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"I guess you're right," Luz sighed and then turned to Freya and Merren with a saddened expression. |
"Well guys, I think we should say goodbye-" |
She was immediately held by both of them in a warm embrace which the Latina immediately reciprocated, trying to hold back her tears. |
"Have a safe journey Luz, we will never forget you," Freya whispered, barely holding back her tears. |
"We will miss you, you can't imagine how much," Merren commented, hugging her tightly. |
"Oh guys..." Luz whispered, sobbing slightly. |
Immediately afterwards they gave the same treatment to a moved Amity. |
"Goodbye, I will miss you ...", murmured the witch of abominations, sniffing a bit. |
"We too, please... live your life to the fullest, ok?", asked the paladin. |
"I will, I promise," the other nodded. |
"Goodbye, I'll miss our bickering... after all it was your way of telling me "I care about you', with your frowning face and your telling me I was a greedy idiot," Merren said, eliciting an amused snort from the witch . |
"Sure, you're a greedy idiot...but also a good friend." |
With a final farewell, Zarwid opened a crack in reality, beckoning the two witches to pass through. |
Giving one last look and a smile to the paladin and the bard, Amity and Luz joined hands, disappearing into the crack while Zarwid nodded to the two adventurers and then disappeared in a beam of light, leaving them alone. |
Freya sobbed lightly, wiping away her tears as Merren pulled her into a hug. |
He took her face in his hands, looking sweetly into her eyes. |
"Come on.. let's go back to the festival and celebrate for them too" |
The paladin snorted a light laugh and then nodded. |
Just before setting off, however, the young aasimar gently took the half-elf's face in her hands and under his surprised gaze she gave him a soft kiss on the lips. |
The bard narrowed his eyes, returning the gesture and losing himself in that interminable moment. |
Meanwhile, the rift in reality reopened, leading Amity and Luz back to the familiar lands of the Boiling Isles, reappearing in a clearing that overlooked the entirety of the Titan's torso. |
The two took a deep breath, smelling the familiar air of home. |
"Home sweet home," Luz murmured with a sad smile. |
"Yeah... I can't wait to tell all our friends what we've been through," Amity said, waving back. |
"Plus we also have some souvenirs," commented the Latina, rummaging in the bag of holding. |
She raised an eyebrow as she felt a piece of paper reach her fingers. |
Taking it out she eyed it curiously, a feeling shared by the witch of abominations. |
It was a farewell letter addressed to the two of them. |
"Luz Noceda of the Human Realm, Amity Blight of the Demon Realm, I thank you for your support in foiling yet another threat from the Blood Moon and I hope that your stay in the Material Plane has been pleasant or at least enlightening, before taking my leave I had to remove the divine sparks within you as your souls ar... |
As the God of Magic and Knowledge it is my principle to preserve both, therefore I have bound within you a small fragment of the Weave that will allow you to use the spells and magical items collected along your journey. |
Use them wisely and I hope they help you throughout your lives. |
In reading that letter a wave of gratitude filled the chest of the two witches who, exchanging happy and satisfied looks, took each other's hands and with a significant and soft kiss on the lips they set off, ready to tell their loved ones about the adventure they had experienced, aware of having met amazing people and... |
The first thought that entered Chardonnay Brandywine’s mind was that dying was certainly more painful than she imagined. She was reminded of the time she fell down an entire flight of stairs after too much mermaid whiskey and the tenday her body ached. But this time her throat was painfully dry, as if she hadn’t had a ... |
She rolled to her side, dislodging the stone that had been jabbing into her lower back. She heard the sound of waves and began to crawl towards it, opening her eyes a sliver to guide her way. The early morning sun was too bright to keep them fully open. When her hands hit the water she cupped a mouthful of it down her ... |
She’d been on her way home from a performance at some tavern or another. She couldn’t even recall the name at the moment. Lyre in hand and a companion for the evening at her side, she had barely noticed the looming shadow above her before being phased into a pod aboard a mindflayer nautiloid. She had been half-consciou... |
She looked around, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. She was on a rocky beach, unremarkable as any along the Sword Coast, aside from the crashed nautiloid strewn across the landscape behind her. Bits of flaming wreckage spewed smoke in the air, but it was otherwise a clear and sunny morning. She pulled off... |
She was hesitant to walk towards the crash, in case any of the mindflayers aboard had survived, but there was no where else to go aside from swimming straight out to sea. Her trusty dagger was still stowed in the hidden pocket of her trousers, so she at least had a way to defend herself. She knew a handful of spells an... |
She shook off the dizziness and continued on, eventually finding more bodies, though these ones appeared to be crushed from falling a great height. She surmised they were also victims of the mindflayers, as they were dressed in more city-oriented attire. She stopped to wonder how she’d managed to survive. Her escape wa... |
She snapped out of her dazed trance and saw the same half-elf she’d been thinking about striding towards her. "Are you alright?" She asked again, concern in her voice. Chardonnay was unaware of the state she currently appeared. Aside from her sand-covered clothes, her thick waves of her red hair had tangled into two hu... |
"You’re a cleric?" Chardonnay asked, as she felt the soothing magic ease her body. "Is that how you survived the crashed?" |
