S14 Finale - Something lurking - 11/06/24 - By Finnegan
Jun 21, 2024 17:16:47 GMT
Jaezred Vandree, Andy D, and 2 more like this
Post by dryss on Jun 21, 2024 17:16:47 GMT
>>DM: Sophie
Sitting with the Port Ffirst team at one of the trestle tables, Safire rests with her plate piled high with fresh fruit and she's refilling everyone's drinks. "I tell you what though. After nearly six months of dealing with those bloody plants I'm glad I don't have to stress about weeds anymore!"
"Well, it will be a good story to sing about. ‘The Lurking Shadow and the Brave Adventurers’. That could be a good title, don't you think?" Finnegan responds.
Safire raises her cup in a cheer. "Make sure to include the part where I launched a thunder wave at Quill's face and they ran away like a little bitch!"
Erron also raises his cup, wincing as he does so. "Wonderful title, Finnegan!" He turns to Safire. "It's a shame Quill managed to slip away, it would've been nice keep them from causing more trouble."
"Urg, I know right! Little skulking bilge rat. Bet they're back in the sewers right now. I mean, sneaking up on us like that? I'll keep an eye out for them. Hopefully it's more difficult for them to lurk now." Safire glances over Erron after the wince. "How you holding up there, mate?"
"Better than I was, thanks to everyone's help." He grins before staring down into his cup. "Head's a bit sore though, that lurking creature did a number on it, hopefully the drink will ease some of the ache"
"Hey, we're a crew right? It's what we do! And you got up twice and kept going. Could have been a lot worse, let me tell you." Safire taps the spot on her chest where the symbol of the god Moradin is. The only scar left from her encounter with death.
“So, this is the crew that saved Port Ffirst?” The adventurers turn to see a tall, well-dressed drow man approaching their table. He gives a slight bow to Safire in particular. “Hello again, Miss Safire. What was it you called me last time — ‘Mr. Handsome Know-It-All Drow’?”
Safire turns and smiles. "I believe the 'handsome' part may have been imagined." She stands up in greeting. "Everyone, this is Lord Jaezred Vandree. The one who put me in the know about Something Lurking. As well as Something Hungry and apparently Something Vast. It seems he gets around!" Safire looks at Jaezred. "What are you doing here? Were you sent to fight a Something too?"
“I was called on to assist with the re-binding ritual. The Witching Court thought that my knowledge of the various Somethings could prove useful,” he replies, before looking at the others at the table. “Well met, everyone. And your names are…?”
“I'm Finnegan, a charming and talented bard at your service, mon cher. Always happy to make people smile. And like I like to say, if you don't already love me, you will.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then we are off to a good start.” Jaezred grins at him.
"I absolutely agree", replies Finnegan with a big smile. He then holds out his hand for a handshake before adding, "Can I offer you a drink?"
The handshake Jaezred gives is firm and confident. “I am not one to turn down a drink from a fetching man.” He glances at Erron. “And you, sir?”
Erron looks up from his cup as if awoken from a stupor. "Apologies, the name's Erron, Erron Hawke, pleasure to meet you." He gingerly extends his hand to offer a handshake.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Hawke.” Jaezred shakes his hand as he sits down on the bench. Safire shuffles over to make room. “Well, judging from your good spirits, I trust that Port Ffirst is only a little bit burnt?” he asks, addressing everyone again.
"I'd like to think we kept the fire mostly contained to the possessed trees,” Erron responds. “However, there may or may not be a large ‘X’ scorched into the ground somewhere south west of the Lighthouse.”
“Let’s put a pin on that scorch mark… Er, possessed trees?”
Safire grins, looking rather pleased with herself. "Fire was Lurking's weakness, you said it yourself. Not our fault the tree split into five. Seems the bad sewer druids were using the tree in some kind of ritual. We had to chase Lurking from each tree. Trapped in the final one then shone the lighthouse on it. Afterwards... well, you saw it fly through the portal.”
Jaezred smiles. “You used the lighthouse? Now, that is brilliant. I told you, didn’t I — it shuns the light for it hates being seen. But er, did you get any clue as to what the sewer druids were trying to achieve by putting the Lurking into the trees?”
Safire picks up a piece of mango from her plate and pops it in her mouth, shaking her head at Jaezred's question. "Not for certain, but I have theories. The tree split to five outer points of Port Ffirst, so if they succeeded the entire place would have been shrouded. Quill once said they wanted to remove the place, return it to nature or some bullshit. I don't know... he made an appearance actually. But he was different. Hard to look at. Like, he'd taken on more of Lurking."
“He became an Avatar of Something Lurking? Hm, I suspected something like this would happen. What happened to him after Lurking left?”
