The Realms of Enlightenment: The Grey Companions

[Jon Potter]

Ah! I see Thumble got worked in.

Well, not quite. Don't go counting your halflings just yet. Vade's player certainly campaigns vigorously for a visit at every turn, but no one else seems interested. The group is closer to the hamlet than ever before in the game, but events seem to be consipring to drive them away.

We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Jon Potter]

[Realms #302] Backtracking

Ledare didn't stay all night with the cleric and holy warrior of Flor. Her body ached for a good night's rest, and she conceded that it was probably in the party's best interests for her to regain her strength. Still, the hour was late when she finally left the two women to their devotions and made her way across the square to The Hard Cider Tavern.

The interior of the place was not unlike the dozens of other taverns she had seen in her travels: a massive stone hearth dominated one wall, a long counter ran along another, and small tables filled most of the floor space. This place was smaller than most, and made primarily of wood, although both the fireplace and the bar were constructed of fieldstone. There were few customers in the place - which didn't surprise her overly much given the town's small size and remote location. But Ledare had more than a suspicion that the tavern's lack of business had everything to do with the presence of the VQS. What few folk there were besides Karak and the others were huddled at the far side of the room, sullenly drinking from wooden flagons and muttering amongst themselves.

Karak hailed Ledare as soon as she entered the taproom and motioned her over. "Come join us, lassie!" he bellowed, upending his cup and draining its contents. "Barkeep! Bring another round o' that watered down humie beer we been drinkin'!"

The bartender looked up from the conversation he'd been having with one of the locals and nodded. "We'll have to tap another keg, sir dwarf," he called. "I'll fetch one from the cellar. You've drained what stock I had on hand."

"Ye do that! I ain't in nae hurry!" Karak said and grabbed two of the untouched flagons that stood on the tabletop in front of Bisayo. He clunked one down in front of Ledare and brought the other to his lips. "Ye do nae mind sharin' do ye, fancy pants?"

"Not at all," the elf said with a wave of his slender hand that casually indicated the forest of empty cups in front of Karak. "I have not even finished my second cup. You are clearly more thirsty than I."

"Oh, aye!" the dwarf grinned foamily. "When ye said ye were buyin', well... I felt myself growin' thirstier by the second."

Ledare chuckled and took a a tentative sip of the beer. It was thin and bitter, rather like the pinched young woman who was serving wine to some of the locals at the fringes of the room. "You must be wealthy indeed if you've offered your purse to cover Karak's drink tab," the Janissary said and Bisayo looked a trifle bemused by the notion.

"I wish I were rich... but my family is rich mainly in tradition and responsibility," the elf explained. "I have access to fine things, true. But my people do not hoard money, nor do we follow others based on the amount of coin they carry."

"Just so long as ye've enough to pay O'Meyer, fancy pants," Karak said and belched expansively. He laughed loudly and raised his cup again. "That's better! Jus' makin' a bit o' room!"

"How are the holy women?" Ixin asked, clearly eager to change the subject.

"They're fine," Ledare answered. "Still praying for guidance. What have you all been doing - I mean besides trying to empty Bisayo's purse."

Vade jerked at that and looked innocently at the Janissary. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I haven't done anything. I'm too weak to-"

"Calm yourself, Vade," Ledare soothed. "I was referring to Karak's healthy appetite for beer. Nothing more."

"Oh. That's good!" Vade smiled. "Cause Bisayo helped me find someone who was going to Thumble and was willing to deliver a message to dear old pop and mama." Then his mood soured and he sulkily added, "Since I know you guys won't ever go to Thumble."

"I am sorry, Vade," Ixin said. "But our mission is simply too important for us to become side tracked by personal errands."

"Much as I enjoy the company of the small folk, I fear that Ixin is correct," Bisayo interjected. "If it is true what you say: that Aphyx is rising... by the gods... that would definately explain some of the strange afflictions that the local realms and kingdoms have been dealing with."

"Such as?" Ledare asked, setting down her cup and devoting her full attention to the elf.

"Well, let's see..." he muttered. "There has been a large increase in the number of disease-carrying rats in the southern reaches of Olven Vale, near the pass leading up to Relfren. And one of the recent emissaries from Galerideleli reported that some kind of illness had stricken a small town he had passed near called Miller's Pond. And you know, of course, about the recent troubles in Barnacus?"

