Feng bolts to her feet, feeling a new energy draw out from the creature with many eyes, watching her from one of two worlds.
She is drawn further and further into the elemental chaos, the room around her all but gone, before a powerful force takes her and sends her tumbling to the bed in a heap. Feng blinks her eyes, seeing herself in the Mortal World once again.
But now, the power of earth she was channeling is gone, as was whatever it was that just channeled through her like a fire bolt from a crossbow.
"Grimgar?" She says, hissing nervously to herself, her tail thrashing anxiously back and forth. She can't feel him at ALL anymore. The magic is gone, but so is the hate, the anger, the focus of purpose.
And so is the love, the years of companionship, even if course and hard.
Still weak and afflicted with exhaustion from her long time spent infected by Szatchur's power, Feng has no tears to shed.
She sobs, knowing what must have happened. That Grimgar had grown too hardened by the walls of the City of Yartar, and of the life he had to live, that he gave Grellik no alternative.
"Foolish!" She sobs to herself, clutching Trissae's bogshark mask. "Stupid boy! Stupid -hic-! Stupid boy!"
She insults Grimgar to herself, knowing that he made his brother be forced to kill him. "If you just saw Adrien for who he is -hic!-... If you just bothered to LOOK at him! To SEE him -Hic!-"
"You cruel brother! Making your sister -hic- feel like this! AAahhhh!!"
Tearless, she cries into the storm, letting her wailing join the crashing lightning as she forces herself to relive the moment she felt Grellik kill Grimgar, over and over again.
It's the only way she can think to survive the pain, by facing it, confronting it. It's the only way of honoring the sacrifice of what was taken, and what was lost, by both of her brothers.
The Bogshark blackscale sits on the stone floor of the little basement hideout, now far less cramped than it had been before her companions departed to storm the castle. Up the stairs, the door emerging out into the ally bangs and rattles against the force of the storm.
Thunder crashes more regularly now, and Feng realizes that she can hear it on BOTH sides. Still affected by the plague to a certain degree (Though it's affects are currently FAR less fatal than they had been before her lightning surgery), her vision seemed to fade in and out of this world and that of the Elemental Chaos. But, in either world she can hear the thunder.
She concentrates on her Invisibility Spell as she whistles to herself, her draconic jaw making the sound eerie and obviously not the sound of a human whistle.
Suddenly, her whistling stops, and her eyes open. She focuses more on the material world, the room coming into her vision. She finds herself staring at the wall she drew on before, of the giant form with many eyes.
"Ozz..." she says to herself, feeling the touch of the half-orc's life force as the spell she was maintaining on him fades, her burden of concentration lessened.
"Becoming visible again, all on your own? ... ... Why? Thissss might not be good..."
Moments later, she suddenly feels a great weight, like her body is huge, powerful, and swinging a mighty sword. Somewhere, Grellik is fighting.
"Hrmm... You boysss are getting into Trouble!"
A bit of time passes when she feels more of her invisibility spell end. She feels words in her mind, the shape and sounds of a feminine voice casting a spell, and echo of what ended the invisibility.
"Trissae... Are you helping out your brothers? Good. Good... Pleassseee see them sssafe..."
Almost at the same time, Feng is surprised by a sharp flash and the sickening image of a froggy head wearing a mottled hood doing a bloody somersault in the air, two blades passing beneath it, closing their swing.
"Adrien... Did... You just murder a bullywug jester? What isss going on?!"
Then, she waits, and nothing elses changes. She feels out the last strand of her spell, continuing to maintain her concentration on it.
"Grimgar... You're still invisssible... Waiting for the right moment, or off to do other work?"
Feng waits a bit longer, and begins humming again, the room fading out of the stone worked basement and back into the great stone hallways built for some kind of giants. The chalk drawing of the being with many eyes fades into a massive, dark tunnel winding ever forward.
A feeling of overwhelming rage suddenly bleeds into her mind, and the last bit of her spell fades entirely. She's pulled back into the basement, the chalk drawing of the Being she made her deal with appearing once more in front of her.
She can still taste the rage in her mouth, and she spits out the hate onto the stone floor. Feng pulls herself onto the small bed, seeking comfort.
"Grimgar!" she cries out, surprised at being able to feel his emotion. It's powerful, fierce, and stone solid. It feels old, years old maybe, as if he's been nursing this feeling of hatred until it became a unyielding wall. "Who! Who are you killing?!"
