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As color comes back into her cheeks a bit more, Quasit leans on Sakitu's arm and smiles weakly.
"Thank you. Yes, I think you are getting the hang of that thing. I feel much better."
She looks down at the bodies of the guards about her feet in silence for a moment, then speaks again, in a quiet voice.
"It was the queerest thing, Saki. I think I must have been dreaming while I was unconscious there. I thought there was a little man, standing on my chest. He had this silk rope and he was strangling me with it. His eyes were dark and cold, like a doll, and he was grinning at me the whole time, like it was some wonderful joke. It was horrible. And I was thinking, as I struggled for breath, I thought 'This is how the rest of eternity will be for me'. And that's what was so queer about it. As horrible as it was, I just accepted it. I was prepared to lie there and be strangled forever." She looks back up at Sakitu. "And then there you were. And it was all over."
Suddenly she hears a clang of metal and a loud grunt comes from behind her, in the barracks room.
"What's that?... Are they still fighting? she says in a tense, alert quiet voice, her eyes wide. She clutches the doorpost. "There's no end to it, is there? We have to murder our way across Irrissen. One miserable wretch at a time."
Bulvi sits on one of the beds near him. "That felt like an eternity."
Rolling his neck he calls out to Quasit. "Are you alright?" He seemed to just sag in place afterwards as he awaited her response.
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Quasit comes into the room in answer to Bulvi.
"I feel like an ogre chewed me up and spat me against the wall. But otherwise, yeah."
Her belly is still featuring a nasty gash and there is a new wound in her shoulder. Her studded leather is so full of rents and holes as to be almost comical at this point. And she looks pale, and even more bedraggled than ever.
She sits down on a bed near Bulvi.
"I can't get over how they all just burst out of those rooms and attacked us like that. They seem to know exactly who we are, and were just waiting for us to open that door. It must be those damned mirrors. So I guess there's no point trying to be sneaky any more. From now on, we just assume everyone knows we're here and is going to try and kill us. We're going to face ambushes in every room and traps around every corner. And the heavens alone know how many more enemies are in this place."
She looks down at the floor and shakes her head dejectedly. "I don't know. Maybe Selena is right. Maybe we can't do this. Maybe we should just cut our losses and try and escape from here. Why is it our job to save the world?"
Her voice is growing almost petulant now. She looks around and gathers up a pillow from the bed and hugs it against her ghastly belly. "I'm not a hero. I'm just a girl who's in way over her head. And I don't want to die."
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"Fin, I'm serious!" says Quasit. "I mean... what are we doing here?... it's crazy! It's just suicidal! We're just kidding ourselves!"
As her voice rises, she suddenly winces with pain and clutches the pillow closer to her belly.
"I mean... dammit, did you see me a couple minutes ago? I went running out there waving my little sword in my hand like I was Iomedae reborn, and the next thing I knew I was surrounded and cut to pieces. I should be dead. I DESERVE to be dead. I was stupid and sloppy. We're just lucky there wasn't a necromancer hanging around this time to raise all these guards as zombies like the last time I nearly died... which was, what, two days ago?"
She shakes her head in bewilderment and then gives a single sardonic chuckle.
"You wanna hear something that'll make you laugh? You remember back in the village in Taldor? Back when Yu Khan and Alexia were still alive? You know why I joined this little party to find the missing noblewoman? Because I'd just spent my last copper on an apple. I needed money, and I didn't want to have to steal my next meal and sleep in some barn. That's it. And the next thing I know, I'm whisked off on this crazy mission to save the world. And for a while I've been stupid enough to believe we could do it."
Her eyes start to tear up.
"Ugh, I'm crying again! This is so frustrating! I feel like a complete fraud. I wanted to do something that would.... I mean... argh!... I wanted my life to mean something! I got caught up in all this. But I'm sick of all this killing! I'm either going to end up dead, or my soul is going to be drenched in the blood of all the lives I've helped take! I mean, doesn't it bother you guys?"
She's openly crying now. She buries her face in the pillow.
"Gods, I'm just babbling now... I just want to go home. I hate this place."
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Fin, always awkward in such situations, puts what he hopes is a comforting hand on Quasit's shoulder...
"Q...I was serious too....I'm sure it has not escaped you that I am reserved in showing emotions and most economic with my words, to say the least. In the Elven community I was brought up in, revealing emotions was seen as weakness...if I die among you, at least I know you will show much more emotion and concern than any of my family and 'friends' back home would..."
The ranger sighs lightly before continuing on. "I know not where our path leads but I promise you, I will do all in my power to see that you do not die on this journey..."
"You know what's funny about what you said. Iomedae, I can imagine her before she was a god, before she was a powerful paladin of Aroden charging up against the Whispering Tyrant she was just a woman. A squire I suspect who was probably plenty scared in her own time."
