Syngeneia Kathairein part 35
#36 of Syngeneia Kathairein
Had to skip last week - computer broke down.
My PC did boom, had to get fixed, that is why I skipped last week.
Zap! right in front the palace! The stone, Slavic styled palace building still gives you and Disarria the creeps... you were nearly trapped here by the maniac named Kirpichnikov. You can't do anything but wonder what Koriza has gotten from Kirpichnikov... Walking up to the front door, you knock. The door is opened by a huge stone golem! You are about to raise your hands, before you realize it's friendly. "Aha! Welcome back purple dragons! Kirpichnikov and Queen Koriza " The golem let's you in, into the palace's foyer, where Koriza greets you, hiding a smile as she remembers she is ''supposed'' to be mad at you and Disarria for your recent behaviors. > You say "Hey, Koriza, as you can see the amazing duo is back from the mountain trail! You will never guess where we've been!" Koriza looks at you, her face expressionless. "Yeah, the pair of you have been gone for a while. You've been gone so long that I actually started to worry. Where exactly have you been?" "We went up a mountain and explored a magical portal to the heavenly rings of the Violet Dragons!" Koriza puts on a surprised expression. "Wow... Kirpichnikov was right? I thought the guy was just a total nut" "Yep! I'll fill you in" Disarria adds, you go for a stroll through the palace gardens, or well, more so a snowy courtyard... Koriza is updated on everything. It's her turn now. Koriza signs ''well, you two made a fantastic mess of this land and now we are stuck with Kirpichnikov to keep the peace, this is what I could negotiate; you and Disarria do the ice king trail, which you did. With that status Klyanev will, with reluctance, accept Kirpichnikov as leader under your approval. Zalisi is now his capti- daughter... You two can pat yourself on the back for that! Kirpichnikov will give us the frost gem for your ''services'' in going on a killing rampage and taking out Yaag Baab! Positive news, we are getting a new mode of transport.'' Koriza has that air of cold anger about her, you saw her in hot bursts of fury but this is.... worse. She is disapointed in you, her spouse, and Disarria. "Well, we did what we could, forming a strike force against Apocalion" You say, defending you actions. "Yeah, I just wish you'd picked a better way of going about it..." Koriza leaves, ordering you to rest. You decide to take a walk around the palace gardens. There's an entire wing dedicated to the frost gem! A bright blue beacon of magical energy. Disarria asks what type of transport Koriza got for you. > You say "I don't give a shit, Dis. I'm worried about Koriza, I never saw her like... that. She truly is mad at us isn't she? " "Ah, don't worry about her. She's just mad that we did something without her.
It's like when you go on a job without me, I get mad." "Yeah but that's different, I'm not married to you." Disarria laughs at your response. "You're so cute when you're jealous!" You roll your eyes. ''Jealous? No! Just worried! You look good but- never mind, we've been over this.'' You relax, as much you can. mostly indoors as the winters on Volecia are brutal and the handful hours of dim sunlight don't help your mood. Without a clock you wouldn't know it's morning and Koriza comes to pick you and Disarria up from your loitering. '' we're leaving soon, but king cook-cook insists we got to see something.'' > You say "Let me guess, the weirdo opened a dread silo?" Koriza laughs uncomfortable, seems your over the top guess is right.... How though?! Following Koriza, Disarria and you travel by air. You're too nervous to talk, so you just sit there waiting for some sort of explanation as to what exactly is going on. Eventually, you arrive. That is a dread silo alright! Lots of Blue dragons, humanoids... all mages. lots of equipment, gems, magical machinery and a contraption made over the silo. A tube goes in there and sucks up the negative energy, the lid is closed but broken! a really clean circle, too. Kirpichnikov seems proud. ''Took us decades of extreme intensity work, but we did it!'' Doesn't explain what he needs the negative, mutagenic energy for though... Kirpichnikov follows the pipes, and you hop along. it leads to a a tent hiding something but you are led inside as you follow the blue dragon patriarch... a weird orb-like device is getting fed the negative energy, crystals and cables stick out. obviously an early prototype of sorts, wait, why is... Redsamuru here?! He greets you ''Hey Chad and sexy ladies!'' the 3 of you cringe... ''What the hell is he doing here?!'' You exclaim. "Ah, he's helping me with this project as a engineer! Isn't that right, friend?" He says, turning to Kirpichnikov who just shrugs. "I am selling him the secrets of my yellow dragon people because my dad sucks dick for kicking me out!'' Koriza groans, sounds like a Neckbeard! it's obvious he just wants to stay near Zalisi. Disarria remarks on the device. ''Hm.... this looks like a bomb of some sorts?'' this is true, a mana bomb. an experimental WMD. Frightening! ''It's just an experiment, don't worry'' Red says, reassuring you. His naive is showing... ''So what is the plan?'' You ask, still waiting for an answer. Kirpichnikov seems excited to tell his plan. ''This weapon can demolish an entire city! The magical physics are complicated but it can create an invalid magic signature and stop Apocalion!'' Koriza interrupts ''but wait, this can be used to destroy anything, right?'' Kirpichnikov nods, and Koriza hides a shocked expression you luckily picked up on but Kirpichnikov didn't. Disarria just rolls her eyes, refusing to believe a bomb can pack such a punch. Kirpichnikov is a delusional madman, after all. > You say "Really nice I guess... We'll see what you can do, Kirpichnikov. Could we -please- get that method of transport as promised so we can get on our way. We got magic to chase." Koriza asks a reasonable question, you decide to join in. "So, how soon can you get us there?" Kirpichnikov rubs his hands together greedily. "We need two days to prepare the ritual, and I can send you on your way, ask your new violet dragon, Nalomuzo? for progress" "Two days? But..." You are confused, it shouldn't take that long. Koriza shakes her head, but she accepts Kirpichnikov's bullshit as she has no other choice. You are led back to the palace...
