Sialea looked at the two new arrivals and said, "It's because he can no longer walk or talk. He was captured by a couple of robots that injected him with nanites that began devouring his mind. They caused massive damage to his mind, nearly killing him. We managed to neutralize the nanites with a sterilization system on our way out with him but the device couldn't undo the damage his mind had sustained. He asked me to bring him here where the priests could, hopefully, heal the damage done to him." She lay a hand on Papa's hand and said through a sob, "He can't even think in words now, only rough images." Tears began to stream from the beautiful, and exotic, woman's eyes as she knelt by Khonnir and began to cry as she clutched his hand.
Val, without a word, comes up next to Sia and looks upon her father with a mixture of shock, fear, and relief. Her body is trembling, her eyes watering with unshed tears. She blinks several times, wiping her eyes with the back of a dirty hand. "Dad?"
Khonnir takes hold of Sia's hand and, with some effort, sits up on the cot. His eyes fall on Val, and he reaches out a hand for her as well. He pulls the two girls into a hug, his shoulders shaking as tears start falling from his eyes.
Val starts quietly sobbing against his shoulder.
Artificer Kyte looks upon the scene for a few moments before gripping his holy symbol. "...how permanent is the damage? I may be able to call upon Brigh's holy grace to heal him."
"It will take time, however."
Putting her arm around Val when Khonnir pulls them into a hug Sia embraces them both. She managed to choke out, "Papa seemed to think that the damage could be reversed. If we got him here quickly enough. I can only hope that he's right." She looked at Kyte and said, "Please, do what you can for him, I'll do anything to repay you."
Kyte and Dolga nod. "Aye, that I will. I haven't prepared that many healing spells of that sort today, but Brigh willing, Khonnir will be walking and talking like his old self within the week."
Councilor Freddert draws herself up to her full height. "Then, that just leaves our Torch."
She looks at the exotic woman, the crying child, and the crippled councillor on the cot. "Take some time to reconnect if ya need to, but don't forget your mission. We need you, more than ever now--you lot are the best we've had in weeks."
With that, the dwarven councillor turns on her heel and takes her leave, the hem of her robes brushing against some of the pews as she walks away.
-----------------------
One of your objectives has been accomplished. You have found Khonnir Baine, such as he is, and brought him back home--and in so doing, brought Torch one step closer to its former glory.
But there is still one mystery that has yet to be solved.
Why is the Torch out? And who is responsible for it?
These are questions to ponder, along with your newfound strength.
Sialea looked at her companions from the tear filled huddle and said, "We should probably take the rest of the day to rest before going back down there. I'm almost completely out of power and don't think that I would be of much use if we tried again today." She sighed, "Besides, we could all use a chance for a hot meal and to rest in a soft bed again." She looked at her sister and papa, "and to spend time with our families."
"Yes. Your family needs to right now." Edynn says with a nod. "We'll take care of the torch when you are ready."
"Yeah, go be with your families." Inlé says to Celen and Sialea before turning to Edynn. "Um, where are you staying?"
You are more than welcome to stay at my home Inle' I think my daughter would love you, but if you have other places to stay that is fine as well. Shall we meet somewhere in the morning then?
He asked the others stroking the top of waffles head.
"Is she gonna wanna pet me?" Inlé asks, cautious.
"Jyacynth? No... well not if you dont want her too of course, My daughter is very well behaved. She just likes meeting new people. Her mother doesnt let her out of her sight very often for reasons..."
He began not sure how to begin to explain it.
"Um, okay."
"I was probably going to accept Val's offer of a place to stay, rather than the inn." Edynn replies in response to Inlé's question.
"Oh, okay." Inlé says looking back and forth between Celen and Edynn.
The rabbit, the theurge and the android step out of Brigh's temple and begin to pad their way along the streets when a small child bearing an envelope runs up to the three of them.
"'Old up there! Got a message for ya!" The mousy-haired kid runs up to Celen and presses the envelope into his hand before taking off again.
Khonnir's grip relaxes on you and Val, and he lies back on his cot. He looks down at his motionless legs, his expression trying to remain even and calm.
Val turns to you and takes a breath. "Your egg's doing alright. The heat lamp and some blankets are keeping it warm."
"You know them?" Inlé asks.
He frowned lost almost in thought as he opened the envelope to read.
