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Aelion placed a hand on Morgrym's shoulder. "Your wishes are honorable, and a credit to you. But Cecilia would never want to wander the earth as an undead abomination, as might happen again if we bury her near here. There is no holy ground here, in this accursed place, and we are days from Brindol. This is the best way to honor her wishes, and ensure her final peace." He glanced at Rhona expectantly, hoping she'd translate the gist of his words.
Aelion nodded reluctantly at Jathal's logic. "I don't know if the dead can rise yet again once the evil magic that raises them has been driven from them, but there's no reason to take chances with such vile things. Let us, at the very least, take Cecilia out and give her a proper pyre." He shook his head at Zalindra; magic was not his specialty. Instead he helped Jathal scrounge for litter materials.
"No!" Aelion cried, aghast. Was their noble companion to spend eternity locked into the taint of undeath? Only they could grant her the rest she deserved.
"Be at peace, Cecilia, valiant companion," he breathed as his arrows took flight.
Aelion had a clear shot now, and he took it! "For our fallen, and all those you've had killed," he breathed, loosing two shots in quick succession.
Amazing post. Aelion will definitely remember Cecilia's fighting spirit, and tell tales of her heroic battle against the undead Lord of Rivenroar. Happy birthday, DM! I'm fine with the posting rate. I'm a bit busier than when I joined, as well.
Aelion felt the presence of Death. Not the undead - no, though those had their own distinctive taint. What he felt was the presence of the reaper - or, perhaps, the sudden absence of a life that had shone brightly. He turned in time to see Cecilia fall, and cursed his own reluctance to engage with the main enemy and steal the glory of its destruction from the bard. This Lord Rivenroar was obviously more dangerous than they had given it credit for. They should probably have all focused their efforts on it, first. Well, Cecilia shouldn't have to fall in vain. "Focus on the leader!" he cried, taking aim to do just that.
Oh man, that sucks, Cecilia. I'd love to read a post with her final moments, though.
Seeing the blue skeleton nearest Cecilia and Rhona dealt with, Aelion continued to fire at the red skeleton-
-but the blasted thing simply spun its own bow, knocking his blunt arrows out of the air.
Aelion rushed into the room, Cecilia's proclamation ringing in his ears. At a glance, he saw that she had taken on Lord Rivenroar - but she would be overwhelmed quickly if they didn't deal with the other skeletons. "For Thurann and the holy dead!" he cried, firing a blunt arrow at the nearest of the other skeletons.
Sorry all, work and other obligations are crushing me this week. I'll try to get a post out soon, but if I'm holding you up feel free to bot Aelion. He has blunt arrows.
I'm packing up to move on the 6th, and I probably won't have a lot of time to post. Please bot Aelion when necessary.
Aelion obliged, moving into the room beside Jathal. Thinking Jathal would handle the elf skeleton, he targeted the shorter skeleton, firing neatly over Rhona's shoulder.
Aelion spotted the boy being dragged, and the world seemed to narrow focus. He, too, reached for the blunt arrows in one of his quivers.
Nothing. He heard nothing. Of course, it was possible that whatever was in there had stopped moving. Aelion turned back towards the others with a shrug, and shook his head. He pantomimed opening the door, giving them a questioning look.
Aelion shook his head sharply to clear it. "I agree with Cecilia," he whispered to the others. "Even if it's not who we're looking for, we shouldn't leave anyone at our backs if we can avoid it." He ventured closer to the eastern door, wary of traps.
He listened at the door carefully, trying to guess who or what might lie behind it. Was there the clink of armor? Goblin voices? What had Zalindra heard?
Abandoning his previous path (and closing the western doors again), Aelion joined the others near the north door. "Stairs... it looks like you were right, Cecilia. Let's scout, Jathal." Carefully, Aelion eased down the passage, alert for trouble.
