--~~'|We're [In] Trouble|'~~-- Foreword: I know people are going to tell me that my writing doesn't match my age, but to them I say this: It isn't my writing. I put my thoughts on paper, then I send them to a word-nerd to [beautify.] 1 (Superscript 1: Originally it said 'Pretty-Up,' and I wanted to tell you all. Also, he rambles, and so the account isn't precisely in a chronological order.) --~~'||'~~-- I have completed my first few weeks with Fenryr, and I have come to a conclusion. Everything that they are saying about Fenryr is true. All of it. There are no exaggerations... it's all downplayed if anything. I came to the group after years spent on my own. I started in a depressing dystopian past where few if any of the ne'er-do-wells could stand up to me. Sure, there were dark demigods and emo teenage wannabe-dark-lord posers with some modicum of juice, but I never felt that my life was threatened. Then I went to a hoary past populated by arrow-flinging, pitiful-sword-swinging mortals, with a minority barely tapping into the powers of life. Their spells and weapons barely scored my hide. Within the first week of my travels with Fenryr, I directed them past the Dragon Ranges. I originally thought it would be a piece of cake, but I only barely kept us from the other dragons' notice. I required the help of those in the group, and due to my deep-seated suspicions of all sentient beings, it took all of their help. I didn't let on that they were needed, and so my facade is intact, but it was a close thing. I know that Rex wanted me to get close to Turag, and I don't hate him, but sometimes I feel closer to ThorFrid. When we were in danger at the Central Building of Tolkeen, the cautious planners and meticulous schemers were trying to decide the best way to circumvent the security system. ThorFrid was antsy and bored, and so was I. That's why I did what I did... But it would have been bad if I had continued in my blind, trailblazing, brutish path. So maybe I can use both Turag and ThorFrid as role models? I fear that if I hadn't followed ThorFrid, we'd have been still standing on that balcony until the security forces stumbled upon us. But if not for Turag's cumbersome droning in the back of my mind, I'm sure I'd have tripped all of the alarms for sure. The path past the Dragon Ranges drove us directly through several pitched battles between the Dragons and the Coalition States. Seeing ancient living dreadnaughts blazing through scores of uber-tech legions is truly a sight to behold. In one of our close calls, (called out by Benna), I heard voices boomed from the skies notifying the CS troops that they were coming for Chi-Town. --~~'||'~~-- After several hours of driving, we passed between Sioux Point and the ruins of some other Sioux city, and then made a bee-line for the magical paradise of Tolkeen. As we neared, Turag started explaining some new powers he had divined, including one to help him better read and understand Leylines. About a mile later, (since he couldn't fly while walking with the slowest of us), he finally told us why he was explaining that to us: The leyline we were on was feeding INTO a building in the center of Tolkeen. One that we had all noticed with glimpses between buildings as we got nearer that was not connected to the ground at all. Turag letting us in on the situation, we all started to feel like the leyline was in a hefty current. We stopped to discuss the ramifications of this and to allow Sister Rebecca to perform a divination on the Cartouche of Erin Tarn. Sister Rebecca complains a lot about the time they spent in Krampus' Nightmare, but it would have been so much easier if she were still in that Lotus Pose - she could meditate, and we could just push her along. Or drag her like a sled. During the meditation, the Cartouche slipped an image into her mind of a balcony, with the impression of the Central Tower. We picked up the pace, and by the time we were within the city, within a mile or so of the Central Building, Turag and Rebecca were antsy. Turag hopped on his wingboard, and I took wing using my DragonKin Form. There was a race I came across in my journeys that looked like they were the magically limited offspring of Dragons and Humanoids. They inspired my sympathy, like little runts that did not know they were less than their cousins. Anyway, they stood upright on two digitigrade legs like a wolf's, arms and hands like a human's, and covered in scales like a dragon. Their head and ruff were draconic, and so were the giant wings that sprouted from their shoulderblade joints. Their wings were the strangest I've seen yet - they had four joints. One at the shoulders, two along the wing, and one near the tip. The two along the wing allowed them to fold the wings up in a shorter bundle along their sides and back, since a humanoid torso is shorter in comparison to its body than a lizard's. The upside was they could sit and work comfortably in more humanoid settings. The downside was their wings aren't as stable and durable as a dragon's, so in bad weather or for extremely long trips