Sing Out Louise! - Fern - 2024.07.25
Jul 29, 2024 9:43:46 GMT
Andy D, Yinmaris, and 1 more like this
Post by Fernleaf on Jul 29, 2024 9:43:46 GMT
The pigeon had to have made a mistake?
After nearly two months in a city I still found claustrophobic, I decided to explore a bit beyond the walls, maybe even to the sea. I exited the city through the Swamp Gate, this time continuing eastward past the Hung Rabbit. It felt so good to be in the open again! The road was clearly well traveled, and I took my time to take in the new sights and smells presented. It was several hours outside of the city when the bird found me.
I’d seen a few messenger birds before, but never one delivering anything. Perhaps the bird was hungry? I offered it a piece of the bread I’d brought for lunch. The bird glared at me. Not knowing what else to do, I took the message. The pigeon immediately flew off, buffeting my head with its wings. So much for sending a reply. The note was strange, and was signed by a name I did not know. It mentioned visiting a “Court of Dragons”? Perhaps the bird had mistook me for a dragonfolk? The directions were for New Hillborrow, which shouldn’t be far - I decided to go let the sender know their message had gone astray, and see another part of the Dawnlands at the same time.
—
The white house was on the outskirts of town, with a rounded door and a picket fence. It all looked very cozy. Pushing back my nervousness over the need to initiate conversation, I knocked on the door. The door opened, seemingly by itself. I blinked, confused until a voice several feet below where I’d been looking invited me inside. I stuttered a bit as I explained to the small scaled person (perhaps a kobald?) at the door about the message delivered in error. The individual, who introduced themselves as Frigus, insisted it wasn’t an error and waved me inside, offering food and drink as they made introductions. More confused than before, I took a pastry and placed myself against a wall to observe. There were three people in addition to Frigus already at the house, and they seemed to know each other. Matches, Yinmaris, and a tall woman with light purple skin. As Frigus answered the door again I tried to watch without staring, but soon found I was being observed in return. Orianna had a small dragon on her shoulder!?! Dragons had been mentioned in a few of the stories I’d read, but they’d been described as considerably larger, and often not friendly. The hatchling and I kept sneaking looks at each other. Orianna was just introducing the dragonlet as Valethra when Frigus returned from the door with Ninoc, who is another wizard!
Frigus’ mom arrived, a beautiful lady in a white feathered cape. Orianna explained to Ninoc and I that the woman was an Archwyrm called Thalistrasza. She said that as Frigus was her Herald, we were to assist in the great hatchling drive, guiding baby dragons of all descriptions (I hadn’t realized there were so many!) from their birth spots to the Court of Dragons. We were told that they shouldn’t hurt (much) but might wander off or be attacked, and we would need to “use our voice” to keep them in line. I learned that this activity would take place in the feywild, and felt a twinge of concern and curiosity. Several people had talked about the fey being dangerous, but no one had yet said why. I expected we would leave the house to travel somewhere, but instead we were gathered close to Thalistrasza and enveloped in her feathered cloak.
—
It must have been a transportation spell of some kind. It took no time at all, and didn’t have the uncomfortable sensation of being upside down from my last portal journey. Unlike that experience, the world we appeared in felt very different, and that feeling did not dissipate. The colors were more saturated, the sky more blue, the grass of the rolling hillsides more green. The scent of spring flowers was almost overpowering. The other’s voices were louder, and I was more nervous about my inclusion in the group than I had been just moments before. The whole scene had a feeling of not being real, like we’d stepped into a painting. Frigus’ mom imparted a few more directions, introduced her granddaughter Anacostia, and then faded away. No one else seemed perturbed by this event.
I was still trying to get my bearings when a herd of baby dragons came pouring over the crest of the hill, with a centaur at the rear. It reminded me of the time I had seen a shepard and their flock. The hatchlings were every color of the rainbow, sun glinting off scales, some waddling, some trotting confidently, larger ones making flying leaps of hillocks. The crowd halted near us, the dragons panting a bit, while Hugo introduced themselves. If this was a flock of dragons, we were to do the job of a sheepdog, corralling and cajoling any strays to return to the group. We set off, towards a giant tree just visible in the distance.
We were on the edges of a colorful moving mass of scales and tails, interspersed with occasional bursts of light and sparks. The sounds were discordant, Hugo singinging an overall melody, Yin accompanying with his guitar, dragons singing their own songs or chattering, both in common and what I could only assume was draconic. I at least was not alone in being less confident in my voice, but the hatchlings seemed to respond more to the emotion behind the songs than in musical prowess, and we made good progress.
Shadows circling drew attention to three large birds above our group. I recognized the behavior of birds of prey, even though I’d never seen any this large. Them singing “oh the glorious food” was also a bit of a giveaway of their intentions. Frigus scared them off with a truly impressive costumed performance (someone referred to the ensemble as being of “dragony Parton”, but I am not familiar with cultural icons). They were assisted by Waffles, a dragon they are raising (and who is considerably larger than both the kobald and the hatchlings) with a cone of ice.
