Charles looks at Ton, shocked. "I ...I ...yes. Yes! Thank you! Ma, Pa, come!"
"Family's the most important thing..." Ton mumbles knowingly
After the battle, LaRA appears to be at a loss of words. Looking at the grief-stricken family go over Charles' little brother, she appears to be deep in thought, her eyes darting around. As the topic of the scroll is broached, she raises her pursefull of silverdisks, but continues to ponder nevertheless.
At the church, she still hasn't said a word, quietly continuing the ticks of her hands, until her hand suddenly snaps at Charles. "Statement: I apologise for this unit's inability to manipulate the circumstances to a better outcome.", she states. "Query: Would social unit Caskgrips object to this unit's presence while the ritual is ongoing? New cycles are the most crucial event in an android's existance." Blinking twice, she adds. "This unit will maintain complete silence, and direct interaction is not required."
While the ritual is ongoing, Ton steps quietly beside LaRA and, without looking at her, just says quietly;
"I didn't lie, ya know. About the Technic League and what they might do to you." he sniffs and scratches at the stubble on his chin. "They screwed me over pretty hard and I know how much they want to get their hands on new tech. Maybe I assume too much but I figured they'd see you as just another piece of ancient machinery to take apart and work out."
"Rather not see that happen to you I guess." he adds at the end with a mumble, unable to stop himself from looking at the already pale face of Sam's body
Charles looks at LaRA as if he forgot she was there. He blushes at the implied rudeness, and then was confused as to why he cared. But then her words sunk in.
"You tried t'save 'im. You. All of you," Charles nods to each in the party. "This? You're kin now. To us all.You save Sammy, the Caskgrips don't lose a son. Gains some ...weird siblings."
Zeke also tags along, offering Wulf a shoulder to lean on if he is still feeling a little weak. Once he gets to the temple, he checks on Khonnir Baine, and seeing no change he sighs. On the one hand, no change is good, but on the other no change ain't good, he thinks. He returns when Father Joram is preparing to cast the spell, quietly assisting him in a spirit of ecumenical curiosity.
He nods kindly to Charles's invitation, but says nothing. His thoughts since the confrontation have turned darker, and he doesn't trust himself to speak. If this outcome for Charles's brother truly was our fault, then maybe Torch is not safe for our families as long as we are here. If that android or others like him were to come looking for us, or if we choose to seek them out, our folks are liabilities.
He sighs. Groetus would have us all leave our families behind us, for the End is nigh. All that matters to Him is the world After. I wonder what Brigh's thoughts on that subject might be? Likely she will receive a few converts after this, assuming the Father can pull it off. He shakes his head and thinks wryly, I have to work on my preaching skills.
The android's response is a curt, understanding nod. Slowly raising her hand, she nods again, indicating that she has a response, but isn't willing to speak at the moment.
As the ritual concludes, LaRA's head slowly turns at Ton, before speaking in a quiet voice. "Affirmative. Statement: Differentiation between indirect language and intentional obfuscation is a primary requirement in conversation with intelligent species.", she replies, before a small, satisfied smile spreads across her face. "While your data on the Technic League was mildly inaccurate, observation on entity Sanvil Trett confirmed previous intentions to counteract their effect and power. However, I must note that this unit's attempt at intentional obfuscation was effective at least to one sapient." She smiles once more, before turning her head. "This unit is currently contemplating existance. Please, hold your queries until further notice."
Father Joram returns to the sanctuary with the scroll, and clears the place of all occupants except for the party and Pa and Ma Caskgrip. Val is there too, next to Wulf.
Norman is assigned to watch the younger ones outside... Father Joram is very nervous about casting the spell and wants no squirming children about.
Sam Jr's body is laid on the altar.
Father Joram begins. "Goddess Brigh, you the one who loves knowledge and invention. A soul has been taken from our plane with no warning. Such is the result of evil, the result of the Technic League who always seeks to collect and dominant technology rather than learn from it. Punish the Technic League through this act of ressurection, Most Holy Brigh. We ask you to bring back this brave man who stood up for what is right!"
He begins to read the complicated scroll.
..
The scroll is expended! It lights up bright! But something is wrong! Something not intended! Father Joram must have misspoken! What is happening??
"What. What. What. "
Garfaulk was quiet as they gathered Sam and brought him to the temple, offering narry a word-when he spoke, he usually did so to make people happy or cheer up, or fight with vigor! He was also good at consoling others. But it was the in between that made him uncomfortable. They didn't know what would happen, but he didnt want to get anyone's hopes up, or joke at the wrong moment. And as the father cast the spell, using the scroll Garfaulk winced-he was fairly certain it hadn't worked. He reached out to put a hand on Charles's shoulder, patting it gently, trying to comfort him.
