Post by Andy D on Sept 20, 2022 15:30:35 GMT
The adventure in the Damphenite Tangle almost ended with a less triumphant finish than what would have been expected for saving the Spiritual Leader of the Sprite warriors.
Derthaad's mark from the Queen of Air and Darkness was not a welcome sight in the Summer Courts of the Feywild. The adventurers had been lucky for the mark not to have been noticed until the end of their time in the Sprite city. Fortunately, Derthaad had his actions to speak for him; being part of the team that rescued the Spiritual Leader, Nathalie Walnut. In addition, his comrade Kavel - Nathalie's now bonded partner - spoke for him, and this helped a great deal too.
Political crisis averted, the adventurers were invited to enjoy an evening in the Damphenite Hot Springs and rest before journeying back to the material plane the next day. During the evening, Kavel and Nathalie managed to spend time to themselves, where the two of them committed themselves to a bond that would enable the pair to cross the planes during a new moon, and be together.
Back in Daring Heights, the adventurers said their goodbyes. Felix, Derthaad and Taz went their separate ways, leaving Sorrel and Kavel together at Portal Plaza.
"Vel, bror, kjærlighet er rart." Kavel heard from his human sister.
…
"... did you just say 'well brother love is strange', in my native language? Sorrel, when do you speak Giant?" Kavel asked, a little confused.
Sorrel feigned surprise. "Why brother, did you not know I was fluent?"
She tried to keep a straight face but his confusion was so charming and he was clearly still slightly love dazed.
“...” Kavel gawped ignorantly at Sorrel.
“Where… did you say you came from again?”
She giggled - what was it with Kavel and her giggling - “no brother, I’m messing with you. Kruger has been teaching me for the past…” she frowned and counted. “Four months, I think? Roughly. Every week. Started with the basics. The military stuff was interesting. Helped me understand some of the lifting heavy objects stuff. And man, you have some impressive swear words.”
“Kruger…” it took Kavel a while to process what Sorrel had said. “Ah, of course! You are the one he is teaching Giant to. You have learnt a lot, it seems. Well done!” Kavel congratulated Sorrel. He was happy with her efforts and she seemed to be pleased and having fun too, which he enjoyed in return.
Kavel wrapped an arm round his sister’s shoulder, and pulled her in with his hand. He looked at Sorrel’s face and smiled, “So then, in Giant or in Common, let me know; what do you think of Nathalie? Do you like her?”
"Of Nathalie many thoughts am I having of my brain," she furrowed her brow as she plundered her memory for the right words. "Of beauty, 10 of 10 or many more. Of warrior, 10 of 10 of fightings. Of protection most queen. Poor Derthaad," she gave what she hoped sounded like a giant's laugh. "Nathalie and her people of children being to her in form and motherlike of concern in..." she paused.
"Kavel, I'll get better, I promise," she resorted to Common. "I thought she was perfect. I mean just perfect. Kick ass, smart, thoughtful, tiny bit crazy which is always essential and hot. I mean, if she batted for my team..." she bit off her thoughts. "The only thing is..." she shaded her eyes as she looked up at her towering brother. "The height business. I guess you can only live for today as an adventurer. And the heart wants what the heart wants."
“Hmmm. Yes,” Kavel agreed, “the height difference seems like it will be tricky long term. Magic will surely help though - like the potion does for a day. We’ll have to see what solution exists for the long term.” Kavel at present was very happy with the relationship as it currently stood. Future concerns were for the future.
As he looked at Sorrel, Kavel grinned. He moved the arm he had round her shoulder to wrap up her neck in a bulldog grip, and then rubbed his opposite hand’s lead knuckle across the top of her head. “I knew you would agree Nathalie is hot,” he said whilst having fun torturing his sister.
“Kavel knows his human sister is a very thirsty lesbian! To be fair, how could you not find Nathalie sexy, am I right? Ha, ha!”
Sorrel feigned mock indignation. "I would expect nothing less! If I have a brother, I expect him to be hot and... how do you say it? Thicc? Although..." she trailed off wistfully. "It would be nice to be called Auntie Sorrel by some nieces and nephews. Early days, obviously. Forget I said anything. I do have one thing I'd like to show you though brother..."
She slid her bow from the miraculous quiver Nathalie had gifted her, stroked it fondly for a second and caught Kavel's eye. "She's got taste, your girl."
Then she pulled the string back, nocked an arrow and cast her eye around the street. She spotted a water barrel at the corner of a building and nodded towards it. "You know your strength training clubs? Look at what the extra muscle gives my pull-back and release..."
