Theta Campaign - Return of the Dragon Queen – Episode 36 Pt. 1

Written by: Flamereptile

Written: 07/29/26

Theta Campaign - Return of the Dragon Queen – Episode 36 Pt. 1

This week’s tale begins with our intrepid adventurers awakening to the blaring sounds of sirens.

Each member of the party awoke suddenly from the blaring echoes of sires, courtesy of Sky's Reach's Kobold Alarm System, which was in fact not a typical alarm system as one would know it, rather, it was a coordinated system, as coordinated as Kobolds can be at any point in time, of Kobolds positioning themselves in the optimal locations for their voices to carry while they shouted at the tops of their little lungs.

Although an abrupt awakening, each member of the party awoke sluggishly and prepared themselves, not at all unexpecting of the impending alarm. They all gathered at the foot of Blagothskul's tower, high above the forest below.

Prinze had ordered Blagothskul to make sure Sky's Reach was high above in the clouds, then deployed the skyland's cloaking system to make it appear as nothing more than a large stormfront moving in.

After stretching, yawning, and wiping the sleepies from their eyes, the party started at one another and awaited a report from Blagothskul. After several moments of tired silence, Blagothskul appeared.

"My lord." he said to Prinze, "We have arrived at our destination. We are hovering a few thousand feet above the temple hidden within the Veiled Forest. I am unsure if we have been spotted or not, but the temple has deployed a skyship that is rising steadily. What is it you command?"

Prinze let out a yawn before replying, "We could shell them with the mortars."

"That might alert the whole island." replied Allistair.

Prinze shrugged, and Beezul asked, "What if we follow them. Then we can..."

Prinze interrupted, "Shell them! Good idea!"

"We could also hijack the skyship." said Dolgrak.

Allistair, Alonzo, Beezul, and Prinze stared at Dolgrak for a moment before he continued, "What? I was a pirate before I joined up here."

"No, that's a good idea." said Alonzo.

The rest of the party nodded in agreement.

"Do you guys have spells to get there?" asked Prinze to Alonzo and Dolgrak.

Alonzo nodded, but Dolgrak shrugged nervously.

Prinze stared down at him, "Can you fly?"

"No, not yet." replied Dolgrak.

"Can you land?" asked Prinze.

"What?" said Dolgrak in surprise, "I..."

Alonzo interrupted, "I have a solution to your ranged problem by the way." he said as he handed a crossbow and some bolts to Dolgrak. "It's a magical crossbow and some bolts. You know, so you can shot things."

"Uuh, thanks." said Dolgrak as he took the gift from Alonzo.

"So, what's the plan for boarding?" asked Allistair.

"We could have Blagothskul approach it from above, make them shit themselves, and then take over the ship!" shouted Prinze enthusiastically.

Everybody stared at him for a moment before shrugging and nodding in agreement.

"That sounds on par." said Allistair, "Does anybody else need help flying? I can cast a flying spell on myself and somebody else."

"I would appreciate that." said Dolgrak as he drew his rapiers, readying for boarding.

Prinze gave Blagothskul the command to trail behind the skyship with Sky's Reach, descending down rapidly as an intimidation tactic.

Blagothskul nodded in approval of the plan, saying, "As you wish my lord." before ascending his tower and sending Sky's Reach flying on its new trajectory in the darkness of the early morning.

Allistair took a few moments to cast his flying spell over himself and Dolgrak. While Dolgrak struggled to gain control of this new mode of flight, Allistair flitted effortlessly across the surface of Sky's Reach.

The party gathered at the front gates of Sky's Reach, which, as a seemingly odd design decision, were a pair of massive stone doors that opened into the void of the sky that surrounded the Skyland.

"I'm not really sure how I'm going to capture this skyship yet. I've never stolen a skyship, just regular ships." said Dolgrak as he strategized.

"You know," started Prinze, "Jump down there. Kill some things. Do captain things. We have faith in you."

