The road to Voonlar was ill kept and boggy. We were happy to be getting close to civilization, until we noticed the smoke rising above the horizon. From the next hill, we saw a small town in shambles. Four buildings were on fire, and people ran mindlessly through the streets. With a chill, we also saw two large footprints, just like the ones that were by Storm's house. Near those was the skeleton of a centaur, picked clean.
The townsfolk finally seemed to be calming, and began a bucket brigade. It took us a few more minutes to get there to help, but when we arrived, everyone stopped to look at us. They stopped fighting the fires and surrounded us, staring soundlessly with grim faces. A man stepped forward and pointed at me, shouting, "It's her fault, she brought the dragon!"
I was feeling extremely nervous and confused at that point. The constable came and pulled us away from the crowd. "Best you leave now. We had an incident with a green dragon. It dropped torches on the place, ate some people. Said that he who has the staff has the key! So you see why you should go now."
We assured him that we would leave, and I tried to cover the staff with a blanket as best I could. As we rode through what remained of the place, a woman waved us over. She led us behind a building, where she asked if we knew Storm Silverhand, because we looked like the group she was told of. Lagasse admitted that we did know Storm.
The woman nodded. "You are in great danger. A giant green dragon is chasing you, but that is the good news. The bad news is that it really isn't a dragon. It is a dracolich named Dretchroyaster, Monarch Reborn. Its lair is in Myth Drannor, south of Hillsfar. We caught some Dragon Cultists, one of whom had a note in ancient dwarven. It took a while to translate, and says 'Find those that have the key.'"
She gave us the note, and advised us to find the three elven mages and speak with them. As she left us, we thought we saw a mage in the crowd that resembled the one we'd fought before. We rode until we were just out of the town, then sat down to figure out what was going on. Mical realized that the writing on the note looked familiar. He pulled out the amulet and looked at the back.
"Hey! This is the same writing!" he exclaimed. Immediately he set to work translating the amulet. In a relatively short while, he had most of it. As he read the inscription to us, I felt dread fill me. Here is what the amulet said:
"(unreadable) YEARS, (unreadable) LANDS, (unreadable) DEATHS. DRAGONS KYN RULERS THE TIME OF RISING IS AMONG US. DEATH THE ONLY RELEASE, DESPAIR THE ONLY TRUTH. LET THE WOODS WITHER, THE OCEANS BOIL, AND THE AIR BURN WITH OUR VENGEANCE. LET THE LIGHT OF THE CLAW CALL THE CALLERS, IT CALLS ITSELF. ONCE MORE THE OLD AND THE NEW SHALL RIDE TOGETHER TO VICTORY. LET THE HAND OF MAN CALL FORTH THEIR DOOM."
We pondered the meaning of the words, knowing it did not bode well. Mical returned the amulet to its hiding place. We wondered how it had happened that we now possessed at least two things the dragon wanted. Perhaps the giant was involved, since if we hadn't taken his job, we would have been in Voonlar at an inopportune moment.
Shouts interrupted our thoughts. We stood, swords drawn, waiting. Three dwarves ran out of the woods toward us, loudly asking us if we were from Shadowdale. We looked at each other, then slowly nodded. "Oh, we've found you!" they cheered. "You are the ones that freed our family and friends! We saw a group of humans looking for you just after the dragon left. Where are you heading? Can we go with you?"
We questioned them about their skills and backgrounds. They seemed like very young dwarves. The female, Gotunia Giantcleaver, was a healer. The two males, Gerun Ironsplitter and Mettam Trollfoe, were respectively a thief and a warrior. Eventually we agreed that they could travel with us to the Citadel of the Raven after we went north to Teshwave. They were thrilled, since the Citadel is near their home.
