Broken+Destiny+Session+92

 ** Session 92** **7-23-2016** **Arrival in Lantan, Posy's Family, and the Undead Attack** Captain Roh'um Ocneia took the companions across the Sea on his ship The Osprey from the island of Evermeet to the islands of Lantan. "Lord Chaat, how do you find the voyage so far?" Roh'um walked up next to Azarius who was looking out across the vast sea. The charismatic sorcerer nodded to his host, "I find it quite peaceful. Normally something happens wherever we go, so it's nice to not have the world coming down on us at the moment." "Indeed the sea is peaceful," the captain agreed, "And this route is usually free of storms this time of year. I've heard that yours is a sea-faring family?" "Yes," Azarius nodded, "The Sea of Falling Stars is where most of our commerce takes place." "Ahh, and how do you find //that// sea?" Capt Ocneia asked. "It seems to have a more pleasant disposition..." Azarius explained, "This sea seems cold, grey, and unforgiving... the Sea of Falling Stars is warm and blue... and it has more islands... there's more to see. This sea is vast and different from what I'm used to." Roh'um nodded, "Certainly it's not pleasant at all when the winter storms come. Normally we don't do much trade with Lantan. They're quite fond of gadgets... less so of magic. Their island is quite a bit south and has a more pleasant climate than some places so they do offer some decent trade." The captain continued to make small talk and then stared for a long moment of silence out into the sea before he finally said, "So I've heard you met my daughter?" "Yes, We've crossed paths on a couple of occasions," the sorcerer answered, his bi-colored eyes meeting the captain's. "And she is well?" Roh'um pressed a little further. "Yes, she seems quite well," Azarius answered nonchalantly, "We've had the opportunity to converse and attempt to learn a little about each other's families. She was... how should I put this? ...I got the feeling that she wasn't quite forthcoming about some things, but I didn't want to push it. We were having a pleasant enough conversation and I didn't want to make her uncomfortable." "Ahh... I can understand that she would not wish to talk about the... shame... that she brought upon our family," the captain nodded slowly. Azarius nodded, mentioning some of the story he had learned on the island of how the upcoming weather sorceress had been appointed to the queen's son's ship that sank to a storm... Corsha had been the lone survivor and the prince had died. She was banished from Evermeet for her failures. "She was incredibly talented... I was in shock that it had happened... I had such high hopes that she would one day serve as the weather mage on my own ship," the captain explained sadly. He went on to tell him how she had learned under the grand mage, Olithir and some of her upbringing... clearly torn between his loyalty to the queen and the love of his daughter. He seemed eager of news about her, but tried not to seem to eager. Azarius told him a few stories about her serving under an elf known as Throndir. The next few days of travel passed without incident and the water eventually became more blue. Birds could be seen in the sky again and green could be seen in the distance of an island... as they grew closer, they could see that it was actually two islands separated by the Sambar Straight. Gnomes could be seen fishing everywhere. They were on paddlewheel boxes with nets stretched between them, catching fish as they stared at the large vessel coming in to the Sambar harbor. The buildings were box shaped, but some were bigger than others. Roh'um nodded to Posy, "I was told that your aunt and uncle were waiting in Sambar for you." She nodded in agreement, looking out into the strange city of almost all gnomes. Erevin leaned over to Wren, "Try not to be short with them." The young witch laughed with delight and nudged him. Everything here was built gnome sized and seemed strangely small... several of the gnomes had bright colored hair braided and weaved into various designs, ships, and creatures. Aware and Kattri were eagerly waiting on the docks. Kattri was holding up a giant sign that read Welcome Posy with a bear painted on it. "Hi guys..." Posy greeted them, looking a little uncomfortable with cheeks blushing pink. The Garishthimbles pulled out handfuls of rice from their bag and threw it in celebration, "Welcome to Lantan!" Posy nodded, "Let's just fix the bauble so we can go." She spoke quickly. "What?" her aunt and uncle spoke in unison, looking to each other. Azarius quickly changed the subject, "Where are we going to stay?" He looked around at all of the small buildings, feeling suddenly ridiculously tall. "Oh! Don't worry. That's been taken care of," Kattri answered cheerfully as Aware gestured for the companions to follow them off of the docks. The city was bustling with gnomes. Large box-like carriages were waiting for them at the end of the docks. There were no horses, but a pink