"Both hands, Nicat."
"He still hasn't trained in using a weapon like that, Conner." Eostre snaps.
She holds up the bloodied medallion and bites her lip a bit.
"I think...that Evelyn would probably benefit most from having this. She was taking your injuries for you during that fight, after all. The less she has to heal herself the better. And it'd help shore up her defenses in case we run into more yeth hounds or stuff like that."
She looks at Evelyn.
"However, I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd let me examine it when we're done with this place and have more room to breathe. An intact Thassilonian artifact like this is an incredibly rare find, and I'd like to at least make a detailed accounting of it, sketching it and such, before returning it to you."
Evelyn's life link continues to heal the others after the battle, causing Evelyn's knees to buckle as she grows weaker and her friends' words start making sense again.
She nods weakly at Eostre when offered the medallion, and swallows some of the blood that's continuously welling up in her mouth before replying, "I'd like to have it, yes..."
While bringing her hands to her chest Evelyn focuses on the positive energy within her and channels it outward.
As blood stops welling up in Evelyn's mouth she straightens herself, and with an amused grin she adds, "You can borrow it during the evening, Eostre."
"By all means," Ekan agrees, "Your efforts were nothing short of heroic, Evelyn. Thank you"
"So...what now?" Eostre says, wiping some blood off her face.
"That Malfeshnekor creature is still down here. Killing Nualia probably broke whatever binding spell is holding him."
"We could collapse a wall and flood the lower level."
Evelyn scratches the back of her head. "How'd we do that?"
Eostre makes a disgusted noise.
"Indeed. This isn't as easy as toppling a pair of statues. Besides, I want to study the rest of this place. I can't study a flooded dig site! What we need to do is kill Malfeshnekor, and to do that, we need to seal off this level somehow so we can rest and recover so we're fresh when we fight him."
"Well, I'm a bit worried some goblins will set fire to whatever barricade we make, but... we could probably assemble things."
"So we use stone, not wood."
Evelyn nods in agreement. "Yeah, because stone doesn't burn, does it?"
"Correct."
Eostre rubs her chin a bit.
"Let's see of Orik is still around. He may be able to help us lugging things."
"Who?" Nicat asks Eostre, before responding to his own question, "Oh, right, your boyfriend! Yeah, let's ask him to lug rocks to block the stairs."
Nods and looks for statuary, stone benches, and the like.
It takes a while, but the party is able to drag the remains of the destroyed statues to the secret door in the war room to barricade it.
Having finished with the rocks, Eostre stretches and yawns.
"Well, now we've got to set up camp too."
The mercenary turns and his eyes widen when he sees the grisly trophies the party are now carrying with them. "...you did it? You killed her?"
Shalelu grimaces for a moment before her expression becomes stoic once more.
Eostre grimaces similarly.
"Aye. It took a hell-of-a-lot of fighting, but we did it. But it's not over yet. That Malfeshnekor thing is still down there. We've blocked off the lower level so we can rest and recover through the night, or at least slow the bastard down. But we're going to go down there and finish this farce once and for all."
"Yeah, and kill that tentacle thing too!" Nicat weighs in.
"Tentamort!" Eostre snaps.
"Yeah, and that too! All three of them!" Nicat agrees eagerly.
"You can bat your eyelashes at him outside, he can help with camp."
"The Hell are you talking about?"
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Orik blinks in confusion and Shalelu rolls her eyes. "Er... if you want some help setting up defences, sure. I can help with that."
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Soon enough, the party finds a secure place to make camp and settles in to recuperate. Orik and Shalelu don't seem inclined to leave just yet--Shalelu out of reluctance to leave them in the middle of nowhere and Orik is mostly lost as to where to go now. Tsuto and Lyrie are still bound and unconscious.
That being said, now is a time for reflection. The party has accomplished the mission they set out to do--Nualia Tobyn, the mastermind behind the goblin attacks on Sandpoint, has been slain. Her accomplices are in custody, dead, or cooperating with you. The goblin force she sought to amass is slaughtered and scattered to the winds. And now, all that's left in this Thassilonian ruin are creatures that have no place in this world...
...all in a day's work for a band of true heroes.
----------------
Moonday, 2nd of Lamashan, 4710 AR
The next morning, a heavy fog blankets the fortress of Thistletop. A sharp chill is in the air, blown about by strong winds.
Orik blinks in confusion and Shalelu rolls her eyes. "Er... if you want some help setting up defences, sure. I can help with that."
