Rhymus is the first to awaken.
He's dazed, confused -- it seemed like he had just fallen asleep and woken up out of the blue. He nudges Valdulk (but first, checks on the grog of course) and can't seem to wake him up.
That's because Valdulk is within a realm of nothingness, pure black if black had no shape. Like space.
But in it, he sees the god Ra of Kemet -- not his patron deity Zeus.
"I've come to inform you that Zeus has withdrawn his powers from you, mortal."
Valdulk is silent.
"It isn't personal. I do apologize, but in this tangling of fates I have left you with my underling Anubis. I hope you do find his powers and guidance something you can depend on in your mortal's journey, my son."
"I accept," said Valdulk.
Ra dissipates, leaving Anubis.
"Will your soul hold up to my feather?" - Anubis to Valdulk, his new patron mortal
Initially, Anubis's speech is only the huffing of a jackal -- but in this realm, they can understand one another psychically. "I am judging you," says Anubis. Valdulk accepts, and gains his powers.
Back in the mortal realm, Valdulk wakes up to Rhymus's insistent nudging.
But Magress is still asleep. He too ventures into the nothing-realm, seeing Ra.
"You again," he says, not so happy.
"You've lost your way, my child," says Ra. He opens a portal to a realm of vast glowing forests, filled with fungi and plants that sprawl into the powerful light of fairy magic. Trees tower into the sky, mushrooms emit light that blows across the sky like pollen, and the sun is gone, yet the time is that of day. Instead there only exists a crescent moon.
"Welcome to the Feywild, my son," he says.
And together they go through the portal. Magress seems to have accepted his fate.
In the mortal world, he had simply disappeared.
Rhymus and Valdulk weren't unhappy about it. "I don't mean to be a bruh," began Rhymus, "but when he got sad he'd question Ra."
"So who will go with us now?" Valdulk asks Dren von Sven, the elf coordinator of Gallanai's (quite small) branch of the Yggdrasil Corporation.
"Well," he said, looking over his papers, "there is a patron of Zeus who--"
The door of the establishment went flying off its hinges, landing on the stairwell across the hall with a crash. Standing in the doorway was an enormous (one could even say barbaric) elf, a dragon tattooed across his bare, muscular chest. Before the dust had even settled he looked upon his new companion, flexed his pecks (making the dragon move) and said, "Hey!"
"Our new companion is an elf?" Valdulk looked at Sven, who was in quite a bit of shock. "Yes," he replied. "An elf warrior."
Valdulk and Rhymus didn't quite like elves. Valdulk looks at Sven deadpan and says --
"Hey there, what's your name?" says the elf as he pats Valdulk's shoulder. Valdulk cringes from the contact, but gives him his name.
"Ah. I'm Draeden, but they called me Drags back in the pack."
"I'm not calling you Drags," says Valdulk. Rhymus nods.
"That's okay, Draeden works just fine!" The barbarian was a little too cheerful for these two.
"Well you seem to have taken Zeus's favor from me," said Valdulk, adding that to the list of reasons not to like this newcomer, "which means you must have traveled down from Lake Persephone. What's your combat experience?"
"Well, I can swing an axe, and sword," said Draeden, "and on the way here, I froze a goblin's piss."
Silence. "...How?" Valdulk turned away. "By giving him the cold shoulder?"
Draeden looked down. "Ouch..."
At this point, I realized the dynamic the group was fostering had left out Sven's opinion. I began to say he was looking at Valdulk and Rhymus--
"Rhymus is passed out on the floor," says Titus, Rhymus's player.
Valdulk goes over to Rhymus and kicks him in the face. (He was just pretending to be asleep to avoid talking to the elf). "Your opinion?"
Rhymus stands. "They say that a party less than three is worse than a flea..."
"Very good!" says Draeden. He takes an Yggdrasil pin from Sven. ("Where will you pin it?" I ask).
He pins it into his chest. A trickle of blood slides down his peck, dripping onto the ground.
"You three are insane!" Sven says, shaking his head. He runs up the stairs and locks himself in the top floor. "Leave me be! You can carry on your mission without further assistance!"
"We can't, though," says Valdulk. "We need to know where to find Mobile Magic Circle mages to head to Myzos. He gave it some thought, and when they knocked on the door to ask Sven to let them in (and he wouldn't), Valdulk's player asked, "Can I cast Shatter to destroy the building?"
"No!" said Titus. "You'll destroy the grog!"
"Very good!" says Draeden. He takes an Yggdrasil pin from Sven. ("Where will you pin it?" I ask).
He pins it into his chest. A trickle of blood slides down his peck, dripping onto the ground.
"You three are insane!" Sven says, shaking his head. He runs up the stairs and locks himself in the top floor. "Leave me be! You can carry on your mission without further assistance!"
"We can't, though," says Valdulk. "We need to know where to find Mobile Magic Circle mages to head to Myzos. He gave it some thought, and when they knocked on the door to ask Sven to let them in (and he wouldn't), Valdulk's player asked, "Can I cast Shatter to destroy the building?"
