The trip back to the Marshal's office is quieter than before, though there is still the odd noise, or person scurrying to their destination. Up ahead, the group sees the woman sitting outside the office. She seems calmer now, and is talking to several guards while pointing at a building across the street. One officer stays with her while two others cross the street and go in through the building's front door, weapons sheathed.
Another guard sees the group approaching and runs inside. A moment later, Miter emerges and gives a wave in greeting, running up to walk everyone the rest of the way to the office.
"Found the place?" he says, looking at the wet shoes of all but Malachi.
Joren salutes Marshal Lanya and nods at Miter. He waits until the door to the office is closed and the party is alone with those two, speaking quietly.
"Marshal. Yes we are finding... the source of the flooding, securing it. Also several other very unusual discoveries, both about the water source," he glances at the barrel, "and other strange magical phenomena that are taking place throughout this town with some common themes."
He pauses. "We can be describing these to you now... but is something happening in that building across the street?"
Soft singing echoes through the building and fewer wounded crowd the halls as the group walks to an office, prompting the officers within to clear out.
Miter looks at the barrel as Joren does and says, "Yeah, there's been a lot of that strangeness going around. The building across the street? Yeah, the lady outside kept saying she heard a child calling for help from inside. We wrote her off as crazy for a bit, becuase no one else heard anything, but it looks like a couple of officers went to check it out right as you folk arrived."
The door to the office opens and Marshal Lanya steps through stiffly. She still looks pained, but that she is standing now speaks volumes for her recovery. Miter clams up, more than happy to have his superior officer do the talking now that she is here. He hurriedly brings here a chair to sit on, a gesture which she tries to wave away. A few moments later, though, she sits down anyway, clutching a fresh bandage over her dagger wound.
"It is as you have seen. We have been inundated by reports of magic and miracles. One of our own clerical staff members discovered that when he tried to soothe the wounded with song, their wounds started to scab over more quickly. That's why I myself am back up. Not everything is so helpful though. Overall there have been some close calls, but no fatalities yet." She sucks in a ragged breath. "Still though, I think we are looking at a long night."
She wipes a bit of sweat from her pale forehead and says, "But that is our job and our concern. Thank you for looking into the flooding. If you wouldn't mind reporting to me what happened, you would be more than welcome to excuse yourselves and return to my house for some well deserved rest."
Relieved to see Marshal Lanya on her feet again, Ashley rushes into explain what they had found, telling her about the burning house and the webs and the crocodile, then going into pretty full detail on the barrel they found. She looks to the rest of the group before diving into the portal portion of it, but if no one stops her, she dives right in. Then finishes with helping put out the fire and how Marion assisted the one that made the raincloud, "It really was a beautiful thing, watching them harness the magic that helped the situation."
"But rest? Yes, that sounds good, but I think you need it more than we do. Also, what do you think is our best bet to getting to Talmouth?"
Lanya rests her chin on clasped hands as she leans on the table, looking too tired to be amazed by what she is hearing anymore. "Yeah, I could use some rest. But that will come once everyone is safe and the city is secure. As for Talmouth, I can get you loaded up with some provisions if we've any to spare, and let you slip out of the city tomorrow during working hours. As thanks for what you've done here. If you take the main road, you should reach Talmouth sometime in the evening of the day after, traveling by foot. I-"
There is a knock at the door. Lanya gives Miter a look, who then walks to the door and opens it a crack. Seeing who is on the other side, he opens it further. One of Lanya's yellow-coated officers stands there, giving a quick salute. "Sir, Mayor Berg has requested an emergency strategy meeting regarding the ongoing events in the city, and your attendance is required."
"Please tell him..." she debates something in her head for a moment. "That I apologize but I am tied up with urgent matters here, and to leave command at this critical time would hamstring efforts to keep relative order in the city."
"We are well aware..." The mayor's voice precedes him as he steps around the corner into the doorway with a small group of people behind him. "Of the pressures of your post right now. That's why we've brought the meeting to you." He turns his head to the others with him. "Set up over there," he says, gesturing at a large table behind Lanya. The others start filing through the doorway around the officer standing there, and then begin carefully moving aside paperwork to make room.
Lanya stands and turns to face the mayor squarely, though she leans a from the pain of her wound. "Welcome, Mayor Berg. I'd have tidied a bit had I been expecting you. Who is in attendance?"
"Bartley, a spokesperson from Hardrock's estate, Tanpur from the merchant's guild, Scormen, a temporary stand-in for Andra's position, Tim Small-hands from shipping, and everyone's respective assistants. And yourself, and me, of course."
