Chapter Twenty-Five: Smoke

Xa'oc and Aruna easily track down all of the escaped guards and slaughter them.  Aruna notices that Xa'oc occasionally uses Mistsong to absorb the corpses of those he murders.

                 Aruna does not sleep peacefully.

                 There are so many prisoners that there isn't enough space for everyone to sleep comfortably in the fortress.

                 All of Xa'oc's weapons are gone and he is covered in tattoos.  Aruna, in front of all of us, asks Xa'oc if he knows that his sword is eating corpses.

                 Xa’oc: “The sword needed to feed, as a result of exposure to the Caller while we were in the Gray.”

                 Kriv: “Who is eating the bodies?”

                 Aruna: “Who is turning the bodies to smoke first?”

                 Kriv: “I thought we had a conversation about the sword. It's strange to me that you didn't tell us about this.”

                 Xa’oc: “You were busy making berms and staking corpses.”

                 Kriv: “Is this new?”

                 Xa’oc: “I've been distracted the last few days because the sword has not been feeding, using bows instead of steel.”

                 Kriv: “You don't find this troublesome?"

                 Xa’oc: “If it will keep it from feeding on me, I don't have a problem. It keeps it from feeding on me. It's unwilling to not be used. In order to get my attention, it has been distracting me.”

                 Kriv: “Do you not see that as a problem?”

                 Xa’oc: “I do not, as long as we keep the sword fed.”

                 Kriv: “If we're part of a clutch, we are all beholden to this sword now.”

                 Xa’oc: “The clutch will not come to harm. I will not let that happen again.”

                 Kriv: “But the sword can hinder/harm/distract you if you don't do but the sword wants.”

                 Xa’oc: “A pet needs to be fed. It will seek your attention until it is fed.”

                 Aruna: “How does it harm you when you don't feed it?”

                 Xa’oc: “Just distracting, urging me to use it instead of another weapon. That's been taken care of.”

                 Xa'oc's tattoos swirl into a smokey mist that coalesces into a spirally gythka attached to Mist Song.

                 Kriv: So the sword is contained in your body?

                 Xa’oc: “No, just on my body, like carrying any other weapon. All of my weapons are combined into a single weapon.”

                 Kriv: “This is troubling because it's been going on for a while and you concealed it. Last time you didn't want to talk about the sword was when it was trying to control you.”

                 Xa’oc: “I have come forward with all that I know of the sword at this time.”

                 Kriv: “But only because we noticed that it was eating people.”

                 Xa’oc: “That only started yesterday. Navarro and Amara came to the conclusion that the sword needed to be fed.”

                 Kriv: “What if you're feeding something in the Gray? There's a connection between it and the Gray.”

                 Xa’oc: “This connection is worth investigating. I'll ask Amara about it now.”

                 Xa'oc communes with Mist Song

                                    Xa’oc: “Amara, do you sense that the sword is still connected to the Gray?”

                                    Amara: “Oh, yeah.”

                 Kriv: “Do you not find that concerning?”

                 Xa’oc: “Amara asks if we could make another sword?”

                 Kriv: “Nope.”

                 Amara: “It does not feel more crowded in here then it did before.”

                 Xa’oc: “The souls that were fed were not added to the sword, they were consumed by the spirits inside the sword.”

                 Amara: “It feels like they passed through us. Is that bad?”

                 Xa’oc: “Amara, do you think the sword is acting as a conduit for the Caller?”

                 Amara: “Maybe? But, that's not what it was designed for. Even if it is, we're not there, so it doesn't matter that much.”

                 Xa’oc: “We've left the Gray behind, and we have no need to go back there again.”

                 Kriv: “Isn't there an entity in the Gray looking to gain control of the Caller? If the Caller would help Nibenay destroy the world, is that a thing we want to make stronger?”

                 Xa’oc: “They missed the deadline. Perhaps, if Mistsong is tied to the Caller, we can use that to our advantage.”

                 Kriv: “Here is my concern. The sword showed up to try to entrap us and take us to the Caller, and it succeeded. We escaped, and the sword came with us, and now the sword is possibly feeding things to the Caller. And, instead of compelling you, it's now punishing you for not doing what it wants.”

                 Xa’oc: “Only because the blood was not being spilled by the sword.”

                 Kriv: “Those don't seem like outstandingly good qualities.”

                 Vex considers the idea of using the Orb on Xa'oc's sword, but abandons the plan once Kriv and Aruna remind her that the sword is now tattooed to Xa'oc.

