-Blaze
-Sven -Velspira -Shandi
-Malaya
What treasure awaits me? And how do I find this mill? Shandi may not fully understand that she is in a dream. Habitually running her hands through her hair, she asks herself how she got here. And... who are you?
Sven nods, perfectly agreeing to what the old lady is saying. He seems to know her, and the concepts she's talking about appear with clarity in his mental drawing of how things are and should be.
The friends he lost in the forest appear now by his side, though with some changes - one of them has horns, another is made of metal and there's even one who has a horse body. Sven, however, sees that as perfectly fine.
And the wolves still howl into the night.
She blinks, and the doubts disappear before they can fully form. A girl is suffering and Malaya is being asked to cure her. It is as simple as that. "What else can you tell me about her case?"
Towering over the other figured - sleeping? Dead? What was the difference, when death could be defeated? - the Redemption of the Azure Flame attempted to remember the details. The races, the genders - although that one had always been fuzzier, and some of the Fey had apparently defied what conventions of gender there were - and the details of their faces, in case that was important.
With that, Redemption approached the house and the children with caution, for there were plenty of Fey that could take such a form - both of the children and the house if some of the boastings they had heard were true.
Blaze stands carefully near the old woman's table; she has to stand carefully or she could knock something over. So few buildings have the furniture spread out enough to make moving around easy for her. But...was she even in a building? She'd been walking with Malaya, and then the mist...
But the old woman speaks, and Blaze politely gives her attention. "What I seek lies in a pile of treasure? That's wonderful news, thank you!" She pauses, her expression concerned, then clarifies, "but what am I seeking, exactly? I seem to have forgotten." That's not unusual, these days. She forgets things so easily. But Malaya is good at remembering, maybe she knows what they're looking for.
"And what does that have to do with me? I don't care about no damned black dog and his throne," she spoke, standing up from the small seat in the tent across the table from the tarot reader, "What I get from listenin' to sum'...
There was something wrong as thoughts from the waking world came back to her, stopping in her tracks as she was about to leave the tent, "Wait... where am I? Where Juno go?" she spoke before looking back to the old woman and her tarot. She had just been escorting a bounty through a foggy meadow back into town when suddenly she couldn't remember what that led her to here."
A growing look of concern shown upon her face, "How did I?"
You see a warforged walking towards a mult-leveled house about 200' away. Two children stand out front. Two other humans, a centaur, and a teifling lay next to you. Mists surround the area and the house.
Velspira woke up with a fright, looking around utterly terrified as she could still hear the laugh of the woman in her head, heart pounding as she oriented herself, "What the Hell!?" she spoke, trying to calm herself down as she saw the rest of those around her.
She'd stand up, making sure everything was with her before she remembered her query, "Juno? That son of a... where did he go!?"
Blaze woke up, lying on her side, her cheek pressed in to damp ground. Was I injured again? What happened? Centaurs rarely slept in this position, and her whole body ached. Lifting her torso experimentally, she noticed that nothing hurt bad enough to be an injury, and everything looked all right. Weird. And that dream! A holy symbol of great hope, in a pile of treasure, behind some amber doors. I wonder what amber means.
Rolling upright with some difficulty - she was stiff from lying in such an odd position - she managed to get her feet under her and climb to her feet. Blaze shook her head, grass and leaves falling from her braids, and stretched her arms overhead. The motion continued down her withers and her back, and her tail twitched and swished as the shudder terminated at her hindquarters.
She checked her harness to make sure her weapons were still secure. Great axe, loose in its scabbard and ready for action, spear and javelins, backpack...everything was there.
She saw Malaya picking herself up nearby and trotted over to her. Her cursed golden hoof ached in the damp mist, but she was getting used to that. "Malaya! Good morning! I don't remember falling asleep here, do you?" She looked around again - nope, she'd definitely remember that spooky house. Wouldn't she? And what the heck was that?! "Do you see that wooden man?" Blaze had had a few hallucinations in the early days after injury - hopefully she wasn't having another.
