Therric swings his scimitar at the one chomping on Alayna again! "HEY! Leave her alone!"
Nessa realized these were undead things of some kind, even she could tell that much by looking at them, and she realized that her magic was going to be of limited use against them.
Nessa realized just how useless she'd be and that Alayna was in bad shape so she reached out and grabbed her in an effort to pull the badly injured woman away from the attacking things.
Nessa yelled out, "Hey, you can't pick on her like that!" She chanted and made a few gestures calling acid from the air to congeal in her hand then she flicked the little orb at the ghoul.
Alayna tries in vain to put a blade between herself and the ghoul. However, she misjudges the dagger and her counter sweeps wide leaving her exposed! She yelps in pain as the undead's teeth give her a head start on an ugly scar. She tries to return the favor by driving the blade of her knife into the ghoul's uglier face.
for
"Alayna!", Cameron cried! The other one was in the way so there was only one thing for it, he'd have to bull past Therrick's target and tackle the ghoul from behind! Gritting his teeth, Cameron leaped past Therric's target and with a cry he thrust his spear towards the base of the ghoul's spine!
Unfortunatly, before Cameron can act, the male ghoul attacks Therric...
Therric too is bitten, and bloodied.
Therric gets really badly maimed from the bite and claw.
Krucina let fall her bow on the soddy ground, and takes her rapier while moving to Therric's side
The lithe blade hits, but doesn't destroy the unliving thing...until Cameron's spear pierces its chest from behind.
A blob of acid send by Nessa only damage a barrel
Cameron moves a little closer to Krucina in order to get a better angle and times his strike to coincide with Therrick's. Taking a careful aim he runs the ghoul through! Of course that doesn't necessarily kill the putrid thing, the others would need to hack it to for it pass over.
Alayna thrusts with her dagger and the ghoul ducks back. Using the space the pirate moves quickly around the ghoul's flank and let's her dagger punctuate her motion.
for
Krucina continues to strike at the bloated sea cow in hopes of putting it down for good.
Her efforts prove fruitless. Gritting her teeth, she rallies her companions to prevail.
Therric can feel one of his injuries beginning to fester as he rallies. Oh, no. Gonna need to get that looked at once we're done here.
"Lady Sarenrae, Eternal Sun, bless my blade and let me drive it into this abomination's heart!" He calls out before raising his scimitar skyward. Almost immediately, his sword glows a bright yellow and he brings it down on the ghoul's head!
Nessa chanted and made a gesture fling yet another glob of acid at the remaining ghoul.
Alayna buries her dagger to the hilt.... but the ghoul is still standing, and furiously tries to strike back, rending the piratess'flesh with her filthy claws, biting her face savagely
Alayna falls, blood pouring from massive wounds. Therric scimitar brings down the female ghoul, and the undead falls on Alayna.
Nessa saw Alayna get savagely mauled by the ghoul before Therric could destroy it and cried out, "Alayna, NO!" She rushed forward and dropped to her knees by the woman's head and looked at Cameron and Therric, "Can either of you help her?" Nessa seemed almost terrified at what had happened, she may not always get along with Alayna but she still seemed distraught at the thought of losing her.
Biting his lip, Cameron gingerly examines Alayna's wounds and does what little he can to staunch the flow of blood. Long tense minutes pass and face lined worry he sighs, "She's gravely wounded, but she has a fighter's spirit. Come the morning I'll petition Desna for aid but for now, well we'll have to do this the hard way. Therric I know you're wounded too but can you help me carry her back? Lets us pray we have no more surprises!"
Cameron will help carry her back to the goblin, assuming we get there uneventfully I'd suggest going in the back way.
A shaking Therric nods. "I'll help, definitely. But I think I need to get to a healer as well--Sarenrae only knows what sort of filth that undead monster was carrying."
He stoops down to lift Alayna up.
Nessa realized all of a sudden that she could do something to help. She moved and pulled Alayna's head onto her lap and then retrieved a bottle from her pouch. She opened it and carefully poured it down Alayna's throat.
Cameron hands wander on Alayna body, seeking the wounds, trying to stop her blood to run away.
Then Nessa uses a potion, hoping to bring back the blonde piratess on her feet. But the wounds are too deep, and seem nasty, corrupted with the unholy creature's saliva.
At least Alayna's life isn't in immediate danger anymore, and she can be carried.
The three corpses of the ghouls are down, and they won't be a threat anyore, which is a good thing.
Now that the madness of the fight is over, you see that the "females" wear only rags of dresses, and the male is naked.
One female ghoul is petite, dark haired, skinny. The other is a little bit bigger, with something like a tatoo on her breasts.
