Beth, the maker goddess, made them a questionable, but nutritious breakfast, and it was roughly an hour until the arrival of the unwelcome visitors.
"If there's anything you or a friend would like to donate, I will make use of anything! I love doing experiments... Right now, I want to determine the iron level of someone's blood just by tasting!"
"I eat a lot of Liver," said Rina, "I could give you a vile."
"Oh, would you?!"
Rina held out her arm, but Beth turned around with a gigantic knife.
"I'll just... put some in a bottle myself," Rina said, pulling out a small empty potion bottle.
The party all set up their trap, not sure exactly what was coming.
Alice set up her Druid Grove, a 90ft cube of magic right in front of the door to the evergrub.
Since the last meeting with Enoch and his brothers, Rina could feel that she could manifest the darker parts of herself into physical form: the devilish side of her, her shadow. She cast the spell and her shadow tore from the ground and stood to face her. It was only her outline, with a pointed tail and devil horns. It was a void, and only her eyes - her elf eyes - could be seen as an identifier.
"You will help them on the ground while I fly," Rina commanded her shadow, "Unleash your fury."
The shadow, wielding Rina's melee weapons - a whip and a chainsword - disappeared within the fog of the Druid Grove.
Neely gave everyone inspiration before casting Fly on herself and Rina. Rina then used one of her Rites to gain back some magic. Volvagia clinging tightly to her shoulder.
Then they waited.
Phillipia and Bustamoves stood near Alice within the back 30ft of the Druid Grove.
From the highest point in the Grove, Rina could see someone approaching quickly - three figures: one who stood tall, and two who scuttled near the ground.
"Are they... dogs?" Rina thought to herself.
As they got closer, Phillipia and Alice could begin to see the three of them come into view. The two dog-looking creatures were not dogs, they were angels - just like the ones who appeared in the crack in the sky. They were being commanded by a cloaked figure who stood about as tall as Rina.
Rina could see the figure kneel down at the edge of the grove, and cast a small spell. They then stood up, and whistled for the two crawling angels to go toward the evergrub.
They both ran into the grove, and one immediately got stuck in the lichen brambles.
The tall figure then disappeared, unable to be seen.
Phillipia and BustAMoves went after the angel who did not get caught, trying to prevent it from getting close to the evergrub.
Neely decided to wait to act until necessary, and it quickly became necessary.
From out of the shadows a black, flaming knife came straight down toward Alice. She dodged it the first time, but not the second... or the third, fourth... but an end took the 5th - saving Alice from death. Alice had been stabbed by the hooded figure 4 times with their dark blade, and almost went down. Neely's quick thinking allowed her to heal Alice just in time. The other Ent that Alice had awakened took swipes at the figure and hit them.
"Fuck," the party could hear a feminine voice from the hooded figure, "why won't you just die?!"
Immediately, Rina recognized the voice, "Anna...? Anna Talley?"
She then disappeared after taking damage from the ents.
"You won't get away from me this time... does this feel familiar?" Rina cast a fireball in the general area that Anna had run to, and hit her hard enough to make her yell in pain.
"Fuck you, all!" Anna screamed back, her hood then fell, and they could see her face - now with two small devil horns curling up from her head. She disappeared again, and ran as far as she could from Alice.
Alice was now paranoid, and decided to be in defensive mode by waiting for Anna to approach her again - holding her attack.
Neely used a shield spell on herself, and stayed out of sight - just how she liked it.
Phillipia and BustAMoves continued to attack the angel that did not get stuck in the brambles, the other was still unable to escape.
Anna tripped as she got stuck on one of the brambles.
"Raz... your turn to help," Rina reached into her contract and tapped into Razakeen's withering, necrotic, salty powers. She concentrated it into an eldritch blast containing a fireball. Rina aimed and fired, hitting Anna with an eldritch blast shaped like a pillar of salt whose necrotic energy seemed to suck all of the humidity from the air. A fireball of necrosis exploded from Anna, and splattered onto the angel who was trapped in the lichen. Anna was bleeding and hurt, unable to heal her wounds.
"You meddling pigs!" she cursed as she disappeared again.
Phillipia, still fighting the loose Angel, was no so lucky to see the black knife before it struck her, Anna reappeared as she stuck the knife in Phillipia's side. "How does it feel to have been sent down here by your loving aunt, Phillipia?"
Phillipia stood silently in pain and shock, staring into Anna's eyes.
"You know, I think we're cousins. But who cares about that? I died, and you are still here. For now!" Anna pulled out the knife and raised it to strike Phillipia again, but BustAMoves ran over to take the damage for her. After a couple of strikes from the dark knife, BustAMoves had fallen. Phillipia used the last of the strength to pull her elephant back into it's Iron Flask to heal, before she was stabbed many more times by her cousin.
Just then, Rina's elf eyes showed themselves to Anna, and her Shadow Self forced its way between her knife and Phillipia, saving Phillipia from death. Anna pushed the shadow away, and laid on the ground to cover herself with the unconscious Phillipia in hopes of not being targeted.
"I can still see you..." Rina taunted as she zeroed in on Anna with her new Eyes, "You won't disappear this time."
