Present Party: Keviks, Lupan, Nana, and Wren.
Setting: Mostly on the road through the mountains, heading west to Dragon's Valley.
The night after Fang's last date, the party returned to their rooms to pack their bags and get some rest.
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| Veers Changeling, works for Hugo DeMarco (Art by Claparo-Sans on DeviantArt) |
River had procured her a +1 Arcane Grimoire and the Libram of Souls and Flesh that Hugo had in his possession. Veers passed on the message from Hugo: "You're very lucky to have the position that you do."
Nana replied that Hugo could have had it. She'd offered it to him, and he refused.
Veers shrugged. "Yeah, well... he's kinda been there and done that already so there's really no need."
"Correct me if I am wrong, but you are also the one who procures his... resources," she checked, referring to the souls used to feed Hugo's phylactery.
"Yes."
"Where do you get them?"
"Some of the darkest parts of the multiverse," he declared. "Let's just say that... humanoids aren't the only creatures who have those kinds of resources."
He left after that, bidding Nana a good night. Nana did some research, discovering that some of the widely considered "darkest" planes in existence were The Nine Hells, The Abyss, and Helheim itself.
~~~~~
The next morning, the party prepared to leave. Prince Fang said goodbye to his younger brothers: Aspect, Snow, and Time. All four brothers also gave Nana a good luck charm in the form of a bracelet that had their initials inked onto the wooden beads. Fang also said goodbye to his parents. The goodbye was rather tearful on the part of King River.
He looked to the party, and said to them, "What I am trusting you with is worth more to me than this entire kingdom. I want you to remember that."
After that, they discussed exactly where they wanted to go. The three nearest places were the small hunting town of Pohnorr to the southeast, the peaceful village of Cherish to the northeast, and the historical village of Dragon's Valley to the west. The party also knew that Quest's pan flute needed to be buried in Dragon's Valley, and Fang informed the group that he actually had family there: a grandmother, uncle and cousins on his mother's side. Ultimately, that was where they decided to go.
Before they left, they also stopped briefly at the Horizon Walker's guild - an adventuring guild catered to rangers. They just wanted to talk to someone about the mysterious individual that had shot Nana's familiar Mond out of the sky. The ranger's guild seemed to be the place to ask for that information. Sadly, the guildmaster wasn't in at the time, but the receptionist assured Nana that he would look into it. She told him to report any information to Ego, back at the royal palace.
A few hours into their journey west on a road that wove through the mountains, and broke up into paths that led further up, Keviks and Nana heard a strange noise. It sounded like a child, crying and calling for help. Then, they noticed on one of the high roads, a child that appeared mostly human running towards them. His only non-human traits were a pair of black cat ears on top of his head and a big, fluffy cat tail. He was very little and wore very dirty clothes and no shoes. Behind him were two griffons, who were attempting to snatch him up.
The party intervened, and saved the young boy by killing the griffons. They healed him, and asked him for his name and where he was from. He said that his friends called him Casper, and that he didn't know where he was from. Looking at him now, the party realized he had to be pretty young - somewhere between four and six years old. They asked him what he was doing in the mountains all alone.
Through tears, he explained, "I-I was with my friends... and they were escorting some nice people th-through the mountains, and... there was a dragon, and they told me run so I did, and then the monsters came, and then I was lost, and-and now... I-I don't know where they went..."
"Do you remember what the dragon looked like?" Nana asked.
"It was a black one..." Casper informed them, drying his eyes a little.
They asked if he could describe his friends.
"Uh... There's Boomer, Finch, Arcta, and Kressa. Finch is a human. Arcta has ears like yours." He pointed to Lupan, the eladrin. "Kressa is a bird like you." He pointed to Keviks, the aarakocra. "And Boomer is made of metal!"
The party decided to follow Casper's tracks back the way they came on the higher mountain roads. Fang, on his horse, invited Casper to sit with him since he wasn't wearing shoes. One of Keviks's favored terrains is mountains, so travelling and keeping up with the tracks with the help of the other party members was easy. Along the way, they heard a strange noise, like steam or wind being pushed out of something. They saw a creature - vaguely humanoid, in red robes - flying higher over one of the roads on the other side of the pass. He had blue fire protruding from his feet.
They pointed him out to Casper, who looked very happy, and yelled, "Boomer!"
Boomer
Warforged School of Evocation Wizard
(Made by me, on Heroforge)
The creature looked to them and then flew over to their road. He landed in front of them - a warforged, about seven feet tall with broad shoulders. Seeing him so close, they realized that he wasn't in the greatest shape. Much of his joints were rusty, and he moved rather slowly. Casper scrambled off Fang's horse and ran to him. Boomer pat him on the head gently, and Casper climbed up him and onto his back. Boomer used a stone to call another member of their party, and they agreed to meet back up.
