RP:What Happened to Andei?

This is a Devout's Guild RP.

Synopsis: Mathollak has sought out Andei, the battle-priestess of Loda, to help him enchant his axe. She's not known to leave her home in Craughmoyle very often, so where is she? Gone with Vargan, an Orc Chieftain who's been vexing Mathollak for some time. Deducing that Vargan must have kidnapped Andei, he finds Khitti and Kailani in the Devout's guild, and gets them to help. Deducing where she must be by Mathollak's (very weak) clues and her planisphere, Khitti takes them on her ship The Tranquility, across the sea to Rynvale. Though Kailani's dubious as to whether or not Andei has been kidnapped, based on Mathollak's recital of his reasoning, she knows its important that she make sure. In the end, Kailani's insight was correct, but they still need to pull Andei out and take her back home. After a chaotic skirmish, the four of them return with a cargo of Celestial Bronze and a prisoner.

Sanctum of the Divine

Hoping to bless his magical weapon called “The Piecemaker”, Mathollak has set out to Craughmoyle to find Andei, the Battle-priestess of Loda. Yet when he arrives, he’s informed that she isn’t there, and -hasn’t- been there for a while. Wasn’t she at the guild, working with that big orc, Vargan? She seemed so excited by what he had to say. Something about a falling star.

Mathollak knows this orc, and knows Andei isn’t in the Devout’s Guild. But he returns there anyway, because as reluctant as he is to admit it, he can’t do this alone. He barges through the door like a bull, and scans the people around him. “Ding, Dong!” He shouts, clapping his hands together, and it’s -loud-. His belt gives him monstrous strength. “Hey I need some help! But not from you,” he says pointing to a paladin of Arkhen. “And -definitely- not from you,” he says to an Aramoth worshipper. “Kitchen’s that way,” says a Q’Na worshipper. “Thanks, did the God of space tell you that? I’m not--well actually…” He fights himself, but duty (wrath) prevails. “No. Alright Pal, where’s the Chief? And Kailani too. Use your space magic to make them appear.”

The amount of time that Kailani spends at the Sanctum of the Divine was sporadic at best, preferring to brave the elements of nature rather than spending her time indoors. Still, the druid made a point to visit periodically just to make sure everything was in order and that no one has left a note for her here requesting her help. It is by pure chance and luck that she is present in the building when Mathollak enters, shouting his ‘ding dong’ nonsense and proclaiming that he needs help. What are the odds? By the time the druid makes her way to the source of the ruckus, Mathollak is already dreaming of the kitchen and also making demands that some Q’Na follower use his space magic to summon her. “No need,” the druid interjects with a lifted brow, “And I would not advise such measures ever be taken with me. I would not take kindly to being brought somewhere against my will, it's much better to simply ask.” If Kailani was here, that means that her griffon companion is probably around -somewhere-. Okay fine, technically it was Orion’s companion but he seemed to tolerate Kailani running off with the griffon, if only because it meant that Grimclaw could keep a watchful eye on the druid and keep her safe from harm. Grimclaw was presumably outside somewhere. “Anyway, would you care to tell me what it is you needed help with? Or do you prefer to head off to the kitchen to try and sate that bottomless pit of yours? You and Orion have that in common…”

Khitti hadn’t been too far away, off in the guild-only area of the Sanctum. And yes, she had heard Mathollak. She looked down at the outline she’d been drafting up for her black tides book and sighed heavily before pushing herself up out of her chair and heading towards the main area of the building. “You know, if you ever feel like retiring from… whatever it is you do, Mathollak, you’d excel in the business of waking the dead.” She said this with a straight face, but that soon was replaced by a smirk. “Is he bothering you, Kailani? Do I need to put him in time out?” Sorry, Math. You’re getting the snarky mom treatment today. “Jokes aside, what the hell are you shouting about anyway?” The redhead put her hands on her hips, brows furrowed as she eyed the follower of Delisha suspiciously, darkly-painted lips pressed into a thin line.

Mathollak saw Kailani appear, and then Khitti. “Damn dude,” he whispers in awe to the Q’na worshipper. “That was fast.” The robed space wizard bows and backs away, never bumping into anything. Mathollak points to Kailani, “It’s funny you mention being taken somewhere against your will! Because -that- is why I’m here. And I can eat waaay more than Orion,” he says with utmost confidence, despite having never met him. “But maybe I should eat first...no. We can get something on the way.” Despite his urgency, he still finds time to chuckle when they make fun of him. “Chief if you die I will absolutely change careers, okay?”

But there -was- a serious matter to attend and as much as he missed them, he still had to get to it. “But it’s good your both here, because you know isn’t here? Or in Craughmoyle?” That was probably enough of a hint. “Andy! I just came back from there, looking for her.” Of course just because someone isn’t where you think they are, that doesn’t mean they’re missing. “Vargan took her! I would go get her back myself, but I…” he hesitated and looked away from them. He was very reluctant to admit that he wasn’t strong enough to do something, let alone defeat a hated enemy. “I don’t know if I... could.” He slides his hands in his pockets timidly.

