The Treasure of the Tierra Padre
It had seemed like an age since Volidar's last tale. He searched his memory for a good one...
Greetings! Welcome, and enjoy some libation. What story to tell tonight? Ah, how about the tale of the
greediest little dragon? It was told to me by
Oirhandir the bard, one of the High Folk, but not of this land at all. No, he comes from far across the Great Ocean, came here one day to seek his fortune.
One day, a rich burgher came here to the Red Dragon. Heavy was the bag of gold he gave to Joe Smith, for well could he afford Joe's fee. The man's name was Rupert Vaneelkelen, and if you are fortunate, you too may work for him some day. Mr. Vaneelkelen promised adventure and wealth, and five adventurers heeded his call: Oirhandir, the elf I mentioned ealier,
Eruin de Terith, a ranger who was half human and the rest elf,
Rogier Goodwill, the same paladin who went to Fallon to retrieve the Key,
Calamar the Dark, a wizard who once fought a duel right here, right outside this Inn, and
Katherine DeSylvia, a bard and ranger who, like Eruin, was part elf.
Now, let me first tell you about Rupert. Mr. Vaneelkelen had so much money he became bored, and started collecting rarities of every stripe. Coin he cared not for, but a strange bauble or gadget or a skin from a hippogriff, now that would catch his eye. He kept an eye out for an opportunity to fetch some rare object, and when he found one, he would trot down to the Red Dragon (well, as much as he could trot, for he grew quite large on good food!) and hire a band of adventurers to go fetch it for him. Well, he came across a rather unusual map, one that seemed very ancient, that hinted at a most unusual story. He swore his hirelings to secrecy, and made them sign contracts sealed in blood before he divulged the contents of the map to them. It was a map showing the old road to Fallon, not the one that is used today, but the old one that used to hug tight to the bank of the Roars. Partway down that old road used to lie a gristmill, and that was shown on the map as if it were still there. Now, for the curious part.
South of the Roars, in the middle of a great swamp, the map showed a "hye hille", yes, that's right, it seemed written by a kobold or lizardman or some such. Atop the hill was a great oak, and inside the hill a dragon's treasure! Yes, scribbled in the margin of the map was a note about how part of the treasure had been recovered, and that the owner of the map was planning to recover the rest. How long had that map lain? How many years dead was the first owner? And most important to Mr. Rupert, was that treasure still there? There had not been a dragon sighted anywhere near Orussus or the swamp in centuries, but there it was.
The five agreed to fetch Vaneelkelen whatever they found in the swamp in return for a tidy sum. He set it all up...provided them with horses, a mule, any sort of gear or supplies you might think they could use, even one of his nephews to watch over the animals while the real adventurers ventured into the dangerous places. They set off the next morning, and eventually came to the great stone bridge that crosses the Roars on the way to Lathirn. There, they camped by the old signpost that marked the old road to Fallon, and didn't even recognize it for what it was!
The next day, the crossed the Roars, and made their way east along its banks. They thought it would be easier to cross the Roars at the bridge and then cross the Grellgo, rather than ford the Roars upstream. How wrong they were! The Grellgo was wide and muddy, and took the best part of a morning to cross. The far bank marked the beginning of the swamp, and it was a wet miserable slog for the rest of the afternoon. Late in the day, they came to a dam across the Roars, one that was easily crossed on foot. On the far side, they found the ruins of the old mill, barely more than the foundation was left after having been abandoned for hundreds of years. They made camp for a second night...and nearly lost their lives!
Oirhandir stood the first watch, and just as the others had gotten to sleep, he heard a great slithering. He tried to wake the others, but was too late...they were all set upon by tiny vipers, hundreds of them! They lit torches and fought them off, but not before poor Calamar was poisoned, all before he could cast a single spell. Vaneelkelen's nephew, what was his name, Norman?, was all for hightailing it back to Orussus on the spot. In the morning, Calamar was in a bad way, and the party had no choice but to take him back to Orussus. This time they followed the old road, now little more than a path, but that made the going much easier than wading through the swamp.
Oirhandir was afraid they'd lost the job, but Vaneelkelen didn't bat an eye. Somehow, talk had spread back in town that there was something in that swamp, and he was afraid someone would beat them to it. Eruin and Katherine stayed behind to nurse Calamar back to health, and Oirhandir and Rogier went back to the Red Dragon to recruit more help. There they found
Ignatious O'Reilly, a halfling and a wizard, the same one who went with Rogier to Fallon and told me of that tale,
Almayce, a gray elf who was a priest of Gliran (and isn't that unusual?),
Gath Stonefist, a hulking brute of a half-orc who fought his way out of the pits, and
Razir, the half-elf they call "the whisper" because his voice-box was almost crushed in a lynching and his voice hasn't been right since.
