Alectos is the Sick One [Session 18]

Current Situation

• Before the Maybesitters head off to confront, or cure, the ailing Couatl held in a safe place somewhere on the Roaming Isle, some errands and preparation are to be completed, as well as gathering as much information as possible on the current situation and potential outcomes.
  

Session Summary

• In the dark hours of the morning of the 12th of Uktar, the concerns around Tabitha's Ring of Tides come to a head when the young witch, running into Rae in the hallway outside of her room, reveals the appearance of gills on either side of her neck. The rest of the group is gathered, and Dhann casts Remove Curse - the ring is extracted from Tabitha's hand, but not before dealing massive damage to her. Barrett applies some healing, Dhann holds the gushy remains of the ring, and all five of them head to consult with Illu Stardust about Tabitha's condition, and if anything can be done about it.
• Stardust confirms that the ring is indeed an item with a curse, and magicks it back into its ring form, placing it in a smaller bag before handing it to Dhann. He, in turn, requests Rae to open the Bag of Holding, and he places the pouch, with the ring, in there. Stardust alerts everyone to the fact that the gills on either side of Tabitha's neck appear to be permanent, but fully functional. Perhaps the Merfolk can be consulted on how to remove them, or, Tabitha may like to keep them and the ability to breathe underwater.
• Barrett asks Stardust when she thinks is a good time for the group to head out to consult with the Couatls and she says no more than a Tenday, but it doesn't seem to be too urgent that they can't take some time to prepare. Finding the location of the Mythallar from the Cuoatl is of the utmost concern, he checks again, and Stardust confirms. Or, too, to find out what happened to the Couatl in the first place. Rescuing her seems impossible. With no more questions for the Cleric, the group heads back to bed.
  
• It seems that only one day of preparation is really needed by everyone, so Barrett suggests prep in the morning, talking to the Couatl in the afternoon, and potentially heading out that night for the eldest of the three guardians. Dhann asks if they can decide when to head out after talking to the other two Couatl, as any new information may change their order of plans, or prepared spells. This is agreed upon, and Barrett leaves word with Tank that they want to talk to the two Couatl that afternoon.
  
• Not needing as much sleep as the others, Barrett heads to Cliffside to watch the sunrise and sees a dramatic thunderstorm off in the distance, and senses it's an incredibly violent one. It's certainly no normal storm, and it is one of the ones that has been plaguing the Isle lately.
• Rae finished some more reading on both Mythallar and Mythall seeds, and looks for info on the liquid light from the tomb, but the Per Historia Arcandor Materia does not have any writings on this topic. Info on the Mythallar is spread throughout the book, in multiple hands. While the monastery thinks there are only three of these magical articles left, the book holds evidence that there are potentially six left overall. It is written three times, "Do not touch the Mythallar."
  
• Rae talks to Tank about safeguarding the seed for the time being and he says they will do all they can to keep it safe. he emphasizes that it is still Rae's charge, and the monastery will merely protect it for her.
• For errand-running: Z goes to an armorer to look for gauntlets or gloves, looking to see if there's anything similar to Dhann's Glove that he can tweak, or finding material he can sew into one he makes from scratch. He finds something quite easily, and then heads off to find a spice shop of some sort, hoping to find something sneeze inducing, among other potential spices that might catch his eye. He's told of a spice-seller with "nontraditional" wares, a little farther out, and heads there immediately. The Bard meets a hefty gnome woman, quite tall and stout for one of the race. She has exactly what Z is looking for, and he even gets to sample, accidentally, the fabulous potency of one or two of the spices. Z is treated to a show of samples of various other herbs, spices, powders, and clays, and some show light, scents, and other effects.
  
• Barrett picks up some extra arrows, and asks the fletcher to keep an eye out for interesting ammunition that may come through the shop. Checking in again with Kerrick, Barrett lets him know that they will be docked here for several days, but to enjoy themselves and experience the wonders of the Roaming Isle.
  
• Tabitha, unattuning from her witch hat, finds a shop to pick up a much simpler, non-magical hat, and also picks out a fashionable scarf to wrap her neck with, and cover her new gills. She also encounters some new herbs at an apothecary, and peruses the three that catch her eye. She purchases enough of each to experiment with later.
• Rae scouts out some blank journals to replenish her stock, as well as a number of pencils or charcoal sticks for her sketching. Three journals find their way into her hands and enough charcoal to fill all of them to the brim with drawings and recipes.
• Dhann, as a thanks for Z helping him make a left glove duplicate, tags along with Tabitha to the haberdasher to find a patterned and colorful fabric fit for a flashy Tabaxi acrobat. By the dock is more of a bazaar atmosphere, as these goods come straight off the ships and into merchanting stalls. The Cleric is able to find one booth with a merchant carrying a terrifying array of garishly colorful fabrics. He asks one merchant for something fit for a tumbler, needing enough fabric for a shirt, pants, and of another pattern for a scarf and a couple of hats. One bolt is greens and yellows and blues, and a second that catches Dhann's eyes is a jumbled harlequin pattern. As he heads back to the monastery Dhann also picks up two greater healing potions.
  
