"Please! Don't hurt me! I can explain, I promise. I can help!" The voice is surprisingly young, and the tremor makes it hard to determine if it's male or female. It lacks the fiery crackle of the possessed Temple Guard, however, and is obviously scared.
Azri very carefully avoided so much as twitching her expression, instead carefully and discreetly working to narrow down her search and pinpoint the source(s) of the magic she was sensing. Powerful illusion magic... probably invisibility? Though she wasn't sure exactly how powerful it was yet... and the presence of necromancy with it... another undead, perhaps? Best to not let them know for sure they'd been discovered, since that could provoke them to hasty action - being able to pinpoint the source first would be much more useful.
He looks towards the direction of the voice.
"Then show yourself and explain. Spying on us while we are being attacked and threatened does not inspire trust."
"Showing myself isn't really an option," the voice replied. "The whole reason I'm here is because I got cursed with the whole 'never be seen by mortal eyes again' deal. Look, you really don't want me to into the full explanation here, but I know you won't trust me without something, so: I'm Kira, I'm fif-I mean, I'm here because I'm cursed, I didn't tell you I was here because you have large, scary swords and I had no idea if you were any better than the possesed people and right now Redemption is probably sealing the main gates. He dropped the barrier thingy to let you people in, he needs you for something."
Selena raises and eyebrow "'Never be seen again by mortal eyes'? What are you talking about?"
As if that damn contraption didn't give me enough headaches, there this guy here talking about curses and redemption and stuff
"And what's about this redemption stuff? I know that you Sarenraeans like to talk about it all the time, but closing doors is a new one I never heard."
Azri raised a hand. "Technically, I'm not mortal anymore." she said. "I still can't see you." Which meant either that the spell disagreed about what mortality meant, the voice was misinformed, or the voice was lying.
Still, this was getting curiouser and curiouser... and she had no intention at all of allowing someone else to have their way with her new companions. Worst-case scenario, she could probably ditch this body and form another one, but that would require the others to wait a few days, so it was an inconvenient option at best. Ooooor they could just take down whatever was maintaining the spell - such a thing almost certainly existed, after all.
Aibek raised an eyebrow at Nigrum "And they not attacking us when we were vulnerable may. Merely standing bold in the light doesn't make one worthy of trust, nor does being present and unseen and not making oneself potentially vulnerable to unknown threats mean one has bad intentions. " the shadow creature witchwolf said, before shadow gliding a few steps towards the voice, then stepping back fully into the light again while looking at the scuff marks on the ground made by the unseen speaker.
"It is not as if our intentions are any more visible to Kira as Kira is to us. It's likely better for Kira to be unseen than the enslaved dervishes or their controllers to see another potential target or that none of us found and mistook Kira for a further foe in battle." Aibek reasoned, trying to gather thoughts. "And now, according to Kira, we have whoever or whatever this Redemption is possibly closing the main exit - where we were going to put these people - and using if not creating this situation and using us for something alongside trying to get the cooling system back on, deal with those who are enslaving the dervishes, and get the item we were sent here for. Another pair or such of hands may be useful as our problems keep mounting even before we discuss any possible curses...
Mihara listens silently, not sure of what to make of this apparition.
Nigrum looked at Aibek for a moment.
"If they were strong they would have no need to spy or remain hidden. It is not an original tactic to attack from surprise. It is only effective when those involved are of comparable ability. Clearly this one is not, their only true ability is stealth and that has been proven lacking. Their words have been proven false as well, Azri is not mortal but rather undead. More so we encountered elementals which are certainly not mortal, such they would find this person with ease if such curse was true to form."
He turns in the direction of the voice that had spoken.
"I am not interested in your excuses. Your every action has given me cause to consider you an enemy, abet a weak one who specializes in stealth. You can reveal yourself and surrender, in which case you will not be harmed and have the chance to explain. Or be treated as any other enemy would be."
He was not one to play games with others or involve himself in theirs. They would deal with him equally or not at all as he did with others. Personally it found it highly suspect that someone with the supposed curse of invisibility would not simply leave when all this trouble started, they were here for a reason.
Kira seems to be honest, if somewhat flustered.
"Oh, for Desna's sake..." The voice sounded exasperated, and more than a little frightened. "I'm a girl whose at a Temple Hospital in the hope I can be cured. Of course I'm weak! But I literally can't reveal myself. Look, throw some sand at me if you want - it vanishes as soon as it touches me. So do my clothes, thank the Tender of Dreams, of you'd be able to smell me without a need for your eyes. No way I'm walking around naked, and right now being invisible is why I'm not some mind controlled zombie."
