Additionally, you have previously recovered information which suggests that Lyrudrada is an enchanter, and so she is unlikely to have spent all of her memorizations on fireball.
Ishana reflects on what she knows on her own experiences in Kyonin, as well as her own magical experience and abilities. She wasn't a wizard herself, but she drew similarities from them and knew a little bit about the art - her tutors had always insisted. She tries to draw on her old studies now, trying to see if she could pinpoint any weaknesses they could exploit with Lyrudrada.
"If it helps tactic wise Aisha, Lyrudrada is a 3rd tier wizard. It means that she probably has around one to three spells of the third circle, and maybe three to four spells of the second circle. She would have a higher number of first circle spells, maybe four or five, but I view the latter spells to be less destructive."
"Lyrudrada is also an enchanter rather than an Evoker, which means that she primarily uses enchantment magic. We know that she also uses Guardian Wasps, as well as Fireball which means that she probably has only one, maybe two of those fire spells prepared per day, since most specialists prepare a specialist spell at each circle. a plausible tactic would be healing immediately after one of her fire attacks and tying to outlast the damage, or trying again before she can recharge her magic. We could also attack while she is resting, preventing her getting the time to replenish her magic, like the Ogre tried against myself"
Ishana pauses for a moment, before looking at Melira. "Did you want to look at my spellbook if we are resting for a little while? We could exchange spells. If there was something you wanted to learn, I could pick up that Invisibility spell from you and we could try and hide more people - just an idea."
Since Melira didn't seem interested in her water Lyon would put it away. "We should figure out what our next move is before you leave but we will need to keep watch. Unheroic doesn't necessarily mean evil but either way we have to get through them to save the others in the town. I'd prefer to knock them out if we can but I don't plan to die taking it easy on them."
As they discuss their plans Lyon takes some time to focus on her sleeves, transforming them back into the clothing she had copied at Nivakta's Crossing. "Thorn didn't shoot through the cloud so whatever extra senses he gained they are likely limited. I know Lu can heal a little, he helped us after the centaur's remember? But I still think it'd be better to wait until tomorrow, Salazar will be able to cast at full strength again but we took a much bigger beating than they did."
"If invisibility is enough to get close to them I think we can drop one before the fight starts. I can light her up if I hit her, I can also make it bright...like bright." "But I'll need to focus a little more to do that so I can only use one-barrel, sorry it kicks a lot. Melira maybe you could cast your spells on us then stay back with Ishana? I know her spell had a really long range and the one you casted on me lasted a long time. That will leave you safe from the fireball and you can help the other if Thorn goes after you again."
"I'm sorry," says Melira, "I don't have any proper scribing supplies on me. I spent the last of my money on the divination which led me in this direction. Do you?"
Melira nods. "Sure. I can use three invisibility spells, if you like... probably best if others go with you, just to be safe."
Lu takes the time to patch everyone up to the best of his abilities. If they were going in again, they would need every bit of healing they could manage. "That is all I can do for healing today for us, unfortunately," he says as he finishes up.
"I will fly in this time," Lu suggests. They would be unlikely to expect someone in a different form. "That would allow me to get the drop on their wizard."
Marcus caught up to the faster members of the group. They were already in fast discussion. He didn't say anything. He focused on his job.
Melira sighs as Lu and Marcus heal her. "Thank you," she says. "Are we going back today, or tomorrow?"
Kaussek frowns as he looks over the results of the healing.
"There are still a few of us that might fall to one ball of flame or two arrows, either of which can happen in an instant," he states. "I think we should rest, prepare the spells we have discussed, and return in the morning. Three approaching under cover of invisibility would be a great advantage."
"I am happy to do either. If we hit them after their spells wear off they will be significantly weaker. The shared pain spell will last for hours, while the fury of Erastil spell has already worn off. Likewise, they have spent many resources, while we have spent few besides our ability to heal, I believe?" Aisha asks, looking amongst the others. "If we press forward, we risk our capabilities against theirs with the knowledge that both of our groups will be limited, but that likely they have used many of their more potent spells already, while we have only used our healing capabilities."
