He then held up the liquid to the light, marveling at this unknown substance he had just made. This however did not seem to agree with the contents of the vial, because once the light began to pass through the contents began to bubble again, more violently than before. With a yelp he hurried to open the window and flung it with all the might he could muster, shouting, “Duck and cover!!” There was a loud explosion outside, and with it the windows shattered from rocks and other miscellaneous debris being flung in all directions. Once the dust had settled and it was apparent the immediate danger had passed, he uncovered the back of his head with his hands, looking around. He started laughing, looking over at his partner. “Its brilliant, brilliant I say! We’ve done it son, we’ve only bloody done it!” They both got up and the old man wrapped his arms around the boy. Deep in his throat, his son started to pur. It had not taken long for the egg to hatch those 16 years ago, and when it did it gave way to a sickly dragonborn. Using all of his knowledge as both an alchemist and a wizard, the old man was able to care for the creature. As he grew, the nature of the strange discovery became apparent to the old man. The dragonborn, to put kindly was quite small for his size, and seemed to be relatively underdeveloped. While the old man had never witnessed any dragons, or dragonborn for that matter, he had heard stories of them and knew that this must be the case with the child. Most likely what had happened was, when the parent discovered their hatchling would be weaker than average, carried it far away from their home and discarded it on the side of the road. The overgrown lizard had blotchy black scales, all things considered for dragonborn, relatively strait and well kept since most his life was spent studying and experimenting rather than adventuring and fighting. Large round glasses adorned his snout, and his robes were white and tan. By observing his mannerisms out and about, it would be fairly easy for any to see that he had a relatively skittish personality, often times jumping at his own shadow. In the comfort of his own home however, nothing seems to scare him, he was completely comfortable in this environment.
Night had fallen over the little village nestled in the hilly countryside. Rain and wind whipped the trees, as they bent under the will of their mistress. However strong the wind would get however, the stone cottages remained firm and steadfast. A warm glow shimmered from the windows, dancing on the streets with the ever pounding rain. All within the cobbled walls were warm and dry, but not all was right with the world. In one particular cottage located towards the center of the town, in one of the wealthier looking houses raged an argument. The dispute was between a kindly looking old man, with a floppy grey hat adorning his head, and a younger, middle aged man with jet black hair. The old man slammed his fist down on the table, shouting, “You can not keep doing this to me Damian, you are singling me out from the rest of the village!” The younger man smirked, clearly understanding his hold over his adversary. “And who is going to stop me, the village chief? He does not care. I bring him his cut of the money, and he doesn’t ask questions. You? What are you going to do, turn me into a toad? Last I checked, you’re an alchemist not some well read genius.” “We all know what this is about Damian, it’s about your stupid godsdamned nephew. You are trying to drive me out of my home, away from the good people of this village, people that have depended on me for years. Away from my research, my life’s work, I have already sold all my horses save one, I have sold parts of my land, all because that punk Stephano wants to dabble in things he knows nothing about, alchemy is not a tool to recklessly dive into with no former training.” The old man let out. It was clear however, that this was a losing battle. The old man only had so much energy, and Damian’s cold shell was none the closer to cracking. In the end, the old man stormed out of the shelter into the cold rain and untied his horse. Water pours from around the rim of his hat, as he stops for a second, placing his hand on the horse’s neck, pondering if there were any alternatives as a way to help out, but shook it off and mounted the horse’s back, setting out. Iron met stone, over and over again, as the horse made its way through the town. The man could name almost every resident in each house, and had known them for most of their lives. He knew not how much longer he would be able to live with them with the relentless landlord hounding him for more money every few months. There was a possibility he could make the money he needed, but it would not be easy and without a proper motivation he was not sure if his old bones would be willing. He put the thoughts out of his mind however, and focused on making it back to his tower.
Some time had passed, as he fought his way through the weather, having to hold on to his hat to keep it from flying away. Without warning, a bolt of lightning ripped the sky in two, illuminating the landscape. He had traveled this path more times than he could count, but something very out of place caught his eye. He wasn’t quite sure what it was, but in the brief second the land was illuminated, the man’s eyes caught on a decently sized foreign object on the side of the road. With a grunt he slid off his horse, feeling his knees crack as foot hit ground. He slid down the side of the ditch, slipping left and right as he made his way towards whatever it was he saw. He offered a silent prayer, and hoped what he was about to find was a body, or heaven’s forbid a child’s body. Coated in mud from hand to foot, he reached out and felt… what did he feel? It was an odd texture, it was hard. Using both hands, he felt around it. It was oval shaped, it was… an egg? If it was, it was massive. The size would have been that of his entire upper body. Ever pressed by the rain he struggled to think of what even to do with the situation present before him. Though he was not entirely sure, it had seemed to be lost, or maybe even abandoned. While he was not sure what exactly was inside, especially being something of this size, he was fairly certain if it posed a potential threat that he would be able to control or at least rehome it. It took some considerable amount of time and effort, but eventually he was able to clamber his way back up the ditch and onto the road. Exhausted, he hoisted the egg up onto the horse’s back, then mounted up behind it. Unsure of how long it had been there, or even what type of protective coating from the elements it had, for any extra chance it may help keep the egg safe, he put his hat on top of it to shield from some rain.
* * *
“Pass me the liquid nitrogen, now!” There was a tone of urgency in the old mans voice. A vial of the liquid quite literally floated over towards the table. It was almost as an unseen force accepted the beaker as it shook slightly, but soon enough it was pouring into the concoction before him. Fingers swung back and forth around the glass and spell lines started to encircle it. With a final bubble it settled, turning a bright green.