Cassian walked to the ruined remains of the wizard's tower and watched as Fei's gargoyle assisted Fei in frantically attempting to remove boulders from the pile. Fed remained in her giant eagle form, using her powerful talons to grasp and move the rubble in her search for the remaining champions buried there. The half-orc watched the druids efforts for a few moments before turning around and walking back to where he had chained Pip Squeak to a rock.
The ratfolk glared at Cassian as the half-orc approached, having regained consciousness again. "Are you going to punch me again?" Pip asked resentfully.
"Look, Pip," Cassian began, "if you stay here someone is going to off you eventually. You're causing too much trouble in the group. Balazar almost did you in already, and I don't know how much more of your impulsiveness Sadun will put up with. I've lost too many companions, and I've no wish to see you come to harm, so please, just go. Somewhere safe, where you can pursue your interests in peace."
"Sure, sure," Pip muttered, sounding unhappy. "Just let me go. I was going to leave anyway. None of you clods can understand my genius."
Cassian undid the chains and Pip darted away towards the treeline. "Where did my rock go," he wondered, and paused.
Cassian watched the ratfolk for several minutes as Pip stood and sniffed the air, looking in all directions except back at the tower. Finally, the half-orc called out "I hope you live a long and peaceful life!" before turning to walk back to the tower.
"Yeah, sure," Pip muttered, finally deciding on a direction. "I'll do that, after I find my rock and return to murder all of you." With that, the ratfolk scampered away, intent on retrieving what treasure he could from the scattered remnants of the midair battle.
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In the middle of the tower rubble, Fei lifted a boulder and discovered empty space beneath it. She gingerly touched a talon to the empty air, and found herself pressing against a magical field. The druid worked swiftly with the gargoyle to clear away enough rocks that they could see inside the field.
Sadun, Arnick, Whistle and a kobold slept peacefully inside their shelter. Fei heaved a sigh of relief, and set the gargoyle to clearing a pathway out of the safe zone. Returning to her normal form and walked over to where Cassian sat. The half-orc was propped against a wall, cuddling the dragon egg to his chest and cleaning his equipment.
"Our friends are safe," Fei said. "I found them inside a magical bubble, it seems to have protected them from the tower's collapse."
"Oh, yeah, I saw the genasi put that up before the tower came down," Cassian said.
"And you didn't tell me?" Fei demanded. "I was worried sick that they had all died!"
"Well, you were a bird, and you didn't seem to be paying me any attention," Cassian said defensively. "Besides, I had just jumped out a window and saved the egg here. I've been busy." The half-orc paused his work polishing his hammer. "What happened anyway?" He asked. "You were flying off with Pip and Balazar and the next thing I know the tower's falling down."
"Ah, well," Fei stuttered a moment. "There was an accident. I had only intended to put Balazar and Pip in their place, I did not mean for any of this to happen."
"Where is Balazar?" Cassian asked.
"Balazar went, I believe the best word for it is 'splat'", Fei said slowly.
"You splat Balazar?" Cassian asked, disbelief and horror tinging his voice.
"I did not mean to," Fei said. "We were fighting in the air, and I called my spear back to me, and the spear dragged several floors of tower with it. We could not both escape, not with Balazar clinging on to me."
Cassian gave the druid a long look, then sighed. "I'm too tired to worry about this now. Pip got away, by the way. I saw him run off after your gargoyle dropped him off." The half-orc eyed Fei to see if she believed his little fib. She did not respond, so he pressed on. "I saved the warlock at least. Looks like her horn is scabbing over. And you should have these, Pip dropped them." He handed the magical identification goggles to the druid.
"Ah, thank you," Fei said hesitantly. She examined the goggles minutely. "I am not sure these are best for me though. I do not know how to use them, and I refuse to allow these metal frames near my face in any case." The druid handed the goggles back. "I suppose there is nothing more for us to do now, we had best get some rest."
In the middle of the clearing, away from the precarious rubble of the tower, the pair drifted to sleep.
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From the Journal of Sadun Dorgona:
It has been some time since I last felt I had time to write. A lot has happened, but let me focus on today. I finally had a good night's sleep last night. After a day fighting beholder cultists, finding the kobold wizard in the depths of despair, and Arnick placing the melded soul of Elle and some ancient god in a kobold body, I was exhausted. The newcomer, Whistle, was kind enough to provide a magical shelter for me, Arnick and the kobold overnight. Convenient, as I heard shouting upstairs before I fell asleep.
