Golloriel Eglen's page

Golloriel shoots Andakos a "I can't believe that worked" look as they travel toward whatever fresh hell Old Korvosa has cooked up for them now. She isn't completely confident that this was the right move; although she had no interest in wiping the floor with these poor mooks, now they may be walking into a situation where they are truly outnumbered. In truth, she just reacted and the natural charm that Sarenrae has blessed her with took over.

Still, she doesn't say anything else. More talking means more risk of saying something she shouldn't. She walks in silence, scimitar still drawn but carried casually at her side.

Golloriel doesn't raise her scimitar. "Of course we intend to pay our respects to the Emperor! That is why we are here. If there is a local custom that we have failed to abide by, we can only plead ignorance and beg forgiveness. Would you be so kind as to escort us to him?"

diplo: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

Golloriel grins. "You know I'm always ready. Let's do it."

survival: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

BOOM never mind.

Golloriel has no tracking experience, but she finds it odd that the investigator can't see what's staring him in the face. "Andakos. He was kidnapped. Or someone was kidnapped. Whoever was in this bed was knocked out and dragged away."

Andakos clearly doesn't trust this woman, which makes Golloriel feel a little bit better about the 'working with a Kuthonite' thing. As Andakos approaches the house, she follows, close enough to react to anything that Laori might try to pull but far enough away to actually have a chance to see a sneak attack coming.

Honestly, unless this woman has an army of sadomasochists hidden in the house, she doesn't think they have too much to worry about. Still, she indicates to Nyx and Lune that they should follow her and stay close. A little caution never hurt anyone.

Golloriel waves a dismissive hand. "Later, Andakos." She smiles hesitantly at the newcomer, trying very hard not to stare at The Midnight Lord's holy symbol. "Hello. Thank you for the assist. My name is Golloriel, and this is Andakos, Vexelune, and Nyx. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

diplo: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (12) + 17 = 29

Golloriel hesitates for the briefest of moments, but she trusts Andakos's instincts, so she lowers her scimitar and follows his lead. "Yes! We are here looking for a friend, but you must be very hungry to attack us. Let us help you. Please?"

diplo: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27

Golloriel shouts, "Sarenrae protects me from their disease! Stay behind me!" Then steps up to #3 and swings her scimitar a couple times.

scim: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
damage: 1d6 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 4 = 14 cold iron, magical, slashing, +4 painful stare

scim: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
damage: 1d6 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 4 = 9 cold iron, magical, slashing, +4 painful stare

Golloriel has absolutely no desire to go any closer to that sinkhole. She moves to get between the creatures and Vexelune, raises her shield, and waits.

Readied action: if any get in range, she'll take a swing. This is a terrible time for Andakos to not go first because no one else has dungeoneering!

readied scim: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 cold iron, magical, slashing

confirm: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

All buffs still active.

Golloriel smiles. "Yes, indeed we are. Please, come out of the bushes and come in." Once he has come inside, she continues. "How did you know Vencarlo?"

Was the assassin still alive?

Golloriel goes to the window. "Hello? You can come out. You needn't fear anything from us, unless you have ill intentions."

diplo: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

Was the assassin still alive?

Golloriel nods her agreement. If Vencarlo is Blackjack and word got to the Queen, he would be immediately killed. Or...

"Do you think Ileosa sent these assassins?"

Golloriel can't believe they made it through that. And without getting so much as singed! Well, Nyx caught on fire, but they clearly have some way of avoiding burns. In any case, she figured they'd defeat the assassins, but that the house would burn down around them as they did so.

While Andakos does his investigator thing, she checks the assassin.

heal: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

If they are still alive, she casts stabilize on them as a precaution, then lets Andakos know they should probably bind them.

Golloriel groans as the fire spreads faster than she can put it out. Is there a breeze in here or something?

Stop me if you've heard this one... create water

Golloriel steps away from the assassin and puts out the fire by the wall. She notices that Nyx is on fire and gasps. "Are you okay, Nyx?"

Golloriel isn't sure if Andakos's vials will be enough, but she is at a loss for what else to do. She is a little concerned about the assassin, but her priority has to be the fire. She steps forward and casts create water again.

