Learning the Hard Way and Changes
Yep, tonight's session was interesting to say the least. Everything was going about how I expected it to and then during the last encounter our birdman summoned a blood god, which usually ain’t a good thing and it offered something. While I was intrigued by the offer, this was the first week of playing Theren and I was getting used to everything and rather liked the direction it was going. So, I told the DM if I roll a Natural 20, the character will take the offer. Yeah, then of course my character rolls a natural 20 and I have to accept the offer…which changed just about everything for my character. Now I have to figure out a new race and class, both of which are ones that I wouldn’t have chosen to play, but they are definitely different and challenging, so I’ll roll with what the character chose, not my own preferences. At the very least it will be interesting. The dice can be kind or cruel, I’m not sure what I think about the results of this Nat 20? I’ll still have fun figuring out how to play my character now that it accepted the offer.
Probably not a good sign. I heard screeching, bumping and thumping behind Ferdinand as he was stomping down the stairs. He had Yeekiees by one ankle and was dragging him down the stairwell. I grimaced at the damage the birdman was taking coming down those stone steps, while attempting to get loose.
With that we helped Yeekiees up and not too gently dragged him out the door.
Once on the street, I looked up and could see something looking out the broken window. From that distance it looked like a Bat Folk was looking down on us. Possibly from the legends I had learned – a vampire bat? I wasn’t sure, but even then I had a feeling that this person might be important, it turned out – he was very important.
The Apothecary
We talked with the guard out front of Ferdinand’s and got directions to the nearest Apothecary figuring that Yeekiees would need some help healing. He took quite a beating when he attempted to fly out the window and then with Ferdinand dragging him down the steps and then body slamming him. It had to hurt and definitely did some damage. He was still quite wobbly and drifting in and out. We helped him down to it, him stumbling or being half dragged by Donkey.
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| The Ancient Temple Google Gemini AI Image - 2024 |
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As Yeekiees tells me later, he came back to Alterra’s mansion and knocked on the door. The cat guardian meets him at the door and ensures that Yeekiees understands what is expected of him once inside the mansion. Once he goes through the door it slams shut and locks behind him. He wasn’t sure what to make of that, but he heard sounds of fighting and the cat bolted off for the room where Yeekiees broke the door off the cabinet.
He follows behind and sees Alterra, the cat, along with Donkey, Bluebell and a Shadar-Kai elf that he hadn’t seen (me) before, acting like they just finished a combat session.
I watched as an Aarokocra came into the room behind Alterra, who didn’t look happy about having to banish the bug and asked what we were doing back in her home. I thought about hiding away the sword, but the look on her face made me realize that would be a big mistake. Bluebell did most of the talking since she supposedly lived there. She explained that she had figured out that the star map was a portal to somewhere and that she wanted to explore that portal.
We told her that there were a bunch of books on extending life, a little shriveled up man, a telescope, and in glass cases a mask and sword. The man still being able to talk, he told us the sword’s name Stargazer and how it was the only thing to stop them and then how the creature had crawled out of the mask, when Donkey had broken the glass case. I told her of the vision I had of Roland, the teal Dragonborn, Kitsune, and Celestial when I touched the sword. Then how we battled it until she banished it.
At that point she demanded that I give her the sword. Something I was loath to do, it seemed like an artifact of power that could assist us in our adventures. I offered to keep it for her and return with it. She gave a shark’s smile and told me to just give her the sheathed sword. When she withdrew it slightly, it started to blacken that arm and she slammed it back into the sheath quickly. Then she healed her arm. Evidently, this sword is a token of power that she is afraid of. Something good to know and if it was Roland’s at one time, perhaps he would want it back and it might be a way to set the two of them against one another if the time comes where that is necessary.
Bluebell explained that one of our group was one of Natasha’s chosen 12 and needed to talk with her about either creating an alliance or being subdued by her, as he has no interest in being one. That she figured as one of Alterra’s knight’s that was one of her prerogatives and to bring in one of the 12 to Alterra voluntarily was something that was important.
Donkey talked with Alterra, who was skeptical at first that he could be one of the chosen. Yeah, even though he knows that he is Kane, he prefers to be known as Donkey and is more comfortable being him, than trying to become what Kane was. Eventually, he was able to persuade her that it was so and that 12 and 2 equaled 14, which was a win for her and not having to fight for his power could only make things easier for her.
As Yeekiees tells me later, he came back to Alterra’s mansion and knocked on the door. The cat guardian meets him at the door and ensures that Yeekiees understands what is expected of him once inside the mansion. Once he goes through the door it slams shut and locks behind him. He wasn’t sure what to make of that, but he heard sounds of fighting and the cat bolted off for the room where Yeekiees broke the door off the cabinet.
He follows behind and sees Alterra, the cat, along with Donkey, Bluebell and a Shadar-Kai elf that he hadn’t seen (me) before, acting like they just finished a combat session.
Back to Me
I watched as an Aarokocra came into the room behind Alterra, who didn’t look happy about having to banish the bug and asked what we were doing back in her home. I thought about hiding away the sword, but the look on her face made me realize that would be a big mistake. Bluebell did most of the talking since she supposedly lived there. She explained that she had figured out that the star map was a portal to somewhere and that she wanted to explore that portal.
We told her that there were a bunch of books on extending life, a little shriveled up man, a telescope, and in glass cases a mask and sword. The man still being able to talk, he told us the sword’s name Stargazer and how it was the only thing to stop them and then how the creature had crawled out of the mask, when Donkey had broken the glass case. I told her of the vision I had of Roland, the teal Dragonborn, Kitsune, and Celestial when I touched the sword. Then how we battled it until she banished it.
