on the way." I grin cheekily at him and kip up to my full height, to go do just that. Naturally, I'll keep my word and relate the whole story, assuming he wants to hear it!

To adventure! By which I mean convincing his sister to come on a trip into the horrible monster-infested Netherese wastes in a few months!

In reply to Ataraxia (msg # 333):

Covered in a rather common looking cloak he guides to the sister's house. He listens attentively to your story, sometimes asking questions of detail. Expertly guided you quickly arrive to your destination. Unlike his, the sister's house is a much more discreet affair. Still good quality, still on the right part of Waterdeep, but clearly more discreet than the manor. He mumbles something that sounded like 'she had good sense to buy something small'.

His sister does not need smoke and mirrors, after being allowed in by a servant, she quickly joins you, happily greeting her brother. He introduces you and makes a short summary of the story so far. She seemed doubtful but when he makes clear he's going she reluctantly agrees to join more to 'keep him safe' than for anything else. She does seem puzzled as to what will happen if once there, nobody can still make head or tails of the writing or even if the writing is not what it seems at first glance. Memory is treacherous and Gilmartin might be assuming he has saw the same thing, but actually have seen something similar but not the same...

I try to reassure them that I'll be funding and paying for the expedition regardless. Furthermore, I think that, if either of them have contacts or friends in merchant groups, they could arrange for transporting goods along the route, which could help offset costs and turn everyone involved a small profit, even if there's nothing to be found.

I need to get back on the posting wagon. I've been very busy lately. Sorry, sorry.

OOC No worries, as it happened, I was horrendously busy with the move over these past 2 weeks.

The sister does not seem concerned with monies, she was more wondering if this could turn into a longer expedition than anyone thinks. As to the brother, for the first time he raises the possibility of returning to your estate with you. He seems most eager to speak with the wizard you have hired. His interest in all things ancient clearly talking louder.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:13, Tue 13 Sept 2022.

It's quite possible the expedition could go on longer. I don't know how far it is and have never traveled through desert, which is why I am hiring guides and experts on adventuring into the unknown. That being said, have no fear! I am a dragon and can fly people back if there's an emergency. Yep! I am very smug about this fact.

OOC See msg 336, can the brother go back with you to talk with Vermillion?

Also, where do you want to go next?

Sure he can come! I hope he doesn't mind be carried in a dragon's paw! WOOOOSH.

Next stop is home. I think I've taken care of everything in the city.

Unlike some of your other ‘passengers’, he’s not particularly fazed by the experience. Yes, he’s a bit ‘cautious’ about the heights, but he seems far more in wonder than in fear. Once you start flying over your lands you can see the peasants going about their daily business all seemingly in order.

Until your reach your manor. At that point Vermillion almost crashes into you both, so eager he is. Without even waiting for you to address him, he starts reporting his great finding. According to him, you had a visitor in your absence. Aurgloroasa paid you a visit. In your absence she got talking to Vermillion and helped him with his work. She actually (conveniently...) knew a couple of the letters and Vermillion was then able to decode the rest. The whole text was ‘My first is in hold, my second is in wield, my third is in power’. He concludes, rather obviously, that it is some form of riddle related to three components. Hold could be this shield, if so, it would make sense that wield relates to some sort of weapon, which leaves open the aspect of power.

Well that's handy.

I greet Vermillion's enthusiasm with me own, despite how incredibly convenient the "discovery" is. Is there any information as to where I might find the other two parts of the "thing," so to speak? I tell Vermillion about a venture into the deep desert to seach for an ancient possibly Netherese ruin that might have some of the same writing in it. Is the script Netherese or about that age?

OOC - and back.

Vermillion nearly jumps at the opportunity of searching for Netherese ruins, he’s rather unsure about any connection between the age of the scripts.

At your side, the brother openly mulls about the convenience of Aurgloroasa’s arrival when you were out. He queries Vermillion about her whereabouts to which the wizard can only shrug. You can feel he’s very intrigued by her.

I tell the brother what I know about Aurgloroasa, which isn't much, and ask him if he knows anything about her.

'It's an old name, out of ancient stories, most interestingly, almost all related to dragons. She's variously described, but the 'sibilant shade' is commonly found. The name is not exactly what one would call an 'ancient legend', but it's a name I've often found to be around whenever major intrigue is happening. Quite honestly, I frequently saw this name as a sort of generic designation for someone pulling the strings behind the stage... I never assumed for a second this was a real person, much less so one that would live through hundreds of years... Still think it must be someone using a name because it gives them some kind of status...'

"It might just be a pseudonym, sure. She at least appeared to be able to shapeshift into a dragon, but with illusions, that could have been possible without her actually being one."

