[Alliance] Chapter Four: Session Fourteen

Appearing Characters: Arthas Menethil/Wulf, Broll Bearmantle, Jarod Shadowsong, Kilnar Goldensword, Remnii, Riff, Samaara, Seria, Tara Windtotem, Tol'vas Moonshadow, Uther Menethil, Velameestra Windrunner, Yona Windtotem

June 9th

The group had awoken back in the cave, and Yona had offered to give these strangers food. However, Tara turns to Vel and speaks in the best common she can muster.

There is a palpable silence as the shock of the statement fully settles into those present in the cave. Samaara still seems to be a bit shaken by what happened in the Veil, but she immediately looks over to Remnii, who does not look surprised. Samaara blinks, and turns back to Vel, but doesn’t say anything else.

Remnii’s gaze is flickering between Samaara and Vel, and she opts to break the silence with a low, and quiet voice.

Vel stiffly nods, as her skin is still scalded and burnt and she is clearly in pain.

Remnii’s hand alights with a black flame which flows like ink in water as she starts to tend to Vel’s wounds.

The priestess’s eyes darken as she lays a hand on Vel, allowing the energy to flow over her and start to knit her wounds together with the shadowy energy. Vel gives Remnii a nod of thanks, before looking back to Yona and Tara.

Remnii smiles, recognizing the phrase as one that she had told Vel not long ago, and she waves Vel off as the arcanist folds her hands behind her back to start to head out of the cave. Tara seemed to be a bit stunned into silence, but Yona furrows her brow.

Vel nods back at her in appreciation, but disappears from view. She stays near the cave entrance, her form periodically visible through the trees like a ghost, but she keeps some distance.

Inside, Yona claps her hands together.

Remnii nods at her.

Tara takes her mother’s hand and they start to navigate around to prepare some food. Broll watches Vel leave, but after she leaves he glances at Tol’vas, and then to the rest of the group. Tol’vas looks unhappy.

Wulf gets up from the wall.

Remnii nods. Wulf seems relatively unphased by the revelation, given he doesn’t have a lot of understanding of the situation.

They head outside into the living area, and it’s rather quiet. Remnii lays a hand on Samaara’s shoulder at one point and it’s rather quiet. Riff, however, is chatting up a storm and is also anxiously waiting for Vel to come back.

Seria also seems to be rather pensive. Vel is staying in the area, but she is walking for a bit. After some time, Yona emerges from the tent with her daughter and some simple stew made of local game and root vegetables and mushrooms.

Vel returns as the group finishes eating, and Riff waves at her eagerly. Yona nods in her direction.

She gestures at Tara and Tara nods.

Tara sheepishly toys with her hair a bit.

Yona hums.

Remnii nods.

They take each other’s arms and head back into the springs. Wulf looks over to Vel.

Samaara’s hand is resting on her chin, and she seems pensive.

She looks at Vel, but her eyes also scan back over to Remnii.

There is a degree of venom in Tol’vas’s voice.

Samaara looks over to Uther.

Samaara nods.

Samaara nods.

Wulf shrugs and nods in agreement. He doesn’t seem to know what’s going on, exactly.

Riff’s eyes go wide, as he abruptly connects some dots.

Riff’s eyes are wide, and he seems to be amazed by the idea.

Broll’s brow is furrowed as he listens.

She looks back at Samaara.

Samaara glances over at Remnii.

Remnii can clearly tell she’s talking about Yrel, and also Remnii at times.

She smiles at Vel and nods. Samaara sighs.

Vel inclines her head in acknowledgment.

Wulf shrugs.

Samaara nods.

Vel gives Riff a look that is equal parts appreciation and a silent suggestion to maybe slow down just a little bit.

Tol’vas stands up, promptly turns into a wolf, and walks away. Broll watches him go for a moment before looking back to the group.

After a moment, Broll goes to follow. However, Seria also gets up and promptly leaves the circle without a word.

Riff goes following after Seria.

Broll had followed Tol’vas.

There is a snarling edge to Tol'vas's voice.

Broll nods.

Tol’vas shakes his head.

Broll puts a gentle hand on Tol’vas’s shoulder, and then leaves.

Meanwhile, Riff follows Seria.

Riff deflates.

Riff turns and starts to head back to the campfire. He immediately buries his face into Remnii’s lap and starts to cry.

She strokes Riff’s back and runs fingers through their hair. Yona and Tara also return, and the two have water in hand.

She hands the vials to Remnii.

She looks at Vel.

They see Yona off, and Remnii looks back to Riff.

Riff shakes their head.

