For the rest of the conversation with Sana, Myrna mostly listens. Planar mechanics and philosophy weren't her strong suits, and it seemed there was some kind of emotional connection with this stranger they had met in the Wound. Myrna listens, tries to glean, and drinks mead from her horn.
She is glad when they arrive at Devil's Rest, despite the poverty and humility of the place. Any place was better than being in between places. Traveling was like being nowhere, just waiting until you could do anything. Now that they had arrived, she could look for Dehliana and get her money back. She hops quickly off the wagon. Not forgetting the people she had traveled with, she turns back towards them.
"It was an honor to meet you all, especially you, Archdruid. You are all mighty fighters, and I would be glad to have your back in the future." She gives them a deferential nod. "For now I must retire. Don't hesitate to tell me if you find anything."
Then she retreats, to confer with Kellvar and Myrna. She nods, her brows creased with concern for his migraines, as he tells them what they should be doing before retiring to his room. Then she confers briefly with Beatrix before going up to the bar.
"Barkeep!" she calls, loudly. "Has porter reached this gods-forsaken corner yet?" When she reaches the bar, she sits down and leans forward, closer to his face. "I'm looking for a Taldan woman. Curly hair, brown eyes, about thirty. Anyone like that here?"
Beatrix sighs with relief when they reach their haven. It may not be totally safe, but it was safer to be around other people than it was to be alone out in the wilderness of the Wound. She could lie in a bed tonight! This was the sort of stuff that dreams were made of.
She chooses not to say anything to any of the companions when getting off the wagon, just quietly looking around and appraising the environment.
She frowns when she sees the Chelish tourist. Maybe a land investor, or some other nonsensical person. Why was she here? Maybe she knew something about Dehliana. Beatrix decides to play it cool. No need to jump right into questioning. She walks over to the same corner that the woman is sitting in, finds a chair, and pulls out her own book. Beatrix sinks into the chair, and allows herself to sink into her book for awhile.
"Fenton." Hinagiku calls with a gentle yet carrying voice. With a kind smile she approaches the young man.
"It has been so long... you have grown so much. I am glad to see you again." she takes a moment to look at the halfling's contenance, trying to evaluate whether she's interupting something important.
"We just arrived here." she continues, looking towar Ehren. "Would you like to join us for dinner? We could chat a bit."
Once they arrive at the inn, Li'an dismounts and heads inward, lacking much in the way of supplies or gear besides some scroll cases in a sack. Auraelia flies up beside her taking stock of the people in the room. Li'an quickly notices the bespectacled, rich, and presumably Chelish woman reading off by herself.
When Myrna and Beatrix head off with Kelvar, she briefly overhears their conversation, noting they were searching for someone who might already be here. When Beatrix heads off to the corner to read, Li'an remembers the book and pulls it out, looking it over. Perhaps I'll read it this evening, she thinks, curious to see what the story is about. Before that they'd need to arrange for their accommodations, however.
Turning to Ehren, Daisy and Unafe, she asks "So did someone want to inquire about rooms? We can do without one..." She doesn't get to finish before Auraelia interjects, "Speak for yourself, you aren't flying around in plate armor all day!"
Li'an chuckles, "Ok, I stand corrected! We could share one with you Unafe, if you don't mind. I assume Ehren and Daisy will want to share one."
The barkeep shakes his head at Myrna, cleaning out a glass. "No, we're serving brandy 'n beer tonight. Roast boar and radishes for supper tonight. Food is almost done," He hands two sets of keys off to Li'an when she asks for the rooms. The common area of Devil's Rest is filled with the smell of roasting meat.
He lowers his voice to respond to Myrna. "Oh! You must mean Ms. Dehliana, the Medium! She's spent the last month here with us. She performs a seance every evening after supper."
At the same time, the halfling who was previously talking to the barkeep turns around with a wide smile. "Ms. Hinagiku!" he says, happily. "And Mr. Archdruid, sir."
Fenton Bootblack is a young halfling with a mess of curly red hair and a round face dotted with freckles. He's recently graduated training at Drezen Academy, and is outfitted in armor, a shield, a longsword, and a longbow.
"I would be happy to join you all for dinner," he says, gesturing towards the open seats at the bar. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since, well, you know," he gestures vaguely. "What brings you all the way out here to Devil's Rest?"
Finally, Beatrix takes a seat next to the hearth, where the woman in green is sitting, reading a book. The woman does not acknowledge Beatrix's presence.
Beatrix can tell the book the woman is reading is in Infernal.
After bidding Maeri farewell, Ehren looks around Devil's Rest, impressed by how far it has come in the short time since it has been reclaimed. Hopefully, it would continue to grow, once they dealt with the source of its troubles. When Myrna prepares to retire for the night, the archdruid smiles at her.
"The honor was all mine, Myrna of Clan Riversoar," he says to the cordially. Between the scorpion ambush and the shock of Sana's appearance, they had not been able to finish their conversation from before. "Should we find ourselves in battle, I would be glad to have you at our side. But that aside, I hope we can talk some more soon."
Once she has wandered off, Ehren looks around the room and immediately recognizes the redheaded halfling. Only, as Hinagiku says, he is much taller than when he last saw him. Years ago he saw him at Ary's side every now and then, but once the young halfling was enrolled in the academy, he saw very little of him. Now, though, he appeared to be a fully-fledged crusader. Ary must be very proud of him.
"A room for the two of us would be good," Ehren replies to Li'an, figuring that even if Hinagiku did not need to sleep much, that it would be nice to have a place to relax in private. Looking to his betrothed, he nods at her suggestion. "Some dinner with an old friend would not hurt, either."
