Meetings and Manifestations
Andy hugs Jaalask and pets his head. "It's okay, lil buddy." He tries to be soothing.
Jaalask seems unconvinced, but accepts the attention while trying to maintain a safe distance behind Andy and away from the confused naked people.
"No sweat, eh dear chaps?" posits Dobi breathlessly, still full of himself for delivering the naga's mortal blow, and not admitting to himself that it was Danek's charge of cowardice that prompted his recklessness.
Catching his breath and coming off of his high, Dobi finally looks around. His eyes momentarily widen in utter shock, though otherwise his countenance does not let on to his utter discomfited discombobulation from his second abrupt magical translocation in as many days.
After a pregnant instant, Dobi finally collects himself, finds an outcropping that can extend his height, hops atop, doffs his floppy hat with the giant plume that has managed to stay attached to his head, flourishes a dramatic and sweeping bow toward the naked figures, and unflappably begins:
"Sir Dobius Elderberry of Highhedge, Faithful Servant of His August Majesty of Cormyr and his Lady Protector's Foreign Service, pleased to make your acquaintance….
"Now will somebody tell me what the bloody devil is going on, what?"
As Kai blinks off her most immediate confusion, she drops her eyes from Danek's open-mouthed gaze and realizes that she is utterly naked. Taken aback, she raises her arms protectively and casts about for an explanation; not finding any, she is deeply relieved when Dobi ignores her unclothed state in such a gentlemanly manner. His form of address brings out her training in behaving like a lady no matter what her underlying feelings may be, and she recovers enough to lift her chin and shoulders and to incline her head in her most stately acknowledgement. "Kitailla Imana of Evermere, daughter to his Lordship the Baron of Evermere and his lady," she intones formally. "These are Kyree, Rhien, Trella, and Khail. I regret that we are unable to offer any explanation of our presence here, though I assure you we intend no evil. But who are your companions?" she inquires, looking doubtfully again at the others in the cavern.
Danek looks away in complete embarrassment.
After Kai's comments, Trella blurts, "WHAT IN ASMODEUS'S SANCTUM IS GOING ON HERE?" The sturdy female seems quite unperturbed at being naked and starts storming about the chamber in search of a response to her question.
Andy, being somewhat taken with Trella, starts to offer his opinion. "Well, I'm not really sure but--"
Trella grabs him by his shirt, slams him against the wall, and sneers, "If you know something, spill it mister, or else your **** are paste." A wet streak appears down Andy's leg.
Trella has to smile at his reaction. She releases him forthwith, and he collects himself in a corner, where his kobold buddy snickers at the smelly wetness. Much calmer now, Trella turns to her fellow Stepchildren. "If this is the afterlife," she begins, "we really messed up. If not, anyone got a better idea?"
At the mention of the afterlife, the slight man with the shaven head and sad gray eyes that Kai referred to as Rhien looks up from his own thoughts. "The last thing I remember was Gwok-Al trying to kill Trella and then that big conflagration. I was ready to be with Ilmater...but this is not there. The air here smells acrid." Rhien begins concentrating on something, but soon after lowers his shoulders in apparent defeat. "I almost forgot...."
Trella replies, "Oh, yeah. I guess we're not dead then. Time for Plan B."
Cerridwin looks to Kai as the latter makes her statements. The confused bard somewhat stifles a goofy smile as she forces herself to maintain eye contact. She breaks off her gaze as Trella starts screaming at Andy. Her first instinct is to look to Kyree for guidance.
Kyree watches Trella with slight amusement until Trella backs off. After Rhien fails in his apparent attempt to cast a spell, Kyree reaches out to touch his comrade on the shoulder reassuringly. Then, realizing the awkwardness of two naked men touching each other, he withdraws his hand and offers the monk a look of sympathy and concern. Rhien acknowledges his gesture with a slight nod, but otherwise seems lost in thought.
