"Sorry. I forget myself."
Quayne reappears next to Raderol with Raderol's items in hand, which he is eyeing carefully.
"Dispense with the gag for now. Raderol asked what we wanted. We would like you to talk. Tell us your side of the story. Who is Roshnuu, who else did you work with and why did you take this ring?"
Quayne holds up the plain obsidian band and slides it over his finger.
"If no one objects, may I look after this until we return? I would suggest Ulvak, if not me, since he could also utilise it effectively if needed. Mayhaps the other items to those who could best use them too, for now."
Vaelins turns Raderol to face Quayne, while still keeping a tight grip on him. Then he looks at the items and gingerly lifts the amulet which Raderol had been wearing with his tentacle and examines it for a moment. He seems completely ambivalent as to who gets custody of the ring.
Quayne, did you by any chance identify what these items are? Also exactly why is this ring so valuable?
The shadowy elf thinks for a moment, then says "As senior ranking House agent, I shall take possession of the ring. Quayne's suggestion of the rest his gear going to those best suited for them also makes sense. I believe the best course of action is to get our answers from Raderol then rid ourselves of him."
I agree.
"Though Raderol probably speaks Draconic, given his relationship with Roshnuu and his magical abilities. I also speak the learned language of Giants and Gnomes; the ancient Goblin language (much older than our tongue); the language of earth elementals, Terran, which you have heard me use to command them; Ignan, the language of fire; and Infernal and Abyssal though I rarely hope to encounter their native speakers. I am working on Auran and Celestial and I am curious to know the language that Vae keeps mumbling in too."
"Vae, I have not magically identified the items, but could do so tomorrow. The potion cures wounds (I have made plenty of potions), the amulet appears to harden the skin (I may try my hand at one of them some time) and our friend appears to have been paid a 2000 gold advance, in platinum.
The ring is our Ring of Kabraxas, an artifact that almost doubles the spells a caster may throw, and grants a weekly boon of great power."
Quayne removes the ring and presents it to Ulvak.
"There you go. I think we should take Raderol to the Twelve. Though if he tries anything, of course we would be forced to take whatever action was necessary to stop him."
Vaelins seems interested at the mention of the last power of the ring.
Does this boon work only for a mage who can make use of the ring, or will it work for anyone?
Raderol stays mute as you discuss his fate.
"It would appear our friend here can heal on his own somehow. He believes if he can stall long enough he'll give us a nasty surprise. I suggest we knock him out, but I am not sure that will suffice. Any other suggestions?? Kira, is there something you can perhaps do??"
Hearing this, Vaelins immidiatley hits Raderol right between the eyes with the pommel of his short sword to quickly knock him out.
Vaelins then looks at Radeol's limp form and thinks for a minute Sorry Ulvak, were you done with his mind?
Well, he has told us nothing so he is of no use to us. And unless the ring can do something, he is still a threat so I suggest execution. Send him to Dolurrh. I suspect the boon of the ring could be used by anyone, but I would have to study the ring further and possibly use my magic tomorrow to be sure. And we would be very lucky if the boon had not already been used this past week. Still, it will be a while before we get back to Korth. Particularly if we wish to put these poor souls to rest.
Quayne eyes the carnage about them and shakes his head sadly.
"Would've liked some actual answers out of him, but my ability does not last that long. Oh well. At this point, I think we should just slay him."
Ok, if you insist.
Vaelins shifts so that his body is between Raderol and Kiralinsee, presumably so that she cannot see what comes next if she looked away from the dancing elementals. He then efficiently slits Raderol's throat and drops the body before too much blood can spray out.
He then finds a nearby rock and proceeds to smash Raderol's head to a bloody smear on the ground.
Help me destroy the body so that he can't be returned from the dead or have information about us extracted from his body.
"Um, yes."
Quayne speaks quickly.
"By the powers invested in us, we hereby find one Raderol the Thunder Jin guilty of mass murder and, um... other bad stuff, and we, uh, sentence him to death by... well, um..."
Quayne winces as something pops.
"... death. We should probably burn the bodies. All of them."
As Raderol dies his body is consumed in blue flames leaving behind a large sapphire.
Ulvak's eyes widen at the appearance of the sapphire "Well there's something you don't see every day. I too think it would be good to burn the bodies, as well as gather the personal effects of these soldiers." He picks up the sapphire and hands it to Quayne. "I think you should hold on to this. Should we sell the gear of these brave warriors and send what monies we can to their families, or do you think they'd want the gear for sentimental reasons??"