Rina used her witch bolt to rain down lightning onto Anna, not even touching Phillipia. Anna tried to disappear, but the lightning zapped her before she could.
Rina's shadow lifted Phillipia up and away from Anna, and took a swipe and Anna with its ice cold chainsword, slicing through Anna with a cold shock.
Alice ran over to Anna, and called down her own lightning spell - hurting Anna even more.
Anna stood up, ready to retreat, "You all will pay for this!"
Suddenly, Neely divebombed into Anna from the air.
"No you don't!" she yelled as she stabbed her dagger directly into Anna's heart - causing her to explode into goo.
Alice ran up and healed Phillipia, Rina hovered down to the ground and collected some of the devil goo in an empty potion bottle.
"I bet Beth would love some of this stuff!" Alice said excitedly.
"I got to see the bitch die twice in 10 days," Rina smiled. "I feel so honored."
Neely just stood there, holding the dark weapon, awaiting what may come next.
End session
S57
The angels were taken out easily by the party, and they all felt a sense of peace - for now.
"Ohh!! My I... May I keep them??" Beth giggled with excitement upon seeing the two dead angels on her front lawn.
"Please do," said Alice as she handed Beth one of the bottles of devil goo, also.
"Ohhh goodie! With these parts and the ones from you four, I'll be able to actually finish the body! Soon, I'll be able to feel as you feel!"
Beth then hovered over to her mirror and picked it up with her mind, looking into it longingly. "I wish to be... just one of the girls. I want to get my makeup done and feel pretty!"
"Do you want us to do your makeup?" Rina asked her.
"Yeah, Beth! Let's do your makeup!" Alice said excitedly, pulling out her lipstick.
Rina got her eye liner and Phillipia grabbed powder.
They gave the maker a makeup makeover, and she loved it so much that she decided to give them something in return.
"You all have made me feel so lovely and loved!" Beth began to cry tears of joy, Rina collected more in potion bottles. "I want to be able to help you on your journey. Whenever my body is done, I'll be able to venture from this place and help you if you need!"
"How long until your body is done?" asked Phillipia.
"With the parts you have given me, as well as the angel bodies, I should be able to be done very soon!"
"We should be able to visit you with treestride through the remaining ent," said Alice, "It just turned back into a normal tree after the spell ended."
"Oh, goodie! I love getting visitors!"
"Is there any way we can reach you other than a sending?"
"Oh, dear, Alice... Yes!"
Beth then approached Alice and opened her mouth, closing it over Alice's head.
"Alice!" The girls were frightened for a moment, then Beth spit her out.
"There! Now you have a psychic connection if you wish to speak with me! Anyone else want it?"
Rina shrugged, "I guess if you're just giving it out..."
Beth put her mouth around Rina's head a moment, then did the same with Phillipia.
"I'm good! No, no thank you!" Neely said as Beth still proceeded to engulf her head.
"Now we're all covered in spit..." Neely said with a little disgust.
Rina collected some of the spit in potion bottles.
"What are your plans next?" Beth asked them all excitedly, "The world is supposed to end soon! I hear you're killing gods!"
"There's only two more that we know of, right?" Alice asked.
Rina answered, "There were two more in Mayoay's Prophesies: one in the south that The Queen didn't want us to go after just yet, and possibly the dragon quest in the north."
"How are we going to get to all these places within a week?" Phillipia asked, "These are all over the map!"
"I have a solution for you!" said Beth as she guided them outside.
"There are five exits aside from the one you entered.” Beth explained, “One that is 30 minutes away goes directly to the Desert Sandflake. The one that is 1 day's walk will take you to the swamp just east of Vorovni. One that is 2 days away will go to the coast of Pennislovica, and another one 2 days away that takes you to the Tonebay area - just west of Ilianga. The last one is 4 days away, about as far away as you can be and still be in Ta Amor - it goes to the Island of Eabeth.”
“Eabeth… isn’t that a place Kin talked about a lot?” Alice asked Rina.
“I think he told us it was a holy site for him… similar to how Mt. Luminus is to the people in Asmery.
“So, where do you guys think we should go?” Phillipia asked, “I’d love to see your home, but I also know we don’t have a lot of time. The world is supposed to end soon, right?
“Everything got more fragile when Alice and Gabrielle consumed the cylinder of liquid,” said Rina.
“And now the former pontifex is building this track for the Pilgrimage to Mt. Luminus,” Phillipia added, “I’ve always wondered if the pilgrimage was meant to be something bigger than just a gathering.”
“Based on the prophecies from Mayoay, it seems that one of the gods is in the salty desert. I think we should try to contact Sullivan Frey and see if he wants to join us in hunting a Dragon!”
"I think we could take on a dragon," said Phillipia. "I've never encountered one, but I think we're pretty solid."
“We have a few sending’s on the infinite sending stone for the day,” Alice said, “I will contact Sullivan and ask him.”
Alice used the stone: “Wanna fight a dragon, bro? Meet us in sandflake and we’ll get it on… ho.”
“You really called Sullivan Frey, our king, a 'ho' in a sending?” Rina asked, shocked.
Alice laughed, “Sure, why not? He likes my chaos.”
