This here in is a Log of Clockwork telling Kayle a story from his past. It's rather onesided, but worth placing here none the less.
Clockwork relaxes back a bit, absently brushing his whiskers with his forepaws... after a few moments, he comments to Kayle. " Did I ever tell you about the time I burned off an entire cliffside near Mournaen Tower?"
Kayle shakes his head. "You haven't told me much, so no. I'd be interested to hear the story."
Clockwork nods slowly, and sits up a bit, so that he can properly gesture and whatnot. not that his gestures usually mean much, but he likes to talk with his hands. " You see, Lands'Edge had a rather large number of people coming through it at any one time. It's quite the place, far more, ahh, mystic then some realms that I've experienced. This bit of episode in my life too place between the time of when I took a humanish form, and the form of a Flesh dragon. At the time, I was frequently changing between forms, mostly for the sake of convenience. It wasn't widely know that I was the sovereign of Lands'Edge, and as such I liked to keep up appearances as a human, so that I could see first hand the interactions.”
You rumble, " Well, It was after the Third blade, Havrel was made by myself that a vampire came calling to the Inn at Lands'Edge. Many people frequented the end of Lands’Edge for the sake of the dreams and visions that could be gotten there, so it wasn't unusual for all types to come through. This vampire, though, simply would not follow the laws of the Inn, in essence, be nice. He was rude, often cruel to the guests, and in one case, attempted to take a fair young lady captive. While normally I wouldn't be worried about a young lady being taken hostage, as I liked to let things flow as they would, In this case, I was forced to take action, as not the day before, It had come to my attention that she was the kings daughter from the land adjoining my own, Lockhaven. I had writ a promice to the king, saying that she would be looked after while in my domain. And, so it was that I happened to be in the tavern, minding my own business, when the pique began.""
You rumble, "The vampire, to gain some private ends, went berserk. He stabbed the innkeeper, a dear and long friend of mine, and bit the princess. In essence, forcing her to change unto his own kind... While as the sovereign of the land I couldn't change such rules of conduct, as all had to abide by them, I could indeed try to stop the mad vampire's attempts at carrying the princess off. The fight was fast and furious, but I was defeated, in that the vampire fled the battle, fearful of my blade Havrel. While this did not bother me, as I assumed the fight to be done, and the matter settled, it wasn't until later that evening that I realized something was amiss."
You rumble, " I knew little of vampires and their kind, but seemingly this one held power over the young lady, luring her away from the inn with his siren's call. It was Jake, the innkeeper, who told me of the girl's disappearance during the night. Now, As you might expect, I went on search for the girl, but during the day light, the vampire and the girl had gone to ground, and while they were in my domain and I could still feel them there, I could do nothing to find them until they touched the air, as that was where I ruled from. It wasn't until dusk settled that I was able to find them. They had hidden in the marsh near the ocean, a short few leagues from where a hillock is broken, and over looks the deep, where later Mournaen tower would be built. When they saw me coming to them, I of course having flown to where the were, and changed back to a man so they would not know my secret, the fled for the hillock, and being undead, were able to quickly outpace me through the swamplands.""
You rumble, " When I finally met up with them, the vampire had dazed his newly made offspring, and was threatening to throw her from the cliff onto the rocks below. While it was bad enough that I'd let such a harm befall the girl as vampirism, I could not abide by her destruction completely. It would make a debt that I simply could not repay. So, I gave up, and fled the hill... only to turn back once from sight, taking the shape of a dragon... now, understand that while what you see me here now is rather small... what I became then was neither small nor dim... I towered over the land, seeing even so far as the dozen or so leagues back to the Inn, and the several days worth of travel to the Weather Top. Even the Isle of Skye, caught up in the clouds case close by to my eyes. I leapt into the ocean, causing the ground to shake with my movement, knocking the pair to the ground, and, with a hastily prepared spell, burned into place a shield about the girl that might protect her from my fire. The vampire himself,. unfortunately, had no such cover. It was with a mighty wind that I first drew breath, and, in my moment of fury and rage, burned down half of the hillock to cinders and ash, nearly breaking down my own magic’s in the process."
Clockwork pauses for a few moments sitting forward. " The princess was returned to her father, damaged goods unfortunately, but still accepted with her secret closely kept. The vampire disappeared. Perhaps fled, perhaps burned to nothing... and Now, Mournaen tower stands not 300 feet from where the hilltop was burned down. There still remains, or did last I'd been there, the magic’s that prevent fire and heat from entering into it's circle. Such hasty spells drained on me up until I left my old body, for no end was set in sight for them.
Kayle raises his eyebrows. "Damn..."
Clockwork nods slowly. " That's about right, yes. The girl came to me later, when she was a woman, often simply to spend time with me upon weathertop. She new my form, and understood me for what I was. We were friends for quite some time."