Surprised by Morgrym's kind gesture, Aelion shot him a smile of thanks as he gathered up what he could. Dwarves are a hardy and honorable people, he thought to himself. I could find much worse companions in my quest for justice... His gaze turned considering, but then he shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. For now, it was enough to find the last kidnapped citizen, and free her. "Maybe I could learn some Dwarven, while you learn the Common tongue?" he suggested as he worked side by side with Morgrym. *** At the door, he glanced back at the others. "Ready to go?" At their signal, he ventured forth, quiet as he could be.
Aelion thanked Cecilia, untying the scraps of cloth he had been using to cover the wounds, and letting them fall to the floor. "I am glad death did not take you this day, Morgrym," he told the dwarf, aware that he wouldn't understand but making the attempt all the same. Then he saw about topping up his quivers with any available arrows. He joined Cecilia at the door, bow ready, when all were prepared.
Relieved to find his efforts unneeded, Aelion nodded his thanks to Zalindra and stepped aside to allow Cecilia room to work. Wiping the blood from his hands on the cloak of a dead hobgoblin, he looked back when Cecilia offered to use the wand again. "If there are no others in great need, I would take healing," he requested, looking around to judge the state of those wounded.
Finally able to see once more, Aelion stepped away from the doors he had closed after listening carefully.
He approached the badly injured dwarf, doing his best to bind her wounds with limited resources.
Hearing Dayana's cry, Aelion hurried forward, into the dark, planning to feel his way along the wall and close the doors. Relying on his ears to avoid stumbling into anyone, he reached out with his free hand, seeking stone and wood. "Coming through!"
Unwilling to simply fire blindly into the dark and risk accidentally shooting one of the rescuers, Aelion remained outside the globe of shadows, waiting for a chance to loose an arrow that had a chance of striking.
Aelion had advanced when Cecilia summoned light, anticipating the end of the darkness with an arrow nocked. When her lights vanished, he paused in surprise; but not for long. Taking up position in the room, he readied his bow for a shot when a target presented itself. Sigh.
Aelion's eyes narrowed at the thought of giving quarter to this goblin scum. They didn't deserve mercy... but the faster they were neutralized, the faster the hostages would be saved, he grudgingly admitted to himself. But they hadn't surrendered yet. Quick as a blink, he too fired on them.
A little too quick. His sudden anger had cost him his chance to kill them. Breathe, Aelion. Breathe. The elf tried to calm himself. He'd been far too volatile since Bryn's death; his shoddy archery was the price he paid for it.
Aelion frowned. One of us? Is she Tiri Kitor? "Thank you again, Adronsius, for your insight. If she's the last hostage, we'll rejoin you soon enough, out in the sunlight. But we have to be sure there are no others." He sighed. He had been hoping they'd have a chance to discover what the goblins wanted with the artifacts they'd stolen. Still, saving lives was not an ignoble pursuit, so he sucked it up and prepared to move on.
Aelion had remained respectfully silent as the dwarf was tended, and kept watch for any uninvited interruptions. He also checked the fountain, just in case - though he didn't dare take a drink. He'd seen Adronsius, if only in passing, in the city, but hadn't realized what a sharp mind lay within the alchemist's noggin. Or maybe it was just natural for dwarves to know what they were about when underground, just as he wouldn't get lost out in the wilderness above. Far above, he thought with a pang. "That's very helpful. Thank you," he told the dwarf as they set out, and he joined Cecilia in the lead. "Can you describe the priestess? Are any of you familiar enough with the churches in town to recognize her?"
Aelion didn't like leaving potential dangers behind them, but it was true that the hostages had to come first. He followed Cecilia, alert for trouble. This time, he also checked the ceiling as he went in.
Aelion laughed weakly at Rhona's joke... it was a joke, surely? Realizing he didn't know that much about the underground people, Aelion studiously examined the runes, careful not to step onto them or to look at the bugs Morgrym was gathering. Some of them were twitching in his peripheral vision. He swallowed a few times before answering Zalindra and Cecilia. "Ah... it's as good a theory as any, I think. Unfortunately, traps are not my specialty."
