Ben stumbles down the stairs and takes stock of the situation.
Thyste grabs her dory and knocks it into Ulretha's shins!
...knocks it into Ulretha's shins!
...plunges the head right into his frickin' shin!
Ben is a bit confused right now. Ulretha shouts about meat and, as Ben turns the corner he sees Thyste stick him in the legs. He's in a bit of a shock right now.
I knew we had our issues, but I never thought it would get this bad!
"What is going on?"
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Ben, who is obviously still confused, calls out
"Thyste is processed by a haunt?"
"Oh! A haunt you say? OK, then."
Ben pulls out his wand of CLW and rips off a charge, then attempts to touch Ulretha without getting eaten.
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"Whoa, whoa, wait...why are we fighting?" Ulretha says, holding up his hands in front of him.
"There's plenty of food to go around for everyone. We don't have to squabble over it."
Cautiously, he picks up Gorum's Thorn and uses it to hack a leg off an orc before offering it (the meat, not the sword) to the group.
"Yeah, I tried to take you down easy so we could sit on ya 'til you stopped making an ass of yourself, but I think I might have hit something a little meatier than I expected. Dang digitigrades."
"It probably targeted you because, well, because you were a soft target. Mentally. When it comes to eating."
Ben is obviously struggling not to say something that would offend the gnoll.
"To be honest I'm just glad they were distracted," Thyste admits, leaning over to gaze at the hyenas, still chomping away at the feast around them.
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"None of that seems right. My will is bolstered by the might of Gorum. Perhaps you were all hallucinating, rather. Those wounds don't look like ones I would inflict, largely because you are still alive," Ulretha comments dubiously.
The Pack watched the entire conflict with varying levels of interest and amusement. Internal fighting is important to ensure that the proper hierarchy is kept after all.
And, given the trek they've all made together, the hyenas consider them all almost as much a part of their pack as Ulretha. While they would savagely attack anyone else assaulting the gnoll, he would have to actively command them to attack any of his companions for them to do so.
Ben shakes his head at Ulretha's avoidance tendencies, absentmindedly scratching Little Buddy's head.
Is that a jealous look that cat is giving me? Nah. Cat's don't have looks.
"I'm all for leaving, but we should explore first. We may find information vital for the survival of Trunao."
"Agreed. But whenever we're exploring a new area, let's stick together. And if we can, I'd love a nap before we head back."
"But if we can get it over with sooner than later, we can get the hell out of here as soon as possible, so I'm willing to forgo the nap until the exact moment we get back to the ship."
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Lidia pokes around the ruined fortress for a while, but her heart clearly isn't in it. Soon she's off in a quiet corner reading more of Thyste's book.
*****
"Don't lie to yourself, it gave you pleasure." she simpered into my ear. I could feel her amusement even without looking back at her. I shook my head violently. "No! No, it's wrong!"
"Darling, don't be tiresome. Right and wrong have nothing to do with it." she answered me. "You enjoyed what you did to that dead girl's body. Shouldn't that be enough? Who are we hurting?"
"What is wrong with me? What's happening to me?" I wailed.
"You're becoming more honest with yourself. You're realizing the power of desire -- when you can have anything you want, that is TRUE power. Why hold yourself back? Why punish yourself?"
I looked back at her. Her face was beautiful as ever, but a pallid green, and her eyes were bright crimson. She was grinning like a demon.
"She doesn't HAVE to be dead... entirely." she suggested, delighting in the horror she was eliciting in me. Softly, she caressed the exposed skin of my left breast. "There are spells. Lovely, yummy spells." She delicately picked up my hand and kissed my fingertips one by one. "She doesn't have to just lie there. She can move however you want. Do whatever you want. Her body can be your toy. And you can make her do anything to you as well. She can pleasure you for hours... until her tongue falls off, if you like."
"You're talking about animating the dead!" I gasped.
"They make the cutest little growls while they munch away at you."
I yanked my hand away and pulled back. She sighed and slouched back on her haunches, regarding me curiously. "Why are you doing this? What are you trying to do to me?" I asked.
She shook her head a little and leaned in a bit closer.
"There is only one truth in the whole universe, lover. Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. It's only a question of how badly you want something. Once you truly accept that, simply EVERYTHING is your oyster. And I know you love oysters."
With the deftness of a conjurer, Caranzia pulled a huge black pearl from some unseen place on her person. It was the size of a goose egg, and smooth as black glass. "Open wide..." she breathed, then leaned in and pushed the pearl up against my secret pleasure. It was impossible to resist. With a moan I accepted it, and allowed it to slip inside. There was a greedy little slurp as it vanished from sight. I could feel it, large and insistent and pressing, but utterly secure and comfortable as well. My internal musculature fondled it lovingly, allowing it to slip up and down within my dark canal. I could barely contain the waves of excitement rolling through me. I clutched desperately at the crimson velvet of her dress and whimpered like a puppy.
