Liberty Beguiling

Sval exits the tunnels right behind Xan and Dawid, coughing and taking in deep lungfuls of fresh air. As the smoke clears from his eyes, he spots Petros and Mel in battle with another group of mites. Of course, a backup exit. He draws his sword again and braces himself for the fight.

Spluttering and choking on the smoke, Rikrak painstakingly drags himself and the limp kobold in his arms up the final shaft and into the air above, where he sprawls amidst the roots and earth outside, gasping for breath.

Pulling herself and her kobold rescue up the shaft and out into the sunlight, Brim gingerly places the unconscious figure on the ground before turning to see the party of mites a short ways in the distance. With the lot of them starting to turn towards Petros, she wastes no time walking at a brisk pace in their direction. As she approaches the group, she calls out to the crowned leader astride his insectoid steed, " Mean Mister Mite King sir, you have made these kobolds upset. For this action, you will face consequences. I have been asked to kill you. I usually do not like killing, but at the moment I have no strong feelings one way or the other. Surrender. Or don't."

The crowned mite atop the giant insect screams a shrill battle cry in a language that none present understand and charges headfirst towards Petros. The creature's grotesque mandibles clamp down on the man, who barely manages to wedge his blade in between in time. The assault is swiftly followed by a decisive blow from the Mite king's spear that leaves Petros bleeding from a wound that will certainly scar. The rest of the little blue fey cheer and scream with bloodlust, before charging into battle after their leader. Two also head for Petros, one staring at him intensely with its strange bulbous eye, while the other hacks and stabs at his ankles. Petros takes 32 piercing damage to vigour, 1 piercing damage to wounds and 5 slashing damage to wounds, reduced to 30, 1 and 5 by parry, reduced to 26, 1 and 3 by DR, reduced to 24, 1 and 3 by soak -> 5/32 Vigour, 15/16 Wounds, 1 Bleed However, the majority of the mites swarm towards Brimblebread. Some pause to wake their slumbering allies, but six gather around the little goblin stabbing at her with glee. Brimblebread takes 18 piercing damage, reduced to 12 by DR -> 23/35 Vigour Azul's action.

The sounds of the battle begin to echo down the smoke filled tunnel, reaching Azul as he scrambles up the tunnel with a kobold in tow. Realizing that they had been out maneuvered and had left Petros and Brim undefended, Azul digs deep. Yelling in guttural draconic, Azul draws heavily upon his magical reserves. As he utters the draconic words of power a brass fire begins to weave it self around his armor and legs.  After the fire settles, Azul charges forward flames licking the cavern as he runs and climbs his way through the tunnel. The scene outside sets him to rage. Dropping the Kobold unceremoniously to the ground Azul lets out a roar reminiscent of his peoples name sake. Brim surrounded and under assault from all angles, Petros bleeding and taking blows from the mites king. The choice is hard but he could help Petros, there were too many for him to help Brim. Unsheathing his sabre he barrels towards the Mite King jumping as he nears the Fey. Slamming his blade down on the Mite's head he knocking him from his mount. As the fey crumbles to the ground he smashes down with his sabre again. Glaring down at the so called King Azul growls out,   "Stay down".  Looking over to Petros, he says in harsh Hellenic  "Stay strong my friend, the others are coming." Angling his shield he prepares for the onslaught they are sure to bring.

As the smoke finally begins to fill his lungs, Aleixo coughs and splutters, breathing deeply as he finally reaches the air outside and flops Mikmek onto the ground. He gasps for air but grips his shield and spear tight, swaying a little as he stands back to his full height.

Melanthios is already feeling a growing frustration from his magic's continued lack of impact, so the evil eye of the mites only serves to draw him into a furious rage. He begins strumming faster as he circles around the creatures, and the tune becomes marked by percussive beats that seem to emanate from the fey bard's very person. "Ignore my song if you want insects, but you will feel my thunder when it tears through your chests." As the beat kicks in louder, there is a moment where Melanthios appears a full foot taller, and his small antlers suddenly seem to jut out and curve up like a bull's horns. Only his allies nearby see the glamour, and are spurred to clear the way, their steps synchronizing with the encroaching drums. They move just in time as the tune breaks. Melanthios taps out three beats on the surface of his cittern, filling in the silence before his fingers come crashing down on his strings. "BROMIOS!" The full force of the magical percussion erupts from Melanthios with earth shaking force. Grabbles and his blood sucking mount shudder and dig in against the blast, but his assembled forces are crushed and sent flying away like gnats caught in a storm's gale.

