Return of the Granddaughter

On the edge of the graveyard that is down the road from a rooftop bar 'Cannonfodder Cafe', there stands a large tree. A giant eagle, brick red with wings completely white, picked the widest branch for her grumpy afternoon nap. That's Khazifa. She just got kicked out from the Ettin for rowdiness AGAIN.

Flash!

On an adjacent branch a young dwarf with brown wavy hair appears out of a whirlpool of emerald green leaves. She is leaning on her staff, tired but visibly relieved to see Khazifa.

"Daisy! You're back at last," Khazifa exclaims from her reclined position, looking out over the fields of the graveyard. "Any sign of Zmee?"

"Grams, I'm so glad you're here! I felt so lonely after so many months away.." - Daisy hugs her great-great-great-great-great grandmother. She sighs, preparing to admit her failure. "I've found nothing. I checked every place that you told me and some more. I even went to Mechanus. I'll tell you, they were NOT happy to see me'. Daisy lets out a bitter chuckle. 'Nobody I asked had ever heard of any ancient golden dragons, only in fairy tales'.

Khazifa's face, not obviously much older than Daisy's, flashed a few extra lines of worry at the mention of Mechanus. "I'm glad you got out of that place in one piece. Not my favourite plane, that one. I wonder where that dragon could have got to". She paused in thought, looking down into the fields again where Kelsey was digging a grave calmly a few hundred feet away. "I'm glad you're safe," she said.

"I was being careful. But tell me, what happened here in the months I was away? I'm so glad we could finish that business with Rakshasa and Sanguine Rose before I left. Who knows what they could've done, it's good that we don't need to deal with things from hell again, they have a very different style of problem solving.."

Khazifa's eyes darted sharply to Daisy's face, as if trying to detect any sarcasm in her words. Seeing none, she sighed. "Well my dear, the good news is that we definitely don't need to worry about the lower planes again for a while. The bad is that we had another encounter while you were away. Second good news, we solved it just fine and now all that nonsense over in K'ul Goran is all calmed down!"

Daisy gasped. "'Encounter in K'ul Goran? Why would you get involved in that?? And why didn't you let me know to come back immediately??"

"Finding Zmee is important!" the archdruid exclaimed. "Zariel went through a lot of effort to punch a hole through the planes to the Material in Joran. If she'd caught wind that there was a 2nd vulnerable spot nearby we'd have been facing an invasion on 2 fronts! The one was bad enough."

Daisy stays silent for a long minute, trying to take this overwhelming piece of information in. She finally asks quietly: 'Is everyone okay?'

Equally quietly Khazifa responds: "Most you know, I think. The Crimson Fist you should check in on though. The army suffered but the adventuring crowd largely seemed to come back in one piece".

Daisy's face continues to change expressions from relief, to sadness, to concern, to anger: "I can't believe nobody had let me know! There was never even any point of me going on this trip, all I got is some stupid fairy tales". She finally settles on contemplative. "Did you go to this conflict site as well? How were you involved?"

"I'm a plane-hopper, Daisy. Popping into places I shouldn't is my specialty. As things developed and more stories came back from your friends, I went on some hawk-investigations. When a giant rift to Avernus opened up in K'ul Goran, I figured out how to stop it and helped the higher ups come up with a plan." She grinned a little. "I've never actually claimed to be wise, darling, but I do know strategy."

And so she told the story how the Avernus Army invasion to K'ul Goran was stopped - the multiple feints and distractions, the demons and devils, the infiltration team, the flight back through the portal.

"I had been scouting and relaying messages so I was tapped out by the time the real battle started, but I helped where I could in the rear areas. And my plan worked! Those little folk from the tavern actually got in and shut down the power. Incredible really. Saved the multiverse - at a cost of course, but there always is".

"That's... A really clever plan. I would never think of something like that. I would probably try and go straight to this terrible Zariel person. I hope she takes time to think about this kind of behaviour. I just hope we don't see these monsters again. I should go see Varis.. and then Taffeta but I don't have any good news for her".

"And I shall continue my rest. Maybe you can tell me those fairy tales you heard of while I sleep? I could use one with this terrible hangover I've got. It's been a long time since I listened to a good ballad".

So Daisy tells the tale:
"And it shall come to pass that the race of golden wyrms
Will come near its shattering end.
The King will weep with the hatchlings in their cribs
And cry out for the help from the gods.

It is she, the one true daughter of Corellon,
Is the only one who can save the golden wyrms.
In the frontier of the worlds unknown
She can face the shadow alone.

She, who was born from the arrow of gold,
Will need to make a choice -
Is it her kin she wants to save
Or stay loyal to her sacred post.

O Great Keeper, she will suffer in pain,
If her heart leads her to the King.
The Keeper’s Eye will be lost and lost again
In the toxic plane that hates the light.

It is she, the one true daughter of Corellon,
Is the only one who can save the golden wyrms.
In the frontier of the worlds unknown
She can face the shadow alone."

Khazifa murmurs in her sleep:
'Ah, that's nice. And a bit tragic for a fairy tail.
Wait a minute...'


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In collab with andycd