The untrapped boar suffers a barrage of stones, javelins and arrows and falls into the soft mud for a moment before rising with an evil look in its eyes. It lowers its head and charges Jenner, crashing through the stream and striking the dwarf with a sharp task!
The second boar attempts to pull free of the trap but Sarine's expert crafting holds it in place!
Worried for her dear friend Jenner, Ashlyn focuses on a river stone and send it flying at the violent boar with her mind.
"--Ow," Jenner says as he gets boar'd. "Well. Hallo to you too, ugly."
Dropping the now useless sling he draws his axe, and hacks at the boar.
Jenner then takes a hurried step back along the bank to give his allies the clearest shot possible.
HP 21/21; Hero Points 0/2
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 11; CMD 12 (14 vs. disarm)
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will -1 (0/1 set mind; 0/3 charmed life)
Panache: 1/3 (1/1 deed reroll);
Effects:
Aurelian launches himself out of the tree, using the thin branch to get extra boost as he lands next to the boar while pulling his sword and slams it into the pig.
"Hah! Aurelian Fache names you Dinner, and you shall be delicious!" he declares.
He immediately resumes his combat pose, ready to bat aside any attempts by Dinner or his companion -- Second Dinner -- to hurt him.
HP 21/21; Hero Points 0/2
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 11; CMD 12 (14 vs. disarm)
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will -1 (0/1 set mind; 0/3 charmed life)
Panache: 2/3 (1/1 deed reroll);
Effects:
Sarine draws another javelin and throws it at the still-trapped boar before moving forward slightly.
The standing boar is beaten down by Ashlyn and Jenner before Aurelian leaps gracefully from the tree and kill-steals strikes the boar down in a lovely display of precision damage.
Sarine advances on the trapped boar who, trapped by the snare, cannot evade and suffers a grevious wound.
Roaring, the boar rips at the snare, tearing it apart and lowering its head to charge!
Huffing and trying not to grimace from the pain where the boar had gored him, Jenner sloshes through the stream and circles around the trapped boar its far side. "Alright, Master Fache, let's do that again, shall we, and prove you can manage it more than once, hmn?"
Ashlyn hops down out of the tree and focuses on a nearby log, sending it hurling through the air at the boar.
HP 21/21; Hero Points 0/2
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 11; CMD 12 (14 vs. disarm)
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will -1 (0/1 set mind; 0/3 charmed life)
Panache: 2/3 (1/1 deed reroll);
Effects:
"Ha! Aurelian Fache can go as many times as you want, my handsome hirsute friend!He is happy to show you whenever you want!"
He splashes across the stream and provised his words are true (of course, Aurelian Fache would not like to you!) with a deep cut on the boar's flank.
Sarine draws her greatsword as she advances on the boar.
Sarine and Aurelian carve the boar into nice cook-fire sized chunks - ending its battle before it gets a chance to charge.
Upon your return to the village you are welcomed as heroes! *Cheers* With fresh meat! *Even more cheers!* After a hearty meal, where everyone is very cheerful (and Elizar's non-appearance makes it even more cheerful), Sarine is approached by the blacksmith, Luetin.
"Yer a fine woman." He says, smiling in a manner he seems to believe is attractive, despite showing his rather crooked teeth. "I like a woman who knows how to handle herself and her weapons. I'd really like to take a good look at that sword you found, Azlanti work they say. Would you like to, err... come over to the forge with me so we can look at it together?"
Aurelian meanwhile is surrounded by an adoring number of young men, and women. One young man, who he vaguely recognises as one of the farming specialists - who came out with his new wife, brings him a new mug of ale. "Mr Fache - you're such an inspiration to us, the colony owes you a great debt. My wife and I, we made you a little something in our house, if you'd like to come and see it..." He trails off as one of his hands trails lower and squeezes, gently and suggestively. "We're both very grateful." He says with careful emphasis.
Ashlyn, perhaps to her disappointment, finds that her company for the evening seems destined to be Father Eamon, who sits down beside her with his usual cheerful smile. "Dear Ashlyn. I was hoping to catch you for a moment. You seem to be someone who knows a lot about spirits and so forth, with how close you and Elizar are. I wanted to ask, when you fought the spirit in the chapel - how did you disperse it?" He leans in and whispers. "We haven't said anything - didn't want to alarm anyone, but it seems to have come back..."
