Post by Varga on Jan 19, 2022 18:47:00 GMT
Some people can’t miss a new play.
Others have to visit every new pub in the vicinity.
There’s another, markedly smaller, category of people who hear the words “exploding glowing critters” and just can’t say no.
Glint firmly belonged to the last group. And was quite surprised to find out he wasn’t the only one. Veridian was among the very few adventuring wizards he’s met so far in Kantas, and, having way more experience in both adventuring and wizardry, was an infinitely interesting conversationalist.
Admittedly, a fat frog in the garden who sent them on their current course was also fun to talk to. The little guy was still suffering from the after-effects of some sort of enchantment magic, and couldn’t tell them much, but gave Glint an opportunity to exercise his skill of talking to animals. At least the crater in Agatha’s garden spoke volumes. Mostly volumes of radiant and necrotic energy. Fortunately, Igrainne was a skilled enough ranger that this information, as well as the tiniest trail of frog footprints was sufficient for her to lead them on a track through the woods.
Their journey into the Frog Bog could have been considered peaceful if it wasn’t accompanied by Ivan and Felix bickering more than even a married couple would consider acceptable. Glint and Veridian could barely hear each other’s opinions on the nature of innate spellcasting of the Underdark creatures. The blond wizard even commented that it would be very fortunate if the creature they were tracking turned out to be a cuttlefish, as its deafness would make it the only living being they’d be able to catch off guard with the amount of noise the party was making. Still, Glint was happy to find himself in the company of much more experienced adventurers, giving him a fighting chance at surviving the expedition.
The problem resolved itself as they were bombed with explosive poop by a congregation of wrens, an issue probably not entirely unrelated to the group’s abuse of the ‘talking’ part of ‘walking and talking’. Igrainne wandered off into the woods to commune with the birds, and Ivan insisted of keeping her company as the spell allowed her mind to join the birds but left her body vulnerable to attacks.
Eventually, they found their destination: a little muddy meadow, dominated by two silver birches seemingly trying to uproot a very sick-looking willow that leaked radiant sap into the unhealthy looking mud. Igrainne had a discussion with the birches, and they confirmed the group’s suspicions: the willow wasn’t… normal. Before the party could ponder the implications of plant chauvinism, the willow did something willows are seldom known for doing, - which is actually everything if you think about it - and stood up.
It turned out to be a huge mass of rotting plant matter and mud, with wings of disintegrating bark. Ivan and Felix, who stepped through a dimension door closer to the willow to inspect it, were quite surprised by the transformation, but wasted no time walloping at the willow. Igrainne, who previously stood just off the muddy patch, was already 60 feet away, sending arrow after arrow into the rotten abomination. Glint summoned some fireballs, for self-defense more than in honest hope of damaging anything, and rushed to join Igrainne in the back. He expected Veridian to follow, but the man stepped right up to the mud. Glint was ready to commend his scientific rigor before realizing it was probably the enchantment effect they’d previously observed on the frog. Desperate, the genasi cast a whip at the creature’s mind, and its slightly dazed expression told him the spell had worked.
Felix bore the same expression, and started to sink into the mud quicker than expected. He could have sunk completely if not for Ivan who, despite all their previous bickering, rushed to pull his friend out of the mud without a second thought.
Veridian was smart enough to recognize that a sudden desire to get neck-deep into a suspicious-looking body of water wasn’t exactly normal outside the Fort Ettin spa, and he quickly dispelled the charm their enemy placed on him.
Ivan pommeled the creature with his monstrous axe, while Igrainne made their opponent look like a needle cushion someone forgot under a sofa for half a century. Glint sent two fireballs into the creature’s shoulder. They puffed against the rotting bark pathetically, earning him a look more quizzical than his mind whip did. Veridian shook his head and summoned nine pillars of fire that slammed into the wooden body like a burning hurricane. The creature shook, parts of its bark deteriorating completely and falling off like pustules, but it remained standing, and even took to the wing.
It turned its gaze to Glint, whatever meagre intelligence it possessed having caught up with the idea he was clearly the safest target. The creature, beaten up but still menacing, raised one of its rotten appendages. Glint took a step back, panic in his eyes. Belatedly, he realized he wouldn’t be able to make a run for it. He heard Felix playing something suspiciously requiem-like. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Igrainne knocking another arrow onto her bow and aiming through him, apparently foreseeing him not being in the picture the next moment, and Veridian preparing a diamond for the resurrection spell.