Having the forethought before they take Alayna to rest Nessa rose and went to the two female ghoul's and examined them, she made sure to take note of any identifying markings before going back to them. She gave Alayna a worried look and said, "It's late and I'd better get home, I'll send messages to both Mistress Pamodae and Sgt Drexell and then see you tomorrow."
Cameron spares a moment for the undead and wonders, 'Could these be the missing girls?'
He then heads straight back to the Goblin and does his best to tend to Alayna before resting himself so that he may petition Desna in the morning for healing...
They could very be the missing girls. The tatoo on the bigger one's left breast is a yellow wasp, symbol of Calistria.
Both girls seem to be lesser undead, following the male ghoul who probably killed them.
Both deaths seem quite recent, in the last few weeks. You are pretty sure these are the missing prostitutes.
You go back to the Gold Goblin without troubles, and rest the remaining of the night.
Back at the Goblin, Cameron woke before dawn and stoked a small cook fire. As well as cooking a dozen rashers of bacon he put the kettle on. Into the bubbling water he added willow bark, ginger a spoon full of honey from a hive near acacia bushes, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch if dried lavender. The conction wouldn't win awards for its taste but it would help ward off purification.
Before waking his patient, he prayed to Desna, "Holy Desna, your brave daughter was gravely wounded while fighting in your name. She would do so again if please you." He lightly touches her heavily bandaged torso and a blue nimbus of light spreads from his hand and covers her briefly.
By this time the tincture had cooled and he gently woke Alayna and helped her drink it. Once her color had improved he gave her the bacon too, "You gave us quite the fright there Alayna. For a moment I thought we had lost you."
Alayna rouses enough to hear Cameron's soft words, her only reaction, "Tell me true. How bad is it? Is the dress a total loss?" She winks, and smiles looking thin in her blood drained face. Then she promptly passes back out.
How are you doing, Nessa? You look tired... What some hypocras?
She pats the place beside her on the sofa
Sylee is truly a nice girl.I'm glad to have her at home.
As they wrote the messages and sent them she said, "I'm glad Sylee is settling in, she's a wonderful girl. I have to work in the morning but I plan to take her out for anwhile afterwards, At least I hope so. Please don't tell her as I want it to be a surprise."
Your secret is safe with me. Undead from the sea, you say? Wasn't poor Lula beheaded?
With that she went to the room she shared with Sylee and changed into her night clothes before crawling into bed and pulling the little girl carefully into her arms so she wouldn't wake her. When they got up the next morning they fed Zith and pulled the little serpent out of her cage to give her some attention. That done Nessa and Sylee both got ready and went downstairs for breakfast. Nessa as ked her daughter, "Socwhat did you do while I was gone yesterday honey?"
The next morning Nessa arrived at the Goblin for her shift and immediately went up to the rooms to check on Alayna. She peeked in and said, "Hey A, how are you?"
Cameron replies wryly to the comatose Alayna, "I'm sorry the dress couldn't be saved, we probably need to burn it. You on the other hand, are just fine. Or at least you will be once I've fixed those claw marks."
It's a funny a few weeks ago, the thought of being lone with a semi naked Alayna was the stuff of fantasy. Now he was presented with the reality he knew for a truth something he'd suspected for a long time, he wasn't the sort to take advantage. Instead he whispered another prayer, "Song of the spheres and guide of my dreams, I thank you for your succor. Alayna's need is as great, as was her service. If you would be so kind as to aid her a little more..."
Again a nimbus of blue light lines his hand and as he traces along the deep claw marks marring Alayna's otherwise very well formed chest. The magic of Desna's healing erases them leaving fresh pink skin.
Having done as much healing as he could for the day, Cameron covers Alayna over with a rug and heads off to borrow or buy some spare clothes.
When Alayna wakes up a while later, she finds herself alone in the room. A pile of her clothes are neatly neatly folded on a stool by the bed along with a mug of strong coffee. Mercifully it's still warm.
Therric's body still hurts like hell when he gets up in the morning. Though his wounds aren't bleeding now, they're healing slowly, and it's difficult for him to move about.
He forces himself out of bed and into a simple tunic and breeches before tentatively walking to Alayna's room and, noticing Nessa standing there, pauses.
I'm sorry, Alayna.
"I..." Therric is a bit lost for words at the moment. "...sorry I couldn't bring that ghoul down before it mauled ya, Alayna." He says over Nessa's shoulder.
Later after she gets a bit more rest, she wakes to find the cup o' Joe still a bit warmer than room temperature and her normal not-so-scandalous clothes, to boot. A gift from the Dreamer? Or just Cam bein' thoughtful? She sets to getting dressed, her pains still fresh, if not leaking anymore And tha' be by the Grace of Cam's good word with the Lady! She looks at the pile of clothes and thinks, How much should I milk this for? Not much, I don' wan' ta be seen as a shirker, or weak!
