[DragonsITP] Dragons, Dragons Everywhere! Redux - IC

[Emperor Ing]

I'm fine, thanks. Hektir hastily said, looking away from the gruesome display. Taking a peek only to make sure he didn't miss, he blasts the Manticore corpse with his lightning breath, the wide blast of electricity causing the broken body to twitch as the charged energy singed the body, cooking it, cauterizing its wounds. While not perfect, the burned corpse certainly was more palatable, and indeed Hektir began to eat from it.

However it's impossible to imagine the large dog-sized dragon would ever possibly devour the whole corpse.

Though Gormirden didn't need to know that Hektir actually saved the bugbear's life, and allowed it to go free.

[igordragonian]

I'm fine, thanks. Hektir hastily said, looking away from the gruesome display. Taking a peek only to make sure he didn't miss, he blasts the Manticore corpse with his lightning breath, the wide blast of electricity causing the broken body to twitch as the charged energy singed the body, cooking it, cauterizing its wounds. While not perfect, the burned corpse certainly was more palatable, and indeed Hektir began to eat from it.

However it's impossible to imagine the large dog-sized dragon would ever possibly devour the whole corpse.

Though Gormirden didn't need to know that Hektir actually saved the bugbear's life, and allowed it to go free.

Den chuckled. "You have quite an apetite!"
The other heads looked for corpses to eat.
Mir whined. "My belly.. stilll.. hurt"

[Emperor Ing]

Hektir grunted in discomfort as the realization of just how much he ate hit him like a Capital-class airship. Considering the size of his bulging belly, it's unlikely he'll be able to fly anytime soon, or even roll off his back. Ugh... He groaned.

Let's...let's make camp for the night, yeah? The Citadel isn't going anywhere.

Gor might recall that one of the bugbears was tail-whipped into the woods. Even if it is alive, it's unlikely it could've gotten far at all, and it shouldn't be hard to find.

[PurityIcekiller]

[Veridao Crio]

"Oh, of course." Sparkwing nodded quickly. "I am Sparkwing, and my sister is Smoketail. We won't make trouble, I assure you! We can help with your... forging? That is what you do, yes? And I can catch fish too. It should be easier in salt water."

"We will, of course, claim a share of any wares we craft, particularly armour and weapons."

"We can worry about that later. For now, we are at your service."

"Hopefully not for too long. We should take our valley back at some point."

"Yes, but not now. We're not ready to deal with those invaders and their machines." Sparkwing's head drooped. "Oh, I hope our family survived..."

[Lord Raziere]

[Veridao Crio]

"Oh, of course." Sparkwing nodded quickly. "I am Sparkwing, and my sister is Smoketail. We won't make trouble, I assure you! We can help with your... forging? That is what you do, yes? And I can catch fish too. It should be easier in salt water."

"We will, of course, claim a share of any wares we craft, particularly armour and weapons."

"We can worry about that later. For now, we are at your service."

"Hopefully not for too long. We should take our valley back at some point."

"Yes, but not now. We're not ready to deal with those invaders and their machines." Sparkwing's head drooped. "Oh, I hope our family survived..."

Veridao Crio
"I'll take the swamps under consideration then. I'll just need to figure out a way to keep things clean....wait invaders and their machines you say?"
Zarakkan perks up at this.
"...This sounds like a story, I'd be interested in knowing. You said something about a valley....ah! If I'm piecing together correctly, your valley was taken by one of the three Great Powers yes? Either the Consortium or the Commonwealth, as they are the two big technological ones. Hm. And you hope to work for the arms and armor to arm the people there to take it back. Ok, you got a plan, but, I'm curious, how well trained are the people your arming? How big is your valley, how populous are its inhabitants, and what are the forces of the invaders? This sounds like a big undertaking, how do you plan on taking all the arms you make back without being noticed? Especially when you only have two of you, and if I'm not mistaken, might take a while to make the armor you need."
Not to mention factors like how willing Cavoraei was to help- he didn't seem like someone who had the means to transport his goods that far or would be willing to go that far away from his home, or send his kobolds that far away either, at least not by Zarakkan's calculation. There just seemed to be so many holes in this plan from his point of view that he could not resist pointing them out. He did this while scribbling furiously on his notepad, information leaping onto the page seemingly as fast as he could think it.

[igordragonian]

Den groaned:"Hey! That was my kill!"
Mir:"We are allies. I know that sharing will bring us profit as well!"
Gor:"One way or another I am still hungry. I think there another of those critters around here..." and with that he waddled, looking for the missing bugbear.

