Drask returns to the inn and practically crashes into his bed, snoring almost instantly.
Veltariel was awake before the morning sun. She had donned her armor and prepared her pack and things for travel. She had already accepted that she would be asked to leave with the dawn. She stood at the window and watched as the sun rose and shone it’s light down onto this repulsive collection of buildings these humans called a city, the lack of interaction with nature making her sick to her stomach.
She sighed and clenched her jaw as she shouldered her pack and made her way out of her room and downstairs to the common room, where she deposits her pack by the door and then headed to the dining area to find some sort of food that could pass as a breakfast before she departed back into the streets of yet another human city. She maintained a stoic, emotionless expression on her face, the only difference in her appearance from your first meeting being a few less arrows in her quiver and a loop of golden hair tied firmly around her belt.
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Esrisi is an earlier riser, but yesterday was a beating for her (quite literally). While she typically is up around dawn, it wasn't until the hustle and bustle about the lodge a few hours later got her on her feet. Groaning, she groggily sat up and poked Caroliss "Wake up Car, it's morning."
When she didn't get up, she yanked the blanket off and stood up. "Come on sleepyhead, I'm sure they have coffee somewhere." Her response was grumbles from Caroliss and the cleric yanking the blanket back and sticking it over he head.
Shaking her own head at the sleepy woman, she shrugs her shoulders and begins to walk off. "I'm going to bathe, I'll get you some coffee when you are still here when I get back."
On the way to the bath she reflects upon the craziness that was the previous day. Sent on a real mission as a Pathfinder, working with her first team, finding and recovering their quarry...
... getting beat up by a team member, acting like a complete idiot, insulting your best friend, shaming yourself in front of your Venture Captain who will probably change her mind and strip you of being a Pathfinder, oh and your hands ... GODS! My hands!
She panics as she remembers her hands and hurriedly strips off her crusty, disgusting stained gloves and stares down at her emerald scaled hands. Turning them over, she recalls the burning sensation from last night and is dismayed that they didn't fade like her feeling of pride did when she turned the shard over last night.
When she reaches the bath she is pleased to see no one currently using the facilities and though the water is no longer hot, she strips off her disgusting garments and begins to clean herself (a process that takes longer than she is used to). While cleaning herself, she panics when nearly a two foot section of her hair appears to be completely missing.
The oracle issues a shrill scream at the top of her lungs, surely waking the entirety of the rest of the lodge.
Veltariel simply sits quietly and stone faced at the scream, her hands folded in front of her at the table, sitting in a seat that has no doors approaching to her rear. She wanted to face whoever it was that may come to kick her out of the manor/lodge.
Caroliss stirs in the morning--definitely sometime after Esrisi wakes up--and heads to the common room for breakfast. She's surprised to find Veltariel sitting there, stone-faced. Do I sit next to her? Do I ignore her?
She thinks about it for a while as she gets her food and drink, pretending like she didn't notice. She sees Veltariel's bag next to her. It looks like the elf was ready to depart. Good, I guess she's leaving. And then, she sees something else, the loop of hair tied around her belt. Damn it, she's wearing that as a trophy? A sense of determination comes over her. After grabbing an extra coffee, she sits down, and hands the extra drink to Veltariel.
"મને લાગે છે કે ગઈકાલે વસ્તુઓ થોડી ઓછી થઈ ગઈ છે. એવું લાગે છે કે તમે છોડી રહ્યા છો. તમે આગળ ક્યાં જઈ રહ્યા છો? તમારે પહેલા તમારા વળતરના ભાગનો દાવો કરવો જોઈએ. તમારા ધનુષ્ય અને તલવાર મૂલ્યવાન હતા."
Your fists, on the other hand, were not so valuable.
As Caroliss hears Esrisi scream though, she sighs, looks toward the lock of hair on Vel's belt and downs the rest of her coffee. "If you'll excuse me." Abandoning her half-eaten food, she makes her way over to the facilities and finds Esrisi there, staring herself in the mirror. "So . . . I'm guessing you don't really like your new look."
”હું માનતો નથી કે મને વધુ લાંબી આવકાર મળશે ...” she mutters moments after the scream in reply to Caroliss.
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Esrisi moves to another mirror, convinced that that the other one had an enchantment that made her hair magically disappear. She frantically felt around her head for her missing hair, confused as to what happened. Where could it have possibly gone?
The thought that the elf could have possibly done this to her hasn't crossed her mind yet, especially considering the apology (of sorts) she issued to her last night. Moving her eyes from her new hair style down to her hands, she falls to her knees and then buries her head in her hands and starts to sob.
When Caroliss enters the room she doesn't put two and two together right away and tells her to go way. In between sobs she blurts out "You can't see me like this! I'm hideous! I've half snake and half.. half.. half whatever doesn't have long hair!"