"Avatar? Oh! Like the sailor boyfriends with Vast? Umm, he didn't exactly stick around. We were burning one of the trees and he snuck up on us, all creepy like. Was all 'please stop' in that super annoying tone of his. So I told him to fuck off and launched a ton of thunder at him. To his credit, he did 'fuck off'. Didn't see him again."
“I see,” Jaezred mutters, rubbing his chin in thought. “It’d be good to see if he retains his new powers since the Lurking is sealed away. Well, it’d be good if something is done about those damned sewer druids in general. They’ve been a thorn in our side for too long now, no pun intended.”
Safire smirks regardless. "Something else: the 'bad' sewer druid leader was doing a ritual, but the leader of the 'good' sewer druids met them in battle above Port Ffirst to disrupt whatever they were doing. Bought us time to take out the Lurking trees. They may be a good place to start?"
“Most certainly. There’s nothing we can do to lure the ‘bad’ ones out of their stinking holes without turning the ‘good’ ones against us anyway. A certain lovely sea witch would be wise to seek an audience with the druid Vitex.”
"Said lovely sea witch may be interested. She does live in Port Ffirst for the time being after all, and will be remaining there for the foreseeable. Perhaps some of these other fine folk would be interested as well?"
"I've come to grow rather fond of the place, so I'd be happy to join you, Safire," Erron says. Safire smiles at Erron and raises her cup to cheers him, and the gesture is returned.
Safire turns back to Jaezred. "We'll see what we can do, Lord Mysterious Vandree. But I'm curious, are you some kind of ambassador or something?"
Jaezred arches a manicured brow at her. “Me? Oh no, I’m just a gentleman about town. A nosy fellow, as you put it. I came to Kantas five years ago, having squeezed my allowance dry, to make my living as a mage-for-hire, and I simply ended up staying. What about yourselves? I’m always curious to hear the stories of wanderers who land on our shores.”
"In my case literally,” Safire responds first. “My ship, The Seafoam Queen, was attacked by... something. I washed ashore about 6 months ago, only one from the crew it seems. For a second I thought it might have been Vast but recently found a bunch of other sole survivors. Their ships were also attacked in a very similar fashion."
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” Jaezred says, looking slightly surprised. “Unrelated individuals, all with the same story? Hmm. Curious.”
Erron, meanwhile, seems to be very guarded about his past, he's still on the run, and also deeply guilt ridden over what he did. He answers with a very basic and somewhat deflecting comment. "Just a humble wanderer, trying to find a place to call home."
He gets a brief look from Jaezred as he seems to acknowledge that he’s not the only one at this table who’s deflecting.
"In my case, the story is a bit different. I came from Faerun to learn more about my art and to learn more stories." Finnegan says, but the party can all see there is something bugging him. "And also, to find my legacy. You see, a while ago, my master's instrument, called the Canaith Mandolin, from the original owner of our college, was stolen violently and my master passed away not long after this. I want to know who did this, why, and where is the mandolin". For the first time, everyone can see in Finnegan's eyes tears of anger and sadness mixed with a stubborn resolution in his tone. "I wouldn't say no for some help ..." he continues with a very, very charming look on his face.
Jaezred raises his hand and makes gestures at one of the bartenders, a female drow in a smart-looking waistcoat — it appears to be some sort of sign language. "That is a tragic tale, friend Finnegan. And you think this thief might be somewhere in Kantas?" The drow bartender comes to their table holding a tray with a single drink: an almost black liquid suffused with dense clouds of sparkling silver. She sets it down in front of Finnegan, and Jaezred nods his thanks at her.
“Oh, thank you cher ami, what is this beverage? And to come back to the thief, yes, I'm pretty sure they are in Kantas. But by the way, wasn't I the one supposed to offer you a drink? What would you like to have?”
"Well, you see, this bar serves regular drinks as well as 'emotion cocktails'. This one is called Quiet Night. Try it, then perhaps you can think of an emotion cocktail to get me."
Finnegan brings the beverage to his lips, drinks it slowly, closes his eyes quietly. The black drink is without taste or smell, but as Finnegan swallows a mouthful of it, he is filled with a feeling of serene calm, a sensation of gazing at a full moon reflected over perfectly still waters. There’s a long sigh, then a smile as he opens his eyes. Finnigan looks quiet, almost at peace. "Thank you Sir Jaezred, and sorry for my sad story. I guess all these emotions needed to be released after these dark adventures with the lurking creatures. I do appreciate it, really, says he. I can't think of anything else for you but a Joy cocktail. Nothing makes me happier than to see smiles on people's faces. Safire, Erron, it's on me if you also want one!”
Hearing what Finnegan has said, Jaezred turns to Safire and Erron with a grin. "Shots?"
"Shots!" Safire replies with a cheer. "Just a regular one for me. I'm in a good mood already."
