It's been amazing playing with you all. Hope to again some time. Take care, everyone.
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Quiet couple weeks. We still floatin' down here?
Kyra grits her teeth, swinging furiously at the undead creature.
Kyra screams out in pain as the magic tears through her body. She knows she can't take another hit like that, but running doesn't feel like an option, either. The stuffed manticore could get her before she crossed the room. Kyra begins to sweat, thinking that this might be the end. To have defeated a goblin army, become mayor, and possibly lose it all in the home of the first person she saved in Sandpoint, to someone she considered a friend. She looks up at the undead creature, thinking that if it's all going to end here, she may as well enjoy it. She begins laughing, her mouth stained red with blood, and launches into a vicious assault of fists of knees, determined to do as much damage as possible.
Kyra narrows her eyes for a moment as A'letta approaches, but only for a moment. Not wanting to face Aldern in anything less than peak shape, she simply nods and says, "Thank you."
"Lord and Lady," Kyra curses, standing up and rubbing her chest. "I swore the manticore came to life." She shakes her head. "Gods that hurt." Kyra eyes the creature distrustfully from across the room. "Let's... keep moving. I don't want to stay in this twice damned place any longer than we need to."
I honestly expected her to turn on us already - certainly after the things Kyra said about Aldern as she was trying to free Iesha. A'letta's seeming indifference has me a bit perplexed. It makes me suspect that maybe she's serving someone other than him? She hasn't made any kind of move against us, so killing her could potentially be avoided entirely. Kyra at least is pretty uncertain about both of these people. These are her first interactions with the undead. I think she's probably afraid to make any kind of move against A'letta, though she wouldn't admit it. She also probably doesn't want to expend the spells/effort that it would take, when she's uncertain of how powerful Aldern is. He has to die, but A'letta? Maybe not. I think she's being more restrained, especially after what happened in the Sanitarium. That said, if someone feels like murdering an undead would be in line with their character, certainly Kyra can be overruled. I know Pick seems like he's itching to do some murder. I don't think Kyra is at all aware of what's going on in Khalbar's house, but setting up a halfway house for the undead would be a hilarious road to go down.
Kyra follows Iesha's eyes to the mirror and looks at herself in it for a moment. She looked ragged. Being awake nights with worry over the murders, sleeping in a tree on her way all the way out here. Iesha wasn't the only one who'd have trouble attracting someone. Still, there were things to be done. "I was always taught," she ventures, still looking at her own reflection, "That it wasn't what you looked like, or even who you were, but that it was what you did." She frowns, and takes a step closer to the mirror, putting her hand on her reflection's face. "Something has been taken from you, part of who you are." Kyra opens her mouth to say something else, and then remember's A'letta's presence. 'Can't be helped.' she thinks to herself, and opens her mouth again. "He has done this to others, too. Taken beauty, taken strength. Many of them cannot even be here to defend themselves. But you can. You can regain control, for all of them, and most importantly, for yourself." Her arm moving in a blur, Kyra reaches out and punches the mirror.
After watching the mirror shatter, shards of glass falling to the floor around her feet, and trails of blood running down her knuckles, she turns back to Iesha. "Are you ready to get your revenge?"
In case you're waiting for us, Lein, I was waiting to see if Rhanloi's words would have any effect before I said something else.
Stupid monks not getting Diplomacy as a class skill.
Kyra nods to Rhanloi without turning from the horrible creature in front of her. She looked different than A'letta did, but certainly not any better. Kyra decides very quickly that once Aldern is dead, she'll burn this entire wretched place to the ground. Like the Goblin stronghold. Like all things that are unnatural and wrong. Moving slowly, she comes closer to the woman, glad that her years of training her body are helping to keep her hands from shaking. She holds one out. "Come with me." She says, simply. "I can take you to see Aldern, and help you get revenge for what happened to you."
Yeah I more meant on how to approach her, but I'll just go for it. Obviously something is very wrong here.
