The Luminous Library of Lu Feng

“Follow me.” Niao led them towards the very solid cliff, except now with a geomancer the earth began to part as Niao approached and made gestures with her hands. As they walked June explained the situation to bring her companion up to speed. And she had a flexible screen on her suit’s forearm to provide a video recording of the mission. She didn’t have mind pictures but she did have the benefit of technology.

“okay. We were in a hurry so I guess I didn’t brief you on the situation. This is a classified mission but… some time after I joined the Korean Marines, I led an underwater mission to an alien base.” She brings up some classified videos of the Korean superheroes who went on the mission, followed by their incursion into the alien ‘base’. In 1080p HD video no less.

“It was big, it was probably a temple and there were lots of things I saw I don’t want to remember. Long story short I killed this sleeping… thing… with an octopus for a head… or at least I thought I killed it. And then the entire temple collapsed. But now its body parts are turning up in crazed cults… And we need info. That’s why we’re here.” She said with a pang of guilt, thinking maybe the damage she dealt to the ‘enemy’ actually benefited them.

Niao didn’t catch a whiff of English but the holographic images June produced fascinated her. June barely noticed their host literally having her nose on her forearm like a little kid who just discovered YouTube.

“Ahem. The outer gods transcend their physical forms. Not even a formidable warrior as you lady June could know what they are capable of.” She explained, twice, to Deimos and June. Once they had finished travelling through the solid earth, they emerged into a great columned hall, with pale emerald witchfire illuminating their way.

It was a receiving gallery as several others were headed towards the great doors at the end, large reptilian humanoids of great proportion and muscle.

A party of three dragonborn noted their arrival, each a behemoth standing eight feet tall and three times as broad at the shoulder as June, all carrying two handed weapons such as greatswords, axes and halberds and adorned in impressive armor. They also carried a gruesome cargo – several heads of monsters on ropes- But they stopped in their tracks and looked at the newcomers behind them. Upon spotting Niao, they clasped hands and offered the same bow to her. “Elder sister.” They all muttered in draconic, “Little brothers.” She replied, returning their bow.

Only then did they turn to Deimos and June. June was definitely stumped, maybe because these dragonborn weren’t attacking them immediately. “Are these Guests, elder sister?” they inquired.

“They are. The female speaks the language of old Qin but not Draconic.” She introduced Deimos and June. The three warriors approached and for once, June was not the biggest in the room. “Well met! We are the brothers three, Sun Ce, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu.” Befitting warriors, they had iron grips, and despite their boisterous and friendly demeanor wished to gain a measure of their guest’s strength with manly warrior handshakes.

June obliged them and engaged in a prolonged contest of grips. Despite their size, June still had freakishly more strength. “Ahh! This one is strong!” Sun, the leader, said rubbing his reptilian hand when he realized the difference in power. The others laughed.

“Oh before I forget!” Niao suddenly exclaimed, then brought out a couple of small pendants and handed them to June and Deimos. “Thou must keep these on your persons at all times. I may not have accounted for all the defenses of the library. These shall mark you as guests.”

Deimos watches the videos with fascination mirroring that of Niao’s. As terrifying as elder gods were, they were still a source of interest for the young half dragons. Kind of like ghosts in a sense, terrifying to know they may be real… but not so taboo you don’t watch horror films. “Cults you say? I wouldn’t necessarily be concerned about the existence of a cult. You could find a old cave painting of a tree stump and a cult would form around it. What concerns me more is the fact it could be alive and spreading itself to the cults on purpose.” Deimos tries to start thinking of magical explanations that could have a bunch of severed body parts guiding themselves to followers. Perhaps it was a work of divination?

“Well if battle won’t render it good and dead, magic will. I’m assuming this library has volumes of spells? One of them is bound to work if we can find more information on the thing.” Deimos mentions, confident in his ability to cast any spell, ritual or enchantment listed in a spellbook. He could only hope that even in this library of ancient knowledge, there was something of relevance.

He was only trying to flip through what little he knew of old gods before he was met point blank with a giant, hulking dragon born. He’d never seen one in person, and had only ever imagined them with human dimensions. “Deimos, Well met.” He smiles, switching from english to draconic fluidly. His handshake was a good bit more delicate than June’s, however a seasoned mage could feel the raw magic crackling around him.