One hatchling darted out in front of me and began to furiously dig. I stroked its back, kept my hands away from its head as it turned, then conjured a rattle ball and tossed it back towards the main group. With something to chase and my poor attempt at “Over the hills and through the flowers, to the Court of the Dragons we go” the little one returned to the others.
—
After a while we took a break. Anacostia distributed snacks while we talked, the hatchlings seemed ravenous! I asked about the birds we’d seen earlier, Yin wasn’t sure but thought they might be siren harpies. The others then started discussing the Wandering Court, and various people associated with the place. I hadn’t heard of the Court, and requested more details. After all, I’d only known there was a Court of Dragons for a few hours! I was given a list of other fey courts, and Orianna explained that archfey are rulers, similar to archdevils. The Wandering Court is one of the fey courts, oversees rivers, and is more involved in Kantas. Orianna mentioned in passing that there are other universes, but I decided it was best not to ask about them at present. I was still wrapping my head around portals, the feywild and the Dawnlands in general!
Frigus got all the hatchlings moving again, and we soon reached the base of the tree. It was magical, walking under the twisting branches that stretched high above our heads. We entered the trunk, and found numerous niches inside, sized for hatchlings. A figure in the center of the room is introduced to us as Queen Ophilia, who certainly has a more regal bearing than the pretend royalty who attended the party I went to with Baron Luxemforth! She confirmed that the birds were harpies, and will evict them as soon as she discovers their nest. Then a white dragon, huge, with vast feathered wings was guiding the hatchlings to their places, singing all the while. The baby dragons looked very small next to the first adult dragon I’d seen. The white dragon’s form shattered and turned into Frigus’ mom. No one else seemed perturbed by this event either.
—
Hugging Frigus, the woman who had been a dragon a second ago began to sing, with Frigus joining in the harmony. Multi-colored fire wrapped around both of them. It was mesmerizing to watch. When the singing was finished we found out that Frigus had been blessed with the Voice of Asgorath. We were presented with payment for guiding the hatchlings to court. There was some further discussion involving people and places with which I was unfamiliar, and then Thalistrasza transported all of us back to Frigus’ home.
The pigeon may have made a mistake, but it was an interesting adventure nonetheless!
DM: Charlie
Participants: Frigus & Waffles, Orianna, Matches, Yinmaris, Ninoc
After nearly two months in a city I still found claustrophobic, I decided to explore a bit beyond the walls, maybe even to the sea. I exited the city through the Swamp Gate, this time continuing eastward past the Hung Rabbit. It felt so good to be in the open again! The road was clearly well traveled, and I took my time to take in the new sights and smells presented. It was several hours outside of the city when the bird found me.
I’d seen a few messenger birds before, but never one delivering anything. Perhaps the bird was hungry? I offered it a piece of the bread I’d brought for lunch. The bird glared at me. Not knowing what else to do, I took the message. The pigeon immediately flew off, buffeting my head with its wings. So much for sending a reply. The note was strange, and was signed by a name I did not know. It mentioned visiting a “Court of Dragons”? Perhaps the bird had mistook me for a dragonfolk? The directions were for New Hillborrow, which shouldn’t be far - I decided to go let the sender know their message had gone astray, and see another part of the Dawnlands at the same time.
—
The white house was on the outskirts of town, with a rounded door and a picket fence. It all looked very cozy. Pushing back my nervousness over the need to initiate conversation, I knocked on the door. The door opened, seemingly by itself. I blinked, confused until a voice several feet below where I’d been looking invited me inside. I stuttered a bit as I explained to the small scaled person (perhaps a kobald?) at the door about the message delivered in error. The individual, who introduced themselves as Frigus, insisted it wasn’t an error and waved me inside, offering food and drink as they made introductions. More confused than before, I took a pastry and placed myself against a wall to observe. There were three people in addition to Frigus already at the house, and they seemed to know each other. Matches, Yinmaris, and a tall woman with light purple skin. As Frigus answered the door again I tried to watch without staring, but soon found I was being observed in return. Orianna had a small dragon on her shoulder!?! Dragons had been mentioned in a few of the stories I’d read, but they’d been described as considerably larger, and often not friendly. The hatchling and I kept sneaking looks at each other. Orianna was just introducing the dragonlet as Valethra when Frigus returned from the door with Ninoc, who is another wizard!