At mention of the plague, Karak spat darkly on the floor. The serving girl was forced to jump to avoid the projectile. "Sorry, lass," the dwarf murmured as he dragged his fist across his mouth.

"Things seem to be moving quickly," Ixin grumbled. "I think it's important that we get those two women back to the Great Oak and help re-establish the temple as soon as we can. I think that will go a long way towards re-establishing the balance of good and evil."

"Again, I find myself agreeing with Ixin," Bisayo chimed in. "This seems to be a rather important next step. I would like to travel there with you, in fact, if you will have me."

"You are welcome to join us for as long as it suits you," Ledare said, but her tone was cautionary. "But understand, it is a dangerous business we are about. Moreso, I would imagine, than just seeking out members of a royal family."

"Do not worry. I consider myself well schooled in the art of battle," Bisayo replied. After a moment's consideration he added, "Just not neccessarily in the heat of battle... so to speak." Ledare nodded.

"When I first ventured with Kirnoth, he was not much of an asset in battle either," she reminisced. As the memories came back to her, she smiled girlishly, "Once his spells conjured up some rainbow mice in the heat of battle. Another time my pants..." She paused, blushing. "Anyway, the skills you refer to will come with time."

"Thank you, Ledare. It is comforting to have your confidence," Bisayo replied. "I find your conviction very drawing. I would really consider it quite an honor to travel with your party. I might even be able to chronicle some of your tales."

"Hey!" Vade exclaimed. "I was thinking about writing a song about us too! Maybe we could work together on it!"

"A song?" Morier asked, raising one pale eyebrow.

"Yeah!" the halfling said and hauled out a small guitar that he had picked up in Myles' Blanket of the Kingdom and Dry Goods when delivering his note home. He plucked a few discordant notes on the tinny instrument and grinned. "I thought we could use a little entertainment on long trips or at night around the campfire."

"By the Soul Forger!" Karak groaned. "Be there nae end to my torment?"

"What?" Vade asked, innocently. "My uncle was quite a lute player in his day... Boy, did the ladies love him!"

Moonsday, the 16th through Waterday, the 18th of Reaping, 1269 AE​

In the morning, they bought what supplies they could from the only merchant in town, Myles, settled up their accounts with O'Meyer, the innkeeper, and got themselves fully restored by the blessings of Flor. They set out from Flavonshire with Matriarch Lenoire and Faithful Daughter Betina, heading northeast along the Eginnion Road, back toward the Termlane Forest and the Great Oak. The trip was pleasant, mostly, with the group taking turns walking and riding in the wagon.

Vade thoroughly enjoyed his new way to bedevil Karak, and he played his eukelele incessantly despite frequent threats of bodily harm if he persisted. His musicianship left much to be desired, but he had a decent singing voice.

Ledare spent a goodly amount of time talking religion with Lenoire and Betina. The Janissary felt an unmistakable connection to Flor, but she knew very little about the White Lady's teachings. As such, she was eager to avail herself of this opportunity to learn some of it firsthand.

The others discussed tactics, going over the VQS' strengths and weaknesses in battle. Each member of the group had something to offer, but coordinating it all seemed to be their biggest stumbling block. They hadn't come up with any real solution by the time they reached the forbidding wall of the Wandering Trees.

"What now?" asked Lenoire as she scanned the treeline ahead.

"Oh, servants of Merciful One," a scratchy voice answered from the shadows. "Great Oak welcomes you to holy place." Saying thus, a small figure stepped from behind a tree. Said figure was clearly a female goblin dressed in crude but functional stitched hide armor. An acorn threaded on a bit of cured leather hung around her neck. Those who had been here before recognized her at once as Gorguul, the gobliness whom they had spared in exchange for information about what had happened to lead her tribe toward Chaos. She looked cleaner and better fed than when they'd left her, but she was clearly the same goblin.

"Come with me," she said, pointing toward a wide path that had opened up in the trees. "I lead you to Great Oak."

 

[Jon Potter]

[Realms #302a] Mission Accomplished

"What is this?" Faithful Daughter Betina demanded. She didn't have her hand on the quarterstaff that lay behind her on the seat, but her eyes were watchful for some sign of a goblin ambush. Sister Lenoire placed a staying hand on the holy warrior's arm and turned to Ledare.

"Is this expected?" she asked, and there was a hint of worry in her voice. She was, after all, very far from the civilization that she knew with people she had met but a scant few days previous.