The night goes on and the team enjoy as much of the party as they can. As he gets tipsier, Jaezred certainly gets flirtier with Safire, though he's always polite Safire reciprocates in a fun way, and as she gets drunker loudly proclaims to the party;
"We should get a ship!"
"Well, it will be a good story to sing about. ‘The Lurking Shadow and the Brave Adventurers’. That could be a good title, don't you think?" Finnegan responds.
Safire raises her cup in a cheer. "Make sure to include the part where I launched a thunder wave at Quill's face and they ran away like a little bitch!"
Erron also raises his cup, wincing as he does so. "Wonderful title, Finnegan!" He turns to Safire. "It's a shame Quill managed to slip away, it would've been nice keep them from causing more trouble."
"Urg, I know right! Little skulking bilge rat. Bet they're back in the sewers right now. I mean, sneaking up on us like that? I'll keep an eye out for them. Hopefully it's more difficult for them to lurk now." Safire glances over Erron after the wince. "How you holding up there, mate?"
"Better than I was, thanks to everyone's help." He grins before staring down into his cup. "Head's a bit sore though, that lurking creature did a number on it, hopefully the drink will ease some of the ache"
"Hey, we're a crew right? It's what we do! And you got up twice and kept going. Could have been a lot worse, let me tell you." Safire taps the spot on her chest where the symbol of the god Moradin is. The only scar left from her encounter with death.
“So, this is the crew that saved Port Ffirst?” The adventurers turn to see a tall, well-dressed drow man approaching their table. He gives a slight bow to Safire in particular. “Hello again, Miss Safire. What was it you called me last time — ‘Mr. Handsome Know-It-All Drow’?”
Safire turns and smiles. "I believe the 'handsome' part may have been imagined." She stands up in greeting. "Everyone, this is Lord Jaezred Vandree. The one who put me in the know about Something Lurking. As well as Something Hungry and apparently Something Vast. It seems he gets around!" Safire looks at Jaezred. "What are you doing here? Were you sent to fight a Something too?"
“I was called on to assist with the re-binding ritual. The Witching Court thought that my knowledge of the various Somethings could prove useful,” he replies, before looking at the others at the table. “Well met, everyone. And your names are…?”
“I'm Finnegan, a charming and talented bard at your service, mon cher. Always happy to make people smile. And like I like to say, if you don't already love me, you will.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then we are off to a good start.” Jaezred grins at him.
"I absolutely agree", replies Finnegan with a big smile. He then holds out his hand for a handshake before adding, "Can I offer you a drink?"
The handshake Jaezred gives is firm and confident. “I am not one to turn down a drink from a fetching man.” He glances at Erron. “And you, sir?”
Erron looks up from his cup as if awoken from a stupor. "Apologies, the name's Erron, Erron Hawke, pleasure to meet you." He gingerly extends his hand to offer a handshake.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Hawke.” Jaezred shakes his hand as he sits down on the bench. Safire shuffles over to make room. “Well, judging from your good spirits, I trust that Port Ffirst is only a little bit burnt?” he asks, addressing everyone again.
"I'd like to think we kept the fire mostly contained to the possessed trees,” Erron responds. “However, there may or may not be a large ‘X’ scorched into the ground somewhere south west of the Lighthouse.”
“Let’s put a pin on that scorch mark… Er, possessed trees?”
Safire grins, looking rather pleased with herself. "Fire was Lurking's weakness, you said it yourself. Not our fault the tree split into five. Seems the bad sewer druids were using the tree in some kind of ritual. We had to chase Lurking from each tree. Trapped in the final one then shone the lighthouse on it. Afterwards... well, you saw it fly through the portal.”
Jaezred smiles. “You used the lighthouse? Now, that is brilliant. I told you, didn’t I — it shuns the light for it hates being seen. But er, did you get any clue as to what the sewer druids were trying to achieve by putting the Lurking into the trees?”
Safire picks up a piece of mango from her plate and pops it in her mouth, shaking her head at Jaezred's question. "Not for certain, but I have theories. The tree split to five outer points of Port Ffirst, so if they succeeded the entire place would have been shrouded. Quill once said they wanted to remove the place, return it to nature or some bullshit. I don't know... he made an appearance actually. But he was different. Hard to look at. Like, he'd taken on more of Lurking."
“He became an Avatar of Something Lurking? Hm, I suspected something like this would happen. What happened to him after Lurking left?”
"Avatar? Oh! Like the sailor boyfriends with Vast? Umm, he didn't exactly stick around. We were burning one of the trees and he snuck up on us, all creepy like. Was all 'please stop' in that super annoying tone of his. So I told him to fuck off and launched a ton of thunder at him. To his credit, he did 'fuck off'. Didn't see him again."