After a few moments, Kyree says to no one in particular, "So...should we start looking for a way out of this place?"Dobi casts a quick, almost imperceptible glance at the misadventures of Trella and Andy, but quickly returns his attention to Kai, a clearly more refined personage and thus more worthy of his attention. "Ah, milady Kitailla, I was lately posted to the Waterdhavian embassy. I met your parents at the 50th birthday celebration of Lady Evermere. I bumped heads with the Baron Imana over smoked mackerel; we had quite a laugh over that one. You should have seen the look on Old Evermere's face when... but that is for another time."’Tis shame your present circumstances leave you without herald to announce your presence. Ah, but I forget myself," says Dobi as he quickly unties and removes his cape in a sweep of green, and offers what little there is of it to the lady."That dour blushing maid over there is Danek, the not so dour one is Cerridwin, the silly fellow up against the wall is Andy," Dobi proceeds to introduce Lenara, Jalaask, Earl the unicorn, and Buttercup."They are an odd lot, but dependable, though I have only joined their company the day before last. We were trapped together in a tower on some alien shore, when having rescued a figure from a crystal shard, we found ourselves unseemly deposited here."After Dobi gets done licking Kai's boots, Trella asks, "Hey, Doughboy, are you their leader?" Not entirely waiting for an answer, she starts looking for a way out of the natural cavern.
Dobi looks down his nose at Trella, a rather difficult feat for one of his height, but a skill perfected from years of practice. The look is designed to say, “You…deign to address…Me?” It is not lost on the irritable Trella.
"Ahem," Dobi ahems, "Trella, was it?" her name dripping with disgust off his tongue. "You may address me as Sir Dobius," before returning his attention to Kai, "You travel with these ... people?"
"Whatever, Sir Doo-bee-us," Trella enunciates, returning sarcasm in kind.
Kai moves quickly to pour on the charm. "My companions," she smiles, "are able adventurers all. Trella here is unused to courtly forms of address because she prefers the way of the wood and the wild, where I assure you her skills are unsurpassed. Khail and Kyree are warriors of dazzling proficiency, while Rhien..." here she pauses for an almost imperceptible moment, "Rhien's unstinting selflessness and loyalty almost belie his talent in unarmed combat. You must forgive our confusion, as we have lately been through a lot." Though her formal address suffers a lapse at the end of her speech as she is distracted by her last memories, she quickly corrects her manner, adding, "Your kindness matches your refinement," while reaching with a smile for the cloak Dobi offers.
At this moment, a choking sound from Danek makes her pause and look with surprise at the barbarian, who is jerking at her throat in a clumsy attempt to remove her own recently-gained cloak, having watched Dobi's exchange with Kai with obvious and growing aggrievement. "On second thought," Kai continues with another smile, "your friend here deserves a chance to demonstrate her own graciousness." She accepts Danek's cloak as kindly as she can, although Danek still won't look her in the eye. Kai refrains from mentioning the obvious, which is that Danek's cloak is much more effective as a piece of clothing for her than Dobi's is.
Trella looks like she's about to pounce on the little fellow for his slight, but when Kai pours on the charm she uncoils, muttering only, "Damn right," under her breath at Kai’s assessment of her skill in the woods.
Roused from his introspection by the actions of the rest of the extended group, Rhien forces a smile. "Yes, please forgive us for our rudeness. As Kai said, we have been through a lot; if all humans experienced that which we have Ilmater's faith would be large indeed. Or perhaps Loviator’s."
Shaking his head, Rhien changes tone. "But I do not mean to sound maudlin or self-pitying. I can only assume that your presence here had something to do with our return to awareness, so it would appear we owe you a debt. As is plain, we have no idea where we are or how to get out. Perhaps you could share your tale with us so that we can see if we might understand what has happened. We have so far heard a piece of it, but I think not all."
After Rhien speaks, Andy returns to the scene and decides to offer Trella his cloak, in a transparent attempt to match Dobi's innate charm and grace. Trella accepts the cloak, sniffs it, and makes it into a crude wrap that covers some, but certainly not all, of her tanned flesh. She thanks Andy, but makes it clear his offer of a hug is out of line.
