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Journal of the Souls of Legend (completed)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 7869736" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Ghosts of the Forgotten - 12/8/2019</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>To planewalkers, there are many pieces of the chant needed to survive a trip to any plane. Some are simple: avoid the lower planes and the Blood War. Some obvious: don’t try to deal with slaad, and don’t try to cheat a modron. Violating those is likely to get you put in the dead-book.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em></em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>But the Feywild had a special place in the list of warnings and advice. Its wasn’t about you avoided or did, or even about where you were going to go. It all was about one thing.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em></em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>When were you getting back, was a question of paramount importance.</em></p><p></p><p></p><p>“Feywild?” Iesa was looking around him, wondering what might leap out of the depths of the fog. “So what? Are the fey going to kidnap us or something?”</p><p></p><p>“We aren’t fully there, so no,” I started trying to get my bearings in the swirling colored mists. “Not yet at least.” </p><p></p><p>“Great,” Daneath said through gritted teeth as he started pulling on the macabre spiked armor. “And will you focus and help me finish?”</p><p></p><p>“Sorry,” Iesa said. “It’s…just I have heard lots of stories. I’m sure Myr will just say, ‘It isn’t true,’ in some charming way.”</p><p></p><p>“I’m no greybeard about the Feywild,” I answered. “But I’m sure its <em>half</em> true. Just not clear on which half. If I had to make a guess, if it had an unfortunate ending, it’s likely true.”</p><p></p><p>“That bad?” Daneath asked without looking up.</p><p></p><p>“Well, its chaotic, and the fey are concerned with…fey…stuff. And <em>only</em> fey stuff. We’re either an annoyance or entertainment to faeries and eladrin. But there are other beings in the feywild, and not all of them are as friendly as faeries.”</p><p></p><p>“Like what?” Iesa asked as he pulled a strap tight on Daneath’s armor.</p><p></p><p>“Hags, some giantkin, spirits and dire creatures to name a few. A bored noble eladrin could be bad as well.”</p><p></p><p>“Any good news then?” Daneath wondered aloud.</p><p></p><p>“I can still hear Beepu over there somewhere,” and I pointed towards a section of unblemished fog. In that direction Beepu’s chortling had broken down into mad laughter.</p><p></p><p>“Good. I’m about ready to kill him. How do I look?” Daneath asked turning around in the captured armor.</p><p></p><p>“Honestly? Like a githyanki with questionable taste.”</p><p></p><p>“What’s wrong with it?”</p><p></p><p>“Beyond it screaming ‘Maglubiyet loves me?’ Nothing,” I said innocently.</p><p></p><p>“Come on,” Iesa interrupted our banter. “That laughter is grating and I want to find our way out of here.”</p><p></p><p>We started towards the distant sound of the wayward gnome. I felt on edge; I knew only the barest things about the Feywild, and most of that summed up as ‘Don’t visit, it will make a mess of your day.” As we travelled, I kept up the spell so I could see the magical fields easily. The plants and even occasional stone flickered between two different images over and over. Fortunately, it seemed that we weren’t deep into the Feywild, as everything after flickering stayed with the prime version of things. I guessed that we were on the shoals of the manifest zone. So hopefully we could find our way out.</p><p></p><p>Following the cackling sounds that Beepu was making, the fog became lighter, allowing us to see farther. Now we saw that the trees had given way to a clearing. The clearing had pillars of rocks scattered on the edges. On the far side of the clearing was a berm, and on the side facing us we could see a hole descending into the earth. And there dancing by the hole was our gnome.</p><p></p><p>He was skipping and cavorting about, and he alterated between manic laughter and loud humming broken apart by giggles. As we moved forward cautiously, the ground and stone alternated between two very different pictures of the world around me. The first was as described, but the second I saw not stones, but marvelous pillars, reaching to the sky in a perfect circle. And instead of a berm, I saw a stone building with a stairway leading to a passageway beneath the earth. On the building’s awning above the stairs, I could see a golden symbol. Three circles overlapping and bound by a triangle. Thinking a moment, I realized that this was the symbol of Angharradh, a goddess of the Seldarine that was a personification of three other goddesses of the same patheon; Aerdrie Faeinya, Hanali Celanil, and Sahanine Moonbow.