Vesi pats the goblin on the shoulder. "It's alright, Nok-Nok, I'm sure you'll achieve your dream one day. You did really well today, you are already a great goblin hero!"
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Blaze and Russ were dishing out the punishment to the barghest, so Vesi sends another spark - mostly to distract and annoy the creature.
Vesi sends a wave of healing to Russ'Ruk.
Vesi sighs in disappointment as the barghest and one of his minions avoid their big showy spell. "Time for more direct action, I suppose," the undine mutters, stepping to position themselves closer to Narglom.
But the jet of water emerging from their hands is pitifully weak. "What?! Hm, perhaps because both me and Ankra are drawing from the Plane of Water at the moment..."
"Why only at night, Ankra? We could swim there right now! Here, watch!" With surprising agility for someone of their size, Vesi leaps into the air towards the barghest and his lieutenants. Only, instead of landing on the floor, the undine passes through it, with a great splash of water, as if they had just cannonballed into a pool. A few moments later, they emerge right next to Nargloom and his bugbear buddies with another great splash, then leap to safety. "Whew! That was... harder than I expected," the druid pants. "Achoo! Oh noooo, zome ov their fur god indo my noze."
"Wow, you were so amazing! Your powers just keep growing!" Vesi summons a bit of water to douse the smouldering carcasses and wash away some of that stench of charred flesh. "Just... remember to keep something in reserve for the big guy, eh?"
Vesi does like Blaze, trying to shock the bat-dogs and discourage them from biting her friends.
"Uh, I'm not sure that we would want to recruit anyone who willingly follows a barghest..." interjects Vesi hesitantly. "But I don't see a better solution if they do surrender to us, so let's just go and see how things turn out, yes?"
Hi everyone, heads up that next week (June 16-20) I will be travelling for work and won't be able to post.
"Well done, Nok-Nok! You defended Safehaven!" Vesi decides to emphasize the positive aspects, rather than their goblin companion's desire to impress Lamashtu.
"Yeaaaah, that... doesn't sound good." Vesi looks at the attacking goblins, particularly Lickweed. "Look, you should know that fire is the domain of our esteemed Queen Blaze, so unless you have proper authorization for fire magic I am afraid that I will have to intervene."
Then the undine moves their hands in a circular, swirling motion. A drop of water forms between their palms, which quickly expands to become a sphere.
Vesi is a little slow on the uptake. "Um, who's Nargloom?"
Vesi raises their open palms to show they have no weapons - although the others are of course to bear and display whatever weaponry they wish. "Hello Lickweed, I am Vesi of Safehaven. Are you also a big goblin hero like our friend Nok-Nok? I'm afraid that we cannot be your prisoners, but if you tell us what it is that you need from our town we can perhaps come to an agreement?" The druid almost adds that there's no need for violence - before they remember that goblins do in fact enjoy a bit of violence, as a treat.
"It's a good idea, yes. I don't think there are any settlements in this area, but we might come across a homestead or hamlet." The undine spreads the unfinished map on the floor, pointing out the blank patches. "Should we try to go deeper into the forest first, or eastwards towards the mountains? We should probably establish relations with the other settlers, that Varn guy." They glance at the scratching kobold. "Hot springs? Easy enough. Ankra and I can get the water, Blaze can heat it up."
"Maybe they weren't all killed by a moose. Yes, moose can be dangerous, but I never heard of one to kill an entire tribe of goblins. But if they're planning to raid Safehaven, we can't let that happen."
Vesi is pretty handy with a pen, so the undine quickly amends the maps and sketches they've been keeping since their journey started. "Here... be... nasty shadows."
Vesi shudders. "They are very dangerous. We could all die here, Blaze. Let's go back."
"Right!" Vesi beams at the suggestion. "Food!" The conditions are not ideal, but the druid does their best to prepare some tasty snacks from their travel provisions. Smoked cured ham, some pickles, a slice of cheese and those crunchy onions fried in bacon grease, all wrapped in a flatbread. Yum.
Vesi also helps treat Ankra and Russ'Ruk, whipping up a couple of tonics to restore some of their lost vigor. "Yes, what were those living shadows? And why did they go after Ankra with such ferocity?" The druid attempts to fix the broken shield.
Vesi tries to zap the shadows again, then encourages Russ.
Vesi follows Ankra, extending a cupped hand in which two shiny berries lie. "Eat this, you'll feel beter."
Vesi moves behind Ankra to bolster their friend and patch up the worst of their hurt.
Vesi makes a face. "I didn't pay much attention in school, to be honest. So unless it's a plant, animal, or fungus, I don't know much about it." As they descend into the room with the many arches and the menacing shadows surround them, the druid decides to blast first and ask questions later; after all, this seemed to be the ruins of a place dedicated to eldritch gods, so whatever was still lurking around couldn't be up to any good!
"Perhaps we can get a few stoneworkers to seal this tower until we're ready to properly explore it," suggests Vesi. "That way, no-one can come in here and touch forbidden daggers or do mischief."
"Uh oh!" vesi exclaims as they see the effects of Blaze's lightning attack. The undine had been planning to use a similar tactic, but this was clearly the wrong approach. Think! What threatens all plants, other than fire? Ahhhh, that's right. Fungal infections. With a few whispered words and a light touch, the little leshy that has been accompanying Vesi dashes forward to reach the vegetal spaghetti monster.
"Ankra!" Seeing their friend badly wounded, Vesi likewise releases some healing energy, then calls a blessing upon the kineticist.
"Ow ow owww!" Vesi wails as the vines slice through their clothing and deep into the druid's flesh. They scoop some of the scummy green water that is abundantly present around them, flinging it at the creature. "Get back! We weren't going to hurt you! Just let us pass."
