Elemental Flux

Spruce Haven Conclave

The next morning Mia was successful with her job interview and spent the day tending to the sick and wounded members of the community. In the evening after her shift, she decided to go spend some time in prayer. She made her way over to the Temple of Odeon. There she was approached by Omeila Clovenrod who informed her of the Spruce Haven Conclave. She stated that the conclave are a group a skilled practitioners in the magical arts of nature and the elements. Omeila offered to set up a meeting with the the Arch Druid Jados Stillseeker on the following morning if she was interested. Mia accepted the invite, as her mind raced with the anticipation of visiting another circle of druids. The following morning Mia set out from the city, into the wilds and within about twenty minutes of hiking found her way to Spruce Haven.

Following the directions she was given, Mia stood in a small clearing in the wilds. Scattered throughout the ground were large boulders, unnaturally smooth save for the chiseled markings within the stone. Each boulder had a hole in the center of each rock. Within each hole was a light blue glowing source of magical energy, just floating there, shining bright, and occasionally flickering. Before her in the center of the clearing stood a uniquely shaped oak tree about twice her height. It was uniquely shaped in that the bottom trunk of the tree was thick, approximately ten-foot circumference. However, the trunk was only grown about two feet off the ground before it opens up into five thick branches that went flat before curling upward. Resembling the palm of a hand arced upward. In the 'palm' of the tree, a pool of vibrant blue water about a five-foot circumference was settled there. Mia inspected the rocks closely and thanks to her upbringing she was able to read the druidic language. It stated “Those within the cycle are welcome. All others seeking entry be warned.” Mia made her way over to inspect the pool. Although the pool of water couldn't have been more than a few inches thick, it's vibrant blue color made her unable to be see through it. As Mia peered into the surface of the water, she noticed one of the glowing blue lights in a nearby stone changed to a dark brown. She dipped her hand into the water and to her amazement, her hand passed through far beyond the few inches and disappear into the water. With that, she made up her mind and jumped into the magical pool of water.

Upon entering into the water Mia felt the sensation of going down a rapid waterfall, except the only visual around her was a blur of water on all sides. This lasted for but a few seconds before the blur of motion stopped and she found herself standing in about a one-foot pond of the same vibrant blue water. Strangely, although she felt the sensation of water on her during the waterfall, and now upon her feet, she was not physically wet. It appeared as though this unnatural water did not actually soak her or her clothing. The pond she stood in was surrounded by massive oak trees in all directions. So thick and overgrown, she felt it must be near impossible to walk through. She heard a variety of wildlife coming from all directions, however, none were visible. Straight out from the pond led a faint resemblance of a path in the only direction that travel seemed possible. She traveled down this path for but a minute or two before coming to another clearing with a circle of small stones. Surrounding the edge of the circle stood four motionless elementals one of each element. Earth Elemental, Fire Elemental, Air Elemental, Water Elemental. Within the center of the circle stood two figures, Arch Druid Jados Stillseeker, and Chieftain Mochni Skycutter.

The Tauren gestured Mia forward with his hand as she spoke. “Greetings traveler, you are Mialee Tenithra are you not?" Mia acknowledged the Chieftain. "Arch Druid Jados Stillseeker and I have been expecting you. Welcome to Spruce Haven... this area serves as home to the many members of our conclave. We are a group of people in-tune with nature and the elements who seek to further understand its ways. Those of us who have managed to harness this power, use it to defend the wilds of specific regions and to ensure that the balance of nature is maintained. There are many who would seek to harm the wilds and destroy its balance. We are the guardians against such forces. We sacrifice life and limb to do whatever necessary to preserve Elincia the All-Mother's garden and the Ippotomi, The Storm Goddess reality. Do you feel that this is a path you would like to embark upon?” Mia replied that she was very much interested. Mochni continued by saying “Excellent, we can sense the all mother seed within you. You are one of her chosen champions. Do not take such a blessing lightly. We request an initiation into the conclave for new recruits, are you okay with this?" Mia stated she was. “Very well, this hummingbird will follow you and watch over you. Once we feel that we have seen enough, the bird will stop following you. It is at this time you know to return to us for your judgment. Is this understood?” Mia nodded. With that, a small blue hummingbird flew from a nearby tree and landed her shoulder. The Chieftain continued “If successful, upon your return I will grant you access to the rest of the glade and give you a tour throughout the grounds. Take care, and may Elinca guide your path.” With that Mia departed back the way she came and returned to Silverstone.

