Hinagiku remains silent at the meeting. Nurah's fate was in their hands, but no path seem good. Letting her to rot would be cruel, but bringing her would be dangerous to the troops... maybe even more so than her being set free by her allies. The monk slowly tilts her head slightly and looks to the ground, lost in thoughts.
Nurah blinks as Ary approaches her little cell. She's bunched up her blankets and pillows into a small nest, and without much to do except write, she does.
"I suppose that is why Galfrey even wanted me along with you in the first place - to give advice. Ironic that you're still coming to me." She shrugs. "Truth is, I don't actually have much advice for winning at Drezen, other than, y'know, don't do it. It's not a strategic holding in the slightest, it's deep in enemy territory, and even if you did manage to claim it, you'd end up having to give it up when you start starving to death in the middle of winter. The Crusades waste resources and manpower on a symbolic victory because actual victories are impossible in this war."
"But that's enough ranting..." She plays with her quill on the tips of her fingers. "If I did feed you information, what would be in it for me?"
Val nodded at Ary's information. "That was my thought as well. Perhaps we should have asked her more closely about other acts of sabotage she might have undertaken other than just using the seed of discord. But thank you. I'll destroy these once the meeting is over then. No reason to keep them around camp any longer than necessary." She sighs when she considers the halfling. "I don't know what to do with her."
"There is still plenty of rubble left over from when we first opened the tunnel," Ehren reasons, considering Isilme's suggestion. "We can seal her into a new prison and then just load it onto a wagon."
"As long as the affected soldiers are close together and near some clerics, I think they will be fine. We will just have to keep them away from battle until they recover."
"That... isn't really how I operate, so, I don't know. Altruism? Making things better? Is that really so silly?" she asks with another small shrug, slumping across from the halfling once more. "Would you like to be brought with us? Left here? Would you like me to deliver a letter to Drezen for you? Would you like a good word with the Crusades regarding how useful your information was? You must understand that what information I could gain from you is questionable, so at the very least, you gain the satisfaction of feeding us good information or false information at your leisure, leaving us to question whether or not we can even believe it. Anything you share mostly won't be able to be actionable, so it's really only in your best interest to share good information with us so that we can try to prepare for things. So... what do you want?"
"Honestly, I don't think that the Demons will come to Nurah's aid. She's only one locust, and her ability to sow chaos has been greatly hampered by the information of who she is and what she does. Most likely, if they did free her it would only be to twist the knife." Ary says, shaking her head.
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Nurah listens to Ary's case for a moment, then shrugs. "I guess if it doesn't matter either way, I'll come along, and provide my valuable, yet questionable, advice."
"At least I'll have plenty of time to finish my book."
Ehren builds a large cage using the spell stone shape. It is too small for her to lay in, but she can sit in it rather comfortably, and with Isilme's ioun stone, it is filled with light for her writing. The bottom of it is lined with furs and blankets, and all in all it makes for a rather comfortable cage for the halfling traitor.
Afterwards, the army packs up and marches through Ehren's tunnels and up into the Worldwound. As if to mock them, the Worldwound is bitter cold compared to the previous day - 16°F (-9°C), and the yellow sky is overcast with roiling, purple and black clouds, making the sky seem like one enormous bruise. The weather varies wildly - calm for a few hours, then suddenly blasted with hurricane-force winds for a few minutes, before dying back down into nothing.
The army slogs through a number of hazards - most of which are communicated to the rear well in advance by the forward scouts - enormous quivering mounds that raise up from the earth in the distance that groan like a woman in childbirth, before erupting into clouds of locusts, and massive patches of poisonous, infectious mushrooms each burgeoning with dozens of pale stalks capped by conical, honeycombed caps in blue or black that reach heights of 8 inches. The carnivorous mushrooms shoot tiny filaments out from their caps that wrap around passing by locusts and wasps, pulling them back into their digestion chambers.
The army has to fight through a number of demonic vermin - scorpions, mostly, each with the unsettling faces of men and women - as well as a passing by hunting band of schir lead by a babau - but these fights are inconsequential due to their overwhelming advantage in numbers.
They end up having to stop and camp a few hours earlier than planned when a horrific ash storm - similar to the illusory spell Xanderghul cast at the chapel, but much, much larger - kicks up around the army and makes it impossible to see at all.
That evening, the mood around the camp is subdued... the soldiers seem almost afraid to even talk among themselves, as if the Worldwound itself were watching them. Most choose to go to sleep early, if it is even possible.
