Followup: An Eye for Bargains

"GOOD DAY." A dragon is looking at you. A great beast with bronze eyes, he arcs his neck in a graceful curve to...bring himself to your level. Merchant Tangisir's bulk fills the room. Torches blaze merrily within wall sconces, giving the room the heated, warm feel of the desert.

There is sand at your feet. Generous and soft. There are cushions for your softskin forms.

You'd been led here, deferentially, by the merchant's attendant, a perfunctional monk with polite, soft-spoken words. HERE of course, is the Veyshanti Embassy, within Alexandria. The Ahl cousin who had arranged the appointment, Rifaah, had been tight-lipped as he'd sent the letter--an ornate thing, with their clan seal.

The dragon now holds this letter in his claws, and strokes it occasionally. Occasionally, he gives a deep chuckle that erupts like a burr in his chest.

Given his size, there is bare enough any room in the well, room.

A blue-scaled sith-makar stands at the back of the group, his tail flicking with nervousness. This is a very small space with the dragon taking up much of it. Respectfully he quickly tilts back the hood of his cloak, showing off the long horns that arc over his head. He gives the most respectful greeting which he can, and offers a few quiet words which come out slightly awed. "Peassssce on your nessst." The sand is warm and luxurious underfoot, but he has no need for cusions; would find it difficult to sit on them in any case. So he stands at the back of the room almost pressed against the wall as unobtrusively as possible.

GAME: Erendriel rolls knowledge/local: (4)+3: 7

Entering the room is a Veyshanti who seems to have never had use for many social conventions; headwear, for the large, polished upper half of a beast's skull perched upon her head and obscuring all but her mouth and scarred chin. Outerwear, for her shoulders to the tips of her feet are draped in a chain of fine, red metal links fashioned to resemble a mat of cobwebbing. And gravity, because she simply floats no less than a foot above the ground at all times, though she bobs noticeably lower when entering the dragon's lair.

"Merchant Tangisir," comes her low, sullen voice, "wisest and most prosperous of merchants. Grateful we are to be sheltered in the shade of your presence."

Because honestly, when you're talking to a dragon abasing yourself is just *smart.*

Erendriel isn't exactly sure why she's here, but the recently imprisoned person DOES aid merchants from time to time, and so gets caught up in this and ends up staring at a dragon. Biting her lip, she wonders about what his gas breath looks like, and if the gas can be set on fire. Gripping her backpack straps tightly as she gawks at the shiny dragon.

• preeeeeen* The draconic presses his claws against his jaw, as though *modestly* considering their words. Alba's words and Zeke's care have the right effect, and the servant reappears, bearing a tray.

"PLEASE. YOU ARE MY GUESTS, AND I AM GLAD YOU HAVE COME. WITCH ALBA--IT IS GRACIOUS TO SHARE WORDS WITH YOU, ONCE MORE," the merchant says. The dragon coils himself comfortably--dry scales whisper-scrape across the sand. "YOUR VISIT ENRICHES THE WEALTH OF MY HORDE," he says. He lowers the letter introducing you, and asking for help, to the earth, the claws stroking the vellum. The great sun-discs of his eyes shine like a setting sun in the dark. The lids droop downwards, like a sunset. A gesture of his claws in the air, and the monk servant begins to set tea cups in front of each of you.

Scent hits the air--at first, the scent of flowers, but it soon blossoms into the dry air--dry air like the desert, despite Alexandria's coastal climate. The scent becomes many worlds, many scents, the hint of sunset. Springtime upon springtime. ...all at once, the dragon has paused in his telling. "THERE IS SSOME BUSINESS," he says. And, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF COVENS? AND, MAY ONE SPEAK DISTASTEFULLY--THE PROPAGATION OF DESSPAIR?"

What is Kae doing here!?!? Who knows, she sure doesn't, but well she's well there, sprawled out next to a board, with some artifice and gems and stuff on it, the board is floating just above the ground. Kae? She's apparently sleeping... Who knows how she ended up here, she's probably another curiosity...

Kae rolls onto her back and sprawls, mouth open now, drool coming out the left corner of her mouth.

Rishi is seated there, she dropped in at some point - probably behind the floating witch. She was part of the group that found the Clan Ahl's despair, and had to deal with all the immediate fallout of it.

Not that she minded...

She got to punch things. That generally made her happy.

She looked down at the tea as it was placed in front of her, one leg folded under her while the other is pressed into shin, a rather comfortable seating position. "Covens or laughing eyes?" Rishi carefully picks up the tea and takes a slow sip of the fine tea - the tea that the dragon's clan controlled. Sniff... Slow sip. Savoring the blossom of sunset.

