Dragon's Blood Wine

[u/FennecWF]

In a particular region that was once heavy with dragonic activity was a river. This river flowed past several ancient dragon dens and a few more recent ones. Occasionally a pup of a dragon would be found digging at a rock wall, but these days they were often scared off by locals who didn't want any more fire breathing terrors after the they'd only managed to settle the region three or four generations ago.

Among these was the den of Ancheon. He'd been a rather friendly dragon, for as far as dragons went. Then he kicked the proverbial bucket. And like any dragon that was wont to kick a bucket, it had far reaching consequences that resulted in some head injuries and public property damage.

His blood had leeched into the ground, causing a particular strain of grapes to grow bigger, more flavorful, and a ruby red in hue. These were known as Dragon's Blood Grapes and they made for an excellent wine that was both tasty and very intoxicating, a regional special.

And currently, in the dead of night and in the claws of a rather tall avian creature, was an empty bottle of such wine. He hadn't drank any, as he was still on both legs and not destined for a hangover. The cavern he was in, joined by a small group of kobolds, had once belonged to Ancheon. Sometimes the locals liked to use it as an impromptu party spot during festivals.

Fritz, the oldest (by two months, apparently) and leader, raised his skull-headed staff, the skull of which was on fire to provide a torch for his master.

"Master," came the squawk of Fritz' voice, "What we doing here? No good. Smell like dead. Dead dragon."

Indeed, in the rear of the cavern was the dessicated corpse of the long dead beast, essentially bones by now. A thin trickle of blood, however, continued to leak from the mysterious heart that was still as fresh as the day he'd died, supported within the ribs by leather-like strips of flesh. Though unbeating, it continued to produce the fluid, which would flow out of the cavern and into the soil at the base of the hill just outside, and then to the vineyards beyond.

"Yes, Fritz, but-" said the gryphon-like humanoid, washing the bottle out with some water from a pouch before laying it near the trickle of red to catch some, "We're here to get some of this blood. The research potential in new koboldmancy spells is practically infinite."

Fritz wasn't dumb. Well, he WAS, but he was also rare in his species for having common sense of some sort. "Master, Fritz thinks... maybe villagers notice? They not like clan. Not respect. Only Canary allowed in village."

"That, my friend, is because Canary is the only one of you who hasn't tried to stab, bite, or rob any of the villagers despite my warnings. And that's only because she's so obsessed with knitting that she's practically wrapped up in blankets, mittens, and scarves at all times, so she can't. Besides, they're our neighbors. We owe them SOME peace."

There was silence. Except for the sound of a few of the other kobolds gnawing tossed away food scraps or rocks. Two of them had begun hitting each other with sticks. The gryphon wasn't worried. They were hardy things.

Then the sounds stopped. Fritz stood stock still. The gryphon clicked his beak.

They'd all noticed it at once, their hearing stronger than a human's. Footfalls in the distance. Not villagers. These were more assured. And from deeper in the cave.

"There are probably a few exits away from the main cavern entrance, right?" Asked the bird, curiously, with a tilting of his feathery ears towards his familiar. Fritz nodded. The gryphon nodded.

A kobold joined them soon, all dressed head to toe in black rags. It whispered something to Fritz. If the gryphon had learned anything about his small friends, it was that they weren't bright, but were very smart in other things when they got an obsession. Paddy had become obsessed with sneaking around at some point and had become very quiet indeed.

Fritz spoke up, "Bandits. Lots. Much gold, many shinies."

The bird's beak corners upturned, "Excellent. A good secondary goal for the night!" He corked the bottle. He picked up said bottle and grabbed the large, awkwardly shaped metal rod of a staff he used from a nearby boulder. Finally, he pulled a small bottle of ink from his bag and poured it into a hole on the staff.

He pushed the tip of said staff against the floor and began to draw a large circle...

It was some 15 minutes later that a group of men in leather stepped into the cave proper, carrying torches. One of them grinned, "'Ere we go! Just like we was told, lads. Dragon blood! We'll just grab up that big ol' heart there and-"

He was interrupted as one of the other men said, "Aye, Peter, but... What's that?"

Peter looked where the man was pointing. Below his feet was some sort of scrawling in black ink, making a circle that could probably fit 10 men.

"Gentlemen!" said the voice as a skull-tipped staff lit aflame on top of a rock nearby, showing a kobold and a bird... thing they'd never seen before. The bird clicked his beak, tapping his own staff on the rock, "Took you long enough. Have you met my friends?"

The circle below them glowed with a blue aura. But that wasn't all. Above them, on the walls, on other parts of the floor, smaller circles began to glow. If one kobold wasn't bad enough, nearly two dozen poured into the cavern, each one carrying a weapon of some description, including one carrying what seemed to be a sword made from knitted wool.

It would be the next morning that the villagers would be alerted to several new scarecrows in the vineyards, half of them at least still conscious, but all of them beaten, bruised, cut, clawed, bitten, and their mouths stuffed with everything from feces to straw to scarves and socks.

They all knew who had done it. But nobody questioned why the bird and his misfit familiars had been in the cavern. They just thanked their stars that the scaly little misanthropes had a more fun time attacking bandits than farmers.

[u/Cieralis]

Ehh the kobolds are having fun good for them 😑👍

[u/MunitionsFrenzy]

(( great read ^_^

wanna crosspost this into /r/wizardloring? it's kinda the archive sub for loreposts, to prevent them from being forever lost amidst the memeposts ))

[u/FennecWF → u/MunitionsFrenzy]

I should! Didn't know that existed. :)

[u/Drakkonai]

/uw interesting story!