"Kay... I hope that shiny is still there."
After the two Varisians move away north so as to cross the creek, Cellawyn strides away in full resolve, with Naught at her back with her short-legged trot.
Now you have a window of opportunity: you may follow the elf and the human to the prison, you may run and catch up with Aliseya and Mirelinza, or you may do something else altogether. Do as your wisdom dictates.
You move away from the temple, southbound, to stop at the Lorrimor's place and equip for the excursion as needed. Kendra seems to be away running errands, but you take the liberty of grabbing Jod and Thunderbolt, since the permission to do so had been tacitly granted by Kendra.
If Zelda did not choose to come with you, the trip is considerably faster with the horses, in which case you are at Harrowstone an hour and a half after the party broke into smaller groups. Otherwise, the lack of a third horse adds another hour to the trip. (Of course, you may also choose not to spend fifteen minutes saddling the horses and simply leave them there.)
At any rate, you arrive back into the abandoned Harrowstone after crossing the creek outside of the city, the small woods, and the tortuous way uphill. You saw no living soul along the way.
There they are: the prison grounds, open to you by the fallen gate after Aliseya's work.
Cellawyn, you hesitate before putting your foot again within the walls, as you remember the uncomfortable sensation of being on fire, from your first visit.
This time, however, you notice that nothing happens, as Naught herself carelessly walks in ahead of you.
You are now on the prison grounds.
Naught, if you choose to assess the situation of the Xtabay's wall, you will see that the plant is still there, and, after a few changes of angle to get the right sunlight, so is d'shiny.
You walk north from the temple, going the way round the buildings to cross the bridge. After yesterday's pall-bearing, you know the way all too well to Ravengro's square.
There, a simple wooden gazebo stands elevated at the center of a grassy circular plaza, providing shade for many dogs during this hot day. You would guess that during the times of festivals and other major gatherings the citizens would scare the dogs off to make room for different activities, but the nature and frequency of these activities is at the moment unclear to you.
It is still a bit too early for the goods store to be open, but this gives you time to study each of the buildings, and peep through windows and doors to see if they are open, and also to see what lies inside.
- A: Gazebo
- B: Posting poles, where you are told to contact Pervin at The Laughing Demon if you wish to post an announcement.
- C: A round stone building by the creekside (whence yesterday Zokar Elkarid came from) displaying a silhouette-profile of a jester or other creature grinning.
- D: This brick building has a long wooden panel on its portico, above its double doors, which reads Town of Ravengro.
- F: The place where Aliseya bought her shawl from -- the general goods store, built in stone, displaying a sign that simply reads Goods.
- G: This is more a shack than a building per se, and from its chimney a thick, black smoke mounts the sky in these early hours of the morning.
- H: A simple sign portraying a mortar and a writing Apothecary says all about this simple wooden building.
- I: This building portrays the writing JAIL in imposing letters hewn in a stone panel built into the stone wall.
- J: Hanging from a pole over the door of this wooden building is a blue bag of shiny fabric, heavy with what seems to be actual coins -- if there is this much money pending outside, there must be more inside!
- K: The Inn -- whose sign simply states its function, but often referred to as The Outward Inn, as you know by now.
Unfortunately, the goods store is now closed, but it will be open soon. You may sit and wait for a few minutes -- not more than a hour, considering the time Aliseya came the day before --, or you can visit some of the other locations which are clearly open (A, G, I, J and K).
Cellawyn draws here rapier and turns to Naught, "Fear not the darkness nor the haunting. Through force of will and skill at arms we shall persevere."
She cautiously walks up to the front door of the prison.
"And collect a most bountiful heap of shinies." she replies to her companion while absentmindly making her way to the tangled treasure instead of the door. "You know any good ways of dealing with this thing?"
Aliseya happily and excitedly drags Zelda as well as Mirelinza all around in her energetic whirlwind. Peeking through windows of some of the closed shops, she tries to spot women's attire and jewelry for sale.
On spotting the posting pole, "Ooh! We have to find Perv." Seeing the goods store open, "Good, we'll need supplies. But first..."
She hustles to the round building where Zokar came from, as she remembers seeing the boy with him at the funeral. Seeing the jester, "Hmmm. Maybe this is, like, a gambling establishment? Or..." her face brightens even brighter, "maybe THIS is the place I should dance in tonight?" Seeing the place closed, she looks for a window to peek into.
