From Eternal Sleep, and Into the Fire. (Open)

[Drax]

Near the border of Bern stands an old Tavern with a sign on iron hinges saying 'World's End Tavern'. It was known for alot of gossip and people looking to get reach fast. Word has now started around the Tavern that there is a cave in the Tallest mountain of Bern that has an old fortes built inside the cave. It is rumored that further into the fortress that holds gold, weapons, jewels and other possessions just waiting to be taken. A good amount of the people inside huddled around a single man who was telling them the rumors.

"I've seen this Fortress inside the mountain. It was a temple dedicated to the old Dragon Lord, Fiery Death. With gold like that, you could buy your own junk of land with an army in tow. It's also haunted. Nobody knows what it is that lurks in it, but many good men seeking the spoils of the past have gone missing and are never heard from since. If your going down there, you best have a good amount of Vulnerary for you might need it." The crowed began to talk amongest each other about what they would do with the gold. Another man who was drunk spoke up, "The Dragon lord?!? HA! That's an old bed time story that our parents told us to scare us, what do Yoooou know about a Dragon lord, Hm?" The old man sitting just looked at him with a smile on his face and simpl said, "Then ou go down into the fortress, we'll see if ou come back alive or not." Setting the map down to the location on the table as he simply stared at the man. The drunk waved his hand and stumbled out. With that said and done, the old man said again, "Now to whom ever wants to go down their knowing the riskes, I leave ou this map." And of course, no one dared to get near the map for they now feared what maybe down in the mountain.

[Euphemious]

With that much gold I could rebuild Lowlander Hall thought Euphemious. The knight was searching for a way to earn money. This was the opportunity. If he could find this treasure he could restore a portion of his family honor, and that was enough for him to take the risk.

“Give me that map old man”, declared the knight as he walked forward and placed his hand on it. This was his opportunity to gain a lot of gold. He was not going to miss it.

[Drax]

The old man looked up at the knight with a hand away from the map. He would simply say before the Knight would embark on this quest that he will not forget. "Brave Knight of Bern, I wish you best of luck. May the lords smile up on you and may the Dragon Lord guide your way to safety." The old man would stand up and leave the tavern heading home. A good amount of the people stared at the knight as he now has the map to untold amount of treasures. Two young lads with swords would walk up to him and speak what was on their minds. "Hey knight, we want to come along with you to this Fortress. We could help you, I know how to pick locks and my brother here is handy with the sword." The brother would nod not saying anything.

[Euphemious]

“Fair enough”, spoke Euphemious. “I could use the extra hands and besides my idea of picking locks is ramming my spear through the key whole. I probably would not have gotten far without someone of your skill. Since we are here however I will say that everyone gets an equal share of what we find. Is that not agreeable.”

[Drax]

The two nodded their heads as they follow close behind the knight. Following the map, they had to go through Dark Forest since no sunlight ever pierces the top canopy above them. After two days of going through the forest, they came across an open field that had old lances, swords and axes sticking out of the ground. It was an old battlefield long ago. The weapons stayed to show where the units that fell stayed forever. "People say that this location is haunted by the disturbed spirits that can't pass on to the other side." The one twin that hasn't spoken yet started shake a bit as if he was getting scared of the tale. Looking up the field, they saw an old path that lead to the mountain where off in the distance they could see the entrance of the cave. "Well mister, it looks to me that we are almost there. COme on, lets hurry before it gets dark out."

The thief and his twin brother the mercenary ran as fast as they could trying to get there before darkness falls upon them. It seemed to the knight that they were afraid of staying out in the field. Once the whole group reached the cave, darkness wasn't the word that could describe what was laying infront of them. Evey now and then it would sound like someone other then them was breathing further into the cave. The thief began a small fire as he had his torches out of his small bag on his back. Handing one to his brother and one towards the knight, the twins would walk first into the darkness. Not expecting to see anything, they would stop dead in their tracks when they saw the walls come into sight of the Fortress of legend. The gates were wide open for them to move into, waiting for the knight to move ahead, they didn't want to risk being killed off first since they didn't have armour like the knight did.

