"It's me, Zoli. Eugeni," Eugeni says. Guess I should have expected this... Eugeni holds up his hands palm out to show he means no harm. "I can explain! May I sit down?"
Morythine looks around for the hat of disguise, but is confused to discover it's still on the bench beside him.
Zoli feels her stomach drop but steps back, nodding, confused, not quite able to make her lips move.
Eugeni sits down. "I uh...well s%#*, there ain't a good way to put this...I had myself killed and reincarnated," Eugeni confesses. He looks pretty embarrassed by the confession. His green skin takes on a purplish tinge as he blushes. After a moment to let that sink in, and a deep swallow, he continues. "After everything I've been though...we've been through, I wanted a fresh start. I felt trapped in that dog's body. So..this is the new me?" Eugeni smiles hesitantly, hoping it will be as easy to explain as that. Inwardly he braces himself for the reaction of his companions.
Zoli listens to the words over in her mind several times, It sounded like Eugeni said he had himself killed. That's not right. Eugeni--reincarnated? She finds her mind's eye filling up with vivid images: Eugeni comforting her after her father's death, burying her face into the soft fur of his shoulder--Fighting beside him against Nualia--drinking together after Kala's death--and a dozen more.
Her eyes start to well up and then burst with tears. She starts toward him and then pulls herself back, not sure she's ready to touch him yet.
Seeing the pained look on his face, she pulls herself together. He didn't need to do this for a fresh start! He didn't!...but he did it, and he's my friend.
She shakes her head. "You're a knucklehead, you know that? You got yourself killed! You need to promise me that's the last time you--you--" She starts to choke up again and then stops. "How...how does it feel?
"Are you...OK? What's it like?"
Morythine's mouth drops open at Eugeni's admission.
He's an even greater freak than I am . . . he marvels.
Impulsively, he reaches out a hand to squeeze the . . . half-orc's . . . new flesh.
"Well, it feels great actually..." Eugeni replies. "I'm stronger than before, and I don't feel as sad and angry. I think I forgot a lot of my past, but that's probably a good thing from the way I'm feeling. I do remember our recent ordeals at the Foxglove Manor though..." Eugeni admits, shuddering. "How do I look?"
"How do I look?"
"Green."
Zoli rolls her eyes a bit. "Well of course green...but which shade? Do you think he's more of a moss green? Grey pine? Or maybe artichoke? That might be it!
"Oh, and you've got nice cheekbones--never would've noticed those before under all your fur--and those little tusks are kind of cute." Zoli gives him a friendly smile.
Eugeni lights up like a yuletide tree. He blushes furiously. No girl has ever complimented me before.
"I...uhh..." he stutters. Then he coughs, and swallows. "Thanks, Zoli."
As the group gets acquainted with the new Eugeni, heavy footsteps can be heard coming down the stairs of the inn behind the group. Those who turn can see a fully armored Destrina, carrying her gear, as well as Darius with his own belongings in tow.
They walk over to the group, and Destrina politely bows, "My cousin and I have talked, and while we were honored to have worked with you to this point, we feel that it is at this juncture that our paths no longer travel the same direction."
She casts one last stern glance towards Morythine, before returning her gaze to the halfling, "Zoli, you are a fine warrior, and as long as the people of Sandpoint have you and Eugeni...and Morythine, to guard them, I trust they will remain safe. May Ragathiel's vengeful sword cut down the ones behind the workings of that manor, and may his shield protect you on your journeys."
Darius simply offers a curt nod, and then follows his cousin out of the inn.
"Whoa," Eugeni says. "I guess everyone is going through some changes right now..."
He looks at Zoli, and then at Morythine. "So, do you guys think we can do this with just the three of us? Maybe we should try to find some more adventurers here in Magnimar. There are so many people here, there have to be some others who would be willing to join us."