At that point she demanded that I give her the sword. Something I was loath to do, it seemed like an artifact of power that could assist us in our adventures. I offered to keep it for her and return with it. She gave a shark’s smile and told me to just give her the sheathed sword. When she withdrew it slightly, it started to blacken that arm and she slammed it back into the sheath quickly. Then she healed her arm. Evidently, this sword is a token of power that she is afraid of. Something good to know and if it was Roland’s at one time, perhaps he would want it back and it might be a way to set the two of them against one another if the time comes where that is necessary.
Bluebell explained that one of our group was one of Natasha’s chosen 12 and needed to talk with her about either creating an alliance or being subdued by her, as he has no interest in being one. That she figured as one of Alterra’s knight’s that was one of her prerogatives and to bring in one of the 12 to Alterra voluntarily was something that was important.
Donkey talked with Alterra, who was skeptical at first that he could be one of the chosen. Yeah, even though he knows that he is Kane, he prefers to be known as Donkey and is more comfortable being him, than trying to become what Kane was. Eventually, he was able to persuade her that it was so and that 12 and 2 equaled 14, which was a win for her and not having to fight for his power could only make things easier for her.
She played around with him for a bit and then Bluebell jumped into the conversation to help persuade Alterra, because Donkey was just digging a hole pretty deep for him to climb out of. At that point Alterra made a point of saying that she could either eat him or they could do the process whereby they would duel and if he surrendered, she would take his number and magic and add it to her own. Otherwise the others would target him and attempt to take his magic.
I count down to start the duel and before Donkey could move Alterra’s sword is at his throat, he immediately surrenders though she plays around with him a little to make it uncomfortable for him, before finally accepting his surrender. At which point she takes the sword away from his throat and tells him he is no longer one of the chosen ones.
After she was done taunting Donkey, she told us that the best bet to stop number 11 are either the Yewwoods or the Salamander Bog. There we will find answers and more questions will be raised. We decided to head first to the Mistwood which is the mirror of Yewwoods and find a portal to the Yewwoods.
While standing there we all get a vision - a forest w/trees as white as snow, a thinly veiled ice and fog filling the area around you. Silence and then a heartbeat getting louder and louder - we see a blackened orb with webbing around it, almost a vein-like structure. It is beating in the midst of the woods, pulsing with a heartbeat. We then see a cloaked figure with a mask obscuring face, pure white hair and a sword, and canisters on his belt, with a white robe with silvery pauldrons. Antithesis of the Fey -- wielding cold steel and silvers designed to kill the otherworldly, canisters filled with gasses denser than the fog. He takes down the mask and the fog around the whole area gets denser and one of the changelings of the Mystwood attempts to stop attack it and he has what appears to be a sword of dancing that kills it. He looks elven, but there is something different, way paler than you would expect. Kind of more like a Pallid Elf as he’s walking through the mist, a serpentine shadow appears above him.
As he is departing another masked figure appears and starts to pull off pieces of himself off to create additional copies of himself and then he eats the dead changeling.
Possibly visions of number 11 and the last one sound similar to the creature called Hassan in Lirael’s diary.
I went back up into the star room and got my crossbow. Then I go over to the little man and attempt to take the key, which I believe is to the book magically locked with the hand in it. Suddenly he started mumbling and fighting against me taking it. I finally took it from his hand and put the key into my bag of holding. Then I carried him downstairs, not getting anything coherent from him. I left him with Alterra, which probably wasn’t the best idea, but didn’t have much choice. I don't trust her anymore than I do Roland or any of the other power players in this world.
After getting back outside, we figured out that it was at least a two-day journey and that we needed to find a faster way to get there and knew that Roland would transport people for “a price”.
We stop to look in a carriage, which has a puppet that watches our every move, while it definitely looks a lot bigger than it does on the outside, a couple of books, a blade and has a huge scroll with a crystal dowel inside. The door opens, but we decided to simply walk away from it, since it was the same one that the Archfey was carried off in earlier in the day and probably wouldn’t be a good idea to do more than that.
As we approach the guards standing at the front door we hear fighting inside, but they don’t seem too concerned, they said it was a business proposition being taken care of. We told one what we wanted and he sent a snake off to let Roland know what we were here for. We were led to a dorm type area where we were told to wait for Roland there.
A little while later, after the fighting stopped a short time later Roland came into the room. We asked him if he could teleport us to the Mystwood. He said for a favor in exchange, we negotiated the favor, which turned out to be delivering a small blade that was chained to the sheath. We were warned to not open it or that if we did, we would likely all die. It was decided that we would go to Paddleston before going to the Mystwood, to ensure that we completed our end of the bargain before heading into the woods. He gave us a portrait of the Minotaur we were to give the weapon to – one named Ferdinand. We are to complete the task within three days. Donkey and Roland shake on it and he now has a glowing mark on his hand.
Roland opens a portal and it places us about 60 ft from the Paddleston Gate. Yeekiees wanted to simply fly into the city, but we persuaded him to walk through the front gate of the city. Otherwise he might get shot down at best or killed at worst. We could see the guard letting a person in and then overheard them talking about how many of the Changelings are leaving Mystwood. Also, how they were getting weirded out by the black moon unexpectedly taking over tonight’s blue moon.
Bluebell shows them the image of Ferdinand and they tell us how to get to his place. As Yeekiees passes by, one of the guards salutes him as he is wearing a symbol of Mystra. Yeekiees didn’t know how to react and the guard looked at him with dismay, but didn’t stop us from entering Paddleston
Then Yeekiees wanted to leave the party and go directly to the place himself, which frustrated me more than a little. He doesn’t think about how his actions might affect the rest of the party and is going to get him and us into trouble that we don’t need. You don’t separate the party when you first arrive in a strange city unless you have to. Doing so inevitably leads to more problems than it solves. He decided to stay with us at that point. Oh well, it might be that he’s never been a part of a party before and doesn’t realize that there are times to stay together and other times when it is necessary to go separately. This is a time to stick together.
