that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

[faderifting]

WHO: Dragon-slayers
WHAT: The three Inquisition teams face their dragony foes
WHEN: Guardian 28
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: Violence, gore, etc. This log contains closed threads for the 12 characters who were assigned slots on the dragon-fighting quest. Each team has an info pack-type starter about its dragon below. From here it is up to you to coordinate OOCly and decide how you want things to go down, and to NPC the dragon as needed. It also has an open thread for post-dragon-slaying tavern boasting.

By the end of Guardian Judicael's Crossing is repaired, at least enough to send Inquisition agents across on foot. But there is another obstacle preventing them from reestablishing a link between Sahrnia and the outside world: three high dragons have taken up residence across the bridge in an area called the Pools of the Sun. Here, the only road out through the mountains winds between rocky hills, ruins, and statuary. The remains of three structures dominate the landscape, arenas commissioned by Orlesian nobility in ages past.

Each of the teams has been assigned a dragon, and given as much information about it as the Inquisition has been able to gather from a few cautious scouting missions. This consists of where it sleeps and its primary method of attack. Though Inquisition resources are not great, they have had mages working overtime preparing at least basic protections against the dragons' elemental magic. While not enough to prevent injury altogether, they do significantly increase chances of escaping without dire casualties. They have also been provided with a small stock of healing and lyrium potions.

The three teams have been chosen from among the most-suited of the volunteers, and are dispatched across the river together. They split off on arrival, each making their way to the dragon's location and, at a roughly simultaneous moment, beginning the attack.

Comments

[dragoon_pride]

"Good to know... I'll certainly keep that in mind, especially if it can be fashioned similar to what I have." He likes his usual draconic look, after all. As for armor, there will definitely need to be repairs soon enough, but again, that's for later. For now, the victory.

He nods. "I'll hold you to that, in that case." He's curious, he's seen some magic here and there, some like his world, some very different. "For now, though... I suppose we drink." Seems to be a recurring theme with him and Korrin.

[gatheringstorm]

At that, she grins. "Don't worry. I won't insist on any drinking games if you don't insist on trying to leap over railings. Deal?"

Please don't push the babysitting role on her, Kain, not now. Not that the tavern here is multistory, but Korrin's sure Kain would find one to leap over if he really wanted it. And knowing his agility in full plate armor, she might not be able to stop him.

[dragoon_pride]

It's Kain so, yes, he probably would find some way to get in a troublesome situation. But so far, he'll behave himself.

"Consider it a deal," he agrees, certain that at the moment he probably couldn't make it over a railing if he wanted. He's achey all over, even his legs from so much intense jumping. Nothing that a lot of rest can't cure, but for now, to celebrate. He grabs his drink and takes a deep swig of it, feeling refreshed already. "I finally had the battle I was hoping for... at long last..."

[gatheringstorm]

"Tell me about the dragon you fought, and I'll tell you about mine. I want to hear everything. It was one of the ice-breathers, right? I heard there was an extra one in a far-off ring, a fire-breather. We're lucky it was too lazy to join the other ones in trashing our camp." Two were bad enough; three, and that camp would no longer have existed, she's certain of that.

[dragoon_pride]

"That's right, and its breath froze the air worse than any Blizzaga- that's the highest level of ice magic a black mage has on my world. It was terrible." He points to where there's still some lingering ice damage on his left hand. "It actually stayed mostly on the ground for much of the battle... I didn't expect that, but that was all the better for us, in the end. What about yours? What sort was it?"

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin glances to that hand, unsurprised. "Oh, it was an ice-breather, too. Red and blue hide, with a breath cold enough to slow or freeze us, and it had a habit of freezing the marshy ground, so our feet would be encased in ice. It wasn't stupid, I'll give it that. And ugh, it had the world's most annoying shriek; it was so piercing that the only thing we could do was try to cover our ears. Not to mention it had this habit of flapping its wings to draw us in closer, but that was less of a problem for Cassndra and I than the others. Knight-Enchanters get used to close-quarters combat with a spirit blade and whatnot, so I used that to my advantage. As long as I could escape its breath, that part wasn't so bad."

