Post by Bannanachair on Aug 9, 2018 1:16:35 GMT -4
"I didn't mean to discredit bringing up Lemurrath, my lord," Hedrek said, "and I do firmly believe that he will be a problem. Not immediately, but it is better to be preemptive in these things. The fact of the matter, though, is that I just don't have a solution in mind."
"Some foreign kingdoms with dragons less noble than the Great Dragon Nizeston employ dragonslayers on occasion. When I was his squire, Runhild mentioned that he himself had squired for one such knight in Elusia. I forget his name, but I know the dragons that he's slain - Mosocron the Nocturnal, Geldresdyt and Ekontyss. Sir Denkahm Graverson, that was his name! A Tedalian, not an Elusian."
"Sir Hartwig, I mean you no disrespect at all, but that must have been over a hundred years ago," Raethus said. "Tedal stopped being a kingdom at almost the same time as Mallowater, some of its land becoming Vrelonian and one or two duchies joined Legia. I don't recognize the names Geldresdyt nor Ekontyss either, and I've read every catalogue of dragons written this century. Mosocron the Nocturnal sounds familiar, but I'll have to do some research in the library to jog my memory of who he is."
"No need," the grizzled warrior replied, "Mosocron the Nocturnal was a fearsome black dragon that lived in a swamp far to the north-east of here in what was then the Duchy of Sivil in the Kingdom of Tedal, but would nowadays be on the northern border of Vrelon and Slairis. He was cunning and cruel and wicked, and would redirect unsuspecting travelers away from the road and into his swamp, where he acquired a love of the chase. He would keep his prey up all night, haunting them and chasing them, and then finally eating them alive with the sunrise. Before that he had done the same thing in various parts of Legia and before that he lived in Vrelon for some years, and I think he may have been born in Eredal, though I don't actually know for sure. He may have also been in Traketus very briefly, but most accounts of most dragons simply specify the colours of the scales and the size of the dragon rather than trying to find out the name of the dragon, so these chronologies get hard to keep track of.
"Anyway, instead of simply chasing out the dragon, the duke of Sivil at the time, Duke Hunum III, petitioned the king of Tedal for a force to kill Mosocron. So King Tahrir sent a force of twenty of his best-trained knights to augment Hunum's forces. He was Tahrir IV or V, I think. The boy one who died at twenty. Hunum accepted the twenty men and sent them alongside his twenty best men into the swamp to find Mosocron. For the first week that they were in the swamp, they couldn't find the Nocturnal Beast, but he could find them. Then, every night for the next thirty-five nights, a man from the expedition would go missing. Eventually there were only five knights left, and the five knights knew that they would only have five nights left to live, so they left.
"One of those knights was Hunum's only son, a man named Viluhm. To avenge his fallen friends, Viluhm asked his father and the king for eighty men, and they each gave him forty men. Keep in mind that none of these men were untrained peasants, but each and every one of them a proven fighter. With his new troupe of eighty men, Viluhm set out into the swamp again to look for Mosocron, and again the knights vanished night by night. Viluhm wasn't stupid, however, and as such ordered his men to pair off so that one would always watch another. This time, when a man would go missing, his partner would be found blinded, his eyes taken out by acid and his face scarred, but the man otherwise intact. Then the injured man would be taken the next night. After seventy-five days in the swamp, looking for Mosocron, Viluhm left again, and his father gave up and ordered that none were to go into the swamp.
"Viluhm was unsatisfied with his father's response, as he knew that Mosocron the Nocturnal would not be deterred of humans that easily. In a last-ditch effort he wrote to the most renowned dragonslayer in Tedal, Sir Denkahm Graverson, who had already slain Geldresdyt and Ekontyss by this stage, and implored him for help. Sir Denkahm wasn't at all what Viluhm had expected, however: Where Viluhm had expected a big and powerful warrior, Denkahm was a man of average build, if a bit on the scrawnier end. Where Viluhm had expected a man who fought with a lance or longsword, Denkahm had a shortsword, two knives a bow and some arrows. However, Denkahm was Viluhm's only option, and so the two of them set out into the swamp together.
"Denkahm and Viluhm both knew that Mosocron was watching them, however, and neither particularly wanted to be eaten. So on that very first night, when Viluhm had his back turned on Denkahm, Denkahm drew his sword and used it to subdue Viluhm."
As tends to happen when old men talk of faraway kingdoms and even older knights, a number of children had gathered to hear Hartwig tell this tale. "That can't be what happened!" interrupted one such child, "Viluhm is the hero of the story!"
"Let me finish the story!" Hartwig said in response. "Anyway, Denkahm subdued Viluhm, and then called out to Mosocron, offering a deal. In exchange for some of the riches, Denkahm would help lure as many rich merchants as possible into the swamp despite Hunum's decree. 'And it would be easy for me to get some glory-hungry knights as well,' Denkahm said, 'because I could just say that they have the opportunity to succeed where I failed.'
"Mosocron considered for a moment, but that moment of consideration was all that Denkahm needed. For in that moment of hesitation, Denkahm drew his bow and blinded Mosocron with two arrows, one in each eye, and then he used his knives to cut Viluhm free as the two knights slew Mosocron together. At least, that's how Runhild told me the story, and I can only assume it to be a slightly exaggerated version of how Denkahm would have made himself sound better than reality."
