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(10/07 -12/07)

20 March 11374 - After the battle with Bankoran Stormtroopers at the drilling platform in the cypress swamps, the RoachKings flew back to the Grey River (which the locals call the Mis'sip,) then followed the river southeast, back to N'Orleón.  As they neared the city, they saw a number of riverboats that had been damaged by the recent hurricanes, many of which were under repair in docks along the riverbanks.  One such riverboat was a cargo vessel with a familiar name on its hull: "DaJaro Exports Limited - Qam Pah."  When they got back to Ozone's airship in the center of town, they informed Salád that they had seen his surname on a riverboat.  Salád recognized the company name as the enterprise of his uncle Raja, who exported textile goods down the Grey River from Qam Pah to N'Orleón.  Salád decided to visit his uncle Raja, and several RKs accompanied him, including Shady, By-Tor, Raal & Draken.

Raja DaJaro was busy overseeing the repairs to his boat, but he took the time to welcome his long-lost nephew & his associates.  When all the pleasantries were over, he told the RKs that he had heard rumors from other riverboat captains that the recent storms had awakened the Grey River Drake.  Apparently, the drake was once again attacking riverboats & sinking them.  Since the hurricanes had badly damaged Raja's riverboat & he had put everything he could afford into repairs, he could not chance losing the boat entirely now.  He offered to hire the RoachKings to escort his riverboat back upriver to his home port of Qam Pah.  They accepted the offer and guaranteed Raja that his boat would make it to Qam Pah in one piece.

While on the riverboat, Raja gave the RKs a tour, showing them that his cargo vessel was equipped with unique devices & mechanisms that made it extremely efficient for river travel.  For instance, it incorporated gear & pulley assemblies on the oars, making it much easier for the crew to row upstream.  Of course, these devices intrigued By-Tor, who wanted to know more.  In response to By-Tor's questions, Raja introduced the RKs to the chief mechanician on board - a halfling named Nucleon Stormbrow.  "Nuke," as he preferred to be called, was of course busy with repairs to the boat's more advanced mechanisms, which struck By-Tor as well ahead of their time.  The halfling showed an amazing talent for mechanical devices and his knowledge of advanced machines fascinated By-Tor.  In addition, Nuke had a unique knack for pulling just the right tool from one of his many pockets at exactly the time it was needed.  By-Tor recognized him as a fellow lover of gadgets who might even have a few skills that By-Tor himself didn't have.  Nuke certainly was quick to fashion a gadget or tool to get a particularly difficult job done.  Not since meeting Commander Montgomery Scott of Starfleet had By-Tor been so intrigued by another man's skill with machines.  Afterward, the RKs went back to their camp at Ozone's airship, where they recuperated for a day or two, then awaited word from Raja DaJaro.

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25 March - Once the repairs were completed on his riverboat, Raja notified the RKs that he was ready to depart for Qam Pah.  The RKs boarded the riverboat and the vessel set out up river at a modest 5 knots (relative speed.)

March 3 - As the RKs suspected, they did indeed run into the river drake on their way up the Grey River; in fact, they encountered several.  First, at 5 days into the trip, they fought off a single river drake about a third of the way up river to Qam Pah.  During this brief run-in, Raal pierced both of the drake's eyes with spears and By-Tor dished out heavy damage with his mace, killing it easily.  The RKs weren't very impressed with the beastie, and Raja pointed out that this drake didn't seem to measure up to all the hype in the legends of old.  They decided that this might not be the actual drake of old, but an offspring, so they remained vigilant.

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(2/22/08)  Their vigilance paid off when the riverboat was attacked by several more river drakes just 10 hours further upstream.  The RKs anticipated the attack when they saw unusual ripples in the river.  Raja called all hands on deck; even Nuke appeared topside.  One of the river drakes flew up out of the water and charged at By-Tor as he stood on the command deck with Raja.   By-Tor held his ground and awaited the drake's approach with his mace at the ready, but when the beast got within reach and By-Tor swung his weapon, he slipped on the deck and accidentally threw his mace overboard.  On the up side, the drake missed By-Tor because of the stumble, although it still bit a chunk out of the railing on the command deck of the riverboat.  Raja, Shady, Nuke & others attacked the beast, but none were able to sufficiently injure it.  However, this turned out to be a distraction; another drake flew up out of the water and grabbed a crewman from the fore deck of the riverboat as the RKs battled the drake aft.  It dragged the man under the water and tried to take him away downstream, but it didn't get far.  Shady flew after the beast just above the water's surface, then teleported to a position just ahead of it and grabbed the crewman, then teleported him out to a position well above the river.  Yet another drake tried to eat the crewman in the crow's nest, but the RKs killed it.   When there was just one drake left, Shady performed a "Control Creature" on it, bringing it under his control.  He ordered it to tow the riverboat upstream to Qam Pah.

