Apologies for the very sudden break, I kinda burned out a little bit and needed a week away.
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(General POV)
The group of six adventurers trudged up a narrow forest road smelling of wet beast and thoroughly covered in all manner of blood and dirt, a curious if confused white dog following after them in an eager gait and wagging tail.
Only the wizard was at least somewhat clean, and that was solely because he had been religiously muttering prestidigitation for the past ten minutes like a precious mantra.
Gale shivered lightly at the memory of what they had been through.
Not even ten minutes after they had left the grove, Astarion noticed some tracks which of course, he decided to immediately follow, ending up with them entering a damp cave somehow connected to the Emerald Grove and now filled with a dozen or so goblins crowding around an injured druid.
They saved the druid, thankfully, but a muddy cave was an uncomfortable proposition at any time and the goblins provided no real information save for thinking them 'True Souls' at first sight and turning hostile when told otherwise.
Not Wyll's brightest moment, Gale would admit.
Inevitably, another cave awaited a mere hour later.
Thankfully, it wasn't as simple as them just wondering in, that would have been thoroughly embarrassing.
Instead they found a pair of lightly armored people standing over a dead dwarf, one whose corpse radiated a familiar presence that was far more muted than the rest of his companions' passengers.
The two people, young humans, acted much in the vein of the goblins in naming them True Souls, and thankfully some careful maneuvering allowed the party to learn that the goblins and their allies, as odd a thought as that was, were stationed in a ruined temple of Selune, just beyond the ruined village of Moonhaven.
Gale made careful note of Shadowhearts' sneer at that information.
The cultists of this 'Absolute', for that was what they plainly were, spoke of a great beast who had killed the apparent True Soul dwarf, and before they could do something as stupid as pursuing it, Durge through gritted teeth told them to retreat back to their camp.
Lae'zel did not like that, but the dragonborn simply told her it would make infiltration easier which seemed to mollify her at least somewhat.
All of this served as more than enough to distract the party from Astarion, who decided he wanted to see what the odd feeling around the corpse was only for a Mind Flayer tadpole to crawl out of its ear, floating in front of his head and vibrating psychically, resonating with all of their heads.
Durge acted like he had expected something like this, pulling a glass jar out of his pack and simply yanking the thing into it before it could turn its attention to him and covering it, which seemed to reduce the pressure.
"What do you think you are doing?!" The draconic man had asked in a growl.
But the pale elf merely looked annoyed "You can't tell me you aren't curious." He said "Besides, we have a safety net, don't we?" He smirked.
For once, everyone was unified in that moment, looking at him like he was a complete idiot.
An act that did not deter him in the slightest as he unsubtly redirected the conversation to the 'beast' the two cultists were talking about and, irritatingly, goaded them all into following the trail despite the dangers.
An act even he regretted quickly enough.
For upon finding their way to that second cave, they were all hit with a terrible smell and an even more terrible foreboding, one that did not deter them as it should have, caution coming far too late as they came upon the sight of an enraged nesting owlbear.
The massive creature with the body of a bear and the head of an owl did not hesitate even for a moment to launch its immense bulk at their group, making most of them scatter and scramble for their weapons and spells.
Gale would admit, he almost admired the way Lae'zel transferred from cautious lookout to vicious charge without so much as a blink of hesitation.
At least until her longsword practically bounced off the beast's shoulder bone like so much wood, and she was promptly slapped into the dirt without it even turning to look at her.
What he did admire without a doubt was the fact she just as quickly leapt up and retook her stance, completely ignoring the cracks in her bones.
The battle turned into a tortured brawl quickly after that, the adventurers all doing their best to evade instead of clash while those that could discharged all their bigger spells in the first twenty seconds of the fight.
The only reason no one got mauled was a lucky conjure from Shadowheart, as she threw a shadowy guiding bolt at the beast's rear leg, snapping a bone or two and slowing it, and Gale's own thunder orb landing a lucky hit on its head, bursting its eardrums and discombobulating it somewhat.