Andy smiles nevertheless. Bolstered by his success with Trella, the monk approaches Kai and says, "Uh, hey." He waves. "I'm Andy. I'll let Dobi do all the talking about how we got here, but I've got a blanket if anyone wants to cover up." He offers up the blanket, but his eyes keep returning to Kai (and not always her face notably.) Feeling more sociable now that his pants have dried, he adds apparently for Kai's benefit, "You know, I'm sensitive, unlike a lot of guys. I used to run a men's group before I joined the army. I used to be a captain in my village's army, you know. Do you have armies where you come from? Maybe, if we have time after we leave this place, you and I could go for some sushi and coffee? Sushi is raw fish. Do you have sushi and coffee where you come from?"
Kai is amused at first, but as Andy continues his efforts she begins to look stricken. "Um, maybe some of my friends could use your blanket, too," she begins, gesturing at the three naked male Stepchildren, but she gets no farther before Danek starts to bristle. "She doesn't like you," the barbarian interrupts petulantly, "So why don't you just leave her alone?"
In total silence, Andy hands Kai his blanket, hangs his head, and retreats to the rear echelon of the party where he calls his kobold buddy to him for comfort. Jaalask, understanding the situation despite the language barrier, rolls his eyes but dutifully pats Andy on the knees.
Kai looks concerned but decides not to say anything, and hands the blanket to Rhien while trying to stay covered in Danek's cloak. Danek scowls, satisfied with Andy's retreat but not happy about it. Rhien accepts the warm cloth, but passes it off to Khail, whose buff manliness is apparently rendering Lenara speechless. Khail shrugs and wraps himself up, eliciting a groan from the enraptured spellcaster.
Meanwhile, Trella approaches Danek with a hand out. "Trella," she says by way of introduction. "You seem like you know where the bear ****s in the woods. Let's say we try and find a way out of this place, 'k?" The half-elf smiles warmly at Danek, hand still extended.
Danek stares at Trella in astonishment for a moment before suddenly cracking a shy grin. She shakes Trella's hand and then starts helping her examine the walls and whatnot, with an occasional glance in Kai's direction and sometimes in Andy's or Dobi's.
Kai clears her throat delicately. "So," she asks, returning to Rhien's question, "Nobody has any idea where we are or why we're here, then? You don't have to tell us everything you've been up to lately, of course, but it'll help us pass the time here if nothing else."
Some part of Dobi's mind quietly takes in and records for future use the interactions between Kai, Andy, Danek and Trella. That part smiles to itself, and begins working out how this information may be useful in the future.
Otherwise, Dobi looks uncharacteristically detached from his surroundings. Seemingly lost in thought, with eyes fixed on some random point on the ceiling, Dobi mumbles to himself, as if working out lyrics to a song or the incantation of some spell, "...ecks prime ecks invers, ecks prime why... " "...perfect bayesian nash equilibria... "
In response to Kai, Andy urges his kobold buddy forward, even if all he can do is say colorful Common phrases and jabber. Jaalask fights off the push and backs away, not knowing what is going on and having no desire to hang around with weird naked humanoids, whose pale, scale-less flesh offends his kobold sensibilities.
Trella ignores the proceedings and continues searching for a way out with Danek. Kyree joins in, using his elven senses to look for secret doors. This prompts an unusually silent Cerridwin to join in as well.
The four search without success for several minutes, and the conversation dies down to nothing during this time. Taking the opportunity to learn more about her family, Kai approaches Dobi and asks for any news he might have of them or other old friends. Danek sulks a bit when she notices this, but Trella’s attention prevents too much unhappiness.
