Fantasy Odyssey of the Lost Ones (dreamingenthusiast & A Sparkling Zombie)

[A Sparkling Zombie]

"The horizon's clear, captain!"

The spyglass poked from over the rim of the crow's nest. From the bow of the ship, it and the announcement were the only signs of the halfling's presence.

Standing at the stern, Captain Zarmos laughed and grinned. His yellowed teeth and amber eyes did as much for his devilish looks as his red skin and the horns wrapped tightly around his head like a crown. "You heard what Panras said!" he rasped. He strutted to the rail. "Lady Luck Tymora smiles upon us today! Our days along the perimeter finally paid off. Our destination's in reach!"

The crew above deck whooped and clapped at their good fortune.

"But now's not the time to get careless. We all heard the horror stories. Get those cannons below deck! Batten down the hatches!"

"We need less wind!" shouted Jalana, a woman of Turami descent, from behind the wheel. A mohawk adorned her round head. "We're going through the outcrop."

Captain Zarmos turned toward her. "You have this, Jalana. Nice n' easy."

Jalana grinned. "Yep."

Captain Zarmos laughed. "The best damn helmswoman!"

People in Waterdeep called the voyage suicide. Mostly drunkards bragged of close calls within the mysterious maelstrom at the farthest reaches of the Forgotten Realms. Most knew them to be liars at worst, or cowards or wise, depending on perspective, at best. Anyone who decided to brave the waters and see the journey through never returned.

The crew respected their tiefling captain, but only the most loyal and daring agreed to stick with him when he announced his ambition. He dismissed them as cowards, a friendly elbow in the ribs, before seeking other daredevils to replenish their numbers. A goliath and a triton were uncommon sights among the diverse crew, but they embraced them as much as they welcomed anyone else, so long as they made themselves useful and at least tolerated some of the rowdy personalities.

A tense quiet blanketed the crew as they prepared, save for the warnings shouted to Jalana about obstacles not easily seen from the wheel. Through jagged rocks and around whirlpools she steered the ship. The hours felt like lifetimes. It became the first afternoon that their firbolg companion didn't spur everyone into a jaunty tune, but when the cook rang the dinner bell and most gathered round the tables, they broke out into lively chatter and boasted about their successes so far. They all knew the risks. Since departing from Waterdeep's harbor, they celebrated each evening.

At last, the ship broke free from the rocky outcrop. Calm seas stretched around them for miles.

The hurricane came out of nowhere.

Rain buffeted faces. Angry waves rocked the ship and washed hapless victims overboard. Those quick enough tied lines around their waists.

"Come on, Jalana, keep her steady!" cried Zarmos.

"I'm trying! We need less sails!"

"Blast! You! Cut the lines to that sail!"

As the minutes stretched and the surviving crew did their best to weather the storm, Jalana showed why she had earned the captain's praise. But not even she was equipped to handle the wave that rose as high as great sea beasts of legend. People cried. They bargained with the gods. They had time for nothing else before the behemoth crashed over the ship and the world went black.

***​

An ungodly squeal would awaken Tove and Erion.

Sand cushioned them. Waves lapped at their limbs. The sun shined, having passed its peak not long ago.

People screamed over the sound of destruction. It sounded close - close in the same way that village was close. Its perimeter lied within running distance, the aged, wooden buildings sitting ignorant of the chaos that stirred deeper in. A cloud of dust billowed from what maybe could have been the town center, or farther.

The triton and the goliath were the only bodies on the beach. No ship rested out at sea, nor had any flotsam washed ashore.

Another squeal. It pierced the ears like a needle did flesh.

Erion and Tove had a few more moments to gain their bearings before the corner of the closest house exploded in a barrage of shrapnel. The hulking mass blurred toward them like an oversized cannonball. Cloven feet thundered across the ground and kicked up dirt until it skidded to a halt thirty feet away. A spear and arrows protruded from its sides. Fresh blood stained the fur.

"Make haste! We mustn't let it get away!" bellowed a voice. A man with brown hair and a bronze headband burst from behind a building. His bronze breastplate was decorated with a red chalamys. "Aha! It's here! Worry not! We'll help you two!"

A blonde woman and another brown-haired man flanked either side of the first. Leather armor and bows might have announced their trade, but the white linens draped over their bodies looked like robes. It differed from what Erion and Tove witnessed in the cities back on the Sword Coast.

"Careful of its charge!" the woman warned.

The boar's wild eyes stared at the goliath and the triton. It squealed its curse and snorted its distaste.

