Results 121 to 150 of 1499
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2020-09-23, 03:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Prumathe's Flat
Electricity likes metal and doesn't like plastic. So long as the metal it's travelling through is surrounded by plastic, it's safe. If the plastic is broken and you can see metal, the electricity can get out from the metal if you touch it. That would be bad, because that would be the lightning. Hopefully that's enough explanation for Sekhmet to know and understand and be safe, since electricity is dangerous even if most of the time it's used casually.
Benedict's Manse
Vaemys doesn't want to be left alone. She's worried she'll be abandoned or something. This is her first time, really, outside a major city as... Basically a nobody. She's a little scared as a result.
There's about twenty skeletons, total. Not many, Benedict has quite a few more, but this is most of the ones he has on guard. They fire a first volley of shot up at the flying horses, and Vaemys yelps. The bullets aren't accurate, and the weight of ten shots isn't much of a volley. They swoop up and around to the back of the tower, and the skeletons are confounded. Arron spots a balcony with a picture window, and heads for it. "Get ready to duck, girls! We're going through the window."Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-23, 04:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Prumathe's Flat
Okay? Uh, what's plastic? If she shouldn't touch metal and should touch plastic, which parts are the plastic and which parts are metal? And are those all inside, underneath this strange resin on the outside?
Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2020-09-23, 05:47 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Prumathe's Flat
The case is made of plastic. So's the stuff that covers that cable, there. That takes electricity from inside the wall to where it can heat the water. I guess you don't have plastic, well... It's not just one material, really. It's a category of substances that lots of things are made of. The case and cable of the kettle, the clear jars I keep my coffee and sugar in, the flimsy bag in the bin- they're all types of plastic. I'm not sure how it's made, but Pontius has experimented with it, a little. He finds it hard to work with- plastic is generally not hand-made, unlike everything he has us do in the workshops. He has built plastic golems before, but they're notably tricky and usually assembled from rubbish plastic rather than new.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-24, 11:26 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Prumathe's Flat
Oh, uh, Sekhmet runs a finger across the plastic casing. Uh, where does it come from? If it's not made by, uh, hand. It's like nothing I've ever seen before?
Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2020-09-24, 11:33 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Prumathe's Flat
It's made from oil. Thick black oil from under the ground. They chemically seperate it all out and make solid plastic out of some of it and some of it is turned into petrol or diesel, which are liquids and used to fuel the cars driving around. Well, some of them anyway. Given this is Nexus, there's probably as many that run on solar power, steam and weirder things as internal combustion engines. I don't know exactly how they do any of that, I just know that's how it's done.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-24, 03:02 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Jenette sighs. It would be really nice if she could just solve one of her problems with a little swordplay for a change. She's so tired of waiting for results. She's been waiting for someone to help her stop being a corpse for how long now? Waiting is the worst, and it's so hard to keep believing there's a light at the end of this godsforsaken tunnel when there's been nothing but darkness for ages.
"Okay. Okay, but I'm done waiting for that wizard lady. If she doesn't contact us tomorrow, we're going to go look for some other cure. I'm not waiting until my fingers start falling off before I start making a real effort to fix this," the ghoul insists, those same aforementioned fingers on one hand curling into a fist. "I'm not staying like this forever."
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2020-09-24, 06:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Benedict's Manse]
Well, she can come along then!
Safety in numbers. Hopefully. I mean, that's about three shots each, and they'll probably miss, and the shots that don't miss probably just chip the horse's bones...they'll be fine.
Doesn't make it any less frightening.
"The wind-okay?"
Miri ducks down and clings tight to the skeleton horse as instructed. She was already kinda doing that, not being a good rider.
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2020-09-24, 11:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Prumathe's Flat
Oh! Like kerosene! Now Sekhmet understands more. Sorry for, uh, all the questions. There's just, uh, so much I don't understand. By now, the water is probably boiling. Sekhmet pours it into two mugs and adds coffee grounds. Here you go. Uh, be careful. Don't spill it, Prumathe. That would be bad.
Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2020-09-25, 02:43 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2008
- Location
- Boston, MA
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
[Cass' Tower]
Cass blushes, taking a few moments to answer as she attempts to push past the sudden paralysis gripping both her brain and her tongue.
