"No... thank you? No thank you!?" The man's eyes go a little too wide at San's answer before he howls in indignation "I give you the chance to accept the caress of the Sin of Steel and you would reject it?" While the other man speaks more calmly and says "No one will notice a few missing outsiders. Let's kill them and get back to it." He releases the leash on the "dog" and starts reaching for a dagger in his robes.
Vildran recognizes that the infested canine beast is actually a strange fiendish creature known as a cythnigot. These fungal qlippoths are parasites that bury themselves into the bodies of creatures and puppet them from the inside. This particular one has seized control of a wolf and has clearly transformed it quite a bit already.
-
|||| INIT ||||
Sidonie
San
Bastiano
Shady Man Blue
Shady Man Orange
Wolf Cynthigot
Vildran
Autumn
Sidonie sprints from cover to cover, trying to split their attention.
"Well, I tried. You asked for it!" As he quips, San assumes a shooting stance and looses two arrows in quick succession at the angry man.
Basiano peeks out from behind the pillar, trying to recall what he knows about these men. Once satisfied, he shoots his bow at the yelling man.
The wolf-cythnigot sniffs the air and then takes several long, uneven bounds toward Bastiano. Its jaws snap just a hair too late to catch his leg. The surviving man draws and tosses a dagger at San, but misses by a wide margin. He runs for cover behind one of the spires, swearing as he does.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran
Autumn
Sidonie
San
Bastiano
Shady Man Orange
Wolf Cythnigot
Vildran frowns, and shouts across the circle to the remaining human.
Now that you see we are capable, would you like to reconsider your presumed outcome here?
From this distance, he can only release a barrage of force javelins at their pet creature. He turns towards it, gesticulating and incanting until three glowing lights burst into existence and speed towards it. As they cross the distance the points slow glow a trail of javelin form giving formidable weight, and threatening real physical harm.
Autumn glares incredulously at Sidonie as the rogue dashes past, as if to silently scream ‘Why are you giving away my position?!’ Fortunately no one seems to pay her any attention, and the not unexpected escalation to violence doesn’t reach her yet.
She hesitates, wondering if she should remain hidden where she is or sneak to another hiding spot that won’t be betrayed by Sidonie, when the wolf-thing bounds across her field of view and leaps at Bastiano. Without thinking, she thrusts one arm out, pulling her fingers back like a shriveled claw as invisible tendrils of magic reach into the wolf-beast’s brain, then she sharply twists her hand, trusting the magical connection to twist the creature’s mind.
For an instant the sorceress simply watches her handiwork, then suddenly she comes to her senses: she needs to worry about her own safety first! Momentarily abandoning Bastiano, she darts around the spire so that it lies between her and the wolf.
Sidonie runs to deny the other man his cover. Popping out from behind the tent, she looks to confuse the... cultist?
San rushes over to assist Bastiano with the dog fungus thing by firing more arrows.
Bastiano is not thrilled at the dog deciding he was a threat. Discretion being the better part of valor, he flees toward the elf bowman hoping the dog chooses another target. Dipping behind San, he fires off an arrow.
-
"They're attacking the ritual hound! Four, no, five outsiders! Come quick!" The remaining man shouts, and you can hear the sound of approaching footsteps from within the tent. He draws another dagger and tries to fend off Sidonie with two slashes. She nimbly dodges the first swing, but the second catches her .
The wolf cythnigot stalks its way swiftly toward San. When it gets close, its body begins to ripple and pulsate, pustules merging and popping in nauseating fashion.
Both San and Bastiano are sickened by this display, bile rising in their throats and distracting them from defending themselves. The cythnigot follows by biting at San, and tears deep into his leg.
Immediately an ache begins to spread through his leg - one distinct from the blinding pain of the injury he just received.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran (sickened 1)
Autumn
Sidonie (4 dmg)
San (10 dmg, sickened 1, off-guard, diseased) (??? Stage 1: -1 status penalty to Athletics checks)
Bastiano (sickened 1, off-guard)
Shady Man Orange
Wolf Cythnigot (13 dmg)
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Vildran strides laterally, almost jogging. He awkwardly holds up his staff as he runs. When he arrives at the end his holds it up towards the dog, shooting a bolt of flame at it.
