"So, Blackfeather, has the buzzing stopped?"
"Convenient. Thank you," says T'chazzar. He sheathes his sword again and folds his arms, eyes flickering over the now-released captives.
Leora is surprised but pleased by the effect of the holy energy. "Awesome, let's do this!" She takes another swig from her flask and moves around the room, attempting to heal her friends, the injured teens, and remove the demon bile.
"Freedom!"
"Back to hell with you, demon bile!"
"And finally, a toast! To making it safely out of this mess!"
Leora offers the recovering kids some of the biscuits she got at Kintargo's Best Breads, and some water from her (other) flask to help them recover, if they are up for food and water at this point. "Alright! Glad you guys are awake, are you feeling okay?"
Davina mock toasts Leora with a smile. "Good job. I'm glad they will be ok." she pats one of the teens on the shoulder. At least I hope they will be ok.
After the heavy exertion of fighting, then dragging all those people out of the demon bile, Dom was starting to feel a little down, but Leora's efforts turn that right around, both physically mending injuries and buoying his spirits by seeing the destruction of the bile. "All right, Leora, great going!" He grins. "I will drink to that; with the sail I win when we find the Firefly Man, I'll buy us a bottle of something nice. I, uh, might need your help picking out something worthwhile. Swords, I know. Wine, not so much..."
"Ms Eradon, fantastic job finding Gavin's notes. If we have time, we might want to go to the War Cage, and see what Master Chuko has in the way of cold iron weapons, no?" Toeing Gavin's form with a boot, Dom asks, "Maybe we should tie him up? If he's feeling better he might start getting ideas in his head again, and if I put him down again, I will break him."
To the people that have been rescued, the half-orc smiles and says, "I know you've all been through an awful lot, and we're going to see you safely home. But if you feel up to it, my colleagues and I have a few questions for you."
Leora's first couple of channels rid the main chamber of all demon's bile and rouse three of the kidnapped apprentices (Belana, Naomi, and Morlan) from unconsciousness; her third, centered in the previous room, eliminates the bile there as well, along with awakening the remaining young people, Gavin included.
Blackfeather responds to Domitius's query with an annoyed shake of his head and a steady glare at his mistress. Gavin, hearing Dom's threat to "break him," stays on the warehouse floor.
Initially, Belana Pinch does most of the talking. "Thalia? Do you mean Triella? No--it was Gavin who met me at the cemetery. We snacked on some candy while we waited for her and...oh my! It must have been drugged, because I don't remember anything beyond that!" Naomi, too, remembers Gavin offering her a chocolate and then...nothing. Morlan says that Gavin ambushed him in more traditional style, but when he tried to fight back found that he was unnaturally weak: He concedes that perhaps he was somehow poisoned as well.
When Triella's brought around, she says that Gavin brought her to the warehouse several days ago to examine a smaller sample of the purple goo he'd found there, but when she suggested asking Paqshari or one of the clerics at Songbird Hall to take a look at the stuff, Gavin went crazy, KOing her and imprisoning her. Pavel Kintner angrily claims that Gavin shot him with a crossbow, likely using a poisoned bolt.
Gavin Brassvane sits on the floor, hardly paying attention to the accusations flying around him. When he speaks, he defiantly spits, "And I would've gotten away with it, if it weren't for these meddling adults! Your destiny was to feed the unholy ooze...."
When he notices that all his precious demon's bile is gone, he tries to stand up. "What did you fools do?" he demands. "And how did you destroy all the bile that I'd grown? It's not possible! What will the worms devour when they arrive? Your souls, with any luck!"
"Oh Gavin! What's wrong with you?" Belana Pinch wails, and Triella gives the answer.
"He told me he tasted the purple stuff when he found it--just a smidge on the tip of his tongue--and look what it's done to him!" Her eyes move to her overgrown familiar. "Oh, Blackfeather! Did you ingest some of that stuff, too?"
"Blackfeather ate some purple water bugs," the bird replies angrily, "because you never came back! Left Blackfeather alone!"
The giant raven suddenly takes flight, making a beeline for its mistress.
With all the talk of poisoning, you think you noticed a few jars on the alchemist's lab/desk that might've been vials of poison. Also, I forgot to mention earlier that there was a pile of gear (a few weapons and suits of leather armor) stashed beneath the desk. This is gear taken from the kidnapped teens.
T'chazzar blithely watches the exchange.
His bodygaurd instincts kicking in as Blackfeather takes off, Domitius moves to protect Triella. Without taking his eyes off those two, he calls out behind him, "Brassvane, stay."
"I did see poison on the bench. As well as finding your gear behind it." Davina mentions to the teens as she moves into place between Gavin and the door. "We're still missing our friend Jessibel. Gavin do you know anything about that?"
Dom's swing misses the again-homicidal familiar. Meanwhile, Gavin answers Davina's question with the words: "Why would I care one way or the other about a friend of yours?"
Kiri listened from her perch as the story was told and kept a sharp eye on Blackfeather. Unfortunately Gavin's reaction filled her with rage and she spouted from above, "Because if you don't give us something useful we have no reason to keep you alive." Her words were quiet and deadly and air began to swirl around her in an increasing torrent as she let her emotions begin to control the winds around her.
