Athalie Keenflow (for that's who the travel-weary rider is), breathes in the sights and sounds of the market, her eyes wide as she takes it all in. She pats her mare's neck as the horse whinnies. Still torn inside between the derelection of the place and the excitement of purpose that has pooled together here. But everyone else's excitement about something she doesn't even know yet--the tales they tell of Drakkenheim are mostly dread and horror, yet there are tales too of new things, of great magical power, of an Age of Heroes... she sang the songs, but her young mind has hardly sorted them---pale beside her excitement at seeing her sister Lara. I know she came here for a great purpose. A greater one than I've ever figured out how to have. I know she'll let me share it. We always shared everything. We escaped this city together, and we'll save it together. With characteristic teenage optimism, she rides to the little stone chapel, dismounts, and ties her horse to a hitching post outside.

Then she steps inside, into the warm and lit glow of prayer and song. Her limbs weary with travel feel a new surge of energy at the music. She steps through the doorway, and although she is in training to be a paladin, you'd never know it, or perhaps take her as having only had a backwater Westemarean sort of formation. In a travel-stained wool dress with leather armor strapped over it, a sword belted round her waist and a shield on her back, her blue hooded cloak and a pendant around her neck with the holy symbol of the Sacred Flame give the only indicators that she is set apart from any of the prospectors that straggle into Emberwood village.  Oh, I know this one. I ought to sing along. But first she makes her customary reverance to the altar. A warm glow of peace settles within her as she slips quietly into the pew behind the young acolyte.

She starts to sing along, in her melodic and obviously highly trained voice. "As Flame in darkness, burn bright today..."

Round 10 begins...

Initiative Order

 Sanimar (11/30 HP)

• (Action) Wisdom: Medicine Check on Twinkleblossum and Aster 17 > 10 DC ---> Twinkleblossum and Aster are both now stabilized

Sarűmir (13/31 HP)  

• (Action) Attack @Haze Hulk 2 with Longsword 7 < 15 AC A Miss. ---> Haze Hulk 2 takes no damage
• End of Round: With -1/31 HP Sarűmir is now unconscious

Aster (0/15 HP)   unconscious

• End of Round: Stable

Twinkleblossum (0/28 HP)  unconscious

• End of Round: Stable

 

Haze Hulk 2 - gutbuster (28/95 HP)  

• (Multiattack) Attack @Sarűmir with Hurl Fetid Flesh
  • Sarűmir's Constitution Save: 8 + 3 = 11 < 14 DC Save. --> Sarűmir takes 14 necrotic damage ---> With -1/31 HP Sarűmir is knocked unconscious
• End of Round: Dead

DWARF CANNON

• (Action) Shoots at Haze Hulk 2 --> Haze Hulk 1 takes 50 damage --> Haze Hulk 2 is now dead

End Encounter

 

The remaining haze hulk roars at Sarűmir's insult. With the cold wind descending upon you suddenly, you can see its breath in the moonlight, each huff and puff. With each, a growl that resembles yours. You would have wished that that arrow would have taken it down, but it didn't. Instead, it flew by rather seamlessly to the ground. You knew with all your heart how much pain that would have inflicted onto the hulking menace. It would have struck it near to the bone had it not sailed completely past its right shoulder. It laughs a hearty good laugh at that. "HEY BIG UGLY!" A dwarf shouts. The haze hulk turns. You would have likely would have wanted to go see the rest of that, but before that haze hulk stomps towards that dwarf, instead it swiftly turns back around and lobs an entire intestine at you.

You feel the intense heat and its burning. Your arm takes in most of the blow, but to which end is that because it seeps through what feels to be the bone. It is enough so that you can see blisters grow then pop. The sizzle sound burrows its way into your head. Sarűmir, you fall completely down to the floor, flat.

