Krodha just looks at the girl quizzically, looking to Cai’nan when he translates. The tyrannosaur then nuzzles his large head into her in affirmation.
"Alright, big guy, we'll start working on that."
Kallie frowns briefly as she watches the exchange. It disappears as she sounds genuinely curious and turns to Marjorie. "Oh? That's... Well, me neither. Is Desna even a mother? And how was she martyred? That seems difficult for a goddess of her power and scope to be a martyr for anything!"
"Desna is believed to be the creator of the Empyreal Lord Black Butterfly, and there's strong evidence that the demigod Kurgess is her son. Thus, Desna is considered to be a mother by many; one of her titles is Mother Moon," Marjorie replies. "Since Desna is obviously alive, we use 'martyred' in the sense that she's suffered greatly. Most of us also consider the Martyred Mother to be her own distinct entity."
"Ah, I see!" Ariel chirps. "'Aspect' as in the Norgorberite sense. Some people see Norgorber as Blackfingers. Others worship him as Father Skinsaw."
Galatea gives her sister a look.
"Oh, my apologies," Ariel says, a blush appearing on her face. "I should have used a less grim example."
Kallie listens intently, ignoring Ariel. "That seems overly complex. If I may be so blunt, what's the point? Why worship her, either as an aspect of Desna or her own entity?"
Kallie listens intently, ignoring Ariel. "That seems overly complex. If I may be so blunt, what's the point? Why worship her, either as an aspect of Desna or her own entity?"
"...You aren't wrong, Kallie," Marjorie agrees. "My faith is new, only marginally older than Cladissa's if you count generously. Unlike the Goddess of Perseverance, the Martyred Mother has... traditionally been rather quiet. Thus, we're still trying to figure out all the details ourselves."
Marjorie takes a drink of water, probably not used to speaking so much.
"To many, the Martyred Mother represents what could have been. Several of my peers once had bright futures before them, but for one reason or anything, they were never realized. They gather around her because she provides solace as they try to recover."
With Kallie's questions concluded, Marjorie says little else for the rest of the meal, though she happily eats her food. Throughout the rest of the dinner, Sursha proves to be a pleasant hostess. Ariel spends most of her time talking with the first mate, Audrahni, or Galatea, who herself focuses mostly on her infant daughter. Speaking of whom, this being the first time they've really interacted, Silvie takes a liking to a certain talking T-Rex, smiling whenever the tyrannosaur talks.
Dessert is a delicious cheesecake that was purchased in Roderic's Cove just this morning and carefully stored for this occasion. It's served with glasses of either sweet blackberry or earthy red wine. Afterward, Silvie starts having trouble staying awake, which Galatea uses as an opportunity to excuse herself and her daughter from the table. The rest you gradually depart from there.
Croq casts a meaningful glance at the teeny centaur and then at Galatea (who's on deck, standing under the moon). "Shall we?"
When they walk over to Gali, Croquelle says, "Hey Galatea. I know we don't know each other well yet, but I know you and Kallie go way back...and no offense but I know the sound of someone who's lying like I know an out-of-tune lute. You mind sayin' why Marjorie freaked you out so bad?"
Galatea initially smiles brightly as she hears you two approaching. Her black-gold eyes mirror the current phase of the moon. However, upon hearing Croq's words, her pretty face takes defaults to its usual stoic demeanor.
"Let's just say that I have grievances with Marjorie's cult," Galatea replies neutrally.
Kallie's mouth twists. "Oh, come on. That's not an excuse to dislike someone personally. She bothers you, right? Is it that she's snooping around, asking questions about the Heroes of Varisia?"
Croquelle gives Galatea her winningest and most earnest crocodile smile.
"Hey, Gali. You and I don't know each other well yet, but we're all in the same band now, right? If one of us follows a different tune, we'll just be making noise...and not in the good way!
"We're all on the same side, right? Trust us. Keeping secrets is only going to help those Rune-lovers."
After a tense moment, Galatea closes her eyes and takes some time to center herself.
"Very well. Kallie, you are family. Croquelle, our mothers have been friends and steadfast allies for years," Galatea finally says, acknowledging your ties to her. "Would you like the long version or the short version? I know not everyone likes long-winded stories, but the latter might be... jarring without the full context."
Kallie groans and pitches her head back. "I'm not going to like either version, am I? Let me guess: You went on another adventure at some point?"
Testily, she spins her arm in a "get on with it" motion.
