Session Thirty Three: Goodbye.... Again...

General Summary

Introduction

  You had just disembarked, feet firmly on the ground.   However, you then see flash of light, momentarily blinding you. When your eyes open again, you are standing in a large circle, with your backs to each other. There is also about 5 meters between each person   As you look ahead, you see a translucent cloud. It seems to be surrounding the whole group. However, in front of each person is a different visual.   Malak.staccatoharbor   Nesza. Ahead of you, through the cloud, you see a forest. Dark. Overgrown. Ancient. There is a faint scent of something... chemical... in the air. You recall that is must have come form the battle ground that was only a few miles away from where there. Your keen senses see movement between the shadows of the trees in a formation that you are all too familiar with. And see Perched on a large branch from a nearby tree is the silloute of a woman in a hood. She becons you.   Tristan. Nesza's forest is familiar to you. And his path seems to connect somewhat with yours. But the vision you see straight ahead of you is somewhat more... dynamic. In the distance, you can clearly see the plain near the walls of Metrol. And thousands of people fighting. You see flashes of Indigo. Magenta. Violet. Orange. White. Green. Leaving smoke of many other colours in their wake. The faint chemical smell that Nesza had is intense and consuming. Even while still so far away. A few feet ahead of you is a large muscular armoured woman with short red hair and a man about your height and brown hair in a wolf's tail. They look at you expectantly. And, beside you, is a slightly shorter woman in pixiecut black hair. She looks at you with a smile and, before bitting on a toothpick, says "Ready when you are, Tango".   Griff. You see griffons flying over head and into the cloud, as if they were leaving the camp where you worked. Where they are going, you don't know. Your path doesn't seem to connect to Tristan and Nesza's. Beside you are younger versions of Cody and Grace. The scar across Cody's face is considerably "fresher" and Grace seems to be packing a lot more wands in her navy blue trenchcoat. They look determined. Concentrated. Cody even looks somewhat excited.   April. The intense chemical smell triggers something in you. All you see ahead of you is a door.... a door to a very familiar laboratory.   For the changeling... it's strange... only Thaen and Lady seem to have a visual ahead of them. That of a castle corridor so dark that you can't see the end of it. And the sound of footsteps someone running away.   However. In between Emir and Vence stands a young girl, no older than seventeen. She's in Thranian armour. Her long brown hair in a braid. She looks scared. Clutching her bow. Shaking. "Why am I here again....?" She glances at Emir and Vence and her brown eyes widen. "Emir? Vence? You.... you can see me?!" And, as she looks at you both, it's as if something is pulling her into the cloud.   Silmer. As far away from all this, you hear the gulls. You smell the sea. You feel the soft sand between your toes. And, just within the cloud, you see him sitting cross-legged on his favourite fishing spot. Calm. Serene. As you've always remembered him to be.  

