In which the party attempts to stop the void left by Maximilliano's death.
The morning after the Druid gathering, the adventurers awoke. Several dead birds littered the clearing, pierced by arrows Elle had set the night before to take out any intruders on the campsite. Elle and Talna promptly cooked and served these birds for breakfast.
"What should we do now?" Talna asked.
"We could try to defeat the beholder," Sadun suggested.
"I do not believe we are powerful enough to do so yet," Fei said.
"The wizard mentioned all those magic weapons in the lake," Balazar pointed out. "We could go kill the dragon and take them."
"The weather will be turning to rain later today," Fei said. "My magic has told me so. It may not be the best idea to try and fight a dragon that breathes lightning in that weather."
"Hmm," Sadun considered, chewing on roast bird. "We also need to take care of the void Max left behind, before it does more damage to this land. Now that we have a means of closing it I feel a responsibility to do so."
"I think that may be our best option, but how do we do it?" Cassian asked.
"The wizard told us we need to throw this diamond into the void at the exact moment it pulses," Talna reminded the group. "We have to be pretty close, and the void was doing all sorts of unpredictable things to us the last time we were near it."
"I can run up and throw the diamond in," Cassian said, definitively.
"Well I don't want to die, so I don't know why we're considering any of these options," Pip squeak said from his seat. Cassian ignored the ratfolk.
"Last time you almost walked into it yourself," Talna said. "I don't know if that's our best option."
"Elle has a fishing pole, maybe we could... somehow tie the diamond to the line and hurl it in?" Cassian suggested.
"The timing would be nearly impossible," Talna said.
"What if we got something to fly it in? Fei?"
"I cannot change my form into a flying beast at this time," Fei admitted. "That level of skill yet eludes me."
"What if you conjured some birds?" Sadun suggested. "They could fly it in for us. There were natural birds flying in anyway last time."
"There's still an issue of timing," Fei said.
"Also, magic is unreliable, who is to say a conjured animal wouldn't disappear as soon as it got close to the void?" Talna said.
The group sat in silence for a few moments.
"Well, no point sitting around, let's plan as we go," Elle suggested.
"Yes, let us travel back towards the void, and we may be able to formulate a plan by the time we get there," Cassian agreed.
The group packed up their campsite and began making their way back towards Serpent Lake, discussing options all the while.
"Would any other diamond work?" Talna pondered, after some distance. She pulled the diamond out of her pack and examined it. Then she cast a spell of Detect Magic. The diamond began to glow faintly in her eyes. "Well, there's some sort of spell on this thing, so it probably has to be this diamond. Pip, you're from around here, do you know where any other diamonds are?"
"Oh yes, I saw some diamonds in the cave!" Pip replied.
"What cave?" Talna asked cautiously.
"The one in the hills about three days walk south of here," Pip said enthusiastically. "They were stuck in some statues and I smelled dangerous things about so I did not stick around to get them, but maybe as a group we could get them all together, yes?"
"Hmm, maybe later," Talna said. "That's too far out of our way, we've no way of knowing what the void is doing now, much less six days from now. Hells, I had hoped I could get another diamond so I could revivify anyone who happened to die attempting to close this thing."
The group passed the abandoned town where they had met Pip Squeak.
"Maybe we could still get rid of the dragon if I turned it into a mouse, and we sent it into the void with the diamond," Fei mused. "As the drow say, we could yeet it."
"You could really turn the dragon into a mouse?" Cassian asked.
"Well, the spell is feasible, though the dragon may resist it. And I can only attempt the spell once today," Fei admitted.
"And if the spell fails we have to fight it anyway," Sadun said.
"Correct."
"Well, maybe we should sit on that option for now," Talna said.
As the group walked, Elle thought to the mouse on her shoulder "Would it help if I made a pact with you?"
"Certainly, if you make a pact with me I would grant you all the power you could ever need," the elder god replied.
Elle walked on, deep in thought.
The group reached the site of their camp from two nights ago, where they had fought off the pack of griffins.
"I'm going to go scout the area," Cassian said, determinedly.