Kira sat on the stone bench, kicking some of the sand to show her movement. "Alright, fine. I'll try the longer version, since the guy ith the huge sword is about to cut me in half if I don't. My name is Kira Valeska. A year ago I was cursed by a Genie who twisted my brother's wish to never see me or our family again because dear old Mother didn't approve of the girl he liked. The Geneie's exactly wording was, 'None that see with Mortal Eyes, by the light of sun, moon and stars shall ever see any of them again. If one of you can see heat, I'm told I show up in that."
"So since my other members are busy being busy, they sent me here, in the hopes that the Clerics could break the curse. Apparently this place had some experience with bad genie wishes. So far it's proved difficult, though. A a couple of weeks ago they brought in someone else. His name is Redemption, said it was his creator's ying wish that he atone for some mistake or sin or something. He was found nearby, raving about it being too cold, even though he's some kinda construct, and an Oracle of Flames. Sometimes he was more lucid, although he had no idea how he got here or what was happening. Then a ackage arrived and he...lost it. Walked through the place, sucking the heat right out of people, screaming about how cold it was. When he reaized some had escaped he waved a wand thingy and a barrier went over the main gates. I couldn't get out, but he can't find me either. Somehow he knows when people are comming. He lets them in, lets them get deeper inside, then raises the barrier to capture them and then starts taking the Endure Elements spell most of them have so they get super hot before he sucks it out of them. The only way I've survived is the emergency stash of potions they keep here."
She paused. "Look. I know it wasn't big and brave to not tell you I was here. I've been on my own since this started, scrounging what scraps I can, watching my friends hunt me. They wait in the kitchen with the door closed, now, so I haven't been able to eat for two days. So here's some group, throwing magic around and one of you is furry and another one is something else and you, guy, have a sword that's as big as me. Forgive me for wanting to make sure you wouldn't, you know, cut my head off because I'm stuck invisible or something."
Nigrum's eyes adjust.
He walks over to her, now visible to his eyes, form and flicks his finger into her forehead.
"Now was that so hard, worth your life was it to tell the truth with more detail then an absent minded goblin."
He gives that a moment, before addressing the others.
"Well I am willing to let her be with that. Should we proceed to the kitchen to get her some food and take down more minions?"
"Flies and honey, Nigrum. A kinder approach would have gotten answers easier." Mihara smirks.
Shaping back into her human form, she rummages through her backpack and offers Kira some of her trail rations. "Please forgive my sword-happy companion. We've come to free this temple from its invader. Of this, you have my honorable word. You have nothing to fear from us. Can you lead us to the kitchens?"
Azri waved a bit. "Invisible is not the weirdest thing in our group." she said cheerfully, though she kept her cloak up to disguise her features. "Kitchens, though? Yeah, I guess we could go there. A local guide could be a lot of help, right?" she looked over to the others, sounding honestly uncertain about how necessary that would be for getting the job done. Truth be told, she didn't personally care about Kira's condition too much, except to the extent that it sounded practical to help her out. Azri wasn't the type who'd ignore people just because of practicality, but... she did prefer it when actions made sense.
Selena's expression softens a bit after Kira tells her story "You should have told us the whole story from the start." the half-succubus says with a smile.
"Come on, let's go to the kitchen. We're here to clear the place, so we would have gone there sooner or later anyway." cracking her knuckles, Selena picks up the bound cleric again as she speaks. "By the way, can you tell us how many people there are in the temple, or how this Redemtion guy brainwashed them?"
Speaking of Redemption: the girl said he went crazy after someone delivered a package to the temple...Do the people that poisoned granpa are behind this?
"Wait, so we're not going to stab me now? Well, that's good..."
The young girl paused for a moment. "I can't tell you too much more. I'm not really very good at magic, but as I understand it something controlling Redemption is putting more things into the others. I don't know what. Oh, and Redemption has a bunch of wands - the spells he's using are more powerful than the ones he can cast, according to one of the Clerics."
{b]"As for the kitchens, they're over there."[/b] After a moment she added, "The west door. I'm pointing at the west door. You'd think I would be used to this by now. But I think Redemption left something to guard them. He knows I'm here, still."
Aibek rubbed a clawed hand across the brow "With the time limit most of us are under I hope there are not more obviously terrified young creatures with less than perfect speech and understanding who you'll want to terrify further in this already horrifying situation whose life stories we need to hear before we can deal with the growing situation that none of us understand fully. " Aibek sighed before moving towards the Western door. "And I thought those of the shadow and the moon were meant to be the most untrusting. " Aibek commented with a slight motion to themselves with mild amusement.
