Ghosts of Derthaad Past (Part 1) - 19/01/2023 - A Kavel Pers

Derthaad’s Party -
(For Helping Him Remember Something Important Through Magically Reliving The Trauma of His Worst Memories)

Comrade Derthaad, my Watch member, Dragonborn, sorcerer friend, had business in Galavir. He received a letter from the Kundar Priest Tyraxes Wraithborn. The letter said the lady Tiamat herself (the five-headed dragon god residing in Hell - that god) would like to thank him for what he’s done for her, and help him reconnect with an old friend. The pair of us actually did something for her when we killed the weird, dead offspring of her and her brother Bahumat. I asked my friend if incest was a regular occurance among dragons. He reminded me that Desathrax, the undead offspring, didn’t come about in the traditional way.

Derthaad was rightfully concerned about god business, so he came to ask if I would join him in Galavir. Of course I said I’d come along.

The sergeant came to me whilst I was training with comrade Ivan, my Human, fellow thicc-bro. Naturally Ivan was invited to join in the adventure as well, for only one thing is better than a thicc-boi in your party; two thicc-bois.

We met up at Portal Plaza a few days later ready to be teleported to Galavir. There we met up with the rest of the party Derthaad had gathered. There was comrade Elias; my Eladrin, scythe-wielding, magically eloquent friend who rides an eight legged horse. Eladrin’s are Fey, just like Sprites. So, I told Elias about my Sprite wife Nathalie, who is a very important person in the Summer Court of the Feywild. Elias told me about their tree-son in the Court of Silence… eight legged horse, a tree-son, and a Court for Silence? The Feywild is very strange to me. I shall try and become greater friends with comrade Elias, then they can help me understand the Feywild better, which will make me a better husband for Nathalie.

My new comrade, the businessman fighter from the OMTC joined us too. I had only ever met Mr. Heret, a Human, from when he invited me for food and drinks, so I could explain how I and some other adventurers inadvertently made amendments to the OMTC’s trading agreements with a group of Mindflayers. Comrade Derthaad was there in that get-together too. My wizard friend Archie told me about a time he had to vandalise OMTC property by the Feythorn Forest in celebration of Silvanus. I did not tell Heret about this.

Lastly, my Halfling, tricky cleric friend, Kelne joined us, too. They are both awesome at healing magic and polymorphing into giant, thicc animals. So, three thicc-bois in the party - even better!

Two thicc-bois, an honorary thicc-boi, and a couple of blade specialists, if I’m not mistaken. Later on, I concluded that this was a great party to help comrade Derthaad plunge through his worst memories.


Magic Failed Us

I was last in Galavir not too long ago. Last time, I left from Fort Ettin, and Jenna teleported me there. Comrade Derthaad can now do the same spell Jenna did, so I had guessed at the time that he would be sending us to Galavir via Portal Plaza. But, this was not the case, since he had never been to Galavir, and as such could/would not cast the spell. It also turned out that no one at Portal Plaza could get us to Galavir. Why not? Magical bureaucratic reasons that do not make sense to me. We couldn’t even be teleported to Stoneleaf, one of the chief locations of Heret’s OMTC business. So, it was a two day walk to Galavir on the opposite side of the Sunset Spines where Daring Heights is.

I asked comrade Derthaad if Ulhar, his dragon summon, could fly us there. He mentioned Ulhar isn’t big enough to transport more than him and Kelne at most. Plus, Derthaad still hasn’t been able to summon Ulhar since psychic-lancing Ulhar back to the Summon Plane, which he had to do when Desathrax took over Ulhar’s mind when we fought the freakishly gargantuan, undead dragon.

Disappointing. Magic had failed us. But still, I have strong legs, and as a mountain-born man; I love the mountains. The one day journey from one side of the Spines to another was very enjoyable for me.


Galavir - Home of More of Kavel’s Fans

It was colder here than in Daring Heights, but the sun was shining. The beautiful lake was only partially covered in ice, which was a disappointment for the locals, Elves and all; they are big Ice-Hockey fans. I learnt this on my last journey here, where I participated in an exhibition hockey match with a group of adventurers. We called ourselves the Daring Knights, and were up against professionals from New Hillborrow; The New Hillborrow Blades. Magic was allowed, and for some reason so too were giant direwolves, which in retrospect was quite an advantage for us. Also, due to my immense strength, and the Blades all being Halflings, it was not difficult for me to move the Blades’ members out of the way of my comrades as they took shots at the Blades’ goal.