Lanya nods and then turns to the party. "Looks like I am going be doubly busy for the next while. We'll talk more in the morning." She looks at the commotion at the table behind her as everyone arranges seats and sets out plans, maps, and documents. "Perhaps late morning. I trust you remember your way back to my house?"
Once again, Joren finds himself with his mouth gaping open as the leaders of Tensmith file in.
Same people who rubbed shoulders with Andra even yesterday, thinking nothing of it other than that he was incompetent. Or was one of them knowing?
As Joren's feet start to edge away almost of their own accord, the inexorable pull of fatigue dragging him towards Marshal Lanya's house and sleep, he forces his mind to think. Do any of these civic leaders appear to size up the party with more than the usual curiosity? Or not look their way at all? Does the Mayor himself add any pause or emphasis when he mentions Andra's name? Is the Marshal being set up once more? He stifles a yawn and soft-focuses his eyes, trying to get a read as he had playing cards long ago against Bernard Kryn back in the tent on the Dalmodh Plains...
Ashley stares as all the others file in and seem to take over Marshall Lanya's office of operation. Seeing the Mayor instantly send a bolt of anger through her. Keeping her mouth closed as she was worried that whatever came out of it would probably put them in a worse situation than they are in, she waits to see what the rest of the party decides to do.
Several of the newcomers appear disheveled. The hour is getting late, and by the nightcap still perched upon Tanpur's head, Joren draws the conclusion that some of them had been roused from their sleep for this meeting. Scormen, Andra's stand-in, looks particularly disoriented, though it appears to be more because of his unexpected change of job title and the dire circumstances that caused it.
Joren is not always the best at reading people, especially here with their strange accents and dialects, but Joren recognizes the slight hesitation and inflection when Mayor Berg mentions Andra. It is the way an officer speaks when trying to maintain decorum while mentioning a soldier who has been dishonorably discharged. A notable attempt to conceal disgust in a formal setting.
"I'm sorry, what's this I m hearing about Andra?" Tanpur asks while people are getting seated. "I'm not sure I heard ri-"
"You probably did hear right, but we might as well hear it straight from Lanya. She was there after all. Let's be quick about it though, we have several crises on our hands and we need to act quickly and decisively." He turns and makes eye contact with Joren and the others, acknowledging their presence for the first time. "You lot are still here? Some privacy if you please."
Lanya nods at the group and Miter hurries over to hold the door for them. "Yes, we're fine here for now, thanks," she says as a dismissal, her attention clearly turning to the meeting at hand. All in all with the exception of Lanya, they look like a bunch of bureaucrats scrambling to put out fires.
Joren pauses for a moment, then shakes his head and salutes once more quickly. He nods slightly to Ashley and the others.
As if to say: it's all right. Thinking these people are just disgruntled, as one might be expecting in this situation. If traitors, they are very good.
Clasping Miter's shoulder on the way out and casting a wistful look once more at the barrel they had secured, Joren leads the others back to Marshal Lanya's home (if they follow him) for some well-earned rest. Feeling drained and exhausted to his bones.
Getting the proverbial boot wasn't exactly what Ashley had in mind, but didn't want to bring more trouble to the Marshal. She follows Joren to Lanya's home.
As the exhausted party trudge down the streets of Tensmith which are becoming oddly familiar, yet not, there is a sudden concussion of sound ringing painfully in everyone's ears, followed by a rumbling roar. A residential two-story house just ahead collapses as its supporting walls and beams seem to crumple as if crushed by a giant. Joren is already running towards the debris as a cloud of dust seems to blast outward from the structure.
(The young teenage daughter of the family, up past her bedtime in her room upstairs, has just unwittingly cast Shatter. Thankfully not on herself or directly impacting anyone in her family, but centered on a point that devastates her family home, trapping them all under the rubble.)
Like a man possessed, Joren dives headlong into the wreckage, tossing chunks of masonry aside. Lifting wooden beams that have fallen across passageways. Calling out in his thick accent and stilted phrasing for survivors. One by one, he pulls out the daughter, her younger brother, the mother. Leaving each survivor in the care of Marion and Ashley and the others before rushing back in. The youngest child, a baby girl, is next, miraculously alive in an air pocket formed by two beams fallen at a slant which Joren moves with a roar after having to echo swap there. Finally, gone for a good five minutes digging furiously like a badger, he pulls out the father from where he had been stuck in the cellar, slung now across Joren's shoulder with a broken leg.
By the end, Joren's chin is dragging. His face looks almost inhuman, covered in dirt and splinters and a bit of his own blood. His armor, which had both helped and hindered him, will need a thorough cleaning. Yet for one brief moment, seeing the family all alive and accounted for, Joren breaks into a broad smile, childlike and beatific. As if all the horrors of the past few days could be forgotten, at least for an instant.