Only Astarion and Wyll seemed to manage to do any true damage after that, hitting weak points and firing off eldrich blasts of force respectively while the rest desperately drew attention to themselves.
Ultimately the beast fell, but not before knocking Lae'zel and Durge out, and thoroughly exhausting the rest.
Having barely managed to gather themselves and hear what critical wounds they could, they all nearly fell into despair as they heard even more rustling nearby but to their immense relief the owlbear that came next was no nesting mother but a cub.
It gave them a long curious look before simply deciding to ignore them and... then it started eating its mother's corpse.
Not even Astarion was feeling chatty after seeing that.
They quickly pilfered what little could be found in the cave, electing to grab an unhatched owlbear egg mostly out of spite, and exploring deeper with much greater caution this time.
Thankfully they found no other great beasts, but an abandoned shrine of some variety, and after some rummaging and reciting of prayers, a small chest had revealed itself containing the idols and petty relics of Selune.
Gale pretended to be fascinated by the 'historical artifacts' while listening in on Shadowheart and Durge.
"We should throw it away." She had said irritably "Preferably into the owlbear's pit."
The scaled man gave her a long look "I don't know why you hate Selune so much but we aren't just going to throw valuables away on a whim."
She looked up at him with something approaching genuine betrayal in her eyes before jerkily looking away and hiding a harsh wince of pain starting from her left hand and travelling up the rest of her body.
Yet another potential disaster Gale would have to keep track of, it would almost be amusing how those seemed to be stacking atop each other with each passing day, if it were not rightly terrifying.
The decision to rest was made unanimously, and they quickly relocated some distance up the creek that flowed through the cave itself from outside. Most decided to rest while Wyll and Durge took watch, the Balduran noble disappearing for a while and returning only when the rest started noticing his absence.
He was not alone.
A downcast white dog followed after him, one he quickly introduced as Scratch who had lost his owner and was then promptly adopted by everyone.
Even the Gith was unwilling to comment on the puppy's presence.
The sun had passed its zenith by the time they finally reached Moonhaven, which is where they found themselves now, scaling up the side of the walled stone village, slightly refreshed but not truly at their best.
"Whoever lived here was not poor." Gale noted as they got up to one of the small gateways "Stone walls on marshy ground do not come cheap."
"They were Selunites." Shadowheart sneered "They probably got rich off of running their temple."
Her comment drew a few glances, and to everyone's surprise it was Lae'zel who spoke up, looking down at her like one might look at a child "Your hatred is impotent. Cease."
The half-elf looked like she had just been slapped, and Gale was already dreading a fight but they were all thankfully distracted by Wyll calling out "Corpses!"
Everyone but Shadowheart turned alert, the cleric lagging behind somewhat as she fumbled with her spear dazedly and followed the rest to the small pile of short scrap-armored corpses.
"More goblins." Astarion said with what seemed to be morbid curiosity in his voice, leaning over the pile without reacting much otherwise "And whatever did them in was not gentle about it."
The rest approached the pile and immediately reacted in differing levels of terror and disgust.
All the goblins were missing their eyes, their death expressions twisted in utter terror or burned off by a flame that didn't seem to care if it was searing flesh or steel.
Well, the sight made most of them recoil in disgust.
Durge simply licked his lips and nodded in appreciation.
The pile of corpses was not alone, and they quickly discovered what looked to be at least thirty goblin corpses in much the same state just in the western sections of the village.
Before they could continue on with their numb exploration however, upon reaching the central well of the village, all of them were drawn to a terrified scream that seemed to be getting closer and closer by the instant.
Before any of them could truly realize what was going on, something hit the paving just a few steps in front of them, kicking up dust and making a wet fleshy scraping noise as it slid some distance away before coming to a stop.
The dust slowly cleared, revealing yet another dead goblin, though this one was thoroughly smeared across the ground and just barely recognizable as one of its kind.
Unilaterally, the group looked up to where it came from and found themselves staring at the suddenly still windmill.
