2021/06/10 & 17 - Nirruk's Journal - Back to Ios and the Path to the Master

 As soon as we were teleported back to the material plane, we noticed things were different quickly.  We found ourselves back in Glade's Edge but all the guards now wore the orange and white colors of Woodberry.  Wulf had asked the first person he could find what hear it was, and was told it was 21ADC, a full year had past here too.  Wildworks had been boarded up, Wulf's mom and friend had been taken by the Woodberry guards .  We even found out that Falanton was destroyed about 9 months ago.

It seemed like an odd time for this, but the walking fuzzball decided to get his hair styled and change outfits.  Sometimes I find his actions confusing.

But with Wulf in his new digs, we gathered outside of town to camp and plan.  The group decided to get to know each other a little more:

• Atheya was born in a brothel and her mother abandoned her in a forest.  She grew up mostly on her own and has been out adventuring for the last couple years.
• Wulf though he was an orphan, but "some other shit" happened.  He grew up with his parents in Glade's Edge.
• Corvus grew up in a trading village that burned down (he never said how).  He was a carpenter before he found his sword Wrathe and then traveled with a carnival.  Following some rumors he heard about his sisters location, he came to the Grove.
• I also shared a little bit about my past and what I saw in that awful mirror.
• Finally York showed his face.  I think we all felt a little let down when he just looked like a normal, but weary, human.  He grew up in Zanidonia and his father was a swordsman that trained him from an early age.  When he became of age he went traveling and ended up in the Grove.  He did share the real reason for the helmet and I decided not to press.

The group talked about what to do next.  Atheya, Corvus, and myself wanted to go to Woodberry and see if we can get a hold of that Von character or gather more intelligence.  Wulf and York wanted to go see Mira in Falaton.  Since I felt like I had made a mistake going into that yellow portal against the Walking Carpet's objections, I decided to retract my vote and go where he wanted to go.

The following morning, the Illithid showed up and in his creepy voice said "Good! I had heard you found your way back, and did so well at the area, growing strong, it is good to hear your praises."  He was not there in reality, but rather was just a mental projection.  When we asked what he wanted he said "I need my protégé back, you can deliver him to Woodberry, kneel before me and I will let you live!"  Much to my surprise, Wulf blurted out that he can expect us in 2 weeks.  For a moment, I was not sure if he is turning me in or not now.

The Master then said "Good, I have all the time in the world.  But not everyone does."  Then he showed a image of Mira, Silt, Amber, Nathee, & Piper all chained to a wall.  "You know what, two weeks sounds good, every two weeks I shall eat one of their brains.  Take all the time you want."

He followed it up with "I know your intention was to offer your services to me, I am not interested in that, you have already betrayed me once.  All I want is Nirruk, deliver him and you can walk away; I will also give you back your love ones." To which Wulf just turned to me and said "sorry".  I had begun to fully trust him and the rest of the party but I am not sure how to take that.  He may have been saying that to try to fool the Master, but I am going to be on my toes as we approach Woodberry. 

I retorted to the master that the didn't keep his bargain with my parents so will likely not keep this bargain.  Then the conversation when south with the Illithid threatening us and Atheya demanding a better deal and trying to find out if the Master will take someone else other then me.  It got ugly.

The Master started to look impatient and eventually about 100 soldiers came out of the forest and surrounded the group, the Master called out to them "Take the Gith, kill the rest!" And then he vanished.  The battle that ensued was epic and all the party members fought bravely and we were eventually victorious... well kind of.  It seemed by the time we got to the last few we noticed that they were practically killing themselves on our weapons like they were thinking death was preferable to control by the Master.  I understand that sentiment.

In the fight we managed to kill all of them except one, Wulf's friend Silt's little brother.  Wulf couldn't kill him so just knocked him out and took his uniform.

The following morning, some other people came around our camp and just stared at us.  They were obviously under the Master's control.  We took the hint and more innocents would suffer if we did not make our way to Woodberry to we started heading that way.

