ONC 2024 ~ On Hold
Once upon a time there was a little golden dragon. He was the last of his kind and knew nothing of the ways of dragons. One day his hoard of gold was stolen by some men from the castle down the hill. This is the story of how the l...
The queen invited everyone into her castle to discuss the quest. Because Golden Scale was still a young dragon, he easily fit in the throne room, which was a marvelous sight. Pillars held the lofty ceiling up, marble floors reflected everyone in the party, and the thrones sat upon a gilded pedestal.
The queen had a magnificent thone, and the princess had a nice throne beside her. But among these sat two empty thrones. Once the queen and the princess were seated, everyone bowed or kneeled before them.
"I am Anastasia, queen of West Castle, and I invite you to my castle. This is Cadence the princess," the queen said, gesturing to the princess who sat upon her throne. She was probably seven years old with wavy blonde hair and a beautiful princess dress of pink silk.
"The heir has been missing for a moon," queen Anastasia said, gazing sadly at the empty throne near the princess's throne. "My son Caden went on a quest to find his father, king Agustus, who went missing a year ago. King Agustus was on a mission to stop the goblin king from attacking our kingdom. But he never returned from the goblin forest."
"That is where we should go then," Derrick said. "The goblin forest."
"I believe that is where Prince Caden has gone," said Queen Anastasia. "But there is a problem."
"What problem?" Tedric the dwarf asked.
"There are many places along the way where a young prince could find himself trapped."
"It's true," Felix said. "To get to the goblin forest, we must travel through the fairy forest, over the dragon mountain, through the spider woods, across the plains of the orcs, and into the goblin forest. It is a long and perilous journey."
"Well, then we best gather our provisions and make haste," Tedric the dwarf said.
"Before you go, I wish to offer you gifts to aid you on your quest," Queen Anastasia said. "Name your prize. Anything, and I will gift it to you, and more when you return. I will be in your debt if you bring home my husband, King Agustus, and our son Prince Caden."
So each member of the party took their turn telling the queen what they wished for in return for agreeing to go on this quest. Derrick the wizard wished to be the head of the wizards, and the queen promised he would have a high ranking position in the wizards should he return. Hearing his brother's idea, Felix also asked if he could serve as head of the wizards along with his brother, and the queen promised him. For now, she gave them both magical talismans that could unlock any door, ward off evil, and be a beacon in the darkness.
Tedric the dwarf asked for a fine meal and plenty of food for the journey, and the queen agreed with a smile on her face. It seemed they would have a feast tonight before they left.
Fawna the fairy made a tinkling noise, but no one could understand what she meant. She made the noise again and again, and finally, the princess said, "She wants you to protect the fairy forest from a great evil that lurks there."
"How do you know what she says?" asked Selene, the elf sorceress.
Queen Anastasia said, "Well, of course I agree to protect your forest from evil. I will send soldiers to the fairy forest along with the party, who will stay in the forest to protect the wee folk."
Selene the elf sorceress asked the queen for magic potions that would do all kinds of special things. Queen Anastasia gave Selene full access to her apothecary's treasure trove of ingredients and potions.
Windam the centaur asked the queen for aid in the green grass sea of the north, where his people lived and fought against the orcs constantly. Queen Anastasia agreed to send cavalry along with the party who would stay in the plains and fight alongside the centaurs to defeat the orcs once and for all.
When Queen Anastasia asked what Golden Scale wished for, the dragon couldn't think of anything. So he pondered while Shina told the queen he wished to become the familiar of a great wizard, so Felix agreed to carry Shina and teach him magical ways.
Then Yellow Feather agreed that being a familiar would be marvelous, so Derrick agreed to carry the bird with him and teach her all he knew of magic.
Then Queen Anastasia asked Golden Scale again what he would desire in exchange for going on this quest, and finally he said, "I only wish to have my mirror back."
"Then I will have it returned to you. Where is the mirror?" the queen asked.
"The Uneven Man has it."
"The Uneven Man?"
"The ghastly man who had trapped all the dragons and turned them to stone. I saw the red dragon take all the treasure to the Uneven Man in exchange for releasing all the dragons. But I don't know what's become of my treasure."
"Oh. Well then I grant you permission to go seek out this mirror before you begin your quest for me," Queen Anastasia said.
Golden Scale nodded. "Thank you, my queen."
The queen nodded and said, "But first, let's have our feast." And she gave the dwarf a big smile.
So the cooks of the castle prepared a giant feast for the future heroes to be, who sat down at the massive table in the great hall and enjoyed all the food. There were vegetables prepared in all sorts of delicious ways, meat of all sorts cooked to perfection, and bread and cheese and cider. Enough to eat for everyone, even Golden Scale, who found that he much preferred human food to bugs.
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For dessert they had tarts and ice cream that was frozen using ice brought from the top of the mountain. It was magnificent. Everyone went to sleep that night with a full belly and pleasant dreams.
And that is how the queen of West Castle gave the party of nine friends the quest to find her missing son, Prince Caden, and her husband, King Agustus.
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