As other strangers climbed to their feet, Blaze greeted them cheerfully. "Good morning!"
Malaya wakes. For a moment she doesn't move, (old habits die hard), but she can see the sky. That means she's not in Agnes' lair.
Sitting up, she takes in the scene around her. "No, I don't remember falling asleep here. And yes, I see the wooden man." Blaze was here, all their possessions were intact, no one looked hurt...whatever was going on, it didn't feel like they were in any immediate danger.
Most of the people nearby seemed just as confused as she was, with the exception of said wooden man who was moving purposefully towards the house. "Excuse me..." She swallows hard, unable to tell the warforged's gender and equally unable to remember if there was an appropriate form of address when one wasn't sure. "...Person over there, do you know where we are? Or how we got here?"
Heh, I asked for a sign - well, I got it. The woman sits down in one motion, winces and shakes her head with thick black hair and large copper (made to look like gold) earrings. She watches a conversation between another woman and a strange mutant that looks like a mixture of a horse and a man. It seems that these two are familiar, Shandi concludes. It's worth starting to get to know them. I need to understand if they are in trouble... or they themselves are trouble? Malaya, yes? Let me explain. This person is Warforged. A construct created for war and endowed with real intelligence. Only the design is very strange. Wood? I've never seen this before. She looks around at everyone in the room. Who are you? By the way, for the first time I see that the cards layout was laid out from living bodies. That’s good that from the living… Oh… Did you dream about some fortune teller too? At the same time, Shandi glances at the tiefling but says nothing to her for now. I've heard of such creatures, but I've never seen them. Surely this is evil itself. But I need to take a closer look and find allies.
Sven wakes up all of a sudden, still grabbing his dagger. The torch lies in the ground beside him, mostly consumed. He stands up quickly when he notices he's not alone.
The other creatures are quite familiar to him, though he can't put anything together. His last memories are from the thick fog in the forest and the wolves howling. And there's a memory which he can't identify - no way of knowing where it came from our why. Just the voice of an old person.
"Look for a wealthy woman. A staunch ally of the devil. She keeps the treasure under lock and key, with the bones of an ancient enemy."
He recognises the phrase - from a tarokka deck. What does that mean? No idea.
The other living beings awake as well. One of them calls the same conclusion, and adds some more info - they were out there in a specific layout.
"I'm Sven. Do you all have a tarokka phrase in your mind?"
Blaze's tall, velvety ears were pricked forward, alert, as the new people stood up and started talking. She trotted over to where the human with the big earrings was talking to Malaya. Pretty...
The human seemed a bit confused, though. It started explaining about the wooden person -- I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing him -- then immediately switched to talking about cards, then bodies, then dreams.
Blaze flared her nostrils, smelling for blood. There was no hint of it in the air, but surely this human had been bonked on the head. Then a hairy-faced human chimed in, also spouting nonsense. Blaze shrugged; they may not make sense, but at least they seemed friendly.
"Hi Sven! I'm Blaze." She pointed to the large white birthmark on her forehead - sometimes it helped people remember her name. "What's a tare-oh-kaff-raze? Did you lose yours?"
"I... You..."
The sight of the impressive creature leaves Sven speechless. He's heard about them once, but to be in front of one...
"Yes! I mean no, not lost!" Surely, if the black-haired woman is right - and she seems right - then all of them must have a card text in their heads. "It's like a prophecy. Do you have a voice telling you that? Or a memory of someone saying it to you?" he tries to explain to the horse-woman. He then turns to the black-haired one. "You seem to know tarokka. Do you know what it means?"
Still, Redemption was different, and for some different could be a fearful thing. And these humans were quite small, so they were probably young, which Redemption understood meant they were inexperienced. Perhaps they had not even seen his kind before?
The towering warforged halted their approach. "I am sorry, I do not mean to look scary. It is just how I look. If you would like, I can try and help with the monster." At least the house probably wasn't the monster, maybe.
