The sleek, black airship was cruising high in the sky over the Inn Sea. Onyx was keeping her high enough to stay out of reach of leaping Wingsharks, but low enough to avoid the soft, white, fluffy clouds hanging low in the sky. He knew one of them was a Lurking Cumulus Abomination. It was following him, and darting into the normal clouds, hoping he'd gain altitude, and it could pounce on what it thought was a tasty morsel. They preferred staying high where they could ambush prey from concealment. The problem was that, to the average predator with its small brain and huge stomach, an airship bore a striking resemblance to a half-grown Sky Whale that had lost its pod. Onyx had no desire to test the aim of his gunners against the abomination, even though Brad and Min assured him they could 'take the beastie out with one broadside'. He'd promised Captain Squint he would return his airship with as few dents as possible, a job that had proven more difficult than he'd first imagined.
He'd known that the job of picking up his siblings wasn't going to be an easy one. They had chosen their strange race/class combinations granted by the Eye of Wonder, similar to how Milo, Nina, and Onyx had originally gotten theirs. Then they'd gone off to adventure in newbie zones and relax from the pressures of the real world. Thankfully, without the need for hacked pods. Nina and Onyx had discussed this strange turn of events. Nina had vowed never to return to the game, and at one point, Onyx had agreed with her. But the trauma from their captivity had slowly faded, even if the fierce desire to never be caught again had not.
One aspect of their need to constantly be working and learning was that all of them had picked up enough psychology to recognize their own problems and work to overcome them. If they wanted to, some of the 'flaws' were so ingrained in their personalities that they'd been turned into virtues. Nina would no more want to cure Bork of his hyper-paranoia than she would get rid of her own love of fuzzy animals and plush toys. She frequented the rabbit meadow when troubled by something, finding it helped her to calm her mind and find solutions. Eventually, she had decided that her fear of the game was something she could let go.
Onyx and Nina had debated rerolling their characters, but each loved what they had chosen. Onyx had been happy to get back to the game and explore in the airship. It didn't bother him at all that it had belonged to the slaver mage, or that Squint considered it his. Its navigation system was too advanced for anyone but himself to fly it properly. Nina could handle the controls to a point, but she couldn't bond with the ship and see through its many 'eyes'. He was curious what Milo could do. None of them had yet been able to match his skill at navigation in SC6.
When Onyx returned to Shadowport and inquired about piloting the airship floating above Kulags base, Squint was happy to give him both the ship and a large shopping list of stuff to get for him. The two of them had sailed off into the blue to pick up a variety of items from faraway lands. It would take them at least a month to complete the trip, but they were both happy with the idea. Onyx was delighted to fly, map the lands they traveled over, and shop each day in some strange new place. Nina practiced constantly with her shadow feints and teleports as they travelled, and went shopping when they landed. Onyx would return with goods purchased for Captain Squint. Nina would return with the valuables she'd found 'just lying around', and once or twice with interested parties in pursuit.
Zander, Algernon, and Bork had all felt it would be a travesty to take normal characters. They insisted that if there was any danger in the non-standard ones, then they should share the risk with their siblings. They spent hours looking over their options and debating with each other what they should take, nearly driving the helpful Galet insane. There was no thought of making a group and adventuring together. Each would start in their own unique beginner zone and have to gain enough levels to leave their starting area and get to someplace where Onyx could pick them up.
Nina was already onboard the airship as his first mate, but the other three were in difficult places, and they knew they'd need more people than just the two of them to get them out. Onyx was decent in a fight, skilled in knives and saber, but his main skills were associated with piloting the airship. Nina was a Shadow Walker, not a front-line fighter. That was going to help with getting Bork out of his predicament, but not with the tasks of rescuing Algernon or Zander. They needed more people, preferably people they could trust and who excelled at causing trouble. Luckily for the Alphabet, Butch, Brad, Min, Kenji, Yumi, and Belinda were insisting on going and were all experts when it came to mayhem.
Algernon was in a small enclave of peaceful outcasts who studied nature. He'd chosen to be a Rune Carved Forest Lord, a type of humanoid tree spirit with dark brown skin and green hair, who increased their nature abilities by allowing the elders to carve runes into their thick, wooden skin. The area around them was very unpeaceful. And while this ensured their solitude, it meant that leaving was difficult. The packs that roamed the Shadow Forest were perpetually hungry, and their leader, Greyfang, guarded his lands and took any incursion as a threat.
