Iron DM 2023!

Mindsiege · #**121** May 16th, 2023, 08:44 PM

Far From Home

"I'm not sure if it would hurt. The spores are in them now. They'll sap their strength. Maybe they will die in their sleep." Ilala shrugged her slim shoulders, looking at her younger sister who didn't seem to have any more conclusive findings. So the older dryad continued. "I will explain it to the elder. Though I still think there may be nothing more we can do. If our father was here, maybe he could, but healing such an infestation is beyond our means. There are some in the friendship that could have helped. But none close to the colony so that we could reach them in time."

With the fate of the two infected darklings left ominously in the balance, Sashaya took advantage of their moment of near privacy as she took Jimmy by the arm in search of his honest opinion. Unable to shrug the verdant fae's insistent, pleading gaze, the half-elven adventurer speculated about Glynn's origins, but the truth was that neither of them knew anything for certain. Sashaya only seemed to grow further restless when Jimmy acknowledged that so far Glynn had displayed inscrutable motives, and neither of the dryad sisters seem satisfied with the explanation that Jimmy could give them. For once, Jimmy's charm and ability to lighten the mood seemed to fail him with these two exotic women.

Seemingly driven by a desire to respond to Sashaya's hope for answers, Jimmy found himself swayed to give a little more insight into his further strategy. The younger dryad kept holding his eyes when he announced that he was going to gather more darklings and attempt to find a communal solution, which seemed like it surprised Sashaya somewhat as she looked over her shoulder at her sister and then quickly back to Jimmy.

The dryad seemed agitated and was about to explain herself with a look of deep concern on her face, but suddenly Ilala interrupted the moment with a green hand on her sister's shoulder as she preceded whatever Sashaya had been meaning to say. Ilala didn't seem vindictive however, and Jimmy could tell that she was exceptionally calm. "You've heard the rootless. We should catch up with the others. Whatever Glynn is, we are vulnerable to her tricks. We can discuss anything further as a group." That decision seemed to be somewhat final, and Sashaya finally let go of Jimmy's arm as she gave in to her elder sibling.

Back on track through the colony under the guidance of Boanagh, the darkling's spore infection remained a shared secret for a while longer as Jimmy caught up with the group and ventured to share some light into the border ethereal and Glynn's likely ability to shift between the two planes as well as she must have been able to shift her body to look like a darkling elder. Loch tugged on his goat beard as he frowned throughout Jimmy's explanation, but by the end of it, he and the other sylvans had comprehended the severity of the situation.

"Ach, Jimmy. I may have given the impression when we had parted ways at the Heart Tree before, but if there's more evidence that we're in over our heads, I wouldn't know what it looks like." The satyr coursed his gaze over the group as they walked, his mien unapologetic. "T'is not that I lack courage. But after we've investigated the matter, it does seem like only the darklings can solve this amongst themselves, yes? I could write a poem to sway opinions, maybe? But I can't battle the dark beings that even your friend in armor has shied away from." Boanagh frowned at that talk, but for the moment the darkling elder seemed unable to raise a counter-argument to Loch's defeatism.

Rather than dealing with Loch's lack of a helpful opinion, Boanagh had been more than gloomy ever since the incursion at the campsite, but now Jimmy's mention of Darce was drawing him out from behind his guarded demeanor. "I agree with what you said before, Jimmy. We must confront Darce. If he is involved with these killings, then we must judge him!" There was a slightly manic tone in Boanagh's voice that Jimmy hadn't quite noticed before, and his eyes were gleaming even as they were milky white. "We could call for another elder council. And we will. But we don't have many answers, Jimmy. And sometimes, it is easier to ask for forgiveness rather than for permission. If Darce is still at the border beneath the Heart Tree, then we should make haste to find him there. His sway is greater in the eastern section of the colony than it is in the south."

The grim elder shot a look over at the wounded darklings who had avoided further interrogation after Glynn had murdered their final companion. Boanagh then looked back at Jimmy. "My clan must come together to cull whatever evil there is in our own ranks, but who can we truly rely on? Jimmy, I would rather rely on us who are here, those we know to be uncorrupted. You've seen the signs, but my people are divided." There was fresh pain in the darkling elder's eyes.

"Our clan's territory is a lot vaster than we have the need for, and my own heart has driven me to know more of the lands outside of our borders. But still, I know the heart of the Dubh Catha clan! If Darce is making deals with dark forces, or even aiding and abetting the slaughter of our own people, then we won't tolerate it! But!!" The elder's face was marred with woe. "It would be our word against his." Boanagh shook his head to himself. "I say we apprehend Darce. Force him to say the truth with a satyr song. Doing it ourselves would be for the best. I do not wish for more bloodshed amongst my kin, Jimmy!"

After Boanagh had given his impassioned speech to his sylvan allies, there was a moment of silence as the group had stopped in its tracks at the height of the elder's oration. Knowing that there possibly was an invisible spectator haunting them from a ghostly plane, the group began to resume its movement while Jimmy formulated a response. But before the adventuring warlock had fully been able to weigh the pros and cons, this time it was Ilala who revealed information that weighed just as heavily as Boanagh's stance on confronting Darce.

