And we're back. We find the party standing around the destroyed pile of dead leaves, sticks, roots, soil that was the shambling mound at the foot of this plateau that sits atop it in the oldest tree in the Queen's Garden. Ballerat, you were communicating with the tree before this thing encroached on you. Well, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Yes, it usually is. I think the tree is ready. It just wanted to test us. Well, off you go.
I'm going to sit here for a little while. Yes, I think I have the time. The power is limitless in the other realm, in the ocean, the almighty ocean. Yes, you're not so hot down here.
No, not at all. Does that mean that the creatures from the underside of the realm of ocean, they also suffer a penalty entering this world? Yes, I believe so. Well, that's good to know.
Well, I think you've blown my mind right now. Well, I mean, maybe we want the but you'll get to cross into this realm because then we'll be able to destroy it. Oh, well, if it's here, then it can do stuff here. Yes, it could do stuff like die here.
Oh, well, yeah, that would be good. If it dies here, then it can't go back to the infinite realm. Oh, yes. I see what you're saying.
Maybe I don't need to go back at all. Well, won't you then by the same logic also risk dying? Yes. I think I'm okay with that.
That's the spirit. You know, you would really like my god. Maybe you should pray to it right now. All right, why not?
So, Harbeck, do you do that? Yeah, I'll just sit down next to the tree and clutch my whole symbol, close my eyes and start to pray, chant. Roll a religion at advantage for me, please. Okay, that's good.
That is 20. So, 30, 20. So, you feel the acorn in your palm grow warm. The light emanates from the holy symbol like it usually does.
And from the behind you, you hear the sound of sticks and leaves crunching. You both turn to see the pile that was the shambling mound, pieces of soil and leaf and stick, moss, mushroom all begin to coalesce and form up into legs and those legs, it continues building up in the legs, form a torso, form arms and a head. A vaguely female shape is represented by the pile of whatever. And eventually, all of that soot and soil and discarded detritus falls away and presented before you is a elven woman, fair, all of the skin with long flowing brown hair.
And she's wearing a green gown and she's standing before you smiling, Harbeck. So, I feel her presence in my eyes. And when I see her, I'm like, start blushing immediately. Band, I stay in the lowered position.
And I just start rattling off like thank yous and gratitudes for her presenting herself in this form. She turns and looks at both of you. It looks at both of you and smiles. And then she goes to her mouth.
Can you hear me, Harbeck? Ballerot? Yes, yes, we can hear you this time. She turns and looks at the old tree.
There's a lot of magic contained within this tree. This tree is as old as this world is, I believe. Why have you called me here? This is my friend Ballerot.
He is a realm walker. Hello, Ballerot, I've heard of you. Yes, I, for some reason I've been banished to this realm and it's nice to be mortal again. I want to give myself to you as one of your followers.
She cocks her head to the side, do you? Yes, I offer all my skills and services to serve you. Mistress or madam, I'm sorry, I'm still not sure what to call you. I go by many names in many worlds.
In this one, you may call me Kira. Kira, I promise that I will save you and all of your followers and I'll dedicate my life to making sure this realm exists forever. Thank you. Many of my kind have been watching what has been happening here and we've grown concerned that one of the princes from below has gathered and gained a foothold in this realm.
Yes, I believe his existence in this realm is inevitable, but I think once he gets here, it could be a chance for us to destroy him forever. I think this is correct. So I ask you, instead of to make a way find, can we use this tree to make a weapon? She smiles.
They were wise to choose you, Balaarad, all those eons ago, when you were banished from your homeland, banished from your own realm. I did not understand, but the others like me, others that maybe see farther than I do. Yes, I believe this one is ready for that purpose. What do you say, old one?
She looks up to the great tree and you hear this voice that sounds like it's coming from all directions, like it's not behind you, it's not in front of you, it's not to the side of you, it is literally all around you. And it says, yes, my lady, I am ready for this purpose. The lady looks at you, Harbec. Harbec, there's something you must know.
My locus of power in this world is this tree. No, I beg looks up at the tree. No, with it gone, I won't. I'll be unable to provide any assistance to you in this realm.
Do you understand what that means? You'd be gone. She knots her head. I don't know if I can let you do that.
I mean, so many rely on you. This forest and what me, wouldn't all of those things be at risk. These are the choices that we are left with, Harbec. What was there?
I mean, I'd feel so lonely without you. She takes steps, she takes steps towards you, Harbec, and she goes down on one knee and puts her hand on your shoulder and you feel just this delicate and pleasant warmth to her touch on your shoulder. You can see little blades of grass grow from your armor and a small dandelion pops out between one of your shoulder plates where she's touching your arm or your shoulder. Harbec, the world is in a state of, your realm is in a state of change.
There's no escaping that fact, but I and those like me don't have influence over this realm in the same, in the way you think we do. I leave this choice to you and yours. Well, I, but I trust that you should heed Balarath's advice. He, I see it in his heart that his motive is true.
I, well, I, I trust you both. I, Harbec, I can't ask you to get rid of your God. I can't ask you to risk your entire faith for this, this realm for this purpose. My faith is to give my life for life itself.
