Teldon watches on silently as Briana rushes to the side of his nearly lifeless body. Part of him wishes he could yell out to stay back, to stay safe. The rest of him is overwhelmed by emotion at her willingness to risk her own life for his. A blinding nimbus of warm white light rolls over him as she channels healing power into his flesh.
A second later he blinks open the eyes of the body to which he had grown so attached. A single tear rolls down his right cheek as he looks up at Briana.
As her limbs turn to lead and her will ebbs away, Ziomarra tries - one final time - to send the abomination back to whichever pit it had crawled out of... But, even though the creature is reeling from the ferocity of Joanna's attack, her lethargy defeats her.
Seeing Teldon fall, Briana does the only thing she can do... She rushes forwards - the proboscis that felled Arsith and then Teldon after her, stabs angrily at Briana... the jagged, blood-soaked spear slams into the ground. Ignoring it, not even seeing it, Briana pulls her love back from the brink...
...and it is only when Teldon's eyes flicker open that she feels the wetness around her ribs - her hand comes back crimson where she feels the ragged tear in her clothing...
...and, as Kriegler's begotten stabs at her, Briana's spiritual weapon - still somehow knowing her will - slams down upon the insect. The creature, its wings unfurling to their full glory as it prepares to take to the night sky, spasms once beneath the force of the blow and then collapses. The very ground beneath the fallen creature blackens and cracks as it bleeds its pestilence into the soil...
Joanna looks on horrified as she's unable to stop another of her friends from being badly hurt. As Briana's hammer fades, Joanna turns and raises her sword up and goes to deliver the killing blow.
She raises her sword again and again, silently hacking into the body of the monster. Soon though, she screams in fury and fear as she keeps cutting into the body of the monster that had spawned from Mayor Kriegler's corpse.
"Keep stabbing it! Take no chances!" Teldon calls out to Joanna. Poison still coursing through his veins, he forces himself up to a seated position and pulls out the curative potion they recovered. Popping out the cork he drains the contents down Briana's throat.
"Keep stabbing it! Take no chances!"
Looking around at his companions' faces Teldon can see how close to falling apart most of them are...
trying to shield them from tragedy didn't work earlier, but someone needs to do something... Perhaps if I can keep them focused on tasks we can keep it together a little longer...
Forcing himself to his feet, the awkward young man begins to speak with a calm, reasoned, confidence that has traditionally been reserved for his knowledge and other skills, "Joanna, everyone here is guilty of at least conspiracy to commit murder and devil worship. We trust your judgment in determining their fate. Bind them if you wish and we'll bring all of them back to Magnimar, or you can execute them here."
"Zee, Arsith still needs healing. Please put that wand to use and get her up and moving."
"Briana, someone needs to check on Shel if you could please." Despite his new commanding tone this last statement is clearly full of affection.
As the beast finally falls, Zee breaks from her lethargy and smacks it with the charged Harrow card. Black motes of energy course into the dying spawn of Ghlaunder, as Joanna continues to stab at the thing.
Staggering to her feet, she moves to Arsith's side and kneels beside her. Placing one hand on her holy symbol and the other on her friend, she cries out, "Poate nu am fost vrednic de seara asta de alimentare, dar nu mă părăsi acum ! Vă rugăm, Cântec de Stele, vindeca prietenul meu căzut!"
From the blackness of the sky flitter a cloud of ethereal blue-and-silver butterflies. They swarm around Arsith briefly before landing on her, and seem to pass into her body.
Arsith breathes in deeply as the color returns to her face and her breathing then becomes strong and regular.
At the sign of divine favor and that she has not lost another friend tonight, tears stream down her face. "Multumesc... multumesc..."
Zee casts another spell, and more ethereal butterflies surround Arsith.
"Zee," Teldon says reaching out a hand to help her up, "Nu cred zeita vă părăsit . Ea ne-a dat biruința asupra inamicului ei . Nu poate fi răspuns strigătele tale modul în care de așteptat, dar , probabil, ea a fost încercarea de a te învețe că prietenii pe care aduna pe drum nu sunt numai o binecuvântare pentru compania lor , ci pentru că ele pot fi folosite de către ei pentru eliberarea ta ."
"The mayor was calling for his brother, so we should remain on our guard, but perhaps you and Arsith could start making plans to honor Nalathi with some kind of funeral while Jo takes care of this lot?"
Arsith slowly rises to her feet, still uneasy
What a fighter I am... One blow from our foe and I'm down. I nearly joined my beloved in the Eternal Gardens.
Then she realises her friends are hurt, some badly, and blushes with shame
I'm sorry... I failed you all, and you saved me.
