The Undying Dragons - Campaign Thread

Marrin stiffens and then looks over at the filth familiar. She glances around looking to see where Jan is before looking back at the thing getting her shoulder dirty and answering quietly,

"I guess so. Is this Jan or did you learn to talk?"

"Excellent! I'm able to connect through K at much greater distances... would have been handy a few days ago, they wouldn't have had to run nearly as many notes back and forth! I'll come back, just needed to test the range a bit."

Jan comes skimming back, her legs unfolding as she slows, touching the ground as she smoothly walks back towards Marrin.

"I can send K on to the Wish and let Bigge and the crew know we've made other travel arrangements."

"I also seem to have found a way to fly without needing to cast a spell!"

Ava watches in stunned surprise as Jan flies away, but then hears Marrin talk to her shoulder and waits to hear what is going on.  Once she does, "Well, that's great news on both accounts.  Though I'll miss Bigge and the crew, hopefully we catch up with them again at some point."

Vonth...

     Vonth watches.
     And Vonth waits.

     He tries not to stare. There is a difference. Staring invites reaction. Watching gathers truth. He lets his gaze drift past faces rather than settle on them, relying on the edge of his vision, keeping his expression carved from stone.

     Still, there is strangeness here.

     Magic flares as casually as a cook might strike flint. Words are spoken and the world answers. Distances fold. Speed sharpens. Objects vanish and return as if the space between them were no more than mist. It is difficult not to blink—to test whether what he sees is real.

     He does not comment.

     He will adapt.

     The mountains taught him that survival is not stubbornness alone. Stone that never yields can shatter under enough force. Snow bends to the wind and remains. He remembers the stories told around Ogelellum fires—of far lands where magic flowed like rivers, of red-robed people who drank deeply from those currents, of warriors who learned to stand within that flow without being swept away.

     The Ogelellum did not dam the river. They let it pass.
      But they refused to be worn down by it.

     You bend.
     You do not break.

     So Vonth watches.
     And learns.

As a combination of Vonth using the horses and some stones, Marrin melting snow through magic, and Solomona making snowballs that he munches on absently while watching Jan fly up into the air, the snow is cleared.

Soren measures out a circular area about 10’ across.

“We can try and bring the horses, but the gateway will only stay active for 6 seconds. I think that’s only going to be enough time for all of us to go through.”

He goes over to Geffroi and talks to him for a moment. Geffroi looks through his pouch that he keeps his writing materials in and pokes around for a few moments before he pulls out a piece of chalk and some of the ink he had been keeping for Ethel.

Soren traces the outline of the circle and then begins drawing sigils along the outside of the circle.

Just before he fills the entire ring with the sigils he looks at the group.

“Ready? Like I said, this will only be open for 6 seconds. If we don’t all go through, we’ll be separated by at least a thousand miles and I won’t be able to get back here. We need a permanent circle for that.”

Seeing the group has all of their gear and that Jan has settled back down to ground, Soren takes a breath and draws the last sigil.

At that moment the sigil runes all begin to glow with a shimmering, arcane light. The space inside the circle fills with a swirling mist with ripples of white light highlighting the dense fog.

Hammerdasher looks at the group then nods to Geffroi. The pair step quickly into the mist and disappear. Ula follows immediately after, then Soren, who waves at the party to move.

As everyone else steps into the mist, a quick sharp crack of sound erupts as air rushes to fill space, ears pop violently like when you change altitude quickly. For a brief moment, nausea roils your stomachs, even Vonth’s as your inner ears struggle to catch up with your eyes. A crushing weight on your chest and then the ground feels like it tilts for a moment, but no one falls over.

In the next moment, the temperature jumps. What had felt like the iciest of cold winter days has changed to a cool spring afternoon. The faint scent of ozone gives way to the strong smells of pine and cedar needles.

The mists clear and the group find themselves just a few feet from those that went through the portal first.

Dark pine woods are all around on the slopes of a mountain valley; the air is cold and fresh. Two ancient stones stand to either side of you, and no more than a bowshot ahead along a path is a large house, with stone on the ground floor, timbers above. Within sight are more standing stones.

Pine branches shift and sway in a gusting, fitful wind. A squirrel chitters and then falls silent.

The house looks old, even ancient. It has a wood and plaster upper floor over a fieldstone lower floor. Its shuttered windows are all closed. In places, the roof is overgrown with moss. A single door stands slightly open. Smoke pours from one of three large chimneys.

Two outbuildings, also of wood and stone, can just be seen around the back of the house and to the side.

Hammerdasher looks around and frowns.

“What happened, Soren? This isn’t Starmantle. Where are we?”

