Jazzai has just finished pointing out the strange plant creatures to Kane, giving him enough detail so he can pick them out easily. Then Peacock and Sphene drop to the ground, fully within the awful stench.
As peacook comes out Sphene asks him,
"What was in there Peacook, what did you see"
Jazzai looks at Peacock and nods. "Alright, first off, Move behind us, you don't want to excite the whipweeds, and second tell us everything you saw. If her tree isn't dead, its possible she could still be alive." She said motioning him over and holding out her hand for him to take.
"I saw her near the seven menhirs," Peacock forces out between panicked breaths. "She was..." Peacock forces himself to suppress the need to vomit, between the shock of the dryad's state and the stench nearby. "Impaled on some kind of weird thorn. There are strange black strands everywhere there."
Jazzai put what she hoped was a calming hand on him. "Like black cords? That must have been what she was talking about. Alright. I believe we should go see about this but we have to avoid the plants over there. They are whipweeds and don't like being disturbed. We will have to make our way around them. I know you can fly but still be careful. Where is Sphene, I didn't here her return. How far up the tree was she? And what exactly did the thorn and black strands look like. Paint me a picture with words."
Kane's eyes narrowed in thought, their faint reddish glow muting a bit. "If she is dead, her tree is corrupted and we have to stop it. If she is not, she is in dire need of help. We cannot afford to waste any more time."
Sphene looks on as Peacook terrified with fear zips passed her and falls back down into the trees from whence they came.
"Peacook!!! what did you seee...."
but he was gone, flying as fast as he could lose to wetting himself in mid air.
Kids! just like the street never send a greenhorn to do a pros work, Well what ever it was that boy just wet his pants, best go have a look
resigned she heads into the tree being careful to keep away from the bad parts.
What greets her eyes is shocking, as she duck beneath the canopy and descens, she sees what she detected. A female impaled upon the hoary trunk of the massive oak. But what is more shocking is the great black spike jutting from her torso.
O *#^###!!
She know what it was, she had seen one before, very close and very painful. she looked around for the form, the thing of shadow and night he had seen before, not long again, in a temple a world away. She wanted to fly away, the memory of that event flashed in her mind. Pain so much pain, and death. She wanted to do as Peacook had, fly off, head to the safety of others. But her with no one to help, broken and in pain, just like.... Then once again the anger filled her, rage her just as it did when... Here was a woman, yet another Vitim, smashed, alone, helpless just as she has been most of her life. Rage made her go farwood, moving at speed she landed next to the woman.Was she still alive, dead, it did not matter, the spike had to come out, it had to, She placed her gold claws on it and pulled with all her might.
"TO THE GODDESS WHO DID THIS TO ME, IF YOU OWE ME ANY THING THEN HELP ME NOW, YOU HEAR PITCH!! HELP ME!! HELP HER"
Following between Jazzai and Kane, Peacock relates what he saw best as he can, though his memory is blurred by shock and fear.
She would take his hand and cautions. "Move around the whip trees. Don't go between them or near them." she says as she is drug along hurriedly.
She manages to stay on her feet despite catching herself on things she couldn't see in their rush and leaving the gear behind only grasping the spear. The waterskin strapped to her side. Hearing the screaming she concentrates on her footing. "I hope she doesn't attract to much attention with that screaming. How far up the tree is the dryad?" Her mind was already going through how to heal a Dryad and how to safely remove something without damaging her.
She pulled on the Spike,
Come out you son of a &#^#&#*
Where the Hells where the others, but she should not ask to much, a Blind woman a morose Knight and poor Peacook who has just about wet himself. Well it was good they where out of the way. Last time she had done this, the results had been bad. That time she had court the thing that did this in the act now. It seemed to have done its work and gone.
She looked around for any thing to help gold was what she needed
She needed to head back to the group, they would have some gold, she let go the spike and flow back to them, being careful this time. 1st thing that hit her was the stench.
Just like hot city street by the river and a good sweltering day, she shrugged it off.
"Not a word, I need gold, if you have any lets have some, its the only thing I know works and it may save her life now hand it over. And no miss prim you may not ask something now, gold, coins anything, in hand now! then talk later. Chop chop."
All pretext of nicety gone, she was using her street voice, the voice born of hard knocks, the keep your self alive voice, the best let me do the thinking voice, the do as I say voice.
She holds out her clawed far hand.