"I'm going with him!" Elle said immediately.
"I want to see this orb," Pip said. "So I know what to stay away from."
"Yeah, I think I should take a look too, I didn't get a good look last time," Balazar said.
The four set off. Talna, Sadun and Fei looked at each other in silence a moment.
"We'd better go too, they'll need rescuing shortly if we leave them on their own," Talna pointed out.
"Agreed," Sadun said. The trio walked quickly after the disappearing group.
The orb still hung in midair in a clearing among the trees. The untouched corpse of Maximiliano the Goblin still hung from the orb by the shoulder. Periodically, a faint pulse of energy would emanate outward from the orb, rippling across the clearing.
"Is it just me or is it bigger than before?" Talna asked, quietly.
"It looks about three times as large as it was when we left," Sadun said. "That is bad. We need to do something about this soon."
Cassian began walking forward towards the orb. After a few feet, he paused mid stride. His arms and shoulders drooped to his sides, and he began shuffling towards the orb as though pulled towards it.
"Oh no," Talna muttered, "I recognize that look." The drow ran up to Cassian, doing her best to shield her eyes from the orb. As she came near to the half-orc, she could feel a pull at her mind, but she fought it, and pulled Cassian back to join the others.
"What was that for Talna?" Cassian asked.
"You were caught in it's pull again, you lodestone."
"No, I was just trying to... to find out where it would pull on me?" Cassian said, a little confused and obviously in denial.
"Well, it got you about here," Talna said, edging close to where Cassian had been.
"Well," the half-orc drew a line in the dirt at that spot. "At least we know this is the danger zone.
Pip pulled a torch from his pouch and tied a rope to it, then tossed it towards the orb. The torch arced gracefully through the air and landed softly on the earth. The ratfolk began pulling it back to him with the rope.
"What was that for?" Balazar asked.
"If it draws things towards it, I thought I might be able to find where it begins pulling not just minds but objects," Pip said.
"I like that idea little thing," Balazar said. "Let me have your rope, would you?"
"The trees here look sick," Fei observed. "The void is draining the magical energy of the land around it, it is leaching the life away from here."
As the druid spoke, an arrow flew over her head, striking the orb just as it pulsed. The steady timing of the pulses became slightly erratic at this interruption.
"I think you hit the timing right," Pip said, staring at the orb, "but obviously since it wasn't the diamond it's made the orb less predictable."
"Oh great," Talna said. "Why did you do that Elle?"
"I didn't mean to make it worse!" the gnome said plaintively. "I just wanted to see what would happen if I shot it!"
"Well, now we know," Fei said, in a neutral voice. "I will attempt to determine if this new pulse rate has some sense to it."
"Rat, if I give you wine will you help me with a little experiment?" Balazar offered. "It's a good experiment, or I'd never offer to part with the wine," he added in a softer voice.
"What's the experiment?" Pip asked, cautiously.
"I'll tie this rope around you, and throw you at the orb. I'll pull you back the moment you start getting sucked into it. Just to see how close living things can get to it."
"That's a good idea," Cassian said. "Let me help with that."
As the two fighters began tying the rope to Pip, Elle sidled up to Sadun. "Sadun," she said quietly. "I want to try the same thing, but I'll use my Disguise spell on myself, and see how close I can get before the magic disappears. You pull me back if I lose control of myself."
"Very well, I will assist you with this," Sadun said. "The more we understand of the forces at play here, the more likely we can overcome this obstacle."
As the two groups respectively tied rope to their test subjects, Balazar glanced up. "Quick side mission for you Pip, go get Talna." And with that he hurled the ratfolk towards the cleric, who had lost the battle of wills with the orb and was stumbling towards it. Pip landed with a squeak about five feet from Talna. "Now go grab her fool!" Balazar yelled, spurring the bewildered Pip to action. The ratfolk jumped onto Talna's back and held on fast, latching his teeth to the drow's neck as though she were a young rat, as Cassian and Balazar hauled on the rope. Between them they managed to drag Talna back to the line of safety.
