Sapphire:Sessions:20200307

Although the area is oppressive with Aakbarath's influence, there's the sound of birds chirping. Belandrie refuses to let Tara and Solant (the two rangers originally met in Wicera) scout ahead.

Without warning, thirty yards ahead four ape-like monsters rises out of the ground. The apes stand 7' tall, are covered with shaggy white fur, and wield stone clubs. Chalker, thinking they resemble trolls, calls out, "Hey, how much is the toll?" In each person's mind sounds the rightmost ape's response, in Common: All that you desire and hold dear.

Shawna feels a "slight touch of Charesoon and chaos." Intrinsius builds up an explosive fireball. Chalker and Cal move toward the first ape. Shawna starts toward another ape, shouting, "Move aside or die!"

The ape's voice sounds again: Will you pay? Chalker answers, "Yes, come and get it!" The apes raise their clubs, which start to glow. Shawna charges. Chalker runs. Belandrie extends his hands, sparkling with magic. Intrinsius throws his fireball at Ape3's feet, setting its fur ablaze.

Belandrie throws his spells at Ape4, which absorbs one of the spells with its club, which stops glowing and now crackles with lightning. Chalker chops at Ape1's club hand; the ape "easily" parries. In turn, Ape1 thrusts its club at Chalker's chest; Chalker parries, Dink-Dink chipping the stone. Ape2 steps back from Shawna and glances to its left; it grunts and its club's glow doubles. Ape3 collapses and drops its club, which bounces toward Intrinsius. Ape4 charges Belandrie, swings, and misses. Shawna feints, the stabs Ape2 in its side. Cal and Loop flank Ape1; both swing and miss. Tara and Solant fire their bows at Ape2 and Ape4. Intrinsius draws his katana and drops it, but quickly picks it up.

Belandrie fast-draws his sword and slices Ape1. Tara's next arrow bounces off Ape2's hide, and Ape4 dodges Solant's arrow. Chalker chops Ape1 in the neck. Ape1 begins a whirlwind attack, shattering Loop's sword. Cal hits Ape1 in the vitals. Shawna feints high, then stabs Ape2 in the armpit; dropping its club, Ape2 collapses. Intrinsius tries to scoop up a club; it's quite heavy. Suddenly three black birds dive at the burning ape, and the group can see more birds coming.

Chalker again chops Ape1 in the neck; the ape staggers but remains standing. Intrinsius drops the club and yells, "Blackbirds!" Shawna strikes Ape2 in the vitals. Belandrie attacks Ape4, which falls down. Tara and Solant shoot at the birds and miss. Loop punches Ape1 with his broken sword. Cal swings and Ape1's head rolls off. Chalker yells, "Whaddaya mean, 'blackbirds'?" Three birds fly into Intrinsius' fire and go up in puffs of smoke. Chalker counts three more birds flying toward Ape3, six birds apiece flying toward Ape2 and Ape4, and six more birds flying erratically toward the now-headless Ape1.

Chalker peers inside Ape2; within its body is a stone with a symbol on it. The rangers shoot two of the three birds headed toward Intrinsius. Intrinsius swings at a bird; it flies into the fire and goes poof. Belandrie kills three birds, but three others fly into Ape4 and are absorbed. Shawna knocks away two birds while two other birds enter Ape2. Cal looks around for more birds, and Loop picks up a club.

Raising one hand, Belandrie looks toward where the birds had come from. Intrinsius shoves his katana through Ape3's head and hears a scream in his own mind. Chalker cuts a line through Ape1's sternum and feels "a static charge" through his sword; he could swear that an expression of surprise appears on Ape1's face. Belandrie kneels and brings his sword across Ape4's neck, then fast-draws a knife and stabs its torso. Three birds dive into the ground near Ape3, one of them breaking a wing. Shawna cuts open Ape3 and strikes something solid inside it; two "somethings" attempt to come at Shawna but die.

Chalker reaches into Ape1's chest cavity and pulls out a cube. The cube is made of stone, one side is marked with a rune, and the other sides are colored red and black. "Belandrie, what is this? What does the rune mean?" Belandrie: "The closest translation would be 'Control Body'." Chalker now sees there are two runes, one superimposed upon the other. Similar cubes are cut out of the other apes. Belandrie: "That is a runic script not seen for 3000 years. I ran into it in my youth." Chalker: "Are they dangerous?" Belandrie: "They would require activation." Chalker: "So if we plug the cubes into people, we could control them?" Belandrie: "Yes, with limitations."

Shawna casts a wind spell that knocks the remaining birds to the ground; she methodically kills them.

The group burns the apes' corpses. Runes on the apes' clubs read "Absorb Energy, Redirect, Return Weapon," and a fourth unknown rune.

Chalker opens up Tiny Wagon and brings out a sword and buckler which he presents to Loop. Intrinsius puts away his staff and takes out his bow and arrow. Chalker bags up the clubs and the rune cubes and puts the bag in Tiny Wagon. Intrinsius gives Loop a heavy crossbow (since Loop carries iron-tipped bolts but no bow). Loop tells him, "Thanks. I lost my bow in an unfortunate accident."