At night, Hinagiku sleeps with Ledsa against Külə's warm body. She wakes up to the kellid woman crying out in pain, and the ground around them soaking wet with warm, clear fluid. "Ahhhhhh! Mae'r babi yn dod! Mae'r babi yn dod!" she cries out, bent over and cradling her stomach with both arms. She's breathing very quickly, through pursed lips.
"Are you a healer?" Külə asks Hinagiku. "Please, get someone who can help her."
Most of the heroes are awakened in the middle of the night to the sound of Ledsa's anguished screams.
When you wake up, Ayavah is missing from your tent. Her spot is cold. She must have been gone for awhile.
Xanderghul rolls with the hazards and severe weather changes with a bit of nostalgia and a bit of gleeful pleasure. Weather back in the Material Plane proper was never this exciting, and Xanderghul's endure elements spell keeps him safe from most of the discomfort. When the ash storm kicks up and the army is forced to stop, Xanderghul conjures an illusory web shelter to save himself and others the trouble of setting up a tent in the wind and ash.
Xanderghul wakes in the night when Ledsa begins to scream, opening the hatch to his web shelter and wriggling out into the night air. He is no healer, but he knows Hinagiku doesn't speak Hallit, so he goes to the tent to check on them.
The trek through the worldwound is just as unpleasant as always, though made easier by the size of their forces. Isilme follows along with the wagons near Külə. When they camp due to the storm, Isilme takes shelter in a wagon close enough to Ledsa and Külə to hear if anything goes wrong, but keeping herself well covered to disguise herself should Mangvhune arrive.
When Ledsa calls out, Isilme wakes up immediately and heads to join them to find out what has happened. Upon entering, she quickly realizes Ledsa is in the process of childbirth. "Xanderghul or Hinagiku, can one of you go get Sosiel? Ledsa is having her child. I will keep Ledsa company in the meantime." she says, kneeling down by the Kellid woman. "Anadwch yn ddwfn, Ledsa. Bydd Yulin yma yn fuan. Bydd clerig yn dod o gymorth i'ch gweld chi, ac mae Külə a minnau yma gyda chi."
"Ahhhhh! Yulin yn dod! Yulin yn dod!" screams Ledsa. She moans in pain, her eyes watering up with tears. Külə nuzzles her back comfortingly, his eyes closed to avoid harming anyone nearby. "Nnnnngh.... Byddaf yn gweld fy nhaliaidd Yulin, yn fuan ..." she gasps out.
"Ahhhhh! Yulin is coming! Yulin is coming!"
"Nnnnngh.... I will see my darling Yulin, soon..."
Valaria finds that the trip into the Worldwound is surprisingly not all that different from their first, admittedly much smaller, forays. The hazards seem more numerous and more annoying, but perhaps that's simply a consequence of trying to move a whole army through the territory rather than a small band trying to travel unseen. By the time the storm rolls in, she's almost grateful simply because it means they won't be traveling and potentially running into more of the Worldwound's more... interesting residents.
She snaps awake in the middle of the night and immediately goes for her knives, only to realize what must be happening after a few moments. "Now of all times..." She rolls over, only to notice that she's conspicuously alone in the tent. "Uh oh..." She grumbles and crawls out of her bedding to go see what's going on and hopefully find out where her fellow tiefling has wandered off to.
"No idea, boss."
But he sounds just a bit too cheerful.
"As soon as others arrive..." Hinagiku begins, avoiding Külə's gaze "Right, I'll get Mr. Sosiel right now." she then finishes as Isilme suddently because visible through the swirling gusts of ash.
The monk then gracefully springs up and runs toward Sosiel's tent.
"Ledsa's baby is coming now, we need you." she says, in a calm yet pressing tone, as she opens the flat of the tent. "Is there anything I can do to help? Carry supplies? Get supplies." she continues once the man seems awake enough to answer her questions.
Xanderghul nods. "Uh, sure. I'll get him." He wanders back out of the tent, content that his only role he could play in childbirth could be fulfilled by Isilme. He goes to find Sosiel as requested, brusquely waking up the cleric if he still sleeps, brushing into his and Aron's tent. "Sorry if you two are naked in here, but there's a small emergency. Ledsa, that Kellid woman, seems to be giving birth and Isilme needs your help, Sosiel."
Xanderghul and Hinagiku find Sosiel and Aron snuggled up together in their tent. They aren't naked, as it is far too cold for that, though they are in under-clothes.
