Rotsu
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Weapons to Kill a Dragon.
🕑 Added 2021-12-31 17:55:42 +0000 UTC(This is unbeta'd chapter 56, which I'm giving to you a few days before the general public. Any feedback is appreciated.)
Stats as of last chapter -
Aubrey Hawthorne
Titles - Queen of Ravens and Shadow, Dragon of the Wall
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Level 85
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Age - 15
Race - Human (Draconic (Fire) Lustborne (Ice))
Sex - Female
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Str - 318
Agi - 365
Dex - 366
Con - 372
Int - 418
Wis - 465
Luc - 373 (401)
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HP: 99,477 (330,269)
MP: 262,620 (1,310,772)
STM: 168,516 (560,736)
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Stat Points - 59
Perk Points - 1
Getting to Dumbledore’s office was not too hard, considering it is the day after the ball, and he should be very busy with visitors.
Waiting for him to finish his third report on the tasks and how they’ve been going, along with request forms for the second task and its various requirements, is torture.
He does not write slowly, but he does write carefully and with meaning, this, of course, means that he takes a good few minutes, per forum. He makes idle chatter about his work as he goes, but not anything substantial, merely about how he regrets passing the law of U-113-17-B, requiring the completion of a forum for use of specific magical creatures, and when they’re allowed and when you need to get consent and so forth.
In short, it’s like listening to a lawyer talk about the bar exam while filling in homework relating to ancient laws which no one really follows anyways.
Like the ones about jay-walking. Just cross the street when there are no vehicles to hit you. Damn.
Finally, after what feels like hours, but is only about fifteen minutes, he sighs, puts down his quill and looks up, seemingly steeling himself for what he can probably feel is a very loaded question. He gives a nod, indicating I can ask the question which I’ve been subtly hinting I’ve come to ask - and that it’s something important.
Making me wait is a power play - but also a test. If it wasn’t important I’d give up. Since I waited and suffered with it - as it was not ‘something which needs to be done this second’ - he was taking it seriously, which is good. I give him a grateful smile at the permission and go right into it.
“I’ve discovered there is one of the Rare Welsh Reds near the school. It, according to legend, is very intelligent, malicious and not something I can handle on my own, in spite of my ability to combat lesser dragons effectively. I would like your aid in killing the beast. As it is intelligent, confining it with other dragons isn’t really an option. This was agreed to by the council of 1233, when the initial dragon preserves were being created. We’re just enforcing it. If I thought it would be amenable to peaceably moving off, I would say that, but I feel when it sees anyone, it will attack. Or, if it thinks it can get away with it, then it will attack.” I explain quickly, getting a nod, and seeing a question on his face - I take a stab at what he’d like to know. “You can reclaim any wizarding things you may need from its hoard, but as the finder, I’d like to keep any artifacts belonging to Druidic houses, the money and other artifacts - such as religious symbols - due to my family patron. Especially magical books. I will be willing to share the knowledge, but I cannot allow it to go out of my family's hands. Mostly, though, I want the dragon, and its plans, to be destroyed so that there isn’t a shadow of some Dragon waiting for us when we’re vulnerable to rip us to shreds.” I tell him bluntly, skipping the preamble.
He nods, slightly, but gives me a look which tells me I won’t like what he has to say.
“It will feel me coming and prepare its defenses. I - along with some others - have also discovered this Dragon, though we made sure to hide it well. We’ve figured out that the Dragon has a sort of detection system for people over a certain age. Most dangerous mages are over the age of twenty-one, which is what I think the barrier is set to detect. As a result, I think you can bypass the detection field. I, obviously, could not. By the time we arrived, it would have all of its allies and magical defenses arrayed against us. I am willing to wait at the boundary - twelve miles from the caldera it calls home - however, I am not so willing to go beyond that. I am more than able to help you hold the path, and once you join combat with the beast, I will make haste to join you, but I fear I will not be there before one or the other falls.” He responds, giving me an equally blunt look. I nod slowly, and lean back.
“So, if I were to summon aid which is either not significantly powerful, or otherwise not done maturing like myself?” I ask, and he tilts his head in consideration for half a second, before making a noise of agreement.
“This depends on the type of summoned being. Unless it had an inherent ability to hide, or was weaker than yourself, so it could hide in your proverbial shadow, it would likely be noticed.” He informs me, and I nod, but smile slightly.
“I may have just the ritual of summoning, then. To use it before would have been very dangerous, but due to the cleansed bit of shadow magic I can use, summoning a creature to bond with me and aid me in combat shouldn’t be too hard. It’s one of the steps to my becoming a fully realised user of the shadow arts, anyways. I need to find my Familiar, which should be a shadow being. Then I need to begin manifesting my Shadow Form. A familiar, for now, should be useful enough. Those can distract and give me openings I would otherwise miss.” I reply quickly, getting a nod of agreement.
“This does remind me,” Dumbledore says, looking annoyed with himself for only the tiniest bit of time, before he relaxes. “My own familiar can likely see me close to the battle. Within a mile, perhaps. I have a feeling any closer and I will trigger some wards. The Dragon is known to have wards against all manner of beast which live near the castle, including my phoenix, who has a bloodline which comes from around this castle. Most shadow-beings live in the far east, Egypt or the Americas. The chances of having an answer to such a being is low. I will remind you, however, to be careful about it, regardless. Even without the Taint, the Shadow arts can corrupt you. It is best to use them sparsely, outside of the base abilities which we can be sure are safe.” He replies, and I nod, agreeing wholeheartedly. I pause to consider the information he has given me.
In the time it would take him to traverse a mile, on foot, I will need to either have stalled the beast or killed it while avoiding my own death.
This is a mile up a mountainside which, by his description, is likely not very kind to people. So, I’ll assume it's a 20 minute climb for someone, even of his skill and power. This is assuming flight spells and items do not work, and he has to use other methods, such as transfiguration and actual manual labor to reach me. 20 minutes is my worst case scenario.
“We will do this in two days, is that agreeable with you?” I ask quietly, getting a nod, I nod back, then turn to leave.