• Everyone meets back at the monastery, personal tasks concluded, and hoping to now meet with the two healthy Couatl. They are summoned to the monastery, typically, but the Maybesitters are actually invited to meet at the home of the Couatl. A feather is given to the group to use as a teleportation focus to the creatures' abode. The two are Gemere and Nocabi, with Alectos being the eldest, and the sick one. It's most likely the Maybesitters will speak with Nocabi. Z asks if gifts are appropriate, and the Abbot assures no, they are humble creatures and no offerings are needed.
• Ready to meet with the Couatls, the five adventurers group together, each place a hand on the large feather, and experience a teleportation that feels wholly unusual. A slowly encroaching feeling of floating, and with that, a weird visual of watching the others fade, until no one, or any surroundings, can be seen, before a dark tunnel fades slowly into view. In a cave of some sort, the tunnel is perfectly round and extremely clean and intricately carved. The stone glistens and is truly beautiful, and surprisingly so. One direction leads down to sunlight, and the other leads upwards, but to some sort of other light. The tunnel is about 200' long and a fairly steady incline, but by no means steep. The tunnel is about 8' wide in all directions. No ducking needed, but it's not a huge tunnel.
• Z lights up his Poi and the light illuminates and reflects off of the walls, revealing polished stone, sparkling and the light reflects strongly. Heading down, the tunnel opens up onto the jungle, and water and birds are heard in the distance. The other seems to lead to some other chamber. The group decides to go up, towards the depths of the tunnel system.
• At the end of the tunnel, is a round door totally cutting off the group, but it rolls automatically to the side. Imagery of feathered serpents decorate the length of the tunnel, and one on the door as well. It fully opens, and the group steps through the doorway. Inside is a large, off-white tiled floor, and it's quite a vast space. Domed, as well. It's humid, warm, and vegetation fills the room. It's very decorative, not wild growth. A few birds are even heard in here. Like a large terrarium. The ceiling is a good 100' above, and the room is 200' across, perfectly circular. NW corner holds a massive door, 30' high, arched and ornate. NE corner, a matching door. In between is a smaller, more humble door, roughly 8', but still arched and pretty. It begins to open.
• Barrett reminds the group that Couatl can shapeshift, so they should verify someway that whoever they talk to can be proven to be who they need to speak to. Everyone steps towards the center of the room as a figure emerges from the opening door.
• A humanoid male approaches the group, but race is difficult to tell. He's quite well dressed, but not in an ostentatious sense. Auburn and dark brown hair, a bit below his shoulders, it flows and his clothing is various blue shades and folds, with the breastlining of his shirt being the most opulent piece of his person, glittering silver. Red, yellow, and orange linings trim his outfit, and he carries himself with a sense of nobility, even if he does not seem to be noble - but he's certainly confident. His footsteps clack crisply on the floor, finely made. He has a sense of purpose about him, but not obvious emotion to be read at all. He raises a hand and calls a welcome, and he's been expecting the group.
• The male introduces himself as Nocabi. When everyone is standing at a comfortable distance, Barrett bows modestly and thanks Nocabi for meeting with the Maybesitters. Nocabi lets everyone know that the Abbot sent word to expect the group. Barrett asks Nocabi to give his understanding of the current situation, and Nocabi agrees, and with a gesture, casts some sort of spell to sink the floor about 2' down, 30' wide, and summons seats and gauging the room, then summons to the table a classic and comfortable spread of tea and delicacies. The group sits, and Tabitha lets Midnight fly to a tree.
• Midnight lets Tabitha know that he sees the shadow of some other bird, but he's not sure what kind. Tabitha is also enraptured by the tea (understandably). Dhann prefers to stand rather than sit, but doffs his shield so as not to come across as rude or combative. All intensity of the reason for the visit, the room and setting are quite comfortable.
• Nocabi starts immediately. "Alectos is the sick one." She is much older than either Nocabi or Gemere and is the initial protector of the Unknown. About two months ago, she would leave without preamble, staying away for a couple of days, sometimes injured, or haggard or tired, and would not give any information on where she went or what she was doing. The other two Couatl did not question what she was doing, for the sake of respect, and the society on the island doesn't even know about her being shut away. The very need to have done this to Alectos disturbs the Couatl greatly. Slowly, she grew worse. She would spontaneously polymorph, grow violent, and morph into creatures she should not have been able to - far more powerful creatures than their average shifts. She once even turned into a young dragon. The Couatl eventually did question her, but she said it was "her responsibility," and that she should not be questioned.
• Things grew worse. She began to have lapses in memory, not knowing the other two Couatl, and then it was discovered she'd laid an egg. Nocabi informs the group they stole it from her, and sent it to the monastery for care and keeping until they could figure out what to do.
• Alectos is being held in a chamber she cannot escape from, until either she can be cured, or she passes. Nocabi is at a loss as to what to do. Barrett asks about the kind of dragon Alectos turned into - thinking of the Shadow dragon, but doesn't mention this - and Nocabi says the dragon form was of a young green one. Did any of these creatures appear shadowy? No, no - always solid and very normal, even if the choice of creature was strange. Others sent into the chamber didn't return, and so perhaps healers shouldn't be sent. Warriors proved to have no different results. A powerful user of magic arriving on one of the ships was sent, he seemed willing, but then he did not return either.
• The concern is that Alectos holds the secret to the trouble with the Mythallar. And if she has gone mad, she may not be a true protector of the Mythallar anymore. Dhann asks about the passing of the task from mother to child, and if the egg needs to be present with the mother. The process happens at the birth of the chick, and if the mother and child are not together, the task fails in passage and is not learned by the child. The ceremony has always entailed direct passage.
  
