Harmony Session 27: The Storm Speaks

Amid the blackening storm on the Singing Bay, Azarki Kevin-Kevin sat upon his newly summoned steed, tall and bright in defiance of the coming storm. He had just invoked an Ancient-Old rite to challenge a Keshloamic God as shown to him by The Evervoice, the intensely powerful force of energy that seemed to course through every atom of Vardura. Here, on the shores of Echwink's Landing, Azarki was about to face the avatars of Kogos that have been hunting The Suckhole Six since they got here.   Uul, chosen of Kogos, summoned his five champions to meet Azarki's challenge: a storm boar, a water elemental, a storm maiden, and two thunder-wielding Selachii... one being Kharlo the Catalyst himself.   Expressing regret at his involvement in the situation (wrong place, wrong time), Kharlo reminded Azarki of the tenets of Exigency before the menacing Uul cut him off and they attacked.  

Blood on the Sand

  The rest of the Suckhole Six rushed in behind Azarki, quickly responding to his warning cry as he ran through town. They watched Azarki defy the storm in a moment of truly heroic cinema before he got completely slammed and consumed by the massive water elemental. The Six rushed in and joined the fray, but were soon blasted backwards as the water elemental exploded outward from Azarki. The cleric was glowing with white hot light and his mouth was open in song. Azarki had reached out to The Evervoice and co-opted that available power to blast his enemies backwards and free himself.   Zoran took a queue and whipped out his bone flute, turned big, then slid on his knees across the sand while blasting out a tune to the Evervoice. He felt the familiar rush of strength as the Evervoice shared its bounty and joined the buffening of Azarki's work.   Enno rushed forward to meet Uul on the shoreline while Enoch very cleverly brought the storm maiden down with a dispel magic. Azarki found himself singing a sea shanty from his childhood about the Vastblasters, which the God of Exigency seemed to greatly enjoy. In fact, he was outright smiling as he reveled in the nostalgia of a brutal combat in a raging storm.   Tenkhi the Stormtooth advanced up the beach shocking the Six while the stormboar cut a sheet of glass across the sand in a streak of lightning. The Bay started boiling and churning with the fall of the storm maiden as the water elemental soared back into the fray. Malachai's gun misfired and the sea began to boil. The avatars of Kogos were rallying against the Six and their Evervoice-empowered abilities. The fight was far from over.  

Stars in the Eyes

  Gorr observed this whole situation with a very interesting perspective. The starberries he had consumed from Shogo vu Chullat's garden were apparently hallucinogenic, casting the avatars of Kogos in monstrous form. Gorr saw Kharlo and the other Selachii as black fangs in the jaws of a great beast. Uul appeared an incomplete soul, an unfinished storm. He was all dark thunderclouds and no lightning, half a storm roiling in half a soul. Above, the black clouds wore the face of an old and angry man screaming out thunder: Kogos, God of the Storm. His wild black hair and beard swirled and twisted into the thunderheads that covered the sky. A dark blood red glow infused every brutal image Gorr saw.   But something kept the worst of the storm from hitting them: a shimmering wall of force stood vertically along the shoreline pushing back against Kogos. It seemed to be holding, but weakened and bent with every flash of lightning. The same shimmer infused the tentacles of power that burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around Azarki and Zoran. Gorr knew this was the Evervoice and watched the white-hot tendrils block blows from hitting Azarki's head and lend its strength to his shield arm. Gorr could see the physical form of the music as it poured from Azarki's mouth and spilled out into enemies and allies alike. This vast show of deific power was incredibly overwhelming for the young swampkin as he tried to make sense of the chaos.   The battle continued. Yielding to Kharlo's taunting, Zoran dropped his flute in favor of his blade. Enno, who Gorr saw as a great tree, was felled by a devastating blow from Uul. Hands of electricity began to crawl from the water and onto the beach as the disappated storm maiden found a way to contribute. And then, the world exploded.   A bright flash of light and sound erupted once again from Azarki, but a hundredfold in power. The cleric had been unable to hold the power of the Evervoice in check and it swelled into him, consuming his gifts and enacting her terrible will upon their foes. The cleric's familiar rock-shaped spiritual weapon began to shift and grow into a huge humanoid golem of red-black burning stone. This visage of the Evervoice stormed across the beach, slapping aside the champions of Kogos like they were toys. Everyone but Gorr and Malachai were knocked unconscious in the chaos and they watched the power of the Evervoice fade, tired and spent with the effort. The storm quieted, but the black clouds still rolled across the sky.  