The blob of absolute darkness thirty feet wide bounces around haphazardly like a skittish colt to one side of the Tensmith road. Sometimes stationary for several seconds before suddenly bouncing around or upward again and back down. The sound of children's giggling and screaming is heard, both excited and frustrated. Scared in some cases. Occasional adult voices as well, confused, coming from within the darkness.
As the inky sphere moves, it occasionally uncovers parts of the building it is otherwise obscuring. A small school. Seemingly an after-school evening program for young children. Joren speaks with the spellcasters among his companions and surmises that one of the kids has cast Darkness centered on some small object that is now being kicked or tossed blindly and haphazardly by different children, accidentally or on purpose as their teachers scramble to make sense of what is happening. A source of amusement or fear for the children and one of worry and exasperation for the grown-ups.
Joren attempts to wade into the situation, hoping to use his roughly ten feet of blindsight to locate the source of the magic. But the ordeals of the day have left his limbs heavy and his muscles leaden. And his reflexes shot. He does not make it five feet before he is smashed in the nose by an opening door and kicked inadvertently in the shins by a youngster frolicking in the dark. The next several minutes consist of an almost comical series of blunders by the half-dwarven echo knight, who can partly sense things in the dark, but finds himself in an environment that is too target-rich. Too many toys, too many kids running around blindly. Two adult teachers at their wits end also groping around, alarmed at first at the strange, foreign-accented voice in their midst (Joren's first encounter with a teacher consists of an elbow to his groin). On multiple occasions, he seizes a toy or book, thinking it is the source of the Darkness, only to discover it is not as he begins to walk with it.
Finally, as the Darkness scoots suddenly to one side, Joren spies an object that has been kicked into a corner. A jar of honey, now partially open, that must have come from the cramped kitchen area originally but now has made several circuits around the classroom. Just as he grabs it, one of the children jumps up beneath him, bumping the honey up and out of Joren's tired hands, the jar opening mid-air and upending itself square into his face, covering his eyes and nose with sticky sweetness. Letting out a frustrated roar that does nothing except frighten the kids and teachers alike, Joren walks shamefully (and obscured) out of the schoolhouse, honey jar half stuck to his head, blob of darkness moving with him until he eventually tosses it down an alley, only moments before the Darkness ends of its own accord, its duration complete. Growling curses, he turns to stare back at his companions balefully.
"I hope you all were enjoying that one."
Effect on Joren: 10hp damage (bludgeoning and psychic), 1 level Exhaustion.
Malachi pulls a copper coin from his pocket, flipping it along his fingers as he watches the Mayor and the others barge in and make themselves at home in the Marshal’s office. He is tempted to reach out and try to connect with the newcomer’s minds, but the experience in the tunnel has increased his caution and he hesitates. As Joren nods to the others, Malachi pockets his coin and follows them out. He hadn’t realized how tired and sore he was until they actually had time to sit for a while. He was looking forward to sleep at the Marshal’s house.
Malachi paid little attention to Joren’s hijinks in the blob of darkness. His attention was drawn to a plaintive cry from a side alley. Investigating, he found that winter had come to Tensmith. To this alley at least as it was filled with a sleet storm of freezing rain and snow. Through the thickening mist, Malachi could just make out the figure of a young girl, struggling along the ice and lost and alone in the cold. Malachi looks left and right, the child’s parents were nowhere in sight and his companions were engrossed in the darkness. There was no one else.
Sighing, Malachi races into the alley and promptly loses his footing, sprawling headfirst in the slick snow-covered cobblestones and crashing into a pile of crates. Undeterred, he scrambles to his feet and makes his way gingerly to the young girl. Wrapping her in his cloak, he is much more sure-footed this time and guides her out of the worst of the storm. As they enter the main street, the girl breaks away to rejoin her family, leaving Malachi holding his cloak and nursing a nasty cut and bump on the head. He turns back to the others just in time to see Joren emerge from the darkness grumbling and cursing.
Ashley walks sullenly behind the rest, lost in her own thoughts. She barely even notices what is going on around her until Joren does his dance with the darkness. That lifts her spirits a bit and is glad to see he isn't too hurt when he finally figures out the issue. She doesn't notice when Malachi goes running off but as the others discuss the oddity of the darkness and how it really affected so many, she starts looking around the area, making sure there aren't any hurt villagers that need assistance.
She peers down another alleyway and sees an old man looking down towards his feet about 20 feet away, and then looks up with a start when he notices the fire genasi. Crying out as he realizes what she is, more in surprise than in fright, grasping weeds and vines start growing from a spot inbetween them. Before either realize what is going on, both Ashley and the old man are entangled within.
