After the fighting had ended, Althaea looked around at the scene before her and listened to the conversations blossoming. As Gar spoke up, although Althaea knew it to be partially true, she turned to look in his direction. "Gar, I know I am not the friendliest of beings and you may choose to not heed my words as a result. If you truly believe yourself to be a hindrance, that is when you will become one. Sheer force of will can overcome many challenges that a person should not, by rights, be able to achieve."

She then turned to Alaric and placed her hand on the worst of his wounds and played a short melody on her pan flute. She watched as the wound stitched itself closed, along with several other smaller ones. "There, my love, let's go see what that woman knows and whether or not it is useful."

"What about you, Althaea? You sustained more injuries than I."

"I will be fine for the moment. I am more concerned with how she was controlled."

Althaea and Alaric slowly approached the one undead still alive from the battle. "Hello, what is your name?"

---

08:12, Today: Althaea Sylvaranth rolled 26 using 4d8+4.  Cure Wounds on Alaric.

"I'm...I'm Alessandra." she managed to barely get out through the tears.

The woman had long blond hair that almost reached down to her back.  She wore a thin shirt of chain, and worn leather boots with straps that reached up to her knee. 

"Are those flying fiends truly gone?" she said, before bursting out into tears again, holding her head as if in pain. "I...almost feel like she is still in my head, but the song...the song of the others has finally stopped."

Alessandra reaches for a sword near her on the ground, her fist tightening around the hilt and knuckles turning white, but then she suddenly drops it, screaming.  "GET OUT OF MY HEEEAAADDDD!!!!"

Her hands return to the sides of her head and she starts rhythmically rocking back and forth on her knees.


This message was last edited by the GM at 19:09, Mon 23 May 2022.

Gar looked in the direction of Althaea with a frown, the blindfold over his eye area moving slightly. "You speak your mind, and i envy that about you, but until your in a position i am in,, do not lecture me of force of will." It was the first time many had seen any emotion other than friendliness they had seen. He was not angry, just defensive.

in truth, the words were what he needed to fire his spirit again, and even as he paused, he took a breath. "My apologies Lady Althaea....it seems my loss of sight has devoid me of my manners. You are right of course - i am not measured by my sight alone."

With an arm on Sand, he made his way towards the woman."It may be the influence of what held her lingers.....can any with healing calm her mind?"

Guiding the blind wizard towards the woman, the artificer shook his head when Gar suggested to use healing magic to help the woman.

Sand is sorry, Sand's energy is too low to power Sand's advanced healing mechanisms. Maybe Sand's lesser healing will work.

Taking a wand from his hip pouch, he touched the woman with it.

---

Cast cure wounds on the woman, 7 hp

Today: Sand rolled 7 using 2d8+5 ((1,1))

oday: Sand rolled 7 using 2d8+5.  cure wounds.

06:30, Today: Sand rolled 13 using 1d20+7.  perception.


This message was last edited by the player at 10:28, Wed 25 May 2022.

With the undead threat eliminated, Infused leaped down, teleporting closer to the group as the chaotic magic escaping from him subsided and withdrew back inside of him. As the magic resided, he calmed down, settling in behind the others as they began talking to a.... no-longer-undead... woman. Infused went still as his thoughts were once again consumed by thoughts of his master, and the chance that he may have killed the man rather than putting his corpse to rest...

Spotting no imminent danger, Thorn drifted toward Sel'zir. Signaling for Aisling to keep an eye out for trouble - and to watch the blubbering undead - she crouched beside the spider, resting her chakrams within easy reach on the ground to either side of her. She could still draw on Nature's power to heal her companion, but that would leave her with without reserves should everything go to the hells again. And allowing even allies understand one's full strength was a potentially lethal error.

So taking a mushroom she had conjured before last night's rest from her belt pouch, she chewed it before putting her mouth to Sel'zir's jaws to transfer the healing liquid to her, angling the arachnid's body so it would flow into her. With any other creature, Thorn would never have taken such a risk, but their bond made this safe.

It also meant the spider would understand what had happened to Thorn during combat without any need for the explanation to which she was certainly entitled. That was . . . something of a relief. She did not wish to dwell upon the foggy, unpleasant memory.

