Stones and Shit

The morning after the resurrection, Nym woke early, anxious to see how her friends were taking their recently renewed life. She quickly got dressed, and rode Nesme to the school, arriving at about 7:15 AM, with Pipper in tow. When she arrived at the rooms of her friends, she looked into the first door she came to, Avarn's room, but found that he was still asleep. She turned to go check the next room, but stopped when she saw Headmistress Tainaste walking down the hallway toward her. "I thought I might find you here," the Headmistress said.

Nym responded with a sheepish grin. "I was excited to actually get to talk to them. Yesterday they were pretty quiet. I hoped they would be doing better by now."

Headmistress Tainaste nodded, "I understand, Nym. This is a very difficult time for them, and especially for their relationship with you. You'll have to be patient with them. They've been through a lot, and it's rather jarring to die a painful death, and then wake up in security. It's a good change, of course, but in many ways, the Nym they knew died back there with them. You have grown, my child, and they have not. It is sometimes the way things happen. It will likely be weeks before they are fully themselves again, the way you remember them. Some may be ready to come out of their shells earlier, but it is never a certain thing."

At hearing the prediction of it being weeks before she could talk to her friends, Nym began to panic a bit. "Weeks!? That's a long time. I'm not sure my companions will wait that long. We have things we need to do! There's the ship! And the tsunami! And Beranhond said there were druids involved somehow! And then, we have..."

As Nym started going off, the Headmistress held up a hand to stop her. "There are many ways for you to keep in contact with them from afar. In fact, I have given two of your companions, Darvin and Talathel, whisper stones. I currently have three that are paired, but I can have more made. How about this: You ask Darvin and Talathel to give you their whisper stones. Keep one for yourself, and give the other to Wayrn. I will use the one I have as a key to make more, and then give one to each person staying here. How does that sound?"

Nym was heartsick at what her former Headmistress was proposing. "But I won't be able to see them, or hold their hands. I won't really be helping them at all. They'll grow up without me. You're telling me I should just leave my friends behind?"

"Nym, they're not ready for your friendship again, yet. And though it hurts to hear this, they may never be. This way, you can talk to them, and maybe you can rebuild that friendship, but they see you as someone else. In their eyes, you are Nym's older sister now. Things can't just suddenly be the same as they were. I'm sorry. It doesn't work that way. I'm giving you a way of keeping in contact, and maybe rebuilding that friendship, but if they choose not to reforge your relationship, you must let it go. It is not healthy living in the past, and the friends that you see are in the past still."

Nym, going numb from the hurt of realizing what she was hearing, heard herself say, "How do you use the whisper stones?"

The Headmistress explained, "They glow when activated, and hum slightly, so if you hear the hum, you know that someone wishes to speak, and by simply holding it in your hand, you can have a conversation with anyone back here. If you would like to activate it yourself, simply put a drop of blood or saliva on the stone, hold it in your hand, and envision talking. Your stone should begin glowing. Do you understand?"

Nym nodded. "Yes, Headmistress. I understand."

Headmistress Tainaste, seeing Nym's distress, chose to leave her alone with her thoughts. "It has been good see you again, Nym. You are always welcome here at the school. Will you be leaving Silverymoon soon?"

Nym's mind was in a fog. "Yes. We will be leaving soon."

Stepping forward and wrapping Nym in a hug, the Headmistress said, "Fare well, Nym. I hope that what you learned here may help you in your travels."

Nym barely heard her. She reactively hugged her, clinging for several seconds longer than was necessary, and when Headmistress Tainaste released the hug and left, she stood and stared off into space. She was unaware of how long she stood there before woodenly going and peeking in the rest of the rooms, seeing they were all still asleep. Making a decision, she made up her mind to leave a note with Wayrn, and let him deliver it to them when he thought they were ready. She whispered a halting goodbye to her friends, and left the school, heading for the tavern where Beranhond, Kailina and Janusa were staying. There, she found all of her new companions, and told them she was ready to go. She went through the motions of asking Darvin and Talathel for their Whisper Stones, which they gladly gave her. The group agreed to grab their things and meet at the gate out of the city by 11, and they separated.

Nym found Ollin, and asked him to pack up for her, explaining she had another goodbye to say before she was ready to leave, and telling him about meeting at the gate at 11. Seeing her depressed state, Ollin got to work without another word, and Nym traveled to see Wayrn.

As she talked to Wayrn, she thought about what Headmistress Tainaste had said, and realized that there was a distance and an uncertainty in all of Wayrn's actions now. He didn't quite know how to treat her. Greatly saddened at discovering the truth in what she'd been told, she kept the conversation short, and she somehow found Ollin and met the others at the gate, too shocked to care what went on around her.

The next several days passed the same way. The group stayed with Ollin, where he made them breakfast before they left the next morning, he gave Nym a big hug, wishing her the best on her travels and telling her to return safely. They were able to make it back to Waterdeep without any unusual trouble, arriving at around 3 PM after a couple days of travel.

Nym led Nesme to her pen, and went into her cabin as soon as they arrived at the ship, closing the door behind herself.

The rest of the group took care of the ship, checking with those they had left to make sure nothing untoward had happened. Talathel asked after Lailsan before anyone else had time to get a question in edgewise, and found out she wasn't onboard, but was expected back later in the day. As Beranhond and Darvin talked to the head of the current watch, Talathel began to crawl up to the crow's nest, to check on his favorite perch. Darvin found out from the sailor that Gurkirat had left shortly after Darvin and the rest of the group, and that he had said something about being tired of adventuring. He told the crew not to expect him back.

As Talathel climbed to about 10 feet from the crow's nest, a furry head peeked over the edge of the crow's nest. Shortly after, the upper half of a monkey popped up, and the monkey threw a piece of poop right at Talathel.

Talathel: Could I have a climb check to see how well you are able to dodge the thrown feces?