[DragonsITP] Dragons, Dragons Everywhere! Redux - IC

[igordragonian]

I do not want anything that can talk killed. Hektir replied, managing to summon enough courage to make it sound like an order instead of a request. Ever.

Gor and Den tilted their heads with confusion. But Mir has listened carefully.
Gor:"I'm not stupid.' He groaned.
Mir:"You two have told me about your strange diet to me. I know yo won't eat talking things because of your superstiotions. What I meant that if you want me to bring for you cow or something?'
Den added. "Or maybe fresh skins.'

[Lord Raziere]

Gor and Den tilted their heads with confusion. But Mir has listened carefully.
Gor:"I'm not stupid.' He groaned.
Mir:"You two have told me about your strange diet to me. I know yo won't eat talking things because of your superstiotions. What I meant that if you want me to bring for you cow or something?'
Den added. "Or maybe fresh skins.'

".....Its not superstition, my dear chap. Dragons have not ruled the surface in any widespread capacity for a very long time. Not since Zarraganaggas vanished and the elves overthrew the empire he left behind. Now there are machines built with tough armor and great firepower that give even dragons trouble, while dragon slayer orders are not a new thing. The people who obey dragons nowadays are small nations, isolated villages, and others already disenfranchised by others. All else, are not as afraid, and not as eager to jump to a dragon's command. Or submit to being their prey.

But whatever, try to find a cow or something, I doubt you'll find anything in these tunnels though. If what we're going to is ruins that means some kind of civilization must've been there and logically must've had some way of easily accessing food and therefore the outside, because food needs sunlight to grow. Aside from hypothetical giant mushroom farm or hypothetical inventions I have ideas for but are a long way off until I get a proper lab going......Hekthir, what are going to? I don't think you ever told me specifically what is was, just how important it is."

[Emperor Ing]

I...think the mushroom farm theory is credible. This place was built to literally withstand the apocalypse, naturally they would bio-transmutate a food-source that can withstand these...sparse conditions in the event of some form of attrition warfare.

Anyways, nothing for me. If I am to think like the Kallians, I must eat like them. As the spark of scholarly fervor glints in Hektir's eyes, he grins and sits down on the stone as he prepares to recite the story of the Citadel.

In their time, the Kallians were a force to be reckoned with. Such was their technology, prosperity, and might that even the dragon clans united were afraid of incurring their wrath. The Kallians being a primarily dwarven-centric Empire that spanned almost one-third of the whole continent at their height. Its peak was overseen by a dwarven High-King, Berossa of the Bloodsmith Dynasty. What made this period so unique was for approximately...30 years, there had been no war. No border-skirmish, no conquest, no rebellions...this made dear Berossa paranoid.

In his mind, his enemies were simply biding their time, gathering their strength. Waiting for just the briefest moment of weakness to wreak a lifetime of anarchy. As much as he tried to rally his Empire against his perceived enemies, he could never gather the support of his fellow lower Kings. His plans fell apart before they began. Instead, he turned insular. Using his vast wealth and resources, he commissioned a fortress. A redoubt against which the armies of the world could throw themselves out and never break its outer defenses. He commissioned his best Warsmiths, Kallian warrior-architects, to begin plans on an invincible fortress he called, simply, the Citadel.

The project took...quite a lot of time as you might imagine, I would speculate at least a century. Eventually, though, it was completed, and the paranoid Berossa had all the Warsmiths and workers killed. He pauses, looking away for a moment. I think some got away. After all I learned about this place from spoken legend. Though it was referred to as a "promised land" of some sort. Clearly the centuries have not been kind to the oral tradition.

Anyways, i'm off-track. He begins again. Upon the Citadel's completion, Berossa spent the remainder of his life concealing all references to its existence. He carried that secret and its remaining scraps of evidence, to his tomb. Literally. It was all there. That's how I was able to confirm its existence. He didn't even pass it down to the next High-King.

Kind of ironic, really. Berossa had the Citadel built with the intention of being the last, best refuge for his civilization, yet no other Kallians knew it even existed, and ultimately, it was never needed. As you might imagine, the Kallian Empire was ultimately dissolved from corruption and decadence from within.

