I kill it and take its treasure, part 7
Apr. 23rd, 2006 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eveglassYesterday night was my final session in Andrew's D&D game. It went very late (as I believe I mentioned), but it was very intense. I'd love to have written this in more elegant prose, but it was all I could do to just get it written. Be warned: 6700 words!
D&D Campaign, session #6 (April 22, 2006)
Part 1: Seb and Glothram
Seb and Glothram are led away surrounded by wood elves. Maer, the leader, commands his followers with complete authority. Two follow him carrying Caulamber's body, two stay as an honour guard, and four slip off into the forest, though Seb occasionally catches a glimpse of them from deeper beyond the trees.
Seb tries questioning Maer, though the elf ignores him. The only thing he tells Seb is that the dead patches are being caused by "the blighter," the enemy of their grove. Seb has heard of blighters before: they are apparently druids who have turned against their faith and against nature itself, and exhibit powers in a perverse reflection of the Druidic ones. Stories of blighters are sometimes used to frighten young druids into behaving. Though he keeps asking, Maer does not volunteer any further information. As Seb begins explaining the situation to Glothram, Maer stiffens but doesn't say anything and Seb continues explaining.
The area is preternaturally quiet. Seb is unfamiliar with these woods, but the trees become ever denser as they travel deeper into the forest. Seb and the elves make their ways along the thick brush, but Glothram is having a difficult time as his clothes keep snagging on brambles. The underbrush becomes damper and thicker, seemingly the result of hundreds of years of mulch. Glothram's boots stick in the mud with every step.
From far above comes an eerie bird-cry.
The woods are so thick that Glothram must now shoulder his way through the trees. As he makes his way, one of the branches cracks, and Maer spins around. He speaks to Seb in elven, telling him to restrain Glothram from damaging the trees, as they are ancient and sacred. Seb apologizes but asks Maer to proceed slower, for Glothram's sake. Reluctantly, Maer agrees.
After several more hours, the trees thin, though a leafy green canopy is still spread high overhead, despite the late season. Here, the group stops, and Maer informs Seb that he and Glothram must leave their metal objects behind. Though Seb only needs to leave his pack and his arrows, Glothram has more difficulty. In the end, he must leave his sword, his armour, his pack, his belt, and even his boots. Seb recognizes the mocking looks the elves give Glothram, though wisely does not tell him. Maer informs the two that two of his followers, will guard the equipment until they return.
With that, he makes his way forward, and Glothram, Seb, and Eemin follow. Below their feet, the thick undergrowth gives way to a green-swarth. Before them is a line of several hundred massive trees with blue-green leaves, sélas wood. Maer walks up to one and whispers, and the branches part into a rough archway. He walks through, and the rest of his elves form two columns on either side just before the entrance. Glothram and Seb follow behind Maer.
Inside, the light is dimmer, and the ground is covered with thick, spongy grass. None of the group leave footprints as they walk across it. Before them, at the centre of a clearing a thousand feet across, is another row of trees. They are of every type of wood, arranged in a rough circle, and each one ringed with mistletoe, a symbol of druidry. All are obviously ancient.
Maer walks to this ring and enters into it. Glothram, Seb, and Eemin follow him. Within this inner circle, they see a mound of rich loam, crowned by thirteen giant obelisks. In each opening between the obelisks stands a robed figured with its animal companion. Glothram catches sight of a knoll (an 8-foot humanoid hyena), and an eleven-foot-tall giant. He tenses, but, unarmed, cannot do anything about his righteous fury. Maer leaves his charges to take his place among the other figures at the top of the mound.
Standing in the centre of the obelisk ring is Fandrigan, the hierophant. His cloak is woven of grasses and moss, and he wears a huge crown of antlers. He does not look happy to see them.
Seb makes a druidic gesture of greeting, and the figures around the circle murmur amongst themselves. Fandrigan raises a hand and formally welcomes Seb to his circle. However, he tells him that it would be best if he did not use further druidic gestures. Glothram does not understand a word that passes between them.
Fandrigan tells Seb to approach the circle, and he walks up to the base of the mound. Fandrigan begins walking down, circling the mound to meet him. He tells Seb, "tell your master that his war will end before it begins." He tells him that the circle is about to ban Amasar and all his students, and none will be welcome at the grove or in the woods controlled by it.
As Fandrigan is lecturing, the body of Caulamber is borne into the circle, as if of its own volition. As it approaches, Seb and Glothram see that it is being borne by hundreds of field mice. As it comes up to the inner circle, the mice disperse. Fandrigan tells Seb he considers the body a declaration of war by Amasar, and that it has been further defiled by Seb. Fandrigan tells him that Amasar and those who support him will be found and rooted out, even Seb.
To prevent this rout, Fandrigan says that Amsasar must present himself at the cirlce "to be dealt with in the proper fashion," within six days. Seb tells him that he doesn't know where Amasar is, but that he will pass on the message if he sees him.
Fandrigan makes a gesture, and the linens around Caulamber's body are unwrapped by the grasses surrounding it. The grasses turn over the body to reveal the arrow wounds. Out of one of them, a shoot of sélas wood is sprouting. Fandrigan cooly regards Seb's bow, made from sélas wood cut from Gospin's own grove. Fandrigan informs Seb that Gospin is no longer counted among the druids of the circle, nor Amasar.
With another gesture, the arrowhead rises out of Caulamber's corpse, and Fandrigan takes it up. He tells Seb that only Gospin carves arrows from sélas wood. Also, there are only two groves of sélas wood in the Reaching Wood, and none from his own grove has been cut in a thousand years. Though Seb says the arrows, while of Sélas, are not like Gospin's usual arrows, Fandrigan ignores him. He says Gospin has turned from the path.
Fandrigan dismisses them with a sharp word, reminding Seb that if he tries to defend Amasar, his life is also forfeit. He tells them that they are lucky to be leaving the grove alive.
Seb, Glothram, and Eemin leave the inner circle, and the outer one beyond the ring of sélas trees. As they approach their gear, the two elves slip away. [line of the night #1, by Glothram: "I need to get my clothes back on."] As Glothram starts gearing up, he realizes the elves have left wet mud in his boots. Seb places a warning hand on his shoulder before he can do anything foolish, and the two leave.
*****
Seb and Glothram make their way towards the river and Morningvale. Eemin begins shying away from the path Seb has chosen, and Glothram draws his sword. On the ground, Seb sees a wriggling maggot. Looking closer, he realizes something heavy has made its way over the ground, and a trail of occasional maggots. He also sees soft elven footfalls following it. If it was the boar, Seb doesn't think it was moving as quickly.
Cautiously, Seb and Glothram follow the path, which goes along a lightly-trod series of elven footpaths.
As dusk falls, Seb sees something lying across the path up ahead. Drawing their weapons, the friends approach it, and realize it is a wood-elf, lying prone. Seb rushes up and discovers the elf is not breathing. Turning him over onto his back, Seb sees two shafts of sélas wood in its chest, fletched with black feathers, one right through the heart.
Further ahead is another elf, a female, also lying prone. She has also been struck by an arrow, but is breathing faintly. Together, Glothram and Seb work to remove the arrow and all its splinters. Though it is a close thing, they think they succeed, and she shivers and flutters her eyes. Seb, surveying the scene, thinks there has been a struggle here, as though, not long ago, a large animal circled a smaller one between the two elves, making a sort of clearing. There are no signs of overt combat.
Behind them, a twig snaps, and Seb spins to see Maer, alone. He had obviously snapped the branch to get their attention. Speaking in common, Maer tells them that there is more they should know. Asked about the elves, he tells them that the elven woman, Elén, should be returned to their home. But first he tells them that terrible things are afoot. He brought them before Fandrigan because he believes Fandrigan sent him as a test of loyalty. Fandrigan, in recent months, has been getting increasingly paranoid and unstable, thinking Amasar wants to challenge him for the hierophancy. Some are even hoping he is correct. Though human, Fandrigan has come to sympathize with a group of elven supremacists called the Eldreth Veluthra (the Victorious Blade of the People). This troubles many of the members of the grove. It is unclear that Fandrigan would have enough support from the grove to attack Amasar, even if he wanted to.
Maer is troubled by the blight. He tells Seb that there are few among the grove who *could* do such a thing, even if they did become apostates. Gospin is one of those few.
In mid-speech, there is a whistling sound and a black-headed shaft emerges from Maer's chest. A blossom of blood expands over Maer's chest, and he falls to one knee. Seb looks up to see rustling leaves. Drawing his bow, he casts "light" on one of his arrows.
