[Alliance] Chapter Four: Session Nineteen

Appearing Characters: Aramar Thorne, Arthas Menethil, Astalor Bloodsworn, Broll Bearmantle, Dorana Stillblade, Elissa Cross, Makasa Flintwill, Malande, Remnii, Riff, Rokhan, Rommath Pyrewing, Samaara, Seria, Soratha, Tae'shara Sunwatcher, Thrud, Thunderaan, Tol'vas Moonshadow, Uther Menethil, Vanira, Velameestra Windrunner, Zekhan, Zen'tabra, Zuni

June 15th (Night)

Seria, Tol’vas, Broll, and Riff return to the village with Zen’tabra so that she could meet the rest of Seria’s fellows. The party had been offered space in one of the longhouses where they could rest for the evening, as it was dry and safe. There are thin curtains of mesh covering the windows to prevent mosquitos from entering.

Aramar had come back, his hair soaked, and his coat sopping wet. He is chatting with Tae’shara about how he tried to surf, but it was harder than it looked.

The five animal-form druids (and Riff) burst into the edge of the village--Zen’tabra the victor of the race--and they transform back.

Zen’tabra dusts herself off, and sees Remnii, the humans, and the elves exiting the longhouse.

She starts to approach with a smile.

Seria, still kind of stunned by everything, introduces everyone.

She looks around, her stomach rumbling.

Some trolls come back with some food for Zen’tabra, and she gestures to one of the bonfires nearby.

She sits down next to the bonfire, and indicates for the rest of the party to join her.

She pats Seria on the shoulder.

Remnii cocks her head a bit, earnestly delighted by the vibrance that Zen’tabra had brought with her.

Zen’tabra smiles, chewing on some of her food.

She laughs.

Zen’tabra goes on to talk about Seria’s mom, and some of the stories when they were younger--most of which were quite comical. Zen’tabra seems to paint Kala in a well-meaning, clumsy light. However, Kala had always owned her mistakes. She eventually draws some other trolls into the group, and some drink makes its way into the circle. Zen’tabra eats a lot, and spends a lot of time getting to know the group.

She did ask each person about themselves, and where they first met Seria or encountered the rest of the group. They lose track of the time as the moons rise.

She polishes off her drink and starts to head off back toward the grove with a wave.

Tae’shara chuckles and glances at Seria.

Seria nods, quite overwhelmed. Tae’shara grins.

She takes another swig of her drink.

She gestures at Arthas, who rolls his eyes.

He snags the drink from Tae’shara’s hand and polishes it off before handing the empty receptacle back. Makasa leans over to fill the cup again.

Riff had started to nod off, and the fire dims down. The trolls in the area had started to open up a bit, and some bid the group goodnight before heading off. The village is dying down for the night.

Seria gets Riff to bed and covered up for the night. Half groggily, Riff looks up at her.

He yawns.

Seria nods. Riff gives a sleepy smile.

He reaches out and holds Seria’s hand.

Riff passes out immediately. One by one, the rest also turn in for the night and settle into sleep against a background of dull jungle sounds.

In the meantime, Vel had arrived in Northrend on the Wintercroft, and she had rather quickly headed to rest--casting [Dream] to speak with Telagos.

June 16th

Vel exits the Wintercroft the next morning, and she is greeted with a cloudy day. More people are out and about than otherwise would be, and she isn’t expressly sure who is and is not a vampyr. She doesn’t see anyone that she immediately knows, and no one really pays her any mind.

As she heads toward the arcane sanctum, she does see something curious. There is some commotion near where some stables are located. There are a few vrykul there, and behind them is a large, scaled creature. It has two large, leathery wings with burnished red scales--and a long, alligator-like mouth. It’s a reptilian creature with two large feet, seemingly curled under its wings. There is a large wooden pillar in the ground nearby, and a massive chain attached to a link around the creature’s head.

It’s clearly not a true dragon.

She stops and watches it, committing it to memory.

There are even more vrykul here than there was last time. On the outskirts of Vengeance Landing, she can see a temporary camp where some people may be staying. It’s clearly not of elvish make.

She continues on her way and heads toward the study, she hears two voices conversing beyond the door. She recognizes Malande’s voice, as well as Astalor’s.

