The party brings the unresponsive Drago back to the lean-to. Rando looks him over. "I can't fix him. 'e's different than most folk, my healin' will kill 'im."
Curious, Harakhty looked at Saltspray. "What do you mean?"
"Mr. Skorzeny is a half-vampire. 'e can only 'eal with negative energy," Rando says hesitantly. "'e probably didn't want me tellin' ye that, but it'd probably be better'n someone killin' 'im accidentally."
"Hot holy whoremongers! Right here in our midst! What if he went after my precious, precious fluids?!? Next thing you'll tell me is there's a thieving vanara in our--never mind!"
"Is 'der anything we can do for 'im? Is he gunna make it?"
Cyna walks over to her pack and grabs a vial of smelling salts and holds them under her mostly dead friends nose. "Wake up we've got bacon."
"It looks like 'e'll live. Probably be a few days until 'e regains consciousness though, unless we find an evil spellcaster," Rando replies.
Mohato, who had been watching from the corner of the lean-to, comes forward. He flashes a grin, revealing his sharpened teeth. "Perhaps I can finally be of use, captain."
He rolls up the sleeves of his shirt, revealing designs of snakes and skulls along with various markings of an unknown nature along his dark skin. His grey eyes turn white momentarily. "Obey me, you damned souls. Honor our family's pact!"
Inflict Light Wounds:
As Mohato finishes casting the spell, a wound opens on his hand. Blood pours forth, but it vanishes as soon as it touches the ground.
Mohato slumps against the lean-to. "He should be fine."
"Y'know, we should really discuss what everyone can do, one of these days these fun surprises will get one of us killed."
Skaar watched suspiciously as the human began his ritual to mend the injured Drago. The big Orc didn't like the smell of what he was doing but if it healed the pale mage, he'd stand aside. Once the spell was done, he tried addressing the dhampyr.
"You okay Drago?"
Once infused with the dark energy, he once again bolted up to a sitting position, looking around wildly. When Skaar asked his question, Drago jumped to his feet, still looking around.
"Better now. Where is she?"
Coming to some sort of realization, Drago checked the leather case at his side. "No one used a scroll? Who 'healed' me?"
Secrets. Ambiguity. Harakhty liked these things; to be more precise, he liked getting rid of them.
"Drago, your true nature would have been good to know" Harakhty nods towards Aurelia. "She's right - you could have been killed. Rando knew about you, but I didn't. Had Skaar not whisked you back here, you wouldn't be around now."
His eyes would not linger on the scrolls he mentioned, which was the greatest source of interest to Harakhty at the moment. Hypocritical as it might be, he didn't like those he didn't trust to know his secrets - just the other way around. "Why would we use one of those? And who is this she?" The Vanara didn't know if the mystery woman was his assailant or savior, but this lack of information could prove troublesome.
Mohato struggles to his feet and touches Drago on the shoulder. "I healed you."
The dark-skinned man slumps onto a bedroll, obviously fatigued.
"Well I thank you, Mohato is it?"
Turning to the Harakhty, "These scrolls 'heal' my kind. And as for the 'she', that's going to take a little bit of explaining."
It was then, he smelled the meat. "Is that fully cooked? Cause if it isn't, give me some of the blood. I need a drink."
Skaar growls in frustration and he grabs the damphir's shoulder.
"Wait a secund. Who is she? Is she still out 'dere?"
"You coulda died."
"We seem to have time." Harakhty lay back in the grass as they waited for the meat, out of danger for the moment.
With Drago awake Cyna returns her salts back into her pack before returning to the Boar. Handing out a stake to anyone who hasn't already had a piece. She grabs the basin containing the boars "extra" bits including a fair amount of blood. "Will this do?" she asks Drago before sitting back down with her own portion of meat and waits for the campfire story from her mostly dead traveling companion.
"Thank you Cyna, it will do."
Sitting next to his pack, Drago drank from the basin. Draining all of the blood rather quickly, the sorcerer began the story.
"I was born one hundred twenty seven years ago in the forests of Talathel, to a powerful matron vampire. She raised me in a fortified tower within its depths. For decades, she taught me how to utilize the power running through my veins, and had me acquire a taste for Elven blood. Then about fifteen years ago, she sent me out into the woods to drain my first victim, and I found one. Her name was....is Aliethia, a beautiful maiden with the most amazing singing voice you've ever heard," Drago held up his dagger, "This was hers. She stabbed me with it before I killed her. It was then that I realized that I wasn't a full vampire. When I confronted mother about it, she grew furious and struck me. That night, I came to the realization that I would not be long for this world. I fashioned a wooden stake, crept into her chamber the next morning, staked her, and brought her remains into the sun, where she turned to dust. But that was not the last of her. Somehow, her consciousness became trapped in my mind, where she has whispered and tormented me since. What happened today, I am not entirely sure. For I heard Aliethia's song and followed it. Only to find her turned into a zombie by Calistra. She had, apparently, begged the goddess to allow her revenge. We fought and she is the one that nearly killed me. What happened next I am unsure, for the next thing I knew, I was here."
