As a paleontology grad student, Isabel was well acquainted with the need to be careful about what you looked for. Sometimes you found it, glaring at you through the data with a baleful, reptilian eye. Isabel also knew that when one went looking ‘where be dragons,’ sometimes the real beasts lurked within. Or at least within the bloodline. Her stepmother and older brother had certainly acted beastly toward her. She was all but disinherited and now the University’s pandemic policy had left her homeless and unemployed at a single stroke. But, there were two messages on her phone. One was from her research supervisor, who had a plan to address her immediate subsistence. The other was a call to storytelling from a Mara Darkmage. Stories? At a time like this? Why not? Lady Isabel Kempion practically lived her life through marginalia and hunted dragons in the fossil record. It might be fun and she probably wouldn’t even have to make anything up, as long as she didn’t give too much away.

Credits

Story, narration and theme : Seana Kozar

Sound design and editing : Graham Bevan

Additional Audio Assets : freesound.org

S: https://freesound.org/people/f_ilippo/sounds/59194/ (roulette_casino_evian.aif) by https://freesound.org/people/f_ilippo/ (f_ilippo) | License: Creative Commons 0

S: https://freesound.org/people/ralexpdx/sounds/321220/ (My Tavern 1.wav) by https://freesound.org/people/ralexpdx/ (ralexpdx) | License: Attribution

S: https://freesound.org/people/DrNI/sounds/164035/ (fetap-hangup.wav) by https://freesound.org/people/DrNI/ (DrNI) | License: Creative Commons 0

S: https://freesound.org/people/Akrythael/sounds/334915/ (Battlecry) by https://freesound.org/people/Akrythael/ (Akrythael) | License: Attribution Noncommercial

S: https://freesound.org/people/Spennnyyy/sounds/323496/ (Dragon Breathing Fire) by https://freesound.org/people/Spennnyyy/ (Spennnyyy) | License: Creative Commons 0

S: https://freesound.org/people/ukjoncollins/sounds/69957/ (Ringing Call Tone UK) by https://freesound.org/people/ukjoncollins/ (ukjoncollins) | License: Attribution

S: https://freesound.org/people/j008b/sounds/85343/ (phone01_j008b.wav) by https://freesound.org/people/j008b/ (j008b) | License: Creative Commons 0

S: https://freesound.org/people/SoundsForHim/sounds/399669/ (Close book.MP3) by https://freesound.org/people/SoundsForHim/ (SoundsForHim) | License: Creative Commons 0

S: https://freesound.org/people/nettimato/sounds/353974/ (rolling dice 2.wav) by https://freesound.org/people/nettimato/ (nettimato) | License: Creative Commons 0