Seldom Spring

Erric watches as Tairdai starts to reach for the bag, but Ebokk pulls it out of her reach. "Send for Skadoula!" he says loudly.

"Ebokk!" his mother responds in surprise and anger.

The shield dwarf looks at his mother, his jaw set. "Go, Tairdai. Now."

Mother and son stare at each other for a moment as Tairdai ducks her head and rushes further into the house, through the door at the back of the room, Erric assumes. Ebokk turns from his mother and marches toward Erric, his face transforming from angry to concerned by the time he reaches the halfling. He holds out the bag to Erric and then follows him into the room, making small noises of surprise as he sees the bits of destruction here and there. "Moradin's hammer!" Ebokk exclaims at seeing Anafrey. "Is she still alive?"

Maldorn snaps to attention as Jambiya calls his name and rushes inside and then through the ajar door into the room.

Seeing Erric struggle with Anafrey’s wounds, the ranger tries to use some of his field knowledge to help.

-> Medicine: 6

OOC: fingers crossed... damn

Jambiya looks up. “I think so,” she says in a small voice, “But I don’t know.”

OOC: Is it too late for Erric to use his last luck point of the day to reroll that medicine check? If so:

Either way, Erric roots through Jambiya's bag, looking for the potion, ready to hand it over to Jambiya should they lose Anafrey. (OOC: with all these medicine check failures I assume the only hope is death saving throws?) As he grabs the potion, he speaks to Ebokk and also loud enough for Mrs. Lockforge to hear.

"Ebokk. Mrs. Lockforge. This is what happened to your father. Your husband. I know it. He didn't want to be a pirate, but the flail must have changed him. It's certainly changed Anafrey. Ebokk, you remember her before. Drank too much but never mean or cruel. This is what caused you to lose him. And we're trying not to lose Anafrey. I assume Skadoula is a cleric who might be able to help?"

He moves around to Anafrey's head, picking it up gently and laying it in his small lap. He tries to pul the hair out of her face with fingers still bloody from trying and failing to bind her wounds. "Anafrey, I know you're in there still. We're trying to help you. Trust us and hear us." He looks up at Maldorn, struggling with her wounds as well. "Is it hopeless? She might still wake up, right? Oh gods, do we have to tie her up in case when she wakes up it's still not her?"

Maldorn runs around and into the office as Erric begins trying to stop Anafrey's bleeding. Through sheer luck (!), he manages to stabilize her while the others stand around and watch with worried eyes. Once his breathing regulates again, Erric explains to Ebokk (and hopefully his mother) what is going on. As soon as he finishes, a voice comes from outside the door.

"Skadoula," the new voice says calmly and with a hint of humor, "is a cleric of sorts," the voice says, becoming closer, "and a wizard of sorts," says a female dwarf as she enter through the office door, "and a few others things thrown in for good measure." Everyone (save Anafrey) watches as a thin elderly dwarf enters. She is dressed in a robe of red and purple with gold trimmings and accents that even covers her head. The skin of her face is dark and full of wrinkles, but her eyes are still bright. They look at everyone with such kindness and joy. It's startling in this atmosphere of worry and fear.

"Skadoula!" Ebokk exclaims with relief, stepping up to the woman, who is slightly taller than he. "Thank you for coming. How did you get here so fast?"

Skadoula's arms rise to reveal her knobbly and veined hands. She cups the younger dwarf's cheeks. "I was already on my way," she says with a slight chuckle. "Now," she says, looking down at Anafrey, "let's save your friend."

As Skadoula moves over toward Anafrey, Tairdai enters the office as well, but hovers near the doorjamb, still looking worried.

Skadoula looks at Jambiya. "You can let go of that weapon, now, Sassafras-child. Oh, before I forget," the dwarf says with a little laugh as if telling a joke. She reaches a hand within her robe and pulls out a short rod. It is clearly a carved tree branch. Most of the rod is octagonal, straight, and shaped, but the top splits into four natural-looking branches, which the shaped handle blends into smoothly. The four branches end abruptly as if cut off and form a kind of fan. "Your mother asked me to give this to you."

"My... mother?" Jambiya is so shocked by this that she lets the flail drop limply and half falls, half sits back, holding the strange rod. She just blinks uncomprehendingly.

OOC > Christmas has come?

“You did it, Erric!” Maldorn let’s a scream of joy slip before the dwarven elder enters the room. Once she does, the ranger falls back silent, unwilling to interrupt their potential savior at least initially.

Erric is just cradling Anafrey’s head gently in his hands and lap, and saying half-words. Pseudo words.

Skadoula appears to melt into the floor as the robe puddles around her until she is at the height to either be sitting or kneeling beside Anafrey. She takes an orb made of marble out of her rob and holds it above Anafrey's prone body.

Tairdai suddenly says, "Excuse my, m'lady," and scurries into the room.

Through the door comes to scowling face of Mrs. Lockforge. She pauses, looking down at the scene.

