Inspiration in the task below came from Dungeon Master's Guide (3.5 edition) and Player's Handbook (4th edition)
"What have I done to deserve this?" says the lazy yet furious Cockatrice, mumbling to himself. "Why should I have to be involved in this draconic hunt?" he continued.
"Because each member belonging to the elite F.R.O.G.S. squad has done its part already and we are the only two left who have yet to help with our quest" a young lady called Lunaris replied. "So, stop being lazy ARTHANASIOS and start working!" she continued in an even higher voice.
"Yes, but what should I do, Luna?"
"You are a fricking Wizard and are you asking me, a scribe?", Luna replied, really annoyed by her comrade's irresponsibility and lack of creativity. "Our king Mathman has built you a huge tower with the greatest library in the entire kingdom! Go and search your books for something useful, ARTH..."
The Cockatrice Wizard left the castle and headed to his tower right away. After a 10-hour search, he finally found what he was hoping for within the pages of a dusty tome...
The Orbs of Dragonkind
These magnificent Orbs were firstly created ages ago in order to enslave and command dragons during the great Dragon Wars. Each contains the very essence and thus the personality of an ancient dragon of a different variety (one for each of the major twelve elements of the cosmos). The dragon of the orb can even communicate with its master through verbal dialogue or telepathy. The bearer of an Orb can dominate dragons of its type within 500 feet. The dragon feels that is being forced to obey and he/she may attempt to resist the Orb's influence by sheer willpower. If the dragon fails, the mighty and pride creature succumbs to the Orb's wielder new orders. But beware; if the dragon resists the Orb's domination effect with success, very few people are capable enough to fight an angered dragon and live to tell the tale!
Each Orb of Dragonkind bestows upon the wielder the defensive capabilities of dragonkin; his/her armor transforms like it is made from dragonscales and it grants the endurance of a Basalt Dragon, the reflexes of Ruby and the willpower of Jade Dragons upon its wearer. These values (armor, endurance, reflexes and willpower) cannot be modified by any means as long as the character holds the Orb.
Any person possessing an Orb of Dragonkind is immune to the breath weapons (but only the breath weapons) of the Orb's dragon variety. Thus, the possessor of the Massive Dragon Orb of Dragonkind is immune to the breath of Colossal and Massive Dragons but these dragons could still crush him/her with the weight of their unimaginable massess. Moreover, any person who wields such an orb can himself/herself use the breath weapon of the dragon in the Orb once per 8 hours.
The owner of an Orb knows whether there are dragons of the Orb's particular variety within 100 miles. If within 1 mile of a dragon of the Orb's type, the wielder can determine the exact location, gender and age of the creature.
Usually, the owner of one of these Orbs earns the enmity forever of its respective dragonkind. Dragons can not easily forget or forgive any profit gained by the enslavement of one of their kin, even if the Orb wielder later discards the item.
Each Orb also has an individual power that can be invoked once per minute.
* Purple/Amethyst Dragon: Antimatter
* Bone/Ivory Dragon: Alfatoxin
* Colossal/Massive Dragon: Black Hole
* Stone/Basalt Dragon: Basilisk Blood
* Emerald/Jade Dragon: Adrenaline
* Crimson/Ruby Dragon: Rage Potion
* Ice/Arctic Dragon: Nymph's Tears
* Golden/Light Dragon: Luciferin
* Azure/Sky Dragon: Unstable Gas
* Devonian/Silurian Dragon: Precognition
* Black/Obsidian Dragon: Liquid Shadow
* Phase/Elite Phase Dragon: Quintessence
The wizard closes the dusty tome only after bookmarking the page. That is it!, he whispers. Now only if I could remember where my ritual book lies... here it is!
Loremaster’s Bargain
Through painstaking research and preparation, you prepare a valuable offering for a powerful, religius, extraplanar entity such as an angel, a demigod, a demon, or a false god. This offering depends on the kind of creature you summon but the cost of its components must not be less than 13,000 gold pieces. You must chant for 8 hours straight while carving the appropriate holy or unholy symbol of the entity in a circle with a radius of 15 feet.
After the 8 hours have passed, your offering earns you an audience with the being and you can designate up to eight other ritual participants who can also speak with the entity, which appears as a ghostly image that cannot be attacked or physically interacted with. You must succeed to convience the creature to obtain the information you desire.
Unlike rituals that provide cryptic answers or have limited scope, the Loremaster’s Bargain ritual provides contact to a creature that might be genuinely informative and helpful, provided you convince it to help. The entity begins in a neutral state; intrigued by the offering and willing to hear you out. But the entity has agendas of its own, and its nature might color the information and advice it provides...
The cockatrice has bookmarked both books and now he knows what has to be done. Using Loremaster's Bargain to locate an Orb of Dragonkind is the only way forward. The dragon our leader Mathman is going to face is too powerful to be killed, but maybe, just maybe, the dragon can be controlled with the Orb...