She gave the bow string an extra pull, sighted and let loose the arrow, which flew at a brutal speed shattering the barrel to pieces.
She looked up at Kavel, stricken. "Maybe we should run?"
It was a truly impressive shot, Kavel thought to himself, and he was rather proud of what his sister had achieved adhering to his training routines. But, vandalism was not befitting of law abiding adventurers - even if they did just want to show off to their brother.
“... very impressive sister! Club training has made you even more deadly with a bow,” Kavel complimented. But, with concern for how the scene looked, and under Sorrel’s own advice, Kavel pulled Sorrel in towards him once again.
“You are right, little hooligan; we shall leave. Now, trust brother and hold on tight - he can fly. Time for you to see what I have achieved with my own strength training.”
With an arm wrapped now round Sorrel’s waist, Kavel commenced his battlerage breathing to pump air into his powerful leg muscles. The Half-Giant dropped into a deep squat, and then launched himself and Sorrel up into the air 120ft up and forward away from trouble.
A couple hundred feet later, with a couple of resets on some rooftops, Kavel and Sorrel were safely back on the ground some 300ft away from Portal Plaza.
“What do you think, sister? Impressive heh? I fly…” Kavel coughed and hid the word ‘jump’ mid cough, “... like an eagle now.”
Sorrel looked at Kavel with a level of surprise she found hard to conceal. "Brother, your fists can tear fiends to pieces and now you can fly... you are dangerous in a way few I have ever met are dangerous. I suppose there are mages who could stand against us, but I would not fancy many creatures chances."
She laughed briefly as memories came flooding in. "Do you remember the first time we met? The Angelbark Forest hunting corpse flowers with a T Rex. You charged a corpse flower solo and some weird magic brought you down and I lost my mind and killed the thing." She drifted for a second at the shock. "I remember watching you stitch your wounds that night as I tried to sleep and thinking how you comforted me with your presence. And now, you are an eagle deeply in love with a warrior queen and yet you are still the same - you would still charge a creature not caring if it was stronger than you because you will not accept the possibility of defeat. You are like a river, my brother, always flowing, always changing but always there. And, given time, you can carve mountains."
“Hmmm,” Kavel thought back to their first meeting, “yes. I fought with my maul back then. The huge, dead plant thing caught me off guard didn’t it? I don’t think I would have imagined back then that I would have fallen in love with a tiny person. Ha! I came here to find a connection to a mysterious mountain. Instead, I have become enchanted by a magical canyon.”
“And you,” Kavel said, smiling at Sorrel, “you’ve changed too. You are not just more deadly with a bow, but you’ve grown spiritually with; your time spent in the temple, and with Silvia. Perhaps you are ready to be Aunty Sorrel, heh? But, give me some time first. At the moment, me and Nathalie will be seeing each other once a month.” Kavel held up his Damphenite-rock magenta, bangle that bonded him and his Sprite lover.
“For a while, I was scared the mark of Air and Darkness would put a dampener on Nathalie and my relationship. But, fortunately I was able to defend Derthaad well enough. Nathalie was apprehensive, to say the least, but understanding, too. Oh! Also, she liked your chocolates. Thank you!”
Sorrel gave him an appraising look. "I think there's something in the soil here that plays tricks with the likes of us," she said finally. "I came here on the run from death and heartbreak and for a while I thought this was a place like any other where my skills would earn me money for a while and then I'd move on. I was looking to lose my pain by bringing death. And it taught me lesson after lesson until it was under my skin. Slowly I let people in - starting with you brother - then learned that protection meant more than killing. I think maybe in a year or two I may settle here for good. Maybe set up a branch of the House. I'm trying to work it out. But I'm realising the Dawnlands gave me what I was looking for just not in the way I'd planned."
She hesitated. She might have learned Giant, but she knew there were oceans of meaning behind the words that she didn't understand. She hoped she wasn't about to tread on something sacred. "And look at you now. Your training has made you bigger. You travel across planes and worlds. Your powers grow into magical feats beyond most mortals' comprehension. And you have fallen for a woman in a world where, without enchantment, you are so mighty and vast that your head might as well be in the clouds. Perhaps, my friend, you are the mysterious moving mountain you came looking for. Perhaps that's the trick the Dawnlands gave you."
She smiled and hugged as much of him as she could get arms round. "I'm glad Nathalie liked the chocolates. Next time I'll bring her a necklace or something that doesn't melt. It's good being on the road with you again. Let's do it again soon. This place isn't finished with us yet."
