Esmaralda snaps her finger to summon a lute. After tuning the instrument for a few seconds, she begins to strum a cheerful melody for Henric, Tellanya and their goblin friend.
Tellanya smiles, and watches appreciatively, tapping her feet to the music as she sits, crouched in the corner, still waiting for the others.
Kiley gives Munkle as much food and water as she wants, knowing that she had to be terrified, hungry, and thirsty. As Munkle eats, she sits next to her and tries to find a good way to tell Munkle what she had helped do to the Bramblemouths after the little goblin had been trapped in here. After Munkle had eaten as much as she could handle, Kiley puts a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"M-munkle, there isn't a Bramblemouth tribe anymore," she says slowly as she fights back tears. She knew the pain she was about to inflict on Munkle just as much as she knew the pain that she had endured as she waited here and starved. "When we came back with the pickles, the goblins guarding the entrance had changed. we tried to honor our deal, but they planned to stab us in the back. We fought and then-- and then--" Kiley's face crumples as the tears come out and she pulls Munkle into a hug.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Munkle! They're dead. We killed them."
Kiley sobs as she clings to Munkle. She knows what she has done, and a part of her rages and calls her monster and hypocrite.
"Please Munkle, I know you have every right to hate us," she says as she regains a little of her composure. "But at least let us try to make it right in some way, even if it's pathetically small."
Munkle goes quiet as Kiley explains. She's silent for a few moments more, then she says, "Bramblemouth tribe still exist. Munkle still exist, so Bramblemouth tribe still exist. Unless you hurt Munkle?"
She looks at Kiley with wariness and suspicion.
Getting a little anxious, Henric tries to distract himself with Esmaralda's music.
Kiley pulls back and shakes her head.
"No, I won't hurt you, nor will the others," she says, her voice raw from the emotional breakdown. "I know what it's like to lose everyone, and I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for putting someone else through that."
She hugs Munkle again, cradling head like her mother used to do when she was upset.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Munkle. I've already done too much of that," she says as she closes her eyes and weeps into Munkle's shoulder.
Cam shakes her head at the poor goblin’s question. ”We ain’t gonna hurt you none, like Miss Kiley says.”
Gag me with a rusty fork before I die of sugar poisoning.
”Ira.”
You know I don’t like this sentimental crap.
”I’ll just have to appreciate it for the both of us.”
Munkle wiggles free of Kiley's embrace and says, "Munkle leave this room with you, but Munkle go own way. Munkle keep Bramblemouths alive."
The little goblin approaches the runes, reaches out to touch them, and then pulls her hand back. Breathing heavily, she tries to touch them again, but again pulls her hand back.
Cam smiles at the little goblin. "Don't look at 'em while you touch 'em. They can't steal your words if you don't look at 'em."
Kiley walks up beside Munkle and holds out her hand.
"Here. Let me help," she says.
Cam holds out a hand for Kiley to halt, sensing the younger lady would be a bit to eager. ”It’s really easy. Hear all these words I’m throwin’ at you? I haven’t let ‘em get stolen outta my head. Trust me.”
Munkle takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and reaches out, waving her hand in the direction of the runes for a few seconds before finally making contact and disappearing in a flash...
...suddenly, a goblin appears in the circle in the room with the others, eyes closed. She cautiously opens her eyes and lets out a squeak as she sees Henric looming over her before running to a corner.
Tellanya looks up when Munkle emerges, and waves cheerfully. "Hi Munkle," she says, "I thought you would have been out sooner - what happened?" She crosses her legs and tilts her head, looking at the goblin.
She then stands up, "when the others leave the room - I think it'll be time to investigate the locked door upstairs, that we passed. We will find something interesting in there, I'm sure." She nods, with certainty.
"I think you should go first. She likes you more," Kiley says as her ears and tail droop. She knows she shouldn't take it personally, but the twin stings of realizing what she has to look like to Munkle and being rejected by the little goblin hurt. After this encounter, she is going to be avoiding still pools and mirrors for a long while.
Esmaralda jumps backwards at the goblin's sudden appearance, but relaxes her disposition as Tellanya begins to converse with the creature. "Munkle? I believe we have not yet been introduced. I'm Esmaralda. Where do you hail from?"
...suddenly, a goblin appears in the circle in the room with the others, eyes closed. She cautiously opens her eyes and lets out a squeak as she sees Henric looming over her before running to a corner.
