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Cerin answers Gogmurt's tirade against the chief in the same tongue.
He glares at the druid, keeping his guard up and trying not to show how much he is hurting...
Helena yelps in pain as the bun spreads across her arm, mirroring the mark on Cerin's. Severing the link with a mental apology, she presses a hand to her own chest, the leaing light spreading from her fingers and temporarily easing her own pain.
Round 6, Top
...saves
...hit
...hit
Orik presses the attack, but the mounted goblin deftly parries the warrior's blade.
Still looking ill, Gwyn moves toward the rest of the party and casts a spell. Another jet of flame fires from her hand, blasting the warchief and his lizard mount.
Cerin starts speaking in goblin-tongue with the enemy druid while keeping his guard up. The goblin's expression seems to turn from desperation to a glimmer of hope.
Helena summons the spirits of life to heal her own wounds.
Shalelu and Kyrian both take careful aim at the goblin warchief, and each plug him with an arrow!
Warrior 1: hp (-7)/6; unconscious, dying
Warrior 2: hp (-8)/6; unconscious, dying
Warrior 3: hp (-6)/6; unconscious, dying
Commando 2: hp (-8)/12; unconscious, dying
Commando 3: hp (-4)/12; unconscious, dying
East guard 1: hp (-5)/12; unconscious, dying
Jester: hp (-8)/16; unconscious, dying
Gogmurt: hp 15/33
Ripnugget: hp 30/42
Stickfoot: hp 7/11
Round 6, Bottom
...miss
...hit
Ripnugget, finding himself cornered, glares at the archers and Gwyn with a look of sheer hatred. "You not get me so easily!" He grabs the reins of his lizard and digs in his spurs and the lizard barrels toward Shalelu! Orik and Helena both take a parting swipe at him, but he manages to maneuver the surprisingly-nimble lizard out of the way. At the last second, the goblin warchief turns and rides past Shalelu and Kyrian, slashing at Shalelu as he passes: he cuts a deep gash on the ranger's arm. He then faces Gwyn menacingly!
Gogmurt, his blade of flame still raised defensively, makes more incomprehsible squeaky babbling at Cerin.
Hearing this, Ripnugget's green melonhead turn almost purple. He shouts a burst of angry gibberish at his fellow goblin.
"Dammit, get back here!", Orik says, rushing after the warchief, his bastard sword held high to strike. He blindsides the goblin, and catches him across the back with a slash that draws blood.
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Cerin's attention is momentarily diverted from his interrogation by Helena's cry. He glances over at her with a worried expression, his frown deepening when he sees the burn mirroring his own. He slowly starts edging away from Gogmurt to get closer to Helena as he pulls a vial from his belt and offers it to her, never taking his eyes off the druid.
He calls out
Gwyn finds herself trembling as she raises the slender, curving blade in her hand. Between the vomit potion, the mental exhaustion of casting everything she had, and the exertion of the fight, she's worried she might not be on her feet much longer. Her stomach is still yelling at her for her impulsiveness, one might even say stupidity, as she takes a step to the other wall, and just happens to put Ripnugget and his mount between her and Kyrian.
C'mon, take the hint and draw your blade, Kyrian, she thinks as she mentally grits her teeth.
"Well, Your Grangrenishness, allow me to be the first to apologize for underestimating you," Gwyn says as graciously as she can manage while keeping the bitter bile in her belly where it was, "After all, I'm sure that had we know what folly it was to fight you, we would have come with gifts and treasure instead of swords. I'm sure that not even Shalelu, the bane of goblins less worthy than yourself, Your Toothsomeness, would not even dare to raise her blade against you. Even if we were so far gone as to try and stab Your Greenness in the back, and give another of use the opportunity to try killing your nimble steed, I'm quite sure that Your Putredness would defeat the attempt quite handedly," she finishes by nodding sagely, all the while praying that Kyrian got the message.
Seeing her fleeting chance to strike, Gwyn lashes out like a viper, aiming for the overgrown gecko's throat.
Unfortunately, Ripnugget's mount was faster, and now she was certain the chief was going to kill her first.
Fluff meanwhile, flits up to the beams above, the last thing Gwyn needed now was to worry about crushing her familiar while dodging for her life.
