Session 12: The Root Wardens Report
General Summary
Ayame finds herself laying atop a large branch of a tree. Looking up, the canopy extends for miles above, with the early morning dawn shining throughout the canopies. Looking beneath her onto her moss bead, Ayame also notices that the trees extend far beyond her sight into the forest below.
Also beneath her is a giant fruit, the size of a building. Though translucent, it is nearly impossible for the wizard to see what lies beyond the moving image in the fruit. What she does see however is a large green creature of immense size, walking on four long stalk like legs. Tendrils protrude from the massive, snake like body near its head, formed entirely of a thousand red eyes and gaping maw. The creature stops at the fruit, and begins to thrust its tendrils into the fruit in a slow waving motion. Even though it sees Ayame, it pays her no heed as she stands.
Ayame reaches out a hand, touching the tendril, and grasping it. Her hand sinks into the flesh, but it does not pull against her. It instead feels more like the flesh is inviting her in. Losing herself into the dream, Ayame welcomes the invitation.
Just before her face hits the creature, her arm absorbing into it, she looks to the fruit she couldn't see inside before. Before her lies a cave, with a system of roots, and a figure, in an earth covered cloak exactly like the ones worn by the root wardens. She can see an elf, the cloak billowing in some unseen wind chanting aloud while drops of blood patter the inner surface of the fruit in a mystical pattern. His hood flies back off of his head from the unseen wind, revealing a set of goat-like horns upon his head.
It is then that Ayame awakens, with the familiar smell of summoning magic permeating the air with her sensitive nose.
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DATE: Poviott 24/625
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As ayame comes to terms with her dream, Naomi is already up and praying, but Eleanor wakes up screaming for a moment before remembering where she is, and calming down in the other room.
Ayame groans, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, stepping out of her room while Sebastian trails behind.
She waves as Eleanor leaves her bedroom, and the two of them start heading to the restaraunt, Naomi following behind shortly after alongside Ragia.
Lacy was already at the restaraunt. Baggy eyed and messy haired, mysteriously posing herself in front of Welni's. She is leaning against the wall next to the entry way, her arms folded and head down... which the party notices she was just nodding off while waiting for everyone else.
Eleanor holds her arms up around the back of her head while walking to the restaraunt while Ayame pipes up some conversation. "I had the wierdest dream..."
"Oh yeah? Do ya get weird dreams usually?" Eleanor replies, looking to Lacy.
"Mmmm...no not really" she says, sniffing the air audibly "It still smells like magic too...like the same magic from my dream" Ayame says before also noticing Lacy.
Huh, yeah I don't usually smell stuff after my weird dreams. Your weird dreams are weird Ayame."
"Huh!" lacy say falling out of her stupor and into a normal stance, regaining her composure. "You." she says glancing to Naomi, as she catches up to the group, surveying the scene before waiting for them to close the distance.
"M-me?" says Naomi shyly.
"Funy thing," Lacy says, tapping her fingers against her arm, "I don't think I caught your names. I often catch things." She grumbles, staring daggers to the rest of the party.
"Oh I'm sorry! Im Ayame Shiori, and this is Sebastian." Ayame says, pattering her companion on the chest.
Eleanor picks up a rock and tosses it to Lacy, with the rock thudding against the building while Naomi presses away any creases in her Clerical garb with her hands and does a cute lil peace sign, with one of her legs kicked up behind her. "I'm Naomi Dai'Gishkin, Cleric to the Goddess Rhamnasia! Nice to meet you!!!"
Naomi immediately deflates after saying that, looking dead inside, with a hunched over posture "S-sorry my mom told me to do that if I wanted to make good impressions. I thought I'd try it but now I feel gross..."
"Aaaaah that was so cute Naomi!!!" Ayame says loudly, loosing her noble demeanor for a brief moment.
Eleanor points her finger at Lacy in an accusatory fashion, "AHA, you've officially made it in my suspicious book missy! Lying first thing in the morning about catching things!"
Lacy unfolds her arms before strutting over to the group, her face plastered with annoyance. Naomi turns bright red and doesn't say anything, hiding her face in her hands.