Remnii sits with Riff for a time, and Riff eventually falls asleep in Remnii’s lap. After a time, Tol’vas returns to the group. Seria remains gone for a bit, flying in raven form. The sun starts to set.

Seria returns near when the group is settling in for the evening. Riff had also woken up by then, but he appears rather downtrodden. When Seria returns, he looks up at her, but then immediately avoids eye contact.

Remnii inclines her head to Riff, who had not left Remnii’s side.

Remnii sits up a bit, and with a sympathetic look she looks down.

Remnii shakes her head.

Riff sniffles and nods.

Remnii smiles and wipes some tears away.

Riff nods.

Riff gives Remnii a hug.

Riff goes to Seria on the other side of the camp.

He fidgets with his hands.

Seria immediately just pulls Riff in for a hug, and Riff hugs her back.

Riff nods.

There is a pause.

Riff nods.

Seria nods, and Riff heads to sleep. The night is beautiful, the stars bright, and the moons large.

Uther finds Vel later that evening. She is largely keeping to herself, and he goes and sits against the tree with her.

Vel leans her head back against the tree and tilts it slightly to look at Uther.

Vel sighs heavily.

Vel closes her eyes for a moment, trying hard to roll them at the joke.

Vel just stares at Uther given the rapid-fire speed with which he had delivered the line. But then she smirks.

Uther eases himself up from his sitting position at the base of the tree.

Uther offers a smile and a nod before he heads off.

Tol’vas also approaches Wulf, who grunts as he sharpens his axe. Remnii is also accompanying him.

Tol’vas looks at him.

Remnii’s mouth is over her mouth trying to not laugh.

The group goes off, and Uther catches up to them after he talks with Vel. Wulf looks to Tol’vas.

Wulf nods.

He gestures at Tol’vas.

Tol’vas makes it look easy as he transforms into a worgen

Wulf turns away from Tol’vas and looks up at the moon. His muscles tense. The sound of his teeth grinding is almost audible as he enters a rage. As he does, with the moon bright overhead, his body starts to elongate. His arms grow larger, and his clenched fists turn into claws. His golden hair begins to grow longer and more shaggy and cover his body. It’s a beautiful gold.

He falls onto all fours, and his tail grows where there was none.

He looses a loud howl.

Wulf turns around and his bright green eyes look straight at Tol’vas, and he bares his teeth.

A large hand gently grabs Remnii’s wrist, and it’s Broll.

The howl alerts the rest of the group. Samaara was already hidden nearby, as was Vel at the edge of the clearing. Ephemeral energy had started to coat Wulf's claws.

Tol’vas swings with the scythe as he triggers shillelagh, but Wulf grabs the scythe before it could connect. He recoils from it.

Wulf breaks through the rage for a moment, and then launches himself at Tol’vas. Tol’vas is able to dodge the first blow, but the second connects. However, the slash is not as effective as would be anticipated.

Uther opens his librum of justice and starts to read out loud.

Tol’vas uses calm emotions from the scythe as Wulf continues to slash and bite, but then a silvery light sheens off the scythe. Wulf howls in agony, but then fades into Wulf’s voice. But deeper.

Wulf pants, taking in everything. He shakes his head, and his form starts to shrink. The scythe has not stopped glowing. It looks different. The fang of the blade has a long crease in it, like a carving to the center. Vines had formed around it, encasing it in a semi-circle like a symbol of Elune.

There is a gentle hum coming from it, like an enhanced strength.

Tol’vas smiles.

Tol’vas nods.

Wulf walks past Tol’vas and stops at Uther. He looks at the librum.

Uther closes the librum.

Wulf freezes.

Wulf shakes his head and dismisses whatever he was trying to say. He puts a hand on Uther’s shoulder and does a weird, awkward half smile, and makes eye contact for a second before walking past.

The group heads back to camp, and Remnii approaches Seria.

Seria raises an eyebrow.

Remnii nods, and she sits.

Remnii looks legitimately inquisitive, and like she doesn’t know the actual answer.

Remnii nods again.

Seria remains quiet.

She laughs quietly and stands up.

Seria continues to remain quiet.

Remnii heads off to go to sleep.

That night, Vel dreams Kilnar. Quickly enough, she sees the familiar visage of Kilnar appear. She looks over in Vel’s direction and smiles fondly.

Kilnar sits down on one of the benches shaped from the roots of the central tree in the glade--one which was a mirror of the tree that had stood above Vel’s grave in Northrend.

Kilnar cocks her head to the side.

Vel had been resting with her hand on her mouth as they spoke.

However, it’s clear that Kilnar would certainly like to know.

