Session 21: Rell's Log

General Summary

My heart felt a little heavy as we left the grove and its varied inhabitants behind. I knew we couldn’t stay, nor did I truly want to, but I hoped to return in the future to see the forest cleansed and restored. It was hard to picture the entire place alive and growing, but just the concept brought a small smile to my lips.
After an uneventful trudge through the cold, frozen trees, it was a relief to spot the first specks of sunlight through the branches, tiny rays of joy to contrast the darkness. It sparked excitement in me as to what might be next for us, and I escaped the treeline with an unnecessary hop, pausing to tilt my chin upwards to bask despite the cloudy sky.
We decided to simply retrace our steps to Bastion, and I voiced a couple of joking concerns at returning to the ruins where we fought the fiends, but as the others rightly stated, they were unlikely to return. Penitence wrung his hands together, I noticed from the corner of my eye but didn’t say anything more. I guess he didn’t have to.
As Robyn lead us north-east, my good mood continued since I was once again glad I’d not been given with the laborious task of navigating. Beside me, Saman appeared to be inspecting himself as he strode forwards at an unyielding pace, twisting his arms and glaring at his legs as though he’d never seen them before.
While I was pondering, he finally voiced that he felt faster than usual, lighter and more swift. My eyebrow raised before I laughed, though it was gentle, far more teasing that mocking. Waving into the distance I challenged that he didn’t seem any different, and he took my bait instantly as I knew he would.
Grinning, I bounced on the balls of my feet as we prepared to race, licking my lips as I tried to contain my excitement. I was so excited, I almost missed Elirith’s call to start and had to propel myself forward to catch up with Saman.
My boots pounded the dirt as I flew forward and although I managed to take the lead for a few strides, the Warforged was too quick. Reaching the cracked ridges of the labyrinth, Saman managed to halt himself just as I caught up to him. He was undoubtedly the winner, and I laughed breathlessly again, patting him on the shoulder before my thoughts caught up with my actions, and I immediately dropped my hand away.
If he noticed, he didn’t say as he raised his arm and commended me on the race. I managed to shift my gaze from the distant skyline to his blue irises, pushing all bravo forward as I seized his hand and shook it in return. Winking I confirmed that I’d beat him next time.
Saman dropped my grasp, moving away with the others to map our way onwards, but I remained locked in place, almost as frozen as the trees we’d just left. Realising my arm was still extended, I quickly covered it by interlaced my fingers behind my head. I should have won that. Forcing an elongated sigh, I felt a little torn, and I let my arms slump like dead-weights back to my sides. Was I being too friendly? Too nice… forgiving?
I shook my head, of course, I wasn’t. I should be caring to all, especially to Saman. After all… He was an outcast too.
Jogging to catch up with the group, we weaved our way along until we saw the familiar walls become visible on the horizon. Foolishly I felt my heart rate increase, even though I knew it was unlikely anything would be lurking inside.
I was thankfully proven correct as we edged carefully close, exacting extreme caution which ended up being unnecessary as we observed an empty courtyard. Even the bodies of those we’d slain had already dissolved or slipped back into their own plane, leaving the area much as we’d originally found it.
Walking over to where we’d made camp last time, I let Penitence and Robyn pointlessly search around while I slumped my backpack and glaive onto the ground. I crossed my ankles and joined my items, watching with a smirk as Penitence withdrew the rod once more and waved it around in front of him as he searched. He was obsessed with the thing, and I scoffed, I’d found better treasures out here when I was only a child.
Elbows on my knees, I made a steeple with my fingers, following his movements as he strode purposefully forward, the rod still outstretched. Maybe he had seen something, and as I strained my eyes to catch what it might be, Penitence completely vanished.
Time always seemed to slow down in moments like these, and this was no exception.
There was a cry that wasn’t my own, Penitence’s name given every alarm due.
I’d found my feet without realising, glaive clutched as I raced towards the spot he’d stood in not a moment before. It was empty.
He was gone. Vanished.
Now I saw it though; shimmering in the air was a faint greenish glow. A tear or spell, like the one Penitence had made in the tower. Had he disappeared through it? Where did it lead?
Liv reached out before I could stop her, but her hand passed straight through with no reaction. It had obviously been activated somehow by the rod, though I wondered how we’d managed to miss it last time we were here.
All we could think to do was to search around for Penitence himself or at least any clue where he might have gone. My free hand found my braid, and I worried it between my fingers as I darted around in a mad, frantic search.
It had been less than five minutes when Saman called out, and I span to find him descending the elongated stairs with Penitence hoisted into his arms like a child.
Was he dead? I rushed over and immediately felt a flood of relief at the ragged if stable, rise and fall of his chest. His face was contorted in pain; however, body spasming as though anguish still tormented him. What he’d experienced had been traumatic, both mentally and physically, and I swallowed the dry lump in my throat.
Saman gently laid him down, Robyn ready with a flask of water which he drank gratefully despite some of it leaking onto his chin and tunic. It revived him a little, alongside both Saman and Liv’s healing spells. He was clearly still dazed but anxious to explain what had happened to him.
Stumbling and slurring his words somewhat, he said that he’d been here but not here, that he’d seen the buildings intact, the walls fully formed as they were intended. He stared through us, as though still seeing and spoke of the inhabitants, tall creatures that he’d not recognised or understood their language. Elirth took out a rubbing she’d made, and Penitence nodded that it was what he’d seen.
He described how they had almost seen him, as though they had sensed his presence and when he tried to observe more, a searing pain had struck him, so much so that he’d thought he wouldn’t survive. Pausing a moment as if in reflection, he gave a sullen nod that he was sure he’d visited the past.