"Oh right also im Eleanor." She says with a shrug. "No fancy title or none of that that I know of."
"Listen, I don't care if your mammies spoon fed your doe wrapped ass with deer balls every cold winter night. " Lacy snaps at Naomi.
Eleanor hums in response, "Likely story."
"But these people are going about their racist holiday trying to make the most out of their miserable existence. So if any of you cause trouble. I'll Hang your noose under a water fall and see if you drown before you suffocate"
"Wha...what? Why are you looking at me?" Naomi says, shocked by Lacy's demeanor.
Ayame scoots around the two bickering to get some breakfast.
"I have a feeling that the beefcake and scaley troglydite are just looking for their next scraps, while foxy over there could leave at any time. You're the one holding this coeterie together, so I'm-" Lacy stops, aware that she's just making a show at this point, and frankly using too many insults. "I'm counting on you. Okay?"
Eleanor looks between the two of them before looking Lacy up and down. "You have an odd way of speaking but you seem like you just tried to threaten my friend."
"U-uh... It seems that she threatened me to be friends with her in a way? It's okay Eleanor." Naomi says before looking to Lacy. "And okay Miss Lacy! I'm as dependable as you can get when it comes to casting and alchemy. and teaching too if you're interested, but I uh... feel like a teacher is on low demand for adventurer types."
Lacy scoffs, turning and heading into Welni's and muttering under her breath. Ayame already having herself a table and breakfast in hand, and talking to Welni. "Do you smell something strange in the air?"
Welni, with more plates for her companions shakes his head. "Nothing at all. Why?" he asks as the rest of the party sits down at the table.
"Huh... I just smell... magic is all, its probably nothing." Ayame says, before looking to Naomi and smiling.
"Thank you Mister W-" Naomi stops herself, slamming her hand on the table and standing up. "W-wait you can smell magic?!"
"Hmm? Uhm... yeah I suppose so."
Naomi has a passionate gleam in her eye as she turns around and goes through her pack.
"It smells like summoning magic." Ayame says watching Naomi.
"I forgot to bring paper..." Naomi curses before perking back up and looking at Ayame with a smile. "Well, I suppose today was the day they'd be using my summoning scroll, no?"
"Sometimes I feel like I can smell magic, reeks of spoilt cabbage tho" Lacy says.
"hmm..yeah but it smelled like this in my dreams too" Ayame says before recanting their dream with everyone else.
Eleanor hums. "That's some culty sounding stuff..." she says rubbing her chin in thought, "I don't like culty stuff."
"Oh no, Don't you go messing with with this towns culture. Those root wardens might be cargo stealing, penniless dicks but they have a right to worship" Lacy says before motioning for a drink from Welni.
Eleanor shrugs. Who said we were going to mess with them? This was just all in a dream wasn't it. I also don't care what they practice as long as its not hurtin folks"
Naomi rubs her chin. "Going off of what I know, it seems to be some sort of ritual. Of what, I'm not sure. I mean, that's obvious right? But still, it doesn't sit right with me. I won't be part of something heinous, considering it's MY magic they'd be using through the use of the scroll I made."
"I went down there last night... They couldn't even offer me 10 gold for all 5 of you. Maybe their initiate Included the ritual reagents?"
Ayame pouts, shrugging as she finishes her food.
"Hn...I'm not sure. The Mayor HAS noted that the Root Wardens have been acting up as of late. Especially their leader, who hasn't been seen much at all."
Eleanor tries to get the servers attention so she can get a breakfast for herself. As she does so, she looks skyward and notices a concentric, arcane pattern in the branches in a halo throughout the widest part of the tree.
Eleanor points her hand up and hums, "Does that look familiar Ayame?"
Ayame also looks up at it, and with her knowledge instantly recognizes the pattern she saw, made entirely from the branches of the tree itself. On top of that, she also sees an additional ritualistic circle in the branches. It was hard to make out for a while, but after seeing it so recently its clear. There is an additional circle in the branches that will "replace" something within the area of the branches. Weither that is above or below, she doesn't know. All she knows is that it is the size of the entirety of Willows Reach.
