"Stop! Go back, I think I saw sothing unusual!"
Just as I traveled from the inner gate to the outer via the battlents that created a nice little kill zone for invaders, Skull tugged on my taphysical and proverbial leash, my body hastening to obey as her insistence and enthusiasm bled into through our empathetic bond. Normally, such a feat was reserved for her to manhandle out of harm's way in the thick of combat, but I let it slide as one cannot both have such a bond while desperately clinging to agency of one's own actions.
"By Gulthar's eerie grin, that is [Paladin] Gamgrox!"
Even though Skull remained in my shadow, she still retained her perception of the world around her, and I could feel giddy excitent welling up inside her like an innocent schoolgirl being asked to a dance by her crush. She held not a hint of fear or nervousness, but I remained unsure how much of that was her own confidence and how much of that was from what boons Guthar had granted her to make her fearless.
"I guess I am missing the significance of seeing a [Paladin] in Berkerin," I replied silently through our bond.
"Not simply 'a' [Paladin], but 'the' [Paladin], specifically, the [Paladin] of Echludoro, the Light god of the Domains of Space and Ti. Each god only has one [Paladin] at any given ti. They make a [Divine Champion] like look like a chump as they can call upon the favor and power of their respective god easier than you or I breathe."
"An intriguing developnt," I admitted honestly. "All I see is a walking suit of thick plate armor with a heraldry-strewn tabard and cape on top that is ard to the teeth. How do you know it is said [Paladin] and why would the [Paladin] be here? Berkerin is a decently sized trade city, but it isn't as bustling as a capital city of a large kingdom."
"I have a Skill, [Find the Faithful], that allows to see other clergy mbers and devotees of Gulthar. The advanced version of it allows to see much the sa, but for those who follow other gods. So may be able to hide their affiliations and deceive my Skill, but a [Paladin] would not only be incapable of being so clandestine, but they also stand out like a beacon in the darkness to my Skill." I could feel her excitent climbing as she continued, my body almost atremble with her exuberance. "I have no idea why he would be here, but I am sure he will be the talk of the town before he even makes it to his lodgings. Are you sure we need to chase these kobolds?" she asked pensively, her desires tinged with curiosity to know more but loyalty to my pursuit.
"The [Paladin] will surely be here when we return. That will give ti for rumors to spread and for your temple to be formally briefed as to the nature of the visit from such a prestigious guest to the city. You will have your answers upon our return, no doubt."
We lingered for a mont as his entourage made their way into the city, the guards practically making an express lane for a seemingly unannounced visitor. I could only guess if soone dropped the ball and forgot to inform the guards that a [Paladin] would be arriving today or if said [Paladin] intentionally showed up unannounced, but I believed that a lot of people low and high in the pecking order of Berkerin would start sweating over the new arrival.
With the mont passed, I vaulted off the wall and began my journey towards where I had last detected the kobolds. Peddlers and hecklers along the road soon gave way to farms and small settlents as my legs devoured the distance to our destination. The last vestiges of winter still clung to the shadows in so places as its icy talons desperately tried to claw a safe haven for the remnants of once large snow drifts that had all but lted away. One field even had a snowman standing proud and defiant out in the open, unyielding to the sun and the pleasantly temperate weather that would surely be too much for it. Probably, so shenanigans involving Skills or Abilities kept it from lting and the carrot nose from being eaten by animals.
As we neared the edge of civilization, the beautiful and well-maintained farms gave way to the far more decrepit grazelands for all manner of herds. The buildings here were not exactly shabby, but certainly devoid of the pride and tender care that everyday, salt-of-the-earth farrs that lived closer to the city employed upon their own structures.
I had co to learn that such farms and pastures were intentional loss leaders, that their presence served as a buffer between civilization and the wilderness. Goblins as well as a host of different beasts and monsters are a vital part of a healthy ecosystem, and part of tolerating their existence is permitting a certain degree of raiding. Adventurers are called upon to cull any that get too rambunctious, but those critters hold territory that may otherwise be held by far more dangerous creatures. The governnt subsidizes those that live here so that more profitable farms can mostly go unmolested, but few actively seek to live out here in the boonies.
In short order, we reached the edge of civilization. Right where my stone brick road connected to the dirt road of the farmland, one could see a line in the pastures to either side, as if the animals that grazed there dared not to nibble even an inch past what was the territory proper of Berkerin. During my outings as an Adventurer, I had seen that a roughly circular shape of this boundary existed around the city, and it finally clicked that maybe so Skill from the Duke was involved, that there was a true and technical difference between civilization and the wilderness.
The implications of such would have to wait for rumination at a later date, for now my attention remained focused on my surroundings and the denizens of the forest just up ahead. Few animals, beasts, monsters, or loosely 'civilized' creatures, such as goblins, would dare approach in the forest, but hungry bellies could make for desperate gambits, and they only needed to get lucky once to make a al out of .
