A.S.S.: Currents

General Summary

Wherein lightning and chaos are called down and travelled through.

A New Job & an Ambush

While enjoying earning a well-deserved break after escorting an acquaintance to seek the tutelage of a tigerdragon (see A.S.S.: The Tiger Cure), the Arbos were contacted a researcher with a job offer. It seems that this scholar, Jossalindae, is in need of escort to Crackeel Landing. She plans to then take whatever ship she can find to the Drembari Isles, and time appears to be of the essence. She offered 100 gold a piece for any of the Arbos who felt up to the taste of some light escort duty. Having nothing else going on at the moment, most of Arboreal Security Service (with the exception of the Colonel and Haemic, who were indisposed) signed on.
There was some concern over this being a departure of sorts from their usual work (being valiant stewards of the natural world), but the payday and the fact that Messelum sent this person to the Arbos seemed to recommend taking this job on.
And it should be easy enough, right? No trouble for veteran Tree Cops like our heroes.
There were, of course, complications.
It seemed that Dae was on the run, having stolen something she called the Charge from her former employer, an energy and industrial operation called Sparksail Enterprises. Needless to say, they wanted it back. To facilitate its retrieval, Heffle, a Principal of Sparksail, organized an ambush of our Arbos. It became clear, as the fight wore on, that the reserves available to Heffle appeared never-ending and that the battle was going against the Arbos. Dae took it upon herself to beat a hasty retreat for our heroes, activating a very much untested "transportation" power contained within the Charge.
The result definitely saved the Arbo's lives, as they were instantly transported through an incredible harnessing of lightning energies. The problem was that they weren't sure where or maybe even when they were transported to.

Following the Lightning

Our would-be escorts found themselves in a strange place, floating in what appears to be "lightning space." A quick check-in with Dae (namely: what the fuck?!) revealed a possible reason why. It appears that the Charge is a very experimental energy capacitor. Dae, along with her colleague Genjor, were discovering just how much lightning could be absorbed when the device suddenly discharged and sent Genjor somewhere else. When Dae tried to raise this very real side effect--that maybe powering up the Charge could result in the wholesale destruction of any plane's reality--she was told that wasn't a major concern, and to deliver the product as ordered. Feeling a moral duty to safeguard this power, she stole the Charge and hired our Arbos to help her leave town.
Okay, that makes sense. But how are they going to get off this floating rock? Simple. Use the Charge again. And keep using it until it is calibrated enough to send our heroes home. There's a slight problem, though, as the Charge itself needs to "charge" with energy. So, wherever they end up, they'll have to be there a while for that to happen.
With that said, Dae unleashed the power of the Charge and took our heroes elsewhere. This particular elsewhere turned out to be in the middle of a battle between a furious minotaur wielding the power of the storm and an equally furious air elemental. The Arbos quickly took to the side of the minotaur and helped it vanquish both the air elemental and the much stronger air elemental myrmidon that followed in its wake.
The minotaur, who called himself Kurganak, was grateful and took a minute to explain his whole deal. He follows what he calls the Storm Lord (which our Arbos might understand as a facet of Kogos or Dallro) and goes "where the storm takes me." Lenny was quite taken with this warrior, especially as he gifted her a set of Chimeric Wrappings, as "the Storm Lord PUT you IN MY WAY" and that demands an offering. Nice! It feels like our heroes were just getting to known Kurg before the Storm Lord's will manifested yet again and all were transported elsewhere through the current.
This elsewhere happened to be Eldheim, presided over by the Meadeye, Esastrov. This "mead hall at the end/center of all things" seems to function across planar space and time. Curious! The Arbos took this moment to enjoy some mead--some more expansively than others--and take a much needed rest. As their abilities returned and strengthened, they decided to chat with some of the other "noble travelers" enjoying the respite offered by Eldheim.

• Aletide talked to Dae, more than a little upset about getting her ass handed to her over and over again and trying to squeeze a little more money out of her for the hassle. Dae reminded Aletide, however, that a deal was a deal, and that, in truth, her command of the Charge was their best bet in getting home. Damn.
• Sir Courtois talked to a lady made entirely of plasma about this place and its relationship to, well, everything else. She offered a cryptic tautology by way of explanation, telling Courtos that "you are here because you need to be. Once you don't need to be, you won't be here." Huh.
• Lenny took the time to discuss her experience with the captivating Kurg to Estatrov, who offered an pleasant, if nonplussed, ear.
• And Harriet did what Harriet does best--performed a medley of tunes detailing the accomplishments of A.S.S. thus far. It was well received.

The hospitality of Eldheim was interrupted, however, by the sudden emergence of undead fleshspurned and woe siphons, or "rude nuisances" as Esastrov called them. Combat commenced and Aletide once again got got pretty good. Eventually, however, the threat was vanquished and the mead once again flowed at Eldheim. Nice! Just as our heroes were beginning to wonder how much time they might spend in Eldheim, the lightning came and moved them elsewhere once more.

Break the Charge

If the previous locations were suffused with lightning energy, then this elsewhere was entirely made of it. The ground teemed with static as they found themselves face to face with what could only be called a lightning golem. It seemed like the Charge calibrated itself to lead them here. To what end was unclear, however, as a fight broke out. Combat was electric and brutal, as might have been predicted. But, eventually, our Arbos triumphed and the golem was revealed to be none other than Genjor, whose experiments with lightning have, apparently, rendered him to this state.
He--in his waning moments of lucidity--urged Dae to "cease manipulating powers we cannot control" and to break the Charge. Seeing the end result of their experimentation, and realizing the latent danger in such an object, she did so.
This resulted in our heroes being transported through the currents one more time--this time dropped safely in front of the northern gate of Crackeel Landing. Dae, keenly aware that Sparksail likely hunted her still, bade a hasty farewell, thanking our heroes and delivering 100 gold to each of them as promised. With that, the Arbos decided to return to New Carydam for another much needed rest.

And That's Where We Left It

We'll see what the next job holds for our Tree Cops as the annals of A.S.S. continue.

Varied & Sundry Details

• Lenny appears to be under the impression that her and Kurg are dating. It is unclear if the minotaur is aware of that.
• Speaking of Lenny, she has started an ambitious project--to combine her Barge Helm with her Thunderstone (see: A.S.S.: The Tiger Cure). Time will tell how this turns out.
• Sir Courtois has realized another dimension to himself: Group Dad. Further elaboration is not required.
• Aletide just got wrecked by baddies during the course of this job. Just fuckin' destroyed. This beating lead her to question her current choice of occupation, if only for a brief moment.

Rewards Granted

• Kurganak's Chimeric Wrappings
• Level 6!

Character(s) interacted with

• Jossalindae--an energy researcher in need of escort.
• Heffle--Principal at Sparksail Enterprises, Dae's erstwhile boss.
• Kurganak--a furious follower of the Storm Lord.
• Esatrov--hospitable archon of the mead hall
• Genjor--genial energy researcher turned lightning golem

Report Date

01 Jan 2023

Secondary Location

Eldheim