Round 3
Seeing Matthew get hurt, she seems to focus on the divine good of the universe and brings her hand up into the air. Powers from the Sevenfold Symposium and Pelor himself seems to gather into her hand in the form of pure light and she will reach out to touch Matthew.
Move: None
Standard Action: Healing Matthew
Round 3
Matthew turns and gets into flanking position before swinging at the guard left standing... missing again. "Thank you for the healing Nicolette!" He says over his shoulder still focusing on the guard.
Round 4
This time he smashes the warhammer into the man's chest and makes him collapse.
Walking down the corridor you see a large black falcon relief on the wall. There are ornate suits of armor and some tapestries but nothing else of notice. Until you find the corridor stops at a large set of stone doors. Emblazoned on the doors in glowing script are celestial words.
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Once you get to the door. He puts out his hand to read the door and stops before touching it. "Do not cross this threshold without protection from evil. The wards should hold but if not you will be possessed. May the Order of the Black Falcons always be watching and protecting. I have heard of them before an order that hunts evils and seals them away so they can't do more harm. Do not cross any lines of salt pass this door." he reads out loud, then tells you some of what he knows. Touching the door does nothing. He channels Pelor's divinity into the door, then it opens on its own. He casts protection from evil on each of you and himself from some scrolls he pulls out.
"Mhmm!" she speaks up victoriously at Matthew's congratulations.
Matthew then musters the strength to continue his fighting and slams into the guard. Nicolette covers her mouth as he looks dead. Both of them do to her. Fortunately, Loarin is with them and thinks to stablize them.
"I wish things were clearer to me about all of this. I don't like attacking city guards or turning against priests, but...ugh!" she sighs in frustration and hugs her free hand over her chest to tuck under her equipped arm.
"All I know about this is Pelor is guiding me and I am certain this man is evil."
As they come down the corridor, she can see the suits of armor and wonders at them.
"I am in a nice dress...Maybe I should take apart some of this armor and even if it's not fitted to me, it may be better than not using it."
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Once at the door, she will point out, "Pelor led me to touch the Black Falcon relief in that room and I found this. I think this is a holy symbol on top of just people who hunted evil."
He thinks to himself, murmuring, "interesting," and walks up to the relief. Laying his warhammer on the ground he begins feeling around on the relief. Upon pressing the tile at its heart the tiles move back and to the sides a black portal seems to be there and before anything can be done a multitude of black hands emerge and pull him into it.
Nicolette
Loarin
The portal is gone. Just a space in the wall and no Matthew.
Another vision... how horrible you likely feel... you feel the power of the potion has faded.
If you touch it, the tiles move to the sides and reveals a suit of armor waiting for you to step into.
Nicolette shakes her head, "No...I'm realizing I'm not much of a warrior...not like you two; at least not yet. I couldn't hit them once...even when they were not aware of me." Loarin can tell she is utterly embarrassed about this fact.
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Wrapping her arms about her waist, Nicolette nods insecurely to Loarin's words. He may perceive, however, that her reaction is over-powered. She seems disturbed almost. A moment later, she will pull herself away from the others breathing more heavily. She then would rush to Matthew to hug him and just hold him for a moment. She trembles slightly from the sensation of what she has seen. When the feeling has passed, she pulls back and will comment.
"It was just a terrible vision. Please...don't touch the reliefs of the Black Falcons. Only let me do it. I believe something bad will happen to you if you touch them. They respond to the black blood within me, I think, but even Pelor has been guiding me to them."
Despite her having pulled down a suit of armor, now she doesn't equip it but instead walks down the hallway. Upon coming to the door, she will speak to Loarin.
"We need to have protection from evil on at this point, as if we go through this door, we can become possessed as likely the priest and Melinda are." She will then turn to the relief of the Black Falcon there and touch it in the place that she did so in her vision. If the suit of armor then appears, she will equip it.