Call to Action

  Malak does not really respond to the scene in front of him.   Nesza calls out to the girl on the branch, asking if she's Emmy. She nods.   Griff smiles at both Grace and Cody and mentions that they got old. He then heads towards Nesza. As he turns away from the path it disappears. As Griff walks past Tristan, he pats him on the back.   Tristan lightly puts his hand on the lady's shoulder and tells her softly that he orders her not to go. She smiles and through he toothpick she asks if he thinks that’s going to stop her. Tristan says no. She tells him to not worry, she’ll be fine. Tristan looks away. Noticing everything happening, she asks Tristan what he’s going to do. He sadly explains that he's supposed to help a friend. The lady is surprised but suggests she goes with him. Tristan likes that idea and leads her to Nesza.   starts   April is torn between the door and the smell. She turns around and looks into what Tristan is seeing and her eyes widen. She tries to reach out to Griff. But as he just walked away, she instinctively grabs Thaen’s hand instead. Thaen squeezes her hand tightly. April recognizes the door as her mothers door at home. April moves slightly closer while holding onto Thaen. She pulls on his hand and tells Thaen she thinks her mom is in there. Thaen takes a half step closer to April. April mentions this is her house, and that is her mom’s study. She mentions she doesn’t know what is through this mist stuff. She really wants to see her but is it worth taking a look or should I just stay. Thaen says he does not know. Thaen looks around and mentions he does not know while seeing all the other paths besides Griff’s. He asks April if they aren’t supposed to join Nesza. April takes a deep breath and mentions they are here for him right. Thaen says they are. April turns away from the door and starts walking to Nesza still holding onto Thaen. Thaen looks back at the corridor one more time and eagerly follows.   Griff turns around and looks to April stalling and as she turns around and walks towards them he smiles at her. This woman here just called Sir Tango. He asks her if that could be his nickname. April smiles back and repeats Sir Tango. April does not let go of Thaen’s hand and Squeezes it tighter as a thanks. Thaen Squeezes it back. Griff pats Tristan on the back once more. Tristan gives Griff a stink eye and slight smile in return. Merle grins profoundly. As April walks more towards Nesza’s path she checks in on Silmer. He is just standing there, taking the scene of the beach in. He looks the happiest that April has ever seen him so she doesn't disturb him.   both of them         Nesza starts moving towards Emmy whilst humming a song (Open Heart Zoo ). He moves through the cloud and is met with the sounds and smells of the forest (mixed with the slight chemical smell) and a very slight haze in the air.   Emmy puts her finger on the mouth ordering to Nesza to be quiet. She seems bothered with the humming. Nesza continues humming the tune and walks past Emmy, saying “You’re not real, you’re not here”. She jumps down from the branch and readies her bow. She tells Nesza that there are enemies behind him, holding an Aundarian soldier captive. Nesza doesn’t respond to her, keeping his eyes piercing forward.   Griff tries to convince Emmy that they are friends. But Emmy shoots an arrow and barely misses Thaen. April pulls Thaen to the side to move him to safety. She peers back to where the door was at and is sad to see that it's no longer there. Tristan throws his hands up and tells Emmy to calm down as they are there to help Nesza. The lady next to Tristan is confused by this and Tristan tells her that it's new orders.   Emmy calls back to Nesza and asks him what is going on. Nesza finally responds. He realises that she's more "real" than he anticipated. He tells her that Tristan is right, this is a special mission. And he trusts these people with his life. He hopes she will do the same and he asks if she can follow him. Emmy whistles a bird call. A different whistle is returned and two more hooded figures appear. One being a half-elf and one being a human. They are both just as confused as Emmy. Nesza tells them to just follow his lead, he knows where they are going. The half-elf, Hassan, looks very hesitant. But the human, Steve, says he vouches for Nesza. Emmy stands up and looks at Nesza and mentions she heard some wild animals ahead. They need to clear the path.   Nesza walks up to Emmy and, with a trembling voice, asks her where the commander is. Emmy mentions she hasn’t seem him. She smiles and tells him to not worry.   She then explains they heard animals and there are Thranian Soldiers. Nesza does not think that the Thranian soldiers are a real concern. And both he and Griff are good with animals. Griff smiles and says he’s basically trained by Nesza's dad. Nesza slowly falls back to walk next to Griff and, in a whisper, tells Griff to not share any personal information about his family. They don’t need to know. It’s dangerous for them to know. Griff pats him on the shoulder and says they aren’t real. Nesza says that he knows but this is how they operated. First name bases only, no family, no friends, no anything.  

Waltz Tango Foxtrot is up with the name?

  April asks "Tango" who the lady next to him is. The lady is a bit confused by the use of "Tango". Tristan introduces the lady as "Captain Kessler" to which she smiles and introduces herself as "Merle". Tristan then introduces Merle to everyone.   Malak asks Merle how she knows "Tango". Merle laughs but tells Tristan to stop letting people use that name. It's dangerous. He explains that she was the one who revealed it to the group to which she replies that it was during a mission. She's supposed to use it. They playfully banter for a moment while Tristan tries to sell Merle the explanation that this mission is on a "need to know" basis. Tristan calls Merle out for the sass. She apologises but her tells her that she's not sorry. Smirking, she admits she's not.  