                 Aruna: “How did the sword become able to give you those tattoos?”

                 Xa’oc: “Ever since we left the Gray, I felt myself growing more powerful. I have wanted to combine my gythka and Mistsong for some time. Last night, while you were sleeping, the sword became mist and surrounded me and bound itself to my body. This is not possession anymore than my abilities to heal and hurt with my claws. Are we not all growing in power?”

                 Aruna: “Did it ask your permission?”

                 Xa’oc: “No, but it guessed what I wanted and needed. I am now able to summon it by willing it into my claw.  Vex was resurrected and possessed by shadows and nobody seems bothered.”

                 Kriv: “I actually find that extremely troubling. Everything that emerged from the Gray I find extremely troubling. Except Aruna.  Who is Mistsong exactly? It's not the one that talks to you.”

                 Xa’oc: “Navarro and Amara are the only ones that have spoken to me. There are others, but they have not spoken to me.”

                 Kriv: “Is the sword a person? Does it know things and do things? Where is the sword's intellect?”

                 Xa’oc: “I would imagine among the entities that inhabit it.”

                 Kriv: “Why do you trust these entities?”

                 Xa’oc: “Because I trust Navarro.”

                 Vex: “Is it possible that the Caller has created an image of Navarro?”

                 Xa’oc: “It is as possible as the shadows that speak to you, and lure and tempt you. All of us, except Aruna, were changed in some way by the Gray.”

                 Vex: “So let's put Aruna in charge. We could all agree to abide by your decisions.”

                 Aruna does not seem comfortable with the idea.

                 Kriv: “I don't know what to do about this.”

                 Xa’oc: “You have to trust that I am in control, and I have been honest with you, and if things become concerning I will let you know. Such as, when my mind begins slipping like before.”

                 Aruna: “At that point its already too late.”

                 Kriv: “Last time you didn't recognize that your mind was being overtaken.”

                 Xa’oc: “Since confronting the Caller, my attunement to the sword ended, and I have not attuned to it since. I have no desire to attune to it.”

                 Amara: “I'll just let you know when your mind starts slipping!”

                 Xa’oc: “I trust her because she helped us escape the Gray.”

                 Kriv: “I am troubled that we have suddenly decided to trust the sword that took you over and tried to get us all killed. But I suppose that's where we are.”

                 Aruna: “I don't feel like that's a great idea.”

                 Kriv returns to fortifying the area.  We find enough food to feed the prisoners for a couple of weeks.  The prisoners are resting and recovering.  Tenneth is exhausted from harvesting the seeds and destroying the plant.  Aruna tends to the prisoners.  Vex wonders if this is where we were being taken when we were captured in Urik.

                 At our next meal, Nirin approaches us.

                 Nirin: “I don't have a lot, because it is very convoluted with a lot of extraneous words, but I did figure out something.  I've been looking for how to get rid of the orbs, and it is going to take a whole lot of magic to do it. I don't really know how.”

                 Vex: “No problem, we'll just drain one of the Sorcerer Kings.”

                 Nirin: “We do have a good resource that we're trying to keep from them. When we were a big city, we have a lot of metal leftover, but it's underground. And no one knows about it. That's how we armed ourselves.”

                 Vex: “Did you learn anything else from the book?”

                 Nirin: “Nope!”

                 Vex: “Please keep researching to find other useful facts.”

                 Nirin: “Reading helps me forget how much physical danger I am always in.”

                 Vex spends the day trying to organize the prisoners and figure out who is best to do what.  Selkin is good at smashing things with a mace.  Faena is despondent with grief.  We learn that House Inika isn't going to send an army, but some mercenaries.  We put the plant corpse outside the walls with the guard corpses.

                 The next time Xa'oc finds himself alone, Navarro speaks to him through Mist Song.

                 Navarro: What are we going to do if your friends make you get rid of the sword?

                 Xa’oc: “The clutch is the priority. If the sword engagers them, then the sword will have to be disposed of. We shall wield it only as long as it protects the clutch.”

                 N: “I won't be able to help you anymore.”

                 Xa’oc: “Wait, what?”

                 Navarro: “Well, since I seem to be housed in the sword, it seems like if you get rid of the sword, I won't be with you anymore.”

                 Xa’oc: “But I'm not getting rid of the sword. If they ask me to get rid of the sword because it might harm the clutch, we'll have to get rid of it. As long as it continues to protect the clutch, then I see no reason to part with it.”