"Regardless, I will go watch the hill." Aisha says as she begins to clamber up the nearest tree with practiced ease, trying to reach to top of the treeline to look out and see if the three figures were still there. If they were then that meant either they had not been followed... or magical trickery!
"Some of us are still too hurt to put up a good fight and if someone gets taken down we won't be able to stabilize them or get them back up. I think we should rest and attack tomorrow morning. We know what they have so we can come prepared for it but we'll have to watch out for reinforcements or changes in their plan."
Melira idly uses prestidigitation to clean the soot off of her blackened robe and asks, "So, are we heading back to town?"
"We might as well. We've already lost the day and it's not safe here." Lyon shrugs and stands up to dust herself off. "We do still have the horse to help make up the time and with all of us there we can set up a proper watch. If they follow us they won't be able to attack the fort alone and if they call for back up we will at least have a good defensive position."
Aisha climbs a tree and looks back towards the temple. From her vantage point and with her eyeglasses, she cannot still see the three figures at the base of the mountain.
"It seems the best of the poor choices we have," Kaussek agrees. "Given all that has happened I little like leaving the others for longer than we must, though we would be poorly prepared to aid their defense tonight."
"We should head back and recuperate. It will also allow us to ensure that the caravan is well protected while we rest, and not have to suffer a split focus" Ishana replies, agreeing with the others.
Marcus headed for where he'd left his horse, leaving bloody bootprints in his wake. "Perhaps now we can have a conversation about how and why this group consistently causes problems for itself."
The hike back lasts four and a half hours - a bit extended because it is uphill rather than downhill - and proceeds through swiftly increasing darkness. It is a cloudless night, and it is crisp because it is still early spring. The only one who suffers a bit from this level of cold is cold-blooded Kaussek, but a fire within him sustains him during the walk anyway.
When the party arrives back at Varnhold, they find two groups in the midst of a heated argument. On one side is Father Gostovic, his apprentice, and a handful of farmers. On the other side is Jimoth, the ornery farmer from before and most of the rest of the Brevic men and women. The Kellids are all missing.
"We need to go down into the valley tomorrow and man those farms!" shouts Jimoth, "If we don't start farming soon, all of the Varnholders' crops will rot and we'll die of starvation over the winter. Or worse! We'll have to go back to Nivakta's Crossing, hands empty!"
"It's not safe!" responds Ven, "There are still those ogres out there, the bandits are looking for us, and we still don't know what happened to the people who used to live here?"
"What does that matter?" responds Jimoth. "We need to think about long-term survival at the same time as short-term!"
Upon arriving in Varnhold, Lu is called aside by a few of his people. Apparently, one of the young men in his tribe was killed by the ogrekin who had stalked the party up to the town. The dead boy is named Cedric, and is survived by a mother and a baby brother. To everyone's great grief, he was eaten, and not many of his remains, well... remain.
"What do you mean, Marcus?" Aisha asks brightly, head tilting enough for her hood to flop slightly.
* * *
Aisha walks calmly into the midst of both groups, head tilting. "What will we do to remove all of the possible threats and set up a way to prevent anyone from being harmed while farming?" She asks, inquisitively, "I cannot imagine that there is anything we are able to do for such a thing!" she adds after just a moment. "Why would you move into a mountainous area full of monsters if you were not willing to accept the risks of doing so? We can endeavor to protect one another, form a compact of some sort, send messages up and down the roads reliably so that everyone stays in contact, but ultimately such a system will fall through if something goes wrong. We do not have the people to ensure safety. But not farming is absolutely a risk that will cause long-term problems. What solutions do you have to offer?"
Ishana swiftly moves into the middle of the argument with a calm and open expression.
"The both of you bring up good points, and I can reassure you that my friends and I are not unaware of the temporary bind we might be in. Jimoth, right now, my companions and I are planning an attack that should hopefully dislodge the strength of an enchanter in these lands. With the enchanter dealt with, not only will you be able to farm safely without being mind controlled to be by her side, but my companions and I will be in a ready position to assist in repelling any threats such as from bandits and ogres."
