Rasif: I knew it, Sol! I just knew it! I knew you would get me involved into another mystical mess! This is all your fault!
Zane: As much as I want to sympathise with your plight, be quiet! You have been yelling for the past ten miles!
Rasif: I would have had it all made. Money, a little fame, a ticket out of that hell hole you left me in. But NO! They had to be some kind of weirdos!
Sol: You chose to deal with the forces of darkness, Rasif, and you faced the consequences of your actions.
Rasif: You and your consequences... They weren't supposed to be some weird zealots. They were supposed to kill you, not me.
Zane: Maybe they took issue with how "likable" you were?
Rasif: Yeah, keep talking, scale boy. At least I don't have a boulder for a face.
Zane: Keep insulting me and I will fix that.
Rasif: Hmph! If he's going to threaten me every ten minutes, can you guys at least untie me? Dragon boy's back feels like I'm riding a gravel pit.
Zane: Would you rather I dragged you through the actual gravel on the ground?
Rasif: Sol, help me out here. Come on, we're friends, right? You know you can trust me.
Sol: Not in the slightest.
Zane: *snerk*
Rasif: Ugh... Look, we've known each other for a long time. I've helped you out a lot, and mostly for free. Come on, now. Why can't you at least let me walk? I'll have dragon scales imprinted on my back for weeks!
Sol: Rasif, you are shape shifter. Furthermore, you have tried to sell me to bounty hunters twice, sell me to slavery once, steal from me a dozen times and you tried to kill me no less than five times, not counting last week. Now keep quiet and be thankful you still have your life.
Zane: Dear me, you certainly seem to have an evil memory, Sol.
Rasif: I'll say...
Sol: In either case, we should be at our destination within a day. I am certain your back will hold out until you can help us bypass the containment runes.
Rasif: Help you? After you kidnapped me? Not a chance. Not unless you provide me with some... Incentive.
Zane: I will make you an offer. You will help us, and I will not bite you in half. How is that for incentive. *glare*
Rasif: That's... *gulp* Motivating...
Sol: I originally intended to pay you handsomely, but after you tried to sell me to the Seekers, I feel rather disinclined.
Rasif: Heh... I, err... I didn't mean anything by it, Sol. I wasn't really going to...
Zane: You insolent gnat! Have you any idea what kind of powers you were dealing with?
Rasif: Not... Really.
Zane: Ugh... Sol, are you certain we need him alive?
Sol: Unfortunately, yes.
Rasif: Wha... Hey!
---
And so the trio made their way out of Thunder Forest and came into the great plains of Urr. their target loomed large ahead of them - a single mountain peak amid the flat earth surrounding it, towering high into the clouds and casting an ominous shadow across the land. There at the top, amid the sheer cliffs and jagged rocks, resided one of the many sacred burial grounds of the great dragons of old. Few humans still knew of its existence, and none dared venture inside.
There are many legends about Mt. Urr. They say that long before the time of man, a mighty dragon kind pulled from the earth a single great pillar of rock and granite an thrust it high into the sky. Inside the pillar, he carved out caverns and chambers, a testament to his glory, and a home for his very own tomb. Whether the story is true is unknown, but one thing is more than certain - Mt. Urr is home to a dragon graveyard not touched by the hands of man, for the king's rule over this desolate area is limited to his few outposts.
But as our heroes made their way through the plains, dark clouds gathered around the peak. A storm was brewing, ominous and dark. Storms were not uncommon in the plains, but this one felt eerie and sinister, more so than a thunderstorm should.
---
Rasif: Say, Sol, I've been meaning to ask you...
Zane: Ugh...
Rasif: What? It's a legitimate question!
Sol: Go on, Rasif.
Rasif: So, I was thinking... I get that we're walking so the human spotters don't spot big black dragon boy flying through the air. So we hid in the forest and walked. But how is that helping us out here in the open? I mean, I can see the human watchtowers from here!
Sol: Those watchtowers are abandoned.
Rasif: How do you figure?
Zane: That actually is a good question.
Sol: The Urr Plains have always been too sparsely inhabited to support large forts or garrisons, but ever since an unnatural tempest destroyed the region centre of Kerek to the ground, rendering it uninhabitable, the king's soldiers were forced to withdrawal from the plain altogether. Their buildings still remain, but they are unoccupied.
Rasif: Oh, well that's good to know.
Sol: That is, unless your Seeker friends followed us here?
Rasif: Followed us? Come on! You hid your tracks through the forest pretty well. I'm sure they would have lost our tracks by now.
Zane: Argh! You infuriating creature! Have you no idea who the Seekers are! If they have indeed targeted us, then they very much will find us!
