"I don't know where to begin... can you talk to her? Find out what kind of flower she likes? or if she likes chocolate? or if it was just a kiss on the cheek? Does she like foot rubs? or perfume? Am I supposed to kiss her back? How long do people kiss for? Should I kiss her cheek too? I thought they were married... does her husband like me too? You got married in a day, am I supposed to propose?"
Tom continues to ask questions until stopped by an answer.
Grelda chuckles. "I think the situation between Ashlion and myself was a... unique circumstance. But I will speak with Emma later and help you navigate the treacherous waters of romance, if that is your inclination."
"Thanks Grel."
Tom starts to walk away before he stops and says, "Sorry I hit on your husband."
"It's okay. You know, though, if he had been into it..." The witch trails off but gives Tom a toothy grin.
Tasha and Tom spend the day in the markets of Escadar, unloading a bag of holding full of items to sell. The tiefling leaves her rapier at a weapon smith to get the rune from Delamar's blade transferred onto her own.
After spending the rest of the day around the circus camp, the next morning, you head into the city to pick up Tasha's weapon. From there, it's time to go down to explore Moonstone Hall.
The eastern neighborhoods of Escadar are filled with drug houses, gambling dens, and overcrowded tenements. In a courtyard at the end of a deserted side street, sequestered from the cacophony of touts and peddlers, a gaping sinkhole yawns next to a dry and crumbling fountain depicting a frolicking mermaid. A metal fence surrounds the sinkhole and the fountain. Four people dressed in constable uniforms stand near the fountain, at ease but alert for trouble.
Once shown the writ from Chief Constable Andera Paldreen, the guards step aside to let you pass. They warn you that they have heard movement and the clinking of metals from the chamber at the bottom of the stairs, but it isn't their directive to investigate.
The wide stone steps descend 100 feet into the ground beneath Escadar. Far beneath the restless city lies a monument to the past. Sturdy doors of reinforced ebony guard the entrance to an impressive building constructed of gleaming white stone. One of the doors is slightly ajar. White stone pillars support the cavern’s ceiling above. Broken stained‑glass windows along the temple’s walls peer like sightless eyes
Tom winks at the group and says, "scouting ahead, I'll be fine.. unless there's quicksand down here..." and skulks off into the ruins.
Tom stealthily creeps towards the entrance, but he doesn't get too far before he spots a lurking danger. Two human-sized reptiles are curled up behind the pillars on either side of the temple entrance. Their pale coloration makes them difficult to see against the white stone of the pillars, but Tom notes their eight legs and faintly glowing eyes. Each is leashed to a pillar with a chain.
When Tom explains to Ruinë what they look like, she says "Sounds like Basilisks. If you look into their eyes, they can petrify you and turn you to stone! Don't look them in the eyes!"
"Before we go in let me cast a spell" she says, touching Tom's shoulder "Be heroic, Tom."
"For you, Sora, I will be heroic.", then he begins to {A} Juggle 3 Knives, a beanbag, and a vial of alchemist's fire.
She gestures towards the bed where instead of the single silk pillow that Ruinë had expressed a desire for, all six of them are arranged. "I wanted to give you something to show you how much you mean to me. And they are yours and yours alone. So if ..." She looks away. "I think you would be happier finding ... finding someone that could fulfill your needs more than I."
~~~~
"Does anyone else have anything to shoot them with?" the tiefling asks.
”I’ve got my magic,” Grelda says. ”Let’s take them out quickly.”
Tom sneaks back into position, then gives the signal to attack!
Heeding her own advice, Grelda opens up with her most powerful attack spell.
Why can I not be happy with just Tasha without her body? Why does my body burn for hers? No, this is wrong. She does not want me like that. I must... burn these thoughts from my body
Whenever she starts to think of physical affection with Tasha, she uses her fire spells on herself. She prays and repeats this process for several hours until all of her spells are exhausted and she is completely drained.
When Tasha brings up this morning, Ruinë looks at her with completely blank expression while nodding along. She listens to her talk and when the gift is offersed she finally shows a small side smile in response, a single tear coming to her right eye. "Thank you. They are beautiful and no doubt the most comfortable pillows in all of Golarion. Hear you again still think of me and I have gotten you nothing in return. I am not yet hopeless, please do not give up on me. I am trying to learn and have faith that I may yet correct my deviant behavior."