So, Glint put his faith in his signature spell. He reached into his pouches, grabbed two fistfuls of ash and threw them in small dusty missiles, speaking the wording of his sleep spell with more confidence than he had in it.
‘Yashen!’
The word rang across the meadow.
The monster didn’t budge.
‘Aaaaa... that’s all I’ve got, I’m afraid!’ He half-sobbed, voice consisting exclusively of panic notes. Desperate, he scrambled backwards, trying to fend off the creature with any projectiles he could reach.
Which just so happened to be the last two of his meteors.
A small burning rock hit the muddy monstrosity in the forehead with a force barely sufficient to attract the attention of an overly excitable dog.
The creature stumbled.
Once.
Twice.
And collapsed on itself with a thundering sound of cracking wood and slurping mud.
The party stood in awkward silence. Glint was gaping at his own hands in disbelieve. Ivan froze mid-swing.
‘You… little kill-stealing shit,’ Felix managed, failing to keep an awe out of his voice.
That brought Glint out of his shocked silence.
‘What?! No, I didn’t mean to kill!’ He managed, sounding more uneven than a fifteen-year-old going from contralto to baritone.
Just as he said it, the pile of mud started shuffling.
‘Then congratulations,’ Igrainne huffed, knocking another arrow with a tired frown.
However, instead of reforming, the creature shed its muddy rotten form, and unfurled its wings: large and radiant, glowing with pristine beauty. As it stood up, instead of the muddy monstrosity, the party saw a divine chiseled form of a celestial, radiating grace and peacefulness.
‘Oh, thank gods I didn’t kill anything!’ Glint said with a breath of immense relief.
‘Well, you killed that thing.’ The celestial shrugged, gesturing to the rapidly reducing pile of mud at his feet. ‘It was undead already, but still. I’m very grateful, by the way. It was quite bothersome being controlled by this creature.’
Their new acquaintance, Tabby, told him how he was snatched from the Celestial plane by this formless undead entity and dragged into the material plane. He thanked his saviors and hurried back to his post under the guidance of Liira.
Glint thought that this would be the story of the day, but as they returned to Agatha for their payment and more pies, their employer told them quite a few stories from her own adventuring youth that were more than enough to ground even someone as vain as a fire genasi.
Others have to visit every new pub in the vicinity.
There’s another, markedly smaller, category of people who hear the words “exploding glowing critters” and just can’t say no.
Glint firmly belonged to the last group. And was quite surprised to find out he wasn’t the only one. Veridian was among the very few adventuring wizards he’s met so far in Kantas, and, having way more experience in both adventuring and wizardry, was an infinitely interesting conversationalist.
Admittedly, a fat frog in the garden who sent them on their current course was also fun to talk to. The little guy was still suffering from the after-effects of some sort of enchantment magic, and couldn’t tell them much, but gave Glint an opportunity to exercise his skill of talking to animals. At least the crater in Agatha’s garden spoke volumes. Mostly volumes of radiant and necrotic energy. Fortunately, Igrainne was a skilled enough ranger that this information, as well as the tiniest trail of frog footprints was sufficient for her to lead them on a track through the woods.
Their journey into the Frog Bog could have been considered peaceful if it wasn’t accompanied by Ivan and Felix bickering more than even a married couple would consider acceptable. Glint and Veridian could barely hear each other’s opinions on the nature of innate spellcasting of the Underdark creatures. The blond wizard even commented that it would be very fortunate if the creature they were tracking turned out to be a cuttlefish, as its deafness would make it the only living being they’d be able to catch off guard with the amount of noise the party was making. Still, Glint was happy to find himself in the company of much more experienced adventurers, giving him a fighting chance at surviving the expedition.
The problem resolved itself as they were bombed with explosive poop by a congregation of wrens, an issue probably not entirely unrelated to the group’s abuse of the ‘talking’ part of ‘walking and talking’. Igrainne wandered off into the woods to commune with the birds, and Ivan insisted of keeping her company as the spell allowed her mind to join the birds but left her body vulnerable to attacks.
Eventually, they found their destination: a little muddy meadow, dominated by two silver birches seemingly trying to uproot a very sick-looking willow that leaked radiant sap into the unhealthy looking mud. Igrainne had a discussion with the birches, and they confirmed the group’s suspicions: the willow wasn’t… normal. Before the party could ponder the implications of plant chauvinism, the willow did something willows are seldom known for doing, - which is actually everything if you think about it - and stood up.
