[Raindancer]

"Around the water, not through it!" Rendethryn scolded her ostard and pulled clumps of swamp muck from her hair.  The ostard simply chirped in reply, delighted with the sudden snacks covering its rider, and with fastidious nibbles quickly cleaned the algae from the woman's hair and clothing.

The race might have been postponed, but that didn't mean she couldn't familiarize herself with potential courses.  All day, Rendethryn and Comet weaved their way around and through the city of Tarasinau, until each scraggly hedge wall and uneven cobblestone street grew familiar.  The swamps, obviously, needed work, but that could wait for another day.  Taking the reins in hand, Rendethryn led the ostard back towards the stables.  The normally bustling streets seemed sparser than her last visit, though that had been some time ago, when Queen Celestia ruled the kingdom.  Now, the surrounding wilds pressed in as if to return the city to nature.

A small child held out her hand to beg as Rendethryn passed.  Rendethryn found herself hoping the child's greenish complexion indicated goblin blood rather than illness as she retrieved a small loaf of bread from her saddle bag, offering it to the child.  An inward sigh of relief at the tiny claws: goblin blood.  "Where do you live, little one?"

The child blinked up at her, cheeks bulging with half-chewed bread.  "Here," she answered simply, as if that was obvious.  "Sometimes I get to sleep in the stables, if it's raining."

"And your parents?" Rendethryn ventured.  "Do they live here too?"  The child's expression broke her heart, and she rushed to change the subject.  "I have some honeyed apple slices, if you would like to share, little one."  She handed the ostard over to a passing stable hand and sat beside the girl, pulling out the promised sweet and offering it to her.  As the child ate, Rendethryn's gaze moved to the east, towards the fields that fed the city.  The stone walls looked like they'd taken a tumble into the swamp themselves: moss and muck clung to every surface.  In the distance, corpser vines waved lazily in the sunlight.

"Excuse me, little one," and Rendethryn rose to her feet, striding to the neglected fields.  As the child watched, her glamor melted away until a great blue dragon stood in her place.  The corpser stretched its tendrils towards the fresh meat, only to flinch back as flames erupted from the dragon's snout.  The dragon spread her wings, casting a great shadow over the fields, and began to chant, her eyes glowing as magic coursed from the earth, through her, and back to the earth.  The muck and brambles blossomed in a rainbow of flowers before dying back again, returning the fields to their original splendor.  Rendethryn resumed her human form as she strode back to the child, offering a gentle smile.  "Fear not, little one," for she saw the fear in her eyes she had grown accustomed to when others saw her true form.  She pulled the rest of the honeyed apple slices from her satchel and offered them to the child.  "Be strong, and be patient.  I shall return."

And with that, she turned and walked to the wagons, back to Carigsay, a plan already forming in her mind.

[Raindancer]

At dawn of the 13th day, a deep, bugling roar echoed from the swamps west of Tarasinau. A procession of carts and couriers marched into the city, led by a large blue dragon pulling an equally large wagon. Though the contents were covered by a large canvas cloth, the rounded shapes underneath showed a bounty of different produce. Behind her, men led pack horses laden with sacks of grain: corn and barley and wheat. Soldiers in Carigsay livery were interspersed through the group, and a glassy-eyed jotunn served as rear guard. Needless to say, by the time the procession reached the hearth, a curious crowd had gathered.

"Good people of Tarasinau!" the dragon cried as she raised onto her hind legs. Her draconic form shifted and shrank to that of a human and she stepped free of the harness. "I am Rendethryn Stormsong of Carigsay, and I have heard your plight. We bring food and supplies to aid our brethren in their time of need!" A murmur rippled through the crowd and grew into a cheer, as hands rushed to unload the goods and carry them into the hearth home. Rendethryn made her way through the crowd to the jotunn, still standing placidly towards the rear, and placed her hand upon his knee. "I thank you for the assistance, friend," she said, her voice oddly echoed with a deep, resonant tone. "Return to your northern lands in peace." "As you wish." And the giant turned for the gates of the city, lumbering out of sight.

Rendethryn scanned the crowd as she returned to the business at hand. A group of smallfolk had already set up a cauldron for a hearty stew, stoking the fires and chattering happily among themselves. Children darted laughing through the adults. There, towards the outer edge of the crowd, she finally spied her target: the pale greenish face of the child from some days earlier, too weak to play with the other children but watching with yearning.

"There you are, little one!" Rendethryn smiled and lifted the child onto her hip. By the gods, she barely weighed anything. "I was hoping I would see you again. Let us go and see what delights await us, hm?"