Pausing, Aibek glanced over at the tied up enslaved dervishes "[b]With previously mentioned time limit and the possibility of the entrance being sealed in mind, shall we just move on and just leave them here tied up? Even if other enslaved dervishes come to untie them, it will still divide and delay whatever they are planning if they haven't used the time we've spent shouting at the controllers and Kira already, especially those tied up by Selena, those ropes will likely take them some time to break. I'm not going to drag them into the next battle, the ones controlling them have already made it clear that they're happy to sacrifice them".
Aibek leaned against the Western door, listening while slowly pushing it open a crack...
Azri quietly followed along behind Aibek, her mystical eye at the ready as she kept watch for enemy. Break their concentration right at the start, then hammer home with overwhelming force - that was how you won. especially against foes who might not have been completely prepared for you.
Reclaiming her vulpine form, Mihara joins the others at the door; she inspects it for traps, figuring that the door to their foe's hiding place was likely to be the best guarded.
Nigrum did not reply to what was said. Trust was earned and never given, their were no exceptions in his mind. He was an active bounty hunter, those who hunted the criminals and beings beyond reach of even the law at times. Would it be hard for them to deceive, not in the least. Giving children poisoned blades to get near enough so that even if they failed to kill him, which was even expected, he would fall. Spreading misinformation to set the local law enforcement on him. Even hiring assassins to kill him before he could come for them. All these and more he had encountered and survived simply by being untrusting as others put it. It was caution and experience to him. He did not apologize for it, others who made that mistake would never do so again for they were among the dead.
He moves over to where each was tied up and still conscious. With a single well placed blow he knocks them out. Even if untied they would be in no shape to fight. Turning towards Mihara.
"Would you be so kind as to temporarily loan me that nonlethal weapon? I'd like the option of not killing any of the possessed and with my vow concerning Tsui I would at least have to use my own blood as before."
He left out that he found it difficult to use Tsui in such a way. Fighting a puppet was provocative, it was not beyond him to let his anger get the better of him in that respect. It would be shameful to cut down another swordsman in such a state.
"You would do best to acquire one of your own as soon as possible," Mihara chides, handing one of her saps to Nigrum.
She wasn't too happy bringing herself down to a single weapon, but she had to recognize that it was a worthwhile exchange to make sure the swordsman would be apt to fight these foes well.
The door doesn't have any traps that Mihara can find, and none trigger as it opens. The corridor beyond is like what you would expect, another corridor with a door at opposite ends and one directly before you.
"The dining room and kitchens are through the southern door," Kira's voice whispered from somewhere near the middle of the group.
After checking that everyone's ready, Selena opens the door.
Inside is a large dining hall. Six long, heavy tables sit in the middle of the hall. Chairs have been neatly pushed under the three to the east, but the three to the west are a mess of dirty plates and rotting food. Apparently this area was serving a meal during the event.
A single figure sits, there back to the door you enter by. A low snoring sound suggests that even possessed guards must sleep sometimes.
Had this been anyone actually evil, Azri would have suggested allowing her to go forward and slaughter the target. She could be very stealthy when she felt like it... but sadly, this was a time when their target didn't actually deserve killing, and instead just needed to be properly tied up or something. She looked towards the other, curious about what they wanted to do.
Watching the puppet and surroundings carefully, Nigrum moves as quietly as he can with the borrowed sap in hand. Then silences the snoring with true unconsciousness in one blow. He did not intend death and no honorable contest between swordsman was to be had, such he felt no guilt or shame in his actions.
"Ah, so they have to sleep?" Selena says, staying still but scanning the surroundings for traps or ambushes.
And I'm not good with this magicky stuff, but I thought that this Redemption could move them like puppets. Well, if they have to sleep, they're probably still alive. I wonder why they haven't been already fried by the heat, tough...
The man slumped to the side, unconscious. No other sounds stirred the room.
"Well, that was...depressingly easy," Kira said slowly. "If I'd known they slept I might have been able to eat before this. Not that I'm eating anything from here...the cold room was in the kitchen, and the dry stores. They should still be good."
Mihara motions at the party for someone to tie the sleeper up. She keeps her sap in hand just in case he wakes up.
Azri, meanwhile, quietly crept around the area to check for sounds while trying to avoid being noticed by others. If she was fortunate, she might be able to hear through the other doors and determine how safe it was to proceed.