The game concludes and Kiralinsee says goodbye and hugs each of the elementals. The elementals go back to their home plane.
She walks over to the rest of the group as they are discussing what to do with the possessions of the Vedics.
"Rocky and friends needed to go home."
Kiralinsee notices the gem in Quayne's hands
"I see you killed him. Ah well, it's prolly for the best. Now we don't have to worry about him and if we run into Raeli again she can still ask her questions. I miss Raeli. I wonder what she's gotten herself into. Anyway, what next guys?"
"We should return the gear and items to their superiors. They will sort out the details while we return to Korth."
Kiralinsee notices that Ulvak is wincing a bit.
Oh Ulvak, It looks like you're hurt. Perhaps we should take care of that before we worry about what happens to the dead? I'd hate to be without your abilities should we be ambushed and they go after you. Broken toys are no fun to play with after all.
Ulvak smiles at Kira kind words "Not broken, just singed. I'll be fine deary, tis just a flesh wound" He begins to build a funeral pyre and once finished looks to the others "Alright, now which one of you can make this burn? My talents lie elsewhere"
The crashing of Karmel racing through underbrush announces Raeli's arrival at the edge of the meadow, and disappointment is etched deeply across the shifter's face as she emerges from the shadows of the Nightwood. Missy leaps from the saddle, circling the corpses and growling at the sapphire in Quayne's hands. "Dolurrh! I see he stopped for some fun. I rushed back as soon as I saw the trail left by the Regulars, but too slow. Did you see no sign of him?"
He's right there. Vaelins points to the crystal that Quayne is holding. He was not the most cooperative of prisoners.
Looking up from where he's working Ulvak says "I'm guessing you mean Raderol? Quayne has a sign of him, though he's looking a little blue."
Dismounting in one swift motion, Raeli drops her reins and strides quickly over to examine the crystal. "That is Raderol? Is this some form of imprisonment, a spell of yours?" She reaches out a hand expectantly.
Ulvak shakes his head "No, this is what happened once we kiled him. I've never seen or even heard of such a thing happening, which says a lot"
"Killed him?" Her hand freezes in mid-air, fist clenching. A flurry of emotions sail across her face, none taking hold long enough to establish dominance. She asks no questions, for the moment, concerning the artifact they were sent to retrieve.
Kiralinsee runs over to Raeli and gives her a hug.
"Don't worry Raeli, he's not so much dead as he is greatly diminished. Turns out "Thunder Jinn" isn't just a title, he actually is a thunder jinn. You can still talk to him telepathically through the gem if you have some questions you'd like answered."
Raeli's breath slows, the muscles in her shoulders loosening beneath her thick gray "second skin". Awkwardly, she returns the hug and a hint of a smile sneaks into the open. "Ah, well, that is interesting. I take it you recovered the artifact from among his possessions, then? And I would like to ask him a few questions -- have you already contacted him in...there...?" She looks mildly skeptical regarding the gem, but she has seen stranger things in her time working as a free agent for The Twelve.
Ulvak shows off his ring as Rae asks about the artifact "Pretty isn't it?? I think it shows off my eyes" He says with a giggle.
Vaelins has at this point put on the amulet he was holding and carefully coiled his tentacle back around his chest, laying his coat over it and patting himself down for any unnatural lumps.
Well now that he's safely in there He gestures to the gem I was wondering if there was some way to harnass his power from the gem. Vaelins pantomimes shooting lightning out of his hands. Ulvak? Quayne? Have any ideas?
"The Gem no doubt acts as portal, filter and repository, connecting and containing extraplanar energies inside our own prime through its integral matrix overlapping the arcane weave. Its resilience and focus, while not immutable as such, would approach crystalline stasis for the sake of stability and thus conjecture can project limited capacity and capability, both of which may be approaching their limitations without eldritch reinforcement. Until reconnaissance and observation interplay with ongoing temporal dichotomies and appropriate divinations are effected adequately, accurate assessment defies categorisation. I shall cast identify and detect magic on it tomorrow morning and take a look at it then. You may take it until such time."
Quayne holds the Gem out to Raeli.
