So, retirement isn’t what you want to do… but you do think you need a break for some time.
Some time to recuperate. You’ve been on GO for what feels like weeks… Maybe even months at this point. Clearing your name with Ogg’s head is the first thing on the docket, and then you should try to find a place to take a break, for a week at least.
Perhaps, in that same time, you can look up if there are any arch-mages that could help you with the curse… or, if you really decide that you can pull far more good out of this curse than bad, at least do it for William’s sake.

That said, he clearly loves being fawned over by the twins, being the only one of the three that’s regaling them with tales from the mountain. He’s a better storyteller than you might have expected, actually. Perhaps, if you hadn’t guided him, he might have been a fine bard.
You finish your meal, and then turn to Paracelsus.
“Paracelsus?”
“Yes, my glorious mate?” She says with a healthy helping of ironic bemusement.
“Don’t say it like that, please.” You say, resisting the urge to laugh, before you continue on to your question.
“I’m thinking… Maybe it would be a good idea to just take a break, don’t you think? For a week. Just… so we can recuperate, maybe… find our legs again?”
She looks down at her own legs as you say it, and she smiles.
“I see… In a sense, at this point, I rather like travelling. But a rest would be good. I’m sure we can find a place to stay in the city, or at the mountain village, if you want some peace and quiet.”
The choice is easy, unfortunately.
“The city. Need to clear my name, after all. And, besides, they’ll have the resources we need to find a new arch-mage.”

Paracelsus seems… unsure for a moment.
And then she asks this:
“Would… Being an immortal dragon really be that bad? Imagine how much one can learn when they are not restricted by age?”
“If nothing else, for William and Anna’s sake?”
Anna giggles. It’s a bit of a throaty giggle, really.
“Awww! You do care!” She says, squeezing her man a little harder. Chad leans back against her, obviously happy.
“Caring’s my business, Anna.”
Pink tosses in a bit more: “And business is good!”

Very cute.

Anyway.
“So… We’re in agreement, right? We’re headed to the city to rest a bit?” You ask, and everybody seems to agree. It’s a bit of a journey there, but… By all accounts, nothing should stop you. Tom-8-O’s seems to realize his break is over, besides, as he’s already standing next to the harness. Guessing from the fields around here, he took the opportunity to turn it into a buffet, keeping the grass short for a while longer.

On the way there… you suppose you also have some time to talk. You’ll also be passing by the Fetor-blight infested land, though you strongly suspect that the authorities are busy clearing that place out. It spreads fast, but the nearby city won’t tolerate it spreading too much longer, so by all accounts, your trip back shouldn’t be too eventful.

Perhaps you can think of what to do on your downtime, before you continue on to find another arch-mage. Once you’re there… you can decide on whether you would still cure yourself or not. At this point, it’s a real decision.

>Try to get better at magic, while you’re on break

>Have a talk with something

>Some other cute scene to do during downtime.
Anything goes, really. It’s important to take breaks every now and then.

>>5481891
>>Try to get better at magic, while you’re on break

>>5481891
>Try to get better at magic, while you’re on break
Practice with Paracelsus. Maybe ask our kobolds (Pink, especially, or Dismas maybe?) if they have any insight.

>>5481891
>Consider chronicling our adventures thus far. As a guideline or perhaps cautionary tale for anyone who may be in a similar situation, literally or figuratively. We aren't the only ones that may stumble upon the peoples and places we have, after all.

>>5481891
>Try to get better at magic, while you’re on break

>>5481891
>>Try to get better at magic, while you’re on break, there were several points during the final conflict that you nearly failed, or you let someone die because you were afraid...no you were rejecting the capabilities of your new form. That ends here. You still haven't decided if you will try and become human once more or remain as you are but for now, you will master this form and all that comes with it.

>Some other cute scene to do during downtime. father daughter bonding time pllleeeeaaassseeee

>>5481891
>Some other cute scene to do during downtime
>Some one on one time with Snikt
Her world must be in complete disarray these days. She's growing up, her body is noticeably changing, her position in the klan is undoubtedly going to shift. We need to assure her that she's still the same Snikt on the inside, that we still love her no matter what and that we will always be there to help her whenever she needs it.

Also, I'd love to get some more screentime for the less prominent members of the group.
>Check in with Esme's progress
I'm sure our aspiring writer already has some hilariously bad- I mean, adorably ambitious ideas for her stories. And while Reynauld is not much of a poet, I bet he still can impart some basic storytelling tips.

>Check in with Alice and Petrus
Let's make sure she isn't having too much trouble raising the tyke, and see if she could use any help. Our newest additions seem to have been isolating themselves from the rest of the group, let them know they can feel free to reach out any time they want or need to.

>William training Chester the "family dog"
Or failing terribly to do so, I suppose. Those two seem to have bonded well, and I'm sure that bond is beneficial to both of them.

>Something with Collar and Teensy
... I got nothing on this one, I'd just like to get something more with those two.

>Ask Pink and Dismas if they know anything about Onyx
Oh... that's not cute at all... but fuck it, we'll need to adrdress the issue sooner or later, and these two, with their age and knowledge might possibly be able to share new insight on the situation.

>>5481891
While we back track to that large town, can we make a small detour to that dragon's lair we destroyed to see if there is anything salvageable?

>>5481891
>Try to get better at magic, while you’re on break
>loot dead dragon horde
>reserve 1000 worth of rosarians for Anna, and in case William wants to be human again
>remember to do all of our shopping in the city that is not racist towards us
>commission new armor, but only protecting the weakspots typically found on dragons since you now have natural armor (these replacements and repairs are getting ridiculously expensive!)
>count the loot from Ogg's group
>commission new clothes for Snikt
>buy things for everyone (books to be eaten with some wine, fashion things for the twins, smithing tools, brushes and snacks for Tom-8-ooooo's, music stuff, toys for the baby-bolt, better prosthetic leg

>>5481891
When can we eh twins to lay some eggs? Don't tell me William and the twins haven't fucked yet, cuz I know they be doing the dirty behind the scenes.

>>5483398
Does William not know about safe sex? Do THE TWINS not know about safe sex? Do... We need to give them THE TALK.

>>5484449
Let's not and see where it ends up

>>5484841
>>5484449
I wish to see funny things happen. William can't resist the kobolt pussy.

>>5485413
Let's have Celsie give them anatomy lessons.

>>5485748
Nah, let the twins teach.

>>5481891
Wait fuck shit we still need to be examined for any diseases or parasites we might have attracted during the journey.

>>5485854
>we still need to be examined for any diseases or parasites we might have attracted during the journey
Good idea, seconded.

>>5485854
>>5485855
Thirded

>>5481891
>Try to get better at magic, while you’re on break

On the way back, you mostly just take the time to focus on the more simple and, unfortunately, almost boring tasks. Of course, you do take the time to look everybody over on the way, but it’s best to mark some things off on the to-do list. Like shopping and getting the materials to perform aforementioned shopping.
First off, you take the time to scour through the collapsed castle with your kobolts, though it seems that others have already come by to loot whatever is valuable. Even the dragon was mostly looted, though you still find a smattering of useful things because of the hard work the kobolts put into it. It’s not much, relatively speaking, but it’s something.