Henric jumps back at the appearance of the goblin, nearly tripping over his overcoat in the process.
After taking a moment to catch his breath, he sits on the ground, staff over his lap, and says to the goblin, "Sorry for scaring you, but you startled me nearly as badly."
After Cam goes through, Kiley follows a moment later. She doesn't make eye contact with anyone and stays towards the edges of the group around Munkle.
After a little while, you see that she is wanting to keep her distance from Munkle, Stryn, and Esmaralda.
Cam stays back with Kiley. ”Girly, you have got to be less down on yourself. Don’t do nobody any good, least of all yourself. The worlds full of s&@%s and you aren’t even close to being one of them.” Her voice takes on a harsher tone with that last sentence, and her drawl disappears. She laughs. ”See, even Ira agrees, and she don’t like nobody.”
Munkle shies closer to Tellanya, who she remembered as trying to offer her food, keeping a wary on eye on the rest of you. She seems worried you'll try and attack her, though.
Eventually, Kiley and Cam both come through the circle as well, and Munkle points to Kiley and says, "That one said I could go where I please. You let Munkle go?"
Tellanya smiles at Munkle and holds her arms out as if to embrace her
”Hi Munkle! I’m glad you … found your way out. Did you get the food I left for you? I have some more if you want.” She scrounges around and says gently, ”I believe… the spirits have said that you will go where you will, but they also said Stryn here might want to help you find your way, too. At least until you feel better. Which I believed was very soon. Would you like his help?”
"All I can think about is how she must be feeling," Kiley says quietly to Camellia after nodding to Munkle and letting the others know she's telling the truth. "I don't blame her for being terrified of me. I can't, and I hate myself for doing that."
"A promise is a promise Murkle. If one of us said you could go, feel free to go my dear! you can also stay with us if you like. It's up to you."
Munkle looks at Stryn, then says, "Not Bramblemouth, but if he want come, he can come. Munkle go now."
Munkle takes some food from Tellanya, then edges out of the room, keeping an eye on the group. Styrn glances at you all, then says, "I will keep an eye on her." He follows her out.
Everything dealt with down here, you return to the boarded up room and set about trying to pry the planks free from the door so you can look into it.
Esmaralda tries to push with one or two fingers, over Cam's head, before stepping back and giving her spot to someone else. It is hard to imagine this girl has done any amount of physical labou in her life...
”Don’t you worry about helpin’ none, Esmi. Should have her popped open in a jiffy.”
She sheathes her sword and takes out her crowbar, snapping the planks off as though they were not even there.
Esmaralda is impressed at the woman's sheet strength. "These planks had no chance at all I'd say!"
Before the warrior breaks open the door completely, Esmi puts a spell of mage armor upon herself, just in case...
Henric silently nods at Munkle when she asks about leaving, and gives the goblin plenty of room to not feel threatened. He wishes Stryn well as he accompanies the skittish goblin out.
------------------
When they get to the boarded up room, Henric helps how he can, using his blackwood staff as a kind of lever to help out.
He quickly gets out of the way, though, as Camellia seems to have the task well in hand. "Agreed. I'm not afraid to admit that my own strengths are not of the bodily variation."
With the planks peeled off the door, Cam cautiously opens the door to reveal...a room with a partially collapsed ceiling and a crack that splits through the northwest corner of the ceiling and goes all the way to the surface. The room otherwise appears empty.
There's some sort of semi-transparent creature with a gigantic mouth lurking invisibly in the northwest corner of the room.
"Well, there's nothing here. Let's go back to town and discuss the state of things with our friendly ghost ally," concludes Esmaralda, longing for a hot soup and a hot bath.
Tellanya nods, "it would seem that nothing is here - but why did someone put so many boards on the wall? There may be something hidden - I would spend a few minutes looking at least." On the way out, at least with Esmaralda, Tellanya seems to be speaking more 'in phase' with everyone else.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Maybe there's a hidden passage that the couldn't board up?"
Seeing her new friends poking around, Esmaralda decides to enhance her search with a spell of detect magic.
1=Esmaralda, 2=Kiley, 3=Tellanya
In the southwest corner of the room, Esmaralda detects a couple of magical auras, as well as one in the northwest corner of the room. Of more pressing concern, however, is the creature that appears to semi-transparently manifest as Tellanya searches in the northwest corner of the room. It appears to be a three-stalked fungoid creature with a huge, gaping maw all along its front. Parts of it seem to disappear in and out as it opens its mouth and tries to take a bite out of her!