Just then, another, higher-pitched whistling comes from near the same direction. Something gleaming and red shoots down from the high branches and hits Seb on the shoulder. Ignoring the pain, Seb shoots the arrow into the trees. At first, he thinks he missed, but then he realizes the light is moving, and the arrows is embedded in a two- or three-foot tall creature. Two more arrows flash out from him, igniting just before striking, and hit Seb on both shoulders. Seb is bowled onto the ground and his cloak catches fire.
There is a howling sound from beyond the clearing, and Glothram covers the elf with his shield and draws his sword. There is a hideous crashing sound, and the maggoty boar-skeleton charges into the clearing, completely replenished. Glothram tries to strike the thing as it runs past him, but succeeds only in embedding his sword into the soft loam. The boar-thing runs past him towards Seb. Again Glothram charges the boar, his sword clangs uselessly against a tree.
Seb shucks off his cloak and shoots into the trees, but his arrows go wide. In a brief respite, no arrows rain down, but Seb hears the sound of climbing. Seb grabs a low-hanging branch and begins to climb, telling Eemin to leave. Eemin takes a few steps away, but looks back up at Seb, conflicted.
Suddenly, the boar charges at and past Seb, and up to the tree where the gnome is clinging. It starts sliding up the tree, slowly but inexorably. Seb, clinging to a nearby tree, feels a chill, and all the plant-life around him winks out instantly. Still-green leaves fall from the tree as the boar makes its way upwards and beyond Seb's line-of-sight.
Glothram rushes over to Maer and carries him away from the tree. The tree shakes, and he hears the sound of the beast's howl. A voice, high-pitched and gravely, says something soothing which Seb can't make out. Again Seb shoots into the tree, but he has no target and the arrows go wide.
There is a shout in the same voice, and suddenly the top of the tree explodes in bright red fire. Flame races down it and burning leaves fall to the wet ground. Seb's glowing arrow plummets the the ground and a bird flies off from the top of the tree and away.
Glothram grabs the two elves, one over each shoulder, and carries them out of the dead zone. [line of the night #2: "Protect the meat!"] Seb also runs off, as a rain of burning leaves, bones, and maggots fall behind him.
In the distance, Seb hears the sound of elven horns, and knows that Fandrigan's men cannot be far. A more pressing concern are the sélas arrows in his shoulders are still alive, and the fire which is rapidly spreading through the canopy of the dead zone.
Glothram and Seb manage to pull out the arrow from Maer's chest and feed him a potion of cure wounds, just in time. The wound closes itself as the horns again sound in the distance.
Looking helplessly at the growing fire and the smoke over the dead zone, Seb hears the cry of an eagle. Overhead, a bird dives into the smoky veil. From within, Seb hears a voice calling on the spirits of nature. Wind swirls around the area and rain begins to fall, hard and strong. The fire goes out, and as quickly as the rains came, they stop. Standing before them is Amasar.
*****
Seb runs up to Amasar and kneels before him. Raising Seb back to his feet, he sees the arrows still in his shoulder. With an unusual look of anger, Amasar stares at the arrows and they burn away. Amasar places a hand on Seb's shoulder and heals him completely, and then heals the rest of the group.
Amasar says Fandrigan will know what he has done, and will be there soon. As if in response, the horns again sound, this time closer. He says that he must face Amasar, but he fears for Seb. He tells Seb to leave, that he is not safe here. Seb asks, "will you be safe?" To which Amasar replies, "I will be as I must be." Amasar suspects and fears that Gospin has a hand in the blight, but does not know why or how. He theorizes that some terrible evil has befallen Gospin, but does not know what. He says that as he was tracking the gnome, he had nearly caught him when he saw the fire. He was forced to choose between continuing the track Gospin or putting out the fire. He chose the latter.
Amasar asks them to take Maer with them, as he will not be safe with his own people. He pulls a bundle of berries, magical ones picked from his own grove, and gives them to Seb, saying that they will not tire on their return, and they will make good speed on their way back. He touches Glothram on the forehead, and tells him to travel through the forest with a light step.
Then, as the horns are almost upon them, Amasar tells them to go. With a heavy heart, they do, and ford the river in the middle of the night. They reach Morningvale at dawn. Seb and Maer settle in at Amasar's house, while Glothram goes to his own home.
*****
Part 2: Corrigan and Ivellios
As Cobryn and Corrigan go off to discuss in private, Ivellios sees the unmistakable shimmer of a magical force-shield descend over the curtained room. Clenstantia begins to stir, and he goes over to her. He hears shouting from behind the curtain, and then Corrigan's voice, shouting "Cobryn, I beg–" and then it is abruptly cut off.
Cobryn strides out of the room and the force-shield shimmers behind him. Cobryn speaks towards Kevan and Mossa, saying "bind the elf," and tells Kambarian to have him taken elsewhere. He places a hand on the Kiira N'Vaelahr and a green radiance encompasses his hand and flashes from his eyes. Kevan and Mossa move to flank Ivellios.
Ivellios tries again to talk sense into the mage, "I know you and yours, Cobryn. Don't do anything you'll regret. You'll regret it, sooner or later." Cobryn spins to face him, eyes blazing green. He tells the boys to bind and gag Ivellios, but leave him. Cobryn will deal with him after taking care of Clenstantia.
Kevan and Mossa flank Ivellios. Kevan places a hand on his arm, and Ivellios gets the sense Kevan is trying to communicate something, though he doesn't know what. Kevan forces him down and binds his hands behind his back. Mossa moves in with a gag, as Ivellios gets a last line out, "Cobyrn, do not act in such a way as to disgrace your master."
Cobryn's eyes blaze. "Gag him now!" Mossa ties the gag, but Ivellios can feel it is lose, and that he can still speak. He also feels that Mossa has dropped something behind him, between his hands. He feels his hands have only been loosely tied.
Kevan, meanwhile, has walked over to Corrigan's gear.
Cobryn reaches out and grabs Clenstantia's cheek, forcing her to look at him. Clenstantia winces and goes limp. Corrigan, from behind the curtain, can only seethe in paralysed anger.
Ivellios feels the object behind him, a leather bag or pouch. As he moves, he feels the black sapphire (with the wish spell) dig into his thigh. After working for a few minutes, he gets his hands free, and it seems Cobryn hasn't noticed.
Kevan looks at Ivellios, who gets the sense that Kevan is friendly to his cause, though he's still not sure about Captain Kambarian. Kevan and Mossa seem poised, as if waiting for Ivellios to do something. Cobryn reaches in closer to Clenstantia, who starts to moan. Droll trickles down her chin.
Ivellios feels into his pouch and finds his spell components. Lookin up, he sees Kevan rooting into Corrigan's gear. Cobryn continues to torture Clenstantia.
Kevan seems to have found whatever he was looking for, and nods slightly to Mossa. Mossa begins edging towards Cobryn, but after two steps he steps on a loose rock that cracks under his foot. Cobryn stiffens, but still stares at Clenstantia. Mossa again inches forward, slipping a sword from his sheathe. Kevan tenses, poised.
As Mossa reaches striking distance, Cobryn spins around to stare at him. Finally regaining his senses, Ivellios casts "deep slumber" on Cobryn, but to no effect. The distraction was successful, however, as Cobryn stares at Ivellios with green fire blazing from his eyes. He reaches out and a jet of green fire sprays from his fingers and strikes Ivellios in the chest, burning his clothes and his pouch.
Kevan pulls Angarad and Arivain, Corrigan's elven swords, and charges at Cobryn, striking him with one blade. Mossa moves behind the mage, poised with his two short swords at Cobryn's throat. Beside Ivellios, Kambarian draws his sword but does not move.
Ivellios shouts at Cobryn to stop, grabs his staff, and strikes forward. As Mossa moves his blade for a killing strike, Cobryn makes a motion and suddenly he is six feet away. His staff, still where it was, strikes Mossa as if of its own volition, hitting a glancing blow against his temple. Kevan turns and hits Cobryn, drawing blood with Angarad.
Ivellios casts a powerful series of magic missiles at Cobryn. As the bolts strike him, there is a fizzling and the green light dies down. The force-shield shimmers out of existence around the curtain.
Corrigan finds herself suddenly free and falling to the ground. Turning the fall into a tumble, she rolls out of the curtained room. Summing up the situation, she pulls out her concealed dagger and backstabs Cobryn, barely missing his kidneys. Green fire flows along the dagger, superheating it, but Corrigan manages to hold on.
Kevan strikes true with Angarad and the green nimbus dies entirely. Mossa, meanwhile, works to untie Clenstantia at the far corner of the room.
Cobryn takes a retreating step towards the room's exit. But Corrigan grabs one of her swords from Kevan and blocks his retreat. Kambarian, seeing the tide of the fight, stands beside her.
