Prologue: To Boldly Go Where People Have Not Been in a Good

Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17

Zeiss wrote:: Kathryn also goes to see the tree.

"Hey, Eyton! Is there any other way out than the front entrance? And are Nesme and Allinandra still waiting for us?"

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Kolson wrote:: Liam answers part of Katheryn's question, "Eyton can move us to the Feywild where we can find a tether back to a few trees spread around outside. We'll have to do a bit of traveling on that side and it may not be safe. But it's definitely safer than going out the front door."

Eyton grows a big branch with a purple-white flower on the end. A stream of pollen explodes from the flower all over the party, putting an image of the field outside into your heads. Nesme is not there but Allinandra is waiting in plain view. There is no sign of Ludmilla. Seven mundanely camouflaged elves wait in ambush, spread around the entrance. They glow a light blue, and you can make out bows, swords, and leather armor. They don't appear to be druids at all.

"Those are Woodsinger Clan hunters. They must be allied with Nesme," says Liam, "Eyton, are they guarding the tethered trees?"

Eyton shoots you all with more pollen, changing the view to an overhead one of the entire meadow. Only one tree lights up. Liam grunts in anger, "They seem to have broken the tether's somehow. It's easy if you know where to look. A fire or simply cutting it down with an ax would do the trick."

The overhead view zooms in on the lone tree, showing that it is clear of ambush. If you guys head there, you'd be on top of the hill itself. It would be a good place for ranged attacks into the meadow below. Liam adds, "That's strange, I wonder why they missed this position? It seems to give a commanding view of the battlefield and should have been one of the first places checked."

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K wrote:: "Or maybe they countin' on us to take that one. Nesme knows we found you. She knows we pissed at her, and she has to know we'd find Eyton, and we'd have access to the tethers. And now she nowhere to be seen, while having left us a pretty obvious exit." - Carlos muses

"We go out that way, and we likely get hammered. We go out the front door, and we likely get hammered. But we have to be able to talk to them, and---" - he stops himself as he thinks of something - "¿Oy Jo, where did you stash that pendant again?"

Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17

Kolson wrote:: "It's in the bedroom where I was working," answers Jojo, "I left it on the bed in the right corner."

Liam bites his lip in thought. "I suppose they might have left a guard in the Feywild. We really won't know unless we go there. I still think it's worth the risk."

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Rory wrote:: Hunter sneezes and coughs with each blast of pollen.

When the first clears, he gasps at the image. Nesme, who is powerless here, gone. Allinandra, who can use the power of her pact to protect her, remains with other armed elves. Members of his uncle's clan. Ludmilla, gone.

More. These people axed a tree. Nothing to him, but to them a principle of their own they were willing to betray to destroy a foe they deemed enough of a threat.

"The Woodsinger Clan. My uncle's. Allinandra used this situation and to poison them against us. The moment we walk out, we'll be accused of cavorting with gnolls, not Harken's Heart."

He yells in frustration, and says to Liam, "We'll go. If they've left a guard, we'll carve our way to Allinandra, and then we can try to reason with my uncle's clansmen."

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Zeiss wrote:: Kathryn listens closely to what Liam and Eyton have to tell them, and she expresses surprise when Hunter reveals that members of his clan are the ones who are waiting outside.

"Wait, these are your people? Why would they be here?"

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Rory wrote:: "They're here because the Harken's Heart circle like to recruit from their clan. I wouldn't be surprised if they drew them in with cult-like promises. It's really sickening."

[He's trying to pile on another excuse to hate the Harken's Heart. I don't actually know if they're like a cult.]

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Kolson wrote:: "Almost all of the druids of Harken's Heart are drawn from the Woodsinger Clan of elves. It's not surprising they could call upon allies within the clan itself. I just don't understand why they didn't leave peacefully with the finger, if indeed that was their plan," adds Liam helpfully.

"I don't get it," says Zoe, "Are we sure Allinandra is a bad guy? She's the only druid there, right? So wouldn't she have been the one identifying the tethers for them? If it's not a trap then she left that opening on purpose, right?"

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Zeiss wrote:: "What about the pendant?" asks Kathryn. "Maybe we could use it to ask Allinandra about it, and avoid a battle this way."

