Session 22: Lost and found Report

General Summary

Robert moved throughout the cave, restlessly pacing from one end of the massive cavern to the other. At the center of the underground space a swirling vortex of magical energy offered an easy way of escape. He had contemplated using it many times over the past few hours. It would take him to the safety of his master’s sanctuary. His master would not be pleased, however, if he abandoned this place before the ritual was completed. He just needed a little more time, maybe half an hour.   Robert lamented that his friends had to get involved. Through some cruel act of fate, they had turned out to be the knights that were interfering with his master’s plan. He did not want to hurt them, but he feared he would not have another choice.   As he reached the end of the cavern, he turned back around and scraped the sloping roof with his powerful wings. A few dislodged rocks tumbled to the ground, but Robert barely felt anything. He was still getting used to his new form, and as a result his movement was a little clumsy. The transformation was almost complete now. His frail human body had changed into the huge lumbering form of a green dragon. He felt strength coursing through his limbs, unlike anything he could have imagined. He couldn’t wait for the day when the need for hiding was over, and he could soar through the skies above Keralon. With any luck some of his friends could join him in their own draconic forms.   The professor had said that not everyone would react to the process in the same way. Some would only receive minor gifts while others would experience a full transformation, like Robert had. His friends were strong, however, and Robert did not doubt that most of them would transform into dragons far more powerful than him.   With more than a little melancholy, Robert thought back to that day, five years earlier, when they had saved his life. For years he had lied about what had truly happened that day, and he had always felt guilty about that. He just knew that they would not have understood.   Dragons had been an obsession of Robert for most of his life. Ever since the day that a great black dragon had descended on his village and had massacred almost everyone, including his parents and siblings. Most who knew his past thought Robert hated dragons, but he didn’t. How could he? Dragons could not be expected to adhere to rules of mortal morality. They were too powerful, too high above it all. They had the might to do as they pleased. There was no beating them, so all Robert could do was join them.   He had sought out all draconic lore he could at first, reading tomes and studying under scholars to learn all there was to know about dragons and their lesser kin. Theory hadn’t been enough though. He had needed to study live subjects. That is when he had learned about a farmer with a pseudodragon pet in Tarn. Some Reynards had agreed to steal the creature for him, but they had failed. Of course, Robert had denied payment, at which point the Reynards had turned hostile. That is when his friends had shown up to save him. He had later learned they were the ones who had liberated the pseudodragon from the Reynards. Robert couldn’t help but chuckle at the whims of fate.   Suddenly the sounds of battle began to echo through the underground corridors that linked the cavern to the rest of the ruined base. The ringing of steel hitting steel intertwined with mumbled words of arcane power indicated that his friends had made their way into his lair.   Robert turned to the magical portal to address the humanoid creature sitting next to it. Its grey featureless face and body reacted to his attention instantly. It had been keeping track of him all this time. Robert knew the thing could read minds, but he still spoke up.   “Go. Stall them. The ritual is almost complete. Do as I explained and take my old form. Pretend to be me and try to persuade them to leave. If they don’t, kill them.”   The creature’s body rippled for a few seconds as its abilities transformed its body. Before long, Robert was looking at a copy of his old human form. The creature bowed and hurried towards the nearest hallway. Robert knew it would not succeed. His friends were too principled to abandon their quest, and too powerful to be defeated by a single shapechanger. Still, it might buy him a few more minutes.   As soon as his double was out of sight, Robert began moving towards the hallway himself. His body had grown too big to move through the corridors with ease and he did not want his underlings to see him squeezing through the passageways. It would take him a while to reach his old friends, and he feared what would happen when he did.