“Any Hogwarts artefacts in particular will go to the school, of course?” he asks, and I shoot him a smile and nod over my shoulder.
I’d have it no other way, after all, I need something to look forward to when I retire from Curse breaking into a life of teaching. Head-Mistress Hawthorne has a ring to it, and uniting the hoard and acquiring all the artefacts sounds like a lovely reward, along with anything else.
.*****.
Over the rest of my day - and the next morning, I plan. How to stall an ancient drake? This isn’t a hard question, in my opinion. Most of them like long taunting conversations where they can lord over you how beyond your ability they are. This is normal. Beyond that, sneaking up on the hole of the dragon is well within the realm of Shadow Magic, which is mostly hiding spells, either for yourself, or your prey. The ‘hard part’ is living after the taunting ceases.
This is also something shadow magic can help with, there are a few spells which provide a shield or shell to block damage, A few notable examples are shown in eastern mythos, though those are rare. Most of the art is in sneaking up on, and destroying your enemy in one decisive strike.
On a Wyrm the size and power of my foe will not be so clean, nor easy. Foes of the like are mentioned, and it usually takes a number of such blows, from positions of advantage to destroy them. I can fabricate one or two easily. One where I use a doppelganger, which is an illusion to do the talking for me then strike from the shadows, and a second where I strike from above in that initial confusion. The strikes after that are much harder.
The spells I could use are extremely limited, due to the sheer power of the enemy I am facing, and its surefire, and potent, magical defenses. This means nothing which it can absorb, which is just most combat spells in general. Direct aimed spells to shear scales or blast open wounds will be best. Things which I aim, and are more literal weapons than actual direct magical implementations. This means, of course, elemental magic, along the lines of wind, ice and earth.
The chances of my having to deal with the Wyrm outright ignoring hindrances, like being frozen to the ground, pits and other traps is high.
So I come to a plan, land my first two strikes from my hidden position quickly and firmly, focusing on grounding the beast. Flight is their most potent advantage. If I can rip a wing badly, or tear it off as I had with the Horntail, I can ignore all kinds of issues. From there, it is merely conjuring a large blizzard full of cutting winds and stone golems to harry it on the ground. If I can occupy it with a surrounding force, the impact of its breath weapons will be muted. A fully powered blast can take upwards of thirty seconds for a Wyrm to master and bring to bear, and maneuvering while it breathes such is almost always an impossibility. Hence why they fly over while breathing down on a field of foes, or breathe while things are in front of them. It’s optimal. They’re not moving their heads or necks in a way which could alter their charged weapon, they’re moving their body. Even then, it’s in a straight line, and never in a proper arc.
Surrounding it is a very effective way of limiting this, and is why every tale of hunting or killing dragons has to do with people surrounding it and overwhelming it with sheer numbers and might of sword, very rarely does it mention proper magic, aside from earthen spikes or similar.
So, summoning golems to bludgeon it while it is talking with my duplicate, is a good move.
Delay the beast as long as I can. Move for decisive strikes when it is preoccupied. Never give it an inch.
Should I fail to maim the flight of the monster, I need to focus on dropping the ceiling on it. I can escape that, and if I succeed, It will have a pile of sharp rocks slamming it, hopefully breaking bones. This is suboptimal because it can - and likely will - destroy things inside the cave, including relics I want to recover.
This is before I take into account the requirement that the monster be in enough shape to be harvested, along with any knowledge it may have amassed over the centuries. Maps, knowledge of other powerful Wyrms about the world which govern tracts of land, and what they have acquired, all of these are important.
And something that likely has roots in the hoard. Older beings collect knowledge and items of power over raw gold, almost always getting plenty of the latter in their youths. This Wyrm is likely around two millennia old, and as such, the hoard should be vast, full of relics of the bygone ages. Hints at places and times which I would like to explore. A lead to follow into my future.
The fact I have no quest, aside from the one which requests I clear all draconic dungeons, which I have technically completed, is a bit odd. Not bad, but odd.
Plenty to work on, there. Maybe a bonus objective if I do them all more than once? I’ll look into it.
First, finding a familiar. This requires, in a nutshell, pulsing my magic into the world and calling for any shadow-themed critters. The first to hear will come, as long as it is not against my beliefs, wants, etc.
So I won’t draw some shambling horror from the Forest. Ideally I’ll get some kind of mammal - a wolf or similar which is attuned to shadow and can help me quietly find what I need. Shadow Hounds technically won’t trigger my allergy to dogs, due to the fact they are made of shadow, not actual… dog.
The best I could hope for is a type of Shadow Drake, which is a flying, powerful and deadly creature. They, when bonded in the past, have grown to be full-sized dragons, and equally deadly to an actual dragon. Normally they don’t live long enough or have a place with mana sufficient enough to allow them to grow to such size.
Chances of one of these being around is much lower than more mundane creatures, like Shadow Hounds. So I’m not keeping my hopes up.
With this in mind, I head out of Hogwarts proper, a distance towards Hogsmeade and the forest, to allow the greatest range of things to find me.
When I am at the very edge of the wards, I send out my pulse, requesting any decent matches to come find me. This is moderately dangerous in the wild, due to the fact creatures which may want to kill me will come answer, and try to kill me.
Inside the wards, this is minimized. I should get some kind of warning…
After thirty minutes of waiting, feeling the flare I’d sent out reaching the maximum range, I note a few responses, most of which feel like they could be good matches, but that are resisting the call. I also feel a few very poor matches which, if not for the wards, would probably be coming to kill me. I sigh, and turn to leave, thinking to try in a more vulnerable place, but with more options. Perhaps the Black Forest?
As I turn, I see, behind me, with head cocked curiously, is a large, black as night, Owl. I’d not felt, or noticed it’s appearance. But I know instinctively this is a creature of Shadow. One at home in the Darkness. I blink at it slowly, and it returns the blink. I nod, then offer a link - raw mana laced with Shadow - for it. The second part of the bonding.
This is also dangerous. The creature can choose to decline, by not taking it, accept, by tying its own magic to mine, or, most dangerously, cut the thread and devour the magic I put on offer, which is, by necessity, a rather large amount.
