Black Zenith [Adventure RPG / Chapter Four: Fires of Heaven]

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I can finally say

*(Charm rolll)*

"My good sir, it would serve you well if you were to simply come with us and answer our questions. I am a perfectly diplomatic person to deal with. I'm not sure the people behind me are." Watson feigns dismay. "I-I'm not quite so sure you stand a chance against us! Look at that iron cage over there!" Watson points, "That, officer, is a cage that exploded in fire and yet, here we are, standing before you. The very fact that I am still able to speak with you at all is a testament to the fact that I am no ordinary man. And perhaps not so vicious as you might think me! Please, sir, I beg you to come along with us, spare yourself the pain." Watson's hands were together, in a begging gesture, a sorrowful look on his face.

Watson looks slightly serious. He isn't sure he or Bohw can forgive this man, forget the others, forget Mayor. Mayor won't have any scraps left to play with if Bohw has her way with him.

The man looks at you with an odd mixture of incredulity and fear. "I really dont think so you crazy madman!" He says, shaking his head feverishly as he speaks before before clumsily leaping up, trying to run away as quickly as his unsteady legs can carry him.

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the man believes you to be enemies of the state, just watched you murder his entire squad and also his current psychological condition probably isnt the most reasonable you could hope for considering that he is quite fairly so also fearing for his life. nice try though.

"..." Savannah watches as Watson tries to talk to the guy, face scrunching in irritation when she hears Watson mention something about her not being diplomatic. She marches up to the pair as the man starts trying to get away and roughly kicks the back of his knees, knocking him to the ground.

"I'll show you 'not diplomatic'. Grab the guy and let's go." Savannah steps up to Watson, puffing out her chest and glaring at him. "We've got places to be and, quite frankly, diplomacy ain't gonna get us there. That's what this is for." She thumps the butt of her spear on the ground.

Savannah stops the guard in his tracks, sending him tumbling to the ground before he even had a chance. (roll 19)

Myra looked on as Savannah went to retrieve Watson and the rest of the company, only noticing Mayor's outstretched hand after he began waving it right in front of her face. She gave a smiling 'thank you' to Mayor, took the hand gratefully, and got up, wincing as her body screeched in protest. The ravenfolk took a while to look over Mayor and Bohw, taking note of their torn, battered states, the agony written all over Bohw's face, and a gaping hole in her clothes, edged with blood to show a wound that definitely could have killed. Thoughts churned in a low broil, and soon a blurry picture of what was going on was painted in her head. She didn't know the exact details, but judging from the few recent events and the Half-Imps demeanor after each one, Myra had a fair enough idea that Bohw was very uncomfortable with the transformation she takes on. Most likely having to do with that apparent bought of insanity and the voices that Myra had heard in her head.

Finally reaching a decision, Myra began taking difficult steps towards Bohw. "...The appearance you take on is insignificant, Bohw," Myra began as she started fiddling with the Half-Imp's scarf, "as long as you're working to make the world a better place." The scarf was now untied, its tattered ends being rearranged thoughtfully. Myra chanced a glance away from the scarf to meet her gaze with Bohw's, continuing in a more cautious tone. "...However, if those voices have any say in what you do with that form, then you should probably see to it that they become nothing more than shallow water rolling over stone on the edge of a creek."

The ravenfolk tied the scarf in front of Bohw to loop in a decent manner so that its ends fell in front of the Half-Imp's chest, acting as a cover-up for the hole in her clothing well enough. "If you don't mind, how about you tell me about your transformation while we heal and wait for the others?" She took a step back to give the shorter woman her personal space back, and prepared another healing spell to cast upon herself, Mayor, and Bohw.

Sorry I accidentally RP'd all over the post.

Watson tried. He really did! But it can't be helped if this man won't listen to reason.

He shrugs, rips off one of his sleeves and hogties the man. Yes, Watson somehow made it manageable to hog-tie him with only one sleeve.

"Pfeh. Finally." Savannah spits onto the ground, then heads back to Mael and Torhold. "Let's go, you sods. Follow me." She then proceeds to lead the three men toward the alley and back into the courtyard where Bohw, Mayor, and Myra are.

