In Judah's mind, a thousand whispers answered in one voice.
Psychopomp. Ushers of morbidity. Guides beyond the realm of flesh. Useful to those who travel beyond mortal thresholds. A hindrence to any who return.
Judah slowly looked out the open door into the dark streets of the ruined town, his face confused and annoyed. "Everytime you answer a question, I feel like I know less."
"What the f+#* is an usher of morbidity?"
Her job description was "make undead things dead again", servants of Pharasma, the 1 I met was fairly chill and relaxed to "normal mortals like me". Cyrilla was an "Almuuth", she seemed to enjoy dating, better dancer then me. the man offers
Dylan seemed to have been rather happy that something female regarded him as a "normal mortal".
As Judahs outburst
Didnt say anything about Usher of morbidity, you have something talkin in your brain? Did you accept a profane gift? I dont neccessarily blame you, walking out of an encounter with a heartstealer with a profane gift is one of the better ones of the "realistic" oucomes.
You can sense he suddenly becomes wary
Didnt say anything about Usher of morbidity, you have something talkin in your brain? Did you accept a profane gift? I dont neccessarily blame you, walking out of an encounter with a heartstealer with a profane gift is one of the better ones of the "realistic" oucomes.
You can sense he suddenly becomes wary
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I forget that the rest of you can't hear it unless it's making real noise. It can talk just fine, but usually it just talks in my head. Really thought I was going crazy for a while."
He glanced down at the chained pyramid hanging from his hand. "Profane gift is a pretty good way to describe this thing. I don't thing it's what you mean though. I wouldn't say I ever "accepted" it. That would imply I had a choice. I mean, if you trip and fall, are you accepting the ground?"
I mean, for a Succubus gift you have to be willing, but the b~&!$es normally dont talk all the time to you. And they can totally pretend to be like, a random girl that gives you a keepsake or something.
I guess you got something else then that?
He pauses
Lets make a bet, whatever is in your brain is less useless then whatever is in mine! You game?
"It's definitely not useless," Judah said wryly. "It's just scary and confusing.
"Stick your head out of the dirt or something," Judah said out the door into the abandoned street.
The ground rumbled and bulged before caving in as a large, inky tendril pushed it's way free of the dirt. It was black and rubbery looking, covered in odd folds and cracks. Faint yellow light on it's bulbous end formed an asymetiric symbol that matched the one that curved around Judah's eye.
The yellow mark tilted towards Judah, then split in a dozen places, blooming like a flower made of meat and teeth.
It seemed like it was waiting for something.
HI I AM FREE WHEEEEEEE!
A spectral feminine entity bursts out of Dylan
Ohmygosh, do you know how cramped it is in his brain? Like, seriously, zero space! Lets kill something evil!
She looks at the open gate
Hi Gate I guess? Can I call you Gator? I think that fits! You can call my Allithera, that means self improvement in Abyssal, or just Alli! I am glad to meet you all!
Alli Dylan interjects
The last time you tried to "kill something evil" you got one shot by a gnoll. And the time before it you wandered into the web of a giant spider, inspite of being able to make yourself ethereal. You just arent cut for combat. He continues
THATS BECAUSE YOU GIVE ME NO COOL THINGS! JERK! One day I tell the phantom trade union about you! She replies in anger
There is no Phantom trade union. Dylan deadpans back.
"F+$#f+%#GHOST!!!" Judah barked, scrambling out the door and around the corner as soon as the spectre manifested.
As the spirit started talking with Dylan, Judah poked his head around the doorframe again. "What the f&%*?"
Behind him in the street, the serpentine thing didn't reply. Instead it's horrible leech-flower mouth snapped closed and it disappeared back into the ground the moment Judah began to panic. The earth displaced enough to show roughly where it was as it moved nearer to the doorway, hidden and waiting to protect it's master.
The sudden noises scare the mice off and Lorant looks over at the group.
"The Hell's going on over there?!" he asks incredulously.
"Wraiths..." Lorant says to himself as the mice leave. "Thank you, little ones!" he calls after them. "Be safe!"
As he turns to see what the commotion is, he thinks on what he knows about wraiths.
I AM NOT A GHOST! And I can prove it, positive energy heals me! I actually count as an Outsider! The spirit interjects
She is also pretty weak and harmless. Cant even drain strength. You could probably beat her up Judah. Its useful to lug her around in my head though, if some spell or such gets through my will, it hits her not me. Real lifesaver when a f*%$ing Deskari Cleric hold persons you while you are next to 2 scythe wearing cultists. Dylan says
See, he is using me as a living shield! Rude Dylan, rude! If he wasnt such a jerk I would be the tragic love interest of the main character! Who is clearly not you Dylan!
