BNN: Does This Mean the End for a Mighty Blue Dragon?
Sarrah Sirruleane October 16, 1999
Well here I am again, cold, wet and miserable after a number of weeks wandering our realm trying to find out more about what is going on. My summary of all this - heck if I know! Life around this place is getting more and more strange each day that passes. Some of the stories you may have heard and some you may not, so hang on for the ride.
First of all, eight, count them, eight banks in our cities have been robbed! That alone is shocking! Of course those in the banking community are trying to assure us that the banks are safe by saying the gargoyles that robbed each bank only wanted the Virtue Gem that the bank had in its vault. Well pardon me; I am not sure that makes me feel better. After all if a big, ol' stinky gargoyle can rob a bank, what is next! I guess there is one good note to the story; all of the Virtue Gems have been stolen so the bank robberies have stopped.
So what is next? It seems that a book was discovered and revealed by Tarina Faa and the many friends she has helping to save the blue dragon, Katazar, from the malicious intent of those smelly gargoyles. After obtaining a copy of the book, which folks seem to be giving out freely if you just ask, I read through the pages and to be honest, got a wee bit of a chill myself! The book explains, in spite of the fact it is old and damaged in places, that there is a spell that can steal the magic and knowledge from the intended target - a dragon! It was a notebook of some sort of a sage from long ago while she studied the spell.
Some folks in our fair land seem to think that every creature is their plaything with right to torment and kill them at will. So, after being treated very rudely and threatened by a few who were part of the group gathered at the seaside gardens of Shannara, Katazar left abruptly to seek out others that might help him and might be willing to listen. Cannot blame the guy, especially if a bunch of gargoyles want to steal your mind and your life. Might put a bit of a crimp in one's willingness to be patient and conversational I would think.
I stayed at the edge of the crowd and shortly after his departure I saw a few of the more attentive folks who really expressed a bit of concern for the dragon's plight slipping away from the larger crowd. There are a lot of benefits to hiding in a tree, I got to overhear these careful souls whispering about the dragon being at the University of Britannia in the Village of Virtue not far up the coast. After another trek through the slimy, wet jungle, I arrived to hear the concerns of the dragon and the plans for what is to come.
After a bit of rambling on, Katazar concluded that the only way to stop the spell was to allow the gargoyles to cast it. Odd piece of reasoning in my mind - but heck he is a dragon and the target of the spell - so I guess he would know! He said that he would begin to show signs that the spell had been cast because his deep blue color would begin to get lighter, fading as his magic fades. He said something about some chant or something and killing the gargoyles that reveal they are part of the casting by speaking the chant aloud. Seems Katazar, after reading the notebook, thinks that the spell is one that has to be maintained by regular chants of some special words that keep it focused. Now we have another problem - finding the casters of the spell!
I have spent the past week or so contacting all of my sources (believe me, you do not want to know where I have been, lets simply say there are some pretty disgusting people and places in Britannia) so they are primed for seeking out these magic-using dragon killers. If all goes well I will have more information about the spell and those casting it soon! I do not think the spell has been cast yet, saw a bright blue dragon fly through the jungle just the other day. So stay tuned and sharpen those blades, seek and destroy may soon be the phrase of the week!
Till next time!