"Wait, that's it?" Ton protests. "Is there anything else we can do, any other priests around here who can give it a shot?"
The scroll melts in Joram's hand, and he screams in agony! He falls back, his hands cooking, the flesh melting off them like he stuck them in a vat of acid.
Sam's body does not move.
The spell failed.
Ton slumps against the wall in stunned silence.
Wulf stands off to the side keeping quiet he smiles at Val bending over to whisper into her ear. I'll tell you everything later, but I feel so bad for this kid and Charles. It's my and Ton's fault. He then offers his hand and squeezes her's.
It is clearly very quickly that something had gone wrong. He moves over to the priest attempting to help him. "What was that?!" He shouts out looking to the others. "Is that the gods answer?"
With Wulf's help, Father Joram sits down in a chair. He grits through the pain and creates water that pours over his melting hands. The pain cools, and he then casts a cure light wounds spell. But the damage is extensive. He looks at them dejectedly. Likely it would take a regeneration spell to recover full use.
"I was so confident in Brigh's favor. I swear to you, I did my best... I thought it was going well. I could even feel Sam's spirit in the room, but it rejected the body and disappeared. I am so sorry. Brigh, why have you forsaken this boy??" He hangs his head.
Ma and Pa Caskgill, initially filled with hope, can't stifle the cries. This was the worst result possible. They thought it would be okay. Now they have to go outside and tell their family that Sam really is gone.
LaRA remains still, as her eyes recover from the bright light. Observation: It would appear that entity Sam Caskgrip has chosen not to continue its existance on the mortal domain., she ponders. Hypothesis: Perhaps personal beliefs have led entity Sam Caskgrip to a colloquially known 'better place'. She looks around, her face not betraying any feeling. Correlating my personal beliefs with observed phenomenon...
She looks around at the grieving family. Personal observation: Insufficient data exists for grieving rituals. Passive observation suggested. She remains still and quiet, only her darting eyes betray she's paying close attention to the family and her surroundings.
Zeke watches, stunned. Well, if ever there was a sign to live each day to the fullest, as if there were no tomorrow... he thinks. He tries to help the priest treat his injuries, but dejectedly realizes there is no hope of helping him without prohibitively powerful magic. Like Sam, he thinks.
Starfall and Iadenveigh are both about a week ago from Torch. Starfall, home of the Technic League, would be a decidedly dangerous visit.
"Charles, your brother Sam is dead... I don't see another way about it. We need to tell your brother and sisters. I... I can't tell them. Can you go out there and do it?" Pa chokes out these words and Ma just cries.
Garfaulk nearly drew his weapon at the sight of the father's hands starting to melt off, though it seemed the bizarre phenomenon passed almost as quickly as it happened. He went over to the father, delicacies letting go of Charles as he did so. "Don't blame yerself or Brigh-we all go sometimes, some sooner than others. If the fates or gods or whoever. If we can't bring him back, then he was simply destined fer a heroes end."
He turned to Charles, sadness in his normally twinkling eyes. "And don't go blaming yerself Charles. Sam made tha choice he did. He could've been strollin along and see someone else in danger, and he would've done the same thing. Fer tha's, apparently, tha's the kind of man he was."
Garfaulk does his best to console the family, and his best is considerable. His words give comfort to Father Joram, who sits on the ground staring at his hands, and gives comfort to Charles and his pa and ma.
With Charles emotionally unable to deal with his brothers and sisters, Garfaulk goes outside and and talks to them too. He carefully explains how the spell didn't work as planned, and sometimes we simply have to let go of the ones we love. He talks about how Sam was a hero, a brave halfling who was willing to put his own life at risk to save that of his brother's, and how they all should be willing to be like Sam, and never stop watching over each other.
The family cries but nods. Even the littler ones nod and get a fierce look in their eyes, as if they too, can protect their family.
Eventually everything breaks up and the party drifts back to Foundry Tavern. There is still work to be done, but no one has the heart to do it. The work will still be there tomorrow, and everyone is exhausted.
After a delicious dinner cooked by Val, you still about the fireplace soaking in the heat. It is a cold spring night. Garfaulk entertains and cheers with old dwarf tales and naughty dwarf limericks that succeed in making Val blush, much to the amusement of all.
Charles shows up too, eventually. The Foundry Tavern is still roomier than his own house.
The morning breaks on Gozran the 9th, 4714.
Ton eats his food in silence and drinks sullenly throughout the night, musing over Sam's death but mostly over what he might do to Sanvil should he ever catch up with him.
