3 Primer

Through coaxing and more meat, we managed to get Redran onto the skiff. It wasn't a huge craft, about 25 feet long, 10 feet wide, and the ground level of the skiff was only about 3 feet off the ground. Near the center of the skiff was a metal box built into the vehicle, a small cargo room. Opening the door, it seemed to be empty. We gathered the gold that Scrapscale had on him, 10 gold pieces, and tossed them into the cargo room. Redran dove in after them and began nuzzling all of the coins into an orderly pile, then curled around them and laid down to rest like a kitten. We were right in counting on its natural draconic nature. Dragons love hoarding treasure and luckily for us, Redran is no different, even barely hatched.

We scoured the wreckage for a couple more minutes, Vektor finding himself a suitable rapier and myself finding the best of the goblins' hand crossbows. With that, Kord took control of the skiff and we were off. Aside from going in the same direction that they originally came from, I was able to spot the deep groove the skiff had left behind. It functions like a hovercraft, floating 3 or 4 feet above the desert sands. A large fan on the back of the craft propelled us forwards smoothly and a derelict railing kept us safe near the seats and wheel. The paint outside it seems to have resembled scales, before the sun affected it so harshly. Long, wide snowmobile-like skis protruded from the bottom of the skiff, keeping it on track.

Vektor, who I could've sworn had been napping this whole time, tipped his hat up and pointed out a commotion east of us, about 200 feet away. There were two other skiffs locked in combat as they headed towards the crash site. We watched as a large magnet was deployed by one of the groups, drawing the other skiff towards them. The magnet wielders boarded their enemy, slaughtered them all, and set their skiff ablaze with magic.

Kord maneuvered us toward the ruined skiff once the others left. We searched through the wreckage, finding only an intact longsword and a note. The note seemed to be a bounty notice with a brief description.

'The package is east of Primer. Bring the coppers back to the big one. Unlikely many survived the crash, but even one is a profit.'

My heart sank when I read this. The shipment of copper dragon eggs seemed to have been targeted by some force on this planet. We passed the note around and took back off, hoping to get away from the ship as quickly as possible. Before long, the sands gave way to solid dry stone.

The dreadful silence gave way to new noise as Kord found an onboard radio. Clicking it on, we heard a deep, rough voice speaking much too quickly. As if a jazz singer smoked ten cigarettes at once and still managed to keep his throat functional. After a short jingle, he said "Welcome back to Radio Jeru, you filthy animals! I, Radio Jeru, have breaking news! Well technically the news already broke , but I had to fix it and break it again for the suckers out there that didn't catch it the first time. The big kahuna has plucked another juicy fruit from the sky, so all you sun-dried tomatoes better get your asses out there and bring home the produce of prosperity! In this case, the produce of prosperity can be traded in for enough gold to support your lineage for as long as it takes for someone else to clap you and take it themselves. This has been Radio Jeru, saying words while dancing vigorously in my studio."

We all looked at each other, baffled at what we'd just heard. The man was most definitely off his rocker, but the news he brought us confirmed that things were worse than we thought. An entire community has heard of the crash and we have no way of knowing who knows exactly how much. I was pulled from my thoughts when Redran snatched the longsword from my hand and plopped back down on his little hoard. He propped it up in the corner of his little room and purred to himself in satisfaction, once again curling up among his meager fortune.

Eventually a town could be seen in the distance. It was made of up crude metal sheets and scrap parts, most likely scavenged from crashed ships. There were also a few tan stone buildings that seemed to have been erected straight up from the ground, as if by magic... in fact, that's most likely how it was done. As we approached, there was a large rusted sign reading "Welcome to Primer" greeting us. After some agreement, we came up with a plan. We had no doubt that Redran would eventually be spotted, so we had to make it seem as though he wasn't the one they were looking for. Kord took us around the town, a trip that lasted the better part of an hour even speeding past it. While densely packed, it had room to grow out on the open wastes.

We approached Primer from the east, hitching the skiff on the outskirts of town. Vektor walked in ahead of the group and purchased a saddle, reins, and a bridle for Redran. Coming back to the skiff, he helped me saddle the dragon and I mounted it while struggling to maintain my balance. Redran was testing the new weight and didn't seem terrible uncomfortable with the new attachments, but now that he was away from his hoard, he seemed to be leaning towards his free-spirited nature.

Kord led the way into town, acting as a guard for the group. Redran and I rode in the middle while Vektor walked behind me with his hand at his hip. Left and right, people turned their heads, whispering to themselves. As we passed by a bar, the commotion inside drew our ears. Past the saloon doors, I could just make out a few men going at it with their fists. Following the brawl from the window as we kept walking, they burst through it, one man having tackled the other through. Luckily for them, the leather vests they (as well as most other people here) wore were enough to deflect most of the glass, though they were still cut up by the twinkling shards.

I saw my chance here, turning my chin up and yelling to Kord, "Remove these pissants from my path at once, guard!" A look of shock crossed his face for a moment before he understood my meaning, swaggering up to the two, pulling them apart, and tossing them aside. They looked at him with murder in their eyes before seeing Vektor, Redran, and I behind him, waiting to pass. Seeing that they were outnumbered, as well as the fear of what a potential dragon-owner's status may be, they scurried away without so much as a whimper. I smiled at Kord and he chuckled at me, shaking his head in disbelief at the efficiency of our gamble. The small crowd that had begun gathering behind us had quickly dispersed when they saw the no-nonsense attitude I displayed.

As our entourage approached the center of Primer, we saw a stone dome with a tower of scrap metal coming from the top. It resembled a rocky skull with a radio tower piercing through the crown. On the tower was a neon sign that said "Rad!o Jeru" in pale red light. It seemed that this was where that strange man broadcast his show from. Moving further through the town, we found a tavern named "The Sunken Inn," named so for its into-the-earth sunkenness.

Entering the establishment, we were greeted by much cooler temperatures and a friendly dwarven face. He smiled at us in greeting and said, "Welcome to the Sunken Inn! Can I getcha a cold pint? Or are ya looking for a more powerful liqueur?" Kord spoke some words in a thick language I recognized as dwarvish. I couldn't understand what he said, but the barkeep's expression lit up like the desert sun beating down on this godforsaken planet. We sat at the bar after he and Kord exchanged some more words before he switched back to Common.

For 2 silver pieces each, we could rent each out a room until we could figure out what our plans were for the future. The man was hands down the friendliest person we'd met since our sudden arrival. We were all most of the way through our draft before a deep voice interrupted our short lived merrymaking.