Helena glances at Gwyn worriedly, before noticing Cerin at her side, offering a potion vial. Smiling thankfully, she takes it and downs it without further thought.
Round 7
...hit
...hit
...success
...hit
Gywn makes a seemingly-obsequious speech to Ripnugget that's laced with both insults and attempting to send a message to Kyrian. The young warrior apparently understands, as he draws his shortsword. However, Ripnugget also appears to understand both that he's being set up and that he's being insulted. He grins evilly as he raises his sword to stike the elven sorceress.
But then Orik rushes forward and stabs with his bastard sword, sticking the goblin chieftain between the plates of his armor. Ripnugget shouts in pain as Orik withdraws his sword, now dripping with goblin-blood.
Cerin, still in a defensive pose, continues gibbering in goblin-tongue at Gugmurt while offering a potion bottle to Helena. Helena takes the potion and quaffs it. Her wounds begin to rapidly heal. Gugmurt nods at Cerin's words, and both the jet of flame from his hand and the flame on his wand extinguish. He drops the wand on the floor and raises his hands above his head.
Taking Gwyn's lead, Kyrian stabs Ripnugget's lizard steed in one of its powerful hind legs, successfully guessing where a lizard's femoral artery should be. The lizard shrieks like a bizarre bird of prey as arterial blood sprays out of the wound like a geyser! It tries to rear up as Ripnugget struggles to control it, but then the lizard's legs collapse out from under it and it stops moving. However, the goblin chief deftly jumps from the saddle before his mount starts convulsing in death throes. "You... you kill Stickfoot?! I kill you all for that!! I KILL YOU ALL!!!"
In response to the threat, Shalelu hits him in the shoulder with an arrow.
Ripnugget then decides to vent his fury on Gwyn, advancing on her and slicing her with a series of attacks.
Warrior 1: hp (-8)/6; unconscious, dying
Warrior 2: hp (-9)/6; unconscious, dying
Warrior 3: hp (-7)/6; unconscious, dying
Commando 2: hp (-9)/12; unconscious, dying
Commando 3: hp (-5)/12; unconscious, dying
East guard 1: hp (-6)/12; unconscious, dying
Jester: hp (-9)/16; unconscious, dying
Gogmurt: hp 15/33; surrendered
Ripnugget: hp 17/42
Stickfoot: hp (-6)/11; unconscious, dying
Gwyn grits her teeth against a scream as Ripnugget's blade cuts deep into her arms and legs. Thankfully, he misses anything vital, but the elfin wizard finds herself fighting off the dizziness of bloodloss as she takes a step back.
"Better'n you've tried," she mutters through a manic grin.
She strikes out again, hoping to land a blow, but she's well aware that she's outclassed in this fight. She just hopes that Orik can finish him off first, and that she can help by at least distracting the goblin chieftain.
Orik presses the advantage that Gwyn is giving him, lining up a powerful strike against the panicking warchief. The little bastard is just too swift for him, though, and jumps out of the way of his strike. "Stand still, you little s**t!"
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Cerin is studying Gogmurt for any sign that he is trying to deceive him when he hears Gwyn's stifled scream. His head whips around and his eyes go wide when he sees her staggering back covered in blood. An involuntary yell of "Galtina!" escapes his lips as he charges across the room to her side, drawing his wand from his pouch. He taps her lightly to let it's healing energy flow through her.
Frightened for her friends' safety and her own, Helena tries to end the fight quicker by stabbing at Ripnugget, but her spear-head sticks into the ground instead.
Round 8
...miss
...crit threat!
...no
...hit
...OVERRIDE: 6
Gwyn, Orik, and Helena continue to press the attack, but between Ripnugget's fine-quality breastplate and his goblin ruthlessnes, no one can land a blow on him.
At the sight of the goblin chief's savage attack on Gwyn, Cerin bounds over to her, using his magical wand of healing to cure some of her wounds. He still manages to keep an eye on Gugmurt, though. It looks like the goblin druid is eyeing the door to the south, but as soon as he sees Cerin watching him again, he stops, puts his hands higher over his head, and smiles nervously.
