Arc 2 - Heart of a Monster (Completed)

[Kowsauni]

As Valac rounds the corner to go behind the bushes, he would find Basidia standing there by herself. Her eyes are cast down, one arm across her chest clasping the other. Now that Valac was closer, he could see her pale white skin was speckled with grey. The white spotted, amber colored mushroom cap on her head was indeed attached to her and not just some sort of odd hat. The tiefling towered over the small framed girl, but she did not seem scared so much as shy.

To Valac's growled response, she meekly responds, "S-sorry, I... I just wanted to warn you... Magic swirls around you... s-similar to Petra and Abby... but most of it is sealed away by that tattoo. I... I think something terrible would happened i-if it was ever released. I just... just wanted to warn you. In... in case you didn't know."

Valac notices that Basidia has lured him out of earshot of the rest of the party. Apparently she wanted to tell him this privately, which might explain her hesitation earlier.  

[Mongooseh]

Valac looked a bit dumbfounded for a moment as he tried to take in what Basidia just told him.

"W-warn me? What do you mean similar? Am I some sort of monster?!"  

[Kowsauni]

Basidia continues to stare at the ground, her expression solemn and unchanging. With her one hand that was hanging free, she begins to tug at her dress. "I... I don't know. I just... I can sense it. The magic around you... and those girls... it's the same. A-at least that's what it feels like. The magic feels... unnatural... dangerous... B-but yours is mostly locked away by that tattoo. I... I think it must have been done for your own good. Don't let anyone remove it."  

[Mongooseh]

Valac mused over the implications of what he had been told before he would say in an uncharacteristically solemn tone, "Thanks."

Valac began to walk off back to the group only stopping to glance back at Basidia before continuing.  

[Kowsauni]

As Valac returns to the rest of the group, Basidia makes no attempt to follow him. A servant soon ushers the party out of the Arboretum the dining hall where they are fed a scrumptious lunch. There is a lot of meat, per Revenge's request. None of the members of the Araethos noble family are present during lunch. Afterwards, the party is brought back to the front gate where their wagon and horse are waiting. Abby hugs her horse and climbs into the driver seat, signaling for everyone to get on board. The letter from Kail is brought to the party and, without further ado, the Araethos Manor is left behind and the three day journey back to Gladesdale begins.

Abby leads the wagon down the winding forest road for the rest of the day without incident. Once it gets too dark for the horse to see, Abby stops to set up camp for the night. Before long a campfire is made and Abby begins to prepare dinner for everyone from some leftovers she must have gotten from the Manor. Petra hangs out just on the edge of the campfire light, occasionally sniffing the air. She has removed her obscuring cape and seems to enjoy having a bit of freedom out in the open once again.

((I will moving on to the next day on Friday if no one posts or has anything else they wish to accomplish or talk to the NPCs.))  

[PupSage]

Once in the wagon Kuori took a long needed rest, closing her eyes and holding her bag. Once at camp she said, "I'll take last watch. I can't see for s**t anyways." She set up her tent, rolled out her bedroll, and immediately passed out.  

[Kowsauni]

Vincent

After Abby feeds everyone a scrumptious meal, the night passes without event and everyone benefits from an extended rest. When Valac wakes up in the morning, he finds his body finally feels back to normal and the effects of Selma Araethos' strange medicine have finally worn off. The campsite is quickly packed up and Abby soon has the wagon underway.

It takes only a little bit more traveling for the party to reach the bandit road blockade. Vincent and his men are just finishing up dismantling the operation. The makeshift blockade and walls have been torn down and now lie in neat piles of lumber on the side of the road. Vincent greets the party and asks about the success back at the Manor. Abby gives him a brief description of the turn of events, and Vincent lets out a sigh of relief. He tells everyone he is glad they convinced his father to help them and asks if he could be of any further assistance before they continue on their way.

((If no one has anything they would like to ask or speak about with Vincent, I will be advancing the story again on Sunday.))  

[Rain Yupa]

(Sorry I've been distant.)

Back at the arboretum...

Putting a hand on Abby's shoulder, Revenge would frown slightly as Valac walked back to rejoin them. "I don't know what his problem is with her, but maybe we should give Basidia some space," he said. Not knowing what was going on, it looked like Valac was bullying or simply trying to scare the mushroom girl, and Revenge did not have the energy to stand up to it right now, nor the clarity of mind to figure out why. "If we find ourselves passing by another day, I'll speak with her then."

On the road...

