Forums » General Roleplay » Trick or Treat: Dragon's Lair

It was that time of year again, and everyone was celebrating- even the dragon. (Especially the dragon.) He had decked out the entrance to his lair in every decoration he could find in the village below, draping streamers and plastic bones all over the place. He laid down outside the door, bowl of treats clutched in his claws.

Not many would dare to brave the home of the dragon- but for those daring few that did, he had collected a small hoard of the best treats he could find. From his personal favorites to the ones he believed were most popular, he spread them out before him and stood guard over them. Nobody would be hurt today, of course, but he was still a dragon.

The vampress had decided tonight was probably the best night to reaccustom herself to walking among the mortals...i mean cmon it WAS halloween and what better time to walk as a vampire amongst the humans? And so with a small velvet black bag in plae hand she left her home and faded into the sea of candy crazed childeren and adults.

Shaking a bit as she reaches her first stop a lair? Or mabey just a house madeup to look like a lair. -T..trick or ahem treat?- She quarries a bit unsure.

One would think every child was well-versed with Halloween. It was also very easy to assume that a child wandering around on Halloween night with furry ears and a great, fluffy tail was all dressed up to collect delicious treats from whatever doors she could convince to open. But then one might notice that the movement of those ears and that tail seemed so utterly natural, and that the strange, long feet she walked on seemed to connect right to her real legs, and most importantly, that she carried no bag or basket to collect goodies in.

Willow was not unfamiliar with Halloween. She simply did not realize that it was, in fact, presently Halloween.

What she did know was that the cave she had stumbled across had a dragon sitting before it. She knew that generally, caution was good when approaching a dragon (not that she really knew what was appropriately cautious when approaching anything). What really drew her attention, though, was how the cave appeared to be decorated, and how she was certain that that dragon was guarding a pile of candy.

The young girl leaped through the trees, and then across the tops of rocks. It seemed another was there too, and it was upon hearing "trick or treat" that everything suddenly made perfect sense to the girl. Why wouldn't a dragon have a pile of candy? It was Halloween!

"Hiii!" the squirrel child called out from atop a boulder. "Are ya given' d'at? Or issit what ya got?"

She didn't want to pester someone for their hard-earned treats, after all.

The dragon looked at the two walking up- it seemed that people these days had more courage than he expected! "Come up, you two." he said in a loud yet clear voice, motioning to the pile of candy laid out before him. "And yes, I am giving it out. It's completely free and the best stuff I could find." He took a step back so he wasn't so close to the candy- he didn't want to scare anyone off. He was, of course, a dragon.

"Yay!" Willow called with a clap and a giggle. She readily hopped down, seeing no reason not to trust the dragon at its word. She also took care not to block access from the other lady.

A bundle of scales, fins, tails and wings soon came crashing, screeching and bounding about through the undergrowth. But upon nearing the cave, the bundle separated into something a bit easier to discern: two black dragons the size of ponies, nearly identical save for where their inky dart-frog blots of neon, teal and purple were mirror images of each other.

Whatever argument or game in which they'd been engaged fizzled immediately as one toppled into what appeared to be a plastic bone. After each sibling picked it up, poked at it with delicate claws and tried a tentative bite or two, they finally appeared to muster up clear enough heads to step back and get a proper look at what they'd stumbled across.

A giant Eastern dragon. With candy.

Oh.

The dragons Akka and Raali simultaneously slipped into a momentary panic as they realized what many people did on days like today, ("I didn't bring a costume, did you?" "I went all the same places YOU did, dungforbrains, where we picking up a costume from?" "Tell me you at least got a bag or somethin', look at all that...")

A brief and hushed discussion between the two on whether the rules applied to dragons - creatures most people found scary on a good day, anyway - ensued; they finally agreed to at least attempt what every child imagined they were good at.

Negotiation.

Raali scuttled up first, clasping his front paws before him (after rather terribly trying to look as if he wasn't hiding at some distance behind the vampiress, no-sir!), and did his best to not look timid, whatsoever. "I can, ahhhh...see you have a pretty big hoard there. A mighty one. Um. Sir. When you say...free. Do you mean...free-free?"

(may i join)

(can I join?)

There was a metallic clanking sound coming from the winding path in the woods. It was faint at first, but the regularity of it made it clear that someone was marching their way through the forest in the dark of night and whoever it was they wearing something made of metal.