Vel opts to knock.

The meeting inside wraps up.

Footsteps approach the door of the study, and Malande opens the door. She smiles at Vel upon seeing her.

Next to her is an elvish woman Vel doesn’t recognize. She has sandy blonde hair and a simple tunic and coat. She nods in Vel’s direction.

The woman bows.

She nods.

She turns and shakes Malande’s hand.

Dorana nods again and leaves. Malande bows her head in Vel’s direction.

She opens the door further. Astalor currently has a piece of parchment held in front of his face, his mouth fixed in a perpetual scowl with a perplexed look on his face. As Vel steps, he sets it aside on top of a pile of similar pieces of parchment, and is just looking at them.

Astalor blinks, as if being snapped out of a trance. He looks over to Vel.

Vel pulls the door shut behind her as she further enters the room.

He broadly gestures to the papers.

Malande clasps her hands together and tilts her head to the side.

Vel blinks.

Astalor gets a somewhat incredulous smile.

There is a long pause as Vel works to fully process what Astalor was saying, and it almost looks like her eyes lose focus for a split second.

He gestures to the documentation.

As she approaches the papers she pulls a stack of her own notes out of her bag and holds them out for Astalor to take.

As he takes the stack of papers, she then starts to rifle through the notes the other elf had set aside. Astalor squints at the front page of the notes in his hands.

Astalor clears his throat.

He clears his throat again.

He gestures to an entry on the table of contents.

Astalor chuckles.

As Astalor glances through the notes Vel provided, Vel herself is able to look more closely at the medical documentation. Notably, she notes the name “Sangrias Stillblade” listed as the father, and Dorana herself seems to be early on in the first trimester of the pregnancy. It is also almost identical to a normal elvish pregnancy. Thus far, the only curiosities have been that Dorana had been largely a vegetarian for most of her life, but she had recently started to get cravings for meat, which had led to her testing to see if she was pregnant. She also apparently has had bouts of lightheadedness. Neither circumstances are particularly out of the ordinary, but given the situation, it had been deemed wise to note them.

Malande smiles.

He looks over to Malande.

He gives a small, exasperated smile. The magister has had a clearly eventful morning.

Astalor removes a stone from his staff, which Vel promptly begins to attune to her own as Malande takes her leave with a soft farewell.

Vel’s ear twitches, and she immediately looks up at Astalor at the name of the clan.

Vel seems to be showing faint signs of agitation as some of the concerns she had mused over with Telagos come to the forefront of her mind. Her nails tap rapidly on the desk as she finishes attuning the sending stones together.

Astalor chuckles somewhat humorlessly.

Vel bids him farewell in turn and then heads off to find Rommath. It isn’t far to the temporary vrykul shelters on the outskirts of town, and she sees Rommath with his hands behind his back, seemingly finishing up a conversation with a tall vrykul who seems to be some sort of mystic. Their face is covered in tattoos, and their eyes seem to have a supernatural quality to them. Their tattoos look almost bone-like, with cracked femurs over their eyes. They are dressed in robes, and they have a long staff upon which is affixed a skull that seems to have belonged to the same type of creature that was stabled.

The mystic bows their head, the two of them finishing up their conversation. The vrykul seems to be speaking in rough, heavily-accented common.

Rommath returns the bow and seemingly responds back telepathically before turning on his heel. His face is contemplative, for a moment, but then he sees Vel, and his brow furrows. His presence enters Vel’s mind.

Rommath nods, and there is a subtle shift in his face that may indicate a humorless smirk beneath the veil of his collar. He gestures with his hand out towards the woods.

Vel nods and follows him. The pair of them amble into the outskirts, away from the prying eyes of others. There are soldiers patrolling the area, but any that got too close Rommath would just nod to, and they would salute and be on their way to avoid intruding upon their conversation.

Rommath nods.

Rommath’s brow furrows.

Vel stops for a moment and then looks up at Rommath.

Vel puts her hand on her face, taking a moment to gather and organize her thoughts before she continues.

Rommath’s pace slows.

The sound was not telepathic, but instead emitted from his throat.

Rommath nods.

Rommath nods.

Vel is pensive for a moment, considering.

Vel nods.

