LongestRoad Ellowyn: Corrolith - Ksathus

Most people think everything interesting happens in the city. So they're always asking about Corrolith, rather than the time I spent in the area. Little do they know some of the best stories had nothing to do with the city. I had no money when I arrived, and my lessons kept me too busy to work, so I camped outside of town. Corrolith lies along a river as it runs through the plain, and there is a young but sprawling forest that extends up the river the other direction. I chose the cover of the forest for my campsite, just a little ways into the woods where there was a clearing ringed by trees. I was quite an adept sorcerer, by most standards, at that point, so I had little trouble caring for myself. I'm no ranger, nor expert in herbs and medicine, but I did learn to cook from elves in a forest, and I was savvy enough to know what I should and shouldn't eat.

Now, living out in a wood, on the edge of a plain, you do have to be a little careful. At the very minimum, there are all kinds of wildlife, wolves and such, who would like a good meal. Traveling through the grasslands, not always on a path, I had to be careful of snakes. These aren't very surprising though. If you live out in the forest, people expect you to have problems like that. Maybe even meet a few forest creatures now and then too. They don't expect things like, say, a dragon.

Yeah, dragon -- a green one. I'm not sure I've ever met someone quite as egotistical as Ksathus was. I'd been camping out there through summer and fall, and it was partway into the mild winter. It didn't get quite cold enough to snow in Corrolith, but there was a certain smell and a nip in the air. I was minding my own business, setting up to cook dinner, when one of my hawks saw him fly by in the distance. I didn't think much of it. About an hour later, he swooped into my clearing. I felt the wind from his wings before he roared. He was a little smaller than a fully adult green dragon would be, but not much. He was all puffed up and full of himself, as he landed and roared with fangs bared. I'll admit it made my heart skip a beat, but I kept my cool enough to make a few quick decisions. If he hadn't attacked me yet, he must want something.

After he was done roaring, he took another deep breath and bellowed at me in draconic, which sounds pretty imposing, that his name was Ksathus and he wished to know who I was. He'd probably already seen me start my fire with magic, but it was a very simple spell. I decided that rather than give away the extent of my talents, I'd play things a little dumb. So I put on my best scared face and bolted into my tent.

He put my fire out with one paw, and settled down to look in through the tent's opening, which I had not bothered to close. He stuck his nose in and drooled a little acid on my sleeping bag, then spoke again in common.

"What race are you?" he demanded. I stared at him a moment, feigning fear until he asked again.

"Pe-Pevishan," I told him. I fell silent again.

He huffed a big sigh. "And what does that mean? I have heard of no such creatures. Did someone paint you, or were you born like that?"

"Born...like this." I laid it on a little thick, but then, this guy thought he was so big, he probably wouldn't have believed me if I didn't. Every lie has just the right size, and it depends quite a bit on who you're lying to.

He was quiet for a few seconds, and then said "That mark on your cheek is magical. Explain, or I will grow angry." He snapped his teeth, I suppose because I obviously couldn't see them.

I launched into a broken telling of my race's magical origin, and how we are tied to a school of magic. I used my natural ability to mimic the Message spell, to show him how I could do so without casting. I explained how we come in all different colors, sort of like dragons, and I was simply born green, like my parents.

"You are an interesting one. I will allow you to live in my forest as long as your stories entertain me. Do not disappoint me, next time I return." He abruptly pulled his head back out of the tent and flew off. I could hear him fly away, as he was not trying to be subtle, but I decided against trying again for a hot dinner. I had a feeling Ksa was going to be a very irritating neighbor. I set my mind immediately to figuring out a way to get rid of him. Not an easy task.

It was a few weeks later that he showed up, and again opened with a roar. Again, I was just barely able to keep a level head, enough to convincingly flee back into my tent. This time he curled around the camp, and called me to come sit out by the fire. When I did not move at first, he threatened to fetch me with his teeth. I got out there pretty fast at that point. "Tell me of your travels, green man," he demanded.

By now, you know that telling stories is something I like to do. I already had a few stories of my own, and could tell stories I had heard from bards in different towns throughout my travels. I never mentioned Greywood to him, nor did I mention my home. Most of my stories were not the kind to interest a dragon, though the tales sung by some bards were more to his taste. I was explaining a tale I'd heard halfway to Corrolith, about the exploits of some paladin or another, when he interrupted me.