Zenola had heard from the innkeeper in the village below that tonight was a festival of sorts celebrating the thinning of the veil between the spirit realm and the mortal plane. He had tried three times to explain the concept of collecting treats from each of the village houses and something about scaring off mischievous spirits but as soon as the fellow had mentioned that candy was involved all her attention had been stolen by thoughts of sugary goodness and the rest of the history lesson had gone over her head. Truthfully, when one is less than a metre tall it isn't hard for anything to go over one's head, but where food was concerned it was particularly easy for Miss Fasco to become wildly distracted.

Stepping out into the clearing was what by all accounts looked to be a miniature knight in shining armour. Covered head to ankle in gleaming, freshly polished plate armour. The innkeeper had been adamant that costumes were required, but Zenola owned none and so she had simply scrubbed up her usual gear and polished it to a high shine before striking off. Her shield--a sheet of metal nearly as tall as she was and marked with the shape of an anvil--happened to be strapped onto her back and an old, dented and well-loved blacksmith's hammer resting on her hip.

Clanking and clinking her way up the path, she joined the few figures that had already collected outside what was clearly a dragon's lair and flipped her helm visor up with an embarrassing creak. She winced and flushed. Clearly she had forgotten to oil that part. The face that peered out looked rather like a child's, rosy-cheeked and wild, coppery curls peeking out. "Trick or treat?" she asked with a smile. It seems that no one had told her she was supposed to provide a bag...

The sight of not one, not two, but three dragons was not all that out of the ordinary for Zenola. She'd known several dragons over the years; Some of them had been nice (even friendly!) and some not so much.

Watching all the new people walking up to the lair, the dragon went into the lair to get some more treats, coming back out a second later. His eyes falling on two other dragons, he responded: "Yes, spirit of the holidays and all that. Completely free, take what you like." He took another step back from the candy, looking at how a lot of the people coming up didn't even have bags with them. "...I heard you need a bag for candy." he said. "I may have something in the hoard. Would you like me to get it?" He wasn't used to being so friendly...but hey, spirit of the holidays.

Work never really stops, someone needs to be saved and someone always need to die. Tonight though was something else, something more difficult and horrifying then anything... a day/night off. Kral was known for working for days and weeks, only resting for as short a time as possible, but now that Halloween was in full swing, Kral was being forced to take some time off. Figuring out what to even do was difficult enough, but now he had to do something, resting in his ship all day and night would kill the hard working dragon.

Scanning the planet Kral found something that actually might be worth a stop, some location that was holding another of his kind. He knew he had to be cautious when it came to conversing with other dragons as not all are the same kind. Though he got his Dragon Armor ready and a special object attached to his back as he jettisoned himself from the ship. Tearing back through the atmosphere and causing the cloud around him that he flew past to separate and seem to explode as he flew back in. His suit's flight mode reversed his thrusters so he could ease back down and reduce in speed. Converting the heat that was obtained to thruster force and slow himself.

Soon enough he landed, performing the fabled "hero landing". Kral then slowly rose and looked at the lair, giving it a quick scan as he found other life forms inside, including the dragon himself, western style it seemed. He sighed and just allowed his armor to be considered his "costume". The special object that he released from his back was a robotic looking basket in the shape of a Jack-o-lantern. He sighed and entered, making sure to stand tall and un-afraid as he looked around. Soon enough he found the guests and the dragon himself, he spoke up abit and kept his tone calm, but slightly robotic from the helmet.

"Trick or treat" he said as hoped he was doing this right.

The dragon looked over this newcomer, kind of confused as to who they were or what in the world they were wearing, but he had no overall issues with it. He was there for treats, after all- and treats was what he would get. "Hello, newcomer." he said, gesturing to the candies again. "If you're here for treats, just step in and grab what you like." He hoped that he wouldn't run out- there were a lot of others coming in. Maybe he would have to enforce a "take one" rule.

Zenola caught on quickly that she’d missed something vital. Some of the other folks had brought bags or baskets to carry their gifts in and she had not! 



Pursing her lips she thought for a moment. There were several pouches tied onto her belt at the back of her hip. Some were quite small, even by halfling standards and some were of middling size. One in particular was very old looking, crackled and scuffed with age. It was this bag that she reached for, tugging it loose with a simple pull at the leather thong. She opened it and looked inside. It appeared to be empty, just as usual and she smiled at the sight.



“Thank you, Mr. Ummm Dragon, sir! I think I’ve got it straight now though.” Zenola even had a childlike voice to go along with her diminutive size. “Should I give you something in return? I know how much dragons loathe to part with their… horde. Even if it is candy instead of gold.”



