Chapter 58
"NENE!"
Lamy tried going to the bard; the tentacles lashed out at her and kept her away. Polka was tipsy and was busy trying to handle the abomination and the tentacle. Botan was pushed far and she ran around the rock slab that she was forced to go around during its lamentations. Aloe chanted.
"Time for you to break and shatter! Be ground to dust!"
Another, much louder boom exploded. The abomination shuddered and roared, and started vibrating. The injuries had taken their toll on it and then exploded outward. Everyone, except KDR, flinched and threw up their arms to cover their heads. However, there was no blood. There was no ichor. No chunks of meat or tentacles crashing into everyone. Everything was vaporized the moment the aberrant body broke apart. The tentacles let off a horrid shriek and disappeared in the same way.
The cleric immediately ran over and knelt next to the bard's broken body. She fished out a diamond from her pouch and pulled the amulet from her neck. Placing the diamond on her friend's chest, where the heart is, she held the amulet close to hers.
"Oh, my goddess, hear my plea. Please lend us your aid. Retrieve this poor soul and return it to her body that she may be healed by your grace."
An unknown bright light suddenly shone down on her and the body. A white aura then washed over Nene for several seconds before the light and the aura disappeared. Lamy gasped and smiled. Turning to the others, she said, "She's back."
The rest of the party cheered, Mel cheered along with them, and the warforged just nodded.
The half-snow elf turned back to the bard and said, "Eh? Why is she not waking up?"
"She's supposed to wake up?" slurred Polka as she took another drink.
"That is what I was told."
"Maybe she is too tired and has fallen asleep," suggested Mel.
"Indeed. Perhaps we should bring her back to the village where she could rest at ease," supported KDR as he hefted his warhammer on his shoulder.
"Maybe that would be best," mused Lamy as she got up.
"I'll carry her then," said Botan as she swooped in and picked the bard up in a bridal carry.
They made their way back out of the mine, the monk offering the cleric her cask, who took it and took a few gulps gratefully. Outside, they were shocked to find ARC, Appa, and a few dead cultists.
"Huh? ARC, you had company?" said Polka as she blinked her eyes.
"Er, yeah, as you can see," replied the warforged as he gestured to the dead, "We had little problem dispatching these, Appa and I. Strangely enough, they seemed to be drenched from head to toe when they came upon us. Know anything about that?"
"I dropped them in the river," KDR spoke up.
"Ah. That explains a lot," he stated. Noticing their unconscious friend, he continued, "Hey, uh, what happened to her?"
"Well… she died. Lamy was able to bring her back though, but somehow she is still asleep," said the lion girl.
"Well… okay, I guess?" he said as he shrugged, "Let's get back to town and wait for her to wake up then. I mean, how long would it take?"
The weather suddenly turned stormy. Waves churned going higher and higher. Yet, strangely, Nene was barely wet, if at all. The wind blew with great force and her hair flew around, whipping around her face. The skies were dark with thunderous sounds and flashing lightning. And overhead, amidst the din of the storm, she could hear whisperings of a strange language that she couldn't comprehend. It was like a persistent buzz in her ears, a whine at the back of her mind. She shuddered as it felt the words scratch her ears, like someone or something was scrubbing her brain with a brush.
"What is going on?" she muttered fearfully as she looked around, anxiety slowly filling up in her mental state.
The words seem to be coming from a point in the distance. She couldn't see anything that could possibly be saying anything… until she looked up. What she saw was horrifying to her. It was hidden in the clouds, but she could catch glimpses of long tentacles in the sky and maybe the gleam of a pitch-black eye. That was just the right side. The other side was seen to have many mouths. Mouths with razor-sharp teeth that glinted in the lightning. And she heard the whisperings so long that they started to make sense. That was freaking her out.
"...You do not take this one..." the left side said as she slid to her knees, her body getting wracked with agony, "Give this one to me..."
