Dragon Quest I

Curing Wyrmbane

This would be the first meeting between some of the older Dragons in the Sosarian world. Prince Daedric Dragon had invited Gargish Dragon, Heroic Dragon, Sumerian Dragon, Xena Dragon and Zym Dragon. It had already been more than a week since the Dragons received the invitation to come and discuss several topics. As usual Daedric had been a little vague describing the purpose of the meeting, but he had made it very clear that all those invited needed to be present.

Xena arrived 5 minutes before the meeting would start and she met Heroic in front of the UDIC meeting hall in the town of Rivendell. ‘Hail’ she said and she received a ‘Well met’ in reply. There came Zym walking around the corner, his forehead still sweaty. Undoubtedly he had been smithing at his forge again. He greeted the two Dragons, said ‘I’ll be back soon, I have some things to do’ and walked further. Xena and Heroic looked at each other and smiled. Zym was always so busy, it almost became funny.

And look, there came the young Lacy Dragon walking towards the two. Xena did not remember seeing her name on the invitation. She smiled at Lacy. But something was wrong, Lacy had a strange facial expression, it looked as if she was crying. Xena asked her ‘What is the matter dear’ but Lacy could barely answer her. ‘I’m so worried’ she said, ‘What shall I do’. ‘Please help, PLEASE’. Xena put her hands on Lacy’s shoulders and tried to calm her. Lacy continued ‘He’s so sick, he’s dieing, DIEING!’. ‘Who is’ asked Heroic. ‘For two days now he is delerious, I don’t know what to do’ sobbed Lacy. ‘He spoke of you, so I came for help, PLEASE HELP’. Suddenly Gargish Dragon recalled right next to the three Dragons. Xena told Gargish ‘Please listen to Lacy, she needs our help desperately’. ‘Noooooo’ cried Lacy, ‘It is not me, it is the Prince, he is dieing’. ‘Where is he’ asked Gargish, ‘Take us to him please’. ‘He needs you all, he is so weak, he has not eaten in days, and the healers keep BLEEDING HIM’ Lacy continued. Xena looked Lacy straight in her eyes and said in a calm voice ‘Lacy, we need to know where he is if we are to help him. If you know where he is then just tell us’. Lacy calmed down a little and said ‘Skara, he is in Skara Brae’. Without hesitation Heroic pulled a rune out of his backpack and started to cast a Magic Gate on it. Seconds later the 4 Dragons stepped out of the moongate into Skara Brae.

‘He needed you *all* he said’ spoke Lacy, ‘but we must make haste, there is no time, he is so weak, sooo weak’. She started running towards the healer shop and the other Dragons followed. As Lacy entered the building her face became a whiter shade of pale. ‘The blood, there is soo much BLOOD’ she shouted in tears. The others Dragons saw Daedric sitting naked on a stool. One of the healers was applying leeches to his skin. It was obvious they had done that to Daedric over and over again. His body was covered with leech marks. It seemed he was coughing almost every second. He looked up with a facial expression of someone who had just seen a ghost. Suddenly he jumped up and pushed the healer away. ‘GET THAT GIANT SERPENT OFF ME’ he shouted as he started to hit himself on the head and the shoulders. Lacy carefully walked towards him and tried to calm him down. ‘Sire, everything will be fine now’ she said with a soft voice as she gently touched his forehead, ‘I have found your friends’. Gargish and Heroic tried to help Lacy by holding Daedric but Lacy made it very clear that Daedric would only allow her to touch him.

Xena walked towards Xavier the healer and asked if the healer knew what was the matter with Daedric. Xavier said ‘There is nothing that a few leeches cannot solve, your friend is in very good hands with us here’. At that exact moment Daedric fell to the floor writhing and wretched in pain. ‘SNAARRLL! ROOAAR!’ he yelled. Heroic and Gargish tried to magically heal and magically negate any poison but Lacy told them that that had already been tried several times to no avail. Once again she managed to calm Daedric and it seemed she was able to lull him into sleep. The healers lifted Daedric back in his bed. Lacy then told all she had learned from an ancient book she found at the healers two days ago. According to the book Daedric might be suffering from an ancient disease called Wyrmbane. This disease was not uncommon amongst ancient Dragons. If it was not cured then a human Dragon would slowly revert back to his previous form, a fire breathing dragon. One of the healers found more information about Wyrmbane in the book. To cure Wyrmbane the patient needed to drink a potion created of freshly grinded Madragora Officinarium. But none of the healers knew where to get that herb.