Hearing out the crazy local

The members of the G.I.M.P.S met for lunch at the Cooked Well restaurant. While they ate they noticed a group of locals mocking a unique looking individual by the name of Konk. Konk shouted back to the people gathered around. “By’s I’m serious! It’s like nuttin of dis world I’ve eva seen! Totally unnatural I’m tellin’ ya’s!” The crowd abrupted into a fit of laughter towards Konk and shouted back towards him. “Sure Konk… next you’ll be telling us the you have a flying pig.” The crowd dispersed leaving Konk angrily stomping his peg leg and cursing “Lard tundering…blue blatting blazes holy boogers." Konk then started to stomp his way out of the resturant, however, the party stopped him as they passed by the table. They asked Konk what that scene was all about. Konk replied “Wuts da point… nobody believes dumb Konk anyways”. The party pressed the issue stating they would like to hear him out. Konk stated “Well by’s its like dis. I headed down ta Potter’s Creek cause I meant ta be fishin’ up a bit of ole Mudsnapper for a bite to eat. But da moment I goes to cast the line I sees dis ere orange streak in da stream. First I taught it might had been some crazy fish er sometin on da bottom, but nope… I’ll be damned. There were waves of fire in da water itself! Deer were dozens of dead fish washed ashare… fried and baked ole man’. I can’t explain it. Edder way, I caught a few baskets o fish without casting a line. Some wicked er wha? But it ain't natural bye's... it''s gonna have some serious effects if ya ask me... but what da hell do I know.” The party stated they would look into it and asked if he wanted to show them where Potter's Creek was located. Konk replied “Ya cracked ole' man... no way in hell I'm eddin back to dat place anytime soon! How ta get deer is ard to describe really, ya best off trying to find a map or sumtin. But I hear me out, if ya does figure it all out, come back an spred da word that ole' Konk ain't crazy afterall. Do that by's and den come see me at the Mending Docks and I'll give ya a heafty reward.” Konk then exited the resutrant and went about his day.

The waitress Arietta Melisande overheard the conversation and informed the party that she had heard the shop keeper Jasmin Bardoe from the Sand Flowers had a younger sister named Kyra who went to Potter's Creek with her boyfriend two days ago and didn't return. The young man's body was found and rushed to the Curative Clinic from severe burns and shock but did not make it. The party then realizes that Konk may not be crazy after all. The party heads back to the Wanderer’s Home Inn to gather their supplies. Along the way, Viggo heads to the Extravagant Rack market place to barter with a difficult merchant for the purchase of a map detailing the location of Potter's Creek.

POTTER'S CREEK

Alyvn had good experience understanding cartography from his time at sea, therefore he used the map to make their way to the creek. They traveled for about an hour until they noticed small burnt craters in the ground throughout several areas of the forest. They were unsure what would cause such a thing, but nevertheless, they continued on. A few moments later they noticed the corpse of a woodsman lying on the ground, the top of the man's head and part of his shoulders was blasted away from some impact, leaving a burnt crater in the man's skull. They continued on and within a minute later Viggo was perceptive enough to step out of the way as an acorn fell from the tree above. The acorn narrowly missed his head and hit the ground, immediately exploding with impact and a burst of flame. The party was sure to keep their eyes up and avoid walking under tree canopies whenever possible from here on out. They arrived at Potter's Creek and discovered the stream was not filled with fire as Konk had stated, but rather crackling of lightning within the water. Countless dead fish were washed up along the river edge. They investigated the area and were able to spot a large set of unidentified footprints in the mud of the shore.
They followed the tracks throughout the forest and along the river edge for about an hour until they came across steep cliff side with a large cave near a waterfall. The waterfall, however, was flowing upwards, ascending the cliff side in a most bizarre fashion. They approached the dark damp cave and decided to not use a light source, preferring to keep their ability to stealth. With each member having keep darkvision, they were able to slowly make their way through the cave tunnel. They discovered a grizzly bear carcass stripped of most of its meat except for the bones and fur remain. There were also several large barrels, some filled with water, others were empty. The strong smell of body odor, mixed with some other another foul aroma filled the cave. Several more paces into the tunnel the party heard the echoing sounds of stone falling upon stone, mixed with other scraping sounds coming from further ahead in the cave. The party continued to creep forward until they hear a growled voice in a language they were unfamiliar with. The party decided Viggo was their best stealthiest of the party and that he should go check it out. Viggo crept as quietly as he could until he came upon a dead end with five large Troglodyte's. Four of them stood near the edge of the tunnel covered in gravel and mud. The remaining Trog was wearing heavy armor and wielding a sword as he seemed to be instructing the others.
Viggo decided that to engage them in combat would be incredibly risky considered they would be outnumbered and the sheer size and strength of these Trogs would be an issue. Therefore, he stepped forward to greet them. The armored Trog spun around to see Viggo and spoke up in a growly common tongue. “What this.... who be you?” Viggo replied saying that he was lost, and proceeded to ask what they are doing here. The Trog leader replied. “Business not yours!... unless... you more golds” Looking at Viggo for a response. Viggo tossed him some coin. The Trog looked at the amount and stated “Give golds... more golds... I talk.. waste time..you die!” Viggo then threw a hefty sack of coin to the Trog who picked it up and seemed pleased at the amount. The Trog spoke “Rho'jixen come soon.. pay golds.. we dig for big stone.. not why know... not care. you waste time... dig now!” As he turned to the other Trogs instructing them back to work. Viggo stepped back into the shadows and returned to the party.

