Merkas's little legs pump as fast as he can back to the graveyard, while in the distance, you can see other manholes flying into the air. Water gushes from them like a geyser and begins flooding the agricultural district, the town center, and parts of HQ and Merchant District! Cracked clay and sand turn to mud under Merkas's feet! The crowds cries of attack change to one of amazed bewilderment as water rains down on them from the various geysers.
Back in the Sewers...
Sera and Nare go for the ride of their life! Water swils them around violently, yanking them in unpredictable directions, and careerning off the walls of the secret tunnel, until they're flushed out into the sepulchre! Their bodies smash into the sealed tomb, which knocks the lid loose, and the two are eventually flushed free of the tomb, and sloshed out onto the graveyard grounds.
Sera sees that Nare is viciously battered and appears to have several dislocated limbs and a broken leg. Her sight dims from the concussive force of the impact on the tomb, and the last thing she sees are blurry sillouhettes of Santekh residents rushing up to you. Then the pain, the world, and all thought fades from Sera's mind....
Everyone gets 400 XP each for that final skill encounter.
Cutscene...
The Medical Tent: Two days pass before Sera wakes up in the medical facilities. Nare is on a cot near you, panting rapidly and covered in bandages. They look bad and don't open their eyes. A healer notices you're awake and sends a messenger. It's not long before Glynnis and Handar come rushing to the medical building. "Sera," Handar bellows, and the healer clutches his arm and puts a finger over her mouth, glaring like a librarian as she gestures to Nare. Glynnis takes a calmer approach. She smiles, a mix of relief and sadness on her face. "G'd afternoon, lass. Ye were touch an' go fer a while. The best healer in town besides ye been tendin' to ye an'... whoever that is... nearly round the clock." She says pointing a thumb towards Ne'Haredowell.
Buckeran's Palace of Wonders: Hastos, Merkas, and Ororana have been living with Buckeran the last two days while an investigation takes place, by the local guard, of the Santekh sewers. With the damning evidence of gated water, nearly 100 Dragon Army zombie soldiers, and the book that Hastos recovered listing the names of all the members of the cult, Dawnbound has been kept sequestered for trial. Since Ne'Haredowell and Sera's state has been uncertain, they've been kept watch by guards around the clock in the medical building (newly renovated and the medical tent as been restructured to be used as a bazaar. A case for a trial has been set, and Dawnbound are the key witnesses, set to expose a handful of Hachakee, nearly a third of the Santekh residents, and two members of the council. So you haven't been able to leave. Tekel has been shamed and left indignant when many of his higher ranking officers were revealed as members of the cult complicit in stealing supplies, restricting water access, and performing bizarre rituals on fallen enemy soldiers. Disgraced, and with his numbers decimated, he's resorted to taking on bounties himself, and has been out patrolling the wilderness with his remaining guild members.
Buckeran has been a perfect host, and Merkas, Hastos, and Ororana have enjoyed the highest levels of hospitality during this time. But they've been more-or-less, restricted to roam the impossibly large manor inside Buckeran's pocket-dimension house. Ororana has taken the guilded-cage experience the harshest. Her night terrors kept the rest of Dawnbound up at night, so she was eventually given her own room and access to sedatives. But she roams the halls like a caged tiger, bristling with anxious rage at having her movements restricted. When news of Sera's awakening finally comes to Buckeran's house, and you're instructed that you can go to her, Ororana is gone before Buckeran even finishes giving the news!
Bursting out the front door and stretching into a big X she basks in the sunlight for a moment, then looks around. She's used to getting attention everywhere she goes, but this was different. Residence drop to the ground, practically praying to Dawnbound! Gifts of food, blankets, holy relics and small pouches of gold and silver lign the front entrance to Buckeran's office.
Renown Score: Level 3
In an instant, guards surround Dawnbound to escort you to the medical building. The march is slow. Most of the water has soaked into the earth, but there are still puddles and small rivulets still run throughout the town. In spite of her precarious position, Rhyana and the Hachakee are working hard to make the most of the opportunity to work the soil and help the garden grow. She doesn't look up from her work as you leave towards the medical building. You make your way across town with quite a bit of difficulty as guards shove back advancing residents.