Zeke accepts the tea graciously, scenting it with is mouth open just a little so that the taste of it can hit him as well. It makes his eyes half-lid and his body relax somewhat. Just the smell is enough for that. He takes a careful sip and the taste is just as lovely as the flavor. Enough to close his eyes entirely. "Thisss one knowsss the wordsss sssir." Ever polite. "Thisss one knowsss of ssssome covensss and would know more if you care to ssspeak the name of sssuch perhapsss. Thisss one knowssss sssadly much of the ssspread of desspair. Though perhapsss not the type of which you ssspeak."

"Tlagi," Alba murmurs to the tentative Rishi, the fanged skull bobbing visibly as she nods her thanks to the monk and accepts her cup. "The Great Merchant favors us with drink so rare and precious that guilds have gone to war with one another over its supply." The cup is lifted, inhaled from, and sipped, just enough to moisten her lips.

Once the tea is properly appreciated, she lowers her head. "This one would hear the Great Merchant's words, with both ears."

"SSUCH CIVILISATION," the dragon murmurs, as much as a dragon might. "ONE IS GLAD, SO VERY GLAD, TO SHARE ONE'S CLAN'S GIFTS. NOW..."

"THE AHL CLAN MENTION AN EYE, AND THE SSOUND OF CACKLING. ...AND OF COURSE, THE BEHAVIOR OF RIFAAH'S COUSIN. THE BLAME UPON THE GOBLINS. DISTASTEFUL." Merchant Tangisir's claws make a moue in the air. "DISTASTEFUL, OF COURSE, THAT SSOMEONE MIGHT BE BLAMED FOR SSUCH A FEATURE AS...GLOWING EYES. I AM MOTIVATED TO ASSIST ON THAT, ALONE." Smoke curls from his muzzle, as from two lamps--golden smoke like the color of his scales. "...SO, ONE SHALL BE ...UNCHARACTERISTICALLY BLUNT," he says and those great eyes look to Alba. "PERHAPS BOTH. THE CREATURE YOU SSEEK IS A HAG. A DISTASTEFUL BEAST AND ONE SUSPECTS, FEEDING UPON MISERY CRAFTED BY THE PLAGUE." Smoke curls from his muzzle as from two great lamps. "YOU MAY BE DEALING WITH AS MANY AS A COVEN."

"..." and then the dragon looks to the drooling, passed-out softskin. "...WHAT IS..." he says, sounding annoyed. The monk reappears--two of them, and walk smartly over to Kaelyn. They begin to remove her from the room. "...PLEASE INFORM SARVAREL THAT ONE IS AWARE OF HIS 'HABITS,' AND ONE DISSAPPROVES." The monks duck their heads.

GAME: Rishi rolls Sense Motive: (8)+9: 17
GAME: Alba rolls spellcraft: (19)+19: 38
GAME: Alba rolls sense motive: (5)+2: 7
GAME: Alba rolls knowledge/arcana: (10)+18: 28
GAME: Zeke rolls sense motive: (16)+2: 18
GAME: Erendriel rolls sense motive: (20)+1: 21
GAME: Seldan rolls sense motive: (17)+6: 23
GAME: Seldan rolls knowledge/arcana: (10)+6: 16

And now Kae is flailing as she's being picked up! SHe's not saying uuuch right now, but well the flailing elf ends up flopping onto her backside, on the hover board which slowly starts to float forward, toward the dragon.. "Eee! Witches with candy teeth... errr... oh, yer all talking about witches!?!" She says, and yes there is still flailing... She then pauses...

There's a brief tick as she looks up at the huge scaled engine of magical destruction, otherwise known as a dragon... Another tick, a pause and she waves a hand "Hallo!" She calls out. "What's this about hags?" She asks, blinking again... "Covens? Hags? Where?"

Seldan up to this point has been listening in awed silence, absorbing and taking in all of the opulence, sampling the tea carefully. One does not learn when one's lips are moving, so he has said nothing. He does nod, frowning, at the mention of hags and covens, as if that means something to him.

Rishi sets the tea cup down slowly, and then slowly - very slowly - she lowers her head a little and brings a hand up to meet it. The palm slowly covering over her eyes as her fingers dip into her hair as Kaelyn... Kaelyn's. Just... Facepalm.

The blue-scaled sith finishes his cup of tea quietly, listening carefully to the dragon's every word. The idea that a coven of hags has taken up residents; that they are using th plague to sow the seeds of further misery makes his right claw clench. He is forced to relax himself lest he break the cup. He considers deeply what this means. "Sssir. That any-thing can ssseek to caussse more sssadnesss where there hasss been already sssso much... Thisss one will do what can be done to sstop them. Have you any idea where we may sssseek them out?" Of the softskin sleeping on the floor he says nothing. At least she is awake now, he supposes that is something.

