#staff of birdcalls

[wyrmwright]

The Staff of Birdcalls

for a commissioner

[am-i-sans]

dnd adventures 34

dess comes out of eeby deeby next to frog and undyne while tori went to eeby deeby. trade off! undyne recaps what dess missed.

cam looks tired. dans looks empty. looking great guys. suzy just drags us outside lol. soupnik is like bitch get on so we get on xD we land and cam and frog are petting him.

we let undyne know we have the scroll and dans says hes gonna look at it lol. undyne just wants to destroy it lol. dans takes annika off to the side to read the scroll and undyne follows lol.

yep theres letters, in a script we dont know. cam walks up and stares too lol. annika has comprehend languages tho! dans tugs her down to his level. the letters disappear as she reads, then a robot appears?!

wtf is that. its babbling, wtf. its a modron. law elementals? annika isnt sure how she read it and doesnt know what it said dumbass. dans just sighs and gives it to undyne. rolla d100?!

letters disappear but nothing seems to happen. cam climbs up undyne trying to read it and she just shoves them down lol. no frog you cant either. there was 7 lines, now theres 5 left. shes gonna read it again goddamn.

7 darts fire at dans and annika wtf?! that hurt! undyne shoves it in her bag yep were done here. (scroll of unreadable spells) 'can we stop running into evil tainted items for once? and what do we do with this robot?' dess says modrons only talk to other modrons. frog says we could keep it and cam says thats unethical. 'we kept inferno.' -dans

suzy punches it?! cam tries to stop her! success! dess says the modron might be a rogue and no longer under control. suzy stop trying to assault it. dans says since annika summoned it, shes in charge of it. we agree this trip wasnt worth it. gonna drop annika back home then take a nice long nap. dans tells annika to find someone that speaks modron.

dans is kinda unresponsive, cam is being clingy with him lol read the room. we land outside again, time for bed! annika is a mom now lol. cam says to use comprehend language and shes just upset they wont understand them. undynes just leaving lol. rest!

suzy fucks off i guess lol. and frog lol. tori conveniently leaves eeby deeby! everyone realizes their gone lol they always run off they dont listen. were done with today, tori go be a parent for once in your life were not babysitting. cam gets up to go look then immediately faceplants. undyne tells her they cant go far anyway cause of the curse. off tori goes, stressed af.

tori found suzy! shes eating a whole chicken again and heading back to the inn. tori asks where frog is but she doesnt know. tori makes her stay with her while she looks for frog. she found annika trying to talk to the robot. tori ignores her. she finally finds them in a clothes shop. she begs them to stick in pairs and not just run off. frog says suzy walked off. heading back to the inn! bedtime! tori gets to relax for once lol.

next morning! undyne is disheveled lol. dans somehow left early dont worry about it. cam is disassociating watching frog, who is writing a song. undyne notices dans is gone how tf did tori not notice lol. cam goes to eeby deeby they avoid being yelled at! tori is snippy that dans is going to go find dans. dans walks in with some groceries. frog walks over and immediately starts making bread. dans starts making breakfast.

undyne tells tori about the scroll. dans hands frog the robe of arachnida fuck yeah! frog is so happy lol. dans gives undyne the cloak of billowing. she strikes a cool pose nice. suzy says she looks like a nerd and then goes back to sleep. dans gives tori the moon touched scimitar. dans calls frog back over and gives frog the instrument of illusions and the staff of birdcalls. they hug dans and go to play lol. dans then gives dess the enduring spellbook.

we finish breakfast and attunment stuff. dans is cleaning up and tosses that bag from before into the fireplace. he looks like hes praying. undyne is confused thats not how you pray to moss lol. he says he was sending flowers to his wife. undyne awkwardly asks about his wife lol. he says she was wonderful and once beat him with a vase for being a dumbass drunk lol. they were married for 7 years and her parents did NOT like him cause he accidentally burned an expensive portrait. he says he was burning the flowers since all returns to ash with the dark elves. shes cremated and entombed in her families shrine.