Deimos perks as Niao did, only paling as she suddenly remembers there may or may not be other things willing to murder them here. Sweet relief came over him as soon as the hall pass was given. “Thank you, I’d like to dodge getting attacked by golems again.”


“Hey Niao.” He continues wondering out loud. “Would you happen to have a Language Comprehension Tome in the library? Specifically the fourth edition of Penworth’s? I know there’s a spell in there that could help us not have to translate between three different languages.” Deimos had a pretty big collection of spell books, and the Language Comprehension books sometimes had spells that could translate one language to another as spoken. Some could even be layered to translate according to what language the listener speaks. If he could find one of those, casting the spell on both June and Niao could be beneficial.

Niao listened to Deimos’s suggestion with an affirmative look. “Yes. This constant switching of linguistics is bothersome. And conversing with the Lady June is like speaking with a toddler. An intelligent toddler. We suppose we can pass by the general volumes before heading to the Restricted section.”

They reached those great double doors that were the entrance to the ‘library’, and slowly they slid open to reveal a large, well-lit circular lobby. At the center was a large rectangular marble desk, large stacks of papers and another young lady wearing glasses and attire like Niao, albeit more well kept and neat compared to Niao’s rough and disheveled. Inside the massive lobby were three Stone Sentinels, stoic and unmoving like statues until the two non-Lu Feng related dragons came inside. They hefted their massive dragon-teeth Guan Daos for a few seconds, causing June to raise her guard, but the rattling of their hall passes and the ping of an arcane note caused them to relax. “Guest Pass recognized.” They then resumed their statue mode.

“…This hall pass security system is going to give me a heart attack if this keeps happening.” June said to Deimos, then going over to inspect the Sentinels. She wondered just how many of these things were protecting the library… and where did all their dragonbone weapons come from.

The receptionist looks up from her work and greets them, seeing as they were authorized to enter here. “Cousin Niao… and guests. Welcome. Where are we off to today?”

Niao approached the desk and offered a clasped hands bow. “Cousin Xu, kindly bring us down to General volumes 6, We need a translator for the earther for their business here.”

June looked at them and realized they were conversing in some kind of draco-chinese mish-mash. Which was very strange indeed. “The receptionist is your cousin?”

“We think it simplifies things. It is much more complicated, Lady June.” Niao explained.

As the two geomancers begin waving their arms about the circular room began to rotate, and the small door way behind the desk followed suit, showing different draconic and Chinese labelled doors. It was like some kind of selector, hinting at the vastness of the library. “living area” “groceries” “bestiary” and so forth.

Then the lobby began to descend several levels, past several other doors. As the elevator slowly grinded downward, Cousin Xu made some conversation. “The midwives made an announcement today. Aunt Wei, Aunt Freyja, and Aunt Alicia all gave birth today. Healthy half dragons all.” Xu said with the eager enthusiasm of someone who'd experience siblings for the first time.

“We can scarcely contain our excitement at our newest siblings.” Niao said with an exasperated sigh, looking at Deimos and June with a look of ‘I really can’t be bothered to care’.

“Congratulations.” June said out reflexively at the news of newborns.

Once the elevator settled into its metal locks, the dragon sorcerers then telekinetically opened the doors to what was obviously, a large library, the smell of old parchment, scrolls and tomes wafting into the lobby. Staff dressed in robes similar to Niao walked about, pushing carts full of books with metal covers. “General Volumes 6. Divinations. Enjoy your visit to the library.” Xu said, ushering them out of her elevator. Niao shook her head. Their final destination was much farther off.


June took in the sight of the library. If they were written in a language she understood she’d be tempted to sit and read for a few hours too. “General Volumes 6? You mean there are more levels like this?” She conjectured to Deimos, being well overwhelmed. The shelves were at least two stories high, divided into ten sections of tomes. This was Floor to ceiling, and the geomancer librarians would simply raise and lower the floor at will to reach higher shelves. It was also a bit cramped, as the ergonomic spacing of the shelves only considered smaller Asian bodies, not giants like June or big winged humanoids like Deimos. It felt like shopping at a discount supermart. She couldn't sigh a wall that marked the edge of the library.

