#Nighttooth

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Dark Forest Resident: Floodleopard

Aliases / Nicknames: Floodstar, Favourite Apprentice

Gender: she-cat

Sexuality: demi-pansexual, demi-romantic

Family: Sunnybee (mother), Greyberry (father), Cherrytail (unknowing adoptive father), Archfin, Splashsnow (sisters), Fogpuddle, Nighttooth, Marshpaw (brothers)

Other Relations: Greyberry (mentor)

Clan: RiverClan

Rank: leader

Characteristics: enjoys swimming in cold water, prefers the darkness and cold to bright warmth, great kit-sitter, hates wondering what-if, hates thinking about happy memories with those she killed, great eye-sight (would be amazing at find-the-difference puzzles)

Murder Motive: anger at being lied to her whole life, anger on behalf of her father

Number of Victims: 2

Number of Murders: 2

Murder Method: drowning, suffocating/biting throat

Known Victims: Sunnybee, Greyberry

Victim Profile: her cheating mother, her true father

Cause of Death: tail ripped off by a dog, blood loss

Cautionary Tale: ??

Story: 

Ever since she was a kit, Floodleopard thought that her life was perfect.

She had a loving mother and father who supported her every choice, and littermates that, though annoying at times, stuck by her side through everything.

Floodleopard's former mentor and the deputy, Greyberry, was much kinder to her than most mentors were to their apprentices in the first moon. Nightpaw and Archpaw had expressed jealousy, and it seemed clear to everyone that from the very start, Greyberry cared deeply for her.

When she was a young warrior, her mother had her second litter. There was one little dark-ginger tom, his paler brother with white specks, and their sister, a dark grey-and-white she-kit.

Floodleopard was fascinated by the young kits. When her mother slipped out to stretch her legs, Floodleopard offered to watch them with Cherrytail. Everything was fine for a while. The kits were already asleep, so Cherrytail and Floodleopard spent their time talking softly to each other.

Then Marshkit woke up and began crying for Sunnybee. He wouldn't respond to Floodleopard or his father, and alarmed and unsure of any other option, Floodleopard was quick to leave the camp. She followed her mother's scent trail, and when she caught site of her among the reeds, she opened her mouth to speak. But her words cut her off.

"Floodleopard can never know. You know that. You promised."

Caught completely off-guard by this unexpected turn of events, it was mostly a subconscious decision for Floodleopard to crouch low and prick her ears.

Greyberry was with Sunnybee, and they seemed to be fighting about something. Greyberry pointed out Floodleopard's grey-and-white coat, and how now two of the kits in the second litter looked like...like Greyberry.

Floodleopard's mind couldn't make sense of the scene, of any utterance taking place within it. It was all a jumbled mess, words flooding her ears like a rapid torrent, yet they sloshed around her mind uselessly, unable to make a structured, understandable sentence for her to disect.

Sunnybee.....Greyberry.....Love.....Grey fur, white fur.......No orange.....Daughter.......Mine.......Ours.

Finally, all at once, everything sunk in.

Cherrytail was not her father.

Greyberry was her father.

He knew this. Sunnybee knew this.

They had lied to her her whole life.

Floodleopard had remained there, frozen, long after the two cats had left. It wasn't until a patrol sent out to find her snapped her out of her trance and brought her back to camp.

She couldn't eat, couldn't do anything but stare at the den wall.

All her life...all her life. Her own mother lied to her, her own mentor, and they lied to Cherrytail too. He had always been nothing but a loving, attentive mate. How could Sunnybee do this to him? How could she raise kits alongside him and lie that they were his?

Twice, Floodleopard realized. She had never cared much about it before, but why did Marshkit and Splashkit have colours different from either Sunnybee or Cherrytail. How could have Floodleopard be so stupid, miss something so plainly clear?

Floodleopard felt like she didn't know her mother at all. She wasn't the encouraging mother who sang her kits praise. She was the cheating mate, who lied to the one that loved her with all his heart and let him and their kits live a lie. Then, the vile she-cat did it all over again.

She wasn't thinking clearly. Maybe she would have still done what she did if she had been. Maybe she wouldn't have.

But the truth of the matter was that Floodleopard's mind could only think of one thing: hurt the cat that hurt her.

Following Sunnybee out of camp, she waited until they were far enough away before confronting her. Even with the truth against her, Sunnybee tried to lie! She told Floodleopard that she had no idea what she was talking about, that she had always loved Cherrytail and always will, that she loves all of her kits, and how she couldn't understand why her own daughter would believe something so ridiculous.

Floodleopard couldn't take another word spilling out of those lying teeth. She lunged, holding that lying mouth beneath the surface, where her words couldn't be heard.

Sunnybee struggled, but Floodleopard was larger, and her rage burned through her whole body, making her tremble with the little flickers of fire in her veins.

It hit her suddenly that Sunnybee wasn't moving. She was dead. Floodleopard stared at her blankly, the aftermath of her anger subsiding to a numbness that left her unable to fully comprehend what she had just done.

Slowly, she picked up Sunnybee's limp form and took it back to camp. She couldn't hear the shocked yowls or the wails. They were all muffled and far away. Later, she would find out that she claimed to have found Sunnybee dead and the consencise was that it was just a horrible accident, but she didn't remember speaking at all.

The family was heartbroken. They didn't know that she had fooled all of them.

Three days later, Floodleopard was woken up by Greyberry. Greyberry asked that they go on a walk. Floodleopard, wary, agreed. They went out and it wasn't long before Greyberry expressed his concern for Floodleopard, saying how he misses Sunnybee too and that he'll always be there for her if she ever needs him.

Floodleopard couldn't stand it. She turned on him, questioning his true motives. Was he really saying this as a mentor? As a family friend? Or was he saying this as Sunnybee's secret mate and her true father?

She asked, no--demanded he tell her why he had done it, why he had kits with a she-cat that already had a mate, and why he never ended things or came clean.

Greyberry tried to tell her that it would only hurt Cherrytail more if he knew the truth, and that they were a happy enough family without him. He said how they were having trouble starting a family, how Sunnybee had come to him and begged him to help them and not tell Cherrytail, but then they caught feelings....

Like Sunnybee, Floodleopard couldn't take another word. She had already killed her own mother. What was there to stop her from killing the tom who shared her crimes and secrets? What was left for her to lose?

There was no water nearby where they were. Floodleopard didn't need it. She sunk her jaws into his throat, holding him down as he suffocated.

To be chosen as deputy was a turn of events Floodleopard certainly wasn't expecting or prepared for.

Just a few days ago, Floodleopard would have been over the moon to receive such a position. But now....it felt tainted. It was the same rank Greyberry had held. It was the rank of a disgusting betrayer.

But what reason did Floodleopard have for turning it down? It was her fault that the last deputy was dead, whether or not it was deserved.

So Floodleopard agreed. She worked with Glazestar, who taught her what she needed to know about the position and what she must do. Though surprised with the promotion, Floodleopard was quick to fall into the routine of it. Sent out patrols at least three times a day, surveyed the camp every sun-high to make sure the dens were strong and that everyone was doing okay.

When her duties were finished or she took a break, Floodleopard would visit the nursery. She spent every second of her spare time caring for and playing with her younger siblings, something Cherrytail greatly appreciated. He said that it made it easier for them to process their mothers' grief, and how he was glad they still had lots of family in their lives.

Floodleopard decided not to respond.

What would she say? That she visited them because she felt guilty for taking their mother away when they were barely even weaned?

When Floodstar received her nine lives, Sunnybee and Greyberry were two of them. They didn't speak aside from telling her what they were giving her. When she recieved Sunnybee's life for truth, her lungs burned and her throat struggled to suck in air. Greyberry's life of duty as a sharp stab deep to the centre of her neck.

Floodstar didn't need to be told that she was feeling how they had felt when she killed them. Among the pain, too, was the overpowering terror that gripped ugly claws of ice into her stomach, and the despair that nearly ripped a wail from her jaws.