"No!" said Titus. "You'll destroy the grog!"
"Then we just need to break down this door!" said Draedan.
"Wait," said Valdulk. "He doesn't seem very cooperative right now. We need to make sure he'll do what we want."
So Rhymus rides Trigore up the stairs and has the goat bash its head against the door. Sven quiets, and starts to whimper in fear when the beast continues. Eventually they bust down the door and find Sven cowering in the corner. They approach him, with Valdulk kneeling by his side and running his fingers through his hair. "There there, Sven..."
The man shakes.
Rhymus sits atop Trigore, the two of them staring down Sven head-on.
The man shakes some more.
Draeden kneels on his other side, huge manly pecks in his face. "Listen," he says kindly. "We need you to tell us where we can find Magic Circle mages in the city."
"We also need you to draw a map of our destination," says
Sven shakily withdraws a sheet of paper and tries to hand it to them.
"No, we want you to put it somewhere we can see it," said Valdulk. He points to Draeden. "Draw it on his chest."
"I... I don't have a q-qui--"
Rhymus hands him one. Trigore looks to the side and stares Sven down with one big, goaty eye.
Sven carefully draws a map of Ocrea on Draeden's chest.
"Write down the enemies we may encounter too!" shouts Valdulk, frightening Sven even more. "We want to be prepared!"
Sven looks down at his paper, tears in his eyes and whining from the fright, to position his pen away from the map and write - B I G S P I D E R - on Draeden's chest. When he's done, Draeden says, "Now point to where our location is on the map."
He points to the Myzos wastelands, large dry mountains that enclose a fetid bog/swamp marshland.
Draeden pulls out his pin and stabs it there.
Rhymus hands him one. Trigore looks to the side and stares Sven down with one big, goaty eye.
Sven carefully draws a map of Ocrea on Draeden's chest.
"Write down the enemies we may encounter too!" shouts Valdulk, frightening Sven even more. "We want to be prepared!"
Sven looks down at his paper, tears in his eyes and whining from the fright, to position his pen away from the map and write - B I G S P I D E R - on Draeden's chest. When he's done, Draeden says, "Now point to where our location is on the map."
He points to the Myzos wastelands, large dry mountains that enclose a fetid bog/swamp marshland.
Draeden pulls out his pin and stabs it there.
"Thanks, my good man," they said, and were on their way. Sven ran past them and sprinted out the (doorless) entrance, screaming as Lamerie came home from having gone to the markets. She gives them each a health potion and wishes them luck, promising to watch the grog.
On their list they see three possible Magic Circle mages: Senior Harlopps, Miss Zimmy, and Godo. They first try Harlopps, and see he's not where he should be -- so they trek to the other end of the city where Godo seems to be. They pass an alley by the exit of the city, when suddenly they hear a tiny, quiet voice.
"Draeden. Draeden, come here."
Confused, the party stops. The tiny voice whispers again, and they follow it to the alley, where a tiny piglet is waiting in the shadows.
On their list they see three possible Magic Circle mages: Senior Harlopps, Miss Zimmy, and Godo. They first try Harlopps, and see he's not where he should be -- so they trek to the other end of the city where Godo seems to be. They pass an alley by the exit of the city, when suddenly they hear a tiny, quiet voice.
"Draeden. Draeden, come here."
Confused, the party stops. The tiny voice whispers again, and they follow it to the alley, where a tiny piglet is waiting in the shadows.
"Come closer," says the piglet.
Draeden gets closer and tries to talk to the pig, but suddenly it roars and grows three times in size, its gaping maw filled with teeth like a shark. It lunges at him.
Draeden backs up and calls upon his ancestral guardian.
Draeden gets closer and tries to talk to the pig, but suddenly it roars and grows three times in size, its gaping maw filled with teeth like a shark. It lunges at him.
Draeden backs up and calls upon his ancestral guardian.
With no effort at all, the barbarians cleave down on the monster, splitting it in half. It falls in two pieces.
The others try to block this sight, as it had happened on a decently busy city street. Draeden bends down to pick up a strange, green object inside the pig monster's body. He retrieves it, and (quite hungry, I might add), begins eating the pig body to hide the evidence.
But someone did see -- a young elf woman with curly brown hair and a flowing red cape, and the man behind her. An old man, wearing purple with stars and long of beard. "Was that a whisper pig?" the elf woman asks, interested.
"A wha-?" Dreidan tries to chew faster.
"A whisper pig," she says. "It's a kind of beast that whispers to catch prey, and grows in size when it makes the kill. You can find whisper bezoars inside them, that's a potion ingredient!"
"Uh," says Valdulk, unhappy that he's had to talk to so many elves. "Nice to know."
--
Who are these mysterious mages? What happens next? Find out next time!
TO BE CONTINUED...
--
Date Played: October 18th, 2019
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