Lureene mutters quietly, "It's about time." before she lapses into silence, thinking about what the party has discovered about Ieana's goals. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she feels.
I hope we can stop Ieana before she finds a way off this rock!
Time: 1:45md (afternoon, 1:45pm)
With a squawk, a vulture drops out of the air, an arrow transfixing its ribcage. It falls right past you to land atop the jagged debris and dead bodies below.
What the hell?
A moment later you hear Sasha cry, "Ha HA! Gotcha!" and there is another squawk.
Upon reaching the top, you find that the stench of death coming from the pit by the lighthouse has attracted crows and buzzards. It appears that Sasha has been amusing herself by sniping them from atop the lighthouse while you've been gone.
"Oh hey!" She waves down to you, "You guys all done down there? Find anything good?"
Alis bites at the corner of her mouth for a moment before replying. "We found some intriguing information. It may prove useful, but it's also disturbing. Sasha, we need to plan and regroup for a bit, is the lower gate open?"
"Perhaps. We'll find out how useful that information is soon enough." Says Darvesch wearily. "As much as I'd love to keep going as quick as possible, I'm hungry and exhausted after all that nonsense. I'm going to go hunt for food, if you don't mind, or would you rather I wait?" Darvesch asks Alis.
"No, I kept it shut, I'll come let you guys in..."
Alis looks at Darvesch for a moment, lips pursed before turning to regard all of you. "No I was thinking the same thing actually. There's a whole crate full of rations from The White Pearl inside the tower here. That will be faster than hunting at any rate."
A grumble seems to escape Talvyra at Alis' remark, but she continues, "I'd prefer not to rest much longer than an hour or so. Long enough to eat, prepare spells, and talk some strategy. If you absolutely won't be in fighting condition if you have to tide yourselves over on rations then so be it, but we have a lot of ground to cover and I would rather confront the Red Mountain Devil before eventide."
From behind you comes the sound of the metal door in the guard room unlatching. Sasha appears in the arrow slit and says, "OK, it's open now, come on in guys!"
Mal cracks his neck and stretches his long limbs as a breeze stirs from the nearby jungle, "A good hunt is how I commune with Jámo, Alis."
He strings his bow and motions for Tal to lead off. "I'm no strategist. You hash out whatever we're doing, while I take care of what I need to do. Pretty sure Little Sister, Darvesch, and Sash are going to need some meat in them after the beating we took down there."
"Ooh, good idea! I'll come along and–"
An emphatic "NO" cuts Sasha off.
Mal's green eyes lock on Sasha's and he says evenly, "You're a good hunter, I know. That's not what this is about though. I can't commune with nature if I'm not alone in it."
With that, he gives his princess a curt nod and lopes off at a great pace before anyone can get another word in.
Priyya looks to Alis and then Sasha. "We might as well prepare a cooking fire. Assuming he brings back enough to share, we all have enough blood on us already. I'd also rather not have to expend any more spells treating diseases for the rest of the day if we can go a few hours without bursting into sores and burning up with fever."
Well, it will be good for morale at least...
Alis nods and looks to the huntress. "Think you can build another fire for us while we get that reeking pit covered up, Sasha?"
Any annoyance at the sergeant's rebuke fades at the mention of fire.
"Hah!," she gives a silly laugh, "I'd have started a fire even if you hadn't asked!"
In short order, Sasha is running around the courtyard gathering pieces of broken scaffolding for wood and batting from the giants' bedding for kindling. You have little doubt that a suitable blaze will be ready well before Mal returns.
While she does so, Sasha lists off some supplies that will be needed to make a suitable cover for the pit: some spars of wood, a tarp, stones to weight the edges, and dirt to cover it. Before long, she has the fire going and gets to work using the materials the rest of you gather to form a make-shift 'lid' for the pit.
"Just don't go stomping on it, ok? It might be able to hold up Ais or Ellie, but... probably shouldn't test it."
Lureene sighs in relief once the group has reunited with Sasha. In response to Mal, she simply waves goodbye to him, well used to his rituals by now.
"Sash, I would just let him be. Some people just need to be alone for a while."
When Priyya mentions the blood, Lureene looks down and is horrified to see the gore splattered remains of Captain Kovack still smeared all over her explorer clothes. She turns to Alis, "I hope you have another of those Prestigitaions handy. 'Lis. ...or some spare clothes... I really don't like it here!" She exclaims.
She takes out her spellbook, pleased to have added a couple of new spells she just learned into its pages, ready to prepare them before what Priyya said sinks in. She closes her book and walks over to the priestess. "Priyya, do you think I picked up something nasty from down there? I mean...I feel fine now, but I guess it would be better to be sure...right?"
