XXVI. A Song to Raise the Dead
General Summary
Following the battle with King Snurre, Valoryn found himself functionally alone, the only person awake and locked in a cell with Achilla and Lady Kohinoor. He took the opportunity to rest as he waited for the two women to wake up. After about an hour, he saw two fire giants coming down the hall dragging Alevdra behind them. She allowed them to drag her without contest, seemingly having conceded to her fate. As they locked her up, the two giants conversed and mentioned that Obmi would want to talk to her. Once they had her put away, the giants threw another person into the cell with Valoryn and his two unconscious friends. As they walked away, Valoryn attempted to steal the keys off the giant’s ring with but failed.
“Good try!”The man introduced himself as Mathazar the Conjurer, an Imperial Battlemage from the city of Ivargrad.-Mathazar the Conjurer
“Holy shit! ...she’s made me a lot of money, you know.”Valoryn, though offended by Mathazar’s unintentionally condescending introduction, attempted to size the wizard up and see what he could do. Mathazar explained that he was a conjurer and, as proof, conjured a key to the cell from nothing. Valoryn, now seeing the man's value, explained the current situation to Mathazar and hatched up a plan with him to save everyone by bringing them upstairs to Regen Wakerock. The two agreed to wait for Kohi and Achilla to wake up before doing anything, though. In the meantime, Valoryn spent his time taunting Alevdra from across the hall, though she didn’t respond to any of it. After another hour had passed, Achilla woke up. Her adrenaline immediately kicked in and she tried to reach for her sword before she took in her surroundings and calmed down. Valoryn updated Achilla on the situation and introduced her to Mathazar. Mathazar tried (and failed) to impress Achilla with his handshake. While they waited for Lady Kohi to wake up, Mathazar and Valoryn took note of an apparently unconscious Empyrean chained to the wall of the cell across the hall from them. Using the key Mathazar had conjured to unlock the door, Valoryn walked out of their cell and into the Empyrean’s. After Valoryn was out, Mathazar fashioned the key into a set of lock picks so Valoryn could attempt to free the Empyrean from his chains, hoping he’d make a valuable ally. As he did so, he realized that the Empyrean was more than unconscious—there was something wrong with him, revealed by his very deep, slow breathing. Lady Kohinoor woke up after two more hours had passed, during which time Valoryn had been tirelessly attempting to free the Empyrean. After she used Lay on Hands to regain some of her strength, Valoryn bluntly informed her that Alizeh (and everyone else) had fallen in the battle before, hoping to get the bad news out of the way. Kohi didn’t seem to fully process the information at first, but as Achilla and Mathazar tried to comfort her, tears began to fall.-Mathazar, upon noticing Achilla
“We will avenge their deaths.”-Achilla, the Shield of Ivargrad
“I’m sorry for your loss."-Mathazar the Conjurer
“Regen is upstairs. He can bring them back. And…we can use his help to get there.”Valroyn gestured to the Empyrean in the other cell. With so much information to process, Kohi shook her head and pushed out of the room, trying to focus on what needed to be done. Valoryn accompanied Kohi to the other cell and went back to work on picking the locks on the Empyrean’s chains. Kohi tried to diagnose what was wrong with him and realized that he was under the effect of a potent Oil of Taggit, a poison that could be used to keep someone sedated for twenty-four hours or more. Using the last of her Lay on Hands, Kohi neutralized the poison. As she laid her hands on him, Lady Kohinoor became overwhelmed with several powerful feelings—feelings of hope, euphoria, and lightness—the type of feelings that she had around Dev, but even more extreme. She dropped to her knees at the sensation. The Empyrean opened his bright amber eyes and addressed the two in his cell with a chipper “Good morning!” He conversed with them loudly, and Valoryn instantly began to see why the giants had him sedated as he began to try and sing in joy at being awoken. When Valoryn tried to convince him to be quiet, the Empyrean commented that Lady Kohinoor had a noble nature, and wondered at the company she kept in Valoryn. He mentioned that he could leave at any time he wished and attempted to rip his chains out of the wall, though he was unsuccessful. Lady Kohi explained that they were going to try and free him, and asked if they would help them find their friends before he left the plane. He agreed with the condition that they answer his riddle.-Valoryn Nightshade
“What is my name? You hear it on the wind, in a tavern, and on the lips of a loved one.”-Empyrean
"..."-Kohinoor Sattari & Valoryn Nightshade
“...what has a key but no lock?”Kohi and Valoryn were stumped, but Mathazar piped up from across the hall:-Empyrean
“A Song!”-Mathazar the Conjurer
“Yes, a SONG!”Song then ripped out of his chains with guidance from Kohi and help from Achilla, who had come in from the other cell. With everyone now at liberty to walk, the group began down the hall to retrieve the equipment that had been confiscated from them before the had been dumped in their cell. Song refused to follow Valoryn since he could sense his evil, so Valoryn took Lady Kohi by the shoulders and steered her down the hallway. On the way there, the group passed a pair of Centaurs and a group of eight Elves who had been intended to be sacrificed in the Giants’ temple. At the urging of Kohi and Song, the prisoners were freed from their cells. All of them chose to accompany the group to retrieve their equipment. The room that Valoryn had seen the Giants take their equipment into had obviously been inhabited by Drow. The room was lit by black, ever-burning candles and purple curtains hung from the ceiling, while a plush carpet covered the floor. Sweet smelling incense from a copper brazier filled the room with its scent, cloying and dreadful all at once. On the floor were two dead Drow, seemingly having been cut down by large swords. It appeared that the giants had been going around and killing the Drow in retaliation for their betrayal in regards to the Ashmaker. At the eastern edge of the room, black brocaded cloth bore the emblem of House Vilethorn in orange, black, lilac, and mauve. The