Dungeon Master Assistance

The ranger walked away from the table with the elf and the gnome. Trevan said to the elf, “Aramil, this is Gimble. He is an old friend of mine.” and then to the gnome, “Gimble, you are the last person I expected to see here. Did you come to Rockport just for the dragon hunt?”

Gimble said, “When I heard about it, I knew you would be here so I came to help you kill Abraxas.”

Aramil excused himself and disappeared into the crowd. Gimble continued, “Where did you pick up the elf?”

“I just met him last night. We had to share a room”

“You must have done something to impress him. Elves don’t make friends easily.”

“Well, I guess I did save his life this morning.”

“Lets get out of here,” said Gimble. “There is something I have to tell you in private.”

“Don’t you need to stay here and get ready for tomorrow? What did you say, you are the cook?”

“Yeah, isn’t that great! I get a share of the treasure and don’t even have to fight. And I can ride in the food wagon. Really, it was the only position still open when I arrived. They don’t need my help today. We loaded everything a couple of days ago. The idea is that we will use the wagons and pack animals to haul our food and supplies to his lair and to haul the treasure back to Rockport after we kill him. I have a feeling that it won’t be quite that easy.”

Trevan said, “Why did you tell him that I could track dragons through the air? I do have a hawk that can help, but nobody can track anything that is flying.”

“That is what I need to talk to you about,” said Gimble. “So you have a hawk now? That’s great.”

They continued talking about the major events of their lives as they left the warehouse. They moved along the busy dock areas. When they came to a dark alleyway they ducked in and hid between a couple of crates that were along the wall. Gimble motioned for Trevan to be silent and waited for a couple of minutes before he carefully peaked around the crates. He said, “We should be able to talk here. We are alone.”

“What’s this all about?” said Trevan. “Why all the secrecy?”

“I have something that can lead us to Abraxas.”

“What is it? You mean you have a map to his lair?”

“No. No. Not a map, a magic item. With it we can find any dragon. All we have to do is get close and it will point the way.”

“How close?”

“We will only have to be within about two miles for it to start working. It will point in the direction to the closest dragon. You can tell what color the dragon is, about how far away it is and in which direction.”

“That’s amazing. Do you have it with you now? Can I see it?”

Gimble looked around the crates again and then pulled out a leather pouch. He carefully opened it and removed the silver pendent with the gem in it. It was glowing a little brighter than a candle. He handed it to Trevan who examined it closely. He could see a silver star that was pointing away from the sea and towards the heart of the town. “How does it work?”

“When it gets within range of a dragon it begins to shine in the color of the dragon. The star shows you which direction the dragon is from you. It shines brighter as you get closer.”

“But it is shining now.” said Trevan.

“That’s because there’s a dragon in town.” Trevan started to draw his crossbow, but Gimble stopped him. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s a silver dragon. You can tell because of the color of the light. At first I thought it might be a white dragon, but looking at it closer, you can tell it is a silver light. If it was a red dragon, the light would be red. I found the dragon it is pointing to. She has taken human form and is posing as a barmaid at the inn near the front gate.”

“I think I may have met her,” said Trevan. “That is where I am staying. Are you sure? Why would a dragon want to live among humans?”

“Who knows,” said Gimble. “At least she’s a metallic dragon. Metallic dragons aren’t evil. The only problem is this gem only shows the closest dragon. As long as she is closer to us than Abraxas we can’t tell if he’s coming. It won’t be a problem after we leave the city.”

“He wouldn’t attack the city. Not with all of those towers with all of those ballistas.” Trevan thought for a second. “Where did you get it?”

“My uncle gave it to me before he died. I don’t know where he got it. He made me promise not to tell anyone about it, but I think he would approve of telling you. You won’t tell anyone will you?”

“Not if you don’t want me to.” Trevan thought some more, then something occurred to him. “Is it possible that your uncle took this from Abraxas? They say that he started this latest rampage when someone stole a magical gem from his hoard.”

“I don’t know. I was wandering that myself. I guess it is possible. I know he spent a lot of time in the Black Mountains. If this is from Abraxas’s hoard, then he knows that someone has it and can use it to find his lair,” said Gimble. “What do you think we should do with it?”

“Lets keep it a secret for now,” said Trevan as he handed it back to Gimble. “We can use it to help this group find his lair. Then we will see if I can help Sir Gleamheart defeat Abraxas. Where is Sir Gleamheart anyway? Was he there today?”

“I don’t think so,” said Gimble. “I think I saw him a couple of days ago, but I have never met him. He is going to be leading the quest, but the church is organizing it. He is going to be there tomorrow morning to lead the precession out of the city. There is a group of four that have been adventuring together for several years. The paladin Sir Gleamheart, the cleric you just met, his name is Pitchlight, a female wizard named Maylock and a rogue named Pickman forms the group that was originally planning to go up against Abraxas alone. Now they will be leading the quest. Everyone expects that when the dragon is confronted they will do most of the fighting.”

“How much do you know about them?” said Trevan.

“Not much. They are a local group of adventurers that have been abroad and just returned to fight the dragon. This is my first visit to Rockport. I’m sure I could find out a lot more if I asked around.”

“Why don’t you do that? Find out all you can about our fearless leaders and I will see you back at the warehouse tomorrow morning.”

“What are you going to do?”

Trevan said, “I am going to talk to a silver dragon.”

Gimble smilled broadly and started skipping off in the general direction of the warehouse. Trevan headed back to the inn. A bank of fog was coming in from the sea. By the time Trevan reached the inn the fog was so thick he couldn’t see across the square.