On his turn Nalun will draw his bow and fire it at the beast
Disgusting!
Overconfident at knowing this thing was coming, Karri takes a step towards the beast and calls forth that force of will that used to be her own fear. She chants arcane words and her eyes glow green and she throws up her hand towards the beast.
The fear rises in Karri's heart, then SCREAMS outward, through her outstretched hands towards the otyugh!
The Legion assaults the beast's mind... but it simply laughs! It appears its psyche is either too strong or too different to be affected. The Legion is reduced to bitter grumbling in Karri's ears.
Lyla's shield extract activates, a translucent disc of power popping up in front of her before fading.
The otyugh starts running towards Karri, its tentacles waving about in search of new flesh to eat.
Brother Heimskr takes a step towards Karri, one hand on his holy symbol. "Eternal Rose, I beseech you--aid us in our time of need!" A multicoloured hue outlines the party and the otyugh. The beast moans and shivers in discomfort as the power of Shelyn settles on it, but the party feels a surge of power.
Ortik mumbles some incantation, and the magics of nature settle in on the party, mixing well with Shelyn's magic.
Demitri will rush towards the creature, drawing his blade. Empowered by Ortik and Brother Heimskr, he swings it at the abberation.
Lyla sees Demitri carelessly advancing to strike, blade in hands. The halfling girl sprints towards the creature at the same time, trying to draw its attacks but paying close attention to the movement of its tentacles. She hops and tumbles calling out to the otyugh. "Hey, stinky, how's for a snack," Lyla says pulling out a bomb and throwing it in the monster's direction.
The Legion is seething at the simple beasts rebuke of their power. Karri trembles struggling to hold on, she feels the ripple of release as she gives the Legion even more of herself; the demons respond with one of their oldest tricks: a wave of light. Chanting the words with the Legion's sepulchral voice she unleashes a Color Spray with it's riot of colors.
The otyugh bites at Lyla as she moves!
She ALMOST escapes the beast's maw, but one of its teeth puts a gash through her armour.
Of course, as it bit at the leaping hobbit, it failed to notice two things--the bomb she just threw, and Demitri's blade tearing into its hide. Both the bomb and the sword connect, making the beast scream in pain!
Karri's colours spray forth from her hand, angled so that Demitri won't be caught in the blast...
...and again the Legion's power fails to find purchase.
The otyugh focuses its attention on the inquisitor who just gutted it, biting at him and swinging with its tentacles!
The bite and first tentacle both miss. Unfortunately, the second one doesn't. It wraps around the inquisitor's sword arm and squeezes, its grip like a vise!
Brother Heimskr's hands tremble as he sees the otyugh grab Demitri. He moves forward, brandishing his glaive. "Let him go!"
Unfortunately, his glaive just bounces off the creature's hide.
Ortik grimaces as the foul beast grabs Demitri. "Demitri! You've got this thing on its last legs! You can win this!" His words give Demitri a new source of strength!
Nalun's arrow sticks into the creature's hide, making it howl in pain and panic!
"Right..."
Demitri swings at the beast that grabbed him.
Evidently, all the otyugh accomplished by grabbing Demitri was showing him his guts.
Which his blade promptly slices open.
The otyugh howls and collapses, the reek of gore and sewage suddenly assaulting the party as the contents of the beast's stomach spill out onto the street--among them, the mouthy, bigoted noble. His clothes are ruined, he's bleeding heavily, and his face is deathly pale with fright and pain.
"I suppose you were right Ortik." Demitri says with as much surprise as anyone and moves to heal the mouthy dying noble.
Nalun walks over to Demitri and nods in approval Your skill with that blade is pretty impressive churchman.
Nalun helps the nobleman up and says Go home. Stay off the streets and forget this silly business you were up to this day.
Lyla lands rolling on the ground and takes one hand to her thigh, where the otyugh's teeth have carved two deep holes. She quickly brushes off the filth on the wound, and watche Demitri slice the foul beast open. Lyla stands up and runs up to the dying, half-digested noble, pushing Nalun to the side. "I don't think he's ready to take your advice just quite yet, slim. Folks, gimme some room! And some clean cloth, too!" she shouts stretching her arms out. She immediately starts cleaning the nobleman's wounds while trying to patch them up. Seeing that her efforts seem to have no effect, she uncorks a vial using her teeth, spits out the cork and pours a healing extract into the nobleman's mouth.