"Denied. I worked to get a foothold on this world," rumbled the right side, "I refuse to let you throw all my plans into disarray. Plus, my avatar is interested in her."
She could feel liquid trailing down the side of her face. She touched it and saw red. Her breathing rate increased, now panicking at the sight of her own blood suddenly trailing down as tear tracks.
"Bah! You hold no sway over this one! I shall claim that soul-"
"You will do no such thing! I shall bar you from here!"
She titled over and lay on the flat stone, her arms wrapped around her head. She wanted them to stop talking. Anything to get them to stop talking.
"You dare!?"
"I dare! I am eldest-"
"You should not be here."
Then, she felt something wrapping around her waist and she was lifted up off the ground. She blinked and when she opened her eyes, she found herself seated in a chair at a table with a cup of steaming tea in front of her. She glanced to her side and noticed Priestess Ina'nis stirring her own cup. She then examined herself; strangely enough, her clothes were dry, her eyes weren't bleeding out, and the headache was gone.
"What… what happened?" she muttered, feeling herself tearing up again.
"You eavesdropped on something you shouldn't have to hear," said the priestess, mysteriously moving to her side and dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, "I can only guess that your actions impressed 'him' that your consciousness was pulled here to listen to the offer."
"And who was the other one?" the bard asked as she looked at her.
"A… relative of sorts," the former explained, "I don't truly know. But what I do know is that 'he' wants to induct you into our cult. Would you be willing?"
"Me? I don't know," she replied, both feeling proud and extremely unsettled at the same time at getting a powerful being to notice her, "I don't think I want to… not after what me and my friends fought."
"Understandable," said the priestess as she got to her feet and began stepping around the table, "You are surprised by the offer. Before, you have never considered joining anything that is considered religious. The pantheon is something to pay lip service to and then put aside to focus on more pressing things like surviving the world. You are fascinated by your friend Lamy's dedication to her goddess but never found the time to ask about it. Am I wrong?"
"Well, you're not wrong..."
"Well, why not give it a try?" Ina'nis tried persuading with her silver tongue, "You will be able to experience what she does. While not exactly the same, it is similar enough to me and soon, for you as well."
"...Can I have time to think about it?" Nene asked, her voice strained and tired.
"Of course. Take all the time you want. We have all the time in the world..." the priestess replied with a smile.
"Erm… we also took care of the… abomination?" the bard also informed her hesitantly.
"Mmm, I see. I must thank you for this... " muttered the priestess in thought. After a moment, she then said, "Well, after I let Rah'zevim know about your success, I shall confer with 'him'. Perhaps I can grant you and your friends a boon or benefit of sorts."
"Oh, thanks."
"My pleasure."
Nene opened her eyes. Blurry at first, her vision refocused and she found herself staring at the wooden ceiling of some place. Gingerly sitting up, she found the familiar signs of the room at the tavern. Feeling something with her hand, she glanced over to the side of her bed, finding Aloe sleeping beside her bed. What she felt was her hair. She smiled as she stroked the succubus' head, a little surprised but happy that the fiend did care for her and by extension, their friends.
"Ugh, what's on my- Nene?" mumbled the succubus as she stirred from her sleep, only to be surprised by the awoken bard.
"Hi, hi, I take it that we won?" she asked rhetorically.
The latter gaped at her and then muttered, "Yeah, we did. I'm… gonna get the others."
As she made a hurried exit from the room, Anya spoke up, "Now that you're awake, can you not use me to cut icky stuff? That hag thing was one thing, the monster-experiment-gone-wrong is another thing entirely."
"Sorry, Anya," she apologized, "Well, you won't have to face that very much when I get my rapier back. Aaaand, now that we got that ichor Pekora was asking for, you can get an upgrade."
"Hmpf, at least something came out of that," grumbled the sentient dagger.
"Neeeeeneeeeeee!" shouted Polka as she ran in and threw herself at the bard into a hug.