"Of course, I'll be right there," says Sosiel.
Aron kisses Sosiel on the cheek. "Go do some good, love," he says.
Sosiel smiles warmly at him. "Just give me a chance to get dressed. Hinagiku, can you get some spare rags, and a bucket of water?"
After a few moments Sosiel leaves the tent and hurries to Ledsa's side. By this time she's gathered quite a crowd, due to her screams, but they all keep a respectful distance. He kneels down beside of her, spreading her legs so that he can take a moment to check how she is doing.
"Hm, well she's fully dilated... but.. she's not crowning..ah..I understand." He emerges from between her legs, his hands bloody, but he is otherwise calm. "It's a breech birth... I'm not completely sure how to proceed with this. I'm going to need some help."
The most important aspect of delivering a breech birth is that once the child emerges, the woman will need to push very hard and fast to deliver the rest of its body as quickly as possible. Otherwise the child will suffocate. The child will also need to be gently rotated and the umbilicus quickly severed, as the cord often tangles around the child's neck upon birth.
"Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh!" Ledsa cries out in pain.
Val emerges from her tent and rubs her eyes. She can tell that most of the group is rushing to see what they can do for Ledsa, but she's more than aware of how useless she is at offering medical advice. Instead, she goes to take a look around the camp to make sure that nothing else goes wrong while everyone is distracted.
Xanderghul, seeing Valaria wandering away from the birthing area and not really having any skills which are useful for this sort of thing, goes off to follow her. "Hey, is there something up?" he asks.
Val is slightly surprised to find Xan following her, but she supposes that he's not much more help than she would be. "Ayavah wasn't in the tent when I woke up. Considering where we are, I was hoping to find her."
"Pfft. She got up to go to the bathroom, and being the good slave I am, I followed her. She ran into some crusader bawling his eyes out near the latrine-holes and they started talking about some boring feeling stuff, so I came back to your tent. Haven't seen her since."
"Perhaps she went to the bathroom," Val suggests to Xan. "But with everything that's happening, I'd like to at least know where she is." She heads off in that direction to see if Ayavah is around.
Valaria heads off towards the latrines. Ayavah isn't there.
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Ehren suddenly enters Ledsa's tent, pushing his way past the various onlookers. Unarmed and unarmored, he seems well aware of the situation; for all the gruesome and painful injuries he had seen and treated in his short life, nothing elicited a scream quite like childbirth. His face blanches when he sees the blood on Sosiel's hands, but he keeps his calm and nods to the priest. "I'll do it," he says with slightly shaky breath, looking to Ledsa. "I'll need a hand, though."
With nothing more in the way of hesitation, Ehren kneels down and checks on Ledsa. A few moments later, he grimaces, having come to the same conclusion as Sosiel had. But fortunately, even without the few centuries of knowledge stored within his soul, he had some experience in this area. A dozen different fears swam through his mind, but he could not afford to let any of them distract him from the task at hand.
"Ledsa, mae arnaf angen i chi wthio mor galed a chyflym ag y gallwch. Mae Yulin yn barod i ddod allan, ond mae hi'n mynd i angen eich holl nerth i'w wneud," Ehren says to her gently, as he prepares to very carefully maneuver the child. "Sosiel, I'm going to need a clean blade. The umbilical cord needs to be cut as soon as possible."
"Well, maybe I can help you find her, considering that she is supposed to be around you constantly on threat of death." he says. They head off to the latrines, Xanderghul casually strolling with his hands in his pockets. He looks at the ground carefully. There were probably too many people shitting for tracking to be useful, but maybe he could differentiate her dainty feet from the feet of a soldier?
"If we can't find her, I can always place a huge flaming message in the sky that says 'Ayavah where are you'." he suggests, shrugging. "Are we concerned?" he asks.
"Ydw ... Gallaf ei wneud. Diolch, Archdderwydd," Ledsa says, her weariness apparent in her voice. Despite her exhaustion, she starts to push as hard and as quickly as she can manage.
A few moments later, Ehren takes Sosiel's knife and quickly cuts off the umbilical cord from the newborn baby. A few quick pats to the back and the child immediately starts crying out hoarsely - "Uwahh! Uwahh! Uwahhh!"