Bluebell’s familiar notices three cloaked individuals, who looked very out of place in the city. They were walking down the road that we needed to use to get to Ferdinand’s. They seemed very odd and Donkey decides to use himself as bait while the rest of us fan out. As he walks up to them, they tell him they have a need for a strong man, to help recover a lost friend in the woods. As Donkey starts to respond to them Bluebell recognizes one of the group and when they lock eyes, she walks over.
Bluebell angrily discusses the past with the Hag and how she was less abusive than the other two of the Coven that had captured Bluebell. The Hag claimed that she missed seeing her and that she is proud of progress that Bluebell has made since leaving the Coven. The Hag stated that she missed seeing Bluebell’s face. I hand signaled to Bluebell that she was laying it on thick, but mostly telling the truth. She tells Bluebell that they have “lost” a child in the woods, one who is 19 years old, she was an elf and has now become one of “us”. Her name is Abigail. She bears the familiar Hag crown, but many Elven traits are still present. The one talking to Bluebell suggested that, perhaps if we could free her, she can live a different life from one other than being the Coven’s food.
I count down to start the duel and before Donkey could move Alterra’s sword is at his throat, he immediately surrenders though she plays around with him a little to make it uncomfortable for him, before finally accepting his surrender. At which point she takes the sword away from his throat and tells him he is no longer one of the chosen ones.
After she was done taunting Donkey, she told us that the best bet to stop number 11 are either the Yewwoods or the Salamander Bog. There we will find answers and more questions will be raised. We decided to head first to the Mistwood which is the mirror of Yewwoods and find a portal to the Yewwoods.
While standing there we all get a vision - a forest w/trees as white as snow, a thinly veiled ice and fog filling the area around you. Silence and then a heartbeat getting louder and louder - we see a blackened orb with webbing around it, almost a vein-like structure. It is beating in the midst of the woods, pulsing with a heartbeat. We then see a cloaked figure with a mask obscuring face, pure white hair and a sword, and canisters on his belt, with a white robe with silvery pauldrons. Antithesis of the Fey -- wielding cold steel and silvers designed to kill the otherworldly, canisters filled with gasses denser than the fog. He takes down the mask and the fog around the whole area gets denser and one of the changelings of the Mystwood attempts to stop attack it and he has what appears to be a sword of dancing that kills it. He looks elven, but there is something different, way paler than you would expect. Kind of more like a Pallid Elf as he’s walking through the mist, a serpentine shadow appears above him.
As he is departing another masked figure appears and starts to pull off pieces of himself off to create additional copies of himself and then he eats the dead changeling.
Possibly visions of number 11 and the last one sound similar to the creature called Hassan in Lirael’s diary.
I went back up into the star room and got my crossbow. Then I go over to the little man and attempt to take the key, which I believe is to the book magically locked with the hand in it. Suddenly he started mumbling and fighting against me taking it. I finally took it from his hand and put the key into my bag of holding. Then I carried him downstairs, not getting anything coherent from him. I left him with Alterra, which probably wasn’t the best idea, but didn’t have much choice. I don't trust her anymore than I do Roland or any of the other power players in this world.
After getting back outside, we figured out that it was at least a two-day journey and that we needed to find a faster way to get there and knew that Roland would transport people for “a price”.
Going Back to Roland’s
We stop to look in a carriage, which has a puppet that watches our every move, while it definitely looks a lot bigger than it does on the outside, a couple of books, a blade and has a huge scroll with a crystal dowel inside. The door opens, but we decided to simply walk away from it, since it was the same one that the Archfey was carried off in earlier in the day and probably wouldn’t be a good idea to do more than that.
As we approach the guards standing at the front door we hear fighting inside, but they don’t seem too concerned, they said it was a business proposition being taken care of. We told one what we wanted and he sent a snake off to let Roland know what we were here for. We were led to a dorm type area where we were told to wait for Roland there.
A little while later, after the fighting stopped a short time later Roland came into the room. We asked him if he could teleport us to the Mystwood. He said for a favor in exchange, we negotiated the favor, which turned out to be delivering a small blade that was chained to the sheath. We were warned to not open it or that if we did, we would likely all die. It was decided that we would go to Paddleston before going to the Mystwood, to ensure that we completed our end of the bargain before heading into the woods. He gave us a portrait of the Minotaur we were to give the weapon to – one named Ferdinand. We are to complete the task within three days. Donkey and Roland shake on it and he now has a glowing mark on his hand.
Roland opens a portal and it places us about 60 ft from the Paddleston Gate. Yeekiees wanted to simply fly into the city, but we persuaded him to walk through the front gate of the city. Otherwise he might get shot down at best or killed at worst. We could see the guard letting a person in and then overheard them talking about how many of the Changelings are leaving Mystwood. Also, how they were getting weirded out by the black moon unexpectedly taking over tonight’s blue moon.
Bluebell shows them the image of Ferdinand and they tell us how to get to his place. As Yeekiees passes by, one of the guards salutes him as he is wearing a symbol of Mystra. Yeekiees didn’t know how to react and the guard looked at him with dismay, but didn’t stop us from entering Paddleston
Then Yeekiees wanted to leave the party and go directly to the place himself, which frustrated me more than a little. He doesn’t think about how his actions might affect the rest of the party and is going to get him and us into trouble that we don’t need. You don’t separate the party when you first arrive in a strange city unless you have to. Doing so inevitably leads to more problems than it solves. He decided to stay with us at that point. Oh well, it might be that he’s never been a part of a party before and doesn’t realize that there are times to stay together and other times when it is necessary to go separately. This is a time to stick together.