Stepping up and touching the armor it seems to wrap around you and secures upon you. After it is on the blackness or darkness leaves, the black tinted chainmail upon you. Upon its chest you see the relief of the black falcon.
Within the gap which the tiles and the armor leaves behind you see one more thing a banner attached to a thun pole with the same sign upon it of the black falcon.
He goes to the armor that you pulled down and begins seeing what will fit upon him, taking the other down as well to have pieces that fit him best.
Opening the door you soon see the vault of horrors. Magical chains, wards, and lines of salt make sure that they cannot escape. You see monstrous creatures. One with 6 eyes and four arms, each ending in three claws. The next appears to have the head of a bull and the body of a man. A feline creature with tentacles on its back. A bubbling mass of eyes, mouths, and fangs. A small yellow lizard that looks so pitiful with big puppy dog eyes. A cloud of darkness with blazing eyes set in it somehow. Then you come to one that is pure flames. The next cell's chains are broken and the salt dashed to the side. Ahead you can see a broken metal door that looks to have been torn in half but has been somewhat closed.
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Loarin looks at every cell waiting for one of them to jump out at them. Instead he breathes a sigh of relief once getting to the final door and looks through the cracks of the broken door.
At Matthew's comment of the lizard he whispers back, "Evil comes in all shapes and sizes. We don't know their story and we have enough problems right now."
He stops at the little lizards cell first and says, "Just look at him?!"
It seems that even if she isn't sure of the organization of the Black Falcons, Pelor wants her to take part in them. Never before has she seen armor do what this one does and looks strangely to the others as she doesn't even have to do anything to equip it.
"Well...that was strange, but handy. I'm okay, and I feel protected..."
Her eyes catch the banner on the pole and she decides to take it with her. From now on it will be attached to her back. She will take one of the other banners that seem of lesser quality and will use her sword to cut it into a strip to tie the banner and pole around her waist and upper chest so it doesn't move. Now, despite her lacking ability, she looks much more like a warrior.
As Loarin's spell envelops them, if Matthew is still injured, she will heal him again before the door is opened and will give him a sweet kiss as if to say something more than words could say. After all, they all could die in the next few minutes.
The door opens and she moves into the room behind the others. Her hands wrap around her lover's arm as she tries to focus on each oddity.
"Let's not linger on evil." she mutters quietly to Matthew and pulls him away from the Lizard-looking creature.
"I would destroy each of these beings if I could. They all are likely demons like the one he caught. The one who did this to me. I wonder if this is where he came from?"
She will move through the room to the place where the chains are broken and will shake her head in anger before pressing on. She is sure now that someone outside of these protections released him.
"Let's move on."
They continue on and come to the door and she will await for Loarin to go through it.
"What do you see?" she whispers.
He looks upon you with astonishment. As he works the armor on he says, "Thanks I am fully healed now. Now if only I can get this armor to fit... aghh!"
Your kiss quiets him.
Matthew shrugs and stays in your embrace. Even seeing the fire you pull him along without any problems.
Upon the fourth try the doors scrap along the floor making a horrible noise.
The priest waits for you. Some entity possesses him, as green slime is bubbling up on his skin. He picks up a trident and yells, "No! I am not ready yet!"
There is 40 feet between him and the door. As the three of you step through you may act. To try to hit him in the first round would require a charge.
Nicolette will do her best to try to help Matthew get his armor on. While she's not very effective at strapping it to him, she can help hold it up for him to strap it more accurately.
As they force the doors open, she cringes with a horrible "blegh" sound. They peer into the room and she can see him in the distance.
"There he is! Get him!"
She will rush in after her warriors and will hopefully get a good bash on him before he's ready.
Round 1
He charges forward and smashes the warhammer into the priest's shoulder with an overhead chop.
But instead the priest is over more than he really was as Matthew smashes through the glass wall that made it hard to see him.
The priest quickly positions the trident to brace for your charge.
You trade blows and it all goes dark with a massive sharp pain.
