The Gaming Den

Skirt around.

I say get in the valley and check out that hillock.

This feels like a trap of some sort, but we might need to know what the deal with the bone hill is. Let's check it out.

As you descend towards the bright green hillock the white egret starts to cackle and jumps up and down on the grass. As you approach it flies over the crest of the hillock but you can still hear it cackling on the other side. You look about warily in case the calls of the white bird have attracted any nearby men or elves. The valley is quiet. (We have WILDERNESS LORE.)

There is something very strange about the grass on that hillock. It seems almost reflective, as if the stems of grass were coated in shiny wax. White egrets like the one on the hillock eat insects--they catch mites and parasites on the hides of large animals. You've never known one probe the ground for worms.
Walk to the top of the hillock, anyway, to see what you can see?
Leave the valley and skirt around it to the east?

So this is probably one large animal instead of a hillock....

Really, I don't think walking on top of a large animal sounds particularly wise, but this might be the dragon that we'd have find at some point, so in the absence of a more cautious option of approaching it, I'd rather take the risk than miss a potential encounter with the dragon.

Walk to the top.

Since we're here, investigate the thingy.

As you set foot on the hillock you are surprised at how hard the ground feels, although it yields slightly as if a layer of hard rock were resting on mud. The ground is smooth and has a sheen to it: it only looked like grass. The egret stops its cackling and flies off.
Step back off the mound?
Climb onwards?

Step back off the mound - we've probably woken the dragon up and we don't want to provoke it further.

Step off the dragon.

You step back off the mound, which begins to shake as if there was an earthquake. The ground you have stepped onto is quite firm, but even so you can feel the vibrations rocking you slightly.
The whole of the green hillock suddenly rolls upwards and away from you, leaving you standing on the edge of a ledge with a twenty-foot drop. As the hillock moves it creases and splits apart.
The dragon, for that is what the hillock really is, moves slowly as it wakes from its slumber. Turning its great scaly neck like a corkscrew, the ancient creature looks back over its shoulder at you. Its smouldering red eyes, as terrifying as the portals to hell, gaze at you from a craggy face the size of a cart.
Will you leap at its head to attack it before it is fully awake? Or will you smile at it in the hope that it will not eat you, while preparing a spell if you know how?

we're here to talk to the dragon so talk to the dragon.

Smile at the crocodile.

Flash our pearly whites.

The dragon yawns, its fangs raking the sky twenty feet apart. You can see the glands inside its throat that produce the acid and poison for its deadly breath. The ancient beast could kill you in a moment.
If you wish to flee
If feel brave enough [sic] to see what fate it intends for you

(Since we've already said that we want to talk to it...)

The dragon's nostrils smoulder as it looks its long nose at you.
'You are brave, O impudent man,' it booms. Its voice has the timbre of thunder in a summer storm.
'Aye, when I have to be,' you reply, recoiling at the beast's terrifying voice. All thoughts of brave action and heroism desert you.
'What is it you want with me? Do you hanker to call yourself dragon-slayer and have your name bruited around the land? Have you perhaps heard that dragons sleep on vast hoards of treasure? Or perhaps you want me to teach you magic?'
Say you wish to be taught magic?
Say that you would like a tenth part of the dragon's hoard?
Say you want the dragon's help?
Say you don't want anything from the dragon?

Quick, abandon our fated quest in a moment of pointless greed!

Or generically ask for help and hope they just didn't want the choice to be TOO blindingly obvious.

We want the dragon's help, specifically to murder the westermen who will probably inconvenience it sooner or later anyway.

You explain your quest to save the forest from the Westermen. The dragon has been asleep all the time the men have been hacking and burning the forest, but he seems to believe your tales of woe. He tells you his name is Garoshtar and says he is surprised that a human could want so little of him when he has great power and riches to give.
He tells you to come for him at your hour of greatest need and he will help you against the Westermen. Remember that you have the promise of Garoshtar's help. Write the codeword Scorpion on your character sheet. (We do not have the codeword Waterbearer on your character sheet.)

