"We need Baraket's full power!"
"WHAT.THE.HELL.ARE.YOU.DOING?"Elanna roars with the full force of her being, unable to take her eyes off the creature in front.
Hope realized that there was no way she could drop the ceiling on him or make a hole in the floor, far too much stone. There was, however, a hand table in the room. A big one. That gave her an idea.
Elyana stepped to the side and began to move to gather her power, the dance like gestures causing dust to swirl in towards her, and when she finished she unleashed a blow, not at their enemy, but at the table.
Screaming Moon wraps Mozamer up in webbing, allowing Elanna to land a good hit from behind. This further bewilders the sinspawn. Fioralba removes the runewarded gauntlets and stabs Mozamer with Baraket, shocking him for good measure. Hope blasts the table, knocking it into Mozamer and shoving him back a few feet.
Mozamer is badly wounded, and he shrieks in fury as he stares at Baraket. ”Impossible! That blade should not have such power any more! My mistress saw to that!l” He lunges for Fio!
Triel hisses for Vindir to return to her consciousness as she digs her healing wand out.
Looking from Triel to Fioralba and then the other combatants, Screaming Moon is torn, but knows he needs to try to diminish the opponent further.
"Fioralba, move away. The webs will keep him from following."
Concentrating on the feeling of being under the starry night sky, he gestures at Mozamer and notes of starry light surround him, attaching to his clothing, hair, and even his eyelids.
Afterwards, he snaps out his healing wand and moves to Triel.
Knowing only one way to deal with an enemy, Ruby Meadow keeps attacking.
Hope was glad that her trick worked but it wasn't going to again. She sent another blast at the monster and hoped she would hit this time.
Unsure how to properly wield such power, Fioralba has trouble focusing her next few swings.
With a powerful blast from Hope and a solid strike from Fioraba, Mozamer at last lets out a final strained shriek before finally collapsing in a bruised and bloody heap.
The suite is nearly empty of valuables, though one of the desks contains several crumpled sheets of paper with scribbled writing in Thassilonian.
With the party seemingly safe again, Screaming Moon moves around to heal people.
As he does so, he looks nervously at Fioralba, but speaks calmly. "Fioralba. Please put the sword down. We don't need that much power anymore."
Noting the concern in Screaming Moon's tone, Ruby Meadow eyes Fioralba warily, but sheathes her greatsword anyway.
Reaching down to pick up the Halberd, she gives it a few practice swings. "This is a fine weapon. The sinspawn appeared to use it to great effectiveness. I'll hold on to it for now."
She starts helping to strip Mozamer's armor.
As Mozamer falls, Fioralba turns Baraket over in her hands, her eyes dancing along the invisible blade's edge. "Amazing." she whispers to herself before swiping it twice through the open air.
"This blade is so much more than what we realized! The speed it possesses, I've never seen anything like it! I moved so quickly that I was able to attack twice in the time I normally would have! And the POWER!" she says, squeezing the hilt. "It's incredible."
Turning to Moon, she furrows her brow "Put it down? What? Nonsense. Why would I put Baraket down now. We need to ensure this place is clear first."
The magus bends down and picks up the gauntlets, putting them in her bag for safe keeping but shows no desire to put them on again.
Hope looked on as the monster died, quite pleased with herself, and approached as the others began to take his stuff. It seemed that part of the adventurer's creed must be to "roll the stiffs". Unfortunately Fioralba showed quickly that she was not being herself.
The other woman was all hopped up on something, power maybe, from wielding the blade unprotected. Hope considered what to do, she knew that they needed to get that sword away from Fio but the only way she could think of was by knocking her out. Unfortunately Fio was in such bad shape that Hope was pretty sure she'd kill Fio if she tried to blast her and knock her out.
Hope decided on a different tactic and said, "Hey Fio! I'm the crazy girl in the group find a different place for yourself. You are listening to something you shouldn't be, it is controlling you and you know it!" Hope smiled almost viciously and added, "Or are you going to let an object control you? I thought you were stronger than that!"
