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Stopping, knowing that there was no way the man didn't hear them come, Marcello wait. He is no great speaker, barely able to form sentence that sound convincing for lies, so instead he moves a bit forward, letting his sword drop slightly so that it no longer had a perfect arc of 'Off-With-Your-Head' arc and instead went down to a more guarded stance.
"Victor, I believe you are up..." stepping out of the way, Marcello allows Victor clear vision and line of sight.
Victor steps out from the crowd of misplaced and ragtag villains, his zombie remaining in the background as he draws nearer to the crouching male. He leans forward slightly, hovering a full 10 foot away from the male.
"Excuse me, sir. While we have already braved the countless traps, murderous creatures and more traps, we are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that this was merely tests to prove that we are of pure faith and that you as thus are willing to act diplomatic. We seek a ritual of great power, one that must be cataloged and stored until the end of time in the great library of Abom. I, a humble servant of Nethys, merely wish to record said ritual and then store its great lore to the end of time. We prefer non-violent solutions, so, would you kindly oblige us and extend said ritual to I at this very moment. I am of course referring to the ritual that is known to preserve the mind of mages in the form of bone. If you would merely extend said lore to I, we will leave you to whatever task you are currently doing."
Fate nods. "Indeed. Ve just vant to record this ritual and leave this--" her disgusted frown is audible "--fine, 'earthy' establishment."
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Nodding a bit and putting the tip of the greatsword against the ground, effectively trying to be as non-threatening as possible. "And seeing as it is a valuable thing, as all knowledge is, we are here to provide the proper security for such knowledge."
Not being a trained speaker, Marcello would say no more, instead letting the story be told by the much better speakers.
Crystal smirks but maintains her silence, on the periphery of Marcello's light. She awaits the man's response, not having a whole lot riding on this venture and still mildly irritated about the mosquitoes.
The man pauses as the party speaks. He remains knelt down with one hand on the ground, the other covered in mud and remaining still over his work. He turns his head slightly to stare at the explorers from the corner of his eye. Once everyone is done speaking, he replies, "Let us ask de Wensu."
As Sarcon begins editing the man's mud, he turns his head. "Your friend not so sneaky." He sits up, brushes the caking mud from his fingers, and stands. "Wensu gives and Wensu takes. We will ask de Wensu what he do today."
Crystal chuckles deeply, highly amused, her voice husky. "And who is de Wensu, good sir?" She asks from the periphery of the light spell. She holds her bow in her off hand, but has no arrow out. She is willing to entertain parley for the moment.
"Come and see."
The man turns to walk further into the room. He takes a candle from the floor and moves several paces towards the wall. There he lights candles flanking a small idol on a crude table of wood and stone. He makes himself busy with some form of ritual or rite before the idol.
Crystal, uncomfortable, will remain silent as the man finishes his rite. Perhaps it would need to be completed before Victor could gather the information they sorely needed for his transformation, so she would not openly attacked the dark man...yet.
Fate stands still, confident that whatever surprise might arise from this rite, she is prepared.
Victor, being the very model of spellcasting knowledge and lore, merely stands back and attempts to read the magical effect.
Victor has a change of heart while the rest of the party remains silent, waiting patiently. The rest, that is, save for Sarcon, who fancies himself a mud poet.
The man finishes the chanting, scratching at a pile of dried grass, and other such strange acts, and turns towards the strangers.
"De Wensu will take tree." he says, holding forward 3 fingers.
Victor fumbles around with his pouch before throwing over three golden coins to the madman. Then he proceeds to reach into his spell pouch and withdraws 3 pieces of wood chunks. Just in case he actually wanted tree.
The man frowns. "I am no begga. De Wensu will take tree of your lifes and return you to your bony remains."
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Crystal discretely backs up up a few more paces to ensure she is fourth in line at the man's words. "Hmmm, like the 'we are back' kind of bones or the rather mundane inanimate bones that have no more to offer this world?"
"When de Wensu take your flesh, he leave your mind. But first he must take your life. Come, if you not afraid to die." the large man says, extending an earthy hand.
After his words, the blonde woman cuts her blue eyes to Victor, seeing if he would take the bait. In the meantime, she gauges the strange man's words, looking for telltale facial tics and gestures that would indicate lying.
As Victor appears tongue-tied now that his final victory seems at hand, the priestess take it upon herself to ask, "So, ummm...how exactly do you go about doing that? Or how does the Wensu do it? What do you have to do?"
She shakes her head. "Ugh...Fate knew this vould happen." She raises her head so that her eyes are looking down on the man. "Fate is too important to be sacrificed, and her associates are necessary for her plans. You vould accept alternative sacrifices to us 'tree,' yes?"
"Woah, woah. While this information is vital, I am not going to sacrifice these people for this cause. They might not look like much, especially not the invisible half-orc, he doesn't look like anything at all at the moment, however, they are darn good companions. Could we potentially use alternative sacrifices? I am sure we could locate some peasants somewhere.
"My companions, I believe the Wensu is offering to grant undeath for three of us, according to this fine gentleman's words." Crystal's voice is tremulous, like a small child who states they want to ride the huge roller coaster but is positively terrified.
