Runelords 29.0 - New Teammates

Sandpoint was secure once more. Everyone took a few days to help repair the town, waiting for the news of their success to spread and for the citizens to return home. The stone slab that seemed to be the primary goal of the invaders was shrunk with magic and retrieved from the ocean floor: it wasn't magical, and they recognized it merely as part of the floor that was marked with a particular seven-pointed sigil. Unsure what the invaders might want with this, they nonetheless put it under heavy guard and prepared to take it away from Sandpoint when they left. 
Later, with the slightly begrudging help of Quint, Virgil and Khyr teleported to the Shimmerglen with the mindless sylvan that Lamar had become. Quint waited in Turtleback Ferry as the two men walked off into the swamps with the sylvan, calling for Yap to aid them. Indeed, they ran into the pixie who was deeply concerned about the situation. With his help, the two returned to Myrenra's grove. The sight of the husk of the man she loved brought her to tears and she wrapped herself about him; the two seemed to both settle somehow, becoming even more plant-like than they had been before. Yap brought them back out, and as they made to leave the swamp Myrenra spoke to Khyr's mind, thanking him for his efforts. A token fell before him: a branch that seemed to hold life and power. Taking the stick reverently, Khyr told her she was welcome. Virgil was quietly put-out at not being mentioned, but said nothing as they left and returned to Sandpoint.
Some days later, after the funerals for the fallen defenders had been held, the repairs were mostly finished and life in Sandpoint had mostly returned to normal, the adventurers prepared to leave. With a bit of arm twisting, and Eamon convinced Quint to come with them, to investigate the ruins known to be in the mountain valley called Jorgenfist. Quint sighed and said he could be ready to leave later that day.
When Eamon went to tell Aldern and Luna that they were leaving, Luna refused to come to the door and Aldern's response was a bit dodgy; apparently, she had miscast a spell and was having trouble. They argued that nothing was seriously wrong and agreed to meet at Quint's later though. Meanwhile, Virgil went to inform Shadliss that he was leaving town, only to find that she was at work with her father in the general store. Subtly plotting to meet later, Virgil made a purchase and left. Twenty minutes later, he was giving her the news outside the church. She resolved firmly to go with them: she was sick of being a bystander, and was going to help stop these problems once and for all. Virgil accepted this, and told her to be ready later that day.
After this, Virgil informed Eamon that Shadliss was coming. Eamon was resigned, though it was obvious he thought little of the plan. Virgil did little to justify himself and made to leave. The mother stopped him though, having overheard their plans to depart, and thanked them both heartily for their help in protecting the town, telling them that they were always welcome. In particular, she noted that Virgil's constitution seemed much improved and was glad for his soul.
Virgil went to the sheriff and mayor in turn, excusing their imminent departure. He was given thanks to return to the group of them. The mayor mentioned that the statue that Eamon had graciously funded was underway, and plans were in the works for a memorial holiday to mark the sacrifice of those who had fought for Sandpoint; should they be back in a year, they would be honoured as heroes.
With their preparations made, the group convened outside Quint's house. Luna's "miscast spell" was readily apparent: she reeked of the fetid stench of decay, and anyone who passed near her was made sick with the smell of it. She stood stand-offishly to one side, obviously uncomfortable, and everyone kept a good distance away. Quint stepped out, holding his cat in a carrier and wearing a rather ridiculous set of adventuring clothes that included flood pants. He asked where they were aiming for, as he had teleport prepared. He sighed when the others said that they should aim for Turtleback Ferry, where they could complete some errands before setting off. Shaking his head, he agreed.
There was a slight bit of contention between Shadliss and Khyr, as Shadliss took offense at what she considered his demeaning assessment of her. When everyone was "quite done", Quint teleported himself along with Eamon, Khyrralien and Aldern to the middle of Turtleback Ferry, where it was pouring rain. Shoving the cat carrier into Aldern's hands and telling him to take good care of him, Quint vanished as he returned for the others. Aldern was quietly fascinated and pleased with the fact that the cat seemed to not be upset with him, and he, Khyr, and Eamon jogged to the inn.