"It's nothing like that, dear; I just think she's plotting something," Galatea insists. "A few days after we rescued her, Marjorie... sought an audience with me. She told me that she was writing a book about the Sihedron Heroes and wished to know about our family. I thought she meant just Mom, so I tentatively agreed."
Galatea looks up at the bright moon.
"She actually wanted to know about Mom's daughters," Galatea says. "Going by her questions, Marjorie already knew an eerily amount about us and just wanted confirmation and details. I told her to mind her own business and left."
Gali sighs and looks back at you two. Before saying anything, she checks to make sure that no one else is around. After verifying as such, the Kailani heiress continues.
"I have my reasons. Shiloh is a very private individual; it's not my place to talk about her. Three of Mom's daughters - the twins and Honey - died under tragic circumstances. None of that needs to appear in some book. Finally, Treerazer cultists have been trying to assassinate Ariel since the day she was born; anything Marjorie publishes about my little sister will likely be used to hurt her," Galatea explains in a whisper.
Kallie looks dubious. "I can understand wanting to protect your family, but isn't that a little paranoid? Did you at least tell her of your concerns? How fair is it to Marjorie if you haven't even given her a chance?"
"...There's another element to all of this," Gali says with a sigh, noticing Kallie's dubious look.
Galatea reaches into her Handy Haversack and produces a journal.
"Almost every night since we defeated Mozamer, I've been... essentially sleepwalking until I find some ink and paper. From there, I start writing down these cryptic prophecies about the future," Gali says as she starts flipping through the book. She looks at Croq and adds, "Do you know why the Black Arrows were so prepared the night those thieves tried to steal Baraket? I saw them coming two days in advance."
Galatea shows you one of her journal entries; sure enough, you two see a cryptic rhyme the foretells of the attempted theft.
"Going by the events of the last two months, the accuracy of these omens has been at least 80%," Galatea says.
She allows you to review the journal.
1) Accurately predict two of the occasions when a monster stumbled out of the portal you were guarding back in Roderic's Cove. You recall Gali being tense those days and strangely ready to fight. She even warned you of the second.
2) Check if Ciara and the Order of Resplendence would betray her and Ariel during their recent dinner; Gali accurately predicted an uneventful evening.
3) Accurately predict that Krodha would get seasick this week while gauging the tyrannosaur's overall health. In her postscript, Galatea wonders why Krodha would even be on a boat. This entry is from four days ago.
4) Try and discover what happened to her sister Honey. All she got here is incredibly contradictory results, all of which are utter nonsense or jibberish.
5) Accurately predict various other minor events that happened around Roderic's Cove over the last two months... almost a week before any of them actually occurred. You both recognize at least some of them and realize that Galatea should have no knowledge of their occurrence. For example, Gali was able to predict where Elandra briefly misplaced her bow five days ago and how long it took her and Croq to find it.
6) See what could happen if she interacts with Marjorie. On each occasion, including the dates for this week, her predictions are... grim. Galatea's prophecies include the possible deaths of you, Aurealia, Jaya, Cai'nan, Ariel, and Silvie.
"...That's why I'm so tense," Galatea says. "I've been predicting the future with at least 80% accuracy for the last two months, and every time I focus on Marjorie, I foretell the death of someone close to me."
Shortly after your daily preparations and breakfast, you get a Sending from... Eugeni!
"We have located Alaznist. She cannot escape this time. The battle will commence soon. Odds are strongly in our favor. Be safe."
Around noon, a rather iconic Varisian landmark comes within view.
"T-That's... Windsong Abbey!" Audrahni realizes upon carefully studying the abandoned structure. She starts doing some calculations on her fingers. "That means... we'll be reaching Sandpoint tomorrow! T-That's not possible; it should've taken us about four days of sailing to reach here alone..."
You soon realize why it's called "Windsong" Abbey; the sounds of the winds blowing against the cliffside almost creates a song. It's both eerie and sorrowful...
"...I'm suddenly in the mood for a poem," Audrahni murmurs. She glances at Aurealia. "Got anything? You're always so much quicker with them."
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"Ehem, erm...uh...ok."
Aurealia draws herself up, staring off into the wind dramatically for a few moments.
"Windsong in my hair, worries laid bare;
Evil stirs in the night, Runelords' wicked delight.
Crash-boom roars my heart like the waves 'gainst the shore,
Azlanist at bay, Sihedron's wroth whore
Heroes' guillotine o'er her neck, on fate's silver thread,
Only gods can say who'll live, and who'll be dead."
