Arianna's bravado blows away with the revelation, leaving the young elven bard standing in stunned silence. She tries to find the words to refute the lies spilling from Mondath's mouth, but they never come to her.
"I," she says as she takes a step back, her body refusing to stop shaking. "W-what have I done," she asks, feeling a cold wind blow through her.
Subtlety wasn't one of Brax's strong suits, but as he hears a familiar woman's voice speaking, he immediately dashes into the next room, battleaxe at the ready.
"Do na listen to 'er!" the dwarf roars at Arianna as he steps in between the elf and the woman he now recognizes as the one who ordered the deaths of his friends. He feels his strength begin to slip away, but his memory of Raa'kuze and his murder at the hands of the cult of which this woman was a mover and shaker is enough to make his blood boil in anger and he channels it against the effects of being slowed. "If she gets in yer head, th' fight is half-lost! Ye remember the dead an' wounded of Greenest? This be what she's askin of ye!"
The translucent zombie dragons flit about Hayliel and Met-Anoi'a, biting their skin and draining their energy away. Eska manages to swat away a few of them, but even she takes a few bites, as does Brax once he comes charging into the fray.
"Ah-hahahaha!" Frulam's cackle is more like a banshee's shriek. "What have you done, you ask? Do you really not remember? You were just like us. A member of the Cult of the Dragon, operating out of our citadel in the Sunset Mountains. You and your people would gather intelligence of neighboring cities. Then we'd raid them, and collect a nice hoard for our venerable dragons and dracoliches. Just like we did with Greenest." She stares into Arianna's soul. "That's right, hero. You've killed what you call innocents just as we have. Seeing as you already well understand our operation, and have once served us before, it would be nice to have you back. As a Wearer of the Purple, I would even take you under my own wing!"
Eska (-8)
Met-Anoi'a (-16)
Arianna
James
Frulam Mondath (-9)
Brax (-7)
Eska's fury grants her clarity and she is able to maintain her lightning which also seems to be protecting her from the worst of the spectral dragons.
Not to be outdone by Mondath and her dragon spirit, Eska draws on the full might of her draconic bloodline. For a moment she is The-Storm-Itself unleashing a roar of thunder to compliment the lighting already being unleashed. The deafening sound leaves no room for further conversation only action.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
"No," Arianna protests weakly. "You're lying! You... You knew I was in Redrock? Y-you s-sent that ogre, Grumple Gnasher, didn't you. You– You have to be lying! You... have to..."
Tears stream down Arianna's face as she looks at Mondath and begins to remember more. She takes a step back and to the entrance they had come in through.
Fire roared through the village as dozens lay dead or dying. The screams of innocents put to the sword cried out into the night. Arianna watched as a young mother turned the corner just ahead and begged for help from the silver-haired elf. Her eyes widened in horror and shock as Arianna's blade ran her and her infant child through.
"For the glory of the Dark Queen!" the cry rang out in her voice as she grinned in wicked glee and twisted the blade, relishing her first kill.
Steel on stone rang out as her sword falls from her hands. She holds them up and sees the blood that the others couldn't see. They tremble as she takes another step away from Mondath even as Eska's magic thunders through the chamber. She looks up to see Mondath's eyes and she knows, knows without a doubt that the woman isn't lying.
The captive wept as his back bleed from dozens of wicked wounds. His body, bruised and broken, was bare save for the tattered smallclothes he'd been left.
"Do you still believe in that false god," Arianna's mother asked him in a cold, cruel voice. She sneered at him, her eyes full of pleasure and hate.
"Bahamut... damn you... all," he gasped through the pain.
"Very well, Arianna," the elven woman said turning to the young elven girl beside her.
"Of course, Mother," Arianna replied with barely restrained glee. She pulled the cords of the cat-o-nine taut and stepped up to continue the man's education.
Arianna turns and flees, unable to face the truth. She can hear their voices now calling her coward and traitor. She can barely see through the tears as she runs. She stumbles as she turns the corner to go back out of the passage, only her quick reflexes and agility keeping her on her feet.