Sky's Reach descended down towards the skyship, first to where the lower tip of it hovered just above its deck, then lower to where its gates became level with the skyship's deck.

The party watched as the crew of the skyship began to panic at the sudden appearance of a flying island, not only keeping pace, but weighing thousands of times as much as the skyship itself.

"Here we go!" shouted Prinze as he slapped Dolgrak on the back, causing him to stumble forwards, off of Sky's Reach.

As Prinze followed Dolgrak off of the edge of the Skyland, memories that were never his overcame Dolgrak.

*Memories of being a bit taller, hairier, and more wicked. Dolgrak, peering through the eyes of Blinky Finn, a catfolk who wandered solemnly across the plains, he stopped and looked up into the sky. A thick, black cloud of smoke trailed behind a skyship as it plummeted towards him.

He dropped down his knees and sobbed. He had lost everything. By drawing a single card he had lost it all. All of his possessions disappeared in a card game, or rather, after drawing a single card from a magical deck. In the past he had drawn from it recklessly, coming into immense wealth, fame, and fortune. But this time had taken it all.

Anything he had that wasn't innately magical vanished into nothingness. Perhaps some unknown benefactor was laughing at him from an unknown distance. Perhaps the poor and hungry were finally being fed? Or perhaps it was just gone?

It wasn't all gone, he thought in his final moments, at least it wasn't until he had left the rest behind. All of his magical gear and artifacts were left behind... only, without their magical properties. Even the cloak that had guided him for so long lost its magics, releasing the djinn within. She had had a laugh at him before she left.

Blinky started up at the impending skyship, grasped his horns, which were a remnant from some fiendish deal he had ignorantly made, as he closed his eyes and wept. It was silent and peaceful for but a moment, then suddenly, he opened his eyes once more to see the blazing inferno that was the encroaching skyship inches away from his face.*

Shocked from the impact, Dolgrak came back into his own body and tried to recover from Prinze's shove. His attempted recovery only made matters worse, however, as his stumble forward became a full tumble and roll off of the side of Sky's Reach and onto the deck of the skyship. He felt safe for the moment before he felt a length of rope entangle itself around his leg and drag him from the side of the ship.

He dangled there for a moment, trailing behind the skyship as he watched Allistair, Alonzo, Beezul, and Prinze safely cross onto the deck. Dolgrak took in a deep breath, then began to swing himself around. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and... he flung himself around, underneath the starboard hull, then the keel, then the port hull, and finally onto the port deck.

Dolgrak landed on two feet, untied the rope, and regained his composure just as he saw Prinze dive bomb from above and onto the head of the pilot, breaking his neck.

As the various members of the party gained their footing upon the skyship and prepared to strike at their respective targets, Prinze charged forwards to the wheel, grabbing it and abruptly spinning it. The ship lurched, first into the side of the Skyland, then away from it as it bounced.

In the sudden lurch, Dolgrak lost his footing and slipped, sliding across the deck into the rail. Oddly enough, although he was hovering above the deck, Beezul was also sent tumbling across the deck as the lurching ship bumped into him, causing him to lose control over his flight.

Alonzo managed to maintain his footing with ease, getting the hang of Prinze's shenanigans, although, coincidentally, Prinze had not, nearly losing control of the wheel as the ship lurched. Allistair, who was naturally adhered to the deck through a trait inherent to his race, was also sent flying, however, the rest of the party would be unsure to this day if he truly lost his footing or if he was having a sudden flare for the dramatic.

The party weren't the only inhabitants of the skyship to be sent flying as it lurched and bounced off of the side of Sky's Reach. All of the living members of the crew were promptly upended and sent tumbling across the deck.

Alonzo, always one to capitalize on an enemy's weakness, strode across the deck as the skyship righted itself, reached out a hand to a fallen crewmember, and proceeded to flood his body with necrotic energy as he grasped it, first inflicting wounds, then causing the very flesh to slough off of his bones. It was then that Alonzo realized that this cultist soldier was nothing more than a child, hardly older than twelve. He looked around to see if anybody else had seen what he had just done and noticed the whole crew was composed of children.

