#Laila Duststone

[kaiju-z]

Seon Adventures: Episode 32 - Chain of Command

There was a victory. A bitter, bitter, ugly victory, from wherein our heroes were left amidst piles of bodies, surrounding the lake of Stren.

From hundreds, if not thousands of dead, there were 34 survivors. Among whom were Dak and Kit. We come back to the scene as our heroes get their bearings of this ordeal...

Bodies. So many corpses. And among them, the party of five stand. Tired. Weary. Hurt. Covered in blood, gunk and lake shit. Stren’s gook sticking to the soles of their footwear as they ponder on where to carry on to from here.

A decision is raised. While half the party ;Belli, Jun and Mournimar go to the nearest town to get help with the bodies, Luctan opts to join Malak on the daunting task to bury the fallen. As long as it’ll take.

From Bavorum, the elite guard make smoke signals, signing that they are drawing near to the scene as the less armored trio, followed by the trusty Morgan go off, carrying Kit to the town of  Askrivium.

Kit, who had been one of those luckily spared by the death curse. Kit, was slowly coming to, in her own cheeky way. Much to the amusement of Jun, who watches the half-orc bard bicker at the “sleeping” changeling rogue.

And while their group head for Askrivium, the two changeling having a little back and forth, the armored duo of Luck and Malak get to work. Steadily, taking shifts, on agreement, to do this deed.

2 hours pass. A large shadow comes over the horizon. That of the Darksbane Army, finally arriving at the scene, led by Laila Duststone. Joined by Terrowin the Half-Orc and Kraag the Orc Barbarian. Full force and mobilized, they approach the scene and one after the other, Terrowin and Laila talk with Luck and Malak.

Mournfully, Luctan retells the story of what happened, first to Terrowin, then to Laila. Each of whom at the very least are glad that the party is in full form, having lost no one among them. Laila encourages Luck to not blame himself over what had transpired, even as he does so.

Laila explains that the people, who touched the crystal orb will be gathering within a week to discuss what’s happening. Savron included. So it’s serious. Laila had come into contact with the crystal and born witness to what would happen.

Luctan wants to join them, if possible. But Laila declines, as they had done enough. She hands him a note with a certain number. A collective 25,000 Gold for the party, should they travel east next, before their work up north.

Still, the two holy fighters carry on with what they decided upon the end of the battle.

Among the bodies, a pondering Luck finds a familiar face. But it’s not who he was expecting. It’s one of the younger priests in the temple of Sa Doma. A tiny little Halfling woman.

The boys bond over sadness and emotions. Luck’s always here if Malak wants to talk.

Malak will remember this.

Luck tries to heal Malak. Nothing happens, but it’s the thought that counts.

Fastforwarding to Ascrovium!...

The squishy half of the party, and honorary member Kit, enter the grounds and... It’s a small town, definitely more of a stopping point for travelers than anything else. What’s shocking about the town, however, is the amount of people that are currently gathered.

The town is remarkably packed. These are families of people, who walked off in the middle of the night. Partners, etc .Everyone seems particularly tense, no one is sure where everyone is. 

It is at this moment that Belli decides to bring out her Thaumaturgy stone and get everyone’s attention...

Without mincing words, she tells everyone what happened. How their loved ones were gathered at the lake. How tragiclaly most of them met their end there, if, but for 34 among them. A small light of hope in the constricting darkness.

Most of the crowd is in shock. Some just start running. 10-15 minutes later, the town is cleared from the exess folk, everyone that could afford to make a run, heading there immediatelly.

“This broughtcast was brought to you by Peppery Pete.”

Jun commends Belli for her way of handling the encounter. Belli thanks her, attributing her skill to it either being her maturing or adding another layer of trauma to herself.

... yeah....

They check for a possible morgue and find a thin Half-Orc girl, who guards the graveyard with a pike, for her aunt, who had gone to find her father. Possibly among the people, who met their end.

The party quickly assess that the graveyard is too small for the capacity of bodies.  10% of the bodies seen at lake Stren could probably fit in and that’s probably without counting the ones, already occupying the dirt.

Their group end up heading for the nearest tavern, discussing Ficus’ relationship status as Jun finds him handsome, but Belli protects her brother, claiming he is “spoken for”. Which brings Jun to ponder on Ficus’ thoughts on relationships of a kind.

As they take to a tavern, get cleaned and find their rest in their own respective way, the armored boys are still at it. 1 AM. They are still working. Aided by the army, but are still going about it and watching out, just in case someone tries to nick something from the bodies. Which almost happens. But Malak’s stern fatherly disapproval brings Kraag to return the watch.