• Rae states that Alectos seems to be on the way to dying before passing the task, and Nocabi says if this happens, the young hatchling would be free, with no duty, and the three Couatl would then leave the Isle, having no task. The death of the elder and the birth of the young would typically happen at the same time, so if they aren't together, there is no inheritance.
• Barrett asks that if Alectos is slain, what might happen to the egg? Well, hopefully it would still hatch. Perhaps a new Couatl would be able to be found as the new elder for the Mythallar, but first, the hatchling would need to be removed from the Mythallar's presence before a replacement Couatl could be recruited. Barrett gauges Nocabi and tries to see if this information and this person are being honest, and he doesn't get any sense that there is any deception here. Concern is the main emotion that the Sailor is able to get. He does notice that Nocabi's visage seems to morph slightly between human and elven. This is most likely a result of the Couatl working to maintain a shape that puts whatever race it's conversing with, at more ease. Rae also tries to get a read on Nocabi, and gets the same.
• Z says that at one point, Alectos wasn't ill, and then she was - did there seem to be anything that marked that change? When it started? And Nocabi says it's funny, but at the onset, Alectos was gone for about five days, saying she needed to meet someone and that they had information on "further protecting the Mythallar." She gave no other details about this meeting, or this person, or where she was going. The other two didn't question it, as Alectos often held meetings or was concerned with gathering more information on how better to protect the Mythallar. He recalls now, though, that she returned and seemed grumpy, or off, but the mood passed and they didn't think anything of it. Dhann asks if her mood seemed to be low each time she returned from one of her trips, and Nocabi states that she was more desperate, and then after a couple of days, would depart once again, and she slowly seemed to fall more into madness each time she left. Z asked if she talks in her crazed state, and Nocabi says no, but the only common theme they've been able to get from her mood at all, now, is shame or regret. Perhaps the appearance of the egg marks a failure to Alectos on her part as the protector of the Mythallar.
• Rae asks if the Mythallar is in danger, and that the group knows a seed has been produced. Nocabi says they only just learned of the seed from the Abbot, but yet, even without knowing that, the Couatls can sense the Mythallar is in danger. They protect it collectively, even though Alectos is the most prominent and highest status of the three. He comments it seems that the Mythallar is "fading," and the light the Couatls can see over the Isle from the Mythallar has been growing dimmer over the past few Tenday. Dhann asks if Alectos noticed when the egg was taken - no, she did not. She may not have even noticed the egg was laid. They don't know. Dhann asks if she's started to refer to herself in the first person, and Nocabi says it's difficult to say, because the conversations with her have simply been bizarre.
• Dhann: What restraints is she in? She is being held in a large chamber, a magical location, that keeps her from leaving. In all honesty, they call it a prison, and it cannot be walked to. The Couatl would need to teleport the group. She is able to shapeshift, and retains all of her abilities, but the chamber holds her with magical wards so she cannot leave. This is also why there are always three Couatl, should two need to overpower one.
• Rae: Do you know where the Mythallar is? Yes, says Nocabi, and it's a vast oversimplification, but in the parlance of the group, it's "beneath the island."
• Barrett: Why have you met with us in this form, and not your Couatl form? It's a custom to help converse in an easier language with most other races, as well as keep them more at ease. And yes, the shifting commonly to look more like other races as they converse is simply because this is something Nocabi doesn't do often at all. It's perhaps the third time he's done this. Typically, Alectos is the one to meet with other races and converse. Nocabi comments politely that it's easy for him to not look like Z, but the rest - humans and elves - are close enough in features that he has a bit of a struggle keeping his shift from moving.
• Barrett: Will Gemere be joining the group? No, it is safer to keep both Couatl out of the chamber with Alectos, as they need to keep up with their own tasks now that Alectos is unable to do any of hers. And in her current state, she may overpower them. Imprisoning her was their only option.
• Barrett: What happens if there are three Mythallar? There's no chance of an egg then if something happens to a Couatl. Simply, a senior is the only one that can lay an egg, and is a female at the time and able to do so. Only seniors can lay eggs. Status denotes progeny.
• Barrett: How would the group be sent to and fetched from the chamber? A similar process as the one that brought the group here. Two feathers. One to get them there, the other to return them. The Couatls are able to control the feathers from a distance and will use the feathers to move the group.
