In The Deep End's Day - 04/07/2023 - A Kavel Perspective

Use Your Pull-Up Bar As Intended

Comrade Tayz wished to have a go on my magical pull-up bar. This is the rod which can magically become immovable. If you hold the rod at arm’s reach above your head, then; press the button, and the rod becomes fixed in place as an excellent exercise apparatus. All Iron Strong members should carry one for portable pull-ups. You won’t always be able to create a makeshift bar from, say, the branch of a tree. There may be no trees around. You might be in a library, for example.

I jokingly said to Tayz that if he used his wings during the pull-up, it would be cheating. He obviously wasn’t going to do that, since the pull-up is a back exercise requiring one’s hands as a purchase point, as the latissimus dorsi muscles, or ‘lats’ do the work . Flapping of wings to generate levitation would obviously make the exercise easier, effectively reducing one's bodyweight.

However, comrade Tayz read into my joke that performing a pull-up with his wings instead of his hands, would be a better exercise for his ‘lats’. I should work on better distinguishing my joking voice from my normal voice.

Comrade Tayz’s wing pull-up did not produce a result that would lead someone to believe a new, useful form of exercise had been discovered. The wing-pull-up will not enter the Iron Strong curriculum. Also, we probably should not have been exercising in the library.


Some Gith Are Githzerai Some Are Githyanki

I had followed my human sister and bad-ass ranger, Sorrel to the Fort Ettin library. She was with our cleric comrade Tayz, and our comrades; Glint, a genasi wizard, and Celina a tiefling deceptive apple-seller (she’s a very stabby apple-seller more so than a regular apple-seller).

Our new friend, Raster, is a Githzerai. Raster explained that the Zerai are more chill. The Zerai are zen. They are monk-like, which is to say strength-adjacent, so I like them. The Yanki Gith on the other hand are arseholes - broadly speaking. Obviously not all Githyanki, but certainly the ones we have previously met - they were very hostile and prone to invasions.

The Githzerai have floating fortresses for homes where they are from. They also had a really powerful one that was in the Plane of Air. None of the other fortresses can be teleported elsewhere, nor can you teleport from withinside one of these fortresses. So, the one citadel that can magically move is very important, and in a way very similar to Gadenthor. Also, very similar to Gadenthor, the Githyanki had captured this citadel, known asCitadel Exeuntus. It was very important that the Githyanki could not learn how to make use Citadel Exeuntusplane-shifting power.


The Plane of Air

It has been deemed impossible to capture Citadel Exeuntus with an army of red-dragon riding Githyanki protecting it. But, with a powerful and destructive Ioun stone we were given, it would be possible to insert said stone into a terminal that would blow-up the entire citadel. This was our task.

Our escape route following the triggering of the gradual destruction of the citadel was to be found in the same location as the important terminal. There was a large open chasm all the way to the bottom of the citadel in the terminal room - to the bottom and to the outside. This was the Plane of Air, so other than large floating rocks, there was nothing but air. This meant, technically you could not die from falling and hitting the ground, unless you hit a floating rock. However, one assumes you can die of windchill (if your body is weak to the cold air, unlike say Goliaths) or failing that; starvation. But, as long as the task was carried out, and we fell out of the citadel, our hosts would pick us up eventually and take us back to safety.

On the subject of other Planes. I have observed there is a Plane for everything. I have been to the commonly known Feywild. But, I have also been to places like the Elemental Plane, the Plane of Fire, the Beast Plane. Archie has even been to a Plane of Minerals, and there is a Court for all the seasons in the Feywild, one also for Twilight, Witching things, Sorcery and even Rebirth. Where is the Court of Strength or the Strength Plane?


The Explosive Demolition of the Flying Fortress

The Githzeral had many floating one and two person structures that they controlled with their innate telekinetic abilities, while another Githzerai casted a long range offensive spell. The Githzerai were mounting an assault on the citadel as a distraction for the party to drop into a hangar on the citadel, face whatever opposition was there, put an explosive crystal into an important terminal, and then leave via a very big drop whilst the citadel began to explode.

