The Arrival of the Mysterious Man

[Sparhawk]

It was raining outside when Draken reached the Keep, and he was glad to go inside and get dry, out of the rain. When he entered the Keep, he was surprised to see how many different creatures were there. He saw a few humans, though not many, quite a few Elves, and then a bunch of creatures he didn’t even have names for. Draken held on tight to his staff as he walked to the nearest empty table inside the Keep. It was then that he realized it had been more then two days since he last ate or drank. He looked around the Keep until he found what he was looking for, a place where they kept food and drink. Draken got up out of his seat and got himself some food and drink.

 

Draken was, by all appearances human. Sometimes it had been so long since he had last been in his true form, that he sometimes though of himself as a human as well. He had short, brown hair, with Green eyes and stood about 5'10 in height. When Draken was making his way back to his empty table he made certain not to get anywhere near anyone who was crying, lest that person’s tears touch him and reveal him for who he really is. When Draken made his way back to his empty table he checked his vest to make sure his money pouch was still there and full of money, and decided he’d look for the person to pay, for the food and drink later, and then find out if there were any available lodgings at the Keep, so that he could sleep.

 

 

((OOC: Can anyone guess what Draken's true form is? I'll give 2 hints. First: Look at his name. Second: He's probably a distant relative of Wyvern's...))

[Wyvern]

Wyvern sneered and rubbed his scaly claws together as he observed the lone stranger sitting at the far end of the Pen's bar. The conventional traveler's staff, the common adventurer haircut, the typical meal-ordering instinct... they all spelled out "gullible human mage" to Wyvern. The perfect target; just stopping through, getting something to eat, wouldn't think twice about the lack of receit and fine print refund policy. The overgrown lizard ducked his head and slowly crept up on his prey, positioning himself next to his bar stool. He raised a claw to his snout and whispered in Draken's direction:

 

"Psssssssssst, hey. Pssst, you, yeah you. Wanna be considered a hero, but without all that necessary work that comes with the field of heroism?"

 

Draken turned his head as Wyvern pulled out what appeared to be a string with several large teeth hanging from it.

 

"This Almost Dragonic Brand Draken Tooth Necklace™ is perfect for showing off your slayer skills without having to lift a finger." Wyvern reached into his Devil's Advocate folder and pulled out a blank sheet of paper. "Comes with credentials saying you hacked the teeth out yourself with a rusty blade. Only 300 geld for the ssset."

 

Draken frowned at the apparel for a long moment, and Wyvern nodded over the negative reaction. He tossed the line of teeth back into his sack, then dug into it again and pulled out a scaly-looking sheet.

 

"Necklacesss not your style? Then how about this impressive Almost Dragonic Brand Draken Scale Scarf™? Wear the slain Draken's flesh around yer neck like a ssstylish trophy! The damsels in distress will love it." Wyvern pulled another blank sheet of paper from the Devil's Advocate. "Comes with credentials saying that you ssskinned the Draken while it was still living, and disposed of its life once you felt that it had suffered properly. Only 300 geld for the ssset."

 

Draken shifted his hand over the bar table, a frown still cemented on his face and a low growl now under his breath. Wyvern quietly cursed to himself, then stuffed the scarf back into his sack and resurfaced with a pair of goofy looking glasses.

 

"Perhaps you're looking for something more practical? These Almost Dragonic Brand Akashan Draken Horn Rimmed Glasses™ are made out of pure carved Draken horns, and are capable of seeing right through clever Draken illusions. The legendary Library of Akasha gives these babies a special write up in their 'Banned Optometry Books' disposal pile."

 

Wyvern set the glasses in front of his beady eyes to demonstrate their look, and carefully examined Draken through their lenses.

 

"Indeed... after putting these on and looking at you, I can clearly see that you're eager to purchassse this product!" Wyvern reached into the Devil's Advocate and pulled out another blank sheet, unaware of just how faulty his glasses really were. "Comes with E-Z instructions. Only 300 geld for the ssset."

 

;-p

[Sparhawk]

Draken's scowl deepened with every item that he was shown. Even though he could tell each item was fake, it didn't even come close to quelling his anger at the thought of someone actually doing these horrible and grotesque things to Dragons and then trying to make a profit off of it. Then a thought struck Draken, a particularly evil thought at that too. "Those are some interesting glasses you have there, Mr...?"

 

"Wyvern" Wyvern said.

