AVARICIOUS WYRM

the dragongirl Pillars of Tiger’s Eye dens in the folds of the Heron Mountains, in the unusually verdant Malachite Valley which she blesses with warmth unusual for lands so far north. the village surrounding her den is ideally situated to draw water-power from the headwaters of the Scintillant River, milling grain into flour and driving hammers to work what iron they have. the dragongirl herself spends much of her time in warm half-sleep surrounded by her modest collection of wonderful things: chatoyant gemstones and portraits of herself, a dozen wolfgirls who sleep on her flanks at any time, absorbing the heat of her inner fire, dried flowers, and her tigerboy consort who was sent to the valley with a small retinue from the southern country where the Scintillant River drains into the Rose Sea in the hopes of improving relations between their respective people. in high summer, when Pillars of Tiger’s Eye is fully awake, the valley explodes into a bacchanalia of vitality, trees with leaves of emerald and gold, and she leads hunting parties to bring down moose and mammoths and great river trout the size of buses, and the whole village eats banquets. as summer winds down leftover meat gets smoked or salted and put into winter reserve alongside blackberry preserves and wines, and bins of dried fruit and nuts. and as Pillars of Tiger’s Eye settles into winter hibernation once more, under the weight of woolen blankets and stone amulets and beloved wolfgirls (and one tigerboy), snow drifts out of the moonstone sky lazily to form fortifications around their village-stronghold and render them unimpregnable, safe and warm.