15th Letter Home: a Successful Abandoned Ambush, an Abandoned Ambush Awaiting, and a Good Deed Repaid with an Ambush

General Summary

Dearest mother,
We made it safely back to Freehold and to our apartments at the Lightkeeper's tower. GG was extremely curious as to our escapades, and we (mostly Baermak) told him our tales. Baermak left out the details of Alyona's ... situation. But still he spun tale after tale, battle after battle, turning each into a heroic song. He really is good at this. We also told GG that we were concerned that there was perhaps an informant in the Lightkeepers organization.
GG was so concerned that he brought us our meals himself.
After we finished eating, rested, and regrouped, we chatted in depth about building a permanent base in the engineering building. We made a list of the things we needed, most of which ended up being to equip a lab for Vessyr. But also included are furnishings for all of our individual apartments.
We then went to visit the Wunderbar, where I acquired this phenomenal bow. He had some very interesting goggles, which I am now wearing. The crystal lenses make everything so much more clear! I can see people at the end of the street as if they were right next to me!
I didn't have the necessary gold, so Baermak bought them. When I tried them on I was so impressed...they were just so perfectly what we needed. But I had already spent my gold on weaponry. So I was happy that one of us got them, and was wondering how I might convince Baermak to let me use them now and again. Perhaps when explicitly scouting? Together in a group he would surely want to wear them, but when I go off on my own, to the benefit of the group, perhaps he would allow me to borrow them.
Then he gave them to me.
It was completely unexpected, and I tried to thank him appropriately, but I'm not sure enough would be possible. It is wonderful to have him beside me.
Ingoria had some neat magical gear (sword, bow, armor) to pick up, so we did that, and then she and Alyona headed out to meet with Alyona's contact. We needed to see if he was the vector for her betrayal.
Baermak and I lingered appropriately close, so we could respond if necessary. We watched as Alyona snuck up the side of a building, gently opened a window, and slid inside.
She was there for many long minutes. Even with my neat new goggles, I could see nothing. When she returned, she knew nothing new. Though it seemed her contact remained trustworthy. She keeps her information close. Still.
So our other option was a compromise at the Lightkeepers.
At dinner with GG, he remained very curious for more details about our adventures. Our earlier obfuscations had not sated him. I happily described our battles, while Baermak spun the greater stories connecting the battles. GG's concern as to our compromising agent seemed almost equal to ours. He had the excellent suggestion of locating an item unique to our attackers. We can use a special magic to see if any of those items are in town. And if they are, we might learn the location of at least their agents, if not safe houses or their headquarters.
Speaking of which, we spent the rest of our day cleaning out our new headquarters at the engineering school. As we cleaned it out we discussed our magical reconnaissance, and decided to use their shuriken, many of which we kept.
And so we did.
And we located two shuriken, one down in Bloodwater, and one in an industrial area of town called The Keel.
Vessyr made me invisible and I read off the scroll to locate the shuriken, then headed to The Keel. I found the shuriken in an outbuilding near a warehouse. The building had decorations in the window, so somebody probably lives there.
I quickly flew down to Bloodwater while the magic remained active and almost immediately found the second one in a merchant's stall. He was selling a random assortment of objects, likely found or purloined. Unlikely to be of interest to us.
So we focused on the warehouse. Gathered our kit. And headed over.
Ingoria picked the lock on the one locked door we found. It was locked, so had to be the right way! We entered the corridor beyond, went down the stairs, and encountered several doors. Judging from the location I identified above, I surmised the appropriate door, and Ingoria picked that lock too.
The rooms comprised a kitchen, living area, closet, and two bedrooms. Bearmak found a false bottom in one of the drawers in a bedroom. The compartment contained the shuriken and also poison.
Dirty dishes lay in the kitchen area. Judging by the crusty state of decay they had likely lain there for a week. So this was probably the residence of one of the Nightshades we had killed a week ago.
Satisfied that nothing remained to be discovered, we headed to the quarters next door.
Another typical set of rooms in a similar state.
Except that...well, except that when I opened the door to the bedroom a trap went off. As I stepped in, it was as if time slowed. Just as I entered I saw runes on the floor alight, pulsing. I didn't know what was coming, but I was sure it would be bad. The pressure in the room seemed to change, as if the room was breathing and had inhaled. It was lighter, then instantaneously heavy as a tremendous fireball ripped through the rooms, throwing Vessyr and Alyonna against the wall behind them.
I turned quickly, blinking my eyes and raising a wing to deflect as much as possible. When I opened my eyes I could see the floor falling away. I grabbed the edge of the desk near me. Charred floorboards, smoldering rug, the bed; all fell down, speeding to the lake below. Clothes fluttered in the light breeze on their way to the water.
Glancing into the main room Baermak dangled from the table, and Vessyr and Alyonna had somehow managed to get back into the hallway through the charred door.
This was a trap.
I looked through what remained of the room as the group filed out and headed up. I suggested that they leave me there; I was still invisible, so was unafraid of possible discovery. And I could easily fly to safety. I found nothing of note in the smoking remains, so I flew down to the water, but all that floated on the surface was various charred pieces of wood, clothes, and bedsheets.
We decided that our next step would be to at least reconnoiter the remaining Sylvan presence at the excavation sites. But when we teleported into the site we manifested in the middle of an abandoned campsite. We were fortunate in our placement, except for Vessyr.
Poor Vessyr's foot appeared exactly in the same spot as a rock, fusing the two objects into a single foot/rock. Vessyr howled in pain!
