Porthca Landing II: Lost & Found

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Valerie nodded to him gratefully. "Yes, that sounds very good. Thank you again, Niradnam." Without warning, the warlock quickly took him by the hand and dragged the scholar off towards the cart, hoping desperately he'd be able to help.
 
Sound asleep in the wagon, wrapped in the flying carpet was Magnolia. For someone who had left the majority of her worldly possessions in the thieves horde, she was content.

Maybe because this wasn't the first time that she had been in this situation. When she left the Empire she had only the clothes on her back and a haversack containing checkers; some bread; and the few coins others had been generous to give her.

She has always kept her faith though, Yondalla has always seen her to safety no matter what the odds.
 
Evening of the Seventeenth Day | On the Road to Wyford:

Returning from where Valerie had led him off to, Niradnam rubbed his forhead before speaking to the others, "Valerie is attempting to speak with her ring ... apparently it has been giving her some trouble lately, so I suggested she attempt to find out what it desires. While she was busy with that, she was rather adamant I check up on her bird." He glanced over at the bird hesitantly, which seemed content to pick at the remainder of Valerie's rations for now, then glanced at his notebook before turning towards Eliza. "Ah, speaking of magical artifacts, I was hoping I could look over the pearl myself now that things are calmer. As I'd mentioned earlier, Azarad will likely want to know everything there is to know about what we found and uncovered -- I'd rather not have to explain to my sponsors why I didn't manage to study what seems to be the crown jewel of the collection, so to speak. May I?" he held out a hand towards the half-orc.

Off to the side Rowanne huffed once more at his return, trying to make a point of ignoring him -- Banrigg chuckled in the grass, "Ah ... lass. Not that I don't understand yer anger, but that's not the way t'get back at 'im."

Rowanne rolled her eyes at the dwarf, putting her weapon away for the night, "I have no idea what you mean. I'll be setting up for bed, wake me if I'm needed."
 
A sudden idea sparked in Eliza’s mind, “You can check out the pearl if you lend me your orb and help me figure out how to scry using it.”
 
Evening of the Seventeenth Day | On the Road to Wyford | Camp:

Niradnam blinked, "Oh, sure. You'll need to attune to it before you can use it though, which will take about an hour ... like everything else that needs to be attuned." Turning he reached into his pouch, mumbling something before pulling out the transparent orb and offering it to Eliza. "Once you attune, then I can guide you, deal? I'll look over the pearl while you do so."

As Eliza offered the pearl, Niradnam hesitated for a moment before taking it and handing off the orb, glancing off towards Wayne Jr. He stared at the pearl for a moment before speaking in a familiar female voice, wracked with pain and regret, "I am so, so sorry ..." as salt swirled around his form and he vanished from sight, the orb in Eliza's hand falling apart into salt between her fingers.

From further off in the grass there came the sound of Niradnam walking back looking confused, "Uh ... where'd Valerie go? I was going to Identify her ring and it disappeared?"
 
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Eliza sputtered in complete shock as what was once a crystal ball crumbled into salt in her hand. “VALERIE! Why are you doing this? Come back with that pearl!”

She could not believe that woman’s audacity. Gritting her teeth she cast detect thoughts in an attempt to sniff out her location but couldn’t find her nearby. “That...that...weasel!” She gritted her teeth and tried to tug the flying carpet from around the sleeping halfling.
 
Looking up from his diary writing, his right arm curled around Bookwyrm's egg affectionately, Tyrius stared in surprise as Eliza started trying to tug the carpet from the sleeping Magnolia, seeming to be irate far beyond her usual self.

"Erm, what's going on?" asked Tyrius as he set his dip pen down and carefully stood up so as not to knock Bookwyrm over. "Why's Valerie a weasel? Did The Thief show up again and change her into a weasel or something?"
 
“She - stole - the - pearl!” Eliza shrieked as she tried to unsuccessfully disentangle the rug out from the halfling. “How heavy can such a tiny person be?”
 
Virra snorted awake as a familiar half-orc started shouting outside the wagon, lifting her head just in time to see Eliza trying to take the magic tapestry from where Mags had wrapped herself up in it. "Hey, no, hold on, it was gonna be my turn next," she started to protest, then saw the expression on Eliza's face.

"...Wait, huh? Why would she..." Virra rolled to her feet. "Where'd she go? What was she doing with it?" she asked, wide-eyed, as she began to call to mind the psionic disciplines necessary for tracking a person.
 
“I don’t know why. She just asked to see it and then...just disappeared.” She pointed accusingly at the fresh pile of salt nearby. “I just feel she isn’t nearby anymore. I am sorry Maggie! Fovere Cimex!” Eliza called out in desperation hopping the rug unfurled itself flat.
 