@Dragoncat - If Lyla sees the man is not responding well to her first aid attempts, she'll give him an extract of cure light wounds.
"A little faith goes a long way. Actually I think I was just lucky." Demitri shrugs.
Lyla's efforts to clean her wound don't appear to have helped. If anything, there's a good chance she just made things worse.
The combined magics of Demitri's faith and Lyla's science are able to stabilize the man. He weakly crawls free of the dead otyugh, gasping for air. His skin is badly burned in several places, presumably by the beast's stomach acids, and several bruises and gashes mar his body and face.
He doesn't say anything. He appears to still be in shock from what just happened.
"By the Eternal Rose..." Brother Heimskr kneels before the man, his eyes filled with compassion tempered with pity. He turns to the rest of the party. "I really should be thanking you all--the beast would have caused even more harm if you were not here."
"Though, I suppose I should have expected no less from the man who helped me return to good health." He grins and gets back to his feet, one hand rubbing his holy symbol of Shelyn.
"We all do our best. That is all anyone can ask. You helped in the destruction of the beast also." Demitri then turns to the nobleman who isn't doing so well. "I believe the universe has just sent you a message about your bigotry and hate-speech. You should remember this next time you think to stir the people up. But for now, we should help him to a temple to fully recover."
Gore splashes the square as Demitri finishes off the otyugh. Karri freezes in place and then collapses to her hnads and knees. Groaning with a hum of wasps she shudders and then vomits adding something more to the already vile mess on the stones.
She stands, shaky, and wipes her mouth with the sleeve of her robe.
In her mind, the Legion is quiet. Only Kasdaye whispers to her, You need my will to force them to serve you. Two times you tried and each time the demon you called on mocked you and wished for your suffering. Your will is weak without me, let me help you harness these squabbling things. Karri says nothing, and cannot respond to Kasdaye's coaxing. A tear slides out of her eye and she turns away from where her friends are helping the nobleman that started the ruckus.
"Are you alright?" Demitri says noticing Karri looking not so well either. He moves over to her.
"No," Ortik says, approaching the near-dead nobleman. "I've a better plan. The Old Man can patch him back up. It would do him some good to see how we Forgottenfolk live, I should think. We aren't far now from them. Old Hartleby's never turned anyone down that sincerely needs his help, and our friend here could use an education on how the other half lives."
"That sounds like a better plan, friend."
Without facing Demitri, Karri says, "Just weakness, but I will get past it. Thank you."
"You don't have to get past it alone, you know. We're all here for you."
Nalun stands by, waiting for action.
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The sibilant whisper, You are not alone...no, not ever...
"I know. Ask me later to tell you a secret." Karri turns her face to Demitri and offers a wan smiles. The tension in her shoulders relaxes and she steps over to the nobleman in his otyugh stained finery. "What say you? Would you like to see the beating heart of this city? The people that are why you are able to live a life of leisure?" Yes, Velaro and Zellara would like for us to show this man some of the world he despises."
The sibilant whisper, You are not alone...no, not ever...
"I know. Ask me later to tell you a secret." Karri turns her face to Demitri and offers a wan smiles. The tension in her shoulders relaxes and she steps over to the nobleman in his otyugh stained finery. "What say you? Would you like to see the beating heart of this city? The people that are why you are able to live a life of leisure?" Yes, Velaro and Zellara would like for us to show this man some of the world he despises."
"I will do that."
The noble, Marius, offers no resistance to any of the party's suggestions. Brother Heimskr nods. "That sounds like a good idea."
The noble coughs as the party helps him back to his feet. Though he's in somewhat better shape than before, he still has much difficulty walking. Several of his remaining injuries are caked in filth and Gods above only know what else.
The streets of East Shore are somewhat deserted in the aftermath of the otyugh's arrival. The few residents that are still out and about regard the party with a mixture of fear and awe as they walk down the street toward Hartleby's commune. Marius coughs several times, each time spitting up some foul slime. "Healer..."