She calls on the good will of Pharasma to heal some of her friends wounds, saving her more potent healing for Joanna
As Joanna stands above it, sword poised to end the corruption, the creature rasps a strained noise at her... It may have been a 'No' or a 'Jo...' but whatever it was is destined to remain a mystery as the blade comes down... again... and again. The first blow ends the beast yet many more rain down upon it.
...and, as a viscuous black blood drains into the ground, the bonfires sputter and fail... and the maze, the labyrinth of corn that hid this place of ceremony from view, collapses to dust. And, for all of Kriegler's pleas, there is no sign of his brother...
High above the friends, the moon shines brightly upon the land - the red tinge that was upon it seemingly washed away to be replaced with a brilliant white... and, in that pure moonlight, the friends finally have time to take stock - of the twenty cultists that had been within the glade, only eight remain alive. Naked and shivering, each and everyone of them is kneeling in the dirt and, with eyes fixed on the remains of Kriegler's offspring, utterly catatonic.
...and Shel, the festival crown that was upon her crumbling to dust, is finally breathing normally - given time, she will regain consciousness...
A metallic pop rings out in the night air, finally snapping Joanna from her frenzied, single-minded task. Her sword is broken, the blade having snapped a few inches from the crossguard. How many blows had she rained down on it? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? What would she do now?
She turns and sees that Shel is still alive and slowly the paladin's mind begins to work again.
Shel... Shel will be alright, but we left... her...
Panic and horror well up in her throat once more and threaten to choke her as she comes to an awful realization. Something must have happened at Viorec Korzha's house.
Joanna drops the useless hilt of her broken sword and races to Viorec's home praying, no, begging that nothing bad had happened.
No. No. No! Please! Please let them be okay!
She slips rounding a corner, falling to the ground, but scrambling back to her feet. How? How had it happened? How had they gotten to Nalathi? They didn't have time to grab Nalathi, kill her, and put her in the basement in the time it took them to defeat Alizna, did they? Then when?
The festival.
When Nalathi disappeared for a short while, heading back to the manor, or something. They must have killed her then. If that was true, then who did they leave with the Korzhas and the Lupescus? What became of them? What happened?!
Teldon examines the living cultists while Jo continues hacking away. Before she runs off he announces, "It appears they have already received judgment... their minds are already dead, their bodies just haven't caught up yet."
When Jo begins to run he shouts after her, ""
I'll try to catch up with her. Stay there if needed, or come along. Joanna won't stay alone.
Arsith runs to the pursuit of her friend
""
"Arsith, make her come back quickly. It's still not a good idea for us to split up. But we still need to search the mayor's remains and tend to Shel."
Teldon watches as Briana works so hard on the people who are both guilty and almost certainly a lost cause...
it would be more efficient, and likely a fair bit more merciful, to end their lives. I suppose this is the cost of her kindness... I wonder at what point 'goodness' demands that kind of mercy over leaving souls imprisoned in shattered bodies?
Not wanting Briana to feel alone, he bends down and works to try to assist her with her efforts to heal...
Briana's healing touch brings the cultists who were in the most parlous state farther away from peril but she receives no thanks, no gratitude, no words... Teldon, it seems, was right - cold and shivering, the worshippers of Ghlaunder have had their minds ravaged by the birth - and violent death of Kriegler's progeny. Kneeling around the blighted glade, their eyes are focussed towards the middle distance and no emotion from their faces. It is too early to tell with any confidence but it seems unlikely that they will recover from this catatonia.
Turning to Shel, Briana touches the girl's brow - as the healing warmth passes over the young Lupescu, her eyes flicker open. Almost like waking from a dream, it takes a few moments for her to gather her focus... for her to realise where she is... and then, seeing Briana and Teldon, she screams, "GET AWAY FROM ME!!! GET AWAY GET AWAY!!!"
In truth it takes only a few minutes to run across the village to the Korzha's household... yet it seems to take a lifetime. The soft glow of various effigies still burning within the houses that the friends sprint past tell of the deep sleep that the villagers enjoy - blissfully oblivious to the horrors of the Chenowitz place...
...and then the friends are at the Korzha's home, the front door standing wide open... and only an ominous darkness within...
"No," Joanna says quietly, "No. No. No."
She rushes inside, quietly repeating her denial.
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Teldon examines the faces of the cultists as he assists Briana, trusting his extraordinary memory to identify at least some of them.
Taking advantage of the moment alone he brings up a sensitive topic which has plagued the back of his mind since the basement discovery... "You know... Nalathi's people have their own custom regarding death... You've all shown a great willingness to be respectful about others' deaths, but I suspect her ways will be... hard to swallow..."
The softly glowing embers of the fire within the hearth are enough to see by... to see Saul Lupescu... to see his wife... Both bound and tied to the chairs as they were when they were left with Viorec and Nalathi... Unmoving and their heads bowed, dark stains across their chests and glistening puddles of blood on the floor beneath them tell all that there is to be told...