A scoff left me as I voiced my disbelief that such was impossible; it must have been a vision or form of magic, capturing a moment in time. I was the only one that had doubts; however, as the others nodded around me and questioned more. It all seemed ridiculous to me.
Elirith’s brow furrowed, and she commented that perhaps Penitence shouldn’t rush to aim the rod at any further portals, and I choked out another noise, amused that for once it wasn’t myself being lectured for such.
Saman interjected as I went to tease further and asked if he could study the papers which held the random characters of the language Penitence spoke. He agreed with a shrug and Saman moved away, preparing notes and quill as though he was going to attempt to decipher. I silently wished him the best of luck.
Liv and I stayed with Penitence, who was still visibly shaken. Hating seeing him so distraught I glanced at my friend before grinning and launching into a tale Hafan often span of his heroic deeds with the Diplomats that were certainly mostly unfounded, altering the details to my advantage. Penitence was guarded at first, displaying disinterest, but his eyes showed me that he followed every word. We were only interrupted when Elirith returned from studying the portal, asking if she might speak with Liv.
My lip pinched as I watched them walk away and I muddled my story as one, and then the other threw worried glances towards us from their huddled deliberations. They were obviously talking about me, which caused an odd mix of pleasant warm and unsettled concern. Had I done something?
I rushed the end of my story, though Penitence hardly seemed concerned and I was about to confront the whisperings when Saman announced he’d completed his translations. Though I was eager to know what the two women had been discussing that involved me, I hurried over with the others to Saman. He said the writing had been in some form of code, but he’d translated it into a diary belonging to the person who built the tower.
It described the experiments that were performed there, including calling one of his pet and my mind was instantly drawn to the horrific fleshy creature that had barged through the door as I escaped. Saman went on to explain that it talked about a lot of the rod, that it was, in fact, a fractured sceptre the mage had acquired and that he believed it alerted his presence to a being called Sarandiel. As I blinked cluelessly along with the others, Saman confirmed it was a Celestial word meaning “the blessed one”.
Wracking my brains, I vaguely recalled that Celestials were servants of the God that caused the Cataclysm, that they were the statues missing from outside the Arcane Academy. As I frowned, Saman concluded that the mage had triggered or activated the elemental he’d captured and that was the likely cause of the petrified forest. It was obvious this Sarandiel had gotten too close for comfort.
I gestured to the rod at Penitence’s side and joke that perhaps we should bury it here. He seemed wary for a moment as if I might try to snatch it from him, but I simply laughed, commenting that any pursuing party was long since dead.
After I paused, I shrugged and asked Penitence if he did want to continue with us back to Bastion or if perhaps he had somewhere else to be or family to return to. His expression slackened as he took a half step back, saying that he had no family, only alluding to a “her” but that she was gone. I couldn’t stop myself and was asking how before I fully considered the impact.
The look I received was the familiar one of what I was too brash, but he managed to make his tone both a snarl and full of sadness as he spat that she was dead. All I could do was nod and give my condolences.
As I tried to think on what to say next Liv tugged on my arm and asked to speak with me alone, so I gladly followed her to just outside the wall and out of earshot. She jutted her chin out and asked me what I thought about getting Penitence into Bastion. Feeling I was able to let my guard down, I gave an exaggerated sigh and offered that if anyone was able to get away with allowing him into Haven, it would be her. Her brow creased as I saw it playing out in her mind, churning out all the scenarios that danced in my own head. I smiled and confirmed that we had to help him; he deserved to be inside Bastion as much as we did. She agreed, relief almost visible as our course of action was clear.
We just needed to convince the others.
Our fellow Freelancers were already mid-conversation as we returned, discussing how we could smuggle Penitence inside the city within a crate. His flaring nostrils was worth the suggestion and I smirked a little as he definitely stated he had another way, that he was able to keep himself invisible for around an hour.
That was certainly handy, but the problem then moved on to what would happen after an hour, and I took a pace forward, confirming Liv and I knew a safe place we could take him. We had connections within the city and could keep him safe. We had a few sceptical looks, but Elirith spoke up, vouching that she thought it was a good idea and I confirmed once again that we’d keep him safe. Penitence didn’t seem fully convinced, but then, what other option did he have?
We decide to rest before continuing back to Bastion, and I grit my teeth as Saman once again requested to be on watch with Liv, grumbling how it was becoming a common occurrence. The Warforged stumbled a little as he stated it was due to a shared interest in magic and I rolled my eyes, electing to share my own watch with Robyn.
Sleep found me easily, but I was happy to be awoken by Liv for my watch. Robyn seemed a little guarded, so inflecting a singsong tone, I tried to put her at ease by suggesting we patrolled around the courtyard arm in arm. It had the reaction I wanted as she smiled shyly, laughing as she almost blushed and saying it was perhaps better if we kept our arms free.
Giving her a half bow, I matched her pace as she marched with the purpose I’d have expected from a Skirmisher, not the casual meander I’d have preferred. Suddenly though, she halted, and I had to back a pace, turning with a questioning head hilt. She glared at me, judgement flicking as she carefully plucked at my plan to take Penitence to Haven.
She didn’t like the lack of details but seemed to respect them, and I tried my hardest to let her know that he would be fine there, that no one would hurt him. She continued onwards again, and I joined her once more as she spoke that the Skirmishers couldn’t help, so she had to trust me.
I knew I had to try and get this right; I didn’t want to upset Robyn, so I tried to think on the diplomacy and conversation techniques Mesh had attempted to instil in me. Nonchalantly I asked as to why she had to leave, and she was quick to reply that she wasn’t dismissed but felt it was right to leave. Nodding I mentioned that she was still very friendly with them, thinking back to the day I first met her. She seemed almost melancholy as she didn’t disagree and so I pushed, asking why she wasn’t there anymore.