Kyra frowns, her heart beating loudly in her chest. 'This was the plan.' she reminders herself. She moves slowly around the armoire, coming closer to the woman. "I'm sure you're not hideous. And I know he misses you, too. How long has it been since you saw him?"
Nope! I mean, obviously there are things about the situation that I don't know, but I know the things that I do know, haha.
I am a bit flummoxed on what to do here. Perhaps someone who has been quiet for a bit can jump in?
Kyra nudges Pick out of the way. "Don't startle her." she chastises. "Are you all right?" she calls out to the woman, equally unsure of what to do in this situation.
Kyra's smile falters slightly at A'letta's statement, and for the first time since encountering the altered form of A'letta, Kyra feels the full weight of what had happened. As much as she doesn't want to, she feels somewhat responsible. 'She should have been smarter, more careful.' Kyra reminds herself, but it hardly settles her mind. She'd never even bothered to go looking for A'letta, someone who had stood by her side. And now... Breaking eye contact first, she turns with a swallow, and heads in the direction of the quiet sobs. Seeing Rhanloi moving to follow, she turns her head slightly, looking sideways over her shoulder at him. "It's likely to get worse before it gets better. Be careful." She speaks loudly enough for all of them, but keeps her focus on Rhanloi, who had already seem to be the most susceptible to the dangers of the house. She knew it wasn't much, but that it was more than she had ever given A'letta, and hoped that maybe it would be enough.
Kyra frowns, cocking her head towards a sound. "Of course." She mutters. Turning towards the others, she grins triumphantly. "She's upstairs." She looks towards A'letta, clearly still displeased with her, but less so with her own ego inflating. "Do you know the way? I might be able to follow the sound of her cries if not."
Kyra's expression of concern for Flibble and Rhanloi quickly turns to a glare as they recover and Flibble suggests abandoning the search. She opens her mouth to speak, before remember that A'letta is nearby - and no longer one of them. After opening and closing her mouth a few times, trying to find the right words, she settles on some, and turns to Flibble coldly. "His Lordship would certainly think less of us if we were defeated by things that aren't even real. He may go so far as to decide that we are no longer worthy of his gifts." She turns face to the room as a whole, anger rising up within her. "We are not children to be scared away by parlour tricks. I am Kyra, of the Arkona's. I am The Hammer, the Slayer of Goblins, and the Mayor of Sandpoint. You have had your fun, and now I demand an audience."
Kyra watches as Rhanloi drops to the floor, imperceptibly lowering herself into a fighting stance. As he regains consciousness, she breathes a sigh, but doesn't relax her body. She turns from his position on the bed to see what has Pick worked up, and sees him eyeing a knife with distrust near a very pale looking Flibble. Letting out a low growl, Kyra whirls back towards the door. "I've had it with this place. I'm about to start smashing things."
Kyra frowns at the exchange between Pick and A'letta, but remains silent. As Pick fails to destroy the painting, her eyes widen. "Lord and Lady, what is this place?" she curses quietly. As A'letta and Pick move towards the next door, she shakes her head subtly at Flibble, wishing not for the first time that she had learned their secret hand signals. She understood his concern, but there was more information to be gained. The place reeked of a trap enough as it was without making things worse. She frowns, wondering how she can make this clear. "Big place." She remarks lamely to A'letta. "His Lordship has done well for himself. It reminds me of home - all these spacious rooms dedicated to our ancestors." She pauses, considering. "It would be nice to take the time to explore it properly. How much of it have you seen in your time here?" She walks up behind Pick as he checks the door for traps and eventually opens it. She wants to say that she's certain any traps they come across won't be of that type, but worries over A'letta's attitude towards them souring.
Kyra shrugs at Flibble as A'letta walks up to the portrait. "Having seen what has become of A'letta, I'd rather not rule it out." She responds quietly. "Besides, there's only one more door here, may as well check it out. Who knows what we might find." Turning towards A'letta, Kyra begins to inquire about the family's history - being from a storied family herself - but stop short. "What is below?" she asks, her blood beginning to run cold.
"Disease?" Kyra asks curiously as they continue to the opposite set of double doors. "How does that work, then?"
