Joren's reaction, visible or audible to all in the room (so everyone but Ashley and Lanya):
He remembers being drawn into the massive maw, teeth large as his arm. Life fading with just enough will to summon an echo... his friends hapless...
He looks at Malachi. At Vilus. Nothing. He thinks about Ashley being questioned alone. He is certain there is mental communication occurring here that he is not aware of. The goliath looks half asleep, though Joren knows better than to believe that. And yet...
Joren's anger and frustration find an outlet. Likely in unwise fashion, he is aware, but he cannot stop himself.
"Being about as big as your finger..." he growls flatly, staring at Miter. Neither a question, nor a statement, nor a denial.
Is he lying? Does he know and is fishing for a clue whether we are also knowing? There, I am giving him one.Joren watches Miter's face for a reaction.
She searches the woman's face, trying to make sure she is telling the truth and can actually be someone she can finally let it all out to. Lanya's face is as hard as stone and completely unreadable. She feels defeated. She can't imagine her friends being in a prison camp? Especially because of her?? Honestly, that's worse than telling the wrong people what they found in her mind. That did it, well... here goes.
"You.. you know about the rats? We uh, we fought them at the Inn. I've never seen such horrible treatment of people of my life." she visibly shudders at the memory of it. "That was where we ran into them, and in the beginnings of the tunnels. There were men there that sort of ran the rats. I'm not sure exactly what they are plotting, I really don't. We came through the tunnels to get here. To warn you all of the rats and their men. I am sorry I didn't say so earlier, we really don't know who to trust." and with that, she looks down to the floor and her shoulders slump, feeling defeated. Figuring she is losing no matter what she does.
Lanya stands still and impassive, staring at Ashley for a good long moment after Ashley finishes speaking. The silence draws out as she reads Ashley's body language and pieces together the information she's received. Then finally she speaks once more.
"You're being serious right now? Holly hell, what?!" Her composure slips as she grapples with the information, trying to figure out what to ask next. "Treatment of people... are you talking about the rat hybrids? Wait... what do you mean you don't know who to trust?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ashley slowly looks up as Lanya finally starts talking and notices her composure slip. Maybe she didn't know what she said she did? What did she think the rat hybrids were?
Ashley looks at her quizzically, "I haven't lied to you at all. Sure, I held some of it back cause it's so crazy. But yes, I am being serious. What do you know about the rats?" She looks at the woman, as genuinely as she can, "Well, after you've been through what we have been through, how do you know who to trust? The man at the Inn, the first person we talked to was not who he said he was."
Lanya pinches the bridge of her nose as she thinks. "Samir vaguely mentioned a rat-human hybrid-type thing. Marion just spoke of rats. It was the first time they'd come up, so I took a gamble that it was relevant and then bluffed." She lowers her hand and looks at Ashley intently. "Now, are you telling me that you have reason to believe that the people responsible for what you witnessed are hiding among us?"
Malachi slumps back in his chair, giving a bemused smile to Miter. “Gloazworms, eh? Babies. Ever see what they grow into?” Keeping his eyes on Miter, he keeps his connection to Ashley open.
Ashley:
Ashley, are you okay? Are you in danger? What are they saying to you? Say the word and we will come for you.
Ashley shrugs at the mention of the bluff, "Good one, that was a good call, sure made me perk up. As for the people responsible? Shoot ma'am, I can't tell. The men we ran into could have been infiltrated anywhere. And after all the speculation my friends and I have done, what would stop us from expecting more in Tensmith?" she looks intently at the woman now, "I can appreciate your position, and why you did what you did. Honestly, it was smart, especially with the political talk you were mentioning? True, I really know nothing of that, but what I feel, is there is something else going on and these men are apart of it. We uh, well... none of the men we ran into will be bothering you here." she looks away a bit at that. But her resolve comes back strong, "but we rescued quite a few back at that Inn... ones that were destined to become another hybrid rat-man."
As she finishes she hears Malachi and can't help but smile. She hopes Lanya takes it to mean what she was talking about.
