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Kneeling down amongs the remains, Isilme's eyes glaze over as she gazes beyond the present into her memories. Visions of pennants and banners float through the air about her, knights charging into battle heroically under red and gold of Iomedae. Crusaders doing battle to their last, sacrificing themselves to defeat the demonic hordes streaming from the worldwound. "This banner belonged to a knight of Iomedae who drew his courage and strength from knowing his goddess was with him as he fought. With the pennon on his polearm, he was a sight to behold, charging heroically even into the most desperate situations."
Picking up the pearl, she rolls it around in the palm of her hand, transfixed by the opalescent glimmer within. Her visions change and she sees an older, wizened druid holding the pearl aloft as he casts his last spell at the cultists closing with him. The druid's spell disperses into the air, unseen by those around it. As the last wisps of it fade, the druid calls upon the pearl, and ethereal tendrils reach out, drawing the dwindling fragments of the spell back together and returning the power to its wielder.
"This pearl has aided those who call upon spells they have committed to memory for ages. It will recall the fragments of a spell you have cast and restore it, allowing its use once more."
She wanders around the room for a moment before coming to the trapdoor where Valaria had spotted runes. Glancing down at them, they burn in her mind, conjuring visions of the fallen Balor, father of Brae-Hagen. "A powerful curse in his father's name," Isilme says in a faraway voice. "as I once was it would be trivial to ignore, but we must be cautious now. Do you believe you can disable it Xanderghul? I can provide you aid if necessary."
"I may be able to." says Xanderghul, gingerly stepping forward and inspecting the trap with his own magic senses and appraisal. "Though it would be difficult, and anyone who isn't sticking around to help probably should leave the mine so that the trap, if triggered, doesn't affect you. As much as I'm sure that suffering together would team-build better than any trust fall."
He steps forward and attempts to disable the trap once the appropriate persons have left the area.
Xanderghul focuses for a little under a minute... though the spellwork is intricate, he manages to defuse the rune, leaving the trapdoor safe to be opened.
"...is it safe?" Ehren asks, his head peeking out through the cavern wall. Small clumps of salt cling to his earthen body. He looks to Xanderghul who, as far as he could tell, is not dead or horrifically maimed.
Isilme shakes off the reverie she used to study the items and magic. "Into the balor's den--Or half- anyway--we go." She opens up the trap door and peers down into the space beyond, looking to see where it goes. She maintains her detect magic using the spell's magic to augment her perception of what lies below.
The trapdoor reveals a 15-ft tall metal ladder leading into a small chamber. Around the edges of this chamber are cots and makeshift beds, with uninteresting personal effects littered around. On one end of the chamber there are a pair of desks. The walls adjacent to the desks are covered in maps, and the desks are covered in papers.
The left desk is littered with various odds and ends and scrolls.
The left desk appears to have been a scribing station of some sort. There are a variety of magical inks here, fine vellum scrolls, as well as various spell components littered around messily. The materials are worth 1,250 gp in components that can be used in any sort of magical crafting (scrolls, weapons/armor, potions for example).
There are a couple of completed scrolls on the desk, as well as one potion, a cloudy tincture in a thick glass phial.
The right desk is mostly littered with maps of the surrounding area. Underneath this desk is a small wooden chest.
The maps detail the troop movement of Commander Jorsal's army through the region. Most of this isn't news to you, since you have either defeated the armies in question, or learned of their whereabouts by questioning other captives.
The only novel piece of information is that Commander Jorsal has taken it upon himself to take Icerift. His forces consist of exclusively demons - primarily dretches and schir, though he also has a small group of shadow demons and babau. Jorsal is also in possession of a contingent of fifty "abominations", no doubt created by the madman himself. From what you can tell, some of these abominations are even capable of flight, and are being used to scout and patrol the environs. The man also has a lieutenant - a woman named Dralia, who is apparently a summoner, who is accompanied by her four sons.
Icerift is situated on top of a mountain, with a small road snaking up the treacherous peaks to the castle proper. Jorsal intends to capture a small fortification at the base of the mountain, making the watchtower the base of his operations, then send scouting parties up the mountain before making his next move. Notes seem to suggest that there are reports that Icerift is in fact occupied... but by what, the cultists are not sure of themselves.
