Session Twenty-Five: How many degrees of kill are there?
General Summary
During the night Aldus continued his studies of the Borealis. He looked over the artefact carefully and repeatedly. He noticed again these small chips and pieces of the staff missing in different places. Opening Gifu's notes he went to the scroll about rituals and experimentation. There were sections about rituals and needed components. He knew now that these were for the containment rituals of the borealis, Duskwood, Star Sapphires, and a Kaklim Rose. Then he came across another set of rituals. After his experiences they made more sense now. Gifu and Dustclaw and used parts of the Borealis and tried to extrapolate its properties in attempts to duplicate the artefact. There could be more of these out there.
Outside Yarrow saw the Tenders and Healers running around packing things up and preparing things. In the distance he could see Bonda in front of the library giving orders. He looked on and amongst them the druids he saw a few that looked upset. He walked over and they back away a little. They immediately asked him what was going on? Why did they have to leave? Yarrow handed them a plate a food and smiled as he walked towards the Library. Bonda greeted Yarrow but was focused on her tasks. Yarrow told her that he needed some people to help dispel magic. She said that Taru's assistants could help. Yarrow then continued to ask her about the grove and the fires, about the bandits, about Gifu potentially being shapeshifted and not having been in contact with the white stag. Bonda brushed him off and said that she could only focus on the task at hand right now. Yarrow told her that if she wanted to be a leader she would need to be able to multitask. Hopping away Yarrow made his way to Tanca's workshop. Taru was inside helping people and making sure people stayed away from the trap door. Taru saw Yarrow and reached to him. "Good you're here. The plant beast from last night ended up dissolving. The resulting muck ended up making vines and purple flowers grow. We think it acts as a fertilizer of sorts." Yarrow perked up and smiled. "Oh burn those immdeiately. They're evil." Taru looked confused. "We are going to keep a few for further study. As for Tanca, she was robbed and we believe that robed mage to be the culprit." Yarrow looked around quickly breaking eye contact with Taru. "I need some of your assistants to help with something." Taru looked down at the Tola and shrugged, "Fine I'll send two of my assistants with you."
Maneba sighed and turned to Alabaster. "Why am I doing this?" They said obviously frustrated. Alabaster turned to them and with a gentle smile said, "Because you're special. You do what you think is right. You take action. No one else in your organization does that. They all stick to procedure and tradition but you break from that in ways that challenge it when needed. You're going to be a great druid if you survive this." Alabaster turned away from them and walked towards Cyrus to help him with his cloak. Maneba looked on confused, "He didn't tell me to fuck off..." Yarrow returned with assistants behind him. He pointed them at Gifu and asked them to dispel the magic. They tried once but nothing happened. Yarrow pushed them and again nothing happened. The two assistants focused themselves and set up their magic. The third time a ripple of magic went over Gifu. He became slightly shorter and thinner, his plumage greyed, and his antlers disappeared. Before them was an older Gallus without antlers still crying slightly. Yarrow jumped in glee. He knew it! Everyone else looked on confused. Maneba and Alabaster merely sighed but the two assistants were beside themselves. The Tola turned to them and asked "Will you help us with the grove now?" The two assistants didn't know what to do. After a few moments the assistants left on their way to get Taru and Bonda.
Taru and Bonda came into the house. Yarrow confronted them about Gifu but they shrugged it off. At this point it wasn't the biggest reveal they had had. They debated whether or not to kill Gifu but between Maneba and Yarrow it was decided to leave him be for the moment. Yarrow wanted to help the grove and knew how. The White Stag had come to him in his dreams and showed him part of the problem. They needed to get to the heart of the grove, fight the large fire elemental there and move it, then Yarrow could go in and repair the anchor point in the grove. Cyrus asked for help. They had a whole town of druids surely they could spare a few. Taru volunteered himself and Tevor and their people to go. Bonda would stay and lead the town and help them take down the ritual. Cyrus turned to Aldous and quietly asked, "Are you willing to use that stick?" Aldous looked at him incredulously, "It has a name." Cyrus rolled his eyes, "Are you going to use the Borealis?" Aldous pulled back, "Don't say its name here!" Alabaster and Yarrow pulled over to the conversation. "Why would I help?" Aldous asked honestly, "It's incredibly dangerous and you have a handle on it just fine." "To help people." Cyrus said tiredly. "Uhuh." Aldous began to open up his notes. Yarrow hopped over to him, "You could study the center of the grove. You might learn more about the fires. Isn't that what your work was about?" Aldous stopped and pondered and began to hear voices.