                 Navarro: “That feels concerning to me, but I understand.”

                 Xa’oc: “You were my clutch at one time. But, these new friends, they are more important. That's the only reason I'm using the sword now, to gain the power to protect them.”

                 Navarro: “They don't seem very supportive of you.”

                 Xa’oc: “That is how Kriv shows his support. He's just as concerned about himself and Vex.”

                 Navarro: “I guess that's fair.”

                 Xa’oc: “That being said, the more information I have to prove that the sword is worth keeping, and that it is a benefit and a boon to the clutch, and not something to be feared, that would alleviate their concerns and perhaps keep them from requesting that the sword be disposed of.”

                 Navarro: “At least that thing seems to be not trying to push through as hard.”

                 Xa’oc: “We fed the sword. Is that related?”

                 Amara: “The nature of the sword is that it needs to be fed. It was designed that way, and you probably just didn't notice because you were killing people with it. It's fun to see what new things the sword can do now that it isn't in the Gray. You should be writing this down.”

                 Xa’oc: “I do not know how to write.”

                 Amara: “I know how to write. Can I try using your hands?”

                 Xa’oc: “Let's not do that yet.”

                 Amara: “I would like to try, just to see.”

                 Xa’oc: “Let's prove the sword is a thing of protection before we do any more experiments.”

                 Amara: “I don't think the sword is good or evil, it's just a thing that was created to eat souls. It was commissioned by Thakok-An in Kalidnay.”

                 Xa’oc: “I am in control of the sword, now?”

                 Amara: “... yes.”

                 Xa'oc uses the tattoos to form a bow in his hands.

                 Amara: “I've not seen it do that. I didn't know it could. But isn't it great that we can see what it can do, now?”

                 Xa’oc: “As long as it is my will that it is performing. If the sword seems dangerous, we'll have to take steps to deal with that.”

                 Amara: “You could give it to my brother in Kled! I think it's interesting what you've done with the sword because it's taken on more than it was intended for. I'm intimidated by what else is in here, but I'll keep a lid on it. The thing that was buzzing. It feels like feeding it made it go away.”

                 Xa'oc approaches Kriv working on the fortifications and remains 30' away. Xa'oc uses the mist to teleport next to Kriv.

                 Xa’oc: “I can move like smoke now.”

                 Kriv, shocked, draws his sword.

                 Xa'oc laughs. Amara laughs in Xa'oc's head.

                 Kriv: “What.”

                 Xa’oc: “I have spoken with Navarro and Amara and they have confirmed that the enchantment is gone from the sword. It is merely an object that can be bent to my will, and I can use it to do things like move like smoke.”

                 Kriv: “Do you understand why I don't think the voices in the sword are a reliable source about the safety of the sword? They seem to be people you know well or were very slightly acquainted with. And everything they tell about you the sword is persuading you to use the sword. Do you see why, from my perspective, that is not very good evidence of the sword's harmlessness? Wouldn't the voices say the same thing if the sword wasn't harmless?”

                 Xa’oc: “They aren't trying to use the sword against you. I've told them the sword will be destroyed if it poses danger to the clutch.”

                 Kriv: “I don't know what that sword wants. And neither do you. It was created by the person that fed me to a kraken. To eat souls.”

                 Xa’oc: “We take the weapons of our enemies all the time.”

                 Kriv: “Why did Thakok-An want a sword that eats souls? What did that do for her?”

                 Amara: “The rumors were that no one had seen the Sorcerer King for a while, so maybe she was trying to be a Sorcerer King, or trying to revive him, or trying to kill him.”

                 Xa’oc: “Would Mist Song be strong enough to kill a Sorcerer King?”

                 Amara: “That's why I think what we're doing is such a great experiment!”

                 Xa’oc: “I disagree that it would be a good experiment. I would like a guarantee that this will kill a Sorcerer King before I try to stab one with it.”

                 Amara: “I don't understand why your friends are so worried.”

                 Xa’oc: “This particular sword possessed me for a time. If this were any other sword, their concern wouldn't be to the same extent. They think it could possess me again.”

                 Amara: “It can't, because I know how to make one, my mentor taught me. Even if something bad happens, how bad could it be? We got out of the Gray!”

                 Xa’oc: “That's not a good question to explore. Only one of us got out unscathed.”

                 Amara: “Three people died and we're still here!”

                 Xa’oc: “We're here but we're not the same.”

                 Amara: “That's fine!”

                 Xa’oc: “People are more afraid of what they don't know then what they do now. I'm not willing to put the clutch at risk to perform these experiments.”

