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Chapter 6: The Quest for Seven Falls Canyon.

Posted by GM BardFor group 0
Saliq Musfara
player, 502 posts
Illusionist
Wed 4 Jul 2018
at 14:35
  • msg #250

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Saliq watched the silver wyrms, his eyes wide with awe. For a moment but one thought was running through his mind:

Gods I wish I had been born a dragon rather than a man.

After a moment the awe remained but cool rationality returned. With a grateful smile towards Rath for the warrior's protective instincts Saliq looked from dragon to dragon to Marissa. Though he desperately wanted to answer their question he thought it better to wait till they responded to Marissa.
GM Bard
GM, 887 posts
The Readiness is All
Stay alert
Wed 4 Jul 2018
at 16:12
  • msg #251

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Rather than retreat, the two dragons move closer, so close you can feel the beating of their wings and feel the air from there breathe as they talk,

The smaller of the two almost smiles at Marissa's comment, but the larger stays threatening.

"By what right do you claim protector status of a great dragon?"

Marissa Ehridol
player, 307 posts
The Sea Dragon
Wed 4 Jul 2018
at 18:52
  • msg #252

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Marissa's smile did not fade, but her eyes grew stern as she replied, "By my own right, Sirrah. Or, if you prefer, by the child's. You see her here cradled in my arms, do you not? And if she cringes with fear, it is because, as I mentioned a moment ago, you are overwhelming in your presence. Now, please, retreat just a bit so that she can come to know you both as friends."
Inas Eoinsson
player, 469 posts
Thu 5 Jul 2018
at 13:12
  • msg #253

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Inas relaxes his bow.  Not that anything he does will matter at this point.  It's in Marissa's hands (quite literally) now.
GM Bard
GM, 888 posts
The Readiness is All
Stay alert
Thu 5 Jul 2018
at 19:51
  • msg #254

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

The larger dragon looks as if he might explode, but the smaller one moves closer to him, "Do not be rash, they do not understand the rules dragons live by.  She is brave, which is a worthy trait for a protector".

Turning towards the party, "When a grand dragon is born, those closely attuned to it feel it, and it falls to us to raise it, for they are only born when their sire dies.  Without instructions on the care of the young, it falls to another, and we are that.  The baby does not choose, it is too young to know, even if its very smart and very pretty".
Aldo Rathmus
player, 521 posts
Thu 5 Jul 2018
at 20:04
  • msg #255

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Rath tried to get Folke’s attention. He mouthed the word scroll repeatedly.
Saliq Musfara
player, 503 posts
Illusionist
Thu 5 Jul 2018
at 23:13
  • msg #256

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Saliq looked like he was practically biting his tongue in impatience at not speaking. He shot a grateful look at Rath.
Folke Vanirhalvt
player, 190 posts
Fri 6 Jul 2018
at 00:54
  • msg #257

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Finally Folke noticed Rath's charades and saw the wisdom of his urgings.  Though they might not find Marissa a being that deserved full respect, surely they would honour the words of one of their own.  He slipped a hand into his pack, found the papery edges of the parchment and then forced himself forward to converse with the dragons.

Converse with dragons.  Plural.  This is insane!

Nonetheless, there was no backing out now that he had stepped to the fore and drawn their attention.  He began speaking, his words unintelligible but reminiscent of the short conversation he'd had with the Sigurdsdottir in the city.  He sounded slightly more practiced than before but still voiced the words quite deliberately, as though fearful to make a mistake.  As he spoke he pulled forth the scroll and read a few lines from it, before turning it to face the dragons for their inspection.

Folke stopped then, waiting as calmly as he could while faced with two enormous, hovering dragons peering intently at him.  He hoped they would respond favourably.
Aldo Rathmus
player, 522 posts
Fri 6 Jul 2018
at 02:28
  • msg #258

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Rath tried to stand casually. He eyed the dragons, gauging their response.
GM Bard
GM, 889 posts
The Readiness is All
Stay alert
Fri 6 Jul 2018
at 15:44
  • msg #259

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

The dragons eyes narrow as they stare at the scroll,  at last the smaller one lowers her head a bit, the larger speaks,

"A sad but noble end for great Gyrrallyss.  Folke Vanirhalvt, long thought to be dead among the men and women of the North, who died seeking a dread dragon, and has instead come back with a live one.  It is a story fit for a bard.  Forgive us for doubting, truly you are temporary guardians of the young dragon.  The scroll mentions Astrallyss has been born with a threat upon her, and that she is to be in your care until that threat is eliminated.  The Morde Witch no less, and she is no small problem.  Once she is dead, bring Astrallyss back to this place and we will teach her in the ways of dragons.  After that, she will choose where to go, and what to do with her life, in these chambers when you return her safely, you find half of Grrallyss' horde, the rest of it will go with her".

