Moira frowns at the description. There was nothing important in that barrel. Just failed pieces waiting to be melted down and cast anew. Broken blades, cracked grips, warped wood. Failures. Including... "Rosa's bow..." she says quietly. She looks at the forge pensively. It hurts to admit it out loud but it too was a failure. "The barrel is full of failures. Rosa's new bow included. I finished it. And it looked fine but it didn't work. No magic. I tossed it in the barrel with the rest and left to cool off."
Rose had been making various trips in among all the time she had spent with her newly set up Alchemy Lab. She was ecstatic to be able to work on her inventions again as well as make a few things that her companions had asked if should could make for them as well. She was more than happy to oblige and right now she wanted to find her sister so they could perhaps take a trip to Absolom so that she could help her find one of the potion shops there as she was thinking about expanding her research on potions that she knew and if there were any others she could learn to make.
Or at least that was the plan, before she came down to the cauldron and found panicking people fleeing and ranting about some deathly chill or some such. As she drew nearer, she kept her distance as she could already feel the temperature drop quite suddenly and a familiar figure in a deep red cloak almost disappear into the mist only to have a bang signal their return.
She pulled as close as she dared, trying to figure out what was going on while putting her own wishes aside for the time being. She listened waiting for Moira's response to Lyra's query, curious to know what she could have created that was so bloody cold.
Upon hearing Moira's response, she flushed a little. "I don't know what to say, that's quite the present." She smiled before returning to her serious countenance. "What can we do? Most of us can't even get near it." She bit her lip softly and fidgeted.
Moira gives Rosa an unamused look. That was her workshop covered in ice. Her life's work. Her dream. And something went terribly wrong. The only upside seemed to be it wasn't getting worse. She'd been standing here for several minutes and the temperature seemed to be the same. It just had to be contained or moved. "Those holes you brought back? You said something about extra dimensional? Could it contain this?"
Lyra gave Moira a dubious look. "...maybe? A berserk magic item isn't exactly a run of the mill occurrence. The problem with portable holes is they aren't completely water or air-proof. It's possible that the cold blasting off the weapon will leak out and do this, just slower. No what we need isn't to just seal it but to counter...when I use fire to combat the cold, that reaction wasn't normal. Perhaps fire is the counter?"
She spun to the assembled people and spotted many who were obviously crafters whose shops were nearby. "How many of you have a forge that is up to heat right now? You, just down the street? Run back and get those coals as hot as you can, we will be there momentarily!"
Lyra turned back and put a hand on Moira's shoulder, her eyes determined. "Follow me, and move quickly." She stepped back into the zone of cold and reached into numerous pockets that lined the interior of her cloak, taking out a tarry black substance and rolling it into a ball. Draconic syllables flowed from her mouth in a smooth cadence as the black marble began to glow with a fiery intensity. "Sorry about this."
She flicked her fingers and the bead of energy shoot off in a flash, slicing through the freezing vapor and into Moira's shop. A second later the front door blasted free of its hinges as the fireball detonated and scorched everything inside.
A blastwave exploded out of the shop with the thunderous detonation, blowing the waves of freezing vapor into scattered fragments that dissipated within seconds. The freezing energy stopped pouring from the window and the ambient temperature within the freezing zone began to quickly climb to merely very cold. The fireball seems to have countered whatever was coming from the shop, if only for a moment.
Inside the shop everything is coated with an inch of rock hard ice that glimmered with impotently restrained fury. The temperature inside the shop is extremely cold but was slowly inching higher with each passing second. In the corner of the shop was a pillar of ice that went from ceiling to floor and had completely encased the barrel of rejects. In the middle of the pillar, barely seen in the darkness of the room, was Rosa's failed bow, floating several feet over the barrel.
Strangely Moira's adamantine hammer, hanging in it's usual spot next to the force, was untouched by the ice.
Rose looked rather apologetic, rubbing her neck, "I am sorry for the poorly timed comment." She watched in awe as the two of them got closer and she followed them as carefully as she dared. Her eyes widened as she watched Lyra flick a fiery bead into the shop, only to have it exploded within and blast the door forward from it's hinges.
She shivered some as she moved behind the other two towards the shop, scorched and charred from Lyra's assistance having kissed every surface within. She let out a gasp, only to cough from the frigid air as her eyes met with the various frozen surfaces still and the pillar with the weapon responsible held within.
"Even if this was not the desired effect, that is quite the powerful enchantment that thing bears." She said in a mixture of awe and worry.
"WHAT THE HELL!?!" Moira shouts as her forge fills with fire. She could only stare limply at the suddenness of the destruction. She paled in horror at all the lost hours of blood and sweat that went into the place. The powerful magic items that came out. All of was gone now. Blown to smithereens because Lyra was too quick to through magic at any and every problem. A boiling rage started to fill her as the object of her ire casually strolled forward.
Wait. The forge was still standing. She walked forward and didn't feel the burning cold. Confusion and curiosity warred with her anger. She followed Lyra into the forge and found the whole thing covered in ice. She looked around slack-jawed. It was actually pretty beautiful in here. A wonderland or fractal light bouncing off the white jagged white surfaces. "Apology accepted. Assuming you knew the ice would protect everything," she says, giving Lyra a suspicious look.
Then she notices the pillar and, yep, the bow. How was it even doing all this? Everything in the forge was covered in ice. Well not everything. Her hammer wasn't, oddly enough. She reached for it and found it only slightly cool. She then looked over at the pillar of ice. They couldn't take the whole pillar which meant they'd likely have to carve it out.
Domitian stared in consternation at the problem before them, as if hoping that the magical curse could simply be stared down into submission. After some time, with the magical cold rudely not responding to his cold stare, he begins to measure alternative solutions.
He follows along after Lyra and Moira after muttering a protective spell over himself . He takes in the iced workshop, the floating bow, and the unfrozen hammer. "I'm not sure exactly how I can help here, but I am willing. What would you have me do?"
