 Fable of the Dragon (Annotated) |
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| ID | 8021 | ||
| Collection | Scholarium Scribblings | ||
| Needed for | The Wing of the Dragon | ||
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Found in the following locations:
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Riddles were meant to be solved and Mizbi the Bard knew the answer to every one of them. The Dragon in her head made sure of that.
Mizbi and her Dragon came to the grand temple Ja'zennji Siir, where gathered the finest philosophers of the sixteen kingdoms.
Reaper's March, obviously.
The bard commanded their attention with a great shout and asked, "What is it that can be broken with only a single word?"
The wise minds waxed and waned with wonder. The Moon monks of the sixteen kingdoms begged Mizbi for the answer, but she kept quiet and held them in suspense.
"Silence!" said Mizbi, illustrating her point. The Dragon roared with delight and showed her wings, carrying Mizbi away.
I made the mistake of taking this fable far too literally. My secondary notes went on a tangent about thu'um and how a Dragon could have lived in someone's head, let alone escape the Halls of Colossus. Easy enough, Ja'zennji Siir is just west of Dune.
The Dragon next landed Mizbi in a monastery, circled by Claws ready to strike.
"You are strong and spry, surely able to tear me to shreds," said the Dragon through Mizbi. "But are you swift enough to know what it is that dies by devouring itself?"
The Claws puzzled over this. Two moons rolled through the sky, and still they had no answer.
When at last Mizbi told them, "A torch!" their last light went out with a hiss.
I'd guessed a candle, or more grimly, a marriage. This has to be Do'Krin Monastery. "Claws" here must mean monks of the Order of the Claw.
The Dragon then landed Mizbi north at a rain-kissed oasis between two graht-oaks.
She fell into a circle of Moon Singers, whose songs shackled the Dragon and pinned Mizbi in place.
At the Dragon's urging, she managed to ask them, "Before I am split by the might of your song, I ask you: what must you keep after giving it to someone, or else it will be made worthless?"
The singers stopped their song to puzzle through it. Their shadows grew long and day passed to moonless night.
"A promise!" was Mizbi's answer. Freed from the Moonsinger's songs, Mizbi and her Dragon flew safely away.
Khaj Rawlith. Shal and I passed through there years ago on our first journey to Summerset together. Lovely place.
The pair fled south and fell to rest at last in a grove of willows. Mizbi clutched her aching head, which was overfull of riddles. They were being chased for Mizbi's mischief. The Dragon knew of a sanctuary through a door between worlds nearby. She would show Mizbi through if she would answer one more riddle on her own.
"What has a wide mouth yet never speaks with its own voice?"
"Me," snapped Mizbi, "for with you living in my head, I am only compelled to speak with your voice. Just try and say it is not true!"
I guessed a cave, and while that's not right according to Mizbi, it's also not wrong. I think I know this willowed grove. It's even further south than the village named after it.
Mizbi's own mouth opened wide, and the scaled Dragon slithered out. "Speak with your own voice then and tell me the true answer!" she demanded.
But Mizbi did not answer the riddle. Instead, she laughed with relief. "The healers were right. The pain was all in my head!"
And though Mizbi did not supply the true answer, the Dragon deemed her words clever enough to grant entry through the magic door.