Chapter 8, Part III: Bringing a Kraven to a Balloon Fight
The Platinum Talons called Candice to inquire about the upgraded wagon. Candice explained that the next upgrade would be a faster wagon. Tagg ordered potions worth 100 gold from Candice who told him that it would be at the Yurdrok post office in a couple days' time, and Drez used his position as a cartographer to obtain a boat from the AGI to reach the island woman.
As they moved towards the beach, Tagg carried the boat while Vance sang a song about him. They started outside the harbor, set the boat down, and sailed off to Gyama's Island.
During the journey, Drez entered a trance and saw the deer in the forest again. He navigated through the woods and found a lake where the deer was drinking. Drez thought, "Hello Lefty, I am looking for you," and heard something about the Apex hunter.
Vance reminisced about skipping rocks at Solendia beach, while Nohki shared how he and Darien used to play Hide and Seek. Drez told Tagg about a childhood experience tracking a bobcat in the woods. He recounted how something dropped out of a tree behind him, and he turned to find the bobcat, which taught him to be aware of his surroundings. Tagg agreed it was good advice but confessed he felt stuck at a crossroads, unsure of which direction to take.
Upon approaching Gyama's door, the gang noticed the same symbol on a small piece of metal in the doorframe that had a symbol that matched the one that Drez had been marked with. Drez knocked on the door and the group was invited inside. Inside, Vance looked around the hut, noticing many odd things such as jars of fingernails and petrified creatures suspended in viscous liquids. He also noted there was a peculiar smell that was at once foul yet intoxicating. Gyama herself was an old, haggard-looking woman. She was larger than any old woman they would have seen, nearly as tall as the doorframe, even hunched crookedly as she was. Her head was unusually round with stringy tendrils of hair that grew from her scalp like weeds, and her mouth was horrifyingly wide--a smile that literally ran ear-to-ear-- with many small, sharp teeth. Getting a better look at her, Vance noticed that Gyama was not an old human woman, but was, in fact, a hag-- a fey creature he had had a run in with as a child during his travels with his musical family.
His song lured out a less gentle creature, a forest hag who was drawn to the song like a coyote to a hare. Instead of pouncing on the boy, she stayed quietly in the trees and listened to the song until she began to hum along. Vance started at the new sound and watched her with wide eyes for a long moment before the hag told him in a voice that creak like an old tree in a heavy wind, "Do not stop your song, young man. It has been so long since music has blessed these woods." And continue he did, a born showman always prepared to perform for an audience, no matter how small. After a time, the hag introduced herself as Almyra and praised Vance for the vibrancy and kindness he had brought to the forest that day. She surmised he had been lost, and told him that she would help him. She offered him a bright red flower that smelled of confections and told Vance he would find his way home if he ate the bloom.
Not questioning the woman or her intentions, Vance popped the flower in his mouth and crunched down on the delicious petals. And as he did so, he felt the sensation of power and knowledge flutter through him. He knew how to leave the forest, and the young half-drow stumbled into his very first Misty Step, phasing to the other side of a cluster of trees and onto a familiar path, his own muddy footprints leading away from the campsite a trail he could follow back home safely. It would be a few days later that he would discover his sudden ability to charm his mother into giving him seconds of dessert, and he knew then that the fey creature had given him more than a safe way home.
Drez explained his situation to Gyama, the note from Lefty London, and the strange symbol. Gyama nodded grouchily and muttered cryptically that Lefty was a bother and her least favorite one. She revealed that Drez had been marked by an ancient organization known for speed, lethality, and accuracy. Drez asked for the organization's name and was told it was called the Kraven Guard, a strangely familiar moniker. Drez shared his last name with the organization's first. He accepted their initiation after Gyama explained that accepting the trial would come with a price.
Gyama told them of legends that said Harking was settled by giants and their giant pets, and that the trial for the continent would be to hunt down last remaining "pet" of these giants. She vaguely described a large cat like beast known as the Jorgkatsnacht.
Gyama, an ancient being, revealed she had lived for several thousand years. Xerxes, sensing Gyama was withholding information, probed further. Gyama admitted that the blessed had existed for at least 900 years and that Vola had not been heard from since the day of "Terravox's Last Stand" around 20 some years ago, and was presumed dead. Drez asked about Lefty London, who was temporarily in charge of the Kraven Guard. She described him as a half-elf with dark hair, a scar on his jaw, and a missing point of his right ear. She was unsure what had happened to the last Kraven.
She sent him off with a single clue, a strangely written note on a piece of flimsy paper.
"the lonely creature, Daring beast
cOld and Under rock and hole
the Mountain baSe is near tHe plAce
of kitten's noRthern bowl"
Xerxes recalled a lullaby from his childhood referencing a place called the Kattan's Skal, or Cat's Bowl, which they thought might hold clues.
Xerxes sent a message to his father, Denek, asking, "Howdy pops, what can you tell me about Vola?" Denek replied, "Yes, please come here and we can discuss in person. Lots of people watching. Ears everywhere." When Xerxes asked who was listening, Denek answered, "All of Tharuunden."
