Danari

We camped for the night at a popular camping spot for adventurers. Another group had already settled nearby. They told us that they had just come from the goblin caves. It turned out this quest was a little different from goblin hunts I had been on before. I was used to small bands that had taken up residence near a cluster of towns and were pestering the locals. Sometimes they were break-off tribes trying to establish their own territory. Sometimes they were gathering supplies and slaves to send back to their tribe. Either way, the goal was to clear them out completely.   This time, a group of our blue goblin allies had located the entrance to a cave that contained a full goblin horde of green goblins. There was really no way that one small adventuring group could take them all out. So, the idea was to kill as many as we could and get paid accordingly. It would take months, possibly years, to either kill them all or make staying untenable. The other adventurers told us where to find the blue goblin “camp”. The group was well established in the area, but they didn’t have a word for city or town in their language. So, they simply referred to their land as a very large camp. One with fortified walls, permanent structures, and even a shop for adventurers. If we asked around, there was even a chance of getting some of the blues to come with us. They hate the greens as much as we do.   We found the blue goblin “camp” late the next morning. They were excited to see a new group of adventurers come through and showed us around. We weren’t the only adventurers there, either. The blues were handling the payments for the Adventurers’ Guild, so whenever a team would come back, they would present the ears of the goblins they killed and get paid per head. We asked around and found a trio of blues willing to help us fight. They called themselves The Broken Teeth. A goblin adventuring group! The Broken Teeth took us to the shop for any gear we might need.   The shop was more like a bizarre, with tables and tents on the ground floor selling various wares, and backstock in crates on the second floor. Most of the gear was well below what we already had, but they had an alchemist with healing potions and cinnabril. We also picked up some goblin slaying arrows for Willow and a Cloudstep ring for me. The ring will allow me to instantly teleport to any place I could see up to six times before needing to recharge it. That will make it easier to get to anyone needing medical attention during a fight. While we shop, we talk to the Teeth about what to expect. They tell us a little about the main cave, but are more concerned with a nearby farming town that has been overrun. The greens are keeping the townsfolk locked up in the church. Desecrating holy ground with their slavery and violence! I want to charge out of the camp to bring down the justice of the Trine on their heads, but the others insist on resting and eating before we go. I can see the logic, so I settle down until we are fortified.   The occupied town sits along a river bank and has a bridge leading across directly into the town proper. The goblins had erected spiked wooden fences along the bank to either side of the bridge, forcing any would-be rescuers to come through that single entry point. They had also erected a totem to some unknown deity that blocked all magic and magical items. Literally every member of our group, with the exception of The Broken Teeth, uses some form of magic, so that totem was a problem. While the rest of the party prepared for the fight with enhancement spells, I stood to the side and prayed to the Morrigan for help taking down that totem. She responded by sending a murder of crows to attack it. She also informed me that there was another totem further in. As soon as the first totem was destroyed, the crows flew off to take care of the second. The goblins saw their totem being attacked and charged at us over the bridge.   It was a brutal fight that involved two dozen green goblins, a warg, and three lizardkin. One of the lizards was a shaman who hid in the church for most of the battle. Once we got close enough, he summoned the dead goblins, and the dead warg, back to “life” and sent them to attack us. As the others engaged with the undead, I slammed a cinnabril potion to recover my mana, and cast Sanctuary. The ground around me in a twenty-five foot circle suddenly became holy ground. All the undead caught fire and the shaman could not summon more. Lily transformed and attacked the shaman, but he knocked her feet out from under her with his tail. That gave Willow the opportunity to hit him with an arrow, demanding that he surrender. He informed us he had placed runes on the hostages that would allow him to kill them all instantly with a word. Luckily for us, Malachite was busy sneaking into the church while we were fighting on the ground. By the time the shaman threatened the hostages, he had already removed the runes from each of them, freeing the people, but leaving the runes behind. If the shaman triggered the spell, the church would burn down around us. Claudia gave the shaman one chance to surrender to the mercy of the crown. He spat at her. With a shrug, she used polymorph to turn him into a rabbit. It took a few moments to work as his will battled hers. But he was injured and tied from the fight, and she’s Claudia Vonn. He never stood a chance. Claudia casually walked over to pick p the rabbit-shaman and tucked him away in her bag.   About that time, another group of adventurers arrived from the other side of town. They had just finished culling the goblins in the cave and were on their way to try to free the townsfolk. They seemed quite happy to have missed the fight when we told them what we had faced. They were able to confirm that the town’s mayor was dead and the town had been pretty thoroughly looted, and that the shaman had been the leader of this particular unit.   During the fight, Brie had found a mysterious chest in an alchemy shop near the church. The owner of the shop told us that someone in town had found the thing years ago, but no one had been able to open it. The treasure inside was free to anyone who could. Claudia and Brie tag team it and quickly have it open. In addition to the gems and coins one would expect to find in a treasure chest, there was a silver cloth made of silk wrapped around something snoring. Claudia moved the cloth to reveal a winged cat with two tails. Clearly, the creature was magical to have survived years inside the chest with no food or water. But I sensed no malice from it. It awoke and ignored Claudia completely, instead turning to Brie. The two were immediately lost in some kind of trance-like state. When she came out of it, Brie announced that they had bonded and the cat’s name was Silk. The townsfolk take just enough of the gold an gems to be able to repair the goblin damage to the town and let us take the rest.   With that done, we left the town to its recovery and escorted the Broken Teeth back home. They lost one of their group, but the other two got to return in full glory with new names based on their deeds in the battle. We bid Slayer and Spearcatcher goodbye and went to turn in the quest. After receiving the promised gold payment, we were given a chest full of useful potions as a bonus for taking out the shaman. We spent the night in the “camp” ready to head off the next day for our last Adventurers’ Guild mission.