While Sphene busied herself with trying to extricate the dryad, the other three picked their way through the field of whipweeds. As they neared, the rotted fish smell and buzzing of flies nearly overwhelmed their senses, but they fought off the nausea and continued. The ropy strands attached to the stalks coiled menacingly, but there was no intelligence behind it; the only threat was pure instinct. They moved carefully past them, trying not to agitate them, while Sphene roared distantly on the other side of the great oak.
Everyone had just moved past the whipweeds when Sphene dropped down in front of them.
"Gold? What? Sorry. I have nothing. What would you even do with gold around here?" Peacock questions, confused.
She smiles at Peacock,
Looks like hes coming back, put a bit of a fright in him that did
"Not to worry peacook, as for what, that's complicated, your just going to have to trust me on this one but I'm trying to save the dryad life."
She looks at the other.
"So whats it to be long complected questions or handing over a simple gold coin so I can get on with what I need to do?"
Her hand is still out waiting
Kane said nothing. He simply threw the dragon a bag heavy with coin.
"Thanks Kane,"
She empty's out about half the coins, taking the rest in bag as a kind of gold coin cosh.
"Best take the rest Kane. Look I know this sounds mad but I have seen this before, its how I ended up like this. I think I was lucky, but I used a gold chain on the black stuff, well it was a kind of being then, anyway the same stuff the lines and spike are made of. Gold I don't know , seems to work on it, like they canceled each other out or something. I'm going to try it again, see if I can make the Spike smaller or weaker. What about you guys trying the same on the lines to the stones. How about if we hit them all at once say. Look I have no idea of this will work, but its the only thing I can think of and it worded last time. I have to warn you, it worked but it burned me, real bad, so bad the being I saved had to give me this new body. It may do again, its just I have to try ok, she's up there helpless and no ones coming to help but us. I'm not normally this brave a wom... Dragon, but I have to try. Peacock knows where she is, head for the stones, Ill try 1st if it kills me again well, you will know what not to do. Good luck."
With that she takes the bag and heads up, taking her time out of the trees and keeping away from the odd looking and moving things.
She Flys over to the, the tree once more and the poor soul nailed to it.
Kane watched Sabine fly away and let out a large sigh.
"Hold on." he said, gently picking up Jazzai beneath her arms and behind her knees like a child. A moment later she felt a lurch in her stomach and wind on her face and knew they were airborne.
Peacock and Sabine saw large grey wings unfurl from beneath Kane's robe, throwing it back and revealing finely tunic and trousers stretched tight over a narrow frame with practically over-muscled chest and shoulders. His head was still covered in the hood of his robe, but from around his waist uncoiled a sinuous grey tail with a spade point that helped him steer as he took to the skies.
Sphene looks in amazement as Kane comes up to meet her in the air.
"Holy ^$^&# kane! your really are full of surprises"
She moves around his massive form has he beats his powerful wings
" well now I don't feel a little less &#^#& terrified knowing your with us"
She smiles then points herself back to the tree her face Harding with determination, with Kane and the others with her, they could have a chance.
"Right lets get this done"
She says more to herself then any one.
"One your tone was rude and if we weren't good souls you wouldn't have gotten the gold needed to possibly help." Jazzai said getting that off of her chest. When Sphene offered more explanation she started asking.
"We need more explanation than you have seen this before, you used gold and it burned you. Though its a start. I am now more worried because if it burned you imagine what burning the Dryad would do. First, what do these things look like? Shadowy you said? Where did you see them before and what was going on? Having some information might allow the rest of us to give you some insight. I have heard many tales and my be able to shed some light onto some thing. Maybe not. Also if she is that high in the air and the spike is removed she could fall and she would be hurt even worse. You could get yourself killed again and their might be a particular order to do this in like you said. Is this natural in nature, supernatural, planar, elemental?" Jazzai felt herself suddenly picked up and instinct had her grab Kane pulling herself close as she meeped. Putting her head against his neck she took deep breaths as she calmed.
Her senses still kept a sharp listen out for things nearby.
Looking around once they seemed to start to hover she would take a deep breath. "Alright, what do we have?" She asked clinging to Kane for a fear that had nothing to do with flying.
The base of the trunk is easily forty feet in diameter, with large, gnarled roots the size of park benches stretching in every direction. Jazzai can be set down anywhere amongst the roots upon the moss-carpeted ground.
Fifteen feet up the tree, impaled upon the lichen-and moss-covered bark is the dryad. She hangs with no signs of life; her leaf like hair falling over her face and shoulders.
Opposite her, about fifty feet away where the roots taper off, rises the first menhir. The vines and bracken covering the massive stone is a testament to its great age, obviously it has stood for generations. But cutting across it like a great imprisoning chain is an impossibly black cord that radiates malignance.