[dragoon_pride]

"As much as you get experienced fighting dragons... it's difficult to get used to the sound of those screams. They're unearthly..." Yet they speak to him in a way. Not literally, just... he admires the power in their roars, the strength that they command. They're his spirit animal, ok. "The wings caused me some difficulty as well... even I had trouble keeping my footing with that. Though it sounds like we both had ways to avoid the worst of it... we're here in one piece, after all."

[gatheringstorm]

She grins raises her tankard at that, in an impromptu toast. "To fighting the biggest, baddest things in this world and proving to them that we're badder! Anaan." Victory is so sweet, especially when no one had to die to make it happen. "Now you ought to have enough dragon hide to show off your status as dragonslayer. That stuff is rare enough that the only way to get it is to earn it, you know."

[dragoon_pride]

"To dragonslaying!" It may not have been the first dragon he's faced, but it doesn't matter... they're among the most powerful enemies he's ever faced. The most challenging, for certain. It's the kind of battle that feels incredible afterward, that may have seemed impossible until they saw it through. "And that's true... even dividing it between four of us, there's a lot there to go around. I'll show it off proudly."

Maybe it'll help his status as a rifter, reminding everyone that he'd helped defeat a dragon of all things.

[gatheringstorm]

"Good. Vivienne will approve, trust me. She knows the value of such things, so as long as you don't match it with plaidweave or something else ridiculous, you're golden." Hopefully he's gotten over that weird phase, but it's still worth bearing in mind for later. Korrin can't be too careful, not wanting to punish her eyes again.

[dragoon_pride]

"So glad to have her approval." It's only a little bit sarcastic, since Kain is less wary of Vivienne these days than he was after that first meeting. He'd thought she was awfully stuffy and stuck-up, but she'd gone to the trouble of giving him that outfit with the blue and the dragon buttons. "But I can imagine that dragon scales are a mark of a true warrior, someone who's got the strength to battle a dragon... and win."

Ok, maybe he still has some of the plaidweave, hidden away with his things, to bring out only when... some reason comes for it. Maybe. You never know?

[gatheringstorm]

Ew, Kain. There's never any good reason for plaidweave.

Korrin nods in approval at mention of the dragon scales, raising her tankard. "That and dragon bone, which can be crafted into the best weapons and armor. Hell, we should go back for the skulls one day. Can you imagine having one of those as a chair? It'd be the most badass thing ever."

[dragoon_pride]

Sometimes there is, he swears it! Kain will be the one and only champion of plaidweave in all of Thedas.

"An entire room, decorated in dragon-based furniture..." Kain imagines the sight, loving it immediately of course. He wants to emulate them in all ways that he can, so why not? Perhaps one day he could find a smith able to craft armor similar to his normal kind, with the look of dragoon's, but out of the dragon scales and bones. Now that would be great, to Kain. "I'm glad this chance came up when it did... a means to prove myself to the Inquisition."

[gatheringstorm]

Help her dream come true, Kain. Skyhold's main hall deserves more than stuffy, boring Andrastian Chantry decor.

She nods after taking another swig, leaning back in her chair. "Me, too, for your sake. You must have heard about Sina's shard opening a rift in Skyhold. Any shardbearer is likely to face some backlash for that, out of fear that they could do the same. But they can't doubt your loyalty after you slay a fucking dragon."

[dragoon_pride]

Kain will gladly aid in that endeavor, more dragon decor is always a good idea.

He rolls his eyes at the mention of everyone getting trouble due to one other person's actions. He's personally ignored the shard as much as he can, not wanting to somehow return to that pain he'd felt from it when first arriving. "Right. Dragon slaying ought to be a big deal. The actions of one shouldn't stand for the whole, though... some of us just want a purpose to fight for... at least I do."

The main reason he's pledged loyalty to the Inquisition is exactly that. He could go around lurking in caves and slaying dragons at random, but even that may not work out so well. Being among an organization like this on the other hand, one dedicated to fighting this world's evil... that's something he can get behind. A worthy penance.

