Arc 2 - Heart of a Monster (Completed)

[Kowsauni]

Araethos Manor

Vincent would listen to Revenge's concerns. "Hmm, the side of a road is no place for a man to rest. We will exhume his body and bring it to the church so proper burial rights can be performed. Thank you for this information."

Vincent would give a hearty chuckle at Shayne's comment. "Haha, you sound a bit like my father." He would then let out a sympathetic sigh. "But, alas, I cannot let you take your weapons into the manor, including your unstrung bow, miss." He would motion towards Kuori. "I know asking adventurers to separate from their weapons is paramount to asking them to separate from their lives, but I'm afraid I can make no exceptions here. My father has been quite clear about this and unbending. If this request is too much for you to comply with, I can arrange for some temporary lodging here outside the gate for those who won't part with their weapons to stay at. We have done this in the past. Otherwise, all weapons must be left at the gatehouse to enter Araethos Manor.

Vincent would then smile at the gnome. "Ah, so you are a fan of my fathers work, are you? I wish I could say as much. Try not to let him know or he might just open up to someone besides mother." Vincent would let out a good natured laugh. "I speak in jest; father likes hearing from others who share his interests, so feel free to tell him."

As Valac thrusts his full blade into the hands of the guard, the guard stumbles back a bit from the weight. The barbarian definitely feels like he made an impression on the guard, for the man nods hurriedly. "Yes sir, it will be well taken care of."

Two other guards emerge from behind the gate and help carry the weapons to the nearby gatehouse. They then wait patiently for the weapons that have not been turned in yet. One of the other guards climbs into the wagon and begins to inspect its contents. Before long he climbs out and signals to the guards that everything is good.  

[Noname 51]

"Sorry, the last individual, with a family history of tyrantism, who asked for my staff locked me in a cage. So, unless if someone can give a very good reason, why I NEED to again. I will take the off grounds lodgings... No offense, Sir Araethos."  

[PupSage]

Kuori looked uneasy at the man, "I'll leave the arrows here, and I can give you a sum of gold as a security and my word that the bow will not be strung within the grounds, but I don't want to leave it here with strangers. If I had my own things to lock it up, then I would ... Then there are the bandits ..." She stared down at the man and said, "I am bigger than most of your men, if I meant you harm I wouldn't need an unstrung bow to do it." Realizing how that may have sounded she quickly added, "Thats not a threat, just a statement."  

[Kowsauni]

Araethos Manor

Vincent seemed to ignore Shayne's comment and would smile apologetically at Kuori. "I'm sorry. It's not a matter of questioning anyone's intent. It is simply the rules of our household. Guests can bring no weapons beyond the gatehouse. I will arrange for two tents with cots to be brought to the gate."

Once the wagon was checked out, Vincent would turn to those who had willingly disarmed. "As for the rest of you, please board your wagon and I will guide you to the Manor." As everyone gets back on board, Petra would hesitate. She would quietly ask Abby. "I-if it is all right with you, Abby, I would like to stay out here. There are probably a lot of people in there and I would like to be where it's more... private." Abby looked at Petra, whose face and form where still hidden by her heavy cloak. Abby's face showed concern at first, but she relented. "Very well, Petra, if that is your wish." She looked at briefly at Kuori and said simply, "Please, keep her safe," before climbing back into the driver's seat of the wagon.

Vincent tapped his shield, which was emblazoned with the symbol of Pelor, and it began to glow with bright light. He led the wagon through the front gate and then remounted his own horse. Then, using his shield as a beacon, Vincent guided the wagon down the unlit road to the manor house. One of the guards at the gate fetched the weapons Kuori had already turned in and returned them to her. The gate was then shut, leaving Kuori, Shayne and Petra to themselves.

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The wagon was guided down past a series of gardens and terraces. They looked to be quite grand, but it was hard to tell in the limited light emanating from the shield. As the group came closer to the manor house, it was obvious the house was immense and almost foreboding in its ornamentation, but again it was hard to make out too much detail in the lack of light.

As they finally approached the house, Vincent would fall back a bit to ride up next to Abby, and pose her a curious question. "It was mentioned that you seek an audience with my father for some business matter. Could you provide me with more details so I can brief him?"

Abby would glance at her husband, unsure for a moment, but then say, "We are here to try and negotiate for the use of an artifact your father has created."

This response seemed to trigger some interest in Vincent. "Oh? My father has created many artifacts, some more powerful than others. Which one are you interested in, in particular?"

Abby answered somewhat cautiously. "Oh, well, I don't know it by its name, but I was told your father possesses an artifact that can reverse the most malicious of afflictions... such as petrifaction."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Aha, I think I know the artifact you speak of. Father affectionately calls it the Soulcleanser and that is one of its uses, though it sounds like your troubles might be solvable with a Ritual of Cleansing? That's a simpler task in which my sisters might be able to help you with."