She lowers her hand, purposely speaking more opening so that the tip of her fangs are visible as she speaks.

Kilnar’s eyes are flickering between maintaining eye contact and looking at Vel’s fangs. Once her gaze moved up and down Vel’s entire body, but she mostly seemed to be hovering on her fangs.

She seems to be rather perturbed.

The other elf laughs, the tone somewhere between amused and quite annoyed.

She gives Vel a somewhat incredulous look.

She offers a smile.

Vel smirks.

Vel takes the rest of the night to get Kilnar appraised of recent developments, and well as the various antics that Tae’shara had been up to. However, Vel does not tell her that Arthas is a worgen. Kilnar continued to seem a bit miffed by the reveal, but ultimately she would be fine.

June 10th

When the group awakes, the first thing they awaken to is a distant howling of winds. There are grasses and pollens and dust being blown by gales of wind. It seems the boon offered by Magatha had worn off, but it seems the stilled winds have returned.

Yona emerges from her tent as the group starts to head off.

Remnii looks out across the mesas.

She looks to the druids.

She looks at Vel.

The group discusses a bit, and it is suggested that those that could turn into spiders could maybe make cocoon harnesses. Remnii also can levitate herself. However, the cocoon idea is vetoed, and Wulf and Uther instead choose to hang onto the druids.

While they are discussing, Vel makes her way over to Yona. Yona looks at her with a soft smile.

Vel blinks, somewhat taken aback.

She makes an illusory image in her hand, increasing its size so that it was a bit more easily seen by the elder tauren. It was the angelic entity that had spoken to Yona, seemingly inquiring if she was ready to pass on. The tauren looks at it for a moment.

Vel pieces together that the modify memory spell the entity had used before they left--the one she had resisted--had likely affected the spiritwalker and seemingly took the memory of the creature from her mind.

Vel hums to herself and lets the illusion fade.

Vel’s ears go back slightly, unsure of how to respond.

Yona smiles again.

Vel nods back to her, offering an appreciative expression, before she heads to the rest of her party.

The group heads off. They try to follow the best path they can to avoid the gusts. It takes a bit of time. During the first hour, about 45 minutes in, a surprise gale swoops through. The group hunkers down and waits them out, and they are able to hold on.

They go for another hour, but then they start to notice some hand holds that had already been made. They climb across the great mural they had seen from a distance, and another gust sweeps Remnii out. The shock almost knocks the concentration from Remnii’s grasp, but she is able to maintain it.

The group continues for another few hours, and Remnii is starting to lose her mana stores. Vel opts to use an upcasted telekinesis to continue pulling her up, and now that she had gotten significant practice, she opts to stand straight up as she walks up the wall, her hand out to continue pulling Remnii up.

However, Seria and Tol’vas start to see something shifting in the wind. It’s a vaguely humanoid shape for just a hint of a second. It almost looks like a cyclone. Tol’vas looks about, and he can see a small outcropping.

Tol’vas drops his bear form and starts to fall, along with Uther. Tol’vas grabs Uther and uses dimension door. They fall into a dimensional gate and land right on the outcropping. Uther grabs onto the wall.

A roiling creature starts to shoot forward, and spirals and spins as it turns toward Tol’vas. He holds his hand out and swings scythe through the air. The small air elemental blasts away in a silvery aura, and he holds the spell until the elemental is successfully banished.

Wulf shouts from over on Broll. They give them the sign of it’s all clear.

Another breeze goes by, and they both instinctively hold onto the wall again.

Tol’vas nods, turns back into a bear, and they continue climb. Unfortunately, it looks like the hour-long casting on telekinesis looks like it’s not going to be enough, and Vel continues to cast telekinesis twice more until they finally breach the cliff face.

It’s much chillier up here. Remnii is placed on the ground, and everyone takes a second to rest their aching muscles for those that were using them.

However, there’s no sign of Jarod.

Vel also lights her lantern of revealing momentarily to cover that aspect as well.

Samaara is laying down on the grass, her eyes closed, and a small smile crosses her face.

Remnii uses the spell and extends her senses, but she senses nothing.

The group starts to look around for any sign of someone passing by. Seria sniffs around a bit, looking about, and she starts to detect something unusual. It smells almost like a vinegary smell, like fermentation. It’s a strange scent she wasn’t expecting to pick up, and she follows it to the source, but she can still smell it. It’s earthy, like it may be underground.

Vel notes that a patch of earth near one of the larger stones in the area seems to be disturbed, like something was recently buried there. Seria had noticed the same near where she saw the smell.

Vel starts to dig a bit. Broll approaches.