They discussed their best plan of action would be to wait for whoever this Rho'jixen person was and see if they could get some answers from him. The party hid away behind barrels and debris in the tunnel and waited for over an hour until they heard someone approaching. The Troll spotted Mia and Alvyn, startled at the two historically hostile races laying in wait he immediately conjuring three swirling chunks of stone around his body. The battle was on. Rho'jixen summoned a small magma totem to appear at his feet which began pulsing with flame and lighting up the area. Mia let loose blasts of nature energy as Alvyn fired off his pepperbox rounds. Unnoticed, Viggo crept behind the troll and delivered a nasty stab in the back. With each hit against the troll, one of the earth stones around him popped healing Rho'jixen of a good portion of the damage. Grimaced in pain the troll began sending Lava Bursts at his foe striking them and doing heavy damage. As he did so, the totem beneath his feet let loose a blast wave of fire in all directions. The fire washed over Rho'jixen harmlessly, however, did massive damage to the hero party. Mia began to heal her allies as Alyvn was trying to shoot the tiny totem in the ground before it pulsed again. Viggo attacked once again stabbing towards the troll, however, the darkness causing him to miss. Clearly alerted by the sounds of battle, the party could hear the Trog's rushing towards them. The party knew they had to make quick work of the Troll before the Trog's arrived or they were as good as dead. With that, they all focused their attacks and were able to send Rho'jixen sprawling to the ground. The Trog's rushed into the fray but were quickly told to halt from the prone troll. Rho'jixen looked up to the party in a submissive state. “Spare my life mon, and I will be tellin' ya anythin you want da know.”

The Trog's grumbled and went back to work. The party asked what he and the Trog's were doing here, along with what is happening to the elements. Rho'jixen replied with “Zallah, a powerful shamon... asked me to retrieve da hart of da eart contained from da eart elemental beneath this cliff and return it to him. His purpose with such a thing, I do not know. However, I have been doubting my actions and have become concerned as to da shift in elements within the region. I can not help but wonder if Zallah has anything to do with dis sudden shift.” The troll went on to explain that he wants nothing more to do with Zallah and that if they want to find him that he should be located at Limpid Pond near the base of Highgate Hill. After a little more conversation Mia revealed she was recently introduced to the Spruce Haven Conclave, to which Rho'jixen replied informing her that he is an active member of the conclave himself. There was a moment there where the two conversed with one another putting their inherit racial hostilities aside and spoke to each other as equals. A feat that is rarely, if ever, witnessed as the Sentinels of Shaundyl and the Hakaijin Harvesters have been at war for ages. Before departing, Rho'jixen stated that if they are to be able to face Zallah head on they would need their weapons to be touched by the elements. With that statement, he summoned the elements to swirl around each of their weapons in a colorful display of earth, fire wind, and water before dissipating.

Viggo told the party to sit tight for a minute, and that there was one last thing he needed to do. Viggo made his way back into the cave. He snuck up to the Trog leader and using his sleight of hand, stole back the pouch of gold he had given him but an hour before. Unnoticed by the Trogs, Viggo emerged from the cave and quickly ushered the party to hurry and get moving. Mia and Alvyn looked confused at one another but obliged. A moment later the party looked over their shoulder to witness the group of Trog's storm out of the cave, their leader roaring in anger as he directed his companions to spread out and search for something. Mia turned to Viggo and asked him what did he do. Viggo replied with a smirk "I got my money back, now hurry up!" as the party rushed off into the forest.

