23rd Letter Home: A New Friend, Becoming An Ally? No, Becoming Family

General Summary

Mother,
I've sent several letters to Scha'ar; perhaps he has already shared them with you. I'm sure he has. This letter, though, is important for you.
We spent the night at the base of the cliff. The sub-aerials view the cliff as an impediment, though the ‘Baxi can climb easily. Alyona has a neat ability to jump between shadows, so as long as we have shadows she can also easily surmount the cliff. But the other two…
They had to use tools to simply climb. Vessyr has spikes…”peetons”...that he hammers into the cliff. He attaches ropes to the peetons and then climbs the ropes.
And then I have to fly the tools down to Baermak.
Who does the same thing.
And then we repeat.
It is TEDIOUS.
We make very slow progress, especially when they fall.
Which they do.
Often.
This might take the entire week. I really don’t understand how sub-aerials can even live like this. Every day they must dream of flying like a real person. I cannot imagine how it must pain them.
Actually, perhaps I should fly less in front of them. Less pain for them.
Alyonna took off early in the morning, to take advantage of the shadows. She’s somewhere up above us, relaxing in the mist, while Ingoria and I help these two.
Up, up, down. Up, up, down. Up, up, down.
Suddenly Vessyr remembers that he has a spell that allows him to climb like a spider. But he hasn’t memorized it. Not only does he not walk so good, he doesn't memory very good either.
So back down we go, retracing our meager progress, and remaking our camp, so Vessyr can learn his climbing spell. Not wanting Alyona to worry about us, Ingoria clambered up the cliff. Edgar joined her, so that our split groups can communicate.
We spent the evening listening to Baermak’s expansive tales. Battles and princes and naval expeditions. Also: princesses! I am so tired, but I don’t want Baermak to stop!
But eventually he tired and had to. Regretfully. I did a short watch so he could rest, then woke him to take over, and went to sleep myself.
Vessyr woke us up in the middle of his watch; he had seen the parrot! He shot it with a lightning bolt, striking it and blasting feathers off of it, but not killing it. Not killing it!
The parrot was neither a familiar, which would have popped, nor a regular parrot, which would have been crisped. And it got away. This was something else entirely. Certainly a threat.
I tried to find it, but in the dark mist there was no possible way. I looked out for it the next day on the way up, as I kept an eye on Baermak and Vessyr, but did not see it again.
Cresting the plateau the verdant jungle enveloped us. Birdsong filled the air, insects buzzing past and singing their locations to each other. The mist softened the gentle music of the jungle, making the sounds seem to surround us. It felt good. The air was thick and rich and full of fragrance.
Home.
Spread throughout the jungle on that plateau sat ruin after ruin. An entire civilization must have occupied this place. Nothing intact, not large. Just walls, foundations. These would have been the outlying settlements. Farms, inns perhaps.
I started to think about the creatures we had found. Two entirely unknown races, inhabiting our island all this time! And waging a war against each other.
Whether the frog creatures hated the Sylvans I knew not, but the lizard creatures surely did. I wondered if we had missed an opportunity to make an ally. I don't think we had much choice, as they did ambush us, but perhaps diplomacy would have been the wiser course. Mother, we could surely have used your counsel and intervention.
Lost in thought as we hiked through the jungle ruins, we came upon a Sylvan body. As Alyonna and Ingoria approached it…it moaned. Not the moan of a wounded Sylvan, though. The moan of a dead Sylvan who has risen.
I immediately faced away from the undead, prepared for an ambush as the two of them easily dispatched the thing.
Vessyr shot fire at something behind me. I heard it, but could see only the flash of light on the trees in front of me. I dared not turn. I could hear combat and very strange…wet noises. Almost like birth. Or voluminous vomit.
So it was an ambush, just not in front of me. Afraid to leave our rear open, I couldn’t look back, instead focusing ahead of me. Which ended up being a good decision: a zombie stumbled through the fog toward Baermak.
I let loose three arrows in quick succession, knocking it back with each strike, until it collapsed at the third hit. Spinning, I saw two undead closing with Boris and a strange plant with writhing tentacles creeping over one of the walls.