As Kailani does not often frequent society, the snarky mommy treatment that Khitti gives Mathollak is a bit lost to the blue-haired woman. It’s obvious that Kai is more than just a little confused by the expression on her face, the half-elf is honestly wondering what the concept of ‘time out’ actually is. She does not ask and hopes that it is fairly self-explanatory. Talk of how Mathollak can eat way more than Orion is met with a lift of a brow and mental flashes of the mess those two would make should they ever enter into an eating contest. Kai focuses on what sounds to be like the more important details rather than letting herself get caught up in shenanigans. “So you are hoping that Khitti and I will assist you in looking for this Andei?” A look is shifted toward “Chief”, as if trying to gauge what the redhead seems to be thinking about all of this. Her gaze shifts from Khitti back to Mathollak, “Do you have any idea of where you want to try and look next then…?”

Khitti spied Kailani’s confusion, the redhead offering an apologetic smile and a mouthed ‘Sorry’. She’d explain it to her later. Probably while they were on their way to wherever the hell Mathollak was going to take them. Kids. Tantrums or just plain being loud. The concept of time out as a way to get them to calm down and be quiet for a little while. When the mention of Andei being taken again was made, Khitti’s crimson brows furrowed with concern as she shifted her attention to Delisha’s Axe of Love. “First of all, I’m not dying. I’ve done that twice already. Second, she’s been taken again?” Khitti sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I suppose I should be slightly grateful that it’s not me getting kidnapped for once.” She shook her head. “Kailani’s question is the same as mine. Where’s she been taken?” Khitti paused for a moment. “And… remind me who Vargan is again? There’s been a hell of a lot going on lately. Too many big bad evil guys to keep track of.”

Mathollak takes Kailani’s acknowledgement of the actual question he meant to ask as assurance, “Yes! Kai that’s right, assistance, great thank you.” And quickly he moves past it, no one will know it was ever asked. “And yes, Chief that’s good. Don’t die! I don’t want a job waking the dead. It sounds boring. And Vargan is…” The merest recollection brought fury to his eyes and tension in his newly formed fists. But they were useless until they found him. “He attacked the encampment outside of Gualon. Ambushed us. Alm--almost kiLLED my dad!” He takes a deep breath and lets it out slow. “And he -was- in Frostmaw. I’ve recently discovered he isn’t however… Maybe I should’ve asked more questions but every time I hear his name I just, I just get so...mad.” And he didn’t know why. Why this enemy in particular? And why did he feel so strongly that he had to deal with him. It was making him stupid. Making him forget who he is, how to live. “Wait! They said something about a rock falling from the sky. It seemed like a big deal, but I don’t know.” He pleads with his eyes and internal prayers that one of them might have been looking up recently. If they were and they had the right instruments, they might have been able to track a falling star to somewhere on Rynvale island…

Kailani lifts a brow as Mathollak takes her inquiry as assurance that she would help. It struck the reclusive druid as a bit presumptuous but she saw no need to argue in the end as she was not very inclined to refuse to help. The druid’s blue eyes shift between face to face as she tries to absorb all of the information she was being provided, yet Mathollak’s answers to their questions only give Kailani more inquiries. One thing was clear to the druid, they would be traveling and so Kai begins to check her gear to make sure that she has everything she needs. Some of it was left with the griffin, but she would just make a quick pit stop to speak with Grimclaw and gather the rest of her supplies. It’s not like the griffin support the weight of all three of them and their gear, so she would end up sending him back home to Orion rather than dragging him along for this mission. It’s a shame too, for Grimclaw would make their travels so much faster. “So to Rynvale, then….?” Once the party was actually en route, the druid would ask. “So you had mentioned that ‘they’ said something about a rock falling from the sky? I can only assume that ‘they’ is this...Vargan and Andei…” There is a brief pause. “Are we sure that Andei is even missing? And not...just investigating this mysterious object?” Kai crinkles up her nose a bit as she asks, not wanting to sound too dismissive because this Vargan did not sound like the most pleasant chap. Yet, it did not seem like too much of a stretch?

Crimson brows furrowed as Khitti listened to Mathollak and his reminder of the issue in Gualon. “Oh right, yes that. I rarely go to Gualon so I tend to forget it exists. Which is sad considering I actually like swamps. Give me a moment.” She passed back through the door to the Sacrosanct and gathered her own supplies, that of which was her satchel and both of her swords. Khitti motioned towards the door, urging them outside. “Let’s talk more on the way. I can get my husband’s ship to give us passage there. It shouldn’t take very long for the journey as The Tranquility has long since been equipped with many speed-enhancing runes and enchantments.” Once Kailani brought up her concern about Vargan and Andei, Khitti nodded in agreement, her attention shifting to Mathollak, “She’s right. I don’t hear from Andei much, but that’s because she’s usually got her nose in her forge or out foraging for various ingredients when she gets bored. What makes this different?” She reached into her satchel and started to flip through a notebook she’d started some time ago, but didn’t seem to have much information in it just yet. “As for the mysterious object… I was in Fog Forest some time ago. Someone up there,” she said, motioning to the heavens, “decided to let a planisphere and some tarot cards fall into my lap. The planisphere is a contraption that allows for star-reading. I’m still struggling to grasp it, but when I was there in Rynvale, there had been a falling star. They’re not actually stars, though--they’re meteors. And likely the falling rock you’re talking about.”

