You safely arrive at the monastery suggested by Nyxalia. The brothers take you in. Cerpera is placed in a private room and put straight to bed, to aid in her recovery from her recent ordeal.
The still unconscious Dreth and Lady Zinnastina are taken into the basement of the monastery and bound to two chairs with the aid of two brothers.
The brothers leave you with the two prisoners.
Savendir gently wakes the oracle. "Cerpera?" he whispers. He keeps his demeaner soft and non-threatening.
Cerpera's eyes flutter open and her gaze still seems muddled by effects of the past few days. After a moment, her eyes become focused and she looks up at Savendir. In a whisper, she says to Savendir, "You must be one of the people who saved me. One of the monks told me that a group of you defeated Lady Zinnastina and brought me here to recover. Praise Pharasma for your kindness and bravery."
Savendir smiles. "Do you know Lady Zinnastina? Why did she take you?"
Nyxalia is standing against the wall in the room with Savendir, a soft look on her face (well as soft as someone made of polished black gemstone can look anyway). If Cerpera look in her direction,she will smile, but otherwise will let Savendir take the lead.
Zarine rummages through her pack, examining little vials and flasks and setting them in two groups. "If Cerpera does not know what is happening, I might be able to help loosen the tongues of the guards we took - once they're awakened, that is." She smiles, pleased, and replaces most of the vials in her pack, leaving out a couple which might prove useful on the reluctant ones.
Zarine rummages through her pack, examining little vials and flasks and setting them in two groups. "If Cerpera does not know what is happening, I might be able to help loosen the tongues of the guards we took - once they're awakened, that is." She smiles, pleased, and replaces most of the vials in her pack, leaving out a couple which might prove useful on the reluctant ones.
Owen removes a small stone vial, a slightly larger porcelain flask, and a small paper sack from his belt pouch, placing them in a third group.
"If your way doesn't work."
Savendir does his best to ignore his companions' conspiring against the hostile captives. For now he is focused on a more gentle discussion with the kidnapping victim.
A mixed look of sadness and betrayal crosses Cerpera's face as she answers Savendir. "When Lady Zinnastina arrived with Dreth, she told us that Pharasma had sent her to assist me as I communicated Pharasma's words to the people of Sirathu. However, shortly after her arrival, I found my connection to Pharasma waning and often I found my waking hours to be very clouded. On the day that I disappeared, I had a vision from Pharasma just before I spoke. She showed me Lady Zinnastina's true nature and when I began to tell everyone in the square, I blacked out. When I woke, I found myself tied in a chair in some large building."
"Do you know what she wanted with you? What was she trying to accomplish?"
Ilias looks around and realizes that the situation is under control. He decides to step outside for a few minutes.
Cerpera gives a small shrug. "I'm not completely sure. The visions Pharasma sent me were confusing. First it was an image of Lady Zinnastina putting something in my drink each morning, then it shifted to Dreth sneaking around at night and causing people I don't recognize to fall over somehow. Finally, it was an image of several people bound and gagged in a covered wagon. I think that Lady Zinnastina realized that I was about to reveal her treachery when she silenced me."
Savendir nods. He realizes that Cerpera just does not know that much about the plot that ensnared her. "Thank you," he says. "Now you should rest and recover your strength."
He looks to the others as he moves out of the room. "Should we address Dreth? I suspect both of them are unlikely to be forthcoming with details on their plots, but he may be the more pliable of the two."
"This striped toadstool might make him a bit more compliant," Zarine proposes, shaking a tiny vial, "We might be able to get it in him while he's 'asleep', then heal him enough to wake up and feel friendly. It does take a few minutes to work, but we have some time while we're safe in here."
Striped Toadstool
Type poison, ingested; Save Fortitude DC 11
Onset 10 minutes; Frequency 1/minute for 4 minutes
Effect 1d3 Wis damage and 1 Int damage; Cure 1 save
Cerpera manages a weak smile as Savendir bids her good bye, a monk comes in with a warm herbal drink to help her sleep. The group proceeds to the basement where the prisoners are held captive.