Revenge, currently unarmored, waved his hand dismissively. Though there was some natural healing, prior to turning in the night before after there was no sign of conflict, he used his ability to lay hands to accelerate his own healing with the grace of his goddess. As such, he was doing much better by this day.

"You all have been working hard out here. Even if we did need anything, we couldn't ask you for anything. Besides, you've done enough for us as is already, Vincent." He made it a point to be purposely vague on who 'we' referred to, in case people got bent out of shape for whatever reason. "Has there been any sign of bandit activity since you've been out here?"  

[Kowsauni]

Vincent

Vincent would respond. "We have not seen no trace of the bandits since we arrived, though we did trace their trials a bit. It seems like you gave them quite a beating by the amount of blood we found. It appeared they all fled in different direction and didn't regroup. I think it is safe to say their little operation here has ended. Thanks for help in stopping them. We have made sure to completely disassemble their structures here so one else gets any bright ideas."  

[Kowsauni]

Gladesdale

A place to rest for the weary.

With no further questions being asked, Vincent would bid the party farewell and return to his work. The rest of the day was spent pleasantly traveling until the night became too dark to see the road. Camp was set up once more and the night passed uneventfully. Abby was quick to get everything packed up in the morning, stating that they were only a few hours away from town.

True to her word, the party arrives back in Gladesdale just before afternoon. The bustling tourist town appears just as they had left it, with merchants hawking wares and trinkets to travelers from brightly colored stalls along them main road. The day is clear-skied and slightly warm with a pleasant breeze blowing through town that keeps everyone cool. Abby pulls back the flap to the wagon and asks the rest of the group, "So... I'm not sure exactly how we should approach this. They have probably taken the petrified soldiers to the garrison. Do we just want to heard there and explain ourselves? I doubt they would turn down help in curing their men. If anyone wants to make any stops in town first, though, that's fine, too; I just want to get this taken care of as soon as possible."  

[AlphabetFish]

Twyla took a deep breath of the warm air and smiled. It was nice to be back in a place she knew. She felt surprisingly well rested after the trip back and met Abby's questions with a smile.

"No need to dillydally, Miss Abby," she said. She pulled the wand from her belt with a flourish, as if she was ready to use it right then and there. "I think we'd do best to help those poor guys as soon as we can. No need to prolong the suffering their families are probably going through. That's why I say we go to the garrison right away. What do all y'all think?"  

[Mongooseh]

Not one to trust authority lightly Valac would advise on the side of caution, "I think we should ask around see if we're wanted. I'd rather not go to the guards to have the reward for all this to have shackles slapped round my wrists."  

[Rain Yupa]

Flashing back to Petra's recap of how everything went down, the gears began to turn in his head.

"I'm curious if the man with the dagger is there..." he would muse when Abby mentioned the regular guards being relocated. Looking to Kuori, he would suggest, "One of us should go check, at least."

He would be thoughtful for a bit longer. "We definitely should split up, though. Petra, you shouldn't be there when we help those soldiers, so they don't recognize you. So even if we all wanted to go rush there, we can't. And Valac, while I don't think we'd be arrested for undoing damage "we" did ourselves, I don't think caution is unwarranted. Especially if they start asking us difficult questions."

The group had left pretty quickly after the incident, and Lake Street had been blocked off. Both Revenge and his player was uncertain if anyone had even returned to Abby's and Petra's residence since everything went down. A man with a dagger that dispelled an illusion was poking around Abby's house... what ever came of that? Could there be a trap waiting there for them?

"I think there's some loose ends to be taken care of as well in this town. Valac, maybe you should take Petra, and maybe one or two more to go check out the area where this all happened, and look for any clues as to the original culprit to all of this. Twyla, you can lead the rest of us to the garrison. That way, we don't have all our eggs in one basket, in case something goes wrong on either end."  

[PupSage]

Kuori nodded, "I'll go with them. Twyla has the wand and you and her are better with words than I am." She looked at Petra and smiled, "Besides, somebody needs to protect Valac from pretty women ... or protect them from him."  

[AlphabetFish]

Twyla seemed happy with the plan Revenge set forth. "I don't mind splitting up; I think you're pretty much right that Petra shouldn't be there--that could get awkward--and I don't think she should be alone, either, so it's probably good if Valac and Kuori go with her. And I'd love to explain personally to the guards exactly why they should laud us as the heroes we are!"

((A vote for Revenge's plan: Valac, Kuori and Petra investigate the houses, and Twyla, Revenge and Abby go to the garrison.))