 

"Ah, Mr Wyvern, such a nice name too. I'd love to buy those glasses from you too, but, ah, you see, I left all of my valuable posessions hidden out in the forest at my last campsite, including all of my money... If you're willing to accompany me back to my campsite, I'm willing to pay you twice as much as your asking price for those glasses of yours. Draken flashed Wyvern his best smile.

 

Wyvern studied the human for a few moments, thinking his tricks were working rather well on this human. "No tricks? You'll really pay me 600 Geld for these glasses?"

 

Draken stood up to his full height and stretched himself out before answering. "I swear to you, on my honour and my species that I am not, lying to you. Now come, and I promise you you'll be back in the warm tavern here in just a couple short hours."

 

Wyvern thought about it for a minute, but then decided that if he was going to get payed double his asking price it was worth the risk, and decided to follow the stranger back to his campsite.

 

Once they got to a clearing by a lake Draken decided that it was far enough away from the Pen Keep for him to transform and show Mr Wyvern just what he was dealing with. "Well here we are Mr Wyvern. Now watch closely cause you're about to see something almost no one else has ever seen before." Draken looked up at his true form, his Dragon form, from the illusion of his human body and reached out and grabbed it. First wings started to grow from Draken's back, and at the same time scales started to replace his skin. Next he started to grow, at an exponental rate. First he doubled in size, then he doubled in size again and the process repeated til he was the size of a Young Adult Dragon. Then he dropped down on to all fours and his hands and feet were replaced with dragon's claws, and his clothes melted into his body.

 

When the transformation was finally complete, where Draken once stood, now stood a huge multi colored, Young Adult Dragon. Then all of a sudden Wyvern's head was filled with Draken's thoughts in the form of shapes and colors, and for some reason they made perfect sense to him. Now then, what were you saying about your Dragonic brand items again? I seem to have forgotten. Would you like to try your sales pitch on me again, now?

 

 

((OOC: Wheeeee, I decided on this route, more fun this way.))

[Wyvern]

Wyvern scratched his head as his tail went still, staring up at Draken and letting his jaw drop in an awkward manner. The overgrown lizard scooted one of his feet in the ground and stared for a long moment, then pulled out the Almost Dragonic Brand Akashan Draken Horn Rimmed Glasses™ and waved them in the air.

 

"You mean assside from these glasses? Certainly!" Wyvern set the glasses on his shoulder and reached back into his sack, pulling out the Almost Dragonic Brand Draken Scale Scarf™ he had offered earlier. "Thisss Almost Dragonic Brand Draken Scale Toupee™ is the perfect wig for any balding draken. Culled from genuine draken hide, it can also be used to cover embarrasing scale wounds caused by troublesome adventures or nosey whales."

 

Wyvern snapped a claw and reached back into his Devil's Advocate folder, pulling out yet another blank sheet of paper.

 

"It also comesss with this fake draken hygiene test, complete with a high score marked in bright red ink! At only 600 geld, you really can't go wrong with thisss one."

 

Wyvern waited for a response from the Draken, only to be met by silence. He snorted and quickly reached into his sack, pulling out the Almost Dragonic Brand Draken Tooth Necklace™ he had advertised at the bar.

 

"Not a fashion buff? Then how about thisss handy Almost Dragonic Brand Spare Draken Tooth Keychain™? Avoid thossse unecessary dentist appointments with a set of spare teeth to pull out in case of mouth-related emergencies. Perfect for when you're chewing on those annoying armor-plated galleons and end up breaking a couple of fangs." Wyvern pulled another blank sheet from the Devil's Advocate. "Also comes with this set of instructionsss on how to sharpen'em. Reeeaaaalllllll easy, all you need is a narwhal horn and a bit of naga spit for polish. That's 600 geld for over six teeth... a bargain by any draken's standards!"

 

Wyvern twiddled his claws and flashed a confident salesman grin towards Draken, only to let out a sigh upon recieving the same silent response. The reptilian Elder kneeled down to rummage through his sack of items.

 

"Hrmph. Well, I sssuppose I still have this one-page Almost Dragonic Brand Non-Aquatic Fish Guide™ I could sell ya..."

 

Wyvern pulled the tiny pamphlet from his sack and paused. He lifted his snout to the air for a moment and sniffed, then shot Draken a concerned glance.

 

"Ssssay, this IS the spot where you keep those valuable possessions you were talking about, isn't it? Let'sss not forget, these horn rimmed glasses are in mid-transaction." Wyvern pulled the glasses off of his shoulder and raised them in Draken's direction. "I don't smell any geld, but a deal's a deal. Remember: the honor of your species depends upon it!"