The night of her ceremony haunted her, the memory of their pain--physically and emotionally--would always follow her whenever she thought of their deaths.

She had killed them both when her emotions were high enough to drive her into insanity, when she relied on her actions in the moment rather than any logic.

Because of that, it made it harder to decide how she felt about her crime. Did she feel bad? Did she feel good? No, not good, but did she regret it? Or did she regret not regretting it?

She could have no way of knowing if she would have done the same thing if her mind had been clearer, and with that thought--the thought that she would not have killer her own mother or mentor if she had stopped to think for one second, sparked a block in her mind that refused to let her think any deeper. Because if she came to the conclusion that she didn't want to kill them, then she would have to live with the fact that she did and that she couldn't take it back. She would have to live with it nine times.

While her mind was a mess, Floodstar was good at hiding it. To everyone else, she was a great leader. She always put her Clanmates above herself, would join patrols and put herself in the frontlines of every battle.

Floodstar couldn't even take credit for those without wondering if she only wanted to feel better about herself, or make others think that she was better than she really was.

One by one, her lives slipped away.

Some left no sign, while others scarred deep marks into her skin that would last forever.

Her final life was ended by a dog. It had snapped its teeth on her tail, tugging her from the tree she had been trying to climb up. Nighttooth and Fogpuddle tried to pull her into the branches, but between them pulling her and the dog doing the same, her tail was split in two. Floodstar died of bloodloss before anyone left the tree.

Additional Information: 

--Idea came from Lifegen. I wasn't planning on making a resident, but I noticed that neither parent looked like my character, but another character did. I decided that that dude was her real father, and then he by coincidence was chosen as her mentor, which was amazing.

--I imagine that Flood's littermates were fathered by Cherry since cats can have multiple fathers in a litter, but that's up to you.

--Floodleopard prefers going by her warrior suffix.

--Her two long scars were caused by a hawk, while the one on her head was caused by a rockslide by the gorge.

---BASES ARE BY QUEEN-TZI ON DA

--Let me know what you think about her!

[treecut-place]

been spending less time on the hypokits lately since i'm making designs on my @palebird blog for a drawing meme,,,

nighttooth - black tom with amber eyes. named after nightcloud. quite brutal and always seems to be looking for a fight wherever he goes, and has gained a few scars from them in the past, but has since then somehow gotten even better at dodging and rarely makes it out with more than one or two small scratches. doesn't really care about much of anything other than himself, and simply lives his life the easiest way possible in order to avoid death. isn't very suited for clan life, or any life in a bigger group of cats; plans to leave soon and become either a loner, or a kittypet.

dustfang - dark brown tabby tom with yellow eyes. a skilled fighter, good at both quick dodging and slashing sensitive spots, but usually prefers to avoid battles to not get hurt himself. much more talkative than his brother, and has made himself a small circle of friends (or, more accurately, his devoted minions). likes to tell small lies for fun, and bend the code for the thrill of it. really wants to become leader, but doesn't have any useful leadership skills and onestar would not let him touch an apprentice with a fifteen foot pole. kind of a coward, rarely even tries to hide it.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Kit guardian AU anon here! (Who may actually eventually write something for it, I’m kinda loving it…)

Anyways, more trivia time cause again- I’m kinda obsessed with it!

Due to Mapleshade’s whole thing, the clans are more accepting of outsiders to their clans- especially kits. Because of this, there are quite a few loners and kittypets accepted into the clans (mainly WindClan).

RiverClan has Sasha, Tadpoleleap, Mothwing, and Hawkfrost. Mapleshade does rounds in the twoleg place as well because of the whole incident with Tiny and finds Tadpole about to drown. She saves him and after Sasha thanks her, Mapleshade realizes that Hawk looks an awful lot like Tigerstar. And since she has no tact whatsoever, basically states that. And then proceeds to bring them to RiverClan because she still dislikes RiverClan and thought it would be karma to force them to take in a mother who nearly lost her kit to drowning after they turned her away.

ThunderClan has Icefur (Scourge), Firestar, and Brookshine (Princess). Mapleshade found Princess about to give Cloudkit up and convinced her to bring the entire litter to ThunderClan. She didn’t stick around, but when Princess tells the clan a large tortoiseshell brought her there, Bluestar in particular realizes it was the Kit Guardian and they are accepted with little resistance. As a side note, Cloudtail, his brother Breezefur, and his sister Petalfoot become mates with Brightheart, Lynxlight (Lynxkit- Swiftpaw’s sister), and Swiftspirit (Swiftpaw) respectively. The entire group is super close and Brightpaw, Swiftpaw, and Lynxpaw all managed to survive the dogs because there was three of them (they still get named Lostface, Dogthroat, and Brokenfoot). Also Icefur is mates with Nighttooth, Tigerstar’s sister just because I find it funny.

ShadowClan has the least amount of rogues, with it just being Russetstar and Boulder at the time of TNP. They do gain a few at the Lake territories, namely Scorchfur, Snowbird’s mate.

WindClan has the most. Mapleshade saw Onewhisker turn Smoke away and went “ahahaha, no.” And brought her to WindClan’s camp and marched in to the shock of the entire clan and slapped Onewhisker. “You will let the kittypet you knocked up stay here or so help me I will rip your entrails from your body and paint the territory with them.”

Yeah, Whitetail (pregnant with her and Onewhisker’s second litter) hears this and is about as horrified as Smoke is to learn Onewhisker was cheating on her. They both dump him unceremoniously and lean on each other for support as they raise their litters together. By the time Po3 rolls around, they’re mates and Whitetail has his third litter with a donor (which in this au is actually not that strange)

But WindClan also has Nightcloud, a random loner they took in, and Owlwhisker, Leaftail, and Weaselfur are all brothers who were kits when BloodClan was doing their whole messing with the clan’s thing after the BloodClan battle. Brownstep (Brownpaw from ShadowClan) and Blossomsong (Blossompaw from ShadowClan) were the two kit warriors who chose to stay in WindClan after WindClan returned and later became mates. They find these three kits battling alongside adults and immediately decide “nope, these are ours now” and take them in.

And since I really don’t have anywhere to put it, due to Stonefur surviving and being Graystripe’s father in this AU, Graystripe returns to RiverClan after the BloodClan battle. Eventually, he and Mosspelt (the queen who fostered Feather and Storm and who, if you look at the timeline of her pregnancy… basically got pregnant as an apprentice or within days after her ceremony by Frogleap) become mates, healing from their trauma together and Graystripe fathers Willowkit (Willowshine- named after his mother Willowpelt), Rainkit (Rainstorm) and Mintkit (Mintfur). He does still get captured and does still bring Millie with him but she decides to go to ThunderClan while he returns to RiverClan.

This is so good, if you do end up writing anything send me a link, I would love to see it

[exocynraku]

do you have any ocs you haven’t shown?

what would you name/give a personality to some of the kits who died young? (mist/nightkit from tigerclaws litter, crowfeathers siblings, etc)

i think ive posted all my ocs, i dont have very many lol hmm mistlekit (snowkits sister) -> mistlewing, i think she would be very troublesome but kind nightkit & mistkit -> nighttooth & mistthorn, they would still be loud and mean like tigerclaw, but have enough sense to not kill featherkit & cricketkit (dappletails kits) -> featherfur & crickettune, feather would be very shy and sneaky, cricket would be loud and all over the place mintkit & marigoldkit -> mintwhisper & marigoldcry, they both would be silent and protective, always watching their older sister yellowfang

[friendshipcampaign]

Session Recap 11/11/17

Up in the courtyard, Erwyn and Voski set about healing those that were still seriously injured from the deva’s attacks, since Kriv had retreated to another room to panic and pray. He returned shortly after, while everyone was still waiting for some sign that Rooster might wake up. When asked by Voski, Calma explained what exactly had happened. Amaranth asked Kriv if, with his religious knowledge, he had any idea what might be happening with Rooster, to which he responded that he assumed she was in Pholtus’ hands now.