Who specifically he was asking about did not need to be vocalized, and Vel hesitates for a moment, the tip of one of her fangs almost digging into her lip before she halted the action.

Rommath nods.

Rommath nods.

Vel nods.

They had wrapped around back to the outskirts of the city, and Rommath fades into his mist form and disappears. Vel heads back to the Wintercroft and teleports back to the Darkspear village.

Vel appears within the teleportation circle in the troll study. There is a stirring of movement, as she sees the older troll nearby over a large vat of something with a bubbling potion. The troll jumps as Vel appears, and a few things fall. He snags a few items from the air, and at the last moment his eyes glow and a mage hand appears to catch the last vial before it smashes on the ground.

The troll scowls over at Vel.

He puts the objects back in place, and grumbles to himself in Zandali as he reorganizes everything.

Soratha continues to grumble as Vel exits. It appears no one else was present, as there were no classes or anything going on.

She is able to reconvene with the group as they are also waking for the morning. Tae’shara waves.

Tae’shara blinks and scratches the back of her head.

She chuckles.

Aramar laughs.

Makasa laughs as well and nods.

Aramar throws a pebble at her, and she catches it.

Makasa nods.

Aramar pouts and the two of them bicker.

Samaara looks to Seria.

Seria shakes her head.

Samaara nods.

The weather appears to be quite clear, though a tad windy. However, the early morning is cooler than it had been. The winds offer a refreshing, though humid, breeze off the ocean.

Vel also notes Zen’tabra, who had been heading towards the group upon seeing them clustered together talking..

The druid gives a smirk with the rest of the group as she repeats her introduction from the prior night.

Zen’tabra chuckles.

She gives Seria a wink as she nudges the other druid with her arm. Seria sighs heavily, and Remnii puts a hand over her mouth to prevent from chuckling at the obvious jab.

She inclines her head towards Tol’vas and Broll.

The group takes a brunch of a hearty stew. Zen’tabra goes out of her way to assure Aramar that the stew is not made of human, and if it was it would have been a lot thicker. However, it was thin enough that it could be elf.

She flashes Seria a wink.

Before the group starts to pack up, Seria grabs Rokhan and Zen’tabra together with Riff.

They head into Rokhan’s hut.

Rokhan strokes his beard.

Riff looks up at him, confused, and then smells his arm.

The two adults look at Seria.

Zen’tabra and Rokhan exchange looks.

Seria looks down at Riff.

Riff looks a bit nervous, and he transforms into his blood serpent form. Zen’tabra covers her mouth, but Rokhan stands his ground and subconsciously reaches for his glaive, but he doesn’t pull it up.

Riff almost seems to shrink, trying to hide behind Seria.

Seria explains where she had found Riff’s egg.

Rokhan pinches his brow.

Rokhan takes a deep breath.

Rokhan looks to Seria and then back to Riff.

Zen’tabra puts a hand on Rokhan’s shoulder.

She smacks him in the back of the head, and he looks annoyed.

She looks at Rokhan.

Rokhan rubs the back of his head.

Rokhan nods.

Rokhan steps forward and smiles. He reaches out towards Riff, who jerks back a bit, but he allows Rokhan to pat the side of his head.

Rokhan gets a sad, somewhat concerned smile.

He glances at Seria, and then back at Seria again.

Zen’tabra claps her hands together.

Zen’tabra grabs Seria by the shoulders.

Zen’tabra gives her a kiss on the cheek and pulls Seria into a hug. Seria hugs her back.

While Seria and Riff had gone to speak with Rokhan, Vel had leaned over to Remnii.

Remnii’s eyes almost cross for a moment.

Vel gives a slight nod of her head.

Remnii is quiet for a moment as she thinks.

She has no small amount of disdain in her expression.

Vel blinks.

Remnii holds out a hand.

Remnii shakes her head a little bit with a laugh, given how brisk everything seems to be.

As they discuss, Remnii laughs as she quickly realizes that what Vel had in mind was, in fact, not blue at all.

After some time, Seria, Zen’tabra, Riff, and Rokhan return, and Vel takes the opportunity to also follow up with Rokhan. Seria opted to run off to do something with Riff in the meanwhile.

Rokhan scratches his beard.

Vel describes the traits of a lich, and Rokhan nods.