Sullivan responded with a sigh, “Drake and Godfrey are there searching for Mt. XIX. Please come here to The Castle to discuss the dragon killing plan. Remember, Vengeance is mine.”
Alice relayed the information to them all.
"So, are we going to see your home, then?" Phillipia asked.
"I think we should also send to Drake or Godfrey to see how they feel," responded Rina, "Sullivan may want us there, but what if the guys need us more than he does?"
"Yeah, if he wants to hunt a dragon, he better get over here to do it," Alice agreed. "Here, Rina, you should send to Drake. I know you want to."
Rina took the infinite sending stone back from Alice, "Oh, geez. I have to play it cool. I have to know exactly what to say so I don't accidentally use all the words too soon."
Alice and Neely glanced at each other seeing Rina blush just looking at the stone.
"Okay, gotta play it cool..." she said to herself as she spoke into the stone.
"Drake, It's Rina," She barely hid the smile in her voice, "We intend to kill the Dragon, Sullivan said you're looking - Told us to go home, but we... wanted to come to you..."
A moment later, she got a response, "Rina, we are near the mountain. Please come here, don't wait. The wind and cold are dangerous, be safe. I... hope to see you soon." The smile was barely hidden in his voice, too. Rina told the others what Drake said.
“So, should we go to your home? Or… should we go meet them in the desert?" Asked Phillipia.
“If Sullivan wants us to meet with him first, we could swing by home and get anything we need. It would only take one extra day,” Neely mentioned.
Alice walked up to Rina, who was still smiling down at the stone, “Think about it: do you want to do what daddy Sullivan says, or sneak out?” Alice smiled.
Rina smiled back, remembering when she snuck out of her room 200 years ago to avoid an arranged marriage. That's when she started her adventures, “Oh, I’m sneaking out, for sure.”
“Sneaking out to see your boyfriend,” Alice teased.
“Boyfriend?” Phillipia asked, surprised, “Who has a boyfriend?”
“Technically, no one has a boyfriend!” Rina sighed with a smirk, “Yet.”
Do we really need anything from home?"
"Nothing that we need to go all the way there for," said Alice, "I say we don't waste the time and the spells."
They all nodded in agreement.
“Let’s all go over everything we have,” said Neely. “We really should take inventory before we go anywhere. Being this close to Beth is good for restocking if we’re missing anything.”
“Uhh… I got a compass!” said Phillipia, pulling out the only thing she had in her pocket except BustAMoves’ jar.
“I have a ton of potions,” Rina said as she handed a few to each of them, “I also have 5 revivify scrolls… just in case.”
“I have the endless supply stuff… evercleaning soap, decanter of endless water, everburning coal, and the endless spidersilk rope, infinite sending stone - all packed in my bag of holding!”
“We should definitely get something to protect us from the weather in Sandflake,” Phillipia mentioned. “I spent some time there when I was training - it’s the most awful place you can imagine. There is always a storm there, everywhere - there’s no hiding from it. It’s so cold that even salt water will freeze. And everything there, all of the sand, it’s all salty. Even the air you breathe is salty. It’s all just a blizzard of dry ice.”
“Beth, do you have anything that could help us?” Alice asked her.
“Something that can help you survive the cold? Why, yes! Yes I do! Shall I get it for you? No extra charge! You did do my makeup, after all!”
“Whatever you have for us, and… there’s something else I’d like you to do,” Rina showed the Maker a drawing she had made, and Beth floated away excitedly.
“I’ll get right to it! Oh, this will be so fun! You four are truly my best friends in the world!”
"Thanks, Beth. I'll bring you back a dragon scale for it," Rina smiled.
Beth went to the back room, and electricity began to flicker all over the inside of the evergrub. They could hear an animal of some kind screaming and wailing from the other room, and all of them cringed just a little.
“I mean… some sacrifices need to be made for the greater good… right?” Phillipia said.
“Yeah, of course… We’re going to kill gods to stop the world from ending,” Rina grimaced upon hearing another scream.
Neely threw up thinking about it, and her vomit had glitter in it, “Wha- What the hell is this?!” She threw up again.
“Guts of the fey, that’ll do it!” Beth answered as she rounded the corner with her creation, “I made you all extra thick snow suits! Perfectly warm and mostly bloodless!”
“Mostly…?” Neely said as she threw up again.
The suits looked like the skin of a long-haired ape that had been turned inside out.
“So! Shall I escort you all to the lake? It isn’t far, so I can see you off! Be careful of what’s in the water, though… I may have created an unfortunate creature who ended up being simply uncontrollable! He was too cute to just kill, so I put him in here to live near me! He loves light, so that’s a good way to distract him if he thinks you’re food. The exit is at the bottom of the lake, so you will have a long swim!”
They all agreed that they were ready to go, and Beth escorted them on their 30min walk. When they got close, she stopped them, "I have one more surprise for you!" she pulled out 21 arrows. "Two of these, the white ones, are good at killing devils. The rest, the black ones, should all be good for killing those pesky angels. Thanks for their body parts! I used that to make these especially for you all!"
"Rina, you're the only one with a bow," said Alice. "You should take them. I can't use a bow with my new arm."
"Thank you Beth, and thanks guys," Rina smiled.