“Follow me, it should be around here somewhere.” Niao said, walking with the brisk pace of someone who knew this place like the back of her hand. It wouldn’t be a surprise to get lost among the volumes – whenever another librarian walked past, Niao disappeared briefly thanks to her very small profile, not to mention tight corners.

Deimos was also curious as to where all these dragon bone weapons came from. Obtaining dragon bone couldn’t be easy, one would have to kill a whole dragon for that. Or would they? If he thought hard enough, he did lose thagomizers and horns from time to time, they’d grow back but if one really thought about it, perhaps one could be scavenged for use? Were his horns and thagomizers really made of bone though? Or were they keratin? They did grow back over time, but they bled like hell when one broke off.

“I want to know where they’re getting all the magic to keep their over zealous security system running. Keeping my own library enchanted with the search function is a chore in it’s own right. I can’t imagine keeping a bunch of heavily armed golems enchanted non-stop.” Part of him wondered if this library had a similar spell? It took Deimos three years to complete that spell, although it wasn’t that huge considering his personal library only had between 500-600 books. One that would cover the expanses of this place would have to be massive.

He hadn’t quite made the connection between all the cousins and siblings untill the baby announcement though. Only then did the pieces in his dense little mind click into place.

“Um Niao… If it isn’t too rude of me to ask… how often are multiple half dragon children born on the same day?” Part of Deimos was concerned about the nature of how these half-dragons were conceived. He’d heard stories of dragons keeping human women around for unsavory purposes, never had he heard of a dragon using them as brood stock. He could only hope this wasn’t the case with Lu Feng. The other half of Deimos was concerned with the more noble connotations. Having multiple children from multiple women could prove disastrous if trying to keep a house. A bastard could rob a true born hatchling of his birthright for simply existing, especially if the dragonelle who bore him was pushy enough to claim her brood was more befitting the noble title. Entire wars could be started over the matter of succession. Yet no such thing here?

He follows along, keeping a sharp eye out on the many shelves of books, keeping a mental note of all the titles he’d wanted to come back and read… and perhaps inquire about a library card.

Niao indulged Deimos's need for conversation, as June couldn't until they found their spell. The question about the offspring likely came from speculation about traditional draconic familial ties."Ah. Your concern is well intentioned, but misplaced, Cousin Deimos. Our father, the illustrious sage Lu Feng is no lech, and when asked would certainly consider forced breeding beneath him. No... He gains mates the old fashioned way of sweet words, silks, jewels, finery, a roof overhead and a safe home. The ones who are on this Cube are the ones who did not find it in themselves to reject his advances. We attest to a childhood of mother and father present in our lives, until I took the Qin Gao-Kao.... um... Magistrate exams, whence I did spend some years as a municipal bureaucrat until Emperor Shi Huangdi expired from imbibing quicksilver, foolishly believing his mortal alchemists it was an elixir of immortality.... Well. If we are to go to the forbidden archive. You are likely to encounter father along the way. Perhaps you would be interested in conversing with him."

"Gao-Kao? State Exams? You took the state exams?" June piped up, picking up the term out of their draconic conversation.

"Ah Lady June, thou are familiar with the state exams? You amaze me with each passing minute. Quite astute. (Switch Draconic) I must confess to equating your language deficiency with your intellect." She said, being rather catty, having some kind of hostility towards Lady June.

"Not the form you were probably used to. But yeah. China still has those. Pretty corrupt these days though. Rich people always have the advantage, they can buy their test results."


Niao looked at June with interest. Political banter. "Then perhaps the times have not changed at all." she responded, a bit more receptive.

Niao picked up her conversation with Deimos once more, this time inquiring as to the Cube's inner workings. "We have a power supply of course. But the details are beyond our librarian's jurisdiction; Lu Feng teaches all of us something, but he does not tell anyone everything. Anyway we are close by."

Their meandering through the library was an exercise in dodging bodies, book carts and rising earth pillars left and right, and as Niao picked up her pace, a large convoy of carts suddenly zipped past the 'intersection' they were crossing, separating Deimos from the ladies as they very quickly vanished from view. Without a guide, it was only too easy to wander off into a suddenly uninhabited portion of the library...

