Session 18 & 19
No notes for now. Basic recap from GM notes
All are a little suspicious and surprised to find her alive. She explains. Back at the Sentinel safehouse they do the ritual with Priest there and discover that Rhaps gives off a Fiachra vibe. She's almost shot by the Sentinels then and there. Instead they decide to distance themselves from the group.
Willard gets ahold of the group and tells them that Chereshe wishes to meet them. A neutral park in the city is chosen.
In the park, they meet Chereshe, Willard and some of his bodyguards, He tells them they failed and he has decided they are useless. Before he can strike them down Myrddin and a group of mysterious elves appear. Myrrdin throws down with Chereshe, sucking him into a gateway of some kind. The Elves kill the bodyguards, Willard escapes in a panic.
Gwyddion reveals himself to be a Sidhe warrior. Part of a group dedicated to fighting the Baal, and tells them that Myrddin bought them time to rescue Jenny.
Daniel summons the air spirit which leads them in the general direction of Jenny's current location, in Gwyddion's car. There's some interesting invisible driving to evade the cops as they speed down the freeway to a mortuary and cemetary in one of the suburbs.
Sneaking into the mortuary they find a secret passage through the fridge. At the base of the stairs they are trapped by a fire demon the room starts to get very hot. It is Sherry who is shown the way out. Rhaps guards there escape and kills the demon. Further on they find an underground chamber with a large, locked iron door. Zombies literally start coming from the walls. Ghost like demons attack as well. Large melee ensues. Its a near thing but the enchanted weapons given them by the Elk Brothers make the difference. Rhaps tears through the door eventually and they take out the last guard/torturer.
They find that Jenny has had her eyes put out and apparently drowned. No wait, she still has a pulse. They take her to yet another safehouse, this time one that Myrddin had set up.
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Session 20
During the time in the safe house, the girls teach Daniel how to fight with a knife. A couple days pass, and as the group are starting suffer cabin fever, there is loud bang in the living room and smoke.
In the living room is Myrdin, and he is nursing a broken and mangled arm. He looks like hell. He slumps to the couch as Gwyddion runs to him. Daniel moves to do some healing. Myridin asks if they got the girl.
She is a water spirit, to awaken her powers she needs to reconnect with her past.
Gwyd turns and sits on the couch. The ritual is one that his people excel; it will hide their presence from the Atlantean lords. They may have to stay for another week. In order to contact Pukwudgi, he'd need a token to prove he is a friend when he steps outside the wards. If he's lucky, he'll be back in four days at the soonest, and seven at the latest.
On the fourth day they haven't heard anything, however, Jenny stirs and has a pulse. By midday, she is awake, breathing and acting like a normal person, which means she's wigged about her lack of sight.
Daniel checks in with Priest. Her daughter is fine and she is with her father and they are both taken out of the city, being held in a secret location. Daniel doesn't want the information where they are yet. He tells Jenny that her daughter is fine. She asks to talk to her.
Daniel says he'll try to arrange it. Jenny is asking why this was done to her and Sheri tells her it's probably to speed up her Second Sight. She said she had the strangest dreams; there was a pool of water, she can't place where it was. She was placed in water, and she thought she was going to drown.
She starts wailing about the pain and how it hurts till she finally exhausts herself back to sleep. They watch the news and there is a report on missing persons. There is a story of Sheri Hanson missing. Sheri sends a couple of e-mails.
Gwyddion arrives with a suitcase. Pukwudgi sends a message to meet him at the beach. He opens the suitcase up and there are 5 amulets made of bronze with runes and seem to be Celtic in nature. They won't work on a close physical level. He reminds them that they have this last chance to walk away.
Daniel, "Which pill Neo?"
Rhapsody, "The bronze one."
He takes out dagger and pokes their fingers and with a drop of blood on the amulet. They go to Jenny's room. They get her amulet activated and on her. They head to the kitchen and they use the ritual to see if Rhaps still bears Fiachra's mark. There is no mark shown where Rhaps is, and his mark his shown in the national forest.
