Harmony Session 33: A Bird in Hand

We last left our heroes traversing Ferrous Forest guided by screegull friend, Bonnie. The bird was taking them to Scott Screegullbeard, erstwhile Windblown adventurer thought slain in the Temple of 1,000 Legs. After a brief conversation about potentially abandoning their sidequest, the Six agreed to continue on into the strange situation.   It wasn't long before a vicious pack of displacer beasts chased down the fast-moving Ashblaster and attacked the interlopers. It was not an easy fight, but the Hole Suckers managed to come out the other side no worse for the wear. After that though, the Forest became strangely quiet. The Six spent three days traveling without much of anything happening. Malachai decided to speak with plants and ask the locals what's up, but the good Dr. Cornflower assured him that there was no danger for miles. Wherever this eerie peace was coming from, it was apparently keeping them safe as they traveled. On the evening of the fourth day, they reached Screegull Grove.  

Divinely-Enlarged Godchild

  The first thing our heroes noticed were the increased number of screegulls. The large birds bounced from tree to tree, occasionally squawking at each other in conversation. Near the back of the grove sat a gigantic nest. As they approached, Scott Screegullbeard himself poked his head out and greeted his guests. He looked quite alive and quite well, despite the Six having attended his funeral. Something was very strange though; he referred to himself as "we" and often took a long time to respond, especially in regards to his memory. As for the help he needed, a live Rockwood popped out of Scott's nest next and timidly approached the Six with its head held low. It was the one that had escaped them above the Woodsman's Garage.   The Rockwood emitted low, sonorous tones that served as speech, but none could understand except for the resident maizegrown, Dr. Malachai Husk. The Rockwood supplicated itself before him and began to apologze for attacking a "Divinely-Enlarged Honored Godchild." The Six already knew that the Rockwoods had been created by the maizegrown to enter Ferrous Forest and apparently this one was quite mortified it had directed violence towards one of its creators.   The Rockwood explained that it had been on a mission to scout out Ferrous Forest when the Woodsman and its accompanying adventurers had been spotted. Identifying the construct as clear and present danger, it made an executive decision to attack and destroy the weapon. The Rockwood realized too late that a he had attacked maizegrown (his being nearly twice their traditional size was quite confusing) and fled. Eventually, Scott found the distraught Rockwood and took pity on the wretched creature, bringing it to his home to recover. Knowing Malachai needed to speak to the Rockwood, Scott sent Bonnie after the Six to see if the heroes would help him resolve the situation and send it home.   After unloading on Malachai, the Rockwood seemed significantly better, as if a great weight was lifted off its chest. It seemed positively excited to return to Cornien, the ancestral home of the maizegrown, and report on Malachai's existence. It would be summarily executed for its attempted murder, but the Rockwood seemed fine with it, reassured that at least it would see the incredible stalks of Cornien before it was done. Vardura suddenly felt a lot smaller.  

What's a Body?

  Further conversing with Scott brought a few disturbing revelations to light. One, he confirmed that Pestus and Byzix definitely left them all to die in the Temple of 1,000 legs, running from the centipede attack and blocking the entrance. Scott had only escaped because his screegulls carried him out through tunnels in the ceiling. They had nursed Scott back to health, but then something strange happened. Their relationship had always been symbiotic, and felt even stronger after the tragedy in the Temple. The screegulls and Scott could now communicate through emotion, intent, and The Evervoice. Their connection had started to become muddy and mixed together, and made it difficult to tell where Scott ended and the gulls began. One day, the flock noticed that Scott was no longer there. His body was, which the gulls seemed adept at piloting without him, but his soul seemed to have been "sucked off". The birds could still access his memories and language, but the adventurer himself was no longer in there.   The Six then debated the ethics of what to do with Scott's body in this situation. Gorr didn't understand what the big deal was. The swampkin knew this form he wore, his "body", was simply a vessel for his current assembly of consciousness; why would Scott's body, now host to a slightly different assembly, be any different? Dr. Malachai Husk, heartily agreed with his photosynthetic friend, even suggesting that they take Scott's Evervoice-boosted body back to camp and use it as a conduit to better channel that power! He then doubled-down on this take, claiming that Scott's body "belongs in a museum!" and they should take him to the Bari Historical Society for exhibition and study.   An argument was also made to bring Scott back to camp and use his testimony to hold Pestus and Byzix Flintclaw accountable for their crimes. Although compelling, Scott couldn't provide evidence of the assault beyond what his screegull-addled brain could remember. The Six again revisited the idea of taking justice into their own hands and resolved to continue the conversation later. They placed a bolt down in the grove and finally got some sleep.  

