The party took a day to rest as a group before deciding their next move. When morning came and they gathered, Marionette walked to Racknar shyly to see where they stood. “I just wanted to check to make sure we're still cool after… you know… the succubus incident.” Racknar gives a small nod. “I told you before, you are forgiven. It was a mistake made from someone taking advantage of you and your ignorance. As long as you refrain from being creepy in the future, it's fine.” Marionette presses two of her fingers together. “What about my… feelings towards you?”
Racknar sighs. “Try not to let them affect our work. I'm honestly not sure what to do about them on my end yet. Give me some time to think about things. I mean our ages are a mess because of the reincarnation with memories where some of us can be considered a reset and others a continuation in a new body. Depending on how you think about it there's either a one year age gap with us both being underage or a twenty nine year gap with me being an adult.” Ariagoria looks over the Racknar. “I forgot that you said you were twenty eight when you died. That gives you the longest previous life span out of all of us except Elizabeth who was the same age as you but died five years later.”
Racknar shrugged. “I haven't really thought about it that much.” Marinette shyly speaks up, just loud enough to be heard. “The age of consent in this world is fourteen.” Racknar sighed. “Yeah, but most of us are used to the morality standards of a different world and time period. Though if we went by the standards of our original lives I think the age of consent would be sixteen for you. Not that any of that matters. What matters is what each person is comfortable with, and I’m drawing my line at eighteen.” Ariagoria hums. “I mean I guess I understand not holding this world to the standards of ours, but that won't keep me from getting the ick every time I hear about some nobleman in his thirties or forties arranging a marriage with someone who's barely a teenager.”
Racknar nods. “It was fairly normal in the middle ages but that was partly due to the lower life expectancy of even nobles. However, although technology is at a level relative to the fourteen or fifteen hundreds, magic exists. Magic that can supplement healthcare. Meaning outside of the poor and destitute who can't afford a cleric, there's no reason most people can't live just as long if not longer than in our world. And there are clerics that donate their time to healing the sick and injured among the poor pro bono.” Ariagoria nods. “I've done that myself. So I honestly don't see a reason to have the age of consent so low.”
Krys'tal lets out a strange low humming droning sound. “It's because this empire is run by degenerates and xenophobes. Using religion as an excuse to kill anything that isn't human or doesn't share their faith hiding behind tradition and the fact that the laws have been the way they are for ages “without issues”. There are too many people in power abusing it.” Racknar grumbled. “You're unfortunately not exactly wrong. There's little we can do about it right now. So let's focus on what we can do and go to Bramble to get the swords.”
Davy puts up his hand. “I have something I wanted to do first.” He then puts down a copy of the request to look into sightings of an albino Illithid. “This is at least worth looking into, sooner rather than later.” Racknar puts his hand on his chin. “I guess it's no rush. The swords aren't going anywhere.” The group starts packing their things to head out in search of the albino Illithid. Once the cart is packed and they make sure everyone has bought whatever they may need that they can afford. Racknar and Ariagoria get decanters of endless water and everyone makes sure they have bags of holding.
While they travel the party has some downtime to talk. Ariagoria brings up a problem with their current equipment distribution. “So Racknar and Krys have special high end weapons. Mari has her teleportation dagger. I've noticed Davy and I have yet to get a signature weapon.” Racknar lets out a grunt. “I have plans for that actually. Mari is probably going to get the swords of Arachne since although useful the whisper blade doesn't do extra damage. Just makes it easier to trigger sneak attacks. As for you, I'm going to commission something special from Lisa to replace your crossbow and I have an idea for a new mace for you.”
Ariagoria looks at Racknar with interest. “Do tell.” Racknar chuckles “No spoilers.” Ariagoria grumbles. “Do you have plans to increase your own damage output?” Racknar nods. “Eventually. But that's low priority considering how much damage I can do. I can add elemental damage to my weapons and get another set of swords like the ones I have. I can give my plus one four D eight chainsaw swords and additional plus two and three D six of a damage type of my choosing. That's in addition to the fire damage I get while raging and the bonus I can get if I reckless attack.”
Ariagoria grumbles again. “I don't know what any of that means!” Davy chuckles. “To put it in perspective, in Creatures and Catacombs, your mace and crossbow are plus one masterwork weapons that do one D six plus as a cleric you can use divine channeling to add radiant damage to the mace. One D eight if I remember correctly.” Racknar nods to confirm he's right. “She can do that with every attack and even add spells to melee in a similar way as a paladin. The two classes have loads of things in common. Also at eighth level she receives half of the healing she deals.”
Ariagoria tilts her head. “Wait, so everytime I cast a healing spell, even the effectual cantrip, I heal myself as well by half that amount? I can definitely be less cautious if that's the case. Doesn't mean I should be reckless though. This isn't a game and I can't simply create a new character when I die.” Racknar nodded. “Also, based on some things I witnessed, it's possible we are all effectively what would be called a gestalt character. I'll have to explain that another time.”
