Silas having taken in the scene with the prisoners, assumes that Rana is attempting to stab at Jon the bartender.. he lets the man slide from his shoulder catching him as he falls and proceeds to hold the limp body out in front of himself, making sure 'Jon's' back is to Rana as to protect the chest tattoo, he holds the man up like a meat shield.
His mind still reeling from exhaustion and the cumulative horror of the last 12 hours, Joren feels as if he is moving in molasses as he watches Rana charge, scalpel in hand - he assumes at Razmus. Strangely, time seems to slow down in proportion for him. As if in a nightmare once more, he moves his echo between Rana and Razmus. Blocking her path
Everyone is free to make their own choices. Their own choices... as I have made mine back on the Dalmodh Plains. Their own choices... The choice of someone that has been tortured, mutilated, experimented on. And I am going to stand between her and revenge? I know this will haunt me for the rest of my life, but I cannot... I cannot...
Joren bows his head in shame and sadness. He moves his echo to the side. To stand in front of Joren instead of Razmus. Clearing a path to let Rana attack the unconscious man. He readies a defensive non-lethal attack on Rana, ONLY in the completely unexpected case that her attack is on himself or Silas instead of on Razmus. But he knows it is not. He forces himself to watch.
Everyone is free to make their own choices, but not to avoid the consequences.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Intrigued by Ashley's display of magic and circumvention of the wards placed upon the staples Marion is startled when Rana suddenly takes off. As she starts screaming and grabs the scalpel realisation dawns on Marion, and immediately she takes off after the woman.
As she begins to move off she opens her mouth, and once more those around the room feel her voice echo around the chamber as she speaks a single word, it's power trying to drill into Rana's thoughts: "STOP!"
Hoping that the thought will buy her time she needs Marion does her best to reach the woman and hold her back, and if she can to take the scalpel from her as gently as possible.
The intensity and magic behind Marion's demand brings Rana to a temporary halt. She is openly weeping now, tears of anger and anguish streaming down her face. Marion catches up and tries to take the scalpel, but Rana's changed body is stronger, and the scalpel sharper, than she was expecting. When she pulls on the scalpel it doesn't shift a centimeter in Rana's grasp, and Marion instead nicks herself on the blade (1 of point slashing damage).
Unable to get the blade out of Rana's hand, and with blood now dripping from the palm of her hand, Marion moves to place herself between Rana and the limp form of the innkeeper before the power of her spell wanes completely. She is not threatening the woman nor trying to force her to stop any longer, and given the ease with which she was just shrugged her off Marion isn't entirely sure she would be able to without the help of her magic, but nonetheless she wishes to be an obstacle.
Speaking calmly, as her thoughts drifting back to the words of Sir Ennerd on the day she was first forced to slay another living soul, she tries desperately to appeal to Rana, hoping to break through the understandable anger that overwhelms the poor woman.
"You have already suffered enough, do not bear the burden of committing murder in cold blood atop it all. This man is evil, and he deserves what is due to him, but you do not deserve such a stain upon your soul, my dear Rana. I know what it means to take a life, and it leaves its mark upon oneself. It is not something you can forget, nor should you, for an act such as this should be nothing but the last resort. I swear to you, with the Blue Lady as mine witness, this man will face justice, but there is only torment and pain in this choice."
Silas, seeing the tension of the situation passed slightly, lowers the limp body of Rasmus from his 'meat shield' position, he places one large hand gently on Marions shoulder. "why stop her? surely the best people to pass judgement on this man are the real victims? whether it 'stain the soul' or not, If any of them still decide to do it knowing the moral consequences, then who are we to stop them..?" he asks in a gruff yet very matter of fact voice, It is apparent that the question to Marion, and to a lesser degree Malachi too, is not asked in an aggressive or accusatory way, simply a statement.
Either way, with the physical momentum of her charge halted, her emotional momentum dissipates as well. As she regains the control of her body that Marion momentarily took from her, she collapses to her knees, chest heaving as sobs wrack her body. Kairem slowly walks over over and kneels beside Rana, putting a now bare arm over her shoulder. She leans in and continues to cry.
Ashley audibly gasps as Rana collapses and slowly heads over to help. She brings her mage hand with her and asks, "May I help with the bandages?"if the answer is yes, she will remove the staples.
She then looks up at the three by Razmus, "What is your plan with that creature? Looks to me like he is dying. Can we just finish him or did you need more info Silas?"she says this part a bit hard, she is obviously not happy about seeing the reaction Rana had with him after just trying to win her trust.