Meha would work the crowd, assisting with the guards job to keep people back, and would even start to help tend to those affected, trying to keep everyone as calm as possible as Dom and everyone else figured out what was happening. She was not skilled at weapon making, and so she figured if anything she was best on the outside, puzzling out and directing the guards, and possibly fielding any questions the citizens have. There was shouting and then burst of flames, and after a bit more shouting, so it sounded as if everything was going decently well, as far as she could figure out.
Moira studied the hammer for a moment. There was not a blemish on it thanks to adamantine's well earned resiliency. It was a gift from her master in made in the dwarven fashion. It was practically a two handed weapon with it's weight and size. It had a large flat head on one side and a triangular point on the other. It was meant to beat the impurities out of any metal and pound it into the shape you needed. It required deft control of angle and force. Too little and the metal would cool. Then you'd heave to heat it all over again which cost time, money and charcoal. Too hard and, well...
She looked up at the bow in the pillar. That was her creation. And her mistake. It had already killed one person today and threatened a whole town. It was time to correct that. The fire in Moira's eyes ignited the fiery wings of the pheonix. But instead of flapping and taking her high in the air, they twisted and bent to wrap around her arms. Her arms appeared like those of a giant, large and powerful. And despite the impressive sight, the smith did not seem to notice. All she saw was the bow as she walked towards it. She took a stance like a lumberjack and reeled back. With a roar of furry she brought the hammer around with enough force to blow away the building cold. Then the hammer slammed into the pillar.
And the pillar was obliterated. It tore from the ceiling and caved in a whole in the wall. Ice, wood and brick flew everywhere. But Moira wasn't done. She the bow sticking out of the pillar, gathering more ice. She quickly ripped and free and tossed it to Lyra. "Keep it warm till we find another forge," she said, heading out of the building. She walked over to the gathered crowd and asked who had the nearest forge warmed. After getting directions, she leads the others to the other smithy and has Lyra place it in the forge. She helps the local smith get the fire hotter and hotter until the bow seems to be glowing. Then, using the nearby tongs, she places it on his anvil and raises the hammer.
Then she brings it down hard. Then again. And again. And again. Over and over until the bow finally shatters.
The bow would emit a large cloud of steam when it was dropped onto the blazing coals, a shimmering aura of cold squeezing up from the wood of weapon to protect it from the heat. For several long minutes the bow was able to protect itself from the heat before a glowing crack suddenly appeared in the aura. Under that crack the wood began to take on an orange glow as somehow the material acted like a metal and absorbed the heat.
When the last of the shielding aura had been destroyed by the heat and the weapon was glowing white hot Moira hoisted it onto the anvil and brought her adamantine hammer down over and over, a tortured metallic scream erupting from the weapon with each strike. There was a visible sense of a malevolent will growing large in the shadows as the weapon gathered itself for a final, desperate strike. The attack was interrupted as the hammer struck with a final, bell-like tone and the bow cracked. The twisted arcane matrix of the weapon finally shattered and the bow went silent, the wood scorched and deformed.
Rose followed both of them into the crystalline shop, her eyes looking at all the ice-covered surfaces, admiring them. She jumped at the cracking sound as she turned to see the broken remains of the ice pillar and the wall behind the pillar demolished. She was quite stunned, but not nearly as stunned as she watched the human pluck the bow out, throw it into a furnace and then begin to smash it with her hammer. When the bow began to wail, it made the hair on her neck stand. Once it was silent was when she dared to come closer.
"Well, huh. Didn't think to just smash the bow..." She looked carefully at the scorched and deformed remains of the bow, before turning her gaze back up and smiling to Moira. "Happy I am that it is no longer a threat to our sapling of a kingdom." She straightened and then pulled out her journal and a pen to continue to make notes, returning to her former ideas and calculations as if nothing were wrong. "Much to do, much to be done!"
Late in spring when the snows finally began to melt the first signs of trouble began to surface. Hunters came across the remains of one of their own, torn limb from limb and surrounded by the tracks of large humanoids. Two more deaths occurred before the hunters began to travel in groups and track any signs of whatever was doing this. When one of the parties simply vanished a call was made and all of the hunters returned home and the town was set on high alert. To the members of the party it was clear that playtime was over and their people needed action.
The news of hunters going missing was not taken well. Especially from Moira. After a tireless year of realizing her dream and putting out magical weapons and armor, she finally slowed down enough to see a town spring up around her. Even an inn appeared across the street. After that her frenetic pace at smithing cooled, she got out enough to see and become a part of the budding community. She fell in with the burly smiths around her own forge, teaching them complex methods about metallurgy and sharing ideas for experimentation. She also made connections with the hunters and scouts that ranged C'estaena's growing borders. She learned a lot from the local hunters and brought them some much needed organization. The relationship stayed mostly informal but it was clear they deferred to her on more strategic matters since she was connected with the kingdom's other outstanding individuals.
So hearing about the deaths of people she knew and drank with stung. All local hunters were ordered back until this new situation could be dealt with. If there was something out there capable of taking out a whole group of experienced rangers then it was a danger that threatened the whole community. And as one of it's protectors she was responsible for dealing with it. Moira lowered the hood on the forge to let the coals cool and quench. She probably wouldn't be back for a while. Today's meeting was to see what could be done about this new threat. And if they decided something she intended to end it swiftly and brutally. Like any good hunter would.
The first two years the small settlement that grew like moss at the foot of the mighty Ironwood Tree sprang into a vibrant city that grew up and away from the tree, enormous amounts of druidic magic being used to gently shape the exterior of the tree into something habitable and still beautiful. The large seeds that dropped from the tree were found to be a surprisingly tasty substitute for wheat and the thick shells were repurposed for a multitude of uses. Two seeds per cutting were kept by Lyra as the druid wanted to see if she could enchant the seeds to create a new species of magical tree that would become native to the region. The rest of the party would soon fall into their own comfortable patterns, building their own houses with the other settlers before taking on the reigns of a growing city-state.