Bearly Seen

  Silmer tries to stick as close to Nesza as he can without it being awkwardly close.   Ahead of the group they see a hulking bear jump out from behind the bushes. It is nowhere near the size what Nesza remembered. He recalls regular bear size. This thing looks like a monster. Nesza makes a sign for the group be silent sign. The bear does not seem to notice them. It bear seems to want to engage soldiers in purple cloaks. One in particular is trying to calm the bear down.   Griff casts pass without a trace to help everyone stay as hidden as possible. The group all stays well hidden. They hear a Thranian man talking gently to the bear and tells the bear to calm down. The bear stands down, turns around and leaves. The man then notices Emmy but just as they are about to engage in a fight, they all see a flash of silver overhead.  

The Flight of the Silverbird

  A deep, booming voice calls for everyone to look each other in the eyes and see the brothers and sisters who they are attacking. The voice calmingly asks everyone to question why they are killing each other and end this needless violence. To lower their weapons, to freeze the arrow.   The man looking at Emmy, who seems ready to release an arrow, puts his dagger down and calls back to her to freeze her arrow. Emmy looks around for support but everyone is hidden. She can only spot Griff and looks at him unsure. He nods at her and tells her it’s fine and then walks towards the man and tells him that that was a cool bear. Emmy lowers her bow and looks for Nesza, Hassan and Steve.   The man sighs in relief. Nesza puts his bow on his back and stands up and walks up towards the man. He calls the man by "Robert". Robert smiles, but as this happens…  

A Hero Goes Home

  While still crouching to remain hidden, Merle suddenly grips onto Tristans shoulder. When looks at her, she's grabbing her stomach and then fades away. Tristan tries to hold onto her but she disappears. Tristan freezes in place and just stares at the spot where she was not a moment ago.   Robert looks at Nesza and says he remembers him. He was kind to him. Nesza says he doesn’t think he remembers the full story, and maybe that’s good, but he certainly does. He tells him he needs to leave, he needs to go as far as he can. He asks, for the sake of their memory together, to go as far away as he can. Robert smiles and says that he wishes that he could. But this is where he's trapped. In Nesza's thoughts, memories and dreams. He asks Nesza not to dwell on that right now and would like to share a meal with him. Nesza turns to the group and ushers them to join him. He introduces Robert. He says won’t harm the group.   Tristan is still crouched down on his knees with his eyes closed but is making no real attempt of concealing himself anymore. He's really trying to put all his thought into bringing Merle back. With all of his heart, with every fiber of his being, but it has no result. It was like she was never there.   April gives Thaen's hand one last squeeze before letting go and, seeing Tristan on his knees... alone, she kneels down next to him. She notices him crying, tells him it’s ok and gives him a hug. Tristan leans into it a little bit. April holds onto him until he seems able to move again.   Tristan feels the grief he had felt before. Knowing full well how everything played out and how everything will play out. But, in his head, there is something else. A whisper of someone's voice. There is a reason why there is no darkness attached to this feeling. That whisper is keeping him sane. It’s the one thing that always kept him out of the darkness. He recognizes her voice and softly sings along.   Thaen recognizes the song the moment he hears it. A Hero Comes Home   Griff turns around after meeting Robert. He notices Tristan being down, April being besides him and a person missing. Griff walks up to Tristan and asks him if she’s gone. Tristan nods. Griff then asks Tristan will be ok. Tristan says no, but he says he will be. Griff mentions dinner but Tristan is not very hungry. Griff mentions what comes after dinner and Tristan says that he is indeed Thirsty. Tristan then thanks the both of them.   April tries to conjure a cup of tea to give to Tristan. April creates a tiny cup with hot water but it does not smell like hot tea. She looks at it and tosses it back over her shoulder. Tristan noticing what she’s trying to do kind of chuckles and tells her he appreciates the thought. April chuckles and says it was no good.   Thaen pulls the alchemy jug out of his bag and screams at Tristan “What would you like to drink! I thought you where thirsty!”. He then looks very confused at being so loud. Tristan says "For the love of the Sovereigns, what is wrong with you?". Thaen screams back that he does not know. He stops talking and casts minor illusion and softly has it say in his voice. “I don’t know, that is really messed up. Sorry”. Tristan asks him to repeat his previous question as he did not hear it over the yelling. Thaen holds up the alchemy jug and asks Tristan if he would like something to drink. Tristan says please yes. Tristan says something strong. Thaen gives him ale. Tristan starts drinking and does not give the jug back. Thaen doesn’t ask for it back.  

