Open Chronicles Those Beneath

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Oda

Hellfire
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Malakath - Terragrith Mountains - Grackthall

There were few things in this world that could make Oda feel uncomfortable.

He had faced the breath of a dragon. The Axe of a man trying to kill him. The poison of a woman scorned. Over his lifetime he had been cut, bruised, broken, and torn into pieces. All of these things were a matter of fact, they were a part of his life. Never had he thought them an obstacle. Never had any of them given him an ounce of hesitation.

Grakthall did.

The great city of the Drawgur put a distinct anxiety in his chest that he could never admit to. Buried beneath the Terragrith Mountain's of the east, the Drawgur had built a metropolis that sprawled beneath the earth itself. Larger even than Thanasis, the drawing tunnels and spreading metropolis stood not upon Malakath, but below.

In the west, some called the Drawgur Dwarves. Though their ashen skin and bright eyes marked them apart from their cousins. These people were industrious, intelligence, and ever mercantile. Though their hearts stood to invention, they knew the keys of the world were rooted in trade. That was why Oda was here, to protect a delegation of politicians that had been sent to reach an accord.

Thanasis lay more than a thousand miles from the gates of Grackthall, yet such distance was no measure for the Drawgur.
A bargain had already been struck, and despite the thousands of miles between their cities the people under the mountains had agreed to dig. A passage would be created between the two great cities. Dredged from the earth, and created so the two could strive in trade and war.

That was truly why Oda was here.

There were not many Dragons which would venture deep beneath the earth, but Arkhys had been wrought to heel. Despite the Hellfire's distaste of the underground, he followed Oda's command. Even so far beneath the earth, where the sun was far and the sky farther, the Hellfire stood mere meters behind the excavation team. His mouth an ever creasing scowl. "A pocket?"

Oda asked the Drawgur before him. The stout engineer tilting his head in a nod.

"A cavern, three hundred meters tall. The Diggers reached it this morn." He said with a frown. "We thought it best you..explore it first."

A glance was cast behind the warriors side, and slowly Oda tilted his head in a nod. "We will find if anything lays within the depths. I will gather the others."

Oda stated, as though there was no choice in the matter.
 
Greydon slumped in his seat upon the saddle that was fitted to his Moon Dragon. He never knew his dragon was so well adjusted to the darkness of the underground, but it was part of their abilities to see well in dark spaces. Their bond granted their humans the same vision, and Grey could make out the bend further into the tunnel, but he stayed in this cavern with the rest of them.

"Easy, easy!" Came another rider's voice somewhere behind him. Most dragons became skittish this far below the earth, so disconnected from the open skies. Drazhan had been the same, until the darkness hung at the edges in a promise just like eventide. They welcomed the shadows, moved about it with more ease than the rest of their small squad.

Movement came down the tunnel and Grey sat up straight. "Look alive. Hellfire is on the way." And with the Hell Drake, his rider.
 
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Diarmuid had other business aside from monitoring the building of tunnels, but house Laenaeris insisted on having a representative to speak with the dwarves. However his dragon-bonded family members each insisted that their dragons simply could not manage being underground, and Diarmuid was chosen to represent his house. He hoped the dwarves did not consider a dragonless envoy an insult, and even more that his house had not intended such.

"Sir, the dwarven engineers have been getting restless. We believe they've found something."
Dibella, a warrior sworn to the house informed him.

"Then they'll be coming to us soon to explain the delay, and perhaps even request assistance. Prepare to travel." Diarmuid replied. Part of him hoped something was wrong enough to provide some excitement, but he also held no ill will to the dwarves.
 
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Arkhys crawled through the tunnels like his reptile forebears. Wings folded tight against his back, head snaking left and right, mouth agape with the slight light of black flames flickering along the path. Besides him tread Oda, his steps echoing within the halls of the tunnel.

The other Riders seemed to stiffen as he approached, each of them half as weary of the man as they were of his Dragon.

Some still thought him little more than the King's trained savage, and in truth such words were not far off. He and his held little loyal to the city of Thanasis, nor the nobles who made up most of it's Dragon Riders. Oda was here because the Crown had beckoned him, and nothing more. "It is time to go."

He said, never slowing as he began to march towards the corridor that the Drawgur had spoken of.

"They have found a Cavern, a maw within the tunnels." As he spoke, the clattering of picks and tunnel-crawlers echoed out ahead, the Drawgur's great digging equipment coming to a stop and moving to the side to allow passage for the Dragons and their riders. "We will see what lays within."

