Ic - that bitter old king

[TriciaOso]

AC: 16 HP: 10/33 (28) Ki: 1/5
PP: 16 PInv: 11 PIns: 16

Bijou plants her staff and pushes back to her feet.

"Look," she says, her voice more natural now, although still weary. "I'm not saying I couldn't do this again today, but I'd definitely need to lie down for an hour first. I don't know about the rest of you."

"Can we find a flat, clean place to rest before you start whatever this is, Ganiz?"

[The Hellbug]

Joan's answer is unsatisfying, but that seems to just be the way of it. She certainly wasn't an ally of whatever that thing was, not with what it did to her. "Not starting anything," Ganiz answers, waving Bijou off, "just a question and an answer." He bends down to unstring his bow as he nonetheless directs another thought at Joan. "But it was definitely your name, though, you agree. How long have you been on the way to New Zarian? A demon and a demon slayer aren't exactly everyday things out here, and yet: two in the same day. If it's coincidence, it's awfully unlikely, and not everyone can get by playing the Fool."

[Kushina43]

With a thought and the release of tension with another breath, Ratharon is able to make the thorny brush recede rapidly, letting her walk over to everyone else at a brisk pace. She speeds up when Ganiz confronts Joan about the demon's knowledge, hearing all but only close enough at Bijou's suggestion of rest. "Yes, indeed, we all need rest after what has transpired.. Especially you, Joan, you've been put through the wringer. Back down these hills I saw spots flat enough we can all sit for a spell, away from..." She gestures at the abominable corpses scattered about. "You know." She glances upwards and thrice short-whistles, the little serpent flying down to rest on Ratharon's shoulder.

"I have questions too, mind, but they aren't urgent." Despite agreeing with the suggestion and viewing the bodies with disgust, Ratharon's curiosity can't help but be piqued, inspecting the giant corpse for any kind of answer. For which question, or if she even had the knowledge base for any worth asking, she was uncertain, and used the time investigating to equally ponder its final words. "We delay fate, huh, creature..? Curious words.. Intelligent, so must have meaning.. I expect this won't be the last I see of your kind."

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't expect anything to come of it, but Rath will be investigating so I'm rolling
Investigation: (1d20+1)[4]

[agignac]

"Through the ringer..." Joan murmurs, smiling a bit at the image. She felt more like she'd been chewed and clawed, instead of squeezed and stretched, but she understood the sentiment. She understood it a lot.

Picking up her hammer and shield again, she said, "I am not averse to resting. In fact, perhaps it is a good time to camp for the night. Let us find a good place, away from this," she gestured to the carnage around them. "After a meal, we may be able to approach this puzzle with logic, rather than spleen."

[The Hellbug]

Ganiz nods. "Fair enough," he agrees, "no point pushing on in the dark. We should do something about the body first, though. It looks dead now, but hell take me if I leave it any chance to get up and stab me in the back."

He then turns to Rathoran. "Can your friend make it to New Zarian and back from here and can he take a message? Not now, mind, but tomorrow morning when there's more light. There's more something out here than just what killed Jonas, but they should know that justice has been done for him and that we'll be gone a little longer than expected."

[Kushina43]

Ratharon nods her agreement with the body - no sense leaving it intact, in case something else could to to it whatever it could do with those twisted thralls. "All I have is my dagger, though, it'd be slow going butchering this on my own." Before further affirmation, she pulls out said dagger and quickly slices off a thin strip of its flesh, stuffing it into a flask for potential study later. She also carefully uses another flask to bottle the ichor dripping from its body for the same reason. "Now we have some small proof of its demise, and something for later study when more inevitably show up. Between the jackals, its thralls, and that Glint's mentions of superiors, this won't be the last of them, I'm certain."

She turns to face Ganiz before continuing with the body, gently petting the snake's sleeping head with a finger as she responds to his request. "Yes, of course, Tira is also trained to carry messages across distances. I didn't get the chance to set up a home scent marker, so the time may vary, but I'll have her fly in New Zarian's direction with the message and she will understand enough on her own to get there and back."

[Awful]

Tira flits away into the dusk, message and package tight in her coils.

Battered and bruised - or worse - from the combat, the group camps for the night, as far from the demon's corpse as can be managed in the clearing.

The little scrubby vines and bushes of the local undergrowth burn poorly, the little fire casting a unstable, flickering light. The smoke is thin and acrid, a strange iron tang to the scent. With the unsteady heat of it, water is boiled, wounds tended, and a meal warmed enough to stave off the encroaching night's chill.

It's an uneasy rest.