"Shall we?" she asked in a near whisper, pawing the corpse lightly.
"What happens afterwards?" I asked hesitantly.
"Whatever you wish." was the answer. She traced a finger over the girl's soft belly. "Are you hungry?" she asked with feigned innocence.
Lidia closes the book with a slap and lays it aside with a grumble of disgust. "What kind of sick mind comes up with this stuff?"
Ben nods in unison to Kioshi's offer.
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"You make come with us, if you wish. But know that I will allow none of your senseless prattle to cloud the minds of those with me. We will hear none of the weakness if Iomedae," Ulretha replies to Blix's offer.
Once the place has been properly looted, he'll return to the temple to sleep, spreading out as much as possible to ensure that the presence of a worshipper of Gorum in the place is known and felt.
"Aw, c'mon, Ulretha. Senseless prattle is what we're about!" grins Thyste.
While Ben is negotiating the sale and purchase of items, he approaches Silverman about the seeds, explainig that since he will be going on another mission he needs Silverman to take care of them.
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Kioshi is glad to be back in a town.
He only spent little time here before leaving last time.
Kioshi thinks about the past. He thinks about the shock that he felt when his old friend Rodrick passed away.
Kioshi tries to use the time in town to touch base with those that had a relationship with Rodrick. He knows what a difficult road one has to walk when a friend dies... or when a sibling or mother leaves this world.
He now has found out why his old friend's passed away! And his new companions were instrumental to end the threat so that no one else in Trunau has to die.
He is glad that the signs of the grand battle that shook the town are gone!
And he is honored that the people in town associate him with the heroes of Trunau now!
I am glad that we all made a difference!
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Upon returning to Trunau, Lidia had first satisfied herself with a good warm meal at the inn, accompanied by a couple cupfuls of hard cider, and allowed herself to doze off next to the hearth. So upon awakening, she discovered that the afternoon was more than half spent. She made her way to Keeper Halgra's home to claim her share of the reward. She stood at the door for a while, trying to remember if it was acceptable to simply walk in, or if one needed to knock or otherwise announce herself. And if one knocked, was it better to do so mildly and respectfully, or to vigorously pound a few times to be sure of being heard. After some thought, she decided to play it safe and begin with a few quiet raps, then if that didn't work, to make more emphatic attempts.
The door was answered by a young man, probably not much older than her. He was plump and had the scraggly first attempts at a beard blossoming about his cheeks and chin, though his upper lip was clean-shaven. He smiled welcomingly right away.
"Ahh! Our final hero, the mighty huntress! They say you slew a dozen orcs single-handedly with your bow in the great battle, and scored the killing blow on the giant!" he gushed delightedly. "The others have already been here, so you were expected as well of course."
"Is Halgra here?" asked Lidia, looking past him toward the interior. "I wanted to report to her in person."
The boy shook his head. "The Keeper is off meeting with the other members of the council. Seems you folks had some sort of big news. I don't really know much about it, but there's a lot of stories going around that you went after the orcs and killed them all."
"Who are you anyway?" asked Lidia in a burst of mild irritation.
"Oh, I'm Selden. The Keeper's steward. I sorta look after the place. So, you want your coin sent over to one of the merchants?"
"Just like that? I could be anyone." said Lidia incredulously.
The boy only chuckled. "Miss Lidia...EVERYONE in town knows the Heroes of Trunau. How could we not? You've all been the talk of the town since the battle. Everyone has been speculating about the mission the Keeper sent you on."
Lidia crossed her arms uncomfortably, but gave a small smile, politely acknowledging the praise. "Well... thanks... look, it's ok, I'll just take the coin and be on my way."
Selden seemed surprised. "All of it?" he asked after a slight pause.
"Well... yes, if that's all right. Why, don't you have it here?" she responded.
"Oh, it's here all right, sure. The council had to call in a lot of debts and take out a few loans, but they raised it all. So you... you're going to just carry it out?" he asked, rubbing his head a little stupidly.
"Yeess." answered Lidia in mild, amused confusion. "That's the idea. Why, do I need to sign or something? I can write."
"No, no. No, it's ok. Well... I suppose you better come in then." He opened the door and led the way to the Keeper's reception parlor and unlocked a padlock on a door behind her desk. He disappeared into a closet and with a great deal of grunting and shuffling, dragged out a leather flour sack half as large as himself, and obviously filled with a sloshing trove of metal coin. The sack was as tall as the table and broad as a man, and a fat man at that. It was roughly sewn off at the top.
Lidia's eyes popped in shock. "How much of that is mine?"
Selden looked at her as if he didn't understand the question, then answered. "All of it."
Lidia's hand went to her mouth as if to hold in a scream, then she quickly moved forward and attempted to life the sack. With both hands grasping the top and a heave upward, she managed to hike the sack up about half a foot off the ground. "Selden... this thing must weight over 60 pounds!"