"I... uh... there's not much to see out here," she eventually manages to stutter. "Just a lot of fields and pastures... well, you've seen what it all looks like. There a few nice spots, though."
She awkwardly slips free of Electra's arms to grab a leather jacket off a hanging hook, then rummages around in a storage box to dig out a second jacket.
"Uh... this might fit you... don't really have a second helmet, though."Originally Posted by Lord Magtok
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2020-09-25, 03:14 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- In my head
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
[Cass' Tower]
Electra's smile turns from mischievous to amused.
"Sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the scenery, such as it is."
She takes the offered jacket and tries it on, then raps on her forehead with her fist.
"Titanium X skull. I'm good, but I appreciate the thought."Why is it Plan A is always, "Get 'Em!" and Plan B is, "Cause as much collateral damage as possible"?
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2020-09-25, 09:17 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Location
- Avatar by Gullara
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2020-09-25, 04:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Prumathe's Flat
Yes, like kerosene. And don't worry about it- there's stuff you've got a better idea of than I do. Like, uh, music, maybe? I don't really listen to much. Prumathe's on the spot and can't think of anything he knows Sekhmet knows more about. Where he thinking, he might suggest cooking, or metallurgy.
Benedict's Manse
Arron's horse loses a limb as a bullet shatters the femur. The disarticulated hoof remains in the air, spinning rather vigorously but slowly coming to a stop as it's blown away.
He goes through the window first, and there's a flare of light as some of the house's defences are triggered. Arron screams in pain, but as the horse ridden by Miri and Vaemys enters through the broken glass, there's no response. Just a single layer of defence on that window, it seems.
Inside, it's a study area. The walls are lined with books, there's a heavy desk and a chair, and a thick red carpet pads the floor, currently covered in shards of broken glass and shattered bone. Arron is holding the horse's ulna, using it as a club to defend himself. He's being attacked by seven large shards of glass from the window, flying and seeking his blood. They're the largest pieces, and they've already tasted blood- Arron is bleeding from a gash through his shirt, and there's blood dripping down his left arm. Bitey is snapping and hissing at the glass, but the pieces are larger than the undead drake and there's nothing it can really do against them. Two of the shards disengage from attacking the necromancer, one slicing towards Miri and the other heading towards the Lyseni behind her.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-25, 09:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Prumathe's Flat
Music? I, uh, like the kind that's played in, uh, restaurants and stores. It's, uh, peppy." Surely you mean pop, Sekhmet? She's not a student of music, or even really into it.
Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2020-09-26, 11:48 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Benedict's Manse]
"Are you-" Miri is cut off from finishing that sentence by the sight of the malevolent broken glass coming after them.
But not all the glass, just those seven pieces.
Miri half dismounts the skeleton horse and half just falls, tottering on one leg for a moment as she sweeps a hand up towards the approaching shard. Lightning jumps out from her fingertips, hoping to jump between the two approaching glass shards and maybe some of those still bothering Arron, and crack them into smaller, inanimate pieces.
If that works, she'll take a moment to steady herself.
If not, a glass shard is going to cut into her hand and she'll finish falling over.
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2020-09-26, 05:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Prumathe's Flat
That's pop, I think. Might be something else. Gets on my nerves after a while; I prefer working songs with a steady rhythm. Prumathe doesn't really listen to music except when he's working. And those aren't really music for the sake of music; they're to keep the apprentices in time when they're working together. Heaving stone in to turn into golems, and so on.
Benedict's Manse
Miri shatters the piece of glass going after her, and Vaemys yelps and ducks under the horse to avoid the piece chasing her, grabbing a large book as she does so before turning to swat it out the air. She misses, but hits it on the backswing. She's got a cut on her forearm, though she's no longer troubled by the shard.
Arron clubs two of the pieces still bothering him to pieces with the ulna, a great swing hitting both- more luck than anything else. And one of the pieces zips away to threaten Miri again, ignoring Vaemys. They're more interested in the mages than the poor girl who doesn't have magic yet.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-26, 06:42 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Prumathe's Flat
That's, uh, not bad, I guess. It's not really what Sekhmet prefers. She shoots a little jet of flame into her coffee to heat it up a little more, then takes a drink.Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2020-09-26, 07:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Prumathe's Flat
Prumathe doesn't really respond, taking a careful sip of his coffee since he can't see how full it is. This is good coffee, thank you Sekhmet.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-26, 08:45 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Prumathe's Flat
Thanks. Sekhmet scoots a little closer to Prumathe and puts a hand on his shoulder. I'm glad I can, uh, help.
Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2020-09-27, 07:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Benedict's Manse]
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2020-09-28, 11:52 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Benedict's Manse
The chair's a heavy antique swivel chair, an early one of brass and mahogany. It's awkward to swing, but the weight ensures if it hits it'll do a lot of damage. The glass shard dodges the blow, but its dodge puts it into path of the wheels on the swivel base. It shatters after it's hit by a brass caster wheel.
Arron shatters one of the two bothering him with the ulna, and Vaemys swats the last from the air with the book she's taken. It's a heavy tome, the pages slightly scorched and bound in red dragonhide. Now they're all dealt with, she tucks it under her arm, and Arron stands up. "Saera's either in her chambers or the dungeon. Chambers are probably closer. There might be more guards inside, too. We've not exactly been subtle about it." And the ones outside might be on their way, too. Depends on if they're just tasked with chasing away intruders from the grounds or protecting the house as well.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-28, 03:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Benedict's Manse]
Indeed, after the swing Miri lets the chair fall to the floor. It would be way too heavy to lug around.
"Are you two okay?" Obviously in a sense, no, because they just got cut up by enchanted glass. It's more deciding between "we'll need bandages at some point" and "we need to retreat and find another way in".
"Right, towards the chambers first. At least we can't get surrounded by a score of them in the halls. Any skeletons, you try to take control, and I'll try to mess with their orders, okay?"
She inspects the door out of this study for traps or spells before trying to open it. Probably it would all be aimed at keeping people out rather than in, right?
After the window, though, may as well be careful.
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2020-09-28, 03:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Benedict's Manse
Both reply to the affirmative; injured, and need bandaging, but not hurt enough to retreat.
Arron stops before they leave the room, a quick chant to ensure they've left no trace.
"Blood of my body, obey my call.
Blood of my soul, obey my call.
Blood of my friends, obey my call.
Be dust."
At the final line, all the blood on the broken glass dries and flakes off, turning to grey dust. Bone dust, specifically. No way for Benedict to track them using the blood shed here, as Vaemys takes a hemispherical tumi she found in the desk to the curtains, cutting strips off and bandaging her injury before she goes to the others. She adds the sacrificial knife to the book as they leave.
Miri should probably lead her companions to Sara's barracks. She's the one who has been there before, after all. They won't meet anything until they get there, so long as they don't get distracted by any of the locked rooms or cabinets about, like that one containing a silver hand-mirror, or the orb of swirling purple light floating above a brass ring. Vaemys won't touch anything; this is clearly a powerful wizard's house, and anything could hurt her.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-28, 05:06 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Benedict's Manse]
Miri would love to look at all the weird magical widgets, and also to mess with Benedict.
But they are in a hurry! Unknown numbers of hostile skeletons and an evil occultist and his two slaves could be upon them at any moment.
So she also ignores the lights, and the mirrors, and the cabinets, and leads them downstairs.
But a little ways from the cook's rooms, she stops and shakes her head.
"There's no one there. No thoughts."
She visibly tenses up, worried about what might have already happened to the cook.
"Let's try the dungeon." Taking a deep breath, she makes herself remember the way to the dungeons and sets off. "This way."
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2020-09-28, 07:02 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Benedict's Manse
And so they redirect to the dungeons! At the entrance, they find a guard, just the one. A skeleton wearing a suit of battered plate, with three dents from bullets in the breastplate and scratches and nicks across the steel. The helmet is dented, the visor removed, so the skull underneath can be seen. It's badly cracked. Miri can't sense any memories in the skeleton. Despite the damage, the armour is very fine; once it probably would have been beautiful. The guard carries a wooden shield, arrows lodged in its surface and the wood is badly scored from swords, axes and other slashing weapons, and a nicked and slightly bent longsword.
Arron steps forward and gestures, chanting.
"Guard of bones, put up your sword.
Guard of bones, lay down your arms.
Guard of bones, heed my words.
Guard of bones, I am your king.
Guard of bones, I am your king.
Let us pass."