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Rory wrote:: Hunter stills himself to think about what the others have said. "We're Nesme's loose end. She made sure she would have allies in the Woodsinger Clan at hand to take us out if we didn't cooperate. Maybe she counted on it..."

"The clansmen must be aware of her plan, so we can't count on them to be reasonable. Someone left a way out for us, and it wasn't them or Nesme. I...guess I might be wrong about her daughter. She's giving us a clear advantage. We should use it, but we should be prepared for a bigger ambush in the Feywild in case this is a ruse...okay. Okay, we'll ambush the clansmen and we won't touch Allinandra. We can't anyhow, not until we find out what's really going on with her."

"I don't think we should risk using the pendant. Whether you trust her or not, someone might over hear us. Nesme might even have a spare. If we're going to give her the benefit of the doubt, she's just going to have to trust that we won't attack her when we come out on top of the hill."

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K wrote:: "Oy, Jo. Zoe. ¿What you think the range on that pendant would be, eh?"

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Kolson wrote:: Zoe and Jojo look at each other. She indicates for Jojo to go first which he does with a nod. "I would be surprised if it was more than a mile or two. The enchantment is good work but I believe it was done as hastily as possible."

"Work like that is common in the Feywild," adds Zoe, "With the right connections it wouldn't take long to find a seller, especially if you go to the Grand Market of Astrazalian or the master artisans of Mithrendain. And that assumes they don't keep this kind of magic on hand as a matter of course. I wouldn't put it past them to have a sophisticated spy network backed up by an artisan or two on retainer to keep a supply going."

"You might be on to something Zoe," says Liam, "Especially with their relatively recent interest in the lands beyond their forest."

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K wrote:: "¿And if we use it, can Eyton track where it's being received? Just in case Nesme still has it, and not Allinandra."

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Kolson wrote:: "Maybe. We've never tried anything like that before," answers Liam. He walks over to Eyton and places his hand on the tree. "He says he doesn't sense her in his territory anymore which would be the surrounding meadow. He's willing to try what you ask, though he needs the pendant."

Jojo leaves and returns with the pendant, placing his finger on his lips to indicate everyone be quiet. He hands the pendant to Liam who in turn places it carefully in one of Eyton's nooks. After 30 seconds of silence Liam indicates everyone should leave the room and follows suit. When you guys are a good ways down the hall he says, "It's going to take him a while to alter the enchantment enough to do what you ask. He says we'd be better off resting for the coming conflict."

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Rory wrote:: "Let's all double-check and make sure we're ready for whatever's coming. We've got the element of surprise, but the numbers aren't in our favor."

He checks his quiver. Briefly. "Zoe, how are you doing?"

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Kolson wrote:: Zoe is checking her daggers and testing the draw of her darts. "I'm okay I guess. This job turned out to be a lot more trouble than we thought it'd be, huh?"

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Rory wrote:: "It is. I thought the gnolls were gonna be the worst of it. Then we entered the Feywild! You would have loved it, it was breathtaking. I wish I could visit there anytime."

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Kolson wrote:: "Oh, um, okay." She responds with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

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Rory wrote:: Crestfallen, he continues, "But...everything else that happened, what's happening now, is my fault."

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Kolson wrote:: "I wouldn't say all of it but I wish you had shared what you knew about them earlier. They might not have the finger right now or Ludmilla."

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Rory wrote:: He nods. "Well, at least they left us a way out. I won't waste it." He has a hard look as he says that.

"Hey, I know it was dangerous to go to the Feywild, but it really is a beautiful place. I wish you could have come."

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Kolson wrote:: "Oh, that's okay. We had fun reading books and singing songs with the kids." [Insight success] She's hardcore deflecting now. She doesn't want to talk about visiting the Feywild.

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K wrote:: "Only place i care to go anymore is a room with big sturdy walls, so i can sleep the rest of the week." - Carlos grumbles - "Screw the bed; i'll just shut the door and fall on my face on the floor and start snoring."

He's still in a less than great mood.

Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17

Zeiss wrote:: While the others are talking, Kathryn stays a short distance away from them, thinking. She then suddenly turns towards Liam and asks him, "Hey, could Eyton open the... front "door" on our signal?"

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Kolson wrote:: "Of course. That's what we usually do when we enter and exit," answers Liam.

» Prologue: Just another day
» Prologue Interlude
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