Toads chirp mockingly from the river, visible only as the occasional flash of fire caught reflecting from their eyes. Being on watch is a lonely, tense thing, trying to keep an eye on the shadowed hilltops, the still mound of Chaothlobaal's corpse, and the occasional flicker of bats against the star - strewn night sky.

No attack comes, however. Nothings comes for your blood down the hills. Chaothlobaal's body remains cold and still as stone. As dawn claws its way between the crevices of the hills to shed it's light across you, the group rouses and begins to prepare, feeling the ache of their injuries and the rocky afterechoes of a poor earthen mattress - and only then you realise you have a guest.

A sand-cat stretches itself by the ashes of the fire, enjoying the faint remnants of the heat of it.

Spoiler: ooc

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Tira will be back in a minute with a couple of messages once this immediate scene is over.

[agignac]

Joan was exhausted and sore, and looking forward to sleep. Thank the gods of my Father that I have companions to share watch with. She had slept many lonely nights on the road, one ear alert to danger, and never feeling rested. A two-hour watch in the night was luxury compared to that.

Not that the night was particularly luxurious. The ground was hard, the air slightly foul, and the body of the demon too near for comfort. Still, rest was replenishing, and she awoke feeling better than she had the evening before. Until, that is, she saw the cat.

For a moment she freezes, staring at the unholy feline. Is it the same cat? How can one tell sand cats apart? Eyes narrowing, she kept her voice very low and spoke in angelic, "Why are you here, creature? Do you spy on us for your master? Be gone!" Even if the cat didn't actually speak, whoever was using it as eyes and ears was sure to understand.

[The Hellbug]

Ganiz's message back to the Tumbleweed Inn had been short and sweet:

We found the demon that killed Jonas. It's dead; we're all safe for now and so is New Zarian. Troubling news: some kind of sorcerer or demon summoner in the hills--had some sort of power over the demon, mentioned they were working for others. We'll be looking into it deeper tomorrow. Demon seemed to know we were coming. Be careful.

PS: Adela, these travelers are brave and very capable. All of us are in as good of hands as we could wish for. Love you all; let the kids know I'll be back in a few days. Stay safe.

______

The next morning, Ganiz wakes up sore. A bedroll on the hard ground is a poor trade for a proper bed, and he hasn't stretched a bowstring in years, and his muscles are quick to remind him of the fact...loudly. Nevertheless, the innkeep pulls himself to his feet with a sigh and heads toward the river to get water to boil. He returns just in time to see Joan staring at the sandcat, and he stops instead of shooing it away and stepping towards the sad coals. "Something against sandcats?" he asks the holy warrior, "because if that's the case, you're not in for a good time. These hills are full of 'em. Not a single one of them has ever bothered to ask permission for anything, but they're good for the rats. Don't have 'em where you're from?"

[TriciaOso]

Bijou's preparations for sleep consisted mostly of taking off her boots and untying the fretwork of scraps that keep her wardrobe of second-hand clothes fitting well. (And tying her hair up in silk.) Now she works through the reverse process of binding her calves, forearms and waist.

She's singing again this morning, having recovered a bit from the grisly shocks and pain of the previous day. Her voice is low and melodious and quiet, a background noise; she's working on something and it isn't quite ready for public consumption. You might hear snatches of it, though.

Spoiler: Untitled 🎵

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...I heed the high voices, I go where I'm sent
To mow down the men who refuse to repent
I'm a scythe in a field full of briars...

... judgment and heaven is nigh...

...won't call me Mother or Sister or Wife
They will know me or not by the strength of my life
I will burn with a light of my own...

"They're good luck, I've heard," she adds to the conversation about sandcats. "Although people will say that about anything."

[agignac]

Joan looks up in surprise at the others' words. "Good luck? I've always heard the opposite. Cats of all sorts are used by demons as spies."

She stepped back from this particular cat, still a bit wary. "Though, if they are common to the region, perhaps there is nothing ominous about the presence of this particular individual." Maybe. She would keep her eyes on it, just in case.

Later, she finds herself humming a snatch of tune, and realizes she'd picked it up from Bijou's soft singing.

[The Hellbug]

"Good luck or bad, this one's gonna have to move," Ganiz says, setting the water down and stepping closer to the cat to shoo it with his foot. "Now get out, you! You don't wanna get burned." Once the cat's gone, he gets down on his knees to coax fire out of the embers once again and soon has a little flame flickering.

[Dr.Samurai]

Jegger sits quietly in the dim twilight just before dawn breaks. The air is not so cold now, but cool. He checks the wrappings on the bite the jackal gave him. His leg is sore, but he moves it around and it doesn't make him wince. He watches the others for a time, wondering what the group will do now. Return to New Zarian or... find out what is going on.

