>>5773772You feel energies swelling within you, some native to you and some from without. A community—divine and mortal, familial and national—gathers around you in spirit. In their honour, you rise up.
‘I reject your false choice, Old King!’
‘…What?’ balks the ancient spirit of the Red Dragon King.
‘Love or Victory… It is nonsense! There is no victory without love! There is no love left if I lose! I WILL TAKE BOTH!’
As the Dark Gods fade away to their spaces Below and Beyond, you are left beneath the inward-turned gaze, and the fiery soul, of the Red Dragon King of Bloodrise.
‘Fine then,’ he declares, ‘then come and claim your reward, Little One.’
>2d20 for the Serpent Queen, to determine if she is able to aid; DC 17/19. 5d20 for you. DC normally 20, but with all your combined bonuses, lowered to 13; lowered by another 2 if the SQ succeeds.The Red Dragon King’s overwhelming spiritual pressure descends upon you, submerging you in his overwhelming willpower. You feel your ego crumbling, and for a moment fear you will be swallowed up and subsumed… But no. He does not want to eat you, to absorb you. He wants to reject you, to destroy you, to push you OUT and banish you beyond Death’s door. Well, maybe he will… BUT NOT WITHOTU A FIGHT! You rage against the dying of your own small, flickering light, and push back against his radiance with your own.
>19 for SQIn the material world, beyond your battle of souls, your Serpent Queen is not idle. She may be no master of spiritcraft or necromancy, but nor is she entirely ignorant—she IS, after all, a brilliant Serpent Priestess. She reaches forward, and with her mastery of your anatomy (in more senses than one) she finds her advantage: she inflicts upon your mortal frame a pain which you cannot presently feel… But your body’s dominant occupant surely can. The Red Dragon King roars in agony, his spirit rippling in the metaphysical space which the two of you share, and his <presence> diminishes—not much, but just enough.
Your own spirit rises again, your soul swelling. You recite to yourself the mantra of your power, focusing yourself, meditating upon those truths which you have uncovered:
You are the Copper Dragonborn.
You are the Prince of Love.
You are the Knight Ascendant of the Feathered Serpent God.
You are the Dark Prophet of the Coming Age.
You are the Prince-Consort of Hawksong.
You are the Dragon King of Bloodrise.
You are a friend… A mate… A master… A leader… A husband… A father!
You are Long Wang, and Theral, and ‘that hairbrained and horny Degenerateborn’!
Your Presence grows in power, size, and intensity, even as the Red Dragon King’s shrinks and dims
>20 for you‘I AM THE DRAGONBORN ANTIPALADIN,’ you proclaim, ‘AND THIS AGE BELONGS TO ME!’
