Redemption: The Preludes (IC post)

[Harding]

Roland Weisley

---

Roland felt a firm grip on his arm, instantly halting his trembling. Though shrouded in fear, this touch somehow steeled his nerves. He couldn't see who was holding him, but he felt it—Aly. Her hand was strong yet feminine, molded by thousands of hours spent honing her swordsmanship. They had traveled together for some time now, and Roland realized in that moment that they had rarely touched each other aside from practical interactions like helping with armor or passing objects and food.

As his rational mind sought to distract him from the tense situation, Roland entertained the amusing notion of whether it might be Wyck or D'Artegenon gripping his arm in such a manner. The thought verged on humorous, were it not for the gravity of their circumstances. But he dismissed the diversion and focused on the reality of the touch. It was unique, reminiscent of someone else, yet he couldn't quite place it. Few people could dispel his doubts and fears with a simple touch like that—someone from a particular tavern in Waterdeep...

[Rumrunner]

Rillik d'Sivis

---

The reunion was overshadowed both figuratively and literally by the impending encounter. She trembled, the inside of her chest feeling like a tankard filled with ice and foaming ale poured fast over it, causing cracking and popping and a foam that threatened to overflow and make her spew onto her feet. She swallowed down the bile and tried to think logically. There was very clearly and logically a source of this fear, the kobold spoke it clearly, but whatever strength logic may have it paled beneath the force of emotion as as the darkness soaked them in its blinding pool of liquid fright, its chill \rippling over her skin as it pimpled from the the evaporating dew of her feverish sweat.

~calm~ She clung to the word, as her eyes closed and she focused on her breathing. It made no difference to her circumstances, but it gave a semblance of control, she was now choosing her lack of sight, she was choosing breath and life. In the shallow depths of her control the wizard's mind began skimming through options, mundane and arcane, sane and insane. A leomund's hut? She could burry them all with a quick molding of earth, try fleeing on a phantom steed, perhaps conjure a decoy to buy them time? How long did they even have to prepare?

Before her thoughts outran her ability to catch hold of them, Rillik chanced a whisper. "I can create a bunker pretty quickly by moving earth, or even just cover us lightly for camouflage, either can be magically in seconds... or an arcane hut but that will be a ritual casting and take eleven minutes instead of the standard sixty seconds."

 

 

 

[Varen Tai]

D’Artegenon whispered in a strained voice, “No magic. That will make her arcane senses tune into us more easily. Just wait it out and hope she doesn’t smell us.”

As they were in pitch blackness, they could not see as she glided by, her winged shape contrasted sharply against a cloud in the moonlit sky. In Ulzel, a few of those awake and on the streets saw her against the sky and crouched down in terror while those that were asleep tossed, muttering uncomfortably as their dreams took a fearful turn. 

Seeing her pass, I knew two things:

First, she was still on the hunt for the kobold and the bugbear. Their last encounter had wounded her pride, and she was not going to let that slight go.

Second, my brother had not sent her this time. If he had, she would have known better where they were and laid another trap instead of searching. The magical protections around them were sufficient without my intervention, and she glided by without sensing them, though there was no question in my mind that she knew they were somewhere generally in the area. Greens have spies and connections everywhere.

Thankfully, she didn’t head towards the town, though she wasn’t foolish enough to try the same trick on a town sitting on a major merchant road. A small village in the middle of nowhere didn’t garner the kind of attention she would catch from many powerful people if she slaughtered this place, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t a danger in the area. 

I tracked her magically as she flew on and eventually turned north, and the dragon fear passed with her. What struck me the most was how quickly and easily the entire group worked to protect each other. I have only been protecting myself for all these centuries, and only just now am I getting the sense of wanting to protect someone else. 

I suppose lichhood is not for me. I will try to maintain that same protection towards you as they evidenced towards each other. 

It still hurts. It’s as if I had a well of strength that I did not know I possessed until I thought of you over me, but the pain hasn’t gone away. My questions still feel haunting, my past still torments me, but I am feeling better than I was. It seems the simplest truth, but one that has eluded me for my entire time as a Watcher. 