Staring at the wall, she trembles, letting the emotion bleed away. Shortly after, she feels something else. A power channels through her which brings the Elemental Chaos back into partial focus. It's an uncommonly stable half and half split between the material world and the real world, the chalk drawing hanging in the air of the dark tunnel before her.
She can feel EARTH tremble through her, out of the darkness of the otherwordly plane and into the material world, using her body as a focus.
And Feng realizes that she knows the taste of this power. She had been afflicted horribly by it. This feeling of raw, alien, earthern force. But it's more than just that. Like a person would have a voice you could recognize them from, this power was unique as well.
The feeling she feels now as she channels the Investiture of Stone into Grimgar is exactly the same as the energy that filled her near to bursting before her family dragged her out into the storm so she could get struck a whole bunch by lightning.
Her Benefactor, the Being she earlier questioned and who had given the Bogsharks many powerful boons to help them to stop the bearer of the Vessel of Chaos is the same Being that the Vessel drew power from.
"Sssssszatchur!!" She cries as she channels the Being's energy.
Almost as if in response to Its name, she sees the eyes appearing in the dark tunnel before her. These eyes are more than just chalk drawings. She sees eyes burning with elemental fire. She sees more dripping with hissing acid. More and more eyes open up and look down upon her as she channels Its power into her brother, each brimming with elemental power.
She looks upon the one who stole power from every corner of the Elemental Chaos, growing stronger from it, and binding it into the mortal world. Szatchur. The Maker of the Bowl. The Conqueror of Chaos.
Feng cocks her head when Adrien asks her question, and her eyes focus on him just a little. "They harness the storm. Feel what they do, Adrien. Grip it in your hand."
Just making sure you saw this post, and the link to the spell description in Fengs post above when she gave each of you the stones.
Feng looks around a moment, dazed, before speaking.
"I'm having a hard time concentrating on our home plane... But I believe you can ssstill hear me. I have two more giftsss... Grellik. Come here... I mussst whissper into your ear."
DC 15 percept check, or be who she whispers into the ear of. Grellik?:
"I did not forget you, nor did our powerful helper. I entrusst you with the heaviest burden of the gifts from our new Friend. I trussst you to use it wisely, to consider both your head, and your heart, before using it. I know you may wish to usse this to end a fight before it begins, but I urge you to use it before any potential traitor can hurt usss again! Kill" she says, and a single use of the spell enters your mind.
Only who she whispers into the ear of gains the spell. Everyone else merely hears the words without necessarily understanding the meaning.
Finally, I can ussse some of his powers to bolssster my own. Go, while the sssspell lasts. I mussst concentrate to maintain it!
Feng gestures and makes an arcane utterance, and all five of you turn invisible. "I think we may be able to use these giftsss how we wish, even if we do not ssseak the bowl. Consider that. The Bogsharks may make an enemy, but the Vessel could get usss killed."
"Each is a small gift. Once used, you will imbued with an enchantment for a limited time. Ussse them wisely. The giver of these magic stoness didn't know who best to give to each, but I know. I shall pick."
Feng picks up the blue gem and hands it over to Ozz. It's cold to the touch. "Ozz, you have been chased for most of your life. Your heart exists as ice, frozen by those who made your life so cruel. You let us warm your chilly heart, but I know its root inside of you is deeper than any of us can truly thaw. Take the gift of Ice."
"If there is a a fire in our group, than it isss Trissae.
Her heart is warmer than any I've ever known before,
yet she has a passion that can burn hotter than the sun if she were only to let it out. Sissster, I believe you know of what I sssspeak,
even if you feel that this fire is something to recoil from.
You know it isss within you, and you mussst learn how to use it.
Take the gift of Flame." She hands Trissae the ruby, it is warm to the touch.
"Grimgar, you have been changed by the walls of this city into stone, as Trissae so astutely sssaid before. You have been hardened, ssso no one can ever hurt you. You, or thossse you care for. You have become granite for usss, and I know you have made many difficult choices. Be granite for us ssstill. Take the gift of Stone." She hands him the dull rock.
