The Oakdell Circle
Chapter Three
Ari sat in the common area of the living quarters down below, boots to her side and feet crossed under her with green robes pooled around her. She sat in silent meditation, focusing hard on nature and the material plane that she now realized she loved more than she had appreciated. A dark dreadlock swept across the mocha brown skin of her cheek as it fell from its place in her messy bun. Opening her eyes she was met with Tamar standing over her, staring with curiosity.
"Changing your socks again?" Tamar asked seeing Ari's boots off to the side. Looking over to the boots Tamar was pointing at Ari pulled her legs out from under her and slowly stood, her dark brown eyes meeting Tamar's curious gaze.
"Mi was meditatin actually. Sittin like mi do wit boots on is uncomftable," she replied. Leaving her boots behind she walked past Tamar to the stairs that led up to the top deck, her steps silent and light. "Let's go an see dis Astral Sea. Perhaps it more beautiful den what as been described ta mi." Ari took to the steps without looking back, her staff guiding her up the stairs.
"You forgot your boots, girl!" called out Tamar. "You're socks won't keep you from getting splinters in your feet," she muttered. With a cat-like leap she bounded onto the steps and followed Ari up the stairs, curious to what her faerie dragons were up to.
Up top the party was gathered, some along the sides of the skiff some looking down or out ahead, others worked rope and pulley while Bran instructed them. At the wheel Bran was focused with determination when he wasn't instructing the party on running the ship. He looked like we was concentrating hard. He had the compass in one hand and the wheel in the other as he stared off into the beyond. In the crows next Kevin and Adora were perched attentively, staring out into the sea. It wasn't a sea as much as it was just empty. Cloud-like objects coalesced beneath them coming to a mist-like form as they reached the skiff. Above and around them the dark midnight blue was speckled with what appeared to be stars and thinner clouds. The sails of the skiff were full though there was no air or breeze to fill them. They raced along in the great void like prey escaping a predator. Ari looked out into the great beyond as Tamar came up next to her. Looking at Tamar the druid commented, "Mi cannot make out a orizon ere. Mi see where dere is ah optical illusion ah one, but it is na ah true orizon like de one on de material plane."
Tamar nodded. "That's right. There is no horizon, no up or down, no forwards or backwards. This is a transient place of nothingness and dead gods," she said as a matter of fact. "The Astral Sea was once a graveyard for the gods. If you travel here long enough you will see great cities built on top of and within these drifting corpses of the gods." Chaucer hopped over, interested in their conversation.
"And what of the colorful pools we pass every now and then? Are those portals or something?" asked the grung. His eyes were filled with excitement and wonder.
"They are indeed," replied Tamar with a smile. "Those are portals to other planes of existence. The Astral Plane is, after all, mostly a plane to traverse through. Most beings don't make their homes here. Those that do still have to leave in order to reach maturity or to reproduce."
"Why do they have to leave?" asked Chaucer, now fully vested in the conversation. "Why would anyone leave?"
Tamar quirked an eyebrow. "As Bilben and Raz mentioned, time doesn't move the same here as it does on the material plane. Crom, for example, has been missing for months, but for him it will have seemed like only a few minutes. If you stay here for 300 material plane years it would be like a day passing," Tamar continued. "The danger is when you finally return to your home plane you rapidly age to make up for the lost time. In cases where a being has overstayed their life span this often means an instant death when they return as the years rapidly catch up to them." Chaucer grimaced. Just then a peculiar sight caught there eyes. Out in the void they saw six humanoids with silver chords trailing them as they floated through space. It appeared that two halflings and a humanoid female were getting along fine, but two giant grey men and dark dwarf were having a difficult time getting the hang of it. Ari looked over to Tamar and asked, "Wha is dat silva chord followin dose travelas?" Chaucer hopped with excitement.
"Travelers?" Bran asked, looking out in the direction that Chaucer indicated. He squinted trying to make out the fine details of facial features and found himself doing a double take. Is that my apprentice Thane out there? He thought to himself.
"I know this one!" Chaucer said excitedly. "Those travelers out there are astral projections. They aren't really here in the same sense that we are. That silver tether leads back to the portal they came in through from the material plane. If it gets severed that means bad news for the person it was severed from." Chaucer smiled, happy to have been able to share the knowledge he had. Suddenly Kevin and Adora appeared from the crow's nest, flapping and squawking nervously at Tamar. Trying hard to calm the dragons down she finally looked in the direction they were squawking. "Oh no," she muttered under her breath.
"Look alive everybody!" called Bran from the top of the deck. "We've got company. Raiders judging by the ship, and they're headed straight for that group of travelers." Spinning the wheel of the ship he turned the boat towards the strangers in the void. Behind the travelers raced up an evil looking astral ship, laden in war banners, flags, and wretched githyanki. They were tall and gaunt with rough yellow skin and russet hair, their eyes having a sinister gleam and their ears pointed and serrated in back. They were clad in elaborate armor and hooted and hollered as they closed in. "Don't bother with poison or healing here, it won't work," he bellowed as he came down to join the rest of the party on the lower deck.
