Post by Andy D on Nov 17, 2022 16:54:38 GMT
Lady Jeziah Miller Calls - Kavel Comes
Toothy’s fit mum contacted me about further business to do with the Loviatar stuff. It seems, although my comrades killed The Pain With No Name, Lady Miller feels there is still more she can do for the victims. She once again needed adventurers, and she left it to me to assemble a party.
I began explaining to Sorrel, during our weekly catch-up/exercise session, “I believe we have to go to Banehold where…”, and then she cut me off, “I’m in brother!” Sorrel is a good sister. She also seems more and more cleric-like every time I see her. She’s still a badass assassin, of course. But, she now wears all manner of items that give tribute to Selune. Case in point; this crescent moon thing that can protect people has a prominent position round her neck.
Kelne, my halfling friend, was in the city. She was trying to find ways to fund the building of a temple to Tymora over in Port Ffirst. I said she should come join my expedition to Banehold. Lady Miller is rich, so she’ll probably pay well. Plus, Kelne was part of the team that killed TPWNN. Plus, they are a cleric - always good to have a cleric in the party. Always.
Meeting Kelne also reminded me of the last time I saw them, which was in the Court of Harmony, where we helped Derthaad get rid of a tattoo by actually getting a new arm. In that adventure, I picked up a Frostbrand Longsword in some ruins. I keep meaning to give it to a more junior adventurer, but I either never meet them, or they already have a magical blade.
Amble, my gnome wizard friend, was keen to do some more research on Banehold, when I told him about Lady Miller’s request. So, I sponsored him some gold, and he agreed to come along. Stiffy, the mastiff, stayed behind.
On the way to Miller Mansion, I saw Glade, the earth-genasi girl, and quite powerful druid. She was moping. I was glad I caught up with her, as I was keen to bring her in on this mission. I had heard she was deeply upset with what happened to Nira, and not being able to save her. I thought she would be more enthused to come along, but there didn’t appear to be much spirit in her. There was enough spirit in her feet though, since she walked with me to Toothy’s fit mum… I mean Lady Miller’s house.
Dreamer St - In the Purple Reception Room of Miller Mansion
Lady Miller explained that Delphina, the mother of the girl, Nira, now works as a gardener on the Miller estate. They chat from time to time. From the chats, Lady Miller feels she could do more for the people who have been involved in this whole Loviatan saga.
Glade had some vision about Banehold and a solitary tree with a blue bird in its branches. Lady Miller is familiar with Banehold and offered to teleport us there, where we would attempt to bring back some lost souls, including the girl, Nira. I wasn’t entirely certain how this would all be achieved. But, we had a cleric, half-cleric and a bit-of-a-cleric, and a very intelligent person in the party. So, I was confident I didn’t need to understand anything. All I had to do was be Sardaq’s replacement, as Lady Miller didn’t want to send her go-to paladin to Banehold, because he would stick out like a sore thumb. So, I would be his substitute, but less divine stuff and smiting - more raging and smashing. Our little coatl friend, Iqpi, would however join us, which gave us some invisibility options. Amble and Glade procured a bunch of items; amber and jasper gemstones, and black lillies. We were supposed to replace lost souls with those items. Why? Again, I didn’t need to understand this magic and divine stuff; Kavel = muscle. I did, however, ask Mendal what it was all about later. Mendal said, “oh it’s just religious crap.” Sometimes I find myself agreeing with Archie that Mendal is the worst ‘cleric’ cleric ever.
We were reminded to stay away from the water in Banehold. Both so as not to be tempted to drink it (it will steal our memories!), and a danger from within. Also we were warned to stay away from any gates, and that lighting and thunder are extremely common in Banehold - anyone there is quite accustomed to it. According to the map we found in Professor Hemstock’s office in Daring Academy, we would have to intentionally get lost to find where we needed to go. I needed that repeated for clarification: we needed to get ‘lost’ to ‘find’ our way… again, I had smarter people than me in the party, so I ignored the logic breaking instruction and let them lead; Kavel = muscle, and I was happy to play that role. All that said; it was actually I, the ‘muscle’ that discovered Professor Hemstock’s secret hidey-hole. I, the muscle and the brain. Maybe I excuse myself from brain work too readily?
Lady Miller, of course, was looking stunning as always.
Amble and Kelne insisted on talking notes along the way. I thought we were done with this ever since TPWNN was killed? I accepted the nice notepad and pen that Victor provided us with. But, I just used mine to write down strength programs for everyone.
