What might once have been a well-maintained entrance hall is now swathed in horror, as on the floor above. Here, though, the floors and walls are made of stone. On the floor of the right hall, two ogre bodies lie dead, large gashes cutting across their bodies.
The keep is old, its masonry battered by the elements for hundreds of years. The walls are worn and chipped in many places and significantly weakened.
Each of these round rooms contains a ladder that can be used to access a trapdoor in the ceiling above.
The lathes, sawhorses, and other tools in this workroom lie in scattered, shattered ruin on the floor. The walls are smeared with gore, in some places forming messy graffiti.
This large room is filled with several heavy wooden racks, all bristling with pikes, longswords, and quivers of barbed arrows. The wall where the door once was has been smashed in.
These rooms are where the Black Arrows quartered guests, trainees, and other visitors. The ogres have tossed all of these rooms but haven’t bothered to go out of their way to ruin the furniture—yet.
A long table with benches to either side sits in this room opposite a bookshelf filled with dozens of books, most of which have been torn from the shelves, mangled, and then messily stuffed back in place.
Crates, barrels, and a stack of firewood have been smashed apart and heaped in a tangled pile in the corner of this room. A flight of stairs leads down to the west.
Once used to house the wounded and sick, this chamber is now a slice of blood-drenched nightmare. Hacked pieces of bodies litter the sick beds. The floor is slick with gore, strewn with mangled organs and heaps of entrails. A dead fat man sits at one of the operating tables, arranged as if he were merrily spooning chunks of his own disembodied organs out of a brown bowl. His guts spill out of a large slash in his belly.
These barracks were once comfortable and well-appointed, but they are now filled with nothing but splintered bunks, torn bedding, and smashed tables and chairs.
This ramshackle area is a mess of smashed tables, broken crockery, and rubble. No living thing stirs here.
This kitchen is in total shambles, as if a cyclone had moved through the room, smashed every bit of furniture, bent every bit of silverware, and partially collapsed the stone fireplace.
All that remains in this room is a half-smashed crate and an untouched barrel.
This simple room might have once been a jailer’s den, or perhaps even a torture chamber, but someone has gone through great pains to repurpose it. The air now smells of sweet exotic incense, and veils of multicolored silk drape from floor to ceiling throughout. Between the rustlings of the veils, glimpses of giant cushions are revealed. The floor is strewn with luxuriant red throw rugs and sheets.
Setsuna pauses at Zoli's suggestion to grab the ogres' gear and groans with guilt upon realizing that she forgot to grab any bodies of the fallen. Despite her insistence to the contrary, the Oracle is clearly not in her right mind. She quietly helps the group toss anything of value into Marcello's magic bag and personally carries Jaagarth's wicked ogre hook to the caves.
Speaking of which, the storm quickly routes the survivors to the caves; going any further in such terrible weather would likely be suicide. Setsuna makes sure that the party avoids the tomb. Upon finding a secure spot, she curls up and passes out.
Upon waking up the next morning, Setsuna feels much better physically. Without even thinking, she quickly and casually casts a series of spells to restore any remaining damage to her soul. Once finished, she feels like a million gold pieces.
Physically.
"...Maybe we could clear out the top floor first?" Setsuna offers.
"If we can get up there, it might not be a bad idea," Shalelu notes. Jakardros nods in agreement.
A terrible realization hits her like Jaagarth's ogre hook.
A cold shiver travels down her spine.
Setsuna feels hot tears streaking down her cheeks.
She starts to laugh hysterically once more.
[dice=Dreamed Secrets Will Save - DC 20]1d20+11-1
Setsuna pauses at Zoli's suggestion to grab the ogres' gear and groans with guilt upon realizing that she forgot to grab any bodies of the fallen. Despite her insistence to the contrary, the Oracle is clearly not in her right mind. She quietly helps the group toss anything of value into Marcello's magic bag and personally carries Jaagarth's wicked ogre hook to the caves.
Speaking of which, the storm quickly routes the survivors to the caves; going any further in such terrible weather would likely be suicide. Setsuna makes sure that the party avoids the tomb. Upon finding a secure spot, she curls up and passes out.
Upon waking up the next morning, Setsuna feels much better physically. Without even thinking, she quickly and casually casts a series of spells to restore any remaining damage to her soul. Once finished, she feels like a million gold pieces.
Physically.
"...Maybe we could clear out the top floor first?" Setsuna offers.
"If we can get up there, it might not be a bad idea," Shalelu notes. Jakardros nods in agreement.
A terrible realization hits her like Jaagarth's ogre hook.
A cold shiver travels down her spine.
Setsuna feels hot tears streaking down her cheeks.
She starts to laugh hysterically once more.
In the morning, Eugeni seems to be in the more dour of his two moods. He remains quiet, unsmiling. It happened again! With or without the gods help, I was too weak to protect my friends. Riley will come back, but Lalu and the others... He has been keeping a close eye on Setsuna, his fellow direct witness to the carnage. He's pretty sure Mory either enjoyed the spectacle, or will be fine. Setsuna on the other hand seemed quite shaken.
Eugeni goes to her when she breaks down. He wraps her up in his big, strong arms and whispers in her ear. "We're okay. It's gonna be okay. I know what you're thinking. It's the same thing I always think. It's not our fault Setsu...we did the best we could. It's okay..." He basically repeats this mantra in minor variations until they both calm down.
The howling winds and rains somehow feel right to Zoli, as they descend from the fort and into the caves: like the whole world is outraged at the senseless evil she’s been witness to these last few days. Once down there she sets about guiding her companions safely past the ghosts and to a couple other caves, one to sleep in and one for their dead companions to be laid in. She insists on helping to transport their bodies, and then to arrange them into comfortable-looking positions once they’re in the cave...as much as is possible, given that several have had their heads or midsections completely ruined.
