"Really Kanon?" Zina crossed her arms over her chest, taking solace in her sneakiness. She'd rather make fun of the Bard than admit to herself that a boy was dead because of her book. "A thing appears behind the gnome who, in your own words, is scary good at illusions, and you assume it's real?"
The demon shimmered and disappeared. The illusionist refused to go talk to Orst. She wasn't good at people in general, and she was sure being partly responsible for someone's son's death wouldn't help her in any way. So instead, she joined Kanon at Pettilaen's side. "Is he alright?" She asked, biting her lip in worry. Zina had never been able to heal people with her magic, so the art was an impressive mystery to her.
"I think he'll be ok," Kanon says gently slapping the cheeks of the gnome. "He looks so peaceful though... in a sort of bloody, murderer, wear-your-skin sort of way. I think he just needs rest." He watches as the dwarves collect the body of their kin. "Is the book ok?"
He almost feels guilty asking that, but as long as it was intact he felt the sacrifice might be worth it. "I think I should help them... do you want to check these creatures for valuables?" He stands and looks at Zina, "And you're amazing at illusions - Don't be surprised if I was fooled." He then heads over to help carry the dwarf to the cart. He doesn't say much to them, as such a loss carries very little words. He imagines the dwarves will have plenty to say later, and there isn't much they could say back in their defense. There's no point in telling them that the kid should have stayed in the cart, or that they were foolish trying to take on a group of these creatures alone. Any words of that sort just appear to justify the death... and not in a good way.
"Is the book ok?" Kanon asked, which was exactly where her head had been the entire battle.
"Yeah," she held her bag against her chest tightly, feeling the corners of her book. "It's safe. That's what matters."
Zina stopped Kanon just as he was rising to his feet to join Orst. "One second," she said, a smile spreading across her face. Her eyes flicked back down to Pettilaen, who was definitely a bloody mess. "You don't happen to have any charcoal on you, do you?"
After making sure her gnommish friend's face was well taken care of, she started investigating the bodies of the elf-a-taurs. She hadn't meant to kill any of them, especially since one clearly knew something about her book that she didn't. Zina had so many question, but she had lost her chance.
Portia pulls out her medical kit and throws a wink at Zina as she draws on Pettilaen's face again. "I won't tell him it is there." She figured a little humor in the midst of this mess was needed.
Once arranged with her supplies she does what she can medically for Pettilaen, who despite looking a fright was peacefully unconscious for now. It would simply clean him up and have his wounds bandaged since he was already stable thanks to the cantrip she cast on him. At some point he would wake up and be able to down a potion. She carefully picks him up and carries him to the wagon pretending she is not noticing the charcoal doodles on his face.
She rounds up her horse and the ponies that had thankfully not run off far and had decided to start grazing in the calm after the fight. She takes this time to really digest what had really happened before trying to talk to anyone about it in depth.
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PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
The creatures have very little on them, including in the way of clothing, but between the single, initial instigator and a sack found at the stand of maple in which the second were hiding, Zina finds:
6 gold coins
36 silver coins
17 copper coins
a leaf-lined wooden box full of fresh nuts and berries
2 common bottles of wine
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Orst and Roe dust Rorn's body with a silvery powder, then wrap it tightly in waxed cloth and an outer layer of perfumed linens. In complete silence, they retrieve the wagon, which only traveled another 200 feet without a driver, and make ready to depart. Then they wait, Roe sitting on the driver's bench beside his father rather than in his usual nest in the rear of the cart (Rorn traditionally rode with Orst), until everyone is ready.
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Pettilaen lies unconscious, but peaceful. One can only wonder what must be going on inside of him to be so peaceful.
In truth, he was dreaming of catching the butterfly which eluded him for so long in Beregost. Except when he caught the butterfly, it turned into a large hybrid, half-owl and half-cat. He dreamt of flying with it through the sky. He was Pettilaen, the Lord of Owls in his pleasant dream. The edges of his lips seemed to almost curl into a smile at the thought.
Zina gathered everything up, pocketing only the wooden box of nuts and berries. After so many days of the heavy meats, her stomach was not very pleased with her. She would share with Pettilaen when he woke up, as he two complained about the lack of fresh fruit.