Malachi:
"So good to actually hear your voice. You all alright?? This woman truly seems legit, and yes I am ok. I'm sorry, but I'm telling her about Opportunities Knock."
No need to be sorry. They seem trustworthy to me too. I think it is time to come clean with them and tell them the whole story. I am going to call for you and the Marshal to come back in.
Malachi stands suddenly and speaks to Miter “Please get the Marshal. I think it is time to end this and I would like to make a statement. And please bring our friend back in the room with her.” Malachi gives Joren a reassuring glance "Ashley is doing okay."
He turns to his companions “I think they can be trusted and we need to warn the city.” Malachi looks back to Miter with a small smile “They have passed the first test.”
Miter is thrown off guard by Malachi's sudden movement. Jarm, the transciber, stops writing and looks up, and the officer by the door reaches for a baton at his side. Miter puts out a hand to still the officer, and thinks for a moment. Then he nods at the officer by the door and tilts his head toward the hallway. The officer nods back and slips out the door.
In the dark room, Ashley and Lanya hear a knock. Lanya opens the door to be greeted by the officer from the other room, who whispers something to her. "Fortunate timing" she says. "Come with me Ashley. Let's return to your friends. Ahh... also... about them being taken away, that was a lie too. I've simply had Miter asking some follow up questions. I hope you understand I felt the pressure necessary lest you all continue to hold silence for days or longer. I figure we've all got some questions to ask each other now."
Moments later, Ashley, Lanya, and the other officer return to the interrogation room. It's immediately apparent that no one has been harmed on either side. Lanya strides back over to her chair and retrieves several blank sheets of paper from her stack, along with a quill and a vial of black ink. "Thank you, Miter. I can resume the questioning from here."
"I was just in the middle of hearing something about the gloaz-"
"Thank you. We'll debrief later, but right now, I need to have the room"
"Yes ma'am!" Miter hesitantly heads for the door.
"You too, Jarm" The transcriber nods and leaves the room without a word. "Oh, and Miter? I'm leaving it to you to ensure we have privacy." She lowers her voice and waits for Miter to be the only one left in the room. "Just you at the door. No other officers. Got it?" Miter nods, shifting back into his old composed self now that he is taking orders again. The door closes behind him, and it is just Lanya and 6 travelers in the room.
Lanya sits tall and straight-backed, placing quill tip on paper. She looks up at Malachi. "I hear you are ready to make a statement?" She leans forward, eyes suddenly wide and uncertain, and whispers harshly. "So can you start by telling me what the hell is going on? Like what the actual hell? I'm supposed to be looking out for spies and you are here to warn me about some freaks doing science experiments or something on rat-people?! Oh, and they just may or may not be hiding among us?! I definitely need the whole story. And then a drink."
Vilus comes back to life with a jolt, as if someone had just dropped him back into his chair, although he never left, he looks slightly shocked and then realises where he is.
Regaining his composure he looks off toward the remaining party around him, "someone will have to catch me up, where are we up to now?". As Ashley returns with Lanya, Vilus gives a nod and a reassuring smile
As she walks into the room, Ashley breathes a huge sigh of relief as she sees all of her friends are just where she left them and totally fine. The cruel thought of when Lanya told her they were never going to see the light of day again, hangs over her head as she finds her seat, returning Vilus's smile. It takes all of her strength not to run at them and hug each one of them tightly.
As Lanya removes all of the other officers she realizes how seriously the woman took her words. Gaining a bit of confidence with this. She relaxes some and waits to hear what Malachi has to say.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
“I apologize for not being completely open, Marshal”Malachi offers another small smile “Tensmith is under danger, but not from us. We had to be sure of your allegiance before sharing the warning. Cultists serving a creature named Razmus are trying to tunnel into the mines using hybrid Ratmen, and I fear they hope to unless something even worse. If you go back through the tunnel where we were found, you will find signs of excavation and railcar tracks.”
Malachi reaches into his pocket and tosses the rat ear necklace onto the table. “Proof of our tale, the cultists use this to control their creatures through some magic. We came to warn the city so you can stop whatever it is they have planned ” Persuasion: 9.
