Faila finds it difficult to tear her wide-eyed gaze away from the writhing tentacles. Asha's plaintive cries tear at her heart. All of this is so wrong. It's not how it was meant to be. But, like nature always does, all of these things will fight to survive and grow. She grits her teeth as she feels her fingernails tingling, trying to grow, themselves, and scurries back to stand a little closer to Meresaa, who seems so confident and knowledgeable, and Nikita, who is always quick and sure with a solution. The urchin girl shivers. She can't quite forget how trapped she feels down here by fire and water.
Nikita, despite having guessed about Asha Hawkes' ghost earlier, is stunned to hear to missing woman speak again.
She reluctantly nods at Meresaa's suggestion, understanding the haste to get to Esther. Gently waving her fingers like flowing water and suddenly stopping them cold, she casts Shape Water as she had with the Sagacitas larvae, but twice this time. Freezing two thick 5' square chunks of ice out of the water in the pattern of a bridge or at least stepping stones that can serve as jumping points. Not including the tentacled creature(s) within any of the frozen area and trying to attach each ice platform to one of the 'edges'. One to the near edge and the other to the far edge near Esther's cell. So that they will remain stationary if any in the party use them to cross, jumping from one to the other if necessary.
"I can hold no more than two such ice chunks at a time. They should last roughly an hour. I wonder if perhaps this strange alien creature and all the others just need to be restored to their home plane. Just as Asha does. Easier said than done, though. Won't help us if it becomes aggressive."
She studies her work with the ice for a moment, judging whether it looks possible to cross (or jump) using the frozen platforms.
Ermasnietsz remains seated on the ground cross-legged, gingerly examining the condition of her crossbow and counting the numbers of remaining bolts. She's become reserved and silent for a while as if trying to contemplate a matter of grave significance. When everyone is busy with the brainstorming session, she suddenly feels the need to contribute. "We're risking our lives for a single child, it's unfair and nonsensical. Just look at these worms with tentacles, I don't remember seeing such kind of aberrant creatures. Would you risk your life even if you are certain about your inevitable doom?"
She pauses abruptly then stands up with her weapon and ammunition, preparing to shoot if one of the tentacles attempt to make some sort of hasty move when others attempt to cross the waterlogged area using frozen platforms. "Go on and save the girl, I will provide you all with necessary cover."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Hrmph... you want me to cross right over those thing? Hrk. Alright... for the girl." He's about to step onto the first chunk of ice when he suddenly stops, kneels down, and tucks his pant legs into his boots. "Don't want those things crawling anywhere..." Then he crosses the ice and begins picking the lock to Esther's cage. He hums a sailor's tune to keep his mind off the writhing mass under his feet.
You find it hard to discern what immunities the creature has. Based on your previous knowledge of the Sagacitas, and how the creature is acting currently, its movements infer that it is wary of the cold/ice. On the flip side, you would guess that the long, wet tentacles are likely able to withstand fire and lightning-based attacks.
The curious mass of Sagacitas in front of you move in an eerie, otherworldly unison. They seem coordinated as though sharing the same mind. It is abundantly clear to you that the value perceived in Esther is due to the larvae growing within her stomach, rather than the girl herself.
You attempt to recall any knowledge of similar creatures. A horrific thought enters your mind; tentacles, shared consciousness, parasitical larvae? The description seems awfully close to creatures of myth and legend -- Illithids, Mind Flayers. You hope against hope that the similarities between the creatures are academic... for all tales recount of the Illithids' cruelty and attempts to subjugate those they encounter.
Boyd - You spritely move between the ice plates and reach Esther's cell. Your hands move deftly as, within no time at all, you manage to pick the lock of the cell door. Esther smiles faintly at you. "It is good... to see you," she says, mouthing the end of the sentence before once more closing her eyes and drifting unconscious. You can tell instantly that, if untreated, her time is running out.
"Bring her back to dry ground quickly!" Meresaa calls as she dons her leather apron and gloves. Shooing everyone away from the doorway, she clears a space for Boyd to set the girl on the rug (assuming he makes it back safely).
Nikita nods at Boyd to escort the girl back to Meresaa, but she anticipates an attack from the creature and tries to cover them (as Ermasnietsz is), bow held in one hand. Standing forward to protect, ready to cast a reaction spell (Shield should a tentacle come towards her).
Thumbtack flies by above the reach of the creature and tentacles, flapping her wings and distracting it, taking the help on any attack against it.