Gwyd gives them a credit card to use what they need. They head to a lot to get a van. Once the van is purchased, they head to the beach and head to the cave. Pukwudgi is sitting at the mouth of the cave.
Sheri goes with Pukwudgi to the spirit realm in the cave. When they get out of the cave, it's dark, as opposed to light as it was. She sees the lodge over to one path. Pukwudji pauses then goes and gets the others. They follow along and they hear the sound of a river and as they come through the underbrush, they come to the river. There is a path along side it The three now wait at the river as Sheri and Pukwudgi head up the trail.
There is a cave and a firelight coming from inside the cave, and there is the low murmuring of voices from inside. Sheri needs to go into the cave on her own. She goes in and sees the others that have the heads of animals in there; Bear, Wolf, Raven, Buffalo, etc.
Next to Bear, who is female, a Native American man with a flannel shirt and Levis is sitting there. He smiles at Sheri as she comes in and is the only one to recognize her. The one on the other side of the fire is a female with a Turtle Head.
Elk Brother is there and he steps forward. They are speaking of the new threats and that the Sea Grandfather is right and that the battle concerns them all.
The old man asks what Sheri came for. She tells them that she was councilled that the woman with them has great water medicine. They ask where she is now and Sheri tells them that she is near the river.
They send Pukwudji goes to get the others and they head to the cave and sit with the elders around the fire. Bear Woman takes Jenny's hand and pulls her near and feels over her eyes. The girl is a spirit of the water. She gives Jenny some herbs for the pain and starts to doze then falls asleep.
She was drawn away from her true self, taking a path that she was not meant to take. She needs to be returned to her true path. They need to find her home and lead her back to it and she will be well again. She may need to submerge herself in her home waters. A woman with a coyote head comes in and the elders begin to depart, after bidding the others to rest.
The old man stays and passes around the pipe to any who wants it. He introduces himself as Charlie, one of the last of his people to share the Spirit Cave. After a while he leaves and the party rests in the cave.
They wake up on the beach by the ocean and head out to go get a hotel suite for the month at least while the card lasts. They get another vehicle, mountain bikes, clothes, and a few other items. Jenny wakes up and they talk about where she was before she moved to where she met Dan. She was adopted. They decide to check on her parents. They call Priest to see if they can protect them or at least keep an eye on them.
Jenny would prefer them protected without them being worried. Priest calls back in the morning and has them, they are the recipients of a prize and going on vacation. She starts to prod as to where she was adopted.
There's a trailer park north of Northport, called Pine Meadows. There are no bodies of waters very close, but it is close to a river in the national forest, roughly 15 miles away. They head out to the river.
They get to the river, pulling up and walk down to the shore. Jenny goes in the water and then goes in further to dunk herself in the water. She remembers a body of water, that was a pond or a lake and not in the sun.
Daniel offers to try and summon a water spirit.
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Session 21
They head to the trailer park, only person out there is someone doing yard work, seems folks are out at their jobs, etc. They park the van, Daniel and Sheri head out to ask the guy working about a pond. He doesn't seem to know of anything like that.
Getting back into the van, they drive up and get over to the side to start walking and looking around. Sheri suggests splitting up the group to cover more ground. Daniel says he'll stay with Jenny if the other two want to range on ahead.
Rhapsody summons her tigers and sends them out in different directions to find bodies of water, like a pond or a lake. The group continues on and they see one of the tigers ahead. It leads the way off the trail. As the others take a break, Rhapsody goes into her cat form and follows to see where it leads, marking a trail
The cat leads to a ravine that has a bit of a stream where it pools into some little ponds of water. It sits down by the water and then disappears. Rhapsody goes upstream for about 10-15 and there is not much change, then heads downstream for the same amount of time. The stream doesn't become anything, but there is a particular pool where she sniffs the water and tastes it, where it's bitter. Looking at the water, there is an unnatural film on the water. It was faint enough that she would have not noticed it in human form. She heads back to the others.
