#tharky's drawings | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

horizon-of-the-lance · 6 months

Text

Homecoming

Darkember 14th-15th

Qualinost

Party: Qualinost

Vodren-Human Cleric

Ryai-Elf Spellblade

Broud Half-Ogre- Half-Ogre Cleric and Scholar

Shim- Human Artificer

Bomba- Gnome Monk

After a day of debate the three heads of Wayreth call the Dandies back in and inform them of thier decision to join the war efforts. Vodren turns to Konguq asking his captain what they should do next, but Ace mentions it probably didn't matter what she chose, Ryai would take off back to Qualinost. The heads inform him that if he goes there will be some contacts there that will assist him. Ladonna tells Konguq she still wants her to go after Fael-Thaas in the south.

While not an easy choice, the group decides to split to conquer thier separate tasks. They two groups swap supplies and spells, and the wizards make contact via sending to thier allies.

Ryai contacts his uncle Ayder, informing him of his return, but not to tell his father, and the fact he's bringing two clerics with him. Ayder was surprised at Ryai's new ability but was very cross with his decision to bring the clerics.

Konguq tells Morris about only Ace and Vorlo are coming back. Morris informs her that they lost the fishing nets, but two new crew members are looking to join and need her approval.

After they've made thier contact the group rests up to head out the next day. They meet one last time and give each other farewells. Vorlo and Vodren are crying and Konguq threatens to turn any of them into zombies if they die on her. Ryai tells Ace to follow what he feels is right for him, since if they wanted to do what they were told they would have stayed home. And with that the two groups split.

Vodren, Ryai, and Broud head to the teleportation chamber and are met by a white robed dwarf named Ivani. She looks tired but gets the group on their way rather quickly.

When the three arrive, they find themselves in an overgrown gazebo with what appears to be an abandoned home. They are greeted by Ayder being held at knife point by a 3ft gnome with bright pink hair and a human staring into the trees not paying attention to the situation at hand. Ryai and Vodren draw thier weapons and vouch for Ayder, Ryai telling the gnome that he asked him to come. The gnome obliges and let's the half elf go, and the human strides up the the three, and happily shakes their hands, introducing themselves as Shim. The gnome follows suit, introducing herself as Bomba.

Ayder notices Ryai's white robes and change in physical appearance, and understands a little better now why Ryai didn't want to tell his dad right away. Ryai also didn't want Paladithel to find out he was back. To which Ayder silences him, telling him not to say his name. He urges the group try and find a way inside the abandoned house. With the door locked Ryai casts Knock and they are able to slip in.

They start to discuss the situation at hand and how Qualinost is barely holding on. After the death of Princess Laurana to a dragon the Speaker of the Suns has locked himself away. Paladithel has presented himself as the hero of Qualinost with his proposal to ritualistically sacrifice roughly 3 dozen clerics to bolster the forest defenses, using the dead princess as Martyr to his cause. And with his ability to control the great tree at the center of the city, he's got the power to back up his words.

Ayder asks what their plan is and Ryai gives currently his outline. That the want to stop the ritual from happening and turn the majority opinion from Paladithel's plan to raiding Pax Tharkis to save the dragon eggs that are being held there. Ayder doesn't seem all too convinced by it. Paladithel has a choke hold on the public opinion, and metallic dragon hatchlings can't fight. Also the last time he saw Ryai he was pretty doe eyed about the world around him.

As they try to figure out and discuss what their next plan is when Bomba and Vodren notice a figure in the window and hear it run off. Fearing they're going to be outted Bomba runs to meet him on the other side of house, busting the door down. Shim unleashes one of their handcrafted bombs and attempts to entangled the figure, which they now recognize as an elven gaurd. The entanglement fails but he does sustain damage. Ryai tries to shroud him in darkness but he takes off. Ryai manages to catch up to him and convince him however they just want to talk.

The gaurd eases up and returns to the others with questions, like why they broke into the house and why Shim attacked him. Shim lies and said it was only just to keep him still so they could talk and Bomba lies that they broke in because she had to pee. The gaurd buys it but requires them to pay 45 steel for the door Bomba broke, which Shim gladly pays. When Broud and Ayder arrive on the scene the guardsman immediately becomes hostile towards Broud due to him being a half ogre. The group meets his hostility and the gaurdsman recognizes that he's outmatched 4 to 1. He leaves them alone but says if Broud acts out it falls on the Aedlock house.

After he leaves they discuss thier next steps. Ayder asks if they have any place to stay to which they don't have an answer. Bomba offers them a place at the temple she's been taking care of in Qualinost. Ayder urges Ryai to go see his father, but Ryai is hesitant on it. After some back and forth, Ayder heads back without much to add. Ryai tells the group that after they get settled in the temple he'll talk to his father. They decide to check out the great tree in the center of the city to get more information.

