Dalavar Mapmage and the Elder Wyrm

Greetings, fellow Brittanians. I come to thee with a message of dire importance, and dire portents.

As you may know, I tend to roam these lands alone, slaying beasts and hunting treasure only with my close family. But perhaps it is time that changes. For there is a beast I have yet to slay, and he has shamed my family name. I call upon you to aid me in this quest, that you may earn riches and I may finally restore the honor of my ancestors.

* * * * *
Many years ago, Dalavar Mapmage the First - feared pirate, or so he said - roamed the lands and seas and pillaged treasure. A sneaky fellow, not one for honor, most of his loot was acquired picking locks in the dark of night.

But he had grand ambitions, to be the most feared pirate in the land, and there is not much fame to be gained by such means. As always, his thoughts turned to loot; perhaps powerful weapons and armor could allow him to best other pirates in combat. But who could craft with such power? Perhaps there was only one being with enough magical ability: the elder wyrm.

Dalavar Mapmage stealthed into Dungeon Destard, brushing past serpent and drake and dragon alike, down dark tunnels and into the depths of the dungeon. It was there that he spotted the elder wyrm, blood red in hue and terrifying to look upon. He revealed himself by casting a paralyzation spell on the wyrm.

"Forgive my aggression, elder wyrm, but I know thou would slay me if moving freely. I request a partnership with thee."

The elder wyrm responded with a bolt of lightning and a column of flame, forcing my kin to quickly heal himself magically.

"I seek weapons and armaments, of the strongest enchantment. With such, I could become the most fearsome pirate in the land."

"And what do I gain from this, human?" the wyrm snarled, as he loosed a fireball.

"Thou art the strongest, most powerful dragon in the land, but not the most wealthy," he said. "We both know there is one who sleeps on piles of gold and platinum, in a cave beneath an island."

"Smaug," the wyrm said through gritted teeth, as he loosed a bolt of energy.

"Aye, Smaug. If thou could craft me weaponry, and armor, I believe I can slay him. I would need armor, crafted from the scales of thy hide, to protect me from Smaug's fire. A dagger, fast as can be, that strikes with the weight of a sword. And a cutlass, hitting harder than even the strongest magical broad sword in the land. With these, I can slay Smaug. And all of the spoils from his lair shall be yours. For I will spend the rest of my days on the seas, capturing loot from my fellow seafarers - if indeed they do not flee in terror at the sight of my visage."

The paralyzation spell wore off, and the elder wyrm lunged at Dalavar Mapmage. Face to face, he growled, "How can I be sure you will not take these magical items and flee?"

"Great wyrm, I shall move Smaug's horde to a secret location, and I will leave thee with the only map to their location. Whenever thou choose to come out of thy lair, this treasure may be found with the map. I assure thee, no other being will be able to find it."

"Very well, human. I shall craft these for you now. But do not betray me, or I shall spend the rest of my years hunting you and your family." With that, the elder wyrm dug a claw into his hide and began pulling scales to make the armor.

Two days passed, and I'd imagine not the most comfortable for my kin - sleeping hidden on the floor of the wyrm's lair - but finally the wyrm had completed the request. Dalavar Mapmage left to pursue Smaug, the dragon-under-the-island, to slay him as recompense for the magical items he wore.

After a fortnight, Dalavar Mapmage returned to the elder wyrm, though without the weaponry and armor used in the battle.

"Great wyrm, I have done as you requested. Here is a map, ingeniously drawn (if I do say so myself), which shows you the way to your loot. I have left thy weapons and armor with the cache, though I shall return for it after I leave this lair. I assume our bargain has been satisfactory to you?"

"Nay, human, it has not. For while you have slain Smaug, transported his riches, and made me the wealthiest dragon in the land... you have also taken more than our terms had allowed for.

"Did you not think I would notice your scavenging the floor of my lair for drops of my blood? Blood spilled for you, to create what you requested?"

"Mighty wyrm, I did not intend for-"

"IT IS NO MATTER, your intentions, for you violated our agreement. Know this, human: the blood you stole, the weapons and armor I crafted... none of these will ever strike fear in the heart of humans. Though I cannot destroy that which I have created, I have cast an illusion on them. They will forever bear the stain of your cowardice, and will draw derision to any who don them.

"I shall perhaps leave my lair to find Smaug's cache, but for now it is enough to know he no longer has it. As for you... you will not leave my lair, ever," he said as he viciously struck my kin.

* * * * *
And that, dear friend, is why I, Dalavar Mapmage XIV (our family has never been clever with names), seek thy help in this endeavor. Wilt thou aid me in finding this elder wyrm and exacting vengeance upon him? Wilt thou aid me in finding the spoils of my ancestor's treasure, and sharing it?

Details:

This event will take place on Sunday April 6th at approximately 9:00pm EST.

This is a real-world event, and all monsters and items utilized will be those that are available in-game to players.

I expect this will be fun for about 6 to 10 players, but there is no minimum or maximum. It would be nice to have one Cartographer/Lockpicker, but it is not necessary.

I will try to stay in character a bit, but this is not my strong suit. My hope is that we can just have fun within the confines of what is available on the shard every day.

I will try to bring my fiercest RP character to assist in this quest. Hope I can make it. Great story btw!

Bump for awareness. If there's a summoner's sprint at 8pm EST, I suspect we'll have no troubles getting underway by 9pm.

I will be there!

Let us meet after the Summoner's Sprints at the Racetrack southwest of Britain.

There is a purple moongate from the West Britain Bank

Start delayed until 9:45pm EST (15 minutes!!!)

Whoever played Rex Hunt during this event, please contact me. I'll hold on to the items you asked me to hold indefinitely until i can return them to you.

Thanks.

- Jupiter Greystone

Preparing the team:

Voyaging to the elder wyrm's lair:

The elder wyrm is surrounded!

The map leads to a heavily guarded chest on a small island:

Awesome! I got kind of ill before you set off and missed it! But glad so many people showed up!

The one.. the only... trophy pants. Fun event Dalavar.

Was that only for people who didn't die?

Those are some exceptional pants Henderson.

In fact, there was a barbed leather armor suit dyed pink in there, I think Telamon meant to name just the trophies but accidentally named the armor piece. Still, if you survived, it was no small feat!

Bah. I missed the whole thing. Stupid kids and their needing to take stupid baths. But the wife don't want to be the parent of "the stinky kid". Looks like it was a blast.

Is there any screenshot that better represents us all playing this game in our 20's and 30's more than the one of Jupiter saying he has to put kids to bed, right at the moment I am digging up an ingeniously buried treasure chest?