The boy's name escapes Celen--it's likely he's just one of Torch's youths.
The envelope contains a letter of sorts, penned on neatly-folded parchment. It reads as follows...
Salutations to our town's newest expeditionary team!
Need a break in between delves into technological ruins? Then come on down to the SILVERDISK HALL, Torch's premier gambling & entertainment establishment! Deal the cards, roll the dice, spin the roulette and drink with the best!
Enclosed are four certificates worth 100 gold pieces of credit, only useable at the SILVERDISK HALL. We look forward to your patronage!
With utmost sincerity and hospitality,
Garmen Ulreth
The Silverdisk Hall has been experiencing quite a boom in business ever since the Torch went out...
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"Why am i not surprised that vulture seeks to fatten his purse..."
He muttered as he looked at the letter almost as if it were suddenly a snake. He could recall the comments the man had directed at his wife when they first established themselves in town. He took out the certifictates though and handed one to Edynn and one to Inle.
"It seems this towns gambling den is offereing us a line of credit since we are big time scavengers now. If you plan to use them take care."
Inlé hops up and down a few times ins succession to read the letter.
"Wait, you have a casino here?" he says mid jump while accepting the certificate.
Khonnir's grip relaxes on you and Val, and he lies back on his cot. He looks down at his motionless legs, his expression trying to remain even and calm.
Val turns to you and takes a breath. "Your egg's doing alright. The heat lamp and some blankets are keeping it warm."
Sialea relaxed a little as Khonnir lay back and she helped him as he went. She stroked his hair for a few moments as she looked to Val. "Thanks you," Sia said, "I appreciate your taking care of him for me I hopefully won't impose on you for much longer." She sighed then and frowned worriedly, "We still have to go back down there and try to re-light the torch, I just hope we can do it in time. At least we managed to run a rope so we can get back down there easily this time."
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Val taps you on the shoulder and hops down from her place next to Khonnir. "Good to hear."
"Honestly... I'm just happy to have Dad back."
"What's a casino?" Edynn asks.
"I think its another word for gambling den Edynn. Its strange how it seems his business has picked up so much more since the torch went out. I would like to think the two arent correlated but . . .I dont trust the man and its weird how his business is booming where everyone else's is doing poorly."
He said with a frown. Perhaps they should look into it.
"If you believe he may be responsible, we should see his place to investigate." the android suggests.
Giving Val a smile as she hopped down Sialea said, "Me too, and I'm glad we got him here in time that they can do something to help him." She looked for a chair that she could pull over and sit next to Khonnir, and then brought two over, one for her and one for Val. She sat on one of the chairs and asked, "So, before I go home to sleep for the night would you both like to hear what all has happened to us while we were down there?"
Sia began to tell Val and Khonnir everything they had experienced on their journey. She painted the picture for Val with words but for Khonnir she projected images of the events into his mind so that he could better understand in his damaged state. When she had finished she seemed to have relaxed some, the overburdening of the story taking some of the stress out of her. "I think we are very close to finding what we need to fix the torch, unless there is a nother level we've explored most of the wreckage already."
Inlé nods to Edynn's suggestion.
Val takes a minute to sort through all the information you just granted her. "Wow. Heavy stuff... I mean, I knew there was something big underneath Torch, but that big of a Numerian ruin? That's-that's sooooo cool!" She starts bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Khonnir, on the other hand, doesn't make any noise, at first. He buries his head in his hands and sighs, staring at the ceiling.
You get the impression that for now, he just really wants to rest...
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"Come along my friends, lets enjoy a nights respite, and check out this... what was your word casino? in the morning perhaps with Sialea."
He offered to Inle and Edynn, leading the way to his home. He was mostly quiet on the way, mostly keeping an eye on Waffles. They would need some sort of fence to keep the blindhein safe from being disturbed. Maybe a nice wooden shed on the side of the house.
His smile grew brighter at the sight of his store/home.
"We still have to fix the torch too." Inlé says as he follows along.
The distant call of home sounds very appealing to our exhausted heroes, even as the town comes to life around them. Word of Khonnir Baine's safe return has sent the small town into enthusiastic whispers of joy and hope. Though their Torch is still out, there's a much-needed ray of sunlight shining down on the people--one that may be the only bit of good news they've had in a long time.