As her familiar returns to her shoulder, Nikita prays in a whisper. To whom, she is uncertain as she has never felt much godly connection, until she realizes with a start that she is praying to Asha Hawkes. "Please. The human child is innocent. We cannot leave her to die. How can we mollify the creature?"
Boyd's voice cracks a bit as he says to the girl, "Don't worry, Esther, you'll be right as rain in no time." He picks her up and puts her over a shoulder as he attempts to make his way across the ice cubes again.
He lays her down on the rug that Meresaa has cleared. "This looks pretty bad." He says to the blue woman. "Please tell me you can do something."
Ermasnietsz glances at the unconscious girl (Esther) just for a few seconds before averting her gaze, and resuming her watch. She might seem disinterested, a pessimistic observer may discern that she has the expression of a hopeless rescuer, other people who do not know her well can easily mistake the look as an expression of contempt. But, most of their assumptions are bound to be wrong, nothing but wishful thinking.
"Yes Mr. Boyd, Meresaa can certainly do something for Esther. The best thing she can do is to ensure a graceful, painless death. This young girl has suffered from physical injuries and mental trauma during her stay, let's not prolong her agony."
Following Meresaa's cue, Faila dons her own leather apron and gloves, hurriedly pulling them from her pack and clumsily tugging and tying them on. Beads of sweat are visible on her forehead, the whites of her widened eyes shining pale in between the darkness of her eyes and face. Despite the humming, buzzing thick air and the water and ice spilled all around, it's almost like being back in the carnival's medic tent with the drunk priest.
"No living creature throws its life away," Faila says to Erma. "The final and only lasting justice is death, but the common thread of all life is that it strives against death, it fights to continue, through all manner of pain and suffering, that does not matter. Life finds a way."
As Boyd lays the girl down on the rug Faila prepares to help Meresaa with any needed... extractions.
Nikita is smart enough to know what she doesn't know. And she has no pretensions of understanding Ermasnietsz' motivations. But she does find a smile coming to her lips as the urchin girl speaks up with confidence, voicing the plain truth. Good for you!
Nikita herself simply observes, "I do not think a quick painless death for Esther is what most of us are shooting for here. At least I hope not."
If the creature does not move to attack, she summons her Mage Hand, ready to help with the procedure on the girl if she can. She readies herself and Thumbtack on her shoulder in a defensive posture, with an eye towards the creature. Illithid? Can it be? So dissimilar and yet, not...
"Boyd, Ermasnietsz, help me cover them. Who knows what this extraplanar thing will do and when. Meresaa, Faila, I suggest being careful not to harm any larvae that you remove. The health of these larvae, I am nearly certain, is the primary motivation of this larger creature for not attacking thus far."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Almost punctuating Nikita's words, a stream of images enters each party member's mind;
First is an image of the larvae within Esther's stomach; 5 creatures squirm around her abdomen, they appear to be approaching the end of their infancy,
The second is an image, you presume, of a possible future, where the larvae are alive and well and united with the squirming mass
Finally, images of the creature's (or rather mind's) past, of its home;
Bright, fluorescent mushrooms light otherwise expansive caverns. Though the area looks to be underground it is teeming with life. A plethora of strange bioluminescent creatures inhabit the place - crawling, scuttling, swimming, and flying.
The plants and fungus here, similarly to Prospect, are pervasive and ubiquitous. Long, sprawling tunnels connect the caverns, their walls covered in vines and its surface a bed of thorns and noxious flowers. Vegetation in some of the tunnels is so thick it creates natural, luminated, blockages. Thick shrubbery growing on the roofs of caverns, appearing as alien-looking upside-down forests.
Amphibians, insects, reptiles and rodents are the primary inhabitants here, though you recognise their forms, they all appear altered in some way; glowing, pulsating, some with extra antennae or limbs. They all go about their business undisturbed.
That is until you see a hulking, humanoid form. The creature is towers tall, yet hunches, its features are terrible and twisted. It looks grotesquely deformed and wields a giant club.
... the images fade from your mind.
"Mollify the creature,"Asha's wishy-washy voice intones. "Oh... it's harmless... just be careful with its children." There is a long pause. "Oh, I guess. Well, maybe, if you could somehow disrupt the creature's communication with itself. That is to say, disrupt the collective from communicating with each other. Why... it would be like preventing your brain from sending signals to your limbs." You hear the sound of distant chuckling, almost child-like in nature, as though Asha has amused herself with the analogy. "Did you know I used to be a professor... though I am not quite sure when... or where."
