The ghost wails and dissipates from the bolt of lightning Ryli conjures, after being harmed by Jeevika’s assault!
With the enemy destroyed, Jeevika immediately rushes over to Elthariel and attempts to stabilize her.
Once it appears that her friend will survive, Jeevika turns to Eugeni and says, "Eugeni, please conjure your Interplanar Mansion. We can't bring back Lorthan in this weather..."
She appears almost absolutely adamant about bringing back Lorthan as soon as possible.
”Bring Lorthan...wait...what...?” Elthariel stammers as her mind tries to comprehend what happened. She sees his still form with everyone gathered there. She anxiously walks over to his aged, bleeding form, and collapses to her knees. Her monochrome eyes well with tears and she cries profusely as she clutches his massive chest. ”Please...please don’t leave me...don’t leave me all alone...” she mumbles. She then turns to you all and pleads ”Please! You have to help him!”
Ryli turns back to a centaur. She touches her staff to the ground, shaping the rocks around the remains of the dwarf into a protective stone shell. Then, using her prodigious strength as a centaur, pulls up the shaped stone and drags/carries it back to the others.
She puts a hand on Elthariel's shoulder, trying to comfort her. "I'm so sorry. We can help. I can invite him to ride the Wheel, to go through the cycle of rebirth that I experience every time I die as an Eldrunai. He'll be different, of course, and I cannot promise that he'll like his new form any more than his old. But there's always the chance for something better," she says.
"I can also bring him back as he is now," added Jeevika as she patted the Resurrection diamond tucked away in her adventurer's sash. "It could happen in less than two hours. Which do you think would be preferable, Elthariel?"
”I don’t know. I don’t care! Just please bring him back!” she says, growing emotional. However, her training starts to reign her in and you can see in her eyes she is starting to think through the problem. ”He...he hated his current body. Felt he was cursed. And I know he wanted an intimate relationship with me that was just impossible...but...well...I don’t know. What if a new form is worse for him? And, even if it is a normal form, I don’t know how I feel about him...which may spurn him further...it’s so confusing...”
"If his new form is worse, then I'll use my magic candle to strengthen my magic and petition Lady Shelyn to restore his original form. Just as we did with Shalelu," Jeevika says reassuringly. "I was saving it for Karzoug, but I think we'll acquire enough funds to get another before then."
Ryli nods, deciding not to say anything further. The concept of not liking your body was still rather foreign to her.
"Let's get these remains back to the cabin. As much as we'd like Lorthan back with us, we can firmly say that nothing further can happen to him, while we are in a very serious, unnatural storm and undeath plagues us while the spirits are not at rest."
"...I would much rather resurrect him first," Jeevika says bluntly. "However, it's not like that objective would take too long to accomplish; Mr. Silva can just Teleport us back."
She briefly looks at Lorthan's remains and sighs.
"I will be healing us back to good health first," Jeevika says firmly.
If she had used stronger healing magic on Lorthan, then he would have likely survived the worm's final act of spite.
In preparation of the teleport, Ryli shrinks down to an Ulfen human. "Don't some undead come back after a while? I feel we need to move quickly."
As you prepare to leave, a soul chilling howl echoes through the storm! Also, the weather begins to intensify, and is now a full blizzard!
__________
Everyone can feel fear creep into their core at the sound of the howl echoing through the mountains. It is close. Only Jeevika seems to maintain most of her wits.
"That howl was supernatural in nature, likely from an outsider," remarks Jeevika. After securing Lorthan's remains and gear in a communal bag of holding, she turns to Eugeni. "Ready when you are.
Her young heart is chilled by the supernatural howl. Ryli shudders, now concerned that she shed her huge elemental form. She moves close to Eugeni and Jeevika. "Quickly. The remains, too. Don't forget them, unless you want to make two trips out here."
"I thought you were already carrying the remains?" says Jeevika. If not, the buff elf sheaths her sword and carries them herself.
The human Ryli throws up her hands. "Not as big as I used to be."
Eugeni waits until everyone is ready to teleport, with the remains in the bag of holding, and then casts the spell to return the group to their airship/extradimensional mansion.
Eugeni works the spell flawlessly, and in a flash of conjuration magic, you guys dissipate in a blinding white light!
...and reappear about five feet to your right and facing the opposite direction!
"Hehehehe, that's a good one, Eugeni!
For reals, though, that howling Outsider sounds pretty freaky. Maybe we should really go."
Ryli looks around frantically, hating the nervousness she feels. "Okay, we have two options: we stick together and move at best speed towards the cabin and see if uniting the brothers stops this awful storm. But we'll probably have to face whatever it is doing that howling. Or, I shift back into an air elemental and I fly back at my best speed and try to do it myself. I don't think anything outside of a dragon can outfly me."
Zoli's lip tightens. "I think we need to stick together. I appreciate the offer but I don't want you out there alone.
"Can someone cast Haste? Best case, we get back to the cabin a bit faster...or else when we meet this howler we are a bit better prepared."