Ishana pauses for a moment, still attempting to be as calm as she could. "I personally, value your experience on this matter Jimoth, and you are right in that time is limited. So, with your experience in matters such as crops and this terrain, how much time do we have before farming is critical to beat the season change? Do you have a minimum or maximum estimate? Lets try to set up a reasonable deadline so my friends and I can eliminate the threats to you farming safely as quickly as we can."
Ishana and Aisha suddenly showing up in the argument throws the people watching into disarray for a few moments while they adjust to the newcomers, but then Ven speaks up in support of Ishana's words. "Surely, Jimoth, we could find a few days to wait."
"Sure, we might be able to wait some time - a week, maybe. It's still the beginning of spring, but that means harvesting season is now. If we leave the crops on the vine for too long, they'll all rot." He grumbles. "I'm not comfortable waiting," he says. "What purpose does it serve us? If you fail, we're all dead or worse anyway, and if you succeed, we all waited for a few days or more for absolutely no reason."
Some young man back in the crowd of farmers pipes up. "But what if the ogres come back?" and Jimoth snaps, "Then we make a group and we go f%*&ing kill them!"
"I believe I can find the ogres. I know which direction they went, and their tracks are still fresh enough to follow," Marcus said.
They had too little information. What if they were almost out of time before another, larger army emerged from the temple? What if the ogres were to attack tomorrow? They had no good choices here.
But the truth of the matter was, they could not shelter these people forever. They might kill the ogres and slay this Aria, but tomorrow there would be wolves, or bandits, or a griffon, or something else. Of the dangers, the enchantress seemed more... out of place, more unexpected, more like something they could never be expected to solve themselves.
Ultimately, however, he had no strong argument one way or the other. He would let the others speak for now. For himself, he would think in silence.
Melira frowns when Marcus offers to go after the ogres. Weren't they going back to Mount Eden?
"There is the matter of the trio of former heroes in our way, thought," Marcus continued. "The Ogres went to the mountain. To get to one, we must go through the other."
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Lyon noticed Marcus's injuries but she didn't say anything about it, he hadn't really contributed to the fight so it must have been from a previous battle and it might explain why he was so slow. "He means he wants to blame us for him letting someone die again." If Marcus got on his horse Lyon had to fight hard against the urge to scare it with him on its back. She resisted mostly because the horse didn't do anything wrong and she wasn't entirely sure it wouldn't just kick her instead of running off anyway. "We've gotten this far in less than a week and the only problem we had was leaving you to guard the camp."
***
Lyon sighs as she returns to the exact same argument they had faced before, why did they bother asking if they were just going to do what they wanted anyway? "Excuse me. Hey. " Lyon's last word coming out as more a roar than her normal voice as she attempts to be heard over the bickering. Once she had most people's attention she would return to her normal voice. "Before we decide anything about leaving you should know what we've found. We believe The old residents of Varnhold were charmed by someone named Aira and made to walk into the mountain. While we have theories we can't be sure as to why, we did find some of the more powerful residences but they had been changed and attacked us on sight. We had to retreat after we failed to get through to them but we are planning to return tomorrow and deal with them."
She took a pause to catch her breath and give people a moment to process what she'd said. "Aisha is right that we will never be able to remove all the dangers from here but I still believe the fort is the safest place we have right now. For the people that want to stay in the fort, I will do everything I can to deal with Aria so she can't do what she did to this town again. For the people that want to return to the farms, I will do the same thing but know you are accepting a lot of added danger with that benefit. If you are okay with going out on your own you do need to decide who is going where before you leave, there were only four farms so how will you divide that among you?"
***
Once the farm ordeal had been settled Lyon would to gather up the party. "If Marcus can track the ogres then we can clean up his mess on the way back to mount Eden, we should be able to deal with them easily and Lu can heal us before we fight Varn's team again." If Lu had finished the funeral and gathered with them she would look to him for conformation, if he hadn't she would glance towards his group for a moment. "My biggest concern is that Varn won't just sit there and wait for us to attack again. They have likely changed either position or tactics and we should try to be ready for that."