Vel tilts her head slightly as her mind works.

He looks upward, and they hear the sound of wingbeats in the air. As Vel follows his gaze, she sees a bunch of flying figures starting to return. There are some hoots and whoops and hollers that could be heard.

Vel can see troll warriors riding the bats as they come down, seemingly returning back from some sort of excursion.

Rokhan nods.

Vel looks at him quizzically.

She fishes in her satchels and retrieves the fetish she had retrieved from the dead harpies.

Rokhan blinks as he takes the fetish and examines it.

Rokhan reads through the text on the fetish.

Vel considers for a moment, then shakes her head slightly.

Rokhan nods.

As the group packs up to leave, Tae’shara is loading up on fruits from the marketplace.

Tol’vas walks over to help her.

Tol’vas walks over to the tree and starts to look for this comb. He climbs up the tree to also look around. He finds a brush up there, stuck near one of the branches. He grabs the brush, but it seems to be stuck on something. He pulls it again, but it’s still stuck.

He looks at it more closely, but it just seems to be stuck. He continues to try and pull it, and he gets it free.

He starts to climb down, and a breeze of wind comes through. Suddenly, the brush almost starts to fly out of his hand. He grabs it out of the air, and makes his way back down.

By this point, it’s clear that Tae’shara is trying really hard to mask a grin.

Tae’shara snickers.

She takes the brush back.

Tol’vas sighs and starts to head off.

Tae’shara shrugs.

Tae’shara shrugs again and starts to brush her hair.

She gives a wry smile.

She winks.

She spins on her heel and whistles as she walks away. Tol’vas heads off to also join the others.

Seria and Riff head down to the beach to relax until they have to leave. They see a small group of warriors and headhunters running drills. There are a few dummies that have been set up, and Vanira is there in full gear. She is walking back and forth behind the group of headhunters who are throwing spears and axes at their targets. Zuni is among them, and they see his javelin slam right into the middle of the target.

Vanira smacks him in the back of the head.

Riff looks to Seria.

Seria smiles and nods, and they head over. They can see bat riders in the sky.

He salutes, and Vanira gives Seria a nod as she passes.

Seria and Riff watch the group doing drills. Zuni smirks.

The other hunters laugh. They seem to be around the same age.

He looks up at Seria, who rolls her eyes at him. But she nods.

Seria sighs.

They hand spears to Seria and Riff.

Seria nods.

He takes the spear.

He throws the spear, and he hits the target, but not anywhere near the middle.

All the other trolls laugh. However, this spear misses completely.

Some of the other hunters snicker and tease her quietly. Seria throws, and she gets around the same area as Riff got with the first throw.

Seria shrugs his hand off her shoulder.

Seria grabs the javelin and throws it. It hits the same part.

The other hunters groan and roll their eyes.

The other hunters cheer at the burn.

He twirls a javelin, but he drops it.

He grabs the javelin with his foot and draws it back to throw it. It lands right in the center.

However, this throw does not hit the center, it instead knocks one of Seria’s javelins aside. Uther and some of the others also make their way down to the beach where they would be meeting and see the throws.

He is waving a javelin.

He holds a spear to Aramar.

Zuni then throws a spear to Uther.

Aramar throws, and the javelin sails right by the target.

Uther aims, and his hits right in the middle of the target.

Uther hurls his spear and it promptly splits through the head of his first spear. All the trolls lose their mind.

This time, Aramar did get a bullseye, but he laughs it off.

He gestures at Uther.

Zuni scratches the back of his head.

The trolls start to fade back into their actual drills. Riff returns to the bulk of the party.

He holds two fingers up at Uther, who returns the signal at him, and they start to head towards the rest of the group again.

Zuni comes running back over to them.

He grabs the spear head, musses up Riff’s hair,and then runs back to the drills.

Uther shrugs and holds his hands out to the side.

Makasa snort-laughs.

Remnii claps and Aramar laughs.

Vel approaches closer to Riff, her hands folded behind her back.

Vel smirks and makes an incantation in the air, magenta energy flowing up her arm from her fingertips before settling in her eyes, which take on a magenta hue as arcane circles seem to rotate around her irises before solidifying into a solid glow.

Riff looks excitedly at Seria.