                 Amara: “You sure you don't want to see if I can use your hands? I'd give them right back.”

                 Xa’oc: “That would be an instant death sentence for all of us. The use of my body by a foreign entity is their primary concern.”

                 Amara: “How would they know? I wouldn't tell them.”

                 Xa’oc: “How would I explain that I suddenly know how to write?”

                 Amara: “Fine. We'll do it later when they aren't around.”

Eventually we see four people approaching on the road, each riding some kind of creature.

                 They arrive when we expected reinforcements to arrive.  They manage to climb across the diches on their weird lizard mounts (which we intend to steal immediately).  Vex and Kriv wait for them to approach within 30' feet.

                 Kriv to Vex: “Tell them to leave the lizards.”

                 Them: “Hail and well met!”

                 Kriv: “Dismount and start walking away.”

                 Them: “We're here for a friendly negotiations on behalf of House Inika!”

                 Kriv: “Sure, come on over.”  They carefully scale the wall

                 Them: “We're here peacefully. We're going to fairly compensate you for our product.”

                 Kriv and Vex each charm two of the lizards while they are climbing the wall.

                 Vex to Xa’oc and Aruna: “Do not hurt the lizards because we have charmed them.”

                 Vex notices that something tries to touch her mind. She immediately notifies her friends.

                 Kriv: “You've just tried to mess with my friend's mind, and that usually results in people getting killed.”

                 Them: “I see we've gotten off on the wrong foot.” They produce a coin purse and jiggle it.

“All we want from you, first of all, was the plant. So this can all end peacefully if we can just give you money for the seeds. The fortress is useless without the seeds. If we can avoid this conflict, we'll go on our way, you can have it.”

                 Kriv: “Counteroffer. Dismount and walk back the way you came.”

                 Them: “You haven't even heard the price.”

                 Kriv: “Sure. Go for it.”

                 Them: “We have two thousand silver for you.”

                 Vex indicates disapproval.  We attack. Vex blasts the closest rider of their mount, being unable to tell which of the strangers attacked her.  Aruna starts punching them. When she hits, they create a sand cloud that tears at Aruna.  Kriv throws a shadow blade at the same target. The target is in bad shape. Selkin joins in but doesn't hit and is hurt by the sand cloud.

                 One of them throws off their cloak, revealing horrific centipede arms and attacks Xa'oc, but misses.  The one with the mask on its arm puts it on and it covers his body in stone.  Selkin starts moving sluggishly.  Another one disappears into the sand and appears behind Vex, slashing her, and creating an obscuring wall of sand around the two of them.

                 Xa'oc curses the guy with the centipede arms and attacks with his gythka, hitting him twice.

                 The one that we badly wounded disengages from Aruna and starts climbing over the wall.  Aruna attacks one of the riders but her precious hand carved quarterstaff breaks. Vex is unable to blast the one next to her in close quarters.  Kriv throws a shadow blade at the centipede guy, and then throws a second blade to kill the one that was running away, and then joins the melee.  Selkin tries to hit the stone guy, but his weapon bounces off.

                 The centipede guy grapples Xa'oc, despite the fact that Xa'oc's mist starts burning him.  The stone guy blasts Kriv and Aruna with sand, scouring them both.  The one fighting Vex slashes her with a scythe.

                 Xa'oc disappears into mist and appears behind the centipede guy, punching him. Vex manages to blast the one attacking her, pushing him through his sandstorm, which then collapses.  Kriv fells the centipede guy with his longsword and climbs onto his lizard. Xa'oc's mist drains some of the centipede's vitality. Selkin disengages from the stone guy and moves towards the one that attacked Vex.

                 Xa'oc and Aruna start moving sluggishly. The stone guy, and his lizard, climbs over the wall to escape.  The one who attacked Vex steps through the sands and starts fleeing to the west. His mount follows.

                 Xa'oc climbs onto the dirt wall, transforms Mist Song into a bow and blasts the stone guy.

                 Aruna pursues the stone guy and punches him.  Vex blasts the fleeing attacker and tries, and fails, to encourage one of her lizards to return.  Kriv manifests a psychic hammer, tells the lizard to stay, and pursues the stone guy on foot.

                 The stone guy punches Aruna really hard.  The guy that attacked Vex steps into the sand again, scales over the wall, and engages in melee with Vex.

                 Xa'oc attacked the stone guy, hitting him with his gythka in melee.

To be continued ...