text | un: 76

[personalwar]

[ Given everything that 76 has learned in the past few days, there's no doubt in his mind that he needs to inform the rest of the refugees about what might be coming. That bandit seems to have been telling the truth, or maybe what 76 saw up on Namarak Mountain was staged, but that seems like way too much work for no real gain that he can foresee.

Enough of the details have checked out that a warning seems necessary. Only a few of the refugee group had actually been on the missions to transport the heart and the skull, and there's no telling that all of them learned what he did.

While this is his first time posting on the network, 76 doesn't introduce himself, but just gets right down to business. Who he is isn't really important here. ]

Word probably got around that Nithor's skull and Ysverai's heart were being transported back to Olympia and Wyver, respectively. Well, things didn't really go as planned. Both caravans got attacked on the way by a group of bandits. I managed to chase down one of them and question him. He was surprisingly forthcoming.

Assuming he was telling the truth, and that's seeming more and more likely at this point, it was the heart that they were really after. These bandits are part of the same group responsible for the abductions, and they took Ysverai's heart up to Namarak Mountain to perform a ritual.

Apparently, that ritual was to revive Ysevrai, and if you've seen some of the skeletons of the old dragons, you know what that means.

I went up to the mountain to see if I could interrupt the ritual, but it was already over and cleared out by the time that I got there. I did find a cryptic note that looked like it was written in blood. It said "He Shall Rise Again."

According to the radical I interrogated, this dragon could mean the end of Olympia and Wyver and everything else. I don't know how much I believe that, but we need to be ready for anything. If you've seen anything, let me know. If you have questions, I can try to answer them, but this is most of what I know.

[ Not everything, though. There's one detail he's still sitting on. But Wyver family drama isn't something he wants to report to all of the other refugees, aware of what kind of unrest that could cause among the natives. ]

Comments

Re: text

[panzersoldat]

I know that. But we need to be prepared for this. If they are really reviving a dragon and it's angry, we need to find a way to stop it. However, dragons are intelligent, ja? Maybe we could reason with it.

It seems strange though. That the Natha suddenly disappear and then this happens.

[ It's above Reinhardt's pay grade too. But he's the crazy bastard that's imagined slaying dragons for years. He and Gilgamesh and Ozymandias managed to slay one in the VR before. But that was VR and he was backed up by OP Servants. ]

That and we get the knightryders and the olympian guards a heads up. We have people in both groups, ja? We prepare for the worst.

[personalwar]

According to what someone else here read, this dragon was sentient. I'm not sure if reasoning with it will really be an option, but at this point I'm willing to try anything.

[ One planet already went to shit on his watch. He doesn't need it to happen to another, assuming it isn't already too late. ]

I can talk to the Ryders. Like I said, they have the bandit I spoke to in custody. If nothing else, we have numbers to work with.

[ But how many are they going to lose before this mess is over with? ]

[panzersoldat]

You know I'm not very good with the diplomacy thing. I've always been better with a hammer, but I will try it. If it means talking keeping the people here safe, I'll try whatever it takes. We can also see who here can talk to or control dragons.

Or if there is magic to put it back. In the fairy stories, ever curse had a way to reverse it. While I'm not suggesting we find a prince to kiss the dragon, I am suggesting that we look and see if we can't find a counter spell. They rose it from the dead, right? So it stands to reason that magic can also put it back to being dead.

If...it's not a reasonable lizard. If it's not though, we need to find a way to get the women and the children and the old people safely away where they won't be harmed. A mass evacuation or a means to lure the beast somewhere where only we get hurt and no one else.

[personalwar]

I think some people here might have more experience dealing with dragons, so we might end up having to rely on them.

[ Jack doubts that he would be the right person to try and talk to Ysevrai, in any case. ]

Yeah, there might be a counter spell. Or maybe we just need to kill it the old-fashioned way. I know some people are already planning to go do some research.

Evacuation plans definitely need to be put in place. The problem is that we don't know where it's going to surface.

[panzersoldat]

This is true. All I know about dragons come from songs and stories of old. But I think it's all right to defer to the experts. Perhaps we can also ask those who work in the Fields. The dragon cafes. We also need to find out how the "Hero" killed it last time. Surely the story-tellers know.

I will try to work the evacuation angle. I will be their shield, Jack. Whenever I am. And will try to make sure everyone can get out safely. Because I would think that if I was the dragon, I would want to attack those that made me dead in the first place.

[personalwar]

We should gather as much information on dragons as we can while we have the chance, yeah. I don't think we'll have much time before Ysevrai shows himself.

If I had to guess, he'll show up somewhere in the Wyver area first, if he was revived on the mountain. Keep people safe, but don't get yourself killed. Once is enough.

[panzersoldat]

Hopefully, we can stop this before it starts.

I will do so, Jack. I am a Crusader and a proud member of Overwatch. [ even if they did kick him out ] And I'll do my best not to die. Once really was more than enough.

[personalwar]

Just contact me if you're in a bind. I'll be around trying to do damage control.

[panzersoldat]

I will. And you can do the same. If you need me, I will come. If you call, I'll answer. Always.