Kyra looks at the hallway, cocking her head. 'Wife. Even with an argument. Gotta be a nice room. In a manor. Perhaps double doors?' Walking further down the hall she notes double doors on either side, and frowns.
Not wanting to seem less than confident, she pauses for only a second to flip a coin in her head, before moving towards the double doors to the right and giving them a light knock.
Kyra walks immediately behind Pick.
Tomorrow is our two year anniversary!
Kyra begins to nod in agreement with Pick when Flibble mentions the wife. Her eyes flash as she wonders what he might be getting them into. It would be bad enough having to face something that bore the traits of A'letta without having a mysterious woman thrown into the mix. It takes a second for Kyra's glare to fade as she realises that Flibble's plan might well be to get her on their side. 'An enemy of my enemy...' she thinks, making a note to credit him later, should they both survive. She clears her throat, partially because of the horrible smell choking her, and looks towards A'letta, giving a deep bow. We would be honoured to speak with her on his behalf. Perhaps in the meantime you could keep it quiet that we have arrived? His Lordship" she tries not to choke on the words, "has been hard at work for quite some time, and deserves to have a pleasant surprise."
Yeah she doesn't seem at all threatening now, but I expect that would change rapidly once we not-so-graciously deny Aldren's offer to make us into gross ghouls.
Kyra frowns at the hand signals occurring between Pick and Flibble, part of her wishing that she had learned their secret language. "More undead." she mutters in response to Rhanloi. A'letta marks the first one that Kyra has seen with her own eyes, and the monk is at a loss as to how to take it. She seemed to possess A'letta's memories, and if she is to be believed, her abilities as well. But Khalbar was right: It was not A'letta. "I'm perfectly content being as slow and dumb as I am." Kyra remarks, though it's an obvious lie. The majority of her life was spent trying to be faster and stronger. But not this way. Instead, she cocks her head. "If the spirits inside are dangerous, perhaps we would do better to speak out here?"
Kyra wrinkles her nose at the smell coming from A'letta. "Lord and Lady," she curses, raising her hand to her mouth. Getting ahold of herself, she frowns at A'letta, but makes no move to step closer. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes move between the trophies, vetting the difficulty of each kill. The one in the centre particularly catches her eye. It's nothing she has seen before, but as she looks at it she is filled with a sense of envy, and a desire to hunt such a creature. She strains her mind, thinking back to their boar hunt, and finds herself unable to be sure whether a) Aldern was faking being clueless and knew how to hunt, b) he had come a long way since then, or c) he was just a noble who purchased pretty things.
Kyra looks at Pick with disappointment and sighs, before raising her hand and hammering on the door.
"We were also invited." Kyra points out. "Or at least I was. It's not likely that he'll come out an admit his part in the murders." She pauses, thinking back to the notes. "Actually he might do that. But I'd still like to look around." She frowns. "There is also still the possibility that this is one big trap."
"Bah, I've heard the same. Superstitious rubbish." Kyra actually hadn't known much of what Rhanloi said, but she wasn't about to admit that. "Still, stay alert. Seems likely that there'll be at least one mage inside."
I haven't really figured out maptools yet, being the one who uses white-boards in my tabletop games and eschews the use of maps for my play-by-posts. I operate the same way.
Kyra nods a greeting to Flibble, reading the note carefully through twice before saying anything. When she speak, it begins with a grunt. "Nothing new here." She frowns, looking from the note to Flibble. "Be glad when we've put an end to this. Find anything useful?"
Kyra nods to the plans, having a sense of pride at how clever her friends were. As Pick begins to set traps, she nods with approval, and scales up one of the trees, finding a comfortable place, where she would be difficult to see. "Take first," she says to Rhanloi. "I'll take the last, it'll allow me to do my morning stretches and practise without slowing us down."
"Perhap,s" Kyra begins, "we should rest the night. I'd rather not stumble into a ghoul army at all, let alone after such a long hike. Plus, it seems to me that approaching the manor in the dead of night could be seen as somewhat... aggressive." She pauses, considering. "If indeed he is behind this, we should approach carefully. I've been 'invited', and suspect the boy will be excited to show me every thing he's done." With a snort she continues. "As if raising the dead to prey on weak farmers is something to be proud of."