Leora is thrilled that her energy-channeling clears out the room and heals the kids enough that they are revived. Although Gavin and the others seem to be telling the truth, Leora can hardly believe the crazy stuff they are saying. "How'd you hear about those worms and grow this black gunk, Gavin?" She racks her brain for any memory or story about worms or them eating this weird demon bile stuff...
"Huh. If Blackfeather and Gavin both ate some of the demon bile, maybe they have to eat or drink the stuff Dom asked me if I had earlier. Would the same sort of magic get rid of the demon bile inside of them? Maybe Lydia and her friends have some." Leora wonders aloud, hoping her friends catch her drift and Gavin doesn't.
But is quickly distracted by Blackfeather and Triella arguing. "Hey! Knock it off, all of you! Calm down!" But it seems to be too late for convincing the enraged bird!
"We'd have to go shopping for food and water Leora."
Davina turns to Gavin. Her eyes almost glow with anger. "You will tell us what you know about our friend. If you don't, I'll take you to the temple and soak your head in the Holy Fountain. You saw what the blessing of the gods did to the bile outside of you. What do you think it will do to the inside."
"I could just waterboard him right here. You learn a few things when you grow up in the Darklands like I did," says T'chazzar. "Demons and the like? Hells, my mother bound demons. It's people you need to be afraid of, because they don't have binding contracts and warding spells against them."
Leora's baffled, having no recollection of demon's bile or Gavin's mysterious worms. When the cleric asks how he heard about the worms, Gavin seems genuinely flabbergasted, perhaps not knowing himself exactly what all this weird worm business is about. He also seems to belatedly realize how much trouble he's in and seems likely to fall to the intimidation barrage of Davina, T'chazzar, and Kiri.
Meanwhile, Triella backs away from Blackfeather in horror, finally realizing that more than just size has changed with her familiar. Dom's sap attack misses the fluttering bird, but Morlan quickly steps up into flanking position opposite Dom and snaps a quick but inaccurate jab at Blackfeather.
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Not exactly glancing up from Blackfeather, Domitius still acknowledges Morlan's aid with a slight nod of his head as he takes another swing at Blackfeather.
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Davina stays where she's at. "I'm not moving and giving you a chance to go anywhere or do anything. You are in big trouble mister." she shakes a Mom finger at him. She looks ready to tackle him if he moves.
Domitius's second swat also misses the flapping familiar. Elsewhere, Gavin merely responds to Davina's lecture and 'Mom finger' with a hackneyed rebellious teenager glare.
Seeing that she only has a sword, Leora decides she doesn't really want to beat the deranged bird. So turning to Kiri, she says "C'mon Kiri! I know you can knock that bird out!"
Leora wishes they had a net, or something to catch Blackfeather. But no such luck.
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Domitius exhibits advancing aggravation at his altercation with the anxious avian. This friggin bird, when we're done here I’ve got half a mind to take it over to Mayor Barry and get my copper pinch for it. Okay fine, not really, but this thing is wearing on my nerves.
T'chazzar moves to assist Dom and lashes out to punch Blackfeather.
T'chazzar's punch doesn't quite connect but comes a lot closer than the half-hearted beak nip Blackfeather aims in his direction as the bird's focus returns to the true target of his rage: Triella.
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Kiri sees what the bird is trying to still do and said, "I am sorry Blackfeather, but this can't be." With that she gestured, moving her arms in a gathering gesture as the wind pulled in around her and sent it flying towards Blackfeather.
Blackfeather continues to dodge attack after attack, the latest being Kiri's air blast. He flies after Triella , squawking angrily at the inaccurately-flailing Morlan as he flies. Even though she's unarmored, Triella easily dodges her mad familiar's clumsy peck. Morlan pursues, but his next punch is wild as well.
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"Hey Triella! Run through this doorway here when you can, and I'll shut it right behind you. Then maybe we can catch this stupid bird, or maybe he'll calm down." Leora moves over near the door and gets ready to slam it shut.
With an exasperated grunt, Dom runs after the bird, swatting at it in an attempt to subdue it.
:-)
Davina sighs, and swings with her dagger. She isn't attempting to do non-lethal damage. Leora, I hope you can heal him if he needs it. I'm tired of chasing that bird."
Triella takes Leora's cue and scampers through the open doorway, calling out that she hopes the rescuers won't kill Blackfeather. As Leora closes the door, Davina draws the first trickle of blood by nicking the raven with her silver dagger. The surviving apprentices--other than Morlan--scatter, trying to get clear of the crazed raven.
T'chazzar looks quite annoyed as he chases down Blackfeather and grabs at the bird.
Kiri called out Leora, "Isn't there a way you can remove the blight from the bird? Like what you did to the puddles that were here?" She sent another blast of air out, this time careful to hit the bird with a wider, more blunt, hit that would spread the harm out over a larger area and hopefully make the damage less lethal.
Blackfeather snaps at T'chazzar when the drow tries to grab him, his sharp beak piercing the paladin's forearm . A moment later, Kiri's blast nearly knocks the wind out of him. Seeing that Triella has eluded him again, the peeved bird takes out his frustrations on T'chazzar, but this time Blackfeather's beak snaps on nothing but air.