At one point during the evening he looks for Garfaulk and upon finding the dwarf says;
Hey. Do you think I could... uh.... test the weight of that Slagbreather you got?"
Once the ceremony is over and everyone returns subdued, Zeke slips away to check on Khonnir Baine. He tells him what has happened-- describes the new level of the vessel they have uncovered, and what Sanvil Trett said that meant had happened to the torch. He tells him about the scroll reading, and confides to him his secret hope that Groetus has interfered and blessed Charles and his family with a place in the new world to come.
Zeke also devotes some time in the workshop, crafting more ammunition and going over some of the items they recovered. The stun gun is intriguing to him, though he is worried it will glitch at an inopportune moment. He loads a potion of cure moderate wounds into the medlance, to make administering it easier. Remembering that Ton had asked about a pearl of power, he experiments with the necessary reagents and runes to see if he can craft such a thing.
Upon getting back to the bar after consoling the family the best he could, he grunted, frustrated. Just because he kept his cool during the ceremony didn't mean he was just as self-blaming. All he had to do was fire that light a few seconds sooner, not try to ask Charles first. If Sanvil knew what he was saying...
After smashing a bottle or two, he made his way to the workshop. Sober. This is where Zeke would find him upon his return from talking to Baine.
"Hope ya don't mind if I work on sumthin here too lad. That be alright?"
It seemed he was already working on something. The remains of the three legged robot they had fought together when they'd first arrived were there as well, and the arms of it had been removed. The skymetal bauble sat out on the edge of the desk, and the dwarf had gotten the forge up and running.
"Tha's a rough thing tha happened today..."
Fiddling with the hands of it specifically, he started to hollow them out, and was pulling on little bits and pieces of it, trying to figure out how they worked. The dwarf looks over at Ton as he walked in, nodding to him. "Aye, go fer it. Just ya know, take it easy with her" A statement made a bit funny by how often he'd tossed her aside for a fire lance when things had gotten dicey. (In fact, the remains of the exploded fire lance were on the table as well. Seemed he'd made himself at home, and it seemed like he was in his element.) Still, when Ton picked her up, he'd see she was immaculately clean.
Ton tests the weight of the weapon, holds it out at arms' length, steadies his wrist with the other. He wondered at the power Sanvil had displayed and felt sure he could do the same. No not the same, better.
If he could combine his magic with the innate power of these firearms he would be something to behold.
Zeke is pleasantly surprised to see Garfaulk in the forge, and nods pensively to his request to work there. "Of course, you're family now," he says absently. He begins mixing reagents for a batch of black powder, stealing curious looks every now and then to see what the personable dwarf is doing. "Yes, a rough thing..." he replies to the mention of the failed resurrection. "We must honor Sam's sacrifice," he ventures. "And our loss of a brave family member," he adds quietly. "I wish I had known him better."
When he recognizes what Garfaulk is doing, he begins assisting him like he used to do for Khonnir Baine. He can bring tools, hold things steady, and even assemble components for Garfaulk to attach.
Perhaps he is distracted by his thoughts of death, or maybe he is simply too wary of interfering with Garfaulk's work to meaningfully contribute, but he doesn't add any value to the project.
The dwarf spends a large amount of time, working hard on something, anything to distract him, almost functioning on autopilot as he worked, forged, fiddled, until he finally felt like he had it done. Taking a step back, he looked over his work, nodding.
And boy did it come out well! one of the finest things he'd ever contructed. Nodding at it, he grabbed his bauble, then started to walk away, feeling substantially better, before stopping, looking back at his work. It wasn't done yet.
"Say, Zeke-this is fer the Father, obviously. Any suggestions to... ya know... holy it up? Maybe make it almost... ceremonial."
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Zeke considers Garfaulk's question for a few moments, then cocks his head. "Brigh is a goddess of tinkerers, right? Maybe the greatest gift you can give him is a blank slate that he can ornament himself. Put his own symbols of devotion on it, make it his own?"
Charles enters the room, having spent the night at the Caskgrip home. "Ahoy, fellas! Yesterday sure was a rough one. But today might be the day we finally get Meyanda!"
A knock on the door follows Charles' entrance. A man is there, a rough looking, strong armed man.
"You lot brought a body back with you from the ruins. Now I don't blame you for forgettin' about, what with the murder and all (whole town talking about it don't ya know). My condolences, Caskgrip. But the body you brought back was my daughter's fiance, and I owe you a reward. You want some weapons? I am quite the craftsman. Tell me what ya want, and it's yours."
