Haka sighs in relief as the inquisitive, semi-obsessed magus shows his true self again. "So many questions! Take it easy. And yes, your hair was on fire, but they assure us it's all part of the healing process. You're back in Katapesh. We had to return to get you and Han back to your senses. As Ro says, you got a bit hostile back there. Fortunately, we learned that Talon can drop you on your keister with one...um, well, we were able to secure you and get Ivan safely tucked away so we could bring you back here. Not to worry, you'll be back to work in no time, with that scary blade in your hand again."
As the healing spell takes hold, Hanethes' wild gaze fades away, leaving behind his normal somewhat humorous intelligent gaze behind. Although they are a little haunted, still, as though the effects of his disorder were not easily forgotten.
"Well, it is... nice to be back. I..." A strange silence comes over him. "I'm grateful. No more cows or spoons, and that music, that horrible.... I'm not even sure I would call it music." He shudders involuntarily. "No, it is definitely good to be back, and not have to hear that nightmare melody anymore."
"Good to have you both back." Talon just looks away as Haka mentions the incident with Drovya but gets into the conversation again soon after. "Don't worry about it anymore. In any case I think we should spend a day or two here. We've been through a lot and we don't have much to show for it, present company excluded. We should also come up with a plan for getting into that place without all of us going nuts."
"And I have a theory to prove."
Drovya slumps as Haka, Rohini and Talon explain the situation. I almost dared to hope you all had managed to secure the soulgem... He shakes his shoulders and looks up. Well, I'll know better than to tag along in Han's head next time. So yes, let's plan our return, and Rohini, go ahead and hold on to Ivan until you're comfortable putting him back in my hand. And Talon, sorry I attacked you. Once the visions from that pyramid got into my head, well, Ivan, he just stepped forward and took over. I barely knew what was happening.
Rohini gently takes Drovya by the chin and peers into his eyes. "It's good to have you back Drovya. I don't think there is any need for me to hold onto Ivan anymore. I'm confident that you're back to your old self , and your willingness for me to continue to hold onto Ivan speaks volumes. Frankly, I'm glad to pass him over." Rohini removes Ivan from her haversack, unwraps the cloth surrounding the sword, and offers it to Drova. Rohini, noticeably, avoids direct contact with the sword.
"Don't worry about it, Drovya. As long as everyone's alright."
"Do you believe it is safe to remain here for two days, Sha Talon? For Bahjat, I mean?" Tikhade's concern was genuine, though she obviously cringed from the thought of overstepping her bounds by bringing it up.
"You have a good point. But either we spend some time thinking of a plan or we spend some time running around Abbadon like a headless chicken. "
Drovya humbly accepts Black Ivan back from Rohini, thinks a minute, then stows the black blade in his bag of holding, instead buckling the rhoka from the slain urdefhan around his waist. All the same, it might be better to let him cool down for a bit.
He thinks for a moment, carefully considering Tikhade and Talon's words. It's true, we must have a plan, but we must not delay either. We know where Bahjat is kept now, but we need a way to enter that ziggurat without having our minds ripped apart. Whatever you used to break me out of that madness, more of that would be good. Also, some way to guard ourselves against those visions, or remove them somehow. What were they, anyway?
"I think it might have been a haunt. Which means we need Rohini to take care of it."
A haunt? Drovya looks perplexed. I admit, I am not familiar with such things. How can we combat them? What tools can we use?
"Holy water and spells that grant protection from evil are the first things I would suggest." Tikhade said in a low voice.
"Some also insist that charms can provide protection, but of that I am not certain."
Hmmm, holy water, perhaps some potions to grant us protection from evil more of that tea you used to restore me to sanity... What else? Dorvya looks around for Kanthuun. I don't remember anything of the interior of that place after the visions took me. Do you know how far away you were from Father Bahjat's gem, Kanthya? Were there any other dangers we would need to be on guard against? And how can we draw the Obcisidaemon out so that we can enter without battling it? And if we do have to battle it, does it have any weaknesses? Drovya's mental wheels churn.
He slams his fist into his thigh in obvious frustration. What I wouldn't give for a library and some time to research!
Kanthuun looks chagrined again. "We did not get far. The interior was...strange. Like a giant's bones, or something. I have the odd feeling it will be different when we return...as if it were alive."
He thinks. "It sounds like we need many charms...and I would also suggest investing in a great deal of concealment. Invisibility. That camp was very dangerous."
Together they recall that the Obcisidaemon...
"Do we have the funds to afford such things?" Hanethes asks, slightly worried that they had already spent the majority of their wealth.
Rohini will certainly offer up guidance and a bit of luck. She will also try to aid:
"In relation protection spells, I can cast a spell that will offer us all protection from evil for a couple of minutes, and can re-cast it using the pearl of power, and I also have a wand of protection from evil... so I think we are covered there.
In relation to haunts, that is trickier, because they are all a little different. But if I can notice the haunt before it manifests, I can channel Desna's healing energies to harm the haunt, and I believe you all can deploy holy water in the haunt's area of effect to harm it as well (). However, if we don't notice the haunt before it fully manifests or if all of that is not enough to destroy it, then we need to withstand its effects on our sanity. Some haunts only have their effect at the immediate moment of manifestation, and some have a persistent effect. Do we know if these haunts seemed to persist in their sanity weakening effect?
By the way, we can't actually destroy the haunt in the way I described, but it should neutralize it long enough for us to do what we need to do.
Also, if there is anything that would help us resist the effects of fear, that would help against the haunt.
Finally, let's not forget that not losing our minds is only part of the problem. We also need to get into the temple and defeat our enemy."