At least his concerns about an enslaved harem were put to rest. Perhaps Lu Feng wasn’t the cruel type of insane, more like the slightly disheveled type. This, however, did not convince him there couldn't be a battle over birthright with this many offspring. “Meeting Lu Feng actually does interest me. He would be the first full dragon I’ve ever met.” Deimos admits. He was only physically with his mother for less than two hours before being whisked away into hiding/ Wait, did you say someone drank quick silver? As in mercury?” He suddenly diverts, having just processed that information. He had no idea what the Quin Gao Kao was.

He really wished he’d have found that book by now, he also wished he’d have buckled down and actually learned chinese. Too bad the only languages he knew other than English and Draconic were dead languages. All he knew was Niao occasionally acted as if she didn’t like June that much, which he couldn’t understand why. He thought she was pretty cool. She was a big dragon lady, who didn’t find that at least somewhat interesting. Then again, he supposed when someone like Niao grows up in a place as magnificent as this, she’d probably seen everything there is to see.

He moves to proceed, only to get cut off by rapidly moving book carts, wings fluttering to stop himself from falling face first into them. By the time the traffic cleared Niao and June were gone. “Uh… June? Niao?” He asks, before realizing they’d left him in a labyrinth of books. He follows the course he thinks the girls went down, only to find himself hopelessly l- Wait… did that sign say astrology?

Suddenly being lost was the absolute least of Deimos’s concerns as he turns in the completely opposite direction of what he was supposed to go down, assuming Niao had her way of locating him. He might as well go check out the library while he waited for ‘rescue’. He finds himself amongst books and scrolls of all kinds, occasionally thumbing through ones that mention realms full of dragons and their hierarchies. Just looking for anything interesting, which he was finding in copious amounts.

Deimos's quiet seclusion would eventually be broken by the arrival of two robed figures, one who seemed to be exchanging banter with their silent companion. "This is my Library! of course i know where I'm going!"

The old man paused for a moment, then spoke again as if carrying a conversation. "...No this isn't the same section! Just because... we pass by the same copy of Cassandora's Astromancy... for the fifth time. Look! That one's new."

The frail looking old man pointed at Deimos. He spoke in a high pitched draconic. Despite his decrepit looking for his emerald eyes blazed with energy, a more than little crazy. "Hey you! young whippersnapper!  I've been craving a pork bun for a while now. Must've been here a while with how my stomach's rumbling. You don't happen to have a pork bun do you?"

The second figure came into view, an ominous robed being of June's height, but very emaciated in build. If they were human they'd be deathly anorexic. Tentacles sprouted from its face, its purple skin glistening with a thin film of slime. its hands were clasped together sagely, and its two prominent front tentacles moved slightly as he telepathically communicated with Deimos. It locked its ominous, cephalopodian yellow eyes with Deimos's own.

The sensation of the Illithid communicating others almost felt like having salt water up one's nose and in their ears. Like those slimy tentacles were connecting directly to one's brain. Oddly enough, their telepathy voice sounded almost feminine and European. "Greetings, seeker. Please forgive the manner of the illustrious one. He refuses to admit he is lost... in his own Library. We seek the exit, this is not a section we visit often."

The old man must've been listening as he retorted."I told you it might be my Library, but my little Steel Cat was in charge of building it! I'm too busy getting new materials to take care of my old ones."

"You make it sound like collecting books and reading them are two separate hobbies."

"...I read these books. Sometimes." The two of them became distracted by their own banter, momentarily forgetting Deimos's presence.

Deimos was entirely engulfed in a book he’d picked up as he walked the never-ending expanse of the library. Busy reading about a magic that could wield the stars as a weapon, a spell he was currently working on committing to memory. Only then did he realize he was no longer alone, but he was being called out and accosted for a pork bun. His wings fluttered behind him in mild panic at being asked a question out of the blue before he regained his composure.

“Uh, I don’t have a pork bun on me right now, but boy I wish I did.” Deimos admits, trying to figure out why there was an old man scurrying around the library with a… was that a mind flayer?

The burning sensation of the illithid’s connection in his brain had him shaking his head momentarily, choosing to just accept it as not to risk angering a being so terrifying. So they were lost too… wait.. Illustrious one? In his own library?

