Darkwood--Darkness Rising

[Laurel]

The GOld wyrm notices her approach, and waves one foreclaw to indicate she should come closer..."I have heard you composed a song, about a fight with Marrowrime? That evil drake's name is well-known, and I am gladdened to hear of her demise. Would you share this song with me?"

Turning pink with pleasure at the request, the bard hustles back to Hardy and draws out her small hand harp. Rummaging through her compositions, her hand strays upon the scroll with the battle against Marrowrime upon it, but then she notices her tribute to Beauregard next to it. This has yet to be performed, she thinks to herself. The final stanzas should satisfy this beauty's curiosity...

Laurel makes her way back to Khaurum, checking the tuning on her harp. As she takes position to perform, she awaits the dragon's permission. With a nod of his head, she gives a brief summation of the party's quest, beginning with the kidnapping of Beauregard outside the Winding Way back in Waymeet. Then she breaks in to her lament for the halfling, finishing with her version of his battle against Marrowrime and the party arriving too late to save him, though battling the mighty white to her own doom.

...his valiant life cut down by primal force unyielding
We took the battle on, most unprepared.
As piercing cold blasts forth, embracing three at once
The icy touch of death did fill the air.

Yet with courage and determination did we muster!
A cleric's unerring power did the white beast in
Though five lives were lost to she no longer breathing
For Beauregard, against Marrowrime we did win!

Her fingers fly across the harp, the notes swelling and fading with emotion. Her voice carries forth effortlessly; the cracks and crevices of the cavern perfectly amplifying and echoing her voice. The harp and her voice resonate together, the harmonics perfectly in tune.

As her performance winds down, Laurel herself is astounded at how well she had performed. Was it the chamber, enhancing my performance? Have I improved so much with so little practice since leaving Waymeet? Or, looking at the radiant golden head gazing intently at her, is it the audience driving me to strive to do my best?

A dragon.
I have performed for a gold dragon...
Her thoughts fade to an end as she takes her bows, not even noticing if anyone else appreciated her composition or her performance of it. All she had eyes for was Khaurum, and how he regarded how she had done.

As she rose from her bow, her eyes gazed at his, longing to see approval in the dragon's eyes.

[Seven Words]

Khaurum nods his head. "His passing should be mourned. He showed rare bravery for any race. He brings great honor to his people. Your song is well written, and your performance doubly so. I am impressed. You conveyed the depth of his life, for the time you knew him, with the detail and feeling one of my kind would have. I can accord no higher compliment"

[Laurel]

Her breath catching in her throat, Laurel's wonder and awe totally overwhelms her. Although there is no reason for sadness, the bard's eyes start to overflow.

Doing her best to control her sobbing, the Laurel gasps out in Draconian, with hiccups betraying her effort, "Th-th-thank y-you for the honor of performing for you, Khaurum. While joy may be in the ears that hear, it is doubly so to have a performance appreciated. I-I think I-[hic]'ll just sit quietly nearby, if you won't mind."

Basically collapsing where she stands, she continues to gaze at the dragon. "M-may I [hic] ask who-hoo it was that s-sent you here to help the elven resistance? You mentioned being sent when you first arrived."

[Seven Words]

Spirit Stalker holds up a hand to forestall any cremations. "I know there's at lest two others here who can raise the dead. Amongst us, we should be able to raise all who may be raised in the next fortnight or so. I know at the temple we have a few scrolls which we can use, I'm certain the Light" *he casts his eyes over to an elf wearing Missaryi's sunburst "has more than we do." The Favored of Missaryi is very badly burned and disfigured, also lame.

[Sorchat]

She chuckles, "I merely mean I can probably understand and speak it."

I frown. "Sigrid won't like that. She says I'm her secret diary. She doesn't like people reading her diary."

[Sigrid]

I speak to Spirit Stalker, "Then we will need to purge the slaadi from all the bodies. Show me what to look for; I will help. With the living as I heal them."

When enough are gathered together, active Sacred Healing. [Fast Healing 6 for five rounds.]

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

"I'll try not to listen in then. Unless it's a really juicy secret." She gives a teasing wink. "There are things I probably don't want to know, and the rest probably don't concern me enough to try. It is, however, good practice to make sure one is in private when talking about private things." She scans the battlefield and drops her voice to match that of a dying fire, "You never know who is listening. My sisters and I were always trying to catch little tidbits to use against one another."

Switching to Common, she speaks to Sigrid, "Sorry, your friend is entertaining. I did not mean to leave you out of the conversation. Are you okay from the fighting?"