You wake up and the room is completely charred. Matthew sits with your head in his lap. Loarin looks like he has been through the forges with soot and streaks of sweat down his face and on his armor.
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"Well that's the best I can do right now. I am tapped for spells. Its too bad his scroll case was burnt too. Okay sleeping beauty, time to get up." he says and offers his hand to help pick you up.
And after Matthew's two words he says with urgency, "Later, we need to get out of here before something else falls on our heads. You good to go?!"
If there are no interruptions he asks Matthew, "You may as well take the lead to show her your new moves."
He supports you from his sitting position. Then Matthew offers you your new great sword. Turning around you see him in a red outfit. The piecemeal armor is gone, his warhammer is gone, even his shoes are gone. Just a simple red vest and matching loose red pants that comes down to his calves. As your face begins to ask questions, he only says, "Ask Loarin."
"As you wish", he responds to Loarin with a smile on his face and winks at Nicollete. He quickly passes through the doorway, the metal door is missing. Then past all the cells, which are all busted up like the last one was before. Through the hallway beyond to where the pieces of the suits of armor still remain that Matthew didn't use. There he picks up the two guards by the nape of their armor. Putting them with the other guards. Melinda is no where to be seen but there is a bloody smear where you left her screaming. The doors behind her are broken and smashed.
There he stops. There you notice it he is shimmering with a faint outline of fire! Also on his shoulder is the yellow green lizard with a tri forked tail. It turns to face you and waves its clawed hand.
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He announces, "Okay I will take point from here." He leans over and picks up a line of twine. Collecting it as you go, he slowly leads you out of the maze of the catacombs of the cathedral. One time he stopped as he looked around a corner and quickly got back. You could hear growly but then it stopped. He looked again and quickly followed the twine away.
Coming out of the last staircase he looked right and left before leading you to another staircase and to a door. Which he tapped in five different spots, it unlocked and quickly got the three of you in the room. The room was a little smaller than your room at the inn. He sat down on the bed and just kneaded his head. He pulled his wooden cup from his pouch and filled it with water. Once that was gone he looked at the two of you.
Then he begins explaining what he saw, "Nicolette you charged the priest and he skewered you with his trident... your blood reached out and hurt him so much he was thrown to the back of the room. Seeing your dieing body Matt, well, he went berserk would be the easiest way to explain it. The priest didn't stand back up but what possessed him did. A wall of flame filled the room. Matt charged it and broke his warhammer on it. Then he just punched it repeatedly as he was being torn by its claws. The flame in the room protected us, and healed him. Then the other prisoners got out. They fought each other, the lizard came in and finished off the demon. Nice teeth by the way, oh yeah, this is Sly, Matthew's new familiar. At least that is what Sly said. Matthew collapsed. I nursed you both back to life using channels and what spells I had left. I don't know how many prisoners got free... at least one, the displacer beast, the panther with tentacles. We should track it down but after we take care of your demon, Nicolette."
Consciousness through her healing causes her to stir and all she can remember is the pain. She seems to remember at the onset that for certain her blade came down hard on the priest and then he moved in such a way that she couldn't see what he was doing.
"OWw...my head...my heart...hurts..."
She seems to recall a sudden rush of the black blood within her spilling out toward the priest, far greater than she has ever felt before when cut or bashed by things, but it was all darkness at that point. For some reason, she feels like something went right through her chest.
"Did I die?"
The next thing she feels is Matthew shifting his hands upon her cheeks and his legs under her head as he likely was worried about her at that point. "Am I on the ground?"
She then realizes she needs to come more to the realm of the living and not go in the direction she was heading--if nothing else to see what is going on and why all is darkness around her. Nicolette's long lashes flutter open and her pale eyes hesitantly study around her as Loarin's last bit of healing finalizes. A sharp intake of breath fills her lungs to their capacity and she looks up at Matthew in pain.
