We escape the portal with the duck. The duck gives us all a personal challenge, except Bloo, who is suffering from memory loss. In the personal challenge, each party member (except Bloo??) talks/fights a version of themselves. As a reward, everyone gets cool weapons. Afterwards, when heading back to the town, the duck is named Edwin and we are recruited by Seliph into the Vasara Adventuring Guild.
Duck: “I would like to know smth, what was your motivation for going thru the portal”
Amoivada: “Pretty and cool-looking vibes”
Duck: “As strong as you are, y’all idiots”
Skaga: “I will simply not perish.”
Duck offers a challenge, you will get a reward
Skaga: OFC
Duck takes blade, stands still, air / reality is being distorted, see dust flying thru, feel a breeze, duck jumps, makes a vertical slice, hella fast, blade turns purple, slices purple “one at a time”
Skaga walks through, “nope not checking anything”
Deep purple turns light blue
Amoivada follows, arms first, but gets sucked in
Now the portal is green
Marcan: “I’ll handle this”
jumps in, now the portal is light gray
Quill:
bright orange
Duck points with feather, gives Bloo glass bottle, says to them “you’ll need that, fill it with water”
portal turns black
Skaga 1
Goes in, reward and glory hype
Step out, can’t see anything, dark
Hear crystal clack clack, hear footsteps, assume its comrades, turn around, and see Skaga
Everywhere only see reflections of yourself
You are in a reflective cave, in a geode, everyone except Bloo sees this
Skaga is just standing there, not mimicking their actions, she looks proud and confident
See smth interesting strapped to hilt that real Skaga doesn’t have
Feel like you have to run, each reflection reflects a certain aspect of the character
happy, sad, anger
Make it to end of chamber, see nothing but white
Amoivada 1
See wildshapes that you know, animals, ducks to birbs and snakes
Feel a sense of I CAN DO THAT
At the end, see a figure, not human or humanoid, but gelatinous
Marcan
11/10 would go through trial again
Quill 1
See self happy, see army of ducks behind you
Turn around, see nothing but feathers on the ground, and evil smirks of parents
Feel angy
Bloo 1
The cave(?) is hollow, no reflections, but its dark
Close my eyes
Hear voices of different creatures, hear kenku, prideful gnome, hear ambitious elf, nothing intelligible
walk forward, see a humanoid thing, feel IDK where they are, but feels familiar
Skaga 2
endless reflections
dunno how far the figure is
Skaga: “Who are you!?” “Where am I? What is happening”
No response
Stride confidently towards it, chest puffed out, draw sword
The person matches Skaga’s confidence walks towards her, wearing heavy plate armor, draws a sword like hers
Skaga real: “I won’t fight you if I don’t have to”
“Are you sure you don’t have to?” it’s Skaga’s voice
Real: “Who are you, where is this”
Fake: “You ask too many questions”
It’s Skaga’s face
Real: “Thief, GIVE ME BACK MY FACE!”
Fake: “You still have your own face, if you don’t believe me, take out the mirror in your pocket”
Real: “Did you put this here”
Fake: “I am here, so I suppose I did”
Take out mirror, it’s exactly reflection, throw the mirror behind you, hear cracking
Fake: “Don’t like what you see?”
Real: “I don’t trust you. I don’t believe it. You aren’t me. You can’t be. ”
Fake: “How can you prove that”
Points sword at fake Skaga
Real: “I suppose to defend myself, my identity, my honor, I guess we must fight”
Fake: “Trust me, I don’t bear any ill will”
Stride towards them and strike them
Swing down, and then just stop, as soon as you stop, sword pointed at throat already
Fake Skaga says “try again but be less predictable, I know your every move, isn’t that the definition of predictable”
Skaga strikes again but with flair, leap strikes, as soon as real Skaga swing down, you hear clink metal, see a perfect parry
Successfully overpower the parry, slam down on ground, knock them back a bit
Fake: “I knew you were one for flair, but that one was new, alright two can play this game”
Fake Skaga walks up, tries to strike, you block, tries to strike other side, you block again, hilts clash, knock them back and they fall to the ground
Fake Skaga: “Your move”
Skaga approaches them, points sword at them right up in their face, “What do you want?”
Fake Skaga is completely unfazed, real Skaga: “Speak again, what is your aim?”