"Forgive our apparent eagerness, but our discovery of Raderol coincided with this brutal slaughter. He spoke of Roshnuu as reinforcement when called upon and we concluded immediate action was required. Blasts were traded while I called upon my Terran guard and Roshnuu appeared as some serpentine drake of fire and stone to aid her "baby". We seized upon this weakness, and the powers of Ulvak persuaded her to leave the fight allowing us to overcome Raderol in her absence. Sadly, while Raderol was apprehended, mind reading from Ulvak revealed he was still dangerous and summary execution was agreed and actioned whereupon his body was consumed in blue flame and replaced by the Essence Gem. Did I miss out anything? Our objective lies currently with Ulvak, its thief with you and his equipment with Vae and Kira. And here is 49 platinum for everybody except 4 for Kira. Do not spend it all at once Kira. That will buy a LOT of candy."
Raeli understands something about planar energies and divinations in Quayne's impromptu dissertation, but for the most part she lets the words slide past her ears while maintaining a politely interested expression. The only part she really cares about is the last sentence before he hands the gem to her -- which she rotates once, examining the light through its facets, and places in her pocket for later questioning. "Oh, there is nothing to forgive. It is well that the brute is dead, er, sort of anyway. He more than earned his death. I just didn't expect it to be over so quickly, and me not even here to cheer you on."
The money she gladly pockets as well, and then sets to work alongside the others in setting a funeral pyre. The ring adorning Ulvak's finger draws hardly a glance, though she mutters encouragingly when he asks if it sets off his eyes.
"If you could keep Missy out of my hair, Kira, I would be much obliged. She still doesn't know much beyond 'fetch', but I'm sure you can think of something fun for her to do."
The shadow elf looks a little confused at what Quayne just said "I'm pretty sure you made up about half of that." He says with a laugh. Looking around at the other he says " So we've slain Raderol, taken care of the bodies of the brave warriors who tried to stop him and now caught Raeli up to speed. I believe we can head back, mission completed??"
"When you say it like that, this all sounds like a merry day at the carnival." Raeli laughs at Ulvak's summary of events. "Let's hope it all goes so smoothly on the way back." She may be disappointed not to have participated in the execution of Raderol, but she is pleased that she'll have plenty of time to question the soul bound within the gem. And then to find a way to really kill him...
Kira thanks Quayne for the money and skips off to the side with Missy.
"C'mon Missy lets see if we can't find something entertaining to do, while the grownups work"
Quayne flashes his perfect white smile with a single missing tooth.
"Whether I made it up, or based it on my extensive knowledge of conjuring, summoning and binding extraplanar creatures, the point remains that it will take some time and magic before I can finally conclude that I do not know."
"It took us six weeks to get here. If it takes us five weeks to return, that is one limited wish each. But before we head back, I think we should head on to Vedykar and return the equipment of the soldiers. I would also like to be as far from this place as possible by this evening, both for the slaughter that occurred here and the possibility of the return of Roshnuu."
Watching the last of the pyres consume the bodies, Raeli is silent as she remembers another pyre that burned away decades ago. Beneath the deep tan masking her face, she is pale and still for several minutes. Hopefully her intensity passes for simple fatigue.
Without segue, she turns and smiles at Kira and Missy rolling in the long, clean grass at the edge of the field of carnage. Even Karmel is watching them with something akin to amusement in his wise horsey eyes. "You two ready to wrap things up?", she calls out to get their attention, though she has learned that the strange little girl is almost always aware of what's happening, even when she seems engrossed in some silly pastime or another.
To Quayne's questions, she responds, "As there is no bonus for quick return, I admit I'm inclined towards the slower, and possibly more rewarding, return. And I agree on both accounts -- if we stick to the road, we can put some fair distance between us and this place before making camp."
Ulvak nods his agreement "I too think it's best to make our way to Vedykar first to return the equipment to the officers and families of these soldiers. It might take us longer, but it's important"
Kiralinsee gets up and straightens out her dress at Raeli's call.
"C'mon Missy, It appears the others are about ready to be off. Don't worry we'll have plenty of time to play later"
She pats Missy on the head and calls over to Raeli
"Coming Raeli"
She skips over to the group with Missy close behind.
"Agreed on a destination have we?"
"We are off to Vedykar to return the possessions of these fallen soldiers. We might also use the Limited Wish tonight. Then we can use it again next week. Any requests, my friends? What do you wish for? Let us discuss this as we travel."
As the funeral pyre burns low you set off on a course to Vedykar and travel until the sun dips below the horizon.