Distraught to see his brother fall, Cator screams "KROVEK and strikes at the creature
With an elegant slice, Cator beheads the strange creature, which also disappates into putrid orange goo. The bubbling liquid in the runewell has also disappeared, leaving the light of the central pool the only thing illuminating the room.
Although it's far from her specialty, Shae tries her best to staunch Krovek's bleeding. She only succeeds in getting his blood all over her hands.
Jessalissa heads over to Krovek's prone form and pours a healing infusion down his throat after a few moments.
Hollie had also darted to his side, kneeling down beside his face. She reaches her silver glowing hand down and rests it in his cheek as the healing energy flows into him. She watches with concern evident on her face...
Krovek stabilizes immediately after going down, and is revived once more upon the assistance of much of the party.
Krovek blinks as he comes to consciousness again, seeing himself surrounded by caring allies. "Hah! You all killed it, then? I thought I had its head, but instead it gutted me." He feels well enough to sit. "Gimme a minute and I'll be ready for the next one!" he says, not realizing that the runewell may be done.
"Thought you were a goner," Shaedeen admits to Krovek. "But apparently you're tough to kill. That's a good thing!"
The rogue then looks at the pile of goo that was once the latest (and toughest) sinspawn. "Hey! This one didn't have a prize inside!"
"Oh wait, you mean this thing?" Krovek moves his large body out of the way, revealing the creature's breastplate that he'd rolled on top of. When he realizes what he's been lying on, he quickly kicks it aside. "Metal armor crap. Worst thing ya could wear if ya wanna connect with nature."
As it seems like the magics powering the runewell have been dealt with, Krovek chooses to save his healing wand magic for the future. He pulls out some surprisingly pleasant herbs on his wounds before binding them. He soon returns to a normal size.
"Well, glad ya all put up a good fight. Let's finish up here and then celebrate our first victory!"
”I can try and look after your injuries when we get topside. If you want, that is,” Hollie says as she leans on Draxtherian, her own reduced strength making her tired.
Once topside she reports off to the Sheriff that the runewell has been deactivated. She then asks ”I have some new friends that are experts in dealing with oddities in ancient ruins. I’d like to let them meet and speak with my sister, if you’d allow it.”
[/b]Krovek, be more careful next time![/b] Cator exclaims, visibly relieved.
"I wouldn't mind if you wanna take a look, Hollie," he says with a stupid-looking grin as the champion offers to look after him. He then turns to his brother, responding to his concern. "But this way I get to be the hero, right?" says Krovek.
Hemlock greets Hollie kindly, and says "sure, Hollie, don't see how that'd hurt. Not sure if it would do much good - never seen someone so angry." He shakes his head sadly.
He leads the party to the cell where Nualia is being held. Hollie's sister is sitting on the floor, the comforts and furniture having been removed from the room. A ruined mattress sits forlornly in a pile, covered in slashes and barely intact. A chair is broken into pieces, and a water bucket is dented with a number of holes in it. Nualia smiles wickedly at the party as she leans against the far wall, her shapely legs extending onto the floor. She stretches suggestively, then in a sultry voice asks, "what did you dreg up from the bottom of the tavern floor, Hollie?" She smiles at Krovek and Cator, licking her lips, "or do you have more sense and courage than dear sister? Come closer to the cell; I don't bite."
This is a lie. Anyone within arm's reach of the cell will likely be attacked. She is still armed with a viciously-clawed hand.
Shaedeen avoids even making eye contact with Nualia. That this creep is Hollie's twin thoroughly revolts her.
Hollie sighs. At least they finally removed her gag.
”Sis, this is Krovek, Cator, and Lunal. They have experience in dealing with ruins like the ones you’ve been around. They can help,” she says as she steps closer, but not quite all the way, towards the cell.
"Hmm, so I'm guessing she isn't usually like this? Interesting, what exactly happened?" Lunal scans the whole area, including the woman, for magic.
.
"Crazy, definitely crazy," says Krovek quietly--but not that quietly--on seeing Nualia. "Like a wild animal that can't be tamed."
He looks up and speaks more loudly toward the caged woman. "I don't know what you did, lady, but it doesn't seem like you're sorry about it."
Nualia yawns, and replies to Krovek, smirking "why would I be sorry? Everyone got what they deserved." She shows off her shining, brilliant teeth. Without taking her eyes off of the newcomers, and licking her lips, she addresses, Lunal and Hollie, "nothing happened except that I got justice. Everyone, everyone who wronged me, except Hollie over there, is dead. And I will be soon too - into the embrace of my mistress. A just reward, I think, for my service." She leans forward slightly, "these experts can do nothing for me."