Eight eyes snapped open as the arachnid regain consciousness. Thorn placed the nine remaining mushrooms on the ground for Sel'zir to eat and then recovered her weapons and resumed her silent vigil.

Sel'zir heals 10 hit points.

As the group started to surround the woman, under closer inspection, the full scope of her wounds became more apparent.

The chunks of missing flesh looked like a creature had clawed and scooped it right out of her body.

The other wounds were harder to see, as some were masked by the clothes she wore.

The woman had burns of various degrees on her arm and the nape of her neck.  There were other places where her skin had bubbled and blistered leaving missing flesh where the skin peeled off.

In one instance there was a small black hole on the front of her shoulder, but on her back, was a gaping black hole that spread out like an exploding star.  There were even a couple spots, on her left leg and the side of her face, that started to rot away giving her the look of the undead.

You can only imagine the agony this woman must be in.  You're not even sure how she is still alive, given the sheer number of wounds she bears.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the woman's ears start to bleed; the blood running freely through her fingers as she still rhythmically rocks back and forth.

Now only a whisper, the woman tries to scream, "Get...out...of my...head." before collapsing onto the ground, the blood slowly pooling around her.

Gar, standing by, heard the woman's mutters as she fell silent, and with unseeing eyes, looked around. "Where has the woman gone.....i can't hear her anymore." He grasped his staff as he stood there silently

Infused instinctively rushed toward the woman as she fell, a hand reaching out toward her and a small burst of magic emerged from the amulet embedded into his chest, rolling up his torso, down his arm, and into the woman as he reached for her.

Cast Cure Wounds on the woman, restoring 9 HP if she lives
19:17, Today: Infused rolled 9 using 1d8+1.  Cure Wounds. – 9

Infused ran over towards the woman, sending healing magic her way, but it seemed to have no effect.  The blood continued to pool at Infused's feet, as he watched the woman pass right in front of him.

Sand shook his head when he saw Infused try to heal the woman.

Friend Infused, Sand tried healing magic too, and it seemed to resist Sand's efforts, it was not working very well. Are any friends injured?

The warforged looked around, then went to the harpies and dragon to loot them.

The tortle, looking around with blind eyes (or so it looked to others), listened to the words of sand. "Perhaps her undeath prevented the healing process - perhaps whatever was taking her was too strong." Gar shrugged. "I am no expert on healing magic, but thats what i think."

He reached his hand out, finding a wall and leaned against it. "It's been a  long few days....." he muttered.

Infused looked at Sand, then back to the body, and up at Sand again, "Is...that was healing magic? That has not happened before. I am uncertain how it happened."

How did he know? Sand was confused for a second, as images came to him, doing the same movements that Infused had done, but with hands of flesh and blood.

Sand does not know how Sand know, but Sand knows that was divine healing magic that Infused used.

Did he really not know? He was not sure anymore, those images coming regularly to him, knowledge that seemed to come from ... memories. He raised an hand and looked at it. It was not at all like the one on the vision. Yet, he was certain those hands in the vision somehow belonged to him.

---

Today: Sand rolled 21 using 1d20+5.  Int check.

Reaching down I close the woman's eyes and whisper a few words, praying that she find the peace and safety that was denied her in this life until she was ready to try again. That done I stand up and begin gathering the bodies and materials needed to burn them. This is becoming to common an occurrence for my peace of mind but it needs to be done.

"Thorn, can you check if there are anymore surprises waiting for us inside?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Sun 12 June 2022.

Gar listened to Sand and infused and smile. The fact his oldest friend used some magical ability, divine or otherwise, was remarkable. Sand, just as surprisingly, recognized the fact by sight alone.

...the warforges were interesting specimens.

Gar had little opportunity to further touch on this now, as the situation with them all (And himself) was not ideal.  "Interesting. Infused, later you will tell me what you felt when you done this....healing" He smiled. "...and Sand, i would like to talk to you as well my friend - but now isn't the time."

Once the stimfay returned from his scouting, Thorn conferred briefly with him before replying to Giltris.

