Bob flaps onto Ray's shoulder and lightly pecks his hair. [color=blue]"Good luck, dummy. You're gonna need it."[/color]
Ray rolls his eyes at the snarky bird before turning to the waking cultist with a smile. He absently taps his blasting rod against his thigh, the tip of which still smolders with barely-contained conflagrating power.
Well--actually it's just smoldering from spent fire magic, but the cultist doesn't need to know that.
"Hi!" he says congenially. "Let's keep this short and sweet, whaddya say? You saw how fast we tore through you and your buddies, and you can see you guys hardly laid a scratch on us. So unless you want my friend here" he jerks a thumb toward Argus [b]"to start using those big hands of his for separating bones from sockets, you should probably start talking.
Argus crosses his huge arms over his barrel chest and glowers.
Not wanting to be left out of the fun, Song leans against a wall and idly plucks her bowstring, as if she isn't quite done using it.
Unfortunately she's just got one of those faces that's too nice to be taken seriously. Stupid dimples, she thinks irritably.
The cultist wets himself. He is so terrified that he seemingly tries to tell you everything he knows, including his parents' and grandparents' names and occupations, in a single sentence. After stumbling over his words for a solid minute, he finally slows himself down enough to form coherent sentences, though only barely. "We, uh... we were sent here by a vampire, Valthazar, to study the ... uh, effects ... of the blast that destroyed the town. Valthazar has a magical gem that he used to create this fog, but we can pass through it because of these." He holds up his hand and you see skull-shaped burn marks, clearly fresh and certainly quite painful, on his palm. "Undeads can pass through it without any problems; that ghoul Chatar brought us in this morning to investigate the ghost that was in this shop... seems like you took care of that, though." He looks at the party, wide-eyed. "That's all I know, I swear."
The smell of urine is getting stronger in the small shop.
"Thanks," Ray says cheerfully, yanking the cultist's hand painfully out of position. "Don't move." He then studies the mark carefully for a full minute to try and figure it out.
Argus flinches at the aggressive manhandling of their prisoner, but doesn't move to stop the occultist. He reminds himself that they are complicit in the annihilation of an entire town of innocents, not to mention the fact that his offer of repentence was flagrantly ignored. Of course, he knew it would be--it always is. He wonders why he bothers. It's not like he follows the Dawnflower or anything. It just feels... wrong, to not offer a nonviolent approach before diving headfirst into a bloodbath.
He sighs and leans tiredly against his glaive.
Song glances over at the big half-orc, brow furrowed. She shuffles over to him and mutters quietly, so as not to disturb Raybin, "You okay there, big guy?"
Argus gives a weary smile. "I am f-fine. I am f... f... forty-eight, which is q-quite old for a h-h-half-orc. I tire easily. B-but I can k...keep going for a while yet."
Song nods, but doesn't look entirely convinced. After a moment, she murmurs, "Mind if I ask you something? I don't mean to offend, but... what's with the stutter?"
Argus frowns. If she meant not to offend, she certainly picked an odd choice of words. 'What's with your' is almost universally followed by some disability or deformity outside what's considered normal or acceptable by a heavily ableist society. He once served with a halberd-wielder who had lost her arm to a demon from the Worldwound. Instead of switching to a one-handed weapon, she taught herself to wield the halberd one-handed. Everybody always underestimates those who are different. Not that his stutter is the same as a lost limb, he supposes, but it did stem from a trauma--just a psychological one, compared to her physical.
Well--hers was both, I suppose. You lose a limb in an accident, even that's going to leave some scars on your brain. Lose it fighting a demon, and that's a whole other level.
He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. She speaks from ignorance, not malice. Grant her some grace.
"It started after m... my son..." He shudders slightly and opens his eyes. "After he d... died. Has b-been w-with me ever s... since."
She pales. "Oh," she whispers. "I--I'm sorry."
She puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder, which he pats in what she thinks is a paternal gesture. He kind of has a fatherly bearing, so it makes sense.
After a moment, she blinks and says, "But--wait. When we first met, you didn't have it. It only showed up at the schoolhouse."
Argus opens his mouth to answer, then snaps it shut, frowning. "I--" He stops and shakes his head, retreating into himself as he ruminates on this revelation.
Had he stopped stuttering? When? How had he not noticed it? And why had it returned in the schoolhouse? What happened there to bring it back?