After seeing that Teleporting was not going to work, Jeevika sighs and quickly puts the second set of remains into one of the group's bags of holding.
"Let's stick together and walk. It's just one mile."
Meanwhile, now knowing that there's another potential enemy lurking in the blizzard, Elthariel takes a moment to renew her Abundant Ammo spell with her second pearl of power.
The first leg of the journey isn’t so bad, save for the incredibly strong winds and heavier snow obscuring vision and causing the snow to accumulate at an incredible pace. However, the moment the spell letting you walk on air ends, though, things slow down.
With the snow deepening, visibility lessening, and wind whistling through your ears, the going slows a great deal. 10 minutes more pass and you’ve only covered maybe half of what remained to get to the cabin. Another ten minutes more should bring you back to it.
Then, from beyond your vision in the snow yet frighteningly close, another howl is loosed! Eugeni, Jeevika, and Zoli ready themselves for an Attack while Ryli and Elthariel cower down in fear!
Suddenly, a large, white form that looks like a humanoid deer the size of a giant flies into view through the storm! It’s lower legs look to be burned off stumps, and blood drips from its teeth!
It whisks in and digs a claw into Eugeni, sinking it’s claws in deep before flying up and back into the storm, carrying Eugeni with him!
__________
Rather than panicking, losing herself to anger, or just giving up entirely, the old and experienced Jeevika calmly centers herself and begins to call forth some extra muscle.
Zoli gasps as the monstrous Outsider plucks up Eugeni and carries him away.
"Jeeves, did that thing try to talk to you in your mind? It just whispered that it wants the bones...and you. And would let the rest of us go if I leave.
"I'm not buying it, obs! Demon-things don't have a great track record for honesty in my book."
Zoli says the trigger word for her recently purchased Celestial Armor And readies herself to fly and strike the demon-thing, when it next appears.
The storm and winds are suddenly all you can hear on the ground. The creature, nor Eugeni do not show themselves.
___________
As Jeevika's four air elementals materialize, Jeevika quickly casts her remaining Freedom of Movement on herself. Realizing that they will probably never find Eugeni in this weather, she does not immediately hand out marching orders.
"I haven't heard anything," Jeevika answers Zoli. "I would strongly advise staying together too. Us getting separated is surely what an ambush monster would want."
In her mind, she says something else.
::If you don't get down here right now, if he dies, I will destroy the bones:: she projects spitefully.
Alone. Dying. It shouldn't matter, but it does. It does now! I'll never see Kallie, never be accepted back in her herd. I'm so alone.
Ryli huddles in the snow.
Zoli says a quick prayer to Chaldira Zuzaristan and then listens intently, trying to get any clue as to where to go.
"Jeeves, your elementals can fly faster than I can. Please, have them carry me--or all of us--to it!
"I'll point the way!"
"That is a good plan. Once we have some solid clue where the blasted thing is, I will hand out those orders. The only issue is that we might never mind it in this weather. I can barely see my hand in front of my face!" Jeevika replies. "So for now, please stay with me. Together, we can save Eugeni and bring some sanity to these godsforsaken mountains."
Zoli spends the next few seconds trying to key in on the creature and Eugeni. Ultimately, she can beat figure they went straight up and kept going that way.
___________
The moment Zoli gives Jeevika a clue, she acts as promised. The Holy Vindicator has her elementals secure each Ranger in a secure grip. If Ryli and Elthariel aren't exactly up for flight, then she changes the orders for two elementals to just guarding them until they get their wits about them.
Before the flight, Jeevika produces a potion and downs it.
From there, she has the elementals fly everyone straight upward...
Ryli comes to out of her catatonia and realizes she's being flown into the air by a huge elemental. Her hooves start kicking, not used to being airborne in this form.
"Wait, no! The remains! We're so close! What if bringing the bones back to the cabin weakens this creature?"
She fights to break free from the elemental's grip.
As they take off into the air, Zoli hollers, "WOO HOO!! You know, I've always wanted to ride a tornado through a blizzard, and then jump from it onto the back of a flying demon."
Seeing Ryli struggle, Zoli says, "Ryli, Eugeni is in mortal danger. We've got to save him! Please, trust me.
"If we can get close, can you still cast Freedom of Movement? That would rescue him from its clutches."
"The cabin is at least ten minutes away! Eugeni won't be alive in ten minutes!" Jeevika counters. "If we abandon him now, we will never see him again!"
I have yielded to your desires numerous times today, Grandmother. Now it is time for me to lead.
"Zoli said it wants the bones! We'll find Eugeni and bring him back from Beyond if we have to! But we need to finish the mission!"
"Because that brutal monster is such an honest paragon of truth, right?! No, it will just murder Eugeni, pick us off one by one, and then retrieve the bones from our cold, dead corpses. If we somehow get to the cabin, it will just bring the place down on us," Jeevika again counters, her patience starting to wear thin.
"She clearly isn't thinking straight," Jeevika says dismissively to Zoli. "As reluctant as I am to split our group, she should be fine staying grounded..."