[Channel Teaser]
How Zar Zar, A Lizard Folk, Became A Half-Dragon
Demigod Of Asgorath
This is the story of Zar Zar, a lizard folk
who, across 3 games, became a half-dragon
demigod of Asgorath.
Zar Zar was one of my favorite characters
I have ever played.
He started his life as a simple Lizard folk.
The thing about lizard folk, is they are very
simplistic and extremely superstitious and
very, very brutal.
Mostly used as an NPC race, they rarely are
used as a player race.
Mostly because they are so, very, stupid.
They shun intelligence, and anyone that shows
any hint of intelligence or desire to learn
are shunned, killed, or are banished from
the tribe.
Thus starts the story of Zar Zar.
Born to the Warrior Zarten and the Cook Zarnek,
Zar Zar was expected to be a warrior.
But when he showed intelligence and a desire
to learn to read, the tribe wanted him dead.
His mother, wanting her son to live, pleaded
with the Chief to banish her son instead.
So that is what happened.
Sent to wander the swamps in exile, Zar Zar
was captured by slavers and brought to a neighboring
city to be sold.
It was here that he caught the eye of Tanereth.
A mage and our GM's favored NPC and main quest
giver, who bought him, gifted him a brand
of Longevity, extending his lifespan far past
the normal short Lizard folk lifespan and
took him as his own.
Now, according to Lizard folk standards, Zar
Zar was smart.
Very smart.
But according to every other race, he was
still quite dull.
By the age of 13, Zar Zar had barely managed
to learn to read and speak common.
But he had a true gift with a spear and shield.
Where his base intelligence was only an 8,
his tactical ability was much higher.
So, Tanereth had him trained as a warrior,
giving the finest training money could buy.
He excelled at this and proved himself an
apt pupil.
At the age of 22, the game began.
He was enlisted into the military and sent
to war.
There his entire troop was killed and was
found near death by the party.
The party consisted of Ken, a Dwarf Paladin;
Sarah, the human cleric; and Pen, the elf
Ranger.
The party argued for several hours on whether
or not they should kill Zar Zar outright,
as lizard folk could not be trusted.
But finally his uniqueness won out and they
decided to let him live.
So his fate, as it always would be, was decided
without any direct interaction with him.
So, Zar Zar joined the Party and became the
Tank.
As Zar Zar had been gifted longer life than
normal Lizard Folk, he had barely entered
his prime.
It was with the party that he really started
to grow.
Now, unbeknownst to the group, I had actually
created Zar Zar as a class which would later
be known as a spell sword.
My DM and myself had grand plans for Zar Zar,
but those were cut short.
We will get into that later.
Back to the game.
The party believed Zar Zar to be a simple
warrior, and nothing more.
Just what I wanted.
Until the fated night where we, the party,
came face to face with our greatest foe to
date.
A mountain troll.
As each of us had yet to reach level 5, we
were ill equipped to deal with this threat.
But face it we would.
Our DM had us roll initiative.
I rolled a 3, Ken rolled a 5, Sarah a 7 and
Pen a 12.
But our hearts sank as the dice clattered
to the table for the troll’s roll and landed
on a natural 20.
The DM weaved the image of the troll, raising
its massive tree branch that it wielded as
a weapon, and swung at the paladin.
Ken stated he raised his shield and braced
for impact and rolled.
He got a 2.
Our hearts sank further, but not deep enough.
Because now the Troll had to roll for attack,
which it had not done already.
Another natural 20.
Ken was struck by the massive blow, his shield
shattering on impact and his unconscious body
thrown against a tree to land in a heap of
flesh and armor.
Ken's player started making death saves.
Next up was Pen.
Pen's Player called his shot.
"I notch two arrows and shoot the troll in
the eyes," and rolls.
Natural One.
The DM states that his bowstring, which was
old and well used, suddenly snaps upon drawing
it to full length.
Next was Sarah.
Our cleric.
She looked at Ken, then looked at Pen, then
looked at me, and said "You're our last hope,"
and cast Bless on me, giving me a +1 to all
attack rolls.
It was here that I knew that I had to pull
out my secret weapon.
Now at this point, it has become quite obvious
that we were playing with homebrew rules.
As such, my character's secret weapon was
something that normally would not have been
accessible at his level.
But the DM allowed me to pick one spell that
Zar Zar could wield, and only one spell he
could wield -- so, effectively making him
only able to cast one spell during his entire
career as a spellsword.
Being a lover of Dragons, one would expect
me to pick something Fire based.
But I have always loved Electricity.
So I chose Lightning Bolt.
Zar Zar threw down his spear and shield, tossed
out his scaled hands and shouted his spell
in his native tongue.