The little gnome followed the rest of her party over to the wagon. "That book may have been worth my life, but it wasn't worth Rorn's," she said somberly to the two dwarves at the front. "You should have this," Zina handed him all of the coins. "And we'll share these when we make camp tonight." She held up both bottles of wine. Blackstaff knew, they could all use some forgetting tonight.
Orst simply nods in reply, his eyes distant and vacant.
The wagon is barely under way when Roe reaches into a leather bag on his belt, removes a potion, and hands it off to Portia. Still wordless, he nods toward Pettilaen, lying unconscious in the back.
Portia nods to Roe in thanks. She moves over to Pettilaen where she had managed to lay him on the back of the wagon. She already tied her horse and the pony they were riding to the back of the wagon so they could get moving.
She props him up and smirks at the charcoal on his face, which she had tried not to wash up when tending his wounds before moving him. Then she dumps the potion down his throat waiting to see how fast he wakes up. She's not smirking when his eyes open.
Just as Portia poured the healing potion down Pettilaen's throat, Zina cast a quick minor illusion, a wicked grin lighting up her expression. Her dad had always told her laughter in times of great sorrow was the greatest medicine. While her roguish friend may not laugh at first, she was sure everyone else would. The illusionist gave a wink to Kanon as the face of the smoke demon appeared right over his head. "WAKEY WAKEY," the demon face roared loudly as it smiled evilly down at Pettilaen.
He thought he would awake peacefully. The dream was so nice... why were they pulling him out of it? He awoke to the screaming voice of a demon, who loomed ominously over him. His scream was like a shrill, and startled Gaia, who only added to the noise with her banshee wail. Flashing out a dagger, he slit the demon's throat and rolled off the cart, adrenaline pumping. It took a second for him to process everything that was going on. The demon.... going unconscious... THE BATTLE. He looked around quickly, assessing any other possible threats. Nothing. Just the.... an illusion. He could hear Zina laughing her head off from his maniacal actions. He scowled, yelling at her, "You hairless fey-fiend! You can't just wake someone from a nice dream with a demon!" He tossed the dagger into the air, catching it mid swing and launched it towards her, where the dagger imbedded itself into the wooden frame just to the right of her face. I'm awake. I'm alive. Ilmater, save me, because I'm going to skin her at this rate. He breathed deeply, trying to collect himself, and hopped back on.
"You think you're SO funny, don't you." A devious smile crept across his face, and he added in Gnommish, "That was pretty clever. I'll give that one to you.... But I've got a gift from the sandman for you..." Muttering the incantation, he put her into a deep sleep, chuckling to himself, and utters three more incantations. When he was finished, her clothing was a complete bright orange. "And the best part is, that will last for a full hour!" He waited until the minute passed before she woke up, putting himself in a defensible location. Last time he pulled a prank on him, she almost killed him.
Kanon can't help but smile at the two gnomes having their fun. He smirks as Petti puts Zina to sleep, but he holds in any laughter in respect to the dwarves. "Zina looks like a pumpkin," he notes, "With arms and legs." He says this when she's still asleep, not having the guts to say it while she's awake.
After an hour or so of travel, Kanon makes his way to an area closer to the dwarves. Sitting with his back to them, he begins to humm in a low drone - followed by his dagger hilt hitting the cart wall. He does it again. And again. And as he does so, the humm and hit begins to make a beat that resembles music. The humming continues and he nods for others to join. Knowing dwarven culture, warriors were honored upon death by the low humm and smack of hammer to shield. This would have to do.
Bullden picks up a spear and plans use that has a spare weapon for now. As some time passes he moves to sit next to Orst on the wagon and give his condolences and even starts a dwarven prayer for Roen.
Orst looks over his shoulder at Kanon with a blank expression, stares at him a long moment, his eyes deep wells of thought and feeling, then turns forward again. Over the next several minutes, he sighs heavily no less than a dozen times. Then, suddenly, he shoves the reins at Roe, startling the young man.
When Roe takes the hint, and the reins, Orst turns and heaves himself up onto the bench, his great girth making a simple maneuver quite complicated. At first it almost looks like he's trying to get closer to Kanon in order to swing at him, but then he ducks his head and starts digging through a stack of bags, boxes, and crates. He grunts and groans, tossing aside bits and pieces haphazardly as he reaches deeper and deeper into what looks like their personal and professional belongings until finally he produces a carpentry hammer and a large tin dinner plate.