Their camp hidden in the Sunset Mountains burned behind her as she ran along the edge of a field outside of the village of Redrock. Her eyes were fixed on the point of light nearly a mile away and up the slopes. She could see the plume of smoke curling away on the winds of an incoming storm. Her lungs burned and her legs felt like jelly, but she couldn't stop running, not now! They were closing in behind her, she knew. They'd already...Her parents...
Tears welled up in her eyes. She forced herself to look ahead and keep running. She had to keep running no matter what. Her parents had told her that, just before they were killed. Those images, of her father's guts being ripped from his belly and her mother's head flying from her shoulders, would be with her for the rest of her life. It was too soon for vengeance. She had to keep running if she wanted to live.
She runs. She runs from the shadows closing in, she runs form the terrible, awful truth she cannot deny. She can hear their cries at her back, damning her.
Coward!
Traitor!
Murderous Elf!
She covers her ears to block out the voices, but what good were physical barriers against voices already in her head? Worst of all was the cackle that follows her out of the chamber. The cackle she'd heard over and over again in her nightmares. It is the vile laughter of Frulam Mondath that was the most damning of all as she ran like the coward she has always been.
Eska's eyes are blinded by white-hot fury. She is a creature of instinct and destruction able to make out only vague outlines of the entities in the room. She thinks she sees the shape that must be Arianna dash out of the room but cannot fathom why. Their enemy was right here after all; the only thing Eska can clearly see. Even with the Brax-like outline in front of her Eska doesn't hesitate to unleash her untamed powers.
"Of course I sent the ogre," Mondath shouts as Arianna runs out. "And you stopped him, did you? Why not put that power to better use! Bah." The cult leader balks, slamming her halbred into the hard cave ground, annoyed as the elf leaves.
Then she turns to Eska. "As for you, are you going to just stand there?" The taunt comes just as Eska unleashes a loud thunderous burst, but Mondath digs her metallic violet boots into the ground, bracing herself against the force.
Yet the spectral dragons that were just there have faded away, Mondath's concentration broken. She grunts as the thunderwave subsides, only to be zapped by another witch bolt. She wavers on her feet momentarily, but it's not enough to stop her for good.
Eska (-8)
Met-Anoi'a (-16)
Arianna
James
Frulam Mondath (-24)
Brax (-7)
Brax strides toward Frulam Mondath, unaware that Eska is about to unleash the peals of thunder against her. The wave of force claps loudly, causing the dwarf's ears to ring. He feels buffeted by unseen forces, but despite the momentary deafness and his ears covered by his hands as he grunts in pain, he is made of the stone of the mountain and is not forced backwards.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Re-REading the familiar, it looks like she gets Advantage on saving throws vs. magic.
The tiny angel hisses as she's buffeted by the emphemeral blast, but her other-worldly vigor does not allow her to return to her home plane just yet.
She pivots on battered wings to continue her righteous mission...but then pauses.
As the half-elf flees the room, the angel follows on gossamer wings.
"Ẉ̭͚hy͇ ̭̼do͎̞̝ ̝yo̼̜u run, l̗̤ͅi̱̪t͕̤tle͙ e̫̮l͚͎ͅf͍͍lin̩̙g͎̯?" Haliel pries, looking, O, quite intently. Surely this angel can not read minds, can she? Of course she can read Power's mind, but that's different. Isn't it?
Isn't it??
.
.
**************************
"Um, Haley? Can we get on the same page here...no? Oh, a, okay then," James calls out to her angel's fleeing form wondering just what is going on here.
"Pssh. What'r'ya gonna do, amirite?" he says, shrugging, and walking forward.
"Okay, you've made my familiar go all wonky, so for you, I'm gonna do the double whammy.
I'm going to....heal this guy! A lot."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The angel's questions get no reply from Arianna. She continues to run, blinded by tears as she remembers more and more of her life before. Not all of it, but enough. Enough to know who she was. She runs, not seeing the drop until she's already falling.
