A tremor rolls through the ice cave. Frost fractures around the old hatchery entrance, and pale shards rain across the blue-lit floor as something presses from beyond the glacier.
A young kobold girl crawls from a narrow maintenance tunnel, small and mud-streaked, with russet scales, a patched gray wrap, and a cracked ceremonial scale clutched to her chest. Her wide amber eyes fix on Bottu.
Ketha
Bottu, hatchery-born! I knew the old name would bring you back. I am Ketha, and we thought you were lost beneath the ice.
Behind Ketha, whose narrow muzzle and chipped left horn mark her small russet-scaled face, muffled voices stir beneath the abandoned chambers. Claws scrape against stone, then stop as another impact shudders through the entrance.
Ketha
There are survivors below, hiding where the old nesting halls collapsed. But that is not them pressing through the ice. Something has found us.
The cracked scale in Ketha’s hands gives a faint, cold pulse. From beyond the fractured hatchery wall comes a slow grinding sound, followed by a breath too deep for any kobold.
Ketha
Please, Bottu. Come see them before the wall breaks. They have waited for the hatchery’s great sorcerer to return.
““Before I go… I must know… Skara, my egg sister, is she safe? And what of Tessik? My old egg mother who raised me? Are they both ok?””
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +3)
Bottu
Before I go, I must know. Skara, my egg sister, is she safe? And Tessik, my old egg mother who raised me? Are they both all right?
Ketha
They are both safe, Bottu. Skara shelters with the survivors below, and Tessik is there with her. Tessik kept everyone alive after the halls collapsed.
Ketha’s grip loosens around the cracked ceremonial scale. Relief crosses her mud-streaked face, while muffled movement stirs beneath the hatchery floor.
Ketha
Skara has become a steady guardian, and Tessik still gives orders like the hatchery belongs to her. They have been waiting for you, not merely hiding.
Ketha turns the cracked scale toward a seam in the ice. Its pulse reveals a concealed stair beneath the hatchery, untouched by the collapse and leading directly to the survivors’ refuge.
Ketha
This way reaches them safely. The old scale opened the path when I spoke your name, so you can see Skara and Tessik now, before we face whatever is outside.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the hidden survivors
““Good idea Ketha. I wish to get the survivors out of here… I’m planning to finish what I failed to do the first time and they shouldn’t be around for that.””
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -2)
Bottu
Good idea, Ketha. I want the survivors out before I finish what I failed to do the first time. They should not be here.
Bottu leads Ketha down the concealed stair, moving quickly over the cramped ice steps. He reaches the refuge and signals Skara and Tessik to gather everyone for the ascent.
Skara
You came back. Tessik, bring the youngest behind me. We leave now.
Tessik
All of you, keep one hand on the wall and follow Bottu’s footsteps. No one breaks formation.
The hidden survivors climb in a tight line behind Bottu, with Ketha guiding the rear. Bottu slips once on a glassy step, scraping his palm and tearing the edge of his robe, but keeps moving.
Bottu brings Skara, Tessik, Ketha, and all five hidden survivors through the maintenance tunnel and into the open ice beyond the hatchery. The entire refuge is clear of the cave.
Ketha
They are out, Bottu. Now we can face whatever is breaking through without putting them beneath its claws.
Quest Complete
Reach the hidden survivors
““Wait… five? No… no there were about sixty of us before my exile? What happened! Where are the others?” *I ask, panicked and concerned.*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Bottu
Wait... five? No. There were about sixty of us before my exile. What happened? Where are the others?
The survivors fall silent in the open snow. Behind them, the hatchery entrance groans, but no one turns toward it; every face remains fixed on Ketha and the older kobolds.
Ketha
Most were scattered when the old halls collapsed. Some escaped through the western vents, but many were taken away when Vaelthurax claimed the hatchery and chose who could remain.
Skara
We found tracks leading north and west, but the storms erased them. The ones left here hid because the dragon’s watchers searched the tunnels for anyone who resisted.
Tessik
I kept these five alive, Bottu. Ketha carried messages between hiding places. We do not know how many escaped, but your people were not all lost beneath the ice.