</p><p></p><p>We continued our approach towards Beepu, who was perhaps twenty paces away from us. But as we neared him, I noticed movement behind the stones that encircled the clearing. From around two opposing stones, stood a pair large broad humanoids. Their skin was twisted and stretched across their massive frame, each standing almost twice my own height. Each carried a length of stone in their hands. They moved slowly, towards us, unrushed. As they emerged, I noticed that they didn’t shimmer and shift like the stones, trees or the berm. They were clearly in our plane and they were looking at us with snarls on their misshapen faces.</p><p></p><p>“Stop Beepu! We’ll handle these two,” Daneath yelled and dashed out to meet his foe head on. He collided with the creature and slashed at its exposed belly twice, each spraying blood and a single gutteral scream as it tried to smash the warrior with its stone club. However, it was clearly off balance, as its other hand clutched its midsection, trying to keep its guts on the inside.</p><p></p><p>Iesa also reacted, and ran to the second one, and thrusted with this rapier high into the chest. The monster gave out, not a yell, but a sharp wheeze, as blood and other fluid spurt from its wound. The single strike staggered it enough, that its clumsy swing had no chance in connecting with the nimble rogue.</p><p></p><p>Satisfied that my parters weren’t going to be crushed, I decided to see if we could reign in Beepu and get him under control. I started pulling a light and dark strand, and fastened them mentally into a loop. I then focused and was about to encircle it around the gnome, when I felt strong resistance. Not resistance that a foe would normally put up to avert say my miasma; this was stronger and made it difficult to focus. But I redoubled my efforts and pushed past it and mentally threw the loop around Beepu. But instead of his life force or body, I looped it around his head.</p><p></p><p>I could feel it connect and I could feel a conscious will push back at it. Looking at Beepu as I did this, I realized that he had a shimmer around him, and that there was something else near him. No…inside him. It was this being that I was fighting with. Suddenly I felt the Weave snap, and the loop of magic break asunder. To my surprise I saw shredded paper burst around the gnome in a shower of color, with a low buzzing noise as accompaniment. I barely had time to react, when I heard music and singing. The music sounded like they were coming from a drunken band of minstrels, with a horn, a flute, a lyre and a drum. The singing was a deep drunken braying; enthusiastic, not in a proper pitch, and certainly uncoordinated.</p><p></p><p><em>Sala was a frog that was workin,</em></p><p></p><p>“What the?” Iesa and Daneath said at the same time, glancing around for the source of the noise, all the while inflicting deeper wounds on their ineffective foes, who just kept swinging madly at the pair.</p><p></p><p><em>Slapped by the wenches for lurkin,</em></p><p></p><p>I was stunned. I knew this song. I heard it in Sigil many times.</p><p></p><p><em>And sent o wild and whirlin,</em></p><p></p><p>The song was more than annoying to me; it grated on me like cat claws across a slate roof.</p><p></p><p><em>Till he spun right round in da firkin, Hey!</em></p><p></p><p>I stood there and my hands reached up to cover my ears.</p><p></p><p>“I HATE this song!” I shouted. But then it became worse as Beepu joined in on the chorus.</p><p></p><p><em>Frog In the firkin!</em></p><p><em>Frog in the firkin!</em></p><p><em>Frog in the firkin, Hey!</em></p><p></p><p>I was in severe pain. My head pounded, and I moved a hand to my nose. I touched my nostril and looked at my hand in shock, because it was covered in my own blood. Lifting my head to look at Beepu, I could see the shimmering shadow had the remaining resonance of a quick magic spell. The spell was actually hurting me with him just singing.</p><p></p><p>This was <strong><em>not</em></strong> happening. I was not going to die being shouted to death. And certainly not by <strong><em>that</em></strong> song.</p><p></p><p>“Shut..up!” And I tried to throw a dark strand around Beepu, or whatever was controlling him. I really didn’t care which, as long as the pain stopped. I tried to get the skeletal hands to grip around him and I struggled to cast it at him, as if the mere act was a crime. And once again more colored papers exploded with louder buzzing sounds.</p><p></p><p><em>If ya beer be a bit burpin,</em></p><p></p><p>I heard a groan, and wet flesh hit the ground, and then I saw Daneath rush over to Iesa’s side and knock away the stone club from smashing into his roguish brother. With his foe distracted, Iesa thrust deep into the chest, and it too fell dead to the ground.</p><p></p><p><em>And your belly starts a churnin,</em></p><p></p><p>“Why are we listening to music and singing?” Iesa shouted over the din at me. “This isn’t exactly going to help stop him.”</p><p></p><p><em>Check your mug, for that green lug,</em></p><p></p><p>Again, I felt my head split into two as Beepu cackled away, taunting us with, “Time to race, time to chase!” and he suddenly, floated down into the hole in the earth disappearing into the darkness.</p><p></p><p><em>The frog in the firkin,</em></p><p><em>The frog in the f…</em></p><p></p><p>The song and music subsided with Beepu’s departure, although my head still pounded in pain. I pinched my nose shut, trying to stem the flow of blood. Daneath approached me first, his face aghast.