Samir's eyes flicker to Vilus, holding for but a second, but they are hard eyes reminiscent of how he once looked at Vilus when they first met and clashed over the goliath's methods. Regardless, he keeps the amulet near Marigold's transformed figure to monitor the colors.
Vilus feels the eyes on him but doesn't look to meet them. Instead communicating into Samir mind, as the Goliath refuses to lower his daggers or his guard.
Samir:
"Everything that these cultist have done has been subterfuge and trickery of the worst kind, I will not forgive over a few petty tears, do not try to stop me if I do what needs to be done."
Malachi purses his lips thoughtfully and does his best to dampen the rising tensions he feels in the room. “How strange, she appears to be made up of two minds - one, the cultist escaping her homeland across the sea, and one still Marigold. Perhaps the magic of the Blue Lady and the seed restored Marigold to the pieces growing back. She is trapped between two realities.”
He leans in closer and takes up Ashley’s line of questioning, asking Marigold. “Well, that explains why they want to take over Cambria, but as Ashley asked, what did the plan change to? If Talmouth is safe, where is Razmus going next?”
Joren's throat is tight as the partially transformed Marigold's words spiral forth... Dark continent where the sun never rises ... no day and night ... horizon sky like a ring of fire lining the smoky blackness above ... earth is naught but black dust... no plants grow there....
Is this whatRazmus wishes to do to our continent? Even the fertile vales of my homeland... the Dalmodh Plains, for which I have spilled blood, would not be spared. Perhaps that is what Razmus' yellow Apogee is. It is a lack, ever seeking new worlds of vibrant life and magic to despoil and hollow out.
Reflexively, he corrects (at least per the beliefs that he is beginning to form) Malachi's assertion that the seed-induced transformation is of the Blue Lady.
"Not the Blue Lady, Mal. Shep's talisman is not lying. The seed is of the Red Huntsman. The third point in the triangle. You spellcasters' magic is flowing into the world, like the Blue Lady. Samir and I, and this seed, draw from it, signifying the Red Ebb. Yellow Apogee being the lack. Razmus."
"That said, I am agreeing with you Mal, that Marigold is seeming stuck between what she was and what Razmus turned her into. Perhaps there is enough of Razmus left in her to be taking her to the Hydaelym to locate other cultists as spots of yellow. Yet how are we to be transporting her in this state without causing a public scene? Especially if assassins and saboteurs are seeking us out as Vilus fears?"
"I... I shouldn't betray our secrets to you. I think. It's all so confused," she says, right side of her face wrinkling where she creases her brow.
Malachi:
Razmus will be desperate. Not provisioned for a return trip. The fleet will have to make landfall somewhere but can no longer make use of Cambria's smoking wreckage as a discreet staging ground.
"Well, we did save your life." Ashley retorts with a huff. Turning towards the others, "Should we put her in the cart and cover her with a blanket to get her down there? Time is probably running short?"
Malachi responds to Marigold with a smile “It’s okay, we are all friends here.” He turns to the others, whispering “I’m not sure there are enough cultists left in town to make it worth the trip, but I guess we could try. More importantly, the thoughts coming from the side still influenced by Razmus confirms that there is still a threat. The fleet is not turning back, they do not have enough supplies. They are going to make landfall somewhere, but we don’t know where.”
At Ashley's questions, Vilus wastes no time for an answer and starts cutting the roots extending further behind Marigold, freeing her to be moved to the cart. "Come on then."
He attempts to lift her out of the life boat that the group had transported here here in, but if that doesn't work, he grabs one end of it nodding at joten to grab the other and then shifts into the visage of a random half orc.
Marion sees the plan and gets to work too. "You get her upstairs, and I'll go retrieve the cart. Just give me a moment to change into something less recognizable first."
Marion goes upstairs to the attic where some of her things had been stored, and comes back down a minute later, dressed for the first time anyone here has seen in casual day clothes. Previously she and her holy vestments and armour had been so inseparable that her new silhouette warrants a double take. "I'll be right back."
Half an hour later, the wagon is positioned in front of the door to the shop, and with some effort Joren and Vilus are able to hoist the cocoon up into the back and cover it. "What is happening? Where are you taking me?" Marigold asks with rising panic.
"you keep quiet. If you scream I'll cut out your tongue... With this magic shit you've got going on, no doubt it'll grow back, but it'll be agony the entire time" Vilus scolds at Marigold, growing more unsure of this plan by the minute.
