Session 16: Rell's Log

General Summary

The frantic cry reverberated around my head like a gong as I cast my head upwards, desperately searching for not only Penitence but whatever threat had caused such anguish. He wasn’t too far away, back displayed to us as though he had spotted something between the trees. Though something was wrong, the tail which had seemed so lively before was lifted to the side at an unnatural angle, his posture tense. What could have possible shocked him so much that he would freeze like that?
Saman was already striding towards Penitence as another gurgling noise left him, crescendoing into almost a scream. What was happening? I took a pace forwards also, glaive tight in my grip but another sound caused me to pause. Something was moving between the trees. Cracking and crunching of stone rung out in quick succession from the darkness, rapid clomping footfalls working in unison.
Not deterred, I raced forward, catching Elirth blurring herself defensively from the corner of my eye. As I reached Saman and Penitence, I saw our new friend visibly shake himself, as though freed from whatever bizarre ailment he’d been inflicted with. Then without turning back, he yelled not to look directly at it. I realised what exactly he was referring to only a moment later.
Green tinted, grey leathery skin covered the creature, topped with sharp, pointed spines that jutted out of its back and down its tail like blades. I connected the rapid footfalls to the six squat clawed legs, before taking in the razor-sharp mouth and smoking turquoise eyes for just a breath before forcing my own eyes shut to look away. Even I could recognise those pupils were full of magic.
Calling for Penitence to duck, I lashed out at the creature in a full arch, the sharp edge of my glaive cutting into its muscular shoulder as it growled out in pain. Holding my weapon up defensively, I looked to Penitence who seemed to have forged a mist around himself that smelled a little foul, but it didn’t seem the right time to question its origins.
An arrow whizzed by us, and although I refrained from looking, another hissing noise made me assume it was a hit. Saman was using his shield to avert his gaze and protect himself, but as he swung out to strike, the floor vibrated, and I guessed the creature had finally skittered from its original location slightly.
As I was trying to decide whether to risk a glance towards the creature to see where it had moved to, another yell rang out. I knew that noise anywhere. Liv.
My stomach dropped as I span, wildly searching between the pillar-like trees for another set of mysterious and deadly eyes. I finally spied the second creature as Liv’s spells encased it in golden pulsing energy. I had to help her.
Penitence had clearly recovered his wits as he forcefully raised his arm before a bolt of dark green energy exploded from his palm, striking into the forehead of the new enemy. Glad that I’d not started running a second early and been it the recipient of that magic instead, I took off towards Liv, Elirith and this new menace.
Snarling my own noise of rage, I wedged myself between Liv and the second ferocious creature, twirling my glaive upwards intending to carve out some of its entrails. Instead, it dodged, curving away from me and snapping its jaws as though mocking my lack of prowess. Infuriated, I tried to readjust and swirled my weapon once more, but without being able to look directly at the target, I instead struck into the solid stone trunk of the adjacent tree. My wrists jolted as I swore against the resulting shower of dust and shards.
How were we meant to fight these things if we couldn’t even look at them? What spells were these? Had these beings caused the whole forest to freeze up and die with whatever magic lurked within their gaze?
While I’d been recovering from my missed attack, I felt the creature brush up against my legs and steeled myself for pain. None came, however, as it careened passed and lurched at the injured Liv. She fell to a shriek of anguish, hitting the ground with a thud, as still as the petrified rocks around her.
My blood ran cold as I inhaled a shaky breath through my nose. Liv.
Before I could put my mixture of rage and terror into action, a storm of ice impacted the writhing creature. Icicles forming around its spins as it squirmed and fought against Elirith’s magic. A sheet of white settled in its wake, residue flurries of snow dancing through the air.
All I could see was my friend.
Penitence’s spells came then, green fire causing a cloud of steam as it hit home. I’d almost forgotten about the other enemy. Where was Robyn? Was she helping Saman? Some further choice phrases left my mouth as I tried to finish off the wounded creature, that was still close enough to lodge its jaws into Liv.
We moved at the same time; it’s pounce meeting empty space as I’d stepped in a half circle, sweeping my glaive up and around in an attempt at decapitation. We both paused in a heartbeat of surprise at our misjudgement, and I caught its eye. Blue fogged my vision as my arms suddenly left heavy, sluggish and weighing far more than they should. I gritted my teeth, letting my vast rage take hold and refusing to allow its magic to affect me. Snapping its jaws in what might have been displeasure, it immediately turned tail and ran.
Back through the trees. Back into the darkness.
I refused to let it escape.
Branches crumbled to dust as I hurtled after the scampering form. Its size gave it the advantage, but I was full of untold fury at my failure to protect Liv; at not being able to utilise my training to end it’s life sooner. It would not escape me.
Mid-stride, I used my momentum to leap forwards, glaive curved into a vicious extension of my anger. Nothing. I had missed once more, and I almost screamed, readjusting the sweep of my weapon back the way it had come. This time I carved into its back legs as it screeched, finally halting and allowing me to drive the final blow into its side.