It's a healthy baby girl. But the child would never have the privilege of passing as human... her flesh and hair are a dark gray, bordering on charcoal, and her pupil-less eyes are an unnerving crimson red. Her dark skin contrasts with what is otherwise a normal, pink human mouth. Her fingertips already end in tiny claws and on her back are a pair of under-developed, but large, shadowy wings.
The child is visibly half-invidiak. Half-invidiaks are exceedingly rare - rarer than any other half-fiend - as invidiaks can only reproduce under unusual circumstances, given their lack of physical bodies. Half-invidiaks, like their parents, can become incorporeal as a defensive mechanism for a few seconds each day. They have an innate ability to create shadow conjurations, and powerful half-invidiaks can even possess others, just as true invidaks do.
A half-invidiak’s envy is exceptional, and this drives it to obsessive lengths to one-up and exceed the triumphs of those with which it associates
"Fy Yulin ... Fy Yulin ... ydy fy nhad yn iach? Os gwelwch yn dda ... gadewch i mi weld fy babi..." Ledsa calls out, exhausted from the birth.
"My Yulin... My Yulin... is my baby healthy? Please... let me see my baby... "
--
Meanwhile, Xanderghul tries to look for Ayavah's footprints - but it is difficult to discern them from the rest of the soldiers', if indeed they are there at all.
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While unsurprised that Yulin is half-demon, Isilme is amazed that the child is half-invidiak due to the difficulty of the incorporeal demons conceiving children. The sight of a half-demon sends chills down Isilme's spine, her natural instincts reacting to the child's presence. It is enough to make her stop and wonder they had done the right thing. The road ahead will be incredibly difficult for Yulin, even with all their help.
"Llongyfarchiadau, Ledsa! Mai Mae Yulin yn gweld ffrwythau cannoedd o hydref." she says to Ledsa, gesturing towards Ehren to hand over Yulin.
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There is usually great joy to be found in the miracle of birth, but Ehren only feels dread when he first lays eyes on Yulin. They had known what to expect all along, but to see and hold the child in the flesh was another thing entirely. And yet, she was a child - his expression softens somewhat as he listens to her cries. He hesitates when Ledsa asks for her daughter, moving only when Isilme bids him to do so. Would she truly accept her as she claimed she would?
Gentling cradling the child, Ehren moves to Ledsa's side and very carefully passes Yulin to her.
Val isn't surprised that Ayavah has gone off somewhere else by now. "A little," she admits to Xan's question. "Not just because Ary wants me to keep an eye on her, but because we're in the middle of the Worldwound and this place is starting to make me jumpy. Especially with the demon assassins that seem to love to show up and cause trouble." She sighs and rubs her eyes. Tracking is yet another thing she lacks the skill set for. "Fantastic. That may be a ridiculous use of your talents, but I've heard worse ideas. Let's see if anyone was around or awake and might have seen her."
Alternatively, you can use the Perception skill to find a footprint or similar sign of a creature’s passage using the same DCs, but you can’t use Perception to follow tracks, even if someone else has already found them.
Xanderghul hums, pointing at the ground. "There, look at that tiny womanly print. She's been here, but I can't figure out where she went.""
At her suggestion that they go find a nearby person, he nods. Ideally there may be a watchman nearby, but any awake soldier would do.
Ledsa initially frowns when she sees Yulin for the first time. She looks her over, inspecting her tiny arms, her tiny legs. "Mae hi mor ysgafn ... ydy hi'n iach?" she asks. But after awhile her fears seem to be assuaged, and she wraps her one of the clean blankets that Hinagiku helped fetch. Once she's bound tightly, she starts gently rocking her. "Sssh, Yulin. Peidiwch â chrio. Mae Mami yma. Ni fyddaf yn gadael i unrhyw beth eich brifo. Rwy'n addo. Ssssh. Mae Mami yma."
The infant responds to her mother's warmth and voice, and stops crying. She drifts off into sleep.
"She's so light... is she healthy?"
"Sssh, Yulin. Don't cry. Mommy is here. I won't let anything hurt you. I promise. Ssh. Mommy is here."
Ary keeps careful track of the Army's movements as they move steadily deeper into the Worldwound; she's not as ready herself as she'd like, if she were being completely honest. The alien landscape and the wandering monstrosities not withstanding. The shifts in weather weren't exceptionally bad or harrowing, just uncomfortable... but the ash storm affected her just as much as it did the troops. She wasn't jittery or bedridden, however - just not particularly talkative, with so many things on her mind. Like a siege within the next couple of days.
