DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Dawn of Revolution

The Passenger, part 2

Momo gave the fleeing passengers a moment to get clear before she made her move. Trying to fight around the passengers and protect them from slaad claws would be a tall order, but on a clear battlefield, she had the edge.

"I've never fought a slaad before," Momo told Titanium as the two beasts closed in, almost within pouncing range. "I'll experiment for a moment. See what you can do."

Titanium adopted a martial arts stance, fists held up at the ready. "Bring it on."

The two blue slaadi pounced.

While Titanium rolled out of the way, Momo shouted a few words, and her black wood staff glowed with arcane runes. A ray of sickening arcane energy flashed from the hand at the wand's end, aimed right at a slaad's belly.

The magic barely singed the slaad's stomach, and the beast actually chuckled deep in its throat.

"How about this?" Momo had bought herself a few seconds of time, so she seized her chance and fired a trio of magical darts at her foe. The slaad yelped as two darts hit its upper chest and the last struck it between the eyes, but the beast still wasn't deterred.

Momo rolled out of the way just like Titanium had done once the blue slaad leaped at her once again, its body landing heavily on the dirt. It growled in hunger and whirled around, swiping its claws and bone protrusions at her.

Foregoing spells entirely, Momo whipped her staff through the air in a defensive pattern, blocking the brute's attacks with her staff. Good thing her death giant friend Yibbgo-Krath had enchanted it for added durability. If that staff broke, Momo was as good as dead.

"I'm not strong enough, Momo!" Titanium cried as he delivered a few quick jabs at his own slaad opponent. His mismatched metal fists slammed into the slaad's face and chest with solid thumps, but the slaad was clearly unfazed.

"Magic isn't cutting it, either. Some monsters are naturally resistant, which apparently includes slaadi," Momo commented. Then her slaad opponent swiped at her from an unexpected angle, so by reflex, Momo threw up a shield spell. "I wish the professor had told me that."

Momo was running out of magic energy and options alike. What now? She turned to the Summer Spirit's wreckage in desperation.

Perfect.

"On me, Titanium. Quick," Momo called out, angling her retreat so the shield stood between her and her opponent for a few precious seconds. With some impressive agility, Titanium broke away from his own slaad opponent, sprinting toward the airship wreckage as his copper plates clanked together, his leather ligaments creaking. The whole time, Momo could hear the two slaadi galloping after them. She didn't have much time.

"I have an idea. Find something sharp," Momo told Titanium once they took cover in the Summer Spirit's wreckage.

"To serve as a spear?" Titanium asked.

"Yes."

"I do have some experience with spears and shortswords. But I'm sure we need more than a makeshift spear to kill those things."

"You do the stabbing, Titanium. I'll do the rest. Just trust me."

Titanium's glowing eyes were fixed right on Momo's, his mechanical face unreadable. "I trust you."

The slaadi were already sniffing around the Summer Spirit's wreckage, and they were getting closer. It was do or die, so Titanium hastily started scrounging around for a suitable weapon. He broke off one piece of wood, only to realize it was too small, and a twisted piece of metal refused to budge when Titanium tugged at it.

Screech! A piece of brass plating was twisted and forced aside as one of the blue slaadi yanked it aside with its claws. Both beasts casually lumbered toward their cornered prey, still salivating, still flexing their claws.

"Here!" Titanium cried, and with a loud groan of distressed wood, he tore off a shard of wood to serve as a fine spear. He stepped forth and thrust it repeatedly at both slaadi, causing the blue beasts to grunt in hesitation, eyeing the sharp lance as it sliced through the air.

One of the slaadi roared in anger as Titanium carved a gash in its belly with his spear, but the wound was shallow, and as Momo watched, the blue slaad's flesh writhed and sealed closed, no trace of the wound remaining. Then, the other slaad swiped its bone protrusions through the air, blasting Titanium right off his feet and knocking his spear out of his hands. The spear rolled away on the ground as Titanium sprawled on his back.

"Over here," Momo barked, whacking one of the slaadi on its back with her staff, her staff's fingers leaving four shallow scratches. Both slaadi turned to face Momo, mouths open wide. They pounced.

Once again, Momo ducked and rolled to the side, casting another spell as she went. A ghostly, blue-gray hand erupted from her staff, seizing the makeshift spear and delivering it to Titanium.