[Euphemious]

Hmm, thought Euphemous as he came to the gate. It was obvious what the two were thinking. Euphemious was the armored one here and would make the best choice to go first. The knight stopped for a moment and connected his massive shield to a latch on the back of his armor. He then took the the torch from the mercenary. “Sorry, but I am going to need to brow this for a minute”, spoke Euphemious as he began to walk forward.

Using the light from the torch the knight carefully scanned the ground. He did not want to set off any traps that would have been left over from the old days. Even after years of decay these things seem to never stop working, or at the very least what he heard.

[Drax]

The group slowly moved into the courtyard. They didn't see no traps, just weapons laying on the ground that were mangled up and destroyed. Swords blades twisted, broken in half and a few of them were melted to the ground. lances were shattered and axes cracked through out the blades. THe quiet twin walked around the area looking for loot. Grabbing an iron sword, he would stand up and see a figure standing there. He would let out a screeching like sound and slashed at it's head. The head and body fell apart as it was ash. The armour though fell to the ground making a loud banging sound which echoed through the cave and fortress. The thief ran over to his brother to make sure he was alright. Euphimous would hear a rumble like sound coming from further inside the fortress.

[Euphemious]

“What in the world”, spoke Euphemous as he heard the rumble. This was not good. It did not take a mage to determine that. “Great looks like we have company”, spoke the knight. “I suggest you keep your treasure searching to a minimum. We don’t know what is in this place and I don’t want whatever it is to find us first.”

The knight began to lead the way again. His caution was up even higher now. Whatever that was he did not want it to sneak up on him.

[Drax]

They were now half way through the castle now. The rumbeling had gotten louder. It seemed that it was coming from all directions of them. From the darkness a voice was heard, deep and loud. "Who Dares wake me from my sleep?"] The twins froze, as if all the joints in their bodies had locked up at the same time. It didn't take a sage to see that they were petrified of what was going on. The thief would whisper to the knight that was leading them. "D-d-d-do you think it maybe friendly?" A stupid question to ask at a time like this. But the Knight was able to pin point where the voice was coming from. It was coming from the left of them, down a corridor that was large enough to hold an army in it with room for them. At the entrance of the massive hallway stood a stone pillar that had a stone tablet ontop of it. On it, it read.

"To those that come seeking the fortunes of the Dragon Lord, all be aware of his Fiery wrath. May you walk carefully and not wake him. If you do wake him, then may whatever deity you worship save your souls now for his wrath is mighty and your body his meal. Avoid the Temple of the Fire God for their lays the lord's Treasure. This is your only warning"

[Euphemious]

It was stupid Euphemous knew it. However he had to do it. Whatever this beast was it was mighty and passing up an opportunity was too much for the knight. He was a Lowlander and it had been a while since he could proclaim it. There was a great amount of pride behind that name. Pride the stretched back to the days of the scouring. His great ancestor fought with the mighty her himself, and rid the world of dragons. Now his descended steps into the treasure horde of a dragon.

“I am Gregory Lowlander”, shouted Euphemous back to the darkness. “I am descended of Charles D. Lowlander the knight who fought beside Harkmah himself. I can only assume that this is your treasure horde Dragon Lord”!

Euphemous turned and looked at his two partners. “Run you fools”, he spoke as he entered the big room himself.

[Drax]

The twins slowly backed away from the room as they would go to other parts of the Fort looking for other loot. As the Knight went further and further into the chamber, he would see the ashy remains of people and even suits of armour laying on the ground. A giant gust of wind went rolling past him as it was enough to stop him in his tracks. With the torch in his light that flickered badly, he could see a pair of massive eyes looking at him from the darkness. "Tell me Gregory Lowlander, descended of Charles. Why have you disturbed me as I sleep? Is it that you seek My Treasure? Or are you here to Attempt to do what your Ancestor Failed at?" Drax stayed hidden in the shadows away from the lights range. The room was massive, there was no doubt about it.