The feeling of distress once more washes over the party. "Why? Why can't I remember? What have I become..?" Asha's voice fades, leaving the question unanswered.
Faila - Feel free to roll again, assuming Meresaa is helping it would grant advantage.
Nikita - As you bid Meresaa & Faila to take care not to harm the creatures, you feel a comforting warmth from inside as though the creature is affirming your words.
As Faila and Meresaa work, Nikita tries to mentally return a reassuring warmth to the creature, keeping her Mage Hand nearby in case the larvae need to be gently carried back to the parent, hopefully safe. You can do this, Faila!
To the creature, she telepathically thinks: We wish you no harm. We did not know you were sentient. At least I did not. You do not belong here. Your young kill us when they are inside, as they almost have with this girl, one of our own young, and it is easy for us to respond with violence. But none of us need be hurt. I think we saw your true home? Did those large humanoids with clubs force you here? Or someone that they work for?
Aloud, passing the time, she whispers to Asha Hawkes: "Who are you? You are Asha Hawkes. Small and slight, with pale blue eyes and dark red hair. Professor at the academy in Port Torvin, once. And we are in the ancestral home to which you then returned. Prospect. We have come on behalf of many, including the girl, but also for your fellow Professor Karl Rothstein who called you his friend and described you as brilliant. And your assistant Reggie Clover. You studied parallel worlds and... you've now added empirical data to your theoretical research, I think. I believe you were also betrayed."
I dare not mention the name Theodore Sedgewick. Yet.
"Oh no you don't! Stay out of my head!"Boyd pinches his eyes shut hard and shakes his head but the images don't leave. "What's..." He starts to ask and then doesn't.
He focuses on the dying girl before him. "She ain't gonna die, Ermanietsz. She's only got two of the things. Meresaa and Nikita seem to know what's going on. They're gonna help her, aren't you?"
Boyd refocuses his attention on the entrance to the room and the mass of writhing tentacles, trying to keep both in his eyesight at all times.
Nikita - The message, for that is certainly what it is, you receive back is disjointed and contains no words, only images. It tells of years of abuse and violence suffered at the hands of the humanoid beasts, using the Sagacitas as tools to extract information from their enemies. Feelings of pain and hurt are conveyed with the images, of being separated and isolated from their kin.
That is until a new sight, a hand coming through a strange-looking bright blue light, covered in gloves similar to those Meresaa wears. It snatches and grabs, removing a number of the small Sagacitas larvae from their birthing pools. The feelings of pain turn to that anger and frustration. The hand retracts through the light and the images show a laboratory filled with all sorts of scientific equipment.
There is more, another creature resembling a small monkey that has been turned inside out, the head of which is one huge mouth filled with teeth and writing tentacles. The Sagacitas has seen this creature before, dwelling in the darker recesses of its homeland. It is currently being held by a pale, pudgy humanoid man, with slicked-back black hair, wearing fine clothing, his face is partially obscured by a white silk kerchief. The man cradles the creature as one would a baby.
The man holds out the creature. Bracing itself the Sagacitas is aware of what is coming -- a strange chittering and bubbling sound comes from the creature, you could have sworn it was a song, it tears at your mind and sends the hairs on your arms on edge. The man proceeds to pull down his kerchief but there is nothing there... blankness, a faceless man.
Nikita - Please make a Wisdom Saving Throw.
Faila - Your hands shake as they attempt to remove the larvae from Esther. You find the first without issue, safely removing the creature (which seems to have grown substantially) from the girl and, with Meresaa's assistance along with Nikita's [Tooltip Not Found], place it in the pool. It immediately swims through the water and joins the others. Feelings of gratitude wash over you.
Spurred on by your success, you reach in and find the second larvae. Keen to get the ordeal over with, you grab the larvae with a little more force than intended, perhaps let down by your bestial vigour. Your mind shrieks and the tentacled monster thrashes around in the water, clearly disturbed by what is happening to its young.
Faila - Please make a sleight of hand check in order to rectify your mistake. I will let others describe how they assist you, if you want to make the throw with advantage.
Faila finds it difficult to tear her wide-eyed gaze away from the writhing tentacles. Asha's plaintive cries tear at her heart. All of this is so wrong. It's not how it was meant to be. But, like nature always does, all of these things will fight to survive and grow. She grits her teeth as she feels her fingernails tingling, trying to grow, themselves, and scurries back to stand a little closer to Meresaa, who seems so confident and knowledgeable, and Nikita, who is always quick and sure with a solution. The urchin girl shivers. She can't quite forget how trapped she feels down here by fire and water.