They look over the map and the stream moves rather parallel of the trailer park, and then away from it. They decide to head back. Daniel asks Rhapsody to get a sample from the stream. She takes a canteen and gets the water. She feels she is being watched and sees a bobcat watching, and then it vanishes. She sniffs the air to see if it is a bobcat, and there is the slight whiff of something more than a bobcat… and it is similar to that of Fiachra. She changes back and runs back to the others.
Meanwhile, back on the trail, Sheri and Daniel get a chill and look around as Rhapsody bursts out of the brush, startling them. Rhapsody motions for them to go as she is keeping her tiger form.
Halfway back to the van, Rhaps senses an animal, keeping pace with them. She sniffs and it vanishes. As they get into a clearing, there is a crow that looks at them, caws and leaves. The animals are paying a lot of attention to them. They get to the road and get to the van. The tires are slashed and the bike wheels are trashed.
Rhapsody summons three more tigers as they look around the area of the van. Rhapsody finds a large print like that of the Fiachra-dog. Daniel starts to channel essence to put a shield on Jenny and one on him.
Daniel called Gwyddion and explaining that they are being hounded by Fiachra. As they round the bend, Fiacra stands there with two of his dogs. He states he is surprised that Rhapsody has returned after getting out his control and has brought tantalizing prizes.
The fiacra-dogs span around to flank the group and the tigers move to keep guard of them. Fiacra asks what happened to Cheresche. Sheri asks about a sacred pond and Fiacra is surprised, then looks at Jenny and understands.
Fiacra's goal is also now to get Jenny to her power. Cheresche would have wanted for Jenny to get her powers back to find Lasitide. He wants to have access to see the future to change, though he doesn't wish the Voice to be used to summon Gaea-Haru.
He offers to help in exchange of having access to the Voice's abilities.
Daniel suggests, since they are talking, Fiacra plays nice, they get the Voice's abilities, if he gives her eyes as tokens of faith and see if Jenny would help him. Fiacra seems willing to help as Daniel proposed.
Rhapsody finally says that the best bet to get the Voice restored is to ally with Fiacra for the time being. The area that is shunned by the animals is a place that was a gate to the elemental realm that has been corrupted.
Jenny wants to go with Daniel as they agree to have Fiacra fly them to the area of the corrupted gate. Fiacra transforms and flies off with Daniel and Jenny. One of the beasts trots off after them. He drops them off in a clearing and tells them that his minions will watch over them and to not wander off as he retransforms and heads back for the others.
Fiacra goes and gets Rhapsody and Sheri. Daniel is able to sense essence in vicinity, like a place of power. A few minutes later, the group is reunited. Fiacra leads the way through the dense underbrush to a cleft in the rock, pushing plants aside.
There is a pool and looks to be rocks jutting out of the pool. All plant life is dead around it. There is a film covering the water everywhere. Fiacra says that it was once a spring and the water bubbles and hisses as it's turned caustic.
It is an unnatural blight. Fiacra goes around the pool and there is an old wheel to a vehicle and heavy ruts going down the ravine.
"Do you sense them?"
There is something moving amongst the rocks on the other side of the pool. There is a red glint of eye and then it's gone. Jenny is completely quiet and is almost comatose in Daniel's arms, tense, but not reacting to anything.
"The Voice…. She is having trouble."
The gate, Fiacra senses, leads elsewhere. They discuss options on how to deal with the critters, to kill them first and go from there. Daniel can possibly banish the spirits if they are indeed spirits. He moves Jenny out about 50 yards to where she is coherent again and speaks to her.
Fiacra heads over towards Daniel and Jenny. Fiacra gives a plan to Daniel, using Jenny to draw out the critters, Daniel between them and her to banish them or keep them from Jenny. Daniel reluctantly agrees and Fiacra does a more formal introduction since he doesn't know Daniel's name.
