The Adventures of Ser Murdoch and Briggs

The Dragon of Astafar

In the far southern seas lies the continent of Astafar, one of the world's many dangerous places. It's a land cold and full of trees and mountains that climb to the highest heights. Despite the dangerous creatures that roam the land like Dragons and Chimeras and Dullahans, humanity has managed to forge it's place here. At the continent's western shore sits the city of Ahm-Artach and Castle Vellik, a massive palace that overlooks a large, prosperous city. Stemming from this great place by veins of roads are hundreds of small towns and villages lying across the frozen tundra and woodlands.

But all the roads come to a stop before the mighty Asta mountain range, where the most dangerous things dwell in the tunnels and caverns that littered the great peaks. Very few had the guts to climb the Asta mountains and very few who were brave enough ever returned. Those that did spoke of gargantuan creatures the likes of which no man but they had ever seen. Those stories fueled the fears of many that lived below the Astas, making them believe that someday those creatures would descend from their peaks and eat the hapless humans below. Those fears were not unwarranted.

* * *

Finally able to escape the steward's watchful eye, Princess Marysa stealthily made her way out of the castle. She took in the sun's warm rays and the breeze flowing through her long, bronze colored hair. She was sick and tired of staying in that stuffy old place, learning to be a proper lady and whatnot. She thought that was a rather hollow life. What she really wanted was adventure and fame, to journey across the land and sea and witness the world's glory! That was a life worth living!

In time, the Princess finally reached the heart of the city, the Ahm-Artach Square. The chilly, sea air was filled with talk and laughter and the streets were lined with merchants peddling their wares, shouting how theirs was better than the rest. Peasants and nobles walked among knights, armed to the teeth with sun arrow rifles and clothed in thick body armor colored like the Astafarian flag. Dressed like one of the normal folk, it was too easy for Marysa to blend in with the crowd and explore the marketplace without bringing the ire of the city guards.

Marysa strolled down the rows of stalls filled with produce, weaving through the thick crowds of people. Looking at all the ripe fruits and veggies made Marysa's mouth water and her hungry stomach rumble. With a few gold coins, she bought herself a fire leek, a staple crop of the volcanic kingdom of Okgra. One bite of it and her mouth was ablaze with a spicy, but tasty flavor. The princess darted over to another merchant and purchased a bottle of Dieoyanian wine, quenching her thirst and flames. She bought some more things here and there and continued onto the most exciting part of the market, the weapon shops.

Unlike the rest of the marketplace, the shops here in the weapon's district was filled with a symphony of clanging steel, banging hammers, and the crackling sound of plasma power tools. Smiths of swords and guns toiled here, crafting their works of deadly art. The Princess watched them forge their mighty arms with stars in her eyes. Marysa always imagined herself adventuring with such fine weaponry, crossing blades with dragon talons and blasting pirates on the high seas instead of sitting all day sewing frivolous things. Unfortunately, most of the weaponry was way more expensive than she thought and the only thing she could buy with the little money she had was a simple dagger. Marysa was soon getting dirty looks from the smiths. She assumed they weren't fond of window shoppers and quickly moved onward before they called the guard.

When Marysa returned to the main plaza, she felt a hand grasp her shoulder. She turned her head to find one of the royal guard, Crav Engre. He was an older, heavy set man with thick hair on his chin, who had seen (and ran from) many a battle.

“There you are, Princess.” He bellowed and laughed, his belly jiggling like slime cake. “All right, lass, back to the castle!”

“No!” Marysa snapped. “I don't want to go back.”

“Oh, come now. Everyone's all worried about you.”

Old Crav started off to the castle with the struggling girl firmly in hand when suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed across the sky. In an instant, everything went quiet and everyone stopped what they were doing. Marysa quickly looked up to see a gigantic creature with four blood red wings swoop down, breathing a pillar of black flame upon the little town, igniting both homes and streets like torches. It landed in the town square with ground shattering force, knocking everyone around it off their feet. Towering over all the ant sized humans, the beast looked around the city before letting loose another stream of black fire.

“Dra-dra-dragon!” Crav shouted before letting go and running for the hills, leaving the poor girl behind. Marysa wanted to flee too, but she was paralyzed with utter terror. Suddenly, all those fantasies of her's were gone, replaced with the dragon's nightmarish appearance.

The alarms bells sounded with a blaring noise and voices over speakers ordered citizens to flee. Automated turrets rose from ivory towers and slowly swiveled into place, their electronic systems calculating the dragon's position before opening fire. In seconds, the air was filled with solar arrows, littering the dragon's black body with puffs of smoke. The dragon raised it's head to sky, letting out a mighty roar, then breathed a stream of black. Autoguns were instantly turned to slag and towers fell to the streets, unable to stand against the ferocity of the flames.