"Ooookayyyy . . . " says Krovek, quite sure the sister was indeed crazy. "So ya killed everyone that ya got a grudge on, 'xcept Hollie. What'd she do that's so bad besides trying to save your bacon from gettin' cooked in the next few days?"
Nualia doesn't bother answering for a moment, and instead cleans out her nails. Then she looks up, "oh, you're still here?" She rolls her eyes, "that's between her and me, big guy. She knows what she did."
”I didn’t do anything to you but go and try to live my life! And you held that against me like I abused you!” Hollie fumes back, now stepping up to the bars. Draxtherian steps up as well, baring his teeth in warning should Nualia dare try anything.
She sighed and added ”We...we found your journals. I...I still can’t believe you would do all the things you wrote in them without being coerced in secret. Which is why I’ve asked these men to help me look into things.”
Nualia sneers contemptuously, ”I could rip your throat out now, but don’t worry, you’ll get your reward eventually, sister, and that stupid, fake ‘dragon’ of yours won’t be able to stop it.” She laughs, ”and you’re even stupider that the scumbag you called ‘father’ if you think I needed anyone to control me. It doesn’t matter what you think I did, or why, I did everything, I meant to do everything, and I liked it. I’ll be dead soon, too, and as I die, I will relish your pain you’ll feel as you forever wonder if you could have done more.”
Lunal twists to look at Drax. "A unique specimen, to be sure, but it does seem to be of pure dragon's blood rather than a distant cousin such as a wyvern." They didn't realize they were focusing on entirely the wrong thing.
"Hmm, I detect no magical coercion." Lunal mumbles.
Finally speaking, Cator asks "Nualla, could you tell me more about your mistress, who is she, how did you find her?"
Krovek had enough of Nualia, and felt bad only for Hollie about the execution to come. She joins Shaedeen and has a quiet chat with her. "So, what's in it for you? Don't seem like ya care much about wacko girl there, so why stick yer neck out?"
Shaedeen fidgets at Krovek's question; it's painfully obvious that Nualia is not a subject the teen likes to address. Nevertheless, she whispers a response.
"I'm pretty new to Sandpoint, and me and Hollie hit it off immediately. I don't make friends easily, so I'm protective of her. And I hate to see that irredeemable b!tch torture Hollie so. I mean, Nualia's inner ugliness now shows on the surface...yet somehow Hollie still can't see it."
She doesn’t respond to Cator, but stays on the ground, leering at everyone.
She’s full of barely contained anger, though.
Taking a different approach Cator whispers to Nualia "the mother of monsters has servants in unexpected places"
Seeing Shae not wanting to talk about it, Krovek wraps up and changes the subject.
"Yeah, Nualia's a fun one, isn't she? Good thing you're lookin' out for Hollie. You girls fight the same too--sticking your pointy swords where it hurts. Guess you didn't learn that from Hollie, though?"
Nualia perks up when Cator speaks. She stands up, quickly, and approaches the bars, but not aggressively it seems. She glances at the rest of those assembled and says, ”you all can leave - I would speak with this one.” Her clawed, demonic hand scratches the metal on the bars with a screech and she settles on one, gripping it tightly. ”Alone.”
This time, Shae doesn't fidget at Krovek's question: She freezes as the breath catches in her throat.
"Nope," she answers a bit tersely. "So...where were you folks before coming to Sandpoint?"
The young rogue continues to pointedly ignore Nualia...meaning she stays right where she's at.
When Shaedeen ignores her, she tenses up and grips the bar harder, gritting her teeth angrily, and then relaxes, trying to push away.
Hollie is trembling with emotion as Nualia approaches, demanding they leave. When Nualia grips the bar with her clawed hand, Hollie resists recoiling. Instead, she braves an attempt to connect with her and tries to gently place her hand on it before she turns away.
She glares at Hollie, "I wish to speak to this man, alone. If you wish to keep your hand intact, remove it from mine and instruct your girlfriend and everyone else to leave." Her voice, so much like Hollie's that it is uncanny, "that includes you, dear sister. Unless you all have given yourself over to my mistress as well, I have nothing to say to you." She looks everyone up and down, "doesn't seem likely..."
Hollie steps back, her eyes narrowing at Cator when Nualia says that and she puts it together with Cators words. She turns and walks out.
Once outside, she asks Krovek ”So, you failed to mention you two apparently worship Lamashtu too!?!?” in a fuming tone, poking the big man in his chest with her finger!
Krovek replies to Shae. "Where I'm from is still called Varisia by humans, but really we're on our own. A tribe of mostly half-orcs who made a life for themselves. Cator's from a magic academy and all that, but he's got a place in the tribe now."