The spirit replies
I should never have read those cheap romance novels. Dylan mutters
Read more of them, they are the main source of entertainment in your memory! the phantom answers
She is hardly unattractive and moves with a certain grace, her black hair reconfiguring itself to a bun as she speaks.
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The Doktor, still having residual fears of the supernatural is initially scared but now is confused, very confused indeed. The effect for both conditions is exactly the same... he stands there with his eyes bugging slightly and his jaw slackly hanging open.
Hello Mathus yes? Are you ok? Do you need a comfy hug perhaps? I have heard that this is great to reduce anxiety and stress! I read that in a book so it must be true!
The phantom slowly approaches Mathus with arms stretched out
Lorant tilts his head a bit at the new arrival.
"You have me at a disadvantage, Miss..?"
You can call me Alli! Or Alithera! Just dont call me Gnoll food, Spider bait or Hold person absorber like a certain Bloodrager does! I think you are familiar with phantoms? I can assure you that I am almost certainly friendlier and nicer and much better looking than any Phantom you previously encountered! The Phantom stops approaching Mathus as she tilts her head back to Lorant
Chatterbox also works Dylan interjects
Up yours, you talk even more then me! The Phantom answers
Because most of the time you cant talk on account of being in my head THe Bloodrager insists
See, I am right! Have you tried using verbal diarhea offensively?
The phantom recommends
Have you considered actually using your stealth abilities by not talking all the time?
Dylan answers
Their banter is somewhere between siblings or an estranged married couple, they both have genuine concerns, but you get the feeling they would fight for each other if neccessary.
Judah watched the exchange, horror fading to confusion, then finally to exasperation.
"Oh hells, it's like Ellie and her a&&%@+& brother all over again."
We are not related!
Both of them say at the same time.
"At the very least you seem on the same side," Lorant says to Dylan and Alithera.
He strokes his beard for a moment.
"You may actually be just what we need right now, actually, Ms. Alithera. Tell me, what do you know about wraiths?"
They are much worse company then me! the phantom answers, apparently prompting Dylan to do something useful
Surprisingly enough she is right about that one. Wraiths are dangerous opponents, those slain by them become wraiths themselfs, and magical or ideally ghost touch weapons are needed to combat them effectively.
Real Sunlight serves as a potent deterrent, but it is often hard to bring to bear, as it is typically the wraiths who can choose their engagements, on account of their mobility. The bloodrager says
Facinating, he breathes. I'd love to examine your brain, after your death of course, he adds hastily. I am quite unsure if this is a ectoplasmic manifestation or a psychic one.
I am a fanglord, my kind is fairly longlived. Unless we die violent deaths, which is kind of frequent. The professor said she is akin to a combination of my least used aspects of my personality, given form at the same time my bloodrage fully triggered for the first time, so probably psychic more then ectoplasmic. The Bloodrager explains
The split is... interesting. The professor thought me how to look into well, the split, and gain insight from that? Cant really explain it better, neither me nor her are actually smart. he continues
"Just as I thought, that's a vital piece of evidence," Lorant says. "If these wraiths are the spirits of the murdered children, and wraiths spawn from being killed by other wraiths, then the Beast could not have been the killer."
There are probably ways to create a wraith de novo, but it likely requires serious degrees of necromantic magic. Far beyond anything we can do, or even pretty serious necromancers! Not sure if its admissable in court though!
There is small writing in her eyes. It seems to be scrolling.
wtf I no longer no anything about wraiths? Ali, stop it!
NO
"Serious degrees of necromantic magic the Beast would not be capable of. We've never heard him speak beyond four simple words, I doubt he'd grasp the complex language of an incantation."
Most definitely. I would be shocked if he could pronounce the word "Necromancy", much less the most basic incantation.
"Did the mice say anything else?" Judah asked.
Lorant shrugs.
"The wraiths apparently are what drove the people of this town away. I am starting to get a picture of what might have happened; much like with the previous case, the Beast was accused of another monster's evil. A wraith, or something capable of making wraiths, began preying on the children of the town, and the Beast was a convenient scapegoat. But that did not solve the problem and the spirits of the murdered children returned as wraiths themselves, forcing the townsfolk to abandon the town. Much like what might have happened in Ravengro had we not intervened, but on a smaller scale."
"Are wraiths like ghosts? Is this going to be another Harrowstone situation?" Judah asked with a grimace.