Royal guard copters soon entered the fray, but they had not gone unnoticed. The dragon breathed a series of fire balls, several of which hit their targets and melted the airships into liquid steel. As it was distracted by the copters, squads of knights came forward and opened fire, but their arrow shaped solar rounds did nothing to the Dragon's impervious hide but turn its gaze upon them. The Dragon raised it's giant claws and swiped at the knights on foot, knocking them away as if they were play things.

One of their rifles landed beside Marysa. She looked at it for a moment, one of her whimsical fantasies returning: to fight off a dragon and protect her kingdom. Her fear turned into bravery as she took the solar rifle, held it firmly while aiming down the sights, and opened fire until the gun jammed, catching the beast in the eye. The dragon swiftly and furiously looked down at the girl, but then smiled devilishly.

“The greatest prize.” It muttered with deep and guttural growl. The dragon carefully plucked the Princess and held her high. “You have the smell of royalty, human.”

“Put me down, beast, or I'll have your head!” She shouted. The Dragon only laughed.

“A feisty little noble. A fine addition to my collection.” And with that, the Dragon opened wide, dropping Marysa, and closing it's maw shut around her. Marysa kicked and screamed trying to escape, but the dragon's twin pronged tongue wrapped around her body and held her tight. After a while of getting soaked in saliva, she felt her feet grasped by the throat's powerful muscles and pull her in. She tried with all her might to keep herself from going down, but it was no use. The Dragon swallowed, sending a a bulge down it's neck and dragging the princess into it's stomach. Having claimed it's prize, the Dragon took to the skies and soared towards the eastern mountains.

Marysa was spat out of the throat's sphincter and thrown upon a hard, wet floor that shuffled and jingled beneath her royal rear. When she opened her eyes, the princess found herself in a fleshy treasure trove of gold, priceless jewels, age old artifacts, and chests full of more coins and gems. It was almost as if the Dragon had devoured the coffers of a hundred kingdoms! She walked down the fleshy hall of a stomach discovering all sorts of things it had eaten, but at the end of the line, she found something that filled her heart with fear. Resting against the stomach wall was a skeleton garbed in a beautiful, pristine dress. Marysa assumed whoever it was wasn't digested given the state of it's attire and that they perished by some other means, starvation being the first to come to mind. That only made the Princess feel worse.

The Princess returned to the stomach entrance and sat down on a pile of gold, hoping that someone would come to her rescue.

* * *

Several hundred miles to the northeast was the archipelago of Equatoria, also known as The Belt. It was quite the opposite of Astafar. The air was always warm in this tropical place, the sun was always shining at its brightest, and while it had it's fair share dangerous creatures, it was far less threatening. Humanity has thrived here, constructing various cities of various sizes all across the islands, each one at the peak of economical and scientific progress.

Near the island of Grand Taigan, one of the most populated isles in the Belt, is a lonely little place called Taigan Brac. Not many creatures reside here and the island is far too small to start a colony, but nestled inside one of the isle grottoes is a quiet little home. The home of Serendipity “Ser” Murdoch and Jacqueline Briggs. Inside this scientific sanctuary, filled with state-of-the-art technology and tools, Murdoch and Briggs toiled at experiments, argued theories, and occasionally fulfilled more...personal needs.

At this very moment (almost an hour after the Black Dragon Incident), they were studying the holographic image of an Dieoyanian Kracken. This fearsome beast recently surfaced around a small fishing village far from it's usual habitat. Murdoch, who towered over everything in the room, stared intently at the image being projected from the table. With the voice of her Equitorian origins, she wondered aloud.

“How could a Dieoyanian Kracken survive in the shores of Okgra? The island is surrounded by fifty miles of ash-filled seawater. Fisherman there usually have to travel hundreds more to find a decent catch.”

“It must be capable of rapidly adapting to it's environment.” Said Briggs with a voice accompanied by a strong Jadecliff accent. Jacqueline Briggs was much smaller and petite compared to her companion, standing just two inches below six feet, but she was just as passionate about the art of science.

“I don't recall them adapting to a new habitat within a single generation.”

Briggs was quiet in thought, then she snapped her fingers with a wide grin. “It must be a mutation!”

Murdoch was silent for a moment, contemplating the idea, then shrugged. “That's one theory, but I still think it's a new species that someone mistaken for a Dieoyanian Kracken.”

“Maybe you're right.” Briggs let out a tired sigh. ”But we won't know unless it shows up again and someone puts a bounty on it.”

“And if it does, I'll fetch it for you myself.” Murdoch said with smile that could melt the eternal ice of Yultz. Briggs tapped a few buttons on the visual screen glass and the image shrunk into the blacktop desk below.

