"Hi again Spivey... good to see you again!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you little one", Vermundr says with a nod.
"Salutations Spivey!" says Kelda.
Spivey then says to Ahiko, "I did have a very pleasant conversation with you earlier today. Hopefully saving Tribble wasn't too much trouble.
She also nods to Vermundr and Kelda. She says to Vermundr "What do you do?"
"I'm a warrior. My favored weapon is the bow", Vermundr explains as he pounds his chest.
"What do you do?"
Spivey responds to Vermundr, "I have been long stranded on the
Material Plane after my mistress was slain by a hungry
plant. After several months of aimless wandering, I came upon the ruins of the church of Desna here and took it as a sign. That was" She starts to tear up but nonetheless continues "ten years ago, I originally tried to rebuild the temple, but gave up when I started attracting the wrong kind of attention from the denizens of the castle. Instead, I've taken to living in the cemetery and where I do my best to keep the graveyard clean and free of undead and other desecrations. Besides, Tribble has been with me for some time now."
"Well, time to stop being lonely then. I'm heading to their camp for the night now. Why don't you come with us? The graveyard doesn't need much tending at the moment. Probably be a lot safer, you'll have some pleasant company to go along with your food. I also hear that there is another cleric of Desna there on a pilgrimage."
Spivey thinks about it for a few seconds and then says, "Well, I wouldn't mind swapping information with another Desnite. I will come for dinner and see how it pans out."
The group follows Kalistrine back towards the caravan and as the sun dips behind the horizon the group makes it back to the camp. Sandru and Shalelu are sitting with Omar as he slowly roasts venison over a hickory wood fire.
Sandru gets off of his camp stool and perks up at the sight of the group.
He makes his way over to Kalistrine and says, "How did the reconnoitering go? and who are these people?"
Vermundr puts a fist to his chest in a warrior's greeting and then extends a hand as these southerners seemed to prefer.
"Vermundr Bjornson", the young ulfen says in introduction. "We were ambushed in the ruins and captured by some trogs. Kalistrine and the others saved us. Together, we've cleared out the first floor of the place."
Sandru somewhat familiar with the ways of the Linnorm Kings strikes his chest with his fist and says, "Salve! my name is Sandru Vhiski and this is my caravan, it is a pleasure to meet you. This is one of my drivers, name is Omar a hardy man. That is Shalelu" pointing to the elfen rangress.
Kelda pipes up, "Well to be more exact we cleaned out the basement."
Shalelu says, "Salve! and well met!"
Just at that moment Koya an older Varisian woman waddles out of one of wagons and makes her way over to Ahiko and Takeshi and says, "Thank Desna you have returned! A strange voice has taken over Ameiko and she seems to be speaking in one of the Tian languages but of course none of know what she is saying its all a might macabre if you ask me"
"Take me to her, please. Perhaps I can translate for you."
Ahiko heads toward wherever Koya leads.
Kalistrine rolls her eyes and sets her Ranseur against one of the wagons before starting to pull her gore-stained breastplate off. She strips down to her undershirt and goes to one of the water barrels and begins to clean herself off. Her interaction with the drivers and others remains terse and mostly non-verbal as she leaves a pink-stained puddle filled with unidentifiable flecks of flesh and bone. Her skin beneath all that is very pale. Stripped of her armor and armaments (which still lie within arm's reach), she is still a dangerous-looking woman, but if you stare at her, she does possess a certain beauty beneath her grime and attitude. Of course, if you do, she glares back at you, reaching for a Chakram.
When she is finally clean, (or as clean as she cares to work for) she dons a fresh(ish) tunic and gathers up her things and takes them to her wagon. Leaving most there except her dagger and axe, she goes in search of Sandru.
"Ameiko speaks? Where is she? I must see her!" Takeshi says, looking around frantically and moving to wherever Ameiko is being kept.
Vermundr takes a glance as the hagspawn bathes more or less in plain view.
Not bad... for a monster...
Koya escorts you to Ameiko's impromptu hospital wagon, where she is lying on a straw mattress with a wet rag on her forehead, where you can tell she is sweating profusely every few seconds she convulses involuntarily.
Koya then says, "Ameiko comes to life and speaks in a voice not her own and always in Tian everyone hour or so" as she grasps Ameiko's left hand with her right and takes the rag with her left and wrings out the sweetly smelling sweat water and returns it to her forehead.
Takeshi kneels beside his sister, gripping her other hand in his. "She looks so much worse," he says sadly. "Do we have much longer to discover the problem before it is too late? I was hoping that the destruction of that foul demon would have helped in some fashion. It seems, then, that it was not behind her condition."
Koya wiping a tear from her eye with the hand that had wringed out the towel responds to Takeshi's query, "I will be able to cast detect law on the morrow until then I do not have the facilities to figure out what has come over your sister."
Ameiko has a seizure and starts to mumble not in her voice and then says audibly in Tien
"So she is Ameiko, huh? Spivey, can you do anything for her?"
"I wonder what she means by the 'cuckolded cuckoo' and who this shattered silent love we should seek aid from is. Obviously this is information meant for us to get to the source of things in the castle and perhaps release Ameiko from what holds her in its thrall." Ahiko looks to Takeshi and gives him a nod.
"We must it seems go back to the castle and find this silent shattered love and deal with the cuckolded cuckoo. Ameiko speaks wisdom to us from her trance."