Throughout the entire journey we were followed by similar people under the masters control.  Corvus was worried about the Master tracking me through my focus so he destroyed it and gave me one of his own.  

On the second day of the journey, we were attacked by the smartest displacer beasts I have ever heard of.  None of my psychic magic seemed to influence them.  Eventually the group dispatched one and the other ran away.  The following night it came back and tried to ambush the group only to die as well.

Atheya finished some potions she was working on and I managed to compete 2 Crawler Poisons.

On the end of the 3rd day when the group was just about to camp for the night, about 10 people were around our camp and appeared to be under the Master's sway.  One of them pulled a knife to his throat and killed himself.  Wulf ran to heal and save him but the group took the message and decided to head to town even though we were near exhaustion.

The crowd under the Master's sway walked with us and kept growing.  York looked exhausted, even though all he did was lounge around that day while Atheya and I toiled over our creations.  Eventually we arrived at the south gate and battlements of Woodberry.  There were people on either side of the road, possibly a hundred deep, lining the path.  We entered the city and found 1,000s more clogging the streets to the town but leaving us an open path to the Master's tower.  I handed York one of the poisons I made, I thought with this many onlookers that being sneakily was pointless.  Wulf gave me the Lesser Potion of Blue Exaltium and as we approached the tower, both Wulf and Atheya drank their potions of Psychic resistance.

Once we entered the tower foyer, the door slammed shut behind us on its own and there was only one way to go.... up the large circular staircase to the higher levels as we heard the Master say "Good!"

Wulf's Journal Entry 2

 Dad, 

Ugh. Am I a fuck up? So, we went to that cave to get the crawler poison and that task was completed fairly easily. I think it was so easy because of the new addition to our party as well as the fact the team is working so much better together. Atheya is the new addition by the way. Like Miriam, she appears to be able to shift into beast forms, so I’m fairly certain she’s also a druid. I wonder if she from the same circle as Miriam, or better still if she knows of her! 

Anyway, after we harvested what we needed from the crawlers, Corvus found a temple-like area at the back of the cave. It was very odd. Cut stone and magically trapped columns and a side chamber all in this random cave. On a pedestal at the back of the “temple” there was a chest. EDWarD triggered a trap while I was checking out the contents of the chest and we were attacked by these statues. It was a close battle, as Nirruk was completely out of the fight for some time since he decided to get drunk in the middle of the battle and Atheya got turned to stone. We were eventually successful though and after a rest I went back to the chest to continue to see what was in it. I found some Exaltium potions and another one of those golden cubes I talked to you about before!

Here’s where the dumb shit starts to happen though. Without thinking or caution, I threw the cube into my bag of holding and in hindsight I now realize that the cube must have some extra-dimensional properties as we were all immediately shunted to what I believe was a place in the Astral Sea. Yes. You read that right, Dad. The ASTRAL SEA!! But not just anywhere either. We arrived in a location where there were a circle of floating stone platforms. On each of the platforms there were colored portals. Now, having been the reason that we were there in the first place, I wanted to be extremely cautious about what we touched, however Captain Chaos (Atheya) jumped right into a blue portal on the nearby platform. 

Again, retrospectively, it was a boon and folly that she did that and that we followed. Dad, this place was a library unlike any I think I or anyone will ever see! Simply thinking of something you wished to know would conjure a book from the shelves, IF you had the mental determination, strength, and capacity to will it into your hands. … I found a book related to that, creature, that took you from us... Corvus found a book that would make us stronger, which later would actually bolster both he and York. Other attempts at retrieving other knowledge from the shelves were attempted, but none were successful, and for a while there, I suffered from a form of mental shock.

We decided to leave the Library and we found ourselves back in the main platform area. Once there we all noticed something odd though. York and Atheya appeared older. All of our food stuffs had rotted. Now, my brain wasn’t firing all pistons at the time, but I could still comprehend that a significant amount of time had passed. You’ll see how this bites us hard in the ass later.