If they had any free time that night Lyon would try to find Lu and talk to him about the lost tribe member. "I'm sorry you lost one of your own, what was his name?" If Lu tells her the name she writes it in down in her journal. "We can make sure he's honored. Maybe when I go back I can ask The Pathfinder Society to add him to The Wall of Names?"
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"His. Mess." Marcus said flatly. He looked over to Ishanna for confirmation of what he'd just heard.
After he'd warned them back at the tower not to leave live enemies behind them.
After he'd chosen to stay behind to protect the camp while they left it undefended because he knew there were enemies following them.
After he'd done his best to organize a bunch of untrained peasants into something resembling a functional watch patrol.
After he and Ishanna had risked their lives to rescue the ones who'd ran into an entire family of ogres who possessed magic and advanced weapons.
After the planning, and the risks, all necessary only because he and Ishanna were the only ones with the sense to stay behind.
Now it was his mess?
"Go f+#~ yourself." the doctor snarled. He turned his back on the group and headed to his clinic without another word.
Why am I doing this again?
Because it is the right thing to do.
They are ungrateful and shortsighted.
Their choices are reflections on them. Your choices are a reflection on you.
I'm used to not liking my reflection.
She isn't. That's why she is blaming you.
For once I don't deserve it.
She'll come around. Until then, just endure it.
I can do that.
"I'm not stopping you from going farming Jimoth, you are right that success or failure regarding us dealing with the enchanter will likely not affect the farming situation."
"That said, what I am concerned about, are the ogres currently in the area. This is a group of ogres that have advanced weaponry, firearms, as well as magical strength. It took Marcus and myself to drive them away, and even that wasn't without casualties. Once we have dealt with the enchanter, then yes, we can ensure that the farming attempts can continue safely, with you being protected at all times. Without us though, Jimoth, you run the very real risk of being being attacked, or the fields being sabotaged, and any assistance not being forthcoming. Give us a few days, let us deal with the threat of the enchanter, and then we can return, protect the farming efforts, and eradicate the ogre threat."
***
Ishana glances at Lyon rather sharply. "I'm disappointed in you Lyon. Marcus has done nothing but help this group and the caravan. It was Marcus that made the decision to chase after the bandits, Marcus that led the charge against the Ogrekin, Marcus that helps the sick members of the caravan in his clinic, Marcus that burns his own vitality to ensure we can continue fighting after sustaining heavy damage."
"It was Marcus that, facing down an enemy that outnumbered us, had more advanced weaponry, magic, a defensible location, better battlefield positioning, and hostages had to formulate a plan to rescue members of this caravan in a short space of time, because people here in this group elected to leave the caravan undefended, for the sake of getting a single hour's head start on the day. All of that, and while Marcus was successful in driving the ogres away, we still lost a member of the caravan. Do you think that does not weigh on him? Instead of reflecting or taking ownership on your own small part or responsibility you share in what happened, you blame him, you kick him while he is down. Do you pull the wings off butterflies too, in your spare time?" she remarks, finishing in an icy cold tone before stalking away,
Nearly all of the people watching are cowed by Ishana and Lyon's descriptions of the horrible fates that will befall them should they go out into the night alone, but Jimoth nearly makes a rude hand gesture and says, "Bah!"
"Who gave you the right to tell me what to do? Come on Ford." He strides away, picking up a large backpack from beside one of the wagons and gesturing for his son to follow him. "Just wait. These people will fail us, and we'll all be sitting around waiting, and you'll all come to me for food." He and his son walk away angrily into the night. Nobody follows them, and return to the business of getting ready for bed.
Ven approaches the group after. "I'm sorry about him," he murmurs, his voice scratchy. "I know he means well, but he's very unkind. I have faith in your ability to help us."
"What befell you out there? Lyon, you said something about Varn and the others having been... changed? What did you mean by that?"
Alana comes up behind him, bobbing a bit with excess energy. "Can we get you anything? Dinner stew's cold, but we can heat it up with magic! You guys look really tired!"