As she shifts Riley’s head into a more natural position, she mutters, ”How can someone so wise be so foolish? I was trying to attract his ire because I know I had the best chance to dodge his blows. You...you threw your life away. I know you ‘ride the wheel’ and all that but…” her voice trails off. I hope you’re coming back, Riley. And that you can bring back the rest of these people. You can right? How long did you say it takes you to come back? It's not weeks, is it? Will you be able to find us?
When the bodies are laid to rest she walks back into the cave where her friends are laying out blankets. Seeing Setsuna alternating between laughter and sobbing, and Eugeni holding her. Zoli walks up and does her best to wrap her arms around both of them. ”I...what do we say? After seeing all of that? Friends dying before our eyes? And all of that senseless cruelty and destruction?”
She holds on tight for several minutes, letting herself start to sob as well. Finally she lifts her head up and declares, "We made a difference though. And Riley...Riley's going to be able to bring them back, right? I wonder what they'll all come back as?"
Eugeni incorporates both the women in his arms as Zoli joins them. "This world is a cruel, cold place. At least we have each other..." Eugeni offers.
Zoli looks in Eugeni's eyes. "Not the world! These ogres, yes. And those cultists. We're seeming to be magnets for evil...but that's because we're drawn to correct it.
"And the world is so much more. Stunning thunderstorms and beautiful rivers and laughter and friendship and love and...and oh I know you lost your faith in Erastil, but the gods are good, some of them anyway! I think you just you need to find a new anchor.
"Just don't let them define the world for you. It's not fair!"
Eugeni looks at Zoli somberly. "I find little evidence of that good...except in us." The archer lays one hand on Zoli's shoulder and the other on Setsuna's. "But, you two are good. I am glad I was able to protect you at least. I couldn't keep doing this without you guys."
Zoli shakes her head with gentle disapproval and then nuzzles it into Eugeni's shoulder.
"I'll show you! Not tonight though. Tonight I need to collapse.
"Do one of you mind...I don't especially feel like being alone...Would one of you want to pull your bedroom up close here?"
Seeing both nod at the same time, Zoli giggles. "Come on then. Let's stay warm."
As they start to drift off her eyes open and she says, "I was serious before, by the way. What do you think Riley comes back as? I think he said it only takes him a day. Do you suppose he'll be a centaur? A goblin? I'm going to guess dwarf. Maybe since all this death has Baern on my mind so much. Setsu, I still don't think I've told you the story of Baern's Breath, have I?"
Setsuna lets Eugeni and Zoli hug her, though it takes her many long minutes to return the gesture. She continues sobbing, though the borderline insane laughter stops. The logical part of her mind that is not shattered really appreciates having two people who care about her (and Eugeni's strong arms). Without them...
She eventually calms down and quietly listens to her friends talk. Zoli's optimism is amazing. Even in the darkest times, the Halfling always finds something positive about the cruel life they live. As for Eugeni, the Archer remains highly pessimistic. Very hard to blame him for being cynical. After all, he also witnessed three men get brutally decapitated.
...And poor Shalelu get...
"What does it matter? I mean, you didn't kill Baern, right?" the Oracle rambles randomly. "Oh man, Riley is going to be so angry with me when he gets back. I got him killed! I got him, Marcello, Jak, and Lulu killed! I was all like, 'Hey! Let's go in via the roof! It's probably safer! Fewer ogres!' And everyone believed me!"
Setsuna tries to suppress her bitter laughter.
"...I could have saved them. You know what I almost did? Cast Sanctuary on Jakardros! You probably don't know what that spell does, so in a nutshell, Jaagarth wouldn't have been able to attack him. Yet I didn't cast the spell. Like that Grease trick, it isn't perfect. If Jaagarth shrugged it off, then Jak was dead regardless. So I decided to summon some fodder to distract that stupid ogre.
"...And Azathoth Above, those damn birds were too late to do ANYTHING for poor Lulu. So while I rested, I looked deeper into the Dark Tapestry. I asked Azathoth for more Power. True, Desna helps me, but He gives me the true Power. The good Power."
Setsuna's licks her lips and gives the ground a maniacal grin.
"I nearly fall to my death? He gives me wings. My summons prove useless? He gives me stronger ones. I need to heal my soul? He gives me the means. All too late, I might add. Story of my life. I get the powers I need to protect people after they get hurt or die. What does that say about me?"
Setsuna starts laughing again.
"...Me? Me! Me. I summon other things to fight my battles. I let you guys bleed while I stand back and offer useless Blessings. I hid like a coward. A coward. That's all I am, aren't I? Some useless, spineless f@&%ing coward who lets- no, makes others die in her place. I really should be rotting in some Magnimar alleyway right now. It would have saved everyone so much pain and agony yesterday."
As she talks, Setsuna shudders and twitches, tears streaking down her cheeks. Her ramblings occasionally slip into Thassilonian or some nonsensical tongue that is likely Aklo. When she finishes, the Oracle falls into another fit of laughter.
At first, it sounds as if she just heard the world's funniest joke. However, the cackling becomes increasingly stronger and bitter. Finally, it turns to tears. Setsuna had certainly cried earlier, but that was largely silent whimpering. Now?
Angry sobbing and weeping.
"...Why wasn't it me?..."
Eugeni wants to answer Setsuna, but is basically thinking the same thing. He just snuggles closer to her and wallows in his own misery. Must be fate...none of us is really in control of our destinies. All we can do is ride the wave of time and take what comes at us as best we can. Things are bound to turn around eventually, right?
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Death is part of nature.
Nothing is more a part of nature than death. The two are inextricably linked. Hunter, prey, herbivore, carnivore, scavenger, all life is surrounded by death -- sustained by it, nurtured by it, kill-or-be-killed, eat-or-be-eaten.
In death, new life is found.
As Riley's life was snuffed out in a single, brutal second, new life was poised to take shape. The violent storm raged outside, a tempest of life-giving/taking energies coursing through the currents and lashing the stiff stone edifices erected to keep it at bay. The blood-soaked stone scoured clean with the driving torrents of rain sluicing down the mountainside.