they tend to get grounded. But this form was just fine for me in this case. I launched myself after the turbo-trimadore Turag, and we reached the tower in a minute. I activated my mental switchboard, and Turag determined that the image off of the Cartouche could only have been made from seven vantage points. I quickly made my way to the last of the 7 balconies, while Turag made his way through the airtraffic to the first. I sent an image through the switchboard, and Rebecca told me it wasn't the one. Turag checked the next one, but upon leaving it he was detained by officers of the law. Using the diversion, I quickly marked the last 5 off, and wouldn't you know it? It was the very last one I went to. It is true what they say, 3 is a magic number. As I sat there on the balcony, hearing loud arguments about the 'Incubus circling the tower' from a nearby open window, after receiving the confirmation from Sister Rebecca, I was tempted to just break into the room and get this whole mess over with, but Turag's voice over the physical comms pulled me away and reminded me that I'm no longer a one-dragon force of nature. --~~'||'~~-- Turag dragged us all to the most boring building I'd yet been in, the Department of Flying Vehicles. It seems that the trip to Krampus' Nightmare was even more legendary than I had thought, and we got a key to Tolkeen as a result... which is better than a sharp stick in the eye, or a night in jail (which is what Turag was looking at if he'd not been recognized.) We finished the paperwork at 10 that night, at which point Sister Rebecca noticed one of her acolytes walking past on the sidewalk. Mr Charlie Potts was familiar with the inner workings of the most dangerous building in a city of dragons and demons, so he explained all the pitfalls I almost fell victim to if I had charged in earlier. After a discussion about what we should do, it was decided that, unfortunately, Lucryllin's undead brethren would take too long to round up for a distraction. We rushed to the tower, so we could accomplish our task before the tower locked down completely. --~~'||'~~-- We silently made our way to the offending platform and sat outside the room discussing schemes to open the door covertly when ThorFrid just opened it. Flabbergasted, Lucryllin and Benna started discussing the next problem: Traversing the room. Sister Rebecca and Turag updated us on the security measures; Magical and Mortal security measures crisscrossed the room in impossible coverage, preventing simple means of deterring. Lucryllin's ability to become Intangible was to be the only way to bypass the mortal devices, but they suffered a catastrophic failure when Sister Rebecca (per my request) cast Greater Invisibility on me. He praised the almighty DM as I launched myself across the room to the giant vault door. I used my immense, cosmically-superior strength 2 to rip the demon-and-dragon-proof vault door from its hinges, and caught Erin Tarn as she continued to bang her hands against the space formerly occupied by the door. I spent a few seconds trying to cover her in my wings, and was feeling ThorFrid's anxiety and energy fill me as I almost leaped through the room past the fully-functional magical sensors. Turag's voice came from the back of my mind, "Nnoozzmmmoohhh.... Iiiiifffff.... yyyyooouuuuu...." I teleported out of the vault onto the balcony - even in my subconscious, he's slow but right. ( Superscript 2: Benna assisted Nosmo as he ripped the vault door off its hinges. If not, he would never have succeeded. Turag informed me of her efforts after Nosmo sent his accounting to me.) --~~'||'~~-- Almost by magic, the next two weeks flew by in relatively no time at all: the travels back to Castle Refuge; the diffusing of the tension between Lord Coake and our group - Saint Sister Superior Rebecca of the South in particular; the clearing of our names with Refuge's leadership; the cleansing of the Castle of the Morganacites; the distribution of the Deck of Rogues; the parties with Mama Carlito and Papa Rex; the travels to Lazlo. One thing that is the most noteworthy (which is saying something) is that we passed through Wormwood, which shouldn't have even been possible. It worried Turag the most, who sat working on my Spellbook muttering about "Boooorrrrderrrrrrsssss.... wwwwweeeeeaaaaaakennnnnnniiiiiinnnnnng..." and other things I had no time to pay attention. Seeing the state of Benna's hunger, I sat and meditated, searching for a healthy source of PPE. Having found a particularly potent source over a mile away from the spectral tracks, I ripped a substantial portion of its entire reserve away. Benna and I snuck ourselves with Turag none the wiser 3 into an unoccupied car, where she cut my arm to retrieve the exotic lunch I'd procured. (Superscript 3: Turag absolutely knew, and was trying to stop them, but Sister Rebecca prevented his interference. In fact, they were so bad at hiding it that everyone in the 2 neighboring cars knew what was going on. They kept giggling and shushing each other, it was pathetic - but very Teenage Rebel.)