Broll starts to help her with mold earth, and they start to see wicker. Like a basket. Vel pulls the basket out, and looks inside of it.

There’s food and drink inside it, including a kettle and a hempen-rolled pouch with flint and steel. Underneath is also some cut lumber. Vel double-takes at the large rock. It doesn’t look right. It looks more like… wood.

She inspects around it, and there are signs of it perhaps being… a hatch.

They get their fingers under the lip and they start to lift, revealing a hole under the ground. Underneath it, wider than the stone, is a divot that goes out about 15-20 feet to make a reasonably sized room. It’s a shelter of sorts. There are two chairs that seem to be homemade, and a table that has simple eating materials like saucers and the like. In the corner, there are games or something.

Currently leaning back in one of the chairs is a night elf man. His feet are on a table, and his hands are back, and he seems to be resting. He winces as the sun shines down on him, and he squints up and looks up at Vel and Broll staring down at him. Remnii clip-clops over as well.

Jarod stretches and yawns and covers his eyes from the sun, and smiles.

Jarod gets up and climbs up a small ladder. He waves to the gathered group.

Jarod looks at the basket near Vel.

He looks at Remnii.

Remnii nods and starts to dig in her bag. Tol’vas hands off the swiftthistle, and Remnii first gives Jarod the holy water.

Jarod nods.

Remnii then pulls out the cloth.

Jarod takes the sheet and lays it on the ground, and puts the basket on top of it.

Jarod goes and grabs a shovel, and starts to dig at the site Seria had found the smell.

It’s a fermented stew with thick slices of root vegetables, and he starts to prepare a meal.

Remnii and Tol’vas raise their hands, and he hands them some of the swiftthistle tea. It’s delicious, and has a minty flavor to it.

Riff leans over to Seria and speaks quietly.

Seria doesn't, but Riff can see the image of a woman hovering over Jarod's shoulder--likely one of the memories formed by the spirits of the mesa.

Those that drink the tea feel a strange, calming feeling. Jarod asks them about how they found him so quickly, and they explain in depth.

He stirs the stew.

Jarod nods with a smile and starts to divy up the delicious-looking stew. Vel also takes a (small) amount, mentally relenting to get rid of what she consumed later. He also offers alcohol to anyone that wants it.

Remnii sits up and puts her bowl down.

Jarod’s brow furrows.

She gestures to the druids and Vel.

Jarod shakes his head.

Remnii is quiet for a moment.

She also looks to Tol’vas and Broll.

Tol’vas clamps his mouth shut.

Jarod laughs.

Tol’vas nods.

Jarod squints at Tol’vas.

Jarod smiles.

Tol’vas laughs nervously.

He looks back to the group.

He gestures to Broll.

Tol’vas looks at Broll.

Jarrod digs into his leathers and shows a medallion.

Jarod laughs.

Jarod shakes his head.

Jarod nods.

They opt to stay there for the night.

Tol’vas speaks to Remnii momentarily as she is pacing around the mesa before sleeping.

Remnii inclines her head.

Remnii’s mouth flaps.

Remnii settles back on her hoofs and crosses her arms.

Remnii starts to pace, stroking an invisible beard.

Remnii chews on her lip.

Remnii offers a weak smile. Tol’vas nods.

He mulls over what was said.

Tol’vas shrugs.

Remnii nods affirmingly.

Tol’vas nods.

Remnii gives a thumbs up and a tired smile.

Tol’vas nods and walks off to rest and small talk with Jarod as a wolf. Jarod winds up talking about his wife a lot.

Vel opts to spend the night outside the shelter as she can’t sleep anyway, and spends some time just looking off the edge of the mesa.

As Uther is settling down for the evening, the stars are gorgeous. It doesn’t look that different from the skies of Lordaeron. As his mind wanders, Wulf speaks up.

He gestures with his head behind him for Uther to follow. Uther gets up to follow after. They go to near the ledge and he looks up at the moons.

Wulf chuffs.

Uther nods and he grips Wulf by the shoulders.

Wulf nods.

Wulf reaches forward awkwardly, and somewhat hesitantly, and pulls Uther into a hug. Uther hugs him back.

Uther pushes their foreheads together.

Wulf nods, his head pressed against Uther’s.

The night falls. It’s peaceful, and no one bothers them this high up. At first light, the group starts to head off toward Jarod’s home. Jarod stays up all night keeping watch, and noting Vel also isn’t sleeping, he says she can go rest, but doesn’t press when she says she’s not tired. Instead, they just opt to exist in companionable silence for the hours of the night.

This page was last edited on September 25, 2021, at 09:55 AM

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