Chapter II, Part 2

For A Few Nutcakes More

16th -17th of Summer, 117 YA

It was mid-afternoon on the 17th of Summer that the Companions passed within the shade and serenity of the Grove of the Six Sisters. The sun was dappled on the grass at their feet and the air felt thick with the moisture of greenery. They quickly set up their tents and then slid their bare feet through the grass as their bodies and minds relaxed under the Grove’s six wooden sentinels. It was an hour or more before Brother Prospit stirred and went to the two wooden cages that he had carried for the past day and a half. Covered with a thick cloth to protect the seven feathered lives within, the cages had been silent with the constant jostling of their march across the plain.

As Prospit removed the cloth, the birds began to sing out—tentative at first and then growing in confidence. He listened for a moment and then turned to bring the cages deeper into the grove but saw immediately it was unnecessary. Materializing in the shade between the tree trunks, two lithe forms moved out into the light and exposing their green skin and colorful hair. These two were the younger ones, Prospit remembered, as he heard Nammaton and Cyryl gasp. The two newcomers had never seen a Dryad up close and, in the bloom of their youth, a pair of them was breathtaking. Brother Prospit marshaled his faith and his hope then addressed them.

He apologized for the blunder of bringing the Bone Comb into their midst and hoped that these songbirds would quiet their concerns over it. The taller Sister, Prospit could not recall her name as neither had spoken to them before, beamed at him as the shorter one peered around him at the new males in their party. Brother Prospit cleared his throat and hurried on in his apology while extending the cages out to the silent Sisters.

As he did so, a tall shape materialized from a mist that had not been there a moment before and came up behind the pair. Prospit recognized the regal features of Endellion, the oldest of the Sisters and his idea of their ‘leader’ though he doubted such a term meant anything to these beautiful women-spirits. ENDELLION smiled broadly as she saw the cages and she quickly unlatched the cage doors without taking them from Prospit’s outstretched hands. Envisioning his hard-earned coin flying straight out of sight, Prospit sighed and then smiled as all seven of the brightly-feathered birds flew to Endellion and orbited her in a trilling ring of color and song.
A few of the birds, they were actually Aleuvian Songbirds according to Endellion, settled on her shoulders and arms while the others set off to explore their new home. Endellion bowed and thanked Brother Prospit for the gift and for honoring his promise to bring them gifts from outside the Grove. Her smile saddened for a moment as she spoke, almost to herself, of the last time that Aleuvian Songbirds had graced the Grove.

"They were once thick in these trees. Many years before the Taking and never since. I have greatly missed the beauty of their stories. I am touched, Priest-man. A true gift."

— Endellion of the Six Sisters

With her before him, Prospit again apologized and she waved him off with only a warning to remember the Grove was a sanctuary only so long as it stood. Bringing evil within it could weaken it, even end it. Endellion looked at the massive trees that circled the interior and Prospit knew that should the Grove fall then the trees and the Dryads who lived with them would follow soon after. Once spoken, the Dryad that the Companions tried to think of as the ‘elder’ became flighty and quirky without a moment’s notice as she barely followed their talking while watching the birds sing of their joy at their new home.

Without much of a warning, Endellion and the others slipped away into the inviting shadows as the sun had sunk lower and were gone. Brother Prospit thanked his divines that the gift was accepted as he had feared the incident with the BONE COMB had tarnished their relationship for good.

The Companions spoke until darkness overtook them as there was much to decide. The Sallow Hills, Grimbold proposed, was the only possible destination for them. All that the Duergar had heard had done nothing more than whet his appetite and even Edlin stopped trying to speak reason to him. Prospit worried that it was too far from the safety of the Keep but acquiesced to the Duergar’s argument which, by this point, had simply become emphatic grunts. The SALLOW HILLS it was, they decided, and the thought may have sent a shiver down their collective spines but none admitted to it. And none noticed the uncertain look shared between Nammaton and Cyryl.