I was recognised by the locals. I apologised to my comrades for the time I was taking up, by interacting with my fans. But, it turned out this wasn’t a problem, since we learned from the locals mentions of a strange woman dressed in black up in the mountains by way of the marigold path. So, by interacting with my fans, we found where we needed to head.

This made me think. I need to go back to Trecorvum sometime and see my fans who witnessed my immensely impressive 2,000lbs squat and press. This was a vain thought, but then I am impressive in both ice-hockey and feats of strength.


Up In The Mountains

As we climbed the mountain, we reached a narrow part of the path. Elias heard the voice first, and as we turned the corner we saw a woman in black holding a familiar person by the throat - Ethelex, the Fey/Brass Dragon person. Ethelex was holding what is recognised as the Turning Field’s orb, which was brought here with the refugees and placed in the lake. I met Ethelex on my first trip to Galavir. Ethelex is a very confusing person, or at least he was at the time, now it seemed he could communicate plainly, instead of uniquely in riddles and metaphors. Or at least he could communicate plainly, when the black garbed lady allowed him. This was Tiamat, or rather the human avatar of Tiamat, magically present live from Hell. Tiamat wore dark glasses that obscured her eyes, and on the hand that wasn’t around Ethelex’s throat, she wore five different coloured gem rings - I guess representing her five dragon heads. She appeared to us as a tall, human-like woman with long dark hair, and tanned skin. Tiamat’s human avatar was quite fit. Good choice by Tiamat.

Tiamat, despite appearances, did not seem to actually want to kill Ethelex, but was upset with him abandoning the post of messenger for her. She voiced her gratitude to Derthaad for killing Desathrax, which he did. Desathrax’s death, however, was of course a team effort - and Derthaad gave credit to his thicc-bros; Ivan and I, who were also there at the time. But, to be fair, it was one of Derthaad’s own Psychic Lance spells that finished Desathrax… and also finished the possessed Ulhar, too. Ouch. One moment I was dropping elbows on Desathrax’s back with Ulhar cheering me on. The next moment Ulhar turned nasty, and Derthaad lanced him dead to avoid having to worry about a second enemy.

Tiamat thanked Derthaad, her ‘child’ for a couple of other things. As a point of clarification, I will mention that Tiamat sees all dragons and dragonborns as her children. It’s not actually the case that another one of my adventuring friends has a really fit mum. Only Toothy has that distinction, as far as I know.

Tiamat then got down to business, and made a request to Derthaad. Tiamat was ‘married’ to someone she hates. She explained it as she was requested to meet for a parley. The result of the parley was that she became tied to Primus who I think is the god of Mechanus and the Modron creatures - I also think comrade Derthaad has something to do with that god through his sorcery. I’m not sure.

Tiamat wants us to find her engagement ring, which could be anything, she’s not sure. But if we find it, she can annul the marriage, and she claims this would be good for both parties. There was a boon in this for Derthaad and rewards for us. Ivan started enquiring about the nature of our rewards. I wasn’t bothered whether we would be cheated. Tiamat’s brother gave us 20pp for killing Desathrax and a powerful tattoo on our backs… oh wait, shit! I hope Tiamat’s not planning on dropping a tattoo on my back, I think Nathalie thinks it’s a bit careless of me to keep accepting all these tattoos. I’ll have to bring that up with Tiamat if/when we complete her request.

I met Keltigern again, Ethelex’s young, dragon buddy. Keltigern was hiding once again in the mountain rock. He still had one adult sized front paw on his child-sized body. He didn’t run this time - no Will Frozendagger casting his scary version of the Healing Word spell (Will’s mouth distends in a horrible way as he speaks the verbal part of the spell).

Ivan was interested in gaining a dragon buddy. He must be jealous of all our adventuring comrades with steeds and summoned dragons (there’s a lot of them to be fair. Just like familiars, everyone seems to have one). But, Keltigern was too young to be adventuring, even for a dragon. Elias offered to let Ivan ride his steed to get a feel for it though.

