The Summit Road Campaign Thread

The Dire Wolf sniffs at the portal as well and growls, the fur on its back bristling.

"Dal Quor," Khova says grimly. "I wasn't being dragged back, exactly. Nirdaya...she was on the other side. This," she points at the thread of light blue light still extending through the portal, "represents my connection to Dal Quor, small though it is. Just enough to keep me alive. She tracked it down from the Dal Quor side and used it to come through directly to 8925's mind and...kill me." She bows her head for a moment, grief on her face, before looking up. "Your mission would still have been a success if I'd died. The Dreaming Dark would have been denied of my power. So again...I thank you." She looks at Vishal for a moment. "All of you."

"You're of course welcomed." Vishal replies with a smile, his voice normal. Some of the rage from Vakri diminishing as the fire's of him die down some. "We shouldn't stay here though. Don't want to go back and guards be surrounding us. I can assist in getting everyone back safely." 

Kaori puts her sword away and turns to Khova. "You are ... One of us ... Now. I will not let ... Them ... Kill you."

Khova smiles weakly and stands. "We're still on the Material Plane...sort of. Half in and half out, you could say. If there were guards approaching, you would still see them, they would just look...different." She rubs her forehead tiredly. "Nirdaya took a lot of energy from me, and I'm going to need more to keep 8925 under. But I'll see what I can do..." Her voice trails off as her eyes fix on a point betwee the trees. "Dark dreams," she mutters. "What is that?"

Following her eyes, you can see something appearing in the trees, difficult to pin down, but certainly there. It looks like a distortion in the dreamspace, a silvery ripple in the air.

Taran tries to simply fade into the background, the orange energy around him swirling chaotically in time with his thoughts.

Vishal attempts to look to see what Khova is looking at saying aloud, "Whose there?" 

Perception: 15

Caelius moves away from the portal and closer to the tree line.

Perception 20

The Dire Wolf turns around and sniffs the air in the direction of this new threat before crawling towards it, its ears flat against its head.

** Perception 15 to sniff out the approaching threat, and Stealth 6 if it manages to find something to hide behind, like boulders, trees, low brush etc **

The distortion twists and forms itself into a small, spectral shape. Composed of silvery light, the form coalesces into a familiar boy.

Ilaan, the child you (except for Akuma) rescued from Kintam Ulakhun, regards you all with a quizzical look, his luminescent features making it a little difficult to discern his expression. "So...this is what I felt. Hello again."

Khova shifts, looking uncertain. "Who's this?" she murmurs.

"Il-Ilaan!" Taran takes a few steps forward before stopping, "Um, h-h-have you b-been well? W-with, um, ev-everything?"

“We met him on our last mission. He’s.....kind of a psychic prophet.” Vishal explains 

Caelius smiles, happy to see the boy again.

The Dire Wolf gives a little whimper of surprise, then starts slowly wagging its tail, before sitting on its haunches, observing the boy approach, his snout sniffing at the night air, a wet tongue about the size of a veal steak lolling off the side of its jagged maw.

Ilaan smiles at Taran. "I have been well. Since last we spoke, I have found and helped three others to break the chains of their dreams." Here, his joy is a nearly palpable thing, intensifying the glow of his spectral form. "I am deeply connected to the dreamspace," he explains to Khova. "A connection with many benefits, among them freedom in my dreams and resistance to many of the Inspired's mind games."

Khova nods. "You're Unchained," she says softly. "The new leader who's been helping them keep ahead of the Inspired so well."

Ilaan inclines his head. "Precisely. My connection to the dreamspace allows me to sense concentrations of Dal Quor energy. Often, that includes Inspired. I can warn Unchained when patrols are dispatched after us. Which is what I felt drew me here." He eyes the portal to Dal Quor cautiously. "Specifically, that. Was there a quori here recently? Other than you, of course, lady tsucora." He comes a little closer and smiles at Druhdaar. As he does so, you all notice that his form is incorporeal, grass and mist passing right through it.

"One of the Dark. A powerful one. Their name is Nirdaya. And they were trying to drag Khova back to Dal Quor and have them reborn into darkness." Vishal explains. 

Ilaan frowns slightly. "Yes...I'm familiar with her. I'm glad you drove her off, and that would certainly explain why I was pulled here so insistently. She marked me when she captured me, and we're...somewhat connected. Enough to make what would normally be a simple beacon into a summons." He glances down at his spectral hands. "I'm afraid I can't do much to help you while in my dreamform, but I can give you a hand exiting dreamspace, if you require it."

"I-I'm gl-glad you are doing well," Taran says before stepping back out of the conversation. This was all so much bigger than him, he knew little of the planes or how to interact between them. He barely knew anything about the Quori.

So, he focused on keeping out of the way, and keeping an eye out for anything dangerous approaching or sneaking through the portal.

"So it sounds like you're unintentionally connected to him which does not sound like fun." Vishal replies before adding, "I'd love your help in gettin us out of here. I'm still working on all this psychic connection stuff." 

"It's less than ideal," Ilaan agrees before adding. "It's a shame we could only see each other briefly. But I assume you have somewhere to be?"