Harry Potter: Vel'ilstaer: Stormraven I own none of these characters, neither do I own Harry Potter.
It was very much like the last time, Vel'ilstaer got drunk. However, unlike last time; there was no-one in his chambers. "At least I didn't fall out of bed." He thought, he vaguely remembered that he was naked, now where was Condemnor.
His barefoot struck out, connecting solidly with wood. There was the unmistakable sound of a trigger being pressed followed by a sharp 'twang' the shattering of glass and finished with the shriek of a pigeon. Vel looked down, then out towards the balcony window.
He found the remains of his crossbow bolt and the pigeon. "Mending!" He called, the surge of the reparo spell heralded his call and the door repaired itself.
After finding a pair of beautiful servants who happened to be drawing him a bath, that freaked Vel out slightly. But it felt so good, the warmth alleviating the clogged feeling in his brain. He almost fell asleep, only to hear a roar and a very heavy unmistakable boot open his door. "VEL!"
"IN THE...FUCK RIGHT OFF!" Vel shouted as he dove out of the tub as Grog rushed into the warm.
"Oh...uh...sorry."
"Who put you up to this?"
Grog paused momentarily "Percy said something about anyone seeing you this morning…people said no…I said you'd probably be in your room; I came to find you."
Vel sighed "Mind letting me at least get some clothes on?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be outside." With that Grog left to stand outside, Vel waved his wand and the door took its time but eventually the door repaired itself and Vel quickly dressed.
He walked into the Banqueting Hall to find his mother on the verge of breaking down "What impending doom do you foresee, mum?"
Keyleth snapped around "Vel! We called this morning to see if you're awake...We couldn't get the door open."
"Did you guys hear a window breaking?"
Scanlan nodded "I did. I looked up and saw a very distressed pigeon before a crossbow bolt hit it."
"That was me, Uncle Scanlan. I stepped on Condemnor as I went for a bath…"
Keyleth blushed a very vivid red, an identical shade of red to the arm that wrapped around his waist. He felt a head bury into his neck. "Hey, Eve, what's with all of this?"
"I didn't want this to be a dream."
Vel nodded "I know what you mean." With that he turned to Vox Machina.
"What's the plan? Where are we off to next?"
"One of the Vestiges, is a Bow, it's currently located in Sygnorn...It's an Elven City. Specifically where your Father and I were brought up for a duration." Vex admitted, moving closer to Percy.
Vel rolled his eyes "Let me guess, conceited arrogance about being pureblooded elves; you were both seen as trespassers and outsiders?"
"Yes."
Vel's face split into a nasty grin "Let's go, I kinda want to meet my grandfather. If only to tell him, next time we meet one of us won't be able to complain about it…Coffins and funerals; I'm not about murder anyone."
"What about dragons?" Scanlan cut in.
"One erased my face with an acid blast; that was…severe...retribution. Nothing personal."
Scanlan nodded, before Percy cleared his throat "Vel would you and your friends want to come with us?"
"If your sister's fine with it, Lord de Rolo." Neville chimed in, giving a slightly longer than normal look at the youngest de Rolo.
"I have no objections, Percival. Although, Vel'ilstaer, please bring him back safely. I...rather enjoy his company; even though his mode is utter silence."
Vel snickered "Lady de Rolo, Neville will make it back. Safe isn't an option; the world suddenly has several Draconic Overlords afterall…I'll do my best.
"Cassandra, Vel'ilstaer's favoured state is unconscious. Given the…status quo with us; it's more likely Vel will be extracting myself and Eve before getting himself out of a situation."
"Damn Vel, you want some ice for that?"
"No...least I deserve. Okay, so how are we getting to Syngorn?"
"Planeshifting, we need to go to Vassalheim and from their we can get to the Feywild."
(Rosohna) Dean perched on his desk as he eyed his pupils. Dean couldn't help but snort at that; him a Wizard and a Warlock actually teaching others his trade.
He couldn't believe just how much his life had changed since Den Thelyss adopted him into their fold; he had strived to prove that not only was he a valuable member of the Den; but was also a contributing member of society.
It turned out that the Heir of the Den; an extremely young Drow, Essek Thelyss, had taken Dean under his wing. Dean it turned out was a skilled practitioner of the School of Illusion and a dab hand at Dunamancy. The teaching was part of his price. To learn Dunamancy from Essek, Dean would have to teach the magic he'd learnt at Hogwarts.
The results were mixed as of so far. Dean had managed to bargain for one cohort of students; at 150 strong and split into divisions of 30 and stated one division a day for the whole day would allow him to adequately gauge his pupils.
"Everyone, the magic I've learnt is dangerous." He remembered addressing the cohort "Magic itself is also dangerous; when you undertake my lessons, you must remember safety to yourself and then others; the results are explosive both by accident and by design. One of my peers managed to incinerate a feather when he was meant to levitate it." His opening to his class had managed to convey his warnings but also attracted the troublemakers.
He'd managed to save the fingertips, eyelashes and eyebrows of said troublemakers; but refused to allow them to clean up. "They disregarded my instructions…in later studies blackened faces might be the least of their problems." He remembered telling the parents.
"Are you alright, professor?"
Dean snapped to a young drow girl "I'm fine Yazzyr, thinking and observing." He looked over her levitation spell "Nice. Well done. You've learnt the Levitation Charm, now…"
"Practise it, practise with the movements, without the movements and non-verbally...I don't quite understand how you'd do that."