- - - -
Marcus heads to the medical tent to look after the various mundane injuries and illnesses among the caravan members. When he gets there, he finds the two young ex-bandits Arthur and the other one - Cleo. It seems that they've been hanging out in the tent for most of the day, doing their best to clean off wounds and make sure people are comfortable. They appear to have fallen asleep on the job, one of them sitting on the ground and leaning up against a box of medical supplies and the other sitting in a folding chair and leaning forward onto one of Marcus' cots.
Kaussek watches the bickering impassively. Once it becomes clear nothing further is being accomplished, he comments, "One thing is certain: if we cannot work together, we shall all die separately."
He looks to Alana. "A meal would be good. Perhaps speaking over food would encourage cool thought instead of hot words. We could speak of what happened as we eat."
Lu is saddened to find they had lost another member of their tribe when they return. The spirits of this land had clearly not been appeased sufficiently given all the ill luck they had been having.
He leads the tribe in finding a place to bury his remains. While, from what he understood, many of his kin elsewhere preferred to use pyres for funerary rites, the region of Numeria they had lived in offered little in the way of material for fires, meaning that wood and dried grass were reserved for cooking and heating exclusively.
Heading out to a quiet location, he leads a group of those closest to the mother and Cedric and aids in digging small grave in which to place the remains. Once the hole is prepared, he turns to the mother, who hands him a palm-sized stone inscribed with a symbol representing the soul of a warrior on one side, and a symbol representing ancestors on the other.
Placing the remains in the grave, they fill it back up and then he digs a small hole at the center, placing the stone within. "Tha Cedric, mac Cedric, mac Fir, a-nis a ’fuireach an seo le spioradan an fhearainn. Gun téid an spiorad gu bheil thu a ’gabhail thu fhéin, agus a’ leigeil leat coimhead thairis air do theaghlach agus an sliochd."
"Cedric, son of Cedric, son of Fir, rest now here with the spirits of the land. May the spirits accept you as one of their own, and allow you to watch over your family and their descendants."
Covering the stone with dirt, he places a small cairn above the buried stone to mark its location. In a weeks time he would return and retrieve the stone, which would then be kept by the mother and eventually placed within the hearth of their home. Each time a member of the family died, the stone would be buried with them, allowing their spirit to bond with it. From then on, no matter where they might roam to, the spirit would be able to find his descendants to watch over them. This was necessary, as they roamed frequently, and might not ever return to the location someone was buried.
When they finish, he comforts the mother and walks with the group back to their encampment. There they spend time drinking and sharing stories of Cedric's all-too-brief life, before returning to their duties. Once the stone was returned, they would hold a proper wake to let Cedric (and the other ancestors) know the stone had returned to a hearth.
The fight against Varn and his companions had not gone well, and by the time they are in town Lu has too much to deal with to participate in the back-and-forth. When he finally rejoins the group, he catches the last of Jimoth's argument with the others and watches him leave. He would need to go speak with the man, he was not wrong in his assessment of the situation.
"Fighting any further will not help. I agree with Jimoth had said, we cannot wait here for the lands to be safe to tend to our peoples' needs. While we must deal with these threats, we cannot allow any food here to go to waste, crops included. We have a saying 'Bidh iadsan a bhios a ’dèanamh phlanaichean san t-sneachda, a’ bàsachadh ann'. Those who plan in the snow die by it. We will not have time later to solve the lack of food we will have then, and our people will starve for it."
All-in-all, he had little interest in continuing the squabbles within the party. If they were going to live and survive here, they needed to pull themselves together and accept that it would not be easy, and that their small group could not deal with everything single-handedly.
"Cedric died, and while I had hoped to avoid more death, the spirits of the land here will not bend knee so easily. And we cannot solve every problem on our own. We should track down the remainder of the ogres and kill them first. Regardless of fault, they are the biggest threat to our people heading out to hunt and farm. Then we can deal with Varn and the others."