Piercing pain along his ribs and warm wetness running down his side spur him to new anger.  Azul was the only of his new friends here he could really count on.  And he wasn't even human.  Am I even human?   His anger fuels him to a new rage as he lashes out at the closes mite with his sword, but misses.  "Argh!"   Blast it Aleixo!  Xan!  Probably off diddling their new toys.

Xan drags himself put of the hole and pulls a spluttering Dawid behind him, they both cough violently from the smoke but Xan, further ahead sees the number of enemies still standing, although boom he had heard seemed to have accounted for a number, judging by the shocked looks in the centre of the raging skirmish.  He summons a spear of ethereal force and hurls it accurately at one of the mites in the group on the fringe of combat, rocking it with the force of the thrust. " Take it to them, heal our friends if needed, but we will do better to kill them as fast as possible ." He calls to Dawid and the others standing about near the tree.

Sval climbs out of the hole, hacking from the smoke and looks around. A concerning number of mites had engaged some of the party and the crowned one was riding on some sort of insect until Azul knocks him to the ground. Still, Brim was alone and outnumbered.  Raising a solitary eyebrow at the decimation caused by Melanthios, he puts on a preternatural burst of speed, he circles the mess of mites and stops as he sees Petros bleeding from a wound in his side. He pulls a vial and presses it into the man's hand. "Drink this and fight on," he says. He continues circling around the fey until he arrives at Brimblebread's side and draws his sword on the king. He takes a final breath of clean air and focuses on the king as the special acid shines dully on his blade.

Moving swiftly and silently, Rikrak stalks the edges of the battlefield, waiting for his opportunity to strike.

Through the haze of her calmed mind and the slew of slashes at her from the mites, Brim's vision coalesces around one specific figure among the thunderwaved chaos: the thorny-crowned head of Mean King Grabbles, bobbing up from beside the hulking insec- no, arachnid - creature in the mob. Swaying forward, indifferent to not just the blows of his subordinates but also literally everything else around her, she raises her crook high over her head, "Allegedly-mean King Grabbles, formerly of that big tree over there, on behalf of a small dragon I met only a day ago, I hereby sentence you to whatever happens after I smack you with this stick," at that moment, the crook crackles with an almost electric thrum of power as a bass-y hum starts to rise in pitch. The sound grows progressively louder, simultaneously increasing in frequency as she concentrates a burst of thunderous energy in the hook of her crook, before grabbing on with a second hand and hopping up in the air. Her face a stone slab of detachment, she brings it down onto the kings face, knocking the crown from his head with a heavy bonk  that immediately thereafter explodes in an echoing BOOM  as the pent up energy reaches a crescendo of explosive proportions.  Both the crown and the king are ragdolled away, bouncing off the ground like a pebble powerfully ploughed into a pond. "Rikrak,"  she says, turning in the direction of the kobold, "Your request for one "Death to Grabbles" has been fulfilled." So caught up in her jubilation is she that she hardly even notices the tick monster bearing down on her...

Grabbles' giant tick, Tickleback lunges at Brim as she sents its master flying, clamping down on the little goblin with powerful jaws and holding her in place as it sucks the blood from her veins. Brimblebread takes 10 points of piercing damage to vigour, reduced to 8 by DR -> 27/35 Vigour. Brimblebread takes 1 point of strength damage and 1 point of constitution damage -> 23/31 Vigour, 15/15 Wounds The remaining mites flood towards Sval, while their injured brethren squeal and flee. One is cut down by Azul, while three others collapse, a trail of their strange grey blood smeared across the grass behind them. Tiny blades flash at the Norscan from all sides, but most merely glance off of his chainmail. Two strike true, one slowed by the ranger's blade, drawing deep rivers of blood. Sval takes 30 points of slashing damage to vigour, reduced to 23 by parry, reduced to 3 by DR -> 19/32 Vigour +4 Adrenaline Surge -> 23/32 Vigour, 12/16 Wounds, 4 Bleed Two more mites strike at Melanthios and Petros, but the bard evades the clumsy stab with ease, while Petros neatly casts the attack aside with his rapier. Azul's action.