"So . . . I'm guessing you don't really like your new look."
"I'M HIDEOUS! LOOK AT ME!" she half-screams at her friend, desperately clawing at her remaining hair and showing Caroliss her hands again.
For the first time Esrisi considers that Caroliss already knew her hair was short. She wipes away her tears, only to recoil from the scaly fingers of her own touch. Using her forearm she wipes the ears away while she starts "You. You knew? When... How'd... " she trails off as she begins to race back trying to frantically recall the nights of last night and where it was that she had her hair cut.
Did she cut it off because it was ruined from falling into the Pit?
Did she lose some memories because of that shard thing?
Did it fall off when you picked up the shard or when you placed the stone in it?
The only thing she comes up with was the encounter with Tower Girls. Did Not-Ayala hit you in the mist? I don't remember getting injured though...
She gives up, bewilderment in her sobbing eyes. She looks at Caroliss for help "How?"
After turning over their latest acquisition (prisoner) to the lodge, Sapher did a quick wash in cold water (created by herself since the tub water was disgusting), and then bed.
Morning,
In the dining room she gets a heavenly portion of tubers, fruits, and bread. One thing humans do better, BREAD! So fluffy and moist . Then sits next to Vels, after Caroliss runs off to investigate the scream.
"Good morning." she says good naturedly. "Did you sleep well?" she asks the elf.
”I’ve slept in worse places, and am likely to do so again. I take it the venture against the slavers proved fruitless?”Veltariel replies without looking up from her own plate of berries.
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Leaving his stouter companions to deal with imprisoning their erstwhile kidnapped, Mokhasi went to sleep as soon as they returned, mindful of the constraints of rest required for arcane casters. He returns to the common room in the morning, and pores over his spellbook briefly, reinvigorating magic into his mind. He examines the wand again, checking for it’s magical properties.
He has a sheaf of papers next to him, bound with pieces of some flexible wood. The cover states, in Taldan: “Pathfinder Chronicle ‘Seeking the Shard” - Magnimar Lodge, Fireday, 2nd Of Arodus, 4712 AR” but written in a delicate, spidery script. Below, in a smaller print is written, “Mokhasi Kpu’unde, Exchange Agent, and Others.”
At the end of the journal is a short summary of all of the positive and negative things Mokhasi noticed in terms of behavior, with the disclaimer that it is an editorial prefacing the section. He will note that the observations are extremely rough, and Mokhasi notes that further observation is required. Notably, Veltariel is included under the heading “Free Agent”. The sections still have space and do not appear to be completely finished, but are approximately as below.
Sapher - excellent people skills, good form when wielding a weapon, prone to falling asleep at inconvenient times.
Drask - fierce and invaluable fighter, wisdom and cunning abounds, possible sadistic tendencies.
Caroliss - effective magical gifts, a pleasant demeanor that makes her approachable, possibly myopic about priorities.
Esrisi - Very effective magical gifts, a possible command and leadership capability, extremely impulsive.
Veltariel - a peerless scout and archer, courageous in difficult circumstances, extremely volatile when interacting with humans.
Mokhasi - acceptable magic user, a wide range of knowledge, likely to overextend himself and burn too many resources, unable to effectively mediate interpersonal issues within the party.
He will provide specific examples in this book of what he “observed” as accurately as he can relative to how things actually happened.
Mokhasi is studying his spellbook and drinking coffee with the chronicle at his side as the others fix themselves a breakfast.
"No, we got one. It was a trap even. But Drask proved immune to their evil magics, and beat the stuffing out of him." she says with a smile, then looks the elf up and down, noticing the pack. "It would have been much easier with you around, you know. I make more noise when I try to be quiet then not." she paused, munching a bit then asked "Are you leaving?"
Troy, the half-elf boy, eventually finds Mokashi at some point in the morning and tells him that Lady Heidmarch is interested to hear his report before speaking to the group as a whole. Of course, there is no rush, but whenever he has the opportunity.
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When Esrisi reaches for the chronicle, Mokhasi says, in a more commanding voice than you have seen him use, ”STOP. Please, do not touch this Esrisi. I will turn the pages for you if you would like to read it. I do not know what magic imbues your hands, but my work must not be destroyed...” much more quietly and gently, embarrassed that he reacted rudely.
”I have a feeling I do not have a choice in the matter. Especially once Adorellan gives his report to your human superior. She won’t take kindly to my abusing her pet, and I will not let my presence hinder Adorellan’s goals here...” she mutters as she continues to eat at her plate sparingly, her eyes seemingly staring into the distance.