Joan, he finally says, you have killed demons before?

[Awful]

The cat shoots Ganiz an imperious look, then slowly saunters to its feet.

"ao!" It meows indignantly. Slender tail waving like an undulating snake, it strolls off into the hills, nose in the air.

It's not long after the second animal visitor of the day arrives: Tira wings her way in from the horizon, a package held somewhat awkwardly in her coils.

Investigation reveals a pair of slender green glass vials, topped with plugs of wax, and a pair of notes - one of them unaddressed, the other folded and marked for Ganiz. The writing on the unaddressed letter he recognises as the unsteady scrawl of the Mayor; the second as the crabby handwriting of his wife.

The mayor's note reads this:

Well done and good work we are impressed. Do be careful old Zarian hasn't been visited in decades who knows what might be waiting there. We are holding the fort and hoping for your success.

The good doctor was up all night brewing these in case you were hurt I hope you find them useful.

The mayor's signature is, as always, an illegible scrawl. Looking at the little glass vials, each has a twist of parchment around it, with healing draught written on it in a careful hand.

Ganiz - praying for your safety. I know you're doing vital work, but be careful. I've promised the little ones you'll have an exciting story to tell once you're back, so make sure you do. Love, love, love. -A

[agignac]

Jegger sits quietly in the dim twilight just before dawn breaks. The air is not so cold now, but cool. He checks the wrappings on the bite the jackal gave him. His leg is sore, but he moves it around and it doesn't make him wince. He watches the others for a time, wondering what the group will do now. Return to New Zarian or... find out what is going on.

Joan, he finally says, you have killed demons before?

The paladin looks up at Jegger's question. "Yes, several, though not as many as I would like. It is my sacred oath to do so, to help rid the world of the King's demonic taint, to help finish what the Fool started. I have travelled far and wide, my oath guiding me, and demons are often my destination." Her hand went to her throat, her fingers touching the rough, red scar around her throat. "They are not easy to kill." She is silent a moment, and then added, her voice low, "It is good to fight with companions. It have been alone for a long time."

[Dr.Samurai]

Jegger would normally take the type of claims Joan is making as the tales of a conman. But he saw the woman get right back up after Ganiz helped her and run straight at the demon, commanding the creature with an imperious challenge. He is no less than impressed.

So, what do you think we should do now?

[Kushina43]

Ratharon is eager to rest up after the day's events, eyeing the cat the following morning but doing and saying naught about it. Tira had taken off with the message and came back with even more, her handler taking the letters and items. She hands Ganiz the letter marked for him, reads the mayor's note aloud - well, she summarizes the note, at least, with "Good job, be careful, Old Zarian unused for decades, doctor brewed these for us hurt." She passes the note and one of the draughts to Joan - "Seem like you'll need it later on," - for the former to be passed around while she tends to the tired serpent, who's currently making use of a carved wooden perch Ratharon placed the night before. Once all is done with the papers, she rolls them up and puts them carefully in her bag.

Aside from the reading of the mayor's letter, she's been quiet this morning, only now joining conversation with Joan and Jegger, sitting down beside the former.

"I know the feeling. The latter, that is, fighting alone only gets one so far. Demon hunting is.. beyond my field of expertise. Though I can certainly get into it if we get the chance to defeat more things like the monster yesterday, preferably with much less injury. " She then looks at Jegger's injured leg, then responds to him. "Once we're all rested up - including Tira, which might mean a little more time - I suggest we get to the bottom of this. Whoever or whatever Glint is, they, the demons they command, and the masters they serve are a danger that cannot be left to fester."

She starts to follow up, then pauses as another thought crosses her mind, and she turns back to Joan. "Bit of a long shot, I know, but the demon said something before it died. Some of you looked rattled enough by its screams you may not have heard, but as I approached I know it uttered the phrase "You only delay fate." Are demons known to be a cryptic lot, or am I right to be concerned enough to find the root of the problem?"

[TriciaOso]

Bijou shakes her head. "It sounds much like something the villain in any wonder-tale might say," she says. "But by the same token, I never heard a story where they came this far and turned around to go home. We're in it, now."

[agignac]

"Once we're all rested up - including Tira, which might mean a little more time - I suggest we get to the bottom of this. Whoever or whatever Glint is, they, the demons they command, and the masters they serve are a danger that cannot be left to fester."

She starts to follow up, then pauses as another thought crosses her mind, and she turns back to Joan. "Bit of a long shot, I know, but the demon said something before it died. Some of you looked rattled enough by its screams you may not have heard, but as I approached I know it uttered the phrase "You only delay fate." Are demons known to be a cryptic lot, or am I right to be concerned enough to find the root of the problem?"