Our first stop had nothing to do with Brie’s quest at Eagle Keep. A town along our path was dealing with some kind of famine and was looking for anyone who could help them figure out what was happening to their crops. It took us the better part of two days to get there, during which we got to see a side of Claudia that rarely came out. When out adventuring, she was much more relaxed. She almost seemed like a country girl. I recalled that she used to travel with a farm boy-turned-adventurer. I felt like I could see his influence.   As we approached the town, we passed acres and acres of dead crops, the plants withered in the fields. I could feel the decay in the earth and it broke my heart. It only got worse when we got to the town and saw the people, starvation hollowing out their faces. Everyone we passed ask if we had any food to spare, and we were warned the none of the town’s shops were operational. I took control of the situation, asking to speak to the mayor immediately. He practically cried when he realized we were there to help. Too many adventurers had just passed through, it seemed. I asked our mages to use magic to produce food for the townsfolk. Mari and Lily helped distribute and provide other assistance to the villagers while Willow and I sat down with the mayor to gather as much information as possible. When he realized I was a priest, the first thing he did was ask me to pray over their crops. I promised to do so, but also pointed out that such prayers wouldn’t do much good unless we could determine the cause of the famine. The mayor told us that the crops started dying after a mysterious smoke came down out of the mountains nearby.   Lily, Willow, and Claudia accompanied me up to the mountain in search of the source of the smoke while Mari and Brie stayed behind to continue helping the townsfolk. We found the very smoke the mayor spoke of. Soon, we started to hear the horrific cries of some injured creature. We also found strange a strange red fungus growing in several places. I recognized it as the red spotted mushroom, which attaches to organic things (including people) and rot it from the inside to spread. The smoke proved to be caustic, so we covered as much as our skin as we could and put masks over our faces. Coming around a bend, we found a bronze dragon bound by wires that glowed with magic. They appeared to be draining the dragon of its essence, and the smoke was being released as a defense mechanism. I prayed to Valkyng for guidance. Through his influence, I could see that the wires were draining the dragon’s essence, pulling it underground where it seeped into the soil from beneath, killing the plants. It was only a matter of time before the corruption spread to other towns. After I conveyed this to the rest of the group, Lily rushed to cut the main wire with Willow at her heels. A started to cut one of the others. Claudia followed me. Shortly after we attacked the wires, a dark elf appeared in the distance. Willow shoot the elf with a paralyzing arrow. She and Lily rushed to where he fell, quickly disappearing underground, presumably from wherever the elf had emerged. Claudia and I continued cutting the wires, but the dragon started to thrash around and the task became too dangerous. Once again, I called to Valkyng, who granted me to the ability to calm the beast. It responded by focusing on my, bowing as if to start a fight. I projected an aura at it to convince it there was a bigger better fight nearby. Claudia continued cutting the wires. As soon as the dragon was free, it flew off in the direction of the town. Knowing that Mari and Brie could handle such a challenge, I thanked Valkyng for his aid. Before letting me go, he gave me the distinct sense that I should follow my friends. I gathered Claudia and headed for the portal underground.

