The Sisters' Chronicles Thread 3: Those Nerds

[Valmark]

"I don't think so" Ethrindae shook her head "I wouldn't even say she was hiding it. Alifa never lied to you, did she?"

---

"It's not like the devils are going to do anything for free" Serendipity noted "That said, giants make their home here like we do. I'd rather trust them over any fiend, devil or demon"

[Xihirli]

"I don't think so," Boots said. "How would I know?"

---

"Got it," Alifa said. "Frost giants it is... then, if there's time, I'll see if we can't unseat Benoth and get some demon rebels on our side as well. The Winterlands... do you know them? The sword can open the path there, but only if a frost giant uses it."

[Valmark]

"You've been relying on each other to survive in this world for more then a month now. Only having one another at times" Ethrindae insisted, latching her arms around Boots' neck "She would have told you if there was something important you needed to know, don't you think?"

---

"I have a map in my study to show you" Serendipity said, and turned to Kat "You aren't coming" then she proceeded to leave the library.

Kathleyîënis, who had no context, just looked at Alifa.
"Should I be worried?"

[Xihirli]

"But what if I don't have to know... or she doesn't think I need to know?" Boots asked. "...I'm finding it very hard to stay upset when you hold me like that, though." She kissed her wife on the lips.

---

"I hope not. Stick next to Eddie, he'll tell me if something happens." Alifa gave Kat a kiss good-bye and followed behind Serendipity.
"To be clear, is it alright if Eddie researches in your library?"

[Valmark]

"Then when she comes back you'll ask her" Ethrindae smiled at the kiss.

"Maybe it was a little on purpose"

There was a groaning sound as Parsimmon stood up, annoyed.
"I'm going to see if I can get somebody else to keep an eye on you. Or get permission to leave you be. I don't suggest going around on your own" the vampire stated before hurrying out of the room.

---

"Who? Oh, the black pudding-looking homunculus?" Serendipity asked "Sure, if he doesn't ruin any book"

Her study was on the opposite wing of the castle, on the same floor. She pulled out what looked like a fairly ordinary key, when they approached a door made of black obsidian.
"I can't strongly enough suggest to never enter this room without first using the key" Serendipity warned Alifa, turning the key into the door.

The room was as lit as the library, and was empty for the most part.
There was a chest in a corner, and a large desk choke full of neatly arranged documents- most of the floor was occupied by a magic circle of some kind, which Serendipity immediately told Alifa not to lay a feet on.

On the walls there were a blackboard with calculations regarding the damage of a massive explosion, and a world map. It displayed presumably the entirety of Alandria, and was clearly magical- it showed the current climate conditions of every place, and names hovered next to cities and villages and whatever else.

There were no Winterlands in there.
"Uh. Weird"

[Xihirli]

As soon as they were alone Boots reached her hands under Eth's armor and started kissing her with abandon. "Mission accomplished."

---

Alifa frowned and produced the sword, tapping it to the map. "If they were cut off from the rest of the world, I can see why it wouldn't be in any maps... what are the properties of this map? Could we improve it somehow?"

[Valmark]

While Boots and Ethrindae were otherwise occupied, Alifa and Serendipity tried to do actually plot-relevant stuff.

"This map is based on what I found out during my travels" Serendipity explained "The clouds are based on my estimations since the last time I've been in each place, and so are names etcera. If something is missing it means I haven't found it" she pointed at a specific spot where Figrikhariz's cave was mentioned, and so was Aragona's village. The mountain themselves homewever were unnamed. Abadaius' temples were absent as well.

"We can add to it if needed"

Spoiler: Int check DC 10

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The sword mentioned one other place- the Ice Maws.

[Xihirli]

"The Ice Maws... it should be near the Ice Maws." Alifa scanned the map for the Ice Maws, focusing around mountains and glaciers.

[Valmark]

Starting from Deathknell, Serendipity plotted a path that went straight south through the mountains that naturally cutted the Inner Lands off from the Outer ones, in the completely opposite direction from Luckreach or Figrikhariz's mountains.

Her planned road went into the forests south of the Inner Lands, that devolved into sickly looking swamps where, according to the map, mostly kuo-toa lived, and then proceed into vast plains that turned to hills then mountains. Within that last mountainous territory there was a grand valley that looked like a frozen lake, where the name Ice Maws stood.
"There. Not near, unfortunately" Serendipity said "They're called Ice Maws because the mountains close to the lake are really just ice pillars. I did wonder how it didn't melt despite not being that cold"

[Xihirli]

"Do you have an object associated with the area?" Alifa asked. "I can Teleport us there, if we can just make it safer... oh, that reminds me. Goenna's High Priestess has gone missing in the Void. Do you know why that might be? Or whether it would be possible to save her?"

[Valmark]

"What's the void meant to be?" Serendipity asked "And yes, I have a souvenir I recently bought from one of the kuo-toa villages" she pointed to the swamps.

"Can't make it closer, unfortunately"

[Xihirli]

"The Zone," Alifa corrected herself. "And that’s a start. I’ll bring you back something from the Winterlands," she promised.
"Might I have this souvenir?"

