5.1 DeClawing

General Summary

This recap covers SKRUNGUS overthrowing the Claw of Sharaka and that event's immediate fallout. This is also the first chapter in which Elton is no longer a player.

Return to Fengqi

Remember that task that I mentioned the Loyal gave to the Cradlers? Well the task very nicely fits into the overarching plot of this recap because it involved Sharaka and her minions. The Loyal, as sus as they are, shares an enemy with SKRUNGUS - Sharaka. Sharaka was always a constant thorn on the Court of Heaven's side, but considering her thirst for power hadn't subsided with, you know, the end of the world on the horizon, the snake goddess had to be stopped, if only because she was making things all the more difficult.
So, the Loyal proposed that Biggles, Vrinill, and Umeiri find and capture or kill the elite agent of Sharaka in exchange for a physical reward and more information. The three agreed, and the Loyal escorted the entire group back home.
Once the Cradlers and the yetifolk chiefs return to Fengqi, the first thing that happened was that Nubush immediately joined SKRUNGUS. Yawash needed a little more time to hone her weaponsmithing before she is comfortable joining as well.
With a couple of weeks to go before the Claw's arena would be completed, tensions were high for many of our heroes. For Biggles and Vrinill, the possibility of Cradlers being dumped randomly onto Tian Wu Yan was a harrowing thought, and so they took initiative and devised a strategy for finding these people. Skywrite - a spell only Trip knew - would be used to get Cradlers to come to SKRUNGUS and receive protection. Within a few days, several people answered the call, and from here on out, Trip would be skywriting as much as he could.
New information had also been uncovered surrounding the Black Opera, and it became apparent that they were planning something big. As for which faction, all evidence suggested the Yellow masks. For Biggles, who had been threatened by them, this was quite unnerving.

Ruinous Bonds

A week before the arena's completion, Haliah, Biggles, and Vrinill did some further investigation in Dark Feng. They needed more details on Taranga's injury-transferal magic and how to potentially stop it. Their inquiries eventually led to a shady character known as the Prophetess, a sileni priestess who utilized scent-based divination magic. While Biggles and Vrinill were having a bit of a moment as alcohol got involved, Haliah managed to learn about Taranga's healing magic and gained an ally. Everyone wanted Haliah to win, including the Prophetess, but mostly because she saw the potential in Haliah to do further good for her people than just overthrowing the Claw.
So, the sileni told Haliah of Visuphor, the Demon of Division. They were a fusion of two gods and had been struck down by Utir alongside the rest of the old Elven gods. However, Visuphor survived, and they created a refuge for their "children" who had been exiled for their blasphemy. The exiled elves would then be transformed into three distinct species - drow, sileni, and tieflings.
However, Visuphor was no longer heeding the Prophetess' call. When told of this injury-transferal magic, the Prophetess knew this to be an extreme corruption of the Visuphorian ritual known as 'soul bonding.' The strong connection between two individuals was exploited so that wounds and healing would be directly transferred between the bonded pair. 'Ruinous Bond' was the term the sileni used for this.
Armed with this information, the proper course of action was to liberate the person Taranga was bonded to. Trip had already spied on this person - a tiefling man being held in a room adjacent to Taranga's. And since Trip was so stealthy before, how much more difficult could this rescue mission be?
So begins the adventures of the shapeshifting goblin and the shapeshifting quasit (Shatter). The dynamic duo infiltrated the Claw's fortress not once, but twice and rescued three people in total. You heard me, three. They rescued Quelleon, the man bound to Taranga, and, in a surprising turn of events, they rescued Taranga as well. You see, once Taranga was well aware of how much SKRUNGUS knew, his evil mask slipped, and his true self emerged. Taranga and Quelleon were soul bonded and had once led a rebellion against the young Claw of Sharaka. They lost, and as punishment, Taranga was forced to act as the Claw's leader and carry out its will lest Quelleon be killed (and he alongside him).
With freedom in sight, Taranga took the plunge with Trip and Shatter and them in rescuing Quelleon and escaping Dark Feng together. At this point, the fortress was on high alert not only because Taranga was missing, but also the Black Opera sent a bouquet of yellow mushrooms to the Fortress, signaling their arrival. On their way out, Badice (listening in from Shatter) heard a voice emanating from a nearby altar in Atsuvatu's room, adjacent to Taranga's. It was Visuphor's, and the god pleaded with Badice for her to save him from Sharaka's clutches. The implications of this new development were a lot to think about, but Trip and Shatter had to go. Using polymorph and A+ acting from Taranga, the operation turned out to be a complete success.
The  second mission to rescue the captured soul-bonded sileni was...rough to say the least. Poor Trip was nearly killed as he fought off the two healers in the room where the prisoner was kept. Things were looking dire for our goblin boy until a massive explosion shook the entire fortress. As the area became wracked with chaos with nagas fighting against masked performers, Trip, Shatter, and their rescuee, made their way back to SKRUNGUS.