His belly spilled drops of poisoned dragon blood.

[Emperor Ing]

Should they search, the hydra-dragon will find the broken body of the second bugbear fairly easily. Wheezing sounds can be heard from its body as one arm is twitching, desperately trying to grasp for anything that could possibly pull it to safety, though its dying body's own weakness prohibits any sort of progress as Gormirden looms over.


((Let's time-skip))

While the night wasn't completely over, the weather or whatever supernatural entity that governs its effects had chosen for it to take a turn for the worse at about this time, as rain began to fall, so early in the morning before the first peaks of sunrise could even begin to climb over the horizon.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden didn't felt well.
He barely could asleep.
And then that.
What the Underdark?
Water falling from the sky?
Ah.
Rain.
Really stupid concept.
"GRA[COLOR="#8B4513"]AAG[/COLOR]GH!!!!" Gormirden roared in unison. His nostrils steamed.

[Emperor Ing]

A bolt of lightning shot across the sky as Gormirden shouted. The bolt coming from the startled dragon next to him. Ack! Warn me next time you wanna shout at the sky! He says, at least a little bit shaken from the surprise.

He then looks up to the sky, thankful his feathered wings are, indeed, waterproof. Where did this storm come from? Just as he says this, lightning strikes in the distance, it is only five seconds before the sound is heard. Hektir jumps into the sky, looking across the cliff in the direction towards where he remembers the Citadel is supposed to be. We should go. There's got to be a cave, a cliff, or something.

At that, he begins flying.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden raised his four metallic wings, trying to protect himself from the cursed rain. He didn't felt so well.. usually he would dig himself a tunnel or cavern... but... his heads spinned.
He nodded.
Gor said sound dizzy. "let's... go... after... you..."

[Emperor Ing]

Hektir knew he was rather sluggish in the air but this kind of flying seemed unusually clumsy.

You okay...? He asked.

[sildra45]

Cavoraei gently tapped the youngling on his head on the shoulder, which responded by giving a little squeak before getting down and running off, likely to find its parents.

"I would like to hear your story as well. Also, the worth of what you make will depend on its quality. Only that which meets minimum quality will be allowed to leave this place. No piece will leave my caverns that will break after only a few uses, and any material you use towards your creations will also be part of the costs associated with what you get to keep. Staying here is free, as is water. Food and materials for weapons and armor are not. And any material you ruin will count. As I said before, however, I may have other uses for you if you wish to take upon yourself the tasks I ask of you."

He took a deep breath, and released a torrent of light blue flames down upon himself, growing in size to roughly that of a large horse, only still as a kobold.

"I will show you how I truly am later, perhaps when I get back to work. I find this form much more maneuverable among my family."

[igordragonian]

Hektir knew he was rather sluggish in the air but this kind of flying seemed unusually clumsy.

You okay...? He asked.

"Of course I am!" Gor said, and then.. lost conscious.
Den:"Huh! I am just tired a bit that all!"
Mir looked panicked. "|What is happening to me?!?"
The place where the manticore stinged him looked swollen, and dripped acidic blood.

[Emperor Ing]

Hektir tried to look and make out what was causing the trio such distress. It is only then that he notices the gangrenous wound in his belly and the sickly glowing ooze coming from it. But when would he have gotten that...?

Okay you are most definitely not okay! He commands. Change of plans. We're landing right now. You have manticore venom in you. The small dragon diverts his flight straight for the forest canopy beneath them.

[igordragonian]

Hektir tried to look and make out what was causing the trio such distress. It is only then that he notices the gangrenous wound in his belly and the sickly glowing ooze coming from it. But when would he have gotten that...?

Okay you are most definitely not okay! He commands. Change of plans. We're landing right now. You have manticore venom in you. The small dragon diverts his flight straight for the forest canopy beneath them.

"Bah! Some little manticore can't..." Den closed his eyes as well.
Mir gotten panicked. "I....I'll listen to you!" he landed, or more likely crashed unto the ground.
"I will pay you anything! Make it stop!" Mir was histeric

[Emperor Ing]

We'll talk payment later. He said in a rush. And, uh, I have no idea how to treat Manticore venom.

But don't worry! I have an idea! He hurriedly said, in an attempt to sound reassuring. Brace yourself, i'm gonna cut open the sting to drain out some of the infection. Just as he finishes, he takes a claw and does as he says, creating an incision in the swelling to drain out some of the infected blood and tissue. However Hektir's squeamishness returns in full force when he realizes just what he was doing, and sees, and smells the infected area for himself.