Nikita, despite having guessed about Asha Hawkes' ghost earlier, is stunned to hear to missing woman speak again.
She reluctantly nods at Meresaa's suggestion, understanding the haste to get to Esther. Gently waving her fingers like flowing water and suddenly stopping them cold, she casts Shape Water as she had with the Sagacitas larvae, but twice this time. Freezing two thick 5' square chunks of ice out of the water in the pattern of a bridge or at least stepping stones that can serve as jumping points. Not including the tentacled creature(s) within any of the frozen area and trying to attach each ice platform to one of the 'edges'. One to the near edge and the other to the far edge near Esther's cell. So that they will remain stationary if any in the party use them to cross, jumping from one to the other if necessary.
"I can hold no more than two such ice chunks at a time. They should last roughly an hour. I wonder if perhaps this strange alien creature and all the others just need to be restored to their home plane. Just as Asha does. Easier said than done, though. Won't help us if it becomes aggressive."
She studies her work with the ice for a moment, judging whether it looks possible to cross (or jump) using the frozen platforms.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Ermasnietsz
Ermasnietsz remains seated on the ground cross-legged, gingerly examining the condition of her crossbow and counting the numbers of remaining bolts. She's become reserved and silent for a while as if trying to contemplate a matter of grave significance. When everyone is busy with the brainstorming session, she suddenly feels the need to contribute. "We're risking our lives for a single child, it's unfair and nonsensical. Just look at these worms with tentacles, I don't remember seeing such kind of aberrant creatures. Would you risk your life even if you are certain about your inevitable doom?"
She pauses abruptly then stands up with her weapon and ammunition, preparing to shoot if one of the tentacles attempt to make some sort of hasty move when others attempt to cross the waterlogged area using frozen platforms. "Go on and save the girl, I will provide you all with necessary cover."
Arcana 6
InkedBee (Undead_Analyst)
Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts - Jenviel Tsumara: Fallen Aasimar- Monk|Crimson Sands of Time - Navarra Iltazyara: Human- Druid/Warlock| Bleak Prospect - Ermasnietsz: Reborn- Clockwork Soul Sorcerer
Ermasnietsz: Additional Number (Knowledge from a past life) 6+ 2
InkedBee (Undead_Analyst)
Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts - Jenviel Tsumara: Fallen Aasimar- Monk|Crimson Sands of Time - Navarra Iltazyara: Human- Druid/Warlock| Bleak Prospect - Ermasnietsz: Reborn- Clockwork Soul Sorcerer
Nikita also racks her memories for if she has ever heard anything about such a creature (or amalgam of creatures) before.
Nature: 19
"Boyd, maybe I can go across with you. You to pick the lock and me to assist with my Mage Hand and watch your back."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
"Hrmph... you want me to cross right over those thing? Hrk. Alright... for the girl." He's about to step onto the first chunk of ice when he suddenly stops, kneels down, and tucks his pant legs into his boots. "Don't want those things crawling anywhere..." Then he crosses the ice and begins picking the lock to Esther's cage. He hums a sailor's tune to keep his mind off the writhing mass under his feet.
Thieves' tool w/ advantage (mage hand help): 20
Ermasnietsz's Arcana Check:
You find it hard to discern what immunities the creature has. Based on your previous knowledge of the Sagacitas, and how the creature is acting currently, its movements infer that it is wary of the cold/ice. On the flip side, you would guess that the long, wet tentacles are likely able to withstand fire and lightning-based attacks.
Nikita's Nature Check:
The curious mass of Sagacitas in front of you move in an eerie, otherworldly unison. They seem coordinated as though sharing the same mind. It is abundantly clear to you that the value perceived in Esther is due to the larvae growing within her stomach, rather than the girl herself.
You attempt to recall any knowledge of similar creatures. A horrific thought enters your mind; tentacles, shared consciousness, parasitical larvae? The description seems awfully close to creatures of myth and legend -- Illithids, Mind Flayers. You hope against hope that the similarities between the creatures are academic... for all tales recount of the Illithids' cruelty and attempts to subjugate those they encounter.