So that's the story. Hektir claps his claws together. The biggest and most formidable ruin that nobody else even knows exists. Me and Gor-Gormirden have only just begun to explore. I couldn't begin to speculate how large this place really is, or what else is inside. Might be treasure, artifacts, or...just a castle-sized armory with weapons that rusted away into worthlessness centuries ago. Who knows?

[igordragonian]

Gormirden was far from being a geniuse, but he was a listener. Sort of.

Den frowned. "I can't imagine some filthy rich dwarves going around without ale and meat" he grumbled.
Gor added. 'They probably had goats or something"

Mir sighed. 'But gold will do... I guess."

[Lord Raziere]

Gormirden was far from being a geniuse, but he was a listener. Sort of.

Den frowned. "I can't imagine some filthy rich dwarves going around without ale and meat" he grumbled.
Gor added. 'They probably had goats or something"

Mir sighed. 'But gold will do... I guess."

"True, meat and ale are inherently expensive foods. If a culture is rich enough, they will get as much as they can, unless they are an elf. However unless the ruins of this Citadel has preservation magic up the wazoo, I doubt we find anything but bones and a bottle of something that probably stopped being ale a long time ago, if even that.

No, this sounds like a king's survivalist base project. If someone is desperate enough to live, they will pay anything to make sure they live another day. Luxuries like nobility food aren't even a hard choice to sacrifice. Its why so many wizards try for the ol' immortality gig no matter what the cost."
Well for anyone aside from the most sheltered or spoiled of nobles.
"Wouldn't surprise me if the king tried to get immortality himself. Even if he failed and got tombed. He really sounds like someone who was fearful for their life. Despite supposedly being in the position of power at the time. This sounds like we will be facing traps and defenses built from the mindset of one willing to kill anyone who threatened his life, if the first trap is any indication. As for what is in there...yes who knows indeed. Which way then? Best not speculate, exploration is for finding things out yourself, not for wondering what you'll find."
He knew himself that the best defense was the fastest way to make your opponent dead. Anything else was just buying time.
"Also, keep an eye out for water sources. Dwarves need to drink water to live, so they would have to engineer or enchant a way to get a consistent source for water. And where there is water and stone, there is erosion..."

[Emperor Ing]

Actually, there's a pool of water just down that way. Hektir points his right claw down the hallway, the only direction "forward" that's presentable.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden frowned, as his belly rumbled. "then I have to go far, in order to find something to eat?" Den whined

[Emperor Ing]

Well, yeah... Hektir shrugged. One idea is that you hunt a lot now, while the two of us set up a camp close to the entrance. You get a lot of meat. Cow, deer, manticore, whatever. Bring a lot here, and I can use magic to preserve it. Save it for later. We can eat the mushrooms.

Maybe you don't have to go too far. I would suspect there be many mountain goats along the ridge.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden nodded with his three heads.
"Very well." Gor said. and started to walk back through the tunnel

[sildra45]

[Veridao Crio]

"Very well. I'm glad to see you take this seriously." Smoketail nodded. "Don't worry too much about weapons. Just get me something heavy, preferably with spikes, and I'll work with it."

Sparkwing looked anxious. "This is... quicker than I thought. Are you sure we're ready?"

"You heard him. We have to hurry before they ship off the captives to some northwestern town no one's ever heard of or something."

"Yes, yes... All right, we'll get to it. Thank you so much for your help, Lord Cavoraei. Your graciousness knows no bounds. We'll do anything we can to repay you."

With that, the two went to get fitted.

Taken by the kobolds of the mountain, the pair were led to a room full of them that had pieces and parts of armor all over the place. The sounds of hammers and the din of their voices drowned out most other sounds. It seemed to be a repair shop, though none of the pieces they were working on seemed to have the artistic flare that was upon the other pieces they had so far seen.

Soon a trio for each dragon sped around them, taking measurments with small pieces of twine, while a much older looking one took notes as they chattered in their quick tongue. Once in a while, a call would be made and an armor piece would be brought up against one of the pair, and more notes would be taken, until with a nod, the elder seemed satisfied, and the rest parted ways.