She then cocks her head, still not looking at anyone directly but clearly responding to Adrien's position. She holds out the strange diamond. "Had I thought about thiss before, I may have called you a hawk. A rider of fickle windsss who has made this place where he happensss to hunt. Never keen to ssstay anywhere, your home with usss is new, and maybe not permanent. I hope you will ssstay with usss, but I do not fault you for flying elsewhere. However, if you do leave, I know it not to be to ssseak new prey. You are a petal, Adrien, blown along by fate. Or if you mussst be a bird, you are one with bright feathers, the kind that sings to other pretty birds. In either case, you more than anyone understands what it is like to be blown along on the winds, on a tempest of life.Take the gift of Wind."
Feng approaches Trissae, reaching out and placing a hand on the drow's shoulder while her attention is lost to the side of the room, starring intently at nothing while interacting with her sister. She looks clearly dazed, while still somehow interacting with Trissae.
"Dear ssisster..." Feng starts, her voice a kind, low rumble in her chest. She didn't sound 100% better from the wounds of her formerly acidic nature. "While I am quite ccertain your skillss with spellcraft hass improved, I think cassting the enchantment that large would only be challenging."
She pauses, looking back at her drawing before reapproaching it while talking.
"None of you have asssked what I have been doing. I only asssume you think me invalid becaussse of my sstate."
Feng gives a low, growling chuckle.
"Foolsss." she chides.
"I am drawing sssomething I only began to ssseee before you pulled me out of the world of my subterranean maze. Your cure did not work. It helped me, maybe even sssaved my life, but I can feel the sssenssations once again coming upon me. Or rather... I could. While you left, I decided to return."
Above any accusations, she draws more chalk eyes onto the massive creature while turning to face everyone else. Her eyes look at nothing, yet seem to somehow take in all of you. She talks over any responses, as if unable to hear anyone.
"I'll just pretend I can't hear you ssso I can finish what I am ssaying. Thisss is important, Listen!"
"I realized that in my dazed ssstate, what I am in essence doing is... Speaking with another Plane." She grins. "It is like a spell I had heard of before. I spell made to gather information, and to gain favors with extra planar entities. While you lot have been doing your works, I have been doing mine. I have gained favorss."
"There isss something here. Something that knowsss about all the Mortalsss from Yartar coming over. I do not know who this being iss, but I sspoken with it at length. I have gained five honest answers from it."
"I asked it these things, and it gave me these anssswerss."
"Do you know what is caussing mortalss to come here? It told me, Yes."
"Is it the Vessel of Chaosss? Again, Yes. But this time It added that it wished to possesssss the Bowl."
"Why do you want the bowl? It isss His..."
"Will you help my friends and I confront those who wield it?"
"Yesssssss..." she draws this last word out for some time, enunciating its gravity.
Feng smiles, and opens her hands to show not chalk, but several gleaming jewels glowing with an internal light.
Feng looks over from her charcoal drawings. The eye-covered form of whatever being she's drawing has taken on a giant perspective, like of some massive creature looking down at her.
"What of potionsss, or ssscrollss? If you obtain ssomething usseeful, you might have an easier time of it."
Feng rouses a bit, smiling toothily up at Trissae after she breaks the hug. She clears her throat, and fidgets with the straps on the clothes Trissae left behind.
"It's been a while since I've had chance to wear thisss..."
"The Citadel..." Feng speaks, clearing her throat. "It isss rather large, as you can ssseee from any rooftop. It is built to act as a fort to the west, as well as a place where merchants and travelers mussst bide their time until the bureaucrats have finished their workss."
Feng speaks for some time about how her, Mornak, Giant, and Caira were kept in rags and chains at the citadel, doing odd chores and occasionally getting questioned by Lord Frostheight, usually one on one. While forced at spear point to clean the floors, feed horses, take out chamber pots and otherwise slave around the building, they were spat on, bullied, insulted, and threatened by the guards and the merchants who traveled through.
"I recognized more than one face from our raidsss." Feng smiles in memory, as if taking satisfaction in knowing her harassers were affected by some kind of preemptive karma for what they did in the citadel.
She tells some of the floor plan, rooms of interest which she had made note of and discussed with the others during their captivity, to which Grimgar occasionally nods along, aware of these places himself. Unfortunately she doesn't know too much as she was isolated from the others rather early.
"Sssomeone came to sspeak with me more than once while I wasss kept in my own, private cell. We did all share one together, but for one reason or another, they ssseparated me from our brothers and our sssister" Grimgar flinches slightly when Feng refers to Caira as such, but she continues seemingly without noticing.
"That'sss when I began to grow ssick. After these meetings with this ssssstranger." She clearly seems agitated from the memory, growing silent.
