Session 112: A Strange Encounter, and a Desperate Gamble Report

General Summary

Roisin and her companions continued their conversation with this odd individual, an older man tending a well banked fire and sipping at a large cup of tea while watching over a beseiging force at the base of a cliff several thousand feet below. Clearly unseen by the force below, which had invested the ancient dwarven fortress city of Levron's Citadel, the old man claimed to be a friend of a friend, but would not be more specific about himself. The old man noted "Strange. You should not have been able to climb that cliff, nor even known it was here." He looked at Roisin. "Roisin, have you been playing with magic lately?" Roisin answered, "Yes, I have learned several arcane rituals lately." The old man responded.

"Ahh, that would explain it. Do be careful with magic. You have far more potential than you realize."
"What does that mean?"
"You can cause great harm if you are not careful. Odd things can happen."
"I don't have much control over the strange surges."
"Child, there is a vast gulf between strange...inconveniences and the permanent destruction of your companions' will."
"Wait, what?"
"Be careful, that is all."
"I will."

He answered a few more unimportant questions, including informing them that where they stood was not exactly where it seemed to be; there would be no others intruding on them. The old man, at some point, reached behind his back and handed Boris a very dense hairball the size of a large walnut, then bade the cleric swallow it whole. Boris, somewhat bemused, managed to swallow the thing, as uncomfortable as that was; the man informed him that, for the week this bezoar would take to pass, Boris would now be able to see in the dark and could not be turned to stone. A few moments later, this being warned Roisin that "this will hurt", then laid a gentle palm on the upper portion of her left arm. Roisin stiffened in agony, but something prevented her from crying out. Boris asked what he was doing and the old man claimed "I am giving her a tattoo, a boon to protect her." A few minutes later, the old man removed his hand from her arm and revealed an exquisitely detailed and lifelike image of a rainbow-colored bird in a gilded cage. "This will enable you, for the week it remains, to protect yourself and those near you from most magical spells. You can only do so once each day, however, so be judicious when you use it." Boris mentioned needing to summon a magical meal, and the old man started. "Where are my manners. Terribly rude of me." The man gestured behind the group, and they turned to find a large banquet table, incongrous here at the top of a windswept mountain, in the middle of the infamous Korth Wall mountains. The banquet table was laden with food and drink, of the finest quality, and surrounded by 6 high-backed chairs. "Enjoy your meal, I am certain it will strengthen you in the days to come." The group sat to eat the meal, although Jeeves noticed that Roisin merely pretended to eat, but did not comment on this. Boris, feeling the heavy meal begin to lead him toward sleep, looked somewhat dejectedly at his magical weapon. Without turning from his vigil, the old man spoke. "Not to worry, Sir Boris. Powerful artifacts such as that cannot be damaged for long, it will be fully recovered by sunrise." With full bellies, and the sun rapidly dropping below the horizon, the group nodded off, one by one, where they sat; even Bastion closed its eyes and lay down in the soft moss that covered the small flat area here at the top of the mountains. Jeeves asked about "changing" others to turn from Corruption to The Source, and the man admonished him that each must have a choice of the path they would take. That The Source insisted that each must choose for themselves. While one could persuade others, with words, the use of force, or worse, magic, to override another's will was the realm of Corruption, not The Source. Even as they spoke, Jeeves realized there was no provision for a camp, and, his eyes already drooping, reached into his pouch for a magical shelter, only to awaken the next morning feeling well refreshed before he could pull out the magical origami. As the others slumbered, the old man called Roisin over, and spoke with her privately.

"Come, princess, sit with me by the fire."
The old man handed her a cup of tea.
"It's been a long time since we had a chance to talk, hasn't it."
"I still don't remember who you are."
"Oh, of course." The old man then placed a gentle hand on her head, and memories flooded in. Memories of encountering this old friend while walking in the palace gardens as a child. Memories of meeting him in the markets of Marshfield as she grew. Memories of meeting him many times over the years. Nobody else ever seemed to notice, but she always did.
"You'll forget again after I leave, of course. I can advise and observe, but you aren't permitted to remember me. One of the rules to ensure a balance, and the freedom to choose."
"I understand."
"You did not eat."
"Yes, something happened to me in the vale."
"It's part of your growing up process. You are still very much an adolscent of your species."
"That makes no sense!"
"You aren't what you appear to be, my dear."
"What? I thought that was just some chaotic magic effect of the Vale."
"No, magic can awaken it, but it is part of who and what you are."
"What am I then?"
"A being of immense potential. We aren't quite sure which way you're going to go with it. He knows, of course, but he hasn't told the rest of us. He rarely does, you know. You know who my friend is, don't you?"
"I think I know."
"Say it."
"There's two options, but..."
"Two?"
"The Source, or the Vizier"
"The Vizier is foul, I already mentioned I would destroy that thing were I permitted. If I served that one I would be mere automaton, and you would be destroyed. The Vizier acknowledges no rules, at least none that apply to it. It's 'servants' are soulless and without any will at all."
"Is that why you said earlier I should be careful? That I could make my friends lose their will?"
"There is only so much I can say to you, child, without tipping the balance. Be careful what you do. You have dabbled in magic now, so that part of your being is awakened. Be. Careful."
"I. I will. I will do what I can, but obviously..."
"I know"
"I don't want to cause any more harm to my friends."
"Oh, child... That, that is unavoidable. The Thorns must fall from the Rose. The only question is, what color will the Rose be? I cannot spare you from that. It is in His will that you have that choice. You will be the Rose, and your Thorns will fall."
"Yeah. I feel like I have already lost some, and I know all will fall. I know, I know that. I just. I'm..."
"When the time comes, do not hesitate to embrace the full range of your abilities. Be aware, however, that if you do so before you face the Vizier, it will not go well. Be very careful what you do, how strongly you command. You can do great harm with a word if you are not careful." The old man handed her a scroll.
"Tell no one. When the beast is about to strike, you will know. Do not warn them, but read this. It will protect you from it's poison. Do not let them know you have it. They may suspect you did not eat, but they do not know why."
"Thank you. I won't, I won't tell them."
"Good Night, child. Rest well."
The old man smiled, and Roisin blinked briefly, then awoke as dawn broke over the mountains.

