7 to Verdant Sun, Inalis, 59 days remaining
Whoops! Sorry about the interruption! Gaius attacked us, but now we’re fine. Here’s how it went down.
Gaius and his dragon, Lachesis, flew around us. In a booming voice, he called out that we were clever, but our story ends here. Right as he said this, our friends on the Gjallarhorn fired an explosive bolt from one of the ballistas, striking Lachesis and throwing them back from us. Gaius, in an apparent state of confusion at the attack, lost us as we made our way back to our ship and prepared for the fight. Malikos and the crew felt the presence of the dragon and reacted splendidly.
I sent Mother downstairs to the medical cabin with the crazed old man, her fellow prisoner, while we prepared for the fight of our lives. Clio and Actaeon came up with a plan, and as a part of that plan, I cast a blessing from the Morninglord on them. Or a blessing from Kiora. I need to get that straight! Either way, it gave them a bit of clarity as Clio quickly teleported herself and Actaeon onto Lachesis’s back just as the dragon struck our ship with a breath of ice. The crew shouted a war cry and cheered as Torag, Briar, Rendu, and I helped man the ballistas, sending hurling bolts of fire at our attackers. Shadow followed up with a few arrows to distract Gaius so he didn’t notice Clio and Actaeon appear behind him on the dragon’s back. Wordlessly, Actaeon brought down the Axe of Xander onto the commander of the League of Storms while Clio hung on, ready to get herself and Actaeon out of harms way should the situation begin to sour.
Rendu and I traded sending bolts of radiant energy at the dragon, lighting it up in between the fog, making it easier for our ship to rain fire upon her. Lachesis swooped in for another breath attack just as Gaius tried in vain to defend himself from Actaeon and Clio. He brought down a magical javelin on them but Clio used her powers to block most of it. Gaius could do nothing as Actaeon pulled him into a choking hold. Lachesis came perhaps too close to the ship to breathe a paralyzing blast of ice at Rendu, Torag, and some of our beloved crew.
I should point out something I think I may have glossed over too quickly in the past. Actaeon found it very strange to meet Uriangr, Acastus’s dragon. Actaeon knew dragons personally back in his day and knew that a dragon the size of Uriangr should have been more wisened or careful. Uriangr, despite its massive size, was very childish, and it struck Actaeon as extremely strange. As it turns out, he felt the same way about Lachesis. Why would an adult dragon make the mistake of coming so close to our ship?
With it in such close range, it took only moments for Shadow and Rendu to put a few final attacks into it. Lachesis was branded with the symbol of Palladia briefly before Rendu blasted the dragon. It began to fall lifelessly into the water before Clio managed to teleport its body onto the deck of our ship, telling Gaius darkly, “Time to pray!” as Actaeon dragged him into the water and swung wildly with the axe. The ocean turned red tonight and Gaius stopped moving shortly thereafter.
We couldn’t rest, though. Actaeon and Clio were in the ocean and we had to quickly save them. Actaeon would have trouble swimming with his heavy armor. Briar summoned two aerosaurs (she named them Polly and Screech and it should be noted that Screech lived up to his name) to swoop in and pull them back onto the Gjallarhorn. Unfortunately, Gaius’s body began to move again. The water mixed with lightning presumably from the Lord of Storms himself and reanimated. Actaeon and Clio were both terribly injured before the aerosaurs pulled them away. The echo of Gaius tried to swing its javelin at them again, but Briar, Rendu, and I managed to heal them and pull them to safety.
Briar dismissed her aerosaurs and set Gaius’s body on fire and I lit him up with some faerie fire. Now glowing amidst the fog, our allies could see the monster before us and we threw everything we had at it. Shadow got the final strike against it with his sword, and it exploded in a burst of lightning and boiling water, and the air around us became silent again.
We could finally catch our breath! The dragon was dead and its rider, the commander of the League of Storms, is gone. Only his armor and weapons remain. The rest turned to ash and disappeared over the ocean. Before we could move, Actaeon suddenly turned his head back behind the ship. He said he sensed something back there, something related to the dragon that he wants us to investigate before we leave.
I decided to let the others sort out that plan and I ran down to the medical cabin with two of the crew who had been injured in the fight. Mother was already down here, having been directed by someone else before the dragon began attacking. I laid her down on one of the cots to rest while I patched up my crew. She’s already gone to sleep now and I will just let her rest further. There have been too many explosions tonight.
I wonder what is coming next? I’m incredibly tired now.