"Some foreign kingdoms with dragons less noble than the Great Dragon Nizeston employ dragonslayers on occasion. When I was his squire, Runhild mentioned that he himself had squired for one such knight in Elusia. I forget his name, but I know the dragons that he's slain - Mosocron the Nocturnal, Geldresdyt and Ekontyss. Sir Denkahm Graverson, that was his name! A Tedalian, not an Elusian."
"Sir Hartwig, I mean you no disrespect at all, but that must have been over a hundred years ago," Raethus said. "Tedal stopped being a kingdom at almost the same time as Mallowater, some of its land becoming Vrelonian and one or two duchies joined Legia. I don't recognize the names Geldresdyt nor Ekontyss either, and I've read every catalogue of dragons written this century. Mosocron the Nocturnal sounds familiar, but I'll have to do some research in the library to jog my memory of who he is."
"No need," the grizzled warrior replied, "Mosocron the Nocturnal was a fearsome black dragon that lived in a swamp far to the north-east of here in what was then the Duchy of Sivil in the Kingdom of Tedal, but would nowadays be on the northern border of Vrelon and Slairis. He was cunning and cruel and wicked, and would redirect unsuspecting travelers away from the road and into his swamp, where he acquired a love of the chase. He would keep his prey up all night, haunting them and chasing them, and then finally eating them alive with the sunrise. Before that he had done the same thing in various parts of Legia and before that he lived in Vrelon for some years, and I think he may have been born in Eredal, though I don't actually know for sure. He may have also been in Traketus very briefly, but most accounts of most dragons simply specify the colours of the scales and the size of the dragon rather than trying to find out the name of the dragon, so these chronologies get hard to keep track of.
"Anyway, instead of simply chasing out the dragon, the duke of Sivil at the time, Duke Hunum III, petitioned the king of Tedal for a force to kill Mosocron. So King Tahrir sent a force of twenty of his best-trained knights to augment Hunum's forces. He was Tahrir IV or V, I think. The boy one who died at twenty. Hunum accepted the twenty men and sent them alongside his twenty best men into the swamp to find Mosocron. For the first week that they were in the swamp, they couldn't find the Nocturnal Beast, but he could find them. Then, every night for the next thirty-five nights, a man from the expedition would go missing. Eventually there were only five knights left, and the five knights knew that they would only have five nights left to live, so they left.
"One of those knights was Hunum's only son, a man named Viluhm. To avenge his fallen friends, Viluhm asked his father and the king for eighty men, and they each gave him forty men. Keep in mind that none of these men were untrained peasants, but each and every one of them a proven fighter. With his new troupe of eighty men, Viluhm set out into the swamp again to look for Mosocron, and again the knights vanished night by night. Viluhm wasn't stupid, however, and as such ordered his men to pair off so that one would always watch another. This time, when a man would go missing, his partner would be found blinded, his eyes taken out by acid and his face scarred, but the man otherwise intact. Then the injured man would be taken the next night. After seventy-five days in the swamp, looking for Mosocron, Viluhm left again, and his father gave up and ordered that none were to go into the swamp.
"Viluhm was unsatisfied with his father's response, as he knew that Mosocron the Nocturnal would not be deterred of humans that easily. In a last-ditch effort he wrote to the most renowned dragonslayer in Tedal, Sir Denkahm Graverson, who had already slain Geldresdyt and Ekontyss by this stage, and implored him for help. Sir Denkahm wasn't at all what Viluhm had expected, however: Where Viluhm had expected a big and powerful warrior, Denkahm was a man of average build, if a bit on the scrawnier end. Where Viluhm had expected a man who fought with a lance or longsword, Denkahm had a shortsword, two knives a bow and some arrows. However, Denkahm was Viluhm's only option, and so the two of them set out into the swamp together.
"Denkahm and Viluhm both knew that Mosocron was watching them, however, and neither particularly wanted to be eaten. So on that very first night, when Viluhm had his back turned on Denkahm, Denkahm drew his sword and used it to subdue Viluhm."
As tends to happen when old men talk of faraway kingdoms and even older knights, a number of children had gathered to hear Hartwig tell this tale. "That can't be what happened!" interrupted one such child, "Viluhm is the hero of the story!"
"Let me finish the story!" Hartwig said in response. "Anyway, Denkahm subdued Viluhm, and then called out to Mosocron, offering a deal. In exchange for some of the riches, Denkahm would help lure as many rich merchants as possible into the swamp despite Hunum's decree. 'And it would be easy for me to get some glory-hungry knights as well,' Denkahm said, 'because I could just say that they have the opportunity to succeed where I failed.'
"Mosocron considered for a moment, but that moment of consideration was all that Denkahm needed. For in that moment of hesitation, Denkahm drew his bow and blinded Mosocron with two arrows, one in each eye, and then he used his knives to cut Viluhm free as the two knights slew Mosocron together. At least, that's how Runhild told me the story, and I can only assume it to be a slightly exaggerated version of how Denkahm would have made himself sound better than reality."