In any case, I needed the rest. Even with that, I was ill prepared for the shock of the morning. Whistle woke us an hour before the safe zone would expire.
"It looks like the tower came down on top of us, but someone has cleared a path out at the top of the bubble," the genasi explained. I looked up and confirmed it was true. Where we had been on the second floor of the tower when I fell asleep, now there was daylight streaming in. Several large pieces of tower still seemed to hover precariously.
"I can climb out," I volunteered. "I think I can reach that piece of wall that's still intact, and make my way out that way."
"An I can ride on Sadun's pack," Arnick said. "I heard that my sister used to ride around on your shoulders anyway." I noticed the gnome looking sadly at the still confused kobold in the corner.
"Good," Whistle said. "I can magic myself and the kobold out while you climb then."
With the plan in place, I lifted Arnick onto my back and began scaling to the top of the bubble. As I left, I heard Whistle talking to the kobold: "It's alright, the magic is safe. Just take my hand and we'll be out of here. No? Well, maybe you can hold onto this stick, and I'll hold the other side of it. That should still work..."
There was indeed a pathway cleared down from the top of the bubble. Fortunate, as the remains of the tower did not appear particularly stable at that point. Arnick and I met Whistle and the kobold at the base of what was once Sorzen's tower. Cassian slept nearby, cradling the dragon egg to his chest. Next to him was Tella, still in Sorzen's kobold body. Fei slept nearby. I did not see Balazar or Pip Squeak.
"Is this normal?" Whistle asked me, eying the scene.
"Do you mean the collapsing tower? That's new for our group. If you are referring to the mostly naked half-orc..." I hesitated. "Well, he sleeps in his gauntlets only, so that's normal, but the egg is new. We only just found it. Things get normalized pretty fast around here though. I do apologize if the sight of that much of Cass is offensive to you."
"No, just curious is all," Whistle said.
Arnick took in the sight and whistled in appreciation. "I can see why my sister enjoyed your group so much," he said.
Fei's voice interrupted our discussion. "Speaking of dicks, Balazar is dead," she said, opening her eyes. "I am sorry about that."
"Balazar is dead?" I asked, shocked.
"Oh, and Pip escaped," Cassian said, waking up as well.
Balazar was dead. I should have seen it coming. He always tempted fate when he could. He had probably died several times during our stay in Barovia, though the nature of the place seemed to have kept him around. I admit I was never quite clear on what happened there. Talna and Gilligan were reluctant to explain the details.
But Balazar was dead. The others began talking about the champions and the mission, and Whistle sounded like she was going to regale everyone with a song about Farmer Ralph, one of the dead champions, but all their words seemed to float over me.
I wandered in a daze to the other side of the tower ruins and sat down. First Gilligan, kept in Barovia by his god to be the one to stop Strahd. Well, that was almost to be expected. Gilligan was the most enthusiastic about that mission, and of all of us the goblin probably had the best chance at succeeding.
But the attrition of our group in this new world shook me, now that I had a quiet moment to think on it. Maximiliano, dead by the leviathan's lightning breath. Elle, sacrificing herself to stop the elder god and the magical void Max had left behind. Talna leaving us the night before, fed up with our lack of focus. And now Balazar. I am the only one left of the Grey River Mercenaries still active in this group.
At least Talna is still out there somewhere. And I know my friend Vivi is as well, though only Vivi knows where they are. Jaro, the satyr we met in Barovia, may be alive as well, though I have seen nothing of him since coming to this world.
For some reason the death of Balazar really hit me this morning though. Maybe it was just the weight of losses finally getting to me. I began gathering stones from the tower's rubble, and found a short sword in the debris. Using the sword as a marker, I built up a cairn of stones to mark Balazar's passing.
He had been an element of chaos, but it was at least an element I felt I understood and could direct. And he was always there in a fight. Often in fights he had started, with people in bars, but he was still good in a fight. I will miss him, in spite of it all.
Talna chose that moment to contact me with her magic and ask how things were going.
"Balazar's dead," I said somberly.
"Oh." There was a moment of silence from Talna, then "I suppose I'm not surprised. I have reached a town, I just wanted to let you know I'm alright."
"Thank you Talna," I said. "I appreciate hearing from you. The others seem to have destroyed the wizard's tower overnight, but everyone else seems to be alive at least. We also met a traveling bard who seems to want to accompany us for some reason."