"Have you ever met another green dragon before?" he asked.

"You're...green?" I said. I'm sure I sounded like a complete idiot. Ksa growled and snapped, and I froze. Of course, he felt stupid for not realizing that I wouldn't know what color he was, being obviously blind. No room for a brain, with all that ego in there.

"I'm sorry," I said, trying to sound very small. "You are the first dragon I've met." Tandrien had told stories of a gold dragon whose lair was near Greywood, and a silver who was an old companion of his and lived a few weeks' hike through the mountains from there. Tandrien had spoken fondly of Aedaroth, the silver, as they had traveled together some 300 years ago, when Aedaroth was quite young. But, it was true that I had never met either dragon.

He huffed again. "Soon I will find a mate," he told me. "To attract someone worthy, I must have more treasure for my horde. But you are too small to know of treasure." He stood up, and my plotting went into overdrive. I could see it coming, but he was busy pacing menacingly around the clearing.

"If you cannot tell me something to help me find my treasure, you are no longer interesting to me."

"Wait--" I said, just as he was beginning to growl again.

"Yes?"

"There are always adventurers in town, in the taverns. Let me see if I can find you a real story." Yes, I was bluffing. I needed more time, and a better plan. This was not going well.

"Fine. I will give you one chance. I will be back." He followed this proclamation with more dramatic posing, pawing, and finally flying away.

So now I had a real problem, and no solution as yet. I started spending more of my evening time in town, hoping to pick up any kind of real lead I could feed him, but couldn't get a thing. And, of course, I still had plenty of work to do for my training. After a week, I was pretty short on sleep and hadn't been eating too well either. Klynne could tell something was up, but she had no idea what and didn't mention anything to me. I wasn't about to bring it up, that's for sure. I needed to handle my own problems without bring her into the whole mess.

After a long day of lessons and practice, I was finally settling in to get some sleep, when I heard Ksa flying over. He didn't land though. I should've taken that as a bad sign, but I wasn't thinking straight. I assumed he was just surveying his territory or something. But no, he came by for a second pass, instantly destroying my tent with a great gout of acid. It didn't stop at the tent either -- it ate right through the sleeping bag, and right through me too. I was lying partly on my side, but facing up -- my shirt was destroyed, my pants slightly less so. My blindfold was completely gone, but I couldn't see anything, so I suppose it didn't much matter, as my eyes were pretty toasted too. Don't make me explain it any further. It was bad. I was only barely alive, and that just by luck. It wasn't a very far stretch to play dead, and apparently, I did it well enough, because there was no third pass. I laid there until I could be absolutely sure he was gone, and then got myself as far away as I could. I hopped most of the way around the outside of the city with a few castings of Dimension Door, and doused myself in the river as best I could.

There was no way I could think that night. I had no lessons for two days. That gave me one day to sleep, and one day to get rid of Ksa once and for all. And then get on with my life. I barely managed to haul myself back out of the river before I passed out for the rest of the night.

By the time I woke up, it was almost midday, and I was covered in some serious blisters, but thanks to some very odd dreams, I had the beginning of a plan. I'd explored the wood before I had set up my camp, and I walked through it so often, I knew there was only one place Ksa could have made his actual lair. There was one large clearing, with a few of the older trees in the wood, with a steep hill on the other side of the clearing. It made it a little more sheltered than anywhere else in the forest. I asked my hawks to keep an eye out for Ksa flying around, while I did some planning and preparation. I made my way back towards the edge of the wood that was closed to the big clearing. When I had gotten a short way into the woods, I waited. Eventually Ksa flew out, and that was my cue. I cast a Polymorph spell, to turn myself into a satyr. Yes, a satyr. Fur feels pretty weird, but burnt bald spots feel even weirder. I used a slightly tweaked Alter Self spell to cover up the burns, give myself real eyes, and the like. To look like a real, live satyr -- not a half-dead, acid-eaten satyr. It's more convincing that way.