The site was long abandoned, and barricades had been erected outside, as if the Sylvans had decided that in this place they would make their last stand against us. But we never appeared. They didn't know that we had retreated to the Lightkeepers, afraid of their numbers.
Vessyr made me invisible and I headed into the sky. I went immediately to the engineering building; our secret headquarters. While nobody camped outside, ready to ambush us, they had set up a simple trap: a collection of logs and boulders suspended above the door! Ready to be tripped if the door opened. Poised to crush us if we open it, and probably wedge it open too.
I flew to their main camp, the site of our tremendous battle, but it too was completely deserted. They had packed their things and left, burning what they couldn't fit on the wagon.
Vessyr was in no shape for movement, hobbling around on his rock/foot. We needed to bring him back to health before our journey, so we went back to the Lightkeepers. Again. It must have been our shortest excursion so far. And perhaps the least productive! Aside from the knowledge we gained.
Finding somebody to remove the rocks (fused to his flesh and bone) and then heal the resulting damage was not as hard as we might have thought, but it was a little more expensive than we would have wanted, pretty much draining us of our remaining funds.
Back at full strength, we headed out on our journey. Mother, it was so nice to be back in the jungle! The warmth, the soft air making flight almost effortless, the songs of the animals. And the endless supply of fruit!
As I flew up to look ahead I spotted a fork in our trail. It was obvious which direction we should take, so I flew back to the group and informed them of what I saw. As we walked into the clearing leading to the fork, we spotted an old man, his head in his hands, his back to us.
We approached and hailed him. He responded with woe in his tone. He had lost his dog. I asked for a description of the dog, and Baermak and I agreed that I would try to find the dog for him.
I headed into the air, but didn't spot the dog right away. I did, however, see a dismembered brown bear. Disconcerting, but not an immediate concern. I kept searching, widening my circle. Still nothing. I realized that I hadn't asked the old man how long ago he had lost his dog. As I began to think about how useless this search would be if this old man had lost the dog in his youth and was simply ruminating on times long gone, I heard screams.
The screams of my party.
I immediately turned and flew back at full speed, missing dog completely forgotten. I could hear shouts and sounds of combat, including Vessyr's gun.
It seemed forever as I flew, gunshots and combat raging in the distance. When finally I arrived I saw the team engaged with a strange looking beast: huge, dark purple, 6 legs, and tentacles. But that wasn't all!
A huge blue man with a gigantic glaive was cutting through Alyona, her blood spraying the trees behind her.
Ingoria was nowhere to be seen, Vessyr's spider was flat on the ground, legs splayed beneath it and a crack in its carapace. Vessyr himself was engaged with the strange purple beast, trading blows. The beast...mother, it's hard to put words to what appeared, but the beast...it moved without moving. It was there, but it wasn't...quite...there. It seemed to, kind of, shift. In place.
It's very hard to describe.
Vessyr had cast that illuminating spell on it, so it was clearly the group's favorite target. And probably the hardest to hit, with that strange shimmering movement distracting your aim.
Baermak was sprinting across the battlefield toward Alyona, who looked to be nearing complete exhaustion.
And the old man, forlorn and missing his canine companion, was gone.
The huge blue creature seemed barely scratched. So I focused my attention on him.
And I missed.
Mother, I missed him. My first shot flew far wide. I adjusted slightly for my second shot, so I did hit him, but only just. I sent my second arrow so quickly after the first that I barely had time to adjust for the miss! I really had not remotely anticipated missing that first shot, so sped the second arrow to almost the same spot as the first. And by the time I realized, it was too late.
I was happy just to have hit him.
Baermak arrived at Alyona's side, and just in time, as she looked about to collapse; he healed her up with one of his miraculous spells. He is good to have at your back in a fight. And good to have at night, telling stories of heroic deeds and magical beasts and wars fought over the most comical misunderstandings. One day I hope to feature prominently in songs he sings. I know he will outlive me by so many years. If I ever have fledglings, he will outlive them too. But my deeds! My arrows true! These will live on! And he can sing of them to generation after generation!
I wish...
But the battle was at hand. And it seemed we were losing. Focus was what I needed, not tales of courage.
Actual courage.
I took a deep breath, as Krönik taught me, focused on the blue giant, and aimed true. No longer breathing heavy from my hurried dash to the battle, no enemy firing at me, no blood dripping down my feathers; just me and my enemy. The enemy of my friends.
He was such an easy target. He hovered above the ground, 10, maybe 20 feet. Out of the reach of those with melee weapons. But perfectly in my sights.
I aimed, smiled, and loosed an arrow directly into his torso. Sighted, I sent the next one to the same spot...but not quite. I aimed just a little higher, closer to his neck. And hit. He shrieked in pain and looked to me, finally noticing!
At that point Alyonna appeared above him. Quite literally. Just materialized in the air above him. Farther above him than he was above the ground.
And dropped.
I was drawing another arrow, but stopped, and watched.
It was, mother, mystically beautiful.
She dropped, looking straight down at him, staff in her hands, one knee bent and the other pointed straight down.
And as she passed him she unleashed: staff, hands, feet, everything!
He was watching me and didn't have a single remote idea that there might be a threat above him. She fell to him, and then he fell.
His eyes didn't even have time to close as he fell from the sky, Alyonna riding him like you might ride a sea turtle diving below the waves.
She landed on his limp torso as he hit, acting as if this was a dance she had rehearsed oh so many times before, simply standing there, looking at the blue corpse below her, and then slowly up at us.
She smiled.
She had enjoyed the ride, but I might have enjoyed it even more.
The battle was done. While I was focusing on the blue creature, Vessyr had dispatched the purple beast.
The purple beast was the dog. And the blue creature had been disguised as the old man.
It was time for camp.
And song.

Report Date

30 Jul 2022