A Dance of Dragons 07/02/24 - Digs
Feb 8, 2024 22:15:43 GMT
Andy Davy, willemf, and 1 more like this
Post by Tom M on Feb 8, 2024 22:15:43 GMT
Co-written with Leonida and a dash of willemf
Once Leonida has helped Digs heave the white dragon’s head onto the wagon, she leans against the cart and stares at him, one eyebrow cocked.
“I gotta say, you’re the first kobold I’ve met who has an enmity against dragons. Are there more like you?” she asks.
Digs climbs into the cart and begins strapping down the head so that it doesn’t slide around on the journey. “Dragons oppressing kobolds is like… a whole thing. Lots of us think they’re ’gods’ and that it’s our ‘place’ to serve them.” He rolls his eyes sarcastically, “But I think there are plenty like me out there. If more of us acted on it there’d be a lot less dragons.”
“That’s your goal, then? The annihilation of dragonkind?”
Digs pauses, “I haven’t really thought that far ahead.”
“So how far along are your thoughts now?”
He ponders, “Well I guess first we’ve got to find that green one and kill them too.” He suddenly closes his eyes and grits his teeth as if in pain.
Leonida inclines her head towards the snowstorm in the sky, where the green dragon disappeared. "I hate it when they get away too. Take it you intend to kill every dragon you come across?"
“Pretty much. I—” Digs stops and mutters something to himself angrily, “Hang on I need to take this armour off it won’t stop… crying.” He says, the last word under his breath as he unclasps the armour and lets it fall to the floor of the cart.
He breathes a sigh of relief, “That’s better. Yeah, I mean, how many kobolds have they killed? And not just kobolds.” He gestures at the sky, “We didn’t get that one. I know we can’t get them all I’m not crazy, but… maybe he’ll think twice before he fucks around with people who don’t deserve it next time. It’s something.”
Leonida wrinkles her nose as she looks down at the discarded armour. “They like to scream in soul coins too. Dunno why they can’t just shut up.”
She pulls her gaze back to Digs and continues, “I think we established the fact, fifteen hours ago, that none of us are normal. Some may even say crazy. Obviously, I’m not even a little bit draconic so I got no stake in this whatsoever, but… One dragon life for every murdered kobold — well, I think that’s a good goal to have.”
Digs puts the armour on top of a box to avoid the dragon blood seeping into the cart, "Yeah, you get it. The others got all funny about turning dragons into armour, but I bet if you look around that lair you're gonna find all the people they turned into dung. Way more of them than one dragon and how's that any different? This is just like, a balance thing."
“If they were a mating pair as Pipper speculated, we might find more than just gold and dung there.”
"How do you mean... like, eggs?" his eyes widen as he looks back at the armour and places a clawed hand on it, "Covys, did you have any eggs?"
A voice wails in Digs’ head, "...He promised...He said they would be noble and strong...He said he just needed more time...He promised me..." No more can be discerned as it just descends into more screeches and crying.
"Yeah enough of that from you." He takes his hand off the armour and looks back to Leonida, "I think that's a ‘no’ which is probably a good thing. I don't know if I... yeah probably a good thing."
“What did she say?” Leonida asks.
"The other one promised there were going to be eggs, but not yet? I'm starting to think their relationship was not so healthy." Digs cocks his head, "You're weirdly cool with all this."
She turns to tug at the straps holding Covys’s head, making sure they’re secure. “How do you mean.”
"Everyone else gets weirded out by the dragon armour stuff before we even get started on the dragon soul stuff."
“Mortal foibles. I have no squeamishness for using the souls of the dead.”
Digs raises an eyebrow, "Because they deserve it, right?"
“I am not a philosopher, Digs, I am a warrior. I do not concern myself with questions of fairness. I heed the law of might first and foremost, but do not mistake the simplicity of my ideology as short-sightedness. Many who hold to the law of might think the dragon a superior creature to the kobold. You’ve proven that wrong twice now.”
Digs opens his mouth to argue with the first point, but closes it and smiles proudly at the second. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“I can tell you don’t agree entirely with my worldview. That’s fine. I have nothing against dragons and yet here I am with you.”
Leonida looks at Ana a distance away. “Right. We’ll need to wait for her to turn into an ox to move this thing.” The tiefling pats the decapitated dragon’s snout. Its tongue, lolling out of its reptilian lips and hanging over the edge of the wagon, sways a little. “Maybe soon we’ll come back and look for the lair. Chances are, the green one fled there and will be staying there.”
“Yeah, they’re too arrogant to just up and run like they should,” he nods at the armour, “and I reckon somebody knows where that lair is.”
He stops to think about everything that Leonida has said, “For what it’s worth, I don’t know about your worldview and stuff, but if you ever want to prove you can beat a dragon or whatever… ‘the enemy of my enemy’ and all that.”
“Well, now that I know there’s a dragon hunter worth his salt in the Dawnlands, sure.”
Digs beams with pride at being referred to as a dragon hunter, “And if it helps one day, I recently found out where to find some really big dragons.”
