A large man with a red beard, many scars, and a large sword strapped across his back made his way toward the group. He does not seem to be pushing his way through, but rather carefully moving among the crowd and maneuvering gently and deftly despite his size. Vasha catches sight of the large human, staring at him as he moves, taking in his every movement. He nods at her, recognizing that he is being sized up. His route becomes more direct though his expression does not change. Vasha's eyes grow big as he nods at her, but she continues to stare. At last, the six foot tall mountain of red hair, fur, and the wages of war stands before her. He places his fist in his palm before her and bows slightly. "I greet you." Vasha's eyes grow large, and she quickly looks away. "Why do you turn away? You do not bear the brand and so I mean you no harm."
Vasha's eyes drift up, slowly, taking in his form. Meeting his eyes, she quickly looked away once again.“Oh, daisies,” Vesra turns and sees her sister being accosted by a human. The thirteen year old kor stepped in front of the monk. “Hello, how are you?” She said with a smile that covered up her nerves.
"I am as well as can be expected." He smiles back. "Why does your friend turn away?"
“She’s... racist?” Vasha glared at Vesra, pushing her sharply. Don't say that, she signed furiously.
"I am right here," Jerrock says. "I do not know your finger language, but I can assume you are referring to me."
“Actually, she’s referring to me,” Vesra smiled. “She’s mad I called her a racist.”
"That is to her credit. I would take offense at that label as well."
“Well if she didn’t want to be called racist than she probably shouldn’t have acted like that,” Vesra crossed her arms.
Vasha glared at her sister, then looked at the human. "Hello."
He smiles at her. "See. Was that so bad?" Vasha continued to stare at him.
"I am looking for some help, and you all seemed to be quite formidable," the human said. "But I am getting ahead of myself. I am Jerrok, last of the Caldera Tribe."
“Who are you fighting?” Vesra asked abruptly.
"For the moment I am hunting. When I have gathered enough allies, I will destroy the Shanshi."
"I'm Vasha," she said, awkwardly shoving her hand out at Jerrock, not hearing much else he said.
He clasps her hand firmly, but not with too much force. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Vasha looked from his hand holding hers, to Vesra, then back again. "They are cowards and curs. And when I hunt them, it is only to find them. I confront them face to face. I want them to meet their fate with honor."
“That doesn’t exactly tell me what I was looking for,” Vesra replied.
"We'll help you," Vasha said quickly, still holding his hand.
"Thank you. That is very kind," Jerrock replied with a smile. "The Shanshi are nomads, like me. But they have no honor. You can identify them by the brands on their arms; dragons eating horses.
You can’t just promise our muscle to the first cute human with fancy hair you see, Vesra elbowed her sister. “We’ll talk more about this later, but it looks like our number is up.” Vasha hears very little, still holding Jerrock's hand.
He gestures toward the guards. "Should we go, then?"
Vasha quickly pulls her hand away. "Yes. Sure." She drops her eyes to the ground and quickly moves away.
We?!? Vesra signed.
Rezivah smiles, satisfied, turning to the ground and seeing this rather large, robust red human. A curious expression passes her face at the sight of him holding Vasha's hand. "Yes, we. Who's your friend, Vasha?"
Who is this? Kayn asks Vesra as the large human follows them.
"For such an observant warrior, your friend seems very skittish." Jerrock says to Vesra as he follows along. He bows slightly to Rezivah. "I am Jerrock, last of the Caldera tribe."
What? Vasha looked at Vesra confused. I... don't know.
The group--with Jerrock in tow--moves through the crowd towards the flanked guardsman. As you get closer, you recognize the black-armored figures: they're the same who accompanied Vielara back in the Pits of Cakorot, when all of this began. Their heads dart at odd angles from side to side as they scan the crowd before the look onto each of you. "I'm Captain Indrid" the guardsman says, introducing himself. "Mistress Vielara has been expecting you. You're late." he adds briskly.
Vasha nods at the guard, waiting for the others to join. Vasha’s new boyfriend, Vesra signed back to Kayn as they walked. “We’ve been through a lot,” Vesra explained to Jerrock. “Skittish keeps warriors alive.”
Jerrock joins and stands by her side, forming a pair of towers. He exudes silent confidence, seeming nonplused at the comment of lateness. Vasha moves to push Vesra again, then rethinks her actions, and stands motionless. "Skittish can keep you alive or it can make you hesitate at the wrong moment. She sized me up expertly. I do not doubt her confidence in battle." He indicates several of his scars. "I prefer to open myself up so that I may lure my foe into a mistake. I can take more punishment than they can."
"Is that so?" Rezivah asked. I'm ok with this man. The bloodier the better."
Can we just... stop talking and go have this meeting, Vasha signed to Vesra. Stop calling him my boyfriend.
And apparently an aster-hole who can’t keep his mouth shut, Vesra signed to Kayn. I’ll stop calling him your boyfriend when you stop drooling.
Vasha glared. I'm not drooling. I want nothing to do with him.
Captain Indrid looks between Jerrock, Vasha, and Vesra, with a held-back smile. "Please," Vasha spoke to Indrid. "Take us to Vielara."
"Mhmm...." he drones. "I won't take you to her." He motions to the two black-clad figures, "But they will."
“Thank you,” Vesra moves towards the black clad figures. “We apologize for our tardiness.” Vasha moves with Vesra, standing silently.
Passing through the main gates, the group winds through a mess of tents and buildings on the ground. Cries of anguish sound out off in the distance as a loved one passes away. White-robed kor hurry to and fro with rations, herbs, water, and supplies in their hands, dispersing what aid they can to those suffering. Above you, the rope bridges dangle between the opposing cliff-sides as more people scurry along from one alcove to another, harvesting herbs and plants from several outcroppings. The scene is bleak and hardly a welcoming sign.
Yet the black figures who guide from both ahead and behind pay no mind to the desolation, pushing aside anyone or anything that would stand between them and you and their master. Their heads continue to swivel and twist as they look around themselves, constantly on the prowl to spot some unseen danger.
Arriving at an opening, you see a large, bulky humanoid with a prominent brow and muscular, stooping shoulders chained to the cliffside, gagged with a rag. Its characteristics being vaguely aquatic, though not merfolk. It's muffled cries, while audible, cannot be understood. What is it doing here in the middle of the desert? A guard is posted on either side, themselves conversing with one another, though the noise levels of the fort make such conversation hard to decipher from your distance. The null behind the group shrieks, perhaps upset by the slower pace, and continues to usher the group along and into the cliffside.
Moving through a network of stairs and tunnels, the group soon arrives at their destination: the potent smell of exotic herbs and spices, ones which remind you of Vielara's ziggurat, make that readily known. You walk through a broad archway and into a dimly-lit, vaulted cavern adorned with crimson rugs and gilded ornaments. Vielara always needed to have her wealth flaunted where she stayed it would seem. And there she was, lounging on a black sofa, surrounded by several of her null servants and a pair of slaves with veiled faces. Her sweet laughter reverberates throughout the cavern, climbing higher and higher to an unknown height. "And here I had begun to think I was going to need to higher a whole new party to guide my expedition house to greatness," she calls out, remaining on the sofa. In stark contrast, she sharply exclaims, "You're late." Letting the words linger for a few moments, she adds, "But I'll forgive the slight, seeing as this was only the first of many expeditions for you." She gestures for the group to situate themselves amidst several pillows and other chairs with a sly smile and a wave of her hand. "Come. Sit. Tell me about the journey and your destination."
Ato eyes the pair of hulking nulls with caution. He knew they served their patron, but he always had the sense that they could not be trusted. Still, he has no choice but to follow - this was part of working with, or for, Vielara. As they move through the city, he takes in the scene and can feel the despair of the people - trapped, scared, and nowhere else to go. Had it been this bad before? Are these attacks the sole reason, or is there more behind this influx of refugees?
At the sight of the chained creature, Ato starts in surprise. "A surrakar? It's been brought a long way from it's homelands. Curious indeed."
Once he's led before Vielara, he takes in the sight of "throne room" and the unsubtle display of her wealth and power. "And so our mistress holds court," he mutters under his breath to no one in particular. At her gesture, he takes a seat with the others for their audience with the vampire.
As the group moves to sit down. She holds her hand out with palm facing the group, peering at Jerrock. "While you're similar in appearance to Ellangil, you are not, in fact, Ellangil. You will wait outside until out discussion is over." The two black figures snap to attention, moving to Jerrock to escort him outside of the cavern.
Hearing Kayn, she responds calmly to him as she glances over to Rezivah, "Yes.... I see my pupil has somehow crossed paths your group... I suppose she was compensated well for extending her generous aid?"
Vasha maintained concentration on every little movement Vielara made, not to catch her doing something, not to make herself seem imposing, but simply to take in every bit of what she was saying. She knew she needed to be on her best behavior, and desperately wanted to speak to Vielara privately, so she figured this was the best way about that. Once Jerrock was removed from the room, she began to feel more comfortable.
Thinking of the considerable share of gold from their find, and the helping of blood from the party's merfolk, Rezivah speaks. "They have been very accommodating, once they trusted I was working for you. They are cautious to others, but not so much to their surroundings." Rezivah remembered how some of their members passed. One to the vampires she hunted and the other to bloodbriar. Then how one of the kor fell into a chasm. She wished to ask if these people were worth Vielara's guild name, but opted to do so at a later time.
Kayn gives Rezivah a side-glance, then decides to speak up once again. "The Joraga cleared out the den you sent her after. She has been with us since." He decides to leave out the fact that she fled and abandoned her quest... for now. "They were very accepting of us in their lifebloom."
She nods her head with an ever-present smile as she lifts a piece of bloodied meat into her mouth and chews while they speak. "Like all living things, they have strings which can be pulled for your gain." Adjusting her position on the sofa, she continues, "I assume Ellangil and Veythe are dead?"
Vasha's gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, a sad expression on her face, hidden by the mask. Quickly she regained herself, looking upon Vielara once again. "They are."
She chuckles. "Ellangil's death surprises me." Passing it off as if small talk, she switches the topic once again. "And the hedron itself? How did you get it to open?"
“Very carefully.”
"It took a mixture of mana from each of us. A combination of it all, simultaneously administered to their respective runes. The door opened only after it was done...." Kayn glances over at Vesra, "Carefully."
She moves to sit at the edge her seat, seemingly engaged. "And? What treasures did it hold?"
"It was a prison and a tomb," Kayn responds.
For monsters, thought Rezivah, holding back the urge to grimace. She didn't wish to speak of them, much less think about the things.
Vasha moved her gaze from Vielara, to Kayn. She looked him over, knowing that he was now the prison for the ghostly entities. Looking back at Vielara, she thought about how to broach the subject, and how to go about finding a way to free Kayn. She was worried her speaking up would be seen as defiance, thus causing her sister punishment, so she decided to hold her tongue.
Kayn pulls his wand and the driftglobe out and places them before him, nodding to the others expectantly.
"Horror and death is what it held, " adds Ato. "and a path to madness for the weak or unwary. In any case, it did not seem to hold any of the treasures you were hoping for. As Kayn says, it seemed to serve as a prison instead, but we were able to keep its inhabitants from escaping." He pulls a stone tablet from his pack, it's surface engraved with the same cryptic runes that had adorned the hedron. Kayn has seen this, but to the others, it would not be something they'd seen before. "This tablet was useful in helping us puzzle out the means of unlocking the hedron. It's served its purpose as far as I am concerned. Perhaps it will have some value to you, though. It's yours if you wish."
Vasha stepped forward, making eye contact with Vielara. "I had a vision, sent from the stone of the hedron itself. I saw the creation of the hedron, the creators, what it was meant to contain, the past itself."
She sits there in silence, contemplating everything that was just told her. It's readily apparent that something about this disturbs her, despite any efforts she makes to try and conceal it. "Prison and tomb. Horror and death. A path to madness." She laughs loudly, exclaiming, "What did you expect to find in a hedron? Daisies and soft beds? There's a reason why the faint of heart avoid them."
“People tend to not put their favorite belongings in prisons,” Vesra spoke up. “I’m sure some Hedrons have more treasures, we are merely explaining our more meager findings.”
She looks over the items presented before her. The tablet intrigues her, however. "I'll hold onto this item. I know someone who might be able to crack the language. A sage ruin he calls himself... the pompous vampire."
"Vasha... You wild thing. Tell me about this vision"
Vasha took a deep breath, obviously hesitant. Then she closed her eyes, summoning the memory of the vision. "There was a battlefield. Yellow mist. I could actually taste blood in my mouth. There were bodies all around me. Then something... incomprehensible came from the sky. I don't know what it was, but it was horrible. I could feel it engulfing me... sucking me into an endless void. I spiraled... into nothingness... then it was over." She opened her eyes, meeting Vielara's gaze, and swallowed hard.
She closes her eyes as Vasha explains the vision in detail, folding her hands into the ripples of her dress as her smile slowly fades. "Yes... and it is over." She swallows, blinking her eyes a few times before returning to her normal self. "Is there anything else found or to report? If not, then we will discuss our next plans come tomorrow morning."
Vasha nodded. "Kayn has... an attachment."
"To.... what?" she asks curiously.
"Not that kind of attachment," Vasha said, glancing at Kayn. "Tell her, or I will."
Jerrock cleans his greatsword in the background. He is listening as closely as he can while seeing disinterested.
"It's no secret, Vasha. She can see for herself." Kayn lifts an arm to show the spectral tendrils. "There were survivors of the first explorers to enter the Hedron. I was able to bond with their spirits and have agreed to help them get to the Sunspring in Tazeem."
She cocks her head as Kayn displays the spectral tendrils. "It would seem, perhaps, that you've locked away the greatest treasure within yourself. I would pry for more details, but such.... mercy is your own." She chuckles to herself at a fleeting thought.
"Though...." she adds after a moment of thought, "The Sunspring is just a myth. No one has actually discovered it before. I do hope you aren't just chasing some dream of either yours or theirs... if such a thing can still be distinguished."
"Vielara, what will you have us do next?" Vesra interrupted. "We have completed your first mission, and I'm sure you have something else lined up already."
She looks down at Vesra. "Child, did you not hear me? If there is nothing else to report, then we will conclude this meeting and discuss your next assignment in the morning. Get some rest, mingle with the people here. I'm sure at least one of you takes pity on the weak and afflicted in this fort."
“I heard you,” Vesra replied. “But I also saw no reason for such delays. Since you’re done though, where are our chambers?”
She grits her teeth at Vesra's defiant comment, though says nothing of it. "There is a spare room down the stairs from whence you came," she exclaims coldly, gesturing with her hands. "It will suit your needs." Rising from the sofa, she nods. "The evening is only just beginning, and I still have much to do today, if you'll excuse me."
“Have a good night,” Vesra waved with a big smile.
"Vielara, when you have a moment before tomorrow, I wish to speak with you in private."
She nods as she looks to the rest of the group. Answering in Vampire, she responds, "We still need to discuss you mission in detail and why you did not bring me a row of heads. Stop by later this evening."
"Oh," she exclaims in remembrance. "Bring the hulking flame-head tomorrow morning as well. I might have use for him with Ellangil's passing."
Jerrock enters. "I have been summoned?"
She sighs and shakes her head. "Tomorrow morning! Be here."
He smiles and walks out
Vasha grabs Vesra and begins ushering her out of the chamber. "What do you think you're doing?" she whispered, harshly. "You're supposed to be the level headed one, remember? What good will it do if she kills both of us for being hot heads?"
Jerrock walks by and bows to them. “I am off to find my quarry if either of you would care to accompany me.”
Vasha immediately released her sister. "I... I... where?"
“He is somewhere in the fort. I am going to hunt for a man with brands on both arms of dragons eating horses.”
“We just met you,” Vesra said, before her sister could agree. “I’m sorry, but we’re going to need more than can you help us with my revenge mission.”
Vasha stared at Jerrock, unblinking.
Rezivah, having followed the kor sisters, is surprised at Vasha's dispostion near this male. She speaks from the other side of Vesra. "Was she this way with the other one?"
“What else would you like to know?”
“And it is strange for one so young to speak for an older member of the tribe. Is that customary in your tribe?”
Hidden behind her mask, Vasha pressed her lips together in anger. She wanted to punch him, right in his throat. That would teach him. Instead, she stormed off.
Jerrock looked surprised. “What just happened?” He asked.
“That’s... Vasha,” Vesra said apologetically to Jerrock, ignoring Rezivah. “I speak because I am the olde-more talkative sister,” the druid chose her words carefully. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to have a private chat with my twin.”
Vesra follows Vasha and envelopes her sister in a hug. Vasha froze, taking a deep breath. "Don't."
“I’m not allowed to give you a hug anymore?”
Vasha pulled herself away from the hug and turned to face her now smaller sister. "Don't act like there's nothing wrong. What just happened back there? And what the hell do you think you're doing with that human?"She was grateful for the mask covering her face and her true emotions.
What do I think I’m doing with that human? Vesra signed. You’re the one acting weird around him.
He's going to die.
Eventually, Vesra replied. We’re all going to die. Although him probably sooner than most. Have you seen the scars? He does not seem the most cautious. But that is his own choice.
He's going to die because of us. Vasha looked away, knowing that wasn't what she really wanted to say, hoping Vesra wouldn't catch on.
“No, they didn’t,” Vesra said aloud to get her sister’s attention. They died because of their own choices. You’re not responsible for everyone’s lives.
Vasha looked at her sister, staring her down. She thought about arguing the point, but what good would that bring. She took another deep breath. I can't be around him, she signed.
Not without making a fool of yourself, at least.
Vasha's eyes narrowed. "Stop mocking me," she growled.
“I’m not mocking you, I-“ finding the words in common were difficult. I just want to make you laugh. This has been a long, difficult journey. We can’t forget to also be happy, because then all is truly lost.
Vasha's eyes narrowed even further. There's nothing to laugh about. Nothing. Veythe is gone, and I never even told her... Vasha looked away with a growl.
“She knew,” Vesra sighed. “And she wouldn’t want you to mourn her.”
"It doesn't matter," Vasha said, stepping away. "None of it matters. Now is not the time for laughing and having fun, Vesra. If that human comes with us, he, too, will die."
“He’s more likely to get himself killed if we don’t go with him,” Vesra shook her head. “He seems hellbent on a dangerous revenge mission. At least this way, we can help him.”
"Fine," Vasha said, quietly. "Don't you ever dare call him my... whatever... again. Do you understand?"
I’m sorry, Vesra sighed. I won’t. Vasha simply nodded. But you’ve got to promise you’ll lighten up, Vesra pursed her lips. I’m sick of you hiding behind that mask, and I’m sick of you feeling like everything is your fault. It’s time to heal. I can’t afford to lose you.
I'll hide whatever I choose to hide, Vasha signed back. I have no reason to be happy, nor do I want to be. I don't plan on losing anyone else.
“Fine,” Vesra turned and walked back toward the group they had left. You know, she signed back angrily. You’re really starting to sound like him. With that, she left, not wanting to deal with her sister any more. Vasha felt her throat tighten, tears stinging her eyes. She felt as if she had just been slapped across the face by Vesra. Maybe it was better this way, not letting Vesra know how much she was hurting. Swallowing hard, she slowly walked away to find a place to meditate, keeping her head down.
The three of them set out just after conversing with Vielara, eager to help their newfound barbaric friend in his quest for blood. Moving from group to group, they scour the fort, offering money for any potential information from those who seem more reluctant to give it. It takes awhile, as many of the leads given didn't pan out, but the last one takes them into the cliffside and down a winding path which eventually leads to the foot of an underground river. Torches abound, lighting up the area well, and there they see him: a tall, burly man with a greataxe strapped across his back. His forearms bear the signs of dragons eating horses. He looks up from his plate at the three of them but says nothing, returning to his meal in silence.
"Now what?" Kayn asks.
Jerrock looks him over and notices strange wounds on him: parts of his skin have seems to decay, revealing strange, criss-crossing patterns of white flesh. He turns to his new companions. "Have either of you seen anything like that before? He looks sickly, but not of a malady that I have seen."
"I don't see anything. " Kayn squints his eyes. "Is he hurt? Doesn't look hurt. Behind the three, a pair of people rush down with buckets towards the river. The man pays them little heed, though his eyes dart up to the three of companions standing there once again. Kayn waves.
He grunts. "Pike off, goblin."
Jerrock approaches him. "You are a long way from home, my Shanshi friend. Are you unwell?"
The man snorts, "I'm right where I need to be. Go fetch some water for those above." He returns to his meal once again.
"I believe you have me confused with someone else. Who are those above and why would you think you could dispatch me to fetch them water?"
He spits on the ground and shouts, "By the Three Gods, piss off already! Can't you leave a man in silence with his meal??" By this point, the two waterboys have began the ascent back up.
"I appreciate your kindness. It makes this easier. I was going to ask what you were doing so far from home. I was going to give you a chance to explain yourself, though your people have no justification for what they did. Instead, I will give you what you never gave my people, the opportunity to die with honor." Jerrock unslings his Greatsword and holds it at the ready, but makes no move to attack.
He belts out a hearty laugh as he stands from the lone table, unslinging his greataxe. "Oh. I see. You're a nobody from one of the dozen tribes we've raided and pillaged, and you're probably out on a quest for revenge, huh? I'd ask which tribe was yours, but I doubt I'd even remember it... unless you describe the women. I remember each one in great detail."
Jerrock grits his teeth, but does not act. He takes a moment to master his emotions. Anger is reserved for battle and channeling the dragons. He calls over his shoulder to Kayn and Rezivah. "I hope his words allay any of your concerns over my cause." He turns back to the Shanshi. "Your words are harmless. Have you anything else to defend yourself with. Or would you prefer if I were sleeping or unawares?"
