The Hunting Grounds IV: Drops Contain 0% RNG

[Morty]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Amalungak ties his horse to a tree and sits next to the fire, but doesn't eat yet.

"I serve him... for a memory of the Fairest of Lands. My ancestors, aeons ago, lived there. They were once the same brutish dullards humans are descended from. But they were suffused by the vitality of the Faerie and became elves. However, they were mortal enough that when the Fairest of Lands receded, they remained stranded behind." He sighs. "To most of my people, serving the King is heresy. But I still do. Especially here, where the Fairest of Lands may be recreated. Back home, they're lost forever through treachery and waning. In this Nexus of realities, maybe I can see them as my forebears did." He pauses. "The fey are powerful, but they're bound by the laws of the Fairest of Lands, even outside of it. The everlasting Wyrd they came from still holds them. There are few laws of Faerie that aren't subject to the whims of the Lords and Ladies, but such that exist are more inexorable than gravity. The King needs servants untethered by those rules."

[Shadowcaller]

[Fairy Grove]

Astrana herself is busy with making sure the pixies don't mess up the ritual, keeping their grabby little hands away from any of the implements and stopping them from asking any more irrelevant questions or comments that would distract the elf as he sets things in motion.

So as he finally joins his mind with the spirit world, she lets out a relived sigh. Now she just needed to make sure nothing went wrong during it. But with the pixies all suddenly asleep that would a far easier task...

---

Amalungak will find himself caught with the sensation of soaring through the air, going higher and higher. The feeling might be either terrifying or awe-inspiring, but is somewhat dulled by the commentary. "Shouldn't we go down?"
"Noo, he's alive, so up! Down is for deadies, up is for fancies."

"Do you guys think the guardian has a trouser-doodle?"

"Pretty sure the guardian is a meths-a-for or something."

"Do you think the guardian has a meths-a-for trouser-doodle?"

"...maybe."

Slowly his other senses starts kicking in as his vision is filled with a endless sky that he's flying through. By his sides are the pixies who know appear the same size as himself. Their colors seem washed away though, appearing in a almost cartoonist colors of black and white with their eyes glowing with some otherworldly light.

They appear to be flying straight up, the world below, a mass of formless landscapes, quickly losing all detail underneath him as they ascend. "Hey, buddy, you doing okay?" One of the pixies asks.

[Morty]

[Fairy Grove]

Amalungak looks somewhat different in the spirit world. His tattoos grow darker and seem to move and shift slightly. He also seems to be trailing a shadow behind him, in the form of a mantle of black branches and thorns. He's outwardly calm and collected even as he closely scrutinizes this place and his companions.

"I am fine," he says. "I've been to astral realms before... just not this particular one."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Damon listens quietly to Amalungak, though the King's servant may get the impression that Damon isn't feeling overly sympathetic, and perhaps doesn't fully grasp the significance of all this. "When bound by the ruless, you need ssomeone who iss not sssubject to them. Yess, I ssee." Makes sense. Why these creatures would be so bound to their laws or what those laws may be is a mystery to Damon. It all sounds a bit messy.

"These lawss that you sspeak of - doess it mean there are certain creaturess in particular that he iss unable to deal with directly?"

[Morty]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

"Powerful fey aren't impossible for him to deal with directly, but they are difficult," Amalungak explains. "There are no Lords or Ladies here, but there are fey of considerable stature, whose oaths and pledges might protect them. Having you after them will remind them not to take the King lightly."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Other fey. That makes sense. But fey can be quite tricky creatures. Damon stares thoughtfully at his axe for a moment. "Your king hass given me toolss to kill demonss. Without the right metal a demon laughss at being sstruck by even the mosst expertly made of bladess." He pauses, as if expecting Amalungank to pick up on what he's hinting at. Whether the king's servant does or not, Damon continues. "I am equipped to sslay demonss. I don't know if what I possesss iss effective againsst fey. But give me the toolss to do the job, give me payment, yesss. I'll kill anyone the king wantss me to."