I suppose I should thank you? That was a sharper precipice than I had anticipated. I will think on this more.

They could feel her leave, and the bugbear dropped the sphere of darkness. The half-orc looked tired and worn out, but he sat down and, after a few breaths, asked quietly, “Why is this dragon chasing you?”
 

Edited April 8 by Varen Tai (see edit history)

[Zelphas]

Torben

---

Torben wanted to let out a burst of breath in relief, but training and discipline won out; he breathed out slowly and silently, waiting a long beat after the dragon fear dissolved before he pulled that darkness back into himself and away. The morning was still just dark enough for that to have worked, then. He felt rather foolish with his slapped-together plan of concealment, but at least it had done its job this time around.

"I don't know," Torben answered D'Artegenon simply, honestly, his cloak the only patch of unnatural darkness left in the area. "Shortly after Ragz and I met, we came upon a town--Galt--that the dragon had destroyed. There was only one survivor, and we got him out of there. It's been after us since, I think; it's never gotten this close before, not since Galt."

The bugbear shifted his packs slightly, making sure they were settled right. "Ragz and I--we're faster than you are. We're the ones the dragon is after, and it didn't notice you with us this time--otherwise it would've just attacked. It'd be... safer... for you if we just move on ahead."

[PixCO]

Yopine (Svirfette) Quietclock

---

"No." Yopine had fallen to her knees when the darkness fled. She was breathing heavily in a way that had nothing to do with the exertion of being that quiet.

"Not safe. Never safe. Not from that." They said it had been a dragon. She'd never met one before, though she'd once argued for their right to not be used as trained attack dogs. If only she'd known the raw evil that they were. Her own sins had once seemed too horrible to compare. Now they seemed almost cute within the shadow of true malevolence.

"If it can't find you, then it'll backtrack. Then it'll find us. Even if it does find you..." Her breath was starting to normalize, though Yopine still hadn't managed to regain her footing. The magical darkness had made her long for true night, the stuff she could see through naturally.

"Down. We should all go down. As long as there's only trees between that... THING... and any one of us, we're all in danger."

Rillik's mention of being buried had reminded her that it was always night in the Underdark. Even better, according to what she could remember from some of Dillworthy's strategy maps, the City of the Dead was massive. Tunnels connecting to the Underdark ran all the way from the Lake of Salt to the Purple Plains of Dust.

"We could escape to the Underdark. There's going to be an entrance around here somewhere. Has to be better than..."

She could even bring herself to think about it. The combined darkness, enforced terror, and stench on her sensitive nose were too much to bear.

Edited April 8 by PixCO (see edit history)

[Wizard of the Coat]

Ragz

---

The kobold still sat atop the black dog's back when the darkness faded to night. He took some time recovering from the dragon fear. To distract himself from the after effects he again leaned close to the dog's hear, whispering soothing words.

The words soothed both kobold and dog.

But he remained skeptical of his ability to speak above a whisper without quavering. Instead, he nodded his agreement with Torben's assessment of their situation--he and Toben should leave these others.

In anticipation of departure, Ragz started patting himself down, confirming the presences of his various treasures, when the deep gnome mentioned the underdark. The kobold's head snapped up, his eyes on the girlish gnome.

He said nothing, considering, looking to her companions.

[Varen Tai]

The half-orc shook his head almost imperceptibly in the darkness. "You still haven't explained why the dragon is after you. You met it in...Galt? That's northeast of here, correct? Why would it be hunting the two of you? Did you make off with a treasure from its lair or some similar foolishness?"

The glimmer of dawn in the east began to form and the copse they were in became a little clearer. The air, still crisp from the evening, left their mouths in vapor as they spoke quietly. However, no wildlife - birds, insects, or anything at all - had begun making any of their normal morning sounds, leaving the silence in the area still unsettling.

[Wizard of the Coat]

Ragz

---

Ragz cocked his head sideways, considering the half-orc. He spoke slowly, in case the creature was simple. "Yes, a bugbear answered that question: neither a bugbear nor Ragz know the answer to that question."

