4 to Verdant Sun, Inalis, 55 days remaining
We’re back, safely, on the Gjallarhorn. Everything has been a blur in the last couple of days. I spent much of it in the medical bay helping my friends recover. We were all quite exhausted after the affair with the dragon, and some of us – really, just me – needed to sleep for few extra hours. I’ll do my best to summarize what all happened and what is going on next.
Let’s start with the dragon egg. Actaeon said the dragon inside was named Malkarion. How he knew this is beyond the rest of us, but he seemed confident and strangely stoic about it. The egg is bronze in color, and is roughly the size of a baby. Or, like, a big baby. What are big babies called? Anyway, Briar quickly made a little sling out of her cloak for it so Actaeon can carry the egg – which presumably is important – and still use his arms. Clio attempted to see into the mind of the unborn dragon inside but she wasn’t able to get anything.
Dragon eggs are something quite peculiar. If Jasena hid this egg here with her body as she passed, then that means this egg must be nearly five hundred years old. How does an egg survive that long? I guess the egg remains dormant for such a long time. When I asked Actaeon how to hatch the egg, he said we need love, care, and lightning. The lightning thing is a joke, right? Whatever the case, we must not let Sa’kull or Thumble anywhere near the egg. I’m afraid either of them would try to eat it.
Toddlers. Big babies are toddlers. Do you ever just forget a word, Heath?
In the aftermath of the battle with Salamul, I quickly ran to Clio to assess her wounds. Thankfully she was fine, and was very cross at the mimic that had attacked us. She and I decided to rummage through Salamul’s treasure hoard, mostly because we wanted to see what sort of treasures we had acquired, but also partially because I was afraid there was another mimic in there. No mimics, but we found an assortment of neat things. Besides coinage, we added a lot of different gemstones and art objects to our collection. One of which was a marble statue, roughly the size of a table, that depicted Salamul himself in a rather suggestive pose. I think the artist that made this thought very highly of the dragon, or the dragon commissioned it for his inflated ego. Either way, the pose is a little too suggestive. I wonder if I can move it myself. I’d love to hide it in Actaeon’s room.
One thing we found that was truly interesting was the scabbard to Shadow’s family sword. I wonder why Salamul had it?
While Clio and I looked through the hoard, Shadow had Briar help him with collecting… parts… from the dragon’s body. I’ve always hated it when they do this, but I guess I understand the purpose. The meat from the last dragon has more than kept our crew fed, and much of a dragon’s organs are magical in nature, which is apparently useful for Azorius to make stuff. Much of it is quite heavy, so Actaeon and Torag were enlisted to help carry it. That said, I think even Briar started turning a little green this time. Salamul stinks. Like, really badly. Later, Briar asked me to make sure to ask me if I could do a little prayer any time someone wanted to eat the meat. Seriously, why is it gray?
Oh, and another thing! Silly me, forgetting stuff all the time. We found an enchanted goblet in Salamul’s pile of treasures. If you speak the name of a country in Xerender, the goblet fills with the sweetest wine from that place! How nifty! I said, “Ylisse” to it and behold! It filled up with Ylissean Golden Wine. It’s the same stuff you and I used to pilfer from the High Priest! I shared it with my friends as much as I could before consuming the rest of it by myself.
Let’s see, what else? Oh, yes! Kagura, Mimriko, and Jakobe came down, having been summoned by Rendu. They helped us move everything up and out of the tomb. Before we left, Clio asked me to say a little prayer. I thanked Jasena for her help. She sacrificed everything for her work to ensure the survival of the dragons. Even her former comrades don’t know what she did. I pray that Kiora, or the Morninglord, or whoever might listen to my prayer will watch over Jasena’s Tomb and keep it safe for her. I ought to speak with Damon about her and tell him what she did for the Emerald Isles.
As we left, I guess Clio and I were of one mind briefly. I mean, honestly Heath, we’ve all seen how much Jakobe likes Kagura. It’s quite obvious (though Briar joked that it was quite obvious that I liked Clio, and I thought I kept that hidden well enough). I quietly spoke to Jakobe that he and Kagura would make a lovely couple and that she seemed to fancy him. He balked at the notion but I sense he was quite interested in the idea. And apparently Clio said a similar thing to Kagura! She told the lady that Jakobe fancies her. Have you ever seen a dragonborn blush, Heath? Mother never did. She was quite stoic most of the time when we were children. But the few times they blush, it’s honestly quite hilarious. Their scales puff out on their cheeks and everything. Both Kagura and Jakobe were blushing profusely.
Our group split up on the surface. Kagura made contact with the rafts on the Isle of the Sleepy Drake and summoned some others to help us. Shadow, Actaeon, and Rendu stayed behind to ensure our treasures and dragon parts were stored securely on the Gjallarhorn before joining the rest of us back at Rump Castle.
Rump. Hehehe.
Clio, Briar, Torag, and I were shown to our guest quarters within the castle and we all almost passed out immediately. Clio and I curled up with Briar, and Torag sprawled out on a couch near a window, though I don’t know if he actually slept. He hadn’t been injured quite the same as the rest of us, and I think he was keeping watch over us while we rested. When we awoke, Actaeon, Rendu, and Shadow had returned. We had a quiet dinner provided by our attendees before falling into a deep sleep again.
