"I agree with Sparkles." William replies casually. "The centipedes seemed big... but they didn't have strange tentacles or toes or whatever growing out of them... and none of us ate or handled the mutated crab since we left it in the crate. I think we are fine." He says confidently.

"Death... mercy," the stranger cackles with an unmatched hysteria unbeknownst before. You're starting to realize this person probably hasn't talked to anyone else in a long time. "Ah, you folks are funny."  She begins to pet Starry, moving over to where Sparkles is.

"You sure?" She lifts her head up from petting the elk and raises her eyebrow over at William. "You sure are." She rubs the back of her neck, "I... don't know actually. There wasn't any when my fath- ... er, not since the war, no. But now? I'm not so sure. From the rumors, probably? All I know is that-" She starts to choke up. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She waves away her tears as if they were nothing. 

"Good thing you didn't eat it. Nothing in this woods is quite edible. It takes a lot of... getting used to.... building resistance." She squints her eyes, not really sure if she believes what she says. "All I know is that holy water works. Not in the late stage." Her shoulders slump.

"Flamebearer?" She looks taken aback. "Is that what they call them now? Is that the new name? I haven't read The Song of Fire in a very long time..." She keeps looking away wistful as if she looses track of where she is now and again. "There hasn't been a traveling Flamekeep- bearer here in years. Mom used to say they came here all the time trying to convert." She lightly rubs her goat ears and antlers. "My parents always kept the Old Faith - as they called it.... As you can tell." She vaguely gestures at her outfit, which looks very earthy now that you've taken a good look at it. The light spell still glistening on the porch gives way to show detailed designs on her fabric. She tilts her head over at Sparkles. "You haven't heard of the Sacred Flame?" 

Her train of thought is quickly cut off by Zeren and then Kolette. "Yes, the jars... I can explain better in the basement." Again she nearly starts crying. She starts trudging her way back down to the cellar. Then she stops and gets solemn. "Wait. You... you didn't eat the centipedes, did you?"

((@Wreckzors Hahah nah you good you were meant to guess there was two! surprise! the stranger is Haley!))

Shrugging Zeren looks to his companions and then follows the stranger back to the cellar.

The Old Faith? Not anything he knew, hopefully she was peaceful.

"Nobody ate the centipedes that I saw."

Syed lets out a small sigh of relief, visibly relaxing at the stranger's reassurance that contamination only happens through eating, which he most definitely hadn't done—yet. He glances at Sparkles, who seems to be processing her own worries, and then back at the others. "Well, that's a relief. I didn't snack on anything down there, so I think I'm safe." He shifts slightly, still feeling the soreness of his wounds. Then, something the satyr said strikes him. "Wait... nothing in this area is edible?" he asks, concern creeping into his voice. "How are we supposed to keep going if there's no food around here? We're already short on supplies." Syed looks to the others, clearly worried about their prospects for sustenance. "We can't just live off pickles and dried rations forever. Do you have a way to get food or cleanse what we find? Does holy water help for the food, too?"

Sparkles is screaming inside. She definitely ate some of that centipede goop. But, she keeps a brave face and decides it's best not to share this with the party, the same fears and concerns as earlier brewing inside of her even stronger. She simply follows the woman towards the cellar and says 'No, I didn't eat anything, but hypothetically, what would happen if I did?' She then also considers bringing up her mishearing and incorrect speech from earlier, but decides against it. For some reason she called the Flamekeepers 'Flamebearers' and now the lady seems to have gotten the idea that it's a new name, rather than picking up that Sparkles is horribly inadequate at remembering things and conversing. She simply says 'No, I haven't heard of the Sacred Flame, could you explain what it is?'

William thinks back to the meals he has eaten since starting this journey. The fresh meat he has consumed didn't appear to be contaminated but he did pay very close attention to the answers to Sparkles questions. 

"Oh good because we wouldn't want that. Yes, we wouldn't! Yes, we wouldn't," she coos over to Starry. She coughs for a bit. "Wow you're, like, the first company I've ever had in a long time." She starts walking down the ladder. "Yeah, that's the thing. Nothing much has been edible. Had to live out on my own for a fe... more than a few years." Her hooves hit the soft mulch.  