</p><p></p><p>“Myr? What the..?”</p><p></p><p>“Dat…song. It was killin me,” I replied still holding my nose shut.</p><p></p><p>“That’s a lot of blood…here,” and Iesa handed me a bundle of cloth, which I promptly put under my nose to soak up the blood.</p><p></p><p>“So how did we get a song and music in the middle of the forest?” Daneath looked at me in confusion.</p><p></p><p>“I tried to well…charm Beepu. And then it went all wrong…sorry I couldn’t stop him.” I said trying to clear my head.</p><p></p><p>“And that off-key song was the result?” Daneath looked at me with disbelief.</p><p></p><p>“It’s a song from a bar in Sigil, called Moebius. It’s a song only sung there, and last I heard it had over a hundred verses.” I said, looking at the cloth, satisfied that the flow of blood had stopped.</p><p></p><p>“Why?” Iesa asked.</p><p></p><p>“Well, to encourage drinking, or dulling the pain from the song—”</p><p></p><p>“--No, why here now?” Iesa corrected.</p><p></p><p>“Oh…well I suspect that there is more than just the Feywild here; something else is going on. And I bet it’s” and I pointed to the berm and the entrance into the earth, “down there.”</p><p></p><p>“Well let’s going get him and get out of here,” Daneath muttered angrily, and we all walked to the berm. The first thing we noticed as we approached it, is that it was a ruined tunnel with stairs leading down, and the second was that there was a very dim yellow light down below.</p><p></p><p>“I guess we’re expected,” Iesa said grimly. “At least we might be able to see.”</p><p></p><p><em>Gos…stick close.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--Right. I just want out of here; this is too weird.</em></p><p></p><p>As we started to decend, I barely heard the flutter of wings, and Foggle flew down ahead of us. We paused, listening, expecting to hear an explosion of metal parts raining onto the stone. But instead all we heard was a solitary “Beepuuu,” from the owl. We continued on and after a long decent, found ourselves in a square chamber. From the middle of each wall in the chamber were passages to rooms beyond, each with light spilling forth. The room we entered, had four pillars, upon each had a warm orange yellow light flickering. In the center of the room, was a statue. The statue appeared to be of three elven women, who’s clothes, and legs merged into a single pillar. The statue or pillar base, was set in the middle of three rings, bound by a triangle on the outside. Each of the women looked down a different passage, except the stairs we descended from. Foggle was quietly circling around the statue, making no noise beyond the occasional flapping of its wings.</p><p></p><p>“Elves…isn’t this—” Iesa started.</p><p></p><p>“Angharradh,” I finished for him as I looked around. The room was covered in thick layers of dust and cobwebs. “And it has been a long time anyone has been here.”</p><p></p><p>“The Triune goddess,” and Iesa sighed as he looked about. “And no sign of Beepu. I don’t see even his footprints.”</p><p></p><p>“He was flying, or did you miss that?” chided Daneath.</p><p></p><p>“Well…no, but he didn’t stop to land here either,” Iesa was now on the defensive.</p><p></p><p>“So, head into another room?” Daneath started. “I say we go-- </p><p></p><p>“—Left.”</p><p></p><p> “—Straight.”</p><p></p><p> “—Right.”</p><p></p><p>Daneath, I and Iesa said at the same time, pointing in a different direction. We each looked at each of the others with a dirty look.</p><p></p><p>“Right…um, so we shou—”</p><p></p><p>“—Go wherever you go Daneath.” I said, not really wanting to argue.</p><p></p><p>“—Uh…sure.” Iesa agreed quietly, and Daneath nodded with satisfaction. He then led us down the left corridor. It wasn’t terribly long before we entered a simple room. Four more pillars, each with lights on top, just like the entrance room. But here instead of a statue, was a ring, with letters gilt with golden metal, just below a layer of dust. I moved to the edge of the ring, knelt and looked closely at it. Concentrating I could see amid the soup of magic was a strong conjuration effect</p><p></p><p>“Can you read it?” Iesa asked.</p><p></p><p>Shaking my head, “Not yet. It’s elvish using that older writing style. Give me a moment.” And I started to cast the ritual so I could read the letters. As I did so, I heard behind me some jostling, and liquid sloshing in a jar or flask. I kept at it, and I saw that Daneath was handing to Iesa a pair of crudely worked clay flasks. I kept up my quiet chant but gave a quizzical look to Daneath.</p><p></p><p>“Hobgoblin elixirs. They are supposed to help out with your health. Found them on the warlord.” Daneath answered without me having to ask.</p><p></p><p>“I guess we’re lucky he didn’t try to use them then,” Iesa smirked as he took a pair from his brother.</p><p></p><p>“I was not complaining. Here Myr,” and he handed me a pair of flasks, which I put in my pouch, still concentrating. Finally, with the spell cast I looked at the runes, and read them aloud:</p><p></p><p>“Praise to the Winged Mother, bringer of rain and storms…I think it’s a prayer” I said, turning to look at the brothers.