A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 51: Back

"Of course." The nymph stated with confidence. "Not the spider, though."

Ashyr, too still had the sense of where to go without getting anyone lost. "I'd say we're only about a half-day's walk to the town. We should... probably hurry. What should we do with this thing?" The ranger motioned towards the spidertank. "R.I.S.A, can you fit this in your dimension?"

R.I.S.A., who could manifest outside her pocket dimension as long as she was possessing something magical or technological, like the spider, appeared sitting cross-legged on the tank, raindrops falling through her, and her body rippling like water where the drops fell. [It will take all of my current power reserves, but yes. Yes I can. Once I take it inside, I will tinker with it to make the thing more useful. But I will need more power to adequately outfit it. Once I take it, you may have to wait a few weeks before using it again. Is that acceptable?]

"Go ahead and do that then, R.I.S.A." Ashyr smirked. "We'll be sure to provide enough power when we get the chance." It was something she looked forward to, in fact.

That taken care of, the ranger turned her attention back to the forest. "This seems... different than before." She muttered. When they were captured by the nymphs, her head felt fuzzy and she had no idea where she was - hell, she could barely tell which was was up. No, this was much different. She knew where she was, just... "I don't know, this may sound weird but... it feels like a forest is angry. Or at least the magic around it is."

"Looks like a forest to me." Selene observed flatly.

Althaia nodded somberly. "I think I agree with you, Ashyr: the forest itself is angry. But forests do not anger on their own. Whatever more mystically inclined druids will tell you: the thoughts of plants are not advanced enough to process anything as complex as anger, nor do they register danger that is not affecting them at that very moment. No, if the forest is angry, something had to have made it so. Most likely some form of fae, or a druid. Or a town of druids. My theory would be that someone has attacked the druids' demesne, and they have struck back with all that they have. That, or some fae of awful power is possessing the woods. I think I would prefer the former."

Between Althaia and Ashyr, the party made their way winding through the trees and thick underbrush. Bard was able to help as well, since his nose could still pick up familiar scents. It was a mostly uphill climb to get to where the small town was situated, and the forest only got thicker and more wild as they approached. It also got darker as the trees choked out the sun. If the party were mundane humans, between the overcast sky and dark forest, they might have problems navigating. The drow were conflicted about that fact. Even though Selene had found a way to make their sunblindness manageable, they would always be more comfortable with lower light levels... but this was foreboding.

Vastly more disturbing were the knots of spiked vines dotted throughout the forest that grew in frequency as they approached the town. Ashyr avoided them mostly, and didn't think too much of it. But then their path took them right by one that wasn't quite so covered in plant life. It was a soldier - or had been. Vines seemed to have burst through his chest and out of his mouth, holding him in a partially standing perpetual silent scream. The torn crest of Port Afron fluttered against his armor where it wasn't held in place by vines.

"It's about a week old..." Ashyr observed aloud. Her tone was hushed and grim. She looked around at all the other knots of vines. There must have been hundreds if the whole forest around the town was like this.

"I know." Was all Caleldir said. "It seems that Port Afron is after the druids. I think we may have to deal with them before Duskhaven." Although he had not said anything, Caleldir had noted that the knots of spiked vines contained soldiers' bodies long before the others did. For he felt their ghosts swirling around, many unable to find peace after dying so horribly. He grimaced. There was a reason that he tended to avoid the sites of reasonably recent battles. If he had been of a mind to, he probably could have found a ghost and enslaved it to his will, learning everything in the process, but he definitely was not of such a mind. He never was.

The town itself looked like it had been bombed by fire. No longer were the walls a near impenetrable mass of wood and vines. There were several holes where the forces of Port Afron broke through. Several more bodies were covered in those terrible invasive vines - the ones nearest the forest as if the woods themselves had reached out to grab and tear the life from the aggressors. Others that had breached through the walls were cut down by more conventional means. The two nymph-kin were both quiet as the group entered the town. It was a silence clearly born of anger, as they looked over the devastation. The drow were silent as well, but more curious than angry - especially Selene, who had no attachment to the place.

There were no bodies of the druids in sight, not until the party reached the center of the abandoned town by way of a giant hole in the walls. Then they were treated to the view of about a dozen corpses that seemed to have collapsed where they sat around a circle. Althaia gasped and began running around the circle in a tizzy, trying to figure out exactly what they had done. Residual life magic caused flowers to bloom in bright colors that clashed with the carnage around them. The bodies looked drained very much like the way Caleldir or Goelon pulled the life out of their surroundings to recover from death. These druids, however, chose to pump all of their life essence into their forest so that their people may be defended from Port Afron. Despite the death here, it seemed oddly... peaceful. There were no wailing spirits, alive or otherwise. Or perhaps their spirits were now so connected with the forest that that was what Ashyr and Althaia sensed when they felt the anger.