Malachi explains the highlights of their attempted capture, the fight with the cultists and their travel through the underground tunnels. He looks to his companions, urging them to add information and details and share their stories and questions.
"oh ok we're just trusting her now? Well then there's also a bunch of them worm things just sleeping about a days travel down them caves, they're taller than I am and there's like a hundred of them, we've got no idea if unleashing them on the continent is what these cult guys want but just one nearly killed us all, oh and that's not the worst part, whatever and whoever this cult is, they are the the preamble... There's some kind of Messiah of theirs coming here by ship with a 'large force' apparently, and the only thing we've managed to put together is that whatever they want is bad, like undoing creation kind of bad..." During his little rant Vilus becomes more animated, with strong pointed arm gestures and some palm punching for poignancy. He isn't happy, "Samir can you check this one with the thingy, the medallion?"
Lanya is alternating between furiously jotting down notes and looking up in horror at particular details. She is so caught up in Malachi's account that she does not once try to interrupt him or Vilus, though she turns up her nose at the necklace of severed rat ears sitting on the table right in front of her.
When Vilus finishes, she waves her hands and says "Okay, whoa whoa whoa, so let's back up here and figure out what we... what you know. There are cultists worshipping this... Razmus. They have occupied a vast cave system underlying the country and are trying to get here by using the slave labour of these... ratmen, and they are... what? Trying to prepare for the arrival of their messiah by boat somehow? So, Okay. I guess my next immediate questions are, what country are they sailing here from and how can we identify cultists if they HAVE infiltrated society."
Samir's voice is quiet as he leans towards Vilus, not wanting to interupt the others or be overly intrusive. "I already did. On the ride here, I checked everyone who was with us. Nothing. I wasn't sure about the others here, though." Samir carefully reaches into his jacket and brings out the strange color changing medallion, laying it in front of him before speaking up a bit louder in response to the Lanya's questions. "I found this... artifact, back in the inn where we were first accosted by the rat-creatures. It seems to change color when brought into close proximity to different people. I have not yet deciphered what all of the colors mean, but we believe that the color yellow seems to be associated with this cult." To demonstrate, Samir moves the medallion closer to Ashley, Marion, and himself in turn. "We also have seen several symbols, or signs, that we believe the cult is using for communication, or for designating certain individuals."
Giving Marshal Lanya a bit of time to catch up, Joren adds several items of his own:
"First regarding the giant gloazworms. Officer Miter, sir. I am humbly apologizing for my outburst when you described gloazworms the size of your finger. But please be hearing me. I am a Khirian Echo Knight. Far from home, but I am knowing battle. I was nearly eaten whole by one yesterday, and it was barely slowing down to do so, escaping only due to my echo and my friends' magic. Larger than a horse, as my friend Vilus was saying, and faster than a horse as well, though slowing a bit when taking damage or held by magic. Traveling at breathtaking speed. Spurting jets of acid as a young black dragon might, with numerous tentacles reaching 10' to damage and grapple and draw into a toothy maw the full width of a mining tunnel. My friends and I are decent in a fight with our weapons and our magic. But even at the end, we were not killing it. I think it may have been having health near that of a young black dragon or more. The battle was only ending when it, chasing us, careened out of a tunnel into a chasm with us on a ledge to the side."
Joren is speaking grimly, relentlessly, recalling the awful memory.
"But you are not hearing the worst. The giant gloazworms are appearing to be merely the larval stage of another creature, which we also were seeing in the chasm. With some difficulty as they are nearly transparent. Stick-like and insectile, being fifty feet long, fast in flight, near invisible and seeming utterly lethal to me. The chasm into which the giant gloazworm fell was containing a titanic spire nest in the middle inside, within which were sleeping hundreds of these creatures, both the giant gloazworm larvae and the nightmare adults clinging to the exterior. All dormant or near so, possibly due to the heat, or we certainly would not be sitting here now, skirting around the chasm as we did on a thin ledge. Still, once we were exiting the chasm out a thin hole on the far end, one of the glassy insects was reaching through with a long spiked leg and nearly spearing one of us. No battle commander, I. But what we were seeing in that hellish place seemed more than sufficient to be wiping out a town the size of Tensmith if all awake and sent here together in force. Perhaps Talmouth as well. Being both an enemy devastating in power and number, as well as tactically challenging."