It turned out to be a huge mass of rotting plant matter and mud, with wings of disintegrating bark. Ivan and Felix, who stepped through a dimension door closer to the willow to inspect it, were quite surprised by the transformation, but wasted no time walloping at the willow. Igrainne, who previously stood just off the muddy patch, was already 60 feet away, sending arrow after arrow into the rotten abomination. Glint summoned some fireballs, for self-defense more than in honest hope of damaging anything, and rushed to join Igrainne in the back. He expected Veridian to follow, but the man stepped right up to the mud. Glint was ready to commend his scientific rigor before realizing it was probably the enchantment effect they’d previously observed on the frog. Desperate, the genasi cast a whip at the creature’s mind, and its slightly dazed expression told him the spell had worked.
Felix bore the same expression, and started to sink into the mud quicker than expected. He could have sunk completely if not for Ivan who, despite all their previous bickering, rushed to pull his friend out of the mud without a second thought.
Veridian was smart enough to recognize that a sudden desire to get neck-deep into a suspicious-looking body of water wasn’t exactly normal outside the Fort Ettin spa, and he quickly dispelled the charm their enemy placed on him.
Ivan pommeled the creature with his monstrous axe, while Igrainne made their opponent look like a needle cushion someone forgot under a sofa for half a century. Glint sent two fireballs into the creature’s shoulder. They puffed against the rotting bark pathetically, earning him a look more quizzical than his mind whip did. Veridian shook his head and summoned nine pillars of fire that slammed into the wooden body like a burning hurricane. The creature shook, parts of its bark deteriorating completely and falling off like pustules, but it remained standing, and even took to the wing.
It turned its gaze to Glint, whatever meagre intelligence it possessed having caught up with the idea he was clearly the safest target. The creature, beaten up but still menacing, raised one of its rotten appendages. Glint took a step back, panic in his eyes. Belatedly, he realized he wouldn’t be able to make a run for it. He heard Felix playing something suspiciously requiem-like. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Igrainne knocking another arrow onto her bow and aiming through him, apparently foreseeing him not being in the picture the next moment, and Veridian preparing a diamond for the resurrection spell.
So, Glint put his faith in his signature spell. He reached into his pouches, grabbed two fistfuls of ash and threw them in small dusty missiles, speaking the wording of his sleep spell with more confidence than he had in it.
‘Yashen!’
The word rang across the meadow.
The monster didn’t budge.
‘Aaaaa... that’s all I’ve got, I’m afraid!’ He half-sobbed, voice consisting exclusively of panic notes. Desperate, he scrambled backwards, trying to fend off the creature with any projectiles he could reach.
Which just so happened to be the last two of his meteors.
A small burning rock hit the muddy monstrosity in the forehead with a force barely sufficient to attract the attention of an overly excitable dog.
The creature stumbled.
Once.
Twice.
And collapsed on itself with a thundering sound of cracking wood and slurping mud.
The party stood in awkward silence. Glint was gaping at his own hands in disbelieve. Ivan froze mid-swing.
‘You… little kill-stealing shit,’ Felix managed, failing to keep an awe out of his voice.
That brought Glint out of his shocked silence.
‘What?! No, I didn’t mean to kill!’ He managed, sounding more uneven than a fifteen-year-old going from contralto to baritone.
Just as he said it, the pile of mud started shuffling.
‘Then congratulations,’ Igrainne huffed, knocking another arrow with a tired frown.
However, instead of reforming, the creature shed its muddy rotten form, and unfurled its wings: large and radiant, glowing with pristine beauty. As it stood up, instead of the muddy monstrosity, the party saw a divine chiseled form of a celestial, radiating grace and peacefulness.
‘Oh, thank gods I didn’t kill anything!’ Glint said with a breath of immense relief.
‘Well, you killed that thing.’ The celestial shrugged, gesturing to the rapidly reducing pile of mud at his feet. ‘It was undead already, but still. I’m very grateful, by the way. It was quite bothersome being controlled by this creature.’
Their new acquaintance, Tabby, told him how he was snatched from the Celestial plane by this formless undead entity and dragged into the material plane. He thanked his saviors and hurried back to his post under the guidance of Liira.
Glint thought that this would be the story of the day, but as they returned to Agatha for their payment and more pies, their employer told them quite a few stories from her own adventuring youth that were more than enough to ground even someone as vain as a fire genasi.