[Sparhawk]

Draken stared down at Wyvern completely bewildered. He had thought for sure that Wyvern would be pissing himself scared by now. Still, it had been a while since Draken had last transformed, and he wanted to have a little, harmless fun, before giving Wyvern his Geld. "You really aren't cared of me are you? You DO realize that you're trying to sell a Dragon, one of the most fearsome creatures in this world, items that you are passing off as things you got from killing others of my species?"

 

Wyvern just stared at him without saying anything, still waiting for his Geld.

 

Draken smiled a Dragon's smile, which bared his entire set of fangs at Wyvern, and then snorted a small flame from his nostrils. After still not getting any reaction out of Wyvern, Draken jumped up into the air and started to flap his wings, which created huge gusts of wind down on the ground, that nearly knocked Wyvern off his feet. After getting his feet off the ground Draken took straight up into the air to have a look at his surroundings. Then he dove straight down towards Wyvern, and plucked him up off the ground and took off into the air with him. "Tell me, Mr Wyvern, have you ever seen a fire so hot that it could even set water on fire? Well true, that isn't possible, however, I can set the air right above the lake on fire, and all I have to do is release a little bit of gas into the air." Draken flew low, to the point where he was just a few meters above the lake, and then he blew some gas out from his nostrils. The gas was very light and would just float on the air. It was barely even visible, and one would have to have either the equivalent of Dragon Sight to see it, or would have to strain their eyes very hard before just barely being able to make it out. He then flew even higher up into the air and sucked in a huge breath, before blowing out a huge ball of fire towards the lake.

 

As soon as the fireball hit the gas above the lake, it erupted into flame. Soon the entire top of the lake was on fire. Draken then let out a loud roar, that was meant as a laugh of enjoyment. Before taking off into the air again, with Wyvern still in his claw. "Now here comes the fun part. Whatever you do go straight underwater right away, if you aren't very careful the fire might burn you." Draken then dove down towards the fire, and once he was about 50 meters above it, he dropped Wyvern into it, but was careful to keep Wyvern's bag of merchandise safe in his claw. "Have fun! And try not to get yourself burnt too badly!"

 

Draken waited for the sound of the splash, letting him know that Wyvern safely hit the water, then landed on the ground again. Draken cast the illusion that made him appear as human and stood at the beach, waiting for Wyvern to resurface, and swim to shore.

 

((OOC: Wyvern CAN swim right? Oh and sorry for the delay, but I figured now was a good time to write something again.))

Edited May 5, 2007 by Sparhawk

[Wyvern]

Draken's illusion wavered for only a moment as he stretched his wings a bit and stared out across the lake, not even spotting the tiniest tip of a tail stinger surfacing on the horizon. The flames that previously covered the water had almost faded in Wyvern's extended downtime, and the death-defying challenges that had made the endurance test seem so appealing had faded along with them. Draken breathed a sigh of boredom and mustered the best of his "sleeping hord dragon" patience. The exceptional ability made Draken stick around for another five minutes before he decided that the game was a lost cause, and followed his belly's instinct back towards the tavern and the promise of food. Wyvern and his Draken-demeaning trinkets could wait...

 

Several hours later...

 

A rough spot of congealed mud slowly took shape as Wyvern floated from the depths of the lake, passing several frogs on lillipads and one homeless prince as he surfaced at an animal drinking hole around the far end of the forest. The overgrown lizard's tail twitched as a skunk lifted its head from the water and turned in disgust, and a series of air bubbles began circling his head as a small bird landed on one of his protuding horns. The filthy lizard clawed at the mud and pulled himself an inch forward, turning his snout skyward with a long gasp and a gurgling wheeze. The lizard gagged and coughed up an entire spectrum of small colored fish, then slowly wobbled to his feet like a crimson cousin of the Loch Ness monster. He had passed out the moment that Draken had grabbed him to take him for a joyflight, and it was only by the tide currents that Draken's tailwinds had produced that his unconscious body had managed to reach the shore. He shivered, drenched and miserable, alone, his hydrophobia only heightened by the experience.

 

"Lassst time I ever do business with any dragon who's name even rhymes with 'Kraken.'" Wyvern wiped some wet ash from his snout and took a deep breath of skunk-scented air. "Should've known as much from a *cough* near-aquatic. Uuuggghhh."

 

With that, Wyvern slowly set about searching for his sack of products, one gang of lillipads at a time...