After some relaxing, you look for Nalomuzo and run into him in corridors. The new method of transport involves violet dragon tech if it involves Nalomuzo... or so you suspect. "Hello, The Purple one, what brings you to these parts?" He greets you. You see a few other dragons nearby... You know they are watching you. Looks like they are palace servants. You reply "I wanted to talk about the plan for getting us out of here". Nalomuzo grins, happy to share his thoughts on the matter, "We're going to use some Violet dragon magic! Kirpichnikov loaded this palace up with Eximite!" Disarria smiles as she got an idea ''The gravity affecting stuff? You going to make this palace FLY?!'' You and Koriza get excited too. Nalomuzo resumes ''Indeed - The Desichalkos reactor applying a negative mass effect to the Meutonite is nearly done. I just got to switch the button! The boss has been preparing for this for YEARS but now you helped that... cretin... he is willing to part with it as he will live in Klyanev.'' even mentioning Kirpichnikov doesn't seem to ruin Nalomuzo's mood! Koriza steps in ''why didn't you turn it on then? fuel?'' Nalomuzo gets a wide grind on his face and looks at her ''down-time, Queen. I just wanted to take these days off, but we can go now''' > You say "well then, Nalomuzo, head to the reactor and make our new palace fly! please." Nalomuzo looks confused. "You want to go now?" You nod vigorously. He shrugs, then heads off in the direction of the palace core. You, Disarria and Koriza head out to the courtyard and fly up to land on a roof, 20 meters up or so, so you can oversee what is happening. The ground starts shaking as Nalomuzo powers up the palace. After a few minutes of loud whirring and the shaking ground, the palace slowly starts to lift off the ground. It floats up to a few hundred meters and hovers there. You can see the entire city and even Chernitrov coast here! well, briefly... it's sunset time already... > You say "This is awesome! I know Black Dragon Necropolises can float but they are not even a fraction of the size of this ancient palace!" Koriza nods in agreement, she looks really happy. You imagine being able to fly this palace around the lands would make her even more happy! "It's beautiful!" she says. She then looks at you and Disarria, "I am still mad though." You smile, "but this is a good start, isn't it?'' Koriza doesn't seem to hear you though as she stares out into the sunset. > You say "Yeah.... I'm so fucking done with all this destiny bullshit for a bit, can we wedge in vacation or is there really no time? I wonder how Xenia and Abysmalia are holding the lid on the Apocalion dread silo?" ''Kakaida, perhaps?'' You jump as Nalomuzo suddenly stands next to you. Disarria thinks for a bit ''tropical paradise? sure.'' Koriza nods ''paradise. yeaaaah....'' The homeland of the green dragons, a tropical ''paradise'' with wasps as big as dogs and 1200 types of deadly toxins! yay! Disarria continues, "It's a bit far, but we need to go there to pick up the nature gem and get them on our side'' sigh. more destiny bullshit... Well, you all head to Klyanev first to get some boring diplomacy out of the way and drop off Redsamuru and Zalisi. It's just you, Nalomuzo, Disarria and Koriza in the palace... and a dozen of servants. It's dark out and you are having dinner, the giant table is very empty with just you four.