"Everyone has helped with the caravan, he is the only one that has done it while brooding, pretending he's better than everyone, and blaming us for his mistakes." Lyon gestures to Marcus now walking off leaving the others to deal with the problems again. "Yes it was Marcus that hunted down a group of people that was scared of us. No, Aisha and I were the first to fight the ogre-kin while he stay so far behind he barely even entered the fight before it was over. The ones here he shouldn't have even had to fight in the first place, it was him sending people out alone that got a Kellid killed and he didn't even bother to get his name!"
Lyon takes a breath getting tired of defending herself again a man that's first words to her was trying to guilt her into taking the blame when it was his choice that had gotten someone killed. "Being a doctor is the best thing he's done for this caravan, maybe he should stick to his tent. It was Marcus that let them take the hostages instead of staying together where he would have superior numbers and a better position. You and Marcus both have magic and not having a gun is his own fault, they are everywhere." She motions towards her own weapon that she'd been able to get, it was far more advanced than most guns but even that was a statement to how common they were. "We did not leave the caravan unguarded. You and Marcus where both here, so was Kesten, Alana, Ven Gostovic. The caravan isn't helpless and yes we tried to get a head start in moving against a magic user that possibly killed entire towns in a day but hey he split everyone up on patrols instead of keeping watches in eyesight of allies, someone died for his poor judgement, and he didn't even manage to deal with the threat."
"Yes it was hard for everyone to lose someone in the caravan. Yet the first thing he said to me was how it was my fault for leaving, he's an egotist that can't see his own mistakes and that is the problem. I understand I could have saved them if I had been here instead of him but I tried to go save the entire town with the others. I won't apologize for trying to save lives just like how he won't apologize for losing one. You are lecturing me for doing exactly what he is doing but he's the hero in your mind. We helped defend an entire centaur camp from a Choker ambush during our 'free time', you two couldn't stop a group of ogre-kin."
***
Once Marcus and Ishana had finished throwing their fits Lyon returned her attention to Ven. "Sorry about that, they are still dealing with their failure to save the patrol. I don't know exactly what was done to them but their bodies where combined with various kinds of animals and Lyrudadra Salazar had some kind of tentacles coming from her eyes. We tried to talk to them but they attacked us on sight and ignored us when we wouldn't fight back, I don't think we have any option besides trying to fight through them tomorrow."
She nods to Kaussek. "I agree and I have no problem working with them, its when they start talking that's the difficult part. I understand all of us could have done something to prevent it but I won't let them point fingers at us for their incompetency. Food sounds great."
"Barbarbarbarbar." Aisha mumbles as the group argues, clearly unsatisfied with the thoughtlessness that was going into it. As it becomes clear that Marcus was still stuck on the fact that one nameless person had died, and that it was Aisha's fault because Aisha had wanted to go into the woods and explore the spider's nest for more victims - and only wound up with shinies - as well as keeping a headstart, she starts to tune the bickering out.
Both sides were being stupid. Marcus should not blame everyone for the limitations imposed upon them by the world. That was no one's fault. All of these people had come to this part of the world knowing that they could die. Willing to take that risk. That they had saved two people who had gone off to a place they knew might kill them was good. That they had lost one, as less good. That they had saved the remainder of the patrol group was good. That they had saved the majority of the centaurs was good. That all that they cared about was the bad was beyond Aisha. Why would you focus on the empty rabbit snare when you had 9 perfectly good rabbit snares with rabbits attached?
The party had been immensely successful - despite a few hiccups - and even those hiccups had afforded them valuable information and new data to formulate previously unseen possibilities with. The only truly bad thing was that the person who had died was faceless and nameless. That, despite the heroism inherent in going to a new land, and stepping forward to protect the people, no one had bothered to get his name. And that was terribly sad, she thought. Even her android brain could understand such a simple concept that everyone else seemed to be overlooking.
As the others seethe, Aisha speeds her footsteps. Maybe with a little time the others would come around. Aisha was not good at these things. She had already stated the facts. Aisha hated arguments. She understood that they were important to the development of the characters, the story, that you couldn't just say a person 'thought this' and that people would just accept that. You needed exposition and actions that backed up their moral beliefs. But arguing outside of the books always made Aisha tired. There were only so many times you could tell people they were being stupid before they would stop listening to you about anything, even when you were always right. And that was with the good ones. That was with the people who came back.