Well, you did spend almost a full minute blind and useless, he thinks. That had certainly shaken his confidence. The idea of being a burden on the group instead of an asset and protector had been terrifying to him. He might be able to shrug off the effects of fear thanks to Shelyn's guidance, but that doesn't mean he never feels it. He simply is able to overcome it by Her grace.
Could it be? Surely it isn't so simple as a matter of confidence? He understands, in a sort of abstract way, that his stutter is psychosomatic; there is no physical wound causing it, only a deep and unhealed spiritual one. But...
No. Surely not.
Could it really be so simple as to exude confidence? But will pretending to be confident work as well as the casual strength of true confidence?
We shall see, I suppose, he thinks, as Ray finishes his... whatever it is he does with magic stuff.
The cultist tries to yank his hand away from Ray at first, but eventually gives in to the scrutiny. In his mind's eye, Ray sees a brief glimpse of a pale, thin, white-haired man holding a fist-sized, sickly green gem over the cultist's palm. Seemingly out of nowhere, the cultist's hand begins to smoke as a figure is burned into it. Just as the cultist in the vision begins to scream, Ray snaps back to himself, the vision gone. The cultist is grimacing in pain, as if he relived the branding as Ray saw it.
Ray shakes his head. "Yeah, whatever was done to them, I don't think we're getting through the fog that way. Requires stuff we don't have. We'll just have to keep going as we were."
He proceeds to gag all the cultists before dragging them into a pile in the center of the store.
Argus quickly moves to help the occultist in the task, then motions for the others to follow him outside.
Once the party is out of earshot of the cultists he says, "I am s-sure their... 'f-friends,' will c... come looking for them soon-n. Let us be off." Despite his words, he doesn't immediately move, gauging the dreadful ruins of the town of Roslar's Coffer.
"I know w... we are eager to be f-free of this place. But we are on n-no time lim..mit. Let's get some r-r-rest first."
Assuming no one has any objections, he motions for Jando to lead the way back to his hideout.
Jando nods, then leads the party through the ruined town. He pointedly tries not to look at the various ash silhouettes of whole and partial bodies splayed on the rare wall that wasn't vaporized along with the people that caused the silhouettes. Fortunately, you don't run into anyone, living or dead, and arrive at Jando's blind safely. He holds up a hand to stop the party while he disarms his various traps, then rearms them once everyone is inside.
It is cramped inside his blind with five people and two familiars, but it is safe. He gives a half of a ration kit to each person, then sits down with a groan. As he nibbles on his nuts and dehydrated berries, he seems to be working up the courage to talk about something. Finally, he can't stand the silence anymore and clears his throat. "Um. I know this must be hard for all of you. Did you all have loved ones here?"
Amanteia doesn't react for a few seconds. Somnius emerges from inside her cloak and skitters up her arm and onto her shoulder. She absentmindedly scratches his chin, then decides that she may as well be first. "My parents. I was here to visit them. It had been a few years. I arrived in town late in the evening, so I went straight to the inn instead of their house. I didn't want to wake them." Her face is solemn and thoughtful, but her eyes are dry. She shrugs and gives Jando a weak smile. "They were old. They had good lives. I wish they hadn't gone out in such a violent way, but they went out together. I suppose that's all any of us can ask for."
Somnius leans in against Amanteia's scritches. That shit feels good.
Argus shakes his head. "I had no f-friends here. P...p... positive acq-quaintances, yes. No friends. I h-have not h-h-had friends since... Since m-my son died." He stares down at his huge, callused hands, and falls silent.
Song nods. "No family, but lots of friends. I've been living here for... oh, five years now? A lot of good people." She blinks away a few tears, then frowns and looks at the group again. "You know, I never realized before, but... I know you guys. Well--you two," she corrects, pointing at Argus and Raybin. "Not Amanteia, obviously. I guess I didn't recognize you two, with the state you're in. No offense." When neither of them chastise her for the comment, she continues.
"I dunno if you remember, Argus, but you gave a lecture at the barracks once about the importance of adequately-spaced watch rotations for maximum vigilance during shifts. I can't believe I didn't realize it was you before now."
Argus grunts bemusedly. "I'd forgotten about that. Surprised you p-paid any attention. It was k...kind of a d-disaster."
Song smiles and shakes her head. "Don't sell yourself short. I mean, okay, yes. It was pretty boring. But very informative! The Watch Commander certainly took it to heart. Fewer rotating shifts after that, so thank you. It sure helped my sanity."