The group awoke in a mountain valley, somewhere in the Korth Wall.

Roisin remarked "You all look half asleep, as though you're just waking up." Jeeves responded "We did just wake up. Also, where are we?" Boris added "With that feast, it's no wonder we all fell asleep, even Bastion." Bastion spoke "I do not normally sleep, or eat, but I can eat when necessary, and apparently I can sleep if given enough 'encouragement'." Roisin said "That food must have been really really good." Boris replied "You ate it too, didn't you?" Roisin nervously said "Of course I did." Jeeves interjected "Ahhhh no. No you didn't. I saw you, and you only pretended to eat." Roisin declaimed "No. I, I had the food last night. It was so good it knocked me out. It knocked all of us out, right?" Jeeves challenged "Um... Look, Um... I'm pretty gosh darn sure I saw you not eat, pretending to take a bite, but returning the food to your plate, sipping from a cup that never seemed to get any less full. Good thing too because I saw it because of him." Bastion broke in, "Was it me you were concerned about?" Roisin asserted "I had some..." Jeeves noted "Oh, I probably should be concerned about you, Bastion. Were you able to eat the meal?" Bastion responded "I can eat. It is...unpleasant, but I can eat. I feel the benefits of the magic, so it does work for my kind." Jeeves said "That's good. Roisin, though, I know you did not eat anything." Roisin continued to deflect "I'm fine! I am fine. I had some, so let's just. Have only to go. And, yeah." Jeeves continued "Some enough to have the immunity, the effects, is the real question here." Roisin commanded "Jeeves, we will move on from this questioning, and you will not bring it up again." Roisin felt a surge of power and elation, and embraced, rather than resisting, the surge of energy. Jeeves eyes flashed and his desire to understand was suddenly erased. Jeeves felt a portion of his will collapse and would never return to this topic, as commanded.