[Morty]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

"The King will give you any tools and means you need in his service," Amalungak assures him. "But do not underestimate your axe. It slays demons and other creatures that fear silver, yes. But it cut fae as well, in wars among the Gentry. As a token of my King's goodwill, I can tell you more about it. But unlocking its properties is ultimately something only you can do."

[Shadowcaller]

[Fairy Grove==> Elsewhere]

"Astral realm? Amu-guy, we're still with you. Gotta cross the ground before we get to the other place." A somewhat confusing statement.

"The clouds, not the ground." The other pixie corrects while pointing upwards. "The white fluffy stuff."

"Ohh! Then we're almost there!" The pixie speeds up.

"But then where is the guardian? In the clouds?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. All guardians live in the cl-"

Suddenly, Amalungak will feel his arms being pulled back by something so hard that the pixies loses their grip around them. Then, in a few terrifying moments he's helplessly falling back towards the ground, the pixies quickly disappearing out of sight as he can nothing but scream or wait for the fall to take its natural conclusion.

The land beacons, and as he lands upon the earth, everything goes black.

When he comes to it again, he's on the location he just left. The ritual still in place around him. But now there is a strange full-body mirror right in front of him and he can feel shackles around his arms with chains that seem to have sprung from the earth itself without any visible anchor-point.
The mirrors frame seems to be made of literal living serpents that slithers over one another and hiss at him threateningly as he finds himself looking at himself in the mirror.

But the mirror image isn't perfect. While his chains and shackles are solid black and dig into the earth, his mirror images shackles seems to be made of mist and ascend into the heavens themselves, seemingly continuing on forever. Then he can feel his mouth move and hear and see his mirror image talk. "It's not too late for me to turn back, the spirits of this realm protects me." He can feel himself looking at the serpents that make up the frame of the mirror, are those the spirits his mirror image are referring to?

He stares back at the mirror, seeing himself saying. "I don't need to be a slave."
Amalungak will still be able to reply to his mirror image, it just seems that whatever this is takes control of his mouth and body when it communicates, like as if he was talking to himself.

[Morty]

[Elsewhere]

Despite himself, Amalungak is gripped by mortal fear as he falls. Rationally he knows this isn't real... or is it? But it's not like his previous spiritual travels and his training fails him in this moment. He feels deep relief when the scene shifts. Confusion, as well, but it actually reassures him. This is the realm of spirits, full of symbols and reflections. Literally, this time.

"Turn back? Why? My King has given me a mission, and I'm his vassal, not his slave."

[Shadowcaller]

[Elsewhere]

The mirror image starts speaking for him again. He can see 'himself' nodding in agreement. "That is how I see it. Yet, do I not also know that fey only care for fey? Once HE has what HE wants, the moment a better alternative is presented, I can be replaced like the rest of HIS toys. Whatever I see myself as now, I am only mortal in HIS eyes and will forever be. No better than HIS other minions..."

Amulungak can feel himself shrinking, his skin changing color, his canines sharpening and his nose becoming larger. In the mirror, he can see himself turning into a small brown-skinned creature. If Amulungak has ever seen one, he can see that he has turned into a goblin that still somehow recognizable as himself.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Well, that certainly gets Damon's attention. He visibly shifts forward, eyes narrowing. "If there iss more that thiss axe can do, well, I'm lisstening."

[Morty]

[Elsewhere]

With a tremendous effort of will, Amalungak forces the image to show his true appearance again, face twisted with disgust over what he saw.

"You lie. The gol-kin betrayed the King, not the other way around. He and I are pledged, and a Lord of the Fae never goes back on his word. The immortal Wyrd binds his words more than any mortal power. We elves weren't meant to be mere mortals and I will not accept it, even if most of my kin do."