Jenner, possibly the most unfortunate of all, gets a similar conversation to Ashlyn, but from Father Kurvis - accompanied by a lot of pontificating over the potential banking arrangements to be made in the colony and questions over the dwarves advice for how best to extract the gems discovered in the nearby hills. The talk finally however, turns to the chapel geist, which (as Eamon has just told Ashyln) has reappeared.
Sarine thanks Lutein for his compliments, but isn't interested in the blacksmith as a partner. "I could bring the sword by for you to look at if you'd like," she says. "It wouldn't hurt to have some of my other weapons sharpened as well. It's getting late, though. Should I bring them by in the morning?"
Luetin's face falls but he accepts the rejection with reasonably good grace. "Yeah, sure. I'll see you in the morning then. Enjoy the night."
He slopes back off to the fireside and Sarine spots him grabbing a large tankard of rum from the stores that the Peregrine left behind.
Ashlyn, who is oblivious to the plethora of sexual innuendo happening around her, smiles happily at Father Eamon. "Oh, hello!"
After hearing his worry, Ashlyn frowns. "Oh, dear... Well, let me see now..." She puts her hand to her chin and thinks. "Everyone else ran away, and I called on Elizar. When he's incorporeal he can harm other spirits."
She puts her hand on her chin and thinks again. "But if it's come back... Well, I could call on Elizar again, of course, but let's see here.... There has to be a way to put it to rest indefinitely, don't you think? In my experience, all spirits have something that drives them, or prevents them from finding peace. For Elizar, that's his desire to return home. But for this... Well, I don't know! But, I think we need to find out!"
"Would you like to join me in trying to talk with the spirit? Oh! I should get Jenner! He's always offering to destroy Elizar! I bet he'll be a great help. As long as he doesn't run away again, of course..."
"Yes," Aurelian says happily. "It is what Aurelian Fache does. But he does not want the colony in his debt. He does his part because he is part of the colony.
"We all do what we can," he adds more seriously.
His eyes widen as the man continues and he smiles again. "But Aurelian Fache would not be so churlish as to ignore such a lovely offer. He would be glad to join you and your wife. He does not wish to be in your debt, though, so perhaps he will take your gift and then we can make something together?"
He puts his arm around the man as they head back to his house.
"Remind Aurelian Fache, what is your name? And your wife's name?"
Sarine watches Lutein move away from the feast somewhat pensively as she feeds a bit of the roast to Demon Cat. What am I looking for in a man, anyway? she wonders. Lutein isn't a bad man, even if he isn't for me. I guess I haven't thought about it much. Not with any real depth, anyway.
Her attention turns back to her familiar, watching the cat eat its meal. I guess you've absorbed a lot of my attention. That, and probably disobeying Father.
Jenner listens soberly to Father Kurvis, and minds the talk of banking arrangements and dwarven mining less than some might. That's business talk, after all, which makes it sacred!
When the talk turns to the spirit, Jenner's brows shoot up and he gives a discreet, but nasty, dwarven cuss. "--ahem. That is, I'm sorry to hear it's returned. I'm not sure as I know a way to clear that presence out off the top of my head, Father, but you can be right sure I'll be sending up prayers to Abadar about it tonight. In the meantime let's keep folk out of there, it's likely bound to its resting spot, aye?"
Jenner is briefly distracted from his talk with the priest by the sight of Aurelian Fache going off with two souls, and can't help a wry laugh, but it quickly fades under the priest's sharp stare.
"--be assured I wasn't laughing at the situation, Father," Jenner says sheepishly. "Right, then, I'll consult with the Lord of the Vault and see if Hisself has any grace to spare on the matter."
Aurelian leaves with Tobias and Marguerite and has a most memorable night with a thoroughly inventive young couple. Tobias matches Aurelian more or less all night, but Marguerite - perhaps tired out by the attention falls asleep in the early hours.
"That seems... like a good idea?" Eamon offers, seemingly unsure of how to take Ashlyn's enthusiasm for Jenner trying to kill Elizar. The two of them make their way over to join Jenner and Father Kurvis.
Sarine, meanwhile, sits quietly by the fireside, watching as Socks gambols in the firelight. When she mentions her father the cat gives her a dirty look as if to say 'Him? Horrible man!' Before going back to licking its paws.