"What should we know of our enemy, Captain Blackheart?" asked Samash, gripping his halberd tightly in both hands.
"Yes… Captain," Bran muttered lightly. "Know that the githyanki are ruthless and evil, having spell like abilities including psionic power. If you see a silver blade, don't let it cut you and don't let it cut their chords. These creatures raid and plunder for the sheer joy of killing outsiders and looting the remains. They build cities on dead gods and hunt mind flayers as a rite of passage." He looked around the ship for a moment as he thought. "Smash, Kuku, and Goilon, head down below and man the cannons on the starboard side. As soon as you can see their ship, open fire." The three of them nodded but looked at each other confused. "Starboard is the right-hand side," Bran said with mild agitation. "Chaucer, rope, now."
Ari and Tamar watched as Chaucer pulled 50 feet of rope from his bag of holding and cast animate object on it. The grung was stunned by how much more quickly it was to cast the spell than what he was accustomed to on the material plane. Bran tied one end off to the ship's rail and took the other end as he stepped up onto the low railing. "Ari," he said without looking back, "you may want to get your shoes on for this. It's going to get messy." With that Bran leapt out and away from the ship, rope in hand, as he bound through astral space like an arrow fired from a bow. Concentrating he flew towards the other travelers calling out to them as he approached.
"Take this rope and focus on our ship for safety," he called out to the largest of the goliaths. "Getting around is all about concentrating on where you want to go. Thane, I thought that was you. You're supposed to be in Icewind Dale." Thane could only shrug. Handing off the rope to Thane as he slowed the Goliath looked at him with a strange expression as his party began to gather up around him.
"I'm sure you're all very nice people," the large man said, "but we're a little preoccupied with some business of our own. It is a nice ship though."
"Gravetender," the pink haired halfling in pig tails shouted, "don't dismiss him. We can get a ride on their ship and stop floundering out here in astral space like a bunch of dummies." She moved over to Bran and the goliath and extended her hand to Bran. "Hi, I'm Poppy and this is my friend Thane, our resident duergar Bruno, our wizard Syl, and our two goliaths Gravetender and Thunderstalker. We're here so Gravetender can get a sample from one of the dead gods floating around in here for a new spell he wants to try." They all nodded or waved their greeting as they were introduced, the halflings and the duergar taking hold of the rope.
"Yes, I know Thane," Bran smirked, "I'm the one who sent him to Icewind Dale – where he doesn't seem to be right now." Thane winced, "but we need to get a move on it. You've got Githyanki on your tail and if you don't know about githyanki just know they are bad news," he said urgently as he ushered the remaining party to take the guiding rope. Bran looked off in the distance and could now make out the figures that occupied the advancing ship. A shutter ran down his spine as he thought of the horrors these marauders could inflict. With the last traveler taking the rope and beginning to pull themselves along, Bran grabbed hold of the rope and called out to Chaucer. "Reel it in, little buddy!" As if on cue the rope snapped to life and began to pull the party back in towards the boat. Racing along Bran kept watch on the githyanki ship. It had corrected course and was now heading for his own skiff. He grimaced and shook his head. "This is not good."
On the boat Ari and Tamar stood ready to assist the weary travelers onto the deck. From below the cannons rang out, angled to hit objects that tried to hide along the stern. A cannonball crashed into the enemy ship and pieces of ship and figures went flying, forever set on a lazy course to drift through the sea. Two more volleys of cannon fire went off by the time the travelers and Bran made it back to the ship. Ari and Tamar guided them onto the ship while the animated rope worked hard to slow and stop their momentum. Ari flinched at the giant-sized men and clenched her staff tightly. This was turning out to be some day.
"You're pretty dark for an elf," Gravetender said to Ari in his deep voice, "Are you one of those dark elves? They're usually darker than you." Ari squinted and tilted her head at the ignorance of his question. "We have a duergar that travels with us," he continued. "That's sort of like a dark dwarf, right? Maybe you guys can be friends."
Ari crossed her arms across her chest and looked at the large man incredulously. "An ya ah big, dumb, an gray fa human. Bran is ah dumb human. Maybe ya two cyan be friends." She said before turning away from Gravetender. He looked at her thoughtfully as she stormed off and began to open his mouth to speak when Syl came over to him putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking her head. Gravetender frowned. "But I'm not human, I'm a goliath," he muttered. "Does this mean she won't be my friend?" called out Brueno with a hearty laugh.
The parties lined up along the side of the skiff ready for the invaders to strike. Each person gripped their weapon tight or held a spell ready. Ari looked around at the party composition and felt more confident. They now had three casters; herself, Chaucer, and this new person named Syl. They had two to draw enemy aggression between Samash and the new pink haired halfling girl named Poppy with a greatsword bigger than her. Finally, she looked over the remaining party; three rogues between Tamar, Bran, and the new halfling Thane. There was also Goilon and Thunderstalker the two rangers, and then there were Kuku, Brueno and Gravetender, the monk, a barbarian and a cleric. Ari was starting to feel good about this upcoming fight.