In her desperation, Sanimar attempts to give CPR on Twinkleblossum and so too on Aster. In what feels like forever (seven minutes and 46 seconds to be precise. The sound of cannonballs wails in the distance), she has to keep on going. "Clear!" One dwarf shouts at you. You then see them running out from the open fence. "Clear out the way!" Oh, it turns out it wasn't out towards you but and order for the other dwarves. Why are they running now? Oh, you see that the haze hulk is on the floor now. Wait- how? Yes, minutes earlier it was shot at. Its head completely wiped off its body. Its still open eyes stare blankly at you and your unconscious friends. For some reason you can tell with its facial shape it was once another dwarf. Its detached body bleeds out heavily onto the mud.

 The chimera's dead body is not too far off either. It lays there, its chest crushed, limbs torn off, and its wings at awkward angles. A cannonball had got it down just after the fall of the second haze hulk. It went down another time too, yet (as always) came back up again. It became this ballad of balls and of chimera swiping. To where it nearly picks up a dwarf to knocking down the cannon. Arrow after arrows went following suit. They weaved and poised the air in this most rhythmic, almost elegant way. Finally, just finally only seconds before that it crashed landed to rest there on the rocky street.

The sound of incoming haze husks are just one block away. The dwarves haul the downed team inside. It takes 1 hour before the rest of the team wakes up (as no one has anything of the healing sort and neither does Sanimar since long rests do nothing in these deep hazes, as the dwarves remind you). As you wait for your friends to heal and the zombies to stop shouting, Sanimar, they had settled you in on their extra cot and handed you some tea. "How you feeling?" It is Gertrude, the dwarf who had spoken to you earlier, who is speaking. She sips on the tea she made for herself. The other dwarves tend to their wounds as well. None have died though, and by the looks of it, they are getting worried that your friend Lara is not going to make it. Six stand by her side, trying to heal up any obvious wounds, but it is clearly failing. "I'm afraid she's not going to make it."

The rest of your friends all start waking up, slowly.

((Those who were unconscious are now at 1 HP after that d4 amount of hours))

((So you guys managed to defeat one Gibbering Mouther so you get 450 XP! I'll add it to your character sheets))

(So does that one hour of unconsciousness count as a short rest? *hopeful smile*)

((*eyes emoji* hmmm yeah okay sure! it won't give you any hit points back though))

(Don't need any hit points right now. Just wanted Hybrid Transformation and stuff to reset.)

Sarűmir gasps as he sits up, then starts cussing as the pain of his burn once again starts up. He quickly pulls a potion of healing out of his pack and chugs it. He then looks around, and notices Lara. "Oh no..." He gets up from his cot, wincing and grunting in pain. He stumbles over to her, then places two fingers to her neck. He attemps to feel a pulse.

Healing: 9

Medicine: 17

Sanimar takes the tea with a deep scowl on her face. The loss of Lara has not quite set in, and her hands shake as she holds the teacup. Before this she studied quietly at a rectory. As the adrenaline of battle wears down, she finally noticed her own wounds and does a quick check on herself. Cracked ribs, bruises galore, and perhaps even a concussion. Sanimar takes some small comfort that she is with her own people. 

She looks to Gertrude and says in a solemn tone "Most of us are alive and I thank you for that as we truly were not prepared for these abominations. I saw the last hulk was a dwarf and I wonder will that be my fate as I plan to be in Drakkenheim for some time. What do you do for your wounded if rest does not restore you?"

@Athalie 

"burn bright today-" The acolyte stops in mid-song to see that someone else was singing along. Startled, she jumps up. "Oh! Oh my. I'm- I'm quite sorry I didn't see you there!" She lets go of her braided hair for a moment to go and wave to you. "Here for the Light-Heart ceremony? ... You're a bit early." She blinks, looks you up and down for a second then at domed ceiling of the chapel. The moonlight shines through the strained glass to give the you and the pews almost a reddish hue. " She also realizing you're not wearing the typical attire for the coming-of-age festival. "Oh sorry. No, oh, of course. The chapel is always open for prayer. It's good to see a friendly face at this hour."