"I don’t know," the woman shook her head. "I just remember falling, then nothing. What about you?" |
"Something hit me in the head, I think. You were there next to me and the gith woman. That’s all I remember. I’m sorry, I don’t even remember your name." |
"It’s alright, considering the circumstances. I don’t even think I asked yours at the time. You can call me Shadowheart." |
"Chardonnay Brandywine," she introduced herself. |
"That name sounds vaguely familiar to me for some reason," Shadowheart looked closer at her but felt no recognition. "You aren’t from Baldur’s Gate, are you?" |
"I am," she nodded. "You as well?" |
"Yes. I must have seen or heard your name in passing at some point. You are a performer?" |
"Yes, a bard among other things," she glanced down at her garish costume. One of her stockings had a large tear in it and her blue booties had blood stains on them. She was unprepared for the elements, unlike her companion in thick hide armor and chain. |
"Are you able to walk a bit?" Shadowheart asked. "I haven’t seen anyone else alive so far, but who knows what could be lurking around. I don’t know exactly how long we have with these little parasites in our heads, but we need to find a real healer as soon as possible." |
Chardonnay realized she hadn’t thought much about the tadpole in her head unless it was causing her great pain. Her knowledge of mindflayers was limited, but she knew the tadpoles were how their species reproduced. She shuddered at the possibilities ahead of her and got back to her feet. They headed further away from t... |
Astarion watched the two figures closely. He’d been wandering the hills aimlessly before hearing one of them shout. He’d awoken dazed in his damaged mindflayer pod and when he noticed the sun, had nearly stumbled off a nearby cliff. It had been two hundred years since he’d last walked in sunlight and he’d forgotten how... |
By luck, he eventually stumbled upon a deer that had broken its neck at the bottom of a hill, likely startled by the ship crash. It was still warm, but unfortunately a lot of the blood had seeped into the ground already. He drank what was left and contemplated whether to try to lick up some of the blood-soaked dirt. Ho... |
But he was unbound from the vampire master that had kept him enthralled for two centuries, at least for now. He assumed it was the tadpole’s doing. What he needed more than blood at the moment, was information. His knowledge of illithids was limited to what he could remember before he was turned. There were no books in... |
His plan had been to wait for them to get close enough, kill the one in chainmail, and subdue the other he’d mistaken for a bedraggled clown. As they got closer, he realized that they were both women and the costumed redhead was actually a bard of some sort. He changed up his plan a little, he would still grab the bard... |
When they approached, he stumbled out of the bushes far enough away not to startle them. "Hello! Help! Can you help me? There’s one of those brain things up there. I don’t have a weapon," he pleaded with his sweetest tone. |
"Get back then," the armored one insisted, running past him. |
When the other had caught up to him, he whirled around, pulling his dagger from behind his back. He grabbed her by the nape of her doublet and put the dagger to her throat. "What are you doing?" She struggled slightly against him, but was cautious of the blade at her neck. |
"I don’t want to hurt you darling, I just want to talk," he whispered in her ear. "Tell your friend to come back down and toss her sword away." |
"Shadowheart," the bard called, now very still. The dark haired woman returned, her sword drawn and a look of confusion on her face. |
"Don’t put down your sword, but It’ll be fine, he’s going to let me go so we can talk." |
"Now why would I let you go?" He laughed. He was overly excited from the adrenaline and ready to bite straight into her neck. The smell of her filled his nostrils, a sweet, but faded perfume mixed with her natural musk. Then he felt the sudden tap of something hard and sharp near his groin. She’d somehow pulled a dagge... |
"Because you have about 8 seconds after slitting my throat before I pass out, in which time I could slice open your femoral artery. And considering I can’t see what I’m doing, I might knick your cock in the process. So unless you want to bleed out with half a cock, I suggest letting me go. If you want to talk, we can t... |
He twinged at her words, shoving her away from him as he moved the dagger from her throat, immediately pointing it back towards her. He hadn’t expected any challenge from them. Their tadpoles connected at that moment, offering them painful glimpses into each other minds. She saw him in dark, yet familiar streets, a sed... |
The pain finally subsided as they left each other minds. They stared at each other breathlessly, easing out of the deep and uncomfortable exchange they’d experienced. "What the Hells are you? A succubus?" He gripped the hilt of his dagger tighter. "What did you just do to me?" |
"I’ve been called worse," she glared at him, her blade also raised. "It’s the tadpoles. It’s some sort of way they identify each other." |
"You were on the ship?" He eased a little. His recollections in the pod were hazy, but the thought he remembered seeing her. "Yes, I remember you now. You were with a gith." |
"Yes. She helped me escape along with Shadowheart," she suddenly remembered her companion and glanced back at her. Shadowheart still had her sword aloft, eyes fixed on the man. |
"It’s alright, I think," Chardonnay reassured Shadowheart and turned back towards him. He had lowered his dagger to his side, so she did the same. "You’re Baldurian? We are as well." She asked, recalling the familiar streets she’d seen in his mind. |
"How did you know? Can you read my mind?" he replied defensively and thought of something vile to throw her off. |