When Nessa pokes in to check on her, Alayna beckons her close, "Do ya think we found the murderer, or do I 'ave ta get back out there t'night?" The pirate says it as a joke, but realizes after the fact it might not have sounded that way, "Oh, no, I was only kiddin'. Maybe tomorrow night?" Rising fairly steadily, all things considered, she asks Nessa what else they found after the ghoul very nearly made a meal out of her.
Therric interrupts as she is hauling on her boots, "Oh, come in ya git! An' close the door aft!" She listens to the earnest young man and then offers him a trade, "Tell ya wot - We ken call it even if ya help me into this boot. Tugging on it does nothing for this newly mended flesh Cam set up for me and I don' wan'ta have a relapse." As he helps, she pushes her heel firmly down, and gives him a real smile. "It may 'ave cost me some blood an' a few new scars, but the fact is, I know three crewmates that din't leave mah side even when I was fair capsized. Loyalty pays itself. An' don' apologize in this damned town, lad!" She takes a swipe at his chin and laughs at him as he ducks back, "Weakness is the scent of prey in riddleport, and the sharks already know there's blood in the water near the Goblin."
Therric is too focused on helping Alayna with her boot to really take notice of her lack of dress. "Well, if you say so..."
He then lays a hand on his own chest. "Lady Sarenrae came to me in a dream last night--she showed me something I can do to help with the healing process."
His hand glows a soft yellow, beginning to close up his injuries.
"Ya need some, Alayna?"
While Therric is talking with Alayna, Cameron washed himself and then performed his morning sacrament. He shuffled, and shuffled again his prized harrow deck before cutting and drawing a card face down.
--> Strength
--> NG
He whispers, "Thy will shall be done..." as he turns over the card to reveal The Keep, a somewhat auspicious card representing quiet, unshakeable strength that withstands any hardship. He murmurs, "Well then business as usual. I guess I have my marching orders."
He heads into the Goblin's gambling hall to start his shift. As he goes his mind turns to the haunted roulette wheel and how he might help the spirit pass on.
Nessa entered the room and sat next Alayna, her wings draped across her shoulders and tail wrapped around her waist. She took a moment and then said, "We didn't find much really, just ways to identify the two women. They might be the missing prostitutes but as Caithlyn pointed out the one who was found hwas beheaded. It might be that the headless one was not part of the pattern which means that there was someone else who killed her. Still, I sent messages to the Sargeant and to Mistress Pamodae with what we found so far, we should check in with them later." She put her arms around Alayna and hugged her as she said with a slight catch in her voice, "I'm glad you're alright now."
When Therric came into the room the door closed behind him and she listened as he spoke of his goddess' new gift to him. When he touched Alayna to heal her Nessa couldn't help but grin and say, "So we have a paladin in a room with the two of us A, and he's feeling you up when he healed you." Her expression turned naughty as her tail unwrapped itself from her waist and she finished, "Maybe we should reward him for such a selfless act."
"Wha?" Therric looks over at Nessa with a confused look on his face. "I didn't feel her up, I swear."
As if to prove it, he rests a hand on Alayna's knee and channels more healing energy, this time into her.
Nessa replied, "Oh that's right, you touched yourself in our presence." When he touched Alayna's knee she said, "Ok, now your copping a feel."
Alayna thrills with the discharge of energy from Therric. "No he didn't. An' 'is best reward would be to help us again. For some reason I have a feeling the bilge rat I was dealin' wit when the ghouls came over the horizon might 'ave somethin' ta share wit us." She sighs, "Alas, ain't no disguise gunna undo the sails full o' wind charge inta tha fray caused." But really I jus' did nae wan' the filthy wretch ta touch me!
"Oh that's right, you touched yourself in our presence."
Therric winces.
"Ok, now you're copping a feel."
Then he gives Nessa a perplexed look. "I'm sorry, are you feeling left out or something?"
Nessa glared at him a moment and stood, "Excuse me, I'll leave you two alone then." With that she left the room in a huff to attend to her duties.
Therric lets Nessa go on her way before turning back to Alayna. "So, what was that you were saying about someone being involved with the ghouls we killed?"
Alayna watches the tempestuous tiefling leave. She does always feel left out, she does. Returning her attention to Therric she says, "Nae, I mean there was a Johnny tha' was a bit off. He was sick, something fierce and not somethin' common. I have a feelin' he be important, but I 'ave no proof. But nothin' ta do wit' da ghouls."
"Oh. Alright then." Therric nods.
He looks back to the door with a worried look on his face. "...did I touch a nerve or something, there? I didn't mean to."