Loarin offers her his hand. It is clear that she doesn't comprehend him at first. "Wh..whaaa...t?" she asks weakly to Loarin's words as she comes even more into reality a moment later. She can see the offered hand before her now and she wonders if she can even move. Can a dead person move? She tells herself to raise her arm to take his, and strangely enough, her body still works. Strength surges back into her as she stands up onto her feet but still, she feels strange. Her hands move up to her chest over her new armor. As suspected, there are holes there.
She turns to see Matthew in his new outfit and he can see in her eyes a bit of general confusion as to what has transpired, as well as what has happened to his armor. Cautiously she takes her offered sword from him like someone who is afraid or unsure/confused. She holds the handle, but her recovered strength isn't so much to hoist the blade up yet and its tip falls to the ground. Dragging the blade to her side, she lifts it as she seeks to overcome the strange feeling she's experienced.
Loarin's words cause her to look upward to this supposed ceiling that would eventually fall on them. "It was fine before, right? Yet now it seems to have been damaged. This only further confuses her. Only Matthew can be her guiding light to reality at this point, so she looks to him again. As they are heading out, she can't see his hammer anywhere but follows along regardless.
"Where is the priest? What happened to the door?" the girl thinks to herself as she wanders behind them weakly like a zombie until she has the feeling of her feet back. As they get to the library, she looks for Melinda. Seeking to find one simple thing the same about her reality, she asks herself, " Where did that c**t go? Oh my gosh...Is that her on the wall? Wha???"
As Matthew stops, she recoils her hand with the sword to her chest, having seemingly just found her strength again. Her reaction is like someone afraid or ready to fight in defense. She'll only relax when she notices that it's just the two of them changing positions. There, she can see Matthew outlined by something like fire. Her eyes also seem to see a lizard thing waving at her, but at this point, she thinks it's kind of just her eyes being crazy in the shifting light. Even so, she has a desire to smash it with her blade off his shoulder, but being so confused, she does nothing.
Eventually they get through the maze and up into the room. She can't even say anything yet as Loarin explains, but slowly she will put the sword in her hands to lean against the wall near her.
"I'm sorry..." she states, although it is not as someone apologizing for something wrong they did, but rather someone trying to understand or comprehend something. While the two of them may be used to falling unconscious or being near death, there has only been one other time she has felt like this, and it was the day she died. That came as a surprise to her just as this did, except this is even weirder. "Did I ...die?"
He comes over and embraces you, finally relaxing and different emotions come over him. He cries and breaks down on you. Through it his words are separated by sobs, "I thought, I lost... you! I don't know... what has happened... to me. I... I just... so much..."
"I felt like I was...like before," she explains about being dead as she wraps herself into Matthew's arms. The flames likely burned whatever blood had spewed forth from her, but inside her armor, all the way down to her feet, she can feel the sogginess of her nice dress and shoes. She is certain they are permanently ruined and she can feel three distinct holes now where the trident went through her in the front and back.
"Shhh...calm yourself. I'm still here," Nicolette will direct toward Matthew as she takes him into her arms. After a moment with him and Loarin seeking to leave, she will then look to the servant of Pelor. "Thank you, Loarin."
"Was it the same demon or a different one?" she asks quietly now that they are alone. She has described it before to Matthew in all detail of its horrific form.
Matthew shakes his head and then thinks she might not notice the movement, so he takes a steadying breath before answering, "It was not your demon. I am sure it would have taunted you differently. It also had long horns, yellow eyes, sharp talons, and mostly unstable body. It was almost not solid. Not your demon but something a kin to it." He shudders remembering it with vivid detail.
He brushes his face with his left hand and then arm. "But I need to be here for you. I just feel so... so not myself. You know me I do my best to put my emotions to the side. Now they are bubbling up to the top. The fire is within me. It feels weird, not myself. But also... it seems right."
