Roshan lays out her tools and selects a pair of shears, sharpening them even though they are always sharp and well-oiled. She returns to the cultist and inspects their hands. "My mentor taught me that spellcasters such as yourself require the use of your hands and tongue to form the figures and sylables required for magic. I can't remember if it was the first or second finger that was most involved with violent spells. I was not very good at the memorization. Unfortunately, unless you repent and confess your sins, I will have to remove both. To be safe, you see..." She presses the tip of the shears to her fingers, drawing blood.
For a moment she stands, entranced, blood pouring down her arm.
Roshan's bloodlust is slaked, and she's satisfied to threaten first, and inflict bodily harm only to ensure results.
~~~A little bit before~~~
Roshan, I captured a poor soul who claims t' be a victim of the cult some time ago. Can you question this man to see if he knows the name Lydus? Or if there is some kind of registry for active members? If this man truly is an innocent I must seek to revive him after this business with Einora.
The Cultist struggles as you annoint her with blood. she begins talking almost immediately, remarkably little need for torture. you see it often in the type that are always in control, the second they realize they are helpless, they crack.
"The lady, she is more vulnerable than she claims, please, I know how to harm her."
"I could Smuggle you in, tell the lady a lie, pretend to have captured you... something like that."
"She has a lieutenant, a shapeshifter... He could have infiltrated your party."
what do you do?
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I give Ron a smirk. Where next, captain?
Seems the next step is climbing over a magical bronze wall. Ron hands Conwall the grappling hook. Belym might be able to create a ramp up the wall, but if not, ye'll need this. If the wall is manned, we will cover yer approach and clear an area of the wall as best we can. I trust ye can establish a beachhead on the wall if we get ye up there. We'll climb up right behind you.
Oh, is that all? Shouldn't be too difficult.
Roshan nods. "Oh, I am very sure you could tell the self-made queen of lies... something, but I doubt somehow that she would have left herself vulnerable on that particular front. Likely, this is your last, desperate plot: convince us to deliver ourselves into hostile hands and reap glorious rewards for your aptitude with lies. I have served a twisted master myself. I know the depths they have you crawl for their approval. Now, I have heard much about vulnerabilities, and I have made the mistake of mistrusting such claims in the past. Tell me of this, and mayhap we can rebuild your life anew." Roshan brushes hair from the caster's eyes with the blunt crook of a blade, a few strands cutting at the slightest touch.
No... No, I could not do that. None could hope to betray the Lady, and live. the cultist says, shoulders dropping, eyes downcast, all the signs of a broken woman. she is a tool of Hebron now,what do you do?
"When you have built a castle on poor foundation, you must destroy everything and start fresh." Roshan recites the line as she slides her blades back into their leather bag. "I told you, I have served a twisted master before, and that was the first thing I heard after my mentor saved me from the honey-sweet pit of termoil that is service to a minion of hell." Rolling the bag and tying it to her sash, she turns, removing her gold-dyed gloves with her teeth. "I have broken you, but it is only so that something fresh, firm, and fruitful can grow.. here." The templar touches a finger to a point just below the caster's collar bone.
"We can begin with penance for your past crimes. I have a certain... preference... as you may have noticed." She pulls up her old bracer to show the scars. "But penance comes from within, and I think you may be best served by a repentant tongue. You said the Lady of Lies has other weaknesses. Something other than divine ore?" Getting down to eye level, Roshan cradles the caster's head in one hand. She remembers Danyal doing the same... as well as Seprahime. She's not sure how she feels about the gesture, only that it put her at ease when she received it.
Why was she doing any of this? Circumspection was not Roshan's forte. Things like self-doubt were for the weak-willed and directionless. Roshan was an arrow in flight. She was here because this cultist was a heretic. She was treating the cultist with a soft touch because the cultist was repentant and showed promising malleability. She was keeping the cultist because she had seen life with a party, and with an entourage, and those friends had been taken away. She wanted the cultist because Belym did not want her, and having friends had let her think she could handle filling The Emptiness with familiarity...
-maybe even intimacy.
Cassandra looks up, eyes soft, teary-eyed, and says The Lady's overthrow of Ishvar was not peaceful. Quite a few powerful demons were quite loyal to him, and when The Lady tried to usurp his armies as well as his power, they fought her fiercely, determined to be then next general of the armies of treason. she takes a breath, and wipes away the blood weeping from a cut on her collarbone before continuing. Demonic claws did nothing to the lady, but powerful magic did avail them against her she says, tone growing excessively formal she is not, as she purports, immune to magic, merely resistant.
shame covers her face as she finishes, dropping to her knees in the mud, likely about to sob in confusion, loss, anger, despair, or some combination thereof. What do you do?