Riley's essence faded, drawn into the cycle of life and death and rebirth, churned by the tumult of screaming wind and peals of thunder. The lightning danced amongst the clouds rising and falling and then discharging to the earth in white-hot displays of nature's fury. Heedless of the senseless cruelty and despondent grief in the scurrying creatures below, the storm shook the bare stone and battered the poor scrub tenuously clinging to the slight purchase in the unliving rock.
Driving rain, pounding hail and merciless lightning raged across the Iron Peaks. The sun tracks its path across the sky unseen behind the thick, black clouds and passes away. Darkness becomes absolute, punctuated by the flickering flashes of lightning dancing through the thunderhead clouds and occasionally lancing down to the jagged peaks below. Under its supernatural influence, the storm refuses to abate as the night progresses. Tiny, mortal creatures huddle in what shelter they can find as the tempest continues its fury throughout the night.
Time marches onward, slowed by the chaotic tumult of wind and driving rain. Eventually the sun rises, turning the black sky into a dim gray as the storm continues unabated. The maelstrom of existence courses across the sky, and a druid's spirit catches the spinning vortex and gets hurtled back to the earth. Air, rain, stone, hail and lightning mix into a primordial soup that coalesces into a single body, clutching desperately against the driving winds that threaten to fling it from the mountaintop and dash it upon the rocks below.
New eyes open for the first time; new lungs draw in their first breath, and Riley screams.
Zoli tries to argue with Setsuna at first, and then stops her self, deciding she just needs to be heard. She entwines her fingers with the halfelf's, and squeezes. When Setsu pauses, Zoli whispers, "You'll have to try harder than that to get me to blame you. Even the gods make mistakes, but I see how good you are." Zoli raises Setsu's hand to her mouth and kisses her knuckles. "Now get some sleep."
. . .
In the morning, Zoli goes into the chamber to look at the bodies again. The tears roll down her cheeks again, until a fresh round of breathless sobbing takes her. She stands there, looking at the bodies of her companions--from Shalelu who she's seen since her own childhood to Marcello who she'd just met days ago. "I don't know what consolation it is to you, but we'll find out what these Kreegs and Xanesha's sister are up to, and we'll put a stop to it!
"...And if you're willing...well, I hope that knucklehead Riley is true to his word, and that he's back soon to reincarnate any of you who want to return."
She goes back into their sleeping chamber and puts a hand on Setsu's shoulder. "We've got to go back in there, you know. Find out what Xanesha's sister is up to, assuming she's really down there. Do our best to stop her.
"Before we do...I wonder if any of the items we captured from Jaagrath and Dorella could help us? Can you take a look? I'll help too, if I can. I'm curious. Maybe I can learn from you."
_________________
After speaking to Setsuna about the magic items upon returning to the "sleeping cave," something suddenly hits Zoli like a sack of bricks. The realization that...not all of the bodies were still there...Jakardros' body is missing.
"...so yeah, after you've had a bite to eat, do you want to help me identify-- Oooo, that's creepy, what's going on?
"Oh crap, I'd ask Riley or Shalelu to help track down what happened...but oh, they're dead. Eugeni, Setsuna, Mory, let's go take a look and see if we see any clues. Then we better hustle and find out who's left and what's going on around here."
"How are you, Sunset? I am well. So is your father. Wrapped up mission in Mierani Forest. Heard about Magnimar heroics. There now. Extremely proud."
"...Been better. Near Hook Mountain. On mission for Lord-Mayor. I really miss you."
"You sound distressed. What happened? Need me? Can delay Delegation if you return to Magnimar ASAP. ...Can meet you in Turtleback Ferry if necessary."
"An attack. Saw people die. No one close, but… Fine now. Want to leave, but… don’t want to abandon friends. Stay in Magnimar."
"Understand. Want to help but promised to honor your choices. Will be in touch. If no reply, someone will come for you. Love you, Sunset."
"...Thanks. Love you too, Mom.
When she wakes again, Setsuna is considerably calmer and much more composed in the morning. It seems that having someone snuggle with her while she vented went a very long way. She loudly yawns as she stumbles after Zoli into the other part of the cave.
"...Azathoth Above, what now?" the Oracle grumbles as she casts as spell and begins to carefully search for clues.
There are clearly humanoid footprints entering the cavern from the lizard warrens, leading up to just feet from where you all slept. Then they head to the cavern with the bodies, and then another strange set of tracks leads out from the caves towards the waterfall.
Setsuna grits her teeth in frustration and swears repeatedly in angry Aklo.
"...Well, it seems like we'll need to be more careful in the future. Help me with the bodies. We're taking them back to the over cavern."
Once that is done, she looks over the magic items.
Setsuna sighs and begins contemplating over plans.
"Once Riley gets back, we should search the fort for any clues. Maybe Xanesha's sister left us another paper trail. Alternatively, we ask someone in Turtleback Ferry where the Kreegs live and have Eugeni pump the ogre remnants full of arrows."
"How soon do you think he'll be here? Do you know how this works?
"I'm worried about what Xanesha's sister and those ogres are up to out there...though judging from these footprints, whoever ran off with Jakardros' body was closer to your size than mine.
"Not that I'm accusing you or anything." she grins.
"As far as moving the bodies...I don't want to make it harder to track what happened here. Maybe I go take a stealthy look up top with your ring, while you three wait down here? I promise not to do anything stupid.
"Otherwise we could wait for Riley to come back. I just don't know how long we should expect...Gosh this all is so weird. Something about him makes me trust he'll really return--he speaks so matter-of-fact about it--but it's still really really weird."
Eugeni starts to feel self conscious. "It's not that weird is it?"
The storm subsides and a huddling, naked form stirs on the mountainside.
Confusion reigns, but as the winds slacken and the driving rain slows to a gentle mist, the form can finally open its eyes and lift its head. Trembling fingers move over soft, newborn skin. They move over an unfamiliar face and tug at damp, long hair bleached nearly white from the coursing electricity. The hands drift down over bare shoulders and arms, then over a torso with unfamiliar curves.
