"Upstairs." Ahreni says, making sure that everyone is on the same page. Then she heads upwards to clear the tower before venturing further along the second floor.
The walls of this semicircular room are lined with bookshelves, although the majority of the books lie in disorganized piles on the floor. A large, filthy nest of grass, branches, and strips of cloth is tucked in the northeastern corner of the room, while a wooden door sits in the wall to the northwest and a flight of stairs leads down to the south.
A harpy stands here, a filthy amalgamation of human and bird. She resembles a feral woman with wings, talons, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Despite her appearance, she tries to attempt as nonthreatening a stance as she can manage. She gestures to Sylyn, beckoning her closer.
Wary but willing to not kill everything she comes across, Sylyn will nod to the others and approach, bow ready but lowered. "Hi? Um... who are you?"
"Careful girl!" Ahreni says quietly, poised on her toes in case something less than pleasant happens.
"Sylyn, no!" Flori mutters, but she is too late, as her friend goes and does something ill-thought out.
The harpy slowly reaches out to place a hand on Sylyn's arm. She hears a telepathic voice in her mind. "My name is Zaiobe. Tell your friends I mean you no harm. A curse stole my voice, so I can only communicate this way. I require your aid. My former lover dwells here, but he has revealed himself as a vile and hateful thing. Aid me in killing him, and in return, I will leave you alone and not contest your presence in this castle."
"Who is this former lover?" Ahreni asks, "What is his appearance?"
He calls himself Kikonu. He can take the form of a human, but his true form is that of a black-feathered tengu with four wings, Zaiobe says. His quarters are on the second floor, not too far from this tower.
Sylyn is scared but intrigued by the mental communication. She translates to her friends. "He's the one that is trying to do a play. And might have hurt our friend, so... I think the answer is yes. Did he take your voice? Will you get it back once he's gone?"
Zaiobe shakes her head. "My voice was stolen by the wind long ago, as I gazed upon a demonic statue. I... I don't remember much of anything before that. But Kikonu somehow stole the voice that was stolen from me, using it to mock and belittle me. He must pay for his cruelty!"
Sylyn furrows her brow for a moment, working through her thoughts from the thoughts that are speaking. "Sounds like an a!#!$$*. We'll take care of him, Miss Zaiobe. I mean we were going to have to anyway I think, but this justifies it more." Sylyn releases as she stares at the Harpy to talk, she has the most stunning eyes she think she's ever seen. Her cheeks heat up a bit and she looks away "Um... can you tell us anything about his abilities or what others might be with him?"
"He usually keeps to himself when he's not directing one of his insipid plays. Spells don't always work on him, and his wounds heal unless you burn him with fire or acid. He's got some magic, as well as the ability to steal your voice if he bites you."
"Oh good, Fire. I'm rather good at that." the ifrit perks up "Well, then, right. To it then?" she looks back to the others to see if they had any more questions.
Relisha frowns slightly. Killing someone for simple revenge seems so ... wrong. Yet, they were going to have to deal with him one way or another and by all accounts he was an evil and insane creature. And if this would return her precious Ameiko then her sensibilities were secondary.
Ahreni nods, there's no point in waiting around any longer.
Flori feels uneasy about the whole situation and looking over at Relisha, it is clear she is not the only one. She keeps quiet for now knowing it is not the best time to bring it up.
Zaiobe closes her eyes for a moment, then opens them again. "Kikonu has contacted me. He wants me to find you and kill you. He does not know I desire his death. Now is the time to strike! I have told him to meet me on the roof. Get ready."
The harpy leads you down to the upper floor and out a door. An ancient-looking catapult sits atop the stone roof of this flat-topped building. Moss grows on the catapult’s ropes and on the four round boulders sitting nearby.
You take up tactical positions and wait. After a couple of minutes, the red-skinned man you saw earlier emerges. "Zaiobe, my darling! So good to see you! So sorry things have soured between us, but I thank you for joining me in defending our home from those--wait a minute, what are they doing here?"
Zaiobe snarls silently as she raises her bow, the nocked arrow igniting in flames.