Not detered, Sidonie lunges at the man with her blade.
She smirks, feeling confident about her first strike and casually takes another.
San, reeling from the bite and the... whatever it was the fungus thing did, retrieves his dagger then immediately retches from the effort. Fighting through the illness, he stabs at the creature.
Bastiano has a similar reaction to the disgusting display from the dog thing. His vision swims as he tries to remember something, anything he saw in his books about something similar. Unfortunately, using his thinky bits causes him to retch again.
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“Heinous,” Autumn curses under her breath when the doglike aberration completely resists her magic. Whatever it is, she wants no part of it. Fortunately, her companions are drawing its ire, though their increased nausea is rather unsettling. For a moment she hesitates, then shakes off her concern. Better them than her.
“Unbelievable,” she curses her luck again when the man calls for help. Five outsiders?! With her presence known—and worse, announced—she abandons her hiding spot and rushes around the back of the tent. “Shush!” she hisses at the man. Her index finger slices through the air in a scolding motion, while magical energy ripples down her arm and towards the man in a piercing arcane blast. But the magical bolt ripples and fades out of existence before reaching its target.
-
Meanwhile next to the pit, San and Bastiano both suffer from debilitating sickness and aren't able to steel themselves and recover. San however does get a dagger in hand and scores a hit on the cythnigot. However, the yielding flesh of the beast appears to partially spring back afterward . Bastiano strains to recall any more details about these creatures, and remembers that these foul outsiders are vulnerable to divinely imbued holy weapons and water.
The cythnigot bites once again, savaging San while the elf is still retching. . With Bastiano debilitated, the cythnigot makes an uncannily tactical move and launches itself at Vildran instead. It leaps for his throat but he's able to interpose his staff and fend it off.
To the south, the shady man stabs once at Sidonie, scoring another slice in her side , before losing his nerve and fleeing toward the cythnigot hound.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran (sickened 1)
Autumn
Sidonie (8 dmg)
San (16 dmg, prone, dying 1, sickened 1, off-guard, diseased) (??? Stage 1: -1 status penalty to Athletics checks)
Bastiano (sickened 1, off-guard)
Shady Man Orange (7 dmg)
Wolf Cythnigot (19 dmg)
Determined to silence the shady man who outed her, Autumn hurries back to where she has a clear line of sight to him. There she reaches out her hand and magically twists his mind, confident that he won’t be as resistant as the cythnigot. Only then does she notice San’s prone unmoving body.
“Oh gods …”
Bastiano is determined to eliminate the cynthigot despite his swimming vision. Unfortunately not isn't the right time to strike, and he feels his food coming up again anyway... Shakily, he draws his rapier and prepares to face the creature that just downed his companion.
Vildran is caught off guard that the dog is suddenly in his face. Naturallly, he responds by… retching at it.
After which he flames it again with his staff.
Sidonie gives chase…
Sidonie rushes toward the action Vildran's point-blank ignition spell sears the cythnigot. It's looking badly burned and bludgeoned by this point, and it chooses to run for it rather than fight to the death. It bolts for the tent, just managing to get inside.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran (sickened 1)
Autumn
Sidonie (8 dmg)
San (16 dmg, prone, dying 2, sickened 1, off-guard, diseased) (??? Stage 1: -1 status penalty to Athletics checks)
Bastiano
Shady Man Orange (unconscious)
Wolf Cythnigot (25 dmg)
With all of their enemies either dead, unconscious, or fleeing, Autumn finally stops hesitating and races out to San’s side. She fumbles with the healing kit at her waist, grabbing a handful of gauzy bandages, even as she anxiously glances back over her shoulder at the tent. “Quick!” she hisses at the others. “Do any of you have healing potions?”
Thinking that more foes might arrive imminently, Vildran runs to the middle of their crowd and casts a protective spell.
Suddenly the nausea hits him again.
Something wicked this way comes...
Autumn's question jogs Bastiano's memory. "I think San offered one to someone back on the island but it never got used. It's got to be around here somewhere" Finding a labeled bottle in one of the pouches on San's belt, Bastiano pours the liquid down the unconscious elf's throat.