She says as they fly,
"Me Rude!
She Chuckles at that,
"you bet your virginity I am Missy, mostly when someones trying to boss me around, or act like they own me, If you don't like that you can lump it cuz on one owns me you understand, no one."
She says that last part with a cold hard voice, then smiling again and in a lighter voice says
"So that being said, if you says you know things then get that brain box of yours around this tail. I was in a city, working late, walking home in fact, I passed this temple, no idea to who, but it was some goddess. As I passed I spots the front door all busted, no one around, so thinking, you know, maybe something to find. I go's in to look around. What I found was every %%^##& dead in side and this black shadow thing is a hammering a black spike into a statue if a young girl. now here is the thing, the girl statue was screaming, not with sound but its face, real pain on that face, I can see it now. Well that's when I lost it and did a dumb thing, so stupid, should have walked away, but her face. I had rolled this fast merchantman that night, you know for his things, one being a really big gold chain. Well I it was the only thing I has so I go's for the shadow thing with it. whipping it down on it hard. Soon as the gold touches it, it starts screaming. And it starts to come apart. like Burning away into nothingness. But it go's for me, trying to get me off it. Its hands burned cold. O the pain."
You can see her shudder at the memory
"But I had hold of it and I was not letting go. The gold kind of hurt it bad, but it hurt me to, then I must have blacked out. Next thing the Girl statue is over me, saying something about my body being beyond fixing. I knows I'm dying, Think, 'bloody stupid way to die' Then it starts talking about and sterile egg, a gift from a friend. I know now it was a dragon egg, A gold Dragons egg. That's how I am as I am, she says "I'm not any ones, a free agent" I helped when others would not. I don't know what she meant. Then she says "I can only do this for you, I need my power to fight other fights in this realm." Last thing I heard her say. Next thing I'm walking in an egg and well, I meet you all."
She stops as they get to the dryad.
"So like I said, gold worked last time, and well lets see if it dos again"
She moves up the tree to the hanging dryad Her sharp claws holding her in place on the tree. with her mouth holding the bag she takes out a gold coin getting ready to touch it on the spike.
She says from the side of her mouth.
"best get ready if you are going to do any thing, once I start it may get painful."
As she listened to the story and her senses stretched out she started piecing things together.
Not sure if all of her story was true she listened to her voice and inflection and decided it was. It explained alot about the little dragon and also put her on edge slightly. A gift such as she had been given wasn't something to scoff at.
She tried to think if there was any connection with nature that this might have but her thoughts kept going back to the planes but she wondered if the act of adding gold to the spike if it would also burn the dryad.
Re: knowledge (planes) -- A spike hammering into a statue would never harm a deity, no matter how powerful the artifact. However, there are other beings that have require idols and objects to create a stronger connection to the physical world. Without those (almost a sort of binding), their realms and the material plane rarely intersect. The "goddess" Sphene describes meeting is likely one of those beings.
Jazzai growled softly. "Kane, I can feel the spike. Not like I feel other things but here." she touches her mouth and then over her stomach. "It's connected to....something." He knew what she was really motioning to. He also saw her head turn unerringly to face it without needing assistance.
"I feel the spike as well. It is wholely evil, as is the vine." Kane waited to see the results of Sabines gold experiment. He had never heard of such a thing, but he was always on the lookout for new ways to destroy monsters.
Unfortunately most folk remedies and talismans held little actual power over the forces of darkness.
"I see, well the gold is at my best guess an antithesis material or pure metal. It could even be the act of helping and good could crumble it. It is hard to tell without knowing more. This goddess Sphene speaks of is not a deity. But has a connection to this plane through idols and such. If these Spikes and Chains are up and corrupting and cutting off powers to the material plane....well things can get pretty bad. Especially if it is cutting off good and natural connections, or corrupting them. Kane, be prepared to catch the dryad. . You can set me down on the roots. Sphene, be careful"
His words bothered her. If it was evil, why was she feeling this strange connection. Was what happened her her distantly, or more directly related. How could she feel the spike, especially related to the one thing that had drastically changed her life.
Sphene observes the coins in her claw are Molthuni scrip, not noted for their purity. When she presses the coins against the spike, it doesn't react the same way as the shadow creature did. In fact, it doesn't react at all, remaining just as hard and cold as a piece of obsidian.
Dracciothonis, fiernasi, est?
Sphene feels the slightest stirring and hears a painfully weak voice from the dryad.
Jazzai's head spun her ears catching the language even as she tried to make it out.
You hear it.