Seeing Ripnugget savagely attack Gwyn, Kyrian shouts, "Hey! Ugly! Over here!" in an attempt to distract him. He rushes to Gwyn's side, desperately parrying Ripnugget's over-sized shortsword. However, Kyrian falls for a feint and gets slashed badly for his trouble.
Shalelu fires more arrows at the goblin chief, but can't seem to get through his armor.
Ripnugget, realizing that he's pretty much surrounded, doubles down on his ferocity. Shouting and growling, he steps over the body of a fallen goblin, screaming at Cerin: "NO!! You not chief!! My throne! MINE!!" He then attacks Cerin in a barrage of slashes.
Warrior 1: hp (-9)/6; unconscious, dying
Warrior 3: hp (-8)/6; unconscious, dying
Commando 3: hp (-6)/12; unconscious, dying
East guard 1: hp (-7)/12; unconscious, dying
Gogmurt: hp 15/33; surrendered
Ripnugget: hp 17/42
Stickfoot: hp (-7)/11; unconscious, dying
Frustrated at the goblin's seemingly impenetrable armor, Orik swears to himself in Varisian, and comes at Ripnugget opposite Gwyn. The frustration at continually being stymied by a greenskin finally pays off, and a strike catches Ripnugget in the shoulder.
Gwyn sees Orik coming from one side, and Gwyn decides to take the other. Her blade flashes as it scythes in like the head of some bird of prey.
The ground seems to call to Helena, plant life buried under the stones reaching to her through cobbles and boots. It would be so easy to let it flow, to release it in a burst of light and colour, but with the unconscious goblins all around, it would be an unwise risk. Instead, she takes a deep breath, steps over an unconscious goblin, and stabs at the chief.
...hit
Round 9
Her back to the wall, Gwyn takes a cue from Orik and stabs Ripnugget in the arm while he's defending against the armored man.
As the infuriated goblin turns his attention toward the elven sorceress, Orik slashes the goblin with a wicked cut of his blade.
Unfortunately, Orik also steps between Helena and her target, interfering with her attempt to skewer the goblin with her polearm.
Cerin seems to have the goblin's attention, as he parries Ripnugget's oversized shortsword. Meanwhile, Kyrian tries to stab the goblin from behind one of the poles holding up the roof, but his blade is deflected by the goblin's armor.
"Enough! Time to die, Goblin!" shouts Shalelu as she lets fly another arrow. This shot is true, and hits the goblin in the back of his head. He turns, surprised, staring at the elven ranger in shock. At that, the rest of you strike, and Warchief Ripnugget is no more.
Gogmurt's eyes dart from his fallen chieftain to each of you to the bodies of the goblins littering the floor... and then he grins in a disturbing attempt to look nonthreatening as he holds his hands up even higher over his head.
He then says, in broken Taldane, "We have deal, right? I tell you of Silver Lady, and you let me go, right? I never bother longshanks again, I swear!" He lowers one hand and makes a cross over his heart, then raises it again.
"ខ្ញុំនឹងនិយាយថា នេះយឺត ហើយនៅក្នុង អណ្តាត របស់អ្នក។ អ្នកគ្រាន់តែ ទទួលបានឱកាស មួយ។ ប្រសិនបើអ្នកបាន ធ្វើតាមសម្បថ របស់អ្នកខ្ញុំ នឹងធ្វើឱ្យ ប្រាកដថាមាន អ្វីបានចាកចេញប៉ុន្តែ ផេះ តូច ខ្លាំងណាស់។" Gwyn says slowly in the goblin's own language.
...1 Shiny, 1 Worthless, 1 Yummy
...1 Broken, 1 Yummy
...1 Broken, 1 Shiny, 1 Yummy
...1 Worthless, 1 Yummy
...velvet-lined jewelry box containing a bloody human eyeball
...bracelet made of still-slimy fish tails
...trigger mechanism for a heavy crossbow, very rusty
...wide paintbrush with most of its bristles missing
...tiny painting of a pretty woman, as if taken from a locket
...threadbare and patched black silk top hat
...clay jar of pickled fish tails
...A well-gnawed leather shoe filled with wild parsnips
...A rotting potato with long roots that have been woven together
...clay jar of pickled toads
Cerin heals the party using his healing wand. During this time, the waves of nausea Gwynn was experiencing ebb, and she now feels quite a bit better.