She wipes her tear away and says "I have done much thinking and praying on my actions last night and it is quite apparent that my childish and inappropriate behavior of forcing my will on you was beyond out of line. I let the alcohol cloud my judgment and I failed you. I let my own desires overtake what I knew was wrong and I should have been stronger."
She nods, looking at the ground and says "I will be stronger. I have decided that I am forgoing any form of personal pleasure of the skin as it is nothing more than a corruption of true love and it takes me away focusing on the gifts I have been provided. My duty is to heal those that are injured and provide comfort to those in need. The temptations of the skin are a distraction from why I am here and I have pledged to Sarenrae to give me the strength I need stay vigilant. I will force my body to learn of its mistakes and reward it for its dedication."
Lifting her head she says proudly "She has granted my this strength and I can tell you now that this day I have spent burning these desires from my body. I can now look at you and say that I no longer yearn for anything that would cause you pain and I am completely satisfied to have your presence nearby. Your verbal acceptance is all that I need."
She smiles weakly and looks Tasha in the eyes "I can only hope to be as strong as you one day. I believe I will, I just need to stay on the path. Forgive me, I am exhausted from my trials today and now must rest. I would be most happy if you would sleep beside me so that I can listen to your breathing as I fall asleep."
She folds her hands together in front of her, as if she were praying and says "Thank you for all that you give, it is most exquisite and I am blessed to have you taking care of me. I promise I will now be better suited to receive your love."
Tom, having signaled this troupe throws his daggers, filling the gaps with more knives from his bandolier.
Tasha's calm facade crumbles at Ruinë's words. "No," she says in a tiny voice finally. "No, My Love," she repeats. "Physical affection is a wonderful thing. Do not break yourself for me, please." Tears begin to fall from her eyes and she rises from the hard chair to sit on the edge of the bed and pull the half-elf into her lap. "Do not measure what is acceptable and what is not by my pathetic self. There are so many joys that can be had in this world. Do not limit yourself just because I am unable to partake of them." She leans in close to press her forehead against Ruinë's.
"I so wish that I were capable of giving you such pleasure as Ashlion gives Tygrah and Grelda ... To make you moan in ecstasy." She reaches up to cup the woman's cheek. "But it is I that is broken - not the rest of the world. Do not deny yourself something that is a great reward in this world because I can't partake. I would rather the pain I would feel that it's someone else giving you that pleasure than the pain of knowing that you are denying yourself to spare my feelings. Please don't make that sacrifice on my account."
She moves in closer and gently presses her lips against Ruinë's.
"Please."
~~~~
With a heavy sigh, the tiefling leaps into the fray with her drawn blade and tiny shield.
Tom only scores a hit with his first dagger, but Grelda blasts the same basilisk with magic missiles and Tasha stabs it. The beast retaliates, gnashing its jaws on the tiefling’s arm before focusing its gaze on her. The other monster trundles forward, chain dragging behind it as it gets Tom in range of its gaze.
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When a loud thudding sound can be heard after Ruine's pronouncement, no-one inside the wagon pays much attention...
Faced with a much more straightforward foe Ashlion does what he does best, and charges!
"Please don't make that sacrifice on my account."
"It is d-d-done." she starts to say but has trouble finishing. She stutters a little before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She opens them and says "I love you and I will not force you into the sins of the flesh any further. I fear my unhealthy cravings of your flesh have already further injured you. I am so, so sorry for that. If you do not need it, neither do I."
Ruinë's stands firm as Tasha talks, despite her insides begging her to relent. When she leans in to kiss her however, her body quivers.
She pulls back from the kiss and aims her puts her right hand parrell to her lips. Her hand trembles as it begins to glow brightly just before a bright ray of fire scorches her jaw, chin and lips, burning them badly.
"No.Love.You.Must.Conform." her words are broken and pronounced badly, the pain of opening her mouth to peak proving difficult. Tears of pain stream from her eyes as she resists the urge to heal herself and instead crawls into bed, her wounds burning with pain. She reaches down and pats the bed next to her for Tasha to come lay next to her. She turns away from Tasha and requests "Read.To.Me?Please?"