</p><p></p><p>“Well that’s…interesting. But I don’t see how that—” Daneath started before I cut him off.</p><p></p><p>“—No, there’s more. The circle has magic imbued into it…Conjuration magic.”</p><p></p><p>“So, its like that other circle at the temple then?”</p><p></p><p>I nodded, “And I bet the other rooms have a circle and a different prayer.” I chuckled to myself and mutter almost under my breath, “This is taking the Rule of Three a bit literally.”</p><p></p><p><strong>“</strong>So, what? We each enter a circle say a prayer and…hope?” Iesa looked up at the ceiling helplessly in resignation.</p><p></p><p>“You could call it…having faith?” I said a bit whimsically.</p><p></p><p>“Easy for you to say; you’ve seen what comes next.” Iesa wryly commented.</p><p></p><p>“Ah…I..suppose,” I said feeling a bit uncomfortable at the roundabout mention of my death. We really never talk about that day much; too many painful choices made on that day. Or not made but rather forced. I brushed it aside and continued. “But I think you only have to believe the magic is going to work. I doubt an elven goddess wants a short lived, round-eared, filthy worshiper anyway.”</p><p></p><p>“Hey! Whose filthy?” Iesa said with mock indignation.</p><p></p><p>“You are,” Daneath said, as he cuffed Iesa. “So how do we do this?”</p><p></p><p>“Well, I’ll give you the prayer here. I take Iesa to another circle, give him the words he needs on his circle, and I will go the third and recite the words there. But I’ll use a message spell, to each of you so we do it at the same time.”</p><p></p><p>“Think we need to go through that much effort?” Iesa asked with a doubtful tone.</p><p></p><p>“I’m willing to bet on it yes,” I said. “Three goddesses as one, three circles with a prayer I bet. And all need to be said at once.”</p><p></p><p>“Shouldn’t we do it in elvish?” Daneath pointed out.</p><p></p><p>“Well…yes. But I don’t speak it, I just can read it. Can you?” I shrugged my shoulders and looked at Daneath. He scrunched his face and nodded.</p><p></p><p>“Well, I guess that will have to do then. I’ll wait here.”</p><p></p><p>“Come on Iesa,” and I started back down the hallway towards the Triune statue. I noticed that Foggle, who had quietly followed us into the room, remained flying around Daneath. I smiled; Daneath always wanted to have his own pet, so it would do for a while I supposed.</p><p></p><p>“You sure this is going to work?” Iesa asked as he walked along side of me. “I mean we don’t even know there are other cir…I’ll be damned.” He said as we walked into the room opposite. And there was an almost identical setup; four pillars, one circle, and more writing. Once I again I knelt down and read aloud.”</p><p></p><p>“Praise to the Heart of Gold, our winsome rose…can you remember that?” I asked.</p><p></p><p>Iesa nodded, “Sure thing. I’ll wait for your..signal..spell…message?”</p><p></p><p>I nodded and started my way back. “This will work I’m sure.”</p><p></p><p>“But what will it do?” Iesa called back to me as I entered the first chamber.</p><p></p><p>“Get us to a maniacal gnome who so needs a beating,” I mutter well lower than Iesa could hear. I strode down the passage opposite the stairs and came to another set of pillars and a circle. Once again I knelt and looked at the prayer written and nodded.</p><p></p><p><em>--Myr, are you sure you know what you are doing?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Of course not!</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--Is this a good idea?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Probably not.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--Then why are we—</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Look, I’m not sure saving Beepu from himself is much in paying off a debt, but I feel we should at least try.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--So where did he go, if he was by himself?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>A great question! Let’s find him and ask!</em></p><p></p><p>I quickly pull out a copper wire and wrap it around my index finger. Twisting, I think of Iesa as I pull on some strands.</p><p></p><p><em>“Iesa, count to ten slowly, and do the prayer.” </em>Not waiting for a response, I pull on the strands again and this time focused on Daneath.</p><p></p><p><em>“Daneath, count to five slowly, and do the prayer.</em></p><p></p><p>I then stood in the circle, and read the writing on the edge aloud:</p><p></p><p>“Praise to the Daughter of the Night Skies, our lunar lady.” As soon as I said the last word, I could feel the Weave flex and fold upon itself and I felt the release of power. There was a flash of light and I was blinded for a brief moment. I blinked, waiting for the spots in my eyes to clear up, and as they did, I saw a new passage straight ahead of me.</p><p></p><p>Smiling, I felt a bit of pride. I saw a puzzle without seeing all the pieces! I guessed at what I bet was an obvious answer without even having to try random experiments. I didn’t have to poke and guess. I then turned around ready to trot back to see the brothers, when my smile dropped from my lips. My eyes widened and I realized the game might have higher stakes than before.