Zaf(24),Jirel(17),Nadya(13),Seraphina(12),FrostGiant(12)(138),Rose(10),Jasun(7)

Well this is gonna be a quick one.

Zaf(24),Jirel(17),Nadya(13),Seraphina(12),FrostGiant(12)(38),Rose(10),Jasun(7)

The Frost Giant attempts to swing at Jirel and Seraphina! Does it even matter?

Attack: 23 Damage: 35

Attack: 19 Damage: 24

Zaf(24),Jirel(17),Nadya(13),Seraphina(12),FrostGiant(12)(35),Rose(10),Jasun(7)

Jasun tries to get the kill shot, but he won't, so i'll roll anyways.

Bleh Attack: 26 Damage: 14
Blah Attack: 24 Damage: 9

Your aim is improving. 
And you are very astute.
Yes, I know. Leave these insignificant fleas. Why do you fight when you can learn, and have all the power you could possibly imagine.
Oh, here we go.
They don't care about you. Not like I do. Not like SHE does. Whatever she can give you, I can do it better.
No, thanks.
Foolish man. You have no choice.
Yes, I DO, Jezzika!
You want knowledge? You want answers? You want power? I can give it to you. And so much more. Stop resisting.
Jezzika, i'm not like you. I'm not willing to sell my soul to some unfathomable power in that way.
That is not how you felt in the beginning.
That's because I didn't know you had ulterior motives!! I am not interested in you sexually.
Sex. Pfff. Such an inaccurate word.
Still.
T'vauz will get what he wants, and I will personally hand him to you. Whether you like it..or not.
So is that how it's going to be!?
Yes, foolish man.
I will resist you and your charms!
You cannot. And then, I will make your pitiful insignificant companions disappear. Look at how they act towards you. What they think of you. Petty insignificant thoughts. While I have you wrapped around my finger you will not even realize they mean nothing to you, and you nothing to them. Everything you see and feel will be oblivion. Even her, because of you. And soon, when the darkness in your heart evolves and finally erupts because of me, they will then truly see who you really are, and then, you will finally realize, you are truly alone - and I am all that matters.

Jasun turned around, his face turning red. He balled his fists and grit his teeth. Loudly, he screamed, "GOD...DAMMIT!!"

Jezzika's laughter echoed in his mind.

Rose tiredly casts a Ray of Frost at the giant, surprisingly not at all startled by Jasun's sudden yelling. It wasn't anything new, and whatever help she tried to give he declined, so why bother anymore? Why try at all?

Attack: 23 Damage: 9

See?

Zaf(24),Jirel(17),Nadya(13),Seraphina(12),FrostGiant(12)(6),Rose(10),Jasun(7)

Sera goes for the killing blow please.

Attack: 13 Damage: 10

Attack: 28 Damage: 16

It's dead.

 Zaf cocked his head to the side at Jasun, and then looked sharply back, half-expecting to see another giant come crawling the other way, blocking the exit. Seeing nothing however, he turned back squinting and half-whispering, "Is everything-...?!" The rest go un-uttered as the speaker froze up seeing Sera's condition. The next words to come out sound closer to chirps as he hurriedly made his way over to Sera's side, only to seem to hesitate before finally touching a shoulder. 

Over the course of seconds her pain starts to become a little fainter, and even forgotten like so half-remembered nightmare or dream. A sentiment her body shares and reflects after the pulse of cooling and blue energy radiating from contact appears to erase some of the worse damage. "It's not much, but that should do. Though, we may wish to take a moment back a ways, so that we can properly get that bandaged up." He suggests.

(Cure wounds at 2nd level: 16 to Seraphina)

Sera lowers her sword, blood dripping on the floor. She gives a brief nod to Zaf after he heals, then narrows her eyes at the group. "Okay, I don't ******* care how bad the timing is, we evidently all need to talk." She proceeds to pull the group into a circle, physically pushing them into place if need be, then casts a gaze around at them.

Rose is first, the pale-haired woman's gaze softening. "Rose. I am so sorry about Teddy. But he chose to make that sacrifice. He chose to die so that the rest of us can live. Mourn him, he deserves to be mourned. But then, honor his sacrifice. Don't slip down into a hole of misery and grief, because that will invalidate his death. Keep going for him, and for everyone who needs us to succeed at this." If the firbolg lets her, Sera pulls Rose into a momentary, tight hug, possibly the first she's initiated in all the time you've known her.

Jasun is next, and Sera's words are simple. "Jasun, you clearly have something going on. I haven't pushed it, because we all have secrets. But we're your team, we've got your back, we trust you with our lives every time we go into battle, and I think--or at least hope--that you trust us too. Don't you think that maybe at this point...we deserve to know what's going on?"

Her gaze then shifts to Zaf. "Zaf, when we were at that tree, you went right for it. You've been fairly quiet on this journey, but...well, that's worrying, to be entirely blunt. Why were you so eager to die?"