You also count up the loot from Ogg’s group. Mostly, they were converted peasants, so the monetary worth isn’t that high, but the knights proved to have quite a few valuables.
The corpses, however, are gone. Paracelsus and the kobolts went out of their way to gather whatever is useful on the way out, but they didn’t have much time, and by the time they gathered their strength to look again, the ghost people were already hard at work tearing everything down and dragging the corpses into the cloud.
All in all, the loot from the dragon and Ogg’s group comes down to a comparatively disappointing 400 rosarians. Your total comes down to 855, now.
A very good payday, to be sure, but for your purposes, it’s going to be a bit tough.

Now, as for what you did on the way to the city, you mostly went over everybody bit by bit. You decided to start with Esme, mostly because of sheer proximity. She’s been attached to your leg like glue since you got back, hugging it dearly.

“So.” You say, patting Esmeralda on the head. “How’s the writing been going?”
“It’s been going good! I didn’t have much to do, so… I, uh, I’ve been writing. Miss Paracelsus helped a lot.”
“Can you tell me what the story is about?”
“I-It’s about this kobolt, right!? And this kobolt is reaaaaaally pretty! But there’s this evil wizard that cursed her so she can’t leave her cave, y’know, so she can’t have a dragon. It’s because the wizard was really jealous of how pretty she is! So, uh, she can’t leave, but other people start to join the cave, and they make it a fun cave, because they feel bad somebody so pretty has to stay in a cave! And, uh, one day, there’s this big human knight, and he comes to the cave, and he thinks that the kobolt lady is really pretty so he thinks to himself, he can be a dragon for the pretty kobolt, so he does that! But, to prove his worth, he goes out to find and slay the wizard!”

Well, she’s going a mile a minute, but you can keep track. It’s a cute little story, actually, though you have a suspicion on what the name of that really pretty kobolt is.
“A-and then the story follows the knight a lot, as he fights through the wizard’s enemies! Like, uh, he defeats this wizard lizard.”
You repeat that.
“A wizard lizard?”
“A wizard lizard!” She repeats again, before she puts her hands together to show only a few inches distance.
“It’s a tiny lizard that’s a wizard! I made him as a joke but now I love him so he might end up being the big bad guy. Y’know, despite being really small.

Okay.
Esmeralda might be on to something, here.

“And… I didn’t get much further, I got stuck on the wizard lizard.”
“It’s a good thing to get stuck on.” You say, mostly just pleased to hear her so excited. And hearing her say “wizard lizard”. Such a pleasing name.
You’ll honestly have to look the book over yourself, first and foremost.
Which you do, to be clear.
It’s not very long, and that’s kind of the issue. She rarely tries anything particularly new, she mostly explains things in a rather dry way, even though the situations are fantastical. The way she describes bandits being defeated is unironically and quite literally: “He defeated them”.

It needs work. Mostly it requires a lot more prose, desperately so, and it’s strange to you that she doesn’t have any, as she clearly knows about it when she’s just talking. Transferring that into the written word is apparently a lot harder. You’ve never been much of a writer yourself, of course, so you suppose you can’t really say you relate. It’s hard to put ideas into words.

You tell her some of it, and she agrees. But, right now, she’s just going over it fast, and she’ll go back and do it again. You figure that’s more than fair, and probably how professional writers do it, besides.

Now, that was fun, but you should really check up on the newest additions to the klan. Petrus, Alice and Dismas… They’ve been rather isolated from the group, mostly. You can’t really blame them, all things considered, it’s been really rough for them and adapting into a new group is scary, but now that you’ve finally got the time, you should try to make sure they integrate nicely.
You start off with Alice, who smiles when you approach.

“So… Alice. How is Petrus doing?”
“He’s doing great. He really likes Collar and Teensy, I must say. They’ve been keeping him busy these last few days, and the others are also helping. I’ve been doing my best… but most kobolts are raised communally. Under that… that monster, there wasn’t much of a chance for it. Dismas… he tried, really, he did. Mostly, he tried to keep us together.”
Right on cue, Petrus starts walking towards you. He waddles a bit less than the last few times you saw him, you note. The little tyke goes straight for Alice, but… stops in front of you before raising his arms to you.

“Do I…” You ask, not sure how to proceed, but Alice just nods.
“He… would like to be picked up, dragon. Yes.”
You nod back, and pick him up without question, putting him on your lap. Petrus’ immediate response is to squeak in delight and hug your goat fur.
“At least somebody doesn’t mind the smell.” You say, smiling, and Alice smiles back as politely as she can manage.
“I don’t mind it.”
“You’d be the second.” You say, sniffing. The goat fur was a lifesaver for the mountains, but you can sure smell it’s a fairly old one. The sooner you get some proper clothes on, the better. Too bad you don’t have a change of clothes with you, and you’re not about to try on Paracelsus’ wardrobe.

Petrus seems to enjoy going on a little horsey ride on your knee, while you keep talking to Alice.
“The others have been good to you?”
“Exceptionally so. Dismas was happy to hand over the reigns to Pink, but… I fear he doesn’t know what to do with himself now. He feels like he failed quite badly, for permitting that beast to eat and kill so many of us.”

You don’t say anything to that. While you’re more than happy to help him redeem himself, his choices led to a lot of suffering.
It can’t be forgotten, it led to a little girl losing her leg. That’s just what you actually saw. Whatever atrocities happened before that… who knows.

“So he tries. He does whatever he can to serve the others.”
“And that’s all I ask.” You say. “That he tries. Redemption is not an easy path, but always worth walking. I should know.”
You lean back… thinking of the head in a jar back in the cart. A macabre look, that’s for sure, but the head needs to be preserved now that it’s out of the cold. In that jar, there’s nothing that can further eat away at Ogg’s face. You still keep it covered up, of course.

Hm.

You look back to Alice, who is smiling.
“Thank you for caring for us so, Dragon.”
“Well, don’t worry about it. You’re as much part of the group as anybody else, by this point. Don’t worry about integrating. Speaking of… Collar! Teensy! Come here.”
They all but sprint over to you, and you hand them Petrus for a bit.
“I heard you’re getting along great with Petrus, right?”
“Yeah!” Says Teensy, and Collar adds:
“He’s super cute!”

Well, that he is. He doesn’t say much, of course, but mostly he seems to concern himself with playing, at the moment, though you’ve seen him help out with lunch, too. Anything that’s small and not too complicated, really. The sort of things you’d usually let a child help with, you suppose. He does it with gusto, and you’re pretty sure you saw Pink teaching him how to read… along with a decent portion of the clan, to be fair.

