Posted by Tommy Tanaka
on 7/6/2009, 2:45 pm, in reply to "Re: A Brief History of Aurilaz & The Talisman"
War Scribe sighed, "Of all of The Twelve Talismans of Terenor the Terrible--try saying that one fast six times--the Eleventh Talisman was the least used. There are only two individuals who are known to be this particular Talisman's bearer--Terenor and Aurilaz. History records no other bearers. Terenor created the thing in an attempt to control and destroy the Dragons. Before he could do so, he was taken down by Bahumat and Tiamat. How Aurilaz came into its possession is not known, what is known is that she is in possession of it now and has been in possession of it since the previous age. As for the Talisman Bearer part of the story, legend has it that The Talisman must always have a Bearer and the Bearer must always have The Talisman. They share a bond which allows them to look after each other and protect each other. The Talisman cannot be taken from its Bearer. Its Bearer must give it away to someone who is willing to care for it. That's all I know, Tommy, if you want to know more you would have to summon the spirit of Terenor or talk with Aurilaz herself."
"I'm thinking we'll probably want to go with the latter," Tommy replied firmly. "You know that saying about not summoning that which you can't banish? It took Bahamut and Tiamat working together to put him down the first time. We have quite enough problems already without bringing the ghost of Teranor the Terrible into the mix."
"Maybe we don't ask her to give us the Talisman," Kana started of with an idea. "You said that she has followers and worshipers and we're not even sure if she would give it to any of us, if she let us live. I say let's make plans to go in softly and peacefully because I wouldn't ask any questions if I had territory and found out someone came aggressively into it. There's a reason Venger wants it, or maybe he doesn't and just wants to get us out of the way for good. The past will give us info on what, who and why, but I don't think it's gonna give us an idea on what's to come."
"Well said, Mistress Kana," Serna smirked proudly at The Wolfen, "well said."
"Wow!" Gasped the elementalist in utter shock from the wolfen's answer, "Um. Wow, I say again. But to answer why he wants the talisman, would be to have power over his greatest adversary, Tiamat, who on more than one occasion has sent him packing for failed attempts to subdue her."
"Oh," Kana said a bit deflated. Then seriously, "Why don't we talk to her instead?"
"We…what?" The Gamer looked at Kana in confusion. But before he could formulate a reply, the Ranger interrupted.
"But why stop with Tiamat, High Lady Alyson?" added Willow Bark with a rhetorical question, "With such a power in his possession, he could control both Bahumat and Tiamat and by default both good and evil Dragons throughout the Realm. Venger has little reason to stop with just controlling Tiamat when the whole of The Realm would be laying at his feet."
"Agreed," Irzen nodded, "But I might have a plan to secure us The Talisman." Turning to War Scribe, the Drow asked, "Scribe, we know that Dragons are sentient, that they once had a civilization with its own culture, its own mores and its own rules."
"Correct," confessed the Drowling, "So what are you driving at?"
"What I am driving at are rules for a truce," the Dark Elf smiled, "Scribe, do the Dragons have any rituals for making conversation, making peace or parlaying without involving any bloodshed?"
The Drowling paused for a minute and then answered, "Well, there is one ritual which could do the trick, the people who would be doing the talking would have to wear white robes, tattoo their faces with the three draconic symbols for the word 'peace', carry laurel leaves in their hands and approach Aurilaz unarmed. All of this is provided she decides not to ambush the negotiators and send them back to the rest of the group as a pool of black acid. Still, the ritual would take three people to do it properly. Why do you ask?"
"Because I cannot see a way around it," Irzen answered almost hopelessly, "I cannot think of a more deadlier enemy to fight on her own home turf than this Black Dragon. Tommy, I believe that you are right, Aurilaz has had a century to set up wards, glyphs and traps that would make Grimtooth proud. Even if this Myron Ironbane would be willing to help us, if Aurilaz has done some serious remodeling to her domain, he may be as lost as we would be in trying to reach her through any hidden passages he may find. And if we try to sneak in, her intelligence network might pick us up and you can bet that any human intelligence she has could be augmented by the local flora and fauna such as trees, birds, even the rocks themselves. Kana, I also believe that you are right, we should talk to Aurilaz. We dare not attack a creature that has a perfect record for ambushing her opponents. She is an ancient Dragon who has probably fought more battles, seen more bloodshed and forgotten more strategy than we could ever experience, see or learn. For once, I believe we are going to have to have to be straight up with the bad guy and be honest in our intentions. We should try and talk her into giving us The Talisman BEFORE we resort to violence in some suicidal attempt to take the artifact away from her."
Irzen turned towards Alyson, Kana and Tommy, "And I cannot think of three people who would be better suited for the task at hand. What do you say, guys, would you be willing to undergo some wacky ritual so we can NOT fight a Black Dragon and hopefully talk Aurilaz into loaning us The Talisman at the very least?"
Tommy nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know about a 'wacky' ritual, but your idea fits with the general direction I was going. So, refuge in audacity? Instead of sneaking, walk in plain as day, with pomp and circumstance, daring her to squish us without talking first? I like it. Any thoughts on what we might offer her in exchange for the loan? It'd be nice if we could bring something to the table instead of waiting for her to say 'sure, but first I just need you to do this one little thing for me…' We don't have time for that, and it can get just as bad as 'thank you, but our Princess is in another castle.'" He looked around. "The floor is open for discussion."