On the other side of the fire Sarine sees the gathering conference between the priests and her companions.
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"Oh, there you are, Jenner!" Ashlyn exclaims, grabbing onto his forearm. She starts to guide him away toward the church. "I just heard about something we need your help with!" She leans in close and not-so-subtly whispers, "I know how much you hate spirits!"
With a smile she asks "Care to give us some advice?"
Just as Ashlyn and Father Eamon arrives, Father Kurvis grasps Jenner's arm and speaks in a remarkably deep and authoritative tone - completely unlike his normal, rather whining, pedantic voice. As he speaks he stands tall and radiates an almost palpable aura of command. "Speak to it." He says, before his posture slumps again and he sinks onto the log which serves as a bench.
Just as Ashlyn beelines in for him, Father Kurvis grabs his other arm, leaving the dwarf blinking caught between the two like an unlikely wishbone. (Somewhere, perhaps, Aurelian Fache is being a much happier wishbone.)
"Er--"
And then Kurvis's voice rings out, deep and guttural. Jenner side-eyes the other clergyman hard, reflexively clutching the key talisman woven into his beard, but it doesn't stop him from trying to grab the other priest before he can topple off the bench.
"Here now, man, that didn't sound like you at all! Hell's bells, are you alright? And-- now Ashlyn, I don't hate spirits, I just reckon they ought to be resting and not still fussing with the living. Or dripping on them. But that's a whole different conversation, 'hem. Father Kurvis, are you well? I'll swear I just heard you tell me to go speak to that thing we've got in the church, which is probably some manner of poltergeist, now that I think on it in a leisurely, non-terrified kind of way."
Now that was weird... Sarine thinks as she takes in Demon Cat's reaction. Feeling like she should defend her father was unfamiliar to her. "You've never seemed to think much about my father before. I was the one that kept killing you."
Absorbed with her familiar, Sarine misses the departures of the rest of their group from the feast area.
"That was most strange." Kurvis says wonderingly. "I felt as though I was stood in the hall of a vast bank, where everything was perfect - the very quintessence of all things were kept there..."
Eamon hurries over to check his colleagues temperature and pulse. "You don't seem ill, Father Grouse. Could it have been a message of some sort - does Abadar ever speak through his followers like this?" He asks Kurvis and Jenner both.
"Oh, how wonderful!" Ashlyn remarks, apparently thrilled that Father Kurvis might be possessed or receiving weird messages from some strange force. "Congratulations!"
Then she looks at Jenner. "Come on! Let's go talk to it!"
"...the... the vault?" Jenner says, brows shooting up. "...yes, that's... I mean... it's possible, that Abadar... ahem. Well. I... I suppose that, yes, we should go... talk to the spirit. Now hang on just one second, Ashlyn, let's not go off half-cocked. Use our noggins, right.
"Speaking's all well and good but if this turns out to be that thing just trying to lure us back to finish us off, we need a bit of a plan, don't we? Father Kurvis, d'you have any prayers to enchant a blade? If not, that's alright, just tell the boss where we are, but I'd least prefer that in play."
Somewhat reluctantly, Jenner will allow himself to be tugged by the enthusiastic Ashlyn along towards the temple. Before entering, he'll beseech Abadar for a protection blessing... just in case.
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Ashlyn smiles. "Wonderful! Let's--oof!" Suddenly she clutches at her head.
She mutters something under her breath.
With a forced smile, Ashlyn says cheerily, "I'll need a minute, guys. Elizar wants to come out. It makes sense, of course. In case the spirit doesn't want to talk he'll be able to fight it off again."
With a shake of her head, Ashlyn places her hands over her heart and takes a few steadying breaths. Then she slowly pulls her hands away, drawing Elizar out one wisp greenish vapour at a time. Eventually, Elizar stands before her fully formed--although transparent and ghost-like.
Ashlyn smiles. "Hey, pal."
Elizar looks positively heart broken. He looks at Ashlyn with teary eyes and lets out a loud mournful sob.
Ashlyn smiles gently. "Well, looks like we're ready to go."
This late at night, and with only the flickering edge of the fire reachign it, the homely church looks rather ominous - looming over the small party as they enter.