Dolgrak jumped to his feet, rushed to the wheel, and shoved Prinze aside, taking control of the skyship. He spun the wheel around, righting it and shifting the ship's weight in a way that would cause it to slow. Gaining control over the skyship, Dolgrak looked over the rail to assess the situation.

Prinze stood next to him, shifting his attention from the wheel to the cultists below. Dolgrak could see bloodlust welling within his eyes as he vaulted over the rail to the deck below.

Beezul, regaining control over his own body, stood and took aim at what he believed was the captain that sent him flying. Producing his Bee-Bee Gun, Beezul loaded it, charged it with lightning, and fired it at the captain... or at least that's what he was prepared to do before realizing it was Dolgrak.

He ran the scenario through his mind for a moment, contemplating how Dolgrak could have made the ship lurch if he had only landed upon the ship before being sent flying himself. Beezul shook the thoughts away, buzzed over to a nearby door, opened it, and shot the first cultist he saw.

The electrified bee rocketed from the wooden tube, piercing the forehead of the cultist, causing her head to erupt in a splash of bone fragments and viscera.

Beezul quickly loaded a second bee and shot the second cultist within the room, warranting a similar result.

Allistair nimbly rose from the deck, brushed himself off, drew his Ebonblade, and conjured forth another magical blade of shadows.

*Now Allistair's Ebonblade wasn't necessarily a sentient magical item, but it did possess a certain amount of jealousy for his shadow blade. What did that second-tier spell have over itself? It was the Ebonblade. A rapier like no other, forged of shadows and moonlight. Its violet blade was beautiful and unique, its crossguard and pommel ornate in the form of ravens, and its grips padded with soft, comfortable feathers.

In contrast, the shadow blade was nothing more than a temporary, amorphous mass of shadows. It had no beauty, no elegance, no permanence. What did its master see in it?

The Ebonblade, increasingly frustrated by Allistair's neglect, was created to free its creators from their curse, to slay the most powerful vampire to exist. It could siphon the very life from its victims and impart it into its wielder. A prized relic from a past age.

And yet, Allistair typically chose this low-tier, trash spell over using it, the Ebonblade.

At least, that's what the Ebonblade would be thinking if it possessed sentience.*

Equipped with his weapons, Allistair began to stride forwards, twirling his blades in circles around him, causing them to sing a high-pitched whirring song.

Just as Allistar began his blade song, two cultists burst forth sleepily from nearby doors, seeing Allistair twirling his blades and Alonzo grasping the hand of an ally while his flesh fell away from his bones.

One of the cultists, a young man, drew a dagger and charged forwards at Allistair, stabbing at him. Without losing his stride, Allistair side-stepped the boy, slapping the back of his hand with the Ebonblade. The lad stopped and took another slice at Allistair who simply raised the shadow blade, stopping the dagger mid swing.

"You know." Said Allistair in a suave voice, "Peace is an option. We don't really want to kill children."

"Agreed!" shouted Prinze, "Pieces is the only option!"

Alonzo looked up, grasping the skeletal arm around the elbow, waving the hand at the child and smiling.

The head of another cultist peaked out from below deck, a young girl, and she froze as she beheld the sight of the dead captain and falling skeleton at Alonzo's feet.

"Have you stopped to consider what might happen if you don't choose a peaceful option?" asked Allistair.

As Allistair finished, a bolt of lightning cracked behind the child who had attempted to stab him, causing the boy to jump. He dropped his dagger and anxiously nodded his head as it began to rain.

Suddenly, the boy dropped to his knees with a crossbow bolt sticking from his forehead. Behind him, Dolgrak lowered his crossbow and called out, "I've got you Allistair!"

That is where this part of this week’s tale ends, and the next part begins.