When she reaches the Marshway, Roshan stops and turns. "Archers! Loose!"
As the arrows fly, they leave contrails of red smoke, and when they impact with the ghouls there is a burst of energy that sends them flying back into the mire.
Nightlight & Ears
Roshan's attack keeps them down for quite some time, but before the fighters have withdrawn fully to the Marshway, the ghouls clamber out of the muck, ravenous. what do you do?
Tom
you get them back onto land, but you are unable to get them on the marshway before the ghouls attack again, what do you do?
Belym
the ghoul goes flying into the marsh, and you are clear to rejoin the group. what do you do?
Roshan
Your volley is devastating, you buy the retreat some time, what do you do?
Tom turns the undead once more, this time thrusting his symbol directly into the oncoming ghoul's face. The ghoul recoils in pain and fear as a strong wind blows from behind Rom over the marsh into the pack of ghouls.
Ron's group continues to withdraw.
Belym grabs one of the two paralyzed men and drags him up onto the walkway, under the cover of Tom's turning. If nothing prevents her, she'll go back and grab the second one as well.
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Roshan sinks to one knee, Khanda sticking out of the ground. She's drawn her belt knife, but it remains clutched in her fist which is braced on the ground for support. Her shoulders are shaking, and her skin looks a bit grey under the blood that streaks her face.
Eleth steps forward, reaching to place her hand on the templar's shoulder. Francis intercedes, stepping forward and favoring his right leg. "Maybe not a good time, luv. Takes a lot out of her to keep up with that lot." He gestures to the heroes still fighting in the swamp. "She's always got another battle to fight."
With a scream, Roshan drives her knife into the flesh above her knee, driving it through her chainmail to the hilt. Black smoke rises from the wound and the color returns to her face.
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Tom
The ghouls hiss, blinded by your power, and are dazed long enough to allow the retreat to continue unhindered. The men are up on the Marshway, what do you do?
Ron
The remnants of the militia clamber onto the marshwa under your supervision. already weary and ragged, their shoulders slumped. what do you do?
Belym
you drag the men up, filthy traitors the both of them. what do you do?
Roshan
Your demons banished, for now, you and your fighters are up on the Marshway (Unless you wish to be elsewhere). What do you do?
Tom backpedals to the walkway with the others and says, Is everyone here? It may be best t' move on...
With the danger passed, Ron approaches Conwall and speaks in hushed tones.
I watched the men watch ye fight. Ye inspire them. Speak to them. They are heroes, and have won a great battle. They can rest a few minutes, but we must press on.
" We shouldn't wait long - the ones that escaped will no doubt be setting up another attack further down the path" Belym says, as she sets about checking on the survivors' wounds.
I clean the demon blood off of Catastrophe and look to Ron. "That's seven."
I take an accounting of my squad as I wrap the bandages around my midsection. How many of them remained loyal? How many survived?
Silent and brooding, Roshan accepts a bundle of bandages from Belym. She eyes the prisoners, acknowledging them, but not prepared to put them to the question.
Belym
There are three fighters wounded, two by traitors knives, and one by a mace to the side.
Conwall
Only one of your archers turned traitor, and the ghouls will feast on her entrails. all of the loyal ones survived (though one did get stabbed)
you hear a voice in your head, this one powerful, but unfamiliar. Why are you fighting me, you have no love for these people, you think them ignorant bigots. If you worked for me, you could be powerful, strong enough to make them all pay... the bigots who distrusted you, the towns who turned you away, the liars who cast you from your home... What do you do?
Roshan
as you watch the prisoners, you see a sigil paint itself on their chest, a winged dagger. It would seem Einora is working some magic upon the men, what do you do?
"A black seal. Tom!" With a grunt of frustration, Roshan hurls the nearest traitor to the ground, inquisition kit spilling out on the marshway. There isn't time. Muttering the prayers Einora's demons particularly disliked, she begins flaying the black seal from his chest like a gangrenous limb.
My lady, I am impressed. The rate at which ye sacrifice yer resources in futile efforts rivals the most incompetent commanders that I have faced. How did ye ever manage to slay a god, or is that yet another lie?
Ron inspects the men and women of Ghostmoor. Ye did well. I know some of ye saw yer friends turn on ye. They were never yer friends. Take heart! Those still here are loyal and will stand with ye to save yer kin.