By the time they were in their bedrolls, it had also been decided that PAEDRAG and MOON, if they were stay at Dyramar, would be hired at least for the first month. Brother Prospit nearly clicked his heels together but he was too bloody tired from hauling that kitchen set on his back for the past day and a half. No more, he consoled himself as sleep overtook them all. The following morning, there were no Dryads to see them off but, covered in a light morning dew, the Companions discovered several leaf-bundles containing nut and fruit cakes that had clearly been prepared and laid out for them by the Sisters.

It was only a few miles further east to the Keep when CYRYL and NAMMATON informed the others that they would be heading south and then east again. They apologized but confessed to not having the interest to trudge through the wilderness when the towns call out so strongly. Hands were shaken all around and the two groups parted ways for now.

The Kids Are Alright

18th-19th of Summer, 117 YA

Dyramar Keep & the Scrub Plains

Padraeg and Moon were nearly shaking with excitement as the Companions entered their campsite just outside Keep Dyramar. As Prospit spoke to them, warning them of the danger, reciting the duties they would be expected to perform and more he got the distinct impression that they would have agreed to storming the Stygian Coils. They were not even listening just nodding their heads to every word that came out. Eventually, they managed to come to an accord once Moon’s hand stopped shaking long enough to give Grimbold a ‘firm handshake’.

When Edlin cocked an eyebrow, the Duergar just rolled his eyes—a good, firm handshake broke bones. These Manlings would crack like twigs if he greeted them appropriately. Realizing he just limited himself in introducing himself, Grimbold began to mutter darkly to himself and wandered far enough away that his axe would not be tempted by anyone for enough time to calm down.

The Companions realized that the two young men were ill-equipped for a long journey in the wilds it was grudgingly decided that some basic kit would be purchased for them. The two of them were made very cognizant that their new employers were spending money that they expected to get back! It was almost too good to be true when the group realized that the two young men did come with spears and bucklers though wearing no real armor behind leather jerkins and buckings.

Into The Sallow Hills

19th-20th of Summer, 117 YA

Scrub Plains & Sallow Hills

From the peak of a hill ridge that sat on the south side of the Scrub Plains, the Companions tried to get a look at the mass of hills and earthy protrusions that made up the Sallow Hills. Only eight miles away from the northern edge of the Border Hills, the SALLOW HILLS loom too high for one to simply ignore them so cavalierly. They drew the eye and not in a good way. While the foothills extend only a short distance from the rock sides that surround the area, they grew tighter and more packed which only became known as the Companions drew closer. Tighter and tighter the foothills seemed until, further out, they began forming into large hills of torn, rocky and sandy ground underfoot. The sun was still hiding its face so the temperature remained mild but there was an instant dryness in the back of everyone’s throat as they peered at the outer edge of the Sallow Hills.

While they had little luck in perceiving a path through the vertical rock garden a clearing did seem to be visible between two lines of hills that ran north into the SALLOW HILLS. The clearing, confirmed by other eyes, seemed to pass further north without being obstructed by the hills at least for a few more miles than the rest of the southern border of the region. With a direction in mind, they set up their encampment fearing to get caught out on the Scrub Plains as they did the previous foray in this direction.

The following morning, the camp was awoken to the sound of crashing iron. A quick look outside tents revealed that PADRAEG had attempted to get up early to cook for the Companions. Unfortunately, he missed that Prospit had tied all of the pots together and when he pulled one out of the pack—the whole set came crashing out. The young man apologized and the Companions slowly accepted that the day had begun.

Less than an hour later, the Companions were trudging across the Scrub Plains in a still-dark morning. The wind whipping across the Scrub Plains was blowing grit and sand into every mouth and nostril in the group. The clearing that they were angling for lay to the east of their approach but they hurried to get out of the open vulnerability of the plains. Once at the very edge, the group headed east and a little south to hug the outer boundary in the direction of the clearing. There was some wasted effort when the group got turned around as they noticed that a fog was rising from the foothills and it was thickest to the east—the direction they were headed at the moment.