The cart slows as Racknar hops out. “We are in the general area of the sightings. I'll check the map to see if any spots nearby would make good hiding nooks.” Racknar starts looking at a map while Davy looks around, walking a bit in every direction. “I can't sense her psionic energy. It's possible she's closed herself off as a telepath.” Racknar scratches his head. “There's an old outpost not far from here but according to current records it's in use. Not abandoned.” Davy shrugs. “Let's check it out anyway.” They hop back on the cart and ride it to the outpost.
The outpost in question consists of a single tower serving as an observation or sniper post connected to a small building that likely serves as a residence for anyone posted there. Racknar gestures to the door with his hand and head. “All yours Davy, it's your mission.” Davy nods and slowly, hesitantly, moves his hands to the door and knocks. At first there's no response but then a female guard opens the door. There are dark circles under her eyes as if she has not slept in a week and her skin is pale. “Can I help you good adventurers? Are you perhaps in need of directions?”
Davy cleared his throat. “Are you… alone here?” The guard's expression didn't change. “It is standard operating procedure to have at least two guards at every outpost with an optimal posting of at least five.” Davy hesitated before saying”That didn't actually answer my question.” The guard is silent before saying. “It's just me and my friend right now.” Davy found this response somewhat strange. “May we come in? We've been on the road a while. If you have open beds it would surely beat camping outside.”
The lady guard again hesitated to respond for a moment. Davy gave her time under the assumption she was considering his request. “It is a guard's duty to protect the people, as such I can't leave you to the elements and wild animals when a safer alternative is available.” She opens the door wider and steps in. Davy enters with the rest of the party following. Marionette looked around the outpost. “Something is definitely off.” Ariagoria then whispered “You just said the quiet part out loud sweety. We can all tell something isn't right.” Racknar gestures to Davy with his head while looking at the two ladies. Clearly indicating that Davy will be the leader for this particular quest.
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Davy continued to try and act casually. “You definitely take your duty seriously. I thank you for your kindness.” The guard then gestures to the barracks area. “The beds are there. There is also a kitchen and a storage area. If you are lacking rations, feel free to help yourself.” Davy decided to press the guard a bit. “So where is your friend? The other guard posted with you?” There's a long pause before she responds. “She’s at the top of the tower. She asked not to be disturbed.” Davy gives a small nod. Then takes the party into the barracks room. “I think I know what's going on here.”
Racknar nodded, having also figured it out. “It's obvious if you're familiar with all kinds of magic.” Krys'tal hums. “I'm… lost. I have no idea what's going on.” Ariagoria and Marionette both nod. Racknar gestures for Davy to explain. “This guard is under the spell of a “Charm” effect. It's a mild type of mind control. Doesn't actually give you control, just convinces the target to regard you as friendly or a friend. Prevents them from attacking for as long as the spell lasts unless attacked by the caster or cured of the condition. It's why she hesitates to respond. She's basically in a mental fog as the spell prevents her from seeing the caster as hostile or knowingly taking actions that would result in the caster's harm.”
Racknar nods. “It's a spell many kinds of caster have access to. It is often also an ability some monsters have. Succubus for example can use pheromones to create the charm effect. However, because it's an ability and not a spell and since it relies on the target being flesh and blood… constructs are immune. With something like an Illithid or a psion however, it acts the same way as the spell. We must proceed with caution. The guard might attack us if she sees us as hostile to the caster.”
Marionette did a small hand gesture. “I'm guessing the caster in this case is an Illithid. The one we are after no less.” Ariagoria nods. “Again, saying the quiet part out loud. That was already implied, you don't have to spell it out.” Racknar gestures to Davy. “This is your quest, it's up to you what the next move is.” Davy nods and heads to the tower. The guard is standing right outside the door however. “She has asked not to be disturbed.” Davy considers his options, looks to Racknar, and gestures to the guard with his head.
Racknar sighed, then sent a punch right at the guard's head knocking her out in one punch. “Charity, heal her wound but don't wake her.” Once the guard is moved to the side, the party starts moving up the tower to the top. It doesn't take long before Davy is standing at the door to the top floor of the sniper’s tower before the roof. He slowly reaches for the door and opens it before stepping in. There he sees the room is filled with artificer tech and alchemy gear, but no Illithid technology is present.
Standing at a table of what looks like a laboratory, is a figure in white robes. The build of its body is surprisingly feminine and the skin is as white as the robes. The figure stands up straight when the door creaks open and turns with a feminine voice. “How many times do I have to tell you- oh. Crap.” The figure is definitely an albino Illithid, however it looks feminine to the point that when it turned one could even see masses on its chest that either are mammalian mammaries or a visual mimicry of them.
Davy throws his hands up. “We are not here to hurt you, unless you prove hostile first.” He says quickly. “It would be a different story had you harmed the guard in any way.” The Illithid tilts its head. “You aren't going to kill me on sight just for being an Illithid? Albeit an unusual one.” Davy shakes his head and removes his ring of illusion. The albino Illithid’s eyes widened. “You're an anomaly too?!” Davy puts the ring back on. “I go by Davy Jones, I was human but after my death my soul was reborn on this world. It entered the body of an Illithid in a spawn pod on a Nautilus that was in orbit at the time. Separate from the hive my anomalous nature was hidden with the help of a being once worshiped by our kind as a god. I escaped here, destroying the ship in the process.”