"Stab one," Momo told him urgently. "Now."

Momo never spoke with strong emotions like anger or panic, but the strength of her words still jolted Titanium into action. At once, the warforged clambored to his feet, spear held at the ready, then tensed his legs. With a shout, Titanium leaped forth and thrust his spear right into a slaad's back with a wet shunk.

Momo wasted no time. She demanded Titanium let the spear go, then cast one of her strongest spells, with emerald-green necrotic magic glowing in the wreckage's confines. Sickening magic blighted the spear at once, and once the blight seeped into the spear's other end and in the blue slaad's body, the beast shrieked in agony. From the inside out, Momo's spell hungrily leeched away the creature's moisture and vitality, leaving nothing but a withered, dry husk that collapsed to the dirt.

The other slaad stared in shock at the remains of its hunting partner, looked at both Momo and Titanium, then grunted and sprinted for its life. Momo watched it streak across the crash site on all fours before leaping into the dense forest foliage and out of sight. An uneasy silence fell over the Summer Spirit's makeshift camp.

"How did you know that would work?" Titanium asked, dusting his metal hands.

Momo twirled her staff. "Resisting magic is only skin-deep. Some monster hunters in Evernight told me all about it. That's one reason why well-made animal hides fetch such high prices."

"Very clever, Momo. I was right to trust you."

Momo offered her free left hand. "Does this mean we are a team until rescue arrives?"

"We are." Titanium shook on it, then looked around. "Also, we should make sure no one was hurt in the process."

"I suppose."

Momo and Titanium confirmed that no one had gotten hurt in the slaad attack, and best of all, the other passengers now looked at their shadar-kai and warforged protectors in a new light. Momo knew that look of gratitude and awe in their eyes.

"Now they have accepted us a their protectors," Momo told Titanium as they patrolled the makeshift camp of surviving passengers and crew. "The next step is to recruit a few more to our team. We need more numbers in case of another attack, not to mention more people for patrolling the camp tonight."

"Agreed." Titanium put his hands on his copper hips. "So, who do we ask first?"

*o*o*o*o*

By evening, Momo realized that while many more of the survivors now respected her powers, few of them wanted to actually fight by her side or venture deeper into the forest to hunt game, forage for food, or look for medicinal herbs for the wounded. It was a shame, too, since Talwydd and the Illaran Kingdom both boasted many ranger guilds whose members would do Momo a lot of good here. But no such passengers had boarded the Summer Spirit.

But then again...

"So. It's the four of us," Momo summarized when her new squad assembled around one of the crash site's campfires. "I'd like to get to know the three of you better."

Titanium put a hand to his copper breastplate. "I am Titanium, a former factory worker in Elwyn Llwyfain. I have martial arts training and can use basic weapons. I boarded the Summer Spirit to seek work in the Illaran Kingdom as a logger or miner to expand my skills. I..." He glanced down. "Had no real friends in Elwyn Llwyfain. That might change in my new home."

"Oh. Well, I can be your friend," one of Momo's new allies, a tiefling woman named Nadeli, said as she put a hand to her heart. "It's my pleasure to get to know you, Titanium."

"Many assume that beings like me don't need friends," Titanium added, looking back up. "But I assure you, my kind can feel the warmth of personal bonds like anyone else." He turned to Momo. "And for that, I must thank you for giving me a chance, Momo."

Momo shrugged. "I didn't mean for us to be bosom friends, just teammates. But if you find it enriching, that's fine, too."

Nadeli gave Momo a funny look before speaking up again. "My name's Nadeli. I grew up in a nomadic tribe in the Khanate's eastern lands before I decided to make a new life in Talwydd. I'm an entertainer."

"Do tell," Titanium said, leaning forward to listen with great interest. His body clanked. "What can you do?"

Nadeli smiled and got out some goodies from her leather travel bag. "Watch." She started juggling seven balls at once, and Titanium kindly clapped his mismatched hands with a clink, clink, clink. Momo, meanwhile, just stared. What, was Nadeli going to juggle at a slaad or displacer beast to protect the camp?

Then Nadeli's hands caught fire, adding searing flames to her juggle balls. Momo's eyes widened.

"My people trace their lineage to Mephistopheles," Nadeli explained with a wide smile, the flaming balls reflecting in her violet eyes. "I can make fire from my palms. I try not to hurt anyone with it, but..." She deftly caught all seven balls and extinguished their flames. "If more critters show up, I'll give 'em a real show!"