Derthaad's mark from the Queen of Air and Darkness was not a welcome sight in the Summer Courts of the Feywild. The adventurers had been lucky for the mark not to have been noticed until the end of their time in the Sprite city. Fortunately, Derthaad had his actions to speak for him; being part of the team that rescued the Spiritual Leader, Nathalie Walnut. In addition, his comrade Kavel - Nathalie's now bonded partner - spoke for him, and this helped a great deal too.
Political crisis averted, the adventurers were invited to enjoy an evening in the Damphenite Hot Springs and rest before journeying back to the material plane the next day. During the evening, Kavel and Nathalie managed to spend time to themselves, where the two of them committed themselves to a bond that would enable the pair to cross the planes during a new moon, and be together.
Back in Daring Heights, the adventurers said their goodbyes. Felix, Derthaad and Taz went their separate ways, leaving Sorrel and Kavel together at Portal Plaza.
"Vel, bror, kjærlighet er rart." Kavel heard from his human sister.
…
"... did you just say 'well brother love is strange', in my native language? Sorrel, when do you speak Giant?" Kavel asked, a little confused.
Sorrel feigned surprise. "Why brother, did you not know I was fluent?"
She tried to keep a straight face but his confusion was so charming and he was clearly still slightly love dazed.
“...” Kavel gawped ignorantly at Sorrel.
“Where… did you say you came from again?”
She giggled - what was it with Kavel and her giggling - “no brother, I’m messing with you. Kruger has been teaching me for the past…” she frowned and counted. “Four months, I think? Roughly. Every week. Started with the basics. The military stuff was interesting. Helped me understand some of the lifting heavy objects stuff. And man, you have some impressive swear words.”
“Kruger…” it took Kavel a while to process what Sorrel had said. “Ah, of course! You are the one he is teaching Giant to. You have learnt a lot, it seems. Well done!” Kavel congratulated Sorrel. He was happy with her efforts and she seemed to be pleased and having fun too, which he enjoyed in return.
Kavel wrapped an arm round his sister’s shoulder, and pulled her in with his hand. He looked at Sorrel’s face and smiled, “So then, in Giant or in Common, let me know; what do you think of Nathalie? Do you like her?”
"Of Nathalie many thoughts am I having of my brain," she furrowed her brow as she plundered her memory for the right words. "Of beauty, 10 of 10 or many more. Of warrior, 10 of 10 of fightings. Of protection most queen. Poor Derthaad," she gave what she hoped sounded like a giant's laugh. "Nathalie and her people of children being to her in form and motherlike of concern in..." she paused.
"Kavel, I'll get better, I promise," she resorted to Common. "I thought she was perfect. I mean just perfect. Kick ass, smart, thoughtful, tiny bit crazy which is always essential and hot. I mean, if she batted for my team..." she bit off her thoughts. "The only thing is..." she shaded her eyes as she looked up at her towering brother. "The height business. I guess you can only live for today as an adventurer. And the heart wants what the heart wants."
“Hmmm. Yes,” Kavel agreed, “the height difference seems like it will be tricky long term. Magic will surely help though - like the potion does for a day. We’ll have to see what solution exists for the long term.” Kavel at present was very happy with the relationship as it currently stood. Future concerns were for the future.
As he looked at Sorrel, Kavel grinned. He moved the arm he had round her shoulder to wrap up her neck in a bulldog grip, and then rubbed his opposite hand’s lead knuckle across the top of her head. “I knew you would agree Nathalie is hot,” he said whilst having fun torturing his sister.
“Kavel knows his human sister is a very thirsty lesbian! To be fair, how could you not find Nathalie sexy, am I right? Ha, ha!”
Sorrel feigned mock indignation. "I would expect nothing less! If I have a brother, I expect him to be hot and... how do you say it? Thicc? Although..." she trailed off wistfully. "It would be nice to be called Auntie Sorrel by some nieces and nephews. Early days, obviously. Forget I said anything. I do have one thing I'd like to show you though brother..."
She slid her bow from the miraculous quiver Nathalie had gifted her, stroked it fondly for a second and caught Kavel's eye. "She's got taste, your girl."
Then she pulled the string back, nocked an arrow and cast her eye around the street. She spotted a water barrel at the corner of a building and nodded towards it. "You know your strength training clubs? Look at what the extra muscle gives my pull-back and release..."