What took only seconds felt like hours as the githyanki ship pulled alongside their astral skiff. Bran shouted for them to take the fight to their ship and led the way across, leaping out into astral space to land nimbly on the githyanki ship. The githyanki pirate commander shouted something in a language Ari didn't understand and the enemy surged forward to meet the party. Poppy, Samash, and Brueno were the first to follow Bran across with Kuku, Gravetender, and Thane following next. Thane and Tamar quickly took to the shadows while Bran seemed to dance through the battle, dodging attacks as he went with swords flashing. Samash thrust his halberd forward and caught the flank of an approaching githyanki. With force he twisted his blade and shunted the githyanki down prone. Pulling his halberd back he let loose a wild swing that left the githyanki headless as Samash flew into a rage.
Samash breathed heavy as he looked for his next target, storming off in his rage as he charged two more enemies who were thirsty for blood. Back on the ship Chaucer, Ari, and Syl wove spells while Tamar and Goilon fired arrow and bullet into the fray. As Ari completed her spell vines and thorns grew up around the feet of the githyanki holding them in place. They cried out in surprise as they found themselves entangled. Some began to curse while others began what sounded like incantations. Chaucer popped off an eldritch blast to hit one of the chanting githyanki in the face, felling him while Syl went through the motions of her favorite spell, fireball.
All around on the githyanki ship little skirmishes broke out. Bran's blades flashed as he was slicing it up against two githyanki while Kuku allowed himself to be swarmed before letting loose with a mighty swing from his greatsword followed up by two precisely placed round house kicks. In all three enemies fell at his feet before he turned to the others that swarmed him. Samash and Brueno were visibly fighting off some psychic attack from the remaining githyanki that had been chanting while Poppy cleaved through two enemies at once. Just then a large fireball erupted in the back of the githyanki ship taking out half of their force. Ari cracked out her thorn whip and pulled another two enemies into the fireball before it had faded, the whip twice the size it normally was here in the astral sea.
Thane drove his daggers deep into an unsuspecting foe, popping up from the shadows of the ship before disappearing again. Blood dripped on the deck of the ship from his daggers as he moved on to the next enemy. Goilon balanced his blunderbuss against the rail of their skiff and methodically picked off enemies with head shots as they came into his field of view. Tamar and Thunderstalker let loose volleys of arrows into the enemy crowd, driving them back away from the party that fought their way onto the enemy ship. Kevin and Adora perched back up in the crow's nest watching the fight from up high.
Gravetender waded his way into battle, swinging his giant mace and clobbering githyanki left and right. He called out to Thane as he cast eyes of the grave on the high ranking looking githyanki which caused the foe to double over in pain. Out of the shadows Thane sprung up and drove his daggers into the enemies neck, Thane riding the enemy down to the ground, the githyanki falling dead at their feet. Thane smiled mischievously up to Gravetender and sunk back into the shadows.
Recovering from the psychic attack Brueno and Samash made quick work of the enemies that surrounded them, Samash with his halberd and Brueno with his axe. Samash twirled his halberd around his head and body striking three foes as he went. Brueno went wild with rage as he frenzied his attacks against the foes that surrounded him, the damage he took barely registering to him. Bran spun around to strike an enemy only to find it was Poppy and her greatsword. With an embarrassed laugh he apologized and looked around. All about them githyanki lay wasted, sprawled out on the deck seeping an off-color blood. It had only taken several minutes but they had fought hard and were victorious. Bran sheathed his swords and began walking about the ship looking for loot. Thane and Poppy followed suit, making their way down below to the cargo hold.
"Looks like we were supposed to be their first pick of the day," Poppy called out from below deck. " No treasure or loot down here." Bran came out from the captain's quarters and reported the same.
"I guess they keep these ships pretty utilitarian," Bran stated. "Not a coin or trinket in site to be lifted." Disappointed he made his way back to the skiff where the rest of the party was making their way to.
Back on the skiff Tamar and Syl helped their party members back across to their boat while Goilon and Thunderstalker searched for any damage to the skiff. Ari made her way to the front of the skiff and looked out into the great beyond. There on the false horizon she spotted a still dark figure floating in the nothingness. Using a wild shape she summoned her animal companion Poe, a black raven with crystal blue eyes. Commanding the raven she sent Poe out to investigate while she watched Poe approach the figure floating still out in astral space. Looking over to Samash as he approached she saw that he was wounded and offered her healing to him. He graciously accepted the aid and breathed a sigh of relief as the rejuvenating magic came over him. After several minutes Poe flew back to her and shared what it could see. Ari's eyes lit up with excitement. It was Crom! They'd found him.