"There's no accounting for taste I suppose," Talna said with a sigh. "Well, good luck Sadun. I'll be in touch."
I sat awhile longer in silence, but turned at the sound of Cass shouting "Halt!" I ran around the tower as fast as I could, and stopped short. A group of some two dozen kobolds were waving daggers at Fei, while a horned elf with a red cloak and leather armor pointed a rapier at the group. A tiefling?
As I came into earshot I heard the elf saying "As a champion, I will fight for the kobolds! Who amongst you is responsible for the destruction of their tower?"
"That would be me," Fei acknowledged. "But it was not done on purpose. The tower was attacked by the enemies of those who lived here, and I was maybe overzealous in my defense."
The kobolds began pushing Fei away from the tower remains while the newcomer looked thoughtful. "Very well,' she conceded, "I believe you. Please stop pushing her away," she asked the kobolds. The kobolds stopped, and then walked away, dejected.
As I approached, the elf introduced herself. "I am Sy Talas. I am here as a champion to defend the people of this world from the threats that face them, especially the beholders. Who might you be?"
"I am Sadun Dorgona," I said, reaching the group. "I was also sent here as a champion, though the others I came with have... fallen away with time."
"I too was a champion," Cass said, sadly. "The last of my party. We were unable to defeat the beholders, but I seek to try again. My name is Cassian. You can call me Cass."
"I'm Arnick," Arnick said. "I'm only here looking for my sister, but she's... different now, apparently." The gnome cast another sad glance at the kobold.
"And I am Whistle. I am a traveling bard, looking to tell stories and learn new ones. This seemed like a good group to tag along with for stories."
"I am Fei. I am the druid of these parts," Fei said, simply.
As we talked, the kobolds passed us again, this time carrying backpacks and heading west. The kobold Arnick had infused with the souls of Elle and the elder god got up to join them.
"Where are you going?" Arnick shouted, running after the kobold. Cass and I ran after as well. That kobold has more power than it understands, I am still a little nervous letting it out of my sight.
"I am going with them," the kobold explained. "They look like me. And it seems safer than being around you." It looked pointedly at the collapsed tower behind us.
"What is you name?" Cass asked it. When it shrugged, Cass suggested "Why don't you choose a name then?"
"Fine," the kobold looked around. "My name is Rock." Cass pulled Arnick and Fei into a huddle, and I heard a whispered argument, but didn't pay it much attention. I watched the kobolds troop off, the newly named Rock tagging along behind them.
Finally, Arnick ran up to me. "We should probably follow them, shouldn't we?" he asked.
"Yes, probably. Where are the others?"
"Fei and Cass are going to look for Balazar's things. Whistle looks to be giving rock a knife, and Tella is just waking up." Whistle was indeed handing a dagger to Rock, pointing to the other kobolds holding their daggers aloft. When she saw me looking, she gave me a thumb's up.
"Ok, please help Tella. I'm going to go talk to these kobolds."
As Arnick ran off, I went to the front of the kobold's marching line. Fortunately they weren't traveling particularly fast.
"Where are you off to then?" I asked.
"We are going to see the Big-Eye One," the lead kobold replied.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Because wizard told us to do that if we ever doubt what to do," the kobold explained.
"What do you normally do?" I was curious.
"Normally we raid a bit, take stuff to the Big-Eye One, and put the rest in the town. We sleep at the tower," the kobold sounded sad. "We used to anyway. But now no more tower."
"Do you mind if we follow you?" I asked.
"No, go ahead."
I began to walk along with the kobolds. Sy, Arnick, Tella and Whistle joined me, and soon Fei and Cass returned. Fei carried her spear, but they reported they did not find anything of Balazar's remaining.
We soon reached a crossroads. The kobolds hesitated a moment, then turned down the western road. A sign pointing in that direction said "Littletown." The other direction apparently lead to "Rightytown," and for some reason I was glad of the kobolds decision.
"What will you do for shelter?" I asked them.
"We scare everyone out of the village, then we take their homes. We do this every week when we go to see Big-Eye One," they said.
"Every week?" Whistle asked. "I saw Sadun's map, I thought the beholder was more like a month away from here."
"Oh not so far when kobolds take short cut," one kobold said, before being hushed by the others.
"Do you have to scare the people out of the village?" I asked.
"Oh yes, easier than killing them, but they always run these days."