"I know in the village up ahead they've got caravans going for a couple years now, guessing they've got the same. It's only been up until about a year ago that this land has been fully been unedible. Pickles have been plenty enough for me." She squints at the darkness of the cellar. "Yeah, but now I'm thinking I can't live like this too long." She shifts around under her cloak to find a small stick which she rubs against the side of the stone in which sparks a small fire on the tip. "Holy water works. That's for sure. It for some reason wards off contamination. It's what my brother had..." She looks back at William. "See that's why I didn't want you sticking around with too much bones." She shines the light on the jars. They are out of the order in which which she placed it but you can all clearly see the one with the tentacle, which even surprises her.

"I can't- I don't want to see that happen again to anymore. Hypothetically, not even then you would want to! But um yes, hypothetically. Hypothetical. " She seems to fawn over that word. "You would die. Not even painless no. Awful. Gain all sorts of mutations. Tentacles! Gills! Mouths- where they shouldn't be!" 

Her shoulders slump. "My father used to tell all those stories, yet he still brought back that crystal."

"I don't see why you're heading to that cursed city. The fact that they're selling them too.. Hohohoho boy!" She crosses her arms. She picks up the jar with the tentacle. "The Sacred Flame is what's supposed to keep us safe. The light that burns in everybody... and people still believe in that."

"People have faith in many things. The trouble is there are always two sides to the coin of faith. People believe so that they may be stronger; they trust that a higher power may help them in times of need; and often they just want to be comforted when times are bad. The other side is when in spite of believing, nothing happens or something awful happens. The sense of betrayal can hurt quite a bit."

Kolette shrugs, "I've seen much good and harm come about in the world because of religion and faith. Hopefully we can bring about some good to that place."

If Sparkles was screaming inside previously, then at this point she might as well be dead. She follows the lady down the ladder into the cellar and just says 'Umm...that's awful, I'm so sorry to hear that it happened to your brother. Hopefully we never have to experience something like that, but, if we hypothetically did later down the line, it might be good to know if there's a way to manage the corruption? Like, could it potentially be subdued or even harnessed in a way that allows the infected to co-exist with it?' If she gets an answer that suggests there isn't, then she knows exactly what she needs to do: Find a Flamekeeper (she's made an effort to remember their name now her life might be within their hands), get some holy water, chug that down like there's no tomorrow, and get to work on worshipping this Sacred Flame or whatever it's called, just so she's got a glimmer of potential divine protection (she ignores Kolette's wise words on faith; at this point, Sparkles will take whatever hope she can get)

Syed, still processing the unnerving details about contamination and mutations, tries to focus on the practical side of things. The centipede bites and the strange transformations mentioned by the satyr woman linger in his mind. He keeps quiet for a moment, thinking about Sparkles' pointed questions regarding corruption. The idea of tentacles, gills, and mouths where they shouldn't be makes his skin crawl.

He finally speaks up, his tone a little more somber than before. "So, if this land is becoming unlivable, where do you plan to go? You said you've been out here for years, but if the food's no longer edible, and we're dealing with all kinds of... mutations, it sounds like it's time to move on." He shifts his crossbow slightly as he continues, glancing at the satyr. "Do you have a plan, or were you hoping to hold out a bit longer? I mean, this place doesn't seem safe, and you've mentioned caravans up ahead. Maybe there's a way to join one, perhaps even ours, or... figure something out?" Though Syed tries to sound hopeful, it's clear he's a bit disturbed by the growing dangers around them and is genuinely curious how their host plans to survive this worsening situation.

William listens to the druid speak and nods along as he takes in her words. His eyes widen when she mentions a crystal however. The book he had collected long ago spoke of crystals within Drakkenheim that hold great power. When she finishes speaking he clears his thought and gives the centaur a gentle pat on the shoulder. "I agree that perhaps it is time for you to move on... get away from this desecrated place and the painful memories that reside here." He says while slowly shaking his head. "Unless....." he tries to hide a small smile by holding a gloved finger to his mouth  "You mentioned that your father brought back a crystal... do you still have the crystal? Perhaps my friends and I could study it... and maybe even find a way to fix this corruption." He pauses a moment, looking for the right words to say. "Maybe if we are able to cure the corruption in these lands... You wouldn't have to leave... you could start a new life right here from your lovely home."

 Zeren is unsure of what he can offer in this conversation that hasn't already been said.

He notices Sparkles seems to be holding something in.

"Are you alright?"