Dean grinned "Yazzyr, I want you to take some deep breaths and take the moment to shut everything out. Disregard the fact your classmates are getting frustrated with this spell; ignore their looks of jealousy. There is only you and the feather. You know what to do."
Yazzyr nodded as the bell went. The class groaned in unison; a harsh taskmaster their professor might be, but what he taught them was definitely useful; it was magic outside of the normal schools and traditions…it didn't seem to contribute to limitations of traditional spells and the bodies ability to physically cast these spells.
If Yazzyr had any guess, the actual origin of these spells originated closer to the days of Age of Arcanum, before the Cataclysm and the raising of the Divine Gate.
"Teacher's pet."
Yazzyr rolled her eyes, it wasn't her fault that she took to these spells easily. When the Professor had them dueling with one another, she'd caught his surprise at her power. "Yazzyr, a word please."
"Sir."
Dean sighed "I am going to be putting out a request to the Shadowhand; I am going to try and make contact with a friend of mine. You're the strongest pupil; I've got and I want that to be nurtured. Unfortunately you're not going to be remaining in Roshana; if anything Her Grace might have a task for you."
Yazzyr nodded "An ambassadorial, scout, apprentice and spy role of sorts."
Dean nodded "I wish it wasn't so but it is the best way to ascertain if the rumours are true. I'd recommend you keep practising, my friend will consider a pleasure to teach a willing student. You'll come back with quite a few other skills and a vocabulary."
Yazzr Mirimm, third-granddaughter of Abrianna Mirimm, bowed to her teach; a member of Den Thelyss, before heading to join up with her four-person escort.
(Vox Machina) The group appeared from the tree and swiftly entered the city of Vasselheim. Unfortunately for Vox Machina it was apparent that some sects didn't want to see a few of them again.
"You...Paladin." A member of The Guards of the Crossroads, growled pointing at Neville.
Vel stepped forward "You have a problem with my Paladin? Paladin of the Lawbearer? Do you have trouble with The Matron?" The tone given was heralded with a thin layer of frost.
"What of it, punk? What if I said I do, to both of them."
Vel smirked as his features slowly disappeared behind a white mask framed in white feathers, similarly Vax's face took on a similar theme "Avoid thy Meadows of Dusk for thy rest of thine days; the Paladin thou distrust has thy backing and backing of thy childe." Came a pair of warbling tones. The Guard paled as he saw four black raven wings momentarily appeared.
The platoon of guards shied away from Vox Machina. "I do need to do some errands, whilst we're here." Percy admitted "Keyleth?"
Keyleth shook her head "I'm going with Vax, Vel, Neville and Eve...We'll meet at the Slayer's Take?"
Vex smiled "Of course, come along Grog, We'll get the rooms. Scanlan?"
"Oh I'll come with you of course."
Eve looked at her male companions "Care to explain?"
"I made a pact with the Raven Queen to save my sister's life." "I've got a pact with the Raven Queen because she ordained it." "I've got a pact because I was intent on joining my best mate to find his parents."
Eve inhaled deeply "Alright, let's go and commune with the Raven Queen."
After leaving the Crossroads; the quintet quickly found their way towards the Duskmeadows. It was bitingly cold in Vasselheim, but in the Duskmeadows it felt even colder. Vel had caught Eve at various points with the last one being more of a vicious yank as his arm went around her waist to keep her on her feet.
Keyleth had more luck, as she mimicked where Vax stepped. Neville, shook his head as he found himself on his back again, sure footing was never his strength. If he had a Dex Modifier it'd be 0 or nearly -1. Vel knew this as did he; the Half-Elf Champion and Human Paladin both knew that Neville could probably lay Vel out if the latter hit the former. "Nev, spread your feet, move slowly."
Eventually they made it to the temple.
(Percy) "Hello! Victor!" The Wiry White-Haired Whitestonian called.
"He's not here right now, he's gone out for a few hours; gives us time to repair his house. But you're free to look in."
True to Percy's gut, Victor was trapped beneath the trapdoor in his house. Upon appearance Victor's form could be described as lithe and crooked-lookin; the way he carried himself resembled that of a spider, his limbs were extremely lanky. Despite looking quite elderly, he was rather spry; frazzled grey hair puffed out against his burnt skin. Atop of his head sat twin-rimmed glasses for his observations.
"Victor, my good friend, good to see you...Er, what happened to your hand?"
Victor looked down to see where the stumps of his fingers remained "Important to learn from our mistakes. Now what can I get you?"
"I'm here to relieve you of your stocks; the last time we spoke you said you'd inform me…"
"...If your friend came back for more powder. She did, she ordered a lot."
Percy nodded "How about I invent something for your hand; I imagine it must be pretty taxing with only one functioning hand."
Victor nodded immediately "See! Learning from my own mistakes!"
(Duskmeadow) Eve and Keyleth, who were quickly joined by Pike and Vex waited in the antechamber as Vax, Vex and Neville were about to enter the inner sanctum. The Raven Watch, Duskmeadows Security, kept an eye and subtly doubled the standing guard. "Vel'ilstaer…You'd better come back."
Vel turned to Eve "I will. Here, hold onto this." With that he handed her the Condemnor.
"Aunt Vex, please fill Eve in on what that is."
With that the trio entered the inner room "One must enter the pool to commune with the Goddess." Announced a shawled woman.
Vel looked at his father and Neville "When she puts it like that." With that he walked forwards and into the pool of blood; and kept moving. Vax reached out but for the second time he was too slow, but he too followed suit and with Neville bringing up the rear the trio entered the pool, one by one they inhaled the icy-cold blood and they knew no more.