Absalom Abberations - A Pathfinder Society Tale

Game Master Brian Minhinnick

Isn't it a little hasty of accusing Windy of being a traitor for the simple act of going missing like half a day after a brutal invasion where enemy force could casually field mid-tier demons, adult plus dragons, and nightshades?

Olympia Turkey follows Gianluca back to Argoo's estate and perches on the roof upon arrival to get some much needed rest.

Time flies.

According to Nyugelle's tests, something about the Argoo appears to be heavily altering her body chemistry. Most obviously, her dark grey exoskeleton is morphing into something more akin to obsidian black mammal hide. However, it also becomes clear that she is being extreme defiant about dying. Most other people would have likely expired within the first hour.

She occasionally returns to consciousness. During one such occasion, Sabby looks for Cladissa and frowns upon seeing that her best friend abandoned her isn't around. She sees Gianluca and uses her mantis arms to form a heart before fading again.

Occasionally, eyes that were never present on her physical form open and follow Nyugelle as she works.

"Argoo! Argoo Blakros! It's been like a year, and now we finally have a nickname for him! Nice!" she once says nonsensically before vomiting blood.

However, between the little bouts of Sabby silliness, it becomes clear that she is in unbelievable agony. There seems to be multiple layers. Physical is the most obvious, but her rambles seem to indicate that she is reliving past events that are not particularly pleasant...

"Hey there, little one! Why aren't you just the cutest cookie in the jar? ...Why are you crying? I'm nothing worth crying over!"

In another time and place...

"There, there, Shion. Setsu's here! ...Bokrug's Beard, this is going to be next two years of my life, isn't it?"

Setsuna wonders what could be upsetting her little sister. A few hours after putting the baby to sleep, Shion had started crying. While it seems that the littlest Kailiani is just being fussy, Desna's Champion has not been able to get her to stop.

It would be awhile before Jeevika could return to help; their mother had needed to take care of some emergency business back home in Greengold getting their father's final affairs in order, and she had not been willing to risk a teleportation with Shion. While the odds of a misfire are low, they could prove fatal to a baby. While she had been informed via Sending, Bokrug's Chosen had also burned most of her spells and resources earlier tossing out her own Sendings for important state business.

Again, Setsuna does not think there is anything physically wrong with Shion. The crying is not stemming from any of the baby basics such as hunger. A Heal spell had yielded all of nothing, and that usually fixes everything! After consulting her best friend Mr. Tears to Wine, Setsuna finds herself thinking that Shion is fussy because she is... sad. And not just any kind of sad; sad for someone else.

Desna Above knows that Setsuna has experienced that very same sorrow numerous times over the last seven or so months...

Setsuna ponders to herself as she gently cradles the baby. Waking up Shion does not seem to help. Her little sister would just fade like a candle in the wind a mere minute later and start dreaming again.

She closes her eyes and yawns; even though she only needed two hours of sleep, taking care of an infant is definitely exhausting.

The Oracle almost misses the part where Shion's eyes glow purple like the twisting tendrils and swirling spheres of Yog-Sothoth...

Now...

After securing Shion tightly, Setsuna spawns her inky wings to steady herself.

The littlest Kailani continues her sleepy whimpering, but it seems far calmer than before.

...Why am I in a lab?

While she had seen stranger before (few things would ever top watching her boyfriend's old crush reincarnate into an awakened dire crocodile- ...I really need to follow up with her!), being teleported by baby is definitely a new experience.

The other inhabitants are interesting. An attractive Mwangi or Garundi woman appears to be doing some kind of science tests. A giant Handsome Honey man is tending to a giant melted praying mantis snake beast. There's Olympus' long lost sister (?) peeking in through the window. And then there's a random cocoon sitting on a table.

...I better leave before they notice me. Should be easy enough. I've bested ancient Thassilonian horrors in the stealth game. I doubt these fools could-

Shion giggles (?) loudly.

Right. Baby.

"Hey there, little one! Why aren't you just the cutest cookie in the jar? ...Why are you crying? I'm nothing worth crying over!"

...Sabrina?