Her eyes not moving from Rana for a moment Marion does not flinch in her steadfast determination as she feels Silas place his hand on her shoulder. With that she kneels down and takes Rana's hand gently once more, helping Ashley remove the bandages as the staples are removed and letting a portion of the energy within her flow through and into the distraught woman.
In equal parts responding to Silas and Ashley both she speaks aloud as she tends to Rana: "We make our own judgement in the choices we each take, all we can do is help each other to understand what those choices truly mean, for when our time comes the Azure Sovereign will lay bare our souls that we might witness to our true legacy. I will not stand idle and simply watch as this poor woman is driven by the pain and misery inflicted upon her, I would rather soothe the wounds to her body and her heart so that she might choose to be free from this mans touch forever more. To continue the cycle he has wrought does good to none."
Marion is using her Lay on hands to heal Rana for 1 hp (there are a lot of victims after all!)
Rana continues to cry, unresponsive, but softer as Ashley and Marion tend to her, and the wrappings fall away. A bit of colour enters her cheeks as a warm glow spreads through the hand Marion is holding.
Razmus Death Save
18
Kairem looks up with distrustful eyes. "I second the fiery one's question. Is there a reason you let this... thing... yet live? Even protect it?" Before Vilus or Joren have an opportunity to respond, they both hear a faint echoing sound coming from down the unexplored passageway, like the scampering pitter patter of a rat, but two loud and heavy for any rodent of a regular size. Sure enough, moments later Joren's dark-attuned eyes make out the form of a large rat 60 feet away. It is perhaps knee-height on all fours, chest-height were it to stand on its hind legs. There is something in its mouth.
Silas looks to Ashley and Kairem with a steely gaze, "nothing he says at this point can be trusted, his Informational use is burnt but I can likely get information from the runes etched into his skin. there is no reason for him to live, and I understand your reasons now Marion, thank you, I wholly agree No more cycle of pain" with that said Silas lifts the man with both arms, one grabbing his shirt from the front, the other holding the back of his skull, without warning Silas releases the one hand holding Rasmus' body and with a swift movement upwards with the second hand, combined with the weight of the man's body, snaps Rasmus's head backwards in an impossible position and elongating the man's neck beyond its natural bounds. he then throws the slumped pile of man back over his shoulder. "there, no more discussion"
Joren's mind can no longer process the moral complexities of the choices people are making. He has made his own choice - which is to let others do as they will with Razmus. So he makes no move to stop Silas.
Instead he says, as quietly as possible so the party and Rana/Kairem can hear.
"There is a large rat coming from this far passageway, having something in its mouth. Is this one of the 'others' you were mentioning? Attacking it, should we be?"
He positions his echo in a sentinel position, just around the corner of the door. He moves everyone back, well clear from the door and to one side if they are willing, then goes and stands with his echo, just on the other side of the door, peeking around the edge. His plan is to send his echo to attack when the rat is within 30', but he may change that plan based on what the others, especially Rana/Kairem say.
Answers come to Vilus sooner than he could have anticipated.
Ever since he had inscribed the pattern of arcane runes into his mysterious tome, he had felt it being broken down and analyzed by the book like a buzzing sensation in the back of his mind, trying to find its its significance, its origin, its purpose. Vilus's work had been an almost perfect replication (arcana 19). But perhaps in copying from a contoured surface to a flat page he had miscalculated a few angles. Maybe the blood didn't seep into paper quite the same way ink did into skin. Or maybe he had done the best that could be done and it was simply too much for the book to decode without further context. Vilus may likely never know.
But something does click, and realization comes to Vilus from his connection to the tome, when he feels a heat from his back where Razmus's chest is pressed against his back. He feels it begin to swell and the heat becomes almost blistering. He can see the room lighting up with a bright white glow from behind him. He thinks back to Razmus's apparent readiness to die. His taunts. His threats. His incentivization to check out his lab. All had been in an attempt to goad someone into enacting lethal force upon him. They now knew he wasn't working alone, and knowing his situation was helpless he was looking to bury the evidence of what was going on.
His tattoo is a dead man's switch written in an impossible Godtongue, and in a matter of seconds he is going to explode.
Vilus has another thought. What does that mean for the one written in my tome?
(Everyone but Vilus make a perception check.
10 or higher and you see what is happening in time for a movement OR an action.
15 or higher and you have time for a movement AND an action.
Vilus will make a charisma check to translate his otherworldly thoughts into enough keywords to alert the group.
10 or higher and he is able to convey the information effectively enough for everyone to get one move and action regardless of their perception.
