Chapter 1: Seeds of Destruction

Your adventures have taken you to a coastal community on the planet of Oerth, where local fishing boats share the harbor with trade vessels from far and wide. Lately everyone has been discussing the deluge of falling stars that has lit up the evening sky for the past several nights. Some say these celestial events are omens of impending disaster. Others believe they are a precursor to the gods descending from the heavens to walk the land. No one knows for sure.

You are just finishing your midday meal while listening to a blacksmith tell about being awakened last night by a loud crash. According to the smith, a crystalline vine burst out of the ground and punched a hole through the roof of his neighbor's bakery. "Must be divine punishment for the bad pies and steep prices," says the blacksmith with a nervous chuckle. Suddenly, the earth shakes violently beneath your feet. You hear the dull roar of a distant eruption. The smith and several others hurry outside. Joining them, you see a sinuous, crystalline vine erupting from the ground a few blocks away—tall enough to be seen above the rooftops. Screams of panic rise from the same direction.

A sailor standing in your midst says, "I think it's time I returned to my ship. You're welcome to join me. You would be wise to flee as well." With that, she makes her way toward the docks.






The ground churns again, and more eruptions burst through the streets all around you. From these sites sprout smaller crystalline vines that uproot themselves and begin lurching through the streets, driving panicked citizens before them, while the enormous vine in the distance stretches ever taller.

What do you do?

The pale elf stands outside with the crowd, staring at the distant crystal vine reaching to the sky. Both of her hands clutch a turkey leg and gravy-crusted bread roll, each alternating a bite to fill her already-full cheeks while her grey eyes bear witness to the otherworldly eruption.

"Wha da y'tink izz dat?" she mumbles through her food, before forcing a swallow. The blacksmith's description of last night's event piqued her curiosity, and now that it's happening again she can see for herself if the vine is something she's encountered in her astral travels. She turns to speak to the unknown sailor's back, "You seen that before? Hey! Wait up!"

Wiping her now-empty hands on her garments, Imti grabs her strange-looking broom with a single large bristle made of solid bone from an unknown beast ("It's not a very good broom for brooming," she would say) and begins to follow the sailor. She pauses to look at her equally-strange companions to see if they choose to do the same.

𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮 I feel a wreck without my little Suloise girl
I hear her heart beating loud as thunder
Saw these stars crashing... 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮

Zig's slender fingers pause their languid improvisation across the cittern strings. The elf's brooding moue twitches into a sly grin. Mismatched eyes flash dangerously at the welcome break in the monotony and the opportunity to get up to some mischief.

The elf springs to his feet, willowy height gratuitously augmented by high-heeled scarlet boots.

Addressing his strange companions, fellow flotsam from the astral sea, as well as the ship captain,
"I'm possessed by a malevolent curiosity just now. What do you cats say we take a closer look?"

The small mechanical gnome listens with interest to the blacksmith.
This One have heard about living crystal before. This should be investigated. He nods to Zig and Imti.

He then turns to the sailor. Ready the ship for departure, but do not leave! If there is reason to evacuate, then it is the town that evacuates, not a cowardly sailor. His eyes glows with an intense green color - one could call it treating.

This was not a phenomenon that Quaxiver had ever encountered before, given whatever limited travels he had experienced in his lifetime. Giant vines on land made sense, but impossible crystalline structures were surely of some otherworldly origin. "What do you think Jzu?" Out of habit he spoke to the tiny monkey perched on his shoulder, "Something to avoid, or something to investigate?" keeping a level head whilst the others in the tavern courtyard jumped up from their seats in a panic as they craned their heads to see what the commotion was.

The threat was unmistakeable; any moment now one of those monstrous vines could erupt where they sat and ate, an alien kudzu plowing through the harbour town. Then he heard a voice mention a word Quaxiver was always excited to hear. Somebody said the word Ship!. But that made no sense either, what manner of ship would allow them to escape this phenomenon? That said, being on a vantage point at sea looking inwards might afford a better perspective of the problem.