Arianna raced down the path for her life, but even her quick feet were not enough to outrun the blast of fire that caught her in the back. She screamed as her back blazes with white-hot agony. Her stumble turned into a tumble and roll as momentum carried her forward past her feet. She lay on the ground gasping for air from the run and the pain of her burns. Her hair, a long flowing braid of silver, was burned mostly away.
She cries out as she falls. She tucks into a roll almost by reflex, trying to soften the impact. It works, mostly. She rolls several more feet before coming to a stop. She sobs as she curls up, but not from the pain of her landing. She can hear Frulam Mondath, even now.
"My, what would your parents think, running away from enemies like that," Mondath crooned as she twisted her fingers into the remains of Arianna's hair and pulled the elven girl to her knees. "What would they say at finding out you are such a coward."
Her two unseen lackeys chuckled cruelly as Mondath twitched her wrist and sent pain lancing through Arianna's scalp. She whimpered, for that was all she had the strength left for. It wasn't supposed to be like this! She and her parents were supposed to be lieutenants in the world that would come with Tiamat's rise. They were supposed to be the strong ones, the ones that gave the orders instead of taking them. Isn't that what had been promised to them?
No answer to her question came as Mondath lifter her to her feet and shoved her towards the other two.
"Make her sing real pretty, now," she tells them as they catch Arianna, one with a fist to her gut. Arianna's eyes widened as she found herself unable to breath. Panic set in as she stumbled back. She barely gets two steps before the one that had slugged her grabs the front of her now ragged robes and spins her to face him. Just as she takes in a breath, lines of raw, red pain flare on her back and she learned she wasn't too weak to scream as she howls to the sky above for a moment before a fist like a granite stone slams into her cheek, sending her sprawling to the ground. The beating seemed to drag on and on as the three relished the entertainment.
Then it was over. Arianna lay on the ground, bruised, battered, and bloody. She thought about vowing vengeance, but what was the point? Tiamat hadn't done a thing to help her parents, as loyal as any of the others in the cult. It wasn't until she lay there, certain that she would be dead in a few moments, that she saw the hollowness of it all. There was no loyalty, no worth in the relationships between the cultists. Only bonds of mutual gain, and then only so long as the isn't more gain in ridding yourself of your "friends." She felt lonely then as she closed her eyes. It would be better, she thought, to start again, to be born outside of the cult to the dark queen.
It has been a lie, Arianna thinks now. All of it is a lie! Everything she has accomplished.and thought she was is nothing more than a cracked mask. She is a monster! She flinches as more and more memories play in her mind. She has killed dozens, scores of people, not just by her actions, but by her own hand. She wants to vomit as she remembers the joy she felt as she dyed a little girls golden curls crimson with her own blood. Blood that Arianna had spilled. After choking back the bile, she can no longer hold back and begins to sob uncontrollably as she lies curled up on the stone floor.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
James' hand falls upon Met-Anoi'a's back and the tiefling feels his wounds seal as the warm light draws into him. He is about to say something to James when Met-Anoi'a more hears than sees the woman named Eska unleash her fury at the cultist. The concussive force almost pushing him back as the thunder erupts in the room once again sending a ringing sound to his ears.
From Met-Anoi'a's mouth he cries out at the cultist, "Because of what you have done, cursed are you above all else. Beyond all that would creep from the darkest recesses. You will know pain this day and into eternal
damnation. None shall remember you. I will cast aside your body, and make ashes of your crown. This will be your end."
Met-Anoi'a steps forward his words guiding him and he swings his blade.
As his wounds close up, Met-Anoi'a's confidence surges, and he vows to end Frulam Mondath. He brings his greatsword down across her. It tears through her chain mail, and blood pours from the wound. She coughs and heaves.
"Bah. I have worked far too hard to meet my end here!" Mondath reaches for a bottle hanging from her belt and tosses it down her throat. As the bottle empties, she fades from visible light.
Eska and Met-Anoi'a watch as the carpet at the top right corner of the room shifts, and falls through a chute revealed below it.