Wulf isn't as quick to drink and shout about their day's adventure today, still feeling the effects of whatever knocked him on his feet then beating he took. On top of the reveal of Sanvil and death of a local boy.
He sits with Val for what little time she has when not spending time with her father. Telling her everything that happened today, but still not going into a lot of detail of his and Ton's time before getting to torch.
---
Getting up earlier than usual maybe the lack of drink helped but he got cleaned up and dressed and moved downstairs to eat breakfast. The mood still hung low. He needed to talk to everyone about what happened but put it on the back burner as Charles came
He frowns as Charles moves in seeming different. "Charles are you ok?" He stands moving over to the small rogue.
"Well, that's a hard question, big fella. Yesterday was ...the hardest day of my life. But that brings perspective, don't you think? Makes you look at the big picture. And we have a town to save. And a brother to honor."
Zeke waves to the weaponsmith. "Hello, Mr. Otterbie. That's mighty kind of you, sorry we haven't been by to offer our condolences to your daughter. I'll be much obliged to you if you can replace this old knife I've had since I was sixteen. I'm not much of a fighter, but good quality craftmanship can make up the difference, or so I hear."
"Not a weapons guy myself, but a masterwork sickle is super useful."
"Tha's a fair point. Thanks lad, tha's a real help. Very good point, I'll have to keep tha in mind when offerin other stuff to the temple, if it comes up."[/b] Then he looked over to Ton, holding up the weapon. "She sure is a beaut. Even if yer not the biggest fan of the tech, tha girl there is a lovely piece of art. Sleek, finely made, terribly well balanced. True craftsmanship. Hell, I think I prefer her over some of the lasses I've met over the years" He chuckled, though it was half-hearted, after the day that they'd had. Still, humor often helped with morale.
"Unlike this piece of s$!!e" he grumbled, looking over the remains of his fire lance "I'm just hopin I can maybe get her workin again-Sure, I have Slagbreather, but what's a Ebony without Ivory, ya know?" He chuckled, patting the broken pieces of the weapon. Sure enough, if Ton looked, he'd see that on the bottom of the broken handle and the good ones were the names of the weapons in dwarvish. Garfaulk smiled his first real smile that evening "Cause they make harmonious music together"
Then the dwarf winced, remembering what he knew of Ton's history with these weapons. "Though I'm sure ya don't wanna hear bout them. Unless you've come around to em after seein what Zeke and I have been doin with em" As he conversed with Ton, the end of his finger lit up bright blue and purple as a concentrated bit of heat formed there-his mending spell once more, as he started to try to reshape poor Ivory back to her old self, though he had no idea of this spell could help him pull it off
----
Garfaulk jumped and, seeing Charles come in, hid the gloves immediately, not wanting to remind him of the night before. Blinking, he looked about and realized he must've fallen asleep in the workshop. Not the best place to doze off for sure, but he was awake. Looking to the man who had followed the unusually talkative Charles, he made note to handle personal after business."Actually, if ya could, we found this weapon down in the caves, and if ya could melt it down and use it to make some weapons, or even enhance ours, that would be sumthin that would be of great help."
He looks at the adamantine flail dubiously. "Ya want me to take a single adamantine weapon, and turn it into a earth breaker, a dagger, a rapier, and bullets? I am good, but no magician. Tell ya what, I am take and melt it down, rework it into a single weapon that will be certainly smaller than a two-handed hammer. How about a rapier or a dagger?"
"Tell ya, what I think there is enough metal in this morningstar to come up with a adamantine dagger, five adamantine bullets, and five sets of pellets for a shotgun like yours, dwarf."
Wulf steps up to the large blacksmith and offs his hand. "I'm sorry we didn't get him out sooner. But thank you for the offer." He lifts up his hammer. "This is an old family heirloom, I've been meaning to get something new. I've gotten to close to breaking it and I think it's time to retire it. I wanted something that could do some real damage to those androids and robots, a special material maybe. The iron doesn't seem to make much of a dent."
In response to Garfaulk Ton says;
"Nope, not what you and Zeke have been doing - what Sanvil did. I can channel a coupla spells into my bow and you know what, when I can control the overcharge and actually land a shot, well people feel that."
"But a weapon like this nearly blew me in half not so long ago and that was just Sanvil pulling the trigger, not even puttin' any magic into it. Now I seen Zeke do something similar with his gun that I do with my bow, but no offence to the kid, I know I can do it better."
"Once we're done down there you mind letting me squeeze off a few shots? I'm a pretty good aim and I figure it can't be that much different. But if I can channel the power I have into one of these effectively then Sanvil is going to regret ever setting eyes on me, let alone what he did to that boy yesterday."