Ander was pretty distracted after pulling the rope with the treasure out of the cavern. He was so glad to be himself once more and to see his tiny piglet friend that he didn't even notice the exchanges between Rowanne and the others. He sat in the back of the cart and gave Rupert some food, petting him and making sure he was OK.

Later, as they sat and ate, Ander jumped slightly and had a slightly confused look on his face. He raised his hand to his mouth and the familiar glow of his healing powers flowed into his cheek. He sat quietly, mostly just tired from all of what had been going on, when he witnessed the exchange between *Niradnam* and Eliza. When salt appeared around Nira and he disappeared, Ander immediately recognized the ability that Val had shown him in the bedroom a few weeks earlier. He stood and stared for a few moments as he processed what had happened.

Finally putting enough pieces together in his mind,Ander let out a low, guttural growl and yelled "Valerie! I have not come all this way to fail more people, you come back with that pearl or I will find you and get it myself!" He snarled as his fists began to glow with radiant energy and he rushed forward to where he saw the figure disappear.
 
Virra watched the halfling spill out onto the floor, then gave an appreciative whistle. "Not even a blink? Not bad, Mags." Without really knowing why she did it, she grabbed Glimmer along with her backpack, then vaulted onto the carpet. "Keep us low, okay? Real low, like ten feet off the ground. If she's not flying, I'll find her," she said, then sat down on the tapestry, crossed her legs and shut her eyes. It was difficult to block out Ander's roaring, simply for how unusual it was, but she didn't have time to comment on it. If Valerie got a great distance away, her options for finding her again would be much more limited.
 
Eliza got on the now floating carpet and tried to fly around the wobbly structure. It took her a few minutes to get used to the stirring but once she did she started flying in loops at top speed trying to cover as much ground as possible. She had never moved this fast in her life and though terrified she tried to focus her mind on Val.

Anger was soon replaced with worry as she gnawed nervously on her lower lip, “That silly girl! Val! We promise we aren’t angry. Please come back, we don’t want you to get hurt!” She called out hoping to find the missing warlock.
 
No, that's not gonna work if I'm in the air... no, that's too vague to tell me anything... rrrgh!

Just as Virra began to run out of easy options for figuring out where the runaway could have gone, she sat bolt upright as a suspiciously Valerie-esque scream caught her ear. She grabbed Eliza's sleeve. "That way!" she shouted, pointing to a space about ninety feet from the camp.
 
“That’s the direction of the cave!” Eliza exclaimed. She lay flat on the carpet, still terrified of falling off and shot off following Virra’s direction. “Do you think she is okay?” she cried out fear gripping her heart.
 
Why the hell are we so cold all of a sudden?

oh shit the carpets gone?! Wait and Val's gone?

Her deep sleep interrupted she looked around at the mess of activity. She managed to gather two things, the pearl and Val were gone. Without an idea of what was going on she reacted running toward to noise no matter what the danger.

"Ander what's going on?" she bellows over the sound of running feet...
 
Sprinting along with the others, the red headed mage thought about using Expedition then thought better of it - the last thing he needed was a bad surge at that moment. Hearing the sounds of Valerie's scream up ahead, Tyrius was aware of Ander nearby about to try and wrestle the pearl out of Valerie's grasp. Skidding into a crouch, Tyrius tried to help Ander by pulling on Valerie, shouting "It's okay, we're friends, just give us the pearl a second and we'll talk.", unable in the heat of the moment to think of anything else.
 
Ander felt the anger well up in him as he quickly caught up to the girl. He looked down at her, not saying a word, and grabbed the pearl from her clutched without a second thought. He clenched his teeth and let out a low growl as he turned his back on her and began walking back to where they had made camp. His head fell as he took the first step away from Val.
 
Eliza was the last to reach the group as she wrestled the carpet to a stop 10 ft near the group. It took her even longer to get it come down but as soon as it did she jumped off and hobbled towards Val feeling awful about the fate her friend was in.

”What happened, Val? You had us worried sick!” The half-orc hugged the woman and burst into tears. “Don’t do that again!”
 
"She better be," Virra said grimly, then quickly began to tug the wizard's sleeve in new directions. "More to the left, Eliza. No, more. No, no, that's too far, you were better the first time, just go straight for crying out loud, THERE!"

They came in to land just as Ander snatched the pearl away and began to leave. She let Eliza get her hug in first while she lingered by Val's shoulder, not touching her or doing much to hide her disappointment. "Yeah, I'd kind of like to know what that was about too," she said, arms folded. "And what hurt you, if that's what happened. Are you hurt...?"
 
It seemed no one was going to tell her what was going on and everyone was mad at Val...

She took Val's hand gently, "Val honey, do you need help? It's Mags. Listen there is a layer of salt spreading from your ring, Is this normal? Val can you tell me your name?"

