Editing Journal - A Beautiful Death (section)

==The Isle of Krasgord==

We knew where we had to go next, and the name of our target as well, which was something. Queen Dalrisha (our target, linked to positive energy of some kind) and King Sostror ruled over the island of Krasgord, which enforced strict rules of beauty (from a human point of view), and were patrons of all kinds of arts where beauty could be expressed. The problem, as I saw it, was that because hardly anyone met the standards to enter Krasgord we had no first hand experience available from which to learn what it was like there. We decided that we would have to see for ourselves and then take it from there, so we met in Milada's temple in the early morning ready to travel using the tapestry. I tried a new technique I had learned to mask Falcor from divination, and he made us invisible so that we could pass unnoticed. Falcor conducted the ritual with the flaming brazier and we arrived in a sheltered spot in the hills to the west of the capital (Krasgord). We could just see a graceful spire to the east rising above a valley, the land rising all around us otherwise and obscuring our view.

We walked east and crested a ridge to see quite the vista in front of us. There was a small settlement to our south at the base of the hills with an ornate fortified tower guarding a massive bridge farther south. The view was dominated by the beautifully ornate fortified city to the east, with minarets and sweeping curves combined with bright white walls. There were some lakes and a forest between the city and where we stood, and then the land fell away farther to the east with a more traditional fortified city just about visible to the far south east. We descended towards a small lake within the trees, and as we approached we noticed a party of human riders within the trees, which put Falcor in mind of a hunting party. They seemed, from the sound of their voices, quite relaxed and happy but we veered north around them anyway and they headed towards the shore of the lake. We passed easily from a distance and kept going east, but a little while later we heard the same party coming towards us from behind.

We stopped by trees, staying close so that we would not be accidentally collided with, and the party rode past quite close to where we were. They were very ornate in appearance in every way, their dress, weapons, even horses we decorated and coloured to catch the eye. Their apparent leader wore a crown; was this King Sostror? His grab was predominately blue, which would match Dalrisha's colour. We were quite prepared to let them pass and follow on behind, but suddenly a dragon skimmed the trees overhead! It was black with greenish hues as it caught the light, and after a moment I realised that it had too many legs for a dragon - eight in fact. Falcor flashed a compulsion he felt; this was no Elvradrak. A couple of the hunting party were thrown from their horses as they bolted just at its presence, leaving the others fighting to control their mounts. The King seemed more comfortable, and quickly urged his horse into a gallop to flee east at pace.

The others were slower, although the ones that had been dismounted run as fast as they could in different directions. One glanced up and after a few seconds they were completely turned to stone! The beast vomited up a stream of hissing liquid at another, killing his horse instantly; the rider was unfortunately pinned by the horse's body but was trying to remove his smoking clothing. The thing then grabbed one of the runners, lifting them up as it turned. It seemed to be following the King, though. I ran forward and asked my patron to create a lot of water, dumping it over the body still trapped under the horse, hoping to wash the acid off. Falcor followed the flying creature from a distance, seeing it drop the person it had picked up and then lift the King straight off his horse. He managed to get his sword out and swipe at the beast, even landing a few hits, but then he had his arm pinned by another leg.

The fellow I had tried to save was dead, unfortunately, so we instead followed, the creature and the King. It had slowed down now that it seemed to have found its quarry, so it was easy to track it at a jog, but we were unable to do much from the ground as it was too high. Fortunately it was gently descending as it flew west, and by the time we broke out of the treeline it was getting close to the ground, seemingly looking to land at the base of the slope ahead. When it landed it pinned the King on floor with four of its legs and carefully pried his sword out of his hand with another, throwing it aside. After disarming him it moved him so he was held by just two feet and looked up. Falcor warned me that he was about to attack, so I summoned a protective shield in case it tried to turned us to stone.

Two lightning bolts arced from Falcor into it, one after the other, making him visible. The thing was seriously injured, so it abandoned the King and leapt into the air, flying away to the north. We ran forward as the King sprang to his feet, looking scared but not too injured. He grabbed his sword and stood ready, scanning between Falcor and the creature, wary of both. I readied my bow, but Falcor wanted me to remain invisible so I just stopped and watched instead. The King was focused on Falcor, still wary and looking ready for a fight. He hailed Falcor, saying that he did not recognise him, although his armour at least was beautiful, and said that he had shown some beautiful skill that was rare in these parts. He had apparently been seeking the creature that terrorised the hunting grounds, and indeed had found it, but had been expecting some lesser threat. Unfortunately, he said, he had brought some pretty but useless friends.