Auuughh... He growls in disgust, turning away, trying with all his might to not simply vomit at the horrid smell.

Okay... He says, without looking even at Gormirden. So here's my idea: I know an ancient ritual-spell that will...remove the venom...as an unintended side-effect of what the spell really does, which is...kinda...sorta...gonna kill you in exactly 24 hours if I don't break the spell immediately...uhh-Ah! Don't worry I know the counter-spell too!

Though the first spell is also, uh, painful.

The spell, you see, is Talus' Hand. 6400 years ago, a Warlock named Talus sent his daughter to the King in their society's purification ceremony as sort of a rite-of-passage for females of their society. However not every girl makes it back, and his daughter didn't. Stricken with grief, Talus investigated with his magic, and discovered the whole "ceremony" is just a sham for the Royal Family to ra-uh, excuse me, kill and eat the people of their nation. Talus then developed a spell that would kill the Royal Family remotely, he developed the Talus' Hand ritual. It doesn't kill the entire family but it did kill the King! He lectures excitedly his history lesson, forgetting the urgency of his situation. Perhaps unintentionally, the curse magically purges toxins from the body.

If you want, I can try the spell but, uh, i've never cast it before, it'll take a few minutes to prepare the ritual circle, and if it does work, it'll hurt. A lot.

But, uh, hey! If we get THAT far, it means all we have to do is cast the counterspell and everything's okay!

[igordragonian]

We'll talk payment later. He said in a rush. And, uh, I have no idea how to treat Manticore venom.

But don't worry! I have an idea! He hurriedly said, in an attempt to sound reassuring. Brace yourself, i'm gonna cut open the sting to drain out some of the infection. Just as he finishes, he takes a claw and does as he says, creating an incision in the swelling to drain out some of the infected blood and tissue. However Hektir's squeamishness returns in full force when he realizes just what he was doing, and sees, and smells the infected area for himself.

Auuughh... He growls in disgust, turning away, trying with all his might to not simply vomit at the horrid smell.

Okay... He says, without looking even at Gormirden. So here's my idea: I know an ancient ritual-spell that will...remove the venom...as an unintended side-effect of what the spell really does, which is...kinda...sorta...gonna kill you in exactly 24 hours if I don't break the spell immediately...uhh-Ah! Don't worry I know the counter-spell too!

Though the first spell is also, uh, painful.

The spell, you see, is Talus' Hand. 6400 years ago, a Warlock named Talus sent his daughter to the King in their society's purification ceremony as sort of a rite-of-passage for females of their society. However not every girl makes it back, and his daughter didn't. Stricken with grief, Talus investigated with his magic, and discovered the whole "ceremony" is just a sham for the Royal Family to ra-uh, excuse me, kill and eat the people of their nation. Talus then developed a spell that would kill the Royal Family remotely, he developed the Talus' Hand ritual. It doesn't kill the entire family but it did kill the King! He lectures excitedly his history lesson, forgetting the urgency of his situation. Perhaps unintentionally, the curse magically purges toxins from the body.

If you want, I can try the spell but, uh, i've never cast it before, it'll take a few minutes to prepare the ritual circle, and if it does work, it'll hurt. A lot.

But, uh, hey! If we get THAT far, it means all we have to do is cast the counterspell and everything's okay!

Mir groaned. "If Den were awake, he would have tried to eat you..." he groaned with pain, lying on his side, looking miserable.

"Well.. it's not like I'v got much of choice." Mir muttered.
"Do.. what you can... and I promise to pay you back, generously. If I'll die, what ever left in my cave- is your." Mir added, not sure why he trusted this dragon not to kill him, intentionally.

[Emperor Ing]

Okay so the X goes over the rainbow and two steps from the cloud the light shines through bathing my hand in red light and my tail in green like grass, so the blue outlines my foot and then the tall tree looms overhead and- Hektir memetically mutters a run-on sentence as he paces around Gormirden, drawing a circle with several specific symbols on the ends. Mir might notice that certain phrases in the incantation seem to correspond with symbols being drawn.

After about a minute of this, Hektir seems satisfied. Okay, let's hope this works: He jumps into the air, hovering just inches above the circle. He extends both hands, on one hand a finger pointing outward while the other has an open palm. He looks away in fright, gritting his teeth as he brings his outstretched finger towards his palm, slicing the claw against it and creating a flow of blood. Without looking, his bleeding hand clenches, and he brings it above one of the lines of the ritual circle. A drop of blood lands, and suddenly the circle and runes glow faintly a light pink. As more drops fall, the ritual circle glows more brightly until finally, a burst of red light explodes harmlessly, bathing the area in crimson.

