Again, the bandit's steely will overcomes Astoria's spell. Kelda lands a solid blow against her attacker, but Lup has trouble keeping up with his nimble foe.
An arrow goes flying past the arcanist, but another bandit steps up to attack her. The remaining two attack Kelda and Lup once more.
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"For Kevyn!" the bandits cry as they land solid blows on everyone and send Astoria to the ground.
Round 3: Bandits, Kelda, Lup, Astoria (stabilize), Lysithia (unconscious)
Seeing the peril they were in, Kelda decides to step back and aid her friend, rather than lash out at the vile villains for their vicious attacks.
Glaring at the bandits as she takes a step back to Astoria's side. Placing her hands upon Astoria, Kelda places her hands on Astoria, closing her wounds and stabilizing her.
”What type of cake is a Kevyn?!” Lup asks incredulously as he steps back toward his Dwarven compatriot while taking a stab at his for.
The bandits move in, surrounding and flanking Lup and Kelda.
;
Round 4: Bandits, Kelda, Lup, Astoria, Lysithia
Keeping his glare leveled Lup takes another step back as he tries a stab at his attacker.
With Astoria stabilized, and the two of them surrounded, Kelda does the only thing that makes sense to her.
Saying a silent prayer to her God, Kelda grits her teeth against the pain, as she brings her warhammer around again at the bandit in front of her. If she could take him down, she could move into a safer position. If she can't.....well, she didn't have time to think about that right now.
Refusing to give up, Kelda swings her hammer.
Unfortunately, the burning pain that's coursing through her body, makes it impossible for her to hit her wiley foe. Letting out a very unlady like curse, Kelda struggles to hold onto her weapon.
Panting from the toll the fight has taken on her, Kelda looks up at the bandit with a begrudging respect, "Well, ye might not be stealthy like ninjas or whatever ye were talkin' bout....but ye fight better n' most I've seen. I'm tired....an hurtin', and we really really need to get to Cooperton, so....what you say we call a truce, I give ye some money to say sorry bout yer friend, and we both be on our way?" Kelda offers, as she realizes the gravity of the situation they were in.
"Looks like we have the upper hand," the blonde woman says. "Wouldn't take more than a half a minute to put you down and walk away with everything, but we're willing to hear an offer."
Kelda narrows her eyes, but keeps her thoughts to herself.
Holding up a finger she replies, "Just a minute, this decision affects more than myself, so I can't make it on my own."
Looking back at Lup for a moment to make sure he knows they're not attacking at the moment, she lets out a little hiss of pain as she reaches down to lay a hand on Lysithia, "May Torag bless you with the healing warmth of his forge."
A soft orange glow, like the warm embers of the forge, emanates from her hand. Astoria feels a healing warmth spread through her, as Kelda's spell takes effect.
Looking down at what the bandits had done to her love, makes Kelda's blood boil hotter than any forge. Knowing that losing her temper now could cost them something far more precious than gold, Kelda silently prays for guidance as she uses her training to hold her tightly wound emotions in check.
As she kneels beside Lysithia, Kelda gently brushes the hair back from her face. Kelda moves in closer, giving Lysithia a tender kiss as she strokes her cheek lovingly.
Speaking softly in her ear, "Hey there beautiful, can you wake up for me? I need to talk to you."
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Slowly feeling consciousness take hold, Lysithia opens her eyes. "K..Kelda..did we stop them? Sitting up as she sees Kelda's expression, she looks up, to see Lup standing , wounded and guarding against multiple enemies, her love heavily wounded, and Astoria on the ground.
Slowly forcing herself to stand, propping herself up with her staff, she turns her gaze on the blonde woman, clearly the leader of the group, her amber eyes reaching deep into the bandit leader.
"You...should understand something. I am a member of the Dragon's Ring, a druid, part of an order that spreads throughout this valley. Know that if we fall here, every bird, every woodland creature watching will spread word of this. There is nowhere you'll be able to hide, nowhere within sight of a tree, or a body of water that will be safe from the Order's vengeance!" she says fiercely, glaring at each of them to emphasize her point.
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As Lysithia rises, Kelda stands as well. Readying herself for whatever might happen next, she feels pride swell within her for the woman that stands next to her. Lysithia's conviction and steadfastness, were just a couple of the many things she loved about her.
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The woman weighs her options for a moment before signaling to the others to put their weapons away. "Fine, but give us a few gold to bury our friend and we'll tell others to leave you alone. Just keep in mind that the 'godscursed' don't give a damn about who you are."
Kelda glances at Lysithia with a slightly puzzled expression, as she digs out six gold and hands it to the blonde.
"There you go, I thought you all might like a meal, and some drinks to celebrate his life as well. Do you know how much further it is to Cooperton from here?"
The blonde woman smirks, taking the gold from Kelda. "My, you're bold! It's not like we are suddenly friends now."
She shakes the coins in her hand. "But I'll consider this payment for the information. Cooperton is about a day and a half from here. Just follow the road until you reach the crossroads, then turn right."
---
Lysithia had heard much about the 'godscursed': individuals of all kinds plagued with diseases and malformations of the body. No one, not even monsters, will endure their presence. For their part, 'godscursed' return the favor by killing whomever they come across and destroying whatever structures happen to be in their path. They tend to be nomadic loners, but have only been encountered in the Daedros Valley as far as anyone knows. They possess intelligence, but it is masked by their hatred and bloodlust. Contrary to popular belief, their affliction is not divine in any way, but the true cause is a mystery.
Kelda shrugs, "No, we're not friends...but that's okay. I may not believe that robbing people is right, but it's what you know, and how you survive. I am not a God, nor am I the one you will have to answer to when your time does eventually come...so, I have no right to judge you. Also, I am sorry that we killed your friend....despite the circumstances. Thank you for the information, we appreciate it."
