Soot's Journal: A Dragon and Cold Betrayal

26th of Hammer, 1512 DR
 
From within the boat, the sounds of the dragon above shook as all the core. Electra looked back to me, and said: "Let me handle the talking Soot. Don't do anything." This immediately worried me, I became so concerned that she was going to offer ourselves as minions to the dragon! She ran up the stairs and for a moment, there was nothing but silence.
 
After about a minute or so, stark white reptilian scales descended the hole in the middle of the ship. The horrifying visage of the dragon loomed over us, its cold breath slowly filling the entire room with chilling air, its pale, cold, and emotionless eyes stared us down. It spoke to us, threatening to eat us, and in a panic I began to start just mouthing off gibberish to convince it not to harm us.
 
Electra ran down the stairs of the upper deck and began speaking to the dragon in draconic. She told us that we needed to bow down to the dragon and offer it praise. This idea absolutely disgusted me. But, in order to save mine and Luna's lives, I listened and bowed. Then the dragon looked angry at us, and Electra translated, saying that we must give her tribute in the form of an offering of great value. Absolutely ridiculous. After losing my cloak to Sephek, she expects me to now give up all my money to her "great dragon lady"??
 
She offered up her jewels, Dyleth's jewels, and her dragon statue. She then tried to get me to give my hammer to the dragon! This enraged me. I clutched it so tightly in my paws, I could feel the pads of my fingers starting to tear a bit. I called out to the dragon and told her that Electa's statue was actually a dragon that was cursed and turned to stone, that it was the best offering she could get!
 
But, the dragon loomed in close to me, and said Electra lied to me. The statue was not a dragon, it was just a figurine... Then it stared at me, exhales a small of puff of cold air, and said: "She also told me I could freeze you and take your hammer." Rage began to flow through me as the dragon said that, but I somehow managed to keep from losing my cool. I looked over at Electra with a face of sheer anger, betrayal, and disgust. I straightened my back as tall as possible, putting on a brave façade despite me fear, and I told Electra the dragon could not have my hammer. I then leaned in front of Luna to protect her in any way that I could.
 
Electra looked shocked that I would not give up my hammer, and after taking a second, she offered up her Psi Crystal to the dragon. The dragon accepted it happily and then agreed to let us leave. Now this surprised me, I was starting to think we would not walk out of that boat...
 
Luckily, we all managed to get off the boat, and as we left, the dragon warned us never to return. It flew off to the North, and we traveled South to get away from it.
 
In our travels, Electra acted so surprised that the dragon was evil. She claimed that all other dragons are so nice. This just made me snap. I turned around and gave her a piece of my mind. I shouted at her and told that she needed to stop being so foolish, that the dragons she knows are exceptions to the rules, and that all other dragons are extremely evil. She seemed offended and confused. I just kept walking.
 
Eventually we heard her suddenly faint, and Luna pulled me back to go help her. She tried to heal Electra, but with no success. She started crying that we needed to help her, and despite my current hatred for Electra, I knew that chieftains do not leave their tribe behind no matter what. I stooped down and picked her up, begrudgingly carrying her the remainder of the journey until we finally took a long rest.
 
27th of Hammer, 1512 DR
 
After a cold night sleeping in the tundra, we awake and try to wake Electra from whatever trance she might be in. It took a good bit of time, but eventually Luna woke her up. She seemed grateful to Luna, and even thanked me for carrying her. Though, I just couldn't look at her, I didn't even want to. I just shrugged at her thanks and walked to the other side of camp.
 
Eventually we began debating about what the do next, and Electra started spewing nonsense about how she need the Psi Crystal back to help these "bug people" that crash their strange boat somehow. For whatever reason, everyone started listening as if this were some vision she had. But I think it was complete garbage. I started encouraging my companions that it was nonsense, that she was delirious from passing out and to ignore it.
 
Luna just wouldn't stop though. She started saying we should go back and get the crystal, but I had to keep telling everyone that it was a death sentence. Electra didn't even want to go back, because she "couldn't steal from the dragon"! So absurd. I looked her straight in the face and told her to wake up, that the dragon didn't care about her, and that it would kill her if she went back. She backed off and started crying. I felt a tinge of guilt, but her nonsense almost got me and everyone else killed, so I didn't feel too bad about it.
 
Eventually we decided to take her to the House of the Morning Lord in the Brynshander to see if a priest could help her. It was a lot of work to convince everyone, but luckily we were all on the same page and we traveled back to the Bremmen. Myself, Dyleth, and Madu all immediately made way for the tavern. We bought big meals and got as drunk as we could to deal with the whiplash of the past couple days. It was nice to finally have some relaxation and a way to forget the horrors of my near death experience with both the trolls, and with the dragon.
 
During our conversations, eventually Dyleth reveals to Madu that he was blessed by Auriel and that he had just recently prayed to her in hopes of helping Electra... I don't like that he was praying to Auriel, but at least he was honest about it! However, I found it a bit surprising that Madu did not know about Dyleth's history!
 
After a bit of time, the girls finally come to the tavern. I let out a bit of a sigh as I saw Electra was with Luna though... I knew I would have to see her again soon, but I was hoping it wouldn't be during this nice relaxing night of drinking. Eventually the girls came to the table, and Luna overheard Dyleth talking about his blessing from Auriel. She was absolutely shocked and kind of upset whenever she found out. But, he tried to explain himself and everyone got kind of silent.
 
A bit of an awkward pause fell over the table, as Luna and Electra stood by the table with the next round of drinks in hand. I staggered to my feet and announced I was buying a second dinner, and left to the bar to order another plate of salmon. As I was waiting for the bartender, I heard a commotion behind me and saw that Madu had just punched Electra and Dyleth. As the two fell to the floor, he stormed out of the building.
 
I staggered back from the bar to help Dyleth up, and then walked out of the bar after Madu. Once I caught up to him he seemed very confused about whether or not to trust Dyleth. It took some time, but eventually I talked him down and he decided that the would quote: "not kill Dyleth". I chuckled at this statement, and the two of us made our way back to the inn.
 
When we arrived, we got there at the same time as the rest of group. Dyleth and I bunked up with each other, and as Luna and Electra went to bed I said good night to both of them. It felt a bit strange saying pleasantries to Electra, but after drinking so much, it made sense to not be so angry all the time.
 
I headed off to sleep for a finally long deserved rest in a comfy and warm bed. As I started to dream, I saw visions of the ancestral warriors of our tribe fighting alongside me, fighting terrible beasts and destroying everything in our wake. It was a nice dream.
 
~Soot Isbjorn