As they get situated at the bar, Ehren starts to answer Fenton's questions. "We accompanied Li'an here as a favor to the Lord-Commander, to help deal with the vermin problem they've been having out here. Even on the way here, we had to deal with some enormous scorpions. Nothing new for the Wound, if not for the fact that they appear to be targeting Devil's Rest in particular."
Much like Myrna, Lann mostly listened in on the rest of the conversation going on in the wagon. Not only because some of the particulars were a bit out of his breadth, but also because he saw little reason not to take Sana at her word. He did not quite understand why Ehren seemed grim about the whole thing, either.
"Oh, hello, Fenton!" Lann says when they meet the young halfling, recognizing him as Ary's former squire. Though they have not really interacted much over the years, the underfolk was well aware of his reputation in the academy. Half-jokingly, he asks, "Unless you already outrank me? In which case I should be calling you 'sir'."
Dehliana was here, and she was up to the same rotten business as before. It seemed she had the trust of the locals, as well. Myrna frowns inwardly, putting forward a friendly face on the outside. She was truly grateful to this bartender for providing food and drink to her and the other Crusaders here, and really was excited about the upcoming pork -- preference for porter satisfied or not. Still, she might have to trick him a little in order to get what she wanted.
Oh, well. She felt bad, but it was harmless. She didn't feel bad enough to not do it.
Looking the barkeep in the eye, she waggles her eyebrows conspiratorially and asks him, "Do you know which room is hers? I'm a fan, you see. I would like to go and knock, introduce myself, maybe beg her to do a reading on me. Help a girl out?"
After a few minutes of reading, Beatrix makes a different decision. It wasn't quite time to just lay back and relax. She sighs, flips her book closed, and sits up. Pressing her lips together, she hmms, making a sound that says, "now what do I do now?"
She slides her book into her bag again, sits forward, and looks at the Chelish woman sitting near her. Beatrix didn't have much guile, so she couldn't rely on it when dealing with other people. She just opts for honesty.
She asks the woman, "So what brings you here, all the way from Cheliax?" She waits a moment, and then adds, as a sort of awkward after-thought, "I'm Chelaxian too. It's... very different here. There's, uh, not enough wine. Am I right?"
Hinagiku nods in response to Myrna’s compliment and adds a second nod to Ehren’s well worded response; she would rather not have to fight, but doing so beside Myrna and Beatrix would be a boon.
”Mrs. Myrna, Mrs. Mecidi. We will keep you apprised of our findings.” she says as their traveling companions take their leave from them.
Before following Fenton to the bar, Hinagiku turns to Sana with a kind smile.
”Would you like to join us? You would be welcome to do so, since we brought you, it the least we can do to invite you.” Hinagiku momentarily turns to follow Fenton, before turning back towards Sana. ”How would you like to be introduced?”
Hinagiku finally follows in Fenton’s step, speaking with him as they head for the bar.
”I am well, thank you for asking.” she begins, giving a subtle nod of understanding as the man implicitly mentions Ary’s disappearance. ”Yes….You look well too, if you are here, it must mean you have graduated from the academy. Congratulations. Have you been posted here or are you visiting too?” Hinagiku asks. The monk continues to make small talk for a few minutes, enquiring about Fenton, until Ehren mentions the reason for their visit. ”Yes, have you been here for a while Fenton? Maybe you could tell us a bit more about what has been going on.”
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As they arrive, Sana is surprised when they come to a complete stop, figuring that they were just going to ride through to the next stop or further. "Uuuhhh..." she says, expressing her confusion, but doesn't elaborate unless pressed to.
When they said this was their first outpost... they didn't mean that it was their first and that it was recently established, did they? That... would put them years behind on the war front. Things were more dire than she had thought. As the others enter the main building, she takes a moment to work at her makeup, making minor adjustments here and there before following the others in and getting an idea of the surroundings.
A loner, choosing to do alone things, which happened to now include Medici... seeing that the woman was also wearing a green dress - and three green dresses in one room was simply dire - she unbuttons her cuffs and shakes them out, before refastening them. In mere moments the green shifts to midnight blue, her glasses become trapezoid shaped with full frames, and the poofy portions near her neck and arms give way to a tailored, white blouse, while her pants become leggings and a skirt unfurls as the vest lengthens downwards beyond her belt. The yellow ribbon shifts into a purple bow, still holding her hair up in the same style. She keeps the boots as is.
While she changes, she overhears a bit of conversation between Myrna and the other Crusaders, because of course Sana would eavesdrop, how else would she know all of the gossip?
Only then does she realize she hasn't stepped out of the doorway, and does so somewhat swiftly. The mention of porter reminded her that she could use a tall drink or three, which causes her to head towards the bar without much more focus on the crowd. Halfway there, she hears a voice she recognizes and pauses almost mid-step. Her hand moves up to her necklace as a small smile breaks through. When Fenton turns to greet his friends, her heart pitter-patters for a moment. He was a decade younger, yes. But he looked just like he did when he had been her first crush, which was a terribly confusing recognition of how things had changed in ways she hadn't considered.
As Hinagiku breaks her concentration by inviting her to join them, she realizes she wasn't really paying attention to anything in her surroundings for a moment, but replies with rapier wit, "Uh. Yes. Yes, that's good. Brandy and roast it is."
Oh, right. A name. She was good at names, fantastical names, whimsical names, ironic names... fitting names. The latter was probably for the best. "I'm Anna." she says, smiling outwardly at her decision to just call herself Anna Chronos, a fitting name for someone pulled from their own time. "The Academy?" she asks, turning her attention to Hinagiku at the mention of his graduation.