Ruinë's raised hand blasts fire towards the creatures and then averts her gaze.
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"I SPOKE TO RINGMASTER, TRIED TO EXPLAIN. HOW ARE THEY THIS WRONG? WE MUST FIX THIS!" It is apparent to both women however that he has no idea how...
Grelda nods. ”I could try to nudge fate in their favor, but in matters of the heart, my hexes are unreliable and may only make things worse.”
She waits breathless for a response, her lilac skin a grayish puce.
~~~~
Trying to avoid the creature's gaze proves to be an issue when you're trying to stab the thing.
Tom throws 3 more knives!
Tasha stabs the basilisk that bit her, then Tom takes it out with two hurled knives before throwing the third one into the second basilisk. Ruine scorches that same creature, then Ashlion charges in and lands a critical strike, knocking the beast to the floor! Grelda finishes it off with a trio of magic missiles.
She works her jaw a little bit, now that it is pain free and states "Fret not, Tasha. I have learned by watching you that pain subsides. You throw yourself into the fray time and time again, amassing great wounds and injuries. But I am always by your side and healing them. You always get back up and do what needs to be done. This is no different. I have spent the day applying corrections when my body craves for sins of the flesh. I do this for you and I am not afraid. You give me strength and purpose, I am lost without you."
She smiles and places her right hand over her heart "Fear not, my love. Pain is temporary. Love is forever. I ask no oaths or promises from you, just your love."
She reaches over and picks up Tasha's book and places on the bed next to her, patting it twice. "Are you going to make me beg? I very much want to hear what happens to unicorn after her horn was stolen from her."
"Tasha, let me see to that if you please." She takes a knee by Tasha's side, puts her gloves on and pulls a few items from her bag as she takes inspects the wound. "Is it alright if I put my hands on you to close this wound up?" she asks, waiting for a response before proceeding.
Once given, she goes to work and says with a smile "I've very proud of you for looking away, I would have hated to have Ashlion carry a Tasha statue back to our wagon."
With trembling limbs, she sheds her garments and climbs into the bed to pick up the book. She leans in to kiss Ruinë's forehead, but pauses. "May I?" she asks.
She then moves to make herself more comfortable and opens the book. "Where were we?"
~~~~
"I don't think a statue would really fit with our decor, would it?" the tiefling quips before patting Tom on the back.
"Well spotted," she says. "Why don't you take a quick look inside."
Tom creeps to the open door. A stinky residue on it retains the unmistakable stench of xulgaths. He cautiously peers inside.
This palatial chamber’s domed ceiling rises twenty feet above the stone floor. Stained‑glass windows portray a radiant human figure raising two islands from a tumultuous sea. Though the artwork is breathtaking, jagged cracks disrupt the images, and shards of colorful glass litter the floor. Heavy ebony doors stand in the east and west walls. The atrium’s alabaster walls are marred with crude paintings of humanoid figures, demons, and profane symbols drawn in blood. An unpleasant, coppery odor lingers in the air.
Two xulgaths are adorning the paintings here, using the blood of a dead dog to defile the murals. Keeping an eye on them is an emaciated demon that looks like a horned human skeleton smothered within a bone-tight hide of slimy leather.
The xulgaths don't notice Tom, but the demon does, snarling as it raises its longspear!
"Huh... looks like the jig is up. Sorry guys!"
Tom's trio of daggers find their marks, sticking into the demon's chest. Ashlion charges forward, and while his first strike goes wide, his backswing slams into the demon's side. As he strikes, a gout of acidic, bloodlike slime shoots out at the barbarian.
Critical Success The attacker avoids the reactive slime.
Success The attacker takes 1d6 acid damage.
Failure The attacker takes 2d6 acid damage.
Critical Failure As failure, except the weapon used to Strike the babau automatically becomes broken unless the weapon is made of a material that is immune to acid.
The demon shrieks and assaults Ashlion, dealing a grievous strike with its jaws before following up with a critical hit from its claw!
One xulgath moves around to flank Ash while the other rushes up and attacks Tom. Neither hit.