"I'd prefer your head on a pike, but I can make that work quickly enough." He pauses suddenly, cocking his head to the side, as if listening. Nodding, he drops his greataxe on the ground and moves to sit cross-legged on the ground with a wry smile on his face.
Jerrock steps forward and pokes the point of the sword as close as the man will allow. Another step forward and I could run him through. "Make no mistake. Your life is forfeit. It is your choice whether to die with honor or not. You and your tribe have damned themselves with your actions. Refusing to face me will not tarnish my honor. If that is your plan, then it is flawed."
He chuckles. "My life has been forfeit to my Queen for nearly 10 years. As servant to the Herald, I readily welcome death to bring about my rebirth."
Jerrock pauses. He has traveled far for this man and wants his vengeance, but something in his words gives him pause. This seems like something larger and he does not know enough about his new friends yet to know whether this man would have any useful information for them. "Have you forsaken your tribe, then? Who holds your leash now? Is that where this rot came that has infested you?"
He sneers at the Jerrock's words. "Rot? How misguided you are. History has lied to you. My tribe have found the truth and readily embrace it." He lunges forward and impales himself on the tip of Jerrock's greatsword with a burst of speed and a smile of relief on his face. As he slouches over, Jerrock hears amidst the gurgling, "She is coming." He lets out one last breath as he now lays there, lifeless.
Kayn steps forward after the display of violence to inspect the man. He sees the white decay that lines the man's body and shakes his head.
Jerrock pulls his sword free and begins cleaning it, letting the body slump to the ground. "Kayn, there is something more than my vengeance going on here. Before I bury him, is there anything you require?"
"It is the emcayi," Kayn responds. "Soon this fort is going to be attacked. Should we stay or should we go?" A small grin forms on the goblin's face. It doesn't seem as though his question was to either of his companions around him.
"Do we need the corpse to aid in the warning? Who should be alerted?" Jerrock responds.
"They do not know the signs of the emcayi, as they've been sealed for thousands of years. No one will believe us." Kayn obviously isn't referencing either of his companions as 'us'. "We want to go," Kayn says. "But... we think it is too late."
Jerrock sheathes his sword and patiently waits for the inner monologue to complete.
"Lets tell Vielera," Kayn says, "and the others." Kayn nods to himself. "Bring it if you like," he gestures to the corpse before turning to get back to Vielara's estate.
Jerrock nods. "At some point, I would like to learn more about these 'emcayi'. I fear they may play a role in the fate of my tribe." He turns and picks up the man and his axe and slings them over his shoulder, following Kayn back.
Kayn giggles at this, a strange chortle. "No you don't..." He waves his hand and says, "Careful," as an afterthought, "You don't want to get any of him on you." He glances back to see Jerrock covered in the human... "I'm sure you will be ok."
When Vesra returned from her fight with her sister, she found that the rest of the group had left without her. With a sigh, she decided she needed to do something. The druid refused to sit around and feel sorry for herself; she needed a distraction. The teenage kor left Vielara’s place and headed into town, hoping to put her healing to good use.
There were so many people hurting, it wasn’t hard for her to find work. Obviously she was given a few side-eyes, but the healing tent could not afford to turn anyone away. As Vesta assisted the white-robed kor in their healing efforts, a figure caught her eye. Turning to focus on her as she passed by, the druid recognized her face through the bandages: a woman from their old tribe.
Vesra froze, her breath catching in her throat. She thickened the flowers that adorned her bald head, hoping they would hide any trace of the brand on her forehead. The teenager continued to watch the woman, who seemed unaware of her identity, like a hawk. The woman passed her by, heading toward the cliff side.
Not thinking, Vesra decided to follow her. The young druid ducked into an alley and shifted into a small mouse, following the kor unseen. Keeping close, she followed her through the winding tunnels, caves, and staircases built into the side of the cliff. It wasn’t long before she arrived at her final destination: a cave, packed with about thirty of so kor.
So many of those faces she recognized from your childhood, yet so many were not there. And there, off in the middle of the room, a man stands after giving aid to a fellow kor. Vesra’s heart stopped in her chest.
Her father.
The mouse scurried away as quickly as she could, getting as far away as possible before turning back into her kor form. Vesra collapsed by a tree, grabbing at the earth for support. She took gasping breaths, unable to keep the panic at bay.
Following the audience with Vielara, Ato took his leave with the others when they were so summarily dismissed. Looking up into the darkening sky, he considers what he might do for the rest of the evening. Leaning against the stone, still warm from the heat of the day, he watches as the group splits up, going their separate ways for now. Vasha and Vesra move off together, seeming to argue in low voices, fingers weaving further words in their strange, silent language. So strange - Vasha holding so much anger, Vesra always seeking to appease her somehow - a bond of blood he couldn't fully comprehend, He let them go, obviously needing time to work out something, away from the others.
Kayn and Rezivah spoke to the barbarian that had attached himself to the group by way of the kor sisters. Ato's eyes narrowed as he considered the hulking man, wondering what game he might be playing, or if his joining the group was merely happenstance. He was looking for someone, a quest for vengeance for some past slight. The mer suspected he could find the man easily enough - after all, the city, any city, was his hunting ground and surely there were people who had seen the fellow, if one knew who to ask. Ato did, but this wasn't his quest, even if the goblin and vampire went along out of curiosity, or some need for sport. He hadn't seen Rezivah feed, now that he thought of it, and had no desire to be involved with the sheer animalistic rawness of that again anytime soon.
Instead, he drifts off on his own, back towards the gates of the city with their crowds of incoming refugees. The idea of more of these eldrazi, or their spawn, roaming the lands outside the cities worried him. He needed to hear what was being said, to find out if that really could be the case. There was power and advantage to be had in the chaos, uncertainty and terror of what the world could become - he relished that opportunity - but there needed to be something leftover where that power mattered...
“Vasha,” Vesra addressed her meditating sister. “We need to talk.”
"What do you want?" Vasha replied, not opening her eyes.
“I found father,” Vesra said, cutting straight to the chase.
Vasha refused to react. "Why would you think that to be funny?"
“I went to heal people, and I saw a kor I recognized, so I followed her back to her camp as a mouse and I saw him,” Vesra gasped. “Vasha, I don’t know what to do.”
"Go tell him how much I've turned out like him," Vasha suggested, still refusing to move or open her eyes.
“Vasha, I’m sorry,” tears rolled down Vesra’s cheeks. “I was so angry, I wanted to hurt you. That wasn’t fair or kind of me, but I didn’t mean it.”
Vasha finally opened her eyes and looked coolly at her sister. "Where?"
“By the cliffs. They have a cave there,” Vesra’s eyes were red from tears. “Half the tribe is there.”
Vasha stood without a word, and began to walk toward the cliffs.
“Vasha, wait,” Vesra grabbed her sister by the arm. “What are you going to do? What are we going to do?”
Vasha pulled her arm free, and continued walking. "You're going to stay here. I'm going to kill him."
“No, I am going with you,” Vesra bit back.
"What are you going to do? Hide behind me?" Vasha mocked Vesra, still feeling hurt from the comments she had made earlier.
“I’m going to burn him,” Vesra replies darkly, the flower crown wilting away and falling off of her head to reveal the brand. “Just as he burned me.”
Vasha nodded, saying nothing more as they walked to the cliffs.
When they arrive at the entrance to the caves, Vesra snapped her fingers. Ember appeared suddenly, floating just above the top of her hand. Go back to Vielara’s and get the others, she thought to her fiery familiar. If things go bad, we’ll need backup.
You walk into the cave where your tribe resides. With Vasha being masked and Vesra burned as a little girl, it's clear no one recognizes you for who you are. A white-robed kor approaches the group. "If you're here to help the wounded, please grab some fresh bandages and herbs. I've almost ran out," she requests timidly.
Your father can be seen giving water to one of the wounded kor.
Vasha ignores the woman and yells out, "Velan Somnaho!"
Unmoving, he continues to give water to the wounded kor. A young boy, who can't be more than six years old, pops his head out from the other side of Velan's figure.
Vasha pushes past the woman and makes her way, slowly, toward her father. "You'd ignore your own daughter?" she called out to him.
You move through the wounded of the tribe as they lay sprawled out on the ground towards him. Without looking, he continues to give water. "My daughters are dead. Who are you to mock me?"
Dead to you and dead to the rest of the world are two very different things, Velan, Vesra stepped forward. We will not have your lies.
"Wishing us dead will not make it so," Vasha growled.
Vesra's voice easily catches his attention. His hand falters, dropping the flask of water as he stands, looking at the two of you. His right hand rests on the head of the young boy who clings to his father's garb. His eyes go wide in shock as he looks to Vesra and sees the face of the daughter he knew almost 10 years ago.
By this time, the entire room's occupants look at the scene curiously. "Wha..." he stammers. "What dark magic is this to bring your haunting figure here? In a form so long ago..."
"Zendikar takes and Zendikar gives," Vesra said simply. "It's funny, that you thought we were so weak that we would die as soon as we left you. We are so, so much stronger than you ever realized."
He shakes his head in disbelief. "No... this is not real. You two died. The scouts reported it long ago."
The young boy speaks up timidly. "Dad? Who are these strange people?"
Vasha remained silent, watching her father and Vesra, while a burning rage built up within her. She balled her fists, digging her nails into the palms of her hands, drawing blood.
Guess we were better at hiding than your scouts were at looking for us, Vesra signed back to him. I've been running from you for so long. I thought the ways that you broke us would define me forever. But I was wrong, and so were you.
He shakes his head. "No. No!" Pointing his finger at Vasha, he shouts, "Necromancer! How dare you defile my daughter's body and soul."
In response, Vasha removes her mask and pulls back her hood.
Speechless, his eyes go wide as he sees the face of his youngest daughter, all grown now. He moves the young boy behind him. "What did you do to your sister, Vasha," he asks coldly.
Finally getting the response she was hoping for, Vasha began to stalk close to him. "You hated us. You told us we were worthless, that we would be the death of the other. You beat me, relentlessly. If it weren't for me, you would have beat Vesra as well. I bear the scars of your punishments on my back, for all to see. You separated us, sent me to the Guild, and tattooed my sister's face. But she found me, and we've been on our own, making our own path through life, no thanks to you." Finally she was inches away from her father's face. "We did not die." She motioned back to Vesra. "What did I do? I protected Vesra the best way I knew. I loved her, when nobody else did. I was the only family she had. And I failed. I failed her, I failed everyone. Because you told me, time and time again how worthless I was. I lost people I cared about. People I..." She paused, swallowing hard, trying to keep her emotions in check. "People I loved. And now, I'm here for you. You've haunted our dreams long enough."
You hear the distinctive whistle of kor hooks buzzing through the air. Several armed kor surround the cave, their hooks at the ready. With a motion of Velan's hand, they stand down. "Revenge. That's what this is?" he asks bluntly. "You get your sister killed and bring her back as some undead abomination, still covered in burns, and drag her around for years as you search for me? That's your plan?"
“I’m not undead,” Vesra scowled. “I was chosen by Zendikar herself, and though we have lived through many difficult challenges, the earth saved me.”
"What about the boy. Do you show him "love" in the same way you showed us?" Vasha's eyes never left his face, but she knew the boy was near. "Well, little brother? You don't have to be scared of him. He's nothing." She lowered her voice. "Isn't that right?"
Velan lashes out at Vesra, "Then how do you explain looking the same as when you ran away from me, your mother, and everything you knew all of those years ago!"
The little boy speaks up, "B... brother? Dad... why do they keep saying their your daughter?"
"Not now, Vaekyr. I'll explain later." he responds softly.
"I already told you, Zendikar gives and she takes," Vesra replied before locking eyes with her brother. "Vaekyr, does he hurt you?"
Vasha quickly speaks up. "Because we are your older sisters. We were the ones who weren't good enough for father. He never wanted us, and make it very clear. I am Vasha Somnhao, this is my sister Vesra Somnhao." Turning back to Velan, she said. "We are such great disappointments, even our younger brother doesn't know our names."
Vaekyr shakes his head.
Velan seems to be at a loss for words, as if his whole world was turned upside down. "So... you two really are real and alive."
Vasha pulls the red armband from her arm and holds it Velan's face. "I guess we really are here and alive. What luck we should have to be in this place at the same time as you."
Vaekyr, Vesra addressed her younger brother. I just want to help you. Has he ever mistreated you? Physically or emotionally, I don't care.
A small smile forms on his lips as he eyes the red band. "It looks like my lessons did make you into something then, Vasha."
"Your lessons had nothing to do with this. I did this solely on my own." Vasha put the band back around her arm. "Not even the guild could teach me. Zendikar herself taught me."
Vaekyr shakes his head, signing back, "No. Mom says he's nicer now than when he used to be. At least, until she died."
"Your skulls no less thick than when I sent you off all of those years ago, it would seem." he says mockingly. Fixated on Vasha, he doesn't seem to notice Vesra and Vaekyr's conversation.
And after she died, did he stay nice?
Vaekyr sniffles. "She died a few weeks ago to some big bugs. That's why we're here."
Again, Vasha said nothing. She lifted one of her new hooks, pulled from the stone itself, and held it in front of his face. "You did nothing to help me earn this. You didn't commune with Zendikar herself and help me pull these from the stone. What you did was whip me within an inch of my life. What happened to that man? Are you afraid to beat me into submission again? Or are you just too old and weak to do it?"
He casts his eyes down to the stone, away from Vasha's face and her hook and says nothing.
I'm sorry for your loss, Vesra signed. "Vasha, we need to stop," she said softly, looking up at her sister.
"No. I want him to show me exactly how he helped us. Then I want to show him exactly what I've learned." Vasha glared at her father, still inches from him.
"I..." he begins, then pauses, his eyes still looking to the ground. "I am not the man I was then." He look to his hands as he holds them parallel to the ground. Calluses mark how heavily worn they are. He can only repeat himself again. "I am not the man I was then." You see drops of waters fall onto his callused hands.
Vasha watched as this man she'd feared her entire life cowered before her. She leaned close to him, and whispered into his ear. "You don't get to be proud of our successes. If you ever lay a finger on this boy, I will kill you."
Velan looks up at his daughter, his reddened, tear-filled eyes level with hers. "How can a father not be proud of his daughter?" His eyes drift to her red band. "Especially when she did something he never could?"
"Maybe you should have treated us like living beings, and cared for us." Vasha motioned to Vesra. "Your oldest can control the elements themselves, and speaks to Zendikar. Imagine what we both could be capable of, had we gotten the proper training. You wouldn't be living in this cave. You do not get to be proud of our accomplishments. You had no hand in any of it. We've done this all, on our own, since we were 15. I came here to kill you, but it's clear I don't have to. You're living in a greater hell than I could ever hope for." With that, she turned away from him and began to walk to the entrance. As she passed the Kor woman, she said, "Your leader is an old, weak coward."
She sternly objects, "He's not my leader. But I've seen that man do nothing but aid these people the moment they walked through our gates. He's given his rations, his time, and effort to make sure they recover. I don't know who you remember, but it's not him."
“Father, I challenge you to a Cantuun Watori,” Vesra spoke up. “For the tribe. If I win, you retire from our position as chieftain and you let us lead the tribe to safety.”
Vasha froze, eyes wide. She turned, slowly, to watch her sister, but said nothing.
He sighs. "So much has changed since you left. I am no longer chieftain."
"Vesra, isn't it obvious?" Vasha called out, a smirk on her lips. "This man is too weak and cowardly to lead the tribe."
“What happened?” Vesra asked, ignoring her sister.
"Your deaths, at least perceived, taught me much and broke me to the core. I was no longer fit to rule the tribe, and so I passed on that right to another, more able-bodied man. You might remember him," Velan continued. "His name was Kimwhe. Kimwhe died during a recent assault on our clan by large insects. He died protecting us. I brought our tribe here for safety, but I will not assume that mantleship again." He looks to his son. "Other things are more important to me now."
Seeing the affection Velan showed the boy, Vasha pulled the mask over her face again, and covered her head. It was like a stab to the heart, after all the years of abuse she'd endured. She turned away once again and left the cave. Once outside, she released a strangled cry and slammed her fist into a rock.
“My goal is to make sure Vaekyr and the tribe are well taken care of,” Vesra furrowed her brow. “The fact that you’ve grown... I’m not sure what to think. I don’t want you to hurt anyone like you hurt us ever again.”
"Ten years is a long time, Vesra." he pleads. "I am not the man I was. I will take our clan to one of the neighboring clans and beg for admittance and protection. While we might be absorbed, we will endure."
As Vasha waited outside the cave, her mind wandered back to the injured Kor inside. Their wounds appeared to be identical to those she suffered inside the hedron. "These people are doomed," she said to herself, knowing something needed to be done.
Vesra clenched her fists. "I am done with you father," she said in even tones. "But I am not done with Vaekyr and the rest of our people. I see your wounds; I know what they are from. I am terrified if we leave you here alone, you will all be destroyed. And despite my own personal feelings for you, father, I'm not going to let that happen."
He nods his head. "Then stay. Perhaps.... in time, you can see how I've changed."
“I can’t. Vasha and I have found our own way, and we have new responsibilities we must attend to. But we will help you find a safe place.”
He looks around to his clan. Many of them are clearly still wounded, despite the efforts given in the past day or two. "Let's talk tomorrow, Vesra. There is still much for me to do here." He pauses and adds after a moment of silence. "But... I'm glad you two are alive. Despite our past. Kamsa has brought our family together after many years."
Casting healing spirit, Vesra conjures a spirit animal bathed in a soft white light. The spirit slowly makes its rounds to those afflicted, shedding its healing light as it offers relief from their suffering. Velan watches in silence as the spirit moves from one wounded kor to another, bewildered by Vesra's gift. While the spirit could only reach a dozen or so wounded, the spell certainly helped the white-robed kor in their efforts.
Vesra then conjures ten goodberries and hands them to Vaekyr. “Feed those to the wounded,” she whispered before turning and leaving to catch up to Vasha.
Vaekyr nods his head, albeit a bit confused. As you rush off to catch up with Vasha, you hear him shout out, "Thanks!"
Jerrock notices Vasha and Vesra return. He is still carrying the dead barbarian over one shoulder and holding the man's axe in the other. "Greetings. I apologize for my slight earlier. I did not mean to give offense." He tosses the man and his possessions onto the floor. "I had planned to give him a proper burial, but Kayn felt we might need proof of...whatever those white wounds are."
"They're coming," Kayn says simply. "This Fort will soon fall."
Vasha ignores Jerrock, looking at the dead body. Same as those in the cave. Those same wounds she suffered in the hedron. "The people here are going to die," she said, solemnly, then moved away from the group to meditate.
"We killed the ones that left our hedron hadn't we? More have spawned from elsewhere?" Asks Rezzie.
“We’d be fools to think the only emcayi ever to exist were in that hedron.” Vesra responds.
Kayn nods, "So it seems." As if debating something to himself, which he does regularly, he adds, "We could cut the head off the snake, but that will not save this fort."
“What do you mean by cut the head off the snake?” Vesra asks.
"The source, if there is one. We find it." Rezzie says simply.
"We can kill the one that is spawning them in this area," Kayn offers. "If it is like the other, it is trapped, still, in a Hedron. If it is not trapped, it will be harder to find."
“I refuse to let this city die and call it collateral,” Vesra replied. “There has to be a way to save them and find the source.”
Kayn looks down at the body. "It is like a parasite, I think. I've dissected animals in the past... one a rat that was trying to get itself killed by the cats our tribe handled. It was odd behavior and I wanted to examine it to find out why. There was another creature living inside of it, driving it to act that way." Kayn pulls a dagger from his sheath. "Curious," he says, kneeling down at the body. Dagger in hand, Kayn starts stripping the man of his clothing and inspecting the wounds. The goblin finds the largest, most infected wound, and starts digging the dagger into the corpse in an attempt to remove the flesh. Hands covered in blood, Kayn looks up at Vesra and asks, "Can you give me a hand?"
"Of course," Vesra kneels down beside him.
Despite Kayn's honest intent, it's evident that even with Vesra's help, he has no clue what he's doing. What started out as precise cuts turned into a mess of slices, flayed flesh, and gleeful laughing as Kayn's actions reminded those in the group of a toddler playing with his food. After a few minutes, the barbarian's arm if completely flayed open, with ribbons of diseased and whole flesh and white, chalky powder littering the ground.
Jerrock interjects. "I am new to your band and do not understand what is going on. I have slain my quarry but his words were troubling. Still, he died with honor. Is it necessary to desecrate his corpse?"
"Hmmm," Kayn muses at the remains of the arm. "Maybe the organs..." He lifts his dagger to slice into the man's chest. Plunging his dagger into the chest, a spray of mercury-like silver liquid jets out across his face. Kayn stumbles backward, dropping his dagger as he scrambles away. "Emcayi...." He starts to wash his face and headplate with the dirt around him. Once he's satisfied that his face is 'clean', he looks to the others. "The wounded refugees..." He lets the implication hang in the air.
Jerrock is going to search through the Shanshi's belongings to see if there is any clue as to what might be going on since nobody is talking to him... He announces his finding to the room, though it seems like nobody is listening. "This man has far too little on him. He clearly did not expect to live much longer. A few coins. A day of food. A sip of scotch. Either he came here to die or he came here to spread. Or perhaps to gather information for...whatever it is you are worried about?"
Came to spread? Rezzie thinks. "Other than becoming infected by the emcayi, why would he have some other connection to them?"
"I don't know, but before he died, he said something about death and rebirth and serving his Queen for 10 years. His tribe does not have a queen. He also said 'she is coming'." Jerrock replies.