That made everything click. These people weren't adventurers. They were fledgeling adventurers. All of their important assignments had surely been solo assignments. That meant that they were vapid, narcissistic, self-reliant, and self-centered! They were like all of the worst parts of children mixed with all the best parts of adults! If this were a story, it was a story about teenagers learning how to get along in a civilized manner! BARBARBAR, indeed!
Aisha would just have to gather them all and tell them how stupid they were being one good time, and if they would not listen and would continue to be dumb, then that was their choice. But until they could learn to act as a team, and come to understand that every member of the team had their own priorities and would act upon them when it did not expressly harm the rest of the team, they would continue to all be individuals, and be petty and spiteful about it.
Suddenly, the story was interesting again!
And so, after the farmers begin to file out, Aisha heads back to the watchtower, as quickly as her feet will take her... there was the matter of the spyglass she had overlooked before, and no tool should be left behind. Especially if it would let her or Lyon work better against the people on the mountaintop.
Alana leads the group over to a little cookfire and, with a few castings of prestidigitation, heads up a bowl of thick stew for each person who wants one. "So they're all freaky half-animal monsters? Oooh! Which one is the scariest?"
Ishana had already begun to walk away after her comments, but still managed to distantly her Lyon calling her incompetent. Inwardly, Ishana still felt responsible for the man dying, because it was her fault that her magic wasn't advanced enough to save everyone. She knew that Marcus had done all he could, and even with everything going right, separating the spellcasters, eliminating some ogrekin early, blinding the gunslinger and ogre, Kesten barely lived while the ogre alone took on three of them at once. Lyon's comments were hurtful, constantly sticking the boot into Marcus over and over again, instead of accepting that they were all responsible, in some small way, for what happened. Instead of accepting that, and moving on together as a team, Lyon was continuing to bring the topic up again and again, sticking the boot into Marcus at every opportunity, and it was this most of all that was distressing her.
The old, impulsive Ishana, would have immediately turned around after the insult, and unleashed every ounce of magical strength she had left but Ishana had mastered her impulses a few years back. She knew that it felt satisfying in the moment, but was never beneficial in the long term. So Ishana did what she always did when she felt particularly vengeful, she took a walk.
Taking deep breaths, she strolls through the town, deciding to explore it further and make productive use of the time. It bothered her that no-one, not even the inquisitive Aisha had searched further, but Ishana always like searching for as much knowledge as she could. Salazar had outmatched them today, but Ishana wanted to be better prepared for the rematch. Forming a checklist in her mind, Ishana decides to explore all the remaining buildings, starting with the Church, as she know Thorn would have spent time there. Usually, she would have asked someone to help her search, but it appeared that she was the only one that actually cared, so she decides to search alone. Ishana also wanted to privately check to see if the Church was still in good condition - while she didn't like the faith of Deadeye much, she knew that it would be important to many of the farmers in the town and was therefore worth protecting.
"You are as much the problem as they," Kaussek retorted at Lyon's claim. "Neither you nor Marcus can let the subject drop, and it is threatening us all. Whose fault it is does not matter. What we do now does, and if we cannot all work together, we. will. all. die."
He stops himself short, taking a deep breath, trying to quiet the fire rising in his veins. "Perhaps once there might have been lessons to be learned, but now, I think our best choice is to never speak of the matter again."
He turns decisively from Lyon and stalks over to Alana, accepting a bowl of stew with a quiet thanks. He does not trust himself to answer her question just now, and so says nothing more to her.
The church is small, its whitewashed walls and stained glass windows gleaming in the sun. The bow symbol of Erastil shines like a beacon above the doors. Behind it on one side sits a neatly kept parsonage, and on the other a low hill holds the beginnings of a small cemetery.
The inside is simply furnished. An altar stands at the far end, simple and made of wood. Wooden pews line the sides of the church. The head of an elk hangs behind and above the altar. It is empty and disused, dust coating the pews. It seems that it has been left alone since the villagers left.