TELL ME A STORY

As the party was traveling to Limpid Pond they noticed random bubbling pools of water scattered throughout the terrain. Upon further investigation, they could see these unnatural pools were filled with burning hot water. They were careful to avoid slipping into any of the pools as the continued to traverse the wilds. Moments later they overhear the light strumming of a musical instrument. The party looked to one another puzzled but decided to investigate the sound. Peaking through the bushes they noticed a strange small fae creature sitting on a fallen log next to a young woman. They spoke to one another while the fae strummed away. The fae creature spotted the party spying on him, and immediately smiled and yelled out for them to join him. Emerging from the bush, the party walked over to the couple and conversed. The fae introduced himself as Cricketbud. Upon closer proximity, the party noticed the young lady clothes was rather dirty, and she looked a little weak and pale, but still had a smile on her face. The young lady stated her name was Kyra. This name immediately struck a chord with the party, they remember hearing in town that the local girl had gone missing a few days ago from Silverstone. Cricketbud stated they looked like adventuring types and knew they must have stories to tell. He loved to hear stories. The party was a bit apprehensive, so Cricketbud stated he would lighten the mood with some music. He strummed away a light tune that created a hypnotic melody in the minds of Alvyn and Mia, they felt compelled to sit and stay awhile and tell the friendly fae some stories. Viggo however, held his head and shrugged off the effects and got clear of the area as quickly as possible. Regaining his composure, Viggo reached down into the dirt and filled his ears with a thick pasty mud to drown out as much sound as he could. During this time Alvyn was standing on the log, flailing his arms around telling a dramatic story to entertain the fae. Mia sat there, wide-eyed with a big smile listing to the gnomes epic tale.

Viggo stepped back into the scene and decided he was going to get his two party members clear of the fae's influence. He tried to entice them to leave, however, nothing he could say would make them move away from Cricketbud's presence. Alvyn stood up and punched Viggo in the crotch for interrupting his story. Viggo decided that he would have to do it the hard way, and tried to drag Mia off. Mia under the influence of the magic felt like Viggo was being a jerk and ruining their good time so she fought back. It was on. Mia and Viggo were both trained grapplers and went at it. Tossing and rolling each other around the area while the others sat on the logs and watched. A few moments went by, but Viggo was able to sway the wrestling match to make it's way clear of the area, thus breaking the magical effect that Cricketbud had over Mia. After clearing her head, Mia filled her ears with mud as well and they made their way back in and forcibly removed Alvyn and Kyra out of the area. Cricketbud sat there and complained that they were party poopers and were ruining a good time. All he wanted was for everyone to share stories. Ignoring the fae's pleas the party left the area and got clear of the area as quickly as possible. After speaking Kyra, she stated she and her boyfriend were out for a nature walk when a fallen acorn exploded and kill him. Kyra stated that she relied on her boyfriend's navigational skills and she quickly became lost. She wandered for a day until she came across Cricketbud. She has spent the last few days sitting on that log, unable to move, telling the fae stories of her life. She thanked the party profusely for saving her life.

A WHISPER IN THE WIND

The party continued on towards Limpid Pond when suddenly Mia heard a faint soft voice, so low she could barely hear it. She was unable to tell if it was a male or female voice. In fact, she was not even sure if it was a real voice or just in something in her head. The voice stated “Can you hear me? I am of the storm goddess... I am being assaulted... I fear the one who approaches will end me... Please help... I beg you… aid me... balance must be restored.” Mia stopped the party and explained what she had heard not a moment before the party felt the wind pick up in strength and change direction.

The party changed course and followed Mia as they made their way to the base of a steep rocky hill known as the Shimmering Rise. Far up on top of the hill, they saw the tiny resemblance of a winged creature shoot out over the edge. It readied itself back upright, let out a high pitch screech and flew back to the top of the hill out of sight once again. The party was faced with two options. Either take a long way up by winding around the peak, taking safe footholds when they could, or to cut the time to ascend the hill to drastically by climbing up the sheer rock surface. They decided that time was of the essence and began their climb, commanding Kyra to hide in the bushes below. With a few brief stumbles the party was able to ascend the sheer cliff side and climb up to a flat surface. Pulling themselves up over the edge the party noticed a battle occurring mid-conflict. An Air Elemental was being held in places as a Troll shaman named Nondinn channeled lightning into it. Two Devil Raptors aligned with Nondinn flapped just overhead. Several dead devil raptors were scattered amongst the rocks. Nondinn spotted the parties arrival and commanded the Raptors to deal with them.