"No, the tadpole showed me," she guffawed slightly at his paranoia. "I know the Lower City when I see it. Though you don’t look like the type to hang out there." |
She finally got the chance to take full stock of him. He was handsome, dressed in a well-cared for doublet with a little too much finery. Despite being trapped in a mindflayer pod for days, his curls were still perfectly pomaded. He was a little too perfect. Likely an Upper City snob who went slumming and felt guilty ... |
"Well you don’t look like the type to," he tried to think of a good rejoinder, but his entire plan had gone to shit and he was panicking internally. He knew he had to switch up his tactics. "Look," he finally continued, putting away his dagger and addressing them both. "We clearly got off on the wrong foot. I just want... |
"Chardonnay Brandywine," she mimicked his flourish in jest. "Bard and best-selling author of Vulgar’s Gate: A Compendium of Perverted Poetry. In the spirit of our common affliction, if you ever pull a blade on me again, I will split your head wider than the mouth of the Chionthar." |
They both waited for Shadowheart to speak. "You can call me Shadowheart," was all the introduction she offered, lowering her sword but not sheathing it. |
"Oh, you’re no fun," he turned his attention back to the bard. She was likely pretty under the clownish makeup that was half-smeared. She had eyes the color of violets and a thick mane of unnaturally red hair. Judging from her brows, it was likely more of a golden copper. "So is that a pen name or was that terribly obn... |
"I chose it when I was first starting out," she scowled at him. "And it just kind of stuck. Most people I like just call me Tav." |
"Why? Because you hang out in taverns so much?" He added dryly. |
"Congratulations, you are finally right about one thing," she teased back. He was already enjoying getting under her skin and was ready to continue their back and forth before Shadowheart interrupted him. |
"We are losing daylight Chardonnay, we should really get going. I’m sure the former magistrate can figure out his tadpole problem himself." |
"Yes, you’re right," Tav disengaged, finally collecting herself. "Good luck," she offered him one last overly sweet smile before walking away. |
"Wait," he held up his hands in a last ditch effort. "Shouldn’t we all stick together, in case one of us turns? You wouldn’t want to be responsible for setting a mindflayer loose by themselves, would you?" |
"What makes you think we won’t all turn together? We received our parasites at roughly the same time,’’ Shadowheart mused. |
"See, I have no idea," he shrugged. "That’s why I need help getting information. We could put our three little tadpoles together and get this figured out. And I can carry things, water, food, that heavy sword," he tried to add a little humor into his desperation. |
Shadowheart looked to Tav for her opinion. As churlish as he’d spoken to her, Tav could hear the desperation in his voice. He was scared and didn’t want to be alone in the wilderness. She also couldn’t deny her attraction to him, but she put that out of her mind right away. He would just be a dangerous distraction, if ... |
"Thank you, I certainly will," He turned before she could see his widening smile. He figured he could wear her down. After all, she was still thinking about his cock. |
"So Tav, how did you end up on the Nautiloid?" Astarion tried to make conversation in the mid-afternoon sun. They had been walking for some time, searching for any signs of civilization. He wanted to probe her a little deeper. He needed allies and the cleric had yet to soften on him at all. "I can only assume they snat... |
"You don’t get to call me Tav. She can," she motioned towards Shadowheart. "People I like, remember?" |
"I’m wounded," he pretended to sulk. "But you didn’t answer my question, Chardonnay," he emphasized each syllable. |
"I was leaving a performance at the Golden Sow, I think. I only hope someone found the lyre I dropped. I’d just had it restrung." |
"Were you alone? Not getting personal or anything, just trying to understand how they went about choosing targets," he lied. He remembered all the lovers he had seen in his vision. |
"I don’t recall," she also lied, wondering what the fate of her nameless companion had been. "I was knocked in the head by something when the ship was going down, my memory is still a little unclear." |
"See that is another thing I have been pondering," he continued. "We’ve encountered a few bodies that appeared to have been crushed from falling a great height. Yet here we three are." |
"Neither of us remember anything after falling," Shadowheart added. "It must have been some sort of miracle." She passed her hand over the Prism hidden in a pouch on her belt. She could only assume her Lady had blessed her descent. |
"Well, I don’t believe in miracles," he paused for a moment. "But I do think I hear more shouting." |
"More survivors?" Tav wondered. |
"Or something worse," Shadowheart grasped her sword hilt. |
Cresting the ridge they had been walking up, they saw a strange arcane glow emanating from the nearby hillside. There was no other indications of a presence to account for the shouting. Tav slowly approached the strange glow, holding up her hand to try to sense some of the magic. "Well don’t touch it," Astarion insist... |
"I’m not going to touch it, I just want to see if, awww," her hand accidentally skimmed the aura in front of her. It felt like a horrible shock that ran through her entire body. |
"What did I just say?" Astarion looked at her with an exasperated expression. "Are you hurt?" He went to take her hand and examine it, but before he could, an arm reached out of the glowing portal. He pulled her back quickly, holding her shoulders tightly. "What in the Hells is that?" He exclaimed as she shrugged him a... |
"Uhhh I’m Gale," a voice echoed from the portal. "Could you help me please?" |
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