[Cold Snowy Woods]

"The first thing to understand is that a weapon made by fairies has a story," Amalungak says, getting comfortable on his piece of wood. "It is a story. Its beginning and general themes are created with the weapon, but the story itself will be told by you. This axe was made of moonbeams and it separates light from dark, truth from falsehood and purity from corruption. What story can you imagine yourself telling with it?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Damon tilts his head and stares at the axe, running a finger along the side of the blade.

"A curiouss choice then, no?" He asks, gesturing at the flames and the darkness that engulfs them. "To give a weapon forged from a light that piercess the darknesss to one who sshroudss themsselvess in sshadows."

With a sigh, Damon leans back on his own perch, slowly twirling the axe over and over on his lap. "Sshadowss hide ssecretss, but light blindss you from the truth. Sstill, I only ssee one ssside of thingss normally, and my eyess have been opened to ssomething I misssed." He looks back at Amalungak, "Perhapss the axe will be of asssissstance there. But what if I am corrupted? What would it do to me?"

[Morty]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

"There can be no shadows without light," Amalungak points out. "Surely you know that. As for corruption... it takes many forms and depends a lot on the point of view. Maybe the axe would help cleanse it. Or at least separate it from you a bit more."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Damon laughs. "Here? Sssure. But I came from a world of darknesss. You could ssay it was a sshadow of another world, perhapss. But to all thosse who lived there? No. Darknesss wass all we knew."

He leans over and tosses another log on the fire, taking a moment of silence to recompose himself. It wasn't often he mentioned that place any more. There wasn't much point to it, really. Mostly it just hurt to think about it.

"Maybe the axe can help me too, yess. That ssoundss good. A more realisstic goal, perhapss, than what I had in the passt."

[Shadowcaller]

[Elsewhere]

His mirror image meets him with the exact disgusted expression. "I can lie to myself, but this time I choose not to. I know the gol-kind betrayed him, but do I ask 'why'? Of course not, since I know that they are ugly savages. Animals incapable of having true reasoning." He tells himself. "And I cannot let such animals triumph, that's why I'm here, isn't it?"

[Morty]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

"No, I cannot," Amalungak affirms. "I will have what they have foolishly rejected. If they want to wallow in the mud of the mortal world, they can do it as they please."

[Elsewhere]

Amalungak peers at Damon for a moment.

"How could the axe help you, if I may ask? It sounds like you have something specific in mind. I have what I require for a ritual that could help you form the first step of your bond with it."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

It takes a while for Damon to answer. He stares quietly at Amalungak, unsure if he really wants to say so much.

"I sssaw...ssomething. You ever look at the decisionss you've made in life, and wonder what would happen if you'd done sssomething differently?" He asks, his eyes gazing vacantly upwards through the gloom. "Well, what if you sssaw thosse other outcomess? What if you learned you'd made the wrong choice?"

[Morty]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

"I would imagine it's enough to leave cracks in one's sanity," Amalungak says, keeping his tone carefully neutral. "Visions of the past can be as dangerous as those of the future."

[Shadowcaller]

[Elsewhere]

"And then he will grant my people, and me, everything we've wanted." Now the mirror image changes again and in the background Amulungak will be able to see things he has desired and wished for. Surrounded by a large smiling family perhaps. Or women that he's desire dressed proactively as they gather around him, their hands wandering over his naked body with the additional sensation of him being able to feel their touch. Even just his clothes and gear getting a significant upgrade, or simply a mix of all three, and more. His player could describe exactly what he sees.

Either way, can feel the chains that tied him to the ground lifting, his arms that were once earth-bond now raising to the skies.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Damon simply nods. "Perhapss. Perhapss." Don't worry Amalungak, Damon doesn't get offended quite that easily. "Naturally, it wass a demon that ssshowed it to me." Not the sole reason why he hates them, but it certainly doesn't help. "Ssso. If thiss axe hass powerss that could help me in ssome way make sssensse of what I ssaw? Well, I'd ssay that'ss a pretty good pay offer for my sservicess."

[Morty]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Amalungak nods.

"It's hard for me to say. It might have such power. It's not so much an effort of will or magic, but an effort of storytelling. We'll have to weave a story where this axe helps you ease your doubt. Stories have power, as you know, and it's doubly true for fey and spirits."