"Don't worry," Ledare answered and hopped down off the wagon. Gorguul flinched at the Janissary's sudden movement, but she held her ground, defiantly. She seemed most unlike the quaverng old gobliness that they had intimidated into spilling her tribe's secrets a few weeks ago. Ledare smiled at her and said, "I'm pleased to see you're looking well."

"Great Oak say bring you to green place," the goblin answered. "I bring. You follow." And saying thus she turned and stalked off down the newly-created path through the Wandering Trees.

"It's good to see this one has turned her life around in the wake of Sheesek," Ledare said quietly as she turned back to the others. "That in itself is a step out of the darkness. It speaks to the power of mercy."

"Well said, sister," Lenoire answered with a smile.



The trek back through the forest was uneventful, although for both Lenoire and Betina it was a troubling one. They hadn't experienced a walk through the Termlane, and were quite alarmed the first time they turned around and discovered that the path had disappeared behind them.

Bisayo was unperturbed, and kept prattling on as they went about how similar the effect was to one that his own people used to magically lead invading enemies to specially prepared clearings in their woodland home. Once in these treeless killing fields, he told them, the interlopers could be safely dispatched using some of the more deadly spells. He listed Acid Fog, Fireball, and Explosive Cascade as a few of the spells the elves considered too dangerous to use within the forest itself for fear that they would damage the trees.

Karak did his best not to yawn too obviously.

Once they got nearer the Great Oak, itself, they began to see subtle changes. Several buildings that they hadn't noticed previously had been cleared of choking vegetation and they gleamed white in the dappled sun of midday.

"Some of these designs are similar to those I've seen on the White Hall of Flor's Hand," Matriarch Lenoire observed as they passed near one of the exposed buildings.

"According to the Great Oak, this place was sacred to both Flor and Dridana," Ixin told her. "It was a place for both churches to train."

"I've never heard of Dridana or this place," Lenoire answered. "But I can plainly feel the White Lady's presence here."

Gorguul lead them through the ruins and up to the black wall. The gate that had barred the VQS on their previous visit had been ripped open and now allowed easy access to the inner sanctum. Beyond the black wall, the grounds were being carefully tended by dozens of goblin gardeners - all of them women or children. They paused in their labors and looked up as the group was led toward the massive hedge of thorns dominating the center of the enclosure.

At the hedge stood another gobliness dressed similar to Gorguul. She was taller and younger than their guide, and carried a staff decorated with feathers. A silvery metal baton was stuffed through her belt.

"Stop now!" she commanded, holding up a long-fingered hand in warning. She pointed at the two Florians and squinted her yellow eyes menacingly. "You not enter yet. Only those who Great Oak send to get you."

The two women looked cncerned, but Ledare smiled. "It'll be all right," she told them. "You're safe here."

The younger goblin drew the baton from her waist and pointed it at the hedge. As before, a silvery arch of light appeared and then the hedge withdrew, leaving a vaulted tunnel through the thorny mass. They entered and the hedge closed behind them, sealing them in the awesome presence of the Great Oak.

"You have returned," the tree spoke into their minds. "That is good."

Perhaps it was Karak's dwarven nature, but of them all, he was least impressed by the Great Oak's grandeur. He stamped forward and planted his axe. "Oi, Great Mountain that Lives," he shouted in greeting. "We have brought you two followers of Flor."

"You have done well," the tree sighed. "The balance may yet be restored."

"Yeah, well, I suggest you tell your comrade the Great Root he be needed to guard something else. You see, it seemes that a vessel of Chaos has inhabited Tawayn the druid and escaped with a Chaos artifact the likes and powers of which we nae know," Karak said and punctuated his tale by spitting, as if the very word Chaos tasted badly to him.

"Word of your deeds arrived from Great Root two days ago," the Great Oak said. "Your findings are most troubling."

"Well, what troubles me is that he got away. But we seem to have lost all our trackers. Of course if we be underground than I might well've had a chance to track, but as it stands..." Karak let his voice trail off as he pondered his own words.

"You suffered a loss while in my service," the tree said.

"Aye! We lost two of our number. But I only knew the one," the dwarf said. "Plonius and Feln both fell to the powers of Chaos. I would like to build a cairn for each in your sancturary here if I might."

"You may do so. There are many sacred burial sites within my realm," the Great Oak replied. "It is not beyond my power to restore these two to the Great Wheel if that is your desire."