Before the beans were spilled

  Robert gestures them to join him at his camp. People seem a little nervous but they are leaving everyone alone. They are however confused by the group somewhat. Robert hands them all some beans. He mentions this is not really a specialty but it’s all they have. He gives everyone a can and says it's their rations for the day. Nesza says he remembers. Last time these tasted like heaven. Robert laughs and says he’ll never forget Nesza and his sense of humor. Tristan looks at the can and mentions he did not miss these, puts it down and proceeds drinking.   Lady Thaen reaches in her pack and pulls out 3 rations and puts them down in the middle of the group.   Griff touches his necklace and tries to summon Godric. Godric appears and meows. Griff can't understand him. Godric meows some more. Griff casts speak with animals. It has no effect Godric meos some more. Griff asks him to raise his paw if he can understand him. Godric raises his paw. Griff gives Godric a big hug and puts him back into the necklace.  

Quori please have a moment?

  Robert smiles at Nesza and asks him why he is here. Nesza says he’s not 100% sure why he is here. He knows he’s done him wrong. He knows he’s done a lot of people wrong and he is here to make up for that. Or, at least, try to make peace with it. He has been struggling, it’s been over 10 years since this happened. He tells Robert that he's stuck in this memory. It's the strongest one that he has. One of the ones he both likes and hates at the same time because he knows what happens next. And he knows Robert does to. Tears appear in Nesza’s eyes. Robbert says they both know what’s about to happen because that’s what Nesza is telling him and he should remember it.   Robert tells Nesza that they can play it out now or later. But nothing will change, Nothing. Nesza says he’s at least going to try and asks Robertto follow him.   Nesza leads Robert 30 meters out of the camp. He takes his rope of climbing out and commands it to knot itself around Robert and the tree he is standing next to. Robert Starts laughing. He asks if Nesza really believes this will keep him down. The voice is no longer Thranian. He tells Nesza he is going to have to do it, he knows that. And although the rope was tied around him he starts to grow and the rope snaps. His feet lift from the ground and everywhere Nesza looks there are tentacles and eyes.   Nesza turns around and runs back to the group. As he arrives back at the group Griff notices the panic in his eyes. Nesza shouts to everyone "that is not Robert!".   Silmer seems to not be surprised.  

Up in flames

  When quori appears at the campsite, a fight breaks out:

• Nesza sits down, takes out the golden key, trying to steel his thoughts and not attack it
• Malak touches the feather link on his silver necklace to cast Fly. But, as he flies up, he gets enveloped in a silver light that turns into a silver flame... then the circling body of a large silver serpent. And on the back of this serpent is a young girl, reaching out to him
• The quori closes in on Nesza and accuses him of killing an innocent man. It really gets to Nesza, hurting him quite severly
• Tristan puts down the jug. He looks up to where Malak vanished and then focuses on the quori. As he slowly starts walks towards it, he rolls his shoulders and becomes more bulky. Black hair starts spreading all over. He grows a snout, his ears get a little rounder and the fur keeps spreading as his claws grow longer until he looks very bear-like. Tristan then screams that he is having a very bad day and starts laying his claws into the quori.
• Silmer follows the bear-man and attacks the quori but does fails at stunning it. He screams to the bards to "sing the song"
• April makes a b-line for Nesza, pulls out a vial and heals him.
• Griff runs up and screams "I knew it" (pointing at Tristan). He then jumps onto the quori and shifts into a Giant Constrictor snake. He attempts to grapple it and fails so he curls up on the quori's head looking down on it.
• Thaen casts blindness/deafness on the quori trying to blind it. Its many eyes become murky as it is blinded. Thaen then tells Nesza to remember George to try and inspire him.
• Lady casts healing word on Nesza and tells the quori he has no power here in quori viciously trying to mock it.
• Vence shouts at Silmer that he does not know what song he is talking about. He then tells the quori it’s powerless and that they’ll defend Nesza.
• Emir takes out the viol and notices the bow of the viol is missing. So, instead, he draws out his wand of magic missiles and shoots at the quori. It tries to shield itself and Vence counter spells the spell to make sure the missiles hit.
• Nesza stands up, casts Zephyr strike and takes out his Scimitar of Speed to start damaging the quori. He tells it “Know your limits boy. Once more too high”.
• Malak is pulled onto the back of the serpent, unable to see her face. The serpent, it’s wings, scales, its everything is very familiar. It flies down and lands right in front of the quori. The girl slips down and holds down out her hand to have Malak Join her. She walks up to Nesza and says “Let’s go”. Malak looks at Nesza and puts his hand on his arm and he tells Nesza to not worry, he can trust her. He then heals Nesza.
• The quori attempts something but fails and laughs. He tells Nesza he is stronger than he comes across. But just how strong can you stay. It laughs ominously. Nesza tells it that if it kills him it’s over for him, no more food for you. The Quori laughs and says its not trying to kill him. Nesza says he came close. The quori tells Nesza to trust him, he would not have actually died. He threatens he could start hurting his friends. He asks Nesza if he would like that. It’s eyes become clear once more as blindness wears off.
• Tristan screams at Griff that it’s bear genes, he is not a werewolf. Tristan pulls out his sword and starts to reckless attack the quori. As he sees Malak descend with his daughter he softly tells himself he loves it when he’s right.
• Silmer looks to see if it's not to wounded and realizes he can still let it rip and attacks the quori some more.
• April tries to focus and recalls the song Nesza was humming. She starts humming it, poorly. The quori hears it and is just confused by it.
• Griff attempts to constrict it again but fails.
• Thaen attempts to learn the song April is humming and fails Lady uses viscous mockery on the quori
• Vence holds a Viscous mockery for the quori to cast when the quori moved
• Emir plays pizzicato on the viol and starts playing a counter charm In front of Nesza stands a girl. Her hair is aflame with silver fire flowing in the air looking weightless. She holds out her hand to Nesza and says “Let’s go”.
  Nesza softly pushes her hand away and says he thinks he can take this, he thinks he needs to do this and attacks the quori.
• Malak asks the girl if we kill it. She doesn’t look at Malak but sadly tells him it’s his choice, while looking at Nesza.
• Malak pulls in the spirits of the dead using spirit shroud. Merle and the girl Vence and Emir saw float around him. Malak then shoots 2 eldritch blasts at it. They shoot straight through it and, as it disappears, there is ominous laughter.
• As the quori disappears, girl's shoulders slump. She turns and looks at Malak before she disappears in a swirl of silver flames.

Eye of the storm

  Griff hisses angrily.   Tristan turns towards the spirits floating around Malak while he slowly turns "human" again. He asks Merle’s spirit if she can hear him. She looks at him and smiles. Tristan says he still misses her, he mentions he just wanted a chance to say goodbye. She walks up to him, touches his face (which he can’t feel). She gives him a slight cocky smile and tilts her head a little bit. She traces his collar bone and touches where his dog tags are. Tristan tells her to be good. She blows him a kiss with her finger.   Vence and Emir grab Lady and Thaen to have them both look at the girl floating around Malak and ask them if they know who she is. Thaen says he has no idea. He then puts his hand on Tristan's shoulder and gives it a squeeze. Thaen asks the others if they recognizes the girl. The girl shakes her head. No one knows who she is. The girl comes up to Emir and smiles shyly at him before both she and Merle disappear again.   Nesza asks Malak if she was the real deal. He it's difficult for him to tell. Malak thinks that she could have saved him, and now all they’ve done is buy Nesza some time. Nesza mentions that he thinks that if he shows it he is not afraid, with his support he can do this many times over and he will keep doing it until it’s finally dead. It will no longer feed from him.   Malak says he thought he wanted to be made whole. Nesza says he does, but this felt right, it’s hard to explain. It doesn’t fix him, but it shows it that there is going to be an end to this suffering. There is going to be an end to this sometime. He mentions he has not felt this good before. Or at least in a long time. Malak mentions it’s like she said, it was Nesza's decision.   April asks Nesza if he understands that this solution is temporary. They killed it when they shouldn’t have. They will need to find it again and they don't know how Nesza says he understands.   Griff, while hissing profoundly shifts down and mentions this was all fucking useless. They had one job, she was here and they didn’t complete it. He asks if anyone wants to wake up.   Tristan tells Griff to calm down. He agrees that it’s not the ideal outcome but they did get Nesza some relief. He understands his motivations for choosing what he chose. Griff asks Tristan how they are going to get back here. Tristan says that’s tomorrow problem and that he is ready to wake up. Griff offers to become a giant bird and lift everyone up in the sky and drop them down.   Malak puts his hand on Tristan’s shoulder and tells him to then wake up and casts banishment on him. Tristan is unsure what Malak is doing so he resists the spell and it fails. He asks Malak what the fuck he is doing. Malak explains he was trying to send him home. Tristan tells him he should have told him this before, but he appreciates the effort.  