My speed picked up now that I ran on a higher-quality road. I had trimd back the vegetation and trees near the road such that the shoulder was about as wide as the road itself on either side. However, nature is rarely so easily bridled by my ambition, and a trim was well in order. Not breaking stride, I employed a Skill, [Ethereal Trimrs - Lesser] to trim back the plant life on either side as I ran along. The Greater version of the sa skill cost significantly more and was used for more serious landscaping, but this version suited just fine for maintenance.
Like an invisible wave in my wake, a clipping of grasses and limbs followed as I made my way to my cabin. Once there, I entered without any fanfare or subtlety, making an effort to appear that my presence in the area was simply routine and not an endeavor at stalking. There, I employed a few illusions to make it appear as if I were working at my desk in the corner. Simultaneously, I pulled out all the stops on employing my stealth Skills. Shrouded in shadow and supernatural silence, I made for a secret tunnel, appearing surreptitiously about fifty feet away from my cabin in a small patch of brush.
Using Shadow magic to obfuscate and obscure my presence physically had been a staple of my outings since I was a child. While said Skills and my personal aptitude had grown, so fancy new Skills had found their way into my kit as of late. Now, not only was I physically difficult to see, but one Skill in particular, [Non-Detectable Presence], manipulated the mind of an observer to either subtly force them not to look in my direction or for their mind to ignore detecting . Such was naturally contested by their own Skills, and even without them, a savvy individual could notice the pattern of not looking a certain direction while on their guard if I lingered in a nearby location for too long.
I backtracked at an angle to intercept the last known location of the kobolds, which in hindsight, was an area I had avoided going to despite having traveled up, down, and all around this northern mountain. Sothing felt suspicious as to how I had never visited the exact spot, with a handy map Skill clearly showing a blank spot perhaps two miles in diater that I had not explored. Thinking back, I always had made justifications to myself as to why I would not go there, and those reasons all felt so ludicrous now even if I only vaguely rembered them. Not only was my mory pretty good in those days, but I felt as though sothing had actively manipulated into forgetting the fine details.
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As I approached closer, intrusive thoughts implored to go away. Thoughts of 'I should go see what the [Paladin] is up to', 'it is too dangerous to go this deep into the forest', and 'I am heading in the wrong direction' all nagged it with increasing frequency and intensity as so foreboding pressure exerted itself upon my will.
"Do you feel it too, Skull, that insidious desire to turn back for one reason or another?"
"Indeed I do," she replied as anger, her anger, welled up inside and stoked my own. "Sothing clearly does not want us here. All the more reason to press on and give it a taste of our ire for daring to manipulate us like this."
I tended to agree with that sentint, and after another hundred paces at most, I paused. Up ahead, reality appeared to be flawed, as if a skilled painter had created the landscape on one giant canvas and plopped it down for us to view. However, the shadows and lighting were not quite perfect, and at tis the colors and shadings were a tad too lacking to be believable. As I cautiously approached, the illusion beca more apparent, as if a great do had been placed in the landscape. I lightly tapped it with a stick I pulled out of my pocket dinsion, and the air rippled as the impact propagated in a wave along the do.
"Woah! I could sense your apprehension, but I didn't see anything wrong until you touched… whatever it is that you touched," exclaid Skull in surprise through our bond. "How did you even know it was there?"
"I could see sothing off about reality. Given that I have Skills for both creating and detecting illusions, and you do not, I am inclined to believe that this is so high quality illusion on a grand scale. The mana cost to maintain this must be staggering," I replied with wonder in my ntal voice to her. Good thing that tone and other nuances of sound still get communicated through such telepathy.
"Do you want combat ready, or should I stay hidden in your shadow?"
"Stay hidden for now. I don't want to fight, and we will retreat if spotted. This is purely reconnaissance, for we don't know who or what lives here. They have to have so serious combat potential if they can make an illusion like this."
I could feel Skull's sentint of agreent, and though one final and seemingly desperate assault on my will urged to turn back, I powered through such temptation. I expected so manner of resistance, but nothing of the sort happened as I casually passed through. Surely so sort of ward had been pushing away ntally, and now I would wager a few coppers that another would alert those sequestered within the barrier as to my presence unless my Skills allowed to slip by unnoticed.
I don't know what I expected, but upon pushing through, I can say for sure that I was surprised to see very few trees and indeed a large lake taking up most of the space of the two mile or so width of the do of the illusion. How such a lake went unknown to for so long, especially in idle chit-chat from other Adventurers or locals, will forever remain a mystery. Whatever trees that had once been here had long since been eradicated, with only a sparse sampling of bushes and saplings infringing upon the otherwise short grasses and flowers. The sudden juxtaposition from forest to lakeside made suspect so hillbilly with a crossbow would soon show up to tell to get off his lawn.
I stood uphill of the lake, with the landscape sloping downward gently in such a way that I could see much of the lakeside without the terrain itself breaking my line of sight. Not even two hundred paces in front of and to my left I could plainly see a drake sleeping inside a magic circle which glowed upon a smooth stone dais. You know the kind, the ones with all the fancy lines and glyphs everywhere to power so big badda-boom magic. The circle, not the drake, but after a second of thinking about it, the drake probably supplied magical energy to the circle. Now if you ever see a drake made of magic lines and runes, maybe drink a little less of the punch at Gnorween parties.