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Ary is surprised to recognize the Crusader's Cross without even needing to pick it up, so much so that she stays still for a moment, frowning as Hinagiku collects them. She nods her thanks, both to Hinagiku and to Xanderghul as she sheaths radiance, leaving Xanderghul's dancing lights to guide the way and leaving her own hands free. She secures the Pennon to the Lucerne Hammer as she leaves the pair plenty of space to work.
Anevia for her part just stayed out of the way. "I tried the trust fall thing once. Broke my leg. Never gonna trust a blind elf to keep me from crashing into the bottom of a pit again." Had it not been for all of the dead bodies, she may well have taken up Xanderghul on his bet, but despite her joke, the sight was sobering. "Remember. Place is supposed to be haunted."
Ary nods, "I don't particularly like the idea of that. We're not exceedingly well equipped for dealing with the dead. If we wind up fighting something incorporeal, try to get near me, Val, and I'll bless your starknife."
She takes a moment, once down the ladder, to look over all of the paperwork. "Say what you will about Brae-hagen, he at least kept everything organized." she says, looking over everything flippantly, before zoning into information she didn't have previously. "Apparently, Icerift is already occupied and they're planning on taking a nearby tower to act as a base camp. If we time it right, we can absolutely ruin their day in a pincer attack - but then we'd have to worry about the other occupants of Icerift. We could also wait for them to split their forces and hit half at the foot - If we're going that way, of course - before hitting what remains above. Unfortunately, Jorsal's armies are going to be more capable. Several of his abominations, some able to fly, along with the majority of his forces being demons, and what isn't being a summoner and her children." Ary huffs, spreading the papers out of her way as she goes. "Mostly dretches, some Schir. But with this weather, which doesn't seem likely to let up, fighting flying abominations will prove... horrible for our army. The only way between the tower and Icerift is a small road up the mountainside, which will make us more vulnerable to the fliers if we don't time it right."
Anevia, meanwhile, focuses on the little box near said desk, looking it over with a scrutinizing eye and not quite trusting it, as rogueish types are wont not to do. If she's pretty sure it's safe and untrapped, she'll get to work on opening it.
Ehren perks up slightly, recalling that Ary had initially decided to avoid Icerift entirely. But that had been days ago, and since then, they had purged a significant portion of cultist presence from the region. Perhaps she had changed her mind? He, of course, was all for finishing what they had started. Drezen would be next.
"It might be wise to make contact with whoever - or whatever - is already occupying the castle," he suggests, knowing full well that is was a bit of a stretch. Nothing good tended to be drawn to long-abandoned, precariously placed structures. "Best case scenario, we gain an ally that could help us against Jorsal, or even Drezen. Worst case, we at least know what our new enemy's face looks like."
"I thought Icerift had been abandoned for ages. How and when did someone move in without anyone noticing? And who would set up this far north unless it was really important? This is weird." She sighs.
A little wiggle here, a little nudge here... and click! Anevia grins as she cracks open the little box underneath the desk. She opens it, revealing a small pile of gold coins.... if one were to count them all, they'd find 3,311 gp in total.
"Yeah, if we have a way to forewarn Icerift, we definitely should. The enemy of our enemy may not be our friend, but it'll put up a hell of a fight to keep its home safe, I'm sure. A much better fight if it's able to mount its defenses adequately with warning." Ary nods to Ehren's suggestion.
"I'm not sold on going to Icerift, but hitting them while their forces are split, or at least their attentions, would be wise. It'll be hell to take back if they're able to fortify it. We've done a lot to destabilize the region's demonic armies already, but preventing that siege for the rest of the army will save lives and morale."
Anevia just parks with the box for a moment, lifting it and setting it down. "You know, I'd probably be able to tell how many shinies I just found if I weren't so sore. But there's thousands in here." she says, giving up on testing the weight of the lot.
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Xanderghul's hands clutch his excited face like a teenager or a child at Taxfest. There was so much stuff back here! He could expand his spell book by so much! So exciting. Remembering something, he goes back outside and drags the body of the elven woman back into the cave. "Y'all can do your war planning if you like... I have magic work to do."
