A mature male elf walks into Roadhaven and is referred to Wilson.
“Hello, welcome to Roadhaven, how can I help you?”
“I am looking for Hanin, leader of the Dragonslayers” said the elf in a friendly voice.
“OK. Well first Hanin is dead and second, who may I ask is looking for the Dragonslayers.”
“Well that is complicated, it would be best to explain it to the group. I um had not heard about Hanin’s demise. I would hope Lady Kylia is well. Is she the current leader of the Dragonslayers? I am not so much in a hurry, but my mission is quite important.”
“Sorry the Lady is not in, but Sir Paul is. I am sure he can help you. Here he comes now.” Wilson points to Paul, coming out of the library.
The elf visitor looks Paul up and down. “I do not recognize him, is he one of the leaders? I’ve never even heard his name mentioned, and I am a bit of a buff.”
Wilson looks at the elf in disbelief and waves Paul over. “Sir Paul, this gentleman is looking for the leader of the Dragonslayers. He has not heard of you but he thinks Hanin is the leader.”
“It ok Wilson, I’ll talk to him. I’m not really offended.” He motions the elf to the bar. “Come on, lets talk.”
The Elf walks with Paul to the bar. “I mean no disrespect. I , well it’s a long story, but I was really hoping to talk to someone I know.”
Paul opens the door to allow the guest entrance. The elf starts to walk inside but spins around quickly and slams the door closed, much to Paul’s surprise. “I know it’s a dump, but it is our dump.” Paul said trying to lighting the sudden tension.”
“Do you know who that is in there? That creature is dangerous.” the elf says in a nervous whisper.
“Who, Kit? You have nothing to fear, she is my trusted ally and one of the Dragonslayers.”
“You should never trust her; she is a cold blooded killer. If she is here maybe I have come to the wrong plane, er place.” The elf tried to recover but failed.
“Now you are making sense. Tell me your name and tell me where you come from. No one messes with the Dragonslayers.” Paul demanded.
“You must understand, I know how you feel. But you must understand, I am here as a Dragonslayer. I need your help, the world; maybe multiple worlds are at stake. I had hopped someone would recognize me. I have been a Dragonslayer most of my life. My name is Khan.”
(Later that day, in the meeting hall)
Paul introduces the Dragonslayers to a mature elf, claiming to be Khan. “While I cannot vouch for him, some of his story, the more personal details, sounds true.”
The Elf takes a deep breath and walks as he addresses the crowd.
“I understand none of you recognize me. I will try and explain as I explain why I am here. Obviously I am not the Khan you know. I never died and had to be reincarnated as a human, and then again as a troll. (he shakes his head). Where I come from, let just say, is a different dimension. Much the world is as you know it, with only a few details that have been different, but those changes have compounded to make my life and the rest of the world vastly different. Some notable changes I have seen is that Paul here never joined the DragonSlayers and (pausing to scan the room, hesitantly) Kit has not adjusted to the surface society so well. (Looks to see how she reacts) Where I come from, she is the muscle of an evil trio that is bent on ruling the world and is nearly there already. I need your help. There are no heroes left where I am from, no one who will help me set things right. I found a way to get here and that is my greatest hope and my greatest fear. If you do not help me defeat them, I fear they may discover where I am gone and this world may suffer the same fate. I can go on and on but I need to know if you will help me. (He finishes his prepared speech and waits for questions or responses from the floor.
“Well if I am one of the bad girls, who are my partners? Kit says with some disdain.
Khan (if that is who he really is) shakes his head again. “While that is the most obvious question, I am not sure you will want to know. I would have hoped you would agree first but maybe this will help you decide. You work for two evil and powerful fighter/mages. One is your mother, the other one the rest you might know, or at least heard of, he used to be a Dragonslayer. He name is Chonny.
Khan takes a long drink of ale.
Khan looks around the room. As expected most the faces looking at him are either blank stares in disbelief or simple confusion. That is except for Paul and Kit. They look at each other and just smile. Khan continues, "I would think your first concern is your own world, as it should be. The good news is that not only is Kit reformed but both her mother and Chonny are dead in this world, I already checked, no offense. Your only fear comes from my world." Blank stares continued to fill the room..
Paul breaks the silence with a chuckle,"You were right Kit, it is so much easier being evil. Good thing I died.” Now it was Khan’s turn to be confused. He looked back and forth at the two until Paul waved and answered his question. “I was her mother, long story, please go on.” A wave of relief passed over Khan as he reevaluated the situation. “This makes things much easier. I am sure now this is the correct world.”