"Let's get a good look at this thing." Quaxiver nodded to the stranger, needing no further urging.

Imti hasn't ever heard of something like this before, but a vine of this magnitude must sink deep into the depths of the planet and that certainly can't bode well for any of the inhabitants.

She listens to the sailor's offer and watches her retreating back for a moment, finally deciding that the woman is genuinely offering them help, though Imti can't understand why her group was singled out for the offer.

"Once prep is done on the ship, I'm leaving," the sailor says, shouting over the crowd as she briefly turns to speak to you, "If you're going to do anything stupid, make it fast!"

Affirmative. Doing something stupid, fast...
The small man grabs his gear and run towards the closet crystal vine.

Imti ducks back into the common room for the rest of her lunch, not bothering to check whose plate she takes from. She then steps onto her broom to catch up with the others, skating out the door with a bland potato in one hand and a piece of oily meat pie in the other. Leaning in the appropriate direction, she turns for the nearest crystal vine.

Rushing in the opposite direction from the sailor woman, you have to push against the crowd, which is rushing away from the largest of the vines. Imti, from higher up than the rest of the group, can see that a small group of odd, vaguely humanoid creatures have several townsfolk backed into a corner. The creatures appear to be made of the smaller crystalline vines and are lashing out at the scared people with whip-like appendages. None of the other commoners seem inclined to help them.

"We got hostiles!" Imti calls out, tipping her broom back so she can begin to crowdsurf above the throng. "The big one's making little ones!"

𝅘𝅥𝅮I stare up at
The crystal vines.
Far out!
What do I do with
The need
To have seen it all
The Voyeur of Utter Destruction
As beauty?𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮

Someone's got to have Imti's back. Vine creatures it is, then.
"Come on, Quaxiver!"

Stand down! Retract! You are becoming a danger for the local people The telepathic speech is directed towards the crystal entity in the hope that it is sentient and doesn't know that its doing.

The stranger was certainly singling them out: Quaxiver scanned the motley to see who else she might be addressing, and realising she directed her call to a construct whom everyone simply referred to as the One, Imti, a pale-looking humanoid, and Zigdust, or at least that's how Quaxiver shortened his name, all of whom Quaxiver had come to know when they -

- but this was no time to talk about the past. The hadozee leapt from his position, needing no further urging. "Why are we running in the wrong direction??" Jzu sniggered on his shoulder before taking to the air as well right above Quaxiver's head as he followed along until he came to a dead stop at the sight of crystalline creatures?

"Stranger and stranger!" They seemed too small to be responsible for these gigantic vines, but they were aggressively cornering some townsfolk. To arms then!

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥 Turn and face the strange! Ch-ch-ch- 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮 Zig sings, riffing off of Quaxiver's remark.

The massive crystal vine, which keeps on growing, doesn't seem to react to This One's telepathic communication.

You burst out of the crowd a mere 15 feet from the crystal vine creatures, ready to help. The townsfolk look hopeful, but the monsters don't seem to have a strong reaction to your presence.

𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮 He's a Bladesinger
He's a mama-papa comin' for you
He's the space invader
He's a rock 'n' rollin' hadozee ooh
Quit your brawlin'
He's flyin' like a space monkey boy
And I'm bustin' up my brains like Nimoy 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮

"Back off!" Quaxiver leapt forward, rapier drawn and already beginning to twirl and tumble midair as if it were second nature to his ilk, bolstered by Zig'gythiel's prompting as well as chittering cackling of his monkey familiar as he surged right into the midst of the crystalline entities, blade stabbing left and right as green flames licked from its tip.

𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮 Hmm...what kind of magic spell to use?
Slime and snails?
Or puppy dog tails
Thunder or lightning?

Mind you, I'm the babe
The babe with the power
Power of voodoo 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