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out. We appreciate all the love and support! How The Jealous Dragonborn Ruined A Friendship Tom and Dra’goul, were the Best of Friends. Dra’goul, the dragonborn cleric of Lliira,
was the strong one, while Tom, the human bard, was the weird one. Even so, these two were inseparable. So, when the call came for adventurers to
travel to distant lands to defeat a great death curse plaguing the land, they answered
the call together. They travelled to the land of Chult and began
their great adventure. Along their travels they met a halfling by
the name of Snarl. It is worth mentioning that Snarl was raised
by wolves in the wild, so his views on the world around him were, simplistic, to say
the least. In his mind, you were either Predator or Prey,
you either Ate, or were Eaten. So, when during the course of the Trio’s
first big fight together, Dra’goul--whilst being chewed on by a T-rex
was unable to get any of his spells to successfully land, Tom managed to deal a devastating amount
of damage to the creature while it was distracted with Dra’goul in its mouth. But it is worth noting that Dra’goul actually
landed the killing blow on this monstrosity, and not Tom -- this is important. Snarl walked up to Tom, pointed at him in
full view of Dra’goul, and said “Strongest”. This was when things began to go downhill
between Tom and Dra’goul. For the next few weeks/months, Snarl would
stick to his view that Tom was stronger than Dra’goul, and Tom would playfully go along
with it. Over time this started wearing on Dra’goul. It made him frustrated and jealous, emotions
that only got worse over time. They still fought side by side through many
fights, but a specific pair of fights went on to change the course of these two characters’
history forever. However, before we get to that, there is something
we must discuss. At one point during all this, Dra’goul met
a beautiful elven woman. Her request? When they located the Soulmonger, the source
of the death curse, she wanted him to let her study it for a while. He flat out refused. Angry at his indignation, the woman revealed
her true self as the great Lich Valindra. She attempted to use this revelation to intimidate
him into bending to her will as she was NOT going to be turned down so quickly and so
easily by a mere Dragonborn. Dra’goul, however, was not going to be swayed. Valindra, was not pleased, and after he left,
she sent spies to follow the party and find a way to break the spirits of this dragonborn. During the course of a fight after this, Dra’goul
became surrounded by enemies. Tom, doing his best to think quickly and save
his friend, cast Shatter, centered on Dra’goul. While Tom’s assumption that Dra’goul would
physically survive the act was correct, it was Dra’goul’s emotional state that took
the biggest hit here. His best friend had just intentionally dropped
a spell on his head. Part of him understood why Tom made the choice
he did, but he still felt betrayed. Shortly after this, Valindra, having learned
a lot about the social dynamics of the party, sent a Red Mage after the party with the instructions
to kill his friends. During the fight, Tom was knocked out and
was bleeding fast. Dra’goul, still holding his grudge against
Tom, cast Spare the Dying instead of Cure Wounds. As he passed, he stated, “Next time watch
where you cast your spells,” And rushed to join the fight. The Mage, seeing the opportunity, Misty Stepped
past the party to end up next to the unconscious Tom. With one swift movement he stabbed Tom through
the chest. Immediately after Tom bled out and died, his
soul was sucked into the Soulmonger. While the rest of the party did mourn the death of Tom, no one knew just how badly this
was going to hurt Dra’goul. In the months following, the guilt of being
directly responsible for the death of his best friend tore away at him internally. As his mental state slowly spiraled into depression,
his use to the party slowly declined as well. His typical spell rotations shifted from healing
the party to throwing damage as much as he could. Months after this, when deep in the bowels
of the Tomb of Annihilation, things came to a head. One of the newer members to the party, Lex,
a warforged Wizard with a penchant for making the smart move but not the wisest move, made
a drastic mistake. You see, prior to the events above, some Hags
had acquired the blood of a few members of the party. The affected members were Tom, Dra’goul,
Snarl, and Bamoli, a dwarven fighter, who has gone through some SERIOUS stuff at this
point as well, but that is another story altogether. As they turned to descend a stairwell, Dra’goul
came face-to-face with Tom, albeit a smaller, weaker, pitiful version of him created from
the blood of Tom. Dra’goul, not yet processing what was happening,
attempted to heal Tom, to no effect. The rest of the party had not yet realized
what was happening, as they could see Dra’goul, but didn’t see Not-Tom. Not-Tom only had memories up until his death,
and he had since been stuck in this dungeon with Not-Dra’goul, who told him essentially