Name: Great Boar
HP: 52/52
AC: 14

 

[dreaming enthusiast]

Consciousness came slowly to Erion. She tried her best to shoo it away, grumbling in displeasure, reluctant to leave the comfort of dreamless slumber. It was a rare treat for the triton to find peaceful rest, devoid of any nightly visions, so she tended to take full advantage of any such opportunities. Yet, as rays of light beamed down onto her eyelids, she was forced back into the waking world, eyes opening just a crack.

Erion groaned and covered her face as the bright midday sun assaulted her senses. Last she remembered, it hadn't been noon. She didn't remember falling asleep in the first place, and definitely not on a beach. Yet somehow that's where the woman found herself now, lying face up on warm, soft sand. Well, she supposed the location wasn't too extraordinary - she had been on a ship, after all... That's right! She'd been travelling with Captain Zarmos and his crew - technically a part of his crew - sailing out of Waterdeep. Everything had been going fine on the voyage, then suddenly... a storm, a great big wave, and lastly... darkness.

Earlier grogginess seemingly completely forgotten, Erion shot up in one rapid motion. Leaning back on her hands, the woman's head swirled in all directions to take in this new location, strands of disheveled seaweed-like hair whipping around with each movement, sending salt water and clumps of sand into the air. The shore seemed to extend as far as the triton could see, but the ship was nowhere in sight. Fortunately, within arm's reach lay something familiar - the Eri's old straw hat, miraculously whole if a little worse for wear, and beyond it... the form of her goliath friend.

Tove had never had a worse awakening - lying down on the ground with a face full of sand and clothes damp with sea water, in a place he'd never seen before. The man had spent the past few moments kneeling, gazing out in order to take in this new location as he cleaned himself up to the best of his abilities... only to get a mouthful of sand once more, curtesy of his newly conscious companion.

"Tove, Tove!" the triton's overly cheerful voice pierced the air, not a trace of tiredness in her gaze, which shone in equal measure to her eager smile, "Do you think that maybe this is it?!"

The goliath stared at her for several long seconds, removing the dirt the woman's hair had landed on him, before shrugging. "Don't know," came his dispassionate, if honest response.

It sounded more likely that they had simply been shipwrecked, but the lack of any debris on the beach left space for doubt. Not to mention Tove's murky memory after the wave had come crashing down. Or lack of memory thereof. There was only one sure way to clarify where the two adventurers had ended up, and that would be to head for the village just beyond the shoreline. The man had noticed it as soon as he'd come to - it was the reason he had come to, really, the sharp noise that had resounded from the settlement's direction still ringing in his ears. His muscles tensed at the thought, arm reaching towards the halberd on his back. Eri was talking again, not deterred in the slightest by Tove's lackluster reaction to her question, or the fact that he was currently not paying her any attention. He couldn't, completely focused on observing the slowly settling cloud of dust in the distance. Another squeal pierced the air.

The goliath's every sense felt on edge, waiting in anticipation... Suddenly, a hulking mass barreled through a nearby building.

---

Tove Ironsong
Goliath Barbarian Level 3, Path of the Giant
Initiative - 17
HP - 44/44
AC - 14

Initiative - 17

Tove was on his feet in the blink of an eye, sand thrown up in his wake as he maneuvered closer to the boar, setting himself in between the animal and Erion. The hold he had on his halberd remained resolute, before going slightly slack. The way the spear and arrows hung from the hide of the creature seemed painful, and for a split second the barbarian found himself feeling sorry for the thing. One look into the boar's hateful eyes, and he retightened his grip.

Face set into a neutral expression, Tove swung down towards the beast.

Action - Attack -halberd (reach 10 feet) - 18 to hit, 4 slashing damage

---

Erion
Triton Sorcerer Level 3, Aberrant Mind
Initiative - 16
HP - 20/20
AC - 12

Initiative - 16

"Heeeeey there!" Erion waved her hand in greeting at the three strangely dressed individuals following in the boar's wake, "Don't worry, we're nothing if not careful."

Extending her hands forward, the sorcerer could feel the all too familiar tingling of magic at her fingertips. As the ends of her hair began drifting in the air as if submerged under water, Erion sent a ray of cold energy towards the enraged boar, aiming at its hooves.