"It is good that we are to return to the Heart Tree then. My sister and I, we can't go without our father's proximity for too much longer. Us dryads, we are bound to our place of birth. The home of the Dubh Catha clan lies below the mountains and the roots of father's forest are too far away. We wane in his absence." Ilala's tone was lecturing, while Sashaya was hanging her head and averting her gaze, almost shamefully. "I also want answers from Darce. After all, he has agreed to dark pacts that threaten the whole neighborhood!" This time the dryad's stare at Boanagh was blatantly accusatory. Just one day ago, the elder had raged at the very same implication. Now he was merely silent.

secretID · #**122** May 22nd, 2023, 07:34 PM

“OK,” Jimmy agreed, “Heart Tree it is, then. But we gotta be cool about how we deal with Darce. Maybe we’ll get a chance ta spy on him some more – I dunno. But don’t just march up an’ start stuff, B.” Jimmy looked to the increasingly manic elder for silent confirmation that they both on the same page.

“Loch’s charm?” commented Jimmy. “That’s a maybe. Far as I know, things like that just don’t work sometimes. An’ Darce can just refuse to answer. But it’s somethin’, I guess.” Jimmy took a breath. “Alright, you guys,” he said, “let’s get back on the road. But B, hang back with me for a sec, wouldja?”

As soon as they had a little privacy, Jimmy gave Boanagh the grim report regarding the fate of the wounded darklings. “So, probably dead before sleep,” Jimmy then summarized, “or soon after. Nothin’ I know ta do about it. But I wanted ta leave it ta you whether ta tell them before, or maybe even ta offer ta kill ‘em quick, since we don’t know how much it will hurt.”

Mindsiege · #**123** Jun 1st, 2023, 03:27 PM

Moribund

When Jimmy cautioned his party about maintaining their calm when Darce was possibly a traitor within the Dubh Catha Clan, rather than just inviting Boanagh's silent acquiescence, the darkling elder gave a dark nod, responding to Jimmy with a grave tone. "Of course. We will have to plan out how we confront him. I won't do anything rash." Boanagh seemed fully genuine, and he nodded once more when Jimmy explained that Loch's magic wasn't an infallible method. The hooved fey in question only shrugged non-committally that their party leader had the right of it with his understanding, and for the moment the party focused back on the march that they now had in front of them as it drew them back to the direct neighbours of the Heart Tree.

But even as the question of Darce was something that was better tabled for the rest period that they would need to take before their return to the darkling outpost, Jimmy had gathered that the dryads seemed to have failed to mention their findings about Glynn's spores to Boanagh as well, and the half-elven adventurer decided that given how little time the two infected darklings still had, this uncomfortable matter couldn't be postponed like the sisters seemed to have decided.

Pulling Boanagh aside from the rest of the group of sylvans, Jimmy summarized to the elder that Glynn's actions must have doomed the two cousins to their certain demise. Boanagh took it as well as could be expected. His jaw was set tightly, and his expression was filled with bitterness. But otherwise he maintained a steely composure as he digested that two more of his kin would die. "The dryads are that certain?" The darkling elder looked away for a moment. "If it will be an anguished death, we can give them the choice to end it. But... What will it help if they know that they'll die?"

Shaking his head ruefully, a great shadow seemed to loom on the stoic darkling's heart. "Even if there is no hope for them, should they spend their last moments in fear of their death?" Boanagh left his question unanswered in the cavernous air, looking Jimmy right in the eyes as something else seemed to occur to him. "These spores... Are they what has been responsible then?" The darkling elder reflected on that possibility for a moment. "It's possible... But I never saw this residue that the large explosion that we witnessed left behind..." With a frown, Boanagh's considerations remained inconclusive. "After all, the method doesn't sit at the heart of the evil. There is a dark will that has invaded this colony, and if Glynn and Darce are behind it... Can I count on you, Jimmy, to help me with what must be done?"

secretID · #**124** Jun 13th, 2023, 01:43 PM

“Yeah,” agreed Jimmy, “I thought a’ that too, and like ya said, ya think someone woulda seen somethin’. I mean, we didn’t have much problem avoidin’ those gas bags – not like they were that sneaky. But Glynn – that’s a different story.”

As the party continued through the tunnels, the knowledge of that story hung in the air. Jimmy had warned the party of an extremely fearsome assassin, and had yet to propose any defenses. “All we can do,” Jimmy finally offered, when the party was beginning to consider making camp, “is take turns on watch. I think she hasta come back out ta hurt us, so when she does – we hit ‘er.” Jimmy knew that this was no kind of plan. “Prob’ly won’t take her out, but maybe we can chase her off. She’s all alone, now – right? She can’t keep it up forever.

“So…maybe we should talk about Darce,” Jimmy said to Boanagh, clumsily changing the subject. “If we all just walk in – even just you – we’re gonna make a stir, right? We’ll be forced ta bluff or play our hand right off. We could tell ‘im that we got Glynn, and she gave him up – somethin’ like that, but…much as I hate ta say it, he might be innocent, and if we lie we might push him inta a fight. I think we hafta just confront him, and see if we can get him to agree ta Loch’s truth spell.