"Gah!" exclaimed said person as she got the wind knocked out of her lungs as the fennec fox girl landed on her and started nuzzling her neck.
"Well, this is good news," stated Botan with a grin.
"Wait, what is this?" asked Lamy as she pulled the cooing monk away and examined her shoulder, which was uncovered when the fennec girl got pulled away. A black mark shaped in the symbol that looked almost like that wiry bush from the prison.
"Erm, well, I guess I can tell you this," she muttered before she proceeded to tell the others what she experienced in her dreams. A few times she noticed that her audience shuddered and shivered when their imagination took over.
"Do not do it, Nene," said the half-snow elf the moment she finished her tale, "You do not know who her patron really is. Who knows what ulterior motive he has."
"A mystery! Maybe we need Detective Amelia here," quipped the fennec fox girl with a grin.
"This is a serious thing," retorted the succubus, "I rather not have Nene here suddenly get sucked into a portal to do some weird things with tentacles."
"Hn, other than that part, we don't really know how to handle this… yet anyway," cautioned the lion girl, "We just destroyed a monster yesterday. I think we're deserving some rest before digging into this."
"...Alright, I guess I'll take this time to rest up," admitted the bard with a smile, "But I guess we can confront this when we meet Priestess Ina'nis again." Then, as if she remembered something, she continued, "Oh, wait. Is the mine usable again?"
"Yeah! After the mayor and the foreman checks it out, they can continue using it," replied Polka with a grin, "Also, Harvog pretty much waived the rest of your stay here. Still need to pay for food though."
"And how's Mel and ARC and his team?"
"They are resting? Then again, I highly doubt living constructs like ARC and KDR need much rest, even if they look just as alive as we are," mused Lamy aloud, "Appa seems to have recovered from his ordeal. Mel though… she's still sleeping. I find that quite odd."
"Maybe she stayed up late looking through her spellbook. Maybe just like Artia," reasoned Botan.
"True. Many wizards like to go through their spellbooks to remind themselves what spells they are going to use… as far as I know, of course," added Nene. Getting nods all around, she then asked, "Right. What's there to eat? I need to fill my stomach."
After filling up her stomach, she joined the others in a meeting with Mayor Howitz in his office. The grateful man shook their hands with a happy face.
"You don't have to get all mushy, sir," said Polka with an amused grin, "I'd do anything to help my town. I lived here half my life, after all."
"Well, I'm glad you did show up young lady," he replied as he moved back to sit on his desk, "As for a reward..."
"I think we can do without a reward for just this once," spoke up Nene with a smile, "I mean, we still have a lot of money on us and we aren't hurting for it yet."
"That's very generous of you, miss," he said in amazement, "This town is eternally grateful to you and your friends. Thank you again."
After the meeting, they then went back to the bar to meet up with Mel and ARC's party to say their goodbyes.
"Oh? Leaving already?" said the lead warforged, "Hmm, kind of expected this a bit later. Oh well."
"Appa say goodbye to you, yip," quipped the kobold before continuing his drinking.
"Oh, I hope I can meet up with the mummy safely," said the archaeologist, having woken up while they were meeting the mayor, and then muttered to herself, "Who knows what I can learn there?"
"Hmph, I would say be wary, but that is a given," stated KDR sternly. Glancing at Aloe, he then continued, "I must admit, your fiend is strangely loyal to you. Be that as it may, there are many other dangers in the world. Constant vigilance is needed lest those dangers make use of her against you. Journey mercies and may the Forge be with you."
"Oh, come on, lighten up," said ARC as he threw his arm around the larger warforged shoulders, "We are in a safe place among friends. For once, just be at ease."
"I'll be at ease when you get your hands off me."
"...Did you just make a joke?" he asked in surprise.
"My humor has much left to be desired."