Triel's healing takes longer than expected, and the realization that Fi willingly removed the gauntlets to wield Baraket at full strength doesn't help matters any.
She leans against the wall as the aches and pains wracking her body start to fade. "Fioralba... do you remember the Sickness?"
That blasted card has come up no fewer than twice in my Harrow readings--albeit in different contexts, but it's still a pattern that should not be ignored.
After healing himself and Triel, Screaming Moon looks from the wand to Fioralba, taking in the sword and her reluctance to put it down. Not willing to heal her any further at the moment, he stands back.
He glances at Triel with concern, hoping she can talk the magus down. He winds his wrist sheath back up and readies the wand.
Fioralba listens to Hope and then frowns. She has seen what the woman is capable of and considers her a bit too unpredictable to be ignored. She steps back a step from the verbal challenge. She holds out a hand and replies "No. No-no. Hope, it's not like that. I understand what you are saying, but that's not what's happening here. I'm in complete control of myself."
Looking to Triel, she nods "I remember. You aren't now going to try and tell me that Baraket is the sickness, are you?"
Fioralba sighs "Guys. It's me. I'm fine. Just because I took the gauntlets off and used Baraket now, what? You think I'm being mind-controlled by this blade or something? I can assure that this is simply not the case."
Looking to Elanna, she says "Ela. Tell them I'm fine please."
Hope's eyes narrowed as she said, "You can't fool me by saying it isn’t messing with you in some way, your reactions aren't what I have come to expect from you. If it is not controlling you then you would put it down and wear the gauntlets again, since you refuse it is controlling you."
Hope had noticed how Fio moved away from her and it hurt a little, which surprised her, but Hope wasn't going to let that stop her. "Fioralba, I know what you are feeling, the power, the way it speaks to you, subtle, like it's your own voice, it always starts that way, you always think you are in control, but you aren't." there was a quiet terror in her words, an insidious spin tingling fear, of what lie beneath the surface of herself that showed she understood. "Eventually the voice becomes you, speaks through you, and you become nothing before it. Don't go through what I have," Hope pleaded, "You can't yet understand the horrors ahead of you, what you will do, what you will become, but I do,"
Hope had been suppressing her power outside of a fight but not now. She let it out, her eyes turning blacker than night, the dust swirling in slowly towards her, and her voice becoming ever so slightly distorted as the waves of gravity circling her body distorted it, "It may bring you power but the price is far higher than you will want to pay and when it is over you will be left with nothing!" There was despair and agony in Hope's words as she spoke of what she had lost for this power, a loss she had never wanted, "Don't become like me Fio, you have a choice that I will never have, turn away now, please, if not because I and Triel have asked then for your sister's sake. The price could well include them both."
"No, I won't tell them you're fine because you are not. Fi, I love you and I care about you. You're going to hat eme for this but you have to put it down before you turn out like Corstela." Elanna doesn't take her eyes of Fi, but is very grateful for all the rational explanation from Hope. She finds her sister's gaze and locks hold of it. "If you care for me, you will listen."
"I don't want to have to make you put it down Fioralba, but if I have to, I will." She adds, very quietly, but with an air of seriousness she does not often hold.
Fioralba listens to Hope walk through her own struggles and tie it to the way that Fi acting with regards to Baraket. She wants to respond and tell her that it wasn't like that, this was different, but she either can't or doesn't think it will do any good.
Ela will help. she assures herself, turning to her sister with a reassuring look only to have it melt away when she talks to her. Ela's final sentence is so painful, that she inhales sharply at her words.
She takes another step away from everyone, eyes locked on Ela. She shakes her head back and forth slowly, a wounded look in her eyes. "No? You too? You don't trust me? Of all people-"
Closing her eyes, she says "Fine. You're all wrong." and holds out Baraket, dropping it onto the ground of her own free will. Turning, she walks back out of the room the way they entered. She moves against the wall and slides her back down until she sits on the floor, pulling her knees to her chin and resting her forehead against it.
Hope was relieved to see Fio drop the weapon and realized how hard that had to have been. As hurt as she had been by Ela in the past she couldn't help but think that what she did was difficult for her. She wanted to do something to help them both but didn't know how.