"Goodbye for now, I need to go!" Beth waved with her snake-like hair as she turned to leave, "Come and visit any time! I need to get to work on my body now!"
They approached the lake, the air seemed to get dry - dry in the same way it did when Raz’s magic was conjured on the battlefield earlier that day.
“It smells like withersalt around here,” said Rina.
Alice went up and dipped her finger into the water, her druid magic seeping into it to identify it, “It’s saltwater. Really salty water. Saltier than the water on Mt. Ivatim.”
“Beth said we needed to go to the bottom of this lake to get to the surface on our side,” Phillipia recalled. “How are we supposed to get down there? It’s really deep.”
“If it’s supposed to spit us out topside, then it technically doesn’t have a bottom,” Alice pointed out. “The journey up will be as long as the journey down when we fell in here.”
“Beth also told us about the sea monster in here,” remembered Neely. “She said it likes bright lights.”
The girls all looked around at each other for someone to come up with an idea.
“Well, you can all swim, right?” Rina asked, they all nodded. “Then the water is our only obstacle.” Rina then pulled out her book of spells and found one she had not yet used, “Yes! I finally get to use it!” She held it up in excitement, “Water breathing!”
“Don’t you have some spells that emit light, too?” Phillipia asked her.
“I do! I can use a sickening radiance spell 120ft away from us if we need to lure the creature away.”
“Sounds like a plan to me!” Alice announced as she walked up closer to the water, “Better than having to use a wildshape and drag all of you through there as a fish!”
With the 24-hour long spell of Water Breathing active, the four girls dove into the water - in their skin suits - and began to swim down.
The water continued to get more and more salty as they moved downward, and the light from the surface almost no longer reached them. The salt of the water could be felt in their lungs and tasted in their mouths.
Alice lead the way with Phillipia and Neely keeping watch around them as they swam, Rina ready to cast a sickening radiance spell if either of them signaled to her.
Phillipia then felt something brush against her, and quickly move by her in the water. She waived at Rina, who threw her spell as far away as possible.
The light from the spell revealed two giant eyes with slit-like pupils, which widened to circles upon seeing the light. A giant creature with the head of a cat, the torso of a shark, and tentacles of an octopus swam away from the party after the light.
The party swam as fast as possible, getting deeper and deeper, until they reached a tunnel-sized opening where the water began to suck them in. The tunnel was too small for the Catsharktapus, but the quickness of the gravity flip was nearly unbearable for them. Neely hit the sides of the tunnel a few times taking up the tail, and Alice almost kicked Rina in the face.
Then, finally, the water slowed into a peaceful-looking lake. The salt of the water was so high that even water breathing wouldn't work.
Neely and Alice panicked, so Rina and Phillipia pulled them up. They got up close to the surface, then hit a wall of ice. Behind the ice, they could see a storm of snow and salt. Phillipia then began struggling, and Rina used Nicky's fire for her eldritch blast to melt through the ice.
She blasted through the ice, and they all pulled themselves onto the shore. They could breathe - barely - but now they were soaking wet and in the coldest weather known to man.
"Tiny hut, Rina!" Alice yelled to her, and she quickly began setting up the spell.
Phillipia looked around, and she could see a dark shape of something large about a mile away. She was unsure what it was.
Rina got done with the Tiny Hut and they all went inside.
"How ironic that this is an igloo right now," Phillipia said.
"Yeah, the inside is warmer ice than outside," Rina answered with a smile.
"I have to everburning coal," said Alice as she lit it right in front of Rina in the center of the hut.
"This should dry us off," said Alice, warming her hands over the coal.
"The hut will be here for 8 hours, so we have time to rest and dry if we need," said Rina.
"We should let Drake and Godfrey know we're here. See if they know where the lake is that we just came out of," said Alice.
"I don't see a lake on the map, though" said Rina.
"This area is mostly unmapped," said Phillipia, "but someone who has been here might know where it is."
Rina smiled and pulled out the sending stone, once again, "Okay, I'll ask him. It only has one left for today, I'd better make it count."
Once again, she barely hid the smile on her face, "Drake, we're at a Lake in Sandflake, in a tiny hut. We chose come to you instead of going home first. Can you find us?"
He responded immediately, "Rina, I am... relieved to know you're close. We are north of the lake, I will come toward you. Come toward me, be safe."
"We should go north as soon as possible," Rina said to the group.
"But we don't even know which way North is!" Alice wined.
"I have my compass!" Phillipia got the compass out.
"We don't know for sure they're due north... what if we can't find them in this storm?" Neely asked.
Then Alice had an idea, "Rina, you should take the desire compass... see if those loins can point us in the right direction."
Rina took the compass and laughed a little, "This points north, also."
Rina handed Alice the God compass, "If I'm taking the desire compass, then you should keep this. We should always have these compasses split between all of us, I think."
They all agreed, and looked a the God compass, as well - all three compasses were pointing due north.
"Let's go!" said Rina as she exited the Tiny Hut - making it disappear in the process.
The salty blizzard stung their faces as they trudged through the salty sand and snow. Each of them had a compass they could look at to guide them, except Neely who just held on to Phillipia's belt as they walked.
Not long after they lost sight of the lake, something else came into view - a large wooden structure with a mast.