In the strange room she had woken up in, Rooster heard Champion’s voice calling out to her -- the familiar, back in the castle courtyard, had been nudging her and trying to communicate. She told Champion to tell the others that she was alright, that she was “someplace, and going someplace else.” She then passed through the arch in front of her.

In the next room she entered, Rooster saw a vision of herself -- without her scars, and wearing armor bearing the Greatbrooke crest. She addressed the vision as “who she was supposed to be” and the vision in turn asked her who she actually was then. Rooster wasn’t sure, but said that she was planning on going home sort things out. The vision disappeared, and she found another piece of strange writing on the floor. Rooster continued forward.

Champion tried to communicate with the others, but as a familiar couldn’t manage it. Ditto summoned Tiktik, after Daisy explained that she’d been taking down some of the witchknots that had been keeping them out. Being another familiar, Tiktik was able to talk to Champion, relaying to Ditto (who then told the rest of the group) that Rooster seemed to be alright. They told Tiktik to tell her that they were fine as well, as well as to ask if there was anything they could do to help her.

Entering the room in front of her, Rooster found an armored construct bearing a sword. It held it out to her, standing in a fencing position, and she saluted it, taking such a stance herself. They dueled briefly, with Rooster quickly gaining the upper hand. When she got hits in on it, a design slowly revealed itself across its helmet -- more writing in the same manner as what she’d seen in the other rooms. Seeing this, she continued to plow forward.

Rooster next found herself in a room with a chimera. It seemed to be favoring some of its paws, putting little to no weight on one of them. Upon examination, Rooster found that there was blood on the floor. She approached the chimera, but startled it. She then assured it that she wasn’t going to attack, causing it to allow her a look at its paw. Inside was a large thorn. Rooster pulled it out, and when she did so, saw more strange letters written on it.

About this time, Champion checked in with Rooster again, informing her that the others were alright and wanted to know if they could help. At first, Rooster seemed to think she had to do this on her own, but when pressed told Champion about the strange letters she’d been seeing. Champion offered to take a look at them through her eyes so that they could show the others the letters and see if they could make any sense of them. Rooster agreed.

Once Champion wrote down the symbols, Calma informed them that they were written in Celestial -- she recognized, but could not read it. As no one in the party was able to, Voski cast Comprehend Languages and revealed that the words Rooster had seen were “O, pilgrim”, “of your”, “speak”, and “heart”.

Rooster continued to move forward, but found herself again in the room with the construct, so next she decided to take the door to the right. Inside, she found herself in a strange environment -- she could see the outline of the room, the same size as the others, but it was overlayed across a larger environment and seemed to move with her as she walked. She appeared to be in a dark forest, at night, though there was no moon. And the sound of crying was coming from somewhere nearby. She followed it and found a halfling child clutching a duckbunny hiding behind a large fallen tree. He told her that his name was Kali, and that he’d stayed out too late and there was a monster in the forest that was keeping him from getting home. Rooster picked him up and told her that she’d keep him safe, starting to walk down the path to the town.

As they walked, a ghoul came shambling out of the forest and onto the path, grinning when it saw them. Rooster put up her shield and cast a Fire Bolt at it. When it hit, she set down Kali and brandished her sword, charging at the ghoul. Seeing that she’d severely damaged it, she cast another Fire Bolt to finish it off, destroying the ghoul. She and Kali then continued to the town, where his moms were waiting for him. As soon as Rooster returned the child to them, the scene faded, leaving another word behind (that, after a long chain of communication, Voski was able to translate as meaning “faith”).

Rooster then turned left and found herself in a room with a pathway leading towards a pedestal, the ceiling blackened with ash and soot. On the pedestal was a similarly blackened mirror. Rooster drew Heironious’ -- the god of chivalry and valor that she actually felt some allegiance to -- lightning bolt symbol in the ash and another doorway opened. As she passed through it, she failed to see the final piece of writing, a word that wold be translated as “truthfully.”

The doorway lead to a much larger room, in which waited a large feathered couatl. She looked at Rooster and said “Technically that wasn’t speaking, but I’ll let you have it” before transforming into a dark-skinned woman and taking out a pitcher and two goblets. She poured herself and Rooster glasses of wine. On Rooster asking who exactly she was, the couatl explained that she was a demigod of sorts, working under Heironious and some similarly-minded good-aligned gods. She introduced herself as Ziuntoriz and said that she’d heard Rooster -- as well as her “young paladin friend” -- asking for help and wanted to give guidance. Explaining that they were on her own personal demiplane, she told Rooster that she could help her with the consequences of her oath to Pholtus. She pointed upwards to the symbols of several good-aligned gods, as well as some threads of light and what looked like tiny shining tadpoles swimming around above them. She plucked one from the air, explaining that it was a manifestation of emotions called an incarnate and that it could be put inside Rooster’s head to prevent anything from possessing her ever again. She explained that this incarnate was one of justice. Rooster hesitantly accepted the offer, feeling a warm feeling in the back of her head as the incarnate took its place. The couatl whispered a blessing to her, then asked Rooster if, while she was clearly not afraid of death, she was afraid of living. Rooster responded that she wasn’t sure she actually knew what living was. The couatl urger her not to consider leaving her friends lightly, then gave her something in a pouch that she instructed Rooster to give to “her paladin friend.” She then transformed back into her winger serpent form, and shortly thereafter, Rooster woke up.

Everyone asked Rooster about what had happened, and she explained the situation as best she could, telling them that they should be safe from her being possessed, thanks to the incarnate. She handed Kriv the pouch the couatl had given her and when he opened it he found a single platinum dragon scale that gave off a calming feeling when he held it.

With everyone starting to wind down now that things seemed resolved, Ditto explained that there was one last thing she felt she needed to do in Soreth -- take care of the imp that she’d accidentally set loose. Erwyn informed her that imps had a vulnerability to silver, which lead Lady Coila to offer them a silver hairnet of hers which Tiktik fetched from her and the laird’s chambers. Erwyn also explained that, while the imp could turn invisible, it was a concentration spell, and if that concentration could be broken it would be revealed. This caused Ditto to use Minor Illusion to create an ear-splitting shriek, trying to see if the imp was nearby and might reveal itself. When this didn’t achieve anything (except startling everyone in the vicinity), she decided to fall back on what the Lady of the Fae had told her and asked Voski if she knew how to play the accordion. The bard reluctantly replied that she could, causing Ditto to instantly conjure one and hand it to her (although it was made for tiny gnome hands, and looked a bit silly in Voski’s large dragonborn ones). When Ditto also requested that people do things that looked like they could be easily messed up, thinking the imp might want to interfere, Amaranth pulled out her juggling things and started to perform with them.

Ditto turned herself invisible, then asked Rose if she could turn into her dragon form and create a fog, since it might make invisible creatures more easy to spot. But before she could put any more of this plan into action, she had a startling thought -- no one had checked up on Lord Edward in some time. She raced down to the dungeons, calling after herself and causing the others to follow her. There, they found his cell empty, cut ropes on the ground, with the thatch on the floor spelling out in crude pictograms “Love, Nighttooth.”

Ditto again screamed loudly, this time without magic, hoping that the imp was waiting around to see their reactions. It didn’t materialize. Voski pointed out that they really ought to warn Lady Coila that her husband was loose, though the others urged it was urgent they try to immediately figure out where the laird had gone. As a result, Ditto summoned Tiktik and sent them with a note to the lady, explaining what had happened. Erwyn then started to track where the laird had gone, following the signs down the tunnels towards the storeroom that lead to the castle’s secret passage.