Aldous and Cyrus made their way to Tanca's workshop while the rest of the group prepared. Tanca's workers recognized Aldous and Cyrus as friends of Yarrows. After a quick conversation they agreed to help supply the party with some components and some potions. Aldous and Cyrus were given two fire resistance potions, 3 healing potions, and two satchels of components for Yarrow to use later. Aldous pocketed the Duskwood and the Kaklim flowers he needed. Aldous started to make his way back outside but saw Yarrow talking with the Tenders. He wanted to go to Gifu's room and but he didn't want the Tola to know. Cyrus meanwhile reached into his bag and took out his small porcelain box with the worms inside.The worms once again retreated from the light but once in the shadows of the corner of the box they moved in rhythm almost waving at Cyrus. Cyrus danced a little in rhythm with the worms and then closed the box. Aldous grabbed him and they started to move to the hatch in Tanca's office. Aldous and Cyrus went through Tanca's tunnel and the ritual room up to Gifu's room. Once there they began to look around. Cyrus took all of Gifu's staffs and looked through his clothes. Inside one of the drawers he found a jewelry box box full of gems with; 6 blue gemstones, 4 red gemstones, 3 pearls, and 1 diamond inside.
Yarrow, Aldous, and Cyrus all arrived around the same time back at the house. Cyrus came in with a bundle of staffs wrapped in Gifu's old clothes. As they came in they saw Alabaster banging his head on a table, it looked like he had been doing it the whole time they were gone. Bonda sighed and asked why they had Gifu's things. She had no intention of taking them from the party since they were going to go fight soon but they could have just asked. She told them that the staffs that Gifu had were the; Staff of Frost, Staff of Birdcalls, Staff of Flowers, Staff of Charming, and Staff of Withering. Cyrus went over to Yarrow and handed him the alchemical supplies they had gotten from Tanca's. Tevor arrived along with his people and they began to prepare to leave. Summoning Eagle's and Vultures Tevor's assistants waved to the party to come along. They had a grave look in their eyes and seemed ready for battle. As they walked over Yarrow screeched at the Eagles and greeted them. They greeted him back and said they had heard of him from Artip and Lexund. Yarrow smiled and asked them their names.
- 12 of Solas -
Yarrow woke up and went over to Gifu. He was sleeping next to Maneba his antlers glistening in the peaking morning light. Yarrow set himself up and cast Dispel Magic on Gifu's antlers. Nothing. The Tola hopped off and made breakfast for everyone. As people began to wake up Yarrow turned to Cyrus and Alabaster and told them not to kill Gifu and then left the house. Cyrus asked Maneba how Gifu was doing. They shrugged and said that he was doing well but had the capacity of a child. Gifu then woke up and started crying. Aldous still studying waved his talon in the air "Can someone stop that crying." Cyrus turned around, "He wouldn't be crying if he was dead right now." Alabaster reached over and gave Cyrus the cloak they had gotten from Gifu's. Alabaster, Cyrus, and Maneba looked over Gifu unsure with what to do with the crying man. As they deliberated Gifu's pants darkened as he soiled himself.Outside Yarrow saw the Tenders and Healers running around packing things up and preparing things. In the distance he could see Bonda in front of the library giving orders. He looked on and amongst them the druids he saw a few that looked upset. He walked over and they back away a little. They immediately asked him what was going on? Why did they have to leave? Yarrow handed them a plate a food and smiled as he walked towards the Library. Bonda greeted Yarrow but was focused on her tasks. Yarrow told her that he needed some people to help dispel magic. She said that Taru's assistants could help. Yarrow then continued to ask her about the grove and the fires, about the bandits, about Gifu potentially being shapeshifted and not having been in contact with the white stag. Bonda brushed him off and said that she could only focus on the task at hand right now. Yarrow told her that if she wanted to be a leader she would need to be able to multitask. Hopping away Yarrow made his way to Tanca's workshop. Taru was inside helping people and making sure people stayed away from the trap door. Taru saw Yarrow and reached to him. "Good you're here. The plant beast from last night ended up dissolving. The resulting muck ended up making vines and purple flowers grow. We think it acts as a fertilizer of sorts." Yarrow perked up and smiled. "Oh burn those immdeiately. They're evil." Taru looked confused. "We are going to keep a few for further study. As for Tanca, she was robbed and we believe that robed mage to be the culprit." Yarrow looked around quickly breaking eye contact with Taru. "I need some of your assistants to help with something." Taru looked down at the Tola and shrugged, "Fine I'll send two of my assistants with you."
