S62: By the Gods

Mokon and Krom walk in the direction of Honor’s Weapons assuming the rest of the friends will also regroup in that location. They bark orders to the few remaining non-conferted city folk that are left directing them to the arena. Safety in numbers after all. Mokon attempts to get help from a local Therackian soon realizing some people are less willing to aid than others. Krom keeps an eye out for a weapon for all but certain future battles and is lucky enough to find a decent quality long sword. As they walk, Mokon notices the path of destruction Yeenoghu has left through the city also comes with a healthy dose of hell bleeding through to this plan. Once cobblestone roads are now oozing festers of flesh and blood drips from lamp posts and signs. 

Nom forces Alora forward. Alora is in a somewhat mobile catatonic state, barely able to move with the knowledge of the lives she had taken. Worse yet, she comes to a realization that her frenzy had taken her through a maternity ward -- vastly increasing her death toll. She shudders at the thought as she feels pressure around her midsection. She doesn’t react. Nom watches as Vortexx, seemingly out of nowhere embraces Alora. “Where is my dad?” she whispers. Nom blurts out that her father is dead. Vortexx looks at Nom confused. “What?” Nom repeats. “No, he can’t be dead. I just saw him not a few days ago. He was going to see Milbin for those stupid bubbles.” Vortexx has released Alora and made her way to Nom. Vortexx looks at Nom with anger in her eyes. “Why didn’t you save him? Why didn’t you help my dad?” But before Nom can answer Vortexx vanishes in a burst of flame. 

Nom shrugs, extinguishes a patch of fire from her clothing, and proceeds to prod Alora toward the blacksmith shop. Nom expects to see Dorus inside, but instead only hears the dedicated grunts of a Loxodon praying to his god. They look out a closeby window to see Dorus, soaked with sweat, praying to his god the only way he knows how -- lactic acid and pain. Alora realizes she can’t stay in the state. She needs to do something. Do something to stop Yeenoghu. Do something in the memory of those who were lost. She rushes outside and begins to follow Dorus' lead as best she can.

Krom and Mokon arrive. They relay what they have seen in Yeenoghu’s wake. Hell on earth. The party hears a whispered ethereal voice to Dorus a torrent of disappointment.

“I am at a loss. Only hours after I choose you as my champion to destroy the gnoll threat on our land, your allies unleash Yeenoghu himself! I do not understand why you would  use the horn the gnolls were trying so desperately to obtain. -- not once, not twice, but three times. What did you think was going to happen? Yeenoghu grows stronger by the hour and his gnoll minions increase in number at an exponential rate. I know not how to move forward from here.”

Dorus speaks out to his Goddess trying to explain his actions and the remorse he feels for his actions. Eldath does not reply.

Nom feels a tremor and heat from her pack. She knows this feeling. Her contract with Mannon is changing. She unfurls the scroll and watches as the tithe to her “benefactor” has increased ten fold. She begins to worry. A strange feeling for Nom. She rushes outside toward the Eldath statue and begins to plead, promise, and pray to a deity she has shown little interest for in the past. She hears no response from Eldath. Instead, she hears a gutteral bulbous laugh. 

“Bwahahahahah. This is fun. Nom, what do you think you are doing? You and I are working toward the same goal. Hmmmm. Disappointing.”

Nom once again feels the scroll tremble with change. She watches as her daily tithe to Mammon doubles in punishment for her actions. Nom continues to beg for help from Eldath. The tithe jumps to 3000 gold pieces per day. Nom continues to try to get out of the deal she has made. No words are heard from Eldath.

Reconvening with the group, Nom hears a conversation begin about future plans. Milbin, Malaak, Benny, and Yeenoghu are all topics discussed. Where do they go? Who do they speak with? Where to go from here?

The SOG decide they need to get to Milbin. Perhaps he’ll have some insight as to what they should do and they can deliver the crystal they retrieved from the bowels of Jarnigol Holdings. The next step… travel. Without access to horses, their gas balloon, and not interested in the steep price required from Kloci, they hope Vortexx is the answer. They also hope that her flaming teleportation from slightly earlier had a destination of Luscious’ Magic Shoppe.