So I think that this is in line with that. It may be somewhat paradoxical, but I think it makes sense. All right. Well, Kira, I want to make a sacrifice for you here.
Take my staff. She, um, reaches out and grabs the staff from your hand and takes it in her hands. Don't believe I can cross back to the other realm without that. So I will stay here and I vow to protect all of your followers as long as I live in this realm.
So long as Balarath, sorry, go ahead. Balarath, Balarath lives. My, my man will exist in this world, this realm. Don't worry, Harbec.
I, I feel in my heart that this is right, that this is good. And I'm not gone forever. Beings like I exist beyond this realm, exist in every realm and every time at all times. I will just be gone for a while.
So like Harbec understands, and he starts crying anyway, and he gets it, but it's just so sad. And she turns to you, Balarath, and says, Balarath, uh, then this font of mana, this font of my being in this realm is yours to do with what you need to do. Thank you. Thank you, Kira.
I will inform the others of what has happened here that things have escalated. I will do my best to convince them of this realm's need, but my people are fickle and don't understand the ways of your kind the same way I do. What am I supposed to do? Come on.
I'm a cleric. Harbec, there are other patrons. There are others that you can swear fealty to and honorable and noble ones such as yourself should have no trouble finding a divine like mine somewhere in crisis. Search yourself, find one that speaks to you, pray to them, and I'm confident they will answer you.
All right. I'll try. Well, then, uh, thank you for this, Balarath, and she takes the staff and it, like, unmakes in her hands and disappears into this golden, like this golden dust that absorbs into her being, and you see she glows very brightly for a moment. She smiles and then vanishes in a flash of light.
We're suddenly, uh, very aware of this silence in this forest that we just hear the sound of wind rustling tree limbs and birds chirping up at the canopy. Well, let's go down this tree. All right. I know that was hard, but you just have to keep the faith.
I mean, what faith now? That was my faith. Just faith that everything will be okay. Well, what are we doing with this thing?
Balarath wipes blood from his mouth. He takes a long look at the tree and takes out his dagger and starts to chisel away at some of the branches. I don't have anything bigger than this. So, I'm going to try to make a spear, going to begin carving incantations on the side of the tree.
Maybe that will, won't have to destroy the whole thing, but it is a lot of tree. A spear big enough to destroy the baguilla has to be sharp and has to be wielded by someone with a pure heart. I believe that you are, Bec. Oh, I mean, I don't know how pure I mean.
I do okay, but pure, I don't know. Your intentions are always well. You always want the best. Yeah, but you know, I mean, that doesn't always work out, you know, but it's about the intention, all right.
You know, I've got some smithing tools around here and I could try and use something from side here. All right. So, as you cut away at the tree, you feel, you see limbs at the top of the tree begin to wither and branches full of leaves and full of, you know, branching sticks and tree limbs wither and shrink into emaciated, gnarled branches. It's like, as you were taking more, even a small amount from this tree, it is affecting the whole.
And you can feel the energy begin to concentrate around this form of a spear that you're carving into the side of this. So, Harbeck is like really questioning things at this point, because this tree is dying and his god just died and all of his, like, spiritual connection and all those magical powers that are tied to that deity are now waning. So he's like really, really concerned with what is happening right now. And, ballerat eventually, you manage to carve out a long half of wood with a sharpened point of a of a spear.
And you can feel this spear is just full of raw mana, raw energy. Everything that this god's locus of power in this world was concentrated into this single half of wood. Ballerat is spinning it around doing the karate moves, like drawing it in the air. It's light, it's very firm.
I think this is ready. All right. It's, uh, Harbeck, you don't look, don't look well. Well, I mean, I guess I thought, you know, we were going to get you back and now you're staying, which is great.
It's, uh, I just feel lost. I mean, now we're hoping that our greatest enemy appears in this world. And I guess the plan is to kill him, which is a good plan. But, uh, I don't know, I wonder what Orzak and Arnall are doing right now.
Well, you know, I don't believe I can leave this forest now. Well, well, why not? I vowed to protect it. I don't know if I could protect it much, not being here.
No, that is true. It is a large forest. And in terms of mechanics and the way, like, all of these things, these disparate things, we've together, um, Kira, the god of nature, essentially gifted her what she had as in terms of a presence in this world, um, to Balarat. So that as long as he lives, as long as his mortal body holds, he, uh, will keep nature from just flat out dying.
Uh, because without her, there's no, there's no trees, there's no animals, there's no reproduction. It's like, uh, so in this desperate gambit, she's given up her locus of power, which was this tree that allowed her a connection to the world. So she has all but severed from this plane now, all but severed from this realm. Uh, perhaps one day it could be rebuilt.
Uh, again, these gods exist eternally and they only exist in so far as, um, they have locus of power in a given realm. So her locus of power is now in the spear and her presence is now in Balarat. So yeah, to a certain extent, Balarat is sort of stuck in this forest now in a good way though. Well, we were expecting the fight to happen in the southern territories.
Maybe do we draw the guyler here or do we, um, I need to meditate on this and really think, I believe time is on our hands now. Uh, Balarat sits, crosses his leg, sits down, forms a diamond with his hand and begins to hum. Balarat, you're, you're filled with this patron. I mean, you're filled with this energy of a god.