Feng gently takes the outfit from Trissae, looking at it, recognizing it immediately, and arches an 'eyebrow'. "Well, I'm not sure if it ssssuitss me, but thank you. It will better than thessse ragsss, I am sure."
Feng listens to Grellik, her features still. She rarely nodded, but he could tell when she absorbed his words with understanding.
To Grellik's comment about defending Grimgar, she interjects after a moment. "I underssstand that it musst be difficult to hear uss speak in ssuch a way. But, you don't know Grimgar as well as sssome of uss. He hass seen family killed before, becausse others were too trusssting. You know the Holidaysss. You've heard the ssstories. The older ones are only tales for you, legends. For Grimgar it iss real. He's been around for every death. I think it hass made him paranoid."
She looks at Grellik, clearly worried over Grimgar's actions. AND of Adrien's well being. Like Ozz, a clear conflict is showing on her face. "I don't think Grimgar a basstard, Grellik. I think him wrong. Adrien isss no traitor. But I can underssstand how Grimgar feels. He's... Protective. But he's wrong. The Boss will have to make the decision of what to do with Grimgar, but I want him alive for that. I want both of them alive."
Grellik sits on the floor next to the bed upon which Feng rests. Even still, his size and straight posture makes his head well above Feng's in her slouched, relaxing posture. Also, she is a bit small for a dragonborn.
She's struck by Grellik's mention of Mornak, the information resonating through her as she listens. Still not nodding, she accepts Grellik's words.
"I can tell you what I remember of the citadel, but I am still weak. I wish to only ssspeak it the onccce. Let usss wait for the others firsst. Resssst, Grellik. For now. Let uss talk of other thingss."
"By Ashess and Emberss, yesss! The wounds on my body, though no longer dripping acccid apparently, remain. My mind doesss not sseem fully clear. I need a ssssstiff drink." she seems to be pouting, taking her own state strangely light hearted despite clearly being at less than even half her best.
"How are you? Apparently much hasss happened sssincce my arressst. Iss there anything I can help with? If you are breaching the cccitadel, I wasss kept there before my cccell transsformed"
Feng smiles weakly. "I wish not to talk poorly of your abilitiess. It is jussst... difficult to tell when you are taking things ssseriously. " she smiles, understanding that Adrien's head is now in the right place.
Feng speaks to continue where Ozz leaves off. "Grimgar has been in the stones too long." she combs her fingers through Trissae's hair as she talks, her voice low and raspy, her draconian accent pronounced.
"Inside the ssstonesss that ring Yartar. They've been changing him. Keeping him from peace, I think. He's good at his job here, but it doesn't ssuit his temperrament He prefers the wilds to the tamed. The wild never liesss to him, even when it triess to hurt him. Adrien, you arren't bad with a ssword. You might be the best duelisst in the sshharks for some time. At least outside of the elitess. Your sskillss are tutored by men, but mostly against man. The elitess... Their sskillss are learned from the monsterss that try to take back their homess... They fight trollss... Giants... They fight thoosse threatss without a mind like ourrs..."
She gives a short pause, catching her breath. "Grimgar wass forced to retire from the elitess... The Bosss didn't like how many wounds he was collecting hunting the biggest dangerss of the 'Moore. He sent Grimgar to be our fence, using the knowledge gained from being a Yartar orphan. He wass born in thiss town. As a child, he learned how to fight larger children, desspite their advantage in sstreength and sskill. As a young man, he had learned how to war with groups of other starving kidss in the ssstreet. He learned just what his strengths were, and how best to use them. He got very good at ssurviving. As a man, he killed trollss. Giantss. He let the sssavagery of nature into his heart. He killed Ssshieldss before the Boss ever met him."
She gives Adrien a steady look and catches her breath again. "If you give Grimgar the advantage of your taking him lightly, he will use it to kill you, and you will never have had a chance. He doesn't fight LIKE you, but in hiss way I think he fightss deadlier than you. I would fear him, like a child fears the dark."
Insight 2:
She is completely serious, and 100% without embellishment or overemphasis. She is telling what she believes to be a hard truth, a reality that must be known.
Feng awakes as Grellik sets her down, roused by Ozz speaking. Her eyes open and she looks into Grellik's mask.
"I knew it. " she smiles and coughs, her eyes clear. The stone infection on her body crumbling off of her to show healthy scales. She's still injured, but her cracked wounds are no longer dripping acid.