I sent one [Overseer] to check out the drake, with several more making their way around the lake. I had to be careful, for doubling the distance of an [Overseer] quadrupled its persistent mana cost, so they didn't stop to closely inspect anything. Through them, I discovered four more such drakes, all configured in a pentagram shape. On the right side of the lake, which would be the side uphill on the beginning of the slope of the mountain, I could see a waterfall. And, like any good waterfall, it had a cave behind it, complete with a stone door.
Adventurers don't exactly hand out a field book on things you can see in the wilderness, but in the absence of such a monster manual or bestiary, idle chats shared around a table with mugs of ale in hand are the baseline of education for most young Adventurers. Sotis one had to separate fact from fiction, but at the very least the chanics about dragons were fairly well understood, and between such tales and actual books, I had a decent understanding of what to watch out for from the perspective of an Adventurer. Sadly, even though I myself am a dragon, I didn't have any instinctual knowledge of the finer points of dragon society, but I can cover the rough parts of what I knew then.
The smallest of dragons are whelps. Stubby limbs and wings, big heads with big eyes, they are designed to wield the insidious weapons of cuteness as their basic form of defense. They are hardly dangerous in and of themselves, and even the largest of them could sit in a person's hands put together. However, all evidence suggested that anything a whelp perceives was instantly also perceived by its parent. As such, one needed to first and foremost avoid all whelps when raiding a dragon's lair if one planned to use the elent of surprise. They are about as smart as a child of five or so years, so they are easily tricked. They do handle nial chores, so when not patrolling, they typically were hauling one thing or another.
Next up were drakes, roughly the size of horses. They tend to act as long range scouts, flying high and looking down upon the territory of their parent dragon. They also form the first line of defense, serving to interdict intruders while help arrives. Even a Gold Adventurer on the lower end of the scale could probably win against a single drake, but the drakes are not the dangerous part.
Wyverns would be the tricky part. Hulking brutes compared to drakes, notable for having a single pair of legs and wings where their forward set of legs would be, much like a bird, whereas most other dragons would opt for the quadruped form. an, angry, brave, and rather tough, a more seasoned Gold Adventurer would be needed to take one on with even odds as to which would win.
All three of these dragons are often called False Dragons or Lesser Dragons. They are infertile and not overly burdened with intelligence. However, they work well in groups and could easily rout a group of Adventurers before any raiding of hoards could comnce. The foolish underestimate the whelps, for while they can't fight very well, their adorableness is supernatural and distracting, and even hardened murderers hesitate to harm them. Their cuteness can almost enthrall the unwary, like moths to fla, buying ti for drakes and wyverns to take one out.
Now, with no whelps in sight and the nearby drakes being busy maintaining the illusion, circumstances deviated heavily from the norm. However, the odds of the residential dragon being very large or powerful would be rather small, as there would be far more drakes around in support. However, where there is one dragon, there are more, for the True Dragons tend to live in small groups. I could probably expect anywhere from two to two dozen of them, but the lower end of that scale would be most probable.
Having not moved an inch since passing through the barrier, I spent a half hour scouting with my [Overseers] while formulating possible scenarios of how it could play out. Sadly, I found nothing else of note, and feeling fully confident that I would be foolish to rush in with just Skull and myself, I had a pretty good idea of what to do next. Just to be safe, I asked Skull for her opinion.
"Prudent to not rush in. We don't know enough about how many dragons there are to make an assault. However, I believe there to only be two or three True Dragons here given the size of the territory and the number of Drakes. Even if a Marquess class dragon made this small space his ho, we could take him in a fight if he were alone. However, even a Count would still have other dragons with him, and if we try to peel the onion, so to speak, he will fly off with his hoard while his underlings hold us off." She paused for a mont, as if thinking, before she continued. "Chooka would know more. She has handled most of the official requests for dragon hunts in the past, and she would know more about what to expect. I think we should consult her before we decide on anything."
"I am glad we are of the sa opinion on that front. Let's sneak along ho and see if we can't figure this out with her guidance."
Like a thief in the night, we slipped away quite as could be. Not two paces behind , I passed through the illusion do. I used a Trap skill to place an unard and covert beacon that most likely only I would be able to detect. I would use it later when I returned to find my way. Worst case, I arm it from a distance and detonate it to create a flare, but I had hoped to not need to resort to such desperate asures.
I made my way back to my cabin the sa way I had co, passing again through the secret tunnel. Dispelling the illusion of at work, I made my way ho, cleaning up the trimmings I had made on my journey out here, my trip ho unbothered by any creatures as I completed my rather legitimate-looking work. With the sun rather low in the sky, I made my way ho to Chooka, and I could feel the excitent and tension in the air from the not-so-hushed whispers and gossip of the locals as they all talked about one thing.
The [Paladin] of Echludoro had co to Berkerin.
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