"Well, yeah... I guess that's why I was surprised you wanted to carry it out, but I figured you knew what you were doing. Gold sure is heavy, huh? So what should we do with the others?"
"Others?!" gasped Lidia.
He nodded. "Yeah, there's three more just like it in there. If you like, we could get a barrel in here and roll it out, though we'll have to stand it up at the doorways..."
"But... this is too much... it must be! I can't... I've never seen so much money! What am I supposed to do with all this?"
Selden cocked his head. "What do you want to do with it? Desna's knickers, if I knew I had this big a reward waiting for me, I'd have been planning how to spend it for days. Isn't there anything you want?"
Lidia dropped the sack, and a loud *SHINK* filled the room as the coin hit the floor. She shook her head dumbly and shrugged a couple times. "...I was going to buy some more arrows... get a couple bottles of whiskey. Oh, and some more rope, and maybe a nice fur coat."
Selden laughed. "Well, that spends your first 10 coins. What about the rest?"
Lidia looked at the sack like it was a dancing bear for a while, then gave a nervous laugh and covered her eyes with one hand. "What did you say the others did with their share?" she finally asked.
"They had them sent out to the merchants. That Big Ben fellow, with the lizard? He seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do with all his. Had it all figured out and written down."
Lidia nodded, then backed away. "I'll have to... um... can I just leave it here for now? I'm not sure exactly... um..."
"Oh, of course!" said Seldon. Then he stepped closer and laid a hand on Lidia's shoulder. "If it's any consolation, I've never seen so much coin in one place either. And I don't want to shock you, but when we were moving the others' coin over to the merchants, I heard a rumor that you all brought back a haul of treasure that was worth all this much and more to each one of you."
"Another four bags??" said Lidia through a nervous laugh.
"It's a lot, isn't it? But it's a nice problem to have. You could buy pretty much anything you wanted. You could live comfortably for the rest of your days. So, what do you want? Besides arrows and a rope?" He chortled and straightened his jerkin. "If you're looking for a husband, I'm available and willing." he joked.
Lidia looked at him curiously, then backed away. "I... I'll have to think about it... I'll just leave it here for now. I'll let you know. Soon. Ok? Thanks..."
And then she fled into the road, where she grabbed up her hair in both hands and held her head to keep it from exploding. "I'm rich as the Prince of Taldor!" she exclaimed to herself. And then she began to laugh like a mad thing.
By the time Lidia has recovered her wits, Thyste has been at her elbow for a few seconds, nibbling on a turkey leg as big as her tiny arm.
”I hear the Prince has so much gold, he uses it to flavor his food,” quips Thyste, ”which seems a roundabout way of acquiring a solid gold stool.”
She pulls off a bit of the crispy skin and holds it up for Lidia. ”Here—food given tastes better than food bought, and better still than food stolen.”
”Know what you’re gonna do with your share yet?”
Ben worked his way through the merchants stalls, a little disconcerted and a little surprised every time a stranger came up to congratulate him. Having purchased or commissioned the items he had been planning on for a while, he was surprised to find that he still had money to spend. Spending had never been an issue for him, keeping money was, so to have so much money with no plans for it was confusing. And a bit tedious. His glance kept shifting to the sky or the wilderness outside town. Having been stuck in close quarters with all manner of folks, mostly of a different mindset from him, was exhausting.
Remembering Ulretha's warning to get warm gear, he approached a shop with a sigh to purchased some cold weather gear, but could not wait a moment longer. Instead he collected his buddy and headed out for the countryside. For the next couple of days, he and Little Buddy dashed about in Velociraptor form without a care in the world.
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She pulls off a bit of the crispy skin and holds it up for Lidia. ”Here—food given tastes better than food bought, and better still than food stolen.”
”Know what you’re gonna do with your share yet?”
Lidia accepts the chicken skin, and shrugs thoughtfully as she munches it down.
"Maybe I'll buy a farm here. I was born on a farm, you know. I could probably get a pretty good one." she muses out loud. "I don't really know how to farm things. But how hard could it be? Just plant seeds in spring and wait for them to grow, right? Oh, and I could have chickens and pigs and goats. I remember we had a goat when I was a little girl, and my mom would milk it and sometimes she'd have me work the butter churn. And I remember chasing the chickens..." Lidia has a distant look in her eyes and she remembers these things, and a warm smile, and she laughs now with pure delight at the memory.
Thyste looks up at Lidia with nothing but warmth on her face. "Don't suppose there'd be room for me there. I've heard something about foxes guarding henhouses before, but I think it's usually got something of a negative connotation."
She thinks a moment, then chuckles. "Not that I think it's my speed, unless the local girls go for the 'pint-sized farmer' thing."
Thyste is quiet a moment, then looks around. "Actually, that might be a good angle around here. Have to get me some overalls, though. Would I look good in overalls?"