• Barrett: What does her enclosure entail? It's similar to this very room, underground, large, tiled floors and columns, it's designed to look like her home, but it's primarily a large, round room. Domed ceiling, eight or so columns, maybe not as tall a ceiling, but plenty of room across. Magic will work fine within the confines of the room, the wards simply keep Alectos from leaving. Couatl transport through their feathers and locations the feathers are attuned to. The room Alectos is in now bars her feathers from being able to move her out of it.
• Z: She can change into different shapes, but when confronted, do you think she'll be in her natural form? This depends - for most of their interactions, she has maintained her Couatl form but when threatened or feeling violent, she shifts. It seems more of a fear response than anything. Nocabi does note, however, that she seems to be able to change into more than one creature at a time, up to three identical creatures, or singularly of a more powerful kind than she should.
• Barrett: Are there any other creatures in there with her? No, no others. Just Alectos, and nothing else can enter that isn't meant to, on the Couatls behalf. There are, however, most likely the bodies of those sent before and never returned. Perhaps they may be alive, but it doesn't seem likely.
• If the only option is to kill Alectos, in self defense or otherwise, Nocabi is saddened by this notion, but if it happens, it happens. The fact there is an egg shows Alectos is dying anyway, and right now, the information Alectos holds and must relinquish is more important than Alectos herself. What is causing the Mythallar to dim, who she was meeting with, any inkling of how to save the Mythallar - this is what matters most.
• Rae: If we find out this information that needs to be passed to the egg, can either of the two other Couatl pass it on? The basis of the information is simply "Protect the Mythallar." But it's the transference that's the key. It must adhere to a specific ceremony of passage. Perhaps her mate could be found - it must be a parent that passes the information. If the child doesn't receive its duty, finding a new, third, replacement Couatl for the Isle can certainly be done, but it's a challenge. Neither Nocabi or Gemere are prepared to be the elder on this island so a third would have to be found, bringing new difficulties.
• Any more questions? Everyone is lost a bit in thought and what's to come. What state will Alectos be in? Is a talk possible, or will she lose total control? Rae asks what language Alectos may speak in, and Nocabi says something akin to Celestial, but any language is able to be understood. Responding may be difficult, which is why they take the forms of those they are conversing with - it makes things easier.
• The main goal is to find out what is wrong with the Mythallar. This is the most important piece of information. Whether the duty is passed from mother to child or not, this can be handled. But they must find out what is ailing the Mythallar. Barrett says they would like to return to the monastery to discuss with the leadership there, a viable plan, as well as prepare spells and gear before leaving to confront Alectos. Nocabi agrees this is a good plan of action.
• Z comments he is worried a bit about mind control, but Nocabi says they have no abilities to do this to others, nor can their minds be controlled by others. Rae asks how far this immunity goes, being charmed? Or frightened? Nocabi says almost any effect of the mind at all. No psychic damage, no charming, they cannot be fooled, but it's a trained skill - it's not a natural one they are born with. After sufficient training, they are then able to be assigned to a Mythallar or other item to guard. This is why the offspring of an elder would not be permitted to take a task if the task is not directly passed down. Couatl, additionally, cannot lie - they must always answer a question truthfully. They can withhold information, though, speak in riddles or code, but cannot lie outright. Bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks is also an immunity.
  
• The group thanks Nocabi for the consultation, and he replies the debt is his, and the Isle's, for the Maybesitters' assistance. Z does a little impromptu dance performance, nervous and invigorated with this new information. Nocabi is interested in the dance, and thanks Z for his "interesting display," commenting those not of his species are talented indeed.
• Nocabi has everyone place a hand on his shoulders, and he then teleports the group back to the monastery without needing a feather. It's the same odd fading process. It's a bit later in the afternoon, around one or two. Rae personally looks for Dustu, Dhann has some Sending, Barrett seeing Jalad, Z hard at work crafting scarves, and Tabitha meditating. Everyone disperses for their own private business, thoughts of the ill Couatl heavy on everyone's minds.
  
  
  

  Next time on...

  It seems that the confrontation the Maybesitters have been preparing for is imminent - with this one afternoon before meeting Alectos, the group plans any last minute tasks they need to complete. Stress, and the stakes, seem to climb ever higher.
  
  
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