As the vines start wrapping around Ashley's ankles she makes a quick strength save and just barely gets out without being restrained herself. Seeing the terror in the old man's eyes as the weeds and vines wrap themselves around his body, she runs to him and tries to pull him out. Failing miserably, she yanks on the man and he slips from her grasp and she falls on her ass. Getting up with a determined look on her face, she wipes her hands on her cloak and then casts frostbite on the vines around the man to make them brittle. Once satisfied, she gives a quick nod, takes hold of the man again and yanks him free.
"You ok?" Ashley asks as she looks him over. He shakily nods back to her, so she pats him on the shoulder gently and heads back with the others.
Samir follows along the others, his attention time and again caught by some strange matter or seemingly spontaneous act of magical ability. Mentally, he cannot help but think back to his "conversation" with the Blue Lady and the vision he had. More and more he finds himself convinced that what is happening right now is inextricably tied to the entity they had freed back in Andra's office.
Hydaelim. That's She called it. A connection between the worlds of the gods and mortals. But these people... they don't know what's happening to them, where it came from.
It happened before Samir knew what he was doing, could second guess himself or his actions. One moment he was walking along with the others, caught up in his train of thought and observations of the city around them, and the next he was standing on top of a precariously balanced stack of crates, heads turning among the passersby to watch the awkward half-orc who was calling out for their attention.
9 Performance
Oh hells, what am I doing"
"Good people of Tensmith, please, listen." One hand moved to fidget with his glasses, only to be forced back down to grip the strap of his bag. "I know you're all very confused about what has been happening, and for good reason. All of this is new and disturbing, and understandably frightening, and I cannot tell you not to be afraid. I can tell you, however, that these small miracles, these gifts of magic, are real and come from one who has long watched over us all, as best she could. The Blue Lady gave the gift of magic to the mortal world, and is doing so once more. There are forces set against her, forces that would take the magic for themselves and levy it for destruction and greed. But the Lady gives to you freely, and gratefully. I am no preacher or evangelist, but this is something I know and would pass on to you all, if only in hopes of making it less frightening..."
Never an orrator, Samir trails off, still looking wildly uncomfortable as he climbs down from his rickety pulpit and joins the others.
The people in the street turn their heads to regard Samir, several stopping to listen to what he has to say. Soon a small crowd has gathered, listening to his words. Some shake their heads and scoff, muttering about religious lunatics taking advantage of the situation, but others whisper amongst themselves curiously. Even a pair of officers passing by on patrol stop moment to listen in.
As Samir wraps up his speech, a man walks up with a girl in tow. "He's with the pointy eared fellow what helped you out?" the man says to the girl. She nods.
The man turns to Samir. "You say what's happening with my daughter is no accident?" There is concern on his face, and apprehension. But his tone is soft. Pleading. "So it's going to be okay?"
Marion steps up beside Samir. "Everything Samir here said is true. I myself am a servant of the Blue Lady. I know you are confused, and that you have questions. Perhaps I can answer some of them." She smiles warmly at the girl and father, and the three of them walk off to the side where Marion kneels down and speaks to the daughter, showing some minor displays of magic in her palm.
Soon others come forward, and the generally quiet Samir is inundated with questions. It is 10 long minutes before he is able to extricate himself from the crowd feeling exhausted, but as the crowd disperses, so too does much of the cloud of fear that had been hanging over them. Soon after, Marion joins him, and they return to the others together.
The adventurers eventually make their way back to Lanya's abode, tired from the long night, and sporting a few fresh bruises and scrapes between them. Sleep does not take long to arrive.
The street is quiet. Those who made it home are keeping their heads down at this late hour, and the sounds of confusion from around the city are quieter and less frequent. Satisfied, Joren heads back inside to wash up and catch some shut eye.
Unlike Joren, Samir is quick to slip into the house and find a quiet corner, exhausted and frazzled from their day. A faint pounding has begung somewhere behind his eyes and lingered for the last hour or so, and all he can think about as he closes his eyes and tries to relax is how much he can't wait for it to be gone.
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The trip back to the Marshal's office is quieter than before, though there is still the odd noise, or person scurrying to their destination. Up ahead, the group sees the woman sitting outside the office. She seems calmer now, and is talking to several guards while pointing at a building across the street. One officer stays with her while two others cross the street and go in through the building's front door, weapons sheathed.
Another guard sees the group approaching and runs inside. A moment later, Miter emerges and gives a wave in greeting, running up to walk everyone the rest of the way to the office.
