Search for the Stone Dragon

         Dorsa, Mistress of Vae of the SeaBreeze , glanced fearfully out at the landmass directly ahead. What'm I gonna do if'n they attack? she worried.
         "Eh, Dorsa!" her husband Vae called.
         She looked up, across the deck at the strong, handsome man at the wheel. She couldn't help it; a big grin broke up her morose thoughts. "Eh?" she called back, feigning annoyance.
         He laughed, knowing her ways. "We almost there, ya?"
         Dorsa nodded. "Ya! So don' be runnin' aground before they getta chance ter listen!"
         Vae laughed, then called to the men to trim the sails back.
         I sure am gonna miss this ship! she thought. Her mind took another grim turn. I canna let my people down!



         The trail leading north through Lutchan  was well-worn. The hard dirt had already been packed down from the thousands of horses' hooves to pass this way earlier in the week.
         Hodock, Entrepreneur  grumbled to himself as he walked. He should be there by the evening, if he read his map right. And it was about time, too. The trip up had taken much longer than he'd anticipated. He wondered again at the sense of coming up to the training camp of the Imperial Cavalry, but reasoned it out again, as he always did, that soldiers on the march had need of the things he would bring.
         "Come along!" he snapped at his surly packmule. Leaning into its ropes, the beast steadfastly refused to budge. "Come on! What's the matter with you? AAARGH!!"
         The rope broke with a snap, landing Hodock on his rear in the dirt. With a loud wail, the mule fled southwards. The merchant immediately leapt to his feet, soundly cursing the animal as he chased after.
         Out of breath and wheezing only a little later, Hodock flopped back down on the dirt and mentally calculated his losses. Gazing slightly north-east, he gazed at the large cloud of dust for long moments without realizing what he saw.
         "Oh!" he cried, leaping to his feet. He peered intently into the distance. The army? he thought. Is it?
         As the cloud moved closer, Hodock began to feel a rumbling and trembling beneath his feet. He eyed the ground apprehensively. Maybe I should move . . . .



         Ayla  jumped as, amidst a jumble of feathers and blast of air, her friend Ki'liy de Pi'koie  landed on the rock beside her. They looked at each other for a moment without speaking.
         "So," Ki'liy stated, smoothing his feathers in a birdman's version of a shrug.
         "I'm to see the Council of Elders."
         He nodded, waiting.
         "It's about my Vision Quest." The young woman stared down at her feet, avoiding her friend's gaze.
         Ki'liy nodded again, suppressing his own, un-Ki'ehun-like impatience.
         "I don't know what to do, Ki'liy!" she cried. "This has never happened before! How can one person see all the Gods?"
         "What?" he was astounded, but more than that, it was if something inside his head clicked. Something . . . elusive. He should go ask his mentor at once!
         "Ki'liy?" Ayla asked, as the Ki'ehun prepared to leap off the side of the cliff upon which they were perched. "Ki'liy? What's wrong?"
         "Nothing, don't worry," he said, "I've just remembered I have something I want to ask Qu'tar. See you later?"
         "Sure," the young woman replied, but he did not hear. The birdman was already far above, shooting higher on the wicked thermals. She watched until he disappeared from sight. Then, with a heavy sigh, slung herself off the cliff and down into the crags below where the Elders awaited her arrival.



         There just aren't enough hours in the day, Ikalious the Third  mused, staring, bleary-eyed at the ancient scroll he perused.
         The young page for Sir Victre leaned back in his chair at the Goddess' First Library of Rose. Above, through the skylight, the last of the day's sunlight was turning red and orange with the sunset. He sighed, rubbing his neck and face. But, at least he'd had some success translating this old legend. Why, he had no idea. It was simply nonsense about some long-forgotten creature that had laid waste to the north and created a glacier.
         Yeah, like any real monster could do that! he sniffed. But, perhaps it was what Sir Victre and the thousands of other priests in this creepy town were after. His bones creeking, the golden-haired man stretched and stood, carring his books and the old scroll to the ancient and pasty-faced miser who ran the library.
         The old priest squinted at Ikalious suspiciously (as if he might be trying to steal something! Yeah, right, he thought) then snatched the items from his hand, to peer more closely at them.
         Ikalious nearly jumped out of his skin when the frail old man whooped shrilly, running from the room waving the dusty scroll.
         "Hey!" he shouted, realizing that the crazy old cout had taken his hard work. "Hey, that's mine!"