vapor came from a tube in one of the carriages and green vapor came from the other. Each carriage had some buttons and pull cranks on the front with a driver. The gnome drivers leapt down to pull a lever that opened a door and revealed a staircase that folded down to greet them. "We're taking you to //our//..." Aware emphasized the word our as she looked at Posy, "Family estate. It's in the Verdant Grove between Sambar and Sundrah... near the mountains. It's near the elvish footholds that we found and should give you a place to start... and you can meet the rest of your family, Posy!" "The rest?" Posy swallowed. "We would love that," Uther replied genuinely as he moved beside his barbarian gnome, putting an arm around her. "Sure..." Posy nodded, managing a small smile. He gestured up the stairs before him to the carriage on the left sputtering pink clouds. With a heavy sigh, the little gnome climbed the stairs with Uther following her. Erevin, Shri, Azarius, Wren, Kale , Thorn , Mali and Ursus piled into the green smoking carriage, leaving Posy and Uther to have time with her family. "Have you considered having your hair redone?" Aware asked her niece excitedly. Seeing the no about to cross Posy's lips, her aunt quickly added, "We could make it look like a bear running over your head!" The young gnome frowned thoughtfully, finally nodding in agreement, "Okay... but I don't want a crazy color." "Okay... it can be a simple boring bear," her aunt nodded, content with the compromise. Gears moved and whirred and the carriages began moving north. A drawer popped open in each carriage holding bottles of wine and crushed ice. Azarius poured the first glass... it had a fruity and citrus taste to the wine... almost an orange peel flavor. He shrugged and continued to sip his glass. The carriages climbed a brick road and Posy's aunt and uncle talked endlessly as they traveled. They pointed out the trees going by, "That's the start of our orchards... that's one of the things that your family does. We have orchards." "Oh... that's different," Posy nodded, sipping on her citrus wine as she tried to sound interested. "And we make wine," Kattri nodded, pulling out an orange, lemon, and lime from another chest and holding them out to her, "Which would you prefer? They're all fresh." The young gnome looked them over, selecting the green lime that was tart and delicious. Aware offered her a bowl of sugar to sprinkle over it, "Your cousins will be so happy to see you and I can't wait to show you the orchards!" Thorn leaned back in his seat in the other carriage with amusement in his voice, "So what do you guys think Posy's family is going to be like?" "I don't know," Wren laughed, "Last time they tried to bait her with ham!" "It's going to be interesting..." Azarius nodded, sipping his wine. Thorn spoke very slow and very articulate, playing out the greeting, "Hello... Posy... We are... your... cousins... your ... family.... Want some... ham?" Wren laughed, envisioning a group of little gnomes all speaking in practiced unison as he spoke. A long trip to their estate, the gnomes chose a camping spot for the night. A roof formed between the two carriages and a fire was started. "There is room inside the carriages... but there are quite a lot of you," Aware did a quick head count, "So some of you may have to rough it on the ground. "We're used to that," Posy shrugged.  Erevin nodded in agreement, "We'll be quite alright."  "This is so exciting! What shall we do?" Aware asked as she sat next to the fire, "Did your Uncle Jerome ever teach you the ancient gnome camping songs?" Posy eyed her curiously, catching Jerome behind her aunt waving his hands back and forth and shaking his head.  "Hmm no... We didn't get to that," Posy shook her head.  "Well we'll teach them to you then," Aware and Kattri replied excitedly in unison.  "Oh boy!" Wren giggled, "Gnome camping songs!"  "Row, row, row in a circle. Row, row, row in a circle," the little gnomes sang happily. "That's where she got it from!" Azarius cheered merrily.  The others all laughed, sharing in the memory of Posy dangling in a bucket as Mali investigated the cursed gems beneath the water.  Azarius happily volunteered to rough it outside of the carriages and then summoned his sorcerer mansion to sleep in, "If anyone else wants to join me, you're welcome." He winked at his group, stepping inside his portal where he had an enormous mansion, several servants to attend to his needs, and a 9 course banquet for 16 people being prepared. Thorn, Mali, and Ursus quickly followed him in.  Outside, the gnomes had prepared a nice picnic that included hams and several wedges of oranges, limes, and lemons from their orchards. Posy was sure to show off her manners.  