As they returned home to Brimhold, they heard an alarm and an announcement with an unhinged, cackling voice instructing everyone to go to bed early for a big day tomorrow. The Order of Righteous Conflict members the Talons passed in the street identified the voice on the announcements as the Harvestman, the leader of their chapter.
Shroot obtained a club, and Tagg looked for opportunities to fight. Drez and Vance used magic and music to put on a spectacular mock-fight show with Tagg as the headliner. Tagg played Dutch Skippio who faced the dreaded Poison Dale (an illusion created by Vance) in a hero vs. heel wrestling match, where the Talons curated an incredible morale-boosting entertainment extravaganza for all of the soldiers in the Crossed Swords Inn.
The performance was successful, earning them a pretty penny each, including the wine that Xerxes had been able to sell during their bout. On a quick scan of the audience, Nohki noticed the faces of Trixie and Adalair among the crowd. When his eyes jumped back to where they had been, the figures were gone.
After a long rest, they woke up to BOJO making breakfast for them. Xerxes cast Aid on Drez, Vance, and himself as they prepared for their trip to the Grand Fortress to speak to Chieftain Ouglana with hopes to convince her to change course on the Gragtharian suicide mission.
They were welcomed into the courtyard of the fortress where they saw Gragtharian soldiers training. Immediately, both BOJO and Tagg recognized someone in the crowd: a white-haired half-orc woman who was training in hand-to-hand combat with a hobgoblin man. Tagg recognized her as Veyla the Impaler but BOJO recognized her as his girlfriend, Hildar. After some excitement, confusion, and tense discussion, Hildar relented to let BOJO help with the efforts against the poison veil if he promised to be careful.
The group headed into the War Room, the first door directly across from the entrance hall of the fortress, where Chieftain Ouglana, Professor Pluveria, and a man wearing a burlap sack sewed directly onto his torso with thick, stiff stitches were discussing the strategy for the assault on the Poison Veil. The voice of the man wearing the burlap mask was familiar to the Talons as the voice enforcing the curfew the night before: the Harvestman. The plan was to drop specially mixed fire at a vent that had been identified through ORC recon. Once the poison had been burned away, Ouglana's forces would repel to the ground and clear the way for the ship to land. It seemed like a fairly straightforward plan but Pluveria's hesitation prompted the Platinum Talons to attempt to convince Ouglana not to throw all of her forces at the poison veil. The Talons worked to convince the chieftain that she shouldn't send her entire army and should instead keep some in reserves in case of the plan failing. It was decided that a small unit of Ouglana's forces along with several officers would accompany the Harvestman and the ORC to the poison veil. Because of the Talon's successful negotiating, they convinced Ouglana to push the Harvestman to send the seasoned Order members to the ground to clear the way for the landing airship. The platinum Talons and BOJO threw their hat in the ring and decided to join as well. Seeing this, Pluveria offered his aid and oversight in case of any funny business.
The uneasy alliance made their way to the ORC camp where four large airships were waiting for them. While everyone reported to their respective muster station, Vance took it upon himself to blend in with the ORC troops to listen for any malicious instructions given by the Harvestman. But it sounded like the intentions of Harvestman were true as he repeated the same instructions that were agreed upon in the keep. With that, airships sped off towards the toxic wasteland known as the poison veil.
Soaring high above the veil, the airships carefully got into position and began the bombardment. The Talons assisted with carefully targeting the vent area as well as a spot to clear for landing the airship. Barrel after barrel was sent down and the poisonous sludge began to burn away, revealing for the first time in a long time, the ground of Lugsha. The unit tasked with clearing a landing zone repelled down to the ground and began clearing out the area while the onslaught of fire barrels continued. After a moment there was a sudden rumble from the ground and the poison itself began to take shape and attack the ships and ground unit. Blobs of sludge were launched onto the decks of the airship, while some took the form of winged creatures. The incredibly toxic goo easily overwhelmed the forces in the sky. Several of the deckhands, officers, and BOJO were hit with the poisonous sludge, severely weakening them. That is when Pluveria flew in to help even the playing field. He began to glow a strange glow and his eyes seemed to become crystalized and suddenly the sky opened up as he began to launch meteors at the goo while expertly avoiding the airships.
With a few well-aimed fire shots from the Talons, the vent seemed to stop spewing the poison and, for a moment, the ground was clear. Then, the earth shook and, from the hole visible below, an enormous spider of festering sludge slithered onto the field. The Talons began to aim their barrels of fire at the spider, and the creature, growing angrier, began to shoot bolts of poison that took one of the airships down for a crash landing. Finally, the spider was destroyed, but not before taking a second airship down with it. This ship had few of the Order crew members, but it was also the ship that help BOJO and Hildar. The Talons watched as BOJO caught Hildar and lowered her to the ground safely, his Aasimar wings outspread as their own airship landed in the cleared area beside the open vent, an island of safety surrounded completely by the bubbling poison veil, held off from further spread-- for at least that moment.