Vel smirks again.

At the mention of imps, everything seems to click for Samaara, and she nods in agreement that such a spell would be incredibly useful.

He suddenly remembers something.

Vel smirks and Riff laughs.

Vel produces a vial of blood. Riff looks very excited.

Riff takes the blood and uses his crimson bond ability, his eyes turning blood red. Over Riff’s head, Vel makes eye contact with Uther and mouth’s “It’s yours” at him. Uther chooses to not resist Riff’s presence, and he can hear his own pulse for a moment.

Riff then starts to walk around, his hands out.

It’s not a painful experience by any means, but it’s a strange one. There is a pressure in Uther’s eyes, as if blood is rushing to his head. After about twenty seconds, Riff’s eyes snap back to normal, and the pressure fades, leaving a slight headache that rapidly fades.

Riff looks up to Vel and Seria. There is blood pooling around the corners of his eyes.

Riff staggers a bit, and Seria puts a hand on his shoulder to help steady him. Riff wipes the blood from his eyes, then shrugs and licks it off his finger.

Vel makes a hum of appreciation.

She smiles at the group.

The group once more takes their wind walk forms, and all the trolls around them watch in no small amount of awe. The hunters stop what they’re doing to see what’s going on.

Zekhan and Rokhan wave from the far side of the beach.

The temperatures start to rise very quickly as the group flies over the ocean, and then the strand, and back into the barrens and rolling, reddish sands--leaving the ocean well behind them (to Vel’s relief).

They find a space off the broken and covered golden road, and they start to make camp for the day.

She looks at the yellow stones that are jutting out of the sand. Remnii looks at the rocks and puts her tongue to it. It’s not salty, but she doesn’t recognize it.

Tae’shara also opts to try it.

There are several miles in every direction that seems to be yellow glass. Remnii’s tail wags a bit, intrigued by the new knowledge.

Vel watches them collect some of the glass, and then opts to collect some herself to maybe give it to Talath later.

Tae’shara and Vel erect the tiny huts for the night, but Tol’vas opts to sleep outside of them.

June 17th

In the early morning, Tol’vas begins to hear something in the material realm. It sounds almost like a vibration, and Vel and Uther also hear it.

They look around, Uther and Vel look towards where Tol’vas is resting. They see a cloud start to get closer, and then they see mosquitos closer to the size of a large parrot start to fly down at Tol’vas.

Tol’vas jerks out of his dream, and he sees those creatures start to descend on him. One of them lands and starts to drink from him. And then another. And another. And another. And another. And another. There are six of the cloud attached to Tol’vas and start to drink his blood.

Vel gets to her feet and whips her wand of arcane missile from its holster as she steps out of the dome, dropping it. She fires off eight missiles, killing eight of the giant mosquitos in just as many shots. Uther follows suit as the dome drops, also casting [Arcane Missile]. He manages to kill four of them, and injured two more.

The remaining mosquitos immediately start to scatter.

Tol’vas uses [Sunfire] centered on himself. The mosquitos on him are incinerated, leaving Tol’vas also quite burnt.

Tol’vas casts [Rejuvenation] on himself.

She pops her head out of the dome.

He lays down to go back to sleep.

Vel looks at those in her dome.

Elissa blinks.

A few hours later, Tae’shara yawns as she drops her dome.

Broll approaches Tol’vas.

Broll sighs.

Tol’vas winces.

Broll blushes.

They set off again, and they get to the area of the Thunder Ridge in about an hour. The wind is hot, and the air is filled with static. There is an ionic scent in the air, and there are clouds over the ridge, but everywhere else is cloudless. There is the sound of thunder rumbling in the clouds, but a similar sound is also coming from the herds of thunder lizards stampeding far below.

However, they also see three figures on one of the high cliffs, and a tent. It’s likely Thrud and her two thunder wolves.

The group starts to descend, and they can see Thrud watching them curiously. They land and start to take their humanoid forms. Thrud had grabbed her hammer in anticipation, and both thunder wolves are growling.

But upon the party revealing their true forms, Thrud smiles, and the two thunder wolves sit up, their ears up in excitement.

Thrud nods, putting that bit of wisdom to meanings of her own.

Behind Uther, Vel just sighs.