Despite how she came sometimes came across Hope wasn't entirely stupd. She'd seen how close Fio and Triel had gotten and knew the dark elf would be of more help to Fio than she could ever be. Hope looked to Triel and motioned with her head slightly towards where Fio before she stepped up to Ela and said softly, "I realize that had to be hard for you, I'm sorry Ela."
Quickly getting out the bag of holding, Screaming Moon rushes over and uses his foot to push the dangerous artifact into the bag.
Exhaling deeply with relief, he puts the bag of holding back into his pack and heads over to put a comforting hand on Hope and Fioralba's shoulders.
"That must have been difficult for both of you, but I thank you for sharing your pain. I think we need to know more about this artifact before we risk using it again."
Getting out his wand, he starts tending to Fioralba's wounds.
Triel watches Fi leave before catching Hope's nod and following after her.
"Fi?" She stops next to her and sits down.
"How are you feeling?"
Fioralba doesn't lift her head from her knees to respond and sighs when Triel asks how she is feeling.
She speaks through her legs in a soft voice that tries to hide the pain she feels inside of her. "Did you see this in the cards and not tell me? I would have the greatest power the world has ever known in my hands and no one would understand?"
Triel pauses as Fi asks her question.
"No. I did not foresee this." She responds, inching only slightly closer to the distraught magus. "I foresaw that you would face challenges from without and within if you sought to wield the blade. But this, specifically? No."
"Please don't blame your sister for being worried about you. She's trying to protect you--as she always has." She continues, her words carefully chosen. "And we have first-hand evidence that Baraket is not something to be trifled with."
Once the healing is done, Screaming Moon backs up to allow the others to talk.
He moves over to Elanna and touches her arm. "I imagine that was harder for you than it was for either of them. You are a good sister, Elanna. She may not realize that right now, but she will."
Smiling, he looks around for something to do, and his eyes fall upon the stack of papers. "Likely Fioralba would be the best to understand what is written here, with her recent experiences, but perhaps we can give it a try?"
Heading over to the desk, he starts reading the papers. Surprisingly, he is able to make sense of Mozamer's research.
----
"It looks like Mozamer has been attempting to restore the portal in the other room. He thinks that infusing the source portal in The Forges of Wrath - whatever those are - could reactivate a network of portals throughout Varisia.
I assume that would be bad for us, since there seem to be more monsters in these hidden vaults. Of more immediate concern, he indicates that he drew a hydraggon qlippoth through in addition to the fleshdregs and sinspawn.
I don't recall encountering one of those. Does anyone know what a qlippoth is?"
"I realize that had to be hard for you, I'm sorry Ela."
Elanna doesn't reply but simply swallows, as if trying to squash her feelings back down; she didn't have time or headspace to take in this new version of Hope as well as the disastrous situation with her sister.
I never thought I'd do that - turn on my sister. No matter what silly decision she was going to make. But did I turn on her, or was it the best decision? She isn't going to forgive me so easily this time.
As Screaming Moon tries to console her as well, Elanna nods curtly doing her utmost not to shed a tear, unable to show such vulnerable emotion to the others. These feelings are much too overwhelming for Elanna- How does anyone ever cope with feeling this much?
---
Elanna stays clear from Fioralba, giving her space as they continue. She has never been in a position where she hasn't known what to say to her sister, but they had never disagreed about something so serious.
"I have no idea what a Qlippoth is. Perhaps Triel could forsee it." She says quietly with no emotion to her voice as if forced, just a flat tone. Anyone who knows Elanna well enough knows that she is going to take her confusion with her feelings out on everyone around her, biting at the smallest comment.
"I know this, but, somehow it still hurts." she says with a groan. "The blade is powerful, but I had it under control. I used its power to fell our foes and nothing more. How am I to master the power if no one trusts me with it? Even my own sister?"
"I can't believe she did that."
Fi and Triel converse a short while more before Fi eventually rises to her feet and rejoins the group. She says nothing to anyone and deliberately ignores looking at Ela as she moves to check out Mozamer's notes silently.