About two minutes after Esrisi begins screaming, loud footsteps at heard running down the hallway and the door is violently kicked open. Drask stands there, eyes cloudy and clothes half-on with a comical cow-lick in his hair, very threateningly holding up a broken chair leg. "Whatisit, hell ish going on?!" He shouts, staggering about and looking for something to clobber.
Caroliss spins around as Drask barges into the ladies' room holding a broken chair leg. "Drask! What in the nine hells? Get out of here you drunken mess! Ez is safe. Vel on the other hand . . . "
She looks back over at Ez, having indirectly told her who the culprit was.
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Mokhasi will pick up his chronicle when asked, and bring it to Captain Heidmarch.
Mokhasi enters her office with his chronicle and sits in the chair in front of the desk.
”Captain, here is the summary of what we have seen so far, as well as some of my personal evaluations. Note that there was a significant altercation between Esrisi and Veltariel. I honestly could not tell you who instigated it, they are both seemingly at fault. I would say that to some degree, having them work together without mediation is liable to lead to issues in the future, unless something dramatic changed in the evening. You may wish to sever ties with me... I am concerned that Veltariel could go to a very dark place without my influence. This would allow Esrisi to continue in the group. You could reassign; I am certain that we could prove useful elsewhere.” He pauses...
”That said, I would be cautious with Esrisi. There is a darkness in her, and a violence that frightens me. If you would have her examine these... shards in the future, there may need to be safeguards in place. The other people may not be able to contain or control her.” He allows her to interject as necessary.
”If you would allow me to editorialize one more time, presumably you would have your Pathfinders examine ancient tombs and the like. Please impress upon the agents that regardless of their distractions or other events, being a Pathfinder does not allow us to always choose when we engage. We had an appointment yesterday evening that very nearly ended badly, and that was because a number of people in the group were not able to properly ... compartmentalize. I do not wish to judge, but some of our job requires working continuously through extremely difficult conditions. Please take the events in question into account when deciding how to go forward with expeditions. We do not always get to choose when we deal with problems, as you know.”
He says it a low voice, ”On a personal note, I am sorry that I could not have managed the situation better. In my effort to placate all sides, I may have perpetuated the festering of interpersonal grudges. It is hard to be a leader when you want to make everyone happy.” He looks a bit dejected.
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Esrisi's sobbing stops when the big green brute bursts in. Tears streaming down her eyes she only has time to comprehend what's going on before Caroliss throws out Veltariel's name.
The gear clicks into place her mind and Esrisi's eyes widen in recognition. She scrambles to her feet and screams "B#$@$! I'm going to kill her!" as she bursts towards the door, but stops when she can't find any way out past the half-orc. "Out of my way, I have an elf to skin!"
She leans left and right as she tries to look how to get past Drask, forgetting completely that she is only half dressed.
"Elf? Thehellsh isanelf?" He slurs, looking around and seeming completely oblivious to the fact he's blocking the doorway. But after a moment it starts making sense. "Oh. Oh come on, you'll just lose something else."
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Esrisi throws a temper tantrum, screaming and stomping her feet in offsetting times like she is running place. She unleashes a frustrated scream as she runs her hands through her hair only to further reinforce that her hair is no longer there "MOVE! I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna -"
She looks around as if searching for what it is exactly she is going to do to Vel. "I'm gonna put a curve on those pointed ears of hers, that's what I'm going to do. I should have taken that stupid ass dagger from her last night! TO THINK SHE LET ME APOLOGIZE TO HER!"
"Hold on, Ez--Drask has a point!" Caroliss thinks to the events of last night and doesn't like Esrisi's odds. "You know, Vel still has your hair. She was wearing it on her belt. I actually came here to tell you that, and I'd been trying to figure out how to get it from her when I heard you scream. If we could get your hair back, you could probably fix your hair magically, the same way you fix other things."
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Caroliss intentions about telling Esrisi about her that the elf was wearing her hair on her probably had merit in her own mind, but not in the oracle's. Her mouth falls open as she hears this new piece of information and completely tunes out the bit about fixing it.
She balls up her fists and breathing becomes labored and she grits her teeth "I. Am. A. Trophy?" she asserts one word at a time, her breathing quick and ragged. Her bright blue eyes begin to cloud over white as she struggles to not lose control of the darkness inside of her.
She slowly turns to Drask and thrusts her scaled hands to him. She looks up at the large half-orc "You said I'll lose. Fine, help me then. Show me how to win then. Show me how to hit someone correctly. Right now."
If he refuses, doesn't oblige or takes to long she shakes her hands at him and screams it at him
Sapher in the dining hall, listening to the screams, and to Vels. After a few moments, she asks "Do you want to stay?" simple words with lots of meaning.
"I. Am. A. Trophy?"
"Well yeah. She bested you. I thought she was nice not to take a finger or an ear." He says with a shrug.