We returned to the surface to find that Mari and Bree had made quick work of the dragon, with the help of Lily’s Green Warden, Malachite. We arrived back at the town to find them cutting up the dragon for parts. Mari was thrilled that she got to kill a dragon. Her second, apparently. She kept going on about how proud her father will be of her and claimed the head as her prize. I left the others to their fun and headed back to the mayor’s house to plan the ritual to cleanse the fields. The mayor offered us beds for the night in thanks for taking down the dragon.   In the morning, we prepared for the ritual. I explained that I would need to go to the fields alone. I asked the others to keep the villagers away while I work, and to come retrieve me when the ritual is finished. Bree asked how they would know it was time. I told them it should be obvious. After as hearty a breakfast as the town can muster, I walked out to the fields alone. I focused on my connection to Danu, letting Her light and warmth fill me. I could feel the blight in the ground pushing at me, a darkness trying to eat away at the golden power filling me up. I traced that darkness to its heart, just north of the center of the blighted land. I set my pack down and began setting up. When my ritual space was ready, I placed my hand over my Triskelian, tracing my fingers over the sign of Danu. I opened myself to Her power, felt Her respond to the sickness in the ground beneath me. An instinct that came from deep within my soul told me to take off my shoes. I did so quickly. Then, I followed a path through the fields, drawing in Danu’s power and pushing it out through my hands and feet. I guided the Healing energy through the earth. It pushed at the darkness, surrounded it, smothered it like a blanket over a flame. When the last of the blight had been eradicated, there was a brief pause. I felt exhaustion try to take hold of me. But a moment later, it was pushed back by another wave of power coursed through my veins. I walked back the way I came, pushing that power into the fields, bringing them back to life. It would still take time before they were healthy enough for anything to grow. But Danu provided the spark that would bring these fields back to life. I arrived back at my starting point and turned to see the whole field glowing as if gilded by the morning sun, but from the inside. The power pulsed once, then faded away, leaving the field and me at the same time. A moment of blackness covered my eyes. But I shook it off and cleaned up my ritual tools, barely staying on my feet long enough to finish. The others found me curled into a ball around my pack, using every ounce of my willpower to keep my eyes open. Malachite knelt by my side, told me I was safe and I could sleep, then lifted me in his arms. I don’t remember getting back to town.   I woke the next day to a grateful town raining blessings on me. I was allowed to rest for the remainder of that day. Word had gotten out to the other towns nearby that had been threatened by the dragon, ones whose fields had not yet been affected by its blight. They arrived en masse with as much food as they could spare, and the townsfolk hosted a feast for us. We celebrated, and the mayor allowed us to use his house for one more night to rest before we left town in the morning to hunt some goblins.

Claudia and I followed Lily and Willow underground. The dark halls rang with the sound of a fight, but neither of us could see anything. Claudia cast a light spell, which revealed the continuation of the wires from the dragon’s cage. Neither of our friends were in sight. Claudia used a location spell, which showed that the girls had separated upon arrival. As much as I wanted to follow the wires to find out where they led, Claudia was concerned about Lily. The dark elves used magic and silver weapons capable of hurting Lily badly. We agreed to help the werewolf.   It turned out to be a good call. We found Lily bleeding and struggling to gain an advantage against a dark elf male. Claudia’s light spell blinded the elf as we came around the corner, giving Claudia the chance to use lightning against him. He was almost able to dodge, but the spell knocked him to the ground, allowing me to get to Lily. The elf tried to run, but in his blindness, ran straight into Claudia. He tried to cast Shocking Grasp. She was able to turn his own spell against him.   Willow found us as the dark elf dropped. She told us there were miners in the tunnels, and at least some of them were unarmed dark elves. As much as she hated to kill an unarmed creature, the one she had seen tried to run off to inform his superiors. She had no choice but to take him out.   Honestly, that is no great loss. The dark elves had proved time and time again that the only culture they care about is their own and anyone else is considered an enemy or a slave. Usually a slave. May the Morrigan take his soul to the deepest Hells.   We followed the wires through the tunnels to a large room filled with strange machine. There, we found two slaves tending the machines with a dark elf overseer keeping watch. Each of the slaves had a control collar around their necks that could be used to punish, or even kill, them. I quietly spoke to the slave nearest us, a human male. He told us they were draining the dragon’s power, but didn’t know why. He also said that the overseer’s sister was going to enjoy a group entirely composed of women, especially a priestess.   Before we could find out anything more, the overseer saw us. She taunted us, pointing out what lovely slaves we would make. She also showed off the whip at her side, stating that she looked forward to using it against us as it was a special whip that could hit the target three times for every attack. Claudia was instantly determined to make the whip her own. During the exchange, I convinced the slave to get around the corner and out of harm’s way. The overseer summoned a displacer beast to keep the rest of us back as she and Claudia prepared to fight. Valkyng’s rage tore through me at the presence of such an unholy beast and a called upon his will to banish the thing. The overseer’s distraction at her pet being so easily dispatched gave Claudia the opportunity to summon the whip out of the dark elf’s hand. As the mage fell into a battle of wills with the enchanted weapon, Lily attacked the overseer. The threw her easily across the room. But that gave the overseer the chance to order her other slave to stand between her and the angry fighter. Lily hestitated. At the overseer’s command, the slave prepared to attack. We could see the fear in her eyes.   