</p><p></p><p>Before me I could see the archway back to the room with the statues, but the passageway was replaced with solid stone. My breathing quickened as I turned the copper wire on my finger.</p><p></p><p><em>“Iesa?”</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Daneath?”</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Can you hear me?”</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Can you hear me?”</em></p><p></p><p>My shoulders sagged, and I turned back to look down the now open passageway. In the distance I could see more light. I felt a lump in my throat as I swallowed. I gripped my shield tighter and I started to walk down the passage, to see what else fate had brought to the party.</p><p></p><p><em>--Told you this wasn’t a good idea.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Shut up!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Session notes:</strong></p><p></p><p>Confetti and strange music happened, and this really convinced me never to miss a session. Which I did for over a year…but that miss is a different story.</p><p></p><p>Otherwise I was confused as hell on what we were really dealing with. But we were really convinced that Beepu’s player would return and have to roll up a new character.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 7869736, member: 6971069"] [CENTER][B]Ghosts of the Forgotten - 12/8/2019[/B] [I]To planewalkers, there are many pieces of the chant needed to survive a trip to any plane. Some are simple: avoid the lower planes and the Blood War. Some obvious: don’t try to deal with slaad, and don’t try to cheat a modron. Violating those is likely to get you put in the dead-book. But the Feywild had a special place in the list of warnings and advice. Its wasn’t about you avoided or did, or even about where you were going to go. It all was about one thing. When were you getting back, was a question of paramount importance.[/I][/CENTER] “Feywild?” Iesa was looking around him, wondering what might leap out of the depths of the fog. “So what? Are the fey going to kidnap us or something?” “We aren’t fully there, so no,” I started trying to get my bearings in the swirling colored mists. “Not yet at least.” “Great,” Daneath said through gritted teeth as he started pulling on the macabre spiked armor. “And will you focus and help me finish?” “Sorry,” Iesa said. “It’s…just I have heard lots of stories. I’m sure Myr will just say, ‘It isn’t true,’ in some charming way.” “I’m no greybeard about the Feywild,” I answered. “But I’m sure its [I]half[/I] true. Just not clear on which half. If I had to make a guess, if it had an unfortunate ending, it’s likely true.” “That bad?” Daneath asked without looking up. “Well, its chaotic, and the fey are concerned with…fey…stuff. And [I]only[/I] fey stuff. We’re either an annoyance or entertainment to faeries and eladrin. But there are other beings in the feywild, and not all of them are as friendly as faeries.” “Like what?” Iesa asked as he pulled a strap tight on Daneath’s armor. “Hags, some giantkin, spirits and dire creatures to name a few. A bored noble eladrin could be bad as well.” “Any good news then?” Daneath wondered aloud. “I can still hear Beepu over there somewhere,” and I pointed towards a section of unblemished fog. In that direction Beepu’s chortling had broken down into mad laughter. “Good. I’m about ready to kill him. How do I look?” Daneath asked turning around in the captured armor. “Honestly? Like a githyanki with questionable taste.” “What’s wrong with it?” “Beyond it screaming ‘Maglubiyet loves me?’ Nothing,” I said innocently. “Come on,” Iesa interrupted our banter. “That laughter is grating and I want to find our way out of here.” We started towards the distant sound of the wayward gnome. I felt on edge; I knew only the barest things about the Feywild, and most of that summed up as ‘Don’t visit, it will make a mess of your day.” As we travelled, I kept up the spell so I could see the magical fields easily. The plants and even occasional stone flickered between two different images over and over. Fortunately, it seemed that we weren’t deep into the Feywild, as everything after flickering stayed with the prime version of things. I guessed that we were on the shoals of the manifest zone. So hopefully we could find our way out. Following the cackling sounds that Beepu was making, the fog became lighter, allowing us to see farther. Now we saw that the trees had given way to a clearing. The clearing had pillars of rocks scattered on the edges. On the far side of the clearing was a berm, and on the side facing us we could see a hole descending into the earth. And there dancing by the hole was our gnome. He was skipping and cavorting about, and he alterated between manic laughter and loud humming broken apart by giggles. As we moved forward cautiously, the ground and stone alternated between two very different pictures of the world around me. The first was as described, but the second I saw not stones, but marvelous pillars, reaching to the sky in a perfect circle. And instead of a berm, I saw a stone building with a stairway leading to a passageway