Heavy is the Head - Campaign thread

Lam releases a breath as he stares down at Eliza, satisfied to have stopped her and gathering his thoughts on what comes next.

We are out of initiative, as Eliza is totally unconscious yep yep nothing fishy there.

Saoirse can easily get down with Flybert and join the others.

Fitzwhistle is smoking from Sha's pipe.

Pantherlock's body starts to shift and contort, his hind legs straightening and growing longer as his back first arches and then starts to straighten. In short order the dark furry feline form is replaced once again with a tall slender firbolg.

"This one simply does not listen, she is lucky we were not trying to kill her. If you could restrain her please Lam. Make sure she cannot speak or wiggle those digits of hers", he says and once Lam has her pinned he reaches down for her spellbook and Fitzwhistle's tool.

Saoirse hops on Flybert and descends next to her friends. With the spellbook and Fitzwhistle's multitool already taken care of, she checks Eliza's body for the rest of her belongings.

- I'm not taking chances. I'll secure whatever she has on herself. I think she mentioned a letter, or something like that.

She also proceeds to tie her.

- We should get back up. But how are we going to pass the evocation room? Or we could take several turns over Flybert ...

Lam nods to Hemlock and dutifully pins Eliza down, holding her hands and wrists in place as he waits for Saoirse to join them with Flybert. When she does, he keeps Eliza’s hands restrained and steady to hopefully aid Saoirse in tying her up. He looks helplessly over at Hemlock then at Eliza’s unrestrained mouth- he has only so many hands to restrain someone with, and he is also not particularly worried about her speaking just yet.

(if the help works it's a 19 on a d20 roll! It would be 23 with the survival bonus. And the same if it is a general dex roll)

Saoirse's hands shake from all of the excitement, and from her rage at Eliza. It is only when she is close to Lam and Hemlock, and sees that the earnest bugbear has his wits about him, that she is able to calm herself enough to bind Eliza with rope and begin searching her. She does not find anything beyond the obvious spellbook and Fitzwhistle's tool on her brief inspection - if she has a letter on her it must be tucked underneath a few layers of clothing or hidden in a secret pocket.

While tying her wrists, you notice that her fists are clenched in a way that tightens her forearms, and bind the ropes tighter there.

You have a bound captive!

Now holding Eliza's spellbook and Fitzwhitsle's tool, Hemlock looks upon their captive.

"It sounds barbaric, but I think a gag is required as well", he suggests. "I am also not comfortable taking her back in the tower. I think tying her to a tree down here for now makes sense. Then we can think about how we get back up, because that is a very good point Saoirse. I am certainly not the best at climbing in this form", he finishes with a smile.

"In fact, if climbing is necessary, I would ask if we can rest down here for an hour", he adds, looking warily at Flybert at the suggestion to fly up. "I suppose if Flybert can take Lam's weight, it might be ok".

Quote from PolarisUnmoored >>

We are out of initiative, as Eliza is totally unconscious yep yep nothing fishy there.

Saoirse can easily get down with Flybert and join the others.

Fitzwhistle is smoking from Sha's pipe.

 Now we’re having a nice laugh together.  Sha’s eyes are dilated and he stretching out on the floor.

- You're right. As I was saying, let's not take chances - Saoirse not only gags Eliza but also blindfold's her - Let's take turns on Flybert. I also want to rest a little, but I would prefer to do it upstairs.

All three togheter spend a few moments tying Eliza to a nearby tree, and covering her with branches, leaves and such. One never knows when a wild animal can appear, and though they were all fed up with the wizard, it's not as if they would want her end up being eaten by one. 

Once upstairs with Fitzwhistle and Sha-gravis, Saoirse says:

- Well, someone has been having fun...

Then sits in the reading spot with the confortable cushions, her gaze lost looking through the window. She was tired, and the stress of so many fights hadn't still left her. And above all, where they really going to just kill Fitzwhistle? Things were getting insane that day.

Lam assists with tying Eliza to a tree, gagging and blindfolding her- covering her with leaves and branches- and as he does, he starts to feel uncomfortable as he imagines waking up in that position with seemingly nobody around. That couldn’t be fun, no matter who you are. But he doesn’t say anything and just assists. He loves the idea of a rest- but he suspects they will also have to answer some of Ali’s questions sooner rather than later, and he doesn’t quite feel like the hard part is over yet.

He walks over to Cubert and attempts to pick it up and turn it right side up. He talks to it, and says, “Cubert. …Sorry. Can you go back to Fitzwhistle? …Using magic?” If it goes inside the tower, he will let it go. If it seems unable to, he’ll continue to hold it.

If everyone tries to go upstairs with Flybert, Lam will command Flybert to bring each of them back up the tower one by one, and come back. Lam will go last- if Cubert needs to go up with Flybert, he’ll send Cubert up second-last with the trapdoor closed.

If all of his friends get upstairs and he can follow, Lam will follow them back to the room where Fitzwhistle is- but he’ll immediately go to any window he can see the tree they tied Eliza to out of and stare out that window.

Cubert isn't able to move on its own, until one of you manually lifts it up and rolls it over. It is cracked on its tope and three of its four sides, but once put upright, it hovers towards the tower and teleports through the door, presumably making its way up the tower.