There is door to be done

  April insists that everyone stay and find the quori again. Griff says that, according to Hawk, it’s dead now It will be reborn in wherever the dark place that his mark is pointing at. Only then will it return and for them to attempt the binding again. But at least they now know the drill and can come back and do the same thing again. It wasn’t that bad.   Malak mentions he would rather not go into the deep dark area. Thaen steps forward and asks if there are no other tasks to do here. He asks Malak if he doesn’t want to find Myri while they were so close. Griff asks him if he didn’t just fucking see her. She just left. Thaen says that they can still go find her.   Tristan is rolling his shoulder in discomfort. He mentions that if she wanted to talk to us she would have stayed. But perhaps someone would indeed still want to do something. He sniffs the air and the chemical smell is still there. He asks April if she is good with chemical stuff whether she can identify a chemical by scent. April mentions she can most definitely try. Tristan asks her to please do because it's been bugging him for 10 years.   April tries to focus. She breathes in the chemicals. She does not know what it is, what formula it is. But she does remember this smell. It came from her mother's lab whenever she was expecting visitors. She can’t quite recall who though.     Nesza says that they have to understand that he did not believe this version of Myri was the real one. He would have expected if she was real to have interacted in at least one way with Malak. She didn’t appear to. His fellow army soldiers, they disappeared. Bob’s gone. Everyone just disappeared. He did not believe that was the real thing. He believed that whatever he could do is show this quori that he's no longer to be messed with. He is now boss of his own mind. He is sure they’ll find their way back and maybe with the power of imagination, they can get Myri to join.   Malak looks at Nesza with tears in his eyes. He says he got to hold her. He told Nesza she could be trusted. He got to hold her. Nesza tries to reassure Malak that he'll be able to do much more. So Nesza asks the group to imagine Myri back. If they are able to make krakens and bubbles appear, so can she. Tristan says he’s all for trying things. But Myri was not a figment, so he doesn’t want to get Nesza’s hopes up. (He would also like to know who made up a Kraken, he would really like to punch them.)   Malak tells Nesza that he appreciates what he is trying to do. But if she could have stayed he believes she would have. Seeing her here was amazing, but it’s not enough. It’s not real. Nesza mentions he expects to be back here sometime and they'll find a way.   April tries to imagine the door again. She thinks really hard and the smell comes back. It becomes more and more intense. But no door appears.   However, the smell triggers Tristan. Memories come flooding back. It's as if he's there again. He starts hearing things. He starts hearing explosions nearby. Everyone else starts to see flashes of light. The forest suddenly decimates and all they see is smoke and bodies falling against each other as they attack each other. In the distance Tristan sees Briar decapitating a man. In front of him he sees a bloodbath and the whole group sees it too.  

The Bloodbath

  The plane is flat. The ground muddy. Trampled by thousands upon thousands of boots. The group can’t see far. There seems to be some sort of haze at a distance as they also noticed in the forest. The strong chemical smell is there and occasionally there are flashes of explosions in florescent colours. Around the group, soldiers of different countries are seen and a pride of Leonin running at them:

• Silmer, unsurprised readies himself for combat.
• 3 humans wearing red cloaks run at Malak and Nesza and attack them. Malak lets himself be hit and Nesza gets hit too.
• Nesza looks at Tristan and notices he looks shocked. Nesza takes out his Scimitar of speed and quickly takes out all three of the red cloaked attackers. They go up in smoke the moment the blade touches them. He asks Tristan for a word of advice.
• Tristan hears the marching in the distance, the marching he did not want to see. He responds to Nesza and tells him to "kill everything or they will kill you". He then turns towards Briar and screams out “Waltz, I’m going to need an assist”. Briar screams back “Copy that Tango!” He attacks two Thranian soldiers in front of him and they go up in smoke. Tristan sees the Undead soldiers march by him. He tries to look away.
• The bards each viciously mock two of the Aundarian soldiers and two of the Leonin charging in towards them. Vence and Emir walk back and stand behind Silmer. The soldiers vanish in a puff of smoke.
• The remaining Aundarian Soldiers attack April and Thaen.
• April is freaking out and panicking and stumbles backwards, falling in the mud. As she looks at the undead soldiers march past she recognizes one of them... Merle...
• Malak sweeps around as he hears April scream. He eldritch blasts the two Aundarian soldiers who attacked her. They go up in smoke.
• A leonin runs in and attacks Silmer. Silmer swipes back as he steps in and Leonin goes up in smoke.
• Griff turns to Tristan and asks him if he want’s to go home. Tristan tells Griff to send April home first. Griff turns into a giant owl and grabs April and flies 60 feet up into the air. At the highest point he unshifts and tells April to wake up the others the moment she gets back. They both fall down towards the ground, Griff just a lot slower. April screams blue murder as she falls.
• April does not hit the ground but suddenly sits up in a cold dark hallway. Griff wakes up a moment later.
• Silmer moves to Tristan, disposes the last Thranian soldier by kicking him in the nuts as he poofs. He asks Tristan if he’s alright. He wonders whether there might be a quori nearby. Tristan says that he’s not sure if there is one here.
• Nesza takes out his bow and shoots down the final attacker from Aundair in front of Thrane.

Wake up call

  With all the soldiers in front of them disposed of, Tristan looks around for a commander of the undead army. He spots a him besides the lines where the undead are clashing with other soldiers. Tristan runs up to him and tells him to stop.   "There is no point to this, you will be decimated!" The commander looks at him and tells him he has no choice in this. Tristan tells him he has a choice, he orders him to stop. The commander tells him he does not have time... and as the commander says that, a dagger goes through him, killing him on the spot. Tristan screams "fuck". He then yells at Briar and tells her to get out of there. Briar screams back she is not leaving without him. She runs up and slings him over her shoulder and runs off with him. Tristan screams “Not again” as she runs past the group. As they run away the undead army loses. The opposing army breaks through the lines and destroys the undead opposing them swiftly.   As April wakes up she turns to Tristan and wakes him up. He sits up, startled and thanks her. Griff wakes up and, seeing April next to Tristan, wakes Nesza up.   As Nesza wakes up, the rest finds themselves back in the place with the clouds. There are no paths there as if the space is trying to still figure out what is going on. Vence and Emir try to picture the girl again. The have identified her as "Lucy". She appears and is about to tell them something but her face turns into that of Griff as the remainder of the group is woken up. Vence wakes up and instantly shifts into Thaen, looking confused.   April checks if everyone is awake and then turns towards the door and leaves. Tristan, seeing her go, chases after her. As does Silmer (shifting into his elven disguise as he leaves the house). Malak gets up and goes home (does not follow April).  

Before the fireworks, let's snoop

  Griff asks Thaen if he is still Thaen. Thaen says of course he’s still Thaen, but he thanks Griff for asking. Griff gives Thaen a hand and helps him back up and tells him that it's nice to meet him. Thaen says it’s a pleasure.   Griff asks what to do next. Thaen explains that Vence is worried abouut April but he knows that she's in good company. So Thaen would prefer tp still look around as there are things in the house that might be important for Nesza.   Griff asks Nesza what he thinks, seeing as it’s kind of his house now. Nesza says he doesn’t know if its his house. He has the key but that doesn’t make it his. Griff says Hawk is dead and he is next of kin. Nesza says that’s not on his mind right now. He feels he fucked up, he doesn’t feel good anymore. He mentions he should have done something else, he just realized. Nesza sits down on the cold floor ignoring everyone and starts meditating to see if he can get a vision of Hawk.   Griff tells Thaen he doesn’t mind snooping seeing as Nesza seems busy and Thaen can get in touch with the rest if need be. They have about 30 minutes till the fireworks and he does not want to upset Kiasuh, plus Nesza has a key to this place. Thaen suggest that they fly back as it will be faster. And they will only be doing a quick search. Griff agrees but he would feel more comfortable if Nesza would agree to snooping. Nesza waves them and signals its ok. Thaen mentions that whatever they’ll find they’ll tell him. Griff asks if he should turn into an animal, he realizes Thaen doesn’t speak animal and just follows him.   Nesza focusses on meditation, trying to bring out a vision. He finds nothing. Nesza stands up and joins Griff and Thaen.  