Kurivs and Eamon light candles placed strategically near the doorway and as they do so the altar objects begin to shake. However it a mild shaking and nothing flies across the room to assault the party. A stray beam of moonlinght, lancing through a hole in the roof illuminates an insubstantial figure - a man, dressed raggedly, with a great gash across his back and a less substantial wound dark under his collarbone.
The spirit makes no move to attack, instead there comes a faint rapping. *tap...tap...*
"Hello." Ashlyn cheerily tells the spirit. "My name is Ashlyn, and these are my friends. We're here to help you."
She takes a step closer and smiles gently, "I want you to think really hard about why you're here. There's something that's keeping you here. Isn't there? Can you feel it? Is there something you feel like you need to do? Or someone you need to see?"
After a moment she adds, "It looks like you were murdered, sir. Do you think that might be a part of it?"
She takes a step closer and smiles gently, "I want you to think really hard about why you're here. There's something that's keeping you here. Isn't there? Can you feel it? Is there something you feel like you need to do? Or someone you need to see?"
In the moonlight the spirit can be seen nodding. *tap...tap*
After a moment she adds, "It looks like you were murdered, sir. Do you think that might be a part of it?"
This time the spirit nods emphatically. *TAP...TAP*
Ashlyn places a finger on her chin and thinks a moment.
"Did you... Want us to find your body and bury it?"
The spirit, or what can be seen in the moonlight doesn't respond. There are no tapping sounds either.
After some questioning the spirit gradually reveals that he wants to meet his killer - although exactly who that was remains unclear since he cannot communicate in words.
Elizar taps Ashlyn on the shoulder, drenching her, and wails - miming her pulling his ectoplasm at her.
Once in incorporeal form Elizar flies forward and passes through the spirit and the moonbeam. For a moment a tall, almost regal looking man with a straight posture, long dark hair and a diadem upon his brow stands before the spirit and they seem to speak. Then Elizar reappears and wails his message to Ashlyn.
With his piece said he bursts into tears again.
Jenner stands in a tense state of mingled 'ew' and 'aaaahh' and 'ah right, ministering to the unquiet dead, I should be doing that' -- yet all the same lets Ashlyn ask the questions, marveling to himself at how little the slip of a girl seems to be discomfited at all by the fact she's talking to a literal shade.
At the final display, even Jenner's impressed. "Well. I'll be damned," he mutters. "The spook was useful..."
"Silas killed him? Wasn't he their leader?! Oh, how horrible!"
Ashlyn assures the spirit, "We'll do what we can!"
Then she turns and looks at Jenner and the priests. "I don't suppose Silas was one of the dead we found...?"
Kurvis shakes his head, and leaves it to Eamon to be more responsive. "There was a Silas in the original colony but he wasn't the leader. That was Raymond Arkley. Silas didn't have a specialty that I recall."
Kurvis looks up with a stern look at his fellow priest, "Well that's no surprise Father Easy! If you just paid attention to the details!" He huffs. Eamon seems absolutely unmoved - in fact he grins. "Well then Father Grouch, give us the benefit of your 'details'!"
Kurvis huffs again. "Silas is clearly the poor man we found under the altar. That is why he haunts this chapel!"
"Why Father Grouch that actually makes sense!" Eamon exclaims, covering his heart in mock surprise before turning to Ashlyn and Jenner. "I'm sorry, it's late and we've imposed too much. Go and rest - you deserve it after your exploits!"
Everyone sleeps soundly and waked to a bright and busy colony. (Or to warm embraces and a delightful mixture of soft and hard body parts in Aurelian's case).
"Of course!" Ashlyn exclaims.
With a glance at Elizar, Ashlyn adds, "I'm sorry, Elizar, but you can be quite confusing sometimes."
Looking at Father Kurvis, Ashlyn explains. "Elizar must have meant that this was Silas and the leader killed him. Father Kurvis, what was the name of the colony leader?"
Aurelian rises early, as is his wont, and leaves his companions sleeping the sleep of the sated to go perform his usual morning exercises.
Once finished, he takes a quick swim in the waters to clean himself and emerges ready for whatever the day will bring.
"Yes," he agrees when he hears of Sarine's plan to find the search party . "Aurelian Fache will be happy to come help!"
Ashlyn shares what she knows with Sarine and the others.
"That's a great idea, Sarine! We have to try to find them!"