Lady Miller took us to her dining room, which was empty of furniture, but had the markings of a teleportation circle on the floor. Lady Miller began singing (beautifully) and the symbols of the floor lit up with magical energy. Her voice grew distant and merged together with the rumbling of thunder and howling wind which grew ever nearer. Suddenly, we were outside, the sky was a burgundy colour, we stood on a reedy hill with the wind in our face and thunder and lighting in the sky. We were no longer in the on Dreamer Street, inside Miller Mansion.
Banehold
Well Banehold sort of looks like Phlegethos, but isn’t anywhere near as oppressively warm and humid. Good.
We could see the river. The styx I believe? We all came up with our own ideas on how best to follow the advice to ‘find’ the place where we needed to go by getting ‘lost’. The river was our only landmark, so I suggested we should move away from it. I decided to use my flight legs to propel me up in the sky, and as I did I spun round to try and make myself dizzy. Whatever direction I faced when I landed would be where I would suggest we head. I landed back on the ground. I had a look around, and saw the river in front of me. I failed to get lost!
Sorrel had a word with some plants and advised us to go in the opposite direction to what they told her. I admit, this is kind of simple, but I’m still lost as to why it makes any sense.
After a few hours, I thought we might be properly lost, instead of intentionally lost. But, then a blue and yellow light began approaching us. The light came from a lantern held aloft by a humanoid-ish looking person. It was Goran Voss. The person I punched to death, or at least punched back down to Banehold.
Goran Voss
This was unexpected. You don’t normally see people you kill, and in my experience, they aren’t always better people on second encounter. Nor do they kindly act as your guide. But, here we were…
Goran, according to himself, is being punished by Loviatar for tricking the god into freeing the soul of someone dear to him. Goran has been tied to TPWNN for a very long time. He has to look after TPWNN as a baby, when it comes back to the material plane every now and again (centuries apart, I believe). Goran isn’t originally from Banehold, but is forced to come back here, when he dies, and believes he always wants to - until he arrives and remembers he is cursed. Goran was apologetic for his actions up in Daring Heights.
Goran agreed to take us where we needed to go. In exchange, he wanted us to try and destroy his lantern, for without it, he won’t be able to find his way, which means delaying when he next returns to the material plane with TPWNN. We agreed to give it a go.
Goran led us to an estuary. We saw some trees in the distance. One tree stood out from the others due to it being much larger than the rest. Underneath that tree’s cocoon of overlapping branches, was a shimmering light in all this red desert and lightning strobed sky. As we got closer, we saw flocks of ugly, flightless birds surrounding the tree with the light. These birds were fiends according to Amble, which he knew about from the research he had been doing.
The light in the tree was coming from an owl-sized bird covering the other, smaller, colourless birds with their wings.
Goran said he would stay back, while we went to retrieve the captured souls that were the birds. We all had a go at smashing his lamp before he went… for all my grip strength, I couldn’t smash it, and nor could anyone else with magic. Goran, fortunately, never got his hopes up that we would actually manage it.
Rescue Attempt - Plan A
The tree was in the middle of the estuary. So, surrounded by water we were not supposed to get near or drink from. We came up with a plan, and Kelne used the spell Dimension Door to reach the tree with the nicer looking birds in the branches (and the ugly ones below).
Glade cast Pass Without a Trace on the rest of us, so we could get as close as possible to the central tree without the ugly birds spotting us; if need be. After all, Kelne was going to bring back the blue bird in no time whatsoever. Sorrel used Thaumaturgy to imitate the sound of thunder around and help disguise both Kelne and our movements. The lightning all around, that the ugly birds were used to, did the rest to hide our presence.
Kelne seemed to be taking their time. And there shouldn’t have been any need for them to cast their really cool, but really visible Spirit Guardians spell…
Rescue Attempt - Plan B
We could see Kelne climb down the tree surrounded by cherub, spectral versions of themself orbiting their body defensively. Several of the terrible birds burned away in radiant light as Kelne’s cherub’s smashed into them.
Sorrel let loose with the spell Hail of Thorns against the nearest bunch of terror birds to us, killing many of them out right. One that avoided a thorny death, she ended with the loose of an arrow.
There were so many of these terror birds. Sorrel did her best to draw some of them to us rather than Kelne. Now, itt was my turn, and I had a fantastic idea!