Erendriel tilts her head, and takes a step back when the dragon starts calling things distasteful. "A coven of hags, here? They don't use their powers for good at all." she gasps. "And connected with the plague? Worse and worse. They need to be separated."

"Hags," Alba breathes over her cup, and begins to chuckle. ...Well. It *could* be a chuckle. It could also be a full cackle at very, very low volume. "Ah... a precious gift you have given me, Great Merchant, in the knowing of this thing. If a coven it be, then ways there are to break their power. When found, with some study, break them I will, and with joy in my liver."

The muzzle rumples. Distasteful. "FORMED SSO, THEY WILL BE...TROUBLESSOME TO OVERCOME. YOU MUSST RELY ON YOUR WITSS."

"PERHAPS ONE MIGHT ATTEMPT TO SEW DISCORD. OR, YOU MIGHT POINT THEM TO A NEW SOURCE OF HOPE, OR MISERY." The claws lift, then ease back into the sands. As he shifts, it's the whisper of scale over scale. "YOUR WORDS SSHOW YOUR WISSDOM. ONE SSUSPECTS THEY ARE OF THOSE WHO TURN VIRTUE TO VILLANY. THEY TRANSFORM LOVE INTO OBSESSION, KINDNESS TO HATE, DEVOTION TO DISSREGARD, AND GENEROSITY TO SELFISHNESS."

He looks to Kaelyn then, and lowers his voice. "WITH CARE, SSOFTSKIN. ONE'S SSERVANTS WILL HAVE THE CARE OF YOU, MOMENTARILY." Tea is placed in front of her--it smells of sunsets and herbs. A world of sunsets.

To the rest, "YOUR SSHAMAN-CASTE," to Zeke, "HAS SSENT WORD, OF A DARKNESS WITHIN THE GREATER WOODS. ONESS SSERVANTS MAY TAKE YOU THERE, OF COURSE, ONSSE YOU HAVE HAD TIME TO PLAN."

So this will be a journey outside the city. Seldan continues to listen, letting the talk swirl around him and saying nothing himself. The value of the tea is very much noted, and savored more carefully for that. He hasn't spoken since they got here, really.

Zeke seems to be utterly startled to be addressed directly, and offers again the most polite of motions toward the great dragon. Gratitude for a response and acknowledgement though his eyes drift slightly to the side; his body shifting to cover his limbs more fully. The toes of his left foot is dug deep into the sand now - the better to hide it. "Thisss one offersss gratitude for your aid, and the aid of your... ssservants." His green eyes glance with some discomfort toward the people in question.

They have a place to begin it seems, and Zeke sets aside his cup of tea which has now departed. With this done he glances around to his companions. "Doesss any-one have quesstions to asssk? Thingsss which musst be known before we begin sssuch planning?"

Kae blinks, looking up to the dragon curiously, then down to the tea, then up to the dragon, and to the tea, then everyone else, then to the tea... She caaaarrreeefuuullly picks up the cup, peers at it, then tosses the contents back... Drinking it all in one go...

There's a pause, and really, if steam could come out of her ears, well it would, instead she's tearing up and flailing a bit after having drank a bunch of hot tea all at once!!! Her antics of course makes her current floating seat start to float closer to the giant winged scaly thing.

She quickly reaches for a bottle on her hip, which she drinks from, it's got a glowing blue crystal at its base, and exhails "Ahhhhh.... Okie, future things, don't drink all the good smelling hot herbal distillate all at once!" She exclaims. And now her attention goes back to the dragon... "ooh, yer biiiig..." Very intelligent there...

Erendriel shakes her head softly at the talk of asking questions. "I wouldn't even know where to find such a thing."

"Then much learning, shall there be upon this journey," chuckles the floating witch. "All to the good, this. Better, if there are among us those who are versed in lies and deceit."

"We don't need to know, like the great Tangisir says... the Shaman caste will help point us the way." Rishi finally sighs and looks back up - grabbing the back of Kaelyn's shirt and pulls her back slowly toward the rest of them before picking up her tea once more. She gives another sip of the tea, leaving only the damp leaves still tangled about at the bottom of the cup.

"Or-" Rishi shrugs, "That's where we'll start. With the darkness in the woods, and go from there."