With these items, he joins in the song, and even adds some impromptu rhyme in the dwarven tongue.
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Portia quietly laughs as Pettilaen winds up rolling off the cart. She unties her horse, jumps off the cart and climbs into the saddle. The horse is a bit skittish. She makes it have to go in a tight circle until it calms down glad the trick actually worked. Once up beside the front of the wagon she looks at Roe and then at Orst with an understanding smile. She catches the rhyme but trying one of her own eludes her. She resorts to just listening as she spends a lot of time patting her horse as it plods along beside the cart.
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PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
The remainder of the day's travel goes by in somber sobriety, the beat of the mourning song keeping time with the wagon wheels, until clouds darken the sky overhead and the distant sound of thunder predicts another rain. Orst nudges Roe, signalling him to pull the wagon to the side a little over an hour early, then goes to digging in the crates again.
He pauses to look at each of the party members, keeping count on his fingers until he reaches 7. With a sigh, and a glance at Rorn's wrapped body, he increases the count to 8, then digs back in a large crate again to remove an equal number of brand new gilded bronze steins bearing the crest of a noble family from Baldur's gate.
His booming voice breaks silence for the first time since the battle.
"Tonight we toast!" He says. "Where's the wine?"
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Kanon accepts the stein gladly. Though he didn't know the dwarves, or even the rest of the group, for very long, he is adamant in honoring the dwarf's sacrifice in any way Orst deems necessary. He was happy that Orst joined him. Every group of dwarves have their own funeral rites and he wasn't sure if the one he chose would be well received. The time he did spend with Orst, he noted that the man enjoyed the pleasures of life. So he hoped he'd appreciate at least the attempt. He allows Orst the honor to speak first in the toast, and raises his stein as he waits.
"Really Kanon?" Zina crossed her arms over her chest, taking solace in her sneakiness. She'd rather make fun of the Bard than admit to herself that a boy was dead because of her book. "A thing appears behind the gnome who, in your own words, is scary good at illusions, and you assume it's real?"
The demon shimmered and disappeared. The illusionist refused to go talk to Orst. She wasn't good at people in general, and she was sure being partly responsible for someone's son's death wouldn't help her in any way. So instead, she joined Kanon at Pettilaen's side. "Is he alright?" She asked, biting her lip in worry. Zina had never been able to heal people with her magic, so the art was an impressive mystery to her.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
"I think he'll be ok," Kanon says gently slapping the cheeks of the gnome. "He looks so peaceful though... in a sort of bloody, murderer, wear-your-skin sort of way. I think he just needs rest." He watches as the dwarves collect the body of their kin. "Is the book ok?"
He almost feels guilty asking that, but as long as it was intact he felt the sacrifice might be worth it. "I think I should help them... do you want to check these creatures for valuables?" He stands and looks at Zina, "And you're amazing at illusions - Don't be surprised if I was fooled." He then heads over to help carry the dwarf to the cart. He doesn't say much to them, as such a loss carries very little words. He imagines the dwarves will have plenty to say later, and there isn't much they could say back in their defense. There's no point in telling them that the kid should have stayed in the cart, or that they were foolish trying to take on a group of these creatures alone. Any words of that sort just appear to justify the death... and not in a good way.
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"Is the book ok?" Kanon asked, which was exactly where her head had been the entire battle.
"Yeah," she held her bag against her chest tightly, feeling the corners of her book. "It's safe. That's what matters."
Zina stopped Kanon just as he was rising to his feet to join Orst. "One second," she said, a smile spreading across her face. Her eyes flicked back down to Pettilaen, who was definitely a bloody mess. "You don't happen to have any charcoal on you, do you?"
After making sure her gnommish friend's face was well taken care of, she started investigating the bodies of the elf-a-taurs. She hadn't meant to kill any of them, especially since one clearly knew something about her book that she didn't. Zina had so many question, but she had lost her chance.
(OOC: 23 investigation check.)