beneath the earth. On the building’s awning above the stairs, I could see a golden symbol. Three circles overlapping and bound by a triangle. Thinking a moment, I realized that this was the symbol of Angharradh, a goddess of the Seldarine that was a personification of three other goddesses of the same patheon; Aerdrie Faeinya, Hanali Celanil, and Sahanine Moonbow. We continued our approach towards Beepu, who was perhaps twenty paces away from us. But as we neared him, I noticed movement behind the stones that encircled the clearing. From around two opposing stones, stood a pair large broad humanoids. Their skin was twisted and stretched across their massive frame, each standing almost twice my own height. Each carried a length of stone in their hands. They moved slowly, towards us, unrushed. As they emerged, I noticed that they didn’t shimmer and shift like the stones, trees or the berm. They were clearly in our plane and they were looking at us with snarls on their misshapen faces. “Stop Beepu! We’ll handle these two,” Daneath yelled and dashed out to meet his foe head on. He collided with the creature and slashed at its exposed belly twice, each spraying blood and a single gutteral scream as it tried to smash the warrior with its stone club. However, it was clearly off balance, as its other hand clutched its midsection, trying to keep its guts on the inside. Iesa also reacted, and ran to the second one, and thrusted with this rapier high into the chest. The monster gave out, not a yell, but a sharp wheeze, as blood and other fluid spurt from its wound. The single strike staggered it enough, that its clumsy swing had no chance in connecting with the nimble rogue. Satisfied that my parters weren’t going to be crushed, I decided to see if we could reign in Beepu and get him under control. I started pulling a light and dark strand, and fastened them mentally into a loop. I then focused and was about to encircle it around the gnome, when I felt strong resistance. Not resistance that a foe would normally put up to avert say my miasma; this was stronger and made it difficult to focus. But I redoubled my efforts and pushed past it and mentally threw the loop around Beepu. But instead of his life force or body, I looped it around his head. I could feel it connect and I could feel a conscious will push back at it. Looking at Beepu as I did this, I realized that he had a shimmer around him, and that there was something else near him. No…inside him. It was this being that I was fighting with. Suddenly I felt the Weave snap, and the loop of magic break asunder. To my surprise I saw shredded paper burst around the gnome in a shower of color, with a low buzzing noise as accompaniment. I barely had time to react, when I heard music and singing. The music sounded like they were coming from a drunken band of minstrels, with a horn, a flute, a lyre and a drum. The singing was a deep drunken braying; enthusiastic, not in a proper pitch, and certainly uncoordinated. [I]Sala was a frog that was workin,[/I] “What the?” Iesa and Daneath said at the same time, glancing around for the source of the noise, all the while inflicting deeper wounds on their ineffective foes, who just kept swinging madly at the pair. [I]Slapped by the wenches for lurkin,[/I] I was stunned. I knew this song. I heard it in Sigil many times. [I]And sent o wild and whirlin,[/I] The song was more than annoying to me; it grated on me like cat claws across a slate roof. [I]Till he spun right round in da firkin, Hey![/I] I stood there and my hands reached up to cover my ears. “I HATE this song!” I shouted. But then it became worse as Beepu joined in on the chorus. [I]Frog In the firkin! Frog in the firkin! Frog in the firkin, Hey![/I] I was in severe pain. My head pounded, and I moved a hand to my nose. I touched my nostril and looked at my hand in shock, because it was covered in my own blood. Lifting my head to look at Beepu, I could see the shimmering shadow had the remaining resonance of a quick magic spell. The spell was actually hurting me with him just singing. This was [B][I]not[/I][/B] happening. I was not going to die being shouted to death. And certainly not by [B][I]that[/I][/B] song. “Shut..up!” And I tried to throw a dark strand around Beepu, or whatever was controlling him. I really didn’t care which, as long as the pain stopped. I tried to get the skeletal hands to grip around him and I struggled to cast it at him, as if the mere act was a crime. And once again more colored papers exploded with louder buzzing sounds. [I]If ya beer be a bit burpin,[/I] I heard a groan, and wet flesh hit the ground, and then I saw Daneath rush over to Iesa’s side and knock away the stone club from smashing into his roguish brother. With his foe distracted, Iesa thrust deep into the chest, and it too fell dead to the ground. [I]And your belly starts a churnin,[/I] “Why are we listening to music and singing?” Iesa shouted over the din at me. “This isn’t exactly going to help stop him.” [I]Check your mug, for that green lug,[/I] Again, I felt my head split into two as Beepu cackled away, taunting us with, “Time to race, time to chase!” and he suddenly, floated down