He had relaxed a little, but was still wary, particularly when Falcor said he had come here by dweomer. He relaxed a little more when Falcor claimed that this dweomer was not his own, and speculated that perhaps it had been Sullinassauri to blame (Falcor claimed ignorance of the name). The King went on to say that uninvited guests were not usually tolerated, but as he had helped the King and shown some beauty in his actions he might be made a guest... if he kept his helmet on, anyway (I tried not to snigger). The King said that he would speak of his beautiful deeds to help him be accepted. We began to walk back towards the city, and as we did so the King spoke much about his own accomplishments, not giving Falcor much time to speak of himself. Falcor did ask at one point whether it was the King's duty to protect his weaker subjects, which caused the King some hilarity. I hated him already. I followed at a little distance, but noticed that the King was aware of me to some extent, although he said and did nothing to stop me. He did at least seem like a genuine warrior, despite his vanity.

It took about an hour to reach the gates of the city. The entrance had some very... colourful guards at each side. They did seem alert, though, and snapped to attention at the King's approach. The city walls were polished white marble, beautifully finished, and the roof tiles were quite a pretty blue with black veins. It was as beautiful as you'd expect for a place with its reputation. There were people within the city moving around and trading, but no market stalls or anything so vulgar to look at, and we noticed guards on every corner keeping an eye on everyone. Nobody really acknowledged the King or met his gaze other than the soldiers, mainly seeming to avoid him without making it too obvious that they were trying to do so.

After fifteen minutes or so we approached a magnificent squarish building, presumably the palace, and the King was approached by a guard who spoke in a language we didn't understand. It had a sing-song quality to it, which was quite nice to listen to, but neither of us had heard it before. The guard scurried off as the King led Falcor inside with me following at a distance. People were still careful to avoid the King, but they at least came much closer here, and there was some acknowledgement when he looked towards them. The King was quickly approached by a man with fine blue flowing clothes and carrying a polished black wood staff. The King introduced him as &quot;Verrel&quot;, the Chamberlain, and Falcor stuck with the name &quot;Dracor&quot;, although people here seemed to find that amusing for some reason. The King instructed the Chamberlain to find Falcor a room, and said that the Queen would probably wish to meet him, which was promising.

The Chamberlain took us through the maze of corridors within the building until he stopped at a door and announced that this would be Falcor's accommodation. He opened the door and showed Falcor the three fine rooms inside - they were luxurious! Although we got the impression that these were supposed to be the most basic of quarters, they were better than anything we'd seen for a long while, and were beautifully finished. He was asked not to stray, so I had to go and do some exploring on my own. Sadly there were guards everywhere - in fact nowhere in the corridors was out of sight of at least one. I overheard some hushed references to trouble in the west, but that conversation was quickly shut down with fearful looks in the direction of the nearest guard. I returned to Falcor without having learned much, other than that we were clearly in a guest wing. Falcor had been brought food and drink while I was away, which had been very good apparently, but he hadn't left much for me to try!

Thankfully another meal came later so I got to share some food, and it reminded me a little of Treddar... in fact this whole place did with its strict rules and facade of good manners. I used a mirror in one of the rooms to scry around the places I couldn't reach by walking. There were working spaces below us and more opulent rooms above, as we expected. One person, speaking privately, made a reference to a group or collective on the western shore of the island; they were blaming the people there for the recent troubles, saying that they had been &quot;crossing the mountains&quot;. I also caught a glimpse of the throne room, although it was empty. Outside there was some normal activity (actual work being done that is) within the city, but the people doing it used a different network of routes to the main thoroughfares - a &quot;back of house&quot; access.

We had to stay the night, as the Queen didn't seem in any rush to meet Falcor. Relatively early in the morning, but after Falcor had refreshed my invisibility, the Chamberlain visited to say that the Queen would see him after she had concluded her business, but that he should &quot;make yourself presentable&quot;. He was to have no weapons, obviously, and no luggage or traveling kit, just his polished armour and helmet (worn to hide his ugly mug, is what he seemed to be saying). What this actually meant was that I had to use dweomer to enhance my strength so that I could carry all his shit for him. Falcor used some dweomer to make his armour shine nicely. We had to wait a couple of hours, though, before the Chamberlain returned to escort him. He seemed somewhat content with Falcor's appearance, so we set off after him to meet the Queen.