Dreams and Connections

Life, Supernatural

Crush is visited in his dreams by the voice of Chris once again. Crush attempted to connect with his brother but lost him to the influence of this unknown Scizzord pulling him away. Slowly, the party convened that night to discuss what should be done with this information. Only after a handful of possibilities were discussed did Chuptah reveal a new twist to the entire situation.

Crush found himself within a fog obscured marsh. The voice of Chris called out, unable to find Crush. The cold and the dark of where he was continued it's oppression upon him. He just wanted to feel the sun again. Crush tried to figure out where Chris was but the marsh and haze was too much. With the effort of searching, fungal invested rodents, serpents, bugs, and worms began to climb from the ground. A Spore Cloud began to radiate from Crush, darkening the fog a deep olive. The Watchers that Crush had found connection with in the Pyrewood Mounds. While Chris couldn't find Crush, he could hear and begin to see the other voice, the other presence in this spectral world. Scizzord. Crush didn't trust it. Long ago, Myska had stated that Crush had been pulled to her by a false pretense, possibly by the great aberrant evil she had lost so much to hold back. Crush feared that the presence could be that influence. The Tortle called out for Chris to not go with him, not to go with Scizzord. But Scizzord had a way to the sun. Scizzord had a way to the warmth. And the more that Crush Called out for his brother to stop, the more his spore cloud, heightened by his dark bargain, spread.     Crush burst out from his form, shaping out wings and feathers to become a great eagle. He scanned for the lightened clouds of the sun and flew as fast as he could. But he couldn't fly fast enough. He crossed marsh, mountain, and water in a series of moments, time and distance nothing in this spiritual place. He found himself approaching a conifer wood, snow dropping from branch and limb as it thawed in the sun. He could here Chris talking to someone else, thanking them for being saved and promising to come back to save Crush once they found the way out.   Crush awoke in a rush and found his way to Fozz, braking the elf from his trance. While Crush first confided in the elf, eventually the whole menagerie was woken. Ideas were bandied back and forth on whether to act on this information immediately. The group knew that Dul Kag's Temperance Shards had been taken to New Derth long ago in the Exodus. There was more info to be learned, but clues pointed south despite Astrid believing that the party did not possess enough of the Shade Crystal to deal with New Derth's problems. There was personal desire to go with Crush immediately to investigate the Timberbank but that desire was met with suspicion. If this voice drawing Chris away was related to Myska's warnings, this all could be a distraction. With other tasks still yet to be done in Dul Kag from research to miner mercenary work to afford new weaponry, the party was split in intentions and desires. To add to the mix of desires and duties, Chupta's ruminations on Crush's story brought a final twist to the fold.   The smuggler shared a key detail of his past that had seemed irrelevent but now was ultimately so. The name Scizzord in Crush's dream was the same name that Chupta had seen on a note in his long ago incident that first brought him in contact with a Temperance Shard. The lead that had brought the party to Bactran in the first place was deeper than they thought. The party would need to make a trip. Over the next Day, Fozz retrieved his shirt, Crush had an exotic harness meant for an underdark riding lizard retrofitted for his wildshapes, and Chupta called in Temren to pick the trio up. Astrid would be staying in Dul Kag to do work and research while the trio made their way north.