everything Dra’goul knew and thought. Not-Tom knew Dra’goul let him die over something
so seemingly petty. And the words out of Not-Tom’s mouth cut
deeper than any knife could. “You let me die.” Dra’goul, frozen in shock and fear, had
no response to Not-Tom’s next actions. Not-Tom began stabbing at him with a small
dagger. Lex, who had just come around the corner,
saw Not-Tom’s actions and made the logical next step: he stabbed and killed Not-Tom. This sent Dra’goul into an intense rage. See, in his mind, Tom was back somehow, and
now Lex who he already didn’t like at all, killed his best friend. So Dra’goul went charging after Lex, while
the Centaur Paladin, Sadida, tried fruitlessly to hold him back. Lex cast Invisibility on himself to hide from
the rage-fueled dragonborn, while the rest of the party got pulled into combat with a
crowd of Modrons. After a few seconds and watching his good
friend Anders get pin-cushioned by arrows, Dra’goul snapped out of it and assisted
the party. Sadida, who had continued to defend Lex due
to their history together, went up to Dra’goul afterwards and asked him if he was good now. Heavily indicating the sudden feud between
him and Lex who was still not visible to the party. Dra’goul turned to the Centaur, and stated
very bluntly, “If I see that wizard again, I will kill him.” Sadida was very hesitant about trusting the
dragonborn at this point, due to the words he overheard from Not-Tom on the staircase,
and his intent to kill someone who Sadida found an extremely important asset to the
group. So, when they continued down the steps, Sadida
made a point to let Dra’goul go first to keep an eye on him. On the floor below the entire room was shrouded
in a green mist. Dra’goul went first to investigate and vanished
into the mist. He walked into a cage hidden from the party
and met Not-Dra’goul. Where Not-Tom was a lesser version of himself,
Not-Dra’goul seemed stronger, as if he was just as healthy as Dra’goul himself. Not-Dra’goul began tearing into Dra’goul
about how he was not worthy of his own powers. How he was pathetic for living as he had after
Tom’s death. Dra’goul dropped his weapon, one bestowed
on him by his Goddess herself, unable to fully contain the mixture of emotions swirling inside
him. Not-Dra’goul picked up his sword and activated
it, something Dra’Goul was unable to do since the floor above. Not-Dra’goul spoke of all Dra’goul’s
failings to live in the memory of Tom. Reaching forward, Not-Dra’goul attempted
to cast a spell on Dra’goul, who was unwilling to allow this. “Even now you refuse to see the truth,”
Not-Dra’goul said disappointedly. Dra’goul, pathetically swung with his bare
fist, unable to make any kind of solid contact on the visage before him. Not-Dra’goul began to shine, a set of golden
armor, gleaming with every color imaginable and some unknown. Solidifying in Dra’goul’s mind, that this
Not-Dra’goul, was more worthy to Lliira than he was. Dra’goul’s mind began to break. Not-Dra’goul summoned a Guardian of Faith,
in the figure of Tom. Dra’goul was unable to successfully defend
himself at this point, and slowly his health dwindled. All the while Not-Dra’goul’s words stung
more than the Guardian ever could. He slumped down onto his knees. His entire existence slowly coming apart in
his own mind. Grief and guilt, self-hatred and loathing,
all crammed into his mind. All this was wearing away at his mind and
heart. Not-Dra’goul stabbed the sword into the
ground next to Dra’goul and stepped back. Dra’goul’s last remaining health drained
away as the spectral Tom looked on. In his coma, Lliira came to visit. She admonished Dra’goul heavily. He had strayed from the path. Let himself become absorbed so much in how
he failed his friend that he was no longer living for him, but almost living despite
him. Tom was a bard, and Lliira took great joy
in his song, and the joy he brought the world. “Tom’s song didn’t die with him,”
Lliira began to raise her voice, “It lives on in you. But when you live in anger and hatred, you
are silencing a beautiful song.” So Lliira gave him a choice. Will he right his wrongs, and live honorably
for Tom’s sake? Dra’goul accepted, what choices did he really
have? Dra’goul awoke, still on the cold stone
floor where he had collapsed. Not-Dra’goul was still there and reached
his hand out to help him up. As he stood, the gleaming armor started to
fade from Not-Dra’goul. As it did so, it formed around Dra’goul
instead. Not-Dra’goul slowly withered away, and Dra’goul
felt strong, the healthiest he had in a long time. In the following hours, Dra’goul took his
newfound strength and determination and led his party into the chambers of the Lich Acererak,
where he was instrumental in killing him. Dra’goul could feel Tom’s song with every
beat of his heart, and he vowed that as long as he lived, so would Tom’s memory and song. Redemption for Dra’goul. Becoming aware of your own failings is one
of the most difficult things to do. Please let us know what you think and comment
below! Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel,
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