The Viggo rushed to a nearby devil raptor and engaged in melee combat of his daggers versus the creatures sharp talons. Mia and Alvyn stood near the edge of the cliff where they climbed up and attacked with both spell and pepperbox. Nondinn cast a chain lightning spell that struck Mia and arched over to Alvyn causing significant damage to them both. Mia began to heal both of them, while Alvyn rapidly fired into a nearby devil raptor, killing the creature fairly quickly. The devil raptor in melee with Viggo was able to land a solid attack with his talons, sinking them deep into Viggo's upper shoulders and leather armor. The devil raptor took higher flight and began to fly towards the cliff edge. Mia, who was familiar with this type of creature knew that it was one of their tactics, to lift their prey high in the air or drop them over a cliff to fall to their death. She screamed to Alvyn that they needed to save Viggo. She conjured her nature energy into a wrath spell and unleashed it towards the Raptor, however, Nondinn reacted by dropping a grounding totem to his feet, causing Mia's spell to change direction mid-flight and arc towards the totem instead, exploding it on impact. Alvyn was Viggos last hope, he took a deep breath, aimed and fired a bullet straight through the skill of the devil raptor, causing Viggo to fall just at the cliff edge, allowing him to just barely catch himself from tumbling over. Nondinn knew he was now outnumbered, and conjured a thunderwave of air to rush towards Alvyn and Mia. The blast hit both hard, sending them flying over the cliff side. Mia was able to react and grab a sharp rock to stop her decent, leaving her dangling over the cliff side. Alvyn however, was not so lucky, being a gnome and such a light person, the wind hit him much harder, bursting him far out over the cliff edge as Mia turned to see her ally flying away helpless and down into the tree canopy below. Viggo rushed towards Nondinn and engaged him in combat, using his abilities to keep the troll stunned and focused on him. Mia filled with rage pulled herself over the cliff edge and begun casting both her damage and healing spells into the fray. Nondinn summoned a flame burst out from his hand striking Mia, setting her ablaze causing Mia to fall unconscious. Viggo dodged, weaved and found an opening to land the final blow towards the troll. As the troll's body fell she sputted the words "Zallah will see you dead for this..." Viggo rushed over to Mia and extinguished the flames just in time. He used a healing potion to revive her from the near-death experience. Meanwhile, Alvyn descended towards the ground below, hitting the tree canopy he struck dozens of branches which although hurt horribly, was able to reduce the fall impact. Being a gnome, his race has developed the ability to roll with impact as he struck each branch which served to further slow the fall. He struck the ground hard with a sickening thud. The light leaving his eyes. He awoke, minutes later, barely able to move, with severe internal injuries. He reached to his wasted, pulled free one of his azure tears, a magical concoction granted by his deity, which he drank. The azure tears magically mended and healed most of the internal injuries and light brain damage caused by the fall. He then took the safe route up the cliff to check on his allies.

The party gather atop the Shimmering Rise and approached the critically wounded air elemental creature. They hear the whisper in the wind come once again, simply saying thank you. With that, the air elemental dispursed three vapor clouds from itself. The vapor floated through the air and entered each party member through their mouth. They felt the essence take hold granting them a permanent blessing to their bodies. They now had the ability to slowly fall once per day and hold their breath twice as long as normal. The air elemental then flew off into the sky and merged with the far off clouds. The party sat around rested up and noticed Limpid Pond off in the far distance above the tree line. Near the pond, they spotted a pulsing fire swirling around a humanoid figure in the middle of the pond.