At this point the smaller adult silver dragon makes a high pitched whistling sound, a note of such purity, it is like nothing you've ever heard before.   Like a moth to a flame Astral flies from Marissa's shoulder and lands on the dragons nose.  The larger one noses her too, nearly so large you worry she'll be squashed but moments later she flies back to her chosen human perch.

The larger dragon, nods "Take care of her, Xayrgaryss will be watching for your return". With that it turns and flies up into the sky.

The smaller dragon comes close, "I am Dinnyrth, Lady of the Skies.   When you return, and I feel you will, the caverns here are safe but do not enter the passages beyond.  They are cursed, known as the passages of Woe and Sorrow.  Take care of them".  She says this last to the wee dragon, and she too flies up and away towards the North.

Marissa Ehridol
player, 308 posts
The Sea Dragon
Fri 6 Jul 2018
at 16:02
  • msg #260

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

"My pseudonym takes on new meaning, it seems," Marissa notes quietly, stroking the now returned young dragon beneath her chin. "Did you enjoy visiting with your cousins?" she asks.
Saliq Musfara
player, 505 posts
Illusionist
Fri 6 Jul 2018
at 21:23
  • msg #261

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Saliq looks away from the North, having followed the two dragons until he could no longer see them with the naked eye. "We best get moving back to Stormhaven. The Guild might be able to help us with our grey hairs."

The illusionist smiles ruefully at Astrel. "Not something you at least have to worry about my lady." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Are you hungry? We might need to hunt or set snares..."
GM Bard
GM, 890 posts
The Readiness is All
Stay alert
Fri 6 Jul 2018
at 23:53
  • msg #262

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Astral giggles at Marissa's comment, and chin rub "They are big, aren't they, will I get that big?".

At the mention of food, Astral hops over to Saliq's shoulder, "You, would seek out food for me?  What do you have?  You seem like the other one, you weave magic, have the same tone of voice, you are skinny though and far more handsome, why would you help me and he only have cruel words to me?"
Saliq Musfara
player, 506 posts
Illusionist
Sat 7 Jul 2018
at 00:26
  • msg #263

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Saliq looks a little flushed at the tiny dragon's compliments (sort of). He looks at Astral (in so much as he can without dislodging her.)

"Alas your tormentor is an evil wizard from my homeland. He is a villain, as some men are, but I am a friend my lady. It is true I use magic too but of a different kind - I weave illusions."

He pauses, a little embarrassed. "As for why I would help you, well partly because it is the right thing to protect an innocent but partly because... well I have long dreamed of meeting your kind. It is a honour my lady."
Aldo Rathmus
player, 524 posts
Sat 7 Jul 2018
at 02:46
  • msg #264

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Rath was breathing easier with the pair of large dragons gone. But he joined Saliq in watching the creatures dwindle into the distance, and one might almost notice he was almost smiling.

He clapped Folke on the shoulder, very carefully (in case he still had the strength of a giant). "Well read, Vanirhavlt. The dragons know you by name. That's ... well, I imagine that's gotta be ... disconcerting?" Rath gave his friend a smirk, to let him know it was all in fun.

But he turned serious. "Okay, Musfara. This nemesis of yours. I guess we can expect some kinda payback?" He eyed the skies. "Let's get moving. As fast as our old legs will carry us. Rose is not going to be happy."
Marissa Ehridol
player, 310 posts
The Sea Dragon
Sat 7 Jul 2018
at 15:25
  • msg #265

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

"You will become a great Dame of the Sky, lass," Marissa answers, then stares bemused as the little dragon alights upon Saliq. The dragonling is all energy and leaps and bounds, while she, sadly, is feeling her age...
GM Bard
GM, 891 posts
The Readiness is All
Stay alert
Sat 7 Jul 2018
at 17:43
  • msg #266

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

The party of heroes carefully follows the slick cliff-side trail up and away from the falls.  Soon back on firm ground, surrounded by trees.  The walk up is far more difficult than it was coming down as several members of the party feel it most heavily in their lungs and the burn in their older legs.

For several hours Inas leads the group back through deer trails, mercifully the trail is mostly heading slightly down.