Aware passed out a small needle-like object to each of the companions that expanded out to pierce through several marshmallows for roasting. "Fascinating," Wren looked over hers in her hands, "Can I buy one of these?" "Sure!" Kattri nodded happily. Misty large hills could be seen to the west and a few scattered trees were around them. Wren and Kale opted to stay out and keep an eye on Posy and her family, and the two went for a long walk in the evening before returning to the camp. Erevin and Shri stayed out in the carriages as well, looking after the fire and keeping watch over the group. In the morning Azarius and Thorn came out of the portal, looking freshly bathed and well rested with Mali and Ursus the same behind them. Thorn was patting his belly and nodding to the charismatic sorcerer, "Thanks for the lavish breakfast!" "Well the lobster and eggs may have been a little over the top, but those fresh baked croissants were amazing," Azarius agreed with him as they walked to see the others around their campfire. "Back on the wagon... how delightful," Azarius smiled as the carriages carried them onward. Neat rows of trees lined the grounds as they made their way closer. Gnomes were on mechanical ladders, picking oranges, lemons, limes, pears, and walnuts from the trees. "That's the Garishthimble manor," Aware pointed to a lovely two-story manor home on a hill, "Welcome home!" "...thanks," Posy nodded half-heartedly as she stared out the window nervously. A central square held crates of fruit, wines, and trading carts where several gnomes were buying and selling. A farming neighbor off to the side carried a horrible stench where they could see a hog farm, "That's Zookrite Underbittle's farm. They provide all of the ham... and lots of fertilizer for the orchards too." Posy looked it over curiously, shrugging, "That works." They made their way to the manor where it was built for the shorter folk. A large sheet hung from the second story window saying 'Welcome Home Posy' among a few fake fur hides and feathers everywhere. "Ugh," Posy's shoulders sank as she stepped out of the wagon. "How delightful, Posy! Look!" Azarius swept her up into his arms as he cheerfully pointed out the fake hides and home-made banner, "Look!" He quickly set her down as she glowered at him. Two gnome children came racing out of the house wearing fur and warpaint, carrying dull wooden weapons, "Cousin Posy! Cousin Posy! Rawrrr! Barbarian Rage!" The young gnome couldn't help but giggle as the little gnomes came running up to her excitedly. "That's Leenalistle," Aware gestured to the girl who's hair was done up in the shape of a kitten, and this is, "Nanafoodle." The boy had his hair braded and shaped into a puppy. Uther was desperately trying not to laugh. "It's hard to believe that Szass Tam has overlooked this island," Azarius spoke with a bit of sarcasm as he looked around at the peaceful little orchard. Erevin smirked, "We are about as far from Thay as we can get." "Rawr!! Barbarian cousin!" Leena ran up to Posy with her wooden tomahawk. Posy swept her up into her arms and gave her a big hug as the boy collapsed around her legs, embracing her at the same time. "Wow!" Nana tapped his wooden tomahawk against Posy's metal armor as he looked up at her, "We should get some of that!" "Maybe when you're a little older," Posy nodded, setting Leena down beside him. "Look at all of those weapons!" the young boy exclaimed, looking over Posy, "Can I try that one?!" He reached for the enormous waraxe on her back only to be quickly swept back by the gnome barbarian woman. "Nope, nope, and nope," Posy shook her head, "Those are not toys." Leena swayed back and forth staring at Thorn with a big smile. "Hey, kid," the halfling rogue nodded to her, "What's up?" "Are you..." the little girl leaned closer, her voice low and whispery, "her boyfriend?" "Oh hell no," Thorn quickly shook his head. "But I heard she had a boyfriend," Leena looked him over again. Thorn pointed at Uther who was standing beside Posy. The little girl's eyes grew wide as she looked up at the tall and muscled human man, "He's a GIANT!" Leena and Nana danced in circles around Uther who eventually crouched down and gave them a good growl with his claws extended. The two shrieked and quickly ran back to the house. "Come on in," Aware nodded to them, gesturing for everyone to come into the manor. The 5 foot doorways caused the taller folk to duck to go in. They were met with the smell of honey roasting ham and crispy bacon frying. "We actually have Old Man Joglod Transfizzer who is the local beekeeper here. You're in for a treat tonight! He makes fine honey and helps to control the pollinating of the orchards," Kattri nodded. A series of rooms had been put together with beds pushed together and blankets on the floor for her companions, and Uther raised an eyebrow at the lovely gnome-sized bed made up for Posy in her room. She patted him gently, "We'll make it work." "If you prefer a certain scent to your room, just pick your flavor," Aware demonstrated the vaporizer in each room, dropping an orange into a hole to spray out with a fresh citrus scent. "We supply the island with our fruits and nuts, so we're a pretty important family," Kattri explained to them.