Rasif: You guys are going overboard with that Seeked business. Come on, they're just a myth. I'm sure these guys were just weird humans or something.
Zane: *growl* What humans wear the crest of Hethfeth!?!
Rasif: Hethfeth the... Fire Lord? ... Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Hethfeth? Seriously? Ha-ha-ha! Oh, lordy...
---
Suddenly, Zane's patience expired catastrophically. In an instant, the massive beast bucked Rasif high into the air off its back. Zane swiped his massive talons, plucking the happless shape shifter out of his fall and constricting him hard enough to cut off his air, but not quite hard enough to crush bone. The dragon brought his catch up to his face, fire and brimstone shooting from his nostrils in towering rage. Things were not going well for Rasif.
---
Zane: Your insolence is inexcusable, shape shifter! You meddle with powers you cannot even begin to comprehend, and you dare make light of the situation? You sicken me! I swear to the gods, if you say anything stupid like this ever again, I will break my vow of honour and justice and take your life. No threats, not tricks, no jokes. Do you understand me, shape-shifter?
Rasif: Woah, hey! No need for that! Calm down, Za...
Zane: Do you understand me?!?
Rasif: Y-yes...
---
For the first time since their meeting, Rasif had show true, genuine, utter fear of Zane, and his terrified face seemed to take the dragon aback. Instantly, Zane's demeanour changed, and the fire in his eyes died down. He set his captive down, and with a single swipe of his massive talon cut the ropes that bound him, freeing Rasif from his bondage.
Zane stopped for a moment, as if to contemplate his next move, when his massive wings extended high into the sky. With a single powerful thrust, they pulled his massive body off the ground with great wind and rumble. The dragon took flight, faster and more graceful than a creature of such mass has any reason being. But before he left, he gave a simple explanation.
---
Zane: I will meet you at the graveyard.
Rasif: Was it something I said?
Sol: Yes.
Rasif: Um... What?
Sol: I assume your making light of what may be the dragons' most hated enemies may have upset him. It was certainly out of character for him to react this way.
Rasif: Out of character? That guy's always angry.
Sol: So it would seem.
Rasif: *eyeroll* So, what is it with these Seekers? Even if they're not a myth, weren't they supposed to have disappeared, what? Centuries ago?
Sol: So they should have, and yet here they are in the present day. This bodes ill, indeed.
Rasif: What's so scary about them, anyway? I mean, they're just men in scarves. I've seen you take on more than that by yourself, and I'm sure the dragon would eat them for breakfast. Possibly literally.
Sol: The Seekers are not human, they are sentient ash from the deepest pits of the inferno, itself. They cannot be burned, and when dispersed, they will simply reform. However, when they shed their masks is when the Seekers become truly dangerous. Only then will they reveal their ability to summon hellfire directly from the inferno, and anything it burns is transformed into more ash from which more Seekers spawn.
Rasif: That's... Wow, that's pretty bad.
Sol: The Seekers cannot be stopped and they cannot be fought, for their fire will burn through anything and nothing can ever harm them. At best, they can only be slowed down, but in the end, the only way to survive their open onslaught is to run. So please understand that I am not at all happy you managed to involved the Seekers into my quest.
Rasif: Look, I didn't know who they were, OK? I just took them up on their offer.
Sol: Offer?
Rasif: Yes. One day, out of the blue, a troop of weird mercenaries shows up. Their leader comes up to me and tell me a dragon will be coming my way and asks me to lay a trap for him.
Sol: They spoke to you?
Rasif: Only one soldier spoke. The rest just hung back and sort of listened, I guess. Why?
Sol: Seekers do not speak. They are not sentient creatures. The implications of this are troubling.
Rasif: You think they're working for something?
Sol: That should not be possible. The Seekers are born of Hethfeth's own essence. They are an instrument of his will without minds of their own. They should not have the capacity to cooperate with anyone at any level.
Rasif: So maybe the Fire Lord himself is leading them?
Sol: No.
Rasif: No? Why not? How do you figure?
Sol: No... We must hurry to the graveyard.
Rasif: What, did you sense something? Wait... Hey, wait! Hold up!
---
At a quickened pace, our heroes advanced towards Mt. Urr, now looming large just across the field. There were only a few miles left, but even as quickly as they went, much happened in the process. With each step they took, the sky grew ever darker, the clouds ever heavier and more fierce. Lightning flashed in the distance and thunder ripped through the air as rain poured from the heavens, piercing into our heroes, driven by the howling wind. A storm was brewing, more angry and violent than storms of the season should be. An ill omen indeed.