15 or higher and everyone has time for two moves and actions)
Silas having taken in the scene with the prisoners, assumes that Rana is attempting to stab at Jon the bartender.. he lets the man slide from his shoulder catching him as he falls and proceeds to hold the limp body out in front of himself, making sure 'Jon's' back is to Rana as to protect the chest tattoo, he holds the man up like a meat shield.
His mind still reeling from exhaustion and the cumulative horror of the last 12 hours, Joren feels as if he is moving in molasses as he watches Rana charge, scalpel in hand - he assumes at Razmus. Strangely, time seems to slow down in proportion for him. As if in a nightmare once more, he moves his echo between Rana and Razmus. Blocking her path
Everyone is free to make their own choices. Their own choices... as I have made mine back on the Dalmodh Plains. Their own choices... The choice of someone that has been tortured, mutilated, experimented on. And I am going to stand between her and revenge? I know this will haunt me for the rest of my life, but I cannot... I cannot...
Joren bows his head in shame and sadness. He moves his echo to the side. To stand in front of Joren instead of Razmus. Clearing a path to let Rana attack the unconscious man. He readies a defensive non-lethal attack on Rana, ONLY in the completely unexpected case that her attack is on himself or Silas instead of on Razmus. But he knows it is not. He forces himself to watch.
Everyone is free to make their own choices, but not to avoid the consequences.
Forgive me, mother.
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
Intrigued by Ashley's display of magic and circumvention of the wards placed upon the staples Marion is startled when Rana suddenly takes off. As she starts screaming and grabs the scalpel realisation dawns on Marion, and immediately she takes off after the woman.
As she begins to move off she opens her mouth, and once more those around the room feel her voice echo around the chamber as she speaks a single word, it's power trying to drill into Rana's thoughts: "STOP!"
Hoping that the thought will buy her time she needs Marion does her best to reach the woman and hold her back, and if she can to take the scalpel from her as gently as possible.
DC 13 Wisdom save for the spell
If necessary to hold Rana back - athletics:5
The intensity and magic behind Marion's demand brings Rana to a temporary halt. She is openly weeping now, tears of anger and anguish streaming down her face. Marion catches up and tries to take the scalpel, but Rana's changed body is stronger, and the scalpel sharper, than she was expecting. When she pulls on the scalpel it doesn't shift a centimeter in Rana's grasp, and Marion instead nicks herself on the blade (1 of point slashing damage).
Unable to get the blade out of Rana's hand, and with blood now dripping from the palm of her hand, Marion moves to place herself between Rana and the limp form of the innkeeper before the power of her spell wanes completely. She is not threatening the woman nor trying to force her to stop any longer, and given the ease with which she was just shrugged her off Marion isn't entirely sure she would be able to without the help of her magic, but nonetheless she wishes to be an obstacle.
Speaking calmly, as her thoughts drifting back to the words of Sir Ennerd on the day she was first forced to slay another living soul, she tries desperately to appeal to Rana, hoping to break through the understandable anger that overwhelms the poor woman.
"You have already suffered enough, do not bear the burden of committing murder in cold blood atop it all. This man is evil, and he deserves what is due to him, but you do not deserve such a stain upon your soul, my dear Rana. I know what it means to take a life, and it leaves its mark upon oneself. It is not something you can forget, nor should you, for an act such as this should be nothing but the last resort. I swear to you, with the Blue Lady as mine witness, this man will face justice, but there is only torment and pain in this choice."
Silas, seeing the tension of the situation passed slightly, lowers the limp body of Rasmus from his 'meat shield' position, he places one large hand gently on Marions shoulder. "why stop her? surely the best people to pass judgement on this man are the real victims? whether it 'stain the soul' or not, If any of them still decide to do it knowing the moral consequences, then who are we to stop them..?" he asks in a gruff yet very matter of fact voice, It is apparent that the question to Marion, and to a lesser degree Malachi too, is not asked in an aggressive or accusatory way, simply a statement.
Either way, with the physical momentum of her charge halted, her emotional momentum dissipates as well. As she regains the control of her body that Marion momentarily took from her, she collapses to her knees, chest heaving as sobs wrack her body. Kairem slowly walks over over and kneels beside Rana, putting a now bare arm over her shoulder. She leans in and continues to cry.
Ashley audibly gasps as Rana collapses and slowly heads over to help. She brings her mage hand with her and asks, "May I help with the bandages?" if the answer is yes, she will remove the staples.
She then looks up at the three by Razmus, "What is your plan with that creature? Looks to me like he is dying. Can we just finish him or did you need more info Silas?" she says this part a bit hard, she is obviously not happy about seeing the reaction Rana had with him after just trying to win her trust.