"Ye mean raise 'em from the dead?" Karak asked, dumbfounded. He had heard of such magic, but never encountered its use before.

"Not resurrection. Reincarnation," the tree corrected. "All I require is a bit of their flesh and I can grant them a rebirth if their soul has not yet migrated beyond." Karak considered this, but before he could answer the tree added, "I owe you a debt for the service you have done me. If you wish these two fallen returned to Orune, I will do so. If you wish gold, I will give it. Ask, and if it is within my power to give, it is yours."

 

[Jon Potter]

[Realms #303] Deciding Feln's Fate

There was a pause as the import of the Great Oak's words sunk in. A toothy grin split Karak's beard and the dwarf waggled his eyebrows at the group.

"If it be Feln or gold," he said, "I'll take the gold."

Vade shot him a hurt look and stepped toward the tree. "FELN!" he managed to shout before Ledare's hand clamped down over his mouth. Vade squirmed away and gave her a reproachful look.

"This is truly a great gift you offer us," Ledare said to the tree, ignoring the halfling entirely. "May we have time to properly consider your words?"

"Of course," Great Oak's voice whispered in their heads. "A place has been made for you. Nigoulickit will show you. Go. Rest. Decide. We will speak again on the 'morrow."

"What's to consider?" Vade argued, tears welling up in his big eyes. "I want Feln back. None of you are nearly as much fun as he was... Unless, Mr. Fancy Pants, you like to get into trouble once in a while?"

Bisayo shot him a wide-eyed look of surprise and opened his mouth to reply when Vade cut him off. "No! I want Feln back no matter what," he asserted, his lips pulled into a rictus of despair. "I will go get him myself if I have to!"

"Vade," Ledare soothed. "Calm down. We haven't decided anything, yet. We need time to talk and reach a decision as a group."

"I've already made my decision!" the halfling cried. His face was a shade of red that verged on purple. "What is there to talk about?"

"Please, Vade," Ledare cajoled. "There is nothing lost by talking. We'll speak again with the Great Oak in the morning."

The hedge behind them opened again and the younger gobliness was standing on the far side, beckoning them outward. "Come. Great Oak say I show you where you sleep," she growled and handed off the silvery baton to Gorguul. "Take followers of White Lady to see Great Oak," she instructed and the older goblin nodded.

As the VQS was led away from the hedge across the grassy sward, they saw Daughter Betina and Sister Lenoire being led reluctantly in toward the Great Oak.



Their quarters were in a smallish building from which most of the rubble had been cleared. There were no furnishing, but it had a working fireplace for warmth and six piles of leaves each covered with a coarse goblin blanket that served as beds. It was far inferior to their room at the Hard Cider Tavern, but everything was clean and free of vermin. It was barely a step up from sleeping outside on the ground.

"This is..." Bisayo said as he took in their housing, "...quaint."

"Fine way to treat the returning heroes," Ixin grumbled, clutching her cloak tightly about her as if she feared it touching anything within the place.

"I've slept in worse places," Morier told them and slung his greatsword off his shoulder.

"As have I," Karak concurred. He poked at one of the 'beds' with his boot and harrumphed. "It do nae smell like gobbo at least."

"What do you think Feln will come back as?" Vade asked suddenly. "I do not think he would want to come back as a dog or anything.... Although it would be very fun to have someone to play catch with. He was not much of a talker, anyway, but a real good listener."

The silence in the room was deafening and nobody quite wanted to meet Vade's innocent, questioning gaze.

"What?" he asked as he lowered his bulging backpack to the hard earthen floor. "What's the matter?" Surprisingly, it was the tight-lipped Morier who answered first.

"Vade, I understand your desire to see Feln brought back, but is that what's best?" he asked. "In some way it seems... unnatural."

"What? Havin' the orcblood come back from the dead as a badger or somethin'?" Karak snorted sarcastically. "What could be unnatural 'bout that?"

"Actually, I believe the reincarnated soul can only create another souled form in which to house itself," Bisayo offered. "That is to say, the new form must be of a type that possesses a soul normally. So no animals, or the like. He'll come back as a humanoid of some sort."

"If we decide to bring him back," Ixin added. "That's not a foregone conclusion."

"What?" Vade cried and tears began to spill from his eyes once more.