But when our heroes finally reached the base of the mountain, they were met with a hideous sight - hordes of the undead, packed shoulder to shoulder, row after row. An army of the foul creatures blocked the way, and more were crawling out of the ground with each lightning strike. Even with the wind and the rain, the stench of rotting death was overpowering. As day turned into night in a matter of minutes and solid earth transformed into a quagmire, the situation grew grim.
---
Rasif: *womanly scream* Zombies! I knew it! I knew you'd get me into just that kind of mystical trouble, Sol! I should have stayed home, but NO! You had to kidnap me and drag me all the way here and...
Sol: Why are there undead here? And human, no less?
Rasif: Why? Why!?! There are always undead wherever you go! Undead, or demons, or monster... And you always drag ME into it!
Sol: This makes no sense. There cannot be undead here. There should not be enough human corpses to create this many, nor should there be a source of dark magic powerful enough to sustain them.
Rasif: Hello! Dragon GRAVEYARD! Of course there will be undead here! Now if you're done with your philosophical contemplation, could you please SAVE ME!
Sol: There should be no human remains around a dragon graveyard, and even if there were, the purpose of those mausoleums is to keep the dead inside them from being raised like this. It makes no sense for this to happen.
Rasif: Sol! Zombies shuffling towards us! Do something!
---
Lightning flashed in the black sky, and for a moment, it outlined a familiar shape. A massive beast forced its way through the air with such power that the storm could do little to even slow it down. Massive wings propelled its titanic body through the wind and the rain, defying the will of nature herself. A blinding light pierced the darkness as a jet of fierce fire struck the undead army. Zane the dragon intervened
Dragon fire is an unusual thing. Water cannot put it out, wind cannot blow it away, and it doesn't burn up. Instead it flows like liquid, it sticks to everything it touches and keeps on burning. They say dragon fire is not fire at all, but in fact pure destructive magic. And Zane's fire more than lived up to the famed dragons of legend. In a single pass over the undead army, his fire reduced every living and unliving being into black, crumbling ash upon contact, leaving behind a sea of liquid fire that neither rain nor wind could even challenge. Where there had once been thousands, now there was only ashes.
Gracefully, the massive dragon swing around and landed near his companions with a thundering impact, the power of his wings challenging the storm winds themselves.
---
Zane: I am sorry I am late. I could not see the foul beasts from above until I sensed your presence below.
Rasif: Holy... Hell! Zane, I take back everything bad I may have said about you!
Zane: You are still with us, I see.
Rasif: Aha. And where did you think I would go? You left me in the middle of nowhere with no supplies or money with the nearest town over a week's walk away.
Zane: My apologies.
Rasif: Huh?
Sol: Zane, did you survey the mountain while you were here?
Zane: Yes. I found the entrance to the complex right at the base of the tallest peak, but I did not want to touch it until you arrived. I suspect I will need your assistance with more than just the memory vault.
Sol: Can the mountain be climbed?
Zane: No. I suspect the location for the graveyard was chosen for this reason, among others. I could fly you up there, but it would not be safe for you to do so in this storm. We should make camp and wait for it to blow over.
Rasif: Great... We're pitching tents on zombie mud. Sol, you always make my dreams come true, don't you?
---
And so our heroes turned in and waited for the unnatural storm to pass, safe in the knowledge that little could threaten them with Zane the dragon watching over the camp. The weather remained foul for some time, but by the time the dragon fire burned itself out, it had consumed the stench of undeath and purged the land of foul corpses. They were so close to finally finding answers now.
So close, yet all they had been finding on their journey was still more questions. More inexplicable facts, more unexpected mysteries, and only the memory vault of the ancient dragons could provide some measure of answers. But answers to what questions? The fate of the dragons, or something more? Sol would not say, and his companions had proven unable, or perhaps unwilling, to pry his secrets.
But eventually, the rain would stop and the dragon graveyard would be within their grasp. For better or worse.
Back when I was playing DDO (for about a month after it came out before I got bored with it), the integrated voice chat they had was very nice. You didn't need to have a mic installed and it allowed for virtually all of the same controls as most of the other big voice chat programs out there (push-to-talk or auto-mic, changing individual player volumes, etc), and you had chat channels for team, zone, and guild, as well. It was remarkably nice since it allowed teams to maintain a higher degree of teamwork than normal because you could simply talk out plans rather than having to type them out.
I guess I just like weird, off-kilter artwork. That's part of the reason I like the weirder side of anime like Soul Eater or Trigun or, hell, even Dragonball Z. I guess sometimes you need to abandon what's actually good and what works to find something new and exciting that you just couldn't get the "proper" way. And for all of his faults, Rob did manage to basically establish his own unique style that many have copied since, and many with even better results.