 "The choir members like to work late. It is this time of night do you hear everything. The smallest sounds. The faintest noises of flies, even rats... It-" She looks up to the panoramic mosaic of Saint Tarna riding into battle, her griffon in tow. "It makes you truly feel connected to this world, doesn't it?" 

She sits down.

"... Sorry I get philosophical at night."

As her eyes flutter open Twinkleblossum sits up and looks around.

"What happened? How did we survive? Were the huge monsters defeated?"

As Sarűmir approachs Lara, the dwarves filter out, allowing you some space. Some turn to you solemnly while others just stare at the cot. You put your hand to her neck, and even before you can check for the pulse, you feel that it is ice cold. "Rig-" A clean-shaven dwarf was about to cut in. He sees your pain and decides against it. As much as you check for the pulse, nothing happens. There is no more sound. She does not breathe. From your own blood hunter instincts you can just tell... there is no more blood flow. She is gone. Truly gone.

"Rigor mortis will be setting in."

He turns over to Gerturde, who sets down her tea onto the table. She brushes off your thanks with a wave, signaling 'it was only the right thing to do.' "We do not get many guests who do not want to get us for our delirium... or for just being alive." The sounds chain links from the haze husks by the fence can be heard rattling. She swirls the liquid in her cup before speaking again. "That's what we fears might happen to yer friend too I'm afraid to tell ya. Bodies... like that there haze hulk- that's what we call 'em- if left too long in the dust will eventually rise up and become contaminated as well even if them when living weren't." 

She is glad to see that the fairy too is living and not like your friend over there. "Good morning," she says, jokingly. Though over the horizon you can start to see the haze dust start to accumulate and thicken. "We stay in shifts. My brothers go back to the village. The rest we stay here, for nights." She takes up her tea cup once again.

"Sorry I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Gertrude Ironhelm. These are my siblings and cousins... all the Ironhelms."

"We are at the Red Lion Hotel if you ever need us."

"Yes." She makes a face when she sips her tea. It is very bitter. She pours the sugar sparingly, though yours taste just fine. "We took out the rest of them critters. One shotting 'em won't be enough. But y'alls managed to stick it out through long enough. We haven't had a chimera here in many moons." She looks you over. "Thank the Flame none of yous were contaminated. We are on our last scroll." She suddenly smirks and sits upright. 

"Ever heard of the Amethyst Academy?" She says this so flippantly, like of course you've heard of it! It's the school that takes any mage-born. It seems she is in the mood for gossip, possibly to take your mind away from your fallen friend. "Oh them boys. They not cheap."

"Of course I have heard of the Academy. I used to live here in Drakkenheim, before... well, things." Sarűmir sighs solemnly, then picks up Lara's body. "If we do not want her body to be contaminated by this infernal delerium, we should bury her outside the city. FAR outside. If you all would allow me, I will complete this task while you all go on ahead.

Seeing Twinkleblossum wake Sanimar explains what had happened. "You were at death's door and these kind folks finished off the hulks while I was resuscitating you and Aster. I could not reach Lara in time, and she is gone. I think we may all need to return to Emberwood village as we will get no benefits of rest here in Drakkenheim. Sarumir go on ahead as I will wait for Aster to wake" 

She turns back to Gertrude thankful for some gossip "Yes I know of the Amythest Academy. What else have you heard about them?" 

She takes a long sip of her tea letting its warmth ease her mind a smidge.

Sarűmir, Lara still in his arms, turns to Gertrude. "Would you happen to know where my horse is? I would rather not walk through Drakkenheim on my own."

"Lara is... gone." Twinkleblossum stands and walks over to help Sarumir look for his horse. "Perhaps we should take her back to the village? It's not as contaminated there and as Sanimar pointed out we need to get a rest that will allow us to recover."

Athalie smiles warmly at the other girl, the acolyte's enthusiasm catching, although the philosophy about nighttime seems to go over the young paladin's head. She's much more accustomed to songs and plays and parties that run long into the wee hours at night---that or sleeping. While she's no stranger to nighttime vigils, whether the ones the Flamekeeper Macrina kept, or the ones she has done herself in her paladin training, she finds them much more excrutiating exercises in staying awake, rather than moments for contemplation.