She gave the bow string an extra pull, sighted and let loose the arrow, which flew at a brutal speed shattering the barrel to pieces.
She looked up at Kavel, stricken. "Maybe we should run?"
It was a truly impressive shot, Kavel thought to himself, and he was rather proud of what his sister had achieved adhering to his training routines. But, vandalism was not befitting of law abiding adventurers - even if they did just want to show off to their brother.
“... very impressive sister! Club training has made you even more deadly with a bow,” Kavel complimented. But, with concern for how the scene looked, and under Sorrel’s own advice, Kavel pulled Sorrel in towards him once again.
“You are right, little hooligan; we shall leave. Now, trust brother and hold on tight - he can fly. Time for you to see what I have achieved with my own strength training.”
With an arm wrapped now round Sorrel’s waist, Kavel commenced his battlerage breathing to pump air into his powerful leg muscles. The Half-Giant dropped into a deep squat, and then launched himself and Sorrel up into the air 120ft up and forward away from trouble.
A couple hundred feet later, with a couple of resets on some rooftops, Kavel and Sorrel were safely back on the ground some 300ft away from Portal Plaza.
“What do you think, sister? Impressive heh? I fly…” Kavel coughed and hid the word ‘jump’ mid cough, “... like an eagle now.”
Sorrel looked at Kavel with a level of surprise she found hard to conceal. "Brother, your fists can tear fiends to pieces and now you can fly... you are dangerous in a way few I have ever met are dangerous. I suppose there are mages who could stand against us, but I would not fancy many creatures chances."
She laughed briefly as memories came flooding in. "Do you remember the first time we met? The Angelbark Forest hunting corpse flowers with a T Rex. You charged a corpse flower solo and some weird magic brought you down and I lost my mind and killed the thing." She drifted for a second at the shock. "I remember watching you stitch your wounds that night as I tried to sleep and thinking how you comforted me with your presence. And now, you are an eagle deeply in love with a warrior queen and yet you are still the same - you would still charge a creature not caring if it was stronger than you because you will not accept the possibility of defeat. You are like a river, my brother, always flowing, always changing but always there. And, given time, you can carve mountains."
“Hmmm,” Kavel thought back to their first meeting, “yes. I fought with my maul back then. The huge, dead plant thing caught me off guard didn’t it? I don’t think I would have imagined back then that I would have fallen in love with a tiny person. Ha! I came here to find a connection to a mysterious mountain. Instead, I have become enchanted by a magical canyon.”
“And you,” Kavel said, smiling at Sorrel, “you’ve changed too. You are not just more deadly with a bow, but you’ve grown spiritually with; your time spent in the temple, and with Silvia. Perhaps you are ready to be Aunty Sorrel, heh? But, give me some time first. At the moment, me and Nathalie will be seeing each other once a month.” Kavel held up his Damphenite-rock magenta, bangle that bonded him and his Sprite lover.
“For a while, I was scared the mark of Air and Darkness would put a dampener on Nathalie and my relationship. But, fortunately I was able to defend Derthaad well enough. Nathalie was apprehensive, to say the least, but understanding, too. Oh! Also, she liked your chocolates. Thank you!”
Sorrel gave him an appraising look. "I think there's something in the soil here that plays tricks with the likes of us," she said finally. "I came here on the run from death and heartbreak and for a while I thought this was a place like any other where my skills would earn me money for a while and then I'd move on. I was looking to lose my pain by bringing death. And it taught me lesson after lesson until it was under my skin. Slowly I let people in - starting with you brother - then learned that protection meant more than killing. I think maybe in a year or two I may settle here for good. Maybe set up a branch of the House. I'm trying to work it out. But I'm realising the Dawnlands gave me what I was looking for just not in the way I'd planned."
She hesitated. She might have learned Giant, but she knew there were oceans of meaning behind the words that she didn't understand. She hoped she wasn't about to tread on something sacred. "And look at you now. Your training has made you bigger. You travel across planes and worlds. Your powers grow into magical feats beyond most mortals' comprehension. And you have fallen for a woman in a world where, without enchantment, you are so mighty and vast that your head might as well be in the clouds. Perhaps, my friend, you are the mysterious moving mountain you came looking for. Perhaps that's the trick the Dawnlands gave you."
She smiled and hugged as much of him as she could get arms round. "I'm glad Nathalie liked the chocolates. Next time I'll bring her a necklace or something that doesn't melt. It's good being on the road with you again. Let's do it again soon. This place isn't finished with us yet."