The Giant's Tomb

 Recently, I had to run a very session of D&D over Zoom for patrons of the library. It would have been easy to do something generic; instead, I decided to do something a bit more complex. I present: The Giant's Tomb.

In the winter of 1017, Cercius the Sibilant, a snake-head priestess, was disturbed by bad dreams. She realised that the dreams were prophetic: that Ahiman the Giant-King was stirring from his slumbers. Long ago, a group of humans had studied the meta-physics of the world, and figured out the secrets of draconic power - how to reincarnate sequentially in their own body, and thus grow in power and stature as dragons do. Ahiman was the philosopher who made this discovery, and shared it with his race. They used it to establish mighty powers, to create life, and to enslave the world around them. Only a coalition of heroes and dragons of the ancient times, and the rebellion of their created servants, was able to bring an end to their power. Seeing his end coming, Ahiman had sealed himself in his tomb, to awaken when the time was right. 

Ahiman's own particular magic had come from draining the powers of the different broods of dragons. To defeat him, it would take a coalition of the broods. Therefore, Cercius travelled to the great city of Fiumenze, where a great convocation of the dragon princes of the Tirenian League had gathered in response to the outbreak of war across the land. Cercius petitioned each of the great lords in turn, but the elder dragons turned her away. It was not that they did not believe in what she was saying - it was that they could not trust each other enough to co-operate. In desperation, and knowing that time was running out, she turned to the younger dragons. Many of them had come along to observe the convocation, and they were more idealistic than their elders. Perhaps they would help?

So it was that a group of dragons - three greens, a silver and a brass - travelled into the mountains above Fiumenze in search of the Tomb. On the way, Cercius performed divinations to find the way. But they could see in the elemental world around them - birds flying on unnatural air currents, streams running in new directions, flames bending as if drawn - all in the same direction as they were travelling.

After two days, the scaly party arrived at a huge landing on the mountainside, with towering cyclopean walls and a granite slab door. After investigating, they discovered a limestone disk set into the door, overgrown with moss, that felt variously hot, cold, wet and dry. They used their magic to summon elemental forces at the door, which were absorbed and caused the door to open.

The dragons ventured in to the cavernous halls, only to be ambushed by dwarves. They, too, had slumbered here, but had awoken first in order to prepare for Ahiman's return. The dragons told them how the giants had been overthrown and that dwarves were now free, and the dwarves agreed to lead them to Ahiman and to tell them his secrets, although they did not dare to attack him themselves.

In the deepest part of the tomb, past musty crypts and laboratories, with the drip of water that’s gotten in somehow, they enter a huge circular chamber. There are various work tables, etc. Around the outside of the room are four glass domes, each containing an unmoving, prone young dragon - a brass, white, green and brown. They’ve been ‘drained’ of their magical essence, leaving them as husks - dulled scales, with only dust inside. In the centre of the room is an ornate golden sarcophagus, with a huge bearded man inside, about six metres tall. He looks a little cramped, honestly, and his black hair is massive and unkempt - it hasn’t stopped growing. He’s naked except for a simple loincloth, revealing his muscular physique. This is the giant king Ahiman himself. In front of him is a small table, with a strange golden box upon it on a stand. Each face of the box has many different circular plates or disks of different sizes protruding from it, still slowly rotating. Occasionally, one of the disks will extend further or withdraw slightly. The overall effect is like some sort of strange mechanical heart beating. On the floor are inlaid lines of platinum, gold and silver, creating a giant and very complex magical circle on the ground with the four dead dragons at its edges, and the contraption and Ahiman at its heart.

The dwaves had told the five dragons about the device. It was the Elemental Matrix, and it was the source of Ahiman's power, the device by which he was able to draw elemental power into himself. The dragons knew that it could be overloaded if they bombarded it with their elemental breaths. They also realised that if all but one were to bombard it, the last might be able to steal the power of the Matrix for themselves. However, if more than one of them were to betray the others, then the Matrix would be unaffected. Could they trust the others, or would the divisions between dragonkind bring them down? The dragons exhaled their gasses, ice and fire over the Matrix, all unanimous in their desire to destroy it, and none of them willing to betray the others. It shattered, and King Ahiman returned to life to see it simultaneously melt, explode and implode. He attacked the dragons, but he was weakened without the Matrix and they were able to dispatch him.

Their quest successful, the dragons returned to Fiumenze. They had proven that dragons could put their differences aside and work together. Perhaps in the future, they would be able to work together again to address some of the conflicts their sires had created...

Image: The Lion Gate at Mycenae. Wikipedia, 2019