Lineera stares at the crow for a minute before mumbling "Didn't know crows croaked..." Staring at Pyewacket for a moment longer Lineera asks, "Where's Mahb, Pye?"
The raven cocks his head sideways, seeming to consider the question. He hops back and forth a couple of times then burbles ehk ehhhhk ekekekeekkkkk. After a moment, he takes to the air and circles the group before launching straight up, vanishing from the sight of those with normal vision. For those blessed with greater sight, they can see the bird rise up then head back towards the center of town.
** spoiler omitted **
Mahb finishes her meal and drink amid small talk, unwilling to test the tavernkeeper's patience further. Almost on cue, the raven alights outside the tavern and taps insistently at the window with his beak. The hag pushes the trencher away with a contented sigh. "Guess that's my sign to go... Thanks. I haven't et this well in awhile. I owe ya for that and the advice - I'll remember it. Good night." She comes off the stool, grabs her cane and hefts her meager pack of goods onto her back. She hobbles out the door and looks to the waiting bird. "Let's go, Pye."
Minutes later...
Following the raven, Mahb rejoins the group. Without preample, she shares what she learned...
Lineera shrugs as the bird flies off, and successfully intuits the need to wait for Mahb to arrive. With Mahb's arrival, Lineera listens to the sudden dump of information from Mahb. "Geez Mahb, after too many years of learning how far a genuine please and thank you can take you in life, you're making me look like an idiot." Lineera grins somewhat embarrassed. "Guess I still got a lot to learn." Letting Mahb and Pyewacket lead the way, Lineera knocks quietly on the door to the abandoned house before entering and making herself at home.
Mahb looks curiously around Agnes' home as she replies to the drow. "You read the tavern and the town wrong." She shrugs, "It happens. By-the-by there is a more well-to-do tavern on the other side of town. You all might have had better luck there." She sniffs at an abandoned cup and wrinkles her nose before adding. "If it makes ya feel better, doin' what ya did probably loosened up the tavernkeep's tongue for me... so it served a purpose. Though I wouldn't suggest you do that again." The hag chuckles at the memory. "An' I think one of you pretty folks is gonna have ta pry more information about this 'Tanyasha' out. Not sure if she was a necromancer or got disappeared by one... but I'd like to take a quiet look at her home."
The old house is built on the stump of an ancient tree, and still looks in decent shape. It's obviously been abandoned for several years, but it looks relatively undisturbed other than the obvious animal incursions. It's a 2 story house, round, with an old dock sticking out into the water. Swamp House
The group has to move spider webs off of just about everything. The bottom floor has a kitchen and a common room. Upstairs there's a single bedroom and what looks like an alchemist's lab. Most of the reagents are spoiled by time or critters, but the tools look to be good quality.
Beyond the alchemy tools, there's not much in the house that's worth anything. There are some alchemy books on the shelf, but they are rather delicate from not being taken care of for awhile.
Eva had remained mostly quiet since the brawl had started. This one, hadn't gotten to bad, but still. Her mind was too many other places running on ideas, theories and strange happenings.
"What if... This Tanyasha is like Thomas?"
Eva smiled when she came across the Alchemist Lab and the books. "With some care and attention, these would be very useful. They aren't beyond repair yet."
Mahb continues to rummage through the house and, strangely, starts checking the beams for sturdiness and the floors for weak spots. "If this Tanyasha turns out to be a Tommas... Well, I 'spect we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it."
After finishing the home inspection, she concludes, "I may have to git this place. It's got good bones, decent location once I handle the frogs-etin'-people problem, and the townsfolk don't judge."
The beams are extremely strong, and all fit together without gaps.
The beams are all very solid, as is the floor, because they are all one piece of wood. The floor looks like planks, but it's just grooves, underneath it's solid. The beams join in with the walls, and the wall panels are all solid as well. In fact, they literally grow into each other. It looks like someone used magic to warp or shape the wood into one giant heavily interconnected structure.
Mahb openly admires the craftsmanship. "This place was put together well."
Cathran runs a finger along one of the seamless beams, and comes off with a thick layer of webs and damp swamp dust. "I am surprised that it seems in such good shape, considering how filthy it is." The half-elf's face is a mix between disgust and admiration, but it passes to her usual steely look soon enough.
"You know, Mahb," she begins with a serious expression, "I have been contemplating something. The people of Illmarsh seem to have taken to you much better than most in Perdition's Point ever have. And if those people are the kind that take a liking to you, what does it say about me that I consider you a friend?" Cathran shoots her a small smirk before regaining her stony composure.