She bowed as everyone else clapped. "Impressive," Momo said casually. "Could you throw those balls to take out a monster's eyeballs? Blinding our enemies should make this easy."

Nadeli winced. "I don't have much of a killer instinct. And I don't wanna throw away my juggle balls. But I'll find a way to help, Momo! My people are tough to survive in the grassland sea."

"Very well. And you?" Momo turned to the team's newest member, the young sun elf man Losthar. He cleared his throat and sat upright.

"All my life, I've been nobody," he confessed. "I moved to Talwydd to start over, but there was nothing for me, so I'm going home to my people. Nothing's ever worked for me. Not my bakery, or marrying that beautiful moon elf girl with the gold eyes, or working in an airship assembly line."

Momo just kept staring.

"But..." Losthar held up his hands palm-out. "When I saw Momo and Titanium fight off those brutes without being asked, I realized: anyone can be awesome if they really try. It's never too late." He made a nervous smile and put a fist to his heart. "I vow to become a great hero for the people! I'll even sign up for the Illaran Royal Army when we get to Nasrond. But first, I'll protect these people with my own two hands!"

Nadeli beamed and reached over, taking hold of Losthar's shoulders. "That's amazing, Losthar. It's so easy to just give up and let despair win. My people would know that. I'm rooting for you."

Losthar's smile gained some confidence. "My thanks, Nadeli. I've got your back. I've got everyone's backs!"

"It will be my pleasure to fight by your side," Titanium told Losthar. "You have a heart of steel to match any warforged's own."

"Thanks, buddy." Losthar gave Titanium's right arm a look. "How come that arm's different? Is there a story there?"

"Yes, there is," Titanium said. His voice didn't carry emotional or tonal inflections, but Momo could still faintly sense his sorrow all the same. "I lost a friend whom I once took for granted. This is what remains of him. Thus, I carry him everywhere, a reminder to love what I still have."

"Ah..." Nadeli put both hands to her heart. "That's beautiful, Titanium. Anytime someone says the warforged are just machines without feelings, I'll teach them!"

"Please be gentle. I saw those flames," Titanium said.

"Oh, don't you worry, my metal friend."

Then Nadeli turned to Momo. "What about you? I saw you fight. Amazing stuff. What else should I know about you?"
Momo cleared her throat. "I visit this continent often for adventures. There's all kinds of treasure and knowledge to be found in each of the six nations. And the adventurer guilds are good, too. I've got working relations with fifteen of them."

Nadeli made a nervous laugh. "Oh, my. I think you've got more adventuring experience than everyone on the ship combined!" She glanced over at the Summer Spirit's remains. "I wouldn't know much about adventurer guild stuff, though. Going on missions, raiding old dungeons, fighting dragons, and all that."

"Then what else do you want to know?"

"Who are you, Momo?" Nadeli gave her an eager look. "You're not like most of the people I meet. And I've met plenty of people, let me tell you."

"You're an elf, right?" Losthar added. "I've never seen your kind before. No offense intended."

Momo waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, Losthar. I'm a shadar-kai, from the Plane of Shadow. My people are bound to the Raven Queen's wishes, but we're still free to sometimes explore the cosmos if we want. I was never one to stay cooped up in Evernight, where I grew up. I itched for adventure and discovery, so here I am. And meeting people is part of the process."

"Oh yeah?" Nadeli asked.

Momo nodded. "I can't help learning more about the world through its people, and they are useful to me. Adventure companions, traders, craftsmen, scholars, local leaders... I wouldn't get very far without a network of allies across the land. And I admit, meeting people is part of the fun. My curiosity is never satisfied for long."

Titanium creaked as he shifted into a more comfortable position before the campfire. "Intriguing. But I must ask, Momo: what does a friend mean to you?"

"You talk about allies, Momo, but not friends," Nadeli noted.

Momo gave them innocent looks. "I have partners and acquaintances all over the place. They're all I need." She was so tired of people always asking about friendship, the bond of hearts. Her people knew nothing of such... frivolity? Was that the word?

"A friend is someone you cherish with your soul, Momo," Nadeli told her fondly. "Friendship isn't just about trading goods with your business partner. It's something wonderful that grows on its own, allowing you to share your life with someone."

