"I'm sorry about your friends..." Khessa hugs Saintess impulsively "And also about your sight! You know? I was kidnapped and taken to the Underdark (an underground realm), as a girl... I was so scared, from not being able to see anything... I was terrified of the dark for a long time, before meeting the elf who helped me overcome it... Jasper, the one who became my husband!"

"Anyway," the blonde arcane warrior smiles, releasing the hug "I'm pleased that you too, like me, have found the light again! Nice to meet you too, George!" she waves to the kestrel.

Sitting in the back of the room, both hands fill of whatever food he has been able to scrounge up, is what appears to be a half giant. Even sitting his eyes are on level with everyone else. Covered in tribal tattoos, and wearing little more than something a mix between a loin cloth and a kilt, as well a few things hanging from his belt or strung across his shoulders the only thing of note is a huge axe behind him, even seemingly too big for a near giant of his size. Looking up he says, swallowing a big bite of food, "I'm Tyekanik. Welcome to the group. Good to have more friends when going up against gods. We seen some shit already though. This ***** Slaanesh has been building up armies for a while now. But won't know what's comin at her."

"Indeed!" Khessa laughs at the thought of the hedonistic and decadent goddess having the blade of the mighty half-giant hero's gigantic weapon fall upon her "Slaanesh (or Sai 'lanthresh, as her real name seems to be) was very quick to disappear, when we faced it with determination!"

"That divine exploiter does nothing but take advantage of her faithful as long as it suits her, and then kill them or abandon them as soon as it suits her!" the blonde arcane warrior remembers, disgusted "When this matter is over, I really hope that there will be neither trace nor memory of her left!"

"By the way..." the tall adventuress seems struck by an idea, fixing her blue eyes on the imposing axe "Tyekanik, would you mind lending me that wonderful weapon for a moment? I remembered that in the last temple we have found, the one here in the keep, I destroyed the altar - which in fact was the priority given the evil power it radiated - but I left the few furniture present intact... while our dear Slaanesh doesn't deserve even those to remain, in her memory. Do you mind if I dedicate myself to demolition work in your place," she winks "since you, as is right, are feeding yourself to have the energy to fight the forces of evil?"

Tyekanik chuckles and says, looking back at his axe which must weigh hundreds of pounds, "This is a bit big for you no? I'll finish soon and can give you a hand."

"Oh, it would be inconvenient for me to use in battle, I know..." Khessa admits, smiling "I have seen small trees with a trunk less thick than that handle... But I don't need much precision, to devastate a couple of furniture... You'll see," she winks, holding out her hands with a confident smile, seemingly ready to receive the massive weapon "I'll do in a moment".

She really seems to expect the colossal hero to pass her that weapon which, as is evident from its disproportionate size, should crush her to the ground with its weight...

Though Tyekanik had seen Khessa break open a door just earlier, the thought of anyone else being able to even lift his axe, let along use it with any sort of efficiency just seems comical to the neigh-giant. Still, it should be interesting. Wiping his hands off on the nearby table cloth, he reaches back to heft the axe, which even for him takes effort to lift with one-hand, and he swings it only with both. Standing up, he walks over to his companion, axe in hand and holds it out with a grin, but curious at her confidence, and says, “Let me know if you need a hand.”

Akkron chuckles at the exchange between Khessa and Tyekanik... he decides not to point out to the giant that Khessa is currently wearing a belt of storm giant strength.

Khessa seems to be a little surprised by the weight of the phenomenal weapon... but she, also a lover of big weapons (even if not so incredibly big), is well balanced on her legs and so her arms, in receiving the handle as if it were a sort of barbell, they initially flex a little... but then support the weight!

Gaining confidence, the blonde arcane warrior manages to find a not too uncomfortable way to wield it - even if she is reminded of a scene she once saw as a child, of an ant lifting a leaf, much bigger than the insect, by the stalk and carrying it around.

"The fact that you manage to maneuver this beauty in battle," the blue eyes of the tall adventuress turn in admiration to Tyekanik "truly testifies to your great physical might! To deliver precise slashes, yes, I would certainly need 'a hand' - probably a big and strong one like yours - but for the little demolition job I have in mind," she shrugs "I'll be fine, thank you! You can keep eating - all those muscles certainly require a lot of 'fuel' to keep them active".

Khessa winks, then turns and walks off, whistling, to finish vandalizing the shrine of Slaanesh. She looks like a lumberjack woman whose size has been reduced by a prankster fairy - but not the size of her axe... and, evidently, not even her strength.

Tyekanik pauses in slight disbelief for a second as his friend manages to heft the huge axe. As he chuckles and goes back towards the food he calls back, "Arm wrestling later!" he then looks to the others and shrugs, still amazed at what he'd just seen.

Khessa returned shortly after, smiling and clearly satisfied: "Thank you Tyekanik!" she returns the weapon "With this it was child's play, I did it in an instant!" now that she is better accustomed to the size and weight of the weapon, she is able to maneuver it almost as easily as her gigantic friend.

"As far as arm wrestling is concerned, why not?" the blonde arcane warrior winks "I sometimes played it even as a child... You know, my father, Tobar Cabbagefield, was a really strong man... and apparently, I inherited my physique from him! Plus, I've always been kind of a tomboy".