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(4/4/08)The remainder of the voyage up the Grey River was fairly uneventful.  However, they did notice half-ogres among the populations of the small riverside villages in the area (verified by Shady's aura detection.)  The RKs briefly considered stopping in the river port town of Tum Ki when they saw that there was a festival going on that included a cage fighting tournament.  However, By-Tor reminded them that this would be an unnecessary distraction from their primary goal of getting Raja's boat upstream - and then hunting down a blue dragon in the desert mountains of Al Qam.  From there, the drake towed the riverboat the rest of the way to Qam Pah and the RKs enjoyed a relaxing trip for the rest of the journey (the drake obviously kept any other river creatures at bay.)  As they approached Qam Pah, Raja suggested that Shady get rid of the drake, since it would frighten people in the port.  Shady asked Nucleon to cast a lightning bolt on him (it turned out to be a double-damage bolt,) which he absorbed for extra energy and then put the drake to sleep.

8 April - Once the riverboat reached Qam Pah intact, the RKs had honored their contract with Raja DaJaro. He offered to pay them according to their agreement, but they refused his money, considering it a family matter.  Nucleon Stormbrow decided to end his employment with Raja and travel with the RoachKings, so he took his severence pay and bid the elder DaJaro goodbye.  He left town with By-Tor and Shady, traveling south-southwest toward the mountains in search of a blue dragon.  The 2 RKs flew by gryphon back, Nucleon used a "Hawk Flight" spell.   Meanwhile, Salád visited his uncle's home and had dinner with his family, reminiscing about old times with his aunt & uncle, as well as some cousins.

After flying south by southwest for several hours (or about 160 miles,) the RoachKings saw a caravan in the distance; it was heading north on the main road along the Kelnor Mountains.  The caravan was moving very quickly and the people looked to be in a panic.  A moment later, By-Tor noticed a heat signature in the sky just beyond the caravan; switching to telescopic view, he saw that it was a small blue dragon carrying a camel.  Nucleon saw it as just a glint in the sky.  Shady, By-Tor & Nucleon hurried after the blue beast, passing by the panicked caravan travellers.  After giving chase to the dragon for a short distance, the RKs watched in surprise as it dove for the ground and plunged into the sand, diving below the surface as if it were water.  It left behind only a still wake and a dead camel.

The RKs landed near the spot where the dragon had plunged into the sand.  As they approached to try various detection techniques, the blue beast sprang back up out of the earth and spat lightning at By-Tor, who skillfully dodged the bolt.  Returning the sentiment, By-Tor lunged at the dragon, attempting to grab its tail and wrestle it from the air, but the dragon swung its tail to avoid him.  Shady let loose one of his new "Black Lightning" spells, but the dragon dodged the black bolt with minimal effort.  Nucleon fired a grav pistol at the dragon, but it didn't seem to have any useful effect, so he quickly drew out to a manna blaster.  He fired, but the dragon dodged the blast.

(5/30/08) As By-Tor & Nucleon were busy grappling & blasting the dragon respectively, Shady went into deep psionic concentration.  His mind searched the dragon's surface thoughts, then dove deeper into the beast's consciousness.  Shady brought to bear everything he had ever learned about the nature of psionic abilities & natural magic aptitude.  He focused all his will & power into a single gargantuan feat of psionic intrusion that overwhelmed the dragon's will and stretched his own mental abilities beyond their limits.  When the mental contest was over, the dragon was left with absolutely no aptitude for the use of magic, and Shady was left with an incredible new psionic ability.  The mental attack jolted the small blue dragon, taking him aback and causing him to shake his head in pain & roar at the top of his lungs.  It released a bolt of lightning from its mouth at Shady, who dodged out of the path of the lightning in an acrobatic leap.

Meanwhile, By-Tor ran up to the dragon from behind.  He grabbed the dragon's tail with ease, but lost his footing in the sand and got tossed 12 yards for his trouble.  Luckily, he managed to land on his feet.  As the dragon continued to cringe in pain due to the mental attack, Shady went invisible and By-Tor once again made a running charge at the dragon.  Using the dead camel as a springboard, By-Tor grabbed the dragon's tail and brought it to the ground with a WHUMP, causing it substantial damage.