Joren pauses, hoping to make sure that Lanya and Miter are taking his animated and heartfelt account seriously.
"I am not exactly certain if and how the cultists are controlling these monsters. Perhaps with the heat? In fact we were seeing evidence one of their own rat hybrid workers had been taken by a glassy insect, leaving nothing but a bloody upward smear on the chasm wall from the ledge it had nearly finished hacking around the edge with its pick axe. But as Malachi has been mentioning, all of the cultists communications seem to be indicating that they were in the process of readying a force. And I am wondering if that force is not just naval with the ships from far west across the Amethyst Ocean, but also these horrific creatures. In fact, while you may truly be having spies trying to steal your mining techniques and tools (I do not know), the cultists letters seemed dead set on using their agents and the suspicion of such spies to be keeping the mines closed for as long as possible to be reducing the chance of you discovering their plot before it was reaching its fruition. If you are searching for cultists, be looking among those trying to keep the mines shut."
"should, um.. should I show them? The worm...?" Vilus questions, not knowing whether the right tactic is to Don the tentacled toothy façade or whether that would ill punctuate the point.
As Samir talks about the symbols or signs they have seen the cultists use, Malachi pulls back his hair from his forehead, displaying the brand on his temple. “This is an example. They marked me during one of our fights, but they found they got more than they expected. We are not quite sure what it means. Cultists have a rank structure, and the ones we have seen were marked with similar tattoos, they seem to serve as a way to keep control over them. You can start by searching your guards for those.”
As Joren talks about the effort to keep the town closed, Malachi adds “Do you know a Marigold? Either here in the city or representing Tensmith in Talmouth?”
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Joren's reaction, visible or audible to all in the room (so everyone but Ashley and Lanya):
He remembers being drawn into the massive maw, teeth large as his arm. Life fading with just enough will to summon an echo... his friends hapless...
He looks at Malachi. At Vilus. Nothing. He thinks about Ashley being questioned alone. He is certain there is mental communication occurring here that he is not aware of. The goliath looks half asleep, though Joren knows better than to believe that. And yet...
Joren's anger and frustration find an outlet. Likely in unwise fashion, he is aware, but he cannot stop himself.
"Being about as big as your finger..." he growls flatly, staring at Miter. Neither a question, nor a statement, nor a denial.
Is he lying? Does he know and is fishing for a clue whether we are also knowing? There, I am giving him one. Joren watches Miter's face for a reaction.
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
She searches the woman's face, trying to make sure she is telling the truth and can actually be someone she can finally let it all out to. Lanya's face is as hard as stone and completely unreadable. She feels defeated. She can't imagine her friends being in a prison camp? Especially because of her?? Honestly, that's worse than telling the wrong people what they found in her mind. That did it, well... here goes.
"You.. you know about the rats? We uh, we fought them at the Inn. I've never seen such horrible treatment of people of my life." she visibly shudders at the memory of it. "That was where we ran into them, and in the beginnings of the tunnels. There were men there that sort of ran the rats. I'm not sure exactly what they are plotting, I really don't. We came through the tunnels to get here. To warn you all of the rats and their men. I am sorry I didn't say so earlier, we really don't know who to trust." and with that, she looks down to the floor and her shoulders slump, feeling defeated. Figuring she is losing no matter what she does.
Ashley:
Lanya stands still and impassive, staring at Ashley for a good long moment after Ashley finishes speaking. The silence draws out as she reads Ashley's body language and pieces together the information she's received. Then finally she speaks once more.
"You're being serious right now? Holly hell, what?!" Her composure slips as she grapples with the information, trying to figure out what to ask next. "Treatment of people... are you talking about the rat hybrids? Wait... what do you mean you don't know who to trust?"
