Shadow of the Beast

[Sir Kailen]

Sir Kailen opened his eyes. He still was lying in sickbed but he was already
on the mend again. With each day, the pain in his left arm disappeared
more and more but the pangs he felt due to the massacre happend to his
comrades in arms, for sure, would last for a long time. Two weeks went by
since the caste of the warriors decided to commit fighters to the frontier of
the realm AtzeR.

Engrossed in thought, Sir Kailen brought this appalling incident and its
circumstances back to his mind ...


Noone had responded to enquiries of Eburonean diplomats---not a single message
had been answered. The souvereign of the realm AtzeR had kept silent. The three
castes worried about the red dragon right at the frontier to the Eburonean
realm and the fact that AtzeR seemd to be a god forsaken piece of land didn`t
cheer them up at all. To protect Portius Itius and its populace, 180 experienced
warriors under the guidance of Sir Kailen were sent to fight the dragon.


"Hell!", Sir Kailen sweared, "We couldn`t know that this
beast was mighty as the devil himself!"

Lady Nellwyn had entered the room in the meantime but Sir Kailen didn`t even
look up to her.

"It was a futile fight and we didn`t even have the time to realize it. With
tridents armed, we attacked the sleeping dragon at dawn but our weapons were
useless against the beast`s armoured scales. We couldn`t even inflict the
slightest damage to it. Then the beast awoke and the living hell began. The
dragon needed only one blast out of its nostrils to incinerate most of my men."

Lady Nellwyn didn`t know what to say. So, she kept silent, but reached out
and took his burnt and scarred hand in hers, holding and stroking it. Sir
Kailen enjoyed this unexpected sign of affection but he exerted himself not to
show it, thus, he just continued monotonously.

"I'll never forget this appalling stench. Most of my brothers-in-arms were
nothing but burnt flesh, their features inditinguishable."

Sir Kailen paused for a while. Lady Nellwyn knew he felt responsible and
suffered agonies due to the loss of his men.

"I instantly ordered a withdrawal to a nearby forest but I couldn't stand the
anger in me about this carnage. I ran from one side to the beast, climbed up a
rock and jumped onto the head of the dragon. Holding the trident in both hands,
I stabbed it into one of the beast`s eyes. Its screaming was ear-deafening and
I overbalanced under its berserk rage, felt off near to the rock but managed to
stand up instantly. That was a close thing as the beast first dashed its claws
against the rock and then blast another deadly cloud of fire in my direction. I
could hide more or less behind the rock but I felt a terrible pain in my left
arm and swooned. The next thing I remeber is, again, the smell of burnt flesh.
The beast was gone but noone was alive but me."

Again, Sir Kailen paused and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opend his
right hand and Lady Nellwyn could see a convoluted, hand-sized, pointed and
sharp-edged item in his hand.

"I found this part of the beast`s claw in front of the rock which probably
saved my live. It's razor-sharp and it seems to be vitriolic as well."

Lady Nellwyn still didn`t say a word. She just solicitously listend to Sir
Kailens words. She knew that he would try to kill the dragon someday...

"I need more information about these beasts, how to fight them and what the
best weapons are to kill them ... please, Lady Nellwyn .."

Nellwyn nodded and put a finger on his lips to prevent him from talking. Then
she took a needle and black ink and said: "This will hurt a bit."

Sir Kailen smiled as she began to tatoo his scared left arm with ornaments.
She couldn't know that he enjoyed this subliminal pain as it let him forget his
real pain---even though only for a short time. The shadow of the beast would
follow him until his or the beast's death ...

[Nellwyn]

[oldscroll]
Venerable People of Tamar!

We bemoan the loss of 180 foot soldiers. They died in a heroic fight against a
red dragon.

Please provide us with information about dragons. How many soldiers do we need
to fight them? What weapons are most successful for this purpose? Are there any
dealers out there who could deliver us with these weapons?

The caste of the warrior is dead set on hunting down the dragon which killed
our brave men.


Yours faithfully,
Lady Nellwyn
[/oldscroll]


The day will come that we`re mighty enough to fight dragons ..

Thank you Lord Courgan for the information.

kind regards,
Lady Nellwyn

[Courgan]

Daer Lady Nellwyn,

we mourn the loss of your brave soldiers, too.

Our advice would be to leave the dragon in peace. He will not attack you and not take your land or villages. Only grey, blue or green dragons should be a danger to your people.

To give you some hints how many soldiers you would need: Around 20.000 men, armed with long ranging weapons, especially crossbows, should be needed to fight down such a beast without high losses on your side. Less than 10.000 men seldom have a chance at all.

So, we can only recommend you to let it rest for the moment. Should the case happen that the dragon invades your land, we will equip an army to kill the beast, but at the moment we don't regard it as any threat.

Best regards

Courgan

[Nellwyn]

Daer Lady Nellwyn,

we mourn the loss of your brave soldiers, too.

Our advice would be to leave the dragon in peace. He will not attack you and not take your land or villages. Only grey, blue or green dragons should be a danger to your people.

To give you some hints how many soldiers you would need: Around 20.000 men, armed with long ranging weapons, especially crossbows, should be needed to fight down such a beast without high losses on your side. Less than 10.000 men seldom have a chance at all.

So, we can only recommend you to let it rest for the moment. Should the case happen that the dragon invades your land, we will equip an army to kill the beast, but at the moment we don't regard it as any threat.

Best regards

Courgan

The day will come that we`re mighty enough to fight dragons ..

Thank you Lord Courgan for the information.

kind regards,
Lady Nellwyn

[Nellwyn]

Our advice would be to leave the dragon in peace. He will not attack you and not take your land or villages. Only grey, blue or green dragons should be a danger to your people.

Dear Lord Courgan,

In these halls, I`ve found some information about dragons and I want to share them with you.

Red and black dragons for example are chaotic evil and will attack humans at every opportunity. They annex land and destroy everything in their path. While black dragons are relatively weak, red ones are among the strongest to be found on Tamar. ... Blue and green dragons on the other hand are neutral and will only attack you if your are in a war with the dwarves or elves.

Red dragons seem to be the strongest and most evil ones on tamar! Be aware and beware of red dragons!

kind regards,
Lady Nellwyn