Kyra nods in agreement. "Alright." She says decisively. "Flibble, see if you can find Shalelu for this. With her knowledge of the wilds and your... bird... the two of you should be able to investigate without much risk to yourselves. We'll send some guards, as well," she says, nodding pointedly at the Sheriff, "but I imagine you'll both get there first. The rest of us will head over to the Manor, and see if we can put an end to this nonsense."
Kyra nods solemnly, taking in the news. She bites her lip and furrows her brow, trying to decide on the right course of action. "We're planning to ride out to Foxglove Manor this morning," Kyra explains, thinking aloud. "We have reason to believe that many of the problems have originated from there." She shakes her head dismissively, "I am still not sure that I believe in these 'ghouls', but there is clearly something happening." "I don't want the investigation to wait for me - especially if people are being killed." She continues, knowing that her primary responsibility is to protect her people. After biting her lip again, she nods decisively. "Okay. How many guards can we spare for the investigation? I don't want Sandpoint to be unprotected, but whatever is out there has been one step ahead of us, and I want it stopped." She frowns. "I'll speak with the others, as well. At the very least perhaps I can spare someone from the Foxglove mission." "I have no idea how Aldern will take my visit in the first place." Kyra mutters.
I am good with proceeding.
Unless I missed anything, which I might have done, Kyra should be converted.
Haha, I face the same thing as a STR monk. I'll have mine done tonight. I have it written up in a Google Doc and just need to drop it into my profile.
That is a good solution and Kyra would certainly go along with that.
The lawful in me kind of wants to arrest Habe. Partially because of his attitude towards us, but mostly because of the conditions here. He seems to have categorically failed in being any help to any of these people. I don't know. We could leave him here under supervision? I don't feel super strongly one way or the other. Thoughts?
Kyra cracks a crooked smile at Khalbar's simple approach to a problem, agreeing with him despite thinking that it may end up more complicated than that. His confident and no-nonsense demeanour was one of the things that she had missed about him during his months away. She still found herself wondering what had happened in that time. Frowning without realising, she turns to Rhanloi, the look fading as she nods. "Agreed." She wants to say more about her theories, about what they might face at the manor, but she's still working out the pieces in her head, thinking back to everything she experienced in the last days, but in a new light. Noticing the look of confusion on Flibble's face, she sighs. "Let's just say that... we've met the namesake of Foxglove Manor before. He's one unfortunately not easily forgotten." With a look and tone that makes it clear that she is not interested in elaborating, she turns back to Rhanloi. "It would be cleaner," she explains, "if we were to deal with these men here." Before he can interrupt, she continues, "However, it occurs to me that we may have more uses for them." Ordinarily she would consider his moral standing a weakness, but in this case it occurs to her otherwise. His limitation opened up another option that she may not have otherwise thought of. 'Arresting them will only cause delays.' She thinks to herself, looking down at the supposed Necromancer, and finding her status once again exhausting. She crouches down in front of the man. "We need to attend to the source of these ghouls, and I simply do not have time for you. But perhaps we can come to an agreement. You will remain here, and will continue your research. I will send someone from the town proper to assist in aiding the sick as much as possible. You will only conduct experiments on those who cannot be otherwise saved, and only after they have turned. There will be no aiding them in that journey. And I want routine updates on anything that you find. Do we have an agreement?" She casts a sidelong look at Rhanloi, "Does that suit you, as well?"
Oh, sorry, let me get on a post right now.
Am I considered a Fighter for the purposes of your Stamina implementation? I haven't read up on those rules yet, though I am unlikely to have a problem with them.
(I'll have an in character post up tomorrow that should move things ahead, too.)
It looks like I would essentially: - Gain a few HP as my HDs change from 1d8 to 1d10.
It seems as though I would be reasonably crazy to not go ahead with the conversion.
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