Danger is sensed; the heavy clouds that parted for a moment seem poised to coalesce and gather strength for another storm. Instinctively, the confused being hugging itself tightly knows that it needs to move off the mountain or it will likely perish. It closes its eyes, and in a moment senses something tugging, drawing it -- some clue that might answer the fog that fills the mind.
The form vanishes into a small, swirling vortex of air and speeds off, flying unerringly toward a squat, dark fortress of worked stone and mortar.
=========================
The swirling cloud-shape flits down into the courtyard, dancing to and fro. Its antics draws the attention of a great bird-of-prey roosting in one of the outbuildings. The roc squawks noisily, agitated, and steps out from its shelter. Its wings are splayed out as its fierce talons tear at the muddy ground.
The cloud rematerializes into the shape from the mountain -- soft, young, and wide-eyed. The great bird pauses in its display, but issues a shrill challenge.
"Yr wyf yn cydnabod eich bod..." A small fragment of memory returns as the being tests its voice for the first time. Pursing new lips, it breathes out a short staccato whistle and the mighty raptor cants its head in recognition. Another whistle, then a cluck of the tongue, and lastly, a melodic laugh as the roc steps forward and nuzzles the soft form.
"I recognize you..."
* * *
The reunion doesn't last as the storm again gains strength and the rains being to pour down in sheets. The skies darken and the shadow of the keep looms ominously. Shuddering, the confused being looks at it and recoils. Though a strong desire to flee, something still tugs toward the caverns beneath the stone. Something dreadful -- an awful reality that equally recoils as it draws one in.
She throws her arms around the great raptor in a tight embrace and decides to heed the siren's call. The answers lurk beneath the surface. Soft, bare feet step lightly around the broken shards of stone and bone to find the cave entrance -- somehow remembering its location despite the fact that the new eyes have never seen it.
Voices -- strange, but familiar? More confusion. Crying, laughing, comforting. Hearts aching. Loss. Tears. Tears falling, but why? Why mourn?
She steps into the cave, tentatively. "Do-- do I know you?"
Eugeni starts to feel self conscious. "It's not that weird is it?"
"I asked about the process back in Sandpoint," Setsuna says to Zoli. "He mentioned that he typically shows up a day later close to where he died."
Setsuna pats Eugeni on the shoulder and says, "There's nothing weird about reincarnation. It's a perfectly normal way to defy death."She pauses at Zoli's comment before continuing.
"Anyway, the results could be greatly varied. Riley could very well return as a goblin. However, the odds are better that he will come back as something... good-looking. Like you did Eugeni."
Setsuna winks at the handsome Half-Orc.
"Also, I think that he could even return as a woman. And if memory serves, he could have gaps in his... memory The odds are actually fairly good there."
Setsuna pauses as she hears a female voice call out to them. She studies the strange woman before her for all of ten seconds before recognizing the way she carries herself.
"...Riley!"
"Who?"
Without thinking, Setsuna finds herself glomping the druid.
"Oh THANK THE GODS," the Oracle mutters. "I was so worried that I was going to be wrong and you have no idea who I am, do you?"
Setsuna immediately breaks the hug and steps back, blushing sheepishly.
"...Sorry," she says quietly.
The newcomer stands rigidly still, shocked into paralysis by the rushed welcome. When Setsuna breaks the embrace, the confused woman looks wide-eyed at her. "You are... you were in danger!" she shrieks. She looks around desperately. "What happened?"
She smells like ozone, and when Setsuna hugged her, there was a small static shock like she's slightly charged with electricity.
"...We're friends, remember?" Setsuna says gently. "You died protecting us. We're safe now. I'm your friend Setsuna, and I'm sorry for scaring you. What do you remember?"
A far-away look descends on her face for a moment.
She looks down at her body, and rubs her stomach. "I had a child once, but no, that was too long ago. I was a man after that. I forgot. I had to forget. Too painful to leave her behind." She looks Setsuna in the eyes. "You said my name was Rilee? Keep calling me that. It will help. Everything's fuzzy."
Setsuna realizes what happened and sighs. "I think that you have forgotten most of what happened after you left your family," Setsuna says softly.
She scratches her chin.
"...I don't know much about what happened before we met, but I'll tell you everything that I know."
The Oracle proceeds to tell Rilee the entire story of their time together and what bits and pieces she knows about the druid's life before.
"...Do you have any preferences on gender? I'm not sure what pronouns to use right now," Setsuna also asks.
Rilee shrugs. She looks down to her nude form and tugs at her hair, wringing a splatter of water from it. "I am what I am. No sense in hiding it."
She gets a pensive look, and gazes past Setsuna deeper into the caves. "There's something here, in these caves. I remember the lessons from the druids. Don't look. Don't go back. It's too painful. But I think I have to, this time."
She swallows hard, taking a few steps into the caves. A slight crackle of electricity dances along her skin.
As the reborn druid steps toward the cavern where the fallen lie, the Oracle says, "...Most of our fallen friends are in that cavern," says Setsuna. "...Your old body is there as well."
"Do- do you think I should? I'm scared-- the druids told me to stay away from Sandpoint until I'd forgotten. I remember that now. What will I remember if I see it? Should I?" she looks to Setsuna, pleading.
"...I think that advice applied to you two lives ago," Setsuna explains carefully.
"From what I understand, that applied to Riley Tobias, not Rilee... Stormborn."
She jolts when she hears that name, then nods slowly. "I was. The storm birthed me, certainly. This feels different than any other time I've been thrown into the maelstrom. It's strange." She lets go of the Oracle and moves into the other chamber of the cave.
Setsuna follows her.
"What do you intend to do with the bodies?" she asks. "...If you mean to reincarnate one, we only have enough material for one trip."
Her hand flies up to her mouth when she sees the corpses laid in repose upon the stone floor. Tears begin to flow as she moves closer, then sinks to her knees next to the lifeless bodies. "That was me. Oh--! she exclaims as more memories surge through her. Rilee jumps to her feet and clutches her head. "All that death!" She staggers back drunkenly, taking ragged breaths.