Gormirden, however, will feel fire entering his veins. Not merely fire, but a magical fire borne from an ancient curse, written by an ancient warlock who wanted his enemies to suffer.

[igordragonian]

The other heads waking up from the pain.
"AHRRAAGGHGAAA!!!!" Gormirden roared, squirmed in place and spitted magma every where.

[Lord Raziere]

Cavoraei gently tapped the youngling on his head on the shoulder, which responded by giving a little squeak before getting down and running off, likely to find its parents.

"I would like to hear your story as well. Also, the worth of what you make will depend on its quality. Only that which meets minimum quality will be allowed to leave this place. No piece will leave my caverns that will break after only a few uses, and any material you use towards your creations will also be part of the costs associated with what you get to keep. Staying here is free, as is water. Food and materials for weapons and armor are not. And any material you ruin will count. As I said before, however, I may have other uses for you if you wish to take upon yourself the tasks I ask of you."

He took a deep breath, and released a torrent of light blue flames down upon himself, growing in size to roughly that of a large horse, only still as a kobold.

"I will show you how I truly am later, perhaps when I get back to work. I find this form much more maneuverable among my family."

"I myself, do not plan on staying long. I'd rather find my own resources and place to make things, I doubt you'd like it if I intruded. I'll stay one night, observe things around here then I'm off. I'm assuming that I'll have to work enough to get dinner then? I may not make things as high quality as you, but I can blacksmith well enough to make tools that are consistently good. My real focus is in items that I don't have time to make here and what you really wouldn't want me to waste your resources on."
He said while showing him a hammer from one his bags as an example. It was a plain, utilitarian thing, made by one concerned only for function, durability and getting the job done, and not about doing anything fancy. An inventor must have good tools to make sure he can make other things after all, and not everyone can be as great an artisan as Cavoraei.

[Emperor Ing]

AUUGHH!!! Hektir howled in pain but mostly alarm. He looked away from his own blood-ritual and was surprised when the magma struck his body. Hektir's breed of dragons are not fireproof.

Augh! Hey! Calm down! Sit still! I need to set up the counter-spell ritual and I can't do that if you're thrashing around!

[igordragonian]

AUUGHH!!! Hektir howled in pain but mostly alarm. He looked away from his own blood-ritual and was surprised when the magma struck his body. Hektir's breed of dragons are not fireproof.

Augh! Hey! Calm down! Sit still! I need to set up the counter-spell ritual and I can't do that if you're thrashing around!

Gormirden roared with pain and rage, but obeyed- he planted his dragon-mole claws deep inside the earth, all the heads wrapped themselgs together, to choke each other from spitting magma.

[Emperor Ing]

Nrrgghh, okay. Hektir grits his teeth, soldiering through the pain. Fortunately the counterspell is much simpler. Fewer runes to remember and requires no blood. The warlock clearly expected his ritual to be used against him at some point and wanted a countermeasure.

After almost a minute of preparation, the last line is drawn into place, the ritual lights up immediately, light blue light emitting from the magic circle onto the ground around Gormirden. Immediately he can feel the effects, as the fire in his veins disappears immediately. In addition, just as Hektir predicted, he can't feel any trace of the manticore venom, though the spell did nothing to cure the puncture wound or any of Gormirden's other wounds.

Okay, think that worked. Hektir hisses, still in pain. Against his better judgment, he cranes his neck over to see the extent of the injury. Far be it from a simple burn or mark, it was a splash of magma, one that burned a hole straight through the scales on the side of the dragon's body and left a rather sizeable hole of burnt, cauterized flesh and cooling stone.

Oh. He remarks simply, a hint of optimism in his voice. Well at least it didn't hit anything vital. Not one second passes, and the squeamish dragon faints at the sight of his own injury.

[igordragonian]

Nrrgghh, okay. Hektir grits his teeth, soldiering through the pain. Fortunately the counterspell is much simpler. Fewer runes to remember and requires no blood. The warlock clearly expected his ritual to be used against him at some point and wanted a countermeasure.

After almost a minute of preparation, the last line is drawn into place, the ritual lights up immediately, light blue light emitting from the magic circle onto the ground around Gormirden. Immediately he can feel the effects, as the fire in his veins disappears immediately. In addition, just as Hektir predicted, he can't feel any trace of the manticore venom, though the spell did nothing to cure the puncture wound or any of Gormirden's other wounds.