"However," the tall adventuress decides to be honest "I admit that the strength I have now isn't exactly all mine... it's largely provided by this elegant piece of storm giant fashion" and she caresses the imposing belt, similar to that of a king of the ring (or queen of the ring, in her case), which she wears around her waist. "So... big and powerful as you are, you should still win, but if you ever lose, know that it will probably be due more to my waist than just my arm".

"In other words, she's cheating," Akkron chuckles. "Alright, is there anything else we need to do here? Now that we have confirmation that he won't combust, I'm sure Robert would appreciate being able to see the light of day again..."

He glances at Saintess again, wondering why she hasn't even acknowledged him yet. Normally he wouldn't be all that surprised by a Cleric giving him the cold shoulder, but he finds it rather concerning if they're going to be working together to try to save the world from the two mad gods and their servants.

The Saintess, seeing Akkron with a puzzled look. She bows and says "I am sorry. In taking all this in, I have forgotten my manners. To you and everyone thank you for the warm welcome. I look forward to working with you all."

"What can you tell me about the mission and how I can help?"

“Oh, it is you who must excuse us, Saintess” Khessa steps forward. "We believed you knew more about the terrible threat that looms. Anyway, to summarize: a 'nefarious duo', two evil and unscrupulous deities, are trying to destroy the entire creation, unleashing an Immrama. The Immrama is a series of apocalyptic events that will define the end of the world, where the Gods of Darkness, with dragons, giants of frost, and fire will band together to fight against the gods of light in a final battle for dominance over the world The deities that make up the 'nefarious duo' are the goddess Slaanesh and the god Azash. For now, they are subtly sowing corruption and evil within the forces of good, and gathering creatures for war. These creatures include the Zemoch (in my land we would call them Drow - they are not exactly the same thing, but the similarities are many), Trolls and perhaps also Dragons and Undead".

"As you can well understand, all this must be stopped, somehow" the blonde arcane warrior concludes. "Possibly in a way that prevents the world from falling apart. At the moment, we have eliminated several agents of corruption and neutralized a Zemoch base - gaining among other things the alliance with a powerful lich, Adad-Nirari, of the Cipis Empire, who inherited the last sparks of the power of the dead god Ashur. The next step we have in mind is to go and talk to the Trolls, to dissuade them from supporting the Nefarious Duo. Your help will surely be fundamental, because even if I and I my friends we do well in combat and with magic, on the holy power front we are all rather... lacking".

"In case it was not clear, she's referring to a different powerful lich," Akkron says. "I am Lord Akkron of the Shaded Isle. Khessa and I have been friends for a number of years now; she studied magic under me after we had a chance encounter while fighting mutual enemies. I suppose it is worth mentioning that we have also toyed with the idea of meeting with other undead, specifically the most powerful of the Devkarin elves who have ascended to lichdom, to discover whether they have joined with the Nefarious Duo or remain neutral parties who could be swayed to our side."

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"As you can well understand, all this must be stopped, somehow" the blonde arcane warrior concludes. "Possibly in a way that prevents the world from falling apart. At the moment, 

 Though Khessa's explanation is more than enough, Tyekanik simply adds "Hopefully..." after she said 'possibly' saving the world.

"Thank you all for the explanation. Preventing the world from falling apart IS very important to me." the Saintess adds. "and Yes, I would be honored to join with the party and see this through to the end."

"You mentioned the trolls and trying to dissuade them. Do you all have a plan?"

“The Trolls shouldn't have fully embraced the Neafrious Duo's cause already…” Khessa explains “Our plan for now is simply to convince them that doing so is not in their best interests. To that end, we have a captive priestess of Slaanesh who we are bringing with us. Bringing proof of how easily we neutralized the secret base of the forces of evil will hopefully help us to make the Trolls understand that supporting that faction would not be a guarantee of victory. Furthermore, from Adad-Nirari we learned about how the Nefarious Duo has brought the entire Cipis Empire to corruption... only to then use the faithful - no longer useful - as human sacrifices (and that's why the Cipis Empire is no more). This should make it clear that not even the eventual victory of the Nefarious Duo offers guarantees of effective reward for those who support them!"

"My secret hope," the blonde arcane warrior admits "is that the priestess of Slaanesh herself will see and accept the truth of this. A former priestess who reveals that she has discovered how untrustworthy the Nefarious Duo is and that she has thus abandoned them would be extremely convincing. And my dream is that one day all the faithful of the Nefarious Duo do the same. I dream of a Nefarious Duo with no more folowers - and no more power - that falls into oblivion and can no longer do harm. Never again".

"I see this war as a war of souls, instead of a mere war of armies" the tall adventuress summarizes. "But, hey, that's just me, it's just my idea. I might be wrong. I'm not the wise one of the family - my husband is - but he had to stay at home. You know, Saintess, someone had to keep an eye on our children.  And anyway," she shrugs "whenever conventional fight will be needed, fight I will".

"I am ready to leave when the group is. I will lend you my service and my God sees this as a noble venture." The Saintess adds. 

Akkron nods... and has another idea.

"Now that I think about it... perhaps our next step should actually be to speak to the undead," he muses. "Some of them may be old enough to have witnessed the last war that the Nefarious Duo initiated, as well as the rather less-than-pleasant 'reward' that their followers received for helping them."

"Akkron, I have that ability if we want to purse it." The Saintess adds