With poor visibility, it required some quick-stepping and navigating from Geller whereupon he led them through a ravine and an incline before turning them north directly into the mouth of the clearing or flattened valley between the hill ridges. These flatlands were moist and the fog began to build such that seeing more than a dozen or more feet was becoming a problem. The Companions were strung in a tight line that pointed north while they moved towards the Hills proper by way of this indentation between two ridgelines.

A hush from within the fog quieted those Companions who could actually see each other. Grimbold was further from the group and was not answering calls for him. The pace was slowed and Geller took the lead so he could search for the Duergar’s footprints. The quiet helped but the…buzzing did not? What was that... he stopped for a moment and only silence.

And then again, a buzzing hum seemed to build within the fog beyond Geller’s sight but it was approaching fast!

A pale shape, the size of a pig, flew out of the fog on blurred wings and Geller dipped below its outstretched limbs by pure instinct and luck. As the forester recovered his footing and tried to see more of the shape he caught the gleam of metal or chitin on the outstretched limbs. He realized now that there had been large eyes, nearly saucer-size, and that gleam came from more than just its limb. In the time it took Geller to reason through that, Brother Prospit was already moving. With his icon outstretched, the clergyman whipped around and incanted a quick trigger. At that moment, a brilliant light flared on the shape’s head and it was revealed as something similar to a 4-foot locust with sharp and gleaming limbs.

Blinded, the creature lost all sense of position and pinwheeled wing over wing until it slammed into the ground. Once it hit, the buzzing shifted from its location to another bank of fog. The noise raced closer after holding for a moment unseen again. As the shape materialized before Prospit, Moon’s arm lanced out with his shortspear and skewered the flying creature! The spearhead pierced what would be the face of the oversized insect and it was likely not coming out of that intact. The creature slumped, a single wing spastically twitching a staccato, and the Companions shouted to form up and make a semi-circle with their backs touching. The wind was quieter back here and their ears strained but none could detect the winged approach of another one.

A short break to catch breath and one of them looked closer at the fog hunter for a long time before deciding it was time to move now! Later, their description seemed flawed—wrong. It was a giant insect about the size of a medium-size canid. Its head was bulbous and the mandibles were serrated while the insect’s front limbs sported a barbed chitin and cartilage edge that looked like a nasty way to go. Its exoskeleton was pale and unhealthy-looking. Looking around, there were a few dried husks of similar bodies and some of them were near a narrow but deep hole. The Companions intuited that they were similar to locusts and so the foul things were waking up and doing so already starving... There was a brief moment where all of them gazed out over the flatlands that stretched around them and then they panicked into a faster gait towards the hills.

The sun had chosen to lay in bed for most of yesterday and so far today and clouds obscured even the stars. While sleeves were rolled down, the temperature was even and Geller had felt rain was more than a day away. But the Companions raced forward hoping that even some weak sun would burn away the fog… it was like moving through a pillow. Sounds were off and indistinct, there was the occasional stumble from racing over a rugged terrain without the ability to see using one’s eyes. The ragged group must have been turned around again as the clearing seemed to be twice as long. Fearing that their time was running out, the Companions raced into cover at the bottom of the ravine before verifying that they were lost.

It was too difficult to navigate from the bottom of a bowl so Brother Prospit volunteered to climb to the top of the highest hill close by. The rest of the group huddled in the indentations and holes. Everyone tried to make their bodies a smaller target but there was no following Prospit as the cleric raced off.

By the time Prospit made it to the top observation available, his lungs were like bellows and he bent over and hugged his knees. But gazing out, he realized that he could see well enough to navigate it. It was not long before the whole group was at the hilltop wheezing in unison. A quick rest was called and then a longer rest without objection. Despite an evening stumble on the rockslide that almost cost them MOON, the night started peacefully enough. But around midnight, while the others slumbered a mountain lion attempted to gain a late night meal but found only its own death at the hands of the Companions.