Erma lunges into the breach, black-green bulk filling the gap. Stone splits under his claws as the wind screams through the chamber.
The legion shudders at the sight of him. Drill-crews stumble back, choking on dust, their line broken before it reaches the nest.
The Legion Commander
Hold. Do not let it drive us off the chamber.
But the commander is already shifting away from the crush, forced to abandon the front rank or be smashed under Erma’s weight. The path to the eggs opens for a heartbeat.
The Elder Knight and the Scout Leader brace at the nest’s edge, watching Erma’s body become the wall. The ward holds behind him, and the hatchlings stay hidden.
Every step forward now means pushing through Erma first. The legion must break him to reach the line of eggs, and the first dragon meets them head-on.
✓ Quest Accepted
Defeat the Legion Commander
✓ Quest Accepted
Hold the breach against the legion
“I call them toys and i slam my hand down on the commander”
SUCCESS (Superb Strength, rolled -1)
Erma’s hand drops like a gate of stone. The Legion Commander is caught under the blow, pinned hard against the broken floor.
The Legion Commander
Too heavy. Too sudden.
Dust bursts up around the impact. The commander’s weapon skitters away, and their formation lurches back from the nest line.
Erma
Toys.
The word lands over the chamber like a verdict. The elder knight tightens his shield, and the scout leader stares through the settling dust at Erma’s planted claws, where black frost crawls brighter along the tips.
The Scout Leader
Their front is broken. Hold them there.
Behind Erma, the warded nest glimmers steady. Ahead, the legion’s rear ranks hesitate, blocked by their commander’s fall and by the dragon’s unmoving bulk.
Quest Complete
Defeat the Legion Commander
Quest Complete
Hold the breach against the legion
“I painfully shock the commander”
SUCCESS (Superb Electric offensive, rolled +1)
Erma channels the strike down through the pinned commander. Blue-green current snaps across the rubble, and the commander jerks rigid under his claw.
The Legion Commander
Enough... the shock... stops my breath.
The bolts spider into the shattered floor, lighting the frost on Erma’s talons in a cold glare. The commander’s grasp loosens, weapon gone slack at the side.
The Elder Knight
Hold. They are finished at the gate.
The Scout Leader
The line is dead, and the nest stays sealed.
The legion’s rear ranks flinch at the flash and give ground. Dust rolls over the broken entrance, where fresh stone and fallen debris now form a hard, ugly wall.
Behind Erma, the warded eggs shimmer once, then settle to a steadier glow. The chamber holds its breath around the commander’s stunned stillness.
“I shock him painfully till he gives up information”
SUCCESS (Superb Electric offensive, rolled -1)
The current surges again through the commander, and his jaw works against the pain before it locks open. He finally speaks through clenched breath, voice thin under Erma’s talon. "The rear line is spent. The drills are gone."
The Legion Commander
The eggs were never the only prize. There is a seal deeper in this place, and our company was sent to find it.
Dust sifts from the ceiling as the blocked entrance groans under the pressure of distant bodies no longer advancing. The commander’s hand twitches toward the ruin, but the wall of fresh stone and debris holds firm.
The Elder Knight
A seal, not a breach. Then they came with a purpose older than plunder.
The Scout Leader
Say where, commander. If there is another way in, name it now.
The commander swallows hard, eyes fixed on the warded nest behind Erma. The eggs give off a faint shimmer, steady as a heartbeat, while black frost creeps brighter along Erma’s claws.
The Legion Commander
Below the marked wall. The one your dragon burned into the stone. That mark is a route, or a key. I do not know which.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the marked wall is
“I say, who is in charge, where?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -3)
The commander’s words hang in the dust, and the chamber seems to narrow around them. The Elder Knight shifts his shield, watching Erma for the verdict that turns a hint into a route.
Erma
Who is in charge. Where?
The Legion Commander
In charge? The first drill-captain fell. After that, the orders came sealed, carried by runners from deeper in.
The Scout Leader
Deeper where. Name the place.
The Legion Commander
Below the marked wall, past the old root-chamber. There is a dark stair cut into stone, hidden until the mark is fed with heat or blood.
The Legion Commander’s mouth tightens as he speaks it, and a thin line of blood darkens one knuckle where Erma’s claw still pins him. The eggs shimmer once, then settle, while the marked wall catches the chamber light like a scar.
The Elder Knight
A stair, then. Not a breach. A way down.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the hidden stair below the marked wall
Quest Complete
Learn what the marked wall is
“I ask what king or queen sent them all, and where. I shock hard”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Erma tightens his claw, and the commander goes very still. Black frost crawls brighter over the pinning talons as the threat in the chamber narrows to a single answer.
Erma
What king or queen sent you. Where?
The Legion Commander
No king. No queen. The seal-bearers above us answer to the Ash Regent, and the runners come from the stair-house under the marked wall.
The Legion Commander
If I lie, he kills me. If I speak, I may live long enough to matter.
The commander’s confession lands hard. The Elder Knight lowers his sword a fraction, while the Scout Leader’s eyes flick from the scarred wall to the hidden route below it. The eggs give a soft, steady shimmer behind them.
The Elder Knight
Ash Regent. Then this was never a rabble. It is a chain.
The Scout Leader
And the stair-house is the hinge. If we hold that, we hold their road.
The Commander swallows and flexes against Erma’s grip, wincing as the shock leaves a bitter smell of ozone on the stone. Dust shakes loose from the marked wall, and the hidden seam seems to wait for heat or blood.
“I ask the hatchling, this man would kill you and the take the others, the eggs and raise them enslaved in chains or destroy them or worse. What would you have me do to this commander”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Erma eases the pressure just enough to listen. The commander stays pinned, but his gaze shifts toward the warded alcove, waiting on the smallest voice in the chamber.
Erma
This man would kill you, take the eggs, and bind them in chains or worse. What would you have me do with him?
The hatchling lifts its head from the glow, tiny claws flexing against the stone. The eggs shimmer behind it, and the marked wall sheds a little more dust in the silence.
The Newborn Dragon
Not chains. Not death. Make him tell, then make him choose the right road.
The Elder Knight
Mercy with a leash, then. That is a knight's answer, and a guardian's.
The Scout Leader
If he leads us to the stair-house, he becomes useful. If he lies, Erma will know.
The Legion Commander
He is safer alive than silent. Safer for me, and perhaps for the road below.
The commander swallows and nods once, still crushed under Erma's claw. Above them, a thin line in the marked wall answers with a cold seam of light.
“I inflict a blight on the commander, stiffness, soreness, headaches and i command the 3 knights tie him up, for traveling around”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Erma’s blight settles over the commander in a cold wash. His shoulders lock, his jaw tightens, and a dull ache crawls into his head as the command leaves him visibly slower and heavier.
Erma
Tie him up. He travels with us now.
The Elder Knight steps in first, shield angled aside while he strips a length of cord free. The Scout Leader follows, blade lowered, already measuring the commander’s arms and ankles for a quick binding.
The Elder Knight
Gladly. A guide should not wander loose.
The Scout Leader
Keep still. This is for travel, not mercy.
The commander exhales through the pain and does not resist as they cinch him to the stone and then haul him upright. The marked wall sheds more dust, and the cold seam of light brightens into a narrow, waiting slit.
The Legion Commander
He is bound, but the stair answers heat and blood. That door is waking.
The eggs shimmer at the ward edge, and black frost glints along Erma’s claws as the knights turn their captive toward the opening wall.
“I proceed”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +0)