Aspiring Aspire-ations

Log Info

• Title: Aspiring Aspire-ations

• GM: Whirlypool

• Characters: Aelwyn, Eztli, Faranmidahn, Irshya
• Place: Felwood

• Summary: One more step in resolving the riddle of the Spires. One slightly unsettling elf enlists the help of adventurers to find strange magic gemstones in the woods. What could go wrong?

The Felwood Camp is a bustling and busy place. Adventurers working in concert with the elves of the Mythwood seeking to maintain and weaken the Felwood further.

You are one such group, and await the opportunity to speak to one of the elder elves who's going to give you some kind of operation they want you to perform.

Aelwyn was on a mission. He had a lot on his plate lately - for some reason, the tasks at TarRaCe never seemed to get any easier - but still the Dragoon found time to come back to glare at the woods. The Felwood.

He shall see those woods burn, one day.

A pair of glaives was laid down onto the ground and Aelwyn had his hands on his hips as he stared at them, clicking his teeth in displeasure. "Tch, this one would have enjoyed to know what kind of task were to be given this time beforehand."

Faranmidahn arrives, singing as she steps into the high grasses. Bluebirds sing.

Faranmidahn has arrived.

The Goblin limps along, leaning upon her staff as she paces back and forth, waiting on one of the Sil to get around to getting to talk to them. "I am getting tired of waiting too.", the pool-shark grumps.

She peers at the collection of glaives. "This is good, you won't die for lack of stabbing back."

A small, mottled makari was in the camp as well, taking a wander near one of the fires. "That's why we're here, big guy, to learn what those folks want us to be doing." The sorceress chuckles, knuckling the dragoon's head. "But I get it, would be real nice to know what we're doing before we probably have to head out immediately and do it. Wonder what elf is in charge here, maybe I know them? Expecting us to go along with no regard for our preparations does have a stuck up noble air to it, so it's a possibility, but elder makes me think it's someone in a more spiritual sense, which is less likely."

Similarly, a fluffy Lucht in black armour is gently fawning over her dark barded Huntsman spider, a creature that looks like it could comfortably nosh on a prize hog.

While her helm rests on the saddlehorn, Faran's hair is largely free to play with the breeze.

Thoughtfully, she brushes her hair back from her face as she turns toward her fellows, "Agreed, though there is little for it, now."

GAME: Faranmidahn refreshes spells.

GAME: Irshya refreshes spells.

GAME: Eztli refreshes spells.

Soon, you're on the move.

Why?

Because one of the Mythwood Wardens walks by you, gestures for you. Indicates that your assembled group, sent here by the Guild of Explorers, is meant to follow him.

"Come on, now. We don't have much time," he replies in his thickly accented tradespeak. He clearly does not get a lot of use out of it, and he's seemingly not even happy to be here.

Then again, that just might hbe the 'elf' talking. It can be hard with them. So inscrutable.

Aelwyn gets knuckled. Knuckled! Tilting his head repeatedly, he flicks his tail and makes a playful face at Eztli. "Tch, one shall become bad influence on this one, one day." He turns his head towards Irshya and then gestures. "One pays to be prepared."

The stranger with the spider had garnered quite a few looks from him - but then the elf arrives, and the Dragoon bends over to pick up the glaives. "There is more than little to it now, this one hopes." He rumbles, and heads off after the elf, completely ignoring the attitude.

"Aha, finally!", Irshya says in Goblin-talk. She begins to limp along after the Elf, and offers a wave to Eztli and Faranmidahn.

"Alright then, lets be about it, yes?", she says to the others.

Of the Elf ahead, she wonders, "Anything you can tell us about what we're about to get into here?"

"Some day, but not today." Eztli chuckles, sticking out their tongue in Aelwyn's direction. "Well, guess you got your wish Irshya, we're on the move soon. You need a ride? Did you hurt your leg or something, we could get someone to take a look before we head out. And, is that a giant spider? That's really cool! Nice to meet you, miss!"

And they're on the way, and the small sorceress sighs. "Yeas, I guess we've gotta get going, probably time sensitive since things are so weird here." She shrugs. "If you could tell us anything before we get there, since time is of the essence, sounds like it would help?"

With the impetus put forward, Faran climbs up into the saddle and knock-knocks on Torrent's back as the spider's cue to rise. With a tug on the reins and a couple of light kicks to either side, the Knight steers him along to trot after their elven guide. She tucks her helmet under her arm for the time being, rather than slipping it onto her head.

She smiles back to Irshya, though it fades a smidge as she notes her friend's limp, "Are you alright?"