Ron points at Conwall. Ye saw him fight. . He points at Roshan, Belym, and Tom. Ye saw their power. Ye saw the liar's forces routed and Seirxacht stand helpless before me blade. We march.
Ron leads the group onward down the causeway.
Tom will help with the bandages, and use a bandage and herbal poultice on himself. When Roshan rackles the traitors he says, Peace you damned woman! They can't move until you - seeing the blade slice flesh from tissue, - hurt them! As the traitors regain their full abilities, Tom says, You should have at least let us tie them up...
Judge them under the eyes of God, Roshan.
Roshan
you cut open the mark, and find the chest cavity filled with strange, dark purple pus (Or some other viscous substance). it floods out, covering your hand in the disgusting substance. that is about when you feel fangs on your wrist. What do you do?
I march alongside my troops, shaking away the voice.
I think hard, within my head You're wrong. I have nothing but love for these people. If I didn't, I would have let the elves wipe them and you from the face of the earth. I killed your general without breaking a sweat. I have all the power I need to defeat you. You have nothing to offer me
I whisper to Ron I'm hearing voices trying to lure me away. I think it's our favorite goddess. She might be speaking to weaker members of our company as well...
Roshan
Belym's attention was drawn by Tom and Roshan's shouts; observing the symbol and the condition of the traitors, Belym tries to recall any Dwarven techniques that might be effective at blocking this kind of subversion -either the Voice of Treason, or the Daggers of Betrayal.
Belym's attention was drawn by Tom and Roshan's shouts; observing the symbol and the condition of the traitors, Belym tries to recall any Dwarven techniques that might be effective at blocking this kind of subversion -either the Voice of Treason, or the Daggers of Betrayal.
[Dice=Spout Lore]2d6+2
The dwarves do not know much of the surfacer deities, but one thing the scholars who study such things agree on is that deities have their limits, and their Anathema. an anathema is an object which repels the deity, and their power. not strong enough to hurt them, but enough to protect you from their lesser powers, and lessen the blow from their greater works.
Blind with fury, the templar continues through the other prisoners, attempting to salvage long-ruined lives in order to prolong their suffering and extract valuable information. By the end, Roshan's hand is a withered claw, and the prisoners are a greasy heap on the marshway.
She stands, breath rattling, eyes cutting into the onlookers. "This is what her followers are to her." She points to the sludge. "Whatever they promise you- even those things they can deliver! This is where their worship ends. Take it from someone who suffers their influence still." She raises her hand, glinting bronze in the sallow mashland sun. "All we have is to resist, and fight for our salvation and the salvation of those we care for."
Roshan bends to gather her things, bandages included, and stalks away toward the hellmouth.
Roshan, as you yank your hand away, you examine your arm, wrist torn open by fangs, and you notice a dark, serpentine shape moving along your veins, up your arm. meanwhile, whatever bit you is still in the slime, and you can see shapes in the pus as it moves. What do you do?
Shifting the knife into her other hand, Roshan cuts away the leather straps that hold on her bracer, revealing the site of the creature's movement. She quickly wipes her blade, but before she can injure herself further, an arrow hits the knife, knocking it from her rapidly loosening grip.
"Pin her down before she kills herself. Something's got her arm." Francis himself keeps his distance.
Prepared to pry the thing out with her teeth, Roshan is tackled by her shieldmaidens and pinned down, but someone is going to have to do something, unless the worm that liquefied the traitor is suddenly perfectly comfortable where it is.
Ron pierces the wriggling creature with Remorse and then draws Beldroth's blade as he forces a healing potion and an anti-toxin down Roshan's throat.
Forgive me, but this arm comes off if Tom cannot cleanse it!
Ron raises the sword above Roshan's arm and watches the spreading shape anxiously. True to his word, that arm comes off if it spreads past her upper arm.
Roshan
they force potions down your throat, but they don't seem to help, you feel the numbness spread, and then, as Ron spears the beast, you feel a sharp, shooting pain. if you look over, you notice your arm going black around the elbow. what do you do?
Ron
at your prodding, the worm seems to explode, and inky, putrid blackness spreads over Roshan's arm, from the beasts location. you lose track of it, it blends in too well, what do you do?
Tom
as the scene with Roshan unfolds, you notice a slight stiring in the puss still dripping from the traitor's carcass. it warns you a second before a vile worm-thing leaps at you, what do you do?
