Dark Alliance: A Kirin's Tale

by Blackdrag-rose

Baldur's Redux: Planes of Earth and Water

Upon their return to Omduil's place Rain and the others found that Jherek was hoping that they had good news for him, where he was delighted to hear that they had secured the first Elemental Foundation, taking it from Habdazar Doomwing and the Zhentarim, something that worried him since it made him wonder who the other Guardians might be. Rain had a feeling that since they had yet to run into Luvia Bloodmire or Aizagora, and she had expected to run into them again during their adventures, those two were likely candidates, or at the very least the dragon was given the conversation she had with Kharne. With that in mind she knew that the Plane of Fire was off limits for the time being, as she wanted to make sure that the other Elemental Foundations were claimed first, giving the others time to get a little more experience before having to deal with a powerful dragon, since she was sure that Aizagora would be stronger than all of the others they had faced so far. Her friends ended up agreeing with her, it sounded reasonable to leave the dragon until the very end, especially since she might be lurking around the Plane of Fire, hence why they turned their attention to the Plane of Earth first, then Water, before circling back to deal with Fire.

After coming to an agreement on where to go next Jherek handed Rain the Jade Octahedron before Omduil teleported them to their next destination, where Rain glanced out at the rocky area that they appeared in, with all sorts of crystals growing out of the ground, with soft ones looking like they formed a path deeper into the Plane, while it looked like they were underground as well.

"At least there's oxygen for us to breathe." Ysuran commented, which he suspected was part of the Earth Foundation, like all four of the structures generated a bubble in the Elemental Planes that allowed one to safely explore the Plane, to a degree considering how dangerous the previous one had been.

"Yeah, but keep your guards up... there's no telling what sort of dangers are waiting for us." Rain said, because she had a feeling that the Earth and Fire Planes would have the most dangerous foes for them to fight, in terms of smaller enemies, and she didn't want any of her friends to be caught off guard by whatever was waiting for them.

As it turned out the softer crystals did, in fact, form pathways that cut between the various sections of this Plane, though the first foe they had to worry about was one of the worst, it was the large ant like rust monsters that devoured metal like all of it was food, nasty critters based on what the others had to say. Instead of wasting time Rain focused on the rust monsters, cutting through them like they were nothing, because the gear that her friends were using right now had to be special, the rewards from their personal quests, and she wasn't about to let them lose their treasures to these foul beasts. Such a thing allowed the others to crush the weaker stones, granting them more gemstones that could either be sold or used back in the new shop to empower their weapons or the rest of their gear, while keeping an eye out for the other foes, since there had to be one or two more waiting for them. That was when they discovered that the other enemy out there were Umberhulks, a type of foe that Rain had fought once in the past, back when she was dealing with the drow in the Sunset Mountains, but she didn't move to help the others as she slew another rust monster, as she knew that they didn't need her help.

Dorn's might, combined with Allessia's blessings, Vhaidra's agility, Borador's accuracy, and Ysuran's magic, allowed them to bring down the first Umberhulk and back off for a few moments to recover their energy for the next one that the path would no doubt bring them to. Other than that there wasn't much for them to look at, not while they were in an underground area that had light provided by crystals in the ceiling, so they focused on taking down their various foes as Borador used some of his bolts to join Rain in taking care of all of the rust monsters that lined their path, since they didn't care about his crossbow at all. Rain was convinced that the Foundations were positioned in an area of each Plane that was somewhat safe to access, because if they were in the heart of each Plane she was sure that they would be having a harder time cutting through the guardians and passing through the obstacles that each of the four Planes seemed to have. Things changed a little as they found a tall stone elemental that reminded Rain of the giants of the Sunset Mountains, in size to be exact, though this time the group joined forces to bring it down, because it was tougher and stronger than the rest of the foes they had fought so far, ending them in being victorious.

After that there were a few more stone elementals, mixed in with the rest of the monsters they had found so far, though it wasn't long before they reached a large clearing that had a familiar obelisk inside it, the Earth Foundation, and standing in front of it was none other that Luvia Bloodmire.

"Ah, Rain Shine and her band of adventurers... I cannot begin to tell you how pleased I am by the fact that we are able to meet each other once again." Luvia stated, where Rain found her to be just as annoying as she had been the last time she and her friends had crossed paths with her, while her clothing seemed more bloodstained than it had been previously, as if she had been experimenting on anyone who crossed her path, "I wish to thank you for your aid in Bloodmire Manor, as you taught me many things with your wanton destruction of my beautiful creations... I have learned of the grave errors that I made in my quest to create true life from death, not the undeath you destroyed."

"And I don't care." Rain replied, because based on what she could see it didn't look like Luvia had anything more than the pair of guards that had been given to her by her Zhentarim masters, to which she and the others prepared themselves as the lady frowned at her, "Let's get this over with."

