Talon swears he feels a hand on the back of his armor trying to tug backwards ever-so-slightly...
Rohini gets ready to follow Talon's lead, intending to pull the Yamahs behind her.
Drovya's eyes go wide and white when Talon grabs him and he draws Black Ivan with a look of crazed ecstasy.
He barks at the second Drow as he gestures with the double-bladed sword.
Talon turns to look behind him at the tugging but is distracted by Drovya's threats.
"Alright, you want tough love? Fine. We'll drag you out of here the old fashioned way. Unconscious. "
Talon draws Stark as well.
Rohini will direct the yamah to each try to charm Drovya.
Rohini will cast bull's strength on Talon, and say in Abyssal: "I'm tired of his antics getting in the way of our business. Maybe you should trip him, put him in the mud."
Haka begins a light, staccato tune on his drums, different from anything his companions have heard before, and looks intently at Stark, Talon's mighty scythe. "Put him on his butt, would ya?"
"That was the plan."
Black Ivan loops toward Talon in a deadly arc.
Talon groans as Black Ivan hits him on the shoulder, dangerously close to his neck. He then swings low with Stark at Drovya's knees.
And the haft of the weapon known as Stark hits him right on the head, knocking the magus out cold. Talon stows the blade and picks up Drovya. "Let's go, he's sicker than we thought."
Rohini's jaw goes slack but she quickly regains her composure and grabs hold of the chains holding the Yamah.
Rohini's jaw goes slack but she quickly regains her composure and grabs hold of the chains holding the Yamah. Abyssal: "Well done. He was starting to irritate me."
Haka, seasoned performer that he is, manages to hide his astonishment and keep his expression somewhat blank as he abruptly stops his drumming. "Uh, yeah, right. Let's go."
Talon glares at the drow one last time and walks to somewhere safe.
Drovya collapses to the ground, pollaxed by Talon's impeccable strike. Shockingly, he does not fall unconscious, but his eyelids flicker, and his face contorts. It's Ivan, he has me, or the madness does! He slides the sword towards Rohini. Keep it away from me! Please, for your own sakes!
Rohini grabs the sword, wraps it in a sack, and, dimensions permitting, stuffs it into her handy haversack.
"How did this happen?"
/spoiler]
The yamah had no need to interfere because of the party's quick thinking and Talon's swift removal of Ivan's threat.
The drow, on the other hand, reacted in very different ways. The one who spoke undercommon stared like a child wishing to be entertained, whilst the other reacted to Ivan/Drovya's commands by picking up a poleax it had been maintenancing. However, everything is over before he gets in even one strike. He furrowed his eyebrows and bolted off, likely with the intent of getting assistance or, perhaps even more alarming, his boss.
The half-elf companion to the sorcerer fell on his knees, eyes wild as Kanthuun attempted to make sense of what just happened. He tried to push forward, but it became relatively apparent he couldn't go too far without driving his hands into his arms.
Kanthuun realizes he needs to get the messaging ring from Hanethes and call to the party.
"Calm down and SIT!" he thunders.
When Rohini sees the drow react with alarm, Rohini whispers to the yamah: "Quick, can you charm the drow before they bring trouble?"
[/dice]
The rogue's eyes flashed with lucidity momentarily.
"I can feel them ripping off my skin... I'm not sure how long I'll-,"
For a few seconds, at least, he'd cooperate.
"The second we do, blessed one, will be a moment of truth... No one will fail to see what we are and that we've still a spark left to steal." Illyata whispered, but complied, nodding to her sister to charm the other drow before he attempted anything. Illyata, at least, had to run forward, yanking Rohini's literal chain.
"Pray stop, pointed one!"
Illyata called out, blinking in surprise when the fleeing drow acquiesced.
Meanwhile, Nyota attempted to keep the attention of the one who spoke Undercommon. He stared at her staring at him. Nothing came of it.
"The 'eck is goin' on 'ere now? Boss man i' nae goin' ta be 'appy with us if we don' ge' back ta work a' least."
*~*gurgle*~*
How often should I roll on the confused table, and for how long?
A lot, actually. In combat you're supposed to do it every 6 seconds. Out here, it might be more like every ten to thirty seconds.
Kanthuun carefully slips the ring off of Han's finger.
Drovya! We need help in here! Han has gone insane!
Ominous silence is the only response to Kanthuun's request for aid.
Rohini slips the ring off Drovya's finger and onto her own. "I wonder how things are going inside. I forget, will this thing work for any of us, or only for Drovya?"
And: "Haka, what is that other drow saying? Can you do anything to calm him down? Or maybe distract him for a moment?"
Rohini will turn to the yamah and act as if she is scolding them and brining them into line, while actually thanking them quietly and whispering to Illyata: "Let's hope no one noticed. Now at least that one isn't running off to get help. You two should resume acting like prisoners. If we can distract the other drow, maybe have the charmed one -- who seems to be in charge -- direct them both to leave us alone and forget about us. Or if the other drow is sufficiently distracted, maybe we can ask the charmed one a couple questions before sending him away."
"And so, Kanthuun, Sorcerer of Chaos, was slowly digested by the pyramid of unspeakable doom while his rogueish friend did a jig on the floor..." Kanthuun grumbles at the ring, squints at it, and tries again.
DROVYA! Problems in here! We need to bring Han out or somehow restrain him!
Oh dear
Hanethes comes out of the fetal position with a lunge of his dueling sword, his eyes far away again. His face speaks of unadulterated suffering and horror, however, so the sorcerer can be certain that the glancing blow he recieved is certainly nothing personal.
"Yikes. Uh, we're having some problems of our own out here. Drovya is out of his mind. Any suggestion of how we can help you? Can you web Han then knock him out? If things don't start looking better soon, we may need to retreat."
"What's wrong with Han and Kant?"
Rohini will reply quietly, "They are apparently experiencing similar difficulties. We need to get to a place to regroup."
"But where do we go?" Talon takes a moment to think. "I say we get a room at one of the inns and regroup there."
*~*twitch*~*
The items is right in here! We will have to keep a watch to ensure it isn't extracted. However, it's true--this place isn't safe..wherever I am.
Kanthuun ponders and sighs. "Sorry to do this, Han." He releases a blob of protoplasm from an extended hand to entangle the thief.
He then pulls out his spider silk rope, ties up Hanethes, casts Invisibility on both of them, and then Fly on himself, and flies with his burden towards the maw of the exit.
Somehow, outside seemed just a little less malevolent to Kanthuun. Only because of the lack of haunting forces overtly trying to open his skull and penetrate his brain, of course.
Nodding to Rohini, the yamah spins what those who speak the language recognize to be a quick tale in Abyssal about how her master (who is apparently Drovya right now) had already made contact with the general and discussed an assignment in the camp which he cannot disclose, but had imbibed something recreational created by Rohini before cowering most effectively and grovelling about not being hit.
It's a decent show, but the pantomime could use some work. To be precise, it's obvious to anyone present that the average drow soldier is a bit dim... or at least gullible.
Nyota backs away from her given target and places herself behind Talon as the discussion progresses.
Talon instinctively puts his hand around Nyota's for comfort but then let's go before things become suspicious.
Both Hanethes and Drovya have had their minds broken in as much as they're being forced to relive someone else's horrifying agonies. As such, they're insane. It is entirely conceivable that Hanethes could kill himself or someone else in his state, and though Talon appears to be a bit of an Aroden's heel, it's obvious Black Ivan could probably do worse.
This is a condition that requires a Greater Restoration to fix, typically. A mind is a terrible thing to waste...
Bit of luck