into the hole in the earth disappearing into the darkness. [I]The frog in the firkin, The frog in the f…[/I] The song and music subsided with Beepu’s departure, although my head still pounded in pain. I pinched my nose shut, trying to stem the flow of blood. Daneath approached me first, his face aghast. “Myr? What the..?” “Dat…song. It was killin me,” I replied still holding my nose shut. “That’s a lot of blood…here,” and Iesa handed me a bundle of cloth, which I promptly put under my nose to soak up the blood. “So how did we get a song and music in the middle of the forest?” Daneath looked at me in confusion. “I tried to well…charm Beepu. And then it went all wrong…sorry I couldn’t stop him.” I said trying to clear my head. “And that off-key song was the result?” Daneath looked at me with disbelief. “It’s a song from a bar in Sigil, called Moebius. It’s a song only sung there, and last I heard it had over a hundred verses.” I said, looking at the cloth, satisfied that the flow of blood had stopped. “Why?” Iesa asked. “Well, to encourage drinking, or dulling the pain from the song—” “--No, why here now?” Iesa corrected. “Oh…well I suspect that there is more than just the Feywild here; something else is going on. And I bet it’s” and I pointed to the berm and the entrance into the earth, “down there.” “Well let’s going get him and get out of here,” Daneath muttered angrily, and we all walked to the berm. The first thing we noticed as we approached it, is that it was a ruined tunnel with stairs leading down, and the second was that there was a very dim yellow light down below. “I guess we’re expected,” Iesa said grimly. “At least we might be able to see.” [I]Gos…stick close. --Right. I just want out of here; this is too weird.[/I] As we started to decend, I barely heard the flutter of wings, and Foggle flew down ahead of us. We paused, listening, expecting to hear an explosion of metal parts raining onto the stone. But instead all we heard was a solitary “Beepuuu,” from the owl. We continued on and after a long decent, found ourselves in a square chamber. From the middle of each wall in the chamber were passages to rooms beyond, each with light spilling forth. The room we entered, had four pillars, upon each had a warm orange yellow light flickering. In the center of the room, was a statue. The statue appeared to be of three elven women, who’s clothes, and legs merged into a single pillar. The statue or pillar base, was set in the middle of three rings, bound by a triangle on the outside. Each of the women looked down a different passage, except the stairs we descended from. Foggle was quietly circling around the statue, making no noise beyond the occasional flapping of its wings. “Elves…isn’t this—” Iesa started. “Angharradh,” I finished for him as I looked around. The room was covered in thick layers of dust and cobwebs. “And it has been a long time anyone has been here.” “The Triune goddess,” and Iesa sighed as he looked about. “And no sign of Beepu. I don’t see even his footprints.” “He was flying, or did you miss that?” chided Daneath. “Well…no, but he didn’t stop to land here either,” Iesa was now on the defensive. “So, head into another room?” Daneath started. “I say we go-- “—Left.” “—Straight.” “—Right.” Daneath, I and Iesa said at the same time, pointing in a different direction. We each looked at each of the others with a dirty look. “Right…um, so we shou—” “—Go wherever you go Daneath.” I said, not really wanting to argue. “—Uh…sure.” Iesa agreed quietly, and Daneath nodded with satisfaction. He then led us down the left corridor. It wasn’t terribly long before we entered a simple room. Four more pillars, each with lights on top, just like the entrance room. But here instead of a statue, was a ring, with letters gilt with golden metal, just below a layer of dust. I moved to the edge of the ring, knelt and looked closely at it. Concentrating I could see amid the soup of magic was a strong conjuration effect “Can you read it?” Iesa asked. Shaking my head, “Not yet. It’s elvish using that older writing style. Give me a moment.” And I started to cast the ritual so I could read the letters. As I did so, I heard behind me some jostling, and liquid sloshing in a jar or flask. I kept at it, and I saw that Daneath was handing to Iesa a pair of crudely worked clay flasks. I kept up my quiet chant but gave a quizzical look to Daneath. “Hobgoblin elixirs. They are supposed to help out with your health. Found them on the warlord.” Daneath answered without me having to ask. “I guess we’re lucky he didn’t try to use them then,” Iesa smirked as he took a pair from his brother. “I was not complaining. Here Myr,” and he handed me a pair of flasks, which I put in my pouch, still concentrating. Finally, with the spell cast I looked at the runes, and read them aloud: “Praise to the Winged Mother, bringer of rain and storms…I think it’s a prayer” I said, turning to look at the brothers. “Well that’s…interesting. But I don’t see how that—” Daneath started before I cut him off. “—No, there’s more. The circle has magic imbued into it…Conjuration magic.” “So, its like that other circle at the temple then?” I nodded, “And I