Fenton laughs at Lann, and shakes his head. "Of course not, sir,"
"Oh, yes!" exclaims Fenton. "I've heard they have problems with giant demonic spiders and roaches as well. Isn't that strange? I wonder why that is?" His face brightens when he sees "Anna".
"It's good to meet you, Anna, my name is Fenton Bootblack," He tilts his head and stares at her for a minute, then looks away and blushes fiercely. "Sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to stare."
At the same time, the bartender shrugs at Myrna. "You can try, but she usually doesn't like to be disturbed before her seance. She's in room 1C, the green door. The room your friend got you is room 1D, the blue door, by the way. In case you want to put away anything."
It was at this moment that the inn burst into cheers, as a large burly dwarven man wearing an apron and a horned helmet bursts out of one of the doors, carrying a large roasted boar on a platter single-handedly in his right hand. He walks around the room and brings a plate of meat and vegetables to each of the inn's patrons.
Fenton gladly uses the distraction to regain his composure. "Yes, I graduated from Bishop's Military Academy in Drezen a month ago," he says with a confident grin, his chest swelling out with pride. "I'm on leave right now, actually! I wanted to come out here myself, to see the new outpost. I'll receive my first official post in two weeks. Maybe it'll be out here!"
The woman looks up from her book, finally, to regard Beatrix. She conceals it fairly well, but Beatrix notices the flinch in the corner of her mouth when she notices her skin and horns. But she covers it up with a small smile.
"Indeed, not a glass of Amaro for miles up here in this blasted, frigid wasteland," she responds. Her voice is low, forcing Beatrix to concentrate on hearing her over the din in the inn's common area.
"I see you're a Crusader, yourself. Is this your first time at Devil's Rest?"
"Hello Fenton, I'm Li'an," she says, stepping up and introducing herself to Fenton. She'd heard his name once or twice, but really hadn't had a chance to meet him before. "I'll happily join you all for dinner as well, I wouldn't mind a drink." She didn't exactly need to eat or drink anymore, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy doing so from time to time. It just meant that food and drink were no different than any other form of entertainment, like say listening to a bard perform.
Noticing that Sana had changed her attire to avoid the dreadful faux pas of having so many people with green dresses about, she laughs quietly. The thought had occurred to her as well, briefly, though she wasn't capable of such an impressive change in attire. "I like the new outfit S... Anna," she says, catching herself after Sana had introduced herself with that name. "Also I didn't mean to exclude you, you're welcome to share the room with Unafe and me." Turning to Unafe she adds "assuming, of course, you don't mind. No need to worry about having enough beds, neither I nor Arie use one."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Myrna nods in affirmation at the advice. Then she turns towards the common room. She prepares herself to march up the stairs and bang on the door of 1C, but then the dwarf comes in bearing a platter of steaming meat and vegetables. Myrna growls with frustration. She's hungry, but she also wants to confront Dehliana immediately! Damning her body for having limitations and constraints, she tromps over towards the dwarf and his plates of food.
On second thought, maybe she didn't regret hunger quite so much. Roast boar was not quite as good as roast sow, but it was much better than plain potatoes or bread or dried beef or just cheese, like you got when you were living on rations and on the road for long periods of time. Those nights that you could catch an edible animal and fatten up on its meat felt like wealth, even when you found yourself in the wastes.
Forgetting her troubles for just a moment, Myrna sinks into her meal.
Despite herself, Beatrix smiles at the woman's passion for wine. She had wondered whether the line might work, and felt pleased that it had got the woman to respond to her. She nods at the woman's question. "Yes, my first time here. I'm stationed here to solve the local vermin problem, but I bet you don't know anything about any vermin."
Smiling again, she adds, "What about you? You look out of place. What are you doing here?"
"Ugh, well, I'm glad, it's terrible. I heard about the giant roaches. How dreadful."
She gestures with her right hand. She wears white gloves. "I am a scholar. I am here conducting research on the region."
”Oh, yes, the academy is a place where people learn and are trained in Drezen. It was founded by Ary a few years ago. I believe she wanted it to be a place welcoming to everyone, especially to help the tieflings of the city adjust better to their life there.” Hinagiku responds to Sana before continuing the conversation with Fention.
”It is sensible for you to be coming to an outpost at the edge. It shows strong will. Most of the soldiers I have met tend to spend time with their families and friends. Was there a particular reason you chose this one?”
As Sana catches Fenton tilting his head, she tilts hers slowly in the same direction, smile becoming a grin. Argh, freckles and blushing and he was still a little sweetheart in this timeline. Some things never changed.
"Bishop's Academy?" Sana asks, clearly surprised. Her surprise grows even greater when they say that Ary had started it directly, rather than that it was simply named for the family. "Ary started a school?" she asks rhetorically, though her eyebrow is raised as she looks between those present, but then pushes down her clear surprise as the conversation continues. Perhaps that was some of the reason for the delay in reclaiming the east?
Like Fenton, Sana takes advantage of a distraction, though this one from Li'an. She allows the main conversation to be steered by Hinagiku as she responds to things that needed more current attention, and though she's focused on the conversation with Li'an, she doesn't let herself miss too much of the pleasantries between the other conversation.
"I do, too!" she responds, grin not fading, before mentioning conspiratorially, "I made it myself." she continues with a wink. I could share a room if you'd like, or I think I could get my own... if my coin is good here."[/b]
"Well, better here than Icerift," Ehren muses. Despite the assistance he provided establishing the castle as a sustainable outpost, it remained a less-than-desirable assignment for many crusaders. His thoughts briefly touch on Marhevok - perhaps he should offer to take Unafe there, to see how the former clan-liege is faring. "But yes, congratulations on graduating! I am sure you will do a great job no matter where you are assigned."
