Akkron: All patrons shuffle and stare at you. Three kobalds and a redcap at the bar all give you the side-eye from behind their tankards. A rune-lit booth of banderhands and boggles gossip over abandoned meals. A humanoid in a raven mask suddenly sobers from their spot on the floor. The ambient music, once an easy-listening ballad, plummets into a slow, minor drawl as an air genasi working a harmonica redirects his attention. Rough floorboards creek under your skeletal steps.
Akkron takes a moment to meet every gaze with his empty eye sockets as he steps into the room. His robe billow around him in a wind that isn't actually there as he deliberately walks through the cluttered space. If anyone has a problem with him, they can say it to his face or forever hold their peace.
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There is some standing room at the bar and a table that’s mostly empty save for a stack of, plates, and coats if you want to blend in more or you can stand in a corner menacingly as the music slowly begins to resume its pace.
"Come on, Dabbert," Akkron says. "Let's find somewhere to sit. That spot over there by the plates looks like as good a spot as any."
The lich takes his seat, then pulls out his Pipe of Smoke Monsters and takes takes a few puffs, paying little heed to the patrons of the bar who are still looking at him. Sîr will probably explain where they need to go next when he's ready.
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Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
A spectator from behind the bar floats up to your table.
Welcome to The Only Bar In Town. My name’s Jeff; I’m the chef; I can make you food and water as an action. Unfortunately it’s not gonna be very good cause a wizard summoned me into existence and then locked me in a dungeon to guard some treasure or something. Then no one showed up and the dungeon collapsed and I ended up here so the culinary experience ain’t that great. But it’s only 10🌱 a pop, so what’s it’s gonna be?
Dab does his best to maintain a low profile as they cross the room, trying not to make eye contact or bump into anyone (or anything) or do anything that would otherwise draw attention. He's not sure where they are or what they're doing, save for following Sir and gathering information, and this is definitely not what he expected.
When the Beholder-thing floats up and announces itself as Jeff, Dabbert almost jumps. He can't believe it, and moreso...a chef?
"I uh..." Dab says, looking at Jeff and then around the room. "Uhm...what do you have to drink..."
He thinks for a moment, still glancing fleetingly around the room.
"I'm afraid I don't have a stomach, so food and drink would be of little use to me," Akkron tells the Beholder. "But if you happen to have any exotic tobaccos or other things that can be smoked, I would be quiteinterested."
Akkron takes a moment to scan the room, letting a puff of smoke escape the pipe which takes the form of a Beholder briefly before fading into the air.
"Bridgette would love this place,"Akkron muses. "Perhaps I should have asked her to come along, she's a much better orator than I ever was."
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Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
The floating head shrugs without shoulders. “The heck if I know but if you see some moron with a beard and pointy hat give him a knuckle sandwich for me. You wanna drink you’re gonna want Thuzgon.
The eyeball monster whistles through his teeth and a collection of slime, bones, and flasks seeps up from the floorboards and thunks down two glasses expectantly.
“It’s still 10🌱 but it does taste better than the food and has the added benefit of getting you drunk.”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Dabbert pauses as the two glasses are thunked down in front of him. He studies them for a moment, and it's not secret he's deciding if he's going to touch them at all or not, let alone drink them. Once he's studied them for a couple of seconds, he shifts his focus to the pile of...the...well whatever the *#&% that is that set the drinks down.
"So uh..." He says, shrugging finally and picking up one of the mugs to examine it closer. Smell it. Look into the drink and see what's in it...if anything. He speaks directly to the slime thing. "What uh...what...what's your story?"
Investigation of the Drinks:10 Passive Investigation: 16
(OOC: I still don't know how and when the DM will have my character enter the campaign, but in the meantime I thought I'd make a post which explains, at least, the reasons why she will join - I'll put it in a spoiler, so those who prefer not to know anything don't read it, while those who are curious to read... well, they can)
The blue eyes open slowly, while on her face, partially decorated by some of the long blond curls that ended up there while she was sleeping, a satisfied smile appears, as she hears the cheerful background noise of children playing.
The woman's athletic body stretches slowly as she thinks: 'Yondra and Sarvin always wake up early... as I always did at their age!'she then realizes it's barely dawn 'And as I still do, for that matter'.