“So, the two of you, you guys are doing alright?”
“Yeah!” Collar says, and Teensy adds:
“It’s been super boring without you here. Can you please never leave again? It was… I mean… It was also really, really scary.”
You pull them into a quick hug, which includes Petrus by necessity. Not that that’s a negative.
“Well, I’m back now. And we’re going to take it easy for a while. You guys had dinner, right?”
“Of course! We helped catch it!” Collar says, but Teensy quickly adds to that:
“The twins killed it, though. You know, they’re like, really deadly.”
You nod, quickly. Yeah, they are.
Well, you leave Petrus in their care, and decide that you’d better go in the direction of the yelling for a bit. It sounds like William, by all accounts, so that’s probably not a good sign. Still, you take your time to get up and move to him.

Turns out William is trying to deal with Chester, who is currently sitting on his chest and panting rapidly with its tongue out. Drool is dribbling on William, who is complete unable to move with the mimic on top of him.

You kneel down next to him, and just give him a quick look.
William response is to just say:
“I’ve got this. It’s fine. I’ll… I’ll teach him how to fetch in no time.”
Chester lies down completely, and turns into something akin to a normal chest.
“Eventually.” William adds.
You just nod and walk away, towards… Well, probably the most important talk of the day.

Snikt.

You find her standing in front of a tree, holding her daggers. She’s going through some basic motions, and you decide to wait for a moment to see how she does. Her movements are still as quick as you remember them… but clumsy. She whiffs the occasional hit, and even drops her knife a few times, hopping back on her much longer legs… And waving her arms around to catch her balance. This repeats a few times, until she seems to get into a bit more of a rhythm, swiping the three four times in a row, before putting her clawed foot on the tree and kicking off. She makes a bit of distances, lands… and then loses her balance again. This time, flailing her arms doesn’t make the difference, and you quickly move in to catch her.

She freezes up as soon as she feels your hands against her.
“Y-you were watching!?”
“Of course I was. You’re getting there, I suppose?”
“...Kind of. Walking is still really weird. I woke up with these legs, you know and… It’s… It’s weird. I don’t know what I am anymore, really. Not a kobolt, but… not a human. Don’t think I’m a dragonborn either. Snikt isn’t really worth that title.”
You take in a breath to stop her, but Snikt raises her hands:
“Nono! As in… Dragonborn are beneath me.”
Ah.
“They’re rude raiding people. I… Snikt is different.”
“Well… Just because they were being dicks about it doesn’t mean we can’t use the title. It’s an appropriate name, I suppose. Unless you have a better one?”

There is a shrug from Snikt… and you think you should think a little more carefully on how to proceed on this conversation. She’s trying to figure out what she is, exactly, so…
You know.
This feels important.

>Congratulations, you get to figure this one out yourself

>>5488786
>think of something
>assuming some of us aren't retarded enough to think of something insightful enough to help
>"oh boy imma fuck this us aren't I?" mood right now
Dragonborn, kobolt, human, dragon. Snikt will always be what she makes of herself, albeit with a new set of instincts and perspective. She will never be lesser for being who she is now, but we will always be grateful that shes here with us today.

>>5488805
support

my brain is to fried to think of something

>>5488786
"Ultimately, you're Snikt, which is the important bit, I think. You're still you regardless of the form it takes, no matter what it's called. Gun to my head, I'd say you're closer to what we're calling Dragonborn than anything else, but being honest I suppose that's latent fatherly instinct kicking in and wanting to share something with you. No big secret these days that I see you all as family, I guess.

Essentially, I'm saying don't fret too much about what you're called, so long as you keep true to yourself and those you love.

>>5488786
>"I'd say that you're Snikt before anything else. You're most certainly still you regardless of what form you're in, so far as I can tell. Now, gun to my head, I'd call you Dragonborn, but I also think that's more fatherly instinct rearing its head there- wanting something to share with you. Don't suppose it's much secret these days that I see all you lot as a family and you in particular...well, you get the idea. Point being, you shouldn't stress too hard about it. End of the day, Snikt is Snikt. No matter how your scales look, you're kin to me."

>>5488848
Sorry, the site wouldn't post it for ages so I thought this one got eaten. Use whichever.

>>5488786
Do we even need a title? Whatever this is, it's just a stepping stone to becoming a dragon, anyway, so what does it matter in the grand scheme of things?

Personally, I've found calling these people 'Dragonborn' to be a bit silly. I mean, they weren't actually born of dragons, they just caught a bad curse.

>>5488854
>>5488848
I like this way of phrasing it and agree with the basic sentiment

>>5488848
I like this one. Tell her that, but if she REALLY needs a label...

>>5488786
How about DragonKIN? Because she's family.

>>5489060
>How about DragonKIN? Because she's family.
Words cannot express how disgustingly sappy that is.

Seconded.

>>5489060
I love it, I back dragonKIN, we can use that for all our descendants, since even though I would like to remain human, even I can see and agree we have formed a family and bond here so it's best to remain as we are just not go full giant feral form dragon, but stay DragonKIN

>>5488786
Does Snikt still remember what'd she'd like to do when she's older, or in the future?
>apply hugs to daughteru

You think about it for a moment. This seems to be important to her, mostly so she knows what to call herself. It's a dangerous thing, losing one's identity, and you suspect she feels as though she did.
It wasn't exactly a very healthy time for you when you decided to become Reynauld the wandering knight over being a part of your family, though your situation was a little bit different from hers. Though... you suppose recent events are about equal. Goodness, you barely remember being freaked out about not being human anymore.
Maybe you still are. There's just... bigger things to worry about. Still, you tell her what you decided for yourself:
"Ultimately, you're Snikt, which is the important bit."
She looks at you, hanging off your every word. You think you're going the right direction with this!
"So... You're still you. Regardless of what form you take, no matter... you know. What you call yourself. If you must have a name? I suppose you're much, much closer to the term "Dragonborn" than anybody else. Kobolts are born of dragons, lest we forget."
"But... they tainted it!" She says, which is more than true. Well... You know what to answer to that.

"Alright. Sure. Then we give it a different name. How about dragonkin? After all... You're my kin, aren't you?"
Her eyes turn from tea saucers to dinner plates. She inhales deeply.
"You're family. All of you guys are, but..."
You pull her closer to you, giving her a hug.
"Right now? You're the only other dragonkin here, aren't you?"
She giggles to herself, not sure what to even say to that. You think there are tears in her eyes as she locks up from sheer delight, before you finally settles on hugging you tightly... with quite a bit of force, actually!
"I-I love you, Dragon!"
You smile, and hug her right back.
"Love you too, Snikt."

You both remain there for a while, and you talk about a few different things. For one... she has a different plan on what she's going to do later, if something were to ever happen that she isn't travelling with you. The answer was probably pretty predictable.
She wants to be like you.
...
You suppose that means you have another squire. It's starting to get crowded.

