[Unless there is anything anyone can do as a reaction to help the valiant Caledon, he's taking a bloody nap from whence he may never rise... Any takers?] 

Caledon falls. 

Caledon - The world fades away to a misty gray crossroads. At the center of the crossroads is a single oil lantern flickering with a white light. In the distance, silhouetted by a silver light, looms a vast tower with hundreds of arrow slits lit from within. Is it Everwatch, the realm of Helm? Or the memory of a bygone night, when you were younger and lived a different life… A figure wrapped in shadows moves through the fog towards you. 

[Who is the figure that appears? How does it make Caledon feel? Was he expecting something different as death approaches? Does he see something else? It's all yours.]

[Roll a Death Saving Throw] (1 of 3)

Latimer - The voice continues to encourage you, but another wind in your memory begins to tug on your soul. You feel the call to let go of this weight of a body and join the unseen currents. Flashes of lighting split the dark, but they illuminate moments of your life. Your first prayer. Your first miracle. 

[Is there a prominent memory that Latimer might see this near to death? Are the visions vague or concrete?]

[Roll a Death Saving Throw] (2 of 3)

Nephira, you may take your turn, then Cressel.

19 - Nephira

18 - Cressel

18 - Ruffian #1

13 - Caledon 

07 - Latimer 

Nephira moves to Latimer's side, ready to give him aid....

...but then she sees the one remaining unharmed Ruffian standing in the doorway.

Badly bloodied herself, there's little chance she'd survive another direct attack from the ruffian, and then she'd be no help to anyone.

So, instead, she scowls, curses under her breath and uses her remaining movement to back her way south, creating as much distance as she can between herself and the Ruffian. While she moves, she draws her bow, knocks an arrow and sends it towards the ruffian through the door....

HITTING WITH A NATURAL 20! Causing 15 points of piercing damage...

(wow) Ruffian #1 is wounded nearly unto death, yet he does not fall. The arrow is lodged deep in his chest. He chokes. Coughs blood. Since speaking is a free action, he looks wide-eyed and pleading at Nephira and Cressel.

"Oh... Oh gods... please. Please don't kill me. I'll... I'll... tell you whatever you want to know and then... then run far away. Please! It was just a job. Not worth dying over. Please, just spare me."

Cressel, it is your turn.

Seeing the Ruffian pleading for help, he begins to question everything that has happened in the past few hours. He's used his magic to hurt others, even kill them. He's seen three of his companions fall in front of him. He wrestles with what the right thing to do is, protecting himself and his friends from harm in the heat of battle is one thing, but to snuff out a life after the fact feels wrong. However, were the situation reversed, would this Ruffian listen to our pleas for mercy? Does even considering not helping mean that he is becoming a monster like them?

Making up his mind, he moves to Caledon and the pleading Ruffian. "I am unable to aid you, if it was only a job, look at what you've done for employment." he says as he gestures to his downed companions. (Medicine Check: 13  to stabilize Caledon)

Caledon is stable, but unconscious. 

The Redbrand Ruffian looks at the carnage beyond the Sleeping Giant and shudders. He looks at Cressel, tending to Caledon.

"Big eats small. It's... It's just how the world is. And... and I... I ain't small." 

He looks to the arrow in his chest again, a strange light entering his eyes. 

"I... I wasn't small." 

He hesitates, swaying in the doorway. A sickly palor sets in the lifelong criminal, the murderer of decent folk, the kidnapper of women and children. He drops his bloodied blades and slumps to the floor, sobbing wretchedly. 

"I wasn't small…" 

//

Caledon - The shifting mists give way to a slumbering darkness and your mind is still. Though you may have imagined it, you thought you saw a figure - covered in shining armor - standing guard between you and a masked figure wrapped in shadows.

[Feel free to respond to the previous post concerning what you see in this near death experience, if you like. It would be interesting to read. You can roll the previous death save too, just for fun.]

//

Latimer - The winds are howling now, full of celestial voices and demonic cries. Your soul is being torn from your body. 

[Roll Death Saving Throw(s)] (2/3 of 3)]

It was a long time ago young Caledon standing outside the mine entrance hearing screams crashing water... none of the miners made it out.  Then a family happened by asking what happened, “Stay here son, keep watch- be ready.”  Again and again they dived in swam the tunnels, body after body... finally Caledon’s father’s body was brought out, blue stiff dead.