The feathers on the back of Sparkles’ neck pick up as Zeren talks to her. He’s clearly noticed something, and she tries her best to respond calmly, squeaking out a ‘Yes, I’m fine!’ However, he just notices something off about her. Perhaps it’s the too wide grin, or the scared eyes, or perhaps the fact her voice is slightly different, but he can just about confirm his suspicions that she’s withholding something. 

[Deception: 12 to Zeren’s 13 Passive Insight, just barely a fail!]

Zeren's eyes narrow as he senses Sparkles is lying to him. He shifts so he's fully facing her, staring down at her through his helmet.

"You don't seem fine. Denying problems doesn't make them go away, if you ate something wrong just say so and we can get whatever it is you need to cure you."

He turns to the satyr.

"Do you have any holy water or other cures on hand?"

"I have a limited amount of healing magic. By the grace of Pelor I can heal small wounds, create berries that can provide sustenance and heal bumps and bruises, and lastly I have these" she shows her two berry muffins "They will mend the cuts, bolster morale, and remove toxins from the body."

Sparkles tries to avoid Zeren's gaze, but she decides that telling the truth is the only option. Lying to her party members wouldn't be right, especially since they're only worried about her wellbeing, so she says 'Well, I did eat a bit of that centipede after we beat them. I'd had other bugs before so I thought it would be alright, but clearly not...' She then smiles weakly at Kolette as she names what cures she has on hand, even though they probably can't cure the corruption, it's nice to hear that she cares. She then waits nervously in anticipation of the satyr's answer to Zeren.

The satyr nods her head at Kolette's contemplative wisdom. "I know how that feels," she says solemnly, not indicating which one. Her face lightens up a bit at the end towards 'good and bad.' "I wish I could count on it." 

"Thanks." She goes and picks up a jar that is glowing green.

"Hypotheically-?" She sets the jar down. This time the question comes back a bit more accusatory. Her suspicion is only heightened by Sparkles' nerves and Zeren's pointed concerns. Her eyes seem to gloss over as she list her following plans for the future. "Moving on... I dunno."

"This house... been in the family for generations." She starts fiddling around with some of the barrels and bean bags. Her ears flick when Syed mentions staying with their troupe. She turns around and now she's holding a jar. Except she's not holding it wither her hands but with a spectral one. "I do," she responds to William's question.

There is something purple glowing inside of the clear mason jar. It too appears to be pickled, smelling of the same acidic liquid, but this time it's not a food. It looks to be actually a rock. Upon closer inspection, it is some sort of geode. 

She inhales at the start of the contamination question. Her eyes stare pointedly, unblinking, at the aasimar. 

"A bit?" her voice raises a pitch. Suddenly in her hands is a water ball. "Let me see it." She speaks of this like she's inspecting a wound. She is quick to grab Sparkles' hand (in her other physical hand hovers the orb of water, the spectral one clutching the jar tightly) and raises it up to the light from the hole created by the collapse of the doors to the cellar. "We need to get you purged. Now."

"Get me my beans. We're heading upstairs!"

Sparkles tentatively lets the satyr take her hand to examine for contamination, and nearly has it yanked off when they pull her by the wrist up and out of the cellar with such vigour. This can't be good. As she's being led upstairs, she stays silent, feeling like a child being scolded by a concerned parent, and lets another party member go off and get the lady's beans, for whatever they were needed for. 

Williams eyes go wide when he sees the rock in a jar. "May I have it please?" he asks as he extends a gloved hand towards the centaur. The undertaker is only slightly concerned for the health of his companion. Not because he is worried about her health... but because he isn't convinced that she has done anything that would cause her to be contaminated. Willam gets the feeling that this druid has been along with only her thoughts for a bit too long..

Syed watches the situation unfold with increasing concern. As Sparkles is practically dragged upstairs by the satyr, he furrows his brow, feeling a bit conflicted. On one hand, he’s worried about Sparkles and her potential contamination, but on the other, William’s fixation on the crystal in the jar sets off a small alarm in his mind. He quietly moves to follow them upstairs, though his mind races. He knows the contamination talk is serious, but this sudden urgency about the beans strikes him as a bit odd. Glancing over at William, Syed notices his friend's eyes locked onto the glowing purple crystal. With a cautious tone, Syed speaks up, “I know we’re all curious about that crystal, but Sparkles’ health should be the priority right now. Let's deal with that first, and then we can talk about the rock."

He pats Mellow on the side, who has been quietly sitting by, watching intently. Syed then looks to the satyr. "What do we need to do exactly? And how can we help? Is there anything else needed aside from beans?"