You both hear a little voice over on the bed, looking over you see the little yellow and green lizard speak, "It is alright to feel this way. Your father did not have a body and chose to give you his power. He used what you could not take in to destroy that demon."
Nicolette uses her other sensations more than her eyes, so she does feel him shake his head. Her hands seem to seek out the flames that she saw upon his shoulders and body, yet at the moment, she doesn't seem burned by them as he held her close.
"It must be a race of demon then..."
Curiously she searches his face as he explains more. She will jump a little as the Sly speaks and will move slightly behind Matthew from the lizard as she is reminded it is there. Now that it is speaking, she is even more hesitant.
"Ew...lizard...," she thinks to herself as it talks. She's always hated lizards since boys tortured her with them when she was young. After the lizard is done speaking, it seems she has some questions.
"Um...There...what?" she mutters as if having so many questions but not sure how to get them out or in what order, and definitely not knowing how to handle a talking lizard.
"One question at a time."
"I can hardly begin to understand what all transpired down below...who you are...," she will direct toward the lizard before looking back to Matthew, "...or what happened to the priest-demon. I don't know why all this even occurred. I just care about you. Share with me what you've learned about your father. About what is inside of you. Maybe telling all of this to me will help calm you?" With that, she will brush his cheek. Her hand are caked with black blood so she stops and pulls back so as not to harm him until she can wash her hands. Her eyes do their best to see if he is injured in any way so that she can heal him.
"I am the Sly, but at this momen... momentus... this great time I would accept a new name if you want." You can tell he has trouble with the word but then goes for one that is easier to say.
"Matthew beat him and I finished it off. The fire that was locked away was Matthew's father, it instilled power in him. As his father did not have a body and there was a threat to Matthew it weakened the demon for Matthew to fight it." the little lizard readily relays.
Matthew's fire would burn away the excess blood upon you hand. He appears unhurt just a bit unstable.
He slowly takes his time to focus on one thing at a time relaying what he remembers, "After the priest impaled you, your blood shot out and hit him. He did not stand back up, so when the flames entered the room his body turned to ash. The demon was defeated it was burned as well. When the flame came to me, I was scared. But as it flowed over me and through me I felt at ease, almost comforted. He had no body so it was more of a feeling than anything. Yes the flames hurt but that is what they do, they burn. Fire refines, as my true parents taught me." Focusing on those last thoughts you can see he is visibly better.
Nicolette shakes her head to renaming Sly. Now isn't the time or place.
Hearing Matthew speak, she begins to see the whole picture a bit better.
"So now...your father is absorbed into who you are? Or is he still a separate being?"
The fire flares when he gets into combat or when his emotions are 'unstable'. The fire is still around him but it is smaller than before, it will soon snuff out. You would get warm, only non-allies would take the damage. Though he will need to feed that flame to get that ability again. He will be supercharged for the next week.
"His power, the rest of Gordon passed on to the elemental plane of fire." The lizard quickly replies to Nicolette's questions.
"I suppose what Sly is saying is true but I am not sure. Its all so different." He then says.
"And what were you to his father? Why did you come to his aid when others fled?" she now directs her attention to Sly.
"Me, oh I am nothing special. I just had a few favors due to Gordon. He and I were actually caught at the same time by the black falcons." he replies in his small lizard voice. "I like shiney things and adventurers find all sorts of treasure. I will also tell you stories of Gordon the Efritii Blooded Sorcerer. Also once a week I can produce something nice, like the clothes Matthew wears."
"That was going to be one of my next questions. So you made these then."
She looks over Matthew's clothes and can just picture him exploding his armor and clothing off with massive amounts of flame. It gives her the chills inside and as she wraps her arms around him and she will lean up to give him a kiss.
As she does, she can feel steam on her hands as a light trickle of water seems to come forth from them. It runs over his skin, calming his raging inferno even more with its soothing coolness. In her mind now she understands she could have always done this...made water...but it is only now that she has produced it. If it hurts him at all, she will recoil her hands and force the effect to stop, but if not, she will go with it and run up his arms with her hands to cool him.
