Lurking in the Dark Murky Mind Space

We the Makuza find ourselves in a tavern outside Estanople exhausted and in need of respite, and a fucking drink. “Thank you for saving us now piss off!” And Piss off we did. Right down to the bottom of a bottle in a little town just outside of Etanople. So how did the great Beholder slayers end up here? Well let me tell you.
I will admit I was a little dumbfounded to be meeting an Emperatrix and managed to be eloquent and respectful, though I was nervous as hell. And we had been thanked for disposing of the beholder and preventing the fall of Estanople. However, in the same breath we were politely asked to leave town. The Emperatrix, though grateful her city did not fall victim to the same misfortunes of Vvathofh and now possibly Alkthuna, had decided that trouble followed us and she preferred to not have demons popping up in her city. “Its not really fun for us either lady” I think to myself here on this barstool a couple nights after the fact. I will agree her city might not have had demons popping up in it before we came to Estanople, but then again her city did have a beholder and beholder kin in it before we came along, so trouble was sort of already there.
She did offer some pretty valuable magical doodads and a Letter of Commission which should prove helpful if we run into any trouble in surrounding areas with authorities. For me fighting alongside Zubnin was a real revelation. For someone to be a renowned thief and leader of a prolific thieves’ guild is one, thing but to have some one of such importance as an Emperatrix know who he is an accept him and his skills and give him respect, position, and power; is nothing short of inspiring. It really shows me the heights a lowly thief can reach. Perhaps it is not about being a thief at all but just someone who looks for opportunities. Like this bottle of wine I picked up off that drunk dirty man in the corner. You just have to know what you want in life and go get it.
 
We have struck a blow at the Lyich Queen by denying her control of Estanople and the question is which way do we go now? I reached out to Zubnin one more time via courier to see if we could get an introduction to Alkthuna as I hear Elves are a little bit unwelcoming of those who unexpectedly drop in, but all I got in response was “The Dark One Now Rules”. The Lyich Queen was from Alkthee originally and if we go there we may be walking right into the belly of the beast. Best to wait on that until we are more prepared. Vvavotfh’s government is in ruin, the Pirate King’s blockade is down and we really have no reason to go back there. Where can we go to get more information, to prepare for a fight? We need a plan. Raposh. We will go to Raposh. There was some information I think Ozzy found. A very upset Lyich Queen disappointed in her minions for failing to destroy the “scourge of the Dammed among the elves of Raposh” Raposh I am told is a very, very far distance even as the crow flies. But Nacku said he might have a plan to make the trip a little easier.
Nacku opened a hole in a tree that opened in another hole a tree near a city called Asharckto, which was on the way to Raposh. Upon entering the city there was a shift in the light. Blue and silver banners with dragons on them whipped in the wind of the mostly empty streets. This town changed a lot since the last time we were here. The few people around seemed on edge and afraid of their Adelious, the civic leader. We went to where any alley-lurker goes to get information. A Bar. Upon having a psychic conversation with a bartender, I learned the Adelious was not always such a tyrant had had some sort of personality change recently. She seemed to be residing now on the top of a tower which had weird looking clouds perched on top. This was our next stop. Nacku turned into a flying animal and went up to check it out. He said the could were actually stone and their was some sort of cave or large building with a large arch opening. We decided to sleep on it and headed to the outskirts to make camp. There was a chill on the wind that night. Then suddenly a far-off screech pierced the silence. I don’t know if anyone got much sleep.
Morning came bringing with it a renewed sense of determination. What the heck was it up there? Ozzy opened a gate for us to teleport us up there. Teleporting is so neat. It is one of my top 4 favorite things to do just after finding something shiny, flying, and drinking a sweet wine. Long story short the Adelious was a dragon who was enslaved by you know who with one of those collar things. The lyich queen is starting to seem like a one trick pony. I wonder if she pulls this enslaving a “big-bad” in all the cities. I wonder if there is one in Alkthie and Vvathoth. I tied to fly up to attack it but suddenly there was a thick fog and in a hear beat I was clawed twice, bit and tail attacked. So It was defiantly time to change tactics. I landed, drank a potion, and then tried to mentally connect to the dragon inside. She must be in there somewhere. Maybe if I can just connect, I can free her from her bond. Suddenly the entire dragon came slamming down to the ground in font of me like with such weight and mass it shook the tower. I saw a Nacku the egal soaring above. Nice one Nacku. As the fog begins to clear I can see Avery and Pedal close to me and Freya was trying to get on it’s back. And suddenly Pedal and I are Paralyzed stiff. Freya ended up under the tail and was getting wacked by it. Ozzy a ways a way doing some magic thing. Everything in me wants to run to Ozzy and tell him to open a gate for us to get out of here but then dragon flaps its mighty wings and Pedal tetters and then literally falls over like a statue in a tornado. I can’t move but I am not helpless. Now is my chance to try to psychically link with it. I feel my mind trying to search out for the Dragon inside. Pushing. “Let me in,” I think. Then suddenly a door falls open and I am tumbling into a black murky mind space. From the dark depths, a sinister sort of heavy and smooth voice says low “You will kill your friends. You will stop them.” And it repeats again louder. “No!” I call out. But I realize I am alone with her. In battle alone in here with her and probably going to die. Her whisper rose to a scream and I knew I no longer had control. Just like that, I was no longer paralyzed. My friends had gained the upper hand in the battle with the dragon by cleverly turning it into a tiger and putting it to sleep, and the cleric was even healing ME! Shit. “Get away from me!” I think. Can’t they see. They are just smiling like they think they have won. Can’t they see it’s not me? I feel my body moving forward toward Pedal. Oh no she lay paralyzed on the ground helpless. Wait no I’m walking past her. I’m walking around the tiger as Nacku tries to pull the enslaving collar off the sleeping tiger. “Look up Nacku. Look up.” I plead. “Somebody stop me. I can’t stop her.” He is so focused. He doesn’t see me creep closer. I feel the Psychic blade form in my hand. “No Stop You Bitch!!!” I feel one dagger after another land in Nacku’s side. But he stayed focused on his task and with a quick jerk the collar popped off the Tiger’s neck. And I snapped back into control of myself. I flung myself on Nacku for a hug with tears in my eyes; and though he jerked away at first, he looked down on me with compassion in his eyes and hugged me back. “It was her.” I said over and over in my psychic link to him. “It was her.”
 
When she woke up from her nap Ms. Dragon gave us some shiny things in gratitude which dragons are not known to do. She did have a lot of shiny things. Such a pile of gold and bobbles I will revisit in my dreams. “Don’t steel from dragons” I reminded myself feeling like I had really grown on this journey. We teleported back down to the bottom of the tower and found quite a gathering. I linked to Pedal and asked her to repeat my words. “Anyone on the side of the Dark One will have to deal with Makuza.” I think Ozzy did some magic to turn the blue banners red once more, and the towns folk rejoiced. Well, most of them did. One person seemed to slip way rather quickly when we made our announcement. We went to the bar to tell the tale and celebrate.
As the night wound down Freya told us more about who she is. She ran away when she was 7 and her parents are some big time people in the imperial senate in Estanople. She is afraid someone might come after her. She had to leave her brothers behind. I have never stopped regretting leaving my sister behind. I wonder if Freya feels the same way about her brothers. Doesn’t seem like it. Her family must have been pretty awful for her to leave them behind. That night I didn’t sleep in the tree like I normally do but down on the ground near Freya just to make her feel better, like I was watching over her. Not at all because I was worried I would have nightmares about that smooth whisper in the dark in my mind.