Kikonu narrows his eyes. "I see. So, it is betrayal! You have thrown in your lot with these apes!" His form shifts as feathers sprout across his body and four large wings burst forth from his back. He swings his kusari-gama. "We shall see who kills who first, hmm?"
Sylyn pulls her bow back, mimicking Zaiobe in form and fire, but adds a "We read your play. It sucks." before releasing.
Kikonu shrieks as Sylyn scorches him. He casts a spell and his form becomes blurry and indistinct!
Stretching her spiritual gifts, Relisha sends out a link to Ahreni, Kitasai, and Sylyn. She suffers a quick bout of pride, realizing that she's never been capable of keeping connections to that many people at once. Quickly recognizing the sin for what it is, though, she makes a mental note to make penance for it later.
She draws her blade with something that she would deny as confidence.
Ahreni 28/28
Relisha 29/33
Flori 19/19
Kitasai 28/31
Sylyn 23/23
As quick as she can she pulls out another arrow, pauses a moment to breathe, then fires another flaming arrow. The shot is perfect. It seems at least until he is no longer where he was a moment ago and the arrow passes through nothing.
Flori attempts the new spell that she came up with after watching the sparks from Sylyn's fiery arrows. There's a bit less fire and a lot more glitter than she expected, but she hopes it may distract him somewhat.
Ahreni circles around to take the winged foe from behind and strikes, having finally figured out the balance on her glaive for maximising power.
Stalking up to Kikonu, Kitasai demands "What have you done to Ameiko! I demand you tell me!"
He follows up his demands with a jab for good measure.
Kikonu recoils as Kitasai punches him, giving him an angry glare. "Ameiko? Who is Ameiko?" the fiend asks, only to shriek in surprise as Flori coats him in glitterdust, blinding him!
Zaiobe fires two flaming arrows at Kikonu, scoring one hit. Ahreni slices the fiend with her glaive, then Sylyn shoots him with another flaming arrow.
"If I die here, you will too, Zaiobe!" Kikonu shouts. He whirls his kusari-gama over his head, magical energy gathering as the weapon emits a shrill whistling sound. The energy coalesces into the form of a giant wasp, which flies at the harpy and tries to sting her! Luckily, the harpy dodges its stinger!
Kikonu remains blinded, the burns you inflicted on him preventing his wounds from regenerating.
Ducking the whirling kusari-gama makes striking back harder than Ahreni would like...
""He's a peach this one, from 'My Darling' to 'I'll kill you to!' in less than a minute."" Sylyn banters with the silent harpy. She is impressed with the wasp though, which throws off her next flaming arrow just a bit.
Fortunately, Kikonu is easy to hit in his blinded state. Between Ahreni's slash and Sylyn's flaming arrow, the fiend falls. Once he stops swinging his weapon over his head, the giant wasp disappears as well.
Relisha stows her blade unused when Kikonu falls. She checks her friends once more for any new wounds and nods in satisfaction when she finds none.
Ahreni 28/28
Relisha 29/33
Flori 19/19
Kitasai 28/31
Sylyn 23/23
"Well fought." Ahreni says simply as Kikonu falls. "Your magic was invaluable girl." She adds to Flori. "Now, I believe you were going to help us with the rest of this place?" She finishes, turning her attention back to the harpy.
Kitasai scours Kikonu's fallen body for an answer to Ameiko's condition. Not finding anything that helps him, he turns to Zaiobe and asks "He has been vanquished. Please tell us how to save my sister."
"Glitter? How did you come up with a spell that dumps glitter into someone's face!" the archer laughs at the awesome absurdity of it. "Amazing idea, Flori!"
As the others start to question Zaiobe, Sylyn looks to the harpy, then remembers "Oh yay, no voice even once he's dead." she'll move over to act as the mouthpiece.
"Thank you for your help," Zaiobe says. "He is dead, and good riddance! As promised, I will not hinder your further exploration of this castle. I do not think you will find what you are looking for anywhere on the upper levels. There are only a few more dire corbies and a handful of miscellaneous monsters.