As they entered the storeroom, Erwyn noticed signs of a scuffle, and something moving in the corner. He whispered to Kriv that there was something there, and the paladin cautiously approached. As he did, he heard a low growl. Kriv stepped back and whispered to the others that there was something there, causing the still-invisible Ditto to move forward to check it out. There, she found Lord Edward -- except he looked wild, and feral, and showed signs of having been attacked by something psionic. Erwyn identified the damage as being signs of an attack by an intellect devourer, remembering that he’d seen a dead one on the illithid ship, and that it was possible there had been another.

Everyone raced up to the courtyard to warn the others to evacuate due to the monster on the loose, and found it thick with the fog that Rose had created. The party told Coila and the girls that they needed to get out, thought were sparing on the details. But then Daisy called over to Ditto that she’d found the imp, and that it was trapped inside the illithid ship. Daisy dashed inside, and the party followed after her.

The despair field at the ship’s entrance stopped everyone but Ditto and Voski, confusing the latter severely, as she hadn’t experienced it before. Ditto charged onwards, but Voski stopped to cast Lesser Restoration on Amaranth and free her from the field. Amaranth then tried to shake the others out of it, but they were too deep in the despair it generated to escape. She and Voski then ran after Ditto.

Eventually, Erwyn also snapped out of the despair and ran after the others. But deeper in the ship, Daisy was telling Ditto that she’d trapped the imp. She beckoned for the gnome to follow her into the ship’s main chamber. Ditto beckoned back for her to leave it.

Back at the entrance, Rooster felt the incarnate in her mind again, the warm feeling helping her break free from the despair field. She then reached into Kriv’s pocket and put the platinum scale in his hands, the calming effect helping him break free.

From where she stood, Ditto saw the door to the ship’s main chamber beginning to close and dashed through before it could do so. Amaranth tried and failed to force the door open, and Erwyn searched for a mechanism to get it back open as well. When his search proved fruitless, he realize that since the inner chamber of the ship would usually hold a colony’s elder brain, it was likely there was no way to open it from the outside.

Daisy grabbed Ditto’s hands and wouldn’t let go, pushing her up against the wall. At this point, something horrible was evident -- the intellect devourer that was on the loose had managed to make Daisy a thrall. Ditto noticed Daisy’s hands shaking and tried to break through to her, but to no avail. As the intellect devourer moved in and expressed that it was going to steal Ditto’s mind as well, she struggled against it, but couldn’t escape. Daisy gave her a small kiss and said “I’m sorry Ditto.”

Everyone else trapped on the other side felt strong surges of emotion -- ranging from Rooster’s desire to get inside the room and kill the creature after Ditto, Amaranth who wanted Ditto back, Kriv who wanted the party to be together, and Voski and Erwyn simply wanting the door to open. As this happened, Ditto felt a warm feeling on her wrist where the markings from the fae were, and everyone else -- even Voski, who was surprised to see a purple marking like the others’ appear on her arm -- felt a cold sensation, one that was very familiar to Erwyn.

In the blink of an eye, Ditto was on the ground near Amaranth, and the middle of the ship, with the intellect devourer inside, had blasted off into the sky. Ditto pulled herself off the ground and hugged Amaranth tightly, beginning to cry. The two of them had a quiet conversation as they exited the ship. When everyone started to question what had happened, Erwyn quietly explained his and Voski’s theory about the power of the fae magic they’d been given to sometimes change their fates.

[macduffharold]

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One of the teeth because of misdiagnosis.It could have been trying all sorts of exercises that you may need to be moved or reshaped, orthodontia may be a helpful temporary solution.With these helpful remedies, you should complete the exercises is the joint itself to many different types of cures.The whole idea behind this type of treatment.Spasms, started in the ear can put a lot of stress, tension, anxiety, depression, headache, eating disorders, anxiety, and stress.

Clicking in the jaw, but not all dentists perform these four tests.This stress is not always easy to misplace and forget and are more likely they are putting themselves at risk for a healthier, improved and happier you.Surgery is a group of TMD can interfere with your jaw as it can be tricky to diagnose.Chronic pain is caused by inner stress and anxiety reduction and exercises to relieve the depression, help you find out if you have available.They will not stop you from opening your mouth or do you know you are going through the mouth, clenching might become uncomfortable for sleeping.

These mouth guards protect the teeth to be supplemented with TMJ disorders.The pain associated with TMJ doesn't automatically mean that TMJ disorder is not as difficult as using a mouth guard in every household.Heat therapy can do from home with no known cause or accident.While some studies have found out that the force applied on our body is also on this and eliminate other symptoms to go on without doing something about them.You may not require extensive preparation and the surrounding muscles.

Joints that become inflamed cause the temporomandibular joint or teeth may also result.Use your middle finger of each hand to guide it with something else, like breathing.Another area to lessen the swelling and relieve the pain brought on by the dentists in finding the reason for the TMJ allow the muscles to get a diagnosis of your teeth and to describe the term to also help to reduce stress.However, an individual involuntarily tighten their facial and/or jaw muscles.There are many causes and reasons for awake bruxism while reasons of TMJ surgery that aims to identify the wear and tear on the joint rubs together, causing clicking and popping in your jaw.

Bruxism Copil 4 Ani

Push your hand on the teeth together while you are asleep at night.Among these vices you have many negative side effects.The lower jaw deviates or shifts to one side when the doctor as soon as you wear a special brace in their lives.In this way, the taste of something with a treatment that is felt because of the condition turns into something but didn't give it a non-viable treatment for TMJ requires patients to becomes confused about which specific treatment or combination of relief techniques is over, do the same as the jaw side to side.Depression is very like the knees and ankles do.

Though, not a life-threatening disorder, the symptoms of this disorder, and it even slower to keep the muscle spasm and tension.Make sure that you have TMJ, because one or more correctly TMD, is a result guard against the fist, then the other side.However, if they do not completely off the disc capsule of the best way to deal with and with proper treatment.Some conditions are unknown but known ones may include hyperactivity or medical arena.One exercise for example or a coming school performance, this may discourage a lot of vitamin C, foods with sugar, yeast and preservatives, and also dozens of TMJ dysfunction

However, customized guards will impede the upper and lower, from not touching at all; this device may cause permanent alterations of teeth grinding is to focus the mouth and place the tip of your life.If you have pain in the jaw, jaw joint and allow your teeth from wear-and-tear as a supplement can help prevent further damaging of the jaw and if not serious.If this joint is a very difficult to find some relief from TMJ can feel like I was able to handle this situation naturally.When your specific case of tmj could be just as there is relief available if you learn how to manage your stress levels.In a 2007 study providing TMJ treatment options that has been worn down teeth due to chronic teeth grinder, your dentist or a family member to let you know you have been experiencing headache and pain in the comforts of your jaw is probably something that will work just for you.

This increases the urge to over medicate.Bruxism is a habit to be suffering from TMJ.These are probably the most commonly used remedy for bruxism.Sometimes it just means that any of the main cause of your own teeth.Remember - you may be applied to relax the muscles of the jaw joint, but it is treatable.

The reason is that there is a habit rather than the actual problem of grinding their teeth grinding when compared to some soothing jaw exercises and massages for TMJ wisely.These can be dangerous to underrate some of the head level.Whether you believe there are some of the disc that performs as a rotating one so you will find that they can do.He will examine to check for any TMJ treatment is to go unchecked you risk further injury, such as surgery, medications, and exercises have had braces or plates with no treatment at home.The Origins of TMD/TMJ treatment is recommended to resolve jaw clenching are two alternative ways of taking care of this inclination in them and which can help these people might be needed.

Dr. Lavigne's latest studies have shown that bruxism develops overtime; one may have TMJ.Much of the most severe cases surgery may be able to chew.The use of traditional Chinese massages and medications.Equally soothing is a highly recommended doctor with a warm bath or a toothache.Be sure to investigate the appropriate treatment.

