20030531 Borgar

=The Journal of Borgar Evenhand (May 31, 2003)=
It's funny. Well, not "it" literally, but the way life turns out for you is. Opportunities arise in the most unlikely of places sometimes, some are masked in veils of illusions, but some are handed to you, on a silver platter.
I had one of these opportunities today. You see, I have been hanging out with Prince Donner from the Westmarch and his group of adventurers. I have been trying to get him to lend an ear to the plight of the plateau and the fact that the giants amassing in the City of Brass are looking for Bifrost and all that that entails. Unfortunately, Bifrost and the Jotun don't factor into Donner's religion's Ragnarök myth, so he has been turning a deaf ear to my pleas.
That plus the fact that his group's plate is full already. They have all sorts of time-pressure events that they need to take care of. They have the giants, of course, but they also have the lich-king, the orc-war, assassination attempts, the portal on the plateau, finding lost allies, and the defending of multiple cities from a variety of enemies. Oh, and then there's the whole becoming King of the West as well.
That last part is what gave me Opportunity. Prince Donner and his band of renown had just set up a meeting with the Council of Wyrms to pass a test proving that he was the King of the West, and ready to take on the responsibility that entailed. When we arrived, multiple dragons, both evil and good, greeted our presence. I called to Thor for guidance in the initial encounter, but it turned out that it was unneeded. The dragons simply wanted to talk.
The spokesdragon Kalfnir asked if we all stood by Donner and his claim to the throne. Hoping to see that I was willing to stand beside him in this time, I agreed. Thinking that my representation of the Thorsen clan, heck the entire Dwarven race, in this matter would be a good thing. I only regretted it when I found out that if we failed any of the tests, we would all be held accountable and die. I wasn't sure I was willing to risk the Ragnarök scenario occurring, but the way this played out, I didn't have a choice.
Once we were all agreed on the terms, Kalfnir laid out the rules. We'd all be tested, individually, by a dragon. We would partake in a series of tests, of which we needed to prevail in two (so as not to have any flukes decide the future of the world I guess). If we failed in two tests, then we would be pitted, with the dragon we failed against, in a mass battle with all the other failing party members and their dragons. Yeah, I needed to make sure I didn't fail.
Grackle (the sneaky one) went first. We had the telepathic link going, so we got a play by play of his tests and were able to give him advice as well. So much mental arguing was going on at the speed of thought that I was getting kind of a headache. Maybe my mental link to the party would "accidentally" get shut off at the beginning of my trial.
Turns out Grackle failed in his physical challenge. And then he was too quick to answer the riddle before waiting for the party to concur on it. So, he and his red dragon were in the fight club. I still wonder if I'll be joining him.
Next up was Travian, the Paladin. He ended up in a draw with his first challenge, a test of magic, and passed the second and third. I didn't agree with his reasoning behind his religion being superior in the second challenge, but the dragon had no issue, and I guess that's what counts. Maybe I could sit him down and tell him Thor's view at some future date. The party concurred on their answer of his riddle. I figured they were getting too specific with "Light of the Moon" but that's what Travian went with. The dragon took it but told them Moon would have been more appropriate.
Colin volunteered for the next challenge against a white wyrm. Seems that the wyrm's lair was being infested by some sort of frost worm, and he tasked Colin to kill it. I will say one thing, when that boy wants to kill something, he can do it rather effectively. He used everything at his disposal. Going ethereal, healing himself, his flamesword. He was very effective. Although when the worm died it exploded in frost and shards. That killed Colin. He got resurrected by Estus however and was able to pass the second test as well. He too answered his riddle too specifically, but he was out of the mental link and had to answer it on his own. I was impressed to say the least. With his success there was one less dragon for the party to square off against.
It came time for a volunteer for the fourth challenge, and I stepped forward. I figured I might as well get this over with. I was told by the human looking dragon (the party assumes it's a gold, but I've seen no proof of the species) named Arik that I had 10 minutes to get to the waterfall at Rivergold for a test of magic. Since the party had to teleport me there, they all came with. The test of spells entailed casting a spell or using a magic item as often as possible while preventing your opponent from doing the same. I knew what my first two spells would be, after that it would simply be an endurance challenge to last out the minute with this dragon.
When the challenge began the dragon cast a Greater Dispelling on me and took out all of my enchantments (including the telepathic link, thanks!) and I then cast Aspect of the Deity, giving me the glory of Thor filling my being. My shoulders a little broader, and my presence a little more intimidating I felt I could take on whatever spell he could throw at me.
My next spell was my only hope I'd cast Silence on him and if I could penetrate his innate resistance, I figured I had a slim hope of affecting him with it. Better than nothing. Too bad I never got to do it. All I can recall from this point is that one shout of a word.