Morning comes. One half of the party wake up and have breakfast. The other has been working all evening, through the waking hours and have exhausted themselves physically. But by gum, so much work had been done.

As Jun gets the diggers food in a basket, Belli checks with her brother, updating him on Kit.

Ficus had been running all night, after what Belli had told him previously, making his way to lake Stren. Which. Is probably a long way, given that he probably started off at a different location.

“Welp. I’m sure that won’t come back to haunt me!” - Belli says, before burrying her face in Orion’s fur. (gross cat noises commence).

The party reconnects at the lake, where Luctan and Malak finally get to eat, while catching up their party on what had occured, while they were gone.

Once done eating, they gather their things and travel by carriage eastward. Luck gives Malak permission to take the holy axe from the bag of holding and Malak attunes to it on the travel. While the boys have themselves a good long rest after what they had been through.

(Also Belli is Stress Knitting. Headcanon time: The reason why the party’s clothes tend to look mostly fine after battle, is because Belli fixes the cuts).

Over the next couple of days, the party bond over battle strategies and counters to what they had just witnessed and Malak learns about a bit more about the battle axe he now has in his possession. The axe, a union of Radience and Hellishness carries celestial runes, speaking of holy vengeance.

On the 3rd day of our travel, the group take a different road, ‘cause for some of them this has been a familiar road already. Along the path, they notice stables. 2 men posted outside the door. But it’s just some stables.

Suspicious, the group stops as night approaches.

And, while Mournimar speaks with Morgan and Orion, this is how the Cultbusters would meet Henry and Ronald, a cute couple, doing some sort of business (speaking in heavy New York accents)

Henry, the beefier of the two and Ronald, an orange haired man with freckled cheeks.

The two sides come together and agree on casting Zone of Truth on each other, as a means to learn about one another, so less suspicion could be had.

They are here to guard the room and it’s contents. They won’t say what the room they guard holds within it, but they  won’t hurt the adventurers, if they don’t mess with the room.

The truth is being said. And Belli creatively speaks what she has to say. “You’re a tricksy little bitch and I like you!” one of the men admits, under the effects of the spell and Belli just has a laugh. She wants no drama.

Also, like it has to be said, but Henry finds Malak a pretty man. (We all do, but come on).

Once everyone gets coasy with one another, the party and the couple of Henry and Ronald join together for a happy dinner together.

The food is nice. The mood is high. Henry and Ronald seem to be delightful. Complimentary as heck about Belli’s cooking. The lads are the poifect gentlemen, basically.

Once the dinner is done, the party find places to spend their longrests in, but before the actual long rest occurs, Luck pulls Belli aside and suggests she send a bug-shifted Orion into the couple’s room. Just to be sure they were on the up and up.

Something felt off this night and he wasn’t sure what.

That was the gameplan!

And as the night progresses...

Luctan goes into his dreams again. Like multiple times before.

And... things happen. Sad things. And he sleeps.

In the meanwhile, Jun also has a dream of her own. Whether it’s anything like Luck’s is it’s own story.

In the middle of the night, something happens. 6 hours in, as the party have had their full rest, the flutter of wings awake Henry and Ronald, the latter of whom silently calls over Belli to witness what they were seeing.

.What Belli joins in on watching...

Is 5 imps.

Carrying Luck away. Each holding a limb, the 5th his head.

And Luck is sleeping.

Belli gets Mournimar’s attention and the digitigraded tiefling  bolts through the door, upon hearing that. Screaming his loudest “WTF?!”

Which wakes everyone up.

Belli wastes no time. And casts Sleep on one of the imps, causing it to let go of one of Luck’s arms as it drops on the ground.

ROLL FOR INITIATIVE!

All the commotion that follow  brings a red flash behind the board.

Just behind said board, a red creature with curled horns and 4 chains being wrapped behind it appears, hovering behind the imps. Glaring at the group.

Belli casts Polymorph on Luck. But Luck, sleeping, unfortunatelly counters it.

Annoyed, Belli chants a Vicious Mockery on one of the imps, while Chain Devil takes a stance.

Moves in close and attacks most of the party with his chains.

One chain smacks Jun and she gets restrained, grappled. Unable to move form her spot as the sickle at the end of the Devil’s chain stabs into her.

Another chain grapples Malak and a third misses Mournimar, which luckily takes the tension off of Belli as the 4th chain goes for the archer, stabbing hinto him like with the other two.

Jun uses all her acrobatic skill to free herself and do so easily from the chains. All her time as a dominatrix pays off as that is an easy feat for her. She immediatelly Hexes their attacker and moves in, ready to attack with her Gambler’s Blade.

And Luck’s still asleep.