Cobryn spins and runs towards the curtained room. As Corrigan runs after him, his staff flies after him and the force-shield shimmers into effect around the curtain. Corrigan calls out after him, shouting that his a coward, but he still doesn't move. Corrigan knows that it will be at least a few minutes before the shield dissipates.
Mossa has managed to revive Clenstantia, and Corrigan heals Ivellios. Retrieving her other sword from Kevan, she stands before the curtained room, Kevan and Kambarian beside her, and waits.
*****
Taking advantage of their few minutes, Corrigan asks Kambarian how he came to be in Cobryn's company. Kambarian tells her that he had been offered lots of money, and that Cobryn had claimed to be hunting the man who killed his friend, a noble enough purpose. He also says Kevan had vouched for him. At Corrigan sharp look, Kevan merely shrugs.
Ivellios is still weak, and Corrigan offers him one of her potions of cure light wounds from her pack. Clenstantia, meanwhile, looks weak but stable. Corrigan promises her that Cobryn will not reach her a second time. Ivellios promises the same thing, to the scoffs of Kevan and Mossa. Kambarian tells Corrigan the Black Feather is ready to sail, should things go badly.
The curtain ripples, but the shield stays in place. Ivellios suddenly hears the voices louder in his head.
Corrigan says that things will go better if they can get the Kiira N'Vaelahr away from Cobryn. Kevan nods grimly. Clenstantia says that if she can touch Cobryn, she can get the crystal away from him. She says the Kiira N'Vaelahr is dangerous, that there are powerful spirits bound into it by Myrthas. She also says it is difficult and dangerous to use, as it twists its wielder. She says Cobryn was not ready for it.
The curtain ripples and the force shield lowers. Beyond the curtain come the sounds of conversation. Opening the partition with her sword, Corrigan sees Cobryn holding the crystal in one hand. In front of him, seven and a half feet tall, is the fiend Dréjan. Cobryn issues an invocation, and the fiend turns to Corrigan. "Understand, Corrigan," he says, "I have been summoned to do this." With a wink, he points at Corrigan. Corrigan, having faced him before, can tell that his pull is half-hearted, and she is able to resist him. He winks again, and Corrigan moves forward, slowly, as though pulled, placing herself between Cobryn and the fiend.
As she approaches Cobryn, she spins and strikes him. Silver sparkles fly from her sword as she strikes true with Arivain, and Cobryn is slammed against the wall.
Drejan looks to Corrigan, and asks (in a heavy, civilized voice, as always) whether she wants to finish this, or whether she would allow him to do so. Corrigan takes a step backwards, allowing him a clear shot.
The fiend steps forward and speaks to Cobryn, as the mage's eyes grow wide with terror. "Cobryn, you understand that you have summoned me without currency. Therefore, I may pick my payment, and I choose... that gemstone."
Clenstantia stands up, shakily. She tells the fiend, Drejan, that the gem is not Cobryn's and therefore cannot be bargained. A flash of anger crosses across Drejan's face, but it passes quickly. Amicably, he nods his head to her, and informs her that he will therefore take "what is left."
Drejan takes Cobryn and lifts him into the air. Smoke rises from his face, his eyes, his ears, and Cobryn screams. Drejan holds him for a long time, and when he finally lets go, Cobryn is a twisted, twitching thing. Though Drejan offers his services and knowledge to the others standing in the room, Corrigan firmly tells him "no," and he vanishes in a puff of smoke.
Corrigan quickly takes the gem from Cobryn. Steam is still rising from all his orifices. His staff still spins slowly beside him. For Ivellios, the voices die down as Drejan leaves.
As Corrigan touches Cobryn, a final puff of smoke comes out of his mouth and he shrivels. The staff stops spinning and falls to the floor. Ivellios tries to read Cobryn's mind as he dies, but he is too slow. All he sees is a glimpse of the soul, departing beyond the threshold to death. Ivellios realizes that the sense of a threshold is exactly the same as the one from Ideld and from the voices in his mind, though Ideld seems permanently caught in the threshold. As all this comes to him in an instant, Ivellios falls into a swoon.
Corrigan deftly searches Cobryn's body, lifting the rings from his fingers, the circlet from his pocket, a pouch with spell components, and a second pouch which she realizes later contains some of Amet's maps and a partial decoding (the maps are to local, abandoned areas in the Reaching Wood). She realizes with a sinking feeling that the dagger of Nybor is not on the body.
Clenstantia comes forward and picks up Cobryn's staff. She says it has lost her power when the soul departed. Suddenly her eyes gleam with a fevered hope, and asks why Myrthas' staff still contained its power. Perhaps Myrthas was alive! Corrigan tells her, as gently as she can, that she does not think so, and Clenstantia sags down again.
Corrigan moves over to Ivellios. Soon, his eyes unglaze and the voices recede. He wakes with a start and begins talking about Ideld. Corrigan stops him before he says too much, despite his eagerness.
Corrigan asks Kambarian whether the Black Feather can take them to Morningvale. He agrees, and says they can set sail in a half-hour, and be in Morningvale by nightfall.
Meanwhile, Corrigan enlists Kevan to help her search the curtained room, but she still cannot find the Dagger of Nybor, despite her brother's thorough search. Finally, she admits defeat and boards the ship with Ivellios and Clenstantia, where she falls into an exhausted sleep.
*****
Ivellios dreams of the voices again. He feels many of them have been called to this place. Once more, he hears a soft female voice, asking them questions. Twelve or thirteen times, the voice asks specific, clear questions, and the voices answer her, though Ivellios cannot make out any of the actual conversation. After a pause, he hears the voice say, "I did not summon you." A heavy, civilized voice replies to her, "No, my lady, you did not." With that, Ivellios wakes.
*****
The Black Feather arrives at Morningvale at five in the evening. Corrigan passes ten gold pieces to Kambarian. At first, the pirate looks as though he will refuse, and then graciously slips it into his pouch. "I would ask nothing more of the sister of my trusted lieutenant," he says. With that, Corrigan and her companions leave the ship.
Corrigan guides Clenstantia and Ivellios to the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord, where they are met, yet again, by Kurias. Kurias pulls Corrigan aside and says Panlos has taken a turn for the worse, and Kurias wants to leave for Scornubel the next morning. He asks Corrigan if she knows of a fast ship to take him there, and Corrigan points him in the direction of the Black Feather, promising to speak to Kambarian on his behalf.
Ivellios tries to explain to Kurias about the threshold and the souls Ideld seems to control. Kurias abruptly stops him, and leaves. When he return, he is holding a heavy book, bound in black leather with a silver moon on the cover. The pages are yellowed and the leather is cracked and worn. The title reads, "The Five Phases of the Moon." Kurias informs him that it is might be of more help to him in his new line of inquiry.
Corrigan walks with Clenstantia to her room. Clenstantia is obviously shaken and upset. She wants to find Ideld, though Corrigan urges her to wait. Leery, Clenstantia's bird-familiarl, seems listless and depressed. Corrigan leaves her with a heavy heart.
She visits Ivellios, who tells her about his dreams, and especially about the latest interlocutor. Corrigan absorbs it all. Finally, she asks him why he didn't act to help Kevan and Mossa. Ivellios has no good answers, and Corrigan leaves the Tabernacle.
*****
Once Corrigan leaves, Ivellios absorbs himself in the book. He reads about death, and about the soul after death. From everything he now knows, he realizes that all that he has been experiencing, both in relation to Ideld and to the voices in his head, is a total perversion of nature. The natural order is as Cobryn died, where the soul passes beyond the threshold and onto another plane.
Instead, he reads that souls who die with no clear moral direction travel to the Fugue Plane, where the circulate indefinitely until something calls elsewhere. He also reads of night hags, vendors of larval souls. Finally, he reads a harsh warning that it is unwise to tamper with the natural state of the soul.
*****
The next morning, Corrigan visits the Tabernacle again. Kurias has already left, but an acolyte gives Corrigan a package, from him, address to Glothram. Suspecting she knows what it contains, Corrigan nods and proceeds to Clenstantia's room.
Clenstantia is visibly upset. She wonders aloud whether Myrthas is still alive, since some of his life-force is still in his staff. Corrigan tells Clenstantia that Ideld likely stole part or all of Myrthas' soul and placed it in her sceptre. With a shout, Clenstantia tells Corrigan to take everything and leave her. Yet again, Corrigan leaves the Tabernacle.
On her way out, she sees smoke rising from Glothram's chimney, and goes to speak with him.