"Hm. An empty castle would be a tempting abode to even the simplest of beasts," Ehren says to Valaria, still pondering the matter himself. "And plenty of creatures are well suited to living in the north. Better suited than us, anyway."
The stony ridge above Ehren's left eye arcs slightly when he sees Xanderghul dump the elf woman's sopping wet corpse into the chamber with them. "Nothing too unsavory, I hope."
"Not if you don't look," he responds. "Commander, we'll be here for a day or more, yeah? Permission to house myself back here?"
"I... do not like the sound of that, Xander..." Ary responds, slowly.
"I don't know if they'd be planning a full military assault if whoever had taken up residence at Icerift wasn't intelligent enough to cause them trouble."
"This can only end badly..." Val says with a sigh, trying very hard not to look at Xanderghul.
While the others are busy investigating Brae-Hagen's den, Hinagiku stays in the tunnel to stand guard. Though alert to what might hide in the shadows, she also listens to her companions speaking, and when the subject of Icerift castle is brought up, she adds her own opinion:
"Wisely put Ary. They might not be our allies, if not, then they will probably help weaken Jorsal's forces in the least... though, contacting them, to know who they are, should really be the first step."
When Xanderghul comes back with the body of the elven woman, Hinagiku frowns, an expression that can easily be read even on her vulpine features. Yet, her voice is still gentle and not judgmental when she speaks:
"Mr. Xanderghul, why bring her in here?"
Xanderghul furrows his brow and crosses his arms. "Why, what's wrong? I don't want to lose the body in a snowdrift. That would be an awful waste."
"True, but people's remains are usually burnt or buried, not brought in a cave." she answers, more concerned than anything else.
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Isilme pores over the maps with Ary and the others, along with the enemy troop numbers and such. The flying units were certainly a problem, but having this information ahead of time put them in a much stronger position going into the battle. "I think your idea is a good one, Ary. If we go investigate the main keep we can attempt to ally with the occupants, assuming they can be negotiated with. In the meantime we can have the army close with their basecamp and try to draw them out into a confrontation. If we set up the battlefield ahead of time, we can leave a couple scouts to inform the army of the layout of the battlefield and they can use it to their advantage."
"If the enemy at the castle can not be reasoned with, we might be able to goad them into open conflict with the cultist forces as an option as well, setting up a situation where the cultists have to fight on two fronts. Either way, Time is likely of the essence. We need to determine how long it will take us to march there from here, and work out a plan of attack so we can set out early in the morning."
"That also brings up the question of what to do with the remaining cultists. From what we have seen, the forces here apart from the few tieflings, schir and the howler cavalry, are mostly untrained conscripts. I would suggest making them a deal, They can stay here or disperse. Those who remain here will be allowed to work to rebuild the mines and sustain the area in exchange for housing and a fair wage. Those who disperse peacefully will be left alone. In either case, anyone caught attempting to consort with demons or cultists further, or interfering in our operations will be put to death."
"We need to do this as we will likely not have the supplies or manpower to take so many prisoners. If we bring them with us, it is likely that they might be coerced into betraying us during a battle, leaving us in a dire situation."
After discussing plans for the assault on Icerift, Isilme turns her attention to Xanderghul and the others. Seemingly obtuse to the Xanderghul's strange behaviour, Isilme attempts to diffuse the situation. "If you need someplace safe to work on crafting scrolls or somesuch just say so, Xanderghul. I would leave the corpses alone for the moment, in these temperatures they will not be going anywhere anytime soon. We can arrange for disposing of the corpses tomorrow as we depart. Perhaps a large bonfire as Hinagiku suggests."
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Xanderghul sighs, knowing that it had been a mistake to jump to quickly to accessing the corpse, but also that it wouldn't do to be duplicitous with his comrades. "I wish to access this woman's known magic by consuming a bit of her flesh. It only works on a very-recently dead body. I had thought to gain access to the most powerful spells she had to further serve our cause."
Xanderghul waves a hand a bit, airily trying to be dismissive and honest at the same time. "I understand that its quite disgusting, but it affects nothing but the body of an enemy that I will burn myself and that magic that I will have access to in the future. Besides, burial standards are cultural, not objectively right or wrong, and it really and truly would be a waste not to use the magic."