undyne asks if dans wants his body burned. he says he never thought much about where to be buried just stick him in the crypt under his house. he cant be buried with his wife lol. dess is inspecting her book. frog is walking on the ceiling pog! suzy is chasing a fly around.

undyne asks what happaned to her. dans says she died in childbirth. complications. hes had time. the one thing in his life he can make peace with. dans asks if tori had anyone special like that. nope total loner! undyne says tori doesnt seem like the friendly sort lol.

dans says they make a pretty good team and apologizes to tori for zoning out yesterday. dess jokes that dans ships them and dans is confused. frog starts laughing lol. dess wont explain lol. undyne forgot the kids ran out lol. dans says tori is doing a pretty ok job so far. he also says if undyne was a parent the world would shake in fear. undyne doesnt even know what a diaper is dear god. shes never even held a baby oh god. dans makes her swear not to have kids. vani is tracking frogs movements on the ceiling.

time to head off, going to soupnik! frog tells tori about undyne shooting dans and annika with the darts lol. dans prays to moss for directions. moss god gives dans a dark riddle. 'wtf is a blender?' 'youll understand one day.' dess says you thick your you know in there lol. dans says maybe moss cant find steve and hopes he didnt go to the feywilds cause he cant go back there. 'did you fuck a fey royal?' 'thats not important.'

mossgod finally speaks up and is just like 'yeah do whatever.' thanks appreciate it. cam pops out of eeby deeby! moss tells us to kill cams dragon nice. dans blinks and tells cam were gonna kill that dragon for them. gonna take a while. we get on the dragon. frog climbs on their stomach and just sits there lol. undyne tells them to come up. what happens when they land? undyne crawls under carefully to grab frog UNDYNE WERE IN THE GODDAMN AIR! frog is unhappy lol. undyne hands them to tori. tori also grabs suzy lol.

we land in a town cool. tori just doesnt wanna put the kids down. tori makes suzy promise to watch after frog and sets them down. just a regular human villiage. dess goes to find more weed lol. (townsville? really moss?) dans goes to find a tavern to look for info. theres a drunk guy that looks like jim! its his dad?! undyne tells him his son was a cultist. cam smacks undyne on the arm. undyne is all pissed at cam now. shes still mad lol. he tries to tell us to get out of town. yeah were not gonna listen to a drunkard. dans goes to the bartender and asks if theres been trouble or monsters or anything. nah.

the drunk guy is just getting pissy my guy shuddup. they just head outside they dont have time for the weird drunk guy. they go find tori and the kids eating chicken. fried chicken for everyone! vani is begging suzy for scraps. dans is dying this is hilarious. suzy runs off with chicken and vani follows. shes trying so hard to escape.

we tell tori what happaned at the bar. vani looks at tori then back at suzy. dans says that vani knows suzy is tori's kid and she should get them in line to give them chicken. dans whistles and vani runs over immediately and dans gives them some jerky. we gotta find dess now.

dess runs into berdly! hes back! hes apparently gotten stronger. he has a new employer. oh no. hes here on an important mission. oh no. gathering supplies for a ritual OH NO. HIS BOSS IS A DWARF AND HANGS OUT IN GRAVEYARDS. AND TALKING ABOUT MEDDLING HEROES. dess is just like 'uh i gotta go maybe quit your job' and goes to find us. she got a nat 1 trying to find us goddamn.

we find dess pog. dess wants to talk with dans alone and leads him away out of earshot. 'berdly might be working for steve.' dans is confused for a second and asks what did he say. welp thats definitely not good. dans wants to ask berdly where steve is and doesnt know how to not let undyne kill him lol. dans tries to tell everyone to get to soupnik so he and dess can talk to berdly in private. undyne trusts dans so she goes with it. cam is following them though. dans waves it off and lets cam go with. now undyne is sus. dans says cam likes birds. undyne goes 'if i cant go then cam cant!' and fucking drags cam away.