Okay, think that worked. Hektir hisses, still in pain. Against his better judgment, he cranes his neck over to see the extent of the injury. Far be it from a simple burn or mark, it was a splash of magma, one that burned a hole straight through the scales on the side of the dragon's body and left a rather sizeable hole of burnt, cauterized flesh and cooling stone.

Oh. He remarks simply, a hint of optimism in his voice. Well at least it didn't hit anything vital. Not one second passes, and the squeamish dragon faints at the sight of his own injury.

Gormirden breathing heavily.
"Thanks! I owe-" he started to thank with united voice. He blinked.
"You can't be THAT weak!" Mir groaned, and held Hektir, trying to hear his heart beats, as the rain kept raining.

[Emperor Ing]

Hektir's heart still beat. He's still alive, just unconscious. Briefly. The young dragon stirs.

I'm okay. He says somewhat weakly, wincing in pain as his injury forces him to remember it. Ow. Not okay. Just...give me a minute. He extends his claws outwards, glowing in golden light before he presses them into his chest, the light washing over his body in waves as the burned hole in his body is healed before Gormirden's eyes, first the cooled rock inside is forced away and out, then the flesh begins to knit as cauterized tissue softens and moistens, then grows back into its natural weaves, piece by piece, slowly growing back what was lost. By the time the waves stop, the hole is noticeably healed. While still a large and noticeable wound, it's been reduced in size by probably half.

Ugh, okay, it's still there. I'll have to manage until I can recharge my magic. He looks up at Gormirden, or at least at one of his heads, unsure which one was which, yet, but it didn't matter. Still have two castings left. This should help. He touches the hydra-dragon, and golden light runs over his body as he can feel the healing spells take effect. While fairly weak spells individually, the two of them together would bring some relief to Gormirden's injuries.

[igordragonian]

Gormirden roared with amaze.
"What.. have you done?" Gor has asked with respect.

[PurityIcekiller]

Veridao Crio
"I'll take the swamps under consideration then. I'll just need to figure out a way to keep things clean....wait invaders and their machines you say?"
Zarakkan perks up at this.
"...This sounds like a story, I'd be interested in knowing. You said something about a valley....ah! If I'm piecing together correctly, your valley was taken by one of the three Great Powers yes? Either the Consortium or the Commonwealth, as they are the two big technological ones. Hm. And you hope to work for the arms and armor to arm the people there to take it back. Ok, you got a plan, but, I'm curious, how well trained are the people your arming? How big is your valley, how populous are its inhabitants, and what are the forces of the invaders? This sounds like a big undertaking, how do you plan on taking all the arms you make back without being noticed? Especially when you only have two of you, and if I'm not mistaken, might take a while to make the armor you need."
Not to mention factors like how willing Cavoraei was to help- he didn't seem like someone who had the means to transport his goods that far or would be willing to go that far away from his home, or send his kobolds that far away either, at least not by Zarakkan's calculation. There just seemed to be so many holes in this plan from his point of view that he could not resist pointing them out. He did this while scribbling furiously on his notepad, information leaping onto the page seemingly as fast as he could think it.

Smoketail gave Zarakkan a glare. "You think your prying makes you clever, Great Detective? Or can you just not go one minute without picking something apart?"

"Smoketail, calm down! He could help!"

"Help, right. "

Cavoraei gently tapped the youngling on his head on the shoulder, which responded by giving a little squeak before getting down and running off, likely to find its parents.

"I would like to hear your story as well. Also, the worth of what you make will depend on its quality. Only that which meets minimum quality will be allowed to leave this place. No piece will leave my caverns that will break after only a few uses, and any material you use towards your creations will also be part of the costs associated with what you get to keep. Staying here is free, as is water. Food and materials for weapons and armor are not. And any material you ruin will count. As I said before, however, I may have other uses for you if you wish to take upon yourself the tasks I ask of you."

He took a deep breath, and released a torrent of light blue flames down upon himself, growing in size to roughly that of a large horse, only still as a kobold.

"I will show you how I truly am later, perhaps when I get back to work. I find this form much more maneuverable among my family."

Sparkwing jumped back in alarm, his scales crackling a bit. "Augh! Warn first next time!"

"You sure like being showy, don't you."

After a moment to calm down, Sparkwing nodded. "So, terms. Yes. Those are fair enough."

"As long as you don't cheat us. If we do any labour for your benefit alone, for instance, don't expect us to be the ones paying. That includes making supplies for you."

"But I'm sure you wouldn't try anything like that."