As Nualia orders the others to leave, Krovek shrugs and complies. He didn't really have any reason to stay. Outside, he's rather startled by Hollie's reaction, but "Wait, whatcha talkin' 'bout? You better watch youself, ain't no crazy god worshipper here, so cool it, girl!"
Krovek tries to be intimidating, but given that he's in pretty bad shape, it's hard to take him seriously.
continuing to face Nualia, Cator flatly asks "Shae, would you please give us the room?
Shaedeen glares at Nualia but follows Hollie and the others out of the cellblock. She gets angry when she sees Hollie poking Krovek. Leaning against a wall a fair distance from the temperamental and loyal-to-a-fault Draxtherian, Shae turns her invective upon the Priestess of Sandpoint.
"How can you be so dense?" she hisses at her friend. "I'm pretty sure Cator's trying to trick some information out of your sister, not offering to join with her! But I'm more worried about you! Open your eyes, Hollie! We warned the sheriff to always keep Nualia bound and gagged so she couldn't use magic to escape, yet here we find her loose and prowling her cage at will. And she tells you to leave her alone with Cator, and you obey her without a care--unbelievable! Since when do the prisoners run the jail? I hope she can't cast some sort of charm magic or she's as good as free. She's nuttier than an almond tree and more evil than a devil, and yet she had no problem getting Tsuto, Orik, and Lyrie to do her will. I'm sure Cator will be fiiiiiine!"
Hollie, tears now forming in her eyes, shoved the big man in the chest. The attempt, her demure body still weak from the fight with the shadows, results in nothing more than a glorified bump against his chest that doesn’t even flinch his position. ”He basically outright confessed it to her!” she snarled through clenched teeth so her sister couldn’t hear. ”What game are you all playing? Trying to break her out? I trusted you!?!?”
When Shae makes her claim, Hollie’s head snaps around at her. ”What? What are you talking about!?!?”
after Shae leaves Cator says to Nualia
Shae doesn't respond to Hollie, instead merely crossing her arms. Her eyes waver between anger and disappointment.
She smiles, "When Dalek and I made our beautiful baby together, it was down in a smuggler's tunnel. My bastard of a 'father' wanted to keep me 'pure' but Lamashtu knew the value of children. I was to be a mother, too. My baby was destroyed by the midwives for being different." She frowns angrily, remembering what happened. "I expect that's when I first heard her call, when she gave me my baby... but the dreams she granted me afterwards - they told me how to get revenge. What I would have to do to get justice for my baby, and for all of those who were oppressed by the self-righteous priests who stole everything from me. Surely being in the vicinity of the ancient magics that were down below uncovered my eyes, and allowed me to see the truth." She licks her lips suggestively, "Erylium eventually taught me of the beauty and power of the demon mother. And that I should relieve myself of this taint. I finally had a name to go with the visions. Lamashtu."
She loosens her grip on the bars and relaxes, languidly leaning forward on them. "How did you come to follow her? Not that it matters... mmm, you're a handsome one..." She licks her lips, "if you break me out, we can make wonderful children - glories to our demon mother." She cocks her head, "think about it - maybe come back tonight?" She looks at his form, "you're strong enough - maybe you can get that big one to come along too? You seem to know him?"
"I have nothing else left to do here - I would kill Hollie if I could, but that stupid drake is always around, and Shae wraps her legs around my sister every night." She shakes her head, "you speak the right words, but I can't say what other allies I have, nor what else lies in store without you freeing me." She seems firm on that point. "Either way - I continue my work or go to my reward. Think it over." She winks at Cator and returns to the back wall, swaying her hips and walking suggestively, and then moving to rest in the previous position.
She shrugs, "I can't do much for anyone while imprisoned in the dump. But I am glad you can read. Lamashtu doesn't need more stupid minions." She leers at him from across the room.
She scowls a little, "I wasn't interrupted while freeing him - what's your name, anyway? If I knew where Malfeshnekor was, don't you think I would've already freed him? We were trying to find him when my idiot sister interrupted me. If you can free him, bring him here - my best lead is that he was below Thistletop somewhere. He can break me out alone, I expect."
Krovek switches from being angry to laughing when he puts two and two together. "Oh, Cator's a smooth one. He's no Lamashtan. Worships Desna, really. Not a bad choice with how much he hits the road. And me, thought you'd have figured it out when I turned my skin into tree bark." He grins.
"Listen ta Shae, she's tryin' ta help ya. Don't trust your sis. She's real messed up, and doesn't matter if it's the real her or some weird magic stuff or a little of both--she's trouble. If drainin' the runewell and killin' the Barghest won't save her, nothin' will."