There's a blink, and she turns her attention to the others, "Oh, hello, I'm Faranmidahn, it's nice to meet you!"

"Very," is the elf's response to the various 'it must be urgent' style questions. He tucks his red-streked braid over his shoulder, glancing over at you.

"Urgent. Be quiet as you can."

"There is a stone, an opal anmd it is ... unstable. Magically. We have found others like it. Typically containing or emeshed with some corrupt, vile, and magical spirit of some kind. They have been found at the heart of elementals and others. Fel energies are involved. We know not how."

Aelwyn turns and bows his head towards the spider riding woman. "Aelwyn, a Dragoon." He introduces himself, with a flash of his teeth - and then a bit of a more careful look towards the monstrous ride. "Know each other already, Sharkie?" The draconian asks from Irshya, before rumbling in amusement at Eztli.

The draconian attempts to stay quiet, but he twists his lips at the mention of the opals and he tilts his head. "Are these the ones that Guild warned us not to touch?" He asks. "This one is familiar with them."

"I'm sure you can ask her about riding animals in combat on the way to, well wherever we end up, as long as it doesn't interfere with the mission. Well, that's an assumption, would that be alright? Sorry, name's Eztli by the way, nice to meet you!" Eztli muses and greets, before falling silent. "Seems like a lot of weird gems in these woods, a lot near those towers. Sometimes they try to get someone to grab them really badly, sometimes they're more violent on their own accord. I remember spending hours picking rock shards out of my scales one time, those things are bad news. Unless these are different stones, I don't remember them being particularly opalescent?"

The Goblin swears in several languages when the Elf mentions the opals and what they seem to contain or be. "These things again.. I thought they put a stop to it." Her expression is one of concern.

"Ah, yes, Faran, meet Aelwyn and Eztli. They frequent the TarRaCe and I have been on a few guild missions with them also. Good folk. As are you, Faranmidahn." Gesturing lightly with a hand, Irshya waves off concern over her limp. "I am ill made for armor, and I also have old... wounds, that make it painful. I should look to getting something lighter, but magically reinforced."

"We've never found the source of them," replies the warden. "I am Misvarivael. Call me Vae. Anyway," he holds his hand up, "We enter the Felwood from here."

Indeed, you re now on the outskirts of the trees, and the q2uiet and mist together tend to indicate you're approaching the cursed part of these woods. "Just opals," he whispers.

The magic stones....

Hmm....

Faran bows her head again to the introductions, "Well met."

She gives a little sigh and shrugs, slipping her helm to her lap, "I have had some... unpleasant forays into the Wood in the past."

In response to Irshya's defensive musings, she offers, "I could ask some of our armourers, if you know what sort of conditions you'd need to satisfy?"

Aelwyn rumbles at Eztli. "This one knows how to ride to combat!" The draconian replies. "... this one thinks." He picks up his glaive and with an unnecessarily grandious gesture, lights up the blade. He seems to wave it slightly tauntingly at the branches. "Therefore, what is our task?" The draconian asks in turn from the elf.

GAME: Irshya casts Magic Circle Against Evil. Caster Level: 8 DC: 17

"Well, yes, and I know how to dance. Doesn't mean if a famous dancer comes into town I'm going to miss the chance to pick up tips from them because I already know how to." Eztli snorts, flicking one hand a few ways with some quiet chanting that makes their robes shimmer with magic and fade away.

"So, opals, we'll be careful. but, yes, what exactly are we going to be doing in here?"

GAME: Eztli casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 10 DC: 16

Irshya sighs deeply at Vae's announcement of the source never being discovered. "Well, dire news indeed. I suppose they've found an area where several suspected monsters roam? And we have to put an end to them and collect their gems? Without touching them?"

The pool shark giggles at Eztli and Aelwyn's back and forth, before she glances to the Lutch. "I... would take you up on that, if I can decide exactly what it is I wish for armor. Thank you very much!" The Gobbo smiles, before clearing her throat. "I am going to cast a ward against evil on myself, so if things go sideways, stick closer to me for added protection, okay?"

The priestess pulls her holy symbol from under the neck of her robes, a small trident with a serpent circling the handle. She chants a small prayer in Goblin-talk, her symbol and then herself, begin to glow. The glow fades from the small trident, but continues on faintly around the Gobbo.

"I'm prepared."

Faranmidahn nods, "They may be able to suggest something as well. Maybe something suitable for swimming?" she says with a smile. She glances between the others as magic begins to be invoked and she slips her helm into place and buckles it on before swivelling the visor down.