DEEP FOREST. The DEEP FOREST. That the shaman-caste had sent word, yes--this becomes evident as you near the edge of the woods that evening. So does their irritation. As you head into the woods, a scaled swiftly joins you, in Am'sheri robes, a severe look to them. "Thiss one is Chimalli, and it iss good to sshare words," is how she greets you.

From there, it's business. Strictly business. Even Zeke is given the barest of courties. One swiftly learns from Chimalli that the hags had moved in three weeks ago. They had sent complaints to the City--but the plague has tied up resources. As credible a threat as a Coven poses, responses have been slow.

Meanwhile, the shaman explains, the Corruption spreads from their workings. You know from personal experience that they had reached even to the merchant district--to the halls of Clan Ahl.

Of course, as you near this--the location they'd uncovered--one begins to FEEL it. A Corruption. An oil on the skin or scale that smells of rotton eggs, of flooded crawlspaces, and mold-filled basements.

A faint cackling.

Outside of planning, Seldan hasn't said much as they make the journey. When he did speak, it was with a strong Myrrish accent. As they get closer, though, he murmurs something under his breath that could be prayer, then falls silent again, looking around him warily.

Zeke nods to the group, to Chimalli who was given of course the polite greeting of the sith-makar though they offer little in return. This doesn't seem to bother Zeke at all. His tail flicks subtly behind him,; being at the front of the group rather than the back. This is then their signal to break up, he doesn't want to speak for fear of announcing their presence to the hags. Instead he nods again to Seldan and offers a lingering gaze upon Alba whom will be joining him away from the main group.

Their plan is simple. He and Seldan will break off and draw the hag's attention by being 'corruptible' bait. Meanwhile Alba will head in the other direction and do what she can to frighten them. Everyone else will hang back somewhat waiting for the hags to attack.

Then, Zeke continues forward, leaning more heavily on his staff than he normally does. He must appear weak and corruptible... something he feels that he most accurately portrays.

Alba's skull-crowned head rises, a deep breath drawn in through the nose -- though of the skull or the face beneath, one can't be entirely certain -- and the Witch's scarred mouth twists in savage distaste. "Our thanks, Shaman Chimalli. Already it can be scented, the foulness that bedevils this wood. So, so so so... To work." As Zeke begins to posture as attractive bait, the Witch chuckles to herself, peeling off and eeling up into the lower branches to one side. "Good hunting, my friends. Be swift and cunning, and they shall break."

Kae blinks and is tugged back, then well they're now in a forest? She's still sitting on her board. "So looost." She mutters, and looks from person to person. Then she casually unslings her 'zappy' gun. She beams and glances around now, waiting for something she can throw her self at and kind of do... "Ooh that cackling sounds ominous..."

Seldan returns the nod, takes a deep breath, and moves to match stride with Zeke. His holy symbol open, it doesn't take much for him to look like little more than an innocent adventurer with no clue what he's getting into. He doesn't even have to pretend. "Light will draw their notice ... perhaps we should wait a little to do that."

Zeke nods to Seldan. "You may usssse my ssstaff asss a ssssoursce for your light." It would make an excellent torch after all, and lends credence to their illusion that they are merely out to walk in the woods. They've drawn away now a little bit from the main group, so he shifts his staff so that Seldan can use it for his purposes. His tail flicks behind him.

And so! Zeke and Seldan make their way further into the woods, with the rest of you taking up spots to watch, to hide, to listen. Alba to the trees, Rishi to the swiftness of monks, and so on.

It doesn't take long--the sense of Corruption is palpable. One glimpses briefly, and only because of the warnings, ahead: A set of women sit on logs, their lean forms little more than bones. Their noses are long, their fangs wicked--and their eyes so hollow and dark they may as well be ghosts. And then...

...and then their voices are soft, and sweet. Soft and sweet. "Oh...oh my. Look here, look here...it's so good you've come." The scene from before is no more. A trio of elderly, plump Altheans sit there, with loaves of bread in the baskets beside him.

"And brought a light! So good, so good. ...come, come. We're lost, sweet dears."

The scene was enough for Seldan, without having to look for evil, but now he glances at Zeke. "Mothers. I am glad to have found you ... but I would speak with just one of you on a matter of faith. It is a thing not to be discussed among a group, nor do I think that would help. Would one of you walk with me?"

If not for the fact that they were out here looking for hags, Zeke might have been fooled by them. They look exactly like three innocent older women who might indeed be simply lost in the forest. He inclines his head to them as though he believes this illusion. "Peasssse on your nesssts." He offers, playing his part and leaning heavily on his staff. It helps prop him up as his heartrate quickens. "Firssst let me cassst a sspell of protection yesss? And you too Ssseldan. Let usss blesss thessse whom need our aid."

