"I for one appreciate the aid, Ortik. Are you feeling alright, Karri?"
Nalun grins at the dwarf Never a problem...
Karri answers curtly, "Fine. Can we leave this hole?"
"Ok, we can leave."
Bruendor looks hurt at carries words. "Tweren't stupid, not at all," he says, wincing at the pain that breathing currently causes. "It worked, so it weren't stupid. It was ballsy." He pulls the healing wand from his belt, and presses it to his chest, sighing in relief as the pain subsides.
As the party starts heading back through the warrens (taking care to avoid the Hall of Skulls along the way), they're greeted by a familiar otyugh, merrily humming away as he chews on a leg.
"Hi again! Derro here have been quiet--kinda tried to run at first, but they forgot I had more than two arms. Hee-hee-hee!" Zeke points at the two cowering derro. They both appear to have bite marks on them.
"Now what? You going now?"
Nalun eyes the nasty creature sideways Yeah. We are leaving...
"Yes. We have a job to finish."
Now only if the filth of your soul were so easy to leave behind... Karri ignores the comment, and does her best to ignore the filth and otyugh, too.
"Really?" Zeke sounds quite disappointed. "So... whaddya gonna do with the derro?"
"Ooh! Ooh! Can I eat 'em? Please please please?"
"You can, but I think we should go a different route. I suggest you let them live so they can keep bringing you food. What do you two think? Sound reasonable?" Demitri says looking to the frightened derro.
The derro exchange a look, their brows furrowing. Finally one of them speaks up.
"Yesyesyes! Perfect arrangement! No point in throwing *our* lives away over this simple a misunderstanding!" One babbles.
"And no murdering anyone. You can find garbage or at worst rats to feed him. Are we understood?"
The two derro pale when Demitri catches on to what they intended to do. Then one of them slaps the other.
"See?! I TOLD you they wouldn't fall for it! How could you be so bloody stupid?! We could have just nodded and smiled and said 'yes sir!' But no, you just HAD to go and say something about throwing our lives away!"
"Wait--you're blaming this on ME now?! May I remind you that if you and the others had been doing your JOB and COVERING YOUR TRACKS, they wouldn't be down here and we wouldn't be in this situation, now would we?!"
They stop bickering long enough to look at Demitri and say "Yes sir." Before abruptly resuming their argument.
Zeke watches the altercation with fascination while absentmindedly chewing on his leg.
"See that you get it done quickly." Demitri responds before continuing on.
Nalun stares the derro grim faced...Nothing good comes from letting these stay... but these creatures weren't his job, the collection of grotesque parts he carried was...
The party departs from the warrens beneath the Grey District. The sudden influx of fresh air and sunlight is a well-earned relief, chasing away the reek of death, decay and viscera. The walk out of the district happens without incident.
As the party is walking back to Citadel Volshyenek, Lyla walks next to Demitri. "Uh, hey, Chief... I'm just throwing this out there, but do you think Thousand-Bones would appreciate us just walking up to him with a sackful of his grandson's body parts and just handing it off to him? I don't think he will..."
Ortik chews on his lip as he ponders a solution to Lyla's poser.
"You're right. But do you know anyone that can stitch the body up back together? Because I do not."
"Or maybe a box at least?"
This spell repairs damaged objects, restoring 1d4 hit points to the object. If the object has the broken condition, this condition is removed if the object is restored to at least half its original hit points. All of the pieces of an object must be present for this spell to function. Magic items can be repaired by this spell, but you must have a caster level equal to or higher than that of the object. Magic items that are destroyed (at 0 hit points or less) can be repaired with this spell, but this spell does not restore their magic abilities. This spell does not affect creatures (including constructs). This spell has no effect on objects that have been warped or otherwise transmuted, but it can still repair damage done to such items.
"You're right. But do you know anyone that can stitch the body up back together? Because I do not."
Lyla puts her hands on her hips. "Well, if we're not pressed for time, I could take a crack at stitching his parts back together." She eyes the sack containing Gaekhen's parts. "That being said, if we are on the clock, we might be able to get away with putting him in a good-sized box and hoping Thousand-Bones doesn't ask too many questions..."