Fire? Her mind raced, the thoughts of Sphene mentioning the burning of the gold as it lashed out at the creature and such. Was there something to this. Either way it was dangerous but Sphene did indeed have fire. She prayed that the Dryad was going to be okay and if close enough would reach out to touch her before Kane moved her away.
She noted what the others said,
Yes that would be right, that temple was small, and only a few inside.
That would be why she had not recognized the Girl Child, not and god, some other being.
Why was Jazzai feeling things with her mouth. She was an old child that but what she said was..
The voices, the other lives in her blood talked then.
its not pure A whispered voice came into her head,
She had to control herself, she had to make the gold more pour,
If she burnt the Dryad how would that help her.
The other voices other lives whispering.
This close to the spike an anger deep in her had risen again,
The wrongness, she was a hard nosed girl from the city street,
But this new body, this new life, something hidden had come out,
she stopped for a moment getting herself back under control,
thinking clear again.
"by all that's blessed shes till alive, you hear, the dryad is still alive PeaCock, get the healing potion ready shes going to need it if this works"
Now she had to work hard,
Fire? she had said fire? dragon fire must be, lets mix the two, gold and dragon fire
She places some gold coins in her mouth,
"Naides corde meo numquid non me incendere Wosh"
"will try my best Dryad, I do not wosh to Burn you"
Oooo They taste sooooo good
No keep in in there melt it, burn off the impurity's
She made fire came into her mouth, not to much but hot,
She kept her teeth closed but with space to let just some of the fire and gold out. She aimed it at the Black cords leading from Dryad. Trying to not to get any on her.
Flame and molten gold hit it.
The gold melts under the dragonfire quickly, filling Sphene's mouth with a metallic sweetness she'd never experienced before -- indeed, never have been possible before. Resisting the urge to swallow, she chomps down on the black spike which suddenly writhes like a living thing.
It contracts, and now the dryad is no longer pinned to the oak. She limply starts to drop, while the wriggling black thing also seeks escape from Sphene's mouth.
Panicking, Peacock shoots up to try and slow down the dryad, knowing himself the group's most nimble member.
Sphene says with some emergency
"Peacock need help here, catch the Dryad quick"
Seeing of he dos [he dos] she gos after the spike.
Holds the Dryad or a moment to shes to much of a weight, she starts to fall then Peacock comes in and takes hold of her.
"Thanks the heavens, now the spike"
She go's after it for another bite
Peacock takes over and grabs the dryad, slowing her descent into the waiting arms of Kane and Jazzai.
The small dragon turns its attention to the coiling black shape, and snaps hard at it. Her bite, along with the remains of gold lacing her teeth, sinks into the rubbery substance, slicing it cleanly in two. One chunk falls to the ground, the other remains in Sphene's mouth.
"Do we still have that yolk?" Peacock asks. "I think she needs it far more than any of... us... does." he continues, his words stuttering to silence as his eyes land on Kane's revealed form.
"Whoa." He gasps, apparently more awed than scared.
Opens her mouth pitting one part after the other! then if the others are clear. Back along the lines of the threads
[ooc]Dragon fire 30' cone dragon fire DMG over them both[/occ]
Jazzai would help her down to the ground her hand running over her body looking for where the wound was from the spike. Taking her cloak off and laying it under her head to make her more comfortable.
Grabbing the waterskin. Ready to use it on the dryad.
"Great one, can you drink? I have a potion here that can heal you. You will need to drink it."
Unstopping it, she would reach out finding her lips, finding them and would gently lower the waterskin to her lips and carefully feeds it to her.
"Drink Great one."
If no lines She keeps burning and biting the bit left in her teeth.
If the lines are still in place she spits her bit after them then flames them all.
The other half of the black spike wriggles disgustingly, but its threat potential seems rather low right now.
The dryad chokes and coughs on the fluid, and pushes it away with a weak hand. Beth ydych chi? Ydych yn teimlo fel ... duwch?,she asks, weak but clinging to life.
She comes down and with her teeth picks up the other part. Putting more gold coins
devolve the last two parts.
Of course this means she will not be talking with her mouth full.
She eases up on the drink and sighs.
"Nid yw'n yn wreiddiol yn rhan ohonof. Yr oedd yn .... a roddwyd i mi gan rywun a oedd yn arbrofi ar mi. Os ydych yn dymuno gallaf symud i ffwrdd oddi wrthych a gadael y gweddill i chi gyrraedd eich coeden. Mae angen i ddinistrio darnau du hyn."
Looking at the others as Sphene starts taking out the other pieces.