Sadly, Mournimar isn’t as flexible as Jun and can’t find freedom from the chains. So instead, shouts at the Fiend in Infernal. He DEMANDS to know where they are trying to take Luctan.

This distraction gives Malak the chance to attack the imps, without having to move. Malak casts Toll The Dead on the imps on the right. While one is more stable, the other’s head outright explodes.

Because... “For Whom The Bell Tolls, Time Marches on.”

And before you ask, YES! THIS IS A DBZ REFERENCE!

Luck’s leg is free as Malak brings out his Spiritual Weapon. And smashes it into the nearest imp he can see, the sleeping one, messing him up visibly.

As the remaining 3 Imps try to escape with Luctan, Belli runs around from the other entrance of the barn and casts Dispell Magic on Luctan, putting all her Arcane skill into it.

And Luck wakes. glaring at his captors.

Your friends don’t care about you, they only like what you can offer them.” She gives an imp Anxiety. How much anxiety? Well, it straight up dies. So that’s the amount!

The Chain Devil attacks Jun again. Misses. Then grabs her and pierces her body with his thick hook again, causing bodily harm to the changeling. As she, Malak and Mournimar take continual damage from the chains wrapped around them, Mournimar’s pain response kicks in and he casts Hellish Rebuke at the Fiend.

Much to his shagrin, however, that doesn’t work out. As the devil is not even tickled from this effort.

It’s form starts to shift. It’s face taking a resemblence to Harker, Mournimar’s father, as he had last seen him. Face mangled. Burned. Aching.

The stress seems to be too much... but Mournimar steels his mind to the mental attack of the Devil. He will not be fooled by the mental projection of this Fiend!

Jun escapes. Again. Takes her rapier and dramatically cuts her thigh open. 

After last night she got brave. Bringing forth an electric stabbing upon the Devil with the power of her Blood Rites.

Luctan Teleports behind the devil, swings twice, misses. But then strikes a gash at the back of the creature.

And Luck heals Jun some. In Infernal, he tells the Devil to leave.

Mournimar struggles to free himself and Malak acknowledges that, casting Freedom of Movement on Mournimar. And then attacks the Devil with the Spiritual weapon, clobbering onto him.

The imps try to attack Luck from behind. But neither manages quite to get purching on the fighter/sorcerer’s armor, pathetically gnawing at the material. But nothing much else.

Belli attempts to dispell one of the chains, the one holding Malak. And succeeds, after which she mocks again. “You’re a cowardly little cunt. You will die alone and no one will love you.” sending waves of psychic damage to the fiend.

Frustrated, he looks between the two tieflings.  It looks between Mournimar and Luck and finally speaks, determined: “ He’s coming home. Now!”

As Malak gets freed, Jun gets snatched up again and soon Luctan catches the bane of the chains on his body.

Unlike Luck, however, all the pain causes Jun to go limp and unconscious in the grasp of the metal, much to Luctan’s shock.

The Devil shifts his face again, glaring at Malak. Taking the form of one of his late comrades.

But Malak is used to this sort of thing by now. He’s seen far worse in his nightmares. So he keeps his mind strong and defended.

As the two get carried away, Luck notices life in Jun’s unconscious frame, giving him strength to free himself from the chains, one of which goes limp. Then Luctan wakes her up again, wishing some vitality into her form, while Mournimar brings out his arrows and Marks the devil for the Hunt.

Fires, misses twice, but that’s quite ok.

Malak attacks, but misses by a few inches as his powerful Guiding Bolt blasts elsewhere.

He still has an attack, however, splatting one of the remaining imps.

Scared and alone, the singular awake imp turns invisible. And the party knows not where it’d go. (DAMN YOU, COTTON EYE JOE!)

Which is bad, because it stings Jun. Who almost drops again.

Ah. But in this moment you forget about the bard.

NO ONE DARE FORGET ABOUT THE BARD!!!

With Jun’s consent, Belli transforms Jun...

Then she mocks the Devil. “Luck’s our friend. If you’re that lonely just drill a hole in the wall.” But the Devil takes it in stride.

“He’s not my friend. I serve him. He just doesn’t know what’s best for him right now.”  Luck gets smacked around. Hard! And this chained hellman starts to chant in a mix of Infernal and Arcane.

As the Devil tries to teleport away with the grappled Luctan, a thick shadow comes from his left. And before he can react, the Chain Devil gets chomped on by a monochromatic Spinosaurus Seonipticus.

As Belli draws closer, Jun gets the HDYWTDT with her Jawsy-Wawsies. And she tears him to shreds.

Very easily she shreds this Devil and gently plucks the chains off of Luck’s body. And puts him down on the ground. The duality of Jun. She will tear you asunder, but she will also bleed on you and be nice.