While guarding the goblin druid, you also sort through the goblin remains that are littering Ripnugget's throne room.
The warchief has the following items of value...
A fine-looking mithril shortsword sized for a human, seemingly of Thassilonian manufacture. The sword radiates magic.
A well-crafted steel breastplate, seemingly made for a halfling.
A crown that at first seemed to be made of gold, but you quickly realize is gold-plated tin (30 gp)
A Small masterwork handaxe
three potions: one barkskin and two cure moderate wounds.
a battered gold locket with a broken chain, containing a tiny painting of a half-orc woman (10 gp)
a tiny, velvet-lined jewelry box (such that would hold a ring) containing a bloody human eyeball
35 gp
The goblin jester had:
wand of silent image (14 charges)
potion of cure light wounds
masterwork dogslicer
threadbare black silk top hat
a battered paintbrush with most of its bristles missing
10 gp
You then search Gogmurt, and he has the following items of interest:
wand of produce flame (34 charges)
wand of tree shape (4 charges)
potion of cure light wounds
a surprisingly well-made suit of leather armor of goblin manufacture. It radiates magic.
A blue silk cloak that radiates magic
10 gp, 20 sp
a bracelet made of still-slimy fish tails.
a clay jar of pickled toads.
Sorting through the rest of the goblin bodies, you find a total of four masterwork dogslicers, 25 gp in miscellaneous coins, a large quartz crystal (15 gp), a porcelain doll's head, a jar of picked fish tails, the firing mechanism from a heavy crossbow, and a well-gnawed leather shoe contiaing several shriveled potatoes with long roots that have been braided together.
You then turn your attention to Gogmurt and start questioning him. It's hard to keep him on subject, but you get the following story:
Gogmurt confirms the story laid out in both Tsuto's journal and what Orik has already told you: "Silver Lady" approached all of the goblin tribes in an attempt to unite them to attack Sandpoint. Gogmurt says that he thought Ripnugget was infatuated with Nualia and wanted to sleep with her, and that if his chief went along with her plans, she'd agree to become his queen. But Gogmurt advised against allying with Nualia and her band: he thought that attacking Sandpoint would spell doom to the Thistletop goblins. The way he talks about Nualia, it's clear that he was jealous that she took his position of chief spiritual adviser to Ripnugget, and that she was filling his head with lies. "Silver Lady say she want to help goblins, but she really only want to use us to do her work for her! She treat us like her slaves! But Ripnugget just look at her with lovey-dovey eyes and do whatever she say." After Gogmurt unsuccessfully tried to convince Ripnugget that Nualia could not be trusted, he lost his position of power in the tribe, and moved out to the thistle maze a few weeks ago.
Orik nods as he listens to Gogmurt's tale. "I can vouch for what the little snot says," Orik says gruffly. "I'm not sure that buys him his life, but hey, that ain't up to just me."
Both Gwyn and Fluff make a face at Gogmurt's suspicions of why Ripnugget had allied himself with Nualia.
"And just when I thought this couldn't get more disturbing," the elven wizard mutters under her breath.
"Thank you," Helena murmurs to Cerin, gratefully downing the potion. "I was worried for a minute there." Looking to the goblin, then to the others, she softly asks, "Can we trust him?"
"We can trust him to be a goblin," Orik says with a shrug. "Any more than that is probably asking for trouble. But hey, you guys are calling the shots here, I'll go with whatever you say."
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"Why does she want you to attack Sandpoint? Is she just angry, or is there some plan behind it?" Cerin asks Gogmurt. "And is there something strange about her arm? Or anything else different from other 'longshanks'?" he adds, remembering the drawings in Tsuto's journal, after he listens to the goblins answer.
Gwyn nods in agreement with Orik.
"I don't think we can trust him as far as I can throw him, but if you want to let him loose, then I guess we'll have to trust him."
Gogmurt looks at you all warily. In broken Taldane, he says, "'Sandpoint?' That longshank village, yes? Silver Lady want to sacrifice whole village to Mother of Monsters. She say the town very bad and everyone there want to kill all the goblins. They coming for goblin blood any day now, and we kill them before they kill us. Say she hate village and every longshanks there deserve to die. She also say Mother of Monsters will bless her after she make village a burnt offering.