“So, Sera.” Briggs said as she went around the table and took Murdoch's hands. “You don't have any plans tonight, do you?”

“No.” Murdoch sensually replied as she gave Jackie's hands a gentle squeeze. “Do you?”

Briggs shook her head. “How about dinner on the beach?”

“Only if you provide the dinner.”

“I always do.”

Murdoch looked into Jackie's lovely eyes and Jackie looked into Murdoch's. The two them inched closer, their lips ready to receive the others moist embrace. Then, the phones rang. Both of them rolled their eyes as they picked the phones beside them, put it to their ear, and said in one voice.

“Good afternoon, Doctors Serendipity Murdoch and Jacqueline Briggs speaking.”

“He-hello, This is Dr. Isley of Syncerus Center of Science.” replied the trembling voice on the other end.

“Oh, hello Dr. Isley. How's your research on Hellhounds going?”

“Um, G-Good. I didn't get bit today.” She sounded quite proud of that. “Anyway, the head of Dracology gave me a job he thought you both would be interested in. The-there's word that Princess Marysa of Astafar was eaten by a dragon and that the King has put a bounty on it. Dr. Geralt thought you'd like to look into it be-because the dragon in question is an undocumented species...and you have a habit of accidentally rescuing princesses.”

“Well.” Murdoch started, smiling slyly at Briggs. “I could use a break from all the lab work. What do you say, Jackie, wanna nab ourselves a dragon?”

Jacqueline smiled back. “Looks like dinner's going to have to wait.”

* * *

The day was warm and bright and the light breeze was strong with the scent of seawater. The soothing sound of the waves crashing against the rocks was soon joined by the booming noise of helicopter blades cutting through the air. Dressed in their technologically advanced Hazard suits with helmets in hand, Murdoch and Briggs approached a descending Astafarian Copter. When it was planted firmly on the ground and the rotor blades slowed, the sliding door opened, and man dressed in elegant silk robes stepped out along with two knights.

“Greetings.” He shouted over the copter's roaring engines. “I am Gustov, steward of Castle Vellik. You must be Dr. Murdoch and Dr. Briggs. Your...friends at Syncerus Center of Science said you would be helping us with our problem.”

“Yep, that's us.” Murdoch replied, shaking the old man's hand with her massive gauntlet. I'm Dr. Murdoch and this is my companion, Dr. Briggs.”

“What can you tell us about the specimen, Gustov?” Briggs inquired immediately.

“Right to the point, I see. Very good.” He motioned his head towards the copter. “Come, we'll discuss the Dragon along the way.”

Everyone proceeded into the aircraft. Briggs made herself comfy while Murdoch, sitting in two seats, was awkwardly bent over and cramped. As soon as the door sealed shut, the copter's engine's roared and the rotor blades spun faster and faster, steadily lifting the aircraft off the asphalt and into the skies.

“The people have already named it the Dragon of Astafar.” Gustov started. “I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw it. It came flying from the east with a mighty roar, spewing fire blacker than the night and hot enough to turn metal into liquid.” The old steward began to tear up and his voice choked. “I left Princess Marysa out of my sight for a moment and the last time I saw her, I watched the dragon swallow her whole and alive.”

“I'm sorry for what happened, but could you tell us more about the Dragon?” Briggs asked, changing the subject before the man could break down. Gustov took a moment to collect himself and said.

“It had to be more than a thirty...forty feet tall, almost as big as Castle Vellik, with scales darker than shadows and blood red wings.”

“Black scales and crimson wings.” Murdoch leaned over Briggs. “Never heard of a dragon like that.”

“It wouldn't surprise me. No one's been able to explore the Asta Mountain range properly, so it's probably ripe with undocumented species.”

“You are partially correct, Dr. Briggs.” Gustov said with a nod. “There have been a few that braved those mountains and have lived to tell the tale of what fiends call those peaks home. If they are to be believed, there are monsters up there no man has ever seen before.”

“Sir.” said one of the pilots. “Do we have a destination?”

“The village of Pel.” Gustov replied, then turned his attention back to Murdoch and Briggs. “We'll be taking you both to last village on the road to the Astas. There's also word that an old drunkard in Pel knows where the Dragon dwells. The rest is up to you. Trap it, kill it, do what you want with it. Just please find out what has become of our dear princess.”

“We'll do what we can. I promise.” Murdoch said sincerely, then rubbed the chin. “Hm, I would've like to see the damage so we can what were dealing with.”

“Ha! And deal with journeying across three days worth of terrain and risk losing our chance to find it? No way.”