berdly shows up though! dans tells cam to wave bye to berdly. cam is so fucking pissed. undyne brings up the cave attack thats why their pissed lol. the town guard show up and undyne says cam is a wacko trying to attack dans. dess says shes lying. the guards tell undyne to put them down. UNDYNE FUCKIN RUNS!

berdly is just confused. dans says not to worry and says dess said that berdly got a high profile job. berdly is beaming the poor idiot. dans asks if their hiring and want a reference. hes like 'i suppose i could check?' dess asks if theres any graveyards near here. a few days from here theres a graveyard and town and he was sent here to get components. hes unsure of the spell itself. hes off hiring more people. dans pulls out a map and has berdly mark the spot he last saw him. dans asks about any other employees, sadly no lol. dans is playing him like a fiddle jesus. dess reminds berdly to quit his job.

cutting back to cam and undyne! cam is still trying to escape while undyne is fleeing. cam eventually just stares at the ground pissed. fantasy cops are chasing undyne and using sending stones and shit lol. a different cop pops up and undyne had to wis save, avoided hold person! cam tells undyne to put them down so they can negotiate but undyne doesnt wanna. 'your gonna run off like last time.' undyne skids to a halt and drops them ouch. cam this isnt gonna work. they say its their kink oh no. they bought it oh god. they can never show their face here again. undyne is confused. tori thinks their both morons. 'not a word!' undyne is asking tori oh no. tori says shes lived in a cave and even she knows. undyne is even more confused lol.

[utilitycaster]

You know how much I love useless items: You can give any PC a Staff of Birdcalls. Who do you give it to?

Veth Brenatto. It fits her personality and her scoutmaster vibes, and I trust that she will use it to great effect. Finally! An eidetic metagaming pigeon!

[redjennies]

7. Alternate outcome in a main campaign that you don't necessarily wish happened, but that you wish you could see played out in an alternate universe before returning to ours. 29. You can give any PC a Staff of Birdcalls. Who do you give it to?

7. honestly? during that one really long Tombtakers fight I remember thinking "it would have been so badass if this was how Fjord went, like holding the line so the others could get away. like yes, king, have your moment." like I'm glad he didn't obviously but I had some evil thoughts after that.

29. Fresh Cut Grass.

[koposart]

I’m nearing the completion of my Aspen reference sheet. Aspen is a Circle of Dreams Druid, with magic emanating the colour, beauty, and storytelling of dreams. He follows Selune and believe that she communicates with him through his dreams (not confirmed at all though). 

He travels with two companions, Meiril & Raewynn, a monk and a ranger. They gave him their fallen friend Konnor’s Staff of Birdcalls and Cloak of Billowing. 

[blorbologist]

29 & 35 for the cr ask meme please. :) also, hi. <3

hi <33

29.You can give any PC a Staff of Birdcalls. Who do you give it to?

uhhhhhhh... I think Fearne would get a lot of mileage out of this and using it to fuck with people gngkntrkjhntr

35. You can set the time and place of the next EXU series, but it cannot be within 100 years of the Calamity nor Divergence. When and where do you set it?

Look, that sounds like one hell of a founding story. Why the fuck were they sailing from Wildemount? Why did they trek weeks inland until they found the Sun Tree after a shipwreck? How did they really set themselves apart as a settlement before they could really poke at the whitestone? Who were the people, how old were they, what motivated them, who died and who lived? Were they a notable family before coming here, or did they declare themselves nobles for founding the settlement? How fuckin inbred were they if they were as isolated as they seem to be, if Wolfe and Melanie were cousins and being wed, Tal I know this is realistic but plEASE im from Quebec our family trees are family bushes i cant -

[goetiiaprince]

Speaking of fuzzy, there's a certain fuzzy bird that's in need of teasing. The shadows creeping up when he's distracted. Randomly rubbing against his spine or thigh. Retreating before he can look. On rare occasions they'd slip right between his legs with just enough force to be felt through his clothes.

