Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after speaking with Francesca Findabair and receiving her firm refusal to help Erathos against Trax’rion, our heroes got to hear from the boy Emperor. With just one sentence, he seemed to make the Mage change her mind. And after some more talking, he stepped forward and said that he wanted to ‘show them the truth’.
(and, well, the illustration is kind of a spoiler but it's too pretty not to include!)
In the quiet space, Francesca Findabair made a few steps back from Edmund. Then, he started… changing. In mere moments, his body grew and morphed, his skin glistened like silver, covering itself with thousands of tiny scales.
With a sudden burst of cold wind, a Silver dragon proudly stood in front of everybody. He bowed his head low and looked at them with eyes the color of a stormy sea.
His grandfather's eyes.
Mary watched, mouth agape, as the dragon bent his hind legs and sat in front if them.
“I AM EDERACIUS THE BRIGHT,” he spoke with thunder in his voice. “SON OF ZERAKIEL THE BRIGHT, FIRST AND ONLY EMPEROR OF EASTERN ERATHOS.”
The words were so loud that they reverberated in Mary’s chest. Despite that, she could feel the dragon holding back the true power of his voice.
“I SHOW YOU MY TRUE FORM AS A TOKEN OF TRUST AND RESPECT. I SEE YOU ARE PURE AND FAITHFUL, AND THEREFORE I HAVE ONLY LOVE FOR YOU. THANK YOU ALL, FOR FIGHTING FOR OUR PEOPLE!”
“You see,” Francesca Findabair said, chuckling at the group’s bewilderment. “Ederacius’ father led the country for many of your generations.”
“How did we not know that we were ruled by a dragon?” Bruno said.
“Because we were very good at hiding it. It began with Zerakiel transforming to a human man and when time came for him to have an heir, a child with suitable looks was found and secretly brought to the palace to pose as his son.”
Mary--who'd always been kinda sensitive when it came to the powerful imposing their will on other people--opened her mouth to object, but Bruno stopped her with a headshake. She pursed her lips and continued listening.
“It’s happened several times over the years. The children were all orphans, of course, left on the streets of the continent. When the current child would grow up and come of age, they would be given a hefty sum of money and be sent to spend the rest of their lives somewhere far from Eastern Erathos, most often the Islands or Drakonia. Then, Zerakiel would take their form and continue his rule. At that point, the death of the Emperor's previous persona would be announced, and a mock funeral would be held.” The Queen sighed. “It was a laborious process, but Zerakiel insisted. People needed to believe that their Emperor was a real person.”
“So, the children – their whole lives were a lie?” Mary said. She couldn’t imagine pretending to be someone for so long.
Francesca Findabair narrowed her eyes. “There are fates way worse than that,” she said. “They were given a good education and a wealthy life.”
“But what is happening now? Why do you have a young boy as the current Emperor-to-be, instead of… whoever Creen Bright was?”
“When Zerakiel died, 48 years ago, we had to change things up. Creen was just a child at that point, and Ederacius was still unable to do an actual human transformation. We had to assure the True dynasty would carry on, so an heir--’Edmund’--came about as Creen aged. But Creen died, quite publicly, just before Ederacius could transform into him. We decided to wait until ‘Edmund’ was ready to rule. And so, here we are.”
“So, there weren’t eighteen different Emperors," Agatha said. "It was always the same one, in different forms.”
“People would freak out if they find out,” Bruno said.
“Yes. Having two long-living rulers would be suspicious,” Francesca Findabair said, pointing at herself with a smug expression. “Plus, immortality suits me much better.”
“Yeah? What’s your secret?” Mary asked, not really hoping for a reply.
“I clone myself,” the woman said casually. “Right now, hidden somewhere out of sight, there is another ‘me’ that is going to host my soul and become Francesca Findabair when this body expires. Honestly, I can’t wait for that to happen. She’s a lot younger than I am.”
“How many people know about that?” Bruno asked, gesturing to the Silver dragon.
“It has been a well-guarded secret,” Francesca Findabair answered. “Up until now, there have been only a few who were aware of Ederacius and Zerakiel’s’ true nature. Suffice to say, we’d appreciate it if you four don’t spread it any further.”
Mary began a nod but then something occurred to her. They’d brought Reina with them! She spun around to look at the woman, but found that she wasn’t where she’d been when they arrived at the terrace.
She was sleeping on Lady Findabair’s coach, covered with a soft blanket.
“Oh, I made sure Miss Lavore took a nap the moment Ederacius decided to show you the truth,” Lady Findabair said. “We can’t have someone on the outside know about him and his father.”
Mary felt a bit of gratification. Reina wasn’t important enough to be let in the Emperor’s ‘trusted’ circle.
So, turns out Edmund Bright is not ‘the boy Emperor’, but instead ‘the Dragon Emperor’. What an awesome twist! Our DM is such a wonderful storyteller! ❤️❤️❤️
IRL, before this episode, we'd been joking around our D&D table, trying to predict if this-or-that person was a secret dragon. Aurum's player managed to catch Rabajorhax, and I actually thought Francesca Findabair was the dragon. Obviously I was wrong 😅
Did you predict what was about to happen?
(Also, here's a closeup of Ederacius' eyes, for the same reason I had one of Edmund's last time! They're way too pretty!)
See you next time!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.
Ha ! I was..... not right. Just almost right, lol. I had him pegged as a gold dragon, so I was along the right lines just the wrong kind of metal. I never guessed about Lady Findabair, though.
So the next question is.... who is the secret gold dragon ? 😁
'The wrong kind of metal' 🤣🤣🤣
Well, we've already got a Gold dragon (Diohastos), but he's kinda dead 😵 Dunno if there'd be more than one...
Sometimes having too many dragons around isn't a good thing.....
But maybe Diohastos had children 😉 Or eggs, or offspring, or whatever it is you call young dragons. Calling them kids just doesn't feel right.