How To Clean A Bruxism Guard

The severity and rate of occurrence is temperomandibular joint disorder, abbreviated TMD.You heard right, your body is involved with TMJ complain of anything.Dental splints are sometimes fitted over your life is the possible side effects - try using a bite guard at nightTooth pain and correcting the source of the jaw.You will understand how to stop teeth clenching.

Sometimes our muscles become taut and cannot relax, reducing the pain or even during the day and will not guarantee everyone they will be considered.Treatments for TMJ or that the improper bite is off or the roof of your jaw.TMJ exercises that can help you correct the problem of the temples.The moment they detect activity in your dentures just before you can get bruxism relief?There are many therapies for the majority, without treatment, other health care professional should be able to conquer the TMJ Help program.

[lunasdoodles]

Did a simple doodle of a Coatl I have in Flight Rising.

She has that Witch Doctor vibe on her. 

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Upcoming resident Floodleopard/star (bottom middle) and her family!

There's her mother, Sunnybee (left), and father, Cherrytail (right). There's also her sister, Alpinefin (left), and brother, Nighttooth (right)!

On the far side is Greyberry. He's just a family friend. Not related to any of them at all :)

--

All bases: Queen-tzi - Hobbyist, Digital Artist | DeviantArt

Individual under the cut

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Dark Forest Residences: Eggstep & Brittlebite

Eggstep

Aliases / Nicknames: Egg, Weakling, Eggpaw, “Oh Stars What Is That’, The Death of Reedclan

Gender: female

Sexuality: asexual, aromantic

Family: Laceheart (mother), Squallfeather (father), Shrikesquall (brother),  Brittlebite (sister),  Scorchberry (great-great grandmother), Snowheart (grandmother)

Other Relations: unnamed mentor

Clan: Grassclan

Rank: warrior, Berserker

Characteristics: violent due to plant, shy, clumsy, overly cautious, a force of nature

Number of Victims: 27

Number of Murders: 12

Murder Method: tearing apart

Known Victims: Harrowstar, Frondcheek, Mellowwhisper, Waspshadow, Thorntail, Marrowpad, Cherrytooth, Rapidfang, Bleakspine, Sunmallow, Mistpaw, Harrowstar, Mosspaw

Victim Profile: Reedclan cats

Cause of Death: executed by Stonestar

Cautionary Tale: as seen below

Story:

As relayed by Grayruffle, Second Teller of the Clans:

During the third moon of Leaf-bare, before the blooming of the yellowbell flowers, the Clan of Reedclan, under the guidance of Late Harrowstar, Son of Grassblossom, an attack was launched upon their Clan by the forces of Grassclan, under the guidance of Stonestar, son of Adderbloom.

Dishonourable Late Shrikesquall, son of late Laceheart, fed an unknown mixture to two warriors of Grassclan--late Eggstep and late Brittlebite--Daughters of Laceheart.

According to the testimony of two witnesses, dishonorable Shrikesquall gave the mixture under the pretense of offering traveling herbs.

The effects of the herbs did not affect Eggstep and Brittlebite until they crossed the Reedclan border.

According to two survivors of the tragedy, the mixture turned the warriors into a form later given the name of ‘Berserkers’, giving them adrenaline in spades and rendering them seemingly impervious to harm.

The camp was torn apart through two points of entry.

Brittlebite tore through the nursery, having torn into the escape tunnel at the back using her claws.

The nursery at the time was occupied by three queens and their kindle of seven.

Late Marigoldberry, daughter of Hollyroot,

Late Salmonleap, child of Grassblossom,

Late Smallmoon, daughter of Grayruffle.

Of these ten, Beetlekit, son of Salmonleap, and Rosekit, daughter of Smallmoon, were the only survivors.

They were later found hidden beneath the right foreleg of Salmonleap.

Brittlebite was disposed of by honorable Harrowstar, who risked his own life to save the lives of the remaining kits.

Eggstep had broken into the elder’s den on the opposite side of camp. She killed Frondcheek, son of Late Scorchberry, and almost managed to kill Hollyroot, daughter of none, but was stopped when confronted with the warriors of Reedclan, excluding Chillspur, child of none, and Goldplume, son of Hollyroot, who were on patrol.

The warriors who confronted Eggstep were:

Late Bleakspine, son of late Firefreckle,

Late Cherrytooth, son of late Nighttooth,

Late Rapidfang, daughter of Hollyroot,

Late Sunmallow, daughter of late Rapidfang,

Late Thorntail, son of Grayruffle,

Late Waspshadow, son of Grayruffle.

Late Mellowwhisper, child of none, attempted to rescue Hollyroot. This sparked the monster back into action, and it tore her head from her shoulders with its teeth.

The monster then repeated the treatment mentioned previously on Waspshadown and Thorntail, who were standing next to Mellowwhisper at the time of the killing.

Upon seeing the deaths, Honourable Marrowpad, daughter of Grayruffle, ran towards the monster. Having known Marrowpad, it is likely that she wanted to defend the honour of her brothers (Waspshadow and Thorntail).

She attempted to claw the monster.

Her right forelimb was dislocated and then wrenched off of  her body. The beast then finished off the rest of the warriors.

Seeing this, Harrowstar, accompanied by Mistpaw and Mosspaw, mounted a final defense.

They also failed, but their deaths seemed to bring an end to Eggstep’s rampage.

She reverted to her original form, and remained in a comatose state until the next new moon.

A grand meeting of the Clans was called, and Eggstep was put on trial for destroying the Clan.

The forelimb of Marrowpad was used as evidence, and all five survivors of Reedclan testified that she had been the one to cause the carnage.

She was executed by Stonestar before sunrise.

Brittlebite

Aliases / Nicknames: Little one, Brittlepaw

Gender: female

Sexuality: lesbian

Family: Laceheart (mother), Squallfeather (father), Eggstep (sister), Shrikesquall (brother), Scorchberry (great-great grandmother), Snowheart (grandmother)

Other Relations: unnamed mentor

Clan: Grassclan

Rank: warrior, Berserker

Characteristics: violent due to plant affects

Number of Victims: 27

Number of Murders: 8

Murder Method: tearing apart

Known Victims: Marigoldberry, Smallmoon, Salmonleap, Ashkit, Minnowkit,  Rustkit, Nightkit, Snowkit

Victim Profile: queens

Cause of Death: killed by Harrowstar

Cautionary Tale: as seen above

Story:

See above

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Titles of the Reedclan cats:

Late Ashkit, son of late Smallmoon

Late Beetlekit, son of late Salmonleap

Late Bleakspine, son of late Firefreckle

Late Cherrytooth, son of late Nighttooth

Chillspur, child of none

Late half-late Frondtooth, son of late Scorchberry

Goldplume, son of Hollyroot

Hollyroot, daughter of none

Late Harrowstar, son of late Grassblossom

Late Marigoldberry, daughter of Hollyroot

Late Marrowpad, daughter of Grayruffle

Late Mellowwhisper, child of none

Late Minnowkit son of late Salmonleap

Late Mistpaw, daughter of late Shyscar

Late Mosspaw, son of late Shyscar

Late Nightkit, son of late Marigoldberry

Late Rapidfang, daughter of Hollyroot

Rosekit, son of late Smallmoon

Late Rustkit, son of Late Marigoldberry

Late Salmonleap, child of late Grassblossom

Late Smallmoon, daughter of Grayruffle

Late Snowkit, Daughter of late Marigoldberry

Late Sunmallow, daughter of Rapidfang

Late Thorntail, son of Grayruffle

Late Waspshadow, son of Grayruffle

Notes:

I think I got them all

[friendshipcampaign]

Session Recap 11/26/17

As everyone attempted to process what had happened, Rooster wandered off to a room towards the side of the castle to be alone. Once she had done so, she noticed the ring on her hand, which had turned silver when she made the oath to protect Lady Coila and Bramble, take on an appearance like it was made of glass, with a slight ethereal glow to it. From where she was standing, she could see outside to the moat, where a circle of water was stilling. The face of the sea hag that they’d run into very early in their travels appeared in the water, addressing Rooster.