Aelion watches Morgrym with surprise. "What's he doing that for?" Shaking his head, he joined Zalindra and Dayana by the runes. "Do the runes have some occult purpose, beyond frying bugs and naming their maker? Strange, to have them all over the floor down here."
Behind everyone else, Aelion hadn't seen the fate of the centipede that was tossed onto the runes, but he heard the snap and crackle clearly enough. Drawing a bead on the vermin he could see, he wondered aloud, "There must be some source of food for those things to be lurking here - and somehow I don't think it's the undead. What else could have preceded us down here?" *Bryn would have feasted on these... but then, if she was alive, I wouldn't be down here,* he thought morosely, missing the open air.
If so:
"Owl fodder," he said with disgust, eyeing the vermin.
Aelion readied himself to shoot anything that attacked Morgrym. "Considering what we know of these families now, I find it a bit disturbing that these alcoves are empty," he said quietly. He kept an eye on Morgrym as the dwarf advanced.
"If there are any left to save, let's go save them," Aelion agreed grimly once who was going where had been sorted out. He readied his bow and arrows, wincing a bit at his still scorched wounds.
My internet access has been restored! :D I'll be traveling on Monday and unable to post, though. *goes to catch up on what's happening*
Hey everyone, sorry for my silence. I'm stealing a minute at work to let you know that my home internet is completely borked. Please bot Aelion until I can get it working again. Cheers, and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US!
Aelion didn't live in Brindol, but he traveled there enough that even he had heard of Zerriksa. Nothing concrete, only rumors... but enough for him to lower the arrow he had pointed at her. Circumspectly. Focusing his attention on the rest of the room, he kept an eye out for danger while the others spoke with her.
As Cecilia rushed forward into the line of fire, Aelion eased back the tension on his prepared arrow, hesitating to fire when the bard had risked everything to stop them from attacking. He wasn't sure if the woman he had momentarily glimpsed was a villain or not, but he wasn't about to endanger Cecilia if she wasn't. Instead, he eased into the room and moved along the wall, looking for a vantage to shoot from in case things were as they had first appeared.
Aelion scrambled to restring his bow and ready his arrows before the party opened the door. "I hope those prisoners are close," he muttered.
Aelion groaned and coughed from the metallic taste in his throat as the dwarf hauled him up. "Terrible dream... dragons poking me with sticks over a fire," he muttered, regaining his feet shakily. Getting his bearings, he bowed to Morgrym, wincing from the burns that still scorched his skin. "Thank you, and your god, Morgrym. Without you both, I would be much, much worse off." Fumbling with stiff fingers in his pouches for another bowstring, he took stock of the others. "What's going on? How long was I out?"
Good luck Dayana! Stay safe!
Groaning, charred and blistered from the dragons' flame, Aelion did as Rhona asked. With the last of his strength, he stepped forth and fired two arrows in rapid succession, one for each beast, hoping to draw them away. There was no room in his mind for self-recrimination - only the pulse of blood in his ears, the sting of burned flesh, and the creatures he fired at.
Then he braced himself for the creatures' ire. Would this be where his bones lay interred? Away from the open skies? The thought filled him with dread, but he stood his ground.
Welp.
Aelion hurries to catch up with Zalindra, waiting watchfully and ready to shoot as she examines the door.
Aelion had been surprised at Cecilia's agility - she could almost be Tiri Kitor herself - but he didn't comment, thinking she would not appreciate his surprise. He wouldn't, in her place. He nodded, instead, at the intelligence she provided. "Most of us can't fight in the darkness. If you dwarves don't wish to go first, we should drop a torch or other source of light down so we can see what we're doing." Making sure that Zalindra was clear, he waited for someone to drop some light into the pit, using the time to sling his bow. Then he, too, climbed a rope down into the unknown.
Aelion keeps watch for any threats, arrow ready, while the others take care of the prisoner.
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