Session Twenty-Six: Fighting the Heart of the Grove

General Summary

- 12 of Solas -

Yarrow and Alabaster rode with Taru and his people atop their eagles. Cyrus and Aldous rode with Tevor and his people. The group took flight and left Ashbarrow, making their way to the heart of the grove. Once in the air they could see fires raging across the grove. Creatures were everywhere and the air felt warmer then before.
Cyrus, Aldous, and Alabaster began to strategize. They made plans and backup plans and decided that if they should get lost that they should meet up at the Ashen Temple site. Yarrow meanwhile spent his time talking with the Eagles. After a short conversation he learned that their names were Gristle and Kell and wrote this down.
Aldous seemed confused, as if he was listening to multiple people at once. When he fully joined the conversation he suggested that they use the Borealis to trap the elemental within the staff. The group decided this would be a plan B. Alabaster and Cyrus then reminded everyone to take their potions of fire resistance now.
They quickly arrived at the Heart of the Grove. They saw ember cats trying to run from the heart and being caught by an Ash Snake. In the heart of the grove were a half dozen fire elementals and the large one from before in the middle. They rode the birds over head and decided to land on the other side of the heart. As they passed the large elemental chucked a ball of fire at them which missed terribly. Yarrow pointed down and cast Ice Storm to give them cover to land.
They landed and immediately took action. Yarrow cast Tidal Wave, Cyrus began to dance and used his Ring of Mirror Image, Aldous waited, and Alabaster began to Call Lightning. The druids took time to buff each other and Taru and Tevor created a shield with their eagles and vultures between the party and the elementals. The large elemental reared up and flung another ball of fire. This time it exploded around Yarrow and some of the eagles. The elementals began to move in covering ground quickly and leaving fire in their wake.
Taru turned the corner and cast Cone of Cold decimating one of the incoming elementals. The elementals closed distance quickly and were upon the druids. Eagles and vultures fell quickly to the flames. Yarrow again cast Tidal Wave pushing two back. Alabaster called lightning down on the big elemental getting the focus from the big one. To the east the group heard rumbling and a plume of ash could be seen. Another snake was coming. Cyrus moved to climb the tree next to him. Aldous motioned to Cyrus for help up the tree. Slowing down Cyrus pulled Aldous up the tree with him.
Seeing the plume of ash Tevors people looked to each other. They each cast Invisibility. The plume of ash got closer and closer until a giant snake emerged from the ash underneath one of the Spring Path Druids. The druid screamed as the snake quickly bit into him and devoured him. Tevor also turned invisible and Tevor and his apprentice could be heard running in different directions. The snake seemed to listen for a moment and then decided to chase whichever one fled further north.
Aldous peaked from behind the tree, still holding onto Cyrus for support, and cast Ray of Frost. This missed soundly and Aldous slipped a little grabbing onto Cyrus as not to fall. Taru's apprentices healed the party and then cast Polymorph on one elemental turning it into a badger. Cyrus turned the corner as well and cast Witch Bolt connecting with the large elemental. Taru once again stepped forward and another Cone of Cold hit the large elemental hard. The Elemental moved in and smashed the ground around Taru and Yarrow leaving fire and molten rock everywhere. Yarrow ran around a tree for cover and then made his way to the heart of the grove. Alabaster called more lightning down and Maneba popped their head out of the bag of holding to heal and buff him.
The plume of ash could be seen to the north and the group heard screaming in the distance. Cyrus reinvigorated his witch bolt and sent another wave of energy through. The Elemental screamed in anger now much dimmer from the attacks, specifically Taru's attacks. Aldous cast Fly and flew to the middle of the grove while the large elemental was distracted. Alabaster shifted focus and called lightning on another elemental killing it, as it died a stone core fell to the ground and began to pulse. Yarrow cast Ice Knife on the large elemental. The creature puffed as smoke rose from its core and its fires dimmed. Quickly the fires went out and the large circular core crashed into the ground.
As the core landed in the fire the fires began to rise around it as if it was reforming. Taru's apprentices hit it which seemed to disrupt the fires but didn't stop them. Cyrus pulsed his witch bolt again causing a wave of magic to pulse throughout the core and the fires. This seemed to stop it for a moment but soon the fires began to swirl around the core again.
Aldous readied himself on the other side of the grove and leveled the Borealis. Aiming down he unleashed the staffs power. A torrent of cold, snow, and ice covered the heart of the grove and shot out across the heart and into the petrified woods beyond. Everything in the area froze and a sheet of ice covered all. The remaining elementals fell apart and nothing was left except for the druids and the group. Cyrus hid behind the tree he was on and only took part of the blast but was still hurt.
Seeing the core still pulsing Cyrus pulsed his magic a few more times, chipping away at the ice. Soon a smoking hole was created above the core and Alabaster screamed for Cyrus to stop. Aldous hovered holding the staff in his talons. Yarrow ran to the heart with Alabaster and Maneba and they began to clear the soot away from the ground. They quickly revealed a stone circle with strange carvings in each stone and a large gem embedded in the middle. The stones were flat and uniform save for a few that were cocked by vines and flowers growing underneath.
Yarrow and Maneba began to weed the stone circle. A small prick of a thorn hit Yarrow and he had a sudden wave of euphoria which he resisted. From then on he was more cautious and told Maneba to be careful. Aldous heard voices in his head as he watched Yarrow.

