The Only Way to Fly

[JadedDM]

The draconian cringes slightly at the title she uses. "Your grace," he corrects her. "I am a lord, not a knight. And I'm afraid I really must insist. Although you may have broken in here with the intent to steal my property, as lord of this keep, I am still obligated to show hospitality to my guests." He approaches her.

[Breila]

"I apologize, your Grace" Babushka says, retreating a bit. "And I have not broken in. I sneaked in, yes, because I feared to be mistreated by the ogres who were all I could see. Had I known who really is the Lord of this area, I would have come openly to negotiate."

[JadedDM]

"Then I shall forgive you for your crimes against me, if you bring your friends here, so that I may meet them in person and judge for myself their intentions," he replies.

[Breila]

"If you will dismiss me then, Your Grace, so I can pass on your invitation?" Babushka says with another bow.

[JadedDM]

The draconian smooths out his robes and nods. "I will escort you out, as my ogres will not see you and be able to allow you passage." He gestures to the door of the treasure room.

[Breila]

Babushka nods as well and proceeds to the door, her hairs standing on end at the back of her neck. She is ready to junp aside whenever her senses tell her she's being attacked.

[JadedDM]

The draconian escorts Babushka to the front gates and has the ogres open them for her. The ogres are clearly confused as to why their lord is opening the gates when there is nobody there, but they obey quickly nonetheless. He then escorts her through the courtyard and to the gates of the keep's outer wall and does likewise. Once she has crossed the threshold, he has the gates closed behind her.

[Breila]

Babushka hurries down the slope and to the place where she has left her friends. To chek if she is followed, she goes back in an arc where there is some cover and looks for followers or tracks of them. Only if she's not followed after about half an hour, she goes all the way to her friends.

"I know where the flywheel is" she declares. "Wnat I don't know is how we can get it."
Then she begins to tell her tale.
"The lord of this fortress is a draconian, a powerful one. He could see me and knew it was an illusion. But he did not let me be captured and be made a slave like the humans and elves that are working there.
He had dinner and afterwares went to his treasure room, where the flywheel is kept. It's guarded by ogres and secured with two padlocks, and the draconian has the keys. I had followed him there, and once inside, he told me he could see me. He asked me why the flywheel was important and asked me if I wanted to take it back. Obviously I couldn't, it's far too heavy for myself alone.
I explained that we needed the flywheel to leave these lands as quickly as possible. He said he would give it back to us if we all came to the fortress and he could convince himself of our peaceful intentions, but honestly, I don't trust him."

[HorizonsDream]

Imani looks to the others for a moment before she turns her attention to the gnome. "Didn't we send you to the fortress to find a way inside so that the rest of us could get inside without being detected?" she asks. "Well, I guess you did find a way inside, but now we have to deal with a powerful draconian," she adds with a sigh. "What can you tell us about him, other than he his powerful?"

[Breila]

"Well, I tried my best. I would not have been detected if the draconian couln't see through Jerrard's magic!" Babushka says, indignatly. "I didn't expect that, would you have?"
After calming down a litle, she continues.
"The draconian is of a kind we haven't yet encountered. To me, he was friendly enough, though he was insistant on being called "Your Grace". He invited me, in factl all of us, to spend the night in his fortress. But of course he's intelligent enough to use ruses.
The ogres are serving him, they are the guards and bodyguards. There are also number of human and elven slaves.
I explored some passages before I decided to watch the leaders of the ogres - I didn't know there was a draconian then - because I hoped they would be shown the treasure, which turned out to be true. Then I planned to search for a secret passage, but that I couldn't do because the draconian could see through Jerrard's magic.
All normal entrances are heavily guarded by several ogres each."

[JadedDM]

"Yeah, but your priority wasn't supposed to find the flywheel, it was to find a way for the rest of us to sneak inside," Ulster points out. "Now our hands are tied. We can't attack and we can't sneak in; the element of surprise is lost, and this draconian guy will be expecting us. We have no choice but to do what he says now."

"That's not true," Malika counters. "We could just forget it. Let the gnomes get out of their own mess. We can just hop a boat to Palanthas--a normal, non-flying boat. We're not in that much of a hurry."

"Oh, great idea! It's what we do best, isn't it? Throw up our hands in defeat and run away?" Ulster responds.

"Stop!" Locky says, stepping between the group. "Let's just go to the keep and see what happens, okay? I'm sure it will work out for the best."

Jerrard, however, does not participate in the argument. He seems more intrigued by the draconian. "Tell me, Babushka, can you describe what this draconian looks like?" he asks.

[HorizonsDream]

"I wouldn't have explored the fort without the rest of the group," Imani says in answer to Babushka's question. She looks to Ulster in surprise, as his outburst is the most passionate he has been about anything. "Ulster, calm down," she says gently. "We aren't going to run away from this. We just have to change the plan a little bit," she explains. "This draconian considers himself a ruler in this land, so this is going to have to be handled in a more delicate way. He most likely wants us to do something for him in exchange for the wheel."

[Breila]

Babushka stands in front of the group, hands on her hips, and quite angry.
"And how was I to find a way into the fortress without exploring it?" she almost snarls. "The way I got in was on the heels of a patrol, unseen. Obviously that's no option for all of us. What I wanted to find out is if there is a water-gate ot other secret passage out. And I thought it was a good idea to see where the flywheel is so we don't have to search a fortress swarming with ogres for it. But next time, I'll let you go ahead. Maybe you'll do better."

She turns her back to the group and busies herself with her backpack. Jerrard has to aprroach her and ask his question again before she answers. "That draconian was not as tall or muscular as some we have seen. His sclaes are golden, and he has no wings. There are spines on his head and neck, and his eyes are green. And he smells awful, like sulfur. He's obviously very powerful and can use magic."

[JadedDM]

Jerrard listens to the description and his eyes widen. "It sounds like...an aurak!"

"What's an aurak?" asks Malika.

"The most powerful of the draconians. They are very rare, and were never used in the war because they were so arrogant and egotistical, they refused to take orders from 'lesser' beings," the wizard explains. "They are powerful spellcasters and warriors, incredibly intelligent...and very dangerous, too. That must explain how it could see through my spell."

[HorizonsDream]

"Which would explain why he is acting as some sort of ruler around here," Imani says. "We don't have much of a choice here. We are going to have to see what he wants," she says. "I would suggest treating this draconian with a fair amount of respect, or we could end up as slaves."