Action - Spell - ray of frost (cantrip, reach 60 feet) - 21 to hit, 8 cold damage, target's speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of Erion's next turn

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

Male Scout
HP - 16/16
AC - 13

Female Scout
HP - 16/16
AC - 13

The only acknowledgement to Erion's response was a brief, approving nod from the woman before both hunters set their focus on their target. The man charged forth. A deft, calculating swipe of his shortsword found purchase across the boar's front leg while a new arrow joined the others along the boar's side. The blonde smiled a little to herself as she notched another arrow.

---

Soldier
HP - 26/26
AC - 17

"Great effort! Nice shots! We'll make quick work of it yet!" the soldier cheered as he dashed into position behind the great beast. With a triumphant cry, he jabbed his spear straight into the boar's quarters. He grinned. "The ham's tender at least. A-ha!"

---

Great Boar
HP - 10/52
AC - 14

The boar tried to fend off the halberd like a knight with a sword, but it blocked with its tusk too low. Blood gushed from the new gash on its snout and down into its sharp, bared teeth. So focused on its first assailant was it that it missed the frosty trajectory until it was too late. Squeals of pain burst from its maw with each new injury.

Legs strained against their imprisonment, but the boar's eyes darted between the two foes before him and to his left. It knew the presence of its every enemy. It probed each mind, attempting to twist their senses and distort their realities.



Each creature of the boar's choice that is within 40 feet of the boar and aware of it must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or come under the effects of the confusion spell for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to this ability for the next 24 hours.

Confusion Spell

 

[dreaming enthusiast]

Tove Ironsong
Goliath Barbarian Level 3, Path of the Giant
Initiative - 17
HP - 44/44
AC - 14

Wisdom Save - 4 (failure)
d10 - 5 - the creature doesn’t move or take actions this turn

The cheerful words of one of the men mixed with his and his companions' successes bolstered Tove's resolve to fight. He gave no response, except for bringing his halberd back up for another strike. By the way things looked, the boar had already taken quite a beating and hopefully would fall soon, mercifully put out of its misery once and for all.

Noticing the soldier move right up to the target, Tove made to position himself to flank... only to find himself unable to do so, no matter how much he struggled. Confused as to why his legs were disobeying him, the barbarian locked eyes with the animal. A pang of guilt shot through him again, much stronger than the first time. Reality faded, replaced by tusks and blood, the boar's squeals of pain the sole thing resounding in the goliath's mind.

---

Erion
Triton Sorcerer Level 3, Aberrant Mind
Initiative - 16
HP - 20/20
AC - 12

Wisdom Save - 10 (success)

The feeling of a foreign presence trying to worm its way into her mind made Erion all dizzy, a numb kind of sensation she only just managed to brush off with a shake of her head. Slightly pouting, the woman gazed towards the creature that had tried to pull such a mean trick on her, only to notice Tove standing completely immobile - the goliath's form was locked in place, his teeth gritted against whatever effect had managed to overcome him. Pout deepening, Eri refocused herself on the boar.

Suddenly, the sorcerer grinned, "Two can play at this game."

Though her lips moved as if in song, no sound came from the triton, at least not one that anyone could perceive... except for the boar, which found itself beset by otherworldly whispers.

Action - Spell - Dissonant Whispers (1st level, reach 60 feet) - DC13 Wisdom Save, on a failure take 8 psychic damage and the target must immediately use its reaction (if available) to move as far as its speed allows away from the caster; on a success take 4 psychic damage

Dissonant Whispers

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

Great Boar
HP - x/52
AC - 14

The great boar squealed as its own mind was assaulted in kind. Compelled to run, it stumbled as it turned. Legs wobbled and blood spilled as the beast hastened away from the caster. It slowed the farther it went. Pants and grunts escaped it. Its head hung in pain and its shoulders drooped.

When the final arrow from the huntress sunk into its flesh, its knees buckled. It consumed the last of its strength to turn towards its adversaries.

The voice boomed inside every mind: "Know this, mortals... Your sins cannot be atoned. An ancient power...sleeps in the heart of Thylea, and when it...awakens, the age of Mytros will come to an end." The boar collapsed to the ground. "Just as my...broken body falls to ruin...and decay...so too all mortal things will come...to death and darkness... No prophecy...no heroes...can save you..." Its head dropped.

The beast lied still.

"Did...anyone else hear that?" the huntress asked cautiously, as if afraid of the answer.

"What? It wasn't from the what-it-did?" asked the soldier, and he gave his head a good shake, as if loosing the remnants of the boar's effect. His gaze drifted to Tove and Erion, and with the way the lopsided grin swept across his features, he already transitioned to a new thought. "Many thanks for the aid, friends!" He strode toward them. "You both handled yourselves well in that fight."