Ashley slowly looks up as Lanya finally starts talking and notices her composure slip. Maybe she didn't know what she said she did? What did she think the rat hybrids were?
Insight 18
Ashley looks at her quizzically, "I haven't lied to you at all. Sure, I held some of it back cause it's so crazy. But yes, I am being serious. What do you know about the rats?" She looks at the woman, as genuinely as she can, "Well, after you've been through what we have been through, how do you know who to trust? The man at the Inn, the first person we talked to was not who he said he was."
Ashley:
Lanya pinches the bridge of her nose as she thinks. "Samir vaguely mentioned a rat-human hybrid-type thing. Marion just spoke of rats. It was the first time they'd come up, so I took a gamble that it was relevant and then bluffed." She lowers her hand and looks at Ashley intently. "Now, are you telling me that you have reason to believe that the people responsible for what you witnessed are hiding among us?"
Malachi slumps back in his chair, giving a bemused smile to Miter. “Gloazworms, eh? Babies. Ever see what they grow into?” Keeping his eyes on Miter, he keeps his connection to Ashley open.
Ashley:
Ashley, are you okay? Are you in danger? What are they saying to you? Say the word and we will come for you.
Malachi and the rest of the gang:
This confuses Miter. "I'm sorry, what do you mean 'babies?' Is what I described not what you dealt with?"
Ashley shrugs at the mention of the bluff, "Good one, that was a good call, sure made me perk up. As for the people responsible? Shoot ma'am, I can't tell. The men we ran into could have been infiltrated anywhere. And after all the speculation my friends and I have done, what would stop us from expecting more in Tensmith?" she looks intently at the woman now, "I can appreciate your position, and why you did what you did. Honestly, it was smart, especially with the political talk you were mentioning? True, I really know nothing of that, but what I feel, is there is something else going on and these men are apart of it. We uh, well... none of the men we ran into will be bothering you here." she looks away a bit at that. But her resolve comes back strong, "but we rescued quite a few back at that Inn... ones that were destined to become another hybrid rat-man."
As she finishes she hears Malachi and can't help but smile. She hopes Lanya takes it to mean what she was talking about.
Malachi:
"So good to actually hear your voice. You all alright?? This woman truly seems legit, and yes I am ok. I'm sorry, but I'm telling her about Opportunities Knock."
Ashley:
No need to be sorry. They seem trustworthy to me too. I think it is time to come clean with them and tell them the whole story. I am going to call for you and the Marshal to come back in.
Malachi stands suddenly and speaks to Miter “Please get the Marshal. I think it is time to end this and I would like to make a statement. And please bring our friend back in the room with her.” Malachi gives Joren a reassuring glance "Ashley is doing okay."
He turns to his companions “I think they can be trusted and we need to warn the city.” Malachi looks back to Miter with a small smile “They have passed the first test.”
Miter is thrown off guard by Malachi's sudden movement. Jarm, the transciber, stops writing and looks up, and the officer by the door reaches for a baton at his side. Miter puts out a hand to still the officer, and thinks for a moment. Then he nods at the officer by the door and tilts his head toward the hallway. The officer nods back and slips out the door.
In the dark room, Ashley and Lanya hear a knock. Lanya opens the door to be greeted by the officer from the other room, who whispers something to her. "Fortunate timing" she says. "Come with me Ashley. Let's return to your friends. Ahh... also... about them being taken away, that was a lie too. I've simply had Miter asking some follow up questions. I hope you understand I felt the pressure necessary lest you all continue to hold silence for days or longer. I figure we've all got some questions to ask each other now."
Moments later, Ashley, Lanya, and the other officer return to the interrogation room. It's immediately apparent that no one has been harmed on either side. Lanya strides back over to her chair and retrieves several blank sheets of paper from her stack, along with a quill and a vial of black ink. "Thank you, Miter. I can resume the questioning from here."
"I was just in the middle of hearing something about the gloaz-"
"Thank you. We'll debrief later, but right now, I need to have the room"
"Yes ma'am!" Miter hesitantly heads for the door.
