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Ulfr steps to the side to try and get a flank on the monster he and ryn face. Then comes the thunder! In the form of a rumbling, growling song from Ulfr and a pulse of rage-magic that washes over all nearby!
He is much less flashy than Ryn, goddess of battle that she is. So while she spins about and her shield bounces unnaturally around the battlefield, Ulfr simply plants his feet and delivers a blow strong enough to drive a man's soul from his body.
He moved to close on the one casting magic at the party drawing his sword from his cane as he did so... the cracking of electrical energy sprang into life for a split second.
"You okay Azura?"
He hollered back clearly forgetting she had her own magics to take care of herself for a moment as he stabbed at the monster.
Azura's too busy singing to talk, but she gives Trendon a quick nod in the affirmative.
Saersha chanted and gestured and when she finished made a throwing gesture launching a handful of electricity at the nearest of the enemies.
Ryn's shield crashes into a thick part of her target's hide--unfortunately, it's not enough to harm it. Her thrown shield strikes the wand-wielding monster's tentacle-tail, causing it to fumble the wand several times before it barely manages to retain control of it.
Ulfr's club comes down hard on the seugathi's midsection--it feels like he's striking a stone wall, but his blow is enough to shatter stone. The seugathi lets out a wet gurgle!
Saersha's magical strike and Trendon's sword cane fail to find their marks--Trendon managing to narrowly miss the seugathi's mouth.
"Right! Go loud!" Abra yells as he and Embyr enter the fray. His twin swords flash in short, efficient slices!
Abra's first strike slices the seugathi's tentacle-tail clean off, causing it to shriek in agony! His off-hand wrenches a tooth from its maw!
Embyr tumbles into position--
--and the beast lunges forward to bite Embyr. Her arm disappears into its mouth... and the tip of her short sword pierces the top of the thing's head! It gurgles and dies around her, even as she winces in pain from being bit!
The two remaining seugathi advance, with one lunging forward to bite Ryn...
...only for its many teeth to grind against Ryn's shield!
The other one lets out a harsh gurgle before an ethereal violet fog billows from its mouth. It blankets the battlefield, and with it comes a clouding of thoughts...
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Azura continues countersinging, knowing that her friends will finish this fight quickly.
Ulfr and feel the fog poison his mind. Thankfully, he doesn't have to think about too much right now. He effortlessly harmonizes his song with Azura's countersigning and proceeds to charge through the fog toward the next foe!
The seugathi barely has time to react before Ulfr races through the mist and smashes his club into its maw!
Her free hand drawing her punching dagger from her hip in a blur, Ryn presses her attacks, hammering away at the beast with dagger and shield in a flurry of blows.
Ryn's shield and dagger readily pierce the seugathi's hide, drawing pulsing green sludge from the wounds!
Saersha realized she was in trouble when the fog appeared and she felt her mind fog over. She couldn't focus on what was happening but she did see her precious Embyr right there and knew what she wanted to do all of a sudden.
Fortunately she still noticed the fighting going on as one of the beasts tried to bite her Pet! Saersha's eyes narrowed in furry and she cast a spell Launching electricity from her hands at Embyr's attacker. Get away from her you freak!"
He felt a strange settle into his head and shook it once to clear it frowning as the feeling remained. He had a bad feeling about it that was for sure. He heard Embyrs cry of pain and Saersha's anger and sighed. Ryn and Ulfr could handle things on their own.. he was sure.
He moved to engage the seugathi that just bit the lust mage's pet.
The remaining two seugathi wither under the rallied party's assault.
As the seugathi fall, Ryn takes a moment to scan the battlefield, checking on everyone's condition. "Everyone okay?"
Embyr gasps for breath once the last one dies.
"I'm... I'm okay."
The merchant family behind the group crawls out from beneath their wagon, shaking in fear. "Is... is it over?" Bolgar asks, his beard now frayed and in disarray.
For now Ulfr rumbles. Let's move before anything else decides to visit.
"Yeah, better to be in a better protected location before we have to fight off anything else." Ryn agrees, gathering up the swords and wands left strewn across the battlefield.