Lightning ripped from his clawed fingertip
and tore across the space between him and
the troll.
I rolled.
Natural 20.
According to our homebrew rules, the spell
would do 1d6 damage per level of the caster.
As Zar Zar was lvl 4, I rolled 4 d6's.
The party watched in anticipation as the dice
clattered across the table, several striking
the DM's screen.
[muffled cheer] A muffled cheer erupted as
all four dice landed on 6.
Johnathan, our DM was awestruck as he announced
that since I had rolled a nat 20, the damage
was doubled.
Our DM painted the image of Zar Zar, standing
there, having just tossed aside his weapons,
flung out his hands and basically shouted
"LIGHTNING!!!" in Lizard tongue.
Blue Electricity crackled from his clawed
fingertips before ripping through the air
to strike the Troll in its chest.
It lurched backwards in pain as the electricity
coursed through its body, charring it until
it was nothing more then a husk.
As the lifeless body of the Troll slumped
to the ground, Ken woke up, having managed
his death saving throw, and stared in surprise
at the scene before him.
Zar Zar, the dumb Lizard Folk that everyone
thought useless other than taking damage and
keeping the enemies attention, had proven
that day that he was far more than he appeared.
Because I had rolled a nat 20, our DM decided
that Asgorath had taken notice of him that
day.
But nothing more than that.
But his path to becoming a true dragon had
begun.
It was here that we decided to end our session.
Unfortunately for Zar Zar and our entire party,
the next day held true tragedy.
One of the best friends I’ve ever had, Jonathan
our DM, passed away.
Our party mourned the passing of our DM and
good friend.
We tried to continue, but it was never the
same.
So we broke up weeks later, never to group
together again.
Our players went our separate ways, each living
our lives.
And so, Zar Zar was placed on a shelf, where
his character sheet should remain for several
years.
I tried very hard to find another DnD group
but never managed to stay more than a single
session.
Until one day, I met Thomas in a game store,
talking with friends at one of the tables.
I overheard them speaking of one of their
party members who had just been sent to Florida
for Army training, and that they needed to
find a replacement.
I thought, “hey why not?” and I approached
them.
The party seemed to be hesitant at letting
an outsider they didn't know into their gaming
session.
But after a brief conversation with Thomas,
I brought up Zar Zar.
Thomas was instantly in love with the idea
of a Lizard Folk who desperately wanted to
be a dragon, and welcomed me into the party.
It was here that Zar Zar got his second chance.
The rest of the party were already level 8,
while Zar Zar was only level 6, having gained
two levels from defeating the Mountain Troll.
So, to bridge the last two levels, Thomas
wrote in that Zar Zar's original Party had
finished their quest and split apart, leaving
Zar Zar to wander on his own.
In the city he had been left, he found a school
of magic, conveniently placed beside a shrine
of Asgorath.
So, Zar Zar took up residence at the school
of magic and learned all he could about elemental
magic.
Of course, he specialized in Electrical Magic.
All the while he would pray at the shrine
of Asgorath every night and every morning,
all in hopes of winning the Dragon God's Favor.
But she never responded to his pleas.
Until...
After several months of training and praying,
Asgorath finally responded to Zar Zar in the
form of a dream-vision.
There she appeared to him as a glorious gold
Half-Dragoness.
She beckoned him to her and told him.
"I know what lies in your heart, little one.
You wish to be more than you are.
You have prayed at my shrine twice a day,
every day for the last several months.
Do not think that you have gone unnoticed.
I have simply been waiting for others to arrive
and they finally have.
There is a group of adventurers who will arrive
at my shrine to place an offering tomorrow
at midday.
Greet them and tell them that I am pleased
they had carried my symbol across the wasted
lands.
But the journey of my symbol is not done.
You are to take it up in my name.
It will become a great banner for you.
Attach it to your back and carry it, with
this group, to the tip of the Dragon's Teeth
Mountain.
There I will make you as you wish to be.
Tell them Asgorath will give them their reward
there."
Zar Zar agreed readily, knowing this was the
start of what he finally wanted to be.
A true Dragon.
And so he sat by the shrine and waited.
He was determined not to miss these adventurers.
So he would wait.
He would not sleep, or eat, or leave his post
for a moment until they arrived.
The next day, just as Asgorath had stated,
a group of adventurers arrived.
There were three of them.
All Elves.
They approached the shrine, eyeing Zar Zar
wearily before producing a golden silk cloth
from one of their bags.
The lead Elf unfurled the cloth, revealing
the symbol of Asgortah and placing it upon
her shrine.
They waited, expecting something to happen.
But nothing did.
It was then that Zar Zar approached and reached
for the cloth.