After our side track with Keltigern, and a moral exploration of our agreeing to the request, we accepted and followed Derthaad’s desire to agree to Tiamat’s mission. It was important to Kelne that our actions weren’t going to cause harm. It seems to me Kelne is more serious about their morals now that they are building a temple. When I’m free from my Sylvan lessons, I will go and help in its construction, like I promised.

We then learned why Tiamat had dragged Ethelex into the situation. So, Derthaad, according to Tiamat, actually knows what and where the engagement ring is, but just doesn’t remember. Ethelex, with the Turning Field orb; can help Derthaad explore his memories and find the answer, and we get to come along as hostile memory protection. You see, there were rules. Chiefly, you can die in the memories. We were also told not to spend more than two to three hours inside Derthaad’s head, and don’t lose sight of him when we’re there. Ethelex would be helping from afar to narrow down the memories to the ones that would help Derthaad find the engagement ring. We wouldn’t be able to change the direction of the memories, as we would be playing out scenarios that already happened. Derthaad would be seeing everything from his decade younger self’s eyes. The rest of us would end up inhabiting whoever was around during the memories. I made a request to be someone strong, and was told I’d still be me, but just look like whoever I was ‘playing’ in the scene. To hammer the point home, Tiamat said I could end up as a skunk, but would be a strong skunk. Elias said that if he was skunk, he’d be able to style it out. Elias also claims to be an expert in diving into other people’s heads, he even reads minds.

Ethelex’s human form melted away to reveal his gargantuan fairy dragon form. We could make out collections of shared stories Ethelex had amassed inside their golden mirrored wings. We began to see a golden light as a golden mist surrounded us, and Derthaad told me, before we were transported inside his head, that where we were going was something he told me about after the invasion, after I lost my brothers. It seemed like I was about to learn something about my dragonborn brother, and it would not involve enjoyable memories.


Derthaad’s Mind - A Memory from a Decade Ago - Faerun - Ardeep Forest

We appeared before a campsite. Stars in the night sky, and a campfire burning.

There was music and the inhabitants were having fun. The people all appeared to be part of Derthaad’s old squad that he mentioned sparringly. There were eight of them. Rasskan; a Bronze Dragonborn bard, Heskan; a Brass Dragonborn fighter with smithing tools, Kakira; Copper Dragonborn ranger (good singing voice too), Vak; Horned-Viper Lizardfolk Cleric (mute), Mis and Chif; White and Black Kobold rogues, Wulfarn; Red Dragonborn paladin, and Yasinn; Green Dragonborn fighter - also Derthaad’s wife?!

Of course, in this same campsite scene, was Sergeant Derthaad himself, in his younger body, armed with a sword (ha! I guess he didn’t know the Psychic Lance spell yet?) and a pretentious, single shoulder cape - comrade, what were you thinking?

The rest of us adventurers, however, were on the periphery of this memory, and we were all dwarves. I was a Mountain-Dwarf - fitting, I liked that. I was about half as tall, which was amusing. Everybody was experiencing a height decrease, except for Kelne; they were actually a little bit taller. Oh and Elias, they were a skunk. Elias got skunked on the memory trip! But, Elias did in fact style it out magnificently. This skunk was chic.

The memory seemed to advance forward. Derthaad and Vak (the Lizardfolk cleric) were on watch, the others asleep in their tents. Derthaad took a long blink. I could see he seemed agitated from where I stood. The scene changed quite a bit.

Everyone was dead.

All eight of Derthaad’s old comrades were laying across the campsite, and young Derthaad was covered in blood. This memory seemed to freeze. My poor comrade was stuck in what must be his worst experience. Heret, remembering the mission, took the time to look for something that could be the engagement ring, but nothing stood out. I looked for hostile people, but no one else was here. What was odd though, was that the frozen moment revealed that we were still surrounded by woodland critters. Normally small creatures flee in the face of an attack. The memory then passed, and we found ourselves elsewhere.


Derthaad’s Mind - A Memory from a Decade Ago - Faerun - Road Heading West to Waterdeep

The memories are not in chronological order. Derthaad’s squad are alive at this point, and they were investigating an abandoned cart in the middle of the road. The card was undamaged. Weapons were found in the cart and concluded to be dwarven in origin. This memory froze like the previous one - it seemed that maybe this was Ethlex steering us - something that was in the cart was important.