Soren takes a deep breath and then lets the air out slowly.

“No, no it’s not.” Soren says. “But there’s someone here who wants to talk to you.”

As the circle becomes alive and people start going through it, Avaria finds she is starting to have second thoughts.  This is unlike any other magic she's seen... true, her friends have made her invisible before... oh stop it!  She panics and runs forward through the circle before she is left behind without her friends.

She stares up at the huge house, relishing in the cold mountain air, not even thinking that they could possibly be in the wrong area.  As Hammderdasher brings it to light, Ava looks at Soren in confusion.  But then he confirms it.  He dares confirm he tricked them!

Still in an emotional state from losing Ethel, the shifter marches at Soren, "What do you mean, we aren't where you said we are going?  We... we were wrong to question you back at that dark tower, weren't we?  I thought.. I thought and felt so guilty that we ever doubted you and now this?!  How could you!" her eyes narrow at that last part, her arms starting to reach for the half-elf, her fingers twitching, wanting to grab hold of him.  But then she sees she already has gripped hold of his arms, fury just barely being held at bay as she shakes the man.

Soren holds his hands up as Avaria approaches and while he lets her grab hold for a moment, he slips from her grip and steps back.

"Mak'ral was not your friend. He's a priest of the darkness that is coming. He showed his true colours in the tower." Soren says. Then he gestures to the house. "These people and their group, they're all that can stop that darkness from swallowing all of Faerun."

Something in what Soren says reminds Jan of a dream she had about the desert.

((Initiative if you want to really grab hold and keep him from moving)).

Marrin will make sure the horses are stripped of anything that would result in them dying, points them towards the prison and gives them a swat to get them moving.

After crossing through, her initial relief at being out of the cold is replaced by another cold shock when Hammerdasher asks Soren what is going on.

While Ava expresses her own thoughts on this newest betrayal, Mar just shakes her head.

"Every time. Every. Single. Time. We can't trust anyone."

As she turns to see what new trap they've landed in her eyes land on Von and Sol,

"And I suppose you two work for Soren too? Part of this entire setup no doubt."

As Ava moves towards anger, Mar is just embracing the bitter.

"Nope. I've had enough. You can take whatever this," she waves her hand at the house, "and shove it Soren."

She turns in a direction opposite the house and says,

"Let's go. We've probably got a hike."

Jan has left K'oshash behind to scoot the horses in the direction of the prison before they head towards the Wish. She's grateful that she can still communicate with him after the teleport, checking in to inform them that Soren has betrayed the party and teleported them somewhere to his own ends, but to continue on to the ship. If she has need of K'oshash before reaching the ship, she'll recall them.

Meanwhile, her hand is clutching her dagger as she's in a rather stabby mood, and while Marrin strides away from Soren, she's not so easy turning her back on him, instead backing away. Once she gets out of easy stabbing distance, her hand drifts off it to blasting position, her eyes flicking to her other long term companions and giving them a head nod as she trails Marrin, as if to encourage them to follow.

Vonth...

     As Vonth passes through the edge of the magic and is torn from one place to another in the space of a heartbeat, he discovers that even instant travel allows time for his stomach to revolt. It lurches. His throat tightens. He swallows hard and wills it to settle.

     He would not call himself a fan of traveling this way.

     Still—if it has carried him far from the prison, he will not complain.

     He blinks, taking in his new surroundings without expectation. He did not know what their destination was so was unable to be surprised by it.

     What he did not expect was immediate chaos.

     Avaria—who only hours before shared quiet watch with him—is nearly tackling Soren. Martin looks betrayed, sharp-eyed and accusing, turning that suspicion toward Solomona and then to Vonth himself.

     “ I work for none but myself,” Vonth replies, calm and even. No heat. No defense.

     His hands drift away from his weapons, deliberately open at his sides. He stands at ease.

     “Whatever this kerfuffle is… it is your kerfuffle. Not mine.”

     He does not move.

     Only his eyes shift—measuring distance, reading posture, assessing moods. His ears strain to catch every word while his body remains still as stone.

     He will not step into a fight that is not his.

     But he will be ready if it becomes one.

Marrin does glance back at Von to say,

"Wouldn't have pegged you as a 'kerfuffle' guy."

Before she keeps on walking.

Ava lets Soren slip through her grip, but just barely.  Her anger is at war with her confusion and then she sees her friends start to walk away.  Turning back to Soren, "But to trick us? Is that how to convince us that you were right? After all you know we have been through..." She takes a moment to gather herself, worried that the rage will just break through.  She stands there and stares at Soren, finding herself unable to move.