...a smashed mug on the floor and a halo of dark liquid around it... coffee!!! shows the beginnings of another struggle... a struggle that resulted in the spilling of more blood... a trail leading up the stairs...
"YOU LEFT ME WITH THAT THING!!! YOU WERE IN LEAGUE WITH THEM ALL ALONG!!! IT KILLED... oh?!? It killed... SHE killed my Mum and my Dad like it was nothing... Like it didn't matter... Like they were just animals... WHY DID YOU PRETEND??? I don't understand....", Shel breaks down in floods of tears, "I don't understand any of this..."
Joanna stops cold, her face a mask of shock. They were dead. They were dead because of her. The scene sinks in and burns into her mind. She'd failed them. She'd failed to protect them.
A soft whimper brings her, however briefly, back from the brink of despair. The young woman rushes up the stairs, praying that if nothing else, the children were alright. She opens the doors, looking for whoever was still alive.
"Alizna..." Teldon says softly to Briana. "When we ran up to the manor to get our weapons and armor she murdered Nalathi and kidnapped Shel. Her magic would have made it easy to slip past Jo. I didn't know if she had killed the family, but I knew it was a possibility. Now that we do know, there will be sad news about Viorec and his family as well... either that Jo was right to trust him and he's dead, or she was foolish and he played a part in this" Teldon frowns and tries to comfort the girls even as he speaks.
"Shel, we had nothing to do with that thing. She was the mayor's pet. This is what they have been doing to your village in secret for many years. We are sorry for your loss and will escort you to Sandpoint or Magnimar if you'd like to start a new life."
Arsith is so surprised, that she doesn't hear the whimpering sounds.
She was already giving the last rites to the dead Lupescu when Jo vanished upstairs in a storm
Choking back tears, Shel cuts Teldon off, ”It wasn’t… it wasn’t Alizna!!! It was your friend… IT WAS NALATHI!!! She waited until Viorec wasn’t looking… and she killed them in cold blood – THEY NEVER STOOD A CHANCE!!! She attacked Mr Korzha as well – I don’t know if he survived… I don’t think so from the way he was bleeding when she dragged me here. WHY DID YOU LEAVE US WITH HER?!?!? WHAT WERE YOU PLANNING????”
When Joanna pushes against the second of the doors, it smashes against something heavy… putting her weight behind it, she slowly shoves the cupboard that has been pushed against it out of the way. A weak voice calls out as the door opens, ”Who… who is it?” and, when Joanna has opened the door enough, the Iomedean can see Viorec Korzha, kitchen knife in a wavering hand, standing between herself and the Korzha children…
”Stay back… Stay back you monster… If you try to hurt my children, I’ll gut you”
…pallid and barely able to stand, Viorec Korzha’s other hand is clasped over his stomach… and is crimson red with fresh blood...
"I missed it..." Teldon says with a sense of shock. Slack jawed and staring off at nothing he continues, "It was all there... I failed to make the connection... Nalathi has been dead since she first went missing... the illusion we saw in the corn maze was what we left with the Viorecs..."
"Shel... I... I'm sorry... I made a mistake..."
"But if it killed people and brought Shel here it must be more than merely an illusion. It could be shadow magic, or someone disguised by illusion... Leonard never came when his brother called... It could be him, or it might have killed him... We need to reunite with the others, quickly. And then figure out this new mystery, together. Shel, we won't force you to come with us, but we will do our best to protect you if you come."
As soon as Briana is ready, and Shel decides, he leads them back to Viorec's as quickly as possible.
Joanna stands there, tears welling up in her eyes.
Monster, she was a monster to them.
Slowly she takes off her sword belt and her shield, tossing them away from herself.
"You have every right to be angry," she says, trying hard to avoid breaking down, "I... I failed you. I put your family in danger an-and for that, I am truly and deeply sorry. P-please, we mean you no harm. M-my friends down stairs c-c-can h-help you."
She stands there, trying to meet Viorec's eyes, but she can't, she just can't.
"P-please, b-b-believe me," she begs him before falling to her knees, "p-please," she begs him in a small, desperate voice before burying her head in her hands.
"p-p-ple-e-e-ease," she begs as she sits on the floor, softly crying as her spirit shatters.
Taking Briana's hand in his and squeezing it softly he reassures her, "I know it's hard to see now, but yes. They've been sacrificing one person every month. All those travelers, all those young women of their own community... It's terrible how many people died tonight, but we saved a dozen people a year for the gods only know how many years to come. And, it may not seem like much to her right now but we saved Shel..."
Most of this he says while they're moving hand in hand toward the Korzha place.
