“I have served the stars for ages long and short and such trifles do not bother me. Although I do still bother with trifles, on occasion, for my collections and my encyclopedia, hence my presence here.”

“Your encyclopedia?”

“For the past several decades I have been compiling information on the nature of spontaneous magical activity, having found other texts on the subject lacking. I had already planned on inspecting these catacombs, in time, for that purpose, and a patron offered me a small trinket in return for hastening my visit and preventing access to their chambers.”

"That sounds really interesting!  - Wait, are you Lady Kyriakos and Lord Despoina?  I think I read your 'An Unfinished and Inadequate Review of Spontaneous Magical Phenomena'."

“It was unfinished and inadequate, as per the title, and I would not have released it if not for pestering,” says Lady Kyriakos and/or Lord Despoina. “I apologize for subjecting you to it.”

"I subjected myself to it.  It's a promising start."

Is this is an opportune moment to infodump for several minutes about all of the revisions they’re presently making? The dragon sure thinks so!

Jace listens actively and provides occasional specific questions along with her 'mmhm's and 'uh-huh's and 'oh really; why is that?'s.

Zeke eventually interrupts.

”- uh, that’s super cool and stuff, your scaliness, but we kinda still need to use the door that you’re supposed to keep us out of.”

“I am aware,” says Lady Kyriakos and/or Lord Despoina, after a pause. “I am obliged to guard it, as you know, and I do not shirk my obligations. I do not, however, wish to interrupt my studies with a return to the draconic isle, and the rhythm of the stars would imply your capacity to slay me. I am obliged to give battle, but I have not specified the kind. One of you could, for instance, wrestle my tail to the ground, and in doing so defeat me?”

“Can do,” says Zeke.

The dragon uncoils, and presents the very tip of its tail, steadying it with the rest of its mass; Zeke leaps over to it, grabs onto it, and waits for a “- one, two, three -“ to slam it to the ground.

It leaves several fractures in the stone.

“Oh no,” says the dragon, allowing all hundred feet of its serpentine self to fall dramatically to the ground. “You have defeated me. How troublesome. I am unable to stop you from using the door, then - interesting person, over there, would you allow me to very briefly read your mind so that we might remain in touch over telepathy?”

"Sure."

Jace is now thinking very intently about the contents of the infodump.

The dragon telepathically touches her brain, gets a snippet of its own infodump, cuts the receptive feed, and continues to have a communicative feed; it sends her a nonverbal ‘thank you’.

Zeke opens the door; it leads to... yet another corridor?

Down the corridor they go.

An undead bunny tries to assault Morgan from the rear after hopping down from the ceiling; this particular undead animal declines to shatter harmlessly into bone fragments, when it would otherwise, and instead explodes violently with a bright cascade of extremely hot fire!

- Zeke, at the front of the line, gets mildly singed - 

- Kamin dies instantly in a flash of pain and then auto-ressurects, a moment later, in a burst of glitter - 

- Jace is badly burnt and very unhappy, but conscious -

- Morgan, closest to the explosion but fairly hardy, is not in great shape but could in theory still fight -

- and where there was formerly a bird on Morgan's shoulder there is now a young teenage cambion lying on the floor, her skin - or what's left of it - literally rather than purple-prosily as white as snow.  And dead.

The cambion is immediately scooped up in Morgan's arms and presented to Kamin.  "Fix her.  Now."

“I, um - um? -”

He pokes the cambion’s forehead and she resumes being alive.

She gasps and for just a moment curls tighter into Morgan, before stiffening and hopping down onto her hooves with two little toks.

Kamin opts to start healing her, first, to get her the rest of the way to health; she glimmers.

“It’s, um, nice to meet you?”