"I think it's a sand boat," said Phillipia. "It's the fastest way to travel the desert."
Neely tripped over something and fell to the ground, "Oh, what is thi- It's a body! Guys, it's a body!"
They looked around the capsized sand boat and found 4 bodies - all completely dried out, like they were salt-cured alive.
"One of them had a letter in his hands!" Alice read it out loud: "We may never make it Mt. XIX, I know we are close. But the snow and the salt of the desert has played tricks on our minds, one of my comrades believes he saw his daughter. I am so weak... the others are already dead, I think. I don't know if I will last the night."
"That's not promising..." Neely whispered.
"At least we always have the option of a Tiny hut," said Rina.
"And we have infinite water," said Alice.
"We also have more food now," said Phillipia as she pulled dried rations from the bags of the dead men.
"We could probably fix this boat and use it if you know how, Phillipia," said Alice.
Phillipia nodded, and the girls all got together to get the sand boat working again.
As they moved the bodies of the men off of the boat, Alice noticed something - little bugs in the sand.
"Ahh! This isn't just salt in the sand, it's bugs! Sand and salt and bugs!"
Rina identified the sand mixture and realized this was just about as potent as the pure wither she had purchased in Vorovni all those weeks ago. She began to put some of it into jars, "You never know - if we are going to be killing devils, this salt may come in handy."
Phillipia looked over the boat, "The mast is snapped, but the rest of the boat is in pretty good shape. We need to find a way to put the mast back together."
Alice used a combination of the Water, Plant growth, and the infinite spider thread to repair the mast. They all then piled into the little sandboat, and took off directly north.
Phillipia steered the boat while the others held on and kept a good eye on their compasses and the way ahead. There was no visible sun, and no rest from the pummeling of the snow and salt.
Though the suits from the Maker were keeping them warm enough, very little could save them from the salt sucking the moisture from the air and their lungs.
Suddenly, Neely began to get dizzy, "Guys... I'm not feeling well... I-"
She began to see something on the boat with them, it looked like Mayor Highwater arguing with her mom.
"Mom? What are you... doing here?"
"Neely!" Phillipia yelled, "Get up, you can't fall asleep in this!"
Just then, Alice fell down backwards onto the boat, and began to cower in fear.
"Please, don't hurt my mom!" she yelled. She began to see herself as a child with her mother in the garden shed in their back yard. Northwood, the town of halflings, brought pitchforks and scythes - and were all gathering to find Alice.
"She's a curse on our land!" one of them yelled.
"She must die before we do!" another one added.
Alice remembered this as the day her parents banished her from the town, but this memory was different - more detailed. Her mother was defending her. She grabbed a shovel and hit a man over the head who tried to take Alice from the shed. She was then killed by the mob in the process of protecting her daughter. Alice was able to escape because of her sacrifice.
"Alice! Not you, too!" Rina shouted. "Phillipia, I need you to just hang on a little longer!"
Phillipia then looked down briefly at her hands to see that they were no longer holding onto the handle of the boat. She had them clasped together perfectly as she stood perfectly still.
"You will stand there and be the noble girl you're supposed to be!" Phillipia could hear her mother yell.
A book - a large one - was sitting atop Phillipia's head, it had a string around it. It was tied to a bell on the other end.
"I'll be asleep in the bed next to the bell," her mother said, now with her finger in young Phillipia's face, "You will stand here all night with perfect posture, in your perfect dress, and act like the perfect girl you should be. If that book falls, and that bell wakes me up... I'll be sure you regret it."
The young girl stood there and cried silently in her memories, thinking about her aunt - the Queen - who treated her kindly, instead.
Phillipia fell backward from the tiller, and lost control of the boat - causing it to stop and roll to the side a bit. They all fell from the boat and tumbled onto the sand.
"Phillipia!" Rina yelled, crawling over to her.
All of the girls were conscious, but clearly in a dream state. Rina tried to shake them all awake with no success, until, finally, she looked up to see a familiar outline in the dunes.
The outline of Drake was getting just close enough to be in sight through the storm. Rina was unsure if she was hallucinating, or if they had finally met in the middle. She glanced down at her desire compass, which still pointed directly at him - the needle matching his movements.
Without hesitation, she jumped up and ran to embrace him - falling perfectly into his arms.
"Drake..." she whispered with a smile.
"Rina," he smiled back. "This place... is absolutely miserable."
"This is by far the worst place I've ever been," she laughed in response as they held each other.
end session.
The party all gathered around the sand boat to discuss plans, trying to use it as a bit of a shield from the blistering snow and salt.
"Do you know where the mountain is?" Phillipia yelled as they huddled in a circle - the wind being too loud for them to hear each other normally.
"We can get there in a few hours on foot," said Godfrey, "but it's almost night and we have to find shelter!"
"Is there a cave anywhere?" Rina asked, "I have my Tiny Hut, but it isn't as much relief as usual out here."
Drake then offered something he's been working on for quite a while, "I have much more comfortable shelter if you want me to get it set up."
"Yeah, let's do it!" Alice yelled, "Do it now, I have to rest or I won't make it out here much longer!"