"Yeah, that's fine. I don't care." She flips her hair over her shoulder, and gives a 'hmmph'. "His grumpy butt just better not need to be alone for too long, the coals will be ready soon!"
She kicks one of the dead birds on the ground and laughs. "Guess I could have cooked some crow for him to eat. Hahaha HAHA aaah oooh haha..."
Without paying any mind to the rest of what her buxom friend has to say, Sasha wanders off to fling dead birds into the sea to allay her boredom.
Alis can't help but smirk at the thought.
Sasha making Mal eat crow... I might pay to see that!
"You know me, El, don't I always have a spell or a dozen up my sleeves for just such a thing?"
With that, she begins making Lureene presentable again. "You're next Priyya and don't you wander away either Darv! I'm not about to eat in the company of characters covered in ghoul juice!"
After a few moments, she nods in satisfaction. "There, that's better. Oooh Saaa-shaaaa..."
A grin spreads across Alis face as she runs off to clean-up the disheveled redhead.
Priyya nods to Alis in gratitude. While blood and gore did not upset her own sensibilities, it was proper for a priestess to be pure in body, mind, and raiment when entering communion with the powers that be.
Upon hearing Lureene's inquiry, the Surya-ka-Vahaak closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, holding it for a few moments. After a long, slow exhale, her almond-shaped eyes flash open.
"Please excuse us, Darvesch. I think you would rather prefer I examine Lureene in private. I can do the same for you afterwards if you think it necessary. We do still need to treat your poisoning."
Quick as a mongoose she grabs Lureene's hand and very nearly yanks the succubus off her feet as she leads her inside to Ieana's room in a quick march. The examination is thorough if none too gentle.
"Well you've contracted ghoul fever, Lureene. It will take at least a day to start affecting you, but if we don't survive our rendezvous with the Red Mountain Devil then you have nothing to worry about." Her gaze is stern as she continues, "I need to save my spells for that fight and Darvesch's poison needs to be treated now if he's to be in fighting condition. Assuming we don't all get killed and you don't sweat it off yourself, it can wait until tomorrow for a magical treatment. In the mean time," she jams a spoon containing a foul-tasting liqueur in Lureene's mouth, "that will alleviate any symptoms that might worry you and give you a better chance to resist it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to tend to our intrepid Torchbearer. Please send him in on your way out. Also, I'm going to need Alis' help. Please send her in as well."
As the succubus shows herself to the door, Lureene removes one of the scrolls Alis purchased in Light's End along with some of the incense you found earlier.
Fort DC 16
Outside Alis finds Sasha as she's walking back to snag another dead bird.
"Bored?" she asks, a glint of resolve in her indigo eyes.
Sasha shrugs, "I guess so. You guys all need to rest and pray and stuff right? Not much for me to do until tall dark and gloomy gets back."
She chucks another dead bird over the cliffs before turning back. "Why, don't you have stuff to do?"
"Oh I suppose..." Alis knits her fingers together and stretches. "I was just thinking maybe we should have a rematch, but if you're not interested..."
"Haha! Aww, you're too much!" Sasha grins and shakes her head. Yet when she sees the cat-like look in the princess' eyes, she hesitates. "Wait, you serious? Like right now?"
She peers around the side of the lighthouse. "You don't have Priyya waiting in the bushes to gank me do you?"
Alis smiles back at the taller woman. "No, nothing like that. She's inside giving Lureene an exam and then she's probably going to do the same for Darvesch. There's nobody here by you, me, and Tut. You're not scared are you?"
"Haha! No I'm not scared, just surprised, that's all." The ranger unbuckles her baldric and sets it aside, a grin of excitement plain on her face. "I just figured you'd want to wait until you'd gotten some more practice. But hey you like that Lady Luck right?"
Alis' eyes narrow a bit at the inference that she might get lucky.
"Yes, we have an on again, off again relationship you might say. I'd say it was definitely off earlier for sure."
She sets slips out of her backpack and hands it to Tut. "Be a good King and watch Mommy's things, Tut."
The little monkey sighs, finding it incredible that his mistress is really going to play in the dirt again with the bigger woman. He sincerely hoped that she would expect him to wrestle any orangutans.
With an "Eeh-EEH!" Tut waddles away under the weight of Alis' baldric and backpack.
Theme: Git dahn an tha grand naw!
"Remember now," Sasha teases, "don't go fighting like a girl, princess. Nooo kickiiing!"
Before Alis can retort, Sasha darts forward, and quickly wraps the princess up in her long arms, giving her a tight squeeze. "GOTCHA!"
favored
Damn, she's fast!
Even as she struggles to get free, Sasha takes Alis to the ground and pins her in short order.
"OK..." Alis grunts, "Let's make it best of 3 falls, shall we?"
pinned
"Hehe! OK, fine by me." Sasha gives her highness an impertinent pinch that earns the redhead an elbow to the ribs, but she just laughs it off.
