Session 11

Late into the night, having eaten and relaxed and debriefed about their mission, Gwendolyn told the group that she had paid for their night at the inn so that they could sleep unconcerned for cost. Irene haggled this boon to a second night, which Gwendolyn granted with a knowing smile. Hours past midnight, the team finally collapsed into their beds. The four beds were arranged in a common room, but at least they were themselves alone. Harlan’s eyes began to close, but before he could escape his promise, Irene woke Vireya up with a telepathic shout through her Echo Earring. Harlan knew immediately that he wasn’t going to be able to avoid revealing his secrets, but he put up at least a semblance of resistance.

The girls were not having it, and immediately leaped to threats. Vireya unveiled her two remaining Schmoranges, now beyond ruined from rot and mold, and threatened to sodomize Harlan with them. It was clear to all that the tiefling warlock was not bluffing in the slightest. He dropped the bluff and gathered the group around to explain his strange tattoo and background. Vierya briefly sat on Harlan’s bed next to him, but returned to her own space quickly. And thus began Harlan’s confession.

Harlan Ceisser was not, as he had claimed, a zealous Paladin of El, following the state religion without qualm. He was born in Tova, a fishing village south of Akamori and was raised as a fisherman. His mother was an active and important cleric in the town’s church and was a foundational part of his religious nature. However, rather than worship El, whose ecclesiastical structure had not yet penetrated so far West even under the tenure of the Wizard King, Harlan and his village worshipped Ortho, the God of Sea and Blood. As part of the pagan pantheon, the church would also indulge in pilgrimages and offerings to the higher gods like Sylvia and Garganoth, but remained primarily a fishing village and so required the blessings of the ocean god.

Tova managed to maintain its independence after the Night of Grief and throughout the civil war. Even after the Arcane Collegium established a de jure claim over the western coast, the village had to at worst suppress some of their more pagan rituals, not holistically convert. Peace was re-established near the end of the Civil War and the times returned to relatively tense but uninjured normalcy. But Tova was one of the nearest cities to the landing point of the Torvani invasion, and was swept away entirely by the first wave of the military incursion. Harlan, a young adult by this point, fled with the refugees at the behest of his family. He regrets his decision to this day, and told his team that he would have rather died defending his family than flee again. When he arrived in Kalzaharn, the religious center of Serulea, he found that it was far more prudent to convert to the Cult of El than to live in the underclass as an infidel. He did not forsake his faith when alone, however, and maintained his culture and religion when he could. His driving motivation is to beat back the invaders, reclaim his homeland, and establish a new Church of Ortho.

At some point in the story, Vireya was so shocked that she crushed one of her schmoranges, splattering the rotten fruit all over the room. She questioned why Harlan felt the need to disguise himself, and he explained that, while he wouldn’t have been excluded from society as a pagan, it would have been much harder to receive food, training, or any of the resources he gathered to assist in the fight against the Ascendancy. Irene had a brief flash of memory when Harlan described his childhood village, and realized that she, too, had grown up in a seaside village. Bonding through their origins, they promised to find their homes together (and perhaps Irene would find solace in worshipping Ortho like Harlan). She also supported his disguise, noting that she would very likely be killed if anyone else in the city found out she was from the Ascendancy. The group was reminded of their decision in the mushroom cave to not turn on her, and they reflected on whether or not that was the right choice. Having since fought by her side (and twice in a strange shared dream-sequence), they decided that they did the right thing.

Vireya thought of a “few” more questions before being satisfied with Harlan’s story. The exploded schmorange has an anti-soporific effect, and she was ready to be inquisitive. She asked about: Other gods (Harlan explained the Old Gods like Sylvia), Harlan’s future plans (Harlan will drop the charade and re-establish a church of Ortho), how Harlan knows Ortho is real (Harlan has faith, but also gets actual magic powers from Ortho), and how Harlan planned to accomplish his goal. To this final question, Harlan became introspective. He didn’t know how he could gather enough power to defeat an entire army. He wouldn’t beg, even from his team, but he knew one clear fact: He had to get stronger. They all did.

Irene began asking questions at this point. She asked about magic in his village (there wasn’t a lot, but Harlan’s mother was an active cleric), and she expressed genuine happiness that he was one of the rare survivors of the Ascendancy’s rampages. Then, for some reason, she reinforced that his mother was probably dead. The entire group was taken aback by her lack of tact, and Lorien asked if she was autistic. Vireya jumped in to ask Harlan about his siblings (he didn’t), and told him to stop lying about worshipping El. Harlan was exasperated, having explained why he’s been doing it twice, and told her to sleep off her tipsiness. He did promise to teach the group some rituals and offerings for Ortho when they had more free time. Vireya continued asking questions: whether Harlan can talk to fish (he can’t), whether he can control blood (he can’t, but that’s why he made the deal with the Nothic, for blood magic).