Flybert is helpful in getting everybody back up to Fitzwhistle in the tower, who you find talking on and on about his personal theory: "we're all living in a simulation, man, and how the way probability works totally proves it. We're all like, just characters in a story, you know what I mean? Duuuuuude. Wait, did I just say that out loud, or did I only think about sayiing it out loud? What's even *yaaaaawwn* the difference between imagining and remembering, right? Am I *yaawwwn* right?" His eyelids are geting heavy, and he is settling himself into lying down, even though it's only about 2 or three in the afternoon, and fairly bright up here above the canopy. If Sha has let him, he's lying with his head against Sha's fur. He's crossfaded, and hasn't had an honest good night's sleep in a long, long time.

Once she thinks you're all far enough away that you can't see her, Lam notices Eliza looking around and struggling against the ropes binding her to the tree. The sly fox must have been awake all along! Still, the knots seem to be holding tight, and she doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. If it weren't for already knowing where she was, Lam probably wouldn't be able to spot her from up here.

You can certainly take a short rest - and nothing stops you from taking a long one, either; although even Lam won't be able to see Eliza from way up here once it gets dark.

Hemlock moves to hand Fitzwhistle his tool back, but sees he is settled and almost asleep, so he places it in his pack with Eliza's spell book.

"I guess we rest a while, and get Fitzwhistle to divulge the secrets of his tools when he wakes", he whispers to the others. He then thinks back to what Fiztwhistle had called the illusion earlier, and says quietly, "Anabeth?".

If the illusion appears, he will ask her to tell them immediately if anyone enters the tower.

He then sits down somewhere comfortable and relaxes.

"It has been a long day, at least it seems that way", he says as he closes his eyes.

Lam doesn’t move from his post by the window. He tells the others while staring at Eliza, “She is awake. But still tied to tree. She is… she cannot get out.” For the immediate moment, he does not seem inclined to rest, staring almost unblinking out the window.

- Of course she is. There was no way we could keep that one quiet for any moment too long - Saoirse replies with a sigh.

Hemlock had had a great idea asking Anabeth to check for intruders, but just in case she grabs any piece of crystal that Fitzwhistle may have and not need that much (like a tube, or any other chemical equipment), silently smashes it using her cloak and places the bits next to the door and windows.

Then, despite she doesn't really intend to sleep, knowing that Lam is keeping watch seems to calm her enough to allow herself to close her eyes. "Just for a minute", she thinks. But boy, was she tired... 

Not a minute passes and the fire genasi is quietly dozing, same as Fitzwhistle, though maybe not as comfortable as if she was lying on soft tabaxi fur.

The voice responds to Hemlock's request: "The penthouse chamber will be alerted to any entry to the tower."

Hemlock looks across to Lam standing by the window, "You are worried something is going to find her, or that she will escape?".

"If it is the latter, we will be warned if she enters the tower, and she won't go far without her spell book. If it is the former, I do share your concern, but she is a survivor. She has also brought on her current situation by being untrustworthy and devious", he says with a little sadness. "She does remind me of Saffron".

"If she is gone when we leave, I will not be too unhappy. It saves us making a hard decision. It will however mean we have to watch our backs".

He looks across to Saoirse, now dozing happily.

"Remind me to ask Saoirse to reach out to Tesfaye when she wakes, and run Fitzwhistle's idea of becoming an automaton by him. It is beyond my comprehension, but I bet he will know what it all means".

Lam listens to Hemlock and nods at his friend’s wise words. After a moment, he turns back to the window and responds in a low voice so as to not wake up his slumbering companions, “…Both. If something finds her, it is near us too. But she is tied to tree.”

He turns back to Hemlock and wants to say something about how if Eliza does escape, she’ll definitely want revenge on all of them now- but he can feel himself getting worked up about the idea of her hurting his friends, and suspects he would accidentally speak louder in anger. So he says nothing else until Hemlock brings up Tesfaye, letting Hemlock’s calm voice and the mention of Tesfaye’s name ground him.

He nods and says, speaking in a low voice again, “Tesfaye will know. They are smart. I do not understand it.” He looks over at Saoirse, asleep, and then at Fitzwhistle and Sha- everyone seems cozy in this room. He turns to Hemlock one last time and says, “Rest. I know… we are safe. But I will make sure.” Hemlock can get the impression that Lam does not intend to be convinced to rest as well.

Lam turns back to the window and continues to keep watch, mostly on Eliza at the tree- but also keeps his ears open for any unexpected noises in the room or from anywhere else. If Ali is in the room, Lam also glances at him every so often. He does his best to be quiet as he watches- both to hear as much as possible and to not disturb his friends.

Hemlock sits and relaxes, but doesn't go to sleep. Instead he finds caring for the herbs in his self filling herb pouch restful. He makes sure they have light and water.

He eventually rises and looks about for any more glass bottles that could be used for healing potions, with a view of asking Fitzwhistle if he has any spares when he wakes. He will also try and find the ingredients to make tea for when the others wake up.

Nothing too strenuous, of course, as he still wants the benefits of some down time himself.

A short time passes, you learn that Fitzwhistle snores cartoonishly - with the whistle between snores and everything - and you all feel some of your spent energy returning to you.

Lam can see Eliza struggling every now and then against her bonds, but she doesn't seem to get anywhere.

The shadow of the mountains to the west creeps across the valley, and though it will still be light enough to see for a couple of hours, twilight starts early in valleys.

Fitzwhistle will keep sleeping until you wake him, or until the middle of the night.

Saoirse is jolted out of her reverie by the sound of a voice in her ear: "Success finding artificer? Please come back soon - Hammerstone is moving against the locals. Things are getting tense here. People want to fight back. Your friend."