At that very second, a single human figure blinked into existence not far from the melee.  He was an elderly gentlemen obviously from somewhere in the Delmoric Alliance.  He had a long grey mustache & goatee and he was dressed in multi-colored silk robes and a hat with a long colorful tail.  He waved a hand nonchallantly and the dragon was immediately engulfed in a stasis field just as By-Tor released the tail to get a better grip.  The old man said simply, "So sorry, I cannot allow you to kill this dragon."  Shady shot a black lightning bolt at him, but he easily dodged it with an acrobatic leap that made him seem as agile as someone a fraction of his apparent age.  Enraged, Shady ran up to the dragon and reached for its jaw.  In his soft, yet strangely audible voice, the old man said simply, "I would not do that if I were you."  By-Tor suggested, "Shady, let's find out who this guy is," then turned to the old man and asked straightforwardly, "Who are you?"

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(6/1/08) The old man replied, "My name is Hu Shi Hau, Dai Fu.  I am Professor Emeritus of Temporal Philosophy at University of Tu In in Imperial Kingdom of Samuso." 

Nucleon, having pondered the nature of the stasis field surrounding the small blue dragon, recognized it for what it was.  He bowed to the old man, pointed at the stasis field and asked, "How did you do that?"  The old man simply smiled and said, "Ancient Delmoric secret."

Shady realized this was a man of honor & breeding, so he cooled his approach a little.  He introduced himself and By-Tor as RoachKings and introduced Nucleon as their friend & associate.  Then he apologized for the lighting bolt and asked why they couldn't kill the dragon. 

The old man responded respectfully, "Ah, I have heard of you.  Most honored to meet you."  He bowed.  "So sorry, but I cannot allow death of this dragon.  He may hold key to finding irreplaceable item he or one of his kin has taken in recent attack on caravan here.  My interest is in finding lair of dragon or his master.  I seek return of ancient artifact taken from recent caravan through this area.  Investigator hired by myself to find this item was among caravan, on his way to deliver item to me.  He and many others killed by blue dragon and my item lost."  He paused a moment, seemingly for dramatic effect, then said, "The Hourglass of Epoche." 

The RKs discussed the situation with the old man.  Shady & By-Tor were adament that this dragon should be killed, but understood his need to find the lost artifact.  The old man replied, "I would be most honored to have assistance of legendary heroes, RoachKings.  If you are determined to kill this beast, perhaps you have other way of finding his master's lair?" 

"Indeed I do," Shady said.  "Searching and finding is a specialty of mine."  Of course, Shady also cast a "Sense Foes" spell, just to be sure this old man wasn't an enemy in disguise.  The old man mentioned that he had one other path of investigation he could pursue: he could seek the advice of the merchant who had financed the lost caravan, one Salar DaJaro.  Shady said, "Y'know, he's the father of a friend of mine & fellow RoachKing."  The old man seemed intrigued.

Nucleon spoke up just then, saying "Professor Hau, if you can release the dragon from the stasis field for a minute, I can read his mind." 

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As Nucleon prepared his "Mind-Search" spell, the old man replied, "So sorry, honorable sir. I must respectfully correct you in matter of my name and title. In my culture, family name is spoken first, followed by given name, then title.  I hold advanced degrees in both Temporal Mechanics and Philosophy, thus the title 'Dai Fu,' or in your language, 'Doctor.'"   He paused a moment (as if to see if anyone got it yet,) then offered, "I am properly addressed as 'Doctor Hu.'"  Everyone finally acknowledged him by his proper name and title.

By-Tor readied himself to grab the dragon by the tail again, and Dr. Hu released the stasis field.  The dragon was still reeling from Shady's psionic attack and the physical damage, so Nucleon had no real resistance to his mind search.  He discerned that the lair of the Suzerain (leader of blue dragons in this area) was 67.3 miles west-southwest of this location.   Dr. Hu asked By-Tor to release the dragon's tail and he reactivated the stasis field.