She slowly turns to Drask and thrusts her scaled hands to him. She looks up at the large half-orc "You said I'll lose. Fine, help me then. Show me how to win then. Show me how to hit someone correctly. Right now."
Drask pauses, staring at her a moment and mulling it over in his mind. Not a bad idea, actually. If she's able to watch after herself makes the job a bit-
If he refuses, doesn't oblige or takes to long she shakes her hands at him and screams it at him
"Alright! Damn. First lesson, patience. Don't punch a brick wall when you could walk around it. Second lesson, don't ask for lessons from a half-asleep drunk. Breakfast first." He casts a wary glance at her and makes his way clumsily out of the room.
Veltariel’s ears perk up and and her eyes turn to the ceiling and the shouting and thumping echoing through the manor. ”I believe the choice is out of my hands. But for my part...I would like to keep Adorellan safe...”
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Patience. I have patience, what's he talking about? Clearly I-
As soon as Drask moves from blocking the doorway, Esrisi patiently pushes past him and shifts into high gear as she bolts from the bathroom half dressed. She runs towards the stairs and cuts in front of the half-orc, running down them as fast as she can manage without falling.
Her less then stealthy approach is accompanied by shouts of "VELTARIEL!" as she barrels down the stairs, hunting for the elf.
As the storm that is Esrisi approaches, Veltariel calmly dabs at her mouth with a napkin before standing and moving away from furnishings...
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Hurricane Esrisi hits the landing and spins towards the dining hall. While she has her clothes on, it is not tied down and the bottom half of her body is completely exposed save her under garments which she elegantly displays for all that leap out of her way as she pumps her arms in full stride. Catching sight of the elf ahead she locks her gaze on her and grinds her teeth. She doesn't say anything else, but runs straight ahead at her, leaping at her with her green scaled hands and aiming for the throat of the elf.
She only just manages to wrap her hands around the skinny neck of the elf, malice evident in the storm of her white eyes.
"We always have a choice." Sapher says saying where she is, munching and waiting.
Veltariel prys Esrisi’s hands from her neck. She then slips and grabs her nightgown and flips it over her head and twists it, wrenching Esrisi’s arms awkwardly behind her!
Drask wearily thumps down the stairs. "Big knuckles forward, little knuckles back, else you'll break your hand." He waves to get some food. "Try not to break anything, you'll have to pay for it. Trust me."
"Starting fights isn't helping your cause, Ez!" says Caroliss as Esrisi storms off.
She then looks to Drask. "You'd better come. I think your job description includes making sure Esrisi doesn't get thrown into prison." Caroliss hurries along downstairs.
She then looks to Drask. "You'd better come. I think your job description includes making sure Esrisi doesn't get thrown into prison." Caroliss hurries along downstairs.
"Yeah, probably." He yawns. "She'll learn. Get her was kicked again. Maybe she'll lose an ear this time."
Sapher waves to the rest of the 'team' as they enter.
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Esrisi is so enraged that the half-orc's lesson of patience completely slips her mind. She is surprised when the elf so easily slips the grip and flips it around on her.
Just like last night.
"NO!" she screams, frustrated. She flails about and tries to regain her grip, but fails to find purchase when her robe flops around in her face.
Veltariel expertly hooks a leg between Esrisi’s, and trips her up! She rides her to the ground on her back, pulling Esrisi’s arms up behind her!
Drask grunts, not surprised the fight ended even quicker. He stands and moves over, tapping Vel on the shoulder with a nod. He takes over, keeping Esrisi from immediately lunging at Vel.
Vel's grip was strong and had expertise, but Drask's is iron. He stares at her for a moment, then points to Vel. "That's the brick wall." He raises his brows in a knowing look.
Veltariel puts a firm knee on Esrisi’s neck as she pulls the other girls arms up under her own right. She then reaches down and skins her robe’s belt free, and arranges a tie around Esrisi’s biceps and then slipping it down and under the back of her nightgown and down to her flailing bare feet. Veltariel grabs them and ties them securely up and behind her close to the back of her thighs. She then takes a breath. She picks the girl up by the belt and places her on the table, before taking an apple and wedging it into the likely screaming girl’s mouth firmly.
She then returns to her seat and picks up another berry. She turns to Sapher and adds ”Yes...I believe I will be asked to leave soon...”
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After the brawl breaks out in the dining room, Lady Heidmarch rises and motions for Mokhasi to join her. She grabs a hold of her staff and promptly heads in to see Vel at the table with Es hog tied nearby on the floor.
In a calm, but stern voice she asks "What is going on in here?"
Sapher sighs, heavily. "Choices, Vels. You have them." pointing at the brawl. "That was yours as much as hers."
Standing up and going to her, she whispers as the boss arrives "You could try APOLOGIZING instead of beating her up."