"You too, Jarm" The transcriber nods and leaves the room without a word. "Oh, and Miter? I'm leaving it to you to ensure we have privacy." She lowers her voice and waits for Miter to be the only one left in the room. "Just you at the door. No other officers. Got it?" Miter nods, shifting back into his old composed self now that he is taking orders again. The door closes behind him, and it is just Lanya and 6 travelers in the room.
Lanya sits tall and straight-backed, placing quill tip on paper. She looks up at Malachi. "I hear you are ready to make a statement?" She leans forward, eyes suddenly wide and uncertain, and whispers harshly. "So can you start by telling me what the hell is going on? Like what the actual hell? I'm supposed to be looking out for spies and you are here to warn me about some freaks doing science experiments or something on rat-people?! Oh, and they just may or may not be hiding among us?! I definitely need the whole story. And then a drink."
Vilus comes back to life with a jolt, as if someone had just dropped him back into his chair, although he never left, he looks slightly shocked and then realises where he is.
Regaining his composure he looks off toward the remaining party around him, "someone will have to catch me up, where are we up to now?". As Ashley returns with Lanya, Vilus gives a nod and a reassuring smile
As she walks into the room, Ashley breathes a huge sigh of relief as she sees all of her friends are just where she left them and totally fine. The cruel thought of when Lanya told her they were never going to see the light of day again, hangs over her head as she finds her seat, returning Vilus's smile. It takes all of her strength not to run at them and hug each one of them tightly.
As Lanya removes all of the other officers she realizes how seriously the woman took her words. Gaining a bit of confidence with this. She relaxes some and waits to hear what Malachi has to say.
“I apologize for not being completely open, Marshal” Malachi offers another small smile “Tensmith is under danger, but not from us. We had to be sure of your allegiance before sharing the warning. Cultists serving a creature named Razmus are trying to tunnel into the mines using hybrid Ratmen, and I fear they hope to unless something even worse. If you go back through the tunnel where we were found, you will find signs of excavation and railcar tracks.”
Malachi reaches into his pocket and tosses the rat ear necklace onto the table. “Proof of our tale, the cultists use this to control their creatures through some magic. We came to warn the city so you can stop whatever it is they have planned ” Persuasion: 9.
Malachi explains the highlights of their attempted capture, the fight with the cultists and their travel through the underground tunnels. He looks to his companions, urging them to add information and details and share their stories and questions.
"oh ok we're just trusting her now? Well then there's also a bunch of them worm things just sleeping about a days travel down them caves, they're taller than I am and there's like a hundred of them, we've got no idea if unleashing them on the continent is what these cult guys want but just one nearly killed us all, oh and that's not the worst part, whatever and whoever this cult is, they are the the preamble... There's some kind of Messiah of theirs coming here by ship with a 'large force' apparently, and the only thing we've managed to put together is that whatever they want is bad, like undoing creation kind of bad..." During his little rant Vilus becomes more animated, with strong pointed arm gestures and some palm punching for poignancy. He isn't happy, "Samir can you check this one with the thingy, the medallion?"
Lanya is alternating between furiously jotting down notes and looking up in horror at particular details. She is so caught up in Malachi's account that she does not once try to interrupt him or Vilus, though she turns up her nose at the necklace of severed rat ears sitting on the table right in front of her.
When Vilus finishes, she waves her hands and says "Okay, whoa whoa whoa, so let's back up here and figure out what we... what you know. There are cultists worshipping this... Razmus. They have occupied a vast cave system underlying the country and are trying to get here by using the slave labour of these... ratmen, and they are... what? Trying to prepare for the arrival of their messiah by boat somehow? So, Okay. I guess my next immediate questions are, what country are they sailing here from and how can we identify cultists if they HAVE infiltrated society."