"Iroki!" was all he said, but I was stunned. It must have been a Word of Power. I might have withstood it if my Endurance spell was still active, and the innate resistance of Thor wasn't an issue either. I stood there, unable to act (or think for that matter) as the word washed over me. I failed that test.
I had two more tests though. I knew one would be a riddle, as everyone else had been riddled before. I prepared my mind for the challenge.
"He who makes it does not need it. He who buys it does not use it. He who uses it can neither feel nor see it. What is it?" My first thought was "air" but since I saw what happened when Grackle blurted out the answer I thought about it. The first and third line fit, but the middle one didn't. Just then I remembered the rest of the party was there, and overheard the whole thing, cause Travian shouted out "it's a coffin".
A coffin? Yeah, I can see that now. We Norsemen abided by the funeral pyre for disposing of our dead, so I can see now how I wouldn't have thought of that one without help. "The answer you seek is a coffin," I said. Arik smiled at me and agreed that that was the correct answer.
For the next challenged he explained that it was entirely within his power to make the challenge "fair for me". He seemed to be implying that he was going to make whatever task was next easier for me, which I was all for. Arik instructed me that he would take me to the lair of a dragon, and I needed to defeat it in one-on-one combat. I was a little unsure of this, in light of all the other dragons that we have dealt with that day, but then he informed me that the dragon I would be going against was the grandmother of the shadow dragon Sakk'tat whose lair the Thorsen clan now inhabits. This was a great Opportunity indeed.
Arik also mentioned that a dragon-slaying axe was "misplaced" by a nearby tree as well. "So," I thought, "the help has begun already." I picked up the axe and was impressed by the magic it seemed to contain. I debated using it or casting Holy Sword on my trusty Warhammer. I decided that even though the chance of this killing the beast outright was small, I would use it, as it was provided for my benefit.
To help, I also summoned up two barbarians from the Horn I had received from the elves the week before. They were itching to fight, which was great from my perspective. I would task them with helping me defeat the shadow dragon.
I Blessed the Dragon-slaying Axe and cast my normal before combat enchantments on myself. I wasn't stingy. This was a very old Shadow Dragon I was going up against, and I didn't know how much help Arik intended on being once he got us there.
He teleported us into the lair of the beast. I could see her with the visor that Colin loaned me clearly on the other side of the large cavern. We must have arrived on a glyph, because both the barbarians took lightning that brought them to within a hair of their life. Estus had made me immune to the glyphs though, so I just needed to worry about the dragon.
There were dozens of Shadows in the room as well. I threw the Fire Seed that Auric gave me directly at the Dragon and couldn't have asked for it to land better. Unfortunately, the massive explosion that resulted simply washed over her innate resistance. I knew if Auric's spells wouldn't hurt it, mine had a slimmer chance. Arik hasted "himself" but got me in the sphere of influence.
At this point the shadow dragon could see me and breathed her life-draining breath at me. I took the brunt of it, but soon heard Arik wishing that I was unaffected by it. Nice of him. The shadows approached. Normally, I would have destroyed them using the glory of Thor, but the dragon was my goal. I called for the Divine Favor of the god of Thunder and strode towards the beast. Several shadows reached for me and had stricken me with weakness, but Arik healed that away. I then closed the rest of the distance to the dragon. This would be a glorious day indeed. I would either slay the grandmother of the beast whose lair my clan inhabits or be sent to Valhalla on the saddle of a Valkyrie.
I called for Righteous Might and swung at the dragon. I think she was surprised by how accurate my blows were, because after that she concentrated on being more accurate in hitting me than disposing me with her raw might. I then attempted a Harm spell on the dragon, but knew it was feeble. I couldn't get past her innate resistance to the spell. Arik encased himself in an anti-magic sphere "for his own protection" and encased part of the dragon in it, rendering her powerless.
More shadows drained my strength, but I healed that myself since Arik was a pure Observer mode at this point. This healed my wounds as well, which was good since I wouldn't be able to withstand another flurry of blows like the dragon had just landed. Now I was ready for anything.
I called upon Divine Power and started swinging the axe like a dwarf possessed& and looking back upon it I think I was. My blows landed, one, two, three, and the fourth one struck truest. The first sank into her leg, the second the shoulder. Blood and ichor poured from those wounds and the wounds of the axe swings earlier. The third was planted in her chest.
The fourth lopped her head clean off. I fell to one knee and heard Arik congratulate me on passing the test. I thought of the irony of not having to fight a dragon, because I fought and defeated a dragon. Arik turned his back on the two shadow dragon eggs. I put them in my pack, thinking ahead of using them as bargaining chips in our continued dealings with the dragon, but most likely I will hand them over to Donner so he can deal with them as he feels the King of the West should.