"Found the place?" he says, looking at the wet shoes of all but Malachi.
Joren salutes Marshal Lanya and nods at Miter. He waits until the door to the office is closed and the party is alone with those two, speaking quietly.
"Marshal. Yes we are finding... the source of the flooding, securing it. Also several other very unusual discoveries, both about the water source," he glances at the barrel, "and other strange magical phenomena that are taking place throughout this town with some common themes."
He pauses. "We can be describing these to you now... but is something happening in that building across the street?"
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
Soft singing echoes through the building and fewer wounded crowd the halls as the group walks to an office, prompting the officers within to clear out.
Miter looks at the barrel as Joren does and says, "Yeah, there's been a lot of that strangeness going around. The building across the street? Yeah, the lady outside kept saying she heard a child calling for help from inside. We wrote her off as crazy for a bit, becuase no one else heard anything, but it looks like a couple of officers went to check it out right as you folk arrived."
The door to the office opens and Marshal Lanya steps through stiffly. She still looks pained, but that she is standing now speaks volumes for her recovery. Miter clams up, more than happy to have his superior officer do the talking now that she is here. He hurriedly brings here a chair to sit on, a gesture which she tries to wave away. A few moments later, though, she sits down anyway, clutching a fresh bandage over her dagger wound.
"It is as you have seen. We have been inundated by reports of magic and miracles. One of our own clerical staff members discovered that when he tried to soothe the wounded with song, their wounds started to scab over more quickly. That's why I myself am back up. Not everything is so helpful though. Overall there have been some close calls, but no fatalities yet." She sucks in a ragged breath. "Still though, I think we are looking at a long night."
She wipes a bit of sweat from her pale forehead and says, "But that is our job and our concern. Thank you for looking into the flooding. If you wouldn't mind reporting to me what happened, you would be more than welcome to excuse yourselves and return to my house for some well deserved rest."
Relieved to see Marshal Lanya on her feet again, Ashley rushes into explain what they had found, telling her about the burning house and the webs and the crocodile, then going into pretty full detail on the barrel they found. She looks to the rest of the group before diving into the portal portion of it, but if no one stops her, she dives right in. Then finishes with helping put out the fire and how Marion assisted the one that made the raincloud, "It really was a beautiful thing, watching them harness the magic that helped the situation."
"But rest? Yes, that sounds good, but I think you need it more than we do. Also, what do you think is our best bet to getting to Talmouth?"
Joren listens, nodding occasionally, and getting a faraway look in his eyes when Ashley talks about the island shipwreck.
Once she is done, he adds, "I am also thinking we have a guess as to what began this surge in magic..."
He looks around to see if any of his companions want to talk more to Marshal Lanya and Miter about what had happened in Andra's office.
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
Lanya rests her chin on clasped hands as she leans on the table, looking too tired to be amazed by what she is hearing anymore. "Yeah, I could use some rest. But that will come once everyone is safe and the city is secure. As for Talmouth, I can get you loaded up with some provisions if we've any to spare, and let you slip out of the city tomorrow during working hours. As thanks for what you've done here. If you take the main road, you should reach Talmouth sometime in the evening of the day after, traveling by foot. I-"
There is a knock at the door. Lanya gives Miter a look, who then walks to the door and opens it a crack. Seeing who is on the other side, he opens it further. One of Lanya's yellow-coated officers stands there, giving a quick salute. "Sir, Mayor Berg has requested an emergency strategy meeting regarding the ongoing events in the city, and your attendance is required."
"Please tell him..." she debates something in her head for a moment. "That I apologize but I am tied up with urgent matters here, and to leave command at this critical time would hamstring efforts to keep relative order in the city."
"We are well aware..." The mayor's voice precedes him as he steps around the corner into the doorway with a small group of people behind him. "Of the pressures of your post right now. That's why we've brought the meeting to you." He turns his head to the others with him. "Set up over there," he says, gesturing at a large table behind Lanya. The others start filing through the doorway around the officer standing there, and then begin carefully moving aside paperwork to make room.
Lanya stands and turns to face the mayor squarely, though she leans a from the pain of her wound. "Welcome, Mayor Berg. I'd have tidied a bit had I been expecting you. Who is in attendance?"
"Bartley, a spokesperson from Hardrock's estate, Tanpur from the merchant's guild, Scormen, a temporary stand-in for Andra's position, Tim Small-hands from shipping, and everyone's respective assistants. And yourself, and me, of course."
Lanya nods and then turns to the party. "Looks like I am going be doubly busy for the next while. We'll talk more in the morning." She looks at the commotion at the table behind her as everyone arranges seats and sets out plans, maps, and documents. "Perhaps late morning. I trust you remember your way back to my house?"