Samir's hand slaps audibly against the wood of the cart, his eyes boring into Vilus' disguised form. His words are pitched low but the anger inherent in them is unmistakable. "Enough! We do not threaten and mutilate and all of the other terrible things going through that brain of yours! If you want to act like one of these reprehensible terrorist cultists, then you should probably go join them!"
As Joren's helps Vilus move Marigold into the cart, he pauses as Samir dresses down the disguised goliath.
Joren thinks back to how Jon Shep had died. Slain by Vilus in the tunnels under Opportunity's Knock. The soldier's voice is quieter than the artificer's.
"Vilus. Being right, you know, Samir is. If no rules are applying to us in how we are treating captives, then I am seeing a slow descent into how Razmus' 'converts' treat their own captives. What is more, I am not thinking there is a need. Razmus, the apogee, is fading in her. Being replaced with... not the Blue Lady nor your Watcher. With something else, as I have been saying. This arboreal growth representing the Red Huntsman's Ebb."
He looks down at the arboreally encased Marigold. His voice remains gentle.
"You should be forgetting the dark land of ash, Marigold. Not 'the one called Marigold'. Just Marigold of Talmouth. Remembering that. Owing to the one whose bonds you are gradually escaping, none of us are safe. We are taking you where we are hoping to determine remaining threats. A place I think 'the one called Marigold' was knowing well. Yet no longer are you being the same as she, remember. I will not be allowing my friend to hurt you."
Vilus meets Samir's gaze, and seems to listen but is not happy at all. Scowling right back he says nothing, instead mentally growling in Samir's mind "Remember what they would do to you given half the chance, what I endured when I was their captor. What I threaten is to safeguard us, we cannot afford to have attention brought to us by a screaming tyrant whilst we move her. Have your rules and morals, but do not chastise me for being able to do what you cannot. Because you will need it in time."
Jorens words break Vilus' scowl away from Samir as the soldier attempts to calm the situation. This time Vilus answers out loud "You make pleas to the face of the person she wears, I hope it does some good, but I am not convinced, we should move quickly just in case"
Ashley is a bit taken aback when the fireworks start between Vilus and Samir, as she had been solely focused on the part woman, part tree in front of her. Looking up at Vilus, "I'm not sure what you think she could do at this state? But don't worry, I'll protect you." And she winks at him, hoping to diffuse the situation a bit.
As they move out of the shop, she stands with Vilus, hoping he doesn't feel alone as she fears he does.
Vilus gives Ashley a nod and a smile, but it fades quickly as worry takes him. He instead sets himself hard at the task at hand, helping secure the woman to the cart before the group depart.
Joren's calm tone seems to settle Marigold down some as she is secured and covered. "Marigold..."she says. "The councilor."Then the group sets off.
Winding through the narrow streets with crooked windows looming high above to look down on them, they make their way towards the sewers. There are more people out of their homes today, and some even look up and smile in recognition of the people who stopped both the crisis at the arena and the fire at the docks.
(Everyone give me a perception check or your passive if it is higher than your roll)
As the group makes their way along, Samir, Malachi, and Vilus all notice they are being shadowed. A beggar they'd passed in the street a ways from the shop is now following them and trying to be discreet about it.
Still stewing, Samir finds himself focusing anywhere but at those he is traveling with. He finds himself studying the people around them, the streets and doorways. When he first saw the beggar, it was of little consequence. Just another face along the way, neither remarkable nor anyhow different than so many others.
The second time, however, was enough to catch his attention. He couldn't help but to double take. He was no spy, or street thief to instinctively know how to act upon discovering that he was being followed. He could only do his best to act like he hadn't noticed and turn his attention to the path ahead.
With a flick of his eyes to Malachi, Samir whispers so low that only he can hear it. A curl of magic carries his words to Mal's ears, however. "Mal, I fear we are being followed. A beggar. He is trying not to be seen. What should we do?"
Vilus spots the beggar, not only that but recognises him, and with Samir's words of warning still ringing in his ears Vilus ignores it, knowing this will likely end with blood but not wanting to seem eager for it, he restrains himself for the time being and simply communicates telepathically with joten instead. "We are being followed, Delirium. When we get closer to the sewer entrance, divert to a different path, an alley, anything and we will face our pursuer, we can't lead them to the hydaelym."
Samir's eyes flicker to Vilus, holding for but a second, but they are hard eyes reminiscent of how he once looked at Vilus when they first met and clashed over the goliath's methods. Regardless, he keeps the amulet near Marigold's transformed figure to monitor the colors.
Vilus feels the eyes on him but doesn't look to meet them. Instead communicating into Samir mind, as the Goliath refuses to lower his daggers or his guard.
