Park Life Finds a Way - Glint - 24/06
Jun 27, 2021 12:19:47 GMT
levuka, Jaezred Vandree, and 3 more like this
Post by Varga on Jun 27, 2021 12:19:47 GMT
[Preface - I don't know Primordial, so just used similarly sounding languages I know. If you like listening to music as you read - written to and reads well to Powerwolf - Beast of Gevaudan]
'Are you done?' Felix asked impatiently, pacing across the mouth of the clearing, just left of the remains of the tower.
The druid sighed and threw a couple of leaves onto the bear trap to cover it. She rose to remind Felix that he knew perfectly well she just had one more to set, but instead came face to face with Tayz.
'I want to do a ritual to find out more about this artifact,' the aarakocra nodded towards the large purple crystal inside the remains of the stone building. 'You reckon it's safe?'
'Yes, but be careful, we don't want to wake them up,' she whispered. Around the crystal, three raptors were sleeping soundly, their contour feathers reflecting the dim light of the crystal.
Tayz nodded, and Levuka went to the left side of the dilapidated house with no roof, where the corner of the building and the edge of the verdant jungle created a perfect bottleneck for another trap.
'Move it, people,' Felix said, taking out his infernal battle axe. 'So we can kill them already.'
'Knock them out, please! I thought we agreed on a peaceful approach,' Glint muttered from where he stood on the circular staircase – the only part of the tower still standing.
'Yeah, yeah, whatever,' Felix grumbled.
The genasi's fiery hair gave off another puff of smoke. 'To think that it was only this morning that we were talking quite pleasantly!' He thought, flustered. 'How can a charmer like that possess such a blood lust? Truly, I should stop flirting with adventurers, it will not end well!'
He looked around for something he could lecture Felix on, more out of principle than out of necessity. His eyes fell on the glowing crystal. Tayz has just prepared his ritual, and was moving his hands to perform it.
'We shouldn't forget our goal,' Glint whispered hotly. 'It's that crystal over there.'
Tayz has muttered the first words of incantation to discover its secrets.
'I can see all the way from up here that it's some sort of transmutation magic,' Glint continued. 'I bet this is what's causing the Beastlands to merge with our plane. We need to destroy it if we are to end the conjunction. I can't quite understand why it became active right now, but I bet there's some sort of activation mechanism, most probably tied to the movement of the stars in each plane…' His grievance with Felix forgotten, he went on, completely oblivious to both the dwarf's and the aarakocra's annoyed stares.
Sorrel, who stood at the very top of the tower to have the best field of view, rolled her eyes and touched the wizard's shoulder with the rubber tip of her arrow.
'Glint, we got it. Really,' she said evenly.
'Raptors first, crystal later,' Felix nodded, and turned to Levuka. 'Are you done?'
Levuka stood up a bit too quickly, a light rustle of leaves from her robes breaking the silence. Just as she wanted to say something, Tayz shot a guiding bolt into the foliage they came from not half an hour before. The adventurers followed it with their eyes, and heard a weak squawk of some unfortunate quail hit by the projectile. As one, they turned back to give Tayz identical confused looks.
'Felix, ehm…' the aarakocra pointed a feathered finger to the dwarf's left.
Felix turned his head, and his expression sagged.
'Oh, you, clever-'
Before he could finish, the fourth raptor leaped out of the bush right at him, aiming its hind legs at the bard's chest. The curled claws glanced against the chain shirt, and the beast landed next to him. It turned and let out a screeching call, to be immediately answered by three others from inside the ivy-covered structure.
One raptor ran through the front door and got caught in Levuka's trap. The other two the adventurers could not see, but the rustle of footsteps was coming from both sides of the building.
Levuka waved her hand, and the forest air mixed with leaves, forming a large direwolf who ran past the tower to stand guard there. The druid herself dashed to assist the bard, transforming into an even larger direwolf as she ran. Sorrel took a deep calming breath and loosed arrows from her bow one by one. But the raptors were quick to dodge, and some arrows missed.