With Tove being the closest, he stopped in front of the goliath. He had to look up, being a head shorter, to meet his eyes, and his debonair smile faltered. "Say, uh, I haven't seen someone like you before," he said openly.

"Magus!"

The soldier looked over his shoulder. He shrugged with a grin. The woman rolled her eyes the moment his head turned.

When he looked at Erion, his curiosity seemed to clear until he returned his attention to the goliath. "Tell us, friend, are you from around here?"

"I haven't seen the two of you here before," commented the male hunter. Both of them had stepped closer.

"Excuse Magus. I'm Halia, and the other man is Belen. Are you harmed?"

 

[dreaming enthusiast]

As the last remnants of the boar's magic left Tove, he felt his body relax and his faculties return to him. He was grateful when the creature began to flee, no longer forced to hold its accursed gaze. Yet, that relief was short-lived, much like the great beast. The barbarian watched its impressive form crumple in on itself as it fell to the ground pierced by one last arrow, and while the fog it had set upon Tove's mind fully dissipated, a booming voice came in its stead. The man stood frozen once more, trying to assimilate a vow- a threat - that really meant nothing to him. Nevertheless, that sense of guilt he'd felt earlier would simply not let up.

Finally, mercifully, all semblance of life left the boar, leaving only its words to linger.

Much to his surprise, it sounded like Tove hadn't been the only one to hear the boar's last utterance. Just as the huntress spoke up, though, he was distracted by a tugging at his arm. Looking down, the man was met by the grinning visage of Erion, her face split from ear to ear by the biggest smile he'd ever witnessed.

"Did you hear that?!" she practically shouted, buzzing with barely contained excitement, "That voice. It said something about Thylea! Right, you heard the same thing?!" Eri didn't give the goliath any time to respond, in the very next moment detaching herself from his side to pace around in a circle, "Oh, maybe we actually made it! I can't believe it! Well, I can believe it, but... I can't believe it!"

Sighing at the triton's present state, Tove decided it best to let her calm down on her own, in the meantime turning towards the three strangers. The sudden proximity of one of them nearly forced him to take several steps back. It set him on edge, and only by crossing his arms over his chest did the goliath manage to maintain his position. Electing to ignore Magus' comment - the exact way it had been worded was... weird, but it wasn't like he hadn't heard worst things in the past - Tove nodded and looked aside. Several awkward moments went by before he finally spoke up, tone measured, if a little uncertain, "No need to thank us. I'm Tove, and she's Erion. We aren't from here-"

"Well, technically I am!" the sorcerer momentarily ceased her march to interject, "Heh, not that I remember any of it. Ah, just to make sure, this is Thylea, right? Right?"

Tove hummed at the triton's words, otherwise unaffected by her interruption. His attention shifted towards the person that'd introduced herself as Halia, though the goliath avoided meeting her eyes, or anyone's for that matter. Fortunately, the boar's corpse was a convenient enough thing to stare at instead... It took him a while to formulate what he wanted to ask next.

"We're fine. What... was that creature? That voice. What was it talking about?"

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

Curiosity colored Magus' eyes. "That's right. So...uh..."

Before Magus could utter his question, Tove had two of his own. The three humans looked from him to the slain beast.

"We call that a great boar. It's a popular hunt. Felling such a creature usually is not an easy task. I think you both felt it, that strange madness that assaults the mind. It can turn allies against each other. As many die from it as they die from the boar's tusks."

"And we're one of the few who have triumphed over such a vicious beast," boasted Magus.

"It's odd," remarked Belen with a frown. His shoulders hung low. "They prefer the forests. The closest is the Oldwoods, but that's on the other side of Mytros, and the next is three or so days to the south. This one came all the way here and wreaked havoc on the countryside."

Halia sighed. "And I haven't heard stories about a great boar speaking, much less know about the affairs of the people."

The hunters exchange grim, knowing looks.

"Come now, why the doom and gloom? We stopped the beast before it could destroy more lives, and now we have a grand sacrifice to offer."

"You're not the least bit concerned it mentioned the prophecy?"

Magus grinned and shrugged off the question. "I choose to focus on the little victories. I choose not to let the prophecy or the Oath's end get under my skin. The Titans want the people to cower to the point of inaction. Not I!"

Halia looked to Tove and Erion with a wan smile. "You two picked a poor time to wash ashore."

"They did it!" shouted a feminine voice. There at the road leading into the village stood a human woman with black hair and a white traveling dress. She pointed to the group while shouting into the settlement. "They slayed the great boar!"

