When last we left off, Vara had just taken a refreshing plunge into the Valonara lake, in full armor, courtesy of Urs. Shortly thereafter, Aengus found him fully submerged as Urs lit up the surrounding area with his boastful belly laughs. Desmond, not being one to avoid a swim, gracefully lept in as well, leaving Urs to cannonball in after everyone.
Vara attempted, and failed, to communicate with her mentor, again, in the bottom of the lake and eventually surfaced. As Aengus and Vara investigated the partially-burned-out house that Vara’s mentor used to inhabit, Urs took it upon himself to emit a challenging bestial roar in an attempt to root out whatever creature was leaving tracks around the outskirts of Valonara. Lo and behold it was not a creature per se but a half-orc named Bean who happily acquiesced to Urs’ challenge, though the fight was negotiated down from a to-the-death-tilt to a friendly scrimmage before food (duck, or more specifically any sort of fowl that might be called a duck, was agreed upon). Urs won handily (though Bean would later claim he used less than half of his strength in the combat) and, with the help of his friends who had been beckoned by the sounds of combat, began helping Bean back to Valonara. During this trek, Bean’s (selectively mute) female Halfling friend Stinger made herself known by holding a knife to Urs’ balls in an attempt to ensure her friend’s safety. Upon resolution of this situation, Aengus and Vara headed back to her mentor’s house to further investigate some urn-like jars they had found and Urs and Desmond decided to hunt for dinner as they were made keenly aware of the fact that there was not enough food to satisfy their newfound friend.
Desmond, under the guise of a bear, and Urs had a very productive hunting excursion as Desmond took down two elk with ease, leaving Urs quite impressed. Aengus and Vara found the jars to be containing small bone fragments and, potentially, crematory ash. After some discussion, Aengus and Vara agreed that recreating the ascension ceremony that used to mark a lady-in-waiting’s transition from student to healer might help in making contact with whatever power lays claim in these lands. To that end, Aengus manifested Moradin’s will and created a magnificent boat borne of craftsmanship the like Vara had never before seen. Vowing to attempt the ceremony after dinner, Vara and Aengus made their way to the large bonfire that their old and new friends had made to roast the newly acquired elk. Over dinner at the bonfire, the party hired Bean and Stinger as their “marries” to help combat the dark elves upon the arrival of MacGyver reinforcements from Aengus’ home. After the negotiations and a hearty meal, Vara decided it was time to head out on the boat and attempt the ceremony whereby the lady-in-waiting and Lady of Valonara, together, sailed out into a thickly mist-covered Lake, whereby only the newly anointed Lady would return.
As Vara set out to do this, Urs decided that the night was getting a bit dull and looked for some kind of spirits to liven things up. Unfortunately, the party and derelict town were out of any sort of imbibement, however Aengus had a rather opportune suggestion: why not try the “special” healing potions from Walmart? Urs, not really remembering the provenance of these healing potions, jumped at the chance and downed one without a second thought. The potion, while indeed providing Urs with an exhilarating experience, also took his hearing.
Meanwhile, as Vara sailed out into the middle of the lake with the urns tucked safely inside the boat, she began to hear scratching on the underside of the boat. Wondering if this scratching was an attempt to communicate with her, she called out to the power that she sought with questions for assistance and knowledge. Quickly, responses seemed to come in the form of knocks and scrapes on the boat. Perplexed but excited, she attempted to continue the dialogue only to find that the sounds were not coming from some deity-like being, but instead, her wayward companion Desmond. Livid that he would make light of her endeavor, Vara began to lay into him but he, in his Desmond way, made it clear he had no idea he had done anything wrong, blessed Vara with enhanced abilities, and made his way to shore. Once silence again took the lake Vara stayed motionless and tried her best to listen for a sign, a sound, anything that might betray the presence of her goal. After some time had passed she began to hear faint sounds of stone scraping below. Quickly locating Desmond on the shore, she decided that, on the chance this scraping was not the work of another one of her companions, the sound needed to be investigated. Vara dove in and sank to the bottom of the lake, again attempting to contact whatever dormant power may live there. Despite her previous failings, this time the current seemed to respond to her questions and posed some of its own:
“Why have you returned?” – “I seek guidance.”
“Are you willing to sacrifice for others?” – “Yes.”
“Are you willing to serve?” – “I already do. It is what my mentor taught me and what I mean to do.”
“Will you trust for now, knowing that some answers will only come in time?” – “Yes.”
“Then dig.”
With those words, Vara noticed a disturbance in the dust-covered ground shortly in front of her and also noticed that the dust within the urns seemed to be swirling, much like the dust on the lake floor. As she uncovered the source of the disturbance, Vara found a mortar and pestle spinning of their own volition. They flew into Vara’s hands and, as she released the contents of one of the jars, begin grinding and spinning the dust and bones into something more than they were. Seeing this, Vara quickly emptied the remaining jars. Suddenly the spinning stopped and Vara was overcome with exhaustion as whatever or whomever’s presence she was in had now left. Though Vara was unaware, at this same time that she felt so drained, her companions Aengus, Urs and Desmond felt unnaturally invigorated (temporary hit points). Vara, realizing she needed to get out of the lake, mustered all of her strength to just barely make it back to the top of the lake and break the surface of the water but was unable to claw her way back inside her raft. Noticing her struggle from the shore, Desmond headed to Urs to get his help in saving a fully-armored Vara.
Upon finding Urs, Desmond quickly realized that Urs had lost his hearing and restored it with a lesser restoration. Urs happily accompanied Desmond to rescue Vara, Urs feeling like this was his moment to prove to Vara that he was mating material. Upon returning to the lake, Desmond used his innate connection to water to will Vara and her boat across the lake and to the shore, at which time Urs easily picked Vara up and carried her back to camp. As Urs carried her to camp, Vara mumbled something incoherent about items in the boat to Aengus, and Aengus recovered the mortar and pestle and brought them back to an exhausted Vara who had passed out on top of a severed-elk-thigh pillow.