Maneba sighed and turned to Alabaster. "Why am I doing this?" They said obviously frustrated. Alabaster turned to them and with a gentle smile said, "Because you're special. You do what you think is right. You take action. No one else in your organization does that. They all stick to procedure and tradition but you break from that in ways that challenge it when needed. You're going to be a great druid if you survive this." Alabaster turned away from them and walked towards Cyrus to help him with his cloak. Maneba looked on confused, "He didn't tell me to fuck off..." Yarrow returned with assistants behind him. He pointed them at Gifu and asked them to dispel the magic. They tried once but nothing happened. Yarrow pushed them and again nothing happened. The two assistants focused themselves and set up their magic. The third time a ripple of magic went over Gifu. He became slightly shorter and thinner, his plumage greyed, and his antlers disappeared. Before them was an older Gallus without antlers still crying slightly. Yarrow jumped in glee. He knew it! Everyone else looked on confused. Maneba and Alabaster merely sighed but the two assistants were beside themselves. The Tola turned to them and asked "Will you help us with the grove now?" The two assistants didn't know what to do. After a few moments the assistants left on their way to get Taru and Bonda.
Taru and Bonda came into the house. Yarrow confronted them about Gifu but they shrugged it off. At this point it wasn't the biggest reveal they had had. They debated whether or not to kill Gifu but between Maneba and Yarrow it was decided to leave him be for the moment. Yarrow wanted to help the grove and knew how. The White Stag had come to him in his dreams and showed him part of the problem. They needed to get to the heart of the grove, fight the large fire elemental there and move it, then Yarrow could go in and repair the anchor point in the grove. Cyrus asked for help. They had a whole town of druids surely they could spare a few. Taru volunteered himself and Tevor and their people to go. Bonda would stay and lead the town and help them take down the ritual. Cyrus turned to Aldous and quietly asked, "Are you willing to use that stick?" Aldous looked at him incredulously, "It has a name." Cyrus rolled his eyes, "Are you going to use the Borealis?" Aldous pulled back, "Don't say its name here!" Alabaster and Yarrow pulled over to the conversation. "Why would I help?" Aldous asked honestly, "It's incredibly dangerous and you have a handle on it just fine." "To help people." Cyrus said tiredly. "Uhuh." Aldous began to open up his notes. Yarrow hopped over to him, "You could study the center of the grove. You might learn more about the fires. Isn't that what your work was about?" Aldous stopped and pondered and began to hear voices.