Jirel is last. "Jirel, I've said it before, but I'll say it again, because this is something that can never be said enough. You're brave, strong, beautiful, and good. We're lucky to have you with us. And the failures of your past don't determine your future."

Sera sweeps a gaze across the four, gaze strong despite her serious wounds. "We're a team. We stick together. We trust each other, and we have each others backs. Because if we don't, we'll all end up corpses in the permafrost. So we need to support each other, on and off the battlefield. And we need to accept each others support. Whether or not you want to be here, you are, and at this point, your death, your wounds, physical and otherwise, don't just affect you, they affect the rest of us too. So let each other help."

Jasun looked to Nadya, a bit worried, then sighed. He looked at the ground for a moment, thinking, then looked to Sera again.

"Fine." he agreed, surrendering.

"A while ago, in my academic career, I came across a tomb that contained the remnants of an entity that possessed knowledge spanning this reality and beyond. It was that very moment I realized that there are powers in this universe that mortals like you and I could and would never understand. I persisted. In my pursuit of that knowledge, regardless, I lost my job and attracted the attention of a..representative..of that power - she fuels my power, but she constantly torments me in my mind, in my dreams, and in every way possible you can imagine. Since coming to this horrible and terrible place of cold, and meeting Nadya, I have begun to doubt about whether my pursuits of cosmic knowledge is truly worth selling my soul over. I am troubled, and tormented, because I have been mentally resisting."

"Jezzika is her name. She is some sort of Herald of the Elder Gods, a pawn, or servant to beings beyond time, or space. She will not take no for an answer. She wants me to submit. Since agreeing to her bargain, I can feel a darkness growing inside me. A terrible raw astronomical power given to me in exchange for an eventual eternity of servitude. The Darkness inside me makes me powerful, but it is eating away at me from the inside. I simply want to rid myself of it. But, I cannot. I am weak. Jezzika makes sure that I remain subservient even though I resist."

"We are all together for a common purpose, a convenience. To say that we all care about each other is, honestly, a bit far fetched to me. We all have our reasons for being here. I am here because T'Vauz and the Herald will it. I am a slave. Nothing more. We barely know anything about each other, and frankly, I don't feel like we understand each other. "

"There." Jasun said, tired, and weary. "That is what is troubling me."

He looked to Nadya after Sera, ashamed.

Rose's expression is unreadable when Sera addresses her, the firbolg's bangs covering her eyes as it always had before. Though, when offered the hug, through a small part in her hair, the blood hunter could see her eyes glaze over once again. She melts into the hug itself, breaking down, as much as she didn't really want to. She wanted to be strong and honor Teddy's sacrifice, but something like this has never happened before during her life of seclusion. These emotions, the grief, the overwhelming sadness, was foreign to her.

But Sera was right; he did die so they could live. Had it been any of them that had given themselves, she was sure these feelings would have been tenfold. Despite some of them having their own personal issues, they were still a team, a small family of sorts, one that she never truly had, and whatever problems they may have held internally, doesn't mean they weren't fixable in some way.

Just because the past was bad doesn't mean the future will be.

"T-thank you, Sera..." She whispers quietly, pulling away from her. "I-I'll... I'll do my best. For him, a-and the rest of you." She stands back to let her speak to the others, trying to clean up her face and to avoid from sniffling too much.

When Jasun says his piece, Rose cannot help but say sadly, "That type of knowledge is never worth the price, even if they continue to tell you otherwise..." She remembers her teachings, how the priests ensured to instill in her mind that making deals or pacts with something like this 'Jessika' were never worth their cost. "... But I'm sure that, within time, we will get strong enough to help you get rid of her, Jasun." She affirms. "If not us, then a powerful ally who can. There are ways to undo what you've done, but it's something you simply can't do alone." Her brows furrow a bit. "Even if you don't care about me, I care about you, Jasun. To be honest, you all are the closest thing I've ever had to a family, even if you and everyone else don't see it. The only reason we know little about each other is because of all the things we're holding inside that we have the time now to talk about." She takes a breath. "How am I supposed to understand you if you don't talk to us about it? How am I supposed to know more about you if you're always with Nadya during our down times? N-not that it's an issue, but how do you expect us to know more if you only speak to one person about this? I've always been open to talk to you, to everyone, I-I just never wanted to overstep my boundaries to bring things up..." She stops... and shrinks. "L-like I am now... Sorry." She recedes back, worrying now that she may have said too much.

Zaf cocked his head to the side, seeming genuinely confused by Sera's initial meaning. But he stood by patiently, if albeit half-listening at first, as the owlacokra couldn't help but keep a closer eye out on things. Even if the tunnel limited avenues of approach, it wasn't as if they were safe. Someone needed to be ready to respond on the spot to a threat, and Owestair wasn't exactly equipped to go toe-to-toe with a giant alone.

