Big Game and Small Hearts

Daenien sighed. "I'm useless in combat, bloody hell... Ah well, I'll go attempt to distract it to some extent." He charged through the opening towards the clearing. He saw the corpse and shrugged. "Well, that's unfortunate. Now, what to do?" he murmured. His switchblade was poisoned, so if he could find an opening... He didn't want to risk throwing it, not just yet anyway.

The purple fire swirled around Skulduggery, spreading up his hands to his head and chest, seeming to catch his clothes alight but not burn them.

I guess not. I'll have to take it by force.

He threw a stream of fire down from above his head and scorched the ground, leaving scattered flames on the ground. As the creature passed over the flames, he would move the fingers on his hand, each individual flame creating an upward jet that seared the Reaver as it passed over it. Just before it hit Skulduggery, he threw up a fist in and uppercut, a larger bolt of flame attempting to throw the beast into the air.

Zane quickly pulls the blood orb towards him, and pulls a large swatch of it, hardening it into a shield, to block the axe blade with. He then sends pieces of the blood out, attempting to wrap them around Swiftaxe and hold him back

"I don't want to hurt you, Swiftaxe!"

Skul sighed and lit another cigarette.

I get the dragon's bones. And his skin. Know what, I'll just take his carcass. Dragon parts sell on the reagent market.

He tries to heft the body of his former "comrade" onto his shoulders. It's considerably easier now that it was drained of liquids.

So, uh...there's no noise over there. You think the guards got it covered?

He paused.

And more importantly, if they don't, how big of a headstart you think we need?

Skul shrugged.

I already called the dragon, so if you want to bring the other stiff with us, that's on your head.

"Oi, I think I found em!"
"I think you did Fred."

Fred and George, the drivers made their way into the clearing, both carrying lanterns.

"We've been lookin for ye, and the Dwarf."

A few of the guardsmen followed after them now, weary and worn from the battle.

"The sodded Whiters retreated after we arrived, you should of seen George lick up a lot of them wit his fire."
"Only with your help Fred."

"Lord Swiftaxe!"

The captain of the guard stepped forward and with the help of his men carried the noble up to his feet and then dragged him away to the wagon the drivers arrived in.

George turned to the group, "The guards held up in a kitchen and barred the doors from the Whiters, that's when Fred and me showed up with some fireworks."

The drivers walked the party back to their wagon, significantly larger than the one the group first arrived in. A few of the soldiers were already on board, the larger contingent that first walked out of the gate was now shaven down to a few wounded men. On board was also Swiftaxe laying on his back, and a bloodless dragon corpse with a sheet over his body. As for the reaver, its body could not be found for some reason when the guards took a quick sweep of the battle area, even when pointed in the direction of where it was said to have fallen.


"Lord Swiftaxe seems to be sleeping, though the true nature of his condition remains to be seen." said William back at the manor.

"Though your report lacks evidence as to the events, his body does not appear to be stricken with the poison we asked Daenien to make. The wound on his chest seems to have stopped glowing entirely, and if what you say is true, we'll just assume the creature is dead."

William motioned for a servant to come over with some gold bags.

"In his absence, I take care of all of Lord Swiftaxe's dealings and as such give you the reward that was promised. A part of it..at least, given that the creature could not be returned to us intact for the wall."

A servant walked up to each of the three remaining party members and handed them a bag.

"I also understand that..." he looked at Skul, "You made a request for the body of your comrade? I was simply going to have him buried as a sort of hero but if you wish to have his remains I won't argue. Gods forbid me from interfering with a skeleton's affairs."

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REWARDS

Acclaim:

Zane: 5
Skull: 5
Daenien: 5

Given that the adventure was long, and dragged a bit by me mostly, I will reward you all with the full acclaim reward.

Daenien, I give you that almost reluctantly as I felt your character was the weakest in this adventure overall. You didn't even take advantage of a free combat moment in the recent battle against the Whiters. I know your character is a thief and all but this was a hunting mission and you joined it, so it was bound to be combat heavy.

You could have easily ran back to the wagon and threw some fire bottles or skillfully escaped by running into one of the nearby buildings or something.

Gold:

Zane: 50
Skul: 50
Daenien: 40

Loot:

Skull:

Remains of the Dragon Born
An entire corpse of the ascended dragons, rarely seen by other races as the dragon communities don't release their fallen for medical study of any kind. While it may seem macabre, the scales and bones of any dragon are prized highly to hunters and black markets.

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"We took a little out of your pay, Daenien, as we had to spend some money for the poisons your crafted. They became useful to us in the end but we can't ignore the cost of all the herbs. Now, if we're done here, the drivers will ride you back to your town."