Heimskr is mostly quiet during the walk, occasionally shooting glances at Karri and Lyla. Whether the ones directed at Karri of admiration or concern is up for debate, but the looks he gives Lyla are ones of worry. He keeps looking at his feet every time one of them looks back at him, his face reddening slightly to match his hair and beard.
As the party arrives at the commune, the scene that greets them is one of peace and normality... two qualities that seem to be rare in Korvosa as of late. Several children are playing games with each other, running about and not really paying the party any attention as they move. Ortik recognizes Old Man Hartleby himself--he's speaking with several other adults about something in front of the commune's meeting building.
Demitri smiles at the children playing, his thoughts back his little girl being cared for by the tiny dragon.
"Apologies for interrupting, but this man needs a healer. He is wounded pretty badly. Can you help?"
Hartleby turns away from the group he's speaking with to address the party. "Oh?"
He eyes the maimed Marius with an arched eyebrow. "Ah. I thought I heard a ruckus not too long ago..." He turns back to his other group. "Excuse me."
The others shrug and leave, but not before giving the noble a critical look. "Now, what happened to him? He looks like Life swallowed him and spat him back up."
Lyla wacthes begrudgingly as Demitri rushes to Karri's aid, and mumbles softly to herself, out of everyone's earshot [bigger]"What? How am I? Oh, don't worry about it, I'm great. What's a 10-inch gash on the leg?" She limps away in a foul mood and follows the party to Old Korvosa. She walks up to Brother Heimskr and points to the holy symbol of Shelyn. "I see yout have met Demitri, huh? He told us he gave the symbol to a poor man in dire straits..." She looks the priest from top to bottom and adds "Gotta say you are doing better than he made us believe. What happened there?"
"I'm sorry Lyla, I didn't realize you were hurt." Demitri says to the halfling before moving to heal her.
Nalun snickers Life, yeah that's exactly what happened.
"Life, or something that feeds on its by-products," Ortik says to Hartleby. "He may need some observation - he's been puking up something putrid all the way here. His afflictions are a bit out of my league for the moment, old friend, so I thought you might be able to help him."
"Gotta say you are doing better than he made us believe. What happened there?"
Heimskr bites his lip and looks down at his feet. "Well... see, I lost my symbol of the Eternal Rose one day. I turned practically the entire city upside-down trying to find it. Unfortunately, I could not find it, and to make matters worse, I learned that I had contracted leprosy during my search." He scuffs the sole of his boot against the stones. "I was at the end of my rope and on the verge of tying it into a noose when he returned my symbol to me." He glances at Demitri before turning back to Lyla. "Anyway, your wound may be healed, but I'm afraid you might have caught something from the otyugh's bite anyway--you really should get that looked at." His face turns slightly pink.
-----------The Old Man looks over the half-digested noble with a serious eye. "Hmm. Being eaten by an otyugh is never a pleasant experience, especially from someone who talks too much." He digs some moss out of a pouch in his sackcloth clothes. "Did you scream the whole time you were in the beast's stomach? Because that's what you're spitting up--the otyugh's insides."
He moves to help the man into the meeting hall. "I suppose I can do a little something for him. That is, if he's not going to be picky about how he's healed. He strikes me as being a little more sensible than that now. Aren't you, Marius?" He looks the noble in the eye, who only weakly nods.
"I would like to think he's a little more enlightened. Do you think you can treat Lyla here as well?"
Hartleby looks over at Lyla and notices the filth on her thigh, left over from the otyugh's bite. "Hmm... I could, certainly. But, please understand that I can't do so for free--the Forgottenfolk live in harmony with Nature and Civilization's cradle, but we still need to eat."
He looks between the noble and the hobbit. "I only have one spell of disease removal prepared today. I've always been of the belief that the body should be able to withstand illness on its own--but, in dire cases, the gifts of Nature can--and should be--used to give the body a fighting chance." He looks over at Demitri, his aged eyes twinkling with a quiet mirth suitable for a man half his age. "I don't suppose you'd care to make a donation to our humble commune?"
"Of course I will. How much do you need?"