Kayn nods at all of this, rubbing the dirt all over his bloody claws. "Yes, that makes sense." He stands and adds, "We should tell Vielara, I think. She seems more interested in these creatures than any. She may have information."
"I'm glad it makes sense to you. Can you stop the dissection and explain it to me? I am happy to fight by your side, but I would like to know what I am fighting." Jerrock says.
"The ancient ones," Kayn replies. "The Emcayi... they are waking from their slumber it seems. Someone has opened their prison, and unlike us, failed to cleanse it. She..." Kayn thinks for a moment, "She is likely the titan that has released her brood upon Akoum." He gestures for everyone to follow as they make their way to Vielara's chambers.
"Everyone here is going to die," Vasha said from her corner, standing to follow.
The group follows the tunnels and stairways which lead to the room where they met Vielara. Arriving at the doorway to the room, they see Vielara absent, with only a servant and a white-robed kor. The kor sits down on a chair, whereas the servant is busily cleaning from what looks like an evening of frivolous partying amongst vampires. Kayn meanders up to the Kor and looks him up and down. After sniffing the air a few times, he finally says, "We need to speak to Vielara. Do you know where she is?" The kor looks up at Kayn from resting on the velvet chair as the goblin meanders over to him. He seems well-built, though shorter than most kor. His hands are heavily worn and callused from hard labor, and his long, platinum blond hair is thrown into a loose bun behind his head. Thank you, Kayn signs. He then turns to the servant and repeats his question.
The servant, a male human adolescent, responds with a shaky voice, "She's meeting with someone. She'll... be back soon."
The kor furrows his brow, clapping his hand to grab Kayn's attention. Signing, he says, "He told me that an hour ago."
"This is too important to wait," Kayn says stepping closer to the servant. "Her life may be in danger. Where is she?" Kayn's voice holds an urgency that refuses to allow any argument. (Nat 20 persuasion)
While your tone is sharp, your words floe like water to a thirsty man's cracked lips. The servant, visibly traumatised from something, responds, "She is in danger. She was taken by a group of vampires through some magical circle." The servant points to the partially ruined silver circle in the corner of the cave. "They stepped through with her and then there was a bright light and they were gone. If I spoke Vampire, I could help more..." He adds, "But they had a look on their face... Like when they crave blood, they get that crazed look in their eyes as they grow bloodshot... but this was a little different. I.... I don't know. Her quarters are down that passageway if you want to look there. Her nulls are there though."
"Different, how?" Vasha asked, impatiently. She had intended on speaking with Vielara privately, and now those plans were being thrown out.
Kayn walks past the servant, dismissing any of his further words. "Who ruined the teleportation circle?" He asks. "Did you touch it!?" He kneels down to inspect the circle. (15 arcana)
The white-robed kor sighs, picking himself up from the chair. "It seems we -won't- be getting our supplies," He frustratingly signs as he leaves the room.
The servant nods his head. "I... I thought maybe if I broke it or something they'd have to come back."
Looking over the circle, Kayn ispretty certain it is what he'd expected: a teleportation circle. He'd seen it before at Lilliana's in the basement, though the symbols etched into the circle don't match hers.
"I... I don't know. Just... different." He repeats himself. The servant continues to clean, clearly nervous, and you suspect the cleaning is moreso out of habit and a way to try and keep himself calm.
Rezivah's face contorts in rage. "How do you mean she was taken?! How did it happen?!"
Seeing Rezivah's rage-filled face send him into a panic as his eyes go wide, his breathing quickens and his head jolts straight down, looking at the floor paralyzed.
Kayn sighs as he inspects the circle. "She won't be coming back through here, thanks to the servant. Once you ruin the circle, it's unusable... we're on our own." He stands and looks in the direction of Vielara's chambers.
"You will tell me what transpired, servant." An electric hip surged from her and and crackled and coils to the ground. (13 intimidation)
The servant, clearly terrified, can barely get the words out. "They... came... as friends." He squeaks, "Then they got... angrier... and took her."
"Lets see what Vielara got herself into," Kayn says, gesturing to her chambers.
Vielara's personal chamber, if the servant is to be believed, is just down a short passageway. Heading down the passageway and rounding a corner, you see a doorway, veiled by silk tapestry, with each of her null guards stationed on either side.
As they get closer to the Nulls, Kayn offers, "We can distract them with a fresh corpse, maybe?"
"Perhaps. Though only wild nulls blindly attack like savage animals," Rezivah started. "An owned null will obey the last order of its master, and will attack if only to defend itself."
“I can get in,” Vesra whispered. “Just let me though.”
"Perhaps you should go talk to them," Vasha suggested to Rezivah, still irritated.
"I will not be able to dissuade them by any means, but.. we don't know what kind of order Vielara gave them before leaving." She looks to the nulls. "Are any one of us allowed passage?"
They continue to stare forward, their faces heavily obscured by their helmets, giving no sign of a response. Kayn pokes one. As he moves forward towards it, the null steps to the side, bringing the veil with it and showing the room to the party.
Looking at the others and shrugging, Kayn enters. "How'd you know to poke it?" He whispers.
Entering the small cave, they find it ornate and decorated. A large bed lies on the other side, covered in red and black silks with spider webbing. A small table rests on the side, with scattered paper, a quill, and ink. A large bronze chest rests at the foot of the bed.
Kayn walks over to the table and gives it a cursory glance before inspecting it further. "Rezzie... I don't know your language," he says, assuming that most of the script is in Vampiric.
"Rezivah, dear Kayne," she corrects as she moves over to the desk, going through any documents. She frowns as she quickly realizes she can't read it. "This isn't Vampiric script. I cannot read it... Wait." After a few more glances, however, she recognizes why she hadn't been able to read it before. The symbols were all in the script of demons, but their use and placement was all wrong. "I need some sort of Codex for this. I can't presently understand this writing."
"I don't think we have time for that," Kayn comments. "But if this place is going to fall to the Emcayi then perhaps we should take it all with us. We do not know when she will be back."
"Or if she'll be back," Vasha mumbled.
"Yes. Vielara allowed us entry without harm for a reason. There is something here she wants us to have or know," Rezivah points out.
The party scours through everything and everywhere they can open... which is everything but the chest at the foot of her bed. It appears to be locked. There is no codex.
"There's nothing here." Vasha points at the chest. "Anyone check that?"
Ato approaches the chest, pulling out his tools of the trade to see what luck Cosi will grant him. Despite his best efforts, the chest won't open. He shakes his head, "Cosi does not will it, and my talents can't get it open."
Kayn approaches, hand out. "I will do it..." Ato raises an eyebrow, but steps aside to allow the goblin access. Kayn checks the chest itself for any abnormalities before attempting the lock with Ato's tools. He then twirls Ato's tool in his hand and takes to the lock. After hearing a snap!, Kayn breaks one of the lockpicks. Ato curses in Merfolk under his breath as he hastily takes his tools back. "You need stronger tools," Kayn comments, standing. "I can blow it open," he offers. A small flame begins playing across the goblin's claws.
"I could smash it just as easily, if you like," states the barbarian.
With a heave and a ho, but the lock doesn't break off. Kayn shakes his head. "Let me do it..." He waves the giant barbarian away. Pulling his bloody dagger out, he slams the hilt into the lock with all his strength. Confused, he shakes his head. "It is a very strong lock," he says. "Blow it up?"
Kayn gestures, his claws forming the arcane motions he has practiced for so long. A tiny gemstone is seen between his fingers, shiny and splendid in the torchlight. Once he's done, a small orb of acid hovers between his hands. He aims, then carefully fires it forward into the lock. With a torrent of arcane energy, he blasts away the lock, disintegrating it.... and part of the chest, as the acid eats away at nearly everything it touches. "See? Easy peasy." Kayn grins.
Opening the chest to look inside, Kayn notices that it's empty... save for a crystal ball, about 8 inches in diameter, that rests on top of an ornate metallic display.
"Ooooh..." Kayn lifts the crystal ball and peers inside. The crystal ball is impressively smooth... immaculately so. Its translucent appearance warps light as it passes through, distorting the surroundings of anyone that peers through it. Kayn sets it on the desk next to Rezzie. "You know how to use these?" He asks.
"No, Kayn. I have witnessed Vielara look intently into it, but I do not know the proper way."
Kayn unslings his pack and carefully places it inside. "I will learn the properties with time," he says. He then starts to collect all of the documents that litter the desk. "We need to decide what we want to do. Warn these people, who all know there's something out there, search for the Emcayi ourselves, or leave back to Affa."
"Can these people be saved?" Jerrock speaks up. "I am not one to run from a fight, but I am also not one to spend my life senselessly."
"I was saved," Vasha said, offering up little other information.
"Then we fight."
"There's an entire cave of Kor who are affected with the white wounds," Vasha said.
Kayn looks over at Vasha, then over at Vesra. “Do you know them?” He asks.
"Yes."
“I guess we fight then...” He says with a sigh.
"How were you saved? Can we do the same for them?"
"Magic cured me," Vasha said, moving to the doorway. "The people in that cave are doomed and will die." With that, she left the room.
"Kayn, do we have to worry when they die? Do we burn the bodies or just bury them?"
“They will turn to ash on their own... but their minds will not be their own,” he says, following Vasha out.
"Should we put them out of their misery while they are still themselves? Was the Shanshi I killed not truly himself?"
"Perhaps, and perhaps." The goblin responds. "Are we ever truly ourselves?"
Rezivah reflected on the goblin's words. Was she in her current state Rezivah? Or was it the blood hungry beast? Or was it the fealty to some ancient doctrine the elders spoke of?" What is our goal, to simply survive? To save others? Or to find an end to the emcayi?" She looked inside herself, but only found logic. "I wish to survive. But as a vampire, I cannot do so alone. So I must save others."
"Remember the things we saw in the hedron," Vasha said over her shoulder. "Do you think anyone will be safe if those things are loose?"
"No, but I will not presume to know that we will be able to truely defeat these aberrations. They were eradicated. They were sealed. Reflect on that." Rezivah didn't mean to talk down to anyone. She was uncertain of too much and wished to only be certain of her own life.
"But we did," Kayn responds to the sorcerer. "We cleansed something that could not be cleansed thousands of years ago. Perhaps their power in that time has faded, and if not acted upon quickly they will rise in power again."
"We need to find a way to cure them. All of them," Vesra said from the middle of the group. "We can't just kill them." Vasha growled at this, but said nothing, moving toward their quarters at a quick pace.
Kayn looks over to the large barbarian as they walk the halls, "How long have you and Vasha known each other? It is strange that she always finds the largest humans to mate with."
"Mate?" Jerrock says. "I seem to offend her at every turn. That possibility seems unlikely at best."
Kayn looks over a Vesra and signs an accusatory, Liar!!
I was being mean, Vesra signed back, with a frown.
"What is this sign language you all keep using? I am trying not to be offended, but it is a bit rude."
Vesra sighed. "It's the language of my people. It's my native language."
"Often times the Kor need to communicate through the roil and voice does not travel as one would expect. They have adopted these gestures to communicate. Saying you are offended by their language could very well be considered offensive in itself." One of Kayn's spectral tendrils attempts to sign, but it's undecipherable. "Some Kor live their whole lifetime never learning the common tongue."
"Im certain the trivialty of this man being Vasha's mate can wait. Were we saving those kor or not?" Rezivah questions pointedly.
Vasha, well ahead of the group, goes back to the quarters, sits in her corner again, and continues her meditation.
By the time the group returns to their quarters, night surely must've fallen, despite them being within tunnels and caverns the past hour or two.
"We should set a watch," Kayn suggests. He flicks his claws and Sear appears in his hand. With a smile, he launches the albino bat up to the ceiling.
Vasha moved to the entrance of their sleeping quarters. "I will take watch," she said, sitting square in the entrance, back to her companions.
Jerrock sets up his bedroll in a corner. "Wake me when you tire. I will take a turn as well."
With Vasha keeping watch throughout the night, the group finishes up their personal items of business and goes to sleep. After a long day of travel, conversation, and strange revelations and circumstances, sleep's embrace is welcomed by the group as they sleep on makeshift cots in the warm cave. The night passes by seemingly uneventful for the party as the doze off and dream.
Early in the morning, the group is slowly awakened by the sound of a bell ringing from the main fort -- its noise echoing down the tunnels as it reaches your cave.
Vasha stood, eyes darting around the room. Once she ensured everyone was safe, she began to look at her arms and legs, finally reaching up to her mask. She released a sigh, and closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts. After a moment, she spoke up. "We should check out that bell."
Kayn stumbles off his cot at the bell and looks up at Sear. With a gesture, he sends the familiar outside, stumbling backwards and sitting on his bed. After just a few moments, Kayn waves his hand again to dismiss his familiar. "They're not in here yet, so that is good," he says. He begins to gather his things. The sound of a barrage of footsteps can be heard echoing down the tunnel, growing louder before growing fainter.
Vasha pulls her hooks out. "Prepare yourselves," she calls out.
Rezivah wakes, feeling much better than the previous day, thanks to the frightened servant. It seems the others are spurning awake, and footfalls can be heard from the entryway. She stands firm, holding her slotted dagger behind her thigh. The footstep's sounds continue to grow fainter as they head away from the group.
Vasha sneaks out of the room and into the hallway. Screaming echoes down the hall and Kayn flips his cot over in preparation for something bursting through the door. "Get ready," he says.
Ato claws his way from sleep to wakefulness, shaken to the core by his dreams. He looks around the room in a near panic, heart racing and breath harsh in his chest. He will himself calm, and tries to focus on the now. The bells. "Is the fort under attack?" He wonders aloud. At the screams, he takes up his broad spear. "What did you mean, they aren't in here yet? What's happening out there?" At Kayn's warning, Ato moves to one side of the entryway, ready to attack if anyone other than Vasha comes through.
Vasha rushes in. "We need to go. Now," she says, hurried. "I don't know what happened, but there are bodies burning."She gripped her hooks, knuckles white, eyes falling upon each of her companions.
Jerrock grabs his meager possessions and unslings his great sword. He steels himself for action and prepares to follow Vasha, who seems to know what is going on.
Ato tenses as the footsteps approach, but relaxes as it's Vasha who rushes in. "Burning bodies? What in the hells happened out there? Alright then, where do you suggest we go? Just try to get out of the fort and see what's happening beyond the walls?"
"I don't think we need to leave the fort to discover what's happening." Vasha fidgeted, impatient with her companion's slowness. "Whatever it is, it is here. Let's go!"
Following Vasha's lead, the group moves through the winding maze of tunnels, caves, and stairwells. As they continue to move forward, the sound of screaming becomes more audible, indicating they're getting closer. A minute or two passes and they find themselves just down the hallway to the mouth of the tunnel. Light pours in through the entrance to the rest of Fort Keff, and the distinct smell of burning flesh can be noted by all.
Kayn summons Sear once more, allowing the bat to rest on top of his pack.
This time, Vasha will venture to the entrance, and look out, hoping to not draw any unwanted attention.
Jerrock will quietly walk up as well and see what he can see as well.
Reaching the entrance, you peer out into the outside world. The heavy, metallic taste of blood fills your mouth as you breathe in a heavy, mustard yellow cloud of dust which blankets everything, obscuring your vision to only 10 feet. Visions of burning corpses flicker like torchlight across your mind. Multiple sources of screaming can be heard coming from within the cloud of dust, as well as the distinct sound of metal rending flesh.
"I've seen this," Vasha mumbled, shocked."My... my vision. It wasn't...." She let the thought linger. She now realized her vision from the hedron wasn't the past. She had seen what was to come.
Jerrock whispers to Vasha, "Do we go in search of the slaughter? Or wait for it to come to us?"
Vasha diverts her attention to the sky. Looking up, all you can see is this yellow haze across the sky. You hear the sound of coughing, followed by the faint prayer of a young boy to your left within the cloud. "Iona... please save me and my daddy."
Ato follows as well, drawn to the chaos of whatever is happening outside. Joining the pair at the entrance, he takes in the sight of the world blanketed in yellow. "This is beyond what we faced in the hedron. If more of those creatures got free..." His voice tapers off as he stares out into the haze.
Continuing to listen, you can make out a whole host of different noises. The unearthly sound of chittering and droning can be heard through the cloud, echoing across the cliff faces. There are though who continue to scream and wail. To your left, you hear the boy continuing to pray to Iona, but it is cut short and replaced by the sound of gurgling blood. A light thud is heard hitting the dirt floor, followed by the otherworldly shriek of some bizarre aberration. An older gruff voice cries out in vain as the sound of something thin slicing through the air accompanies him.
Kayn takes a look through Sear's 'eyes'. Sear's echolocation gives you markedly improved vision. The dust particles obscure some of that, but looking to your left, you can see the dead body of a young boy, with a small emcayi perched on top of him. An older man, equipped with nothing but a sword, swings viciously at it. "It would be best to take a stand inside," Kayn says, returning to reality after peering into the scene with his familiar's eyes.
Vasha stepped out, into the cloud, straining her hardest to see through to the sky. "It's coming," she whispered.
Vesra speaks an incantation as she steps out just past the mouth. Holding her hands outstretched to the left, she conjures a compact funnel of wind and blasts it towards the direction of the otherworldly shriek. The cloud of dust quickly disperses as the wind blows through, revealing a grisly sight: the body of a young boy, quickly bleeding out, lies on the ground as a small creature, composed of a mass of writhing crimson and blue tentacles, lashes out at an old man who swings helplessly at it. Just to the right of that, you see the corpse of a woman. Her chest is flayed open, as if something exploded within her and the force blew outward, ripping through her chest cavity.
Kayn waves his wand quickly, aiming at the monstrosity in an attempt to divert its attention. Summoning a bolt of fire in his clawed hand, Kayn lets loose the torrent of heat as it blasts into the side of the creature, knocking it off balance and off the bleeding child as its tentacle swings wide and misses the old man. (23 to hit, 8 damage)
Jerrock charges forward with his massive weapon and cleaves the creature in two.
As soon as the wind dissipates the nearby dust cloud, Vesra rushes in right behind Jerrock in hopes of saving the boy. Her hands glowing with white mana, her momentum carries her across the dirt as she slides, placing her hands on the boy's head and sending healing energy throughout his body. With the creature devastated by Jerrock's blade, the old man collapses to the ground in tears, equally devastated. Moments pass, feeling like an eternity, but Vesra can see color coming back to the boy's cheeks as a pulse returns. Shallow at first, his breathing grows deeper and deeper as the seconds turn into a minute. At least there was one happy ending amidst the chaos of the situation.
Ato stays in the tunnel entrance as the other two rush out, intent on trying to save the child. Foolish, he thinks, to risk themselves. It's not likely he'll survive much longer anyway. Alert for any sign of danger coming out of the most, he holds his ground, guarding those who've stayed behind him.
The man, seeing life return to his soon, quickly swoops in, dropping the sword and scoops his son into his arms. He looks back at the woman with a flayed-open chest, a look of horror and despair on his face. Seeing the loss and pain, Vesra attempts to distract him. "Let's come inside the tunnel. It's safe in there." He nods his head slowly and goes inside with his son in his arms behind Ato.
The group keeps to the mouth of the tunnel, huddled inside for protection against the yellow dust and as a defensible location should they be bombarded by enemies. A minute passes as the cries and the sound of battle passes. A second minute passes and the group notices that the sounds are beginning to die down... and that the cloud is starting to disperse as well. Within another minute, the cloud of yellow dust disperses, coating the ground and nearby surroundings in yellow. The sky up above shines a radiant blue... perhaps the only pleasant sight during the whole situation.
Casting their eyes down, the group gets a better understanding of their nearby surroundings. With the cloud dispersed now and the immediate battle ended, the group sees the flayed-chested woman and a large streak of blood going from her corpse to where the crimson and blue emcayi now lies dead.
The old man and his son, seeing the cloud disappear, rush towards the corpse of the woman with tears in their eyes as they hold onto each other. The man hugs his son as they try to process everything that has happened.
Vasha, seeing the sky clear, looks around the area a moment. Without a word, she then starts walking toward the caves where the Kor were finding shelter.
Seeing that Vasha is not returning, Jerrock jogs out after her, careful to avoid the smoke.
Kayn follows behind, Sear keeping watch from its perch on his pack. "Yellow..." he comments. "That's new."
Despite her fear of this unknown, Rezivah wasn't going to remain in this cave forever. Following the rest of the party, she wondered about Vasha's words, how she saw this happening before it came to be. She wondered if what she saw would come to life as well.
As the group follows behind Vasha and her silent wandering, shouting atop the northern wall can be heard amongst the guards. Quick to follow, the bell starts to ring, and those with more sensitive ears can hear the faint sound of droning and wailing coming from beyond the wall. A large man, equipped in exotic, gilded armor with long, dark hair, rushes past the group on their right as he winds his way through the canopy of yellowed tents and wagons. His voice, near magical, booms throughout the fort. "Archers! On me! To the northern wall!"
Kayn stops following Vasha, instead assuming a position over at the Northern Wall with the archers and the mysterious character. The goblin looks out from atop the wall, trying to get a glimpse of what's coming.
Vasha checks the sky again, then joins Kayn at the wall.
The two of you make your way towards the northern wall, winding through tents and other encampments. More corpses with chests flayed open lay on the ground with blood streaks leading from them to a dead emcayi... like a canvas painted with crimson and yellow by some demonic force. The wailing slowly grows louder as you get closer to the wall. Moving up one of the side staircases, you can hear the distinct twang! of bowstrings as they let loose a volley of arrows. Reaching the top of the wall, you peer north from atop the wooden palisades.