Once again, Joren finds himself with his mouth gaping open as the leaders of Tensmith file in.
Same people who rubbed shoulders with Andra even yesterday, thinking nothing of it other than that he was incompetent. Or was one of them knowing?
As Joren's feet start to edge away almost of their own accord, the inexorable pull of fatigue dragging him towards Marshal Lanya's house and sleep, he forces his mind to think. Do any of these civic leaders appear to size up the party with more than the usual curiosity? Or not look their way at all? Does the Mayor himself add any pause or emphasis when he mentions Andra's name? Is the Marshal being set up once more? He stifles a yawn and soft-focuses his eyes, trying to get a read as he had playing cards long ago against Bernard Kryn back in the tent on the Dalmodh Plains...
Insight: 20 (dirty)
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
Ashley stares as all the others file in and seem to take over Marshall Lanya's office of operation. Seeing the Mayor instantly send a bolt of anger through her. Keeping her mouth closed as she was worried that whatever came out of it would probably put them in a worse situation than they are in, she waits to see what the rest of the party decides to do.
Several of the newcomers appear disheveled. The hour is getting late, and by the nightcap still perched upon Tanpur's head, Joren draws the conclusion that some of them had been roused from their sleep for this meeting. Scormen, Andra's stand-in, looks particularly disoriented, though it appears to be more because of his unexpected change of job title and the dire circumstances that caused it.
Joren is not always the best at reading people, especially here with their strange accents and dialects, but Joren recognizes the slight hesitation and inflection when Mayor Berg mentions Andra. It is the way an officer speaks when trying to maintain decorum while mentioning a soldier who has been dishonorably discharged. A notable attempt to conceal disgust in a formal setting.
"I'm sorry, what's this I m hearing about Andra?" Tanpur asks while people are getting seated. "I'm not sure I heard ri-"
"You probably did hear right, but we might as well hear it straight from Lanya. She was there after all. Let's be quick about it though, we have several crises on our hands and we need to act quickly and decisively." He turns and makes eye contact with Joren and the others, acknowledging their presence for the first time. "You lot are still here? Some privacy if you please."
Lanya nods at the group and Miter hurries over to hold the door for them. "Yes, we're fine here for now, thanks," she says as a dismissal, her attention clearly turning to the meeting at hand. All in all with the exception of Lanya, they look like a bunch of bureaucrats scrambling to put out fires.
Joren pauses for a moment, then shakes his head and salutes once more quickly. He nods slightly to Ashley and the others.
As if to say: it's all right. Thinking these people are just disgruntled, as one might be expecting in this situation. If traitors, they are very good.
Clasping Miter's shoulder on the way out and casting a wistful look once more at the barrel they had secured, Joren leads the others back to Marshal Lanya's home (if they follow him) for some well-earned rest. Feeling drained and exhausted to his bones.
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
Getting the proverbial boot wasn't exactly what Ashley had in mind, but didn't want to bring more trouble to the Marshal. She follows Joren to Lanya's home.
As the exhausted party trudge down the streets of Tensmith which are becoming oddly familiar, yet not, there is a sudden concussion of sound ringing painfully in everyone's ears, followed by a rumbling roar. A residential two-story house just ahead collapses as its supporting walls and beams seem to crumple as if crushed by a giant. Joren is already running towards the debris as a cloud of dust seems to blast outward from the structure.
(The young teenage daughter of the family, up past her bedtime in her room upstairs, has just unwittingly cast Shatter. Thankfully not on herself or directly impacting anyone in her family, but centered on a point that devastates her family home, trapping them all under the rubble.)
Joren Athletics: 26 (Natural 20)
Like a man possessed, Joren dives headlong into the wreckage, tossing chunks of masonry aside. Lifting wooden beams that have fallen across passageways. Calling out in his thick accent and stilted phrasing for survivors. One by one, he pulls out the daughter, her younger brother, the mother. Leaving each survivor in the care of Marion and Ashley and the others before rushing back in. The youngest child, a baby girl, is next, miraculously alive in an air pocket formed by two beams fallen at a slant which Joren moves with a roar after having to echo swap there. Finally, gone for a good five minutes digging furiously like a badger, he pulls out the father from where he had been stuck in the cellar, slung now across Joren's shoulder with a broken leg.
By the end, Joren's chin is dragging. His face looks almost inhuman, covered in dirt and splinters and a bit of his own blood. His armor, which had both helped and hindered him, will need a thorough cleaning. Yet for one brief moment, seeing the family all alive and accounted for, Joren breaks into a broad smile, childlike and beatific. As if all the horrors of the past few days could be forgotten, at least for an instant.