Real: “I’ve won haven’t I, I’ve passed the trial”
Fake: “Have you”
Real: “I’ve bested you in this fight, I’ve matched your blows, your confidence”
Fake: “Are you sure”
Real: “I am ”
Fake: “Are you”
Real: “I am”
Fake: “I hear hesitation, now turn around”
Real: “No, I am certain, I am me, you are a trickster, I have won”
Fake: “Then strike me down, do it in one blow, or I will not recognize you”
Real: “Then I will”
The blade slices straight through them
Fake: “I’m still standing, I’ll give you one more chance, you need to grow more”
Real: “I’ll take it”
Slice through them, they start fading, “I suppose you will win, for now, just remember, you are more than just the outward visage you put on”
And with that, you feel a little tired and you pass out
Amoivada 2
Big blob, approach blob, dunno what it is
Amoivada: “Are you one of my kind?” Blomp
Approach reluctantly, take a somewhat circular path
Blob looks at you, eyes behave similarly to Amoivada, it smiles at Amoivada, who smiles back
They approach like a water balloon rolling, it asks
Fake: “What r u doing here” inquisitive and curious
Real: “I dunno, I have no goals”
Fake: “That is okay”
Real: “Wbu”
Fake: “I’m here to connect to you a little more to your past should you choose to accept it, please approach me”
Amoivada moves very quickly towards it, no hesitation
When you approach it, it engulfs you, plays out like giant iMax
See visions of the past, see a forest, crystal clear beautiful pond, looks serene, see fairies, an elf tending garden, see birbs and bears, feel you are in this scene, feel a strong connection, when you get ideas, new scene
Cold frigid mountains, beautiful, aurora among stars, snow comes down like diamonds glittering
Fake: “Do you know why I’m showing u this?”
Real: “No, it’s pretty”
Fake: “That is ok, do you know who u r”
Silence
Fake: “That is ok, I imagine you don’t have many memories from this time, do you recall a time before the The Empire of Dagdra was established”
Silence
Fake: “I’ll take that as a no, here is what it looked like”, last thing you see is visions of ppl, castle thriving with ppl, queen on throne who stands proudly, all of her citizens are welcoming her, she announces prosperity of kingdom, but this is short-lived, time is scrolling really fast, see vision of countless fallen soldiers, this is Thalanrod
You don’t know what it is, you feel like you have a connection
Fake: “I am showing u this because u need to understand yourself and the role u play in this world, what do u seek in life”
Real: confused noises “I seek peace and also healing and also nature”
Fake: “That is very admirable, would you like me to help u”
Real: “Yes plz”
Fake: “Then…” the slime retracts and shifts towards form just like you, and got bopped, feel some weird going on, the slime looks like Amoivada and is now being absorbed by Amoivada, now feel more powerful, then fades to black
Quill 2
You are standing in the cave and you see light coming out, darkness behind you
Go towards the light
See a field of grass FILLED WITH DUCKS QUAMK
Hear happy quacking as they waddle towards Quill
Quill walks down and starts petting the ducks, but then see two dark figures in the distance, the ducks all flock behind Quill, standing still, hear a lot of nervousness
Quill: “Who are you?”
First blob equips a crossbow and aims at Quill and fires
See bolt coming towards you, and dodges it, but it’s not meant for Quill, see explosive arrow, and all the ducks fade away, there’s no corpses, they just vanish into thin air
Quill: “What did you do to them?”
Blob 1: “My my, you seem angy”
Quill: “Why wouldn’t I be”
Blob 1: “Quill, supper’s ready”
Quill: “You two are supposed to be dead”
Blob 1: “Why are we dead? What makes you so sure?”
Quill: “I killed you with my own two hands”
Second blob takes out butcher’s knives
Quill: “Oh I got two of those baby”
Mother: “Why are you angry”
Quill: “You just killed the ducks, wdym?”
Mother: “Why do you care for these thing?s”
Quill: “They’re my friends they took care of me when you abandoned me”
Mother: “We abandoned you?”
Quill: “You left me in the backyard”
“That’s because you deserved it” father approaches
Quill: “Step closer and you know what’s coming” points quacksilver blade at father
Father: “Do you think I’m scared of that cheap toy”
Quill: “Then come at me and see what I can do”
Quill charges at father with blade, father grabs the blade, tries to hit with other blade, father grabs both blades, tries to kick him in the groin, father snaps the blade and tosses Quill aside
Gets up and tries to punch him, gets blocked, hear crossbow getting loaded in background, use father as meat shield, mother lowers bow
Mother: “Why do you care”
Quill: “They’re my friends”
Mother: “Why”
Quill: “They were with me for so many years”
Mother: “That’s cute, but we’re your family”
Quill: “Blood relationship doesn’t mean family”
Father pissed, takes out dagger, goes to stab Quill who uses dagger to knock it out of his hand, feel like you can do smth else, see him falling back
Quill takes out other knife out and try to stab at his neck, tries to block it but stabs his hand and goes through to the neck, but there’s no blood
He steps back, cracks his neck
Mother aiming crossbow at Quill
Mother: “Don’t make me do this”
Quill: “I know you want to”
Mother: “So should I”
Quill: “no”
Mother: “Why”
Quill: “Why have you been torturing me as a child”
Mother: “Torturing? You should be grateful. We provided a roof”
Quill: “You threw me in the backyard”
Mother: “You deserved it”
Hear trigger of crossbow, and the line snaps, Mother throws crossbow on ground in frustration, crossbow dissolves when it shattered
Pulls out arrow, points it at Quill, but she’s trembling
Quill: “What are you gonna do with the arrow”
She approaches
Quill: “Come closer and you know what’s gonna happen”
Points 2 knives at her neck
Mother: “Do it”
Quill: “Aren’t you gonna fight me”
Mother: “Do it”
Quill: “Why aren’t you fighting me”
Mother: “Do it, I thought you were angry at us”
Quill slices across her neck, no blood or wound, like dagger passed through air
She fades away, see father lying on ground
Quill: “Are you still alive?”