It's teeth scrape across her armor as it turns semi-transparent before fading from sight again.
This is a phantom fungus, a type of carnivorous plant creature with flesh that renders it invisible to mundane sight.
Esmaralda
Henric
Kiley
Creature
Cam
Tellanya
Henric is scouring the room with the others, and nearly jumps out of his skin at the sight of the spectral mushroom-thing.
He nearly sends a spell at the location where the creature disappeared, but instead holds onto the energy, waiting for it to pop up again.
If the creature appears again, Henric casts his last Fire Ray.
Tellanya nods, "the spirits have guided me true - this is a phantom fungus. Ready yourselves to attack when it appears again!"
Tellanya focuses and steps back from where it was, and gestures, blessing everyone with her strange magic.
"Careful! this is a phantom fungus, a type of carnivorous plant creature with flesh that renders it invisible to mundane sight."
Esmaralda steps behind Tellyana and places her hands in the shape of a cone. A cone of intense searing flames shoots from her fingertips to engulf the creature.
Esmaralda identifies the creature from the brief glimpse. "Careful! this is a phantom fungus, a type of carnivorous plant creature with flesh that renders it invisible to mundane sight." She steps next to Kiley and places her hands in the shape of a cone. A cone of intense searing flames shoots from her fingertips to engulf the area she was the creature in, while avoiding Tellanya perfectly.
Henric is scouring the room with the others, and nearly jumps out of his skin at the sight of the spectral mushroom-thing. He nearly sends a spell at the location where the creature disappeared, but instead holds onto the energy, waiting for it to pop up again.
Kiley waits for Esmaralda's flames to disperse, then steps up to prepare to hit the fungus when it reappears.
The creature fades in, looking to again take a bite of Tellanya, but also looking fairly well burnt from Esmaralda's flames. Henric's bolt of fire launches towards the fungus but misses high.
Kiley swings her greatsword at it, catching it and brutally cutting the fungus down before it can bite the shaman.
It disappears from sight, reappearing, dead, a minute later.
"Well done, team! amazing teamwork!" says Esmaralda, shaking everyone's hand with excitement. She proceeds to help people in searching the room and identifying the auras or items she found earlier.
Tellanya helps, but this time, knowing that the foe is dead, she searches thoroughly, asking the spirits for help to find anything of interest.
Esmaralda isn't sure what the magic auras are, but it seems obvious to her that one of the effects is making an object invisible.
Tellanya reaches out and searches carefully in the area Esmaralda points her to, and finds an item that, as she runs her hands over it, feels like a small chest of some kind. It does seem to be locked, since Tellanya can't open it when she tries, but she can't see the lock to confirm.
"Did any of you come across some Dust of Appearance in your travels so far? short of that, I believe the magic involved in dispelling invisibility is beyond my knowledge still. Some of you may have the ability to 'see' invisible items though... anyone?" comments Esmaralda, thoroughly fascinated with this invisible object. "Also, unless someone has, in the last few minutes, enspelled this chest with invisibility, it may very well be permanently invisible, which speaks of magical power on the level of an archmage..."
Esmaralda is suddenly very nervous, and hopes that the chest will someone become visible again in the next few minutes...
Tellanya hums to herself, "nope! The spirits have not blessed me with such an ability." She runs her hands over it, inquiringly, and then moves her hands on the ground looking for a key of some sort, eyes closed.
"The... nature of what we did with this is cloudy." She cocks her head, "it seems like we tried to pick the lock - but that was when Stryn was here... something... " She looks like she's listening with her eyes closed, and nods, "I do not know what we did with it."
Kiley stares at the monster until Esmaralda shakes her hand and draws her from the whirlwind of emotions she's feeling. After shaking her head and pushing the thoughts away, she turns to whatever it is that has been found.
"Mind if I take a look?"
Kiley spends a few minutes looking for a seam to wedge her knife into to try prying it open.
Cam shrugs as Esmi’s question. ”Eventually, sure. That sounds like divination though, and I ain’t got any a’ that yet. Be awhile before that changes, if at all.” She taps the top(?) of the invisible chest with the flat of her sword. ”We got time to figure it out. Thieves’ll have a hard time finding it, too.”
Tellanya hands it to Kiley, "If you can't get it open - we can take it with us."