Ayame immediately jumps up and onto Sebastians shoulders, drawing her pipe, her fox ears shooting straight up. "We should go" she says, Sebastian drawing his sword and donning his tower shield.
Ayame explains to the party what she sees and knows, as Lacy stands, double checking her gear. "Oh. God damn it."
Naomi sighs and stands "Well lets take of this fast and efficiently. To the Mayor's then? He would know where to go."
Ayame shakes her head. "No, to the roots of the tree." she say as Sebastian starts to run while she is crouched on his shoulders, followed closely by the rest of the party, save for a sickly kobold, who fell asleep at the table.
The party quickly descends the tree, where ten robed elves with small earth elementals guard the only opening into the roots themselves. Each of them armed with a quarterstaff and wearing hide armor.
Lacy starts off by walking up to the line with an aura of false confidence. "Look fellas, I tried to stop them, but they really wanna participate in your festivities... Why don't you tell us what this..." She motions upwards to the tree itself, "Is... so we can lose interest and be on our merry way."
Its at that moment that Naomi straight up vomits on the ground. "Ough... w-what the..."
"E-eh? Gross" says Ayame, looking to Naomi's sudden illness.
The elves look to each other for a moment while the rest of the party is distracted by the sickly priest.
"Oh gods Nao are you okay?!?" Eleanor says with a mild concern to her friends well being.
"E-ergh, just... im fine. I think its from the rats the other day." Naomi replies, starting to cast a spell to remove the disease from her body.
Lacy perks her ears to the sound of heaving. "Just... a tad too much pre-gaming." Lacy jokes, giving off a friendly smile to the group of elves.
With the party's guard down, all of the elves cast a spell, where the party is then surrounded by 10 wolves in a circle. The earth elementals from the elves form a small barricade between the party and the elves.
Eleanor yelps at the sight of attackers. "What the fuck is wrong with you guys?! We were just gonna talk!"
Ayame shakes her head. "No, I was going to kill them." she says before taking in a deep breath, muttering a few arcane words, and exhaling a thick fog, large enough to surround Ayame and the wolves.
Lacy unfurls her spiked chain as the fog pours out of the party wizard. She takes a whip like motion, striking a wolf at the legs, knocking it to the ground while a second flick of her wrist swiftly strikes gashes into its hide.
Naomi, in her weakened state, casts a spell as well, giving her the endurance to survive this combat given her sickly state.
Eleanor meanwhile twirls her great axe out of nowhere, water still dripping from its hilt as she swings her axe half heartedly towards the wolf that Lacy hit, severing its head from its shoulders with a poof of its body. She pauses when she notices the severed head, exclaiming, "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING WITH WOLVES??"
The wolves then counter the party, making attempt after attempt to break through the party's defenses, but failing to do so. Meanwhile, the elves from beyond the fog start a rhythmic tapping of their quarterstaffs on the ground and one of them begins to sing. "Four hours until the day is won, my brothers hold this line until the spell is done."
The party feels a slight tinge of fatigue on them, but quickly fore it away to fight back against the elves.
Ayame, still riding atop Sebastian steps out of the fog, looking to the group of elves, now more obviously druids with murderous intent as she breaths in deeply. Two of the druids she spied begin to suffocate as the wind empties from their lungs, and the air around Ayame itself starting to turn cold from her necromancy. From there, Naomi casts another spell, improving Eleanors strength just as she swings again into a wolf, cleaving directly through its side.
Lacy, hearing the chanting elves tries grabbing a palm sized stone from one of her pouches and throws it into the fog. Strangely missing and throwing it the moment she pulled it from her pouch, off to the side where it became lost with a loud "BANG."
Realizing her need for help, Lacy's pet spider scurries down and also tries to attack the wolf before lacy, but only takes a mouthful of dirt.
Through all this commotion, and with someone attacking the druids themselves, all the elementals swarm over sebastian, pummeling him into re-death, and Ayame into unconsciousness with a one-two combo to her stomach as she landed on the ground.