Dorus enters Luscious’ first reaching out for Vortexx. The shoppe has been destroyed. Broken vials litter the floor. Shredded scrolls are scattered. Magic items are destroyed. In the back Dorus hears weak sobs. He follows the noise. As he enters the back room (his companions close behind) he is greeted by an angry and saddened Vortexx. She wipes the tears from her eyes and nose and looks up directly at Dorus. “Why didn’t you help him, Dorus? Why didn’t you save my dad?” She begins to pound on Dorus stomach with the base of closed fists. “Why didn’t… Why didn’t you do something? He was my dad. He was all I had.” Her anger subsides as her arms wrap around Dorus. “Why?” She begins to sob once more as does Dorus. After a few minutes, Vortexx pulls herself together. “Ok, ok. We need to stop this demon guy. What do you need? Why are you here?” Dorus explains they need to get to Milbin, but travel by foot will take too long. “Yeah, I can probably…” Vortexx rushes from the room. The group hears books crashing to the floor and pages flipping. Soon she returns. “Yes, I think I can send you there. Well, closeby anyway. Show me on a map where you need to go.” Vortexx opens a large map and is shown the general area where their gas balloon waits and closeby Milbin’s lab. “Yeah, I think I can do that. Follow me.” She leads the group to yet another room. This one is equipped with strange arcane devices. In the center of the room, a tall stone pedestal with strange glowing glyphs. “Ok, just climb up there and I think I can get you where you need to go. Oh… but first.” Vortexx runs out of the room as the SOG begin to climb onto the glyphed pedestal being VERY careful to keep Nom far away from any precious materials. Vortexx returns seconds later with four potions of healing, a scroll of invisibility, and a scroll of fireball. “Sorry I don’t have more, this is what dad had in our hidden stash.” 

Torin whispers to Dorus,” Alora is old news.” As he makes google eyes at his newest love he makes his move as stud-muffinly as he is able… which happens to be much more muffin than stud. Vortexx is not impressed. It is mentioned that Torin staying in town to protect the townsfolk, but is soon realized to be a bad idea.

“Ok are you ready?” After a short double-check the group is ready. Vortexx begins to read strange words and sounds from thick leather bound tome. The SOG watch the world begin to swirl and are instantly dropped into a fall themed forest. Dorus and Alora in a more literal sense as they lose their footing upon arrival and fall to the ground.

They have no idea if they are in the correct area or not. Nom climbs a closeby rocky outcropping to get a better view. She knows exactly where to go, pointing in a southwesterly direction. Dorus, not as sure of Nom’s navigation skills as she is, morphs into a flying snake for a better vantage point. Sure enough. Nom was almost 100% wrong in her directions. And in the opposite direction of Nom’s navigation the group travels. 

Soon after they begin their trek the group begins to notice the vibrant and lively forest begins to look sickly and dead. Leafless trees and grassless ground lie in their path. As they walk the ground turns into spongy hole-filled flesh, blood puddles pepper the ground, and the sickly sweet smell of rot assaults the groups nose. (Dorus had seen this from a distance, but did not relay it to the group from his flying snake form.) Questions begin to form. How did Yeenoghu get here so quickly? It is days worth of travel from Therack? No answers come, but cackles do. Down the hell-paved road the group sees three large gnolls running toward them. The SOG do their best to hide behind dead trees. Krom notices that the gnolls look… scared. A loud crunch is heard from the forest as trees are broken and crushed and out leaps a huge gray and purple dragon. Its eyes seem milky. Brightly colored spots little the dragons hide. On its back a small blond halfing with long blond hair and bright pink armor. Rainbows trail behind the dragon as do gold and silver sparkles. The halfing swings and impossibly long whip over her head. A grungy white-haired doll hangs from her belt. The whip cracks and at the end of each crack a flash of bright multi-colored light. In quick succession the dragon snaps each of the gnolls in half with little effort and then comes to a sliding halt directly in front of the party. All are in awe. A memory is sparked in Mokon and Nom. Is this Sweets and Kutea from Therack? The same Sweets and Kutea that were A LOT smaller just a few years ago. There is no way Kutea could grow that much in two years. 