"Come in, Esmet," Skadoula sings. "You should hear this." As Mrs. Lockforge moves to sit in one of the chairs, the newest arrival holds out her hand toward Ebokk's mother. "The beard ring, please. I need to know its history." Mrs. Lockforge pauses, seeming to debate with herself, before extracting the beard ring from a pocket and placing it in the older dwarf's open palm. Still holding the orb above Anafrey, Skadoula balances the beard ring on top of the orb. She waves her free hand above the orb and ring in a seemingly haphazard way as the she-dwarf begins to sing and hum. The air around her shimmers. Those closest to her feel the air around her cooling. Her hand begins to double and even sometimes triple. The singing and humming start to overlap. There are two of her and then three of her. Her voice comes from the hallway, "Skadoula is a cleric of sorts," before fading away.

Any glance at Ebokk or Mrs. Lockforge show them watching Skadoula intently, but with no first-time reactions.

The ring begins to float above the orb and then spin in a lazy circle. Skadoula's form solidifies, and her voice stops overlapping. Her hand stops flapping, and she places underneath the hand holding the orb so that the sphere is cupped within both hands with the ring floating above. As she stares at the piece of jewelry, she tells the tale.

Some 50 years ago, Oskir Lockforge discovered a hidden vault amid the western foothills of the Cloud Peaks, north of Amn. Within this vault was an archaic weapon. This Flindbar was a relic of a long-past era, far removed from the enchanted flails of modern finds, yet possessed of a malevolent power nonetheless. Believing he'd found a precious artifact, Oskir claimed the weapon, unwittingly exposing himself to its dark influence. Compelled by his new treasure, the dwarf sought out a pack of gnolls, who saw his coming as an omen of Yeenoghu's. They too fell under the sway of the Flindbar, following Oskir's every misguided command. Though he fought with all his will, the poor dwarf was powerless to stop himself as he led his new hunting pack into a small port town just north of the Cloud Peaks. The gnolls attacked without mercy, destroying everything in their path. By the time they'd finished, the town had been wiped clean off the map, though a ship remained docked nearby. Something inside of Oskir snapped: his mind! Leading the gnoll pack onto the ship, he dubbed himself Captain Flindbar, and gave the order to set sail. Though gnolls make terrible sailors, and mad dwarves are no better, these rough and ready pirates made a big impression in a small space of time. Then, just as suddenly as they'd appeared in the shipping lanes, they disappeared once more. With no idea where they were going, they soon became lost at sea. When their ship ran aground on the island, the gnolls soon began to fight among themselves. Before long, the island was littered with fresh corpses, but the Flindbar guided Oskir through a ritual to raise them as witherlings. With no way to leave the island, but jealous of even his own creations, Oskir hid his chest of treasure in the central burial mound and guarded it until death took him.

The longer Skadoula spoke, the more distraught and horrified Ebokk and his mother become. Mrs. Lockforge is even covering her mouth with her hand as if to contain a scream.

The eldest dwarf reaches up and plucks the floating beard ring and offers it to Ebokk. "This is yours now, young Lockforge. Oskir wanted you to have it." Ebokk accepts it with a gulp.

"Now," Skadoula says, "what to do about the Flindbar." She begins moving the orb around Anafrey's limp form and even along the weapon, which is still clutched, but also sprawled across the floor beside the huntress. "I see it has attached itself to her psyche. I'm not sure anything short of death will cause it to detach. I believe her best chance is to contain it." She looks around at the group. "I see many things, but this is beyond me. It's like I'm being blocked." She looks at Anafrey with slightly narrowed eyes and then appears to think of something. Taking her hand away from the orb, it hovers in the air where it was as she pulls her robes apart with one hand and fishes inside with the other. After a few seconds, she pulls out a smaller stone. She places it on Anafrey's forehead and then puts her palm below the floating orb so that it rests in her hand again. Pressing the smaller stone into Anafrey's forehead with the fingertips of one hand, and moving the orb in a figure eight above Anafrey's torso with the other, Skadoula again begins to sing and hum. Anafrey's hand holding the flail begins to vibrate and jump, which causes everyone except Skadoula to also jump. Skadoula scowls and sings and hums more loudly. The flail begins to vibrate with such force that there is a rumbling.

Finally, the rumbling subsides, and Skadoula stops singing and humming. She puts both the stone and the orb away in her robes and sighs. Looking around the elder smiles up at Ebokk. "Put her to bed. She has a hard road ahead of her and needs to rest." As if rising out of the floor, she assumes her full height again. "Tairdai? Tea." She leaves the office and heads toward the sitting room.

OOC: Whoa. Whoa. Whoa!

So the flail, the flindbar, is still stuck to her arm, right?

Yep.

At some point during Skadoula's tale, Jambiya comes back to herself. Clutching her new prize, she listens intently, small motes of sunlight floating around her (unconscious Prestidigitation). Her eyes move from Anafrey to Skadoula, to Anafrey and the flail. When Skadoula stands, Jambiya does too, moves to follow her, then stops to look at Anafrey, still sprawled and bloody on the ground, breathing shallowly. She is clearly torn, but finally stuffs the new rod into her bag (which she takes from Ebokk, or the floor, wherever it is) and kneels down to her friend. She pulls out a Goodberry, and puts it to Anafrey's lips. "Let's go, Sweetie," she says, in a quiet reflection of how she used to coax Anafray out of the tavern and into bed.