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Portia pulls out her medical kit and throws a wink at Zina as she draws on Pettilaen's face again. "I won't tell him it is there." She figured a little humor in the midst of this mess was needed.
Once arranged with her supplies she does what she can medically for Pettilaen, who despite looking a fright was peacefully unconscious for now. It would simply clean him up and have his wounds bandaged since he was already stable thanks to the cantrip she cast on him. At some point he would wake up and be able to down a potion. She carefully picks him up and carries him to the wagon pretending she is not noticing the charcoal doodles on his face.
She rounds up her horse and the ponies that had thankfully not run off far and had decided to start grazing in the calm after the fight. She takes this time to really digest what had really happened before trying to talk to anyone about it in depth.
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain
PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
The creatures have very little on them, including in the way of clothing, but between the single, initial instigator and a sack found at the stand of maple in which the second were hiding, Zina finds:
Orst and Roe dust Rorn's body with a silvery powder, then wrap it tightly in waxed cloth and an outer layer of perfumed linens. In complete silence, they retrieve the wagon, which only traveled another 200 feet without a driver, and make ready to depart. Then they wait, Roe sitting on the driver's bench beside his father rather than in his usual nest in the rear of the cart (Rorn traditionally rode with Orst), until everyone is ready.
Pettilaen lies unconscious, but peaceful. One can only wonder what must be going on inside of him to be so peaceful.
In truth, he was dreaming of catching the butterfly which eluded him for so long in Beregost. Except when he caught the butterfly, it turned into a large hybrid, half-owl and half-cat. He dreamt of flying with it through the sky. He was Pettilaen, the Lord of Owls in his pleasant dream. The edges of his lips seemed to almost curl into a smile at the thought.
Zina gathered everything up, pocketing only the wooden box of nuts and berries. After so many days of the heavy meats, her stomach was not very pleased with her. She would share with Pettilaen when he woke up, as he two complained about the lack of fresh fruit.
The little gnome followed the rest of her party over to the wagon. "That book may have been worth my life, but it wasn't worth Rorn's," she said somberly to the two dwarves at the front. "You should have this," Zina handed him all of the coins. "And we'll share these when we make camp tonight." She held up both bottles of wine. Blackstaff knew, they could all use some forgetting tonight.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Orst simply nods in reply, his eyes distant and vacant.
The wagon is barely under way when Roe reaches into a leather bag on his belt, removes a potion, and hands it off to Portia. Still wordless, he nods toward Pettilaen, lying unconscious in the back.
Portia nods to Roe in thanks. She moves over to Pettilaen where she had managed to lay him on the back of the wagon. She already tied her horse and the pony they were riding to the back of the wagon so they could get moving.
She props him up and smirks at the charcoal on his face, which she had tried not to wash up when tending his wounds before moving him. Then she dumps the potion down his throat waiting to see how fast he wakes up. She's not smirking when his eyes open.
((Meta: 5HP to Petti from the potion))
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain
PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
Just as Portia poured the healing potion down Pettilaen's throat, Zina cast a quick minor illusion, a wicked grin lighting up her expression. Her dad had always told her laughter in times of great sorrow was the greatest medicine. While her roguish friend may not laugh at first, she was sure everyone else would. The illusionist gave a wink to Kanon as the face of the smoke demon appeared right over his head. "WAKEY WAKEY," the demon face roared loudly as it smiled evilly down at Pettilaen.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
He thought he would awake peacefully. The dream was so nice... why were they pulling him out of it? He awoke to the screaming voice of a demon, who loomed ominously over him. His scream was like a shrill, and startled Gaia, who only added to the noise with her banshee wail. Flashing out a dagger, he slit the demon's throat and rolled off the cart, adrenaline pumping. It took a second for him to process everything that was going on. The demon.... going unconscious... THE BATTLE. He looked around quickly, assessing any other possible threats. Nothing. Just the.... an illusion. He could hear Zina laughing her head off from his maniacal actions. He scowled, yelling at her, "You hairless fey-fiend! You can't just wake someone from a nice dream with a demon!" He tossed the dagger into the air, catching it mid swing and launched it towards her, where the dagger imbedded itself into the wooden frame just to the right of her face. I'm awake. I'm alive. Ilmater, save me, because I'm going to skin her at this rate. He breathed deeply, trying to collect himself, and hopped back on.