Evil spellcasting that involves demons (such as the summoning of) is punishable by death.
Evil spellcasting that does not involve demons is generally dealt with by exile. If the spellcaster refuses to leave, then imprisonment or death is an option, depending on the severity of the act.
If it were to become common knowledge that an evil spellcaster was in the ranks of your army, then people would certainly protest. A large portion of your army is LG, and does not have the knowledge of arcane spellcasting necessary to really make nuanced decisions about evil spells that can be harnessed for good.
"Xanderghul... Using magic like that is not a simple difference of opinion on burial practices. The magic forcefully steals knowledge from a soul, and is demonstrably evil in nature. Even were this the most dire of situations, we are literally in the midst of an army of worshippers of Iomedae. The best you could hope for if this was discovered would be to be exiled or imprisoned."
Hinagiku's frown melts, leaving an impassive face when she hears Isilme. However, she stays silent on the matter of the body. For now. Instead, she chooses to speak of the prisoners.
"Miss Isilme, it seems like a good idea. Not only does it show mercy, but also, it will give them a chance to help to crusaders, but also a chance to shed their evil ways... though, for now, we should not depend on them, hearts do not change quickly."
Hinagiku then peers down the still unexplored tunnel.
"Should we go on?... Maybe the cultists did not deeper in... Mr. Ehren, Ary, maybe you could look for tracks leading down the tunnel? "
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"You want to use blood magic on her?" Ehren asks, the question obviously rhetorical. It had been hard enough for him to accept Markus's brand of necromancy. In the dhampir's defense, he had at least been doing it the "right" way. But there was no white or gray in what Xanderghul was planning - only pitch black. The druid shuts his eyes and raises a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, neglecting the fact that his current form did not even have a nose. He apparently deems the gesture important enough to follow through with, because he immediately switches back to his human form.
He stays like that for a while, trying to set aside his personal grievances. There was little point in vocalizing them, when everyone else present was probably thinking the same thing. Instead, he tries to focus on the more rational issues.
"Usually I appreciate honesty, but this puts us - especially Ary - in a bad position. We're already lying about having a cultist in our midsts. Are we supposed to lie about having a cannibalistic wizard in the army as well? This just isn't right."
Ehren lets out an uncharacteristic huff before looking to Hinagiku.
"If this is where Brae-Hagen was holed up the whole time, I don't expect to find anything but salt and blood crystal deeper in the mine... but I'll take a look, just to be sure."
Apparently glad to have an excuse to leave, the druid goes right back up the ladder (having an easier time now that he had properly proportioned limbs) to inspect the tunnel. For lack of darkvision, he lights up the end of his staff and looks for any signs of tracks leading further into the mine.
Ary pauses for a moment, as she tries to understand what's going on fully, then shakes her head. "It's a horrible idea to do so openly with the army. But there are two directions I can go to rationalize it. The first is the Ninth Act. In it, Iomedae gave her blood to a vampire in order to protect her allies from harm. That's... not a precise analogue to this, but it stands to reason that she wouldn't be upset over drinking blood in order to protect someone... I would hope."
She chews on her lip a moment longer, "The second is easier. Warriors aren't meant to be laid to rest with their weapons. Anything that we can do to arm the living is something that we should do. It's our duty to take arms against evil. It's easy to claim the morally righteous high ground and say it's a horrible act... but..." she shakes her head.
"This is your choice. But don't be so open about it. It's your soul that's being put at risk. But the lives you save by doing it, I think, would outweigh the harm. This is your sacrifice to make." she finishes.
She doesn't seem entirely enthusiastic about the decision... but she had at least managed to rationalize it.
Anevia looks from one person to the next, lips pursed. "That's some freaky Nidalese shit right there." she adds.
"Considering I'm the one who brought the cultist along, I have absolutely no ground to stand on to complain about this," Val tells Xanderghul with another sigh. "So I'm just going to say that I hope to all the gods in the celestial realms that you have a plan to avoid pissing the entire army off if you do this. And let everyone who does have ground to stand on tell you off."