At Eugeni's comment, a human male who had been sitting at a table nearby staring at a bowl of porridge stands up and approaches your group. "Join you? Join you for what, exactly"
He arches an eyebrow and leans in close to the half-orc, appraising him as one would study a head of livestock for purchase. "Quite the impressive new body you have there. Young. But they're always young. Helps them adjust. The young are always more adaptable."
He straightens, and looks at the rest of the group. He wears heavy animal hide, has a curved sword at his hip, and an ornate holly headband upon his brow. "I suppose the question would be, why throw away your old body in favor of this new one? Fur and fang isn't necessarily a bad thing, now is it?"
He looks at the shocked faces. "Wait. I'm always forgetting this. Social decorum, right? My name's Tobias. Riley Tobias. I could feel the cycle of rebirth in your friend here. So rare to see it so close to so-called civilization."
Eugeni looks at the man appraisingly, with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean you can feel it? How do you know what happened to me?"
He taps the side of his head. "I watched it, my boy. From a distance, mind you."
He rests his hands on his hips. "There's a cycle of life, death and rebirth. I have a more... firsthand... experience with it than most. So, I can feel it. It's hard to explain the hows of it."
Eugeni considers this. "What do you want?"
Riley takes a moment to ponder this. "To savor life's sweet nectar, to ride the maelstrom of existence, and then to cast myself into the wheel and do it all over again." He gets a far-off look for a while.
He focuses with a bright smile on his face. "But right now, I'll settle for a drink. You can tell me why you seek adventurers in Magnimar in the meantime."
"Well, I dunno. We kinda just met. How about you sit down and tell us a little more about yourself. My companions have just as much say in anything as I do." Eugeni pulls out the empty chair at the table and offers it. "Your name to begin with would be okay. I'm Eugeni, this is Zoli and Morythine."
Zoli laughs warmly at the newcomer's answer. Eugeni doing what he did...well, I didn't think the day would get any weirder. This guy seems like a bit of a character...but seems OK, too. And we were just talking about needing a hand. What would the odds be though...?
To Eugeni, she says, "Gosh, you're still a bit preoccupied, eh? I guess that's normal for someone who"--gulp--"Anyway, he just said he's named Riley Tobias."
To the druid, "So, Master Tobias, pull your chair closer. As Eugeni says, I'm Zoli Tileani and we're the Heroes of Sandpoint and we've got some tales to share that'll chill your bones!"
Zoli starts out with the goblin attack at the Swallowtail Festival (leaving out her own father's death) and then continues with the Glassworks, their siege on Thistletop, the discovery of Nuala's turn to Lamashtu, and Baern and Kala's courageous final stand. The more she talks the more animated she gets: eyes flashing, arms gesticulating, voice rising and falling with the contours of the tale.
I guess I still am my papa's daughter, she smiles to herself as she pauses for a sip of wine.
She finishes with their recent adventures at Foxglove manor and the revenant and the horror of being paralyzed by ghouls and the their final victory over Aldern, the Skinsaw man. "...and we thought that that was the last of him. We came here to investigate his old apartment, because of a note we found...but now it sounds like he wasn't the only one killing and mutilating people so.
"Doing that--well, it's bad enough if it's one sick twisted man, but if it's some kind of plot, this 'Brotherhood' organization--I don't really want to think about that. But I guess we've got to."
The swashbuckaeologist takes another sip, pauses to see if he has any questions, and then says, "Now I'll second my...halforc friend here. Tell us a bit more of your own tale!"
Riley sits quietly and absorbs Zoli's tale. Sometimes he would close his eyes as if he were seeing the events playing out upon his lids, and other times he would cant his head as if listening to the sounds of battle ringing in the past.
When her tale concludes, he rubs his chin thoughtfully. He then eyes Eugeni closely. Hmph.
"My tale? I suppose it started when I was selected to be the next Greenfather -- a lifelong warden of an ancient druidic site. There are a few of them around still. Ancient sites, I mean. Well, there's also the wardens, so they're still around too.
"Much of my young life was spent training for that honor. But the stones wouldn't have it. They are supposed to tether the Greenfather to them, but for me, they knocked me loose." He smirks, shrugs, and takes another glance at Eugeni.
