Interlude I: More Than You Are

*The interlude takes place between episodes 6-10 and 6-11*

After returning to the Temple of Tymora for a well deserved night's sleep, the Soup Troop wind down and drift into dreamland. Bliss dreams of being a child at the old, dilapidated temple. Her body bruised and beaten, she reaches for a pristine apple and eats half. Ghorza dreams of the village of Kaldorak, in the body of a grown adult orc. The old Chief, the Sage, and other Elders discuss and debate the latest prophecy from the Sage: "A Half-Breed will bring about the fire that devastates this clan." Scared and angry, they run towards home. Out of the corner of their eye they notice a small half-bred boy, hiding in a nearby alley before he ducks away.

Sirrias dreams of his youth; he and Delirrious are being scolded by Ursanine for rummaging through the wares of travelers the Grove has taken under their protection... mostly for being caught. They had freed the exotic animals the travelers acquired out East in the desert; snakes, lizards and scorpions. Kinna dreams of her youth with Pip, finishing classes to enjoy a picnic by the rocky coast atop a wind-swept battered tree. Nightmare seagulls swarm them, and in an explosion of fire, Kinna devastates everything. Everything. Brodo doesn't dream. He hasn't dreamed in over a year.

Upon waking, K'harth decides to go venture North into the woods to get some solid training in, believing the fight against the ice giants to have gone... wonky. He and others are uncomfortable with how swingy and uncoordinated the fight was. Ghorza agrees to join him, along with Bliss and Sirrias. Brodo and Kinna stay behind to attend to personal projects of their own. Kinna decides to name the baby dragon "Penge", halfling for "Blade." The dragonling gives a... veiled approval.

After traveling North for most of the day, the druids (Ghorza and Sirrias) are able to find the ideal clearing away from society with a fishable stream nearby. Dinner approaches, and they go to fish... though the presence of professional(?) fisherman Lord Tacklebottom bewilders them. He challenges the Soup Troop to a fishing contest, as per Fisher's Rights(?), and everyone agrees after setting terms. The fishing goes well, until Bliss decides to attempt a cheat, sprinting upstream to unleash her lightning javelin upon the masses... until she realizes the next swarm of spawning fish are the exotic Knucklehead Trout, and the swarm bulldozes over her. Ghorza makes short work of the competition, bagging the most fish, and claiming Lord Tacklebottom's mysterious wet sack as a reward. The prize inside is a duck-ish fishing bobber.

Training comes in the morning, K'harth sets up a 2v2 fight nearby in the clearing where stands a large, solid tree atop a hill surrounded by four large stone slates. Sirrias summons a fey Hag to distract K'harth, while he and Bliss focus on Ghorza. Eventually Ghorza submits, though afterward the warmth of her Shard directs her and Sirrias to the base of the tree. After a flash of light, they find themselves in the familiar orange-tinted room where they are met by Silvanas and Meiliki, the paired god-aspects of Ghorza's Shard. Here, at this tree of personal significance to the original gods, they agree to bolster the primal capabilities of the druids. Sirrias happily accepts the boon, though Ghorza falters. The aspects question her, and Ghorza explains that her primal powers were a necessity she needed to survive when young... and they aren't who she is anymore. The aspects understand, and offer to instead remove what isn't needed and replace it with the capability to become self-reliant in her own strength.

Upon this agreement, the scenery shifts. The orange tints green, and Ghorza is at an approximation of that same hill she was at before. Opposite her are off-colored muted versions of K'harth, Sirrias and Bliss, eyes glossed over with white. Their bodies snap to attention, and the aspects speak from the void "Now... we make you more than you are."

Previous Episode: Money in the Bank

Next Episode: Interlude II: Better Than You Were