The druid looks to Sana - or Anna, now - picking up on her inquisitive tone. Did the academy not exist where she came from? It had been such a passion project for Ary; he could not imagine a version of her that would not have brought it into fruition. Of course, that one glaring difference meant that countless other things were probably "wrong" with Anna's past. Enough to make one go mad, perhaps.
Presented with a large helping of food, Ehren digs in, having not eaten since their departure from Drezen.
Fenton thinks Sana's pretty! But he's been a complete gentleman about it. (And also, he probably recognizes her, a little. But he's confused about that.)
Fenton laughs. "Well, I guess I wanted to see what the 'border' is like, in a sense. As far out as we have control. I believe that, with Lord-Commander Tirablade, we'll press forwards and regain even more land from these fiends!" He beams with all of the optimism of a seventeen-year old.
Fenton turns to Sana. "Anna, was it. Do you know Ary, also?" He straightens his back. "I was trained as her first squire!"
Before Sana can really answer though, a human woman whirls into the common area from one of the side doors next to the fireplace. She has long, curly blonde hair, and she wears simple traveling clothes and carries a velvet satchel. She places it on the round table in front of the fireplace and pulls put a silver rod, a piece of parchment, a mahogany planchette, and several tapered candles of different sizes.
The implements being used are replicas of various tools, foci, and reagents used in divination magic. But they are too cheap-looking to be the real thing.
The symbol stitched into her bag - a stylized masquerade mask - is the holy symbol of Razmir. Razmir, the "living god", is the ruler of Razmiran, and a self-proclaimed deity. While rulers of neighboring kingdoms largely view Razmir as a false god, they acknowledge his might as one of the most powerful known wizards in Avistan. Despite this, Razmir has a substantial following of worshippers. His worshippers tend to focus on evangelizing where they can, and collecting gold (they often call it 'tithes') to Razmir, sometimes travelling great distances to do so.
She then turns to address the crowd, who gradually settle down to listen to her as she continues. "Welcome, travelers, to Devil's Rest! I am Dehliana Vought, a humble cleric, diviner, and medium. To entertain, and perhaps, even educate the group tonight, I will be conducting a seance."
Fenton watches the proceedings with a smile. He turns to the others and whispers, "Wow, a real medium! I've only ever read stories about those!"
"Would anyone like to volunteer themselves as conduit?" she asks. She scans the room. The woman that Beatrix was speaking to immediately averts her gaze back to her reading.
"And what about you, miss...?"
"Narikopolus," responds the woman haughtily.
"Miss Narikopolus! You seem like a skeptic, my favorite kind! Would you like to volunteer?"
The woman looks back at Dehliana scathingly, holding her gaze on hers for several moments. The medium does not flinch.
Meanwhile, the innkeeper busies himself with clearing plates and tidying up the already spotless common room.
Lann looks on curiously as the Dehliana sets out her implements, something catching his eye.
"Huh. That's the symbol of Razmiran," he whispers to the others, eyeing the mask on the woman's velvet bag. Far from being the worldliest person, the underfolk enjoyed talking with people from distant lands, and occasionally picked up a good gazetteer to peer through. One day, he hoped, he would have a chance to travel across Avistan and beyond. Razmiran, however, he was not so sure he wanted to visit. "I've heard some shady things about the place. Apparently their ruler believes that he's a god? To be honest, it sounds a little less crazy to me now than it would have a few years ago."
Sana immediately considers the possibility of causing the medium to need a seance by confusing her to death with the lunacy of how divination would likely interact with her... but realizes that that would 'give up the ghost' as it were, and you couldn't put the truth back in a bottle. She doesn't seem to notice the symbol on her bag until Lann points it out. She was quite certain didn't care overmuch about the stitched mask, deciding firmly that her cats were significantly better. To occupy her mouth, she takes a long pull from her brandy.
The stare had worried her a bit, given that she wasn't sure whether she'd been recognized already... Fenton and Sana must know each other well here, too. It was nice to understand the gentleman's fleeting signal. But there were a huge host of problems. Normally, Sana wouldn't think twice about a fling, but there were clear issues with doing so with present company. For one, Fenton by human terms was an adult... but by halfling terms, he was not. And while she could argue that she was practically a larva in demon years, that wasn't a fair argument to make. He was still two-thirds her age and only just barely out of adolescence.
"I haven't seen her in a few years." she whispers quietly, "But yes, we met in Kenabres, though we never got to adventure or go on missions together. Congratulations on your graduation." She considers going on, but with Fenton so interested in the upcoming seance, it seemed rude to keep talking. She takes another drink and tries to focus her attention on the medium for a moment. She can't help but grin as she puts the drink down, though. Genuine excitement was always something to admire.
Li'an watches as the blonde-haired woman sweeps into the room, clearly intending to get all eyes on her. Clearly this must be the woman Myrna was looking for, since it was highly unlikely someone this flashy was randomly here at this outpost when Myrna, Kelvar and Beatrix had arrived searching for someone.
She watches as the woman pulls out the tools of her trade and sets them aside. Clearly she knew how to look the part of a diviner, the implements were well chosen replicas of the tools one might actually use for divination, but having studied quite a bit of divination in the past few months, and being capable of some herself, Li'an quickly recognizes them as being fakes no where near valuable enough to be used in such rituals.
Without knowing Myrna's intentions though, she decides not to interfere with the spectacle for the time being. With Arie already having headed to the room to relax, Li'an simply finds a place to sit next to the others after ordering some brandy as Sana had. She then watches the room, looking for anything or anyone out of the ordinary that might be intending to take advantage of the spectacle about to happen.
As they can finally get off that damned cart, Unafe stands and stretches for a minute before entering.