Magus waved as he took a grand step toward the village. "That we did! The people are safe once again!" His broad shoulders somehow seemed to stand prouder.

An older man, wearing a purple chiton, joined the woman. They started for the group.

Magus graced them with a quick smile that was as shining as the sun overhead. "Let's see, that's an aristocrat and..."

Belen shrugged. "A poet. She arrived two days ago."

Magus grunted, a verbal dismissal, but his chest puffed out a little as the two drew near.

"Thank you to the three of you," the older man said. His relief spread a smile across his face. "And..." He looked at the two newcomers. His expression was as quizzical as Magus' when he first took a good look at the goliath.

"These two are Tove and Erion." Halia gestured to each as she introduced them. "We wouldn't have succeeded without them."

"Yes, they were a great aid," said Magus as he half-turned toward them. His inflections sounded like praise, but his smile had withered. He glanced at Halia.

"Excuse my directness," said the woman as she stepped closer to the pair, "but you two look like fish out of water, maybe one more than the other." She winked at Erion. She leaned in closer. "Between you and me, I saw the whole fight." She smiled between all five of the combatants, but her gaze returned to Erion and Tove once more. "It's a pleasure to meet such capable warriors. I'm Kyrah." She outstretched a small hand. A satchel was strapped to her shoulder. Scrolls poked out from the top.

Back at the village, more people began to materialize. They muttered to themselves as they peered upon the scene. Some began to walk toward the group.

"Tove, was it? Are the two of you from the Cerulean Gulf by chance?" The man eyed the animal hides adorning the goliath's large form.

"Mm, I bet they came from farther than Indigo Island. Is that right?" Her bronze eyes glittered with a knowing look.

 

[dreaming enthusiast]

"Prophecy?" "Prophecy?!" the two exclamations came almost simultaneously, tinged with quiet apprehension and boisterous curiosity respectively.

So interested was Erion, in fact, that she at last ceased her pacing to come stand next to the her friend. Meanwhile, several questions had already began to form at the tip of Tove's tongue - about the great boar, the destruction it had caused, whatever these "titans" might be - but by the time he had gathered the nerve to speak up again, an unfamiliar voice cut through the air.

The barbarian observed the aristocrat and poet closely as they made their way down the road from the village, reaching the group in no time and taking even less to make introductions. Erion snickered at Kyrah's pun, sharp teeth flashing in the sunlight. Leaning in - or rather, standing on her tiptoes - she half-whispered to Tove, "Heh, I like this one." The very next moment, she extended her hand out to meet the proffered handshake, "Pleasure's all ours! You can call me Eri! That's what my friends do."

Giving no reply of his own, Tove simply nodded his head in greeting. It'd already been nerve-wracking handling three strangers. Now two others had appeared, and even more silhouettes were approaching from the village. The goliath's arms, still defensively crossed in from of his chest, tightened their hold. Large crowds had always been uncomfortable for the man, especially large crowds that were looking at him funny. It was a familiar, if unpleasant situation, though the lack of comment from Magus or the older man puzzled Tove. Not that he knew exactly how to address it - speaking was not the barbarian's forte. Worst of all, the newcomers were asking where the adventurers had come from. Curses. Tove could barely wrap his own head around the circumstance of their arrival, how was he expected to explain it to someone else?

A sense of relief washed over him as soon as Eri began talking instead.

"Good guesses, good guesses all around. You're both wrong, though. Since I'm feeling charitable, I'll give you one more try!" the triton's sing-song voice rang out, a laugh at the back of her throat. Her excitement from earlier was far from settled, so after allowing a pathetically short amount of time for an answer, the sorcerer threw her hands up in the air, "Not that there's any way you'd get the answer right! I actually have no idea what either places you mentioned are. You see, I am from Thylea, but was magicked away as a child. Don't know exactly how. My parent, they told me our home had been in danger and we had all tried to leave, but only them and I made it through. That's how I ended up in the place where Tove was born - Abeir-Toril. Heh, it's a whole other world. Literally! I'm- we're back, though! Still don't know exactly how. Only thing I know is I gotta find my way back to our protectorate. That's why we set out on the voyage to begin with. Ah! Speaking of which, have you guys seen anyone else wash up on the shore? We were travelling with a whole crew on a ship! There was Captain Zarmos, tiefling, amber eyes, red skin, of course the horns; Jalana, human, about this tall, with a mohawk - it looked really cool; Panras-"