"Aww, and here I thought you enjoyed close cont–"
Before she can finish the thought, Alis springs at Sasha, wrapping herself around the leggy ranger's knees and throwing her off balance. Sasha nearly breaks the hold, but Alis redoubles her effort and plants her first in the dirt, pulling her legs back with all her strength until...
"Ok, OK!" Sasha frowns as the short elf forces her to tap-out. "Well looks like we're one-up now, huh?"
Theme: Number One's One Else
"Looks like we are." Alis' smile grows a bit, encouraged that she was finally able to get Sasha down at least once.
"One fall left..."
Sasha nods warily before closing in and trying to sweep Alis' legs. Yet the short blonde lowers her center of gravity and locks legs with Sasha. Realizing that Alis is about to do a reversal, Sasha attempts to kick free but is unable to connect. With a twist, Alis sends her to the ground before attempting to pounce on her.
Luckily for Sasha, Alis gets a bit sloppy in her enthusiasm and is unable to follow-thru.
"Nice moves there, 'Lis. You've got a lot of energy for such a busy day!"
With extreme finesse, Sasha tumbles back out of Alis' reach and rolls to her feet in one move. Even though she's covered in dust and dirt, her green eyes are afire with excitement that she's having to really work for this.
"Guess I'm funny like that," Alis says nonchalantly, feinting for Sasha's left then suddenly switching to her right. Swift as a fox, Alis grabs Sasha's hand and presses it up against her back, quickly seeking to bind the redhead's left hand as well.
Sasha is almost fast enough to free her hand, but not quite and Alis crosses them behind her back before trying to throw her off-balance with a shin to the back of Sasha's knees. However that was what the taller woman had expected and she flexes first causing the blonde's attempt to hurl her on her face to fall short. Even so, she remains unable to break free of the princess' hold.
Sense Motive Checks:
"Gotta admit," Sasha says, strain evident in her voice, "you're a fast learner..."
As Alis tries to put on more pressure to end it, her grip slips and her leverage nearly sends her to the ground allowing Sasha to finally breaks free. The ranger wastes no time in trying to grab Alis' wrists, but ends up with her own locked together instead.
"Dammit!"
Sasha gets lucky once again as the growing perspiration on the two causes Alis' smaller hands to lose purchase. Yet it is for naught. After a bit more back and forth, Alis finally manages to send Sasha to the turf, hard sitting atop her back with fingers locked under the redhead's jaw and knees pinning her arms.
All Sasha can do is to frantically slap at the ground with her palm.
"What do you saaa-aaay?" Alis purrs, enjoying her victory.
"Nanny," Sasha grumbles, neck and shoulders aching from Alis' tortuous hold.
Suddenly a fresh wave of pain shoots thru her as Alis leans back even harder.
"What's that? I couldn't hear you!" Her grin is nearly ear-to-ear.
Sasha glowers silently to herself perhaps regretting toying with the shorter woman earlier or perhaps contemplating revenge. Another hard pull however snaps her focus back to the present.
"OK, Nanny NAAANNY!!!"
With a bit of reluctance, Alis releases her hold and hops back to her feet wisely getting a few feet away in case Sasha decides to retaliate. With a groan, Sasha rolls over onto her back, arms spread out and knees raised. She gives a singular pant and sticks her tongue out like a beaten wolf cub.
For a few moments, she just lies there, looking up at the clouds, breathing hard.
"It's going... to start raining... probably in about... less than 2 hours."
When Alis looks up at the sky, Sasha quickly gets back to her feet and approaches. However, she doesn't let her guard down and locks her eyes on Sasha's the moment she draws near. For her part, Sasha just smiles and shakes her head, extending an open hand.
"You did good. Didn't mind so much when Aerys knocked me out because she's so brawny, but I didn't expect you'd get me too..."
Alis purses her lips slightly, not particularly feeling complimented but realizing that it's still a show of humility on Sasha's part none-the-less. With a smirk, she shakes Sasha's hand and gives her a clap on the back as she's seen others do.
"Don't feel bad, Sash'," she says, trying to be friendly, "I actually have a pretty good bit of experience at wrestling. I was trained at... well, at the Grand Manse of Lyria in Malatesta when I was a girl."
Sasha's eyes widen in disbelief. "No sh1t, really?! But I thought you were royalty, what the hell were you doing in a place like that?"
Although she was expecting that reaction, Alis still shirks a bit and diverts her eyes towards the clouds, a far-away look on her face. "Well, let's just say it wasn't my idea..."
For some time, the two stand in awkward silence, Alis looking up at the clouded sky while Sasha's eyes sweep up and down her figure with a new appreciation. "So more rain, huh...? Your neck isn't really bad off, is it?"