It was hard to tell if the kobold was somehow able to guide the dog with his knees alone or if the dog moved of her own accord, but she took a few slow steady steps toward the half-orc.

The kobold's bullfrog voice held no ire as he asked, "And why would it matter to a half-orc? If a bugbear and Ragz are foolish, depart and be rid of dragon troubles."

Ragz paused, considering his next words carefully. He shot a quick nervous glance to the skies overhead. Testing the possibility that the half-orc might be hard of hearing rather than simple, Ragz lowering his voice, still speaking extra-slow. "Ragz knows little of dragons in the sunlit world, but Ragz has suspicions. If a half-orc would hear them, a half-orc would need a reason to hear them. A half-orc would need to share a reason with Ragz and a bugbear."

Edited April 9 by Wizard of the Coat (see edit history)

[Varen Tai]

“A green dragon is hunting you, and you do not know why.” If someone else had said this, there would likely have been some amount of incredulity in those words, but D’Artegenon said them thoughtfully. “It was waiting for you? Why would a green dragon personally destroy a town?” Glancing at Aly, he added, “This is not so dissimilar to one of our own companion’s experience - a seemingly overwhelming enemy that should have slain you, and yet, you survived, I assume by sheer luck? And now it is trying to locate you to finish the job.”

He hesitated a moment in the light of the moon before continuing. “I have been tasked by an old friend to help keep our other enemy from finding our companion. I can do the same for you, if you will travel with us. These events are strange, and I suspect they are connected, but how and why, I do not know.”

He pointed generally northwest and continued, “In the spirit of sharing, let me tell you a little. We are headed to Skuld, but from there, I am unsure. I have felt strongly that the next steps of our path would come to us, but I have not been clear how those next steps would reveal themselves. May I ask where you are headed? A dragon is hunting you for an unknown reason, but is that driving your direction or did you have a goal in mind before that?”

Nodding towards Yopine, he said, “The Underdark is incredibly dangerous. Let us talk together and see what we all decide together before committing to such a path.”
 

[Civit]

Aly Treltor

---

 

As the darkness lifted, Aly appeared a little embarrassed that she had been clinging to Roland. But friends comforted each other, right? Aly had the same thought, that their predicaments were eerily similar. Coincidence had an odd way of bleeding into fate, if one believed in such things. She had read too many stories to completely discount the idea of fate, as much as the thought of some things being predetermined bothered her.

"I am with D'artagnan on this. I think it is too odd that we find ourselves in such similar situations to ignore. I also would express my concerns with the underdark." She thought back on the stories of her ancestor, and her forays into the underdark. Three of them would need light sources. One would spend a lot of time ducking. Then there were the denizens of the underdark.

[Zelphas]

Torben

---

Torben hesitated, glancing over at Ragz as if for confirmation. The information that this group apparently had their own "overwhelming" enemy coming after them wasn't exactly a comforting thing to discover, after all. Would this be a way to alleviate their problems, or to multiply them? "I seek the Glacier of the White Worm," he said finally, a bit reluctantly. "Ragz has been my guide and companion. If the Glacier is in that direction, then we'll end up traveling on similar routes whatever we do; if not... I must go to the Glacier."

Torben didn't add what he wants to say, that Ragz could choose to go with the group if he thought it was safer, even if the group wasn't going towards the Glacier. He thought the kobold might find such a comment insulting. Besides, they were traveling together by choice, so Ragz already knew he could go whenever he wanted.

[PixCO]

Yopine (Svirfette) Quietclock

---

"A half-orc may not have a good reason to hearing why you're being hunted, but I do." Svirfette had finally uncoiled from her kneeling position and was sitting now. She still didn't fully trust her legs to stand convincingly.

"You're being hunted, and I hunt people for a living. Professionally trained and everything. Not bears, or wolves, or any other animal in the world. I hunt bounties, okay? Bounties who know that they're being hunted, and are both clever and desperate enough to do anything to not be caught. That requires very different hunting techniques."

She pointed skyward, not bothering to state the very obvious reason for doing so.