Erion gesticulated animatedly, her speech going on and on in a rapid, overwhelming stream. The woman was barely taking any breaths between her words. It was something Tove was used to, even grateful for. This is how the two dealt with things - Erion talked, while Tove lingered behind, observing. The arrangement suited him just fine. Taking advantage of his companion's ongoing tirade, the goliath gazed out over the gathering crowd, for the first time allowing himself to directly look at the strangers' distracted eyes, now that they weren't boring into him. The triton's tale was fantastical, unbelievable even - that's how he had felt when she'd originally told him - and so the man was trying to discern any particular reactions to it. More than anything, though, he was trying to understand what had been behind those quizzical glances he'd gotten earlier from Magus and the aristocrat.

Insight (Tove) - 20

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

"The Forgotten Sea! Is it it the Forgotten Sea?" Magus managed to interject when Eri prompted for one more guess, swept up in the triton's enthusiasm.

The hunters looked at him. Then they exchanged looks. Tove would catch a knowing glimmer in Kyrah's eyes. Her expectation seemed to be met the moment Erion mentioned Abeir-Toril. Everyone else appeared to recognize the name, but their visages lit with surprise when they learned she was from Thylea and had somehow teleported away. Brows quirked when she uttered the word "protectorate".

Everyone's but Magus', anyway. Throughout the triton's speech, he gave a polite stare as if he were paying attention, but other thoughts flitted behind his eyes. Occasionally, he would glance at the others, as if concerned that their attentions had been cast on someone else for such a lengthy period.

Gradually, other people joined the group. They listened. Sometimes they whispered among themselves. Curiosity colored their expressions, but mostly they seemed relieved, especially when they glanced at the corpse of the great beast that lied feet away.

The aristocrat hummed in thought when Eri finished her list of the crewmates. "I don't recall meeting anyone who matches those descriptions or bears those names, but I was distracted by the boar's rampant destruction these past few days." The older man glanced at the hunters.

They shrugged. "A few people do survive when they shipwreck attempting to reach Thylea," explained Halia. "If they survived, they could be in the Cerulean Gulf, or at Mytros, the city to the north."

"There is one person who might be able to tell you their whereabouts, and where to look for your protectorate," said Kyrah. "The Oracle. The Oracle sees all." She stepped beside Erion and turned to face the crowd. "And she foresaw this moment, too. She foretold it in the prophecy. Two heroes would save Thylea. They would come from afar, but one would know it as home as much as the humans and the satyrs upon her lands." She stretched out her hand, motioning to the pair. "These are your heroes. They helped stop the boar that terrorized your lives, and greater deeds lie within their fates."

Hope bloomed on the faces staring back at them. None of the people recognized Tove's race, but gone were the glimpses of curiosity. In perhaps a rare moment, Tove was regarded with the idea of what he could achieve, not with the preconceptions surrounding his bloodline.

It only came with the price of having a duty thrust upon him in a foreign land.

The people murmured.

"She's right."

"The Oracle's prophecy-"

"-the heroes."

"-doom-"

"-save us."

"And as the son of the beloved Pythor, I will do all in my power to assist our heroes." Magus took a big stride forward. Now he too turned to the crowd. "The stakes are high, and I cannot stand idly by as we all look ahead to uncertain times. If I must, I will lay my life on the line and swear an Oath of Protection to ensure the heroes prevail in the darkest hour." He looked to Erion and Tove, nodding in affirmation to his words. To someone less observant, he might have seemed to have forgotten that they weren't familiar to the custom he referenced, but it also might have been that he had other cares in the moment.

His attention returned to the crowd. "Great deeds await, but first we have another matter we must attend to." He beamed. "We saved you from the boar, and now as per custom, we must offer it to one of the gods. Please, attend to your homes and your wounded as you must, but to those who are willing and able, we could use your help in preparing the pyre. Tonight we shall celebrate as we honor the sacrifice!"

A few whooped. Their focus redirected, the crowd began to disperse, though stares of wonder and admiration lingered on the triton and the goliath.

Magus nodded satisfactorily to himself. "I will help to gather wood," he announced to anyone who would have spared an ear before walking away.

"We'll help. Come on, Belen."

Only Kyrah remained. The woman turned toward Tove and Eri. "Two of us love speeches, apparently." She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "You just woke up and already so much drama!" A giggle slipped past her lips, but she sobered almost as soon, a touch sheepish. "I'm sorry for dropping the proverbial fireball. That was a lot. You have tons of questions, I'm sure." She adjusted the strap on her shoulder. "We can find somewhere quiet, or if you want to keep your hands active, we can do that while we talk."