While Russ is buttering up the grouchy dwarf, Vesi goes to talk to the local fishermen about hiring one of their boats to take them across the lake to the island.
One perk - allegedly - of being raised in a noble family was that you were taught etiquette, in the exceedingly unlikely (for Vesi) case that you might be in the presence of royalty, at some point. So the undine does their very best attempt at a respectful bow to try and convey how very sorry they were for the intrusion.
"Yes, it might be prudent to retreat until things calm down," Vesi agrees. The desire to be anywhere else but here makes the usually clumsy undine a furtive, light-footed creature of the night.
Wait, weren't spirits basically undead? And undead reacted very peculiarly to restorative magic...
Vesi shrieks as well, taken entirely by surprise by the terrifying apparition. Blaze running away only adds to the undine's fear, who reacts instinctively and conjures a stream of water to push the specter away.
After having made everyone but their target wet, they call for help. "Jaethal! We need you!"
Vesi turns their large, pale blue eyes to Jaethal. "You're the expert here, I think!"
"Did we bring the gifts? We brought the gifts, yes?" Vesi displays the goodwill offerings on their outstretched hands (or arms, depending on size of said offerings) - which also serves to show the undine is not armed. "We have brought you a small token of our good intentions."
"If we are going to visit the iruxi and attempt to establish trade relations, we should prepare gifts. Ankra, you seem to know about them - what do they like? What is hard for them to get in the swamp that we could procure?" Vesi thinks hard about it as well - scale lotion? scented herbs? iron tools?
"You've heard of us?" Vesi's amazement is undisguised. "Well, I'm happy we could be of help, it would have been a shame for the ponies to drown. I'm Vesi, druid of the Narlmarches and Magister of Greenbelt. First World influences, you said? That's fascinating. I remember reading a treatise or two about it at the university in New Stetven."
Like Ankra, Vesi was well-versed with the perils of water, especially a swift-moving river like this. The undine jumps into the water to lead the poor ponies to the safety of dry land; it was not enough to tell them to do so, one had to also lead them to the most shallow parts so they can find their footing again.
"Jaethal, do you know much about... ghosts? I suppose it would be possible for the Stag Lord to become a restless spirit, but actually raising from the dead, mmmm - I'm a little doubtful. But you seem the type to know about these things."
Vesi ponders the question from Blaze as they heal Russ. "Somethings he has never tried before, I think. He speaks all the time about Groetus and how the end is inevitable and it's pointless to do anything, but I think in his heart he's curious, and that's why he keeps on living." The druid squints at the fading bruise on the kobold's arm as the healing takes effect. "Something not too sweet, I think. Maybe even a little sour, or bitter." They glance in the direction in which the turtle had retreated. "I hope he'll do alright. It doesn't sit right with me to kill a creature just because it's inconveniencing someone. But I expect it will happen more often as we expand our settled lands."
"I really hate it when they won't even listen... Hey! Turtle! I don't want to kill you! Stop biting my friends!" This was truly a shame. The turtle hadn't been hurting anyone, but he was an inconvenience for the fishermen. Did he really have to die for that? Vesi summons forth a few vines which twist into a cone in their hands. A single fruit spills out and Vesi catches it, holding it aloft in front of Old Crackjaw. "If you go somewhere else and leave us in peace you can have this fruit! It will make you feel a lot better! And I can give you more once you move. Please, don't make my friends kill you."
"Stop trying to eat Russ! He's not even that tasty!" Exasperated at the failure of diplomacy and goodwill, Vesi turns their efforts towards protecting Russ'Rukk instead.
Before they start the descent towards the lake, Vesi casts the spell that allows them to communicate with animals, then as Old Crackjaw ruches them the druid whispers a quick prayer to the Green. "Honoured elder, please listen! We do not want to harm you, and we are in awe of your strength and ferocity! We only wish to talk."
Vesi is sobbing over the side of the boat. "I - *hic* can't do this! I got a big one, and h-he *sniff* begged me to put him back. He said he had three thousand children to take care of. T-Three thousand!"
Heads up that I will be on holiday from this Friday until September 1st. I'll try to post during this time, but frequency will be lower.
Vesi spends half a day performing a ritual aimed at divinating the most auspicious date and time for sending an envoy to Varnhold... nah, just kidding. They use precious spell components as cooking ingredients to make the ultimate trailmix bar as a gift to Maegar Varn.
Vesi raises their head curiously from their mug of berry juice. "I hope everything is alright - or if not, that it soon will be. Please do let us know if we can help, Knaxshi." The druid tilts their head to Ankra. "And if fire doesn't help, how about water?"
Vesi slaps their ample hips with a proud grin. "I sure did! Country food is very healthy. How are you, ma'am? Thank you for meeting us here, as I said in the letter... the situation is not good." They gesture to the rest of the group. "These are my friends, we're building a new country in the Stolen Lands. This one, Russ'Ruk, has been bitten by a werewolf. Is there anything you can do to help him?"
"What? Oh no, no. My teacher... oh gods! We need to go! She doesn't like it when I'm late." Vesi springs into action all of a sudden, marching away at speed - or rather, enacting a rapid waddle - in the direction of Restov. Their mentor had said they would meet them outside the western gates.
"Wow, you've developed so much! You are now better with water than I am!" Vesi claps enthusiastically, beaming up at Ankra with pride. "Oh, you should see Blaze do her fire tricks, you two would be an incredible pair - fire and water!" The undine turns back to their companions. "Could Ankra come with us when we return to our lands? His talents would help a lot with our agriculture efforts!" They leave aside the fact that most of the demonstration was rather martial in nature.
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