When she enters the outpost, she takes in the room, noting many crusaders and one Southerner who looks perhaps a bit like the people she met in Cheliax.
Unafe nods to Li’an’s suggestion that they share a room. ”That works fine for me.”
When introduced to Fenton, Unafe smiles and introduces herself as well, but sees that he and Anna are chatting and so just digs into the moist, delicious roast boar.
When the Medium walks in and announces herself, Unafe freezes, another bit of boar just inches from her lips.
Is this my chance to learn more about this approaching comet, and what it means, and whether Goryon is truly about to return?
Unafe is considering raising her hand when Lann speaks up. Then she frowns, and takes another bite of roast boar. ”The greatest among us may become able to influence and guide us as ancestor spirits. Some few of those may even take on a spark of the divine. But it seems like dangerous pride to claim divinity while one is alive...and foolishness to worship one who does.”
She goes back to her meal, eyeing the woman warily, wondering what she really believes, and intends to do tonight.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Razmir? Hinagiku thinks as Lann brings it up. She had never heard of such a god, despite pouring through countless scrolls on religion while she was studying at the temple. But, the truth was, it did not matter whether it was a true god or not, probably not, what mattered was the hesitancy in the selected volunteer. She was clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
Gracefully standing up, Hinagiku calmly calls to the medium.
"Mrs. Dehliana, I would be interest in participating.Mrs. Narikopolus, may I take your place?" looking back to the medium, Hinagiku approaches her as she continues. "I am not certain what mediums or condutis are or how they work, but I always like being helpful. You can count on me be as useful as I can be." by the time she is done speaking, Hinagiku is by the round table were Dehliana's implements have been placed.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As Hinagiku rises and practically floats across the room, Sana goes from long pulls of her drink to short sips. It was neat to watch her interact with the others, and that singular exchange made it clear why the woman had moved in the same circles as Ary. She was capable of doing something that Ary simply hadn't ever been good at. On the fly connection and subtlety enough to use it.
As her mind refocuses on the kitsune, she takes a moment to stretch. 'Ugh, Yui. You're being such a creep,' she thinks quietly to herself. 'Fenton is a friend, not some missed opportunity. Regardless of who he is to you, to him, you're a mostly-new face. Just be a good friend, and don't worry about the things you don't have. Focus on the things to admire, not the things you desire.'
Sana pushes her drink away, and reaches forward, hand disappearing partway across the top of the bar, before drawing a thick book out of thin air. She digs into her quiver to take out her haversack, and from that withdraw her sketching kit, carefully placing the backpack back inside the quiver before cracking open the pack. She forms the scene in her head, then moves the sketchbook to her knees and draws them up, placing her boots on the highest rung of the stool. She focuses on drawing the three figures core to the present interaction, and pushes out the unwanted thoughts by simply filling the occupied space with something more interesting than her own emotion.
Dehliana smiles and gestures to the chair in front of the table. "Of course, of course. And what is your name, my dear?" she inquires.
The medium lights the final candle and settles into a chair in front of Hinagiku. There is a piece of parchment between them, on which is a large, triangular shaped planchette, which is attached to a quill. "Place your fingertips on the planchette. The spirits will speak to us through this quill. Remember, friends, I am here as nothing more than a guide," she murmurs, gesturing for Hinagiku to follow her lead. Her shoulders relax and she rests her fingertips on the planchette opposite from Hinagiku's. "Spirits, make your presence known and enlighten us from beyond the veil."
The room is silent for a few moments. The table rattles as the sound of unintelligible whispers gathers in the air.
You can feel the planchette moving beneath your fingers. You don't get the sense that Dehliana is pulling the planchette, either.
Dehliana gasps when the planchette moves beneath her fingers, tracing a lazy path against the parchment beneath it. "Spirits, are you with us?" She inquires.
The planchette twitches and jerks of its own volition from under Dehliana and Hinagiku's fingers. In shaky, cramped handwriting, it scrawls the word, "Yes". Dehliana smiles and turns to make eye contact with Hinagiku, but she projects her voice so that it is well-heard throughout the room. "Hinagiku, it seems you have brought a peaceful spirit with you. If you have any questions for him or her, now is the time to ask."
She is casting the spells ghost sound and mage hand. There are no visible signs of her spellcraft.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As she goes through the motions obediently, Hinagiku finally comes to realise what a medium and a seance were. She had heard of people who spoke to spirits, and even met some. But, it seemed this was done differently in this land. For one, she would never have dared ask a question to a spirit. Giving them a small offering seem like the right thing to do.
"Thank you for communicating with us. I am glad to see you are at peace in this wounded land." Hinagiku whispers, before responding to Dehliana "This place is at the edge of the wound, do you know of anything we could do to help make it as peaceful as you?"
Ehren frowns when Hinagiku volunteers to be the so-called "conduit." While she is more than capable of taking care of herself, he is wary of the idea of disturbing the spirits of the departed, especially for something as frivolous as entertainment. Even so, he looks on with interest, his anticipation building until the atmosphere in the room suddenly takes a turn, the spirits evidently making their presence known.
The druid glances about, worrying for a moment that the spirits might be violent, but it soon passes. As the planchette begins to move beneath Hinagiku and Dehliana's fingertips, Ehren peers beyond what eyes can ordinarily see, wondering if he might catch a glimpse of the peaceful presence among them.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
At first indecisive about what to do when Dehliana enters the room, Myrna simply scarfs some boar into her mouth and wipes the grease from her face. She chews furiously while she watches the woman lure Hinagiku onto the stage and begins to perform her stupid, cheaty routine.