With Broud in the party they do get stopped by quiet a few elves trying to challenge them, but the group challenges back and they pay them less mind. When they get to the square the tree is starting to change colors and from it's branches hangs the corpses of Draconians and dead members of the dragon armies. Paladithel is talking to a large group, rattling off his plans to save Qualinost. Ryai decides to stay away from the square and look for ways to escape if needed. Bomba watches the crowd for any figures of note. And Vodren and Shim inspect the tree.

Bomba notices a half elf in the crowd, not as interested as the others in Paladithel's speech. He starts to turn away from the crowd.

Ryai notices that canals are not as in use as they usually are and would be a good way to move around the city unmolested at least. Broud joins him and Ryai points it out to him.

Broud asks Ryai if he sometimes missed Paladithel. Ryai freezes for a moment, but admits that Paladithel hurt him in a really bad way. But that sometimes he thinks that he should have just shut up and accepted it.

Vodren and Shim inspect the tree. Shim notices that the sap is filled with little green flecks, which is not normal for trees. While Vodren tries to connect with it, Inevitable pops his head out of Vodren's backpack and nips his ear. In the voice of Habakkuk he tells him that his brothers are hidden in the city and that he is giving him the mission to go and save them from this fate.

After this interaction, Paladithel takes a step off his platform and makes his way to Shim and Vodren; his entourage continuing in his place. Bomba notices the half elf start to leave the crowd. And Ryai makes his way to Vodren and Shim, telling Broud to stay put.

Paladithel starts asking the two what they're doing around the tree, to which Shim eats a leaf baffling the elf. Vodren tries to deflect but Paladithel demands that he show him his Holy Symbol. Ryai tries to pull Vodren away saying they were leaving when Paladithel recognizes him as Nona. Ryai quickly tries to lie saying he's never heard of her and that his name is "Cal", and he falls for it hook line and sinker.

Paladithel continues to harass Vodren when Bomba comes up to tell Paladithel to fuck off. She threatens his masculinity and in return he stabs the tree with a dagger and presses a button on it. The tree begins to move and traps the five of them in a cage of branches. Ryai goes into panic mode and begins gripping onto Vodren for dear life. He tells Bomba that he'll let them go if she kisses his boot. She instead goes to punch him and the tree reacts, stabbing Bomba in the shoulder. Paladithel looks a little surprised at the sudden movement but plays it off as intentional. That's when the group realizes that the tree is a Dragon Tree. A tree that is fiercely loyal and even has a breath weapon. The branch through Bomba's shoulder was a warning shot.

During the ruckus, Shim goes to investigate the dagger. As they approach they notice a rune on the hilt and the blade is shaped like a tooth. As Shim tried to touch it however the blade poisons them.

Now in the position of power, Paladithel corners Vodren to reveal his holy symbol. He does, revealing his ability as a nature cleric. Paladithel is content with his reveal and says that he doesn't need his assistance for what he wants.

Bomba, not sure what to do, consults her ghostly master what she should do. He appears before her and tells her that it is better to lose the battle to win the war. She submits as he shoves his boot on her face, content. He takes a final look at "Cal" still surprised at the similarities and leaves.

When he's gone Broud rejoins the group and gives Bomba a little healing to help her recover from her injury. Broud mentions to the group that Paladithel seemed to imply he's got all types of clerics, not just the ones for the gods of good during his speech.

Shim describes the dagger, showing off their poisoned finger. Ryai recognizes it as the dagger he spent the last three researching before leaving home. It's called the Fang of Verdance, a dagger made from the tooth of a green dragon. It had a tether to something and needed the right things to make it tether. It could control plant life but he couldn't quite figure out how and couldn't get the dagger to do more than get branches to move and leaves to fall off. What they do know is that Paladithel's constant use on the Great Tree is poisoning it.

They decide to follow thier next lead, the Half-Elf that was in the crowd and hunt him down. Bomba takes to the rooftops, Vodren tries to follow boot tracks, and Ryai asks around. Bomba spots him going to a stable and tells Marovie to tell the others.

They catch up to him and Ryai recognizes that he's in make-up to blend in better. He's actually half Kagonesti. They approach and try to figure out where he stands and why he was in the crowd. He doesn't think that Paladithel's plan is going to work, and plans to head out. Vodren tries to convince him to stay by showing off his cleric abilities, to which he is stunned but not moved by. As he gets on his horse, Ryai tries to convince the horse to stay warning it about the draconians in the forest. The horse is unmoved, saying his master controls them. Ryai questions the half elf about his control of the draconians and the half elf is ready to flee when he mentions it. Shim tries to slow the horse with a sap bomb but it manages to slip out. Bomba taking the chance to stop it while it's distracted jumps on the horse and threatens the half elf. He caves and tells the group to meet him in a private area.