[Valmark]

"Then she's lost. We'll be killing her darkling next" Serendipity said emotionlessly "Luckily for us, when Goenna feels her power used against us she'll revoke them. And of course" she started pulled drawers open- by the looks of it, she kept the more specific spell components in there.

After a little rummaging, she pulled out a pendant with a wooden triangle.
"Here"

---

"Sorry for" "The intrusion"

Ethrindae and Boots were interrupted by two twins- they couldn't have been older then eight years old. Long blue hair and red eyes, the two kids looked otherwise alive... Except for their hands. One's left and the other's right held each other, and had been stitched together in that position.

"Parsimmon" "Sent us"

They kept finishing each other's sentence, with a dazzling smile.

[Xihirli]

"Thank you, Serendipity." Answer took ahold of it. "Is there anything else we should know before we go to the Winterlands?"

---

Boots looked away from Ethrindae's face, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She quickly got it back in her mouth. "Oh... hello..." she stopped what she was doing, cursing Parsimmon under her breath.

[Valmark]

"Very cold. Wear heavy garments" Serendipity said "Bring fire, unless you fight an ice giant. Those tend to not be scared by it. Nor ice golems, those are just too cold for fire to work well. And beware the wind, as it usually carries ice snakes with it- you'd be better off trying to ward the cold winds off then fight them all, as it would be a useless drain on your magic"

---

"You are" "Very pretty" "Like mommy" "Used to be"

The two twins sat by the table, one on the lap of the other. They smiled and just staaaaaared. It was a lot creepier then Parsimmon huffing in a corner of the table, especially because they took the seat immediately next to Boots and Ethrindae.

Ethrindae just tried not to look at them.

[Xihirli]

Alifa nodded. "Thank you, Serendipity." She clasped her hand. "Between you and us and all the allies we gather... hopefully by the end of the year there will never be another darkling." And with the pendant in hand she headed back to collect Kat.

---

Boots, perhaps unwisely, asked a question.
"Which one of us?"

[Valmark]

Kat was still in the library, and seemed to be arguing animately with Eddie.

"You can carry around a Bag of Holding, so you would move its dimensional space! You can't cover it in Glyphs!"
Eddie wobbled and gurgled harshly.
"You just can't! It would break! You'd have to leave it where it was!"
Eddie drooped down, like a sad puddle.
"I'm sorry. I'm sure the next idea you have will be brilliant"
The goo homunculus bubbled a little.

Welcome, Mistress. Your friend is very smart. Doesn't like being contradicted though.

---

One twin pointed at Boots, while the other just gasped and covered her mouth like a kid that got caught saying a swear word.

"That was" "Unpolite" "We are" "Sorry"

Ethrindae stared for a few seconds, then just reached with her hand and meekly patted one of the twins' heads.
"It's fine"

The twins merely smiled at being comforted.

On one side, I'm disgusted. On the other, these kids seem to need a hug Tilly thought back to Boots.

[Xihirli]

She's my girlfriend, Alifa corrected, and gave Kat a kiss to show Eddie the difference. "We're going to the Winterlands to recruit the Giants," Alifa told Kat, holding her hand. "Let's go get Boots and Ethrindae. Eddie, you're up for work. Enjoy the books."
And Lif pulled Kat on.

---

Boots took a breath and went up to the kids, then gave them both a hug. "Hey, kids. It's gonna be okay. What's your name? I'm Clephesia."

[Valmark]

I will.

Kat dutifully followed.

---

"We don't" "Have a name" "Don't worry" "We'll make it okay"

The twins' smiles widened though, their free hands hugging Boots.

"Serendipity" "Gave us" "The power" "To avenge mommy"

Ehy... I think their eyes are getting brighter.

---

At about that time Alifa and Kat entered the room again, accompanied by Taddeus. The vampire looked very confused at seeing Boots hug the two undeads.

Both of the twins' heads just turned 180° degrees, smiling at Taddeus.
"Welcome" "Back" "Did you bring" "Gifts?"
"Oh! I'm sorry. I kinda got here in an hurry" as Taddeus apologized, apparently knowing them already, the kids just pouted.
"I'll bring two each next time"
They got happy again.

[Xihirli]

Boots let go of the kids, backing up a bit from their eyes. "Where to?"
"The Winterlands... but first..." Alifa picked up Benjy and gave him a hug. "We're going to go somewhere very cold and dangerous. You can come with us if you want, but I could also send you back to Faerie and your family. Do you still want to come with us?"

"Did she know anything about the high priestess of Goenna?"
"A darkling now," Alifa answered. "An unfortunate loss so close to our war. After the Ice Giants, I think we should go to the fiendish rings and dethrone Benoth... many demons would join us if so, and more to the point the Chaotic Good demons might be in charge for a long time after."
"Who would we put in charge?"
"Most likely Graax, but the rebels know more about the situation than me. I'll ask more serious questions to Captain Rikrerkoth later... I also might need to contact a devil or two. But that's just what conjurers do."

