The pub’s crowd was much quieter this night. Many of the people waiting for me to start. I hoped that everyone was truly entertained for I had reached the amount of money I would need to make it to the next small town. A little extra coin wouldn’t hurt if the next town had nowhere to tell a story.
Frederick the barkeep was giving me a suspicious gaze. I wondered if he had known that I lay with Gertrude last night and shrugged it out of my mind. I passed on the beer and liquor for this evening and instead had a tall glass of water to drink from.
‘Hello and good Eve. Today we wrap up our tale by telling you of the rise and fall of our Two Bit Dragon. Let us begin.’ I began strumming my lute as I started.
Our hero was amazed. This tiny dragon had been able to turn a mere five bits into a pence. Doubling its value, if he could convince this dragon to use its power to double his money that would help him jump start being a merchant again. However, would that be possible? Would the dragon not claim the coins it had made?
“Now little dragon, could you turn these other five bits into a pence? Would you let me have it? I’ll give you a percentage of the profits I’ll make trading.” The hero offered.
The little dragon cocked its head sideways and actually seemed to ponder for a moment. Then miraculously it nodded. Amazed the adventurer placed his last bits upon the stool the dragon rested upon. Again the dragon still clutching its coin moved to the stack and blew a glittering gold breath upon the coins and as the dust cleared a single tin pence lay there. The dragon nodded satisfied with its work and curled protectively over its own coin.
Our hero picked up the dragon and placed him safely in his coin pouch. The fact that it had grown so prodigiously was amazing. He looked at his pence and began to work. Within a fortnight he had made a good name for himself in the small town transporting and selling goods. A healthy profit made from his hard labor. He took half of what he had made in excess of what he would need to continue and deposited it in the dragon's pouch. Within moments the dragon grew and was heavier pulling at his belt.
Our adventurer knew he would not have much more time to hold onto the dragon and decided on a pilgrimage to the greatest church of Sondet the kingdom had known. Deciding that he would make a profit on the way there he bought enough goods the town produced that he could carry and set out. Town to town he traded and bargained, always he kept the dragon hidden and safe. He truly felt blessed as haggling always went his way, no bandits accosted him upon the road, and the weather stayed pleasant. Soon he was upon the grand capital, the home of all the great churches of their era. He sold his goods at the highest prices he could manage and made his way to the church.
Churches of Sondet hold two purposes. One is of course prayer, the other is to manage all the largest transactions the kingdom had between the many businessmen and nobles. Many sought to keep a portion of their wealth with the church for safekeeping for hard times. It was a grand thing, made of gold veined marble. It rose with grandiosity from the earth. Many steps led to its front door, many warrior priests stood with weapons in hand and shields with embossed images of Sondet upon them. Legend told that the gold filigree would fade in battle as the price to Sondet for protection.
Our hero sought the audience of the high priest of the temple and waited days to be seen. Such was the importance of his time. Our hero chose the cheapest of establishments and foods. Worried that the priest would not listen to his offer. However he felt that Sondet was with him.
The morning he was to meet the high priest he made himself most presentable and held the bulging purse the dragon was in. He knew not what it had down to the collection of coins he had given it so far and had a desperate amount of money to give it as an example of its power. The priest’s office was grand, shelves upon shelves of scrolls with the details of large trade deals lined the walls. A desk of black oak stood regally in the center and in the plush chair sat the high priest. Being eyed critically our hero approached.
“An honor high priest,” intoned the adventurer bowing slightly in deference.
The priest was thin and had eyes like a hawk. He steepled his fingers before him and spoke with gravitas, “I don’t often meet with anyone less than a noble. Consider yourself lucky, now tell me why you seek my audience.”
“I received a Call from Sondet, glory to her wealth. She bid me to go on an adventure to find something for her, and I have done so. May I approach?”
The priest waved a hand to the chair opposite him and nodded, “Be seated. If your words are true then you are truly blessed.”
Sitting down he held the pouch protectively, “With Her guidance I found this.” Placing the pouch upon the table he undid the string and opened it far and revealed the dragon.
It sat the size of two fists placed together. It had wedged in its scales dozens of tin pence pieces and in one claw clutched a dazzling golden coin. It stretched and spread out new wings as it eyed the new surrroundings.
The priest gasped in surprise, “Praise be Her wealth.”
The hero nodded and leaned forward, “I must demonstrate for you something of great importance.” He fished his lesser purse he had put the dragon's share in and dumped the coins in front of it. A mere collection of bits and pence.
The creature spoke and it shocked both men, “You honor the trade deal. I thought you had betrayed me.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Silence descended as the dragon approached and stacked the coins slowly, with another dazzling breath they all melded together into a shining pair of silver studs. In its second hand it gripped the coins and grew nearly another third of its size in a moment.
The priest clutched his hands in prayer and muttered the ancient words to honor Sondet. The hero followed suit as the dragon sat with a grace tilt of its chin towards the sky.
“Great and dazzling creature, do you posses a title I may call you?” Asked the priest quietly.
“The Profitable, that is the name Sondet has given me. She made me and put me upon this world for a great purpose. You will have me join this church and I ask in return for my service and luck you give me a portion of the wealth it gains. Those that have my blessing have the blessing of Sondet herself.”
The priest nodded vigorously and agreed. The dragon looked at our hero and approached, “You have served Her well. You have brought me to where I belong and I have blessed thee on the journey. Your Call is done. May your life be blessed.”