When Eva voices her concerns, Cathran grows quiet, focused. "Hopefully this Tanyasha has not met a fate like that. In all honesty, however, I am more worried about the purported necromancer's tower." The half-elf's brow furrows and her fists clench reflexively at the mention of the place. "I have been to similar places--wicked dens for grotesque crimes. Whatever we find there is sure to be dangerous. I just hope that we are prepared enough for what we may find."
Lineera begins cleaning along with Cathran, damping the edge of her cloak with water and wiping away whatever filth is most noticeable. "You'd think at least the boards would've warped by now, if not just rotted entirely, this is a swamp after all." Lineera smiles at the find of the alchemy lab. "Well that should be good for the Cheerful Duck, eh, Eva? Makes me glad I'm enough of a pack-rat to require a wagon to carry home around with me!" She laughs lightly, then coughs, and presses a hand to her chest. "Ugh, and here we were trying to go to the nicer inn in town, wonder how we botched that so badly?"
Lineera stretches and states "Well, at least we've got time before the solstice. It's as good of a place to start as any, but I doubt we're really going to be getting lucky and finding the right place on our first try." Throwing a smile at Cathran, she adds, "But hey, between an undead hunter and a necromancer, doubt there's much in there that can really give us much trouble at this point, right?"
Upon cleaning, the area is not nearly so bad (mostly it's the spider webs). The living room is big enough for everyone. The upstairs bedroom smells oddly, almost certainly the result of rotting rushes from the bed.
The small kitchen cleans up enough to use easily enough. The old cast iron stove and steel pipe is still solid enough to put a fire in.
"You know, Mahb," she begins with a serious expression, "I have been contemplating something. The people of Illmarsh seem to have taken to you much better than most in Perdition's Point ever have. And if those people are the kind that take a liking to you, what does it say about me that I consider you a friend?" Cathran shoots her a small smirk before regaining her stony composure.
Mahb lets out a laughing snort, "It says you all have very poor judgment."
"You'd think at least the boards would've warped by now, if not just rotted entirely, this is a swamp after all."
The hag clucks, "Ah, but this house is magic. Ol' Agnes warped the wood and even the tree itself to create it. Fine work."
Lineera offers an appreciative "Huh!" before asking "Does that mean that the house is still alive? In its own way?" Lineera begins seeing to lighting the fire in the kitchen. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure I worked off that miserable stew in the fight, anyone else want something else to eat?"
Riley sits in a corner to rest his back and watches the others settle in. "I am famished. Do you need any help?"
"Yeah, I could use someone to gather wood, and someone to help me chop and such. Don't wander far if you go out there though, need to be careful of what's out there." Lineera offers a smile to Riley, her eyes lingering on him for a moment. Then she steps outside to her wagon, and gathers from a couple of storage barrels various ingredients of the dried variety. Taking them inside, she cooks what ends up being a simple, but still enjoyable meal of small pieces of flat bread with boiled wheat and beans spiced in a somewhat spicy but sweet blend.
As she cooks, she tentatively broaches the subject that's been on her mind. "You know, I think that brawl had a lesson in it. The deputy was right, our coordination isn't exactly what it could be. I mean, it was pretty sudden, and most of us are more used to fighting with weapons than our fists, and we were just outclassed to be honest... but excuses aside, I think perhaps we should all take inventory of what we're all good at and see if we can't build our coming battles around that a bit more strongly."
Riley smiles shyly at Lineera's glance. "I'll be right back then!" He heads out and gathers dead wood. He stays close to the cabin though.
When he returns, he helps around the kitchen.
At dinner "I am better when flanking an opponent. I do much more damage that way. Hitting vital areas and all."
"I suppose for me, really it all comes down to a few things. In general, most of my expertise comes down to necromancy, but that fortunately includes fighting them. I can generally take control of them, and disrupt their ranks a bit. I also know a lot about what they're weak against, what they're strong against, so I'll generally try to remember and call out what weapons you should use or strategies you should try." Lineera pauses for a bit to eat. "Beyond that, I've learned to extend this to the living to some degree, can cause people to freak out and run, could help prevent those necromancers from being too much of a menace like last time. I suppose while we were in town, I did pick up some nifty armor, it's made for catching arrows and the like, so while I can't say I'm exactly the sturdiest person out there, if we're going into anything like that cave from the first time, I'm better prepared now."
Lineera rubs her neck briefly before continuing.