It might've been a pretty sight on a different day: the bottom of this ravine continues for about a quarter mile until the sand-covered bottom wraps around the red stone of this mountain pass and out of sight. Instead, you see a wave of bone-white creatures, their appearances eerily familiar to some of the local fauna found on Akoum, convulsing with blue, purple, and crimson tentacles and appendages. Some of them look like an amalgamation of several creatures warped and twisted together into some unknowable horror. Their drones and wailing echo across the red stone faces of the mountain, reverberating within your ears. The sound is otherworldly and horrifying as their screeches seem to mentally dig into your mind and souls.
And yet, looking past them, past this wave of over hundred emcayi spawn, the ground behind them is a grotesque visage. Swathes of flesh, rot, and decay coat the ground behind them... no... the ground behind them is swathes of rotten flesh, stretching down the quarter mile of ground and around the bend of the mountain. You reckon you only have seconds before this wave of emcayi crashes into the wall of Fort Keff.
Kayn casts mage armor upon himself and looks over to Vasha, saying, "Easy peasy, right?"
"What worries me are the Kor within the walls who are infected," Vasha replied. "What good would it do us to help here, if the enemy is already inside?"
Seeing Kayn cast a protective spell, Rezivah joins her comrades on the wall, and instantly regrets it. She choked on her own throat, casting the same spell. Why am I here?
"Go check on them," Kayn responds. "I'll be of more use here."
"There could be danger," Vasha said, frowning out at the sight below the wall. "I'd rather we all stick together."
By this point, the first volley of arrows impact into the wave, though they seem to have little effect. Like a hot knife dropped through butter, they soar through the foe, but that seems to be it. The figure in gilded armor grimaces as he looks around at the fort's options.
Overhearing Kayn's suggestion, he nods his head in approval. "I agree with the goblin. It's suicide to go down there, so if you don't have any ranged weapons, it's best to gather the survivors and get them to safety. I know of an underground river within the fort that leads south and away from here. Take them there and travel to the sea."
Vasha regarded the man in the gilded armor. "What I'm saying is that they might not be survivors. There is a cave of Kor refugees, many of them infected with that," she said as she pointed out at the creatures on the other side of the wall. "If that's the case, we're about to be overrun again. It could be a cave of death, and walking into it would be suicide."
Another volley of arrows, this one less angled, soars into the air. "Not all the wounded are infected," he says quickly. "Hold onto something!" he orders.
The wave of emcayi, coupled with their wailing and droning, crash into the wall, causing it to sway and shake under the force. You struggle to keep your footing amidst the chaos, but manage to hold on and not fall over or worse... off. A guard screams from one of the towers as his body flips over the barricade and down the wall into the mass of otherworldly flesh below. He is quickly silenced as they tear into him, causing the gilded figure to grimace.
Vasha placed a hand on Kayn's shoulder. "Stay alive," she said softly. Then she turned to the rest of the group, looking at them, one by one. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but found no words. She was trying to play leader, and she knew she was failing at it. Why do I even try? she thought to herself. Closing her mouth, she silently moved in the direction of the cave, allowing her companions to make their own decisions.
Ato had followed Vasha out into the Fort, into the yellow dust, all that remained of the initial assault. Walking the streets, he'd looked impassively on at the death littering the streets. So much chaos, he thought. Does Cosi himself play some role in this? When the tolling of the bells began, he had joined the others on the wall, watching in horror at the wave of emcayi that approached, wondering if it was his death he was observing. When the archer spoke of the underground river as a path to escape and buy more time, he nodeed. Vasha, as was typical, seemed to see little hope, but from what she had said, not everyone was infected by the taint. There were those who could be saved. And those who died, who turned? They could be slain again. That they had seen. "I will go with Vasha," he stated. "We can try to save some of these people, even if it only prolongs the inevitable." Turning to the kor monk, he added "Have some faith, in whatever gods your people follow. Not all here today can be doomed to die. A cleansing may be coming, I don't know, but it can't be the end. What purpose is served by building all this only to destroy it again?"
Jerrock pulled out his great sword and followed Vasha. He was useless on the wall. At least in the cave he might do some good.
While the battle rages on outside, the rest of the group follows Vasha through the winding tunnels towards the cave of her people... of her father. Arriving at the mouth, the sound of crying echoes down the tunnel. Peering into the cave, you can see the obvious signs of battle. Several bodies, with chests flayed open, lie on the ground, covered in blood. Corpses abound as well, and you can see them being gathered up and moved to one of the walls. Your father, Velan, is being bandaged up by one of the white-robed kor, his hands firmly clenched to a pair of kor hooks as his eyes dart around the room. They lock eyes with Vasha's, and the group can see the tears and confusion well up as he sits their speechless.
Vasha walks forward, slowly, hooks at the ready. Approaching Velan, she says, "What happened here?" Her eyes scan the room, looking for enemies, but more interested in those with the chalky wounds. Looking around, she saw that many of those with chalky wounds lie dead... some due to emcayi bursting from their chests, though most were killed in the slaughter following, unable to defend themselves. And yet some still lie huddled around the cavern wall, carrying makeshift weapons in any effort to defend themselves. Velan looks up to Vasha from sitting on the ground with a heavy heart. "They started complaining of pain... excruciating pain in their chest. Our healers tried to help, but nothing seemed to work. Their cries of pain were cut short by a...." His face goes blank as he stares out into the open. "Vasha... I've never heard such a shriek. No creature I've encountered has made such a noise. It seemed to rattle within my mind." He takes a deep breath and finishes, "These.. things... these demons... they started bursting out of some of the wounded. Tentacles... claws... they immediately assaulted us."
Vasha scanned the room. "The wounded, everyone with the white chalky wounds, they are all dead?"
Velan shakes his head. "No, a few are still alive. Our healers can't seen to cure whatever that chalk is. It resists both herb and magic we've used."
Vasha's eyes narrowed. "We have to destroy them," she said, over her shoulder to those that followed her.
In the caves, Ato takes in the scene of the slaughter. Nodding as the man explains what happened, even the stoic mer is surprised at Vasha' s cold response. He closes his eyes, knowing that she is right. As hard an act as that may be, their deaths can be made swift and painless, ultimately saving many more lives. "I can do it, so that you don't have to," he offers in an even voice. "As easily as possible for them." He looks to Velan for his response.
Jerrock suggests, “Do you have herbs that can put them to sleep? Though this death is a mercy, they should not have to see their own end coming.”
"Do not mistake my suggestion as a mercy," Vasha said coldly. "There are people laying slaughtered in the streets, because of the wounded you thought to bring here. If those still alive are allowed to remain, more will die." She gave Velan a hard look. "A real leader would know this."
Velan rises unsteadily to his feet. "Yes, Vasha. It is a last resort, but you are right. I pray to Kamsa they will understand."
"And a real leader wouldn't just kill their own people," Vesra spat angrily at her sister's coldness. "I cured you, I can cure these people, as well." She quickly turned away, and made her way to where the wounded lay, weaving her healing magic.
Vasha looked away, ashamed. She knew she had let her personal feelings get in the way of what she knew to be right. Then something occurred to her. "Where's the boy?" she asked Velan, looking for the little brother she'd only discovered earlier that day. Searching around the room, Vasha looked for her half-brother. She spotted him along the wall, slowly backing away from one of the wounded. She searched the wounded's faces, only to find a mix of fear, confusion, and understanding amongst them. They easily overheard the conversation as their lives were bartered and balanced.
Vasha sighed and made her way over to Vaekyr. "Hey," she said, standing awkwardly over him for a moment, before crouching down to look him in the face. She pulled off the mask, so her face was visible. "You okay?"
His hands shake steadily and uncontrollably, as much as he tries to get it to stop. Vasha realized this four-year old just witnessed those he grew up with explode, releasing monstrosities that killed others he knew... and something like this also had only happened days before. It's clear he's traumatized for the ordeal. "Are... are they gonna let monsters out too?" he asks as he his right hand moves towards a sheathed dagger at his waist.
"No," Vasha said, putting a hand on his right arm. "Vesra... your sister... will cure them." She turned the boy so he was facing her. "Just like she cured me." Holding out her arms, she pointed to the faintly visible scars. "I used to be like them. She's going to cure everyone, and we are going to get you all to safety. I promise."
He looks down at himself, feeling his chest. "Can I be cured?"
Vasha looks at him confused. "Show me."
He lifts up his shirt, and you see smooth, alabaster skin above young muscles.
"You're going to be fine," Vasha said softly, pulling Vaekyr into a hug. She drew upon the reserve of mana she felt deep within her, dumping the healing power into the boy. A soft glow surrounded them both for a moment, then dissipated. Pulling away, Vasha smiled at him. "See? All better."
He smiles. "Thanks, Vashie. I think I do feel better." Vasha looks down at his hands and notices that they no longer tremble like they did. Even if it was all psychological, she knows that it helped calm him down.
Vasha takes Vaekyr by the hand and leads him back to Valen. She looks him over a moment before speaking. "Are you well enough to travel? We need to get the survivors to safety." She paused a moment, scowling. "You included."
Vesra makes her way to each of the wounded, gathering white mana to heal their wounds and cleanse them from the chalky disease which afflicts them. Stopping to meditate occasionally and draw more mana into herself, within a few minutes, the rest of the wounded are cured, bearing faces flooded with relief and gratitude. "You've saved us." "We are forever in your debt, daughter of the Somnaho." They whisper and sign phrases like these to Vesra, casting cold, though ultimately understanding glances, to Vasha. Vaekyr grabs Vasha's hand, squeezing it for comfort as the group and these refugees make their way out of the cavern and into the main fort.
Kayn fires off volley after volley of Fire Bolts at the army of creatures as they charge and hit the wall. "Go!" Kayn calls out. "We'll hold them back as much as we can!" His spectral tendrils are waving in the air as he says this.
Vasha placed a hand on Kayn's shoulder. "Stay alive," she said softly. Then she turned to the rest of the group, looking at them, one by one. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but found no words. She was trying to play leader, and she knew she was failing at it. Why do I even try? she thought to herself. Closing her mouth, she silently moved in the direction of the cave, allowing her companions to make their own decisions.
Ato had followed Vasha out into the Fort, into the yellow dust, all that remained of the initial assault. Walking the streets, he'd looked impassively on at the death littering the streets. So much chaos, he thought. Does Cosi himself play some role in this? When the tolling of the bells began, he had joined the others on the wall, watching in horror at the wave of emcayi that approached, wondering if it was his death he was observing. When the archer spoke of the underground river as a path to escape and buy more time, he nodeed. Vasha, as was typical, seemed to see little hope, but from what she had said, not everyone was infected by the taint. There were those who could be saved. And those who died, who turned? They could be slain again. That they had seen. "I will go with Vasha," he stated. "We can try to save some of these people, even if it only prolongs the inevitable." Turning to the kor monk, he added "Have some faith, in whatever gods your people follow. Not all here today can be doomed to die. A cleansing may be coming, I don't know, but it can't be the end. What purpose is served by building all this only to destroy it again?"
Jerrock pulled out his great sword and followed Vasha. He was useless on the wall. At least in the cave he might do some good.
Unsure of what to do, Rezivah stays back with the goblin and follows suit, but instead of unleashing balls of flame, she weaves slashing hands of black mana (chill touch) and tries to do as much as she can. "Kayn, if the wall becomes lost, I can fly us out of here in the way of our friends!"
Kayn nods, continuing his assault. He makes it a point to take cover when possible, firing from an advantageous position. He's seen that these creatures can launch dagger-like shards and he has no intention of being hit.
Rezivah and Kayn blasted away at the sick abominations, surging mana through their bodies as they channeled it down below. To their right, the gilded figure closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as tendrils of metal flowed out of his gauntlets, sliding out to about arm's length. White mana pulsed through his body while his skin took on a crystalline appearance. Soon, his whole body was radiating light and as hard as a diamond. With a sigh, he leapt off the battlement into the middle of the fray below. His tendrils pierced through the carapaces of two adjacent emcayi, tearing them to shreds as he began his dance of death at the base of the battlement.
And while his actions drew the attention of many of the emcayi; yeah, while they turned from their assault on the battlement towards him, there remained emcayi still who continued advancing, launching volley's of fragmented chitin towards the wall. Kayn and Rezivah, having battled similar creatures before, ducked behind cover, but several of the fort's archers let out cries of anguish as their lives were snuffed out by the assault of the emcayi. Getting back up, the two of you notice a sizeable contingent of emcayi, a little less than a dozen, are quickly scaling the cliff-face to breach the wall.
Kayn spots the Emcayi climbing the cliffs and focuses his fire there. Seeing that they're about to peak the cliff-side, he hurls a huge ball of fire in their direction. "Not yet..." he whispers. "They need more time."
Kayn conjures forth a small mote of flame, channeling and compressing as much red mana as he can. He launches it towards the wall-scaling emcayi, aiming for their center. Soaring through the air, it erupts into an inferno of flame as it impacts the wall, lighting ablaze all of the emcayi. They shriek and they cry out from the flames, and Kayn sees their flaming corpses slowly fall off the wall, one by one, landing onto the ground below. At the end of it all, none remain, his flames burning their and searing their twisted flesh.
Rezivah eyes the goblin. He always impressed her, and this feat of fiery magic did so once again. Still slashing and clawing down below with black ethereal claws, she asks him, "How many times can you do that?"
Grunting as he unleashes another fire bolt, Kayn responds, "Just one other. Lets hope they don't catch on..."
By this point, Kayn and Rezivah notice the attention the gilded figure's actions are drawing from the emcayi. More and more relent their attack on the wall to join in trying to consume this whirlwind of blade and death. Slowly and surely, the number of the emcayi begin to dwindle.
While the arrows did little to stop the advance of the emcayi swarm, Rezivah's and Kayn's spells tipped the tides in the fort's favor, as those emcayi that the mysterious, gilded figure didn't attract with his dance were sundered by their fire and necrotic energy. Vasha, her group, and the refugees they saved entered the main fort as cheers rang out. Piles of rosy flesh seeping with silver blood slowly grew outside the fort at the base of the wall as the figure's bladed whip came to a standstill.
While the fort might have been saved, the toll was high. From atop the battlements, Kayn and Rezivah could see the devastation just this horde had left on the land. Desecration and sick flesh followed these creatures in their wake, distorting the landscape and ruining it. Could this valley even be cured? Would the flesh ever wither away, returning back to its natural form of sand and rock? The questions were disturbing; their answers elusive.
A rope ladder was hung down for the gilded warrior, now worn, battered, and bloody, and he made his way to the top of the battlements. Evidenced by his gloomful appearance as he looked back at the carnage, he too wondered those same questions. Turning his attention to Kayn, and Rezivah, he bowed his head. "Your magic was crucial to saving the lives of the people at this fort. They've seen too much... witnessed too much death to have to go through it all over again."
He glances out to the inside of the fort, overlooking the mutilated corpses and scared faces. "Hope is not gone," he cries out to those below. "Those of us here remain, and we will rebuild... regrow... strengthened from this harrowing ordeal. Let us see to the dead and deal with them customarily." He begins to make his way across the battlement, tending to the soldiers wounded in the attack.
Emerging from the cave, Vasha glanced about, searching for her compatriots. Spotting Kayn and Rezivah, still at the wall, she pulled her mask back over her face and began to make her way toward them. Squeezing Vaekyr's hand, saying, "Stay close to me. Do not wander."
Jerrock watches as the Kor survivors follow Vasha and Vesra out. It is a meager band, but at least some remain. He takes up a rear guard position, silently vowing to do everything he can to protect these few. Rezivah turns away, unable to face the horrific devastation, looking back into the fort. She sees the kor sisters, along with the rest of their contingent. She sighs meagerly, presuming of the responsibility she and her comrades were about to make, and steps down the wall. Once close enough, she asks Vasha, "So, what of these survivors? We lead them to refuge?"
"I don't know," Vasha said, quietly. "Is anywhere safe now? If those creatures are free upon the world..." she paused, letting the thought hang on the air. "Vesra cured the remaining survivors. There should be no more creatures inside the walls. What of those outside?"
"That man faced the wave head-on. Kayn and I assisted, and we held the wall, but the land is lost," Rezivah answered, not sure where to go from there. "It seems that was all of the monsters for now. He's now tending to the wounded, if you wish to speak to him."
Vasha released a sigh. How she wished her sister wasn't a 13 year old, so people would take her seriously. "I... guess we should. This might be the safest place for the refugees, if there are more creatures out there." Vasha will then lead the group of refugees toward the mystery man.
Kayn follows the mysterious hero across the ramparts. "More will come," he whispers to the man, trying to get his attention. "Until the titan is slain, they will continue to attack."
As Kayn walks up to the man, he sees him bend down to a wounded guard. A thick piece of chitin shrapnel sticks protrudes out of his shoulder, soaking the garments around it in blood. The figure bends down, his right hand aglow, and pulls out the shard of chitin. Tossing it down below, he places his right hand over the wounded man. The man lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Gideon. We'd all be dead without your efforts," he expresses. Kayn's words bring a response that might surprise him. "More will always come," Gideon starkly states. "That is the nature of evil." As he speaks to Kayn and Vasha approaches, a silence and stillness seems to fill the ravine the fort rests in. Like an overcast day, the colors begin to dull, no longer as vibrant and bright as they were moments before. "What do you know about this titan?" he asks, examining his surroundings.
"Nothing," Kayn responds. "Only that these Emcayi all come from a titan. These ones leave a trail of decay... the ones we killed in the past would leave a trail of white..." Kayn spends a moment thinking of a word to describe it. "Ash," he says finally.
"People infected can be cured," Vasha spoke up. "Using magic. Vesra cured the infected in the caves. We were too late, however. These refugees need somewhere safe to go."
He raises an eyebrow as Kayn uses the term emcayi, but says nothing. Contemplating for a moment, he follows with a question while Vasha approaches and makes her case, "What do you know about the Blind Eternities?" Gideon nods his head at Vasha's concern as he looks into the refugees faces. "Yes, they do. As do you, white-one. This fort is killed with refugees, all who need protection. When they are done mourning their dead, I plan to lead us south through the river-tunnels. There is a.... surrakar? I believe that is what they're called. He knows the way through the tunnels and can guide us to safety." His ears twitch for a moment as he looks north once again, peering down the valley.
Vasha looks around for a few moments, as if focusing on something. "Do you hear that?"
Kayn seems deep in thought at Gideon's question. He gets like this when he's having an internal conversation with the speckormerelf. "The place between the stars," Kayn finally comments. "The Blind Eternities... you say they are summoned? Like how strong managic is used to summon beasts?"
"Quiet," Vasha said, placing a hand on Kayn's shoulder. She turned her attention back to the sky, asking again, "Do you hear that? That humming noise?"
Either Vasha's words fell on deaf ears, or Gideon's evident surprise was such that he didn't focus on what she said. "Oh?" he exclaims. "I didn't realize those not..." He pauses at Vasha's question.
It wasn't supposed to end like this. Your life. You could've chosen something calm. Something easy. You could've lived the life of a farmer in Bala Ged. The weather is pleasant this time of year after all. Much better than this arid, sun-scorched abyss you're currently in. Or perhaps you could've been a scholar, working under the merfolk at the Lighthouse of Sea Gate, quietly spending your time in peace and solace as you read through books and ancient knowledge of the Eldrazi civilization and their golden age.
Not staring at the sky, watching a mountain be torn apart like it was a piece of paper.
Vasha's question hung in the air for only a split second before a sound like thunder came crashing from the north. The ground quakes and rumbles as you turn to see one of the peaks along the northern mountain range get ripped from the rest of its majestic form and tossed upward into the air by a pink mass. As if it had rested on some invisible object, it comes to a stop, floating high in the air above where it once proudly stood.
And then She appeared on the horizon.
A creature, hideous in form, slowly rose up from behind the mountain range. A crown of claws adorned its head, as if it was some behemoth queen. Like the carapace of some kraken, its indigo shell was split down the middle, revealing a fleshy latticework of pink and purple tentacles, writhing and convulsing within each other as they extended downward. A glowing purple light shone through a hollow section within the tentacles, pulsating on queue to the humming Vasha heard. As it continued to rise, the tentacles continued to grow. Hundreds... no, thousands of tentacles branched out from its titanous figure as it soared into the dim sky, higher and higher. Monstrous tentacles, as large as the thick jaddi trees in Murasa, sprouted from the base of this titan, extending hundreds of feet below its main figure. They wrapped around the mountain, and with a simple constriction broke it. Like clumped sand in a toddler's hand, the mountain turned to rubble. The floating peak turned to rubble. Everything around this otherworldly figure turned to rubble. And from rubble, to sand. And from sand, to dust. All around her was dust.
Your minds grew numb as you stared at this phantasmal thing of madness. Her tentacles slowly dragged across the landscape, shattering the ground and turning it into some barren crater. The redness of the stone drained at her passing. The sky itself grew grey and void as her towering structure blasted its reality. Life was void in her presence.
A droning, faint at first, grew louder and louder as she drew closer and closer. Soon nothing else could be heard but this horrible incessant droning, like your ears had been pressed up against the wings of a giant cicada and forced to listen to the creature for all of eternity. Unending, you lose your ability to focus... to concentrate and think. Suddenly it stops, and a single word is uttered from within the deep recesses of your mind by the cold, dark voice of a woman.
"Perfection."
