Kobold Life

Paralogue 2: Rose

I hated to part with my magic mirror, but it was the last of the magic items I had which hadn't been a gift from Ezmiralt himself. As bad regifting was among humanoid circles, it was a worse idea to regift to a dragon.

Ezmiralt happily accepted the trade however, allowing me access to his stash of Aetherium, for the mirror. He asked his medically adept servants to attend to my wounds while others prepared a feast in honor of my arrival. Eccentric was perhaps the best word for Ezmiralt. Having grown up alongside my former adventuring party, he had many opportunities to learn how to behave in society, and equally many examples of using power irresponsibly. Unlike most Dragons, he liked guests, he enjoyed showing off and being in power, but not actually hurting people unless he had a reason. He was a surprisingly gentle giant most of the time, at least when I had known him.

The kobold in front of me was busy applying bandages on some of the wounds I had sustained, while another used some of the Aetherium to repair my arm. The kobold healer wore a medallion around his neck, which he held in one hand while giving a soft prayer beneath his breath while the cascading white light from his other hand mended the broken flesh and bone beneath it.

"So how do you know master?" The healer asked.

He was a gray scaled Kobold with white garb. His topaz eyes looked to me for a response.

"We traveled together when he was younger, before he set up this lair," I said.

"How is he now? Does he treat you fairly?" I asked.

The Kobold nodded, "Some people are content to belong to someone," he said, "life is a lot simpler when someone stronger and smarter can tell you what to do. Most Kobolds think that way. It works out well. He treats us as his possessions, but he takes care of his possessions. He can be scary, but we know from experience he does it for show. I am one of the few Kobolds who get to know him personally on account of there being so many of us, but I think most of his servants will tell you about the same. We are happy to be with him."

"I'm glad to hear he hasn't changed much since we last met," I said.

"How does your arm feel?" He asked, pulling the light away.

It was still stiff, but I could tell it was otherwise repaired as I rotated the shoulder and elbow to try it out.

"It's wonderful, thank you," I said, " do you mind me asking, which God you follow? I am unfamiliar with that symbol."

The symbol in question was a circle, that seemed to be a mosaic of various types of metal gem and glass. Bronze, steel, silver and gold made a mess of wire that entangled shards of sapphire, ruby, emerald and topaz. The whole cluster was encased in clear glass shaped like a lens with another metal band and polished wood cover holding it together. Despite its complexity, it fit in the palm of the kobolds hand.

"It isn't one god," he replied, "it is the symbol of the Forsaken Assembly."

"I'm afraid I haven't heard of it," I replied intrigued.

"I joined recently in the grand scheme of things, but the people who made it ensured the stories of its creations were in its teachings.  Before the Calamity, the presence of gods was one of the driving factors in the wars that ravaged the world. There were gods for the sun, the moon, the waves, the deep, the wind, love, hate, basically anything. There were multiple gods for the same thing, and multiple names for the same gods," he explained.

"I remember," I said, "I remember where I grew up many believed our powers were tied to the nature god Aryonda. Others advocated that it came from nature itself. The essence of life and energy moving through all things."