"But um, well. I'm also fairly adept in the Drowish magicks. I can help illuminate hostile targets, make them glow so you all can target them easier without having to make targets out of ourselves by lighting torches and such. I can make things dark too, but I've been practicing at it, and I can actually make it dark even for me. If we need some way of hiding from the undead while we make an escape or something, that might be the way to do it. Um... what else... I uh, I can make things levitate, so that's... interesting? If we need to, maybe I can see about getting us to the top of that tower they mentioned, without actually going in the front door. Probably a stupid idea though, never mind."
Belly already full and feeling a tad sleepy (were she were inclined to admit it) Mahb finds a seat by the fire. She pokes at it with a stick. "If you were asking my opinion - which you ain't - I'd say cataloging what you can do is a small bit. It's more about how ya work together. Part of that is timing and coordination, an' the other bit is knowing what helps your allies... and caring more about that then shinin'."
Riley acts as he if he doesn't notice Lineera's hesitancy. No one can help their heritage, but what you do with what you are given... His thoughts trail off as Mahb throws out her usual bit of wisdom. He nods his head in agreement.
Lineera stares at the ground, "I know, you're right Mahb. I just think we'll all need to know what exactly we're capable of before we can really work on the rest."
Mahb grunts, looking sleepy. "Not saying that isn't a good and necessary idea, girl. Just saying that knowledge don't do you much good if you don't apply it - and that is the hard part. Take young Riley there. If he goes rushin' in all headstrong and no one is in a spot to mask his approach, say with magical darkness, or set a flank for him... he ain't gonna be effective, not as much as he could be. So quick Riley there maybe needs to slow his actions to let others help him before he moves... and others gotta be willing to do that instead of handling things their own way." The hag struggles to find an analogy. "Let's say there is a spider and I got a boot. I can smash that spider. But maybe I should hand that boot to Riley 'cause he can smash it better and quicker."
"Always be thinkin' about the goal and the best way to get there together. I'm a witch. Like my sisters, we don't have a great big skill set... and our reputation ain't great neither. We been hunted for quite some time and they've never finished us off. Wanna know why? Because if we ain't keeping our heads down and working alone, we're working in a coven. And the strength of a coven is we know how to 'hand the boot' to the sister who can best use it."
The drow girl makes a bit of a face when Mahb says "sisters" which seems to soften in relief when it becomes apparent she means other witches and not blood-siblings. Lineera laughs when Mahb finishes the analogy. "I suppose that's one way of putting it! Well, how about you then, Mahb? How do you best swing a boot at a spider?"
Cathran listens carefully to her comrades in arms before weighing in. "I must admit, I was used to working on my own when I returned to Ustalav--and before that, of course, I only traveled with one other. I have usually relied on a good bit of distance to keep my opponents at bay," she says, indicating the bardiche that leans against the wall of the sculpted tree. "I had always acted as a sort of defender for Elda. If we are handing Riley a boot to kill a spider, so to speak, then I aim to keep the spider from sinking its fangs into our now-barefoot witch. I suppose it is something like that, anyway; I was never very good with metaphors," Cathran somewhat sheepishly admits. "Essentially, stay close and I will do my best to keep any danger from reaching you."
Lineera listens to her companions describe what they're good at, what Mahb advised, and tries to pull it all together as she eats her meal. "Well, I think I may have an idea here then." Lineera sets aside her bowl and begins referencing her plan across the empty table. "Now, there's generally two of us who are more specialized to stand up at the front lines: Riley, and Cathran." Lineera rather shyly acknowledges "Now, I'm willing to be up there too, but frankly I'm not much in a fight compared to you two. But generally, I need to be kind of up close to do my work, so here's my suggestion."
Lineera indicates a broad area on the table "If whoever we're fighting is over here... And let's say that Riley's here." Lineera jabs a finger at another point on the table, in front of the previously circled area of enemies. "I'd say that Cathran, position herself here." Lineera points at a spot on the table a little back and to the left of Riley. "And I'll be here." Lineera points a little back and to the left of Cathran. "Basically, we'll form a bit of a diagonal line, with Riley at the front, Cathran in the middle, and me in the back. If we generally fight like this, I think we'll get good results. Basically, Riley will lead us in, and Cathran will support him, keep him safe. Then, when the enemy comes at us, they'll probably all go after either Riley, or you, Cathran, and mostly ignore me. If they go after Riley, you can keep them from being that effective from what you've told me, Cathran, and with a little adjustment, me and Riley will be able to swing around and get on either side." Lineera traces a line from Riley and herself, showing them hitting either side of the imaginary enemy. "If they go after you though, they'll have to muscle past Riley, and there's a good chance they'll get cut down before they get to you. If they do though, I'll move up..." Lineera traces a line of imaginary Lineera moving up. "And I'll get whatever enemy it is pinched between me and Riley, where he'll be at his best."