During the time freeze, I waved at Derthaad from the periphery, “comrade! It’s me, Kavel. Of course I’m normally taller than you see me now!” I received acknowledgement that Derthaad recognised us dwarves (and stylish skunk). Our comrade was not prisoner to his own memories. Elias used his magic to try and detect the thoughts of Derthaad’s squad in the memory. The magic appeared to work, but they read no thoughts that were worrying.

The scene changed, and we were back at the campsite.


Derthaad’s Mind - A Memory from a Decade Ago - Campsite - Earlier Than The Massacre

We were back at the campsite. Derthaad and Vak were on watch. It seemed like this was only a few moments before the massacre. But, this time we were not in the periphery, we were actually by the campfire, and from this distance to my dragonborn bro, we could see him holding back tears. For him, being only a few memories removed from the massacre of his squad and wife, must have been traumatising.

With some clever roleplaying in the memory from comrades; Heret, Elias and Derthaad, we were able to piece together the following information: Derthaad’s squad were sent to investigate why a delegation of dwarves bringing a trade cart into the city of Waterdeep were late. Younger Sergeant Derthaad’s squad found the cart by itself. Derthaad remembered that the cart was only half full of dwarven weapons. There was something heavy and round that was taken, but there were no footprints from the cart, and no tussle with the cart’s dwarven protectors - the dwarves had just vanished.

Skunk Elias talked to Derthaad and revealed he had been casting his Detect Thoughts spell and discovered that Heret’s dwarven head felt brand new, same for Ivan. Their own memories revealed a terrifying sight of something blue with flapping wings - something dragon-like. We all suspected that what was taken from the cart must have been the engagement ring. Derthaad remembered that at some point, he did track down where the missing cart object was found.

Vak had woken up the other squad members by this point. According to the squad, us ‘dwarves’ all looked absent minded, which seemed to track with the premise that the dwarves all abandoned their cart with no idea why. Young Derthaad was able to access the Greater Restoration spell for Heret, and his dwarven memories revealed the face of the dwarves' client; a Blue-Cooper Yuan-Ti, middle-aged man, and; he was sitting next to a large sundial in the cart, about 4ft wide made of stone with copper parts on top. Heret’s dwarf memories then went blurry, and he was stumbling in the forest and ended up at the squad’s campsite.

Derthaad looked pained as he followed the script of his memories. He voiced to his squad that he trusts the dwarves and would take them to where he suspected the sundial item was… presumably this would leave his squad to the fate that awaited them without his presence. This was much like the time on the Damphenite Tangle for me, which my dragonborn comrade was there for. On the Spirit Road, my memories presented me the opportunity to undo the past, and save my bros from their deaths defending Fort Ettin. But there is no changing a memory to change the present. And now, in Derthaad’s own memories, I watched my dragonborn comrade as he accepted he could not stay with his squad and try something to change the past. His wife Yasinn wanted to accompany him back to the cart. But this was not what happened, and Derthaad had to stick to the script. He said goodbye to his wife one last time, again, and unlike how it was back in his past; he knew this time would be final.


Back to the Cart

We actively walked back to the cart. Well, an Elias skunk and an Ivan Dwarf were riding Elias’s steed as a dragon - this had to be quite different from comrade Derthaad’s actual memory of the walk back to the cart, but it didn’t cause us to hit a wall in the progression of memories.

By the cart, we found an exhausted, middle-aged Yuan-Ti man holding part of the sundial. This was Zihlil Dunn, and he wasn’t expecting a lawman. Heret bluffed that the sergeant was an acquaintance of ours. True or not, the memory continued. Zihlil explained that a dragon flew off with the rest of the sundial, which was a magical implement to bring more balance and peace to the world. Zihlil was worried that a creature of chaos would tear it apart. So, off we went to the hill where we would find the sundial.


Derthaad’s Mind - A Memory from a Decade Ago - Entrance to a Cave on a Hill

By the cave’s entrance the atmosphere felt like a storm had just passed, and out from the cave’s entrance emerged an ancient, gargantuan blue dragon. Comrade Derthaad recognised the dragon immediately, this was Ulhar, a much larger Ulhar… surely past Ulhar was not aware of present Ulhar’s death at the hands of its summoner? Surely? …

…

Continued in Part 2 Kantas Fans!