I stood there in the gloom, heart still thundering as I panted against my rapidly cooling sweat. Then I jolted; Liv. I was back at her side before I could register. Where was Saman? I muttered some scathing words about his mother, not that he actually had one, and pulled one torch after another from my bag until my fingers closed around glass. Yanking the cork stopper from the bottle, I leveraged Liv’s head upwards, parting her lips and allowing the cool liquid to drop into her mouth and down her throat.
It seemed an odd reversal of roles for her to be the one waking from near death, but I was infinitely grateful when her eyes opened, and her expression lifted into a smile of relief. We’d barely made it to our feet, however, when Elirith was calling for our help. Grumbling a little, I supported Liv slightly as we staggered over to where the original creature had struck. I regretted my flippant attitude immediately as I took in Saman before me.
He was frozen; a statue formed mid devastating final blow to the lifeless form that still resided beneath his suspended hammer. Guts of the beast hung from the weapon, trailing globules of blood down to the floor below. That, however, was the only movement evident from the Warforged.
They evidently had that power then; to turn us into lifeless fixed forms, as petrified as the forest. Perhaps we had been lucky for it to have only affected Saman, though I wasn’t sure if even Liv would be able to save him from this. Touch had no effect, no response to words or gestures.
At a loss, we exchanged some worried glances before seemingly out of nowhere there was a flutter of wings and a large raven perched itself on Saman’s head. Tilting its head to the side, it seemed to measure us with beady black eyes, adjusting itself to take us all in one by one.
I’d not seen many birds while in the Wastelands, but those I had were nothing like this. Something wasn’t right. It seemed aware of our presence, and as Penitence tried speaking to it, it replied, cawing the same phrase back to the surprise of us all.
Confused but intrigued, we tried to engage with it, even introducing ourselves, but its replies were broken and strange. It wasn’t copying us exactly, but its sentence structure was broken and out of place. I couldn’t make sense of it, but I did enjoy the sharp peck Penitence received when he reached his hand close, plus his increased agitation at the bird’s games.
Elirth repeatedly tried to understand the bird, and it hoped up onto a branch to be closer to her. I simply relished in the exchange, happy to let the others figure it out due to having little patience nor interest in riddles or mind games. Getting bored with the antics, I finally attempted to sweet-talk the bird, hoping that it might have some effect if it did indeed have intelligence. Strangely enough, it worked, and the bird preened at being called pretty, fluffing up its feathers and puffing its chest out as if to confirm my words. As it did so, it displayed a flash of a chain, a necklace or collar of sorts. This certainly was no ordinary bird.
It took us a while to finally get through to the raven; it was wary and unsure of our intentions. Only once we offered it some food and Elirith demonstrated her colourful magic, did it reveal its true self. Hopping onto a branch once more it manifested its own spell, seemingly from the necklace and conjured a magical hand, using it to pat Elirith gently on the head. Only then did it finally speak fluently and without limitations in a deep intellectual voice.
We’d already established that it lived here and could potentially help us with Saman, but now that it had decided we were trustworthy, it gave us exact instructions on how to free him. The creatures we’d fought were called Basilisks, their gaze freezing their prey in place so that they could be quickly subdued. In turn, however, their stomach produced the antidote, turning stone back into flesh so that they could digest their meal. According to our bemusing new feathered friend, it would work on Saman also.
Shifting my weight into one foot and crossing my arms over my chest, I watched in fascination as Liv and Penitence cut open the Basilisk, delicately retrieving part of its insides and applying it all over the Warforged. Apparently, it would take a while for him to return to us, so I took up residence against one of the larger trees, leaning back against the cold surface. While we waited, I realised we hadn’t asked the bird its name, and after I queried, it confirmed it to be Corvus. We also managed to discover that it had been gifted the necklace by a friend, and she also lived here within the forest. Perhaps this might be someone that could direct us to the oldest tree if such even existed it. It was the only lead we had.
Corvus informed us to wait while Saman thawed and disappeared between the trees with a blink of the eye. Penitence huffed, voicing that he didn’t trust the bird and was unconvinced of its integrity. I visibly rolled my eyes, though I doubted he noticed. Did he like or have conviction in anything other than himself? He was beginning to grate on my nerves, and that was a feat in and of itself.
Saman finally begins to awaken, only able to move slowly at first before gradually regaining full use of his body and voice. My eyebrow raised as Elirith rushed up to him, enveloping Saman in as much of a hug as she could manage. I found when I thought about it, that I was glad also that we’d been able to save Saman, that I would have missed his presence should he have been lost. Almost as soon as the idea prevailed, shame flooded me, and I glared away, thoughts racing far too quickly.
Luckily I had little time to contemplate as an enormous crash erupted from the shadows. I was already sprinting towards Robyn, glaive at the ready when a heard the now familiar tone of Corvus addressing the giant animal that had appeared before us as Golar. They plainly knew each other, but still, the four-legged beast reared up on its hind legs and roared, snout and jaw extending to almost an impossible degree.