The Hags
Bluebell’s familiar notices three cloaked individuals, who looked very out of place in the city. They were walking down the road that we needed to use to get to Ferdinand’s. They seemed very odd and Donkey decides to use himself as bait while the rest of us fan out. As he walks up to them, they tell him they have a need for a strong man, to help recover a lost friend in the woods. As Donkey starts to respond to them Bluebell recognizes one of the group and when they lock eyes, she walks over.
Bluebell angrily discusses the past with the Hag and how she was less abusive than the other two of the Coven that had captured Bluebell. The Hag claimed that she missed seeing her and that she is proud of progress that Bluebell has made since leaving the Coven. The Hag stated that she missed seeing Bluebell’s face. I hand signaled to Bluebell that she was laying it on thick, but mostly telling the truth. She tells Bluebell that they have “lost” a child in the woods, one who is 19 years old, she was an elf and has now become one of “us”. Her name is Abigail. She bears the familiar Hag crown, but many Elven traits are still present. The one talking to Bluebell suggested that, perhaps if we could free her, she can live a different life from one other than being the Coven’s food.
At that point Bluebell got tired of talking with the Hag and said that since we would be in the woods and if we came across the girl, would do something to free her to let her pursue her destiny beyond that of being with the Hags.
As they leave, the third Hag gives Yeekiees a dark look, one that I could see was evil beyond anything he’s experienced in his short life. Like she was trying to figure out a way to take his soul and mind right then and there, then have the rest of him for a meal. I don’t know if he realized the intent of that glare or not, but I will keep an eye on him. Then the three of them walk away from our group, we remain wary of their intentions. Especially, since they just “happened” to be in the same area we were, yet didn’t attack us.
There is a gruff man guarding the door to Ferdinand’s, we explain we have a delivery from Roland for him and he says he’s downstairs in the ring. Same thing with the person inside the hallway and he directs to the stairway. In the middle of the ring stands a Minotaur slightly taller than Donkey and we watch him knock out a human in less than 6 seconds.
After they take the guy out of the ring, we tell Ferdinand that we have a delivery from Roland for him and show him the sword. Everyone in the room starts murmuring and backs away from us. Donkey gives Ferdinand the chained sword, who tells us it’s a good thing that we didn’t mess with it, because it would have released a Pit Fiend and most likely killed us all. Then he tells someone off to the side to go get our tip for delivering the sword.
While we are waiting another human comes up to fight Ferdinand. We hear him say to himself as he goes into the ring “I’ve got to do this to save my sister”…I couldn’t hear the rest of what he was muttering. But he was going to lose no matter what, of that I was certain. As the bout begins Yeekiees casts a fog cloud spell over the human and Ferdinand - thinking that he was going to save the human. Without thinking what kind of reaction that his action might have for him or for the rest of us.
We all could hear Ferdinand bellowing inside the cloud, sounding like a quite rightfully pissed off very large and dangerous Minotaur. At this point Yeekiees did one of his terrified screeches, then turned and ran up the stairs out of sight. He abandoned his friend to the anger of the Minotaur instead of staying and explaining himself. Leaving us to take care of the mess he had made. Which in turn made us all very pissed-off as well.
As they leave, the third Hag gives Yeekiees a dark look, one that I could see was evil beyond anything he’s experienced in his short life. Like she was trying to figure out a way to take his soul and mind right then and there, then have the rest of him for a meal. I don’t know if he realized the intent of that glare or not, but I will keep an eye on him. Then the three of them walk away from our group, we remain wary of their intentions. Especially, since they just “happened” to be in the same area we were, yet didn’t attack us.
Delivery at Ferdinand’s
There is a gruff man guarding the door to Ferdinand’s, we explain we have a delivery from Roland for him and he says he’s downstairs in the ring. Same thing with the person inside the hallway and he directs to the stairway. In the middle of the ring stands a Minotaur slightly taller than Donkey and we watch him knock out a human in less than 6 seconds.
After they take the guy out of the ring, we tell Ferdinand that we have a delivery from Roland for him and show him the sword. Everyone in the room starts murmuring and backs away from us. Donkey gives Ferdinand the chained sword, who tells us it’s a good thing that we didn’t mess with it, because it would have released a Pit Fiend and most likely killed us all. Then he tells someone off to the side to go get our tip for delivering the sword.
While we are waiting another human comes up to fight Ferdinand. We hear him say to himself as he goes into the ring “I’ve got to do this to save my sister”…I couldn’t hear the rest of what he was muttering. But he was going to lose no matter what, of that I was certain. As the bout begins Yeekiees casts a fog cloud spell over the human and Ferdinand - thinking that he was going to save the human. Without thinking what kind of reaction that his action might have for him or for the rest of us.
We all could hear Ferdinand bellowing inside the cloud, sounding like a quite rightfully pissed off very large and dangerous Minotaur. At this point Yeekiees did one of his terrified screeches, then turned and ran up the stairs out of sight. He abandoned his friend to the anger of the Minotaur instead of staying and explaining himself. Leaving us to take care of the mess he had made. Which in turn made us all very pissed-off as well.
I caught glimpses of what Ferdinand was doing inside the fog, and suddenly he took out his ax and struck it against the ground twice and the fog cloud was dispelled. Then walked over towards us with the ax ready for action. Not exactly what we wanted from this "simple" delivery. To be abandoned by one of the party and left to deal with a very pissed-off Minotaur. Yeah, I wasn't happy at all.
He yells at us for a moment with his ax raised for action. We tell him that the birdman did it and we had nothing to do with him casting the fog cloud and aren’t too happy with the bird ourselves. We were waiting to watch the match and then get our tip for delivering the sword. Then be about our business, what the Aarokocra did was on him. Although we did ask him politely not to kill the bird because we did need him for our adventure into the Woods, but maybe it was time for him to learn a lesson he wouldn’t forget.
