Hello, Everyone!
Last time, our heroes got to--what looked like--the last challenge in the Dragon's prison. It was two Golems who attacked the moment someone entered their chamber.
A fight ensued. Eldritch Blasts and Lightning Bolts zigzagged through the air, blessings and healing spells took care of allies... At one point Tesaya got pushed onto a trapdoor and fell underneath the floor. Meanwhile, with a considerable danger for her life, Agatha managed to unlock the door leading to the next chamber.
It seemed to be the final room of the dungeon:
the Dragon's actual prison!
The door of the next room slammed onto the wall and stayed open.
Mary paused for a moment, staring at it. Her heart grew heavy with the realisation of what she was seeing. There was no one on the other side of the door. No elves, no Order members... Mary and her friends were the first to pass through the many traps.
They’d just cleared the way for anyone else to come after them.
A shattering boom took her back into reality. Aurum had just sent a sound wave through the current room, hitting the Silver Golem and blowing one of the trapdoors off of its hinges. Darkness--and the glint of sharp metal--peered from underneath its cover.
A pit of spikes?
This was bad! They had lost Tesaya somewhere under there. Every time one of the group tried to go for her, the Golems stood in their way, with glowing eyes and swinging swords. They wouldn't let them get to her in time!
Suddenly, a shimmering doorway appeared in the air. Tesaya stumbled through, covered in deep cuts where the spikes had pierced her armour.
(Something pulled on Mary's brain. This spell… she'd seen Aurum use it, back under the Misty Sea. It was a powerful teleportation magic. Tesaya… she wasn't supposed to be able to do it!)
The elven woman looked around, assessing the situation. Her eyes skimmed over Aurum and Mary who were still on the far end of the room, barely having stepped over the red line. She glanced past Agatha, bleeding on the ground, with Bruno kneeling over her to protect her from the Golems' hits. She looked at the Golems, and then at the door. And she stepped through to the other side.
(Why did she leave them to fight on their own?)
"Something doesn’t feel right!" Bruno shouted. "Get to the other room, the door's too small for the Golems to pass through!"
He stood up, trying to get Agatha on her feet, but right then, the Silver Golem swung and pummelled him with its shield. Bruno flew back, tracing Tesaya's earlier dive almost exactly, and his foot found one of the trapdoors.
If he fell…
Mary's hand shot out before she could think. Her Eldritch Blast hit Bruno in the back, pushing him off of the mechanism.
The Cleric grunted in pain.
“Sorry!” Mary squealed.
“It’s all right,” Bruno said, and rushed back to Agatha.
Mary crossed eyes with Aurum. He nodded and they ran forward, lightning flashing in the bard's hands. Mary Misty Stepped across the Golems and over to the other chamber. Behind her, Aurum’s lightning lit the space and she heard the toppling of heavy armour. The Silver Golem was no more.
A few seconds later, the bard flew in through the door. They were now all in the dragon's prison.
Eight columns, inscribed with old and powerful runes, rose up from floor to ceiling. Chains, imbued with Arcane power, criss-crossed between them. And on the floor, in the center of the room, a gate lay, giant and brass, shining with restraining magic.
Tesaya was standing before it, right in front of the chains. She glanced back to Mary and her friends and smiled, but that wasn’t her usual tame, warm smile.
It was the grin of someone who’d won.
She dropped her sword to the ground and reached into her Bag of Holding, taking out a big green crystal. Mary’s heart skipped a beat as she recognised it. The Artefact! Last she’d seen it, it had passed from Agrax to the Dry Hand in the tunnels under Belfast, ; and then, in 'Gastrognome', the Dry Hand had said that he'd given it to someone!
She felt like the ground had opened up under her feet. A thousand thoughts and memories screamed in her head all at once. Tesaya telling them about 'Tiriel Elaire's plans' to free the dragon. Tesaya insisting they hurried up. Tesaya being the first one to enter every room of the prison, as if she couldn’t wait a second longer…
Tesaya raised the Artefact high in the air and shouted in an ancient language.
Mary’s world burst into brightness. Her Eldritch Sight was still active, and the magical aura of the Artefact was so powerful that it momentarily blinded her. She covered her eyes and winced in pain.
The sound of bursting crystal echoed in the chamber, followed by her friends’ shouts. There was a rumble, and the clanging of metal chain on the floor. Then, the ground shook, as something enormous slammed the metal gate from underneath.
Mary crouched lower to the floor, holding an Eldritch Blast in her trembling hands. She was ready to release it, as soon as her eyes began seeing again. Somewhere in the room, Bruno spoke a healing spell, at the same time as Aurum sent out a Hold Person, followed by his disgruntled curse. Agatha's yell came after, along with her body skittering on the floor.
"What’s going on?" Mary heard Bruno’s voice. "Tesaya, what did you do?!"
"It’s all right, Bruno," Tesaya said; and her voice was changing now. It was becoming hoarse and cruel. "Everything is going according to plan."
The clang of another chain sounded in the chamber. Another enormous slam thundered from underneath. Behind them, something clattered on the wall.
Oh, nooo! Tesaya, how could you??? You were so cool!
Sooo? How did you like this tasty betrayal? Did you expect it at all? We sure didn't! In this episode, you're seeing me, as Mary, watching Tesaya's actions and realising, in real time, what she was doing.
Our DM is a devious person! I don't know how he managed to fool us! We all thought that Tesaya was a sweety. I mean... poor thing! Her father died, then she wasn't able to progress with her Paladin career, then she witnessed Tiriel Elaire's madness and lost an arm because of it! And, she was always so polite and nice!
How could you not like her?
Anyway, see you next time when we'll have a recap episode dedicated to our favourite deceptive Paladin. After that, we'll go and see what comes out of this brass gate!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary 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.
That's an awesome plot twist ! 😁
DM just levelled up.....
Now we'll NEVER trust him again!
We'll "insight check" everyone forever!
Wow, just wow. Tesaya you sneaky girl, lol. I guess she is not what you thought she was, she really played the long con you guy.
Now you get to meet an ancient red dragon, you guys are toast.
You know that whole 'not being able to progress as a paladin' thing really bothered me, but nobody every asked or investigated it so I figured it was maybe something common in D&D 5e, but I guess not ;)
Well, we thought it was just an interesting character-defining thing. Also, it made us hate the elves even more, seeing how they treated one of their own who wasn't as skilled as they wanted. Also also, Bruno suggested, several times, to examine Tesaya to see if he could do something about her condition.
Also also also, I haven't played a Paladin but I thought I've heard that their Oath was really important and if they broke it, they could lose a lot of their power, so I thought that's what happened to Tesaya.
But no. It was just treachery!
😓
Oh my dear! That's what I call a genious plot twist! I can imagine jist how shocked you all were about it. 😆
@marydm outdid himself once more! I'm pretty sure he had a hell of a good time dropping that on you. Congratulations, that was pretty well thought through. Even though I'm wondering... but let's see, what happens next!
Take care and have a great time!