Prologue: A Golden Opportunity
"Greetings sister. Have you come to bother me once again?" Asks a woman with long, golden hair, not even bothering to look up from her book. "Do you wish to request a favor, regale me with tales of your recent escapades, or once again try to talk me into leaving retirement?"
A woman who, despite the scars and much shorter hair, bears a striking resemblance the one that just spoke. She responds with a boisterous laugh, accentuated by sounds of her armor. "Not this time, Lynne. The powers that be have gathered me and a few others for a job. I don't know how long it will take, but I'm going to be missing our little meet-ups for a while."
Lynne gives her sister a concerned look "Mythrari..."
The battle-scarred sister pauses, surprised at the reaction she got. "I'll be fine, Lynne. I've been on many jobs like this before. I've come back every time, and this one will be no different."
"And how is the rest of our clutch doing?" Lynne asked rather tersely.
Mythrari is taken aback as an awkward silence falls over the clearing. The only noise coming from the breeze. Mythrari can only look at the ground, unable or unwilling to bring herself to look her sister in the eye.
"I am sorry. That was uncalled for."
"It's fine." Mythrari grumbled. "I miss them too."
Sitting back in her chair, Lynne lets out a tired sigh. The kind of tired that comes from years of hardships and loss. Minutes pass as the two stay there, unmoving. Eventually, Lynne works up the nerve to speak.
"Thousands of years, hundreds of battles, and here we are. Just the two of us. The last of our brood. While our siblings are scattered across a dozen worlds, either left to rot, or buried in unmarked graves. A fate we could have shared. A fate we still could share. I am not going to try to stop you from going, Mythrari. We both know any attempts would be futile. I am just worried. Worried I will lose the last of my family and be alone." She looks at her sister, who can tell she is barely holding back tears.
Mythrari crouches down to look her sister in the eye and gives a slight smile. "I will return once the job is over. Once I do, we can have one of our little catch-ups. I'll even bring some snacks. In the meantime, maybe you can look for an apprentice."
Lynne, taking a deep breath, regains her composure. "Very well." She marks her place in her book before standing to her full height, with Mythrari following suit. "Just remember to be wary of your employers and companions." She warns, now looking down at her shorter sibling.
"HA! It'll be a cold day in hell before I let myself be bested by any of these young, wanna-be's. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on my boss though." She responds, as she gives her sister a hug. "I should be going. It's going to take me a while to get to the meeting point, and I don't want to be late."
The two bid each other farewell, and Mythrari marches out of the clearing. It doesn't take long for her to disappear from sight between the trees.
Lynne continues to watch where her sister disappeared, still feeling anxious about this quest. Eventually, however, she sits down and opens her book to continue where she left off. However, no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to focus on the pages in front of her. Her mind continued to wander to her other siblings, now long gone, and the possibility of Mythrari joining them.
How long she sat in the clearing, her thoughts running in circles, she does not know. Her reverie is broken when she hears rustling of the undergrowth approaching. It doesn't take long for a figure to dash into the clearing, tripping before making very far. Not far behind the figure are the growls of wolves. But before they can enjoy the spoils of their hunt, Lynne appears between them and the figure in a flash of golden light.
The wolves stop in their tracks, growling at the two as Lynne stares them down. A single step forward is all it takes for the beasts to turn tail and run back into the forest. She continues to glare in their direction for several seconds before turning her attention to the one that brought this brief distraction to her doorstep.
What surprised her is this being is a child. He is covered in cuts and scrapes from running through the forest underbrush and his fall. His auburn hair his a mess and has several sticks and leaves sticking to it. None of that phases him though, as his attention is focused solely on his savior.
Crouching down to be as close to eye level with him as she can, Lynne begins picking the debris out of his hair. "Hello child, are you alright?"
A nod is all she gets in response as he continues to stare at her in awe.
"Can you walk?"
Another nod.
"I need to move you over to that chair so I can see where you are hurt." She says soothingly, while pointing at the chair she was just using, knocked over in her haste. "Okay?"
He gives another nod, but is able stand and walks over to where she indicated as she walks beside him. On their approach, the chair is enveloped in a faint golden glow as it rights itself. The boy's eyes get wider in response, and he once again looks up at Lynne in awe.
Upon taking sitting down, Lynne gives his a look over to determine the extent of his injuries. Thankfully, they aren't that serious. The boy is soon enveloped in the same golden glow that the chair was. This time, however, it causes his injuries to quickly heal and vanish.
"How do you feel?" Lynne asked as the glow faded away.
"That felt... warm." Says the boy.
An unusual answer, but one Lynne was expecting. "What's your name, child?"
He hesitates. "Drika. I'm Drika Olleed."
"Well Drika, where are you parents?" She asks with a soft smile.
He looks down, and starts kicking his feet. Several seconds pass before he answers. "Gone."
Lynne was unsurprised, as it was an answer she had heard too many times to count. "Do you have anyone that takes care of you?"
He shakes his head.
She stares at him with a more appraising look. "Hmm... Tell me child, do you know who I am?"
He looks up at her and gives a slight nod. "You're the witch that lives at the center of the island."
Taken aback by his answer, she soon follows it up with mirthful laughter. "It is rather rude for the villagers to call me a witch when I allow them to live on my island." She looks in the direction of the village with a much more genuine smile. "No, I am no witch. I am, however, a mage. Though, I can understand the confusion from those that are ignorant of the difference."
"What is the difference?"
"A witch is given power through a bargain with a powerful, magical being. Mages learn magic through study. Learning how to manipulate the aether through their own ability." She explains.
"I am getting ahead of myself. My name is Lynnarathin, but you may address me as Lynne." Standing up to her full height, she towers over the young Drika. "When I allowed your kinsmen to settle upon this island I created, I put an enchantment on the forest that would redirect any that enter my forest back to the village. Yet despite that, here you sit. Having managed to navigate your way through my enchantment. How?"
Intimidated by her towering figure and firm tone, he flinches and scoots as far back in the chair as he can. "I-I-I d-don't know. I just went with my gut." He briefly tries to meet her intense, scrutinizing gaze, but flinches away again and chooses to stare at the ground instead.
To him it feels like an eternity under her fearsome gaze before the oppressive silence is broken. "You are an interesting one." He looks up at her inquisitively. "I will give you two choices. The first choice, I take you back to the village and you can continue to live an ordinary life, under my protection from outside threats. Your other choice, I will take you under my wing, and teach you how to utilize the inherent magical talent you so clearly possess. However, I will warn you, my tutelage will be intense and there will be no backing out if you take this route."
He looks up at her in surprise at her offer. "What could I do with magic?"
A small, sad smile appears on her face. "You can travel to various worlds, experience grand marvels, perform deeds both extraordinary and terrible. It is a power that is not to be taken lightly. For those that do, often don't live long enough to regret it." Her voice solemn yet firm. "Now, young Drika. Which will you choose?"
Author's Note
So, this has a fair bit of a lore dump, that probably won't come up again in the rest of this story. I've been wanting to make this story for a while, but didn't even know where or how to start. The initial idea for the prologue was to focus more on Drika. But I ultimately chose to focus more on Lynnarathin. The reason the prologue is called "A Golden Opportunity" is because she's a gold dragon. I wanted to include her taking on her true form, but couldn't find a good place for it.
The story itself was partially inspired by Machinations of a Trickster . It's also partially inspired by pathfinder first and second edition. You'll see how in chapter 1.