Taking advantage of Boris' distraction, I steadied myself, focused on one of the undead, and dropped it with two shots, sending its brains out the back of its head.
Ingoria sped past me, closing with the tentacle thing. She hacked at the tentacles, chopping off bits as it writhed. In pain? Could this thing feel pain? It looked like a plant.
Alyonna joined her, pounding on it with her staff. More bits of bark flew off of it, and if plants could be happy, this one was not. But neither was Alyona; one of the tentacles, in responding to her blows, inadvertently knocked her staff from her hands.
Baermak bounded past me on my right and zapped the other zombie standing in front of Boris. It remained standing, but seemed…confused? Can a zombie be confused? I guess maybe it was unsure what to do next.
I looked to the tentacle creature. It definitely deserved some attention. From me. As I focused in on it, tentacles whipped out and slammed Ingoria. She saw the first one coming and mostly ducked, but it still connected quite nicely. While she stumbled from the force of the first one, another hit her from the other side. She was hurt badly, and stabbed at them as she backed away. A third tentacle slapped Alyonna.
My two arrows hit the plant thing center mass, ignoring the tentacles completely, but it…how do I describe it? It pulsed and writhed, opening a gaping orifice and extruding a zombie. It vomited a zombie. The newly birthed zombie shuffled, dripping, toward Alyona, but Alyona ignored it.
She beat the tentacle plant to smithereens. Better to keep future zombies from appearing than deal with the existing ones. She focused all of her might on the thing, and the tentacles stopped moving.
But the zombies remained. Though, honestly, they were not much of a threat. We turned our attention to them and easily returned them to a state of death. Permanent death. They smashed Boris in the process, but Vessyr was easily able to rebuild him.
Ingoria and I cut the tentacle plant apart, finding nothing but a handful of gold coins, some small carved stones, and gemstones embedded in various sculptures.
Then Ingoria found a blood trail. It lead away, in the direction we were headed. So I tracked it.
And we found it. Trying to hide, up in a tree, one of the lizard people clung to a branch. It's skin matched the colors and pattern of the foliage around it, but its gaping wounds showed through the otherwise excellent camouflage. I flew up next to it, and it didn’t react. Unconscious. I took the creature's spear and dropped it to the ground.
We absolutely took the wrong tack with these people. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. While they ambushed us, and we responded appropriately, I believe we struck the first blow when I shot the monkey, who was their scout. It was not a Sylvan familiar, and Sylvans would not be working with the local fauna, so it must have been allied with these lizard folk.
So I took the opposite tack: I convinced Baermak to heal this one. I braced him in case he fell, which turned out to be a good idea, as he jumped a bit and began to fall. I steadied him, then slowly removed my hands, keeping them visible. And visibly weapon-free.
“Hello.”
He responded with a strange staccato guttural hissing noise. Clearly a language, but nothing like anything I’ve ever heard.
Ingoria, on the other hand, immediately looked up, her ears attentive and pointed at the lizard creature. She made a similar noise and he looked down at her.
I flew down, grabbed his spear, flew back up, and handed it to him. As I did that Ingoria spoke some hissing words. He looked at her, looked at me, and gingerly took the spear, making a strange wobbling movement. I mimicked that movement as best I could, and he nodded. Looking down, he looked at me, gestured to the ground. I nodded, and led the way.
On the ground we were able to establish some communication, as long as he spoke slowly. We couldn’t pronounce his name, so we called him Red Crest. He had a slightly blue belly, and a pronounced red crest along the top of his head.
The Sylvan patrol ambushed him and two friends, throwing fire at them. He led the Sylvans (which he called "Hard Shells" due to their armor) toward the Death Blossom, which ended up being an excellent idea, as it clearly consumed several of them, and the Sylvans did not kill it.
He got away, but was badly wounded.
His friends did not.
I offered him one of the fish cakes we retrieved from the frog people and his eyes went wide! He motioned stabbing, and I nodded, smiling, pantomiming shooting arrows. He also smiled, and chowed down the cake.
We, to him, were now most assuredly enemies of his enemies.