Samir's voice is quiet as he leans towards Vilus, not wanting to interupt the others or be overly intrusive. "I already did. On the ride here, I checked everyone who was with us. Nothing. I wasn't sure about the others here, though." Samir carefully reaches into his jacket and brings out the strange color changing medallion, laying it in front of him before speaking up a bit louder in response to the Lanya's questions. "I found this... artifact, back in the inn where we were first accosted by the rat-creatures. It seems to change color when brought into close proximity to different people. I have not yet deciphered what all of the colors mean, but we believe that the color yellow seems to be associated with this cult." To demonstrate, Samir moves the medallion closer to Ashley, Marion, and himself in turn. "We also have seen several symbols, or signs, that we believe the cult is using for communication, or for designating certain individuals."
Giving Marshal Lanya a bit of time to catch up, Joren adds several items of his own:
"First regarding the giant gloazworms. Officer Miter, sir. I am humbly apologizing for my outburst when you described gloazworms the size of your finger. But please be hearing me. I am a Khirian Echo Knight. Far from home, but I am knowing battle. I was nearly eaten whole by one yesterday, and it was barely slowing down to do so, escaping only due to my echo and my friends' magic. Larger than a horse, as my friend Vilus was saying, and faster than a horse as well, though slowing a bit when taking damage or held by magic. Traveling at breathtaking speed. Spurting jets of acid as a young black dragon might, with numerous tentacles reaching 10' to damage and grapple and draw into a toothy maw the full width of a mining tunnel. My friends and I are decent in a fight with our weapons and our magic. But even at the end, we were not killing it. I think it may have been having health near that of a young black dragon or more. The battle was only ending when it, chasing us, careened out of a tunnel into a chasm with us on a ledge to the side."
Joren is speaking grimly, relentlessly, recalling the awful memory.
"But you are not hearing the worst. The giant gloazworms are appearing to be merely the larval stage of another creature, which we also were seeing in the chasm. With some difficulty as they are nearly transparent. Stick-like and insectile, being fifty feet long, fast in flight, near invisible and seeming utterly lethal to me. The chasm into which the giant gloazworm fell was containing a titanic spire nest in the middle inside, within which were sleeping hundreds of these creatures, both the giant gloazworm larvae and the nightmare adults clinging to the exterior. All dormant or near so, possibly due to the heat, or we certainly would not be sitting here now, skirting around the chasm as we did on a thin ledge. Still, once we were exiting the chasm out a thin hole on the far end, one of the glassy insects was reaching through with a long spiked leg and nearly spearing one of us. No battle commander, I. But what we were seeing in that hellish place seemed more than sufficient to be wiping out a town the size of Tensmith if all awake and sent here together in force. Perhaps Talmouth as well. Being both an enemy devastating in power and number, as well as tactically challenging."
Joren pauses, hoping to make sure that Lanya and Miter are taking his animated and heartfelt account seriously.
"I am not exactly certain if and how the cultists are controlling these monsters. Perhaps with the heat? In fact we were seeing evidence one of their own rat hybrid workers had been taken by a glassy insect, leaving nothing but a bloody upward smear on the chasm wall from the ledge it had nearly finished hacking around the edge with its pick axe. But as Malachi has been mentioning, all of the cultists communications seem to be indicating that they were in the process of readying a force. And I am wondering if that force is not just naval with the ships from far west across the Amethyst Ocean, but also these horrific creatures. In fact, while you may truly be having spies trying to steal your mining techniques and tools (I do not know), the cultists letters seemed dead set on using their agents and the suspicion of such spies to be keeping the mines closed for as long as possible to be reducing the chance of you discovering their plot before it was reaching its fruition. If you are searching for cultists, be looking among those trying to keep the mines shut."
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
"should, um.. should I show them? The worm...?" Vilus questions, not knowing whether the right tactic is to Don the tentacled toothy façade or whether that would ill punctuate the point.
As Samir talks about the symbols or signs they have seen the cultists use, Malachi pulls back his hair from his forehead, displaying the brand on his temple. “This is an example. They marked me during one of our fights, but they found they got more than they expected. We are not quite sure what it means. Cultists have a rank structure, and the ones we have seen were marked with similar tattoos, they seem to serve as a way to keep control over them. You can start by searching your guards for those.”
As Joren talks about the effort to keep the town closed, Malachi adds “Do you know a Marigold? Either here in the city or representing Tensmith in Talmouth?”