So my birds hid up in a tree, and I made my way over to the clearing, and sort of aimlessly tromped around it, until Ksa got back. I acted quite startled when he landed, bolting behind a tree and squeaking "Don't eat me!" It was just enough to make him pause. "I'll bargain for my life, I will! Just please don't eat me!"

"With what?" he bellowed.

"Treasure, treasure!" I said. "I know the most wonderful story of an enormous cave of treasure! I will tell you where, but you must promise not to eat me Mister Dragon, sir!"

Ksa let out a noise partway between a sigh and a growl. "Very well. I will not eat you, so long as you tell me of this treasure. You have seen it?"

"No, sir, I haven't, but I know someone who has been quite very near to it indeed! He told me of a cave, a cave inside a cave, deep in a mountain, far from here. At least eight weeks on foot -- north, across the plain, around the edge of the lake, through the forest and into the mountains. There is a range, with one mountain here, and one like so," I scratched in the dirt, very careful to keep my place so the picture would look like mountains. I drew it exactly how Tandrien had explained it to me. "And this one has a peak like little bunny ears, I wouldn't lie to you sir, it's the only way to know you're in the very right place!"

Ksa huffed thoughtfully. "I have not gone so far north yet. But I have seen mountains in the east with strange shapes, so I will not eat you just yet, trickster. I know your kind are thieves and liars, but you know my kind are devourers, and you would not dare a lie so grand. So I will believe your treasure is there, but to win your life, you must tell me also who guards it."

"Of course, of course, I would not lie to you, Mister Dragon, sir!" I hopped carefully from foot to foot, trying to make sure I kept looking around. How ironic is it, that I was standing there blind, trying to fake as though I could see?

"The sphinx, the sphinx!" I cried.

"Once, satyr." Ksa said, angrily. "Say it once and explain it clearly, or I will grow impatient." The tone in his voice changed a little, like he was concentrating on something. "Tell me the catch, satyr."

"The treasure is guarded by a most ancient sphinx, the ancientest one I have ever heard of! He is rivaled by none in his wisdom and his riddling. Many adventurers have sought the sphinx to gain his treasure. After all, for a band of adventuring folk of sufficient stature, a sphinx is not so difficult to best! But the trick is to find him! Yes! He is a sphinx of three riddles! Three! First to enter his cave, second to find his chamber, and third to answer his spoken challenge! But surely a brilliant mind such as yours can pry the exquisitely rare and valuable goods from him! Absolutely!" Every step was quite painful, but the stakes were too high to skimp on this bluff. Every word, every move, every twitch was calculated.

Ksa was definitely interested. "So, a riddle to enter the cave, a riddle to find the chamber, and then I can eat the sphinx?"

"Of course, Mister Dragon, sir, does this mean you won't eat me first?" One thing I'm good at, is looking like I'm begging.

"I made a promise -- and you have told me of this treasure." I could hear him move, but I wasn't sure exactly what he was doing.

"Mister Dragon, sir, if you please?" He paused. "Perhaps I can interest you in a followup bargain with me?"

"What else would I desire from you, little satyr?" How was I going to do this, without bruising the ego?

"Well, sir, Mister Dragon, there is the matter of those first two riddles. I did say I knew someone who had been quite close to this treasure, and escaped to tell the tale. And when he told it, sir, tell it he did, complete with the first riddle."

"So?"

"So, it wasn't just the riddle, no sir, but the answer as well!" That got his attention, so with the quickest little breath, I prattled right on. "So you see, kind Mister Dragon, sir, I could tell you how to get in! To get in to the cave, and you'd need only to find the sphinx and the precious loot would be yours, all yours! But, but there is a price, sir, a teensy-weensy little bit of a favor I would ask you, sir." Begging, again.

"What is this favor you desire."

"Your word, Mister Dragon, sir, just an eensy promise." If there were a way I could cross my toes...but it doesn't work so well with hooves.

"What promise?"

"That you would leave my forest, Mister Dragon, sir, and never come back. Take your treasure to a different wood, far away, far away, Mister Dragon, sir, I'm sure you can find a better forest elsewhere."

I was sweating, as the pause dragged out longer and longer, but finally Ksa gave another one of his curt huffs. "Very well. I promise, I will never return to this forest -- but only on the condition that you are right, about how to enter this cave!"