Deimos glances down the the frail old man then back to the illithid before he finally makes the connection that THIS must be Lu Feng.

“Oh, You’re Lu Feng. Sorry, sir.” He closes the book for a second, choosing to copy the bow that Niao had given him, hoping that was the social courtesy around here. “I actually entered with lady metal kitten and another half dragon woman, but got separated and ended up here… only half-way by accident.” He admits as his voice trails off as his tone does it’s best to pronounce the ‘steel cat’ correctly, however in the connotation Niao used it in, it came out as metal kitten in draconic.

“I am Deimos, Son of Silithia.” Deimos was almost certain his mother had some kind of Identifying title, however he never quite picked that bit of information up. Perhaps Lu Feng knew more than he did about his own origins.

Lu Feng let out a snorting, wheezy laugh at Deimos's nervousness. "I don't see visitors much often, given the size of this place. Pleasure to meet you, son of the stars. How is your old lady doing?" He asked, like asking after some long lost friend or relative.

The Uliarthid beside them remained quiet, even telepathically. It did however, cross its arms and tap its foot, as if waiting for something.

"Oh. Let's not forget my company like she's not there! Deimos, this is Amora the Enchantress. Or to be precise, Amora the Enchantress post Ceramorphosis retaining her consciousness if not her original body. An expert enchanter, obviously, and one of the most studied of the conscious mind."

"I had planned on recreating my original body but the increased mental faculties of this form was too good an opportunity to pass up. I can never get used to the taste of brain though. I can still do this-" Amora made several gestures with her hands, and in the time Deimos needed to blink, the mind flayer was replaced with a beautiful blonde woman in a fitting green dress and decked out with fine jewels.

"A neat trick. And helps around the kids when Aunt Amora does book readings. haha!" Lu Feng's Cheery facade fell away when he seemed to realize something looking at Deimos. "Wait a minute. Half dragon. Another lineage." The floor underneath Deimos suddenly moved like a conveyer, and he was now uncomfortably close to the two presumably geriatric mages. Like, seeing the wrinkles on their faces. The Hall Pass leapt from Deimos's belt and into Lu Feng's hand.
Amora looked at Deimos and telepathically chuckled. “…I know this isn’t why you’re here, but things are about to get very exciting.”
"A betrothal token. Amora! It's finally happened! My little kitten is engaged! Welcome to the family, son!" The seemingly frail old man then grabbed Deimos in a big hug, lifting him off the ground, and any illusion of his frailness was gone. He an iron grip of a bear hug, and he might've neglected to ask if Deimos was fragile in human form.

= = = =

Meanwhile, the lady dragons had found a scroll version of the spell they needed, and the two conversed more easily, smoothing over the tension between them. June couldn't place where Niao's hostility came from though. She spoke in her native Korean tongue, and it sounded like Niao spoke the same to her fluently.

It actually took a couple of minutes before June realized their company was a bit too quiet. "Seems we lost Deimos along the way! We should go find him.” That was when the bells rang in the library.

“Hey what's that noise?" June heard the distant chiming of bells all around the library, and for a moment most of the staff also stopped what they were doing and went to a nearby information kiosk.
"Wait those are the... engagement bells? No one's getting married to my knowledge. Not today anyway."

"Engagement bells? Let me guess. Your father’s big on family affairs.” June surmised, seeing everyone in this Cube seemed to be related.

“Correct. Weddings always mean a feast, drinks, everyone getting a bar of gold from father.” Niao said off handedly.

June laughed at the description. That sounded like an incentive to get married often. “Everyone gets a bar of gold?…Count me in! but who’s the lucky couple?”

“They’ll announce it once the bells stop.” And so they did, and at a nearby information kiosk, where solid, moving metal letter blocks took the place of screens, spelled out the announcement. Some of the other assistant librarians, Niao’s sisters and cousins and relatives, all excitedly shook her hands.

“Sister Chief Librarian! Congratulations. We never thought this day would come.”

At seeing her name and Deimos’s name spelled out on the information board, Niao’s eyes widened in horror, and she physically grabbed June’s hand, as she literally ripped up the ground to surf the library.
“…We must find Deimos immediately!”