Seeing the Mites arrayed in front of him Azul takes a deep breath and unleashes a torrent of flame from his snout. Two of the mites are able to evade the worst of it but the one in front of Azul takes the inferno's full brunt. Burning the mite to the point it's features are entirely disfigured.  Exhaling smoke from his nostril Azul turns his head to the King's mount that is attempting to leech Brim's blood. Brim's struggles with the beast make it difficult to hit, sensing his intent Sofia leaps from his shoulder. Flying low directly at the monster's face. The beast looks up for a brief moment, distracting it for long enough to Azul to slash out with his sabre. Unfortunately the beast's exoskeleton proves hard to pierce.

Seeing his companions in the thick of battle, and poor Brim in the clutches of the tic, Aleixo sucks in as much air as he can, swallowing down a cough and, breath held, runs into battle, leaping as he reaches the end of the run and thrusting his spear forwards into the giant creature. It lands true, levering it off of Brim and sending it flying backwards. Aleixo raises his shield, clearly struggling for air but now sucking it in and standing a little taller. "Form the line! Don't let them break it!"

Continuing his string of aggressive notes, Melanthios turns to the bloated tick on the other side of the melee. He mutters lyrics that only the arachnid can hear, but the ugly creature manages to resist the dread that Melanthios has tried to inspire in it.

Swigging the potion handed to him by Sval on instinct, he simultaneously--and to his enemy, quite unexpectedly--stabs out with his rapier at the closest mite, slicing through his clothing, just missing drawing blood.  As the liquid slides down his throat, the aromatics hit his nostrils, giving him the sense of flowers in good tilled earth.  And then the pain hits him in the stomach like a stab from his dagger.  What in hades!?! Sval's probably with Aleixo and Xan.  Probably trying to undermine me in front of everyone.

Feeling better after getting clear if the smoke Xan calls out to Sval, " Hold on, we are here!" He through a pulse of healing light as he calls for divine aid, the powers responding with enough strength to help his comrade's freely bleeding wound knit itself together. With his energy bubbling away, the adrenalin pushing it on he lashes out breaking a ball of magical thunder in two and launching each new orb at a foe. The first strikes the large creature that Aleixo has stabbed at to save little Brim but its hefty exoskeleton protects it, the mite Petros had attacked didnt fare as well, the orb catching it unaware, smacking it in the side of the head, rattling it's brain. " Dawid! Light them up, like we planned. " Xan shouts over to his apprentice who hesitantly steps up and holding out his hands gestures and Xan feelsthe transfer of energy. Looking over to the battle he sees three mites limed in a blue flame, causing no harm but distracting them and making it easier for his allies to target, as Xan watches though the flame die out on one of the mites as he manages to resist Dawid's new found strength. " Xan I did it, see?!" The young half elf is lit up by a smile and Xan raises a fist in celebration of his success. " Now keep your eyes open, it is far from done here."

With his wounds stitching together from Xan's healing magic, Sval turns on the other mite that had harmed him. His sword bites through the flesh of the mite's face, leaving blue flesh hanging loosely from bone. Dark green eyes stare down into the Mite's busted face as the acid on his blade eats away the flesh. One word escapes the Norscan's lips -- some parting advice: "Run."

Quick as a flash and yet somehow also in slow motion, Rikrak crosses the grass between him and Grabbles' wretched, unconscious body. The mite king's crown of thorns lies broken and discarded on the ground besides him. Blade in hand, the dusky little kobold grabs his foe by one oversized ear and lifts him from the ground. "For the Sootscales!!!" Rikrak crows victoriously in draconic as he plunges his weapon into Grabbles' throat with a squirt of blue-grey gore.