Dobi is snapped out of his reverie by Kai's approach. His smiling eyes alight on Kai as he lowers his hand from his chin. "Your family is doing quite well, my lady Kai, though my duties in the negotiations with the Waterdhavian central bank have kept me from the usual social soirees of late. Though spending all that time with that Chairman, Lord Bluespun, was quite a hoot. You'd be amazed at how fascinating it is balancing the seignorage across kingdoms required to maintain the current bimetallic standard that the economy of the realms so depends on. The maintenance of the 10-1 gold-silver ratio is such an oh-so delicate process, much more interesting than that border dispute in the Dalelands with the elves of Cormanthor. Ah, but I digress….
Dobi looks askance at Kai, "Ah, I should have seen it of earlier. Of course, Krin's your brother, the family resemblance is truly remarkable. Krin is an officer in the militia. He made captain recently, or perhaps lieutenant; I get all those silly military titles mixed up. I saw him while I was processing the papers to leave the city. Ah, I sure will miss Waterdeep, the banquets, the exotic foods, the crowds, the travelers, though Silverymoon should be as exciting, if we ever get out of here."
As if it suddenly occurs to him to help out, Dobi excuses himself from the conversation to join the search for secret doors, "though I'm not sure how much help I can be. That was the part of my training that I slept through."
Kyree glances at Dobi when the elf hears mention of the exchange rate, but quickly resumes his examining of the walls.
After a little bit of fruitless searching, Dobi turns back to Kai, "Oh, you were asking how we got here. I'd be happy to tell of what transpired over the two days past, though I feel like I had walked into Act 6 of a six act play. Perhaps one of the others can enlighten us; I daresay I am curious to know myself."
No one immediately takes up Dobi’s suggestion, and there is silence overall as half of the assembled group searches, while the other half is lost in thought. Finally, Earl grows tired of the dank cavern and addresses the group.
“I am loath to say anything, given that I am in your debt for helping me to escape from that wretched tower, but there is too much of seeming importance that remains unaddressed here to remain silent. Danek was drawn to this Kitailla by some mystic force, and it would appear that this allowed us to escape. Further, I can infer by your actions that this type of thing has happened before to some of you, though apparently not Dobi. Five of you were waiting here for us, without possession or awareness, and were only freed at the touch of five other of you. There must be a tale here. Will not someone share it?”
Able to think again now that Khail is partially covered by a blanket, Lenara takes up the task. “This will sound strange, no doubt, but this is the way it happened,” she begins. “The five of us,” she indicates herself, Danek, Andy, Cerridwin, and Buttercup, “were all residents of Thistlehome. It’s a small farming town, but on what we’ve come to learn is a different world. Or maybe we’re back; who knows. Anyway, we were all kind of different then.” Danek looks perturbed, and almost moves to stop Lenara, but the apparent interest of Kai in the story stops her and she goes back to searching.
Lenara notes none of this, and continues, “I used to be a dwarf myself.” The beautiful wizard stops and looks at Khail as if worried that he might find her less appealing. When the paladin gives no response, she goes on with her tale. “Then one day this weird colored mist swept into town and changes us all into the people you see know. Though we weren’t all really well acquainted beforehand, we all had this urge to go off to this really scary cave that we had been warned never to go into. In there was this hydra, but instead of getting killed we killed it, and left our world via this gate.
“On the other side was this really smelly dirty place that the really rude locals called ‘Sigil’. We didn’t stay around too long, though, because we all had urges to go in different directions and couldn’t split up. We chose Andy’s way first, and ended up on this really cold ice planet. Andy led us across it, and we fought things that would have kept us locked inside our houses just a day before, but that we now could actually beat. Barely. At the end of our trail was Trella, and when Andy touched her we all vanished, and the five of us appeared back in Sigil.”
Trella looks with raised eyebrows at Andy, whose pride begins to swell at the accomplishment. Not sure how to deal with their apparent connection, the druid turns back to the cavern wall, leaving Andy to his own swellings.
