"That does not sound reassuring. What sorts of...things...do you speak of?"
Elendyr looks down, somewhat ruefully, at the rapier on his belt. "This probably isn't the best weapon against things like that, is it? Hmmm...how fast are they?"
"The question of whether burning down the church would help I leave to those whose understanding of fire and divine matters is greater than my own..." (Elendyr looks over at Malaswyn as he says this) "...but I do not think such a thing would be a starting move--getting there in the first place may be quite difficult, depending on how many of the villagers are out on the streets and how dangerous they are. As yet, I fear we know too little to act effectively."
"The question of whether burning down the church would help I leave to those whose understanding of fire and divine matters is greater than my own..." (Elendyr looks over at Malaswyn as he says this) "...but I do not think such a thing would be a starting move--getting there in the first place may be quite difficult, depending on how many of the villagers are out on the streets and how dangerous they are. As yet, I fear we know too little to act effectively."
I have been deep in thought, and respond with a slight start to Elendyr's glance: "My experience is that any building can host worship but important or long-held temples tend to be made sacred through rituals and special prayer. I am not sure if destroying the physical location will undo the divine presence."
I turn to Thelman: "Are the children near? I may be able to heal them."
[ooc]ulgulanoth, I hope you're doing better now. After Christmas sounds good to me, as well. Enjoy the holidays, all!
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Malaswyn
Thelman responds “They are hidden, just beyond that little closet”
"Thelman, I'm not sure if you can answer this, but...in the actions of the villagers and the nightwalkers, do you...how do I put this? Do you sense a mind behind them? Do they seem to act according to a plan?"
Elendyr mulls Thelman's answer over for a moment. "All right. I have the beginning of a plan, but let me say first that I don't like it. If the curse on the villagers is, indeed, unbreakable short of death, then death we give them. We have this place, which they cannot enter; we have a priest and a paladin to heal us. We go out by day and kill all the villagers we can, retreating back here when we need to. We rest here, then do it again the next day, and the day after that, until all the villagers have been put to rest. Then we take Mordecai's advice and burn out the temple. Cleanse this place with fire."
Elendyr looks a bit ill at what he's just said, but continues. "On the other hand, we don't know for sure that the curse can't be broken, and I expect that Gharkka and Malaswyn would not be willing to engage in wholesale slaughter until they are certain there is no other way to proceed. I suggest, then, that we find an isolated villager and have Miriel, Mordecai, and Malaswyn examine him or her to determine the nature of the curse. Is this acceptable?"
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To me, far more acceptable! The thought of striking down the victims here causes my stomache to churn. Shall we look for a villager immediately, or does anyone have a different plan? Mordecai shifts his weight from one foot to the other, fighting an instinct for resolution with a disgust at the thought of causing further harm.
Miriel shakes her head as she listens to Elendyr. "You would have us waste time examining the dead? While there may still be other people around who can be saved? Not to say that I mind particularly, but if our goal is to save the villagers of this... rotting town, then perhaps it would be best to clear as much of the surrounding streets as possible, to create a haven for ourselves? I do not trust the magic of this place to hold for very long, especially if we fall under attack."
Miriel distinctly does not look towards the smaller people and Thelman while she talks with Elendyr, her hands pulling her robes tighter around her body.
I address Miriel, slightly shocked: "The dead are patient and can wait."
I look about the room, "It will suit our purpose better to find a cure, even if we find none it is better to understand the foe."
I cast my eyes toward the sky and sun: "Sarenrae's light shines that we may see clearly."
I make a small sign of Sarenrae with my hands and whisper to myself: "By Her holy light."
"Rope is all I have, as well. Unless any of us have some means of magically subduing a villager, it will have to do.
"Malaswyn, I've heard that priests such as yourself are capable of calling upon your deity to inflict damage on the unquiet dead. That could be another test to perform on a villager--does she respond as an undead, or is he not susceptible to such an attack?"
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"Rope is all I have, as well. Unless any of us have some means of magically subduing a villager, it will have to do.
"Malaswyn, I've heard that priests such as yourself are capable of calling upon your deity to inflict damage on the unquiet dead. That could be another test to perform on a villager--does she respond as an undead, or is he not susceptible to such an attack?"
"Our Lady of Flames does grant me that power. I may also pray to receive a spell which will detect the taint of undeath without doing any harm."
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We have aplace to shelter. Thelman, have you searched other buildings for more survivors? Also, do the villager things try to enter buildings? We should discover what we can while the day remains and then hunker down for the night. In the morning you can see if one of these unfortunates is undead, right Malaswyn?
"Then let us rest here until tomorrow morning. Malaswyn can heal those people who need it. After I rest a bit, I would like to speak with everyone you've managed to save, Thelman. I don't have any questions yet, but any piece of information may be important."
"Good point, Mordecai. We'll use the same watch schedule as last night."