Seeing the kobold triumphantly execute the now- former -king of the mites fills Brim with an incredibly whelming sense of indifference. Immediately turning back to the tick that had mere moments ago snatched her in its jaws and attempted to exsanguinate her, she jabs it at once more with her crook. As the curved staff makes contact, it explodes with a weak burst of light, only emphasized by a sudden, much larger explosion of light that careens in just moments shy of preempting her attack. In the distance, Dimi gives a small wave and nod to his little green mentor.

Tickleback lunges at its assailant, biting weakly at Brimblebread, but this time failing to trap her within its jaws. The giant insect staggers and sways before finally crumpling to the ground in a heap. A wailing cry goes up from amongst the ranks of the mites as Rikrak executes their king and the few that remain flee into the hills, some collapsing from their wounds after just a few feet.

Aleixo charges after the fleeing mites, skewering one with his spear, slicing him nastily and throwing him forwards. He stares down another waiting for an opportunity to strike. 

"Are we done here?" Melanthios says with disinterest. He steps closer to Sval and changes his tune into a more soothing melody, giving the Norscan a boost of fey energy. 

As the mites flee and Aleixo rushes after them to steal the glory of the final kills, Petros pulls his crossbow up to his shoulder from the sling it hangs on, takes aim, and fires, but the trigger mechanism jams.  'Damn it all to hades!"  he yells, throwing the crossbow to the ground in frustration.

" Easy there, it happens to the best of us" Xan says as he arrives at Petros' shoulder. Reaching up to his shoulder he releases a strong pulse of pure, warm , healing magic that floods the other Aasimar's body, revitalising him. "It looks as though we have won the day, I should see if others need my skills too. Well done for holding them with Meli until we got back to you."

Julian M. said: "Are we done here?" Melanthios says with disinterest. He steps closer to Sval and changes his tune into a more soothing melody, giving the Norscan a boost of fey energy.  Sval nods to the bard in silent thanks and shakes his head. "We can't let them escape."  He gives chase and cuts another mite down, sending bluish-green blood spraying across the ground.

Tearing Grabbles' head from its shoulders with a sickening crunch, Rikrak stalks over to Petros, dragging the grisly trophy along by one ear behind him. "Grabbles dead. Put fire out. We go get Old Sharptooth."

"You have the victory you sought, Sir Rikrak the Mitey. If you feel you need sharp teeth I will say that they're not that special,"  she opens her mouth and cranes her head up a bit, allowing a good view of her jagged, yellowed jaw. "They are very capable of chewing, I suppose. So let's go."

The mites squeal in pain as they are cut down and run for the hills, pitifully trying to clamp down on wounds that spurt blue-grey blood. In most cases, this is a lost cause, failing to even prolong the inevitable as one-by-one the wretched fey creatures fall down in the grass.

"Yes, Rikrak.  Let's go.  Lead the way, friend."

Seeing the fight is over Azul gathers his energy and begins to extinguish the flames

"Don't flee you cowards!" Aleixo begins running after the mites, dropping his spear he spins at the end of his run, shifting his shield above his head and releasing as he reaches a full turn sending the shield flying through the air. It wobbles as it flies but hits straight into the back of a mite with a sickening crunch. 

Sval chases down another mite and cuts the little fey across its back as it flees. The empty void in his chest surges with energy as the mite lets out a pitiful yelp.

Rikrak returns to the Old Sycamore, crouching besides the entrance to check on the four kobold prisoners recovered from beneath it. Mikmek is weak, but alive and gradually catching his breath. The poor kobold's scales are pocked and marked with injuries. The other three lie limp and unmoving, sprawled on the bed of roots at the foot of the tree where their rescuers left them. Each has obviously seen significant harm at the hands of the mites. Rikrak looks down at them sadly as he sits with Mikek waiting for the smoke to dissipate. "Taknak, Gekgek, Kiklik," he intones with a shake of his head. "No Sootscale die in vain. Old Sharptooth come home today ."

Brim heads over to Rikrak, leaning down to lay her hands on Mikmek and imbue the small kobold with a surge of healing energy.

The three remaining mites continue to clutch at their wounds as they flee. Two more collapse on the hillside, while the lone survivor runs frantically through the grass.