It used to be a nice smell....

    April runs into a random direction. Silmer and Tristan quickly catch up to her. Silmer grabs April and asks her where she is going. April stops walking. Crying she says that she doesn’t know. Silmer awkwardly tries to calm her down.   April says there where just so many bodies and the smell it’s just supposed to be a nice smell. It’s supposed to be a familiar smell and now it’s a bad smell and. She looks around and checks where she was stabbed. Silmer tells her its ok and holds her. He waits for Tristan to catch up so he can use words.   Tristan catches up and puts his arms around them both. They all hug awkwardly. He says he knows that was a lot. War is not a pretty sight. He says he is sorry they had to see that and checks if they are ok.   April tells Tristan that she is so sorry he had to go through all that and she asks how he managed to deal with that. It was so bad. There was so much death. Tristan asks her what she is sorry for. It’s not her fault. It’s his memory. He dragged her in there and he is sorry for doing so.   He explains that he actually didn’t deal with it for a long time. And the fight actually got worse. What they saw was just the beginning.   Silmer says he is glad they weren’t able to stick around. Tristan agrees. He then asks April whether she saw he. April nods furiously. Tristan says he saw her the first time around too. It was unpleasant so he is sorry for not sticking with the group then. He just couldn’t again.   Silmer gives them a tighter hug. Tristan and April are squeezed tightly. Tristan says that they did all take the bear thing a lot better than expected. Silmer mentions he will have trouble sleeping for sure, but luckily he has some ways of the mind that can help him. Tristan asks if he can teach this. Silmer says he can try. It seemed to help Nesza a lot. Tristan says he would be happy to give it a shot.   April is still sniffing and says Sil is the best. Silmer asks if this is the moment everybody goes to drink right? Tristan reminds them that they have an engagement with Malak, his wife and some other people. He is fine not going but we have to make a decision where they want to go. He thinks that being around people might not be a bad idea, they shouldn’t be alone. Maybe not drinking to much is also good, because it’s a really bad coping mechanism.   April asks if he’s going to be there. Tristan says he’s not leaving her sight until she is ok. April grabs Tristan’s hand tightly and stays close.   Tristan asks them what they thought of Merle. April says she’s quite the character yah. Tristan says she is. She was very special to him. April says she is sorry he had to lose her. Tristan says its life, right? April asks if he has good memories. Tristan says he does. April says "those make it all worth it, yah". Tristan says "yah, definitely".   April tells him to keep those close always. Tristan says she is pretty wise for someone so young. April thanks him and smiles. She says she learned a lot from her mom and her dad. They are the real wise ones. Tristan says he’s looking forward to meeting them. April says she thinks "they’ll love ya". Silmer says he hopes that it will be soon.  

I got to hold her

  Malak stormed past everything and everyone and went straight home. The moment he walks through the door he finds Kiasuh in the kitchen, cleaning up after Solaris. He embraces her tightly and rambles.   He tells her they where there for Nesza and she was there. And she wasn’t there but she was there. Kiasuh is very confused and asks him what he's talking about (but holds onto him tightly). Malak mentions he held her, and she was there. She is there with Tira.   Kiasuh grips Malak really tighter and asks him who he was talking about. He repeats she was there. Kiasuh asks who was there Malak. Malak tells her that Myri was there. She is there and she is there with Tira and she is just as fierce. Kiasuh tells Malak that Myri is upstairs.   Malak says he knows that she is. Kiasuh asks him what he is talking about. Malak mentions he thinks she’s trapped, he is not sure. Kiasuh asks him what happened. He held her? How??? Malak starts crying. Kiasuh just holds him tightly, still really confused. She whispers in his ear "It’s alright, we’ll get her out. We’ll get her back Malak, we’ll get her back". Kiasuh then quietly starts sobbing into his shoulder.