Balenni visibly recoils as Ashlion breaks free of her influence. She screams in pain as his maul smashes into her chest, and you can hear the sound of ribs cracking. She coughs up a bit of blood and raises her hands to ward off further blows. "Alright! You win! I surrender!"
Tasha also doesn't seem inclined to accept her surrender.
Before Ashlion or Tasha can strike her, the woman vanishes in a flash of light.
Searching through the room, you find numerous luxuries. These include elegant clothing worth 16 gp, six silk pillows worth 2 gp each, and a golden statuette of a flying fish worth 11 gp. Four matching crystal vials in a velvet-lined case are worth 4 gp each. Two vials hold strong spirits, one holds a dose of belladonna, and the fourth holds a lesser elixir of life. Hanging above the desk is a demon mask resembling the scowling visage of Balenni herself.
The writing on the desk includes notes that indicate that Balenni was indeed the architect behind the corruption at the hermitage. It was also she that pushed the halfling Nemnia to attack Abberton and murder your former ringmaster. She now works for Cavnakash, the xulgath leader attempting to destroy the magical orb at the top of the tower.
The notes contain musings wondering what Cavnakash hopes to gain from the act of destruction, as well as the fact that he is working for more powerful xulgaths in an abandoned temple underneath Escadar called Moonstone Hall.
Tasha looks at the mask suspiciously, trying to remember if it was there before the demon vanished.
"We can come back for this after we finish dealing with any other agents of chaos," she says, swishing the tip of her blade back and forth. "Let us continue around the complex."
"Only way to go is up. Let me sneak up the stairs. I want to poison the hell out of this guy before we engage. I only get one shot, so I want to make sure it strikes true."
Tom pulls out the vial of oil found below and smears it all over one of his many knives, looks at Grelda and says: "Grel, you ready to push fate?"
Once the spell is cast, Tom begins to climb the stairs silently as death.
A sun-shaped platform of marble rises ten feet above the flat, mud-brick summit of the Erran Tower. Four large columns support another marble slab over the circular staircase in the center of the tower summit, but there are no walls, so the open-air platform provides a commanding view of the Isle of Erran, the Inner Sea, and the Isle of Kortos to the south. A blazing ball of light three feet in diameter swings around the tower summit in a lazy circle, never approaching closer than within forty feet of the tower, causing shadows to spin across the marble. The orb provides bright light but no heat; instead, a soothing feeling of growth and life emanates from it. On the platform, a small heap of ripped nets, broken poles, and other debris is surrounded by several charcoal marks of geometric shapes.
Tom peeks out from the stairwell to see four xulgath warriors standing ready. Begin them looms a tall xulgath with a high crest and a glowing maul. This must be Cavnakash. Nearby, a pteranodon perches on one of the spires, one of its wings apparently injured.
Unfortunately, Cavnakash spots Tom lurking in the stairwell. The xulgath snarls as he prepares to attack!
Just behind Tom, Grelda casts her spell, tugging on the strands of the rogue’s fate. ”The stars are right. Do it, Tom!”
Ruinë nods, "I should stand here and watch so that I may learn something."
And so she does. She stands there and watches Ashlion as he continues to pound the woman repeatedly. Long after she is gone, she is standing there watching.
Ruinë snaps out of it, "Wha-what? Oh. Indeed."
She tries to fire a ray, but all she sees is in her mind is Ahlion repeatedly punching the woman again and again.
Tom takes a breath and launches his first knife!
"FOR THUNDER!"
Tasha leaps forward baring her teeth and snarling as she approaches one of the xulgath.
Tasha slays a xulgath with two stabs of her rapier. Ashlion kills another in one blow before badly wounding a third. Tom hurls several knives, and two of them hit, including the one laced with poison. Cavnakash snarls as the poison begins to ravage him.
The warriors attack Ashlion with their clubs, one landing a good blow. The pteranodon swoops at Tom, but the half-elf narrowly ducks away. Cavnakash raises a magic shield then prays to his demonic patron. He fires a ray of utterly cold darkness at Tom! The acrobat performs a nimble dodge, barely managing to avoid a critical strike, but the spell still chills him to the core!
Ruinë frowns and snaps to attention when Tom of all people gets injured. She pivots and turns to Tom. "Tom! hold still, your guts are hanging out again! Don't you know that's not healthy?" she pulls a few things out of her bag and starts to try and prevent more gut-spillage.