"I shall take these notes to Cavoraei in the smithy where he will begin creating your armor. If you wish to watch, you may."

Without another word he turned and began the trek to the smithy.

[Emperor Ing]

Gormirden

Sure enough, the mountain is populated by plenty of creatures Hektir described, quadrupedal mammals more fit for livestock than can really be imagined surviving in the wild. Despite their attempts to get away, their surprising nimbleness in jumping from one sheer-cliff-face to another, it's no match for the simple ability to fly. Simply knocking them off a cliff and retrieving the carcass proves to be the most efficient manner of dispatching these creatures.

As you fly up to get another kill, a tortured howl greets you, echoed only by the flutter of wings as distant birds fly to safety. Something else rises out from the mountain. A horrid creature, some amalgamation of man and ram. Its upper body is lithe and lean, body, limbs, and neck covered in cords of bulging, yet lean and sinuous muscle, marred only by patches of brown fur and bony protrusions. Its hands end in razor-sharp claws that would otherwise have no difficulty tearing through dragonscale. Its face is equally as monstrous, fangs lining a jaw that's almost too wide for its head. A pair of horns spiral out from its head, curling backwards and around again once. Its soulless beady eyes regard you with hate as the biped charges towards you, snarling and its claws carving grooves in the stone as it makes its approach on its cloven hooved feet.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden

Sure enough, the mountain is populated by plenty of creatures Hektir described, quadrupedal mammals more fit for livestock than can really be imagined surviving in the wild. Despite their attempts to get away, their surprising nimbleness in jumping from one sheer-cliff-face to another, it's no match for the simple ability to fly. Simply knocking them off a cliff and retrieving the carcass proves to be the most efficient manner of dispatching these creatures.

As you fly up to get another kill, a tortured howl greets you, echoed only by the flutter of wings as distant birds fly to safety. Something else rises out from the mountain. A horrid creature, some amalgamation of man and ram. Its upper body is lithe and lean, body, limbs, and neck covered in cords of bulging, yet lean and sinuous muscle, marred only by patches of brown fur and bony protrusions. Its hands end in razor-sharp claws that would otherwise have no difficulty tearing through dragonscale. Its face is equally as monstrous, fangs lining a jaw that's almost too wide for its head. A pair of horns spiral out from its head, curling backwards and around again once. Its soulless beady eyes regard you with hate as the biped charges towards you, snarling and its claws carving grooves in the stone as it makes its approach on its cloven hooved feet.

"Who are you?" Mir has asked.
"Are you tasty?" Den added his question.
"It doesn't matter. We'l study your corpse!" Gor said and then the three heads spitted lava at the strange monstoruse creature

[Lord Raziere]

Zarakkan
"A Pool of water....hm, well I could dive in to try and get into the city that way....assuming its big enough, that the waterworks run through there and that the king wasn't paranoid enough to set traps underwater, which I wouldn't put past paranoid people to do....but then dwarves are not well known for going near bodies of water at all.....What do you think, Hektir? Would you bet for or against the pool being filled with traps because of an dead dwarf's paranoia?"
He said looking forward with an eyebrow raised like a dragon who knows how to gamble.

[Emperor Ing]

Gormirden

The creature does not answer, instead sliding to the left with its incredible footwork, leaping for the Deep Dragon with outstretched claws, ready to rake flesh.

Hektir & Zarakkan

I'm getting a more underground spring from this pool, if anything. Contrary to the previous tunnels, this chamber only looks partially hewn. The pool of water dominates the floor. In the center of it is a small gazebo housing a strange pedestal with a narrow bridge running across it. Opposite you are several narrow docks leading into at least five different chambers that lead further into the Citadel. See the bridge? He points towards the bridge which only seems to lead to the gazebo. No such bridge or even remnants of a bridge lead to the other chamber. If I were a dwarven army, I would have to go single-file, assuming the bridge wasn't destroyed first. If I fall off, my armor weighs me down, sending me to a watery doom. If i'm not armored, i'm easy pickin's for the defenders up there. Hektir raises a claw up to a circular balcony that overlooks the whole chamber, with numerous stone emplacements for cover, and murder-holes in the stone itself.