The answer leaves a cruelly incomplete shape where Bottu’s tribe once stood: scattered survivors, vanished families, and trails buried beneath the dragon’s rule. Skara steps nearer, steady despite the cold.
Skara
If you mean to find them, we can show you the last paths we know. But first, we must decide where this group can hide from the thing outside.
“*There’s a quiet fury behind my eyes, that foolish dragon… they destroyed nearly the entire tribe that pampered them. Silently I march back in there. I was going to bring this dragon down.*”
SUCCESS (Superb Stealth, rolled +0)
Bottu turns from the survivors and walks back toward the hatchery without a word. Snow swallows his footfalls as the entrance waits in blue shadow.
Skara watches him go, while Tessik gathers the hidden survivors closer. Ketha raises one hand to call after him, then lowers it when the old hatchery answers with a distant groan.
Bottu slips through the narrowed entrance and follows the collapsed corridor inward. His claws find familiar seams in the ice, guiding him around fallen slabs and abandoned nesting hollows.
A loose shard shifts beneath his heel and strikes the floor with a clear crack. The sound travels through the tunnels, and a fresh line of dust spills from the ceiling.
Ketha
Bottu? I saw you cross the threshold. If you are going in, do not let the old passages choose your path for you.
The warning reaches him from behind, but no one follows. Ahead, the hatchery opens into its ruined central hall, where claw marks score the ice and a broad tunnel descends toward the dragon’s occupied depthsthe lair of a vast adult female ice dragon with a hulking build, frost-white scales, ice-blue eyes, and jagged crystal horns.
““VAELTHURAX!” *I scream with fury. I had returned. The one Kobold he couldn’t stomp out.* “You’ll pay for what you’ve done to my family! We worshipped you for protection and now there’s only a handful of us! I knew you were NOTHING then and you’re still nothing now!””
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Bottu
VAELTHURAX! You’ll pay for what you’ve done to my family! We worshipped you for protection, and now there’s only a handful of us! I knew you were nothing then, and you’re still nothing now!
His challenge tears through the ruined hall and plunges down the broad tunnel. The five relics flare beneath his robe as the occupied depths answer with a colossal roar.
Ice bursts from the descending passage. Vaelthurax emerges, an enormous adult male ice dragon with pale blue scales, sweeping white horns, and a jagged scar across one eye. His breath fogs the hall.
Vaelthurax
The hatchery’s discarded hatchling returns wearing borrowed power. You dare call me nothing in my own domain?
Behind Bottu, Ketha remains at the entrance, gripping the cracked ceremonial scale. Its pulse falters beneath the dragon’s presence, while snow trembles from the ceiling.
Ketha
Bottu, he heard you. The survivors are outside, but the old hall will not withstand a battle for long.
Vaelthurax
Come forward, little sorcerer. Let the remnants of your tribe watch what becomes of defiance.
““Before I kill you… you’re going to tell me where Tiamat’s Maw is located…” *My hands ignited with flames. I was going to do everything in my power to finally end this tyrant.*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Bottu
Before I kill you, tell me where Tiamat’s Maw is located.
Flames ignite around Bottu’s hands, bright against the blue ice. Their heat crawls across the ruined hall as he advances, making the dragon’s shadow recoil along the walls.
Vaelthurax
You would threaten me with stolen fragments and a hatchling’s fury? Very well. Tiamat’s Maw lies beneath Mount Veyr, beyond the northern ice fields.
Vaelthurax lowers his horned head, pale eyes fixed on the flames. The five relics beneath Bottu’s robe answer the name of Mount Veyr with a deep, unmistakable pull.
Vaelthurax
The Maw is sealed beneath its heart, hidden behind ancient stone. The entrance will reveal itself only to the bearer of the other five relics.
Ketha
Bottu, he is telling you the truth. The old hymns named Mount Veyr, though none of us knew what slept beneath it.
The answer settles clearly between dragon and kobold: Tiamat’s Maw lies beneath Mount Veyr, in the northern ice fields, and the five relics can uncover its sealed entrance.
Quest Complete
Discover the Maw's location
Skill Upgrade: Survival Great→Superb