*****
Part 3: The Party Reunited
Corrigan knocks on Glothram's door, and greet him with, "you won't *believe* what happened!" She walks in to Glothram's incredulous gaze. Before she launches into her tale, she hands him the package, which turns out to be a holy symbol of Tyr. Thankful, Glothram puts it on. He tells her that they should go see Seb, who is staying with Amasar. Corrigan agrees, and the two are about to leave when Ivellios rushes in and begins a long monologue explaining what he discovered in the book. [out-of-game: it was a really great monologue, and you could certainly tell that Ivellios had started to crack. It's a shame I can't remember it properly to record it. It started with "Good lady and gentleman, I think I know what the voices are!"]
The three reach Amasar's house and find Seb and the still-sleeping Maer. They catch up on recent events, and Corrigan confesses to Glothram about the loss of the Dagger of Nybor. He becomes understandably enraged, and the two begin shouting. Ivellios tries to calm the situation, but at that moment there is the sound of screaming from outside.
The four rush out to see the commotion coming from the northern tree-line, near the river. Trees are falling in, and rangers (including Soreimar and Mossa) are shooting a volley of arrows at a huge creature, a skeleton covered with maggots. It is big, much bigger than the boar-creature. It is bear-shaped, but half-again as large as any bear they'd ever seen. An entire farmer's family is fleeing before it as it runs through their barn. It is nearly on the point of overtaking them, when the farmer, Bergen, turns and faces it to let his family get further away.
Corrigan, remembering the thing is sensitive to fire, begins passing out torches. The thing makes a howling sound and charges. Seb rushes in, running faster than men should be able to run, grabs Bergen and pulls him out of the way, to the rangers. Glothram and Corrigan run up, blocking a pass between barrels of hay.
Ivellios moves off and casts "lightening bolt" on one of the hay-bales. It catches fire. Glothram lights another hay-bale, creating a flaming wall in front of the bear-thing. Behind it, Ivellios blasts the barn with a lightening bolt and flaming timbers fall on the beast.
The beast runs straight through the hay-bales and bowls into him. Glothram manages to hit it with his torch. Corrigan bursts into song and runs up, just behind Glothram. Behind the beast, the barn becomes a pillar of fire as something within, probably crops, burst into flame. Seb tells the rangers to "burn it," and they begin lighting their arrows on fire. He rushes up behind the hay-bales and casts a flaming sphere over the beast.
Glothram tries to hold off the beast by dousing it with oil. He hits it, and it screams, the maggots forming a hole to reveal a flaming inferno inside it. Unfortunately, the fire jets out and onto Glothram and his tunic catches fire.
Ivellios again casts lightening bolt on the barn. But though the frame is weak, it holds.
The bear attacks Glothram and swallows himwithin itself. Corrigan dances around it, trying to distract it with her torches, but she seems to be having little effect. Glothram tries to break free, but the fire and the beast is too strong for him.
Ivellios casts lightening bolt, one more time, on the barn. This time the entire facade gives way and it collapses onto the bear. With a horrible screech, it is enveloped in flame. Maggots pop and bones fly.
Corrigan rushes in and pulls Glothram from the flaming remains of the bear. She pulls him out just as Seb runs up, and both cast "cure light wounds" on him, bringing him back from the brink of death. Glothram coughs up maggots and sits up.
After a few minutes, the fire begins to die down to reveal the charred skeleton of a bear, about the same size as Korela, Gospin's animal companion.
From the sidelines, Bergen begins screaming at them, that they destroyed his farm and his lands. Corrigan tries to talk sense into him, to no avail, and leaves him with a disgusted look on her face.
Ivellios, full of his recent learning, realizes that the thing was a construct, a legendary created creature, neither living nor undead. They are said to be impervious to magic, except for one possible weakness. He also knows that the creator does not need to be near the construct. Sharing this with the group, Seb remembers that Gospin had always had a fondness for the crawling things of the earth. He knows of an ancient druidic ritual to create constructs or grove-guardians. With a hideous revulsion, he realizes this construct is exactly the type of thing Gospin might create if he were twisted from his druidic path.
Soreimar and Mossa approach the group. Soreimar prompts Mossa to speak with his brother, and the two hugs. Soreimar offers to go to Fandrigan, to explain what has happened, but Seb dissuades him. Seb stays with the rangers to help put out the fire, Ivellios and Glothram return to the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord, and Corrigan goes off to find Erak.
Seb tells Mossa that he's learned things about their father, but Mossa cuts him off, saying that Kevan knows more about the situation. Mossa apologizes for dealing with Cobryn, but says the mage had told him he had Amet's book. Mossa and Kevan had never seen the book, however. Seb tries to convince him to reform, but Mossa's reply is ambiguous, and the two continue tending to the fire.
Corrigan, meanwhile, has discovered that Erak is no longer in Morningvale. He had left with one of his master Amhar's ships, with his wife Airdre, to Scornubel. Corrigan knows that with winter coming, he will not be returning this season.
At the Tabernacle, Ivellios goes to see Clenstantia. She looks at him with a strange, almost fearful look in her eye. An acolyte tries to prevent him from talking to her. As Ivellios looks at her, he is struck by a horrible headache and the voices come rushing back. Ivellios falls into a swoon.
Corrigan arrives at the Tabernacle shortly afterwards to greet the interim high priest, Nilia, and to visit Clenstantia. Clenstantia returns Curgeon's cloak, now mended, to Corrigan's thanks. Clenstantia, with a feverish gleam in her eye, insists on going to Myrthas' tower, to bury everything that has happened. Corrigan, concerned, insists on getting Seb to go with them. Clenstantia finally agrees and Corrigan rushes off to find her friend.
Seb as returned to Amasar's house, where Corrigan finds him. Together, they go off to the tower. Corrigan guides the magic carpet while Clenstantia stares into the Kiira N'Vaelahr. The gem changes colours as images whirl over the surface.
They reach the base of tower in a few hours, and Clenstantia places the Kiira N'Vaelahr to her chest, as Corrigan tries to dissuade her. Clenstantia begins calling the elements: "air," and stormclouds begin circling the tower; "water," and rains falls; "fire," and lightening shoots down onto the tower; "earth," and the earth quakes below their feet. She repeats the elements a second time, and the storm worsens.
Corrigan rushes up to her, trying to understand what she's doing. Clenstantia tells her that Myrthas had founded the tower on a powerful elemental spirit, but that she, Clenstantia, is not wise enough to command it. Instead, the entire tower must be buried.
A vortex of air swirls around her and lifts her up to the top of the tower. From below, Corrigan can see her walking up the outer staircase. Fires lick out from the crown of the tower as lightening hits it yet again. With a crack, the walls of the tower open and rivers of flame run down the sides. The tower breaks apart and is pulled down into the earth.
From the middle of the storm, the green gem rises up and shatters in a burst of bright light. The weather-globe shatters in another explosion. All the shards come together to form a man-sized elemental where the tower was. It rises up into the sky and vanishes.
The storm dies down as Corrigan sinks to her knees and weeps.
After a few minutes, grass begins to overgrow the outcropping, and the rockiness fades into soft loam. From the closed fissure where the tower used to stand, Corrigan finds a rock, hand-shaped, holding the Kiira N'Vaelahr. The green fire is gone, and it shines a light blue. Corrigan reaches out and takes it. Seb asks her what she's going to do with it, and Corrigan says, quite honestly, that she has no idea. As she takes it, there is a final quake and the whole area turns to soft grass. The weather changes back, and Seb feels it is more natural. Putting away the stone, the two fly back to Morningvale.
*****
Corrigan gathers her companions together. She tells them that she has learned all she can from the Reaching Wood. They know just enough to understand how dangerous Ideld is, but have no way to stop her. Corrigan tells them of Candle-Keep, a library on the Sword Coast, which might have more information. She says she can use the flying carpet to reach it, and find out what she can. If there is nothing to be learned there, she can fly to the places listed in the Lay of Ideld and see if she can find anything new.
The snows of winter begin falling outside the window, and Corrigan realizes that if she doesn't leave soon, she may be snowed in for days or weeks. She bids a tearful farewell to Glothram, kisses the sleeping Ivellios on the forehead, and pulls Seb aside. She tells him to watch over her brother for her. She also gives him one of Myrthas' rings (of protection +2) to give to Glothram, and the Kiira N'Vaelahr. Izir seems to follow it, and Seb is just as uncomfortable to receive the stone as Corrigan is to give it to him, but she feels it would be wrong to take it with her. She keeps another ring (of wizardy 1), Cobyrn's staff and spellbook, and the carpet.
Bidding him a tearful goodbye, she mounts the carpet and flies off southwards into the Reaching Wood.