So...I would say the pool IS the trap. Fortunately I never fancied swimming in plate-mail so I think I will be fine. I figure you would be the same.

If we want to go deeper, well, pick a number between one and five. He muses, eyeballing the various other doors in the chamber.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden

Gormirden growled with rage. Den's cheek been torn by the claws of the foe.
The three heads hissed with shock and pain. But Gor hastingly tried to bite the goaty man

[Emperor Ing]

The goat creature is already dodging, but fortunately so was Gor. Although he bites air, he can feel the taste of blood on his tongue as his open maw makes a glancing blow against the creature's torso, drawing several bloody cuts against the creature's hide that resemble a claw rake.

Rather perturbed by this latest injury, the goat creature continues its aggression, this time jumping into the air, attempting to pounce onto the head of Gor, specifically, registering it as a new threat.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden was heavy and clumsy.
Gor roared with pain, when the goat man landed on his head leaving a mark.
"MIRDEN!" he commanded- the two other headsm tried to bite the snotty goat man- but just akwardly almost kissed each other.
"ROOOOOOOOOOARRR!!!" Gormirden stomped with pain and rage.

[Lord Raziere]

Hektir & Zarakkan

I'm getting a more underground spring from this pool, if anything. Contrary to the previous tunnels, this chamber only looks partially hewn. The pool of water dominates the floor. In the center of it is a small gazebo housing a strange pedestal with a narrow bridge running across it. Opposite you are several narrow docks leading into at least five different chambers that lead further into the Citadel. See the bridge? He points towards the bridge which only seems to lead to the gazebo. No such bridge or even remnants of a bridge lead to the other chamber. If I were a dwarven army, I would have to go single-file, assuming the bridge wasn't destroyed first. If I fall off, my armor weighs me down, sending me to a watery doom. If i'm not armored, i'm easy pickin's for the defenders up there. Hektir raises a claw up to a circular balcony that overlooks the whole chamber, with numerous stone emplacements for cover, and murder-holes in the stone itself.

So...I would say the pool IS the trap. Fortunately I never fancied swimming in plate-mail so I think I will be fine. I figure you would be the same.

If we want to go deeper, well, pick a number between one and five. He muses, eyeballing the various other doors in the chamber.

"And which one of the doors do you think leads to a trap? If he is paranoid as you say, he might have all five trapped no matter what, and some mechanism to deactivate only one to allow people he would want to go through. But he wouldn't place any mechanism outside the doors to do so, now wouldn't he? At least I wouldn't, if I was a paranoid designer, thats what I would do: all five trapped, no right option except if you know how to call to a dwarf on the other side with say a proper pass-code for them to deactivate it and let you go on through so that they can reactivate it once your inside."
Which if true, would mean that getting in is impossible without some pain. But then again...
"However, no one actually lived in it yes? So only he would be going back and forth between here and the rest of his kingdom along with a few others...So maybe he would place a mechanism out here to deactivate the one trap himself, because he wasn't living here and would want to check on its progress or something?"

[Emperor Ing]

Hektirithir & Zarakkan

I think you're thinking about it all wrong. Hektir muses. Firstly, he got his Warsmiths to design the Citadel. He simply provided the money. The King was paranoid, but the Warsmiths are sensible. At least I think so. If the Citadel is a place from which to make a last stand, naturally that means civilians and soldiers would need to get inside without worry of swinging blades or exploding runes. So far all i've seen from the defenses are chokepoints and kill-zones. Areas designed to be extremely defensible and to minimize risk of retaliatory attack. Hektir glances up. Were I a Warsmith designing an unconquerable citadel, what I would do is create five passages. All five of them are continuous, unending kill-zones, but four of them eventually lead to dead-ends. Hektir flutters over to the central gazebo island, looking at the mechanism. It appears to be a dwarf-sized turn crank. Although in decent condition for its age, the moisture has long since rusted away the metal such that it's questionable if it even works. When it did, it's likely that the crank powered the mechanism for the bridge, to rotate it across the pond and give access to one of the possible passages. Though only those inside the gazebo or holding onto the bridge could be moved at a time.