Anything less, would be an insult. After all, this is a Drømmeskygge - One of the Shadow Birds.
Peace, quiet, stillness. They’re noncombatant usually, but like to bring peace and quiet to areas of land they inhabit. This is a very ironic way of showing what I value. I don’t like combat, and I don’t like the busy, corrupt state of the world. I intend to bring peace and ruin to those who would hamper the Magical world, and the things which obstruct the peace of larger areas, like that Dragon which lives in the mountain.
It brings corruption, war, strife. A break in the peace and quiet of the forests which this entity calls home. As my purpose is counter to that, the bird - I assume - answered my call.
It quietly wraps my tendril of mana on its own, and then I feel the connection solidify.
I observe my new partner.
Alyss of the Grave.
Titles - The Watcher, Reaper's Daughter, Peacebringer.
Level - 72
Age - 192
Race - Drømmeskygge (Shadow Phoenix)
Sex - Female.
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HP - Undetectable
MP - Undetectable
SP - Undetectable
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Str - 15
Agi - 302
Dex - 250
Con - 250
Int - 390
Wis - 505
Luc - 1
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Perks -
Silence (i)
Graveborn (i)
By Any Means (i)
...
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Disadvantages -
No Fear (i)
Public Fear (1) (i)
Loner (i)
..
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Alyss is an old Drømmeskygge, and is considered to be very powerful by those who know of her. She is, however, of a race which is bound by shadow, and as such, most sentient creatures fear her, and she has, as a result, lived a solitary life of loneliness, watching over various graveyards, both marked and not.
She is curious about how well you will get along, and is confident that you will make a good partner to her. One who lacks fear, just as she does, and will do anything she needs to do in order to see peace brought to the world, so her people can prosper.
She has a positive opinion of you, and is hopeful for a long, successful career with you. +3/10
This is better than a Shadow Hound, to be sure. It is not a Shadow Drake, but I didn’t expect such. A creature like this will allow me to understand how to handle much larger, longer teleportations with shadows, along with giving me a potent scout to find where my enemies are.
This is a very good partner for what I need.
“First task we have is killing the Dragon of the Mountain.” I whisper, and get a short nod, then a sense, from our bond, that she desires to scout our foe, so we can know how best to kill it. I send an agreement over the bond, and she is shortly flying off to scout. I smile, feeling her magic twisting and cloaking her. Hiding her from view completely. I quietly pluck a feather from the ground below where she perched herself in the air. Somehow, I’d not noticed, but she had solidified her own shadow to sit upon it.
Useful. Something to learn, to be sure.
Quickly, I look over her titles, perks and disadvantages. Shortly, they mean that she is incredibly stealthy (+250 from perks and titles) and when she ambushes, she does absurd amounts of damage (15 times what she should do otherwise, in fact.)
The drawbacks are her health pool is miniscule, and if she is eradicated by, say, fire?
She’s dead for good. If she perishes in shadow, or somewhere dimly lit, though, she will either return to her roost, or my shadow, which is sort-of her roost, due to our bond. Depending on the type of death, she will come back in time, and be able to continue her service.
If we deviate in purpose too much, she can cut the bond. This is also dangerous, because she can opt to take all of my shadow magic, but most often, if the partnership is good, the books say the partner will leave everything as it was before the bond. If it's involuntary, like they’re dying, they often give their own shadow magic, before the bond is cut.
This is extremely rare, however. I’m likely to die before she does, and when I do so, I plan to give her all of my Shadow Magic, and a good portion of my mana. This is common with creatures like this one. It’s likely you lose your powers in the end. However, while attuned with them, you gain a lot of control, and a secondary pool of mana which can allow you to do bigger things.
Like Summon an Aragami, or complete the Ritual of the Shadow Emperor. If your natural pool of shadow-magic isn’t large enough to do so yourself. Since the only way to grow the pool is to use lots of shadow magic, all of your pool daily resulting in the most mana gained, I feel obliged to admit I may not get a very large pool, compared to some.
I use mostly movement, and those can be costly, but mostly they’re regenerated in short bursts. I would need to do many back-to-back jumps and dodges using shadow magic to be drained, like I had against the Horntail. Even then, I get enough mana back within ten minutes to allow for jumping again. With a Shadow creature at my side, I can more effectively train, due to the increased control. This means I have a couple years to really figure out how far I need to push myself.
Which means going as far as I possibly can.
Of course, pushing myself to the absolute limit in this way will mean dropping some things outright, thankfully, I can do that, as I got an unexpected second-day at virtually no cost with my time travel. I can focus on shadow magic in the present and wrap up my beyond-NEWT skills in the past with the founders, before working on my specialty of charms, defensive spells and wards. Infiltration will rely on knowing these fields best, and that’s what Curse breaking is.
Infiltration to a fortified position.
Focusing on those, and Shadow Magic, along with my proper stealth skills will be effective. I can probably have the Room of Requirement mimic some dungeons which had some nasty wards and traps from my last life, to get practical experience with foreign magic, as the systems are still not 1-to-1. Even with the translations I’ve begun of the spells I have on the staff from the dragons dungeon, the usefulness is variable.
It takes more time to translate, and then make a working version of the spell out of the translation than it would to have made it from scratch in my last life. I’m talking a few months per spell, at least, with just the basic translations I’ve begun.
This is with my absolute mastery of the magical theory it is based on, along with my apparent mastery of the magical theory of this world. If you only had this world, it would take exponentially more time. Still, being able to bring over 100 spells into being over the course of a few dozen years will make me one of the most renowned spell smiths ever, especially considering their uses. Most of the evocation magic will likely be labelled as either grey or dark magic, due to the fact they are designed to kill things, but abjuration, conjuration and divination spells all should fall on the lighter side. I’ll keep methods of immortality to myself - such as Clone, Imprisonment, and other things. Phylacteries, bonus bodies to hide your soul in if you die in your current body…
We’ll all do well to avoid a Manshoon event in this world. Let alone proper Liches. I’ll, further, make sure to keep anything above the fifth circle, or which opens a real portal to another realm, out of my notes. I may look into the Gate spell, simply to see if it can bridge me back to my original reality and allow me to put my affairs to rights, mostly in assuring my kids are all healthy, and if they’re over my death, then leaving them alone. I know my place is here, and I’d not stay long, at all. My body and soul are not attuned to that realm of reality, and I think being there for prolonged periods could cause irreparable damage, like a mortal being in Hell is corrupted and eventually dies, turning into a devil, or mindless husk of evil if they find a way to escape Hell, but were there for too long.