The Oracle's azure eyes glance at a now awake Shion and then back at the giant melted praying mantis snake beast that is evidently their big sister.

"What? How? Why? ...I have so many questions!" Setsuna groans audibly.

I meant Verde Heights in my last ooc comment about Rutai.

RE:Windy - As Dreng said, he's had his suspicions about Auronee for some time. Recall he's been in hiding trying to get to the bottom of things with his own limited resources. Also remember, The Onyx Order you are facing now is a composite of the original Onyx Alliance of Shadow Absalom, some Ivory Labyrinth demons under the now dead Graz'ith, and a secret splinter group within the Society (formerly known as the Shadow Lodge). Thanks to you guys ruining their individual plans during your adventures, they apparently found common ground and decided to team up against you and the Society. It would therefore stand to reason that Auronee was part of the Shadow Lodge (more of a self interested N/NE kind of thing), and has now fallen even further to the dark side along with the rest of the Shadow Lodge (into CE). You may not have heard the name Shadow Lodge in character, but that's kind of irrelevant since they don't call themselves that anymore and have now merged with the Onyx Order.

Yes, I did just make up the name Onyx Order. Mainly because calling it "the Onyx" was getting old, and it's needs a different name from the Onyx Alliance.

Because I missed the part where that wasn't at the Manir. Hard to get all the details when posting between work, baby, wife, and sleep. Lol. Instead, how about Rutai decides to search Dreng out for help and then says that.

Rutai flitted about in front of the door to the lab frustratedly. He could feel waves of various emotions from Argor, but none of it made sense. He flies off quickly, returning to the Grand Lodge. He looks about until he spots Dreng and Osprey coordinating things. "Dreng! Birdman! You gotta help Argor! That half-wit Nyugelle is experimenting on his...his...well...him! She ran me out! You gotta help!"

"Why would Nyugelle be experimenting on Argor?" Dreng asks, looking a bit annoyed at the imp's boisterous interruption.

The blazing afternoon sun is high in the sky when Cladissa appears in the courtyard of Verde Heights. Her mind still has her dazed from everything her mother told her, but she had other pressing concerns. The state of her team, first and foremost.

Assuming Gianluca would have brought the remains of Argor and Sabrina to Nyugelle, Cladissa chose the opulent estate as her destination. She quietly moves through the halls and reaches the antiseptic-smelling wing where Nyug still resides.

She peeks in to see a bustle of activity in the laboratory. Nyugelle spares a moment to give Cladissa a hug, then returns to her work while bringing her up to speed.

Sabrina seems to be clinging to life, but drifting into and out of delirious consciousness. Argor, fascinatingly, retains a spark of life force within the ooze that she had ccocoons.

Nyugelle had some incredible hypotheses about Argor's current state, but was unable to make contact with his mind to test those theories. I can, Cladissa suddenly realizes.

She reaches out to him mentally. ::Hello? It's me, Cladissa. Can you hear me?::

One of Sabrina's new eyes watches as her imaginary sister also does a double take of the four-legged woman staring at the Argoo cocoon like she could talk to it with her mind. Taking advantage of all the distracted people in the room, Setsu slips a magical size changing ring onto the baby's tiny finger, gently holds the infant's hand so that she doesn't try to eat the accessory, and then ducks behind cover.

A few second later, she hears the voice of Imaginary Setsuna talking gently in her ear. For some reason, Sabrina does not see either her or the cutiepie.

"Sabs, what's happening here? Why are a mad scientist, a discount drider, and a giant honey man holding you hostage?" her little sister whispers softly in Aklo.

"Oh, Imaginary Setsu! Don't be so silly! Those are my friends! You don't need to hide from them! They're just helping me and Argoo over there," Sabrina says loudly in Common.

"...Argoo? As in Argor? Argor Blakros? He's in the one in the cocoon?" the figment of her imagination replies quietly in Aklo.

"Yup! He just randomly melted! Classy there tried to put him in that cocoon, and I helped her, and I got some Argoo in my eye, and wow I have gorilla arms now!"

Indeed. Any observant eye would note that Sabrina has radically changed form in the last few hours.

Cladissa "hears" a wave of random anger and hatred spew back at her.