Meanwhile, Arianna runs straight down a set of stairs and into a larger chamber, where she curls up on the ground. The cavern below is carpeted with a profusion of glowing, colorful fungi ranging from a few inches high to nearly as tall as a human adult. Two paths lead through the fungi: one on the right and one on the left.
Eska (-8)
Met-Anoi'a (-7)
Arianna
James
Frulam Mondath (-32)
Brax (-7)
As the woman flees and escapes down a hidden chute Met-Anoi'a looks ready to chase her but then looks back only to see their numbers are minus one.
"One, two, three.." he looks for their lost companion, "Where is Arianna?" Turning again to where Frulam Mondath escaped he stares in that direction with scorn but slides his greatblade back into its sheath making his decision on the correct action. "We need to find Arianna, but two of us should guard this area in case the woman in the purple returns."
With the destructive link between her and Mondath severed Eska feels a booming whiplash. After calling forth so much power...
~Eska faints~
Eska slumps down, unconscious, while Met'Anoi'a takes stock of who's left of the party. Both Arianna and James' angel, Haliel, are nowhere to be seen.
But for anyone taking a look around Mondath's chamber, they note the following. Spread open on one of the tables is a simple map of the Greenfields area showing the villages the cult attacked and looted. An arrow is sketched in from the Greenfields toward the west and the town of Beregost on the Trade Way, where the arrow turns north. A separate sheet of paper that is covered with numerals in columns contains the note, "Everything must be freighted north to Naerytar. Rezmir allowed us to keep some pearls, a ring, and a handful of small stones."
Other papers are of less interest; most of them have bad poetry about dragons.
Brax goes to the unconscious Eska. He's not sure if what just happened only exhausted her or if it actually took something out of her physically. "Lass? Lass? Be ye still with us?"
"I canna tell iffin she's gonna wake up," he says to Met-Anoli. "Be there anythin' ye kin do?"
|
|
"I think I can help," Power says as he approaches Eska and heals her.
That done, he closes his eyes for a moment. "Arianna went down some stairs and apparently passed out on a floor of mushrooms. Haliel is watching over her now. I think I can lead us there if you want to go find her?
Mind you, my power wanes. I should like us to take a quick rest before we see where that chute goes."
The wounds mostly caused by Frulam's spell visibly heal with James' touch.
Brax from what you can tell Eska's state isn't due to any physical trauma you can determine. Her breathing is steady and it is likely she will recover in time. You gather that if necessary she could likely be forcefully roused from this state but it might be inadvisable. You notice that while unconscious Eska's grip on Stormfang has not relented.
Either way the fractured and exhausted group is left to determine how best to proceed and which lead to follow; Frulam and her chute or looking for their stray elf companion.
Met-Anoi'a sees Eska awaken. Tired and weak. "James and Brax you should collect Arianna and bring her back. I will stay here to watch Eska and see what information our enemy has left us. The map there may give us an idea of where the army has went. If they are set on attacking another place we should find a way to warn those people."
Given a few moments as the team looks over the contents of the room Eska awakens with a wide-eye gasp sitting sharply upright. A wave of vertigo assails her with a throbbing headache. "Uhhh imma nah do that again..uhhn" she moans thankful she was not in a bed to fall out of.
Heedless of the questioning stares Eska dusts herself off and shakily gets to her feet. She looks in the direction thinks she remembers Arianna heading towards but is in no state to go searching for her friend.
She notes the lack of Frulam Mondath's charred remains with a mixture of disappointment but also the surreal knowledge that she had bested both a dragon and now one of it's champions nearly single-handedly. With powers that seem a farcry from her shadowrunnig days. She remembers well Three-Dog's appraising looks and wonders if he would be impressed or troubled by her rapidly evolving powers. Probably both…
She continues to run, blinded by tears... She runs, not seeing the drop until she's already falling.... She cries out as she falls. She tucks into a roll almost by reflex, trying to soften the impact. It works, mostly. She rolls several more feet before coming to a stop.