"You think you're SO funny, don't you." A devious smile crept across his face, and he added in Gnommish, "That was pretty clever. I'll give that one to you.... But I've got a gift from the sandman for you..." Muttering the incantation, he put her into a deep sleep, chuckling to himself, and utters three more incantations. When he was finished, her clothing was a complete bright orange. "And the best part is, that will last for a full hour!" He waited until the minute passed before she woke up, putting himself in a defensible location. Last time he pulled a prank on him, she almost killed him.
Kanon can't help but smile at the two gnomes having their fun. He smirks as Petti puts Zina to sleep, but he holds in any laughter in respect to the dwarves. "Zina looks like a pumpkin," he notes, "With arms and legs." He says this when she's still asleep, not having the guts to say it while she's awake.
After an hour or so of travel, Kanon makes his way to an area closer to the dwarves. Sitting with his back to them, he begins to humm in a low drone - followed by his dagger hilt hitting the cart wall. He does it again. And again. And as he does so, the humm and hit begins to make a beat that resembles music. The humming continues and he nods for others to join. Knowing dwarven culture, warriors were honored upon death by the low humm and smack of hammer to shield. This would have to do.
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Bullden picks up a spear and plans use that has a spare weapon for now. As some time passes he moves to sit next to Orst on the wagon and give his condolences and even starts a dwarven prayer for Roen.
Orst looks over his shoulder at Kanon with a blank expression, stares at him a long moment, his eyes deep wells of thought and feeling, then turns forward again. Over the next several minutes, he sighs heavily no less than a dozen times. Then, suddenly, he shoves the reins at Roe, startling the young man.
When Roe takes the hint, and the reins, Orst turns and heaves himself up onto the bench, his great girth making a simple maneuver quite complicated. At first it almost looks like he's trying to get closer to Kanon in order to swing at him, but then he ducks his head and starts digging through a stack of bags, boxes, and crates. He grunts and groans, tossing aside bits and pieces haphazardly as he reaches deeper and deeper into what looks like their personal and professional belongings until finally he produces a carpentry hammer and a large tin dinner plate.
With these items, he joins in the song, and even adds some impromptu rhyme in the dwarven tongue.
Portia quietly laughs as Pettilaen winds up rolling off the cart. She unties her horse, jumps off the cart and climbs into the saddle. The horse is a bit skittish. She makes it have to go in a tight circle until it calms down glad the trick actually worked. Once up beside the front of the wagon she looks at Roe and then at Orst with an understanding smile. She catches the rhyme but trying one of her own eludes her. She resorts to just listening as she spends a lot of time patting her horse as it plods along beside the cart.
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain
PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
The remainder of the day's travel goes by in somber sobriety, the beat of the mourning song keeping time with the wagon wheels, until clouds darken the sky overhead and the distant sound of thunder predicts another rain. Orst nudges Roe, signalling him to pull the wagon to the side a little over an hour early, then goes to digging in the crates again.
He pauses to look at each of the party members, keeping count on his fingers until he reaches 7. With a sigh, and a glance at Rorn's wrapped body, he increases the count to 8, then digs back in a large crate again to remove an equal number of brand new gilded bronze steins bearing the crest of a noble family from Baldur's gate.
His booming voice breaks silence for the first time since the battle.
"Tonight we toast!" He says. "Where's the wine?"
Bullden pulls out the two bottles of wine the elf-a-taurs were no longer using and fills up the mugs.
Kanon accepts the stein gladly. Though he didn't know the dwarves, or even the rest of the group, for very long, he is adamant in honoring the dwarf's sacrifice in any way Orst deems necessary. He was happy that Orst joined him. Every group of dwarves have their own funeral rites and he wasn't sure if the one he chose would be well received. The time he did spend with Orst, he noted that the man enjoyed the pleasures of life. So he hoped he'd appreciate at least the attempt. He allows Orst the honor to speak first in the toast, and raises his stein as he waits.
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Orst lifts his stein.
"First drink to the vine-sniffing mongrels that laid my boy low," he bellows. "May they rot slowly for a thousand years and then start over again!"
Then he pours the wine from his goblet onto the ground.