With the story over, Drago awaited their reactions.
Hararkhty did not understand why Drago would've killed his own mother. Mysterious heritage could be upsetting, but she didn't sound like she hurt him much; rather, she taught him to achieve his potential. One able to kill those who bore him would easily be able to kill those merely traveling with him; his ears would have to keep alert on the half-vampire.
His face revealed none of that though. "You were brought here by Skaar and revived. Thank you for your tale." Harakhty then ate his meat in peace - it allowed him to think and avoid talking further at the moment.
Skaar listened to the tale as carefully as he could while enjoying his meal. It was far more elaborate than he’d expected and the big orc had trouble following some of the details but when it was done he understood what he needed to. Drago had dangerous elements of his past that were catching up with him – elements that were now his responsibility to watch out for.
”Startin’ morrow, I’m getting’ you up at dawn. Yer gunna learn how ta fight. Next time ‘dis Aliethia, or Calistra, or your ma come callin’, you’ll be ready for ‘em.”
As you all finish your meal, the sun descends below the horizon. The darkness seems all-encompassing, despite the fire that still crackles. Rando lights a pipe and stares into the sky.
Cyna finishes her meal and begins to preserve whatever is left of the meat. "I assume were camping here for the night before moving on?"
After eating more than his fill, Skaar loosed a booming belch in compliments to the chef and then retired from the gathering. He fished out the book that Zharta had given him.
Her brother had been a fine warrior, one of the strongest half-orcs he'd ever met, but somehow he'd found comfort in such a small thing. Contrary to what most would think, the brawler could read - just not well. Despite his limitations, the hulking greenskin cracked it open and began to, awkwardly, examine the pages.
"Yes, it's too dangerous to venture further into th' jungle with such little light," Rando replies without turning around.
Skaar finds the book to be long on embellishment detailing the trials and battles of heroes. It's a pleasant read but lacks substance.
Early to bed, Early to rise.
With a belly full of meat and a head full of stories, the big Orc nods off and falls asleep.
"That would be much appreciated, thank you Skaar." Drago's mind thinking back to the zombie fight. It was then, the sorcerer realized that mother wasn't around. The memory came back from the haze. "I needed her out of there." Urgathoa had said.
"Ohhh no." Drago said with a look of slight horror.
"Then I will hit the sack early and pick up last watch if nobody minds?" Cyna asks as she set up her sleeping gear.
"I'm not feeling particularly tired, I'll stand first watch."
Harakhty was not tired. Though the day's encounters had been anxiety-inducing, he wasn't especially worn-out - the journey wasn't harsh, and the bout with the boar was short. The sunset in the wilderness made him homesick though, him being withdrawn until he fell asleep. This didn't happen for some time though.
Instead, he practiced his cantrip as usual before bed, watching Drago in the meantime. He felt safe around the group as a whole, but that one alone? Very unnerving.
"I'll take the second watch."Aurelea chimes in as the others rise to go to bed.
"I'll take last. Might as well get up early and start the dr--day!"
Upon deciding watches, the all of the crew, except for Mohato, fall asleep. The orc's rhythmic snoring providing some much-needed noise in the jungle. Mohato sits by Drago and looks out into the jungle.
"What troubles you?"
"You know how I said that my mother was inside my mind? Well, after Aliethia's zombie dealt me the near fatal blow, Urgathoa appeared and extracted her. What that could mean, I know not, but it does not bode well." After Drago finished explaining, he looked down at the Elven dagger that he was slowly spinning in his hands.
"Hmm, I deal with my fair share of spirits," Mohato says. "If someone as evil as The Pallid Princess requires one, then there is much to fear. So you only dealt with the zombie, Calistria and Urgathoa?"
"Yes. I must say I was quite surprised." That's an understatement. he thought.
"It seems that we were spared one fate to suffer another," Mohato muses.
The next couple of hours go by without incident and Mohato gently wakes Aurelea and Stahvi for the next watch.
The rest of the night passes uneventfully. Most of you are awake by dawn.
None of the watches reported anything, but a few paces from the lean-to lies a skull of a wild animal sitting in the center of drawn spiral. Rando notes this with a muttered curse and proceeds to do his morning prayers.
Robaldi starts a fire and begins cooking more of the boar for breakfast. Rydii and Stahvi head into the jungle an return a short while later with some eggs and fruit. Zahira decides she'd like to watch Skaar and Drago wrestle and finds a comfortable place to watch. Kirito and Saviv decide to wake Harakhty for some conversation. Finally, Mohato joins Rando in prayer.
”Now ‘da most important thing in a scrap is lev’rage”, the big orc explains as he clears an area of debris that could injure one of them during the training.
”Yer pretty scrawny so yer always gunna struggle but never underestimate what you can do. It doesn’t take a ‘hole lotta strength to move someone even as big as me with the right positionin’. We’re gunna start by learnin’ the basic holds.”
Without hesitation, Skaar grabbed Drago’s hand and tightened it around the belt holding his own leggings together.
”Now get a firm grip.”