"Arm? She have normal longshanks arm when she first come here. After raid... raid where you kill so many goblins... she lead small group to longshanks graveyard. She break into tomb and steal bones... and leave walking bones behind as surprise for longshanks priest! She take bones back here and have ceremony in chapel in basement. Burn bones in big fire... much smoke. After ceremony, she fall on altar screaming in pain...but also scream like when in room with her point-ear longshanks mate. Her arm twist and flesh boil... turn red, scaly, with big sharp claws like giant hawk foot. After she hold it up and say it gift from Mother of Monsters."
He pauses and looks at you all. "I tell you what I know. You let me go now?"
"Sweet Barleybrew," Gwyn mutters, "How can anyone hold that much hatred for anyone?"
Fluff looks at Gwen sadly. The little bird shakes her head slowly, grabbing Gwyn's attention.
"Gwyn, she's a priestess in the high favor of the goddess of monsters, madness, and nightmares. It may not be simple hatred," the thrush tells her wizard.
Gywn looks at her familiar, wanting to deny Fluff's words, but what could she say? The elf holds her arms and shivers from a chill that had nothing to do with the weather.
"Like I said," Ortik replied to the spellcaster and her thrush. "Nualia's effing crazy. I don't know why she stole those bones, but she gained that demon arm of hers after she did that ritual. She's got power, and she's not alone down there. I couldn't tell you why she hates Sandpoint as much as she does, but trust me when I tell you that if she has her way, that little town of yours will burn to the ground. She just needs to free this Malfeshwhateverthehell, and she'll be ready to march with her goblin army."
Helena fidgets with her spear nervously as the others talk to the goblin. "This is bad," she murmurs to herself. What have we gotten ourselves into?
Shalelu still has her bow out with an arrow nocked and pointed at the floor, but not drawn. She looks at Orik and aks, "Malfeshna-what?"
At Orik's name-drop and Shalelu's question, Gogmurt swallows hard. At Cerin's prodding, he continues,
"Silver Lady say mighty servant of Zargonel stuck somewhere down in the crypts. She trying to free him. She probably still down there working on that. She been down there for days."
He pauses, looking at all of you pleadingly.
He swallows hard again, and adds, "Really-- that all I know! You let me go now, and you never, ever see me again! Promise!"
"Remember, one chance," Gwyn reminds the goblin before rising to her feet again.
After Gogmurt has left, the young elf turns to the others.
"I'm out of magic, but I am skilled enough with a knife that I can fight. If I can get the drop on anyone or anything we run into down there, I should be able to hurt it enough to make taking them down easier."
"Looks like you're getting out of here with your melon still attached," Orik says to the goblin shaman. "Just know if I ever see you again, I'll feed you to the horses bit by bit myself. Remember that any time you get bright ideas about burning Sandpoint to the ground."
"Probably time to talk about that next level," Orik says after Gogmurt has gone. "There's more goblins, but not a lot. Probably the wives that Bruthazmus has been rutting with. There's also the chapel of Lamashtu that Nualia's been giving sermons at. I've only been to the first." His jaw sets, and his gaze grows distant, as if seeing some remembered horror in front of him. "The things she does in there...she has a capacity for cruelty that makes a boy born and raised in Riddleport blanch. Her goddess, though, seems to be pleased, since she was given some weird flying demon dogs. But if we're low on magic, I may be able to solve that problem."
He takes a deep breath before starting in again. "There's another person down there, a wizard named Lyrie Akenja. She hired on with Nualia about the same time as Tsuto and me. If we play our cards right, we might be able to convince her that defending the crazy b***h in the basement is a bad idea."
While Orik isn't actually lying about anything, it's clear there's more to his motivations about recruiting Lyrie than just tactical advantages.
Oh ho! What's this?
A grin slowly spreads over Gwyn's face as she looks at Orik. Mischief glimmers in her eyes, and Fluff shakes her head.
"My, my, my! This Lyrie must be someone special. So are we talking paramour? Lover? Squeeze? Crush," Gwyn asks in light airy voice that does little to hide the laugh she's holding back.
"Caydenites," Fluff grumbles, "Her master was the one that got Gwyn following the Drunk."
