Homecoming

Back up the mountain, the Misfit Six delivered Mevvensettlan to Yel-loch. There was a moment of incredulous silence as the Graniskold leader turned the speaking stone solemnly in his hand. He then looked up at the expectant faces of the giants around him, held the artifact aloft, and loosed a triumphant shout, "MEVVENSETTLAN!"

The giants erupted in a unified cheer that sounded like a thunderclap. Yel-loch then turned to the group who had retrieved the stone and pronounced, "Reissgal-Mevvensettlan!" The warren let out another thunderous cheer while Brad explained it meant "Mevvensettlan bearers." Thanks, Brad. With that, the party began in earnest. A number of giants brought out large xylophone/marimba/vibraphone - looking instruments and began to play a rhythmic, trance-like, music. Nancy tried her hand at it and added a graceful melody to the beat. Others brought forth large earthenware vats and opened the spigots to let out a musky, smokey, mineral-smelling clear alcohol. They drank.

And they danced. It was a full-body dance, wherein the arms, hands, legs, feet, head, and torso all moved independently, but in sync. Their graceful, athletic, bodies, kept the rhythm perfectly. Ironica joined in, Harbunpil showing her the steps. Dala'gse drank the spirit and swayed. Slothrop did his thing. Rya joined in. Zireael watched. Safad found the Priestess Laksmee and they worried together in the corner. Dunny and the goblins came out from whence they were being kept and joined the party.

Zireael found Safad and discussed their next move. If Lakeville had marched on Old Weir, they better high-tail it, they reasoned. Prex asked what the plan was--would they go find the iron key's door that Mother and his brethren had been through such trouble to locate? Wasn't that their quest--the fellowship of the key? No, to Old Weir, it was decided. Prex was confused and concerned. He was wary of civilized lands, understanding a thing or two about how goblins were often received. Zireael reassured him. Ever the good solider, he saluted.

They found Maatvind and Yel-loch and tried to persuade them that in order to get rid of the purple worm threat they should kill the thing that awoke them. Yel-loch told them they did not understand: the purple worms were awake now, it did not matter what woke them up, killing whomever woke them up would stop them, all they could do is stay quiet up in their mountain warren. Then Yel-loch told them that they were reissgal-mevvensettlan, Graniskold warren needed no persuading, they would aid them in their cause. He gave them a beautifully-carved sending stone and told him to use it whenever they needed the help of the stone giants. They would come.

Umm...how about, like, now? They asked. Now, now? Yel-loch wondered. Err...yes. OK.

Yel-loch had the musicians lower the music and gave an impassioned speech in Giant, announcing that Graniskold owed the reissgal-mevvensettlan a huge debt, and would follow them into the dream-surface world. The warren cheered and they agreed to begin making preparations. They would leave in five hours.

In the meantime, the group devised a plan.

Semi-hungover, the giant army assembled. They brought forth rations, bags full of the smooth polished boulders the giants favored, massive stone cudgels, and makeshift harnesses for the little folk to ride in. The giants each took out a tool to carve something into their cudgel. Laksmee blessed the group.

They marched. Again, they heard that lonesome cry of a wyvern whelp, coming from somewhere on the ridge. They ignored it. Zireael rode the back of Yel-loch and together the two commanded the battalions: five groups of five giants each; plus two humans, two halflings, two goblins, a half-elf, a dwarf, a dark-elf, and a wolf; less an orog. They picked up one of the hermetic dramscapers on the way to round out the host. As they hiked down the greypeaks, anything that found itself in their path soon got well out of it. They noticed the giants were less solemn, less restrained, and more rash outside of the warren. Harbunpil described the surface as a fake world, one with no consequences. It was a little disconcerting to witness such massive creatures behave so recklessly. Yel-loch did his best to keep them in line, but even he was not immune to the strange pull of the horizon, the immateriality of the vast sky, the absurdity of the clouds...

At camp that night, Nancy and Slothrop spiced things up again with their psychedelic mushrooms from the Fungal Pools. Harbunpil and another giant joined in, so did Ironica. The trips were wonderful. Yel-loch did not approve, but Harbunpil did not care.