Robyn’s eyes narrowed as she expressed how she’d lost out on a promotion to Captain, that someone incompetent had been granted it in her stead. I didn’t understand her annoyance, but it was still a shame to feel the need to leave people she was so close to, even now I missed Haven, the Diplomats and Mesh most of all. I would hate to lose them.
Putting my hand to her arm, I voiced my thoughts, that it was sad she was no longer there. She pursed her lips as though to disagree, but at the last moment, she sighed instead, saying that if she wasn’t valued, she couldn’t stay. My heart leapt as I saw the opportunity, and I gave her a playful shove, letting her know she was certainly valued here. She was great with her bow and had a keen eye that I was a little jealous of.
I got the same smile as before, and she fumbled to reciprocate my flattery, praising my prowess with my glaive. I doubted she was used to giving compliments and it made them all the sweeter.
Her guard was down, and I didn’t want to lose her to silence, so I asked after Penitence. It still frustrated me that he refused to open up, and I asked Robyn what she thought I should do. The gentle laugh I received confused me for a breath before she smiled wide and told me to give him some space, he’d probably been through a lot.
I knew I could be overbearing sometimes, too friendly and not understand boundaries… At least that was what my fellow Diplomats joked, and I didn’t mind, they knew I had a good heart.
Robyn suggested I find more common ground, swordplay perhaps and I remembered that I said I would teach him after he attacked the spider with terrible form. Throwing her a grin, I thanked her and said I would try.
The rest of our watch was uneventful, and I was glad to sleep soundly through to the next morning. Overcast with just enough chill to ensure a hurried pace, we packed up and continued away from the dilapidated walls. I, for one, was quite glad to see the back of the place.
Feeling restless, I headed up to the front with Robyn as we cleared the network of pathways and returned to flat sold ground. Not long after, a group of figures came into view up ahead and I squinted, but it was impossible to make them out at this distance. So we crept closer until the unmistakable blue of Skirmishers became apparent.
Cursing under my breath, the immediate instinct to give them a wide berth flooded me but I knew Robyn would want to approach them. We just had one, obvious problem…
I sped back to the others, hurriedly explaining and insisting Penitence use his magic to make himself invisible. For some reason, he refused, debating and worrying over what would happen. My hands balled into fists as I half snapped at him, he had to be hidden from sight, and it was only at the last possible moment that he sidestepped behind Saman, before vanishing entirely from view.
Annoyance rolled off me in waves, but I focused back the approaching group, and I realised now that they were injured. All five were limping or moved in a way as to not put pressure or further injury to a point of sufferance. Robyn clearly knew them very well, a sense of urgency, coupled the familiarity before she confirmed that these were her old comrades, the Stormwalkers.
They looked like most Skirmisher groups I’d expertly avoided in the Wastelands. There was a male dwarf, introduced as Sergeant Madoc Earthlock who had a longsword at his side and a weighty shield on his back. Brennan, who also looked like he knew his way around weaponry and then Nessa, a female dwarf who appeared the least injured of the group. In a long robe was a human female, quite likely a mage who gave her name as Elyn.
Finally, the recognisable feature of Stoneshield displayed themselves in his nephew, Huw, the Captain and leader of the group. I put two and two together as this being whom Robyn had lost her promotion too and almost voiced as such, had Robyn already been desperately asking what had happened. Her voice trailed into a high pitch note of worry as she asked after Caine, assumedly a missing member.
Nessa recalled how they had been attacked by fiends out near the Deep, but as they had pursued them to finish them off, they’d been led into a trap. She described what seemed to be the same winged fiend and purple-skinned, bearded devil as we’d fought with Penitence and I interjected with such before a glare made me lose my words.
She went on to state how Caine had lost his senses, how magic had forced him to fight alongside the creatures, and he’d blocked their way as they’d attempted a retreat. With a slow shake of her head, the Skirmisher chose her words carefully, stating that the Captain had needed to strike down their enthralled squad member to order to retreat.
Robyn visibly tensed at the news of her friend’s life being snuffed out by the hand of a comrade, glaring with disbelief at the Captain and I thought for a moment she might attack him. Nessa quickly stepped between them, reiterating firmly once more that Stoneshield’s actions had been necessary.
Nessa continued, stating that their survival had still seemed uncertain as they’d attempted to flee the battle. With the Fiends at their heels, they had only escaped when a group had launched a surprise attack from the direction of the Deep, causing enough of a distraction to allow the Skirmishers to keep their lives.
She was only able to describe them briefly, but that they were led by a middle-aged man and comprised of all different races, even orcs and goblins. It seemed too incredulous to be true but something in her rigid posture and regretful words, made me believe it.
Liv and Saman healed their wounds as best they could, Elyn’s face was coated in blood, hair matted to her face and her ear lost fully to the wound. Brennan revealed a tear in his side which must have been agony, yet he’d hid it exceptionally well. While their injuries were treated, they asked if they could join us on our way back to Bastion, that strength in numbers would help. At that Stoneshield bowed his head slightly, perhaps ashamed that they needed to accept the help of outsiders, though they certainly were in no position to turn away our assistance.
Robyn looked a little bit startled but somehow managed to convince the Skirmishers that a few of us would act as a rearguard, making sure we weren’t being followed by the Fiends. There were a few dubious looks, but we agreed Saman and Robyn would accompany them back to Bastion, whereas myself, Liv and Elirith would follow. Plus Penitence too, of course.
I disliked us separating out here in the Wastelands but what other choice did we have?