We spotted what we believed would be a portal that could return us to the Material Plane, but again curiosity was a stronger lure than focus and caution to some of us and following Nirruk’s lead we entered another portal. This one was yellow. In there we found a hall of mirrors which upon touching them, you are shifted to this “mirror world” where you must fight all of the mirror images. It wasn’t too dangerous though. As I mentioned before, we’ve become a very cohesive fighting force, and we’re learning to use our abilities in a complimentary manner. Well… most of of that is. York’s mirror image put him to shame. We all saw how he could be an absolute monster in combat. I wonder if he knows that and is just holding back, or if it’s something else. Hmm.

Anyway, Corvus, Nirruk, and myself were the only ones left standing at the end of it all and we were “rewarded” by the hall of mirrors. My reward was seeing how you and Mom became my parents. Dad? What did you do? Where did you get that other baby from? I thought you guys found me. I thought my people left me out to die. I’m not angry at you or Mom, because as far as I’m concerned you two ARE and will forever be my Mom and Dad and after seeing what you two went through, I understand the desperation. My bigger concern is what about the parents that lost their child? Who were they? What did this Withered One do with that child? MAybe the book I found will provide some insight… Umm, yeh, so Corvus’ reward was seeing his sister, who apparently he’s been searching for. Nirruk didn’t really talk about what he saw, but judging from Corvus’ and my Experiences and Nirruk’s brooding and sobbing, it must’ve been terrible memory or event from his past.  

Whatever it was, it was enough to finally return the focus of him and the rest to try to find a way back. When we got back however, it wasn’t good at all. 

Time HAD indeed passed here. A year to be exact! A fucking year, Dad!! We were transported back to the Glade and everything had fucking changed! The guards were wearing different colors, Amber and Silt were gone from the smithy, and worst of all, Wyldworks was boarded up and Mom had been taken away with Amber and Silt to Woodberry!! Yes, THAT Woodberry! That piece of shit has them! And it’s likely because he thought we had bailed. I’m so angry. Angry at myself for not being cautious and taking the time to examine that damned cube. Angry at us for continuing to explore that place even though we had a sense of the passage of time. Angry that we weren’t here to stop that fucking mindflayer! It wasn’t just the Glade he took over either. He razed Falaton and has captured most of the other settlements and towns in the Undying Grove! I’m hoping Mira is ok and that we can find her... 

My resolve is firmly set, Dad. No more games, no more reckless actions. I’m going to rescue Mom, Amber and Silt and anyone else he has take. Then I’m going to end that monster! I need to make sure the rest of the team is ready to do this as well. Especially Nirruk. I don’t know how to get to him, Dad. I know he’s been through some shit, but I need him to stop shutting down and fight back. We all need him to do that. He’s got power beyond anything I’ve seen. I can sense it. I wish he would just understand that He’s not alone in this fight. If he keeps folding into himself, more people will suffer and more lives will be lost. I wish you were here to help me figure out how to talk to him. You were always good with understanding how to… navigate the emotional needs and terrain when dealing with others.

I’m gonna get Mom back, Dad. Mark my words. I will be smart about it. Of note, I’ve made some progress with the thing I was trying to invent to impress you. I guess I can now just talk about it freely and “consult” with you as I progress. Crossbows are great, but they just aren’t as effective as I need them to be. I’ve been able to enchant stones that are more damaging. I’ve recently made some progress in creating small explosions. The explosion idea came to me during my first experience with this group. I had disarmed this trap, which had a can of compressed poisonous gas within it. The can later exploded anyway, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the applications of a compressed gas, exiting it’s container rapidly. The top popped off, which got me to thinking, that any object could be propelled away from exploding gases if there was a sufficient pushing force created by the rapidly expanding gas… I feel like I’m on to something, but I’ll need a bit more time. Hopefully not too much more, because if I’m right, I think I can somehow make my bolts move faster and therefore more deadly with this compressed gas idea, which would be extremely helpful in this inevitable fight against the mind flayer piece of shit...  

Ok, I need to read that book now. I love you Dad. Miss you a lot too. I’m sorry I fucked up in protecting Mom, but I will make it right, I promise!

 Forever Your Son, Wulf