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
The blob of absolute darkness thirty feet wide bounces around haphazardly like a skittish colt to one side of the Tensmith road. Sometimes stationary for several seconds before suddenly bouncing around or upward again and back down. The sound of children's giggling and screaming is heard, both excited and frustrated. Scared in some cases. Occasional adult voices as well, confused, coming from within the darkness.
As the inky sphere moves, it occasionally uncovers parts of the building it is otherwise obscuring. A small school. Seemingly an after-school evening program for young children. Joren speaks with the spellcasters among his companions and surmises that one of the kids has cast Darkness centered on some small object that is now being kicked or tossed blindly and haphazardly by different children, accidentally or on purpose as their teachers scramble to make sense of what is happening. A source of amusement or fear for the children and one of worry and exasperation for the grown-ups.
Perception: 10
Joren attempts to wade into the situation, hoping to use his roughly ten feet of blindsight to locate the source of the magic. But the ordeals of the day have left his limbs heavy and his muscles leaden. And his reflexes shot. He does not make it five feet before he is smashed in the nose by an opening door and kicked inadvertently in the shins by a youngster frolicking in the dark. The next several minutes consist of an almost comical series of blunders by the half-dwarven echo knight, who can partly sense things in the dark, but finds himself in an environment that is too target-rich. Too many toys, too many kids running around blindly. Two adult teachers at their wits end also groping around, alarmed at first at the strange, foreign-accented voice in their midst (Joren's first encounter with a teacher consists of an elbow to his groin). On multiple occasions, he seizes a toy or book, thinking it is the source of the Darkness, only to discover it is not as he begins to walk with it.
Finally, as the Darkness scoots suddenly to one side, Joren spies an object that has been kicked into a corner. A jar of honey, now partially open, that must have come from the cramped kitchen area originally but now has made several circuits around the classroom. Just as he grabs it, one of the children jumps up beneath him, bumping the honey up and out of Joren's tired hands, the jar opening mid-air and upending itself square into his face, covering his eyes and nose with sticky sweetness. Letting out a frustrated roar that does nothing except frighten the kids and teachers alike, Joren walks shamefully (and obscured) out of the schoolhouse, honey jar half stuck to his head, blob of darkness moving with him until he eventually tosses it down an alley, only moments before the Darkness ends of its own accord, its duration complete. Growling curses, he turns to stare back at his companions balefully.
"I hope you all were enjoying that one."
Effect on Joren: 10hp damage (bludgeoning and psychic), 1 level Exhaustion.
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
Malachi pulls a copper coin from his pocket, flipping it along his fingers as he watches the Mayor and the others barge in and make themselves at home in the Marshal’s office. He is tempted to reach out and try to connect with the newcomer’s minds, but the experience in the tunnel has increased his caution and he hesitates. As Joren nods to the others, Malachi pockets his coin and follows them out. He hadn’t realized how tired and sore he was until they actually had time to sit for a while. He was looking forward to sleep at the Marshal’s house.
Malachi paid little attention to Joren’s hijinks in the blob of darkness. His attention was drawn to a plaintive cry from a side alley. Investigating, he found that winter had come to Tensmith. To this alley at least as it was filled with a sleet storm of freezing rain and snow. Through the thickening mist, Malachi could just make out the figure of a young girl, struggling along the ice and lost and alone in the cold. Malachi looks left and right, the child’s parents were nowhere in sight and his companions were engrossed in the darkness. There was no one else.
Sighing, Malachi races into the alley and promptly loses his footing, sprawling headfirst in the slick snow-covered cobblestones and crashing into a pile of crates. Undeterred, he scrambles to his feet and makes his way gingerly to the young girl. Wrapping her in his cloak, he is much more sure-footed this time and guides her out of the worst of the storm. As they enter the main street, the girl breaks away to rejoin her family, leaving Malachi holding his cloak and nursing a nasty cut and bump on the head. He turns back to the others just in time to see Joren emerge from the darkness grumbling and cursing.
Effect: 6 hp damage and 1 level of exhaustion
Ashley walks sullenly behind the rest, lost in her own thoughts. She barely even notices what is going on around her until Joren does his dance with the darkness. That lifts her spirits a bit and is glad to see he isn't too hurt when he finally figures out the issue. She doesn't notice when Malachi goes running off but as the others discuss the oddity of the darkness and how it really affected so many, she starts looking around the area, making sure there aren't any hurt villagers that need assistance.