"Aisling saw no enemies, traps or survivors. He pinpointed the location of the shine." Thorn shrugged,  presumably they'd want to search the ruins thoroughly regardless.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Wed 22 June 2022.

Sand looked at the dead woman with his expressionless faceplate, only the length of the stare giving any indication of the grief he was feeling. Putting his hand in the pouch he kept his almost completely repaired medallion in, he thought, until Gar talked to him and Thorn made her report.

Sand thinks Sand should the time to help friend Gar call Lyn again. Do friends agree? Sand would also like to examine shrine.

"I would...like to not be near these fallen. It makes me feel...wrong." Infused looked to Mathorn, "Was there danger near that shine? Perhaps we can take a look while Gar reconnects with his familiar."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Sat 25 June 2022.

Gar sighs at the thought of re-summoning Lyn. "I don't know if it will work that way Sand. To cast it, i will need to see the spell and read it aloud, and while if it was a small spell, ten minutes will be a stretch even for me."

Aisling flew in circles, waiting in excitement to lead Thorn towards the shine he found, while she finished conversing with the others.

When she was ready, Aisling lead the way, past numerous ruined buildings, their rooftops and walls completely crumbled.  They left nothing of noticeable salvage within, as anything that may have been there was buried under tons of rock and rubble.  The disturbed and broken shambles of a stone block path had those following minding where they walked to ensure they didn't twist an ankle, and lead to the back of a larger ruined building in better shape than some of the previous buildings along the path.

Aisling flew high up, almost as if double checking the positioning, and then flew back down landing near the foot of a stairway that looked mostly intact.  The stairway lead up to the second floor up an enclosed hallway and ended at a once finely decorated wooden door, now cracked and leaving remnants of gold gilding that once adorned it.  The door lies partially cracked open, and as Aisling surmised, no movement could be seen within.  Looking through the cracked door, a wide and long, once plush red and purple carpet, runs along the length of this large room, with a twenty foot high ceiling that bears a large hole near the SE corner.

On the far Northern wall, rows and rows of filled weapon and armor racks are seen, hosting various types of armor, weapons, and ammunition comprising of tied bunches of arrows and bolts.

On the Eastern walls was a beautiful, and surprisingly still intact mirror, that was as tall as the ceiling itself and almost as wide, with a gold gilded frame.

But what drew immediate attention was the large pile of mixed coins, various pieces of art, chalices, and many other mixed trinkets pushed up against the Western wall.  Aisling, too excited to wait any longer, flew through the cracked door and landed on the chest surrounded by the pile of coins, hopping up and down as if saying, THIS, THIS is what I saw Thorn!

Not as noticeable at first, because of the draw of the treasure hoard in front of you, behind the pile of gold, is a large metal door with circular crevices in it, and a pedestal directly to its right containing a bowl atop it filled with what looks to be multi-colored glass balls.  The partial sunlight shines upon the treasure leaving it sparkling, it's sunbeams just missing the pedestal, leaving the bowl of glass balls in dim, dull light.

Infused scanned the treasure inside the room, looking for traces of a magical nature in the items, which he would then point out to the others.

use Magic Awareness, mimicking the Detect Magic spell, to see the auras of magical items around me.

As Infused reached out, the tendrils of his magic awareness spread out searching for any sign of enchantment.  As it reached the door and the colored glass balls, his awareness rung with confirmation; the magic coming from both and giving off numerous sensations of the different schools of magic, though the stronger included evocation, necromancy, and conujuration.

More importantly though, the strongest magic Infused has ever felt came from the other side of the door, his awareness seeping underneath and grasping something...no...more than one something of extreme power.  The sensation was both blinding and conflicting, leaving Infused unable to determine what may lie behind it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:47, Mon 19 Sept 2022.

Althaea stepped into the armory and chuckled, "Sebastian was not lying when he said this trip would be beneficial." Her eyes scanned the room and zeroed in on the items she was less familiar with, reaching out her hand to pick up one of the spheres to examine it.

---

22:35, Today: Althaea Sylvaranth rolled 21 using 1d20+2.  Arcana.

Unaware that Infused was using a similar trick, Sand started a ritual, book in hand, when he arrived in the armory.

---

ritual cast detect magic