The day is warm and the place is silent. You feel disturbed by the abandonment of this place, wondering if any snake, stray dog or other wild animal will emerge from around a corner to defend its territory. Moreover, the runes inscribed along the wall of the main building stands out disturbingly, reminding you of someone's twisted mind. Not to mention that this is where the professor died. You run all these things through your mind, but the origin of the sense of discomfort is none of them...
You face the main entrance, where again you see the two stone columns that support the slumping wooden balcony over the building’s wooden front doors, both of which hang askew and reveal dark glimpses of chambers within. From your previous scouting, you know that you can also access the building through the northeast balcony (if again you climb the wall), and through the flooded hole on the east corner of the wall of the partially-ruined building. You may be able to access the building also through the north and south balconies, which you did not investigated in your first visit to the prison.
Your ears move almost independently, capturing the ambient sounds, and hardly anything peculiar. The situation of the wall is the same as yesterday. You may approach the Xtabay, leave it, or try something else altogether, but you certainly need to clear the vines to get your hands on the shiny behind them.
The goods store is still closed, but you spot some jewels under the building with the silk purse hanging from a wooden bar above the door -- now, wait, that must be the silk purse Kendra was referring to when she said you could actually see the gargoyle that gored the professor.
As you come closer to the sign, you notice that the jester's cap are actually horns; while the silhouette's hollow eye is contracted in malice, the grin (toothless but showing one fang above and one below) portrays legitimate joy. The windows are closed shut, but through the crevices you can see a dimly lit tavern, with tables and chairs evenly spread out, and a round bar at the centre with copper and tin mugs hanging from its lowered ceiling. You notice that there is no door except the main door, and you also see a semi-detached residence where Perv and Zolkar must be living.
Common sense and safety starting to wear then she calls out to the more level headed elf before she resorted to chopping the plant up. "Celllllllyyy, is there anything you can do to get rid of the plant? It's keeping D'shiny hostage!"
You carefully approach the plant, keeping a safe distance in order to avoid any whiplashing vines from the Xtabay, and you do not see the vines contract or slide in response to your proximity. As you pull your fishing rod out to poke the shiny -- of which you are close enough to realize it is a dagger, you feel a tingle in your nose, and your eyes start to itch as in those late nights when you can barely keep your heavy eyelids open.
It is too lade, however: with a thud (which Cellawyn would hardly hear) you drop on the ground, for you fallen pray to the Xtabay's SPORIFIC POLLEN! This substance released by the Xtabay sinks its victims into a deep slumber, rendering them helpless! Now you are completely at the mercy of this carnivorous plant, which will soon proceed to devour you! Alas, there is nothing you can do, and your only hope to escape from a tragic death, which will further aggravate the tragedy of Ravengro, is Lieutenant Cayentelva.
Cellawyn, will you:
go into the building through the main entrance? Turn to 244
go help Naught with the Xtabay & the shiny? Turn to 5 or
do something else altogether? Turn to 83
Cellawyn will not allow herself to be separated from Naught for long. After an initial investigation of the front entrance, she walks over to rejoin Naught next to the xtabay plant.
Upon seeing Naught unconscious, Cellawyn dashes in to quickly pull her away from the plant. She will hold her breath as she does so.
Resisting the urge to run over and awaken Perv and his father from deep slumber, Aliseya shakes her hands up and down instead. "Ohh, alright. Like, let's come back when the place is open, I guess."
She jumps back in the other direction, "Lets get my homegirls dressed!" Without an apparent care in the world, the gypsy leads her friends back to the shop with a silk purse in front. Her lightweight silken shawl of red turbulently flutters in her wake as she swiftly moves. She flies gracefully into the shop, all smiles, and begins looking around at the store's wares with eyes as wide as saucers.
Cellawyn, as soon as Naught abandons your sight, you put your inspection of the entrance on hold and walk along the wall towards the Xtabay. At that time, Naught falls prey to the Xtabay's polen, and the plant proceeds to devour her.
By the time you turn around the south corner of the building, you see Naught covered in the Xtabay's thick leaves, but before you can charge against the plant you see that Naught is reacting against the plant on her.
Naught, your instincts get a hold of you, and you wake up in desperation, with the plant coating you. Your limbs are heavy, and your eyes burn, the pain is intense but you will manage to react against the carnivorous plant.