However, eventually, you have to get moving once more, and you take a short moment to talk to Pink and Dismas, just in case they might know something about Onyx. Dismas doesn't know anything, but Pink...
Well, Pink knows of him.
"That was our previous dragon's father. Not a good dragon, not at all! He's... Well... I guess he's the closest thing to a god of dragons that there is. He was there at the start. I heard from some people he ate the sun once, and made a new one with his magic. Crazy stuff... but he hasn't been talked about in a long while. Most people see him as a legend."
"Well... he's real alright. That's all you know of him? Because I'm... kind of fearing I may have to deal with him in the future."

Pink turns a little pale, at that.
"Could... could you not?"
"I hope so." You say.

After that, it's just the journey back. You pass by the tainted area once more, though it seems that you don't need to do anything to help clear it out. The city you're headed to sent in some dwarven contraptions to burn the place to the ground. It's going to take a while for the land to grow natural flora again, but the ash will serve as a fine fertilizer. It saves you time, as well. It ended up being almost... suspiciously easy to get back to the city, though you are greeted by spears and guns pointed at you in equal measure. Your "gift" of Ogg's head in a jar was enough for you to get an audience with the city council, and it's here that you hear about what happened to the dragonborn that managed to flee. Most of them, with nowhere else to go, ended up heading to the city to turn themselves in. There is a trial going on for them, though the general public opinion seems to be more that they were people tricked into a cult than anybody outright malicious, though they do note that there are many still missing.
And that banditry seems to have gone up.

You are asked to give your opinion on the matter. Your actions have proven you as innocent in the eyes of court, and the most knowledgeable of the whole situation.
It's... no understatement to say that, right now, you hold their lives in your hands. The way the trial is going, the most likely place they'll end up is prison for years. Or executions, even.
You can't really say no to appearing, so...

What do you say about the Dragonborn that willingly turned themselves in?

>They're just men and women that were tricked into a cult. They never truly meant harm. Community service will be more than fine.

>They agreed to follow a gaggle of violent and dangerous supremacists. A few years in jail is a just punishment.

>They're a danger to us all. Executions for all of them.

>Other

>>5492079
>>They're just men and women that were tricked into a cult. They never truly meant harm. Community service will be more than fine
The ones who made it to the city mostly fall into this category. We already dealt with the dangerous ones. We might want to point out to the judge that we summarily executed a few of them already and the ones we sent to the city are mostly fine people.
Perhaps we should investigate the rumors of banditry since that might be where the survivors of Ogg's army went who are less easily rehabilitated.

>>5492079
>They're just men and women that were tricked into a cult. They never truly meant harm. Community service will be more than fine.
We'll handle any who backslide personally, starting with these bandits. Have the dragonborn bandits killed anyone?

>>5492079
>They're just men and women that were tricked into a cult. They never truly meant harm. Community service will be more than fine.

>>5492118
+1

>>5492079
Lets not forget about the bounty for all of our success. How the captain of the guard doing?

>>5492079
Talk to the dragonborns, get an idea of whom among them might had turn to banditry. Do they have any names? Anything to help us hunt them down?

>>5492079
>They agreed to follow a gaggle of violent and dangerous supremacists. A few years in jail is a just punishment.
I have my doubts about how remorseful these Dragonborn truly are, if they only turned themselves in out of a lack of better options. Their choices still caused a lot of harm, and it wouldn't be fair to let them get off with a slap on the wrist.

...However, I would recommend allowing them full release if they agree to have their curse fully reverted, though obviously after the change takes hold. The city can send messengers to contact the nearest arch-mage to help with that while we're taking care of the banditry.

>>5493060
The salient point is that most of the ones in the city are just civilians who got way too far in over their heads after getting sold a line of bullshit by a crazy person. They don't really have the head to cause trouble without an instigator. We should see what they know about the bandits, but it's probably not much since I'd guess the bandits are scattered remnants of Ogg's forces who they have not been in contact with.

>>5492079
>>They're just men and women that were tricked into a cult. They never truly meant harm. Community service will be more than fine.


If we are serious about becoming a dragon knight and not getting back to full human than it pay for us to ensure that other dragon born are treated well and this is a chance to set the tone.

In order to have a complete picture, you request if you could talk to some of the Dragonborn, though you've mostly figured what you're going to decide with them. It's just in case that they really are monsters that you want to have the complete picture. It took a bit of wiggling with the legal system to be permitted an audience, but they eventually decided that this would be the easiest option.
The talk was... Well.
Tense.
They all recognized you as the reason that they're in here, but apart from some initial rage they all seemed to just... accept that they messed up, and messed up bad. Ogg had a magnetic personality to them, though most of them really just wanted more out of life than being a peasant. It's... understandable. All things considered, many people would take the opportunity to be something special over being ordinary.
You've seen more people like that than you can count during the crusades. This was, while misguided, a similar situation.

It didn't change your mind, not at all. You entered the trial as a key witness, and are credited for stopping this problem before it might have turned unstoppable. The jury mostly consists of some more higher-ranking officials, of course, but your actions have given you a lot of sway. The dragonborn aren't permitted to be present during their trial. You make sure to emphasize that these people didn't really mean to do any harm, and that they were fooled by a wizard that they were doing something just for the world. Mixed in with the usual bits that speak well to the higher-ranking types like this.
Emphasizing their simple minds isn't something you're proud of, but at the very least it seems to work. You finish up that "Some proper work will do them good, and in time, it will teach them what is just."
Euugh.

You despise playing to the courts. But that's what it takes.
At least it's for a good cause. You succeed in getting them saddled with community service. They'll be used as what is essentially slave labor for close to a year, but it's better than the alternative option.
Which was beheadings.

And, from here, you suppose you should look into your downtime a little bit more. You did plan on getting some new armor, at least, and then trying to figure out what's the next archmage you could hit up. You'll look into that at a later point, however, as everybody in the party needs a few weeks to just...
Not be under a time crunch. Not trying to fight your way though horrors. In a sense, you just want a bed and hot meals for a time. Once upon a time, you would have been happy with only a day of rest, but now you have to look after so many other people.
You should... probably figure out where you'll be staying for a while.

>The mountain village
The people that lived there are already returning, and they haven't objected too much to their new upcoming forms.

>Find lodging in the city.
People are mistrustful, but there are luxuries here.

>Elsewhere
Who knows where, though...

>>5497842
>>The mountain village
Much less of a possibility of an incident or a confrontation

>>5497842
>The mountain village

>>5497842
>>Find lodging in the city.

I would rather not be close to the black dragon's lair where he could decide to pay us a visit in the night. especially when we have yet to devise a means of killing him

>>5497842
Before I vote, gotta know. Are we stocked up on ammo, armor, and weapons? Get Snikt a new set of armor from the big city?
What kind of wares were available in the mountain village? Did we get our bounty money yet?

>>5497842
>The mountain village

>>5497842
>Find lodging in the city.
Fuck that mountain and everything on it.

>>5497842
>Find lodging in the city
Better keep an eye on the Dragonborn situation. It is in part our responsibility, after all.