"You've become equal parts famous and infamous now." Buckeran says, with a complicated tone in his voice. "If you were the Saviors of Santekh before, I would say you've become fully revered by many in town. But there is an equal number of residents who sympathize with the cult you may have exposed. They hate you for it. But the assasination attempts have been easily foiled, since you've been under my protection!" Buckeran allows himself to beam over his boast. "Rhyanna and Verhanna await trial, pending Sera's recovery. And it would appear you've rescued an old friend of our town as well! But Ne'haredowell is under suspicion, since we don't know if he was a captive, or complicit yet."
You pass by your guild hall, which you can hear forging being done within. The building is complete, including one resident, Kasi. She has abandoned her rickety shack and moved her stuff into the guild to upkeep and protect it while Dawnbound recovers and reunites.
The center of town is bustling now as you approach it. The wells are producing plenty of water, and priests stand by to bless it for purification, due to all the bloated zombies that were discovered floating through Santekh after your adventure below. Shoppers bounce from shop to shop, filling their sacks with all manner of daily necessities. The Laughing Dwarf is quiet for now, but it tends to be busier in the evening anyway. You turn toward past the graveyard and towards the medical building near the Resident District, and notice just how much work has been done in just two days! With water for hydration, and for making clay, builders have been working overtime to finish up Santekh! Instead of a crumbling old ruin with starving refugees, it's become a vibrant miniature metropolis! Although it's far away from your path, you can see that the refugee camp has been converted into a training ground for rebel soldiers, and the ground is deeply muddy and messy from the flood. New soldiers drill in it, sweating under the hot sun. The guards continue to push through the crowd of interested citizens who fawn or curse you until you make it to the medical building.
Once the door is shut, the contrasting quiet almost hurts the ears. The building isn't too big, but it is large enough to handle up to 50 patients at a time. It's complete with a small, nondenominational altar and a small medicine shop labelled "Witchdoctor Duncan's." It's more a vending machine than an actual shop, and contains potions that purify food and water, potions of Healing (Common) and various herbs and trinkets that treat or protect against poison, diseases, etc. They escort you to Sera and Ne'Haredowell's bed and post up around you.
Buckeran clears his throat, "Apologies, but the guards can't be dismissed until the trial. Orders from the council."
This is a cutscene intermission, where you can roleplay, share information, and make plans if you choose to. The presumption is that you've been attending your claimed Downtime Activities for the last two days. You've also levelled up and fully healed. SunDial365, you'll recover when you post. Just have Nare open their eyes, and you're fully rested and recovered.
Merkas is still covered in burn scars all over the front of your body and face, though the healing potions have reduced the marks enough to where they are only visible in daylight, and can easily be covered with make-up tattooes, or magic.
Hastos has a scar on his shoulder where the Pact Knife hit him. But it looks like it will heal up over time.
Sera has minor scarring and very stiff muscles and joints. But they'll loosen up with a little stretching and excersize. Her head still hurts from the concussion, and her left eye is bloodshot and swollen from the impact. Her jaw is also sore and pops when she opens it, but the Healer assures you that will go away with time, and gives you some medicine to drink.
Nare has no scarring, but his leg is a little crooked from being healed by a lower level NPC healer, and has bald patches from where the fur was ripped off in the riptide.
Glynnis looks back towrards Hastos and Merkas and gives them both big hugs. "Good ta see you two lads," she says softly. Handar pats you two on the shoulders.
Hastos stifles a grunt as Handar pats him on his injured shoulder. “It’s good to see everyone again.” Hastos says, massaging his shoulder. Looking down at Sera, a look of concern appears on his face and he reaches down and gently puts a hand on her arm. “How are you?” He asks her.
Merkas would be as stir crazy as Ororana if he weren’t staying in the house of one of his idols. The shear amount of treasures, and the stories that go with them, keep him enthralled for a good part of his stay. Reading the book he acquired fills some of the other time. At some point he does approach Ororana about joining Dawnbound officially, being pretty sure the others would agree, though Sera may be a bit jealous. He dutifully goes through his collection of items, various tools, doing maintenance where he can and applies the oil of sharpness to his sisters dagger. “Y’know sis, if you really are watching over me then could you help me figure out what’s happening in my body, y’know, like the sudden ability to do some magic and stuff”
At the news of Sera and Mr. Nare’s awakening he runs back yo his pack and grabs a couple rings, the last two of the matching set of five he found, before chasing after Ororana. He is stopped short by the crowd of people and gifts laid out around the entrance. “Didn’t for it for all of this, just wanted noone else t’get hurt y’know. You think the famous and infamous would cancel each other out and we can just be normal again?” Bucky mentions Nare’s current positions and spends some time explaining all the ways he probed his loyalty while in the sewers.
