Baby Drake

The Baby Drake

Type Vendor and Story

Description

At the edge of the fairground, there is an animal pen, tended by a blonde girl in her early teens. Inside the waist-high fence, a dozen lizards and snakes crawl in the mud. On the side, there are a couple of bird cages on tables. The most notable animals is a white peacock, a real prize, and a tiny drake playing with the snakes.

Background

Gregis of Tytalus has taken to breeding and trapping of animals of power. His passion is the challenge of taming the wild and independent creatures. Even though he is a mature magus, this interest is relatively recent. His dream is at some point to control the great dragons of power, but for the time being, his animals are of more modest power. Even so, the animals on display are not necessarily the most powerful he can provide. Some of the animals he breeds at his covenant, others he buy abroad, and some he has hunted down to capture.

Products, General

  • Lizards and snakes.
    • Different sizes.
    • Might 5-20.
    • Priced at 5-15p vis depending on power
  • The Baby Drake, see under Personalities
    • Price: 10p vis
  • A prize, white peacock in a cage.
    • This is Gregis’ pride, a bird of great beauty and powers.
    • Might 24
    • Master of charm and illusions.
    • Gregis wants at least 20p vis for this
  • Two ravens of virtue in a cage.
    • Canon stats [RoP:M]
    • Price: 8p vis
  • Three crows in a cage.
    • Might 5
    • Price: 6p vis

Personalities

Gregis is a mature Tytalus magus, but busy with his other schemes, he is rarely seen at the pen. It is suggested that he be someone otherwise mentioned and named in the saga. His apprentice, Daphne, is left in charge of the animals and the business.

Daphne the Apprentice

  • Age 13.
  • Personality Sly +2, Cowered (by master) +3, Kind +2
  • Roleplay Daphne should be kind and helpful, but also nervous and scared to take initiative.

Cuhriða the Baby Drake

Cuhriða is a baby dragon who is mad about gems and silver, and she would steal like a magpie.

  • Magic Might 12 [Ignem]
  • Size -2
  • Int -2, Per +1, Str -3, Sta 0, Com -1, Pre [cute] +2, Dex +2, Qik +4
  • Cuhriða is not fully grown and cannot fly; the wings are still useful to slow falls and jumps.
  • Brawl [teeth] 2, Charm [first impression] 2, Athletics [jump] 4, Stealth [hiding] 2, Awareness 1, Latin 1, Penetration 2
  • Gift of Speech (1), Greater Power x2 (6), Soak (1) Greater Immunity to Fire (3)
  • Avaricious [silver and gems] (-1)
  • Personality Traits Avaricious +6, Cheeky +3, Jolly +2
  • Vis 2p Ignem in Heart
  • Appearance. Cuhriða has the size and build of a chubby toddler. She has the snout of a puppy, ears like Baby Yoda, and small black wings on her back. She has a lovely smile, at least when you look it in its eyes. The hands and feet are claws with two fingers and a thumb. The wings are small and do not look as if they can carry her.

Combat

  • Claws Init +3; Atk +6; Def +9; Dam -1
  • Fangs/Teeth Init +4; Atk +8; Def +8; Dam -2
  • Soak +3

Powers

Peering Into the Mortal Mind, 1 points, Init +3, Mentem R: Eye, D: Mom, T: Ind As the spell on page 149 of ArM5, but the drake can read the mind of anyone he can see; the target does not need to make eye contact with him. InMe 30 (Base 25, +1 Sight): Greater Power (30 levels, –2 Might cost)

Puff of Flame, 1 point, Init +1, Ignem R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Ind The drake can spit a cabbage-sized ball of flame out to about 15 paces, inflicting +5 damage. CrIg 10 (Base 4, +2 Voice): Greater Power (10 levels)

Devouring the Heat of the Fire, 0 points, Init +14, Ignem R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind Like the Salamander of Virtue, Cuhriða can instantly extinguish any fire it touches, even the hottest furnace. If the fire is very large, only a three-pace radius around the creature is extinguished. Even if it does not use this power, the creature is completely unharmed by heat and flames. PeIg 15 (Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Part, +2 Size): Greater Power (15 levels, +5 Initiative, –2 Might cost)

Story

It so happens that Cuhriða, the Baby Drake, escapes from the pen, to play tricks around the fair. Daphne will be scared out of her wits, because what will her master say? Other vendors find their goods stolen, and fires may be started.

Scenes.

The scenes do not have to occur in any particular order. Instead, they can be adapted to the characters exploration of the fair.

  1. The characters have talked to Daphne about the creatures for sale. Just as they are leaving, she discovers that Cuhriða has disappeared. She is devastated and begs for help. She pulls a black egg from her poach and promises that as a reward if they can catch the baby drake before her master discovers that she is gone. The egg is of some mysterious lizard. She took it, hiding it from her master, from a lizard who unusually had two eggs at the same time.
  2. The drake mocks a vendor conversing with the PCs, trying to get the PC to laugh. Possibly making faces or messing up the vendor’s stall.
  3. The drake climbs the roofs, puffing fire. Possibly it creates a small fire in an awkward place. The PCs could be the first to notice.
  4. The drake cuts purses of one or more people in the market.
  5. The drake robs a stall, running away with a couple of lab text scrolls. Possibly, the scrolls are dropped in the PCs’ yard, thus incriminating them.
  6. The drake is spying on some magi.

Possible solutions

  • Kill the drake. The vendor will not be happy, but the others in the market will be safe.
  • Pay it off with silver or gems. It will feel cheated if it cannot keep the precious goods in captivity.
  • Entertain it; play, talk, and befriend.
  • When we played this in Hibernia, the players discovered that the drake spoke a few words of Latin and should thus be treated as the like of man. They put a case to the presiding quaesitoris, arguing that the breeder was in breech of the Peripheral Code when he kept the drake captive.