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Chapter Text

Tonks knew her friend loved dragons, it was the kind of obvious thing that even someone who was both blind and deaf would realize if they spent enough time with Charlie. And with Charlie, just five minutes was certainly enough time to realize this.

But, Charlie loved dragons which was perfectly fine.

Except that the only things that the wizarding world had on dragons were about breeding dragons, hunting dragons, how to raise a dragon, different breeds of dragons and what uses various dragon parts had. Which meant that there weren't really a lot of actual material on dragons, which in turn meant that Charlie managed to read every book on dragons that Hogwarts' library had.

Which meant he started sulking because of this. And a sulky friend is no fun at all, especially when he tends to be too mopey to hide properly when they sneaking around. Which leads to Tonks deciding to dip into the reserve of muggle stories that have dragons in them.

It is a bit of a hit and miss, honestly.

Take The Hobbit , for example. Charlie had absolutely loved the book right up until Smaug showed up and died.

All of this means that Tonks is used to finding some kind of muggle book that has dragons in it and passing it on to Charlie. So when she's helping her mum clean out the attic and finds a couple of books titled Dungeons & Dragons in one box of her dad's old things, she has no issue with passing them along too.

If she had known what this would lead to, Tonks never would have shared them.

(She absolutely would. Even though she was forcibly dragged into things, Tonks still had fun during the times they played.)

Chapter Text

"First time out on open water, girlie?" the sailor questioned as the female half-orc leaned over the railing to look down at the water.

Aresha flashed a grin at the man. "Is it that obvious?"

"Not to most folk, but we sailors tend to develop an eye for these things." the human replied. "And since we act as a ferry between Arcadia and Baltia, our crew tends to see more passengers then most."

"So you often take this route? Should we expect any kind of trouble? Pirates, maybe?" Aresha asked.

The sailor scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Aye, we do. And all kinds of trouble could occur, storms and even pirates, but precautions are taken. The Council of Arcadia sends out a small party of their navy to clear out any pirates every other week."

"That's a relief, I suppose." Aresha said, lifting herself up to sit on the railing.

"Miss, you can't actually sit there-"

"Alright," Percy said as Tonks leaned back smugly. "What are the rest of your characters doing? Bill?"

Bill looked down at his character sheet. "I would probably be in my room, looking at that letter again."

"Rakas, my dear friend, the letter reads." Percy says after shuffling through a few pieces of parchment until he selected the one he was looking for. "I hope that this letter reaches you in good health, and within a timely manner. While it has been some time since we had the opportunity to meet one another face to face, it is my hope that I am not being too presumptuous in asking you a favor."

"The letter goes on to say how Baltia is a great and prosperous city, with talented craftsmen and a booming trade. I know how you can get absorbed in your work, it continues, so I am sure it will come as a surprise to you that it is rumored that someone has managed to find their way into the lost dungeon Aghati." Percy says. "It talks a bit about the history of Aghati, how it was a maze that the Baltian royalty used to hide their treasures and to escape their castle when it was besieged in 724 A.E., and about how it was lost when the castle was burned down in that very siege." 

"You are asked to investigate the rumors on the writer's behalf, a historian who is currently unable to go herself due to work commitments, and that you could go to a Professor Francis Cleves at the local college to get more information if you showed him this letter." Percy says, finally setting the parchment he had been referencing down. "The letter ends with Your friend, Catherine."

"First thing, I want to take a piece of parchment and write down everything important about Aghati, and add a reminder to visit Professor Fancis Cleves." Bill says after a moment of thought. "And I'll place that parchment in a pocket or pouch, the letter I'll carefully fold once more and tuck it into one of my books for safe keeping."

"Easy enough to do." Percy said. "Is that all?"

"I'll probably head up on deck to get some air but, yeah, that is it for me." Bill says, somewhat distracted as he takes a spare parchment and writes his own notes down.

Percy nods, glancing at the three left before deciding. "Next up, Fred and George."

"You know," Ikil said, tone amused. "I don't think we are actually allowed up here."

Rhurak feathers ruffled, smug as any aarakocra could appear. "No one wanted to argue with a giant bird taking a perch high up. Especially since I'd likely be a better lookout compared to the human crew."

" Bird, huh." Ikil said, his own wings fluttering briefly as he moved to take a perch next to Rhurak.

"Of course, what else would I be, brother?" Rhurak asked, tone teasing.

___

"Wait, wait." Tonks said, leaning forwards. "You aren't aarakocra?"

"Yes."

"No."

The twins glanced at each other then, in unison, said. "Maybe."

"....well," Tonks huffed. "That clears up absolutely nothing."

"Are you two seriously keeping look out?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, there's no one else up here." George answered.

"Alright," Percy said. "Both of you make perception checks."

"That's a ten…" Fred says after rolling, trailing off as he peered at his own character sheet before continuing. "And minus one for perception so a total of nine."

"So much for good eyesight of a bird." Tonks said as George rolled, referencing his own sheet.

"Eighteen total for me." George said.

___

"So why Baltia?" Rhurak asked after a moment of silence.

"Because," Ikil said as he peered out into the horizon. "They're known for their craftsmanship, something that includes artificers."

Rhurak nodded thoughtfully. "So are you looking for some advice, work, a mentor or just for ideas?"

"I'm only looking for ideas really, but if any of the others happen…" Ikil trailed, straightening as he sees two dark blobs heading in their direction. "I think we're going to have company soon, not sure what but they're airborne."

"I'll head down and warn the captain, you keep an eye on it." Rhurak said, wings folding close as he started making his way down the mast.

"We'll get back to that in a minute," Percy said, turning to Charlie. "What have you been doing this whole time?"

"I'm sitting on the deck, somewhere out of the way, with my snake. Slytherin." Charlie says, not even looking up from his character sheet.

"You didn't." Tonks said, voice heard even above the outbursts the other quidditch players made. "Oh Merlin, you named your pet snake after your house's rival?"

"I don't see any reason not to." Charlie said, voice calm but a slight smirk showing.

Bill sputtered. "No good reason? They beat us in last week's game, through cheating."

"You're such a little shit." Tonks said gleefully.

"Alright, alright." Percy said, cutting in before anything else could be said. "Is that all you're doing?"

Charlie shrugged. "Yeah, I just wanted to get some fresh air and feed my friend."

"Then let's get back to the two approaching creatures."