“Still,” continued Jimmy, “we might as well be careful goin’ in. I’ll have Tinkerbell try an’ spy on him again. I can even go in invisible, if that looks like it’ll help – I doubt it.” Jimmy sighed. “That’s all I got,” he concluded. “I don’t like countin’ on the truth ta come out an’ people ta do the right thing, but I guess we’re desperate enough. Prob’ly more your style anyhow.”

OOCSorry this is all I have after all this time. I tried to give myself time to come up with something creative for Darce, but it didn't come.

I'm not sure how surprise from the Etherealness might work in this situation. Each person on watch could be waiting for the jump-out, but that could work many different ways mechanically.

Watch order, if 8 hours total, 6 hours sleeping each, 2 hour shifts for each pair:
Lock & darkling
Boanagh & darkling
Jimmy & Tink
dryads

FYI, re plan for approaching the camp and Darce, if the layout is such that Jimmy could realistically avoid the darklings’ blindsight while entering, he’ll enter invisibly in an attempt to stay within 100’ of Tink. Tink will move towards Darce’s tent invisibly for as long as possible, then switch to…I think we decided a rat was the least conspicuous? If an invisible entry won’t work, Jimmy will just send Tink ahead to spy, with Tink to make whatever smaller decisions are necessary. Either way, Tink will take a Comprehend Languages dose immediately beforehand, as will Jimmy. (Actually, each should just be renewing that every hour regardless.)

Mindsiege · #**125** Jun 20th, 2023, 07:42 PM

Faceless Evil

After the sylvan party under the leadership of Jimmy had chosen one of the more defensible caverns as their resting place, the adventuring warlock conveyed to them that the only defense that they had against an extraplanar stalker would be supreme vigilance. The dread was palpable across everybody present, none of them wishing to have their lives whisked away like the one darkling who they had already believed saved from his injuries. But there was nothing more to be done than Jimmy had said, and so the group remained tense as they prepared to make camp, accepting their leader's chosen watch order when his hope to speak with Sashaya had almost led to an argument once Ilala had spoken up to interfere.

Just before the majority of them would go to sleep and leave Loch and one of the infected darklings stand vigil as two, Jimmy addressed what he thought they should do a few hours after their rest period once they had reached the border outpost and quite possibly Darce. There weren't any disagreeing voices about the approach that Jimmy suggested, and in fact Boanagh even explained that they could recruit further allies if they truly meant to corner Darce while surrounded by their kin.

While both of them were elders of the colony, Boanagh held considerable sway within this community as well. And while he expected that Darce would have brought some darklings that might only be loyal to him, the dour elder explained that he believed himself able to use his own authority to bring about the confrontation that they sought without the expectation of great resistance from the outpost as a whole. If Jimmy wanted to use his familiar as a spy before that, Boanagh explained that he trusted his judgment. The dryads remained rather neutral about the topic of Darce, and Loch was fairly quiet once he agreed that an elder's voice would likely count more than any rhetoric that he could have spun together.

It was on that notion that a harried Jimmy put up a bedroll in the constellation of their current sleeping arrangement. His thoughts lingered on Sashaya and how he had once again missed his chance to have a private talk, quite intentionally on Ilala's part it seemed, but with everything else that was happening he had plenty of other worries as well. For better or worse, it seemed he had ended up becoming the leader of this otherwise rudderless band of fey, and the responsibility had been weighing on him ever since the rest of the adventurers who had headed out on this quest had abandoned him one after another. So even with the fear of a stalker with a vendetta on his mind, Jimmy's eyes eventually managed to fall closed as the half-elf managed to find his way into the world of dreams.

When Jimmy's consciousness opened itself to the world again, he was no longer surrounded by the sleeping forms of his allies, and Boanagh hadn't woken him up for a change of the watch. Instead, he was looking at a monstrous figure that was hovering in the center of a fungal cavern, similar to the bulbous spore carriers which he had encountered a few hours ago, but vaguely more humanoid in a way. Jimmy immediately knew that this was the evil that had thrown the colony into disarray, as clearly as he had ever known anything before. His breath was going faster as a fear that he couldn't control arose in his chest, and then the figure rotated in his direction until he could see the vague resemblance of a face staring back at him, and he just knew that it wanted him dead. Instinctively, with this evil in front of him, he reacted as best he could to prevent such an outcome.

The warlock didn't know how long he tried to protect himself from the inevitable doom that this vision would mean to him, but no matter what magic he used, what weapons he summoned and directed at this fungal monster, any wounds simply regrew on the spot and when it eventually started to chase him, the only thing that Jimmy could do was flee to avoid his own death. He felt the yeth as they had naturally joined the hunt, hearing their barks and ethereal howls in the distance or even right next to him, but they always stayed outside of his field of vision, so Jimmy couldn't rid himself of their chase, and he only fled further and further, deeper into a system of caverns that were strange to him, that were not his home, and that he maybe should have never even entered in the first place.