“Excuse me for wanting to see what this Dragon is capable of.”

And thus started what would be trip long argument about taking precautions versus throwing caution to wind, which then turned into a series of discussions about the Black Dragons once they had calmed down.

It was about four hours later when the Murdoch and Briggs saw the wondrous sight that was Ahm-Artach, but as they grew closer, they could see the damage the Dragon wrought. Homes and businesses were left smoldering husks and the beautiful cobblestone streets were charred black. Several larger buildings were missing large chunks, some caused by extreme force and others caused by extreme heat. If it wasn't for the patrolling knights, Murdoch and Briggs would have thought the city was sacked and left to rot.

“That is what the Dragon is capable of, Dr. Murdoch.” Gustav said solemnly, staring sadly at his hands.

The helicopter continued on, crossing over a beautiful expanse of grasslands, forests, and villages. Soon, the copter was closing in on the village of Pel, a small place with small buildings painted white and brown and framed with strong timber. Like Ahm-Artach, the streets were line with pale cobblestone and dotted with beautiful gardens. The people here looked quite content as they went about their daily routine. Children ran up and down the road, playing and laughing, while their parents shared the latest gossip. Murdoch and Briggs assumed if the dragon hadn't stormed the city, Ahm-Artach probably would have looked the same.

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked to the skies as the aircraft came to a halt and descended to the ground. When the copter landed and the doors opened, Briggs and Murdoch stepped out, put on their helms, and turned to Gustov.

“Don't worry, Gustov. We'll deal with this Dragon and the people of Astafar can rest a little easier.” Murdoch reassured the old steward with a thumbs-up.

“Thank you, Dr. Murdoch.” Gustov replied. “Like I said before, I heard talk of a man, a former Paladin who fought in the March of Drakeson's Fall, who has seen this beast in it's dwelling. Now he spends his days wandering from tavern to tavern, drinking until he's forced to leave. It may take some time to find him.”

As soon as he said that, there was a loud commotion outside a place named William and Tesky's. The three of them watched as a drunk man-who looked to be in his early fifties-tried to get back into the bar, only to be pushed back a large, mean looking bouncer.

“The holy ones favor you, my friends.” Gustov said merrily. “That's the man you're looking for. I wish you luck on the journey ahead.”

With a quick Astafarian salute, the Knights shut the doors and the copter flew off to the west. As it disappeared into the distance, Murdoch and Briggs headed in the direction of William and Tesky's, where the verbal scuffle turned into an all out brawl. A crowd had gathered around the scientists, whispering all sorts of things (particularly about the intimating design of Murdoch's helm). Murdoch grasped the collars of both men and yanked them from the stone streets, holding them into the air with ease.

“Quit fighting!” She scolded like an angry mother. Both men immediately ceased their struggles and nervously stared back. ”Which one of you know about the Dragon of Astafar?”

“I do.” Slurred the older man.

“Good.” Murdoch tossed the other man aside like a piece of crumpled of paper. “We were told you know where it is.”

“Yeah. I know, but I ain't telling ya!”

Murdoch winced and looked to Briggs, who only shrugged. She turned her attention back to the man. “Why not?”

“Becuash I'll only be leadin' ya to your doom!”

“I think we can handle it, just point us the way.”

“HA! Thas what they all say, but they climb those mountains and they NEVER come back!”

“Please, sir. We're trying to track it down and before something happens to Princess Marysa.” Said Briggs, trying to appeal to the drunkard's honor. It didn't work, instead it made him a little angrier.

“Ah, that little wench is always gettin' herself in trouble. I used to serve the king, y'know! I was a Paladin! I even fought along side Saoirse when we tossed that Drakson bastard into the hatchery!” Briggs tugged uncomfortably at her collar at the name Saoirse. “Everyday he had...had us trackin' that girl down! About time she got what was comin' to her.” The drunk breathed a sad sigh. “Can I just have one more drink?”

“If I get you one more, will you tell us where the dragon is?” Murdoch asked and he replied with a nod. She scanned the crowd and found a woman dressed in a barmaid's attire. She jumped at the very sight of her helmet's red gaze looking back at her. “Hey, could you get this guy a drink. It's kind of a matter of great importance.”

The Barmaid nervously nodded and rushed inside.

“Alright, you're getting your booze, now-”

“The Godsh peak.” He raised his hand and pointed to the highest mountain in the distant range. “At the base of Godsh Peak, there's a great cavern. There it sleeps.”

“Thanks.”

The Drunkard caught her hand and looked at her with a smug grin. “You can battle it with all your might, but you'll end up like all the rest.”

“We'll see about that.” Murdoch replied, wrenching hand free. “Come on, Briggs. We got a long walk ahead of us.”