"Ţ̸̹̪̦͉͇̻͍͎̮͗̀͆̄̅̇͊̚͝͠ḩ̴̢̛̟̫͙̪̳̖̘̤͚̃ę̶̧̝̜̗̜̫̱͇̩̗͎̤̭̺̀̅̀̑̅̿̚͝͝y̷̹̮̿̋͌̽͛̓̊͐̈̇̐͋͠͠ͅ ̵̡̘͇͉̞͔̣̃͌͌̑̏͘̚͠ą̸̢̛̭̬̰͓̝̙͈̩̥̰͍͈͊̉͑̆̋̿̇̇r̸̢̺̞̳̞̲͖͗͑́̇̆͑́̅̕͝ẹ̴̛̹͉̫͍͚̫̠̍͊̂̐̈́̓̈́̕̕ͅ ̵̡͈̮̝̯̣̓͗̄̀̏̃͠͝r̵͉̊͋̉̽̓ȗ̴͚͎̣̯̟̱̥̏̄̚͜ͅį̸̠̦̙̜͖̞͚̩̠̖͆͗͌̊̈́̊̚n̸̬͐͛͋į̶̢̙͚̠̬͈̮̙͉͖͚̻̭͔͆̀n̸̢̢̠͈̫̪̝̫͎͓͔̯̙̆́̐̀͒̈́ͅǵ̸̬͚͉̬̦̰̉̅͊̈́̔̿͘̚͜͝ ̴̡̢͎͉͓̫̥͚̉̀̀͐̂̔̀̌͂̇͆͜m̷̪̣̩͇͓͍̩̰͕̮̗͕̬̥̣̆͐̆͒̾̅͋͛̄̍̍͘y̴̬̹̐̄̆̓̏̉͋̈̑̕̕͘̕̕ ̸̡̮̺̯͎̪̱̱̲̿̅́̑̅̽̓̇̽͒͆́̌ẅ̸̡̢̢̦͓̣̪͙͍͉̠̝̗͇́̓͆̍͛̑̌̓͘͝ơ̵̬̩̓̔͂͒̄͂͌͐̍͐̐̍ṙ̷̛̦̟̪̠̝̹͔̤̫̘̘̜͎̅̏̎͠ķ̵͉̥̗̫͚̣͖͎̻̹̮̮͈̔̒͜.̷͚͉̯͈͍̣͛̏̍̈͒̐̉̂͑̓̈́̑̊͝ ̵̛̛͍͖͊̑̿̑̉̊̆̈́S̴̼̰̖̠̫̋t̸̻̆̊͆̅̀̋̍̃͗̉͝o̶͙̜͍̊̆̓̔̌̌̀́͌͘͝p̶̣̰̱̫͕̭̦̠͊̒̏̆̎ ̶̧͈̰̙̮̖̻̟̬̳͚̮͍͕̊́̀͑̉̌̒̃͊̀͊͋̊ţ̸̧͓͔̹̜̥̘̜͖̖̭͂͑̚͠͝ḣ̵̨̛̦̣̭̜̗͔͉͇͇̲̪̗̦͉́́̄́̕͘̕e̷̡͍̫̲̲̫̝̰͂͛̄͂́͛̆͆̄̽̓̌̽͝ḿ̸̟͒́̓ ."

Aldous ignored this and looked over at the large stone core glowing beneath the ice. Flying over he began to inspect it. He knew elementals had a core but he had never studied one before. There wasn't much writing on elementals. Looking closely he could see carvings along the crevices and surface of the core. Seemingly random shapes they were actually writings in primordial.

"T̶̹̐͗͗h̶̦̪͖̰͑e̸̤̻̳̥͌̚ ̶̛͚͊̀G̶̱̖͛u̴͉͊̇̓ą̷̢̛̔̅̕r̷̝͈̼̔̂͗d̶͚̆͜î̸͎̣̣̻̋̒͛a̶̘̋̈́́̚ͅn̷̛̼̣̅̓͘'̵̱̦̮̭͂s̵̡̡̻͓̅̑ ̶̞̠̃̌͘ͅc̴̤͙̓̽͘ͅo̸̲̱̪̼͌r̴̝̠̆̿͜é̴͕͉̜͘͜.̷̢̩̜̍͐͛̃ ̵͇͊T̵̢̮̲͈̈́̒̒h̷̿̒̎͝ͅi̵̹͔͎̽͜͠s̶̨͠ ̸̡̫̔̀͌̔ḭ̵͙̥̅̆͂̈́ş̸̦̘̑̾͊̆ ̸̩͌͝v̶̘͉̺͛͂a̴̗̎͆l̸̛̙͈̞͇̓̀̀u̶̜̾̑̆͠å̵̖̠̩b̸̘̤͉̂l̷̨̠̃̌̉̄ȅ̵͖͂̆.̷̘͉̠̬̎͒̄̚ ̴̟̦̭̓̃̕P̸̈́͜͠u̷̧̱͓̔́̇̚t̴̠̠̦̹́͘̕ ̷͓̘̗͉͊͠i̶̡͍͍̽̓͠t̷̢͙͉́́ͅ ̸͕̈́̇í̵̜̱̯̦n̶̛̻̄͐̚ ̵̤̣͝ṱ̸̡͈̍̄̂h̴̖̐͠ͅe̶̺̲͚͎̓̈̐̓ ̷̛̖̬͉s̶͉̍͌̚͠t̶̹̻̪́͛̇ȃ̴̦͙f̷̢͎͎͓̀͋̓͘f̸͕̅.̵͔̣̰̐͘̚ ̵̜̣͗Ư̸̡̛̙͖̬͊̈́ṡ̵̹̊̃ë̸̩̲́ ̵̥́̈́̆̅į̷̻̟͋t̶͇̗̥̉͜.̶͙͚̻̽̈́ͅ"

Aldous looked at the Borealis and the core for a while as Yarrow and Maneba worked to clear the heart of the grove.

Report Date

28 Jul 2020