That seemed to calm Ferdinand down towards us and we just pointed at the direction that Yeekiees went. Ferdinand told us he wouldn’t kill him, but would teach him a lesson to let him know there are consequences for making stupid choices. He would make him pay for interrupting the bout and inconveniencing his audience. Then for a Minotaur he displayed some amazing agility as he bounded up the stairs after Yeekiees.
Ferdinand nodded at the Ratfolk that he had sent after our tip, who approached us timidly and said there was 600 gp for delivering the Pit Fiend to Ferdinand and gave it to Donkey. We could hear roaring and screeching, but took the time to split the money into fourths, because this was Yeekiees problem to deal with Ferdinand. Donkey chuckled and said we might have to split Yeekiees share between us when Ferdinand got done with him.
Personally, I was rather tired of the sniveling demeanor that the Yeekiees was presenting all too often, then running off leaving the party to fend for itself, while he did whatever. He seemed to be afraid of his own shadow, much less the monsters that we will be facing. Perhaps this incident will either wake him up and make him think before he does something stupid again.
Though I do have a feeling some of the choices he makes are an attempt to do something he thinks is good, so far they haven’t been the correct action for the time or place. Plus, the craven needs to go away or the party I have a feeling isn't going to continue being as nice as we have been to him. If he makes stupid choices, it's going to be his funeral not ours.
We could hear Yeekiees screeching upstairs, so we decided to go up and see what was going on. I knew that I wasn’t going to get in Ferdinand’s way and that this time Yeekiees had to face the results of his choices all by himself. Suddenly we heard Yeekiees screeching even louder and then breaking glass and Ferdinand roaring while there were others yelling things I couldn’t understand.
He yells at us for a moment with his ax raised for action. We tell him that the birdman did it and we had nothing to do with him casting the fog cloud and aren’t too happy with the bird ourselves. We were waiting to watch the match and then get our tip for delivering the sword. Then be about our business, what the Aarokocra did was on him. Although we did ask him politely not to kill the bird because we did need him for our adventure into the Woods, but maybe it was time for him to learn a lesson he wouldn’t forget.
That seemed to calm Ferdinand down towards us and we just pointed at the direction that Yeekiees went. Ferdinand told us he wouldn’t kill him, but would teach him a lesson to let him know there are consequences for making stupid choices. He would make him pay for interrupting the bout and inconveniencing his audience. Then for a Minotaur he displayed some amazing agility as he bounded up the stairs after Yeekiees.
Ferdinand nodded at the Ratfolk that he had sent after our tip, who approached us timidly and said there was 600 gp for delivering the Pit Fiend to Ferdinand and gave it to Donkey. We could hear roaring and screeching, but took the time to split the money into fourths, because this was Yeekiees problem to deal with Ferdinand. Donkey chuckled and said we might have to split Yeekiees share between us when Ferdinand got done with him.
Personally, I was rather tired of the sniveling demeanor that the Yeekiees was presenting all too often, then running off leaving the party to fend for itself, while he did whatever. He seemed to be afraid of his own shadow, much less the monsters that we will be facing. Perhaps this incident will either wake him up and make him think before he does something stupid again.
Though I do have a feeling some of the choices he makes are an attempt to do something he thinks is good, so far they haven’t been the correct action for the time or place. Plus, the craven needs to go away or the party I have a feeling isn't going to continue being as nice as we have been to him. If he makes stupid choices, it's going to be his funeral not ours.
We could hear Yeekiees screeching upstairs, so we decided to go up and see what was going on. I knew that I wasn’t going to get in Ferdinand’s way and that this time Yeekiees had to face the results of his choices all by himself. Suddenly we heard Yeekiees screeching even louder and then breaking glass and Ferdinand roaring while there were others yelling things I couldn’t understand.
Then there was silence.
Probably not a good sign. I heard screeching, bumping and thumping behind Ferdinand as he was stomping down the stairs. He had Yeekiees by one ankle and was dragging him down the stairwell. I grimaced at the damage the birdman was taking coming down those stone steps, while attempting to get loose.
Then Ferdinand smirked at us and said, “He tried to fly out the window, but those iron bars sure did hurt when he hit them. I won’t kill him, but if he ever comes back in here again - I will,” and then he body slammed Yeekiees into the floor, breaking two or three of the stone tiles on the floor and messing up the birdman pretty badly. Yeekiees laid there on the floor, groaning, bloodied and out of it.
Chuckling, someone in the group said “we’ve seen him like this before.”
Donkey went up to Ferdinand and asked how much Yeekiees owed him for all the damage he had caused to his place? Ferdinand looked at Donkey, smiled, chuckled, and told him “Since you put it that way, 5-6 gp for the window, around 50 gp for the replacement of the tiles and cleaning up the blood and mess he caused. I think 100 gp, plus 50 gp for general inconvenience should just about cover things. After all, he needs to buy drinks for the patrons at the arena and then the birdman disrupted Thurmund's class upstairs, so badly that he needed to dismiss it early.
Donkey went up to Ferdinand and asked how much Yeekiees owed him for all the damage he had caused to his place? Ferdinand looked at Donkey, smiled, chuckled, and told him “Since you put it that way, 5-6 gp for the window, around 50 gp for the replacement of the tiles and cleaning up the blood and mess he caused. I think 100 gp, plus 50 gp for general inconvenience should just about cover things. After all, he needs to buy drinks for the patrons at the arena and then the birdman disrupted Thurmund's class upstairs, so badly that he needed to dismiss it early.
Donkey gave him Yeekiees’ portion of the tip for delivering the sword. They shook hands and we made ready to leave.
