Heavy is the Head - Campaign thread

Lam stays away from the action, at his post by the window. He had been trying to keep watch out the window for any sign of Eliza or Ali, but he quickly loses track of that when everything starts to go down. He watches his friends in pure awe- whatever to think of this process, his friends have done something incredible today. They had the bravery to try something unprecedented which could help this unique problem, even when it has never been successful in history- and it seems like they just might have had the strength to make it succeed this time. When the construct begins to speak in a monotone version of Fitzwhistle’s voice, Lam stares with wide eyes. He looks at each one of his friends and studies their faces. He seems a bit speechless about what just went down.

During the whole process Saoirse's senses had been sharp and quick. But now that it had finished she felt drained. Unable to react. The weight of Swordbreaker felt strange in her hand. And heavy, too heavy.  

She took a few steps away from the construct and kneeled next to Fitzwhistle's body. Those eyes that had looked at her moments before now stared at the ceiling, devoid of any sign of life. And she couldn't stop looking at them. She had killed him. She really had. This day that had started by leaving the kobold colony under the promise of meeting the famed artificer had somehow turned into taking the artificer's life. How was that possible...?

The genasi simply stayed there, next to the blood-covered gnome's body. She closed Fitzwhistle's eyes forever and covered him with the blood stained sheets. When the familiar voice of Hemlock asked her something, she looked at him through teary eyes.

- What..? I ... - she turned to look again at the body, as if uncapable to look at anything else - I was supposed to ... hunt evil. Not this - and repeated, in a whisper - ... not this.

"This. is. what. I. wanted.       You. have. done. me. a. great. kindness.        I. have. located. memories. of. you. all.             You. only. met. me. a. few. hours. ago. and. yet. you. have. freed. me.              Thank. you. also. for. getting. me. drunk. and. stoned.           I. don't. think. I'll. be. able. to. do. that. anymore.      A. drawback. I. had. not. considered. but. completely. worth. it." The construct Fitzwhistle walks over to the gnome Fitzwhistle's corpse, and picks it up, cradling it in his arms. "I. want. to. go. outside.            I. will. bury. my. former. body. outside. under. the. stars.           I. will. not. rot. here." The construct's face shifts into a grin - though it doesn't quite have all of the musculature of an organic face, so it looks like a doll's smile. And yet, it feels truly alive to you. It may take some time for you - especially Hemlock - to grow comfortable in the construct's uncanny valley presence. "I. will. not. rot. in. here!.           I. would. appreciate. company. while. I. bury. myself.           It. is. an. emotional. undertaking."

Hemlock lays a hand on Saoirse's shoulder as he lets his starry form fade.

"I could not have done what you did. It took great courage and willpower, and you have shown empathy this day", he says to her before standing to look at the construct that is now Fitzwhistle.

"I am pleased you are happy, Fitz...", he starts to say, but the name catches in his throat. Was this truly Fitzwhistle? Was the gnome's soul now inhabiting this automaton, or did it just have his memories?

"I will gladly help bury the body of Fitzwhistle Cobblepot, and allow his being to be reclaimed by the earth", he says trying to focus on something more natural.

He turns to Lam, "Any sign of Eliza and Ali?"

Lam is shaken from his speechless trance when Hemlock addresses him directly. In response, he looks back out the window and searches for any sign that Eliza is still where they left her, or that Ali is outside by there.

Ali has made his way outside of the tower,, and Lam just barely can see him sneak over to Eliza. He parts the foliage covering her, and Lam can see that Eliza is still down there. But then, he covers her back up, and looks directly up at Lam. He points to Lam, then gestures downwards, then puts a hand over his mouth. The message is fairly clear: get down here. Stay quiet.

Saoirse gives Hemlock a slight nod. Then, in silence, follows the group to accompany the now alive automaton to bury the gnome's body.

“Fitzwhistle would you consider giving your former body to my Goddess?  It would be a great honor to do so, if you will allow it.”  Sha looks a little unsure what auto-Fitz may think of this, but he listens with compassion and understanding.

Instead of responding to Hemlock’s question out loud, Lam begins to head out with Fitzwhistle and everyone else- and then nods to Hemlock on his way out.

Hemlock follows Lam and the others as they make their way down the tower, watching the strange automaton that was now Fitzwhistle and trying to make sense of what had happened.

He has many questions that he wants to ask, but decides to wait until after the burial.

The construct Fitzwhistle walks down the stairs through the tower. It/he stumbles a few times early on, but catches his/its balance each time. "I. Am. Adjust.ing. to. Having. Longer. Legs,. A. Wider. Field. Of. Vision. And a. Higher. Frame. Of. Reference. This. Is. Weird. But. Really. Cool."