Ary lifts Nurah's prison out of the wagon without too much trouble, only needing a little help to keep it properly balanced given the awkward shape of it. She keeps the halfling in her own tent once it's finished being set up.
When Isilme opts to turn in, Ary takes it as an opportunity, instead using Keep Watch on herself and the halfling - if Nurah were interested. Something had told her that she was going about this all wrong. Nurah had heard all of the speeches, watched good men and women put to death by fire, seen them torn asunder by demons and men alike, seen a world that Ary had only just stepped into. There was little a woman like Ary - arguably not much less green than her squire - could say that wouldn't be peddled as naivete.
"So... that should help you with writing your book. Or, if you're up for it, you can just talk. I'm sure you haven't had a lot of opportunity for honesty in the last bit of your life. So... if you're open to sharing, I'm here to listen. Tell me yours since I told you mine kind of thing?"
* * *
Sometime during the night, Ary hears a scream, and looks to Nurah before tilting her head towards her own flap. She's already on her feet though, before the motion is over, heading out to see what is going on. By the time she's unstrapped her shield from her arm, Ehren is already in position taking over the situation. She had somewhat expected it to have been their resident assassin once more - perhaps having changed tactics to harm the woman that Isilme had decided to protect.
Spotting Xanderghul and Valaria showing little interest in what was going on, she opts to go help the pair with whatever they seem to be doing. Assuming she finds out that Ayavah seems to be missing, Ary nods once, before her eyes dart across the ground, looking for the woman's footprints as Xanderghul had moments before. "It would be very odd for her to have gone far, given how much fighting we did. And we've warned her about demons seeing through her invisibility, so surely she wouldn't try using that, either..."
Spotting them, she quickly begins to trail along them. "Thankfully there hasn't been a lot of traffic tonight."
Nurah squints and peers up at Ary through the small holes left inside of her cage. "If you're really interested in what I've been up to, I've written books. A number of them." She raises an eyebrow at first then chuckles.
"Eh I guess I don't need to be snarky. I'm not some big war hero - the opposite in fact. I'm not exactly combat-ready - I can bolster people with some magic, but I couldn't survive a fight with even a dretch. After I signed up with the Crusades, I was stationed at Fort Clearwater for a time. I was little more than an errand girl and a maid... but people were at least kind to me, after they heard my story. But in my spare time I worked much like you, I suppose - I spent my time getting to know people, their stories, and documenting them. My first book was an anthology of their stories - The Faces of Clearwater... now that's a rare one to find. Mushy feel-good nonsense about the inner strength of men and that kind of crap. Didn't sell much, outside of Clearwater, at least. I worked my way up, little by little, writing books about history and local superstition until I was assigned to a project to map out the Worldwound. I never actually went in, instead I listened to and read accounts of scouting missions and the like and compiled them together into a map and corresponding gazeteer."
"That caught the attention of the Queen herself, and I won an audience with her. I impressed her and have been living comfortably in Nerosyan for the past decade and a half. Whenever something of interest happens in the Worldwound, my job was to interview the people who were involved, and document it. The Queen would rely on me to keep all of these different tales straight and to help paint her the bigger picture as she liked to call it."
She frowns. "I didn't really want to come on this stupid mission, to be honest. My job was to get in with Galfrey and stay there....and I liked that. It's comfortable in Nerosyan, the city rarely sees much action, and I don't even have to leave to someplace unsavory like Raliscrad or Undarin to make my reports...She was the one who insisted I accompany you, even after I argued that I would be of better help in the upcoming siege. She's really invested in you winning you know. I don't think I've ever seen her so fired up about something in my time with her..."
She leans her head against the wall of the cage. "Galfrey's really soft-hearted, just like you. I really think she wanted me to come along because she wanted me to see you win... no.. to help you win. Because I lost all my friends during the last pointless trip to Drezen, I guess she wanted me to see the mission through...for them. ...Heh. Ironic."
Ary is an accomplished tracker, and is able to follow Ayavah's tracks through the camp.
Ayavah met an adult male - a soldier, cavalry, from the look of his boots - at the latrines, and then left with him on a walk through the camp.
Ary, Valaria, and Xanderghul follow the tracks to their end at an unmarked tent. There are amorous sounds coming from it.
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Xanderghul chuckles to himself for a moment, muttering, "A ridiculous use of talents, she says," before incanting the words to a figment spell. That he hadn't prepared ghost sound was a source of great shame, but he could make do. As he finishes the spell, he shouts, "Ayavah, wake up, demon attack!"