All three Elves drew their bows, revealing
them all to be rangers, and aimed their arrows
at Zar Zar.
But Zar Zar did not hesitate or flinch.
He had a divine purpose.
As he reached out and grabbed the cloth, it
suddenly glowed with a faint, golden light
and transformed itself into a glorious banner
attached to a chest harness.
It was obvious it was meant to be worn by
none other than Zar Zar.
For no other being could fit inside the wooden
harness comfortably.
But Zar Zar's scales would resist the rubbing
of the wood, and he would be unaffected by
its weight and overall awkwardness of its
construction.
The party stared in awe at what they had just
witnessed.
After Zar Zar donned the banner and clipped
it around his chest.
He turned to the Elves and spoke in elven,
a language he had learned in the magic school.
There he repeated his Goddesses words to them,
in their own tongue.
They stared at him flabbergasted.
How could this simple minded beast not only
comprehend, but fluently speak such a complicated
language as Elven?
But not only that, he knew pieces of their
history that only they and the Gods knew!
So it was decided that they would join forces
to continue the journey of Asgorath's symbol
to the tip of the Dragon's Teeth mountains.
And thus began what was supposed to be Zar
Zar's ascension to Draconic Purity.
Unfortunately for me and Zar Zar, we had no
idea what the DM had in mind for us.
The journey to the base of the mountain was
tough, taking two sessions in total and raising
our character levels to 10.
The game was going great and I was having
a lot of fun and Zar Zar was becoming more
fleshed out.
Even the party had started to warm up to not
only me, but the idea of having Zar Zar along.
Dare I say it, we even became friends.
Over the course of the next two weeks, the
party and I slowly made our way up the mountain.
Fighting all manner of monsters.
From bands of bandits to a Rock Troll.
All the while, we missed every sign that the
DM put in front of us that something was not
as it seemed.
The dawn broke early that morning, mist and
fog covering our camp.
We were close to the peak of the Dragon's
Teeth Mountain and the fabled Shrine of Asgorath.
But it was here that we started to notice
things were amiss.
The grass that grew in shabby patches in the
rocks began to appear wilted.
The tree's appeared sickly and diseased.
As we got closer to the peak, even the air
itself seemed to be tainted.
An unshakeable dread shrouded the mountain.
We were nearly to the top.
We could see the end of our journey.
But as we rounded the last corner, what we
saw made our hearts drop.
The shrine of Asgorath was not as it seemed.
Dark taint covered the area.
We had to make constant will saves just to
stay on our feet.
The banner Zar Zar carried granted him +2
to all will saves.
So he would likely be the last one standing.
One by one our party fell to terrible visions.
Dropping to the ground, holding their heads
and screaming about a dark presence.
How the Dark Scales were there to take them.
One of the group even turned to flee, only
to find himself unable to move.
At this point, I had pieced it all together.
The taint.
The dying plants.
The sense of dread.
The sight of the darkened Shrine.
I knew what was coming.
But Zar Zar did not.
Not yet at least.
I asked the DM if I could make a knowledge
check.
Explaining that Zar Zar's time at the magic
school would have exposed him to most of the
divinity and many forms of magic and their
workings.
He agreed.
I rolled a 17.
Coupled with my Wisdom, I got a 27 and passed.
The DM began to explain how the air suddenly
grew still.
The sunlight began to weaken and dim even
though it was not even mid-morning yet.
A dark presence suddenly descended upon our
party, a hissing laughter entering our minds.
Then Zar Zar shouted out in broken Draconic.
"I know you are there, Tiamat!
Why have you tainted this sacred place!?"
The laughter only grew in power, the light
of day almost completely gone now.
Zar Zar reached back and touched the banner
of Asgorath, but recoiled when he felt not
silk, but slime.
He looked back and saw not the shining white
and gold symbol of Asgorath, but the black
and red symbol of Tiamat.
He had been tricked by the evil Goddess.
He tried to tear off the banner, but it would
not come loose.
He tried to unsheathe his sword to cut it
free, but his sword turned to dust.
He turned to his party to ask for help, only
to find them gone.
He was alone in the darkness.
Zar Zar turned back to the shrine, intent
on running to it, hoping its holy presence
would help him.
But he couldn't move.
Again he tried to strip the tainted banner
from him but couldn't.
At that moment, as he struggled with a clasp
that should have torn easily under his might,
the sky above him broke.
Red lightning and fire ripped across the sky,
surrounding a portal to another plane.
Through the portal came the visage of Tiamat
herself in all her unholy glory.
Of course she was not there physically.
It was just a vision.
But Zar Zar did not know this.
He screamed in terror and fell to his knees,
the only action he could do.