Samir:
"Everything that these cultist have done has been subterfuge and trickery of the worst kind, I will not forgive over a few petty tears, do not try to stop me if I do what needs to be done."
Malachi purses his lips thoughtfully and does his best to dampen the rising tensions he feels in the room. “How strange, she appears to be made up of two minds - one, the cultist escaping her homeland across the sea, and one still Marigold. Perhaps the magic of the Blue Lady and the seed restored Marigold to the pieces growing back. She is trapped between two realities.”
He leans in closer and takes up Ashley’s line of questioning, asking Marigold. “Well, that explains why they want to take over Cambria, but as Ashley asked, what did the plan change to? If Talmouth is safe, where is Razmus going next?”
Joren's throat is tight as the partially transformed Marigold's words spiral forth... Dark continent where the sun never rises ... no day and night ... horizon sky like a ring of fire lining the smoky blackness above ... earth is naught but black dust... no plants grow there....
Is this what Razmus wishes to do to our continent? Even the fertile vales of my homeland... the Dalmodh Plains, for which I have spilled blood, would not be spared. Perhaps that is what Razmus' yellow Apogee is. It is a lack, ever seeking new worlds of vibrant life and magic to despoil and hollow out.
Reflexively, he corrects (at least per the beliefs that he is beginning to form) Malachi's assertion that the seed-induced transformation is of the Blue Lady.
"Not the Blue Lady, Mal. Shep's talisman is not lying. The seed is of the Red Huntsman. The third point in the triangle. You spellcasters' magic is flowing into the world, like the Blue Lady. Samir and I, and this seed, draw from it, signifying the Red Ebb. Yellow Apogee being the lack. Razmus."
"That said, I am agreeing with you Mal, that Marigold is seeming stuck between what she was and what Razmus turned her into. Perhaps there is enough of Razmus left in her to be taking her to the Hydaelym to locate other cultists as spots of yellow. Yet how are we to be transporting her in this state without causing a public scene? Especially if assassins and saboteurs are seeking us out as Vilus fears?"
Sabetha(Monk2):DungeonMair's Rime/Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall/Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles/Barn(Paladin1):Nyx's ToA
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil/Soren(Druid4):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft/Nivi(Rogue3):Raiketsu's CoS/Lyra(Warlock2/Bard3):BlameItOnWinter's Will of the Ancients
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request/Quyen(Adept1):Constance's Nentir Vale/Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return
"I... I shouldn't betray our secrets to you. I think. It's all so confused," she says, right side of her face wrinkling where she creases her brow.
Malachi:
Razmus will be desperate. Not provisioned for a return trip. The fleet will have to make landfall somewhere but can no longer make use of Cambria's smoking wreckage as a discreet staging ground.
"Well, we did save your life." Ashley retorts with a huff. Turning towards the others, "Should we put her in the cart and cover her with a blanket to get her down there? Time is probably running short?"
Malachi responds to Marigold with a smile “It’s okay, we are all friends here.” He turns to the others, whispering “I’m not sure there are enough cultists left in town to make it worth the trip, but I guess we could try. More importantly, the thoughts coming from the side still influenced by Razmus confirms that there is still a threat. The fleet is not turning back, they do not have enough supplies. They are going to make landfall somewhere, but we don’t know where.”
At Ashley's questions, Vilus wastes no time for an answer and starts cutting the roots extending further behind Marigold, freeing her to be moved to the cart. "Come on then."
He attempts to lift her out of the life boat that the group had transported here here in, but if that doesn't work, he grabs one end of it nodding at joten to grab the other and then shifts into the visage of a random half orc.
Marion sees the plan and gets to work too. "You get her upstairs, and I'll go retrieve the cart. Just give me a moment to change into something less recognizable first."
Marion goes upstairs to the attic where some of her things had been stored, and comes back down a minute later, dressed for the first time anyone here has seen in casual day clothes. Previously she and her holy vestments and armour had been so inseparable that her new silhouette warrants a double take. "I'll be right back."
Half an hour later, the wagon is positioned in front of the door to the shop, and with some effort Joren and Vilus are able to hoist the cocoon up into the back and cover it. "What is happening? Where are you taking me?" Marigold asks with rising panic.
"you keep quiet. If you scream I'll cut out your tongue... With this magic shit you've got going on, no doubt it'll grow back, but it'll be agony the entire time" Vilus scolds at Marigold, growing more unsure of this plan by the minute.
Samir's hand slaps audibly against the wood of the cart, his eyes boring into Vilus' disguised form. His words are pitched low but the anger inherent in them is unmistakable. "Enough! We do not threaten and mutilate and all of the other terrible things going through that brain of yours! If you want to act like one of these reprehensible terrorist cultists, then you should probably go join them!"