“I see,” Jaezred mutters, rubbing his chin in thought. “It’d be good to see if he retains his new powers since the Lurking is sealed away. Well, it’d be good if something is done about those damned sewer druids in general. They’ve been a thorn in our side for too long now, no pun intended.”
Safire smirks regardless. "Something else: the 'bad' sewer druid leader was doing a ritual, but the leader of the 'good' sewer druids met them in battle above Port Ffirst to disrupt whatever they were doing. Bought us time to take out the Lurking trees. They may be a good place to start?"
“Most certainly. There’s nothing we can do to lure the ‘bad’ ones out of their stinking holes without turning the ‘good’ ones against us anyway. A certain lovely sea witch would be wise to seek an audience with the druid Vitex.”
"Said lovely sea witch may be interested. She does live in Port Ffirst for the time being after all, and will be remaining there for the foreseeable. Perhaps some of these other fine folk would be interested as well?"
"I've come to grow rather fond of the place, so I'd be happy to join you, Safire," Erron says. Safire smiles at Erron and raises her cup to cheers him, and the gesture is returned.
Safire turns back to Jaezred. "We'll see what we can do, Lord Mysterious Vandree. But I'm curious, are you some kind of ambassador or something?"
Jaezred arches a manicured brow at her. “Me? Oh no, I’m just a gentleman about town. A nosy fellow, as you put it. I came to Kantas five years ago, having squeezed my allowance dry, to make my living as a mage-for-hire, and I simply ended up staying. What about yourselves? I’m always curious to hear the stories of wanderers who land on our shores.”
"In my case literally,” Safire responds first. “My ship, The Seafoam Queen, was attacked by... something. I washed ashore about 6 months ago, only one from the crew it seems. For a second I thought it might have been Vast but recently found a bunch of other sole survivors. Their ships were also attacked in a very similar fashion."
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” Jaezred says, looking slightly surprised. “Unrelated individuals, all with the same story? Hmm. Curious.”
Erron, meanwhile, seems to be very guarded about his past, he's still on the run, and also deeply guilt ridden over what he did. He answers with a very basic and somewhat deflecting comment. "Just a humble wanderer, trying to find a place to call home."
He gets a brief look from Jaezred as he seems to acknowledge that he’s not the only one at this table who’s deflecting.
"In my case, the story is a bit different. I came from Faerun to learn more about my art and to learn more stories." Finnegan says, but the party can all see there is something bugging him. "And also, to find my legacy. You see, a while ago, my master's instrument, called the Canaith Mandolin, from the original owner of our college, was stolen violently and my master passed away not long after this. I want to know who did this, why, and where is the mandolin". For the first time, everyone can see in Finnegan's eyes tears of anger and sadness mixed with a stubborn resolution in his tone. "I wouldn't say no for some help ..." he continues with a very, very charming look on his face.
Jaezred raises his hand and makes gestures at one of the bartenders, a female drow in a smart-looking waistcoat — it appears to be some sort of sign language. "That is a tragic tale, friend Finnegan. And you think this thief might be somewhere in Kantas?" The drow bartender comes to their table holding a tray with a single drink: an almost black liquid suffused with dense clouds of sparkling silver. She sets it down in front of Finnegan, and Jaezred nods his thanks at her.
“Oh, thank you cher ami, what is this beverage? And to come back to the thief, yes, I'm pretty sure they are in Kantas. But by the way, wasn't I the one supposed to offer you a drink? What would you like to have?”
"Well, you see, this bar serves regular drinks as well as 'emotion cocktails'. This one is called Quiet Night. Try it, then perhaps you can think of an emotion cocktail to get me."
Finnegan brings the beverage to his lips, drinks it slowly, closes his eyes quietly. The black drink is without taste or smell, but as Finnegan swallows a mouthful of it, he is filled with a feeling of serene calm, a sensation of gazing at a full moon reflected over perfectly still waters. There’s a long sigh, then a smile as he opens his eyes. Finnigan looks quiet, almost at peace. "Thank you Sir Jaezred, and sorry for my sad story. I guess all these emotions needed to be released after these dark adventures with the lurking creatures. I do appreciate it, really, says he. I can't think of anything else for you but a Joy cocktail. Nothing makes me happier than to see smiles on people's faces. Safire, Erron, it's on me if you also want one!”
Hearing what Finnegan has said, Jaezred turns to Safire and Erron with a grin. "Shots?"
"Shots!" Safire replies with a cheer. "Just a regular one for me. I'm in a good mood already."
The night goes on and the team enjoy as much of the party as they can. As he gets tipsier, Jaezred certainly gets flirtier with Safire, though he's always polite Safire reciprocates in a fun way, and as she gets drunker loudly proclaims to the party;
"We should get a ship!"