Owen goes up to Dreth's bed and looks at down at the prisoner. The man is a middle age human. The only discerning feature is the odd way he holds his mouth and jaw in his unconscious state.
"Hurm..."
Owen runs a hand through his close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair as he squats down next to the unconscious assassin.
Unfortunately, Owen's knowledge of local legends and religion are not sufficient to learn anything from the unconscious man.
Zarine joins Owen by Dreth's bedside and proceeds to examine the unconscious man, searching him for anything interesting or dangerous and checking his health as best she can.
Zarine examines the prisoner carefully. She discovers the reason for the odd look of the man's mouth. He has no tongue.
"Uuuugh." Zarine points out the man's shortcomings to the group. "This poor man has been through quite a bit, though I wonder if it was voluntary. They say some religious fanatics will do anything. If he does not read or write, interrogating him will be pointless."
Savendir grimaces at the revelation. "Lady Zinnastina speaks all too well," he says. "I suppose we had better see what she has to say."
Nyxalia lingers a little by Cerpera's bedside to make sure the young girl settles back to sleep, then joins Savendir. She is not entirely happy with the talk about how Zarine and Owen plan on interrogating the prisoners, but she'll allow them to see where it leads them.
Owen points to the man's mouth.
"Assassin cult. Cut out each other's tongues to protect secrets. Worship the Reaper of Reputation. Now, how to handle this..."
"If they go to such extreme lengths to assure secrecy, I do not think this one will communicate. Lady Zinnastina may turn out to be the more pliable of the two," Savendir says with distaste.
"She might well be very resistant to 'persuasion'. Best to soften her up a bit first, methinks."
Zarine pulls out her little vial of striped toadstool poison and carefully trickles it down Zinnastina's throat.
Zarine trickles the poison down Lady Zinnastina's throat. The cleric coughs as the liquid slides down her throat. 10 minutes pass, but she does not seem to suffer an ill effect from the poison.
Owen shoots Zarine a pointed look, then, after a span of about thirty seconds, squats down and backhands the unconscious cleric hard across the face.
He stands back up, glancing once again at Zarine, his face impassive.
"Step one."
The skin in the cleric's cheek begins to redden where Owen's hand struck it, however the cleric remains unconscious.
"Perhaps some healing will do the trick, though it's not nearly as much fun," Zarine says dryly to Owen. "Best check her bonds before we awaken her. Can one of our holies perhaps give her some aid once we're sure she is secured?" Zarine suits her actions to her words, adding her manacles to the bindings to secure the woman's wrists behind her. She does not bother to explain why she has manacles handy.
Owen nods at Zarine's comment.
"None of this is fun. Not the step two I had in mind, but whatever gets job done."
"Happy to let you do what is needful, Sir Owen. Do you need the manacles removed?"
"Happy to let you do what is needful, Sir Owen. Do you need the manacles removed?"
"No."
Her sarcasm appears to have been missed completely.
Savendir sets his jaw as his two companions administer to Zinnastina. When she dies not rouse after being struck, he grows concerned and steps in for a closer look. "This does not look like ordinary sleep to me."
Savendir, examines Zinnastina. He can tell that while her wounds have been stabilized, she needs additional healing to bring her to a conscious state.
After ensuring that she is still properly bound, Savendir extends her a bit of healing so that she can speak.
Cerpera's eyes flutter a bit as Savendir's healing magic flows through her body. Sufficiently healed, her eyes open and she scans the room to ascertain her current state. One by one her eyes pause on each person watching over her. She lingers for a moment when she recognizes Savendir, and a cold smile breaks briefly across her lips.
She remains silent.
Owen stares at her blankly.
"No reason to look so happy, foul necromancer," Savendir says. "You will never again be free to pursue your vileness. What are you doing with those people you've taken?"