Roisin changed the subject, "Bastion, do you know which way we need to go?" Bastion replied "I think I recognize the valley, we should head Northwest, toward that pass over there. With that, they chose walk forward, and began working out the proper marching order. Jeeves took the lead and Boris the back. They day passed without incident, and near the end of the day they crested the pass, only to enter another, higher, valley with another pass far ahead. Jeeves said "best be on our way, I guess." and Bastion said "We've been walking all day, what do you been be on our way?" Jeeves replied, slightly chagrined "I guess that means setting up a camp, seeing it's the end of the day." Bastion turned to do so, and began to experience some form of difficulty. "rrrrorrrorrrorroisin? I.I.I.I.I. seeem to tttoooo hhhaahahave a pprppprpprooblem.." "Can can can yyyooouuuu hheeeellllp? Ppppllleeeelleeeaaassee ttake take take ofofffooooff my my mmmyyy armoor?" Jeeves saw that Bastion was immobilized, and spent the next hour removing the armor, with rare brief moments of assistance from Bastion as whatever had gone wrong continued to prevent any semblance of normal activity. Boris and Jeeves stumbled about with a wide variety of attempts to fix the problem without ever attempting to diagnose the actual issue. Boris tried to cure a wound despite having no evidence of injury, and Jeeves tried to examine the mouth, assuming there was something wrong there, and wasted quite a bit of time doing so. Eventually Jeeves stopped fumbling about, and began to thoroughly examine the mechanisms that provided movement and action to the plant-like core. Jeeves also muttered about protection. shelter, or defenses, but Roisin refocused him to help Bastion. Jeeves finally investigated, and found there was some sort of malfunction in the mechanical elements of their friend, but could not determine the precise source. Jeeves also wanted to use a herb as grease, looked for buttons, and just generally fumbled about more. Boris used magic to see the hidden or invisible, and saw nothing of note, then tried to remove a curse, without effect. Boris then felt a scrying sensor forming and managed to block it from forming, but realized something distant was trying to find out what had cast magic in the vicinity; fortunately Boris had blocked the attempt. Boris and Jeeves continued to fumble, as Bastion's head began to spin rapidly, making loud grinding noises. Boris used his most powerful magic to heal Bastion, and also attempted to magically restore the individual, but this also had no effect. Jeeves laid his healing hands on Bastion's form, wiling the magic to make Bastion whole. As Jeeves did so, a large golden beetle crawled out of the mechanisms, which caused several gears and other elements to shift, as the noise, spinning, and shaking stopped. Boris stumbled about further as the beetle launched at Roisin, burrowing through the skin and crawling within. Boris, panicked, used protection from evil and good to protect Roisin from magical and extraplanar threats. Jeeves finally thought things through, and realized that anything that could remove disease might help, but failed to think of his own skill, focusing instead on magic. Boris tried to use a Pintel Thistle, but that had no effect. Jeeves thought about pouring Holy Water down Roisin's throat, wasting even more time. Roisin suffered more damage and began having trouble breathing. Jeeves finally thought to use his Physician's skill and used a scalpel to cut open Roisin's chest where he found the beetle about to consume the princess' heart. Jeeves pried the creature out, but nicked the aorta and left Roisin unconscious and bleeding to death. Boris magically cured Roisin's wounds, reviving her. Jeeves, still panicking, fumbled about and finally realized a weapon might help, but did not act quickly enough. Roisin ordered Boris to attack, and that worthy knight conjured a sacred flame, which burned the beetle to ash. Boris examined Bastion, who was now re-attaching his armor, and realized that there was nothing else wrong, it was all caused by this beetle which was trying to find a non-existent heart. Jeeves once again focused on his Physician's skill, and healed Roisin's injuries. Bastion apologized repeatedly, noting that this thing was likely some form of attack, even as Roisin and Jeeves tried to calm his discomfort. Jeeves finally asked Roisin to open the purse so he could retrieve a Paper Refuge, which he used with Mystical Union to produce two identical shelters. One hidden behind the other. They settled into the more hidden structure and Jeeves retrieved a few other magical scripts and origami so they would have them if needed.

The group set up watches and took to their beds. During Jeeves' watch, he saw small figures surrounding the cottage, and quietly woke the rest of the team. As the group scrambled to quietly prepare for battle the small figures tried, in vain, to ignite the cottage roof, finding it no easier to burn than stone. Jeeves fumbled with his various toxins, unable to decide which to use. Roisin dodged, uncertain what was happening. Boris conjured an extended aura of spiritual hammers which began tearing into the assailants outside. Bastion, deciding Boris and the others had things well in hand returned to his bed. It took only a few moments for the glowing gavels to finish bashing and burning all the, what turned out to be kobolds, into white ash. As soon as Jeeves reported the remaining kobolds destroyed, Boris ended his spell. Roisin returned to her bed, as Boris prepared to do the same, but Bastion suggested Jeeves check outside before everyone else returned to beds. Jeeves opened the door, and a beam of light lanced into the building and exploded into a massive ball of fire. Jeeves was caught completely unprepared, and nearly burned to death instantly. Boris was terribly burned, while Bastion and Roisin avoided the worst of the impact. Jeeves pulled a bow and coated the arrows with acid, then shot two arrows into the kobold spellcaster, leaving it severely injured with sizzling wounds. Roisin, noticing her bed was aflame leapt out of the bed, rushed outside and rolled around on the ground to put out the flames. Roisin also ordered Jeeves to shoot the Kobold again, and the physician shot another acid-coated arrow, which further injured it. Boris used powerful magic to create food and water to put out the flames on his bed, but also created a lot of smoke as the wet food smouldered, then left the building. The kobold launched another fireball, which missed Jeeves and Roisin, but burned Boris heavily and slightly scorched Bastion. Bastion rushed outside and magically moved the kobold next to himself and Boris. Jeeves shot another pair of arrows, killing the beast. The group looked around at the destroyed cottage and the smoke rising. Bastion just quietly retrieved his belongings and went to the other cottage where he laid down in the bed. The others followed suit, after Boris summoned a faithful hound in front of the door. There were no further interruptions, and dawn found the group rested and preparing for their day. Boris conjured magical berries for food, though Roisin again declined any sustenance. The group discussed how best to deal with the dragon, now that it was sending kobold raiding parties to harass them. Between several bad choices, Roisin decided that they should pursue the creature in its lair. Jeeves used alchemy to protect Bastion and Boris from the dragon's teeth and claws; Roisin likewise protected herself. Precautions applied, Bastion quickly read a scroll, and reality warped. Everyone found themselves standing around a natural stone pillar in a dark cavern as a massive green-scaled dragon looked over and said, calmly, "Ahh, playthings. How nice."