Golloriel runs the rest of the way up the stairs and puts out the flames directly in front of her. (Indicated on the map in blue.) Then she calls out, "Andakos! We need ideas!"

Golloriel thinks another casting of create water will take care of the fire down here. She does so.

If the fire goes out, she'll head upstairs. If not, she'll stick around. She can move 25'.

Ooh, fire animation!

Golloriel moves closer to the fire and drops a bunch of water on it.

Create water creates 6 gallons of water at her CL. I have no idea how much that will help.

Satisfied that they are leaving no surprises behind them, Golloriel leads the party into the next room, trying to narrow down what is emitting the aura that she detects.

Golloriel leads everyone down the hallway and stops by the pair of doors.

Golloriel steps to the first door, holding her concentration on the first floor aura. (Is it behind this door, or the other one? I'm not going to leave a closed door behind us so we're going through this door regardless, but I'm still curious.)

Golloriel holds up two fingers. "We're not alone. Two auras. Back of the house, and upstairs. Be ready."

She pushes the door open and, if Andakos indicates all is well, enters with her shield raised and scimitar at the ready.

Golloriel's eyes go wide at Andakos's transformation, and then she catches herself staring for maybe just a bit too long. She shakes herself out of it and clears her throat awkwardly. "I, um. I can help protect you all as well. Mine is less, well, invasive." She reaches out and links her essence to those of her companions. "Nyx, Lune, if you are injured, I can take some of the pain from you. Don't worry about me; Sarenrae has made me hearty, and I can sever the link between us if things get bad." She can't help but shudder a little, remembering the sheer violence of Andakos's death that she felt through their link. She tries to mask it by pulling her shield from her back and strapping it to her arm. She waves a hand over the shield and a burst of white energy flows over it. She motions to the others to move toward the door. "Stay close to me. Andakos, see anything?"

While he is looking, she sends out her senses into the home. (detect evil)

Vindicator's Sacred Shield gives her a +2 sacred AC bonus. It lasts 24 hours or until she is hit in combat. It's a standard action to reapply it.

Golloriel nods. "Works for me."

Golloriel grabs Andakos's arm. "No, that's not it. It's just very generous, is all."

Once outside, Golloriel gives Andakos a look. "Did you just give him 25 gold?"

Golloriel takes some tea with one hand and squeezes Olmere's hand with her other. "Did you lose someone in the Troubles, Olmere? I am so sorry. I recently lost someone too." She blinks away the unbidden tears. "Thank you for the information on Salvator; that's going to be very helpful. Any sign of our other friend, the woman?"

Golloriel gives Andakos a side-eye, but she thinks she sees what he's going for here. She creeps up to the window. "Sir! Is your name Olmere? We would treat with you if you have a few minutes to share what you've seen of the heathen"--she puts extra emphasis on the word that he himself used--"and her maidens. We can make it worth your while." She pulls out a couple of gold pieces and holds them up to the flickering light of a nearby lantern.

diplo: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

Boo-yah! I have no idea if this is a good idea or not but I thought it'd be fun!

survival: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

LOL gonna have to use a harrow point already to roll a knowledge check untrained with the +5 bonus. It's either that or roll stealth with a -4.

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Golloriel isn't really a "stakeout" kind of gal, but she doesn't think she made anything worse.

Golloriel nods. "Sounds like a good investment. I'd much rather sleep here if it takes us longer than a day to track them down."

Golloriel snorts a laugh, then holds up a hand to rescue Andakos. "A child of Urgathoa is a cruel and powerful undead, chosen by the goddess herself. She led the cult that spread the blood veil, which was a terrible plague that killed a lot of people in Korvosa. We stopped her, but we lost Andakos in the attempt." She pauses, as if suddenly realizing the insane things that she and Andakos have been through, then looks at Vexelune. "Are you sure you want to join us? Andaisin was just the beginning. Ileosa will throw everything she has at us."