"If that wasn't an Ancient Green, then I'd swear to Svirf' that it was collecting a bounty. It set a trap before you'd even known about it, and pursued when you managed to survive. That wasn't an accident. It's either after you or it believes you'll lead it to what it really wants. That'd explain how you survived, anyway.

"It's going to keep tracking you, and knows you were here somewhere." She shifted her finger to point back in the direction of the town. At least, she hoped it was the right direction. The world had spun a bit in the last few minutes.

"We made a lot of noise last night. People are going to remember all of us. Here's one of those ways that bounty hunting is different than survival hunting; bounty hunters ask questions. Maybe an Ancient Green can't, but if it has money and power then it can pay people to ask questions for it. And even if it doesn't, this place absolutely reeks of fear-sweat now. It will for hours, just ask a stray black dog over there."

Her finger shifted one last time before dropping to her side in defeat. She still hadn't bothered trying to stand and her cloak was starting to gather dust around the hem.

"We wouldn't have to go that deep. It's not like we'd be seeing Mind-Flayer hives or Demonweb Pits. But if we want to shake a pursuer, then we need to go where it can't and move quickly. We come back up miles away and only then go our separate ways. Put enough time and distance between us and let this trail go cold. It's our best move."

[Basil_Bottletop]

Wyckmere Mirth

---

 

The darkness lifted and so too did Wyckmere's anxiety. As his eyes re-focused, he realized it had been a mass event and not simply his own eyes betraying him. That was always a threat and one he'd mostly chosen to ignore since the tragedy, but being reminded of it in those few helpless moments wasn't his favorite morning ritual. He looked around as the others also came out of the blind stupor and felt secure in his own handling of it.

The consideration between parties was swelling when Wyck moved up to stand just behind and to the left of D'Artegenon. Having not spent much time around a bugbear, it was hard to say if the lack of details on the dragon encounter in Galt was purposeful or not, and Wyck hadn't the reserves to dig further at the moment. Instead, he took them at face value and stashed them away for later.

An assassin. A dragon. A glacier. Two hired gnomes. The tale of this trip was winding an inconceivably crooked road with no sense of how or what might end it. The audacity of it was what really turned the corks of Wyck's mind, as its obtuse edges offered no solace. No clean departure. No cut off point.

He heard Underdark and it almost made him laugh. This truly was a job that knew no limits. For the first time since joining D'Artegenon, he felt as though they were doing too much and in too deep.

 

[Wizard of the Coat]

Ragz

---

"And if a bugbear goes to the glacier, Ragz will guide." His canine mount vocalized something between a whine and a yip. "And a stray black dog will follow."

The kobold still sat atop the dog. He met the bugbear's glance and nodded. He might have said more but his words were slow to come.

The deep gnome, however had many words to share. Ragz marveled at the power and speed of her words. He began to suspect she was perhaps a deep gnome chieftain's daughter. Or perhaps she was a chieftain. When she was finished making her words, he considered how to respond.

"A deep gnome must have a reason to know, not merely a desire to know. What overwhelming enemy hunts you? A kobold has shared. Now a deep gnome must share."

 

[Rumrunner]

Rillik d'Sivis

---

The fear pealed off with the darkness, but her skin still felt raw as if freshly waxed but with a residue that would not easily wash off. She rubbed her arms. They were sharing, but Yopine was taking things far out of scope and as the kobold pressed for answers Rillik sliced into the conversation. "As much as a detour to the Underdark seems wonderful, if our mission is to Skuld, then we go to Skuld. I somehow doubt our orders are so flimsy that we can abandon them for two strangers." She looked to Ragz and Torben, her eyes softening with some sympathy, but there was steel behind them. "Even if your circumstances are similar to ours, you seem to know nothing of the reason, so that does not help us in our objective. It is irresponsible and unreasonable for us to sacrifice that mission for you. I will not scorn traveling with you, you stand out too much as you are, but we can concealing your presence within our group as we travel to Skuld and you can likely find boat fare from there to wherever you need to go. That is the only reasonable concession I can see, assuming that it is acceptable to Mr D'Artegenon... it is not a deep gnomes story to share."