RealmsToowoomba Recap # 77 [RPG]

[28 Flamerule 1372 continued]

On top of Startop Mountain, Cain's mephits race to see who can be the first to land.  After pushing and shoving, Magnim lands first.  The excited mephits frolic, causing many of the Nesme refugees to edge away in fear.  Cain lays down some rules for the mephits to follow now that they're around others.  After greeting the mephits, Mellia goes to find Ralkin and sees him casing a huge carriage with fold-out awnings on each side.  She instantly recognises it as belonging to Tunak, the hulking but kind man the group met and travelled with briefly in the Evermoors some many weeks ago.  Mellia tells Ralkin that she will soon conjure a magickal mansion for the adventurers to rest in and that he should find a safe place to hide any enchanted containers he carries, and then she greets Tunak.  The two talk about how the one Mellia had been looking for, Cain, has been rescued.  Mellia introduces Ralkin to Tunak, and the latter agrees to provide a secure location to store goods.

On the other side of the courtyard, Jygil Zelnathra welcomes Markus to her tent.  She says that his "bodyguard", Urist, can stay outside, and the dwarf does so, grudgingly.  Inside, the large tent is lavishly outfitted with beautiful rugs, polished wooden furniture, and delicate lanterns.  After uncorking the bottle of elven mead, Jygil starts to talk with Markus about forming a "mutually beneficial relationship" between New Nesme and his adventuring company.  She identifies herself as a priestess of Waukeen who is also somewhat skilled in the ways of wizardry, and says that, along with the other clerics and craftsmen of New Nesme, the adventurers could find Startop Castle a handy place to rest and heal between missions.  She also says that, having been second on the ruling council of Old Nesme, she knows much about the city and even some of its weaknesses and secret entrances.  In return, however, she asks whether the adventurers could help with protection and, given their obvious magickal ability to travel great distances quickly, resupply.  The two seem to get along quite well, even as the ominous sound of Urist sharpening her blade can be heard in the background.  When Mellia arrives outside the tent and asks Urist to fetch Markus' magickal backpack, the dwarf drags the backpack out along with Markus himself!

After the magickal containers are secured, Mellia conjures a mansion.  Ralkin enters and heads off to bed.  Mellia joins Cain outside in prayers to Kossuth, while Markus and Urist head for a lively tent where badly-sung sea shanties and ale flow together freely.  Once there, the two adventurers encounter El Capitan, the cat-like swordsman from the Silverymoon blademastery academy who left, despondent, after his last defeat.  El Capitan at first pretends he is angry and wants a duel to the death with Markus, but then reveals his good humor and drinks with him.  El Capitan, Markus, and Urist share sparkling conversation that also includes singing and dancing, until the carousers are berated by Sir Triandial Truehammer for being too loud.

As the inebriated pair of Urist and Markus are walking back towards where Mellia conjured the mansion, screams are heard from all over the keep and courtyard.  All of the adventurers prepare for battle, as do Tunak and El Capitan.  In seconds, the threat becomes apparent: spectral manifestations have dropped down from the sky and are draining the very life out of the weakened refugees!  Cain's mephits prove effective in hurting one of the wraiths with fiery attacks before Truehammer forces it to flee by invoking the power of his god.  Across the courtyard, Jygil is too late to save one refugee but in time to save another, and also channels divine power to drive a spectre away.  Having prepared to attack at the first sign of threat, Cain and Mellia see the fleeing invader and incinerate it with a burning lance of magickal energy and explosive ball of fire.  The courtyard is soon secured, but further screams are heard from within the keep itself.  Tunak reaches the interior of the keep first, and finds himself facing one of the apparitions alone!  The mere touch of the wraith weakens the giant man, but his enchanted quarterstaff proves devastatingly effective against it.  Once Cain's mephits join the fight, the menace is destroyed.  El Capitan, for his part, having found his blade of little use against the wraiths, helps lead some of the refugees to safety.

The fighting continues, but the adventurers soon turn the tide.  Mellia destroys another wraith with a well-placed fireball mere instants before it could attack El Capitan, while Markus, Tunak, the mephits, and Riders of Nesme combine to eventually destroy another who had told the mephits ominously that "Your Master is connected to us."  Cain utters a challenge in a foul and terrible tongue to the last remaining wraith, and it charges towards him.  He resists its life-draining touch and then sends it to true oblivion with a well-timed strike.

After the battle is over, Sir Truehammer turns on Mellia and angrily accuses the adventurers of having brought the attackers here.  He says that the camp had never been attacked by undead, apart from an occasional skeleton or zombie wandering aimlessly up the mountain path.  He says the ghostly manifestations must have been lured by the sight of the flaming mephits travelling through the night sky.  Mellia, however, stands her ground and denies that the adventurers, or their mephits, had anything to do with the attack.  She says it was only a matter of time before the camp came to the attention of the various and sundry undead legions lurking in the Evermoors, and that more sentries should have been posted to alert everyone about an attack from the sky.  She also reminds Truehammer that if it weren't for herself and the other adventurers, far more refugees would have perished.  Truehammer storms off, still angry but partially mollified by Mellia's words.  Afterwards, Jygil takes Markus aside and tells him that although she can persuade Truehammer to let the adventurers stay for now, any further misstep will lead to their expulsion.  Urist and El Capitan, meanwhile, see to the collection and burial of the refugees killed in the attack--the wraiths worked quickly, seeking out victims who were already weak from the perilous journey across the Evermoors.

Later that night, inside the conjured mansion, Mellia and Cain make plans to attack Nesme the next evening.  They discuss how many of their allies to take on the raid, and Mellia leaves the mansion briefly to send a telepathic message to Wrex inquiring about his status.  His response is that he is safe and in good health, but that Nesme is very dangerous for teleporters as there are magickal wards everywhere.  His reply ends with the words "Do not come."  When Mellia returns inside the mansion, she shares Wrex's response with Cain but is not concerned, stating that she can teleport in and out of the city fast enough that any wards will have little effect.  Cain suggests another alternative is to teleport and attack from outside the city walls.

After everyone has turned in, Mellia is laying in bed and absent-mindedly looking at the ring on her finger when she comes to a startling realisation: it is on the betrothal hand!  Flabbergasted, she starts muttering to herself in disbelief.  She pokes Cain, who is sleeping next to her, until he wakes up.  She tells him she needs to talk with him, and starts a halting, rambling preface until he interjects: "if you want to ask something, feel free."  "Is there any significance as to where you put this ring?" she asks.  Cain replies that the placement holds significance for him, but she must decide whether it is significant to her.  In response to questions, Cain says that the gesture was not made out of a sense of obligation, and that he acknowledges that such a commitment carries with it responsibilities towards Allia once the girl is rescued.  Mellia says in that case, she accepts his offer.  "Should I consider this a sign of something deeper than mere affection?" she asks.  "I would not have considered doing it otherwise," Cain replies.  Mellia adds that the feeling is mutual, and the two embrace.