"Experimenting on your own with no-body watching huh?" Balazar said to the dazed Talna. "Well far be it from me to pass up an opportunity for payback." The dragonborn slapped the drowse.
"Ow, what the hells?" Talna complained. "Why are you holding on to me rat?"
Pip let go of Talna's neck and spat. "Drow taste bad."
Ignoring the shenanigans of the rest of the group, Sadun and Elle continued with their own experiment. Elle began walking cautiously towards the orb. She felt the pull of the orb in her mind, but the gnome found the strength of will to resist it, focusing instead on the feeling of her disguised hair color. Cassian moved to help Sadun with the rope in case the worst should occur. After about 15 feet, Elle's hair returned to its normal color. Making a quick mark in the dirt, the gnome turned and returned to her friends. "As far as I can tell, that's where magic wears off," she reported.
"How did you make it so far without giving in to the pull?" Cassian wondered aloud.
"I'm a gnome," Elle said proudly. "We have strong wills."
"The pulses seem to be coming at 29 or 30 seconds now," Fei said.
"Should we try to chop Max off of the void? Will that help?" Elle asked.
"Who is willing to do this and potentially die when it comes to it?" Talna asked. Sadun, Fei and Cassian all raise their hands.
"Although, Elle has the strongest willpower, so she has the best chance of succeeding," Cassian pointed out. "And you wouldn't let her die, right? As her friend?"
Talna sighed. "My magic isn't working properly here. Of course I would not willingly let her die, but I cannot guarantee that I will have any power to stop it should it happen."
Elle sidled back over to Sadun. "Sadun, if I die, I have a plan. Please don't worry."
"Okay," Sadun said, confused.
"I thought we were going to try to trap the big monster before we closed this thing," Balazar protested, walking in the direction of the lake.
"Balazar stop!" Cassian called out. "He's leaving, should we stop him?"
"What are you doing Balazar?" Talna asked.
"I'm going to throw a rock in the lake and run like the hells had opened behind me," Balazar replied.
"It's more likely to breath lightning at you than follow," Talna said. "We don't think that would work."
"You never let me have any fun," Balazar complained sulkily.
"Let's just try another test of the magical limits here," Talna suggested, casting a Shield of Fatih on Elle.
"Sure, let's give this a try," Elle said. Sadun, Talna and Cassian all grabbed the rope as Elle stepped forward once again. This time, the gnome made it twenty feet towards the orb before the shield's magic failed. Elle did not return to the group, instead choosing to walk further towards the void. Each step she took, the desire to turn away felt further away. As she approached within fifteen feet of the void, she began to feel a slight breeze pulling in the direction of the orb, although Max's body still hung motionless.
Observing Elle's progress, Cassian noticed the moment a few steps later when Elle finally lost the mental battle, he stance drooping as she began trudging stoically towards the void, but he let her go. After a few more steps, Elle shook herself, snapping out of the trance the orb had her in as her mind reasserted dominance. She found herself only ten feet away, the orb looming ominously above her. A faint sound from inside the orb came to her attention. The gnome pulled her short sword and jumped onto Max's body, raising her blade to attempt to cut the corpse free. As she grabs Max, Cassian shouted "Now! Everyone pull!" and heaved on the rope. The tug was not strong enough, and Elle remained in place. Her eyes glazed over again, and instead of cutting at Max's shoulder she began to cut at the rope instead.
"Pull harder!" Cassian urged, and the group tried again, this time pulling Elle towards the group. However, Elle's grip on Max's body was strong enough that what the group succeeded in doing was pulling the entire orb closer to them. Pip immediately dropped the rope and began walking towards the orb, a dull expression on his face. Elle however was literally jerked out of her trance. She quickly assessed her situation, realizing that the rope was now slack, she held on to Max's corpse to prevent herself being drawn into the void itself.
"Uh, can you help with this at all, mister shoulder rat god?" Elle thought desperately.
"Why certainly. You can always form a pact with me so long as you yet live. Or, if you prefer just to be rid of me, I would allow you to move me to the body you cling to, that of my first aspiring route towards freedom."