*****
Right. So that's probably going to be my last write-up for a while. I'll be keeping in touch with the game via email, from afar as Corrigan is now afar, but I doubt I'll post much more here. So... that's it for now. Thanks for reading.
D&D Campaign, session #6 (April 22, 2006)
Part 1: Seb and Glothram
Seb and Glothram are led away surrounded by wood elves. Maer, the leader, commands his followers with complete authority. Two follow him carrying Caulamber's body, two stay as an honour guard, and four slip off into the forest, though Seb occasionally catches a glimpse of them from deeper beyond the trees.
Seb tries questioning Maer, though the elf ignores him. The only thing he tells Seb is that the dead patches are being caused by "the blighter," the enemy of their grove. Seb has heard of blighters before: they are apparently druids who have turned against their faith and against nature itself, and exhibit powers in a perverse reflection of the Druidic ones. Stories of blighters are sometimes used to frighten young druids into behaving. Though he keeps asking, Maer does not volunteer any further information. As Seb begins explaining the situation to Glothram, Maer stiffens but doesn't say anything and Seb continues explaining.
The area is preternaturally quiet. Seb is unfamiliar with these woods, but the trees become ever denser as they travel deeper into the forest. Seb and the elves make their ways along the thick brush, but Glothram is having a difficult time as his clothes keep snagging on brambles. The underbrush becomes damper and thicker, seemingly the result of hundreds of years of mulch. Glothram's boots stick in the mud with every step.
From far above comes an eerie bird-cry.
The woods are so thick that Glothram must now shoulder his way through the trees. As he makes his way, one of the branches cracks, and Maer spins around. He speaks to Seb in elven, telling him to restrain Glothram from damaging the trees, as they are ancient and sacred. Seb apologizes but asks Maer to proceed slower, for Glothram's sake. Reluctantly, Maer agrees.
After several more hours, the trees thin, though a leafy green canopy is still spread high overhead, despite the late season. Here, the group stops, and Maer informs Seb that he and Glothram must leave their metal objects behind. Though Seb only needs to leave his pack and his arrows, Glothram has more difficulty. In the end, he must leave his sword, his armour, his pack, his belt, and even his boots. Seb recognizes the mocking looks the elves give Glothram, though wisely does not tell him. Maer informs the two that two of his followers, will guard the equipment until they return.
With that, he makes his way forward, and Glothram, Seb, and Eemin follow. Below their feet, the thick undergrowth gives way to a green-swarth. Before them is a line of several hundred massive trees with blue-green leaves, sélas wood. Maer walks up to one and whispers, and the branches part into a rough archway. He walks through, and the rest of his elves form two columns on either side just before the entrance. Glothram and Seb follow behind Maer.
Inside, the light is dimmer, and the ground is covered with thick, spongy grass. None of the group leave footprints as they walk across it. Before them, at the centre of a clearing a thousand feet across, is another row of trees. They are of every type of wood, arranged in a rough circle, and each one ringed with mistletoe, a symbol of druidry. All are obviously ancient.
Maer walks to this ring and enters into it. Glothram, Seb, and Eemin follow him. Within this inner circle, they see a mound of rich loam, crowned by thirteen giant obelisks. In each opening between the obelisks stands a robed figured with its animal companion. Glothram catches sight of a knoll (an 8-foot humanoid hyena), and an eleven-foot-tall giant. He tenses, but, unarmed, cannot do anything about his righteous fury. Maer leaves his charges to take his place among the other figures at the top of the mound.
Standing in the centre of the obelisk ring is Fandrigan, the hierophant. His cloak is woven of grasses and moss, and he wears a huge crown of antlers. He does not look happy to see them.
Seb makes a druidic gesture of greeting, and the figures around the circle murmur amongst themselves. Fandrigan raises a hand and formally welcomes Seb to his circle. However, he tells him that it would be best if he did not use further druidic gestures. Glothram does not understand a word that passes between them.
Fandrigan tells Seb to approach the circle, and he walks up to the base of the mound. Fandrigan begins walking down, circling the mound to meet him. He tells Seb, "tell your master that his war will end before it begins." He tells him that the circle is about to ban Amasar and all his students, and none will be welcome at the grove or in the woods controlled by it.
As Fandrigan is lecturing, the body of Caulamber is borne into the circle, as if of its own volition. As it approaches, Seb and Glothram see that it is being borne by hundreds of field mice. As it comes up to the inner circle, the mice disperse. Fandrigan tells Seb he considers the body a declaration of war by Amasar, and that it has been further defiled by Seb. Fandrigan tells him that Amasar and those who support him will be found and rooted out, even Seb.
To prevent this rout, Fandrigan says that Amsasar must present himself at the cirlce "to be dealt with in the proper fashion," within six days. Seb tells him that he doesn't know where Amasar is, but that he will pass on the message if he sees him.
Fandrigan makes a gesture, and the linens around Caulamber's body are unwrapped by the grasses surrounding it. The grasses turn over the body to reveal the arrow wounds. Out of one of them, a shoot of sélas wood is sprouting. Fandrigan cooly regards Seb's bow, made from sélas wood cut from Gospin's own grove. Fandrigan informs Seb that Gospin is no longer counted among the druids of the circle, nor Amasar.
With another gesture, the arrowhead rises out of Caulamber's corpse, and Fandrigan takes it up. He tells Seb that only Gospin carves arrows from sélas wood. Also, there are only two groves of sélas wood in the Reaching Wood, and none from his own grove has been cut in a thousand years. Though Seb says the arrows, while of Sélas, are not like Gospin's usual arrows, Fandrigan ignores him. He says Gospin has turned from the path.
Fandrigan dismisses them with a sharp word, reminding Seb that if he tries to defend Amasar, his life is also forfeit. He tells them that they are lucky to be leaving the grove alive.
Seb, Glothram, and Eemin leave the inner circle, and the outer one beyond the ring of sélas trees. As they approach their gear, the two elves slip away. [line of the night #1, by Glothram: "I need to get my clothes back on."] As Glothram starts gearing up, he realizes the elves have left wet mud in his boots. Seb places a warning hand on his shoulder before he can do anything foolish, and the two leave.
*****
Seb and Glothram make their way towards the river and Morningvale. Eemin begins shying away from the path Seb has chosen, and Glothram draws his sword. On the ground, Seb sees a wriggling maggot. Looking closer, he realizes something heavy has made its way over the ground, and a trail of occasional maggots. He also sees soft elven footfalls following it. If it was the boar, Seb doesn't think it was moving as quickly.
Cautiously, Seb and Glothram follow the path, which goes along a lightly-trod series of elven footpaths.
As dusk falls, Seb sees something lying across the path up ahead. Drawing their weapons, the friends approach it, and realize it is a wood-elf, lying prone. Seb rushes up and discovers the elf is not breathing. Turning him over onto his back, Seb sees two shafts of sélas wood in its chest, fletched with black feathers, one right through the heart.
Further ahead is another elf, a female, also lying prone. She has also been struck by an arrow, but is breathing faintly. Together, Glothram and Seb work to remove the arrow and all its splinters. Though it is a close thing, they think they succeed, and she shivers and flutters her eyes. Seb, surveying the scene, thinks there has been a struggle here, as though, not long ago, a large animal circled a smaller one between the two elves, making a sort of clearing. There are no signs of overt combat.
Behind them, a twig snaps, and Seb spins to see Maer, alone. He had obviously snapped the branch to get their attention. Speaking in common, Maer tells them that there is more they should know. Asked about the elves, he tells them that the elven woman, Elén, should be returned to their home. But first he tells them that terrible things are afoot. He brought them before Fandrigan because he believes Fandrigan sent him as a test of loyalty. Fandrigan, in recent months, has been getting increasingly paranoid and unstable, thinking Amasar wants to challenge him for the hierophancy. Some are even hoping he is correct. Though human, Fandrigan has come to sympathize with a group of elven supremacists called the Eldreth Veluthra (the Victorious Blade of the People). This troubles many of the members of the grove. It is unclear that Fandrigan would have enough support from the grove to attack Amasar, even if he wanted to.
Maer is troubled by the blight. He tells Seb that there are few among the grove who *could* do such a thing, even if they did become apostates. Gospin is one of those few.
In mid-speech, there is a whistling sound and a black-headed shaft emerges from Maer's chest. A blossom of blood expands over Maer's chest, and he falls to one knee. Seb looks up to see rustling leaves. Drawing his bow, he casts "light" on one of his arrows.
Just then, another, higher-pitched whistling comes from near the same direction. Something gleaming and red shoots down from the high branches and hits Seb on the shoulder. Ignoring the pain, Seb shoots the arrow into the trees. At first, he thinks he missed, but then he realizes the light is moving, and the arrows is embedded in a two- or three-foot tall creature. Two more arrows flash out from him, igniting just before striking, and hit Seb on both shoulders. Seb is bowled onto the ground and his cloak catches fire.