Her eyes light up. "...or we could swing by Althea's!" She starts pacing. "Sure, she's getting up there in years, but her needlework should still be as sure as ever! Mixing cures isn't the only thing she taught me how to do."
"That sounds like a good idea. Let's head there."
"It's a better answer than any I've got," Ortik says with a shrug. "Lead the way, sister."
Nalun says Whatever gets the mission done I suppose... not relishing the idea of stitching body parts back together, or watching it being done.
Lyla leads the party off the streets of Korvosa and up into the Shingles of Midland. "Right this way, folks. Watch where ya step."
She leads the way across the boardwalks and bridges of the Shingles, the wind blowing through the high and cramped alleyways and across the weathered rooftops. The occasional cackle of a stray imp follows the party on the breeze, and the wind sometimes picks up into a squall that rattles the rope bridges the party uses to get around, but otherwise the trip is largely uneventful.
Althea's home comes into view around a corner, across several rickety planks. The front door is closed and signs of activity can be seen through the front window--there appears to be a small family inside.
"Well, here we are. Welcome to Althea's, where the cure for what ails you is in good supply." Lyla skips over to the door. "After you, Chief?"
"Thank you." Demitri nods before entering the home. "Well met." He says greeting the family.
The occupants of the shop turn as Demitri and company enter. A weather-beaten brown-haired man and a thin wisp of a blonde woman sit in chairs near the door, and a sandy-haired young boy with a serious cough is sitting at a table next to Althea. She's busily mixing up some sort of tea.
"--now, let that be a lesson to you, young man. Don't ever go putting something in your mouth if you have no idea what it is. Just drink this herbal tea every day for a couple of days and your throat ought to be all better, right as rain." She chides the boy as she slides the teacup over to him.
She looks up as Demitri enters with Lyla in tow. "Oh, hello again, young man." She waves with a smile on her wrinkled face. "And my little Lyla too, no less. What brings the bunch of you in today?"
"We could use your assistance. May we talk in private?"
"Of course, of course. Just gimme a minute." Althea stands up and walks over to the boy's parents, holding some packets. The boy takes a drink of his tea and winces. "Now, make sure he drinks one cup of these every day. I know it tastes horrible, but as long as he drinks it, his throat will be better in no time."
"Now, on your way then. Go ahead and keep the cup." The parents collect the boy and start walking past the party out of the shop. After they exchange thanks, Althea sits back down at the table. "So, now what is it ya need?"
"Well, I don't know if you heard about the Shoanti boy who was murdered. But we were tasked to find his body. Unfortunately while we did retrieve it, it was not intact. Lyla mentioned you could help with that. We would like to present the body to his family in a respectful way."
Althea folds her hands as she listens to Demitri's explanation. Lyla looks up at her and nods. "I mean, it's the least we can do for the kid. You wouldn't believe what we had to do to get all his parts back."
Nalun chuckles at Lyla's description. We would appreciate any help.
"Thanks for the help, Althea. I'll start arranging the body while you grab the needle and stitches...."
Lyla clears the table and hops on top of it, asking Demitri to bring the bag with the body parts. She unceremoniously starts pulling out the severed limbs to reassemble the corpse, her face turning to a grimace as the stench of death fills the air. She can't help but pinch her nose. "Ugh. I think we should clean it up a bit, too. Some parts were in a dumpster. Like, literally. Good thing Zeke never got around to... disposing of it."
After placing every part in its proper place, she stands on the table and contemplates the dead boy. "Wow. That derro guy was really sick... hey, maybe we could get some ceremonial Shoanti clothes and dress him properly for the funerary rites... at least it will cover the stitches. I think Thousand-Bones would appreciate that... and I just might know a place. Hey, Slim, would you mind getting it for us while we sew the kid up?"
I think I know the place... Nalun says as he heads for the door.
"Even if we can't do that, I'm sure he'd appreciate the steps we're taking to clean his grandson and return him whole."
"I'd appreciate just not having his parts in a bag." Karri looks down at the dismembered man and frowns. "This is no way to have your mortal coil-rendered into parts for later use."
Althea solemnly gets up and goes looking for her needle and stitches. "Well, this a first for me... usually, when I break these out, it's to stitch up a boy's skinned knee or someone's head after a bar fight. First time for everythin', I suppose."