"I remember hearing a priestess of hers going on about one of her early great acts... she was fighting witches, just like you are today. She didn't start at the Starstone or knee deep in undead fighting the most terrifying Lich in history. If you could ask her opinion I think she'd say you're doing pretty alright all things considered." Bulvi gives her a playful poke with his elbow before putting an arm around her.
"Part of me would like nothing more than to find a portal to bring you home spend some of that wealth to keep you safe and fed... but honestly I don't think that's going to happen. I can honestly say I feel a lot better going on this crazy outing with you watching my back... but I have to admit part of me wants to go home and let someone else deal with it. But I'm not sure if there is just yet, I'll admit the worlds in trouble if we are as good as it gets but I think for now we've got to hold out until the real heroes show up... and if they don't we'll have to do the best to be heroes ourselves."
Bulvi sighs "Maybe you'll even go to the Starstone some day if we are stuck doing this long enough and become Quasit God of Apple Thieves."
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"... In the Elven community I was brought up in, revealing emotions was seen as weakness...if I die among you, at least I know you will show much more emotion and concern than any of my family and 'friends' back home would..."
Quasit is too deep in self-pity mode to react much to this until Findurel mentions his family and friends with a hint of sarcasm in his elegant voice. Then she looks up at him and blushes a bit. She seems to look at Findurel in a different way now.
"Yeah, well, I'm all about emotion." she says with affected lightness to her voice, and wipes her face dry roughly. Then she grips his hand as it rests on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you... you know. I guess being nearly killed put me in a weird mood. Go figure. I'm sorry."
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"You know what's funny about what you said. Iomedae, I can imagine her before she was a god, before she was a powerful paladin of Aroden charging up against the Whispering Tyrant she was just a woman. A squire I suspect who was probably plenty scared in her own time."
"I remember hearing a priestess of hers going on about one of her early great acts... she was fighting witches, just like you are today. She didn't start at the Starstone or knee deep in undead fighting the most terrifying Lich in history. If you could ask her opinion I think she'd say you're doing pretty alright all things considered." Bulvi gives her a playful poke with his elbow before putting an arm around her.
Quasit grimaces a bit during this story, still looking down, but she settles into his embrace and even leans into him a bit.
"Part of me would like nothing more than to find a portal to bring you home spend some of that wealth to keep you safe and fed... but honestly I don't think that's going to happen. I can honestly say I feel a lot better going on this crazy outing with you watching my back... but I have to admit part of me wants to go home and let someone else deal with it. But I'm not sure if there is just yet, I'll admit the worlds in trouble if we are as good as it gets but I think for now we've got to hold out until the real heroes show up... and if they don't we'll have to do the best to be heroes ourselves."Bulvi sighs "Maybe you'll even go to the Starstone some day if we are stuck doing this long enough and become Quasit God of Apple Thieves."
Quasit snort-laughs. "For the record, I paid for that apple."
She sighs and roughly rubs up her hair, making it even messier. "I know you're right, there's no good way home at this point. We're just stuck in this ridiculous situation. And if the world is counting on us to stop all the winter witches of Irrissen from blanketing the world in snow, then who am I to say no, right? Even if it IS hopeless."
She breaks out of his hug and turns to face him.
"I know it sounds like I'm scared of dying, and I know you guys are trying to help. And you're being really sweet, thank you. But that's not really it. I'm such a jabber-jaw, you'd think I'd be better at making myself understood. It's just... it all seems so pointless and endless. I've lost count of the number of lives I've taken of men and monsters over the last couple days, and it just seems like there's no end to it. Before all this started... I mean, I've had to fight, and I've killed a couple people in self-defense, helping my brother out back home. But that's part of why I left Cassomir. And it's partly why I washed out as a Pathfinder. I didn't want to be a soldier or an assassin. I don't know what I want to be, but I want to like myself at the end of the day. I'm afraid my spirit will just burn away in all this killing. And all for a mission that's just way over our heads."
"Does that make sense? Or does that just sound like more whining? I'm sorry, I'm just a hot mess right now."
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"Yeah, well, I'm all about emotion." she says with affected lightness to her voice, and wipes her face dry roughly. Then she grips his hand as it rests on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you... you know. I guess being nearly killed put me in a weird mood. Go figure. I'm sorry."
Fin gives a slight nod and smiles. "No worries, Q...I wouldn't have you any other way. As one who rarely shows emotion, I find it refreshing to be around one who shows so much...
"Now, let's see about getting you healed up..."
Fin will borrow the wand of healing and use three charges on Quasit...
The ranger then turns to the rest of the party. "Where to now?"
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A concerned frown crosses Sakitu foxlike face as she listens to Quasit talk. She sits next to her and puts an arm around her, trying to offer comfort. Tears well up in her eyes and a few drops escape and roll down her face. "Oh Quasit, I'm so sorry," she says quietly, more to herself than anyone else.
