It’s Dungeons and Dragons time! Here’s the latest installment of the epic journey of our heroines, Danaeryzard and Alaria! (If you’re new here, check out the entire saga in order by reading the chapters organized on the D&D tab of this site!)

…………..

It was 10AM at the South Hall, and it seemed even more vast and glorious in the daylight. Danaeryzard and Alaria were ready to start their heist to get an etching of the engravings in the Princess’ Diadem for the Midnight Ring, so that they could rescue the Castle Bookstore shopkeeper, Samuel. 

Alaria had disguised herself as an old man, a Royal Jeweler named ‘Jasox.’ Her plan was to claim that she was there to do a presentation on how to properly clean the royal jewels that were on display in the South Hall. Dany was planning to enter separately as a regular visitor and create a diversion when ‘Jasox’ reached the diadem, so that Alaria could secretly get the etching that they needed. 

‘Jasox’ approached the entrance of the South Hall and was met by a row of guards at the entrance, who questioned the random appearance of this unknown Royal Jeweler. One of the guards called over to his captain, “Jacob – can you come here and verify this jeweler?”

Jacob was annoyed to be interrupted. He was busy talking to the charming South Hall curator Willow and did not want to be disturbed for something trivial like this. He began berating the team for shouting to him across the South Hall.  

Willow told Jacob to relax and assign a guard to accompany ‘Jasox’ around the hall to clean the various jewels on display. She brought ‘Jasox’ into a side room and gave him a special set of royal jeweler tools, as well as a set of cleaning instructions for specifics. Alaria was a bit nervous, but wouldn’t let it show through her disguise. If she made any mistakes as she impersonated this Royal Jeweler, then her cover would be blown. ‘Jasox’ would have to be very focused.

Back at the entrance of the South Hall, Dany was making her way through the guard security check, handing over her daggers and crossbow before walking through the door. She kept her distance from Alaria in her ‘Jasox’ disguise, but made sure that the Royal Jeweler was in view at all times. Danaeryzard was planning to wait for the signal – ‘Jasox’ will drop his tools – and then she’ll create a diversion. Dany watched ‘Jasox’ clean the first jeweled crown on display without any issues. Dany pretended to be inspecting a jeweled staff in a random display case.

“Do you know how much copper is in that staff? With the price of copper these days, that staff is worth a fortune!” laughed a gruff voice behind Dany, surprising her and causing her to spin around and see a rather round dwarf. “Oh did I startle you? My apologies. I’m Chancellor Thormek, I’m visiting Castle Drachen for the Trade Conference this week. I don’t usually see non-humans around here! You… caught my eye.”

Dany shook his outstretched hand and explained that she was a new member of the Expeditionary Guard at the castle. Chancellor Thormek identified himself as a history buff, and began to drone on and on about the background of each item that was on display. Dany decided to walk around with the Chancellor; he might help her blend in while she waited for the signal from ‘Jasox’ at the other end of the South Hall. 

The far side of the South Hall was starting to draw a crowd, as ‘Jasox’ continued on his presentation to properly clean the royal jewels. It was a rare chance for people to see the jewels out of their display cases, and some of the visitors were starting to watch ‘Jasox’ quite closely. Alaria was nervous and sweating a little in her ‘Jasox’ disguise and she fumbled with her tools, but luckily she did not drop any! If she gave the signal at the wrong time, the entire heist might be ruined. But ‘Jasox’ continued on without issue, and when he finished cleaning the royal dagger that he was holding, the crowd gave a polite round of quiet claps.

Dany led the Chancellor a little further into the South Hall to keep a better watch on ‘Jasox.’ The Princess’ Diadem was located in the back of the hall, and ‘Jasox’ was approaching it. Dany knew the signal would be coming soon, and she began to feel nerves and panic sweep through her body. What was her distraction plan? She was going to have to use her Breath Weapon to start a fire, but she didn’t want to cause too much destruction. 

Suddenly Dany heard ‘Jasox’ drop his tools on the floor with a loud clang. Dany froze for a moment, but she knew she had to act. She turned towards a wall that was covered with a red velvet drape and sneezed out loudly, blasting her Dragonborn Breath Weapon out in a cone of fire from her lizard-like mouth. Unfortunately, Chancellor Thormek was also in the line of the flames, and his burly beard and flowing royal robes caught fire. The drapes along the wall also began to burn, and the distraction was certainly working. Everyone in the room was looking at Danaeryzard and the Chancellor, and the guards were running towards her with their swords drawn. Dany raised her arms and immediately began shouting that it was an accident.

During the commotion, Alaria in her ‘Jasox’ disguise had no problem pulling a piece of paper and creating an etching of the engraving on the inside of the Diadem. The guard that had been watching ‘Jasox’ was rushing to help with the fire situation on the other side of the hall. In a matter of ten seconds Alaria’s heist was complete, but Dany’s troubles were far from over.

One guard used the end of his sword to bludgeon Dany in the back as another guard yelled for her to get on the ground. More guards were patting down the Chancellor to put out the fires on his robes and beard, and the once-friendly dwarf was now cursing in dwarvish at Dany, and screaming at the guards for letting a Dragonborn into their midst.