>>5497842

>Find lodging in the city

In the end, you decide to find some lodging in the city, which wasn't exactly cheap. The people around here are mistrustful, as well, and after three days, you were even asked to outright leave the inn you were staying in, as you were "scaring off the customers". Fortunately, it didn't take long before you found somebody that was willing to take you and your party in, at least for some time. It's an older gentleman, and a scholar besides, who was fairly open he mostly wanted to study you. In exchange, you were permitted to remain inside his rather large home.
Paracelsus found it suspicious, and you honestly couldn't trust it that much either... Up until the man revealed to you that he was a friend of doctor Oldfield.
And, you suppose, Oldfield might have given the scholar a visit to help you out. Nothing's for free, though, and you are asked to give blood samples and even the occasional tissue sample. Your kobolts, as well, were asked to hand over some tissue samples, mostly as a control group to compare to William. It's... not a comfortable arrangement, but at least the two beds you were granted were soft.
The kobolts slept in a pile, you and Paracelsus slept together. Some nights, the pile of kobolts slept with you, of course, but sometimes you just want some...

Privacy.

You and Paracelsus make some magic together, though she does most of the real studying. You just try to follow in her footsteps, which has... some results. In the end, you're still limited to doing it on gut instinct, while she figured out magic to a mathematical level. Quite literally, as a matter of fact. You didn't even know they had letters in math, but here you are. Most of the time, you're limited in making a wisp do something for you, though the things it can manage grow by the day. The best skill you've found it making wisp armor, something that slows down any blow that is about to hit you. It's not enough to prevent damage outright, but it's enough to be a sizeable advantage.
Which DOES remind you. With Snikt growing like a weed, she needs new armor. She's still growing, to the point that it's looking like she'll end up as tall as you! At least according to Paracelsus' projected growth diagram. She's slowing down, at the very least, but she is going to be a very tall girl. As a result, she's forced to use an old dress that belonged to the scholar's daughter, to the scholar's displeasure. But it's better than having her run around in an overly tight shirt and whatever she could make pass for pants. Her talons make it hard to put those on, anyhow.
Seriously, she could disembowel somebody with a kick.

Anyway, lodging and magic aside, you make sure to find a way to gather up some armor. Getting a full set of plate done is a process that takes months, which you don't really have. You'll have to make do with whatever they have available, and whatever isn't prohibitively expensive.
At only 855, of which you lose 60 for lodging the first three nights leaving you with 795 rosarians, you can't possibly afford plate armor. Fortunately, you can gather some basic equipment for you and Snikt using about 500 rosarians total. Leather armor for the both of you, though yours is a bit thicker and metal-backed. Snikt's armor is more classic studded leather, with plenty of belts and adjustable parts so she can adjust it as she grows. She doesn't have to put her extremely sharp feet through the pant legs, too, she can essentially wrap the pants around her legs.
At least food is easy enough, through a mix of the scholar being willing to take care of the food costs and a bit of the markets being willing to give you some food for taking care of a wizard.

It's not all bad. The people that mistrust you are a minority, but you don't need many people to have trouble in town. Either way, your downtime isn't the most comfortable it can be...
But at least, you'll be prepared to move out once more.
You've got some more time to relax, sure, but you should start planning.

Paracelsus believes that the best place to go for an archmage would be her country, where the court has a lot of precautions in place to ensure their mage doesn't do anything stupid.
As a bonus point, it's a good opportunity to explore a different country. She explains that the highlands are really quite beautiful this time of year, even if the language is going to be a bit tough for you without your wisp to help translate.
Yes, that's a spell you figured out, somehow. It requires Paracelsus to be close, but it's pretty useful.

Or, you could try finding a more local archmage. The closest one, however, is a few weeks off, and after the misery you had with Ogg, you're not so sure if you want to try it without the added safeties that Paracelsus' land of origin might offer.
Especially because said archmage does not have a sterling reputation, really. Something about resurrecting the dead? Sort of frowned upon.

>Head out of the country and into a new one.
It's about a week and a half of travel, with about one day of travel on the boat. That's a full day and night, mind you, so it's effectively two days. From the coast to the court, it's another week. You think Paracelsus also just wants to show off what she's been up to a little bit.

>Find that archmage.
It's about three weeks of travel, and you don't really know the area. Who knows what you'll meet on the way there.

>Find another thing to do

>Just... settle in.
You'll just continue your life as it was before, that of a wandering knight... Albeit with a family. (Ends quest, you get an epilogue)

>>5504574
>>Head out of the country and into a new one.
Going to Princess Sara's reason as her betrothed after you've both been turned into Dragonkin with a retinue of Kobolds and other sentient monsters seems like the most promising idea from a meta-level, if we want to have an entertaining adventure.
Also if you're seeking out an Archmage or seems the most reasonable since it's a known individual.
Celsie thinks it's a good idea, and we listen to her ideas.

>>5504574

>Head out of the country and into a new one

New backdrop!

>>5504606
Should be realm not reason

>>5504574
>Head out of the country and into a new one.

>>5504574
>Check William if he even cares about being a kobold anymore
>>If not, settle down to help reintegrate the dragonborn
>>If yes, head out of the country and into a new one.

>>5504574
>Head out of the country and into a new one.
Better put distance between us and Sierra Madre. We still need to get Anna a new scroll, and see what William wants to do. Also, going to another country means that Reynauld might be able to settle down and give the 'bolts a stable home.

>>5504574
>>Head out of the country and into a new one.

A promise is a promise we owe it to William and Ana to try, plus why not we get to see a whole new part of the world?

>>5504574
>Spine refuses to give us the 5k reward for Ogg's head
Typical GM's refusing to give us cool stuff. *obligatory reeeeee*

>Getting a full set of plate done is a process that takes months, which you don't really have. You'll have to make do with whatever they have available, and whatever isn't prohibitively expensive.
You don't NEED a full set of full plate. What you need is just armor to cover the parts of your body that's a typical weak spot for most dragons like joints, arm pits, ankles I think, and I think a part of your belly? Neck guards and a helmet is a must have however.

What we can do however is purchase something as a temporary replacement until we can afford to commission new full plate. Chainshirt are a maybe. It'd not impossible to get, just a bitch to make for someone our size and a general pain to connect all the rings. Instead I suggest gamberson + brigandine if we want to go the affordable route as gamberson is dirt cheap and brigandine is very easy to repair (unbold broken metal segments and replace with new segments). If we want more protection go for gamberson ( flax) + chainmail + some plate armor to protect our torso. I know jack shit about leg armor so...yeah.