Previous: Session 20: Rell's Log  Next: Session 22: Rell's Log

6th Conditori

• Leave Grove (heading north east)
• Get back to the Ruins
• Come across a tear in time, Peni vanishes and returns 5 minutes later.
• Saw Slenri in buildings.
• Saman read the note that was found, talked of the experiments and a lot of references to the rod and that they believed its presence alerted them to a being called Sarandiel.
• Saman confirmes it is a celestial word meaning 'the blessed one'.
• Peni agrees to come to Bastion as he has no other family, that 'she' was long gone.
• Liv and Rel talk about how to get Penitence into Bastion. Everyone else is thinking of crate smuggling until Haven is proposed.

7th Conditori

• Heading back to Bastion, cross paths with injured Skirmishers, Stormwalkers: Madoc, Brennan, Nessa, Elyn, and their captain, Huw Stoneshield.
• They had pursued fiends to finish them off but were led into a trap, then Caine was mind-controlled, blocked their path, and killed on Stoneshield's orders.
• Escaped thanks to a distraction from the direction of the Deep; a mixed group of fighters led by a middle-aged man.
• Liv and Saman healed them up as best as possible; they asked for extra numbers heading back. Robyn convenienced them to spilt up, Liv, Elirith and Rel would be a rearguard.

Report Date

25 Jul 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.