One year after the formation of C'estaena in late summer would find the fledgling kingdom facing a completely unexpected crisis during a stormy night when rain and wind lashed the study houses while the settlers began to settle down to sleep. Moira, Domitian and Mehaila would all be awakened by intense dreams of a burning sky where they were swallowed by thunder and the ground undulated in waves like the ocean. Domitian and Mehaila would be summoned from their house by Lyra and Rosa pounding on their door, the twins looking panicked as they pointed to a passage in a book on Brevoy history. In it details a night where the stars fell from the sky in fiery explosions that would annihilate any area where they landed, an event that would happen once every three hundred years. The druid had been concerned with movements she had seen in the night sky for the past several nights and now she understood.
The danger of the night arrived when thunder far louder then any storm could produce began to rumble overhead and auras of light could be seen racing through the clouds at breakneck speed, many fading into obscurity while others punched through and raced away overhead to vanish over the horizon. The second sign of impending doom came when one of the auras punched through and resolved itself into a point of intense light followed by a long trail of fire and smoke that seemed to drift down ever so slowly over the lake to the south. When the light drifted down and touched the surface of the lake there was a titanic explosion that could be heard from over 30 miles away from Cerevos. A strangely shaped cloud lifted up from the area and drifted higher and higher before vanishing into the storm clouds overhead.
The next starfall came when another point of light appeared to the south of the capital city that didn't have any firetail or deviate in it's position. Lyra was the first to realize that it meant the star was coming straight at them and would arrive in a few seconds with deadly results. Unable to think of anything else the party gathered into a circle and linked hands, bending their wills and divine sparks and sending desperate prayers to whatever gods they worshiped. After a second the party would feel the strength leave their bodies as every ounce of magical and mythical power was sucked into a wild and unknown spell that took the form of a roiling ball of multicolored energy that shot into the sky and directly at the falling star, deflecting it.
The furiously burning star seemed to skip higher into the air and screamed by only a few hundred feet over the crown of the tree with a thunderous retort that shattered windows before shooting to the north and slamming into the ground a scant ten miles away. The resulting explosion shook the ground for several seconds as the earth heaved and the immense tree actually swayed a few feet. A dull red glow reflected off the bottom of the clouds in the direction of the gem mine that had provided the kingdom with a significant boost to their initial growth. The rest of the night passed with the starfalls coming less and less before everything settled down to rain and darkness. The party had to be carried back to their houses by concerned settlers as they couldn't even stand.
Dawn revealed the true extent of the devastation. Several farms had been annihilated with the deaths of hundreds of people and the marvelous gem mine which had provided the party with their millions was gone, becoming nothing more then an oblong glowing crater that still seethed with molten lava. The party would find themselves exhausted the next day and unable to do little more then view the damage, their strength still depleted. Fort Dawnrose had been damaged by a tidal wave but luckily their location on top of the old mountain shielded the 1250 people who lived there.
It took a couple months to rebuild what had been destroyed but the mine was a lost cause. A single bag of gems and 45 lbs of mithril was all that remained of the once lucrative location. The gems were still enough to carry the kingdom forward for several years but now the party would have to shephard their wealth. It would take several weeks for the magma filled crater to cool and fill with water, the tunnel leading to deeper riches sealed with solid rock.
The next year passed rapidly with the kingdom not suffering any more setbacks and growing at an exponential rate as more and more settlers flowed into the small country. Domitian was recognized as the official ruler and named Duke while the other party members, with his new authority, were recognized as nobles of the Duke's court. They were recognized as such when messages came from King Surtova of Brevoy, congratulating them on their successes and giving them a new mandate to grow their kingdom as much as possible and provide a stable southern border for their northern neighbor.
All too soon at the end of the second year the party would find themselves growing restless, the lands to the south calling out to them as their wanderlust and desire for kingdom expansion grew.
It had been a long and trying two years. After a bit of work, and firm committal, Mehaila finally cornered Dom, and made an honest man of him. Sure, there was something special about him she could never describe, and they had their arguments, but it was clear the priestess was content and happy. This ment however she had to juggle maintaining their household, which was kept clean and airy, with a slightly chic woods vibe that surprisingly fit both spouses. This however was the most pleasant part of the first year, as the first year was rough, especially the loses to the young kingdom.
Meha was the most concerned about the starfall, and was worried about the lake and its waters. The strange cloud was troubling her the most, and yet after the destruction of the other, it was slightly forgotten. After the first recovery effort became clear that nothing was left, she would led a small effort into a memorial for those who had been lost. She took her time, and after some talking and planning with Lyra, made a memorial for the future, both as a reminder of what was lost, and of how to plan for the future.
She would then have a few people look into the lake water, concerned that such destructive power on a mine could have on the waters and fish. This however was a project she expected to take a few years, knowing it would be unclear for the time being.
This however lead her into more and more into a supporting role for Dom. While he was now talking policy and making sure everything was running as it should, she would talk with people and gather their opinions a bit more, and play hostess as was expected of her. This led to her gathering contacts in the local places, and starting to hear other rumors. This after a time led to more and more seeing and talking with Moira, and while she was pretty sure the house and nation could afford to miss them for a few weeks, she waited a bit longer before one night talking it over with Dom.
Afterwards during a meeting, which in her mind seemed a bit sad that to see her close companions not her husband, it was about an act of anyone of their deities. However, while this meeting was a bit tense, as Moira had kept after her on it, Meha brings it to the table with everyone " There has been a growing issue recently with the hunters, and it seems it may call for our attention. Moira has requested this before, but now I am hearing talks of it in town, and while we each are unique in how we help, I believe this calls on all of us, similar to last years Star destruction. Reports of trolls have been coming in, terrorizing the local hunters. This is no longer one or two trolls on our southern side, but perhaps a band of them. We remember seeing them two years ago, and while not an issue then, they are now. We can send our fledgling army, which, while having the numbers, would be a needless waste without any magical support, or we can at least for a few weeks go and care for it ourselves. I believe bringing some of the army with us may be helpful, and we act as the magical support, limiting our loses, and securing it ourselves. What says the group?" Meha was clearly in favor of going and hunting the group down, for surely it was not the act of one troll Moira was reporting.