"Of course, of course," one of them coos, and stands. She looks towards the other, elderly women.

The speaker stands, and moves towards Seldan. And Zeke. "My name is Mary, and it is so good to meet you," she says. To Zeke, "Of course. Perhaps join my sisters, that they may pray with you. We have bread to break. ...we're just...we will share what we have. We're just so tired..." she whispers, and her shoulders slump a little.

"Lost, they are," comes a breathy voice from the treetops, filled with menace and glee. "Oh, yes, lost they *definitely* are, to sit where so much danger lurks *all around.*"

Gotta admit, when a woman talking like that, and looking like a skull on top of blood-colored cobwebs, floats out of the tree cover? Kiiiiiinda creepy.

It doesn't help that she seems to be accompanied by something that sounds like cricket-song, if the crickets were made of knives. "Have you no fire, old mothers, to ward the chill from your creaking bones?"

GAME: Zeke casts Protection From Evil. Caster Level: 5 DC: 13

"A pleasure, Mother." Seldan starts at the creeper from above, staring wide-eyed. "Come, quickly. Zeke will protect your sisters. We should move quickly, for evil lurks here. This way." He begins to set off in a different direction, nearly back towards where they came from ... and not coincidentally back towards the others, but does make sure she follows.

"...oh," goes the earlier, speaking mother. Her mouth forms in a bow. For a moment, just a swift moment--Alba spies a flash of red. A recognition of another witch. A flash of territory.

MINE.

"...why, no...of course not."

"We aren't used to this," another of the elderly mothers offers, voice tremuluous. "I'm Chari, by the way." Chari steps forward to speak with Alba, her look concerned and sweet.

Except that flash of red. Mary looks back at them both, before going with Seldan. Meanwhile, Zeke is left with the third, who looks towards him expectantly.

The blue-scaled sith nods to the women, stepping neatly to the side. More quickly as Alba's voice comes from the treetops. Zeke is grateful for Seldan's quick thinking, and he motions with his staff toward the elderly woman and away. Or what seems to be an elderly woman. "Come, thisss one will protect you, you only need come this way." He beins to move away from Alba.

"Chari," Alba says, her smile not a pleasant thing at all. "Much to talk of have we, I think. Of what lurks in these woods, of danger hidden beneath a skin of sweetness. Come... tea have I, and hospitality to offer, but only enough for one. Many friends and more, I think, will your companions find their own way."

As Seldan walks, leading the first Mother away, he begins to talk, making no effort to be quiet. Zeke had given him something of use only yesterday evening! "I was hoping you could tell me more of the Hands of Ithildin, Mary. Of their beliefs, and why they might find a place among you. I had heard something of them, and was concerned."

Chari & Alba: The red flash, again. "I think we do," the sweet woman murmurs. "I think we do...oh, our companions need not hear of it..." she says, and she walks with Alba a ways. A ways, before leaning down to whisper, her guise fading away with a smile. Gone is the softness, gone is the kindness--faded, melted away as butter and leaving wrinkled skin, behind. "...and perhaps we speak a similar language, you and I."

Erendriel makes her way with the others, since it could be fun, and well, she's pretty impressed with the shiny dragon and what not. Even if he doesn't breathe anything flammable. Listening to the conversation, she thinks about anything she can do to help, one way or another.

Erendriel is with Zeke,to clarify.

Seldan & Mary: "The Hands of Ithildin...? Why, I've never heard of them," Mary responds. She looks up to Seldan, her eyes shining. Had Seldan not been so well-coached ahead of time, he might miss the twist at the corner of her mouth.

As though she'd tasted something bitter. Or sweet. "Who are they? They sound kind..."

"Perhaps this is so," Alba murmurs, dipping just close enough to arm's reach to be enticing to an opportunistic hag. "Perhaps an old mother tires of scraps to be shared, and seeks sweeter prizes. Perhaps she has heard of the Felwood, and the rich feast that stains the very soil."

Zeke & Eren & Shell: "...aren't you sweet," says the aged mother near Zeke. She smiles at Zeke and Erendriel, and pats the log beside her. She has a basket of bread at her feet. Forewarned, the basket smells faintly of maggots--and were one to turn one's head a certain way, one might find them crawling through the bread.

"My name is Shell. I see you've met my sisters...please, join me and have something to eat?"

In the meanwhile, no one's noticed the artificer. Perhaps they're too focused on their conversations? At least, so far.

Alba & Chari: “The Felwood? ...a rich place. But my sisters are uninterested, my dear. Uninterested, so long as this plague is here...and it is rich," Chari says, and inhales through her long nose. As though inhaling the scent of a fine wine. "There is so much suffering. Perhaps you feel it?"