Regardless of what you do, the plant seems to have noticed that you awoke, and in a defensive impulse it stings you!
Block Initiative: Naught+Xtabay, Cellawyn
Hazily opening her eyes she only lets a moment pass before she rips up screaming, tearing at the plant with her claws. "Y'Latho'g! Y'Latho'g!"
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
You stand up digging your claws into the Xtabay's main stem, while you step onto it further down to hold it against the ground. With a raging scream you tear it and the large amount of plant that is now in your hands is dead, so you simply throw it aside.
Yet, though little, some of the carnivore plant remains, and two vines try to sting you, but they are too low and your boots are too thick for the stings to penetrate...
Cellawyn lunges in with her rapier and attacks the plant. She uses an arcane point as a swift action to enchant her blade.
You manage to sever a branch from the vines, but you realize that it was of no matter to the Xtabay.
Again the plant attempts to sting Naught, but to no avail. You cannot help but to beware of a very pale Naught, who is seems to ignore the frailty of her muscles and her condition to manifest herself in Aklo, akin to Aliseya's frenzy yesterday, seeming in fact even stronger than before, to a point her petite size would betray. For a fraction of a second you consider whether she is friend or foe, but soon the urgency of the fight and the Xtabay's threat takes over your focus.
Cursing, hitting, tearing, biting, and slashing she continues to assault her attacker.
You do not have any time to attempt another strike at the plant: drowned in madness, Naught tears the plant apart like paper -- if there was any vital force left in the Xtabay after she severed the patch of carnivorous vines from the wall, it was there no more; all that was left were torn leaves and cut branches, spread out over the dry, hot sand, to be scorched over the next weeks.
You have enough time to inspect the remaining vines on the wall, and realize that the only purple flowers you saw have been completely crushed by Naught's boots -- that is to say that the Xtabay is no more, and the growth on the wall is just plain, harmless ivy.
You can also now inspect d'shiny, and perhaps you would rather let Naught do the honor, but in either case, the one who inspects it will find a skeletal hand holding onto a dagger! What is worse: the hand is the size of a child's!
You notice Aliseya's ecstatic walk around the square, from the north access to the posting pole, from there to the circular construction (where according to her Pevin lives), and finally from there to The Silk Purse.
You are compelled to enter The Silk Purse after Aliseya, for that is where Kendra said the statue which killed the professor was, but will you?
Would you perhaps prefer to stick to what you must do and wait for the shop to open, or will you go along with Aliseya?
As you enter, you see that this place is, in effect, a pawn shop. The walls are cluttered with all manner of cooking tools, candles, and other objects of daily usage that ended up unrecovered. The space is divided in half by a wooden counter, behind which some shelves store additional merchandise. You cannot see what they store, for the shelves run from the counter to the back of the store.
Above the corner, a wooden sign reads in black ink ASK US ABOUT OUR COIN AND OUR JEWELS. By the time it occurs to you to wonder why they are not afraid about advertising that they carry jewels and coin, you notice two men at each end of the counter, on the customers' side, sitting and watching. One of them is old and smiles to you, while the other, a fat and bald man, seems bothered, but is equally courteous to you.
A woman seems to be organizing the contents of some shelves at the back of the shop, and you notice that she carries a fairly sizeable knife and a small crossbow.
The woman behind the counter greets you as the bell from the opening door rings "Hello..." You notice that she knows you are not local, but of all people, the ones at The Silk Purse would be the most welcoming to outsiders, especially merchants and tax collectors "... welcome to The Silk Purse! Please make yourself at home, and let me know if there is anything I can help you with."
Finally halting herself when there is nothing left but confetti of the Xtabay to toss about her feral stance easily melts away into haggard breathing and a body soaked in cold sweat. In between breaths she forces words towards Cellawyn. "Sorry... About that... Stupid plant... Took me to a place I don't wanna go. It didn't get you did it?" She waits a few moments for The elf to respond before slowly lowering herself to the ground and curling up into a ball, falling fast asleep as if she had simply just had a bad dream.
Cellawyn pulls Naught away from the remnants of the xtabay plant, "You've injested the plant's pollen. We need to get you to a healer."
Cellawyn will carry Naught back to town.