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A large man with a red beard, many scars, and a large sword strapped across his back made his way toward the group. He does not seem to be pushing his way through, but rather carefully moving among the crowd and maneuvering gently and deftly despite his size. Vasha catches sight of the large human, staring at him as he moves, taking in his every movement. He nods at her, recognizing that he is being sized up. His route becomes more direct though his expression does not change. Vasha's eyes grow big as he nods at her, but she continues to stare. At last, the six foot tall mountain of red hair, fur, and the wages of war stands before her. He places his fist in his palm before her and bows slightly. "I greet you." Vasha's eyes grow large, and she quickly looks away. "Why do you turn away? You do not bear the brand and so I mean you no harm."
Vasha's eyes drift up, slowly, taking in his form. Meeting his eyes, she quickly looked away once again.“Oh, daisies,” Vesra turns and sees her sister being accosted by a human. The thirteen year old kor stepped in front of the monk. “Hello, how are you?” She said with a smile that covered up her nerves.
"I am as well as can be expected." He smiles back. "Why does your friend turn away?"
“She’s... racist?” Vasha glared at Vesra, pushing her sharply. Don't say that, she signed furiously.
"I am right here," Jerrock says. "I do not know your finger language, but I can assume you are referring to me."
“Actually, she’s referring to me,” Vesra smiled. “She’s mad I called her a racist.”
"That is to her credit. I would take offense at that label as well."
“Well if she didn’t want to be called racist than she probably shouldn’t have acted like that,” Vesra crossed her arms.
Vasha glared at her sister, then looked at the human. "Hello."
He smiles at her. "See. Was that so bad?" Vasha continued to stare at him.
"I am looking for some help, and you all seemed to be quite formidable," the human said. "But I am getting ahead of myself. I am Jerrok, last of the Caldera Tribe."
“Who are you fighting?” Vesra asked abruptly.
"For the moment I am hunting. When I have gathered enough allies, I will destroy the Shanshi."
"I'm Vasha," she said, awkwardly shoving her hand out at Jerrock, not hearing much else he said.
He clasps her hand firmly, but not with too much force. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Vasha looked from his hand holding hers, to Vesra, then back again. "They are cowards and curs. And when I hunt them, it is only to find them. I confront them face to face. I want them to meet their fate with honor."
“That doesn’t exactly tell me what I was looking for,” Vesra replied.
"We'll help you," Vasha said quickly, still holding his hand.
"Thank you. That is very kind," Jerrock replied with a smile. "The Shanshi are nomads, like me. But they have no honor. You can identify them by the brands on their arms; dragons eating horses.
You can’t just promise our muscle to the first cute human with fancy hair you see, Vesra elbowed her sister. “We’ll talk more about this later, but it looks like our number is up.” Vasha hears very little, still holding Jerrock's hand.
He gestures toward the guards. "Should we go, then?"
Vasha quickly pulls her hand away. "Yes. Sure." She drops her eyes to the ground and quickly moves away.
We?!? Vesra signed.
Rezivah smiles, satisfied, turning to the ground and seeing this rather large, robust red human. A curious expression passes her face at the sight of him holding Vasha's hand. "Yes, we. Who's your friend, Vasha?"
Who is this? Kayn asks Vesra as the large human follows them.
"For such an observant warrior, your friend seems very skittish." Jerrock says to Vesra as he follows along. He bows slightly to Rezivah. "I am Jerrock, last of the Caldera tribe."
What? Vasha looked at Vesra confused. I... don't know.
The group--with Jerrock in tow--moves through the crowd towards the flanked guardsman. As you get closer, you recognize the black-armored figures: they're the same who accompanied Vielara back in the Pits of Cakorot, when all of this began. Their heads dart at odd angles from side to side as they scan the crowd before the look onto each of you. "I'm Captain Indrid" the guardsman says, introducing himself. "Mistress Vielara has been expecting you. You're late." he adds briskly.
Vasha nods at the guard, waiting for the others to join. Vasha’s new boyfriend, Vesra signed back to Kayn as they walked. “We’ve been through a lot,” Vesra explained to Jerrock. “Skittish keeps warriors alive.”
Jerrock joins and stands by her side, forming a pair of towers. He exudes silent confidence, seeming nonplused at the comment of lateness. Vasha moves to push Vesra again, then rethinks her actions, and stands motionless. "Skittish can keep you alive or it can make you hesitate at the wrong moment. She sized me up expertly. I do not doubt her confidence in battle." He indicates several of his scars. "I prefer to open myself up so that I may lure my foe into a mistake. I can take more punishment than they can."
"Is that so?" Rezivah asked. I'm ok with this man. The bloodier the better."
Can we just... stop talking and go have this meeting, Vasha signed to Vesra. Stop calling him my boyfriend.
And apparently an aster-hole who can’t keep his mouth shut, Vesra signed to Kayn. I’ll stop calling him your boyfriend when you stop drooling.
Vasha glared. I'm not drooling. I want nothing to do with him.
Captain Indrid looks between Jerrock, Vasha, and Vesra, with a held-back smile. "Please," Vasha spoke to Indrid. "Take us to Vielara."
"Mhmm...." he drones. "I won't take you to her." He motions to the two black-clad figures, "But they will."
“Thank you,” Vesra moves towards the black clad figures. “We apologize for our tardiness.” Vasha moves with Vesra, standing silently.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Passing through the main gates, the group winds through a mess of tents and buildings on the ground. Cries of anguish sound out off in the distance as a loved one passes away. White-robed kor hurry to and fro with rations, herbs, water, and supplies in their hands, dispersing what aid they can to those suffering. Above you, the rope bridges dangle between the opposing cliff-sides as more people scurry along from one alcove to another, harvesting herbs and plants from several outcroppings. The scene is bleak and hardly a welcoming sign.
Yet the black figures who guide from both ahead and behind pay no mind to the desolation, pushing aside anyone or anything that would stand between them and you and their master. Their heads continue to swivel and twist as they look around themselves, constantly on the prowl to spot some unseen danger.
Arriving at an opening, you see a large, bulky humanoid with a prominent brow and muscular, stooping shoulders chained to the cliffside, gagged with a rag. Its characteristics being vaguely aquatic, though not merfolk. It's muffled cries, while audible, cannot be understood. What is it doing here in the middle of the desert? A guard is posted on either side, themselves conversing with one another, though the noise levels of the fort make such conversation hard to decipher from your distance. The null behind the group shrieks, perhaps upset by the slower pace, and continues to usher the group along and into the cliffside.
Moving through a network of stairs and tunnels, the group soon arrives at their destination: the potent smell of exotic herbs and spices, ones which remind you of Vielara's ziggurat, make that readily known. You walk through a broad archway and into a dimly-lit, vaulted cavern adorned with crimson rugs and gilded ornaments. Vielara always needed to have her wealth flaunted where she stayed it would seem. And there she was, lounging on a black sofa, surrounded by several of her null servants and a pair of slaves with veiled faces. Her sweet laughter reverberates throughout the cavern, climbing higher and higher to an unknown height. "And here I had begun to think I was going to need to higher a whole new party to guide my expedition house to greatness," she calls out, remaining on the sofa. In stark contrast, she sharply exclaims, "You're late." Letting the words linger for a few moments, she adds, "But I'll forgive the slight, seeing as this was only the first of many expeditions for you." She gestures for the group to situate themselves amidst several pillows and other chairs with a sly smile and a wave of her hand. "Come. Sit. Tell me about the journey and your destination."
Ato eyes the pair of hulking nulls with caution. He knew they served their patron, but he always had the sense that they could not be trusted. Still, he has no choice but to follow - this was part of working with, or for, Vielara. As they move through the city, he takes in the scene and can feel the despair of the people - trapped, scared, and nowhere else to go. Had it been this bad before? Are these attacks the sole reason, or is there more behind this influx of refugees?
At the sight of the chained creature, Ato starts in surprise. "A surrakar? It's been brought a long way from it's homelands. Curious indeed."
Once he's led before Vielara, he takes in the sight of "throne room" and the unsubtle display of her wealth and power. "And so our mistress holds court," he mutters under his breath to no one in particular. At her gesture, he takes a seat with the others for their audience with the vampire.
As the group moves to sit down. She holds her hand out with palm facing the group, peering at Jerrock. "While you're similar in appearance to Ellangil, you are not, in fact, Ellangil. You will wait outside until out discussion is over." The two black figures snap to attention, moving to Jerrock to escort him outside of the cavern.
Hearing Kayn, she responds calmly to him as she glances over to Rezivah, "Yes.... I see my pupil has somehow crossed paths your group... I suppose she was compensated well for extending her generous aid?"
Vasha maintained concentration on every little movement Vielara made, not to catch her doing something, not to make herself seem imposing, but simply to take in every bit of what she was saying. She knew she needed to be on her best behavior, and desperately wanted to speak to Vielara privately, so she figured this was the best way about that. Once Jerrock was removed from the room, she began to feel more comfortable.
Thinking of the considerable share of gold from their find, and the helping of blood from the party's merfolk, Rezivah speaks. "They have been very accommodating, once they trusted I was working for you. They are cautious to others, but not so much to their surroundings." Rezivah remembered how some of their members passed. One to the vampires she hunted and the other to bloodbriar. Then how one of the kor fell into a chasm. She wished to ask if these people were worth Vielara's guild name, but opted to do so at a later time.
Kayn gives Rezivah a side-glance, then decides to speak up once again. "The Joraga cleared out the den you sent her after. She has been with us since." He decides to leave out the fact that she fled and abandoned her quest... for now. "They were very accepting of us in their lifebloom."
She nods her head with an ever-present smile as she lifts a piece of bloodied meat into her mouth and chews while they speak. "Like all living things, they have strings which can be pulled for your gain." Adjusting her position on the sofa, she continues, "I assume Ellangil and Veythe are dead?"
Vasha's gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, a sad expression on her face, hidden by the mask. Quickly she regained herself, looking upon Vielara once again. "They are."
She chuckles. "Ellangil's death surprises me." Passing it off as if small talk, she switches the topic once again. "And the hedron itself? How did you get it to open?"
“Very carefully.”
"It took a mixture of mana from each of us. A combination of it all, simultaneously administered to their respective runes. The door opened only after it was done...." Kayn glances over at Vesra, "Carefully."
She moves to sit at the edge her seat, seemingly engaged. "And? What treasures did it hold?"
"It was a prison and a tomb," Kayn responds.
For monsters, thought Rezivah, holding back the urge to grimace. She didn't wish to speak of them, much less think about the things.
Vasha moved her gaze from Vielara, to Kayn. She looked him over, knowing that he was now the prison for the ghostly entities. Looking back at Vielara, she thought about how to broach the subject, and how to go about finding a way to free Kayn. She was worried her speaking up would be seen as defiance, thus causing her sister punishment, so she decided to hold her tongue.
Kayn pulls his wand and the driftglobe out and places them before him, nodding to the others expectantly.
"Horror and death is what it held, " adds Ato. "and a path to madness for the weak or unwary. In any case, it did not seem to hold any of the treasures you were hoping for. As Kayn says, it seemed to serve as a prison instead, but we were able to keep its inhabitants from escaping." He pulls a stone tablet from his pack, it's surface engraved with the same cryptic runes that had adorned the hedron. Kayn has seen this, but to the others, it would not be something they'd seen before. "This tablet was useful in helping us puzzle out the means of unlocking the hedron. It's served its purpose as far as I am concerned. Perhaps it will have some value to you, though. It's yours if you wish."
Vasha stepped forward, making eye contact with Vielara. "I had a vision, sent from the stone of the hedron itself. I saw the creation of the hedron, the creators, what it was meant to contain, the past itself."
She sits there in silence, contemplating everything that was just told her. It's readily apparent that something about this disturbs her, despite any efforts she makes to try and conceal it. "Prison and tomb. Horror and death. A path to madness." She laughs loudly, exclaiming, "What did you expect to find in a hedron? Daisies and soft beds? There's a reason why the faint of heart avoid them."
“People tend to not put their favorite belongings in prisons,” Vesra spoke up. “I’m sure some Hedrons have more treasures, we are merely explaining our more meager findings.”
She looks over the items presented before her. The tablet intrigues her, however. "I'll hold onto this item. I know someone who might be able to crack the language. A sage ruin he calls himself... the pompous vampire."
"Vasha... You wild thing. Tell me about this vision"
Vasha took a deep breath, obviously hesitant. Then she closed her eyes, summoning the memory of the vision. "There was a battlefield. Yellow mist. I could actually taste blood in my mouth. There were bodies all around me. Then something... incomprehensible came from the sky. I don't know what it was, but it was horrible. I could feel it engulfing me... sucking me into an endless void. I spiraled... into nothingness... then it was over." She opened her eyes, meeting Vielara's gaze, and swallowed hard.
She closes her eyes as Vasha explains the vision in detail, folding her hands into the ripples of her dress as her smile slowly fades. "Yes... and it is over." She swallows, blinking her eyes a few times before returning to her normal self. "Is there anything else found or to report? If not, then we will discuss our next plans come tomorrow morning."
Vasha nodded. "Kayn has... an attachment."
"To.... what?" she asks curiously.
"Not that kind of attachment," Vasha said, glancing at Kayn. "Tell her, or I will."
Jerrock cleans his greatsword in the background. He is listening as closely as he can while seeing disinterested.
"It's no secret, Vasha. She can see for herself." Kayn lifts an arm to show the spectral tendrils. "There were survivors of the first explorers to enter the Hedron. I was able to bond with their spirits and have agreed to help them get to the Sunspring in Tazeem."
She cocks her head as Kayn displays the spectral tendrils. "It would seem, perhaps, that you've locked away the greatest treasure within yourself. I would pry for more details, but such.... mercy is your own." She chuckles to herself at a fleeting thought.
"Though...." she adds after a moment of thought, "The Sunspring is just a myth. No one has actually discovered it before. I do hope you aren't just chasing some dream of either yours or theirs... if such a thing can still be distinguished."
"Vielara, what will you have us do next?" Vesra interrupted. "We have completed your first mission, and I'm sure you have something else lined up already."
She looks down at Vesra. "Child, did you not hear me? If there is nothing else to report, then we will conclude this meeting and discuss your next assignment in the morning. Get some rest, mingle with the people here. I'm sure at least one of you takes pity on the weak and afflicted in this fort."
“I heard you,” Vesra replied. “But I also saw no reason for such delays. Since you’re done though, where are our chambers?”
She grits her teeth at Vesra's defiant comment, though says nothing of it. "There is a spare room down the stairs from whence you came," she exclaims coldly, gesturing with her hands. "It will suit your needs." Rising from the sofa, she nods. "The evening is only just beginning, and I still have much to do today, if you'll excuse me."
“Have a good night,” Vesra waved with a big smile.
"Vielara, when you have a moment before tomorrow, I wish to speak with you in private."
She nods as she looks to the rest of the group. Answering in Vampire, she responds, "We still need to discuss you mission in detail and why you did not bring me a row of heads. Stop by later this evening."
"Oh," she exclaims in remembrance. "Bring the hulking flame-head tomorrow morning as well. I might have use for him with Ellangil's passing."
Jerrock enters. "I have been summoned?"
She sighs and shakes her head. "Tomorrow morning! Be here."
He smiles and walks out
Vasha grabs Vesra and begins ushering her out of the chamber. "What do you think you're doing?" she whispered, harshly. "You're supposed to be the level headed one, remember? What good will it do if she kills both of us for being hot heads?"
Jerrock walks by and bows to them. “I am off to find my quarry if either of you would care to accompany me.”
Vasha immediately released her sister. "I... I... where?"
“He is somewhere in the fort. I am going to hunt for a man with brands on both arms of dragons eating horses.”
“We just met you,” Vesra said, before her sister could agree. “I’m sorry, but we’re going to need more than can you help us with my revenge mission.”
Vasha stared at Jerrock, unblinking.
Rezivah, having followed the kor sisters, is surprised at Vasha's dispostion near this male. She speaks from the other side of Vesra. "Was she this way with the other one?"
“What else would you like to know?”
“And it is strange for one so young to speak for an older member of the tribe. Is that customary in your tribe?”
Hidden behind her mask, Vasha pressed her lips together in anger. She wanted to punch him, right in his throat. That would teach him. Instead, she stormed off.
Jerrock looked surprised. “What just happened?” He asked.
“That’s... Vasha,” Vesra said apologetically to Jerrock, ignoring Rezivah. “I speak because I am the olde-more talkative sister,” the druid chose her words carefully. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to have a private chat with my twin.”
Zamar Zahuv - Level 4 Aasimar Bard in Whispers of Dissent
Golos - Level 1 Halfling Barbarian in Night's Dark Terror
Jerrok Flametongue - Level 6 Human Barbarian in Zendikar - Whispers of the Aeons
R'thr Ka'ri - Level 5 Paladin in The Adventures of Bubbles (every other Wednesday)
Johnathan Moonspeaker - Level 6 Druid in Web of Lies (every other Friday)
DM of Something Wicked This Way Comes - D&D Modernverse (every other Tuesday)
Vesra follows Vasha and envelopes her sister in a hug. Vasha froze, taking a deep breath. "Don't."
“I’m not allowed to give you a hug anymore?”
Vasha pulled herself away from the hug and turned to face her now smaller sister. "Don't act like there's nothing wrong. What just happened back there? And what the hell do you think you're doing with that human?"She was grateful for the mask covering her face and her true emotions.
What do I think I’m doing with that human? Vesra signed. You’re the one acting weird around him.
He's going to die.
Eventually, Vesra replied. We’re all going to die. Although him probably sooner than most. Have you seen the scars? He does not seem the most cautious. But that is his own choice.
He's going to die because of us. Vasha looked away, knowing that wasn't what she really wanted to say, hoping Vesra wouldn't catch on.
“No, they didn’t,” Vesra said aloud to get her sister’s attention. They died because of their own choices. You’re not responsible for everyone’s lives.
Vasha looked at her sister, staring her down. She thought about arguing the point, but what good would that bring. She took another deep breath. I can't be around him, she signed.
Not without making a fool of yourself, at least.
Vasha's eyes narrowed. "Stop mocking me," she growled.
“I’m not mocking you, I-“ finding the words in common were difficult. I just want to make you laugh. This has been a long, difficult journey. We can’t forget to also be happy, because then all is truly lost.
Vasha's eyes narrowed even further. There's nothing to laugh about. Nothing. Veythe is gone, and I never even told her... Vasha looked away with a growl.
“She knew,” Vesra sighed. “And she wouldn’t want you to mourn her.”
"It doesn't matter," Vasha said, stepping away. "None of it matters. Now is not the time for laughing and having fun, Vesra. If that human comes with us, he, too, will die."
“He’s more likely to get himself killed if we don’t go with him,” Vesra shook her head. “He seems hellbent on a dangerous revenge mission. At least this way, we can help him.”
"Fine," Vasha said, quietly. "Don't you ever dare call him my... whatever... again. Do you understand?"
I’m sorry, Vesra sighed. I won’t. Vasha simply nodded. But you’ve got to promise you’ll lighten up, Vesra pursed her lips. I’m sick of you hiding behind that mask, and I’m sick of you feeling like everything is your fault. It’s time to heal. I can’t afford to lose you.
I'll hide whatever I choose to hide, Vasha signed back. I have no reason to be happy, nor do I want to be. I don't plan on losing anyone else.
“Fine,” Vesra turned and walked back toward the group they had left. You know, she signed back angrily. You’re really starting to sound like him. With that, she left, not wanting to deal with her sister any more. Vasha felt her throat tighten, tears stinging her eyes. She felt as if she had just been slapped across the face by Vesra. Maybe it was better this way, not letting Vesra know how much she was hurting. Swallowing hard, she slowly walked away to find a place to meditate, keeping her head down.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
The three of them set out just after conversing with Vielara, eager to help their newfound barbaric friend in his quest for blood. Moving from group to group, they scour the fort, offering money for any potential information from those who seem more reluctant to give it. It takes awhile, as many of the leads given didn't pan out, but the last one takes them into the cliffside and down a winding path which eventually leads to the foot of an underground river. Torches abound, lighting up the area well, and there they see him: a tall, burly man with a greataxe strapped across his back. His forearms bear the signs of dragons eating horses. He looks up from his plate at the three of them but says nothing, returning to his meal in silence.
"Now what?" Kayn asks.
Jerrock looks him over and notices strange wounds on him: parts of his skin have seems to decay, revealing strange, criss-crossing patterns of white flesh. He turns to his new companions. "Have either of you seen anything like that before? He looks sickly, but not of a malady that I have seen."
"I don't see anything. " Kayn squints his eyes. "Is he hurt? Doesn't look hurt. Behind the three, a pair of people rush down with buckets towards the river. The man pays them little heed, though his eyes dart up to the three of companions standing there once again. Kayn waves.
He grunts. "Pike off, goblin."
Jerrock approaches him. "You are a long way from home, my Shanshi friend. Are you unwell?"
The man snorts, "I'm right where I need to be. Go fetch some water for those above." He returns to his meal once again.
"I believe you have me confused with someone else. Who are those above and why would you think you could dispatch me to fetch them water?"
He spits on the ground and shouts, "By the Three Gods, piss off already! Can't you leave a man in silence with his meal??" By this point, the two waterboys have began the ascent back up.
"I appreciate your kindness. It makes this easier. I was going to ask what you were doing so far from home. I was going to give you a chance to explain yourself, though your people have no justification for what they did. Instead, I will give you what you never gave my people, the opportunity to die with honor." Jerrock unslings his Greatsword and holds it at the ready, but makes no move to attack.
He belts out a hearty laugh as he stands from the lone table, unslinging his greataxe. "Oh. I see. You're a nobody from one of the dozen tribes we've raided and pillaged, and you're probably out on a quest for revenge, huh? I'd ask which tribe was yours, but I doubt I'd even remember it... unless you describe the women. I remember each one in great detail."