Boyd - You spritely move between the ice plates and reach Esther's cell. Your hands move deftly as, within no time at all, you manage to pick the lock of the cell door. Esther smiles faintly at you. "It is good... to see you," she says, mouthing the end of the sentence before once more closing her eyes and drifting unconscious. You can tell instantly that, if untreated, her time is running out.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
"Bring her back to dry ground quickly!" Meresaa calls as she dons her leather apron and gloves. Shooing everyone away from the doorway, she clears a space for Boyd to set the girl on the rug (assuming he makes it back safely).
Characters currently being ruined on this forum:
Neria Tallfellow (Halfling Rogue) - Curse of the Crimson Throne with Ashen_Age
Nikita nods at Boyd to escort the girl back to Meresaa, but she anticipates an attack from the creature and tries to cover them (as Ermasnietsz is), bow held in one hand. Standing forward to protect, ready to cast a reaction spell (Shield should a tentacle come towards her).
Thumbtack flies by above the reach of the creature and tentacles, flapping her wings and distracting it, taking the help on any attack against it.
As her familiar returns to her shoulder, Nikita prays in a whisper. To whom, she is uncertain as she has never felt much godly connection, until she realizes with a start that she is praying to Asha Hawkes. "Please. The human child is innocent. We cannot leave her to die. How can we mollify the creature?"
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Boyd's voice cracks a bit as he says to the girl, "Don't worry, Esther, you'll be right as rain in no time." He picks her up and puts her over a shoulder as he attempts to make his way across the ice cubes again.
He lays her down on the rug that Meresaa has cleared. "This looks pretty bad." He says to the blue woman. "Please tell me you can do something."
Ermasnietsz
Ermasnietsz glances at the unconscious girl (Esther) just for a few seconds before averting her gaze, and resuming her watch. She might seem disinterested, a pessimistic observer may discern that she has the expression of a hopeless rescuer, other people who do not know her well can easily mistake the look as an expression of contempt. But, most of their assumptions are bound to be wrong, nothing but wishful thinking.
"Yes Mr. Boyd, Meresaa can certainly do something for Esther. The best thing she can do is to ensure a graceful, painless death. This young girl has suffered from physical injuries and mental trauma during her stay, let's not prolong her agony."
InkedBee (Undead_Analyst)
Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts - Jenviel Tsumara: Fallen Aasimar- Monk|Crimson Sands of Time - Navarra Iltazyara: Human- Druid/Warlock| Bleak Prospect - Ermasnietsz: Reborn- Clockwork Soul Sorcerer
Following Meresaa's cue, Faila dons her own leather apron and gloves, hurriedly pulling them from her pack and clumsily tugging and tying them on. Beads of sweat are visible on her forehead, the whites of her widened eyes shining pale in between the darkness of her eyes and face. Despite the humming, buzzing thick air and the water and ice spilled all around, it's almost like being back in the carnival's medic tent with the drunk priest.
"No living creature throws its life away," Faila says to Erma. "The final and only lasting justice is death, but the common thread of all life is that it strives against death, it fights to continue, through all manner of pain and suffering, that does not matter. Life finds a way."
As Boyd lays the girl down on the rug Faila prepares to help Meresaa with any needed... extractions.
Medicine: 11
Nikita is smart enough to know what she doesn't know. And she has no pretensions of understanding Ermasnietsz' motivations. But she does find a smile coming to her lips as the urchin girl speaks up with confidence, voicing the plain truth. Good for you!
Nikita herself simply observes, "I do not think a quick painless death for Esther is what most of us are shooting for here. At least I hope not."
If the creature does not move to attack, she summons her Mage Hand, ready to help with the procedure on the girl if she can. She readies herself and Thumbtack on her shoulder in a defensive posture, with an eye towards the creature. Illithid? Can it be? So dissimilar and yet, not...
"Boyd, Ermasnietsz, help me cover them. Who knows what this extraplanar thing will do and when. Meresaa, Faila, I suggest being careful not to harm any larvae that you remove. The health of these larvae, I am nearly certain, is the primary motivation of this larger creature for not attacking thus far."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Almost punctuating Nikita's words, a stream of images enters each party member's mind;
... the images fade from your mind.
"Mollify the creature," Asha's wishy-washy voice intones. "Oh... it's harmless... just be careful with its children." There is a long pause. "Oh, I guess. Well, maybe, if you could somehow disrupt the creature's communication with itself. That is to say, disrupt the collective from communicating with each other. Why... it would be like preventing your brain from sending signals to your limbs." You hear the sound of distant chuckling, almost child-like in nature, as though Asha has amused herself with the analogy. "Did you know I used to be a professor... though I am not quite sure when... or where."