'Keep in mind that, if it's someone using her name and just using some illusions, then it's probably something you can very well cope with... I never imagined I would say this but, if the historical Aurgloroasa is real, and she's is hovering around you, then there is little way of knowing what she is up to, what her intentions are or what she can do... shape-shifting is not unusual in ancient tomes... well, you know it better than me... but Aurgloroasa was more than a shape shifter, she was not a human, she was a dragon. She just happened to shape-shift into human form whenever it was convenient to her purposes...' he seemed genuinely taken back by this turn of events '...we may be facing history, myth and danger all rolled into one...'

"Well, I'm a dragon too!" I reply, maybe a bit too huffy.

"What exactly is Aurgloroasa supposed to have done?"

I wave at one of the maids to bring my guests some refreshments. Everybody likes mead and snacks. Right? I like mead and snacks.

'Well, you need to take into account we're talking about ancient myth, hard to know what's true or not. When humans started to become a force, they naturally clashed with dragons. Territory and treasure made sure of that. Dragons did not recognize any leader or structure, or so myth goes, all this until something that I call 'the council of three' emerged. As you can Aurgloroasa was one of them. A 'peace treaty' was brokered and humans and dragons lived in peace. Again, or so myth says. Eventually, humans kept expanding into new territories, and the clashes begun again. The relationship between humans and dragons as been pretty much the same since. But Aurgloroasa kept re-appearing. She is often noted as broker of deals between humans and dragons, as far as I know, since the council of three, she never again shows up as a dragon. Her deals were often fiascos, ending up with humans eaten by dragons. She finally disappears, well until now, when an obscure group called the Cult of the Dragon started worshipping her as a god. There's not a lot about them, but they show up, create some chaos, as the story goes to bring Aurgloroasa to her true dragon-god form, and then go back into oblivion... In short, she''s been busy over the centuries...'

"How ancient are these myths? It sounds like a bunch of stuff some sorcerers made up to justify a cult that gives them legitimacy to political power. But I mean, I'm a dragon, and there's a wizard in the room, so it's not impossible. Does anything about that three part uh, well for lack of a better word, riddle stick out to you?"

I show him the "mirror" that was just a giant iron dish in the end and describe what it looked like before, all shiny gold and such. Then I tell him about the ghost dragon, which was the weirdest part of the whole experience to me.

Vermillion nods in agreement.

‘Who knows how ancient? A lot of things are written many, many years after the facts they tell, there may a lot of creative licence in those tales… The council of 3 contained another dragon you mentioned, that Dreky something or another. But I have never read of him being a ghost dragon. Mind you, ghost dragons are not uncommon in the east. Sort of about in the same direction we are heading later in the year… Maybe he was just an apparition?... They both got along very well in the old tales, well, when they were in dragon form. The human Aurgloroasa was a different thing to her dragon form. She was brutal as a dragon, cunning as a human…’

"Drekroyaster? I called him Drekytoaster because I couldn't pronounce his real name. At least in my head. Seemed disrespectful to say that to his ghost face. So, what do you think? Is that expedition into a deep desert a good idea? Or is there somewhere else we might look for useful insight?"

'Well, I think it's an excellent idea... I'm a bit more excited with it now. Of course, that's not to say there are not dangers ahead, I suspect there are plenty. And if we assume we have a legendary shape-shifting dragon in it, then things become double more interesting but the danger level raises ten-fold... I wonder if anything on your family tree relatis to this... I mean, you have some kind of drago ancestry? Otherwise...' He gesticulates towards you as if saying 'how would you be possible?...'

I explain: "The people who raised me, who I call my parents, were human warriors and heroic people, deeply beloved of justice and right. The dragon who laid the egg from which I hatched was a cruel monster who murdered many innocents, as I have been told, and my parents raised me in a manner befitting their ideals, rather than kill me before I hatched. So, I don't really know much about my ancestry. Is there a way to find out through divination magics?"

The brother, which we shall again name from now onwards, Randulf, looks and nods at Vermillion 'That's his department...'

He nods in agreement 'that would probably be something like a visions of the past spell, witches stuff for the most part...'

Randulf smiles 'there, now we need to find a witch... unless you know one?' he asks you.

"I don't know any witches. Where would we find witches? There are rumors, of course, but there are always rumors, and people like to blame ugly old widows for bad things that happen, because they're easy targets. As far as I know, real magic comes from cities, scholars, like yourselves."

I shrug, noncommittal.

"There are some mountains that a witch might live in, but that's not very specific. We could ask the villagers and farmers."

Vermillion chips in. 'The problem is not finding a witch, the problem is finding a witch that can actually do... well any witching...'

Randulf concurs. The they start discussing amongst themselves how best to find a witch, who knows one, hoe to go about it and so on. At the end Vermillion agrees to go and get a witch He'll just need you to provide with transport. 'A horse' he states rather quickly, presumably before you offer to take him there yourself.