Mathollak struggled with their line of thinking, because it was so clear to him what -must- have happened. But, could they have been right? “They told me at her temple that she went with Vargan, they knew his name! But…there didn’t seem to be a struggle…” His eyes see nothing as wheels turn in his head to make sense of it. “But what type of person goes willingly with a monster like that!?” He doesn’t know Andei, but he knows of her, and knows the Chief likes her. That means she’s good. He shakes his head, dislodging doubts. “No, he must’ve threatened her. Threatened her family!” It doesn’t occur to him that the boogieman can present itself as a person when it suits. Or that a person can become the monster when necessary. Though he should’ve known the latter by now. “Actually, Chief,” he says solemnly when she mentions forgetting about Gualon. “My home is a little…scary. Right now. At least on my side.” Which was the orc side. “Vargan defeated Riquor, the champion. In single combat…which means by rights he gets to rule! But he left. It’s…a dangerous time.”He sighs, exhaling guilt. He’s been avoiding the place, it was too hard to be there. But he was tired. Emotionally and physically. Actually the thought of a long journey to Rynvale sounded, great. “Okay we’ll talk more on the way. Rynvale, eh? Guess I’ll need to hit the storeroom afterall.” He smiles a little bashfully and disappears into the kitchens to get some rations. Enough for all three of them. He stops in his room, done up lusciously in red and gold fabrics and rugs and cushions. The entire place a soft luxury. He finds some clothes, an empty cup, and returns to them. The journey from here to Rynvale is long. But he finds ways to shorten it. Primarily by sleeping, on the quaint ride from Kelay to Cenril, through the chilly haunted streets of Cenril. The Tranquility, at least for him, lives up to its name. Only when they again return to the sound of seagulls, heralding their approach to the distant shore, does he remain lucid. Close to the shore, but probably hours away from their destination. And already he was anticipating violence. It was there, in his eyes.

Nothing that Mathollak said had managed to fully convince Kailani that Andei had gone with Vargan against her will. This doubt is not enough to stop Kailani from joining in on the search party. It was better safe than sorry in this instance. If something bad had happened to Andei, and she ignored the problem? Then Kailani would feel nothing but guilt. And if nothing bad had happened to Andei? She would at least get to see a potentially cool rock that had fallen from the heavens. That was not a sight that she would get to see very often, even with the extended life she has been blessed with due to her elven lineage. It was a win-win situation no matter what, as far as Kailani could see, so long as they found Andei alive at least. The druid was not one to make conversation for the sake of passing time, and no other questions she had would be adequately answered until they arrived at their destination...so for most of the journey, Kailani is back to her usual quiet self. Unlike Mathollak, she does not manage to nap for the journey, at least not until they get to the boat. Once they are on the Tranquility, she would recharge for a short while….but really as far as the druid was concerned, she would rest once they are done.

Khitti || “Alright, alright,” Khitti said, putting her hands out towards Mathollak in an attempt to get him to calm down. “Whatever actually happened, we’ll sort it out and find Andei. I -could- see her going to find out what sort of minerals were in the meteor… regardless of whatever Vargan said or did. You’d think she was a dragon and not a dwarf at times, when it comes to that stuff.” Khitti resisted the urge to go down the mental rabbit hole of ‘Was Andei actually a dragon in a dwarven disguise?’. It wasn’t productive. So, of course, she’d do it later. Eventually, the Tranquility would bring them to their destination--or close to it anyway. They’d have to go on their own two feet unfortunately, as her Tikifhlee was being rather temperamental that day. Khitti stopped once they’d gone on long enough--or what she thought was long enough anyway--and looked towards the others. “I think it would’ve landed around here? It had definitely fallen in this direction.”

Mathollak wanted to ramble and rave and cry and scream at the same time about Vargan and his dad and his people, but Khitti makes him feel as if she understands enough, so he doesn’t. He only sleeps. But when he wakes up, its clear that was medicine for him. He fell asleep feeling like there was a volcano brewing to burst out of his ribcage, and woke feeling nothing but determined. “So this is the Fog Forest,” he says, when they’ve become surrounded by fog and trees. “It’s exactly how I imagined it. I don’t know what your planet-seer told you but I don’t see-” Then he hears it. In the distance but close enough: Hammerfalls. Someone was smashing metal to metal. It can only be one thing, and each of them knows it, and they move. The fog oppresses Mathollak, and his mortal eyes can only see so much. Yet as they move closer, even he can see the path the falling star took days before. Trees, broken and burned were strewn in a path toward the hammering, until they moved closer. Then there ceased to -be- any trees. Or grass, vermin, or any signs of life at all. It had all burned away. But that gives way to yet another drastic change. A hastily built palisades wall around an impact crater. Mathollak would bet his life on it. Here were all the signs of a busy smith. The glow and smoke from a fire. The smell of flux and burning coal. The rhythmic clang of the hammer and the occasional hiss of molten metal being quenched in clear water. As luck would have it (or not) they were facing the gate. Manned by two elves proudly wearing armor emblazoned with a fireball behind a crossed axe and sword. “It’s them,” says Mathollak conclusively, recognizing their sigil. “But these aren’t the same ones that attacked us last time.” No elves attacked him last time. Which was weird…but it also meant they wouldn’t know him. “I’ll distract them. Can you two find Andy?” Before hearing their answer, he stuffs his totem of Delisha into his shirt and moves away from them, so he can appear out of a different part of the trees than they might.

