A Call For Assistance - 24/08/2022 - A Kavel Perspective

One of those Middle of the Night Direct to Your Brain Requests

I was alone in my room asleep, and then I heard in my head a tiny voice that said:

"Ehm... hello? Hello, can you hear me? Humanoid adventurer person? Am I doing this right? I... haven't had a lot of practice. Oh, I'm Iqpi, by the way! My friend found a Loviatan cult, and thinks they're very bad. Well, they are. Can you... can you help deal with them? That would be very nice. We'll meet you on the edge of the big forest. Local people call it Feythorn, I think? Don't forget to get a big stick!"

As I sat upright, I looked to the side and asked myself, “what is a Loviatan? And who is making it possible for random magic-users I do not know to have direct access to my head? Are my psychic magic-user friends handing out keys to my brain?”


The Feythorn Forest Close to Port Ffirst

In a clearing amongst the fir trees, I saw fellow adventurers. There was my most recent adventuring companion, comrade Amble, the gnome wizard riding his mastiff, Stiffy. My bro, Toothy was there, the Drow Thicc-Boi most similar to me out of all the Thicc-Bois, which is funny since we are so dissimilar too. Toothy’s mum, I recently learned, is the lady Jeziah Miller. She is very refined. She is also fit. Zola was there too, another fighty drow friend of mine, this one is a dual wielder to Toothy’s glaive master. Also there was a new comrade, Glade, who Mendal told me about. Glade has flowery hair and as just a young, Earth-Genasi druid she can solve food-poverty in a day. Mendal said she regrew a field of pumpkins in a few hours.

New comrade Glade helped me with my question, “what is a Loviatan?” She explained that a Loviatan is simply a worshipper of Loviatar, a cruel god. My other question about mental communication was answered too. Iqpi, is a Couatl, and these serpentine feather-winged dragons have great psionic power - Iqpi didn’t need a key to my head, it seemed.

Comrade Zola used her Divine Sense to see if she could detect Iqpi’s presence. She could not. I asked comrade Toothy, my ‘brother from a fit mother’ if whenever he wanted to know the answer to a question about the local terrain, would a kind bear appear and provide him with answers?

“Toothy, bro. I see you have been making some gains. Very good! Do you know Mr. Bear?”

Toothy was familiar with what I was talking about, but said he regularly sees a pig and/or stag spirit when he ‘communes with nature’, as he puts it. Toothy said he would introduce me to Mr. Pig, and comrade Glade joined us, as we sought to let nature provide us a path to take to find Iqpi. Comrade Amble said he’d let Owl go have a look from above. I refrained from mentioning his owl familiar had defective eyesight when we were in Galavir last week, because I thought he might be sad that he wouldn’t be able to see Mr. Pig. Normally only I can see Mr. Bear in whatever adventuring party I’m in.

Comrade Zola went for a walk as the nature-communers sat around for ten minutes asking self-reflectively which direction to follow until a helpful spirit animal gave us insight. It’s just as well Zola went for a walk with Corr’Vandor. I fear if she joined us, she’d coop the spirit calling to chat with dead Ophanim.


If You Question; Pig Will Come

Mr. Pig, the spiritual pig appeared. Before Mr. Pig gave us any insight, Toothy gave Mr. Pig scritches for about five minutes.

Mr. Pig informed us that there was a powerful celestial at play, and influence from the Banehold plane. Mr. Pig told us this while sitting in Toothy’s lap, back to Toothy’s belly, held in a cuddle. When Mr. Pig was done, he got up out of Toothy’s lap and trotted towards the treeline. Before he disappeared, I said:

“Goodbye Mr. Pig. Please say hello to Mr. Bear for me!” Mr. Pig oinked that he would.

Mr. Pig had given us a direction to head towards, and we were ready to follow. Amble said Owl had seen flashes of orange and blue about 300 feet away to the south, while we were chatting to Mr. Pig. I was surprised. I asked Amble, “comrade, is this the same owl familiar from Galavir last week?” I was further surprised to learn that it really was.