"I'm fully aware that its illegal" says Xanderghul to start. "And frankly I don't care about my own soul. Either I live forever and I never have to worry about it or I die and I'm gone forever. I'm just a pasty for somebody else's heaven anyway." He shrugs. "And to be honest, you already have a cannibal wizard hanging out with you. I've scavenged many of my spells from the dead. You have to. I have never been able to turn down a weapon if one was available."
Xanderghul starts to follow after Ehren, going on the ladder that leads further into the mine. "I agree we should investigate the rest. Let me come with, Ehren. I have magic I can use on ghosts and monsters still."
Ayavah shrugs. "Kind of gross.... but I don't really see what the big deal is. Is it really illegal to do that here? Sheesh, Mendevians are so uptight about the weirdest things."
Ehren and Xanderghul travel down a long, narrow tunnel that gently descends deeper into the earth. The formerly solid white tunnels give way to patches of salt deposits in the rocks. After awhile, a few patches of pink crystals start to crop up in the walls and ceiling, though the tunnel continues down into the darkness.
"Keep in mind the risk and the reward, Xanderghul. The problems it could cause may be far greater than gaining knowledge of a spell or two. Whether we wish it or not, our fates are tied up in something significantly larger than any of us. Since Ary is willing to overlook it, I will not comment further, but I ask that knowledge of this does not leave this room. Is everyone clear on that?" Isilme says, looking at Ayavah and Anevia specifically.
"You need to let the commanders know what you wish done with the prisoners Ary, they will be waiting for word from you," she says before turning and heading out.
When she gets outside she heads over to Külə. "How are you faring? I am sorry for leaving you alone earlier, I did not think he would end up blinding you." she says, placing a hand on his side. "I was thinking of talking with Xanderghul about the possibility of coming up with some form of goggles to protect others from your gaze while allowing you to see. Would you be alright wearing some form of cover for your eyes if we can come up with a solution?"
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Xanderghul was probably the last person Ehren wanted following him in that particular moment, but he was not so foolish as to turn down help. Surviving the battle unscathed only to be torn apart by the restless dead did not exactly sound like a good way to go. He follows the trail in the cave quietly, uncertain of what to even say to the wizard. They did have one thing in common - neither of them care about the legality of the spell, not really.
As they reach the point where the tracks end, Ehren looks up at the walls and ceiling with a frown.
"The trails ends here," he says finally, business being the only real reason he had to speak to the wizard. "These must be the blood crystals - careful not to touch them. Only one set of tracks, so they must not have even started to harvest them yet." If he were a more petty person, he'd use this opportunity to compare Xanderghul to the blood crystals. Or to dare him to lick the walls or something. Instead he just glances back the way they came. "Hm. We should let the others know."
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"I... guess she expected me to take her side?" Ary asks as Isilme heads out of the mine instead of moving with the others. "I do agree that it's a terrible idea, but..." she sighs and shrugs, before moving along with Ehren and the others. She'd have to wait for the reports, as she wasn't willing to leave the others down here alone.
"Yeah. They haven't had any blood recently, either, I don't think. Still looks... sort of bony, huh?" Ary asks, looking at them, before frowning. "The blood crystals would have likely been useless in this form... for the ritual they planned to perform, anyway." she says, standing completely still for a moment. "They'd... have needed to be fed to have been of any value." she says, head turning back towards the direction they'd come from. "That's why they sent all of their youngest and oldest here." she says, turning back to the others with a scowl.
Xanderghul peers deeper into the tunnel, frowning. "Damn. No monsters? Not even one little ghost of a child, exsanguinated these hundred years by these heartless little gems."
"You said they can be used, the gems? Right?" he asks, turning to Ehren. "I mean for less nefarious reasons that evil portal-opening rituals to summon an army of dangerous and evil Abyssal drakes. I seem to remember you saying something like that." While he asks, he jerks his head in the direction of the others and starts to walk.
"It shouldn't be too hard to make arrows out of them, maybe. I know you can make arrow heads out of really fragile things. And their properties would be really useful against creatures we don't spend a lot of time around, I'd think?" Ary suggests.
"Auto-blood-draining arrows?" asks Xanderghul. "That's an idea I hadn't thought of. Pretty cool."