Eventually he emerged into another fungal cavern, with no yeth or other monsters in sight. But there were three figures sitting on the cliffs and cavernous edges in various postures, looking down on him as if they had awaited his arrival. The first to speak was Glanlaniel. "You're weak, Hexblade. Stupid and naive. The only security that you will find in life is death. You either kill, or you run. Anything else is just a surefire way to get yourself killed." Not too far away sat Kosev, mighty in his armor and with the gravitas of a knight. But in his face, Jimmy could see judgment and hatred, even greater than when last he had seen the human. "I would never follow you, Jimmy. You're just a crook that never deserved his shot at the power that you now wield. I let you play leader, only because I pitied you. Now you have overreached. I will laugh at you when you are dead." On the other side of the cavern sat Alysha. But when Jimmy looked over at her, she didn't speak. Not because she was taciturn however, but because her cheeks were hollow, her shoulders were slumped, and there was a sickness in her gaze that vaguely reminded Jimmy of his mother. The elf looked at him with an accusing stare. Had he done enough? Had he ever in his life done enough? Jimmy just knew that Alysha would die, and no amount of silver that the darklings could give him would change that.

As the warlock stumbled under the heartless gazes that his former companions were giving him, he fled from the cavern with even more speed than when the yeth had been on his heels. One after another he crossed further caves and crevasses, and he saw events from the last few days that had taken him to his physical and emotional limits. That showed him when he had hesitated or when he had made the wrong choices. Or simply how cruel the West Marches were, and that when the freaks and maniacs who inhabited it would simply look his way, either he clad himself in the same ruthlessness that his enemies showed him or they would find a way to lay him low and dance on his grave. If he even got as much as a grave. And if Jimmy died, then any hope for his mother would too. He could hear his mother's cries and sobs in the background as he ran through the caverns and did his best. Only that his best had never truly been good enough, and even those that he thought to have made a connection with wouldn't shed any tears once he would perish in this dark, dark world that was the West Marches.

Once again Jimmy wasn't sure for how long he had been running for, but one vision that would cause him despair would bleed into the next, and the doubts and fears that they awoke in him were following him in his steps no matter what he tried, not even when he pleaded with the gods, his dagger, or anyone else. His dreams kept Jimmy captive and he was bereft of any control or agency, simply living through what his own subconsciousness showed him, until he finally emerged into a final cavern, this time one that didn't have any exits. When the warlock looked over his shoulder, the way was barred by a pack of snarling yeth hounds that had driven him into this corner although he hadn't even heard them hunting him anymore. When Jimmy stared ahead into the cave, once more there were three figures, two of them veiled behind a darkness that he simply couldn't pierce with his eyes, but the third figure he recognized before he even heard her voice.

"Welcome, little adventureling. Welcome to my neck of the woods!" Naturally there were no woods or forest here, only a desolate cavern at the end of the road. But Glynn was grinning at Jimmy with a sadistic amusement as if there was no misunderstanding and what she had just spouted at him had made total sense. The warlock blinked, a few times, finally able to regather a bit of his lucidity. "You look tired. But don't worry. I don't mean you any harm, and soon you'll be feeling better again." Glynn's expression and tone were as patronizing as they could be, and her mad grin never faded. "You're a clever little thing. Annoyingly so at times, and too glib with your words. But that only makes you that much more opportune for my sisters and I to come across, and we are so very happy that you came to visit and avail yourself to the game." Throwing her head back, the madwoman broke out into raucous laughter, but she regathered herself strangely quickly and then her face was cruel and serious. "One thing. One thing that you will do for us and then all of this can be over. One thing that we will ask of you and then you may have these little freaks pay you in silver and sing your praises for bringing peace to their colony. We can make it all go away as if it was just a bad dream. Do I have your attention?"

secretID · #**126** Jun 23rd, 2023, 01:08 PM

As the presence of the three figures, and the sound of Glynn’s voice, entered his awareness, it was as if Jimmy were waking, the memories of the dream figures scurrying away like roaches in the light of consciousness. He watched them retreat, noting their similarities to the real models, and their deformities. Normally this process would bring welcome relief, but here the perversions reminded the half-elf of the current twisted reality – Alysha’s malady, Kosev’s distrust and disgust. Even Glanlaniel’s abandonment – the assassin was scary, but she seemed to hold enough esprit de corps that Jimmy never seriously worried about becoming a victim, so her general belligerence actually provided some small security. But now she had abandoned Jimmy, as had the others, in their ways.

Jimmy had no day to awaken to, either. Well, he hadn’t had that in some time, but this was far worse. Glynn was in his dream, or maybe worse, she had brought him to the ethereal plane? Those damned hounds behind, and before him three figures…“my sisters” – this was a coven of hags! Shapeshifting, spells, the fey language – it all fit. If Jimmy remembered correctly, as dangerous as Glynn was, a coven was far, far worse. The warlock faced them with despair in his heart, but a bit of nonchalant confidence on his face.

“Sure ya got my attention,” he told her, “but ya coulda got that with a little skin and a coy look, yeah? What’s this one thing you can’t do for yourselves that’s worth alla this?”