She looks at Vel.

Thrud grabs the two bands that had been retrieved from Garr and Geddon--bands that are long, ornate, and seemingly made from some sort of metal, as well as some tattered cloth--and she turns around to face off the cliff. She takes a deep breath, and lifts her hands into the air.

She starts to speak in a language none of the group can understand, but Seria recognizes it to be similar to that used by shamans when communing with the elements.

Thrud’s voice echoes and synthesizes with the thunder overhead, and the storm clouds widen and spread further over the thunder ridge. The temperature drops a few more degrees, and there is a peal of thunder. The bindings in Thrud’s hands begin to glow, and they lift up out of her grip, and rise into the air.

The thunderheads roil, and a bolt of lightning hits the bindings. There is an explosion, and the group braces themselves as their hair is blown back. The bindings expand, and the wind coalesces out from the bindings, taking a vaguely humanoid shape.

A huge creature manifests, its body made of thunder clouds, and with pauldrons of solid steel. It’s upper body is easily 40 feet high, and it’s lower body a thunderous typhoon. Its head is formless beneath its helmet, and the creature stretches its arms--seemingly yawning.

He makes a motion to crack his neck, and lighting explodes.

He laughs loudly.

Thrud looks at Vel, who shakes her head, unsure.

Tol’vas doesn’t know the name Skywall, but he knows that the elementals have pocket dimensions of their own.

Thunderaan ponders.

The two thunder wolves step forward, but Thrud holds out her hand.

Uther steps forward, as does Vel. Tol’vas steps forward rather unenthusiastically.

He puts a hand on Uther’s shoulder.

The storm is starting to get more dramatic around them.

He raises his hand to the sky, and three bolts of lightning strike the ground, and burst into existence.

Another bolt of lightning strikes the earth in front of them, and they see a gigantic blade. Thunderaan grabs it.

Riff claps his hands together and slams them on the ground. An aura of energy materializes. He calls out to them, and they can’t hear him. He laughs and steps out.

He steps back into the dome of [Silence].

Uther activates his sacred weapon channel divinity and runs to engage.

A bolt of lightning connects his blade with the sky. Three bolts of lightning strike down amidst the group.

An air elemental swoops down on Vel, Remnii, and Thrud, creating a typhoon. Remnii gets hurled toward the cliff, while Vel gets thrown into Thrud, knocking her down.

He starts to cast [Haste], but Vel uses [Counterspell].

Seria changes into a fen dweller, but there’s no sound as she is in the silence bubble. She lurches at Thunderaan, and one fist connects, but the second fist is dodges with preternatural speed.

Arthas draws the blood axe that he had gotten from the quillboar. The axe almost shines with light that refracts off the bloody crystal, and he swings at the air elemental on Vel and Thrud.

He swings again, but his axe howls right through the air elemental.

An air elemental enters into the silence bubble and slams into Riff, and Riff tries to shield, but he can’t in the bubble. He curses silently, but then he starts laughing as he is hit. He almost seems to be mocking the elemental, which had definitely hit him but is not doing any damage.

Tol’vas casts [Mark of the Wild] of Uther. The paladin is wrapped in the image of a spectral worgen, and Tol’vas then uses [Shillelagh].

Another elemental soars into Remnii and Arthas and tries to whirl around and throw them aside, but they hold their ground.

Remnii gets back to her hooves and casts [Mass Healing Word] on all her allies, sans Vel. She then starts to step away.

He makes a strike at Remnii, which cuts through her--however, the damage materializes on Uther instead as he uses [Righteous Defense].

She then casts [Mind Sliver] on the air elemental.

Thrud’s eyes crackle, and she slams her hammer on the ground as she casts chain lightning on all the enemies. Thunderaan seems to be completely immune, but the bolt of lightning jumps successfully between the air elementals.

Vel activates her bladesong, and then she casts [Steel Wind Strike]--materializing behind all the existing elementals and Thunderaan. She successfully strikes all but one air elemental in a display of arcane swordplay, before she rematerializes in the silence bubble next to Riff. One of the elementals tries to strike at her illusion, but it passes through her before it locates where she landed, clearly goaded.

This page was last edited on April 08, 2023, at 05:43 PM

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"...greetings, Nibbles."