She looks at the others and finds one she recognizes. "No, no nonono!" she cries as she scoops up Shalelu's body. "No!"
She cradles the body for a moment, then Setsuna's words sink in. "I have the power, don't I? I can pull her out of the maelstrom. Draw her back, put her into something new. Would she want that?" She looks up to the Oracle.
Setsuna looks over at Zoli and Eugeni.
"I only knew her for a few days, but... I'm inclined to think so. She was relatively young for an Elf. Only a couple of decades younger than my Mom. She would probably like a second chance. However, you should probably talk to them. They knew her for years... and I think you did as well."
Setsuna points at Zoli and Eugeni.
"...The pretty Halfling and the handsome Half-Orc. Zoli and Eugeni. Talk to them," she clarifies with a blush.
Rilee looks at the ones Setsuna points out, and smiles. They seem vaguely familiar -- especially the halfling. Looking at the half orc's distress, she remembers her nakedness. "Oh, yes. Social decorum, right? Clothes might be in order?"
Zoli stands with eyes wide and jaw agape at Rilee-not-Riley.
"You're--You're back! Only, it's not really you--or is it? I mean I guess it is--of course it is, since Eugeni's still the same person, mostly, just less furry. I mean--Hi! I'm so glad you're back!!
"Um, you can wear my cloak. It might be a little small for you though." Zoli unclasps her brown-red cloak and holds it out to Rilee-not-Riley.
Rilee accepts the cloak and starts to tie it around her waist. Then she realizes that that is insufficient, so moves it up to cover her chest. She smiles. "Thank you."
Then she looks down at her old mangled remains. "I suppose I have a claim to those belongings, don't I?"
"By all means. They still technically belong to you," says Setsuna.
"Do you...do you not want to look? I can clean it. I mean like this. " she says, snapping her fingers. "At least that, um, gets the blood off of it. And the digestive acids, and the, um...feces from your severed intestine. That hook really did a number on you. Only I guess that's not you anymore? Anyway."
As she helps to gather Riley's old possessions and clean them up, she is quiet for a moment and then asks. "So...what do you remember?"
Rilee looks at the now brain-free holly headband of inspired wisdom that she had pried from her old head, then sets it on her brow. She takes the freshly-cleaned component pouches from Zoli and freezes. "You look so much like--"
The druid shakes her head. "Sorry. I'm still pretty confused. I've never come back to life in a thunderstorm before. I wouldn't recommend it. Well, the storm part. Coming back, that's all right."
She barely remembers us at all! Ulp!!
"OK then, uh, do you need to rest? You can wrap up in my bedroll. We need to go soon to find out what's going on up there but...well, maybe Setsu or I can go scout while you rest?"
Still not quite satisfied, she turns again and asks, "I mean, is this all you'll ever remember? Does a lot come back? How much is lost? It hasn't been that long but--oh--we've been through so much!"
After thinking over the effects of being reincarnated, Setsuna snaps her fingers and casts another series of spells.
"Rilee, with your permission, I should be able to heal off some of that nasty weakness that comes with being reincarnated."
Thankfully, it seems that the reincarnated woman remembers her well enough to trust Setsuna with casting spells on her; everything happens without a hitch.
Setsuna's spell causes small sparks to fly off her skin. She shudders and turns to the Oracle. "That helped immensely. Thank you."
Then she undoes the cloak and puts it around Zoli's shoulders, comforting her. Then she wraps her old cloak over her form quickly. "I'll recall more. Right now everything's scattered, like a broken stained glass window. But the pieces are all -- well, mostly -- there. It's just a matter of putting them back in the correct order, so I can see the picture again. And if there's holes, you'll help me fill them in, right?"
She puts her arm around the halfling and gives her a squeeze. "I think things are starting to return. Like that one in the shadows, for example, who can't take his eyes off me. He's... Morbid? Mopeytime? Moldywine? Definitely an M-word."
Zoli giggles. "Morythine, she says. He can get a bit morbid sometimes, but he's a good man to have around."
While Setsuna goes about healing and tending to Rilee, Zoli starts to get fidgety to see what's going on upstairs. "Say, Setsu, would you mind if I borrowed that ring of invisibility from you?"
"Really, it's OK? Cool, I'll be back in a few. I'm just going to go see what's going on out there. Maybe they're searching for us. Stay alert down here!"
With that, Zoli slides on the magic ring and heads up onto the rain-soaked battlefield. She tiptoes into the keep--at first with trepidation--but finally it dawns on her that the ogres have left.
With a mixture of relief and a regret that some Kreegs are still out there with cruel intent, Zoli makes her way methodically through the rooms. She slows when she approaches the basement jailer's den and smells the incense. Zoli considers turning back but then thinks, Oh fiddlesticks, I've come this far. And between this ring and Chaldira Zuzaristan, what on Golarion do I have to fear?
She waits, listening, outside the room for several minutes. When she's finally persuaded that she's alone, she gives the room an especially thorough search before returning to the caves to report back on what she's discovered.
"I don't know whether to smile or curse but...they're gone! All of them, even Big Sis."
______________
Setsuna politely accepts her Ring back from Zoli.
"Figures. The rest of them never saw us. From their perspective, it must have seemed like some unknown force showed up from nowhere, wiped out their entire army in the courtyard without anyone noticing, and then 'slaughtered' Jaagarth and his group. Even Big Sister probably had enough sense to flee under those circumstances."
The Oracle crosses her arms and thinks.
"I just remembered that we have a map to where the Kreegs might be. If we really want to end this conflict, then we might need to bring the fight to them. Or we can just report back to Magnimar and let them handle the problem. Either option is fine by me. Big Sister aside, I'm not entirely sure why we need to stay here."
Setsuna gestures to the corpses of Riley Tobias, Marcello, and Shalelu.
"I mean, I guess we could march into a den of ogres, but considering how well that worked last time..."
While Zoli ventures out under the veil of invisibility, Rilee turns her focus to the mystery of the missing body. She studies the prints around the bodies hoping to identify them, then follows them to the waterfall.