A Strange Companion Suddenly Appeared

As we walked into the forest, me and Toothy both saw a small, humanoid figure; a little girl. She seemed to be hiding behind a tree and hadn’t noticed us. I alerted the others to the small child and asked if anyone recognised her.

“Nira!” Glade shouted, clearly recognising the young girl. “What are you doing here?!”

Toothy suddenly realised he recognised the girl too. I eventually realised I have been told about her, by Mendal who had accompanied both Glade and Toothy in some work requested by Toothy’s fit mum. On that adventure, they met the girl, Nira Rosewalker.

Nira explained that she was playing Hide & Seek with Iqpi - the person who we were looking for. Also, Nira was winning, apparently. However, a flying snake dragon with bird wings, a couatl, flew in and booped Nira on the head with its tail, and declared, “I win.” This was Iqpi. “Thanks everyone for showing up!” Iqpi said, and hugged Toothy.


Toothy - A Thicc-Boi Origin

Nira went round petting all the animals; Corr’Vandor and Stiffy - I’m sure Owl would have been petted if Amble hadn’t dismissed him earlier.

It turned out that Nira was an accidental summon. Couatls have powerful mind powers, but Iqpi is young and a novice. In calling for us, they accidentally brought Nira here too.

Iqpi had a friend in the forest called Sardaq. Sardaq was familiar to Toothy. Sardaq, I believe is drow, and was tricked into killing a much younger Toothy. He did not succeed, clearly. However, as a paladin, Sardaq had gone against the direction of his deity, and was punished for doing so - I was yet to verify this, but was told Sardaq is now a living, huge, poisonous shrub. Sardaq, as part of his redemption is the one who taught Toothy his mastery with the glaive. Toothy is exceptional with a glaive. I know this, as I have fought beside him. He carries an ornate sword with him now, I see. It looks impressive, but the glaive in his hands is the real threat.


Deeper Into The Forest

It was tough going through the forest - because it was like having a pair of four years olds with us. Nira, I believe the small human was four years old. But, from the way Iqpi behaved, you’d think the Couatl was the same age. Nira was very happy to tell us what type of adventurer she will be when she is older, and Iqpi is quite excitable too.

There were birds in the trees. Glade observed that the eyes of the birds were all blue, and informed us that Lliira, the opposing deity to the deity of pain, Loviatar was watching. Glade knew all of this because she can speak with animals, and learnt everything from a bird that came to rest on her hand. I conferred with Toothy, and my suspicion was correct; of course Toothy could talk with animals like me - so different yet so similar. Amusingly, comrade Zola’s paladin god blessed her with animal speech and Amble, as a Wizard had learnt the Speak with Animals spell. So, it turned out all of us understand the bird.

Zola said this relationship between Lliira and Loviatar was much like one I was familiar with; Selune and Shar. I needed some prompting. Zola prompted me by mentioning ‘the Azellah’.


Cabin In The Woods

As we came towards a log building, we were greeted by the poisonous vegetation that is Sardaq, trainer of Toothy. Toothy would have hugged Sardaq, but unfortunately he is poisonous to the touch.

Sardaq had managed to track the Loviatan, cloaked cultists to this cabin. The cultists had recently vacated the cabin. Sardaq was not sure when they would be back, but wanted to investigate the hideout. Unfortunately for him, the cultists were aware of the presence of a large, enemy paladin in the forest. They had fortified the entrance to what looked like a cellar, so that Sardaq could not go in. We agreed to investigate in his place, and he agreed to protect Nira outside.


Cabin Reconnaissance

I assisted Zola in scouting around the cabin. There were humanoid tracks around. Amble was the first to see the Loviatar, nine-tail whip symbol painted in blood on the cellar door. As well as painted, it was etched, as it looked like bleeding fingers and nails were responsible for the sign. Toothy with his paints, and Glade with some magic decided to make some alterations to the artwork. I am told what they created was the symbol of Lliira and that Lliira was pleased.