Her cant is thick with fear and sorrow she has no need of faking. She lets the words fade before giggling nervously. "Terrible, right?"
"How could we have missed that, what stretches of coastline have we plausibly missed?"
Kallie frowns. "Marjorie also heard someone say it was going to only be two days. Maybe our boat's faster than most?"
"Why don't we ask the crew?"
"Whoah. That's heavy. Some of this sure came to pass...but I dunno. Marjorie worships Desna, and she seems really honest about it. Even if she worships her in a kinda weird way, that's not exactly skinsaw cultist material, right?"
Even so, when she's meandering back to her bunk, she finds herself singing a song she didn't realize she knew. As she sings, she wonders How's it gonna go, if we trust Marjorie?
Croq shrugs, not sure what the fuss is. "Hey, time flies when you're singin' like a sailor, skinny dipping with dolphins, and listening to Aurealia's fresh rhymes, right?? What's the big deal?"
"Ehem, erm...uh...ok."
Aurealia draws herself up, staring off into the wind dramatically for a few moments.
"Windsong in my hair, worries laid bare;
Evil stirs in the night, Runelords' wicked delight.
Crash-boom roars my heart like the waves 'gainst the shore,
Azlanist at bay, Sihedron's wroth whore
Heroes' guillotine o'er her neck, on fate's silver thread,
Only gods can say who'll live, and who'll be dead."Her cant is thick with fear and sorrow she has no need of faking. She lets the words fade before giggling nervously. "Terrible, right?"
"I liked it," Galatea says. "It was a good performance."
Jaya leaned her head noncommittally, "I hadn't noticed any missing space or time, so I wanted to make certain that my observations were correct. A fast ship-" And Audrahni's unfamiliarity with maps -"seems to be an entirely sufficient explanation."
Cai'nan remained near the prow of the ship, leaning against the railing looking off at the horizon. His expression seemed relaxed, almost enjoying the voyage, but his eyes were filled with dread.
Kallie notices Cai'nan leaning against the railing. A brief moment passes where she almost walks up to him, but she stops herself. Then she realizes that she'd been staring at him, glances around to see if anyone else notices, then heads to another part of the ship.
The rest of the day passes without incident. For about an hour, though, it looks like you might get caught on the edge of a surprise storm! However, around this time, Wendy finally makes another appearance; with Sursha's expert guidance, she rallies the crew to get the ship to safety. The Forgiven Queen somehow just barely manages to escape the terrible weather, catching every good wind and useful current along the way. In the end, you only experience some light rain.
You indeed arrive in Sandpoint the following day. However, it is rather late when The Forgiven Queen finally pulls into the docks. While still not as large as Magnimar yet, the city of Sandpoint appears to be bigger than ever. However, this late in the day, the streets are rather quiet.
"Well, we got here much faster than I thought we would; Mom wasn't even supposed to be in Sandpoint until tomorrow morning," Marjorie says as you exit the ship. "I want to thank you all again for rescuing me. Without you, I probably wouldn't be here right now."
She notices Galatea, Ariel, and the Silver Sentinels approaching.
"I suppose is this farewell... for now. If you all aren't leaving immediately, I'll be in town for most of tomorrow," Marjorie says. She begins jogging off, "Until next time!"
Galatea watches the dhampir go for a long moment before turning to you.
"Ariel and I are going to drop off Master Lightstaff's parcel," Jeevika's heir says. "It should be straightforward, but please feel free to accompany us."
A sleepy Silvie yawns adorably.
"May I carry her, Sister?" Ariel asks softly.
"Sure," Galatea says as she carefully hands over the infant.
If it seems like everyone else is going with the Tailanis then Aurealia will follow along as well. She takes in Sandpoint as they go, noting the many changes since she had last visited. "Wow! This place has really changed....wild...."
Jaya comes along too, but her nose is firmly planted in a book.
"Someone saw us," Aurealia says, as she continues on with the others. "They're damn good, I barely saw them ducking into the alley."
Kallie looks around at the others. "Should we check it out? Or keep on moving?" she whispers.
"We should be aware that someone knows we are here, that we are taking a sword-shaped packet to Master Lightstaff. For now, I'd say we keep going, and keep our heads on a swivel."
"Nice eyes, Sis!"
Croq looks around for Gali before adding "It's too bad none of us can turn invisible at will, to follow them."
"Too bad," Kallie agrees. She concentrates, and a shimmering set of armor appears around her.
"Good idea." Jaya too enshrouds herself in a quick abjuration as they continue on.