The soft sobbing is the first sign that the two looking for the young elven girl are on the right track. She isn't hard to find, curled up as she is at the end of a short trail of torn up mushrooms. It's clear she's badly shaken by what has happened, though whether it's the fall or the words of Frulam Mondath remain to be seen.
"Lass," Brax says, coming toward the sobbing elf. He winces as he hears his gruff tone echo within the chamber, but there was nothing to be done for it. Mondath knew they were there and so would anyone else by now. He kneels down beside her, trying to look into her eyes.
"La-" he says before stopping himself. Hitching a breath, he starts again. "Arianna," he says, calling the elf by name and his tone noticably softer. "It's na safe ta go runnin' off by yerself in 'ere. I'd never fergive meself iffen we lose ya ta these scale-luvin' syphocants. We need ye. Eska, she be needin' ye. We be needin' each otha iffen we want to find out what these *&%!'s be up to an' git outta 'ere alive."
Arianna lays there on the ground as Brax speaks. His words feel like a dagger in her heart as she is drowned in the blood she shed. Her answer to his plea is likely not one he expects.
"Kill me," she begs the dwarf. Seeing his confusion, she sit up and tries to look Brax in the face, but she can't. The shame, the guilt are too much.
"P-please, kill me. I'm a monster. Sh-she wasn't lying. I've killed so many people. I've tortured them. I'm no better than the cultists, Brax," she tells him, her tone even at first, but getting more desperate as she goes. Her calloused hands grab the front of Brax's armor and pulls him closer to her as she pleads with him.
"I-I don't deserve to live. Please, Brax, please just kill me b-before I can do something terrible again. Please."
Her voice fades to barely a whisper as she buries her head into his shoulder.
"Please. My hands are stained with too much blood."
Met-Anoi'a eyes circulate the room offering Eska a hand as she attempts to get her under her.
"Be patient, Eska. Whatever you unleashed on that cultist has taken a toll on you. She somehow escaped but we will find her yet. She has left some notes of importance in her haste to retreat. If you are able to stand by yourself I will check to see what sense we can make of it."
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
To say the look on Brax's face at Arianna's request is one of ludicrous would be to stretch the defenition of the word.
"I'm not doin' any sech thing," Brax says, the rough authoritive edge in his voice returning. "Ye let that women git inside yer head and she's got ye thinking yer a daughter of Bane. I've been with ye and ye've only taken lives of these zealots that'd do th same ta us an not blink."
"Get it tagather, lass! Eska be hurt an all she 'as 'd be us. If ye give 'en now, these bastards get a step closer ta bein able to hoodwink other innacents!" he says, as he puts a hand on Arianna's shoulder.
"No," Arianna blurts out as Brax says she's only taken lives of the cultists. "I... I remember. I remember from before. I wore those robes. I killed people just like you or Eska. I tortured them until they were barely alive and my parents would tell me how to inflict the most pain. We'd force a potion down their throat and then do it again just to hear them scream," she says into the dwarf's shoulder, now closing in on hysteria. "Men, women, children, it didn't matter. We were strong. They were weak, so we could do whatever the hells we wanted. I'm no hero. I'm a monster!"
She pushes Brax away, and looks at him with tear-filled eyes and pain beyond any mortal wound twisting her fair face. Her tears cut trails through the dust and grime on her cheeks from the tumble she took. She looks at Brax long enough to see his reaction.
"I-if you won't do it," she tells him before pulling out her dagger and raising her chin. The tip of the knife is pointed at her throat, making it clear what she intends to do.
|
|
Meanwhile, Arianna runs straight down a set of stairs and into a larger chamber
James walks in and he and Haliel give each other a cordial nod of acknowledgement as the uses a last reserve of grace to heal her.
He would say something, but Brax and the haqlf-elf seem to have a bond, so he doesn't interfere. He has a mission to get on with, and every moment they dally about is another moment he's not resting, regaining power, to continue persuit.
He listens aghast as Arianna confesses to...many crimes. Crimes that can not be forgiven. Crimes that are impossible to imagine, least of all to comprehend.