Kailani always found it strange any time she had to return to Rynvale. The druidic woman made it a point to avoid these visits as much as possible, it might have been where she grew up but her memories here were not fond. Still, her knowledge of the terrain is sufficient enough that she is able to help navigate them through the more treacherous parts of the island and her connection with all things nature means that they have a slight advantage when it comes to encountering the more hostile wildlife. Kai would be able to steer them clear well in advance, even with the fog hindering the view. As they get closer to their destination and the druid starts to take note of the damage that has been dealt to the earth, she cannot help but frown. It might have been a natural occurrence, as what else could a giant rock falling from the skies be? But that did not mean the druid was pleased over what she was seeing. It was what it was, and she would not dwell on it for too long. The party gets close enough for Mathollak to recognize the sigils on the two elves that were hammering away. It did not mean much too her, other than cluing her in to the fact that they should be extremely cautious because Mathollak has had an unpleasant encounter with them before. As Mathollak does not give them a chance to answer, Kai is unable to enchant his person in the same way that she does with Khitti. Both of the women searching for Andei will find that the fog begins to thicken around their forms so that they are able to more easily hide in their surroundings. And yet, despite being shrouded in fog, their vision does not seem to be hindered by it any longer. In whispered words, Kai says, “I would say we should stick together but we are both more than capable of defending ourselves and we will cover more ground if we split up.” It is not like they were searching a particularly vast area, if one needed help? All they would have to do would be to holler for it. And so the search begins, as soon as Mathollak provides that distraction...though admittedly Kai has no idea what the woman she is looking for looks like. That does present a small challenge. Maybe sticking together would have been better, but it is too late for that. Surely Andei will be the only one who is not dressed in attire bearing that sigil, no?

Khitti || Much like Kailani, Khitti too frowned at the destruction wrought by the meteor. Fog Forest was the place she liked to go for solace and to speak with her gods. It reminded her of home, for it was much like the forest she grew up near and often hid herself away in when things with her family were tense. To see part of these woods taken out in a rather brutal fashion was… somewhat depressing, and it showed on Khitti’s face. She sighed somewhat and filed it away for something that maybe the group that had healed the druid tree and all of Sage forest could take care of, herself included in that. Before she could even respond, Mathollak was heading off, and Khitti reached out in vain to grab his arm but missed. “Damn it,” she whispered. It was Khitti’s job to run off after spewing a half-assed plan. And now that it was being used against her, she was more than a little annoyed. There’s another sigh, this one much more exasperated than the last before she’s nodding to Kailani and heading off in her own direction. Using her shadowstepping ability, she made her way around her side of the area, closing in on the sound of hammering, while also trying to keep a safe distance away from it, juuuust in case there were more of those elves. “Andei!” The redhead whispered as quietly as she could and if she managed to get caught by those wearing the sigil, well… they’d find out what happened when Khitti was irritated.

Once he was far enough away from them, Mathollak bursts from the brush and assaults the pair of elven guards–with his personality. “Holy smokes!” He exclaims full of joy, “People! Thank the gods, ESPECIALLY Aramoth, am I right?” He eagerly strides up to the guardsmen, who remind him of their weapons by wrapping their guantlets around the hilts hanging off their waists. He stops. He has no armor and only an axe, but they don’t seem to care. What they’re guarding must be too precious. “No–you don’t understand! I’m a lumberjack, but I’ve been lost for days. I just need a place, a safe place for the night.” He moves closer, and their blades shimmer halfway out of their sheaths. He stops again. “I have gold?” He begins fumbling around in his satchel, finding a heavy bag. There’s too much gold in it for a lumberjack, and he scoops some out of it, so much, the top of the pile slides off his hand and into the mud. He simply has to move closer to them to pick it up! “Oops!” He drops the whole bag. They can’t help but look. And Mathollak can’t help but harmonize with the blacksmith inside the encampment, winding up a wild haymaker and throwing it at a guard’s head. The guards bell rings in time with the hammer. Onto the second, but suddenly the blacksmith stops. He bonks the elf’s head off his knee, and without the cover of the blacksmith, it’s…a suspicious noise. Guards on the other side of the wall rouse and begin to investigate their external colleagues. Meanwhile, Andei has ceased her hammering at a rather inopportune moment for some reason. “Hello? Is someone calling me?” She lifts her goggles and scans the area around her, bathed in orange from the smoldering fire, and mystical white light from the molten metal on her enchanted anvil. She resumes presently. “If someone is calling me,” she says, stubbornly resuming her work, “They’ll need to speak up.”