Tall as she is, while stretching, with her long legs she inevitably ends up brushing against the elf lying in bed next to her... an elf with blond hairs combed back behind his ears, whose eyes are veiled by a layer of black powdered ash that extends like a mask from ear to ear and who has two mysterious blue tattoos on the left side of his face.
The slight touch is enough to jolt the elf out of his resting trance.
He smiles, then pulls her in close to feel her warmth, whispering: "Good morning Khessa. I could stay here forever, my dear, but I think we should get up. You know what our two children are capable of, when we leave them too long unsupervised..."
"Yes, I know Jasper..." Khessa smiles again "Sometimes I think they are more half-fiend than half-elves! But luckily Anator is already with them - I just checked telepathically".
"We are really lucky" admits the elf "to always be able to count on the help of your brother".
As they begin to prepare, Khessa is not wearing her ordinary clothes, the one that the inhabitants of Phandalin usually see her in every day. She is wearing her best armor. And she declares, as she does: "I've dreamed of him again, Jasper. It's the third time in a row. Now you're convinced it's not a coincidence? Not an absurd dream caused by the fact that I ate too much cabbage? (Also because you should know, by now, that there is no concept of 'too much', with cabbage)... It's a request of help from him. It's Master Akkron. He needs me, Jasper".
"And I should stay here..." the elf recapitulates a conclusion to which the two must have arrived in the course of previous speeches.
"Someone has to look after the children" she explains. "When you had to help the Evermeet elves with that problem involving the Feywild, that role fell to me..."
"I don't trust that undead very much, Khessa..." Jasper sighs, but clearly with little conviction in his chances of changing the woman's mind.
"You are biased against the undead" Khessa reminds him softly. "It's understandable, given the trouble those... moonlike-shadows... had given your sisters... and you saw that I didn't hesitate to help you destroy those monsters! But Master Akkron is different. His help was essential, when we were trying to free my family from the drow of the Underdark..."
"He had his reasons to help you" Jasper begins to point out. "He was also seeking revenge for..."
"I know," Khessa admits. "But can you blame him? Considering what had happened to him! I was satisfied myself to take revenge on the drow for what they had done to my family and to me! And by the way, he accepted me as an apprentice afterwards and made me make incredible progress in the arcane arts. If I had had to continue studying self-taught, I would not have learned even half of what I know now... I, unlike you, have been in contact with him for a long time. He is not evil. In fact, in in a way... even if he's a wizard much much more powerful than I could ever hope to become... I think he is in need, Jasper. He needs affection, understanding, friendship... he needs humanity, Jasper; that humanity that he believes he has lost - when in reality a drow slaver is a thousand times more evil than he is".
"Khessa... humanity?" sighs the elf "he's a lich..."
"Ah, you know how much I hate mere labels, Jasper! So Tookrashk is a manticore, right? A scary monster..." replies the woman "To say nothing of Echo, a dangerous damphir thirsty for blood..."
Jasper knows he has lost. He must admit that Khessa has often surprised him, being able to see the good side in creatures in which... in which normally this side would not be expected. When they had just met, right there, in Phandalin, which at the time was threatened by the bullying of the white dragon Cryovain, Khessa had managed to ally herself with both a manticore and a damphir - figures that, initially, the elf completely distrusted... but which, instead, had been decisive (together with other, more usual, fellow adventurers) in decreeing the final victory. Tookrashk, the manticore, was now a trusted guardian of Phandalin and Echo, the damphyr, lived there regularly - just like the two of them, who after a thousand adventures, when they had decided to give up that dangerous life and start a family together, had returned to live there, where it all began.
However, when there were problems that only they, strengthened by their extraordinary experience, seemed capable of dealing with... how could they back out?
"So you'll go" Jasper notes. "Promise me you'll be careful and take care of yourself, right?"
"Jasper..." Khessa's voice becomes softer and softer "After everything we went through to free our original families... and after starting a family of our own... do you really think I intend to let something keep me away from all of you? I'll make sure to come back, Jasper... If Master Akkron felt the need to call me, there must be a really big problem... But as big as this problem is, it won't ever be bigger than my desire to return. I will survive. Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive. I've got all my life to live. And I've got all my love to give and I'll survive. I will survive. And I'll come back".
"Lorlin?" Akkron says with a little bit of surprise as he suddenly realizes that he hasn't seen her for about an hour. "That's strange, I didn't even notice you were gone. Speaking of which... did you happen to see where Slip disappeared to?"