Mayor was more interested in actually letting Myra recover, stressing with some wide gestures as she went over to Bohw. But as she continued on, Mayor let in, knowing full well that out everyone here, Bohw was probably the most wounded. He looked around for the others, gripping his damaged arm as he focused his regeneration there.

Bohw was hesitant, flinching away from Myra as she fiddled with her scarf like a fussy mother. She gave in eventually, her posture relaxing as she lowered her shoulders and accepted it. But when when Myra looked up at her face, it was clear Bohw was trying to hide her anguish, the broken look in her eye telling she was tired and ready to collapse. It had only been a few days at most and she was already reaching her limits, snarling as she idly tugged on her scarf after Myra was done with it.

"I don't..." Bohw whinged, "I don't want any of this pity." She fell over backwards, landing on her backside and sitting down in the middle of the street. "I lost my resolve... so here I am, forever cursed with a fragile body that can be taken over at a moment's notice." She sounded angry, staring down the pavement as she was overwhelmed with bitter thoughts. "It's a curse." She stated, hissing. "You don't realize, but to my people... I am considered lost, the person who I was died the moment I became that twisted bitch, a shell that is only focused on torture."

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Edit: Agh ninja'd by Kiven, whats with all the activity all of a sudden

this happens before they arrive then

"It's not pity," Myra replied flatly, staring down at the Half-Imp, "and considering you survived whatever made that gaping hole in your clothes, 'fragile' is not a word that would be used to describe you." She sat down on the stone floor as well once she caught Mayor's worried, glowing eyes, and began inspecting herself and her clothes. "Good grebe, we're all just a mess." she muttered under her breath as she looked over all the tears and stains.

The ravenfolk gave a sigh, and faced Bohw once more. There were lot of questions coming to Myra already, but her track record tells her to keep her beak shut, or at least to pace herself with her inquiries..."So, it's a curse, those voices take over you for a while, and your people- whoever 'your people' are- think you to be some lost soul," She stated bluntly, maintaining her serious gaze. The fall and explosion had left her surprisingly sober from any excited feelings, and her head felt hazy enough to be focused on objectives, but only that. Myra carried with the same candid tone as before, "The people and what they think of you don't matter. What does matter is what can be done about this 'curse'. How'd it come to be in the first place?"

Bohw groaned and sat there in silence for a few moments, unwilling to give her the time to day or even look at her. "The story goes..." She answered, swallowing pride, "That a half-imp goddess of the name of Cryimi, fell in love with a mortal knight. The knight did not return his feelings and after some violence, Cryimi went mad and killed him. Now forever mourning and bitter, she and her servants take control of those who do not idolize her, to make everyone feel her agony and using those with weak resolve as their playthings."

With an indifferent grumble, Bohw raised a hand in the air and conjured a green bubble of magic in her hand, lobbing the strange goo at Myra. The spell struck her and washed over Myra, healing cuts and disinfecting the wounds, it was pretty basic in the terms of healing magic, but it was something. "At least, that's how the story goes, even in my state I still believe it's hogwash." Bohw continued on, "But there's no denying that something takes control of me, my people have always been vulnerable to it. End of story."

Myra listened carefully to the story, though she let out a yelp as the strange goo hit her. She sent a glare back at the Half-Imp for a moment, knowing a spiteful action when she saw it. The ravenfolk let it pass, just this once, since it was a healing spell, and the woman was in a terrible mood right now. Just this once. Myra let it slide, and pressed on with the topic. "Okay, so if something takes control of you, then maybe it's a problem to do with spirits, or ghosts, or even elementals or demons...What's this about 'resolve', anyway? Do your people have to have a goal of sorts in mind at all times or something? You seem to have quite a lot of determination to me."

"Even if I knew, what good would it do?" Bohw snapped angrily. "Strong willed or not, I lost control for a brief moment and they got their claws into me." She shifted uncomfortably from where she sat, continuing to sulk as she stood back up. "I can't change that, it's a wasted effort to try and silence the lingering... voices, demons, whatever they are." Bohw paused to sigh, raising her head as she made an effort to regain her composure. "But I have to live with it, accept the fate and... make the most of everything, I suppose." She just shrugged, attempting to mask her grim emotions for the time being.