The spell conjures a confusing menagerie of images that surround the tent. Muscular men wearing swim shorts carry signs which read "Congratulations on getting laid!" and stand beside menacing-looking demons which randomly combine the features of dretch (fat, short, non-threatening), glabrezu (huge, scary crab claws and a leering face) and balban (large, looming muscular ox-like demons). The men and demon caricatures stand beside animals which are amalgams of real, existing animals (bear-platypus, lion-raccoon, dolphin-wolf, etc. etc.) who dance atop spinning beach balls made from flaming animal skins. Meanwhile, carnival music plays over the faint sound of steel clashing against steel and screams of human pain. The overwhelming scent of semen fills the area around the tent.
Xanderghul cackles with glee at his creation and waits for Ayavah to come out.
"What?! Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shi-" Ayavah barrels out of the tent first, her green dress on backwards, and her furs haphazardly put on, wiping something off from her mouth onto her sleeve. It takes a moment for it to dawn on her what is going on - she stares at the bizarre franken-demons that surround the tent with fear... but then she understands.
"XANDERGHUL!!!" screams Ayavah, red in the face. "You A@&!~&*. You scared me!"
A man stumbles out of the tent after her a few seconds later - he's only wearing a chain shirt over his undergarments, as there wasn't enough time to put on all of his armor. He has a longsword in one hand. "Ayavah, get behind me, I'll protect... you?"
He stares at the cacophany with confusion... then notices Ary. "Ah... crap." He stands to attention. "Apologies, Commander, ma'am. Won't happen again, ma'am."
The man is Meridrand Pallisard of the Everbright Crusaders.
The Everbright Crusaders are a staunchly conservative band of Iomedaeans. They are forbidden from using alcohol, drugs, or gambling. Among other things, the Everbright Crusaders swear an oath to resist 'temptations of the flesh' outside of wedlock.
More importantly, you know that Meridrand Pallisard is engaged to Jonelle Cobelen, a Mendevian civilian who lives in Nerosyan, and Captain Ciar Cobelen's youngest daughter.
Seeing Ledsa's major concern was not for Yulin's eyes or skin color, but merely for her health is a huge relief for Isilme. While she knew Ledsa meant well and truly cared for Yulin, maintaining such feelings in the face of evidence that your child was only partly human was another matter.
"Mae hi'n iach. Mae ei thôn croen a'i goleuni oherwydd bod ei rhiant yn elfen gysgodol. Bydd gan Yulin lawer o anrhegion, ond bydd eiddigedd yn ei defnyddio yn barhaus am weddill ei bywyd. Os na fydd yn goresgyn y bydd hi'n disgyn i ddrwg. Unwaith eto, mae gennyf fy air y byddaf yn gwneud popeth y gallaf i amddiffyn Yulin, ond bydd y treialon y bydd hi'n eu hwynebu yn disgyn arnoch chi ac hi," she says to Ledsa, sitting down next to her.
Turning back to look at Külə, Isilme speaks to him in Sylvan, hoping he will continue to watch over Ledsa and Yulin even knowing Yulin is half-demon. "Yulin ilə kömək edəcəksinizmi, Külə? Demonların nifrət etdiyini bilirəm, ancaq onun irsini aşmaq şansı var. Ledsa, əldə edə biləcək bütün yardımlara ehtiyac duyacaq və mən sizə kömək etdiyinə görə daha çox güvənən və düşünürəm ki, ikisini ikinizdən qoru."
Ledsa turns to Ehren, her eyes grazing across the crown on his forehead as she speaks. "Diolch, Archdderwydd, am eich help i ddod â Yulin i'r byd hwn."
She smiles. "Rwy'n gobeithio, pan fydd pethau'n dod yn heddychlon, byddwch yn bendithio ei Diwrnod Enw."
She then turns to Isilme, still rocking the sleeping Yulin gently. She's positively glowing with happiness. "Diolch yn fawr iawn am eich help, Isilme. Hebddoch chi, ni fyddai Yulin erioed wedi cael cyfle i fyw eto. Byddaf yn gwneud popeth a alla i ei helpu i dyfu i fod yn gryf, da, a charedig, yn union fel chi."
Külə recoils from the mother and child, and is about to move to get up and walk away when Isilme addresses him. He hesitates for a moment before plopping himself back down. "Yalnız sizin üçün, azata. Sırf sizin üçün."