We opened the cellar door and went down.


Down In The Cellar

There was a low whimper coming from somewhere. In the reinforced, anti-Sardaq stairwell, Amble had a look around the stairwell and found that the various crates he saw all had different symbols, as if signatures of different groups.. Zola’s Divine Sense, as she entered the middle of the rectangular room did not alert her to any threats she could be forewarned about. The room was laid out like a religious building. There was bench seating facing an altar in the far western end. Toothy went up to the altar where the whimper could be heard. Glade moved to the centre with Zola, opposite a southern side room. I joined them, too, but then went north to an opposing side room looking for hidden threats. Before I poked my head into the side room, I noticed the large pot in the corner was very suspicious. Inside the pot was a very large vine attached to heavy roots. These roots twitched as if in pain. Roots aren’t supposed to do that. Nor are they supposed to have crazy reach…


Hostile Plants!

Poor Stiffy was still with us, and there was now not just a large mass of threatening vines in front of me. A mass of vines had appeared in front of Amble by the stairwell in the eastern side of the cellar. One had emerged from the centre of the room near Zola and Glade, another joined Toothy at the altar, and there was a sound from the southern corner room that sounded like a fifth one.

Zola’s divine magic shone around her in an expansive area and I felt my fists shine with radiant starlight. Nice. I entered into a battlerage, a radiant battlerage.

Amble casted something, I’m not sure what, but it appeared to occupy the focus of his own oppressive plant adversary, which allowed Stiffy to escape to the centre of the room, which was a little safer. Zola, duel swords in hand slashed down at her own plant enemy cutting into the vines. The plant attempted to grapple her with a whip of its vines, but her footwork saved her - mine did not, I was grappled, and not best pleased with being on the opposite side of someone’s dominating grip!
Poor Glade was also tied up by the plant in front of me. Glade was some distance from me, the vines really did have a good reach. Toothy as well, I could see, had been tied up in vines. Something curious, and painful happened next. The hidden plant in the southern corner seemed to send lightning into my plant in the northern corner, which then got sent out into me and comrade Glade. I was ready. The batterage and dedication to conditioning made the shock of lightning feel like powerful static and nothing more. It did, however, not seem like Glade experienced the shock the same way; she was in pain. Toothy, my thicc-boi bro also seemed to surprisingly be in pain, but then again he was busy looking at a notebook he found on the altar - he did not enter a battlerage, yet.

Stuck within my opponent’s grip, fuck it, I did not bother to try escaping. It was my waist that was restricted, not my limbs - left hook, right straight, left roundhouse kick - I was going to smash my way out of this grapple! As my kick landed, I felt invigorated by my own powerful strike. I heard Toothy reach for a weapon - it was glaive slashing time!


It Was Greatsword Slashing Time…

I turned to look, as Toothy was taking slashs at his plant adversary with a greatsword. He was proficient, sure, but there was no mastery on display, not like when he wielded his glaive… at least he was now in a battlerage.

I could feel Glade cast a focusing spell on me, as if I was receiving the blessing of maybe Lliira, as Amble continued to thankfully somehow draw the bludgeoning and lightning strikes of his plant away from him. Zola continued to hack and slash the large collection of vines in front of her, and punctuated a combination of attacks with a sword flourish. Her plant foe was torn to pieces, but took advantage of the pause in Zola’s attacks, and whipped out a vine that captured her round the waist. All but Amble and Stiffy were tied-up by the plants, and took a round of shared, distributed lightning damage.

I smashed my fists into the plant monstrosity holding both me and Glade, “let me go! Only I grapple!” I protested bruising the vine monster, but not weakening its grip. I could have done with comrade Glade using her plant magic offensively, but she made the right call in using her healing magic on herself. The double dose of lightning had seared her badly.


Doubling Up!