While he has been adequately productive, there were moments in which Stolas found himself trembling or shifting with phantom touches. Wide, vermillion eyes sweeping the room and seeking explanation. No one was ever around, and he certainly knew it wasn't one of the staff going about their business in the palace. Stars, was he so desperate for intimacy and or touch that he was hallucinating? Fantasizing about it? No, no. His composure was in check. . . For the most part. There were times, however, in which Stolas barely stifled a moan. He laughed awkwardly through one and played it off further by emphasizing the sound with one akin to his usual birdcall responses. Not that it made matters any better when a small imp was gazing across a room at you with wide eyes and a blank, but mildly alarmed stare. Those pesky shadows. That devious fiend. And he was beginning to think. . . .

[helimir]

In true Mighty Nein fashion, I’m going for the Nines of the CR Ask Game!

So: #9, #19, #29, #39

Thank you!!

9. Location in Exandria you’d like to see in a possibly canonical one-shot/EXU but with non-main campaign characters (as in Song of the Lorelei/The Darrington Brigade)

Asarius! I really want to see more of the Kryn dynasty and Xhorhas in general, and Asarius would be a good opportunity for a one shot with lots of different creatures types we haven't seen before and more exploration of the social consequences of consecution.

19. You can swap one subclass (not class) for any one main campaign main cast PC. Which character, and what’s their new subclass?

I really don't know my subclasses at all; I'm only somewhat familiar with ones I've seen in actual play shows or the small number I've played myself. I'll go with Imogen as a wild magic sorcerer, since the wild magic table is extremely entertaining. Plus, I think it still fits the theme of "unwanted powers" but would change the flavor and mechanics of the campaign quite a bit by taking Imogen's telepathy off the table. (I think. I don't understand any subclasses I haven't played.)

29. You can give any PC a Staff of Birdcalls. Who do you give it to?

Beauregard, in the hopes that she could use it as a weapon. I also think she'd use it 95% of the time to be annoying, and 5% of the time for an incredibly creative solution to a problem.

39. Favorite parental figure NPC?

Marion Lavorre!

[exiliumsfools]

🦅🦉🦆🐥

[istadris]

Every D&D druid guide : yeah you really need to get a shield and the best studded leather armor you can find, it’s not like you’ll need to fight in melee for long anyway

Meanwhile my skinny 18 DEX druid Tabaxi rushes toward the enemy with only a staff of birdcalls and no armor

[evilauthor]

In my D&D game, the DM has a timeline. Since multiple campaigns are set in the same world, major events have set dates when stuff is supposed to kick off.

We upset the timeline.

More accurately, one of the players upset the timeline. Made a stupid choice and in doing so, triggered a main timeline event two years early.

The game is set 1519 and there was a major event designed to be happen at 1521. The plan was we’d take downtime. The players would have personal quests and some smaller world events, but the bulk of the downtime would be part of a timeskip and we’d get levels for completing events, but most we’d just let him know what we did for like a year.

HOWEVER, because the event got triggered early, several events are happening at the same time and we’re going into the BBEG fight three levels lower than the DM had planned for us to be.

SO. DM decided to throw the party a bone. There was this NPC. Kicked our asses some levels back. Killed a ton of people. My character considers him evil, but he’s helping fight the big bad, so the party is working with him. DM said this NPC can “rewrite” our souls. Can’t change your base class, but he’s letting us use this guy to change subclasses, multi-class, change out feats move around ability score improvements. All the fun stuff. The idea is he’s letting us use this NPC to rework our characters into the build we want to take into the final fight.

Most of the party is taking the NPC up on it.

I’m mostly not.

See, we’re doing epic levels. At the start of the game, our DM gave us a document with what skills our classes would get beyond level 20 [the highest level allowed in the game normally]. Since day 1, I’ve been looking at this document a multiple times a month and referenced it every time we leveled up whole game. So I had an idea of what I wanted my character to be in the end game since we started. I only had one thing I wished I’d done differently.