He mentioned a “World Egg” and the way he described it, it was down in the sink hole. He and his friends were headed to it, for a ritual. The ritual was a right of passage, a blessing. Lately his people had not always returned from the ritual journey. I offered to get him safely to the World Egg if he helped us.
He explained that part of the ritual was to make an offering, usually a stone carved by the bearer according to their individual style. I mentioned to Ingoria the various objects we found in the remains of the plant. I explained to him that we had killed the Death Blossom, and found these objects inside of it. She handed them to him, and his head sank.
He thanked us and put them reverently in a pouch at his side.
I asked him when the Sylvans had arrived, and he said they had been here for about two months. Two months! Long before they were negotiating with you mother! And what if you had refused? Would they have ignored your refusal? They had already started, so what difference would it have made?
The Sylvans can just never be trusted in any circumstances. Ever.
After a great deal of conversation we finally decided to explore the rim. There had been about 6 Sylvans, and several had been consumed by the Death Blossom, so we didn’t know how many were left, but we didn’t want to leave them at our back. At least one was a magic user (according to Red Crest, a “fire-thrower”).
About ¾ of the way around the rim we noticed a transporter! It was nearly vertical in the cliff wall, and the checkerboard floor unmistakable. Edgar and Ingoria checked it out, getting the location code from the side of the pedestal. Not that we would want to transport to it, as we would immediately fall. By "we" I mean, of course, the sub-aerials.
That’s when we came upon the tracks. A large group of Sylvans. Or a small group that retraced its steps multiple times. Either way we decided to find them. We tracked them for an hour, but did not find them. At that point we split up, with Ingoria and Alyona in front, me a little bit behind them, and Baermak and Vessyr comfortably behind me with Red Crest.
Alyona heard voices.
Edgar was with her, relaying communication. She and Ingoria crept forward to further investigate: and saw tents.
They came back, but Edgar stayed.
As he watched, a Sun Knight emerged from a tent, followed by a Lunar Knight. Edgar said that they looked for him, somehow sensing his presence, but they didn’t see him. They walked over to the edge and…stepped off.
Drifting down, they headed over to the pedestal, noticing (apparently) where Ingoria had scraped the moss off to read the location code. They conferred, then continued their descent.
As Baermak conveyed this to us, Alyonna and I came to the same conclusion at the same time: this made for an excellent opportunity to attack the camp!
Though not directly. With 20 odd Sylvans in the camp, we decided that Alyona and Ingoria would sneak into the command tents and pilfer everything they could find. Safely returned, I would then “inadvertently” fly right over their camp, pretend to be startled, and immediately hightail it away. We think that probably half the camp will chase me. So we will set up an ambush for them and take half of them out.
And go from there.
All agreed, so off they went!
And we waited.
Seconds seemed to be minutes, every sound a crack of thunder, every movement a Sun Knight discovering us. My heart raced, knowing how close we were to battle, how close I was to putting myself in danger. But hearing nothing from the camp was absolutely the best possible situation. If they were discovered, we would hear the commotion. If they were fleeing in haste, we would know.
But still. The waiting.
After they have been gone for 10 minutes that seemed an hour, Baermak informed us that, according to Edgar, who was still with the two Knights, the Knights were alerted.
Something had tripped. But we had no way of letting the girls know! We had to trust that they kept to the plan, stayed on target, looted the tents, and got out of there as fast as possible.
Which they did, just as the Knights arrived, spraying the area with fire as the girls stealthily returned. Red Crest recoiled from the fire, but kept his head well enough to guide us through the jungle and away from local threats. He led us to a nice hiding hole and we hunkered down.
I was pretty sure I was not going to fly randomly overhead. Not with those two out there.
The girls had brought back a chest that they couldn't open, a book, a pouch of gold, and a small chest of potions. Vessyr opened the first chest and found some correspondence and a box of scrolls. And some very strange objects.
The scrolls were Locate Object, and the potions Advantage. The correspondence explained that they have some keys and a power source (the strange objects) for an "anomaly" down in the sinkhole. They’ve already located several artifacts and are in the process of extracting them. Their plan is to get an experienced team in (apparently not these guys) who can use the keys and power source on the anomaly; but no more! We have all of their kit!