Watching for the moment when Dehliana would try to extract gold from her kitsune victim, she also stands from her seat. She wipes the last of the food off of her face, and brushes her clothes clean of food waste as well. She walks closer to the stage, remaining standing. Once she gets a few feet away, she just crosses her arms and stares at Dehliana. She gives the other woman a baleful glare accompanied by an unsettling smile. The overall effect says, 'Yeah, I'm here, you're here. What are YOU gonna do about it?' Her bulk and armaments lend the threat to her pose and glare.
Otherwise, she makes no move. She watches the false medium carefully for any signs of abuse.
As everything begins to be spooky, Sana continues to draw the scene, though Myrna is now playing a major role, imposing, though only seen from behind. Sana's form flickers and blurs for a moment as she continues her dragging her pencil across the page, and her eyes look about to take in more of the scene at hand.
When things get ghosty, she always starts to get a little more antsy than she would like. If there was indeed a spirit - particularly, given where they were, the possibility of an invidiak - she would be ready to deal with it at a moment's notice. Possibly violently. Probably violently, to be honest.
Li'an watches the spectacle unfolding before her, skeptical of the woman's performance. The cheap accoutrements and over-the-top acting were bad enough, but what seals it is when Li'an senses spells cast which coincide with the beginning of the 'ghostly' activity. Before she can identify the spells cast, she's distracted by noticing that Sana had gone blurry.
"Spells are being cast, and none of those implements are real," she whispers to the rest of the group after conjuring up a message spell with a quick gesture. "I didn't catch what spells, however"
You don't sense anything with spirit sense.
You can tell that Dehliana and Hinagiku both sport dozens of magical auras.
Dehliana makes fleeting eye contact with Myrna, but quickly averts her gaze. She quickly regains her composure, focusing on the planchette before her. "Look, the spirit is responding..." she says, sounding delighted. The quill darts back and forth unsteadily underneath the women's fingers.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blows through the common room, extinguishing all open flames, save for magical ones. The room itself begins to shake, rattling the windows and doors until the planchette rattles off of the table. The brass candelabra on the mantelpiece flickers back to life and reveals a wizened man draped in bloodstained robes standing in the center of the common room. The apparition bellows, "Beware the devil who haunts this place!" He raises a trembling finger to point at each guest in turn. "For it serves a cruel master, and is responsible for my death! Even now its master lurks within these walls! None shall escape 'til the devil is revealed and the one responsible for my death is brought to justice!"
You can sense a moderate presence when the apparition suddenly appears.
The walls begin to tremble and shake, and several objects throughout the room start to fly across the room, seemingly of their own accord. Some books hit patrons, another woman is hit by a glass. Even Dehliana narrowly dodges a red-hot poker from the fireplace, which flies across the room and embeds itself into the table. The shutters on all of the windows slam closed.
The ghost then disappears as abruptly as he had appeared.
Fenton, who had sprung to his feet shortly after the apparition appeared, has his hand at the pommel of his blade. He blinks a few times, and then relaxes once several moments pass and nothing else supernatural seems to happen. Most of the inn's patrons follow suit, on their feet and talking loudly. The innkeeper, his eyes wide and his skin deathly pale, starts to work to re-light the fireplace inside the common room's impressive red brick hearth. Without its warmth, a drafty chill had already begun to set in.
Miss Narikopolus doesn't look much better off than the inn-keeper. Her skin is an unhealthy pale color, and she is trembling and looks as though on the verge of panic. She carries her book in one hand, and she slowly backs away from where the ghost had just appeared moments before.
Meanwhile, Dehliana seems the least perturbed by this chain of events. She sits on the ground, having fallen there whilst evading the poker. She is quiet, eyes closed, brows furrowed in thought.
Hinagiku, who had immediately stood up and adopted a defensive pose when the lights were blown out, relaxes after it becomes clear that the ghost is gone. Taking one more look around, she extends a hand toward Dehliana to help her stand up.
”Are you alright? The poker came really close.” Hinagiku begins. ”You seem thoughful… do you know why this peaceful spirit was so aggressive?”
Dehliana smiles warmly. She graciously takes Hinagiku's hand and makes her way back to her feet. She dusts off her skirt. "No! I do not know. I've been staying here for quite some time now, and I have yet to meet this spirit."
She holds her chin. "When mortals die in a state of anger or unfinished business, they can become ghosts. In the latter case, helping them finish their unfinished business can help them find peace and release their souls to move on to the afterlife."
Dehliana is correct in her explanation of ghosts.
Her eyes widen. "There must have been a murder here! And this spirit has come to us, to cry out for justice!" She clasps her fingers together. "Well it is just so. I will do what I can to bring you peace, you poor, tortured soul."
Dehliana seems to honestly want to help this angry spirit.
Sana immediately snaps her book closed when the apparition appears and sets it on the bar behind her, pencil resting beside it as she draws her starknife from her quiver at lightning speed. She's about to hurl it at the creature when she hears the word 'beware', which causes her to shift her hand midswing to twirl the weapon around until the centrifugal force dies enough to simply catch it by the handle... giving the spirit a chance to speak.
When it vanishes as quickly as it had come she growls with annoyance and does what any logical being would do. She goes to the front door to attempt to open it. If there were a violent spirit here, the people needed to be evacuated. If there was indeed no escape it was best someone who had dealt with this sort of thing was the person to learn it the hard way.
Amber flutters out of her shirt and glows, cascading bright and warm light in the room. Though it doesn't reach very far, those nearby are bolstered against the dead and mental influence.
Much to Li'an's surprise, dealing with the charlatan becomes secondary after the room is visited by what appears to be something far beyond the scope of the woman's little scam. The objects flying around the room and the presence who had appeared to warn them about a 'devil that haunts this place' were clearly not planned.