A Scree Scree There

  In the morning they said goodbye to the Rockwood. The creature was all smiles, pleased to have made amends with Malachai and resolved to return to Cornien for his just execution. Scott and the Screegullbeards gifted the Suckhole Six what few material possessions he still had. The adventurers thanked their host, boarded the Ashblaster, and started west.   Azarki expertly led them through the trees toward home. Is that what Echwink's Landing was now? Home? As the giant Ironwoods sped by, he was reminded of his time on the decks of the Kevin-Kevin merchant vessels as they parted the massive waves of The Vast. Or was that home? The Everskiff sped toward Echwink's Landing bearing a greater burden than any treasure. Their return, and the things they would share (and not share) would most certainly change things in the camp, and permanently. This group of strangers was no longer just part of an adventurers' guild, but leaders of a community. Champions. Heroes. If they were to take responsibility for the things they knew and wanted, this would not only challenge the authority of the camp, but the investors' interests. And if they sought justice against His Masons? Well, that could bring the entire might of The Reconstitution down upon their heads. What would stop them from trying to take revenge here on lawless Vardura?   If Echwink's Landing was now home, did that mean anything? Or would their likely actions this chisel the idea into stone? There were choices ahead of them, inside each individually and together as a group. What exactly did they care about here? Ultimately, it would be up to them.   Something strange and dark flashed in the corner of Azarki's eye. Through the trees, a lightless black shimmered in the dusky haze, a darkness on a greater darkness, but within that, a twinkling of stars. They diverted a moment to investigate and found a strange sight: the dessicated corpses of several Rockwoods and the overgrown skeleton of a massive megafoot in a mossy bowl between the trees. Over them stood a massive black void like a tear in reality itself. From their previous experiences, the Six could tell this "rip" led to the Ethereal Plane, in which the megafoot lived and traversed the expanse of Ferrous Forest. Apparently, this battle between the Rockwoods and megafoot had been so violent that it tore open reality itself.   The Six camped nearby and debated what, if anything, they should do with the rift. Malachai asked Zoran if he still had those gate pieces, theorizing that they could build a Varduran gate around this thing and do... something. Zoran told him he threw those things away and he shouldn't ever ask about them again. They resolved to put a bolt down and report what they had discovered.   Over the next 5 days of travel, little danger threatened the Six as they sped through these increasingly traversed lands. They were surprisingly joined by a former companion however, as the screegull Bonnie caught up to them and landed upon the deck. She hoped to stay with them, at least for now, but for what reason, they did not ask. Maybe the Screegullbeards wanted to keep an eye on things, or maybe Bonnie just took a liking to them. Or maybe something within the beast's mind wished to return to the place it once called home.  

Void's End

  On the fifth day, the Ashblaster swept into Echwink's Landing with some serious pomp. A crowd gathered before them, both excited to greet the adventurers and gaze upon the wonder that was the Everskiff. After briefly checking in, the Six began to attend to personal business.   Azarki headed down to the shore to check on his cousin Yusuf Kevin-Kevin and see how his scrimshaw-based exports business was doing. Yusuf greeted his cousin with a briny and shirtless hug. The dwarf's hair hung in clumped braids, choked with salt and tangled in vastbloom. He had lost weight, and his obsession with local scrimshaw art had only increased in proportion. He told Azarki he was better than he had ever been and credited that to the Evervoice. Yusuf then excitedly pulled out a piece of scrimshaw art he had made especially for Azarki. He beamed with pride at the portrait of his cousin, as much as scrimshaw could be turned into a portrait.   Azarki accepted the gift and asked Yusuf for a tour of his little beachfront property that had now become increasingly cluttered with large scrimshaw statues. In the back, somewhat hidden from passing eyes, stood an unfinished work, more refined and accurate than any of Yusuf's other pieces. Azarki could easily see that the finished work would be a 10-foot-tall statue of an increasingly familiar feminine figure clothed in flowing robes, her mouth open in ecstatic song: the Evervoice.    Azarki bid his cousin goodbye and walked away from the beach as Yusuf's enthusastic "I love you!" trailed behind.