She glances at the occultist and comes to a realization that sends a pang of sympathy through her. She remembers now where she's seen him. "You used to frequent Auranya's bakery, right? Were you... close?"
Ray spends several seconds fighting the choking sob trying to claw its way out of his throat. Finally, he gets up and leaves the blind, Bob following with a soft, warbling caw.
He doesn't go far, but he needs a minute to be alone. Why the f+@* does everybody want to talk about the dead? Who cares? They're dead. They're gone. Talking about them won't bring them back, or kill the pieces of shit who took her from him. Talking never solved anything. Actions get shit done, not words.
Bob alights on his shoulder and pecks the side of his head. Not hard enough to draw blood, just hard enough to jolt him. He didn't know it was possible for a raven to look disappointed, but here he is. Bob doesn't actually say anything; he doesn't have to.
[color=blue]"I miss her, Bob. I miss her so much it's killing me."[/color]
He lets the sob come, now. About a thousand of its friends follow it up his throat and out his mouth. He leans against the huge tree the blind is situated in, and slides down its rough length to sit in the cold, dead grass and weep as quietly as he can manage.
Bob utters a series of soft noises that can only be described as a song. It doesn't make Ray feel better, but he leans his head against the bird gratefully anyway.
Song watches him go with an almost painful pang of guilt.
"I--" She blushes. "I didn't mean to upset him..."
Argus shakes his head. "Don't take it personally. Raybin lost someone very close to him, I think. On top of that, we had a companion. They had a... contentious relationship, but I think they were at least starting to respect one another. Dellan sacrificed himself so we might leave the Dead Roads. He was a good man."
He seems not to realize he didn't stutter while speaking of the young oracle.
After a moment of pregnant silence, he turns to Jando. "What about you? D-did you l...lose anyone?"
Jando shakes his head. "No, I am not from here. I spend most of my time patrolling in the south of Lastwall. A few days ago, I saw Roslar's Coffer... explode. I was close to a mile away and the blast still knocked me off my feet. I was investigating the ruins when this damned green fog rolled in and trapped me here." He shakes his head in frustration, but then seems to realize that his companions have lost much more than him. He clears his throat. "I'm, uh. I'm sorry for your losses. And I'm sorry for upsetting your friend. It wasn't my intention."
Argus shakes his head. "I am-m sure he t...took no offense. W-we're all w-w-wound a little... tight." He sighs in relief as he unfastens the last strap of his armor and the chestplate thunks to the floor of the blind. "Gods, that's b-better," he murmurs. "L-let's all get some s-sleep. Tomorrow, w-we leave this p...place. Hopefully. W-wake me for the s-second shift."
The morning arrives without incident, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any change in the giant poison dome overhead.
Amanteia rubs her eyes and yawns as she nibbles on some nuts. "My kingdom for a cup of coffee." Somnius (who seems to have taken the form of a small wildcat today) skitters in and out of her cloak while she eats.
After "breakfast", she casts mage armor on herself. "What's left? The town square?"
"I do believe that's it. Let's go see what there is to see, yeah?" Once everyone's ready, he walks in front with Argus, adamantine warhammer in hand and eyes sharp.
As you enter the town square, you spot a glow coming from a wide porch on one of the buildings adjacent to the square. As you get closer, you realize the glow is emanating from a pair of translucent figures that resemble an elderly couple. Their forms are indistinct, but the figures are holding hands as they sit in ancient rocking chairs and look out onto the square.
An old stone pool stands in the center of the square, its water stagnant and murky with dirt and rotting vegetation. Next to the pool is an oddly overgrown flower bed filled with strange, squirming flora surrounding an enormous pitcher plant.
The figures don't acknowledge you at all; rather, they are shaking their heads and making sad clucks with their tongues. The one resembling a woman loudly laments the state of the town square. "In my day, this square was tended to weekly! It was so beautiful we could just sit here for hours looking at it."
"What I wouldn't give to see the place cleaned up again," the other replies. Then the head shaking resumes as they stare despondently.
Duh, you need to clean it up.
Amanteia, despite knowing that the couple doesn't even realize anyone else is there, lowers her voice and speaks conspiratorily with the rest of the party. "We need to clean this place up. That will untether their spirits."
"Easy en-nough," Argus says, clapping his hands together in preparation, then stops. "Uh. What do w-we uh... do?"