Restoring Balance

After completing their rest the party traveled to Limpid Pond. Upon reaching the pond they clearly saw the troll called Zallah floating in the middle of the pond. In one palm was a ball of flame and in the other an orb of water. Near the pond lying unconcious was Rho'jixen, appearing badly burnt. He continued to channel the elements as he heard the party approach, despite their effort to be quiet. Zallah yelled out to the direction of the party. “Greetings... what brings you to dis ere pond o mine?”. The party replied they are here to put a stop to all the elemental issues in the area, to which Zallah replied. “Just a temporary setback for the betta of da land me brudders and sista. It will all be betta soon. No worries.” The party pushed the matter asking what the troll was doing here, to which he replied “Well you be a nosey one mon... but Zallah has no secrets. Dees elements are nakit to da normal eye, but Zallah can see to deer realm... Dey normally protect da lands and keep dem in orda. Which be all good... however deer be a bigger threat to dees lands... and ole Zallah be needing dem so dat Zallah can be da one to maintain da orda”. The party asked what are the bigger threats he spoke of. Zallah replied “Dat be way above the likes of you. Leave it ta someone like ole' Zallah so ya can still sleep at nite.” The party then proceeded to ask how he plans to maintain the order to which Zallah replied “Zallah has mastered control of da fire and wata... just waiting on da eart and air now. After Zallah gain control of all de elements... da balance of nature be restored.” They asked the troll what he did to Rho'jixen. Zallah replied, "He be challengin' me authority, I can't be havin' it." The party looked to one another, not beleiving this trolls story to be true. The party called out Zallah on his lies, stating they don't believe a word he says. A hint of anger appeared upon the trolls face before he spoke "Just as nature herself, Zallah will not be stopping for da will of any mon. Gah... Enough of dis.. you breakin me concentration.” With that the water near the shore swirled and formed to create a Water Elemental.

The battle was on. Zallah conjured three swirling balls of water to float and circle around him. Viggo rushed to engage the water elemental in melee combat. Normally, his daggers would not be able to damage such a creature, however, earlier that day his weapon was granted the elemental buff by Rho'Jixen which allowed the creature to suffer damage. Mia began casting her restorative healing magic upon Rho'Jixen to get him into the fight. Alvyn blasted away at Zallah, his bullet causing a glancing wound and causing a water orb to pop restoring the trolls fatigue. The water elemental targeted an large area and attempted to freeze the party to the ground, however, Viggo was able to resist the effect. Zallah then conjured the water of the pond to quickly boil and erupt into a flaming Fire Elemental. The fire elemental launched a bolt of fire across the battlefield striking Mia. Rho'Jixen stood to his feet and begun hurling burst of lava towards the water elemental, causing significant damage. Viggo continued attacking the water elemental. Once again Mia heals Rho'Jixen as he was heavily damaged from the prior encounter. Alvyn continued to fire away across the pond to the floating troll except for this time the bullet sunk deep into his flesh. Zallah cast a riptide spell on himself, causing healing water to splash down upon him sealing over a portion of the damage the gnome had caused him. The water elemental project jagged frost bolts to strike Viggo in the chest, piercing his armor and causing him significant pain. The fire elemental conjured and cracked a flame whip striking Rho' Jixen, slicing and burning deep into the troll sending him prone. Viggo stabbed the water elemental, this time it was enough to cause it to explode with a splash. Mia cast her wrath spell across the pond towards Zallah, the surge of such a successful cast projecting multiple balls of nature energy to strike true on the troll. Alvyn continued to fire into the troll as well, striking true with more damage of his own. Rho'Jixen rolled away from the fire elemental and once again conjured a burst of lava towards Zallah, however this time he was able to avoid the attack. Zallah responded with a lava burst of his own dropping Rho'Jixen to the ground unconscious. The fire elemental fired another bolt striking Mia hard in the chest, dropping her to critical condition, but she remained standing. Viggo ran and leaped into the small pond striking Zallah with his daggers before sinking in the water. Mia and Alvyn continued to attack from the edge of the pond. The fire elemental whipping at Alvyn who narrowly avoided the attack. Zallah looked down beneath the water surface to see the crazy rogue that dare assault him. The troll then fires a flame shock from his hand, the magical essence of the spell ignores the natural water properties of the pond critically striking Viggo and setting him on fire beneath the water. The damage from the attack caused Viggo's body to go limp. Mia gasped and wished there was something she could do, however, she had completely exhausted her healing capabilities and was having a hard time drawing a line of sight to Viggo beneath the water surface. She continued to attack with her wrath cantrip spell as Alvyn fired his pepperbox. Zallah fire back towards Alvyn with a lava burst narrowing missing. Viggo continued to burn while submerged beneath the pond surface. Mia and Alvyn let loose another volly of attacks, this time it was all the troll could take as the nature magic and bullets landed true, causing Zallah to sprawl backward and sink beneath the surface as well. Alvyn and Mia dived into the pond, swam to get Viggo and pulled him ashore, but they were too late. Viggos lungs filled with water and his skin horribly burnt, he was gone.