Golloriel should've known that her father would come up. If Zellara notes his absence, she doesn't mention it, nor does she seem to make the connection that the Liar and the Hidden Truth refer to him. Her jaw clenches and she can feel her teeth grinding; it takes a conscious effort to relax her face and silence the furious screaming in her head so that she can hear the rest of the reading.

The Queen's reign of terror and her father's inability (or unwillingness) to change: again, predictable. She isn't loving being so angry with her father, but it does make it easier for her to accept that he will never change.

Like Andakos, Lori isn't sure how much stock she puts in anything that claims to be prophetic or foreshadowy; everyone knows the story of Aroden and what his death represents. However, she has learned that Zellara is wise, and that the cards don't matter as much as her interpretation of them. She won't forget this, and she nods her thanks to Zellara when the reading is done.

Golloriel reaches over and squeezes Andakos's hand.

Golloriel takes the ring and holds it close to examine it, mouth agape. "Nyx. Nyx, this is beautiful." She looks at the sorceress with admiration, then pulls them into a hug. "I don't know what to say. Thank you." She pulls away and puts the ring on the ring finger of her right hand. She feels the familiar--but much stronger--protective magic radiate across her body and lets out an involuntary sigh.

Finally.

Golloriel downs the rest of her water, grabs a biscuit for the road, and gets up from the table. "Andakos. Meet me outside in ten." Then she hurries to her room to gather her gear.

Golloriel chuckles. "I bet you would. I'll find rooms for you and your family and we will talk to Mother Fatia tomorrow about how we can do some proxy shopping."

She smiles at the trio, then heads off to secure sleeping arrangements for the Videns.

Golloriel doesn't hesitate, but she does ball her hands into fists, perhaps afraid she might spontaneously start bleeding again. "Yes. We have to stop her."

Golloriel pulls Andakos to standing and pulls him into a hug, tears flowing freely. "I am so sorry, Andakos. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. And I am sorry about your mother. You're right; it's all too much. I don't know what to do."

Golloriel mumbles, "Thank you, Captain," as Talia leaves. It occurs to her immediately afterwards that she should have stood and saluted, but the Captain doesn't seem too hung up on ceremony right now.

She sits for several minutes, staring at her hands. Stigmata? This is insanity. Will she be as unhinged and uncontrolled as she was in the training pit every time this happens? She can't do that! She will hurt the friends she is supposed to be protecting, not to mention she passed out once it had passed.

Sarenrae has some explaining to do.

Her face flushes again, mortified that a thought such as that could have entered her mind. She immediately grasps her holy symbol and beseeches the Dawnflower for forgiveness, understanding, and a bit of healing, if it's not too much to ask. She lets out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding when the wounds on her palms close up, leaving no evidence of the event (besides the bloodstains and gritty sand, that is).

Her mind is still racing, but Talia was right about at least one thing: her friends need her to get her s*!$ together and be there for them right now. She isn't very good at squashing emotions, but she will make an effort.

She stands and heads back to the infirmary. Once there, she is ashamed to see that Sister Rihanith completed the work on Andakos that Golloriel had left unfinished. She bows slightly. "Thank you, Sister Rihanith." Then, to Andakos and the others: "I apologize for leaving in such a hurry. My father has disappeared and my emotions are running high. Forgive me."

Golloriel listens to the Captain, her disbelief growing as Talia describes just what a Holy Vindicator is capable of.

Why? Why has Sarenrae chosen her for such a role? She has always thought of herself first and foremost as a healer. She gets by in combat, but she is far from the fighter most of her paladin peers in the temple are. And bleeding to gain power? That sounds an awful lot like blood magic, something a Kuthonite might dabble in, but surely not a Sarenite!

She stares at her hands and finally works up the courage to speak. "Are you... are you sure? Maybe I just cut them during my... tantrum?" She studies the wounds and, though they are a bit ragged, she knows that they are still too uniform to have been accidental. She shakes her head, then looks the Captain in the eyes. "Why bleeding?"

Golloriel averts her eyes from the Captain's authoritative glare. She feels her face flush again, and then flush harder from the embarrassment of being ashamed. Without a word, she holds her hands up, palm out, to show the Captain.