For a moment, both were silent, trying to figure out what to say next.

"So, the invasion... Where to begin? It was these big, bulky, hairy creatures. They come to hunt us, in flying bags and vehicles that spit smoke as they move. They come with cages, and horrible weapons that shoot fire and metal." Sparkwing flinched at the memory. "And in their land, they have a machine that looks like a huge segmented worm, moves at frightful speeds, leaves smoke wherever it goes, and makes the most terrible sounds-"

Smoketail shook her head. "Sparkwing, the Mad Motor isn't relevant. Leave it for later."

"Right, right." Sparkwing snapped back to attention. "We don't know why they go after us. For years, we tried to avoid them, tried to avoid provoking them, but they kept coming, and they kept getting worse. They came into our valley, killing our families and neighbours, then carrying off those they could when they left. But this time, they didn't leave. They just stayed there, taking and killing more and more..." He hung his head in despair. "We had to leave. There was no hope."

"It's an injustice, that's what it is. We have done nothing to them, and yet they terrorize us! Those savages!" Smoketail's tail swished furiously. "We were not ready. We didn't have numbers, didn't have a plan, and didn't have supplies. All we could do was survive. We're the only ones who made it; the others were all caught or killed."

"We can't go back to the valley. Not yet. It is too dangerous." Sparkwing shook his head. "All we can do for now is stay safe. Drive them away if they come. But if we get the chance, we have to save the others."

[Emperor Ing]

Gormirden roared with amaze.
"What.. have you done?" Gor has asked with respect.

Hektir hopped off from Gormirden's claw and onto the rain-soaked ground. Magic. He said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I told you. I know a healing spell. Although it's pretty weak, I can cast it multiple times. But i'm drained of magic right now, I won't be able to cast anything for at least an hour.

You're a dragon so you should be able to use magic too, right?

[sildra45]

The giant kobold narrowed his eyes as he listened, his claws balling up into fists the more he heard. His maw was starting to smoke until....

"Sounds like a dwarven clan has gone conquering again. This time in dragon lands, no less! Oh, if I find out they're not part of the Consortium, I'll melt their tracks and throw their engine and train right over a cliff edge, see that I don't! I'll bury them in their melted armors I will! I'll...I'll..."


He roared his blue flames into the air, engulfing himself once again as he grew, and grew....and grew, the flames vanishing to reveal the massive landwyrm he actually was, his voice far deeper, and far louder.

"I'll crush them under my very claws!"

The kobolds of the den were nowhere to be seen. An angry Cavoraei wasn't as careful where he stepped.

"Guard! Fetch my armor and weapons."

Before anything else could be done, a light rapping noise signalled the arrival of a very old looking Kobold giving the giant dragon a disapproving stare.

"Calm down grandfather. Rushing off into this without knowing every detail will put your mountain under siege....again. Do you really want to deal with another one of those so soon?"

His maw slowly stopped smoking as he took deep breaths, his eyes closed as he did indeed calm down, but the heat of the room had most certainly gone up considerably.

[Lord Raziere]

Zarakkan
"Ah, so they are dwarves. So they are. Hm."
Cavoraei seemed to have a strong sense of justice. Willing, but his home and family complicated matters for him. He wouldn't want it to be harmed because of this.
"Yes, it seems like quite the conundrum. If you go, you'll risk your home and your family. Is it possible that a disguise might remove this risk? I could enchant his armor to make him look like a different dragon if need be while he wears it, an illusion you see."
He then turns to Smoketail and smiles
"My dear Smoketail, prying is the hallmark of the clever. The stupid ignore, the smart investigate. Geniuses are meddling troublemakers, why else would kings be so eager to burn their books and cover up their truths with lies? Why when I told people in one town that the planet wasn't the center of everything and was more going around sun in this orbity....circle-y...whatever...they chased me out in anger. BUT! Back to the point:

Yes, these sound like right up my alley, I've been studying magic, technology, trying to invent things and whatnot. I might be able to find a way to fight back against them, though I doubt weapons Cavoraei alone makes could do it....those machines are more complex, and probably built with great defenses and firepower. You need tactics, maybe weapons equal to their own. If they have machines that great, I doubt a few extra spears are going to make a difference. What you need is to steal their designs and use them for yourselves. I know I'd certainly do that, if it were me. Take their stuff, see what makes it so great at killing you, find a way to use it to kill them back. Its probably the scenario they fear above all else."
Zarakkan said, continuing to scribble in his notepad about plans of what to do, what he would need, how to thwart and fight back, things like that.