After reading through the notes, she concludes "This is troubling news." and puts the notes away for research later.
"We still have some areas to explore here. Let's get it over with so we can get out of here." she says, looking to the floor where she dropped Baraket. Noticing it is now gone, she draws her scimitar and walks out of the room once again, heading back to the other areas they skipped.
Hope wanted to distract Ella but she wasn't comfortable enough to do what she knew would distract her. Instead, once Screaming Moon moved away again, Hope said, "Let me show you something I haven't shown anyone before, something I can do but generally don't."
Hope began to focus and things swirled in around her once more as a spot of darkness appeared between her hands swallowing the light that touched it. As she focused there was strain on her face while she concentrated but she managed to speak through and said softly, "When I was a little girl...whenever that was, I used to have a kitten. I loved that kitten but only days later I...was gone." As she spoke the darkness began to form into what appeared to be a small kitten, "Her name was Schiel and I never got to watch her grow up. When I was...returned I found that I could do this, summon the likeness of a kitten. I have nothing left of my home, I don't know where or when it was or if my friends and family live. I lost everything when I was taken by powers beyond my control."
"That is what you may have saved your sister from today. It hurt her now but eventually she will forgive you I think and she certainly won't go through what I did when," Hope ceased focusing and the frolicking kitten poofed out of existence, "I lost it all."
As the discussion of Qlippoths occurred Hope simply shook her head and said, "No clue what that is."
Triel comes back with an unreadable expression.
"Unfortunately, I don't know what a qlippoth is. I'll see if I can turn up any information on them once we're done here."
Fioralba sighs, exasperation evident in her voice ahead of you "Qlippoths are outsiders, very old ones. A hydraggon qlippoth is eel-shaped with a split tongue that it uses much like our hands."
She stops, turns around and says in a clipped tone "Are we going or what?
Fioralba further knows that in addition to being immune to mind-affecting effects, a hydraggon is also immune to cold and poison. It resists acid, electricity, and fire, and its natural attacks can cloud the minds of those it strikes.
Leading the way, the magus opens a door east of the magical wardrobe. Partial walls still stand amid heaps of crumbled stone, the lower portions of which are obscured by dark, murky water. A particularly large collapse against the eastern wall seems to have a hole just above it, which corresponds to the location of the town’s well.
Suspecting the hydraggon may be lurking in the water, you have an opportunity to make any preparations you would like to. When you are ready, you disturb the waters, which is enough to get the qlippoth's attention. A few seconds later, it bursts forth from the water: an eellike monstrosity that has a gaping, fanged mouth from which lolls a long, red tongue split into three tendrils, two of which wield weapons!
Triel lets out a dismayed squeak as she prepares to engage. She keeps her scythe interposed between herself and the monster, trying to bat away its incoming strikes.
...
"That is what you may have saved your sister from today. It hurt her now but eventually she will forgive you I think and she certainly won't go through what I did when," Hope ceased focusing and the frolicking kitten poofed out of existence, "I lost it all."
Elanna watches and listens intently to the woman, taking any distraction from the pain she can right now. Hope, as ever, still perplexed her, but this time her oddness was more helpful than not.
"Hope...that must have been....I mean to say, thank you for sharing that with me. I'll keep hope that you're right." Elanna steps forwards and pulls Hope into a light hug, resting her head against the other woman's for a second, taking comfort in the contact before stepping away.
-------
Elanna quickly draws her rapier, not wanting to get close to the fiend unless another joins her but not entirely trusting her sister to do so. As such, she hangs back until she can gauge the others' reactions.
Hope was glad that she had been able to help Ela a little and was surprised when the woman hugged her. She flushed when Ela hugged her for a moment before returning the embrace. Hope didn't want to let go of Ela, the hungering void in her couldn't stand it, but Hope chose to let go when Ela broke contact. She said, "I'll listen if you need to talk Ela." Hope did nothing more to keep Ela there and it was perhaps the hardest thing she ever did.