Velspira had her crossbow drawn, racking an arrow in it as she called out for Juno with an upset look on her face, pacing back and forth as she looked around with a look of anger and worry, "Juno, come out here you idiot, how far do you think you be going all tied up, huh?!" she'd call out, utterly upset before turning cak to the now awakened grouping.
"You all. Did you see a halfling, brown hair an all, glasses?" she spoke hurriedly l, "Had to have seen em, bastards shorter than everyone around. Don't know what he did to have put tarot readin' in my head but when I find em I sure as Hell will."
You all hear the children cheer with excitement as they converse with the warforged. "Oh thank you! That would be wonderful big, weird guy! Please help us kill the mean monster!" The taller young girl says, and her little brother adds "Our baby brother is upstairs on the third floor trapped, we can't get to him."
Sven's attention is now caught by the children and the woodman. "Do any of you know them?" he asks, pointing at the trio.
I am not familiar with the word ‘taroka’, but I studied the basics of divination as part of mystical sciences. By the way, I am Shandi Zelz’ah of Cyre. Nice to meet you. Probably… She squints at the tiefling's crossbow. No, these three are not familiar to me. But they say the child is in trouble… She freezes, as if she hears something, then winces as if chasing away bad thoughts and continues. I feel that evil reigns here. And we can't leave innocent kid to it!… At least, I can't. She stands up and looks around for her knapsack.
Warforged? At least now Malaya knew what they were.
"I...yes. I dreamt of a fortune-teller." She closes her eyes, trying to remember. "She told me...'Find a girl driven to insanity, locked in the heart of her dead father's house. Curing her madness is key to your success.'" Opening her eyes again she shakes her head. "I don't know what that means, or where to find this girl, but I would like to help her if I can. Madness is a terrible thing to suffer."
The tiefling draws her attention as she starts calling out for someone. "I have not seen a halfling anywhere." Her eyes narrow. "'Tied up?' Were you keeping him prisoner?" There were innocent explanations for that of course, perhaps she was a sheriff or some other agent of the law. There were also less innocent ones.
Then the children start talking about a monster and their baby brother being trapped. There's too much happening too quickly. For a moment Malaya puts her head down and breathes deeply. "I must still be dreaming. This makes no sense otherwise."
If it's a dream, then the tiefling and her prisoner don't matter. None of this matters. But even in a dream, Malaya has a vested interest in helping children defeat monsters that trap them.
Ignoring the others and moving over to the children, she does her best to smile reassuringly. (She's not very good at it.) "I am Malaya. Where is this monster?"
"Ooohhh!" Blaze understands, and shakes her head and mane in delight. "That's what that dream was! Yes, I had one too. The human said that I was looking for a holy symbol of great hope, and that it was in a pile of treasure behind the amber doors. Do you think the dreams all go together? That would be weird!"
"You all. Did you see a halfling, brown hair an all, glasses?"
Blaze looks around. "You're all short, but no, the only short ones are over there," she points to the human foals, "and I believe they are young humans, not halflings. Though I've only ever seen one before. And it was being roasted on a spit by orcs." She swished her tail in annoyance of the troublesome memory. "What's your name? I'm Blaze, and that's Malaya, and the hairy one is Sven. I like your horns. Are you part sheep?"
For a moment Malaya puts her head down and breathes deeply. "I must still be dreaming. This makes no sense otherwise."
Malaya's words trouble Blaze. "No! If you're dreaming, what happens to me when you wake up?" Her dark eyes fill with worry.
I feel that evil reigns here. And we can't leave innocent kid to it!… At least, I can't.
Blaze finally paid attention to what the human foals were saying the the wooden and metal person. Warforged, she reminded herself. Funny name. It doesn't really look like it was forged for war. Maybe it's just been in too many wars, and is all beat up now.
Feeling pity for the strange creature, Blaze cantered over to where it was speaking to the young ones. "Where are your parents, little ones?" Surely even human parents weren't so neglectful as to leave their foals unattended, particularly with a monster around.
