Journal of Arcadius - Day 141

An eventful return

Our quest for the dragon went in an unexpected direction. Led by the dragon hunter, we found the dragon's lair. Upon arrival, the dragon proved to be home, and the dragon hunter proved to be both surprised and afraid. Given we were there to fight the dragon, this was very strange indeed. I immediately began to question the character of our erstwhile ally. Was he there to plunder the dragon's lair, with us as dupes?

My musings were interrupted by the dragon himself, who stated he'd been hunting the "dragon hunter", and that this man was in fact a servant of the sunken city and the alienists. Given the odd sense the man had given earlier, and his cowardly behavior when faced with the actual dragon, this made sense. We believed the dragon. I asked him what we could do to convince him to stop burning villages. He said, let him eat the "dragon hunter". Given that this particular dragon seems not to have troubled the kingdom of Izmir before, we again believed him. I took the dragon at his word, and at that very time the "dragon hunter" fled, aided by magics more suitable for a sneak and a rogue than a man who claims to slay dragons for his living.

After a brief chase, during which the mute again demonstrated his strange but useful powers, and Jacob briefly attempted an aerial duel, the "dragon hunter" took a flying dive off the high cliff outside the dragon's lair, but was interrupted by the dragon.

It could not have been pleasant.

We waited, as I was intent to ask the dragon to give us a proper oath. However when he returned with his prey, kept alive and imprisoned in a manner disturbingly like a very large cat, he was not inclined to do so. Eventually the others by various means managed to annoy the dragon enough that it was clear not only would he give no further promises, but that it would be wise to leave unless we sought battle with him that day.

I pray to Pelor that this dragon does keep his word, and that his indifference to Izmir prior to the arrival of the "dragon hunter" is a model for his future behavior.

We shall see.

The remainder of the trip to Izmir was eventful as well. It seems the mute cannot ride a horse, and I was once again glad of our cart. On my watch at night, I noticed a strange and indeed ghostly glow in the distance. It was unwise to abandon my post to go investigate it, and so long as it moved no closer, I decided to let my companions sleep. In the morrow, Walter-Tupper was acting, again, even stranger. At first, I thought his madness was again upon him. When asked if he was alright, he was evasive and said various muddled and questionable things. The glow of the prior night came to mind, and after various lies to the rest of us, he finally admitted his ghostly companion, Mona, had come to visit him. It is strange, but it almost seems as if there is some sort of fated relationship between the living man and the ages-dead young woman. Walter-Tupper's erratic and emotional behavior made it seem as if there were depths of great feeling to that relationship.

Truly strange are the ways of fate! This was a tale for our bard, and she put her great skill composing an appropriate song for this star-crossed pair.

We came upon a fallen black tree trunk across the road, itself a strange thing, and in addition this tree was covered in some sort of suspicious-looking moss. I asked everyone to hold back while we decided what to do, but the mute ran forward and disturbed the moss - which promptly burst forth a foul cloud of spores. We were engulfed.

I felt strange afterward, and wonder about the others. This was not placed there idly. Whatever its lingering effects may be, we will no doubt find out. Fortunately, Fflam used his new mastery of hurled Alchemist's Fire to burn the vile moss away before it could harm others. We then hauled the log away from the road.

Finally, we came across a destroyed caravan, all the merchants slain and the whole burned with fire. Praise the gods, it was not dragonfire! The fire may have come from alcohol, as the caravan appeared to have been carrying liquor. We investigated and found some few effects remaining, including a cask of some undrinkable type of alcohol that had upon it a seal-mark of a merchant house. We resolved to bring it to Izmir to try to return it to its owners, and bring news of the caravan.

We also decided to hunt for those who may have attacked it.

We found tracks belonging to some sort of clawed creatures, with a trail leading into the mountains. We followed it and found a camp, containing many such tracks, a burned-out fire, and a half-eaten cow. Whatever they were, they possessed powerful claws and teeth. Walter-Tupper made a bet with the mute that they were werewolves.

How frivolous people can be.

Eventually, we camped ourselves, and were set upon in the night by what turned out to be some breed of lizard-man - more intelligent and dangerous than ones I'd heard of before. One of them was a mage, who did us great harm with lightning bolts and a fireball. The lizard-men were aided by a reptilian equivalent of hunting hounds, and these did great damage leaping onto the backs of Fflam and Oda. However, eventually we had the upper hand and they teleported away.

Upon our return to Izmir, we attempted to locate the owners of the destroyed caravan, got some needed rest, and visited the mage with whom we'd done business in the past. He gave a very substantial amount of money for the ring of evasion I wore. I distributed among the party and found we are now, for the first time in a while, well-funded. I and the other party members quickly set about planning how to equip themselves with these funds.

Ah, and Walter-Tupper seems to have been called back to Point of Origin. At least, he left a note to that effect. He slipped out without a farewell. Perhaps he is hiding something? Perhaps he goes to seek his lost Mona and make his amends...

Upon reflection, that would be very bad, for she seems to be part of a seal that holds back the evil and alien forces that beset the lands. How dreadful if Walter-Tupper's ill-starred romance were to alter the very fate of the world!

I pray to the gods that it is be not so.

*A*