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Roshan's mouth presses to a thin line. She had never done this, and therefore could not lean on either of her past experiences for how to move forward. Instead, she continues with the process heedless of Cassandra's vulnerability. "Change takes time, and it will get harder before it becomes second nature. I am your mentor, your guardian, and your confeitor until you learn to stand with your own fortitude. I must report my findings to the band's leader." The templar pulls her comb and knife from her belt. "As an initiate, you must learn to master your own body. You will shave everything but your scalp with this knife, and run this comb through your hair one thousand times. I will return with hot water to wash with, and I will set your fingers when you are done. I would not recommend killing yourself with no one on the other side to claim your soul. I think we both know where you would end up." I will be very upset when I retrieve you.
Roshan pauses, seeing that her words aren't sinking in as they should. She bends down and takes the woman's hand in hers. "I can see that you need a sign that life without a living God is more than clawing through dirt. Take this blessing, and know that my faith is in you to do the right thing." She presses down on the primary nerve leading to the hand until it has lost sensitivity, then sets the caster's numb fingers.
Roshan leaves to report to Ron. She tells him of the Lady's imperfect resistance to magic, and the possibility of more spies in their reduced ranks. Oddly, she also reports that the cultist is under her protection, and that she will personally castrate any man that touches her. Then, she turns to find some hot water.
As Roshan leaves, Ron calls Conwall, Larune, Gerrick, and Beldroth over. Inform the others that Einora is at least partially vulnerable to magic. Also, tell everyone to leave that cultist be unless they wish to face Roshan's wrath.
As the hirelings disperse, Ron turns to Conwall. Will you spar with me before we get underway?
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I nod to Ron and start practicing with him. The order of a clean, calm fight helps settle me for what I'll do tomorrow.
After a short rest, you guys, your four remaining soldiers, and Cassandra (who, as you approach the Fortress, is visibly paling) set back off. You are walking less than an hour before the Marshway ends, and you enter the young, twisted forest that surrounds the Lady's base. from the end of the Marsh the road splits. one road goes west, toward the Braxan border, the other north and east, toward the main part of the village. What do you do?
Roshan is near the front of the party, driven there as the twisted saplings slowed progress. She tries to cut through the foliage with her Khanda, inspecting the wood as a material.
Tom, I don't suppose your divine guidance can show us the way?
I doubt surprise is an option. We go over or under this wall. Belym, do you have any ideas?
Conwall, if Belym can't get us over, then perhaps ye can do it. He reaches out to touch Conwall and the elf disappears from view.
There is a saying in my faith, having no reason t' stay is the best reason t' go, Tom says walking towards the direction his quest compels him.
As they advance, Belym finds a good quiet moment to release the blast elemental, and watches it leave the party.
In response to Ron, she says " Oh, I've got a few ideas. Not sure "good" applies to any of them, though. Want to test one out? " She stomps a foot, and a three foot wide boulder not far from Ron levitates into the air. Belym waves a hand from Ron to the boulder.
Ye ... ye want me to ride that? Ron looks from the boulder to the channeler and heaves a heavy sign. I like it. Can ye take more than one of us? Better yet, can ye take all of us?
Roshan
as you examine the wilderness, you see the telltale signs of demon-blight, the wood twisting itself into profane figures. this area is heavily patroled. you guys will have to move quickly to stay ahead of Einora's forces.
You've claimed one of my servants for yourself, I see Einora's taunting voice snickers
what do you do?
Tom
You necklace pulls you toward the right fork, it would seem the western side of the fortress is the more direct route to the shield.
Ishvar is still at your side, twirling an obsidian dagger you're sure he didn't have an hour ago. So, iron Tom, tell me, what do you and your companions plan to do, once you've slain Einora? Do you plan to become like the godslayer, or try for true ascension? or will you uphold your end of the bargain, allow me to return, and prevent the upheaval of the status quo?
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Roshan looks up at the wall in the distance through the latticework of trees. Her left hand leaves the hilt of her blade and reaches back to catch Cassandra's, but the woman is lagging behind, and Roshan's hand passes through the open air. The templar turns. Shock settles back to stoicism. "You can hear her, yes? The spoiled child laughing on a borrowed throne? She doesn't know the tenth part of the weight of Godhood. That is why two faithful, an elf knave, a retired war captain, and... and a handful of others... have crushed wave after wave of the demonic host, including the lady's champion." Roshan indicates the destinctive pauldrons built into her new armor. "This is not a mouse's plan to beseige a cat. We are the workaday exterminators of the filth that hinders civilized life. Einora is a racoon that managed to scare Ishvar out of his home. She hasn't even the sense to light the hearth."
