#rivervale_lodge

“I’ll have earned it and die with dignity.” He says, though he DID take a long look before saying it. He thumbs up. “Yeah, she has to. She’s gotta bring the thunder.” He nods, not having considered otherwise.

“Exactly seven?”

"And Dirk...and I figure maybe Zane."

"Well, no more than seven."

"And Vali said that it seemed like Adam is supposed to help, too, but by waiting at some gate, so we figure that he's got to guard whatever rath we use."

A thoughtful frown. “Zane? Is he gonna seduce away the dragons mate.” And then he blanches a slightly sicklier color. “Oh, hell. Yeah. What if S-S has the missus at home?”

"The books say Skallstryke is a loner."

"But well, the books might be wrong"

“That’s good at least. Many dragons tend to be, they don’t trust even a mate much longer than needed around their hoard. There’s gotta be protections. Traps, if nothing else.”

Sylvi frowns. "I...I think Nocturnus would have mentioned. After all, he benefits if we get this done right."

Sylvi may remember something a kind of watch dog or guardians being a possiblity

“I guess if you can’t necessarily trust a creature, you can generally trust it’s nature. And dragons tend toward greed.” He nods.

"Ummm...so...not another dragon, but...well, there's going to be something there. Something guarding."

"I mean, so it's not going to be like we just get to waltz in, pack up, and go."

A huff of laughter. “It’s never that easy, eh? Does this Nocturnus expect us to haul the loot out, or just or digging around for his gem he wants? And what’s to say that Skallstryke won’t just finish here then track down the thieves? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m all about getting a piece of treasure... but how does this help the fight?”

"Well, the thing is, messing with a hoard? It's like undermining the dragon's power. So if we do it at just the right moment, Nocturnus says we'll be weakening Skallstrike, so then the big three will be able to have a better chance to destroy him."

"So it's a two pronged situation. Best hope both work"

"The details on transport are kind of sketchy, yeah, but Nocturnus said he'd...help? Facilitate?"

“Hm. Well, if you trust the intel, I trust you.” He nods. “I’m in.”

"Like, he can't do it himself. Dragons stealing from dragons is just not done, apparently."

She nods. "Good. Okay. So, gotta get everybody else on board, too."

“I suppose not, at least not by wise elder drakes. Otherwise they’d never get that old.”

"Anything I can do to.. well.. shoot. I hate I can't go, but.." Siv shrugs