Daniel lowers the shields. Rhapsody summons four tigers. Daniel creates a shield to hide him from the critters from sensing essence. Everyone gets into position.
Ten minutes later, the first form starts to come out of the pool. It looks like an emaciated humanoid figured, made of acid and goop. It has two leg-like appendages, big red-slitted eyes that make up most of its face. It moves up to where it's ten feet from the water and thirty feet from Jenny. After a few moments, another starts to emerge.
Daniel throws essence to banish the first one and it's encased in the magic and it is squeezed till it disappears. The one that was just emerging launches itself at Daniel.
Rhapsody goes to make like Babe Ruth and tries to strike the critter. However, it was anticipated others and spins in the air. Sheri holy fires it and it's knocked sideways in the air into the clearing. Daniel, based on the first one, realizes how much essence he needs and starts to channel essence for a soulfire, tossing it at the spirit and it dodges. The acid spirit heads towards Daniel and tries a flying tackle, leaping and bounding, hitting and causing acidic damage as it wraps around him. Two more get out of the pool and head for Sheri.
Rhapsody goes to hit one with the club and it is banished. Fiacra appears behind Daniel. The spirit looks scared as the Atlantean grabs it around the throat and yanks it off Daniel then rends it, also making it disintegrate. Sheri moves back and draws her spiffy kukri then decides to go after it and slashes it, wounding it as it took out one of its eyes. Daniel looks over and soulfires the one on Sheri and finishes it off. There are only two left and they've retreated through the gate.
Fiacra looks over and says that one or more must go through the gate. There is a physical talisman on the other side that must be destroyed. To do so they'd have to go into the pool. Daniel rests up a bit.
Fiacra admits that can't go through realms yet as he's still too newly summoned. Daniel has the best chance of cleaning the pool and getting Jennifer back since he has the best bet of seeing the item. He sets up his shielding and makes himself invisible after testing the shield on the acid. He then casts so he can have a bubble of air around him.
Daniel takes a plunge into the pool. At the bottom, he sees a glowing light and goes into it. He almost trips into a barrel at the bottom of the pool. He goes towards the light and everything is a red haze for a moment and in soupier water. A creature lunges at him.
He blasts at the creature and doesn't dodge at all. Its hit and is pushed back by the soulfire and it regains its balance, going near the portal, slashing around the area. Daniel gets out of the water and into red air in a desolate area.
The other creature is on the pool's edge, peering down into the water. Daniel finds a natural black rock pedestal and sees a red and yellow sphere of energy. He moves over out of line of sight of the creature, but is point blank of the orb.
The creature lunges up and goes to the pedestal and it screams and hisses as it tries to find the cause. It dives into the water before the sphere glows bright and then implodes. The trail of energy going to the gate is starting to taper off. He passes by the creatures and bumps the second one as the gate wavers and close. A hand grabs Daniel's ankle. They are tied in the tug of war.
Sheri is looking for a vision of the gate and sees the bubbles and knows there is a desperate situation right now. Daniel's leg up to the knee slides into the portal. Daniel is up to his thigh when he is yanked up the other way. Daniel feels something grate into his shield. Fiacra pushes Daniel up to the surface and he swims to the shore. A few seconds later, Fiacra comes out of the water.
Daniel tells of the barrel down at the bottom, which is what caused the opening of the acidic gate. They need to get the site cleaned up for the correct gate to open up.
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Session 22
Group discusses options. Fiacra asks if there are any Covens they know that could help. Rhapsody calls Amy. After a very brief explanation, Amy agrees to call in her coven to do the clean up. Fiacra suggest that the witches not actually ‘see’ where the Voice’s location is for fear of Chereshe’s minions.
He also wants to be allowed to exist in the woods and for the group to not interfere with him and he will not interfere with them. He says that he hasn’t been in the world long enough to know what his long term goals are, but he will be seeking power. All he wants to have is a truce.