Caleldir simply stood still and shook his head. "Not even a ghost left." He said sadly. "It must have come to a severe pass indeed if this is the result." He sighed. Slowly, he searched through the bodies, looking for anyone he knew. He had not yet found Carlotta, but that was not surprising. The little alchemist was not a druid to do this sort of thing, so he did not expect to find her. No, he was more interested in finding Dria, or one of the other druids he had met in town. They all seemed to be the older, more distant members, however. He didn't know any of them all that well.

Ashyr looked over to the main gate, which was now just the largest hole in the town walls. From the vantage point on the hill, she could see that the whole forest was like the parts they had passed through to get here. There seemed to be a swath of even thicker forest heading south towards the port city. "I think the rest of the druids went to return the favor." The ranger commented. For there were nowhere near enough bodies of the others from the town here, and the place was void of people.

"They are rather easy to track." Althaia observed.

"That is in the direction of Port Afron." Caleldir agreed. He looked back at the circle. "This battle could barely have been a week ago. If we hurry, we might be able to catch up with them before they wipe themselves out. They may be powerful, but they simply do not have the numbers to seize a city as large as Port Afron." He sighed, a rather common sound from him recently.

Ashyr glanced up at the sky, but saw only angry black thunderclouds. The rain would soon turn to storm. Could that have been the druids work as well? It would certainly hinder an army less used to the elements. "We still have a few hours of daylight. Well, shall we set out?"

"We could first try to loot the place for food and supplies." Selene commented casually. Already her eyes swept across houses in various stages of ruin. There was probably a good amount of delicious druid food just lying around.

The ranger didn't outright refute her cousin's suggestion. In fact, it sounded like a good idea to her. But would the 'good' members of the party go for it? "Well... if it's been a week, the druids might be in need of supplies... It could be helpful if we bring some stuff from their homes..."

"Or they're dead, and don't need them anymore anyway." Selene said, voicing a thought already in Ashyr's head.

The 'good members' of the party did not seem too put-off by the Selene's suggestion. "We should definitely take anything of value." Caleldir agreed swiftly. "We can carry more than a good-sized caravan, what with R.I.S.A. on our side. We should move swiftly to catch back up and resupply the druids." He smiled thinly. "Well, 'Matron', are you ready to establish the beginnings of your empire?" His eyes were a cold undead blue. "Because I promise Port Afron will be yours within the month."

"I love it when you talk dirty to me." Ashyr responded. She briefly pressed her body against his, and her hand gripped at his ass. She met his eyes that shone with that cold vibrance with a wicked look of her own - though her expression was far more playful than his.

Caleldir found it a little bit difficult to remain serious and vengeful when Ashyr pressed up against him like that. Well, not quite as serious and vengeful. "I am glad that you are pleased." He said as solemnly as he could, before cracking a slight smile. He put a quick kiss on her forehead.

Then she turned away from him entirely and jogged toward the residential part of town. "We'll meet back here in an hour." She said the the rest of the party over her shoulder. As she said this, she motioned to the nearest house that still had a roof that would keep the rain off the supplies as they transferred it to R.I.S.A. Then she turned around a corner and disappeared from sight. The blond streak that was Bard running at full-speed followed.

"Come on." The mage said to Caleldir in a soft but commanding voice. Her hand slipped into his so she could pull him over to the inn. And not because she wanted to hold his hand. That would be ridiculous. She explained further as they walked; "I can cast that carrying spell we used for Carlotta, but I am certainly not lugging all the supplies onto it." And that, obviously, was where Caleldir came in. Between her spell and his telekinesis, neither would have to touch a single thing. There should be quite a bit to carry from the inn, too.

"I have my own artifact of holding." Althaia stated. "I will search the town outskirts for anything useful." With that, the agile nymph bounded away, leaping from tree to tree.

Now, it was just Selene and Caleldir. "I am at your service, my lady." He replied to her. It was interesting that she chose to take his hand, but Caleldir was not going to complain about that. She seemed to be somewhat aroused by his expression, or something of that nature, but had realized that this was a poor time to indulge in such activities. They were on a deadline, after all. He kept the amusement out of his expression. "So, you are going to create a platform, and I will levitate objects onto it. Sounds good. Let us get to work, and grab literally anything that could be of use. R.I.S.A. was asking for building supplies and furniture, as I recall, since though she can create it from scratch, it is not easy to do so, and it would be more efficient to use outside resources." But though Caleldir talked about grabbing the delightfully rustic furniture from the inn to give to the A.I., he concentrated on more portable items for now.

About a quarter of the way into the hour that Ashyr gave them, there were stereo hellish shrieks from either side of the forest. They were like animal noises, but came from no animal indigenous to the area...

Caleldir dashed out of the inn to see what was going on, quickly climbing to the roof for a better vantage point. Selene quickly followed behind Caleldir. The mage did not go so far as the try to climb a building, though. That seemed too undignified an endeavor. Instead, she stood next to it where she could clearly view the center of the town. Besides, after the trip to the Monastery, the younger drow felt that there was little here that could hurt her before she could blow it up

Again the sounds ripped through the forest, closer this time. One called out in that near-birdlike shriek from the west, and another answered from the east. From either side of the village center entered what looked like bipedal lizards about the size of a medium humanoid. And their resemblance to said humanoids stopped at their size. They had huge dragon-like muzzles filled to overflowing with snarling fangs, and even bigger whiplike tails to counterbalance their strangely bent-forward gait. Both head and tail looked like they could do very serious damage if they wanted.