When Nucleon realized what this meant - that they would be facing a huge, ancient blue dragon - he searched his memory and his pockets for anything that might give him an extra advantage in such a situation.  As he patted himself down, his hand came upon the buckle of a unique belt he had engineered some time ago and he realized that it was perfect for the job.  The belt was fashioned with overlayed layers of truelsilver and it magically transformed into a complete suit of truesilver battle armor with robotic/cybernetic enhancements.  The suit had a "heads up display" helmet & full life support and gave the halfling extra strength & jumping ability, as well as incredible protection from damage.  As Nucleon smiled to himself about his re-discovery, everyone heard a distant voice call out in salutation.

"Greetings again, all!  My, what an interesting scenario."  It was Salád, flying in on a magic carpet provided to him by his uncle Raja.  After telling them how he came to have the fine quality flying carpet, Salád asked, "Who whomped on the little dragon?"  Shady told him it was By-Tor & himself.  "And who's the old wise man?"  Shady introduced him to Dr. Hu.  Nucleon also introduced himself to Salád, since they had never officially met aboard Raja's riverboat (Salád had spent all of his time in Raja's quarters, studying.)  Salád told Nucleon that Raja had spoken highly of him; Nucleon acknowledged that Salád's uncle was a good man.   After all the introductions were made, the RKs explained to Salád that they now knew the location of the Suzerain (leader) of the blue dragons.  Everyone agreed that they should make their way there immediately; Salád was eager to see his mother & father, but knew that bringing news of the dragon's demise would make the homecoming especially sweet.  Dr. Hu told them that he couldn't fly, but that he had another means of transportation and would meet them there.  He then blinked out of existence much as he had appeared earlier.  Salád remarked, "That's a neat trick." 

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After Dr. Hu left, the RKs decided to calm & question the people in the panicked caravan just north of them.  As the RKs approached the caravan, Salád called out to them, "Peace!   We bring aid!"  They slowed their hurried pace and looked back, seemingly curious, yet anxious about the return of the dragon.  The RKs approached in a non-threatening manner (as best they could manage, anyway,) and as the caravan came to a stop, one man came forward. 

"I am Naison Haisur. I am the lead wrangler of this caravan.  We have lost 3 of our number and 2 camels worth of goods.  Who are you?"

Salád replied, "My sincere condolences for the loss of your people and of your goods.  Pray be calm, Naison Haisur - we have dealt much damage to the dragon and seek to make this place safe for caravans, especially because my family is heavily involved in the trade.

To this, the camel wrangler retorted, "But dragons are not felled even with 'much damage!'" 

Salád calmly continued, "I am Salád DaJaro, and my companions are muy pelligroso."  Althought he had no idea what "muy pelligroso" meant, Naison Haisur seemed to recognize the name "DaJaro" and he asked if the merchant Salar DaJaro had sent him to rid the caravan route of these blue beasts.  Salád  replied, "The honorable Salar knows not of my presence, but it is in my family's interest to attempt precisely that." 

Just then, another look of sudden recognition passed over Naison Haisur's face and he asked, "Do you mean the Salád DaJaro?  And are these your associates, the RoachKings?"

"The same," said Salád.

At that, Naison Haisur exclaimed "Aha!  Perhaps there is reason to have hope after all!"

Salád replied, "Hope indeed, good man - and good days ahead.  Let us share water together and converse of the route."  The caravaners answered all the RKs' questions, although they didn't have much new info for them.  Neither they nor the other caravan they had recently passed had encountered any other creatures or bandits.  They did convey, however, that the Merchant Coalition of Benghaz had established a reward for the killing of any dragon along the trade routes.  The caravaners also made sure the RKs had plenty of water & food for their journey to the dragon's lair.  When they had finished their conversations, Salád bid them farewell and said, "Keep faith in a brighter future, good Naison Haisur."

Shady added, "Count on us to have everything taken care of," and with that, the RKs were off. 

The RoachKings flew up to a height of about 250' - 300' above the desert, Shady & Nucleon using shadow wings, By-Tor with his battlesuit's flight pack, and Salád on his flying carpet.  As they flew up out of the lowlands into the mountains, they looked back to see the view at left.

After flying just a few miles west-southwest into the Kelnor Mountains, the RKs spotted a column of smoke rising from a ravine about 20 miles up ahead.  Shady immediately scanned the area with psionic "Detect Life," but sensed no lifeforms from that distance.  Upon investigating, they found that the smoke was coming from a narrow crevasse among the rocky hilltops.  They made preparations and flew into the crevasse, 2 from each end.  Once there, they discovered that the smoke was coming from the mouth of a cave.  Shady teleported into the cave to scout the situation out.  Of course, he found himself surrounded by smoke, but he smelled burnt flesh and realized that it reminded him a little of cooked snake.  By-Tor followed Shady into the cave, while Nucleon & Salád remained outside the cave entrance & discussed the fact that they had not gone far enough yet for this to be the main blue dragon's lair.  Nucleon confirmed that they were still 40 miles or more from the location he had gleaned from the mind of the small blue dragon. 