Safad and Rya hopped on the back of a strong, younger, cocky, giant named Durstag. They took a sending stone from Zireael, and decided to make haste for Lakeville, to scout the place and see if the Lakevillians had left yet. The remainder of the host would stick to the foothills and head toward Old Weir, after Safad and Rya confirmed their report.

They set out while the rest rested and made it to the outskirts of Lakeville by mid-day. Rya was flooded with awful memories and strange images. Durstag waited in a copse of trees while Rook confirmed the place was empty. Smoke still drifted up from a fire that was a few days old, but that was it. The storeroom of magical items was empty--apparently the Lakevillians would be well-equipped with the wonders of Myth Sveldin. Safad sent a message on the stone to Zireael.

Zireael and Yel-loch turned the force northward toward Old Weir. As they walked they saw a traveler in the distance. Nancy and Dala'gse thought they would ride their giant over to ask him what was going on. After trying to run away, he introduced himself as Gavin Peddlesworth. He was on his way to return his aunt's ashes to his uncle in Evereska. He was scared. Nancy and Dala'gse tormented him and then let him go on his way.

The group made camp in the foothills, and Slothrop noticed something as he took the first watch. It was a large figure, fast approaching. He had his giant counterpart hurl a boulder in warning. It barely missed an exhausted Durstag, carrying Safad and Rya. They reported an empty Lakeville and signs of a large host moving north toward Old Weir.

The next day, the group stuck more to the mountains, to avoid any possible onlookers catching a glimpse of them. The giants' natural camouflage with the stone of the Greypeaks made them difficult to spot, and they made camp in mountains around five miles outside of Old Weir. The non-goblin humanoids slipped out of camp toward dusk and made their way to Old Weir, taking with them flotsam and jetsam detritus to help mask their float on the Hurricane Mountain stream that bisects Old Weir.

As they approached the town, its familiar contours brought back all the faces and locales and events that had transpired within. The town itself meant something to them, it seemed to represent an idea--a beacon in the night as they came out of the wilds into civilization. Rya couldn't believe she was looking once again upon her home, when so often she was certain she would never see it again.

They decided to put in to the river just past some of the outlying farms that border the town. As they were about to duck in, they heard a voice call out.

"Rya? Rya Rezna, is that you?"

It was the farmer Dennel Dalbeck, a beardless dwarf. He was so happy to see Rya and gave her his condolences about her mother. He asked what she was doing with the other folks, and who they were...weren't they them that was wanted on the posters?

Zireael and Slothrop didn't want to take any chances. They came at him, and intimidated him into keeping his mouth shut. He agreed just as his wife called them in for dinner. She was effusive, telling her husband that these were the ones who had saved the Weir Watch from the VA guards, they had been put on Wanted posters by the VA guard, not the Weir Watch! It was all a misunderstanding.  Dennel remembered Slothrop's blade against his back and Zireael's chill callousness, and wasn't so sure. After a round of drinks they learned there was a delegation in town from Innesbyr and the Lord's Alliance, but Mrs. Dalbeck didn't know much else. The group went on their way. Dennel told Rya she was mixed up in the wrong crowd if these were types that would harm simple farmers. Her mother would have been ashamed.

They slipped into the freezing river and Rya let them in through the secret gate in the wall's river grate.

They floated in an odd mix of debris they had found in the mountains, not sure what they actually wanted to do. It was very cold. They were very wet, save Nancy, who was keeping her instruments dry atop Dala'gse's island dwarf back. He felt free in the water with his newfound ring from the trolls' hovel. It didn't seem like anyone had seen them floating by. As hypothermia was about to set in, they decided it was best to get out of the river and just head straight to the Hibernal. Rya knew the room in the Badger Den.

They grabbed a hold of the walkway underneath Old Weir's famous whitestone bridge and hauled themselves up under the badger murals they had first encountered so long ago.

They walked over the beautiful bridge and set off for the Badger Den. Any attempts to dodge the Weir Watch were only halfhearted, and soon enough a passing patrolman called out. 

