Posted by Aurilaz
on 8/13/2009, 6:57 pm, in reply to "Re: Into The Dragon's Lair"
The tall man turned, walked away from the Adventurers and bade them to follow as he led Tommy, Kana and Alyson deep into the mountain. Through the entrance way the trio led by their guide walked four hundred yards down a winding twisting passageway into the heart of The Topaz Mountains. As they went, the stench of cold Death and Black Dragon increased, the quality of the air they breathed decreased and a soft luminescent fairy light dotted their approach alighting before them and snuffing out behind them.
Tommy wrinkled his nose at the odor, but otherwise seemed quite content. He felt the odd balance of tranquility and excitement that he always seemed to feel inside caves. In an amused tone, he commented, "Not the decor I'd pick for my own home, but she's got the Blue Meanie totally beat for style. His dungeon - or at least, the last one I visited - wasn't half as oppressive as Aurilaz's foyer."
Kana's grip on the box tightened ever so slightly. Her unease of her surroundings noticilble, if she wasn't wearing robes, with the fact that her tail was between her knees.
After what seemed an eternity of walking, the trio reached a small landing just before a large cave entrance. The guide moved behind them and encouraged the Adventurers forward before he shouted, "Kneeel before the Great and Terrible Wyrm Aurilaz!"
The tall man immediately attempted to shove everyone to their knees in an attempt at universal obediance.
Kana was not prepared for the push from the tall man and hit the ground hard with her knees. If the situation wasn't so tense, she would have sneered and groweld at him.
Alyson knew well the manner of greeting a dragon as old as Aurilaz, regardless of type and or color. She didn't give the tall man a chance to knock her down, she already was kneeling down.
Forewarned, the Gamer swayed sideways just far enough that the guide's shove found no purchase. It was only with effort that he aborted the reflexive follow-through that would have sent the oaf sprawling across the floor. Instead he transformed the sway into a sinuous turn, gracefully dropping to one knee with his head bent respectfully downward.
Dropping down to his knees as well, the man bowed his head and declared, "Here, O Great Aurilaz, are the visitors of which you warned us."
Instantly, a single yellow reptilian eye standing twenty feet tall blinked into existence from the dark foreboding gloom deep within the cave. The giant eye studied each Adventurer in turn before it moved off into the darkness which at that point became illuminated by the same fairy light that had lit their passing. From within the cave, everyone heard a malevolently seductive yet gentle whisper, "Rise and enter my domain, Pupils of Dungeon Master!"
When they did so, the trio discovered an enormous cavern honeycombed with entrances and exits some made by Dwarves, some by Men and some melted by the Dragon. The area was littered with such gems, jewels and precious metals of all sorts for as far as the eye could see and atop it all sat the largest Black Dragon--perhaps the largest Dragon--that any of them had ever seen outside of the carcasses that dotted The Dragon's Graveyard. Aurilaz was as black as night with a sleek jet veneer to her scales that not only made them glisten against the fairy light but also made her seem to be more an Adult Dragon in its prime than the impossibly Ancient one that sat before them.
Tommy smiled appreciatively, gazing up at the Dragon. His memory told him that elsewhere in Shadow, there were Dragons the size of mountain ranges, the size of continents, the size of planets and even larger. Which sort of put things in perspective, while in no way detracting from the sense of awe from being in the presence of a Great Dragon. Why, Dragons worthy of that title were almost as rare as Amberites!
With a wingspan twice the size of that of a C-40 cargo plane, a long powerful body, giant razor sharp claws on both her hands and feet, a strong snaking neck as well as a giant reptilian head which more resembled that of a salamander than a lizard, Aurilaz was a formidable monster who addressed the Adventurers in a genteel almost kindly tone of voice.
"Well, well, well. What has the Talisman brought me THIS day?"
Kana was unable to speak, let alone move, as her fear kept her still and her mind froze with the enormity of what she was experiencing.
Aurilaz shifted her body to purposefully reveal the thirty-foot tall Talisman of Dragon Control strapped around the base of her neck by an ornate metallic chain which was so long and so huge that it could easily have been used as an anchor for a supertanker back on Earth.
"Don't be shy, Pupils of Dungeon Master, step forward," Aurilaz grinned as a single drop of her acidic breath escaped her mouth and melted a chest full of gold beneath it, "I know what you are after. The Talisman revealed that much to me. But I do not know WHY you wish to possess it. Please, explain yourselves."
"With all due respect, great one," Alyson began ever so slowly, "Our coming here is not by our choice. Venger has demanded it to be his. You and I know that he can never possess such an item as powerful as it is. We would ask, if there were such a way to give him a fake replica yet convincing enough to him that he would believe it to be the real item?"
Aurilaz snickered at Alyson's question, "Unlikely! Considering the fact that the moment The Dark Lord claimed the Talisman he would promptly use it upon you, High Lady Alyson. How long could you maintain a charade that you were under his control? How long could you suffer his presence before the Dragon's blood that flows through your veins compels you to lash out against him?"
The Ancient Wyrm drew close, "Besides, the Eleventh Talisman--like all of its brothers and sisters--beckons to those who are evil and powerful to come and lay claim to it. Many have tried, few have succeeded. Close your eyes, High Lady Alyson, as dark and hateful and angry as your soul is now you should be able to hear its siren's call too. Calling you to claim it. Calling you to ask me for it. Calling you to slay me for it and claim it as your own."
The Elementalist did start to hear something within her as The Talisman of Dragon Control swung from Aurilaz's neck. With a gentle yet charismatic whisper, the Eleventh Talisman began to beckon to Alyson for companionship.
//Or we could always just crush him with it,// the Gamer thought wrily. But for now, he held his peace. His time to add to the conversation would come. In the meanwhile, he drew the image of the Pattern within his Jewel in his mind.
"But I noticed that you did not answer, my question, Elementalist," Aurilaz sighed in mock disappointment, "Venger's desire to control the Eleventh Talisman is well known to all. Tell me something I do not know. Tell me why you wish to possess The Talisman of Dragon Control."
"If I may, O Great Aurilaz," Kana kneeled to one knee and presented the box up high with her head bowed. "A peace offering we bring. Dragon's bane for you to do as you please. And if it pleases you, may I have the chance to explain the reason we've come for the Talisman."
"Dragon's bane?" The Ancient Wyrm raised a curious yet slightly alarmed eye at the glass case containing the deadly herb, "I accept your peace offering, Lady Kana." The case and its contents levitated out of the Wolfen's hands and quickly flew to a far corner of the cavern well away from The Black Dragon, "Rise to your feet. It would please me greatly if you would explain the realy reason for your desire to seek the Talisman. By all means, proceed."
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