Ep. 121 The Wings of a Prince Chapter Two

## Listen

Ep. 121 The Wings of a Prince Chapter Two

—Dex

Dex is surprised to see Treyna behind the counter at the Black Dog Inn. After some brief catching up, she gets Dex, Beric, and Booyah a private place to talk. They start planning their attack on the dragon, and Treyna agrees to use her resources to find information on its lair.

They go to the Hunter's Guild and see a bounty on the very dragon they're looking for. A very small bounty; apparently the government hasn't been sending very much help, and the farmers and citizens in the area have pooled their gold together. The party signs up for the hunt, and then Beric has an idea and looks where the airships are docked for a Brelish flag. Luckily, it's Gerald's new ship that they find, and he lends Beric his ballista.

They take care of various other things, like dropping Charlie and Cassian off with Gerald, getting lumber, and seeking advice from Rikard on dragon killing.

The next morning they set out for the Eldeen Reaches and find the dragon's lair in Merylsward. It's protected by an Alarm spell. Booyah fires a shot at the treasures, setting the alarm off, and they fly the skiff towards the boat as quickly as possible.

Back in Aundair at a fancy party, the dragon posing as Prince Adal stops his conversation with Haydith ir'Wynarn abruptly. He goes into a closed room, casts a spell, and appears before his cave.

## Synopsis

### Black Dog

Dex is shocked to find Treyna in Aundair. The weretiger hadn't been seen since Stormreach, and no one had heard from her or Sigur since. She suspects the Riedrans might have known the nature of the Black Dog, and is going by Corala just in case anyone would know to look for her.

They ask if she's heard anything about a red dragon, and are told there have been attacks mostly on livestock and crops. It's been sighted in some mountains about a day's airship ride away. The farmers have had to try to figure out a solution by themselves—the government doesn't want to risk lives going after it.

They get a private room to discuss their dragon killing plan. Beric wants to catch it in transit or while hunting, and suggests collecting cattle as bait. Eventually they work it out and return to talk to Treyna again. She tells them Adal is here already; he lives in Fairhaven. Usually the only times he leaves is to visit Arcanix.

### Hunter's Guild

The Hunter's Guild has the atmosphere of a tavern, with mounted animals on the walls and people wearing heavy armor. On the Bounty Board there's a 500gp reward for a red dragon from the Coalition of Aundarian Farmers. They approach the man behind the desk and inquire about it. The man shows them where the dragon has been sighted, and the party sign up for the bounty.

*"Here's the thing. It is about the money, but it's also about the sport. It's about the prestige. Dragon, I mean, right? Like, dragon. I mean. I want you to look at me.* Dragon*, though. I think you get it. Guys, he gets it. So, this dragon."
—Dex*

Beric has an idea and brings Booyah outside to look for a Brelish airship. Finding one, they go back inside and find out from the man who's visiting: Haydith ir'Wynarn. Beric leaves again and approaches the ship. Walking on deck is Gerald, who's not the happiest when he sees who's in town. Booyah doesn't notice the atmosphere and is just excited to see his friend.

Gerald agrees to lend them the ballista on the *Roving Badger*, and to take Cassian and Charlie onboard while everyone else goes off to fight a dragon. When asked, Gerald tells them he and Crast are here to protect Haydith, along with a few others. Crast is more keeping an eye on her. Gerald declines Beric's invitation to join them, and they head to town for some shopping.

*"Good see, Booyah say to Gerald."
—Booyah*

### Preparations

The party finds some cool magic items: a Piwafwi, a Cloak of Elven Kind, and a Pennant of Vind Rune. These are a bit overpriced for them, but they do get two Potions of Fire Resistance for everyone who will be participating in the fight. Beric returns to the Hunter's Guild and asks for an enormous net to be made out of something non-flammable, and is told the Crafter's Guild can do it for around 200-250gp.

Back on *Borrowed Time*, some hired workers are just mounting the ballista from Gerald's ship. Beric explains his plan of hanging a net from the boat to capture the dragon, and Dex volunteers to get the wood for it. He will not be allowed to mess with the rigging of it.

*"I mean, if we want that thing to eventually detatched we don't want him doing it because his knots do* not *come undone."
"Hell no, they don't!"
—Jace and Dex*

During his time on Xen'dri, Rikard had studied and hunted dragons a bit, so he fills the crew in on how to fight one. Among the signs of where the lair will be and now it will fight, he informs them that they are also known to keep servants, and there might be people inside its lair.

Beric sends Charlie off with Cassian, and makes a futile attempt to have Oriana go with them—to protect them. She's not buying it, knowing full well that Gerald the Storm God can take whatever is thrown at them better than she can.

Dex changes into a form that will fit Charlie's clothes and fancies himself up to buy some lumber, Booyah tagging along. They make a visit to the Hall of Records on the way back, but don't have much luck finding more information on the dragon.

### To Merylsward!

After flying for a couple of hours, they start seeing signs of the dragon's lair. Soon Merylsward is visible, and it's been burned and fissures have opened up—not destroyed, but clearly where a dragon a present. They hop in the skiff, and at Beric's obvious attempt to get Oriana to stay on the boat, Rikard volunteers.

A cave goes below the town, the mouth about twenty feet wide. Over the sending stones Rikard informs them of the Alarm spell that's most likely on his treasure. They bring the boat just over them, planning on having Booyah set off the alarm and fly back to the ship as quickly as possible. He shoots an arrow and they take off.

At a feast in Fairhaven, Crast stairs icily at Haydith, who's in polite political discourse with someone who looks quite like Adal ir'Wynarn. Mid-sentence, he stops talking, steps away, and closes himself behind a door. He pulls out an amulet and cracks it open, and **BAMPF!** Standing in front of the dragon's lair is the disguised Thoralar.

End of episode.

## Locations

* Aundair
* The Eldeen Reaches

## Quotes

"Jace. Has. Guns. I keep saying this and nobody listens to me."
*—Jeff 0:19:17*

"So we disguise ourselves as cows…"
"No, I'm not—no, that—I'm firmly against that."
"Okay, okay. There are no wrong answers in a brainstorm."
"That's a wrong answer."
"There are—let me repeat—"
"No, that was one."
*—Dex and Beric 0:12:19*

"Beric is *terrified* of saying anything about lycanthropy in *Fairhaven* in *Barrakas*! This is the worst place and the worst time for us to discuss lycanthropy *with a lycanthrope*!"
"In a lycanthrope bar."
*In a lycanthrope bar!!!*
*—Philip and Eric 0:12:48*

"And I spell Beric with two R's cause I dunno."
"B-A-R-R-I-Q-U-E."
*—Jeff and Eric*

"Hey, Booyah. Hey, Dex."
"I have a favor."
"Bet you do."
"It won't endanger you."
"Bet it will."
*—Gerald and Beric 0:44:24*

"So, everybody on board has fire resistance potions—"
"Yup, already drank mine."
"They last an hour, right?"
"I set Jace on fire. We're at least gonna get some amusement out of it."
"Now Jace is just naked on the deck."
*—Philip, Jace, Jeff, and Eric 1:04:42*

## References and Footnotes

1. ↑ Fondly named after the ship Gerald lost over the Thunder Sea.
2. ↑ Literally drow for "cloak."