Right so suggestion:
-gamberson made from flax as it's more breathable than cotton gamberson. (addition Ideally protects arms, legs, and torso)
-chainmail to wear over gamberson. Protects arms, torso, and neck.
-brigandine to protect upper body. buy spare steel plates for on the road repairs.
-leathers to protect hard to reach places
-replacement longsword / claymore / greatsword / whatever type of two handed weapon Reynauld is most comfortable with
-some of those precession cap dwarven pistols to replace reynauld's flintlocks

to make all this more affordable, we can sell some of our dragon fire to cheapen the costs and give us a good discount. Perhaps we could even contact the head of the guard and ask him if he could help us out if he's none too busy? He seemed like a reasonable man.

>>5506059
I agree that Reynauld probably does not need a whole lot in terms of armor anymore, he's getting pretty tanky. A breastplate and vambraces would provide most of the protection he actually needs. What he and the rest of them need are fireproof cloaks that are rugged enough that they aren't going to get shredded the first time we come in contact with the enemy or just a rockslide we have to negotiate the cart through. A pile of woolen scarves would also be useful for face coverings.

>>5506059
>-gamberson made from flax as it's more breathable than cotton gamberson. (addition Ideally protects arms, legs, and torso)
Wool would be better than flax or cotton. It doesn't breathe but it also is pretty flame resistant. Between Reynauld, Celsie, and Snikt, we're probably going to have several PTHOOOM moments we might as well plan our kit around.

>>5504574

I am >>5504635, and I support minimal armour and lots of fire-resistant cloaks.

>>5506920
>>5506922
>>5506922
Good ideas on armor, but key word flame resistant. They wont immediately catch fire by stuff like a camp fire or a thrown torch, but it will be an issue for dragon encounters. We would want chemically alchenically treated cloaks, which would be very expensive. Flax would be best for Reynauld as he's very, very tolerant to heat, this doesnt need to minuscule heat protection. Everyone is free to choose their own gambersons and cloaks.

>>5508421
I was thinking that it would need to be alchemically treated, but I still support wool as the base for the fact that it smolders instead of burning. Of course of we wanted to get silly, we could do a 100-ply sp00dersilk gambeson (would probably be worth more than a dragon's hoard, unfortunately) for a medieval flak vest. Though re: linen, Alexander the Great used it to good effect as armour. And interestingly enough, he was rumored to own an asbestos cloak, which would be the ultimate in fireproof materials. We could go with asbestos if we had it available. Not sure if it would give us lung cancer though since we're magical creatures, or what it would do to the kobolts and Anna.

Also random thought but if we're going to try to give Anna a shot at transformation again, and she doesn't want to be a kobolt, maybe see if Chad can transform into the same species? That's really far down the road, though.

>>5508454
I doubt Chad wants to stop being a kobold, nor would Anna seeningly want him to. She mainly seems to want to be another species to fix her mangled face.

>>5508707
Yes, but as long as we are giving her the option, we can (maybe) give him the option.

With all that at the ready, it's time to prepare for a long journey ahead... and Paracelsus was pretty up front: her country is not any safer than yours, if anything, it might be worse with all the fae spirits wandering around turning people into small animals or binding them to the mycus hivemind.
Whatever the HELL that means.
She doesn't want to get into it, as doing so is considered bad luck and it's one of the few things that scare the hells out of her. That, in and of itself, tells you that you're going to need some damned good equipment, so...

You put your game face on, and march to the captain to demand your bloody bounty for killing Ogg. The initial response was that clearing your bounty was a reward in and of itself... though the captain quickly relents before you can even start explaining to him how stupid that truly is. Apologetically, the dwarf moves a little closer to you and explains.
"Listen. Officially speakin', I can't give you money because the city council doesn't want to admit that they helped you."
Just as you're about to march to the city council, however, the captain stops you.
"Instead.... We're gonna look into getting you supplied. Just... give us a shoppin list. Some things always get lost, and y'did do us a solid. We'll make do."

Fortunately, you already HAD one. While you're not about to commission a whole new plate armor, you think you can make do with what they have available. A brigandine and spare plates was easy enough for a smith's apprentice, and leathers for the harder to reach places were borrowed on a permanent basis from a retiring guard. The chainmail was a bit tougher to get, unfortunately, so you can't get it. The brigandine will do.
You also get a wool gambeson, which was technically speaking a sort of hand-me-down... as nobody wanted to wear the itchy and overly warm thing. Your scales are, mercifully, not affected by the scratchyness of the gambeson, so they were mostly just glad to see it gone. Percussion cap pistols were a bit harder, but the evidence lock-up DID recently get cleared out. Officially speaking, two of those pistols were destroyed. Unofficially speaking, you have them in your hands right now.

Rolled 90 (1d100)

The final thing you requested, however, is not something they can offer. Instead, you'll have to talk to the smith. Even with the dragonfire, he asks for the full price, though you at least get to have it enchanted... with whatever result comes from that. Paracelsus also joins you when it comes to sword shopping, and you try out some of the blades here. You've used a longsword for quite a long while, but you've become stronger since your curse. Strong enough to, perhaps... even move on to even bigger swords.
Bigger is not always better, weight is always a concern, but you like to keep a hand free for a reason. If you have to switch stances to two-handed, that's fine with you.
Parcelsus was the one to notice the blade of your choosing.
"Ohhh, a claidheamh mòr!" She says, clearly impressed to even see it here. "This is an imported weapon, or at least a design." She notes, and the dwarven smith nods.
"Aye. The claymore. Tried copying it for a while, it's a lovely blade... but greatswords are none too popular 'round 'ere. People of our stature prefer a blade that doesn't scrape the ground when you sheathe it, aye?"
Paracelsus smiles, and even says:
"True. Most of our Gàidheil are on the tall side."

The smith looks at her for a time, trying to figure her out you suppose, before he says:
"Wouldn't a' guessed somebody like you would be interested in the overseas."
"I'm from there."
"Aye? Messed with fae, didya? Both o' ye?"
"Wizard and dragon, unfortunately." You say, and that makes the smith decide not to persue his questioning.
"Well... i'll need a day to make you a claymore, if that's the blade you're goin' with."

You gave it a few test swings and... sure enough. This feels more akin to how it felt swinging your old sword around about a month ago. You really did get a lot stronger. However, you do request for the crossguard to be made smaller, by quite a lot. The crossguard on these claymores are pretty damnd big, and for your more one-handed style, it is likely to get in the way. The smith doesn't mind, in fact, he even prefers it. Using dragonfire to smith it is also a boon, though he's not quite as excited as the last smith you gave the honor.

A day later, and after gathering some more bits and pieces for your kobolts, you think everybody is more than ready to move.
They're anxtious to get out of this city, and so are you. People demanding your kobolts leave, Snikt suffering from a stalker, and you getting stabbed on the way back from the smithy. The dull and clumsy blade strike failed to even pierce your scales, and the would-be mugger was grabbed by the throat and delivered to the guard just a little later.
You pack everything up into Tomoooooooo's cart, and begin your travel to the coast. One week, along the major road, shouldn't be too tough, though you'll have to head off-road a few times to hunt and forage. Nothing too dangerous.

