The Exploits of Misfit Company

Vastra rushes over when she sees Alys accidentally jab herself with the stinger while trying to harvest the purple worm poison. "Alys! Do you need healing?"

Yvan visibly relaxes when Alys assures to him that she is okay from the fumble, giving her a small smile from the barbarian. A look of confusion does come across face at the wizards sudden want to play rock, paper, scissors, even tilting his head to the side not understanding why until she explains. There is a low chuckle that rumbles from the back of his throat, deciding to humor her and mimic her hand gesture, ready to play. Though, at hearing Kasha's firm 'no', he snorts, giving a look over to Alys. "Sounds like it'll be a group effort this time around."

It was almost as if she had read his mind when it came to what he had wanted help with, nodding. He wasn't the best at extracting things such as poisons, his hands too big to do so and never really knowing where it would be best to begin the extraction. You also needed to be very precise in your incisions or risk ruining the harvest and poisoning yourself. He had worried about it happening, though the worry is washes away when she takes his hand and starts to look for a good spot to use using Kashasaurus' help, him simply following along with no complaints. The barbarian would give her a nod to indicate he was ready to begin the process.

He held his breath as he watches her, and when she pricks herself, the beginning of panic sets in. "Alys...?" He know that sometimes their bodies could naturally fight off poison, but it looked like she had been losing that battle. Unsure of what to do other than call aside an expert in medicine, he looks for Kasha, but when he sees her sinking down, the panic doubles. "Kasha?" He shouts out to her, worry in his tone. "Oh Gods, I-I... Stella?" He calls to the rogue, remembering that salvant she had used earlier, trying to keep calm despite the mess that was his state of mind right now. "D-Does your medicine help with poison? And, uh," He gives a worried look over to the druid. "Tummy aches?"

"Oh, no." Stella runs over, pulling her salve jar out of her pocket. "Okay, don't worry, this can help with the worst of the injuries and drive out the poison. Alys, hold still." The rogue begins applying the salve to Alys's stinger wound with nimble fingers, rubbing it gently in and watching as the lines of poison start to fade away, and the bleeding slows.

Alys heals 12 and the poison is gone.

"I know a poison..remove spell, I just don't have it..prepared at the moment." Kasha groans, holding her stomach. She looks over to Alys and see she's ok.

Kasha suddenly gasped loudly, grasping her chest tightly and falling over, as if she was having a heart attack. "AhcKc!!!"

"Kasha! Are you okay?"

Worried looks go from Alys to Kasha over and over again until he notices that the salve had worked its magic on the wizards wound. "Thank you, Stella," He breathes finally. "Are you okay now?" He asks Alys for confirmation. "We... we don't need to get the poison. I-it was just an odd idea. I... I just... I don't want you to get hurt again..." 

His attention then then snapped onto the druid, hearing her groan in pain and Vastra's call to her. "Kasha?" He calls out to her, then looks to Stella and says, "Take care of her please..." Referring to Alys, as he gets up and rushes over to Kasha's side, trying to act like a sort of crutch for her to use to try and stay up. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? Do you think you're poisoned? I-I think Alys is okay now so she might be able to help you... Want me to carry you?"

At the prick of her finger, it’d feel like everything started closing in on her, and Alys couldn’t move. Tunnel vision would start to take over and she could feel her body start to slump. Sounds and voices around her were a bit distorted, like they were muffled, but she could hear them. It was as if she was frozen in that moment, stuck, having to suffer through witnessing the turmoil and fuss over the incident. I’m sorry. During the time she’d be trapped in her solitude, guilt would bubble up into her chest and it burned. This was something she was sure she could do. She was confident. But maybe that was her crutch... instead she caused a whole lot of unnecessary worry and broke Kasha out of her Dino form and may have made her stomach issues worse. I’m the liability...

Alys could feel the hold of the poison begin to lose its grip and fade from her. Finally she could blink. And as she did she would see and watch Stella finalize the administration of her salve. The elf would let out an exhale. Only apologies wanted to leave her lips. Feeling worried eyes on her when Kasha was doubling over in pain, she’d avoid eye contact with everyone feeling ashamed. I’m sorry. The elf would simply shake her head at herself and respond to Yvan, “I’m fine...” She’d assure him, encouraging him to go so he could focus on Kasha and assisting Vastra in tending to her. “Just make sure Kasha’s okay...” I thought I could do it... But instead of just causing pain to herself, but also in extension, maybe even Kasha too by breaking the concentration on her spell before her Dino belly could digest the substance for her.

”Thank you Stella...” It would take a moment but Alys would finally glance up to the rogue. Her eyes would search Stella’s for a moment as she’d reflect some thoughts on herself before leaning in to wrap her in a gentle hug. She really did appreciate Stella and felt like she never took the time to show her. “I didn’t mean to waste your reserves...” Deep down the wizard knew she wanted to try again. She wanted to believe she could do it. That the confidence Stella invests in her isn’t misplaced. The elf has been trying to keep confidence and not let it waver, but it was something that felt foreign to her. And right now, felt like It was something that just wasn’t ‘meant for her’. Maybe she was just too sensitive. It was easier for her to keep the bar low and be pleasantly surprised when things work out, than to set herself up, and even others, for disappointment, or turmoil in this case, when she fails. Stella made it look so easy, but something told Alys that it never was. And it only made her recognize Stella’s silent strength even more.