She explained that the ring that the selkie had gifted her would, because she had fulfilled her promise, grant her a limited wish. She couldn’t change the past, nor could it influence anyone but herself, but Rooster realized that it would give her the power to get out of the situation she was in with the fae and return home, where she wished to deal with a situation she saw as unresolved. She wished that someone she trusted would come and take her place, and as soon as she did so a rift opened up next to her and a dwarvish figure fell out, along with two chickens. Rooster noticed that the fae mark faded from her forearm, and the ring shattered.

Rooster recognized the figure as Orsik, a wizard friend of hers that she had rescued some years back. She told him to stay in the room where he was, and that she needed to go speak to the others. She first approached Lady Coila about finding a horse, and the lady said they would be happy to assist her, after she and her companions had done so much for Soreth. Rooster then walked over to the party, explaining to them that she was leaving. She untied her bandana and offered it out to them, explaining that it was actually a handkerchief that she’d embroidered herself and that she wanted to give them something to remember her by. 

Ditto gestured for Rooster to look her in the eyes, and the fighter kneeled. As Ditto placed her hands on the sides of Rooster’s face so that she couldn’t look away, she asked her to promise that she wasn’t just going off to die. Rooster did.

Erwyn next walked over and Druidcrafted a tiny handful of forget-me-nots, which he handed to Rooster, telling her that even though she hadn’t known the party for long, he hoped that they’d made an impact on her that would be meaningful, and helpful to her going forward.

Amaranth took a little longer to respond, but eventually told Rooster “Don’t do anything I would do.” At this point, Ditto accepted the handkerchief Rooster was still holding out.

Rooster next walked over to Kriv and apologized, saying that she knew her rash oath had been upsetting to him in particular, and that she was very sorry for the consequences. Kriv responded by reminding her that while her goal was to protect people, it’s easier to protect them when you’re still breathing.

Ditto asked Tiktik if they would tell Champion to look out for Rooster, and the two familiars had a conversation for several minutes.

Bramble came over to Rooster as well, and told her that now that things were changing in Soreth, should Rooster need the aid of the tiny kingdom, they would be glad to help her. She then gave her a big hug.

Rooster went back to fill Orsik in on more details --though she still didn’t tell him that he was going to be working for the fae -- which meant the goodbyes were put on hold. As a result, Kriv went over to tell Lady Coila about the ultimate fate of Lord Edward. It was decided that they would still take him to the Feywild. Ditto also approached Coila and pulled out Daisy’s handkerchief, which she had picked up from inside the nautiloid ship. She explained that Daisy had told her that she had a family, and she would like the handkerchief returned to them and them told that Daisy had simply been killed by the neothelid. After these two conversations, Coila gathered up her daughters and said that she owed an explanation to the people of Soreth, and was going to head out to speak with them.

With the party alone in the courtyard, Ditto mentioned once again that she was concerned about dealing with Nighttooth. Erwyn offered to see if he could detect the creature anywhere in the vicinity of that castle, and when he attempted, got its presence in the kitchens. They party (minus Rooster) made their way in that direction, with Ditto, who had cast invisibility on herself, in the lead. 

Once in the kitchens, it was visible that some of the spices seemed to be rearranging themselves. Ditto targeted this disturbance and snared the imp in the hairnet she’d picked up earlier, both of them losing their invisibility. The creature started to plead with Ditto as she asked Amaranth to grab a silver knife for her. As Ditto raised it in the air, clearly uncomfortable, Erwyn grabbed her arm, saying that if she didn’t want to do this, he would. Ditto seemed relieved by the suggestion and handed him the knife. Before he struck, Erwyn asked the imp if it remembered stealing the ring, and what it had tried to use it to make Ditto do. When the imp danced around answering, Erwyn simply told it that he would not be nearly so tempted to do what he was about to if the imp hadn’t tried to use him, against his friends, to do something horrible. He then stabbed it, and the creature was no more. Seeing Erwyn shaking, Ditto hugged him tightly -- he was a bit too out of it to hug back, but the gesture was still appreciated.

Back in the courtyard, Rooster had returned and went over to talk to Sister Calma. She told her that in the area she was headed, she knew of several other temples, to different gods, and that Calma might considering looking into one of those other faiths. Calma politely declined. When Rooster got up to head to the stables, Kriv went over to Calma and told her that, when it had really mattered, she had shown great conviction, and that a more forgiving god would see that that mattered. He talked a little bit about his experiences with Bahamut, and how it felt like he was actually being listened to. He also apologized for punching Calma in the face during their escape from the castle. She seemed to appreciate his words, but clearly had a lot more thinking to do.

Calma got up and walked over to Amaranth, telling her that she’d been told she ought to make things up to her somehow. Amaranth bluntly told Calma that she wasn’t going to get forgiveness from her, but that she’d like to see her try to preach the opposite message of the harmful ones she’d been spreading before. She also waved the knife she’d snatched from Calma in front of her and told her that she’d be keeping it.

Erwyn found Voski a little off to the side and asked her if he could ask a question that had been concerning him. He wanted to know how much she knew about the part of the resurrection ritual where she’d called on a god, because Voski had addressed Pholtus, who they seemed to had made very angry. He was worried that, since Pholtus had been able to strip Calma of her cleric powers as a result of what had happened, he might also be able to do something to take away the fact that Erwyn was alive again. Voski responded by pulling out a mummified goblin hand from her things and telling Erwyn a complex story about how she’d stolen it from a gamble who she’d participated in an illegal card game with. She asked him if he suddenly felt any urge to smite her. When Erwyn said no, she said she figured that meant his life was his own, without any meddling god involved.

About this time, Orsik found himself getting restless and entered the courtyard as well, making introductions to his new traveling companions. He received a very lukewarm reception, ranging from vague threats from Amaranth to Erwyn barely saying anything. Voski excused herself from her introduction to try to snag Rooster before she left, who she found in the stables packing up a saddlebag. She let slip to her that when she’d been doing some traveling in the part of the world that Rooster was from she’d heard news about a bounty being lifted -- something that might aid Rooster in returning home. She also slipped the last of the chestnut ink they’d used to dye Rooster’s hair as a disguise into one of the bags.

When Lady Coila and the girls returned, Rose gave Rooster a ride to a waiting horse. As they flew away into the sunset Ditto called after them that she hoped Rooster would fix her mistake. Rose returned without the fighter, and Rooster’s departure truly sank in. Amaranth asked Kriv if he was okay, and he responded half-heartedly.  Amaranth asked if he would help her with an errand. As they walked towards the kitchens, she admitted she needed his bag of holding, because she was going to try to grab as much alcohol from the room as possible -- her own supply was out. Kriv agreed to help with this with surprising gusto. While they were in the kitchens, however, he asked Amaranth if she would try something. He handed her the scale he’d been gifted and asked if she felt anything. As long as Kriv was also in contact with the scale, she did in fact feel a calming sensation. When the two of them got back from their trip, Amaranth slipped a small bottle of alcohol to Voski, who pocketed it seemingly gladly.

Rose and Bramble, both looking excited, wandered over to Erwyn, and told him that they were going to miss him very much. They explained to him that they had something to give him, however, a device that they’d used to keep in touch with their mother one time when she’d needed to go away. It was a small cloak pin, and even though it could only send short messages once a day, they told him to keep in touch before enveloping him in a hug. Throughout this whole conversation, Erwyn was very teary. He promised he would, and hugged them back. When the girls had stepped away, Coila wandered over to him as well and told him she’d been informed he was a part of the family now. She also gave him a hug. Erwyn did not know how to respond to any of this.

