In a shocking display of resolve, Hana pushes through the pulsing waves of negative energy to bring her sword down upon the orb.
Hissss RARRRRR! [/i]whimper[/i]
Lawdrak tries to convey to Sharpmaw an order to drag the wight away from the orb, as he moves closer.
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Hana slams her blade into the pulsating orb, putting a small crack into the object, but it continues to ebb energy.
Sharpmaw drags the remains of the blue warrior away from the orb. Once the body is roughly fifteen feet away from the orb, the blue warriors wounds cease closing and the body crumbles to dust.
Hana slams her sword down on the orb again, trying to shatter it. One of them will give out first. Probably her.
"Hana! Come away! We can destroy it from a distance!"
"Destroy it." Estiere commands her bewitched wight to attack the orb.
With a pained grimace, Dereje approaches the pulsating orb and presses his gun's barrel directly against it. Not an ideal way to treat a firearm, but at least he wouldn't miss.
Hana has had too much and collapses, dying.
Lawdrak darts forward, gritting his teeth, seizes Hana;s ankle, and drags her away from the blasphemous thing.
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Lawdrak pulls Hana's fallen form from unholy aura of the orb, while Dereje and Estietre's wight continue their assault on the vile object.
Claws scratch and create a nick in the orb's surface just before the paladin's next shot shatters the orb into thousands of pieces. With the orb destroyed, the bodies of the wights, including Estietre's pet dissolve into dust.
Among the ashes of the Blue Warrior, you find the wight's magical pick and a tarnished silver locket.
Lawdark sees to stabilizing Hana.
cure light wounds
Estietre smiles warmly as Hana appears to be on the road to recovery.
"Good to have you back, dear."
She then turns her attention to the locket and pick. Her eyes flash blue as she inspects them.
"Unf," Hana says. She coughs and weakly sits up.
"I have... felt better."
Holstering his pistol, Dereje scatters the broken pieces of the orb with his boot before turning to tend to his allies. Clutching the golden key hanging around his neck, he murmurs a prayer to Abadar, channeling some of his divine power.
"Whatever that orb was, it seems to have been the source of our wight problem," the paladin surmises, peering at the ashes on the ground.
Instructing his dinosaur to stay put and receive healing, Lawdrak wearily climbs to his feet.
"I'll scout ahead a bit, see if the way is clear to the exit."
Casting light on the point of his spear, he walks ahead, carefully looking around for threats.
"At least we have ended this specific problem," says Hana. She pushes herself to her feet with a wince.
"I must admit that a panacea for my wounds would be helpful."
"What is left? Is there more to see in this cave?"
"We'll see what is up ahead. Rest a bit if you need it. We won't go far."
Estietre follows Lawdrak further in.
Once given some magical healing, Hana nods and manages to straighten her posture again. She brings her sword back to a guard position.
"Interesting. The miners found something long buried, it seems."
Estietre places a hand on the door to see if she can feel any level of warmth from outdoor air or sunlight.
"Is this an exit?"
"I should hope so," Dereje says exasperatedly, all too eager to put the undead-infested mine behind them. The prospect of reaching the end of the tunnel jars a memory from not all that long ago. "Ah, seeing as we are still alive, I imagine we will be meeting up with Athyra. She will not be happy about what became of her parents... hopefully that locket will be of some solace to her."
Estietre sighs..
"Well... Is everyone ready to leave here? I know I am."
Hana nods and strides up to regard the doors briefly before she pushes at them. The exertion causes her to pause and cough, then catch her breath.
"Why someone would use iron for doors in such a humid environment is a strange puzzle," she says. "Moreso that they have not rusted away to pitted nothing in the intervening years."
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Pushing open the doors, the party moves through, the air becoming fresher as you press on. After a hundred feet of rough-hewn cavern, you emerge back into the jungle.
Now that the mine has been cleared of undead, you imagine this will take a fair amount of time off of the journey should you choose to have your caravan travel through.
Hana's shoulders slump perceptibly.
"We made it," she says, half-unbelievingly.
Lawdrak takes a deep breath of the outside air, smiling a little as he scratches Sharpmaw's eye ridges.
"We made it," says Hana to Athyra, looking comically disheveled. "The place was full of salt wights, but we dispatched them."
Estietre hands Athyra the locket, and gives her a warm motherly look...
"Yes dear. I am unfamiliar with your customs... What is your wish regarding their remains?"
Hana says, "I will help build a pyre, or dig a grave, or perform such actions as are necessary to meet your needs in this matter."
Lawdrak nods, heads to the woodline, and begins to strip deadwood for a pyre.
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In a relatively short period of time, wood is gather for a pyre and the remains of Athyra's parents are set upon it.
Having been handed the locket, the wild, young woman sits quietly in contemplation before uttering, "Thank you. I...I'm not sure how to repay you." Thinking a while longer she adds, "I am familiar the terrain for quite some distance around area. Would my help as a guide be of use to you?"
Hana says, "Your help would be immensely useful, but... if you need time to mourn, you should not deny yourself that opportunity. What happened here is tragic and I am sorry for your loss. Work may help you put it behind you, but you may find it cropping up at unexpected times."
"As much as we would like your help, we would prefer what is best for you first of all."
Glancing about at his comrades, Lawdrak gives his awkward shrug.
"I, for one, would welcome you. Guiding us, I mean."
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With Athyra's parent laid to rest and the mine pass-through cleared, your caravan is off and running again. First through the mine and then through the jungle pass on the other side, you find yourselves out on the open plains of M’neri. Amivor comments that based on his interpretations of his charts and the stars, that you are at least a day and a half, maybe two days ahead of schedule. Needless to say, he is most pleased with the outcome.
After following the shortcuts provided by the salt mine and Athyra's guidance, you are back on the standard trade route between Kalabuto and Eleder. Not too long after that your caravan comes up a merchant caravan camped for the evening.
The inhabitants of the merchant camp have set up an impromptu arena for cockfighting, a popular pastime among both the merchants and their guards and porters. On a good night, bets can climb above a thousand gold pieces, though goods and other valuables are often accepted as payment. The fights are run by “Rickets” Perga, a slender and sickly looking Garundi man who claims to hail from Rahadoum. Rickets keeps a number of coops within a decrepit wagon drawn by two nags. Nearby, a ring has been cleared and caged off to serve as the cockpit. The merchants welcome you to join their camp for the evening. Soon after the you, Rickets sends his bookies to invite them to attend the cockfight.
Abadarans are not exactly known for giving people their last rites, but Dereje nonetheless speaks at the funerary pyre, wishing Athyra's parents a safe journey to the Boneyard, and praying for their favorable judgment before Pharasma. While initially hesitant to have Athyra join them, her immediate contribution to their itinerary quickly quells his misgivings.
"Cockfighting. How... quaint," Dereje remarks with palpable disdain for the sport. Even so, he turns to the others and asks, "Shall we join them? If only to keep an eye on our fellow travelers."
Estietre wrinkles her nose upon mention of cockfighting, but nods in agreement with Dereje.
"Unsavory pastime.. violence and merriment, but yes.. I suppose we should."