"More importantly, how do we find any kind of proof that the Beast didn't make the wraiths?"
Thats, my friends, is something we are going to find VERY difficult to prove.
He thinks.
If we have solved this mystery, and I think we have... should we not leave?
"Solving the mystery doesn't mean anything if we can't prove it," Judah said. "We've checked one building and talked to some rats. I really want to leave, but I think we should poke around a bit more."
"You think we could take a few of those rats with us? Lorant can't be the only one that can talk to animals, right?"
You think a Jury will accept a talking rat that only the spell caster can hear as testimony?
He thinks a moment.
THAT said? You are right about exploring further... let's see what else we can find.
"First, they were mice, not rats. I'm actually surprised I was able to speak with them, since they're not usually the kinds of animals associated with...my kin," Lorant says. "Second, I'd say this mystery isn't solved YET. We don't know how the Beast came to be involved with this tragedy to become its scapegoat, nor the identity of the true culprit. If they're anything like our previous adversaries, they can't have wandered far, bound to the place they died."
He makes his way towards the door and begins looking into the other buildings.
You think a Jury will accept a talking rat that only the spell caster can hear as testimony?
"I was thinking maybe the court had a local druid on the payroll or something. Seems like something that would be pretty handy for a court to have." Judah shrugged on his way out the door of the church. "Put 'em in one of those truth zone spells, just to be sure. Or just have a second druid do another critter interview. That way the judge can be sure one of the druids hadn't been paid off or soemthing."
"Honestly, I'm pretty sure the whole court system is really just to punish the folks that powerful people don't like. I mean, if justice was actually the goal, a couple of spells would solve most crimes without needing a court at all. I'd imagine paying a diviner would probably be cheaper than paying all those judges and barristers. Or us, for that matter.
Judah stopped in the street like he was paralyzed, then turned around to face the group with wide eyes. "It's a scam. The whole trial. The Beast is a patsy. We're not supposed to succeed."
Likely buuuuut that Judge is paying us a hefty sum of cash to at least try to give The Beast a chance.
Likely buuuuut that Judge is paying us a hefty sum of cash to at least try to give The Beast a chance.
"Sure, but why? We're not investigators, or Pathfinders, or Diviners. We're not anyone. The only thing the judge knows about us is that we knew Professor Lorrimer. The Beast's barrister doesn't seem very prepared, which means he was either assigned the case because he's incompetent, or he's in on the fix and sabatoging his own case!"
"Think about it. We're all he's got, and he had no way of knowing we'd be capable before we got tossed onto the case. It's pretty damn coincidental that we got a summons from an old friend of Professor Lorrimer's right after we cleaned up the mess at Harrowstone and pissed off the Whispering Whackjobs."
"What do you think the barrister's plan would have been if we hadn't randomly walked into town? And why the hell wasn't anyone worth a damn sent to the swamps earlier? Or this place? We've been running ourself all over the countryside for two solid days, trying to play catchup on an investigation that actual professionals should have been looking into for months! Hell, it was blind luck that we found the surgeons tools that led us to Vorkstagg and Grine, and if that hadn't happened the trial woudl already be over!"
"This whole trial stinks,and now we're in it too deep. If we can't prove the Beast didn't do it, then suddenly we're on the same side as a monster. Everything we've already done gets looked at like we might have been in cahoots."
My guess, I know the professor was tight with some psychopomps. I also think the judge is an ally of the Pharasmin so to speak. Someone is messing around with making wraiths, which is bad, and is using the beast as a scapegoat, which means less resources available for dealing with that someone. The mercenary pauses
Meaning that the Pharasmins basically opt to throw mercenaries, meaning us, at the problem, to see what bullshit we can uncover. I predict copious amounts of bullshit going on behind the scenes. You see...
He pauses again
In the Abyss, whoever keeps his strike force in reserve longest typically wins. Outsiders teleport at will, so you fake and bullshit around, keeping your teleport capable reserves for last.
I think its similar here, the adversary did some shit, and we are send to unf$*% this. If we get to the bottom of this, they will escalate again, and leave themself open to a counterstrike. I dislike being bait as much as anyone, but we are indeed in to deep.
"I was thinking maybe the court had a local druid on the payroll or something. Seems like something that would be pretty handy for a court to have." Judah shrugged on his way out the door of the church. "Put 'em in one of those truth zone spells, just to be sure. Or just have a second druid do another critter interview. That way the judge can be sure one of the druids hadn't been paid off or soemthing."You think a Jury will accept a talking rat that only the spell caster can hear as testimony?
Lorant shrugs a bit.