As Lyla digs out Gaekhen's body parts and arranges them, Althea turns to Demitri and the others. "Would you be so kind as to hold the bits steady for me while I stitch them back up? Reattaching the legs to the poor boy's torso is going to be the really difficult part of it."
"Of course. Whatever we can do to help."
Ortik also assists Althea with the gruesome, yet necessary, deed. "I've a bit of experience with mending flesh myself, sister, though most of that is mystical. I might have to spend some time in your shop to learn the trade if I'm going to run with this lot for good. I'm not sure of the Shoanti funereal rites - do they burn their dead or bury them? Anyone know?"
"Gee, I have no idea. Let's hope the folks at the shop have a clue and give us something appropriate. I hope Nalun can find it, he seemed to know the place, too... I don't think they even have a name, but the cougar head carved above the door is hard to miss." Still standing on the table, she hops over Gaekhen's body, grabs a needle and string ans starts working on the body. Lyla bites her tongue as she concentrates on the task. "Let's get this over with." She looks at Althea working and quickly gets the hang of how to do it, mimicking the herbalist's movements with accuracy.
Nalun hesitates at the door for just a moment as Lyla calls out the relevant information.
He heads out into Korvosa and tries to find the shop.
It takes Nalun a while, but he manages to find the shop Lyla mentioned.
Althea nods appreciatively at everyone. "Thank you all kindly."
As she and Lyla begin working on sewing the dead Gaekhen back together, it becomes clear that Althea has a great deal of practice with a needle--every single one of her movements is made with precision. Every stitch is evenly spaced and neatly snipped off to ensure there are no stray threads.
She lets Lyla sew Gaekhen's arm back onto his torso while she busies herself with reattaching the Shoanti boy's head to his body. "Normally, the Shoanti just cremate their dead from what I've heard. Somethin' about being the only way for a warrior's spirit to rejoin with nature or some such. Honestly, I don't really know the details."
With Demitri & Ortik holding the boy's torso to the side, Lyla & Althea are able to stitch the entirety of Gaekhen's hips and legs back where they belong. The whole process takes a long time--just long enough for Nalun to return in time with the clothes.
"Thank you for your help."
It took forever, that place is well hidden. Here are the clothes though, hopefully this makes the Shoanti a bit more happy.
"Thanks, slim! I'll give you a tour of the Shingles sometime", Lyla says, giving Nalun a wink. The girl turns to the group and excuses herself for a moment. "You guys finish this, I'll be right back". She hops off the table, leaving the sewing utensils scattered on the floor and unwittingly leaving behind a mess of strings and needles. Without even noticing that, she darts out of the shop.
Lyla walks around the street for a few minutes, and finally finds the shop she'd been looking for. She greets an old man who is feeding a donkey and quickly engages in conversation, which ends up with her renting the animal and a small dray for the rest of the day. Lyla pays the old man and tries to conduct the donkey down the narrow streets of the Shingles, all the way back to Althea's shop. Noticing her struggle to get the beast moving, the old man helps her until they arrive at the intended destination; Lyla gives him an additional copper piece for his troubles. "Thank you, Mr. Gruble. I got a friend in there who can take it from here. Don't worry about your donkey, we'll have him back in no time." She ties the donkey to a post near the door and walks back in. "Alright fellas, I got us a cart to take Gaekhen back to Thousand-Bones. Let's move him to Castle Volshyenek." She watches as the group carries the Shoanti's body to the cart, shouting out unnecessary instructions. "Well, he's not too shabby, all things considered..."
She approaches Ortik and whispers in his ear. "Hey, I can't get this stupid donkey to go anywhere, do you think you can, I dunno, talk to him or something? I know you have a way with rats and stuff, so maybe it'll listen to you. It sure as heck ain't listening to me, anyway."
"I can certainly try, though donkeys are notoriously stubborn." Ortik walks over to the donkey and whispers in its ear.
Ortik whispers in the donkey's ear. It listens, but doesn't seem to be moved by whatever he just said. It looks at him impassively with its big brown eyes.
Ortik shrugs and takes the donkey's reins, climbing atop the wagon, trying to get it to pull the wagon. "Hyeah!"