Quickly a plan was made. Xena would run to the alchemist to buy some empty bottles while Heroic and Gargish would try to find out more about the disease. As fast as her feet would carry her she ran across town, purchased all the bottles the alchemist had in store and rushed back. Only upon arrival at the healers she realized that she should have bought a mortar and pestle also. Almost out of breath she asked Gargish to purchase it. Heroic was asking Lacy about the whereabouts of Daedric the days before he became ill. ‘We have been hunting on Valor isle’ Lacy told him, ‘We must have been there for 2 whole days, but he kept getting weaker by the hour so we decided to return to Skara Brae’. ‘I already took him to the Shrine of Valor, but that did not seem to improve his situation’. There was Gargish again with the mortar and pestle. Only then the Dragons realized that none of them knew how to grind herbs into a potion. Xena asked Xavier to help with the grinding but all he asked in return was ‘Have you found the Mandragorum Officinarium. If not, then I think applying a few more leeches will have more effect’.

Heroic Dragon then said ‘We shall visit the isle of Valor and see if we can find what caused our Prince to become this ill and mayhap we shall find that ancient herb there as well’. Gargish and Xena agreed and the three of them rushed to the bank to equip for a search. Once equipped a gate was opened to the isle and seconds later the 3 Dragons were standing in front of the Shrine of Valor. They quickly decided to each search a different part of the Island. Xena went south. She searched and looked for anything unusual but all she discovered was a funny looking Gorilla and a locked crate. She tried to unlock the crate with magic, but she failed. After 15 minutes she returned to the center of the isle. There she saw that Sumerian Dragon had joined the search. Lacy must have found him and told him what was going on. Xena greeted him as all his friends did. ‘Hail Pazuzu’ she said. She told him of the strangely locked crate and together with Gargish and Heroic they ran south again to the mysterious crate. The Dragons tried all they could to open it, but they did not succeed. Desperately the Dragons looked at each other, for the first time in their lives they could see fear in each others eyes. Fear that their Prince Daedric would not survive because no one had been able to save him. They would have to go back empty handed. And so they did.

Arriving at the healer in Skara Brae again they could see that Lacy also managed to find Zym Dragon. Zym had brought with him the finest collection of foods from all corners of the globe. He hoped that one of the pieces of food might help Daedric feel a little better. But Daedric had no appetite for food at all. He was delirious one moment and the next he would cry like a baby and then suddenly he would jump up and down trying to attack an imaginary Orc Mage. Once again the Dragons asked Lacy to tell exactly what had happened on Valor Isle. She started telling that upon arrival everything was fine with Daedric but that suddenly he started to act very strange. The few hours before that they had spent hunting real close to the Shrine. Once again Gargish, Heroic, Pazuzu and Xena decided to go to Valor isle. They were more determined than ever to not come back empty handed.

Yet another gate to Valor isle was opened and the four friends stepped into it. They started to search the area around the shrine inch by inch. Xena moved a large fern aside to notice a large dark brown spot on the floor. ‘Oh my’ she thought, ‘this looks like a dried pool of blood.’ In the middle of the pool she could see a sharp piece of root sticking up. It then all became clear to her. Daedric must have hurt himself on the sharp root and he must have been infected with something. She started to dig out the root and when she pulled it out she could see it looked a bit like a small puppet. It was mandrake root in its purest form. This must be what the alchemists in town use to make the mandrake root reagent from. “I FOUND IT’ she yelled as she runned back to the Shrine, ‘COME QUICKLY’. The others came running out of the forest and Xena showed them what she found. A feeling of joy and hope came over them.

This time Heroic did not come with the other Dragons. He would go and find an alchemist who could make a potion of the root that was found. Only moments after Gargish, Pazuzu and Xena entered the healer in Skara Brae the alchemist came running in. ‘Greetings, my name is Runefaust’ he introduced himself, ‘I have heard my help is needed here’. Quickly Xena told him that they needed a potion made out of the mandrake root she found. She gave him the herb and Runefaust immediately started grinding the potion. He gave it to Xena when he was finished. Xena stepped towards Daedric and tried to place the bottle against his lips. Daedric jumped up and took a swing at the bottle Xena was holding. If Lacy would not have pulled Xena back a second before Daedric tried to hit her the potion would have been hit by Daedric and all would have been lost. ‘Do not approach him Lady Xena’ she explained, ‘Right now he trusts only me’. Xena gave the bottle to Lacy and with soothing words Lacy slowly walked towards Daedric and sat next to him on his bed. She gently put her hand on his shoulder and placed the bottle at his lips, slowly tilting it. Daedric took a sip, and another. Lacy tilted the bottle some more and the fluid poured into Daedrics mouth. He drank it like he was drinking nectar. With every swallow his body relaxed more. It was amazing to see the effect of it. Then Daedric spoke. ‘Friends, what are you all doing here ? What am I doing here ? Where am I’. Total confusion would best describe his feelings. He saw all the food that Zym had brought and started to eat like a person that had not eaten for days. ‘Tell me please friends, what is going on’. Lacy then told all that had happened the past few days, but Daedric did not remember anything after their trip to the isle of Valor. When he realized his life was saved by his friends Daedric tried to thank them all for their help, but words could not describe his feelings. The tears in his eyes were thanks enough for all of them. The Dragons had worked as a team to aid a fellow Dragon who was in need of their help. It once again made them realize that they all belonged to a truly remarkable family.