A FALLEN FRIEND

Mia wept, while Alvyn remained stern and silent. A moment later Rho'Jixen came to consciousness as his troll racial ability regenerated himself over time. Rho'Jixen stated that he did not know Viggo, however, he knows that his sacrifice would not be in vain, as he knew whatever Zallah was trying to achieve would have caused more harm than good. Kyra appraoched from the forest and the four of them remained silent awhile longer when suddenly the hummingbird that was granted from the Jados Stillseeker fluttered from the forest and landed on Mia's shoulder. As Mia turned to look at the bird, it spoke to her, not with words, but rather a crackly voice in her head. "My child, I am sorry about your friend... you have fought vigilantly on our behalf. You have taken on more of a burden than should have been asked of you. Let the conclave return the favor. Bring his body to me... I will await you child." Mia, Alvyn, and Rho'Jixen carried Viggo's lifeless body for several hours back through the forest until reaching the entrance to the Spruce Haven: Stag Branch. Rho'Jixen informed Alvyn that he would have to wait here, for outsiders are not permitted unless summoned. Alvyn nodded in agreement, although bummed out as his curiosity wanted to see what was beneath the pool of water in the tree stump. Rho'Jixen stated he would see to it that Kyra was returned safely to the city. With that Mia descended into the water and out of Alvyn's sight.

Mia brought Viggo's body to the circle of stone where Jados Stillseeker awaited. He instructed her to strip his body of material objects and lay him naked upon the earth. As she stepped back from Viggo's body she noticed the grass begin to grow rapidly up from the earth and wrap around Viggo's body. Within moments his body was no longer visible, only a mound of thick grass wrapping it like a cocoon. A variety of colored flowers began to spout from the mound covering nearly every inch of it. The hummingbird landed on Mia's shoulder once again and spoke to her mind. "Return to me in the morning, try and get some rest my dear." Mia exited the Spruce Haven and her and Alvyn returned to Silverstone for the night.

The next morning, Mia and Alvyn had a nice breakfast and returned to the entrance to the Spruce Haven. Awaiting them there was Rho'Jixen bearing a small crudely crafted chest in his hands. He spent several minutes thanking them for what they have done for the wellbeing of the land. He presented them with a gift of thanks. Mia opened the box to reveal its contents. It was filled with a variety Mageroyal, Purple Lotus, Blindweed and Wild Steelbloom, all of which are rare herbs and flowers used for crafting potions. Rho'Jixen stated he would return to his people and inform them of Zallah's actions and what had happened here. With that, he walked off into the forest saying "I'm sure I'll be seeing ya again wee man and me sista." Mia had Alvyn hold on to the chest, while she entered the Spruce Haven. She returned to the circle of stones area where once again Jados waited for her arrival. As Mia approached she watched the mound of grass and flowers retract back into the earth leaving a naked Viggo. The rogue's body had been restored, the skin no longer burnt, his flesh no longer pale as he awoke breathing in a long gasp of air. Mia gave Viggo a hug as she was so glad to see him once again. The hummingbird landed on Mia's shoulder with the voice in her head saying "He is reborn, such a gift is not given lightly as it takes much from nature to do so. Therefore, I ask that you and your companions be cautious in the days to come. I am pleased to say that I have seen more than I expected of you for your initiation. Welcome Mialee Tenithra to the Spruce Haven Conclave. Please explore the branch at your leisure and go enjoy the company of friends, we will be in touch soon enough." Jado's informed Mia where Viggo could find his possessions and with that, they departed the area. Meanwhile, a bored Alvyn waiting outside this whole time found a way to kill the time by using the rare flowers to create a wreath to wear upon his head. Mia told Alvyn to be careful and not damage the flowers as they are very valuable, to which he begrudgingly complied returning them to the chest. The party made their way back to Silverstone once again.

THE NOT SO CRAZY LOCAL

Upon returning to the city the party traveled to the Mending Docks to seek out Konk. They informed him that he indeed was not crazy and the elements were all out of wack with a crazy troll behind it all. Thrilled by the news Konk asked a favor of the party. He wanted them to walk throughout the docks and let everyone know the truth that ole' Konk was not full of it. The party agreed and spent an hour spreading the word. When they returned to Konk once again he presented them with a reward. Two whole pails of Mudsnapper fish, and stated that if they ever need a favor or information about the docks to come and see him. With that, the party smiled and went about their day.

Continue to the next adventure... Downtime: A Trip to Paradise