"Anyone that can use these should take one" she says indicating the wands. "A great back-up option of shooting enemies from a safe distance."
"Agreed. Let's not stay in the ambush site. I trust that our guide might have some idea of where we can head for a semi-secure location along the way?"
Saersha was relieved the fight ended as well as it had and took one of the wands for herself before holding up the other and asking, "Is there anyone besides me who can use these? IF there is take one. They won't do much damage but they are better than getting close to those things."
He reached over and took the wand from the beautiful wizard with a wink. Slipping it into his belt he moved to the boysand their father, no doubt doing their best to buck their confidence.
"Tis over for now, be at ease. You have survived something that many would not have, and you faced it here. You didnt run, You stood your ground. Cheers to you."
He poured them all a small shot from one of his many small casks and raised the glass up before draining it. Then he went to the seugathi bodies and coating them in oil...
"Go on, i'll be along in a moment..."
He added waving his hands in a pretty pattern watching as they gradually alit with flame...He began to burn their corpses.
The caravan leaves the burning corpses of the seugathi behind, the mood decidedly quiet and tense. Abra's eye continues to twitch long after the smell of burning flesh goes away--and the merchant family going with the party is decidedly more nervous than before.
The presence of sunlight at the far end of the tunnels spurs the group onward--even as the sun's rays sting the eyes, it's a welcome respite from the pressing, suffocating darkness and cold of the underground. Before long, the caravan emerges, blinking, into the wonderfully wholesome daylight.
Next to the cave entrance is a large stone bunker, guarded by men who bear much the same equipment as Abra. The guide calls a halt to the caravan. "I'm going to have to report this incident to the others. Seugathi in the tunnels... we need to organize an expedition to root them out."
"Is this common?" asks Azura after the group emerges into the daylight. "Or did we just get unlucky?"
"And how much further is it to Kaer Maga from here? We may still want to stick together."
"That definitely makes the tunnel pass far more dangerous." Ryn agrees.
"Kaer Maga isn't far at all from here." Abra points down the road, past the bunker. "In fact, it should be--"
He's abruptly interrupted by a loud "HARRUMPH!" from Bolgar Grumm. "My word, I hope it is! I expected more competence from the supposed wardens of those tunnels--I thought we were all dead for certain!"
He blinks, his cheeks red and fuming in rage, before turning to the party. "No offence intended to you all, of course. You all conducted yourselves splendidly."
Abra clears his throat. "...Kaer Maga should be down the road from here. Just follow the large skeleton statues."
"But before you go..." He approaches Azura and presses a dark blue crystal amulet embossed with a golden arch and suspended from a black cord into her hand. "...I owe you a lot. If it weren't for your singing, we'd all be dead or insane down there."
"This is a greater halflight charm--something we Duskwardens only give to those who save one of ours. It'll let you see in the dark and act more swiftly when underground."
"Also, once a year, you can use it to call me into battle. Don't be frivolous with it, okay?"
"We truly appreciate it!" Ryn says with a smile, grinning at Azura "And yeah, her voice is a life saver. If the opportunity comes up to check in on things on our way back we will, otherwise, thank you for guiding us through."
"Oh, uh, thank you!" says Azura as she accepts the charm. "I was just using my talents to help us all survive, given how dangerous things got." She holds the amulet carefully in one hand, feeling the smooth crystal facets between her fingers.
"We do appreciate the guidance. You wardens put yourself at risk every time you lead someone through the passages, and it is not unnoticed."
With a glance to the merchants, she says, "We're almost there. We might as well finish the last leg of the journey together and then we can all gladly partake of what Kaer Maga has to offer."
Abra bows once before disappearing into the bunker.
The journey proceeds, with Bolgar grumbling about the incompetence of the Duskwardens and his sons Tuggus and Marl quietly doing their part to haul their wagon onwards. Before long, the road becomes lined with large statues of skeletons, each of them curled up into a cowering posture.