"You can bless water by the bucketful, Rohini, and we can stow a large number of vials in a handy haversack. A large number," says Kanthuun, his eyebrows waggling.
Combat with the living embodiment of genocide gone mad isn't exactly the best idea. These daemons are strong enough to be made generals within Szuriel's armies, and can harvest souls killed by their weapons, salt entire battlefields, and destroy the corpses of all those unfortunate enough to fall in its wake when it wishes them to disappear in a burst of holy flames.
The souls of the fallen are stored in a spiritual mantle until the fiend deigns to use them, at which point they are destroyed utterly. It has insane resistances to all elements and an enhanced version of daemonic ignorability of damage. Spells come from it without a thought, and often slip away from harming it.
Do. not. engage.
On that note, it can be possible to distract it, though hiding from it simply with magic would be difficult due to its sensory abilities. These daemons have also been one of the only ones documented sleeping, simply because they have the confidence in their abilities that they will be safe in doing so, and enjoy a temporary dreamless oblivion in this habit.
Talon frowns as remembers the information. "The daemons in there are above our paygrade. As much as I hate to admit it, we can't fight them and hope to live through it. They're virtually indestructible. We can't use magic to hide from them, but the bastards are arrogant enough to let their guard down when they're sleeping. Sneaking past them while they're out might be the best chance we have."
I feared as much. Drovya squares his shoulders and thinks for a moment. Magical silence might be useful, perhaps some potions or oils that we could carry with us, and apply to objects that we don't mind leaving behind. Obviously, it would make things a bit more difficult for the spellcasters among us, but there are ways around that, aren't there? he adds with a wink to Rohini.
He begins ticking points off his fingers. So, silence, protection from evil, some more of that helpful tea, positive energy to defeat the haunts, and we should be prepared for a fight nonetheless. Just because the Obcisidaemon is asleep does not mean that its minions will be.
He pauses briefly once more, and then rolls his eyes slightly as though admonishing himself, and of course, our escape plan. Once we have Father Bahjat, how do we exit as quickly and as quietly as possible, or should we seek to create a diversion and escape in the chaos... Perhaps a large explosion, like that produced by Han's pistol, but much more so...
"We should try to get in and then get out. As fun as a large explosion would be, it'd draw attention we don't need. Like from the rest of the city."
"How about a delayed explosion. Such as one that occurs after we leave the plane."
"You mean an explosion for explosion's sake? Sure, go for it."
"Pardon my interruption, but... were you not equipped with an object just for this occasion? Or are you going to use it to go back...?"
Tikhade asked.
"Our tasks there aren't yet complete, but the goal is within sight... in a manner of speaking." Hanethes says quietly. His usual happy-go-lucky attitude seems to have been sobered by his recent descent into nightmare.
As the others make plans to gather what provisions they can find in the teeming metropolis of Katapesh, Drovya makes his way to the College of Dimensional Studies, seeking a quiet place to study and hopefully unlock new knowledge. Once done, he seeks out the others to see how he can be of assistance. Throughout the time, he keeps Black Ivan scabbarded and sequestered away in the demi-planar confines of his bag of holding, still wary of the dark blade's attack on his weakened mental state.
Talon found that the merchants were rather more accommodating than usual due to the volume of shopping to be done. In the walks he couldn't help but muscle his way through with his current purchases. The streets were crowded, but he was usually granted personal space within the stalls themselves.
It was in one such stall that he began to feel an odd, burning sensation on his right hand.
The sensation spread, coupled with excruciating pain and the sudden seizing of practically every muscle in the man's body.
The current merchant, an older Druman fellow, notices something wrong at about the same time. Which is just as well, as you were loading a sack together.
His beady eyes look panicked, but he moves quickly and lifts up Talon's sleeves as if looking for a bite of some kind. Not seeing any, he makes a motion as if he is about to touch Talon with gloved hands, but stops, repulsed, and instead ducks into the street to call for help.
The burning wasn't gone, but Talon could move again, and a dour-looking elf joined the merchant and enteredthe stall just as he started to get feeling back.
He regarded Talon from a set of monocles kept in place as if by magic and approached, making an examination if allowed.
Once he can move again, Talon grimaces in pain. "It's alright, I'm fine now. I should be going." He finishes loading up the goods and will head back to the temple to get healed.
Talon manages to make it two steps into the street before it happens again.
"I am not really convinced, sir," The elf says, irritated as his would-be patient nearly buckled into foot traffic.
Talon is dragged back into the stall to its proprieter's chagrin. However, all is silent as the elf furrows his golden brows and moves his hands over the now-reddening entry point.
He blanches and tries to wipe of his hand almost as soon as he does so.
He swears in his native tongue and pulls something out of his bag, drinking it immediately before quickly looking through it further, throwing furtive glances in Talon's direction.
"If you would be so kind as to avoid dying for a few more seconds, sir,"
The elf retrieved another flask out of his bag and started to administer it before he saw signs of muscle relaxation. He placed Talon's hand on it and leaves it there.
"You seem to have enemies, sir...," he said, that same irritated crispness coming across.
"I hope my elixers work for my sake, as well as yours. Contact poisons like that one can effect up to the third unfortunate in contact with them. Though I seem to be fine."
He pulled a rag out of his bag and handed it to Talon.
"Remove it, if you would be so kind."
Talon takes the vial and chugs it down greedily.
A few moments pass but the man seems to have fought off the poison.
"Yea, it happens in my line of work. But I think the serum worked, doc." He takes the rag and wipes his hands and forearms with it, hopeing to wipe the poison off.