There is a howling sound from beyond the clearing, and Glothram covers the elf with his shield and draws his sword. There is a hideous crashing sound, and the maggoty boar-skeleton charges into the clearing, completely replenished. Glothram tries to strike the thing as it runs past him, but succeeds only in embedding his sword into the soft loam. The boar-thing runs past him towards Seb. Again Glothram charges the boar, his sword clangs uselessly against a tree.
Seb shucks off his cloak and shoots into the trees, but his arrows go wide. In a brief respite, no arrows rain down, but Seb hears the sound of climbing. Seb grabs a low-hanging branch and begins to climb, telling Eemin to leave. Eemin takes a few steps away, but looks back up at Seb, conflicted.
Suddenly, the boar charges at and past Seb, and up to the tree where the gnome is clinging. It starts sliding up the tree, slowly but inexorably. Seb, clinging to a nearby tree, feels a chill, and all the plant-life around him winks out instantly. Still-green leaves fall from the tree as the boar makes its way upwards and beyond Seb's line-of-sight.
Glothram rushes over to Maer and carries him away from the tree. The tree shakes, and he hears the sound of the beast's howl. A voice, high-pitched and gravely, says something soothing which Seb can't make out. Again Seb shoots into the tree, but he has no target and the arrows go wide.
There is a shout in the same voice, and suddenly the top of the tree explodes in bright red fire. Flame races down it and burning leaves fall to the wet ground. Seb's glowing arrow plummets the the ground and a bird flies off from the top of the tree and away.
Glothram grabs the two elves, one over each shoulder, and carries them out of the dead zone. [line of the night #2: "Protect the meat!"] Seb also runs off, as a rain of burning leaves, bones, and maggots fall behind him.
In the distance, Seb hears the sound of elven horns, and knows that Fandrigan's men cannot be far. A more pressing concern are the sélas arrows in his shoulders are still alive, and the fire which is rapidly spreading through the canopy of the dead zone.
Glothram and Seb manage to pull out the arrow from Maer's chest and feed him a potion of cure wounds, just in time. The wound closes itself as the horns again sound in the distance.
Looking helplessly at the growing fire and the smoke over the dead zone, Seb hears the cry of an eagle. Overhead, a bird dives into the smoky veil. From within, Seb hears a voice calling on the spirits of nature. Wind swirls around the area and rain begins to fall, hard and strong. The fire goes out, and as quickly as the rains came, they stop. Standing before them is Amasar.
*****
Seb runs up to Amasar and kneels before him. Raising Seb back to his feet, he sees the arrows still in his shoulder. With an unusual look of anger, Amasar stares at the arrows and they burn away. Amasar places a hand on Seb's shoulder and heals him completely, and then heals the rest of the group.
Amasar says Fandrigan will know what he has done, and will be there soon. As if in response, the horns again sound, this time closer. He says that he must face Amasar, but he fears for Seb. He tells Seb to leave, that he is not safe here. Seb asks, "will you be safe?" To which Amasar replies, "I will be as I must be." Amasar suspects and fears that Gospin has a hand in the blight, but does not know why or how. He theorizes that some terrible evil has befallen Gospin, but does not know what. He says that as he was tracking the gnome, he had nearly caught him when he saw the fire. He was forced to choose between continuing the track Gospin or putting out the fire. He chose the latter.
Amasar asks them to take Maer with them, as he will not be safe with his own people. He pulls a bundle of berries, magical ones picked from his own grove, and gives them to Seb, saying that they will not tire on their return, and they will make good speed on their way back. He touches Glothram on the forehead, and tells him to travel through the forest with a light step.
Then, as the horns are almost upon them, Amasar tells them to go. With a heavy heart, they do, and ford the river in the middle of the night. They reach Morningvale at dawn. Seb and Maer settle in at Amasar's house, while Glothram goes to his own home.
*****
Part 2: Corrigan and Ivellios
As Cobryn and Corrigan go off to discuss in private, Ivellios sees the unmistakable shimmer of a magical force-shield descend over the curtained room. Clenstantia begins to stir, and he goes over to her. He hears shouting from behind the curtain, and then Corrigan's voice, shouting "Cobryn, I beg–" and then it is abruptly cut off.
Cobryn strides out of the room and the force-shield shimmers behind him. Cobryn speaks towards Kevan and Mossa, saying "bind the elf," and tells Kambarian to have him taken elsewhere. He places a hand on the Kiira N'Vaelahr and a green radiance encompasses his hand and flashes from his eyes. Kevan and Mossa move to flank Ivellios.
Ivellios tries again to talk sense into the mage, "I know you and yours, Cobryn. Don't do anything you'll regret. You'll regret it, sooner or later." Cobryn spins to face him, eyes blazing green. He tells the boys to bind and gag Ivellios, but leave him. Cobryn will deal with him after taking care of Clenstantia.
Kevan and Mossa flank Ivellios. Kevan places a hand on his arm, and Ivellios gets the sense Kevan is trying to communicate something, though he doesn't know what. Kevan forces him down and binds his hands behind his back. Mossa moves in with a gag, as Ivellios gets a last line out, "Cobyrn, do not act in such a way as to disgrace your master."
Cobryn's eyes blaze. "Gag him now!" Mossa ties the gag, but Ivellios can feel it is lose, and that he can still speak. He also feels that Mossa has dropped something behind him, between his hands. He feels his hands have only been loosely tied.
Kevan, meanwhile, has walked over to Corrigan's gear.
Cobryn reaches out and grabs Clenstantia's cheek, forcing her to look at him. Clenstantia winces and goes limp. Corrigan, from behind the curtain, can only seethe in paralysed anger.
Ivellios feels the object behind him, a leather bag or pouch. As he moves, he feels the black sapphire (with the wish spell) dig into his thigh. After working for a few minutes, he gets his hands free, and it seems Cobryn hasn't noticed.
Kevan looks at Ivellios, who gets the sense that Kevan is friendly to his cause, though he's still not sure about Captain Kambarian. Kevan and Mossa seem poised, as if waiting for Ivellios to do something. Cobryn reaches in closer to Clenstantia, who starts to moan. Droll trickles down her chin.
Ivellios feels into his pouch and finds his spell components. Lookin up, he sees Kevan rooting into Corrigan's gear. Cobryn continues to torture Clenstantia.
Kevan seems to have found whatever he was looking for, and nods slightly to Mossa. Mossa begins edging towards Cobryn, but after two steps he steps on a loose rock that cracks under his foot. Cobryn stiffens, but still stares at Clenstantia. Mossa again inches forward, slipping a sword from his sheathe. Kevan tenses, poised.
As Mossa reaches striking distance, Cobryn spins around to stare at him. Finally regaining his senses, Ivellios casts "deep slumber" on Cobryn, but to no effect. The distraction was successful, however, as Cobryn stares at Ivellios with green fire blazing from his eyes. He reaches out and a jet of green fire sprays from his fingers and strikes Ivellios in the chest, burning his clothes and his pouch.
Kevan pulls Angarad and Arivain, Corrigan's elven swords, and charges at Cobryn, striking him with one blade. Mossa moves behind the mage, poised with his two short swords at Cobryn's throat. Beside Ivellios, Kambarian draws his sword but does not move.
Ivellios shouts at Cobryn to stop, grabs his staff, and strikes forward. As Mossa moves his blade for a killing strike, Cobryn makes a motion and suddenly he is six feet away. His staff, still where it was, strikes Mossa as if of its own volition, hitting a glancing blow against his temple. Kevan turns and hits Cobryn, drawing blood with Angarad.
Ivellios casts a powerful series of magic missiles at Cobryn. As the bolts strike him, there is a fizzling and the green light dies down. The force-shield shimmers out of existence around the curtain.
Corrigan finds herself suddenly free and falling to the ground. Turning the fall into a tumble, she rolls out of the curtained room. Summing up the situation, she pulls out her concealed dagger and backstabs Cobryn, barely missing his kidneys. Green fire flows along the dagger, superheating it, but Corrigan manages to hold on.
Kevan strikes true with Angarad and the green nimbus dies entirely. Mossa, meanwhile, works to untie Clenstantia at the far corner of the room.
Cobryn takes a retreating step towards the room's exit. But Corrigan grabs one of her swords from Kevan and blocks his retreat. Kambarian, seeing the tide of the fight, stands beside her.