"Hey! It's the Misfit Six! Welcome back to Old Weir. Please, let me buy you a drink." 

Nancy obliged and followed him to Three Copper Annie's--the Copp'--but the others rudely declined and made straight for the Badger Den. Inside, they were greeted with applause as people recognized them as the group that had led to the VA Guard's ousting. Rya bee-lined it for Selly Kurr, the bartender, and told him she would need the key for Room 24. He was about to engage in small talk, but instead tapped him nose and passed her the key. She led the group upstairs to what looked like a simple, small, vacant room. Once everyone was inside, she closed the door and opened the lid to the trunk that was resting at the foot of the bed. 

Down, down, down they went into darkness, hand-over-hand for what felt like a very long time. Finally, they reach the bottom of some rough-hewn cave. There was no illumination save for a small sliver of light coming from the base of a heavy door set into one of the walls. Rya knocked the knock. A knocking knock knocked back. Rya acknockledged.

The door swung open and there facing Rya was her old friend, Lelath Selanta. 

"Rya...?" she wondered. 

Rya embraced her friend and said she needed to speak to the Iceguard. Lelath nodded, saving her questions for later, and led them down the well-appointed hallways to the circular gallery chamber where they had once faced judgement. Soon, they were joined by Tallin Gale, Elgin Fallow, Seljin Len, and Layarra Birro. They each embraced Rya in turn and then sat for a palaver. 

"Tell us," Tallin said. 

As Rya was about to begin, the group heard a sudden scuffing of feet on the stone of the chamber. They turned to see a breathless D'Luk Cassin burst into the room. He paused and gasped when he saw Rya, and then rushed toward her for an embrace. Rya's breath caught in her throat as she felt his arms around her, his wiry strength, the brush of his stubble against her cheek, his familiar smell. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. He let out a stream of words stumbling over themselves to catch up with his love after so long apart. "I sent furtive word to Lakeville but heard nothing and we were forbidden from going in case the sudden interest from the Hibernal alerted anyone to anything and there was a connection between Sha'hale's death and Rya's disappearance but it was maddening and I didn't think you would just be there without telling me so I searched all our other haunts and nothing and I gave up and thought you were dead...," he trailed off and let out quiet sob into Rya's shoulder. There, there. 

Rya explained all that had happened since she and her mother decided to investigate the leads on their Monarch conspiracy: her trip to Lakeville, hiring the guide to Myth Sveldin, her abduction in Myth Sveldin by the mind flayers, her enthrallment and station in Lakeville, the sfos consumption, the tactical training to attack the town using her and other's insider knowledge, her meeting with the Misfit Six, their adventure to Myth Sveldin--omitting the encounter with the Lady of the Glen and their goblin companions--their looting of the city and her eventual betrayal at statue square to her Master Ssefillusk the Illithid, her slow recovery and escape, the return through the mountains with the stone giants, who were waiting outside the town. Throughout, the Iceguard asked various questions and points of clarification, and all told were quite taken by the entire tale. 

Zireael and Slothrop's hackles were still raised...mighten these Hibernal be enthralled as well? Tallin Gale sensed their discomfort and did his best to put them at ease. He wanted to know what action they could take. The group told them the entire town of Lakeville had now marched on Old Weir, but the last place they saw the tracks was around a day out of Lakeville. They brainstormed together and tried to understand to get a clearer picture of what was going on. Synapses fired, thoughts were voiced, threads were pulled. 

The group asked about the Lord's Alliance delegation. Elgin explained that a man named Tufus Bell was a visiting dignitary from the Waterdeep, on a tour of the Vostewylde with a Monarch representative called Olin Parr. Bell was assessing the Monarch's bid for joining the Lord's Alliance. They had arrived a few days ago and were planning on visiting some of the more renowned locales. Slothrop asked if they had seen anyone from Lakeville arrive. They said they certainly hadn't seen a large group, but they didn't exactly know who everyone in Lakeville was. Some Lakevillians could be in town. 

Rya thought she should go back home and see if Sha'hale had left anything that might give them a better idea.

The Misfit Six weighed their options.