"Oh, sure, here, no pact and I'm free of you, yes?" Elle thought, moving the now free statue from her shoulder to Max's body.
As the statue touched Max's body, a burst of magic flared from both. Max's body turned to stone, and then his eyes opened, glowing yellow. The goblin grinned at Elle, and grabbed his rapier.
"For so long, you could have just said yes," the goblin said. "You could have had a pact, we could have done so much together. But now I'm here, I'm not free but I can at least move. So, goodbye." And the goblin cut the rope. Cassian and Sadun pulled on the rope, but too late. Elle was trapped.
Talna, seeing Elle move the rat from her shoulder, began to sprint towards the gnome, and leapt, grabbing onto Elle. Sadun, seeing her friends in danger, flew into a rage and charged to help, but was immediately stopped short by the pounding pull of the void on her mind.
"I'm going to leave you to this," Balazar muttered, shedding his armor and sneaking off in the direction of the lake. "I'm going to see what I can learn about the dragon."
"Elle! I'll save you!" Cassian shouted, lifting his crossbow and firing into the body of Max. The crossbow bolt flew true, striking Max's body, but instead of penetrating the bolt splintered on impact, peppering Elle's face with splinters. The sight of blood was enough to snap Pip from his trance.
Fei, observing the chaos unfold, thought quickly and cast Speak with Plants. "Lend my friends your aid!" she asked, and the trees around the clearing obliged, animating and bending their branches towards the void.
"You know," Max's body said to Elle. "If you let go, you will fly into the void. So, what is your next plan?"
"What do YOU plan to do?" Elle asked.
"Once all of you die, I will figure out how to make this smaller," the goblin said, indicating the void. "And then I will be on my merry way."
"You plan to kill everybody?" Elle asked.
"Well, they seem to be doing that pretty well themselves."
"What could stop you from killing everybody?"
"Nothing. You had your chance you know. We could have been allies. But now, you are just very good bait. Bait to draw your friends into this gift you have given me."
"I can't still make a pact?"
"No, you're too much work. Do you have any last words?"
"Talna, hand me the diamond," Elle said. Talna wordlessly passed the gem up to the gnome. "Hold onto the branch Talna. And please, tell my family I love them."
Sadun managed to shake off the orb's effect in time to see Talna hand Elle the diamond. "Elle, no," she whispered. She grabbed hold of a nearby tree branch.
Cassian saw Talna pass the diamond to Elle, and dashed to the end of the rope still tied to Pip, and hauled hard to bring the ratfolk to safety.
Few saw Talna pass the diamond to Elle, and ended her spell on the trees, causing them to snap upright, hauling Sadun and Talna to safety.
As the void pulsed, Elle let the diamond go, and grabbed hard to Max's body. "I'm taking you with me" she muttered.
"No!" the goblin said, and plunged the rapier into Elle's heart.
Everything in the center of the clearing was sucked into the orb. The grass was uprooted, dirt and rocks pulled in, all in the space of a second, and then a pulse of magical energy burst forth, and the orb was gone. A small crater of barren dirt was all that remained in the middle. Cassian saw a small object glint in the dirt. Walking forward, he picked up a small, spherical stone-like instance. Imprinted on the sphere was a symbol of a bow and crossed daggers.
Talna slid to the ground, buried her head between her knees, and sobbed. Sadun walked slowly to the cleric, tears streaming down her face.
"We did it?" Pip said.
Returning from his excursion to the lake, Balazar observed the scene; Cassian on his knees in the middle of a barren crater, clutching something to his chest, Sadun and Talna weeping on the edge, Fei and Pip looking varying degrees of concerned. "What in the seven actual hells happened?"
Cassian stood and walked back to Talna, and gave her the object marked with Elle's weapons.
"The magic is returning to the clearing," Fei said quietly. "It worked. Life returns." She walked into the crater and channeled her magic into the soil. Soon, flowers began to bloom around her. "My own memorial to the fallen," she said softly.