At Sera and Nare’s room Merkas is quiet until after the greetings, smiling slightly at Handar as he pats his shoulder. “I’m sorry Sera, I tried to warn you guys, I sent a message to you be Hastos banged my head against the wall of the shaft, and then I think it can only travel so far, and I only tried it as a test because it seems I’m some sort of wizard or magician or something, isn’t that crazy?! Me with magic powers? Oh and I hope you don’t mind but I asked Ory if she wanted join Dawnbound officially, and I think Mr Nare should join us too, they both more than earned it. Did you have any crazy dreams while you were resting?”
Sera woke up in the medical tent. Nare the Haregon was next to her, asleep, his leg in a splint and patches of fur missing from injuries. She let out a soft sigh. Sore and battered, she had survived the flood in the sewage… and Glynnis and Handor had been there to greet her when she woke. That had been so nice.
“The bruises will fade,” the healer had said, leaving her with some foul-tasting medicine. She took a sip, wincing at the taste, but despite that, she felt better than she had in a long time. Overjoyed, she managed to give Glynnis and Handor warm, heartfelt hugs from her bed, even though every movement reminded her of the flood’s aftermath.
Later, when no one was watching, she quietly slipped out of bed to stretch and search for her father’s sword. Panic fluttered in her chest before she finally found the sword and the other items she liked in the treasure chamber—the sack from the cultist and her usual set of gear were still there.
“Oh, thank the Paladine,” she whispered, gripping her father’s shield. Her eyes fell on a slick black chitin armor. It looked oddly familiar, somehow both clumsy and perfectly tailored to her athletic form. Was it always this way? She touched it—it was warm, almost alive, and seemed to mold itself to her body. Curious, she donned it, and to her amazement, each piece adapted perfectly. It was so light, so natural that she hardly felt she was wearing armor at all.
She examined her new shield—a true masterpiece—and got lost in its details, forgetting about the armor entirely. The healer returned to check on her, and she hurried back to bed, lying under the blanket. It was cushioned and comfortable, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
When she woke again, she tried to remove the armor—but it was stuck. Tendrils of the chitin clung to her, pulling painfully as she struggled. And then she realized: it wasn’t magical. It was alive. It wanted to be part of her. Pulling hurt; letting it be felt…pleasant.
She didn’t have much time to grapple with the armor before visitors arrived. Glynnis and Handor came first, and she smiled, pretending nothing was wrong. Soon after, the rest of her friends arrived, battered but seemingly well. Hastos’ concerned words warmed her heart, and she returned a warm smile.
“I’m good,” she said. “The water flushed us out pretty thoroughly… I’m just glad we’re alive and not in jail. So I guess we came out on top? Not getting blamed for whatever Sargonnas’ cult did.” She said this from her bed, not wanting to explain the symbiote armor just yet.
“Oh, and thank you for leaving the… interesting items,” she added, thinking of Buckeran and the excitement of discovering the treasures. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret—her eagerness for nice armor hadn’t prepared her for the possibility it might be cursed.
Turning to Merkas who was eagerly chatting away she smiled at him " sure...if they dare join us. We seems to end up in trouble. If they like to join us i am happy. Oh and Orerana i hope you got to replenish your stock of potions...I belive i had a few in the sack I took from the cultist...can you not check it out and see what you need?" Sere knew Orerana liked potions. " oh and Glynni....we did find a very special cook book....in that bag. Kind of odd that a cultist was running around with it. What was he searching for against that darkness spell? " Sera shrugs "did we miss a disple magic scroll in it?"
Merkas's little legs pump as fast as he can back to the graveyard, while in the distance, you can see other manholes flying into the air. Water gushes from them like a geyser and begins flooding the agricultural district, the town center, and parts of HQ and Merchant District! Cracked clay and sand turn to mud under Merkas's feet! The crowds cries of attack change to one of amazed bewilderment as water rains down on them from the various geysers.