Spivey responds to Tribble, "I do not have detect law at my fingertips today, however tommorrow after a good night's rest praying to Desna, I will be able to cast detect law."
Koya's ears perk up and she says, Little one, you are a follower of Desna as well, my name is Koya Mvashti, cleric of Desna."
Sandru walks over to Kalistrine and says, [b]"You look a bit tired, rough day?"[b]
"You could say that. We did a good job in there though. We killed our way through some Troglodytes, and found some stuff, but probably not what we came here for. Rescued some people too. Couple of Ulfen and a Halfling." she says. "I guess we'll be going back in once we've rested up. What happened to the Princess?" she asks.
Sandru frowns at Kalistrine a bit and then says, "Ami is one of my oldest friends but she is well er, making noise in that language of hers ca-i-yen't make heads nor tails of it."
He then says, "Seems that Ulfen got an EYE on you, HAHAHAHAHa!!!"
Vermundr sees to his equipment, counting his arrows and maintaining his bow.
What will Kelda's next move be? Will she sell our services to these travelers?
"Hello Mrs. Mvashti. I am Tribble Padfoot, humble follower of Desna. I am a wondering doctor by trade. May I be of assistance?"
Takeshi nods at Ahiko. "Yes these words she speaks must mean something. I hope that resting until tomorrow does not make us too late. But perhaps it gives us the opportunity to ponder it's meaning. Could it have something to do with Kelda's 'Bird Face'? But then why would we find aid there? I suppose we'll be able to figure it out better once we find it. If we find it," he says dejectedly. He then shakes off his sadness. "No. We will find whatever it is that ails my sister. We will cure her."
Koya blushes at the remark and says, "Well Mr. Tribble you are mistaken I am not married nor was I ever helping my mother was what spent most of my life doing. So what exactly are you wondering?"[b]
Ameiko says something else in Tian
Takeshi looks up at Ahiko, "So now 'grandfather waits in the dark, but he knows not who he was'? That with 'beware the cuckolded cuckoo—it is in his shattered silent love you should seek aid'... Are they related do you think? It's so cryptic."
Koya shrugs her shoulders and says, "I am not sure young Takeshi"
Never married? Truly sorry for that. I thought Desna's luck would have blessed fine lady such as yourself with a husband by now.
"I have had many other duties mostly helping raise my mother's adopted children, like Sandru and of course my mother who had been ill for a very long time, Pharasma took her just a short time back."
"That Ulfen can suck Lamashtu's teat for all I care." she says angrily, stomping away from Sandru and to the wagon where Ameiko is laid up. She peeks her head in and observes what is going on for a few minutes before going off in search of her own wagon, from which she retrieves a bottle of amber whiskey. She takes that and her Chakrams and takes them to do some target practice at the edge of the camp. Her aim gets worse and worse as the afternoon wears on and soon she has moved the log she is throwing at to a point barely feet from her and is flipping the bladed rings into the wood at such close range it is no challenge whatsoever, even as she makes a significant dent in the bottle of whiskey.
Vermundr takes a break from his work to find Kelda.
"So where are we headed next?"
Sandru sees Kalistrine throwing Chakrams into the log and moves over to her with a glass and a handful of daggers and says, "By Desna, give me a dram would ya?"
Without looking he throws all five dagger into a 1/4 inch grouping. Hearing the thud he smiles.
Kelda turns to Vermundr and says, "Well we may as well clear out this damned castle and then see if these people are going to go north or not if not we buy two horses from these folk and make it North back to Kalsgard".
Vermundr grunts and nods.
"The castle first then. What do you think controls that place? More trogs?"
Kelda smirks, "Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you were unconscious for most of the interrogation, the place seems to be controlled by a bird guy and his corby lackies..."
Vermundr laughs and rubs the back of his head.
"Those damned trogs hit hard."
At first light, Omar and Jorland start cooking some quail eggs with some venison that shalelu took down the day before for breakfast. After breakfast, Koya walks and Spivey flies over to where Ameiko still tossing and turning.
Koya casts Detect Law
"The spell tells me that some spirit called a Kami has control over her, I know that is Tianese but am not exactly sure what..."
Knowledge Planes DC 25(15 for Ahiko)
"The word is definitely Tien," Takeshi says. "But I don't know it's meaning, or what it may be."
"A kami is a protection spirit... usually protection of an animal, thing or place. Perhaps it is protecting Ameiko... or perhaps it is protecting the castle?"
"A protection spirit is causing her affliction? Perhaps that is also what is causing her to speak. We must clear the castle, and hopefully free her from this spirit."
Ameiko mutters this in Common but in a strange voice "“A key you seek laid in the grip of the ten-handed one—his fear
is your greatest ally, but now is yours...”
A little later another shrill comes out after breakfast, "One treasure beyond two seals in the third vault...”
Vermundr gives Ameiko a confused look.
"She doesn't talk like that all the time, does she?"
Koya shoots Vermundr a strained look then realizes that from his point of view that is a reasonable remark and she says, "Actually no, we arrived two nights ago and she was fine, we were all about to leave for the castle yesterday morning and well, she fell into a coma..."
"Well let's get moving. We have more of that castle to clear", the young ulfen says as he picks up his things and slips his bow over his head.