"About 180 Crowns." Hartleby says, leading the party into the plain meeting hall.
To be honest, it would be charitable to call it 'plain'--the entire building seems to consist of one room with an elevated platform in the back. Straw mats line the floor on either side of the room. Several people are resting on the straw mats, with others feeding them, changing their bandages, or otherwise tending to them.
Hartleby leads Marius over to a free mat and gently lays him down. "I think our noble friend here should see how we live for a day or two. Perhaps it'll help clear his mind, if not his body."
"Call it 300." Demitri says before handing it over to Hartleby. "I agree. I think it would do him some good."
Hartleby's eyebrows arch in surprise as Demitri hands over 300 gold pieces. He takes them and divides them into six groups of 50 before waving into the meeting hall. The six people tending the sick and injured come over and are quite surprised when the Old Man hands the money out; they take it with expressions of great gratitude.
He turns back to Ortik with a chuckle as the nurses return to their work. "You choose your friends wisely, Ortik." He then takes a patch of moss in his hand, crushes it and kneels in front of Lyla. "Now, hold still please."
He sits Lyla down on a straw mat and rubs the moss on her bitten thigh.
The moss does its work almost immediately. Lyla feels a sharp coolness enter her thigh and spread throughout her body... it's as if she's stepped into a pool of crystal clear water. She feels cleaner than she's ever felt before!
Hartleby stands up, his face alight with a smile. "Am I correct in assuming your donation was for both Miss Lyla and Marius?"
Demitri nods.
Karri waits in the background, worried that her outburst and lack of control may have scared some of the small folk in the hall.
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Lyla can feel that she is coming down with a fever, but steps back as Demitri offers to pay for her treatment. "What, are you crazy? I'll shake it off, I just need some rest. And Althea sure as heck won't charge me 180 gold pieces for that!", she complains waving Hartleby avway. Still, Demitri and the old man seem to ignore her resistance and Hartleby keeps getting closer with the strange patch of moss. "No, really, there's no need," she says holding her hands in front of her, pushing Hartleby away. The elder tells her to hold still and applies the moss to the wound. Lyla looks at Demitri angrily. "Well, I'm not paying for this—oooh," she pauses as the curative magic rushes through her thigh. "Alright, I owe you one, chief," she says to Demitri, jumping back to her feet. "So this bomb is defused, what's next? Anyone else causing you trouble, old man?" she asks Hartleby.
"You're welcome." Demitri smiles.
Hartleby shrugs. "No one else comes to mind..." He gets a pensive look in his eye. "Although, I do wonder how Griggs is doing these days--he never drops in to say 'hello'."
Marius lies on the straw mat as one of the nurses starts tending to his injuries. He looks on with a degree of disbelief and a measure of... guilt?
"Now, I think Cressida would like to hear how well you've done your jobs, wouldn't she?" The Old Man says with a twinkle in his eye. "Don't worry about him--" He nods at the noble. "--I'll have him up and around by tomorrow."
Heimskr eyes Karri with a measure of concern, but doesn't say anything for a bit. He eventually steps closer to her. "Er--how are you faring, miss?" He says, trying to straighten up his posture as he does.
"I didn't choose them myself, old friend," Ortik replies at last. "Fate did that for me. When the world does you a favor like that, you owe it to the world to be mindful of it. Something I learned a long time ago." He looks over to Marius, noticing the confusion on the nobleman's face. "I know he's in good hands now. When I see Griggs next, I'll let him know that he shouldn't be a stranger." He shakes the Old Man's hand, clapping him on the back, or at least as far up as he can reach.
Hartleby returns Ortik's hug. "Good. I know his work means a great deal to him, but he could stand to at least say hello to his Old Man once in a while."
"Now, is there anything else you need?" He asks the party, one hand disappearing under his hat before returning to his side.
Karri is completley unsure of what to make of the priest asking after her well being. Shelyn, goddess of roses and pretty words. After a brief moment she finally replies. "I am doing fine, thank you." Her voice pitches slightly and she says, "If you were asking about the scene with the otyugh, it is safe to say my reaction to the beast was perfectly normal." Again, her vocie shifts, this time tinged with worry, "Why, does something seem amiss?"