Jerrock grits his teeth, but does not act. He takes a moment to master his emotions. Anger is reserved for battle and channeling the dragons. He calls over his shoulder to Kayn and Rezivah. "I hope his words allay any of your concerns over my cause." He turns back to the Shanshi. "Your words are harmless. Have you anything else to defend yourself with. Or would you prefer if I were sleeping or unawares?"
"I'd prefer your head on a pike, but I can make that work quickly enough." He pauses suddenly, cocking his head to the side, as if listening. Nodding, he drops his greataxe on the ground and moves to sit cross-legged on the ground with a wry smile on his face.
Jerrock steps forward and pokes the point of the sword as close as the man will allow. Another step forward and I could run him through. "Make no mistake. Your life is forfeit. It is your choice whether to die with honor or not. You and your tribe have damned themselves with your actions. Refusing to face me will not tarnish my honor. If that is your plan, then it is flawed."
He chuckles. "My life has been forfeit to my Queen for nearly 10 years. As servant to the Herald, I readily welcome death to bring about my rebirth."
Jerrock pauses. He has traveled far for this man and wants his vengeance, but something in his words gives him pause. This seems like something larger and he does not know enough about his new friends yet to know whether this man would have any useful information for them. "Have you forsaken your tribe, then? Who holds your leash now? Is that where this rot came that has infested you?"
He sneers at the Jerrock's words. "Rot? How misguided you are. History has lied to you. My tribe have found the truth and readily embrace it." He lunges forward and impales himself on the tip of Jerrock's greatsword with a burst of speed and a smile of relief on his face. As he slouches over, Jerrock hears amidst the gurgling, "She is coming." He lets out one last breath as he now lays there, lifeless.
Kayn steps forward after the display of violence to inspect the man. He sees the white decay that lines the man's body and shakes his head.
Jerrock pulls his sword free and begins cleaning it, letting the body slump to the ground. "Kayn, there is something more than my vengeance going on here. Before I bury him, is there anything you require?"
"It is the emcayi," Kayn responds. "Soon this fort is going to be attacked. Should we stay or should we go?" A small grin forms on the goblin's face. It doesn't seem as though his question was to either of his companions around him.
"Do we need the corpse to aid in the warning? Who should be alerted?" Jerrock responds.
"They do not know the signs of the emcayi, as they've been sealed for thousands of years. No one will believe us." Kayn obviously isn't referencing either of his companions as 'us'. "We want to go," Kayn says. "But... we think it is too late."
Jerrock sheathes his sword and patiently waits for the inner monologue to complete.
"Lets tell Vielera," Kayn says, "and the others." Kayn nods to himself. "Bring it if you like," he gestures to the corpse before turning to get back to Vielara's estate.
Jerrock nods. "At some point, I would like to learn more about these 'emcayi'. I fear they may play a role in the fate of my tribe." He turns and picks up the man and his axe and slings them over his shoulder, following Kayn back.
Kayn giggles at this, a strange chortle. "No you don't..." He waves his hand and says, "Careful," as an afterthought, "You don't want to get any of him on you." He glances back to see Jerrock covered in the human... "I'm sure you will be ok."
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When Vesra returned from her fight with her sister, she found that the rest of the group had left without her. With a sigh, she decided she needed to do something. The druid refused to sit around and feel sorry for herself; she needed a distraction. The teenage kor left Vielara’s place and headed into town, hoping to put her healing to good use.
There were so many people hurting, it wasn’t hard for her to find work. Obviously she was given a few side-eyes, but the healing tent could not afford to turn anyone away. As Vesta assisted the white-robed kor in their healing efforts, a figure caught her eye. Turning to focus on her as she passed by, the druid recognized her face through the bandages: a woman from their old tribe.
Vesra froze, her breath catching in her throat. She thickened the flowers that adorned her bald head, hoping they would hide any trace of the brand on her forehead. The teenager continued to watch the woman, who seemed unaware of her identity, like a hawk. The woman passed her by, heading toward the cliff side.
Not thinking, Vesra decided to follow her. The young druid ducked into an alley and shifted into a small mouse, following the kor unseen. Keeping close, she followed her through the winding tunnels, caves, and staircases built into the side of the cliff. It wasn’t long before she arrived at her final destination: a cave, packed with about thirty of so kor.
So many of those faces she recognized from your childhood, yet so many were not there. And there, off in the middle of the room, a man stands after giving aid to a fellow kor. Vesra’s heart stopped in her chest.
Her father.
The mouse scurried away as quickly as she could, getting as far away as possible before turning back into her kor form. Vesra collapsed by a tree, grabbing at the earth for support. She took gasping breaths, unable to keep the panic at bay.
She has to find Vasha.
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Following the audience with Vielara, Ato took his leave with the others when they were so summarily dismissed. Looking up into the darkening sky, he considers what he might do for the rest of the evening. Leaning against the stone, still warm from the heat of the day, he watches as the group splits up, going their separate ways for now. Vasha and Vesra move off together, seeming to argue in low voices, fingers weaving further words in their strange, silent language. So strange - Vasha holding so much anger, Vesra always seeking to appease her somehow - a bond of blood he couldn't fully comprehend, He let them go, obviously needing time to work out something, away from the others.
Kayn and Rezivah spoke to the barbarian that had attached himself to the group by way of the kor sisters. Ato's eyes narrowed as he considered the hulking man, wondering what game he might be playing, or if his joining the group was merely happenstance. He was looking for someone, a quest for vengeance for some past slight. The mer suspected he could find the man easily enough - after all, the city, any city, was his hunting ground and surely there were people who had seen the fellow, if one knew who to ask. Ato did, but this wasn't his quest, even if the goblin and vampire went along out of curiosity, or some need for sport. He hadn't seen Rezivah feed, now that he thought of it, and had no desire to be involved with the sheer animalistic rawness of that again anytime soon.
Instead, he drifts off on his own, back towards the gates of the city with their crowds of incoming refugees. The idea of more of these eldrazi, or their spawn, roaming the lands outside the cities worried him. He needed to hear what was being said, to find out if that really could be the case. There was power and advantage to be had in the chaos, uncertainty and terror of what the world could become - he relished that opportunity - but there needed to be something leftover where that power mattered...
“Vasha,” Vesra addressed her meditating sister. “We need to talk.”
"What do you want?" Vasha replied, not opening her eyes.
“I found father,” Vesra said, cutting straight to the chase.
Vasha refused to react. "Why would you think that to be funny?"
“I went to heal people, and I saw a kor I recognized, so I followed her back to her camp as a mouse and I saw him,” Vesra gasped. “Vasha, I don’t know what to do.”
"Go tell him how much I've turned out like him," Vasha suggested, still refusing to move or open her eyes.
“Vasha, I’m sorry,” tears rolled down Vesra’s cheeks. “I was so angry, I wanted to hurt you. That wasn’t fair or kind of me, but I didn’t mean it.”
Vasha finally opened her eyes and looked coolly at her sister. "Where?"
“By the cliffs. They have a cave there,” Vesra’s eyes were red from tears. “Half the tribe is there.”
Vasha stood without a word, and began to walk toward the cliffs.
“Vasha, wait,” Vesra grabbed her sister by the arm. “What are you going to do? What are we going to do?”
Vasha pulled her arm free, and continued walking. "You're going to stay here. I'm going to kill him."
“No, I am going with you,” Vesra bit back.
"What are you going to do? Hide behind me?" Vasha mocked Vesra, still feeling hurt from the comments she had made earlier.
“I’m going to burn him,” Vesra replies darkly, the flower crown wilting away and falling off of her head to reveal the brand. “Just as he burned me.”
Vasha nodded, saying nothing more as they walked to the cliffs.
When they arrive at the entrance to the caves, Vesra snapped her fingers. Ember appeared suddenly, floating just above the top of her hand. Go back to Vielara’s and get the others, she thought to her fiery familiar. If things go bad, we’ll need backup.
You walk into the cave where your tribe resides. With Vasha being masked and Vesra burned as a little girl, it's clear no one recognizes you for who you are. A white-robed kor approaches the group. "If you're here to help the wounded, please grab some fresh bandages and herbs. I've almost ran out," she requests timidly.
Your father can be seen giving water to one of the wounded kor.
Vasha ignores the woman and yells out, "Velan Somnaho!"
Unmoving, he continues to give water to the wounded kor. A young boy, who can't be more than six years old, pops his head out from the other side of Velan's figure.
Vasha pushes past the woman and makes her way, slowly, toward her father. "You'd ignore your own daughter?" she called out to him.
You move through the wounded of the tribe as they lay sprawled out on the ground towards him. Without looking, he continues to give water. "My daughters are dead. Who are you to mock me?"
Dead to you and dead to the rest of the world are two very different things, Velan, Vesra stepped forward. We will not have your lies.
"Wishing us dead will not make it so," Vasha growled.
Vesra's voice easily catches his attention. His hand falters, dropping the flask of water as he stands, looking at the two of you. His right hand rests on the head of the young boy who clings to his father's garb. His eyes go wide in shock as he looks to Vesra and sees the face of the daughter he knew almost 10 years ago.
By this time, the entire room's occupants look at the scene curiously. "Wha..." he stammers. "What dark magic is this to bring your haunting figure here? In a form so long ago..."
"Zendikar takes and Zendikar gives," Vesra said simply. "It's funny, that you thought we were so weak that we would die as soon as we left you. We are so, so much stronger than you ever realized."
He shakes his head in disbelief. "No... this is not real. You two died. The scouts reported it long ago."
The young boy speaks up timidly. "Dad? Who are these strange people?"
Vasha remained silent, watching her father and Vesra, while a burning rage built up within her. She balled her fists, digging her nails into the palms of her hands, drawing blood.
Guess we were better at hiding than your scouts were at looking for us, Vesra signed back to him. I've been running from you for so long. I thought the ways that you broke us would define me forever. But I was wrong, and so were you.
He shakes his head. "No. No!" Pointing his finger at Vasha, he shouts, "Necromancer! How dare you defile my daughter's body and soul."
In response, Vasha removes her mask and pulls back her hood.
Speechless, his eyes go wide as he sees the face of his youngest daughter, all grown now. He moves the young boy behind him. "What did you do to your sister, Vasha," he asks coldly.
Finally getting the response she was hoping for, Vasha began to stalk close to him. "You hated us. You told us we were worthless, that we would be the death of the other. You beat me, relentlessly. If it weren't for me, you would have beat Vesra as well. I bear the scars of your punishments on my back, for all to see. You separated us, sent me to the Guild, and tattooed my sister's face. But she found me, and we've been on our own, making our own path through life, no thanks to you." Finally she was inches away from her father's face. "We did not die." She motioned back to Vesra. "What did I do? I protected Vesra the best way I knew. I loved her, when nobody else did. I was the only family she had. And I failed. I failed her, I failed everyone. Because you told me, time and time again how worthless I was. I lost people I cared about. People I..." She paused, swallowing hard, trying to keep her emotions in check. "People I loved. And now, I'm here for you. You've haunted our dreams long enough."
You hear the distinctive whistle of kor hooks buzzing through the air. Several armed kor surround the cave, their hooks at the ready. With a motion of Velan's hand, they stand down. "Revenge. That's what this is?" he asks bluntly. "You get your sister killed and bring her back as some undead abomination, still covered in burns, and drag her around for years as you search for me? That's your plan?"
“I’m not undead,” Vesra scowled. “I was chosen by Zendikar herself, and though we have lived through many difficult challenges, the earth saved me.”
"What about the boy. Do you show him "love" in the same way you showed us?" Vasha's eyes never left his face, but she knew the boy was near. "Well, little brother? You don't have to be scared of him. He's nothing." She lowered her voice. "Isn't that right?"
Velan lashes out at Vesra, "Then how do you explain looking the same as when you ran away from me, your mother, and everything you knew all of those years ago!"
The little boy speaks up, "B... brother? Dad... why do they keep saying their your daughter?"
"Not now, Vaekyr. I'll explain later." he responds softly.
"I already told you, Zendikar gives and she takes," Vesra replied before locking eyes with her brother. "Vaekyr, does he hurt you?"
Vasha quickly speaks up. "Because we are your older sisters. We were the ones who weren't good enough for father. He never wanted us, and make it very clear. I am Vasha Somnhao, this is my sister Vesra Somnhao." Turning back to Velan, she said. "We are such great disappointments, even our younger brother doesn't know our names."
Vaekyr shakes his head.
Velan seems to be at a loss for words, as if his whole world was turned upside down. "So... you two really are real and alive."
Vasha pulls the red armband from her arm and holds it Velan's face. "I guess we really are here and alive. What luck we should have to be in this place at the same time as you."
Vaekyr, Vesra addressed her younger brother. I just want to help you. Has he ever mistreated you? Physically or emotionally, I don't care.
A small smile forms on his lips as he eyes the red band. "It looks like my lessons did make you into something then, Vasha."
"Your lessons had nothing to do with this. I did this solely on my own." Vasha put the band back around her arm. "Not even the guild could teach me. Zendikar herself taught me."
Vaekyr shakes his head, signing back, "No. Mom says he's nicer now than when he used to be. At least, until she died."
"Your skulls no less thick than when I sent you off all of those years ago, it would seem." he says mockingly. Fixated on Vasha, he doesn't seem to notice Vesra and Vaekyr's conversation.
And after she died, did he stay nice?
Vaekyr sniffles. "She died a few weeks ago to some big bugs. That's why we're here."
Again, Vasha said nothing. She lifted one of her new hooks, pulled from the stone itself, and held it in front of his face. "You did nothing to help me earn this. You didn't commune with Zendikar herself and help me pull these from the stone. What you did was whip me within an inch of my life. What happened to that man? Are you afraid to beat me into submission again? Or are you just too old and weak to do it?"
He casts his eyes down to the stone, away from Vasha's face and her hook and says nothing.
I'm sorry for your loss, Vesra signed. "Vasha, we need to stop," she said softly, looking up at her sister.
"No. I want him to show me exactly how he helped us. Then I want to show him exactly what I've learned." Vasha glared at her father, still inches from him.
"I..." he begins, then pauses, his eyes still looking to the ground. "I am not the man I was then." He look to his hands as he holds them parallel to the ground. Calluses mark how heavily worn they are. He can only repeat himself again. "I am not the man I was then." You see drops of waters fall onto his callused hands.
Vasha watched as this man she'd feared her entire life cowered before her. She leaned close to him, and whispered into his ear. "You don't get to be proud of our successes. If you ever lay a finger on this boy, I will kill you."
Velan looks up at his daughter, his reddened, tear-filled eyes level with hers. "How can a father not be proud of his daughter?" His eyes drift to her red band. "Especially when she did something he never could?"
"Maybe you should have treated us like living beings, and cared for us." Vasha motioned to Vesra. "Your oldest can control the elements themselves, and speaks to Zendikar. Imagine what we both could be capable of, had we gotten the proper training. You wouldn't be living in this cave. You do not get to be proud of our accomplishments. You had no hand in any of it. We've done this all, on our own, since we were 15. I came here to kill you, but it's clear I don't have to. You're living in a greater hell than I could ever hope for." With that, she turned away from him and began to walk to the entrance. As she passed the Kor woman, she said, "Your leader is an old, weak coward."
She sternly objects, "He's not my leader. But I've seen that man do nothing but aid these people the moment they walked through our gates. He's given his rations, his time, and effort to make sure they recover. I don't know who you remember, but it's not him."
“Father, I challenge you to a Cantuun Watori,” Vesra spoke up. “For the tribe. If I win, you retire from our position as chieftain and you let us lead the tribe to safety.”
Vasha froze, eyes wide. She turned, slowly, to watch her sister, but said nothing.
He sighs. "So much has changed since you left. I am no longer chieftain."
"Vesra, isn't it obvious?" Vasha called out, a smirk on her lips. "This man is too weak and cowardly to lead the tribe."
“What happened?” Vesra asked, ignoring her sister.
"Your deaths, at least perceived, taught me much and broke me to the core. I was no longer fit to rule the tribe, and so I passed on that right to another, more able-bodied man. You might remember him," Velan continued. "His name was Kimwhe. Kimwhe died during a recent assault on our clan by large insects. He died protecting us. I brought our tribe here for safety, but I will not assume that mantleship again." He looks to his son. "Other things are more important to me now."
Seeing the affection Velan showed the boy, Vasha pulled the mask over her face again, and covered her head. It was like a stab to the heart, after all the years of abuse she'd endured. She turned away once again and left the cave. Once outside, she released a strangled cry and slammed her fist into a rock.
“My goal is to make sure Vaekyr and the tribe are well taken care of,” Vesra furrowed her brow. “The fact that you’ve grown... I’m not sure what to think. I don’t want you to hurt anyone like you hurt us ever again.”
"Ten years is a long time, Vesra." he pleads. "I am not the man I was. I will take our clan to one of the neighboring clans and beg for admittance and protection. While we might be absorbed, we will endure."
As Vasha waited outside the cave, her mind wandered back to the injured Kor inside. Their wounds appeared to be identical to those she suffered inside the hedron. "These people are doomed," she said to herself, knowing something needed to be done.
Vesra clenched her fists. "I am done with you father," she said in even tones. "But I am not done with Vaekyr and the rest of our people. I see your wounds; I know what they are from. I am terrified if we leave you here alone, you will all be destroyed. And despite my own personal feelings for you, father, I'm not going to let that happen."
He nods his head. "Then stay. Perhaps.... in time, you can see how I've changed."
“I can’t. Vasha and I have found our own way, and we have new responsibilities we must attend to. But we will help you find a safe place.”
He looks around to his clan. Many of them are clearly still wounded, despite the efforts given in the past day or two. "Let's talk tomorrow, Vesra. There is still much for me to do here." He pauses and adds after a moment of silence. "But... I'm glad you two are alive. Despite our past. Kamsa has brought our family together after many years."
Casting healing spirit, Vesra conjures a spirit animal bathed in a soft white light. The spirit slowly makes its rounds to those afflicted, shedding its healing light as it offers relief from their suffering. Velan watches in silence as the spirit moves from one wounded kor to another, bewildered by Vesra's gift. While the spirit could only reach a dozen or so wounded, the spell certainly helped the white-robed kor in their efforts.
Vesra then conjures ten goodberries and hands them to Vaekyr. “Feed those to the wounded,” she whispered before turning and leaving to catch up to Vasha.
Vaekyr nods his head, albeit a bit confused. As you rush off to catch up with Vasha, you hear him shout out, "Thanks!"
Jerrock notices Vasha and Vesra return. He is still carrying the dead barbarian over one shoulder and holding the man's axe in the other. "Greetings. I apologize for my slight earlier. I did not mean to give offense." He tosses the man and his possessions onto the floor. "I had planned to give him a proper burial, but Kayn felt we might need proof of...whatever those white wounds are."
"They're coming," Kayn says simply. "This Fort will soon fall."
Vasha ignores Jerrock, looking at the dead body. Same as those in the cave. Those same wounds she suffered in the hedron. "The people here are going to die," she said, solemnly, then moved away from the group to meditate.
"We killed the ones that left our hedron hadn't we? More have spawned from elsewhere?" Asks Rezzie.
“We’d be fools to think the only emcayi ever to exist were in that hedron.” Vesra responds.
Kayn nods, "So it seems." As if debating something to himself, which he does regularly, he adds, "We could cut the head off the snake, but that will not save this fort."
“What do you mean by cut the head off the snake?” Vesra asks.
"The source, if there is one. We find it." Rezzie says simply.
"We can kill the one that is spawning them in this area," Kayn offers. "If it is like the other, it is trapped, still, in a Hedron. If it is not trapped, it will be harder to find."
“I refuse to let this city die and call it collateral,” Vesra replied. “There has to be a way to save them and find the source.”
Kayn looks down at the body. "It is like a parasite, I think. I've dissected animals in the past... one a rat that was trying to get itself killed by the cats our tribe handled. It was odd behavior and I wanted to examine it to find out why. There was another creature living inside of it, driving it to act that way." Kayn pulls a dagger from his sheath. "Curious," he says, kneeling down at the body. Dagger in hand, Kayn starts stripping the man of his clothing and inspecting the wounds. The goblin finds the largest, most infected wound, and starts digging the dagger into the corpse in an attempt to remove the flesh. Hands covered in blood, Kayn looks up at Vesra and asks, "Can you give me a hand?"
"Of course," Vesra kneels down beside him.
Despite Kayn's honest intent, it's evident that even with Vesra's help, he has no clue what he's doing. What started out as precise cuts turned into a mess of slices, flayed flesh, and gleeful laughing as Kayn's actions reminded those in the group of a toddler playing with his food. After a few minutes, the barbarian's arm if completely flayed open, with ribbons of diseased and whole flesh and white, chalky powder littering the ground.
Jerrock interjects. "I am new to your band and do not understand what is going on. I have slain my quarry but his words were troubling. Still, he died with honor. Is it necessary to desecrate his corpse?"
"Hmmm," Kayn muses at the remains of the arm. "Maybe the organs..." He lifts his dagger to slice into the man's chest. Plunging his dagger into the chest, a spray of mercury-like silver liquid jets out across his face. Kayn stumbles backward, dropping his dagger as he scrambles away. "Emcayi...." He starts to wash his face and headplate with the dirt around him. Once he's satisfied that his face is 'clean', he looks to the others. "The wounded refugees..." He lets the implication hang in the air.
Jerrock is going to search through the Shanshi's belongings to see if there is any clue as to what might be going on since nobody is talking to him... He announces his finding to the room, though it seems like nobody is listening. "This man has far too little on him. He clearly did not expect to live much longer. A few coins. A day of food. A sip of scotch. Either he came here to die or he came here to spread. Or perhaps to gather information for...whatever it is you are worried about?"