Tom {A}Strides to be flanking with Ashlion, then flicks two knives at the Xulgath!
Pulling her blade from the collapsing lizard, Tasha takes a few steps over to stab at one of the remaining enemies.
Ashlion smashes both of the xulgaths near him as he flies into a rage! Ruine moves up to heal Tom before he and Tasha rush over to flank Cavnakash. The xulgath’s shield blocks Tasha's first strike, but the second wounds him, as does one of Tom’s knives. Cavnakash recovers from the poison. Grelda moves to cast a spell on the pteranodon, crippling it as it shrieks with something akin to laughter.
The pteranodon swoops at the witch and stabs her with its beak but is unable to fly back, landing in front of her. Cavnakash channeled negative energy through his maul as he lashes out. The first blow shatters Tom’s skull, laying him low! He follows through with a strike to Tasha, then the tiefling barely manages to dodge his final swing.
"Tom! Oh no!" she gasps, continuing to patch up the fallen thief warrior through magical means.
Tasha doesn't even notice that attack on Tom as she stabs at the maul wielding enemy.
"...Sora? I can't stop the ringing..."
Tom {A} Stands up, covers a knife with his last batch of homemade poison and let's it fly.
Ashlion and Tasha each hit Cavnakash, then Ruine gets Tom back on his feet. The rogue stands and drives a poisoned dagger into the xulgath’s back, and with a groan, he falls!
Grelda misses the pteranodon with her projectile. She cackles to keep the beast laughing, but it still pecks her with its sharp beak.
Tom throws his knives and a vial of lightning at the beast!
Everyone was taking on more damage than she can heal. She tried not to panic as she looked around and saw everyone but her was hurt. She healed Tom once more since she was next to him and then sent a fire ray to end this battle, quickly.
With the only foe left the flying dinosaur, Tashsa makes her way to Grelda's side and thrusts at the laughing terror.
The pteranodon quickly falls to fire and blades, while Ashlion crushes Cavnakash into a gruesome paste.
With the xulgaths’ defeat, the aeon orb circling overhead briefly flares with magical power. You feel life energy suffusing you as it instills a reflection of its fading energies within you.
You regain double the normal number of Hit Points when resting (meaning you regain double your Constitution modifier multiplied by your level). The healing you gain from long-term rest is similarly doubled. In addition, you can focus this healing energy to accelerate your body’s natural healing processes even further.
Activate [two-actions] envision; Frequency once per day; Effect You gain fast healing 3 for 1 minute. This amount of fast healing increases by 1 for every 2 levels you have beyond 5th level.
Ruinë looks at the orb and studies it, trying to understand it's magical power.
Sine then goes about seeing to everyone's wounds before they continue.
Grelda studies the orb as well, casting several divinations and consulting with her familiar. At length, the half-orc grunts. ”It seems the xulgaths didn’t get far in their efforts to destroy this orb. The bad news is that it seems to have been in gradual decline for quite some time now. I don’t think we have the capabilities to fix it right now. We should probably head back and report our success here.”
Tasha nods at Grelda's words. "Yes, we should head back. We'll stop by the demon's room and collect what has worth first and then back to the hermitage."
Ruinë nods "And everyone please stop trying to die so fast, I'm barely able to keep you all alive."
Tasha smiles at Ruinë's words. "I'll do my best," she says, putting a long arm around the half-elf's shoulders and placing a kiss on her temple.
Cavnakash’s defeat ends the immediate xulgath threat, but there are still several unresolved matters. As Grelda pointed out, the aeon orb is still failing; Cavnakash’s recent tampering isn’t the cause of its decades of gradual decline. Further, according to the demon Balenni’s notes, Cavnakash was only the agent of a greater power occupying some place called Moonstone Hall underneath the city of Escadar on the other side of the Isle of Erran, and more information is bound to be available there.
Harlock Hamdeel remains both deeply troubled and ashamed. He is heartened by the role you played in cleansing the hermitage, though, and he vows to make it a sacred place once again.
The people of Abberton are grateful for everything you have done. In a ceremony a few days after you return from the Erran Tower, the mayor pronounces you “Abbertonians in perpetuity.” The town eagerly awaits your next performance.
Perhaps most personally, the Circus of Wayward Wonders now sees you as their leaders. And as always, the show must go on!
That evening Tom goes to Riune and Tasha's wagon.
"Sora? I don't mean to interrupt, but you're the closest thing I have to family, and I need your help."
Tom is holding a basket of deep red flowers and a bottle of vodka.