Rumors abound of a long-since forgotten creature out of myth that has begun to stir. The Territory of the Titans  has sent a delegation to the Lands of Servai beseeching them for aid against the terrible creatures invading their land. Awesome, and horrible to behold, these monsters of the deep are laying waste to the lands and seas to the north.
         Lutchan's army has fled in terror from the beasts, riding hard south with the enemy on their tail. His Imperial Highness has sent an emissary to Servai to ask for help, a pitiful merchant, one of the few to see these monsters up close and live to tell the tale.
         Even farther north, between two barbarian lands, the clans of Northern Servai  lie beseiged from three sides. Too proud to ask for help, what will these adventurers do?
         The priests of Servai  are beside themselves, praying to the Goddess for answers. Those of Rose spend day after day in their libraries, searching for ancient scrolls with reference to their unknown enemy, even as monsters begin surfacing in the sea. The cold of winter is drawing near, the people need help, but who?
         Sir Victre, the bravest of the Rose knights (and the only one on hand), is chosen to lead a surely impossible mission to pierce the unknown, to find a way into The Forbidden Zone . Three other daring adventurers are chosen to go along: Dorsa, the first to bring the news, Hodock, the only one to see the vicious leader, and Ikalious, Sir Victre's page. After all, the poor boy must go whereever Sir Victre goes, and if that means a quest, so much the better; if he proves himself, he'll be a knight when he returns.

         Who will you be in this magical, but hopeless search?

_____ is  Hodock, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire: Hodock has just earned full right to begin his own business. He is a devout follower of the Goddess, born and raised in the City-state Lorelli of Servai. He is from a lower-middle class family who have all worked very hard to live in as little luxury as they can afford. He is the youngest and only son. He has decided to open a branch of his father's merchant business in the kingdom of Lutchan. His sisters operate the ships, his mother's brothers and their children take care of most of the land-half of the traveling business. Hodock does a lot of traveling within Lutchan. His latest scheme was to follow the Imperial troops on their training mission North to the tundra. Ooops!

_____ is  Dorsa, Mistress of Vae of the SeaBreeze: Dorsa is the young wife of a handsome Titan. He "stole" her from her mistress, Lydee, Mistress of Gojo of the StormRunner. She is the rare Titan wife in that she loves life at sea. Until Vae can afford to build her her own place, Dorsa is quite content to enjoy her first marriage at sea. She is a master of the dark arts of espionage, spying, assasination, poisons, and elemental magic. Now, with the attacks, she has dared to journey into the unknown "Inland" to treat with the Servai for help. Guess it worked . . . .

_____ is  Ikalious the Third, Clan of the White Unicorn: Ikalious is the first-born son of his clan's leader. They are one of the oldest clans with a lot of interaction with Servai. For the majority of his life, Ikalious has lived in the City-state Cherica of Servai, learning to be a Rose Knight. Ikalious is quite unusual, being a half-breed (his mother was from Lutchan), and has taken quite a bit of flak over the years because of his parentage. His father and his clan are devout followers of the Goddess, but Ikalious has never given religion much thought. It's stupid. He is handy with most standard martial weapons, though struggles to attain even a competent level of horsemanship. He has an unaccountable fear of water and hates ships with a passion. He is currently the page, not yet ready for the quest which will make him a knight. Oh, yeah, says who?

_____ is  Ayla: Ayla is a new woman of the (translation) Free-Cloud Tribe. She has just recently completed her vision quest. Ayla was not chosen by any one god; she saw all of them, an unprecedented event in the history of the Fyhanni. Ayla has been trained to be a shaman, like her grandfather, but that is now questionable. Ayla is an enigma. You can say that again.

_____ is  Ki'liy de Pi'koie: Ki'liy is of the race of Ki'ehun, the birdmen of Faery. He is a childhood friend of Ayla. He is rash and sometimes unpredictable, but is strongly drawn to Ayla. He is an apprentice seer, being young for his people, but prefers to spend his time daring the breeze and risking his neck in the currents surrounding the peeks rather than bending his will to his studies, like all good hatchlings.




         Depending on interest, players may design their own characters, or choose from the ones above. If you would like to request an invitation, please read the items below first:

The Lands of Stone Dragon 
Mythology and Prophesy 

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If that's you, let's get this story rolling!