#52 - Odd Behavior and Seren Honor

As told by Magnus of the Island of Seren.

Out of jail and the search for the lost stuffed animal abandoned, we returned to our goals in the city. I was really dying to find news from Seren, and I regretted following Cypher and his fool’s errand. I know he hadn’t planned to get us arrested, but his focus on stuffed animals had just cost me my meeting with the Serans.

Luckily, when we returned to the carnival grounds, the Serens had left me a note, unusual for any Seren to write anything. The Carnival Master came to us to tell us that he regretted the Serens’ departure and that they were full of venom for me and my tribe, but that the note was genuine and that there was some bounty they were searching in the farms to the north of the city. Something about...ankhegs.

We set out immediately, thank the Dragon Between! Once out of the city, we could clearly see the tall blue spire that dominated the countryside by the riverside. Aleae seemed to have knowledge and I asked her about it. She took a crystal sphere out and made it light up. She told us to stare into it, Cypher joined me and we could see some sort of alternate plane, where things looked similar, but different from the area around us, yet the same also. She said this was Thelanis, her world, which is also called the Faerie Court. The blue spire was the same in the sphere and here in our world.

I don't understand. Cypher  spent some time walking with me talking about alternate planes of existence and explaining that there are creatures who can travel between these planes. Some dragons can travel also, the eldest and most powerful among them. The spires, I guess, somehow exist in both planes at once. I don’t understand.  Much that interests Cypher eludes me, but he is immensely resourceful and has helped me many times.

We continued walking and at one point, Aleae sent us all a secret voice message that we were being followed. Cypher did not understand that this was secret knowledge, and started walking around searching behind us. The follower seemed to disappear as soon as we started looking.

Then Cypher started acting very strange indeed. It is unlike Cypher to fail to understand anything and as we talked to him, he seemed to lose all knowledge of himself, saying only that he was fine and that we should continue on our mission. I asked about Doongul, and when his boat would arrive (he came on a wagon, this was a little trap I laid for Cypher). Cypher could not remember Doongul or Trug, his goblin companion. Strange.

Cypher was acting like he had been hit on the head. Hard. I’ve seen warriors like this after a battle. I asked him what was the first thing he remembered today and he said that it was Aleae telling us that we were being followed. Bad news!

We immediately stopped to sort this out. Some nearby fishermen were giving us the once-over, I could see that we were not welcome with them. I stood up front and let them know not to approach us, either. Clarion performed a ritual on Cypher and seemed to divine that it was Cypher’s "final messenger" that was the problem, that small machine inserted into his chest. Cypher took it out and stepped away from it, but he still had no memory. He returned the messenger to his chest and we all agreed that we were not going to be able to sort this out right here and right now.

I was really eager to continue going forward and so we all agreed to continue in search of the Seren Stormwalkers. Soon enough, we came to the second jetty and a clear set of tracks headed inland from the river. The Serens had gone this way. I was practically ready to run after them after all this delay. Soon enough, we came to some old stone ruins and then spied the corpses of a few ankhegs, the giant ant-beetle monsters that spit acid all over us way back in Droaam. The Serens had earned their bounty, it seemed.

I shouted out, “I am here and ready to meet with you!” As soon as I yelled, I noticed the female Stormwalker on top of some stone walls with her bow trained on us. The male came out and accused me of falsehood for missing our meeting yesterday. I explained that we were jailed for a fight and some property damage, but were soon found innocent and released.

The crest of Aundair

He said he refused to speak to me further until we had proven ourselves in combat. I agreed. The she-shaman used her magic to summon a monster, we were to fight whatever appeared. She said produced a flat, rune-carved stone and said, "This totem stone was wrought by the dragonspeakers of Worvrelyss the Cerulean Night. It will summon a foe worthy of testing that is native to the land in which it is placed. Survive and defeat the beast and you will prove you are willing to die for honor." Honor and courage is what they required for discussion.

The rest of the party agreed to fight with me, I am lucky to have found such good persons since leaving my home island. We waited in silence for the monster to arrive, the spellcasters each made preparations. Clarion had many spells to cast that seemed to empower us all, including a metal staff that sprouted into a banner that waved the flag of Aundair, which seemed to really inspire him. Soon enough the ground erupted underneath us. A huge, armored land-shark—a bulette—burst up from below, splattering us with rocks and dirt.

We unloaded on the land-shark in a way I have never seen us do before! Mashing, smashing, stabbing, burning, electrocuting, hexing and chopping it very badly before it gathered itself to bite me on the arm. Just as we thought we were finishing it off, a second one pounded up out of the ground, demolishing one of the stone walls and splattering us with stone and earth again.  It was no more than a few seconds before the first one died under my maul.

The new one, perhaps mated to the first, bellowed and pounced on Aleae, who skittered away while the land-shark burrowed out of sight. We then had a few seconds to stare around and wonder what was to happen next, we spread out around the area, knowing it couldn't have fled. These things were maddened.

Cypher, who was fighting brilliantly, tried to take my mace off my back—unusual and not permitted! I shrugged him off just as the second land-shark exploded up out of the ground beneath Cypher and I we were again hammered with rocks and earth. Aleae was ready with a massive onslaught of spells—her elven hands slung magic faster than I'd seen even Xoma to cast! The land-shark was knocked over on its side and I let loose with all the violence I could summon—Clarion's spells of pronounced doom seemed to be adding considerable strength to my arms, and the beast shuddered after I demolished the front of its head. Clarion himself stepped up and finished it off…

I turned to the Serens, wondering, are we done?