Lord Nagafen

It is said that outside of space and time an entity knows only as the Nameless, exists, and that this being created all that there is and was and will be. It is also written in ancient texts that from His mind sprang not only the universe and its countless suns and worlds, but also a myriad of sentient, powerful, yet finite creatures whom one such as man, or elf, or dwarf, would call a god.

In aeons past came one of these gods upon the world of Norrath, Veeshan, Crystalline Dragon and ruler of the Plane of Sky, found this world pleasing and deposited her brood onto the frozen continent of Velious. With one swipe of Her mighty claws, Veeshan opened several great wounds upon the surface world. Dragons then walked the land and flew the skies, powerful beings of great intellect, wisdom, and strength.

In time, other gods noticed Veeshan's work. Being petty and jealous, they too came upon Norrath, intent upon leavig their mark.* Thus the other races were born.

As time continues its steady march onward, Veeshan and her brood began to disappear and the peoples of Norrath began to forget about them. Dragons became nothing more than myth and legends, stories mothers tell their children in order to scare them into obediance. But lately, it has been rumored that the humans have found two such creatures exist on Antonica; one near the Barbarian homeland in the north and a second in the wasteland of Lavastorm Mountians. Many adventurers and glory seekers have gone in search of these fantastical beasts. Even the great bard Selos himself went to search out these beasts, never to return. When I got word of a dragon hunting party forming, I had to join up.

We all met in the Lavastorm druid circle, where many were porting in from all across Norrath to join in the hunt. Never had I seen such a gathering of people! Once all were gathered our leader, Goram, instructed us to get into groups so we could begin the hunt. After a little confusion, everyone got grouped together and we entered the second half of Solesek's Eye, a place called Nagafen's Lair.

I myself have been in Nagafen's Lair before, but only the upper most levels. Once we went through the bat caves, I became disoriented, following those who knew where they were going. We paused to regroup in a huge spider lair and discussed our strategies on dealing with the fire giants that guard the dragon. It was decided that two brave monks would pull the giants out a few at a time, so we could split them up, and we continued deeper into the Lair.

We came to a bridge spanning a river of lava and it was there that I saw my first fire giant. Though I have seen other giants, I was unprepaired for the sight before me. These giants were more fleshy than I had thought they would be, expecting some beast made of pure flames, but they could walk through the lava unharmed. In fact, it actually seemed to heal them! Our leader shouted, "CHARGE!" and we all ran across the bridge to fight the giantkin.

We faught wave upon wave of the giants, getting short rests in between the battles for healing and meditation. At some point the fire giant King attacked us. I must have been concentrating on weaving two songs together when I was hit and stunned by the King! The king must not have liked my music, because he kept hitting me, attempting to flatten me into the earth. Our cleric came to my rescue, healing me to full health, and the King turned his attention elsewhere, and I began singing again with a passion. Eventually, the King and his guards fell. I thought for sure that the rest of the giants would be disheartened at us killing their King, but they only became more enraged and attacked us with renewed strength.The fire giant Magi was furious and began shouting out names, summoning people so he could kill them. Yet, with all his magic, the Magi still fell and our hopes were lifted.

We finished off the last few giants and then sat down to begin a long buffing process. Here, the the clerics, shaman, a couple druids, necros, and us bards broke apart from our current groups and regrouped together, forming a semicircle. Temlin the shaman took over as leader, calling people one by one to receive the spells necessary and then were told to camp and wait for everone else to join them. The process was long, but well organized. When every last person had received their spells, everyone broke camp and we disbanded our group. Then each cleric was instruced to form new groups in which we would face the Dragon. Though a little confusing, everyone was sorted out and into groups. Finally, one of our clerics, Inspiration, lead us in a prayer to the Gods for the strength to defeat the great evil before us. That done, we all gathered before the last door that blocked us from our goal. There was no turning back. It was now or never. My heartbeat racing, calmly Goram walked up to the door and opened it......and the one they call Lord Nagafen was waiting.

The fightertypes rushed foreward sceaming battle cries. Mages and necros sent their summoned pets in. Wizards began casting their dread spells. Clerics and druids readied their healing powers. I too began to move forward, singing songs to help my party resist the dragons dread magic, but I could only stop and stare in awe at Lord Nagafen's magnificance. He was as beautiful as we was aweful. Scales the color of blood and flames protected his gargantuan body better than any forged armor ever could. Like ants we must appear to his eyes, tiny and insignificant. Then he turned his attention on us and I felt the will of a dragon for my first time. Many, myself included, turned and fled as we felt the first wave of dragon fear. Those few unaffected began hacking at the beast. Even as I ran in fear, I could hear as the beast unleashed his devistating breath weapon and the screams of the dying. Finally, the fear wore off and those of us who had ran turned back to rejoin the fight.

The fight was short and ugly. Fighters gave up any semblance of form and style and literally hacked away. The dragon unleashed fearsome magics and his devistating breath weapon over and over while our own casters retaliated with their own spells. I was able to shrug off most of the magics aimed at me, after experiencing them the first time, and kept singing until I thought I would go hoarse. My hopes rose as it looked that the dragon would go down. But something was wrong. Though the dragons was severly hurt, our casters were running out of mana to cast their spells. Lord Nagafen, sensing our weakness, began to summon people to him so he could kill them easier. Not giving up, our forces attacked with renewed vigor. Nagafen snarled in fury and cast even worse spells than before, ones even I couldn't resist. I felt my health start to drain away and I tried to walk back to our cleric. Before I could get to relative safety, Nagafen himself reached out a claw and slashed me. My legs gave out on me and I fell.

When I came to, my group's cleric was leaning over me, pouring life back into my body. I weakly got up and began to gather my things together, singing softly to help the cleric regain mana easier, and I looked around. Signs of the fighting was everywhere. Scorch and claw marks on the floor and walls; the smell of herbs used as reagents; even the air vibrated with the left over energies from all the spell casting. Many were wounded like I had been, bodies lying mangled in heaps. The healers had their work cut out for them. And there was rejoicing for the dragon had fallen! I looked around again and was worried. If the dragon had truely fallen, where was the body? It was nowhere to be found. Had Nagafen truely died or had he just fled to return another day? I shruged unknowingly, only time would tell, and went to join those going though the dragon's hoard.

It is with great sadness that I report that we have finally some clue as to what happened to the bard Selo. Mixed in the dragons treasure was Selo's Drums. Did this mean he met an untimely end as a dragon's dinner? Or had the bard, in his fright, dropped his treasured drums in an effort to escape and still lives somewhere? I returned home after the fighting with little answers and more questions that when I started. I have to believe that the rumors of a dragon near the barbarian homeland, who is known as Lady Vox, are as true as this one was. But what of one of the greatest bards in history? Perhaps one day my questions will be answered. Until then, I shall keep looking.

*an excerpt from The History of Norrath

Thanks again to those who made my first dragon raid possible. I had a blast!

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