Part 3: Siege of Songs

The laughing two-headed man abruptly shrinks and shifts as Bekassine's magic transforms him into a tiny spider monkey! The harmless simian cackles and shrieks with laughter, the transformation complete in body and mind!

Bekassine sends Fox up through the passage in the ceiling to scout the room above. This bright, open room features three large windows, with couches and chairs placed to provide a good view of the grounds below. An easel with a half-completed painting of a jungle landscape stands in one corner, while above, the domed ceiling is made entirely of glass. An archway in the south leads to a spiral staircase that descends to the lower level.

There doesn't seem to be anything dangerous here, so you all clamber up into the room from below. However, just a few moments after you all have ascended and gotten your bearings, a shadow passes overhead, then a gargantuan dragon alights on the manor's roof! The dragon is blue-green in color, with shiny scales, crests, and sweeping neck frills. With a flick of her powerful tail, the dragon shatters the glass skylight! She peers down at you imperiously, her voice rumbling like a crashing wave.

"Friends of my new pet, I take it? You need not fear for the songbird’s safety; Oriole will be well-looked after. The same cannot be said for you if you get in my way, however, so I’d advise you to drop your weapons and leave the way you came in."

"I am Izhkarial. Oriole's voice is legendary, yes, which is why I dispatched my fey servants to come here and secure them for transport back to my island lair," the dragon says. The massive wyrm tentatively touches a talon against the harmonic barrier that still surrounds the manor despite teh shattered skylights, frowning at the magical feedback. "But my servants were taking an awfully long time to perform the task, which I why I have now come to take matters into my own hands..."

Bekassine is unable to glean anything from their initial observations of Izhkarial. The dragon scowls at Aurelia's overwrought ebullience. "I would curb your enthusiasm if I were you, morsel," she scowls. "Some might find it... unseemly..."

Despite the initial faux pas, Horace smoothly explains the situation to Izhkarial and Ramank's lies intrigue her. "A new show starring Oriole? Hmm. It is potentially interesting. But to give up a prize such as this songbird, I would need to be compensated with a substantial contribution to my hoard..."