"I have some offensive magic, largely, though I have a spell I can use to move small objects without touching them if we need."

GAME: Aelwyn rolls perception: (19)+1: 20

GAME: Eztli rolls perception: (7)+5: 12

GAME: Irshya rolls perception: (20)+13: 33

GAME: Faranmidahn rolls perception: (11)+4: 15

Creeping forward, Vae continues whispering, eyes scanning carefully ahead of him.

"... we do not know what shape the threat will take. Only that witnesses saw one of the opals in this area, and suggested it was magically active. Be on your guard, and whatever you do, do *not* touch it."

Aelwyn rumbles at Eztli. "Tch, no, this one would not ask - they would dance with them." He flicks his tail at her. "Or take them for a ride." A toothy grin.

But the seriousness starts to settle in as the elf starts to slowly move forward and Aelwyn follows in suit, holding onto his glaive with relaxed, but firm grip. "... even for a guild mission here, this is vague." He mutters underneath his breath.

"I am open to suggestions, Faran. We can talk about it after this, and I can meet your people. Not sure how much I have to spend, I am relatively modest in my needs, and I tend to put most everything into the TarRaCe. But I will check behind the cushions and under the floorboards." Irshya giggles lightly, and then nods to Aelwyn and Eztli, her expression growing serious.

"I have heard rumours that people touching them turn into some sort of fel being, a fiend of some sort. So be on your guard."

"If you're trying to learn, sometimes listening is hard sometimes. People can be real distracting." Eztli chuckles, but the small makari gorws quiet, and more serious. "Yeah, I don't like how vague it is. Why is it so time sensitive to find this stone? It's not like it's the first we've found here, what makes this one so different? Aside from, yeah, I don't want to touch it and turn into some fiend for certain. Some shiny rocks just aren't worth it."

"That's right," remarks Vae, nodding. He kneels down, studying the ground.

"We we have not identified is where these things are coming from, how they are moving through the forest. My hope is that we can find it, and then perhaps locate the source."

It's ghoing ot take time, it seems, as you're looking for a veritable opal in the forest. A dark forest. With mist that curls around your feet and ominous silence.

...great.

Aelwyn tilts his head at the elf. "One has said as such," The draconian rumbles, and then takes a look at the forest. A deep breath, and he slides his hand across his mane of quills. "... though it does seem as if we were tricked to go deep in the forest in a very long and difficult search."

Rolling his shoulders, the ruddy sith-makar glances around at the rest of the party. "Perhaps one could set a little bit of the forest in fire to make it easier?" He suggests, helpfully.

GAME: Irshya rolls sense motive: (14)+4: 18

The pool-shark grins, showing off a gap in her toothline, where her tongue flicks at, investigating the missing tooth.

"Part of the problem is that they tempt you. As for how they move around, they probably get touched by some animal, and it moves with them... til it burns them up. Surely a simple mind cannot withstand what makes a thing a fiend."

She suddenly lets out a loud sigh, and rubs at her cheek. "This is either the easiest Guild job ever, or this is a trap." There's a little crackle of electricity that jumps between the tines of her trident. "Care to explain, Vae?"

She twirls the trident about in her hand, and then rams it into the ground, barely missing the opal resting there, partly obscured by the underbrush.

"...care to explain what?" says Vae, confused, to Irshya.

"Did you find it? Ah! Good! As I said, someone reported seeing one of the opals in this area. We can contain it. Now, let's fan out further and see if we can find any signs of *how* it got here."

His eyes scan the area, immediately, trying to find *something*. Anything unusual.

"I do not believe that there is a 'magic opal distribution system'."

GAME: Eztli rolls spellcraft: (9)+11: 20

"Hey, the thing is magic, right?" Eztli muses quietly, clacking two claws together with a few words hissed in Draconic. "Easy, easy! I think that's what we're looking for!" She shouts a moment too late. "Don't know if it's safe to poke even at a distance miss Irshya. And, huh, something the matter?"

The small makari is left clueless for a brief moment, so they focus on peering at the stone. "As for what we found, I have no clue what this thing is. Doesn't look right, like, the _magic_ doesn't look right, and not just because it supposedly turns someone into a fiend. Kind of like what was in that recent report? Haven't seen the artefact they were talking about, but this stone has been around the block. Older than Rune which well, would make sense?"

Aelwyn looks around the happenings and the sudden appearance of the opal with great confusion, then concern, slowly taking some space away from the round thing. He then moves to turn towards Vae and juts his own polearm onto the ground. Slit orange eyes narrowing, he hisses from underneath his breath. "This one would wish to know first why one knows it was here - and why one needs to know how it got here."