Kailani :: It took a lot for Kailani to focus on the task of finding Andei, to not return to Mathollak when that suspicious noise is heard. She could see that guards are moving from their posts to investigate this noise, hopefully Mathollak would be able to handle it. It is Khitti’s whispered words that Andei responds to, but hearing the response is enough to reveal to Kailani where the blacksmith is. The two women searching for the blacksmith would likely arrive to her at roughly the same time. While the fog has served as sufficient disguise for a brief time, as Kailani approaches the toiling blacksmith the fog burns away as a result of the heat and light from the fire. Seeing that Andei resumes her work, the druid is pretty much forced to speak up to try and gain the blacksmith’s attention again. “Andei?” Khitti would have to confirm if Kailani is acting a total fool and speaking to the wrong person entirely. “Are you in trouble? Here against your will?” At this point in time, Kai has not moved to grab her ranseur. It remains strapped to her back, she did not want to give Andei the impression she was hostile. Hopefully Khitti’s presence would help to convince Andei that they were here to help and not harm.

Khitti could only smirk at the sounds coming from Mathollak’s direction, but she soon turned her attention back to the task at hand. She nodded quietly at Kailani as they both approached the dwarven blacksmith, a thumb jerked in the druid’s hand after she spoke. “What she said. What the hell are you doing all the way out here? You -never- come to Rynvale.” Khitti gestured towards Math’s noisy brawl, then crossed her arms over her chest. “Mathollak’s been looking for you and about had a meltdown that rivaled a toddler’s. All that to say… Are we here to rescue you or not, woman?” Khitti was fine with a bit of adventure, so she wouldn’t be upset if Andei was here of her own free will. But, this Vargath was probably gonna get punched in the face regardless, if he was here. Just for the trouble he was causing her guildmember.

Mathollak is busy holding the gate closed now, as more and more of the armed and armored elves on the other side begin to pile against it to force it open. But he can do it, his championship belt is so enchanted as to give him the strength necessary to carry such a weight. Unfortunately, the wet ground here isn’t. And the grass has burned away to dirt and mud. He’s continuously losing his footing, then desperately finding it again to gain leverage against the doors pushing against him.

Meanwhile, Andei is once again stopped, to her chagrin. She pushes up her goggles and turns impatiently to Kailani. Probably looking up at her, yet she’s no less intimidating for the height difference, with her arms stout with earned muscle. And also a pretty dangerous looking hammer in the right hands. And hers are. But she sees she’s with Khitti, so her grip on the hammer and her stance overall becomes more relaxed. “Danger? Rescuing? This is my job! The only danger is if I can’t fill the order before The Great War takes us,” she says as if either of them would both know what she’s talking about. “Or if I get interrupted again,” she mumbles as she slides her goggles back down and brings the hammer back down. But she stops just inches short of the molten metal on the anvil.

“Wait, didn’t you know I was here? Vargan said you told him to tell me, that if you weren’t so busy with some eldritch turnip (since that’s what we’re calling it now), you would’ve told me yourself.” Her grip on the hammer tightens up again, and she stomps out of the tent. Mathollak has clearly delivered on his distraction, nearly every person present within the cheaply made walls is at the gate, trying to ram it open. “Orlofir,” she calls out sternly to the one elf who isn’t working on the gate. That elf accosts two squads of elves, telling one to hop the fence and go around to see what the heck is barring the gate, and the other to get a log to use as a ram. Then he turns to Andei with venom in his eyes, “And you get back in your hovel and resume your work. And don’t stop until it's done or I tell you you can.” Andei is stunned by this level of disrespect. The elf was stressed, sure. But what enabled him to presume to make demands of her? This was a partnership. Supposedly. Her hammer rises with designs on inverting a knee. But she contains her ire and returns to her ‘hovel’ just like Orlofir tells her to do. “Let’s pack it up,” she says, referring to a crate full of ingots. It’s shut, but there’s a bright light coming through the seams. Even though they’re cold! “Besides,” she says, smacking the anvil so hard it splits. “I -hate- Rynvale.”

Kailani sends a look Khitti’s way when Andei expresses that she is here for work and even goes on to say that she is surprised that Khitti does not know. Didn’t Vargan tell her? This of course has Kailani wondering what this Vargan might be up to, it did not seem like he was up to anything good. If he was, then they would not have had to come all the way out of Rynvale to begin with because Khitti would have been able to tell Mathollak where Andei was while they were back in the Kelay-Sage area. Kailani had half a mind to leave Andei to her work, until some elf by the name of Orlofir expresses nothing but disrespect to Andei. When the blacksmith expresses that she would like to pack up and leave...Kailani removes her ranseur from it’s resting place across her back. Kai wielding her weapon was in no way a hostile gesture toward Andei, it was a precaution taken just in case she, Khitti, and Andei would end up needing to fight their way back out of this encampment. The druid’s curiosity about the material that Andei had been working with and her interest in the light that was pouring through the seams would have to be addressed at a different time. Her first priority would be to escort Andei safely back home, with the crates of ingots that she had been working with.