'Wait! I'll put them to sleep!' Glint reached into the pouch on his belt. 'Yeshan!' He shouted in Primordial, throwing handfuls of ash towards the raptor caught in a trap and its sister near the summoned direwolf. Both lizards sneezed. Glint's hair stopped smoldering, eyes grew wide. 'Oh… these raptors are strong!'
'You think?!' Felix grumbled, taking another swing with his axe, cutting across his opponent's chest and causing it to shriek again.
The last raptor jumped over the trap, catching one of its claws on it. Off-balance, it barely dodged Levuka's claws. With a hiss, the beast righted itself for another attack.
Tayz looked back and forth between the combatants. Bright purple light streamed from behind him. He turned to see the crystal. Nobody guarded it. The aarakocra jumped over the wall, his strong wings lifting him in the air: ten feet, fifteen, twenty. He turned and the heavenly light of his spell shone onto the crystal. For a split second, it looked like the gem was absorbing the energy, barely holding it in. Then – crack! – the crystal blew apart in an explosion of light, turned into dust in an instant.
The raptor caught in a bear trap managed to avoid the shards, and got its leg free. It hissed and rushed straight towards the dilapidated tower, and up the stairs.
Emboldened by his success, Tayz flew over to the raptor engaged in a fight with Levuka's summoned beast. Another blinding stream of light, and the raptor evaporated on the spot.
'No!' Glint shouted, his mournful eyes meeting Tayz's surprised ones. Apparently, the cleric himself did not expect his spell to be such a resounding success.
Glint's hair caught fire, and he turned in irritation to check the sound he'd just heard on the stairs. There was a very angry lizard crouching towards him. The genasi's mind went through all the available options at the snail's pace.
Put it to sleep? No, the raptor is too strong.
'Glint, move, I can't take a shot!' Sorrel shouted at him from above, but the wizard was paralyzed with fear.
The staff? No, it's too far.
'Glint, do something!' Felix snarled as his spell crashed into the two raptors in front of him.
My fire? No, too late, it's too close.
Levuka growled from where she stood next to Felix, fending off two attackers.
Actually, the beasts they are fighting look worse for wear… Ah, well, here goes nothing!
'Yeshan!' Glint turned to his right and threw two fistfuls of ash.
Both raptors fell to the ground instantly, sound asleep.
'Hurrah!' Glint punched the air in triumph. He turned back towards the stairs, and his face fell as he stared right between two rows of sharp teeth. 'Harrumph…'
Levuka turned with a roar. The giant direwolf leaped over Felix's head, and pounced. Glint only registered a wall of fur replacing the wall of teeth in front of his nose as Levuka pushed the raptor to the ground, sinking her teeth into its flesh. The lizard screeched and clawed at her, but its legs were caught under the direwolf's paws. Sorrel pushed Glint aside and shot the arrow into the raptor's head. At the close distance the soft tip of the arrow hit the beast right in the temple, and knocked it out for good.
The sleeping raptors steered, and Glint ran past Levuka to help Felix who was already tying them up. Levuka, turning back into her elf self, cast a restoration spell over the sleeping raptors, and shook her head.
'These are simple beasts, not cursed humans.'
'Then our work here is done, we should leave before dark,' Sorrel nodded, running down the stairs and joining them in the clearing.
Felix furrowed his brow and said: 'We still haven't seen the guy who asked Coll for help in the first place. What was his name? Alan?'
As a reply, a thundering roar came from somewhere in the jungle. The adventurers turned as one, eyes wide. They couldn't see anything over the thick undergrowth, but Tayz was already flying over the treetops to investigate the source of the sound.
~~~~~~~~~
A note in handsome cursive, posted on one of the announcement boards at the Daring Academy:
Esteemed colleagues,
It is my pleasure to invite all interested scholars to a seminar themed 'Beastlands: magical effects and their long-term consequences' in the third floor auditorium tomorrow. My recent expedition to that fascinating plane has provided some very interesting insights.
Sincerely,
Adjunct Researcher Glint.
P.S. There is a slight possibility of a tyrannosaurus called Alan being on the loose in Kantas. Do send my kindest regards if you happen to meet him.