As for the last of the awoken imps... Jun distractedly swings her tail and the Imp just gets punted into Hell. All that is left is a splatter on the wall, before Belli turns Jun back to her general fine self.

As Luctan and Jun catch their bearings,Malak and Mournimar join the bard over the body of the sleeping, if fucked up, imp. Deciding on a gameplan on questioning him, Belli stabs it through the foot.

Which. Um. Unfortunately kills it?!

Moments pass. Henry and Ronald still inside, the group convenes around Luck to get a better idea of what just happened. Jun asks the disguised tiefling if he’s ok, keeping an eye on him as she asks. He is. Feels oddly free. And he heals Jun once again as he confirms.

When asked to explain what this was all about, how the Devil knew him, where it was planning on taking him, a tired and less reluctant Luck encourages them to think of what he’s already said about himself.

“I’m not from Seon. I ran away from home after freeing my mother’s slaves. A Chain Devil and Imps tried to take me “home”.”

Belli and Malak begin putting two and two together real fast. They would know that the things the party just saw and dealt with were and are devils, not demons. Devils serve Potencia. Demons serve Quorrin.

With a tired smile, Luctan admits it.

“I guess, I’m the son of Potencia.” and he says this, his gaze never faltering from Malak’s face.

He proceeds to give them the briefest description of his recent interaction with her, in his dreams. Meeting her in her office. In a form he hadn’t often seen her in. Her disappointment in him for not allout killing the Traveling Gentlemen. Having expected “better” of him.

Wanting him to become an Arch Devil to one of the hells, who’s leader was missing. His refusal. And then, her doing something, before he woke up, being carried away.

And he looked at Malak, the whole time, having taken off his ring during the talk.

Whatever Malak was thinking, he was keeping inside and away from any insight that could be made on him.

Jun acts very flustered at first, when Luck spills the beans as he does. She had seemingly been in contact with someone and mentions “The Evenchord Boy”, something that subtly catches Luck’s attention...

As Luck takes a moment to catch his breath again from what happened, he takes a seat on the ground. Mournimar and Belli, surprisingly, were encouraging of him. Rather than judginess from Mournimar, given said Ranger’s history with the cult of Potencia and Luctan’s heavy connection... He had expected an earful. At the fucking least. But that hadn’t happened.

Luck could all but laugh. Pitifully laugh and ponder. More surprisingly, Jun would kneel beside him, arm over his shoulders and offers him an ear to listen to his troubles if he needs it. Somehow she understands. However that works, she understands and makes it a point to tell him some important words:

“Your roots don’t make you. You make you.”

Then he receives a kiss on the forehead from the changeling woman as he slowly realizes that he may have human relatives somewhere...

After a night of devilry and a slight argument with the duo of Henry and Ronald, the party finally get their second long rest. It would become revealed that Henry and Ronald were actually clerics, possibly of Dyunificus, who were protecting a bunch of kids and silver foxes and were keeping them secret from the party (understandably so) as Adventurers came in many moral colors.

Belli would pay them to ease their tensions, too tired and frustrated from the combat to argue with the men.

Some time passes again as the party carries on on the road. Luctan often looking to Malak, but giving him space.

Eventually they’d draw near to Crystalgate.

And take shifts in a campsight of their making.

1st Luctan, 2nd Jun, 3rd Malak, 4th Mournimar. All this to help Belli have a full rest to prepare meals in the morning.

Sure enough, the night is peaceful and when Belli gets her turn, she makes a perception check... She sweeps the area and-

She feels pretty alright, as she cooks. “These times are easy to appreciate the world. All six of us are safe.”

SIX?!

Wait. Something’s wrong. She looks and at the fire is an half-elf man with strong black curly hair. Deep brown eyes in the campfire light. Dark skin? He’s relaxed and casually pokes at the fire with a stick.

“Hi?!”

“Oh, Morning.”

“Oh, you can wake the rest of your friends, if you’d like. I believe we have some catching up to do.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Akar’niel.”

Belli wakes the rest of the party and, well.  He introduces himself to the group.

For the most part, it seems that he knows the names, though he’s not quite as familiar with Jun and Malak, nor does he seem to be aware of Luck’s true name.

He knows what the party have been doing and have been up against. He represents a higher power.

Before he disappears in purple smoke, he whispers something.

Luctan would look at his journal and read the mantra that he had sewn into the pages: 

“ When the Western Fields lie sundered, blackened with ash.

When Lake Stren turns red with the blood of your allies

When brother turns against brother in the North

When the Giants of the East flee from demons bigger than they

When the Council lie with their throats slit

That is when I will come for you. And it will be the End."

And as the episode ends, the party levels up.

Previous Episode / Next Episode