Vincent seemed to pick up on the trepidation in Abby's voice for he asked no questions. Instead, once they reached the front of the enormous, impressive-looking mansion, he simply said, "We have arrived. Welcome to Araethos Manor. The servants will show you to the waiting area and my sisters will be with you shortly. I will go inform my father of your request."

Vincent rode off, no do doubt to stable his horse and enter the house from a different location. As stated, well-dressed servants came out from the grand front entrance to lead everyone inside. One servant offered to take the wagon to the stable and see to the horse, to which Abby obliged. The party was lead into a lavishly decorated lounge, though it was quite gloomy and smells a bit musty.

The servants offered to get refreshments for everyone and, before long, two young, freckled girls, accompanied by some maids, arrived in the room with some triage gear. The older of the two looked to be about sixteen with amber colored eyes and long, wild, blond hair that looks to not have seen a comb in a while. She seemed a bit rough and tumble and not at all what you would expect from a noble's daughter. "Greetings! I'm Rowena and I'm here to help. Who all here is injured?" The other girl looked to be a few years younger, around fourteen. She had pale grey eyes and wavy brown hair cut short in a bob. She bore a pleasant expression on her face. "And I am Selma Araethos. We heard you were attacked by some bandits and we wanted to help. Our mother has trained us in the healing arts. How may we assist you?"  

[PupSage]

Kuori looked at Shayne and said, "Remember that I already wanted to kill you. If you so much as look at Petra the wrong way, I will deliver on it. No Paladins around to save you this time." She looked down at Petra, her entire demeanor changing to a more excited and joyous tone. "So once we get camp set up, do you want to help me go find dinner?"  

[Rain Yupa]

As the gate shut, Revenge looked over his shoulder past the wagon at it, then turned back around and sighed in relief. "Thank Sehanine she didn't shoot Vincent. I expected her to when he requested her weapons a second time," he would say. "Especially if she did it in the name of Pelor."

Whether Abby, Twyla, or Valac would take it as a joke, that would be up to them, but Revenge honestly did look completely relieved, and perhaps a bit shaken.

--------------------

Revenge would bow his head in greeting. "My deepest apologies for disturbing you and this household at such a late hour, Rowena and Selma Araethos. I am Revenge, and this is Abby," he would say. Looking at this other companions, he would further explain, "All of us got a little bit roughed up, but check these two out first. They got the worst of it earlier. This is Valac the..."

He would lean in towards Twyla. "What title did he have again?"

After indicating Valac, he would turn towards Twyla. "And this is the famous bard, Twyla Rosanna Raph... wait, no, missed one. Twyla Rose Short... Erm...That's not it..."  

[Noname 51]

Shayne smiles and waves the group off, "For such a pretty thing, I would hope you would have more sense, than to threaten someone in front of a witnesses." He motions to the guards, before turning to face the large lady. "But, for the record, I don't care if I die. Spend enough, time entertaining death will do that."

Turning from the two, "Besides, someone has to fix a fatal error of your group." Shayne spoke as walked off to find a suitable place to tent. "If you would like a little enchantment, tell me now, the reagents won't last long..."  

[PupSage]

Kuori rolled her eyes and said, "Because the guards are going to stop me from killing a wanted criminal." She made no efforts to hush her voice. "I don't need your spells, stick to burning down buildings and sexually harassing women."  

[Noname 51]

Shayne stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn to face her. "Fine, Kuori." Spoken plainly, with an underlined sadness. "It must be great to have no regrets. Even greater to not be reminded of such, every day. But, I didn't realize my nicknames were unwanted. They will not be spoken, again."

Continuing his search, "I have potions to create."  

[Mongooseh]

Valac nods at the crowd of servants gathered before finishing Revenge's introduction, "Valac the yet to have a title. Keen to earn one though!"

Looking around he located the nearest lounger or sofa like object to sit on and walked over to it. He then stripped off his armour, then the shirt he was wearing under his armour revealing his incredibly scarred torso and a brand upon his left breast where his heart is which seemed to be some sort of abyssal sigil. He seemed to consider taking off his trousers before realising how inappropriate this would be and sat down on the lounger/sofa with his feet up.

"Can I have a lot of ale or wine and plenty of beautiful ladies to tend to my poor bruised, stabbed, cut and magicked self?" Asked Valac grinning that familiar devilish grin.  

[AlphabetFish]

Twyla looked perky and cheerful all through the ride, looking around excitedly. She just patted Revenge on some piece of armor or another and said, "Aw, don't worry! I bet he could take her!"

She was in a very good mood, just taking in the sights of the large and stately manor. The gardens alone were incredibly impressive, and Twyla peered through the darkness at them to try to see any of the strange plants Kail Araethos had written about.