Standing up on his Hind legs, he would observe him from a higher point of view. The eye shadow disappeared from the Knights visual sight. But he could feel that this being was still there watching him. Another loud banging sound was heard from the other side of the fortress as the dragon would begin to growl deeply. "Or are you and your friends here to rob the dead?"Euphemious would begin to feel the room begin to get warmer, as if he was standing near a barn fire or near a smith's shop.

[Euphemious]

Fire thought Euphemious immediately. He remembered the tales that were told of his ancestor. How they spoke of the air burning before the dragons released their breaths. Euphemious knew better than to stand his ground in this situation. Even if his shield could withstand the flames the heat alone would kill him. The knight pictured were the eyes were earlier am immediately moved behind a nearby pillar placing it between himself and the beast.

[Drax]

The knight would be correct to move out of the way, a rush of air would pass him as if something heavy went flying by him. Then the sounds of claws scrapping the stone floor was heard near the entrance of the room. The manakete had flown past him making the light from his torch flicker badly. It would be hard for the knight to fight anything in this type of setting, but on each pillar was a bowl that was bolted to the massive stone pillars. These bowls were filled with oil ment to light the room. If he wanted to have an advantage in the fight, he'd need more light. Drax began to walk again, but this time, the knight would hear the heavy footsteps go past him, meer feet away. He could feel the rumbling of the ground from each step that the dragon form had taken. He went towards his treasure where he looked at the mass pile which looked like a mini mountain.

The dragon would speak outloud. "The knights long ago, knew of this place. They knew the danger and came with what they had which was not much. They were ill propared at what they were going to do which was the one ssimple thing that most knights try, which is to boost their honor and slay a dragon. As you can see the piles of bones along the walls here, they never were able to get the weapons off the racks before they saw why the old villagers feared me so and paid homage. Now mind you, my own kind have a nickname for me which is the red demon. I won't bore you with that tale. But let me ask you Knight of Bern, do they still worship me as their god? Or am I just some Myth only told in tales?" Instead of going into his treasure bed, he walked behind it and sprawled out his four wings and took flight.

[Euphemious]

Hiding his movements thought Euphemious as the dragon blew out the torches. This was clearly not an opponent he could beat on his own. If he wanted to stay alive he would need to entertain the beast. However entertain a dragon usually ended with you being burned alive after his amusement had reached its peak. If Euphemious was going to die he was going to die with some honor. Not as some freaking lizards play thing.

“No they don’t worship you”, spoke Euphemous as he took a glimpse at the way he came in. There was passages that lead to were the twins had gone, however simply bolting towards it would just end in his death as the dragon’s flames were faster than his feet. “In fact you are not even a legend”, spoke Euphemious. “The only tells they tell are that of Hartmaut and how he slew your kin.” Euphemious moved as if he was going to sprint towards the wall were the weapons were. He then dropped his shield and made a mad dash for the corrode. With some luck the dragon could blast his flames in the wrong direction.

[Drax]

The Manakete watched as the knight started to sprint into the massive corridor. Landing on his gold mound, he would turn into his human form. Still smiling, Drax would lift up his hood over his head and would slide down and chase after him. He needed to get use to this form again since it was long ago he was in this form last. The knight heard leather boots hitting the ground as if someone was chasing after him. By the time Drax made it to the door way, the knight was already on the other side of the great hall. With Drax's face in the shadow's of his hood, he would bolt after the knight again. This time, he gotten closer to him.

Euphemious would run into the thief who had a paniced face. He was looking around as if looking for something. "Tim! Tim! Where are you Tim!" It was obvious now that the thief twin was looking for his brother. With that, Drax had an idea. Since the manakete had a good sense of smell, he hid in the shadows and made sure that no one was able to hear him sneak by them. He would go after the other twin.

The thief saw the Knight running and came up to him saying. "We need to find my brother Tim. We got seperated when we thought someone was following us. It was as if Somebody followed us here and wanted to the loot for themselves. Please help me, I'll let you keep my share of the loot if you do sir Knight."