Sven tries to think quickly.
"Alright, what if we check whether there's an actual monster or not? Then, when we deal with it if there's something in need to be dealt with, we can safely put our thoughts together. What do you say?"
He doesn't wait for their answer, though, and starts walking towards the children and the "Woodforged".
Redemption nodded, then turned to look at the approaching figures. The ones who had been asleep awakened now. Well, that was fine. "Greetings, fellow travellers. These children say their brother is trapped within this home. I am reasonably certain the house is not the monster."
Still, Redemption wasn't certain that this wasn't a trap. Something felt a little odd to them, but then, they weren't really sure how small mortals typically acted.
"Oh! A nice lady. maybe we don't have to worry about the scary woodman." The boy tells his sister when Malaya approaches.
The little-one's eyes go wide at the sight of Blaze. "WHOOOAOW! A horse lady! Just like the stories uncle Durst used to tell us!" The young girl pulls her brother close and puts a finger to her mouth. "Shush you, you're being rude."
The little girl steps forward. "I am Rosavalda Durst, you can call me rose ma'am. " She says with a curtsy to Malaya and Blaze. "Our parents, Gustav and Elisabeth Durst, are trapped in the basement with the monster. Please our baby brother Walter is up there trapped! Please help him" She points to the third floor, where the balcony protrudes from the house like an open sore. When you look up the house has a menacing appearance. The mists swirl around the house and for a moment you see the shape of a face looking at you all through the mists. A male with sharp features smiling. Its only there for a moment before it fades.
"My name? What do you want with my name? Fine, it's Velspira. The Halfling I am lookin' for be Juno, had a bounty on his head and I was told to haul him back to the authorities," she spoke taking a deep breath but still seemingly puzzled and upset of her current predicament.
She'd look over past them, to the warforged and the children, not seeming to care as much the others, "What about em horse girl, I can tell they ain't no Halflins."
"You had it too, them dreams? Lousy things, especially the fortune teller, a regular old carny, talkin' bout some black dog sitting on some dimwit's throne," she seemed reluctant to follow the group, taking a few moments as it seemed everyone went to the children. Looking back to the misty area around them, she seemed to have a bit of a jolt of energy, quickly stepping up the pace to be near the rest of the small, quickly forming party. Unlike the rest however, she seemed to pay the kids' words no mind, passively watching with her crossbow now resting upon her shoulders.
Dream or no dream, Malaya never intended to worry Blaze. "If I'm dreaming, then so are you, and we'll both wake up together." Although, looking closer at Redemption, she starts to wonder if she's wrong. She's never seen a warforged before, never even heard of one, so how would one appear in her dream?
If it's not a dream...
"Rose. I intend to help you as much as I can." Best to reassure the child before pestering her with questions. "If the monster is in the basement, what is trapping your brother? Is there a second monster? Can you tell us anything about the monster, such as what it looks like?" Hala's creed asked her servants to reduce suffering whenever possible. It did not require suicidal actions, such as running in unprepared against an unknown enemy.
The little-one's eyes go wide at the sight of Blaze. "WHOOOAOW! A horse lady! Just like the stories uncle Durst used to tell us!" The young girl pulls her brother close and puts a finger to her mouth. "Shush you, you're being rude."
Blaze laughed, a high, whinny-like sound. "It sounds like your Uncle Durst had some wonderful stories! Soon you can tell him about meeting me."
I am Rosavalda Durst, you can call me Rose ma'am. " She says with a curtsy to Malaya and Blaze. "Our parents, Gustav and Elisabeth Durst, are trapped in the basement with the monster.
Blaze's tail swished back in forth in confusion. Were all human foals so formal? I certainly never would have introduced my parents by name like that. She wanted to ask Malaya, but her friend was speaking to the foals, and she knew not to interrupt.
