plot roll | gulliver's travels

[groundrules]

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GULLIVER’S TRAVELS | EIDRIS

The dragons of Eidris remain agitated after Aiva hatches her eggs and her mate Ariste is allegedly wounded by a Minaras reconnaissance ship, the Relint. Outraged, Eidris aristocracy demands satisfaction, but war-wary king Thivar III soothes tempers until Minaras’ involvement is proven. Scouts report the Relint has crashed in the Sibilant Sands wasteland near Serthica, where dragons used to roam and mate. Dragon warlord Cain d’Ubiq organises a three-day flight expedition to recover the Relint, accepting companions.

✘ OBJECTIVE: locate and investigate the Relint.

■ Thirty dragons and riders, led by Cain d’Ubiq, leave once Eidris rises overground at 6:00am. Cain and two of his companions fly martial, fire-breathing dragons.

■ Every dragon rider is given three days of smoked meats for their dragons, food and water supplies for themselves, two blankets, binoculars and climbing hooks and gear. Riders are advised to wear warm full-body clothing and to cover their mouths.

■ Departing Eidris, you learn that you fly in the middle of the sandstorm season, amid deep reddish mists that rapidly exhaust you and vicious whirlwinds prone to unsaddle you. Don’t get lost and catch anyone who falls!

■ Through mental links, riders can sense their dragons are unnerved by the weather and the thought of confronting the Relint. Many transmit image glimpses of the Eidris-Minaras conflict, when dragons frequently battled warships.

■ Dragons are wilful and predatory creatures: try not to slip off when they suddenly pair up to play tag, hunt large birds or chase the flocks of nocturnal peaceful cloud whales.

■ The Sibilant Sands are a long, red, arid and withered stretch of land east of Serthica, littered by fog-drenched peaks and abyssal, sudden canyons. You may experience spells of inexplicable thirst, dizziness and listlessness.

■ Each night, the dragon party alights at watch points — very high plateaus, that host a few man-made caves. Cain d’Ubiq recommends sheltering your dragons. Squeeze in with them, or negotiate warmth with your fellow travellers: the Sibilant Sands are fiercely cold at night, and large fires can alert hungering man-sized hawks.

■ The stormy weather and recent events have left your dragons exceptionally skittish, prone to fits of anguish. Your physical presence — stroking, feeding, or grooming — reassures the dragons, as can your explicit efforts to send them happy, positive feelings. Think. Happy thoughts.

■ At long last, you reach the Relint: a small plane vessel that has crashed and remained stranded at a vast height between two steep cliffs that house several hawk nests.

■ Dragons are too large to fit in the space occupied by the Relint without being seen and attacked by the hawks — but you can leave your mounts behind and ascend with your climbing gear. Beware brutal hawks and storms.

■ Those who finally enter the Relint find no human remains — only two man-sized, straw-filled burlap mannequins, with a puddle of cold dark water at their feet. The mannequin ‘pilot’ wears a crudely painted fox face. The ‘navigator’ has a bear one.

■ Drop a line if your character plans to touch the dark water: you can get information, but please be aware there will be some unpleasant consequences.

■ The ship is very battered, showing Serthica markings: only RELINT remains visible from a distance, from the originally engraved AERIAL HEALING UNIT.

■ Dried blood is smeared on the back of the ship, where a fresh indentation has taken out the Relint’s engine. Any dragon that smells a sample can convey through images this is the blood of Ariste.

■ Grab whatever you need and fly home: the Relint creaks, rattles, and is at all times just about ready to fall.

QUESTIONS

NPC ACCESS: CAIN D'UBIQ

Comments

[valeas]

( it is difficult for emilia to imagine it as well, though she tries. he is so inscrutable at times, even to her, and she knows this stoicism is by design. they live in a world where secrets are currency, a world where any and all weaknesses are used against you.

and still. he had wings, once. she imagines wrath would enjoy the flight, were the scaled beasts not unsettled by him. emilia knows now there is nothing like it: to soar so high above the very clouds stir. her beloved tanzie can never know it. )

It can be. In ways I would not have imagined, not at first.

( he well knows her initial reservations. how they've sought to protect their minds and bodies. and now ... tightness gathers in her throat, and emilia is quick to banish it. ) It will be hard to let her go. ( he doesn't need to tell her that she'll have to. )

[inferus]

( wrath nods in quiet acceptance to these words. he does remember her initial reservations. they were ones he shared with her, but it was her choice to make, and he is grateful it has been a comfort. it has given. so much has been taken from her as it is. he doesn't want anything to have any more of her - certainly when she does not choose it but this she has chosen.

except this will be taken too, won't it? these dragons cannot come with them through the beacon nor to their next location assuming this beacon fails like the others have. it's a marvel to him still: how she connects, how she cares. none of it comes easily to creatures who are immortal, who were not made to connect or care. )

Will it still have been worth it once you have? ( some changes cannot be undone. the space in her heart that she has given to this dragon cannot be reclaimed, and yet she's given even with the loss she has already experienced. after seeing her go through that grief, is it any wonder he would want to spare her from more, or at least give her the choice to spare herself from more? as ancient as he is, he does not always have the answers nor can he prepare her properly, and he was not allowed to grieve the only time he could have felt it. much has been taken from him as well. )