They picked their way through the crowd. It was slow going, as many stopped her to offer thanks, handshakes and hugs, old women grasping her hand and blessing her name. Rendethryn had a brief flashback to her homeland, when the humans that settled in her territory had praised her as a deity. Her smile grew brighter.

While the bread they'd brought had grown hard on the journey, it made excellent bowls for stew, and one of the smallfolk passed her such a bowl for the goblin child. She sat the child beneath a tree to eat her fill, and turned her attention back to the work of unloading and organizing. "No, no, keep that chest separate from the foodstuffs," she instructed. "There are seeds in there to replant the fields."

By mid-morning, the area around the hearth resembled a festival. Groups of adults chatted among themselves, and children played with renewed spirits. Rendethryn sat beneath a tree with a group of villagers, elders who had done their best to guide the others in the absence of the queen. The goblin child slept draped across her lap, much like a graceless cat. She listened to their concerns and offered guidance as she could, or simple empathy where she could not. In some days' time, she assured them, a ship would arrive at the docks, carrying wood, stone, and 100 skilled workers to help revitalize the city.

"Will you be overseeing the work yourself, milady?" a wizened dwarf asked, puffing on her pipe.

Rendethryn nodded. "At first, to be sure. Once a garden has been established, it doesn't need as much care, but nurturing it to that point is rather intense work. That is, if you wish me to assist further?" She looked around at the group sitting with her, eyebrows raised. Most were already enthusiastically nodding before she could even finish her question. "Of course, my lady!" "Och aye, please!" "Yub rulg!" She smiled graciously and bowed her head to the gathering. "Then I shall watch over the city, and the repairs, until such time as I am no longer needed." She caught one of her guards' attention and nodded to him. "Though you must understand I cannot just leave Carigsay to fend for itself without warning." Another round of nods and murmured agreement. The conversation continued, with the proprietor of the local inn offering her the finest room in the place for the length of her stay. "I couldn't ask a single coin of ye, m'lady!"

As the last of the prepared food disappeared to eager bellies, Rendethryn stood and carefully passed the sleeping child to one of the elders. It had been a long journey, but the result was better than she could have hoped. Now the real work started.

[Raindancer]

Rendethryn's claws tore through the neglected soil with alarming ease.  Grass tore away and thick clods broke apart, leaving neat furrows in her wake.  A group of townsfolk followed behind with tools and carts from the stable yard, working manure into the earth.  Some jobs were best avoided with bare hands.  Eyes aglow with a faint emerald cast, she chanted as she worked.

Lady of Life, Lord of Seed,
Give unto these fields that which is in need,
In gentle Earth and breath of Wind,
We shall plant it to begin;
Bring forth both the Rain and Sun,
So we may harvest when 'tis done.

Druidic energy flowed out of the earth and into her body, collected and concentrated, flowing back into the soil and soaking deep.  Sounds of construction came from the city as she spoke, providing a fine background, a contrast, to the natural magic she sent through the fields.  True to her word, the ship had arrived some days ago, and the workers wasted no time in working to restore Tarasinau to its former glory.  Her magic faded, and the dragon moved to the next rows to repeat the process.  As the midday sun reached its zenith, Rendethryn and the other workers retreated to the arbored shade of the nearby winery.  A few casks of wine and wheels of cheese were retrieved from the cellar for a simple but pleasant lunch.  Some of the older children, children who had already learned how to tend a field, made their way down the rows, each attended by a smaller child whose only responsibility was to hold a large bag of seeds.  Rendethryn smiled as she watched them work in tandem.  Retrieve a seed.  Pass the seed.  Sow the seed.  "Your people have done well to pull together in such hardship," she remarked.

"Aye, not our first disaster," one of the nearby smallfolk laughed.  "Not likely to be our last," added a tiny sylph from where she perched in the rafters.  "No, I imagine not," Rendethryn conceded with a dip of her head.  Her mind reeled with the tales she'd heard in the last few days.  Thorn kings and blights upon the land, wars that drummed against the kingdom borders with the constancy of the tides.  But more than that, tales of a people that have persisted against all odds.