"There is no way this just the ones we saw two years ago," Moira says. Even though her arms are crossed she fidgets with nervous energy. "There was only four of them. They couldn't have taken down so many hunters with none escaping or being spotted by others. This is intelligent action. More so than trolls are known for. Like they're testing us. Unless we crack down hard things are going to escalate. I say we visit the last group's last known location. If that doesn't work, we visit the spot we found the four last time."
Duke. The title was odd, no matter how long it hung on his shoulders. It was a far cry from where he had started, just wanting to live in nature, care for it, serve Erastil, and generally stay well away from people. That was no longer an option for him. Now they called him Duke, and looked to him to solve many of the various problems that cropped up when a fledgling community grew up into a full-fledged nation. He took it all in stride, as he tried to do with everything; their nation needed a ruler, and when no other likely candidates stepped up, he did what he needed to do.
As odd as the title of Duke was, though, perhaps more odd was the title of Husband. On meeting Mehaila, he never in a million years would have guessed that she would settle down with anyone, let alone someone like him. Yet they had built out a life for themselves that was peaceful and happy in the midst of all the craziness that these two years had brought.
The fact remained, though, that he was not the most comfortable in his new role. He still he felt the call of the wild in his heart, that great allure of adventure. So it was that he immediately wanted to leap to action when the plight of the hunters was brought to his attention.
"We should not endanger the army in this. The truth is we don't have a good idea what is causing this, and it very well could be a threat the army is unprepared to handle." He gives a steady look between each of his companions, and adds "I trust our ability to handle surprises far more. We need to deal with this threat, whatever it is. If the army is needed, we know where to find them".
Rose was happily crafting her various concoctions and potables after Lyra and her had decided to go cash in some of the valuable gems they had managed to fish from the mine. It allowed them a few luxuries and granted her to finally be able to do what she had always wanted to do, craft. She placed all her newly acquired valuables together in her shop and managed to dig out a thick hide apron, she placed on a set of spectacles and began her careful work. She had received a request from Moira to make a couple of potions and prepared herself to concentrate her energies and time into doing so.
Her fingers appeared to dance along her various instruments as she brewed each magical liquid one after the other. many of them she was able to complete in one sitting, stopping to occasionally break and get some air, food, or rest before tackling the next batch of potion to be made and bottled. It wasn't long before she finished a dozen or so of the potables and had personally delivered them to her at her workshop, trying not to interrupt her as she was toiling away making each of their companions some of her own creations.
When she returned to her shop she found Mehaila was there and wanted to create some potions of her own magicks as well. She couldn't say no to the opportunity, but did forwarn her how long it would take to make each of them that she requested. Once that was agreed upon and settled she immediately began brewing the liquids and having Mehaila fill them with the power that each of them needed. There were a couple...complications... but she finished with all of the ones asked for and identified the ones that had failed as well. One of the failures, which was harmless, she disposed of it.
Once she had completed the immediate requests for potions, she decided that she needed to enhance her stocks of her alchemy tricks, wanting to make some oils and liquids that could be an asset in their fights. This time she would wear heavy gloves along with her apron and some goggles as she was mixing far more dangerous chemicals.
She started to make accelerants for enhancing the power of her strange bomb creations and was able to make quite a few extremely quickly. Satisfied with her results she decided to then create batches of Alchemist Fire, as who knew if they were going to need it in the future. As she was making them there was an extremely potent one she managed to create and she carefully labeled it and set it in it's own place. As she continued to create bottle after bottle of the extremely flammable liquid, there was a mishap, a fumble, and she knocked over one of the bottles and set fire to her lab, consuming two of the bottles in the process. Thankfully she managed to isolate the damage but it took her six more days to replace the parts of her lab that weren't damaged.
Not wanting to be set back by a minor accident, she finished out the batches of Alchemist Fire and switched to making Alkali Flasks. This was an acid that if used against acidic creatures, reacted stronger to their acidity. She immediately made an extremely powerful dose, and was ecstatic at the creation. This feeling was short lived as she spilled the following batch and both acids were lost, along with part of her lab again. She pouted as her poor lab was beginning to look more and more like a warzone from all the scorch marks and acid burns. It would be another six days before she would be able to replace the lost instruments from her lab once again.
Upon her return, she had renewed vigor and determination and more than a little caution. She decided to create and carefully isolate each batch further she created to do her best to limit further damage. She wasn't infallible by any means but haste makes waste was how the adage went... She set herself to continuing to make batches of Alkali once more. Once she felt she had enough of them, she gathered them. She carefully counted out the number of doses of each that she had created and decided to create an equal number of a strange liquid that permeated cold to round out her capabilities.
First creation was a huge success much like her other ones, creating a particularly powerful dose of the mixture. She followed that with a couple more, and by the time she had finished she grinned as she had an idea. She decided that she wanted to use a special funnel that she had acquired to carefully combine some of the flasks that she had created. She gently mixed the potent fire with the potent alkali to make an even more potent version of both, and gingerly contained it, as even the normal flasks wrecked havoc on her lab. She then performed the same action to mix a liquid ice with an alchemist fire, with great success. Following with mixing a liquid ice with an alkali flask, also a great success.
Once she was satisfied with all the things she made, she took a well deserved break.