Comrade Amble, was the first to start the strategic doubling up. His magic was keeping him safe from the plant nearest him, so he casted a thunderously loud spell at Zola’s toppling plant monster - it looked ready to fall. I saw very powerful smite magic shine in Zola’s swords as she cut down her adversary and ended its movement. This movement ended ceremoniously with the plant bursting into pieces covering anything nearby - including Zola. Zola, free of an opponent, continued the doubling up, and moved to my side, further smite magic shining bright in her blade as she hacked deep into my plant opponent with terrifying magical and radiant slashs. Another plant monster fell to my paladin comrade’s strikes - and a double plant soaking of Zola as a mist of plant covered her, and also me.

In all our success, the eastern stairwell plant had broken free of comrade Amble’s magical control and tied him up. We were too late for the lightning strike that the southern vine, behind the door of the corner room, charged into the eastern plant and was unleashed into poor Amble, who looked charred and smelt like burnt toast - he was hurting a lot. Toothy too took a tremendous dosage of lightning, but I was less concerned with the toll on my thicc-boi comrade - he was a pro at taking it and dishing it out… even if he was continuing to let his glaive rest idly in favour of his greatsword! Fortunately, comrade Glade looked after Amble with some more curative magic.


Magic Will Help A Dog Learn A New Trick - Door Mastery

It’s possible comrade Amble is quite the dog trainer, but I could swear I saw Stiffy’s eyes turn the same blue colour as the birds out in the forest and he went up to the southern door where the unopposed plant was and shut the door on it.

Unopposed myself standing in front of Zola’s second plant kill, I switched targets and joined in with the doubling up. I ran towards Amble’s plant adversary, rykering over Amble’s gnome height with ease and efficiency (rykering: is when you sit down by lifting a leg off the ground and swinging it over a seat’s backrest, usually to sit down. However, just the act of swinging the leg over could be considered ‘Rykering’ without finishing in a seat. This is only possible where the backrest is low to your groin when standing, much like a gnome is lower to my goliath groin. I performed this move because my back was hurting from the vine’s waistlock. Rykering, you see, is for avoiding back pain; but only manageable if you are tall).
After my successful rykering of Amble, I assaulted the eastern plant with smashing fists, bruising it up for whipping lightning into my gnome comrade. Zola hot on my heels joined in with dual blade slashes and brought this fight to a conclusion with another stunning flourish of sword slashes - she went three for three; kills and plant coating. And I noted my radiant fists were clearly not charged up with the same amount of radiant energy as her smites!

Toothy was walking towards me and Zola as we met him in the centre. His plant foe at the altar was motionless and in pieces, he had plant explosion on his chest. We looked at the closed door where Stiffy was and nodded at each other. Toothy patted the good boy Stiffy, as I opened the door, telling Zola I’ll try and hold it down while she shanks it dead. I opened the door, and Zola shanked it dead without me - four for four. I was slightly jealous, but at least I avoided the plant explosion.


Picking Up That Investigation We Barely Started

Glade said she had been communicating in a plant language with the plants during the fight. She mentioned they said they didn’t want to die, but they were too far gone and in agony. So, it seems we put them out of their misery.

There was lots of ritual stuff in the cellar. Some of the roots that were unharmed seemed quite valuable to my carpentry eyes. It would sell well. Me and Toothy took as much as we could find. Maybe I’ll make a nice club out of some of them?

Glade was able to read half of the page of the notebook Toothy had picked up from the altar. It said;

Ke'ev Lelo Shem - Pain with no Name.
Loviatar of the Whip, the happy fear thee
Trampling down joy and revelry
From thy Throne of Silence
Grant voice to my suffering

This was not my area of expertise, I was lost.

Amble confirmed something we all suspected, the large pot I found before the fighting commenced was magical. We also found a magic scroll, a magic staff and a dictionary of primordial.


Reconvening With Sardaq

Nira was safe. We told Sardaq what happened in the cellar and showed him what we found. He decided he would resolve to keep monitoring this place. Toothy and Zola willingly mentioned they would help as much as they could.

Zola gave voice to a thought I had about Sardaq - his deity is harsh, cursing him with immortal plant life is extreme.