Astral flits from person to person, asking an endless list of questions.  She has all the curiosity of a small child, while at the same an daunting intelligence.  She apparently was born fluent in a dozen languages, while at the same time, having a childlike innocence of how things work in the world about her.  She asks about your families, what you do, what you are good at, if you are married, have children, where you got that scar, just about anything.  And she implores Saliq to show her some illusions, for Folke to sing a song and play a tune, for Inas to tell her about this plant, that tree, for Marissa to tell her tales of the sea and how to steer a ship, and Rath to tell her about all the religious tokens he wears and what it feels like to heal someone, and who is Rose?   It good that she flies from person to person, for cute as she is, she is also somewhat exhausting.  When she finally settles behind Marissa's hair and goes to sleep, everyone, even grim Inas, can't help but smiling.

As night falls, the party sets up camps and takes turns on watch.  Sleep comes easy under a clear cool sky.   In the morning, everyone feels refreshed.

Several days go by in such peaceful, natural travel, and by the third day, the party begins to be able visually to see their comrades are becoming younger.  Whatever curse of magic of the passages of Woe and Sorrow has, it is not permanent and begins to wear off.  In the ten days it takes to return to the outskirts of Stormhaven, everyone has returned to their normal ages.

ooc: Congratulations, the party has successfully, and with flair and ingenuity completed the rescue of the young dragon.  I will update XP's along with some bonus for excellent role-playing.   I am going to make two assumptions, if I'm wrong, please let me know, but they are, the party will return to Elexi after a stop in Stormhaven, and that the Morde Witch will be their next and likely final, er, next great adventure.   If I don't hear otherwise, I will be opening a new chapter soon towards that end. 
Aldo Rathmus
player, 526 posts
Sat 7 Jul 2018
at 20:03
  • msg #267

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Despite the apparent peacefulness of the travel, Rath remained ready for trouble. So long as Inas could forage and hunt enough to nourish the party, along with Marissa's new ward, he saved his most powerful spells for emergencies. No conjured divine feasts on this leg of the journey!

In the end, of course, Rath's caution was unmerited, but he would have made the same decision again in similar circumstances.

Perhaps surprising his companions, Rath tolerated the hail of questions from young Astrel with no trace of annoyance, and his answers were clear, direct ... and honest. Although the stream of queries gave Rath little time to elaborate on details, the companions -- even Musfara and Eoinsson who had known Rath longest -- learned more about their friend over these days than they had learned in all the months preceding.

Rath had grown up in Stormhaven. His father, an abusive drunk, had made his life a hell, and his mother was ill-equipped to shield Rath, or herself. He grew up in poverty and violence -- both a victim and a perpetrator. On these points, he almost became evasive, but finally and with resolve made his matter-of-fact confessions. I hurt people. Killed people for their money. I regret it, but that don't change it. And the gods know I can't make up for it. I don't think I'm evil. But I know I'm not good. We're not like you, see? People, I mean. Some of us are evil, like that wizard who caged you. Some of us are good -- like Saliq, and Marissa. Most of us don't know what the hell we are.
Saliq Musfara
player, 508 posts
Illusionist
Sun 8 Jul 2018
at 12:13
  • msg #268

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Saliq is amused if exhausted by Astral's questions and general enthusiasm. He tells her a little of his past and family, of the Empire of the Shining Sands (conversing with her in Zandaran, the poetic language of his homeland if she knows it) and of the adventures the group has been on.

For illusions he turns himself invisible, conjures up a life size image of the dracolisk that had turned him to stone in the abandoned Duergar city and takes the form of variously Ga, Lord  Myron and the Mistress.

"Some would say the illusionist is more limited than the magic-user, and they are right in a way. There a things a mage's apprentice can do that I could never manage... yet I like to think I have a trick or two. Magic is an art little one, as much or more poetry as prose."

As Rath opened up Saliq looked at him with sympathy, not having suspected the inner demons that man had faced before ever taking sword to the real ones.
Marissa Ehridol
player, 312 posts
The Sea Dragon
Sun 8 Jul 2018
at 16:02
  • msg #269

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

After Rath's confessions, Marissa offers him a sardonic grin. "Nice that you think me good, Rath, though I'm not really sure what that means. I protect my friends, you protect your friends. I right a wrong, you do the same. I stand for something greater than myself, so do you. We evolve, my friend, at least most of us. Those who don't end up in an early grave."