Before the slave could try anything, another voice called out from outside the room, teasingly telling the overseer not to get the pretty slave killed. The overseer’s sister came in, her eyes lighting up at our all-female party. She was particularly intrigued with Claudia and me. But for the fight, she fixated on Lily, sensing something strange about her. She challenged the werewolf to a one-on-one duel, completely unaware of what she was getting herself into. Concerned that the overseer would try something while the duel was going on, I cast Prayer of Protection on myself and everyone near me, including the male slave. Since Lily was outside my reach, the spell did not violate the terms of the duel. The sister cast a spell to reveal Lily’s true nature. Realizing she was about to fight one of Valkyng’s chosen warriors, she regretted the challenge, but could not back out without losing face. The battle was short and brutal, with Lily gaining the upper hand quickly. But she also lost control and nearly killed the sister. We still needed to learn what the dark elves were doing with the dragon and the strange machine. I called on Valkyng’s help and used my Divine Voice to calm Lily. She backed away to let the rest of deal with the elves.   The overseer knew when she was beat. After losing to surface dwellers like this, she could not return to her own people. While she refused to tell us anything about the elves’ plans, she did agree to free all her slaves in exchange for the opportunity to escape into exile. The sister, on the other hand, was more than willing to give up everything, provided members of our party were willing to have sex with her. Claudia and Lily agreed. The sister told us that the elves had been gathering the dragon’s essence and distilling it into a highly addictive and dangerous powder that they planned to sell to drug dealers on the surface. We all decided quickly that this was far beyond something we could handle. Brie went back up to the surface to send for the Queen’s Daggers to come take control of the situation. While we waited for their arrival, we freed the slaves and the evidence.   This was certainly not what we expected when we headed up that mountain, but it was quite the spectacular way to end the problem of the bronze dragon.  

I received a message from Brie, asking me to meet her and Mari at the Cracked Cauldron. When I arrived, I found Claudia there with her new "friend", Lily. Mari has also brought a new companion, another Arcane Blade named Willow. Bree shocked us all with her newest crazy idea. She's been feeling the pressure to get married and start making babies, and she wants to go on one last quest before she's forced to settle down. And it turned out she's found herself another Epic Quest. As if destroying the Mad Tower, cracking the sky, and bringing back the gryphons wasn't enough, now she had the idea to break the curse on Eagle's Keep. She thinks she's found a way to do it, too. It was well known that the Curse was an unfortunate combination of spells that resulted in the stonification of every keltori and elysorri present at the battle. To break it, we're going to need to gather a few things. The first being a magical item called the Wyrd's Bane. We'll need to collect it from the witches in Candlewick. They are normally a pretty friendly bunch, but none of us know if they will be willing to give up something so powerful. Next, we'll need to find a group of dragon cultists who worship an ancient dragon and collect some blood. No big deal, right? Bree also warned us that there are many folks out there who might not be thrilled that we're trying to do this, including a different coven of witches. Just minutes after she said that, a group of witches attacked us! We took them out pretty quickly, but the severity of what we are about to do set in. We gathered our supplies, picked up a few missions from the Adventurer's Guild, and headed out of town.  

I am a child of the Trinity. I carry within me Danu’s loving Grace, Valkyng’s Strength, and the Morrigan’s peace. The Church of the Trinity is all I have ever known, and all that I will ever need.   No one knows who my parents were. I was found, abandoned, on the steps of a church in Lowtown in Starlium. The only father I have ever known was Chesed Aldain. He took me in, placing me with the other orphans from the area. But he took a special interest in me, especially after I started to show a talent with herbs and an inherent understanding of the body. As I grew older, and developed a strong connection to the gods, he offered me training as an acolyte. It wasn’t long before he realized I had a special talent in the Healing Arts.   As much as it pained him to let me go, for he had started to think of me as a daughter, he eventually appealed to the High Church to accept me for training as a Healer Priestess. My affinity for the goddess Danu could not be denied. They assessed my skills, even at the young age of 10 years, and quickly accepted me into their ranks. As I took my place among their students, I chose for myself the name Danari, in honor of the goddess who I felt had led me to Chesed Aldain and the church.   The High Church mainly served the palace and the Queen’s needs. I oft found myself in the presence of Princess Bree and her friend and guardian, Mari. Those two quickly became friends with a young mage named Claudia, daughter of the Arcane Dragon of Vostoria. I’m not sure exactly when or how it happened, but they started to include me in their play and conversations, and soon I found myself to be their friend as well. When the day came that I was inducted into the ranks of the priesthood, all three were there to cheer me on.   And when they decided to start going out on adventures, they asked me to join them. The High Priest, Chesher Greer granted their wish, not wanting to disappoint the young princess. Which is how I found myself the sole person responsible for keeping three high-ranked idiots alive as they found every conceivable way to get themselves killed!   As much as they frustrate me, I love those three idiots.