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Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
“I did not- I was distracted outside- perhaps they will catch up? This is quite an interesting place and creatures…”. Lorlin looks around the room and at the jelly-skeleton drink server.
(Lorlin: As you waited outside you noticed the sky growing darker and the ground becOming foggier. Color seems to desaturate as The sun finally seems to set. The air finally stops scratching your throat as moisture returns to the desert’s sacrilegious ruins.)
Akkron: you know this ooze too be an Oblex. Typically these slimes are created by mind flayers to be scouts but it seems this one, like Jeff the Spectator Chef, has found something better to do with his time.
After a brief juggle the Oblex thunks down 5 stone cups and pours from a rusty flask. For those who imbibe, the dark liquid is isn’t half bad as the burn of chicory and dandelion warm those of you with functioning digestive systems.
A skeletal hand from Inside the slime produces a jar of seeds and waves it at you expectantly.
Khessa enters the room with a dazzling smile, as if she has just entered the familiar Stonehill Inn, in Phandalin. Tall (very tall) as she is, she'd be pretty easy to spot even without the flowing mane of wavy blonde hair or the sleek, sturdy armor that protects virtually every part of her body - including her head, had the newcomer not taken off the helmet before entering.
The woman is holding a staff that contrasts starkly with the imposing armor: while the latter would suggest a warrior, a fighter accustomed to melee with weapons, the former, with the mystical runes of power dotting its surface, has definitely the look of a magic-user tool - in fact, it almost seems to palpably exude magic!
"Have a good day everyone!" the wish of the tall adventuress seems completely sincere, while with her own blue eyes she seems to search, among all the bizarre faces, one perhaps no less bizarre but dear and familiar to her and in fact...
"Master Akkron!" Khessa exclaims, finally locating the lich so familiar to her "Here I am!" she runs towards him, holding back her enthusiasm just enough not to overrun innocent customers - then she embraces him warmly "How long! It's really nice to see you again - even if I imagine the circumstances themselves aren't pleasant. I'm not too late, I hope?"
Meanwhile, a bat suddenly emerges from beneath the woman's flowing (and abundant) locks and begins flying around her head.
"Yes, of course, yes!" Khessa answers to who knows what voice, only to then speak again with the lich "Anator is keen to tell you that he is very happy to see you too! You know, my brother has always been the member of my family who has been able to understand you better... since he's followed me practically throughout all my career".
"Oh, but you have company!" the blue-eyed woman seems to realize, finally "Nice to meet you, folks!" and she holds out her hand "I am Khessa, Khessa Cabbagefield. Ex-cabbage farmer, former scourge of the drow, proud wife and mother, and retired (but returning, when needed, as you can see) arcane warrior; at your service!"
Akkron suddenly finds himself lifted into the air in a powerful embrace.
"It's good to see you as well, my apprentice," he says with a chuckle as she sets him down to greet the others. "And you as well, Anator! Khessa, these two companions of mine are Sir Dabbert Haft and Lorlin the Cleric... until recently we also had a Monk with us, but he appears to have slipped away somewhere... anyway, if the universe hasn't been obliterated, enfolded into this realm, or overrun with beholders, then I don't think your arrival came too late. Come, sit down with us."
After giving her a moment to settle in, the lich asks Khessa a couple more questions.
"Tell me, are your husband and children well? And how have your former adventuring companions, Echo and Katarina, been faring since we parted ways? Did that poor feline ever win her father's respect as she so desperately wished, or should I go have another talk with him when we get to the bottom of the mystery here?"
"Oh, family life is wonderful!" Khessa's blue eyes light up with further enthusiasm "Do you remember when you came to see me, as soon as I gave birth to Yondra?" she laughs at the memory of the chaos that had engulfed the small town "It has been really nice of you and I appreciated it incredibly! But how scared everyone was in Phandalin... Townmaster Harbin Wester, who was never particularly brave, ran away before we could explain to him that you posed no threat... and never came back! I think he sought a much further country to make a new life in. And Tookrashk! He was so immersed in his role as guardian of Phandalin, that he actually tried to scare you! As if a manticore could inspire fear in you!"