Lady Kylia Wolfslayer has heard enough. “I can understand these two ego maniacs going for world domination, no offense Paul, but I knew Chonny. No way, what ever world you are from.
Kira watched all of this taking place from her usual spot on the fringes of the group. She took note of the reactions of all the others, some of which matched her own. Kit, though, stood absorbing the news of her role in this 'other dimension'. Paul's initial surprise was followed by many different emotions, some seemingly conflicting, which flitted across his features. When no one seemed inclined to respond, Kira stepped forward out of the shadows. "One of the things that inclines me to believe you, is the fact that you don't seem to realize that our group contains very few of the original Dragonslayers," she said quietly. "I for one have no clue who Chonny is, or who he was to the Dragonslayers. There hasn't been much time for storytelling since I joined, and some of these," her arm swept to indicate several of the group, "joined after I did." She paused to let Khan take in that information, then continued when he nodded, "I don't know the Dragonslayers as you know them, but I doubt highly that these Dragonslayers will agree to anything without being fully informed as to what's at stake and any needed facts that could keep us alive a little longer." She stepped back and looked at him expectantly.
Khan smiles for a moment. It has been a while sense he heard a fresh voice say those words. "There are few things consistent with the DragonSlayers. Even Lady Kylia is not a DragonSlayer in at least one world I have visited. As constant as the DragonSlayer name, they seem to change with the tides. There was one group that was almost all half aquatic, living in the islands. But what is always the same is that the DragonSlayers seem to be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing, if only for the wrong reason. They do not always care why, or how or even who. But this is not an ordinary time, for now you go after your own. And while Chonny may be a new name to you, let me tell you the story and see if you will ever forget the name again."
“Chonny is one of the more consistent Dragonslayers, in all the worlds, though short lived in all of them. One of the more constant events that have happened in most worlds, is that Chonny was with the Dragonslayers when they found the Hand of Vecna in a dungeon under a mages cottage. After not getting help from anyone more powerful beings, the Dragonslayers only wanted to be rid of this most evil artifact, but wanted to make sure it did not fall into the wrong hands. Most stories say he teleported to the sun and destroyed it, along with himself. Unfortunately, I live in the one world where he did not. The Dragonslayers in my world talked about it for a long time once we knew. Some think the Chonny just thought he could do more good if he destroyed another part of Vecna and needed the hand to find them. Some say Vecna had made the sword that Chonny used to teleport and was somehow able to teleport Chonny to the location of the Vecna’s eye. No one really knows, or cares. Chonny, or who was Chonny, became obsessed with the power. He became one with Vecna. He met Kit and her mother while looking for one of the parts and soon there was no stopping them. One by one they have eliminated any threat to their power. My greatest fear is that they are so proactive, they may discover that I have come here and they my try and follow. In that I am sorry that your world may be in as much danger as mine is; I only help you are up to the task of saving two worlds.
The DragonSlayers considered the task before them. How could they say no? Paul asked the first question. “Is it your plan for a direct assault? It is hard enough to destroy the hand of Vecna, and we can only do that after we defeat my alter ego and the rest of the trio.”
“Do you really think you were that tough?” Kyla asked, half joking.
“Well, I had a few more magic items, as I recall, and a few more spells. But no, I was blinded by power. That will be my downfall, I mean her downfall. Who here really knows enough about Chonny or the artifacts of Vecna to know what to expect?” Paul said, looking to Khan for answers.
Khan was more and more comfortable with his choice. They were preparing for the worst and it was time to give them the hope they needed. “I have spent a lot of time trying to solve this problem. Traveling to different dimensions was only part of research. I have a few possibilities, but the best chance is to deal with Vecna directly.”
Suddenly there was silence.
“Well, that is a novel approach. Can I ask how?” Paul asked as if expecting a punch line.
Khan started into his teaching voice. “Once you see beyond this world, into different dimensions, then you start to see that Time itself is just another side of a box. We can travel the edge north or south, up or down. With a little work, we can learn to jump within the box or to a whole new box. What is so hard for many to grasp is that we can also jump to a point before the box was made. I can get us to a time when Vecna was still alive, even before if we wanted to. No Vecna, no temptation for Chonny. No serious threat to my world, or yours. Who’s ready to see what the world was like, say 2,000 years ago?”