Fin and Bulvi offer their own words of wisdom and that seems to help Quasit. Sakitu gives her another squeeze and stands up. She holds a hand to help Quasit stand and then nods when Fin applies the healing wand. "Thanks. You are so much better at using that than I am."
Sakitu looks around them all and sees all the dead or disabled guards. "So now what?" she asks at the same time as Fin, their two voices talking over each other. She giggles a small giggle. "Maybe we should at least see if there are useful potions or keys or something on them."
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As the healing washes over her, Quasit loosens her hold on the pillow and ends by standing and poking the spots where blades had passed through her armor.
"I'll never get over how amazing those sticks are."
She glances around the room impassively, puts her hands on her hips, and takes a deep breath.
"Yeah, I suppose rifling the corpses is the next obvious step," she says wearily. "We should also poke around in their footlockers, I guess. I saw some stairs but I think they just led up to the parapet on the outer wall. The stairs to the second floor might be hidden somewhere."
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Quasit picks up the potions and tries to identify them by smell and taste.
She also picks up the key and looks it over curiously, then goes about the first floor area trying to work out what it unlocks.
"Keep your eyes open guys. I'm sure we're not alone here. More trouble might be on us at any moment. And there's a lot more beds here than corpses, so there's lots of soldiers still to be accounted for."
In addition, every time she passes a mirror, she makes an obscene gesture at it.
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Noticing Sakitu's embarrassed reaction makes Quasit blush a bit herself.
"Hey no sweat. We'll figure this out." she says, a little too brightly. She looks at the key again, and chews her lip in thought for a bit.
"I bet it is. And I bet there's no stairway up to the next level. If I was an evil powerful witch, I wouldn't want my dozens of armed mooks able to just waltz upstairs and give me guff. I'd either have lots of diabolical traps or some sort of magic way to get up there. Probably both. And because I'm evil and paranoid, I'd watch them all the time with creepy mirrors. It makes sense. But you can't do everything with the mirrors, so I'd teach the trick for getting upstairs to a couple who I could trust not to betray me, probably because I have their family locked up somewhere, or I have them magically charmed, or something equally wicked."
"We just have to work out the trick."
Selena seems to be pulling the armor off white and sorting through the weapons, giving them s few swings and testing out their feel.
"And yet again Quasit, you think only in terms of evil. Requiring magic is a prudent defense, no evil required. Also, I can detect magic, and I can teach you Sakitu if you'd like."
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White seems to have a dagger, a Masterwork Cold Iron Longsword, a useless spiked shield, and a Chain Shirt
the rest have a Chain shirt and Cold Iron Longswords
the key doesn't have a glow away from the mirrors, but when next to a mirror it seems to have a glow similar to what the mirror gives off, seems maybe like a locked teleportation spell
"Can you confirm Quasit's suspicions then Selena or are you familiar with this type of uhm conveyance."
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"And yet again Quasit, you think only in terms of evil. Requiring magic is a prudent defense, no evil required. Also, I can detect magic, and I can teach you Sakitu if you'd like."
Quasit shrugs at this and hands the key over to Selena for her to study, then goes back toward to hallway leading in from the doorway to the tower to keep a watch. Once she's alone, she starts grumbling to herself and digging the point of her sword into the icy wall.
Selena examines the key and the mirrors with detect magic, and unless that provides some unexpected information, she'll then do the following,
"Alright, I think this will teleport the key holder from one mirror to another, which would explain how they got to the village so quickly after our departure. We all hold hands, then touch the key to the mirror that shows where we want to go, and we end up there." Selena then looks in the mirrors, holding the key near but not touching just yet to see if the key allows the viewing of the other side. If so, she looks in the mirrors to see where they all go. She will particularly remember the one that seems stuck under a polar bear if she finds it.
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"Wait. You're saying that we can travel through these mirrors? How do we know where we're traveling to?" Sakitu looks at the mirrors with even more trepidation than she had before. "And if we can go through them..." She pales as the idea fully sinks in that others can come out at any time. Any idea of learning magic from Selena is pushed out of her mind as she now stares at the mirrors.
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Quasit is obviously trying to act uninterested and keeps digging at the wall with her sword, but she can't help but look back toward the mirror as Selena describes what she thinks the process might be.
"It would probably be too much to hope that the mirror might give us a way back to Taldor." she mumbles sullenly, mostly to herself. "Or at least some place without snow and witches."
She pushes her foot around the icy floor, as if smoothing away dirt that isn't even there, and shivers lightly.