::Betrayed. Failed. Revenge. Hate. Death. Betrayed. Murder. Vengeance. Wrath.::

"Why is Classy staring at the cocoon so intently? It looks like she's trying to set it on fire with her mind..."

"I think she's trying to communicate with Argoo! Evidently, despite melting into a puddle of Argoo, Argoo isn't dead! Hey, Classy! Is Argoo saying anything to you? My invisible sister wants to know!"

"Why are you calling him Argoo? That's pretty disrespectful."

"Setsu, if I'm going to die, then I'm going to die on my own terms."

"Wait, you're dying?!"

"Yup, Imaginary Setsuna. The Argoo I got into my system is incredibly volatile! It's been shredding my insides into mush, and I've been hallucinating like there's no tomorrow. At least you're a pleasant one!"

Image reference link Cladissa doesn't look like a drider anymore. Plus, she hides her extra spider legs under her cloak.

Cladissa recoils from the psychic turmoil that is Argor's mind. "Ouch. That's... unpleasant. Not wholly unexpected, but yikes." she tells Nyugelle. "It's like he's made of the very essence of the Abyss. Nothing but rage and pain and hate. I would surmise we need to psychically soothe him, or we lose his soul to the demons, or he'll pull himself together as something truly horrific."

She sets her mind to begin puzzling out how to help him while turning to Sabrina. "Hey, you," she says soothingly. "Why didn't you try to wild shape into an elemental like I suggested? Can you try now? It might buy us some time while we figure out why Argor's substance affected you so strongly."

Hence discount drider, Classy!

"Oh, right! I completely forgot! I must've been distracted by my kidneys melting. One big, roaring fire elemental coming right-"

"You plan to spontaneously combust inside a wooden building in room filled with flammable chemicals?"

A pause.

"...One small lump of harmless dirt coming right up!"

Sabrina, who now resembles like a super mutated Nyugusk before he exploded, starts to twitch slightly. After a few seconds, she abruptly stops and groans in pain.

"It's a good plan in theory, Classy, but I felt myself starting to fall apart; I think three piles of Pathfinder goo is probably enough for the Society. As for why the Argoo affected me so strongly, well, I think Nyuggy concluded that it was because Argoo is currently an extremely volatile substance. Remember how the Nyug juice mutated you just through physical contact? Well, imagine mixing that stuff with all of Argor's hatred, anger, and sorrow and then take a big swig of it. Notice how you changed form again last night? Must've been because you touched the Argoo!"

"That was surprisingly insightful, Sabby."

"Thanks, Imaginary Setsuna!"

"You do realize that I'm actually here, right? I was originally thinking that this was just a stress-induced dream, but all of this is too... real."

"That's a good one!"

"Oh, how do I prove this... Be right back, Sabrina," Setsuna's voice grumbles as it fades away.

"Anyway, Classy, I think that it's time we get my final affairs in order. I-"

A piece of paper flutters down from seeming nowhere. One of Sabrina's new tentacles extends and picks it up. Another tendril grabs a pair of reading glasses from hammerspace and sets them on Sabrina's snout.

"'You do realize that I'm actually right here, right?'" Sabrina says as she carefully reads the text. "...Classy, is there anything on this paper? I've been hallucinating that my sister has been talking to me, but I'm start to think otherwise. She's too in-character! If I was truly imagining her, she wouldn't be so snarky..."

Sabrina holds the paper out for Cladissa to read.

Nyugelle gives a grim nod as she hears Cladissa's report of her psychic contact.

"That's pretty much as I'd feared. That said, I--cautiously--believe there's hope. You see, he also seems quite...malleable...influenceable right now. If we can inject things that could not only stabilize but guide him, we may yet save his life.

"Here. I plan to start with heat plus tin--a classic stabilizer combination in chymestry. Next some holy water as a way to combat any demonic taint. Then, Gianluca had the brilliant idea of adding some fluids born from an act of true and loving passion which we've, ahem, managed to procure." The alchemist gives a sly grin as she holds up a beaker. "Finally, I think Argoo may respond well to some alchemical essence of friendship. For that, I plan to use a drop of blood from myself and Gianluca, and would love to use one from you as well.