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Soon enough, the party finds a secure place to make camp and settles in to recuperate. Orik and Shalelu don't seem inclined to leave just yet--Shalelu out of reluctance to leave them in the middle of nowhere and Orik is mostly lost as to where to go now. Tsuto and Lyrie are still bound and unconscious.That being said, now is a time for reflection. The party has accomplished the mission they set out to do--Nualia Tobyn, the mastermind behind the goblin attacks on Sandpoint, has been slain. Her accomplices are in custody, dead, or cooperating with you. The goblin force she sought to amass is slaughtered and scattered to the winds. And now, all that's left in this Thassilonian ruin are creatures that have no place in this world...
...all in a day's work for a band of true heroes.
----------------
Moonday, 2nd of Lamashan, 4710 ARThe next morning, a heavy fog blankets the fortress of Thistletop. A sharp chill is in the air, blown about by strong winds.
Eostre stretches as she wakes up after a good night's sleep. She thumbs through her spellbook and begins preparing her spells for the day, this time making sure she has spells she can cast in a fight that will be of use, and then casts a cantrip to clean herself up after being showered in gore from the previous day.
She opens her pack and begins rummaging through it for her rations. She's still munching on some jerky by the time the others begin waking up.
Conner looks up from the spot against the all he had chosen to sleep against. The magic people were starting to stir, so rest time was over. Standing up, he stretches as best he can and starts strapping his armor on.
Waking up and feeling even more magical than usual, Nicat says, "Let's get this done, and get home! I could use a hot cup of tea in a cozy inn - and a little time with Shayliss!"
"You think about that girl far too much," Eostre replies with a snort.
"Well, it's better than thinking about that tentacle monster," Nicat snaps back, before his expression turns thoughtful, "though she does get her hands moving around pretty good when we..." He goes quiet, his eyes taking on a distant look before he gives his head a quick shake and says, "Let's get this done and get home!"
"It's just a lone tentamort! Stop being such a baby!" Eostre replies.
Once everyone has had a chance to get ready, it's back down below for the team.
"Now I want to go kill that thing just to make Eostre finally shut up about it."
"I hear ya, Conner," Nicat says, trying to sound as manly as his small form will allow. "But I think first we should kill the big dog, Malfishingcart. That'll probably be the tougher fight."
"I'm indifferent to what we deal with first but if need be we can flip a coin , I'm not one for letting chance decide, but..." He shrugs. "If it will speed things up and keep the peace."
"Much as it pains me to say it, Nicat's right. Malfeshnekor is the greater threat."
"So, what is he then? She? It?"
Eostre grimaces, still embarrassed that she's not quite sure what they're dealing with.
"I don't know, but judging by Orik's description he's some kind of demon worshiped by the goblins here, and Nualia summoned him to be the vanguard of her attack on Sandpoint."
"How about we wake up one of our guests and ask them?"
Eostre ponders Conner's suggestion and a wicked smirk starts to form on her face.
"You mean Tsuto and Lyrie? That sounds like a good idea. I'll put the fear of the Runelords into them!"
"I'd prefer the fear of four feet of steel rammed up his backside if he doesn't talk."
Evelyn walks over to Eostre and puts a hand on the dwarf's shoulder. "Don't freak out. I'm going to create a connection to you, as I did before with the others. It'll allow me to heal you more effectively."
Eostre then feels a tingly sensation as the life link is established with her.
Evelyn pulls out the healing wand. "So... which one shall we wake...?"
Eostre nods at Evelyn's words as she life links with her.
"It takes more than a little magic to scare me, Evelyn. Thank you. I think I'll still try to avoid getting hurt, though. Seeing you cough up blood every time Nicat or Ekan got hit was hard to watch, and I'd rather not have you go through that on my account."
She smirks a bit when she asks who to question.
"First we need to grab them from Shalelu's camp, but my vote is Tsuto. At the risk of sounding sadistic, I think showing him Nualia's severed head will loosen his lips a bit."
"Right, Tsuto it is," Nicat concurs. He messes with the knots binding Tsuto's hands, seeking to be sure they're tight before the man returns to consciousness, before turning to Evelyn and saying, "How about you give him a tap with that?" Nicat doesn't notice when Shalelu quietly slips in behind him and re-ties the knots he's undone.
"Alright." Evelyn nods and gives Tsuto a tap with the wand.
"Wakey wakey!"
Tsuto sputters and coughs up some blood as Evelyn's wand forces him awake.
He doesn't say a word, instead glaring up at the party with a look that doesn't even bother hiding his hatred of them.
Eostre squats in front of him, getting to eye level.
"Your plans for razing Sandpoint are over, Tsuto. The Thistletop goblins are either dead or scattered, and your leader, Nualia Tobyn, has fallen to us as well. Only Malfeshnekor is left. And YOU'RE going to tell us all about him."
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Conner kneels down, takes out the severed demonic arm, and gives Tsuto a light slap on the face with it. "Now you can say she finally touched you."