Mirelinza is supportive of the approach to gain acceptance from the locals and allows herself to be swept up in Aliseya's enthusiasm but definitely takes a back seat for the present. Her thoughts are with the task ahead and wishes the current diversion was over and they could get on with the task in hand.
Too enthusiastic to have noticed the statue on the way in, Aliseya simply smiles back, "Hi! My friends," she motions back at Mirelinza and Zelda, "need some kickin' outfits for tonight. Might we see what you have?" She looks all around enthusiastically for women's apparel, and does a double take before noticing Zelda is waiting outside. "Zelda?!"
It will be a while before you return from your gardening trip.
With a quick glance over the shop, you realize that the gargoyle must be at the back of the store. As you approach the counter, you do spot a single, larger crate -- you can say with certainty that, if there is in the Silk Purse a gargoyle, whole and similar to the one you saw in Harrowstone, it is in that crate.
"Is there anything in particular you are looking for?" asks the saleswoman. By a side glance, you notice that the security personnel is alternating between studying you and watching the browsing gipsy.
You help yourself to perusing the colorful scarves, shawls, skirts and other pieces of clothing that hang on the wall close to the entrance, and in stacks of small wooden containers.
"Gabrielle, come over me here, will ya? Would you help that nice lady with the clothing?" says the woman at the counter, turning to the lady with the crossbow at the back. The armed woman does not depose her weapon, but simply crosses the counter and approaches Aliseya, saying in a friendly tone, and with a smile "That is about as much as we have for pieces of clothing, but we do have a finer selection of accessories." One would guess that holding a crossbow she would not need to be any less friendly, hence the cordial attitude.
[ooc]Mirelinza went with Aliseya willingly and will remain with her - despite her lack of interest in dresses
Mirelinza's eyes glaze over when shown the dresses and fabrics but the accessories definitely catch her eye.
Soon she's examining each one and putting aside any that have a Sarenrae connection - suns, flames, sunflowers etc. Anything that could be attached to her armour. Having identified all of the obvious ones she asks politely, "How much for these?"
Once Naught recovers from her fatigue, Cellawyn will help her to her feet. "Are you able to continue or should we return to town?"
Her mind consumed with clothing, the gypsy misses what Zelda says about the statue and rummages through the apparel before her, picking out several articles for Mirelinza. Whether she is interested or not, she asks her about the first one, "How about this one? I like the color on you."
Aliseya returns to the clothes and, moments later, picks out another outfit, "What about this? The trim would look nice on you."
Spotting one of the jewels the paladin picks out, Aliseya is awestruck, "Oooh! That would look sooo nice on you. And it matches this!" The gypsy produces another outfit for her friend.
She then spots something and remarks, "Oh! I might like this one for myself." Holding it up to her body, she asks, "Does it make me look fat?"
This goes on for a while...
Her breathing still heavy and her skin sallow and eyes sunken she nontheless remains upright as Cellawyn stands her. "Yeah... Ish fine, all good now... D'Shiny!" With a squeal of realization she'll turn and start staggering back towards the Xtabay wall.
Cellawyn nods, "Yes, take the dagger Naught. You've earned it."
When Naught is ready, Cellawyn will return to the front door. She steps in and looks around.
"...Yay..." mustering all of her excitement out of her weakened form she happily and appreantly drunkenly traipses over and plucks D'Shiny Dagger from its hiding spot.
After you have shaken off some of the drowsiness from your post-battle nap, you reach avidly for the skeletal hand and try to undo its grip on the dagger; as the vines are a bit thick, you start to rip them off so as to be able to pull the dagger out -- a whole patch comes out, and with it a small-sized skeleton donned in rotten leather armor drops on the ground.
Cellawyn will immediately recognize this is not a child, but a gnome. He or she must have been there for a long time now, as even the straps of the armor are rusted; yet, somehow, the wide, thick-bladed knife is in good condition, even though its bronze pummel and hilt (which stretches over the knuckles from the base of the blade and ends abruptly close to the pummel) acquired a deep green hue.
Both of you see a pouch with the gnome, which you may pick up -- the gnome will not be needing it anyway.
Lots of shinies! Twenty-four sails (gp), three falcons (pp) and a translucent yellow gem.