Finally the group went to sleep. In new, clean beds in a solid building, they slept better than they had in a week. And after the day they’d had, they needed it. As the sun rose, however, and the rest of the group slept in, Vireya was woken by a sound in her head. The sound reminded her strongly of Irene’s connection through the Echo Earrings, but Irene remained visibly asleep. As Vireya sat up, trying to figure out why she’d woken up, she heard the barest whisper of a voice in her head, so quiet that she couldn’t ascertain anything about it. All she could tell was that it had said “...door…”. Never one to reject a gut instinct, she crept to the door of the bedroom and wrenched it open. Standing before her, or in a sense below her, was a tiny, spindly creature wearing a colloquial wizard outfit. The creature’s clothing, a wide blue cloak and collar with a wide-brimmed hat, was its only defining feature because the rest of its actual body was hidden deep in the fabric.

Vireya was surprised, but not more so than the creature, who leaped back and began speaking rapidly in an alien language. Vireya moved to respond and possibly comfort the creature, but before she could react she felt a sharp pain in her thigh. Looking down, the creature had stabbed her! It then leaped over the bannister of the second floor and skittered across the ground floor and out of sight. Vireya attempted to chase in hot pursuit but was severely hampered by her leg wound. She made it downstairs, but the creature was long gone. She screamed in frustration, waking up in the entire inn. Her teammates, whom she had forgotten to awaken in her rage, rushed downstairs prepared for a fight. They were not ready to see Vireya slumped over at the unstaffed bar complaining to everyone who came to check on her.

Harlan immediately healed her wound, and Vireya pocketed her newfound dagger. Bob the Bartender gave her a beer on the house, and (her hangover also reduced by Harlan’s magic) Vireya’s passions were restored. She questioned the entire inn, and finally found a lead from a bard near the front entrance. He told Vireya that the creature had escaped out the front door and escaped down a nearby alleyway. Without even allowing her team time for breakfast, Vireya gathered them up and shuffled them out the front door. Unfortunately, days started early in Kalzaharn and the streets were already packed. Vireya searched for the blue wizard outfit, but could only find full-grown humans wearing something similar. A small armored child wearing yellow ribbons saw her wandering, and came up to ask for an autograph. She insulted and dismissed the child, and Harlan felt so bad that signed the child’s book instead.

YFPB eventually combed every nearby alleyway and came up with nothing. Harlan decided to give up the search (temporarily, he promised Vireya) in favor of finding new armor. Harlan led his team down various familiar streets until they reached the industrial boroughs where smog and the sounds of clanking metal resonated from every shop. He strolled casually for a time until Vireya pressured him again to finish his business, so he ducked into the first blacksmith that looked familiar. The gruff, soot-covered man inside was immediately brusque, assuming they had arrived for a new fancy sword or magic armor. Slightly taken aback, Harlan did confirm that they were looking for armor, and the blacksmith explained that due to both war rationing and bandit attacks on recent shipments, he couldn’t supply Harlan with armor even at an exorbitant price. Seeing their disappointment and assessing their strength, though, the blacksmith asked if they were freelancers. When they answered in the affirmative, he described a recent shipment of Orichalcum ingots that had been stolen just outside the city by a band of strange freaks. If the group returned the metal, the blacksmith would not only make Harlan armor for free, but also imbue it with magical resistances. He even offered Harlan a temporary leather chestpiece as compensation for the mission.

Harlan was more than happy to talk on the mission, but Vireya, interpreting some offhand comment as offensive, spat on the floor as they left and was chastised for her manners once again by Harlan and Lorien. The group, annoyed and frustrated, stopped in a nearby plaza at the intersection of several large alleys. A small crowd was surrounding a street magician who was performing low-level illusions while pretending to be fully mundane. Lorien joined the crowd and, when chosen by the magician, played along with some simple card tricks. As thanks, the magician tossed him some of his earnings to Lorien’s surprise and pleasure. Vireya spotted another tiefling woman throwing dice, but on her way to talk to her she spotted another mini-wizard-like creature. This one was slightly different, wearing fashionable striped pants, but was clearly related to the first offender. Vireya burned much of her magical reserves to teleport across the plaza and onto the overhang where the creature was resting, and tried to grab it with two hands. When she squeezed it, though, it popped out of her grip as if it was filled with liquid. The creature stood on her outstretched hands and began yelling at her in the same alien language as before. As the rest of YFPB arrived, the creature dove off the overhang, bounced off the ground, and skittered away under the legs of the crowd. The team gave chase but again lost the creature quickly.

In her frustration, Vireya demanded crayons and paper from her team and from nearby shops and drew two likenesses of the creatures she had decided to dedicate her life to killing. As she drew, Harlan was alerted to the vague presence of raw power in the vicinity. He then heard familiar footsteps, and turned to see a tall, broad man in shining sun-emblazoned armor staring him down. His fingers instinctually twitched towards his weapon but before he could draw it, the man broke into a broad smile and opened his arms for a wide hug, shouting “HARLEY!” and enveloping the paladin. It was then that the pieces clicked: this was Roland, Harlan’s senior at his paladin training academy and Renlen’s older brother.

