Dramatis Personae: Daniri Hellbent, the barbarian(tall kobold with tough, dark red scales) Davicii Hellbent, the artificer(short kobold with soft, light blue scales) Doniramo Hellbent, the paladin(medium kobold with sharp, shiny jade green scales) /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// “Danny! Get down from there!” From his spot on the overhang of the library entrance, Danny had almost reached the gargoyle statue. His claws dug into the polished marble, scratching and defacing ornate carvings as he hung precariously almost 30 feet in the air. Despite Donny’s warnings, Danny kept on climbing, intent on getting his view. “He’s going to climb up, and get himself hurt. Let him, he’ll learn,” said Davy with a chuckle. “We both know that’s not true. Cmon, get him down before he falls,” asked Donny. Reluctantly, Davy began a small chant, and waved his hands around. Daviricio was the weakest and smallest of the trio, but uncontestedly the smartest. The kobold bro’s were servants of an old and powerful red dragon couple, and had lived with their tribe in service all their life. An unfortunate artificer had fallen prey to their master’s lair along with the rest of his party, and Davy managed to sneak off with his corpse. For months he labored to acquire magic from what remained of the artificer, and when he was at the point of breaking, about to give up, a spark of magic flew from his hand into the wall. A single, tiny spell, barely a cantrip, but magic all the same. “[i]Manus Lux[/i]” Davy finished the components, and a spectral hand of yellow energy appeared. Guiding it with his mind, the mage hand grabbed Danny by the tail and gave it a tug. Not expecting to be pulled back, he slipped, claws scratching uselessly against the marble, and fell. “Davy! Are you trying to get him killed?!” Shouted Donny. Donny was not as smart as Davy, nor as strong as Danny. Where the other two were unruly, chaotic fellows, Don had striven to be a paladin of virtue. This conflicted with his chaotic nature, but made him the good heart the team revolved around. Strength and brains can get you far, but it takes a heart to reach the end. Danny fell, and despite being wholly incapable of catching his brother, Donny rushed to soften his fall. This he surely did, but it knocked the wind out of him. Jumping back up to his feet, Danny shook it off. “Hey! I was gonna climb that!” Danny shouted at Davy. “You would have fallen anyway, I just sped it up,” laughed Davy as he ran away from his hulking brother. “Glad… to know… you’re ok,” whispered Donny, catching his breath. “You saved me, thanks bro,” said Danny. “Here, let me help you up.” Grabbing the paladin by the hand, the barbarian swept him onto his feet. “I owe you one.” “Don’t… mention it… say, where’s Davy?” “Probably hiding from me. If I get my hands on hi-” “No, please. We need to keep an eye on the young master, we’ve been away for far too long. Davy knows to come back to the library, let’s head inside, he might even be watching us.” “Oh, alright.” The two walked up the steps, and Danny pulled the door open. Standing 3 feet tall, he was huge by Kobold standards. His big, burly arms coated in dark, tough red scales seemed almost comical on his small, kobold frame. Other kobold’s feared him, and dwarves kept their guard, but really Danny was as honest and simple as they come. He just liked to get angry when he fought, maybe a little too angry... Donny wasn’t weak either, but it was normal for Danny to open heavier doors for his clutchmates. The two headed over to the arcane labs to check on the young master. He was busy, having started his midterm magic assessment test, and used the labs often. The kobold servants didn’t mind the dark much, and thankfully he got them all a pair of sunglasses for daytime. This was the first time the trio had been sent to serve the young master, and they were excited to see the big city, OffTopic, for the first time. “Y’know, Davy could use a lab like these,” said Donny. “Hm.” “What, still mad?” “No... Not mad... Thinking.” “What, the brute is thinking? Praise Kurtulmak!” said Davy behind the duo. Danny spun around to punch his brother, but his fast only shattered the air. His eyes began to glow, and rage almost set in before Donny stopped him. “Hey hey hey, slow down, he’s using magic to tease. And don’t say his name like that!” said Don, shouting the last part so his brother could hear. Donny had at first tried to be a cleric of Kurtulmak, but with a strong tendency to fight heathens, he chose instead to be a paladin. Taking an oath, Don was a fervent follower of the deity who empowered him. This often got him into conflict with Davy, who didn’t believe the gods existed, despite their power manifested before his eyes. Danny hated magic but couldn’t care less about deities and demigods. “Let’s get going. I hate this place,” said Danny. “By all means, let’s,” answered Donny. The two walked down the stairs into the sub-level labs, past the front desk, and into the lab. Cool, magic laden stone supported the dangerous tests that happened here. The doors were reinforced with metal and triple locked for safety. Standing on Danny’s arms, Donny unlocked the door. The duo pushed open the heavy portal, and entered. Inside was a mess of beakers, books and spell components spread all over the room. Tables had been knocked over and black streaks marked the walls, evidence of a fiery breath in the struggle. “Davy! Get in here!” shouted Donny as he began looking around. A fight had ensued for certain, and claw marks on the ground interspersed with blood showed the young master had not gone quietly. In the back of the room Don found purple energy tendrils swirling on the wall, something he had never encountered. “Don’t touch that! That’s Void you imbecile!” screamed Davy as he ran into the room. Donny quickly backed up and let the artificer do his work, investigating the purple residue. The traces all pointed to some sort of portal being opened, and the remains had begun corrupting the lab. More purple goo was slowly spreading across the floor and wall, and slowly but surely would devour it all. “This isn’t good, Don. Whatever kidnapped him was from the Void,” said Davy. “How do we get there? We gotta get him back before…” “Before masters eat us,” said Danny, his face worried. “Well, we have two things going for us,” interjected Davy. “One: the master is napping at this time of year; and Two: he’s still alive, because a dead dragon of his status is a death sentence across the planes.” “Where is the ’Void’?” asked Danny. “I don’t really know. This library has the answers, so we might be able to find it here,” answered Davy. “Then that’s the plan,” said Donny. “We’re going to use the library to find where the Void is and how to get him back. Davy, that’s on you. Danny, you and I are going to look through the young master’s stuff, see if we can find anything, like if he had enemies or money. We have one month to get him back, or it’s the end of the line.” The artificer and barbarian nodded, and the trio snuck out into the night. [spoiler]Poly and all other related characters of mine are being shelved until further notice. I'll be using/working on these little fellows, fleshing them out more. They're around the OT University of Arcana mostly as they work to find the Void and get back their master, feel free to find one, they don't bite... Usually...[/spoiler]