Hoard Of The Dragon Queen [IC]

[Red-Scarlet]

The road to Greenest is long, full of gentle curves that follow the land. Though a few collections of trees block your sight from the city, you know from your maps that it's merely a few miles shy. Less than an hour away. You happily talk amongst yourselves, excited for the accommodations of proper civilization-even the wilder amongst you appreciate a bath and a bed. But, as you round the last bend to make Greenest visible, you see something startling. Pillars of smoke curl up from the city, and amongst the clouds wheels a fearsome blue dragon, attacking it!

What will you do?

 

[RustyShackle]

Armarille was more than happy to finally see some civilization. Though the Dark Dancer taught to appreciate the bounties of nature, it was hard to get a good night's rest in the wilderness. Especially when there was little company besides the animals to be found. The bard was amidst a rousing travelling song to make their feet less sore, when she saw the smoke on the horizon, then that horrible blue streak. She rushed forward, red eyes widening as she shouted, "By the God's, the town! We have to go help them, make sure everyone is okay!" She turned to the others, hoping they'd join her.

Armarille was always a joyful sort, they'd noticed. Rarely was she serious. But as the town was ravaged, they could see the determination in her eyes. They could see that, even if the rest chose to simply run, Armarille would run into the flames to save as many as she could, consequences be damned.

 

[Silverbird]

Though Aylin was, as usual, walking at the front of their little group — eager as always to see what was around the next bend in the road — she was not the first to notice the dragon. Her attention this day was on a weathered old map she held in her hands, a crinkled bit of parchment whose ink had begun to fade. The map grew less and less detailed the further inland one looked, and while the road group was travelling on did appear on the map, Greenest itself did not. The golden-haired sun elf frowned as she stared at it, cocking her head and trying to puzzle out exactly how far they’d come. They hadn’t reached the crossroads yet, so somewhere before that, but… had the mapmaker meant for this curve to represent that hill back there? Or had they just been kind of guessing?

It was the sudden loss of Armarille’s song that caught her attention. Aylin glanced up to see what was wrong, and her elven eyes caught a glint of the dragon wheeling far above. The monk stopped dead in her tracks at the sight, breath catching in her throat. After all this time hoping to see another dragon, there one was — majestic and beautiful as she remembered. And terrible. Winged death to the city below.

Aylin’s map crinkled as her hand twitched. She quickly stowed it in her pack, then hastened her stride to catch back up with Armarille. “Quickly,” she added in agreement, ready to break into a run towards the city. Aylin had been wary of the drow when they’d first met, but her reaction here showed why she’d begun to earn the sun elf’s trust.