He looks angy, walks up, winds up a punch
Quill dodges, he falls, Quill grabs his arm
Quill: “Are you gonna try again”
Quill grabs that arm too, has both his arms
Quill: “Do you want to try that again or run away”
Silence
Quill: “Say something”
Silence
Quill: “Welp, time for you to die again”
Quill kicks him in the groin, feels like going through air, he fades
And now everything fades to black
Bloo 2
standing in center, on the ground, see kenku, elf, gnome, human, all walking away from Bloo, but no matter how long they walk, they aren’t going further
see 5th figure in distance, approaching Bloo but not getting any closer, humanoid
close eyes and open again, see duck samurai
see everyone in party
Back in Cave
Duck: So what did you see?
Amoivada: “I saw magic and I got more mass” (but still same volume / body mass)
Duck: “So how do you feel?”
Skaga: “saw my triumph over strange creature, there was smth odd about it, but saw own triumph”
Duck: “do you feel different”
Skaga: “I feel different”
Duck: “we are underground, let us reach the surface”
In duck’s hand there is a glass bottle of water, Bloo has no recollection of this happening
We go back to surface
Bloo: Where’d you get water bottle
Duck: “you gave it to me, no recollection like a lot of things”
Bloo: “Rude tbh”
Duck takes us to empty area, flat land, near mountain where signs of Canonbury
“Sit down on the ground for me”
Amoivada: “Why u speaking common”
Duck: I have deemed you allies
I was wrong initially, you don’t get along well with interplanar travel
Duck: “We meditate together, I need you to concentrate”
Quill: see broken hilt of Quacksilver blade, all you can think of
Duck: “Concentrate on how you felt when you stepped through the portal, now think about what you’ve learned, I assure you, there will be an immediate reward, now concentrate and hold out your hands”
Everyone gets fancy shmancy weapons
Attuned to these weapons, you can call and dismiss these weapons, call as main action, like equipping, you don’t need to carry it on you, if it breaks it regenerates after 8 hour concentration meditation
Duck: “I promised there would be rewards, did I not”
Skaga: “It was worth the challenge”
Duck: “Don’t thank me, you got through the challenge yourself, remember, you yourselves got these, I didn’t do anything, however please use them for good”
Feel tremor in ground, bloo and skaga and marcan are fine, amoivada and quill are not fine
Duck: “Huh, interesting tremor, I didn’t know that happened around these parts”
Canonbury, near mountains, near fault lines
Duck: “Are these common, I’ve been in a dimension where tremors didn’t exist, but had pocket dimensions collapsing, so then”
See 2 blind guys visibly squinting their eyes, can’t see
The miners have been rescued, and the cave-in has been resolved
Valiant explorers were still exploring and, oh they have returned early
The entire crowd staring at us
Other damages?
“Nothing of note”
*Round of applause*
Treat them to reward
Seliph: “Follow me”
Crowd! Seliph: “NOT YOU” pointing at crowd
“You 5-…. 6 come with me”
Duck: Quack (I’m not gonna tell him I can speak Common)
Seliph: “Let’s talk rewards over feast”
Attendant glares at Quill, Seliph says “leave it”, attendant frustrated
Go up the mountain, into base of mountain cave, giant empty room with nothing but a table, chairs, and a backroom, and walking out of the backroom is people holding platters of food, and voila, nice roast chicken, salads
Chef: “Any specific requests”
Amoivada: “Kalamari?”
Quill: “Shrimp Fried Rice?”
Bloo: “Strawberry Yogurt?”
THERE IS NO LEGAL DRINKING AGE
Quill: Sprite (AKA Sugar water and lemon)
“It’s on his (Seliph’s) tab don’t worry”
Amoivada: Lemonade
Seliph: “As arranged…” takes 5 sacks of money, about 15 gold pieces each
Seliph: “Will you stay duration of night market? Do any of you belong to a guild?”
“I ask because I am acting chair of Vasara Adventuring Company, I am here to recruit, and you seem to have promise, I would be honored if you would be interested” “I can arrange all of you to start at a higher rank, lots of benefits”
Quill: “Taxes?”
Seliph: “You should be paying them regardless….”
Quill: “Do we get free food”
Seliph: “When I decide to treat y’all to a feast”
Seliph: “You get paid based off of rank and based off of number of quests you complete and based off of rank every season, you also get retirement benefits”
Chef brings drinks and Soup
We accept your offer
Edwin gets accepted too
Edwin: “What? What did I get signed up for?”
Quill: “You are now an employed duck, you got a job.”