“It has been an honor The Profitable. I do not possess the coin to stay here in the capital or to start a business here. I will return to the road I’ve grown familiar with and leave you to live your new life. Thank you for your blessings.” The hero kneeled and said a final prayer.
The high priest held up a hand, “A reward is in need. You have served our goddess well and in return we will fund your opening of a shop. There is word in the noble circles that their blacksmiths need a new outlet for their crafts. We will help you establish a foothold in a nearby town.”
The hero accepted and thank the church once more.
‘This is where our hero leaves the story. But it shall continue as I tell you of The Profitable.’ The crowd murmured and I gave people time to refill their drinks and use the privies. I drank the water to wet my thirst. This was the most important part and I hoped the people would listen.
The Profitable knew it was unwise to double the wealth held within the church for it could not do to have no bits or pence. To convert it all to silver studs or golden coins. It began to guide the church secretly beside the high priest. It kept its existence quiet for a time. With each coin he helped earn he grew. Within five years he stood a man’s height. Wedged under hundreds of his scales were golden coins and silver studs.
Feeling strong enough to defend himself he spoke with the high priest and spoke of revealing The Profitable to the public. To tell the world he was a gift for Sondet herself.
The church held a grand festival to celebrate such a decision. The public was noticeably shocked by such a creature and the nobles rubbed their hands at the thought of profits and blessings of the goddess. Drinks were had and the people called out prayers to The Profitable. The celebration was not universal though. Thugs envious of the obvious display of the dragon’s wealth charged with blade and truncheon. The Profitable looked at them disdainfully and took a great breath and unleashed his most powerful ability.
A golden roiling dust washed over the men and they began to scream. In moments the screams took the sound of coins falling. The people scattered in fear as the dust began to disappear into the wind. Where the thugs had stood sat piles of coins, the literal worth of their lives some said. Piles of bits and pence, not even a single stud of gold coin. The Profitable walked to the piles and clutched the piles to his chest and let out a great laugh. The crowd watched as he grew half a head taller and the coins were placed in the new scales that had grown. The festival was quiet in the wake of such a show of divine power. Nobles though took great notice and began to hatch plans to see if they could find a way to harness such an ability.
Fifty years passed, the capital had never seen such an abundance in wealth as every trade with another kingdom was in their favor. Goods were of higher quality, services were more skilled. The churches of other gods had less and less patrons as people flocked to Sondet. The Profitable had grown to such grand size that he no longer fit inside the church and instead lay upon its roof.
Every year he collected his tithe from the church, nobles bought his power to smite those that rose in rebellion. Then he looked down upon the people and with a roaring voice spoke, “Sondet has given me a Call. I shall return when it is done.” The people were dismayed.
Years passed as The Profitable was gone. Wealth did not continue to flow, some grew to resent being abandoned so easily. Outrage festered as nobles planned treacherously.
Forty more years had passed when The Profitable returned. He was not prepared, whatever he had done had drained him in some way. Returning to the church he found it had not raised a profit due to a vicious tax from the nobility. It was being charged for every little thing and people would not give them fair prices for food and goods. Under his leadership he struggled to turn such ill fortune around. However each year the church lost money. Foolishly The Profitable pulled coins from his scales and began buying supplies and grew lesser.
Nobles stopped using the church to negotiate deals. Shops no longer sought Sondet’s blessing seeing it as a fickle thing that could be taken away so easily. The nobles smiled.
In anger one day The Profitable stormed a noble's house. He demanded to be seen and be given an explanation on why they turned their backs upon the church. Dozens of guards fought against the dragon. They did not survive, it was going according to plan. The nobles in justified retribution demolished the church and slew its followers.
The Profitable went on a rampage in his mourning. He had put so much time, effort and magic into keeping the church alive. However each man he breathed upon left nothing in return and cost the dragon energy. They wore him down with wave upon wave of men and women. The capital began to burn but soon The Profitable was too tired to go on and was pinned to the ground with hundreds of ropes. His mouth tied shut with chains
A noble approached the dragon and clapped lightly. “We had time to think about you while you abandoned us. Your display at the festival of your reveal and how we experimented with your power told us what we needed to know. Your breath, your greatest weapon turns people into what they are worth. So we sunk all our guards into deep debt, charged them for every bit they were worth. It looks like it worked. This is what you get for abandoning the capital. We were almost ruined.”
More nobles laughed at him as guards began to pry coins from his scales. Each one cause The Profitable to weaken and he struggled to explain. No one listened to his dire warning. They reduced him to two bits. Some say they pried that away from him, some say he is locked in a safe in the capital. We may never know.
I will tell you though, the Call The Profitable had received put him on a secret journey. One where he saved the world. A story for another time.
The people were silent before more as I stopped playing and speaking. The mood somber at the end of the tale. I hoped they took the story to heart. The minds of people were often too short to realize the most important things. Still to this day I regret leaving The Profitable with the priests and nobles. I thought they would understand why we dragons must respond to the Call of the gods.
Deeply I hoped that The Profitable lived locked in a safe. Someplace I could find him and restore him to his glorious self. So he could help me with the coming calamity.
That night in the darkest hour I went to the fireplace. I reached inside its cold interior and let my hand become its true form. Scales the color of ancient parchment with claws that were inky black came to life and I sighed at the relief of effort I kept up constantly.
I reached inside and scratched the ancient runes that would let me hear any story told in front of this fireplace. I would need every bit of strength.