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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7604037" data-attributes="member: 79141">Session 225, Part Four - Unexpected HelpUnexpected HelpWell aware of the historic parallels, Korrigan could not decide whether to head for the Hunch or for the summit.  Even in this light, and at this distance, he could see something large up there.  He used his mind’s eye to take a closer look and to his surprise saw that it was an undead whale, hovering expectantly in mid-air: the vessel of sea-hag Weary Enid.The Hunch was pretty close now, so he decided to check it out first, as that is where the Red Contessa had kept many of her hostages.As he flew he thought about Jenny Greenteeth and her ongoing attempts to take his son, all the way back to her manipulation of the River King, to whom Kai had been promised by Korrigan’s wife.  It was Greenteeth he sought to avoid when he withdrew to the Hidden Valley, at Leon’s insistence: Leon had followed many threads, and many timelines, to find a way to prevent Kai from being taken.  Now he thought of it, he remembered the tale of the ‘Dream Team’ who had discovered Greenteeth and her coven at the heart of a blight that afflicted the Upper Dreaming. How many had there been?  Greenteeth herself, and Weary Enid, both of whom might now be here.  Blue Meg, the Swamp Hag, Ambertain the Black, and Gorago the Annis Hag (all deceased, courtesy of Leon).  And Lavanya!  She had been there!  (Korrigan made a mental note to chase this up with Leon, but for now he put it aside as the Hunch was near at hand.*)His sudden arrival surprised the six lesser witches who were huddled around a dark fire that burned without light or smoke.  Dotted in a circle around them were twelve posts; to each post was tethered a frightened child; each child was attended by two ghouls.  These were no ordinary ghouls, Korrigan noted.  They were lacedons, sea ghouls, fattened and empowered in some nefarious way.Though they cried out in terror at the thud of his landing, and were not expecting him to come here, the witches feigned insouciance:“Ah, the king arrives at last…” said one.“Just in time,” said another.“Give us the child!” said a third.All chanted together: “The master wants him!  The master needs him!  Give us the child!  We must send your son to the master!”“Your master has no power over me or my son,” said Korrigan.  “The only thing I’ll be sending him are his servants.  I’ve already sent one.  You can follow.”This was a gamble.  He was outnumbered and the children were at grave risk, but what else got he do?  Handing over Kai was out of the question.  So he withdrew a magical item he had carried since the assassination of Aodhan, a powerful holy symbol that had been kept in the royal vault: The Symbol of the Sun.  Imbuing it with his own physical essence, to power it where Vona once had done, he raised it aloft and it lit up the Hunch.  The ghouls recoiled, stricken by its glare. At once, the witches evoked a combined hex, but even working in concert they were not powerful enough to curse the king of Risur. Using the Symbol had bought him some time, but the peril was still evident:  Poor Kai cried, “Don’t let  them die for me, daddy!”  What could he do to bring these creatures to heel all at once?  He tried to intimidate them:“You are fighting a whole nation.  You have no chance.  I have already banished Avaagdu. Step down, call off the ghouls and you will be spared.”The witches quailed and cried out together, sentences overlapping: “We cannot do so! They’re not our ghouls. Foolish king!  They answer to Weary Enid!” “And Weary Enid will answer to me!” said a bold female voice from the darkness above them.Stiff winds swept across the escarpment, brought about by Gale’s arrival. With her, borne aloft by her sorcery, were eight huge spiders each armed with what appeared to be an autocannon! While Gale summoned tornadoes to toss some of the ghouls aside, the spiders opened fire on the others.The witches took to the air at once and fled towards the summit.  In moments, the ghouls were all dead, and Gale and Korrigan were busily freeing the terrified children.“Your majesty,” said Gale, as they worked.  “These gentle spiders came to me with news of the children’s abduction.  Your flare drew us here just in the nick of time, it seems.”The spiders nodded and said, in eerie unison, “The Trash Heap ordered us to take them.  We refused and came to Gale.”  (So the Trash Heap worked for the Voice of Rot too?  That made sense, at least.  What about the autocannon?)  “The Clockwork King gave them to us, to help defend the city.  If the Obscurati come, the Nice Spiders will save the day!”It was too much to take in.  The children were free, though some were sobbing.  Kai encouraged them to be brave.  The king still had business at the summit, but going it alone felt foolhardy.  He decided that they should take the children down the hill first, then try to head off the witches. On the way, he contacted Dale and Isaac.  They said that townsfolk had already gathered at the gates of the mayor’s mansion, clamouring for aid.  (Korrigan had noticed a commotion when he passed over earlier, but had chosen to ignore it.)  So it was in full, public view that the king, Gale and the Nice Spiders arrived to reunite the kidnapped children with their loved ones.  A quick acknowledgement was all they had time for (Korrigan was sure to give Gale the spotlight) then they were off again.By now, the Gyre was almost directly overhead.  They could see the rocks themselves wriggle loose and fly upwards. The undead whale had begun to rise higher and higher into the air, rotating gently as it went.  They picked up speed, then felt the tug from above and veered away just in time:The whale and its occupants vanished, swept upwards in the blink of an eye.  Everything on the hill was drawn into the sky, towards the Gyre, for several minutes until the nebula had passed its zenith. When the danger was over, Gale, Korrigan and the Nice Spiders scoured the hill for a time, but could see no sign of any witches.End of Session*The relevant entry can be found on p46 of our ENWorld forum thread; #454 to be precise.  All of that Dream Team weirdness is covered on pp44-46.</blockquote>

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