The question of his mother came up, which let a bit of confusion cross Deimos’s face. Apparently he knew of her, but not of what had become of her. “Ah, My mother sadly passed away. I was raised by humans.” He mentions, only really wishing to update him on what little news he actually knew about the situation.

He looks up as he notices the Uliarthid tapping her foot. He couldn’t help but balk, he was still a bit concerned about what he thought was a mind flayer being happily in his company. Didn’t they eat brains for dinner? His fears were put to rest when he was assured this was not a run of the mill mind flayer, but rather a kind enchantress. “Oh, well met Amora. I must admit you are the first of your kind I’ve ever met.” He gives a light bow to mirror her, getting a bit more comfortable with her as she shows a more human face.


All was good until suddenly Lu Feng had snatched him up and was investigating him uncomfortably closely.

Had he broken some kind of etiquette? Only then did he realize it was about the hall pa- BETROTHAL!? And Amora was just going to let Lu Feng run with it? She really was every bit as cruel as Deimos expected.

“Who- B- ack!” Deimos couldn’t get any words in before he was suddenly hugged with the crushing grip that was not befitting of an ancient old man, it was enough to make him wince as his spine threatened to snap.

“Oh god.” He thinks as Lu Feng won’t let him get a word in on the celebration. Part of him hoped Amora would help him out, but soon church bells were literally ringing. What was he going to say to Niao… even worse, what would he say to June? They came here for elder gods and now he was ending up hitched to the daughter of one of the most powerful and ancient dragons to ever live. Surely she’d be angry with this insane diversion, however it’s not like he could help it! Turns out Lu Feng really was senile, but not the kind of senile he’d expected. A more charming kind of crazy that he really only had one complaint about and it was about the sudden church wedding.

“Well I’m really hungry and I know one way to get out of here. Niao won’t like it though. AHAHAH!” Lu Feng’s Wheezing, snorting laugh was shortly followed by the ground around them seemingly freeing itself from the floor, and they ascended straight up through the multiple levels of the libraries, ceiling and floor giving way, passing by bewildered librarians who had sensed the geokinesis and dodged out of the way. With barely a gesture the crazy old man was controlling the abundant stone and metal around them as easily as breathing. “Sorry!” “Coming through!” “Important matter!” He apologizes vehemently to each floor he harassed.

They emerged from the library levels and into the dwelling levels. Specifically a busy food stall street, and while most people spared a few seconds to greet their founder, they immediately resumed their respective work. Of course, this was still within the cube, but it had a very high ceiling, about three levels high, to make it less claustrophobic.
The warriors three, lacking their arms and armor and wearing plain ancient qin clothes, Sun Ce, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu were seated on a long stone bench eating copious amounts of pork bun, soup, noodles and what seemed to be a whole roasted large fowl of indeterminate species, already halfway eaten. They were clearly surprised to see their progenitor appear out of the ground with Deimos and one of Lu Feng’s fellow sages.

“Father!” They said in unison, with food in their mouths, before being gestured to go back to their seats.

“Hello boys! We’re in a bit of a hurry. Which street are we on?” Lu Feng asked, grabbing a couple of buns for himself and offering Deimos a third.

“Emerald, father.” Sun Ce responded.

“Good good. Then the Vault’s around the corner.” They were on their merry way towards the exterior of a large building, but rather than take the front door on the other side, Lu Feng simply turned the solid stone walls into sand, reinforcing his ability to get anywhere he wanted by walking in a straight line. They were immediately at a large vault door, which had a most complicated locking mechanism that seemed to constantly move on its own. “I want to start you off with seeing the dowry I’ve saved up for this special day. It’s not much, a modest little seed money for your nest with Niao. A modest… 50,000 tons of gold. It should help get you through your first couple of centuries.”

The vault door seemed to be some kind of puzzle requiring mathematical formula to solve, as there were various moving pieces denoting certain values. Lu Feng managed the combination in a few moves, and the vault door rolled back to reveal a massive chamber of shelves, filled to the brim with gold bars…

Meanwhile….