They learn his name is Aroth, and that he's a spy working for the dragon armies. When questioned why, he says simply that he just wants to be on the winning side. He does however offer to help them with freeing the clerics with the logic of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". He also tells them if they can bring him Paladithel's head, he'll do more for them. The group asks that they rendezvous that night at the temple Bomba has been taking care of to fill them in.

With the appointment set, the last thing on the list being meet with Ryai's father. Something Ryai seemed to be dreading. Broud suggests that they go and at least check out the temple first, and possibly relax with a drink. Ryai asks for a bottle and Broud starts to recognize that Ryai has a problem.

They arrive to the the temple that Bomba has been maintaining and start getting set up there for their stay. While resting and drinking they take the time to get to know their newest party members.

Bomba's family is apart of the tinkers guild on Mt.Nevermind. She one day while exploring ruins from the age of dreams met her master. She spent time learning how to be a monk from him until one day she realized that only she could see him. It was then she realized that she was able to see ghosts. Once she was strong enough he instructed her to go to the temple in Qualinost to read and study the proper scripture of her God. She was recruited and offered a large sum to help Ryai and Vodren, but her master told her to do it because it was the right thing to do.

Shim was adopted by the Gnomes on Mt.Nevermind as a baby. They raised Shim almost like any other gnome and it took Shim a few years to realize they weren't even a gnome to begin with. Once they became old enough they decided to take on their own life quest to give their little clockwork companion, mousey, a bigger body. They were recruited and offered a large amount of magical scrap to work with. Bomba and Shim know each other from Mt.Nevermind and have interacted in the past .

While getting to know each other, they also try to figure out their next plan and how to tackle thier situation. They discuss methods on how to get the knife away from Paladithel and Vodren suggests that Ryai try to distract him. Terror crosses Ryai's face at the suggestion and Broud says he'd rather die a slow and painful death than let Ryai be alone with that man.

They also recognize that currently they have no real way to sway the people's opinion. Unleashing evidence now as they stand will only cause an uproar against them. Broud tries to lead with the idea that they get in to speak with the Speaker of the Suns, but Ryai drops that his father sits on the council. Giving them an in.

Vodren prays to Habakkuk and he tells Vodren that if he can actually prove there are dragon eggs at Pax Tharkis, he will personally tell the Metallic Dragons to go and enter Krynn again.

With them finally settled, it was time for Ryai to return home. He struggles with the thought, trying to rely on his vices to get him through. But Broud reminds him he's got one shot to make this work and he shouldn't do it drunk. He reluctantly agrees and the whole group promises to support him the entire way.

They arrive at his home and while it's not as big as some of the others around them, it's very clear it was built by a long line of architects. It's surrounded by the local gaurd but they don't hinder the group from entering. Ryai knocks at the door and from the other side he hears a little "meep" from the viewing hole. The door quickly opens and the family head maid Qualock and bows deeply, welcoming him home and telling him that they were expecting him. She seems surprised by the change, but doesn't comment further. She directs them to the study where his father was waiting.

He invites Ryai and the party into the study and sees Ayder waiting inside.

Ryai plays catch up for a bit while trying to get the full scope of situation from his father. Ryai introduces the group, and Ryai let's his father in on thier plans currently to try and save Qualinost. That they have at least two certain locations of the Dragon Orbs, with the other half of his group going after one. They have reason to believe that Pax Tharkis has metallic dragon eggs and that's what they're using to create Draconians. And that if they succeed on this Habakkuk will tell the Metallic Dragons.

Shim also presents a vial of the the great tree sap with the flecks, explaining how Paladithel is poisoning it with the dagger he has. Ryai's father takes the vial and promises to look into it for them for more information. He also let's them know that he started using the dagger after he returned from Silvanost with three Silvanesti elves who now accompany him.

They also request that he try to get them an audience with the Speaker. He admits it won't be easy since Princess Laurana's death. In addition Paladithel has been the only one talking to him.

They review thier options and discuss going after the dagger today while they still have time. Before they can make the final call, gaurds enter the home and call for Nonasse's arrest for treason against Qualinost

#dnd stuff #dragonlance #dnd campaign #session recap #Qualinost

0 notes

vishwaspur · 7 years

Text

Probably An Unpopular Opinion But...(1st August, 2017)

...I did not like that “Inspiration” scene, at all.