"However, there is a donjon that is haunted by the spirits of those that died here long ago. I have not been there myself, for fear of disturbing the restless dead. There is also a dungeon down below that I have not fully explored. More of Kikonu's allies await, including xulgaths and an ogre. They are holding a human woman who tried to assault the castle as a prisoner. Perhaps she might be of some aid to you."
"Thank you." Ahreni says through Sylyn. "Could you please tell us the most efficient routes to the donjon and the dungeon? There is no need to fight if we can avoid it."
Zaiobe directs you to the donjon's entrance at the back of the castle. The way to the dungeon is the stairs down in the room where you fought the xulgaths earlier.
"Glitter? How did you come up with a spell that dumps glitter into someone's face!" the archer laughs at the awesome absurdity of it. "Amazing idea, Flori!"
As the others start to question Zaiobe, Sylyn looks to the harpy, then remembers "Oh yay, no voice even once he's dead." she'll move over to act as the mouthpiece.
"You inspired me Lyn! You and your sparks of fire - I thought I'd make something of it.I'll be honest, I didn't mean for it to be so sparkly, but it was still pretty good don't you think?" She admits quietly to her friend.
Flori is pleased that Ahreni is trying to minimise the fighting, and nods with her thoughtful question ready to move to the dungeons.
"To the dungeon then." Ahreni says, "That should avoid any awkward encounters we wish to avoid." Unless someone objects vociferously she leads the way back to the xulguth room and thence to the dungeon.
"If any of you have light sources, prepare them." She says. "They might be needed."
Kitasai spirits sink a bit when neither Kikonu or Zaiobe are able to tell him what's wrong with Ameiko. He sighs heavily and marches towards the dungeons.
Relisha puts a hand on Kitasai's arm. "We'll find what's responsible," she assures the monk. "We have to."
Knowing that in the close quarters below, she probably won't be in melee range, the tiefling pulls out her wand of healing and, with a quick prayer, causes the tip to glow.
The stairs lead down into a dank, dark room. Long benches in various states of disrepair and several battered and filthy wooden tables stand between stone pillars in this room. The air here stinks of reptiles.
The source of the stink is evident—five xulgaths, the largest of which wields a cold iron morningstar. He hisses a challenge as his minions rush to attack!
Knowing what's going to happen never seems to translate into doing something about it. And the best that Relisha can do is touch Kitasai with an outstretched hand, conferring upon him a minor bit of protection.
Ahreni 28/28
Relisha 29/33
Flori 19/19
Kitasai 28/31
Sylyn 23/23
"There are FIVE of these things. ONE nearly broke us last time!" Sylyn frets in a loud whisper, shooting a flaming arrow at one of the ones charging them.
The lead xulgath hangs back as his minions rush Ahreni and Kitasai. Relisha’s spell makes the difference in deflecting a strike from the monk.
Ahreni dances backwards to strike with her glaive while Flori turns the floor under the lizards into a dangerously slippery zone of grease!
"Grease! Like when... um... someone... accidentally tipped over the old fryer at the Dragon and Kit slid around like a loose eel!" Sylyn laughed out loud. "Oh, that was a good night."
Sylyn studies the big one in the back, loosing a normal arrow a second later.
Kitasai nods solemnly to Relisha's words, unable to find a verbal response.
Once more lizards appear, Kitasai doesn't pull punches and moves up to bury his fist into one.
Relisha moves close enough to touch the monk again with a minor prayer.
Ahreni 28/28
Relisha 29/33
Flori 19/19
Kitasai 28/31
Sylyn 23/23
Kitasai and Ahreni team up and take a xulgath out. Flori's grease causes another pair to slip and fall, while Sylyn shoots another one that's still standing.
The leader moves in to fill the space left by the dead xulgath, swinging at Ahreni. The other standing one attacks her as well while the prone xulgaths stand and try to keep their balance as they swing on Kitasai.
~~~~~
Grunting in pain, Relisha touches herself with the glowing healing wand.
Ahreni 26/28
Relisha 31/33
Flori 19/19
Kitasai 28/31
Sylyn 23/23
Surprised she hit, she tries again with a flaming arrow at the boss that is swinging at their mother hen.