Also, we have a sixth option. Did you notice the battlements? He points a claw up to the circular battlements that overlook the pool. Those soldiers have to come from somewhere, right? Then Hektir yawns. His muzzle opening wide, the air smelling faintly of ozone.

We should probably set up base, first.

Gormirden

The creature had climbed onto Gor's neck and was about to strike, but the combination of the hydra-dragon's struggling and the violence of the other two heads attempting to retaliate dislodged the creature, who tumbled awkwardly back onto the ground, a good distance away from the dragon. It quickly stands back up, strafing Gormirden, watching for openings, and keeping its distance from where the lava belched out from earlier still smoldered on the hard stone.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden Vs Goatman!


This was starting to get annoying!
Gormirden snored, and without any warning, starting digging into the mountains with the grace of a whale.
He tried to dig a fast tunnel, and get out from behind the goat man, and rain him with lava spits!

[PurityIcekiller]

Taken by the kobolds of the mountain, the pair were led to a room full of them that had pieces and parts of armor all over the place. The sounds of hammers and the din of their voices drowned out most other sounds. It seemed to be a repair shop, though none of the pieces they were working on seemed to have the artistic flare that was upon the other pieces they had so far seen.

Soon a trio for each dragon sped around them, taking measurments with small pieces of twine, while a much older looking one took notes as they chattered in their quick tongue. Once in a while, a call would be made and an armor piece would be brought up against one of the pair, and more notes would be taken, until with a nod, the elder seemed satisfied, and the rest parted ways.

"I shall take these notes to Cavoraei in the smithy where he will begin creating your armor. If you wish to watch, you may."

Without another word he turned and began the trek to the smithy.

The two dragons sat as still as they could for the measurements. Sparkwing fidgeted a bit at first, but a glare from Smoketail put him in order. Once they were done, they considered what to do next for a time.

"Well... I suppose if I am to help him, I'll have to see how he works, and I am curious about the process..." After some thought, Sparkwing nodded. "I will go."

"I was thinking of doing some digging, myself," said Smoketail. "However, if I'm to wear this stuff, I'd like some input into it. The aesthetics, at the very least." She eyed the other armour pieces with distaste; apparently, practical plainness was not her preference.

"Then we're agreed."

Together, the little dragons went to follow the kobold to the smithy.

[Lord Raziere]

Hektirithir & Zarakkan

I think you're thinking about it all wrong. Hektir muses. Firstly, he got his Warsmiths to design the Citadel. He simply provided the money. The King was paranoid, but the Warsmiths are sensible. At least I think so. If the Citadel is a place from which to make a last stand, naturally that means civilians and soldiers would need to get inside without worry of swinging blades or exploding runes. So far all i've seen from the defenses are chokepoints and kill-zones. Areas designed to be extremely defensible and to minimize risk of retaliatory attack. Hektir glances up. Were I a Warsmith designing an unconquerable citadel, what I would do is create five passages. All five of them are continuous, unending kill-zones, but four of them eventually lead to dead-ends. Hektir flutters over to the central gazebo island, looking at the mechanism. It appears to be a dwarf-sized turn crank. Although in decent condition for its age, the moisture has long since rusted away the metal such that it's questionable if it even works. When it did, it's likely that the crank powered the mechanism for the bridge, to rotate it across the pond and give access to one of the possible passages. Though only those inside the gazebo or holding onto the bridge could be moved at a time.

Also, we have a sixth option. Did you notice the battlements? He points a claw up to the circular battlements that overlook the pool. Those soldiers have to come from somewhere, right? Then Hektir yawns. His muzzle opening wide, the air smelling faintly of ozone.

We should probably set up base, first.

"Hm, set up base? How so?"
He looks around. There is nothing but rock, water, and more rock.
"I guess If I start abusing my transmutation staff, that I can set up something..."
He goes and finds the rock walls that weren't vital or didn't look stone-worked. He wouldn't want to destroy the archeological evidence after all. Then he placed the tip of the staff against the wall, then visualizing a certain space as a base in the rock, begins to transmute a bunch of solid rock into air so as to create a room to serve as a base for them.