He and Haliel stare at each other for a long time.
"Do it," he mumbles.
"If you would confess to these evil deeds, and are not completely remorseful in asking for forgiveness. And, indeed, appear to be unknown in your propensity to do it again, even to the people around you, then, yes, the world is better off without.
Best you do it now then force my hand against you in battle."
The angel, ever precocious, moves toward Brax. "Th̬e ̖̦̩dwarv͉̱en peop͈l̼e ̳̫hav̰e ̻e̫̜v̥͙e̗̱ͅr take̞͇͕n t̮̩̹he road̳͖ ̤̦̳of ͅho̝̺n̬or.̝ ̫Yo̝̖u͕ ͎̼kn͈̱ow͖ t͉hi̦̘̘s i̘̲͔s the ̪̙b̖e͓̟st w̪̼ay f̭o͖r͕ h̭͈e̗r͇̦.͈̮̦ ̮͖ ͖͕ͅLe̜͓̮t her find̯͉ t͖ḫe ͙̺̹pe̩̮ace̪͖ ͔͉sh̭̜͇e̱̠̥ ̫̝̜cr̥͓̯a̞̣v̗̬̱es̯̣ ̣so ͓m̙uc̳̣h͕.̬̠͙"
Arianna closes her eyes as two last tears fall down her face. Her hands shake even as she takes in a deep breath. Time stands still for just a bare heartbeat, then she starts to drive the dagger towards her throat.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Even after the storm of thunder and lighting has subsided there is no calm in the silence that follows. Tension hangs heavy in the air as Arianna struggles with memories better left forgotten. Amidst the rabble of thoughts are Brax's words and a memory of a friend so very different but so similar to herself like some surreal mirror.
...I could really use your help." she puts emphasis on her last statement to try and reach the traumatized elf.
Whether Arianna finds some new resolve within herself is ultimately in her own hands.
Eska still foggy waits impatiently wondering ~Where in blazes has everyone run off to?~
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Put th' dagger down, Arianna. Yer not be..... The dwarf explodes into action as he sees the elf is going to actually take her own life. He grabs Arianna's hands and pulls them away from her neck and throat.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"No no no, this is her choice!" James calls out as Brax moves to stop the inevitable, placing his inferior bulk generally in the way of the attempt.
"W̏̿hy ́̇͑w̓ͩo̽̊ȕ̒lͪd ͭyou h͛͂i̅ͩnder ͪ͋̆thͧ͊͌èͬ ̉dͤ͋eͪs̿tr͌uc̾ͭ̓ṫ̔io̍͊̿n ̏͋̐oͧ͋f ̑̄̇ev̐ͤil aǹd̎́͊ ̃ͭ͆tͦh̉̓e̽ͫ̓ ̆͛t̿̔̅a̎͊̏kͥ͋in̎͑̓g̓ ͒͒oͮͤf ͨ͂t̓ḧ́̎̓e ̅̌hono̔̚ra͑͗b͆l̾̓̚e ̈́ͩ̊pa͛th?̿̇͌ ͂̏̎Ẁhͣ̆aͩ͆t ͭw̚ou̓̒ldͥͨ yo͑́u͂̚r ̓ͧd͌̌wͫ͆ar̚ve͂ñ͌̔ Elder̊ṡ̿͐ ͐͒s̿̽̄a͒y͂ͤ̆?" Haliel states.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The dagger begins to dig in when Brax grabs her hands and pulls them back. She doesn't struggle as he pries the dagger from her fingers like a father taking something dangerous from a child's hands. She slumps in defeat, burying face in her hands as she starts to sob again, then curls up at the dwarf's feet.
"Why," she whimpers between the sobs. "Why do you not hate me? I'm a coward. I'm a monster. Why do you not hate me?!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I dona hate ye, lass, because all I know of ye is what I've seen ye stand fer since th' lotta us got thrown tagetha bah fate," Brax says as he tossed the dagger to the side. "If what ye say be true, I canna be the one ta pass judgement on ye fer any misdeeds ya did before ah met ye."