It didn’t take Khitti long to get thoroughly irate at this Vargan dude and his antics, the look on her face indicating such. “No, I’ve yet to have the pleasure of meeting with Vargan, but… now it looks like I should,” the redhead said through gritted teeth. “I had heard nothing about your disappearance until Mathollak told Kailani and myself about it.” She offered the druid a side glance as she readied her weapon, the redhead giving Kailani a nod in acknowledgement before returning her attention to the dwarf. “Yes. Get your things. We’re getting the hell out of here. And we’re taking one of your friends here with us.” Khitti went to exit Andei’s tent, but stopped almost as soon as she started. “Wait…” For a moment, she looked like she was wrestling with her thoughts, her lips shifting into a frown. Eventually, she’d look down at the seashell bracelet on her wrist and sighed. “I promise I’ll explain later,” she said, her words for Kailani. “We need someone who's not gonna end up killing one of these guys, and I’m… feeling a little stabby today.” Can’t imagine why. Khitti tapped her bracelet twice and her form shifted to that of Khitt, the male version of the redhead that had yet to meet Kailani. The somewhat taller Khitt cracked his knuckles and his neck, then looked to Kailani. “Go meet up with Mathollak and get to the lake further back into the forest. We passed it on the way here. It’s safe there. Khitti and I spend a lot of time there.” Olive-green eyes shifted back towards the tent’s exit, a smirk finding his lips. “It’s been a bit since I’ve had a boxing match, so this will be fun.” And then he left, giving the first enemy he saw his specialty, a right hook right in the jaw. If Mathollak just happened to spot him amongst all this madness, it was entirely possible he’d know who he was--Khitt had become somewhat of a big deal in Craughmoyle’s realm of bare-knuckle boxing.

Andei is puzzled at the appearance of Khitt, her bosses alter ego. But she still recognizes where her orders come from, and the urgency of the situation. She nods and binds a rope to the crate of ingots gleaming with starlight, carrying it like a backpack. Khitt could handle Orlofir, she believed, even with his new sword. So Andei focused on her orders, and whispers a prayer to Loda. With his sight, she appraises the wall enclosing them, finding weaknesses in the wooden grain. She hammers at three particular points, and a portion of the wall falls. Unfortunately, on the other side is a squad of four lightly armored elves who were beginning to make their way to Mathollak. Not anymore. “You’re not to leave until you’ve finished our order,” recalls one, seeming rather confused to see her. “You’ve made what…one blade to specification?” They draw their blades, recognizing by the look on Andei’s face, as well as her much taller friend with the polearm, that she was not working for them anymore. Meanwhile, Orlofir has his block knocked off. Or was it his helmet? He hits the mud as his protection rolls away. But he rises, smudges mud out of his eye, and draws his holy blade. His eyes are smoldering as he’s blessed with Aramoth’s fire, finding clarity of mind and energy precision in his body. He draws his thin rapier back, before twirling it once and straightening it out toward Khitt’s toe, almost a feint. Because he immediately flicks his wrist, slashing the sword straight up toward Khitt’s face, intending multiply by laceration.

Kailani was a bit taken aback by the fact that Khitti was soon replaced with Khitt, yet this was not a detail that she had much time to dwell over. Khitt…or Khitti? Would explain later. Besides, before Kailani had a chance to even utter a single word, Khitt was throwing himself full force at Orlofir and their fight was underway. This left Kailani to work with Andei to move the crate of ingots and make their escape. For a second, the druid is not entirely sure how they will manage such a feat, it would have been far easier if they did not have a heavy load to haul. The woman was half-wishing she had brought the griffin along for this venture, but Andei has a plan. The blacksmith uses her design knowledge to locate weak spots in a nearby wall, but the moment it falls they are meant with a group of elves who oppose their departure. Kailani does not let her gaze shift to Andei, trusting that the blacksmith can easily help her fight their way through this group should the need arise. However, bringing about their death is not Kailani’s immediate goal and if they can manage their escape without too much bloodshed, that would be preferred. As the elves draw their weapons, Kai points the tip of her ranseur their direction and the moment that she does so the blade of her polearm begins to glow a soft shade of blue. What occurs next happens within seconds, not wanting to give the warriors time to even fully process what is happening. Her weapon was not so much a catalyst for the magic that she calls upon, it was meant to be a distraction to keep their eyes on her….rather than the pool of water that forms at their feet. That water climbs up their boots to about calf-height and freezes. It was thick enough that it would not be impossible to escape but it would take enough effort that the small squadron of elves would have to work to catch up to both Andei and Kailani. “Let’s go while we can,” the druid says. The goal was still to find Mathollak so that they could rendezvous at the lake, as Khitt had instructed.

