Brand and the Thief (Whitebrand and TheSandwich)

[Whitebrand]

The dragon's ritual was complete. The curse upon the Star Gem of Mo-Pelar had been neutralized for another few years. It had taken an entire week of spellcasting without rest and a tremendous expenditure of magical power. Brand was exhausted as he set the fist-sized sapphire on to its pillow in its case. He managed to drag his muscular bulk on to his great mattress and collapse into a curled heap.

His home was not a typical dragon's lair. There were no piles of treasure scattered around his cavern. Instead his treasures were neatly organized and put on open display on shelves and in cases all along the walls of his home. Tapestries hung from the walls, statuettes stood on small pedestals, gemstones lay in finely crafted display cases and boxes, and weapons and armor hung on organized racks. His coinage was stored in a large vault at the back of his home. In the middle of the cavern was a great, high mattress and collection of pillows that served the massive dragon as a bed.

Brand was a particularly handsome member of his kind, his body stretching nearly thirty feet long from head to tail. The horns on his head were long and curved, hinting that he was a young member of his species. His body was muscular and covered with gleaming silver scales. His head sported a long mane of copper hair that stretched almost halfway down his long neck. His great wings were neatly curled around his back, and his tail was curled around nearly to his head. His molten golden eyes slowly closed as he settled down for some dearly needed rest.

The lair itself was high in the side of a mountain overlooking a beautiful forested valley that sported a small river and a medium sized lake. A small town lay a few miles to the south, utterly unbothered by problems by bandits or other menaces due to the proximity of the dragon. Normally the dragon performed weekly patrols over his valley, but not this time. The curse of the gem had required his complete attention this week, and he had skipped his routine...which meant that he had missed the presence of a stranger in his territory.