People never failed to amaze her with just how pissed off they got over the littlest things. Obviously there was something more in depth going on here, they needed to help their friend not accuse her of something. Warlocks were always weird, what if this was some sort of compulsion?
 
A family of geese lazily drifted across the clear surface of a finely carved stone fountain, pausing only to snatch up small hunks of bread being tossed their way. On a bench nearby, a smiling girl of about eleven years of age broke off pieces of a loaf while an older white-haired gentleman wearing a brown jacket, dark leather trousers and a brown Stetson watched her fondly. He chuckled and pulled at the large, finely groomed mustache that adorned his face before speaking to her with a smile. “Do ya really dislike being in my company that much, Lily? Take yer time with the bread. We ain’t in no rush.”

‘Lily’ giggled and shook her head fervently to the man she knew she was supposed to know as ‘Narrick’. “No, of course not!” She responded happily, setting the bread down to the side. Her Grandfather’s games had always been a tad tedious for her, but they were often the only opportunities ‘Lily’ had to spend time with him between her constant tutoring and his work. Even if it meant visiting the middle tiers of Emberhallow rather than the lush parks farther up the mountain, she was happy to make her Grandfather happy. “I always treasure every moment of our outings, Grandfather!”

‘Narrick’s smile tightened slightly before he corrected her. “If ya aren’t gonna be using the name, the least ya could do is call me Grandpa. We’re Redaroans today, remember? Speaking all fancy-like, ya stand out like a snowflake in a desert.” His expression softened, and he looked out past the fountain’s statue, which was of an oddly similar looking man dressed in finery. Beyond the fountain was a bustling marketplace, filled with people of all sorts that had little time to waste gawking at the two peasants feeding ducks. “Look at em all. I’ll bet ya three whole chocolate chip cookies that a thousand men’ll pass through this square today, and not a one’ll remember diddly squat about us. The trick, Lily, is to use the expected to do the unexpected. It’s never enough to be yerself. Heck, it’s not enough to just act like someone. Ya gotta-“ ‘Lily’ chimes in with him in a poor approximation of a Redoroan accent. “Be the person ya need to be.”

‘Narrick’ chuckled and turned back to the girl, patting her on the shoulder with a large hand adorned with many rings, her favorite always having been the odd white one that he never spoke of. “Precisely, my darling Valerie. That means knowing their wants and desires as well as their behavior.” His expression then grew serious and he lowered his voice. “There will come a time that the fate of the Rhitegast legacy will fall squarely upon your shoulders, Valerie, and I need you to take every lesson that I teach you to heart in order for you to be ready for this occasion.” Valerie had never known what exactly he had meant by this. After all, there were plenty of other Rhitegast’s, so why would it be solely her responsibility?Still, she responded with a warm smile and enthusiasm. “Yessir, Grandpa!”

Her Grandfather’s responding was suddenly ripped from her mind, and Valerie found herself standing in the middle of the encampment, clutching the pearl that the party had so fervently sought after tightly in her hands as only one thought appeared in her head. Destroy. She fought with all of her might to resist the pull of the ring, and was met with a searing pain coursing through her mind. Tears formed on her face as she stared down at the pearl in her hand, and she managed to get out only a few words before she saw her hand fade from sight and the ring’s pull consumed her once more...

“Eyes up!” Valerie only barely managed to spot the dark shape plummeting from above in time to swing her body to the side, a rock the size of a boot plummeting past her down the sheer mountain face. The now teenager clung on desperately to the rope with aching arms as a familiar voice called down from above. “Valerie! Apologies for the delayed warning, I had barely registered the stone myself in time to avoid it. Are you well?” Breathless and still staring down the side of the cliff, Valerie managed to offer a thumbs up to her Grandfather, who turned back towards the rock face. “Good! Then we shall pick up the pace. Hurry along, Valerie. Rhitegast’s always refuse a cold supper, and I am not a man to waste good lumber.”

Valerie’s limbs ached in pain, but she had become rather familiar with her Grandfather’s recent methods of motivation, and knew that he would not hesitate to follow through it. Wearily, she reached up a hand to find new purchase on a small outcropping and pulled herself up with great effort, beginning to count each step forward she made. One. Two. Three... On the count of seven, Valerie’s hands met only air, and felt the sudden rush of falling, letting out a scream as pain filled her mind...

Valerie was back in the field of tall grass, lying in a heap on the ground. Distantly, she was aware that she was screaming at the top of her lungs, but her mind was wracked in agony. Behind her, she heard her friends shouting for her to stop and desperately wished to heed their words, but the will of the ring was too strong to break, and she found herself pulled back into her memories a final time.

The tears fell freely from Valerie’s face as she sat on her bed and reread the letter for the gods-only-know-how-many-th time. Every time brought only fresh pain, feelings of betrayal for being cut out of the family fortune, loneliness from the way she had been rejected by her relatives who she had known always despised her for being Grandfather’s favorite, and most of all, sorrow at the loss of the man that had cared for her since her parents died. The letter was simple.