The guards were nothing compared to the might of the group, as they were used to taking them down at this point, while Luvia herself proved to be nothing more than a normal lady with no powers, so she was hacked, slashed, and blasted with magic before Dorn delivered a powerful downward slash that hacked into her collar and dropped her lifeless body to the ground. That was when her body literally exploded outward, arms and legs breaking into tentacles while her lower body turned into what appeared to be an octopus' body, though at the same time her upper body bulked up into a monstrous form and her head became more elongated as she breathed poison on them. Rain realized that Luvia had figured out how to make a mixture of some kind that activated upon the death of the one who drank it, meaning it was a good thing that they were taking her down since this sort of thing should never see the light of day. Of course the transformation meant Luvia was much slower than her previous human form, to compensate for her new mass, so while her poison might be her strongest weapon it meant nothing as the group out maneuvered her and hacked her to pieces, before setting her on fire to be sure the body was fully destroyed.

Once that was done, and Rain had confirmation that Luvia had been utterly destroyed, she pulled out the artifact for this Plane and activated the second Elemental Foundation, allowing them to be pulled back to Omduil's manor without much delay, allowing the group to see that the pair was pleased with their progress.

"Might as well give us the Oceanic Urn as well... we're on a roll now." Ysuran said, because with their combined might he was sure that nothing could stop them at this point, so since no one needed to rest he figured that it would be best if they continued taking down the remaining Guardians and claiming the rest of the Elemental Foundations.

Jherek nodded as he handed Rain the artifact in question, allowing her to pocket it as Omduil teleported them into what looked like an ice cavern, a large one that was different from the ones she had been in during her time exploring the rest of the Sunset Mountains. Of course there were sections filled with water, in fact she would have been disappointed if the element of this Plane was missing, while discovering holes in certain places that were like what they noticed during their visit to the Plane of Air, hazards to be avoided. With that in mind Rain focused on the tug of the Elemental Foundation, as she was becoming more in tune with them, and beckoned for the others to follow as she headed down a tunnel, which let them discover the first foe of this place, a small floating squid creature that breathed an icy breath towards them. Rain didn't have to get involved at all as her friends took those ones down, not to mention the rest once they got further into the cave, allowing her to track down where the Water Foundation was resting while looting some snow piles of the gems that were inside them.

The other foe the group fought ended up being the yetis from the Sunset Mountains, confusing Rain since there was no way they were linked to this Elemental Plane, only it took each of them two hits to take one down, as they were far weaker than what Rain was expecting, but they simply said nothing as they followed Rain deeper into the Plane. It was almost sad as Rain watched her friends take down the creatures of this Plane, as she honestly expected to find stronger foes waiting between them and the Guardians, brought in by the power of the Elemental Foundations, yet it seemed like something or someone wanted them to win over the Zhentarim. She suspected that the gods of this world might be watching them, to make sure that someone dealt with the Onyx Tower or used it for their own ends, she really had no idea, and wondered if they might be speeding things along in some manner to make sure they were successful, but in the end she realized that it didn't matter too much.

With no other foes standing in their way, like the stone elementals, it didn't take the group long to track down the section of this Plane that held the Water Foundation, where there was a lady on a pillar of ice and what looked to be a kraken in the water they had to stand in to reach their destination.

"So, you've arrived at last. Do you know who I am?" the lady stated, where Rain assumed she was some sort of sorceress, based on the robes she was wearing, maybe a water user based on the Plane and the patterns on her attire, though as she spoke Rain found that her friends were getting ready for combat, "I am Illudra, the Sea-Witch, Mistress of the Depths... my sorcery has sunk one hundred ships and slain two thousand men, and now it will utterly destroy you, Harper dogs."

Rain beckoned to Illudra and her friends rushed at her without delay, while she, on the other hand, turned her blade on the kraken's tentacles as it's mistress commanded it to attack everyone, allowing her friends to deal with their main foe as she stopped the creature from interfering. Illudra fired off bolts of ice magic with reckless abandon, fully intending on her killing everyone, though she found that Rain wasn't the only one she should have been worried about when she learned of the Harper's greatest heroes, as Ysuran and Allessia dealt with her magic like it was nothing. Even despite using fire and lightning spells Illudra discovered that they were just too skilled for her or her pair of guards to deal with, as Dorn crushed them with his weapons, opening the way for Vhaidra to hurt the sorceress without leaving an opening for her to exploit, all while Borador pelted her with some of his bolts. Rain suspected that they were simply overpowered at this point, given how Illudra fell before the might of her friends, something that caused the kraken to pause and blink before retreating as it's mind was freed, causing her to sigh as she approached the Water Foundation.

As soon as the third Foundation was claimed Rain and her friends returned to Omduil's domain so they could get ready for the final stage of their quest, the Plane of Fire, and then deal with the threat of the Onyx Tower once and for all, to save the lands from it's threat and the Zhantarim who sought to rule over the land.