Belym & Conwall
you guys also notice this all unfold (Seriously, it is very hard to miss). What do you do?
Tom catches the creature and brains it against his shield before it can do any major harm, and tries to examine the corpse trying to figure out what he hell this this can do to the body and how to remove it.
His mind races, cursing his lack of faith that let a spell that could hold Roshan safely retreat from his mind's grasp, Someone hand me an arrow!
Tom ties a bandage around the arrow in a loop and puts a small stone (or ties a knot in the bandage) do form a lump on her inner arm. Her quickly turns the arrow hand over hand like a wheel to twist the bandage tight to form a tourniquet. Maybe cutting off the bloodflow will prevent its movements. Honestly, Roshan would be better at this bloodletting crap than I would ever be, I hope this buys us time.
It's dark again, and Roshan can feel the bodies that are pressed tight against her shoving, clawing, biting. Everything hurts, aches, burns. Every fiber of every tissue in Roshan's body writhes with tense energy of so many forms that they've long-since bled together into a grey numbness which draws the warmth out of her guttering soul. She can't move. Blinking does nothing. She opens her mouth and spends her grit to rage into the abyss, but it's a torch to a wildfire. Still, there is an empty, lonely hollow in the pit of her stomach.
In the roaring darkness a voice coos like milk over a tin washboard. Melodic and thin like a spring shower in full daylight, the voice parts the noise and Roshan's body relaxes. The slow drip of fulfillment causes a reflexive shudder of surrender in her. The voice is joined by another, like molasses sliding up a frigid wall. This second voice washes over Roshan like a tide, making demands. The tinswallow recedes, enfolding Roshan in warmth, clutching her close, simpering to calm the storm.
Ron recoils as the worm explodes.
What the f$*@ is this!?
I rush to Roshan's side and ask Ron What I can I do to help?
Have ye seen anything like this Conwall? Can we save the arm?
Belym quickly gestures, and a pile of mud and earth surges over the side of the walkway, burying the second traitor who had a mark manifesting.
Tom
You last out at the creature with your shield, but it slides by, black blood staining your shield where it struck. the creature latches onto your thigh.
You look at it, it is not unlike one of Zimran's creatures. Larger, but same basic idea. These profane things live in you, and whisper blasphemy to you, taking over your mind as you sleep... but those are extinct, and your teacher more or less told you not to worry about these.
Roshan
Stop struggling! wave the others off, tell them the antitoxin worked... NOW! The voice says as it washes over yu. this all sounds like a very good idea... maybe you should listen.
Ron
it's a worm-demon, probably parasitic. almost certainly not something you want in you. it might be how Einora was controlling the traitors. What do you do?
Belym
Stones move u, forming a makeshift cairn (well, pile). it will likely hold the demon, for now. what do you do?
Tom glances to Roshan, These are nothing more than worms of a time past... it's bad luck to have even worked its way inside someone with Roshan's fortitude...
A darkness crossed Tom's face, I fear there's nothing left t' do. If I cannot receive sign from Iisac, we must remove her arm completely.
Ron puts his hand on Tom's armor and kneels as the Priest seeks guidance.
Please Iisac! I know we haven't seen eye to eye, but I've come to believe. Please!
Francis has circled around behind Ron and Conwall. "If you're taking the arm, you may as well take her life, guv. She's got enough of a time keeping up on the field with both arms."
On the Marshway, still pinned down by Maris and Eleth, Roshan's body relaxes. Still pale, still beading sweat, but no longer wrenching and gnashing. "No. I am... stronger now." Her voice is thin and quavering, and it's not clear what, if anything, she's reacting to.
---
In the dark, Roshan's eyes open. She's being held down by a mass of tiny limbs, but that is less of a problem for her now. She is no longer a child. She's returned to the dark a woman of grit and sinew.
There are two voices overhead, though only one is speaking to Roshan. If she is dying, then Sephrahime has come to claim the templar's soul. Would the Ruined Mother kill her to wrest control from Einora? Would Einora save her to sink her twisted barbs in Roshan's soul?
Roshan has to make a move. Neither of these demons will govern her soul. With a grunt, she tries to push herself out of the mass of flesh that restricts her in this subcutaneous realm. On the Marshway, Roshan grits her teeth, attempting to reassert her will.