Drake then pulled a bronze rod from his coat. It was about the size of a scroll, and had ornate carvings all over it. He placed it on the ground, then kicked it with one foot. Another rod appeared out of each end, and it began to shake. It shimmered with light and began to spin slowly before settling down on a flat area. A door then sprung up from the now 5-foot long ornate rod, and Drake turned the handle and opened the door.
The air inside was warm, the salt and snow immediately fell to the floor, there was no more wind. They looked up to see the inside of a magnificent mansion, tailored to Drake's taste. It was mostly modest, but did show off some of his ShapeSmithing projects that hung on the wall here and there.
Immediately, spectral servants began wisping around them - helping them out of their freezing clothes to make it easier to feel warmth again.
"Hey... what's this?" Neely said as the skin suit was getting stuck on her clothes underneath, "Something is catching."
One of the spectral figures helped Neely escape her coat to find a removeable patch made of spider's web sticking to the inside.
"I have one, too!" said Phillipia.
"Me too," said Alice.
"I... I wanted to do something nice for us as a group," Rina responded. "I know there's been times that I haven't been as much of a team player as I should be, but I want to! So... when you were all finishing up your rest last night, I had Beth make us each a matching patch with a symbol on it that represents us."
The patch was forever able to be unstuck and restuck to any surface easily. It was round, with a gold harp in the center, a copper-green halberd on one side of the harp, and an ice-blue magic rod on the other. All being surrounded by a silver thorn whip.
"This was one of the patches that the Arachnakin wore to indicate the family like they are from," Rina continued, "I would say family is who you choose to be family - wouldn't you?" She smiled, and they all gave her a group hug, nearly all falling over in the process.
"Chosen family is real family," said Alice with a big smile. "Now, I'm going to take a bath and go straight to bed!"
"I will show you all to your rooms," said Drake as he began walking them all down a long hallway. "Each of the rooms are what I... imagine you would all like," he continued, glancing over at Rina's room, then back to her.
"Which one's mine?" Alice asked in a demanding tone, "And can I get naked in front of the specters, or are they going to be weird about it?"
Drake look surprised at the question, "They aren't... sentient, really. So, it's not weird - it's just magic."
Just then, another spectral figure brought over a turkey leg for Godfrey, "Man, even though this doesn't hit the spot anymore... it still hits the spot! You know what I mean! Ha!"
"I want one of those!" Alice yelled. Immediately after, one appeared in front of her, carried by another spectral hand. "This is awesome!" she yelled again, taking a huge bite out of the turkey leg - which was almost as long as she was tall.
"This really is impressive, Drake," said Rina, emphasizing Alice's compliment.
"Thank you, it took a long time - a lot of putting magic into the rod. I, um..." Drake paused, glancing at Rina's room again. The door was open, but she had not yet entered.
She turned around to go in, finding a beautiful vase of yellow marigolds on the center table. She smiled as she smelled one, looking back at him. He smiled, but then turned to help the others find their rooms.
Alice's room was mossy and earthy, with vine carvings in the wood edging the room. She was a druid, after all - that's what Drake knew about her.
Two rooms next to each other were very cookie-cutter mansion rooms, they were for Phillipia and Neely.
"I would have put in more, but I do not really know you very well," started Drake. "If you'd like, you can fill out a comment card at the front door. Next time I cast the spell, I'll be able to match your rooms to you more."
"You really go out of your way to be thoughtful of people, huh?" Phillipia asked.
"Yes, of course," he answered, glancing again at Rina's door, which was now closed.
"I wonder what Blanke's room would have looked like..." Neely said sadly.
Drake stepped over to another door and opened it. Inside was a training area with wrestling and boxing dummies.
"Oh, cool!" Exclaimed Phillipia, "Can I actually have this room?"
"Uh, sure If that's what you want," Drake swapped her keys with the ones he was holding.
"I can do some training and... stuff..." she said, yawning incredibly loudly.
"Have fun with that," said Drake.
Phillipia walked in and immediately fell onto the bed.
They all took a couple of hours to bathe and settle in for the evening. Each room had night clothes that were comfortable for them, and they all changed into them before dinner.
All but Alice converged in the dining area of the magic mansion to eat dinner. They all sat in a circle around a table. Phillipia and Neely set next to each other, and Rina sat down next to Drake.
Drake already had a plate of food and a glass of what looked like red wine.
"How do I order?" Phillipia asked Godfrey, who was simply standing in the kitchen with a bucket of fried turkey legs.
"Ah! You just hold up your hand and say the thing you want. The house knows."
Phillipia lifted her hand, "Chicken!"
A live chicken plopped into her hand and fell onto her head before clucking off to another room.
"Gah, the magic needs tweaking," said Drake as he ordered the live chicken to disappear. "The best shot you have of getting food is asking for wine, turkey leg, and borsht."
"Then I'll have those three things," said Rina, "You really like your red foods, don't you?"
Drake seemed a little self conscious for a moment, but smirked in response.
The foods she asked for immediately appeared on a plate in front of her, and she happily ate them.
After they had mostly gotten done eating, they all sat around a warm fireplace in a semi-circle and began to plan for the next morning. Godfrey took up a whole couch on his own, Neely and Phillipia shared a couch, as did Drake and Rina.