As she was led into the lounge, her demeanor seemed to drop. She suddenly looked haggard and tired, and when the girls came in asking who was injured, Twyla suddenly let out a loud, pathetic cry. She fell back on the couch she was perched on, moaning as if in great pain, pausing only to respond to Revenge.

("Indistinguishable! Indeterminable! Indefinite! Insolvent! Pick one!")

When he got to introducing her, though, she couldn't stand to listen to him butchering her lovely long name. "No, no, that isn't it at all!" she said with surprising energy. She leapt to her feet and repeated her entire appellation with apparent relish: "I am the Bard Twyla 'Shortstack' Rosanna Oxana Raphaella Marcella Honeysuckle Jane! And I am gravely injured! Maybe even more injured than Valac the Untitled!" And with that, she sank back onto the couch with a huge show of moaning and wincing.

She looked up after a second. "Too much? It does hurt, though..."  

[Kowsauni]

The two Araethos sisters look at each other and laugh. Rowena responds with a bit of playful sarcasm. "Well, I see you all must have been quite injured in your fight. Don't worry, my sister and I will take care of you."

Rowena moves over to Twyla. "Well, aren't you just the cutest. You do look a little banged up, though. Let me heal you." Rowena says some magic words and her hands begin to glow. She places them on Twyla and the gnome's wounds begin to visibly heal. The pain in her stomach from being punted even goes away. (Twyla heals to full hitpoints)

Selma flounces over to Valac, who almost takes up the entire loveseat he was sitting on. Selma herself barely reaches five feet and is thinner than one of the barbarian's arms. Still, she smiles confidently as she reaches into a bag she has carried over and pulls out a rather large syringe filled with a dark purple substance. "Father assisted me in making this. It's a new blend based on a magic theory we came up with together. Its all natural! Well, except for the magically infused bits... This might sting a bit, okay? But you should feel really good afterwards." The girl moves up beside the mighty Valac, the menacing looking syringe at the ready. She will jab it into his shoulder, unless someone or something interrupts her. ((Not saying you should or shouldn't, but the option is there.))

One of the maids standing by would move up to Revenge and ask him politely, "Sir, would you like some assistance in getting out of your armor?" The maid looks quite young and cute. Abby would give her husband a bit of a questioning look.

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Shayne explores the surrounding forest (I'm assuming you're using a Sunrod from your Adventurer's kit)), looking for herbs that can be used as magical reagents for potion making. Unfortunately, he is unable to find anything. If there was once anything here before, the place has already been picked clean. Shayne does recall Kail is known for his study of plants, so it is probable the lands surrounding his manor have been quite well searched already. Shayne, however, has a different problem on his hands. As he holds up his light source he realizes he does not recognize any of the surrounding trees and cannot see the light from the gatehouse through the forest. Shayne has become so focused on his search he has become lost. ((Roll me either a perception or nature check if you want to try and find your way out unassisted.))

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After Shayne wandered off to look for reagents, Petra seems to visibly relax a bit. She would comment quietly to Kuori, "I know he has done nothing to me, but after my time in that terrible place... wizards just put me on edge. I'm glad I don't have to see that archmage with Abby. I hope everything goes as planned."

When Kuori mentioned hunting, Petra would turn to her and smile. It was about the only thing that could be seen from underneath her hood. "From time to time, they would take me out to a forest and force me to hunt rather than feed me, you know, to see how well the basilisk instincts were taking hold. It should be nice to do it on my own accord for a change. I'd like to go hunting now, if it is all right. We can set up the tents when we get back, assuming they haven't already forgotten to bring them out to us."  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge would look to Abby, then to the maid. Then to the door, as if he had expected to hear something from beyond it, like several arrows hitting the building or an explosive arcane spell going off. Maybe some death cries.

He would turn to the maid and smile politely. "Thank you for your kind offer. However, I don't think this is the best time nor the best place. In case we have to leave in a hurry, I'd rather not be the cause of any delay."

As Revenge's player is a powerful advocate for SCIENCE!, he will make no effort to stop Valac from being experimented on.  

[Noname 51]

nature 11 assumption correct

Annoyed by his lack of luck, progress and direction. Shayne casts Flame Shroud on the trees for better light let's out a sigh of disbelief and attempts to fine a way back.  

[Mongooseh]

Valac was distracted while Selma was addressing him as he was looking round the room for a servant possibly bringing one of his named beverages and possibly to attract the attention of a maid closer to his age. Only when the needle of the syringe begun to p***k his shoulder did he suddenly react reflexively. His hand shot up and grabbed Selma's wrist tightly possibly even causing her a bit of pain and discomfort. His head shot round to stare at the offending wrist with an intense scowl before his mind seemed to catch up with himself, the scowl relaxed to a frown and he carefully let go of her wrist.

Grunting as he relented, "Go ahead."