Golloriel sits up, takes in the state of the room around her, and immediately feels a flush across her cheeks. This time, though, it is not from rage, but shame. "Oh. Oh, Brother Ephraim, forgive me."

It is then that she notices the burning pain across her palms. She holds her hands up to look; they are no longer bleeding, but the wounds are still raw, bloodstained, and now filled with gritty sand. "Flames preserve me... Brother, what is this?" She shows Ephraim her palms, a frantic look on her face.

Golloriel is (perhaps blissfully) unaware of what's happening in the infirmary. As she gets closer to her room, she finds herself walking with ever-growing purpose. She barely notices the surprised and concerned looks on the faces of everyone she passes. She reaches her room, grabs her scimitar from its sheath, and carries it naked (the sword, not Lori) down to the basement.

Once there, she absolutely wails on a training dummy. There is no finesse, no training, no care in her swings; she feels only fury, and it flows through her into the blade. When the dummy refuses to go down, she takes the blade in two hands and bludgeons it with overhead swings. This proves sufficient, and wood shavings and stuffing go flying. When she has destroyed the first dummy to her satisfaction, she moves to the next. She doesn't even realize that she is screaming.

She also doesn't realize that ragged cuts have opened on both of her palms and blood flows freely, onto the hilt of her sword, down her forearms, and onto the ground, where the sand of the fighting pit greedily drinks it up.

Lori shrugs. Now that she has realized that she is angry and not sad about her father, she doesn't really trust herself to speak. She has never understood the phrase "blood is boiling" until this moment. Her entire body feels hot, especially her face.

She looks down at Andakos. He's going to live. She risks a few words: "I need a minute."

She steps out of the infirmary, intending to take a walk. She knows now that she can't go outside, so she heads to her room to grab her scimitar, intending to go to the basement and take out her anger and frustration on some training dummies.

There is it... the question she was dreading. "He-- my father is gone. I don't know where." She recounts the details of Cal's disappearance. "I don't"--her voice catches in her throat--"I don't think we should expect him to join us, whatever we do. He didn't tell me where he was going or when or if he would be back."

And then something she didn't expect happens: she gets angry. Until now, she has been mourning her father's disappearance. But, whatever happened, she somehow knows that he went willingly. And, yes, he didn't bother telling her anything. She has known for most of her life that he is selfish and self-serving, but she also believed that he loved her. That he cared. But they are in crisis and he just f**!ing LEFT!

When Andakos grunts, she realizes that she is inadvertently squeezing his arm a bit too tightly. "Sorry. He isn't coming. We're on our own."

Golloriel can't hide the shock on her face as Thaddeus speaks. After all they've seen, she would be a fool to not suspect the Queen of some wrongdoing, but the reality is much worse than she'd dared guess. And, if that wasn't bad enough, now they have a powerful daemon after them? She remembers how Graekimus shrugged off Andakos's spear to the heart like it was nothing. How can they stand up to that and the entire government of Korvosa?

...especially without her father?

Once Thaddeus finishes speaking, she works on Andakos's wounds in silence for quite a while, her mind racing with shock and despair. Finally she musters the will to speak, and she is ashamed when her voice comes out barely above a squeak: "Andakos, I am so sorry about your mother. What are we going to do?"

Andakos! Golloriel feels a surge of emotion at seeing him alive and (literally) in one piece. But he was just brought back! How is he already hurt again?!

She is tempted to run out of her room right now, but if Rihanith is looking after him, he is in good hands. She has time to finish putting on her pants.

Once she is decent, she rushes to the infirmary as quickly as she can while still maintaining some decorum. When she arrives, she quickly takes in the scene. Andakos's bright red skin is hard to miss, but then she notices the other man: that's Thaddeus, Andakos's father! And Lyse is here--though seemingly unhurt, thank the gods. What in the world happened?

Seeing that both men are still quite hurt, she almost instinctively grasps the holy symbol she wears around her neck (for when she isn't wearing her breastplate) and pops off a few channels. (I'll do the rolls if you need them.) Then she attends to whichever man Rihanith isn't working with and checks him over.

heal: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

While she works, she talks over her shoulder. "Lyse! What happened?!"