Summer, 1392
*This is the area the unicorn said Kavi was?*
*Looks like it-the mountain that looks like a pyramid with three towers.*
*Did we pass the line of Miscabbard outposts?*
*They should have either been on the islands or on the perimeter of the foothills. I think we’re through.* The brown dragon folded her wings as she landed gracefully. *Now we walk.*
Silently Asaewath and Rargesteyae continued on their journey, keeping a considerable distance from the trail that the unicorn had directed them to but also remaining within eyeshot, weaving through forests and swamps and climbing hills and rock piles. Gradually the trail became a path, then a full road.
Both dragons stopped when they came upon the first pair of tripods, four feet in height, blazing like they were continually maintained with charcoal in front of two large banners with tripod icons upon them. What got the attention of Asaewath and Rargesteyae however was the bloody remains of a large manticore hanging from a pole by its forelimbs.
The brown and green dragon looked at each other. Rargesteyae shook her head while Asaewath shuddered, but eventually the two continued on.
More braziers, banners and sacrificed remains lined the increasingly large, paved and maintained road, and soon guard posts, observation towers and hospices began appearing, as did visitors shrouded in cloaks and guards keeping watch in plate armor. With Rargesteyae guiding by smell and cardinal direction finding while keeping an eye on potential threats, the duo carefully avoided any areas populated by guards or pilgrims along the path, taking increasingly roundabout routes as they continued onwards and humans began to increase.
Ten miles and half a day later, and the road coiled itself up a large escarpment atop Mount Purim. While the steep and narrow staired footpath continued a winding ascent around several guarded promotories bristling with sentry posts, defensive parapets, gates, arrow slits and obvious traps, the two dragons simply clambered atop a crumbling rock face nearby and followed the sheltered ravine up the embankment, before backtracking towards the main trail while hiding themselves among the thick cover of trees and bushes. Finally the dragons came upon a small rise, sheltered by a line of wind-sculpted jumble of rocks forming a natural wall.
Rargesteyae and Asaewath poked their heads above the outcroppings. Before them lay the grand entrance of the Miscabbard City, a gigantic, ornate gateway cut into the bottom of a large overhang of Mount Purim. A long line of banners fluttered in the breeze and the fires flickered from two dozen braziers, and the flies buzzed around a dozen impaled corpses. The gates themselves were massive, solid oak beams perhaps a hundred feet in length, three feet thick, and forty feet high. Gilded engravings worked their way from one end to another depicting angelic beings slaughtering demons, helped by humans on the ground, led by a giant in the center. In front of the gate a gigantic thirty-foot high gold and silver-gilded brazier, following the same demon-slaying motif as the gate, blazed with a large flame kicking smoke high into the sky.
Two dozen guards in plate armor and with pikes lay arrayed in front of the gateway, another ten arrayed themselves before the tripod. Atop the gate was a bartizan bristling with machicolations and arrow slits.
Both dragons were momentarily awed by the scene before them.
*This is it.* Rargesteyae finally said, breathing deeply. *This is Kavi.*
*How do we get in?* Asaewath whispered as he scanned the entrance. *I don’t see how we can enter through the front here: even if we eliminate the guards, the alarm would be raised and we’ll be fighting straight through thousands of cultists, that is if they don’t close the gate on us first.*
Rargesteyae pondered the situation for a minute. *You know, we could just keep it that way, forever.*
*What?*
*If they shut the gate we could collapse the gateways and just trap them all in there.*
Asaewath looked over his sister in shock. *No! The Lord of the Sky could escape- they must have secret exit routes.* He shook his head violently. *Also, you'll be killing all the prisoners there!*
The brown dragon shrugged. *As far as I’m concerned, they’re already dead.*
*No they’re not!*
*How are they not-*
*And anyways we can’t be certain the demon lord is dead even if she falls to this. The cultists simply wouldn’t believe it. We’ll have to find her, and kill her publicly.*
Rargesteyae gave her brother a look. *Really?*
Asaewath however refused to back down, staring right back at his sister. *Yes.*
After an awkward stalemate, the brown dragon broke eye contact and sighed.
*Ugh fine. So we can't just go blasting at the front gates.*
*We can look for those escape passages.*
*Those would likely be long, well hidden, and they might be too small for us to use.*
The green dragon thought for a minute. *Well, these Duregaren cities were self-contained. That means other secret passages-channels and ducts. Food, water, waste, air. They need a good ventilation system. Otherwise it's dangerous. There'll be access points. And large ones.*
Rargesteyae nodded. *Right. Once we get in, we should be able to map it to the unicorn’s layout of the city.*
*Think we can find these other entrances?*
The brown dragon gave Asaewath a look again. *You’ve known me for how long, brother?*
Bob Dylan - One More Cup of Coffee
Courtesy of TheDinosaurMann!