Back at start of the game, the DM gave everyone two common magic items and one uncommon magic item. They were rolled for on a table and random. I’d been given a staff of bird calls, boots of false tracks, and a headband of intellect. Since I also had better movement than anyone else, I looked at the staff and boots and thought I should scout ahead...however, one dude in the party would always rush ahead and ruin any plans at stealth...so I used my staff of birdcalls once in the first session and never again.

For those not familiar, the staff of bird calls has a limited number of charges. If you use it, it’ll recover a random number each day until it’s full again. Because it had limited uses, I took a tool proficiency in flute so I could mimic bird calls with my flute if we needed to do additional signals...of course, we only used the staff once, so I never used the flute at all. That tool proficiency was the only thing I took all game that I regret and didn’t use.

About a month ago, my character bought cooking utensils. Have stuff in my backstory about how she’d help her friends in the kitchen a lot and I’ve been role playing associating feeding people with showing affection since we started the game, so I wanted ‘em. DM said it’d take my character 8 weeks to learn to cook.

With people changing every core aspect of their character, DM said I can forget how to play the flute and instead know how to cook. For free.

This was a great success.

[elsewhereuniversity]

Allies

A group of six music majors sit next to the garden on Thursday afternoons. There used to be seven, but that’s a story for another day. If they invite you to eat with them, accept, for just as fairy fruit tethers you to the world of the courts, cafeteria pizza holds you to the world of the mundane. You will hear their Names- not True, but the ones they’ve Chosen. 

Hawk, the violinist, is beautiful. Breathtakingly elegant. Sleek, shining, black and white. Her jewelry is made of silver and bone. Look, but do not touch. 

Pelican, the clarinet, is friendly. Carrot-colored hair and band T-shirts that look familiar yet utterly alien. Their booming laugh at their own dirty jokes make you forget about the Elsewhere, for a while.

Robin, a percussionist, is kind. Her generosity has led her to befriend many, students and staff alike. If she likes you, she’ll call in a favor.

Owl, a songwriter, is wise. He weaves words like fabric, into stories and lyrics and poems, as charms of protection and assurance and luck. If he agrees to tutor you, you can be sure to pass all your classes. 

Starling, a saxophone, is charming. Comfortable and familiar, pretty and witty and wicked smart. She speaks with fire, with air and water and wolves- in the language that unites all residents of EU (memes).

Turtledove, who plays the flute, is helpful. Always there when you need her, with calming words or aid. She’s a matchmaker, and a good one. Her advice is to be taken as gospel.

If you listen long enough, you hear more to their voices than words. Birdcalls, rushing wind, the music of the forest. No one knows what classes they take- but everyone’s certain they take them together. One of the TAs swears she can remember them graduating, but not when, or if they left, or returned. Wren thinks they’re staff, groundskeepers or librarians or admins. Whoever -whatever- they are, one thing is True- if you Listen, you will Learn.

x

[sirblackaxe]

It feels weird to me that the Adventurer’s League Eberron campaign seems to be low magic. Characters can be up to level 6 by now, but there is literally no way to get a +1 weapon or suit of armor (though there IS one +1 shield). There are only two magic weapons in the game, both common - an armblade (any one-handed melee weapon, requires attunement by a warforged) and a moon-touched sword you that costs 4,250 salvage to get (18 hours over 9 2-hour missions for a 4-person party). The only magic armor is a set of mithral chain mail and the common armor you could choose to create instead of the moon-touched sword.

Hopefully we’ll be able to get magic weapons before all the enemies start resisting nonmagical damage!