Luna's story
Gather round, young ones, its time for a bedtime story. Did you know that your grandmother was once the bearer of an orb that allowed her to control the dragons of Death? It all started when I was much younger than I am now, when I still lived in the land of the entropy elementals..
One day when I was in town doing some shopping, a young man ran up to me, his face filled with obvious panic, his eyes wide and breathing heavy.
"Help me, please! They're after me!" He stuttered, struggling to catch his breath. "Please, you have to take this to the land of Death!" He placed in my hand a cloudy purple orb, and as soon as it came in contact with the skin on my hand, I felt an incredible power surge through my body. It felt as though I had the power of all of the dragons in the land! Maybe even the power of the dragons in all of the lands!
A few seconds later, the feeling of great power faded, and I realized that the young man who'd handed me the orb was staring at me in awe.
"Y-you're a chosen one!" He stammered, his eyes filled with a new kind of fear. He slowly moved away from me, and ran back the way he'd come.
Unsure how to get to the land of Death or why this orb that was now in my possession was so saught after and important, I continued my shopping with the orb in my coat pocket, unconcerned by the fact that someone could be after me. I had an odd feeling of safety and wellbeing despite having been given this great burden.
I of course, after finishing my shopping, returned to my small home on the edge of the entropy elemental's land, as I'm gravity born and many of the entropy elementals don't like our kind. The orb sat upon my counter, letting off a soft purple glow.
Suddenly, the orb flashed brightly, causing me to drop the bag in my hand, and a loud crash sounded outside my house. I ran outside to see what was going on, and was awestruck to see a huge Bone Dragon hovering near my humble abode, the crash having been from the great beast's tail knocking a small tree into my fence.
Are you just going to stare at me, master? I jumped as the voice filled my head and the dragon gave me an expectant look.
"W-what?" I stumbled over my words, trying to get my bearings. The dragon reacted in a way that was similar to how a teenager would react to a parent not understanding something important to them.
You bear the Orb of Dragonkind, no? I hope you understand the responsibilities that come with it. I didn't ask for this, and apparently neither did you, but you have to come with me. The dragon lowered itself closer to the ground, low enough to where I'd be able to climb atop it. Grab the things important to you, as well as the orb. The dragon was obviously growing impatient, so I ran back inside and began packing my belongings into a backpack.
I grabbed the orb as I ran out the door, the power of it surging through my body again. I heard the dragon huff outside, and was confused for a moment. Can he feel the power from it as well? I wondered, approaching the dragon.
Yes, I can, and I can also hear what you're thinking. Let's go. The dragon allowed me to climb up, and then took off. Flying was the most incredible experience, being able to view the world from the viewpoint of a dragon.
You know that with the orb, you can see through the eyes of any dragon that's nearby from the corresponding element, right? Oh, I'm Inferi btw. I was summoned to you when the orb was activated. I gazed at the powerful object in my hand, amazed by the amount of power that was contained within the tiny ball of energy.
How do I do that, Inferi? The dragon pondered the question for a few moments, turning his great head to gaze at me with his beady eyes.
I... don't actually know. I've never been taught how it works, only what it can do. He looked away from me again, seemingly embarrassed that he was unable to explain the workings of the orb to me. We're almost to our destination.
I looked to the ground below me, and was shocked by the great distance we had traveled in the short amount of time we'd been flying. Below us, the great black trees of the land of Darkness began to thin out and the great deserts of the land of Earth became all that the eye could see for miles. Inferi, why are we in the Earth land? I thought we were going to the land of Death?
Inferi lowered himself to the ground in the middle of a desert, his wings stirring up the sand. It was only then that I realized a young man stood there, an orb similar to mine in his hand, but his glowed with a musty brown color.
"So you finally arrived, Inferi. Late, as always." His gaze shifted to the sun, earning an irritated growl from the Bone Dragon that hovered behind me. The man locked eyes with me, the intensity in his gaze making me uneasy. "How did you get the Orb of Death?" He inquired, and I recognized the power-hungry look in his eyes.
I responded cautiously, not liking the look he was giving me. "I was given it randomly, by a man who was panicking." I cast a glance backwards towards Inferi, who was glaring at the Earth-orb bearer.
What's the story with this one? I thought, and was surprised by the hostility that came through the creature's thoughts.
Power hungry and greedy, he's been trying to buy the orbs off of the orb-bearers to recieve all of the power himself. Inferi shifted his gaze to my face, and huffed. Climb on, we're leaving.
I climbed back onto the dragon's back, ignoring the protests from the man as we left. AS we reached the land of Death, I began to slowly nod off, due to the smooth rhythm of the dragon's wing beats and the cool air..
That's just the beginning of the story of my many adventures with Inferi, but its getting late now, children. Off to bed for now.