P.P.S. Has anyone seen Eloise from Archaeology lately? Despite her drinking habits, she is a fascinating interlocutor and I was very much looking forward to renewing our acquaintance at the earliest opportunity.
'Are you done?' Felix asked impatiently, pacing across the mouth of the clearing, just left of the remains of the tower.
The druid sighed and threw a couple of leaves onto the bear trap to cover it. She rose to remind Felix that he knew perfectly well she just had one more to set, but instead came face to face with Tayz.
'I want to do a ritual to find out more about this artifact,' the aarakocra nodded towards the large purple crystal inside the remains of the stone building. 'You reckon it's safe?'
'Yes, but be careful, we don't want to wake them up,' she whispered. Around the crystal, three raptors were sleeping soundly, their contour feathers reflecting the dim light of the crystal.
Tayz nodded, and Levuka went to the left side of the dilapidated house with no roof, where the corner of the building and the edge of the verdant jungle created a perfect bottleneck for another trap.
'Move it, people,' Felix said, taking out his infernal battle axe. 'So we can kill them already.'
'Knock them out, please! I thought we agreed on a peaceful approach,' Glint muttered from where he stood on the circular staircase – the only part of the tower still standing.
'Yeah, yeah, whatever,' Felix grumbled.
The genasi's fiery hair gave off another puff of smoke. 'To think that it was only this morning that we were talking quite pleasantly!' He thought, flustered. 'How can a charmer like that possess such a blood lust? Truly, I should stop flirting with adventurers, it will not end well!'
He looked around for something he could lecture Felix on, more out of principle than out of necessity. His eyes fell on the glowing crystal. Tayz has just prepared his ritual, and was moving his hands to perform it.
'We shouldn't forget our goal,' Glint whispered hotly. 'It's that crystal over there.'
Tayz has muttered the first words of incantation to discover its secrets.
'I can see all the way from up here that it's some sort of transmutation magic,' Glint continued. 'I bet this is what's causing the Beastlands to merge with our plane. We need to destroy it if we are to end the conjunction. I can't quite understand why it became active right now, but I bet there's some sort of activation mechanism, most probably tied to the movement of the stars in each plane…' His grievance with Felix forgotten, he went on, completely oblivious to both the dwarf's and the aarakocra's annoyed stares.
Sorrel, who stood at the very top of the tower to have the best field of view, rolled her eyes and touched the wizard's shoulder with the rubber tip of her arrow.
'Glint, we got it. Really,' she said evenly.
'Raptors first, crystal later,' Felix nodded, and turned to Levuka. 'Are you done?'
Levuka stood up a bit too quickly, a light rustle of leaves from her robes breaking the silence. Just as she wanted to say something, Tayz shot a guiding bolt into the foliage they came from not half an hour before. The adventurers followed it with their eyes, and heard a weak squawk of some unfortunate quail hit by the projectile. As one, they turned back to give Tayz identical confused looks.
'Felix, ehm…' the aarakocra pointed a feathered finger to the dwarf's left.
Felix turned his head, and his expression sagged.
'Oh, you, clever-'
Before he could finish, the fourth raptor leaped out of the bush right at him, aiming its hind legs at the bard's chest. The curled claws glanced against the chain shirt, and the beast landed next to him. It turned and let out a screeching call, to be immediately answered by three others from inside the ivy-covered structure.
One raptor ran through the front door and got caught in Levuka's trap. The other two the adventurers could not see, but the rustle of footsteps was coming from both sides of the building.
Levuka waved her hand, and the forest air mixed with leaves, forming a large direwolf who ran past the tower to stand guard there. The druid herself dashed to assist the bard, transforming into an even larger direwolf as she ran. Sorrel took a deep calming breath and loosed arrows from her bow one by one. But the raptors were quick to dodge, and some arrows missed.
'Wait! I'll put them to sleep!' Glint reached into the pouch on his belt. 'Yeshan!' He shouted in Primordial, throwing handfuls of ash towards the raptor caught in a trap and its sister near the summoned direwolf. Both lizards sneezed. Glint's hair stopped smoldering, eyes grew wide. 'Oh… these raptors are strong!'