With the dragon’s help and the might of the elves, you feel you have a chance of defeating the forces of the Westerman and driving the threat of their evil from the forest. Full of confidence in your ability to call upon a powerful ally of the ancient times, you head towards the rowan trees at the edge of the forest.
Travelling along routes that seem to come unbidden to your mind, you reach a clearing that seems strangely familiar. Was it here perhaps, that you met the elves? Or does some horror of your travels lurk nearby in the undergrowth?
Summoning up your courage, you call out to whoever or whatever will hear: ‘Elves! If you would win your freedom, come talk with a mortal who can deliver it. For I have secured us an ally equal to half the Westerman’s forces - a dragon whose very appearance will slay scores of them from sheer terror. Come forward and speak with me.’
The words of your challenge die away, suffocated by the preternatural silence of the forest. You might have expected to hear the chirruping voice of a bird, or the faint rustle of a woodmouse questing for beetles, yet there is nothing. Cursing the elves for their arrogance, you shout again, ‘Come forward!’
Spittle flies from your lips and your face flushes with the violent passion of your request. Again you wait for a reply.
‘Do you think that one dragon is enough, then, to beat your fellow men?’ says a cool voice from behind you.
Spinning around, you see no more than inches from your face the eternally youthful face of an elf. Yet the penetrating eyes that are windows to the wisdom of countless centuries mark this elf out above all others. The Elf King has answered your call.
‘One dragon is more than enough,’ you reply, ‘with the forces of the elves as well. He will demoralize the Westermen, plunging them into chaos from which the deadly arrows of the elves will cruelly pluck them.’
He smiles a cold smile, approving of the relish with which you describe the Westermen’s deaths. ‘Brave words indeed, for a mortal. But for the elves to accede to your schemes and counsels, you must prove yourself worthy of our respect.’
‘How may I do that?’
‘Overcome my. champion in a duel. Only then will we heed your words.’ (We have FOLKLORE.)

You recall a snippet of doggerel that used to be sung by the old gipsy women who came to town selling their handicrafts:

The name of the elfin king
Is a terribly powerful thing;
If you speak it to him, or even sing,
You can make him give you his signet ring.
The Elf King’s name is—
Ah! but that would be telling!

Such songs always fascinated you, since their simple folk rhythm seems to conceal a core of hoary secret truth. The hard part is to strip away the mystery so that you are left with that truth. You also know that you must tread carefully. The elves are proud and pitiless, and often behave like spiteful children in spite of their immemorial wisdom. You must not show weakness or hesitation which they could exploit to their advantage, but neither must you offend them.
Do you want to guess the Elf King’s name or would you prefer to accept a duel?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: ??
Skills: CUNNING, FOLKLORE, SPELLS and WILDERNESS LORE
Life Points: 10
Possessions:
1) Magic Wand
2) Maple Flute
3) Emerald Ring
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Money: 9 gold pieces
Codewords: Crabclaw, Scorpion

Our special skill gave us new option, might as well make use of it.

We don't have any combat skills, so I don't like our odds in the duel. Wild mass guessing it is!

Guessing seems hard, but option due to special skill, so try that.

You look hard into the Elf King’s eyes despite the disquiet that his ageless gaze causes you. ‘Well, sire, I’ve heard it said that he who speaks an elf’s name can gain power over him.’
You do not see him move, yet none the less he seems to draw back away from you slightly. ‘This is typical mortal talk,’ he says guardedly, ‘all bluff and bluster.’
Will you say the Elf King’s name is: Arawn? Eldring? Oberon? or Elivager?

Zaranthan wrote:We don't have any combat skills, so I don't like our odds in the duel.

We would have been able to choose from different kinds of "duels", including magic (SPELLS) and wits (CUNNING). But in any case, trying to win by Swordplay or Brawling isn't easy. Trying to guess the Elven King's name is definitely the most convenient way out here.

Anyway, the clue from the doggerel made this an easy puzzle: Eldring is the only one which rhymes with the other lines.

Seconding SGamerz' logic.

He blinks slowly, as if clearing his head after a daze.
‘Shall I speak it again?’ you ask.
He holds up his hand. ‘There is no need. You have named me truly, and in accordance with an ancient pact between myself and the first man I must now present you with my signet ring.’ He takes off his ring and puts it into your hand. It is carved out of a single flawless emerald whose depths are filled with pinpoints of flaring green light. ‘It is the symbol of my royal authority,’ he says. ‘To keep it would demonstrate a lack of goodwill on your part. Why not return it to me now, and then we shall talk.’
Insist on retaining the ring?
Return it to him?

Half vote for insist on retaining.