Mindsiege · #**127** Jun 28th, 2023, 12:23 PM

Dreams of Darkness

Upon Jimmy's cheeky remark, Glynn's expression turned back into a smile, which gave her a look of insidious beauty. Even as his thoughts were still somehow more sluggish and hazy, almost as if they weren't completely his own, the half-elven adventurer thought to remember that hags were ugly crones that reveled in their ugliness if anything. Glynn didn't seem to fit into that picture, which was possibly the reason why he had never considered that the darkling impostor could have been one of the monstrous witches from the fairy tales.

"Still with that smart mouth of yours. But you are sharp. What we need your help with is something that is quite elusive to our own powers, but for you, it should be quite a bit easier." Glynn grinned with a smirk, standing between the two looming shadows that symbolized her sisters and completed her coven. Even though Jimmy dearly lacked clarity of thought, it seemed that the masters of the yeth had been found, and the trickery and power of this coven should naturally surpass anything that he or even those he had set out with should be capable of. Just what could a coven of evil hags expect from him?

"We've had something stolen of ours. Yes, don't give me that look. We are not the ones you should blame for the darklings' plight. Hi hi hi!" Casually admitting her guilt, even though she had said the opposite, it was clear from Glynn's mad gaze that even more than just the deaths which Jimmy already knew about went on either her own or her sisters' conscience. If a being such as her even possessed something like that. "The dryads, those pretty little things that you have befriended so easily... Oh, they are not as innocent as you might like to think, little adventureling. Selfish and deceitful is what they are."

The white-haired woman clicked her tongue disapprovingly, but her smile was unwavering, if a bit intimidating. It was the smile of a dark predator. "One of these pesky sisters thought to steal from us. The audacity. Nobody steals from us." It took Jimmy a moment to recognize the simmering anger behind Glynn's persisting grin. She was speaking her accusation so calmly, but the theft that she was denouncing must have offended her greatly. Enough to perpetrate all of these dark machinations.

"The dryads are untouchable as long as their father wards them, and we cannot harm the Heart Tree without calling a much greater power back to its abandoned home. So that little thief evades us, hiding within the crown of her parent." Glynn pointed a finger at Jimmy, and somehow it looked a little more crooked than usual. "You just need to return to us what was stolen. A stone, pure black, a token of our magic. If you will do that for us, we will not have any reason to torment the Dubh Sidhe any longer." Glynn's gaze drew Jimmy's into hers. He didn't know what she would say or do if he refused her.

secretID · #**128** Jun 30th, 2023, 05:39 AM

Jimmy was flabbergasted, though he wasn't sure how much of his confusion was the general fuzziness clogging his neural pathways. “Lemme get all this straight,” he responded. “A dryad steals somethin’ from you. Ya don’t mean one a’ these dryads with me, do ya?

“Anyways," he continued, "a dryad steals from you, and the Father Tree stops you from gettin’ it back…so you start killin’ darklings? Lots a’ darklings? What for?! What does that get you? Seems ta me they barely know each other.

“And if all you want is your thing back,” Jimmy complained, “why are you just sayin’ alla this now? Why try an’ kill me back there with the gas balls?”

After a very short pause, Jimmy remembered something. “So those big dogs in the tree were yours? But what – they couldn’t finish the job?”

Before Glynn could address these many questions, Jimmy delivered a caveat about further negotiations. “Whatever happens, you know the first thing I gotta do is ask the dryads about this, right? I mean: you gotta be thinkin’ that. So are you followin’ me around an’ watchin’? Or…where are we, anyway? You're in my head, or am I with you…or what?”

Mindsiege · #**129** Jun 30th, 2023, 06:21 PM

Darker Plottings

As Jimmy voiced his surprise and confusion, Glynn's smile only seemed to grow smugger. She dismissively shook her head when the half-elf wondered to her if the dryad which had stolen from the hag had been Ilala or Sashaya themselves, and then she let him voice his complaints, visibly unconcerned that from his perspective her actions had served little purpose. "So many concerns that you have... Mmm, but I don't need you to understand the extent of our vision." If anything, the grey-skinned impostor seemed gratified that Jimmy struggled to find a reason for the fear and violence that Glynn's coven appeared to have brought to the darkling colony.

"Did you feel like I was aiming for your life, my dear? I promise you, little adventureling. If you ever give me a reason to wish you dead, you will find me quite capable of bringing such an outcome about." The animosity that the witch was able to exude with a mere smile was astonishing. "And you don't need to worry about where we are. Soon you'll wake up, and I'll be expecting you to put the screws on your disloyal little dryad friends." The disguised witch was visibly gloating, trying to make Jimmy further uncomfortable with their conversation. While she didn't confirm whether she would be watching, the warlock couldn't help but feel that it was implied.