Daniel and Sheri ask if there are any weaknesses about Chereshe that he’d be willing to part with without compromising himself and his loyalty to the Balial. He only says to seek answers from the book used to summon him.
Amy calls back and says that she can get together enough to do a cleansing and they agree to meet in the morning. Daniel is going to stay the night with Jenny and Fiacra as Sheri and Rhapsody head through the woods.
Fiacra gathers wood and starts a fire and informs Daniel there will be animals guarding and not to wander too far.
The girls finally get to the roads. They get to a hotel, sleep a couple hours and meet Amy and her cover members at the Village Inn, and finally manage to convince them to be blindfolded part of the ways to the grove.
They get to the grove and give Daniel his breakfast. Amy and the others invite Daniel and Sheri in the ritual as they get ready to do the magic. They finish the incantation after they draw a star into the ground. Essence is pulled from the casters and the water starts to wave.
The water churns and bubbles as the canister rises, rusted and noxious. The gunk from the bottom gathers and shrinks to nothingness. The canister begins to implode and shrinks and is also soon gone.
Fiacra lunges out and looks at Manny and Jasmine and says they are marked as Chereshe’s. As Sheri starts to trance out to Sight them, Manny goes up into the air. Sheri calls down holy fire, reasoning that if he’s not lying, he won’t get burned. Manny gets fried and starts to fall, Rhapsody goes tiger and goes after Manny.
Rhapsody finds Manny and brings him back to the others. Fiacra moves over to them and says that Jasmine cannot leave. Jasmine blubbers that yes that they dealt to get more power. Daniel turns to ground essence and sees Jenny is in the water and she disappears.
A water based female form comes out of the water. There seems to be blood running from the eyes for a few seconds and it stops. The Voice steps out onto the edge of the beach, and in a voice that is and is not Jenny’s that Jasmine granted power for the attack at the apartments.
The Voice moves to Jasmine and takes her to the water’s edge and willingly, the witch follows her into the pool, both disappearing beneath the water.
Amy is crying and Rhapsody glances at Manny’s body and Fiacra notes that the death is a ruse. He says that beheading would keep him from going back to Chereshe. Rhapsody nods , takes Manny’s body back to where the trees where that he fell in and tears off his head as Jasmine’s body floats up into the water.
Sheri and Amy talk, Amy wanting to know what she can since she has been brought too far and has lost two of her coven. Amy says she’ll stay right there while Sheri talks to the others to see if she will be told everything.
Daniel starts to tell her what has been going on. Amy is given Jenny’s amulet and she says that she will think on what she wants to do and how much she wants to be involved. But first she wants to bury her friends.
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They head back to the Voice and she doesn’t come back. Fiacra says that she needs time to acclimate and to find attendants for the Voice. They head out, get new tires and go on their way. They call Priest and meet with him at the warehouse.
They get the book back and head out, then Daniel suggests that they go to Italy to track down the origins of the book. Daniel calls Gwyddion to see if they can get help getting armed in Italy. He evades some questions as to Fiacra’s whereabouts and how the Voice is safe. He asks if there are folks in Italy that could help them.
Sheri, meanwhile, is asleep in the van. She dreams that she is in the woods. She looks over and sees Pukwudji. She realizes she’s in the Ewok forest and wearing the headdress of one of the Ewoks.
Sheri says that the Sister of Water has gone into her home. The Elk Brothers are worried for Sheri. That some might say that they are angry that they have not been fighting with the weapons granted. Pukwudji says they are worried about the ancient old whiteman god in the forest and he is disturbing things.
Pukwudji says that he things Sheri needs to see something and leads her along into the woods. She realizes the look of the woods has changed. Pukwudji says that they are in the past, but not too far back.
Sheri comes upon a backpack and then hears Fiacra and scared voice. Fiacra is holding a hiker and there is another hiker off to the side. Fiacra draws a line of blood along the hiker’s chest. He makes him his lieutenant and he drops the man to the ground. The man does a feral change and turns into a wolf. Fiacra lets the wolf go off into the woods, after directing him to feast on flesh.