"What if I paid you to just go back to your city near where the tower was and live there?" I suggested.
The kobold grabbed the gold I offered, but did not stop walking. "Why would we do that? That is just where we keep the shiny things. Besides, we have to check in with Big-Eye One first."
"Ok, I see your point," I said, not seeing their point at all. "What if you let me go ahead and tell the villagers to leave before you get there? Just give me a little time."
"Ok," the kobold agreed. He stabbed a javelin in the dirt, and pointed to the sun's shadow. "You have until shadow reaches here," he motioned, indicating I had about twenty minutes.
"I'd better run then," I thought.
Cassian came with me, and we reached the town with no trouble. It is a small place, maybe six buildings in total. We went to the only building with two floors, apparently the inn.
"We are champions, come to fight the beholders!" Cass declared.
"Sure, we've heard that one before," the inn keeper muttered darkly. He and Cass began to argue about champions and kobolds.
"Please, how much to rent this building," I asked, interrupting their argument.
"With him here? Twenty gold." I promptly handed him the money from our party funds, which Talna had given me the night before. "Alright everyone, you heard them, the kobolds are coming again."
The villagers did not seem surprised by this. As we walked out of town, we saw the people opening their doors and locking their food stocks in a practiced way. Obviously this was not their first visit from the kobolds. They seemed well prepared.
We met the kobolds outside of town and I reported that the town was empty.
"See?" the lead kobold said. We followed them into town. "Everyone to your houses," the lead kobold ordered, and the kobolds split into groups, each heading to a different house.
"Is there food in there?" Whistle asked me, pointing to the inn.
"I presume so," I said.
"Good, I'm going to go make something for dinner. It was a long walk today."
"I can cook too!" Arnick said, excitedly. The pair disappeared into the inn. Tella followed them wearily. I noticed Rock had gone in the inn when the other kobolds dispersed, unsure what else to do, and suspected that was part of Arnick's reasoning.
I followed the lead kobold myself, interested in what they were doing.
And that brings us to the present. I am sitting here, watching this kobold rummage through the house looking for any secret treasures the owners may have left behind. Personally, I doubt he'll find anything. The villagers seemed to have a routine for this sort of occasion. I wonder where they sleep at night?
Was that an explosion outside? I had best go check it out...
------------------------------
Sadun walked out of the house to find Cassian and Sy walking back to the inn.
"What was that noise I just heard?" Sadun demanded.
"Oh, we were just sparring a bit," Cassian explained.
"And then I saw a gazer in the trees, but don't worry, I fried it with lightning," Sy said confidently.
"We were just going to go open some bottles of alcohol, and bond with our new friends over the loss of old friends," Cassian said, stifling a tear. "It seemed appropriate at this point. Care to join us?"
"I will join you, I can think of no more appropriate way to say farewell to Balazar," Sadun decided.
Inside the inn, Cassian smacked the lock on the wine cabinet the innkeeper had set up. Before Sadun could point out she had the key, the lock popped open. Tella joined them, and Arnick and Whistle began bringing out plates of steaming and delicious smelling food.
"Turns out Arnick is a great cook," Whistle said to Sadun. "And it looked like Rock was finally taking to him a bit too, learning how to cook and all."
Soon, the kobolds were filing in and out, taking plates of fresh made food with them back to their houses for the night.
"To Balazar," Cassian said, taking a swig of wine and pouring out another swig. It almost seemed as though the wine disappeared before it hit the floor. The others followed suit, saying their own tributes and pouring out a drink for those they had lost.
"Alright, once the kobolds are done I can set up a magical alarm to keep us safe for the night," Sy said. "Everyone follow me."
The group followed the elf outside, where she cast a spell. "When I say to, say the words 'Dire Wolf', and the spell will know you are safe. Do it... now!"
The group chorused "Dire Wolf", several people lagging behind. Fei in particular was drunk and wavering on becoming a snake, but said it anyway.
"There," Sy said. "Now the faithful watchdog I had summoned will know you are safe. No-one else may enter the inn until morning."
The group began to file back inside, but just as they reached the door Sy shouted "Watch out! Cultists!"
From behind the in came flaming arrows, landing on the roof of the inn and setting the building alight.
"Rock is still in there!" Arnick shouted in panic.
From the woods behind the village, several hooded figures approached.
"Of course this is how the day would go," Sadun muttered, drawing her sword.
TO BE CONTINUED
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