Noting that several people had gotten hit, Li'an takes a moment to channel energy throughout the room, healing any minor wounds the patrons might have sustained. She then draws upon the same light she'd called forth before, using it to banish any illusions and falsehoods within it's area.
Moments later, Auraelia flutters back into the room, clearly concerned by Li'an's sudden expression of shock and the commotion from the main room, carrying her mace and shield though now wearing a simple tunic and breeches--skirts were obviously out of the question for someone who spent their time flying, and weren't exactly compatible with her armor anyway.
"What happened?" Arie asks, looking around at everyone on the floor or otherwise shaken. "I'm not sure, some sort of apparition warning of a devil who haunts this place," Li'an responds quickly.
"Is everyone alright?" Li'an asks, looking around the room but primarily to her friends and traveling companions.
Sana moves over to the door and scrutinizes it. She then attempts to open it, but finds that it won't budge. Fenton watches her, his usually cheerful face etched with concern.
"I'm fine, Miss Li'an," Fenton responds politely. The fireplace roars back to life at the same time Li'an's magic washes across the room, healing the bruises and cuts that some of the patrons had endured due to the supernatural event that had just occurred.
Despite the fact that the room is now well illuminated, between Li'an, Amber, and the fireplace, the innkeeper busies himself with lighting the rest of the candles.
This time when Li'an's light washes over Sana, she does notice a difference. The edges of her form cease to be blurred, causing her to tilt her head and look back towards the glowing woman. She still doesn't know that it's revealing any flaws in her disguise, though her shadow isn't dancing against the light as it was after the previous combat.
"No proof to go on that the spirit is the good guy, here. Could just be the spirit of some racist burner or something." Anna says as she looks over her shoulder, before turning around to rejoin the group. "So, no evacuation. Does anyone have the ability to make magic circles against evil? If not, Opal can do it in a pinch. We'll need a way to help keep folks safe while we investigate."
She pauses, before looking to the innkeeper, who is keeping himself busy. "How many rooms are there here? How many floors?" She grabs her sketchbook and kit and replaces them from whence they'd come. The sketchbook simply goes into a space somewhere over her head, and the kit goes in the bag, which goes into the quiver. She cuts off a sliver of the roast boar and takes a bite, and swallows it down with another drink. No sense in letting food go to waste.
When the spirit appears and begins raising havoc, the ancestor-spirits that surround Unafe begin their own frenzied buzz, which doesn’t settle down immediately when the lights come back on.
She approaches the innkeeper. ”Good man, has anything like this happened here before? What can you tell us that might aid us in determining if this spirit speaks true, and settling it to rest? What stories should we know about this devil, and it’s master?”
As they speak, she eyes his face, wondering if there’s anything he might be concealing.
Myrna stands strong and unflinching when the spirit appears and wreaks havoc. In fact, she keeps her eyes on Dehliana throughout the whole business, believing the false medium to be responsible for this whole debacle regardless of not being able to see any sort of cause or evidence. She is struck by flying cutlery, but she brushes it off. Once the chaos has died down and the spirit disappears, Myrna helps to pick up around the place, all the while keeping an eye on Dehliana.
"Arie, do you sense anything out of the ordinary magically, or any evil presences?" she asks her companion.
"The circle is a good idea, Anna," she says, responding with Sana's pseudonym. She quickly gestures at Arie and casts the spell, creating a protective area within 10' of the lyrakien. "If anything else appears, we should gather the civilians around Arie, my Lyrakien companion," she says, both to her allies and the innkeeper.
Arie grumbles something about this happening just after she'd taken her armor off before positioning herself to cover the most people she can with the ward against evil. She then sets about using her innate sense of magic and ability to detect evil to see if anything stands out within the room.
The innkeeper almost drops his lighter when he realizes Sana is speaking to him. "T-three floors, miss! Five rooms on each floor."
"No, nothing like this has ever happened before! I have no idea what that ghost was talking about!" he says as he catches his lighter. He then extends it so that he can light the candles on the wood-and-iron chandelier.
The innkeeper is guilty about something. He is not being honest.
Dehliana overhears Unafe and the innkeeper's conversation and simple walks over to join them. She looks between them, thoughtfully watching to whomever is speaking. The red brick hearth roars with flame behind of them. A disparate array of trinkets populates the mantelpiece, including a slab of petrified wood, a dull brass candelabra, and a silver bell inside a glass dome. Worn but comfortable oversized chairs provide a comfortable place to sit next to the hearth.
It is from one of these chairs that Miss Narikopolus stands, backs away, ashen-faced, and simply exits the common room through the door to the hearth's left without another word. She passes by a mounted boars' head, a rack of antlers, and a stuffed river fish that each hang from plaques on the wall.
Meanwhile, the other patrons in the inn start to grow restless. Multiple Crusaders try to open the shuttered windows, only to find them unable to budge them, no longer how much they try. One crusader takes a hammer to a window, only to nearly bowl herself over from her own force.
Myrna helps to pick up cutlery off from the mismatched rugs on the floor. She sets them back on the polished mahogany table that she was eating her dinner at just moments before.
Myrna thinks that Dehliana is totally suspicious.
Li'an and Auraelia, on the other hand, are on the opposite side of the room, closer to the battered copper bar-top. Behind the bar is a swinging kitchen door. Fenton and Ehren stand in front of a row of wobbly stools that help provide seating at the bar, which appears well stocked with various dusty tankards of ale.
Everything in Devil's Rest radiates a powerful aura of magic. It makes it impossible to tell any magical auras apart from one another.
Dehliana is moderately evil. There is another patron, a young kellid man, who is faintly evil.