Pukwudji notes that Fiacra is not nature’s friend as he claims and is only helping to have power for power’s sake.
Sheri is woken and she tells of Pukwudji’s warning and the events of the dream. They head out to meet with Gwyddion and the guy with him. He introduces Gerald who starts to peruse the book. Daniel tells Gwyddion where Fiacra is and that he is guarding the Voice.
Gwyddion tells that the ship and the receipt on the yacht, front for a man Arthur Ottovan. He’s been around for a long time and may have been the one that tracked down the key. There also lies the riches that he had access to.
The Risen is a new cult based around the Balial.
They are tracking those leads, but it will take time. Chereshe is the bigger threat. However, they decide to have Sheri go talk to the Elk Brothers about getting them to help transport them to Fiacra along with the strike force.
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Session 23
Gwyddion was going to speak to Myrddin and suggests that they arrange the backdoor attack in the meantime. Sheri tries to contact Pukwudgi but to no avail. They make arrangements to meat with Gwyddion later and then head to the caves that led to the Elk Brother’s lands.
Once there, Sheri does another round of meditation and she does find Pukwudgi who comes down the beach. She offers him a little pouch of tobacco and starts to tell of the decision to go on the warpath against Fiacra. They head to the spirit world to talk more fully about the decision.
A little further discussion and Pukwudgi thinks that Sheri should talk to the Elk Brothers, then leads the way to the lodge, smoke is coming from the opening. Not wanting to be rude, Rhapsody and Daniel stay on the other side of the stream as Sheri goes to the lodge.
One of the Elk Brothers is resting as Sheri enters and greets her. He sits up and scoots to the fire, asking if Sheri is seeking something. Sheri acknowledges that she and her friends are going on the warpath against Fiacra.
The Elk Brother tells Sheri that they need Wolf Brother to get close to the Beast Lord’s den. Sheri replies that they wish to go to battle within a sun. Wolf Brother will know Sheri for one of those protected by the Elk Brothers. Sheri is told that an offering of meat would be a good token.
Pukwudgi heads over and tells Daniel and Rhapsody that drum sister has gone crazy.
Rhapsody goes hunting and after about half an hour, finds deer and she moves up to a stalking position and then launches herself at the largest buck, killing it. She goes to her hybrid form and carries the buck back.
Pukwudgi reluctantly takes them to wolf clan’s lands. They see a totem of wolf heads and continue on. 10 minutes later, there are shapes in the woods, moving along side them. They leave the trees and a promontory where there are several lodges. There are bloodstains on the rocks and there are 20 large wolves behind the group. Pukwudgi nudges Sheri to greet the lodges.
A flap opens from one of the lodges. Not as tall as the elk brothers, but more rangy and muscular with the head of the wolf comes out with obsidian blades and demands to know what the Sister of the Elk Brothers want. Rhapsody gives the offering. The Wolf Brother has her give the deer to the wolves behind them as Sheri asks if the Wolf Brother is interested in a special hunt.
Wolf Brother wants to know what they offer him to lead the hunt of the Beast Lord. Wolf Brother tells them to sit while he goes to think of what he wants from them, and Daniel immediately has his butt on the ground.
He comes back out with a woman that has the head of a fox. “Ottomae will help you. Wolves go to hunt and fight, but they will not be fighting. Ottomae knows the ways. In return, you all will come to my aide in a hunt.”
He will not take only their words to give them aid, has them spill blood as well. When it is time for their hunt, they are to send someone to the Wolf Brother to get Ottomae.
They head back out to the beach then back to their hotel suite to have some downtime. In the morning, the phone rings. Daniel picks it up and it’s Gwyddion and asks to meet in the same place in an hour.
At the park, Gwyddion says that he spoke to Myrddin. He can banish Fiacra but needs him in a higher plane. He can do one or the other but not both. When asked what higher plane, he mentions that his ancestors have a higher connection to a sephiroth called the Indigo Realm. Fiacra has to be banished as soon as he’s there, which is why Meriden cannot do both.
