Knights of the Platinum Dragon: A D&D Story

Chapter 19: Tales Old and New, Part III

As he said those words, the entire party's attention was seized in an iron vice. Romain turned and gestured up to the tapestry on the wall behind him, hanging above the dais in the great hall and illuminated in a halo of yellow light by the sun outside.

The tapestry depicted eight figures, each one clad in gleaming plate armour and a coloured surcoat depicting their coat-of arms, kneeling in a verdant grove at the edge of a gleaming silver lake, their weapons planted in the earth and their heads bowed. In this lake, seeming to walk upon its shimmering surface, was a tall and elegant woman – her flowing hair the colour of platinum, her slender, flowing robe of purest white, and the wings that crested from her back burned with holy light.

In the woman's hands was a glittering crown, carved into draconic patterns from the same material as her hair and studded with sapphires. She was placing it on the head of the foremost armoured figure, and across the bottom of this artwork, upon a band of cobalt blue fabric, were five words worked in bold text of purest white – 'Honour. Wisdom. Compassion, Humility. Valour.'

Logan felt something stir inside him as he gazed upon the tapestry, the word "Magnificent..." slipping from his mouth as he studied every detail before turning to Romain. "What does this depict?"

Romain turned to him and smiled. "The Crowning of King Garahel." He then turned back around to face his dinner guests with every eye on him. "Long ago, when Milisevre was but a hidden region of Faerun with no name, the settlers who were drawn here by the fertile soil and the gentle climate found that it was no paradise. As yet untouched by civilization, monsters of all kinds roamed our hills, lurked in our forests and prowled our mountains. Not a patch of earth was safe, and so the people clustered together into small holdings and fiefs, with the local ruler taking the strongest, bravest men on his lands and keeping them as an elite force of warriors to defend their homes and their families."

Romain's smile broadened as he continued his story. "They became famous, and their feats of courage and honourable selflessness were most pleasing to Bahamut, who decided to bless this land, to shape it to his ideals and make it a beacon of light and virtue for all mortal races..." he said. "So it was that the Platinum Dragon sent one of his most trusted angels to the Material Plane, where she created a site of most holy power from her very essence - the Lake of Virtue. As she fell upon the mortal world, two young warriors from the nearby settlement saw the descent of what seemed to be a falling star and went to investigate..."

As he spoke, the Milisevran turned back to the tapestry and pointed out two of the eight figures, one after the other. "The first of them was Garahel, the son and heir of the local lord, and at his side was Calendor, so close a companion to Garahel that they were brothers in all but blood. When the two men arrived where they thought the crater might be, they fell to their knees, awestruck at the sight of both the lake and the Lady within it," he said. "She bid them rise and assured them no harm, then extended her hands and asked for Garahel's sword... and when he gave it of his own free will, she bade him kneel at the lake's edge."

Logan took a deep breath as he heard this as something rumbled in the back of his mind. Something disquieting that lurked in his past, and that the story reminded him of. But he wouldn't interrupt such a wondrous tale.

"Garahel knelt..." Romain continued, "... and Sir Garahel arose, blessed by the Lady and charged by the Platinum Dragon to uphold the sacred, protect the weak and innocent, fight for the right until death, and above all, embody the five chivalric virtues – honour, wisdom, compassion, humility and valour. He was the First Knight in all of Faerun. Immediately after, Calendor became the second, and both men were gifted with armour, shields, swords and steeds by the Lady so that they might better uphold their vows."