The cleric looks at the flowers, her face blushing. She reaches out and takes them, sniffing them deeply "Tom... I don't know what to say!" She moves in close and throws her arms around him. "I love them! You didn't have to get me these for saving your life today you know, it is my duty."
"What do you need my help with?"
Tasha steps out long enough to see the flowers exchanged before vanishing back into the wagon.
Tom looks really embarrassed when Ruine hugs him.
"Sora... I'm sorry, they aren't for you. I... Need you to set me on fire." he says with a grin.
"In Varisia, my people tattoo get tattoos to signify their dedications. I'm not in Varisia, but I certainly have a caravan to be a part of. Once I prepare the ink, will you channel your fire through it? I think the scars with the red flower ink will look nice..."
Tom sees Tasha and blushes even harder!
"Sef!"
Tom nervously sits near the cook fire and starts to chew up the flowers and spitting it into the vodka.
"Oh." she says, embarrased. She hands back the flowers and comments "They are pretty."
Once Tom explains, Ruinë says confused "Wait. You want me to set you on fire. Are you sure are?"
When he further clarifies, she nods "If you are sure, I will do it. I cannot promise it will go the way you want. Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. It can be any fire... I just thought your fire would mean more to me."
Tom continues chewing the flower petals and spitting them into the vodka until he has a sizeable red, pulpy, paste. He then starts to arrange it on his left arm in swirls and patterns.
"See, the pigment gets leached into the alcohol, which is flammable. Hopefully, when you light it up, it will sear the color into the scars...I also might need you to keep me from passing out."
When the design is complete he holds his arm out to Ruine to inspect be for he takes the handle of his whip and bites down.
Ruinë frowns "Just so it is noted, I do not think I like this plan. I am supposed to be healing your injuries, not inflicting them."
When he's ready, she says "If it is too much pain, please tell me to stop. I will do my best to use the least amount of power as possible."
She focuses her fire ray onto the pasted area, doing her best to try to keep the strength and intensity as minimal as possible. The alcohol instantly burst into flame and Ruinë's eyes widen, looking at Tom to gauge his pain level. "Shall I stop now, Tom? You didn't tell me how to burn it for?"
Tom, arm ablaze begins to flail about swinging his fire-arm around wildly, tears streaking down his face.
After a moment of rolling/patting/running in circles, the fire goes out leaving a fragrant, but charred mass of flower pulp on his arm.
"please help me wash it off..."
Once the pulp is removed, the angry red burns have an iridescent look to them. Tom holds it out for healing while he squints out his tears.
"Oh Tom!" Ruinë cries out, cutting off the fire ray. She washes him in healing warmth to ease his pain before grabbing the jug of water and delicating assisting him in washing it off.
"I don't think that's enough. The skin is severely irritated and raw, I think you should keep it bandaged for the remainder of the day."
She pulls out a bandage and applies some salves to his arm, wrapping it. "There we go. Please don't remove it until tonight. Come see me and we'll see how it's doing."
When Ruinë returns to her shared wagon, she finds a simple vase filled with water sitting on the narrow side shelf.
"For your flowers," Tasha says without looking up from her book. "I thought you would want something to put them in."
Tom pulls Ruine in for a hug before wandering back to his wagon with a skip in his step, the sounds of a circus organ grinder following him.
"You are welcome Tom. Please don't ask me to burn you anymore."
Ruinë looks at the vase filled with water and frowns, plopping down on the ground next to Tasha with a sigh. "I was a fool and thought Tom had got flowers for me. Why would anyone bring me flowers? No, that's silly. Instead, he poured alcohol on himself and then I set him on fire."
She looks over at Tasha and places her hand gently on her forearm "But thank you for the kind gesture, I will admire my vase of water and imaginary flowers." She offers a small smile and says "I love it, thank you."
"Why would ...?" Tasha questions as she puts down her book and notices that the half-elf doesn't have any. "I'll be right back." With that she exits the wagon.
~~~~~
It doesn't take Tasha long to find the recovering knife-thrower. "Where did you get the flowers, Tom?" she asks tersely.
Tom is gingerly inspecting his new tattoo when Tasha rolls up. Tom stands quickly when she approaches.
"SEF! Look what Ruine did! I came out beautifully."
Tom shows her the decorative scarring.
"The flowers? I found them in a field just north of here... I would be careful though, it's in the same field where I pick the berries for my poison. Why? They won't hurt me."