"That sphere is glowing," Pip said, peering through his goggles. "May I see it?"
Wordlessly, Talna held up the sphere, although she did not let go of it. Pip stooped close and examined it. "This may be a philosopher stone," the ratfolk said, excitedly. "I could make anything with this! I could even make your friend! Newer, better, but bring her back, yes I could!"
"It wouldn't have her soul," Talna protested. "She's gone, and I have neither the spells nor the resources to bring her back.
"There may be a soul in the sphere," Pip protested. "I think my goggles saw one!"
"But two souls were pulled into the void before the explosion," Talna said. "Are you sure it's Elle's?"
"Well, no, but it doesn't seem evil. It could be her."
"Sadun, hold onto this please," Talna said. "I'd like to rest long enough to recover my spell casting abilities. Please can we camp here?"
"We could take the sphere to the wizard if you need a second opinion," Pip said.
"No, I don't want him seeing the sphere. Who knows what he might decide to do to get it, especially if it's as powerful as you think," Talna said angrily.
"But why stop me from making something fantastic?" Pip asked, equally angry. "I could make your friend again."
"Yeah, let him bring Elle back," Balazar said. "She was the only one who even began to understand me."
"How could you refuse to help your friend?" Cassian asked, sounding offended. "If there is even the slightest chance should we not take advantage of it? Don't you want her back?"
"There is merit to what you say," Sadun said slowly, as Talna silently and angrily turned away from the group. "But also merit in Talna's concerns. Could the wizard tell us any more than you already have Pip?"
"No, probably not," Pip admitted. "The goggles came from him after all."
"Then we probably should not go there." Sadun put the sphere in her shirt. "I too would desperately like to have Elle back. I would even give my wish for it to be so, should we defeat the beholders as the gods asked of us. But Elle gave her life to stop the elder god from getting free. I cannot disrespect her sacrifice by risking the god being the one to come out of that sphere and not her. For now, I believe we should wait. Talna has a plan, and I respect that."
"I have a plan too," Pip said, pouting. "I was going to make a massive golem out of that to help us fight, and find things, don't you respect my plan?"
"I'm sorry Pip, I've known Talna longer than a day. I'm going to have to side with her over you this time," Sadun said.
Balazar glared at the group and stomped off.
"I still think it is worth the risk," Cassian said. "It would be worth it to save your friend." He too walked away, obviously angry.
"What is that?" Pip asked a moment later, motioning across the crater. Balazar and Cassian turned to see a kobold walking away from the clearing.
"Get it!" Balazar shouted, and he and Cassian chased the poor creature down. "What were you doing here you runt?" Balazar demanded.
"Please, I was here for the wizard to see what happened with the orb," the kobold said.
"Like I'm going to believe that," Balazar said. "What if I break some of your little bones?"
"Balazar, let me have him," Cassian said. Balazar glared and grumbled, but handed the kobold to the half-orc. They walked back to the group, prisoner in tow.
"He has a journal," Cassian said. "But I can't read any of it. It's all scribbles."
"What does it say?" Balazar demanded, holding his black sword arm up to the kobold's throat.
"It says, job complete, orb closed, reporting back," the kobold said, fearfully.
"Spying on us, huh?" Balazar demanded. "Let's tie him up. Maybe we can use him to get into the wizard's tower. I feel like breaking something and that unhelpful bastard is high on my list."
"Ok, but we don't need to hurt this kobold," Cassian said.
"I would really like to hurt it though," Balazar muttered.
Pip walked around from behind Cassian where the kobold had been. "I solved your problem," the ratfolk said, licking his lips. "I killed the kobold for you."
"What?" Cassian turned around and saw the kobold missing a large chunk of neck. "Why..."
"You were arguing and I didn't like that," Pip said.
"Why does nobody ever let me let off a little steam?!" Balazar shouted. Pip squeaked in alarm and hid behind Cassian.
We had a longer, more involved argument about what to do with the sphere, the kobold, and what to do next in general, but I am choosing to end the report here. This was a hard post to write up.
TO BE CONTINUED
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