"But I digress" realizes the blone arcane warrior. “A few years after my daughter Yondra, I also gave birth to a boy, Sarvin… and over the further years that have passed they have developed into a pair of wild childs of eight and thirteen years respectively. You must absolutely come back and see them, as soon as we've finished sorting this matter out! And Jasper..." the tall adventurer's eyes grow dreamy "is still Jasper. Elves change much more slowly than humans... he's still as young and sweet as when I met him for the first time! In fact" she winks "I don't exclude the possibility that our family will grow further! Although for sure I absolutely have to find a way to age more slowly too, or one day I'll end up looking like his grandmother! But luckily, today is not that day yet".
"Echo is fine!" continues Khessa "After a lifetime of adventures lived in her light-hearted way, she too had retired there again, to Phandalin, where I had met her for the first time - but she had one more reason: she had already lived there from the beginning... You know, she has become the Townmistress, since Harbin Wester fled! And she does well; despite her naivety, she has been able to find good advisers, faithful collaborators... plus everyone in the village loves her... Phandalin is thriving under her leadership".
"I have fewer chances to see Katarina," sighs the blue eyed woman "since she was welcomed back into her family - thanks to you, by the way... I still remember the faces of all those wizards in her family, when she went home with you by her side! No one has ever questioned her magic again (however different in nature from ours) since you pleaded her case! As far as I know, she too has stopped turning every corner of Faerûn out of his feline curiosity… probably because she's already visited every corner by now! I think she's now enjoying her status as a valued member of her noble and magical tabaxi family".
"And you? What have you done, in the last few years," the blonde arcane warrior asks in turn "before you find yourself here, trying to prevent the mulltiverse from being 'obliterated, enfolded into this realm, or overrun with beholders'? (And yes, of course I'll help you prevent it - I doubt my kids would grow up happy in a multiverse messed up - we'll fix everything, don't doubt, you tell me what you know later)".
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(So 13+4... 17 total on that Charisma check to get in with folks around here).
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Akkron:
All patrons shuffle and stare at you. Three kobalds and a redcap at the bar all give you the side-eye from behind their tankards. A rune-lit booth of banderhands and boggles gossip over abandoned meals. A humanoid in a raven mask suddenly sobers from their spot on the floor. The ambient music, once an easy-listening ballad, plummets into a slow, minor drawl as an air genasi working a harmonica redirects his attention. Rough floorboards creek under your skeletal steps.
These words are smaller than the other ones.
Akkron takes a moment to meet every gaze with his empty eye sockets as he steps into the room. His robe billow around him in a wind that isn't actually there as he deliberately walks through the cluttered space. If anyone has a problem with him, they can say it to his face or forever hold their peace.
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There is some standing room at the bar and a table that’s mostly empty save for a stack of, plates, and coats if you want to blend in more or you can stand in a corner menacingly as the music slowly begins to resume its pace.
These words are smaller than the other ones.
"Come on, Dabbert," Akkron says. "Let's find somewhere to sit. That spot over there by the plates looks like as good a spot as any."
The lich takes his seat, then pulls out his Pipe of Smoke Monsters and takes takes a few puffs, paying little heed to the patrons of the bar who are still looking at him. Sîr will probably explain where they need to go next when he's ready.
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A spectator from behind the bar floats up to your table.
Welcome to The Only Bar In Town. My name’s Jeff; I’m the chef; I can make you food and water as an action. Unfortunately it’s not gonna be very good cause a wizard summoned me into existence and then locked me in a dungeon to guard some treasure or something. Then no one showed up and the dungeon collapsed and I ended up here so the culinary experience ain’t that great. But it’s only 10🌱 a pop, so what’s it’s gonna be?
These words are smaller than the other ones.
Dab does his best to maintain a low profile as they cross the room, trying not to make eye contact or bump into anyone (or anything) or do anything that would otherwise draw attention. He's not sure where they are or what they're doing, save for following Sir and gathering information, and this is definitely not what he expected.
When the Beholder-thing floats up and announces itself as Jeff, Dabbert almost jumps. He can't believe it, and moreso...a chef?
"I uh..." Dab says, looking at Jeff and then around the room. "Uhm...what do you have to drink..."
He thinks for a moment, still glancing fleetingly around the room.
"Summoned you from where, might I ask?"