"You have not? But surely ..." Seldan sounds puzzled, but works not to sound wary. "Well, that you have not is a shame. They are kind indeed ... but surely your sisters know of them already, and have been keeping this from you. Healers all, and they teach the healing arts to the poor."

Zeke's eyes flick to the log but doesn't actually sit down. "Thisss one mussst asssk." He ducks his head to the older woman, and motions toward where her sisters have departed. "Thisss one hassss noted that your sssissterss were quick to leave your ssside. Have you had a dissssagreement of late that makesss them act ssso? Thisss one isss not familiar with sssoftssskin familiesss, but thisss ssseemsss odd to thisss one."

Erendriel folds her hands carefully and steps up to Shell. "Hello Shell. I am Erendriel. Your sisters yes. I've heard things... but you probably don't want to know about it. Far be it from me to gossip about what they may be planning but... to be honest what I'm hearing being said about you is enough that I lost my appetite. They really shouldn't. But neither should I gossip."

GAME: Erendriel rolls bluff: (13)+21: 34
GAME: Alba rolls spellcraft: (15)+19: 34

Seldan & Mary: "I...I have not," Mary says. She leans over and towards the other's shoulder. Seldan might notice his arm is a bit wet. Drool, maybe? "...Why, they sound positively--" delicious, "--wonderful. I would love to hear more about them!"

Zeke & Eren & Shell: "I...I'm sorry?" Shell says and looks from Zeke to Eren. Her ancient eyes widen, the colors runny with age. "I..." ...and one might notice the flash of red before it's gone. "They have...?" she asks, in an ancient's whisper. "What have they ssaid?" she asks, and looks to the two of them.

Kae is well, she's watching things go on... "Ummm..." She mutters to her self, she's being veeerrry quiet right now though. Which is odd for the goofy Artificer... Kae continues to study the hags, trying to figure something out... She's also looking to where they came from and stuff too.... What kinda mischief can she cause here....

"Much suffering indeed," Alba murmurs. "But plagues shall be cured, and perhaps your sisters are too blinded by the sweet to see how close it is to leaving. But the Felwood seethes with poison, such that even the greatest of druids cannot take away. There is such suffering, such agony, that even the trees bow in pain."

As she floats, she winds around a tree, the back of her bladed glove scraaaaaaaaping against the bark. And if, when one breaks line of sight, the blades furrow in a little deeper in small ways, here and there? Well, oops!

"Imagine it; feast enough that one need not be second to any, whole swaths of poisoned wood to call your own. And even there, travelers and adventurers seek to find riches and glory..."

Erendriel tries to lay it on thick. She pauses, looks around to where the other conversations are happening, and puts on a pained smile to Shell. "Well. How do I put this, Shell?" She shifts on her feet, acting like it's so frightfully uncomfortable to be gossiping like this, and leans in so she can speak very softly, where only Zeke and Shell can hear. "I really shouldn't do this, but I've heard tell they want to replace you with someone else they think won't hold back the coven."

Alba & Chari: "Deliciousss," murmurs the hag. She smiles to Alba, and there are fangs, twisted fangs as though from some Felbeast. "Delicious, dear ssister. Perhaps when the harvesst from the plague is finished--a new coven, do you think?"

She looks to Alba at the corner of her eye. Loyalty? Who cares for loyalty?

Zeke looks at Erendriel, their words oddly connected though they had not planned such. His suggestion that the sisters meant to leave Shell behind, the very purposeful addition that they have been speaking about her behind her back. "Thisss one sssuggessstss that perhapsss they ssssee you asss weak. Asss they left you behind, perhapssss to unburden themssselvesss." He rolls his right shoulder and looks the hag in the eye though hers are loath to be looked upon. "Thisss one knowsss of sssuch thingsss." Every word is true. He has no need to bluff.

Seldan's brows furrow, although whether that's the hag drool all over him or the confusion is hard to say. "Your sisters really ought to have told you of them. Why would they not share their wisdom with you? Surely they would trust you with such a thing ... unless it is that they do not trust you, though I cannot guess at why."

Zeke & Eren & Shell: "The--" the woman says. And she looks to Erendriel appraisingly. "...Chari always did have her own ambitions," she says, and gathers her skirts. Her voice sounds rougher, now. Is that a hint of fang?

One can see Seldan and Mary in the distance. Mary is practically...drooling. So much. A paladin? So near her arms she can just...

...taste...

Seldan & Mary: "I would love to meet them." Mary is practically purring. She smiles, and reaches down to...

...grasp...