We awoke to a glorious sunrise, unlike any I have seen since being in the Emerald Isles. I did my morning prayers while Shadow and Clio watched the sun ascend above the Isle of the Sleepy Drake. The natural beauty of the island was beginning to return already now that Salamul is slain. The blight is disappearing, turning to ash before our eyes. Briar and Clio looked into the fungus blight and believe that all should be well within a day or two. Briar spent some time later this day to cast a growing spell on some crops. She said it would help ensure a good harvest, especially since the blight had damaged the soil so greatly.
The Triad wanted to meet with us this morning. Here’s a summary of what we discussed: The dragon from the Lord of Storms arrived about the same time that the Triad turned away an emissary of King Acastus. If we needed any proof that the king is in cahoots with Amalj’aa, we need none further. But the dragonborn of the Isle of the Sleepy Drake are loyal to those with the dragon marks – us. Interestingly, no one seems to know where Acastus got his dragon, or any of the other dragons in the Emerald Isles. Jasena took the last of the dragon eggs and hid them. Where did the other dragons come from?
One dragon was brought up that made Torag tense up: Jadaferlas the Venomous, a powerful sorcerer dragon, is one that will prove dangerous to us. She is currently unaligned in the upcoming war, but it makes sense that she might align herself with the titans. Her goal in life is to torment the god of battle – Vaevictus – because he spurned her. Torag later found out that his dad and Jadaferlas were lovers. It sounds like the potential of a sweet romance story until I learned that she became wickedly jealous and started killing everyone Vaevictus fell in love with. Anyway, Jadaferlas might be an obstacle for us if we want peace in the Emerald Isles. Other dragons in the Emerald Isles can be found on Fire Island, Shell Island, Indigo Island, and possibly on the Garden of Helios. I wonder why Helios has a dragon on his island? Our quest to fight the titans may likely involve slaying these dragons, or turning them to our side.
The Triad informed us that our work in Jasena’s Tomb seemed to be effective as the blight was starting to dissipate. They offered to send an envoy with us to join our crew and keep communication between us and the Triad, our new oathsworn allies. We chose Mimriko to go with us for a few reasons. First, having another spellcaster would be useful for our crew. Second, we all get along with Mimriko very well, and he’ll absolutely be a valuable asset to our team. And third, we didn’t want to choose Jakobe or Kagura (our other options). We didn’t want to break those two up! Clio and I are pretty certain that they like each other, and splitting them up to go on a months-long boat trip with us will not help their relationship in the slightest.
Here’s the hard part about this day, Heath. We left Mother behind on the Isle of the Sleepy Drake. I just got her back. Finding her has been my drive for the past month or so. It’s given me purpose. And she looked hurt when I asked her to stay behind. She knows she’s old, and walking about on a ship with her cane is not easy. The Triad have given her a place to stay and will take good care of her. But to convince her to stay behind and stay safe, Mother has become the Liaison between the Heroes of Prophecy and the Triad. She will see to it that our requests are met fairly and that the people of the Isle feel that we are still serving their best interests. I want to think she was happy to take up the post, but still, I feel terrible for asking her to stay behind. I love her, and I absolutely will not put her in harm’s way while we do this. I still don’t know if any of us will survive this war, but I certainly will not bring her to harm because she’s close to me.
As we left the Isle of the Sleepy Drake, the Triad gave us a contraption they invented years ago. It’s a type of incubator for dragon eggs, apparently. They clarified what Actaeon said when he needed to use love, care, and lightning to hatch the egg. Dragon eggs, it seems, require an elemental magical power to give the unborn dragon whelp life. In Actaeon’s case, the bronze dragon inside needs lightning. Briar performed a casting to make that happen, and will continue to do so for the time being. We bade our friends goodbye and set sail, and I cried as we left. Mother, I hope you’ll be well there!
Our plans are to go to Fire Island next. There’s a dragon there with whom we need to converse. Hopefully we can pull it to our side instead of the titans’, but we’ll see. Sa’kull may be key in getting us onto the island, though I don’t like using the boy as a political pawn. From what Clio researched once upon a time, a titan was imprisoned on the island. Not Amalj’aa or Khar’shan, but someone else. And here’s a weird thing: something in Salamul’s hoard was an interesting little painting of Fire Island! It depicts a secret entrance to the island apparently. It’s in an alcove, and we mean to find our way to it.
Khar’shan decided to bless us with a nightmare last night. It was a vision of people in a shipwreck who fell upon impossible circumstances. I woke up with a start and a headache, but nothing more. Her usual tricks aren’t working on us now, thank the heavens.
Today’s a bright new day! Rendu’s harp music has given us a bit of a tailwind and we should be arriving at Fire Island soon. Maybe later today, or tomorrow? I am not sure. Either way, I’m excited. I’ve told Sa’kull that we’re going back to his island, and for the first time, I think he looked truly happy. I care for the child, but I’ll be incredibly happy to see him with his family again. He deserves happiness. So do we all, right?