 

[dreaming enthusiast]

The more Kyrah spoke, the more Tove felt himself bristle up. Prophecy? Heroes? It was all a little bit much to handle, and whatever admiration had replaced the people's surprise at his appearance went unappreciated by the goliath, as the only thing he could focus on was that a lot of eyes were bearing down on him, filled with an expectation he didn't exactly ask for. Under different circumstances, the feeling might have been pleasant if it weren't so unfamiliar. He looked away, towards Erion.

As expected, the woman seemed unaffected by the current happenings, even excited. There was a kind of barely contained energy in her grin. It was a miracle Eri managed to make it through Kyrah and Magus' speeches without butting in herself.

"Of course we're heroes," her voice rang out at last, not having lost its cheerful essence. She spoke confidently, though Tove was unsure if she was fully grasping the gravity of their current situation. Actually, he was sure she wasn't, not when the triton threw her hands up in the air, her tone mimicking Magus', "Bring on the pyre! Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow great deeds await!"

Tove couldn't help but cringe.

Mercifully, he didn't have to take the anxiety of being in a crowd for much longer as people began dispersing soon after, leaving only Kyrah behind. Erion's immediate instinct on liking the woman might prove to be correct, as the poet appeared genuinely willing to help.

"Somewhere quiet," there wasn't necessarily a "please" in the goliath's words, but one could easily be inferred from the way he spoke. He did have a lot of questions, but he could wait before the three had retreated to start asking.

Erion couldn't.

"So, who's this Oracle? You said she can help find my home, and our shipwrecked crew," the triton had gone several paces back, to where her straw hat still lay in the sand, before dusting it off (somewhat successfully) and putting it back on her head.

Regardless, both Tove and Erion seemed more than ready to follow Kyrah to wherever the woman had in mind to talk.

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

Erion's words encouraged more cheers from the crowd. A few raised their fists or nodded in respect to the triton, their attention pulled more towards her and away from her larger companion. The people dispersed, leaving the trio to converse among themselves.

Kyrah smiled at Tove, acknowledging the goliath's plead. "Everyone will be preoccupied. Let's walk the shore." She motioned away from the village.

Just as she turned, Eri started the pair off with the inquiries. Kyrah giggled as she watched the woman retrieve her hat. "You have so much excitement and focus. I think I like you already." When it seemed Eri was set, Kyrah started to walk, granting the two a moment to fall into step. Waves lapped lazily over the sand. Voices shouted from behind them in the village as they tended to the aftermath of the boar. "To put it simply, the Oracle has the gift of prophecy. She has foreseen many things in her centuries of living, both grand and personal, like the coming of the Dragonlords and your arrival. Thylea is a divided place, but one thing most of her people share is their reverence for the Oracle - not everyone reacts kindly to what she predicts, of course, but only someone with so much respect could have been instrumental in a pivotal moment of Thylea's history." Kyrah sighed, but a touch of wry humor exists in the exhale. "There is so much to fill you in on."

She turned her head toward Eri. "The fact that you were able to leave Thylea is fascinating to say the least. No one has heard of someone accomplishing such a feat, but, mmm...I suppose if anyone else pulled it off, they wouldn't be around anymore to brag about it." Kyrah giggled. A moment later, she frowned sympathetically. "But I understand the circumstances were horrible. How long ago did it happen?"

Up ahead by a few dozen more feet, a river ran through the earth and emptied into the sea.

 

[dreaming enthusiast]

"Oh, stop it! You're going to make me blush," Eri hid her face in mock bashfulness at Kyrah's comment, nary any redness across her pale skin. Her sharp teeth shone through a grin that possessed an equally unnerving quality as it did charm, "The feeling's mutual."

The two adventurers walked alongside the woman on the shore, far enough away from the pyre preparations to be allotted some amount of privacy. Tove listened intently to the poet's words and, much to his surprise, Erion appeared to be doing the same. She hummed at Kyrah's question, giving it some thought.

"Well, I'm 20 now, so I guess it happened, like, 19 years ago? Unless there's some weird time fuckery between here and there," the woman shrugged, "My parent told me the tritons angered a god and we had to escape. I was a kid and don't have any memory. No clear memory this time around either-"

Erion glanced up at Tove, looking for confirmation, which he provided with a simple nod.

"There was a storm, then a wave swallowed us up, ship and all. Things went dark, until-" Erion pointed her thumb back toward where the skirmish with the boar had transpired.