Hinagiku had expected everyone to follow Ehren once he started looking for tracks, with only Ary and Xanderghul following suit, she takes it onto her to go too, and guard them, if possible, from any spirits that might hide in the depth of the cave.
"Strange, someone simply walked a little way into the cave and stopped?" she says, once they reach the end of the trail.
As she ponders what might have happened, kitsune thoughts bubble up, suggesting the monster that Xanderghul so desperatly wants to see might be what caused the tracks to end. However, she shakes the thoughts away as too chaotic.
"Mr. Ehren, did the person who left the trail double back?"
When the topic of blood arrows is brought up, Hinagiku remains silent, yet a slight change in her stance suggests that she is not fully comfortable with their use.
"The small amount of blood crystal used in such weapons would not likely be very potent," Ehren says, elaborating on the answer he had given Ary before. "The crystal can only absorb so much, after all; the dangerous accidents happen more when a large deposit is involved. It would also be considerably more fragile than metal. Like I said before, I doubt it's worth the effort. And I imagine that the soldiers would be more comfortable with their cold iron."
Looking to Hinagiku, Ehren frowns. "I believe so? I figure that someone was just confirming the presence of the blood crystal before reporting back."
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Xanderghul thinks for a moment. "Can blood crystal pick up blood that isn't in a person? And can you extract the blood from a blood crystal and turn it back into blood? It might be a good way to help injured folks who have lost blood. We could stockpile the crystals, perhaps fill them during times of peace or non-conflict, and then use them to re-invigorate injured personnel when they lose blood."
He creases his eyebrows. "Unless the blood crystals consume the blood, in which case they'd only be good for a short time, which would take their utility down to nothing." He hums and haws. "Man." He sighs. At the mention of the weirdness of the tracks, Xanderghul brings something up: "Brae-Hagen could fly. Some creatures can fly or walk on air... the lack of tracks doesn't mean a lack of creatures."
"I bet that Snil-Snil stayed back there, actually."
Before trailing after Ary down the tunnel, Anevia nods at Isilme. "Okaaaaa~aaaaaay. I guess I won't go blabbin' about our wizard's weird cannibal fetish to the troops," she jokes.
Blood crystals will absorb any blood they are exposed to. Small amounts of blood crystal will only be able to absorb free flowing blood, such as that released by a wound. Large amounts together at once can exsanguinate a living thing that gets too close.
When blood crystals are used to make weapons, they add 1 Bleed to successful hits. If the hit would already cause a bleeding effect, the creature takes 1 additional point of bleed from the attack as the blood crystal drains blood from the wound. They can only be used to make piercing or slashing weapons, and are generally added as a small layer along the blade of weapons like swords or daggers, since the mineral is too fragile to be used to make an entire weapon.
The blood can be extracted from the blood crystal by pulverizing the quartz. Doing so would release a lot of mineral dust into the blood, which would need to be filtered out if they were to be used for a transfusion.
Külə's ears perk up at Isilme's return, though his face stays tilted away. "I am doing fine. I am sorry for my behavior earlier... I was taken by surprise."
He listens to her idea about the goggles with interest. "I suppose those sound useful, yes. I know that it isn't pleasant for most creatures to make eye contact with me, and I have no interest in inflicting further suffering on you or your friends than I already have," he says in his usual dreary tone, like every word takes effort.
"Are we leaving for Icerift next?" he inquires.
Ehren taps his chin. Xanderghul had proposed a use for the blood crystals that he had not thought of. One that was, well, not terrible. Perhaps it was a sign that he was not a wicked madman after all. Not yet, anyway. "The blood would have to be filtered first, but I can't think of any reasons why it wouldn't work."
"Do not worry about it," she says with a smile. "Hopefully we can work something out then so that we will not have any unintended eye contact going forward," she says. Certainly making eye contact with him had been excruciating, though she made it a point not to show it. No doubt Külə would feel worse about the situation if he knew how badly it was still affecting her, and the others for that matter. The sooner they eliminated the possibility of further accidental exposures, the better.
"Let us go check on Irabeth and the status of the troops," she says to the Unicorn, heading off into the still-raging blizzard in the direction they'd come from.