I stood watch.  I was ready.  Damn you Helm why why sob sob.  Caledon is still ready still watching.

And when he comes to he’s gonna need a drink.

Death Save 5

Latimer wants to feel the embrace of the winds, to curl up and let go.  But he hears the command to fight, and vaguely recalls the chaos of the battle he was so recently in.  He pushes against the gentle breeze, pushes back to the world he was... is... part of.

Nephira drops her bow and runs back to Latimer's side, in her own attempt to stabilize... Her brow furrows and her jaws clench as she looks down at him and goes to work.  "Hold on now, you selfish @$*@!... You don't get to save my life and then go run off and die yourself... C'mon and breathe!"

Latimer is stabilized! 

(We are officially out of combat. Well done, one and all.)

Nephira & Cressel - You have managed to staunch the flow of blood in both your friends. While you lack magical healing, you feel confident your friends will begin to recover on their own and will need a warm meal, a cold drink, and a comfortable place to rest for the night. 

You kneel in dirt and blood, surrounded by bodies. The weeping ruffian still shakes silently inside the Sleeping Giant. What would you like to do? 

[Also, roll a Perception Check]

Seeing that Caledon is in a better state, he looks around him but he's weary from the day, from the battle, from hearing the Ruffian dying.

He sees Nephira in a bad state as well, but she's managed to help Latimer. He asks her, "Do you think we can move them inside?"

Well... first and foremost, Nephira's gonna wait and see what this perception check reveals. She looks up from stabilizing Latimer, trying to orient herself and scan her surroundings...

...but she's still a bit flooded and hazy from adrenaline and blood loss. 

Latimer slowly opens his eyes to see Nephira kneeling over him.  "Am I in the heavens?"  Blinking a few times, suddenly the pain of his injuries reminds him that he has survived the encounter, if only by the skin of his teeth.

"Thank you. I guess it was not my time yet."

There is a commotion of doors and shutters opening, people calling to one another, and the hurrying of feet.

Strangers! Dead Redbrands! At the Sleeping Giant! Come quickly! 

A gathering of villagers assembles around the tavern and the bloody scene. Several men appear wearing red hats and carrying crude weapons, but when they see the three dead ruffians, their red colors quickly disappear into pouches, pockets, or are left to fall in the road. The color red is going out of fashion, it would seem. 

"What happened here?" is asked too quickly by too many people for any of you to answer clearly. A young elvish woman pushes her way to the front of the crowd. She rushes over to the fallen Latimer and draws out a vial from a pouch. She shakes it with a word of prayer and the vial glows with a faint golden light. 

"Sister Gael. Servant of Our Smiling Lady, Tymora. I am sworn to help all in need. Please, let me help your fallen friends," she says with a sincere smile.

Sister Gael nods to the simple bandages Nephira and Cressel applied. "Well done, that. Saved their lives. This should get them up, but they'll need lots of rest." She pours the glowing contents into Latimer and Caledon's mouths. 

A soft glow spreads across their bodies. 

Caledon and Latimer - You each gain 1 HP and regain consciousness!

The crowd shifts again. An important looking man carrying a lantern appears, somehow scowling and looking terrified all at once. He is flanked by two guards - a human man and a female dwarf - who carry iron cudgels and peer into every dark alley along the way to the Sleeping Giant. The crowd parts for them. 

"Tymora, preserve us!" the important looking man cries. He casts dark eyes over the three dead Redbrand Ruffians and the wounded strangers in his town. He turns red in the face, seeming to be torn between outrage and horror. "What… what have you done?" He asks you, searching your unfamiliar faces. "Do you realize what you've done? This town can't afford trouble like this. They were just a group of mercenaries! They were going to be moving on when… when… but not now! I'm afraid you've meddled in matters you don't understand at all!"

"The Redbrands are a menace and you know it, Harbin Wester!" a woman cries from the crowd. It is joined by others. "Scoundrels! Murderers!" 

Harbin Wester scowls at the crowd. "And there are still many more up at Tresendar Manor! And worse things! You all know of the orc threat! These ruffians would have protected us!"

"Or robbed us all and left us to die!" calls a voice from the crowd.

"It doesn't matter now," Harbin says. He shakes his head, thinking fast. "I am the townmaster. I will… speak with the Redbrands in the morning. Our town is still worth saving, even after this…" He looks up at the party. "You lot. It's best you lay low. Stay out of town for the night. They'll be searching for you." He hesitates before adding, "They… they are a menace. If you can save our town, strangers, we would be indebted to you. I only fear you've kicked the hornets' nest." 