[Sigrid]

"I'm glad she's found a friend. Sometimes she seems lonely here. She only has me to talk to. And there's snow everywhere."

"With tomorrow's fighting?" I consider my answer. "They are not my people, it is not my place to fight for them. But this Protector has made war against the Unknowable; for that I will help cast him down."

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

"I meant with the Slaadi. I was paying more attention to their positioning then ours."

"Tomorrow's though? That will be interesting. It's not my fight either. If she is going to insist I stay around I guess I have to do something." Kali motions at Aednat then shrugs. "If that lizard is correct about what we face, I have an idea. Do you know if any of these elves have a good game face?"

[Sigrid]

"Oh, this fight? I was nowhere near a slaad."

I look at my clothing. "I have no armor. I should stay far away from fighting."

I chuckle, "These elves are some of the most accomplished liars in the world. Is that what you mean by 'game face'?"

[Led Pighp]

Led frowns deeper as he watches Laurel demean herself grovelling before the great wyrm. He watches Annalysei practice, getting used to his flail, and nods. Then he takes up his book and sketching materials again to continue recording the faces of the fallen. Standing near Kalindriel and Sigrid as they speak Fruspak, he interrupts. "What's this plan of yours? How may I help?"

[Seven Words]

Khaurum explains..."I was yet in hibernation from the the death-scream. I awoke, and a message was awaiting me, sent by Liralos StarBlade, a close companion of mine in the War Against The EverNight. The spell was his final act....it simply recorded much of the events between my sleep and my awakening. At it's conclusion, an aasimon came to me, sent by this Illumined One" he indicates the scarred Favored Soul "in search of allies against the Dark-Spawned Protector. I came as soon as I could, but the knowledge StarBlade left me took a few days for me to assimilate."

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

Kalindriel glances at Led as he interjects, then back to Sigrid. "If they are as good at acting as lying, then that is exactly what I need."

She points directly at the pin Led attached during the battle then turns to face him. "That emblem would be quite helpful. Goldie said there would be both demons and devils there tomorrow. While they must be under compulsion to not fight amongst themselves, I believe I can still exploit their animosity to our advantage, if not outright attack one another."

A look of concern crosses her face. "It requires both myself and my 'victimized' elf to put on a good show and then for me to be incredibly convincing. With a fiend. It's a huge gamble, but I am not a warrior and if it works it will mean we might actually win this fight."

[Led Pighp]

"I am but recently come to these parts myself. The elf I would trust the most is Skyseeker, if you can pry her away from the great wyrm. Though, I gather she's somewhat famous... in infamous... to our enemy, so perhaps she would not be the best choice."

Led removes the black pin of the Unknowable and tosses it to Kalindriel. "Of those from these parts, several have pledged to me their apologies for the abuses they've heaped upon my people. I do not feel guilt in suggesting that one of them, were he truly wishing to repay that blood debt, would make a perfect candidate for risking life and limb in your plan."

"Though, if your idea works, it would put all of my people well into your debt. From the look of things, our aid in your release from the wagons was merely as a distraction and perhaps a small savings of time. We can not truly claim any kind of life debt from you. And yet you would risk yourself to save us. Know that I do not speak for the Warforged, or even in any meaningful way for the Shifters as a collective, and yet I would acknowledge this debt to you. Why would you do this?"

[Laurel]

The bard stills her sobbing and solemnly nods at Khaurum's words. "We were met by a deva on the road before we came to the Veracian Waystation where the Silver Strands were left. He came to us upon us unraveling the mystery of a note found on a necromancer, now deceased. The note itself said...

"The echoes of the death-cry of the Great-Shining-Treasure-Monster have ended. The Great-Rainbow-Monster, favored offspring of Darethon and Tar-Anedrel, shall awaken from it’s slumber soon. It’s children caught too near shall be awakening first, and those the sound kept at bay may be returning. The remnant, in the refuge, from whence your blood comes, must die. Go to the Veracinean station, and gain the mystic key from within...the humans knew not what they found ere it was lost. The key shall open the Hidden Way Of Midnight. Once you have the key, you will be given further instructions.

"We determined this to mean that the death-scream you mentioned had faded, but that a great evil chromatic dragon will soon awaken. Once we came to this conclusion, the deva appeared. Perhaps his words to us will mean even more to you than we were able to decipher."

Closing her eyes the bard sorts through the songs and tales in her head, then opening them recites the words the party was told before Barak was taken from them...

