Grungaar was pleased with the progress he had made thus far on his new home. He had been at it only for a few days, but it was all coming together so well that Grungaar couldn’t help but hum. He loved music and while he couldn’t play any instruments and it was physically impossible for him to whistle, he could certainly hum along with the best of them. He liked to make up lyrics to his little songs and sometimes he would just burst into song when he was feeling particularly cheerful. This was close to fitting that criteria.

Grungaar wasn’t going to take any chances though. Singing might draw unwanted attention to him, and he was unaware of what else might be living in these woods. The portion of the forest that Grungaar called home was right near the edge of a series of rolling plains which afforded Grungaar with a sweeping view of what might be out there. In this regard Grungaar was not like others of his species. Most green dragons preferred to lurk deep in heavy, difficult to traverse forests. Grungaar liked being able to see the wide-open spaces without having to be airborne. This spot checked all of those boxes by being the edge of a thick forest and right where a large pond sat, fed by creeks that ran out of the wooded area. An equally small creek ran out from the pond and zig-zagged lazily across the rolling landscape as if it had no more of an agenda than did Grungaar.

His first home had been a small forest in Fanolania southwest of here and several days away even if one was flying. It was wintertime and Grungaar was quite unprepared for his forest to be disturbed by the pesky people that lived and worked on the farms all around his grove. Disturbed he was though, and by a great many armed men wearing armor and wielding pikes and swords. The purpose of this unwanted intrusion was unknown, but it was more than enough for Grungaar to pack up his meager hoard and move along hastily. He flew across the great river into a vast and inviting forested region that he learned was called Chute de l’Ombre, and he felt sure that he could live here peacefully. This turned out to not even be remotely true as the area was claimed by pests such as gnomes and a particularly brutish goblinoid of some sort that bullied the juvenile green dragon into getting his stuff together and keep moving along. He followed the directions given to him by the pushy goblinoid and now here Grungaar was alongside his pond.

Grungaar had no way of knowing that this place was called Tanglepond although it was a perfect name and one that the green dragon would have chosen himself. It was more than big enough for Grungaar to submerge himself in completely. Grungaar found this to be a perfect place to sleep. The fact that the pond had been frozen over when he arrived hadn’t slowed him down. His weight was enough to break the ice, and Grungaar had danced about giddily smashing up the chunks of ice to allow him access. He didn’t have many magical powers, not being as young as he was, but Grungaar did have one ability that up until now he hadn’t had much use for unless it got very cold. Picking up large rocks from the bottom of the pond, Grungaar would hold them and concentrate with an almost comical determination. The rock would heat up to the point that it would nearly burn the dragon’s claws at which point Grungaar would drop the rock into the pond. He repeated this over and over until the temperature of the pond was more suitable to his reptilian biology. The rocks would keep their heat for half a day when used to heat his previous lair among the trees of Fanolania, but here under water they would need to be reheated every few hours until he got the overall temperature to a level that he wouldn’t need to continue the process as often.

This is where Grungaar calls home now. Happily dropping superheated rocks into a pond and enjoying the steam that rose up and melted the snow on the banks. Humming a happy tune, he watched the sunrise across those rolling plains and wondered for a moment what his future might hold here in this wondrous little piece of heaven on Domum.