With a final scowl at the bloody scene, Townmaster Harbin Wester nods to his guards. They begin to disband the crowd, call on several men to help clean up the scene, and restore quiet.

Sister Gael says a quiet prayer for the dead men. "Tymora, Lady of Luck, into thy hands receive these wayward souls, that their luck and thereby their spirits might be better in the hereafter." 

She looks up at the four of you. "It's late now, but when you all have recovered, come see me at the Shrine of Luck, would you please? Perhaps not tomorrow… the day after, perhaps? Let the heat die down. Is there anything else I can do for you before you depart for the night?"

[Perception Check]: The remaining ruffian is gone. Slunk away before Sister Gael healed Caledon and Latimer. His swords and stained crimson cloak are left on the floor among the blood and torn net. 

In the dark, weary and wounded as you are, you feel a new sense of resolve grip you as you all…

LEVEL UP!!

Caledon Flowstone picks up his bloody light hammer, noticing all the commotion and Sister Gael with her empty bottles of healing.  He stows his weapon and shield, stands up a touch unsteadily.  He can’t get the image of his Dad’s face out of his mind, but then he remembers his adoptive family.  They told him he was blessed by Helm, his vigilance pulling the safety rope and hauling back the rescuers is the only reason his kin were not left in their watery graves.  It was small comfort, but he later found some peace in their having a traditional funeral.  He pledged to Helm in the weeks that followed even spoke with other Helmite priests who advised him to indenture to the church, but Caledon stayed with his new family and found his faith from within.  As he gets up off the ground he digs in his pack and removes the 2 flasks of hooch he just previously purchased and leaves them on the ground as he heads off to find his ‘down-low’ rest for the night.  “Thank you” Is all he says to Sister Gael.

Weary, but heartened to see Latimer and Caledon awake, he smiles at Gael. "Th-thank you Sister. We would be glad to seek you out at the shrine the day after tomorrow. May the Lady of Luck smile upon you."

Gathering himself and returning to his feet, he looks up at Harbin, "Townmaster, we did not seek these ruffians out, they attacked us for no perceived reason. However, we do not wish to see this town suffer under them, we have to leave tomorrow for our employer, but afterwards I at least would be happy to aid the town clear out this festering nest."

He'll follow Caledon to find the old adventurer's home.

Nephira ignores the townmaster's admonitions. Refusing to even look in his direction as if she doesn't even hear him. She watches with a sneer as Gael gives last rites to the dead ruffians. However, her scowl softens into a look of appreciation when the elven priest turns her attention back to the party.

In response to Gael's question, Nephira looks around at the frightened townsfolk and answers, "Sure. I know something you can do. Say a prayer to that Lady Luck of yours." She points in the direction where Townsmaster Harbin left. "Pray for that Townsmaster... Pray that he grows a backbone and learns to actually lead these people... or that he falls down a privy and never climbs out."  With that, Nephira spits blood on the ground and lets out a cathartic sigh.

Her expression softens as she looks back up at Gael, regarding her with respect. "You have my thanks. I'm not the kind that likes to be in debt but..." She shrugs. "We are."

Once Gael is gone, Nephira turns her attention to Latimer, continuing to take responsibility for his care. She offers her hand to help him rise to his feet. "On your feet, holy man. Looks like you're still stuck here with us sinners. Now, let's get you down for some rest." 

By the time Latimer is on his feet, Nephira sees the crowd of lookie-loos around them, including the guards trying to force them to disburse. She starts following Caledon then holds for a moment, straightening her back and addressing the throng directly. "My friends and I? We've been here just a few short hours... But we were ready to lay down our lives rather than roll over for these red-capped clowns." 

She makes eye contact with several members of the throng, looking for onlookers who are particularly interested in what she's saying. "We got no stake here... But you do. So, if we can stand up to them and live to fight on another day... so can you."

She takes a final moment to survey the crowd, then wordlessly continues on her way, assisting Latimer if necessary, ignoring any incoming responses from the throng.

Oh... and as she follows the others out, Nephira takes one last glance back to see if she sees "The Hooded Man."

Is realizes it's not a good time to follow up with him, but she's curious to see if she can tell what his reaction to all this might've been.