[Valmark]

"I wanna go home!" Benjy said immediately "I'm sorry... But all this is a lot more then I can take. It was fun but... Uh... Fiends? Gods? Land of incredible cold? I think I have enough stories to make the other feys stew in envy already!" the little noir fey giggled.

"Like when I got three angels to pamper me, or when I sav- wait, forget that one. I meant to keep the bull**** for the others"

"Think we can get them both to join our efforts?"
"That doesn't sound plausible. They both hate and blame each other for the destruction of their home" Taddeus shrugged "But I suppose it's worth a try? Not that I'm gonna come along. I got duties"

"Like bringing" "Us gifts"

"Oh by the way, she's the wizard I told you about" Taddeus gestured to Alifa, and she immediately got the twins' attention. Though they didn't speak. They looked more awed.
"Yeah, maybe I talked you up a little. But they kept asking questions about the arcanist from another world"

Spoiler: Ooc

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No respect for Boots' magic.

[Xihirli]

Then there's the emotion Primordials who may be able to actually seal the Zone off," Alifa reminded everyone. She gave Benjy a final kiss on the head and then touched her tuning fork to him... he shattered in her hands, icy fey shards falling to the ground and melting into nothing.
"Sent him home, didn't kill him," Alifa promised. She put the pendant for the swamps in the middle.
"I'll teleport us part of the way, then we can get going. Want to watch me teleport us?" Alifa asked the kids.

And then she, Boots, Kat, Ethrindae, and their menagerie rapidly aged so their hair became white and their skin wrinkled, then rotted off. Their bones fell to the ground, and those, too, decayed rapidly into ash as millions of years were pushed through their bodies in seconds. A dark wind billowed up, sweeping the ashes away.

The ashes settled down far away, gathering up as their skeletons regrew, then their decayed skin that healed and de-aged back to what it was before they vanished.
Boots threw up.
"What... in the hells..."
"Raven Queen's death magic mixed in with mine." Alifa looked around. "So where are we..."

[Valmark]

The twins stared smiling, soaking it all in.

When they appeared Tilly freaked out, as she didn't even think she could be aged, Kat immediately got her flask to wash the taste of death from her mouth and Ethrindae just chuckled composed.
"I suppose I did just see us grow old together, Boots"
She looked away then, a hand politely in front of her mouth like when you hold in nausea.

As Alifa looked around, she realized they were right in the middle of a village built on elevated platforms above the swamp- well, they were caked in mud into the swamp, the platforms were all around them. Ribbiting went on all around them, as halfling-sized frogs crowded around them, bulbous eyes staring. Some of them had spears, some shields, some nets.

One spoke up.
"Friend, thief, murderer?" it said in barely manageable Common. It looked like they were being asked to define what they were.

[Xihirli]

"Friend," Boots said, trying to recover from the... dying.
Wait, thief specifically? What an odd choice... Alifa thought to Kat.
"We are just passing through on our way to the... Alifa?"
"Ice Maws."
"Ice Maws. The mountains."

[Valmark]

"Ice Maws" one ribbited.
"No friends. Lost ones" another shook its head seemingly sadly and pointed with its spear towards a direction. Far in the distance some hills could be spotted. A bunch more looked in the group's direction and pointed insistently towards those same hills.

I can only assume they've had more then a few problems with people stealing.

[Xihirli]

"Thank you," Boots said. "Is there any way we can help you? Something you’re looking for in that direction?"

With how they’re acting… they expect attacks half the time, it would seem.

[Valmark]

The kuo-toas started croaking to one another, a cacofonous chorus of frog calls surrounding the group.

"Catch the evil horse?" one proposed.
"Hunting prey down" another added.
"Hunting us down" a third echoed the others.

[Xihirli]

"Okay… if I see an evil horse I’ll catch it," Boots promised. "If you want food…" she summoned forth ten goodberries from her armor and offered them.
"You might enjoy these."

[Valmark]

The kuo-toas stared.

"Throw 'em" one suggested, a gaggle of kids with lucid eyes getting pushed forward.

"So... Why it is an evil horse?"
"Because it's evil"
"And it's an horse"
"Stupid"
Kat scowled.

Ethrindae, in her infinite patience, pointed to Tilly.
"Like that?"
"That's a bird"
"And it's not black"
"And it's not on fire"
"But maybe it still eats meat?"

Suddenly all the kuo-toas put at least ten feet between them and Tilly, who nigghied annoyed towards Boots.
Tell them I'm not evil!

[Xihirli]

"A nightmare," Alifa’s eyes lit up. "Boots, I want it. I can bind it to my service."
"Uh… Tilly is a good horse." Boots tossed the goodberries over.
"We’ll be on our way now… if we see the horse we’ll handle it." And, going slowly so that none of them would think she was threatening, she headed for the hills.
Alifa followed.
I haven’t put that much thought to it, because I normally only bind creatures to my service for about an hour… Kat, am I any different from Mokart if I take control over a Nightmare? Or am I another slaver like Benoth? The Nightmare is threatening people… is it worse to dominate it than to kill it? Am I simply forcing it to pay off its debt to the world? Or exploiting it?