Comprehensive list of magic items available to level 6 characters who’ve played every existing mission in an AL Eberron campaign, many of which are mutually exclusive:

Adventure Rewards:

Armor

mithral chain mail

Shield

+1 shield (requires playing the tier 1 epic, which normally means attending a convention)

Weapon

armblade

Wondrous

2x rope of climbing

lantern of revealing

circlet of blasting

sending stones

Consumable

4x potion of healing

potion of clairvoyance

oil of slipperiness

potion of poison

dust of disappearance

Craftable for 250 salvage each (max 1 item per tier, so you could have 2 of these) after spending 4,000 salvage to build an Arcane Manufactory at your secret base (any common item from Xanathar’s):

Armor

armor of gleaming

cast-off armor

smoldering armor

Shield

shield of expression

Weapon

moon-touched sword

unbreakable arrow

Spellcasting Foci

dark shard amulet

enduring spellbook

hat of wizardry

instrument of illusions

instrument of scribing

orb of direction

orb of time

ruby of the war mage

staff of adornment

staff of birdcalls

staff of flowers

wand of conducting

wand of pyrotechnics

wand of scowls

wand of smiles

Wondrous

boots of false tracks

candle of the deep

charlatan’s die

cloak of billowing

cloak of many fashions

clockwork amulet

clothes of mending

dread helm

ear horn of hearing

ersatz eye

hat of vermin

heward’s handy spice pouch

horn of silent alarm

lock of trickery

pipe of smoke monsters

pole of angling

pole of collapsing

rope of mending

talking doll

takard of sobriety

veteran’s cane

Consumable

bead of nourishment

bead of refreshment

mystery key

perfume of bewitching

pot of awakening

walloping ammunition

[utilitycaster]

Xanathar’s has what is effectively a haunted doll, which a. Travis McElroy has not taken advantage of and b. I have no good reason to put in this haunted house for the session I’m about to run in like 3 minutes since the vibe is much more “I had just read Mexican Gothic when I designed this” and less “sPOoOoOkY” but like. I want it.

[pigeontheoneandonly]

The Rescue

A Dragon Age / Mass Effect crossover, because that’s apparently what my brain wanted to work on today. (Part 2)

Kaidan Alenko was twenty-two years old when he started awake to the rattling of the iron window frame nearest his bed, one of several in the mage barracks of Kinloch Hold. Though less than thirty feet above the ground, it was rare for anything more than the breeze to trouble it; once, shortly after he first moved to this room, a bird flew into the panes and he hadn’t been able to sleep for a week.

But now something scrabbled at it.  He reached for his staff, trying not to make a sound.  The cords supporting his straw-stuffed mattress creaked as he sat up. Wishing for a fleeting moment he had his full robes on, instead of only the linen chemise, feeling defenseless without the layers of wool.  But that was ridiculous.  Not a stitch of it was enchanted.  The only item he owned that had such expensive work was the wooden staff.  He carved it himself and affixed the lyrium-inscribed crystal, issued with great solemnity from the senior enchanter’s stores a few years after his Harrowing.  All mages were entitled to a staff, if only because they couldn’t do the Circle’s work without one.

Kaidan held it now, pointed at the window, unable to see more than a flicker of a dark form in the night beyond its glass.  Waiting.

The lock snicked. The window swung inward.  He gripped the wood tightly, a spell rising on his lips—

A face appeared. Brown and weathered, blue eyes bright even in the faint torchlight from the hall, lockpicks in its mouth and a flag of red hair tied up in a scarf.  

“Mmmph!” it said, eyes widening at the sight of the staff.

Kaidan half-strangled himself pulling back the magic.  Still holding the staff out in shock.  More than a dozen years, and somehow he still knew her instantly.  It shouldn’t be possible.  They’d been children.

She saw his flicker of recognition, and relaxed into a smile, levering herself into the room and spitting out her tools so she could talk.  “Excellent, this is the right room.  For what I paid the information should’ve been good, but you never know with templar types—”

“Nathaly?” A hoarse whisper.  Not believing what he saw, and not wanting any of the other mages sleeping nearby to notice regardless of whether this was real. Much less the templar guard half-dozing beyond the doorway.  