Gwyddion has a key to the indigo realm, keyed to the spot to where Meriden will be waiting. Daniel suggests contacting Amy. Fiacra, in the girl’s body he was summoned in, went to the girl’s home.
Pukwudgi knows of one spirit that knows how to get to the higher worlds. Nashunka (fire eagle) is not friendly to the spirits of the first world and says she is crazy.
Cut scene:
“Nashunka,” Elk Brother affirms as Sheri asks.
The drummer Charlie Whiteeagle could take them to her realm.
They go to the reservation and to Charlie’s house. Charlie affirms that Nashunka is a cranky old woman and her nest is Mt. St Helen’s, the active volcano.
Sheri calls Amy to see if she knows anyone that can gate. She does, but doesn’t know if this person is one of Chereshe's or not. Sheri tells her to hold off.
They go to a store to get supplies and head out. They stop at a motel along the way and talk with Charlie.
The next day they head up the trail. They pass a few hikers. At one of the breaks, Charlie senses a place he could get into Nashunka’s realm. As they go off the trail, they find a hole near a break of trees. Daniel and Rhapsody shine light and see it’s a lava tube.
They climb down and walk up the tube a little ways. He finds a good spot, sits down and meditates for a few moments and chants. There is a popping sound and a rush of hot air that immediate chaps the lips.
There is a steady wind that blows as Charlie announces their arrival. Charlie asks if it’s okay if he stays there. He gives them a blessing before they head off.
Little over a half hour of walking, there is a split in the tube. Daniel votes going right as Sheri sits to meditate and prays for a vision. In her vision she sees herself standing before the tube and sees a huge bitey snake on the left arm.
They head right and after a while they see a red, hazy light coming from outside. They ponder how to get out and Pukwudgi peeks in. They toss him a rope and he ties it to a rock for them. Pukwudgi tells Rhapsody that there is a very wild spirit that might make her lose control. She hands Daniel her silver loaded gun.
Pukwudgi stops after a moment and says that he thinks they’re being watched. They look up and through binoculars and see eagles. And he notes that they are also being followed and they see a serpentine tail slither by.
They continue onwards at a slightly faster pace. In the crevasse of a large boulder, Rhapsody sees another serpentine shape slither on ahead. Pukwudgi thinks they might be fire serpents.
They skirt around the boulders and the serpent behind them rears and spits out molten lava at Sheri, who manages to dodge it. Sheri thinks it’s because they left the path and starts to head back. Daniel puts up a shield
Snake gets about 10 feet from Sheri and rears up. Sheri is ready to dodge and looks it in the eyes as the snake strikes, but latches onto the vest. It lets go and hisses as does her vest as there is some residual heat.
Daniel keeps channeling his essence. The second snake comes down from the boulders and heads towards Sheri. Rhapsody asks if Nashunka will get mad if they kill the snake. Pukwudgi urges to kill them. Sheri draws her kukri and attacks but it only skitters along the scales. Rhapsody fires her 10mm at the snake attacking Sheri and manages to kill it. It falls to the ground and writhes in death throes. Pukwudgi turns and is in time to meet the other snake that is going for Sheri. He tries to jump on its back. He sticks the knife under the skull of the snake. It thrashes and throws the little spirit as it raises up and dies, making Sheri jump out of the way.
A short squat figure with a snake’s head steps around from the boulder where the second snake came out. He tells them that they must go back and that they will die if they proceed. He doesn’t listen to anything they say and finally disappears.
Pukwudgi leads the way for a bit. Rhapsody gives Pukwudgi her kukri. Daniel keeps channeling for a while longer.
They hike through a forest of blackened pines and come to a cleft in the rock, the path leading right to a rickety bridge that crosses the ravine. There is a black lava flow at the bottom of the ravine, just thick enough to break a few bones before cracking through into the lava.
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