Lenara continues, “We went with Cerridwin’s compulsion next. This took us to another portal and a desert planet. This time we spent a few days there, and there were lots of people to interact with.” She blushes at this last part, remembering some of her ‘interactions.’ “Eventually we found Kyree, and when Cerridwin touched him we all returned to Sigil.”
Kyree notes the uncharacteristically shy bard, wondering perhaps if this apparent connection is the reason for her seeming deference. While the elf ponders this, Lenara moves on with her tale.
“The third compulsion attempted was Buttercup’s, and this one took us to a place more like the woods on our own world. The population was a little bit odd, though, and we had to navigate this swamp mostly without their help until we found a secret location where Rhien was. Buttercup reached him, and we returned again.” Buttercup bares his tusks in a broad smile; Rhien looks confused at first, but softens as he sees the half-orc’s reaction.
Lenara says, “The fourth was mine, and we ended up around a bunch of kobolds and a ghost sphinx.” The sorceress shakes with anger at this last word, and she is joined by the righteous rage of Khail as the paladin shakes his fist at the sky. Trella rolls her eyes.
After calming down, Lenara says, “We tracked the kobold who had Khail to a town with the help of Jaalask there,” she points out Andy’s buddy, “and then I touched Khail and we ended up back in Sigil yet again.” Lenara gazes dreamily at Khail for over a minute, stopping only when the paladin, unused to such affections, coughs awkwardly.
Lenara blushes prettily. “Oh, where was I? Ah, the fifth and last part of the trip was Danek’s compulsion.” Danek growls deep in her throat but doesn’t otherwise respond. “With hers we ended up outside of this weird tower, where we met Dobi.” The halfling doffs his hat once again. “Inside, we had to pass by monsters and traps, and we freed Earl the unicorn along the way. Finally we reached the top and destroyed the astral shard, allowing Danek to touch Kai,” Danek blushes hotly and keeps her face averted from the sorceress. “This time we didn’t end up back in that dirty part of Sigil, however. We ended up here. And that’s it for us,” she finishes with a satisfied nod.
The newly charismatic Khail takes up the tale then. “Our story is quite a bit longer, but I will keep only to the part that might be relevant here. Earlier in our adventuring career we angered an evil priest in his home domain on the plane Acheron.” Several pairs of eyes blaze with barely controlled rage at this mention. Khail remains circumspect. “Later he made a dark pact with a pit fiend to destroy us and bind our souls forever to evil. The pit fiend, being what he was, chose to play with us before our end, and sent us to an odious demiplane where we were hunted like game for thirty days.” It is now Rhien’s turn to shake with anger.
“At the end we prevailed, in part to the risky maneuver of stealing five potent items of power from under the nose of Tiamat’s Avatar itself.” The paladin pauses briefly for effect. “When we returned to Faerun having vanquished all of our foes, we discovered that the gathered Greater Powers did not want us there, though what they feared remains—and I fear will forever remain—a mystery. We thought we had reached the end, but now with your aid we appear to have been given another chance to live.”
The emotional—and smitten—Lenara has tears in her eyes at the end of Khail’s story, and impulsively throws her arms around the burly, half-naked warrior. The paladin pats her awkwardly on the shoulder, not knowing what else to do.
Trella snickers at the display. Kai is about to join her, when something just hits her that Dobi said earlier. Running back to him, she says in an agitated manner, “Wait! Did you say that you attended my mother’s 50th birthday? It couldn’t be the 50th, right?”
Taken aback, Dobi can only muster, “Yes milady, I am quite sure it was the 50th? If I may ask, why does that upset you so?”
Kai staggers back as if struck. “Because…because that means it has been nearly eleven years since we were trapped, eleven years that the Realms have gone on without us. That would make it 1372…we have to find a way back.”
Her last statement has force behind it, and it is all Dobi can do to retain his detached cool. Nonetheless, the halfling manages and responds, “Most assuredly we will, milady. You have been dealt a sore blow, as it is indeed 1372, but we will return with due haste and see about making it right.” Something occurs to Dobi then and he adds, “Indeed, we should return today if possible so as not to miss the festivities. It is Shieldmeet, after all.”