Kelda pauses briefly and takes a breath before letting it out and looking back up at the blond woman, "I just want to say before we part ways, that what you do with your life is your choice. Just because this is your life right now, doesn't mean it has to remain so....but that's totally up to you."
Kelda puts her arm around Lysithia before looking at her love, "We still have a ways to go, and I need to rest before I can help Astoria."
The blonde looks at her compatriots. "Let's go."
The portly bandit hefts Kevyn's corpse over his shoulder and the bandits disappear into the brush.
Sensing that they were genuinely given the chance to leave Lup will put away his weapon as he gently picks up Astoria. Then he'll simply look to Kelda and Lysithia.
"We need to find a place to rest that isn't completely out in the open. I know it would probably be safer to head back to the Dwarven encampment, but I don't want to backtrack that far. What do you think we should do?" Kelda asks, as she looks from Lup to Lysithia.
"The woods look inviting," Lup replies.
"I doubt I could make it all the way back without passing out, if we go into the forest, I'll recover quicker, and be able to help with the healing." Lysithia says, clearly focusing most of her energy on remaining upright.
Kelda nods, "Okay, into the woods we go then." Keeping an arm around her love's waist to help support her, they head into the woods.
After about half an hour you make it into the woods. The trees are dense and little light filters in from above.
After getting into the woods, Kelda looks around for a suitable place to make camp.
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As they enter the wooded zone, making their way through the dense overgrowth, Lysithia seems to gain a bit of strength, supporting herself a bit more and breathing a bit more strongly. Her eyes seeming to dance with a glimmer of golden light, she takes a deep breath, a faint shimmer of energy flowing into her from the trees around her as she does, strengthening her.
Kelda looks around but notices that she would have to do a good amount of work to make an area suitable for the group.
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Kelda sighs and shrugs, "I don't really see a good place to set up camp here. It would take a lot of work to make an area that would accommodate all of us. Should we keep moving a little further down and see if we can find a better spot?" She asks the others, while taking in their surroundings so they don't get lost.
"Yeah, see over there! The trees there form a natural wind break." Lysithia adds, pointing out the benefits of the foliage.
Kelda is able to navigate through the forest with no issue and even manages to find some food for the party to eat.
Nodding she heads for the area that Lysithia had pointed out.
Having Lup set Astoria down gently, Kelda carefully removes her backpack and goes through it, pulling out her bedroll and blanket before closing it back up. "We need to make sure she stays warm." Kelda says, while fixing up the bedding for Astoria.
Once she has her bedding set up, Kelda has Lup help her get Astoria onto the bedroll and covers her up with her blanket. Having done everything she can for their friend at the moment, Kelda walks back over to Lysithia and puts her arms around her, "I'm sorry for the way things turned out back there. I just wanted to make sure we survived. I hate that you and Astoria were hurt so badly. I wish Lup and I could have finished them for you guys...but maybe losing their friend will make them rethink their life choices....eventually." She finishes softly, hating that she had to let those criminals go in order to save them. But they were alive, so that was the important thing to her.
Letting go of Lysithia, Kelda gathers up some tender and branches to start a fire to keep them warm, before handing out the food she found. She sets aside a little of it for Astoria, once she's able to wake up.
”Surviving without abandoning anyone is not a defeat.” Lup comments as he goes about as instructed regarding Astoria’s care.
Kelda nods as they go about making camp for the night, "Yeah, I know you're right. We need to focus on the positive. We're alive, and that's what matters."
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"Definitely. I know you hate how this turned out love, but we salvaged the best possible outcome." Lysithia says, sitting on a nearby fallen tree trunk.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she slows her breathing, quietly chanting in druidic as motes of shimmering green light flow from the trees around her into her hands to pulse into her wounds.
Breathing a bit more strongly, she gets up, gathering different herbs and begins working on treating Astoria.
Astoria briefly finds consciousness only long enough to thank her healer, before she escapes the pain of her wounds and gives into the sweet oblivion her dreams.
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Kelda just nods as she sits nearby and watches her love practically become one with nature as she harnesses the life force of the forest itself, as she heals her wounds. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her whole life. She watches as Lysithia uses her knowledge of the different plants in the area, to tend to their friends wounds. She wanted so badly to do more to help, but would have to rest first.
Smiling as she hears Astoria's semi conscious mumblings of thanks, before succumbing to sleep once again, Kelda takes out some rations and water along with some of the food she had found in the forest, and sits close to her love, as she nibbles on the light meal. There wasn't much else they could do until they were able to heal, and get Astoria back on her feet.
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The day passes by slowly and uneventfully. Other than a couple of rabbits and a squirrel, you see no other living thing in the area around you. The white weasel (which you never noticed was missing) comes back in the afternoon and stays curled up next to Astoria as she sleeps. Though the night is filled with howls of wolves and other things, nothing encroaches upon the camp. Perhaps Nature itself decided to protect you.
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Once the morning comes, Lysithia goes through her morning ritual meditation, communing with the natural world around her. Drawing once again on the power of her surroundings, Lysithia this time channels the energy drawn from nature into Astoria, breathing a sigh of relief when the arcanist opens her eyes.
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Kelda awakens to see her love dutifully tending to everyone's wounds. When Lysithia gets to her, Kelda gives her a good morning kiss on the cheek, "You're absolutely amazing, and I think I love you more every day. How's everyone doing, and how are you feeling?" Kelda asks as she starts to get ready for the day. She takes a little more care around some of her more tender areas, but those would heal in time. She just hoped that Astoria would be alright, and that they could finish their trip to Cooperton. She hoped it wasn't too late to help them, and that Astoria could get some of the answers she had been looking for.