The party spoke with Boomer, who told them very simply and in a very gravelly voice that the dragon they had been fighting was dead. It was safe, for now. They agreed to meet Boomer's friends halfway.
Boomer's party consisted of a human man with a violin case on his back and a longsword at his hip, a white aarakocra resembling a dove who had a bow, and a drow woman with purple skin, long white hair, and a greataxe. The human did most of the talking, introducing the group. He went by Finch. His friends were Kressa and Arcta - the aarakocra and drow respectively. And the party already knew Boomer.
When asked where they were coming from, they simply said, "North" and when asked where they were going, they said that they were headed back to Dragon's Valley. From there, they were going further south. The party offered to travel with them, for safety in numbers. The other group gladly agreed, and they made their way back to the road.
Along the way, Lupan and Wren inquired about Casper and how this new party had come to know him.
Finch and Kressa explained that their party had been hunting a group of human traffickers for a while. These human traffickers had killed Kressa's family a long time ago, and now they were in this country causing trouble. This party was with the Hero's Way guild, and they were asked to look into rumors about a group of them up in the mountains. They did, and found a very large group. They killed who they could, and intended to release any "cargo" they had. However, the only "cargo" they'd found was Casper.
"He's so little, you know?" Finch sighed. "Not like we could just let him go out here. So... we stole him."
They were now in the process of looking for a place for Casper to stay, preferably off-continent so he wouldn't be found again. The whole idea was to get to Lanti and try Jarna, where Boomer had a friend. If that didn't work, then they'd go further south across the Xanden Sea. It was during this conversation that Casper's race was revealed to some of those who weren't familiar with this species: a "half-tabaxi." Both Nana and Finch seemed to know a lot about them, talking about how very few seemed to "be well." Everything was left rather vague in that regard.
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| Finnegan "Finch" Pomeroy Human College of Whispers Bard (Art by Claparo-Sans on DeviantArt) |
Along their walk, Finch and Wren spoke to one another, and realized that they had some history. Their families were friends and allies, but saw each other rarely. Wren recalled his real name - "Finnegan Pomeroy" - and also recalled a dance they shared a few years ago. Despite his scruffy appearance and the fact that he had a very large build, Wren also recalled that he was a year younger than her in age: 22. He was quite good friends with her brother, Orion, and the two of them were in quite similar situations, it seems.
"Would your family welcome you back, if you returned to Lanti?" he asked.
"I think that would depend on who was doing the welcoming," she answered.
After some time, the party set up camp for the night. Nana conjured the prince a lighthouse (using her staff and the spell "Galder's Tower" from Lost Laboratory of Kwalish) to sleep in. She also slept inside. The rest of the party opted to make camp outside with their new friends. They set up a series of watches. Boomer, being a warforged with Sentry's Rest, was basically a permanent watch, but more eyes never hurt anyone.
Finch and Wren took the first watch. They caught up a bit, and Finch let her know that he and his group stopped back at Dragon's Valley a lot. The bartender at the local tavern is a good friend. He asked her to write to him, if she could, and send her letters there. He would get them.
Kressa
Aarakocra Monster Slayer Ranger
(Made by me, using Heroforge)
Keviks and Kressa took second watch and took to the sky. Keviks learned that Kressa used to be a soldier in the Imperian army - the nation to Midtia's east. There was a civil war going on there at the moment. She'd been shooting a bow for them since she could hold one, basically. They talked a bit more about the human traffickers. Kressa claimed to be seeking vengeance, but the best kind of vengeance: vengeance against those who are doing terrible things, in an effort to make the world better for everyone.
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| Arcta Ursu Drow Berserker Barbarian / Circle of Spores Druid (Art by u/arecsu on Reddit) |
Last watch was taken by the two elves: Lupan and Arcta. They talked about war, and where they'd learned to fight. Arcta had also been part of a tribe, but one on the eastern-most continent. Her people travelled up on the surface and down in the Underdark. However, most people there didn't much like drow. She told Lupan that sadly, she believed herself to be the only one left. Now though, at least she had her party. She seemed thankful for that much.
The party awoke the next morning, ready for whatever their next day of travel would bring them.
~~~~~
ART LINKS:
https://www.deviantart.com/claparo-sans/art/Punk-789871089
https://www.deviantart.com/claparo-sans/art/Edricane-547043882
https://www.reddit.com/user/arecsu/
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