Ehren becomes skeptical of the seance when Li'an mentions that the implements are fake - more so when his spirit sense fails to discern the presence that had supposedly guided the placard. However, before his doubts can fully form, they are quickly cast aside when a bonafide spirit appears before them, bearing grave tidings.
Upon his departure, Ehren goes quiet for several moments, contemplating the sudden turn of events. He watches as the others try to make sense of what happened, and as Miss Narikopolus leaves the room. The significance of the name was not lost on him, as Auraelia had mentioned it during their trip here. Instead of following after her, however, he approaches the innkeeper.
"That woman... is she is a descendant of Linneus Narikopolus?" Ehren asks him as he works, nodding towards the door that she walked out of. "Can you tell me anything about her family, or of the devil that is rumored to haunt these parts? If what that ghost said is true, then it seems that there is truth to the legend after all."
Unafe puts a hand on the innkeeper's shoulder and frowns. As she does a raptor spirit flies over her shoulder and shrieks.
Unafe leans in and whispers "Listen. Now's the time to be very honest. Lives could be lost here, and if you don't tell me everything you know, then those lives are on your head."
She inclines her head toward a less crowded corner, and says, "Now step over here, and let's try again, shall we?"
If the innkeeper agrees, Unafe will waive over and of her companions who aren't busy with other leads.
Sana huffs as the woman who had tucked herself away in the back away from everyone else flees beyond the hearth. "That is the opposite of what should be done.." she says, trailing off. "I'll stick with her until I can get her to come back to join everyone else." the half-demon says as she moves preternaturally quickly across the room and towards the door the noblewoman had gone through, seeking to follow after her and keep her in line of sight.
The innkeeper gestures vaguely. "I don't know what you're talking about, sir," he says to Ehren. But when Unafe approaches him, he wilts like a flower.
"Not out here. Follow me." The dwarf leads Unafe out of the room and through the swinging double-doors behind the bar.
Dehliana gives the others a small, impish grin. "I have a feeling we've already ferreted out our murderer." She then flounces off after Unafe and the innkeeper through the doors.
Meanwhile, Fenton watches Dehliana and Unafe leave through one door, while Sana and Miss Narikopolus head out another door. He hesitates for a moment, watching Sana leave, before walking over to stand next to Ehren and Hinagiku. He watches them carefully, waiting to see what they would do in this situation.
Through the doors is a small kitchen. In its center is an ancient woodstove abutted by a granite block stacked with dirty plates and what remains of the carved boar. A copper washbasin in the corner brims with murky, tepid water.
The innkeeper stumbles back and starts to retch as he sees that the boar is covered in squirming maggots. The fetid display is nauseating to behold. The plates, pots, pans, and cutlery that line the walls and counters start to shake and rattle violently.
The maggots are just an illusion.
Sana follows Miss Narikopolus through the door into a large hallway. There are three doors exiting this hallway, and the walls are lined with taxidermy animal heads. Miss Narikopolus walks all the way down the hallway to the other end, where there is a narrow spiral staircase. Before entering the staircase, she looks behind her, and sees Sana following her. She gives Sana a dirty look.
"I am going to my room, until you Crusaders figure this nonsense out. Leave me alone." She huffs and heads up the stairs.
Beatrix picks herself off of the ground. She stands up and brushes some broken glass and other detritus free from her robes, and then looks around to take stock of the situation. It would seem that the Archdruid and his friends were taking the situation seriously, and Myrna couldn't take her eyes off of Dehliana... but it also looked like that woman they had met in the wastes was taking an interest in Miss Narikopolus. In fact, on any level of observation, the woman had been a little bit sketchy... or perhaps simply mysterious.
She takes Anna's advice seriously. She prays to Iomedae for protection, and summons a magic circle that could protect anyone near her from the possessive predations of any lurking ghost or spirit.
Then Beatrix follows after Anna. Poking her head into the hallway, she's in time to observe Narikopolus heading up the stairs in a huff. She frowns lightly. "Hmm."
"She's acting a little suspicious, don't you think? I bet no one else is in their rooms. Maybe we should make sure we can keep an eye on her."
When things die down and it's clear that the performance won't continue, Myrna leans in towards Dehliana with eyes narrowed. She hisses, "Don't think I'm not onto you. I know your type, and you already fooled me for the last time. You're responsible for this somehow, and I will find justice." Then when the innkeeper and Unafe go into a back room to have a secret conversation and Dehliana makes to follow them, she adds, "Hey! Don't deflect. This was all a part of your scheme and you know it."
She follows along with Dehliana, Unafe, and the innkeeper into the kitchen. Being the last to enter, she ducks through the door already saying, "Now what foolishness are we in here to discuss?"
Then she looks upon the disgusting display of writhing maggots and rotting flesh. Her mind wrestles through the innate reaction of disgust and, together with her natural suspicion of current events, allows her to see beyond appearances. She can see that the maggots are not real, but seeing the illusion reinforces her impression that someone was doing this. Myrna growls, already getting a bit frustrated and impatient. Smoke and mirrors were not her strong suits. Knowing that this situation wasn't going to go away by itself, she uses magic to call on the wisdom of her grandmothers -- a simple spell she was taught to use when her own abilities didn't suffice. Then she steps forward and waves her hand towards the boar-remains.
"It's nothing more than an illusion, but clearly, something is trying to unnerve us."
Agreeing with Sana and Li'an that protecting themselves from evil was of key importance, Hinagiku mentally draws upon the ley around her, slowly forming a bubble of peace and spiritual quietness around her.
Seeing that the remainder of her companions are busy with diverse events around the room, Hinagiku decies to stick with Sana.
"I will come with you, just in case the spirits are not as peaceful as they seem."