"Lady Stormsong?"  The blue dragon blinked her third eyelids and focused on who had called her name.  A human, one of the few that still called the kingdom home, hurried towards the group.  He was young, despite his careworn face, with piecemeal leather armor poorly fitted over his body.  "Yes, little one?" She rose from where she reclined, sensing his urgency.  "I know this wasn't what you meant by helping our kingdom, but...but there's been sightings of goblin war bands on the border.  Our herds are barely enough to last the winter as it is, but-"

"Say no more," she cut him off and looked at the alarmed farmers.  "Take the townspeople and what livestock you can within the walls.  I doubt they'll make it this far, but best to be cautious."  In a burst of movement, the picnic blankets were gathered and children were called from the fields.  Rendethryn followed the soldier to the western garrison, gathering her personal guards on the way.  After a quick briefing the troops moved out, with Rendethryn at the lead.

They were just past Essendell before catching movement through the twisted cypress trees, quick little shapes moving in and out of the fading light.  A murmur of fear rippled through the troops behind her and she spread her wings with a snarl, only to be met with vicious-sounding laughter from the shadows.  A crude arrow flew from cover and stung the ground near her claws.  Rendethryn's roar rippled the very air as storm clouds billowed and swirled overhead.  A thin flame shot from her maw, licking at the damp trees and sending the shapes scattering with panicked shrieks.  As the clouds whirled into a solid mass, lightning tore through the air, striking a tree.  A goblin fell to the ground in a shower of splintered wood, cowering in the dragon's shadow.

"You dare threaten these lands?" Her voice thundered, echoed by the clouds above.  The goblin scrambled to its feet, baring its teeth but cowering away from the massive creature.  "Should you stand and fight," she bellowed, "every last one of you will be slain!  Take your band and go now, and no harm shall come to you!  But tell your chieftain this: these lands are protected!"

The goblin gave a quick bow and hopped backwards at the same time, nearly folding itself in half.  It called to its companions and backed away before scurrying back the way it had come, others emerging from the shadows to join it in retreat.  Rendethryn kept her eyes fixed on the war band, the swirling clouds slowly dissolving into mist and revealing the first stars of evening.  For a moment, the swamps were silent, before the soldiers raised their voices in a victorious cheer.  With the goblins' retreat assured, the defenders of Raeyithia returned to Tarasinau with the good news.

The night grew long, but the hearth fire burned bright for the townsfolk still celebrating.  Rendethryn sat at the table inside, in human form for a change, writing the latest report to her steward in Carigsay.  The door opened, and the dwarven elder smiled as she slipped away from the festivities outside.  "I hope I'm not intruding, Lady Stormsong."

"No, no! Not at all!" Rendethryn smiled graciously and bowed her head, gesturing to the chair opposite.  "Please, join me a moment."  The dwarf settled in the chair with a smile, stroking her downy beard thoughtfully while regarding the woman across from her.  "...Was there something on your mind?" Rendethryn ventured, when the silence and the staring began to grow a bit too sharp.

"Hrrm? Oh!" the dwarf laughed.  "Yes, of course! Terribly sorry about that!  It's just that, we were talking, the other elders and myself.  You've given this kingdom so much.  Food, and safety." She tapped a withered finger against the table to emphasize her words.  "And, above all, hope.  I haven't seen the people this joyous since before Queen Caelestia left!"

"I'm honored to be of service.  Queen Caelestia was a dear friend-"

"That is why," the dwarf pressed on, "we wish for you to remain here, a beacon for our people, on the throne of Raeyithia."

Now it was Rendethryn's turn to stare, and she returned the quill to its ink well in stunned silence.  "...Queen?" she repeated once she found her voice.  "Me?"  The withered old woman nodded emphatically.  "It was a unanimous decision, after all you've done.  Especially after driving out those raiders today!"

Rendethryn sat back, thoughtful, before bowing her head to the woman.  "The city of Carigsay is in good hands with my steward, and I feel they will continue to flourish under his guidance.  If it is truly the wish of the council of elders, and the people of Raeyithia, then....yes.  Yes, I shall rule as queen."  The dwarf beamed and clapped her hands together.  "But I shall need to inform him of this development," she added, motioning to the letter before her.

"Oh! Oh, yes, of course!  Thank you so much Lady- nay, QUEEN Rendethryn! I'll inform the council at once!" she hopped up from the chair, much more spryly than she had entered, and bowed to Rendethryn.  "Have a lovely evening, we'll speak again soon!" The dragon gave another gracious smile and nodded, bidding the dwarf farewell.  A rectangle of light filled the room as the light from the hearth fire shone briefly through the open door, before casting the room back in candlelight.  Rendethryn took up the quill again, hastily adding the development to her letter and signing with her usual flourish.  She stared at the letter a moment before dipping the quill once more.

~Please send 10 of our finest goats to our friends in Golmeuse, along with my gratitude.  Their performance was impeccable.