Headed by a Snake

⟬ A missive written by Ravidius Orion. ⟭

To my dearest friend, Monsieur Tycondrius of Charm,

I pray this letter finds you well.

If the fates are kind, by the time you receive this, Megara and I will have left the Realm.

A personage of your caliber is surely informed of prophecies in recent years.

The song of madmen and doomseers remains the same, no matter the sun or place.

However, my heart trembled upon receiving a message from a long-time ally and a former party member.

Her name is Alice.

You may know of her reputation as the current caretaker of the Royal Kingdom's Black Forest.

By her words, the Realm is to soon enter an age of peace and prosperity, unparalleled throughout written history.

Monsieur, I plead with you to disregard her tidings. In the past and without fail, every vision divined by Mademoiselle Alice has come to bear... but completely opposite her prediction.

There is one prophecy shared by the people of our Realm that stands out among the rest.

It is never shared openly but whispered in darkness.

It reeks of heresy and elicits fear, most primal, in the hearts of men.

It is called the Song of Ash and Fire.

It is said to be written by an elusive and oft thought to be a mythical creature called a dragon.

Make no mistake, my dear friend.

Dragons do exist.

They number few... and those among untainted by evil are fewer still.

Tread carefully.

It is with my deepest regrets that I was unable to accept your kind offer to vacation on the islands of Charm.

Should you find yourself in the Eastern States, I invite you to pay a visit to my home.

I leave to you the full use of my estate as well as our loyal Dungeon Core, Alana.

It pains me that I lack the ability to bring her with us.

Growing up with Megara, Alana had become an important part of our family.

However, it is for the best. My daughter and I will be traveling for the foreseeable future and with my meager ability, I am only confident of protecting her and myself.

Should you survive the oncoming conflict I invite you to adopt Alana into your service. I am most certain that her abilities will be of use to you and your adventuring company.

Take heart, Prince Tycondrius.

*Apres la pluie, le beau temps.*

After the fiercest rains, good weather awaits.

Praise to thy name, Sol Invictus

And a swift death to thy enemies.

Forever your loyal friend,

Ravidius Orion

Hero of Passage

...

⟬ After a hearty breakfast... ⟭

Hero Ravidius had left the Realm.

It was something Tycondrius found unimaginable.

Free travel between the planes was forbidden under the Gatekeepers' Laws.

Of course, that fellow was an existence that could not be controlled by such rules. Even if gods or their greaters demanded Ravidius obey, the result would be the same.

Ravidius the Lionheart was the most powerful individual in the Realm.

Yet, he chose to leave everything behind to depart with only his beloved daughter.

It was enough that Tycon, too, considered seeking out Sasarame to do the same.

However... Ravidius was concerned that winged lizards would be involved.

If that came to pass, Tycon would not idly stand by.

One or more forces of the Realm would surely arise to combat the threat. Tycon would ally to himself with those with the most reasonable chances of suppressing the monstrous beasts.

And, perhaps after the rains of fire, more would remain besides ash and burnt corpses.

The members of Tycon's party not-so-quietly reviewed Ravidius' missive at the breakfast table. Their faces contorted with either horror or upon coming to terms with their inability to read cursive font.

Along with Hero's missive, he'd also sent a ring. As Tycon was free, he took the time to inspect it.

⟬ Leomund's Ring. Sixth-Circle Conjuration. Allows the caster to freely manipulate a Dungeon under their command. ⟭

It was a supremely powerful magical artifact. With respect to its level, it was theoretically more powerful than the god-weapons wielded by Krysaos and the Thunder God.

However, its use to the current Tycon was... conjectural.

He did not have a Dungeon Core nor did he have the time to return to the Tree God's forest.

His Realm-spanning quests were not yet close to being complete.

Settling down was a far-off dream.

Worse still, surviving the coming suns and moons had become an uncertainty.

Still, Tycon would not discard such a sincere gift.

It wouldn't have been difficult at all for Ravidius to transport Alana via his own means.

Tycon channeled his mana to modify the ring's appearance. Creation-type items were sensitive to the wielder's aesthetic whims and Leomund's Ring was no different.

He wanted a simple, nondescript gold band, one that would not glean suspicion. Instead, the ring assumed a debossed design, flowing and almost animated upon close inspection. Tycon sighed quietly to himself. The ring's creator was certainly a master craftsman from Alizeau.

Tycon thought back to his thoughtful conversations with Ravidius.

He hoped for a better future... a thought more suitable for a human than a Maedar.

Perhaps after his adventuring suns were over, he could live in peace as a Dungeon Master.

...Granted, he'd have to be alive at that time to enjoy such a luxury-- but that was true of most things.

Krysaos rolled up Ravidius' missive as he exhaled deeply... "So how f*cked are we, LT? On a scale of one to completely dry, zero lube?"

How crass.

"Yes," Tycon answered.

"So what say we skip town?" Krysaos grinned. "We're strong enough to get a group together, yeah? I'm sure you know a guy that knows a guy."

"I could give it a go," A smiling Wroe offered. "My powers have been growing steadily since leaving Letherna."

"You cannot speak of this!!" The Shirtless God exclaimed, "We cannot merely *abandon* the Realm we guard over!"

Krysaos furrowed his brows... "You're still here?"

",