“I only sneezed! I have trouble controlling my Breath Weapon sometimes! It was an accident!” Dany pleaded, but the guards continued to attack her. 

Meanwhile, ‘Jasox’ folded the etching back into his robes, pretended to have a coughing fit from the smoke, and demanded that the guards let him leave the South Hall. Cleared from the building, Alaria rushed back to the Barracks to remove her disguise and hide the etching somewhere safe. Then she would come back and try to help Dany, somehow.

It didn’t seem like any amount of help would change Dany’s situation. She was laying prone, face down on the ground as the guards continued to beat and kick her.

“This is excessive brutality! I am in the Expeditionary Guard!” Dany cried, trying to cover her face from more beatings. 

“The jewels in the South Hall are worth more than your LIFE!” a guard spat at her as he and another lifted Dany from the ground and escorted her into a Guard Barracks room off to the side of the South Hall. Dany was placed in restraints and the guards held her there until they received further orders.

Alaria showed up at the South Hall, as herself, and claimed to the guards at the door that Esmeralda had sent her to retrieve Dany. But just at that moment, Esmeralda arrived and coldly told Alaria go back to the Barracks. Esmeralda marched inside the South Hall and was shocked to see the guards putting out fires, and the recently doused Chancellor cursing and panting. Esmeralda had been given simple orders – throw Danaeryzard Targeleon in the Dungeons.

Hours later, Dany was in her Dungeon cell, sitting on a bed of hay. The Dungeons were dark and dank, but Dany knew precisely where she was… because she used to guard and clean these cells when she was working for the Expeditionary Guard. Now she was a prisoner. She felt sad and regretful. She had never meant for anyone to get hurt. This was turning into a repeat of when she was exiled from her home after she burned down the outdoor market. Dany was furious with herself. Why did she think that a fire was a good idea for a distraction? She should have thought more about the repercussions of her actions! Dany could only hope that Alaria would be able to complete the mission on her own.

But Alaria wasn’t thinking about delivering the sketch to the Midnight Ring at that moment. She was trying to rescue her partner! The guards at the Dungeons wouldn’t let Alaria get anywhere near the prisoner cells. Alaria used her Mage Hand spell to pickpocket a key from the guards, but she knew there was no way to get past them. Esmeralda suddenly contacted Alaria through the Chat Ring and told her to meet her in the Barracks for a debrief. Alaria obeyed and acted as though she didn’t know what was going on with Dany.

Esmeralda was blunt and said that Dany had set a Chancellor and some drapes in the South Hall on fire, and that she was in a lot of trouble and suspected of being a part of an evil Dragonborn clan working with the Midnight Ring. Alaria was shocked that Esmeralda would believe Dany to be evil, after having worked with her so closely. Dragonborn prejudice seemed to be very prevalent in this castle all of the sudden.

Esmeralda asked Alaria for the Orc translations that they were sent to retrieve. Alaria simply replied that there was a delay and she would have them soon. She asked again for Esmeralda to free Dany, but Esmeralda claimed that at this moment, her hands were tied.

Later on in the evening, Esmeralda and Hendricks walked into Dany’s cell in the dungeon. Dany was very nervous looking at their stern faces. Hendricks seemed to be glaring at her with hate in his eyes. Once again, Dany stated her case – that it was an accident, she needs to learn to control her Breath Weapon, nobody was seriously injured, this was all blown out of proportion… but Esmeralda and Hendricks didn’t want to listen. 

“We know that you’re working with the Midnight Ring! You Dragonborn are bred to be villains!” Hendricks shouted at Dany, trying to intimidate her. Esmeralda rolled her eyes a bit, thinking that Hendricks was taking this a bit too far. 

“You should have known better, Esmeralda. We trusted her, and now THIS happens!” Hendricks shouted as he stormed out of the dungeon cell and out of sight. 

When they were alone, Esmeralda’s face changed and showed a bit of sadness.

“I’m fighting for you up there, Dany. But you’ve really gotten yourself into a mess. I don’t know how much I can do at this point. Hendricks outranks me and the Princess is furious with you. Just stay here, do what they tell you, and hopefully I’ll get you out of the Dungeon soon. There isn’t anything I can do right now…” Esmeralda said softly, and made her exit.

Dany sighed and rubbed her arms to help keep her warm as she sat alone in the dark.

Later that night, a hooded figure rode on horseback in the moonlight to a barn in the outskirts of Drachen City. The figure dismounted the horse, cracked the door of the barn open and slipped inside. Inside the barn stood another hooded figure waiting and lighting a lantern. The dim light revealed Hendricks, holding out a sealed scroll.

“Here it is, Ezra,” Hendricks whispered, passing the scroll to the Midnight Ring recruiter – the same elf who tried to convince Dany and Alaria to join the Ring back when the duo had first met! Ezra nodded knowingly at Hendricks and slipped the scroll into her satchel. 

“We’ll bust Dany out though, right?” Hendricks asked.

Ezra laughed and her white eye gleamed.

“Don’t worry Hendricks, the Ring isn’t done with those two just yet…”

…………………..

And so ends the latest installment of our DnD adventures! Thanks for reading! I hope you like this ongoing storyline lol! If you play Dungeons and Dragons too, let’s hear about your character in the comments! 🙂