Brax then turns a stony gaze to James. "Because iffen she did wha she said, she be payin' fer it now an she be payin' fer it till she takes 'er last breath. Livin' with tha' an' 'er being repentant of doin' it? I think that be harsher 'an death. An iffen she's dead, she will not get th' chance ta radeem herself."
The dwarf not unkindly pulls Arianna to her feet. "And ye have a chance to git redempshun against th' people who put ye on this path. Seek it an do na let Raa'kuze's sacrafice be fer naught."
Arianna throws her arms around Brax as he starts to pull her up. The hug is almost painfully tight as she softly weeps on his shoulder. After what feels like an eternity to her, she starts to calm down.
"I-is Eska alright," she manages to croak as the emotions roaring through her die back, not gone, but far less powerful than they have been. "Wh-what about M-met?"
Eska takes a second look around the main and adjacent room to the north for anything important.
She grabs the map on the table "Seems like Mondath is in the wind. Well at least we know where our next stop is, Beregost. Hopefully fairing better than Greenest did." she speaks mostly thinking aloud.
Frustrated with Mondath's fleetness, Eska grabs the map off the table, and has a more thorough look around the rooms. The smaller chamber to the north contains a bed and a trunk containing Mondath's clothes, as well as another trunk containing her Cult of the Dragon regalia. It isn't just a robe, it's a matching purple and gold shirt, pants, a robe, boots, and a belt buckle with a seemingly unique pattern etched into it.
A peek down the chute, which appears to drop about 30 feet, reveals a rope ladder fixed to one side.
Met-Anoi'a follows Eska closely and upon seeing the Cult of Dragon regalia he voices his opinion, "We should bring that with us and then find the others. I think we need to make sure that these caves do not contain any more cult members. The map will have us leave Greenrest it appears and I do not want the town to come under any more threats."
Eska will stow away the Weaver of Purple regalia. "They've been gone for too long. They better not have found trouble with out me! Come on then let's see what they're about."
Eska and Met-Anoi'a rejoin with the rest of the group. Eska is unsure exactly what had transpired Arianna is looking particularly dishevelled and Brax is looking like he's put on more than a few years since she last saw him. James on the other hand well...she's still not sure what to make of him.
Not knowing what to make of the scene she awkwardly greets them breaking the silence with the first thing that comes to mind ~noisily clearing her throat~ "I'm ok thanks for asking." she says without having perceived any actual question.
She eyes the three suspiciously "Are we ok to move on...?"
Met'Anoi'a and Eska soon rejoin the party. Just as Eska steps on the same set of stairs that the others had traversed (or fallen over), the stairs collapse into a ramp, causing her to stumble face first into the fungus garden below. While she looks largely unscathed, when she pokes her head up, her eyes are glossed over.
There were several options from here: the paths through the fungi to the left and right, a path leading directly ahead, where the fungus seems to thin out, or leaving the caves entirely, and leaving Frulam Mondath and whoever - or whatever - else was in these caves left to their own devices...
Eska sneezes due to the spores she's kicked up from her fall and starts to laugh wiping tears from her eyes. "Ok, a bit less than ok. But still ok. Ok?" she snorts and laughs.
"Onward my company of heroes!" She skips forward...
taking the path to the left.
Arianna looks up as Eska comes down the steps, then is rushing to help her as she slides into the patch of fungus. She sighs in relief as she sees the young half-elf stand up, seemingly unharmed, then the giggles start.
"Eska, you're being too loud! I'm glad you're okay, but I don't think you're going to be doing any scouting like this," she says as she tries to catch up and at least quiet the suddenly bubbly sorceress.
Arianna can see that the conversation she dreads the most will have to wait.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Heh, struggling to keep up with me Twice-Quick? Does that make me Thrice-Quick?" she says struggling in vain to contain her giggles.
"I think we are past sneaking considering how loud I've been. But maybe that's the trick to it eh if I'm loud enough surely no one would be able to hear us. They'd all be deaf. The good ol' DnD. Deaf then Dead a classic!"