bet the other rooms have a circle and a different prayer.” I chuckled to myself and mutter almost under my breath, “This is taking the Rule of Three a bit literally.” [B]“[/B]So, what? We each enter a circle say a prayer and…hope?” Iesa looked up at the ceiling helplessly in resignation. “You could call it…having faith?” I said a bit whimsically. “Easy for you to say; you’ve seen what comes next.” Iesa wryly commented. “Ah…I..suppose,” I said feeling a bit uncomfortable at the roundabout mention of my death. We really never talk about that day much; too many painful choices made on that day. Or not made but rather forced. I brushed it aside and continued. “But I think you only have to believe the magic is going to work. I doubt an elven goddess wants a short lived, round-eared, filthy worshiper anyway.” “Hey! Whose filthy?” Iesa said with mock indignation. “You are,” Daneath said, as he cuffed Iesa. “So how do we do this?” “Well, I’ll give you the prayer here. I take Iesa to another circle, give him the words he needs on his circle, and I will go the third and recite the words there. But I’ll use a message spell, to each of you so we do it at the same time.” “Think we need to go through that much effort?” Iesa asked with a doubtful tone. “I’m willing to bet on it yes,” I said. “Three goddesses as one, three circles with a prayer I bet. And all need to be said at once.” “Shouldn’t we do it in elvish?” Daneath pointed out. “Well…yes. But I don’t speak it, I just can read it. Can you?” I shrugged my shoulders and looked at Daneath. He scrunched his face and nodded. “Well, I guess that will have to do then. I’ll wait here.” “Come on Iesa,” and I started back down the hallway towards the Triune statue. I noticed that Foggle, who had quietly followed us into the room, remained flying around Daneath. I smiled; Daneath always wanted to have his own pet, so it would do for a while I supposed. “You sure this is going to work?” Iesa asked as he walked along side of me. “I mean we don’t even know there are other cir…I’ll be damned.” He said as we walked into the room opposite. And there was an almost identical setup; four pillars, one circle, and more writing. Once I again I knelt down and read aloud.” “Praise to the Heart of Gold, our winsome rose…can you remember that?” I asked. Iesa nodded, “Sure thing. I’ll wait for your..signal..spell…message?” I nodded and started my way back. “This will work I’m sure.” “But what will it do?” Iesa called back to me as I entered the first chamber. “Get us to a maniacal gnome who so needs a beating,” I mutter well lower than Iesa could hear. I strode down the passage opposite the stairs and came to another set of pillars and a circle. Once again I knelt and looked at the prayer written and nodded. [I]--Myr, are you sure you know what you are doing? Of course not! --Is this a good idea? Probably not. --Then why are we— Look, I’m not sure saving Beepu from himself is much in paying off a debt, but I feel we should at least try. --So where did he go, if he was by himself? A great question! Let’s find him and ask![/I] I quickly pull out a copper wire and wrap it around my index finger. Twisting, I think of Iesa as I pull on some strands. [I]“Iesa, count to ten slowly, and do the prayer.” [/I]Not waiting for a response, I pull on the strands again and this time focused on Daneath. [I]“Daneath, count to five slowly, and do the prayer.[/I] I then stood in the circle, and read the writing on the edge aloud: “Praise to the Daughter of the Night Skies, our lunar lady.” As soon as I said the last word, I could feel the Weave flex and fold upon itself and I felt the release of power. There was a flash of light and I was blinded for a brief moment. I blinked, waiting for the spots in my eyes to clear up, and as they did, I saw a new passage straight ahead of me. Smiling, I felt a bit of pride. I saw a puzzle without seeing all the pieces! I guessed at what I bet was an obvious answer without even having to try random experiments. I didn’t have to poke and guess. I then turned around ready to trot back to see the brothers, when my smile dropped from my lips. My eyes widened and I realized the game might have higher stakes than before. Before me I could see the archway back to the room with the statues, but the passageway was replaced with solid stone. My breathing quickened as I turned the copper wire on my finger. [I]“Iesa?” “Daneath?” “Can you hear me?” “Can you hear me?”[/I] My shoulders sagged, and I turned back to look down the now open passageway. In the distance I could see more light. I felt a lump in my throat as I swallowed. I gripped my shield tighter and I started to walk down the passage, to see what else fate had brought to the party. [I]--Told you this wasn’t a good idea. Shut up![/I] [B]Session notes:[/B] Confetti and strange music happened, and this really convinced me never to miss a session. Which I did for over a year…but that miss is a different story. Otherwise I was confused as hell on what we were really dealing with. But we were really convinced that Beepu’s player would return and have to roll up a new character. [/QUOTE]
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