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Quasit's words break Sakitu away from her anxiety with the mirrors. She moves over to her friend. "Quasit, you seem to be more down than normal. I mean, this is all hard, I know." Sakitu glances at the dead guards. "And those mirrors are, well, just scary. But you know what keeps me going? I have to keep thinking that there's good somewhere at the end of all of this." She puts an arm around Quasit and pulls her into a hug. "We have to stick together. Sometimes I think that the only reason I'm not panicked and hiding in a corner is because I just don't know everything that is going on. But when I do start to get a glimpse, I see you and that just makes me feel better."
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Quasit's words break Sakitu away from her anxiety with the mirrors. She moves over to her friend. "Quasit, you seem to be more down than normal. I mean, this is all hard, I know."
Quasit turns her back to the group and speaks privately in a low voice to Sakitu. "Oh, it's the princess over there. I'm sick of being lectured by a snotty little girl, and for some reason she seems to take real pleasure in being nasty to me. I keep telling myself not to take it seriously and to stay focused on the real enemies, but I swear Saki, one of these days -- Pow! Right in the kisser!"
"I have a feeling she's at least on the right track about that key and the mirrors though. And anything is better than just sitting here waiting for the next wave of soldiers to attack us."
"...But you know what keeps me going? I have to keep thinking that there's good somewhere at the end of all of this." She puts an arm around Quasit and pulls her into a hug. "We have to stick together. Sometimes I think that the only reason I'm not panicked and hiding in a corner is because I just don't know everything that is going on. But when I do start to get a glimpse, I see you and that just makes me feel better."
Quasit hugs Sakitu back and shakes her head. "You're too sweet for this world, Saki, you know that? I don't know how this ends, and I'm not sure that helping one evil old witch defeat an even more evil younger witch is gonna feel like a win at the end of all this, even if somehow we don't all end up dead or worse. But if nothing else, I'll try and have your back at least."
"And if we get out of this somehow, and I buy my little house in Vudra near the beach, I expect you to bring your fuzzy tail over and visit me. Then we can be eccentric former adventurers together. We can dig up clams."
"Once Selena thinks she knows which one will work best for our ends I think we should move. Staying here too long seems like a very bad idea to me."
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The key itself acts like a passphrase, it doesnt show where you are going exatly but it does show a dining area.
You all step through but as you emerge you notice Tyrael hasnt come out at all, but a holy light eminates from the mirror and you can faintly hear what sounds like a dragons growl as you see the paladin fade from the mirror.
After the light scene you notice the room you arrive at:
A crescent-shaped dining table occupies this Y-shaped chamber, while two large mirrors on the north and south walls create the illusion of an even larger space. Twenty feet overhead, an immense chandelier of ice crystals hangs from the ceiling. To the east, rounded steps access a short hallway, flanked by twin ice sculptures of dryads holding ice-carved tree limbs, creating an elaborate archway. Translucent, glasslike double doors are set in the hall’s north and south walls. To the west, two alcoves stand between three windows providing an amazing view of the
wintry landscape outside the tower.
Though as there is little time to explore you hear music in the room as three forms are about. One is the Forlarren you met earlier, however as she notices you she stops playing, and the two tiny forms around her seem to notice the reaction of the music player and follows her gaze quickly as you can hear a tiny diminutive voice scream in alarm
~~Round 1~~
Bold to act
Knowledge Nature to ID
Findurel
Quasit
Selena
Bulvi
R
B
W
Sakitu
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Quasit sees the forlarren and recognizes her right away.
"You." Her mouth forms a crooked, mirthless smile. "I knew it. Humble traveling minstrel, huh?"
She moves straight up to the forlarren, pulling out her blade as she goes, and stabs the goat woman in the belly.
"Nice to bump into you again. Got any tales to share?" she says in a wicked hiss, right in the forlarren's face.
Bulvi doesn't take the same spiteful relish as Quasit but moves forward quickly not wanting to see what fantastical abilities the creature might exhibit.
"Hey! Wait a moment, stop trying to kill everyone!" Selena says with quite a bit exasperation.
"You murderous troll. There are lots of reasons she might be here without being some mega evil villain deserving of death. If they aren't swinging a sword at you, you shouldn't jump to conclusions, one way nor the other."
Selena grips her spear and falls back in a defensive stance, examining the room for where rei forcements might come from, and waiting to see how things develop before fitting herself into the action.
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The Forlarren feels the bite of Fins first arrow, the second seems to land in the chair behind her. Quasits does seem to hit but not all of the damage seems to have gone through, but as Quasit was just about to move to strike again, Bulvi comes in and finishes the Forlarren off with is blow.
Selena a gasp at her party members stumbles a moment before looking where reinforcements might come from, gripping her spear and moves back defensively
Red and blue get furious
and both seem to go invisible then move about into position
~~Round 1~~
Bold to act
Knowledge Nature to ID
white is the forlarren
Findurel
Quasit
Selena
Bulvi
R
B
Sakitu