Giggling, the party gave them their goodbyes and made their way back to Silicasa. A bit unfortunate that they were unable to hire another wagon as the only one the town stables had was hired out yesterday. So, they had to walk all the way back to the Gekko capital. However, after a few hours of walking, they heard a loud commotion coming out from the forest to their left. Suddenly, a pack of wolves burst out of the underbrush and booked it across the road. Many of them were bleeding from gashes on their bodies. When most of the pack slunk back into the welcome shade of the forest, an owlbear burst out from where they came and roared. It seemed to be injured a bit as well.
Botan's eyes lit up and she said, "Trophy!"
To their surprise, the owlbear turned to them and said, "Really? That's what you say to an owlbear?"
"...Eh?"
"Huh… what is with young'uns these days," the owlbear sighed as it trudged towards them, slowly losing its imposing stature and transforming back into a… gnome with a beard as long as his body, "No respect at all."
"Uh, sorry, sir," Nene apologized with embarrassment, "We didn't know."
He harrumphed and replied, "Fine. Just don't get itchy fingers in the forest. I rather not have to put you lot in line."
He then turned away and walked back into the forest.
The lore bard breathed a sigh of relief and said to the others, "Alright, let's get to Silicasa. I really want to meet up with Pekora again."
AN: Hello again, readers. Winding down now.
Right, like I said in the previous chapter, death is not a difficult obstacle to overcome in DnD, but admittedly, it's very expensive. But kind of affordable at higher levels. As for Nene... getting closer to Ina. Whether she likes it or not. Even a little cameo from AO-san. Anyway, after recovering from her ordeal, she wakes up. Chit-chatting, then food, then more chit-chatting. Then, we have to say goodbye to Mel, ARC, and his friends. Then, we bump into a random druid. Not really important to the story but just to show off a Circle of the Moon druid.
Anyway, something amusing popped up while I was writing up this chapter. I present to you a homebrew warlock patron, Beast of Humanity, Kiara Sessyoin.
Your patron desires to heal the world by becoming one with it and delivering salvation.
Expanded Spell List
1st Level: Dissonant Whispers, Tasha's Hideous Laughter
2nd Level: Detect Thoughts, Calm Emotions
3rd Level: Clairvoyance, Sending
4th Level: Dominate Beast, Aura Of Purity
5th Level: Dominate Person, Bigby's Arcane Hand
Disarming Presence
At 1st level, you give an image of non-aggression and demureness when you are anything but. As an action, select a number of humanoid creatures equal to half your warlock levels rounded down in a 30ft. radius to make a Wisdom save. Upon a failed save, affected creatures make all attacks against you with disadvantage.
Fall of Man
At 6th level, you become more infused with your patron's characteristics. You become resistant to any bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage that is non-magical.
Your spells also become more effective against humanoid creatures. If a spell cast against any number of humanoid creatures requires a Charisma save, the roll is made with disadvantage.
Presence of the Beast
At 10th level, your patron's influence grows and starts to spill out into your world to influence the people around you. People become more willing to listen to what you say. Any Charisma check you make can be chosen to be made at advantage.
Additionally, creatures that fail the save for Disarming Presence are also distracted. Any attack against the affected creature is made with advantage.
Blessing of the Demonic Buddha
At 14th level, you have been chosen to become the herald of the Beast of Humanity. She will give a piece of herself to you for your glorious service. Whenever you lose 1/3 of your maximum hit points for the first time in battle, roll a d6 and refer to the Karma Phage table.
d6- Effect
1- Body. You gain resistance to fire, cold, and lightning damage.
2- Sight. Your crit range increases to 18-20 and once per turn, any attack roll below 10 can be rerolled.
3- Mouth. Half your missing health points rounded down are restored for the next 3 rounds.
4- Spice. The first attack roll made against you after the end of your turn is forced to critical miss. For the rest of the battle after the end of your turn, you are resistant to critical damage.
5- Organ. Make all saving throws with advantage. +2 to AC and damage rolls for the rest of the battle.
6- Reroll
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until the next dawn.
So, thoughts, anyone?
Next chapter, time for the party to rest. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.