"You don't sound convinced?" Glynn's mock concern wouldn't have convinced anybody. "Hmm, I think that you already want to do what is right though. Would it help if I sweetened the deal for you a bit more? How about it? Those two darklings that I infected, or your elven companion that you left behind with your knight. If you agree to do our bidding, I can cure either of them with my magic. Would that motivate you more than just a call to justice? Two lives, or one that you care about. That is my offer." Glynn's smile was pure malice. The choice that she was putting in front of Jimmy was simply cruel, especially if she could deliver on such a promise. The yeth were quietly growling in the background, but Glynn's eyes were only on the vision of the cornered adventurer.

secretID · #**130** Jul 1st, 2023, 02:36 PM

“More than a call to justice?” Jimmy asked. “Well I can think a’ three or four things…though come ta think of it, I guess you’re already workin’ summa those.” As the seconds passed without Jimmy being murdered in his sleep, and as the hags continued to show their need for help, the half-elf’s confidence grew.

“Yeah…” Jimmy said skeptically, “but if I pick Alysha, what’s my guarantee that you’ll follow through? For that matter, how do I know you won’t just kill me after I get your thing for you? You ain’t exactly whathacall engendering trust by refusing to answer simple questions.

“Yer sayin’ that the darklings will stop dyin’ if I do this for ya, right? How come? – cuz yer the ones killin’ ‘em? You ain’t said that. If you are the killers, then like I asked: why? If you ain’t, then why is it gonna stop? Why would I believe any a’ that? Fer all I know, yer just pullin’ a con, takin’ advantage of the chaos here ta try an’ get yer rock back.”

Mindsiege · #**131** Jul 4th, 2023, 08:57 PM

Negotiating with Evil

There was a pause of several seconds after Jimmy had initiated the semblance of negotiation for more concessions than the disguised hag had been offering him initially. But Glynn's smile never faltered, and the half-elven adventurer felt a small shudder run across his back when he suddenly sensed an age and experience that he hadn't noticed behind the veneer of this woman's manic joviality before. When the youthful-looking crone spoke again, there was a tinge of danger in her words that suggest that Jimmy was due to step carefully.

"So cynic. That's why you are no fun." But even though she complained, Glynn seemed forgiving about Jimmy's stance. There was just a single implication that she wouldn't tolerate. "When dealing with my kind, little adventureling, you can trust us as far as we give you our word. And only as far." The hag's grin widened for a moment, and Jimmy felt that the moment of danger had passed him by. The warlock wasn't quite sure how much leeway he had with the hag, even though she clearly meant to employ him for her coven's means.

Having clarified what terms of their agreement Jimmy could expect to see honored, Glynn chose to elaborate a bit more. "Do you wish for me to be more explicit? Well, I certainly won't involve you in any of my plots, even if they may turn redundant once you do agree to offer your help." For a moment the hag's previously manic grin was more of a smirk, as if keeping Jimmy in the dark was something she enjoyed in particular. But then she relented even further.

"You know some of the dubh sidhe that I've personally killed at least. And a few more of them you have heard of. I can't make any promises as to what these freaks will do to themselves in time, but if you give back what was taken from us, then we would have no further reason to twist the fortunes of the Dubh Catha Clan to our purposes."

"I've shown you enough of my hand for you to know the tools that I've been using so far. I will give you no written confession. But I can promise you no more infected dubh sidhe and my sisters and I will leave this place behind." Glynn's eyes lit up for a moment. "I do enjoy this game we play. But I enjoy winning more. My sisters often complain that I should show more patience."

Again, an uncomfortable chill was creeping up Jimmy's spine as he observed this woman's eratic demeanor. "You wish to name your price yourself? That's cute. But it also rouses my competitive spirit. It's almost as if you are saying that I will not succeed without your help." Glynn's tone had become a languid drawl, daring Jimmy to agree with her. "Think of your involvement as a convenient shortcut." Glynn let out a sardonic snicker. "But you could very well convince me that I do prefer the scenic route." The hag held out her grey-skinned hand, beckoning Jimmy's answer. "What will it be? I felt very generous to offer a cure for your long-eared friend." The unspoken implication was that Glynn didn't feel generous enough to offer too much more.

secretID · #**132** Jul 8th, 2023, 12:27 PM

Jimmy paused a bit, which was quite a long time for him. He rubbed the back of his neck, then his eyes, though he did not feel fully connected to actual physical experiences. “Ahright…well…” he began. “I’m gonna hafta get back to you. Talk it over with my people, make a decision. Y’know, it sounds like an ahright deal ta me – ‘sumin’ you’re on the up-and-up, which…” Jimmy shrugged. “But maybe they don’t wanna give up this thing…and OK, maybe I’d rather deal with that problem than fight with you, but maybe then I just ditch the whole thing and head home – let you guys work it out. I was only hired to help the darklings, anyway, an’ I still ain’t heard what they have ta do with all this…but I guess you ain’t gonna tell me, neither.” He shrugged a second time.

“So…you got some way ta get in touch, or…? I guess if you’re watchin’, I can just write a note an’ hold it up to the air, eh? Or if you want, we can just leave it like this: I get your thing, and you hold up your part of the deal – including healing Alysha – an’ if I can’t, then I just get outta yer way.” Jimmy straightened his dream-clothes and looked around, as if for a marked exit.

OOCIn case Jimmy's phrasing was a little too opaque: He's suggesting that either they give him some way of contacting them for a further/final discussion, or that they just take his execution of his side of the deal as an acceptance of the deal.

