Open Chronicles Book of Wyrms - Part I

[Rob Yew]

Galen stared into the water, watching the swirling eddies of the Cairou River pouring into Lake Elbion. Somewhere down there lay the corpse of the most powerful creature in all of Arethil.

Drakormir.

The name sent a tingle of cold fear down Galen's spine. His fingers clenched tight around the leather scroll case in his left hand. He looked from the case, then back to the waters.

"This is so stupid," he muttered.

But what else was he supposed to do? Live his life a debt-slave to the college? Get his legs broken by the bank of Valkyr and Sons? Being a half-breed in this city would leave him right back where he started.... the gutter.

He had no other choice.

Galen took the scroll out of the case, opened it, and began to read.

No simple mage could simply walk up and start a conversation with a god of dragons, but Telemachus had not been a simple mage. And this scroll... this scroll was all Galen needed from that conjurer. Let him keep his star pacts, Galen only needed a way to communicate. And Telemachus had handed him a method for communing with gods.

Galen spoke the last words and waited... would Drakormir answer? Did a sliver of his consciousness remain?

 

[Tytus Amladeris]

The desolated Lake Elbion continued to whirl as Galen spoke the last words of the scroll. Deadly miasma permeated in the air below as the chunks of floating city danced above.

Silence answered Galen for a few moments.

Then, a harshly toned question asked, "What are you doing?"

Tytus approached from behind Galen - in fully Thagretis garb.

 

[Rob Yew]

“Uh.”

The half-elf’s eyes widened and he turned, fully expecting to see a debt collector or something. Instead he saw a man wearing clothes in a style he did not recognize.

Galen wiped a nervous palm on the front of his own simple college apprentice robes.

He looked from the scroll in his hand, to the man, then to the water.

A dozen responses ran through his head. I can explain. It’s not what it looks like.

Except he couldn’t explain and it was exactly what it looked like.

At last, Galen gave up with a shrug and a sigh.

“Something very foolish I guess.”

 

[Tytus Amladeris]

Tytus gripped a sword strapped to his waist with one hand, and another rose to his armored temple. Behind his mask, Tytus gave a slight groan.

“No, what did you do just now?” he asked.

The hand he rose to his head then curled into a tight fist.

“Cease this ringing noise!” Tytus commanded of Galen.

 

[Rob Yew]

"What?" a note of panic came into his voice as the man gripped a sword.

"What noise? All I did was read from the scroll!" Galen's eyes were wide beneath his dark, tousled hair.

He shook his head, clutching it with his own hand in a mirror of the other man's movement and tugging at his hair.

"I was- I- I was trying to speak to Drakormir. But nothing happened! What is going on?"

 

[Tytus Amladeris]

“I-“ Tytus began, but paused immediately.

His head tilted as he put more pressure on his head with his finger. A sigh. The hand on his sword hilt relaxed – though his fingers still sat upon it.

Removing his finger from his temple, Tytus pointed at Galen and asked, “What's that scroll, and what’s your interest in the Holy Dragon?”

 

[Rob Yew]

"It's a scroll with summoning words from a Sidereal conjurer. Use it the right way and... well..." Galen shrugged, "you can summon gods."

He paused. "I mean. You can't summon summon them. But it opens up a connection to them. Supposedly. Maybe. I'm not sure I used it right, to be entirely honest. Conjuring is not my strong suit."

Galen eyed the stranger. Why was he telling him all this? "I was just trying to uh, see if Drakormir was alive and wanted to make a um. Pact. Kind of."

He sighed, glanced down at the water, then back up at the stranger. "What's your name anyway? I'm Galen."

 

[Tytus Amladeris]

“Tytus,” he replied, “From Thagretis.”

With Galen having given some answers, Tytus retracted his fingers. He tilted his head to gaze down upon Lake Elbion.

Looking back to Galen, Tytus revealed to him that, “I’m here to see the Holy Dragon myself. When He woke, we heard His voice across the world. But He grew silent when He fell here.”

Then pointing once again, this time at the scroll, Tytus told Galen, “But when I saw you read that scroll, I heard something once more…”

 

[Spectral Omens]

Steam wafted from the tumultuous lake. Far below the surface, an echo of firelight gleamed on broken teeth the size of men.

Galen Tytus Amladeris

 

[Rob Yew]

"So I should... read from it again?"

Tytus from where? He couldn't have heard that right, did he? And did Tytus just call it the Holy dragon?

Ignoring those thoughts, Galen nodded to himself and...

"I guess I should."

...and he started reading from the scroll once more, putting every ounce of concentration into forming the correct syllables as they left his tongue.

 

[Tytus Amladeris]

Tytus heard Galen, and immediately responjded with, “What… wait!”

But Galen already began speaking the words. Tytus held an arm out, but did nothing more at first.

As Galen continued to speak though, Tytus’s arms twitched. He gasped as he clutched the temple of his head once more with one arm.

“No, stop!” he yelled.

And this time, Tytus continued to move forward in a quick dash. He reached out toward Galen to attempt to take the scroll from the mage…

 

[Rob Yew]

Galen backed up. Why was Tytus Amladeris trying to make him stop? That was silly. Hadn't he just said he was here to see the dragon? Like a pilgrimage. Like he almost... worshipped it...

Well, the apprentice wasn't about to let a crazy cultist stop him from finishing this. He'd started it, might as well complete it.

If he didn't the debt collectors would break his kneecaps and he would probably be expelled from the college. Then he would die slowly in a debtor's prison, or in a mine somewhere.

Galen didn't want to do that.

He kept reading.

Spectral Omens

 

[Tytus Amladeris]

Galen just continued to read the scroll – refusing to let Tytus take it.

Destroying it was an option. Just chunk some fire or find a way to tear it. Tytus refused to do any of that.

As a migraine settled in his head, Tytus quickly motioned his hands and changed, “Let silence befall His halls!”

Tytus just cast a spell fueled by the divine magic of Thagretis. A simple one – silence. The goal was to stop all sound coming from Galen’s mouth. Whether it worked to do so and if it worked to stop the effect of the scroll Tytus wanted to stop remained to be seen.

 

[Spectral Omens]

Tytus just cast a spell fueled by the divine magic of Thagretis. A simple one – silence. The goal was to stop all sound coming from Galen’s mouth. Whether it worked to do so and if it worked to stop the effect of the scroll Tytus wanted to stop remained to be seen.

As a side effect, a pair of nearby ravens squawked and then went dead quiet. Oh, they still tried to squawk, but not a bit of sound came out. They flapped away in deep consternation and infuriated silence.