banner had been torn off the wall, revealing a secret, lavishly-decorated inner sanctuary with a large bed and a smashed mirror inside. The room seemed to be a woman’s residence, as evidenced by the vestments found in a chest. After the party retrieved their equipment, Kohi and Achilla searched the main lounge while Mathazar searched the bedroom. While searching, Mathazar found a sealed coffer. When he tried to open it, he tripped a glyph that filled the room with thousands of spiders. He ran out screaming before dispelling the Insect Plague. By the end of their searching, the group had found coins, gemstones, magical scrolls, and potions. Meanwhile, Valoryn stole off back to the temple alone to try and find the bodies of his friends. On his way there, he got the distinct feeling that he was being watched from what appeared to be an empty cell. Filing it away to check on later, he continued his path the the Fire Giant's temple. He saw his friends' bodies under guard of a single Fire Giant priest. Sensing his opportunity, he returned to the group and planned a surprise attack. Song and the Centaurs agreed to come help, although Song commented that he abhorred violence, and thus would not fight. Valoryn snuck in and attacked the Fire Giant. When he'd gotten his bearings, the priest attempted to bring a fireball down on the makeshift party, but Mathazar Counterspelled it. Song bolstered the group with an empowering song. Achilla knocked the priest down and stabbed the shit out of him. With the priest prone, it was easy for the centaurs to trample him. Last came Valoryn, who slit his throat, making eye contact with Song as he did so. At last, the prisoners had been reunited with their friends. The reality of the situation finally hit Lady Kohi and she began to cry at the sight of the dead bodies. As she clung to Alizeh’s, she pointed out Dev to Song, whom she had told about Dev’s musical inclination. At seeing Dev’s tiny lifeless body, Song began to cry, which made everyone else cry as well. Valoryn put a hand on Lady Kohi’s shoulder and reminded her that Regen was upstairs. Filled with a new sense of urgency, the group asked Song to carry them through the hole in the ceiling to get them upstairs faster, since he could fly. He agreed to carry everyone except Valoryn, for whom Kohi threw a rope. The group made their way to Regen and Kohi begged him to try and resurrect the four party members who had fallen. He took the diamonds the group supplied and prayed to Egar as he began the ritual. The diamonds melted into a glowing white pool in Regen’s hands. Over the course of sixteen hours, Regen and Shugluk worked to call the spirits of their departed friends back into their bodies. During that time, everyone else rested and identified the magic items they had found. Lady Kohinoor spent the time meditating. In the end, everyone was resurrected except for Baui, whose soul was unwilling to return.-Song
“Did we win?”Kohi responded to this question by completely smothering Alizeh in a crushing hug. Akwele awoke and described how he'd met his ancestors, who had given him the gift that only dead Goliaths receive: on the right side of his face, in a straight line was a tattoo of his new name: Akwele Who Passed Through Fire and Frost. On either of his hands were glowing runes. Dev awoke reciting a poem:-Alizeh Sattari
Death, the infinite night,
Deep and smothering,
Cold and chill and othering,
Ink blots at the bottom of a page.
No joy, no fear, no wonder or rage.
The purest nothing.
A thin beam of light comes shooting through the darkness,
Attaching to my heart,
Making a new start.
How far along infinity have I traveled?
Somehow finding my friends,
My life was nearly unraveled,
Yet somehow, I live again…-Devaughn Lightpaw
“Beautiful!”Song floated down to Dev and the two struck up a conversation and played a little music together. Next, Dev sang a song to Song:-Song
I’ll sing you a Song of power,Song was delighted by this second rendition by Dev. The party then said their farewell to Baui. Valoryn gave a knowing nod, and Kohi pulled the flower he had painted to life to comfort her when she thought Valoryn had died out from her hair, laying it over his clasped hands. Dev recited a poem in his memory:
I’ll sing you a Song of love.
The notes, you’ll note,
I know from wrote
And the lyrics come straight from above. Music both loud and soft,
Music that's sharp or smooth,
Music that keeps you aloft,
Music that darkens your mood. A Song is a force of nature,
A storm or a quiet glen,
A Song is a wonderful story
And this one is done—
The end.-Devaughn Lightpaw
With feet swift like wind…and Akwele (with some input from Dev) bestowed upon him the name Baui the Wind who Conquered the Flames. After this, Song took his leave, having fulfilled the party’s request for aid in return for solving his riddle. He departed with sourceless, magical music, telling everyone that he would tell his father Dumile about them. The group sorted out all their items, with Mathazar (who had decided to accompany them) taking on the items Baui had left behind. They then descended the stairs to the lower level again, intending to speak to Alevdra, kill Obmi, and find Valoryn’s blade. Partially down the steps, Dev overheard a hushed conversation between Xuom and two other Giants, discussing the possibility of escape now that King Snurre was dead. Dev alerted the party to Xuom’s presence and suggested ambushing them, but Kohi and Akwele were opposed to the idea of fighting people attempting to flee. Kohi did mention that she wanted to try and free Waythe however, so Valoryn suggested she try to summon him to her the way that Xuom was able to. With guidance from Mathazar, Kohi focused and tried to call Waythe to her, but wasn’t able to. Instead, Dev cast message to Waythe, informing him of the party’s proximity, but this only caused Waythe to start loudly pleading for Kohi to come save him. Before everyone rushed down, Kohi stopped the group and used her Emboldening Bond for the first time on Alizeh, Akwele, Achilla, and Valoryn, urging them to keep each other safe in light of what had just happened. The party ran down the stairs and into a fog-filled hallway, from where several crates and other objects came flying at them. They could still hear Waythe screaming. Three Cloud Giant hid in the room below, waiting for the fight ahead.
A stream runs down the mountain
Back out to the sea-Devaughn Lightpaw
