Sierra arrives beneath the dark canopy with Bubba, a large male dog with a shaggy black coat and a white blaze on his chest, at her side. Blue-glimmering footprints wind between the roots, each fading like cold starlight before the next appears.
The trail ends at a village child standing alone beneath the branches, a small figure in a mud-stained green tunic with tangled brown hair and a pale, watchful face.
the dragonspawn
The village is safe. You should turn back.
From beyond the trees, the village answers with distant screams. The child does not look toward them, but the blue prints shiver beneath the leaves.
Bubba
Infernal. The scent clings to the child.
Bubba lowers his head and growls softly. At once, the footprints twist in a widening circle around Sierra and her companion, their glow brightening.
the dragonspawn
It knows you are here now.
✓ Quest Accepted
Unmask the child's true nature
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the village from the threat beyond the trees
“I say "You can't hide what you from me, dragonspawn." I cast a frost bolt at the child.”
SUCCESS (Good Arcana, rolled +0)
Sierra Dragonbane
You can't hide what you are from me, dragonspawn.
Sierra thrusts out her hand. Frost gathers in a white spiral around her fingers, then tears across the shadowed clearing as a hard blue bolt.
The bolt strikes the village child squarely. Ice races over the green tunic and small limbs, locking the figure inside a glistening shell as the false footprints flare.
Bubba
There. That is no village child.
The frozen figure cracks open with a sound like splitting lake ice. Beneath the disguise, scaled blue skin and a narrow, angular face emerge, rigid but alive.
the dragonspawn
Sapphire Terror does not hide. It waits beneath the village.
The roots shudder. Far off, the screams abruptly cease, and a deep thunder rolls beneath the earth while frost smokes from Sierra's outstretched hand.
Quest Complete
Unmask the child's true nature