"If they got the numbers and try to flank us, we'll just keep moving in a bit of a circle around Cathran. Basically me and Riley will spin like a wheel with Cathran as the spoke. So if anyone's trying to surround me, I just keep pulling away and swinging, while Cathran probably gets some hits in too, and same if they try to surround Riley, he pulls away while swinging and Cathran keeps getting swings in. If there's too many for us to pull that off well... well, we should probably just run." Lineera grins a little sheepishly as she admits to having no idea in that case. "Mahb, Aurora, and Eva can generally stay back and act as support to us and help with bow, bomb and spell. ...So what do you guys think?"
Cathran nods. "It sounds like a viable strategy to me. I also have this, in case we need it:" she says, pulling out a small vial that Eva cooked up for her. "One drink and I should grow as tall as those crustacean people that attacked us on the way to Caliphas."
"Yeah, I'm best at range where I can chuck things at people." A wide grin stretches across Eva's face. "Doesn't have to be just bombs. And I can make all sorts of things that you can throw too, or use on yourself. I do try to not hit friendlies since some of my attacks can hit an area, making hitting multiple targets close together possible."
"I suppose that's one way of putting it! Well, how about you then, Mahb? How do you best swing a boot at a spider?"
The hag shrugs, "Well, I'm mostly rubbish against the dead but... ya might say that my talent is handin' you all the boot by making sure the spider trips over itself. When that fails, the elements been known to help me."
"I had always acted as a sort of defender for Elda. If we are handing Riley a boot to kill a spider, so to speak, then I aim to keep the spider from sinking its fangs into our now-barefoot witch. I suppose it is something like that, anyway; I was never very good with metaphors," Cathran somewhat sheepishly admits. "Essentially, stay close and I will do my best to keep any danger from reaching you."
The sleepy hag casts a long sideways look at Cathran, noting something in the woman's words or delivery. "That's a kind offer an' I won't say no. But know that I've got more'n one boot for spiders, close or far." She chuckles, "If it comes to using that chopper to protect an old woman or finish off an enemy... take the enemy. A dead man is less of a problem..." She glances at Lineera and factors in her profession, "usually."
Lineera nods, apparently satisfied with the results. "In that case, I guess you'll mostly focus on the necromancers themselves, then? If we get the chance, do you think we should all gang up on them to take advantage of the opening, or just leave them to you like you'll probably leave the dead to me?" After getting Mahb's response, Lineera nods. "Sounds good then. Well, I'm thinking I'm getting tired, does anyone think we're in dangerous enough territory to bother setting up watches, or should we just sleep?"
The next morning, the group gets up early and heads deeper into the swamp. There's not a lot of light, there's a perpetual gloom over the swamp, as if the clouds over head can't seem to gather up the will to move on to another place.
It begins to drizzle within an hour of their leaving the witches haunt, the cold rain dripping down in just big enough drops to be annoying, but not heavy enough to make them stop and go back.
The swamp is eerily silent other than the patter of the cold rain.
The swamp is oddly quiet, no frogs, no birds, no insects.
Eventually, the fog thins some, and an old tower comes into view in the mist. It looks millenia old, so old the stones have begun to show some signs of erosion from the water running off of it.
It's another 40 minutes before the group gets to the base of the tower, which is a good 100 ft across at the base, although most of that base appears to be support structure for the top. As they get closer, they begin to see skeletons sunken into the mud and overgrown with swamp plants and roots. The humanoid skeletons often have remnants of metal and leather armor strapped to them, but it's long since turned to rot or rust. The animal skeletons, everything from horses to alligators, seem to grin at the party as they march through.
Finally though, they arrive at the base. Before them is a giant metal bound stone door. It's open about 3 ft. Inside is dark.
Hairs stand up on the back of Cathran's neck as they traverse the swamp, and she nearly jumps when water droplets roll off the overhanging leaves and land in her collar. "Be wary of this place," she whispers, despite the party's apparent isolation. "Swamps may be dreary places for us, but they are quite lively with animals--or they should be. Do you all hear that? There are no bird calls; no frogs croaking; I feel like I have not swatted at a single buzzing mosquito. That we have entered a fearful, unnatural place is almost guaranteed." She tightens her grip on the sickly purple wood of her bardiche, her body tense as they navigate the bog.