Rina had scattered the contents of her bag on the table in front of the couch and in her lap to take inventory, "5 bottles of wither sand salt, I bet I can put these into arrows somehow. 7 more bottles of Beth's tears for the Shadow summon..." She continued to count her inventory out loud.
Drake saw the desire compass sitting in her lap, pointing directly toward him. "What is that artifact, there?"
She looked down and quickly shut the compass and started to put it back in the bag, "We can, um... talk about that later," she smiled awkwardly.
"I'd can feel the magic coming off of it, I would appreciate being able to identify it. Magical items are my hobby, you know," he smiled.
Rina took a breath and took the compass back out and handed it to him. He opened it and the needle was now pointing to her. He furrowed his brow, confused, then magically identified it. Once he realized what it was, then realized where the needle was pointing, he cleared his throat and quickly closed it.
He handed it back, "Later, yes... Later is good."
She smiled and put it in her pocket, then continued with inventory.
"So, should we wait for Sullivan Frey to join us?" Rina asked, "He did say that vengeance was his, and he is our king."
Drake and Godfrey looked at each other, then Godfrey answered, "We want to go kill the dragon."
"Well, so do we," Rina replied, "But do we do that now, or wait for him? Is it reasonable to wait for him?"
Drake answered this time, "We believe it would be in everyone's best interest if we did this without Sullivan. He is... busy, having a hard time recovering from Therius' death."
"Then I say we go kill it," said Phillipia.
"I agree," said Alice.
"This is one of those things where you ask forgiveness, not permission," Godfrey winked.
"Should we at least send to him? I feel like he deserves to know," Rina pushed.
They all looked at each other hesitantly before Drake spoke up, "It might be best to keep this from him. If we tell him our plan, he will insist we wait. We want to finish this job ourselves - and now you're here, that will give us an even better chance."
Rina took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay, then let's make a plan to kill a dragon."
"Is there anything you guys know about dragons?" Phillipia asked, "I heard you killed them off a long time ago."
Godfrey was quick to answer, "That was... many years ago. The dragons we fought were only small. This one has had over a thousand years to grow."
"So you're, like... a thousand years old?" Phillipia seemed surprised.
"Ha! Something like that! Hard to keep track when it's been that long!"
"Do you know what kind of dragon we are dealing with?" Rina continued, "It's black, but do you know anything else?"
Drake answered, "We believe this dragon's attacks to have acidic effects. Beyond that, we know little about her."
"If you two get hurt, do we have any way of healing you?" asked Rina.
"Don't worry about us, Rina," Drake said softly, "We have the ability to heal quickly on our own."
Rina nodded, "You said you've been out here a few days now, are you good? Like... Blood-wise?"
"Oh!" Godfrey exclaimed, "Yes we have a bunch in a bag of coldi-" Drake cut him off by kicking his shin.
"We... technically... don't need it, but it is, um... always appreciated," Drake stammered, "If you're offering, that is."
"I was... offering," Rina responded a bit awkwardly. "I mean, Alice and I are citizens, after all. Technically it would be my duty even if we weren't... you know."
"If you weren't what?" Phillipia asked, "So do you, like, get blood from your citizens to live?"
Drake paused, Godfrey was gulping from a vat of blood he had pulled from his bag of colding.
"We have a system in place called the blood tax," said Drake.
"Yeah, they have whole apartments for the tax payers," Rina explained. "There's like a couch they lay on that's made just for it."
"So... you'd be laying on a couch while a guy bites your neck?" Phillipia asked, smirking.
"It's all very professional," Drake said, blushing a little.
"Yeah, it's very... clinical," Rina added, "It's not like... personal."
"Yes, right, very impersonal," said Drake.
"Uhh, okay," Phillipia side-eyed them, "Seems like it's a little more than that based on how you're acting."
Both of them went to awkwardly defend their position, but Godfrey interrupted, "Yes it's so boring! Not as exciting as being here, planning on killing a dragon!"
"So... Could I offer blood, even though I'm not a citizen?" Phillipia asked, genuinely curious.
"Yes if you want, but I am really in good shape!" Godfrey responded, lifting a mug of blood he had poured for himself. "It doesn't hurt that much, though! Just a stinging feeling, then a tingling feeling, then-"
"So, like... right now? Does it scar?" Phillipia asked excitedly.
"The first bite always scars," Godfrey responded. "If anyone sees it, they'll definitely know you paid the blood tax."
"Oh, then can you bite somewhere else? Like my butt?" Phillipia got up from the couch and started pulling her pants down in the back, Neely blushed brightly.
Godfrey thought a moment, "Well, okay! I like to party, let's try it!"
Drake put his head in his hand in embarrassment, as did Rina.
Godfrey then noticed the bug legs, "Uhh, this may not work that well."
"Oh, my bad. How about my side?" She lifted her shirt a little on one side.
"Yeah, sure!" Godfrey leaned in and bit her, causing her to scream. He jumped back and she began bleeding all over the floor.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Look, we don't have to do this."
"No, I want to, I want to! It just startled me..."