If she has any trouble identifying them, she unclasps her cloak and tosses it aside. Then her form grows and distorts, and white-grey fur bursts from her skin and covers her as she drops to all fours. In a matter of seconds, in her place is a large dire wolf the size of a horse with piercing electric blue eyes.
The wolf puts its nose to the ground and sniffs, pacing to and fro. If the scent can be found, it leaps through the waterfall and into the storm.
As soon as everyone settles down from Rilee's return, the Druid-ess turns her attentions to Shalelu's body. She carefully removes the elf's clothing and weapons, setting them aside, before carefully coating the elf-maiden's body in the ritualistic oils Zoli has kept in her pack.
Once this is done, Rilee begins the ritual and words to bring the elf's soul back from the Boneyard. As soon as the spell concludes, a slick, oily cocoon forms around her body. The cocoon slowly grows and grows, filling with a thick, opaque liquid, completely obscuring vision into the core of it.
The cocoon grows and grows...and soon it is clear this is going to be much, much larger than anything any of you have seen before...the cocoon twitches and writhes as it grows and expands.
After about an hour of growing, the slimy cocoon ruptures, and as the green, viscous liquid spills out throughout the cavern, the body of a gargantuan crocodile falls to the middle of the chamber, it's scales shiny and glistening as if a newborn, but clearly fully grown.
The crocodile looks around confusedly, taking in the cave it finds itself in, before its eyes settle on the group. "Eu...Eugeni? Zoli? Wha-....what happened?"
Zoli's jaw drops for the second time this morning. "Uhh, Rilee, are you still not feeling OK? Did you summon a talking crocodile? What's going on with Shalelu?"
Rilee blinks several times as the spell finishes.
"Shalelu, you ARE "
Shalelu looks around, her eyes filled with confusion. "A talking what? I look wha-?" she asks as she looks around at herself for the first time, and her confusion is replaced with absolute horror and panic!
"What!? WHAT'S HAPPENED!?!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?!?"
"You rode the maelstrom! You're back, in an amazing vessel! I've never seen such an amazing body! I am sooo jealous!" She gives the crocodile a big hug around its knobby neck.
Zoli's eyes grow wider, and suddenly she bursts into a fit of giggling. "Rilee, you're too much!!
"You've really changed, I don't think you had this big a sense of humor before. Really though, you haven't reincarnated Shalelu as a giant crocodile right? Not permanently?"
She climbs up on 'Lu's back, straddling her massive shoulders. "As long as she lives! Crocodiles can live for hundreds of years!" She pats the side of her, then she throws up her hands. "I don't control it! The storm is amazing!"
"Jealous? JEALOUS!?" she snaps, the crunch of her jaws echoing through the caves like thunder, "You've turned me into a monster!"
Her legs and body slump to the ground, her head resting on the stone floor, as tears roll down her scale covered face, "I'm a monster...I...I wish I had just stayed dead...I saw her...my mother...just a glimpse...before...before...BEFORE THIS!"
Rilee's exuberance falters as she hears Shalelu cry out. She slides off the crocodile's back and moves to look into one of her eyes. "'Lu, I'm sorry! You saw your mother? I didn't know that was possible. I've never seen anyone once I die. I just go into the vortex and then, whoosh, I'm awake again."
She sits down on the cold stone next to her, crossing her legs. "Maybe I should have waited until the storm had passed. It's unnatural, raging above us. But, please, you helped me when I fought against my memories. You kept me from going to find my poor, sweet daughter. The druids were right; I couldn't face her the way I was. She had lost a mother, and I couldn't be that for her. And a ten-year-old boy couldn't be a wife!"
She puts her hand on the rough hide. "Believe me, you are magnificent! Please, give it a chance." Tears begin to stream down her cheeks.
Eugeni looks aghast at the transformation. "Damn....." he says, speechless. "I guess...I guess we could kill you again if you want to go back. We didn't really have a way to ask you if you wanted to return to Golarion."
"...We tried to reincarnate you, Shalelu. Generally, the results are... more ideal." Setsuna winces but decides that honesty is probably the best option here. "...I might be able to fix what happened."
Shalelu looks about at her new body before answering harshly, "More ideal? Give it a chance? How? I..." she looks around the cave, "I can't even fit out of this cave! I'm trapped in here! And it's...it's so cold!"
"That I can solve," the Oracle says. "I can cast Endure Elements on you."
Rilee falls back, hugging her arms close to her. Tears fall in earnest, seeing 'Lu in such distress. "You-- you don't like it. You're not-- you really don't..." Strength leaches out of her, and she falls to the ground.
Setsuna sighs and nods at Eugeni's grim suggestion. "That is one option."
"And come back as gods know what?" Shalelu asks incredulously.
"...We wouldn't attempt a second reincarnation without your permission; that would be cruel," Setsuna says gently. "What I have in mind is more traditional; I can preserve your old Elf body and fix it up for a Raise Dead."
"Yeah, I just meant let you continue your way to the Boneyard and your eternal reward....It would suck to not have you around here any more, but you've gone through enough for one life," Eugeni says morosely.
Setsuna nods. "That is an option as well."
"But-- but she's beautiful!" Rilee stammers between sobs.
After listening to the suggestions, the large reptile shakes its head, "No. Don't waste anymore magic on me. Just...just leave me here..."
Setsuna grits her teeth. "And what? Let you starve or freeze to death?"
Shalelu turns her head away..."What...what else is there to do? I can't get out..."
Setsuna looks at Rilee, who is lieing on the ground, sobbing. "...She might be able to carve a way out of the cave with magic." She begins thinking through all of her options. "Give me three hours, and I could cast Gaseous Form on you?" the Oracle offers weakly. "You could squeeze through the cave entrance without any problem." She pauses and adds, "And I can handle the cold right now."
The crocodilian Shalelu resumes crying, "But to what end? Even if I escape, I'm cursed to the life of an animal...a monster. I'll never be able to go anywhere...to go home..."
