"....oh, merde. That was sooner than I expected." Marcel's brow furrows as he runs to the nearest window, throwing it open and leaning out to search the skies.

"I think, Monsieur Maire, that we had better skip the formalities."

He can't see a dragon from here.

"Yes, of course," the mayor says, quickly getting his wealthy friends dismissed to the secure area in the basement, and asking that the adventurers stay behind - in the first floor lobby, of course, no sense being too far from shelter.

Joy jumps about three feet when the roar sounds, head snapping up to look at the ceiling, before noticing that Marcel's running off. He follows after him towards the window, peering out to look as well. There's nothing to explain the roar there, so he agrees to head down to the lobby with the other adventurers. 

"Sooner than you expected?" He asks Marcel as they go downstairs.

"Ouais. No point keeping it secret now, I suppose. This is what I came here to warn the mayor about. Unfortunately I didn't have enough information to predict when the attack would happen, but to think it came so soon after I found about it..."

He bounces a bit as they go down the main staircase, "So was that a dragon?" He asks next, assuming Marcel probably knows. 

Pennie slides down the railing of the main staircase as she hurries alongside you all. "It sure didn't SOUND like a dragon, but then, I don't actually know what a dragon sounds like. If it is, well, now I know!"

"As a matter of fact, I'm afraid it is. And we're going to have to stop it."

"Okay..." Temperance says with a mix of excitement and trepidation. "First time I have the opportunity to do that. How are we supposed to do that?"

"I have no idea!" Joy says cheerfully, "But once we've got it beaten, do you think we could ride it?"

"That would be a question for the dragon, but depending how prideful it is, asking could get you killed. And given it's attacking the town, I doubt it's the friendly sort. Now then, the mayor and I need to fill you in on what exactly the situation is."

Mayor: seems highly frazzled. Still, he's mostly competent.

"I know this is a lot to ask, but it'll take a while before the National Guard can arrive - I've already instructed someone to call them - and surely experienced adventurers such as yourself can help delay a dragon? Or at least prevent any sabotage of our local forces by the dragon cult - I just received a report, shortly before this happened, that an apocalypse cult worshiping dragons had been talking to a local one. If I'd known it would attack so soon... Well, we have the situation we have."

"Will you help us?"

"Of course! I just hope it wll be enough."

"You can count me in," Joy agrees, a little more serious now.

"If you hadn't guessed, I'm the one who brought the report. I've been on the inside of this cult, so I'd better stick with you."

"Sure, what can you tell us about it?"

Pennie seems to be vibrating in place as she tries to restrain herself.

"A cult? An evil cult? An evil dragon cult? This sounds like just the sort of thing my master told me to stay away from until I'm stronger."

Her smile only widens. "I'm all ears."

Joy suppresses a giggle at Pennie's dramatics and leans in to listen as well.

Temperance also needs to keep hold of herself. "Please, the situation is serious."

"They call themselves the Disciples of the Eternal Dragon. From what I understand, they think the world is made from a sleeping dragon and are trying to awake it. C'est des balivernes, but they believe it enough to try to rile up real dragons like this. They were quite small until recently, but they've been recruiting more to their cause. As for the dragon, I don't know their name, but they're a young swamp breed. I don't know what they're bribing it with, but if we could find out, we could make a counter-proposal or remove their offering from the equation."

"I don't have dragon level of bribe money around. Any idea how we can remove their offering?"

"It sounds like finding out what it is is our first step, either way. I know you said you don't know, but do you know who does?"

"One of the higher ranking cultists, no doubt. I've only managed to establish myself in the lowest echelons as of yet. I don't know what our odds are of facing a dragon head on, but I assume they're slim to none. I'm inclined to subterfuge anyway. So stealing the cult's bribe it is I suppose."

"Alright, what else can you tell us about this cult then?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. I haven't dug deep enough yet to learn where they're headquartered, or who's in charge. All I know is some of the branch locations."

"I guess that's where we start, then. Where's the closest one?"