"No, I've only just arrived to Emberwood Village. I thought I'd stop here first. It's so lovely to meet you, though! What's your name? My name is Athalie Keenflow. I came to join my sister Lara... do you know her?" Despite her obvious weariness from travel, the excitement and anticipation in her eyes is hard to miss.

"You were from here?" Gertrude's voice cracks just as she turns around to see you just pick up the body. She then nods, "Alright. But I don't suggest you go on out alone. Especially not at this hour." She walks over to face the window and slides the curtain. "Nope still there." She shakes her head. "Theys don't die 'til mostly dawn. Oh, well they never really do die. But they DO move and shuffle on to Flame knows where. I dunno. They've just don'ts seems to like the light." 

Mordecai seems to concur with this as well. "Yes, and we are going tos switch for the day shift in a couple hours. Come with us then... only if you want." He bends over and rummages through a chest. He gets up and holds up a scroll up high almost like a trophy. "Just in case. We always bring it... for the delerium." 

"Yeah boughts this from them couple of months ago when we first got here. We had to keep on restocking. For all the safety precautions we do always someone does seem to end up getting sick. Costs nearly triple a scroll from what it was back in the Mountains to!" Gertrude seems happy to bring up the Amethyst Academy back up again. "Just the other day we had some adventuring sum come out here demanding of us them to sell to them." She crosses her arms to prove her point. Mordecai nudges her, but that doesn't seem to stop her as she continues on.She lifts her eyebrows up when she realizes it needed a bit more emphasis, "And to THEM only." She grimaces.

The other dwarves look at each other when you mention the horses. One with a badger tattoo is the first one to pipe up. "We didn't see them." You guys had tied them up to a laternpost earlier right before combat, but now, as you look out the window, they are gone. "You can borrows ours if you'ds like"

This dwarf sharp inhales, "We are really sorry about your friend. Let us make it up to you. Drinks on us at the pub to celebrate her life." Gertrude nods. They all look over at Sanimar (your defacto leader now). It seems they don't really know much on how to help you process you guy's feelings, and this is the closest way they know how; one that you very much recognize from your shared culture. "The dwarven way." 

@Athalie

((saw you changed your icon! cool!!!))

"Oh just recently? Well, tomorrow's Mr. Starvos's son's birthday. He is our local Reeve, and we have this huge celebration going on! Ah.. sorry I am just rambling." The acolyte straightens out her smocks, "I am Acolyte Vervidia. Flamekeeper Hanna's sister. One year older." She does a little jazz hands type when suddenly her pitch goes up when she mentions her age. She sighs and then chuckles. 

"Athalie? Oh what a pretty name. I wish mines was more easy to pronounce." At the mention of Lara she perks up a bit, "Oh Lara? Yes! My sister had mentioned something of that sort. Yes, she came into town just earlier. You just missed her! And only by a few hours gosh golly. Ain't that out of luck? Heh sorry, but yes of course! High Flamekeeper gave her a mission of some sorts." The sounds of the choir dies down for the night. "Looks like they are finishing practicing up. Um right back on the subject. Yes, she is supposed to retrieve something. From the city. A 'go fetch'. I wonder why Flamekeeper just doesn't send someone she already knows who'd be faithful up for the job..." She shoves her hands into the smock pockets. She lightly sways from side to side, then startles. "Oh! Would you like something to eat?"

"Some folks haven no courtesy. Indeed, a drink would be welcome and of course we can travel with you back to Emberwood." says Sanimar who knows how dwarves handle grief. 

She will fallow the dwarves back to Emberwood when they are ready to leave.

"Aye, a drink would do me well. But make sure I don't get too drunk, otherwise I may just have to stay here." He chuckles a bit, then sighs dourly. He shifts Lara's corpse in his arms so that it looks like how a father would carry a sleeping child. He rests his hand on the back of her head, and a small tear runs from his eye.