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Inside the cave, recalling Kendril's earlier research, Shady remembered that blue dragons were the sworn enemies of nagas.  By telepathic link, Salád reminded everyone that nagas have treasure, but quickly realized that this might not be true if blue dragons had any say in the matter.  Still, the RKs decided to fly in and check it out.  Salád activated his Phantasmal Armor before he & Nuke flew into the cave to join Shady & By-Tor.  They all flew deeper into the twisting cave, the smoke & the smell getting worse as they went, until they arrived in a cul-de-sac.  Shady still detected no signs of life, and Salád sensed no danger other than that of smoke inhalation.  After searching around, they found the charred remains of a naga and some unidentifiable smoldering wooden items.  Shady cleared the air with a quick spell so they could get a good look at everything, but nothing appeared to be of any use to them.  However, Salád searched through his memory and realized that naga flesh is used in some knowledge-based magic potions, so he collected some samples.  Of course, Nucleon couldn't resist asking him how the naga meat tasted  The RKs then flew out of the naga's cave and continued on their way toward the blue dragon's lair.

(7/6/08 R) Meanwhile, about 25 miles to the east-northeast, Draken, Kendril & Standing Bear approached the caravan that had been attacked earlier by the young blue dragon.  Once again, Naison Haisur greeted the RKs and introduced himself as lead camel wrangler for the caravan.  They introduced themselves as RoachKings and Naison told them that Salád DaJaro & some other RKs had assisted them earlier when they were attacked by a blue dragon.   He said that they had told him the beast was dead, but that they had sought to defeat its master, a greater blue dragon.  Draken simply replied, "That sounds like them."  Naison told them what direction the other RKs had flown, and they headed off in the same direction.  Within minutes, they passed by the smoldering cave of the dead naga; the other RKs were already gone, but they knew they were on the right track.

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After flying about 40 miles further to the west-southwest, Shadwostorm, By-Tor, Salád & Nucleon approached a pyramid-shaped mountain, which looked like this:

Nucleon confirmed that this location matched the information he had gotten from the small dragon.  Shady & By-Tor recalled from Kendril's research that blue dragons tend to allow shifting sand to cover the entrance to their lair since they can burrow through it easily.  The RKs discussed their various options for finding the entrance to the lair.  By-Tor reminded everyone that blue dragons also have the ability to create illusory terrain.  Shady actively tried to disbelieve any of the terrain around the mountain, to no avail.  Salád half-jokingly suggested turning himself into a giant badger and digging through the sand, but instead used his illusory expertise to look for a hidden escape tunnel on the mountain.  He, too, had no success.  Shady used his psionic "Detect Life" ability, but saw no unusual signs of life.  Of course, he realized he would have more luck at a closer range than their current 2-mile distance, so they all moved closer to the mountain. 

When the RKs got within 200 yards of the pyramid mountain, Shady began to notice a slight static in his psionic senses and he urged everyone to stop.  Although he still didn't detect any unusual life signs, he sensed that the psionic static was coming from the mountain and he asked that they hold at 200 yards.  Shady said, "I think we're here.  Full armor.  I am sensing an interference to my psionics from within this mountain.  I suspect a psionic dragon."   Nucleon activated his truesilver power suit; Salád thought that was a cool effect, so he made his Phantasmal Armor look just like it.  Salád also made sure he had his RK mind crown activated for protection from psionic attacks, since he also detected significant danger from this mountain.

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Nucleon then cast a "Wizard Eye" spell, which he performed with such skill that the resulting incorporeal eye moved 3 times faster than normal.  He quickly sent it into the mountain to recon the interior & try to find an entrance.  Of course, he initially saw nothing but solid rock, but as he moved the eye lower into the mountain, he found a passageway.

Meanwhile, the RKs all moved 50 yards closer to the mountain. As they did so, Shady's psionic static got worse. He attempted to locate the specific source of the static by psionically triangulating as he moved closer to the mountain.  He sensed that the static was emanating from a location near ground level, in the center of the mountain. 