The albino Illithid took a moment to process what it just heard. “I have chosen the name Ivory, I identify with the humanoid gender of female. I assume you identify as male?” Davy nods. “Though biologically speaking I'm neither.” Ivory nods. “So if you didn't come as adventurers to kill me..?” Davy found a chair and grabbed it to sit on. “At first I thought that you were going to be an Illithid trying to conquer this world as they are prone to do with other worlds. Aggressive colonization and conversion of resources, strip mining every world they find till all that remains is Illithid.”
Ivory gestures to the lab. “As you can see by this and my treatment of the guard here, my intentions are not malicious.” Davy nods. “That's why we didn't attack. Each of us understands what it means to be different in this world. None of us are human. Although we all were in a past life.” Ivory perks up. “A party of reborns who all found themselves as monstrous races or some other form of outsider? I guess groups are safer and it's safest if the group you are in is like yourself. Then you don't have to worry about keeping your secret among the party.”
Davy nods. “Allow me to introduce my friends. This here is Racknar Aredae, a black iron beast-kin who's an Infernal Wrath Berserker. Ariagoria “Charity” Wrath who's a demonblood and our cleric. Marionette Abstergo who's our Rouge, and Krys'tal who's our ranger. I'm a sorcerer and a warlock of-” Racknar cuts Davy off “Erny. Just call him Erny. Saying his full name isn't a good idea.” Erny confirms this in Davy's head. Ivory puts a hand on her chin. “From what I understand, that's a fairly balanced party. I am an alchemist and artificer, as you can see. I've spent years learning these crafts from this world so as to not depend on the technology of the Illithid.”
Davy hummed. “About that. I had a number of questions as to how you are even alive. Normally an anomaly like you is killed in the spawn pod. My blue skin developed after I was awakened.” Ivory sighed. “I was… ejected from my Nautilus and landed here intact. Although there was some time between ejection and landing here. Likely years. I have no way of knowing since I was in stasis. There was a batch of failures that they loaded into an escape pod and just ejected them all so that we would naturally separate from the hive before we would inevitably die. However we were able to send ourselves at speed in a single direction in a burst.”
Davy naturally had to ask. “What of the others in the escape pod?” Ivory shook her head. “By the time we reached here only three remained including myself. They were killed by the people of this world and I learned to find ways to avoid their fate. I've been on this world trying to adapt for ten years.” Davy tilted his head. “Did you not once consider getting a ring of illusion?” Ivory sighs “I didn't want to risk being caught at the store and unfortunately can't simply command someone to do it for me since the command spell is limited. Dominate is beyond my current ability and even if it wasn't I wouldn't use it. Even now I find my limited use of control spells distasteful.”
Davy is taken aback by this. “Really? Control and conversion is the Illithids' entire thing.” Ivory nods. “I was rejected by Illithid society, and as such rejected everything they stand for. They seek absolute unity, but my time here has taught me the potential of individuality and diversity. Although this world has many flaws, it has not passed a point of no return. There is a chance for change and growth.”
Davy reaches out a hand to Ivory. “My party and I seek to improve this world wherever and whenever we can. We believe in equality among different lifeforms and cultures and desire a world of peaceful coexistence that celebrates differences rather than punishes them. You should join us, we can get you a ring of illusion so you can walk among humans until we reach a day where we can be our true selves without fear. You don't have to be alone. Besides, although we do have an artificer friend who sometimes gives us a discount, it would be nice to have access to potions and stuff on the go.”
Ivory puts her hand on her chin, clearly considering her options. “I'll have to pack up my gear if I choose to go with you. It could take a long time.” Davy points to his bag. “We've got bags of holding and a cart outside. We are more than happy and capable of loading everything up for you. We'll even help you set up a new lab in the city once you have a ring of illusion.” Ivory nods. “Okay, I'll travel with you to set up a new lab and assist your party. Consider me sold.” The party then spends several hours helping her pack.
Racknar whole packing asked about the guard. “What about her? She said normally there's at least two people posted but she'll be all alone once we leave.” Ivory looked at the guard who was helping pack under the charm effect. “She'll forget I was even here, I'll be sure of it. She was alone when I got here, and said something about losing the others at this outpost to a bandit raid three days ago. She put in a request for reinforcements, but they've yet to arrive.”
Racknar hums as they finish packing up. “Well it's a good thing we extracted you before they arrived. Although I guess you could just have charmed them too. Alright, that's everything. The illusion ring will be on Davy. We should also consider finding those bandits and taking care of them.” Davy nods. “They might cause problems otherwise. Besides, if we take their equipment for resale and turn them in for a bounty it'll give us the coin we need to get equipment for Ivory.”
Racknar nods. “I Think I know what direction the bandit camp is in.” He turns the cart and starts going off the main path. “The hardest part will be making sure we don't kill any of them. We get more for live capture.” The party, with a new member in tow, heads to their next adventure.”