She had been researching potions and alchemy and wanting to push the limits of possibility, she knew what she could make but then she made the potent fire, acid and ice, and this made the wheels in her mind spin wildly. Could she make anything stronger? She wanted to experiment and make some of the other typical alchemical items, tools and remedies to see if she could possibly improve upon them. She also had another late-born epiphany. Mehaila was able to assist her with making potions of spells she didn't have. Was there a limit to this as well? Could she make potions or even extracts of spells that weren't normally drank? What would happen? What could happen? All of these ideas had her scribbling in her books and notes and schematics and formulae, not wanting to let anything be missed in her crazed pursuit of unlocking secrets not only about her art, but perhaps about herself.
The starfall occurrance was a painful time for all of them, as their slowly growing child of a kingdom had already suffered it's first casualties in loss of man, farms, and the mine. Each of those stung in their own way, but all of them had made great strides to rise and overcome this misfortune. This was only to be followed by another threat lurking in their lands, as hunters were finding themselves being hunted in turn.
She found herself at a table with the others, discussing what they should do about this Troll threat they had found themselves with. Perhaps it was their own fault they didn't deal with them sooner. The last two years had not done her any favors, as she became isolated and socially stunted with her studies and experiments. She nervously tugged at her hair, twirling it in her finger as she quietly responded. "I-I agree, w-we probably should h-have done something about them before now..." She let go of her hair to gently grasp her weathered staff, breathing a deep breath as she looked to the others. "I-I mean, I am more than happy to help, since we have an obligation to do so, right?" She felt more determined with her staff in hand, a bit more confident.
For two years the druid bent her will and magic to everything around her, spending the first two months scribing many new spells into her spellbook, an activity she had been putting off while they adventured. Once the spellbook was completed she began to work on scroll after scroll, making some on order to sell to the settlers and the others going into her bag for future use. When she had free time she would use her magic to further mold the immense tree, creating wide stairs to make it easier for workers to ascend to the branches high overhead. The wily caster already had created designs for a series of massive lifts that could be able to carry dozens of tons of weight from the ground to where the settlement would eventually expand to, the thick branches that didn't start until halfway up the trunk.
Lyra would have brought her epic work-in-progress to the council meeting at the end of the first two years, a detailed map of the kingdom assembled from the druid's own explorations and the dozens of reports that came in from hunters on a weekly basis. She marked the locations of the troll signs with small colored stones and soon it was apparent that the markings became more numerous the closer to the unexplored southern forest they were. "There. Somewhere in there is where we will find our prey. That's alot of ground to cover."
"Then we'll start with the last attack and work our way back," Moira says, pointing at the stone the hunters had told them about last. "Might be able to find a pattern or tracks. On the way we can check that hill we saw them digging at."
As it sounded as if they had a plan ready, Meha would have one of the aides go and ensure the plans for the groups absence was in place. While not planning to be gone long, it was still an absence, and from the looks of the party, perhaps needed. They were working yes, and had achieved a good measure of success. But still, the old itch to adventure had never left, and this smelled of one. Besides, it would only be a few weeks at most.
"If everyone is ready, and has no business left, I say we give it the night to ensure all measures in place. Afterwards we ride out in the morning, after letting those who need to know where we are going. Do not need the army panicking because we took a jaunt and blew out a few craters. Lyra, no craters, unneeded anyways. We do need farmland." Meha sounded a bit more mature, and steady in the role of a leader, but still, they were a group, and needed all parts to work correctly. It was clear she was able to play the politics well, having helped keep them steady somewhat as they built, but now it was time for the kingdom to stand without them for a few days.
Domitian nodded along with the others. "It sounds like we have a plan then. Let's adjourn this meeting and make our preparations." He kept a straight face, though inside he wanted to dance. To be back on the open road, heading into the wilderness, made his soul sing. Granted, he wished it was under better circumstances, but still he was excited to be doing something active again.
Rose stood up and stretched some. "I believe I have some of our preparations already made, but please don't hesitate to let me know if we need anything further before we head out." She smiled taking her staff in hand and running her fingers over the runic carvings made within. She was pretty sure she had everything they may need to deal with the troll incursion, but extra preparations couldn't hurt.
Several days later the party set out fully provisioned, their bags filled with food and the products of 2 years of civilization building they had accomplished. While they fulled intended to track down and deal with the growing troll problem, they would need to make several return trips back to the growing capital to fulfill their roles as the nation's rulers. While this would make fully exploring prospective lands for settling inconvenient, it was a necessary evil.
As their goal was to begin exploring the southern portions of the great forest to the west the group would utilize the new road connecting them with Fort Dawnrose, built on the ruins of the Stag Lord's fort and reaching it in less then two days as they traveled at speed. After a short day conversing with those in charge of the smaller settlement the group set out a slower pace towards the west, skirting along the northern coast of the enormous Tuskwater Lake where the first fishing vessels of the nation were plying their trade close to shore.
By the fourth day the group had entered the forest proper and following the river, found something ominous very quickly. From the moment they came close to the unusual site the animals began to shy and soon it became impossible to approach any further on horseback. About three hundred feet away the party can see some kind of strange rock formations jutting from the shores and banks of the northern side of the river. There is no movement that they can see from this distance but little else can be gained from so far away.
Looking out from her place near Dom, Meha looks out towards the rock formation, and tries to recall if she had ever heard of anything like this. While she hadn't, that doesn't mean this rocks were unnatural, nor dangerous, but a bunch of strangely shaped rocks. She dismounts from her horse, and ensuring her hair was properly tied back, starts to approach, informing the group " While they seem normal, see how our horse wont go near? Let us travel on foot for a moment."
She was on her guard, making sure this was not a trap of any kind.
Rose didn't like the idea of trading her mode of transport for one of a far lesser speed, but agreed to gently climbing down from her horse and tying it much like Mehaila did. She also looked around cautiously at her surroundings, nervously gripping her carved staff to comfort herself. "I hope it isn't ferocious beasts that have the horses nervous." She cocked her head and turned to her other companions.