Aleixo walks forward, picking up his shield and spear, flicking them up into his han with his foot. He looks out at the final fleeing mite with a look that just says he can't be bothered. " All yours Sval." He laughs 

Xan channels his energy into stopping the fire under the tree, while Dawid goes to the kobold sprawled  on the floor, quickly looking over them he shouts over to his teacher " Xan, are they supposed to feel cold, I  don't know anything about these creatures!" 

Sval sighs at Aleixo's indifference and gives chase. The little fucker was fast, no doubt about it. Unfortunately for the mite, Sval was faster. Even still, the blue-skinned creature nearly evades Sval's charging blow. But the blood-slicked blade cuts deep into blue skin. The mite crumples to the ground.  The tiny creature's raspy breath brought Sval back out of his near trance-like state. A quick, precise plunge of the blade and the tiny lungs emptied, never to fill again. As he walks back to the group, he ends the suffering of several more of the mites, wondering if the group had done the right thing here, and eventually coming to the conclusion that it didn't matter. If Rikrak and his ilk had lied to secure the party's allegiance, then he would simply kill them too.  Breathing heavily but mostly uninjured, he returns to the group near the tree. As he does so, he sees that the bandits they had left at the entrance were nowhere to be found. "Our friends have fled," Sval says, pointing to where they should be standing. It appeared they had also stolen two horses. He moves back to the where the horses were tied and examines the trodden ground with more than a little righteous anger in his heart. Now these bandits had a second chance to wreak their havoc, and he had been persuaded to give it to them.  "Hmmm..." His lips buzz with the utterance as he searches fruitlessly for tracks. The ground was a mess, with hoof prints cluttering the earth like the bodies at the orgy back near Appolis. He kicks a small stone in frustration. "Fuck."

As Sval shouts out that their friends had fled, Petros curses under his breath and starts calculating how far they could have gotten.  Trying to remember when he had seen them last, he springs into action, trying to climb the huge tree to gain a vantage from which to spy the fleeing cowards.  Unfortunately, the huge tree is not as easy to climb as it might first look.  All the breanches are far overhead and the huge trunk is so large in diameter it was like climbing a wall with almost no handholds.  "Fuuuuck!" Petros shouts in continued frustration.  He had completely lost whatever cool he had once pretended to have.

The wind whistles between the branches of the old sycamore and after a few more long moments the smouldering embers amongst the roots fade and go out. As the air clears, so to doeos the red mist that hangs in the minds of those affected by the mites' evil and Brimblebread finds herself no longer affected by Melanthios's charm.

It takes a moment for Azul to regain his breath after the last of the flames die down. It had taken significant effort for Xan & Azul to create the flames and then slowly manage to disperse them. A smile crosses his snout, this endeavor went much better than his last encounter with the Mites. He had expected disaster not an decisive route and the death of the Mite's king.  Though his smile fades when his companions mention that the cowardly bandits had run. He looks through Sofia's eyes for a moment hoping to catch sight of them but they were beyond even the owls keen eyes.   Looking to Rikrak he grunts in guttural draconic "Let's retrieve your blade and see this day end."

Rikrak leads the way back into the mite warrens that run beneath the Old Sycamore. Down through the workshop and the torture chamber, until the tunnel ends at a deep and ominous chasm that splits the passage. The chasm is a few yards wide, and twice as deep, but thick ropes of tangled roots fill the entire area. The passage continues on the far side of the chasm, and between the two ledges, numerous loops have been tied into the roots to serve as hand- and footholds.

As they start making their way down into the tree, Brim feels the effects of the charm finally wear off. There's a moment where she continues walking, unrealizing, before a sudden wave of recognition washes over her. She stops in place, her eyes widening until they're almost bulging out, her green complexion turning over white. "Oh. Ohhh no. Oh my gosh. Ohhh no I- wha- what did I- why did I-"  She drops to her knees and clutches at her head, pulling the sides of her wide-brimmed hat down around her ears, " I did a bad thing, " she mutters.  "I did a bad thing! Sir Azul I did such a bad thing oh no no no I didn't mean to oh my gosh what do I do!?"  She sits shaking on the ground, looking frantically at Rikrak and Azul with desperation welling up alongside the tears in her eyes as she rocks back and forth.

