20th of Brussendar

Last night I spoke at length with Temprus about draconic powers and abilities. He wasn’t formally taught about dragons. His experiences were all intuition and things he learned in combat. So for now I was trying to cheat my way into his abilities. I created a small sac that contained the organs he used to create his frost breath and pretended to be Superman. Now I just needed flight and heat vision.

The immunity to cold was taking a bit. It wasn’t just an organ or his skin that did that. Dragons come in all types, colors, and all have unique powers for their species. Temprus was a sea serpent. He only had a breath weapon and his body. It took me a bit but with a combination of his blood and small scales, I managed to recreate the immunity.

This changes some long-term goals for me. I honestly don’t care about the Frost Giants now. If I wanted size I would find a cloud or storm giant. They don’t live too close to Wildemount I believe. They had hidden cities that lived in the clouds of Taldori. I don’t care about Remorahz either. I might still get it for the ability to burrow. I will still journey to Eiselcross but I can do it much sooner now. Might even skip Uthordurn.

Soon the captain came to get me. Concrell cast another waterbreathing on us and we dived into the trench looking for treasure. I knew exactly where his lair was but I wasn’t spoiling that. Onko would find it no problem.

“Hey Onko what does magic feel like?” I asked.

“For me, it’s about using rituals, components, symbols, and my emotions to pull at the threads of reality and create changes. Why, thinking about learning arcanum?” Onko asked.

“Dragons have innate magic. I was wondering how to access it but I might need to consult a sorcerer,” I asked.

“Ah yes. I learned my magic. I do have a little experience with innate abilities though. It is my Yuan-Ti magic. I can control snakes, suggest people do things, and spray poison from my fingers. I learned how to tie these abilities to my normal arcana. But before that, I simply looked for the power that flowed in my blood and pulled on it. It's not something one can teach it is all about intuition. Give it time,” Onto said.

“Wow, thanks Onto,” I said.

“You can pay me back with gold. We are about to get fucking rich after all,” Onto said.

Ahh yes. Pirates. It's all about the booty. It sucks thinking about how Darktow will be taking a cut of this treasure but I guess that's the pirate life. I don’t even know if I should have been paying taxes on anything for the Clovis Concord. I will probably not pay that. I hadn’t considered what I would do once the main story of the Mighty Nein ends. I know only what I saw from episode 1 of campaign 3. I could go help them. I would be blind to all danger then. That sounds a little interesting. But before that, I need a place to live. My own lair. I think I want a flying castle. I know of a few places I might find levitating rocks. I could get a bunch of boulders and build a house on one. Then get some tinkers and enchanters to give it the ability to move. Sounds nice. I will probably need to kill a dragon for that.

Onko found the entrance easily enough. Temprus didn’t have any defenses. He lacked the ability to create them and so had chosen a lair that was out of the way and hidden. I already knew how much to expect and what I should take. Temprus had gathered around 5000 gold and several magic items. I figured with how much we had to give the Revelry I would settle for 500 gold and a magic spellbook. I am going to give that to Caleb. I am not sure when I will do it but I am sure he would love it.

The crew sees that massive pile of gold and celebrates. Concrell could cast the spell on more than just the 5 of us so Alyson brought about 15 others to scoop up treasure. We had hours on the spell’s duration so the crew enjoyed looking at more gold than they would see for either their entire lives or maybe if they were lucky a few more times. I look for the book. Temprus said it was in a lock box near the back. The rest of the crew throws coins into bags and carries chests of gold. The joy of these pirates is a little infectious and I share in the merriment.

…………

22nd of Brussendar

Alyson agreed to let me take 500 and the book. Onko protested for a bit but I told him I wanted it to try and practice magic. He relented saying it would be better to be friends with a draconic spellcaster than for him to get it. Can't argue with that.

We spent the next day on repairs and the day after on the final trek to the Gravid Archipelago. Having a better understanding of the crew and their understanding of my powers let us work together a lot easier. We found a cave of harpies high in one of the larger islands. I didn’t kill any of them as I wasn’t interested in collecting them. Captain Alyson led me, Trux, Concrell, Onko, and about 10 other crewmates into the cave and we set up camp there. She ordered the ship to leave the islands and sail around Brokenbank Island for a bit.

We spent the next few days searching island by island looking for the Roc’s nest. In the meantime, I killed several different species of tropical birds, boars, deer, and dozens of fish. The planning committees asked me to do this so that the environment would be filled out a little. Not every animal I killed wanted to be awakened. Those that didn’t would be duplicated as illusions. They would move as if they were real but they were imaginative constructs. The committee wanted it this way. They believed that even the illusion of life would make the world more liveable. So the Soul Dream gained a lot of new residents over the last few days.

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On the fourth day, we found the Roc nest. Moving the camp closer we prepared as best we could.