As the two of them continued their tomfoolery, Rina turned to Drake. "So, do you want to like... go somewhere? Somewhere other than where this is happening?" Rina gestured to Phillipia and Neely trying to stop the bleeding. Godfrey was trying to gather some of the fresh blood into a cup, and the specters were trying to clean it up instead.
Without hesitation, Drake answered, "Yes, anywhere but here."
He got up and offered his hand to help her up, too. The two of them headed toward his bedroom.
"I really appreciate the flowers, by the way," she commented as he shut the door behind them. "I can't believe you remember that."
"It's... something I know about you. So, I wanted to give you something I know makes you happy," Drake responded as he poured 2 glasses of something red, and handed her one with wine.
She smiled, and he gestured to a blood tax couch in a small walled-off area of the larger room. The room was nice, but not nearly as flashy as the rooms of some royalty she had seen - nothing like Enoch's. It had walls of black stone, and wood floors. It had a similar layout to the apartments for the blood tax payers, only much larger and fit for a modest king.
The couch was long, with one end having a raised headrest where the tax payer could lay comfortably and still have their neck exposed. He sat on the end farthest from the headrest, so she sat next to him.
"I have some information that may be hard for you to hear, Rina. We know now that The Kingdom of Bolgroth intends to march on Basta'Thrope' - and Asmery is letting them. Sullivan Frey won't send troops, he doesn't want his people to be in danger. But..." Drake sighed in hesitation, "I'm afraid your son might be in grave danger now."
Rina sat with a peaceful but sad expression, "I figured that was the case... I'm just glad that I have someone who can keep me informed. I hate not knowing what's going on... even if it's devastating."
"How have things been going with The Bound? We hear some news, but it's always a day or two after, and you've moved to the next thing. We... I... would like to know about things from your perspective."
Rina told Drake everything. Every question he asked, she answered in full. Even things she had not shared with the girls about Enoch and the Contract, she told him. He sat and listened with understanding, asking questions when he thought of them.
"And your eyes?" he asked, seeing her thousands of tiny eyes looking up at him. "How did you get them? How do you feel about having them?"
"I got them from Beth, the Maker God." She paused for a second in thought before explaining how she felt, "When my son, Darrian, was born, he looked nothing like me. He was so small and perfect... but I couldn't see any of myself in him at at all. He looked just like Sebastian. Until he opened his eyes - and It was like I was looking at my own in a mirror. For a long time, it felt like the only part of me that ended up being a part of him. Now that he's an adult, I see a lot more of me - of course. He's always getting into trouble like me, always going on wild adventures like me, never afraid to speak his mind like me... but now, my eyes are no linger like his. It was worth it, I'll always know it was worth it. But it is a little bittersweet that I had to trade the one part of me that was also a part of him... you know?"
Drake pulled her into a small, soft hug - she could tell he knew exactly what that felt like. He, too, gave up a part of himself to save his family.
"Rina, I would love to meet your son some day. I... would love to meet your family," he put his hand on hers.
"I'd really like that, too. Oh!" She pulled out the sketch of Darrian and Felicity standing with little Sebastian Jr. standing between them. Rina's elven eyes being seen in both of her progeny. Darrian was covered in nearly entirely black fur, with just white whiskers that formed into a mustache, and a small patch of white on his chest. Felicity was calico - she had large patches of color, with long tufts of fur sticking up from her cat ears. Little Sebastian was black and white like his father, but had the patchy pattern of his mom. Behind them was a small garden full of catnip in front of a peaceful looking forest.
"This is them... I haven't met my grandson or daughter-in-law yet." She smiled, "I hoped to go there soon. And... I'd love if you went with me."
"Of course, Rina," he said as he got up off of the couch, and returned from grabbing a thick book from the shelf. He opened the book to reveal it had a fake inside - it was actually holding a small pistol. It had ornate wines carved into it, as well as a name: "Katarina."
"This... is all I have left of her," Drake said in a particularly somber tone. "Everything else... Everything is lost to time. Carvings, paintings, sketches... they all have turned to dust."
"Then one day you realize... you don't remember what they look like anymore," she said as tears formed in her eyes. "That's another reason I want to learn woodcarving. I want to get good enough to carve faces from memory, while I still have the memories."
They sat there, holding their most precious memories. Drake remembering the love for his wife, who had passed nearly 1000 Years ago; Rina remembering when her son was the size of the child she saw in the sketch.
"I look forward to being able to meet your family, Rina."
"I look forward to that, too, Drake," she smiled. "I may have already mentioned you to Darrian in a letter a while back..."
"And... what did you say?"
"That you 'piqued my interest' - I think were my exact words."
"...and now?"
"Now... that 'pique' keeps getting higher, and I still keep going up with it. I'm not sure if is will ever stop." She blushed and looked up at him, "And... you?"
Drake stood up and took both - now empty - glasses to another table. He stood behind the couch, where he normally would when collecting the blood tax. He gestured for her to lay down, so she did. Rina was a bit confused, but relaxed and waited to feel teeth on her neck. She felt the heat if his breath on her neck, but it wasn't teeth she was met with. He moved past her neck, and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back, just a little too fervently, and his fang cut her lower lip. She paused, smiled, then bit his lip in return. He picked her up and carried her to the bed, and they spent the rest of the night together.
Next: Day 75 (S58-59)