Hello, Everyone!
We're finally into Arc 4 of Mary Windfiddle's story! Last time, our heroes left Myth Adofhaer and headed out into the world. Their goal - going to Ekoba to find Maheshvara's bells somewhere around the shipwreck of 'New Hope'.
Let's see what adventures await them!
Mary, Bruno and Aurum were already two days into their journey towards Pamagos, and their mood was getting better with each mile away from the elven city. The Red Forest--now yellow because of the quickly approaching winter--fell far behind them, and they travelled through the vast Karaba valley, passing by trading caravans and Bearers who rode in all directions. There were almost no other travellers this time of the year.
Mary found that her anger dissipated, the farther from the elves they went. She was once again feeling the rush of the road and the eagerness for adventure.
They had just passed Raxstrad by a mile or so, when a child's scream pierced the air from behind one of the nearby hills.
Mary didn't even have time to process it. Her feet had already prodded her horse and she was galloping towards the scream, eldritch energy radiating from her hand. A second child’s scream joined in and she heard Bruno and Aurum's horses stamping behind her.
Climbing on top of the hill revealed a worrying sight.
The dip between the hills was covered with old ruins, too broken to determine what they used to be. Two children were currently booking it towards the nearest ruined building, and behind them, the ground rose into a mound and moved after them, getting closer and closer with every passing moment.
Suddenly, it exploded with dirt and stone, and from it, a creature jumped out. It was big, about the size of the Bulette Mary and her friends had fought in Meraket. It looked like an insect, with a segmented body and a hard chitinous shell, its mandibles as big as a grown man's forearm. It looked like it could effortlessly crush a child's head in them.
Aurum’s horse passed Mary’s and he rode towards the creature, his eyes affixed on it like a target. He raised his arm in the gesture Mary had learned to associate with the casting of a lightning bolt… but… he didn’t release it. Instead, his hand dropped by his side and he rode past the giant insectoid, as if he'd forgotten what he was about to do.
At the same moment that happened, Mary felt something whoosh past her head and managed to just barely dodge it.
"What the hell, Bruno?!” she screamed. He’d just tried to smash her skull!
The dwarf blinked in confusion, looked at his hammer and then at Mary.
“I don’t…” he said. “I just…”
Mary glared at him and cast Mirror Image on herself. Three other Maries started riding alongside her, confusing both friends and foes which was the real one.
A loud cricket noise came from the creature and Mary looked to see it bending its rear legs and shooting out with incredible speed. It crashed into Aurum's horse, instantly breaking its back. The bard flew off the saddle and tumbled on the ground. Mary gasped.
“Perjurio!” Aurum screamed, rising from the ground and extending an arm towards his ride.
Mary gave out a sigh of relief. The horse might have been dead but the rider was obviously fine.
But what the hell was happening to her friends? Why did they behave so bizarrely? She thought about their illogical actions. What could have caused them? The last thing they'd done before going all weird-like, was charge at the creature. It had turned its head to look at them and…
What if it was able to hypnotize them?
"Don't look at its eyes!" Mary yelled, in case her guess was correct.
The creature moved towards Aurum and swatted him with its claws. The bard stumbled but quickly got himself together and retaliated with a lightning bolt, this time successful.
The crackling of electricity enveloped the cricket and it convulsed uncontrollably. Its shell cracked at the place of impact and some clear liquid sprayed all over Aurum. The bard hissed in pain as it sizzled on his flesh.
The insect gave out a screeching sound and swiped at him. It hit him hard. Aurum fell on the ground, unmoving. The creature darted to land a killing blow.
Again, Mary found herself moving almost without thinking. It was as if she instinctively knew what to do. She ran towards the fight, then Misty Stepped to position herself just right. She weaved an Eldritch blast as weak as she could manage, and shot it at Aurum. His body skidded on the ground, pushed away from immediate danger. The creature's claws smashed on the place he'd just been, making a dent in the dirt.
That was when Bruno's Light of Creation surrounded them, giving Mary and Aurum healing magic and hurting the creature they were fighting.
The bard gasped into consciousness. He looked around, gauging the situation, and clapped his hands. A thunderous boom came from his gesture, and the earth between him and the creature shook violently. There was a screech and a crack, followed by the plop! of some more goo on the ground.
Mary shot an Eldritch Blast but missed. Of course she did. She had to avert her eyes from the creature as not to get under its spell. She huffed in frustration and watched as Bruno…
Bruno jumped off his horse with his hammer ready for action. He ran towards the creature. And suddenly, lowered his weapon and turned to walk away.
"Ugh! I told you not to look at it!" Mary groaned.
The creature dove into the ground and, once again, became a moving mound of dirt. It reached Bruno in seconds. The dwarf gave out a surprised yelp and was suddenly pulled down under the ground.
Oh, no! What kind of monster IS that? And how do they fight it without looking at it? Let's find out in our next episode!
Until then,
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum and Bruno) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.