Dark Meets Light

At the moment that Trip and Shatter made their final exit from the Claw's fortress, the arena had already been filled by spectators and all preparations were complete for the duel. However, the Black Opera's assault put an abrupt end to all of that. Not only had they stolen the spotlight, the yellow masked Ghost had also revealed himself and his next target - Biggles. The Black Opera was powerful enough to chase off the Claw of Sharaka, and that alone increased their threat level significantly. When I say that our sasquatch boi would be haunted by this for the next two months, I mean it.
Oh, and speaking of the Claw being chased out of Dark Feng, well, that is exactly what happened. Atsuvatu (who was unsurprisingly the true leader of the Claw) vanished without a trace. The Yellows had a power vacuum that Haliah graciously occupied (at least, for the time being). The passage between Dark Feng and the surface city of Fengqi was now open for all.
Several years of hard work would be required to smooth out this transition, but for the time being, the focus was on providing for the needs of Dark Feng and establishing diplomatic relations between Dark Feng and Fengqi.
One major question remained: what about the Thri-Kreen problem? With the Claw out of the picture, a new force was needed to protect the Blues and the Yellows from them. However, people also began discussing more permanent solutions to the problem. Many, who rightly feared these ant people, suggested a flat out war. Some, like the myconids, believed there was a peaceful option and that the Thri-Kreen could be reasoned with.
Gamztylazo, or Gam for short, told SKRUNGUS about the existence, or even prior existence, of myconids living in the northern hemisphere and their symbiotic relations with the Thri-Kreen. They theorize the Chaos probably messed up this symbiosis, and the Thri-Kreen are simply looking to survive at any cost. To the chagrin of many, including Badice, the myconids suggest that a small group of them could accompany the Thri-Kreen north so that a new symbiotic society can form.
All they needed was the Thri-Kreen's consent and knowledge that myconids would survive the trek. That's were Dae'dwa and Zyg the teenage myconid came in. The ant bard interpreted for the myconids, and to everyone's surprise, the Thri-Kreen did consent to this plan. And with regards to Zyg, Trip kept him up on the surface in his cave to see how one would be able to acclimate myconids to a life in the light.
Things were certainly looking up for the people of Dark Feng!

Acquired Lore

• Ghost, who leads the Yellow masked performers in the Black Opera, is set to make a huge appearance in the future (even after the Claw raid)
• Sharaka is literally eveyone's enemy, even the Court of Heaven's
• Visuphor, the demon of division, was thought to have been killed off by Utir alongside their fellow gods of the old elven pantheon
• Visuphor created the drow, sileni, and tieflings and the three species lived secretly from the elves prior to the Chaos (meaning that modern elves don't know this key fact about the three species)
• Ruinous bonds are corruptions of the soul bonding ritual commonly practiced by the children of Visuphor, and allow injuries (and healing) to be transferred from one person to another
• Visuphor has been kidnapped by Sharaka, and some their powers have been stolen as well
• The thri-kreen used to live symbiotically with a different group of myconids known as the Ixden until the Chaos 

Report Date

02 Apr 2022

Acquired Items

• Affinity rings for Biggles and Vrinill (made by Lyca)
• NOTHING from Kai Ren
• Glowing blue fungus for Trip's cave experiments