Kai groans, and buries her head in her hands for the moment. Trella snarls loud enough to make the nearby Danek jump back a few paces and says, “If I still had my staff, and if Gwok-Al were still around, I’d bash his head in until it came out his ***!”
Her rant is interrupted, however, as, after the mention of her staff, an eerie brown glow suffuses her hands. Trella’s eyes widen as the glow seems instantly familiar, and the druid becomes aware for the first time since her awakening that there is a potential within her that, while an intrinsic part of her, was not always there. Intuitively connecting this with the staff she earlier possessed, the half-elf concentrates on the image of the staff.
Instantaneously, a strongly glowing oaken staff of clearly magical nature appears in Trella’s hands. Twirling it lightly, the druid smashes it forcefully into the wall to test its mettle. Unharmed by the strike, the staff rebounds from the solid stone, leaving a slight scorch mark from the burst of flames that erupted from its tip upon contact.
Trella looks inward, cataloguing the powers of her staff. While most of the others gathered look on in awe, Earl moves forward toward the druid with a purpose. Reaching her as she finishes bonding with her manifestation, the noble unicorn bows his head, his horn dipping ever so slightly in a show of profound respect.
“I must admit that when these oddly-matched adventurers freed me after a decades-long imprisonment in ice, I did not know where I was to go. My previous companions have no doubt long since vanished, and our grouping was often one of convenience as much as anything else. Yet, all seems clear now that I look up you and this staff, which is clearly a gift from the deepest aspect of nature. I would travel with you and aid in your endeavors, if you would have me as companion, mount, and friend.”
Recognizing the rare nature of the offer, and touched deeply by it, Trella gently raises the unicorn’s head with the palm of her hand. Looking into Earl’s eyes, she says earnestly, “I would be honored to travel with you.” Clearly pleased, Earl nuzzles her arm and takes his place by her side.
Guessing that Trella is not the only one who can perform such feats, and itching to relive the memory of his bow, Kyree attempts the same summoning. With Trella’s template fresh in his mind, the elf has no trouble calling into being an elegantly constructed ash longbow glowing strongly green. With one fluid motion, the archer draws back the string, creating a new arrow ready to fire, and targets a rocky outcropping. Moments later the arrow has scored its hit, bounced away, and vanished into the ether from whence it came.
Remembering the power of her ring, Kai summons the ruby-encrusted platinum band back to her finger with a thought. Realizing finally the full extent of the changes wrought by the chaotic energies released in the party’s last battle, the beautiful sorceress gasps in surprise. This shock is only deepened when a miniature red dragon materializes from nowhere to perch lightly on her shoulder. Several minutes pass while the two communicate telepathically, with the pseudodragon coiling its long tail around Kai’s neck possessively. Eventually Kai breaks into a smile and announces, “Everyone, meet Snicker.” The pseudodragon, as befits its name, snickers at the group in greeting.
The introduction is cut short as Khail brings into being a jeweled longsword glowing with the purest white light. The paladin takes a few experimental swings with it, recalling swiftly its perfect balance. Before he can look much deeper into himself, however, the group is expanded by yet another member. A beautiful white stallion, radiating unmatched purity and seemingly ready to carry his rider to the deepest layers of the Abyss if so desired appears next to the stunned paladin. An extended telepathic discussion renders Khail almost shy in his assessment of the situation: “This is Steve…he’s been sent to help me—us—in our fight against evil. He’s a celestial warhorse.”
Less enthusiastic than his companions due to the earlier choice he made, Rhien pauses lengthily before finally calling into being a matched pair of soft gray gloves and boots. At first the monk’s face falls, as he absorbs the offensive capabilities of the accoutrements. His subsequent discovery hits him like a thunderclap, and an expression of pure joy suffuses his face. Saying simply, “I can still heal, a little at least,” Rhien moves off to a corner, to be alone in prayer for a while.
