#dragonborns

hey soldier

most of this is what actually happened, including the dialogue, just a bit more dramatic

A carriage rumbles through the dark woods, the night descending upon the figures inside. No-One, Akmenous, GK, Felix, and NPC sat in the carriage, either staring out the windows to scan for approaching threats or chatting with the others. They had been invited to attend a party at NightRaven Mansion, which was the home of Lord Alrick. As they continued their journey through the evening, the carriage stopped with a loud thunk. They looked around, confused and cautiously stepped out to investigate. Upon further inspection, they found that a wheel had been broken off its axis, the other one having a large bite mark in it.

“This could only have been done by one thing…” Felix muttered, “Furrie- ack!” No-One had hit the red-colored dragonborn on the back of the head, making him stumble forward. 

“You idiot, why do you always think that? It could have been anything, don’t jump to conclusions.” The tiefling spoke in his usual cold and quiet tone, the annoyance evident in his tired expression. 

Akmenous suddenly spoke up, “He’s right, it could have been anything, we should find a way to get to NightRaven Mansion before it gets too late.” The tiefling crossed his arms with a huff, looking around. NPC notices a path in the woods, tugging on GK’s sleeve and pointing towards it. The deep blue dragonborn almost immediately realized what NPC was trying to say and translated for him. “Hey! NPC found a path over there!” He points towards the path, the rest of the party turning their heads.

“Well, that’s a start…” Felix murmured “We better start walking, or we’re gonna be late…we probably won’t run into whatever did this…right?”

The group made their way into the dark woods, tensing at almost every unidentifiable sound. After a few minutes, they found themselves at the base of a large cliff of stone, the trees surrounding them casting long shadows and looking like pitch-black figures in the dead of night.

“A dead end, huh?”

“Seems like it…”

“I’ll try to look around, hopefully we aren’t too far from the mansion…”

Felix climbed up the tallest tree nearby, being incredibly agile despite the size and weight of the dragonborn. He reached the top of the tree, looking around. Underneath his feet, the tree was creaking and leaning slightly.

“Hey! We’re pretty close! It’s about 20 feet that w-”

Creak…snap. The tree branch that was holding up the almost 230 pound dragonborn, having held him up for a while too long. 

“Ah, shit-”

“I got you!”

Crash

“Holy-”

GK caught Felix as he fell, the two of them falling to the ground, the tree, now splintered and fallen, landing right in front of No-One, who had not flinched, but was very clearly frozen in shock. He turned around, his purple eyes seething with rage “What the hell!? Why the fuck would you do that!? You know that a tree can’t possibly hold your weight, you idiot reptile!” 

Akmenous quickly heads over to No-One, trying to calm the other tiefling down, the two dragonborns getting up from the ground, amusement written on their face, but there was also a hint of guilt 

“Sorry, No-One…” Felix apologized.

“You better be sorry, you’re lucky I haven’t taken out my dagger-”

Akmenous patted his head, silently telling him that he could not do that, despite both of their naturally murderous urges. No-One grumbled, his hands still trembling slightly as he gripped the edges of his cloak as he spoke.

“You said the mansion is 20 feet west…?”

“Yeah, so pretty close.”

“Let’s go then…”

They continued onward to the mansion, Akmenous still trying to restrain and calm down his angry partner, keeping him far away from the dragonborns, who were now laughing at something, probably something stupid, knowing those two.

Crunch…snap…

The sound of branches breaking and growling ahead caught the attention of the party, who went forward to investigate. They found themselves in a large clearing, two direwolves facing another group. On top of the Direwolves rode two mushroom creatures with spears, controlling the Direwolves. Akmenous and No-One quickly jumped in, blocking the incoming attacks made by the wolves. NPC, Felix, and GK took up fighting stances, preparing to strike.

The Direwolves let out a synchronized low growl, baring their fangs as the mushrooms pointed their spears at the joined groups, as if to say You’re going down! They lunged and at the same time, there was a flash of green and red, one of the direwolves falling to the ground, a long slit in its throat. 

No-One cleans off his dagger, muttering to himself “Shit...I was going for the mushroom…”

“NOOOO!!!! DOGGY!!!” Felix cries in anguish, on his hands and knees reaching out to the body of the direwolf, the mushroom sitting dazed behind it.

Suddenly, a lady, more specifically a Eladrin druid, walks into the clearing, seemingly attracted to the site due to the commotion in the area. Everyone in the area freezes, including the remaining Direwolf and mushrooms. She walks around, noticing the Direwolf. She quickly knocks the mushroom off of the direwolf, kneeling down in front of the direwolf, whispering quietly. Akmenous leans closer to No-One, murmuring quietly, “What’s she doing?”

“I think she’s trying to tame it…”

“Really?”