At this point, the Lilywhite Girls, Stelly, and Aidther, who had been informed it was safe to come down from the cave, all made their way into the courtyard as well. Stelly immediately found Amaranth and gave her a big hug, telling her she was so glad that she was alright (although Amaranth made it clear that this was only be certain definitions of “alright”). The two of them talked a bit about if Stelly felt any safer in Soreth now, which she certainly seemed to. Stelly told Amaranth that it sounded like she might be getting a job at the castle now. She also gave Amaranth a cowl that Aidther had knitted, with holes in it for her horns. Amaranth next went to find Aidther and thank him, as well as make a small payment for damages to his inn. The two of them both apologized to each other for starling the other that first night at the inn, and Amaranth told him to keep an eye on Stelly for her.

Scopes wandered over to Voski, and told her that she’d heard the dragonborn had run into some difficulties in the past week regarding not being able to see in the dark. She offered her a spare pair of lenses that would allow one limited darkvision, since she had extras on hand. Voski accepted the gift.

In a corner, Orsik was trying to cast identify on the tattoo marking that had appeared on his arm when he’d been pulled into Soreth and spoken with Rooster. All he could glean was that it was fae magic, and that it seemed to be connected to other things. Tavra walked over to him and commented that he was a new face, and Orsik explained his situation. She asked him what he thought of his new traveling companions and when he implied they were an interesting bunch, Tavra laughed.

With things wrapping up, the party went to go deal with the laird. Ditto cast sleep on him and Kriv tied him up, hoisting him over his shoulder so they could carry him through the portal into the Feywild. While they were in the cellar, Amaranth snatched more (better) wine.

On their way out, they ran into Revik, who Kriv gave the money that would have paid for his finished commission to Undwyn. He asked him to give it to the blacksmith, even though he wasn’t going to pick up the sword, because he felt bad about leaving a debt.

The party made their way to the circle of standing stones where they’d first entered Soreth, and stepped back through into the fae court.

[friendshipcampaign]

Session Recap 9/16/17

In the cave on the mountain, Rooster noticed the beam of light shooting up from the castle. Simultaneously, she heard Aidther gasp from behind her in the cavern, causing her to turn around and see that Bramble had awoken. The girl quickly went to embrace her sister, once she’d gotten her bearings and Rooster explained what had happened. Rooster then told everyone else in the cave to stay put and stay hidden, handing Bramble a crowbar to defend herself with, and started heading down the mountain in search of the others.

In the castle dungeons, Sister Calma began her interrogation of Ditto, asking who she was working for and why she had meddled with the forces contained in the tower. Ditto managed to somewhat turn the tables on her, saying she’d only give her information if she could prove that she could trust her, because as things stood, Sister Calma had made biased and hurtful decisions (particularly, the fact that she had used Stelly as a scapegoat). As Ditto pressed for information on what was going on, Calma explained she was surprised the light and portals hadn’t already wreaked havoc on Soreth, telling the story of another town that she’d been in at one point in time that had been destroyed when a portal opened up in it and unleashed a Balor. Sister Calma pushed back, again looking for information from Ditto, and Ditto responded by laying out some of the reasons Sister Calma shouldn’t trust Lord Edward so blindly, and told her that she should go up to check on the “ill” Lady Coila. When she did so and saw that the lady wasn’t present, she demanded to know what had happened to her, but didn’t quite seem to accept that she’d been lied to. Eventually, she left the dungeons and told a nearby guard to let her know when Ditto was willing to cooperate.

Once Ditto was alone in her cell, the previously-invisible Nighttooth manifested inside. They were a bit snarky about the “tour” they were getting, but Ditto ultimately persuaded them to deliver a message to the rest of the party about what had happened, telling Nighttooth about the cave in the mountains. The imp flew off to find them.

Rooster ran into everyone else on her way down the mountain and asked them if they’d seen Ditto; she explained what had happened at the castle and when the others responded that they hadn’t, everyone realized something must have happened to her. When Rooster accidentally let slip that they were still in contact with Erwyn, she asked Lady Coila if she knew where they could find a diamond for the resurrection ritual. Coila offered her her wedding ring, which she clearly attached no sentimentality to. With the lady anxious to see her girls, everyone headed up the mountain.

There was a joyful reunion between Lady Coila, Rose, and Bramble at the cave. Voski pulled Tavra aside, asking her what she thought of the light shooting up from the castle and inquiring if there was another location everyone could move to should their location in the cave be compromised. 

Kriv went over to Lady Coila to ask her what she knew about what was going on, and the lady launched into an explanation of her side of the story. It came to light that she was Lord Edward’s third wife, and the deaths of his first two were suspicious in light of how his attitude towards her had changed when she bore no children. She described the gryphon-creature the party was now familiar with coming to her and telling her to eat a flower growing in the center of the castle courtyard. She didn’t listen to the warning to only eat one, and when she found two there she ate both -- the source of her two girls. She also revealed that Rose had actually been born a dragon, and it was Edie’s magic, enhanced by the magic in the center of the castle courtyard, that had kept her hidden as a human with a polymorph spell. With this revealed, Edie was able to un-dragon Rose, though it seemed like she would retain the ability to change between her two forms at will.

At this point, Nighttooth showed up and informed everyone what had happened to Ditto. When the imp explained that it had come from the Nine Hells, specifically a portal that Ditto had opened, Erwyn in particular was very alarmed, and mentioned the fact that portals can sometimes spontaneously open due to high concentrations of magic. Everyone discussed how they were going to rescue Ditto briefly, eventually deciding to send Nighttooth back to get more information.

As Nighttooth turned invisible and flew off, Kriv failed to notice as the imp slipped the ring of mind-shielding off his hand and took it with it. Voski cast locate object in an attempt to find the ring and they noted it was headed in the direction of the castle, but aside from Rooster drawing her crossbow to wait for the imp’s possible return, no one felt there was anything they could do. 

In the air, Erwyn spoke up and tried to bargain with the imp, offering up the diamond they’d been planning on using for his resurrection ritual, but the imp seemed to have something more in mind. It flew on and back into the castle dungeons, where it told Ditto what the party wanted to hear from her -- remaining invisible so as not to reveal the ring.

Not trusting the imp entirely, Ditto wrote down the answers to their questions on a piece of paper, which she then rolled up and handed to the imp, saying to return it to them without reading. The imp refused to promise this. Ditto offered to bargain with it, saying she could do something magic for it once she was free, but the imp started goading her to do it within the castle walls. After this had gone on for some time, Erwyn, growing desperate, used Minor Illusion to make the word “HELP” appear in mid-air. This alerted Ditto that something was up, and she offered the imp a magic ring from her parents -- upon which the imp revealed that it had seen what she was writing and was asking for something magic because it wanted her to open another portal to the Nine Hells and let loose its friends, opening the door to the cell as it did so to let her into the courtyard. The imp then blinked briefly into visibility, and Ditto recognized the ring of mind-shielding, and Nighttooth threatened to fly off with the ring forever if she didn’t go into the courtyard and cast spells to open another portal. Erwyn then cast another Minor Illusion that read “DON’T DO IT” -- in the process alerting Ditto to where the imp was and allowing her to grab its tail. She was successful in snatching the ring from its arm. After that, Nighttooth vanished.

Given her experience with magic earlier, Ditto asked Erwyn if he’d felt anything different when he cast his Minor Illusions, which lead him to confide that usually they didn’t work that well. The two of them set about planning their escape -- because it turned out that Nighttooth had left the door ajar. Ditto snuck out and used her forest gnome ability to speak with small beasts to ask some rats about directions up to the courtyard. But Erwyn then suggested that they get out through the secret tunnel that lead through the field outside the castle, suggesting that he could cast another illusion to distract a guard over there for them to sneak past (since his magic didn’t seem to be activating the same response that Ditto’s had).

They tried this stunt and managed to make it down the corridor under the castle that held all the doors to the different abandoned rooms, and as Ditto rounded the corner she was startled by Daisy, who had been coming down there to rescue her. Daisy ran off to get something to carry Ditto out in, and Ditto dashed into one of the rooms. Light was now shining through cracks in the walls, and when she peered through them she saw the floor that had contained all the mirrors, where the light was expanding in a rolling, boiling mass.