When Lu explains that they don't write down the names of their fallen she returns her book to her bag without the name. "I'll stop by at the very least." She says with a nod. "Thank you saving us. If you hadn't summoned that fog we would have all been easy kills for that archer and there was no way I would have been able to get Melira out - but I would have tried."
"Thank you." Lyon accepts the food, happy to have a real meal. "Salazar was the creepiest by far. Her eyes had black tentacles that moved on their own." She would retell the story answering any questions Alana had as they ate.
"I've only talked about it when others have brought it up. But it happened less than a day ago and I have trouble 'dropping' someones life so quickly. Are you suggesting I just ignore him?"
"The caravan came out here without him and we can keep going without him, he isn't some hero that's going to save us all. He didn't even care enough to get the man's name. If the rest of you are fine when his guilt trips I've already said I'm willing to work with him but I won't let him throw his mistakes on us."
Ishana spends a moment in the church in quiet reflection. She notes that Thorn would have taken great care in crafting this place, most likely by hand, in order to honor Erastil.
"You should help him you know" Ishana mutters towards the elk head. She wasn't really praying, but she knew that Churches were places of worship and if nothing else, it was still a way for her message to get heard.
"I don't know much about Thorn, but everything points to him being a pious man. He cared a great deal, building such a beautiful church, to honor you, and spread his faith. Its not my place to speak for him, I don't even worship the same deity as he does, but I think...I think he needs your guidance and support more than ever, whether he asks for it or not. He is lost and, I think that my friends and I are not strong enough to lead him back home. If you could be there for him in any way, that might give him comfort" she finishes in a soft tone. Part of Ishana though that it was a little foolish talking to the elk head - it wasn't going to be as if it would talk back. Nor did she think anything would happen or change, that some divine light would magically fix everything. She just felt that she needed to pass on a message on Thorn's behalf, since his mind was not his own.
Ishana spends five minutes or so, thinking and sitting quietly on a nearby pew, before quietly getting up and leaving. She walks through the church on her way out, seeing if there was anything she missed, and briefly checks the parsonage, before eventually deciding to leave, heading in the direction of Smithy.
Aisha, meanwhile, speeds down the road, back towards the tower, simply allowing her darkvision to light the way. Faster than a speeding mountain goat, she covers the distance between the two settlements as quickly as a horse could. She didn't have much time to waste, after all. In short order she retrieves the spyglass, but she also checks on the aftermath of the dead they'd left just sitting... wondering if the ogrekin had done anything with them. She isn't sneaky. She figures she'll get shot at once she comes into view of something, trusting in her speed to get her into an enemy's sight range and beyond in short order. The only time she's sneaky as a result is when she reaches the tower. She takes a few moments to piece the trinkets back together, allowing her nanites to engulf the spyglass's bits and reforge the rough edges... if she could find all of the pieces, she could make it whole once more!
Afterwards, she returns just as hastily to town - whether the spyglass was broken or not, the pieces likely still had value in future adjustments... and so, Aisha was pleased with the small moment she'd taken for herself to fix a broken thing. Now... to return to town and eat, talk with the others, and rest.
* * *
Once Aisha returns she collects some of the cold stew - if no one was around to warm it, she didn't seem to act as though she minded overly much. It was never going to be stellar stew given the ingredients that they had available. She quietly watches the others mill about in the area as she does so, just the smallest part of her suit moving away for her to nourish herself, as she walks with the bowl and spoon, looking for Hobble and his Spiderleg, wondering if he liked the toy she had brought him.
Ishana continues walking around town, her dancing lights lighting the way, and she comes to the smithy called 'Torag's Accoutrements'. It is a long, low building, and it's bordered by a split-rail fence. It appears to have an open-top center with a yard in the center, and on one side is a livery stable. The stench of rot emanates from the livery stable, and a great many crows roost in and around the livery. It appears several horses died of thirst inside the stable a few days ago, and carrion birds have been taking the opportunity to feast on them.
The inside of the blacksmith is immaculately kept, with tools hanging in all the right places, sorted by size and purpose, and every surface clean. The raw materials are stored in special marked boxes, and half-finished works are stored in another.