>>5424896“We have not taken any of our noble dead to conclude the ritual which releases and protects their souls, since that day,” she admits. “The noble houses preserve our dead, rare as they are, with magic and desiccation, so we can perform the ritual later… When it is safe.”
“And the lower-born?” you ass.
She quirks her eyebrow, and looks to her attendant.
“They leave them to rot, as close as they can get,” he supplies,” and it is here we hunt for ghoul-meat.
Well, you may have learned to respect the skill of Drow as assassins and scouts, but they are no dragoons—let alone dragons! You relish the opportunity to prove your worth by eliminating another enemy of the elves, and if it proves suitable practice for facing Hapo later… And maybe even earns you some small measure of relief from your debt to the God of Death, incurred early in your journey? Well, that’s just a bonus!
“I will do it,” you declare. “I will end this… Ghoul Supreme, and bring you his head. Your caves will be emptied of threat, and sanctified anew… To the Dark Gods, Below and Beyond, who will welcome the souls of your nobility into a grater communion!”
The Queen smiles at you indulgently, and rests a hand upon your raised fist.
“One step comes before the other, King Theral,” she suggests, not harshly or tenderly, but with the heir of a peer offering advice.
“A dragon travels great distances in a single wingbeat,” you counter brashly.
She looks at your excitedly-wiggling fin-wings, still underdeveloped, but is tactful enough to say nothing more of them.
Bah. She hasn’t seen you use your flight-magic. She hasn’t seen ANYTHING yet!
Of course, she is right: you must accomplish this great deed before you can boast of it in a bid to convert the populace of this city.