Okay, I loved the build up for it. i LOVED Gauri talking to Rudra about Omkara finding his inspiration in things like blossoming of the flowers or within the raindrops. She had her grasp on what actually Omkara wants..she knew he wants to see that beauty again but he is unable to do so because he has corrupted (??) those morals. She was just clueless HOW to give him a beauty like that. Cool, I respect that. I even loved Shivaay jumping in and giving a TOTALLLYYYYYY Shivaay-esque suggestion that she become the beauty he can’t notice otherwise. So, the idea was cool huh. The execution...

Logic doesn’t dwell in these corners is a fact everyone knows. But what was this weird Holi Diwali combination going on? Was all that smoke coming from the sasta joints GulNeet smoke? Or in this case, Lalit smokes because let’s face it..he does weird experiments in RiKara scenes. What was the symbolic point of all that...decoration? Was it to show ke bhayee..artist ki inspiration hai toh everything has to be very other wordly? I’m not bashin but I’m genuinely confused. Was it to show that because this is a moment stolen from the ugliness of real world, the setting has to be all surreal?

Where did that fountain come from? Who transported that couch from Omkara’s room to whatever hall this place was? Sweet that Omkara was smiling seeing Gauri (who wouldn’t?! She looked like a vision!!) but he just said, “Main tumhari painting banana chahta hoon..” and the next thing we know he’s carrying her to..some place. I don’t even know man.

I don’t know what impression does it give when I say that Kunal gave WAYYYY better smitten expressions in that iconic Fairylight Scene in DBO than he did here. Like back than Omkara was first amused and the he was taken aback that this person standing so close to him..holy shit this person is beautiful. I have seen that scene on mute so many times that I need to be reminded of what song was played on it originally which is why in my head that scene was just perfect. For me that scene is Gauri turning around, desperate to get into eye contact with Omkara again and Omkara literally standing there, daring not to blink as this very electrifying charged up moment happened between them. THAT scene had ALL the feels. The reason I’m drawing a comparison here is well…THIS scene which was SUPPOSED to have much bigger feels than that just fell flat on its face.

Okay, I’ll just say it. Frankly I think Omkara looked like a tharki molester.

There.

Maaro joote.

But listen! Omkara was “inspired” by Gauri in this scene. Which means he was at his artistic best here. And artists worship their muse in the way they portray them or even look at them. But that wasn’t here. There was something so off about his closeup shots. Maybe it’s the manbun? I dunno! I was supremely UNCOMFORTABLE watching this scene.

Credit where it’s due I did enjoy some moments. I think the best part of the scene was the bit where Omkara sits on the couch and gently positions Gauri into a more comfortable position. Yeah, that was hot. But a while later he fuckin’ pulled out a mor pankh and I groaned SO LOUD in reaction! MATLAB KYUN!? Why does he have weird kinks?! Pehle wo godforsaken rose and now mor pank which honestly AYA KAHAN SE?! And I was back to being uncomfortable again. The point is this scene was NOT supposed to make me so uncomfortable!

Does Lalit not know how to extract a purely romantic performance from Kunal? Was that it? Or did the surreal setting of the scene just kill all emotions? Before anyone says I’m bashing Kunal for being a bad actor, I’m not. Because in the VERY SAME episode in the bit where Gauri confronts Omkara, Kunal was SO on point with the anger Omkara was feeling and suppressing. I mean in the recent past, look at that BEAUTIFULLLLL rain scene! That scene had chemistry and magic and FEELS! Today..chemistry thi but when is it not there? But feels…naah. Nope. Feels ki laash jal bin machli ki tarah tadap rahi thi.

BLAH! That’s how the scene was for me. B-L-A-H!

What does it say when I say that the moment they stepped out of the surreal and into the real setting, I got instantly more engaged. Be it Gauri confronting Omkara or Omkara avoiding her questions…I was so fucking engrossed in it that I actually applauded. But that’s a given I mean did you see the way Queenie slayed? I did a total taaliyon ki aarti of the screen at that scene. So beautiful T_T Omkara not answering stuff is old news so it didn’t matter that he didn’t answer again. But it felt SO good for Gauri to have her first doubt that maybe what’s holding Omkara back is something else that’s too big to no longer be questioned. Bringing in the Bareilly MU is the best thing to be done here. I know the CVs have their hands full with their faves at the moment so expecting a good Rikara centric track is something I won’t even go close to but these small scenes, this steady development of RiKara can be spiced up SO GOOD if they play their cards right with them.

But like, just give us Atif Khan back man. He KNOWS how to nail the FEEL and MAGIC of RiKara. Lalit deals with them too technically to bother about that. And RiKara toh have always been about the feels and magic.

#ishqbaaaz #rikara #type: rambling #episode reaction

8 notes · View notes