As Ayame falls, blood foaming at her lips, the druids continue their chanting. "We wish not to fight, step aside my friends and we all take flight." as the wolves all vanish, but another one appears directly next to Eleanor.
With that last verse, Lacy gets the warm feeling of friendship to the elves. "This.... This is too much for me." She says, softening her countenance and stance... She looks around the fog, devoid of wolves, and steps out of the mist. Twine scuttles around before hurrying over to Lacy, who is now trying to stabilize Ayame, despite the danger between them.
Naomi also exits the fog, realizing the true extent of their opponents crimes as she looks to everyone, even Lacy as she gives chest compressions to the out cold Ayame. She inhales deeply before letting out a light verse in Celestial, and instantly, all of the elementals and two of the druids are knocked from combat as Naomi raises her staff and cries out, "Leave my friends alone!"
With a few of them choking, but the beating of their staves continuing, the druids start singing again. "Time may be short but your lives ahead may be long, listen to me, let it be and befriend me through this song!" While this happens, Lacy sees two wolves be summoned directly behind Naomi.
Lacy shakes off any doubt while commanding twine to defend Ayame, turning to the one who spoke. "Put a sock in it!" she cries before attempting to throw her war pick directly at him. Her resolve was firm, but her footing was off as she staggers, her pick soaring up and landing firmly into the entrance of the roots.
It was then that the party noticed that the druids that were felled by Naomi had their hoods fall from their heads, revealing horns of different shapes and sizes, both looking to be naturally animalistic horns.
Naomi was too distracted by the sudden wolf attack behind her to take major notice however, speaking again in prayer as an aura of peace surrounds her.
Eleanor had enough with this nonsense however, her fury unmatched she charges from the fog and sinks Cassandra into the gut of one of the druids. "This violence was not necessary!" she says, cleaving the druids guts as they spill onto the ground before him.
Those remaining nearly clamber over each other to take pot shots at Eleanor with their quarterstaves, their blows dealing absolutely nothing to the enraged woman towering above them. One of the hits even ends up breaking off a piece of quarterstaff, that flies through the air and hits Lacy's face. "Ouch!"
Only one of the druids stays near Lacy as he continues his stamping. "You all should FLEE! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES! Soulsaisir will end you like those who ended our lines!" he calls out as the wolves dissapear from next to Naomi, having failed to really hurt her from her spell.
Eleanor stabs at the next druid before her, with only a handfull remaining as she skewers him as well. "I don't care who threatens me, you fucked with my friends!"
Lacy has also had enough, as her chain propells at the man near hers neck, swiftly breaking it while Naomi heals Ayame. Ayame wakes up from the healing almost instantly. "Thanks Naomi" she says before opening her mouth and breathing in deeply. One of the druids, suddenly terrified of what happened to his companions loses his composure, giving Lacy an opening to wrap her spiked chain around his neck, and executing him in grisly fashion.
From there, the last two remaining druids tried to charge lacy, but Eleanor attempted to strike them with their back turned. As she does so she just, drops unconcious.
Lacy drops her chain, and within moments, deflects the attacks of her attackers, and knocks one out with a stray elbow, and the other with a haymaker.
With that, one of the last of them that was suffocating the entire time, lets out a final whisper. "Soulsaisir lives... again." he calls out before the battlefield is silent.
Ayame stands up from her position among the pile that remains of sebastian, looking at him mournfully before looking to Naomi. "I feel great... thanks Naomi." she says with a smile before looking to Lacy. "Can you tie up the unconcious ones Lacy?"
It is then that Eleanor sits up, looking around at the carnage and blood covering her. "OH GOD OH FUCK Did I drink too much again?! oh, wait... no this just happened, right." she says before rubbing her eyes.
Lacy meanwhile, ties up any of the druids with a pulse.
Rewards Granted
- Moss Agate (10gp)
- Bloodstone (50gp)
- Freshwater Pearl (10gp)
- Red Spinel (400gp)
- 30gp
- 10 hide armor
- Recipt of goods within Willows Reach Warehouse.
- 9 Quarterstaves (worthless)