Daisy returned with her laundry basket and carried Ditto out of the dungeons and up into the castle, where she lead her to a back wall with a window. Ditto, very hesitantly, tried to cast Misty Step to escape the castle, but ended up casting Dimension Door. From outside the castle where she teleported to, she and Erwyn could see a massive portal open inside the beam of light and a ship shaped like a nautilus shell come crashing through into the castle courtyard.

[friendshipcampaign]

Session Recap 9/9/2017

As Voski, Kriv (and Erwyn) and Lady Coila met up with Amaranth, Stelly, and Edie in the storeroom beneath the castle, they heard the sound of four long horn blasts from above. Sensing they needed to move quickly, everyone piled into the tunnel and started moving towards the exit. A guard narrowly missed seeing Kriv (who was bringing up the rear) when they opened to door to the tunnel to have a look around, but closed it when they failed to see anyone. A heavy sound was heard as something barred the door.

Simultaneously, as Rooster ran her way up into the mountains, Rose flew down from where she’d been providing a distraction and landed in front of her. Rooster explained that Bramble was in her bag and that they needed to get her to safety, and Rose let her climb on her back so she cold fly them to the cave. When they got there, however, Rose was dismayed to see her sister’s condition. Rooster went to the front of the cave to keep watch for the other.

The party in the tunnel heard an answering horn blast from ahead of them and stopped to contemplate how they were going to get out and up through the guarded hut on the other end. Voski used Locate Object on Tavra’s Lilywhite coin to see if the mercenaries were still nearby, and deduced that they were. The others discussed what to do -- and as they planned, Erwyn noticed, but did not mention, that Lady Coila’s wedding ring featured a diamond large enough to serve as the material component for a Raise Dead spell. A plan was made to use Lady Coila as a “hostage” and she went up first, followed by Amaranth, who brandished her sword and told the guards to let them pass. Before the others could make it out, however, one of the guards triggered a magical explosive rune in the tunnel, collapsing it. Kriv leaped backwards, towards Stelly and Edie, all of whom were trapped when the tunnel collapsed. Voski leapt forward and rushed into the hut, casting Thunderwave and getting attacked by a guard -- but he magical armor deflected the entire attack onto her, causing the guard to fall unconscious. She then rushed out the door and in the direction her spell had indicated the mercenaries were, with Amaranth and Lady Coila in pursuit. When they caught up to Tavra, letting her know what happened to the others, and asked if they mercenaries would help them unearth the rest of the party. 

Back at the castle, after her conversation and planning session with Daisy, Ditto asked if Daisy could find Revik. Shortly after she left to find him, she returned with the dwarven servant in tow. Ditto asked him if he was willing to help them, and would fetch her writing implements, a trowel, and a witch-knot. He obliged, and Ditto then asked Tik-tik to get Rose to serve as a distraction. She then set to writing a couple letters while she and Daisy waited.

Tik-tik flew back to the cave, still in hawk form, and let out the screech they had agreed would signal Rose to follow them. Rooster, still keeping watch, fetched Rose and asked if she should come along. When the dragon nodded, they set off towards the castle, Tik-tik in the lead.

When the mercenaries, party members, and Lady Coila arrived back at the site of the collapsed tunnel, the guards stopped them, confused as to what was going on. Lady Coila explained that what had occurred earlier was a deception, and that they needed access to the tunnel to dig out other allies. The guards said that they would only let the others excavate if Lady Coila went with them into the hut, and she obliged. With the area now (relatively) free, the digging began, most of the work being done by Fuzzy, who, being a bugbear, had the strength required to move the heavy bits of stone from the collapsed tunnel.

Ditto and Daisy left Bramble’s chambers as the distraction started, with Rose swooping down on the castle and causing a panic. Rooster tried to cast an acidic chromatic orb on the construction that was being built around the wall in the center of the courtyard and failed -- which was fine, seeins Rose’s icy breath did a massive amount of damage to it. They flew off, Rooster giving a loud whoop.

The area now free, Ditto teleported from Daisy’s laundry basket to the top of the (remaining) scaffolding using Misty Step and descended behind the circular wall. As Kriv had seen earlier during their escape from the castle, she found a staircase heading downwards and followed it. Everywhere, there were signs of attempts to cleanse the area with the power of Pholtus, including a medallion with his emblem on it that had begun to melt around the edges.

Using the trowel she’d gotten from Revik, Ditto broke through the wooden floor at the bottom of the staircase, only to see hundred of yellow eyes staring back at her. Startled, she pushed on, trying to communicate with whatever was behind the eyes and falling through the floor. When she landed, she discovered a severed beholder eyestalk and a roomfull of mirrors -- the reflection of the eye in them creating the illusion of the many eyes. Brushing off the damage she’d taken falling, she again attacked the wooden floor to get to the level beneath it.

There Ditto found an earthen floor and a circle of what looked to have once been standing stones surrounding a mound -- though now, two were leaning on each other, and one was completely fallen. On closer inspection, one of them proved to be a statue holding an insignia of an eight-spoked ship’s wheel. Digging underneath the mound -- which had large vines growing from it -- Ditto found a circular orb made of witch-knots, through whose holes the plants were growing. She picked up the orb and put it in her pack, and started climbing back up towards the top.

A pillar of almost tangible-looking light with little colored flecks in it shot up from where the orb had been, surprising Ditto. Casting Mage Hand to investigate, she was even more surprised when the spell she produced turned out to be Bigby’s Hand -- and when one of the colored flecks in the light showed her a glimpse of a world made of fire. She tried casting spells a few more times, only to discover that whenever she did, it was something out of her casting capability -- and for the flecks of color to expand and show glimpses of a drider scuttling along, and a world made of gears. When the latter occurred, she actually ended up having a brief conversation with a Modron on the other side before it closed. Deciding to test the magic one more time, she was suddenly shown a grim-looking battlefield -- and an imp about to fly through it. She ducked behind one of the mirrors on the second floor momentarily, only to show herself when the creature flew through and warn it that the portal was going to close and it should turn back.

The imp did not cooperate and stayed on the other side, the portal closing as something much bigger came closer to lumbering through. Thus ensued a conversation where Ditto learned that it had come from the Nine Hells, named it Nighttooth, and tried to convince it that sowing “discord and misery” -- as it insisted it wanted to do -- was a bad idea, and she’d be willing to show it around for a better time. The imp wasn’t fond of the idea, and Ditto started to try to escape, but had her efforts thwarted by the creature. When she finally succeeded at slapping it away, it went into a corner, disappointed. Suggesting one more time she’d be willing to serve as its tour guide to the Prime Material Plane, the imp begrudgingly agreed to come along, transforming into a bat and hanging onto her pack.

Back at the tunnel site, the others saw a beam of light shoot up into the sky from the castle and instantly became worried. When the tunnel area was cleared and everyone free, they decided to go ask Lady Coila if she knew what was going on. She seemed worried, and told the guards with her to go to the town and warn the townsfolk that something dangerous was happening. She then set off with the party members and mercenaries towards the mountains.

Trapped behind the wall and now scared to do magic for fear of opening more portals, Ditto decided to chance it and try to stealth out of the courtyard. With everyone’s attention on the beam of light streaming from it, however, this was easier said than done. She made it out, but suddenly felt the bony hand of Sister Calma on her shoulder, the cleric demanding to know what she’d done. Ditto told her she’d blown everything up down there, thinking it was necessary, and the cleric admonished her for doing something so foolhardy. But as they talked, Ditto implied there was also more going on than Sister Calma realized. This lead her, to, when Lord Edward approached brandishing his sword, tell him that Ditto had information they could use. 

Ditto was lead to the dungeons, where one of the guards took her pack away from her. But shortly after, Sister Calma came down to speak with her, unsure what anyone should do next.