Mayor looked back over to where Savannah went off, trying to spot if they were on their way back yet or not. Much to his relief, the golem finally spotted the others, waving to them with his mangled arm in greeting.

"Oh! Hello my dear companions, I do hope we've all regained our sanity!" Watson greeted Mayor with a wave.

Watson sees how glum this chum in front of him is. Bohw just disgruntled Watson and ruined his mood at the same time! Unimaginable! Oh well, Watson can only knit his brows together in worry at this point.

The poor hogtied guardsman is spouting obscenities from atop Watson's shoulder.

"One moment", Watson says.

He lays down the guardsman and gives him a sharp blow to the head without even breaking a sweat. The man lays there unconscious.

"He regained his sanity the hard way. I wouldn't wish for the same to happen to you, Bohw, at the hands of our adversaries. You worry me." Watson said, with concern.

"Yeah, hi, we're back." Savannah offers the three in the courtyard a limp wave.

"...You guys uh... decide on what to do now?" She senses a bit of tension in the air and decides not to comment. She does, however, elbow Watson and shoot a glare in his direction.

"Well, typically, problems are solved by actually looking at the situation," Myra muttered under her breath as she brought herself up to stand straight, "but that's good enough, I guess."

The ravenfolk watched as Watson and Savannah returned, carrying a hogtied guardsman, only to see the poor fellow knocked out after being a little potty-mouth. Myra's eyebrows quivered indecisively. To ask, or not to ask...? "...I'm not even gonna ask," Myra stated, "and I think that really says something." Instead of inquiring about the guard, the ravenfolk began to take in the group's current surroundings with a more critical eye, looking out for any details of interest. "Well, the lady said for us to head towards the center of the city..."

(Magic Eye lolololol eue)

There are traces of strong magic all around you, particularly in the direction of the crater, but thats probably to be expected. Beyond that the many artifacts carried by the party are magical. Several larger buildings including the outer walls and the inner fortress have some residue magic lingering on them, probably owing to a magical construction or reinforcement.

"He regained his sanity the hard way. I wouldn't wish for the same to happen to you, Bohw, at the hands of our adversaries. You worry me." Watson said, with concern.

Bohw glared at Watson, annoyed yet also confused by his words. "I'd worry more about your sanity." Bohw retorted angrily, "Because any sane man would know you can't interrogate an unconscious guard!"

She wanted to chew his ear off, maybe literally, but choosing to act like an adult she instead sighed and waved dismissively as she turned away from him, "What... whatever, if you fear your safety you're free to leave whenever, Watson, It hasn't stopped anyone else." Bohw huffed, scowling as she observed the surrounding structures.

She waved the horn that the strange lady gave to them in the air, hoping for some kind of response from the artifact. "Anyway, the best bet we have is heading towards the center of town and 'ways from that crater. Any objections to that?"

"For the record, I had already tried reasoning with the man but, possessing none himself, the man would not comply." he said nonchalantly, feeling not at fault here."

"And it is not my safety I do worry for, but your own, for you seem under the influence of a terribly self-deprecating line of thinking."

Although this may be my only chance to escape if she's serious Watson thought to himself.

"There! That does seem a wise course of action in line with your usual thinking!"

The antler seems unresponsive as Bohw holds it up to the sky.

"If you head to the center, i'll stay here and guard the airship. Someone's gotta do that." Torhald says.

"Ugh, we really gotta go to the center?" Savannah gestures toward the guard on the ground. "There's gonna be more of these guys there, for sure, and look how well this one encounter turned out for us."

"I reckon we fared splendidly! We're all alive, aren't we? And if we don't face those ne'er-do-wells down, they'll come after us. It is futile to forego such a battle, if they are, in fact, stationed there."

(( Ahh, a quick question, how's everyone's health? Do more healing spells need to be spammed? XP ))

(Assume they have been)