Azul tries and fails at suppressing a growl as they reaches the chasm. Of course the Fey's home would have a cockamamie set up, nothing can be simple when it comes to the Mites. Eyeing the chasm he spots the handholds and sets his mind to the task. Sheathing his blade and strapping his shield to his back. Grasping the first handheld, he hears a mournful shriek. Azul grasps the hilt of his blade and spins towards the noise, his brass scales ruffling in surprise. Which is further amplified when he sees Brim huddled on the ground sobbing. His amethyst eyes widen in discomfort, as he listens to the goblin's words. Even among his own people, who trend towards stoicism Azul was not known for his emotional warmth. Walking towards the Goblin, Azul awkwardly lays his hand on Brim's shoulder. Looking down for a second as he tries to find words, his guttural voice coming out softer than normal "You have done nothing wrong Brim, you held up formidably against the Mite's magic. You did not harm any of your allies, you did good my friend. You stayed focus while fighting magic that has sent many into a frenzy killing foe and ally alike." Azul's scales scrunch a mixture of shame and uncertainty evident on his face, his other hand quickly moving away from his hilt as he quietly speaks "You handled their eye far better than myself." Pausing his eyes glancing first at his sabre before focusing intently on the ground, his voice shaky "I lost control. The Mite's magic pushed me into a fury and I slew a fellow caravan guard. The man had always been annoyance but the Mite's magic twisted and amplified that annoyance." Patting Brim on the shoulder  he moves back towards the chasm and says "you did good Brim, you defended your people."

The dragonborn's hand brings a small bit of comfort to the small goblin. She sucks in air rapidly, her breathing becoming more shallow as the tears well up more, "B-b-but I got all angry! And I-I-I k-kille-" she can barely bring herself to say the word than she feels a lump form in her throat that she forces herself to swallow down. "I-I'm a f-failure, Sir Azul! I had one thing I w-was s-s-supposed to do and now... n-now goblins will never..."  she pulls her hat down, burying her face in it. A barely-muffled cry of anguish fills the room as she sobs harder. It takes a minute or so before her breathing starts to calm and she pulls the hat down, holding it tight to her chest as she sits scrunched up in a little ball on the ground. "...I'm sorry Sir Azul. I'm s-sorry Rikrak. I don't wanna hold up the mission. I promised you we'd stop King Grabbles and get Old Sharptooth back. A-at the very least, let me help you do that still. I-if you want me gone after that I'll understand."  she slowly picks herself up, wiping some snot and tears off her face with her sleeve before sliding the hat back over her messy hair, its black tip notably sitting bent to the side now.

As Petros's seething frustration melts away as if by magic, his shoulders loosen and he takes a deep breath.   "I-I'm a f-failure, Sir Azul! I had one thing I w-was s-s-supposed to do and now... n-now goblins will never..." he hears Brim say right behind him.  He lets the goblin finish before turning.   "Brim....you don't....you're with us...if you want to be.  And Goblins?  You don't carry the weight of your entire race on your shoulders. And they aren't...Goblins aren't hated because they kill things.  They're hated because they're different.  People think they are ugly.  And they are poor, and poor people do what they have to to survive. And....well, it doesn't matter.  You are Brim.  You aren't "that goblin."  Now straighten your hat and let's finish this."

"...I'm u-ugly, too?" She looks back down as more tears start to well up that she tries her best to stifle. "Sorry Sir P-Petros, I promise I won't slow you down any more."

Laughing loudly, and smiling broadly, Petros claps Brim on the shoulder.  "Brim, I don't think I've ever met an ugly lass.  And you're no exception."   Pausing, Petros continues.  "When I first drank a strong brown liquor at the house of this especially buxo...well, never you mind that.  When I first tried this, it burned my tongue and I thought it tasted foul.  But since that day, I've had much more of this drink.  Different strengths.  Different barrels to age it in.  Hades, I've even had some that tasted like it was in a burning building, the smoke was so thick.  But now it's one of my favorite drinks.  It's complex and subtle after the initial punch.  And even that has faded over time and I've found the more punch, the more flavor.  Anyway.  No, you aren't ugly.  If people think you are, it's just cause they aren't use to you.  That's all.  Now let's get going."