"That's good! It looks like you're doing well," Posy nodded. "We're so happy to have you here!" Kattri and Aware both hugged her again, and Posy closed her eyes... somehow managing to tolerate all of the affection. "The Verdant Grove has been here for hundreds of years, though a little smaller before," Aware explained, "We really don't have anyone here who was here with the elves, but I understand we used to trade with them." Kattri nodded, "I've been working on some magics that might reveal the entrance to the illusion once we get up there." "Excellent," Erevin nodded, "I appreciate your efforts." The gnomes took the companions on a tour of their little town with a few small shops and several locations where the fruits, nuts, honey, and ham were shipped out or processed. They stopped to introduce them to their resident tinkerer, Hetwicket Shockstrider, where the gadget carriages were made and repaired. A delicious dinner of melt in your mouth honeyed ham, fruit jellies, fresh fruits, and succulant roasted nuts. The two children began shoveling food into their mouth with their fingers and Aware started to scold them, "Hey! Use your silverware! We're not barbar..." but she stopped suddenly blushing and glancing at Posy... who was in fact a barbarian and joined the kids in finger foods. "Carry on..." Aware shrugged. Posy looked around to see Jerome's ghost looking quite bored, entertaining himself on occasion by making funny faces at her aunt and uncle. Globes of light lit up along the town as it grew darker. The group gathered up and made their way into the marketplace to see gnome trinkets and shop. A couple of gnomes were standing next to boxes that seemed to automatically transform and polish their boots. Some chairs were set up where gnomes were getting their hair done in braided shapes. A sudden chill ran through Posy, and the young gnome looked around the area only to see mainly orchard trees. She climbed up onto one of the chairs to see a bluish mist streaming down the hills to the west... miles away. "Do you think that's normal?" Posy pointed Uther in the direction. He shrugged, "I don't see anything..." She frowned, feeling it must be something spiritual since the others never seemed to see what she saw. Unaware of the gnome's sightings, Wren was contently buying up several packets of dried fruits and honey for her teas, perfumes, and whatnots. Thorn climbed up with Posy on the chair and looked out toward the west to see some sort of forms... possibly figures... flowing down toward the market like water... and he noticed one of his pouches was feeling very warm. He looked inside to see the elven mythal bauble glowing... his eyes went wide and he quickly closed the pouch up tight, glancing around quickly. The companions turned to look toward a noise to see glowing misty blue figures swirl and coalesce in the city forming a large group of spirits of drow, spectral fire giants, and a large ghostly red dragon. Gnomes of the town screamed, and one of the drow cut through one as it ran by... there was no blood, but they saw the gnome gasp and fall to the ground pale as their soul seemed to be cut from their body. As the group stared wide eyed at the new horror around them, Thorn nodded to them, "It may just be a coincidence... but the bauble is glowing too." "Perhaps we need to take that to Myth Taryn NOW?" Wren suggested. Having gone with their cousin to the market, L eenalistle and Nanafoodle were climbing on a wagon, screaming! Thorn leapt onto the wagon, drawing his daggers to defend the kids. Erevin pulled his bow, calling up a holy aura over it as Shri began to pray, blessing their companions. The great bone dragon breathed out a cone of negative energy down the road, engulfing Maliumpkin and Melleron and barely catching several other companions as well as killing several gnome townsfolk! Mali managed to continue to cast, releasing her magic to raise the strength of her and her companions. Ursus quickly moved beside her, laying his hands on her to heal away most of her fresh wounds. Posy grew larger, growing in strength as she sent Uther to take her cousins to the safety of the closest building. Azarius sent out haste, making all of his companions faster. A ghostly specter ran Wren through with his blade, sucking away half of her health! One of the spectral fire giants slammed his fist into Thorn on the wagon, a chill of death running down his spine as bruises rolled out over his body. A glowing green specter pointed at the roguish halfling screaming to the others, "It has the heart! The heart!" Several undead turned to Thorn, advancing toward the halfling. Wren stepped quickly onto the fountain near her, raising her arms to call down a massive crackle of stormbolts to blow several undead around into scattering mist and rocking back a commander and the bone dragon! Kale finished off another ghostly drow coming in for Wren. Thorn clasped the bauble in his hands, "Echo... we need your help. Defend this town and it's citizens." Echo and her ranger and paladin companions appeared beside him, drawing their weapons, "We shall defend the town, bearer of The Heart, as you command." He breathed with relief, nodding to her, "Awesome! Thank you!" Erevin launched a barrage of holy arrows, several flowing straight through the ethereal beings without hurting them, but one of them impaled a ghostly drow, dropping him. Shri radiated out cooling moonlight, healing her companions. The bone dragon advanced, smacking Azarius with his tail to drain away part of his intellect, and biting into Mali to drain away part of her wisdom! His wings buffeted Ursus backward, also draining away part of his wisdom. Mali pulled the collar off of Melleron and bestowed one of his paws with holy damage before unleashing him on the dragon to claw and bite into his ethereal bones. The young druidess changed her shape into a tendriculos. While Uther continued to guard the gnome children in the building, Posy used her hearthhammer to smash into one of the commanding ghosts!