(cont)

Sure enough, the road proves easy to travel. There are no real issues on the way there, and it's... downright pleasant, apart from the looks you get from people. You're a very strange entourage, obviously. Honestly, you almost regret staying in the city for as long as you did, this is a lot more relaxing compared to before. You had missed the road, somewhat...
That said, there are a few things of note that ended up happening along the way. William, for one, started spending his nights with the twins more and more consistently, and Paracelsus and Anna started convening more and more. While Paracelsus is still quite drained from trying to stop the passage of time from disintegrating snikt, she thinks she might be able to use magic to restore Anna's face... at least somewhat.

Ogg wasn't lying when she said the burns are nigh impossible to heal, even with magic, but Paracelsus thinks that she might be able to... well, sculpt a new face. Taking some flesh from one end of Anna and placing it on her face, and then essentially "tricking" the body in accepting it as new flesh. The flesh that was taken from elsewhere IS possible to heal, besides, though it's still a scary process in any event. Anna is more than happy to try it, though, and considering she gave up the scroll to help Snikt, she deserves the effort.
Anna still insists that that the choice between snikt and that scroll was not a choice in the slightest.
Snikt and Anna also get along really, really well ever since that incident. A lot of the goblin's time is spent teaching Snikt how to more effectively fire a crossbow, and she reminds her that while a gun is powerful and quicker to fire, a good crossbow reloads faster and hits from much further away.

Before long, Snikt is firing the crossbow for the hunts along the road, and her dexterity is rapidly returning, now that she's had some practice. In fact, she's better at it than before, because she can use her feet as climbing tools. They can dig deep into tree bark, and you suspect damn near anything else, too. Makes climbing a lot easier, as she says, and she was always a good climber.
Her unique looks also attract attention, besides. One bard that joined you until the nearest village even sang a song about her. It was awful, but well-meaning.
There's just no context in which "The hips of a fertility goddess" sounds good. It didn't match the rhyming scheme, and the sentence was about four syllables too long to fit with the rest.
Oh, and it just sounds really weird to compliment that.

At any rate, the coastal city is reached, and finding a boat that will take you to Oileano is no great trouble... if it wasn't for the fact that the harbor is currently unable to send out ANY ships.
Because they have wizard trouble.

Because OF COURSE they have wizard trouble. The damned fool built a tower half a mile off the coast in the water, and any ship that attempts to leave hears a bellowing shout telling them not to break the "Non Aggression Pact" lest they be melted into goop.
The one ship that called the bluff was then melted as soon as they went past the tower. The wizard, supposedly, does allow visitors, if they can make it up his "mighty dungeon".

Oh, you are already tired of this.

Now, currently, the idea is to wait for Big Bertha, which is a titanic siege cannon, to instantly annihilate the castle's top floor and hopefully disintegrate the wizard before he does anything else... but it'll take a week for the cannon to be delivered and assembled.

...Hmm.

>Just bite the damned bullet and go kill a wizard again.
Friggin' savages. Make sure to mention how you'll make your approach and how you intend to fight (or negotiate with?) a wizard

>Just wait.
It's a lovely town. There's no need to make things more complicated than they need to be. You can even keep yourself busy by doing some harbor work. Your kobolts can help as well, as they accept all comers here.

>>5509593
>Just bite the damned bullet and go kill a wizard again
Get a sgip to take us close and to engage in negotiations with this talkative wizard. Distract him with the sprites which we and the other dragons can manage. See if Paracelsus has any ideas for a stealth-aiding spell, such as camouflage. While the wizard is distracted and we are as hidden as possible, Reynauld and Snikt can scale the tower with their climby claws and father-daughter assassinate the wizard.

>>5509593
>>Just bite the damned bullet and go kill a wizard again.

we might be surprised and be able to calm him down with words, it's not likely but we can try.

>>5509593
>>Just bite the damned bullet and go kill a wizard again.
I'm not sure how we can approach it other than using a rowboat. If he accepts visitors, does that mean we can approach the tower itself without getting melted?

>>5509566
>Bigger is not always better, weight is always a concern, but you like to keep a hand free for a reason. If you have to switch stances to two-handed, that's fine with you.
Bro what are you talking about? You can still hold your big sword, but swing a fist at someone if they wanna catch hands with you.

> One bard that joined you
Begond horny bard! Away from the daughteru or get SMOTE!

>Just bite the damned bullet and go kill a wizard again.
ttrreeeaasssuuuurrreeeee- hey wait. I think this would be an excellent time to teach people to swim if they don't already know how to.

>>5510637
Reminds me of the quest's early days, when players were consdering if Snikt was a suitable waifu, before I guess her vulnerability made her daughteru material instead. What IS her actual physical and mental age, by human standards?

>>5510658
Hard to say, at the start of the story, she was 7 years old, but as a kobolt was fully physically mature.

>>5509593
Can Reynauld, Sarah, or Snikt know how to fly yet? Did Sarah drink all the gold magic champagne?

>>5512234
I'm against Reynauld delinerately speeding uo his transformation. He may never be this human again. Savour this time, as one would savour their brief, sweet youth before taking on the burdens of adulthood.

>>5512278
There have been so many situations where flight would've been so goddamn useful, I think we should seriously start considering letting the wings grow out during the next downtime. It's probably going to take intentionally breaking every single bone in them over and over, or dousing them in the mana cocktail, or whatever. We can leave the details to Paracelcus, but let's just finally get it done.

>>5512819
Seconding this. I've never been a fan of putting things off.

>>5513144
We can always learn on the boat journey.

You did ask Paracelsus on how wings would work for you, Snikt and her, but she waves you off by reminding you that dragons are far too large and bulky to permit those wings from letting them leave the ground. So, obviously the only reason that they're able tod o such a thing if because they use magic to support them. It won't be as hard as outright flying like Ogg was showing off, but it's still mostly magic to figure that stuff out.
So, mutating yourself further is not a way to attain flight. You don't really mind that it's impossible, or at least so impractical as to be not worth the effort. You weren't very jazzed about it.
Now, you decide to tell the city guard that you're willing to try and kill a wizard, and that you're speaking from experience.

The guards give you one look, and then ask if getting cursed once wasn't more than enough for you, considering...
You cross your arms, and resist the urge to roll your eyes when you tell them you got this particular "skin condition" by killing a dragon that was rather spiteful in death and stupid in life, which makes them just kind of... nod along. It probably shouldn't be a surprise that the first thing they did was make you sign paperwork, remind you a few times of what you're actually getting into, and then finally asking how many people will be joining you. Considering this is a wizard, and thus not to be underestimated, you elect to take the whole Klan and Paracelsus, which requires quite a rowboat to make possible. Fortunately, they have one available. They want it back, obviously, which you'll take as a sign of confidence if they're assuming you'll make it back.
Maybe.