I’d like to avoid that. But I’d like to make sure everyone is taken care of, if they can be.
Lastly, on my long list of ‘to-dos’ is to have a good time in this life, and make sure to leave a nice mark on the world, leaving this universe better than I found it.
Since a few of these things are likely unattainable, putting my personal happiness at the bottom makes a lot of sense to me. If I can’t do a lot of the optional things, then it moves way up, above the lesser issues, which is pretty great. These are overarching plots which could take dozens of years, and all will aid the final goal of extremely high personal happiness.
All that aside, I figure it’s time to retire to the castle. I’ll need to be on my A-game for the dragon, and making sure everything is just right for when that comes along. Tomorrow.
Sooner is, after all, better. Longer I wait the more chance it can prepare for me.
.*****.
The day after I summon my familiar - or should I say the night of? In the past, I’m surprised to find myself approached by Godric.
“Your smithing skill has grown enough. I think you could work Mythril, at least. You’ve been able to create it alchemically for a while, so I’ll show you the array, and the ratios, now. Follow me.” Without waiting for my reply, he turned and marched off to the north wing of the castle, which I've yet to go to within the past. Students are generally not allowed in the area, for any number of reasons.
Most of which are ‘if you try to get into this room with the stuff Salazar works on and he’s not keyed you into the wards, you’re going to die’. After a few spies who pretended to be students came and tried to steal the magic of the founders, and all twenty-six of them died in the attempts, people gave up.
So says Hogwarts: A History.
I am shortly led to a short, heavy iron door. At least it looks like iron, magically it does not feel anything like iron, but it does not have the shine of Mythril or the dark coloration of Adamant, so I’m not sure what to call it other than Iron.
He opens the door, which lights at his touch, and waves me through, keeping his hand on the door all the while. After I enter the room, he closes the door, then clears his throat.
“This is the transmutation chamber, which I use to make anything I cannot make using mundane materials, or mine from the earth using magic. The reason why I trained you in smithing, and why I tested your ability to cast various spells which you should use to mine, is because making something magically, with a transmutation circle is inferior to making it with raw materials you pull from the ground. Effectively, this is because you’re filling some of the magical potential of whatever you make with your energy in the transmutation. The only thing this is not true for, is Mythril, which eats magic as it is created, which means, when done flawlessly, you get the best metal I know about, and you can do anything with it, unlike if you transmuted adamantine, Mythrils opposing counterpart. You’d not be able to enchant transmuted Adamantine as heavily as transmuted Mythril, for the simple reason of magical residue.” He concludes, and then turns his gaze to the room, and I follow his gaze.
The floor is a 7 pointed star, the tip of each point has a reagent on it, and in the center is a receptacle, which a liquid is clearly meant to flow through.
Silver is opposed by Steel. Gold is opposed by Obsidian. Fairie wings and dragon scales, with the final pile of material being something I can’t identify, further than it’s certainly blood.
“What kind of blood is that?” I ask the question, looking at the diamond vial holding the blood.
“That is the blood of a Dragon from the far-east. It’s counter to the western dragons influence. You need a benevolent magical creature of great power to level out the malevolence in most draconic breeds. If you fail to balance it, you get what most people call ‘Devil’s Iron’, or ‘Stygian Iron’. While powerful, this metal slowly kills those who use it.” He replies curtly, and I nod slowly.
So I’d need either dragons blood like this stuff, or I’d need to get an Angel’s blood, or some other powerful celestial.
It’s a good thing I’m in touch with a god of good, who can probably supply me with this stuff, as long as it’s for a good cause.
“Alright, and the center is where I put my blood? Or is there some other magical liquid you put in there?” I ask, and he gives me a quick once over, then nods.
“You have - just barely - enough mana to fulfill the requirements to make Mythril. Seventh order of magnitude. Eight is ideal, but seven will work, and with your control, you may get an optimal outcome.” He agrees. I blink, a bit stupified by that.
Did he just tell me that my in-excess of one million mana was ‘barely enough’?
What the actual fuck?
‘Oh yea you need ten-million or more mana for an optimal result, but don’t worry about that’.
How much mana does this guy have?!
“So, just step into the middle of the circle and start? Or is there something special I need to do?” I ask. And he looks at me surprised.
“Do you not want to take notes? This circle is rather intricate, after all!” He says cheerily, and I mentally scan the array again, confirming I have all the details in my mind correctly.
I do. This thing was memorized since I stepped into the room.
“No, I can memorize things when I see them. This circle is no different. As long as there are no hidden mechanics in the drawing I need to know, I could make this, as long as I had the components.” I tell him truthfully, and his querying expression breaks into a grin.
“Very well! You may proceed. I’m here to make sure it goes well. I’ll have you make the circle when you need more, and if that too, goes well, then I will have taught you all which you need to know for your purposes.” He finishes all too happily. So I step into the circle, and open a line of blood from my palm, activating the transmutation.
Silver and Iron are the most abundant of the resources, followed by obsidian and gold. The faerie wings and Dragon Scales and Blood are all equal amounts, which is to say, about a pound of each. The diamond vial is also consumed, which I note.
A diamond vial like that is either made artificially with magic, or is ludicrously expensive. I can think of a few ways to make a diamond vial like that using carbon, extreme gravitational, temporal and heating magics on the area, but it would take some work, and only be doable with proper setup. Even then, it would take about a week of spellcrafting to not kill myself to make a vial like that.
And that is before I consider what would happen if I used that for economically useful reasons. Something I refuse to do, for it would destroy the economic balance of the world.
The resulting block of Mythril, which has a slightly reddish hue to it, is about 10lbs, which is half the weight of what we put in. I feel it carefully with my magical senses and it feels almost inert, no magical signature on it at all.