"But Feln was your ally was he not?" Bisayo asked. "A way has presented itself to return him from his untimely journey to the afterlife. Why wouldn't you take it?"

"Because I have a feeling that getting Feln back would backfire on us, that's why," Ixin told him. "Perhaps we would reincarnate part of that chaos demon, too. It's too risky in my mind and it seems like it upsets the natural order of things which would further feed Chaos." Bisayo shrugged.

"Well, I do not think it upsets the natural order. Many of my people's Wayshepard's have made use of this magic over the centuries," the elf argued. "Did you not describe this tree as a representative of nature itself? Would such a being offer to reincarnate your companion if it was against nature's will?"

"Bah!" Karak grumbled. "Nature can be bent to a being's will, but gold doesn't burn."

"Karak! I thought you respected Feln. I guess it is true that dwarves are just short fat greedy humans with hearts of stone," Vade cried out in a disappointed tone. "I thought we were friends with a common cause. We never left Draelond or Ruze behind. Poor Ruze. I went out and tried to save them. We can't give up this opportunity to save our friend. He is a great fighter against Chaos!"

"This debate might be for naut, anyway," Bisayo said. "Reincarnation requires some portion of the original body in order to work. According to your recounting of the circumstances surrounding your companion's demise, there was no body left to recover. Did anyone recover a finger... or an ear..." He looked around and the others all shook their heads one by one.

"Wait!" Vade exclaimed and began rummaging through his pack. After a moment's search, he produced a bone comb that still had a few strands of reddish hair wound around the teeth. "This is Feln's hair. I borrowed his comb while he was sleeping and I must have forgotten to give it back!"

"That do nae change things, little one," Karak grumbled. "We need to ask the tree for gold or some sort o' magic weapon to fight Chaos "

"But maybe he could be reincarnated as a dwarf, Karak," Vade offered. "Then you would like him better." Karak harrumphed at that.

"He'd still be an orcblood, to me," the dwarf growled and spat on the ground. He misjudged a bit, however and messily splattered Bisayo's deerskin boots. He scowled at this and muttered, "Uh... sorry there, fancy foot."

Bisayo looked at his soiled foot in disgust and a touch of color brushed his high cheek bones. It was the only indication on his impassive face that he was angered by Karak's mistake. "So his orcish blood condemns him in your eyes?" the elf snapped. "There are others amongst you with more dubious lineages than that. And you associate freely with them." Bisayo looked pointedly at Morier as he said this and the albino laughed sardonically at the mage.

"I wondered how long it was going to take you to get around to me. I saw that you recognized me for what I am when we first met," the eldritch warrior said and sighed. "I didn't think you'd be able to keep quiet so long, although I'd wager you haven't slept too soundly with one of my blood so close at hand."

"What are you talking about?" Ledare asked.

"I'm surprised you hadn't already gleaned it, Ledare. Feln figured it out pretty early on. Perhaps it was just him being more attuned to the plight of the outsider than any of you," Morier said. "As Bisayo will be quick to point out, I'm not what anyone would consider a 'normal' elf... and for that matter, it should also be pretty evident to the rest of you that Angwyn isn't my natural father. He adopted me... in a manner of speaking. The truth of the issue is that he found me on the edge of a cave clearing, having been left for dead by my parents. An albino in the world of the Drow is not exactly what anyone would consider a welcome addition to the family. Nobody seems to know how or why it happened, just that it isn't considered a fatal condition unless your parents are Drow."

"Dark elves?" Karak growled, his lip curling unconsciously. The tunnel fighters of his delve had clashed more than once with the ebon-skinned elves of the underdark.

"Yes, Karak," Morier said sadly. "I have learned how to disguise my race from most I meet. But my surface cousins... I can't ever seem to fool them."

"On my own world, there are some dragonkin who hide their natures from those around them," Ixin offered by way of support and she spread her wings slightly as she spoke. "I can not imagine feeling it necessary to hide what you are."

"It was not always easy," the eldritch warrior went on. His hidden self had been contained behind a facade for so long that it felt good to let his story spill from his lips now that his lie had been revealed. "I was a severely restless child, and Angwyn seized the opportunity to send me to train in combat with Arwold Wyverneye. He claims that the 'spark' of electricity was in me then and couldn't be contained. So it was train under Wyverneye or end up living out my days away from others completely."