Arron frowns, as nothing appears to happen. "It... didn't get any purchase. My magic didn't reach it. Maybe it's just a decoration?" He takes a step forward, and the guard raises its shield and adopts a guard position, concealed mostly behind the shield with the sword ready to stab out in retaliation of further movement.
Miri might be able to figure out that the skeleton is decoration, and is just bones. The suit of armour has been animated; Benedict knew Arron is a necromancer, or guessed as much, and picked a guard that he can't subvert.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-29, 12:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Benedict's Manse]
"It's the armor, not the bones."
Which makes an idea occur.
"How quickly could you animate the skeleton inside the armor, and have it resist what the metal is doing?"
He was able to bring Bitey to unlife pretty quick, wasn't he?
Lightning won't be very helpful against an all-metal foe like this. Or...the armor is pretty beat up. Maybe they can take it, wrestle the sword away.
Miri slips a hand into the coat pocket that holds Mildred, and thinks to the book Any tips on getting past a suit of animated armor?
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2020-09-29, 05:59 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Benedict's Manse
It has code words. If it's the set my husband's great-uncle created, it can be put to sleep with the words 'thgif on erom reidlos.' I can't guarantee it is the same set, however. It's been a long time since I saw it, and I was abandoned for a century. The Beaulieus could have obtained another in the meanwhile, and that might have different codes to control it. Try anyway. Mildred knows they're back in the manse, it feels like home.
"Awake, o dead, for there can be no rest for ye beneath the earth.
Let the splintered bones burrow from the grave pall.
Let cold fingers grip tomb-worn blades, and unseeing eyes survey the fields of slaughter.
For your time has come once more.
And the dead shall walk."
As he chants, the skull's eye sockets start to glow, a sickly purple light emerging from within- though they don't illuminate the inside of the skull; with the exception of the lights, it's almost as though the space within the skull has begun to devour light. Arron sags after, nearly collapsing as that potent spell is released. Any corpses remaining buried in the grounds have been awoken, and will be approaching their new master.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-09-30, 10:14 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Benedict's Manse]
The armor certainly looks like it could be a century old.
Worth a try.
Miri holds up a hand and recites the magic words "thgif on erom reidlos"
And Arron's spell obviously took hold this tome. So if both worked, they have an armored skeleton, and if only his worked, they should at least be able to get past it.
Into the dungeon!
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2020-09-30, 03:39 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
[Felix's Tower]
Krayger has arrived triumphant from his quest! In the minotaur's hand is an old helmet, within which lays a tuft of fiery down feathers.
This is the first time Krayger has ever come to the Tower in full gear. He makes a point of not coming to Felix's place dressed like he's ready for combat. But given that he was afraid the feathers would melt a hole in their container he had little choice except to come straight here. He doubts the mage would be offended in any way from seeing his apprentice's breastplate and leggings.
He climbs the stairs to the level with the study, which seems like the best place to look for Felix in the middle of the afternoon.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2020-09-30, 04:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents
Benedict's Manse
The armour slows down and lowers its sword, as the skeleton within starts to move towards Arron. The skeleton is in control, for now anyway. Benedict could possibly reactivate the armour, and it might be stronger- depends on if Mildred's husband's great-uncle was a better animator than Arron is a necromancer, most likely. Arron commands it wordlessly to open the hatch into the dungeons.
Miri can feel two living human minds below- one is Sara's, and she can follow to her cell. It's not a bad cell; dry, and well lit, and Sara's sleeping on a proper bed, rather than a rock shelf. The other mind is the other prisoner she saw on her first visit down there, and he's still convinced he's in a cell with no entrances, rocking slightly. Sara's mind is peaceful, deep in sleep and she's dreaming of a walk in a forest, though she's never seen a forest so all the trees are the same- the lime tree in the vegetable garden. The other prisoner's mind is a chaotic, roiling mess, with little rhyme or reason to what he thinks.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2020-10-01, 10:44 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Benedict's Manse]
The great-uncle-in-law probably had more experience, if nothing else. Luckily he's not around.
"Good work, Arron."
Miri breathes a sigh of relief when she detects that Sara is here and relatively okay.
And that other prisoner is still here, and doing no better than when she first glimpsed him. They should probably help him too, but...could they?
"Sara, wake up!" she calls out, coming over to the edge of the cell.
Now to get the door open. Is it easy from the outside? Probably a lock, maybe a spell?