The trio reaches Celen's home easily enough--a simple, two-story building with a large window displaying all manner of alchemical concoctions. Waffles doesn't stray from Celen's side, stepping inside when he does.
The sound of someone busy at work is coming from behind the shop's counter. Standing behind the counter is a curious-looking woman with crimson-purple skin and long, braided blonde hair with a tinge of green to it. She's dressed in comfortable earthy blues & browns, and a well-used apron covers up her slightly rounded belly.
"Celen?" She says as she comes around the front of the counter. "I didn't expect you to return so soon." She moves to embrace him while looking at the others. "And who are these people, then?"
"I am Inlé, Miss." the short wolf skull wearer with the large sword says upon entering.
"Hepzibah Hopesheart." The tall, colourful lady says. "A pleasure."
Waffles tilts his head and walks up to sniff her. She gives the frogdog a strange look. "And what's this?"
"That's Waffles." Inlé says before adding "He's a good boy."
Hepzibah gives the frogdog a little pat on the head. Waffles doesn't seem to object. "Hello there, Waffles."
"Ah, he likes you."
He smiled at the little interactions for just a moment glad to hold his wife close again.
" This is well Inle' as he said and Edynn. They were part of the group that went to find Mr. Khonnir. We were successful but the outlook isnt all grand. Some robots had him in some sort of machine and they were doing terrible things to his mind. We got him out and to the temple of Brigh, He's at home resting."
He smiled and leaned in pecking her cheek.
"This is Waffles, He is a Blindheim. There were a small tribe of underground people who well lived in the caverns under the lake and the torch who used it as like a guard dog. Its friendly enough I didnt want to leave it behind so...
He paused and shrugged his shoulders at his wife. He set his pack down on the floor off to the side.
"I offered them a place to stay since we have well more investigating to do, it seemed prudent with Mr. Khonnir's injuries to get back to the temple as quickly as possible. How is our little one's headaches? Still there?"
Hepzibah breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's wonderful news... I'm impressed. I thought Khonnir was doomed."
"As to little Jyacynth..." Celen's wife looks upstairs. "...well, she's getting better. She's not complaining of an achey head anymore. But I don't know what's been causing it--and if I don't know what's been causing it, I don't know how to prevent it from happening again."
She turns to Inlé and Edynn. "Would you two like to stay for dinner?"
"Headaches? How long as she been having them?" Inlé asks without thinking.
"Oh, uh, if that would be alright?" he says to her offer.
"They started yesterday... but I've heard people around town complain of these sorts of headaches long before she came down with one."
"And I think it'd be quite alright if you two stayed for dinner."
"Thank you. Do you need any assitince prepping?" he asks while thinking over everything he knew about headaches. Which wasn't much. Aside from getting them.
"No, I don't believe so. Thank you for offering, though." Hepzibah waves the bunny off and heads to a room behind the counter.
A few, soft footsteps can be heard on the stairs up to the second floor. "Dad-ee?" A little girl's voice comes from the stairs.
Hearing the little girl's voice Inlé quickly looks arounds and fidgets. Letting out a sigh he then begins to remove his wolf skull, even with Hepzibah still there. As his ears come up he takes a moment to unmuss his fur and whiskers.
Stepping down the stairs is a little girl with pinkish skin and neatly-braided blonde hair, dressed in a bright blue sundress embroidered with white lace. Her little feet--or rather, hooves--are visible beneath the hem of her dress, but the most notable feature about her is the pair of jet black bunny ears that stick up from her head.
She rubs a shining blue eye and blinks as she sees Inlé & her father first. Her eyes widen as she approaches the bunny and stops in front of him.
"Bunn-ee?" She raises her hands to her own ears and plays with them.
Hepzibah glances back for a moment before she does a double take. "Oh!"
"Jyacynth, be nice. These are our guests."
"Gests! Gests!" The little girl smiles.
Inlé's eyes widen as he sees the little girl, and her ears. After a moment to process he replies "Yes, it is I, a fellow bunny."
Edynn smiles at the exchange. Like many of her kind she found children fascinating, being completely unfamiliar.
Sia looked at Val as she heard Khonnir sigh and said, "I think we should let Papa rest, he seems to need it right now." She lay a hand on Khonnir's as she said, "Why don't we go home for now and let him rest. We can come back in the morning before I had back under the torch to try and relight it."