And as much of an ‘*******’ Bix may be coming off, the reality was, there are truths in his words. Alys understood what he meant. He didn’t need to sugar coat everything all the time. Sure, it’s nice when it’s not so harsh... but someone has to play devils advocate right? If he was nice, it wouldn’t hit home the same way now would it? Her blue eyes would glance from Stella, to her own pair of hands, then over Stella’s shoulder to watch B, on his own, round up and tend to the camels. He’s always cared. Albeit in his own way. Otherwise he wouldn’t be over there taking care of the logistics while they... she... wasted time extracting a poison. Only to fail. Wasting resources. The fact that she got hurt was all the more proof she shouldn’t try again, regardless of how much she wanted to and thought she could do it. The benefits of what they could learn from this poison could go a long way... but at what cost?

Alys would look back to Stella. She’d heavily contemplate asking the rogue if she’d be willing to help her this time to try another attempt. But... the elf couldn’t bring herself to chance failing again, wasting more ointment or causing more of a fuss. Besides, they needed to tend to their druid to make sure she was okay before moving on. They did still have a mission to complete. The focus should be on that. 

"How're you doing?" Stella asks Alys gently as the cleric begins to come back to the world. "Helping you isn't a waste, Alys. I picked this up to help everybody, just in case. Would it be a waste if I'd used it on Yvan? You're just as much of a valuable member of this team as anyone else, okay?" She gives Alys a quick hug.

Kasha grasps her chest in pain. "HurGH!" She makes a fist and pounds her chest. "Just! Working the! Worm meat through!" she grimaces and gives her chest one last pound and sighs loudly in relief. "Ahhh. That's better. I'm ok!" And she gets up.

Yvan's worried look dissipates the moment Kasha says she's okay, releasing a sigh of relief. "You really know how to put on a performance for your digestion issues," He jokes lightly, cracking a small smile. When she gets up, he follows and ruffles her hair up a bit. "I'm glad that you're okay." The goliath would then bring his gaze over to Obsidian. "Thank you for taking care of her in her dinosaur form." He says in Sylvan. "And good steering."

He would then look over to Stella and Alys, watching the rogue give the blonde a reassuring hug. While he did still worry for Alys' wellbeing, he decides it would be best to let them talk had they needed to (he was no good with words anywho). The barbarian goes back to the worm, to a spot that wasn't ruined by Kashasaurus or slicked with poison, and begins to slice off pieces of its flesh for later.

"Yeah." Kasha happily agrees with Yvan. "I should be an actress."

You finish eating/cutting apart the giant worm and get back to traveling for a few more hours before calling it a night. The next day, you resume traveling and as you do so, you notice that there's a slight red tint over everything. When you arrive at the pyramid, it's exactly as Avdol described, being made out of smooth, black stone. You also notice that at the tip of the pyramid there is a bright red light emanating, overwhelming every other color in the area.

Wand of Recharge: 6.
Using Psionic Discovery to 'Know' the following for subsequent # of hours following Long Rest:
Hold Monster for 6.
Charm Monster for 6.
Enemies Abound for 6.

Bixby seems initially almost in awe of the pyramid on the approach. But then the expression smooths as his attention turned towards searching its base for any point of egress or clear defenses against intrusion. A task easier said than done as a number of new found spells floated about in mind from the rest' meditation, yet persistent he remained,  wanting no more surprises to befall the group.

Befall at least the others, anyhow...

Perception: 19.

"OoOoOOooO! Shiny!" Kasha breathed, looking at the glow.

Bixby: You're too focused on the strange red light to notice any possible traps or a point of egress into the pyramid.

Not having known much about pyramids and deserts in general (being a moutainborn and all), Yvan didn't quite know what to expect when he first laid eyes upon the structure. He seems to marvel at it at first. "... Are they all like this?" He questions to no one in particular. "Pyramids, I mean." He then squints at the light emanating from the top, then watches Bixby check the base.  "... And what are the chances this place isn't riddled with traps and puzzles...?"

Yvan will help the next person who tries to check for traps/an entrance.

Alys was hot and sweating, relying on her magic to keep her cool enough to keep the headaches at bay. At the sight of the Pyramid, it was only natural for the archaeologist to gawk at all its glory. Deep down she could feel excitement stir in her core, though she’d try to suppress it. Any thrill came with its consequences, especially when the scholar would get too comfortable and complacent.

Without taking her eyes off the pyramid the elf would respond to Yvan’s first question. “Yes, they’re giant triangles.” A small playful smirk will cross her lips as she teased with the obvious answer he wasn’t actually asking. “The red is new to me though...” She’d admit more seriously. Alys would also nod along with Yvan’s final question. He was most likely completely correct. “Let’s hope nothing possesses one of us this time...” She’d think back to poor Stella’s erratic fleeing. 

After waiting to see if Bixby had anything to announce, he seemed to really be in awe, Alys would pair up with Yvan to do a preliminary scan and assessment. Between her knowledge and the higher vantage point their goliath is able to provide, perhaps they’d be able to come up with the safest entry route. 

Perception: 20 + Guidance: 2 

BG if or when it applies when we enter: 

At the sound of the word "triangle", Kasha put on some thick framed black nerd glasses and pointed to her head, proclaiming to everyone, "The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side!"

Alys: You see sets of glyphs on the outside of this pyramid that you believe would open a way into the pyramid if you touched them in the correct order. You also believe that if done incorrectly, it would indeed trigger some sort of trap.

Alys could feel the others almost step back as they’re presented with this puzzle. The elf would glance over her shoulder at Bixby before looking back at the glyphs. Perhaps he would be better at this than I. The archaeologist would step back. “B, I trust you better than myself.” She’d say softly while staring at the entrance to be. Alys would offer B any help and/or Guidance he’s willing to accept from her.