Valerie,
Enclosed in this envelope is the legacy of the Rhitegast family. You will know what to do when the time is right. You will not fail. A Rhitegast never fails.
~Wayne Rhitegast, Former bearer of the Rhitegast family legacy

Gaining no new insight from this reading, Valerie carefully folded up the letter and tucked it away into a locket she wore around her neck. She then paused for a moment and removed from it the odd white ring she had used to adore, but now only served as a remainder of what she had lost. She wanted to lock it up in a trunk and drop it down the deepest mines of Emberhallow, but could not bring herself to separate from that final reminder of the man who raised her. An errant tear slid down her hand and grazed the ring, and suddenly, she felt a faint tremble coming from it. Valerie dried her tears on her sleeve and stared at the ring in wonder before feeling the strangest sensation that she just had to put it on. Upon doing so, she felt a strange pulse...

Valerie wrenched herself free of the memories. She knew that her friends would never be able to find her while she was still invisible, and with everything that she had, pushed against the will of her ring. I’m here, I’m here, I’m “Here!“ As the word rang out across the field, the spell shielding her form from sight broke. Agony wracked through her body and the warlock collapsed to the ground, hands aching at how tightly they were clutching the pearl. She finally became aware of a light approaching her and forced herself to look up, seeing two familiar forms. Ander... he can save me... As the paladin effortlessly broke her grip, she felt the ring’s power recede as it knew it was beaten, and slumped to the ground in a heap as she began to sob violently. As Ander walked away, she managed to say between tears. “Ander... please... I did not... I am not...” Her Grandfather had taught her a great many things, but how to explain herself was never one of them. A Rhitegast’s will needs no explanation... She recalled distantly..

As Valerie felt a pair of small arms wrap around her, she looked over to see Eliza’s face fraught with concern, which sent another rush of shame running through her. “I... am... so... sorry...” She hugged the wizard back, feeling for all the world like the worst person to ever exist for betraying her friends.

Finally regaining the slightest bit of composure, Valerie offered little in terms of explanation to Virra. “The ring... it wants to destroy the pearl... I do not know why...” Feeling Magnolia take her hand, Valerie paused before shaking her head, the pain having faded. “Not anymore, I think it knows it has been beaten...” Her gaze fell upon the salt coating that Magnolia was referring to and she shrugged slightly before the last question came. The words felt foul in her mouth as she spat them out. “I am Valerie Rhitegast, bearer of the Rhitegast family legacy.” She could have sworn she felt a mocking pulse from the ring.
 
“It is ok...shhh...calm down now. You are safe now, we will take care of you.” Eliza was nervously patting Val’s shoulders trying to comfort the distraught woman. She was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sadness and disappointment felt by all the party members but she could also sense Val’s genuine regret.

She watched watching Ander as he left in a huff her mind going over how distraught him and Val were feeling. “Valerie, listen to me. We will figure out what happened later, ok. I trust that you have an excellent explanation for this.” The half-orc gently squeezed Val’s hand and helped her get to her feet trying to stir her towards the flying carpet.

“Let’s just get back to the camp, have some rest, and deal with this tomorrow when everyone is more level-headed.”
 
Virra's eyes trailed from Valerie's face to the salt-flecked ring. Of course -- hadn't she warned them that it had some connection to the Sea? More than ever, Virra had the distinct impression that they were making a mistake by doing that monster's errands for her, and practically burned with the need to share it. But looking at the others' faces, she knew she wouldn't get the response she wanted. Not right then, while Val and Eliza were in that kind of state.

She was an expert at lots of things, but this wasn't one of them. "You guys... take it easy," she said. "I'll go deal with the big guy." Then she closed the distance between herself and the camp with a particularly long teleport, not minding the exertion; it let her intercept the paladin before he quite made it to camp.

"Hey, Ander!" she called out as she ran up to his side. "Where's the pearl? Do you have it, still?" She'd intended to leave it there with the soft questions, but she couldn't stop herself from plowing on once the thought was in her head. "Valerie's okay. It was the ring, okay, it must have possessed her or done something. Because it's connected to Lestone, remember?" she went on in a breathless rush.
 
Valerie nodded mutely to Eliza as she urged her to follow her. Explanation... about how I am too weak? About how I am unready and unprepared to wield the ring, but foolishly forged an unbreakable bond with it? As they approached the carpet which Valerie would have once found incredible, the warlock spoke in a voice that was hoarse from the shouting and tears. “I think... you should tie me up. And take away my sword for a time. I cannot trust myself not to try this again in the future.”

Wayne Junior flew up to the young warlock and landed on her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. Valerie stroked his feathered head, feeling slightly better to know that at least he did not hate her.
 
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