"Ledsa üçün yaxşı olardı, baxmayaraq ki, 'uşağın' yuxusunu boğmaqdır. Əks halda, əmizdirməyə çalışdıqda, uşağını sinədən silmək vacibdir." He lays down, and no longer lovingly nuzzles Ledsa to comfort her.
"Only for you, azata. Only for you."
"Though what would be best for Ledsa is to smother that "child" in its sleep. Otherwise it is apt to rip her teat off from her chest when she tries to suckle it."
Val is once again surprised when Ary makes her way over to join them. "I guess we all have better things to do than run around with chickens with their heads cut off while Ledsa gives birth," she jokes. "But thanks for the help." She follows Ary as she follows the trail, but as the approach the other tent, she hears very familiar sounds. "Oh. Ooooooh. Alright then, that's..."
Her mouth drops open as Xan suddenly shouts and conjures up the over the top demonic abomination. Her jaw drops open and she can't seem to decide if she's amused or horrified. "Xan!" She just groans and facepalms as Ayavah and her new 'friend' rush out of the tent in a blind panic. "Gods f*cking damn it. Sorry Ayavah."
Ehren finally smiles, his own fears abated by Ledsa's show of unconditional love for her daughter. Yulin's shadow demon heritage was still troubling - it always would be - but for the moment he could set those fears aside. Given the mother's thanks, he bows his head slightly.
"Wrth gwrs, Ledsa. Efallai y bydd pethau'n anodd, ond nid ydych chi ddim yn Kellid. Rwy'n gwybod y byddwch yn dioddef. Mae'r un peth yn wir amdani," he says warmly, before looking to Yulin, who was now sleeping peacefully. "Dymunaf i chi ac ychydig Yulin orau i gyd."
"I wish you and little Yulin all the best."
The druid glances at Külə, still smiling pleasantly, before retreating to a corner of the tent where he can wash the blood off his hands.
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"So, ultimately, being forced to come out here and aid this expedition has essentially ruined your life." Ary says with a small frown. "What makes it ironic?"
Ary begins to simply leave when they discover where Ayavah has gone - and the sounds. She does quickly move around the tent in case something else is amiss, and manages to catch the back end of Xanderghul's spell on her way back around. She manages to disbelieve the illusion just as she retches at the scent.
Eyes watering, she doesn't appear to fully get the joke. Once she arrives back at the opening of the tent, she looks as though she's about to say something to Xanderghul, before she spots the young crusader coming out of his tent. "Pallisard." she says, before blinking away the tears and grimacing. She doesn't bother to hide the disgust from a moment before, which intermingles with some of the newly found disgust. "How is Jonelle doing..?"
"Oh! Val!" Ayavah rushes over to her to give her a hug. "I'm sorry... you must have been worried about me. I should have checked with you first, I know."
Meanwhile, Meridrand goes ashen white at the sound of Jonelle's name. "I-I..." he stammers. "I have failed her."
"Yeah.." Ary says, letting the word hang in the air for a moment. She manages to fix the majority of her face in the next moment. "My suggestion is to start coming up with a way to tell her, and a way to make it up to her. Whether you inform the captain or not is up to you. I would also suggest you put it into your prayers. You have the vows you made to reflect upon. And your order to think about. Ayavah, I'll need a word with you in the morning."
Ayavah blinks. "Wait...am I in trouble? What did I do?" she asks, glancing between Valaria and Ary. She sighs.
Meridrand stares at the ground, unable to maintain eye-contact with his superior. "Understood. Yes ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."
Because Meridrand didn't fail on his oaths of a paladin, he has not become an ex-paladin. However he has failed his oaths of being an Everbright Crusader, and therefore would be subject to the repercussions that brings.
---
"The Faces of Clearwater was a fascinating look into Crusaders' minds, if nothing more. A good psychological exercise... I could have spun it into a dissertation, had I been born into a different family, given a different path in life... but ultimately while it did not do well, it was still nice to capture those stories, immortalize them, in a way. Clearwater hasn't fared too well, since the wardstones fell, after all."
She nods. "Ultimately my downfall. It's ironic because, I've come here with a similar set of tasks as the last time, except this time it was to try and rip it all down from the beginning. It's some kind of cosmic justice...or injustice, I suppose, that it didn't work. Though I'm not one to go attributing my fortunes or misfortunes to the whims of the gods. No, no, people create misfortune far more easily."
--