Sweets hops down from her mount and rushes toward Alora gripping her tightly. Alora, having memory problems as of late, has no idea who this little girl is or why the halfling's eyes are fluttering so feverishly from side to side. Sweets notices Alora’s confusion almost instantly. “What’s wrong Alora?” Alora responds with a questioning look and tells sweets that she can’t remember anything that has happened in her past… to a point. “Oh, pffft, I can fix that.” She then jumps up and thumps Alora on the head. Alora’s memories all come rushing back as if they were just outside her reach all this time. She instantly feels the love she has for Sweets and picks her up in a big hug with a similar response from Sweets. After a lengthy hug Alora sets down the small halfling and asks how she could so easily fix her memory. “Oh, I can do anything in here. This place is great. Redd is around here somewhere. Oh, he’s so slow.” She snapps her fingers and an out-of-breath Redd appears beside the group. He waves panting. “Where is everyone? I don’t see Glug, or Fay, or Nom. Hi Mokon.” Alora gives Sweets the child-friendly version of the party's current fate. “Oh…” She goes silent for a moment. “I’m glad to see at least some of you are OK.” She smiles at Alora with her eyes. Alora asks Sweets more questions about her abilities and what “in-here” means. Redd speaks. “Hi guys. Um, so. Yeah. Sweets can do pretty much anything when she is asleep.” Sweets excitedly speaks up once more, “Yeah, like I dreamed of you guys a while back. There was this big dinosaur chasing this blond guy, and a shark fell from the sky. There was a lot of cheese for some reason.” Redd interjects,” Basically Sweets can make anything happen from her dream space. It’s pretty amazing, but we can’t let her sleep too long, because things get REAL weird. And sometimes things stick in the real world.” 

Dorus is still airborne in flying snake form. Curious as if he could talk to a dragon he flies closely. Instead of the typical hiss sound he would usually produce, full words in Dorus voice escape his lips. Sweets is watching with a smile. Dorus and Kutea have a short, but meaningful conversation. “I like you better the other way Dorus.” With a blink Dorus is his normal loxodon self. Dorus looks down and notices the gem around his neck is glowing brightly.

Sweets approaches Krom. “You are so amazing looking. So strong and big.” Sweets instantly transforms into an exact copy of Krom including Krom’s voice. The two have a flex/roar off and are equally pleased.

Nom sees an opportunity for change quickly asking if Sweets can change her back into her half-orc self and get rid of a pesky devil contract. “Sure no problem.” And with little effort Sweets does an elaborate movement and Nom feels her body grow in size and strength to a familiar half-orc state. Sweets then makes a ripping motion mid air and the devil’s contract lifts out of Noms back and is instantly incinerated. “See… neat huh. Also… you may be wondering why I’m so big now (she really doesn’t look too much bigger being a halfling and all) and why Kutea is so HUGE. Well, we were running through the woods and we ran right into one of those weird bubbles. When we came out of the other side we were this big.” She flexes and points toward Kutea who is tilting her head in confusion. Mokon wants in on the action producing a small acorn. He asks if she can turn it into a tree. “Yeah I can… Bamph.” She pokes the acorn that sprouts and grows into a small sapling. Mokon plans it directly in the flesh muck at his feet -- proud and satisfied. “Well, I really need to wake Sweets up,” says Redd,”I hope we see you soon.” Redd walks over to Sweets and begins to gently shake the small halfing. “Wake up… time to get up.” As he does so Sweets, Redd, and Kutea’s bodies begin to shimmer, wobble, and become more transparent until they completely vanish. 

Nom feels her body shrink and watches the devil’s contract reforms in perfect detail. Alora feels her memory of past Sweets fade, but the new memories she had just made stay strong -- a very strange feeling. Mokon’s tree remains as do the three dead gnolls. 

Torin had stayed strangely quiet during this encounter.

The group continues forward to Milbin’s. After a short hike they pass by their gas balloon. Mokon takes a moment to get the grubs moving to refill the balloon and makes sure the immovable rod is still in place. 

Climbing down a short cliff face they enter the partially hidden corridor to Milbin’s. Knowing the trap system all too well, they easily bypass any danger and once again walk down the long flight of stairs toward Milbin’s lab.