"If there were more druids IN Ustalav that may be the case, but the Pharasmin Penitence does love their orthodoxy so. And since druids are a reminder of the old Kellid ways they've tried to bury for centuries, they're burned alongside the actual wizards. No magic but the Church's is viewed as wholly clean and safe, and that attitude trickles down to the common folk. Even I'M technically suspect because I share my faith with Iomedae and Andoletta rather than devote my whole heart and soul to Pharasma and Pharasma alone."
"Honestly, I'm pretty sure the whole court system is really just to punish the folks that powerful people don't like. I mean, if justice was actually the goal, a couple of spells would solve most crimes without needing a court at all. I'd imagine paying a diviner would probably be cheaper than paying all those judges and barristers. Or us, for that matter.
Judah stopped in the street like he was paralyzed, then turned around to face the group with wide eyes. "It's a scam. The whole trial. The Beast is a patsy. We're not supposed to succeed."
"The odds ARE stacked against us," Lorant replies with a nod. "But if our performance before was any indication, we've managed to beat those odds once."
Likely buuuuut that Judge is paying us a hefty sum of cash to at least try to give The Beast a chance."Sure, but why? We're not investigators, or Pathfinders, or Diviners. We're not anyone. The only thing the judge knows about us is that we knew Professor Lorrimer. The Beast's barrister doesn't seem very prepared, which means he was either assigned the case because he's incompetent, or he's in on the fix and sabatoging his own case!"
"Think about it. We're all he's got, and he had no way of knowing we'd be capable before we got tossed onto the case. It's pretty damn coincidental that we got a summons from an old friend of Professor Lorrimer's right after we cleaned up the mess at Harrowstone and pissed off the Whispering Whackjobs."
"What do you think the barrister's plan would have been if we hadn't randomly walked into town? And why the hell wasn't anyone worth a damn sent to the swamps earlier? Or this place? We've been running ourself all over the countryside for two solid days, trying to play catchup on an investigation that actual professionals should have been looking into for months! Hell, it was blind luck that we found the surgeons tools that led us to Vorkstagg and Grine, and if that hadn't happened the trial woudl already be over!"
"This whole trial stinks,and now we're in it too deep. If we can't prove the Beast didn't do it, then suddenly we're on the same side as a monster. Everything we've already done gets looked at like we might have been in cahoots."
"I think Judge Daramid made it clear in our conversation with her that Kaple was deliberately selected to represent the Beast because he has a history of failure. You ARE right that this trial IS mostly a show. The three crimes being tried are symbolic, as the number of crimes and tragedies the Beast has been blamed for spans decades, and would probably take decades of their own to litigate."
"But in the short time we've been here, we managed to turn one of those cases on its head, not only proving the Beast wasn't responsible but managed to catch the real perpetrators in the process! That, I think, is why Embreth chose us; I think she IS genuinely committed to seeing the Beast get an actual trial rather than the farce that's been set up. And since Petros trusted us to stop the threat in Harrowstone, she trusts us with this too. And we've proven that trust was well-placed. I don't even know if the Whispering Way IS responsible for the wraiths that ruined this town, or even if the blame being pinned on the Beast was intentional like it was for Vorkstag and Grine. But the fact that the Beast is being blamed for it at all is shameful: justice is not won through easy answers, and that's what having the Beast as a scapegoat is. An easy answer, that the people of Lepidstadt have used for too long, while ignoring the true threats preying on them. That, I think, is the Judge's endgame: to prove that point."
Judah gave Lorant a thoughtful look, then narrowed his eyes a bit. "Wait, you knew the trial was a scam from the jump? That's just great, now I feel like a rube for only figuring it out now. Remind me to never play cards with you."
"Fine," he muttered as he scanned the dark town for more places of intrest. "Let's play our part then. Pretending like we don't know it's a scam might give us an opportunity for some kind of reversal later."
That hill is creepy as all get out… what’s the bet that should be our destination?
Lets say hi Dylan offers leaving him open if thats "lets decapaciate him" or "lets have tea".
Lorant nods.
"Aye...any dark business the townsfolk might have wanted to carry out probably would have taken place at a landmark like that hill. In my experience, many landmarks in Ustalav are haunted for that very reason."
Judah had a moment of panic when he noticed the person on the hill. To him, there wasn't much worse than being spotted. A few months ago he would have bolted. It was hard to remember that now he was poking around in other people's things legally.
"Is it weird that I kinda hope that person is a ghost?" he muttered as he started walking up the hill.
"At this stage? No, not weird at all," Lorant replies as he leads the way towards the hill.