Moira looked down at her horse as it refused her command to go forward and then back up at the rocks in the distance. She couldn't see or sense any reason for the reticence but she knew better than to disregard the beast's sharper instincts. She let it back up and settle before dismounting and patting it affectionately. "Coward," she muttered with no real heat. She ties the horse loosely to a tree and walks up to the others, lightly stretching her sore legs. "I'd prefer a beast. Those I can handle. Not a fan of the weirder stuff we've seen."
Domitian hops down off his own horse and ties it up with the others. He frowns out at the distant shapes and mutters "A ferocious beast would be a nice change of pace. But I find that... unlikely... Any opinions on our best approach here?"
Meha stops and thinks for a moment, before offering up "Well, we can possibly move into a stealth approach, making much less noise and maybe we can get a drop on whatever it is. For all we know it could be friendly." The chances of it were low, but still, whatever it was moving within their borders needed to be studied and known about for the general public to be safe.
Lyra had been towards the back of the party, relying on the skills of her group to lead while she continued to study one of the many books she had purchased in Absolom. She guided her horse with just her knees, her eyes focused on the slim volume in her hand. So when the horse jerked to a stop and stepped back she was caught by surprise and almost dropped the book before grabbing the reigns and bringing her scared mount under control. Mylee, her familiar, had been dozing on the special roost that had been attached to the saddle of Lyra's horse and screeched in indignation as she opened her wings and turned a fall into a graceful takeoff into the air.
Quickly giving up on the stubborn animal Lyra tied her horse next to Moira's and slipped the book into her white robes as she stepped forward and incanted a minor dwoemer. Almost instantly the short woman skidded to a stop and held her hands up as if she was warding something off before jerking back several steps. Her breath was heavy as she clutched Moira's sleeve and pointed ahead with a faintly shaking hand. "Those spires..thats wild magic. But how...!?"
Her pointing hand clutched into a fist as she lowered it to her side and visibly calmed herself, releasing the tall fighter's sleeve. "I sense an incredible source of necromantic magic ahead of us. This type of wild magic will anchor itself to an item or person and grow over time. Another time I can explain in more detail but that must be destroyed. Now."
Rose turned to her sister with her eyebrows raised in visible surprise at her reaction. She knew better than to second guess her, however, considering previous experiences she had with her both growing up and even more recently on their journey to present.
She exchanged the familiar feel of her staff for the firm wood of her bow, taking note of the various items and potables that she had on hand in case of any encounters upcoming. "What would you recommend be the best way we go about destroying them?" She asked quietly, as she put a hand to her chin in thought.
"I can't tell from here. Lyra responded to Rosa. "Hence 'Wild' Magic?"
With just a tiny bit of snark at her twin the short red-head pulled a wand from her belt and stepped forward. The polished wooden wand began to spit out a steady stream of red sparks as Lyra aimed at the pillars. "Get ready for anything."
She unleashed the magic of the new wand and and a fist sized globe of fire wooshed through the air and crossed the 300 feet between the group and the strange pillars before detonating. Fire engulfed all of the pillars in colors of white, orange and red before a shock-wave of sound slammed into the ears of the party.
As the fire swam around the pillars something strange happened as the flames didn't vanish after the split-second explosion. It continued to swirl around the pillars in a slowly forming whirlpool as streaks of purple, black and green began to streak through the rampaging energy as the energy of Lyra's spell was subverted into something else. The strange black irregular pillars of stone began to glow with a fell green light as an unearthly scream of numerous souls rent the air as the wild magic took on a new form. Twenty small forms hidden in the brush and under the water began to twitch as they floated into the air displaying numerous signs of putrefying and split flesh.
The necromantic began to suck the gnome corpses into a singular mass that absorbed each corpse into it's skin as the undead abomination grew and grew. The sack of grey skin bulged and flexed as the bones and body parts of the gnomes were ripped apart and rearranged into a new horror that grew in size with each passing second. The pillars of stone stabbed the flesh ball with lashes of black lightning that gently caressed and granted the monster with more and more unholy life.
Domitian's eyes widen in worry as that... thing... grows. It has an unholy stench clinging to it, a cloying flavor of wrongness that just seeps through and around it, and makes Domitian's bones ache just to look at it. He quickly glances around and takes in his options.
Could buff up and prepare to meet this thing head on. Would be the safe option, trying to be as ready as possible. He glances at the abomination again and shivers. But if we let it continue to grow, it could be harder to take down.
His eyes track the distance to the beast, and the pure size of it. Could easily hit that from here. Something that big, best to keep it far away if possible. Pepper it with arrows until it advances, then play keep away? Seems like a good plan.
He quickly puts Akiivos to hand and reaches out to that funny place in the back of his mind where the magic lives, where Erastil is practically alive in his mind, and calls forth the incantation to make his bow that much more deadly.
"We need to deal with that thing now, before it has a chance to finish whatever the hell it is that it's doing. Everyone get ready, let's try to play the long game with this beast."
Then he calls out to Erastil "Another evil blights this land and requires slaying. Guide my hand, and give me the power to overcome it!" He then quickly fills the air with flying arrows, one after another, flying towards the undead monster.
The paladins three shots all glowed with burning white light as they hissed through the air. The first shot slammed into the flesh ball with a thunderous detonation so loud the trees a hundred feet away from the spires rocked backwards from the concussive wave. Dirt and water exploded from underneath the flesh ball in a spray that dug ten feet into the ground.
The other two shots were intercepted by glowing ropes of black lightning that snuffed out the white light and incinerated the arrows. One of the spires cracked and fell into pieces from the detonation of diametrically opposed energies. Two large hands pressed against the the ball and a disfigured face pressed between them, it's gaping mouth open and a dull roar causing the river underneath it to vibrate. Without the skin of the flesh ball the party instinctively knew the roar would have been much, much louder.
Despite the white hot arrow sticking from the ball and scorching the flesh around it the creature inside continued to churn and grow.