'You think?!' Felix grumbled, taking another swing with his axe, cutting across his opponent's chest and causing it to shriek again.
The last raptor jumped over the trap, catching one of its claws on it. Off-balance, it barely dodged Levuka's claws. With a hiss, the beast righted itself for another attack.
Tayz looked back and forth between the combatants. Bright purple light streamed from behind him. He turned to see the crystal. Nobody guarded it. The aarakocra jumped over the wall, his strong wings lifting him in the air: ten feet, fifteen, twenty. He turned and the heavenly light of his spell shone onto the crystal. For a split second, it looked like the gem was absorbing the energy, barely holding it in. Then – crack! – the crystal blew apart in an explosion of light, turned into dust in an instant.
The raptor caught in a bear trap managed to avoid the shards, and got its leg free. It hissed and rushed straight towards the dilapidated tower, and up the stairs.
Emboldened by his success, Tayz flew over to the raptor engaged in a fight with Levuka's summoned beast. Another blinding stream of light, and the raptor evaporated on the spot.
'No!' Glint shouted, his mournful eyes meeting Tayz's surprised ones. Apparently, the cleric himself did not expect his spell to be such a resounding success.
Glint's hair caught fire, and he turned in irritation to check the sound he'd just heard on the stairs. There was a very angry lizard crouching towards him. The genasi's mind went through all the available options at the snail's pace.
Put it to sleep? No, the raptor is too strong.
'Glint, move, I can't take a shot!' Sorrel shouted at him from above, but the wizard was paralyzed with fear.
The staff? No, it's too far.
'Glint, do something!' Felix snarled as his spell crashed into the two raptors in front of him.
My fire? No, too late, it's too close.
Levuka growled from where she stood next to Felix, fending off two attackers.
Actually, the beasts they are fighting look worse for wear… Ah, well, here goes nothing!
'Yeshan!' Glint turned to his right and threw two fistfuls of ash.
Both raptors fell to the ground instantly, sound asleep.
'Hurrah!' Glint punched the air in triumph. He turned back towards the stairs, and his face fell as he stared right between two rows of sharp teeth. 'Harrumph…'
Levuka turned with a roar. The giant direwolf leaped over Felix's head, and pounced. Glint only registered a wall of fur replacing the wall of teeth in front of his nose as Levuka pushed the raptor to the ground, sinking her teeth into its flesh. The lizard screeched and clawed at her, but its legs were caught under the direwolf's paws. Sorrel pushed Glint aside and shot the arrow into the raptor's head. At the close distance the soft tip of the arrow hit the beast right in the temple, and knocked it out for good.
The sleeping raptors steered, and Glint ran past Levuka to help Felix who was already tying them up. Levuka, turning back into her elf self, cast a restoration spell over the sleeping raptors, and shook her head.
'These are simple beasts, not cursed humans.'
'Then our work here is done, we should leave before dark,' Sorrel nodded, running down the stairs and joining them in the clearing.
Felix furrowed his brow and said: 'We still haven't seen the guy who asked Coll for help in the first place. What was his name? Alan?'
As a reply, a thundering roar came from somewhere in the jungle. The adventurers turned as one, eyes wide. They couldn't see anything over the thick undergrowth, but Tayz was already flying over the treetops to investigate the source of the sound.
~~~~~~~~~
A note in handsome cursive, posted on one of the announcement boards at the Daring Academy:
Esteemed colleagues,
It is my pleasure to invite all interested scholars to a seminar themed 'Beastlands: magical effects and their long-term consequences' in the third floor auditorium tomorrow. My recent expedition to that fascinating plane has provided some very interesting insights.
Sincerely,
Adjunct Researcher Glint.
P.S. There is a slight possibility of a tyrannosaurus called Alan being on the loose in Kantas. Do send my kindest regards if you happen to meet him.
P.P.S. Has anyone seen Eloise from Archaeology lately? Despite her drinking habits, she is a fascinating interlocutor and I was very much looking forward to renewing our acquaintance at the earliest opportunity.