The feeling of distress once more washes over the party. "Why? Why can't I remember? What have I become..?" Asha's voice fades, leaving the question unanswered.
Faila - Feel free to roll again, assuming Meresaa is helping it would grant advantage.
Nikita - As you bid Meresaa & Faila to take care not to harm the creatures, you feel a comforting warmth from inside as though the creature is affirming your words.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Luckily for you all, it appears that only two Sagacitas larvae need to be removed from Esther!
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
As Faila and Meresaa work, Nikita tries to mentally return a reassuring warmth to the creature, keeping her Mage Hand nearby in case the larvae need to be gently carried back to the parent, hopefully safe. You can do this, Faila!
To the creature, she telepathically thinks: We wish you no harm. We did not know you were sentient. At least I did not. You do not belong here. Your young kill us when they are inside, as they almost have with this girl, one of our own young, and it is easy for us to respond with violence. But none of us need be hurt. I think we saw your true home? Did those large humanoids with clubs force you here? Or someone that they work for?
Aloud, passing the time, she whispers to Asha Hawkes: "Who are you? You are Asha Hawkes. Small and slight, with pale blue eyes and dark red hair. Professor at the academy in Port Torvin, once. And we are in the ancestral home to which you then returned. Prospect. We have come on behalf of many, including the girl, but also for your fellow Professor Karl Rothstein who called you his friend and described you as brilliant. And your assistant Reggie Clover. You studied parallel worlds and... you've now added empirical data to your theoretical research, I think. I believe you were also betrayed."
I dare not mention the name Theodore Sedgewick. Yet.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
"Oh no you don't! Stay out of my head!" Boyd pinches his eyes shut hard and shakes his head but the images don't leave. "What's..." He starts to ask and then doesn't.
He focuses on the dying girl before him. "She ain't gonna die, Ermanietsz. She's only got two of the things. Meresaa and Nikita seem to know what's going on. They're gonna help her, aren't you?"
Boyd refocuses his attention on the entrance to the room and the mass of writhing tentacles, trying to keep both in his eyesight at all times.
14
Of Sagacitas and Faceless Men
Nikita - The message, for that is certainly what it is, you receive back is disjointed and contains no words, only images. It tells of years of abuse and violence suffered at the hands of the humanoid beasts, using the Sagacitas as tools to extract information from their enemies. Feelings of pain and hurt are conveyed with the images, of being separated and isolated from their kin.
That is until a new sight, a hand coming through a strange-looking bright blue light, covered in gloves similar to those Meresaa wears. It snatches and grabs, removing a number of the small Sagacitas larvae from their birthing pools. The feelings of pain turn to that anger and frustration. The hand retracts through the light and the images show a laboratory filled with all sorts of scientific equipment.
There is more, another creature resembling a small monkey that has been turned inside out, the head of which is one huge mouth filled with teeth and writing tentacles. The Sagacitas has seen this creature before, dwelling in the darker recesses of its homeland. It is currently being held by a pale, pudgy humanoid man, with slicked-back black hair, wearing fine clothing, his face is partially obscured by a white silk kerchief. The man cradles the creature as one would a baby.
Nikita - Please make a Wisdom Saving Throw.
Faila - Your hands shake as they attempt to remove the larvae from Esther. You find the first without issue, safely removing the creature (which seems to have grown substantially) from the girl and, with Meresaa's assistance along with Nikita's [Tooltip Not Found], place it in the pool. It immediately swims through the water and joins the others. Feelings of gratitude wash over you.
Spurred on by your success, you reach in and find the second larvae. Keen to get the ordeal over with, you grab the larvae with a little more force than intended, perhaps let down by your bestial vigour. Your mind shrieks and the tentacled monster thrashes around in the water, clearly disturbed by what is happening to its young.
Faila - Please make a sleight of hand check in order to rectify your mistake. I will let others describe how they assist you, if you want to make the throw with advantage.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Kneeling beside her, Meresaa puts a long-fingered hand reassuringly on Faila's back and takes a slow, audible breath.
"Calm your nerves, child. Everything will work out. We can heal them if need be. Just take a breath and try again."
Characters currently being ruined on this forum:
Neria Tallfellow (Halfling Rogue) - Curse of the Crimson Throne with Ashen_Age