"When I finished my training under Wyverneye, I wandered alone for a great while, occasionally meeting with a group of adventurers, but rarely toward any common end. Most plundered for money, or hunted bounty for riches and rewards of one kind or another," he explained. "I spent a great deal of time in taverns and inns, drinking mead and listening to the lies and boasts, and very little time pursuing actual action."

"But it is in the very lifeblood of the eldritch warrior to adventure, so I continued to search for groups who would seek adventure with me," the albino sighed and then grinned thinly at the others. "It is only in encountering this group that I have found a number of souls with whom I feel a common bond. To work toward a greater good while discovering one's own inner being is the true essence of why I have travelled with you these many days."

Ledare stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on Morier's shoulder. "You are welcome to stand beside us for as long as you wish," she said. "You have proven yourself a worthy comrade many times over and if Bisayo cannot accept your blood..." She let her voice trail off as she fixed the mage with an appraising eye.

As on the occasion of their first meeting, Bisayo squirmed under her prolonged scrutiny. "I meant no disrespect.... But the dwarf..." he stammered before ultimately gathering his cloak around himself and heading for the door. "I need to get some air," he muttered as he went.

"So, does this mean we get to reincarnate Feln?" Vade asked after the elf had stepped out into the lengthening shadows of afternoon.

"I don't see how this changes anything, Vade," Ixin said. "My heart aches for the loss of our friend, but I think our cause would be better served by asking Great Oak for some other boon."

A great wracking sob burst out of Vade's mouth at the drakeling's words. "How?" he sobbed. "How could you leave a comrade behind like this?"

"Vade..." Ledare began to say in a soothing tone, but Vade would have none of it. He stalked angrily away from her, his face a grim mask of fierce determination.

"No!" he cried. "If you don't help Feln you can have your stinking crusade and kiss my tiny little butt good bye." He paused just long enough to throw his pin engraved with the VQS emblem out the door before he stomped off himself.

 

[Rel]

Dammit, Jon, if you keep posting such frequent and lengthy updates I'm NEVER gonna' catch up!

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Nigoulickit

Nye-goo-lick-it?

Or do you pronounce it a different way?

I wonder if Vade will make the decision for the group?

 

[Jon Potter]

Dammit, Jon, if you keep posting such frequent and lengthy updates I'm NEVER gonna' catch up!

I'll try to shuffle my feet a bit, Rel. But I wanted to save you from the malaise that comes from reading along and reading along and then suddenly catching up to the author on a story hour.

It really is quite yucky when that happens.

Nigoulickit

Nye-goo-lick-it?

Or do you pronounce it a different way?

Ni-GOO-lick-it actually. But who can account for goblin pronunciation anyway?

I wonder if Vade will make the decision for the group?

Funny you should mention that.

 

[Rel]

I'll try to shuffle my feet a bit, Rel. But I wanted to save you from the malaise that comes from reading along and reading along and then suddenly catching up to the author on a story hour.

It really is quite yucky when that happens.

Touche, Mr. Potter. Touche. This round goes to you.

But you haven't seen the last of me!

 

[Jon Potter]

But you haven't seen the last of me!

I should hope not!

 

[Jon Potter]

[Realms #304] A Second Chance

"Well this may seem to be my lucky day!" Karak laughed as Vade stormed off into the night. "I can ask the Great Oak for weapons of power and Vade will leave my poor ears alone! We may even see Feln return as a dwarf!"

"Karak, I don't think that having our group splinter like this is a good thing," Ledare countered as she went to look out the window after the halfling. "Especially given the forces stacked against us."

"Ha!" the dwarf snorted derisively. He waved of her concerns and went about the business of tending to his gear. "I would mark this day down in the Tome of Dwarves as a good day."

"Should we go after him?" Ixin asked and Ledare turned from the window with a resigned sigh.

"No," she said. "Let's let him cool off a bit before we talk to him. I have a feeling that he won't actually leave us and there's little harm that can befall him in this sacred place."



Vade sputtered and cursed as he stormed away from the small house that had been set aside for the VQS. He was so clouded by anger that he didn't see Bisayo standing alone in the shadows until the elf spoke.

"Are emotions running too high in there for you too, Vade?" the elf asked and the halfling let out a yelp, his hand going uncharacteristically to the hilt of his shortsword. Bisayo spread his hands in apology. "I'm sorry. I did not intend to startle you."

"I- I-" Vade struggled. For a moment, the words wouldn't come. but he was Vade and the trouble lasted only a moment. "They want to leave Feln dead. They want treasure!"