Domitian watched with baited breath as the three arrows sailed through the air to their target. When the first one lands, he begins a celebratory grin, but it is quickly wiped from his face as the energies erupt in such a violent way. "Did not expect that..." His other two arrows were just demolished, even though they were flying true; whatever this was, it wasn't anything like what he had seen before.
"Let's see if we have any more luck..." he mutters as he continues to fill the air between them with the white glowing arrows of his god.
Over the next minute a shower of glowing arrows peppered the hide of the flesh ball and filled the afternoon air with so many detonations that trees fifty feet away snapped at their base and fell away from the explosions. As the hole beneath the thing began to grow each successful attack caused 1 of the twenty spires to fall apart. Soon the ball began to resemble a pin cushion as arrow after arrow stabbed into the flesh.
Curiously no blood came out of the wounds and the creature inside continued to squirm and grow. Seven of the black spires continued to spit out black energy and feed the unholy fetus.
The large fighter unlimbered her own bow and stood next to Domitian, muttering a prayer under her breath as she nocked an arrow. "Alright Old Man let's get this done."
Streamers of white light spiraled around Moira's arms as she pulled back the string to her ear and released in one smooth movement.
Unlike Domitian however every single one of Moira's shots were intercepted by the black lightning and disintegrated before they reached the unholy fetus. It seemed she still had more to prove to Erastil before he granted her more power.
Rose started to pull various bottles and flasks and drink them while making quick gestures and chants. She felt that if Domitian and Moira's efforts weren't going to be strong enough to deal with the thing before it was birthed, she had better prepare herself for what may rear its ugly head.
Her skin began to take on that familiar roughened texture and she placed protective charms on herself as she downed extract after extract to fortify herself and reduce her overall size hoping that all of this would be a boon to assist in making her strikes hit while simultaneously protecting herself.
As the party finished layering magic over themselves and trying as hard as they could to kill the creature before it's birth, a split appeared in the large sack of grey skin. Black fluid poured from the rent as a a large hand pushed from within, a hand devoid of skin but layered with thick cords of red muscle and powerful white bones. The arm that followed was heavily muscled and veins of black fluid wormed in and out of the exposed flesh. Within seconds the rip in the sack grew larger as the creature fell out and into the river, fouling the water with black afterbirth.
The creature thrashed about for a few seconds before finding it's feet and rising to 15 feet. The humanoid shape was grossly misshapen with huge shoulders and arms that dropped all the way to the creatures knees along with a powerful chest. This sloped down to a relatively thin waist and legs, though powerful muscles still covered everything. As with the hands the entire creature was devoid of skin and black blood seeped from the exposed tissue. The large head was that of a human with a bone scalp and brutish facial features. Two glowing green eyes glared at the party as the creature gnashed it's mouth full of large fangs.
The monster threw back it's head and let loose a terrible roar that echoed through the forest and made the water around the creature dance and jump. Muscles visibly bulged as the creature began to lumber through the water at a frightening pace, charging straight at the party and creating a wake in the water that shot out ten feet on either side.
Moira's frown grew as each arrow was intercepted by some dark magic. Her arrows glowed with some divine strength but Domitian's grew brighter and pierced through. That shitty Old Man isn't pulling his own weight, she thought fuming. She forgot her annoyance when the thing fully formed. It looked like some kind of skinless gorilla yet even more disproportionate. And boy was it angry. And fast! It charged through the river like it wasn't there straight for them. But...it also left the protection of the pillars. The very same ones that were protecting it from arrows.
With a determined grimace, Moira pulled back on her bow, the magical string upping the resistance to the limit of her strength for maximum power. As the string touched her check she uttered a word that echoed with power and sent a spark of light up to the tip of the arrow.
Round 3
After sending several arrows at the beast, wings of fire erupt from her back and take her up into the air and out of the creatures reach, hopefully.
After prepping and ensuring Domitian is well set and secured, Mehaila pulls out her longbow, and lets fly a few arrows, on the off chance some of her attacks will help. It was not the best of plans, but it was something better than doing nothing. She would walk backwards, keeping some distance between herself and the beast, right up until it was close enough she could unleash a spell on it, with a bright ray of light bursting forth from her hands, with a bit of whip and chains rattling in the air as the spell moves forward. Every few seconds she would move back 15 feet, trying to keep a good distance between herself and the beast as some of her party took to the skies.
Rose had let her all her affects take hold and she became almost like a small rough wooden sprite of spite as she narrowed her eyes at the thing that lay before her. She grit her teeth as she watched the creature crawl itself out of the sickening sack of... whatever the fel it was that it decided to birth from. She took her bow and prepped her arrow with one of her concoctions that she managed to make in their time working at the kingdom they had slowly had been building.
She pulled out one of the concoctions that held the the flask of alchemist fire and attached it to her arrow, fastening it quickly to ensure that it would remain attached to the shaft. Then she pulled out her precious unstable accelerant that she had made, and quickly added it to one of the reagents she had prepared, letting it dissolve into the mixture and carefully affixed it to the arrow and took aim towards the creature and let it go. "Hope you like heat!" She hissed as she let the arrow fly.
She shook her head, disappointed as the shot went wide, and she reach her hand into her bag. She gingerly took out a extremely frosted flask that steamed even from being removed from the confined space of her magic bag, which she had used a sliver of the ice formed from the cursed bow that Moira had crafted so very long ago. She carefully affixed it to her next arrow, her only flask of this essentially flash-freezing mixture, that she had managed to craft from that same sliver of potent cold. She almost wanted to lament after all she went through to create the damn thing, but it was necessary to see if it could stop this creature in its tracks.
She then also took one of her catalysts that held super chilled reagents and also decided to affix the concoction to create an explosive arrow of supreme chill as she leveled the bow at the rampaging creature. "Maybe this will cool you off." She smirks as she lets the arrow fly towards the creature to hopefully hit the damn thing.