All of them had gotten used to the distant white noise of its movement, it was practically impossible to miss in a small village like this, and the sudden lack of it was almost jarring to notice.
They shared a look and silently agreed to investigate, marching up to the higher reaches of Moonhaven.
What they found waiting there left them both confused and terrified.
Two bugbears and a deep gnome were cowering beside a rocky outcropping, doing their utmost to look as small as possible. The two furry brutes looked driven to docility by their fear, but the dark almost purple-skinned gnome was shivering like a twig and muttering prayers to any god that would hear.
The sight directly under the windmill was far more striking however, and left each and every one of them completely speechless.
Four ogres standing watch around a large rock covered in tarps and pillows, terrified and covered in burns. One of them, the one clad in most armor and with the greatest intellect shining in his eyes was fanning said rock with a large piece of wood which only served to make the situation seem that much more surreal.
And atop the... throne? sat a golden fiery bird, its flames so perfectly controlled as to not touch its nest and its eyes gleaming with cruel amusement as it beheld the new arrivals.
For whatever reason, Lae'zel began rubbing at the corners of her eyes.
The new arrivals went ignored as the ogre charged with fanning it spoke "Uh, boss. That was the last of the gobbos."
"Seriously?" The bird chirped with annoyance "We only made three fly though."
"No worries." The ogre quickly spoke, pleading "We can always toss the gnome!"
Said gnome began shivering even more as the bird's eyes fell upon him, but the majestic incarnation of life and flame shook his head "Nah. He is annoying, an n'wah, and featherless, but he doesn't deserve it."
"Sure thing, boss." The ogre 'wisely' nodded and kept fanning.
The poor gnome fell on his ass and began hyperventilating.
Feeling a hunch, Astarion alarmed the rest of the group by stepping out in front of them, once more drawing the curiosity of the firebird "Pardon the interruption, your Feathery Majesty." The pale elf purred "But you wouldn't happen to be Mr. Dagoth's familiar?"
"If those sycophants heard you refer to him that way..." The bird's eyes shone with an amused glint before he quickly bobbed his head "Nice ass kissing, I give it a seven out of ten."
"I do try." Astarion smiled wryly.
His ease seemed to amuse the bird enough to chirp out a laugh "Acceptable for a fresh follower of mine!" He bobbed his head again "Lump! Introduce us!"
The ogre didn't stop fanning as he droned "Be in awe, mortals! For you stand under the Great And Mighty Scorch!"
"Scorch?" Shadowheart muttered disbelievingly.
"You say something n'wah?" The bird's eyes immediately zeroed in on her.
None of them understood the word itself, but the sheer vitriol it was accompanied by was more than enough to make the meaning clear.
The half-elf stilled completely as she felt one breath away from incineration.
Seeing no retort forthcoming, the bird scoffed and focused back on the elf "You know it is fucking ridiculous you are the one to first approach the literal phoenix." That confirmation seemed to throw the group into a bit of a tizzy but Astarion was too busy smirking amusedly to care.
"Are the rest of you cucks or something?" Scorch chirped threateningly "Get your asses over here! Damn featherless degenerates ruining my fun..." He grumbled to himself.
Not left with much choice the party did as they were ordered and soon they were standing around the pilfered throne that looked less and less impressive by the minute.
Gale unconsciously noted that the... actual gods damned phoenix... was casting an illusion for his own amusement.
"So the Mindwormed Multitude blesses my presence..." The firebird drawled, lounging in his plush seat "Pops sent you over to me, did he?"
"Yes." Astarion was voicelessly elected to speak for the rest of them "He told us you might be able to help with scouting the goblins' positions." He made a show of looking around "Though that seems to be a bit redundant at this point."
"Meh." The bird shrugged, an act so utterly undignified for what he was meant to represent it would have thrown anyone off on its own "This was just a forward position, and they stopped sending reinforcements last evening." He looked away with an avian scoff "Fuckin' goblins using good sense... unbelievable."