Joan looks up, alarmed. "I have never heard a demon speak anything other than hatred and threats. Certainly never has one spoken to me of fate before. But neither has one ever known my name." She began to pack up her gear, clearly eager to be off. "We certainly must continue; for there is more evil here to be rooted out." Joan paused, then looked up at the others, a moment of vulnerability on her face. "At least, I must continue. I would be...pleased...if we continue to together."

[The Hellbug]

Ganiz's face softens as he reads Adela's short note, happy that everyone's safe back in town but still carrying a worry in the back of his mind for every day he's absent--too many questions left unanswered at this point for him to rest easy. He folds the note carefully and tucks it into his pocket, then catches up with the others' conversation after he reads the mayor's message himself and passes it on to Jegger.

Rathoran's observation about the demon's last words normally wouldn't bother Ganiz especially--any more than the demon would in the first place, that is. It's easy enough to chalk them up to mere spite, but together with Chaothlobaal knowing Joan's name and Glint's ominous offer, they send a shiver down the innkeep's spine. Whatever they fought yesterday is far more than anything he thought he'd ever have to handle again, and he can't help but dread the promise of more. He remains silent on the matter, though, as it looks like the travelers are already set on investigating further, and speculation won't have been any good once they all see whatever's waiting in the old town's ruins with their own eyes. He's a moment away from agreeing with Joan and Bijou and suggesting they all get moving before the day gets hot, when he considers Rathoran's pet dozing on her perch. It feeling impolite to speed the ranger along when he had been the one to suggest sending the message in the first place, Ganiz chooses to be patient and merely nods in agreement with the idea to investigate further.

Instead, the innkeep turns his attention to Rathoran. "Clever little pet you have there. Tira, you said her name was?" he asks, pointing to the sleeping serpent, "I've seen folks with birds trained for hunting or delivering messages, hawks and falcons and the like, and I've worked with bigger beasts myself but never snakes. Must have been tricky--been all over this desert, and I've never seen anything quite like it. What's it take to train something like that?"

[Kushina43]

"Clever little pet you have there. Tira, you said her name was?" he asks, pointing to the sleeping serpent, "I've seen folks with birds trained for hunting or delivering messages, hawks and falcons and the like, and I've worked with bigger beasts myself but never snakes. Must have been tricky--been all over this desert, and I've never seen anything quite like it. What's it take to train something like that?"

Ratharon turns to Ganiz and nods. "Tricky is the word for it, alright. She bit me and some of my tribemates plenty of times, which was fine since the venom doesn't work until adulthood. Raising from an egg is a requirement, for both imprinting and so you can teach out the initial fear response to larger things, which is many things even as an adult, let alone a hatchling. And that complicated teaching her how to fight properly. Don't get me started on the delivery training."

She turns back to the sleeping serpent, turning on its perch to lie belly up, wings lazily draped outward. "Taming one of them, especially as a field companion, is really not worth it for most people.. too much time, patience, pain, and wild instinct to work with.. but I made it work for us."

[Awful]

The group pack up and begin heading their way towards the ruins of Old Zarian.

Behind them, still and silent, the corpse of Choathlobaal lays, untouched by scavengers, until it disappears behind the crests of the hills.

It's hard going. The uneven ground is treacherous, easy to turn an ankle, hard beneath your boots. An hour passes, then two, in harsh walking. The wounds taken from yesterday thrum with the effort, but discomfort isn't anything the party would allow to stop them.

The soil here has taken on a reddish hue, clay and iron, cracked and crumbling dry. Above, the sky is a deep and endless blue, extending upwards into infinity. A few wisps of white clouds drift high, like lost souls on their way round the Wheel. A lone vulture circles, looking for an early lunch.

Ganiz and Bijou hear it about the same time. From up ahead, from beyond the crest of the next hill over, comes the rustling of men on the march. Footsteps and clanking of metal on metal; the clack-clack of iron-shod hooves on stones; an occasional murmur of conversations held lowly. Whoever it is, they're coming from the direction of Old Zarian in a group.

You've got a brief amount of time to make a decision. Step up to the crest of the hills, you'll be in a commanding position, but you'll likely be seen. Here on the slope, they can't see you yet until they cross over, giving you time to hide, if you're so inclined.