To Astral, she quickly describes the job of a Helmsman - to describe her duties aboard ship would take far longer than the ten days of their journey back to Stormhaven. Once complete, even she is relieve to take a break from the little ones incessant questions. When Astral comes back to roost in her hair, however, Marissa smiles in contentment.
Inas Eoinsson
player, 471 posts
Sun 8 Jul 2018
at 18:08
  • msg #270

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Inas readily responds to the dragonling's questions, and does so with patience.  That is sufficiently different from his normally dour demeanor to demonstrate he is taken by her.

But when Astrel curls up to sleep, he expresses a concern that he had hidden.

"What of the dragon hunter, Saracutti?  She may still be in Stormhaven, or there again, or between here and there looking for us.  Or the dragon youngling, to be more precise, who she has vowed to exterminate."
Marissa Ehridol
player, 313 posts
The Sea Dragon
Mon 9 Jul 2018
at 19:52
  • msg #271

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

"I will die before that happens, my friend," Marissa said simply. "My warning to her made clear my intent."
Folke Vanirhalvt
player, 193 posts
Mon 9 Jul 2018
at 21:31
  • msg #272

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Folke smiled proudly at Rath's compliment, at least until the part about dragons actually knowing who he was, very specifically knowing who he was, sank in.  A little chill passed through him and his face paled, but good companionship soon caused the moment to pass and he was once again himself.

Their journey homeward was pleasant for the skald and he enjoyed the strengthening of his limbs as much as the rest even if his appearance hadn't betrayed the years quite so heavily.  A benefit of his Vanir heritage, to balance some of the drawbacks he'd experienced over the years.  And so a pleasant journey, but not a quiet one.  Folke was reticent at first, still struggling with the notion of aiding and interacting with a dragon, but eventually the childlike innocence of their new charge broke through his shell.  And once he started talking there was no end.  Such is the gift and curse of a skald, after all!

He learned more about his companions during the unceasing questions flowing from Astral, particular Rath's unfortunate background.  He was proud of Rath for his admissions, and for the tremendous deeds he'd accomplished even with such a difficult start to his life.  Here was one who had clearly risen above.  Folke also paid attention to the conversations Saliq, Inas and Marissa had with the youngling, out of personal and professional interest.  He would need all this information for when he set this saga to music, after all.

For his part, Folke shared his knowledge with Astral, speaking in as many tongues as they both could manage (and brushing up on his Draconic along the way) and offering his observations and tales from the many lands he'd visited and those he'd heard from peers who had traveled even farther.  When the topic of his lengthy imprisonment eventually came to the fore he did not shy away, but spoke in a sombre, reflective voice of his quest to the island and his eventual rescue by those walking alongside him now.

He added to Marissa's fierce reply when Inas brought up the Siggurdsdottir"We should expect to meet her or one of the sisterhood again, probably sooner rather than later.  I was thinking it was lucky she wasn't at the falls when the three dragons were gathered together.  If she'd had support that might have been a mighty battle of renown, but for which side?"  He shrugged his uncertainty on the outcome.

"The sooner we get Astral into the swamp the better, I think."

Inas Eoinsson
player, 472 posts
Mon 9 Jul 2018
at 22:14
  • msg #273

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

Folke Vanirhalvt:
He added to Marissa's fierce reply when Inas brought up the Siggurdsdottir"We should expect to meet her or one of the sisterhood again, probably sooner rather than later.  I was thinking it was lucky she wasn't at the falls when the three dragons were gathered together.  If she'd had support that might have been a mighty battle of renown, but for which side?"  He shrugged his uncertainty on the outcome.

"The sooner we get Astral into the swamp the better, I think."



"Your ferocity is admirable, but . . . if you think that with support against the three dragons the Siggurdsdottir would have an epic battle . . . what would she and that support do to us?"

Inas stops, knowing that his stopping will cause the others to do so as well.  "I agree that getting Astral to the swamp sooner is best.  So maybe, we go there now instead of Stormhaven."

OOC: I guess that the answer to the question in Post 266 is "maybe not yet."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:13, Tue 10 July 2018.
Marissa Ehridol
player, 314 posts
The Sea Dragon
Tue 10 Jul 2018
at 03:51
  • msg #274

Re: Chapter 6: The Quest t for Seven Falls Canyon

"Your words have merit, Inas," Marissa replied. "Despite my vow to protect the lass, there's only so much a handful can do in the face of o'erwhelming odds. And I fear that the Siggurdsdottir would not take on a challenge such as this alone."

"I think a trek back into the swamp is in order."

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