Glad that Malaya was here to take charge, Blaze looked more carefully at the house. She had little experience with two-legged's dwellings, but she had to believe they weren't generally this creepy. "I'll scout the perimeter," she volunteered.
Pulling her greataxe from its sheathe, she trotted off around the house, keeping an eye open for other exits, creepy faces, and monsters.
You see Blaze attempt to scout around the building but stops just short of entering the mists to do so.
I saw something strange in this fog... It is not entirely clear to whom she addressed this comment, probably to the whole party.
Shandi also looks at the children. There's something wrong with them. Maybe they're under the influence of magic? Or is it just an illusion?
Adjusting the crossbow over her shoulder, Velspira didn't seem too pleased, "Shouldn't the authorities be helping out with this whole thing. These kids be likely just upset their sibling be on time out is all," the telling says, leering somewhat at the children unamused. Children she never trusted, after all having been one herself.
"What be in it for us?"
Redemption watched the face in the window for a moment. "Reasonably sure the house is not the monster," they reiterated in a somewhat less certain tone. The hunched Warforged shrugged, layers of robe shuffling at the gesture. "Still, I think the rescue of small humanoids is a priority worth following. I shall begin investigating. Presuming the door is unlocked."
Moving forward, the odd druid went up to the door, and after a moment of examination to make sure it was safe and not about to try and pull off any of his limbs, opened it.
Pawing the ground and stamping her hooves, Blaze tries to summon the courage to enter the mists. Her hair and mane prickle with instinctive fear, and she finds herself backing away.
Returning to the others, she says softly, "I don't like that mist. And I wouldn't be able to see anything it in anyway."
She didn't much like the house either. She also didn't like monsters. But that was a different kind of not-liking. That was a I-want-to-smash-things not-liking, not an I'd-rather-stay-out-here not-liking.
Still pawing the ground with her forehooves, Blaze tries to wait patiently while Malaya decides what to do.
Unaware to anything strange about the children, Sven walks with the group towards the house. To him, the possibility of a monster being there is the most urgent thing to address.
"So, let's go deal with that monsters."
As you stand outside contemplating what to do, the mists are slowly closing in around you.
The gate that leads to the entrance is unlocked and creaks as it is opened by Redemption. The door is large and made of oak and opens with little resistance. From the entrance you can see a foyer (10'x20'} that has a shield with a family crest hanging on the back wall. (A golden windmill on a red field) and flanked by two portraits. Below them are a set of double doors leading further into the main room of the first floor.
*Edit
"Please evil horn lady help us, and I'll give you my bear bear" The little boy pleads with Velspira offering her a small dirty stuffed bear that has seen better days, months and years.
The tiefling sighs, "Keep the bear, you look like you need it more than I be needing it," she says with a look that screamed an unamused standing, "We'll go sort this out proper like."
She didn't like the mist coming in so close to them, feeling rather off put by it. She'd remain last in line, resistant the closer and closer they got towards the old manor house, taking a gulp as it felt like they were being watched from it and creak of the gate.
Instead, she'd peer into the home through a window she could potentially look through, hoping to see anyone inside.
Malaya looks at the mist, then at the children. The fact that Rose hasn't even acknowledged her questions, let alone answered them, makes her nervous. "Rose. What kind of monster is it?" She tries to gentle her tone, with minimal success. (A reassuring bedside manner is not among her skills.) "We can't help you if you don't tell us."
Although they may not have any choice. Blaze says she doesn't like the mists and Malaya trusts her instincts. With it closing in around them, where else is there to go?
As they moved into the house, Blaze settled to her knees beside the children. "I don't think you should stay out here alone, little ones. The mist is dangerous, and it's coming closer. Climb onto my back, and I'll take care of you."
Normally she would be in front, leading the charge to the enemy. But she was infantry, not scout, and this was not a battlefield. There was nothing stealthy about her, and she knew that it was not her place to take the lead here.
"It's okay. You can hang on to my harness, there are few loops for hand holds. But if I tell you to get down, you must do so at once, and hide until I tell you it's safe. Do you understand?"