There was a line of the terrors bunched up. This was the perfect time for me to use my javelin of lighting. I sprung forward with my flight legs to get a get angle on the terror birds, and drew my javelin. I was a little sad that comrade Derthaad wasn’t here to witness me strike the enemy with lightning, but Sorrel was here. So, I turned to look at her, and smiled, as I held the javelin back and awaited her nodding approval. Sorrel did not reciprocate a nod or a smile. In fact she was shaking her head at me and pointing at all the lightning around us in the sky… Crap! It dawned on me that these ugly bird-looking fiends were likely resistant to lightning to live in a place like this. I stowed my javelin with disappointment, and slapped my hand out at a couple of the terror birds in front me, snapping their necks. Comrade Amble came and joined me and did a cool looking spell that hurt the terror birds with radiant light. The spell was actually a little similar to Kelne’s spell - another, big spherical, radiant spell. It hurt the birds quite a bit and Amble caught many of them inside it.
For all our effects, a number of birds still made it to Kelne and surrounded them. Many birds surrounded me and Amble, and also Glade and Sorrel back where we first entered the estuary. The ugly birds brought their ugly bodies up all around us, making it harder for my magical comrades to get range and see where they could cast spells. A whole bunch of them pecked at me with their sharp beaks. One of these ugly fuckers on their own was pathetic, but twenty plus together were actually quiet mighty. The collection of beaks hurt. I couldn’t see Amble too well, with all the feathers in the way, but I was glad to see the light of a Shield spell appear from where I last saw him. I was not glad to hear the agonising gnomish scream of pain though. I knew exactly what he was going through, and he does not have my conditioning or stone-like skin. I hoped that the spell I could feel Glade blessing me with, was affecting my little comrade too.
New Tactics - Inside The Estuary Thinking!
I could hear what sounded like birds getting stabbed to death from behind me. I slapped a few more bird necks in two. But, I realised there were just too many of them. I changed up my tactics. I walked forward into a bunch of the terror birds, and pushed a pack of them into the deep puddle of water behind them. As they fell into the water, something pulled them in, and they never returned.
A Guiding Bolt charged down at a bunch of birds separating me and Amble, from over where Kelne and their Spirit Guardians were. Feathers went up in the air as birds got obliterated. Despite the assistance, we were all very swarmed. I felt like forty birds were going to peck me to death. But then a bright light before me in the shape of a crescent moon made half the birds lose their posture, and their pecking attacks missed. “Thanks sister!”, I yelled.
Sorrel was not the only one to get my thanks. I could feel Glade channelling a massive amount of healing magic into me and the others.
I shoved a few more birds into my favourite puddle, and watched my unknown tag partner take care of them, and then I propelled myself towards Amble. As I landed on the ground next to my comrade, another comrade joined us via another Dimension Door, and they brought their Spirit Guardians with them! It was no joke - those Spirit Guardian cherub’s were wrecking the terror birds much better than any of us were doing. And I thought it was us that had to get to Kelne to protect them.
With the swarm around us killed by radiant light, Amble could finally see again and did something that convinced some other birds to walk into his own spell’s radiant light. The rest of the ugly birds split.
Up By The Tree
The terror birds now gone, we approached the big tree and could see the little birds were like birds of paradise. The larger, bluer bird that was protecting the others transformed into a young girl who looked just like the image Glade had in her locket - the girl I had apparently met before, Nira. Except, and I had to be told this, she didn’t used to have the luminous, blue, angelic wings she had now. Nor did she used to wield a couple of pink tinted swords.
There was a long, warm and tearful embrace between the girl Nira and Glade. Nira explained that she had impressed Liira so much that Liira had transformed her into one of her warrior angels. Very impressive for such a young girl. With the terror birds gone, Nira said she would take the souls in these paradise birds to Liira, but first ask Liira to take us back to Daring Heights, so she could visit her mother, Delphina.
Before we left, Glade and Amble placed the black lillies, jasper and amber near the tree. This was all to appease Talona, I think? I didn’t care much. We came here to get Nira and some other lost souls. We achieved it. I was ready to leave.
Before we left, we could see Goran Voss’s lantern in the far distance, moving away from us.
Back At Dreamer Street - Miller Mansion
There was another tearful embrace and encounter for Nira, this time with her mother, Lady Miller’s new gardener. Delphina did not recognise her daughter, but did feel a sensation of familiarity. There was no getting the memories back unfortunately. Like with Joon, the memories haven’t been suppressed, they have been removed. But, Delphina and Nira have at least finally been reunited. This is good.
Lady Miller paid us each 200gp for our work. Glade insisted on giving me her money. Something about wasted research on my behalf and gratitude for me bringing her along on the mission. Fair enough. I was glad she was much less gloomy than she was earlier in the day. I immaturely waved my 400gp in front of Sorrel and then retired home.
When I woke the next morning, there was a small vial under my pillow with a liquid coloured much like Nira’s wings. A little Nira fairy had come visiting in the night, it seems, to leave a thank you gift.