Old Cloud Yells at Man

  After the Six got to their feet, they noticed that Kogos' clouds remained, though their roiling and raging had quieted. Out in the middle of the Singing Bay now stood an old man in tattered rain-beaten clothes leaning on a staff. Wild black hair flew about his face in an unseen wind and he scowled at the heroes. "Well," said Kogos, God of the Storm, "Name your boon."   Apparently, Azarki's invoking of an ancient-old rite of challenge and perservering had earned a boon from the Keshloamic god. Kogos scoffed at Azarki's ignorance and mockingly offered to, "Answer ye questions three?" in lieu of whatever the cleric might offer. Azarki accepted and proceeded to try interrogating the cagey god. First, he asked why gods couldn't be on Vardura. Kogos told him that the The Decree Against Foreign Discord had been more than some document of warning, but a powerful spell that shieleded the continent from deific interference. The shimmering barrier along the coast, of which Kogos seemed somewhat wary, was still in tact, but was weakening considerably with the Decree's expiration. Soon, the magic would wane entirely and their reach would extend wherever belief took them.   Second, Azarki asked why the god was angry with the Expedition and the exploration of Vardura. He told Azarki that they were messing with forces beyond their knowledge or control, that the Evervoice wasn't just some force of the land, but an ancient-old power with a will of its own. Their being here right now is what the Vardurans, and the Evervoice, wants. After all, why write an expiration into the Decree Against Foreign Discord at all?   Third, Azarki implored Kogos to release Kharlo the Catalyst. The God laughed at this and told Azarki that Kharlo was only beholden to the tenets of Exigency. Kharlo was not a being with a will of his own, but a force of nature now. Azarki himself held more control over Kharlo than Kogos could ever hope to again.   With that, Kogos fucked off hard, telling the Suckhole Six to enjoy their reprieve, "for now." The storm immediately began to clear to reveal a beautiful landscape of stars above. Only then did Pyotr, Yusuf Kevin-Kevin, and the guard on the tower arrive to reinforce the heroes. Azarki scooped up a handful of sand stained with the avatar juice left behind by Kharlo and the Six retired to the camp for a long rest.  

Dreamsong

  Gorr's time with the starberries was not over, however. Unlike the rest of his edible arsenal, starberries impact the dreams of the consumer. For Gorr, this resulted in an out-of-body experience where he soared above the small continent of Vardura. He could clearly see every region from this angle. Vardura was nearly bursting with stories of the land and Gorr knew all he had to do was focus to learn more. He shrank his expansive focus down to Ferrous Forest and sent his consciousness along the life paths of the great trees into the past.   The Forest as it existed under Varduran rule revealed itself to him. Thousands of denizens hummed along together, working in near perfect unision to the purpose of the land. This was the realm of Bemestar, Song of Production and Master of Conjuration. Through his leadership, he produced the majority of resources for the Varduran Symphony and led distribution efforts across the continent. It was under his direction that the megafoot were cultivated and folded into the symphony as great laborers and fierce warriors. The entire population sang along with the Evervoice in perfect harmony, living the Symphony with every atom of their body. Gorr could feel the love, satisfaction, and peace that oozed along the currents of the Evervoice and he watched the Symphony play out. He couldn't help but think of his brief time in the acid ant nest watching the creatures swarm about their terrible queen in perfect unison.   And play out it did, to a destructive and violent end. Gorr heard a crescendo swell through time, building tension and drama. Suddenly, the climax of the piece broke over the land like a wave of fire, blasting the land apart with indiscriminate destruction. The Vardurans died not screaming, but singing, as the Song of Justice played his wicked part here at the end of the Second Movement. The dream ended.  

Lost in the Woods

  The following morning began with the standard reporting process on the Suckhole Six's activities to the leadership of the camp: Ivin Ivinson, Walden Echwink, and Amintolous "Minty" Xallanich. The Six didn't hide anything in their debriefing (unlike when returning from Swango Swamp) and were able to communicate the existence of Dr. Scully, her allegiance with the megafoot, and their desire to not enter into conflict with the camp so they can focus on beating back the maizegrown-grown rockwoods to the east. Gorr implored a solution to the unresolved centipede infestation while Malachai informed them of the buried teleportation gate in the Temple of 1,000 Legs. During his interview though, Zoran suggested a very Panoptic method of dealing with the "extraplanar threat" of the megafoot: total annihilation.