Dragon Skeletons
Fishermen (Dakahupia and Herneti) from Bikai found another huge skeleton on the north side of the island, where it lies hidden, secured in a remote sea cave. At the tip of the island lies a rocky shoal, which forces the fisherfolk to route into deeper waters to avoid striking rocks in the more turbulent shallows. The wind-driven waves pound against the rocks, spraying glittering arcs of brine skyward with each thunderous crash. Inside the cave, the crystalline waters deepen, reaching a depth of six feet at the center of the cave. Lying on the bottom rests a massive skeleton of a creature tremendous enough to crush an entire village or swallow a small herd of goats with a single bite. A crust of barnacles and seaweed cover the skeleton, indicating it has spent long years lying on the ocean floor.
People watched from the beach as the fisherfolk first towed the skeleton in. They used several rafts to float it. Its skull was massive. Crowds gathered quickly, and the cacique called for some of his guards to help disperse everyone. After that, the fisherfolk dragged it back out to the bay, and it was gone by morning. Nobody has seen it since. There’s lots of talk and excitement, and many claim they saw the thing.
Demand for dragon bone has sparked a minor buying frenzy, with dozens of rivals rushing to the small village to get a piece of the action or find a skeleton of their own. As a result, prices for powdered dragon bone have skyrocketed, while less reputable individuals pawn off ground shells or animal bones as the real thing.
The dragon skeletons that are located fairly deep in the shores surrounding Bikai are quite the sight to behold, with many Boricubosans coming from around the islands in order to visit them, with some acting as archaeologists and attempting to discover the mystery of how they could have ended up there, while others are solely interested in utilizing the skeletons for their magical properties. Many iguaca mercenary groups have visited the village in order to steal away parts of the skeletons in order to craft magic artifacts for use in the war, but more often than not they are stopped by the hurákani and baracúden who live within the town before they could make it too far. More often than not, however, the visitors are anabaguas who have survived The Blight due to their young age, trying to figure out exactly what their older brethren might have had to do with the dragons who obviously lived in or at the very least near Boricubos. The mystery remains, however, as the eldest of all anabaguas who would have remembered such as time have perished because of The Blight, leading many anabaguas to wonder if The Blight is a curse caused by the dragons who may still be alive in deeper waters to take revenge on the anabagua population for some ancient slight they might have caused the dragons. These rumors are of course, unfounded, but this has not stopped many in town for training for a day when dragons might appear, utilizing the teaching of foreigners who have encountered the creatures before.
Characters travel to the fishing village of Bikai to investigate rumors that of a massive dragon skeleton. The skeleton sparked interest throughout the archipelago, enticing several opposing factions, all of whom seek to acquire it for their purposes. While novel at first, the phenomenon quickly became a beacon drawing waring enemies to the tiny island of Piraguen.
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