Still, what he does pick up regarding Rose left him solemn again, and with Jasun giving at least a curious glance before attention shifted to the bird man. Again, he cocked his head to the side as if confused, before looking askance and thoughtful. It is but a moment's introspection as Jasun's agreement immediately drew attention. And never before had he been left so at a loss for words from a confession. Though Zaf would try several times to speak -- to say anything, only for the words to catch and talons ball back into a fist at his side.

Anger than gives back way to confusion, and confusion is soon muffled by in his features after taking a deep, calming breath. Without even thinking about it, he clutched at prayer beads wrapped about his talons, and just stood in silence as Rose tried to assuage things. ".... Baba Yaga... I would not count her as an ally, but she would be powerful enough to perhaps delay what has been chosen." He says at last, but kept from looking at anyone. "But first, she must be found and freed. As for me, what little it matters after that particularly worrisome confession, I assumed I was dream walking again. Unwillingly so, and I'm not certain how to stop it... or if I should try." He shakes his head, and then looks up to the others. "Regardless of personal feelings or perspective, if it happens again... don't endanger yourselves for my sake. Ever. There are far more important things at stake, and my one life is not so important as to mean its failure... provided you all can continue to work together."

"Let us not fool ourselves, please. First of all, once we have all finished with this journey, the odds of us ever seeing each other again will be remote at best." Jasun told Rose, seeing as, secretly, he knew Jezzika would probably obliterate them all if he didn't comply with her wishes, which he didn't plan on doing at all, so why would he care? He calmly added, "And to be fair, I spend most of my time alongside you all fighting, trying to solve puzzles, and doing other undignified activities like killing creatures and getting dirty - all in the name of my Elder God I am chained to, and in the spirit of our team. And Nadya," he nodded to her, "..has at least taken a deeper genuine interest in trying to get to know me other than me responding to the occasional question or comment from the rest of you. But that's ok. I understand that all of us will not mix perfectly, or have either the interest or capability to engage in a thoughtful and meaningful discussion getting to know one another."

"And frankly, I didn't want to share what troubles me because there is nothing anyone could say or do to help me escape my problem. We are not talking about a problem that I, or any of you, can simply walk away from. I have seen them, and what they can do, firsthand. Jezzika is not just some woman, she is an avatar, an agent, of an intelligence that even the Gods have fought, and lost." 

Rose listens to Jasun’s retort, and she feels a pool of emotions bubble in the pit of her stomach. There was so much she wanted to say back to prove him wrong. His tone was condescending, the way he acting was as if he knew it all, and that angered her. But she didn’t want to continue this. There was no point with a person like him. 

So she merely replies back, “You act as if you know the future when in reality you don’t and that’s very frustrating,” For the time that they’ve known the firbolg, this would be the first time they had ever heard her seethe. After, she just walks off to some area where she can sit down and think for a while.

"I know my future." he said sadly, whether anyone was listening or not. "Someone has written it among the stars since day one."

Such ignorance, shortsightedness and emotional - giving you advice on a matter she knows nothing about. Forget this one. None of it matters.

Jasun sighed.

Perhaps. 

Sera listens to everyone, face unreadable. "I already said that the past doesn't determine the future. Well, the future doesn't determine the present, either. Whether or not we'll all separate after finishing this, right here, right now, people care about you, Jasun. I'm sorry you're trapped in such a horrifying situation, and I'm glad that you did choose to share, no matter you motivations for doing so. I'm not going to make any declarations about what we can or can't help with, or argue with you about how much our actions matter to you, or claim that your future is anything, because I don't know your future. Just know that right here, right now, we do care, and your actions do affect us." She glances at Zaf. "That goes for you too, Zaf. It's not just about you guys anymore. You die, we get hurt. You can't change that fact, sorry. So just try to keep that in mind when you do stuff, okay?" She stands, giving the remaining group a brief, tired smile. "I'm with Zaf on resting. We need a bit of recovery time." The pale-haired woman makes her way over to Rose, sitting next to the firbolg and offering her silent presence while she bandages her wounds.

SR: 17

"Weel I be able to take you home, to my veelage, to be weeth my cheeldren and not have thees Jezzeeka of yours coming after us?" Nadya asks Jasun.

And there it was.

"No." he said, truthfully, looking away. 

He knew what was coming next.

Rose is quiet for a time during their short break, eyes closed as she rested her head on top of her knees that were pulled close to her chest. She feels Sera sit beside her, but remains silent for a time. After a bit she does finally speak and says softly, "You're really brave for being able to do what you did back there, Sera..." She gives a solemn smile over to her. "H-how... How do you do it? How did you... gather that courage to speak out?"

"Then you weel not come home weeth me. I hef grown fond of you, but I weel not breeng you back to my home eef that woman ees going to be eenvolved."