Mindsiege · #**133** Aug 3rd, 2023, 09:31 PM

Deal with the Devil

As Jimmy conveyed to Glynn that he had to hold conference with his party and wouldn't be able to agree to her terms on his own, also hinting that he might refuse the coven's cause if it didn't end up suiting him, the hag grinned at him unperturbed and listened to the finish as the adventurer concluded that he sought a way to conclude the deal in person if he chose to do so. "Oh, you worry so much, little adventureling. But I will make this easy on you, to make up for scaring you before."

Even though he was currently lucid within a nightmare of the hag's making, it was impossible for Jimmy to miss that Glynn's patronizing speech wasn't entirely sincere. But for the next part her smile faded to an observant gaze and the warlock recognized that she was trying to be serious for once. "I will promise you two things. First, if you retrieve our stone and return it to us, we shall send none of our minions after you, nor will I or my sisters come for you ourselves, and I will heal your elven friend's unfortunate condition."

As she spoke, Glynn's expression began to slip back into a malicious sneer. "Second, if you do not find it in you to help us, the culling in this colony will resume much more forcefully, and if you still find yourself on the playing board then, I will personally ensure that it starts with your head." There was no subtlety in the threat, but Jimmy could tell it was genuine. The hag had been playing with him all along, but clearly only because she thought that he could still be of use to her.

"With this, I do not see any need for further discussions. Bring us our stone and your elf, and we shall conclude our business with each other. Or don't, and ye shall face the consequences." The hag's smile turned lazy with nonchalance. Clearly she had enough of these talks. "Do remember this when you wake up." And then suddenly Jimmy's consciousness was pulled from the cave that he and Glynn had talked in, and for a moment the adventurer felt like a tortured spirit, flying through tunnels and caverns at abnormal speeds.

It was nothing that Jimmy could control, but somehow the bends and crossways that he passed imprinted themselves in his memory. Only once he had reached the Heart Tree, Jimmy's eyes ripped open as he was released from the magic that had imprisoned him until then. The half-elven warlock woke up with a start, and as his heart was beating with an unnatural anxiety in his chest, he was staring at three concerned faces in his immediate vicinity, Boanagh's, Loch's, and Sashaya's. "Jimmy! Are you okay?!" The beautiful dryad's big, verdant eyes were staring at the adventurer with great worry as she kneeled by his bedside, absentmindedly clutching his hand.

secretID · #**134** Aug 8th, 2023, 03:36 PM

Jimmy woke in terror. During his exchange with the hag, his bravado had distracted him from his own fear. Not that Jimmy thought about it, but this was the primary function of his cockiness. As long as he was with others, the half-elf could anchor himself to a comfortable reality defined by his own talk. For that purpose, even an enemy could serve. The last few seconds of Jimmy’s guided journey were travelled alone, unmoored, with no buffer against his awareness of the overpowering threat on his life, not to mention the frightful rocketing of his perspective through the caves.

Coming to, Jimmy gripped Sashaya’s hand harder than he would have chosen. He wanted her to take him away from here, to some place in her home, some soft spot under a sunbeam, to comfort him with her touch and cheer him with her words.

For better or worse, Jimmy’s eyes began to focus. His features relaxed into some normalcy while the panic receded. “Yeah, yeah,” he responded, “I’m ahright.” He shakily pulled himself to his feet, relying on Loch’s outstretched hand. The adrenaline was seeping away now, and with its ebb came a wave a nausea. “Y’know – more or less.

“They got me,” he began to explain. “They went inta my dreams…or pulled me inta theirs, or somethin’. So I guess we didn’t shake Glynn; you can assume they’re watchin’, and listenin’ – right now, an’ when yer takin’ care a’ business behind a tree – always.

“‘They?’” he repeated, voicing the question in the others’ eyes. "Yeah, there’s three a’ them now. Three hags, I think: whatchacall a ‘coven.’ I don’t think that’s good news.

“Tonight, they just wanted a’ talk,” Jimmy informed them. “Well, I guess ‘talk’ is a little generous, but I’ll get ta that. Glynn had this story ‘bout one a’ the dryads stealin’ some magic stone from one a’ the hags, and stashin’ it in the Heart Tree.” Jimmy Insight +1watched the two present for any reaction to this news. “She said the hags can’t get it back themselves, so they want me ta do it.” The half-elf paused to share a commiserating frown of resignation with the others.

“They brought whatchacall a carrot and a stick,” he continued. “Glynn said that if I bring the stone back, they’ll leave me alone and heal my pal Alysha. If I don’t…” Jimmy shrugged “…they’ll kill me.” Jimmy paused just long enough to suggest a businesslike acceptance of this alarming threat. “Also, things will get even worse for the darklings.” Jimmy looked at Boanagh meaningfully.

“Now, I gotta tell ya, some things here don’t add up, and Glynn wasn’t givin’ up nothin’ ta help with the math. The big thing is: she never akchully said the hags been killing the darklings, even when I asked directly. An’ why would they? – she wouldn’t say how that had anythin’ ta do with their stone. It don’t make no sense. Also, she never promised that it would stop if I get the stone, and since she won’t even say that they’re doin’ it, why would we think anything would change? She did say it would get worse if I don’t get the stone. I dunno.