With that we helped Yeekiees up and not too gently dragged him out the door.
Once on the street, I looked up and could see something looking out the broken window. From that distance it looked like a Bat Folk was looking down on us. Possibly from the legends I had learned – a vampire bat? I wasn’t sure, but even then I had a feeling that this person might be important, it turned out – he was very important.
The Apothecary
We talked with the guard out front of Ferdinand’s and got directions to the nearest Apothecary figuring that Yeekiees would need some help healing. He took quite a beating when he attempted to fly out the window and then with Ferdinand dragging him down the steps and then body slamming him. It had to hurt and definitely did some damage. He was still quite wobbly and drifting in and out. We helped him down to it, him stumbling or being half dragged by Donkey.
Hopefully, he might have learned something.
When we got there we heard some adventurers waiting outside talking about a night mission to a new dungeon that appeared out of nowhere, not that far from town. They were planning on going through it and seeing if they could clean it up to make the area safe, and get any possible treasure inside.
There were two others inside the Apothecary, one from what I could gather was a member of the adventuring party who was picking up some potions before they left and a Mantis looking individual who was talking with her about the Harengon’s upcoming adventure. By surreptitiously listening to the conversation I learned her name was Messina. I looked around, but was only interested in buying some healing potions and Bluebell bought a few as well.
Donkey was going to buy an enlarging potion, and Messina picked up the tab on his potion of Enlarge. While she struck up a short conversation with him. When I looked back in the magic book the Teal Dragonborn gave us, her name was on the list of Natasha’s chosen ones. Which got me to look at the book again and I realized that the Bat Folk looking down on us from Ferdinand’s window, might have been the one called Normundy. It seems that we will be a part of this game of thrones whether we like it or not.
I was so busy listening to their conversation and what the Mantis was doing that I didn’t notice that Bluebell and Yeekiees, who was finally coherent, were talking with the person behind the counter. When I started to pay attention to that conversation, I heard them mention something about a place called the Church of Eflux?? Sp – A place where the knowledge of blood, death, and torture. A place that was at one time home to a creature or demi-deity called Oret. I wasn’t sure of everything because I came in on the tail end of the conversation and things got busy again. The person behind the counter reluctantly gave us directions to the place and when I looked around the Mantis was gone. Too many things going on at the same time to keep track of.
After leaving the Apothecary, we decided that this sounded like the place described that Yeekiees needed to go. So despite the misgivings I had about going there, it was in the same direction that we needed to go to get to the Mystwoods. As we walked back up towards the gate a shadow flew over us. It looked at first like a bird, then appeared to have dragon-like wings flying off towards the woods and slowly descended a ways beyond the gate. I noticed that Yeekiees was somewhat subdued and didn’t even attempt to suddenly follow after whatever it was that flew over our heads.
We walked out the gate and headed towards the path we were told about. We saw another person coming from the direction we had seen the flying creature head, it was going in the same direction as us. All I could see initially was the creature was completely cloaked and quite tall. Though I could see that it was leaving claw marks on the trail and saw a claw when it pointed towards the black moon. It was the Bat Folk I had seen looking down at us from the window at Ferdinand’s. He made a few comments on the odd occurrences happening in the woods and mentioned how odd it was for the moon to be turning black tonight and the need to stay on the path now that it was dark and that even then we might not be completely safe.
He then stopped walking and asked us if we were seeking forbidden knowledge? To which Yeekiees replied that we were looking for a temple that a God had directed him to seek out. He then asked if we were followers of Mastraacht to which Yeekiees told him that he was a follower of all Gods, not just the one. I was sure that Normundy chuckled.
The Bat Folk then pulled out a Mandrogora and offered it to Bluebell, who quickly refused it. Yeekiees took it and was told to keep it otherwise we might get lost. Bluebell just looked at him, but didn’t say anything. Then he went on to discuss that the location we were heading towards was a former Vampire Lord’s domain, but that he had been killed about 250 years ago and now was a place that most mortals avoided, especially at night. This Vampire Lord attempted to see the future in the blood of those he was drinking, while at the same time creating many monstrosities.
He warned us to mind our step and that there was a body on the ground by us. Donkey almost trips over it, it was a Yuan-ti that had been torn apart. While that was happening a ghoul came close to biting me, and I cast invisibility and moved closer to the center of the path. Normundy warned us to stay close to the middle of the path as the monstrosities have been getting more aggressive lately with the Black moon. We see a temple a ways away and when I look around there are several ghouls moving through the woods keeping pace with us, but not attacking. Though Donkey has to be persuaded not to attack the Ghouls.
As we get closer to the temple there is a glow from the trees and Normundy begins to look more monstrous than he would otherwise. As he moved the cloak, we could see a strange mutation: a secondary mouth on his stomach. Which reminded Donkey of the being called Baldur, and brought back a few comments about that encounter. Normundy takes the cloak off and he also has a set of large bat wings - I am certain that he is the creature we saw flying from Paddleston.
Normundy leads us into the temple and asks if any will make the sacrifice necessary to open the portal at the altar. We all look at Yeekiees, who goes ahead to make a blood offering to the god. While standing there we notice there is something upstairs holding itself, while rocking back and forth, Normandy says something about a failed attempt at Lichdom, but I was overwhelmed by the temple and the feeling of malaise and dread that it emanated that I wasn’t able to focus on what he was saying. Whatever it was, it was sitting up on the ruined second floor.
Normundy then opens a hidden stone door off to the right of the altar and points to a small cup and points toward the altar and fountains that make a symbol. Yeekiees does what he needs to, and his blood is creating a flower. Another door opens as the blood flows through the altar. I follow Normundy without realizing what I’m doing. It is very hard for me to focus on anything going on around me in the temple.