"So they have decided then?" Bisayo asked and if Vade's eyesight had been better he would have noticed the disappointed expression on the elf's face. Bisayo hadn't known the companions for very long nor the half-orc at all, but he did know that given the same choice, he would have chosen a friend over gold without hesitation. Vade shared his sensibilities, but coupled them with a tendency to act without excessive forethought.

"I've decided!" the halfling cried and tears began to spill down his cheeks again. "I'm going to talk to the Great Oak myself!"

"Vade, don't be rash," Bisayo cautioned. "Let your friends sleep on this news. It is a lot to digest... Sorry, bad choice of words.. It is a lot for them to comprehend in one evening."

"No!" the halfling countered. "Feln is dead and there's nothing to debate."

"I am sure that if your friend was the warrior you say he was then he is journeying towards a better place as we speak," Bisayo offered some comfort. "Your friend cannot lose in this situation... no matter what your other friends decide." Vade considered the elf's words and returned a wan smile.

"Thank you, Bisayo," he said. "But I don't want Feln to go to a better place. I want him here with me." And then he turned toward the path leading up to the black wall separating the inner fane from the rest of the ruined complex.

Bisayo watched him go and turned back to look at the small shelter in which the VQS were deliberating. For a moment he debated whether he should intercede, warning the others of Vade's shortsighted actions. Then he remembered that last look on Ledare's face before he'd left and turned away instead. He saw the halfling disappear through the gate at the head of the trail.

"May Lukane smile on you, little one," he whispered.



Vade hustled up the path full of the certainty that he was doing the right thing. His bravado faltered, however, when he stepped through the gate in the black wall. There were a dozen or more goblins on the grassy lawn beyond, each still working at their various gardening duties. To Vade's eyes, they were shadowy figures only dimly visible moving in the darkening twilight, but the goblins moved about with certainty, unperturbed by the dwindling light.

The halfling gulped as one of the hazy figures detached itself from its work and ambled towards him, its eyes glittering in the darkness like two polished gold coins. The shaking in his legs subsided somewhat when he saw that it was just a child - or so he assumed, for it was smaller than the goblins they had fought in the caves.

"I would like to see the Great Oak, please," Vade said, struggling to remember his gobbledy. He hadn't had occasion to use much more than a few obscene phrases in quite some time, and so was more than a little rusty. Luckily the young goblin seemed to understand.

"Nigoulickit," the goblin said, pointing toward the hedge before moving off to complete its work.

"Nigoulickit. Right," Vade said and headed for the hedge. The enormous dome of leaves rising above the thorny wall still caught the last light of sunset, and against the dark sky the green was almost painfully bright. He looked away and spotted the gobliness, Nigoulickit, standing vigil beside the hedge. She regarded him fiercely as he approached, her hand resting on the silver rod in her belt.

"I would like to-" he began and Nigoulickit cut him off.

"I know. Great Oak tell me," she said and pointed the baton at the hedge. "Say I bring you."

"Um... thanks," Vade said as the wall of thorns opened up before him. She gestured for him to follow and then proceeded down the tunnel. "So how do you like living here?" he asked nervously as she led him toward the immense tree. "Nice digs."

Nigoulickit didn't answer, and Vade didn't press the issue once the tree was in view again. Its majesty momentarily took his breath away.

"Why have you come, Vadenhuffer T. Briarhopper III?" the Great Oak spoke into his mind. "Your leader, Ledare Eelsof'faw, requested time to consider."

"Mr Great Oak, sir, I humbly request that you bring back my friend, Feln," Vade said weakly. "I think It is the best decision for our group."

"Hmmm...," the tree's voice rumbled in his head. "It is within my power to do so. Provided his spirit and the spirit of the Green are both willing. Do you have some portion of his last shell?"

"Well..," Vade began as he pulled Feln's comb from his pocket. "Here is some of his hair. Is that enough? I never used this comb, so I know it is not mine."

"It will do," the Great Oak said after a pause. "What of the other fallen warrior, Plonius?"

"I don't have anything of his," Vade admitted with a shrug. "This jerk Grisham took all his stuff when we found his body. Maybe we could go back after-"

"It would be too late," the tree told him. "The soul cannot be reincarnated once it has moved on to the outer planes. The Green forbids it."