“That demon is really beatin’ up the place. You gotta do something to stop ‘im,” Jebediah’s unique voice travels up the stairs, followed by Milbin’s more abrasive tone, “You don’t think I know that? What am I going to do? I have to keep this rift stable. I can’t just leave.” Entering the room the SOG see a very different space than the one they remember. Almost all signs of the Shadowfell have been removed. No dead trees or luminescent mushrooms. No heaps of dead clawed flesh. Not even any darkness. Milbin and Jebediah stand near the red diamond, previously gifted to Milbin, in an engaged conversation. Banli is tossing any remaining debris into a very stable looking rift bubble. She sees the group and quickly approaches. “Hello my friends. What brings you here? Things are not good in the Grimshackle from what I hear.” Banli flutters in and out of focus and of this plane. Krom is infatuated by the very fetching gnome. Dorus sheepishly and in great detail explains that it may have been this group that caused Yeenoghu’s summoning. Banli is not impressed. Jeb and Milbin have noticed their visitors at this point and approach. “What are you doing here? What do you want?” Milbin politely (as politely as he is able) asks the group. Alora explains they have another gem for the rift. “Well, where is it?” Alora spends quite some time trying to coax Chester into releasing the gem. Krom even tries to entice the small mimic with raw meat of which he is very eager to eat. They have little luck. Alora and Dorus even try to pull the large gem from the stomach of Chester to no avail. Chesters eyes water as his long purple tongue licks over his toothy maw. His head tilts in confusion. Milbin has watched this entire interaction in quiet disgust. “What in the world are you doing? Clearly that creature does not understand the language you are using. Why not try it in a language it understands?” Milbin begins to circle Chester as Chester spins to try to keep Milbin within eyesight. After a few moments of the two spinning around. Milbin completes his search. “Aha… right there.” He reaches down and pulls what appears to be a magical green thread from the bottom side of Chester. “I have no idea who this is, but clearly it is an elvish name. Have you tried speaking to this creature in elvish? Probably not. You’re welcome.” Alora had not thought to speak elvish to the creature, even though Alora herself is of the elvish persuasion. She clears her throat and asks Chester to drop the gem… in elvish. Chester’s eyes widen and he eagerly spits the large, clear, and now moist gem to the ground. Chester wiggles in excitement. “Oh yes, this will do nicely. A redundancy if you will. I can connect this through… in case the other… fails…” Milbin wanders off spouting words and theories of magic. 

Jeb approaches the group. “Got a real mess out there don’t you? Sometimes resetting the board is the only option.” Dorus notices the gem around his neck glows bright once more. Jeb? Is Jeb one of the six?

Alora noticed that Milbin had been looking at her with annoyance, but Alora, of course, can remember nothing about the small, strange, fast-talking gnome. Clearly he has magical abilities, but she does not remember him. And she definitely doesn’t remember the two of them had a bit of a rough goodbye the last time they had seen each other. Milbin stops in his tracks. His ramblings also come to a halt. He walks toward Alora. “What’s the matter with you?” Alora explains her memory loss. “I can fix that for you. I can fix that easily.” He produces a small clear bubble in his palm. Alora asks if he would? (Again, not remembering their past.) He looks deeply at her for a moment. “Do you see that rift over there?” Alora nods. “Do you see how stable that rift is? Probably one of the most stable rift holes in all of Grimshackle… probably the world. Would you agree?” Alora nods again. “I could fix your memory, but I would like you to tell me how intelligent I am and how wonderfully stable the rift is. I am after all -- VERY intelligent and the rift is VERY stable. Then I might bring back your memory.” Alora begins to tell Milbin exactly what he wants to hear. Milbin interrupts her mid sentence. “Yeah, I don’t need your approval. I know who I am and what I am capable of.” Milbin then walks away and begins to mutter to himself once more. Alora has no idea if Milbin plans to help her or not.

The group huddles and begins to have short, somewhat meaningless conversations with Jeb about drinking urine, and Jeb’s superior intelligence trying to place which soul shards would go with which individual -- a topic of which not all agree.