Morlan takes advantage of the bird's keying on the drow to deliver a glancing blow to Blackfeather's head that is enough to knock the familiar senseless. The Kintner-Pinch siblings point out that such aggressive behavior is unlike Blackfeather. They suggest perhaps heading to Songbird Hall where Zachrin Vhast might be able to heal whatever's gotten into Gavin and Blackfeather.
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Relieved the menace of the feathered fury has fallen, Dom walks over to Gavin. He growls, "Up, boy. We go to temple. You can confess; it's good for soul. Care to start now...?"
Gavin merely glares at Dom in reply. Then he winces, as though feeling pain in his head.
"The buzzing hasn't stopped," he announces gravely. "I can only guess that your actions here did little or nothing to stop the invasion of worms! Resistance is fuh...fuh...fuh...CHOO!" Gavin sneezes and a bubble of demon's bile comes out one nostril.
"...futile," he finishes with as much dignity and gravitas as he can muster.
T'chazzar quickly binds his pecked arm, shoves Blackfeather in a bag, and then says, "Let's not stay here. Was there anything else anyone was looking for?"
Dom wasn't ready to be scared or otherwise impressed by Gavin even before he snotted himself up with demon bile. He roughly shoves him toward the door.
"Sure thing, Worm Boy. Any funny business between here and the temple, I put you on a hook."
"Hey, did everybody get all their stuff? How about everybody come with us to Songbird Hall. Let's make sure Gavin or those cocoons didn't do anything nasty to you. I'd hate for the rest of you to come down with a case of demon bile after you go home," Leora attempts to convince the teens to come along with the party, Gavin, and Blackfeather.
"Everyone grab your stuff and let's go to Songbird Hall. We want the cleric's to check you out. Then we'll deliver you home." Davina moves around the teens like a mother hen. Making sure they have their gear and are ready to head out the door.
Other than a few weird looks from passing citizens, the return trip to Songbird Hall is uneventful. There, Lydia greets your group, getting the basics of your tale before rushing into a back room to seek the high priest, Zachrin Vhast. He gives the apprentices permission to use the temple baths to clean up after their ordeal; he invites the rest of you to join him in a small conference room to relate your tale.
After listening closely to all you say, Vhast adds a bit to your understanding of demon's bile...especially in regard to those creatures foolish enough to actually ingest some of the stuff.
"It acts as a powerful disease, causing madness and evil in the victim," the priest says. "The infected person gets stronger but decidedly less wise...and almost always succumbs to the Abyssal taint of the bile, becoming chaotic in action and evil in nature. Victims experience a nonstop buzzing in their heads and hallucinations or insane urges. It's unlikely that, untreated, an infected being would throw off the disease before causing all manner of mayhem and perhaps even murder. Thanks you for finding these young men and women, rescuing them, and bringing them back here. I shall treat young Gavin and the giant raven over the course of the next two days. Gavin will eventually be back to his old self. Blackfeather...well, the bile forced a growth spurt in him. Perhaps he'll just revert to a larger version of his old self once I've cast the spell on him. That's all we can hope for."
As a reward for your effots, Zachrin gifts your group with a wand of cure serious wounds with 25 charges remaining. He excuses himself, but Lydia quickly asks about Jessibel.
"No one had seen her when we asked, and our hope she was with the other young people. It appears she didn't get caught up in this adventure. I really don't know where to start looking. We could start back at the beginning, but I don't know what purpose that would serve."
With Davina having said everything that was on his own mind, Dom stands there, saying nothing more to Lydia, and shifting his weight from one foot to the other in what is, for him, a rare display of agitation.
Dammit, I was sure that 'Firefly Man' was going to be involved somehow. In cahoots with Gavin. I still wouldn't mind tuning that kid up a bit, make sure he's not holding out on us. Domitius' hands ball into fists, wishing for a problem for which they could be the answer.
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"Alright! Thanks Zachrin!" Leora is thrilled that the priest can remove the demon bile from Gavin and Blackfeather. "We'll put this wand to good use!"
"We didn't see see any sign of Jessibel. Hey, wait- Leora asks any of the teens who are done with their baths- "Do any of you know our friend Jessi? She went missing a few days after you guys did and we haven't seen any sign of her. We think she might have gone to look for you but the only clue we have is that she went missing between Songbird Hall and the Opera House."
None of the rescued apprentices knows Jessibel, and, since they were all abducted before Jessibel went missing, none has seen her. Dannin, the lesser priest who admitted to being infatuated with Jessi, was apparently the last person to see the missing bard. According to Dannin, Jessi (in her 'basic brown' prestidigitation-aided disguise) walked south after leaving Songbird Hall and then turned east, heading for Redroof.
"Maybe I can have Turl and his performers search for Jessibel," Lydia says. "Are you still in touch with the Fushi sisters? Perhaps they can help out as well."
After a pause, Lydia asks, "Would it be too much to ask you folks to escort Belana, Naomi, Morlan, and Pavel home before nightfall? The priesthood can take Gavin home once he's been healed."