Suddenly, as you are about to take a bite of a delicious sweetberry crumble, there is a knock on the door. You suspect it might be the servants bringing in more berries but instead it is three figures cloaked in black. Two are holding crossbows and one is holding... a fucking sword. You jump up and yell at them, they remain perfectly silent but they all back off when Nalomuzo appears behind them. ''Constructs... the generator had backup power, security is always a viable choice.'' Koriza nods. ''good call, we are en route to Kakaida, yes?'' Nalomuzo nods. Now it's just waiting for you to hover there... > You say "Hey, Koriza? If we take a detour we can go to Bloedholte and pickup the dark gem, I kind of want us to be fully powered for our next mission." Koriza is silent for a moment. "You know... you're right, we should go there. Bloedholte is close enough to detour from Klyanev that we could easily get the dark gem... okay then." she shrugs, "I'm fine with that." Nalomuzo nods and you all head back to the palace's hovering position. The journey over to Bloedholte was surprisingly quiet. When you enter the black dragon archipelago, moist, dark weather soon meets you. Your mood is quickly ruined... So many nasty memories here, as if you wander into them yet again... Disarria and Koriza feel the same, it's obvious to you. These ladies had an even harder time than you here. Regardless, your curiosity is stronger and you get to a vantage point. Disarria joins you. > You say "Oof.... it's intense going back. That's it. Apocalion island. Still a massive arsecrack on the world isn't it? " "Yeah. I'm not fond of it." she replies quietly, "Well... I guess we should go in?" You shake your head. ''I get it, you want this done and over with... We all do, but I doubt it's a good idea to just dive-bomb off of a flying palace into one of the most hostile environments on this planet. Hey, what's that? EFPL fleet? They look like humanoid navy vessels for sure'' Disarria agrees ''Yes, EFPL. Korizan mostly pulled out of occupying these lands but the EFPL still holds a strong presence in the archipelago. If I remember correctly, they should have a somewhat substantial presence on Apocalion too.'' Disarria pulls out a telescope and looks through it. ''Now this is interesting, but expected. Xenia is there.'' she says, passing you the telescope. Sure enough, Xenia is there, walking on the docks with two bodyguards. You take a deep breath. > You say "isn't the EFPL closely knit with the pure black dragons, the Rhodium dragonflight? " "Yeah, they're pretty close." Disarria says. ''Even Rhodium dragons love control, they're effective in leading humanoids and not as oppressive as the blacks, but friction between the chaotic EFPL and orderly Rhodiums are not rare'' Makes sense. You both head inside and prep, soon you expect Koriza to fetch you and that flying down towards Bloedholte, capitol city of the world, will be your move. Koriza walks in, Disarria has been milling around and you've been doing your best to ignore it. Koriza speaks up ''let's just do this... Time to fly down. At least Nalomuzo is curious and happy to see the city of misery'' You nod in response and Koriza leads the way. The trip down to the city of Bloedholte takes a while, you're not exactly sure what to expect... you go straight to the palace, the stench of death is here but it seems to be... less? as if it's lingering. EFPL soldiers mill about and you get your formalities out of the way. To everyone but Nalomuzo's chagrin, you have to stay for a bit as Koriza needs to get updated by the EFPL leadership, thus the 3 of you go to Disarria's old room... Still very similar, but cleaned very well.
Disarria gets tense as old trauma takes over as she observes the room... soon the dragoness clings to you and you hold her too. > You say "shhh dear... it's okay. You can sleep cuddled up with me in the throne room... just so you don't have to be here. I'll keep you safe" "Thank you." she whispers, tears welling up in her eyes. She wipes them away and heads out with you 2 to the throne room. You're left alone for a few minutes, doing your best to just be there for her. > You sit on Malediction's old, gigantic throne and start doing a mocking imitation of him. You start doing an impression of Malediction, but Disarria doesn't find it amusing. In fact she's horrified and you soon apologize profusely. You go to hug her but she backs away. "I'm sorry." "Please don't. Not now." She says, getting closer to you and hopping on the throne, soon hugging you up. ''it is a little... cathartic, to be on that... monster's throne now... as if we are the last ones laughing and pissing on his grave!'' > You say "aren't we? " She hugs you, nodding. "I suppose we are." Soon you hear the door open, and look to see Koriza, who waves you over. You hop off the throne and follow her out, Disarria staying behind. Koriza begins talking as soon as you leave the room. ''You and Disarria caused so much chaos that the thrones of Ietros came over. They're worried, Enty, so am I'' Koriza says, looking away. You can feel her pain radiate off of her... Koriza explains each of the 7 thrones will gives you a mission regarding to their virtue, in collaboration with the generals of the EFPL. It's time for you and Disarria to stop acting like Apocalion's forces and learn to act up to your purple dragon standard! > You say "but I thought the white dragon thrones got no authority over the purple dragons? Only the Warchief does!" Koriza nods slowly. "technically, yeah... but even Catharsion obeyed the thrones. They are the last fragment of Draconic angels of this world. A schism between them and the purple dragons would make you and Disarria the first'' Makes sense, you give a re-affirming nod, before looking out at the foreboding landscape... Even at dawn it's so dark and wet, the swamps are truly a sad place to wander to.