Came to spread? Rezzie thinks. "Other than becoming infected by the emcayi, why would he have some other connection to them?"
"I don't know, but before he died, he said something about death and rebirth and serving his Queen for 10 years. His tribe does not have a queen. He also said 'she is coming'." Jerrock replies.
Kayn nods at all of this, rubbing the dirt all over his bloody claws. "Yes, that makes sense." He stands and adds, "We should tell Vielara, I think. She seems more interested in these creatures than any. She may have information."
"I'm glad it makes sense to you. Can you stop the dissection and explain it to me? I am happy to fight by your side, but I would like to know what I am fighting." Jerrock says.
"The ancient ones," Kayn replies. "The Emcayi... they are waking from their slumber it seems. Someone has opened their prison, and unlike us, failed to cleanse it. She..." Kayn thinks for a moment, "She is likely the titan that has released her brood upon Akoum." He gestures for everyone to follow as they make their way to Vielara's chambers.
"Everyone here is going to die," Vasha said from her corner, standing to follow.
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The group follows the tunnels and stairways which lead to the room where they met Vielara. Arriving at the doorway to the room, they see Vielara absent, with only a servant and a white-robed kor. The kor sits down on a chair, whereas the servant is busily cleaning from what looks like an evening of frivolous partying amongst vampires. Kayn meanders up to the Kor and looks him up and down. After sniffing the air a few times, he finally says, "We need to speak to Vielara. Do you know where she is?" The kor looks up at Kayn from resting on the velvet chair as the goblin meanders over to him. He seems well-built, though shorter than most kor. His hands are heavily worn and callused from hard labor, and his long, platinum blond hair is thrown into a loose bun behind his head. Thank you, Kayn signs. He then turns to the servant and repeats his question.
The servant, a male human adolescent, responds with a shaky voice, "She's meeting with someone. She'll... be back soon."
The kor furrows his brow, clapping his hand to grab Kayn's attention. Signing, he says, "He told me that an hour ago."
"This is too important to wait," Kayn says stepping closer to the servant. "Her life may be in danger. Where is she?" Kayn's voice holds an urgency that refuses to allow any argument. (Nat 20 persuasion)
While your tone is sharp, your words floe like water to a thirsty man's cracked lips. The servant, visibly traumatised from something, responds, "She is in danger. She was taken by a group of vampires through some magical circle." The servant points to the partially ruined silver circle in the corner of the cave. "They stepped through with her and then there was a bright light and they were gone. If I spoke Vampire, I could help more..." He adds, "But they had a look on their face... Like when they crave blood, they get that crazed look in their eyes as they grow bloodshot... but this was a little different. I.... I don't know. Her quarters are down that passageway if you want to look there. Her nulls are there though."
"Different, how?" Vasha asked, impatiently. She had intended on speaking with Vielara privately, and now those plans were being thrown out.
Kayn walks past the servant, dismissing any of his further words. "Who ruined the teleportation circle?" He asks. "Did you touch it!?" He kneels down to inspect the circle. (15 arcana)
The white-robed kor sighs, picking himself up from the chair. "It seems we -won't- be getting our supplies," He frustratingly signs as he leaves the room.
The servant nods his head. "I... I thought maybe if I broke it or something they'd have to come back."
Looking over the circle, Kayn ispretty certain it is what he'd expected: a teleportation circle. He'd seen it before at Lilliana's in the basement, though the symbols etched into the circle don't match hers.
"I... I don't know. Just... different." He repeats himself. The servant continues to clean, clearly nervous, and you suspect the cleaning is moreso out of habit and a way to try and keep himself calm.
Rezivah's face contorts in rage. "How do you mean she was taken?! How did it happen?!"
Seeing Rezivah's rage-filled face send him into a panic as his eyes go wide, his breathing quickens and his head jolts straight down, looking at the floor paralyzed.
Kayn sighs as he inspects the circle. "She won't be coming back through here, thanks to the servant. Once you ruin the circle, it's unusable... we're on our own." He stands and looks in the direction of Vielara's chambers.
"You will tell me what transpired, servant." An electric hip surged from her and and crackled and coils to the ground. (13 intimidation)
The servant, clearly terrified, can barely get the words out. "They... came... as friends." He squeaks, "Then they got... angrier... and took her."
"Lets see what Vielara got herself into," Kayn says, gesturing to her chambers.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Vielara's personal chamber, if the servant is to be believed, is just down a short passageway. Heading down the passageway and rounding a corner, you see a doorway, veiled by silk tapestry, with each of her null guards stationed on either side.
As they get closer to the Nulls, Kayn offers, "We can distract them with a fresh corpse, maybe?"
"Perhaps. Though only wild nulls blindly attack like savage animals," Rezivah started. "An owned null will obey the last order of its master, and will attack if only to defend itself."
“I can get in,” Vesra whispered. “Just let me though.”
"Perhaps you should go talk to them," Vasha suggested to Rezivah, still irritated.
"I will not be able to dissuade them by any means, but.. we don't know what kind of order Vielara gave them before leaving." She looks to the nulls. "Are any one of us allowed passage?"
They continue to stare forward, their faces heavily obscured by their helmets, giving no sign of a response. Kayn pokes one. As he moves forward towards it, the null steps to the side, bringing the veil with it and showing the room to the party.
Looking at the others and shrugging, Kayn enters. "How'd you know to poke it?" He whispers.
Entering the small cave, they find it ornate and decorated. A large bed lies on the other side, covered in red and black silks with spider webbing. A small table rests on the side, with scattered paper, a quill, and ink. A large bronze chest rests at the foot of the bed.
Kayn walks over to the table and gives it a cursory glance before inspecting it further. "Rezzie... I don't know your language," he says, assuming that most of the script is in Vampiric.
"Rezivah, dear Kayne," she corrects as she moves over to the desk, going through any documents. She frowns as she quickly realizes she can't read it. "This isn't Vampiric script. I cannot read it... Wait." After a few more glances, however, she recognizes why she hadn't been able to read it before. The symbols were all in the script of demons, but their use and placement was all wrong. "I need some sort of Codex for this. I can't presently understand this writing."
"I don't think we have time for that," Kayn comments. "But if this place is going to fall to the Emcayi then perhaps we should take it all with us. We do not know when she will be back."
"Or if she'll be back," Vasha mumbled.
"Yes. Vielara allowed us entry without harm for a reason. There is something here she wants us to have or know," Rezivah points out.
The party scours through everything and everywhere they can open... which is everything but the chest at the foot of her bed. It appears to be locked. There is no codex.
"There's nothing here." Vasha points at the chest. "Anyone check that?"
Ato approaches the chest, pulling out his tools of the trade to see what luck Cosi will grant him. Despite his best efforts, the chest won't open. He shakes his head, "Cosi does not will it, and my talents can't get it open."
Kayn approaches, hand out. "I will do it..." Ato raises an eyebrow, but steps aside to allow the goblin access. Kayn checks the chest itself for any abnormalities before attempting the lock with Ato's tools. He then twirls Ato's tool in his hand and takes to the lock. After hearing a snap!, Kayn breaks one of the lockpicks. Ato curses in Merfolk under his breath as he hastily takes his tools back. "You need stronger tools," Kayn comments, standing. "I can blow it open," he offers. A small flame begins playing across the goblin's claws.
"I could smash it just as easily, if you like," states the barbarian.
With a heave and a ho, but the lock doesn't break off. Kayn shakes his head. "Let me do it..." He waves the giant barbarian away. Pulling his bloody dagger out, he slams the hilt into the lock with all his strength. Confused, he shakes his head. "It is a very strong lock," he says. "Blow it up?"
Kayn gestures, his claws forming the arcane motions he has practiced for so long. A tiny gemstone is seen between his fingers, shiny and splendid in the torchlight. Once he's done, a small orb of acid hovers between his hands. He aims, then carefully fires it forward into the lock. With a torrent of arcane energy, he blasts away the lock, disintegrating it.... and part of the chest, as the acid eats away at nearly everything it touches. "See? Easy peasy." Kayn grins.
Opening the chest to look inside, Kayn notices that it's empty... save for a crystal ball, about 8 inches in diameter, that rests on top of an ornate metallic display.
"Ooooh..." Kayn lifts the crystal ball and peers inside. The crystal ball is impressively smooth... immaculately so. Its translucent appearance warps light as it passes through, distorting the surroundings of anyone that peers through it. Kayn sets it on the desk next to Rezzie. "You know how to use these?" He asks.
"No, Kayn. I have witnessed Vielara look intently into it, but I do not know the proper way."
Kayn unslings his pack and carefully places it inside. "I will learn the properties with time," he says. He then starts to collect all of the documents that litter the desk. "We need to decide what we want to do. Warn these people, who all know there's something out there, search for the Emcayi ourselves, or leave back to Affa."
"Can these people be saved?" Jerrock speaks up. "I am not one to run from a fight, but I am also not one to spend my life senselessly."
"I was saved," Vasha said, offering up little other information.
"Then we fight."
"There's an entire cave of Kor who are affected with the white wounds," Vasha said.
Kayn looks over at Vasha, then over at Vesra. “Do you know them?” He asks.
"Yes."
“I guess we fight then...” He says with a sigh.
"How were you saved? Can we do the same for them?"
"Magic cured me," Vasha said, moving to the doorway. "The people in that cave are doomed and will die." With that, she left the room.
"Kayn, do we have to worry when they die? Do we burn the bodies or just bury them?"
“They will turn to ash on their own... but their minds will not be their own,” he says, following Vasha out.
"Should we put them out of their misery while they are still themselves? Was the Shanshi I killed not truly himself?"
"Perhaps, and perhaps." The goblin responds. "Are we ever truly ourselves?"
Rezivah reflected on the goblin's words. Was she in her current state Rezivah? Or was it the blood hungry beast? Or was it the fealty to some ancient doctrine the elders spoke of?" What is our goal, to simply survive? To save others? Or to find an end to the emcayi?" She looked inside herself, but only found logic. "I wish to survive. But as a vampire, I cannot do so alone. So I must save others."
"Remember the things we saw in the hedron," Vasha said over her shoulder. "Do you think anyone will be safe if those things are loose?"
"No, but I will not presume to know that we will be able to truely defeat these aberrations. They were eradicated. They were sealed. Reflect on that." Rezivah didn't mean to talk down to anyone. She was uncertain of too much and wished to only be certain of her own life.
"But we did," Kayn responds to the sorcerer. "We cleansed something that could not be cleansed thousands of years ago. Perhaps their power in that time has faded, and if not acted upon quickly they will rise in power again."
"We need to find a way to cure them. All of them," Vesra said from the middle of the group. "We can't just kill them." Vasha growled at this, but said nothing, moving toward their quarters at a quick pace.
Kayn looks over to the large barbarian as they walk the halls, "How long have you and Vasha known each other? It is strange that she always finds the largest humans to mate with."
"Mate?" Jerrock says. "I seem to offend her at every turn. That possibility seems unlikely at best."
Kayn looks over a Vesra and signs an accusatory, Liar!!
I was being mean, Vesra signed back, with a frown.
"What is this sign language you all keep using? I am trying not to be offended, but it is a bit rude."
Vesra sighed. "It's the language of my people. It's my native language."
"Often times the Kor need to communicate through the roil and voice does not travel as one would expect. They have adopted these gestures to communicate. Saying you are offended by their language could very well be considered offensive in itself." One of Kayn's spectral tendrils attempts to sign, but it's undecipherable. "Some Kor live their whole lifetime never learning the common tongue."
"Im certain the trivialty of this man being Vasha's mate can wait. Were we saving those kor or not?" Rezivah questions pointedly.
Vasha, well ahead of the group, goes back to the quarters, sits in her corner again, and continues her meditation.
By the time the group returns to their quarters, night surely must've fallen, despite them being within tunnels and caverns the past hour or two.
"We should set a watch," Kayn suggests. He flicks his claws and Sear appears in his hand. With a smile, he launches the albino bat up to the ceiling.
Vasha moved to the entrance of their sleeping quarters. "I will take watch," she said, sitting square in the entrance, back to her companions.
Jerrock sets up his bedroll in a corner. "Wake me when you tire. I will take a turn as well."
With Vasha keeping watch throughout the night, the group finishes up their personal items of business and goes to sleep. After a long day of travel, conversation, and strange revelations and circumstances, sleep's embrace is welcomed by the group as they sleep on makeshift cots in the warm cave. The night passes by seemingly uneventful for the party as the doze off and dream.
Early in the morning, the group is slowly awakened by the sound of a bell ringing from the main fort -- its noise echoing down the tunnels as it reaches your cave.
Vasha stood, eyes darting around the room. Once she ensured everyone was safe, she began to look at her arms and legs, finally reaching up to her mask. She released a sigh, and closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts. After a moment, she spoke up. "We should check out that bell."
Kayn stumbles off his cot at the bell and looks up at Sear. With a gesture, he sends the familiar outside, stumbling backwards and sitting on his bed. After just a few moments, Kayn waves his hand again to dismiss his familiar. "They're not in here yet, so that is good," he says. He begins to gather his things. The sound of a barrage of footsteps can be heard echoing down the tunnel, growing louder before growing fainter.
Vasha pulls her hooks out. "Prepare yourselves," she calls out.
Rezivah wakes, feeling much better than the previous day, thanks to the frightened servant. It seems the others are spurning awake, and footfalls can be heard from the entryway. She stands firm, holding her slotted dagger behind her thigh. The footstep's sounds continue to grow fainter as they head away from the group.
Vasha sneaks out of the room and into the hallway. Screaming echoes down the hall and Kayn flips his cot over in preparation for something bursting through the door. "Get ready," he says.
Ato claws his way from sleep to wakefulness, shaken to the core by his dreams. He looks around the room in a near panic, heart racing and breath harsh in his chest. He will himself calm, and tries to focus on the now. The bells. "Is the fort under attack?" He wonders aloud. At the screams, he takes up his broad spear. "What did you mean, they aren't in here yet? What's happening out there?" At Kayn's warning, Ato moves to one side of the entryway, ready to attack if anyone other than Vasha comes through.
Vasha rushes in. "We need to go. Now," she says, hurried. "I don't know what happened, but there are bodies burning."She gripped her hooks, knuckles white, eyes falling upon each of her companions.
Jerrock grabs his meager possessions and unslings his great sword. He steels himself for action and prepares to follow Vasha, who seems to know what is going on.
Ato tenses as the footsteps approach, but relaxes as it's Vasha who rushes in. "Burning bodies? What in the hells happened out there? Alright then, where do you suggest we go? Just try to get out of the fort and see what's happening beyond the walls?"
"I don't think we need to leave the fort to discover what's happening." Vasha fidgeted, impatient with her companion's slowness. "Whatever it is, it is here. Let's go!"
Following Vasha's lead, the group moves through the winding maze of tunnels, caves, and stairwells. As they continue to move forward, the sound of screaming becomes more audible, indicating they're getting closer. A minute or two passes and they find themselves just down the hallway to the mouth of the tunnel. Light pours in through the entrance to the rest of Fort Keff, and the distinct smell of burning flesh can be noted by all.
Kayn summons Sear once more, allowing the bat to rest on top of his pack.
This time, Vasha will venture to the entrance, and look out, hoping to not draw any unwanted attention.
Jerrock will quietly walk up as well and see what he can see as well.
Reaching the entrance, you peer out into the outside world. The heavy, metallic taste of blood fills your mouth as you breathe in a heavy, mustard yellow cloud of dust which blankets everything, obscuring your vision to only 10 feet. Visions of burning corpses flicker like torchlight across your mind. Multiple sources of screaming can be heard coming from within the cloud of dust, as well as the distinct sound of metal rending flesh.
"I've seen this," Vasha mumbled, shocked."My... my vision. It wasn't...." She let the thought linger. She now realized her vision from the hedron wasn't the past. She had seen what was to come.
Jerrock whispers to Vasha, "Do we go in search of the slaughter? Or wait for it to come to us?"
Vasha diverts her attention to the sky. Looking up, all you can see is this yellow haze across the sky. You hear the sound of coughing, followed by the faint prayer of a young boy to your left within the cloud. "Iona... please save me and my daddy."
Ato follows as well, drawn to the chaos of whatever is happening outside. Joining the pair at the entrance, he takes in the sight of the world blanketed in yellow. "This is beyond what we faced in the hedron. If more of those creatures got free..." His voice tapers off as he stares out into the haze.
Continuing to listen, you can make out a whole host of different noises. The unearthly sound of chittering and droning can be heard through the cloud, echoing across the cliff faces. There are though who continue to scream and wail. To your left, you hear the boy continuing to pray to Iona, but it is cut short and replaced by the sound of gurgling blood. A light thud is heard hitting the dirt floor, followed by the otherworldly shriek of some bizarre aberration. An older gruff voice cries out in vain as the sound of something thin slicing through the air accompanies him.
Kayn takes a look through Sear's 'eyes'. Sear's echolocation gives you markedly improved vision. The dust particles obscure some of that, but looking to your left, you can see the dead body of a young boy, with a small emcayi perched on top of him. An older man, equipped with nothing but a sword, swings viciously at it. "It would be best to take a stand inside," Kayn says, returning to reality after peering into the scene with his familiar's eyes.
Vasha stepped out, into the cloud, straining her hardest to see through to the sky. "It's coming," she whispered.
Vesra speaks an incantation as she steps out just past the mouth. Holding her hands outstretched to the left, she conjures a compact funnel of wind and blasts it towards the direction of the otherworldly shriek. The cloud of dust quickly disperses as the wind blows through, revealing a grisly sight: the body of a young boy, quickly bleeding out, lies on the ground as a small creature, composed of a mass of writhing crimson and blue tentacles, lashes out at an old man who swings helplessly at it. Just to the right of that, you see the corpse of a woman. Her chest is flayed open, as if something exploded within her and the force blew outward, ripping through her chest cavity.
Kayn waves his wand quickly, aiming at the monstrosity in an attempt to divert its attention. Summoning a bolt of fire in his clawed hand, Kayn lets loose the torrent of heat as it blasts into the side of the creature, knocking it off balance and off the bleeding child as its tentacle swings wide and misses the old man. (23 to hit, 8 damage)
Jerrock charges forward with his massive weapon and cleaves the creature in two.
As soon as the wind dissipates the nearby dust cloud, Vesra rushes in right behind Jerrock in hopes of saving the boy. Her hands glowing with white mana, her momentum carries her across the dirt as she slides, placing her hands on the boy's head and sending healing energy throughout his body. With the creature devastated by Jerrock's blade, the old man collapses to the ground in tears, equally devastated. Moments pass, feeling like an eternity, but Vesra can see color coming back to the boy's cheeks as a pulse returns. Shallow at first, his breathing grows deeper and deeper as the seconds turn into a minute. At least there was one happy ending amidst the chaos of the situation.
Ato stays in the tunnel entrance as the other two rush out, intent on trying to save the child. Foolish, he thinks, to risk themselves. It's not likely he'll survive much longer anyway. Alert for any sign of danger coming out of the most, he holds his ground, guarding those who've stayed behind him.
The man, seeing life return to his soon, quickly swoops in, dropping the sword and scoops his son into his arms. He looks back at the woman with a flayed-open chest, a look of horror and despair on his face. Seeing the loss and pain, Vesra attempts to distract him. "Let's come inside the tunnel. It's safe in there." He nods his head slowly and goes inside with his son in his arms behind Ato.
Vasha continues to watch the sky... ... ...
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The group keeps to the mouth of the tunnel, huddled inside for protection against the yellow dust and as a defensible location should they be bombarded by enemies. A minute passes as the cries and the sound of battle passes. A second minute passes and the group notices that the sounds are beginning to die down... and that the cloud is starting to disperse as well. Within another minute, the cloud of yellow dust disperses, coating the ground and nearby surroundings in yellow. The sky up above shines a radiant blue... perhaps the only pleasant sight during the whole situation.
Casting their eyes down, the group gets a better understanding of their nearby surroundings. With the cloud dispersed now and the immediate battle ended, the group sees the flayed-chested woman and a large streak of blood going from her corpse to where the crimson and blue emcayi now lies dead.
The old man and his son, seeing the cloud disappear, rush towards the corpse of the woman with tears in their eyes as they hold onto each other. The man hugs his son as they try to process everything that has happened.
Vasha, seeing the sky clear, looks around the area a moment. Without a word, she then starts walking toward the caves where the Kor were finding shelter.
Seeing that Vasha is not returning, Jerrock jogs out after her, careful to avoid the smoke.
Kayn follows behind, Sear keeping watch from its perch on his pack. "Yellow..." he comments. "That's new."
Despite her fear of this unknown, Rezivah wasn't going to remain in this cave forever. Following the rest of the party, she wondered about Vasha's words, how she saw this happening before it came to be. She wondered if what she saw would come to life as well.
As the group follows behind Vasha and her silent wandering, shouting atop the northern wall can be heard amongst the guards. Quick to follow, the bell starts to ring, and those with more sensitive ears can hear the faint sound of droning and wailing coming from beyond the wall. A large man, equipped in exotic, gilded armor with long, dark hair, rushes past the group on their right as he winds his way through the canopy of yellowed tents and wagons. His voice, near magical, booms throughout the fort. "Archers! On me! To the northern wall!"
Kayn stops following Vasha, instead assuming a position over at the Northern Wall with the archers and the mysterious character. The goblin looks out from atop the wall, trying to get a glimpse of what's coming.
Vasha checks the sky again, then joins Kayn at the wall.