The journey to the wizard's tower is... uneventful, to be honest. It's a straight line from the harbor to the tower, and the sea is very calm as you row there. You don't row along, either, though while you can handle two oars, it's just about two kobolts per oar otherwise. Still, once Paracelsus started calling out when to row, so you're in sync, you move fast and reach the island in record time. Nothing stops you, nothing talks to you... but you still have the distinct feeling that you're being watched. Not least of which because a window appeared at the top of the tower.
It's only once you step on land that the wizard speaks to you:
"HALT! WHO DARES ENTER THE LAIR OF THE GREAT AND MIGHTY GRIGHTY!?" A screechy but unquestionably excited voice bellows, echoing down from the top of the tower to below. It's mercifully still easy to understand.
The wizard speaks again.
"IS THAT A DRAGON I SEE? ONLY ON TWO FEET AND MUCH MORE HANDSOME!? MIXED IN WITH A MERRY BAND OF LITTLE DRAGONS!? OH! AND A LADY DRAGON. JOYOUS DAY! DARE YOU ENTER MY MAGICAL REALM!?"

The tower, which was a flat cylinder made up of sand, going up higher than any building you've ever seen, suddenly shifts, and reveals a big door made up of... coral?
Well, it's on-brand.

>"We're just here to talk!"
Maybe Grighty is open to talking.

>Okay.
Enter the magical realm.

>>5515636
>>Okay
If anything, it sounds like he'll be more amenable to a peaceful resolution if we play along with his bizarre game. Plus if he isn't we can PTHOOOM

>>5515636
>Okay
But ask our girlfriend's opinion first, because I'm not feeling so smart in my decision. On one hand, the whole tower could be trapped, but on the other they might try to sling spells at us from a distance if they get offended.
>inb4 Sarah suggest's Reynauld let's his mane of hair billow in the wind and flex for the wizard
>bait them down to us by acting as eye candy
>totally not an excuse for Para to sex Reynauld up with her eyes

>>5515636
>>"We're just here to talk!"

we should at least try anons, let's not lead with cock out sword drawn

>>5515636
>Okay.
Got a bad feeling about this, but we ARE here to kill him, if need be. And who knows... Maybe need NOT be? If he does get hostile, though, better that it happen while we're closer and better able to scorch or stab.

>>5516136
also you have to use wizard logic (wizards don't know the difference between right and wrong)
"We're just here to talk" is just going to piss him off, because he went through all the time and effort and imagination to make a really cool wizard's tower, and nobody's using it and what is he, chopped liver? Even if we want to find an amicable solution, we should humor him.

>>5516167
Agreed, might as well play along for now.
Even if it's only so we can get into stabbing distance.

>>5515636
Please let the wizard be a cute short stack femboy.

>>5517728
Horny jail, now.

>>5518660
He DID invite us into a "magical realm"...

We may ALL be entering a horny jail, of sorts.

>>5519076
>of sorts.
I think we are most likely entering horny jail in the most literal possible sense

warm Pink thighs

"Okay... Time to do whatever this is." You say, entering the dungeon with your kobolt friends. The area you enter is black as pitch, making it impossible to see what you're getting into. When you try to summon a wisp for light, it doesn't manage to spread the light anywhere, though it still sticks out in the darkness. It can't seem to actually emit any of the light. Once the doors close behind you, however, the lights come on.
You are... in a big, fancy ballroom. Somehow? You don't fully recognize the styles, though it's very well lit. Chandeliers up above give this place a very... tacky feel.
Mostly because there's a big fancy chandelier, made up of hundreds of crystals, every 3 meters. The entire ceiling is loaded with them. Then, of course, things get a little worse when you hear the wizard's loud, wheeze voice come from... some kind of boxes on the wall, not dissimilar to the ones you heard the voice in the Sierra Madre come out of.
"WELCOME! TO MY TOWER! THIS... IS THE RAT ROOM! I HATE NOBLES, SO I MADE THE ONLY CREATURES THAT DESERVE THE TERM INTO NOBLES! THEY WEREN'T PRETENDING TO BE BETTER THAN EVERYBODY, THEY WERE ALREADY EATING TRASH!"

You... draw your new sword, just to be ready, and then you see the different huge doors of the ballroom slam open, revealing...
Well. At first glance, they were people. Bipedal, quite tall and wearing some of the most beautiful, extravagent sort of eveningwear. Huge, lowcut ballgowns for the women, and fancy black suits that you don't even recognize for the men. Once you look above the shoulders, however, the issue arises.
They're... rats. Giant, slobbering, feral-looking rat heads dominate their otherwise lithe forms, and as soon as they start moving into the room, they go from strange to horrific.

It's important to note that there is a certain way that almost every creature moves. Most creatures move in a way that is appropriate to them, from a fat man that waddles to a young girl that skips. Things you'd expect, things that make sense. These things... didn't move like that. They moved too quickly to be fully human, their hands and head twitching seemingly at random as they touch eachother, chittering words that are ALMOST, but not quite, actual words. Their scraggly, filth-matter fur sticks out from their otherwise regal outfits, and you subconsciously take a step back as they enter the hall, and distorted, strange music begins to play. You dont recognize the style, or even half the instruments, other than the organ.

"COME ON! NOBLE DRAGON! LOVELY KNIIIGHT! AND FRIENDS! YOU'RE THE GUESTS OF HONOR!" The voice says, as the rats enter the halls. A table is pushed in from one of the smaller doors, pushed by... actual rodent-sized rats instead of the horrible almost-human abominations. They're like a living tidal wave, pushing in the wheeled table, loaded head to toe in what looks to be... rotting flesh, spoiled fruit and the occasional bit of intact food. All of it piled up and prepared like it came out of a high-class kitchen.
"CRASH THE PARTY, DRAGON! RUIN IT FOR THOSE FILTHY STINKING NOBLES!"

>Kill. KILL
SUFFER NOT THE ABOMINATION TO LIVE!

>Start making social faux pas
Let's not get too violent too fast.

>Find an exit.

>>5520793
>>Start making social faux pas

my "need to kill to we can talk him down" meter is slowly shifting but for the moment let's try it peacefully

>>5520793
>Start making social faux pas
Play along, see where this goes. We need to get closer to the source of this madness.

>>5520793
>Start making social faux pas
"Giant rats in fancy clothes" seems positively tame compared to some of the heinous shit we've been through. I see no reason not to indulge Grighty for the time being. Plus I expect it's going to be quite cathartic for Sarah to crash a noblemen's banquet.

>>5520765
>Their scraggly, filth-matter fur sticks out from their otherwise regal outfits,
So the wizard created Skaven. Wonderful. It's probably a good thing we didn't just have a chat outside, this could get bad if they ever leave the tower.
>>5520923
That's a fair point regarding Sara but these guys might end up being a huge problem down the road. Still, as much as a wave of rats is a perfect reason to PTHOOOM i agree for the time being.
>>5520793
>>Start making social faux pas

WELP i fucked around too long and now this is on page 11.
I'm archiving it now. I promise I won't let things slip away from me this bad again.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2023/5481886/