80Hijack08 said:
        “Awake and smell fresh air.”

You’re already awake, and smelling fresh air sounds great.

         But to do so, you would have to go through the “rabbit hole.” Your crippling claustrophobia tells you that you won’t be seeing any sky today.

Sands_Spectre said:
        “Go meet Zavo and then show them your new spell, ‘Basic Gravity Alteration,” by practicing it on random nearby objects, while proclaiming to be well on your way to becoming the greatest spellcaster ever!”

        You could go and gather up Zavo already, but their… loudness… is sometimes hard to deal with in the mornings. You want to put it off for a little while at least. Still wish you had that Gnomish tea.

ZerWolff said:
        “I’d say we cast Detect Magic first, wouldn’t want to miss sweet loot.”

Ender1200 said:
        “Now that someone else mentioned it, cast Detect Magic first. Let’s see if anything in the room is glowing.”

Ly always says, “Practice is like breakfast, it’s good for you, and usually better when you first wake up!” Usually followed by them pinching the fur on your cheek.

You stand from your table-turned-desk and flip the metal pages on your spellbook to Detect Magic. You’ve gotten quite good at this simple incantation. You flick your wand in specific patterns, your other, free hand doing specific movements as well.

And there you are. The red ruby cube is Signum, a very common Alloide. It’s required to put spells into your spellbook, make wands, and to do many enchantments. You’ve never tried enchanting before, but you would love to try it some time.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no extra, magical goodies in your house this morning. Well, you say morning, you don’t actually know what time it is. The circadian rhythm of everyone in this cavern is screwed up. People just wake and sleep when they need to. It’s sometimes annoying: people are always milling about and sometimes when you go to meet someone they’re fast asleep while you’re wide awake.

You would cast this spell everywhere you go, but people get nervous whenever you do the somatic (hand-movements) of a spell. You can’t let it run through your entire day because it only lasts for a minute or so. The blue lines of the spell fade as you think this.

Ender1200 said:
        “Might as well get your own studies done in the morning. Go get a quick lesson from your teacher.”

Dragonaax said:
        “If we’re in a dragon’s cave, does that mean that there’s a dragon? If that’s the case, I would want to go and see a dragon.”

Clickclacktheblueguy said:
        “I’d say talk to Ly and Kotisumera. I want to directly see what other people are like in this setting.”

        Getting a quick lesson from your teacher sounds like the responsible thing to do, but that can be… depressing at times. You decide you would rather go visit Ly and Kotisumera. Your teacher will be close to there anyhow.

        You get your robes on and quickly pack your small bag that you carry with you everywhere you go. It carries your spellbook, some parchment, ink, quill, and the tools to put spells into your spellbook (other than your Signum).

        Your wand goes snuggly into your Naeden-Invented Wand Sheath. It’s essentially a holster for your wand. You’ve been wanting to commission a wand harness to be made by someone in the burrow, but you’ve been dragging your tail. Your teacher recommends the device. If a Wizard’s wand is knocked out of their hands they are essentially useless in spellcasting. A Wizard can only cast 0 level spells without a wand. A wand harness fastens the wand to the Wizard’s wrist so that they can’t be disarmed. You’re unsure what Druids do.

        Enough pondering! You open your front door and step outside.

        Your paw nudges something as you step outside of the door. You look down. It’s a package. You reach down and pick it up, you can already guess who it's from. The packaging is burlap, you unfold it so that the burlap isn’t wasted. Inside you see a small piece of parchment and a broken, wooden wand. You read the note.

        So Zavo broke another wand. This has to be purposeful now. You’re unsure what to think of this. When you see him today you’ll have a talk with him. You tuck the items into your little pouch, close your door, and continue your way to Ly and Kotisumera.

        The hall of the cavern is busy with Kobolds of the Olofuni Burrow. You see one Kobold balancing a water pot on their head as they walk, you see a pair talking as they walk, and you see one noticing you, bowing their head, and quickly going along their way. You’re used to people bowing to you, it’s been this way since you hatched.

        You walk through the corridors before the natural cavern opens up more. The mushrooms stop growing as natural light appears ahead. The cavern opens up greatly, it’s immense, especially compared to your size. But you see the people that you sought for, in their usual places.

        Kotisumera; The Cosmic Eye; is currently spending her extraordinarily long life doing what she normally does, read. She was born a scholar, and loves to read, take notes, and even write herself. Of course, everything she writes herself is either destroyed or too large to be useful for anyone else to use, other than other Dragons, which are so rare that they are a hot commodity. To combat this she’s had a personal assistant for generations (The Kobold burrow’s generations, that is). Currently, her personal assistant is Ly. It’s been this way since you were hatched.

        Kotisumera smelled that you were coming before you even laid your eyes on her. When you round the corner her voice booms, “Meep! Welcome!” You still can’t believe that Ly hasn’t gone deaf, as her voice booms around the cavern. Usually, she’s very good at keeping her voice down, but she spoke at her normal volume so you could hear her from the distance you have. Ly waves at you. They aren’t in close enough range to shout at you. You jog over so you can hold a conversation. Before you can speak, she begins, at her normal whisper. It’s still decently loud for you, “Have you ever encountered a horse, Meep?”

        You think for a moment, you’re not even sure what they are, “No, Miss Kotisumera.”

        “Quite interesting creatures. For many Axaelans they are among the largest creatures around, certainly among the largest found commonly. You could run underneath their legs if you wanted to.” With two of her large claws she mimics running legs, “Though I would advise against it. They are quite popular in Nae’Mesra, and certainly in Mysras.”

        You instinctively shudder at the mention of the city of Mysras. It’s the capital of the Naeden Empire. You were taught by Kotisumera to fear them.

        “Mysras has a lot of horses. They’re used for the lesser nobles, for farmwork, experiments, and transportation. This author…” she trails off.

        “Mage Palaemon Cephalos, Miss Kotisumera,” Ly quickly chimes in.

        “Ah, yes. I definitely remembered that name.”

        “I don’t think you did, Miss Kotisumera.”

        “I did!”

        Ly doesn’t respond, just gives their signature look. It’s a mixture of sterness, deep sarcasm, and joy. Like a mom messing with their child, but also keeping them in place. As if to say, “are you really sure?”

        “I can eat you in one bite.” Kotisumera huffs.

        “You haven’t tried before, miss!” Ly laughs.

        Kotisumera rolls her eyes, they are nearly as large as you, “Aaaanyway. This Cephelios-Cephalos, whoever, freaking Naeden names has done the calculations and says that Mysras will literally be buried in 80 years by horses.”

        “By horses, Miss Kotisumera?” You respond, confused.

        “Yes! By their manure. The great city of Mysras will drown in equine fecal matter in less than a century.”

        You think for a moment, trying to understand how this all works together with what you were taught of the Naeden, “So… does this mean that the Empire will fall apart?”

        She shakes her head immediately. “Oh, no. They’ll probably send all that manure into the Elemental Chaos of Fire or at a Demidragon that they don’t like.”

        “Ah, alright.” You ponder for a moment, wondering where you could take this conversation next.

Meta Content

        I apologize for the delay between posts. Right now, art is the main blockage in getting these entries out in a timely manner. I am much more of a writer than an artist. Because of this, I want to focus more on writing than on art for this story. Anyway, thank you for taking the time for reading this, I hope you have a good rest of your day.

Fanart

        Fanart done graciously by ender1200

        Original fanart is actually animated! This writing software does not support gifs to be implemented in the pages. Please check it out here: https://www.reddit.com/r/KoboldLegion/comments/yjo1z9/draconian_fanart_meep_the_wizard/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3