Niao had a better idea where to go now that she sensed her father’s geomancy. “No geomancy in the library!” She muttered, taking a sharp turn towards the disturbance, June barely keeping her footing on the earth wave Niao created to carry them along. “Slow down Niao, I feel like I’m gonna fall flat on my face. Tell me what’s wrong?”

“Deimos must have run into Lu Feng. I just realized your hall passes are based on my late mother’s betrothal necklace. He’ll think…”

“…Deimos is your fiancé? Then it’s just a misunderstanding. We can explain it to him.”

“No, if he sees the dowry vault he might get gold fever and get all silly on us.”

June Blinked. She never had much exposure to dragon culture but was aware that massive amounts of wealth tended to make them and her go loony. “dowry… vault…?”

“I didn’t get married for a long time. The gold has been accruing for centuries based on earth time.”

June then understood Niao’s urgency. “Then we better knock some sense into them.”

The two ladies arrived at the holes in the floor created by a passing geomancer who would dare flout the library rules. “Ugh. He did it again! I hate fixing holes in the library. We’ll have to get to the elevator and-” Niao was still formulating a plan of action when June grabbed Niao in a bridal carry and tucked her head in. It took her a moment to realize what she was about to do.


“No! You crazy water dragon!” She shrieked, as June launched herself straight through the holes in a strong jump, clearing the levels much faster.

Deimos couldn’t get any words in before the ground literally opened up and swallowed him whole and tossed him straight upwards with the batshit crazy dragon. One odd elevator trip later and he was standing before a vault full of gold. “Whoa, 50,000 pounds is ‘modest?” He asks in sheer shock. Good christ alive how long had it taken him to accumulate all that gold.

Oh he was so screwed if he ended up being forcibly married to Niao, He was aware most dragons didn’t get to choose spouses, however he’d like to at least know her for more than a day or two… then again if he could hang around in the library for all his days… that was dowry enough.

He glances to the mind flayer as if wondering if she had caught onto his semi-devious thoughts about marrying Niao solely for the books. He could only feel a bit guilty about that for a bit before he felt the telltale thudding of June hulk jumping through the library with a screaming metal kitten. Thank god he was to be rescued. Oh no, he was going to be rescued.

Amora spectated the insanity that was going on, her illithid face betraying no expression but her tentacles writhing excitedly. That Deimos was more invested in the books than the gold made her churn out an overused saying. "Ah I see you are a man of culture..." She turned around to see the latest arrival, June and Niao, the latter who was hyperventilating for some reason. June seemed about ready to punch Amora, but Niao explained briefly she was on their side. "But it seems our entertainment is coming to an end."

"Niao! my little kitten!" Lu Feng looked around and saw his daughter, and then moved in to scooped her up in a hug. Niao, still exasperated, moved out of the way and raised an earth pillar for Lu Feng to crush in a hug.

"Honored father. No one is getting married. These two-" Niao pointed to June and Deimos but Lu Feng cut her off, jumping to more conclusions.

"Oh you're building a harem! one male for having children and a lady for fun! And a fine woman she is." Lu Feng's eyes turned to June, the old man breaking into a bigger smile and eyeing up the new arrival. June, a modern soldier and a feminist, did not take kindly to this lecherous old man.

"Please tell me this old man is not anyone important." June said, alarms ringing in her head, cracking her knuckles.

"NO! No. There is no marriage and no harem. June this is my father and the illustrious sage, Lu Feng. Father as I was saying, these two need access to your restricted archive. They seek knowledge of the outer gods."

"When I imagined your father, I expected someone with more... dignity."

"We chalk it up to senility."

June went to Deimos to shake him out of his stupor and check on him. "ANyway. Deimos, you alright? this place is driving me crazy. The sooner we leave the better. What did you-" June approached her friend and got a taste of Niao's dowry. "...You know i'm straight but I'd totally marry Niao...." unprotected from gold fever, the normally serious June went wide eyed and had a stupid grin on her face at the sight of the gold.

Niao was taking a few moments to explain things to her father, so it was Deimos who was stuck with gold-fever struck June.