"̴͚͚̈́͑͜Ȳ̷̟é̸͇̜s̶͙̗͊̆,̷̅ͅ ̴͍̦̋̆g̷̻̥͑̄̕ồ̷͕o̶̗͈͝d̸̥̀́͝.̸̩͍̲͗͋͋ ̸͕͙̬̀̒̉Ḟ̶̭̪̱̾ḯ̸͎̠̾r̶̟̿ṡ̵͍͍͌͝t̸͕͔͎͊̊̈ ̶̝͆̉g̵̪͍̫̓͘ȇ̷̢̫̦t̸͎̣͛̾ ̵͉͎͔̎̌t̷̡̙̠̐h̶̢̍͝ĕ̸̫͕ ̵̰̮̓͑ị̵̪́̆͠ǹ̴̺̙̦g̴̳̩̼̅̇͝r̴̞̹̣̆ẽ̸͚̆d̶̼͌i̶̙̜̤̓͆̋ḛ̷̈̎͐n̷̯̼̼̈t̵͈̟͍̐s̶͚̪̒͌͝.̸̭̽͛̚ ̴̟̼͈̿T̵̺̿ä̸͜ņ̷̞̰̽̒c̶͈̤͑͋̚͜ǎ̴͚̘͝ ̷̺͈́̏ḣ̷͕̙̆͆a̴͖͑͑̅s̷̛͖͎͇̈́̈́ ̴͈̥̓̅͘ṱ̵̺̮͗̿h̴͕̠̬͊ē̷̟͚̠̊̕ ̴̘̅͜͝͝f̷͉̑͠ĺ̷͍̈́͌o̴̮̰̝͑̇̀w̷̢̑̽̈e̷̝͍̊̀ͅr̸͔̽s̷̨̿̌͠.̵̧̥͍͐ ̵̜͇̺͊Į̴̯͋̈́ͅn̷̯͋͐ ̵̞͇̋͆̓G̷̭͎͓̐ȉ̸̥f̸̤̝̜̿u̵̪̤͎̒'̵̺̑̄s̵͓̿ ̶͎͈̘͒r̴̬͒̃o̵̤̝̅͘͝o̸͙̅͆m̵̨̂͂̒ ̶͈̜̳̀̆a̸̧̢͂͜ŕ̵͎̫e̴̠̫̰͌̿̓ ̶̰̞͝t̸͈̮̮̂̿h̸̰̿̆e̵̮̺̒͜ ̷͙̘́͝͝s̷͎͉̓̇a̸̻̰̻͝p̷͕̆͜p̷̰̓̇͐h̶̭̣͑̅i̵̲̖͛̀͝r̴̟̚e̸͈͔͊ş̸̡̉̍̌.̶̮̒ ̵̹̝͋͜͝K̴̙̻̀͒͘e̸̛̞e̶̳͒͠p̸̱̉̓ ̸͙͔̻̅͠t̵̲̯͚͒̇h̸̻̹͋e̶̮̫̒ ̵̧͑͑̇s̴͍̺͎̆̊̽t̶͓̣̃a̵̛̩͌f̶̪̽̅̈f̴̢͂́̅.̷̠̫͐ ̵̱̞̫̅U̴͉̐ͅs̵̫͆͌̾ę̷͆̀͝ ̶͈̖͛͒͝î̵̻͘ţ̷̰͂͝.̸̲́ ̷̯̳̆F̸͇̈́́̐i̶̟̾̈́̚n̴̞̱̋͆d̵̠̊̕ ̷̯̿t̸̟̔h̶͍̅e̴͎͂͆͒ ̸̩̼̠̈ö̸̩́̆̕t̴͇̜̹̋͂h̵̘̫́e̶̫̯͗͝r̵̰̥̊͛͋s̷̭̳͎̀̓ ̸̫̓ö̶̲́̆f̶̨̈́̀͗ ̴̧͎͛͒t̶͍͖̲̂͒̈ḧ̴̠̏̏e̶̡̝͈͒͋ ̵̛̥̪̓̉ḍ̷͍̓̀ī̵̘ā̶̩̗g̷͙̝͌͌̀r̵͔̭̎͐à̵̠͘m̴̺̉.̴͖̔ ̷̰̬̭̆͋̚K̸̨͎͒̕ḯ̸̛̗͍͑l̴̰͖̈̓͋͜l̶̰̇͌̑ ̵̜̯̅̾ṭ̵̅͌̈ͅḣ̵͙͛͝ȩ̴̯̺͑́̒m̸͉̻͛͗͝.̵̣̖̌̎ ̶͕͙͋K̴̳͒i̸̧͕̾͗͒l̴͍̈̋̓l̷̰̑͘ ̵̺̣̜̽F̶̳̞̅l̸̤̄̚ȧ̷͍̩̝̀n̷̙̉͝d̴̬̈́̈a̶̺̾̌̕l̴̹̼̖͑̈̓.̶̨̰̺̀͝"̴̗̒̒"Are you lot ready to go then. If you can stop the fires then I'll have no qualms about stopping the ritual. If you make things worse however I want to have some protection." Aldous waved his talon, "I have some errands first," and left the building. Cyrus followed close behind.
Aldous and Cyrus made their way to Tanca's workshop while the rest of the group prepared. Tanca's workers recognized Aldous and Cyrus as friends of Yarrows. After a quick conversation they agreed to help supply the party with some components and some potions. Aldous and Cyrus were given two fire resistance potions, 3 healing potions, and two satchels of components for Yarrow to use later. Aldous pocketed the Duskwood and the Kaklim flowers he needed. Aldous started to make his way back outside but saw Yarrow talking with the Tenders. He wanted to go to Gifu's room and but he didn't want the Tola to know. Cyrus meanwhile reached into his bag and took out his small porcelain box with the worms inside.The worms once again retreated from the light but once in the shadows of the corner of the box they moved in rhythm almost waving at Cyrus. Cyrus danced a little in rhythm with the worms and then closed the box. Aldous grabbed him and they started to move to the hatch in Tanca's office. Aldous and Cyrus went through Tanca's tunnel and the ritual room up to Gifu's room. Once there they began to look around. Cyrus took all of Gifu's staffs and looked through his clothes. Inside one of the drawers he found a jewelry box box full of gems with; 6 blue gemstones, 4 red gemstones, 3 pearls, and 1 diamond inside.
Yarrow, Aldous, and Cyrus all arrived around the same time back at the house. Cyrus came in with a bundle of staffs wrapped in Gifu's old clothes. As they came in they saw Alabaster banging his head on a table, it looked like he had been doing it the whole time they were gone. Bonda sighed and asked why they had Gifu's things. She had no intention of taking them from the party since they were going to go fight soon but they could have just asked. She told them that the staffs that Gifu had were the; Staff of Frost, Staff of Birdcalls, Staff of Flowers, Staff of Charming, and Staff of Withering. Cyrus went over to Yarrow and handed him the alchemical supplies they had gotten from Tanca's. Tevor arrived along with his people and they began to prepare to leave. Summoning Eagle's and Vultures Tevor's assistants waved to the party to come along. They had a grave look in their eyes and seemed ready for battle. As they walked over Yarrow screeched at the Eagles and greeted them. They greeted him back and said they had heard of him from Artip and Lexund. Yarrow smiled and asked them their names.
Report Date
23 Jul 2020
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