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He had tried several times to travel outside the haunted woods, but the packs had found him each time, tearing him to pieces. He had returned to the peaceful valley to progress further and earn more runes. Eventually, he'd mastered his tree form and tried again. It was a far worse fate that awaited him. When a pack had pursued him, he had shifted into his disguise as just another tree, not knowing how thoroughly the packs marked their area. The first few to find him had begun howling, bringing more and more werewolves and skinshifters. After long hours, he was surrounded by the packs, and Greyfang herself appeared. The tree, somehow unmarked by her scent, was thoroughly annointed in the way canines mark their territory. Onyx endured it, hoping the wolves would leave. They hadn't. Instead, they lined up in order of their position in the pack and added their own mark. The whole affair took so long that he'd exceeded the time he could maintain his form and changed back to a humanoid. It had been a relief when the last few wolves tore him to pieces. He informed Onyx that he was going to need help, and they set course for that part of the world while they began planning for his escape.
The escape plan was quite simple and involved a tall tree and two hundred feet of rope, and a mirror. Algernon bid his farewells to Master Spruce once again and then found a tall tree to climb. Getting to the top wasn't a problem for a race that spent most of its time living among the branches. He'd climbed to the top of many of the trees as part of his training. Finding him in the forest would have been a problem for Onyx, but Butch's idea of taking a mirror to signal the airship made that simple. Onyx hovered overhead, then began to descend. A small mistake, as it turned out.
The ancient trees took the airship as a threat to the enclave and began to throw dead branches at the airship with startling force until Onyx retreated. Algernon climbed down to have a long talk with Master Spruce, who shook his head in sorrow. "You can talk to the old trees, but they don't listen well, and will debate the issue for a hundred seasons. May I suggest a longer rope?"
Algernon spent a few days doing more quests in the enclave while the airship found a village selling stout rope, and they did repairs on the airship, hammering out dents. They returned to the same spot, hovering five hundred feet high, enough not to worry the grumpy old trees. Algernon tied himself securely and was lifted away. The airship moved away slowly while Min began hauling Algernon up. They got about halfway through the process when a flock of Yellow-Crested Veeblers noticed the tasty morsel dangling in the air. The Veeblers were carnivorous when mating season began, and their sharp beaks could rip a rhinoceros to pieces in only a few minutes. Algernon didn't last even a minute. The next day, he returned to Master Spruce, who offered his help in constructing a tightly woven basket for him to ride in. They gathered tough tree roots, and the village pitched in to weave the enclosure. The size and weight of the basket offered another problem: getting it into the top of the tree.
Onyx used the time to find yet another village with a rope long enough to reach the ground and strong enough to support its own weight and the weight of the basket. Returning yet again, the rope was lowered to the ground, and the basket was tightly secured. As the villagers waved at the brave youngling who wished to explore the wider world, Min and Butch hauled him aloft. Master Spruce knew a lot about basket weaving, but little about the colonies of Yellow-Crested Veeblers. Tearing through tough roots wasn't a problem for their sharp beaks, and the flock returned when they saw another meal dangling below the sky whale.
The rescue attempt would have failed again, but Butch slid down the rope and began kicking away the hungry birds. His rocky gnomish skin could resist their attacks, and he was keeping them busy as Min hauled them up. Yumi entered the battle as well, using he limited flight ability to swoop around the flock and anger the birds enough to chase her. It was a near thing, but they managed to finally get Algernon and Butch up to the airship, and Yumi retreated before her wings disappeared.
Algernon was happy to finally be rescued. "My apologies for putting you through all of that."
Several people laughed, and Kenji put his arm around him. "Ah, my little forest brother, don't let that worry you. After all, you were the easy one to rescue. Do you have any ideas on how to appease a group of virtuous and pious paladins who plan to burn Zander at the stake tomorrow morning?"
"What the hell did he do?"
Butch explained, "Not enough research on the Vengeful Order of Devil Slayers, to start with. He wandered into a town where they have a large presence, and they didn't like the look of him. Something about his horns, tail, and crimson skin. Quite common amongst Chaos Spawn, but he's the first seen in that area for five hundred years. The Order is very upset at the thought that some of them got away during the last purge. They mean to correct that problem."
Min smacked one meaty fist into her palm, getting everyone's attention. "Let's see if any of you smart guys can come up with a good plan. If not, we use my plan and prove that violence really does settle some things."