Well, due to Calamar's poisoning and Norman's fear, the party now numbered six, and set off the next morning, back to the swamp. They traveled to the ruins of the old mill, and spent the night. They must have each slept with one eye open, but nothing attacked them. They used the dam as a bridge again, and crossed over the Roars into the swamp. They hadn't gotten far when they came across a huge crocodile, three times the size of man! They all just stood there, the treasure-hunters and the crocodile, just looking at each other, then Gath attacked. It only took one blow from Rogier and one from Gath, and they layed that croc right out! Now, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to get on the bad side of either one of those guys in a dark alley, if you know what I mean.
Well, they all made their way through the swamp, and soon beheld an eerie sight. The trees fell away, and there in the middle of the swamp was a huge hill with an old, dead black oak tree on top. So they climbed up there, and what did they find? That tree was made of black stone...petrified! Now, that's a spooky place to spend the night, by a dead stone tree on top of a hill in the middle of a swamp, but that's what they did. They went searching around, and found a tunnel in the side of the hill...to small to stand up in, steep and muddy. They then lowered themselves down ropes to the bottom of the tunnel. They found a pond in a chamber, with some silver coins visible through the clear water ten, twelve feet down. They found a little broken vial, and Oirhandir used some magic to put it back together. It once held some black liquid, dried ages ago. Remember that vial...I'll come back to that.
The next day, they went back down to the chamber under the hill. I think Gath and Razir stayed behind, it was just the four of them, Iggy (they called the halfing "Iggy"), Rogier, Oirhandir, and Almayce. They tied ropes onto Rogier, and he dove into the pool. There was an underwater tunnel in the back of it, and he started swimming down it. Well, he went quite a ways, and the rope went slack...something cut it! They thought their friend was done for, but brave Iggy, the little halfling, he tied some rope around his waist and dove in after Rogier. He started swimming down the tunnel, and halfway there he finds Rogier swimming back the other way fast! Seems that Rogier had come up in the other end in some kind of room. It was above water, but so full of fog that he couldn't see anything. And there was something in there...something just chittering away. And there was acid being flung, dripped, or sprayed on poor Rogier, he couldn't tell which. So, he got out of there in a hurry!
Of course, he couldn't tell Iggy that, once he was back underwater. So, they swam for all they were worth back to the other two, and came up gasping for air. Just as Oirhandir and Almayce were hauling them out, out pops the cause of all their trouble...a little black dragon, not much bigger than a cat! You could hold the thing under your arm, but it thought it was the king of the world. Flew up to a ledge and starting chirping at them like he owned the place (I think it was a him). Well, he upchucks a bolt of acid on them, and I think he got all but Iggy, or maybe Almayce too, and it was looking grim. Oirhandir thought they should split up so the blasted thing couldn't get 'em all with one splurt again, so he ran over to where the entrance tunnel came down into the little chamber. Well, they all started fighting and flying and casting spells, and pretty soon the little thing had Iggy and Rogier fast asleep -- magic, evil magic. So Almayce was waking up Rogier, and he grabs his axe just as it's coming in for a pass to finish 'em all off. Then Oirhandir at the back of the cave shoots an arrow, and sinks it deep into the foul thing's chest. It's still flying, but it's wounded now, and Rogier gets in one good swing...Ka-CHOP!...and nearly cuts its head clean off. The dragon falls into the pond, and it's done for...and four brave heroes are now dragon slayers!
Well, they fished the thing out of the water, and spent another night on the hill, recuperating. The next day they went back, and swam the underwater tunnel again, all four of the ones who fought the dragon the previous day. They found all sorts of treasure there...suits of armor, magic flutes, and money...almost enough money to impress old Rupert! But of all the things they brought back, it was the dragon itself that impressed him the most. Vaneelkelen was so proud, he had the only stuffed dragon on display in all of Orussus (unless you count Big Red outside). But hey, the best part of the whole story is yet to come.
Remember that vial I told you about? While they were poking around in that dragon's treasure, Iggy found some more of them, all full of ink, and some parchment. You wouldn't believe what was on it! It was a perfect copy of the "treasure map" that had brought them to the cave under the hill in the swamp. It even had the little note in the marging about "I have to go back and get the rest of the stuff", and all that! Get it? The dragon was making the maps! It was trying to lure people from Orususs to come to its lair so it could kill them and get their stuff! Well, the greedy little bugger bit off a little more than it could chew that time, and you can see what's left of him if you can ever swing an invitation to one of them fancy parties Mr. Vaneelkelen throws every now or then. And that's the truth, or my name isn't Volidar, the Bard!