You're not quite on the level of a realm walker, but you, you are now probably the most magically gifted being by your presence, you give life to other creatures. So, uh, you, you see another locus of power. Uh, if we're keeping this world consistent and it's kind of cool that this just accidentally worked out this way, the beguiler and its patron, the, uh, Gargatiloth, which is the demon lord of betrayal and secrets. What players, where would you assume a locus of power like that would be in this world?
Like in a city. Maybe a city that's on the brink of falling apart from lies and secrets and betrayal? Yeah, like, a law. Yeah, is, so you, you, in your meditation, Balarat, you see the, uh, the palace, the, uh, a law, a law, the capital and you see, I'm not sure if this is the future, distant future, or even the present, but you see buildings are on fire.
Um, you pass through stone walls and eventually come into this expansive room and at the center is this pedestal and at the pedestal, there are two creatures there. Um, one of them is this hulking pink armored creature that you know is the beguiler or beguiler is the prince to the, uh, lore, the demon lord known as Gargatiloth and then you see next to this hulking figure, a white pale-skinned humanoid, um, similar in color to the, if you see Prometheus, like the, uh, what are they called, the architects or whatever? Those milky white gross figure that looks like that and he turns and he's got these black pits for eyes and these needle sharp teeth and you feel Gargatiloth looking at you in that moment. Your vision comes back and you, you see the locus of power for the beguiler and Gargatiloth to be a loll.
What did you see? I fear that this makes it a lot worse before it gets any better. I must go to a loll. That is where the babe, that's where the two beasts will appear.
Well, can you make it there? Ballarat thinks to cast a shield over the forest. What is, uh, and yeah, we can sort of, uh, like, yeah, I mean, shield will have its own sort of, uh, rules, but I think we're kind of making this up as we go. So, oh yeah, so let's, uh, yeah, so you want to cast shield and you want to cast a shield over this whole forest with the intention of what protecting it from an outside invader, protecting it from, to make it like almost like invisible to outsiders.
Like a blank spot, like someone looks at it and they, they don't really see it. They see this like shimmering. Yeah, okay. It's like a mirage.
It's like a chin and now. Yeah, it's a hidden forest. Yeah. Hidden leaf.
So, so we see, uh, what does it look like when you cast the spell? Uh, it's, you see a bright, like, purple-ish light flashes in, it starts out of the small orb and ballerott's hand and then as he expands his hand, the orb gets bigger and it starts to cover the entire forest. You see it, like, it's not harming anything. It's just covering it and as it covers the trees, the tree, like, has an extra highlight on it or just a little flash of light and it goes the whole span of the entire forest.
Cool. It's this giant orb of purple energy and as it solidifies, it turns into nothing. It just like manages and suddenly becomes like this empty green space. Yes.
Just, it looks like an open field now. Yeah. And just in terms of like raw square distance, um, we'll, we'll just say for the sake of some story continuity, it doesn't absorb the whole forest, but you take up this like protected secret garden area. So, maybe it's like 15 to 20 square miles around this central location here, um, just because, um, just for some things happening in the future, it doesn't get too outrageously crazy, but I'm not going to say no.
So let's see. Yeah. We see, we see that this aerial view and this like 15 square mile bit of the forest just vanishes. I don't know if I'm doing this right.
You were doing a great job. I'm all about it. Just keep following just trust your instincts and just make cool shit. With, um, with the power of my, my former, um, goddess in your hands, now in your mortal hands, I'm sure the enemy will be aware of that and that they'll be trying to do everything they can to capitalize on your mortality.
I have to be very careful then. Yes. Um, we should reconnect with, um, the armies we're gathering in the south or, oh, if we have time, um, maybe we don't. Maybe we should just head to a law right now.
I mean, what have we got? We've got that sphere, uh, your new powers and my hand acts and, um, my waning power. Um, oh, and a spine hunter. Oh, yes.
Yes. We need to meet up with the others and inspire them. We'll need as many numbers as we can get before we get to allow. I believe that that's where everything will really, really begin to go go to the shit.
Right. Yeah, that's what they say. All the realm walkers. Yeah.
Go to the shit. Hell yeah. Well, I can, um, go back to the desert and, um, reconnect with them, but I'm afraid to leave you here by yourself. It's okay.
No one will be able to find me here. I will keep the spear safe. I will figure out a way to teleport it to you when I can. Ballerite puts his hand on Harbick's head and a flower crown forms around his head.
This will keep us connected. I'll be able to speak to you through this and fuck. Yeah. Goddamn cool.
Always listen to me and trust your instincts, Harbick. All right. I can do that. I will give you the spear when you need it, but know that I'm always with you just like you or was.
All right. Harbick. Keep the faith. Okay.
This will work out. All right. I'll try. All right.
And it's a little early, but I want to, we'll, we'll do a little, this is a fun kind of Lucy Goose episode. So we're going to take a quick break and, um, part 2.1, uh, we're going to take a quick break, come back to part 2.2 or whatever. I don't know. We'll figure it out, but don't go anywhere.
We need to figure out some stuff.