Unfortunately for Kailani, that was just the way of things with Khitti… and now Khitt as well. But, thankfully for the druid, Khitt’s intention with these followers of Vargan was not to bring death raining down upon them--just a lot of punches. Even if Khitti had remained the one in control of their shared body, she likely wouldn’t have killed them either, but Khitt ultimately fared better in close-quarters combat and wanted to have a go against the bad guys for once. It probably would’ve been a different matter entirely, when it came to how to deal with them, if Andei had been harmed. The redhead smirked at the elf’s rapier, even allowing himself to look down at where it’d first been positioned. The sword succeeded in its feint and attack, but only to the point of leaving a few gashes on his face and arms. He evaded the rest of the hits, shadowstepping around behind Orlofir to attempt to punch him in the side of the head and sweep his legs out from under him. “I sure hope you like talking, because after I beat the hell out of you and you wake up from it later on, you’re going to do a hell of a lot of it,” Khitt said as his fists sought out places where Orlofir’s armor might be weakest or didn’t cover anything at all.

Andei’s hammer sparks with power, ready to bring the fires of Loda’s eternal burning forge to her enemies. Until Kailani eliminates that need. They were frozen in place, like most of the subjects of her hammer, in fact. But Andei wasn’t about that. They go around the wooden wall and find someone who is. Mathollak is still struggling, nearly blinded by mud and effort. “Andei,” he questions as he slips and regains his footing. “Finally, I can stop.” And he does. With a deep breath and a herculean effort, he pushes the tall wooden gate so hard, it rips from its hinges and collapses on the elves on the other side of it. And then he sees someone almost familiar, on two fronts. “Is that…?” He’s starstruck. He climbs onto the door to get a better look, while elves struggle under him. “Shush,” he says as he kicks one in the head. “I never get to watch from this close. And he sees Khitt dive in despite the supposed disadvantage of facing a blade, evade it, and disappear. “Oh, did you see that? Y-Yeah! Get ‘em!” Mathollak is practically living vicariously, mimicking the punches as they land. One lands clean in the side of his head. “Oh! He’s rocked! Take ‘em out!” Khitt probably can’t hear, and knows what to do anyway, dismantling Orlofir with shots to his liver and kidneys, if Mathollak were to guess. Orlofir manages to spin, whipping his sword around as he does to give him some space, and time to breath. But it hurts to do that. It hurts to be awake. But he has the clarity to do what’s needed, even now. Gifted to him by the Lord of War. He clutches his side, holding his battered body together as he jabs at Khitt three times. Aiming to disable him, one toward each shoulder, and the last to the gut.

Under Mathollak’s feet, the elves he stunned are finding their feet. From the other side of the fight, the four Orlofir sent to find a battering ram are back, and they drop a log and draw their swords.

Kailani was just about to open her mouth to inform Mathollak that Khitt had asked that they -leave- and move to the lake area. Except….Mathollak is suddenly very engrossed in Khitt’s fight with Orlofir. As far as Kailani was concerned, this meant that they were wasting time and giving their opponents more of a chance to hinder their escape. Too late, the elves that are under Mathollak’s feet are starting to come to and four more are joining the fray. Plus it would only be so long before the four that Andei and Kai left frozen to the earth would manage to free themselves. Kailani heaves a frustrated sigh and takes a more direct approach to trying to deal with their current situation. Her polearm is swung in a circle so that the butt-end can knock the elves who were trying to find their footing into a state of unconsciousness. When this move is finished, her ranseur is being pointed head-first toward the upcoming four elves, except this time her weapon of choice is not a distraction, it is the means of giving the next element that she chooses to wield a guided direction of travel. Lightning races up the length of Kailani’s ranseur only to shoot forth with blinding speed towards the four elves that are currently drawing their swords. The druid’s summoned lightning would definitely be drawn to their blades, but if any of the elves were wearing armor made of any sort of metal, it would also be attracted to that. The metal would likely amplify any of the electric shock that the four elves might feel while leather would at least help to dull the damage, if only slightly. Kai hisses toward Mathollak mid-attack, “Will you stop messing around? We’re supposed to leave for the lake. Khitti will meet us there.” Kai probably would have used the name Khitt, but she doesn’t exactly know yet. They have not been properly introduced.

Khitti || Khitt drew in his own breath as Orlofir attempted his, but the respite didn’t last long. He was getting tired and it showed as Orlofir’s jabs hit home on Khitt’s body, but that last one? It went just deep enough that Khitt was able to grab it as the sword exited his shoulder for the last time. Shadowfire erupted in Khitt’s hand, the purple flames quickly heating the elf’s rapier as Khitt held it there. When it was finally too much for the elf to deal with, Khitt jerked the sword in such a way that hopefully Orlofir would get pulled right into a rather painful headbutt. And if it didn’t work? Khitt would use the adrenaline rush from the new wounds to continue beating the hell out of him until the elf was unconscious. When it seemed like he was done fighting for a moment, Khitt let out a sigh and started to half drag, half shadowstep Orlofir along towards the meeting spot. He made sure to bring that rapier along with him too.