"Finally, I think it's very important that we keep Rutai away from him until he stabilizes. I see no reason to suspect that influence from a devil--or any outsider, frankly--would help him to ground and find a new equilibrium."

"You can use my blood as well, Nyugelle! Even if he's killing me from the inside out, Argoo and I are friends too!"

At the mention of fluids from an act of passion, a pair of beams of pure flame soar out from the goo of Argor and strikes the beaker holding them. They immediately char, burn, and incinerate completely, leaving not a single usable drop.

"Sabrina," Nyugelle replies. "You're a true friend to Argor...and the gods know he doesn't have many. That said, I'd like to see your condition stabilize first before adding in another potentially wild vari--YOW!!"

She leaps back shaking her hand as a vial is incinerated right from out of her hand.

"Ummm, I guess we better act fast. Here."

She drops in the molten tin and then steps back, but is pleased to see that nothing shoots out of the Argoo this time.

"You all right?" Gianluca asks. Seeing that her hand has only minor burns, he winks. "Fortunately the Passion of those who follow the Spirit of Abandon is never at short supply."

With a smile, Nyugelle says "We may have to come back to that. I want to act quickly now."

Next she pours in a small vial of holy water. The Argoo fizzes and bubbles with a momentary frenzy, but then seems to settle down again.

"OK then, blood time."

Nyugelle holds her dagger over a flame to disinfect it, and then drops in a drop of her own blood. Then she repeats the process with Gianluca and (assuming she's game) Cladissa.

She shudders involuntarily when Gianluca suggests his donation of body fluids and ironically agrees with Argoo's reaction.

Cladissa willingly allows Nyugelle to take a small blood sample. "Mother's milk," she suggests. "There's no truer -- or purer -- expression of love."

She also wonders if singing to the goo would have a positive effect. :-) It's worked before.

Cladissa stares at the paper with the neat handwriting on it. She shrugs helplessly at the rapidly mutating druid, not really understanding the strange phenomena surrounding her.

"Yes, there's writing on it. I'm sorry, Sabrina, I don't know what is going on with you. Yes, Argor's substance affected me, but not like this." She gestures at the twisted form. "Could it have been something else? The ethereal tendrils, the demonic magic, the dragon's blood, the nightshade -- there were a lot of mystical powers and energies last night. Any one of them could have sparked such a reaction. "

"Wow. Classy totally ignored my message. Oh, wait... Well, I lurk in the shadows corrected."

"Oh, be polite, my imaginary sister! They're busy! And if you're actually here, you should just drop the stealth game."

"Eh, I'm just surprised they're taking everything you say or do with such stride. I'm also actually fine just talking to you right now. I don't want to distract your friends, and I'm actually crafting my own plans to fix you, Sabs. There's got to be a good combination of spells..."

"SPELLS! That's it! Outstanding idea, Imaginary Setsuna!"

One of Sabrina's tentacles grabs a clean, empty beaker and then Creates a small amount of Water inside. A second later, it transmutes itself into a fine wine.

"Hey, Classy! Put a drop of this into the Argoo! I gave Argor the spell Tears to Wine for his wedding. He seemed quite pleased with my gift. It's not exactly love, but an act of friendship and selfless kindness? That's gotta count for something!"

The gelatinous mass of Argor quivers, bubbles, shudders, and steams as the various components are added to his body. The form then suddenly calms and changes color from reddish black to a muted grey.

"Because he is helpless and they don't actually care about him! He is a free thinking individual and they are doing things against his will! Who knows wha-a-AGGH!" he cries out as he suddenly feels a significant change in his Master.

"THEY ARE DOING THINGS TO HIM! I CAN FEEL IT! Isn't this sort of thing forbidden in your Society!?!? Come on!!!" he pleads as he begins to fly away, checking to see if they are following.

"We'll try that as well. But Sabrina, you should try to save your strength. I'll attend to you next, but I believe I need to reinforce the agents we've introduced."