Godric breaks out in applause.
I look up, and he’s smiling widely at me.
“This is good! I was curious what you, a follower of the true Arcane path, and blood bonded of the progenitors of Arcane magics would get. Blood Mythril - well. It will probably only be enchantable by yourself. I will, however, smith it, if you like. What were you looking for, weapon wise?” He asks, and I squint in suspicion, knowing this is likely some kind of test.
“I was looking for a long, thin blade, I’ll provide schematics, and a dagger. The dagger is mostly so I can have a concealed weapon, but the other blade is for actual frontal combat with large enemies. Monsters, like Dragons, Nundu’s, and the like. A bloodletting blade.” I tell him and he nods, heaving the chunk of Mythril, and opening the door for me to exit.
“I’ll make the dagger, then you can give me the rest of the schemata. I’ll make that after. If you like, you can enchant either as I work. Putting things in the metal while forging makes for the best results.” He reminds me, and I feel a memory come to my mind.
The Room of Requirement has a book on this.
“Can we just do the dagger today? I know how to do sharpness, impact enhancing and similar enchantments. I’ll put those on. I want to do work on the designs for the sword though, unless you know of something which I could put on which would be best. My next big foe, so to speak, is a very old, powerful, and large dragon, so something for that would be great, really.” I tell him, hoping he has an answer.
His massive grin tells me he does have an idea.
“I cannot do the peerless cutting enchantment, to make a blade vorpal, but I know the ways to create a Dragons-Bane sword, which, in truth, anyone can do. I will show you, and you can study as I make the dagger. A double enchantment for sharpness and subtlety on the dagger will be the best. More than two can make things odd. We’ll put a force multiplier and grip enhancer on the handle piece when we make it, before attaching it to the dagger. Part of the advantage to making things with many parts- you can enchant all of the small bits individually.” He tells me, and I nod in acceptance, following him to the smithy. When we pass his office, he gives me a thin tome, maybe twenty pages, on ‘The Bane of Beasts’ which I read by the time we’re at the forge.
Bane weaponry is, in short, made to crave the blood of whatever it is you’re after. In this case, Dragons. You can do this with blood, or intent from magic.
I have a LOT of dragon blood.
“Hey, if I had gallons of dragon's-blood to quench the blade in, could I do that, and still put two enchantments on the blade?” I ask, and I swear I see his eyes start burning with a fire, pulsing in his sockets and the air gets a little warmer.
“Yes, that would be perfect.” he purrs, then stops, and turns. “Do you also have… the fire bile sacks, the heart, and the lungs of any dragons, by chance?” He asks far too innocently.
I nod, slowly, and I feel the room go up at least two degrees. “Then this sword will make every dragon you ever meet regret the day they crossed you. Maybe it will not be equal to Gram but I’ll give that sword the best run for it’s money I can, with this.” He grumbles, then tosses open the door to the forge, conjuring a new vat to hold the blood, and quench the blade. Then, he conjures a long table, and begins gestures for me to come over.
“Put all the parts of the Dragon you have here, on this table. If you need more space I will make it.” He commands, and I acquiesce. I pull the carcass out, bit by bit, for him to see.
It takes two full feast-hall sized tables to fit all the bones, scales and muscles. The innards fill a third table, and I’ve never seen a man more happy in either of my lives. The fact his beard is starting to curl with flame and smoke, but not actually burn, is a good tell. During this, around the third table, he gets me to agree to do everything today, since he knows what to do for the dagger and the sword. He does warn me it will be working well into the night, but it will be worth it. l
He just sticks his bare hand - holding the heart of the dragon, into the forge to light it. He isn’t burned by the flames which are up to his forearm before he pulls his arm out to mix in another bit. Slowly he mixes the bloody, relatively fresh bits into the forge. The fire-sacs, and then the lungs, and so on. Slowly I watch as most of the wet fleshy bits go into the forge, and the forge gets more and more intense with each bit. Somehow, even though he’s adding a lot of mass and physical matter, I don’t see the coals start to move or bulge from being stuffed so full of new fire material. Clearly, this forge is enhanced to take and hold the power of whatever is tossed into it, for it’s creations. I don’t think the enhancement will last forever, though. It would be very hard to make such a forge, I think.
“Say, could you use the hide, scales and bone to make some light armor for me?” I ask as he takes the first of the Mythril and tosses it into the forge to begin heating.
The look he gives me, literally alight with excitement, is one I’ll remember forever.
I take it to mean ‘yes’.
So, we make a dagger, which has the enhancements we need. Then I show him the designs for the blade I want. It’s basically a nodachi, from Japan, but with a bit more thickness to the blade, making it sturdy. Not thick enough to be a proper western greatsword, but not thin as a normal nodachi.
As this is a lighter material than basically any other weapon-grade metal, it should come out around four pounds, total. When finished, it will be just a little shorter than I am. With the handle. This is mostly so if I grow a bit it’s still usable. It’ll be a bit long to draw in combat, as I am. That’s fine, considering it’s a sword you use when you’re expecting a big fight. You’re drawing it before you go in, obviously.
We forge the blade in a remarkably short amount of time, the Enchantments hold wonderfully, and I have what’s got to be the most disgusting anti-dragon dagger and sword, ever.
[Unnamed Dagger] (Part of (Unnamed Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Sharpness (7th Rank), Subtlety (7th Rank), Sure-Grip (5th Rank), Impact Multiplier (5th Rank)
Damage (Normal) - 100 (Total/Strike, before multipliers)
Damage (Dragons) - 5,000 (Total/Strike, before multipliers)
Special Ability - Thirst for Blood (Dragon)
When this blade strikes a Dragon-type creature, it leaves a permanent wound, which heals only half as well as it should, and ALWAYS leaves a scar. If healing magic is applied to the wound, even if it is regeneration, which is a side effect of bodily magics, this dagger devours half of that healing, and grants it to its owner.
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne
Attunement Affect -
User can put mana into the blade to amplify the damage of the blade when they strike a Dragon. This damage is equal to 2x the amount of mana put into the strike, capped at 50,000 damage/strike (before multipliers).