"Ah, the statue -- do you mean the gargoyle from Harrowstone?" The saleswoman lowers her voice and whispers to Zelda "You are not the first one to be curious about this one, you know," with a wink. "I will have Joe help me bring it off the crate," she says, motioning to the fat security man to help her. The strong man goes around the counter, drags the crate closer to it, and pulls the gargoyle up after prying the crate's cover. Indeed, it is a gargoyle like the one you saw in Harrowstone; this one displays its tongue through its tusks, forming a mischievous grin. A patch of dry blood still covers the side of the creature's head, but the staff of the Silk Purse does not seem to mind. "It's a piece of work, and you would have though that there was nothing left to salvage from the prison... What say you? Three sphinxes with three measures?"
Meanwhile, Mirelinza and Aliseya go through the clothes and accessories.
You manage to find a few round buckles and pendants that resemble or could resemble Sarenrae's symbols, all of them very simple; one in particular is a brass winged sun intended to work as a belt buckle. "That one costs four sphinxes with two measures," Gabrielle announces. "The merchant we acquired it from swore for his life that this has been carved out from the piece of a Brass dragon's scale..." (Not even Gabrielle seems to believe that, and she is not attempting to sell what she said as a plausible truth.) "The sunflower scarf" (a blue scarf coated with sunflowers that you grabbed) "costs eight weights, and the tabard costs one measure with two weights." The tabard is indeed a nice one: although it has been battered by time and use, and in spite of the few holes dug by hungry moths, it still displays a white dove with her wings wide open, a sun halo behind its small head, and one scimitar held by each foot. "We do have some finer accessories at the back; if you would like to accompany me, I will be happy to show them to you," Gabrielle adds.
Under your budget, you realize that you can hardly find enough to make up a whole new outfit -- you will have to improvise with what you have and maybe buy a fiery-red top, or some wooden hairpins with charms hanging from them. That is, of course, accounting for the bright-red veil embroidered with a few threads of silk which, though old, retains much of its former chic -- for the price of a whole measure, of course.
Meanwhile, Aliseya also shows you a number of potential dresses, most with very little fabric. They are not as flamboyant as the ones she chooses for herself, but, nonetheless, still quite suitable for a dancing performance. As you could hardly get anything truly fancy from a pawn shop, you cannot help but to identify small flaws in each and every one of the dresses you are shown. Perhaps the one that calls your attention the most is a dress whose colors hovers between the crimson and the purple, the color of sunset; maybe you can get rid of its torn sleeves and adjust the height of the long tail to your performing needs.
After picking up the pouch and checking its contents Naught will bend down and pat the skeleton's head. "Many thanks. You may rest now, your killer is gone."
Aliseya gasps at the sight of the red veil. She goes for it, plus the hair pins if she can get them for under another measure.
After her purchases, she becomes curious about Zelda's object of interest and hops on over to her.
"Wh..." After looking at the statue for a few seconds, she realizes what it is before she can get to the second syllable of her query. Her exuberance dramatically shifts to somberness. She can muster but one word, "Oh."
Mirelinza nods without conviction with whatever Aliseya recommends. "You know best."
Instead her focus is on Gabrielle at the 'finer items' to be had. "Lead on..." There is something of a spring in her step at the prospect of Dawnflower accessories for her armour.
"Should be." Her serious face now on, Aliseya looks over Zelda's shoulder, examining the statue's bottom, the blood stain, and taking note of anything else that might be worth noticing.
You happen to see that Gabrielle brings from under the counter a fairly sizeable wooden board with (real) jewelry.
As soon as the assistant saleswoman presents the jewels to you, you spot a circlet of pure gold that draws your attention away from all the other items. It has no explicit reference to Sarenrae, but the many possible symbolisms you could attribute to it trigger your imagination. You will later find out that its cost is eleven sphinxes. A ring made of very thin, intertwined strands of white gold also calls your attention for its exceptional craft. "We also have some gems, if you would like to see."
Yet, you are more focused on the statue, the bottom of which you just asked to see. "Oh..." the saleswoman sighs. You see that she is disappointed, in fact, not happy with the direction the questions about the statue went, but she manages to convince herself to allow you to see the bottom of the gargoyle, after seeing Aliseya with a scarf, some hair pins, and some coin at hand, peering over Zelda's shoulder. After the fat security man further disassembles the crate into a wooden cross over the ground, and sets aside some of the hay enclosing the object, he overturns the statue and you see that its base is intact, except for a few patches of cement.