As the reagents in the elixir do their work, San's eyes flutter open in confusion for a moment. But only for a moment before they go wide and he turns to his side to retch again. Thinking the sensation has passed, he begins to roll back before pushing himself to the side once again and finally clearing up whatever it was that dog fungus did to him. Seeing Autumn standing over his with bandages in hand, "Thanks for the willingness to help. Hopefully that won't be necessary in the future." He climbs to his feet a little wobbly from the blood loss and whatever disease is burning through his veins. "Did I hear right? There's more people in the tent?"
Bastiano has to force San's mouth shut to makes sure he swallows the elixir, but luckily the potent potion does its work quickly after that and San is soon back on his feet. To the south-west, you can hear more voices rising from the tent. They seem to have crossed paths with the cythnigot hound from their cries of alarm at its state, and don't seem to be immediately rushing out to fall upon you. It seems there's quite a few voices, more than the two that you dealt with.
Autumn sighs with evident relief, both at San’s quick recovery and at not having her meager medical skills tested. Honestly, she had only learned just enough medicine to be a better quacksalver.
Stuffing the bandages back in her satchel, she nods simply at the elf’s question. “Let’s get out of here,” she offers a hand to steady the archer, then glances back at the man she had rendered unconscious. “But bring him along,” she looks pointedly at Sidonie and Bastiano to do the dirty work. “I’m sure he’ll have answers we need.”
San, friend! Get up, more are on the way!
Taking Autumn's lead, he points Sidonie towards the man to be picked up but otherwise starts running towards the low tide pools in his awkward way, where his staff flings back and forth and his robes billow about.
San retrieves his dropped weapons and follows after the others for a few steps. A little uncertainly, "Yes... yes. Lets get out of here." He stows his gear and moves to help the struggling Bastiano and Sidonie with the unconscious man. Looking to them, "You two good? Let go."
Between the five of you, you quickly pick up the man Autumn knocked out and start running as best as you can. You get all the way down the hill and into the sandy mud flat interconnecting the island and the mainland before the shouts rise up from the spires of Rusthenge behind you. You're certainly slowed down by carrying the man, and it seems your attempted kidnapping has earned the ire of the half dozen robed men and women chasing after you. Each bears a jagged, rusty dagger at the ready. Weighed down as you are, it seems inevitable that they'll reach you before you can get across, much less back to town.
The singular mercy is that the cythnigot hound is nowhere to be seen. Considering the beast's agility earlier, it could have caught up to you in no time at all.
"Run! As fast as you can. I'll try to discourage their pursuit as I follow behind. Vildran, Autumn, we may need your magic if they keep it up and get too close."
Putting his plan into action, he stops short, takes aim, and fires an arrow at the closest pursuer before running again.
Autumn needs no extra encouragement to run. She responds to San with a simple, breathless nod, then redoubles her pace. Every now and then she even lends a hand, helping to lift the cultist’s dragging feet out of the mud so that Bastiano and Sidonie, supporting the unconscious man on either side, can carry their prisoner more easily and quickly--with a primary emphasis on quickly.
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While the rest of the group continues their awkward jog carrying the body, San takes aim. His first arrow is right on the mark, striking one robed figure in the leg, and he sends a few more shafts flying in broad arcs. With only daggers to defend themselves, the crowd of robed figures slows. Two more arrows later and they're scattering, unwilling to risk closing the distance with San while in this wide open mud flat. They rush back up the hill and out of arrow range, retreating to the circle of rusty spires and their tent.
While it's clear you've earned their ire, it seems you've escaped their wrath for now.
Vildran exhales.
Good job, San! Let's move quickly but now we don't have to rush carelessly. Quick but not unsafe.
He nods and continues on, leading the way for those carrying the body. He casts light on himself and the others.
"Let's find somewhere tucked away from everything to revive this guy. Autumn, are you ok with asking the questions? I know this is an unusual situation but I think information is our best weapon at this point. Do we even need to disrupt that ritual? Maybe they were trying to stop whatever this illness is, then again, maybe their actions were causing it... Let hope this flunky knows the details."