Solomona looks from the strange house, to Soren, then to Marrin already walking away. He exhales softly, then calls out: Aue! Hey cousin... Let’s slow the feet a moment, eh.

The big man is usually so quiet... just smiling and relaxed and carefree. Now his voice remains slow and soft-spoken, but somehow more earnest... and certainly more words than he has spoken in one go so far...

Soren helped us back at the prison. No tricks there. If he meant us harm, we’d be behind bars. Or dead maybe. He’s been a bit slippery, sure. Not ideal. But slippery doesn’t always mean dangerous, eh? Sometimes it just means... complicated. A small shrug. We’ve come this far together already. Would be a shame to split up on a doorstep before we even knock. Let’s hear him out first. We can always walk away after. But once you walk off in anger, it’s harder to walk back in peace. Like the Tome of Lathander says: ‘A closed door gathers no moss.’ 

Then more directly to Marrin, he adds: You don't gotta trust him yet. Just… listen. That costs nothing. And if it turns ugly, I’ll walk out with you. Promise.

Marrin doesn't stop walking and just speaks louder as she goes,

"I don't know you from a random stranger, your vouching for Soren isn't worth much. Benefit of the doubt, you're new to all this but let me just say, we've heard it before and just 'walking away' after hasn't been an option."

She does look to see who, if anyone, is coming with her at this point. She gives a half smile to see Jan but that disappears when she sees Ava isn't coming.

Vonth...

     Vonth remains planted where he stands, feet set, unwilling to throw himself into a quarrel he does not understand.

     He listens as Solomona tries to smooth the edges, to find some middle ground. The effort is cut down quickly by Martin’s sharp refusal. Vonth pivots slightly toward the wide one and offers a small shrug—sympathy without commentary.

     Then, after a moment, he speaks.

     “Kerfuffle,” he says, testing the word again. “A big bother over nothing, yes?”

     A pause.

     “Did I choose wrong word?”

     His tone is steady, almost curious. Whether it is an attempt at humor or simply a linguistic inquiry is difficult to tell.

     Perhaps both.

Mar gives Von a low thumbs up on the definition.

Marrin, turning from the house and starting to walk away takes in the difficulty of the task ahead. There's no sign of a road or trail. The pine forest is thick and the mountains seem to rise up in all directions. At least she can get an idea of general direction given where the sun is in the sky, but is it any better to head north versus south?

Soren is quiet for a moment and then just shakes his head.

"They'll hunt you if you leave, and they'll find you before you get far." He says, somewhat sadly. Then he takes a breath. Looks over at Solomona, only now trying to figure out how an open or closed door could gather moss and which of the two options would be beneficial before continuing. "They're not going to let you take the chest."

The half-elf looks at Avaria and smiles.

"It was a job. I was hired to keep an eye on you. Get the chest. Decide where you stood in all that is going on," Soren says. Then his face hardens a little. "And kill you if you looked to be leaning to the side of the Order of Osiris. And I was happy to decide that was not the case. Though, well, I might not be able to say that about Ethel any more."

Then he gestures at Jan.

"But you've kept the chest well guarded. So the back up was to eventually bring you here."

All of the party, on edge and expecting anything hear movement in the woods to the side of the house (opposite the side where you can see two outbuildings).

"Right, just threats. Never a choice to walk away."

Marrin stops and turns to look at Soren with defiance. She walks back to where Jan is covering them and places a hand on her lifted blasting arm and gently pushes it down.

She leans in to Jan and whispers,

Before smiling broadly and saying,

"But I plan to run."

Before they both disappear.

Marrin's words spur Jan into action, and as they both vanish, she's going to do her best to get as far away from Soren and his 'employers'.

Vonth...

     The first time Vonth moves after the teleportation is when he hears Soren say, “They’ll hunt you if you leave.”

     That is enough.

     Vonth’s hand drops to the hilt of his sword as he steps forward, placing himself squarely between Soren and those preparing to go—Marrin and Jan. His movement is smooth, deliberate, not rushed, but unmistakably protective.

     “Any hunt will be bloody,” Vonth says to Soren, voice low and even. Not a threat. A statement of consequence.

     He does not see Marrin and Jan vanish, his attention is fixed on Soren—the source of the warning, and therefore the danger.

     Vonth hears movement—not from behind him, where he would have expected Marrin and Jan retreating into the snow, but from along the side of the building. He cannot yet see who—or what—moves there. He assumes reinforcements. Soren would not issue a warning without teeth behind it.

     Vonth does not turn.  His focus remains on Soren.

     “There is still time to do this peacefully,” he says evenly. “If that is what you wish.”