Setsuna leans back against the cave wall. "...Alright, but just letting you... slowly dehydrate, starve, or freeze to death? I don't think I could handle condemning someone to such a fate."
"Well...weren't you mostly out in the wilderness anyway?" Eugeni says matter-of-factly. "I used to look like a monster....it has it's drawbacks, but it's not undoable. People would just need to know that you are still you, and then they would accept you back after some time. You could still keep the forests safe, and the people who love you will still love you."
Thron (GM): "But if I got lonely, I could always come back to Sandpoint, to see people...to see you...I can't do that now!"
Eugeni walks over and lays a hand on the crocodile's head. He strokes gently behind her eyes. "Of course. We can tell everyone there what happened, and introduce you."
She shakes her massive head vehemently, "They won't understand...they won't see me for me. I'll always be looked at with pity..."
"I'm sure they'll feel safe being protected by such a mighty ranger," he says reassuringly. "After some time, I will buy you a hat. It will allow you to change your shape into whatever humanoid you want. You could be yourself again. I just don't have that kind of cash right now..."
Setsuna pauses and nods. "The Hat of Greater Disguise."
Eugeni nods in return, "Yeah, that's the one. We could probably afford one if we sold all this stuff....seems to be a lot of magical gear here."
Setsuna sighs. "I... would rather you not just waste away," the Oracle says.
Eugeni looks at the reptile, trying to gauge its reaction.
"You can come through this, we'll be here to help you."
Her face growing emotionless, making the ranger appear less like a thinking being and more like the animal her soul now embodies, causes everyone to fear she may snap. But she answers, "Just...just get me out of this cave...I'll fend for myself..." her voice now monotone.
Setsuna nods. The Oracle falls into a deep sleep for two hours. She feels the knowledge of Blood Money and Haste slip from her mind and be replaced by Gaseous Form and Gentle Repose. Her Ring of Sustenance glows all the while. As the oracle slumbers, the group falls mostly silent in quiet contemplation of the situation, nobody really sure what more to say in regards to the situation...
"We need to rest for a while. Then we'll get you out of here. That battle took everything I had." Eugeni looks sallow and weak, but he is trying hard to appear strong.
Setsuna's eyes snap open after what feels like an eternity of silence. Setsuna lets out a yawn and crawls over to Shalelu. "Here we go."
Setsuna begins to work a variety of magics on Shalelu, one to preserve her former elf body, another on her new form to allow it to move through the, to Shalelu, narrow passages and freedom.
As the magic takes hold, Shalelu says flatly "Goodbye," before floating off and away out of the cave and into the storm.
"I need to get out of here too. Feel claustrophobic in here." the archer grabs his kit and makes his way out of the cave. He makes it as far as the cave entrance by the waterfall before being reminded of the ferocity of the storm outside. "Well. Shit,"
he mutters before deciding the entrance of the cave would have to suffice.
"She hates it. She hates me. It's my fault." Rilee clutches herself and wallows in despair. When she realizes that Shalelu is leaving, Rilee runs to the cave entrance and screams after her. "Don't go! 'Lu! I'm sorry!!!"
"Story of my life. I get the powers I need to protect people after they get hurt or die. What does that say about me? the Oracle echoes.
"You ain't the only one kid," Eugeni says, not really sure that he's older than Setsuna. "Makes you hard after a few times. Still sucks ogre ass, don't get me wrong....but, you start getting over it quicker. There's still shit for us to do, to keep more people from getting killed. These ogres feel like pawns to me....Big Sis is still out there somewhere..." Eugeni turns to the reborn druid. "Let her go Rilee...she needs space and time. She can handle herself."
"What have I done? Why didn't I wait? The storm's unnatural!"
"Ain't your fault, you were trying to help. You don't control the wheel, you just ride it, right?" Eugeni answers.
"It is my fault! I didn't need to pull her through the maelstrom! Foolish! It spits me back confused, and harms the ones I care about!" Rilee exclaims
Eugeni shrugs, "Well....I can't stop you from beating yourself up if that's what you want. Weren't your fault."
"But we let her go! She'll forget herself! Too long, and she won't remember! She'll become what she thinks she is!" Rilee pulls away and heads out into the storm, screaming after her.
Setsuna takes her turn to shrug and answer the druidess, "The spell won't compel her to go feral. She is technically in the body of an awakened animal, and she's been alive for more than 100 years. However, the pressure of recent events might..."
Rilee wanders into the midst of the howling storm, her screams lost in the driving rain and pealing thunder. She staggers drunkenly against the wind, calling for Shalelu.
Setsuna sits down and sighs yet again. "...Now what?"
"Like I said...we need to find Big Sister and deal with her, otherwise all this means nothing," Eugeni says as he takes a seat beside her behind the waterfall.
Setsuna nods and adds, "Then it looks like we're heading to the Kreeg Caves."
Rilee, and more distantly Zoli, hear the sound of someone calling out, "Hellooooo?"
"Did you hear that?" the unusually quiet halfling asks. "Let's go see who it is!"
Rilee finds the source first. She comes upon a man, soaked to the bone from the storm, wandering towards the south gate atop a horse. His eyes widen at the sight of the alluring woman wandering the storm.
The two stop and stare at each other, as the rest of the group almost literally wades into the torrential downpour and finds them.
"...Uh, hello? How may I help you?" Setsuna asks the man loudly over the storm.
"You wouldn't have happened to have seen a primordial crocodile that way?" Rilee asks.
The odd question breaks his nude-female induced stupor, and his eyes turn from the naked woman to Setsuna, and recognition paints itself across his face, "You! You were one of them Magnimar hero folk! Thank the gods! I came to fetch ya! My name is Bran. Bran Fered."
Eugeni strides up behind the girls. "Fetch us where?"
"Back to Turtleback Ferry!" We need your help!" Bran exclaims, almost pleading.
Setsuna raises an eyebrow. "What's up?"
"What's amiss?" Eugeni asks.
"Aw geez, what's going on?" Zoli asks as well.
Rilee seemingly answers for the man, "It's the storm."