Back in the Sewers...
Sera and Nare go for the ride of their life! Water swils them around violently, yanking them in unpredictable directions, and careerning off the walls of the secret tunnel, until they're flushed out into the sepulchre! Their bodies smash into the sealed tomb, which knocks the lid loose, and the two are eventually flushed free of the tomb, and sloshed out onto the graveyard grounds.
Sera sees that Nare is viciously battered and appears to have several dislocated limbs and a broken leg. Her sight dims from the concussive force of the impact on the tomb, and the last thing she sees are blurry sillouhettes of Santekh residents rushing up to you. Then the pain, the world, and all thought fades from Sera's mind....
Everyone gets 400 XP each for that final skill encounter.
Cutscene...
The Medical Tent: Two days pass before Sera wakes up in the medical facilities. Nare is on a cot near you, panting rapidly and covered in bandages. They look bad and don't open their eyes. A healer notices you're awake and sends a messenger. It's not long before Glynnis and Handar come rushing to the medical building. "Sera," Handar bellows, and the healer clutches his arm and puts a finger over her mouth, glaring like a librarian as she gestures to Nare. Glynnis takes a calmer approach. She smiles, a mix of relief and sadness on her face. "G'd afternoon, lass. Ye were touch an' go fer a while. The best healer in town besides ye been tendin' to ye an'... whoever that is... nearly round the clock." She says pointing a thumb towards Ne'Haredowell.
Buckeran's Palace of Wonders: Hastos, Merkas, and Ororana have been living with Buckeran the last two days while an investigation takes place, by the local guard, of the Santekh sewers. With the damning evidence of gated water, nearly 100 Dragon Army zombie soldiers, and the book that Hastos recovered listing the names of all the members of the cult, Dawnbound has been kept sequestered for trial. Since Ne'Haredowell and Sera's state has been uncertain, they've been kept watch by guards around the clock in the medical building (newly renovated and the medical tent as been restructured to be used as a bazaar. A case for a trial has been set, and Dawnbound are the key witnesses, set to expose a handful of Hachakee, nearly a third of the Santekh residents, and two members of the council. So you haven't been able to leave. Tekel has been shamed and left indignant when many of his higher ranking officers were revealed as members of the cult complicit in stealing supplies, restricting water access, and performing bizarre rituals on fallen enemy soldiers. Disgraced, and with his numbers decimated, he's resorted to taking on bounties himself, and has been out patrolling the wilderness with his remaining guild members.
Buckeran has been a perfect host, and Merkas, Hastos, and Ororana have enjoyed the highest levels of hospitality during this time. But they've been more-or-less, restricted to roam the impossibly large manor inside Buckeran's pocket-dimension house. Ororana has taken the guilded-cage experience the harshest. Her night terrors kept the rest of Dawnbound up at night, so she was eventually given her own room and access to sedatives. But she roams the halls like a caged tiger, bristling with anxious rage at having her movements restricted. When news of Sera's awakening finally comes to Buckeran's house, and you're instructed that you can go to her, Ororana is gone before Buckeran even finishes giving the news!
Bursting out the front door and stretching into a big X she basks in the sunlight for a moment, then looks around. She's used to getting attention everywhere she goes, but this was different. Residence drop to the ground, practically praying to Dawnbound! Gifts of food, blankets, holy relics and small pouches of gold and silver lign the front entrance to Buckeran's office.
Renown Score: Level 3
In an instant, guards surround Dawnbound to escort you to the medical building. The march is slow. Most of the water has soaked into the earth, but there are still puddles and small rivulets still run throughout the town. In spite of her precarious position, Rhyana and the Hachakee are working hard to make the most of the opportunity to work the soil and help the garden grow. She doesn't look up from her work as you leave towards the medical building. You make your way across town with quite a bit of difficulty as guards shove back advancing residents.