Leonida’s fiery, slit-pupiled eyes glimmers in the darkness with malicious intrigue. “Really now. Tell me more…”
Once Leonida has helped Digs heave the white dragon’s head onto the wagon, she leans against the cart and stares at him, one eyebrow cocked.
“I gotta say, you’re the first kobold I’ve met who has an enmity against dragons. Are there more like you?” she asks.
Digs climbs into the cart and begins strapping down the head so that it doesn’t slide around on the journey. “Dragons oppressing kobolds is like… a whole thing. Lots of us think they’re ’gods’ and that it’s our ‘place’ to serve them.” He rolls his eyes sarcastically, “But I think there are plenty like me out there. If more of us acted on it there’d be a lot less dragons.”
“That’s your goal, then? The annihilation of dragonkind?”
Digs pauses, “I haven’t really thought that far ahead.”
“So how far along are your thoughts now?”
He ponders, “Well I guess first we’ve got to find that green one and kill them too.” He suddenly closes his eyes and grits his teeth as if in pain.
Leonida inclines her head towards the snowstorm in the sky, where the green dragon disappeared. "I hate it when they get away too. Take it you intend to kill every dragon you come across?"
“Pretty much. I—” Digs stops and mutters something to himself angrily, “Hang on I need to take this armour off it won’t stop… crying.” He says, the last word under his breath as he unclasps the armour and lets it fall to the floor of the cart.
He breathes a sigh of relief, “That’s better. Yeah, I mean, how many kobolds have they killed? And not just kobolds.” He gestures at the sky, “We didn’t get that one. I know we can’t get them all I’m not crazy, but… maybe he’ll think twice before he fucks around with people who don’t deserve it next time. It’s something.”
Leonida wrinkles her nose as she looks down at the discarded armour. “They like to scream in soul coins too. Dunno why they can’t just shut up.”
She pulls her gaze back to Digs and continues, “I think we established the fact, fifteen hours ago, that none of us are normal. Some may even say crazy. Obviously, I’m not even a little bit draconic so I got no stake in this whatsoever, but… One dragon life for every murdered kobold — well, I think that’s a good goal to have.”
Digs puts the armour on top of a box to avoid the dragon blood seeping into the cart, "Yeah, you get it. The others got all funny about turning dragons into armour, but I bet if you look around that lair you're gonna find all the people they turned into dung. Way more of them than one dragon and how's that any different? This is just like, a balance thing."
“If they were a mating pair as Pipper speculated, we might find more than just gold and dung there.”
"How do you mean... like, eggs?" his eyes widen as he looks back at the armour and places a clawed hand on it, "Covys, did you have any eggs?"
A voice wails in Digs’ head, "...He promised...He said they would be noble and strong...He said he just needed more time...He promised me..." No more can be discerned as it just descends into more screeches and crying.
"Yeah enough of that from you." He takes his hand off the armour and looks back to Leonida, "I think that's a ‘no’ which is probably a good thing. I don't know if I... yeah probably a good thing."
“What did she say?” Leonida asks.
"The other one promised there were going to be eggs, but not yet? I'm starting to think their relationship was not so healthy." Digs cocks his head, "You're weirdly cool with all this."
She turns to tug at the straps holding Covys’s head, making sure they’re secure. “How do you mean.”
"Everyone else gets weirded out by the dragon armour stuff before we even get started on the dragon soul stuff."
“Mortal foibles. I have no squeamishness for using the souls of the dead.”
Digs raises an eyebrow, "Because they deserve it, right?"
“I am not a philosopher, Digs, I am a warrior. I do not concern myself with questions of fairness. I heed the law of might first and foremost, but do not mistake the simplicity of my ideology as short-sightedness. Many who hold to the law of might think the dragon a superior creature to the kobold. You’ve proven that wrong twice now.”
Digs opens his mouth to argue with the first point, but closes it and smiles proudly at the second. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“I can tell you don’t agree entirely with my worldview. That’s fine. I have nothing against dragons and yet here I am with you.”
Leonida looks at Ana a distance away. “Right. We’ll need to wait for her to turn into an ox to move this thing.” The tiefling pats the decapitated dragon’s snout. Its tongue, lolling out of its reptilian lips and hanging over the edge of the wagon, sways a little. “Maybe soon we’ll come back and look for the lair. Chances are, the green one fled there and will be staying there.”
“Yeah, they’re too arrogant to just up and run like they should,” he nods at the armour, “and I reckon somebody knows where that lair is.”
He stops to think about everything that Leonida has said, “For what it’s worth, I don’t know about your worldview and stuff, but if you ever want to prove you can beat a dragon or whatever… ‘the enemy of my enemy’ and all that.”
“Well, now that I know there’s a dragon hunter worth his salt in the Dawnlands, sure.”
Digs beams with pride at being referred to as a dragon hunter, “And if it helps one day, I recently found out where to find some really big dragons.”
Leonida’s fiery, slit-pupiled eyes glimmers in the darkness with malicious intrigue. “Really now. Tell me more…”