Go big or go home - the dragon!

The whole point of this was to impress the tribe. If I took on one of the other tasks, who's to say I could even convince them I was the one who did the deed? But if I returned escorting a sister they had thought lost, how could they refuse me? Especially if she tells them how I heroically rescued her from a vicious beast. Aside from that, I suppose I never did completely shake off those boyish fantasies of dragon-slaying, a common diversion from my dreary childhood.

Of course, I realize now that I can't really expect to face a dragon alone and survive the encounter. I'll need to recruit some allies. My most natural allies for this endeavor - the other Amazons - are unfortunately not going to be available, so I'll have to get a bit more creative.

Over the next few weeks, I traveled as fast as I could between all of the nearby towns, stopping at every tavern, inn, or guildhall I came across and spreading the same story. I was travelling near mount Pilea with my sister Dalyn (not knowing the real girl's name, I had to think of something). One morning she set out alone hunting deer in the woods, but she never returned. After searching long and hard and finding no trace of her, I went to ask for help at the nearby village, only to be told of the dragon that had made the mountain it's lair. "Dalyn is the only family I have left in the world since our parents were taken from us by cruel bandits years ago," I would tell the men, trying my best to play the distraught sister, "I don't have enough money to pay for such a thing as hunting a dragon. But I can hold my own in a fight, and I have no need of the spoils of such a battle. All I want is to see my dear sister alive again."

A part of me felt bad about telling such a lie. But the part about not taking part of the spoils for myself was true. There's always a profit in dragon-slaying, even if no one pays you to do the deed; most dragons are known to hoard gold and other treasures, and even if not, the skulls and any other distinctive dragon remains fetch a hefty price from noble-born collectors. I'll gladly pass up on that in favor of aiding the tribe. And if, when all is said and done, the survivors want to tell the tale of how they helped a poor orphan girl rescue her sister from an evil dragon, I won't argue with them.

I followed up my story each time by announcing the time and place of a rendezvous near the mountain, in a small grove I had camped in when passing through the area once before. So now here I am, waiting. I've hidden myself in a nearby tree so I can watch the grove unseen - on the off chance that the first to arrive have less than honorable intentions, I'll wait until it seems they've all gathered before revealing myself.