Dabbert Stealth Check at Disadvantage: 27
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
"I'm afraid I don't have a stomach, so food and drink would be of little use to me," Akkron tells the Beholder. "But if you happen to have any exotic tobaccos or other things that can be smoked, I would be quite interested."
Akkron takes a moment to scan the room, letting a puff of smoke escape the pipe which takes the form of a Beholder briefly before fading into the air.
"Bridgette would love this place," Akkron muses. "Perhaps I should have asked her to come along, she's a much better orator than I ever was."
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The floating head shrugs without shoulders. “The heck if I know but if you see some moron with a beard and pointy hat give him a knuckle sandwich for me. You wanna drink you’re gonna want Thuzgon.
The eyeball monster whistles through his teeth and a collection of slime, bones, and flasks seeps up from the floorboards and thunks down two glasses expectantly.
“It’s still 10🌱 but it does taste better than the food and has the added benefit of getting you drunk.”
These words are smaller than the other ones.
Dabbert pauses as the two glasses are thunked down in front of him. He studies them for a moment, and it's not secret he's deciding if he's going to touch them at all or not, let alone drink them. Once he's studied them for a couple of seconds, he shifts his focus to the pile of...the...well whatever the *#&% that is that set the drinks down.
"So uh..." He says, shrugging finally and picking up one of the mugs to examine it closer. Smell it. Look into the drink and see what's in it...if anything. He speaks directly to the slime thing. "What uh...what...what's your story?"
Investigation of the Drinks: 10
Passive Investigation: 16
Insight: 20
Passive Insight: 19
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Akkron will attempt an Arcana check to figure out what the slimy skeleton thing is.
Arcana: 30
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Quoting before the forum decides to mess up the roll lol
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Some days before...
(OOC: I still don't know how and when the DM will have my character enter the campaign, but in the meantime I thought I'd make a post which explains, at least, the reasons why she will join - I'll put it in a spoiler, so those who prefer not to know anything don't read it, while those who are curious to read... well, they can)
The blue eyes open slowly, while on her face, partially decorated by some of the long blond curls that ended up there while she was sleeping, a satisfied smile appears, as she hears the cheerful background noise of children playing.
The woman's athletic body stretches slowly as she thinks: 'Yondra and Sarvin always wake up early... as I always did at their age!' she then realizes it's barely dawn 'And as I still do, for that matter'.
Tall as she is, while stretching, with her long legs she inevitably ends up brushing against the elf lying in bed next to her... an elf with blond hairs combed back behind his ears, whose eyes are veiled by a layer of black powdered ash that extends like a mask from ear to ear and who has two mysterious blue tattoos on the left side of his face.
The slight touch is enough to jolt the elf out of his resting trance.
He smiles, then pulls her in close to feel her warmth, whispering: "Good morning Khessa. I could stay here forever, my dear, but I think we should get up. You know what our two children are capable of, when we leave them too long unsupervised..."
"Yes, I know Jasper..." Khessa smiles again "Sometimes I think they are more half-fiend than half-elves! But luckily Anator is already with them - I just checked telepathically".
"We are really lucky" admits the elf "to always be able to count on the help of your brother".
As they begin to prepare, Khessa is not wearing her ordinary clothes, the one that the inhabitants of Phandalin usually see her in every day. She is wearing her best armor. And she declares, as she does: "I've dreamed of him again, Jasper. It's the third time in a row. Now you're convinced it's not a coincidence? Not an absurd dream caused by the fact that I ate too much cabbage? (Also because you should know, by now, that there is no concept of 'too much', with cabbage)... It's a request of help from him. It's Master Akkron. He needs me, Jasper".
"And I should stay here..." the elf recapitulates a conclusion to which the two must have arrived in the course of previous speeches.
"Someone has to look after the children" she explains. "When you had to help the Evermeet elves with that problem involving the Feywild, that role fell to me..."
"I don't trust that undead very much, Khessa..." Jasper sighs, but clearly with little conviction in his chances of changing the woman's mind.
"You are biased against the undead" Khessa reminds him softly. "It's understandable, given the trouble those... moonlike-shadows... had given your sisters... and you saw that I didn't hesitate to help you destroy those monsters! But Master Akkron is different. His help was essential, when we were trying to free my family from the drow of the Underdark..."
"He had his reasons to help you" Jasper begins to point out. "He was also seeking revenge for..."