When he/it gets to the enchantment room, the doors are still open from your time there earlier. On the Evocation floor below that, it/he pauses for a while at the base of the stairs, thinking very hard. You can literally hear him thinking - it sounds like air being slowly pushed out of a thousand microscopic bellows. Then, he/it says "follow. Me. Very. Closely," and walks a winding path across the tiles, carefully touching only specific ones, and moving slowly enough to be easily followed. As he/it descends to the ground floor and you follow, you begin to hear voices outside. At least three people.

"There was just a crazy lights show up in the top floor, so we know the artificer is home."

"That's right. Get the door open, let's get the guy and get our bounty."

The third voice is sinister, oily calm. He expects to be heeded, and for the others to be quiet to hear him well. They do shut up immediately.

"Slow down, he's not going anywhere, this door's the only exit. Looks like there was a fight out here recently. And if my hunch is right, some of my runaways were involved. They owe the guild. They're coming home, and that's personal. Be ready, and keep searching the area."

Fitzwhistle pauses and looks back to you all. "Friends. Of. Yours?" His/its voice does not carry enough emotion to make it clear whether it/he is being sincere or making a joke, but it/he waits for one of you to take the lead.

Saoirse walks down the path to the exterior of the tower inmersed in a bubble of her own thoughts. Bubble that is suddenly burst by the voices they are hearing, and that no doubt mean business. 

- No rest for the wicked, I see - she whispers.

She then advances silently, trying to take a peek at the people who they are sure going to fight. She doesn't think they'll be able to caught them by surprise, given that there's only one way to exit the tower, but at least it will be good to know how many people they are facing and their positions.

Saoirse also wonders if these people have managed to see Ali. The lizardfolk is a sneaky one, so he might actually surprise the Thieve's guild group from behind.

Stealth check: 19. Perception check: (nat1) 3.

You can be reasonably certain that they haven't heard any of you yet, but the floor you're on has no windows, so you can not see the people outside.

- I don't suppose there's other exit we don't know about, right? One that allow us to go outside unnoticed? Well, then, let's prepare for the worst.

Drawing her weapons, Saoirse advances downstairs as stealthily as possible.

Lam also goes on alert when he hears the voices. This may have been why Ali wanted them to be quiet. If the others will let him take the lead, he does so and creeps downstairs as stealthily as possible.

Hemlock furrows his brow at the appearance of further bounty hunters. Listening carefully, he tries to determine exact numbers, and to see if he recognises any of the voices.

"It is unfortunate if we must fight our way out as we fought our way in", he whispers sadly. "I take it they are referring to Eliza when they speak of a runaway? It would be unfortunate for her to be found so defenceless. She does not deserve that".

Perception: 15+6=21

Some of the panther's heightened senses seem to linger in you. There's one stranger at the door, his back is to the door though. The others are not right there, they are more spread out. You would be hard pressed to say for sure whether this knowledge comes from.your nose or your ears.

"Then there is a shout from on of the others. "Hey, come over here! Looks like there was a struggle on the ground here, and I think someone got dragged that way."

The man by the door begins to walk away from it.

Fitz2 lets Lam walk past him, and waits for you all to decide what happens next.

“They are going to find her, what is our play here? I doubt we will be able to talk them round, so we either give them Fitzwhistles body or we fight. Unless you are all happy to hide and let them find Eliza?”, Hemlock says, looking to the others. He looks particularly at constrict Fitzwhistle as he mentions handing over the body.

Saoirse arches an eyebrow:

- She doesn't deserve it? Really? I believe no one is more deserving of paying for everything she's done than Eliza. She's been given chances, and she's laughed to our faces, time and again. And what would we do, anyway? Face these people and end up taking more lives? For that lying cheat? - she shakes her head.

The blood hunter stops, thinks for moment, and adds:

- I would prefer Fiztwhistle's body to find his final rest, as he deserved. I'd hide it and bury it later, once we are safe. But that is not my decision to make. What do you want to do, Fitzwh...? - she asks the automaton, not knowing how to name it, yet.

- Regarding those men, I'm tempted to let them take Eliza. Really, some part of my would love that. But - she sighs - We could follow them from a distance. We have the upper hand after all, since they haven't seen us and they have their backs against us. Let's see what they're intentions are and if they get violent, we can intervene. 

"I fully understand how you feel", Hemlock replies to Saoirse. "Eliza has turned against us before and would sell us out in a heartbeat. Whether we like it or not, she has information for her captors that she will use to bargain for her life".

"If you think keeping an eye on them is the best course of action, I will go along with it".