Dragon Day by Stan Brown

Author:Stan Brown [Brown, Stan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7869-3622-9
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

The Temple of Paladine was in utter chaos.

From all over the grounds acolytes came running to the steps of the Worship Hall bleating questions as they arrived. The air was filled with the buzz of dozens of conversations and the front of the temple was a constant whirl of activity.

The largest crowd of acolytes gathered at the top of the temple stairs around a middle-aged woman called Lady Brightfall. She seemed to be doing her best to answer and reassure while still questioning the acolyte who had discovered the supposed theft. Lady Brightfall’s long, straw-colored hair was tied in two intricate braids that snapped back and forth around her head as she tried to give her full attention to no fewer than six different people at a time.

Cat watched as a strange cycle of events repeated itself about once every three minutes—acolytes arriving, asking the same dozen or so questions, then leaving.

Was it true? Had the Crown of Paladine been stolen? What would they do? What should they do? Who would do such a thing? Had the constables been summoned? Could the ordination ceremony go on without the crown? Could they use a replacement crown as a stand in? Could the Head Priest bless another circlet so it could serve the same purpose? If a priest were ordained with a different crown would he or she really be sanctified in the eyes of Paladine?

After determining that there were more questions than answers at this point, acolytes would pull themselves free of the crowd and rush off to spread what they knew to the far sides of the temple grounds and beyond. It wouldn’t be long, Cat realized, before all of Old City knew about the missing crown. That sort of notoriety could be good or bad.

If everyone in town knew that the Crown of Paladine had been stolen and that the full forces of the Temple of Paladine and the Palanthas Constable’s Office were working to find it, the thief would have a very hard time finding a buyer for his or her prize or smuggling it out of the city. Eventually the fear of being caught with the crown could lead the thief to return it or leave it where it would be found by the authorities.

On the other hand, the same forces could lead the thief to stick the crown in a secure holding spot and leave it there for a number of years or, worse still, destroy it so and eliminate all evidence of the crime. If either of these possibilities came to pass, the only way the clerics would ever know what happened to their crown would be through the use of arcane magic. However, since the thief was reported to have been wearing the robes of a student mage, it seemed unlikely that the Wizards of High Sorcery would be inclined to help publicly vilify one of their own.

All in all, Cat estimated that if the Crown of Paladine wasn’t secured by daybreak, it would not be found before the Dragon Day ceremony.

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