As Joren's helps Vilus move Marigold into the cart, he pauses as Samir dresses down the disguised goliath.
Joren thinks back to how Jon Shep had died. Slain by Vilus in the tunnels under Opportunity's Knock. The soldier's voice is quieter than the artificer's.
"Vilus. Being right, you know, Samir is. If no rules are applying to us in how we are treating captives, then I am seeing a slow descent into how Razmus' 'converts' treat their own captives. What is more, I am not thinking there is a need. Razmus, the apogee, is fading in her. Being replaced with... not the Blue Lady nor your Watcher. With something else, as I have been saying. This arboreal growth representing the Red Huntsman's Ebb."
He looks down at the arboreally encased Marigold. His voice remains gentle.
"You should be forgetting the dark land of ash, Marigold. Not 'the one called Marigold'. Just Marigold of Talmouth. Remembering that. Owing to the one whose bonds you are gradually escaping, none of us are safe. We are taking you where we are hoping to determine remaining threats. A place I think 'the one called Marigold' was knowing well. Yet no longer are you being the same as she, remember. I will not be allowing my friend to hurt you."
Joren's Persuasion: 14
Sabetha(Monk2):DungeonMair's Rime/Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall/Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles/Barn(Paladin1):Nyx's ToA
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil/Soren(Druid4):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft/Nivi(Rogue3):Raiketsu's CoS/Lyra(Warlock2/Bard3):BlameItOnWinter's Will of the Ancients
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request/Quyen(Adept1):Constance's Nentir Vale/Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return
Vilus meets Samir's gaze, and seems to listen but is not happy at all. Scowling right back he says nothing, instead mentally growling in Samir's mind "Remember what they would do to you given half the chance, what I endured when I was their captor. What I threaten is to safeguard us, we cannot afford to have attention brought to us by a screaming tyrant whilst we move her. Have your rules and morals, but do not chastise me for being able to do what you cannot. Because you will need it in time."
Jorens words break Vilus' scowl away from Samir as the soldier attempts to calm the situation. This time Vilus answers out loud "You make pleas to the face of the person she wears, I hope it does some good, but I am not convinced, we should move quickly just in case"
Ashley is a bit taken aback when the fireworks start between Vilus and Samir, as she had been solely focused on the part woman, part tree in front of her. Looking up at Vilus, "I'm not sure what you think she could do at this state? But don't worry, I'll protect you." And she winks at him, hoping to diffuse the situation a bit.
As they move out of the shop, she stands with Vilus, hoping he doesn't feel alone as she fears he does.
Vilus gives Ashley a nod and a smile, but it fades quickly as worry takes him. He instead sets himself hard at the task at hand, helping secure the woman to the cart before the group depart.
Joren's calm tone seems to settle Marigold down some as she is secured and covered. "Marigold..." she says. "The councilor." Then the group sets off.
Winding through the narrow streets with crooked windows looming high above to look down on them, they make their way towards the sewers. There are more people out of their homes today, and some even look up and smile in recognition of the people who stopped both the crisis at the arena and the fire at the docks.
(Everyone give me a perception check or your passive if it is higher than your roll)
As the group makes their way along, Samir, Malachi, and Vilus all notice they are being shadowed. A beggar they'd passed in the street a ways from the shop is now following them and trying to be discreet about it.
Still stewing, Samir finds himself focusing anywhere but at those he is traveling with. He finds himself studying the people around them, the streets and doorways. When he first saw the beggar, it was of little consequence. Just another face along the way, neither remarkable nor anyhow different than so many others.
The second time, however, was enough to catch his attention. He couldn't help but to double take. He was no spy, or street thief to instinctively know how to act upon discovering that he was being followed. He could only do his best to act like he hadn't noticed and turn his attention to the path ahead.
With a flick of his eyes to Malachi, Samir whispers so low that only he can hear it. A curl of magic carries his words to Mal's ears, however. "Mal, I fear we are being followed. A beggar. He is trying not to be seen. What should we do?"
Vilus spots the beggar, not only that but recognises him, and with Samir's words of warning still ringing in his ears Vilus ignores it, knowing this will likely end with blood but not wanting to seem eager for it, he restrains himself for the time being and simply communicates telepathically with joten instead. "We are being followed, Delirium. When we get closer to the sewer entrance, divert to a different path, an alley, anything and we will face our pursuer, we can't lead them to the hydaelym."
Ashley trots along unawares.