I halted in terror, and I don’t know how Robyn stood her ground, but almost as soon as it had begun the savage Golar dropped back to the ground and stalked off back the way it had come. Swallowing, and running a palm over the back of my neck, I hastened after it, alongside the others.
We weaved through the trees at a pace that insinuated we had somewhere important to be. Penitence continued to cast unimpressed glares at Corvus, but I was happy to have found such assistance when we could have stumbled around this forest for days or even weeks. The ebony bird did seem to take a particular interest in Saman, perching on his shoulder and drawing him into conversations regarding his origins. My ears pricked, and I did catch that Saman had been forged long ago, back even before the soul anchor was created. I’d assumed he was old, but to think he walked the same city as the First Council, as the Shepherd himself, it was hard to grasp. I'd have to remember to ask him later on.
Marching ever onwards, I realised the trees begin to thin out, we could walk in far more of a straight line, and less stone and rocks were crushed underfoot. Soon afterwards I noticed a blade of grass sprouting from between the rubble and I was about to point it out to the others when I saw another and then another. I hurried forward, almost unable to take my eyes off the verdant wonder. I’d never seen anything like this outside of the Memorial Gardens; grass just didn’t grow in the Wastelands.
I soon found it wasn't just grass, the further we travelled, the more foliage thrived; ferns expanded their broad ruffled leaves, and wildflowers added specks of colour to the bed of green. Insects that I’d never seen before darted through the air and between our feet, small rodents scampered away from a potential trampling.
It was breath-taking, wondrous and so perfectly serene than a calm I’d not felt in a long while settled over me.
We paused only upon reaching a wide clearing, which was even more peaceful and picturesque than our journey to reach it. Reeds and vines had meshed together to form small sporadic dabs, whereas a stream gentle wound its way towards a large pool. Overhanging the lapping blue was a colourful tree, it’s low hanging branches almost dipping into the water. It was in full bloom, odd petals having already floated ashore to nestle against the bank.
Our animal companions explained that there were other ascended animals like themselves and that this was predominantly their home. As if summoned a small flash of orange bounded swiftly towards us, it was around the size of a giant rat, but its tail was brushy, curling up its back as though it was its proudest feature. Even more peculiar, however, was that it was brandishing a blade at us. It introduced itself as Ser Bright, before immediately demanding to know who we were and what we were doing there.
Penitence rolled his shoulders back and stepped forward, taking offence at the tiny threat. After a few heated words that meant I once again cast my eyes skyward, I realised that perhaps I had more diplomacy skills that I gave myself credit for. I certainly would do better than this fiery dissident any day.
Snapping, the small creature finally snarled a flash of pointed teeth before rushing forwards, using Saman as a resource to gave leverage, it quickly climbed up the Warforged until it was at the right height to launch an attack on the bemused Penitence. I barely tried to move to his defence, and fortunately, I didn’t need to as Corvus swooped in to head off the eager rodent mid-air. They fell to the ground together, grumbling words as though Bright’s feisty nature was not uncommon.
Recovering itself, the bundle of sparks bowed low to us, gaze lingering on myself, Liv and Robyn. Liv matched the courtesy, while I span my glaive in an eloquent twist around my body, before bowing low, weapon angled behind my back. It seemed impressed, and we exchanged a few charming words; however, I politely pulled away from a kiss.
As we finished the exchange, I was drawn instead to the fact that a figure was now making their way over to us. She was dwarven, but even for their race was extremely short, with her stooped back only adding to the impression. Everything she wore appeared natural, greens and tans interwoven with florals that almost cause her to merge with the surroundings. In one hand she had a wooden staff that appeared to still possibly be alive in some way or indeed bewitched to seem as such. Next to her was Golar, and her hand clenched into its shaggy fur as though for support. The most surprising thing about her was her age, I knew dwarfs lived a long time, but her weathered face and drawn features made her seem to have been alive forever.
This was undoubtedly Corvus’ friend, the one that had enabled these creatures to talk and gain a level of intelligence. She must have been here a long while, decades, centuries; it was hard to decipher.
All I did know was that she surely had some interesting stories, and quite likely many secrets also.

Previous: Session 15: Rell's Log  Next: Session 17: Rell's Log

4 Conditiori

• Clear path through Basilisks in the forest.
• Saman gets petrified
• Corvus arrives and tells us the Basilisk's stomach produced an antidote.
• Golar arrived and threatened us, but left when Corvus told him to
• Corvus led us to the Grove.
• Met Ser Bright, another ascended animal.
• Introduced to Grandmother.

Report Date

06 Jun 2019

Original Disclaimer: Written from Rell’s PoV and any opinions on character’s or npcs are her own and may not be a true reflection of a character’s intended actions or intentions. Any missing content is due to Rell’s selective hearing or poor memory. Although I have attempted to keep information on Rell to a minimum, please note that you may read some content/opinions that aren’t common knowledge to your own characters and therefore it should not influence your interactions with her.

Additional Disclaimer: This article is ported frpm old blogspot articles for reference, and pertinent bullets and dates added to timelines.