"I know," Khessa admits. "But can you blame him? Considering what had happened to him! I was satisfied myself to take revenge on the drow for what they had done to my family and to me! And by the way, he accepted me as an apprentice afterwards and made me make incredible progress in the arcane arts. If I had had to continue studying self-taught, I would not have learned even half of what I know now... I, unlike you, have been in contact with him for a long time. He is not evil. In fact, in in a way... even if he's a wizard much much more powerful than I could ever hope to become... I think he is in need, Jasper. He needs affection, understanding, friendship... he needs humanity, Jasper; that humanity that he believes he has lost - when in reality a drow slaver is a thousand times more evil than he is".
"Khessa... humanity?" sighs the elf "he's a lich..."
"Ah, you know how much I hate mere labels, Jasper! So Tookrashk is a manticore, right? A scary monster..." replies the woman "To say nothing of Echo, a dangerous damphir thirsty for blood..."
Jasper knows he has lost. He must admit that Khessa has often surprised him, being able to see the good side in creatures in which... in which normally this side would not be expected. When they had just met, right there, in Phandalin, which at the time was threatened by the bullying of the white dragon Cryovain, Khessa had managed to ally herself with both a manticore and a damphir - figures that, initially, the elf completely distrusted... but which, instead, had been decisive (together with other, more usual, fellow adventurers) in decreeing the final victory. Tookrashk, the manticore, was now a trusted guardian of Phandalin and Echo, the damphyr, lived there regularly - just like the two of them, who after a thousand adventures, when they had decided to give up that dangerous life and start a family together, had returned to live there, where it all began.
However, when there were problems that only they, strengthened by their extraordinary experience, seemed capable of dealing with... how could they back out?
"So you'll go" Jasper notes. "Promise me you'll be careful and take care of yourself, right?"
"Jasper..." Khessa's voice becomes softer and softer "After everything we went through to free our original families... and after starting a family of our own... do you really think I intend to let something keep me away from all of you? I'll make sure to come back, Jasper... If Master Akkron felt the need to call me, there must be a really big problem... But as big as this problem is, it won't ever be bigger than my desire to return. I will survive. Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive. I've got all my life to live. And I've got all my love to give and I'll survive. I will survive. And I'll come back".
Lorlin catches up to the group into the tavern. “I don’t think I’ll eat or drink anything here, but I’ll learn what I can from these… er folks..”
"Lorlin?" Akkron says with a little bit of surprise as he suddenly realizes that he hasn't seen her for about an hour. "That's strange, I didn't even notice you were gone. Speaking of which... did you happen to see where Slip disappeared to?"
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“I did not- I was distracted outside- perhaps they will catch up? This is quite an interesting place and creatures…”. Lorlin looks around the room and at the jelly-skeleton drink server.
(Lorlin: As you waited outside you noticed the sky growing darker and the ground becOming foggier. Color seems to desaturate as The sun finally seems to set. The air finally stops scratching your throat as moisture returns to the desert’s sacrilegious ruins.)
Akkron: you know this ooze too be an Oblex. Typically these slimes are created by mind flayers to be scouts but it seems this one, like Jeff the Spectator Chef, has found something better to do with his time.
After a brief juggle the Oblex thunks down 5 stone cups and pours from a rusty flask. For those who imbibe, the dark liquid is isn’t half bad as the burn of chicory and dandelion warm those of you with functioning digestive systems.
A skeletal hand from Inside the slime produces a jar of seeds and waves it at you expectantly.
These words are smaller than the other ones.
Khessa enters the room with a dazzling smile, as if she has just entered the familiar Stonehill Inn, in Phandalin. Tall (very tall) as she is, she'd be pretty easy to spot even without the flowing mane of wavy blonde hair or the sleek, sturdy armor that protects virtually every part of her body - including her head, had the newcomer not taken off the helmet before entering.
The woman is holding a staff that contrasts starkly with the imposing armor: while the latter would suggest a warrior, a fighter accustomed to melee with weapons, the former, with the mystical runes of power dotting its surface, has definitely the look of a magic-user tool - in fact, it almost seems to palpably exude magic!
"Have a good day everyone!" the wish of the tall adventuress seems completely sincere, while with her own blue eyes she seems to search, among all the bizarre faces, one perhaps no less bizarre but dear and familiar to her and in fact...