"Okay. Just Feln then," Vade agreed. "Can he come back with better hair, though? He had this silly ponytail..."

"I have no control over his form," the Great Oak said. "The Green chooses a new shell to maintain the balance."

"Okay," Vade hesitated. "It'll still be Feln, though. Right?"

"Yes," the tree sighed. "I sense uncertainty, Vadenhuffer T. Briarhopper III. You speak here for your group. Are you sure this is the reward you want?"

Vade gulped, weighing the decision for half-a-heartbeat - which was half-a-heartbeat longer than he usually deliberated on a decision. "I speak because, although I am not the mouth of the party, I am the heart of the party with some of the best intentions in the entire group," he said with pride. "My actions have always been for the best of the party and I know this is for the best of the party as we contine to fight chaos and evil. I want Feln back."

"It shall be done," the tree said and Vade felt a low rumble move through the earth at his feet.



Feln arose from the darkness bit by bit, struggling against the cold pull of oblivion as a drowning man struggles against the waves. He half-remembered a Chaos elemental that had paralyzed him with fell magic and then swallowed him whole. Part of his mind wondered if that might be where he was still: trapped in the belly of the beast. He tried to move and found he could although his limbs were stiff and heavy - too heavy. He knew at once that something was wrong.

Feln had spent the vast majority of his life training his body into the best fighting machine it could be. He knew it in the way that some fighters know their swords, and he could sense the changes in his body before his mind could make any sense of how or why it had happened. He groaned and it was a thick, rumbling sound.

He opened his eyes and saw the vast canopy of a tree, its branches standing out against a dark sky full of stars.

"The Great Oak," Feln said in a voice that was not his own. He raised a hand to his face and was shocked by the thick, clumsy fingers that he saw on that hand. His face was different, but subtly so. He was still ugly, he could tell at once, with a heavy underslung jaw and a jutting brow ridge. His nose was large and bulbous and the flesh covering it all felt rough and leathery.

"What is this?" he moaned and the unfamiliar voice came mockingly to his ears.

"Feln?" Vade asked and he turned toward the welcome sound of a friendly voice. Vade was there, but he winced visibly, recoiling from his friend. The halfling turned to look up at the tree and shouted, "I thought you said he'd have better hair?"

Earthday, the 19th of Reaping, 1269 AE​

The members of the VQS awoke to the sounds of birdsong and sunshine. A sense of well-being and rebirth was everywhere. It felt like spring regardless of the moonsdance. Even Karak was in a good mood as he groomed his beard and made ready to face the day. A short time later, a trio of goblin children brought them trays of food - fruits and nuts mostly although there was also salted meat and cups of goat's milk sweetened with honey - and they ate before going to their scheduled meeting with the Great Oak.

The branches of the enormous tree were alive with twittering birds of every hue.

"I am pleased that you have returned as you said you would," the tree spoke in their heads and Karak was quick to step forward and reply.

"Great Oak I do nae speak for the others; I only speak for me on this," he said. "I do nae know but little of the art of reincarnation. I do nae know if it be in the right order of things or even that it be what Feln would want. He may have found his lost brothers, after all and who are we to take him from them?"

"Well said, Karak," Ixin interrupted smoothly as she stepped up to stand beside the dwarf. "I too am worried about bringing him back. I am worried that he is happier where he is now and would not want us to bring him back. Is there any here who believe he is in a negative place? Is it in Feln's best interest to have him die twice? I do not know his religious beliefs, but how sure are we that he is not better off now than he was?"

"Aye," Karak agreed. "I know, Great Oak, that you are mighy and powerful to be able to accomplish such a feat and I sense that you would nae offer it if it were to be unnatural. But, as I often say, I wish me chalak were here to guide me as he often knew of these things as I do not. I am a simple warrior of Shaharizod."

"Yes. We must genuinely search our hearts and make the best decision we can," Ixin added. "If we can do so and honestly find that we believe he is some place bad now, I will support the decision to bring him and Plonius back."

"I too will abide by the group's wishes on Feln and Plonius," Karak shrugged. "And I also ask that you-"

"It is already done," The Great Oak sighed.

"Eh?" Karak paused, his gleaming axe held out in both hands.

"Your ally, Feln, has already been returned to this world from the next," the tree explained. "Vadenhuffer T. Briarhopper III came to me last night and sought this boon from me. It is already done."

"He what?!?" the angry voices of the four members of the VQS shouted in unison.