Guardians of the Grove - Recap 04/13/23

 Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire!

As the Guardians regroup after the druid ambush, Corvus walks towards the mark of Kovish presented on the corpse of one druid. Without notice, Corvus’ blade stabs thze mouth of Kovish, and in its place is left a gaping hole with no sign of Kovish remains. The group, at least confident in one means to erase Kovish pushes forward and decides to rappel further down the cave but is almost immediately impeded by the gas-filled chasm. Wulf and Atheya attempt to descend but immediately fall back due to the acidic toxins in the air. Wulf coming through like a true badass artificer, comes up with a soundproof plan to create a chemical component to bond with the gad below and use Eltuire’s Fire Magic to ignite the gas; what could go wrong?

                                                

                                      BOOM!                              

Almost instantaneously, the fire from Eltuires magic explodes the gas and shakes the entire cavern causing the plateau that Wulf and Eltuire are standing on to implode. Wulf and El begin to fall, unable to save themselves; Atheya and Corvus descend through magical means to rescue the duo. Atheya is able to hook El in her talons and bring her down to safety. However, Corvus is unable to grab Wulf in time. Wulf crashes downwards from rock to rock (almost comically) and lands below. Wulf brushing off the debris and aching body, quickly notices that next to him lies an incinerated corpse of the druid who fled during the previous battle.

                                                                                            Peace Talks Breakdown?

After a quick regroup and stretch, the Guardian moves into Mira’s chamber, where she is recuperating from the previous encounter. Corvus, moved by the gods themselves, begins to speak with Mira and convince her that he wants to help; he wants to right the wrongs committed long ago and save Mira. While they talk, Atheya relays to the group that there is another creature near Mira. As Corvus begins to get through to Mira, communications break down when Mira pleads for the Guardians to help her before the creature bonds with Mira and she enters an empowered state. The room ignites with powerful orbs emanating powerful magical energy matching the elemental forms Mira had taken. The Guardians enter a battle to save and not kill for the first time in a long while. They attack the orbs strategically while battling the lair's many elements and Mira's onslaught. While the Guardians focus on the task of destroying the orbs that seem to cut off Mira’s powerful druidic connections, Blood attempts to take on Mira and almost bites the dust, but thanks to ♥️ ELTUIRE♥️ can survive another chain of attacks. Ultimately the group is able to cut off Mira’s power source, and she returns to her original shape. The creature previously bonded ejects from her and return to its true form, Kestra, a druid and possible ally to Kovish. With the rescue of Mira still underway, only one more obstacle stands. Resources drained and heroes exhausted, one more battle remains.