"Master Akkron!" Khessa exclaims, finally locating the lich so familiar to her "Here I am!" she runs towards him, holding back her enthusiasm just enough not to overrun innocent customers - then she embraces him warmly "How long! It's really nice to see you again - even if I imagine the circumstances themselves aren't pleasant. I'm not too late, I hope?"
Meanwhile, a bat suddenly emerges from beneath the woman's flowing (and abundant) locks and begins flying around her head.
"Yes, of course, yes!" Khessa answers to who knows what voice, only to then speak again with the lich "Anator is keen to tell you that he is very happy to see you too! You know, my brother has always been the member of my family who has been able to understand you better... since he's followed me practically throughout all my career".
"Oh, but you have company!" the blue-eyed woman seems to realize, finally "Nice to meet you, folks!" and she holds out her hand "I am Khessa, Khessa Cabbagefield. Ex-cabbage farmer, former scourge of the drow, proud wife and mother, and retired (but returning, when needed, as you can see) arcane warrior; at your service!"
Akkron suddenly finds himself lifted into the air in a powerful embrace.
"It's good to see you as well, my apprentice," he says with a chuckle as she sets him down to greet the others. "And you as well, Anator! Khessa, these two companions of mine are Sir Dabbert Haft and Lorlin the Cleric... until recently we also had a Monk with us, but he appears to have slipped away somewhere... anyway, if the universe hasn't been obliterated, enfolded into this realm, or overrun with beholders, then I don't think your arrival came too late. Come, sit down with us."
After giving her a moment to settle in, the lich asks Khessa a couple more questions.
"Tell me, are your husband and children well? And how have your former adventuring companions, Echo and Katarina, been faring since we parted ways? Did that poor feline ever win her father's respect as she so desperately wished, or should I go have another talk with him when we get to the bottom of the mystery here?"
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"Oh, family life is wonderful!" Khessa's blue eyes light up with further enthusiasm "Do you remember when you came to see me, as soon as I gave birth to Yondra?" she laughs at the memory of the chaos that had engulfed the small town "It has been really nice of you and I appreciated it incredibly! But how scared everyone was in Phandalin... Townmaster Harbin Wester, who was never particularly brave, ran away before we could explain to him that you posed no threat... and never came back! I think he sought a much further country to make a new life in. And Tookrashk! He was so immersed in his role as guardian of Phandalin, that he actually tried to scare you! As if a manticore could inspire fear in you!"
"But I digress" realizes the blone arcane warrior. “A few years after my daughter Yondra, I also gave birth to a boy, Sarvin… and over the further years that have passed they have developed into a pair of wild childs of eight and thirteen years respectively. You must absolutely come back and see them, as soon as we've finished sorting this matter out! And Jasper..." the tall adventurer's eyes grow dreamy "is still Jasper. Elves change much more slowly than humans... he's still as young and sweet as when I met him for the first time! In fact" she winks "I don't exclude the possibility that our family will grow further! Although for sure I absolutely have to find a way to age more slowly too, or one day I'll end up looking like his grandmother! But luckily, today is not that day yet".
"Echo is fine!" continues Khessa "After a lifetime of adventures lived in her light-hearted way, she too had retired there again, to Phandalin, where I had met her for the first time - but she had one more reason: she had already lived there from the beginning... You know, she has become the Townmistress, since Harbin Wester fled! And she does well; despite her naivety, she has been able to find good advisers, faithful collaborators... plus everyone in the village loves her... Phandalin is thriving under her leadership".
"I have fewer chances to see Katarina," sighs the blue eyed woman "since she was welcomed back into her family - thanks to you, by the way... I still remember the faces of all those wizards in her family, when she went home with you by her side! No one has ever questioned her magic again (however different in nature from ours) since you pleaded her case! As far as I know, she too has stopped turning every corner of Faerûn out of his feline curiosity… probably because she's already visited every corner by now! I think she's now enjoying her status as a valued member of her noble and magical tabaxi family".
"And you? What have you done, in the last few years," the blonde arcane warrior asks in turn "before you find yourself here, trying to prevent the mulltiverse from being 'obliterated, enfolded into this realm, or overrun with beholders'? (And yes, of course I'll help you prevent it - I doubt my kids would grow up happy in a multiverse messed up - we'll fix everything, don't doubt, you tell me what you know later)".