"You've become equal parts famous and infamous now." Buckeran says, with a complicated tone in his voice. "If you were the Saviors of Santekh before, I would say you've become fully revered by many in town. But there is an equal number of residents who sympathize with the cult you may have exposed. They hate you for it. But the assasination attempts have been easily foiled, since you've been under my protection!" Buckeran allows himself to beam over his boast. "Rhyanna and Verhanna await trial, pending Sera's recovery. And it would appear you've rescued an old friend of our town as well! But Ne'haredowell is under suspicion, since we don't know if he was a captive, or complicit yet."
You pass by your guild hall, which you can hear forging being done within. The building is complete, including one resident, Kasi. She has abandoned her rickety shack and moved her stuff into the guild to upkeep and protect it while Dawnbound recovers and reunites.
The center of town is bustling now as you approach it. The wells are producing plenty of water, and priests stand by to bless it for purification, due to all the bloated zombies that were discovered floating through Santekh after your adventure below. Shoppers bounce from shop to shop, filling their sacks with all manner of daily necessities. The Laughing Dwarf is quiet for now, but it tends to be busier in the evening anyway. You turn toward past the graveyard and towards the medical building near the Resident District, and notice just how much work has been done in just two days! With water for hydration, and for making clay, builders have been working overtime to finish up Santekh! Instead of a crumbling old ruin with starving refugees, it's become a vibrant miniature metropolis! Although it's far away from your path, you can see that the refugee camp has been converted into a training ground for rebel soldiers, and the ground is deeply muddy and messy from the flood. New soldiers drill in it, sweating under the hot sun. The guards continue to push through the crowd of interested citizens who fawn or curse you until you make it to the medical building.
Once the door is shut, the contrasting quiet almost hurts the ears. The building isn't too big, but it is large enough to handle up to 50 patients at a time. It's complete with a small, nondenominational altar and a small medicine shop labelled "Witchdoctor Duncan's." It's more a vending machine than an actual shop, and contains potions that purify food and water, potions of Healing (Common) and various herbs and trinkets that treat or protect against poison, diseases, etc. They escort you to Sera and Ne'Haredowell's bed and post up around you.
Buckeran clears his throat, "Apologies, but the guards can't be dismissed until the trial. Orders from the council."
This is a cutscene intermission, where you can roleplay, share information, and make plans if you choose to. The presumption is that you've been attending your claimed Downtime Activities for the last two days. You've also levelled up and fully healed. SunDial365, you'll recover when you post. Just have Nare open their eyes, and you're fully rested and recovered.
Merkas is still covered in burn scars all over the front of your body and face, though the healing potions have reduced the marks enough to where they are only visible in daylight, and can easily be covered with make-up tattooes, or magic.
Hastos has a scar on his shoulder where the Pact Knife hit him. But it looks like it will heal up over time.
Sera has minor scarring and very stiff muscles and joints. But they'll loosen up with a little stretching and excersize. Her head still hurts from the concussion, and her left eye is bloodshot and swollen from the impact. Her jaw is also sore and pops when she opens it, but the Healer assures you that will go away with time, and gives you some medicine to drink.
Nare has no scarring, but his leg is a little crooked from being healed by a lower level NPC healer, and has bald patches from where the fur was ripped off in the riptide.
Glynnis looks back towrards Hastos and Merkas and gives them both big hugs. "Good ta see you two lads," she says softly. Handar pats you two on the shoulders.
She/her, DM and Player.
My DM Registry
My Campaigns:
Ibahalii Vriwhulth, the Reaper of Glory v2: IC Thread (PbP); Secrets of the Island (On Discord)
My Characters:
Krik-tul, Thri-kreen monk
Hastos stifles a grunt as Handar pats him on his injured shoulder. “It’s good to see everyone again.” Hastos says, massaging his shoulder.
Looking down at Sera, a look of concern appears on his face and he reaches down and gently puts a hand on her arm. “How are you?” He asks her.
Character: Hastos, Ibahalii Vriwhulth, the Reaper of Glory v2: IC Thread
Merkas would be as stir crazy as Ororana if he weren’t staying in the house of one of his idols. The shear amount of treasures, and the stories that go with them, keep him enthralled for a good part of his stay. Reading the book he acquired fills some of the other time.
At some point he does approach Ororana about joining Dawnbound officially, being pretty sure the others would agree, though Sera may be a bit jealous.