Cladissa then leans over Argor's remains with a look of intense concentration. Steeling herself, she prepares to counter his negative emotions with positive. She pushes her mind toward the quivering goo and is instantly met with a backlash of vile thoughts. She counters each softly yet insistently. ::Betrayed. Trust. Failed. Perseverance. Revenge. Forgiveness. Hate. Love. Death. Life. Betrayed. Trust Murder. Healing. Vengeance. Mercy. Wrath. Peace::

She continues, steadily, countering each raging emotion with its opposite. ::Betrayed. Trust. Failed. Perseverance. Revenge. Forgiveness. Hate. Love. Death. Life. Betrayed. Trust Murder. Healing. Vengeance. Mercy. Wrath. Peace::

She pushes again and again, growing more and more insistent, rebuking the waves of anger and hate with gentle yet forceful love.

::Betrayed. Trust. Failed. Perseverance. Revenge. Forgiveness. Hate. Love. Death. Life. Betrayed. Trust Murder. Healing. Vengeance. Mercy. Wrath. Peace::

::Justice. Vindication. Resolve. Love. Loss. Loss. Loss. Betrayed...::: is all Cladissa hears in turn.

The mass begins to turn darker...

"Setsu, do you think you could help Argor?"

"I'm... worried that I'd make things worse. No matter how you slice it, my powers skew toward chaos. Azathoth is chaos incarnate, and Lady Desna is chaos given noble purpose. I'd hate to upset the harmony Classy seems to have achieved with him or ruin Nyguelle's hours of research and work. On a physical level, there's just not a whole lot for me to work with. I don't think a Heal spell would work on a pile of goo. And I feel like a louse for not helping. Mr. Blakros' helped us save Varisia from the stone giants. I..."

"I think that he would understand. Argor is a man of logic and reason. I... don't want to toot my own horn or anything, but I think that I'm probably one of the few people - besides the real Imri and perhaps Classy - who tried to... uh... acknowledge his strengths without also beating him upside the head about any perceived 'weaknesses' (valid or otherwise) that people seem to insist that he has. It's hard to explain... I... I think a better way to put it would be that I wanted to show him that I respected him. No strings attached. It sounds like Argor rarely got the respect he was genuinely due. People either wanted something from him, or... they opposed him. Rightly or wrongly... Granted, that's just my opinion," Sabrina says in a surprisingly somber and gentle voice.

"...That's very noble of you."

"Because he is helpless and they don't actually care about him! He is a free thinking individual and they are doing things against his will! Who knows wha-a-AGGH!" he cries out as he suddenly feels a significant change in his Master.

"THEY ARE DOING THINGS TO HIM! I CAN FEEL IT! Isn't this sort of thing forbidden in your Society!?!? Come on!!!" he pleads as he begins to fly away, checking to see if they are following.

"What do you mean he's helpless, imp? Did something happen to him?"

Grommesson doesn't know what happened to Argor, therefore Dreng doesn't know what happened to Argor.

"HE MELTED!! Turned into an ooze, a puddle, whatever! But he is still alive, I can feel it through our empathic link! And now they are treating him like, UNGH! Like a lab rat!"

Dreng raises an eyebrow. "That sounds most unlike them. Are you sure they aren't trying to help him?" He gestures around the Grand Lodge to the ongoing recovery effort. "What exactly do you expect me to do? I can't leave the Lodge right now, and if there is a crime being committed then you should go to the watch. I doubt they're going to have time for a devil with goo stories at the moment either. If they actually do harm Argor in some way, that would be a violation of the Society's rules and the other Freaks will be punished accordingly. But..."

Osprey flies down with a note clutched in his talon, passing it to Dreng. Then he lands and resumes his human form. "I'll go keep an eye on them."

Dreng looks extremely annoyed to be losing his aerial messenger, but nods reluctantly.

The kellid druid waits for Rutai to lead the way, then follows him.

After a flight back to Verde Heights, Rutai ushers Osprey in and to the lab, where he begins pounding his fists against the door. "Let me in!"

Heartened by the shift in the emotional turmoil, Cladissa sends more comforting thoughts. It occurs to her that Argor has never spoken of his mother, and she wonders if he ever knew her. Even though her own mother left much to be desired, Cladissa still recalled brief moments of happiness and tenderness from her childhood, so she tries to comfort him in the same way. Softening her mental voice to make it tender and nurturing, she answers his troubled thoughts.