[gatheringstorm]

Lifting her tankard back to her lips, Korrin smirks. "As do I. Just because I've been a mercenary since first striking out on my own doesn't mean I don't understand the importance of a cause. Hell, I'm not even here due to a contract. I joined to avenge my fallen and stop the asshole trying to wreck everything. I live in this world, too, you know. It'd be a little inconvenient if he destroyed it."

[dragoon_pride]

"It's no use for anyone, if the world is destroyed." it may be different of course, being native to the world and seeing it under such a terrible threat. He knows what that's like all too well. "And for me... it's a means to redeem myself from the past. Not that anyone I've wronged is here to see it. But I truly believe that's why I ended up here."

If he's to carry on with a life of saving worlds and defeating darkness, so be it.

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin shrugs and takes a sip, not about to argue with that. "Hold onto that belief, then. If it's what keeps you going, then that's as good a motivation as anything else. What you've done matters less than what you can do now, at least in the Inquisition. And from what I've seen, you're more than capable of redeeming yourself in that way."

[dragoon_pride]

“Perhaps. I know it may be a long time before I’ve fully atoned, but I’ll continue along this path for as long as I can. It’s finally clear in my mind.” The Inquisition, much like being a Warrior of Cosmos, really does feel like the Right Thing To Do, to him. Conquering demons and so on seems to him a way to also defeat his own demons, in time. He sighs. “Now if only all of the other nonsense didn’t matter as much. It’s no use being suspicious of one another when the true enemy is all too clear.”

Kain has allies he can’t stand to be around too, ones who annoy him beyond reason. Yet whenever it came to it, he could set that aside to just focus on the battle at hand. He hopes they can do the same here in this world.

[gatheringstorm]

"Damn right. Sina didn't mean to open that rift and I can't see any reason why someone would try that deliberately, when all it would get us are more demons to fight. It's not like we're running out of those any time soon, you know."

Draining the rest of her tankard, Korrin sets it aside. "So did you find yourself having to adjust any of that dragoon training for that introduction to Thedas high dragons, or was it more of the same?"

[dragoon_pride]

"Nor could I imagine anyone being interested... unless they're deranged. Let's only hope these shards don't fall into the wrong hands." Someone who's on the side of demons, for instance. It could happen. There are people out there with such cravings for power, Kain has dealt with them.

He shakes his head, thinking as he sips some more down. "Not too different. Dragons are still dragons, no matter the world. There's a lot that's the same. This one was especially strong, though..."

[gatheringstorm]

"High dragons usually are; that's why they're such a threat, especially close to civilization. I hate to think about the further damage they'd have caused if we weren't here to stop them." Korrin shudders slightly at that, signals for a refill.

"Shards falling into the wrong hands is exactly what the Inquisition will be worried about, from now on. Any more people stepping out of rifts are likely going to be questioned more than you ever were."

[dragoon_pride]

“At least we finally battled them. I was almost tempted again to go out there on my own and face them… but I’m glad I waited for the group, this time.” He knows well that even the best of dragoons usually couldn’t take on a dragon alone. There’s just no way, you need strength in numbers.

He sighs. “I feel fortunate to have arrived when I did, then. Still, it’s wise to at least be certain that no one with destructive ambitions ends up with too much power. I just hope that they don’t overstep their caution and let it turn to suspicion and hostility toward all of us.” It’s one thing to take precautions, that’s well and good, but he doesn’t like the notion that rifters could be looked at with too much mistrust. Really, Kain would just as soon stop with the “rifters and natives” split. They all have a common enemy after all.

[gatheringstorm]

"If they do, I'll be loud and obnoxious in opposing them. I'm good at that. My girlfriend arrived only shortly before you did, and she's done nothing but cooperate with and help the Inquisition. If they say that's not enough...."

Well. That temper is already lurking in Korrin's eyes, and it wouldn't take much to unleash it if Araceli's freedom is threatened in any way.

[dragoon_pride]

Yeeeah they better not cause him any trouble.

"I care nothing for your world's political struggles. Mages, templars, the whole lot of it... Suspicion against our own does us little favors. All I care for is the fight against evil. I assume that's why I'm here." Perhaps no one directly brought him here like the gods had, but there could be some other reason, some other force that pulled him here. Who knows? He's not about to waste this new chance at life and redemption.