As they moved, some of the Drawgur workers shifted uneasily. The dwarven cousins no-more comfortable around dragons than their mainland Kindred. "Greydon. Take the front with me."

Oda beckoned, leaving no room for argument.
 
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Ever the good soldier, Greydon patted Drazhan's spine for the dragon to move into position at Oda's side. He kept quiet, not needing any more information that what had been told, but his eyes found the Drawgur's busy at work to make room for the Thanasians to move past. If any were to look up at him, he'd give them a grim smile. He wasn't one to smile so freely, and many rumoured it to his father's family he did all he could to not be associated with.

Too bad his Moon Dragon gave away his roots.

Drazhan kept a respectful distance from the other drake up front. He kept in sight, not wishing to fall into the blindside and perhaps triggering any predatory responses. Like dragon and bonded, they knew when to make themselves compliant to get through a situation, but Greydon had every respect for the man that commanded he ride at his side.
 
The command of this crew was headed by a man known as Oda, who Diarmuid has loosely heard of. He was rumored to be a barbarian, a savage that was a mere tool of the crown. From Diarmuid’s perspective that did not reconcile with him taking command. If he were just some fool he would have been an appetizer for the crown prince’s dragon long ago. For now he held the front, along with what appeared to be a member of house Tomyrs.

“Dibella, hold back to the rear and let me know if anything tries to sneak up on us. I’ll hold between and pass anything you see along.” Diarmuid said to his House’s vassal.

“And should Oda order differently?”
She asked.

“This is his command.”
Diarmuid responded. “We’ll do as ordered.”

“As you wish.” Dibella responded, and dropped to the rear of the group, keeping careful watch of the underground around them.
 
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The journey through the tunnels was an uncomfortable one for the Dragon's of Thanasis. The corridors were tight, small, and seemed to wind and shift without any reason or real explanation.

Thus was the nature of the Drawgur's design. Much of what they dug was not for the expansion of the city, but the gold and iron ore that could be found. Grackthall had never cared for the breadth of it's great metropolis, but simply that it could keep existing.

Yet in that pursuit, they had created a maddening labyrinth that brought a distinct discomfort to even Oda.

It was almost a relief when the tunnels seemed to finally shift and open up. First the rock ceilings and stalagmites growing to be further away then suddenly the entirety of the tunnel opening into a huge maw of a cavern.

Before the abyss of the underdark took away sight of the walls and ceiling it was obvious to see that the cave they had entered was hundreds of meters tall. Stretching out into into a dark where no one knew what lay ahead.

As they entered a low growl echoed through Arkhys' throat, the Dragon seeming to stall. "We need more light."

Oda noted, peering into the vast darkness ahead. Not quite giving an order, but clearly expecting it to be followed.
 
Not all of them were gifted with the ability to see in the dark like a Moon Dragon, nor did the humans have better sight in the dark than usual than those of Malennis blood. Greydon looked around, spying the large torch that was built into the cavern wall.

Drazhan tilted his head, angling to get the right position before his mouth opened to let out heat and fire, giving light so that the others could see.

Another torch was above them, and the Moon Dragon curled and climbed a little ways up to reach it.

"That looks like enough light, no?" Grey asked, looking around the dimly lit stone walls. There would be more torches up ahead, but there was little that could be done. If a Sun Dragon had been present, perhaps light could have followed them, but he was thankful not to see any Solherres present.
 
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"Give me a few minutes." Diarmuid appealed. The Wyld Dragon Tamer was not an especially skilled mage, but did have training in the fundamental art of rune magic. Rather than 'stack' up such boons however, he only made what he needed when he needed. So when the task of light came Diarmuid pulled a bandage from his pack and a quill. Over the next eight minutes he enscribed a simple rune with a core meaning of 'light' on the bandage. Afterwards he pulled a dagger, still covered by it's scabbard, and wrapped it with the bandage.

Diarmuid sent a pulse of magic and the bandage lit the corridor. It didn't have quite the brightness of the fixed torch Greydon had set, but it would carry them between lights, and farther if they wandered to tunnels the dwarves hadn't built. Diarmuid walked forward and presented the faux-torch to Oda .

"Should last us a few hours. I can make something more robust with time should we have need." Diarmuid informed. He didn't want to farther bog down the expedition, but figured the information relevant enough to share.
 
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