Thorn struck back a ghost with his daggers as Azarius magically teleported himself into a second floor window in a nearby building, taking cover from the dragon. Several ghostly figures continued to gather toward Thorn, seemingly pulled by the bauble he carried, and calling out, "The Heart!" A commander hit Wren with negative energy as it strode into the intersection toward Thorn, and a spectral giant slammed it's fist into Kale preventing him from going to his witch's aid. The bone dragon turned it's full attention on the great lion that had clawed into it, draining away a large portion of Melleron's strength! Echo and her companions managed to intercept and push back some of the incoming spiritual drow, but 3 still surrounded Thorn massively beating him with negative energy! So many bruises, it appeared his skin color changed! More negative energy hit against Posy from 2 more of the ghostly figures. Wren wove a spell around herself, changing into a large white dragon. She launched off to fly over Thorn, giving him a place to escape to, "Get on! We'll get you out of here." The halfling threw his dagger above the newly arrived familiar dragon, teleporting up in the air to tumble skillfully down safely onto her back. Erevin moved down the block, sending out a barrage of arrows as he moved to take down 2 more of the drow spirits and Shri moved next to him, washing out bright positive energy over the undead around them to take down some of the drow. Melleron carved his holy claws into the bones of the dragon as it launched up onto a nearby building to breath it's negativity energy down over the Shri and the surrounding people. Shri looked frostbitten as she took massive damage from the hit, but Erevin managed to evade it. Mali used magic to restore some of her wisdom as Melleron moved to help Kale with the ghostly fire giants, swiping his claws into them. With her nose ring glowing, Posy used her hearth hammer to slam into one of the commanders, taking him down! The 3 echoes continued to fight back the undead as 3 ghostly drow lifted into the air to attack Wren with negative energy, with one of them clambering up her scales trying to get to Thorn! Azarius wove a protection from evil around himself. Across town, a few gnomes prayed heavily as they clutched the walls of the temple to the gnome hearth goddess... seemingly protected from the specters that flew by them. Two of the fire giants slammed their fists of negative energy into Melleron, the other into Kale! One of the commanding drows passed into Erevin's body, trying to possess the elven ranger without success. Wren managed to cure away some of her massive wounds as she flew carefully through the town, carrying Thorn away from the undead. Cirdan followed beside her, sending out one of her bolts of lightning into one of the ghostly drow. "Are you alright?" Wren called back as the wind washed over her halfling companion. "I am now that I'm not in the middle of all that!" He shouted back, securing his position as he hooked his hands around her scales, "I'm worried about the others still down there though!" She nodded, "Me too, but let's get you to safety first." Echo and her companions washed through several of the ghostly drow, their weapons ethereal like their enemies. Erevin turned his full attention on the drow commander who tried to possess him, impaling him with several arrows to take him down! "Wren! We've got company!" Thorn yelled out, as he glanced back to see the bone dragon following them. The bone dragon reached out to claw into her, draining away some of her intellect. Melleron bit and clawed into a giant as Mali called down a powerful flamestrike into the bone dragon, lighting its bones on fire as it screamed from the holy magic cracking several bones! Posy activated her ring, throwing out a circle of fire around her, sending 2 drow off into mist and injuring 3 more. Azarius began summoning a large air elemental. One of the sorcerous drow ghosts passed into Posy, taking possession of the little gnome! One of the giants slammed his fists into Melleron, bruising him with negative energy as Kale managed to avoid the other. Wren continued to fly forward, using a hex to heal away some of Thorn's wounds. Cirdan sent another bolt of lightning into the bone dragon behind them! Kale continued to slash his blade into ghostly fire giant, finally taking it down. Thorn retrieved his spear of lightning, lying in wait for the dragon to come closer. Erevin sent several arrows into one of the last of the sorcerous ghostly drow, sending it out into mist! Shri moved with him, healing away her own wounds. The bone dragon hit Wren again, draining away more of her intelligence! Thorn seized the opportunity to throw his javelin, electrifying the dragon again! The dragon's glowing eyes settled on the