::Justice. Patience. Vindication. Assurance. Resolve. Tempered. Love. Reciprocated. Loss. Shared. Loss. Sympathy. Loss. Compassion. Betrayed... Understanding:::

She blocks out the sound of urgent pounding on the door, focused on her task.

The shift in color of the goop stabilizes in the muted grey. Meanwhile, the banging on the door continues and intensifies.

::I...I...Cladissa...I failed her. They've had her this whole time...:: she hears briefly before the mental state shifts into a more primitive form once more.

Cladissa doesn't answer. That fact twists like a knife in her own belly. She only repeats the pattern, responding with positive to counter the negative as long as the psychic connection lasts.

The positive reinforcement seems to be keeping him stable, but the most intense changes came with direct manipulation of the physical composition of the ooze.

Osprey pushes the imp out of the way. "Hello? It's me, Osprey. Is everything okay in there?" he asks through the door.

"Bokrug's Beard, that Classy Velorryan sure is impressive! Look at her work! Such a wonderful gal~" Sabrina coes in sincere admiration as she and her sisters watch the other woman work.

"...Velorryan?" Setsuna finds herself asking as she gently rocks Shion, who has been nothing but amused by watching her two sisters chat. "As in... Atticus Velorryan? Dad's savior? Classy is his daughter?"

"Yup!"

Setsuna's attention turns full to little Shion and considers her little sibling. Thanks to her newly Permanent See Invisibilty spell, she can watch the invisible baby with no problems.

The little Half-Elf had once tried to take her Ring of Invisibility, and being a nice big sister, Setsuna let her try it on, though she took steps to make sure that Shion didn't try to eat it. After a spontaneous game of Peekaboo, Shion had learned to instinctively active the little device.

Hence Setsu's ability to hide her.

"...We wouldn't be here without Mr. Velorryan. None of us three would exist. His selflessness..."

Selflessness...

Mr. Blakros had assisted Setsuna and her friends when they had needed it, and he had done an absolutely magnificent job of rendering his assistance. Whether it was for pragmatic reasons, a favor to Sabrina, or just the kindness of his heart, Argor Blakros had really been there for the Varisian Rangers.

Setsuna recalls telling him their story, albeit a somewhat abridged one. It might be nostalgia, but he had seemed... sympathetic to their cause. If nothing else, it had spurred him to work quickly. He had been a true miracle worker when they had needed one.

"Mr. Balkros means a lot to you all, doesn't he?" Setsuna asks quietly.

"...Yeah. He took care of Nyugelle when she was sick. He's... done his best to support Cladissa. It might not have always played out like like we wanted, but he truly tries. He also... helped me when I really needed it, and he has never judged me for my... past," her older sister replies, her voice filled with both fondness and sorrow. "He's... a good man, I like to think. He can be so selfless. He's made mistakes, sure, but Yig knows we all have."

Setsuna nods, truly understanding the full weight of her sister's words.

She reaches into haversack and produces her Bountiful Bottle. In it, the contents of the Potion of Ward the Faithful. Both purchases from Argor. Based on what she knew about its pricing, the Bottle was likely not too hard for him to secure.

However, the Potion?

It is an incredibly potent brew. Very strong. Securing it in the mere hours that it had taken him was truly a feat. And it had probably saved Setsuna countless times since she had acquired it from him. It had given her just enough extra power to resist Desna knows how many awful fates...

And by saving her, it had saved the other Rangers as well. As much as Setsuna does not like to think about it, without her, the other Rangers would not have made it out of the Runeforge...

So in a sense, Argor Blakros has likely saved Varisia.

So in a sense, if Karzoug is as mighty as history indicates, if the Rangers do ultimately win that fated day, Argor will likely have some responsible for saving the wider world.

Setsuna cradles her Shion and glances down at her own belly.

So in a sense, Argor has also given the next generation a future...

Setsuna silently blesses the Potion of Ward the Faithful and channels some of her considerable divine power into it. She asks Desna to make sure that it is the best portion too. She fills it with her gratitude. She fills it with her respect. She fills it with her empathy.