Set Bonus -
When used with [Unnamed Sword] this dagger gains the additional ability of Defense Shredding (7th Rank). (i)
[Unnamed Sword] (Part of (Unnamed Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Sharpness (7th Rank), Defense Shredding (7th Rank), Sure-Grip (5th Rank), Impact Multiplier (5th Rank)
Damage - 250 (Total/Strike, before multipliers)(i)
Damage (Dragons) - 15,000 (Total/Strike, before multipliers)(i)
Special Ability - Thirst for Blood (Dragon)
When this blade strikes a Dragon-type creature, it leaves a permanent wound, which heals only half as well as it should, and ALWAYS leaves a scar. If healing magic is applied to the wound, even if it is regeneration, which is a side effect of bodily magics, this dagger devours half of that healing, and grants it to its owner.
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne
Attunement Affect -
User can put mana into the blade to amplify the damage of the blade when they strike a Dragon. This damage is equal to 2x the amount of mana put into the strike, capped at 50,000 damage/strike (before multipliers).
Set Bonus -
When used with [Unnamed Dagger] this sword gains the Subtlety 7 property, making it equally viable for assassination as it is for open combat.
(i)
Defense Shredder makes each consecutive hit dealt by this weapon deal 20% more damage.
This stacks infinitely, or until the broken armor is mended somehow. This 20% bonus applies to ALL damage dealt hereafter, not just damage by this weapon.
You have Levelled up (5x) due to aiding in the creation of Legendary-Grade Weapons and Armor for the first time.
O-okay then. “Seeing how it’s only… just before lunchtime, I see no reason to stop. Let's make some armor out of this hide and bone, Godric.” I tell him, and get a positively shining grin in response.
I’m pretty sure the shine came from the fact his whole head of hair is literally fire at this point (and I’ve never been more glad I can survive stupid levels of heat more.)
Needless to say, the rest of the day was dedicated to crafting, my armor was mostly made with the hide hide, reinforced with the leftover Mythril and some Dragon bone, and I promised, tomorrow, we’d make his set.
Then, I named my weapons.
Dagger is Tyriel, the sword is Markus, and the armor is Johnathan. My favorite children, all so beautiful, to be legends in this world as much as the last.
Once they were complete, I stay for an hour to delicately carve into each of them some complimentary patterns, and their names. Things the owners of the names would have enjoyed.
And then, I put them in my inventory, and went to bed crying, and woke up, still crying.
But this is the kind of crying I really enjoy. A piece of happiness and remembrance, for all the ages. My Dragon-killing gear.
.*****.
AN: This is the whole Set, and what they do, when together. It’s a 4 piece armor set, with a Mythril ring and Necklace, along with the weapons shown in chapter. It is -basically- equal to what she would be able to make herself against anything which is not a dragon, but vs dragons, with Godric's help, she made super-anti-dragon stuff, which will be useful, when fighting a dungeon over level 100.
No she won’t wear it everywhere cuz it’s op. That is not how real people act. She will wear it when she thinks it’s reasonable to expect danger, and wear normal clothes otherwise. She likes looking pretty, and this armor is not exactly pretty. Or comfy. It’s functional armor, made for combat.
The necklace and ring WILL stay, and maybe the boots, if she can find a good outfit to go with the dragonhide she used for it..
That’s all I’ll say on the matter.
Definitions of Enchantments - since I’ll be asked.
Sharpness makes a blade 10% sharper per rank of enchantment, effectively making it do 10% more damage per rank.
Subtlety makes the weapon much less noticeable to people who have below the level of enchantment x10 perception or investigation, unless it is being actively used as a weapon. It will be mistaken for a walking stick, belt pouch, etc. When combined with actual disguises this makes hiding weapons stupidly easy, since the two work together innately. (The magic hides the weapon WITH the disguise, as that is the intent, and the effects stack. So if you disguise it with rank 150 disguise skill and have rank 7 Subtlety, your weapon has a disguise rating of 220.)
Sure Grip means you can’t take it out of the person's hand unless you commit 10k mana per rank of Sure Grip the item has (to the disarming spell). Cannot be removed mundanely, short of actually chopping off the hand holding it.
Impact Multiplier is basically Sharpness, but for how deep the weapon goes. Sharpness makes sure you cut, this makes sure the cut (Piercing / etc.) is deep. +10% per rank, again. (yes, these multiply each other)
Defense Shredding cuts 4% of the defence per rank of shredder, up to 20%, where-after, 6th rank makes it work for all weapons, and 7th rank makes it work for everything you do, period. 8th and 9th rank have similar benefits. :)
Sure Striking is a bonus to accuracy. Think Gungnir, but this isn’t ‘cannot miss’ just ‘it’s really hard to miss if you have skill.’ The enchantment corrects to weaker points. Subtle but useful. Especially for cutting tomatoes /s
Unbreakable does what it says. You cannot break it, unless you deal 10k/rank of enchantment more points of damage than would be needed to break it normally. Considering these are Legendary works which are made of a mythical metal by a legendary warrior / smith, well. Good luck breaking them.
Siege weapon. Deal 10x/level of enchantment damage to non-living things. I include trees in this, basically, if you would use it to build a house, or it’s not alive, this makes it WAAAAY better at breaking it.
Fire immunity. What is said on the label. 10%/level of enchantment fire immunity. When you add her tolerances already (50% resistance…) she has 120% resistance now. Her weapons only have 70%, which is probably enough to stop them from melting to dragonfire, one would hope. (Note: Dragon-Fire breaks a certain level of resistances, as it is powerfully magical. She cannot just bake in dragonfire and be fine. Mundane fire, yes. Dragonfire? No.)
Focus. Allows you to use this to cast magic, as if it were a wand. (This will only work for people of Aubrey’s bloodline, as it is attuned to her blood, via the creation of the Mythril, her being the slayer of the Dragons, etc.)
Mana Battery. Allows you to store mana in the battery. It stays in there for 100 years or until you use the mana stored. 500,000 mana limit, but it is rechargeable!