The kitchen itself seem clean and well cared for. You don't notice any threats.
Ah, I really ought to buy more rope when we're out of here...
Finishing tying up the kknocked out guard, Selena opens one of the other doors.
Kira moves past Selena into the kitchen with a sigh. Ignoring the still-warm oven that seems to have been used quite recently judging by the heat and the freshly scrubbed earthenware plates she pulled open a cupboards and began to consume. It was odd, watching a piece of jerky vanish into midair with a sigh of pleasure and munching noises. "Does anyone else want some?" she asked in a muffled voice.
"I don't need any." Azri noted, smiling slightly. "Feel free to distribute my portion amongst the others." She drew sustenance from a rather... well... different location.
Mihara takes only her fair share, but stashes it away for later.
"We should keep moving. We had best take our enemy by surprise, rather than them finding us first."
Nigrum ignores the food, one did not eat with in a undefended location with enemies near by.
"Take what you want but we need to keep moving. I rather not waste the time. Not everyone here will be able to survive the heat once the protection wears off."
He had rations and the heat was not bad enough to effect him even with out the ward but he would prefer things not get there. He would have to get those that were effected by the heat out rather then finish off the creature. If it turned out that they were indeed trapped, then he would have to leave the others to seek out the creature. In which case he would no longer have the luxury of holding back with any puppets he came across. It was best for all involved to get things done quickly before the situation got worse.
"Well, we're in a hurry now, but I won't turn away something something spicy as soon as we clear this place" Selena sighs.
I'm actually dead hungry right now, but now's not the time. Well, maybe "hungry" isn't the right word: I'm just sick of eating trail rations. Gah.
" Ooo jerky, always want some " Aibek said with a grin and a chuckle while grabbing a clawful, popping most in a pouch before tossing a few sticks in a muzzled mouth. Sure fresh could be better, but the witchwolf had left all but a couple normal people's day of trail mix rations back with the horse.
" So it's a good use of time to taunt the controllers through enslaved people and to spend time breaking enslaved people which you wanted to do and yell at a frightened youth and spend time listening to her life story, but a snack is a step too far for a swordsman? Good to know. At least the time limit has gotten through... The witchwolf chuckled while walking around the room before pausing.
Aibek continued thinking outloud "Isn't it a bit odd for the oven to be on while they're enslaved and sleeping? I guess if they sleep they might eat, but I doubt the controllers would give them time to eat - the sleeping probably happens automatically - and surely not time or thought to get this place as clean as this...if it was on before the fuel would have run out or there would be a fire in here by now, surely...
Nigrum folded his arms, the wolf woman seemed determined to provoke him.
"You appear to speak more the longer this incident continues. Then by all means do more then speak. Lead on and I will follow. As it is clear you deem yourself high enough to judge and criticize my actions. As such you should take your own as vanguard, I will remain at the rear."
If his experience and abilities were not valued then he would do what so many in this land specialized in doing. Looking after himself and his own interest. He was no brute and refused to be painted one. He would not shed his blood for the unappreciative or those that insulted him.
With shocking speed the oven melts, reducing itself to molten slag within the blink of an eye. It pours into the floor, smoke rising from the door closest to it as it does, and from the ruins rises a large creature - half rock, half flame and entirely dangerous. It fills nearly a quarter of the kitchen floor as it spreads out - and the room in half.
With surprising swiftness it reaches out, launching tendrils of red-hot rock at Aibek and Nigrum.
Thanks to moving before people can reacts, the Elemental lands blows on both warriors.
AC 16, touch 8, Flatfooted 16, CMD 22
Azri's eye flashed as a burst of energy shot across the room and towards the molten creature, aiming to rip away it its ability to protect itself from other effects. A disturbing laugh came out of her mouth a moment later as she faced down the creature. "Trying to take us down by surprise, hmm? You've got guts, but you made a mistake, beast." she said, gathering more power for a second hex.
Seeing no good coming of approaching the writhing mass of magma, Mihara steps back, drawing her shortbow. She takes aim at what she hopes is the elemental's core, and fires, cursing its obvious lack of vitals to aim at.
The Magma Elemental grunted as the arrow hit its side, but didn't seem to be able to punch through the monsters rocky exterior. The creature bunched up once more, whatever passed for it's eyes hunting for prey. Focusing on the two who had drawn it's attention before, the creature lashed out once more.
Overeager, however, it missed both.
Mihara nocks a second arrow in, and fires again, unhappy with her previous shot.