Staff clicking on the floor, Redemption's hooded head swung slowly through the foyer area, noting the portraits of the people - larger humanoids, the parents? and generally considering. "The parents below, the babe above. I presume up first?"
Redemption scanned the area as he moved to the next set of double doors. It seemed wise to remain cautious as he moved through the building.
"Yeah, up first seems the best option" Sven states. He grabs his shield in front of him, but lets some tougher guys go first.
"Should we... should we even go in this place, breaking and entering much, not that I don't have experience with that. We be better off in that mist, much more inviting," she spoke, looking at the ever-encroaching mist that lurked upon the periphery, "We saw houses, bound to be townsfolk, constables no less."
"The monster looks like aunty Durst's garden, but big with arms and legs. We can't go back in the house until it is dead though! It will eat us!" the little boy says as he pulls his toy bear close to his chest."Don't worry we can lay down inside the gate here and wait for you. The mist won't hurt us then." The sister states and begins to go prone to the ground. The children are adamant about not reentering the house.
Blaze's tail drooped as the children refused to come back in the house. She didn't want to leave them outside near the mist, but also didn't want to force them back inside with a monster. They live here, I suppose they know the weather better than anybody. Maybe the mist never comes in the yard.
Unhappily, she nodded, then followed Malaya into the house to look for this big garden monsther with arms and legs.
The gloomy, dark foyer was worse than Blaze had imagined. Her ears pricked forward intently, she listened for any signs of monsters or humans in distress.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..."
Still, Sven thinks he has to do what he has to do, and gets into the house with the intention to, at least, check if there's a monster or not.
Malaya still doesn't like this situation. Rose may have answered her question, but a monster that looked like a garden? With a description that vague she has no idea what kind of monster that could be, or if she stands any chance of surviving an encounter with it. Then there was that evil face in the mist...
Hala guide me.
"Thank you Rose." Taking a deep breath she enters the house. "I agree that rescuing Walter should be our top priority."
"Should we... should we even go in this place, breaking and entering much, not that I don't have experience with that. We be better off in that mist, much more inviting," she spoke, looking at the ever-encroaching mist that lurked upon the periphery, "We saw houses, bound to be townsfolk, constables no less."
"I don't understand your comment about breaking and entering, given two inhabitants of the house have begged us to enter." Malaya sounds genuinely confused. "If you prefer the mists you can go search for a constable while we check upstairs. The extra assistance might be needed."
Shandi is mumbling softly to herself, but you can all hear her. This is a setup. I can feel it. I see that there is something wrong with the children. They don't lie, they believe what they say... But something about them is not right. Are they enchanted? Or worse. I do not understand... She looks at the house with fear. I do not know what awaits us there, but it is a trap.
She takes a deep breath in and out. Then she casts two spells. The first one looks quite ordinary (those of you who are versed in witchcraft will define it as a mage armor).
To cast the second spell, Shandi rolls up the sleeve of her blouse a little. You can see there a drawing, something like a tattoo or scarring intricately writhing on her arm. There is something repulsive about this drawing. She takes out the dagger, touches the flat side of the blade to the drawing and then covers her eyes. For a second, the drawing flashes with light first, and then it seems to flow onto the dagger. The light is bright enough, but not warm as from a torch, but cold and white.
I'm... I'm ready. Let's go inside.
With all the former sleepers inside and ready Redemption moved to the inner doors and, after giving them a quick once over to make sure it wasn't a trap, or a monster, or a trapped monster, the hunched Warforged pulled open the doors.
After hearing Shandi's complaints, Sven reassesses the situation. He hasn't paid enough attention to the children themselves, and that's a mistake that could end up being very expensive.
"Ehhh... Dammit, I didn't notice anything... Though I didn't really check them anyway."
In any case, he thinks, and though the advice is good, they should be focusing on their current situation.
"If that's true, then, that's another reason to have all our eyes open. Let's go up as we planned. Who's first?"