DG Chapter 1: Fall of the Golden Tower

Marastrianna, an old gold dragon, is the benevolent guardian of a large island continent called Elir. She acts as peacekeeper over the individual nations existing on the continent, but does her best to avoid exerting her will upon them. Easily the strongest creature for hundreds of miles, she is one of the few beings on Elir capable of planar travel. She often leaves for months at a time, taking part in the Planar Wars which pit celestials against fiends. In her absence, she has a hand-picked group of humanoids to represent her and help keep the peace.

You are a member of this group. You have Marastrianna's trust and have proven yourselves time and time again through your actions. Today, Marastrianna is planning on leaving for the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia again. She has summoned you to her throne room at the top of her spire. Towering over a small island off the eastern coastline, it is a wonder of draconic engineering. It is most easily accessible by air, with only one bridge connecting it to the mainland. Made of limestone from the nearby coastal cliff, it is sturdy and handsomely polished. It is capped with a soild gold statue of Marastrianna herself, which reflects light brilliantly. At night, torches are shown upon it, making it act as a lighthouse for ships.

You may explore the tower if you wish. Marastrianna is a patient creature and is never in a hurry. It is safe to assume this is because she already has centuries of life experience and many more centuries still ahead of her.

TYRIAN looks around as he enters the first chamber of the tower. Curious as to why he was summoned here, but not in any hurry, he leans against the wall, and looks to see who else is present. A brightly-colored lizard sits on his shoulder.

The Entrance Hall is a grand plaza, complete with vendors, a shrine to Bahamut, and smithing kilns built into the tower. A variety of creatures from all races can be found within this indoor marketplace. Humans, lizardfolk, dwarves, locathah, elves, goblins, halflings, orcs, kobolds, and troglodytes are buying and selling goods. Marastrianna has always allowed the typically evil races into her halls, as long as their wares are legal and they respect the rules she has established to ensure moral and ethical conduct.

BRUDEGAN walks into the entrance hall and waves to Tyrian as he approaches at a slower pace due to the crowd. Brudegan shifts his shield to a better position on his pack, careful not to mistakenly cut someone nearby. Brudegan wonders where the rest of their normal group is as he greets Tyrian.

"Been a while, hasn't it, Brudegan?" TYRIAN asks, walking over to him.

"It sure has, Tyrian", BRUDEGAN replies, "Who is your friend?", Brudegan asks, gesturing to the lizard on Tyrian's shoulder.

"You remember Jax," TYRIAN says. "My familiar and a good listener."

(OoC- FYI, I just found out our third player's visiting family. He should be posting today or tomorrow.)

Brudegan says, "Ah yes Jax, I remember him." "How has life been treating you since we were last together."

"Not much has been happening recently," Tyrian replies. "To be honest, I began to miss the old days. Now, it looks like we've got something to do again."
Tyrian looks around. "Have you seen the others?"

"I don't recall seeing anyone else from our group around here," Brudegan replies. "I do hope they show up soon, I am a little eager to start working."

"True," Tyrian replies. "In the meantime, lets see what there is around here."
Tyrian begins to examine the various booths and wares in the halls.

Brudegan says, "Alright then." Brudegan follows Tyrian and looks for something in the stalls that would be useful for general tasks.

Modis comes walking up, hurriedly, through a throng of people. "Greetings. Sorry I'm late. A family requested a blessing for their sick daughter."

(ooc- sorry about that, I couldn't access the site for a while... stupid Mac/viruses...)

Brudegan says, "Ah good to see you Modis, I was beginning to get worried. I think we have kept Marastrianna waiting long enough." Brudegan heads for the stairs that lead to the top of the spire.

Modis begins to follow, adding,"Of course. I'm sure she has something important to call all of us here."

The stairway, as with the rest of the tower, is made of local limestone carved from nearby cliffs. Beautifully polished to white, with wispy blues and reds, it's gorgeous and sturdy rock.

The floor above the marketplace is the meeting halls for foreign diplomats and local politicians. Marastrianna's living quarters are located on the next floor up, but the room's mighty adamantine doors are securely locked. The hallway continues to another staircase, which leads to Marastrianna's throne room at the top of the spire.

"She's probably in her throne room," Tyrian says. "It is good to see you, Modis. Do you think we should proceed now?"

Brudegan acknowledges that Tyrian is most likely correct. Brudegan continues on to the throne room.

The throne room's doors are always open, a custom that Marastrianna finds symbolic of her welcoming attitude to all. It is an open-air room, with very large balconies extending outward in all four directions. The fact that these aerial entrances are the main entrances of the room hint at the types of creatures Marastrianna invites regularly.

Marastrianna herself sits upon her throne, wearing the human guise she has come to love over the centuries. An astoundingly regal woman, she has long black hair intricately styled and a flowing golden gown that glistens in the sunlight. She is reading what looks to be a scouting report, but waves the group in as they near the doorway. "Give me just a moment," she asks politely, "This report is hard to stomach."

Modis looks to see if there is anyone else, possibly guests, in the room while he waits.

Marastrianna appears to have cleared the room of visitors.

Brudegan approaches and waits patiently for Marastrianna to finish her task.

"Greetings, your eminence," Tyrian says and steps forward, "You have summoned us?"

Marastrianna sighs and looks up at her champions. "Yes, Tyrian, I have called for the three of you." She gets up and approaches the group, handing Tyrian the report she had been reading. "I'm heading off to Celestia, and Nikolai decides to resume his usual mischief again."

Marastrianna speaks of Nikolai Frostmore. One a renowned hunter under her service, Nikolai is now a bandit. His charisma has won him many battles before they even begin and he seems to be well liked by the public. This could be because he only raids profits from caravans. Never has he or his men killed in their pursuits and they always leave something so the merchants can get by, which annoys Marastrianna.

"Does he think this is a game?" she asks angrily.