An hour passes before the city of Kaer Maga looms ahead, the road the party is currently travelling on leading to what appears to be a massive hole in the city's ancient stone walls, blasted apart by presumably some manner of magical cataclysm. Even in the distance, the group can hear the sounds of people chattering and see them milling about--the City of Strangers is not a place that ever seems to sleep, even from this far away.
The din rises as the party approaches, and when they pass through the blasted-open rent in the walls they find themselves in a shantytown of rickety scaffolding and even flimsier-looking shacks. The noise rises to levels more akin to the throngs of Magnimar, but even rowdier.
Azura actually engages a bit with Bolgar on the walk to the city, trying to tease out his actual grumbles. Is he upset that the wardens don't have total control of the tunnels and can't stop monsters from emerging? Or is he just grumbling because that's his response to being scared, his way of taking control of a dangerous situation in which he's helpless? Listening to his concerns, she asks a few soft questions to try to tease out the real root of his frustrations and perhaps help to soften his mood by the time that Kaer Maga comes into view.
Once the city's walls become visible, Azura becomes notably exicted. "We made it!" she says. "I'm sooo curious about this city and seeing what it has to offer."
To Bolgar she says, "Surely that's something to be happy about. You made it to your destination! Now you can sell and trade and buy with a smile. Looks like you'll have a chance to turn a profit, with the help of your boys."
To Ryn she says, "Sooo... what's our first move? I guess we'll need a place to stay. Then we just... follow the impulses from the fragments, I suppose?"
Azura's talk with Bolgar does much to ease his mind. From conversation, it appears he is genuinely disappointed with the Duskwardens' inability to completely safeguard the Halflight Path for caravans, while also still trying to process the sheer terror and helplessness he felt in the seugathi ambush. Mixed in with his disappointment is fear for his sons--he knows that such a traumatic experience was something he had little ability to protect them from, and he has no idea how to comfort them now.
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"...aye, assuming we reach Downmarket." Bolgar replies, his eyes darting all about. "From what I've heard of Kaer Maga, it's that the closest thing it has to a government are the ones in charge of each individual district."
Azura listens to Bolgar's concerns and nods. "Well, why don't we help you get to Downmarket. We have to find a place to stay anyway and I'm sure that there will be inns and rooms for let near there."
"That trip was pretty scary, but we don't always have control of our world. Sometimes we just have to take a deep breath, acknowledge what's happened, and then move on, taking charge of what we do control."
"Also, really shows how it's all the more important to hug your boys and tell them how much you are proud of them."
"Were you going to hire some guards while in the city? If it's as rough-and-tumble as you say, you might want some folks to make sure nobody tries to steal from you."
Bolgar looks over at his sons, at their downcast eyes and exhausted gait. "...yes..." He replies, his eyes starting to shine with a tear.
"...er, yes. I fully intend to hire some folk to protect my goods while I'm working. I don't suppose you could accompany me? You look like you have experience vetting people."
"I'd be glad to help; I'm sure that Ryn and Saersha can find us a place to stay and make the arrangements."
He had been quiet for the most part, aside from still feeling a bit of an outcast from the group despite knowing a few of them and only having the vaguest idea of how to help the man and his sons perhaps find some courage... (it involved drinking and wenching and bragging) He focused on trying to recall everything he had once been taught from his family on the city. After all he could have sword they had some trade from and to here...
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Kaer Maga is a small city made up of eleven districts, each with their own unique subcultures and means of disregarding the laws imposed by the outside world. The district you're currently in is called the Warren--a neighbourhood/petty kingdom filled with ramshackle homes, poverty and crime. You know it's a terrible idea to stop here; you remember a cousin paused here long enough to take a piss once and he was robbed of everything but his smallclothes in a short span of time.
Fortunately, Downmarket shouldn't be too far away. There's an inn of some repute the party could stay at there--it goes by the name The Velvet Elysian Post.
"We dont stay here friends... and neither do you good merchant. If we stay anywhere it will be at the inn "The Velvet Elysian Post." Watch your pockets. This place is crawling with skilled thieves."
He offered everyone quietly.
Azura takes on a more serious look and says, "Good advice, Trendon. Let's get through here as quickly as we can."