Sasha shrugs. "It's felt better but I've had worse. My Mom could be a real b1tch," she holds up her left hand emphasizing the fact that she's short a pinky finger, "but I guess you already knew that."
A smile finally comes to her face and a bit of warm comes to her eyes, "Anyway, yeah it's probably going to rain until after the sun is set. Nothing as bad as last night, but it'll be harder to see. Say, when we get off this island, do you think you'll have any jobs I could do? Maybe if I have one at your place I won't have to go back to my great aunt's instead!"
Oof!
"I don't know Sash', but I'm sure there's a lot to be done. We shall have to see..."
Looking down, she sees King Tut standing patiently before her, holding up her baldric, it's straps dragging the ground. Alis grins a bit as she relieves him of his burden and re-equips her gear. "I'm a bit apprehensive about hiring the great-grand-daughter of a woman who tried to kidnap me and kill my friends."
Sasha's shoulders slump a bit in disappointment. "Oh..."
"Buuut..." Alis gives her a grin, one eyebrow raised as she clasps Sasha's hand, "I could probably use someone to look after Lureene and keep her out of trouble. So maybe we'll be able to work something out."
Sasha's lights up once more and she pulls Alis into a big hug. "Does that mean if we survive and get off of here that maybe I'd get a signing bonus as a reward for helping to keep the new governor of Dafar safe from ghouls and cannibals and giant crabs?"
Alis laughs lightly and puts an arm around the leggy redhead's waist. "Well I wouldn't be a very well-liked ruler if I had a reputation for being an ingrate now would I? Come on, let's see if our winged friend has caught jungle fever or not..."
With that, the two return, heedless of how dusty and disheveled they both are from their wrestling match.
When Darvesch enters the tidy room that Ieana had slept in, Priyya nods brusquely towards the bed. "Have a seat and let's get that breastplate off."
As Priyya speaks, she lights a cone of incense and sets the burner near him. While he is too polite to make mention of it one way or the other, Darvesch can feel the coldness and weariness fading from his chest and limbs as he inhales the heady aroma.
"This should help to restore some of your vitality. I have no idea if I will be able to cure the poison, even with magic, but if you are half as tenacious as your father, you might just be able to weather its effects and live..."
While she speaks, Priyya examines the fang marks on Darvesch's back along with noting the extent of the necrosis and toxicity in a sample of his blood. "A good assassin would be envious of its potency. It hasn't run its course yet, perhaps only a third. But I think it's enough that you can pull thru."
She looks the dwarf in the eye and says, "I can try to neutralize the poison with this scroll that Alis bought. She also has some doses of anti-venom that might help you. However, the only way for an anti-venom or any treatments to work would be to end the delay spell Mal cast on you. At most, it will last only another two, maybe three hours. My preference would be to treat it now and be done with it rather than having it relapse suddenly while we are traversing the island towards the location of a known enemy."
The incense finally burns out and Darvesch feels virtually all of his vigor return, Priyya's brown eyes are fixed upon his. "It's your decision, Darvesch. Well?"
"Yes. Let's get this over with. The sooner, the better."
Lureene exits Ieana's former chambers and waves Darvesch over indicating Priyya is ready to see him now. Once he has left, Lureene pauses and feels her heart yammering in her chest.
Ghoul Fever? Is it going to be painful, is Priyya wrong, maybe I am not sick? She shakes her head ruefully. Judging by the gleam in the priestesses'eyes, she was well and truly infected.
She recalls her childhood for a moment, back on the Abyssal plane, and realizes with amazement she has never been sick before! Her Mother always took great care to make sure the young succubus had never contracted any diseases, and her obsession with cleanliness certainly was a part of that. She surmises she did not want any diseases to mar her perfect form.
She starts suddenly, realizing Priyya was still waiting for Alis to join her. She heads out to the courtyard and sees Alis and Sasha laughing and talking quietly together. As she approaches, she notices they are both dirty and disheveled.
"'Lis, Sash, are you two OK? You look like you were in a fight!" Before either of them can answer her, she continues "'Lis, Priyya says she needs your help with Darvesch right now."
"In a fight?" Alis tilts her head to one side as she regards Lureene, "Oh, we were just... practicing some wrestling moves, that's all!"
Although Alis' momentary hesitation makes Lureene wonder what's going on, the fact that both of them are smiling and getting along much better than before is somewhat disarming. "I guess we should get cleaned up though..."
With that, the princess quickly tidies up the both of them, checking her mirror quickly to ensure there's nothing for Priyya to fuss over. "Alright, I'll go see what Priyya needs. Thanks for the message."
Sense Motive Checks:
As Alis skips off into the interior, Sasha throws her arms around her short friend and purrs in her ear. "Sooo, did you want to wrrrestle for a bit tooo?"