The two of you make your way towards the northern wall, winding through tents and other encampments. More corpses with chests flayed open lay on the ground with blood streaks leading from them to a dead emcayi... like a canvas painted with crimson and yellow by some demonic force. The wailing slowly grows louder as you get closer to the wall. Moving up one of the side staircases, you can hear the distinct twang! of bowstrings as they let loose a volley of arrows. Reaching the top of the wall, you peer north from atop the wooden palisades.
It might've been a pretty sight on a different day: the bottom of this ravine continues for about a quarter mile until the sand-covered bottom wraps around the red stone of this mountain pass and out of sight. Instead, you see a wave of bone-white creatures, their appearances eerily familiar to some of the local fauna found on Akoum, convulsing with blue, purple, and crimson tentacles and appendages. Some of them look like an amalgamation of several creatures warped and twisted together into some unknowable horror. Their drones and wailing echo across the red stone faces of the mountain, reverberating within your ears. The sound is otherworldly and horrifying as their screeches seem to mentally dig into your mind and souls.
And yet, looking past them, past this wave of over hundred emcayi spawn, the ground behind them is a grotesque visage. Swathes of flesh, rot, and decay coat the ground behind them... no... the ground behind them is swathes of rotten flesh, stretching down the quarter mile of ground and around the bend of the mountain. You reckon you only have seconds before this wave of emcayi crashes into the wall of Fort Keff.
Kayn casts mage armor upon himself and looks over to Vasha, saying, "Easy peasy, right?"
"What worries me are the Kor within the walls who are infected," Vasha replied. "What good would it do us to help here, if the enemy is already inside?"
Seeing Kayn cast a protective spell, Rezivah joins her comrades on the wall, and instantly regrets it. She choked on her own throat, casting the same spell. Why am I here?
"Go check on them," Kayn responds. "I'll be of more use here."
"There could be danger," Vasha said, frowning out at the sight below the wall. "I'd rather we all stick together."
By this point, the first volley of arrows impact into the wave, though they seem to have little effect. Like a hot knife dropped through butter, they soar through the foe, but that seems to be it. The figure in gilded armor grimaces as he looks around at the fort's options.
Overhearing Kayn's suggestion, he nods his head in approval. "I agree with the goblin. It's suicide to go down there, so if you don't have any ranged weapons, it's best to gather the survivors and get them to safety. I know of an underground river within the fort that leads south and away from here. Take them there and travel to the sea."
Vasha regarded the man in the gilded armor. "What I'm saying is that they might not be survivors. There is a cave of Kor refugees, many of them infected with that," she said as she pointed out at the creatures on the other side of the wall. "If that's the case, we're about to be overrun again. It could be a cave of death, and walking into it would be suicide."
Another volley of arrows, this one less angled, soars into the air. "Not all the wounded are infected," he says quickly. "Hold onto something!" he orders.
The wave of emcayi, coupled with their wailing and droning, crash into the wall, causing it to sway and shake under the force. You struggle to keep your footing amidst the chaos, but manage to hold on and not fall over or worse... off. A guard screams from one of the towers as his body flips over the barricade and down the wall into the mass of otherworldly flesh below. He is quickly silenced as they tear into him, causing the gilded figure to grimace.
Refugee Caves
Vasha placed a hand on Kayn's shoulder. "Stay alive," she said softly. Then she turned to the rest of the group, looking at them, one by one. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but found no words. She was trying to play leader, and she knew she was failing at it. Why do I even try? she thought to herself. Closing her mouth, she silently moved in the direction of the cave, allowing her companions to make their own decisions.
Ato had followed Vasha out into the Fort, into the yellow dust, all that remained of the initial assault. Walking the streets, he'd looked impassively on at the death littering the streets. So much chaos, he thought. Does Cosi himself play some role in this? When the tolling of the bells began, he had joined the others on the wall, watching in horror at the wave of emcayi that approached, wondering if it was his death he was observing. When the archer spoke of the underground river as a path to escape and buy more time, he nodeed. Vasha, as was typical, seemed to see little hope, but from what she had said, not everyone was infected by the taint. There were those who could be saved. And those who died, who turned? They could be slain again. That they had seen. "I will go with Vasha," he stated. "We can try to save some of these people, even if it only prolongs the inevitable." Turning to the kor monk, he added "Have some faith, in whatever gods your people follow. Not all here today can be doomed to die. A cleansing may be coming, I don't know, but it can't be the end. What purpose is served by building all this only to destroy it again?"
Jerrock pulled out his great sword and followed Vasha. He was useless on the wall. At least in the cave he might do some good.
While the battle rages on outside, the rest of the group follows Vasha through the winding tunnels towards the cave of her people... of her father. Arriving at the mouth, the sound of crying echoes down the tunnel. Peering into the cave, you can see the obvious signs of battle. Several bodies, with chests flayed open, lie on the ground, covered in blood. Corpses abound as well, and you can see them being gathered up and moved to one of the walls. Your father, Velan, is being bandaged up by one of the white-robed kor, his hands firmly clenched to a pair of kor hooks as his eyes dart around the room. They lock eyes with Vasha's, and the group can see the tears and confusion well up as he sits their speechless.
Vasha walks forward, slowly, hooks at the ready. Approaching Velan, she says, "What happened here?" Her eyes scan the room, looking for enemies, but more interested in those with the chalky wounds. Looking around, she saw that many of those with chalky wounds lie dead... some due to emcayi bursting from their chests, though most were killed in the slaughter following, unable to defend themselves. And yet some still lie huddled around the cavern wall, carrying makeshift weapons in any effort to defend themselves. Velan looks up to Vasha from sitting on the ground with a heavy heart. "They started complaining of pain... excruciating pain in their chest. Our healers tried to help, but nothing seemed to work. Their cries of pain were cut short by a...." His face goes blank as he stares out into the open. "Vasha... I've never heard such a shriek. No creature I've encountered has made such a noise. It seemed to rattle within my mind." He takes a deep breath and finishes, "These.. things... these demons... they started bursting out of some of the wounded. Tentacles... claws... they immediately assaulted us."
Vasha scanned the room. "The wounded, everyone with the white chalky wounds, they are all dead?"
Velan shakes his head. "No, a few are still alive. Our healers can't seen to cure whatever that chalk is. It resists both herb and magic we've used."
Vasha's eyes narrowed. "We have to destroy them," she said, over her shoulder to those that followed her.
In the caves, Ato takes in the scene of the slaughter. Nodding as the man explains what happened, even the stoic mer is surprised at Vasha' s cold response. He closes his eyes, knowing that she is right. As hard an act as that may be, their deaths can be made swift and painless, ultimately saving many more lives. "I can do it, so that you don't have to," he offers in an even voice. "As easily as possible for them." He looks to Velan for his response.
Jerrock suggests, “Do you have herbs that can put them to sleep? Though this death is a mercy, they should not have to see their own end coming.”
"Do not mistake my suggestion as a mercy," Vasha said coldly. "There are people laying slaughtered in the streets, because of the wounded you thought to bring here. If those still alive are allowed to remain, more will die." She gave Velan a hard look. "A real leader would know this."
Velan rises unsteadily to his feet. "Yes, Vasha. It is a last resort, but you are right. I pray to Kamsa they will understand."
"And a real leader wouldn't just kill their own people," Vesra spat angrily at her sister's coldness. "I cured you, I can cure these people, as well." She quickly turned away, and made her way to where the wounded lay, weaving her healing magic.
Vasha looked away, ashamed. She knew she had let her personal feelings get in the way of what she knew to be right. Then something occurred to her. "Where's the boy?" she asked Velan, looking for the little brother she'd only discovered earlier that day. Searching around the room, Vasha looked for her half-brother. She spotted him along the wall, slowly backing away from one of the wounded. She searched the wounded's faces, only to find a mix of fear, confusion, and understanding amongst them. They easily overheard the conversation as their lives were bartered and balanced.
Vasha sighed and made her way over to Vaekyr. "Hey," she said, standing awkwardly over him for a moment, before crouching down to look him in the face. She pulled off the mask, so her face was visible. "You okay?"
His hands shake steadily and uncontrollably, as much as he tries to get it to stop. Vasha realized this four-year old just witnessed those he grew up with explode, releasing monstrosities that killed others he knew... and something like this also had only happened days before. It's clear he's traumatized for the ordeal. "Are... are they gonna let monsters out too?" he asks as he his right hand moves towards a sheathed dagger at his waist.
"No," Vasha said, putting a hand on his right arm. "Vesra... your sister... will cure them." She turned the boy so he was facing her. "Just like she cured me." Holding out her arms, she pointed to the faintly visible scars. "I used to be like them. She's going to cure everyone, and we are going to get you all to safety. I promise."
He looks down at himself, feeling his chest. "Can I be cured?"
Vasha looks at him confused. "Show me."
He lifts up his shirt, and you see smooth, alabaster skin above young muscles.
"You're going to be fine," Vasha said softly, pulling Vaekyr into a hug. She drew upon the reserve of mana she felt deep within her, dumping the healing power into the boy. A soft glow surrounded them both for a moment, then dissipated. Pulling away, Vasha smiled at him. "See? All better."
He smiles. "Thanks, Vashie. I think I do feel better." Vasha looks down at his hands and notices that they no longer tremble like they did. Even if it was all psychological, she knows that it helped calm him down.
Vasha takes Vaekyr by the hand and leads him back to Valen. She looks him over a moment before speaking. "Are you well enough to travel? We need to get the survivors to safety." She paused a moment, scowling. "You included."
Vesra makes her way to each of the wounded, gathering white mana to heal their wounds and cleanse them from the chalky disease which afflicts them. Stopping to meditate occasionally and draw more mana into herself, within a few minutes, the rest of the wounded are cured, bearing faces flooded with relief and gratitude. "You've saved us." "We are forever in your debt, daughter of the Somnaho." They whisper and sign phrases like these to Vesra, casting cold, though ultimately understanding glances, to Vasha. Vaekyr grabs Vasha's hand, squeezing it for comfort as the group and these refugees make their way out of the cavern and into the main fort.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
The Wall
Kayn fires off volley after volley of Fire Bolts at the army of creatures as they charge and hit the wall. "Go!" Kayn calls out. "We'll hold them back as much as we can!" His spectral tendrils are waving in the air as he says this.
Vasha placed a hand on Kayn's shoulder. "Stay alive," she said softly. Then she turned to the rest of the group, looking at them, one by one. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but found no words. She was trying to play leader, and she knew she was failing at it. Why do I even try? she thought to herself. Closing her mouth, she silently moved in the direction of the cave, allowing her companions to make their own decisions.
Ato had followed Vasha out into the Fort, into the yellow dust, all that remained of the initial assault. Walking the streets, he'd looked impassively on at the death littering the streets. So much chaos, he thought. Does Cosi himself play some role in this? When the tolling of the bells began, he had joined the others on the wall, watching in horror at the wave of emcayi that approached, wondering if it was his death he was observing. When the archer spoke of the underground river as a path to escape and buy more time, he nodeed. Vasha, as was typical, seemed to see little hope, but from what she had said, not everyone was infected by the taint. There were those who could be saved. And those who died, who turned? They could be slain again. That they had seen. "I will go with Vasha," he stated. "We can try to save some of these people, even if it only prolongs the inevitable." Turning to the kor monk, he added "Have some faith, in whatever gods your people follow. Not all here today can be doomed to die. A cleansing may be coming, I don't know, but it can't be the end. What purpose is served by building all this only to destroy it again?"
Jerrock pulled out his great sword and followed Vasha. He was useless on the wall. At least in the cave he might do some good.
Unsure of what to do, Rezivah stays back with the goblin and follows suit, but instead of unleashing balls of flame, she weaves slashing hands of black mana (chill touch) and tries to do as much as she can. "Kayn, if the wall becomes lost, I can fly us out of here in the way of our friends!"
Kayn nods, continuing his assault. He makes it a point to take cover when possible, firing from an advantageous position. He's seen that these creatures can launch dagger-like shards and he has no intention of being hit.
Rezivah and Kayn blasted away at the sick abominations, surging mana through their bodies as they channeled it down below. To their right, the gilded figure closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as tendrils of metal flowed out of his gauntlets, sliding out to about arm's length. White mana pulsed through his body while his skin took on a crystalline appearance. Soon, his whole body was radiating light and as hard as a diamond. With a sigh, he leapt off the battlement into the middle of the fray below. His tendrils pierced through the carapaces of two adjacent emcayi, tearing them to shreds as he began his dance of death at the base of the battlement.
And while his actions drew the attention of many of the emcayi; yeah, while they turned from their assault on the battlement towards him, there remained emcayi still who continued advancing, launching volley's of fragmented chitin towards the wall. Kayn and Rezivah, having battled similar creatures before, ducked behind cover, but several of the fort's archers let out cries of anguish as their lives were snuffed out by the assault of the emcayi. Getting back up, the two of you notice a sizeable contingent of emcayi, a little less than a dozen, are quickly scaling the cliff-face to breach the wall.
Kayn spots the Emcayi climbing the cliffs and focuses his fire there. Seeing that they're about to peak the cliff-side, he hurls a huge ball of fire in their direction. "Not yet..." he whispers. "They need more time."
Kayn conjures forth a small mote of flame, channeling and compressing as much red mana as he can. He launches it towards the wall-scaling emcayi, aiming for their center. Soaring through the air, it erupts into an inferno of flame as it impacts the wall, lighting ablaze all of the emcayi. They shriek and they cry out from the flames, and Kayn sees their flaming corpses slowly fall off the wall, one by one, landing onto the ground below. At the end of it all, none remain, his flames burning their and searing their twisted flesh.
Rezivah eyes the goblin. He always impressed her, and this feat of fiery magic did so once again. Still slashing and clawing down below with black ethereal claws, she asks him, "How many times can you do that?"
Grunting as he unleashes another fire bolt, Kayn responds, "Just one other. Lets hope they don't catch on..."
By this point, Kayn and Rezivah notice the attention the gilded figure's actions are drawing from the emcayi. More and more relent their attack on the wall to join in trying to consume this whirlwind of blade and death. Slowly and surely, the number of the emcayi begin to dwindle.
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While the arrows did little to stop the advance of the emcayi swarm, Rezivah's and Kayn's spells tipped the tides in the fort's favor, as those emcayi that the mysterious, gilded figure didn't attract with his dance were sundered by their fire and necrotic energy. Vasha, her group, and the refugees they saved entered the main fort as cheers rang out. Piles of rosy flesh seeping with silver blood slowly grew outside the fort at the base of the wall as the figure's bladed whip came to a standstill.
While the fort might have been saved, the toll was high. From atop the battlements, Kayn and Rezivah could see the devastation just this horde had left on the land. Desecration and sick flesh followed these creatures in their wake, distorting the landscape and ruining it. Could this valley even be cured? Would the flesh ever wither away, returning back to its natural form of sand and rock? The questions were disturbing; their answers elusive.
A rope ladder was hung down for the gilded warrior, now worn, battered, and bloody, and he made his way to the top of the battlements. Evidenced by his gloomful appearance as he looked back at the carnage, he too wondered those same questions. Turning his attention to Kayn, and Rezivah, he bowed his head. "Your magic was crucial to saving the lives of the people at this fort. They've seen too much... witnessed too much death to have to go through it all over again."
He glances out to the inside of the fort, overlooking the mutilated corpses and scared faces. "Hope is not gone," he cries out to those below. "Those of us here remain, and we will rebuild... regrow... strengthened from this harrowing ordeal. Let us see to the dead and deal with them customarily." He begins to make his way across the battlement, tending to the soldiers wounded in the attack.
Emerging from the cave, Vasha glanced about, searching for her compatriots. Spotting Kayn and Rezivah, still at the wall, she pulled her mask back over her face and began to make her way toward them. Squeezing Vaekyr's hand, saying, "Stay close to me. Do not wander."
Jerrock watches as the Kor survivors follow Vasha and Vesra out. It is a meager band, but at least some remain. He takes up a rear guard position, silently vowing to do everything he can to protect these few. Rezivah turns away, unable to face the horrific devastation, looking back into the fort. She sees the kor sisters, along with the rest of their contingent. She sighs meagerly, presuming of the responsibility she and her comrades were about to make, and steps down the wall. Once close enough, she asks Vasha, "So, what of these survivors? We lead them to refuge?"
"I don't know," Vasha said, quietly. "Is anywhere safe now? If those creatures are free upon the world..." she paused, letting the thought hang on the air. "Vesra cured the remaining survivors. There should be no more creatures inside the walls. What of those outside?"
"That man faced the wave head-on. Kayn and I assisted, and we held the wall, but the land is lost," Rezivah answered, not sure where to go from there. "It seems that was all of the monsters for now. He's now tending to the wounded, if you wish to speak to him."
Vasha released a sigh. How she wished her sister wasn't a 13 year old, so people would take her seriously. "I... guess we should. This might be the safest place for the refugees, if there are more creatures out there." Vasha will then lead the group of refugees toward the mystery man.
Kayn follows the mysterious hero across the ramparts. "More will come," he whispers to the man, trying to get his attention. "Until the titan is slain, they will continue to attack."
As Kayn walks up to the man, he sees him bend down to a wounded guard. A thick piece of chitin shrapnel sticks protrudes out of his shoulder, soaking the garments around it in blood. The figure bends down, his right hand aglow, and pulls out the shard of chitin. Tossing it down below, he places his right hand over the wounded man. The man lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Gideon. We'd all be dead without your efforts," he expresses. Kayn's words bring a response that might surprise him. "More will always come," Gideon starkly states. "That is the nature of evil." As he speaks to Kayn and Vasha approaches, a silence and stillness seems to fill the ravine the fort rests in. Like an overcast day, the colors begin to dull, no longer as vibrant and bright as they were moments before. "What do you know about this titan?" he asks, examining his surroundings.
"Nothing," Kayn responds. "Only that these Emcayi all come from a titan. These ones leave a trail of decay... the ones we killed in the past would leave a trail of white..." Kayn spends a moment thinking of a word to describe it. "Ash," he says finally.
"People infected can be cured," Vasha spoke up. "Using magic. Vesra cured the infected in the caves. We were too late, however. These refugees need somewhere safe to go."
He raises an eyebrow as Kayn uses the term emcayi, but says nothing. Contemplating for a moment, he follows with a question while Vasha approaches and makes her case, "What do you know about the Blind Eternities?" Gideon nods his head at Vasha's concern as he looks into the refugees faces. "Yes, they do. As do you, white-one. This fort is killed with refugees, all who need protection. When they are done mourning their dead, I plan to lead us south through the river-tunnels. There is a.... surrakar? I believe that is what they're called. He knows the way through the tunnels and can guide us to safety." His ears twitch for a moment as he looks north once again, peering down the valley.
Vasha looks around for a few moments, as if focusing on something. "Do you hear that?"
Kayn seems deep in thought at Gideon's question. He gets like this when he's having an internal conversation with the speckormerelf. "The place between the stars," Kayn finally comments. "The Blind Eternities... you say they are summoned? Like how strong managic is used to summon beasts?"
"Quiet," Vasha said, placing a hand on Kayn's shoulder. She turned her attention back to the sky, asking again, "Do you hear that? That humming noise?"
Either Vasha's words fell on deaf ears, or Gideon's evident surprise was such that he didn't focus on what she said. "Oh?" he exclaims. "I didn't realize those not..." He pauses at Vasha's question.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
It wasn't supposed to end like this. Your life. You could've chosen something calm. Something easy. You could've lived the life of a farmer in Bala Ged. The weather is pleasant this time of year after all. Much better than this arid, sun-scorched abyss you're currently in. Or perhaps you could've been a scholar, working under the merfolk at the Lighthouse of Sea Gate, quietly spending your time in peace and solace as you read through books and ancient knowledge of the Eldrazi civilization and their golden age.
Not staring at the sky, watching a mountain be torn apart like it was a piece of paper.
Vasha's question hung in the air for only a split second before a sound like thunder came crashing from the north. The ground quakes and rumbles as you turn to see one of the peaks along the northern mountain range get ripped from the rest of its majestic form and tossed upward into the air by a pink mass. As if it had rested on some invisible object, it comes to a stop, floating high in the air above where it once proudly stood.
And then She appeared on the horizon.
A creature, hideous in form, slowly rose up from behind the mountain range. A crown of claws adorned its head, as if it was some behemoth queen. Like the carapace of some kraken, its indigo shell was split down the middle, revealing a fleshy latticework of pink and purple tentacles, writhing and convulsing within each other as they extended downward. A glowing purple light shone through a hollow section within the tentacles, pulsating on queue to the humming Vasha heard. As it continued to rise, the tentacles continued to grow. Hundreds... no, thousands of tentacles branched out from its titanous figure as it soared into the dim sky, higher and higher. Monstrous tentacles, as large as the thick jaddi trees in Murasa, sprouted from the base of this titan, extending hundreds of feet below its main figure. They wrapped around the mountain, and with a simple constriction broke it. Like clumped sand in a toddler's hand, the mountain turned to rubble. The floating peak turned to rubble. Everything around this otherworldly figure turned to rubble. And from rubble, to sand. And from sand, to dust. All around her was dust.
Your minds grew numb as you stared at this phantasmal thing of madness. Her tentacles slowly dragged across the landscape, shattering the ground and turning it into some barren crater. The redness of the stone drained at her passing. The sky itself grew grey and void as her towering structure blasted its reality. Life was void in her presence.
A droning, faint at first, grew louder and louder as she drew closer and closer. Soon nothing else could be heard but this horrible incessant droning, like your ears had been pressed up against the wings of a giant cicada and forced to listen to the creature for all of eternity. Unending, you lose your ability to focus... to concentrate and think. Suddenly it stops, and a single word is uttered from within the deep recesses of your mind by the cold, dark voice of a woman.
"Perfection."