She will accompany Anafrey and anyone else who helps put the young woman to bed, making sure she is safe, and comfortable. Then as soon as she is sure of that, she will rush downstairs to see if Skadoula is still there.

Jambiya, you fully expect Anafrey to wake up enough to at least stumble to bed once you force feed her a goodberry, but the woman continues to remain asleep/unconscious. You're a little concerned about this, but then again, with all the strange magic that's been going on today, you decide it's for the best.

OOC: Does anyone else go with Ebokk and Jambiya to put Anafrey to bed?

Maldorn does. He pick us up Anafrey in a fireman’s carry sort of way and follows Ebokk to the designated bed.

Erric says, “Skadoula, my name is Erric. Thank you, so much, for helping. How did you know we needed it? How do you know Jambiya’s mother? As for Anafrey, we have a way to bring her back from the dead. Maybe you also know that. We used it on Ebokk in the island, and it’s why he’s here among us. Should we let her go, chuck the flindbar in the ocean, and bring her back?”

He’s talking before she leaves and if she still goes to the other room he will follow, trusting the others to care for Anafrey. He will set her head gently on his folded up jacket before he goes though :)

OOC > Thank you for asking the question I wanted Jambiya to ask (about letting Anafrey die to remove the flail) but Jambiya didn't want to ask because she's too caught up in all the emotions right now... teamwork! :)

OOC: No worries! It's been a while since Erric's done his ask-a-million-questions thing.

Also I imagine Erric walking with her holding onto the hem of her robe like a small child.

OOC: Even though Erric's already asking questions, I'm not going to spoiler it. We can just say the others are caught up when they're around or by the power of D&D, we won't worry about them knowing things they actually wouldn't have heard.

Before Jambiya feeds Anafrey the goodberry, Erric carefully removes Anafrey's head from his tiny lap and rests it upon his jacket. He then follows Skadoula to the sitting room, his mouth running a mile a minute.

Maldorn picks up Anafrey, carrying her with her legs in front and her arms hanging down his back, the flail still clutched in one hand. Ebokk exits the room, pushing one more time on the desk to help the door open just a little more for Maldorn and his package. He leads Maldorn and Jambiya down the hall to the interior of the house. Turning a corner, there is a stairwell up to the second floor. The dwarf leads them up. On the second floor is another hall of doors. Ebokk selects one and opens the door, allowing Maldorn and Jambiya to enter first. The room is large and well adorned. The prominent piece of furniture is a four poster bed with a huge, rounded mattress.

Down in the sitting room, Skadoula has sat, as has Mrs. Lockforge, who is still looking thoughtful and slightly upset. Tairdai has bustled through the door at the end of the room, supposedly to fetch tea. "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Erric. It is my pleasure to help. How did I know? Well, I have a way of looking through time — forward and backward — when I want to. Rarely do I see something I don't intend to see. But sometimes, something I want to see gives me a glimpse into something I don't expect to see." She smiles. "I had a visitor, and she asked me to look in on your little fey friend, and I did, and that's when I saw that I was going to help you here and now. That visitor was Jambiya's mother, but I don't think I should say anything more about that." She looks like she is full of secrets, and knows when it's best to keep them hidden. "I'm glad to hear you have a way of reviving friends — thank you so much for saving young Ebokk — but you're not going to need that. At least not tonight. Your friend is going to wake up strong tomorrow morning. I've given her strength to fight what is within her. Flindbar is there in her mind, and he's not going to let her go. You'll find that if she is separated from the weapon, she will be in torment. Right now, for a while at least, she can fight his control. But what I have done is only temporary. She needs a permanent solution, or you'll find you've lost her to Flindbar once again. Perhaps forever." Tairdai has arrived with the tea, and Skadoula pauses to pour herself some.

Once in the room upstairs, Maldorn carefully lays Anafrey down on the comfy bed and brings the covers over her. He grabs one of the many pillows and props it to support her flail wielding arm, which he now realizes is more damaged than any other part of her body. 

He turn to Jambiya: "Lady Jambiya. There is much I want to tell you, but that can wait for now. I am sure your mind must be swirling with questions for the lady downstairs. If you'll trust me to stay here and care for our friend, I will do so to the best of my ability."

He grabs a piece of cloth from the washbasin in the room and begins to clean and dress Anafrey's many wounds very carefully. He feels he has the time to do a much better job now that they are not in an urgent situation.

Jambiya's eyes well up at Maldorn's declaration, and the fact he called her 'Lady Jambiya.' Impulsively, she hugs him tight. "Thank you," she whispers into his chest.

Then she rushes downstairs to join the conversation, bursting in during the tea serving lull. Taking in the room, she will sit primly in a chair, quietly knowing that the old dwarf lady surely knows what she wants to ask, and waiting as patiently as she can. Then she starts, "Oh, the dragon!" and leaps up to run back into the office, looking for the little dragon.