She padded into the room, enough to peer out beyond the walls of his cubby, checking to see if anyone else had noticed her arrival.  Her clothes had changed.  No more the coarse homespun of a herder’s daughter; she wore well-fitted leather armor over dyed shirt and leggings, the brightness of their colors telling the expense, and carried a sword and bow on her back with all evidence of frequent use. He stared at her back, disconcerted.

Nathaly returned, her voice low.  “Nobody’s heard us.  Get dressed. We’re leaving.”

He finally managed to lower his staff. Stammering to his feet.  “I— what— you—”

She flashed him a broad smile, smug and almost giddy.  His stomach fluttered.  “I promised I’d come and get you out.  Just took a little longer than I planned, is all.”

They’d been eight and and nine, respectively.  Fetching water in the village.  She’d attacked the templars who grabbed him, bashing her fists bloody against their armor because futility only encouraged her.  Jumping up one’s back after they brushed her aside and hanging onto his hair like a burr.  It took both of the others to remove her, and the baker and his wife to restrain her so they could leave.  He remembered it well because it was the last nice thing anyone had done for him.  His own parents hadn’t fought; in a village that size, the Chantry’s orders might as well be the word of the Maker Himself.

And she had screamed reassurances, as the templars loaded him onto a horse and carried him off. Just sit tight, I’m coming.  

He never believed it.  And yet here she was.

Nathaly touched his shoulder, gave him a shake.  “Kaidan, we have to go.  It’s not safe here.”

Not safe here. A hysterical laugh bubbled up his throat.  He clamped a hand over his mouth.  She couldn’t know the half of it.  “It’s not safe out there, either.  They steal children, but they kill apostates.”

Her brow furrowed. “You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Some apostate in Kirkwall blew up their Chantry.  Not the little ones down in the districts— the big one, gilded up by the high mucks.”  She took a breath.  “It’s all going to come apart, sooner rather than later.  I’m not leaving you here to twist in the wind.”

Kaidan’s knees failed him and he sat back on the bed, heavily enough to make her wince at the noise.  Her hand straying to a dagger on her belt as she glanced again at the other cubbies. If that was true… if the Chantry decided mages were an active threat rather than a mere danger… But apostates would find no refuge anywhere.  There wouldn’t be an option to come back and face whatever punishment awaited. Sleeping in various chambers on this floor and one above it were the only people he’d known for most of his life, and if he did this, he’d never see any of them again.

The indecision must have shown on his face, because Nathaly crouched in front of him, and took both his hands in hers.  Her face nearly level squatting on the floor, she’d gotten so tall.  “Kaidan, I will protect you.  I’ll take you out of Ferelden, or to Tevinter, or across the Amaranthine Ocean if I have to.  If this tower is what you want, I’ll go, but if you want more than this… Do you trust me?”

He stared into her eyes.  On the Circle’s best days, he’d never wanted this.  And in the face of all sanity, he believed her, every word, because even at eight years old Nathaly was still the strongest person he’d ever known, strong enough to keep an impossible vow across more than a decade.  “I trust you.”

“Then let’s go. We don’t have much time.  I have a boat waiting, but we have to be across before the moon rises.”

“Right.”  He pulled his robe off its hook and over his head, and then found his cloak in the trunk.  He’d rarely needed it and it remained like new, deep blue wool lacking all insignia, a small blessing.  Belting on a pouch with his meager stash of coin and throwing a handful of useful or sentimental items into a knapsack, and then at last grabbed his staff, because he was damned if he was leaving his only real defense behind.  “My phylactery—”

“A friend’s taking care of it.  Owes me a favor.  We’ll give the signal when we’re clear.”

He wanted to ask how, but realized it didn’t matter.  His mind was made up.  “I don’t know how I’m getting down.”

“I’ve got a rope.” Again that smile. “All you have to do is hang on.  Then I’ll untie it up here and climb down to you.”

The next bell had just started to ring when she dropped lightly onto the grass beside him, and took his arm.  “Come on. It’s this way.”