"So without a tether, I couldn't be the Greenfather. So there was no reason to stick around. I spent a couple years in Kaer Maga, learning what it meant to be... what I am now. Did you know there are trolls who rip their own guts out to read portents and signs? I wouldn't recommend it. Well, the gut-ripping, anyway. The portents are more dubious. Especially when they tell you to get married."
He spreads his arms out wide. "But I didn't have anyone to get married to! That's the problem with prophesy. They don't call this the Age of Lost Omens for nothing.
"But they did give me a direction, and a name of a place: Windsong Abbey. So I went. Interesting place. Lots of gods. Not the actual gods, mind you, but they cover their bases. I tell the abbot why I'm there and he just smiles and gives me an egg that promptly hatches. That's how I met Olympus, my animal companion. You see, I wasn't told to get married, just to find a traveling partner. That's the last time I'll ever hire a goblin as a translator."
"Where is this Olympus?" Eugeni asks, sounding quite curious.
As Destrina and her cousin depart the tavern, Morythine can’t resist letting out a slow sigh of relief. “Well, good riddance to her,” he mutters to himself, before returning to his curious study of Eugeni’s new form. He toys with the vial of Eugeni’s blood in his pocket, wondering whether it might even still be considered Eugeni’s blood.
Shortly, Tobias joins the companions and Morythine listens with interest to the discussion on death and rebirth.
When an opportunity arises, he quietly, urgently asks the former aasimar
”How did it feel? I mean, how did it feel, when they killed you?’
Spell prepared: 1st level: magic stone, obscuring mist (domain), protection from evil, remove fear
Orisons: bleed, detect poison, guidance, virtue
"Uhh..first it hurt, then everything just kind of stopped. It was scary, but also peaceful. I don't think I was gone long enough to go to another plane or anything."
Why is he so interested?
"You aren't considering copying me are you?" the half orc archer inquires.
"You aren't considering copying me are you?"
"No, of course not, I . . . well, I guess not, I think . . . ah . . . hmmm . . ."
Would it be that easy to escape the curse of my blood? Could I simply stop being a dhampir?
"I'm not going to judge, but keep in mind you might end up as a troglodyte or something. There are no guarantees," Eugeni warns. "It wasn't cheap either."
"Where is this Olympus?" Eugeni asks, sounding quite curious.
Riley looks straight up. "Outside. Probably on the roof of this very establishment. I think the patrons would appreciate it, and this tavern fare is not his favorite food. He much prefers goat and mutton."
"A raptor of some kind I presume. Anyway, you heard Zoli's story. What do you think about helping us stop the murderers?"
Riley chuckles. "Stopping murders seems like a fine pursuit. Especially, since you so aptly pointed out earlier, rectifying murders after they occur is terribly expensive. Much more effective to stop them before they occur, right?"
Zoli finds herself feeling brighter, invigorated by the story telling, and tantalized by Riley's cryptic references to "the maelstrom of existence" and casting himself "into the wheel and do it all over again". And if this fella wants to help...well, he seems like he can hold his own. Let's let him! "These murders seem...even creepier than murder usually is: flaying of faces and carving of sihedrons into the flesh and whatnot."
She shivers. "Have you heard anything about them? Are you familiar with the Sihedron, or Thassilonian lore? Or an organization with that refers to itself as the Brothers or the Seven?"
As she talks, Zoli unfolds the letter and passes it over for Riley to read.
Riley studies the note, but shakes his head. "No idea. But this ritual the note speaks of? Just the flaying and carving? No dismembering and separating of body parts?" he asks.
"...Are they after you too?" asks a soft, feminine, slightly panicked voice.
Whoever just spoke quickly realizes that she just spoke.
"Oh my... That was foolish... I... shouldn't have..."
A gulp.