Ray shakes his head. "I dunno, man. Start pulling weeds, I guess."
He hunkers down and starts pulling the dead vegetation. He nods toward the squirming garden. "Let's maybe do that part last, yeah?"
Song frowns at the writhing bed of flora. "Does, um. Does anybody know what that is?"
Seeing everyone as clueless as she, Song shrugs and gets to work with the others.
Bob sees all the wriggly bits and is about to launch from Ray's shoulder to pluck up a wormy snack, when the occultist gently but firmly clamps a hand down on the bird's wings and gives him a glare that says unequivocally 'no.'
Bob does a little foot hop and shakes himself free of the hand. [color=blue]"I wasn't actually going to,"[/color] he grumbles.
A second later, he admits, [color=blue]"Okay yeah I was going to."[/color]
As you approach the flowerbed, the giant carnivorous plant that is laying in wait there sneezes. You immediately recognize the danger.
It's a crypt flower! It has the usual plant traits. Ask your questions.
Argus (52/52 hp)
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Jando (49/49 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Giant Carnivorous Plant (0 damage)
Bold may act.
Amanteia calls out, "Crypt flower! It can poison you from a distance!"
She takes a few steps in the opposite direction, then turns and fires some missiles of the magic variety its way.
"No reason to give it distance, then!" the paladin calls jovially. He strides up, drawing out his glaive as he goes, and hacks at the plant.
Cold Iron, Slashing
Ray sighs, steps to the side, and points the blasting rod at it.
Bob caws in a manner that is clearly a laugh. [color=blue]"Maybe the hottie will have better luck. Doofus."[/color]
He flaps over to Song, alights on her shoulder, then cheerfully pecks her on the head.
As she's drawing her bow, Song yelps at the beak to the dome, but then realizes she can actually aim better. "Huh. Thanks weird bird."
Piercing
Argus's glaive attack hits the plant but can't penetrate its thick hide. Ray's ray rays across the courtyard and manages to burn a hole through one of the few walls remaining upright. Song has better luck, putting an arrow through the pitcher shaped side of the flower. A small amount of caustic fluid leaks out of the hole and burns up some of the vegetation below the crypt flower.
Jando fires a couple of shots.
The first flies wide but the second hits, spewing more presumably poisonous fluid.
Then the plant's huge maw opens up, looms over Argus, and clamps down over his head and shoulders. It pulls him close to it and prepares to make him its first meal of the day.
Argus (33/52 hp, grappled)
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Jando (49/49 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Crypt Flower (27 damage, grappled)
Bold may act.
Amanteia gasps as the huge plant treats Argus like a chicken wing. She mentally goes through all the magic she has available to her and can't think of anything to immediately help him. She just has to hope they can kill it faster than it can kill him. She magic missiles it again.
Argus sighs. Figures.
He lets go of the now-useless glaive, pulls out the masterwork silver short sword and tries to stab his aggressor.
P, Silver
Song yelps and fires her bow at the thing, feeling useless. Just had to be an archer, huh Song? Couldn't specialize in the greataxe or something?
With a moment's thought, she wills moonfire into her arrow and looses it at the giant plant monster.
P, Magical, Fire
Bob flaps near his master's head. [color=blue]"Looks nasty, boss. Good luck!"[/color]
He pecks Ray once on the head, then flies back over to hang out on Song's shoulder again.
Ray grumbles under his breath and rushes up to the plant, dropping his blasting rod in favor of two-handing the warhammer to try and pummel this thing into paste.
B, Adamantine
Amanteia's missiles slam unerringly into the plant, but it barely seems to notice. Argus finds it hard to stab something that currently has him halfway down its throat, but Song has better luck, sending an arrow straight through the plant's bulk. It whips a vine at Ray as he charges, but Ray sidesteps it easily and gives the plant a little baby hammer tap.
Jando puts two more arrows through the plant, and it is starting to look as if it may not be able to make a meal of Argus after all.
That doesn't stop it from trying, however. The crypt flower lifts Argus off his feet like he's not a hulking half-orc paladin in heavy armor, and Argus disappears into the giant maw. Argus immediately feels an intense burning, as if he is being digested (which, y'know, he is) .
Fortunately for him, he doesn't also get poisoned.
Argus (20/52 hp, grappled)
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Jando (49/49 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Crypt Flower (63 damage)
Bold may act.