Quill gasps.

"Help!" he starts shouting, as the radiant blade stabs at the snake's head as if of its own volition.

"Help!" 

Attack: 14 Damage: 8 radiant.

Esvaris: The young woman pulls in a long shuddery breath and releases your arm.  "Thank you, Brother." You can see her regaining her composure somewhat.  "The other night, the night High Lord Emeritus went missing... that was the first time that Tristan and I..." her face flames with embarrassment.  "He was only away from the gate for an hour at most. But... when we, um, finished, he returned and found the gate slightly open."  Looking earnestly at you she insists, "He is a good and loyal guard!  He told me tonight that  we can never meet while he is on duty again.  He was going to tell me this morning, but when Father came here it changed our plans, so he left me that note."  She hangs her head and says quietly, "I made him swear not to tell that night, about the open gate.  I was afraid Father would kill him, or that Brackus would... hurt me."  Shudders ripple across her as fear grips her. "He has changed, Menges.  He is not the brother you remember.  Though he hides it from you and Father.  He has become dark and secretive, easily angered. And..." her voice falters "he looks at me... strangely.  As if he is debating disposing of a particularly useless horse. You won't tell him, will you? And you won't punish Tristan?  It was at my urging that he did what he did. I'm so very sorry and I will never drag him away from his post again, I swear!"

Quill: The sword slices through the snake like butter, radiance bursting through it's skin.  Two halves of the poisonous creature fall to either side of the bed.  But Simeon, no longer constricted, looks very bad. Emungo and Warrel wake up, confused in the light from your earlier cantrip, rubbing sleep from their eyes.  Warrel gets tangled in his blankets as he tries to get out of bed and falls onto the floor.

Demoiselle: You can hear Quill yelling for help.

Esvaris

I look her in the eye. "I shall not tell a soul. Now, given what you have told me, I think we can both agree that it would be best if we pretend that this," I gesture back into the transept and beyond, "never happened. We shan't speak of it again."

OOC: was Korlan successful in locking the door to the garden behind us?

Esvaris (yes, he was)

Quill curses despite himself. He doesn't have any poison-curing spells prepared.

"Usoara, please heal him!" Quill prays, voice taking on a deeper tone for just a moment.

"He's been bit!" Quill tells Emungo, turning to him with his radiant blade flying back to his hand.

"I've healed him, but he might be poisoned. I'm not sure!"

Esvaris: She spontaneously hugs you, tears hovering in her eyes.  "Thank you! Thank you, Brother!" Stepping back she smiles brightly at you. "I have never known that you cared about me or felt that we were close.  From this moment forward I will love you above every other member of our family! Tristan is a very good man.  You will see.  And I... just want to be his wife and bear him children and make him happy.  None of this," she plucks at her rich fur coat as if it were diseased, "means anything to me.  If you will give me your support, I will speak to Father tomorrow and tell him the truth.  Tristan... he... I love him."

Esvaris

Not sure how to respond to that, just smile, and then I go to open the door. Frustrated that it doesn't open, I mutter, "where is that halfling with my keys? KORLAN?"

Esvaris: Hesitating slightly, she reaches into her pocket, and pulls out a key to the library door.  "I, um, have a copy of the key, if you need it."  Her cheeks are once again red with embarrassment.

Esvaris

"Ah, I see. Did Tristan give you that?" I take it from her and use it to unlock the door, though I do not open it.

Esvaris: "N-no.  I took it from the desk in Brackus' room.  I was going to put it back when I return home."

Quill:  Novice Emungo hurries over to look at Simeon, his face turning a bit green at the sight.  Then he holds his hand in front of Simeon's nose and mouth.  "He seems to be breathing, if shallowly.  You stay with him.  I will go to the Locus where the teachers and higher clerics are quartered.  There must be someone there who can remove poison from him."  Turning to Warrel he says, "Pray, brother.  With all your might."  Then he rushes out of the room.  Warrel looks at you helplessly.  "Should I clean up the, ah, mess?" he asks, gesturing at the large dead snake on the ground.  Then he looks around the room in confusion.  "And where are the other two novices?"

Esvaris

"Alright. Well, given what you have said about him, do you think I ought to return it to him? For your own safety, of course; I mean, what if you are caught I'll make up a good story, and get it back to him tomorrow."

Esvaris: She smiles in thanks, nods, and slips out the library door into the moonlight and the garden.

Esvaris

Before she goes, I say "If you ever need someone to talk to, and I'm not around, there is a novice here--Esvaris--an elf. You can trust him. Now, get to bed." I watch her go, making sure she is safe. I recall the creepiness that was here when we entered. Assuming she gets out safely, I shut the door and shout into the darkness, "Korlan! Where are you?"

"Hmm...Probably off short-sheeting someone's bed," mutters Quill at Warrel's second question.

It's a little late for some prank, though. I wonder what they're really up to, he thinks.

"Now, as for cleaning it up...let's see. It's poisonous, so we shouldn't touch it. Maybe we can...er, actually, we should keep it where it is so that whoever comes can see what bit him. That might be important."

OOC: Disguise Self lasts one hour. How much time do I think I have left?

Esvaris thinks he has about 5 minutes left before his disguise spell ends.

The girl leaves safely.

Demoiselle bolts upright, suddenly awakened by screaming. She recognizes Quill's voice and takes off at a run, clad only in her ruffled silk g-string and nearly transparent sleeping shift, and nearly barrels into him stopping only just in time. "I heard screaming! Was there an attack? What's going on?!"

Quill (who is wearing shorts and a simple night shirt, FYI) is busy examining the area around Simeon's bed, and doesn't look over when she comes in.

"Simeon's been bit by a snake," he says quietly.

"I healed him as well as I could. Emungo went for a superior, and I'm just trying to figure out how it got in here."

Investigation: 11

He glances over at Demoiselle and blinks, then looks away, blushing slightly.

Demoiselle swore softly in Etoilese. She looked over Simeon's form, using her own knowledge of venoms and poisons to try and recognize the symptoms.