Magic Learning, it makes you learn magic faster. Wow. (This is technically a divination spell which is applied to help you learn what you are doing wrong. This is a bit of a catch 22, don’t ask me. I’m just following up on something I did a long time ago)
Unhindered, This armor presents no limits to flexibility or eyesight or anything else that could be a ‘drawback’ to wearing armor.
Adaptability, this armor adapts to the situation. It can block soot from your eyes with magical bubbles, it can give you breathable air, etc. Magical obstructions will probably still make a mess for you, but be FAR less bad than otherwise.
Perfect Fit. The armor always fits, no matter what. If you attune to it and you have a tail, it makes a hole for your tail, and/or armors it for you. It’s super cool enchanted armor!
Strength Amplification. Literally amplifies your strength. This just flat doubles what Aubrey has, meaning, yes, she does 4x when she has all of the stuff attuned.
[Tyriel] (Part of (The Larylian) Set)
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Sharpness (7th Rank), Subtlety (7th Rank), Sure-Grip (5th Rank), Impact Multiplier (5th Rank)
Damage (Normal) - 100 (Total/Strike, before multipliers)
Damage (Dragons) - 5,000 (Total/Strike, before multipliers)
Special Ability - Thirst for Blood (Dragon)
When this blade strikes a Dragon-type creature, it leaves a permanent wound, which heals only half as well as it should, and ALWAYS leaves a scar. If healing magic is applied to the wound, even if it is regeneration, which is a side effect of bodily magics, this dagger devours half of that healing, and grants it to its owner.
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne
Attunement Affect -
User can put mana into the blade to amplify the damage of the blade when they strike a Dragon. This damage is equal to 2x the amount of mana put into the strike, capped at 50,000 damage/strike (before multipliers).
Set Bonus - (8/8 pieces of the set attuned)
When used with [Markus] this dagger gains the additional ability of Defense Shredding (7th Rank). (i)
When used with [The Helm of Johnathan], this dagger gains Sure-Striking (7th rank)
When used with [The Breastplate of Jonathan] this dagger gains Unbreakable (7th Rank)
When used with [The Gloves of Jonathan] This dagger deals 100% more damage.
When used with [The Boots of Johnathan] This dagger gains Siege Weapon (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindries Amulet] this dagger gains Fire Immunity (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindrie’s Ring] this dagger gains the ‘Focus’ Trait.
[Markus] (Part of (The Larylian Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Sharpness (7th Rank), Defense Shredding (7th Rank), Sure-Grip (5th Rank), Impact Multiplier (5th Rank)
Damage - 250 (Total/Strike, before multipliers)(i)
Damage (Dragons) - 15,000 (Total/Strike, before multipliers)(i)
Special Ability - Thirst for Blood (Dragon)
When this blade strikes a Dragon-type creature, it leaves a permanent wound, which heals only half as well as it should, and ALWAYS leaves a scar. If healing magic is applied to the wound, even if it is regeneration, which is a side effect of bodily magics, this dagger devours half of that healing, and grants it to its owner.
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne
Attunement Affect -
User can put mana into the blade to amplify the damage of the blade when they strike a Dragon. This damage is equal to 2x the amount of mana put into the strike, capped at 50,000 damage/strike (before multipliers).
Set Bonus -
When used with [Tyriel] this sword gains Subtlety (7th rank)
When used with [The Helm of Johnathan], this Sword gains Sure-Striking (7th rank)
When used with [The Breastplate of Jonathan] this Sword gains Unbreakable (7th Rank)
When used with [The Gloves of Jonathan] This Sword deals 100% more damage.
When used with [The Boots of Johnathan] This Sword gains Siege Weapon (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindries Amulet] this Sword gains Fire Immunity (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindrie’s Ring] this Sword gains the ‘Focus’ Trait.
[The Helm of Johnathan] (part of (The Larylian Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Sure Striking (7th Rank), Bow XP Gain Speed +70%
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne (4/4 Pieces)
With all pieces of the Armor attuned, this armor gains the Dragonslayer Property.
When you kill a True Dragon while wearing this, you gain 5% of their HP, MP and Stamina forever. Your armor also becomes 5% more durable in every aspect.
This persists even if you lose the armor, for both parties.
When used with [Tyriel] this Helm gains the Subtlety 7 property.
When used with [Markus], this Helm gains the ‘Mana Battery’ Trait.
When used with [The Breastplate of Jonathan] this Helm gains Unbreakable (7th Rank)
When used with [The Gloves of Jonathan] This Helm gains the Unhindered trait.
When used with [The Boots of Johnathan] This Helm gains Adaptability (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindries Amulet] this Helm gains Fire Immunity (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindrie’s Ring] this Helm gains the ‘Focus’ Trait.
[The Breastplate of Johnathan] (part of (The Larylian Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Unbreakable(7th Rank), Mana Recovery +70%
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne (4/4 Pieces)
With all pieces of the Armor attuned, this armor gains the Dragonslayer Property.
When you kill a True Dragon while wearing this, you gain 5% of their HP, MP and Stamina forever. Your armor also becomes 5% more durable in every aspect.
This persists even if you lose the armor, for both parties.
When used with [Tyriel] this Breastplate gains the Subtlety 7 property.
When used with [[Markus]], this Breastplate gains the ‘Mana Battery’ Trait.
When used with [The Helm of Jonathan] this Breastplate gains Perfect Fit (7th Rank)
When used with [The Gloves of Jonathan] This Breastplate gains the Unhindered trait.
When used with [The Boots of Johnathan] This Breastplate gains Adaptability (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindries Amulet] this Breastplate gains Fire Immunity (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindrie’s Ring] this Breastplate gains the ‘Focus’ Trait.
[The Gloves of Johnathan] (part of (The Larylian Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Unhindered, Strength Amplification (2x)
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne (4/4 Pieces)
With all pieces of the Armor attuned, this armor gains the Dragonslayer Property.
When you kill a True Dragon while wearing this, you gain 5% of their HP, MP and Stamina forever. Your armor also becomes 5% more durable in every aspect.
This persists even if you lose the armor, for both parties.
When used with [Tyriel] these Gloves gain the Subtlety 7 property.
When used with [Markus],these Gloves gain the ‘Mana Battery’ Trait.