Zee's eyes widen in horror at the carnage in the Korzha household.
Following her friends up the blood-stained stairs, she seems on the verge of tears at the accusation of leaving their only friends in the village with a monster.
After Joanna slumps to the floor, Zee puts a hand on her friend's shoulder. She manages to meet Viorec's gaze. "Nalathi is dead. She's been dead since this morning: gutted and killed in a sacrifice to the parasite-god Ghlaunder. Her body is at the old Chenowitz place. Nalathi had a magic item that she could use to make herself look like someone else: whoever or whatever killed your family has that item, and could be anywhere...or anyone. She... it... fooled us, too."
Zee takes out her wand. "I know you have no reason to trust us, but please let us help. I can try to heal those wounds."
As Joanna sobs into her hands, she feels a small pair of arms lightly move around her... Viorec's youngest son, no more than four years old and uncomprehending of the night's events, trying to comfort the distraught woman...
Ziomarra tries desparately to explain what has happened and begs Viorec to allow her to help him - but the heavy blood loss overtakes him and, preceded by the clatter of the knife falling to the floor, his eyes roll backwards and he collapses....
"Help him!!! Please... Help Him!!!, the Korzha children cry to Ziomarra for her help...
...as downstairs, Briana and Teldon... with Shel tentatively following behind... discover Arsith adminstering the Pharasmin rites to Saul Lupescu and his wife...
Joanna looks up to see the youngest of the boys hug her, and a scant moment later, she sees Viorec fall.
"No. No, please don't die, please," she pleads before scrambling as best she's able with a four-year old clinging to her to the man's side. She begins to frantically tear the clothing around his wound wider so she could get to it. Her hands tremor as she desperately works to staunch the bleeding and save Viorec's life.
"I-Iomedae, p-please grant y-y-your foolish servant this, please spare V-v-viorec's life," she prays as she feels the blood wash over her hands.
Yes, she is upstairs. Go, I'll try to confort Shel
Arsith takes Shel in her arms, with more compassion than your usual Pharasmin
With Viorec unable to object, Zee uses her wand of cure light wounds on him.
"Please, mo more death. Not tonight."
"Thank you, Arsith." Teldon says and the priestess moves to console Shel.
He walks calmly up the stairs with Briana, cautious not to aggravate any situation that might be unfolding. He frowns at Zee's words...
"Mă tem noaptea nu sa terminat încă ... fratele primarului este încă inventar , ciobul mândria este probabil cu cineva ei răsucire pentru că este voința , și prietenul am văzut în lanul de porumb a ucis oameni , ceea ce înseamnă că este mai mult decât un iluzie . În această noapte a fost greu pentru noi toți , dar avem nevoie pentru a menține în mișcare , și trebuie să rămână împreună ."
He stands silent for a moment watching Joanna cry...
I wonder if she weeps for those who tried to kill us or because she has realized that her actions very nearly cost Arsith, Briana, and I our lives as well... given her reaction after the tower, I suspect the former...
"Jo... there may still be other lives to be saved... We need to go, together, to do what we can. We could really use your help but if it's too much you can barricade yourself in with Viorec. You have to decide quickly though, because waiting only endangers more people."
Viorec’s eyes flicker open and instantly he clutches his hands over the wound in his stomach… groaning in pain, he wordlessly acknowledges Ziomarra’s healing…
Whilst just outside the house, Arsith does her best to comfort Shel… and, for now at least, it seems to be enough.
Joanna looks as if she is about to say something, but she just stands and gathers her shield and sword belt. Silently, she follows Teldon.
Breathing a deep sigh of releif at Viorec's recovery, she uses another charge to heal him further.
"Viorec, I am so, so sorry we let this happen to you."
She looks at the children to make sure they're OK and that their father is able to take care of them and himself.
To Viorec and the childred, she says, "My grandmother always told me, 'Este întotdeauna cele mai întunecate înainte lumina.' It is always darkest before the light."
Just now noticing Teldon's presence, she nods at his words. Standing, she says to him in a small voice,
"Am înțeles. Am vrut să spun că nu mai săteni vor muri . Fratele Kriegler și tot ceea ce este pretinde a fi Nalathi ... nu atât de mult."
Turning back to Viorec and his children, "After we leave, lock the doors."
Heading back down the stairs, she regards the two corpses still tied to chairs in the kitchen. "We should take these bodies out of here. The children don't need to see any more death tonight. But we should get Shel away from here first-- she doesn't need to see that, either."
"I can move them, Zee, if you can make sure Shel doesn't see? This is the one place in town that we really have good reason to think she won't be betrayed... I'm not sure how willing to stay here she'll be though..."
I'll take care of Shel and the children, if you want. But if you need me to come with you, I'll be there.