Nucleon began moving his Wizard Eye through the passageway inside the mountain, working his way back toward himself, looking for an entrance. It soon became apparent to Nucleon that his Wizard Eye was moving through a maze; he often had to backtrack from a dead end to find a through path. Of course, he could have sent the Wizard Eye through the rock, but he wanted to track down the right path through the maze. After about 20 minutes of searching through the labyrinth and making mental notes about the turns he had made, Nucleon's Wizard Eye found a passageway buried in sand. He pushed the eye through about 20' of sand and it emerge from the mountain into the open air. He announced to the RKs that he had found the sand-covered entrance, and that it was located in the funnel-shaped recess on the near side of the mountain.

As the RKs discussed possible ways of burrowing through the sand into the maze of tunnels, Salád mentioned that Dr. Hu had said he would meet them here. Shady agreed and wondered where the good doctor was. Just then, as if on cue, the RKs heard a strange, grating noise coming from the top of a small, rocky hill nearby. They turned to see something materializing on the hilltop. It appeared to be a fully enclosed sedan chair - Salád recognized the style as that used by nobles in the Delmoric Alliance. When the sedan had materialized completely, the door opened and Dr. Hu stepped out. The RKs told him what they had discovered about the entrance to the maze of passages under the mountain and they asked him if he had any way of getting them through 20' of sand. Dr. Hu replied, "Honorable heroes, I have some bad news. The teleporting function of my SEDAN does not work within this mountain. I cannot enter by this method." This information, combined with the psionic static he had already experienced, led Shady to assume his own psionic teleporting ability wouldn't work in the mountain, either.

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At that point, Nucleon started to think his sonic blaster might be the best option, so he fumbled through his oversized pockets and drew out the gizmo. The RKs were all for it, but as he prepared to fire the blaster and shift the sand aside (and Salád prepared to listen with care so that he could mimic the effect later,) Nucleon realized how loud it would be & he thought better of it. He didn't want to announce their arrival to any sentient beings inside the mountain. After further discussions, Shady & Nucleon came up with a better idea. Nucleon would shift the sand with a "Shape Earth" spell, creating a 5'-diameter tube, and Shady would blast the sand with a wide-angle bolt of "Black Lightning," solidifying it into glass. It was risky, but they decided to go with it.

As they approached closer to the mountain to get within range for their spells, Shady's psionic static got worse, but it was not yet debilitating.  Nucleon cast his spell and successfully shifted the sand, but Shady's spell produced limited results.   Only about half the sandwall was turned to glass, so the RKs quickly flew through the tube single-file before it filled in again with sand.  Most of them got sand in their cracks & crevasses, but they all made it through OK.  The sand tube filled back in completely after just a few minutes.

Once inside, the RKs noticed the distinct smell of ionization in the air, and Shady's psionic abilities were now slightly impaired by the psi-static.  They were in a chamber with a tunnel leading out the far side.  The walls appeared to be solid excavated stone (just as Nucleon had described them earlier.)  Nucleon sent his Wizard Eye back into the maze to scout further and find a way through.  While he concentrated on the Eye, searching through the maze of tunnels at breakneck speed, Shady extended the RK telepathic link to include Nucleon.  Eventually, the Wizard Eye found a pathway that climbed upward, then passed through several large veins of gemstone deposits, and emerged in the floor of a large chamber of interest.  The wall behind the entrance was glassy smooth and curved forward on either side & above.  Another concave wall stood directly in front of the Wizard Eye as it entered, so Nucleon moved the Eye around it to the left.  That's when he saw a huge blue dragon standing in a larger chamber beyond, looking directly at (& stepping toward) his Wizard Eye.  Nucleon immediately dispelled the Wizard Eye.  Of course, the RKs knew what he had seen because of their telepathic link.

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(7/6/08  At about that time, Draken, Kendril & Standing Bear arrived at the pyramid-shaped mountain.  Although there was no immediate sign of the other RoachKings, they saw Dr. Hu's SEDAN on the small hilltop.  As they got closer to the mountain, they began to sense the other RKs through their telepathic link.  Draken said hello and the other RKs directed him to the sand pile over the tunnel entrance.  Meanwhile, underground, Salád cast some preparatory spells, including a Special Knowledge Illusions Counterspell on everyone and "Invisibility" & "Phantasmal Armor" on himself.    Once there, Draken saw a sizeable dip in the sand above the entrance and he decided to blast his way through with a cosmically-powered "Bolt of Energy" spell.  He advised those RKs on the inside of the chamber to stand back from the sandpile, then blasted a tunnel through the sand with such energy that it solidified into glass tube.  Draken, Kendril & Standing Bear then flew in with no trouble.