halfling, flying onward as it barely held together... bones continually falling away to dust as it flew. Posy, possessed by the spectral drow, charged Erevin in a full rage! Surprising the elven ranger, she hit him again and again and again with her hearth hammer! Erevin staggered back in horrific pain and shock! Azarius sent his air elemental into the bone dragon. It tore into the cracking bones, finally dissipating the dragon to dust and then heading toward the fire giant. He looked down to see Posy hammering Erevin and sent a powerful lightning bolt into the raging gnome! A couple of ghostly drow continued to follow Wren and Thorn as she roared from above, keeping ahead of them. Thorn continued to hold on tight, overlooking the battle and directing the witchy dragon toward Mali. Melleron continued to take negative energy from the fire giants! Kale moved up to aid the lion, taking one of the giants. Echo and her two companions pounced on Posy, their weapons coming back with ectoplasm as they attacked the spirit within her! Erevin stepped back away from the gnome and shot a barrage of arrows into the spectral giants, taking one of them down. Shri laid her hand on Posy, sending the possessing specter out of the gnome's body! Mali wove a spell to heal several of her companions wounds as Melleron clawed and bit into the ghostly giant with Kale helping to kill it off. The Echos, Posy, and Erevin decimated the ghost that had come out of the gnome and then took down the few still chasing behind Wren and Thorn... finally letting the companions breathe easy and regroup. Wren looked at Echo, "Any idea what the hell that was about?" The rogue elven woman frowned, "It looked like the drow army that attacked our mythal long ago." "Any idea why their ghosts are hunting the mythal?" the witch inquired further. Echo shook her head, "They would be long dead... Our true bodies yet live... Maybe they want to get to those somehow? Or perhaps they believe if they get control of the orb they can be released from their unholy torment." Wren nodded. The others gathered up Posy's family and checked on the gnome townsfolk. Luckily only a few had lost their lives as Thorn had revealed the orb and drew the attention of the undead early. The gnomes told them that had never seen drow on the island before and certainly not spectral ones... "We've been here for hundreds of years and we've never seen anything like that." Erevin frowned, "Really?" Leena and Nana rushed around Posy as Uther let them go, "That was cool! You were fighting like this! And that!" They pretended to swing giant hammers, and paused thoughtfully, "But why did you attack him? We thought he was your friend?" They glanced at Erevin and back to Posy. The gnome blushed, "He is... one of the ghosts got inside me and took over my mind." "They can do that?! Like crawl in through your ears and your nose and take over your mind?!" they looked at her in shock. Posy nodded. Azarius walked up to join the group, nodding, "Did you see that lightning bolt that the undead dragon cast at her... hit her in the back." "Yeah!" they both nodded, "We were watching... we didn't see where it came from, but we saw the lightning hit her and her whole body shook!" Leena pointed at Wren, "And then the pretty elf lady turned into a DRAGON! I thought white dragons were evil?!" Wren smiled sweetly, "I'm not evil." "If you think they're attracted to that soul orb thing," Kattri piped up, "We should probably get out of the town then." "Yes!" Thorn nodded, turning to his gnome companion, "Is that okay with you, Posy?" She nodded quickly, "Yes, let's go." Uther frowned, "But I haven't really had a chance to speak with your family yet... and I..." "Sorry," Posy shook her head, patting his shoulder, "We have to go." Thorn walked on his other side, nodding up reassuringly, "After we take care of this... You can chat all you want." Erevin nodded his agreement, "Absolutely." "Posy should have at least a little time with her family," Wren nodded. The barbarian gnome seemed to deflate a little. Kattri gathered some items into a trunk, kissing Aware on the cheek, "Alright... you hold down the fort. I'll be back." "I'll see you again, won't I? You'll be careful?" Aware held his hand a little longer. "Of course. This will be a piece of cake," he tried to reassure her, "I promise this will be my last great work, and then we can settle here for retirement." She sighed, nodding, "You're getting too old for this." Posy sighed heavily as she watched the two gnomes exchange their farewells before Kattri joined them to go up the hill. The companions thanked Echo and her friends before they returned to the mythal and the group headed into the west to go up the hill and find Myth Taryn, slowly healing up with several wand waves and restoration spells as they went.