When we got there we heard some adventurers waiting outside talking about a night mission to a new dungeon that appeared out of nowhere, not that far from town. They were planning on going through it and seeing if they could clean it up to make the area safe, and get any possible treasure inside.
There were two others inside the Apothecary, one from what I could gather was a member of the adventuring party who was picking up some potions before they left and a Mantis looking individual who was talking with her about the Harengon’s upcoming adventure. By surreptitiously listening to the conversation I learned her name was Messina. I looked around, but was only interested in buying some healing potions and Bluebell bought a few as well.
Donkey was going to buy an enlarging potion, and Messina picked up the tab on his potion of Enlarge. While she struck up a short conversation with him. When I looked back in the magic book the Teal Dragonborn gave us, her name was on the list of Natasha’s chosen ones. Which got me to look at the book again and I realized that the Bat Folk looking down on us from Ferdinand’s window, might have been the one called Normundy. It seems that we will be a part of this game of thrones whether we like it or not.
I was so busy listening to their conversation and what the Mantis was doing that I didn’t notice that Bluebell and Yeekiees, who was finally coherent, were talking with the person behind the counter. When I started to pay attention to that conversation, I heard them mention something about a place called the Church of Eflux?? Sp – A place where the knowledge of blood, death, and torture. A place that was at one time home to a creature or demi-deity called Oret. I wasn’t sure of everything because I came in on the tail end of the conversation and things got busy again. The person behind the counter reluctantly gave us directions to the place and when I looked around the Mantis was gone. Too many things going on at the same time to keep track of.
The Trip to the Temple
After leaving the Apothecary, we decided that this sounded like the place described that Yeekiees needed to go. So despite the misgivings I had about going there, it was in the same direction that we needed to go to get to the Mystwoods. As we walked back up towards the gate a shadow flew over us. It looked at first like a bird, then appeared to have dragon-like wings flying off towards the woods and slowly descended a ways beyond the gate. I noticed that Yeekiees was somewhat subdued and didn’t even attempt to suddenly follow after whatever it was that flew over our heads.
We walked out the gate and headed towards the path we were told about. We saw another person coming from the direction we had seen the flying creature head, it was going in the same direction as us. All I could see initially was the creature was completely cloaked and quite tall. Though I could see that it was leaving claw marks on the trail and saw a claw when it pointed towards the black moon. It was the Bat Folk I had seen looking down at us from the window at Ferdinand’s. He made a few comments on the odd occurrences happening in the woods and mentioned how odd it was for the moon to be turning black tonight and the need to stay on the path now that it was dark and that even then we might not be completely safe.
He then stopped walking and asked us if we were seeking forbidden knowledge? To which Yeekiees replied that we were looking for a temple that a God had directed him to seek out. He then asked if we were followers of Mastraacht to which Yeekiees told him that he was a follower of all Gods, not just the one. I was sure that Normundy chuckled.
The Bat Folk then pulled out a Mandrogora and offered it to Bluebell, who quickly refused it. Yeekiees took it and was told to keep it otherwise we might get lost. Bluebell just looked at him, but didn’t say anything. Then he went on to discuss that the location we were heading towards was a former Vampire Lord’s domain, but that he had been killed about 250 years ago and now was a place that most mortals avoided, especially at night. This Vampire Lord attempted to see the future in the blood of those he was drinking, while at the same time creating many monstrosities.
He warned us to mind our step and that there was a body on the ground by us. Donkey almost trips over it, it was a Yuan-ti that had been torn apart. While that was happening a ghoul came close to biting me, and I cast invisibility and moved closer to the center of the path. Normundy warned us to stay close to the middle of the path as the monstrosities have been getting more aggressive lately with the Black moon. We see a temple a ways away and when I look around there are several ghouls moving through the woods keeping pace with us, but not attacking. Though Donkey has to be persuaded not to attack the Ghouls.
As we get closer to the temple there is a glow from the trees and Normundy begins to look more monstrous than he would otherwise. As he moved the cloak, we could see a strange mutation: a secondary mouth on his stomach. Which reminded Donkey of the being called Baldur, and brought back a few comments about that encounter. Normundy takes the cloak off and he also has a set of large bat wings - I am certain that he is the creature we saw flying from Paddleston.
Normundy leads us into the temple and asks if any will make the sacrifice necessary to open the portal at the altar. We all look at Yeekiees, who goes ahead to make a blood offering to the god. While standing there we notice there is something upstairs holding itself, while rocking back and forth, Normandy says something about a failed attempt at Lichdom, but I was overwhelmed by the temple and the feeling of malaise and dread that it emanated that I wasn’t able to focus on what he was saying. Whatever it was, it was sitting up on the ruined second floor.
Normundy then opens a hidden stone door off to the right of the altar and points to a small cup and points toward the altar and fountains that make a symbol. Yeekiees does what he needs to, and his blood is creating a flower. Another door opens as the blood flows through the altar. I follow Normundy without realizing what I’m doing. It is very hard for me to focus on anything going on around me in the temple.
While going down the stairs, Normundy talks about one called Mastraacht - Lord of Vampires, one who’s domains include debauchery, death, blood, and magic, I catch something said about lilies. Then suddenly the rest of the party is down on the next floor with me. There is a cascading of blood into a pool and out of the pool comes a being. One who offers to let Yeekiees bath in the blood and be transformed by it, if he is willing to serve him.
In my dazed state I heard something said about a being called Orrin, but wasn’t sure what that was all about. Then as Yeekiees accepts the being’s offer (I’m still not sure if the being is called Orrin or if it is Mastraacht), but with the knowledge I have of the Gods of Death I would tend to believe that it might either be Mastraacht himself or one of his avatars. So I am going to say that it was Mastraacht.