"The greatest of the champions of this world, Bahamut the Platinum Dragon, died long ago, in the cataclysm which blighted Anedrel's Joy. The Corruption-From-Beyond had worked it's powers upon the shell of his hatching, and the fruit of Darethon and Tar-Rozaa's passion was incubated therein..creating Tiamat the Dragon of Many Colors. He allowed her to kill him so that by his sacrifice, the portal to Beyond would be closed, sealing the Corruption away. But the magics of Caranthadii, called the Midnight Soul, anchored the portal. And so, the barrier has been weakened....and now, the Corruption-From-Beyond seeks to return from whence all the good gods banished it before even the elves made their first marks upon rocks. What dragon magics can do, they can undo. Thus, his death-cry was cast as a curse to echo through the ages, keeping all of dragonkind away or slumbering lest another wyrm work to open the portal. But Tiamat has finally found a way to still the echoes. The strictures of the gods forbade any being from contacting mortal denizens of the world until they discerned the truth of this for themselves."

He then cast some healing spells upon us and concluded...

"By her words am I allowed to tell you these things.

"I regret I have no further healing to offer you. If I linger here overlong, the Blood Hunter's minions may well come, and you'd not last long against a ravening yugoloth or a greater tanar'ri. Fare you well, chosen children of destiny."

The distant look of recall fading from her eyes, Laurel again looks at Khaurum. "Is there more behind these words than we may understand? If not, I hope just sharing them may be of some use to you."

As she finishes, the bard overhears Kalindriel and Led's discussion. Projecting her voice to politely interrupt before Kalindriel answers Led's question she suggests, "If you intend to deal with a fiend, perhaps our Warlock here," glancing in Vynarkus' direction, "would be of more use? He has shown he is not on the path most would assume, and perhaps a fiend would be most interested in him?"

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

"Why would you do this?"

Kalindriel shrugs at Led. "Aednat asked me to stay."

Responding to Laurel, "I am sure they would be most interested in him. They would love nothing more than to corrupt him. Or break him if they think he would not willingly accept their lop-sided bargains."

She dismisses it with a wave, "My plan isn't to gain their attention for conversation. It is to convince them I am one of them and cause them to turn upon one another by poking at rivalries older than the mortal races. I have the magics and skills at misdirection, and the experience with Outsiders which will allow this a chance of success."

"We will also need everyone capable of felling these beasts to be dedicated to the task. My skills are not in combat but more subtle arts. Nor my glaive enchanted despite its fine craftsmanship. It will not leave a lasting mark upon most of their hides." She lifts the onyx and moonstone encrusted dagger sheath taken from the assassin. "Maybe this can, but the heat of battle is not the time to find out, and not a very threatening weapon even then."

"And if it fails, the instigator's end will come quite swiftly."

[Led Pighp]

"Consider also that the Protector and his kin are themselves Warlocks. If we wished to sow chaos in their ranks, Vynarkus would be very useful separately from any fiendish considerations. Likewise, there are shifters and warforged who follow the Protector's orders. We could, in theory, infiltrate several of our own into whatever situation we find."

[Seven Words]

Skyseeker adds, "My very EXISTENCE refutes the underlying assertion behind ALL of the Protector's acts, that this is the last remnant of the elven people. If Kalindriel manages to foment infighting amongst the Outsiders, Led and CrushSpike pull some of their people from under his sway, and my revealed existence shold break many away who have not been seduced too deeply by lies into the shadow, we should carry the day."

She turns to face Led and CrushSpike, "I realize that this may well cause great numbers of your peoples to die, at the hands of their own. It grieves me deeply, even as elf slaying elf does. No, it grieves me more, for your people are in this through no choice or act of their own volition. I pledge my House's honor in surety, a memorial shall be raised for them. Not a memorial I, or any elf chooses...a memorial chosen by your peoples, whatever YOU deem fitting to commemorate their sacrifices."

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

Kalindriel approaches the dragon and elven leaders to suggest the plan she has been discussing. The pin obtained from Led will cause the other side assume she is an infiltrator. The elf she needs to further the ruse will be "cut down", pretending to have pierced its spine, and able to make the act and its despair believable. Then through trickery fan the flames of hatred. She needs time to work on the strike with the elf, to make a blood pack, and work on her own outfits. She herself needs to appear as one of the elves.

Given the discussion on fragmenting other groups, she also suggests someone talk with the Shifter that the party brought with them from the wagon rescue. "A giant lizard might suitably impress it to make a decision."

[Led Pighp]

To Skyseeker, Led says, "Save the skulls of the Protector and his family. I'm sure something can be arranged from them as a memorial to their offenses." His gleeful smile, imagining the sight, indicates that he's not joking.

[Otherwise, I have nothing further to add to the plan. Let's proceed.]