"Even I had a few buddies back in Elwyn Llwyfain," Losthar put in. He winced. "Uh, no offense, Momo!"

"None taken, I assure you," Momo told him. "And Nadeli, I only have one person I might describe that way back home in Shadowfell. Here on the continent, I just have my teams and allies."

She also had allies on other continents across Toril, but the people of this continent lived in isolation. Best to keep some things to herself. Now that she thought about it, another visit to the Sword Coast might be in order soon...

"I believe we should not press Momo on this topic," Titanium said in his metallic voice. "She does not seem comfortable with it."

"It's no problem," Momo told him. "I just got tired of always explaining this to people. And it confuses them how I value teamwork, but not friendship. I'm a practical person, you see. A lot of my kind are like that."

"I respect that," Nadeli said graciously. "Please forgive me, Momo. I never meant to say you're wrong to not have friends."

"I do have the one, though," Momo said, unable to hide a whisper of excitement in her voice. "Her name is Yibbgo-Krath. She's a death giant wizard of great repute, a master of the grave in Shadowfell. She schemes to seize power and carve out her own territory in Evernight, then earn the Raven Queen's personal favor. And I'll help her do it. Yibbgo and I go way back. All the vampires and corpse traders respect us... and fear us."

An awkward silence fell.

"Well! Isn't that lovely?" Nadeli said, clapping her clawed hands together. Sparks flew from her palms. "What's life without a best friend?"
"I would be most curious to meet Yibbgo-Krath," Titanium told Momo.

"Why? Do you like necromancy and scheming? Because that's all she does," Momo told him. "Oh, and she sometimes gets caught up in prank wars with her rivals."

Losthar simply shivered and huddled up tighter at the thought of that.

"I'm... glad we got to know each other," Nadeli said, still looking a little nervous, but she also had a pleased smile across her face. "Momo, thank you for sharing all that with us. It was a pleasure."

"People don't often say that," Momo commented.

"Mmmmm. I can't help it, Momo. You're not like most elves I meet. And I can't pretend to understand the ways of Shadowfell. But you..." She gestured at her shadar-kai teammate. "You still feel like a true friend to me, Momo. And I think you could become be a great friend to many people, even if you never believed it yourself."

Titanium nodded. "You have a good heart, Momo."

"I'll be there for you, Momo," Losthar told her. "You inspired me to stand up and fight. Let me repay you. I'm good with knives."

Momo looked among her three compansions... friends?... and made a curt nod. "If you wish, we may all be friends."

"Now that's better," Nadeli said warmly. She almost sounded like a mother, talking like that. "Are we ready, everyone? The other survivors are counting on us. We're a team!"

"Yeah! Team..." Losthar started, raising a fist. "Team... Momo?"

The shadar-kai in question shook her head. "Not the best team name."

"Well, team names are hard to think of," Losthar said, pouting a little.

"Team Steel," Titanium offered, and Nadeli quickly rejected that idea.

"How about the Shadow Troupe? To honor Momo's homeland," Nadeli suggested.

"That sounds kinda villainous," Losthar noted. Nadeli reluctantly agreed.

"The Fabulous Four?" Titanium put in, and that idea was rejected even more swiftly.

Nadeli stretched and yawned. "This can wait until morning when our minds are fresher. Momo, we're going to help the airship crew keep watch tonight, right? Should we assign shifts?"

"Elves don't need sleep, so I can help keep watch all night," Losthar put in. "I just gotta spend some time in my meditative trance." He looked to his team leader. "Is that also true for your people?"

"Indeed," Momo said. "And warforged like Titanium don't sleep, either. We're a fine team for keeping watch. Shifts are hardly even needed. We will just use different patrol routes."

"That just leaves me, the one who actually needs some shut-eye," Nadeli joked. "I'm not all fey or mechanical like you folks. Sorry about that."

"Your people can see well in the dark, I believe," Titanium commented. "And your fire will make an excellent warning signal if danger presents itself."

"Just what I was thinking, metal man," Nadeli said with a crafty smile. She snapped her fingers, sparks flying from her fingers. Then she got up and smoothed out her clothes. "Let's do this. Everyone's counting on us."

The teammates dispersed, and as Momo marched off to begin her own patrol, staff in hand, she blinked in surprise when she realized something: friendship could be pretty fun. Who knew?