On a clear day at Raven's Peace, two young lovers sat beside the lake admiring the calm serenity. Sharazhad, mate of Loreroot's king, happened upon the young couple and offered a magical rose to the girl who graciously accepted and as they sat and chatted, Sharazhad asked if she might practice her magics. The couple Sunfire and Lintara sat watching as Sharazhad performed a fire ring around them as the flames slowly grew taller, she quickly conjured water from the lake to douse the fire, but accidentally mixing earth and water spells together. As the ground underneath them shook, she realized too late that the pressure from the spell would open a rift in the lake bottom casing a flood. The trio quickly hurried from the scene collecting what animals they could and securing them inside and atop Oak Fort. As the water raised and spread from the lake, it covered from the mistletoe bridge to the Defensive Quarters then subsided after a day had passed.
The Aftermath
Now an eerie looking sludge has spread across the ground and water, seeping into the roots of Oak Fort and inside. It is unknown where the sludge has come from or what it truly is at the moment. Mya Celestia who has been researching and testing the sludge has come down with a mild cough and itchy nose. Darigan, upon examining the inside of the fort became trapped in the sludge, and the piece of his brain that was removed has been coated in the thick sludge causing fainting spells and fits of primal hunger. Two days after coming into contact with the mysterious sludge Darigan awoke from a disturbed slumber turning a dark shade of emerald green and searching out the forest for food.Inside the Root of the Matter Inn he could not restrain his primal dragons hunger as the various patrons sat and chatted, he found his former mentor Sagewoman a partial animal in her own right who'd once taken a chunk from his shoulder in her ferocious cougar form. His shoulder spasmed with the memory as his need for food consumed him, he lunged at her nearly taking off her own shoulder before being trapped in an orb of light by his wife. Her work with the sludge had weakened her greatly and unable to hold him the light orb collapsed and the dragon fell to the floor. Dazed and hungry Darigan noticed a small man who had come from the kitchen. Rumi held over his shoulder a hind quarter of deer that was meant to be dinner, racing out of the Inn, the ravaging Dragon followed pouncing on the meat as the young Rumi tossed it to the ground. Darigan grabbed hold and flew off with his food. Beware of Oak Fort it seems that the symptoms of coming in contact with the sludge varies from one person to the next.
Shards of the past
As Mya falls deeper into sickness, the search for answers continues. Before falling ill her research into the samples of sludge uncovered something odd, a mysterious black shard picked from the pile of sludge and dropped into a vile. Sharazhad's memory, sharp as ever fades back to a time of darkness when the Taint ran rapid through the realm infecting and enslaving those it touched in their own hatred. Darigan fearing the worst sends an eager young Rumi to find answers from others that remember that dark time. As he leaves, Rumi advises Darigan that there may be a way to dim the pain and suffering of his wife, and to seek out Asterdai and an item she holds. As he sat with his ailing wife quietly reminding her of her name her friends and her surroundings, Darigan noticed a slight pain in his shoulder and upon closer inspection, a scale had fallen away landing on the floor beside him. What else could happen to these two lovers and the land they so dearly cherish?
Cleansed by death
As Mya and Darigan clung their their memories and sanity, they sat together beside the lake where it had all began. Mya attempted to reattach the scales that fell from her loving husband as he lay still from exhaustion. As he awoke he noticed her, and as they talked, the effects of the sludge having taken its toll the dragons primal hunger found him once more and he could not hold back from trying to devour his own wife! They ran and flew through the forest, his jaws snapping at her back as she dodged and weaved through the trees and buildings. Coughing and barely able to catch her breath she'd managed to make it out of the forest and to the park before Darigan caught up. Among the crowd of people, he lunged to feast on his beloved, only to regain himself at the last moment collapsing on top of her in a fit of agony. Squished beneath her lover the life force ran slowly out of Mya, but phoenix do not die they are reborn. Thus in a burst of flames Mya rose to the sky and collided with the sun and falls to the ground as a large silvery white fireball, as she comes to her wings snap open scattering the flames into tons of sparkling moon drops. Revived and healed Mya rose to her feet looking over husband as he twitched and spasmed in pain. They head home to Ravenhold resting for the night under the rejuvenating power of the great tree.
Revelations
As Darigan recovered in Ravenhold, Sharazhad and King Firsanthalas sat inside the Defense Quarters discussing the recent events. When mentioning the strange shard, the king becomes curious. His face pales when he sees the shard. As he rubs the scar on his arm, Firs informs her that it's a remnant of the Kris Granos used to spread the taint. It had been lodged in his arm during his rescue of Mya. After digging out the piece from his arm, he'd tossed it in the lake thinking little of it. What could this mean for the development of the sludge and its effects?
Curses
A young woman ascends the tree tops of Ravenhold searching for her missing subject but finds only the waking dragon and his beloved. As they exchange common courtesies Mya attends to her husbands scales before flying off to the paper cabin to fulfill her duties to the young ones. Leaving the dragon and the mysterious young woman to discuss the missing subject. Learning of the woman's plans for the missing child, the rage and hunger that had been kept dormant under the canopy of the great tree was set loose. The dragon pounced attempting to devour the conspiring witch, but his ailments impeded his movements, making him sluggish and quickly losing breath. He came down breathing raggedly onto unsteady feet on a wavering branch and before his balance could return he found himself plummeting to the ground far below. As the woman descended to find the dragon still clinging to life, she circled him curiously chanting words in unknown tongues and once her circle completed she slammed her staff into the ground just above the dragons head, smiled and wandered off. The dragon lay there twitching in agony for hours, until at last he found the strength to stagger back into the treetop with little recollection of the events.