An Explosive Arrival
| An Explosive Arrival | |
|---|---|
| Date | 3/8/25 |
| Storyteller | Slayzo |
| Tier | Trainee |
| Player Characters | Swaying Petals, Quill, Crows |
| Rewards | 275 xp, 25 g (each) |
| Result | Success? |
| Author | Swaying Petals (Cloyster) |
| Downtime | 1 |
(Associates fight the explosive Caligni at the underground crossroads)
Log
We were given a job by Biloko, the Gate Guardian Ambassador (he’s still working on his title), to help stop some people who are called the Caligni who were attacking the crossroads. I don’t know much about what goes on down here in the caves, but it’s a lot more active than I thought! Quil, Crows, and I (we seem to be forming a repeated team, how exciting!), went through Biloko’s … let’s say humble abode down into a dark tunnel that led to a cave with a rusty, blood covered gate. In the cave there was Biloko the Bugbear by a campfire, Reggie a book-reading skull, Soil a poison selling serpent-person, and several more serpent-people that were guarding the gate. Biloko greeted us but he didn’t seem too impressed. Crows talked with Reggie, teaching her glowing-trail spell in exchange for knowledge on the Caligni. I was also going to ask him a question but I lost my nerve. Reggie is a fiend, not undead, but I couldn’t think of any pressing questions that seemed worth it. Biloko told us to head down to the crossroads and help the defence there hold off people called the Caligni, who seemed to explode upon death, hence the blood covered gate (eeeew!). Biloko said they are sort of like a tall gnome and that they jump out of the dark to stab people.
We set off down the tunnel, with Crows casting Light on us to allow us to see in the darkness. We made our ways to the crossroads and heard fighting, so we approached. We saw a row of underground soldiers holding the line against the attacking Caligni. The group was hit by a blast of disorientating shadow magic, as two Caligni holding daggers and one holding two swords ran across the wall around the defense, only to be met by us. And what happened? The First guy with the knives jumped out of the dark and stabbed me! Eek, just like I was warned! They all had some sort of poison on their blades, but luckily we were resilient enough to ignore it! (or maybe they cheaped out on the poison, should have bought from Soil I guess). The Caligni seemed to be blinded by the light we emitted thanks to Crows, so we had that advantage until the female Caligni with two swords casted darkness on us! It was scary being blinded! Crows counteracted it only for that Caligni to cast darkness again! While these two assassin types were trying to shank us, Quill tried to swing back but had trouble in the darkness. They at least were able to make the Caligni suffer by commanding them to kneel, which they never did. The assassins kept looking over to the one with two swords, who was upset that they hadn’t killed us yet. Crows finally finished off one with a daze, and after flanking Quill managed to kill the second one. But the last Calingi used the cover of darkness to critically strike Quill. I wildly fired a heal spell towards them and tried to rush into the darkness to help, but the last thing I remember were two swords coming down on my head!
As I came to, it was complete darkness but someone was shaking me awake. It was an underground soldier from the defensive line who had come over to check on us. I heard Quill’s voice next to me, so I knew they were alright. I could see Crow’s familiar Serenity too, but Crows was nowhere to be found. Quill and I spotted his signature green trail glowing and leading down the path to the gate. The soldier was confused by our appearance so we told him we were from the surface to help, and he laughed at us! I said we tried our best! Around us, the two Caligni bodies had exploded, but there was no sign of the one with two swords. He left us and as Quill and I were both gravely injured, I sat next to Quill for a while as we healed and hoped that Crows would return to us. We healed each other and as thanks I gave them my sunflower seed to munch on.
Crows eventually did return but he was being followed by the Caligni who downed me and Quill! Crows gradually filled us in on the details; Crows, seeing how the battle was going, tried to go for peace. He stabilized me and Quill, then gave the Caligni a sky-blue marble as a peace offering. They didn’t share a language, so Crows led her back to the Gate and got Soil to act as a translator. The Caligni are attacking as they believe that no one should be allowed to leave the underground and the other underground tribes teaming up are hurting the Caligni. Crows said people should be free to move and that seeking battle would end poorly for them. After a pause, they eventually worked out that the Caligni would deliver a message back to her people in an attempt for peace. The Caligni was intrigued by the marble whose color she had never seen before.
Back at the crossroads, Crows tried to convince the soldier to let the Caligni through the blockade. The soldier was dismissive towards Crows’ insistence on peace, but thankfully let the nervous Caligni through the blockade to return. I think Crows did a really good thing, as everyone deserves a chance of redemption. One thing is for sure, I do not like it down here! No sun and some people are mean! We returned to Biloko, who was not impressed by our performance, but we kept the enemies from flanking the soldiers, at least! We still got paid, but that certainly was a tough mission! I’m going to lay out in the sun for a while to recover.