Realizing that she has just caught reading the note over Riley's shoulder, the obsidian black-haired speaker takes a large step back. Clad in a outfit of all black, she looks mostly Elven; her height and pointy ears are a dead giveaway. However, "mostly" is the keyword. Elves generally are not as curvy as she is. Additionally, she does not carry herself with any of her kind's usual otherworldly grace, and her sea blue eyes are smaller and not exactly fully monochrome.
The newcomer seems... tired. Not physically tired; she lacks any signs of sleep deprivation sans a little redness in the whites of her eyes, and she actually seems rather alert. However, something about the woman's demeanor indicates that she is just about ready to give up the ghost.
"Sorry to bother you; I'll just be going," the woman declares in a bold, rapid whisper.
Riley arches an eyebrow as he studies the black-clad half elf. "Well, this certainly seems to be the day for unwarranted intrusions. I am, of course, including myself as one such intruder." He looks down again at the note, then back at the woman.
"Foolish, perhaps, but then, perhaps it was we who were more foolish by speaking about such things where others may overhear. Otherwise, we may all be revisiting the wheel sooner rather than later."
'After you too'?!?
Zoli's eyebrows arch up.
When the skittish halfelf seems about to bolt she feels a hand on her lower back: a halfling with cinnamon skin wearing a finely crafted mithral shirt under a crimson cloak. Her dark brown hair is worn in many tiny braids, all of which are pulled back with a sand-colored hairband.
Modulating her normally excitable voice to be more soothing, she says "Hold on one minute. If someone's after you, maybe we can help. Take it easy there. Maybe sit down and have a bite of bread." She holds out the last of the loaf they'd shared for breakfast.
Morythine almost smiles welcomingly at Setsuna, remembers his incisors and stops himself. Instead, he stares.
That creature looks good in black.
Something in Zoli's voice seems to reach the strange half-elf. She does tense when the halfing's hand touches her back but quickly collects herself mere seconds later. She studies the smaller female for a long moment before nodding.
"Very well. Let's start with something simple. My name is Setsuna. What do I call you all?"
Setsuna sighs, obviously a bit uncomfortable with having just given her real name, but nonetheless, she (slowly) takes a seat. For the time being, the skittish woman does not look ready to bolt out the nearest exit.
"Well, you can call all of us the Heroes of Sandpoint, who stopped a cult of Lamashtu in Thistletop and solved the Skinsaw Murders." The halfling grins with pride and pats the head of her finely crafted scimitar.
"As for me, I'm Zoli a student of Thassilonian lore and explorer of ruins. This here are my friends Moythine and Eugeni...and this is Riley Tobias, who we just met.
"But you said someone was after you. I think we better start there. Tell me, what's going on?"
Setsuna looks around sheepishly.
"Well, you're from out of town, so... I suppose I can tell you."
The dark half-elf gulps nervously.
She gestures for everyone to gather closer, so they can hear her whisper, "Not someone in particular. A group. The very same people carving that star into their victims. I saw them murder someone, and now they want to murder me for being a loose end. I know there's at least four of them, but I think there's a lot more; they've done an amazing job of keeping me from leaving the city."
Setsuna shivers.
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Riley rubs his chin as he considers Setsuna's words. He then looks about to see if any more patrons interject in their conversation, or look particularly interested in what is being discussed.
"Well, we might have ourselves the proper components for a snare. You lot are looking for a murderous cult, and the murderous cult is looking for this lass. I believe what we could do with this information is obvious."
"Yeah, but what about the particulars? Do you have a house or something in town, Setsuna? They might be watching it if you do, we could try to set a trap near there." Eugeni says. "Or maybe we should talk to the guard here in Magnimar. They might not react well to vigilantism if we just go after the murderers ourselves."
"Thankfully, I don't live here," Setsuna says surprisingly seriously. "As for the Guard, these murderers tend to find me when the Guard isn't around... I honestly can't tell you how they'd react to vigilantism."