“‘Course,” Jimmy acknowledged, “she coulda just lied ta me an’ said they were responsible. I don’t know why she didn’t. Hell, I don’t even know that she’ll keep her end a’ the deal; she said hags keep their deals, but – y’know – ‘a priest wouldn’t lie’ an’ all that.

“One thing is true, though,” Jimmy concluded. “Those hags can kill me. Probably easy as pie. If not now, they got all the time in the world.”

Mindsiege · #**135** Aug 15th, 2023, 09:57 PM

Sisterhood

Feeling how the harrowing experience and nightmare had left its mark on Jimmy, the half-elven adventurer confided in his sylvan allies, relaying what he had suffered through all by himself and how all the signs hinted at a coven of hags that was trying to involve him in some manner of intrigue. If a tale of evil witches would have been unsettling and even frightening to the people of Westhaven, then the sylvans this deep in the West Marches were no less concerned, and Jimmy was looking into wide eyes or stern frowns, depending on the fae that he was looking at.

"A coven..." Boanagh didn't mean to interrupt as Jimmy explained, but to the darkling elder this was the missing link that he hadn't been able to put his finger on so far. He had suspected some veiled evil enacting some manner of dark machinations down here in his clan's subterranean territory, and a coven of hags appeared as a convincing entity that he was willing to blame for everything that had happened to his people so far.

While Loch fell silent and seemed rather withdrawn as the satyr wore a dark expression on his bearded face, Jimmy spoke further and eventually addressed the tale about one of the dryads who had supposedly stolen from the coven of witches. As the warlock keenly observed the two sisters whom Glynn had denounced as disloyal, he could see an immediate reaction on both of their faces, Sashaya turning around to look at her older sister with wide-eyed concern and Ilala returning the eye contact with a look of bitterness. It was blatant for Jimmy that both of them must have been withholding information all this time, but at least the accusation of theft appeared to be news to them.

Both dryads kept clinging to Jimmy's lips as he let their treachery slide for the moment and kept explaining about the unfavorable deal that Glynn had presented him with. Sashaya was still holding his hand, seemingly unable to recognize that her silence on the thieving dryad's involvement was a grave betrayal to Jimmy whom she had left completely in the dark, and Ilala as well certainly didn't show any signs of remorse when the adventurer related how unforthcoming the hag had been about her involvement in the dark tidings that had enveloped the darkling colony.

There was a moment of heavy silence as Jimmy's explanation ended on his impression that he found himself completely outmatched against the threat that this coven of hags posed to them, but also him in particular after Glynn's threats. Nobody spoke another word for a few seconds, and Boanagh's expression and eyes were hard as Jimmy noticed that his gaze was now resting on the dryad sisters. It was clear that the elder had also noticed that the two dryads had been unforthcoming with their group in their own way, and after everything that had happened over the last few days, Jimmy understood the silent anger that Boanagh was certainly feeling right now. There was tension in the cavernous air, and it wasn't good.

"I... Yes, we knew!" Sashaya burst out as she felt the pressure of multiple heavy gazes on her verdant skin, and Jimmy felt a trembling through her hand that he held which suggested that there was fear welling up in the beautiful dryad. But before she could speak further, Ilala cut in with a harsh voice. "Nonesense! There was nothing we knew!" Sashaya jolted a little as she was chided by her sister, and Ilala continued. "All we knew was that one of our sisters got herself into trouble! And of course we had to do something to help her! It's what any of our other sisters should have done, if they weren't heartless, selfish hags themselves!!"

As Ilala was reacting supremely defensively when nobody had even accused her of anything out loud, tears sprung forth in the corners of her eyes, but her expression was a lot more angry than sorrowful. It was almost as if some sort of dam had finally burst, and now Ilala couldn't hold it in any longer. "My sister is alone! Nobody will help her! She won't talk, nor let anybody talk to her! She has closed herself off! Not even Father can move her, and then he told us to leave, to let her suffer alone while evil hounds disturb her and keep her isolated and away from us up in his crown! It's cruel!! So what if she has stolen from these witches?! I don't care!!!"

While the entirety of the party was staring at the desperate dryad, Jimmy could judge that she had already completely talked herself into a rage. She didn't even seem to fully believe that the sister who appeared involved with the coven had necessarily stolen from them, but Ilala seemed entirely convinced that nobody was going to believe as much either way, and she was helplessly angry, lashing out without any idea how to handle her overwhelming, negative emotions. Sashaya didn't say anything against it either, confirming Ilala's story with her own silence, tears rolling down her face as she emphasized with her older sister who was suffering under the circumstances just as much as she was. Then Ilala pointed at Jimmy accusingly. Her finger was trembling, either in rage or in fear. "Believe me one thing, rootless!" She spat out the term that she liked to use to refer to the adventurer. "I will not allow anyone to hurt any of my sisters anymore! No matter what pacts you are willing to make with any coven of witches for your own gains! I'll die before I let it happen!!"

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