“Fetch,” Autumn breathes heavily as she gives San an immensely grateful look. Thanks the gods for his longbow!
Stopping to catch her breath, she nods wearily in reply to the archer. “I’ll ask. But they’re so not trying to stop the disease. Really not the welcome you’d expect from someone trying to help.” She pauses, thinking out loud about where they should hold the interrogation. “I’d love to go back to the boat …” She looks longingly across the bay, wanting nothing more than to lie down in one of the ship’s bunks that, on their long voyage here, she had deemed cramped and uncomfortable. “… but I guess we shouldn’t be seen dragging a hostage through town. Though maybe we could pretend we’re helping him?” She looks hopefully at the others.
“But if that’s no good, there’s the tunnel,” she shudders involuntarily. “We’re already wet and miserable,” she relents with a hint of sulkiness, “but I don’t like that there’s just one exit—easy to get trapped.” She glances around. “Or maybe a nook somewhere. Though it won’t be as private as the tunnel.” Meanwhile she begins trying to cover up evidence of their trail, in case the cultists regain courage for another pursuit.
A breeze picks up across the mud flat as you hurry your way across. You confer among your group as to the best location to stop, and you remember seeing some low hills along the penninsula to the east that would have enough scrub and grasses to hide whatever it is you plan to do from view of both the town and Rusthenge. The tunnel is another option - while the passage itself is wet, cold, and very narrow, the cistern under Stonehenge is wide enough for you to be able to handle your captive together (though it's no less frigid). Art's sloop is another option, though one that's quite exposed as it has no private cabin you could enter.
Vildran is unsure. The prisoner they hold feels like an alchemical bomb ready to go off at any moment and it makes him nervous. He's very clearly frantic.
I don't know, lets... head for the tunnel.
Once there, he gets San's help binding the prisoner before they awaken him.
Then when he is brought to, Vildran stares at him with a discerning gaze for several uncomfortable moments before starting.
Firstly, can you understand us?
Travel through the tunnel was difficult enough before but toting a prisoner only adds to the challenge. San does his best tying up the prisoner with his cold hands as the others ready themselves for the interrogation. Standing by trying to look intimidating, he watches as the prisoner is roused from his... slumber.
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Not surprisingly, re-entering the tunnel does not improve Autumn’s mood, which bodes poorly for their hostage. After ensuring that the prisoner’s hands and feet are securely bound, she glances around to make sure everybody is ready, then rudely awakes the man by plunging his head underwater.
“Good morning,” she greets their hostage in an icily sweet voice through frigid, chattering teeth. “I hope you had a pleasant rest. We’d like to know what you and your friends are doing at the ring of spires. Please do your best to cooperate,” she draws her dagger and idly waves it near the man’s throat, then snugly presses the point against the man’s balls. “I’m the good interrogator, you see.” Her emerald eyes flash, and one eye momentarily decays into a dull, dead grey.
“You really don’t want to meet the bad interrogator.”
You must make for a sorry sight, because he doesn't seem particularly frightened. "I've seen worse Witch. You'll feel the touch of the Sin of Steel soon enough. Or I will, and that will be just as well." He can't move much, but it's just enough that he can take in his surroundings and evaluate his chances of escape. They seem slim.
Vildran looks at Autumn in shock. It's a base reflex that he should have kept in check, but he hadn't considered her capable of such threats before. Of course something the man says makes him more curious and he reverts to "nerd."
The "Sin of Steel." What is that and why is it okay for you to die by it?
The shivering sorceress ignores Vildran’s shocked look, mistaking it for disappointment in her methods. It’s hard to seem threatening when you yourself are on the verge of hypothermia.
Autumn sheathes her dagger and, no longer bothering to conceal her discomfort, hugs herself tightly to stay warm. But she notices the man searching for a way to escape and can’t resist drowning that hope further. Her voice changes to a callous drawl. “Like your friends? Yeah, we killed the half dozen or so of them that came out of the tent to help you. Daggers aren’t so good against a longbow.” She glances at San’s weapon. “The dog-thing’s dead too, of course. You’re on your own.”
San, picking up on Autumn's idea, grins and wiggles his weapon.