Cobryn spins and runs towards the curtained room. As Corrigan runs after him, his staff flies after him and the force-shield shimmers into effect around the curtain. Corrigan calls out after him, shouting that his a coward, but he still doesn't move. Corrigan knows that it will be at least a few minutes before the shield dissipates.
Mossa has managed to revive Clenstantia, and Corrigan heals Ivellios. Retrieving her other sword from Kevan, she stands before the curtained room, Kevan and Kambarian beside her, and waits.
*****
Taking advantage of their few minutes, Corrigan asks Kambarian how he came to be in Cobryn's company. Kambarian tells her that he had been offered lots of money, and that Cobryn had claimed to be hunting the man who killed his friend, a noble enough purpose. He also says Kevan had vouched for him. At Corrigan sharp look, Kevan merely shrugs.
Ivellios is still weak, and Corrigan offers him one of her potions of cure light wounds from her pack. Clenstantia, meanwhile, looks weak but stable. Corrigan promises her that Cobryn will not reach her a second time. Ivellios promises the same thing, to the scoffs of Kevan and Mossa. Kambarian tells Corrigan the Black Feather is ready to sail, should things go badly.
The curtain ripples, but the shield stays in place. Ivellios suddenly hears the voices louder in his head.
Corrigan says that things will go better if they can get the Kiira N'Vaelahr away from Cobryn. Kevan nods grimly. Clenstantia says that if she can touch Cobryn, she can get the crystal away from him. She says the Kiira N'Vaelahr is dangerous, that there are powerful spirits bound into it by Myrthas. She also says it is difficult and dangerous to use, as it twists its wielder. She says Cobryn was not ready for it.
The curtain ripples and the force shield lowers. Beyond the curtain come the sounds of conversation. Opening the partition with her sword, Corrigan sees Cobryn holding the crystal in one hand. In front of him, seven and a half feet tall, is the fiend Dréjan. Cobryn issues an invocation, and the fiend turns to Corrigan. "Understand, Corrigan," he says, "I have been summoned to do this." With a wink, he points at Corrigan. Corrigan, having faced him before, can tell that his pull is half-hearted, and she is able to resist him. He winks again, and Corrigan moves forward, slowly, as though pulled, placing herself between Cobryn and the fiend.
As she approaches Cobryn, she spins and strikes him. Silver sparkles fly from her sword as she strikes true with Arivain, and Cobryn is slammed against the wall.
Drejan looks to Corrigan, and asks (in a heavy, civilized voice, as always) whether she wants to finish this, or whether she would allow him to do so. Corrigan takes a step backwards, allowing him a clear shot.
The fiend steps forward and speaks to Cobryn, as the mage's eyes grow wide with terror. "Cobryn, you understand that you have summoned me without currency. Therefore, I may pick my payment, and I choose... that gemstone."
Clenstantia stands up, shakily. She tells the fiend, Drejan, that the gem is not Cobryn's and therefore cannot be bargained. A flash of anger crosses across Drejan's face, but it passes quickly. Amicably, he nods his head to her, and informs her that he will therefore take "what is left."
Drejan takes Cobryn and lifts him into the air. Smoke rises from his face, his eyes, his ears, and Cobryn screams. Drejan holds him for a long time, and when he finally lets go, Cobryn is a twisted, twitching thing. Though Drejan offers his services and knowledge to the others standing in the room, Corrigan firmly tells him "no," and he vanishes in a puff of smoke.
Corrigan quickly takes the gem from Cobryn. Steam is still rising from all his orifices. His staff still spins slowly beside him. For Ivellios, the voices die down as Drejan leaves.
As Corrigan touches Cobryn, a final puff of smoke comes out of his mouth and he shrivels. The staff stops spinning and falls to the floor. Ivellios tries to read Cobryn's mind as he dies, but he is too slow. All he sees is a glimpse of the soul, departing beyond the threshold to death. Ivellios realizes that the sense of a threshold is exactly the same as the one from Ideld and from the voices in his mind, though Ideld seems permanently caught in the threshold. As all this comes to him in an instant, Ivellios falls into a swoon.
Corrigan deftly searches Cobryn's body, lifting the rings from his fingers, the circlet from his pocket, a pouch with spell components, and a second pouch which she realizes later contains some of Amet's maps and a partial decoding (the maps are to local, abandoned areas in the Reaching Wood). She realizes with a sinking feeling that the dagger of Nybor is not on the body.
Clenstantia comes forward and picks up Cobryn's staff. She says it has lost her power when the soul departed. Suddenly her eyes gleam with a fevered hope, and asks why Myrthas' staff still contained its power. Perhaps Myrthas was alive! Corrigan tells her, as gently as she can, that she does not think so, and Clenstantia sags down again.
Corrigan moves over to Ivellios. Soon, his eyes unglaze and the voices recede. He wakes with a start and begins talking about Ideld. Corrigan stops him before he says too much, despite his eagerness.
Corrigan asks Kambarian whether the Black Feather can take them to Morningvale. He agrees, and says they can set sail in a half-hour, and be in Morningvale by nightfall.
Meanwhile, Corrigan enlists Kevan to help her search the curtained room, but she still cannot find the Dagger of Nybor, despite her brother's thorough search. Finally, she admits defeat and boards the ship with Ivellios and Clenstantia, where she falls into an exhausted sleep.
*****
Ivellios dreams of the voices again. He feels many of them have been called to this place. Once more, he hears a soft female voice, asking them questions. Twelve or thirteen times, the voice asks specific, clear questions, and the voices answer her, though Ivellios cannot make out any of the actual conversation. After a pause, he hears the voice say, "I did not summon you." A heavy, civilized voice replies to her, "No, my lady, you did not." With that, Ivellios wakes.
*****
The Black Feather arrives at Morningvale at five in the evening. Corrigan passes ten gold pieces to Kambarian. At first, the pirate looks as though he will refuse, and then graciously slips it into his pouch. "I would ask nothing more of the sister of my trusted lieutenant," he says. With that, Corrigan and her companions leave the ship.
Corrigan guides Clenstantia and Ivellios to the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord, where they are met, yet again, by Kurias. Kurias pulls Corrigan aside and says Panlos has taken a turn for the worse, and Kurias wants to leave for Scornubel the next morning. He asks Corrigan if she knows of a fast ship to take him there, and Corrigan points him in the direction of the Black Feather, promising to speak to Kambarian on his behalf.
Ivellios tries to explain to Kurias about the threshold and the souls Ideld seems to control. Kurias abruptly stops him, and leaves. When he return, he is holding a heavy book, bound in black leather with a silver moon on the cover. The pages are yellowed and the leather is cracked and worn. The title reads, "The Five Phases of the Moon." Kurias informs him that it is might be of more help to him in his new line of inquiry.
Corrigan walks with Clenstantia to her room. Clenstantia is obviously shaken and upset. She wants to find Ideld, though Corrigan urges her to wait. Leery, Clenstantia's bird-familiarl, seems listless and depressed. Corrigan leaves her with a heavy heart.
She visits Ivellios, who tells her about his dreams, and especially about the latest interlocutor. Corrigan absorbs it all. Finally, she asks him why he didn't act to help Kevan and Mossa. Ivellios has no good answers, and Corrigan leaves the Tabernacle.
*****
Once Corrigan leaves, Ivellios absorbs himself in the book. He reads about death, and about the soul after death. From everything he now knows, he realizes that all that he has been experiencing, both in relation to Ideld and to the voices in his head, is a total perversion of nature. The natural order is as Cobryn died, where the soul passes beyond the threshold and onto another plane.
Instead, he reads that souls who die with no clear moral direction travel to the Fugue Plane, where the circulate indefinitely until something calls elsewhere. He also reads of night hags, vendors of larval souls. Finally, he reads a harsh warning that it is unwise to tamper with the natural state of the soul.
*****
The next morning, Corrigan visits the Tabernacle again. Kurias has already left, but an acolyte gives Corrigan a package, from him, address to Glothram. Suspecting she knows what it contains, Corrigan nods and proceeds to Clenstantia's room.
Clenstantia is visibly upset. She wonders aloud whether Myrthas is still alive, since some of his life-force is still in his staff. Corrigan tells Clenstantia that Ideld likely stole part or all of Myrthas' soul and placed it in her sceptre. With a shout, Clenstantia tells Corrigan to take everything and leave her. Yet again, Corrigan leaves the Tabernacle.
On her way out, she sees smoke rising from Glothram's chimney, and goes to speak with him.