When Quint returned to teleport the rest of them, Luna sighed and joined them, subjecting everyone to the smell. While it was obvious that everyone was made ill at the stench, only Shadliss and Quint excused themselves; Virgil stood steadfastly where he was, trying to not make Luna feel badly. Quint went back into his house and returned a few minutes later with some extremely pungent tea for himself and her. She drank it quietly, thanking him though still looking sullen.
When it was time to go, Virgil collected Shadliss, who had walked some distance away. Quint handed umbrellas to the two women, warning them to open them now. He himself opened his own umbrella, leaving Virgil alone standing in the pouring rain when they arrived. The group hustled towards the inn themselves.
Inside, Luna directly ran to a room upstairs, escorted by Aldern as other inn patrons were suddenly overcome with the smell of fetid corpses. Khyr had purchased rooms and food for everyone and tried his level best to smooth over everyone and start off this journey on a good note. Quint and Shadliss were amicable as well and everyone left feeling good. Virgil returned the large straw hat of disguise to Khyr, and traded some quips with Romeo using Speak with Animals. The iron raven was pleased to have his straight man back, and Quint's cat, Neville, seemed to have few concerns other than the food being given to him by Khyr, doing little to answer the question of whether he was in fact Quint's familiar or just a fat lazy cat.
After the meal was done and everyone was ready to retire, Khyr and Virgil decided that the middle of the night was the best time to go return the stolen goods to the mermaid. Receiving potions of water breathing from Luna, the two set out. Unfortunately for them, the ferry didn't run at night, so the pair thought the best course of action was to try and swim to the center of the lake in a rainstorm. Through some small miracle, the pair managed to eventually navigate their way there. Entering the shipwreck, they went to the mermaid's room and found her asleep. Knocking politely on the doorframe, they woke her and mimed shame and guilt, presenting her with a bag of weapons and armaments, some which they had stolen from her, others from their own collections. Storing some of them away but taking her trident from before, she circled around them, judging. The pair maintained their apologetic postures. First she prodded them, then proceeded to lash them with the weapon's haft. They were resoundingly "punished" for their transgressions, to which they submitted willingly; the mermaid seemed to particularly enjoy hurting Khyr, but seemed impressed with Virgil's responses to her administrations of pain and pleasure.
When they were "released", the pair swam away, once more avoiding the huge fish that circled the boat. They picked at direction and eventually pulled themselves up onto a swampy shore, obviously nowhere near town. Exhausted, they still managed to pitch a tent and line it to keep most of the swampy muck out before collapsing into each other and passing out.
The next morning, Aldern, Eamon, Shadliss and Quint met. The pressing topic was, of course, where Virgil and Khyr had gone. Though the amount of worry was definitely not distributed evenly among those assembled, it was decided that a search effort would be made after breakfast. 
When Luna was told of this by Aldern, she mentioned that her infusions would keep the pair of them drowning for nearly a day, so she wasn't worried about them much at all. She suggested that at least some of them go to Fort Rannick and debrief the Arrows, so that time wasn't wasted. Aldern nodded agreement and went to find Eamon. Eamon had approached the local ferryman about his missing compatriots, who replied that he hadn't seen "an aelurian and an old man anywhere, but he'd keep an eye out. When Aldern caught up to Eamon, he agreed with Luna's plan; he decided to rent a horse to speed their journey, and got two when he noticed that suddenly the animals seemed to take no issue with Aldern's presence. The nobleman was visibly thrilled to ride again and the two made their way to Fort Rannick.
Meanwhile, Khyr and Virgil had awoken, stiff and fatigued. They packed their things away and trudged back towards the road, which was a very long way off. They had to swim a river in order to get back to the correct side of the lake: a feat, considering they were already tired. Dragging themselves onto the road, they saw they weren't far from the entrance to the Shimmerglen. Deciding they may as well go there next, they nonetheless rang the bell for the ferryman.
The rower pulled up some time later, seeming somewhat shocked to see them. Apparently, someone had asked about them earlier. They grinned and asked if he might go back to town and tell "the red-headed kid" that they were alright, but had some business in the Shimmerglen to finish before heading back to town. The ferryman looked at them like they were crazy, but agreed. With that, they turned and headed towards the swamp.Category:Rise of the Runelords