Aurealia holds her spear in one hand, using it like a walking staff, since it is far too long to strap to her body in some way. In her off-hand she grasps her extending metamagic rod, in case she should need it quickly.
"Nice eyes, Sis!"
Croq looks around for Gali before adding "It's too bad none of us can turn invisible at will, to follow them."
"Probably wouldn't work. I'm clumsy, and my armor would actively slow me down," Galatea says, gesturing to her protective gear. She turns to Yulia, "Sentinel Rockne, I want you to take Silvie to... the safe house. Stay close to the statue."
The Ulfen woman opens her mouth to protest.
"We're one bad Fireball away from losing every heir to Mom's branch of House Kailani," Galatea states coolly.
Yulia looks at the sleeping infant for a moment before nodding. She carefully takes Silvie from Ariel. A split second later, the Silver Sentinel says a word and vanishes from sight.
About halfway to your destination, you hear the telltale sound of crossbow fire. A slight second later, there's two clangs. You see that one of the Silver Sentinels has quickly draw and swung her sword. On the ground is a crossbow bolt, which she seems to have spiked into the road. Going by the projectile's trajectory, it was heading right at Ariel's head...
"We meet again, Princess."
You see Ariel go pale.
One by one, various "townsfolk" quickly transform into some rather scary looking goons and move to surround you.
Reacting faster than even the supposed super soldiers, Galatea quickly grabs her sister's hand and slips her precious ring on it.
The Silver Sentinels quickly cast protective magic on their ward.
Audrahni seems to have no idea what to do...
Ariel quickly vanishes from sight!
Rather fanatically, your attackers unload another round of crossbow fire. However, they end up looking rather foolish. Why? They seem to have assumed that Ariel would just stand still! Thus, none of their shots hit anyone.
For a moment Jaya reaches for her mica, but then realizes how obscenely close the attempted-assassins have sprung their ambush from. They'll never get off another shot before Krodha and the Andosanas are on them, no need to ruin their next volley.
Drawing her rod, she calls forth searing arc that crashes down on one of the northern assassins before arcing to each of their nearby fellows.
"They're Treerazer cultists by their markings. So expect demons, but no divine magic at all."
"Croq, you like to play fast, don't you?" Kallie shouts, then casts haste.
Kallie then uncoils her whip and gets it ready.
"Oooohhhh yeaaaaaahhh!!!!!" Grinning the widest of crocodile grins, she points out a rapid beat with Drumstick.
The Spirits of the Roderics emerge from her drum in an angry swirl and start to swarm around her and her allies like wispy supernatural hornets.
Aurealia uses her rod, and casts a boosted bull's strength on herself, and then tucks the rod away in her belt. It's Croqin' time...
Cai’nan clambers up into Krodha’s saddle. ”Cultists, huh?” he says as he places a hand on Krodha’s shoulder, the saurian’s scales becoming hardened and bark-like.
”What do ya think, Big Guy...get ‘em?”
Krodha chuckles at the question before baring his teeth in a snarl and snapping his jaws down at the cultist on the end of the line!
Sir Roderic tries to help Krodha, but his attack falls a little short.
Jaya's flames manage to scorch two of the cultists; the others nimbly dodge her attack.
"Why no divine magic?" Galatea asks Jaya.
Galatea steps forward and reinforces Cheshire's defenses. Thanks to a tap from Gali, the tigress herself, though under the influence of Croq's drumming, impatiently continues to hold her ground. Galatea likely fears her getting overwhelmed if she rushes the cultists by herself.
The Silver Sentinels quickly draw their weapons (if they haven't already) and move to form a protective parameter around where (they think) Ariel is hiding. Two of them also cast spells for your benefit. One of them is very familiar: a Bless. The other... sounds almost like a Prayer. Both of them invoke Shelyn, who appears quite happy to assist you all.
Audrahni begins to nervously twirl her bladed scarf and steps forward, ready to assist her friends.
Ariel continues hiding.
The cultists draw their weapons and rush the group!
One of them trips, missing Audrahni by a country mile. The lanky elf quickly seizes the moment and slashes the man across the arm. However, one manages to land devastating a stab on Cheshire, leaving her badly bleeding. While Croq is hit, she uncannily manages to dodge the worst of the strike!
As usual, none of the ones targeting Krodha hit.
You're up!
Andella Roderic tries to hit the same guy Audrahni struck, but she misses.
Under the sway of her own spell and the spells and magic of her allies, Kallie lashes out with her whip.