[Dr.Samurai]

Jegger's only companion for too long has been Gendo. He loves the man, who has been a father to him, and would die for him, but he made for an irate traveling companion on most days. Sitting in the morning light, with a demon hunter, an acrobat performer who's singing most of the times she aint talking, and listening to Rathoran explain the ins and outs of taming snakes to a retired warrior-turned-innkeeper somehow made Jegger feel at home amongst these strangers who are now his comrades.

He wants to go back and tell Gendo that they fought an actual demon, that he was able to control the blade of force. That they avenged the boy. But the purpose of traveling to New Zarian was to find a place where Gendo might get some help, or at least where they can settle for a while and be safe. And that can't happen so long as Glint is out here calling demons.

When the time comes to decide what to do, Jegger agrees with the others to move on to Old Zarian and see what was about.

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

The going is rough but Jegger marches on. With everyone in the party able to fend for themselves, he is able to focus on himself and navigate the terrain with relative ease, a different experience than when he is with Gendo. The sound of boots marching stirs him from his thoughts and he shares a glance with the others. His instincts tell him they should hide, but he asks the others Are there soldiers stationed near Old Zarian?

[agignac]

Joan leaves behind the body of Choathlobaal without a second thought. Her job is to take the lives of demons, and she has done that. There is more evil ahead, so that is where she needs to point her boots. As they walk, she asks Ratharon, "You mentioned your tribe. Where are they? And why have you left them? If that's not an impertinent question," she hastily adds, hoping she didn't offend. She doesn't hear what the others do until they point it out. The clanking of her chainmail, while it's a sound she's used to, does impede her hearing somewhat. Adding to Jegger's question, she asks, "What other cities are out this way?"

[Awful]

Those travelling from Little Bluerock would remember that town has a small complement of rangers - a handful of sunworn folks, seemingly perpetually stained with the Dry's dust.

Of course, they'd be somewhat out their way here, to say the least.

Spoiler: Ganiz

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Ganiz would know there's no real soldiers out here. Closest they normally come to that is the mercenaries that guard the occasional caravan rolling through.

No cities up north through the hills, either. Past Old Zarian were a few little villages, then the hills rise into the Attican mountains. No room for a city.

Spoiler: Rathoran

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The desert tribes like the one you're from tend to be decent enopugh in a tussle, and many have the equipment to match, but they tend to be further east, out in the Dry. You know there were a few little villages in these hills, not much relevant to anything, but then further north the hiills rise into the Attican mountains. No room for a city.

[The Hellbug]

Ganiz listens to Rathoran's explanation with interest but merely silently studies the serpent from a distance until everyone's ready to go.

___________________

Out in the hills, Ganiz is already trying to recognize who or what the footfalls could be coming from when his companions mention them. "There shouldn't be anyone out here. You heard the mayor: no cities, no soldiers, no one," he answers urgently, scanning the barren environment. "Hurry!" he suddenly continues, pointing at a group of rocks along the hill a short way off, "if we move quickly enough, we can make it to cover before they crest the hill."

[TriciaOso]

AC: 16 HP: 28/28 Ki: 5/5
PP: 16 PInv: 11 PIns: 16

Bijou falls into step with Ganiz, but whispers, "Ghosts? I know it sounds crazy, but are we considering, ghost army?"

[agignac]

It it not generally Joan's practice to duck out of sight when she hears others approaching. However, her concern isn't with soldiers, but with demons, and if her companions deem this the best course of action, she will heed their advice. Hearing Bijou's concern, she asks, "Ghosts, truly? Are they real? And would they be so noisy?" Following the others, she scrambles up the slope to hide in the shelter of the boulders.

[Kushina43]

"No no, Joan, you not prying," Ratharon insists as they walk, Tira opting to drape along her left shoulder. "They live in the Dry further east, and are probably what you expect for people living out there. As for me.. Well, I've always been a bit of a black sheep, if I have the right metaphor. Elders didn't like my attitude very much to begin with, and we parted ways after I led a charge to save a merchant caravan passing by." Her expression dims a bit mentioning the charge despite her efforts, but doesn't elaborate further.

A bit surprised she didn't notice the sound of approaching armor - memories must have dulled her senses - she replies swiftly with "Ghosts, probably not, yet I know nothing in these hills that could make such sound, and other tribes would be very out of their way.." On the suggestion of cover, she nods and makes her way to the rocks, getting her bow ready.

[TriciaOso]

AC: 16 HP: 28/28 Ki: 5/5
PP: 16 PInv: 11 PIns: 16

Bijou shrugs. "I know a dozen stories about people who camped on an old battlefield and woke up to the memory of the battle playing out around them. Spirits of soldiers or bad memories trapped in the ground."

"I don't know if they're real, but I never saw a demon before, either." She burrows into the cover and holds her breath.