*This is the area the unicorn said Kavi was?*
*Looks like it-the mountain that looks like a pyramid with three towers.*
*Did we pass the line of Miscabbard outposts?*
*They should have either been on the islands or on the perimeter of the foothills. I think we’re through.* The brown dragon folded her wings as she landed gracefully. *Now we walk.*
Silently Asaewath and Rargesteyae continued on their journey, keeping a considerable distance from the trail that the unicorn had directed them to but also remaining within eyeshot, weaving through forests and swamps and climbing hills and rock piles. Gradually the trail became a path, then a full road.
Both dragons stopped when they came upon the first pair of tripods, four feet in height, blazing like they were continually maintained with charcoal in front of two large banners with tripod icons upon them. What got the attention of Asaewath and Rargesteyae however was the bloody remains of a large manticore hanging from a pole by its forelimbs.
The brown and green dragon looked at each other. Rargesteyae shook her head while Asaewath shuddered, but eventually the two continued on.
More braziers, banners and sacrificed remains lined the increasingly large, paved and maintained road, and soon guard posts, observation towers and hospices began appearing, as did visitors shrouded in cloaks and guards keeping watch in plate armor. With Rargesteyae guiding by smell and cardinal direction finding while keeping an eye on potential threats, the duo carefully avoided any areas populated by guards or pilgrims along the path, taking increasingly roundabout routes as they continued onwards and humans began to increase.
Ten miles and half a day later, and the road coiled itself up a large escarpment atop Mount Purim. While the steep and narrow staired footpath continued a winding ascent around several guarded promotories bristling with sentry posts, defensive parapets, gates, arrow slits and obvious traps, the two dragons simply clambered atop a crumbling rock face nearby and followed the sheltered ravine up the embankment, before backtracking towards the main trail while hiding themselves among the thick cover of trees and bushes. Finally the dragons came upon a small rise, sheltered by a line of wind-sculpted jumble of rocks forming a natural wall.
Rargesteyae and Asaewath poked their heads above the outcroppings. Before them lay the grand entrance of the Miscabbard City, a gigantic, ornate gateway cut into the bottom of a large overhang of Mount Purim. A long line of banners fluttered in the breeze and the fires flickered from two dozen braziers, and the flies buzzed around a dozen impaled corpses. The gates themselves were massive, solid oak beams perhaps a hundred feet in length, three feet thick, and forty feet high. Gilded engravings worked their way from one end to another depicting angelic beings slaughtering demons, helped by humans on the ground, led by a giant in the center. In front of the gate a gigantic thirty-foot high gold and silver-gilded brazier, following the same demon-slaying motif as the gate, blazed with a large flame kicking smoke high into the sky.
Two dozen guards in plate armor and with pikes lay arrayed in front of the gateway, another ten arrayed themselves before the tripod. Atop the gate was a bartizan bristling with machicolations and arrow slits.
Both dragons were momentarily awed by the scene before them.
*This is it.* Rargesteyae finally said, breathing deeply. *This is Kavi.*
*How do we get in?* Asaewath whispered as he scanned the entrance. *I don’t see how we can enter through the front here: even if we eliminate the guards, the alarm would be raised and we’ll be fighting straight through thousands of cultists, that is if they don’t close the gate on us first.*
Rargesteyae pondered the situation for a minute. *You know, we could just keep it that way, forever.*
*What?*
*If they shut the gate we could collapse the gateways and just trap them all in there.*
Asaewath looked over his sister in shock. *No! The Lord of the Sky could escape- they must have secret exit routes.* He shook his head violently. *Also, you'll be killing all the prisoners there!*
The brown dragon shrugged. *As far as I’m concerned, they’re already dead.*
*No they’re not!*
*How are they not-*
*And anyways we can’t be certain the demon lord is dead even if she falls to this. The cultists simply wouldn’t believe it. We’ll have to find her, and kill her publicly.*
Rargesteyae gave her brother a look. *Really?*
Asaewath however refused to back down, staring right back at his sister. *Yes.*
After an awkward stalemate, the brown dragon broke eye contact and sighed.
*Ugh fine. So we can't just go blasting at the front gates.*
*We can look for those escape passages.*
*Those would likely be long, well hidden, and they might be too small for us to use.*
The green dragon thought for a minute. *Well, these Duregaren cities were self-contained. That means other secret passages-channels and ducts. Food, water, waste, air. They need a good ventilation system. Otherwise it's dangerous. There'll be access points. And large ones.*
Rargesteyae nodded. *Right. Once we get in, we should be able to map it to the unicorn’s layout of the city.*
*Think we can find these other entrances?*
The brown dragon gave Asaewath a look again. *You’ve known me for how long, brother?*
Bob Dylan - One More Cup of Coffee
Courtesy of TheDinosaurMann!
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Western Dragon
Gender Female
Size 768 x 1280px
Dread league, existing in the magical, fairy tale world habited by colourful ponies. And that sect is known for gathering corpses, for necromantia and unbearable stink and also aims to eliminate everyone
Their ventures down to hell sounds like the last idea to come and also incredibly foolish
It kinda is. Mera's kids are a tad inexperienced in such matters.
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