Parallel Storylines (Fred & Velus): A Dagger in the Dark
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 108171
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While Fred wrestles with his draconic avarice, Velus jumps onto the pile of treasure and grasps something in his jaws. The sudden movement is enough to bring Fred back to his senses, and he tries not to laugh at the antics of the little dog rummaging around in the treasure pile. Amusement turns to confusion when a very proud-looking Velus emerges from the pile, tail wagging and an ornate jeweled dagger in his mouth. Velus presents it to Fred and gives a short bark after setting it down between Fred's front feet.
"What- er, what am I supposed to do with this?" Fred asks, carefully and awkwardly taking the dagger between his 'thumb' claw and 'index' claw to pick it up. The exquisite craftsmanship rekindles Fred's latent treasure instinct, and that the blade is made from some metal that Fred is unfamiliar with only adds to its allure. Though it's the sort of long-bladed dagger that is designed for combat, it's not much longer than the natural weaponry that Fred already has in quintuplicate at the ends of four of his limbs. Velus rolls his eyes at the dragon and makes an insistent noise to try and convey a sense of the dagger's importance to Fred. Unsure what Velus is trying to say, Fred nevertheless humours his canine companion. He carefully turns the dagger over and inspects it with greater attention to the wonderful detail, including etchings in the hilt of the ornate-yet-combat-worthy weapon. "Wait - isn't this the Aqualarian-?" Velus gives an excited bark for yes, tail wagging hard enough to get the small dog's whole body vibrating. "So this belongs-?" Another affirmative bark cuts Fred off, the small dog looking excited enough to burst. "So are there other-?" Fred barely waits for Velus's confirmation to start trawling through the treasure piles himself, spreading the modest fortune across the cavern floor with his massive foreclaws. Between Fred's supernaturally acute eyesight and Velus's enhanced sense of smell, it's not very long before the ex-human duo have a modest pile of possessions that had previously belonged to an Aqualarian warrior princess, plus a few extras that seemed too good to leave behind. There's the dagger, an equally elaborate katana-style sword (a style used in a distant kingdom that Fred had only ever heard about, never seen) and a beautifully worked and complete set of the most supple leather armour Fred had ever seen. There are several bags and pouches and one larger backpack, some still with their original contents. They put the smaller bags into the larger backpack without opening them - neither have the manual dexterity to get into them without destroying them. Their treasure pile also includes a short sword, two rings and a scabbard that's the wrong size for anything they've found, all at Fred's insistence that they're magical (though Velus seems skeptical). Fred also adds a moderately-sized urn to the pile (simply because it's made of near-pure gold), which he fills with the largest of the precious stones. Finding a way to carry the loot turns out to be a challenge. Eventually, they manage to rig up a system using two ball gowns and some rope that probably came from a sailing ship that fell prey to the dragon's attentions. After tying a crude knot in the body of each gown, they fill each one like a garbage bag. Fred seals the gowns closed by impaling the open end on his back-spikes. Then, by balancing his load against the cavern wall, they eventually manage to secure them to his back with the rope. "Do you think Ol' Bulldog would approve or despair at this?" Fred muses aloud as he inspects his handiwork. That his neck is long and flexible enough to allow him to see most of his backside doesn't even seem unusual anymore. The knots are extremely crude, but the best Fred could manage, and the two makeshift sacks - one mint green, the other a soft lavender, clash terribly with his deep iridescent-blue scales. Fred looks down at the dog and is met with a very confused look. "Er... Lord Winthorp, the old wilderness survival instructor? Oh, right. Forgot that you're just a commoner. At least that nose of yours has been uncommonly useful though, right?" Velus bristles at Fred's careless insult, having forgotten himself that his dragon companion is really one of the arrogant, out-of-touch gentry. But even if he could say anything there'd be no point, especially now that this one could snap Velus up for a snack without much effort. Knowing that one needs to pick one's battles carefully, Velus instead turns his attention to trying to find anything that might be a clue to Astra's whereabouts. "Any idea where we should go next?" Fred asks, noticing the dog's shift in focus.
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Sam the Tardy
2/11/2015 1:09:56 PM
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