Taking care to shield Shion, the Oracle silent slinks over to the brew and carefully pours the contents into the Argorian brew.

Thank you so much for your kindness, Mr. Blakros. I wish you a full recovery. Consider this a gift from the Varisian Rangers and the Kailani sisters.

Once finished, she returns to her sister's side...

Cole fades into spectral mist and reappears on the other side of the door. Lounging on the door's transom, he eyes Osprey languidly.

"Nyugelle, Cladissa and Sabrina are working to restore Argor to health. It is delicate work. They will see you to answer your questions once he has stabilized."

Osprey narrows his eyes at Rutai. "The imp here insisted you all were harming his master. I thought he was probably wrong, but you know...rules. I'll wait here."

The gel of Argor spasms as the potion mixes into his being. The dull grey begins to glow a golden sheen.

"Liar! You treacherous bastard! You know they aren't doing that, really! I can feel it! I...UUUUNNNGGGHHHH!" the imp groans and falters, landing on Osprey's shoulder, "How can you believe that...that thing's lies when you can see how it's changing him through my connection to him!" he adds meekly.

"All I see is a devil in pain." Osprey smiles.

Cole's yellow eyes narrow, but he remains nonplussed at the imp's theatrics. "I speak no falsehoods. Though to avoid a possible misconception, Sabrina is also being tended to, because her life too hangs in the balance. Yet, she still makes an effort to help Argor. I believe it may be tipping the balance in favor of recovery." Cole's voice is rich and smooth.

I imagine Cole sounding like Panthero from Thundercats now.

Rutai clenches his teeth, "Oh you lieing sacks of...uuunnngghhh...of SHIT! Your damned codes and laws mean nothing when you don't...don't want them to!"

Rutai falls to the floor and clenches at his abdomen, doubled over in pain.

"I give zero shits about the law. Except nature's law that is, to which evil outsiders like you are an abomination."

Recall how you met Osprey

Cole fades from his perch to reappear at Osprey's legs. He purrs approvingly.

Osprey, a surprisingly short man, reaches down to stroke the back of Cole's head.

Cladissa detects an invisible presence in the room. Though she continues her psychic link, a pair of large spiderlike legs slip out from under her cloak and begin to set lines of webbing around the table where Argor's remains lay.

She's not fast enough to completely rope off access to the ooze, and can smell a clean, pure liquid introduced into the Argor mixture. She notes the color change of the ooze, and hopes that whatever lurking presence is benign. She doesn't voice her suspicions that Sabrina's hallucinations of her sister may be more real than not.

Cladissa can feel a sudden acceptance and wave of comparative peace wash over Argor, before she hears I...I am....I. Am.::

The large glob of golden ooze slowly begins to solidify and suddenly a bit extends and forms into an arm! It places its palm down on the table and begins to push, and steadily a shoulder, neck, and head appear to pull itself free from the protoplasm.

Gradually, the ooze pool shrinks as a full human form pulls itself free from it. The completely nude form of a fairly well built man with skin seemingly made of pure gold rises to its feet before you. He has shoulder length white hair, and his eyes are golden orbs as well.

He looks at his hands and skin as if for the first time. He spots his staff leaned against the wall and extends his hand towards it, pulling it to him with his mind and magic. He looks around at the people surrounding him quietly, studying them like he had never seen them before.

Cladissa stands serenely before him, though her heart pounds anxiously in her chest. She expected some disorientation, and worried about pressing him too much, especially about recent events.

She takes a step closer to him, but nonthreateningly. She holds up her hand, palm outward, inviting him to make contact. "Do you know who I am?" she asks softly.

Argor looks at Cladissa, studying her face, body, and offered hand. He reaches up and takes it, placing her hand within both of his. "Most certainly, Cladissa. And thank you." he then looks to those around the room, "Thank you all. You've went above and beyond to help keep me alive. I am truly grateful."

He steps over to his gathered things and puts his clothes on. "Something seems off, though. I can tell the serum has changed me once more, but I can't put my finger on exactly what, beyond my appearance. But I feel like...like I've lost a hand or something."