From on top of the inn, Caleldir's jaw dropped to see the creatures that appeared in the overgrown wreckage of the village. Allosaurs, he had heard them called, long gone even during his time, or at least long gone to their own lands. They had not been seen around here since... actually, he had no idea. For all he knew, the things could have bred like wildfire in the last twelve hundred years, and no one had yet bothered to tell him about them.

They met each other in the center of town, casually greeted each other, then began scenting the air. They seemed to have caught something moments later. As one, they turned to stare down at Selene. Angry high-pitched snarls tore from their throats. It was easy to see how angry and bloodthirsty they were.

Althaia's eyes began to glow red. She licked her lips, hungry for battle. If these weird lizard-creatures were not good-aligned, which she really doubted, it was high time for some serious smiting. But, while they weren't good-aligned, they weren't evil either. Althaia grinned in glee. If they were not rational, then it was perfectly okay to hunt and kill them, messily, and feast on their flesh.

Some would say that the nymph made a very poor druid. Given that she had druid powers only because of her race, and for no other reason, they were probably right. But Althaia preferred to think of herself as very in tune with nature. For what was more natural than the glorious conflict of alpha predators ripping each other to shreds, red in tooth and claw? For, if they were to fight without weapons or armor, well, so would she. Her skin was probably tougher than theirs anyway. The nymph sent her blade and shield back into her inventory, and her garments disappeared. "Let us settle this fairly." She crooned to the raptor that had focused on her.

Selene was already preparing a spell before the strange things stopped in the center of town. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to let it get anywhere near her. She didn't seem particularly afraid, though. The Monastery had thrown far more terrifying monstrosities at the party. Like that thing in Birchborn's lab. Just before her target got out of range, Selene pointed and a beam of fire shot from her finger. The spell hit between the beast's chest. The spell seemed to do a lot of damage, but the thing still charged at her. The mage began to backpedal as she furiously tried to get another such spell off, but in another half-second it would be upon her. She still didn't look too worried, though. Only determined.

Leaping down from his perch, Caleldir summoned his blade and staff using his runes, and dashed over by Selene, throwing off several potent blasts of ice. For though Selene seemed to have had success with fire, he had a theory that ice would ultimately be more effective, given that they were lizards, and therefore cold-blooded.

He slid himself between Selene and her attacker, attempting to slice the creature open with his blade. "Need any assistance, my lady?" he asked Selene. "Do you recognize these things? They were not all that active back in my day, so I have never come into contact with them before." The drow mage didn't even have to shoot off another spell, for Caleldir's work was effective at felling the creature. The beast snapped at Caleldir, but missed by quite a big margin as it slipped in the mud. The next hit sliced its throat. It bled out in mere seconds.

"Beasts of some sort." Selene responded. "I've seen much, much smaller things like this sold as pets back home. Raptors, they were called." The mage said as she watched the thing bleed. "But these things are huge."

As soon as the second beast died, its neck snapped by the nymph who was much stronger than she looked, there was another cry from the part of the town that Ashyr had gone off to. This vocalization was most definitely from a humanoid male's throat. It fit the mood of the stormy atmosphere of the town; the cry was filled with angry despair - agony, even. The sound was muffled quickly until the only noise that could be heard was the rain and wind blowing through the town with increasing strength. Apparently, there were no more beasts for the paladin nymph to fight.

Bard tore into the clearing from the residential part of town and nosed Selene, Caleldir, and Althaia in turn. Initially, he looked stressed, but when he determined that the three of them were alright, he huffed in relief and calmed down. The poor young wolf was drenched and muddy - but at least the rain was starting to wash off the latter issue. He trotted back the way he'd come.

Moments later, Ashyr appeared in the clearing. She wasn't alone. The drow woman had a fistful of a drow male's platinum hair, as well as one of his arms that was twisted behind his back. By the grimace on his pretty face, the male was in a great deal of discomfort. Both drow were completely disheveled. Their normally braided back hair was haphazardly caked to their face and was matted with various twigs and clumps of mud. In fact, their whole bodies were in a similar state to their hair. It was hard to tell in they had any injuries mingled with the rest of the dirt. Perhaps the male was limping slightly, and the leg he favored was more wet and mud-caked than the other.

Ashyr marched him right up to the first beast that had fallen and flung the male at its carcass. A surprised noise leapt from his throat as he caught himself against the still-warm body. "You see, I told you what would happen." Ashyr said with an angry snarl. The male just curled in on himself, and placed his forehead against the dead creature's cheek. His shoulders shook, but no further sound came from him. He merely twitched when the female gave him a swift kick to his good leg.

"Is that Tsabdrin?" Selene asked in a low, menacing tone. She picked her way over the body of the first beast and began walking toward the other drow.