Her eyes not moving from Rana for a moment Marion does not flinch in her steadfast determination as she feels Silas place his hand on her shoulder. With that she kneels down and takes Rana's hand gently once more, helping Ashley remove the bandages as the staples are removed and letting a portion of the energy within her flow through and into the distraught woman.
In equal parts responding to Silas and Ashley both she speaks aloud as she tends to Rana: "We make our own judgement in the choices we each take, all we can do is help each other to understand what those choices truly mean, for when our time comes the Azure Sovereign will lay bare our souls that we might witness to our true legacy. I will not stand idle and simply watch as this poor woman is driven by the pain and misery inflicted upon her, I would rather soothe the wounds to her body and her heart so that she might choose to be free from this mans touch forever more. To continue the cycle he has wrought does good to none."
Marion is using her Lay on hands to heal Rana for 1 hp (there are a lot of victims after all!)
Rana continues to cry, unresponsive, but softer as Ashley and Marion tend to her, and the wrappings fall away. A bit of colour enters her cheeks as a warm glow spreads through the hand Marion is holding.
Razmus Death Save
18
Kairem looks up with distrustful eyes. "I second the fiery one's question. Is there a reason you let this... thing... yet live? Even protect it?" Before Vilus or Joren have an opportunity to respond, they both hear a faint echoing sound coming from down the unexplored passageway, like the scampering pitter patter of a rat, but two loud and heavy for any rodent of a regular size. Sure enough, moments later Joren's dark-attuned eyes make out the form of a large rat 60 feet away. It is perhaps knee-height on all fours, chest-height were it to stand on its hind legs. There is something in its mouth.
Silas looks to Ashley and Kairem with a steely gaze, "nothing he says at this point can be trusted, his Informational use is burnt but I can likely get information from the runes etched into his skin. there is no reason for him to live, and I understand your reasons now Marion, thank you, I wholly agree No more cycle of pain" with that said Silas lifts the man with both arms, one grabbing his shirt from the front, the other holding the back of his skull, without warning Silas releases the one hand holding Rasmus' body and with a swift movement upwards with the second hand, combined with the weight of the man's body, snaps Rasmus's head backwards in an impossible position and elongating the man's neck beyond its natural bounds. he then throws the slumped pile of man back over his shoulder. "there, no more discussion"
Joren's mind can no longer process the moral complexities of the choices people are making. He has made his own choice - which is to let others do as they will with Razmus. So he makes no move to stop Silas.
Instead he says, as quietly as possible so the party and Rana/Kairem can hear.
"There is a large rat coming from this far passageway, having something in its mouth. Is this one of the 'others' you were mentioning? Attacking it, should we be?"
He positions his echo in a sentinel position, just around the corner of the door. He moves everyone back, well clear from the door and to one side if they are willing, then goes and stands with his echo, just on the other side of the door, peeking around the edge. His plan is to send his echo to attack when the rat is within 30', but he may change that plan based on what the others, especially Rana/Kairem say.
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
Answers come to Vilus sooner than he could have anticipated.
Ever since he had inscribed the pattern of arcane runes into his mysterious tome, he had felt it being broken down and analyzed by the book like a buzzing sensation in the back of his mind, trying to find its its significance, its origin, its purpose. Vilus's work had been an almost perfect replication (arcana 19). But perhaps in copying from a contoured surface to a flat page he had miscalculated a few angles. Maybe the blood didn't seep into paper quite the same way ink did into skin. Or maybe he had done the best that could be done and it was simply too much for the book to decode without further context. Vilus may likely never know.
But something does click, and realization comes to Vilus from his connection to the tome, when he feels a heat from his back where Razmus's chest is pressed against his back. He feels it begin to swell and the heat becomes almost blistering. He can see the room lighting up with a bright white glow from behind him. He thinks back to Razmus's apparent readiness to die. His taunts. His threats. His incentivization to check out his lab. All had been in an attempt to goad someone into enacting lethal force upon him. They now knew he wasn't working alone, and knowing his situation was helpless he was looking to bury the evidence of what was going on.
His tattoo is a dead man's switch written in an impossible Godtongue, and in a matter of seconds he is going to explode.
Vilus has another thought. What does that mean for the one written in my tome?
(Everyone but Vilus make a perception check.
Vilus will make a charisma check to translate his otherworldly thoughts into enough keywords to alert the group.
Perception check at disadvantage: 7
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
Using inspiration:
Ashley perception 5
perception:6
Straight charisma.. here we go! 9
Perception: 6
As Silas starts stammering, Ash starts looking around wildly trying to figure out what is now going on - hasn't there been enough??
Athletics (w/advantage) 21Malachi Perception: 15.