[Elsewhere]

Amalungak's vision isn't quite as carnal as that; what he sees is himself as a spiritual leader of his people, the elves of the frozen south. They look up to him, they admit he was right and that serving the King in Rags is their privilege and their duty. He sees himself finally having the respect and the validation that he craves. He lets himself be carried upwards into the sky.

[Shadowcaller]

[Elsewhere]

The chains aren't quite carrying him yet. They're simply raising themselves right now, becoming lighter as they gain that eternal shine of the chains his mirror image wears. He can't see the end of them, though eventually they seem to connect with something up there and that moment, all the visions disappear and in the mirror is now a perfect mirror image of himself as he is now. Even the chains now mirroring one another.

At that moment the mirror cracks and shatters, the serpents that made up its frame collapsing in a pile on the ground and together form a larger serpent as the chains starts pulling him upwards. It opens its maw and though it lacks a tongue words still can be heard. "So be it then. Let your own ignorance and ambition be your guides from now on. Not even we can protect fools from themselves." It declares as it watches him raise towards the skies with its eyes made of smaller snakes.

As he rise even further, he can see the pixies flutter above him. "Hey, you did it." The first pixie looks at the others. "Right? Or is he going to prison? I can't tell."

"Pretty sure you can't get arrested for mirror gazing, I'd be a hardened criminal then!"

"So did you see the guardian? What were they like?! Did they have a trouser doodle?!"

He could just ignore them and continue his ascension which won't take that much time as it seems to be picking up speed, the pixies having to fly after to be able to keep up their conversation with him.

[Morty]

[Elsewhere]

"There were no trouser noodles, but there was a great deal of snakes," Amalungak explains, figuring this should keep the pixies amused for a while. Unsurprisingly enough, he ignores the warning and chastisement. What does this spirit know about his goals and dreams? Or the destiny of fey and elves?

[Shadowcaller]

[Elsewhere]

"Ohh, so it was larger than yours then!" And that will be the last sentence he hears from the pixie as they're held back by one of the others once Amalungak have reached an certain altitude.
"Okay, he's in the clouds now. Our job is done!"

And then in a flash of white light he will somehow be back within his own mindscape but now with a mind opened to the world of spirits, for better and worse.
He then can awaken at any point.

[Morty]

[Elsewhere]

"It's..." Then Amalungak wakes up and shakes his head vigorously. "That's a sentence to carry back to the waking world," he says to no one in particular.

[Shadowcaller]

[Elsewhere]

"What happened?" He hears Astrana's voice, the tiefling sitting outside his circle, not too far from him. "Can you recall how we met?" Seems like some kind of code-question.

The pixies are still there too, though they seem to be preoccupied with looking with awe of the orange-speaking pixie who appears to be trying to explain just how big the fish they caught was by spreading their arms wide and far.

[Morty]

[Elsewhere]

Amalungak blinks and looks at Astrana, a little blearily. In what might be a relief to her, he seems to focus fairly quickly.

"Of course. You're Astrana Tyamer and I enlisted your aid to help me connect to the spirit world. I did meet the guardian you'd mentioned, but my comment concerned some of the more... colourful ramblings by the pixies."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cold Snowy Woods]

Doubts? Doubt implies uncertainty. No, Damon knows he made the wrong choice now. There's no doubt in his mind about that.

But what does it mean to be the wrong Damon?

"Ssstorytelling, yess." Damon doesn't consider himself much of a storyteller. But perhaps the axe could provide a little inspiration. "Then conssider me the unworthy warrior. What liess in the passt can't be undone, I made the wrong choice. But by thiss blade I sshall find a way to make it the right one again."

[Shadowcaller]

[Elsewhere]

The warlock smiles with relief. "Business as usual then. But then I assumed it worked as intended, do you feel any different?" Whatever Amalungak's heightened state of mind that the shaman intended, he has reached it now.