The half-elf feels assured of her condemnation of the place as they pass the sunken skeletons, with their foul grimaces. Cathran grits her teeth as they advanced, on high alert, feeling as though the bones may rise from the ground at any second. Once at the base of the tower, she forces herself to take a calming breath, but retains her deadly focus. "The door is open--out of abandonment, do you think? Or perhaps a trap," Cathran whispers, eyes flicking from the tower to the skeleton-riddled swampland. "In any case, we will likely be entering at some point. Shall we obtain a light source and enter here, or look for other options?"
Lineera nods at Cathran, "You're right. It was quiet at night, but I thought that was just the way it was. Right now though... there should be something at least."
On the approach, Lineera frowns at the sprawling boneyard of half-exhumed bodies, and slowly scans her gaze across it. "I suppose now might be a good time to remind everyone that skeletons are best beat by swift application of a truncheon." Lineera offers an uncomfortable smile as she continues walking. Lineera looks up at the tower and grimaces.
"Yeah, don't think I could just get us to the top even if I wanted to. The base slopes away too much, it's a shame though, I don't like just going in the front door. Be nice to have the element of surprise at least. But I can handle the lighting, I'm guessing we're not going to find any wood good for torches out in the swamp, too wet. We'll just have to use whatever we brought, I can help with some magic too." Lineera motions for her companions to slow down, and creeps towards the door, and peers into the darkness, hoping her eyes can see what her friends can't. Determining what she can a few feet from the door, Lineera retreats back to the group.
There is a strong aura of necromancy emanating from everywhere you turn your head. The aura doesn't seem centered on anything, it seems to be coming from everything. It's making it nearly impossible to pick out anything else. You can't even sense the magic auras from your companions items.
You see, through the opened door, a paved stone entryway that is canted at a slight angle (about 8 degrees). The whole tower is slightly off kilter.
"Looks like it goes up from the entry. I didn't detect any poison in the area, so the door itself at least doesn't have any poisoned traps in it. But... there's just... way too much necromancy here to be an old and ignored building. It should've faded by now, looking at how old this place is. I'm not sure if our quarry is in there, but there must be something, and whatever it is feels powerful."
Lineera shakes her head. "I dunno, maybe I'm just jumpy. But this place is thick with necromancy, thicker than that ritual we broke up. Can't even really detect any other types of magic, even one's I know should be there, like the one on my scabbard." Lineera lets out a short, humorless laugh, and states, "I guess hunting necromancers in the swamp isn't really the safest thing... not that that really needed stating. I don't see the harm in us looking for a second way in, but I'm guessing we're going to just have to take the entrance offered us. Unless anyone think's they have rope long enough to reach higher up."
The hag throws the raven aloft. "See what you can see, Pye... windows, enemies, whatever. And be careful." She then summons a light onto her walking stick.
The bird slowly rises and circles the tower.
"I'll take a closer look. Hey Lineera...will you hit me with a little blessing? (guidance)"
After the blessing, Riley edges up to the door checking the ground as he steps and eventually the door.
With the request to hit him with a blessing, Lineera finds room for a more humorous smile and gives Riley a hefty smack across the back. "Go get 'em, Lucky, Pharasma shows you the path that leads to her (don't take it)."
Lineera then draws her shield and sickle and takes her position in the previously discussed plan behind Riley.
"Lucky" shoots the beautiful elven oracle a charismatic smile and a quick wink before sneaking up to the door.
Riley and Lineera head up the curving and crumbling stairs to the door, and look inside. Inside is an open area filled with debris, dirt, dust, mold, old skeletons, bits of ivy and vines that infesting the tower, and what looks like a massive stone obelisk in an alcove on the other end of the entry area. There are some doors off the entry area, and a small hallway.
"I am ready whenever you are," Cathran asserts in a low tone. She grips her weapon with hands like vices; her gaze is distant but her eyes burn with a cold fire; her whole frame tenses at the entrance to this place of necromancy. Whatever this tower holds, the ranger is clearly intent on its destruction. She moves forward with Lineera and Riley in their staggered formation, relying on Mahb's light to keep a sharp lookout for trouble.
Lineera walks in quietly, her eyes sweeping back and forth. Apparently missing Cathran's kill-all-undead mentality springing forward, Lineera mutters. "You know, if this place was next to a nice town, and I wasn't expecting things to jump out and try to kill me... this wouldn't be a half-bad place to set up shop..."
Mahb follows the warriors in, more curious than concerned.