[After traveling for two months on their way to the Kingdom of Thay, the group took a detour to explore a cave atop the mountains of the abandoned Iron Fang Deep.  Pursued by mercenaries, pirates, vengeful Gods, and dark pasts, Paul [the wizard] hopes to find answers as to why he can't remember anything about his life, and maybe learn more about what Thay is up to...]

Paul [Dave]  |  Su [Matt]  |  Sparrow [Chuck]  |  Rythiel [Patrick]  |  Algrim [Andy]  |  Tak [Collin]  |  Morgan [Heather]

Paul stood at the threshold of many great things, and while none were greater than the two-hundred foot long dragon staring down at him, his every reason for being here felt of equal importance.

“I need to know,” he shouted to the dragon, his old voice barely audible above the snow-chilled wind and the dragon’s deep breathing.  “Why do I know so much, yet I can’t remember anything?  Did I do something so horrible that the Gods punished me?  Why can’t they see me?  What happened to me?”

The dragon continued to stare, his immense body blocking the entranceway to a cave high atop the mountains of Iron Fang Deep.  Paul and his companions had endured much to reach this place - had sacrificed more than material goods or magic - they couldn’t turn back.  Not now.  Not when, after a year of searching, he had finally found something that might give him a clue as to who he was.

Sparrow, the small shaman, reached to put a hand on Paul’s shoulder.  She was young, wore her heart on her sleeve.  No doubt her empathetic nature could sense what Paul was feeling.  Anger, fear, a sense of hopelessness.  “Paul,” she started, “if the dragon-”

“No!”  Paul took a step forward before Sparrow’s hand could touch him, his eyes locked with the massive crystal slits of the dragon’s.  “You will answer me, dragon!”

Tak, the half-orc warrior from an all-orc tribe, and Algrim, the pirate captain who grudgingly brought them to this cursed place, took a step back.

“This is the part where we get eaten,” Tak said.  He glanced over his shoulder.  “We might survive if we jump off the side of the mountain.”

“It’s a mountain, mate,” said Algrim.  “Only thing’s down there to break your fall is jagged rock.  But we ain’t dead yet.  ‘Sides, I’ve always known I’d die at sea, not on land.”

“Fine for you,” said Tak.  “What about the rest of us?”

Algrim shrugged.

Beside them, Rythiel stood her ground, an arrow knocked in her long bow.  “He’s not so big,” she said.  When she didn’t hear a response she shot a quick glance their way, then turned her head towards the duo who were staring incredulously at her.

“I’m just saying, I’ve seen bigger,” she said in ernest.  “Seriously.”

The great red dragon bowed his enormous head - not as a sign of respect to the tiny human wizard, but to better see and hear him.  When he breathed, steam billowed from his nostrils so pungent with brimstone and sulfur it made Paul’s eyes water.  When he spoke, it made their bones vibrate.

“We knew you’d return.  Human curiosity is powerful, indeed.”

“You speak in circles,” Su said irritably.  “He asked you a question, lizard!”  Su was without fear, either as a side effect of an exceptionally troubled youth or as a result of years training in the monasteries of Ilmater – The Broken Flowers, known for setting up monasteries in the most inhospitable of places.  In the few short months Paul had known Su, he had gleamed her ferocity was only surpassed by her temper.  At the moment, she was not angry - only frustrated, deciding to match the dragon's condescending tone with her own.

“Brave to a fault,” said the dragon.  “As we expected.  But your bravery is a curse.”

“I’m sorry,” said Paul, “but who is we?  You said 'as we expected'.  I see only you here.”

“We do not speak of it,” replied the dragon.  “And you would be wise not to seek it.  That which we feared has already come to pass.  Knowledge will only bring you pain."

Paul had an uneasy feeling settle in his gut like blocks of ice.  He knew by coming here, he would learn truths about himself and his destiny, and judging by the many obstacles set in his path, he expected these truths to be dark in nature.  But it was not he whom the dragon was addressing when he gave his warning - it was Su.  

The dragon closed his enormous eyelids and eased back on his hind legs, revealing the cave entrance behind him.  Everything about the cave gave the party a grave sense of forbidding, from the illegible runes inscribed along its sides to the unnatural darkness that sealed the mouth of the cave like a blanket of tar.

"I will not stop you," said the dragon, then he pointed his snout at Paul and Sue.  "But only you two may enter.  The rest of you must remain here."

There was no turning back.  With only a nod of appreciation to the mighty beast, Paul began to walk forward, with Su at his side.  

"No," whispered Sparrow, clutching her chest.  "No, don't go.  Not in there.  It's not safe.  There's something in there…"

Rythiel placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder.  "Don't worry.  Whatever's in there, I'm sure those two can handle it.  The old man is a powerful wizard, and Su is... well, Su."   

Sparrow only stared into the blackness of the cave, as if reading something nobody else could see and finding terror behind every word.  A moment later, the cave had swallowed her two friends whole - and they were gone, lost in a black emptiness.

Tak and Algrim, deciding the dragon probably wasn't going to eat them, joined the two girls.  Algrim put his hand on Sparrow's other shoulder with a hardy pat that nearly sent her face-first into the snow.  "Relax, girly.  They'll be back before you know it.  Then we can all get off this Godforsaken mountain and back to sea where we belong."

Algrim's look of concern betrayed his overconfident voice.  He wasn't sure what was in that cave, but he'd seen enough dark magic in his day to know whatever it was, it wasn't good.

Tak leaned in to Algrim and asked, "What do you suppose is in there?"

The dragon's ears were sharp enough to hear his whisper above the howls and screeches of the mountain winds.  He sighed with a rumble, a sound not unlike a group of heavy stones being dragged over gravel.  "Only what they bring with them," he said.