"Do you mean to say they are alerted to our presence now?" Wyll asked.
Scorch looked up, unimpressed "They literally saw the squid-ship crash and attacked the grove yesterday, if you think they don't know they aren't alone you are a Me damn idiot."
'He also thinks himself a god.' Gale quickly filed away to his growing list of notes on the seemingly deranged phoenix.
Wyll felt a familiar indignance rising but he smothered it as quickly as it came.
"What happened to the goblins here?" Gale found himself asking "It looks like some kind of beast ravaged them."
"Oh, that?" Scorch tilted his head... and smirked "That was all me."
"What?!" The exclamation left him before he knew it, and a good number of the group turned tense "But why?" He asked, even as he removed the 'seemingly' from his mental descriptor of the bird's state of mind.
"Why not?" Scorch shrugged "Goblins aren't people." He said, as if challenging anyone to counter him, and then twisted his beak into something resembling a deranged grin "Besides, I like doing it to those that deserve it. It's like closing off the windows to their souls... permanently."
Out of all disgusted and disturbed reactions Gale saw, Durge's 'sage' nod of agreement was what completely took the wind out of his sails.
And only seemed to encourage the bird.
Astarion, who kept an excellent poker face despite his own mild unease, cleared his throat "While this is all incredibly interesting, what can you tell us of the goblins' base?"
"Fine." The bird almost seemed to pout at that "Fuckers are all squatting in some old ass temple of a local moon loving thot." He confirmed what they learned previously but added "Looks to have a massive underground connected to it as well but the gobbos aren't even aware of it."
"How massive?" Gale asked on a hunch.
"Like fuck off massive." Scorch said, spreading his wings "It's even connected to one of the basements here but you are only getting in there if you feel like falling for two minutes straight."
"The Underdark." Gale muttered in realization.
"That what its called?" Scorch chirped "Some local place or?"
"The Underdark spreads through a large part of Faerun." The wizard found himself relaxing as he fell upon familiar territory "It is usually a massive section of interconnected cave chambers but it can range from anything between an underground forest to an entire sea depending on where you go."
"Interesting..." He bobbed his head consideringly "Well, I am not going spelunking down there without pops, he'd wring my feathers if I did and I only let him do that shit for the kids."
They all gave him odd looks at that.
"Don't worry your empty little heads about it, my new followers!" Scorch's demeanor shifted as he ignored the expected reactions to his insult "Before I let you off to scour the goblinic filth, I feel you should know I sensed one of your own wondering about a bit to the northeast."
He twirled his wing next to his head "All mindwormed and that jazz but protected like you lot."
"That is almost in the opposite direction of the ruins." Gale pointed out.
"Yup." Scorch bobbed a nod "Big Tiefling woman, all fiery and full of anger battling it out with some fancy ass knight cosplayers, she got pretty fucked up but managed to limp away. You might be able to save her if you are quick."
Before anyone else could answer, Wyll had stepped up, eyes filled with determination "Where did you say she was?"
Scorch met his eyes and those who knew him would see the flash of spite in his own golden orbs "Tell you what." He said "How about I show you instead?"
It wasn't an offer.
---
The ogres and bugbears trudged away, barely hiding the urgency from their steps as they were literally sent to eat the goblins out of hearth and home to their best ability, leaving the deep gnome numb on the ground and staring into the skies pleadingly.
"Oi! Tiny." Scorch whistled at him "What was your name again?"
The poor man scrambled up to his feet as quickly as he could but stumbled at least thrice "B-Barcus, my lord." He stuttered.
"Right, I just remembered I don't care. Get your ass south-east." Scorch tilted his head in the direction of the grove "There is a bunch of tree-huggers there that will let you rest up or whatever."
The gnome hesitantly nodded his head and began waddling away.
"Well, that is my good deed for the decade!" The bird declared and landed on Durge's head, deeming him the only one of true taste in goblin butchery of the group "Forward my new steed, to adventure!"
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Scorch demands all of the stones!
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