-----
When the hydraggon burst fromt eh water to attack Hope was ready for it. She sent a ball of gravity lancing out at the eel-like thing with vicious determination,
The qlippoth dodges Hope's blast as it surges toward you, but it screeches in pain as Elanna steps up and stabs it. It bites the rogue, and her mind begins to cloud.
Triel leaps in to swing at it!
Ruby Meadow rushes forward, hoping the magical halberd will be more effective than her sword has been.
Standing back near Hope, Screaming Moon tries to observe the effects of the Qlippoth's bite, wondering if it will have any lasting impact.
Meanwhile he whispers some encouragement to Hope.
Fi moves opposite of her sister and tries to slash split-tongue with her scimitar.
[Elanna staggers back a little, a dull fog clutching at her memories not allowing her to access her recent thoughts, but it is still pretty clear that the qlippoth is her enemy and she should still be attacking it!
Hope cursed when her blast missed and quickly followed up with another one.
Though a tough foe, the hydraggon is no match for your fury. You blast, stab, and slice the fiend until it collapses, dark blood staining the water as it bleeds out.
The weapons the qlippoth was wielding are both masterwork. Exploring the flooded region also reveals a stack of treasure among the rubble.
There are a few rooms in the northeast section of the dungeon. A washroom features metal tubes over a marble sink and five stalls with marble toilets. Magical enchantments still provide flowing water to the facilities. There are also several empty bedchambers and a bathhouse featuring a pool of warm water and saunas that produce magical steam.
You also find a dining hall with a long red marble table covered in old food and refuse. Four fleshdregs scavenge the remains of the feast, but you quickly put them down.
You emerge back into Roderic's Cove once more, all of the monstrous threats in the chambers below vanquished. It isn't long after that the elf Audrahni seeks you out to congratulate you on your success.
"You've done extraordinary things for this town. I can't imagine there are any more threats jeopardizing its safety now. I wonder if it is finally enough--"
Before she can finish her thought, a chill fills the air as the ghost of Sir Roderic suddenly appears once more. This time, though, he is almost calm and demeanor and appearance. He heaves a sigh of relief.
"And so my Cove is safe once again. Safer than it has been in years. You have done me a service, heroes, and by claiming this Sword of Sin you have removed an unsightly legacy from my home and my Cove. If you but take this cursed weapon away from the Cove, I will at last be able to rest, knowing my legacy will endure. Thank you, heroes, for bringing peace to an old man..."
With this, the ghost fades away, Sir Roderic's spirit at last departing for his long-delayed reward in the afterlife.
A rare smile brightens Audrahni's features. "Ah, at last!" She turns to you. "I know what our next step should be. We should take Baraket to Magnimar and speak to the Sihedron Council. The council is made of the region's foremost experts in dealing with dangerous Thassiloninan elements. In addition, they should be made aware of the existence of the portal network that Mozamer was attempting to rebuild--such a danger should be addressed soon. I will accompany you, if you'll have me. I spent much of my youth in Magnimar. It's been a long time since I have returned... But your actions have inspired me. I can't live my life in fear any longer. I must face my personal demons."
Once the dungeon is assured clear, Fioralba declares "We're done here." and heads for the exit.
She doesn't do the talking with Roderic, but is present for the conversation. As for the discussion with Audrahni, her inference that they should take the sword to someone else grates with her.
Why should they have it? It was supposed to be hers! Why doesn't anyone understand?
She briefly contemplates taking the blade from Moon, knowing he couldn't stop her if she tried, but dismisses the thought.
Then there was the issue of Elanna and how she had betrayed her. Her mind wanders while Audrahni talks and halfway through her speech, Fioralba just leaves and walks off.
She decides she needs to clear her head and digs into her books and starts researching more powerful spells she can attempt to master. If they were going to deny her power through the blade, she'd just need to grow more powerful through the spell instead.
Elanna listens half-heartedly to Audrahni but cannot stop glancing at her sister as she does so. Its clear Fioralba is also equally distracted. All Elanna wants to do is to gather her sister in an all-enveloping hug and tell her it will be okay. But she can't. Because it might not be okay.