Hah!
They also described these lizard people in the same way they describe the 'Baxi...and us. We are family.
I asked Red Crest if they use parrots or monkeys as familiars, and he said no. But, he said, their elders do sometimes transform into beasts such as parrots and monkeys.
My heart sank.
I explained to him that we saw their transformed elders and thought them Sylvan, as the Sylvans use a similar magic...and so we shot them. I apologized deeply and asked for their forgiveness.
He was clearly saddened, but understood. And accepted.
While we went over our loot we formulated our plan and the Sun Knight raged through the fog looking for us, spraying fire and randomly shouting. Poor Red Crest flinched at every flaming boom. We, on the other hand, were a tad bit jubilant. We would use their hard-won artifacts to enter the anomaly ourselves! We not only beat them to the punch, we also use their kit, and we deprive them of whatever it was they had hoped to find. Double hah! And all while poking a sharp stick in their eye.
Hopefully we can also kill Sylvans. I really really want to do that.
But how to get down to the anomaly? And fast, as the two Knights are actively looking for us.
Our plan: the sub-aerials jump off of the edge, roped together, and fall to the bottom. Simple, right? Falling is what they're good at, after all. And this is what we do! We even convinced Red Crest to join in!
He’s clearly trepidatious, but agrees anyway. All the way down his crest is so bright it almost glows with light!
I held on to the rope to guide the group away from the cliff side, since they have no control. As they got close to the bottom Baermak, just at the last minute, cast his Feather Fall spell, gently landing the group on the ground.
His timing was impeccable! They all survived, and Red Crest was overcome with reverent emotion. He bowed, fell to his knees. Before us was...an anomaly. Black. Such a black. Not black, so much as...mother, it wasn't black, the color black. Not the face paint you would use, or the dye for a scarf. It had no...no surface. It was nothing. Not just nothing. But truly Nothing. The Sylvans think this is a portal, and I can see why.
It is shaped like a bubble, perhaps the top of a dome. We tentatively touch it, and it is somehow smooth...and cold. Very cold. It seems very much like glass. Constructed around and above the deep black dome is a structure, very much like a temple. And in this small temple are various strange mechanisms. Exactly the kind of place Vessyr would enjoy.
Cracked earth surrounds the temple, heat and glow from the lava beneath radiating up.
Red Crest removed his stone carving, approached the dome, recited prayers or blessings, and set his sculpture gently on the edge. We watched, quietly.
I suggested he leave the other sculptures, and he agreed. I gave him another fish cake, “For the next time we meet”. We wished him safe travels and sent him on his way. He bounded up the cliff, camouflaged, and disappeared.
Baermak urged haste; Edgar had informed him that the two Knights were headed our way.
We entered the vestibule, Vessyr put together the key, and connected the power supply. Sparks flew everywhere! Definitely not right.
Alyonna spoke curtly to him and he responded, very dismissively. I would some day like to learn their language, but sometimes I don't even need to.
I headed out to look up, and could see the Knights; small dots against the sky. Vessyr took the device back apart and began messing with it. He reached into his backpack and brought out his toolkit, spreading it out in front of him.
Um...
The dots were getting bigger! I knew we would get off the first shots, but this would be a rough fight. We needed to get out of here, and fast.
That thing had sure better be a portal.
Vessyr drank one of the potions, giving himself some degree of advantage, and started tinkering away again. The two Knights were close enough now that I’m sure they could see me. I could certainly see them.
I drew my bow and prepared.
That’s when Vessyr finally figured it out, we charged into the empty space, and the world went silent.
Complete and utter silence, like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
And darkness.
Absolute darkness.
Complete Nothing.
It lasted...forever. And also only an instant. I cannot explain it otherwise. It was both immediate and an eternity.
The darkness faded into a nearly pastoral city scene…an ancient city scene…of Sylvans. Sitting in cafes, walking about, riding horses. A city. An ancient Sylvan city.
A thunderous sound sent the residents into an immediate panic, and I saw a wall, probably magic, rise in the distance.
And then things got weird.

Report Date

28 May 2023