Before we opened the door to the hangar, comrade Tayz passed us all a feather from his wings that granted us improved health. He is ever reliable for this. Recently, he’s also been summoning a celestial guardian to come join in with fights. Later, Glint also summoned a being to join our side. At that present moment though, Glint made a near permanent illusion of the explosive crystal hanging around my neck. It was in fact Sorrel who truly carried the crystal. I was bait, which was fair enough - I am the strongest.

Battle prepped - we opened the door. The Githyanki had not fully deployed. Across the long corridor, there were around fifteen combatants and an adult red-dragon. All of them were surprised by their visitors.

We could have taken them all, I feel. However, It is possible that we would have been overwhelmed over time. For example, as we battled in the large corridor, other soldiers arrived, and one adult red-dragon became two. We could have defeated them all. But, that was beside the point. The Githzerai were outside risking their lives. The longer we stayed in the hangar’s hallway, the longer the Githzerai were unnecessarily put at further risk. The Githzerai were fighting the Githyanki as a distraction only - they knew themselves they could not take on the Githyankies and win.

So, comrade Glint summoned an illusory but real dragon (I don’t understand magic) and we stabbed, punched, loosed arrows, blasted and lightning breathed our way forward with determination, and healing support from comrade Tayz. Celina was very sneaky with her rapier strikes - she entered the hangar invisible before stabbing someone. And Sorrel! Before, I always lost track of where she was in combat because she’d loose an arrow, and then disappear behind a building or a tree. In the open space of the corridor, I thought she’d have to loose arrows from behind me as cover. But no. Somehow she was hiding in plain sight. Veiled from both the Githyanki and our party’s view. Was her Wingwear suit making her invisible? I am not sure.

Eventually, as I was tussling with both of the adult red-dragons, Sorrel got the crystal to the central terminal, and pressed the important button. Sorrel, Celina and I dropped from the terminal’s gangway down the massive chute to the outside. Tayz and Glint flew out the entrance.


Aftermath

Sister Sorrel was enjoying using her Wingwear suit. She has never had the chance to use it before, and she’s had it for a very long time. She’s been waiting for a night time infiltration mission where she can sneak in from the sky with her Wingwear suit. But her missions have never called for that kind of thing. Sorrel thought she’d be able to fly into the Citadel with her suit. She had a look of excitement on her face, when she learned we had to get into the Citadel’s hangar. She then had a very dejected look on her face when we were told we would be given a lift.

But, as we fell, Sorrel was able to reap the benefits of her suit, finally. Although, I’m sure it would have been a more enjoyable experience for her if she didn’t have to support Celina and I who had no means of flying - well, in my case that’s not true. I can fly because my legs are strong enough to propel me in the air. But, I need a hard surface to spring off of from time to time.

Tayz and Glint flew over to the rest of us - Glint cast the Fly spell on himself. When they caught up, Glint cast the Fly spell on the rest of us. We managed to speed up our pick up.

The Githzerai were grateful we helped stop the Githyanki from controlling a citadel with plane-shifting abilities. Of course, it came at the loss of one of their own fortresses, but on balance this was a necessary trade-off. We earned 80pp each for our work. Not bad. Very good in fact.

I harbour some hatred towards the invader-like Githyanki for Tim and Sampson’s deaths. We were told it was possible that some of the gith that fled Fort Ettin when the tide turned, could be part of the gith we attacked. So, at the end of the mission, I felt satisfied in stopping them in their tracks. I was particularly pleased with my flying clothesline to the githyanki commander mounted on a red dragon, which I followed up by kicking the gith off the dragon and on to the floor below. The commander made a satisfying thud noise as they hit the floor. I will tell Kruger about this. He will enjoy it.

But, I think the biggest take-away from my adventure, is where is the Court of Strength or Plane of Strength? I came to Kantas looking for the Mysterious Mountain, on the assumption that the people there would be truly strong, since Goliaths are mountain-born and very strong. Therefore, a mysterious mountain would birth mysteriously strong people. However, this was not the case. But, maybe a realm of strength is what I should have been looking for?