Seldan's hand. And look upwards, longingly into his eyes. "Why don't we go, together? It's so lonely out in these woodsss...and they seem so warm. I mean. Kind..."

"This one would wonder; why wait?" Alba muses, eeling around the trunk of another scarred tree. "If left to grow fat upon the spoils of the plague, unaware your sisters will be, when all the magics and all the heroes and all the druids are free to find the blackness in these woods. Far away from there, you could be, where none but victims may ever find you."

"Let usss leave you to your contemplationsss on your kin." Zeke looks toward Erendriel purposefully. He is worried about Seldan and how... hungry the other hag lookss. "In fact, perhapsss you sssshould talk to thisss Chari sssoon?" He turns away and motions for Erendriel to follow him.

Erendriel puts her hand to her chest, and goes wide-eyed. "Shell, I don't want to judge Cheri. But if I did.." She looks over, then back to Shell again. "Well. If I were you... when I got treated like that, I moved to another country to get some respect, for a change."

Zeke & Eren & Shell: Shell's lip firms as she looks to Zeke and Erin--absently, she reaches out and pats Eren on the hand. Pat pat, pat pat. And then...then her nose twitches. Twitches.

A bit of drool makes its way to the corner of her mouth. "Chari..." she says sweetly, her eyes fixated on Seldan.

Alba & Chari: “Why wait, indeed...you make a lovely point, sister. I--" she says and Chari pauses as Shell raises her voice. "What on earth?" she asks and turns--just in time to see Shell stand.

Just in time to see Mary take a half-step in front of her bonbon, we mean. Seldan!

Uh-oh. It worked just a little too well. Seldan's eyes go wide at the grasp on the hand, and he moves to pull away, glancing frantically around. "You see? Your sisters would hide from you what they know, and yet want what is yours." Quickly, he starts backing away, quickly, towards the others.

Zeke steps very, very quickly toward Seldan. His staff waving in the dark like a beacon to walk toward. He doesn't call the others name however, not wanting to draw any /more/ attention to the poor man. The blue-scaled sith hopes that Shell is distracted enough by Chari to deal with her rather than attack Seldan from behind. But if she tries, at least Zeke is between her and Seldan now.

Seldan & Mary: "Mine, yes," Mary murmurs. Poor Seldan. She has his hand now, unless he squirms away. She stands in front of him now, her gaze fixated on Shell. "Back away, ssister."

"I've been hearing things, dear sister," from Shell. SHE steps forward, her hands moving in front of her. Curving, like claws. "HEARING things." ...and a look towards Seldan. "Thought you to keep this from me?"

With Chari perfectly distracted, Alba's claws scrape again over the tree bark out of sight, this time clearly carving through three major sigils. "It would seem your sisters' incompetence has found their kidneys sooner than expected," Alba murmurs. "Does their skin have greater worth than yours?"

And then!

From off in the trees!

"AIEEEEEEEEE THE SUN!" And there's a burst of light up in the sky that shines like a bright orb (possibly one that would be a 30 foot radius) "RUN FROM THE LIGHT! AIEEEEEEEE!" And then Rishi is trying to move off at an angle so that they won't be able to find her if they head where the voice came from.

GAME: Beaglefinder rolls 1d20+8: (11)+8: 19
GAME: Seldan rolls fortitude: (3)+8: 11
GAME: Beaglefinder rolls 1d6: (3): 3

"...no," Chari murmurs, to Alba. "...and fools. Fighting over a..."

And then the SUN arises, and she squints, squints hard at it. Tears stream down the corners of her eyes. "What on earth...?" she asks.

Meanwhile, Shell halts in her tracks. Halts in her advance on her sister, Mary. Zeke and Erendriel had been feeding her lies, after all. Suggestions, at how her sisters would betray her--and there's her sister. Her SISTER, holding such a precious prize, after all.

A paladin. A tasty, tasty paladin.

The SUN. It all goes to hell.

Mary BITES Seldan, her fangs elongating. A swift grayness spreads over the paladin's form. "YOU WILL NOT HAVE HIM, SISTER!"

GAME: Zeke rolls heal: (9)+2: 11
GAME: Alba rolls heal: (8)+9: 17

All pretense forgotten Zeke rushes forward. Thoughts flow through his head in fast-forward. The easiest things to do, he just... can't. But he /must/ help Seldan. So he moves forward like a snake darting through the grass. Quicker than most anyone would think that the slow-moving sith could. Particularly the hags whom had only thus far seen him leaning so heavily on his staff. Then he strikes downward, seeking to divide the hag from her prey.