"Of course!" I said. "That is it then, if my information is correct and you are able to enter the cave, you will never return here, that is your promise?"

"That is my promise."

"A word, a very magical word -- or a phrase, I should say, which I believe was in the language of your kind. A password, indeed, that some cryptic engravings hint, but is so clever, so very clever. And it depends on when you speak them, it does! I know not the words in your tongue, but would recognize if you said them. The meaning must be this, Mister Dragon sir, though which colors you say depends on the phase of the moon -- The sky shall be of darkest hue, casting snow to blue and rock to grey. Blue and grey, blue and grey for when half the moon swells, grey and blue when half the moon fades. When the lady smiles full upon us us, you must say it with white and silver. And should she hide her face completely, blood and pain, oh that such should never be colors for snow or mountains, but the sphinx does not like when there is no moon in the sky, he does not at all!" Who locks a door like that, really? But, it was a good enough protection, I suppose, until I blabbed it.

Ksa shook his head, then spoke a few words in draconic. Apparently, he hadn't really been paying attention to the moon, because he spoke the full moon phrase, even though the full moon would come and go before he arrived there. But he did speak the right structure, and so I nodded.

"Like that! Just like that, Mister Dragon, sir, but be sure you check the moon! Should the lady in the sky not fit one of the phases I have explained, be assured the door will not open! Best to wait for full or new, and be sure, so very sure, that you use the right sentence to open the door!"

Ksa huffed. "I am not sure whether I believe you, trickster, but we shall see. It is unlikely you will see me again -- if I must return, you will be dead before you realize I am here." It sounded like he was standing up. "I will collect my things, before I leave. You would do best to be far away."

"Yes, yes, far! I will leave you to your preparations! Luck, luck, best of luck!" I bolted. At this point, I was ready to be as far away from him as possible. Thank you, Expeditious Retreat. Come to think of it, that might be the only time I've ever actually used that ability to run away from someone.

I got pretty far away before my prep spells started dropping, but I had a few Dimension Doors left too, and I did not stop until I was back on the other side of the river. I hunkered down behind a hill and just waited for my birds to tell me he had gone. Then I let myself think about little things, like food, since I hadn't eaten in over a day.

Now, you may be wondering how this would fix my problem. There really is a cave, you see, in that mountain, behind the rabbit ears. The cave's door is sealed, as I said, with the riddle I gave. There's a magical inscription that hints at what must be said, to gain entry. And the cave really is full of treasure, or so Tandrien has said. But it's no sphinx that lives there. I'm sure you are drawing the conclusion now, as I've already mentioned Aedaroth. That's where he lives, now. He still comes to visit Tandrien every now and then, and they talk. Aedaroth respects Tandrien as an elder and something of a teacher, but is certainly plenty old, and powerful, enough to pin Ksa down and give him a spanking. I hope he will not hold it against me, having sent Ksa there to be disciplined. On the other hand, Tandrien did describe Aedaroth as being somewhat more spunky than your average silver, so it's possible he'll enjoy a little excitement.

The next day, I stopped by a fabric store, before going to my lessons, to beg for a new scrap to cover my eyes. The poor lady behind the counter nearly fainted. I was only about halfway healed, not having had proper rest with all the excitement. So I was still covered in blisters, and unfortunately, not so covered in half a shirt. Once she recovered, she kindly offered to quickly patch my shirt back together with a few more scraps she had, and sent me on my way a half-hour or so later, looking slightly more presentable. I needed my few coins, to buy a new tent on my way back home, and had nowhere near the small fortune required to pay for healing. So, I showed up at Klynne's door, patched together and ready to learn. I think that might be a bit of a different story, though.

I haven't run into Ksa again -- yet -- and it's pretty unlikely that I ever will. On the other hand, he would only recognize me as that guy he thought he killed. I can only assume he was snooping around my camp, and saw me casting something significantly more involved that a little pyrotechnics to get my fire going. Which means he will know he probably shouldn't mess with me as long as I have friends along for the ride. He also has no way of ever finding out I was that tricksy little satyr, who sent him away for a spanking. To his credit, he did keep his promise. My instructions opened that cave, sure enough, and he never came back to my forest. Every once in a while, I wonder how his ego is doing. No, you're right, not really.