"Until the fight that you say was foreseen," Tove spoke up at last. Kyrah was right, there was much to catch the two adventurers up on, too much, and he had so many questions he didn't know where to start, "When Erion was explaining from where and how we'd arrived, I couldn't help but notice you recognized the name Abeir-Toril, as did most of the villagers-"

"Oh, yeah, that was disappointing! I thought you all were going to freak out or something!"

Tove proceeded as if the interruption had never happened in the first place, "Yet the fact she's originally from Thylea took them by surprise. Exactly how many have found themselves shipwrecked from our- from my world? And is the reason Erion hails from this land why you think your Oracle's... prophecy is related to us? What does this prophecy even say."

The goliath had slowed down significantly, searching the woman's features. He furrowed his brows, before choosing to ask one more question.

"I, uh," he mulled over exactly how to words things, "I also couldn't help but notice that you all don't... recognize me? Not me, but what I am. Have you not seen a goliath before?"

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

Kyrah pursed her lips in thought when Eri questioned how time worked between the two planes. Her attention on the triton lagged for a brief moment, like an ooze being pulled and then let go, and inquisitiveness flashed in her eyes as she caught up with Eri's explanation.

A tiny smile curved her lips while she watched the way the pair confirmed experiences, the way they completed each other's thoughts, until Tove transitioned them to a new question. They continued their pace as the goliath spoke, plus an interjection from Erion that tugged a giggle from Kyrah, but still the human woman followed along with the man's words.

She waited until the last question entered the space between them.

"A goliath? Mm-mm," Kyrah hummed in the negative. "The people who look closest to you would be the cyclops or the less common gygans, but, well, you have one too many eyes to belong to either race, and also four too few arms to be a gygan." She giggled. "Although triton is also a new one." Her bronze eyes flitted to Eri. "Honestly, I mistook you for a nereid, a nymph of the sea." She shrugged. "It turns out there's more for me to learn about Thylea.

"And as for Abeir-Toril, I'm also from there. Well, not me me. My ancestors, and so are the ancestors of every other human, elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome, half-orc, and stygian - um, tiefling, as you say. At one point or another, our lineages all became, well, captives of the land. The storm you mentioned? Everyone goes through the Maelstrom. It protects Thylea. It takes a miracle for a ship to survive, and when one doesn't, as you experienced, sometimes its people are fortunate.

"Newcomers like you might thank a deity. For us, it would be Mytros, or I guess Thylea, depending on your preference. And yes, there is Thylea the land you're standing on now, and Thylea the titan, but both are one in the same. That's not the same for Mytros the city and Mytros the goddess. In that case, the city is named after her, nothing more. Following along so far?" She grinned and crossed her eyes.

She doesn't really wait for an answer. "To be clear, if you asked every person on Thylea the name of what lies beyond the Maelstrom, some - many - probably could not tell you Abeir-Toril, but most recognize that there is another world besides Thylea." By this point, the trio drew closer to the river, its soft babble accented by the occasional chirp of a bird in the interspersed trees. Kyrah turned slightly, directing them to walk upstream and away from the estuary. "It's stayed in our legends for over five centuries, since the period when our people first began to wash ashore. To have a village like the one you kind of saw back there would have been a feat in those times. Our people were so few, and the natives were so plenty, many of them aggressive, that the original settlers struggled to survive. It was the Twin Titans, Sydon and the Lutheria, who promised the settlers protection so long as they offered tribute.

"That went, ehh, okay for a while, and then came the Dragonlords: mighty warriors who flew across the sea atop the backs of their companion dragons. They helped to secure a place for the settlers. They founded villages, and those villages blossomed into cities as our numbers grew. But our gains meant losses for the natives. It meant conflict, at first intermittent, but eventually it led to the First War."

Kyrah takes a dramatic breath. "Okay, I said a lot." She stopped and turned toward the two. Her hands smoothed the front of her white dress. "Any questions so far? I promise we'll talk about the prophecy, but first you have to learn about our history. Only with one can you understand the other."

She glanced at the river. Feet away, the knee-high grass unceremoniously ended where the easy stream began. "Are you thirsty? Do you need water? I can't conjure it out of thin air, and I can't use magic to create a fire. I don't suppose either of you can?" Kyrah looked primarily at Erion as she asked. "Or else we'll have to manage the manual way, unless you're okay. I have bread and fruit. I'm sure there'll be plenty of wine and more food tonight." She smiled.