*****
Part 3: The Party Reunited
Corrigan knocks on Glothram's door, and greet him with, "you won't *believe* what happened!" She walks in to Glothram's incredulous gaze. Before she launches into her tale, she hands him the package, which turns out to be a holy symbol of Tyr. Thankful, Glothram puts it on. He tells her that they should go see Seb, who is staying with Amasar. Corrigan agrees, and the two are about to leave when Ivellios rushes in and begins a long monologue explaining what he discovered in the book. [out-of-game: it was a really great monologue, and you could certainly tell that Ivellios had started to crack. It's a shame I can't remember it properly to record it. It started with "Good lady and gentleman, I think I know what the voices are!"]
The three reach Amasar's house and find Seb and the still-sleeping Maer. They catch up on recent events, and Corrigan confesses to Glothram about the loss of the Dagger of Nybor. He becomes understandably enraged, and the two begin shouting. Ivellios tries to calm the situation, but at that moment there is the sound of screaming from outside.
The four rush out to see the commotion coming from the northern tree-line, near the river. Trees are falling in, and rangers (including Soreimar and Mossa) are shooting a volley of arrows at a huge creature, a skeleton covered with maggots. It is big, much bigger than the boar-creature. It is bear-shaped, but half-again as large as any bear they'd ever seen. An entire farmer's family is fleeing before it as it runs through their barn. It is nearly on the point of overtaking them, when the farmer, Bergen, turns and faces it to let his family get further away.
Corrigan, remembering the thing is sensitive to fire, begins passing out torches. The thing makes a howling sound and charges. Seb rushes in, running faster than men should be able to run, grabs Bergen and pulls him out of the way, to the rangers. Glothram and Corrigan run up, blocking a pass between barrels of hay.
Ivellios moves off and casts "lightening bolt" on one of the hay-bales. It catches fire. Glothram lights another hay-bale, creating a flaming wall in front of the bear-thing. Behind it, Ivellios blasts the barn with a lightening bolt and flaming timbers fall on the beast.
The beast runs straight through the hay-bales and bowls into him. Glothram manages to hit it with his torch. Corrigan bursts into song and runs up, just behind Glothram. Behind the beast, the barn becomes a pillar of fire as something within, probably crops, burst into flame. Seb tells the rangers to "burn it," and they begin lighting their arrows on fire. He rushes up behind the hay-bales and casts a flaming sphere over the beast.
Glothram tries to hold off the beast by dousing it with oil. He hits it, and it screams, the maggots forming a hole to reveal a flaming inferno inside it. Unfortunately, the fire jets out and onto Glothram and his tunic catches fire.
Ivellios again casts lightening bolt on the barn. But though the frame is weak, it holds.
The bear attacks Glothram and swallows himwithin itself. Corrigan dances around it, trying to distract it with her torches, but she seems to be having little effect. Glothram tries to break free, but the fire and the beast is too strong for him.
Ivellios casts lightening bolt, one more time, on the barn. This time the entire facade gives way and it collapses onto the bear. With a horrible screech, it is enveloped in flame. Maggots pop and bones fly.
Corrigan rushes in and pulls Glothram from the flaming remains of the bear. She pulls him out just as Seb runs up, and both cast "cure light wounds" on him, bringing him back from the brink of death. Glothram coughs up maggots and sits up.
After a few minutes, the fire begins to die down to reveal the charred skeleton of a bear, about the same size as Korela, Gospin's animal companion.
From the sidelines, Bergen begins screaming at them, that they destroyed his farm and his lands. Corrigan tries to talk sense into him, to no avail, and leaves him with a disgusted look on her face.
Ivellios, full of his recent learning, realizes that the thing was a construct, a legendary created creature, neither living nor undead. They are said to be impervious to magic, except for one possible weakness. He also knows that the creator does not need to be near the construct. Sharing this with the group, Seb remembers that Gospin had always had a fondness for the crawling things of the earth. He knows of an ancient druidic ritual to create constructs or grove-guardians. With a hideous revulsion, he realizes this construct is exactly the type of thing Gospin might create if he were twisted from his druidic path.
Soreimar and Mossa approach the group. Soreimar prompts Mossa to speak with his brother, and the two hugs. Soreimar offers to go to Fandrigan, to explain what has happened, but Seb dissuades him. Seb stays with the rangers to help put out the fire, Ivellios and Glothram return to the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord, and Corrigan goes off to find Erak.
Seb tells Mossa that he's learned things about their father, but Mossa cuts him off, saying that Kevan knows more about the situation. Mossa apologizes for dealing with Cobryn, but says the mage had told him he had Amet's book. Mossa and Kevan had never seen the book, however. Seb tries to convince him to reform, but Mossa's reply is ambiguous, and the two continue tending to the fire.
Corrigan, meanwhile, has discovered that Erak is no longer in Morningvale. He had left with one of his master Amhar's ships, with his wife Airdre, to Scornubel. Corrigan knows that with winter coming, he will not be returning this season.
At the Tabernacle, Ivellios goes to see Clenstantia. She looks at him with a strange, almost fearful look in her eye. An acolyte tries to prevent him from talking to her. As Ivellios looks at her, he is struck by a horrible headache and the voices come rushing back. Ivellios falls into a swoon.
Corrigan arrives at the Tabernacle shortly afterwards to greet the interim high priest, Nilia, and to visit Clenstantia. Clenstantia returns Curgeon's cloak, now mended, to Corrigan's thanks. Clenstantia, with a feverish gleam in her eye, insists on going to Myrthas' tower, to bury everything that has happened. Corrigan, concerned, insists on getting Seb to go with them. Clenstantia finally agrees and Corrigan rushes off to find her friend.
Seb as returned to Amasar's house, where Corrigan finds him. Together, they go off to the tower. Corrigan guides the magic carpet while Clenstantia stares into the Kiira N'Vaelahr. The gem changes colours as images whirl over the surface.
They reach the base of tower in a few hours, and Clenstantia places the Kiira N'Vaelahr to her chest, as Corrigan tries to dissuade her. Clenstantia begins calling the elements: "air," and stormclouds begin circling the tower; "water," and rains falls; "fire," and lightening shoots down onto the tower; "earth," and the earth quakes below their feet. She repeats the elements a second time, and the storm worsens.
Corrigan rushes up to her, trying to understand what she's doing. Clenstantia tells her that Myrthas had founded the tower on a powerful elemental spirit, but that she, Clenstantia, is not wise enough to command it. Instead, the entire tower must be buried.
A vortex of air swirls around her and lifts her up to the top of the tower. From below, Corrigan can see her walking up the outer staircase. Fires lick out from the crown of the tower as lightening hits it yet again. With a crack, the walls of the tower open and rivers of flame run down the sides. The tower breaks apart and is pulled down into the earth.
From the middle of the storm, the green gem rises up and shatters in a burst of bright light. The weather-globe shatters in another explosion. All the shards come together to form a man-sized elemental where the tower was. It rises up into the sky and vanishes.
The storm dies down as Corrigan sinks to her knees and weeps.
After a few minutes, grass begins to overgrow the outcropping, and the rockiness fades into soft loam. From the closed fissure where the tower used to stand, Corrigan finds a rock, hand-shaped, holding the Kiira N'Vaelahr. The green fire is gone, and it shines a light blue. Corrigan reaches out and takes it. Seb asks her what she's going to do with it, and Corrigan says, quite honestly, that she has no idea. As she takes it, there is a final quake and the whole area turns to soft grass. The weather changes back, and Seb feels it is more natural. Putting away the stone, the two fly back to Morningvale.
*****
Corrigan gathers her companions together. She tells them that she has learned all she can from the Reaching Wood. They know just enough to understand how dangerous Ideld is, but have no way to stop her. Corrigan tells them of Candle-Keep, a library on the Sword Coast, which might have more information. She says she can use the flying carpet to reach it, and find out what she can. If there is nothing to be learned there, she can fly to the places listed in the Lay of Ideld and see if she can find anything new.
The snows of winter begin falling outside the window, and Corrigan realizes that if she doesn't leave soon, she may be snowed in for days or weeks. She bids a tearful farewell to Glothram, kisses the sleeping Ivellios on the forehead, and pulls Seb aside. She tells him to watch over her brother for her. She also gives him one of Myrthas' rings (of protection +2) to give to Glothram, and the Kiira N'Vaelahr. Izir seems to follow it, and Seb is just as uncomfortable to receive the stone as Corrigan is to give it to him, but she feels it would be wrong to take it with her. She keeps another ring (of wizardy 1), Cobyrn's staff and spellbook, and the carpet.
Bidding him a tearful goodbye, she mounts the carpet and flies off southwards into the Reaching Wood.
*****
Right. So that's probably going to be my last write-up for a while. I'll be keeping in touch with the game via email, from afar as Corrigan is now afar, but I doubt I'll post much more here. So... that's it for now. Thanks for reading.