Everyone agreed that they needed to make haste to the chamber of the blue dragon.  Even if it hadn't seen Nucleon's Wizard Eye, Draken's energy blast had been a fair announcement of their presence.  Nucleon said he could lead them through the labyrinth (remembering where his Wizard Eye had gone.)  Shady took the point and they all flew into the maze - only to stop after the very first left turn when Nucleon realized that the tunnels didn't seem the same as he had seen through his Wizard Eye.  Shady & Salád both suspected illusion at work and actively tried to disbelieve the apparently misplaced wall, but the stone stubbornly remained real.  Shady suggested someone cast another Wizard Eye spell, so Draken did just that.  After searching through the new maze for about 22 minutes with his Wizard's Eye, Draken had an overview of the labyrinth and knew how to reach the same uphill tunnel Nucleon had followed into the dragon's chamber.  With only 10-12 minutes left on Salád's Counterspells, the RKs flew through the maze of tunnels at top speed.  Dr. Hu rode on Salád's flying carpet, while everyone else used their own means of flight.

As soon as they took off, they began to hear a constant laughing roar that seemed to taunt them.  At first, it was just an annoying noise, but as they progressed, it got louder & louder and by the time they neared the exit tunnel, sentences could be heard through the booming roar.  "Foolish trespassers, do you honestly believe that you can enter my domain and survive to tell the tale?" and other such taunts were clearly discernible.  Of course, the RoachKings merely offered mocking replies and continued on their way.  Shady retorted, "Yes.  Yes, we do," and Salád quipped, "Gosh guys, he's right.  This will make a swell tale."

Unfortunately for Shadowstorm, the psionic static got geometrically stronger as they progressed through the maze as well.  His psionic impairment got worse & worse and by the time they reached the exit tunnel, Shady had a really bad headache and his psionics were at a major disadvantage.

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When the RoachKings finally reached the exit tunnel and started following it uphill, the path was suddenly blocked by a solid stone wall that appeared out of nowhere.  The dragon's voice continued to boom & roar unhindered, "None enters my lair without first answering a riddle to prove your worth as an adversary!"  Of course, Salád tried actively to disbelieve the wall, but it remained real enough to stop them.  Even a very effective Counterspell did not dispell the wall, a development that fascinated Salád.  He studied the wall closely and came to the conclusion that this was indeed illusory magics, but made permanent or "real" in some way.  Shady touched the wall, but got a roaring warning, "You will not pass without answering a riddle!"  The RKs decided to listen to the riddle, and the booming voice said, "This one is just for you, Shadowstorm:

"I am as small as an ant, as big as a whale.  I'll approach like a breeze, but can come like a gale.  By some I get hit, but all have shown fear.  I'll dance to the music, although I can't hear.  Of names I have many, of names I have one.  I'm as slow as a snail, but from me you can't run.  What am I?"

Salád wanted to discuss the riddle amongst themselves before giving an answer, and he asked the other RKs how many guesses they thought they'd get.  However, Shadowstorm was as impulsive as ever and just blurted out, "a shadow."  Amazingly, the stone wall immediately disappeared (opening up the path to the dragon's chamber,) so Shady simply replied to Salád, "I only needed one."  Salád complimented Shady on a job nicely done.  Shady then said, "I'll take the point." 

The RKs quickly made their way to the dragon's chamber.  On the way, Draken made himself invisible & created a sword from cosmic energy, Shady activated his invisibility enchantment, and Salád extended invisibility to his flying carpet & Dr. Hu.  The psionic static doubled in strength again just outside the chamber of the dragon and Shady's psionic abilities were now practically useless.  As they entered the dragon's chamber, Shadowstorm reminded Salád & the others that their goal was to retain the dragon's hide for magical armor, so they didn't want to do any direct damage to it with weapons or magic.  Salád wryly replied, "So don't hurt the poor dragon!  Is that what I'm hearing?  Jeeze - all my life all I really wanted to be was the best troubador I could be......but no, here I am staring down a big nasty dragon and the party leader says 'make sure you don't damage it in any way.'  Right then - 16 ton weight.  Got it."

Shady assured Salád, "We're gonna' break its neck."