Grelda hurls a rock at the xulgath attacking Tom!
Tom takes a {A}Step back while throwing 2 daggers at the demon who moved to flank Ash.
"THIS ONE'S COMING FOR MY GUTS!"
Tom's daggers sink into the back of the xulgath flanking Ashlion, and it sags to the ground. Grelda batters the other one while Ash smashes the demon two more times, leaving it badly wounded!
Tasha races forward to stab at the other xulgath.
"No special treatment for fellow demons," Tasha calls out to the wounded outsider with a laugh.
Ruinë pivots next to Ash and tries to patch him up.
The demon shrieks in anguish as it watches Ruine heal Ashlion, setting it up for the barbarian to take it down with his strikes! Tasha stabs and demoralized the remaining xulgath, and it swings its dagger desperately, scoring one slice. From there, you gang up on the xulgath and quickly take it down.
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Ashlion pastes the xulgath with a frightful blow from his maul before leaning on it for a few moments until his rage passes. He is still immensely batter, but doesn't seem overly concerned by it.
"A GOOD FIGHT!" He comments, cheerfully. "WHO WANTS LONG STICK? RINGMASTER? MAYBE YOU DON'T GET HURT SO MUCH THAT WAY?"
Tasha looks at the long and clumsy weapon. "I think I'll stick with the blade I have," she says. She looks at the large double doors and then the exits to the left and right.
"Let's start with that way," she says, indicating the passage to the right. "Tom? Care to sneakily lead the way?" she adds with a grin.
Walls of smooth rose marble surround a pool filled with a purplish sludge. A golden statue of a winged eye rises from the center of the pool, dripping dark tears from its corners into the noxious substance below. Faded mosaics on the walls surrounding the pool have been disfigured with ghastly illustrations painted with smeared blood.
Grelda scratches her head, unsure what to make of the pool.
"Would anyone like a bath?" Tasha quips, gesturing with her blade. "If not, then we should head back the other way to the north."
"This pool is tainted, but the taint can be removed, I think. It hints that the defaced mosaics in this room need to be cleaned and we'll have a better idea, but it is likely to take an hour. We are not in a hurry, are we? We need to clean it before we leave."
Tom silently sneaks off to see what he can see.
"We can take the time for that, I think," Tasha says, resting a warm hand on the half-elf's shoulder.
This spacious hall connects several rooms of the upper temple level. Several crude, heavy packs piled against the north wall contain food and supplies hauled up from the Darklands by the xulgaths. A small rear door to the east once served as a back door for the temple’s clergy, but it now leads only to blank stone. Two other doors are set in the east wall.
The xulgath packs contain little of value other than a grim trophy in the shape of a shrunken dero head and a pouch with nineteen cracked rubies worth 5 gp each.
This abandoned chapel is shrouded in gloom. To the east, a broken slab surrounded by marble debris is all that remains of a large statue. Atop the broken slab stands a crude altar of wood and stone bearing a human corpse. A gash splits the dead man’s throat, his decaying face frozen in a final mask of terror. A strange symbol carved into the man’s abdomen undulates with foul energy.
Four xulgaths are gathered here, making prayers to their demonic patron. Tom accidentally sneezes, alerting them to his presence! They turn to face him, their leader peering through an oversized, cloudy eye!
Tom {A}closes the door and wedges it, trapping them inside!
"Dunno if this is gonna hold'em... but it's pretty crowded in there!"
The half-elf smiles, but it only last for a fleeting moment as Tom just wanders off and gets into trouble, again. The cleric hurriedly runs after and chastises, "Tom I would appreciate you just not walking off on your own after I had requested we pause."
Before Tom wedges the door, she shoots a ray into it.
As Ruine rushes over to Tom, Grelda trails behind, nudging the rogue’s fate. Tom tried to jam the door, to no avail. The xulgaths shove the door open and attack him with their greataxes! The leader hangs back, casting a spell and conjuring a spectral claw that swipes at Tom.
Tom gives Ashlion a scathing look, and {A}steps back while hurling his knives.
"Yes yes, by all means bash their brains in, fiara. Harder, not smarter.. that's what I always say."