The boulder (with Ron on it, if he climbed on) ascends quickly to about twenty feet above the ground, then descends back to earth, landing with a gentle thud. "I could try doing more than one of those at once, but I'm not sure I could guarantee a smooth ride. "
Ron gasps as he lands. Ye full of power Belym. Sure glad yer on our side. Ye ought throw an empty boulder first, see if she has thought of this. Hmm. Might we send over two dozen rocks, with invisible allies on just a few? Disguise an invasion as a bombardment?
Tom
You necklace pulls you toward the right fork, it would seem the western side of the fortress is the more direct route to the shield.
Ishvar is still at your side, twirling an obsidian dagger you're sure he didn't have an hour ago. So, iron Tom, tell me, what do you and your companions plan to do, once you've slain Einora? Do you plan to become like the godslayer, or try for true ascension? or will you uphold your end of the bargain, allow me to return, and prevent the upheaval of the status quo?
That's the great thing about a journey, Ishvar. You don't need a destination to take one, Tom says dryly.
Tom takes notice of Ishvar's new boldness, but the task at hand is too much to care.
Ron
Einora has been taunting you all this time, reminding of your failure, you final stand. she expects you to try it again, to walk into an obvious trap, to prove that you can. she expects you to go in through the gate.
Roshan
And what then? What do we do when she is overthrown? Cassandra asks, eyes on the brass walls looming in the distance.
Tom
I see, you haven't figured it out yet, have you? No plan, except to slay her. he says, releasing the dagger, and watching it turn to dust Not a problem, I'm sure you'll do what you think is right. he says.
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Roshan's eyes scan to Ishvar. "Say what you will about the snake, but Ishvar knew his place. Likely, we will return the throne to him and let him count his dwindling age, but it is not our place to say. It is our place to remove any influence of the Gods where they conflict with Hebron's Censure. Who holds their thrones is not our problem." There is a momentary pause, before Roshan remembers her role a tutor. "Hebron's Censure is a covenant between man and God, made on the eve of his death. They are not to influence our growth, and we are not to storm their keeps... Present circumstances excluded, obviously."
You appear to have gained enough power to be useful, Ishvar.
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Conwall's voice emerges from nowhere. Invisibility is something that he could get used to.
Put me on the rock. I'll get the wall down.
It's a good plan. Send three boulders over as if testing their defenses, and send Conwall on the second.
Roshan looks from the wall to Ron with that child-trying-not-to-correct-an-elder look, then Francis steps forward, glaring at Cassandra, but addressing Ron. "Should we prepare to start our assault in time with the first salvo, sir?"
Roshan has to catch herself from falling. "Francis! I thought- you're well! That's good. It is... it is good to see you are well. This is..." Roshan realizes she doesn't know Cassandra's name. Just before the ex-cultist introduces herself, Roshan finishes with "she's under me- religiously... she's learning- she's my ward.[/b]"
"S'all right, ma'am, as long as she knows I was, ah, under you... first."
Roshan has accomplished a genuine look of confusion. "I thought you were-"
"We're not talking about that today, ma'am. Today we're slaying Gods."
Tom prays for the success of the operation.
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Conwall, with this new plan, I think it best if ye give me back the grappling rope. We may need to scale the wall.
He turns to the group. Einora expects us to assault the gate because she thinks I'm a fool. Let's look the part. Beldroth, Merrick, and Larune, with me. The rest of ye from Ghostmoor remain in reserve and reinforce if we begin to falter.
Finally to Belym. Once we get to the wall, if ye can get Roshan and Tom on top, I can set the grappling hook. Just in case Conwall falters.
Belym nods at Ron. " Sounds like a plan. Try not to die. "
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Belym nods at Ron. " Sounds like a plan. Try not to die. "
Ron nods back. It is not yet our time.
As Ron leads the charge, Belym begins what almost looks like a dance, heavy stomps and slides that send a procession of stones up towards the top of the wall.
The dwarf doesn't react to the slight change in balance as Conwall mounts the third stone; after a few more go up, she gestures at Tom and Roshan to hop on the next few.
Conwall hands over the hook and hunches on the rock, waiting for blast off.
The rock sails through the air, cresting over the top of the wall and crashing down on the troops below.
Of course, Conwall isn't on the rock when it lands. He gracefully and silently dismounted at the apex and is now on the other side of the wall. Time to get everyone else over. In the chaos of the bombardment, he scans for a way through.
He needs an opening or weakness in the wall.
Roshan leaves Francis and Cassandra to join the group assult.
When she reaches the wall, she crouches low and compares the distribution of forces on either side of the wall, preparing her crossbow.
Roshan leaves Francis and Cassandra to join the group assult.