Frigus’ mom arrived, a beautiful lady in a white feathered cape. Orianna explained to Ninoc and I that the woman was an Archwyrm called Thalistrasza. She said that as Frigus was her Herald, we were to assist in the great hatchling drive, guiding baby dragons of all descriptions (I hadn’t realized there were so many!) from their birth spots to the Court of Dragons. We were told that they shouldn’t hurt (much) but might wander off or be attacked, and we would need to “use our voice” to keep them in line. I learned that this activity would take place in the feywild, and felt a twinge of concern and curiosity. Several people had talked about the fey being dangerous, but no one had yet said why. I expected we would leave the house to travel somewhere, but instead we were gathered close to Thalistrasza and enveloped in her feathered cloak.
—
It must have been a transportation spell of some kind. It took no time at all, and didn’t have the uncomfortable sensation of being upside down from my last portal journey. Unlike that experience, the world we appeared in felt very different, and that feeling did not dissipate. The colors were more saturated, the sky more blue, the grass of the rolling hillsides more green. The scent of spring flowers was almost overpowering. The other’s voices were louder, and I was more nervous about my inclusion in the group than I had been just moments before. The whole scene had a feeling of not being real, like we’d stepped into a painting. Frigus’ mom imparted a few more directions, introduced her granddaughter Anacostia, and then faded away. No one else seemed perturbed by this event.
I was still trying to get my bearings when a herd of baby dragons came pouring over the crest of the hill, with a centaur at the rear. It reminded me of the time I had seen a shepard and their flock. The hatchlings were every color of the rainbow, sun glinting off scales, some waddling, some trotting confidently, larger ones making flying leaps of hillocks. The crowd halted near us, the dragons panting a bit, while Hugo introduced themselves. If this was a flock of dragons, we were to do the job of a sheepdog, corralling and cajoling any strays to return to the group. We set off, towards a giant tree just visible in the distance.
We were on the edges of a colorful moving mass of scales and tails, interspersed with occasional bursts of light and sparks. The sounds were discordant, Hugo singinging an overall melody, Yin accompanying with his guitar, dragons singing their own songs or chattering, both in common and what I could only assume was draconic. I at least was not alone in being less confident in my voice, but the hatchlings seemed to respond more to the emotion behind the songs than in musical prowess, and we made good progress.
Shadows circling drew attention to three large birds above our group. I recognized the behavior of birds of prey, even though I’d never seen any this large. Them singing “oh the glorious food” was also a bit of a giveaway of their intentions. Frigus scared them off with a truly impressive costumed performance (someone referred to the ensemble as being of “dragony Parton”, but I am not familiar with cultural icons). They were assisted by Waffles, a dragon they are raising (and who is considerably larger than both the kobald and the hatchlings) with a cone of ice.
One hatchling darted out in front of me and began to furiously dig. I stroked its back, kept my hands away from its head as it turned, then conjured a rattle ball and tossed it back towards the main group. With something to chase and my poor attempt at “Over the hills and through the flowers, to the Court of the Dragons we go” the little one returned to the others.
—
After a while we took a break. Anacostia distributed snacks while we talked, the hatchlings seemed ravenous! I asked about the birds we’d seen earlier, Yin wasn’t sure but thought they might be siren harpies. The others then started discussing the Wandering Court, and various people associated with the place. I hadn’t heard of the Court, and requested more details. After all, I’d only known there was a Court of Dragons for a few hours! I was given a list of other fey courts, and Orianna explained that archfey are rulers, similar to archdevils. The Wandering Court is one of the fey courts, oversees rivers, and is more involved in Kantas. Orianna mentioned in passing that there are other universes, but I decided it was best not to ask about them at present. I was still wrapping my head around portals, the feywild and the Dawnlands in general!
Frigus got all the hatchlings moving again, and we soon reached the base of the tree. It was magical, walking under the twisting branches that stretched high above our heads. We entered the trunk, and found numerous niches inside, sized for hatchlings. A figure in the center of the room is introduced to us as Queen Ophilia, who certainly has a more regal bearing than the pretend royalty who attended the party I went to with Baron Luxemforth! She confirmed that the birds were harpies, and will evict them as soon as she discovers their nest. Then a white dragon, huge, with vast feathered wings was guiding the hatchlings to their places, singing all the while. The baby dragons looked very small next to the first adult dragon I’d seen. The white dragon’s form shattered and turned into Frigus’ mom. No one else seemed perturbed by this event either.
—
Hugging Frigus, the woman who had been a dragon a second ago began to sing, with Frigus joining in the harmony. Multi-colored fire wrapped around both of them. It was mesmerizing to watch. When the singing was finished we found out that Frigus had been blessed with the Voice of Asgorath. We were presented with payment for guiding the hatchlings to court. There was some further discussion involving people and places with which I was unfamiliar, and then Thalistrasza transported all of us back to Frigus’ home.
The pigeon may have made a mistake, but it was an interesting adventure nonetheless!
DM: Charlie
Participants: Frigus & Waffles, Orianna, Matches, Yinmaris, Ninoc