He dutifully goes through his collection of items, various tools, doing maintenance where he can and applies the oil of sharpness to his sisters dagger. “Y’know sis, if you really are watching over me then could you help me figure out what’s happening in my body, y’know, like the sudden ability to do some magic and stuff”
At the news of Sera and Mr. Nare’s awakening he runs back yo his pack and grabs a couple rings, the last two of the matching set of five he found, before chasing after Ororana. He is stopped short by the crowd of people and gifts laid out around the entrance. “Didn’t for it for all of this, just wanted noone else t’get hurt y’know. You think the famous and infamous would cancel each other out and we can just be normal again?” Bucky mentions Nare’s current positions and spends some time explaining all the ways he probed his loyalty while in the sewers.
At Sera and Nare’s room Merkas is quiet until after the greetings, smiling slightly at Handar as he pats his shoulder. “I’m sorry Sera, I tried to warn you guys, I sent a message to you be Hastos banged my head against the wall of the shaft, and then I think it can only travel so far, and I only tried it as a test because it seems I’m some sort of wizard or magician or something, isn’t that crazy?! Me with magic powers? Oh and I hope you don’t mind but I asked Ory if she wanted join Dawnbound officially, and I think Mr Nare should join us too, they both more than earned it. Did you have any crazy dreams while you were resting?”
Loyalty Begets Honour
Sera woke up in the medical tent. Nare the Haregon was next to her, asleep, his leg in a splint and patches of fur missing from injuries. She let out a soft sigh. Sore and battered, she had survived the flood in the sewage… and Glynnis and Handor had been there to greet her when she woke. That had been so nice.
“The bruises will fade,” the healer had said, leaving her with some foul-tasting medicine. She took a sip, wincing at the taste, but despite that, she felt better than she had in a long time. Overjoyed, she managed to give Glynnis and Handor warm, heartfelt hugs from her bed, even though every movement reminded her of the flood’s aftermath.
Later, when no one was watching, she quietly slipped out of bed to stretch and search for her father’s sword. Panic fluttered in her chest before she finally found the sword and the other items she liked in the treasure chamber—the sack from the cultist and her usual set of gear were still there.
“Oh, thank the Paladine,” she whispered, gripping her father’s shield. Her eyes fell on a slick black chitin armor. It looked oddly familiar, somehow both clumsy and perfectly tailored to her athletic form. Was it always this way? She touched it—it was warm, almost alive, and seemed to mold itself to her body. Curious, she donned it, and to her amazement, each piece adapted perfectly. It was so light, so natural that she hardly felt she was wearing armor at all.
She examined her new shield—a true masterpiece—and got lost in its details, forgetting about the armor entirely. The healer returned to check on her, and she hurried back to bed, lying under the blanket. It was cushioned and comfortable, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
When she woke again, she tried to remove the armor—but it was stuck. Tendrils of the chitin clung to her, pulling painfully as she struggled. And then she realized: it wasn’t magical. It was alive. It wanted to be part of her. Pulling hurt; letting it be felt…pleasant.
She didn’t have much time to grapple with the armor before visitors arrived. Glynnis and Handor came first, and she smiled, pretending nothing was wrong. Soon after, the rest of her friends arrived, battered but seemingly well. Hastos’ concerned words warmed her heart, and she returned a warm smile.
“I’m good,” she said. “The water flushed us out pretty thoroughly… I’m just glad we’re alive and not in jail. So I guess we came out on top? Not getting blamed for whatever Sargonnas’ cult did.” She said this from her bed, not wanting to explain the symbiote armor just yet.
“Oh, and thank you for leaving the… interesting items,” she added, thinking of Buckeran and the excitement of discovering the treasures. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret—her eagerness for nice armor hadn’t prepared her for the possibility it might be cursed.
Turning to Merkas who was eagerly chatting away she smiled at him " sure...if they dare join us. We seems to end up in trouble. If they like to join us i am happy. Oh and Orerana i hope you got to replenish your stock of potions...I belive i had a few in the sack I took from the cultist...can you not check it out and see what you need?" Sere knew Orerana liked potions. " oh and Glynni....we did find a very special cook book....in that bag. Kind of odd that a cultist was running around with it. What was he searching for against that darkness spell? " Sera shrugs "did we miss a disple magic scroll in it?"