At the same time, the dragon's roaring taunts continued, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into.  I hope you've left instructions for your next of kin to dispense with your estate.  I can taste your bones already - mmmmm, tastes like chicken." etc. etc. . .

Shady answered the dragon, "Buddy, we've heard it all before," and he & By-Tor rushed into the dragon's chamber.

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The moment the RKs entered the chamber, a bolt of lightning came from the far end of the chamber (out of sight beyond the curved wall in front of them,) ricocheted off the curved, glassy-smooth wall to their left, hit the ground directly in the center of the entrance and exploded upon impact.  Luckily for the RKs, Shadowstorm & Draken shrugged off the damaged & By-Tor's armor absorbed it. 

As they flew further into the chamber, the dragon roared, "A lucky break, peons!"  Salád flew his carpet (with Dr. Hu on board) into the chamber and to the right, just to the end of the curved wall.  Shady, By-Tor & Draken fanned out to the left, just at the other end of the concave interior wall.  As soon as they were all in position, the area filled with tons of pure sand.  Salád & Dr. Hu both performed acrobatic leaps from the flying carpet & landed out of the sand, but Salád's carpet was buried.  Shady & By-Tor managed to jump aside & avoid being buried.  Draken found himself under the sand, but blasted his way out with a bolt of cosmic energy.

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Shadowstorm then attempted a flying slam attack on the huge blue dragon they now saw at the far end of the large chamber beyond the crescent-shaped wall.  However, the dragon easily stepped aside and dodged Shady's charge.  By-Tor attempted a similar slam attack on the dragon's front knee, but the dragon pulled his leg aside & twisted out of the way.  By-Tor and Salád were both impressed with the agility of the big blue beastie.  Draken flew into the large chamber, getting closer to the dragon.  Salád was unsure if the dragon was an illusion or real, so he cast a "Detect Invisibility" spell, planning to search the chamber for other foes.  Dr. Hu also prepared a spell.  The dragon attempted to stomp on By-Tor, but the RoachKing dodged the huge clawed foot of the beast.

Shadowstorm quickly drew out his Wand of Crimson Bands.  By-Tor grabbed for the dragon's leg, planning to grapple the beast, but he couldn't get a grip on the huge scaly limb.  Draken then flew up to a position just above the dragon.  Seeing no other invisible enemies, Salád used his Ring of Molecular Disruption on the dragon's heart.  Although the dragon resisted the spell, he still took significant [half] damage.  Dr. Hu finished his spell and faded into incorporeal ether.  By this time, Shady cast his "Crimson Bands" spell and the dragon failed to resist it, so the wrists of his front legs were trapped by "handcuffs" of red energy. 

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By-Tor slammed against the dragon, knocking him up against the chamber wall but failing to take him off his feet.  Still, with By-Tor's superhuman strength, the slam caused serious internal damage to the blue beast.  Draken followed suit and punched the dragon, also causing great damage.  Salád once again cast "Molecular Disruption" on the dragon, this time successfully targeting its heart for even greater damage than his previous spell.  The dragon roared and chomped at Draken with huge gnarly teeth, but Draken easily dodged the attack.

Shadowstorm performed an acrobatic flip & flying kick to the back of the dragon's head.  Since he was busy trying to bite Draken, the beast didn't see it coming and took more serious damage.  By-Tor then punched the dragon's leg, debilitating it with more serious damage.  Draken then punched the dragon in the head again, causing even more serious damage.  Finally, Salád used his Wand of Illusory Molecular Disruption.  When his double-damage spell took effect, the dragon disintegrated into a whoosh of pure sand, which poured onto the floor of the cavern.  With that, a different part of the chamber floor rumbled and another huge blue dragon erupted from the sand.

"Fools, all you have done is destroy my doppelganger!  Now face my true wrath!"

/\ BACK TO TOP /\ This is where the group time-stopped on July 7 , 2008.  This scenario continued on July 27 , 2008, for the 25th Anniversary Game, "The Vurlymak Battle."

Chapter 1: The First 10 Years Chapter 2: Beyond the World of Lia Chapter 3: Ragnarok & a Hard Place Chapter 4: The Point of Know Return Chapter 5: Intrigue in the Palmar Chapter 6: Across the Sea of Sanguire Chapter 7: The Journey to Jaro Chapter 8: Expedition to the Lost Valley Chapter 9: The Fountain of Lamneth Chapter 10: Pasadena Island Reprieve