Mathollak -hears- Kailani. He even glances over his shoulder to see her and Andei standing there anxiously. But he doesn’t -listen- not at first. “Don’t you know who this is?” He asks incredulously as he returns to watching the fight. “No, of course you don’t you’re just a-” And before he can finish his thought, Kailani knocks several out into dreamland and cooks the ones ready to interrupt the fight. They drop their weapons and begin to convulse as the energy courses through them. They drop. They’ll live…probably with some nerve damage. “Alright, I’m going! Sheesh. I know how it ends anyway.” He sighs, knowing Kailani’s right and that he should go. And he does, catching up with them and leaving the excitement behind. And Khitt’s fight ends, approximately how Mathollak knew it would, with a knockout. Of course he missed the exciting part! Khitt mollywhopping him and giving him a lesson in dark fire burns. When Khitt drags the beat-up pile of Orlofir to the lake, Mathollak’s already passed out some linen bags of trail-mix to Andei and Kailani. When he sees Khitt however, he looks disgruntled. “Bro. Chief,” he says in a stern tone. But the facade quickly fades and a mischievous grin takes over. “I can’t believe you never told me this about you! I have to wait for all -this- to happen before I find out -you’re-...you?” He didn’t really understand it at all. But it also didn’t matter. “Well,” he says as he lobs another bag of trail mix to Khitt. “This is way better than an autograph.” He should probably be more concerned with Andei. After all, she -was- the reason he dragged Kailani and the Chief out here. But…its not every day you meet your heroes.

Kailani usually is pretty even tempered but Mathollak is managing to ire the druid, a feeling that would have been intensified had he finished that sentence. She’s just a what..? Hm? HM? This is a fight that Kailani chooses not to pick, it takes a lot of self-restraint on her part. At least she has something to focus on to take her mind off whatever presumably insulting thing he was about to say to her. Kailani continues to assist Andei with taking the haul of this mysterious new material to the meeting point that Khitt has set. The druid is silent for the duration of the way to the lake and even when Khitt manages to appear with Orlofir in tow, she doesn’t have much to say. Kai just waits for the rest of the team to decide what their next move would be. Presumably back to the Tranquility now that they had Andei and whatever this glowing stuff she had been crafting with was in tow.

Khitti || Khitt just blinked a few times at Mathollak, doing his best to hide a growing smirk. But, while he tried to hide -that-, he couldn’t exactly hide the bit of redness that tinted his cheeks. The redness was his blushing, which was entirely separate from the redness caused by not only Orlofir’s blood, but Khitt’s own as well. “Heh, yeah. Uh. Super super super long story short, Khitti’s up in here--” He said, giving a knock to his noggin. “--and I’m Khitt. We share a body. Our significant others, who are also in the same sort of predicament, have the ability to shapeshift themselves, as well as others. It’s complicated and one of those “you had to be there to understand it even slightly” sort of things. But basically, she is me and I am her except with a few differences besides the obvious.” The ‘obvious’ here was the difference in anatomy makeup. “But also we should get the hell out of here because I already used up my second wind hauling this guy’s ass through the forest,” Khitt motioned towards Orlofir. “Thought he could give us some answers later on. We can lock him up at the guild’s headquarters for now.” And if there wasn’t much else to say, Khitt would lead the way back to the Tranquility. He’d probably need some healing. A lot of healing. For once, someone else did the stabbing and Khitt had to be the one to get said stabbing.

Mathollak eventually contains his excitement. Or more likely saves it for later. “Ohhh she’s up there? Can she hear me? Tell her we did it, we got Andei back.” Mathollak leans in and gets a better look into Khitt’s eyes, as if there might be a small Khitti hiding behind them. “Alright, alright I can see you’re hurt. Lemme carry that idiot for a while, you just relax.” He binds Orlofir’s hands and legs together to make him an easy bundle to carry. Probably won’t be necessary, he’ll be out for a while. Days, maybe. On the way back to the Tranquility, they get Andei to spill the beans on what she’s carrying. “Even I’m not sure -exactly- how it works yet. But Loda has blessed me with the insight of how to draw out its power. And no, I can’t show you. It’s sacred, and must be kept that way. But I’ve been calling it Celestial Bronze, because it only comes from these stars that fall from the heavens. That’s only the second one I’ve made,” she says, referring to Orlofir’s rapier. Mathollak looks scornfully at it, and reaches out to grab it. But something in his soul tells him he shouldn’t. He does anyway, reaches just to touch the metal. It cuts him! “Ah!” He draws his hand back and suckles on his finger while he curses Aramoth’s name. Clearly the blade didn’t like him. Back on the boat, Andei finds her way to the forge and spends a little time there while Mathollak falls asleep somewhere comfy. Or maybe helps with ship stuff if necessary. By the end of the ride, she’s able to present Mathollak with a knife, wrapped in linen. “You’re the one who went looking for me, right? Here. Something tells me you need this.” She gives it to him with a solemn look. They’re even, at least. ” To Kailani, she bestows a polearm. Shiny and new and just like Mathollak’s knife, wrapped in linen. “Those are both made out of Celestial Bronze. I know you didn’t ask for it but…I was inspired. Tell me how they perform.” She smiles, and puts the lightened crate of ingots on her back again. “Alright, I’m going home. And this time, I’m not leaving.”