When used with [The Breastplate of Jonathan] these Gloves gain Unbreakable (7th Rank)
When used with [The Helm of Jonathan] these Gloves gain Perfect Fit (7th Rank)
When used with [The Boots of Johnathan] these Gloves gain Adaptability (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindries Amulet] these Gloves gain Fire Immunity (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindrie’s Ring] these Gloves gain the ‘Focus’ Trait.
[The Boots of Johnathan] (part of (The Larylian Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Adaptability (7th Rank), Siege Weaponry (7th Rank)
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne (4/4 Pieces)
With all pieces of the Armor attuned, this armor gains the Dragonslayer Property.
When you kill a True Dragon while wearing this, you gain 5% of their HP, MP and Stamina forever. Your armor also becomes 5% more durable in every aspect.
This persists even if you lose the armor, for both parties.
When used with [Tyriel] these Boots gain the Subtlety 7 property.
When used with [[Markus]], these Boots gain the ‘Mana Battery’ Trait.
When used with [The Breastplate of Jonathan] these Boots gain Unbreakable (7th Rank)
When used with [The Gloves of Jonathan] these Boots gain the Unhindered trait.
When used with [The Helm of Jonathan] these Boots gain Perfect Fit (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindries Amulet] these Boots gain Fire Immunity (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindrie’s Ring] these Boots gain the ‘Focus’ Trait.
[Sindries Amulet] (part of (The Larylian Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments - Fire Immunity (7th Rank), Magic Learning (All) +21%
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne (2/2 Pieces)
With all of the accessories are attuned, you gain the Knowledge Thief Ability.
When you kill a Dragon, you learn where it kept everything it owned, and where it learned anything it does not own currently, so you can steal all of its knowledge, and find all of the lost knowledge it has buried. This will ALWAYS lead you to where the knowledge was last known to be by the Dragon you Slay. This does not tell you how to use the knowledge, or if you should seek it out. It doesn’t tell you what is protecting these caches either (if anything).
When used with [Tyriel] this Amulet gains the Subtlety 7 property.
When used with [Markus], this Amulet gains the ‘Mana Battery’ Trait.
When used with [The Breastplate of Jonathan] this Amulet gains Unbreakable (7th Rank)
When used with [The Gloves of Jonathan] This Amulet gains the Unhindered trait.
When used with [The Boots of Jonathan] This Amulet gains Adaptability (7th Rank)
When used with [The Helm of Jonathan] this Amulet gains Perfect Fit (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindrie’s Ring] this Amulet gains the ‘Focus’ Trait.
[Sindrie’s Ring] (part of (The Larylian Set))
Creator - Godric Gryffindor, Aubrey Hawthorne.
Quality - Legendary.
Enchantments -Blood Focus, Magic Learning (All) +21%
Attuned - Aubrey Hawthorne (2/2 Pieces)
With all of the accessories are attuned, you gain the Knowledge Thief Ability.
When you kill a Dragon, you learn where it kept everything it owned, and where it learned anything it does not own currently, so you can steal all of its knowledge, and find all of the lost knowledge it has buried. This will ALWAYS lead you to where the knowledge was last known to be by the Dragon you Slay. This does not tell you how to use the knowledge, or if you should seek it out. It doesn’t tell you what is protecting these caches either (if anything).
When used with [Tyriel] this Ring gains the Subtlety 7 property.
When used with [Markus], this Ring gains the ‘Mana Battery’ Trait.
When used with [The Breastplate of Jonathan] this Ring gains Unbreakable (7th Rank)
When used with [The Gloves of Jonathan] This Ring gains the Unhindered trait.
When used with [The Boots of Johnathan] This Ring gains Adaptability (7th Rank)
When used with [Sindries Amulet] this Ring gains Fire Immunity (7th Rank)
When used with [The Helm of Jonathan] this Ring gains Perfect Fit (7th Rank)
8/8 Pieces Attuned - Set Bonus.
Dragons Bane
You cannot be detected, stopped or otherwise hindered by Dragons, except if you are right in front of their face, actively in combat with them, or otherwise have revealed yourself to them. Even then, you operate at double your effective skill level in stealth, escape and ambushes, meaning if you play your cards right, or have a distraction, you could ambush the same foe many times in one fight.
Or you can just run, because with this, their magic won’t be able to stop you from doing that, either.
Basically, you’re not the bane of dragons due to being unstoppable in combat, you’re the bane of dragons due to your inability to be caught, killed or otherwise fought properly, with this armor. It’s a real game changer.
Additionally, you can breathe fire as a dragon would, with all the pieces of the regalia, and you also gain 50,000 Health, while wearing it.
As a last gift, you can sacrifice all the armor and weapons, magically, to instantly appear wherever you wish. This can obviously only be done once, but it is, in fact, the ultimate ‘get out of jail free card’. It can be used as long as you are attuned to the armor and weapons, but does not mean you must be wearing them. (Though you will keep no other bonuses if you do not wear them.)
AN: aaand I’ll clarify that above thing real quick. This means she ONLY gets the benefits if she is ATTUNED and WEARING the gear, so if she attuned to all of it and only wears the necklace? She will only get the benefits of the necklace, and no attunement bonuses. This is because the other items are not close enough to convey their magical boons to one another. They must be touching in some way (directly or indirectly) for that to work.
This is how I keep it from getting out of control, and yes, she is already at her max for rings and necklaces (2 of each is fair :sternglare:) and I’ll make her some nice clothes later which have other bonuses like this stuff, but this is her ‘kill dragon armor’ and ‘general war’ armor, so I made it good.
Sadly, there’s not a lot of Mithril components lying around, so other people will have to do without, for now.
Comments
Durza Gaming
thank you been chomping at the bit to read this
Rotsu
I will note - that Patreon decided to lag very badly when I pasted this in from my docs, so I'm putting extra notes here~ I'm going to keep posting the chapters I've done which aren't beta'd but I'll publish anyways due to my beta being too busy here for you guys. You can see the draft iterations, too, if you like. Just tell me you want me to post them here when I've edited them / the beta gets to them and I'll do it. :D