"Thank you Audrahni, you're certainly right about taking Baraket to the Council, it sounds as if you're knowledgable, so do join us.
The one good thing about all of this is that they will finally be getting out of this good for nothing village. If it means going along with this whole plot for now, then that will have to do.
Elanna spends the few days before they leave to do a little shopping and then give her sister the space she clearly needs. Its tough, as they're sharing a room, but she makes sure she gets back late each night hoping Fioralba is asleep before she gets in.
When they met with Audrahni and heard from Roderick's ghost Hope actually felt...glad that things had worked out. It was a strange feeling but she found that she rather liked it. When heading to Magnimar was mentioned Hope's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't say anything but it was obvious the place had some significance to her.
Over the next few days as they prepared to leave town Hope did some shopping to pick up the things she might need to travel which were, well, not that much. The strange woman that was Hope found, much to her surprise, that she noticed the rift between Ela and Fio and how much it was hurting Ela that it was there. She wanted to help but didn't understand how to do so as interpersonal skills were something she largely lacked.
Hope did what she could to distract Ela from her problems with her sister by just being there. She had been taught early on that when people hurt be there, you don't have to do anything more and she didn't much as she might want to. She very much wanted to understand what, if anything had happened between her and Ela after that one night and what if anything that night had meant. Unfortunately when Ela was dealing with her current issue Hope didn't feel it was right to intrude.
Triel accepts Audrahni's offer with a nod and sets out to prepare herself for the journey ahead.
-------------
In the coming days, Triel divides her time between mastering her newly-acquired skills and musing over the direction the twins seem to be going in.
I didn't expect Fi to be so blasted foolish that she'd willingly take off the gloves designed to keep the powers of the sword forged by one of the surface realms' most powerful archmagi in check. We'd have triumphed against that sin-born monster without it.
She shakes her head in resignation, chasing away the thought. Whatever. It's done and over with now. Now, all that's left to do is prepare for the consequences...
The thought of consequences causes her to look down at the Harrow deck next to her. She had never once before put much stock into what the cards had to say about someone's future--as far as she was concerned, it was just another tool to be used to keep herself fed, sheltered and alive. She had told many fortunes before coming to Roderic's Cove--and quite a few of them promised joy and despair for her customers in equal measure. Better that she be thought of as an honest fortune-teller... or, at the very least, as honest as the profession allows, than one who promises nothing but doom or happiness.
Now, the cards kept speaking of troubling portents: it began with the Empty Throne, continued with the Vision and the Fiend... now, it seemed that the Sickness was in danger of coming to pass.
And the Betrayal...
An unwelcome chill settles in Triel's gut as she takes the Harrow deck in hand and puts it away. The thought of her cards predicting the future was no longer welcome.
The next several days pass quickly as you wrap up your remaining business in Roderic's Cove. The time has come to leave the small town behind...
13 Rova, 4718 AR
As dawn rises, Audrahni meets you outside of Creekside to take you down to the town's docks. A friend of hers, Sursha Antefalle, has agreed to grant you passage to Magnimar aboard her ship, Tyalee's Whim. The two-masted brigantine rises out of the early morning fog, and nearly two dozen sailors flit about, overseeing the loading of a half dozen nervous cows into the ship's hold. A bearded half-orc directs the crew.
As you draw near, a grinning half-elf woman with blonde braids and tan skin moves down the gangplank with arms spread wide. An exotic-looking curved sword is scabbarded at her belt. "Audrahni!" She moves to give the elf a warm hug.
"Hello, Sursha," Audrahni says. "It's been a while."
"Too long!" Sursha agrees. "We have some catching up to do." She turns to you then, giving you each an appraising look. "Welcome aboard, friends. I'm sure Audrahni told you that your free passage comes with the caveat that you'll assist in crewing the ship, should the need arise. I'll have my sailors escort you to your quarters so you can get settled in. And of course, you're all invited to my table to share dinner at the customary captain's supper later this evening!"
As the captain chats with you, you can see a pale, thin man boarding the ship. He fusses with a large reinforced crate drawn up to the ship by a straining draft horse.