"AGH!" This time, Seldan doesn't hesitate, screaming openly at the bite. He tears his arm away and shoves the other hand across Mary's eyes, releasing a bolt of heavenly fire straight at those eyes. Hopefully, it's enough of a distraction for him to turn and draw Mary away from the others.

Erendriel steps back, getting out of the way of one hag making a move. Seeing the fighting going on, she bites her lip, and herself attempts a scorching ray at Mary.

"...fools," Chari says beneath her breath. She looks towards Rishi, her hag-eyes narrowed. "A distraction, were you?" she asks. "...well, for fools so easily over taken. Well-played, sister," she says to Alba, her smile as thin and as razor'd as her voice.

And leans down, to whisper in her ear, "I will be taking that call," she says, her voice a mixture of barbs and razors. A purr. A cat drawing knives across a surface.

She walks off, thankfully. That's one down. And two...

Mary takes a heavenly ray to the face. Golden light burns her skin and she screams. "SISTERS!" she shouts and Shell's face...changes. Conflict.

GAME: Erendriel casts Scorching Ray. Caster Level: 5 DC: 17
GAME: Erendriel rolls ranged: (4)+5: 9

"THAT WAS A DISTRACTION!" Rishi doesn't hear the people moving... or at least not moving back the way that they had come in from. So she's heading toward where the rest of them are in a sort of arc. "Come /on/. Less delay in dally and more rally!" She sweeps her hand in a let's go sort of way. She gives a less than polite gesture to Chari as she beats her retreat and a smile that is all the spice and none of the sugar.

GAME: Beaglefinder rolls 1d20+8: (17)+8: 25
GAME: Rishi rolls fort: (2)+6: 8

"Look forward to it, I do," Alba answers in kind... Then hurls herself toward the ruckus, darting overhead as swiftly as she may. As she passes, her hair separates, then jabs downwards at Seldan, seeking arms to wrap around.

GAME: Beaglefinder rolls 1d6+4: (1)+4: 5

"Why ssshould your ssssissstersss aid you when you take every-thing for your-sssself?" Zeke's anxiety and the fact that his blood is up makes his accent all the thicker. "Run Ssseldan!" He yells these words at the other man, his staff sweeping between the two to keep them distant. His only hope is that Shell is still upset with Mary. Hair reaches down from the sky to help gather Seldan up and take him away. If it can be managed.

"...bless your heart, Mary," Shell says. And the scorching ray flies past Mary, and Shell smiles. It's full of wicked, wicked teeth.

And then Rishi yells and she stares at her, too. The old woman flickers her fingers, and a dark ray launches towards the monk--hitting her squarely, and sapping her strength. "...bless all of your hearts. I am tired of being made fun of!" she hisses, near shrieks.

Mary is backing away.

Just who was the leader of this coven?

"BY ALL OF YOU!" Shell is shouting!

GAME: Alba rolls heal: (14)+9: 23
GAME: Alba rolls spellcraft: (10)+19: 29

Still on the run, Seldan is about to turn and fire again when ropes of black hair grab him by the arms and lift him off the ground! About to turn and try to aim a ray upwards, he realizes it's the Veyshanti woman. He lets out a cry of surprise at the lift, but doesn't fight too much.

Hopefully the hair is at least clean?

"ACK!" Rishi stumbles back as she's hit with that. She gives her right arm a solid shake and grimaces. She opens and closes her hand but it shakes as she does so, her mouth pulls thinner. "Bless our hearts with what? You probably haven't seen the inside of a /real/ church your whole life. I sure don't want ~that~ sort of blessing. Oops, I mean-" she gives a smile, "So nice to meet you. So nice." And with that, she's turning and trying to make a break for it herself - having assumed the others will be doing the same.

Seeing that Seldan is being pulled to safety, Zeke waves his staff at Erendriel. "Run!" He yells this loudly hoping to get the woman moving away from the hags. He won't leave her behind. Can't. He feels the swell of something in his chest a warm feeling and he knows what it is. "Praissse you Dragonfather for thisss gift." What gift he speaks of so quietly that only he can hear it is unknown to all but him. "Run!" This again to Erendriel.

"--BLESS ALL OF YOUR HEARTS!" the shouting. Screaming of the hag. Shortly thereafter, you all make your escape--running pell-mell through the woods, but not without cost. Rishi's arm is failing, her strength sapped--and Seldan is getting worse, not better. His features are fading to gray, and the hag-mark on his shoulder looks...

...looks...

...Don't look at it. Don't.

"Hurry," Alba mutters, as the coven is broken and the heroes retreat. "Hurry hurry hurry. A lab I have with the Altheans, this demon rot I can cure there."

-End