26th of Brussendar

Evening

We had smothered our fires and covered our scents. The crew had prepared javelins tied to trees. When we gave the signal they would pelt the gargantuan eagle with them. I would move into position to unleash a full draconic breathe weapon. The crew had positioned themselves so that there should be no chance of me hitting them but I couldn’t change the angle at all. If the bird moved out I couldn’t use it again for fear of killing them. Trux had wanted to set up a demolition charge in the nest but we reminded the dwarf that I needed to kill it. Concrell and Alyson had switched to longbows and were ready to blind the bird. Onko was our signal. Once the bird had landed for the night he would create a ball of immensely bright light in its face.

We were ready. The plan should work but if all else fails I told the captain with the Serpent form I might still be able to complete her request. I had profited enough from the quest. This was just honoring the original deal now. She was thankful for the promise.

Swoosh, swoosh. The wings of the beast beat the air. It was a fucking huge bird. It was hard to be subtle and this bird was loud. The moon overhead we watched from the cover of darkness. The Roc had a wingspan of over 90 feet and its body was 30 feet from claw to beak. Its nest was well over 140 feet long made not out of branches but whole trees and ships. It dropped a whale into the nest. It didn’t have any eggs so this was a meal for one. It tore at the poor creature.

I had already transformed into something that could use my breath. A rather large lizard man.

I waited. Gods, I hated this waiting. Come on Onko give the signal the anticipation is killing me.

And then a flash. The orb of sunlight exploded over the Roc’s head. The bird cried and looked up. Javelinas flew across the sky. Some bounce off the bird but at least 8 stuck into the bird. Each was tied to a tree. I rushed forward and sucked in as much air as I could. My chest bloated to twice the size and then I exhaled a cone of cold frosty air at the Roc. I watched his wings freeze and his body ice over. Direct hit.

Arrows and spells flew and stuck the bird. In this opening round of attacks, the Roc almost died. It was bleeding from dozens of holes and cracked limbs due to frostbite. I took the opportunity and moved the vestige to my claws. I ran towards the bird and leaped to its back. My spiky feet dug into his frozen back and I ran up the bird to its head. It flexed its wings and broke several ropes and the ice covering its body. I jumped to avoid being thrown off and reached out with a quickly made tentacle. I swung around its neck and grabbed it by the beak. I was on his face staring it in the eye.

Hello new friend. I am sure we will laugh at this one day. I shaped the vestige into a spike and stabbed the bird in the eye. He shook his head but I head on. Octopus suckers made it hard to remove me. I pulled my arm back and stabbed again and then again. The Roc’s head jerked and his body went limp pulling on the remaining ropes. The bird barely survived 30 seconds into the battle. Most of the damage was done right away it was just up to me to kill it.

With this, our days of hunting are now over. I look to the Captain and smile. She turned away avoiding my gaze. Ah yes, I was still a giant lizard man nearly naked and covered in blood. This definitely attracts the ladies Edsom. I undo my transformations and vestige shaping. Zero injuries or wounds. Not even a splinter. A perfect hunt. The crew starts to carve into the bird and we will have some roasted Roc soon enough.

“Go job everyone. Edsom has completed his hunt and now can spend his days leaving massive piles of bird shit where ever he damn pleases,” Alyson said. That got laughs from the crew. “But before he spends his days roosting we have a job for him. We are going to have a hunt of our own. We are hunting pigs. The worst pig I know of. Rear Admiral Beckett Joy. A pig that makes us pirates look like saints by comparison. His crimes are more numerous than even mine! But he is an Admiral of the Clovis Concord! Well, not for long. Tomorrow our hunt begins and we will fatten our coffers with the gold of the Concord's most greedy little piggy,” Alyson said. Her crew cheered. I even felt a bit motivated.

She had spoken to me about Beckett the last few days. He wasn’t listed as an important member of the Myriad in the Explorers guide so he wasn’t on my radar but this dude was fucking disgusting. Slavery, rape, murder, extortion, arson, etc. Alyson showed me proof from within the Concord itself that this man should be behind bars. But the pig had wormed his way out of every attempt to expose him. A true kingpin. This guy was unbelievable. I asked her how this man could have survived this long. She told me that Beckett had been orchestrating evidence for his defense for years. Few believe that he was the monster that some people claimed he was. Anyone he caught spreading them was killed. It was only common knowledge if you were a member of the Revelry or someone in the know working for the Myriad. And the testimony of members of these organizations was hardly trusted. Beckett had only been involved in a trial twice and both times he had rigged the case in his favor.

Alyson described him as the head of corruption within the Shore Wardens. Killing him would cause chaos and a lot of bloodshed as many factions would attempt to capitalize on his death. People would rise to replace him and they would be killed by those below him. The righteous shore wardens would go after those that weren’t as sneaky and the cobalt soul would expose those that were once untouchable. Alyson said all this and I had to ask, "Why are we doing this then?"

"Because he is too slimy to get any other way. He will escape the Concords pathetic attempts at justice as he has done for 20 years," she said.

A lot of blood is going to be shed when I do this. But that's the thing, isn't it? The blood is going to be shed no matter what. Whether he dies tomorrow or some other day he will leave a power vacuum. Plus there is what happens to his soul when he dies. They don't punish people in hell. More like recruiting those that can be turned against the mortal planes. But if I kill him, I can make damn sure he suffers. Guess I am going to drop a rock through his ship.