“Mhm…”

There is a slight flash soon after, the Direwolf wagging its tail happily as it walks into the woods with the druid, the rest of the group, now forgotten, still standing there, confused. Once they manage to sort out the situation and introduce themselves to each other, they find that they were all going to the same party. Along with new peoples: Stitch, Meat shield, and JJ, they begin walking through the woods, making small-talk, exchanging spells, showing off artifacts, and telling each other how they got to that point.

About 15 minutes later, they reach the mansion, an old, but well-built building with warm lights and vines on the walls and fence, a figure of elegance and history. No-one notices the floating lights, determining them to be multicolored will o’ wisps, small light spirits that usually gather in large groups and feed on anguish, though these ones appear to be captured in lanterns. The party heads toward the entrance, where a well-dressed man, looking to be in his late 30’s, is greeting people and handing them something.

“Ah! Welcome to my humble abode! I am Lord Alrick, your host for this evening and we hope you enjoy the party! Here’s a token that you can use on the Wheel of fortune once you get inside. Dinner will be served, but feel free to have some light refreshments beforehand!”

Lord Alrick hands them the tokens, which look like small silver coins with Wheel of Fortune stamped upon each side. They find the Wheel of Fortune, joining the long line in front of it. After a few minutes, Akmenous is the first to spin. As he places the coin in the dispenser, the wheel automatically starts spinning, landing on…‘You will receive a random flashback! But from who?’ Akmenous’ eyes glow a pale blue color, the images coming to him clearly. He sees a lady, dressed in a fine green gown, in a garden, burying what looks to be a ring in the flowerbed of tulips. He snaps back, confused as to what the vision was, but also intrigued by the actions of the unknown lady. No-one goes next, also placing the coin down. As the wheel spins, he stares at it trying to figure out how it works. The wheel slows and lands on ‘Statue!’ 

“Statue?” No-one murmurs under his breath, the confusion and curiosity seeping through his otherwise blank expression. Suddenly, a statue appears with a poof! As the No-one and the others look at the statue, they notice it looks exactly like No-one. Abruptly, the statue’s mouth starts moving as it speaks, its voice booming throughout the room

“HE IS A NO-GOOD LIAR!”

“So that’s what it meant…” No-one facepalms, finally realizing the reason behind the statue. It was enchanted with a spell, having it not only talk, but only speak in insults towards the person it was assigned to. It also knew the location of said person anywhere in the same dimension.

The group moves on, noticing the archery taking place on the balcony. The arrows, which looked to be sticks, would splat into colored dots where the arrow landed. No-one, JJ, Stitch, and Meat Shield decide to enter, seeing who can get closest to the center of the target. They ready their arrows, aiming for the target… fwoosh…thwack, thwack. Two of the four arrows land on the target, No-one’s and Meat shield’s going off the balcony. As they are determining the winner, a squirrel with a large red dot on it passes by, the red from No-one’s arrow.

“HE’S ATTACKING THE SQUIRRELS NOW!!! HE’S ATTACKING DEFENSELESS FOREST CREATURES!!” The statue accused, causing some people to burst out laughing at the comment from the statue, Akmenous was among these people, laughing at the displeased expression on No-one’s face, which he viewed as a cute pout. 

Dong… A gong rings out into the rooms, announcing that the dining room was open for dinner.  The guests are ushered into the dining room, passing by the ballroom first. Suddenly, before one could even react, someone fell from the balcony, already dead. There, on the floor of the ballroom, in front of everyone, was the body of Lady Alrick.

Screams erupt throughout the ballroom as people realize what happened, panic and chaos making its way throughout the crowd along with the yelling of the statue from the other room, “SOMEONE DIED!? IT WAS PROBABLY THE TIEFLING’S FAULT!”. The guests quickly move away from the scene to the dining room, only Lord Alrick, No-One, Akmenous, Stitch, JJ, GK, NPC, Felix, and Meat shield staying behind. 

Lord Alrick stood there with a strangely calm demeanor, especially for someone that just saw his wife fall from the balcony, definitely deceased. He stared at the body for a little longer, his gaze fixed on her. He sighed, not in frustration or anger, but in disappointment, gesturing to the two guards on the sides, striding to the nearby drawing room, the guards hauling the body behind him.

“Huh…weird, you’d think he’d be more worried about his wife’s death…” Felix comments, a skeptical tone in his voice.

“Yeah…hm?” No-one notices something, moving closer to where the body had fallen. He kneels down, brushing his hand over the floor. When he lifts his hand up, he stares at the pungent yellowish powder slightly covering the tip of his finger. “Sulfur…”

“What?” Akmenous walks over, gently placing his hand on the other’s shoulder

“It’s sulfur residue.” No-One holds up his finger, showing the others the powder. “I think it was left by other infernal beings…”

“In-fernal…beings…?” Felix had walked over, his tail swaying behind him and knocking down a vase

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