Roland was incredibly affable, shaking the hands of the rest of the group and complimenting and teasing Harlan simultaneously. He told the girls they looked strong and probably had to protect Harlan instead of the other way around, and when Irene defended him, Roland was even more pleased. He told them stories of Harlan’s initial pagan origins, clapped shoulders and bragged about his promotion. Roland had become the Divine Light of El, the highest position in the entire Arkanite military. Teasing aside, Roland’s words were nothing but positive, but Irene, Vireya, and Lorien were wholly intimidated. Roland represented everything that the three fought against. To Lorien, he was the pinnacle of the system that took away his friend. To Vireya, he was the most zealous advocate for the restrictive religion she despised. To Irene, he was the leader of the very civilization her people had begun to slaughter. And on top of his philosophies, he was strong. Stronger than Alkamer, stronger than the Justicar, stronger than anyone any of them had ever known. He physically exuded Essence.

Roland introduced his own team: Cassian the Hand(s) of El, Logan the Eyes of El, and Cynthia the Breath of El. Those names were extremely familiar to Irene, but she couldn’t place where or when she knew them. Roland made Harlan promise to visit the main cathedral to visit the new Church Head, but before leaving looked at Vireya’s drawing. He was able to identify them as Wizlings, whimsical creatures from children’s fairy tales. Even so, once Harlan vouched for their authenticity he promised to seek them out with as much effort as he could spare. Once he took his leave, the group let out a collective sigh of relief. Harlan was less affected, but even so his teammates moved to comfort him after interpreting his words as subtly backhanded and insulting. In any case, Vireya attempted a few gambles with the dice-rolling Tiefling but quickly lost money to bad odds and was prevented from losing more.

After some contemplation, the team decided to immediately leave the city to find Kremmi Cave (the nest of the bandit freaks) to retrieve the Orichalcum and get Harlan armor before attempting anything else. The cave was indeed less than two hours from the city, and it was clear that the city’s Honor Guard would have easily wiped out the threat had they not been called to defend against the invaders. The cave was narrow, and dark, and they groped their way into the dark before Vireya remembered that she had oil in her backpack. The tunnel split into two directions, and one direction Harlan could see two spherical, toothy creatures gnawing on some bones. In the other direction, Lorien spotted a strange blue orb dancing in the distance. The orb, in reality a Shadow Wisp, attempted to lure Lorien closer, but he resisted the urge. Vireya, peeking over Lorien's shoulder, also resisted the urge, and the two backed around the corner to report their findings. Irene closed her eyes to test the efficacy of the wisp’s power, and managed to move further into the tunnel without being charmed.

Vireya then pushed past Irene to investigate a burned out firepit, but as she moved around a rock outcropping, what she thought was a mere pelt began moving. The Boneless, a reanimated corpse made only of skin, attempted to wrap itself around her and suffocate her. She screamed and blasted the grotesque creature away before fleeing back to her group. The commotion startled the Toothy Freaks and aggravated the Wisp, so a battle began.

It was not a good showing of force from our heroes. The Boneless, weak and floppy, could only move a short distance at a time and was quite fragile, but, being essentially a carpet in structure, required being ripped apart or pierced. The group handled powerful magics but continued to blast the creature with concussive bursts that only served to slam it against the far wall. The wisp posed more trouble than expected, too, flitting closer and around physical weapons like a bug only to burst flashes of irritating light. As the light faded, the team’s shadows appeared to react negatively, and everyone had to brace themselves against their own souls. Harlan and Vireya, who were engaged in battle with the Boneless and were unprepared for a psychic attack, were greatly harmed and were sapped of some of their physical strength.

The Toothy Freaks proved ravenous, chomping and tearing with their piranha-like needle teeth. It took a combination of Irene’s spear and Lorien’s magic to keep them at bay while Vireya sliced the Boneless to pieces with her scythe and Harlan finally landed a blow on the wisp, sending it directly into the path of Lorien’s Thunderclap. Harlan, to protect his more fragile teammates, moved to intercept the Toothy Freaks and was rewarded with a massive bite through the calf and several teeth in his arm. In anger, he rebuffed the arm-Freak with magic and brought his morning star down and through the leg-Freak. Vireya, near the end of the battle, spotted a third Wizling in the shadows deeper into the cave. She wanted to kill it immediately, but Harlan’s grunts of pain drew her attention. Against her natural inclinations, she turned from the Wizling and landed a perfect shot on the remaining Toothy Freak to end the fight.

The group was already badly injured, and they had only just cleared the entrance to the cave. Their goals unmet, they needed now to decide whether it was worth continuing deeper into the cave. Harlan’s words from the night before echoed in their minds: “I have to get stronger.”