Perhaps Zenola hadn’t quite gotten it right after all, or maybe she was just a little too “nice” for her own good. The sight of a newcomer approaching in another suit of armour brought her a sense of relief at first, thinking that perhaps she wouldn’t be the only one in plate mail out tonight. That was until Kralkatorrik came closer and she noticed that his armour didn’t look like any she’d seen before.

“Nice plate!” She called his way. “Don’t imagine you’d be willing to share the name of your smith? That’s a real fancy suit you’ve got there and I’d love to see what’s involved in acquiring one of my own…”

The dragon looked at her and the small bag she had, wondering how many places she was planning to visit and how much candy she expected to get. "Only if you insist. Do you still need that bag?" he asked, standing up and turning to go find something in the dragon horde.

Zilon was flying overhead. He wonder what this "trick-or-treat" was about. He flew down and sat on a rock that was on a mountain. He watched as different people were gathering candy. "What is this all about? People giving away free food? Perhaps I should join them"

Had either brother been born in another time or place, Shandar's 'take what you like' may as well have been considered a golden ticket!

Negotiation and trepidation immediately forgotten, pupils dilated into saucers, and with a near-voiceless '...really?' from Akka and a wild, happy screech from Raali, the two dragonets bounded straight for the hoard to snuffle at everything in it!

While others arrived, the brothers started carefully separating candies into two neat little piles - and they would've likely been the ones to precipitate a take-one rule, as 'little' to pony-sized monsters was a very different little compared to someone with the stomach of a halfling! Still, they did their best to be conscientious about how much they took.

Convinced they could carry their haul and not wanting to trouble their host while he was tending to the others, they tried at first to scoop the tiny pieces up into scale-slickened and ungainly dragon arms. That only resulted in more candy on the ground, so they attempted transport through other means. Balancing, rolling, folding it in their over-sized wings. Raali even briefly managed to convince Akka to hold his share in his mouth without swallowing "like a pellycan" before deciding (several ingested wrappers later) that no, neither of them were pelicans and that they probably did need bags - especially if they were to continue their sweets-snatching adventures on through the night!

When the great dragon turned to offer the halfling a bag, they both chirped in near-unison a hurried "Us too, please, sir!"

Kral solemnly nodded at the large dragon, being one to follow orders he wasn't about to bother the large being. Though... since it's his day off should he? It had been almost two years since the last time he took a day off, this was really starting to bother him. Candy though sound amazing right about now, the dragon having not eaten any candy in a good long while. Kral did take note though of the people, everyone seemed of a different age, maybe this world just developed slower then some others. Kral considered it a nice thing to see, humbling himself over the technological advances that he had the privilege of enjoying.

Before Kral could gather any such candy, he was stopped by a rather short looking... elf? Kral had only read about them in books, maybe seen a strange alien look alike, but never the actual thing. Kral wondered if they all looked so adorable... eh... too cute, possibly dangerous.

Kral decided to play nice though and knelt down, allowing his helmet to phase off his head and into his armor. He gave her a kind smile and spoke his is rough, yet kind sounding voice. "Your looking at him, some strange old guys make the original set and I just spent way too much time improving it". He knew he had to be careful what he said since going on about scientist and prototypes would just get him weird looks. "If you'd like one of your own, I got alittle something you could have, not as fancy, but will defiantly keep you safe from any baddies" he said with a faint chuckle.

So many people were arriving! The squirrel child looked around delighted after taking a handful of candy and backing off to make room. When the dragon - the first dragon - mentioned bags, she considered it thinking very hard about the usefulness of a bag... And then decided to just stuff the candy into a pocket in her shorts, except for one piece that went into her mouth.

Goodness, there were so many dragons! At least they weren't all really big so they might step on her. And was that another little girl all dressed up as a knight there? Oh, so many people, it was hard thinking who to play with!

Oh, and if it was Halloween, there were probably other places with lots of fun people, too! Oh, so difficult!

Seeing so many conversations and people around his lair, the dragon decided that he probably needed to set more candy out- probably even more than originally, since it was disappearing in a flash. Part of him wanted to get all these people out of here and keep the candy for himself- but no, it was time for hospitality and not kicking everyone out. Besides, there were a lot of dragons and he didn't want to end up fighting any of them. Disappearing inside the lair for a moment, he reappeared with about ten bags held in his jaws. Dropping them near the candies, he pointed to them with his tail and said: "There you all are. If you don't have a bag for some reason, take from there.