"Irabeth, what is the situation now?" she asks after finally managing to track her down. "Ary and the others are finishing up in the cave, searching it after having defeated the enemy commander Brae-Hagen and what must have been his Lieutenant. They will be joining us out here before long I imagine, so obviously you can wait until they arrive to give a full report. Just let me know if there is anything that needs our attention or that I can do to facilitate things in the meantime."
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Xanderghul smiles. "I bet one could make a device that would break up the stones and filter the blood at the same time. Just drop the stones in, get blood out. It would be crazy to clean though."
He begins humming, looking for a pick, rummaging in his things for his canteen, and otherwise talking to himself about the ramifications of blood crystal. What an interesting natural phenomenon! Xanderghul wanted to know everything about how it worked. It was unfortunate that it created such tension between him and the Crusader elements of the force. Different expectations about life and all that. Being immortal really tends to give you an entirely different perspective. Being immortal, soulless, and also not having parents? That was another matter as well.
"We don't think there's anything else down that cave, right?" asks Xanderghul. "Cause... There's lots of things to be done if we want to leave tomorrow. Can I get a keep watch?"
Külə follows Isilme through the town, unaware of passing crusaders giving him piteous glances. Isilme asks a passing soldier where the Lieutenant is holed up, and finds her in what was once a small church of Iomedae... the cultists had desecrated it to their own purposes, but a few clerics and paladins toil away at restoring the chamber to its previous state.
Irabeth is in the middle of a conversation with Ser Ilivan of Erages and Volencia Eltringham.
"As soon as possible I need some patrols sent out tracking any escaped cultists. With this low of visibility its entirely probable that a few escaped the chaos, particularly enemy clerics with the ability to endure elements and travel through the snowstorm."
Eltringham nods. "I'll get my Banshees on it right away, Chevalier."
The half-orc paladin notices Isilme's arrival and smiles in greeting. "Isilme. It is good to see you. I've already heard from Aron about the fate of Warlord Brae-Hagen... good job!.... But where is Commander Bishop?"
She taps her gauntlet on the stone altar a few times before continuing. "We're currently getting our soldiers back on our feet while trying to set up a defensive perimeter around the town, though we have to spend a good deal of resources monitoring the surrendered cultists... there's nearly a hundred of them, and I need to know what our Commander wishes us to do with them."
"The good news is there's a good stockpile of food here. The problem with the food is some of it appears to have been grown or slaughtered in the Worldwound... as you know, those who have lived there for some time grow resistance to the taint that persists there. We'll need to carefully assess what we can safely bring with us. Ehren would be of great help, there."
While there are no picks down the tunnel, back in the main chamber of the salt mine there are discarded picks and mining tools. However, being nearly a century old, most of them are rusted and in need of repair.
"Perhaps we should bring in a couple of the healers and get their opinions as well. They might have some ideas on the best way to store or make use of the crystals." Val sighs, feeling a bit out of place in the discussion. "I think I'm going to go see how things are going in town. I'll probably be more help getting things wrapped up there than standing around twiddling my thumbs while you do your magic stuff." She heads back to the entrance of the mines, looking for Isilme and any of the other commanders.
Ary shakes her head. "Can't, sorry. I prepared Endure Elements instead... I figured we'd need the clerics to be able to heal people more than we'd need to be able to stay up tonight. Either we'd be safely in a village, or we'd... not." she says with a small shrug. "Sorry, Xander." she watches as Valaria leaves now, as well. "Guess we're not checking the mine out, even though I'm pretty sure it was their idea to do so today..." she says, looking more than a little confused by the two's actions.
Anevia shrugs. "Sooooooo.... if we're done here, I'm gonna go check on my wife. 'cause damn do I have a cool story to tell about Warlord Boob-Hagen and his freaky pet flying tentacle monster. Toodle-oo!" She grins, salutes her commander once, and follows Valaria and Ayavah out into the storm.
The trio find the town mostly empty, save for some soldiers standing guard outside of some of the longhouses. Most of the other soldiers have either taken refuge inside buildings or are patrolling and monitoring the perimeter of town. After asking for some directions from a passerby, they catch up with Isilme and Külə in the church of Iomedae, just as the Chevalier has started to fill the azata bard in on the current events.