She peers down another alleyway and sees an old man looking down towards his feet about 20 feet away, and then looks up with a start when he notices the fire genasi. Crying out as he realizes what she is, more in surprise than in fright, grasping weeds and vines start growing from a spot inbetween them. Before either realize what is going on, both Ashley and the old man are entangled within.
As the vines start wrapping around Ashley's ankles she makes a quick strength save and just barely gets out without being restrained herself. Seeing the terror in the old man's eyes as the weeds and vines wrap themselves around his body, she runs to him and tries to pull him out. Failing miserably, she yanks on the man and he slips from her grasp and she falls on her ass. Getting up with a determined look on her face, she wipes her hands on her cloak and then casts frostbite on the vines around the man to make them brittle. Once satisfied, she gives a quick nod, takes hold of the man again and yanks him free.
"You ok?" Ashley asks as she looks him over. He shakily nods back to her, so she pats him on the shoulder gently and heads back with the others.
Samir follows along the others, his attention time and again caught by some strange matter or seemingly spontaneous act of magical ability. Mentally, he cannot help but think back to his "conversation" with the Blue Lady and the vision he had. More and more he finds himself convinced that what is happening right now is inextricably tied to the entity they had freed back in Andra's office.
Hydaelim. That's She called it. A connection between the worlds of the gods and mortals. But these people... they don't know what's happening to them, where it came from.
It happened before Samir knew what he was doing, could second guess himself or his actions. One moment he was walking along with the others, caught up in his train of thought and observations of the city around them, and the next he was standing on top of a precariously balanced stack of crates, heads turning among the passersby to watch the awkward half-orc who was calling out for their attention.
9 Performance
Oh hells, what am I doing"
"Good people of Tensmith, please, listen." One hand moved to fidget with his glasses, only to be forced back down to grip the strap of his bag. "I know you're all very confused about what has been happening, and for good reason. All of this is new and disturbing, and understandably frightening, and I cannot tell you not to be afraid. I can tell you, however, that these small miracles, these gifts of magic, are real and come from one who has long watched over us all, as best she could. The Blue Lady gave the gift of magic to the mortal world, and is doing so once more. There are forces set against her, forces that would take the magic for themselves and levy it for destruction and greed. But the Lady gives to you freely, and gratefully. I am no preacher or evangelist, but this is something I know and would pass on to you all, if only in hopes of making it less frightening..."
Never an orrator, Samir trails off, still looking wildly uncomfortable as he climbs down from his rickety pulpit and joins the others.
"Oh hells, did I really just do that?"
The people in the street turn their heads to regard Samir, several stopping to listen to what he has to say. Soon a small crowd has gathered, listening to his words. Some shake their heads and scoff, muttering about religious lunatics taking advantage of the situation, but others whisper amongst themselves curiously. Even a pair of officers passing by on patrol stop moment to listen in.
As Samir wraps up his speech, a man walks up with a girl in tow. "He's with the pointy eared fellow what helped you out?" the man says to the girl. She nods.
The man turns to Samir. "You say what's happening with my daughter is no accident?" There is concern on his face, and apprehension. But his tone is soft. Pleading. "So it's going to be okay?"
Marion steps up beside Samir. "Everything Samir here said is true. I myself am a servant of the Blue Lady. I know you are confused, and that you have questions. Perhaps I can answer some of them." She smiles warmly at the girl and father, and the three of them walk off to the side where Marion kneels down and speaks to the daughter, showing some minor displays of magic in her palm.
Soon others come forward, and the generally quiet Samir is inundated with questions. It is 10 long minutes before he is able to extricate himself from the crowd feeling exhausted, but as the crowd disperses, so too does much of the cloud of fear that had been hanging over them. Soon after, Marion joins him, and they return to the others together.
The adventurers eventually make their way back to Lanya's abode, tired from the long night, and sporting a few fresh bruises and scrapes between them. Sleep does not take long to arrive.
Joren feels like hell and looks worse.
He arrives at Marshal Lanya's home ready to all but rip off his armor, spend a minute washing up and fall dead asleep.
Nevertheless, habit forces him to make a circuit of the exterior, looking for potential watchers, traps or signs of unwanted visitors since morning.
Joren Perception at disadvantage due to one level of Exhaustion: 12
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
The street is quiet. Those who made it home are keeping their heads down at this late hour, and the sounds of confusion from around the city are quieter and less frequent. Satisfied, Joren heads back inside to wash up and catch some shut eye.
Unlike Joren, Samir is quick to slip into the house and find a quiet corner, exhausted and frazzled from their day. A faint pounding has begung somewhere behind his eyes and lingered for the last hour or so, and all he can think about as he closes his eyes and tries to relax is how much he can't wait for it to be gone.