Suddenly, I came out of my stupor and watched Yeekiees with interest as he accepted the beings offer, the one who I believed was Mastraacht, to bathe in the blood pool he had come from. Being from the Shadowfell, dealing with other Gods of Death is not unheard of and the Raven Queen has alliances with several of them including the blood gods of which Mastraacht is definitely one. When Yeekriees came out of the blood filled pool as a Dhampir and no longer an Aarokocra though he retained his wings. Mastraacht told him that he was now one of his Blood Clerics and would worship only him going forward.
Honestly, I was rather stunned by this turn of events and don’t remember what Yeekiees said back to it.
Then he reminded Normundy about the other gift, which he didn’t look too pleased about giving out. Which was a Two-Handed Sun Blade. He looked us over and brought it over to me, and told us this will be needed soon and will serve you well. Mastraacht began to talk about the blackened egg within the Mystwood that was birthed from the blood of the Horned King, fire and a holy sword are necessary to stop the ceremony and kill whatever is in the egg.
After Mastraacht finished talking, offered the rest of us the same offer that he had made to Yeekiees, though he looked at me and told me where I was the Raven Queens I would still primarily be hers, but that he would still have some influence upon me. I am still not sure of the caveats after accepting his offer, but to become a Dhampir is tempting and I know that my Queen has several creatures that are similar to one.
I thought to myself, that if I become one, would I be a more powerful champion to advance her and if acceptable Mastraacht’s purposes in this world and protect our worlds from the possibility of the one named Natasha attempting to take them into her portfolio, especially the Shadowfell.
Mastraacht could see that I was struggling with whether to accept his offer or not. He simply said that he and the Raven Queen had similar goals for the world of Crannog and that by taking his offer would only help the Raven Queen advance both their aims for this world. I decided to pray to my Queen and roll the bones to see if they would provide an answer for me. For I didn’t quite trust the sweet words of this being in front of me. I had learned the hard way, honeyed words often have sticky things stuck to them.
With that idea in mind I rolled the bones. The bones gave me an answer I didn’t expect, which was as close to an explicit command from the Raven Queen without her being there in person to command me. The answer was such, there was no question about accepting his offer.
Even so, I was apprehensive about the changes that would occur when I stepped into that pool, I knew who I was and had learned much about my abilities over the years. But with the answer I received, I felt confident that I was doing what was expected of me by the Raven Queen. The feeling of stepping into that pool was different than I expected. I didn’t feel like I was swimming or anything, there was a pulse of power and changes to my being started.
That is a good place to stop, because I am still attempting to come to grips with what has happened, because there were still few changes that Mastracht thought might be need to be tweaked as he adjusted my new body and skills to meet his expectations.
In my dazed state I heard something said about a being called Orrin, but wasn’t sure what that was all about. Then as Yeekiees accepts the being’s offer (I’m still not sure if the being is called Orrin or if it is Mastraacht), but with the knowledge I have of the Gods of Death I would tend to believe that it might either be Mastraacht himself or one of his avatars. So I am going to say that it was Mastraacht.
Suddenly, I came out of my stupor and watched Yeekiees with interest as he accepted the beings offer, the one who I believed was Mastraacht, to bathe in the blood pool he had come from. Being from the Shadowfell, dealing with other Gods of Death is not unheard of and the Raven Queen has alliances with several of them including the blood gods of which Mastraacht is definitely one. When Yeekriees came out of the blood filled pool as a Dhampir and no longer an Aarokocra though he retained his wings. Mastraacht told him that he was now one of his Blood Clerics and would worship only him going forward.
Honestly, I was rather stunned by this turn of events and don’t remember what Yeekiees said back to it.
Then he reminded Normundy about the other gift, which he didn’t look too pleased about giving out. Which was a Two-Handed Sun Blade. He looked us over and brought it over to me, and told us this will be needed soon and will serve you well. Mastraacht began to talk about the blackened egg within the Mystwood that was birthed from the blood of the Horned King, fire and a holy sword are necessary to stop the ceremony and kill whatever is in the egg.
After Mastraacht finished talking, offered the rest of us the same offer that he had made to Yeekiees, though he looked at me and told me where I was the Raven Queens I would still primarily be hers, but that he would still have some influence upon me. I am still not sure of the caveats after accepting his offer, but to become a Dhampir is tempting and I know that my Queen has several creatures that are similar to one.
I thought to myself, that if I become one, would I be a more powerful champion to advance her and if acceptable Mastraacht’s purposes in this world and protect our worlds from the possibility of the one named Natasha attempting to take them into her portfolio, especially the Shadowfell.
Mastraacht could see that I was struggling with whether to accept his offer or not. He simply said that he and the Raven Queen had similar goals for the world of Crannog and that by taking his offer would only help the Raven Queen advance both their aims for this world. I decided to pray to my Queen and roll the bones to see if they would provide an answer for me. For I didn’t quite trust the sweet words of this being in front of me. I had learned the hard way, honeyed words often have sticky things stuck to them.
With that idea in mind I rolled the bones. The bones gave me an answer I didn’t expect, which was as close to an explicit command from the Raven Queen without her being there in person to command me. The answer was such, there was no question about accepting his offer.
Even so, I was apprehensive about the changes that would occur when I stepped into that pool, I knew who I was and had learned much about my abilities over the years. But with the answer I received, I felt confident that I was doing what was expected of me by the Raven Queen. The feeling of stepping into that pool was different than I expected. I didn’t feel like I was swimming or anything, there was a pulse of power and changes to my being started.
That is a good place to stop, because I am still attempting to come to grips with what has happened, because there were still few changes that Mastracht thought might be need to be tweaked as he adjusted my new body and skills to meet his expectations.
Then I would also find out more about my future.
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