They stole across the open field surrounding the Circle Tower.  Kaidan’s shoulders itched, as if he could feel a hundred templar eyes fixed on him through the stone walls.  So distracted he found the boat with his shins and had to stop himself from cursing aloud.  

It sloshed gently in the water.  A tall, spare man reached out to help him in.  “Easy there.  So, you’re Kaidan, huh?”

“Yes?”  The man talked as if he recognized him, but Kaidan never saw him before in his life.

“We can do introductions later,” Nathaly interrupted, grasping the rowboat by its prow and pushing off from the shore.  “Garrus.”

“I’ve got it.” He stood up straight and cupped his hands around his mouth.  A sound emerged, a birdcall, nothing native to this area.  So loud that Kaidan cringed down into the boat.

Her hand rubbed his back.  And he was almost more surprised by that small act of thoughtless comfort than the noise. “It’s just the signal.  Telling our friends we’re ready.”

“Do we wait for them, or…?”  

She shook her head and swung herself into the boat, boots soaked.  “They’re getting out another way.  Our part here’s done.  We’ll meet them at the rendezvous in Crestwood in three days.”  Then, catching his expression, “Don’t worry.  We’re not going into the village proper.  Or at least, you’re not and they’re not. Garrus and I will go for supplies and hear the news.  That’ll decide what we do next.”

They settled in the boat, Garrus drawing a paddle out from beneath the seats and cutting into the surface with barely a ripple.  Tonight, Lake Calenhad was smooth as glass, and quiet as a graveyard.  Kaidan glanced at the stars.  “We’re not headed towards the mainland docks.”

Nathaly nodded. “We’ll take the coast on foot and range north until we reach the Imperial Highway.  From there, we’ll be another group of travelers.  We’ve got clothes stashed for you on the shore.  I had to guess the sizing, but they’ll do for now.”

“Quiet,” Garrus said.  For the first time, Kaidan noticed the massive compound bow under his cloak, and the way his drab brown-gray clothes melded into the dark.  “Night like this, voices carry.”

Good sense prevailed, and they made the rest of the journey in silence.  At some point, Nathaly reached over and took his hand. He clung to her fingers and watched the tower and his life of thirteen years grow small on the horizon until the night swallowed them both.

[widaugast]

this is not over. it can’t be.

            CRITICAL ROLE —- no longer accepting!

        It’s a moment’s breadth, and Caleb can do nothing but blink.  It doesn't  —-  it may not be right to turn his back, to be unsure, but there is little denying that it is all he thinks of now, made quiet by the half-breaks in the druid’s voice.  He does not know  —-  is not worthy  —-  how to comfort something so familiar as what he thinks he sees, what looks like memories, stirring somewhere beneath a great well where they were supposed to be kept.  He, of all people, might know it, but that does not make him qualified  —-  make him feel that he can do anything for a moment other than watch as a part of an unknown story exposes itself, letting little pass other than the silent acknowledgement that it is there.  Here, it says, here was something important.

        Under the swaying trees, somewhere nearby, a low birdcall, and Frumpkin  —-  a blinking owl in the gathering dusk  —-  takes a roost on Caleb’s shoulder, though his head turns towards Keyleth, watchful in his own way.  Through his familiar’s eyes, Caleb knows now that the path ahead of them is clear  —  there is a clearing suitable for a night’s rest none too far ahead, if they can find their footing again before nightfall.  A pause  —-  somewhere ahead, a sheen in the lowing light as the end of Caduceus’ staff shines, the slow gathering of the party after combat coming together, a yelp from Nott as Jester’s healing spell re-knits together a bone in her arm.  ❝ Keyleth  —-  ❞  A pause.  He’s none too sure how to approach now, something still clouding her vision slightly, but does so indirectly, taking a half-step towards the other reassembling adventurers and nodding slightly towards the sound.  ❝ The fight is done, it  —-  we could use your help in getting through the rest of these woods quietly, for tonight. ❞