"That's Lucky Drunk, you guttersnipe," Gwyn corrects with a scowl aimed at the thrush before turning back to Orik with a smile, ignoring Fluff's indignant, "Guttersnipe?!"
"We're up against a priestess with flying demon dogs," Helena says in disbelief, "And you're making a fuss about romantic affiliations?" She shakes her head, chuckling at Gwyn's antics. "Well, we should take what's useful and keep going," she says, trying to sound confident.
At Cerin's dismissal, Gogmurt drops everything he was carrying that you hadn't already taken from him. He then backs toward the double-doors to the south, fumbles for the handle with his hands behind his back while still facing you, manages to open them, backs through them, and closes them behind him. You then hear him running away at top speed.
You take a few more minutes to sort through the throne room. You also find that Ripnugget had a set of brass keys on a keyring. The spellcasters take some time to use detect magic to identify anything that radiates magic.
Satisfied that none of the dead goblins are going to wake up again, you ponder your options:
There are three doors out of this room that you haven't yet explored: A door to the north, one to the east, and the double-doors to the south (where Gogmurt went.) There was also an unexplored door to the north in the hallway that led to the throne room.
As for the numbers remaining at Thistletop: You know that Tsuto returned to Thistletop late last night, without any of his gear. When you asked him about it, he growled that it was none of your business and went off to find Nualia. You mentioned Lyrie already: Also somewhere in the complex are the bugbear hunter Bruthazmus (who really hates your guts; the feeling is mutual) and the goblin alchemist Blissy Boombag (who you think is bat$#!t-crazy). You would guess that there may be at most another dozen goblins in the rest of Thistletop now, probably hiding in the lower level. There could also be up to three rading parties that are out and could return at any time: these tend to have 3-5 goblins each; however the more raiders that are out, the fewer goblins will be left here.
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Cerin picks up the wands and potions, securing them in his belt pouch before offering the Wand of Silent Image to Gwyn. "I know it's not your usual flashy style, but it could prove useful!" he says with a wink.
Well, where to next? You've been here before so I'll trust your judgement." he asks Orik as he presses the potion of healing they found on the goblins into his hand. He hands another to Shalelu before downing the last one himself.
Orik's cheeks flush as Gwyn tries to suss out the exact relationship between himself and Lyrie. "It's...complicated," he says with a sigh. "She seems to only have eyes for Tsuto, but he hasn't given her so much as the time of day at any of the meetings with Nualia. Look, I'll admit, it's selfish, but maybe if you can help convince her that it's in her best interests to switch sides, then maybe she doesn't have to die, and maybe she and I spend some quality time together back in Sandpoint when all of this is over. Tsuto will complicate stuff, though. He always does."
He nods in thanks to Cerin, drinking the potion, marveling at how quickly his wounds heal. "F**k me if Blissy doesn't make damn fine potions."
"Why not," Gwyn says with a laugh, "it leaves less time for waffling!"
Gwyn can't help but smirk and roll her eyes at Orik's "It complicated," though she does listen to the reasons why.
"That, my friend, would make her your crush," she says in that same airy voice. "It seems like Tsuto's going to be the deciding factor then," she says in a more normal voice as she examines the magic gear that they'd looted, "What can you tell me about him? Is he like you and very uncomfortable with all of this?"
Looking up from her task, her eyes look onto Orik's, "There's nothing selfish about wanting to save someone you like, but If this is going to work, I need to know how I can pry her loose from Nualia, and Tsuto if I'm going to be playing matchmaker at the same time. I can promise to try, and not just because I'm a sucker for the rugged mercenary look. I can't make her do something she doesn't want to, though."
"All that said, how big of a fool's errand am I running here?"
===
When Cerin hands Gwyn the wand, the elf's eyes light up.
"Oh I'm going to have fun with this!"
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"Remember, there is a limit to how many charges are in it, so don't use all of them on pranks!" Cerin mock-scolds her as he touches his wand to the leather armor and mutters the command word. He watches as it slowly grows and stops when he judges the armor is large enough for Gwyn.
"There you are, hopefully this will help keep you a bit safter if you're going to insist on running into danger. And... I'm sorry abut my reaction a few minutes ago when your were injured..." He finishes, a bit embarrased.