They part their kiss and she asks him, "What happened to Melinda? What was that string Loarin coiling? I don't recall that before. Do you think he put it there to find his way? and what was that that made us pause at the top of the stairs?" she asks in reference to the growling. "Are there still enemies out there? Are we going to be branded as murderers now?" she asks more worried as the slew of questions gush forth.
Matthew seems to enjoy the water and hugs you just a bit tighter as it first starts but then slowly eases you to have more freedom of movement to cool him down.
"I dont know where that girl went, but if she couldn't move because of the trap she laid, perhaps the other creatures trapped made her that smear on the ground. Loarin used the string to not get lost, to let it guide us back, an excellent reason to have twine. Have you been in a dungeon with him before? I have well kinda. I dont know what that was, only Loarin looked around the corner. Perhaps it was the demon displacer beast he was talking about. Who knows how many creatures my father released. Well we did leave the four guards alive. They can probably identify us. Loarin has connections in this cathedral. I am sure he can smooth things over for us."
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Almost as if in response to his name being said too many times, there is the five knocks at the door. It unlocks on its own, he comes in quickly and locks the door. He appears to have sweated even more, and quickly says, "The cathedral will take care of itself but we are on our own. Corruption. I had to knock out my friend before he could get out of his room. The guards will likely identify us, if caught both of you will be put into cells like that. We need to use the fair to our advantage, get done here and move on quickly." While he has been talking he has been reshuffling his pack.
It was as she thought. The thing they heard was some kind of demon or beast. The priest was possessed as have been others. As Loarin enters, she picks up her sword just in case but will relax when she sees it is him.
Even worse now, his words make her recoil in worry. She has holes in her armor, a blackened bloody looking dress, and they need to move on quickly.
"What about what we came here for? I still need to pray at the shrine to Pelor. We were going to find a wizard. Who will fight with us now if we are outlaws? Will we have to find help from criminals? Will we have to leave out supplies behind to escape quicker?"
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"Its okay, the cathedral will be taking care of what was released first. Once all the craziness is settled, then they will begin searching for us. We likely have a few days. But we shouldn't waste any time. We will go to the main shrine of Pelor. Then we should collect your gear, no, its outside the main town. We will likely have to hop the wall. So your gear will have to come last. The wizards I am thinking of will only care about the mission and the gold it will bring. They are mercenaries. Steel Cloth, is the name they go by. Their guildhouse should still be in the Northern district of wares. Ask for Julia, and tell her Lock is looking for a knock. Just in case we get separated. Now before we look like casual worshipers each of you should put on one of these white robes. Also... as high noon is coming soon I will need to pray and prepare what few spells I will regain. Including mending, which will fix that." He says and points to your armor.
Now he has packed up and anything that looked valuable. Handing an extra bag to Matthew. He steps out, looks both ways and then says, "Come on."
Keeping our heads down, as the robes cover most of us, we make good time to get to the shrine.
The main shrine of Pelor is open to anyone. It is in the center of the cathedral. No gaudy statues stand for Pelor himself, instead his holy symbol floats above alters and the sun fills it with radience.
There have been groups of guards and armored individuals running around, but they have been too busy to worry about three worshipers on their own business.
Nicolette takes in a breath of relief as Loarin speaks of mending her armor. It is as if he told her the last worry she has will be fixed.
It is strange to her to put on a robe and fake being a priestess, but she will remember the act in case they ever get in trouble again. No-one even seems to care about their comings or goings until they get to the shrine.
There, Nicolette prepares her heart to receive the god who watched over her when she asked for his help. The god of clarity and light who has helped her in her darkness by putting Loarin in her life.
She will make her way directly forward to the shrine and will lower herself to her knees there and then lay flat before it in humility. While others may not do as much, she is truly thankful for his preservation of them and acts out of the abundance of thanks in her heart.