Tiamat grinned upon the sight of this whimpering
hulk before she spoke, her voice like needles
in the mind of Zar Zar.
"You have done well, little one.
You have brought my banner to this sacred
place.
In doing so, you have tainted it, forever.
This place, the weakest connection between
the planes, is where I shall be reborn into
this world.
So that I may burn it and enslave all who
live here.
You have done well.
Now take your promised reward and DIE!!"
As Taimat reared back, readying her breath
weapon, Zar Zar did the only thing he could.
He cast lightning bolt on himself.
This action took the DM by surprise.
But he allowed it.
"Roll for attack" he said.
So I rolled.
Nat 20.
"Ok.
Now roll for Damage."
As per the rules of his homebrew, I was to
roll 2 d6 per character level.
This meant I rolled 20 d6.
I won't bore you with the individual dice
results, as honestly I don't remember them
myself.
But it ended up being somewhere around 58
damage, doubled due to my nat 20.
Needless to say, it was more than enough to
kill Zar Zar.
But that wasn't my goal.
It was here, just before the DM pronounced
Zar Zar dead, that I pulled out my secret
weapon.
I pointed out a single scrawled note on the
side of my character sheet to the DM.
Something he himself had approved but apparently
forgotten about.
Electrical Immunity.
Since Zar Zar had only one spell and was forced
to perfect that one spell, he had gained such
high resistance to its element that he became
basically immune to its effects.
Something I had brought up and gotten approved.
The DM described how Zar Zar's Lightning tore
upwards into the sky, using his body as a
lightning rod but completely missed Tiamat,
"Not that it would do anything to a god,"
he said.
"But I wasn't aiming for Tiamat," I replied.
"I was aiming for myself, and by connection,
the banner.”
It was at this moment the DM realised his
mistake.
He looked at the dice still on the table.
The 20 d6's scattered around, his eyes finally
resting on my D20, and sighed in defeat.
"You destroy the banner," He said, disappointed
that I had managed to survive.
Tiamat screamed in rage as the banner burned
away, taking with it the taint it had brought.
As the light returned, Tiamat fled back to
her realm of darkness.
With her gone, the whispers and air of dread
left too.
As we stood there, the Shrine of Asgorath
appeared as if out of thin air in all its
White marble and golden trim glory.
It was at that moment that she appeared to
him again, but this time, in the flesh.
A beam of light blasted down from the heavens
to strike the shrine without a sound, and
suddenly the Avatar of Asgorath stood there,
bathed in golden light.
She turned her eyes upon Zar Zar and spoke
in an angelic voice, her draconic words bringing
life to the surrounding rocks.
"You have done well Little One.
Better than I had hoped.
Not only did you bring my banner to my Shrine
as I commanded, but you managed to chase Tiamat
away from her dreams of conquest.
For this, I grant you your greatest wish.
I make you, DRAGON!"
A beam of light equal in brilliance to Asgorath's
own blasted down from the heavens, engulfing
Zar Zar and transforming him into a mighty
9 foot tall Golden Half-Dragon, bearing Asgorath's
Symbol permanently engraved in the scales
upon his forehead.
Once the transformation was complete, Asgorath
spoke again.
"You have been reborn as a Demi-God.
As such, you deserve a new name.
No longer are you Zar Zar of the Lizard Folk.
From now on, you are Tel-nar-ith the Bold!
Go into the world and carry my symbol to all
edges of it.
Teach my ways and bring my light to the darkest
corners."
Telnarith was raised to level 25, granted
a host of abilities including the ability
to speak any language he encountered.
He was also granted Might of Asgorath, which
allowed him to overcome any enemy or heal
one friendly target to full health once a
day.
The DM then ended the session, stating the
game was over.
He congratulated me on my quick thinking and
stated that in Zar Zar's new form, he would
not be welcome in the next game.
I nodded and agreed, knowing he was far too
powerful now.
But honestly, I never added those extra stats
to his character sheet.
Or the extra abilities, save for the Ability
to speak any Language.
That's a nice touch.
In my heart, Zar Zar is still level 10.
But he managed to accomplish his dreams and
become a Dragon, and that makes me happy.
I left that DnD group, never to return.
A DM isn’t supposed to try to “win”
by killing players.
Since then, I have always played a Half-Dragon
who wears a golden circlet upon his head with
the symbol of Asgorath carved upon it.
I still have Zar Zar's character sheet somewhere.
Always wanted to frame it and hang it up.
He is by far, my favorite character in DnD.
It is such a tragedy losing a real life friend
and companion.
Make sure to thank your DMs and don’t let
your dreams be dreams.
Zar Zar didn’t.
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