Mystery of the Dragon Scale

Thanks for your visit today, chums. Feel free to take a gander at the mini-museum that is my humble abode. Or perhaps? Well, well, well... Weeeeeelllll, weeeeelll, weeeeell.

You, young lady, appear to have a historical wonder-item of your very own. Do you know what it is?

It's a dragon scale.

A dragon scale! A dragon scale, did you say?! Well, I am just flabbergasted.

Allow me a moment to search my memory banks. I feel... Yes, I have an inkling that I may have even seen a scale of the very same kind somewhere before.

Seriously? Do you remember where?

It was on the historical database. It came up in connection with an ancient indecipherable text I was reading about.

I don't quite follow, I'm afraid. What I need primarily is to know where it is.

Where the historical database is? It's uh...in the cloud, one might suppose.

A bit of a technophobe, I guess? Well, if you go to the Industrial Ruins there's a data access point there.

This seems promising, doesn't it?

I'd like to believe so. None of this would have been possible without time travel though.

The Industrial Ruins are on the other side of town. I'll lead the way.

I think this must be the data access point he was talking about.

A data access point... So you can get to the database by going through here?

We open up this crate-like part, I assume?

Wait, that'll break it. That's not really how stuff works in the future. Instead of going to places to see things, everyone just gets stuff up on screens.

How do we "get it up," then?

That's something I still haven't quite worked out. It seems to involve some prodding, waving or...

*sigh* Hello, database! Database! Database! Hello? Helloooooo?! Can you cut it out with all your gimmicks? There's something I want to ask.

Voice interface activated. If you'd like to access the database, that's okay. Just tell me what you want, without kicking me.

The woman in charge of the database won't come out of her box. She's not trapped, is she?

(Laclair...there's no one in there. At least, I hope there isn't.)

Didn't you ever know anyone that liked to spend all their time indoors playing? She's probably just that kind of person.

Can you see this from where you are? If you know anything about this dragon scale, please tell me.

Scanning object...

Analyzing... Analyzing... Analyzing...

Scan successful. 97% match with the scales of a reptile known to have lived 20,000 years ago.

Eh? Then it would have survived for thousands of years... I can barely believe that!

It's not still alive, is it?

It is not. Records indicate that it was slain around 15,000 years ago.

This doesn't add up. That's 800 years or so before our own time.

So it couldn't have attacked my village. It would have been long-fossilized by then.

*sigh* I guess you can't expect credibility from someone who dispenses second-hand knowledge from inside a box.

This isn't a total dead end. Let's at least go to Antiquity to investigate for ourselves.

It's my policy to pursue every lead. I'd have no right to complain about my lack of success if I did any less.

Database Keeper, or Operator, Archivist, whatever, can you tell us in what region the beast with this scale lived?

The geoterrestrial signature of the scale indicates that it lived in an ash-laden zone, in the vicinity of magma pools.

That could well be near the Vasu Mountains. Okay, we'll try there first.

Laclair, you ready?

And lo, another footprint! Guess I shouldn't have written off that database so quickly.

This is a start. It's not dissimilar from a dragon's, but I've never seen one quite like this before. Hmm, I'm not so sure about this...

Do you remember much about the dragon that lay waste to your village? You'd have been really young, no?

Obviously I have strong memories of that day. I was too occupied with its jaws and claws to be looking at its feet though.

I didn't imagine at the time that I was going to go on a time-travelling quest to track it down and slay it.

What I do remember is...its thunder-like roar, the panic and confusion, the looks of terror in the eyes of the fleeing village folk... And the sight of it walking through the town leisurely, taking in the spectacle, as screams filled the air.

Argh, I can still hear those screams...

Laclair, you all right?

They'll go away... Urgh... Once I slay...that dragon!

Hey, Laclair? Get ahold of yourself!

*huff huff*

I'm fine. You don't need to worry.

Your facial expression is saying otherwise. You look anxious.

Never mind that. Let's stay on the trail.

Oh no! Oh prisma no! Is this the end?

They've been set upon by dinosaurs! That gigantic one, I know him!

Come on! We've gotta save 'em!

He's been cornered!

Not dino chow...anything but dino chow! This isn't how the story is supposed to end!

It was him! It's all coming back vividly now!

Everyone, run for the hills! A dragon came out of nowhere! It's heading for town!

A dragon? How terrible! Wait...isn't that a dinosaur? Either way, how terrible! Run!

*wail* *whimper*

All alone... All alone... Mom, Dad...

You've got this Laclair. Rip out the fiend's bleeding heart and the screaming will stop as well.

I know Father, I know... The dragon, or dinosaur even, my enemy... I will stand victorious over its carcass!

I swear to you!

It's still there. I'm convinced killing it would put an end to this. Which means...

That wasn't the dragon that attacked the village? Or dinosaur even?

Right, Laclair?

They looked nearly identical, so at the very least they must be related species.

I still don't get how it could have lived to several hundred years old and still been in good enough shape to ravage a village.

No, neither do I.

Geez, you two are tough cookies ain't ya. I'd have been swimming in dino stomach acid about now, if you two hadn't bowled up. I'm well aware of the dangers that my job entails, I'm a prospector, even so that was a rotten bit of luck, coming across him.

Did you see where your companion got off to?

Ah, that guy. We happened to buddy up for the day, both being men of the mountain and whatnot, but he's not really my pal or anything, so...

Okay, but did you see if he got away safely?

Don't know about that. That stupidly huge dinosaur was after him, wasn't it? Welp, I hope he's a good swimmer. I hear the waters of a dino's stomach are pretty rough going.

Well, we're not going to leave him to drown. Let's go, Laclair.

Not one single person more will die by the jaws of that dinosaur, I've sworn it.

There they are!

Oh for Salamander's sake, how unlucky can a fella be.

Hurry up and gobble me up then! I promise ya, you'll have never had a fella as tasty as me before, just look at this juicy meat on me!

What in Gnome's name?!

What the... Things aren't supposed to just vanish into thin air like that!

I've seen my fair share of those. That right there was a tear in spacetime. If you fall through one, you can end up anywhere and anywhen.

No wonder we were unprepared for the dinosaur attack. How could anyone have seen it coming, from across time and space.

We know the truth behind the attack now. That doesn't get us any closer to actually tracking it down though. What do you want to do now? I don't have any great ideas springing to mind.

No? Well luckily I do. What we just saw has provided us with one major clue.

It did? Huh.

It's just a matter of time now until that dinosaur breathes its last. I'm going to consign it to ancient history, once and for all.