She moves cheerily onward.
"Hey watch this" she turns to look at Arianna mischievously.
"Hey Jester say something funny!"
~barely a moment passes~ Eska cracks up.
"See!" she can barely breathe, she wheezes "..cause...he..never says..anything funny!"
"Oh Dead Gods what a Grim Jester is he."
"Eska! Please," Arianna pleads in an uncharacteristically wheedling tone. "That wasn't even a mediocre joke!"
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"I can be funny..." James states in a deadpan.
His mouth hangs agape for a moment before shaking his head to knock some sense out of the un-reality he finds himself in.
"Yes, well, Brax, try and keep a close eye on Arianna. In some cultures when you save someone's life, you are now responsible for all they do. I don't think that quite applies here, but still...you know...."
He trails off before realizing he's in danger of being left behind. "Ahem!" he states. "My power hath waned and I doubt anything else will sneak up on us. I should greatly like it if we took a few moments to restore our energies." That said James sits down and takes a drink of water.
********************************
Haliel passively watched the tender moment between Brax and Arianna, but had nothing further to add.
She watches with large, pure eyes as Eska comes in like a thunder-head...and then tries humor directed at her master.
She flies over to Eska, and hovers in front of her face. She stares at her very, very intently.
Finally she says, "Hŏ̔w ̆̅do ̈́̚yõ̓̈́u ́ͤmaͬke͊ a̍̚ ̈́ćl̈o̊̈́w̿̉̈́n̊͊̚-ͤ̒̓j̓ug̏̑͒gͤ̅͂lͦͫer͗̂ laüͬ̈́gh? ̈́͌
You͆̊ ti̾̚ckle hisͦ b̌̚alls.ͨ͒ͨ"
Her mouth twirks in a grin and she flies off to watch over her master while he rests.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Despite her battered emotions, or perhaps because of them, Arianna can't help but laugh at the angel's joke.
"I-I never thought an angel would be that bawdy," she gasps as she catches her breath. As the giddiness subsides, she looks to Eska then back towards the others.
"We should stick with them. I don't think James is going anywhere for a bit," she says, remembering the way James had judged her and feeling her shame and guilt renew.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Eska snickers as Haliel makes her joke. "Clearly you're the better half"
While Eska wants to continue forward Arianna redirects the unfocused sorcereress.
~Team takes a short rest, outside of the mush...rooom~
Eska takes time during the break to go and burn the mass of corpses at the entrance. Stating vaguely before she heads off that she's "Gone to kill some babies"
Arianna takes the time to find her dagger and spends the rest of the time near Brax. Her normally bright eyes dull and dim. After several minutes of silence, she speaks up.
"H-how am I gonna tell Eska," she asks the dwarf in a soft, quiet voice.
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
"I-I never thought an angel would be that bawdy," she gasps as she catches her breath. As the giddiness subsides, she looks to Eska then back towards the others.
As James doses lightly, Haliel glides next to the girls. Sitting down she stats to chat.
"I was a person once. My name was Liath Gwenilian. I was a warpriest--this was a while ago. I had ventured into a cave, much like this one, seeking cultists summoning fell beasts. We found a den of pirates that did not appreciate our appearance.Some of my companions ran and some died, me among them. I think. It's hard to remember.
I spent much time as a guardian, the role that Amriel fills now. Every time the spell is cast it lets the guardian focus themselves. Eventually she will always be at full strength, and ready to Ascend.
My hard work and devotion was rewarded with the form you see before you. In time I hope to rise to full angel status. Even, one day, perhaps to even a solar.
But I must gain focus for that. They say that destruction of the physical form and re-birthing on the home plane assists with the process. That is why I do not fear mortal weapons. To be destroyed only brings me closer to my goal. In fact my plan is to...
...my master stirs. I must away."
She flutters back to James's side as he starts to wake. Amriel's small head forms from a puff of cloud on his shoulder and she sticks her tongue out before disappearing once more.