After letting loose with two potent attacks of varying elemental strength, she will nurture her gift of power they received and will her shadowy wings into being, looking abstract as if drawn attached to her, and she will take the the air quickly, moving to a position to put her just within range and she concentrates upon her inner eye to will a terrible hex upon this creature.
The moment the creature started charging Lyra lifted into the air without any effort, her fey blood befriending the wind and carrying her out of danger. She soared high and sheathed the wand back inside her coat, realizing that firing fireballs at a creature charging through deep water was an exercise in futility. Once she gained enough height she simply hovered in place and studied the creature, watching how it reacted when the other party members began to shoot it.
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she saw the arrows failing to pierce the hide of the creature, no matter how well placed the shot or with how much power the shot was delivered. Recalling her studies into creatures created with necromantic magic Lyra began to search through dozens of facts and legends.
When Rosa's shot detonated with such destructive force Lyra almost fell from the sky in shock. Recovering quickly after a short fall she sees the still moving remains of the creature and calls up magic from a scroll inside her bags. A runic circle of blue-white energy formed around her hands as she wove the prepared magic and coated her hands in snarling lightning. With a negligent wave she unleashed the bolt of energy into the still living part of the undead.
Only Moira's first three arrows, affected by the power of Erastil, seemed to be able to do any damage and even then it was only slight as the power of the arrows was discharged with a pure white spark that blackened the skin of the monster slightly. Mehaila's arrows bounced off uselessly and it wasn't until Rosa struck that any real damage made it through the monsters defense. The vial she had removed from her bags steamed with subzero temperatures as the moisture in the air immediately near the vial froze instantly and fell away in the form of white vapor.
Her first arrow had missed the creature and the fiery energy of the bomb was swallowed up by the river. The second ice shot moved with pinpoint accuracy and struck the creature directly between the eyes and bounced off, falling into the river. The creature became enraged by the sting of the missile and brought it's foot thunderously down on the blue vial, a Big Mistake.
The area around the creature was enveloped in thick white fog instantly as ice screamed and warped, groaning. The river flowing towards the party thinned and vanished as the flow of the water was halted by something within the fog cloud. The roars of the creature cut off and were replaced by wet rasps and skittering noises.
Within a few seconds the wind dispersed the fog and revealed a miniature iceberg damming up the river and completely encasing the lower half of the monster. The upper half was trying to find purchase on the slick ice and pull it's way towards the party but only ended up spinning itself uselessly. The monsters lower half was completely encased in ice and it appeared Rosa's magic had ripped the creature in half.
A monstrous lightning bolt from the flying Lyra set the monster to seizing and shaking as the energy danced through it's body, cooking it. Once the magic faded to darkness there was nothing left of the creatures upper body but a scorched mass and all was still. The river breached the banks by this point and began to flow around the iceberg, resuming normal water flow.
Still not trusting the beast to be dead, Mehaila tries her best to get as close to the remains as possible, with a spell ready just in case the beast decided it was not dead. While her arrows had no affect, the rest of the party had managed to do work, while once again she did nothing. The lest she could do was venture forth and check on it, though if the water got to deep she would turn back.
" I feel we need to extract all the pieces we can. Even that frozen bit needs to be cleansed. And I would like to purify the grounds. Even if we do not know what this was, it seems undead, and we will not have any of them." Her voice seemed firm, used to having a household to order about, along with decisions to be made. However she was open to anyone's better suggestions of what to do with the ice mass.
Lyra ignored the smoldering, twitching corpse and flew over to where the remaining seven pillars crackled with black lightning. "Do you as you wish, I'm going to study the remaining pillars. They need to be destroyed as well."
She landed fifty feet away and began to cautiously approach step by step, her body tense and ready to spring back in an instant. When she was thirty feet away the pillars all sprang to life dangerously, energy dancing hungrily as it sought out life.
Lyra launched herself backwards and up and managed to avoid three bolts of black lightning that lashed at her like hungry vines. She landed again fifty feet away and sat down, studying the necrotic field with her chin in her hand. She sat like this for several minutes before reaching into her jacket and pulling out a thick book and thumbing through it, scanning the densely worded text for information.
Rose approached Lyra from behind, her shadowy wings keeping her aloft before landing softly. As her spells began to wear off one by one, she felt herself beginning to grow back to her original size, but her skin remained it's rough wooden complexion.
She breathed a sigh of relief looking over at the refuse that remained of the creature and then back to the pillars of darkness. She pulled out her own book and began to take notes of both the effects of her bomb combined with the flash-freeze flask she had managed to create on the creature itself and the dark pillars that seemed to have had a hand in creating the creature.
She frowned some, as she knew those pillars would continue to be a problem if not carefully dealt with. There was no telling what would be the next creature reanimated if they continued to stand.
Meha would pray to Calistria about purifying the area, setting the stage to crush and remove any evil influence the dead body may have left lingering. She takes out a few supplies, mainly fire making supplies, and starts a small fire on the top of the corpse. While doing so, she prays " Oh favored sting, if this creature be as vile in life as un-death, I pray you find them deserving of punishment as needed. If this soul was not wicked, I pray it can at least taste what wonders may come from the slight twitch of a whip." While talking she would stoke the fire with spare firewood and other debris, trying to ensure that the corpse would burn fully.
Afterwards, she would approach Rosa and Lyra, and ask " Is there anything we can do to keep them? Perhaps as a barrier of some sort? It was useful to protect the creature, perhaps a way to expand it to a settlement?"
Moira circled the beast once on wings of fire making sure nothing moved. She did the same with the pillars, keeping well away from them as Lyra was. When she was satisfied that the fight was well and truly over and no other undead abominations were waiting to pounce, only then did she land. Casting a quick spell, she looked over the corpse to make sure it wasn't going to destroy life down river. She then walked over to Lyra, bow still in hand. "We going to have more issues with giant undead Gorilla's again?" she asks casually. Then in a more serious tone, "The trolls didn't do this did they? Are they capable of this?"