Recruited & Eluded

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 79: Recruited & Eluded, Orba and Safira were the first to arrive at a secluded home on the outskirts of Na-Qhusi.  Led by a blue-robed acolyte that may have been initially assigned by the wizard Selas, he hinted at a meeting with not just one of Navika-Pura's most prominent leaders – but potentially the rest of our party as well, which gave Orba some reason to be concerned.

Unsure of whether her Reaper status would be revealed, she identified a potential conflict of interest with the god of her cleric companion – and Safira pledged to be extra vigilant in stopping the conversation or escorting Graven elsewhere if things seemed to be coming to a boil.

As it turned out, they weren't the only members of our party having that very thought.  After enjoying express and exclusive access through the Steederway, Graven was considering the possibility of abandoning the meeting entirely – especially following an increasingly rare contact from Q'usñi himself, who warned that any association with Orba must coincide with the current ordered task or risk incurring his wrath.

Still, after much deliberation (and one final nudge from the host of the assembly), we sat in the presence of Khlyff Ironcloud and listened to his pitch – which he'd formulated in the wake of Selas's trials from the night before.

With a vested interest in keeping the balance from shifting too heavily in the favor of the gods, Khlyff needed Orba to nurture and expand her Reaper powers – but while his instincts were to keep her safe under lock and key, he knew from speaking with his sister Salandrael that no amount of coddling would produce results… so he was looking for a small, trusted group of associates to guide her on her quest.

As with many things in life, practice makes perfect – and it was Khlyff's estimation that as an ender of that which should have ended, it made sense to target powerful undead foes throughout Anti-Suyu.  His first mark was a Coldlight Walker in the eastern end of the Rapra Mountains – a cursed, wailing spirit that had succumbed to the elements – and he wanted us to make sure Orba felled this creature and lived to tell the tale.

We were immediately amenable to the mission – though beyond his generous monetary offer, we made sure to take the opportunity to ask for more personal compensation.  Erland secured a contract to continue work outside of Atonement's End, Graven acquired a standing offer to gain access to Finlock Forest (though not the Shade Assembly itself) – and we even bargained on Beezaura's behalf to earn two substantial chess pieces for her future cooperation.

With all parties satisfied, we confirmed the arrangement – and Khlyff even delayed his busy schedule to steal a moment alone with Orba to check in with how she was handling her new responsibilities.  It was a lot to take in, but it came with a renewed sense of purpose – which was good because Khlyff wanted to put us immediately to the test to build confidence in our ability to successfully vanquish the Coldlight Walker.

At the nearby Navika Burial Grounds, the caretaker Avavarius had trapped an unknown creature in what he referred to as the Firnogo Vighotrio – a specialized burial chamber that represented an old tradition of the New Qelqian faith.  From his description, we immediately identified it as a Myconid Mutant – potentially even the same one that had attacked the Mycrawl Den south of Leopold's Garrison – and we knew we'd have to proceed with caution and whistle in hand.

Working our way down the spiral steps, we spotted several bulbous pods that proved sensitive to sound – and it occurred to us that the mutant might have spent the night prior setting traps throughout the area.  On the second subsurface level, we finally tracked down the source – a horrifying beast that recoiled from the whistling and sent us on a wild chase throughout the Firnogo Vighotrio.

The mutant spent precious few moments actually attacking us directly – but his slippery nature forced us to repeatedly move amongst the pods, which exploded with showers of acidic goo that wore us down over time.  With bursting occurring from all angles, Erland managed to restrain the mutant with one of his vine abilities – allowing Graven to wind up a divinely-inspired Guiding Bolt that nearly obliterated its target.

Looking around, we breathed a sigh of relief that the pods began to wilt – believing that we'd proven ourselves to Khlyff with this violent encounter.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: five natural ones were rolled in this Chapter. 1 each by Jordan and Matt, and 3 by Anthony.