Setsuna sighs. She feels reluctant to put her life in the hands of total strangers, but at this point, the half-elf is not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Truth be told, I just want this to all end. The only reason I'm still functioning is because of a ring Mother gave me; it literally makes living a lot more manageable. If you want to use me as some kind of bait, then by all means. However, that might not be... necessary; based on this letter, it seems like you have a lead on them. I don't know the full story on how you got it, but I imagine the note says something that brought you to Magnimar."
"OK" Zoli whispers, folding up the map and tucking it in her pocket, "Lets head to my room to talk about this more."
She leads the companions into a rather cramped--but more private--bedroom at the Inn.
"No sense in talking further out there. Lets decide what comes next. My thought is that we go check out Aldren's old apartment, see what clues we can find. Setsuna, you're welcome to hide out here, if you'd like, while we go to investigate.
"To be less conspicuous I'd suggest that two of us watch the door from outside and the other two let ourselves in to take a look around. Maybe Morythine and I go in, since we're pretty good at staying quiet when we need to. Riley and Eugeni can keep watch outside and come in if they hear trouble. What do you think?"
"...I would like to come with you if that's alright," says Setsuna after Zoli reveals her plan. "I know that I sound... helpless, but in hindsight, I haven't exactly made it clear that I've been using... magic to avoid my pursuers. In nothing else, I could patch any wounds you sustain."
"I like that, Zoli. We need to go and investigate the apartment. I'm feeling pretty badass in this new body, I want to give it a workout," the half-orc archer says with a wink.
Zoli cocks her head at Setsuna in surprise and grins. "Alright then, if you want. I'm the last one to try to stand between a girl and an adventure.
"Let's go!"
Setsuna merely smiles nervously, not quite sure whether to feel hopeful for finally finding some allies or foolish for putting herself in potential harm's way.
"To be less conspicuous I'd suggest that two of us watch the door from outside and the other two let ourselves in to take a look around. Maybe Morythine and I go in, since we're pretty good at staying quiet when we need to. Riley and Eugeni can keep watch outside and come in if they hear trouble. What do you think?"
"Sounds like fun. I'm with you Zoli!"
Morythine grabs his hat, the old one. The appeal of the flash new magic hat found at Foxglove Manor has paled, plus Aldern's super creepy flesh mask does much the same thing.
He forgets himself and smiles back at Setsuna, briefly revealing his fangs.
The group, with their new acquaintances, make their way through the comparably enormous city of Magnimar, to the Grand Arch District, which is not far from Starsilver Plaza, to the location of Aldern's townhouse.
The building itself is three stories tall, with a ten foot stone wall connecting all the exterior walls of the main structure, as well as the one story side building on the property. Through the iron gate, you can see a small but elegant courtyard. Boards have been nailed over the windows of the ground floor, though the upper levels remain uncovered save for their glass window panes.
Guards patrol the streets rather frequently, being one of the nicer districts in the city, as well as the recent string of murders that has plagued the residents in this district in particular.
When the group sets out, Riley whistles loudly and in response a dark shape upon a rooftop leaps into the air. It circles once and then drops down to the ground next to the druid. Eugeni was correct in that it was a raptor of some sort, but he likely didn't expect it to be this [i]big[/B]. The bird-of-prey stood far taller than Zoli and its massive, rust-colored wings bore an impressive wingspan. It nuzzles Riley with genuine affection with a beak that looks like it could snap bones.
"Everyone, this is Olympus."
"Whoa!" Eugeni exclaims. "He's really big. I've never seen such a big eagle."
Before leaving the Inn, Zoli has a rare flash of wisdom--remembering to tuck her Sihedron medalion under her chain shirt so it won't be conspicuous...and also just catching herself before leaving her coin purse in the Inn.
Outside, when Zoli sees the enormous raptor she gulps visibly. "Not an eagle, Eugeni. That's a roc!" She tosses Riley a curious glance.
"You're sure it's safe right? It's a druid thing?" As she sees Riley nod her face lights up with a grin from ear to ear. "In that case can I ride it?"
"Not right now, mind you..."