Oh boy this man jumped to conclusions like a pogo stick. First one of them was getting married now there was a whole ass co-ed harem going on. This was just what he needed, to get adopted into a harem. Sweet mother of god the day only got worse. He could feel the light hunger for the gold in the back of his lizard brain, however he was well aware he did not possess the hardware for eating gold like his brain thought he did. He cringes as June decides to act menacingly toward Lu Feng. “Erm, no, he is very important. He owns all the books.” Deimos laughs before giving Niao the ‘bail me out’ look.

“Lu Feng, I am sorry to disappoint you, but none of us came here to marry Niao. We came here for information on an artifact from an old god that June collected.” He begins, looking over to June as if half-expecting her to step in, before recognizing that awestruck smile as Gold fever.

“Um… June… Still got that… hunk of god?”

He asks with a light bit of nervous laughter, hoping she’d snap out of it but to no avail. He looks to Niao, the Lu Feng, then back to June. He gives a deep sigh before reaching upward to place a hand on her shoulder to try to pull her attention from the tonnage of gold before her. “Hey. June.”

June had it worse, having had little training to resist gold fever. She turned around with a silly grin towards Deimos. "I mean. Being in a harem with Niao's not so bad right? it makes sense financially."

That was when Niao decided to just drop a big block of stone on June, from high up the wall, which had about as much effect as a weakly thrown softball. June rubbed her head more out getting the debris out of her hair than actual pain. "Ow."

"AYaaaah...You could drop an anvil on this girl's head and she'd not notice!" Niao said rather annoyed.

"Ow. What... what happened...? Oh shit I remember." it dawned on June what had just transpired. She resisted the urge to look around and see the gold again.

"Gold fever. looks like you never learned how to overcome it."

"Thanks." June takes out the container, and with its pressurized hiss garnered the attention of the elder sages. "Uh... your excellence... Here's the specimen sample. It’s from a creature… thing… I dismembered in an underwater temple in the pacific, just off the coast of the Philippines. We were wondering if you had insight on it.”

Lu Feng "What's this? Some bad sashimi? No, no… it can’t be…” He looked at June. Amora’s telepathic voice finished that sentence for them all. “A piece of the Dreamer Who Waits.”

The sages looked at each other then at the sample, their amused expressions disappearing. Amora begins intoning spells of divination and abjuration upon the sample, magical sigils appearing in her gnarled illithid talons, but blinking out just as quickly. She shook her head. “Well. This certainly made my day interesting, though I would have preferred a wedding.”

“Listen closely, younglings. The knowledge you seek is in my secure archive, within my Luminous Gallery. It is a dangerous knowledge to carry. If you must fight the powers of the Dream Who Waits, we must split the knowledge among you, so as to not overwhelm you with That Which You Must Not Know.”

Niao came forward and asked Lu Feng. “Father, let me help. I could split the lore three ways.”

“What are you trying to be funny? I’m not about to expose my favorite child to that kind of knowledge.” Niao’s face went all wrinkled. She was both flattered and frustrated.

“Well. Do you accept? Your life may not be quite the same.” Lu Feng asked again, with all seriousness.

“If it’s to protect my world, I’m ready.” June said with no hesitation.

“You are a brave … or stupid soul to accept so readily. Very well I have June’s confirmation. And to sweeten the deal child, I’ll have a chat with you about your lineage afterwards. You remind me of an old acquaintance.”

“Uh sure… I guess. I mean I’d be grateful, sir.”

“And you Deimos. Are you prepared to know that which mortals, even dragons were not meant to know?”

“Not bad? They don’t call marriage the ball and chain for nothing June.” Deimos groans, not really knowing how to snap June out of it. Last thing we wanted was the be in the concubine library of another dragon. Luckily, one well chunked rock later and June was back to her usual self.

Back to business, the wedding stuffed away back into the dark recesses of the past never to be dug up again. June opened the can of wriggling meat much like an angry soda. The Dreamer who Waits, That sure sounded sinister.

This was going to be some mind melting shit if even the illithid was acting this way. Part of Deimos didn’t feel like eating a potential hole in his brain from knowing the baddest of the bad, but that would mean only June would do it…. Half dragons didn’t let other half dragons melt their brains alone. The other half of him was way too excited for it.

“I do.” Deimos dips his head.

He supposed if he survived this, he’d be the luckiest half dragon in the universe. “If my brain explodes, please let my parents know what happened.”