Victor runs his tongue's tip over his dried up, withering and graying lips, he turns towards first Crytal and then Fate; "Why not join me in perfection? In a state free from pain, a state where you are no longer troubled by your phycial needs, no longer do you have to fear the greatest enemy of every being; the tinkering tooth of age. Become ageless beings of greatness."
Victor steps forward, grabbing the male's hand, he flashes a smile towards the male and inclines his head. "I trust you."
Crystal was yet a young woman, and had plenty of life left in her. She enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh. She shakes her head at Victor's question. "I was thinking more long-term plan, Victor. I am not sure about this..."
She continues to look at the dark man, waiting on his answer, if forthcoming.
"Dat gives us one." the man says, taking Victor's hand and guiding him next to himself.
"De Wendu works in many ways. He give you what you lookin' for, if you give him de breath from you lungs." he glances sideways at Victor, then offers his hand out to the next taker. "Tell me, woman, are you afraid to die?"
Crystal mulls over her faith. "I am not afraid to die, as long as my covenant with the Prince of Darkness can continue to be met. I will wait to see if any other of my companions will accept your offer, good sir."
Fate waves her hand. "Pah. If you others vish to give up your humanity, have at it. Fate has no need of it."
Crystal approaches the dark-skinned man, shaking with fear despite her proclamation. Still, she takes his hand, thinking of the gains for the Prince of Darkness and the formidable enhancements the change will create. Most of all, she thinks of her own glory, of surpassing the others of her House in esteem and power.
"Dat is two who are not afraid to die. Is dere another for de Wensu?" the man says, with a genuine yet unsettling smile. He holds out his hand once more.
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Having been the perfect example of stoic silence, Marcello would stand, only watching and observing, waitig for the moment to speak up his mind.
*I could uphold the law of the Order... Forever if I did this. The Order has accepted such works of defience in order to uphold the law and defeat the savages.* Without knowing, Marcello would have smiled, ever so slightly as he listened to the others talking, only burrowing his brow when Sarcon spoke.
"Have you been discussing my death... And future undeath without my pressence?" The question was a bit threatening, but in reality, Marcello couldn't care anymore than usual... He had no idea what kind of undead he would choose, if he had the choice. Graveknight... He had heard rumors of their immense strentgh and prowess in battle...
Looking at the man, this one who would offer him immortality and, in Victor's eyes, perfection... Marcello thought about everything else that could happen, but all that fell underneath the shadow of the power coming from being a graveknight...
Stepping forward and closer to the man, he spoke up his mind. "I am willing to die, but not here and not now. I want my death in a battle and I want to return in the armor fitting for one of my Order." He would try and lock eyes with the man, before talking further. "Can this... De Wensu, do that to me? Can De Wesnu make me return to the battlefield, clad in armor from my Order and ready to call death on any savage in my way?"
"De Wensu works in many ways, armored one. But his judgments are his own; I cannot speak for him in this." the man reaches out to Marcello in anticipation.
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Not trusting this De Wesnu, Marcello looks at the hand with scrutiny. It could be a foil, all of this. A trick, an ambush at worst. What if the spell from earlier would trigger the second he grabbed the hand? What if he just died right here and now... And the order would have no need of him. He was nothing to them. A foot soldier, cannon fodder.
*But if I... Come back, a being stronger than anything else in a fight... Yes, then they will have to keep me around. I will be of more use for them, maybe even more than they will be for me...* Scrutiny would be thrown out the window as those thoughts ran around in Marcello's mind. He could feel it. The Power, luring, calling, begging him to take it and all he had to do... Was grab it.
Looking in the mans, the strangers, eyes Marcello grinned. "Then let's hope they work the way I hope, shall we?" With a fist of iron, he grabbed the man's hand.
The man smiled a wicked grin as he drew Marcello towards the others. "Come."
A candle serves as the only light as the man leads you down a dark hallway, roots hanging down to shoulder level from the low earthen ceiling above. Soon a small chamber opens and the man steps in, lighting a brazier on a pedestal in the center of the room. Once lit, it illuminates the stone floor covered in deep, crude runes. The man busies himself with implements on the pedestal. Once everyone is inside, he reveals a crude silver dagger with a wide and jagged blade. He holds up a hand to the earth above and calls out in an unfamiliar tongue. "Now, let it begin." he says as you all feel a heavy weight come upon you.
Victor not only lets the sleep overcome him, he also conveniently places himself on the ground and places his hands underneath his head so he can rest comfortably.
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Seeing how Victor just let the magic take over, Marcello relaxed and put down his barriers and allowed the magic to take hold of him.
As a last thought before sleeping, Marcello would feel a fleeting fear of a trick... But then the sleep took over and nothing else mattered and he fell asleep sitting.
Crystal looks with trepidation at the knife in the man's hand, and instinctively starts fighting the magical sleep, before better sense takes heed and she goes to sleep...perhaps for the final time.
As Crystal, Victor, and Marcello all collapse on the ground, they drift off to the sound of chanting and the stirring of coals.
Silence.
Darkness.