For added effect, the ruddy sith-makar leans forward a touch more, glaring - but then he looks back at Eztli. "How does Twin relate to this?"

GAME: Aelwyn rolls intimidate: (4)+15: 19

The Gobbo huffs, "How is it we just ... stumble into this?" She yanks the trident from the ground. "This is highly suspect."

Irshya looks to Aelwyn, "He did just say it was reported, but I'd like to talk to the one who reported it." She sighs.

"But lets not get carried away. We need to get it out of here, I think, it's not safe to have it here."

That said, she does crouch a little, to look more carefully into the underbrush. "Well, I mean, it might not be an /intentional/ distribution system, but one could still exist."

"... is that right?" says Vae, glancing towards Eztli with curiousity. "And you know that how, exactly?" He's interested, curious, and a little worried about that. Aelwyn gets a symppathetic look.

"We have regular patrols moving along the fringes. These opals have been appearing, often times at the core of wicked demonically infused creatures or elementals."

"No, we can contain it. The issue is containing it without being exposed to the fel magic contained within. I have prepared a pouch for it -- perhaps we can push it in with your trident?" he asks Irshya.

A pause, then he nods again at the goblin. "Perhaps -- but we need to identify the means. They keep appearing, and we know not how. It's a threat and a danger. Whoever's behind this creation... Hm. The spires -- " He gestures over the treeline, where one can see the hint of light, "they too are 'old magic'. They come from the time after the Sundering of Kulthus, but before the Demon Wars and Rune. Perhaps this too is a legacy of that time."

"I don't know. Curse of adventurers, running into situations like this maybe?" Eztli shrugs, mostly to herself. "Alright, lets get this taken care of now and move while we still can.

Aelwyn gets a look, and a shake of her head. "No, not the cute half-elf Rune, Rune, basically the source of all modern magic Rune, that one. I don't think Twin is _this_ old." she clarifies. "I don't know if I'm able to explain anything, you'd have to ask in Alexandria. Later, when we're finished here. Why now though, when did the reports of these stones even begin?"

Aelwyn did not seem very pacified by the answers - especially since they weren't the kind he could stab - but he does withdraw. "Tch. As Sharkie said, this is suspicious." He rumbles, but then holds back to let the others deal with the opal. "Let us be quick, then."

The other sith-makar's question makes Aelwyn turn his head. "This one believes the first ones were found seasons ago. This one remembers the first discussions in the Guild hall."

"Or you could turn the pouch inside out, stick your hand in, pick up the gem, and turn the pouch right-side out again and tadaaa." Irshya sighs once more. "I suppose we could use my trident."

The Goblin waits, expectantly. "As for the means, maybe we need more people to hide in here and wait and watch?"

"So," begins Vae, thoughtfully, as he agrees with Irshya's suggestion. He turns the bag inside out and wears it as a glove, aiming to scoop it up like someone trying to dispose of dog poo. Dangerous dog poo.

"That's right. They started to appear as we started to make headway in unlocking Linneia's spires. It was believed a likely demonic force was trying to keep us from accessing them to defend the Felwood curse -- but if th4e magic is old, as old as you suggest, then perhaps it might have a closer link to them than we knew? Unfortunately, studying the few opals recovered has proven dangerous, and they continue to appear without any clear indication of how and why. The felwood is too large and dangerous as it is to station people within it consistently. I am concerned that these opals, too, call peoplke to them, to lure them into making use of them."

He turns the opal bag ionside out, containing it within with a relieved sigh.

GAME: Aelwyn rolls perception: (19)+1: 20

GAME: Irshya rolls perception: (18)+13: 31

GAME: Eztli rolls perception: (4)+5: 9

"Well, yeah, I was wondering if it was linked to, whatever was going on here. I hate how little we understand about the spires here, like we're bumbling through getting them active with no clue of the results." Eztli grumbles quietly. "Still, probably a good thing, maybe. Maybe getting them active is going to infest this place with fiends that get driven out, hard to say. Sometimes I agree with Aelwyn that the spires aren't worth not burning this place down. Be a lot simpler, might get us invaded by fiends all the same, but at least Aelwyn would be happy, so that's something."

Aelwyn spreads his arms and looks at Eztli. "THANK you." He states with a huff and a grunt. At least that might get a rise out of the elf. "Surely the woods will be better off without the scourge affecting them."

Sneaking closer, he takes a closer look at the opal and tilts his head. "Yes, there was someone here. Yet it was no animal, it does not look like." He tilts his head towards the other side. "... it is as if it was simply dropped there. From very far distance."