Bran nods, "Aye! The whole town is about to wash away! The flooding is terrible! Skull's Crossing musta burst!" He struggles to control his horse in the powerful storm.
Rilee reaches up and gently strokes the horses nose, and the horse calms at her touch. "I wish that I could calm this storm like I did this horse. But it's being stirred, agitated. There's powerful magics at its source."
Setsuna barely manages to suppress a groan. "...I will do what I can to help, but it might not be much."
Zoli looks at the man with concern. "We can come of course...and hopefully Rilee can help to calm the storm." She looks hopefully at the druid. "I'm not sure what the rest of us can do, really."
"Any help is desperately needed! Even if it's just help evacuating," Bran pleads.
Setsuna nods.
"I... think I'll need my old things. And I'll need to get Tanitus. Wait-- that's not his name. Is it?" Rilee asks confusedly.
"Olympus," says Setsuna.
"Right! Olympus! How could I forget that! Tanitus was my husband!" the druid says as another piece of the mental puzzle clicks back together.
Zoli gets a look of shock on her face. "But that's...that's my father's name. Are you...? Maybe you're still confused...?"
"I don't think I am? Confused, I mean." Rilee looks close at Zoli. "You do look... no, that's impossible."
"...What are you saying? My mother died in childbirth. My father, Tanitus raised me. He never said anything about her being a druid though...this must be some other Tanitus. Right?" The 'right' comes out as a very disoriented squeak.
Rilee stares hard at Zoli, shaking her head. [b]"How could I have not seen that before? You look so much like him! You have his...his eyes! That way he crinkles his eyebrow! How did I forget that?"
Setsuna feels as if her brain has started to liquidate under the mental strain of the past few days...
Rilee shakes her head, "I wasn't a druid then. Grovefather Tobias found me... and forbade me from going to Sandpoint. I had to... That's why I kept running off!"
"Wa-wa-wa-wait. This is real? You're my...mother?" Zoli starts to sway on her feet. it's not clear if she's moving to hug the naked druid or run away.
Zoli's words strike as if a lightning bolt lances down into her brain, memory returning fully. She falls on her knees in front of the halfling.
Well, I have clearly gone insane. This must be a dream. Mom respecting my decisions and not dragging me back to Kyonin? Elves reincarnating as Dire Crocodiles? Some random guy we meet in Magnimar being Zoli's long lost mother? Setsuna thinks.
Eugeni snorts in disbelief.
Riley stammers, "The-- the cord was around your neck. I told the midwife-- she had to cut you out. I didn't even feel it. And then you cried out -- it was all I wanted."
Eugeni edges over to Setsuna, and gently takes her hand in his. He gives her a look like, Can you believe this shit?
Zoli talks softly, no longer looking at anyone in particular. "So when you talked about being told not to return to your family...about being forbidden by your teacher...Papa told me stories...she was a kind woman. Wise. Selfless...but not an adventurer...not..." Then she seems to hear Rilee's words. She meets this newly reborn woman's eyes and throws her arms around her neck, sobbing. "I...(gasp)...I don't think...(gasp)...I didn't think I had this many tears in me...(gasp)..."
Bran blinks confusedly at the scene developing in front of him, then turns to the couple holding hands, "Look, I dunno what the hell is going on, but I got a wife and boy back in town that begged me to come get help. You all got horses? We need to hurry!"
Eugeni laughs at the peasant, amused at the absurdity of the scene. "We don't have horses...I think those two need a moment anyway," Eugeni says, nodding at Zoli and Rilee.
Rilee looks up at the messenger, glaring through teary eyes, irked at the interruption. Seeing the anger in the naked woman's eyes, he reigns his horse back and mutters, "Ya...I'll just give y'all a moment..."
Zoli laughs a confused, bemused laugh. "I, uh...I don't think I'm going to start calling you Mama anytime soon. But...but...well, I guess we'll have to talk more. Come on, lets get our things and run. Or flap, or whatever."
A surge of old fear races through her. "I'm so sorry for forgetting. I didn't-- at first. I wasn't allowed. Then I felt guilty, for not being there when you were growing up. And then, and then, it sort of left me, where all the other half-remembered lives went." She looks deeply contrite.
The group rushes as fast as they can down the road from Fort Rannick towards Turtleback Ferry. It soon becomes readily evident why the hunter was so pressing for time. The Skull River is swollen to massive heights from the storm that has centered itself to the northwest, which, according to the map, is the approximate location of Hook Mountain Clanhold of the Kreegs. In a few hours, the waters may soon overtake the road and cut off return to the town! It is a several hours ride/flight, but after just an hour, the group rides out of the storm and the sky clears, returning to the more frigid temperatures normal to the season.
As the town comes into view, one thing is obvious: the village of Turtleback Ferry is drowning. The muddy, surging waters of the Skull River tear through the center of the community to fill Claybottom Lake with a terrible fury--many of the buildings that once sat comfortably on the river's banks are already flooding and in danger of collapsing from the rushing water. A group of children and a woman huddle aboard one of the old turtleshell ferryboats, the tiny flood-bashed vessel lodged up against the general store threatening to capsize at any moment. Beyond, the town's church stands solid, its foundations already three feet deep in the floodwaters. Frantic movement is visible in the upstairs windows as townsfolk trapped inside rush about in a desperate attempt to save scriptures, comfort the sick, and pray for deliverance.
As your horses stamp in the edges of the rushing water, Bran gasps and mutters to himself as he looks at the woman and children in the trapped boat. "By Gozreh's beard, Tillia..." He looks to Eugeni and Morythine on the back of the "horse" and pleads, "It's Ms. Henkenson! The school teacher and the kids! They are trapped!"
Setsuna's form bulks up slightly in muscle, and her Inky Wings sprout from her back.
"I can help them," the Oracle says as she descends toward the trapped teacher and school children. "Rilee, if you and Olympus can assist me, then I would greatly appreciate it."
Once she is hovering before the boat, Setsuna explains, "Pardon my weird appearance, Ms. Henkenson; I'm here to help."