A Malevolent Rebirth: A D&D Story

| Southward | Wastelands of Evergreen | Part 1 |

The hot air of the desert warps the air as heatwaves permeate the path ahead. On the horizon, a ruined fortress, walls of stone crumbled and flags tattered the former kingdom of Dragoon lay ahead. 

Dragoon a city once renowned for its archaic honoring of dragons, said to have been host to one of the last ancient dragons from centuries past. A glorious and ancient city, now reduced to rubble and destroyed history. The final kingdom of man finally lost.

The party rides up the road, they dismount the horses in the shelter of a dilapidated watchtower at the base of the final climb. A sandy hill once the key road of trade and visit to this kingdom. The party begins their trek uphill to the open gates at the front of the fortress.

The wooden gates are splintered and broken open from the outside, the large reinforced doors toppled on the floor, shards of oak strewn across the entryway. The party enters and surveys the large open hub of the kingdom.

Destroyed homes, crushed stores, smoldering cathedrals, and torn open guard posts line the interior, only a handful of buildings still stand with some semblance of accessibility to them. Bones and skulls sit burned or blackened throughout the entire fortress.

Errich begins to move towards a somewhat intact manor to the western side of the fortress, mounting Jackson as he moves away from the group.

Thokk follows closely behind. Alain turns and looks back towards Grym, Zavari, and Zasheida.

"I have no interest in going through these buildings, I'll keep watch."

Zavari and Zasheida both nod and begin to move towards what looks to be some sort of magic temple with half of the roof caved in. Grym remains by Alain's side as they both move into the shade of a nearby building by the gates.

Errich creaks open the door to the manor only to find the backside of the house, unseen from their former vantage point is completely destroyed. The only visible room intact being an office off to the right side of the building. Errich and Thokk make their way to the room, leaving Jackson by the door.

The office has a couch, a desk with four drawers, and a bookshelf on the wall. Most of the books are on the floor torn from what you can assume was an attempt to flee, only one book remains on the shelf fallen to its side. The desk has a small handful of gold coins next to an empty pouch, and on the couch is an old shortsword halfway rolled out of a bundle of cloth.

Errich grabs the book and the coin, Thokk takes the sword. Their eyes meet, Errich holds the book up.

"Got a book. The Ballad of the Great King Holdo."

Thokk puts the sword on his belt and looks to the book in Errich's hand.

"Thokk no, know how read. Thokk like money, but have none."

Errich flicks a gold coin to Thokk and heads out of the room.

"Well now you do, I'll make sure to buy anything you need. At least until you get your own money."

Thokk smiles and the pair exit the manor.

Within the building that has been revealed to be the House of Magic, Zasheida notices a collection of old arcane relics on a table. The items are either broken or covered in rubble and dust. Zavari scans through a number of open crates that look to be set aside in a storage closet.

Zasheida scans the table and finds a wooden staff with the head of a python on the top tucked beneath a broken portion of the workbench. She picks it up and almost instantly feels a special connection with it, perhaps it's the Yuan-Ti-inspired craftwork that would be hidden to the normal person, or perhaps it's the literal python on the head. Either way, this staff was meant for her. She stows it on her back, in an empty sling.