My comrades resolved to get the notebook properly translated. More of Toothy’s history came up, and mention of his mother, the lady Jeziah Miller.

“I like your mum,” I told Toothy. I just felt compelled to mention that. She is very fit.

I couldn’t believe, it turned out, that several of my comrades were not aware of their birthdays. Zola corrected what was my mishearing; she actually does know her birthday, but her adoptive mothers had to divine it for her.

“I like your mums, too Zola,” an honest compunction within me drove me to once again comment on another comrade’s mother(s). Zola reassured me that they liked me too. She also felt that whatever strength gain deal one of her mum’s was offering me in their Feywild home was probably worth it. So, something to consider if I see them again. At the same time though, Marto cautioned me, Derthaad said, “no!” and only Zola has said, ‘go for it’. I am preparing to visit Nathalie, I wonder if she has an opinion on this, as another Feywild native?


Stop Off At The Rosewalker House

We said goodbye to Sardaq and Iqpi and accompanied our adventuring-dreaming, little comrade back to her house, where we discovered her mother wanted her daughter to have nothing to do with adventurers. I already knew this though, since Mendal told me about her. I don’t blame her. Her position is understandable. Zola, much like Lord Jaezred (Mendal told me) thought the mother’s disapproval of adventurers was a sure fire guarantee that Nira would continue to pursue adventuring when older.


It’s Time

The next day, I went to visit Silvia and Sorrel. I announced it was time, and Sorrel agreed to come with me to the Damphenite Tangle, while Silvia continued to rest. Sister is to meet my potential girlfriend. Sorrel was a little uncomfortable. I’m not sure why, I’m sure Nathalie will like a warrior like Sorrel.

On my way to Port Ffirst to check up on the Legacy, I ran into Derthaad - he is coming to the Damphenite Tangle too!

In Port Ffirst, berthed next to The Legacy was one of the only other functional ships, which was captained by an adventurer I had yet to meet - comrade Taz, the dragonborn blade master. Turns out he is also a tough fighter-come carpenter like me. He built his ship! We talked a little about The Legacy and he agreed to come with me to the Damphenite Tangle where we could talk some more. I ran into comrade Felix by The Green Room (my earliest, big carpentry construction) and he was making good use of it. I mentioned the song potential of the wonderful place that is the Damphenite Tangle - and I then had another recruit!

I had packed the wooden statue of Nathalie and the stone statue of me. I had reserved a big food hamper at the Gilded Mirror for the day of travel. It will either serve as picnic-date material, or an ambassadorial gift for the Damphenite Tangle. Maybe if the sprites don’t shrink the content, it will go further? I had asked the portal operators at Portal Plaza if there was anyone familiar with the Damphenite Tangle, if not the Summer or Harmony Court would have to do. I was all prepared, I think.


Beetle In The Sky With Deliveries

On the way back to the Dwarven Quarter, I looked up at the rooftop and saw a familiar fairy sized individual flying and jumping on the rooftops. This was comrade Beets doing her ‘Bug-kour’ as she called it. With some rapid breathing I entered my battlerage to ready my body. I sat into a deep squat, and then launched myself into the air with the power of dedication to super heavy squats, which as I suspected had eventually allowed me to fly like an eagle - or at least fly a little bit. It is kind of more like very high and long jumping, but I can do all kinds of acrobatic and agile movements while I am in the air, which regular jumpers definitely cannot do!

Beets was surprised to see me alongside her going from roof to roof. I told her about my planned visit to go see Nathalie. Beets was pleased, but distracted, and mentioned she would not be able to join me. This was a shame. Beets didn’t have the time to stop and chat, which was unfortunate, so I was not able to check up on recent news that my old comrade, Archie had informed me about.

I stood on the rooftop alone, as I watched Beets run towards wherever she was headed. Oh well, maybe I’ll have some news for Beets when I’m back, I thought, and then jumped back down to the street - no more jump-flying - it’s actually quite rage-exhausting. Best save those super-jumps for special occasions.