Dragon's Egg - Act II

[Ireth]

When Baldhart is finished the berries, her wound is only partly mended. I begin to stitch it as she speaks, but halt partway through at her last words, and look up at her in shock. Stabbing the needle into my pincushion, I reach out and grip her hand.

"No, Baldhart. You are no monster. Death is a part of life, and sometimes it falls to us to deal it, rather than the slow decay of time. What we kill in these tunnels is far removed from ourselves -- if it were other humans you had killed, or elves, or dwarves, then it would be different. But that is not so."

 

[Nihal]

Cage's room

"See?" I grin. "You are a big fool!"

I glance at the wound and at the needle in Cadell's hand. "So... Uhm. Keep your eyes on her for a moment, I need to change. Oh, and poke me if you need to talk anything, I am not hearing really well yet." I search my backpack for my stained set of clothes, looking over my shoulder a time and another.

I ready everything before changing my clothes, wishing to be as quick as possible.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Thank you both. What about you two? Are you hurt?" Eyelids grow heavy. "If you don't mind, would you—at least one of you—stay by the fire with me? Nissa's asking… I think she's worried but… I'll be fine after a rest."

I lay down and let Sir Cadell do what he must, and pay attention to any advice offered while I'm still… *yawn*

 

[Ireth]

I smile faintly. "I am unhurt. I did not get the chance to join the fighting."

I go back to stitching Baldhart's wound, doing my best to keep each stitch tight and even, and not cause unnecessary pain. When that is done, I carefully knot and bite off the end of the thread, and go on to sew the rip in her dress -- I might as well, while I have the materials in hand.

When I am finished, I put my supplies away and shift a little closer to the fire, wondering how the others are doing.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Cage: Baldhart, Cadell, Mauve, Nissa

((EDIT 5/16 - After the harpy is fed and seems comfortable with the group, Baldy falls asleep and Nissa appears. Unlike when originally posted, there is no [significant] time lapse. Feel free to RP witnessing Nissa's appearance. Only Baldhart is asleep, and maybe Mauve, at this time...))


Nissa's POV

She speaks to me! "It is rare that I bestow upon one of my Valkyrie the gift of returning to the mortal world." It's Her! It's really Her! "I have chosen you..."

"Thanks, boss!" Should I really call Her that? "But... why me?"

She replies, "The shadow of the Great War darkens the world once again... the one you protect has set herself directly in the path of that shadow. What she does now will irrevocably draw her into events of a magnitude the world has not seen in 1000 years. You are... her protector..."

"I understand," I tell Her. I give no excuses about my current limitations.

"Use my gift wisely, little one," She says. Then I no longer sense Her presence.

I giggle to myself. Little One! I love it when She calls me that!

* * *

Startled by the sound of my own giddy laughter, I find myself curled up on Baldy's lap. A gentle chill touches my bare skin. I reach to adjust the blanket, but all my hand finds is a wing. Of course, a wing! Why would I expect a—? Wait, I was… sleeping? Dreaming? I look around to see Baldhart among other mortals by the fire. My memory! It came to me as a dream. I really dreamed!

I stand, again reborn. Naked. Free. Unbecoming to the mortals around me. I take a cloth that Baldy set aside for me and wrap it around my body. My body!

I call out to the ones who comforted Baldy. "Mauve? Cadell?" But not too loud. I don't wanna wake Baldy up.

 

[Ireth]

I stir as a voice calls my name, and sit up slowly. Looking around, I smile in surprise at the fourth figure who now shares the cage with us. "Hello again, Nissa."

 

[Sparkie]

Meanwhile, A Few Hours Earlier...

I'm touched that Darin would think of me after such an experience, but all I can manage in the way of thanks is a weak smile. I'm still too angry.

I find my sword in the circular room. I pick it up, then move to pick up Algernon's things. Too late. He's here, picking them up already. Oh well. I pick up Matthew's things and return them to him.

When Baldhart, Mauve, and Cadell settle in the circular room I move back to the cavern with the ledge. If Mauve and Cadell want to baby her that's their business. I won't coddle her when she pouts.

I need to get my mind off of what happened. The illusion is still with me, despite the charming effects having worn off long ago. How do you deal with some creature violating the sanctity of the mind?

Wandering over to the ledge, I stop and look up. I shake my head. I move on.

I walk over to the pile of bones. I poke around it with my sword and shimmy various corporeal appendages aside, searching for anything useful...

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Cage: Baldhart, Cadell, Mauve, Nissa

"Hello, Sir Cadell. Sorry to wake you. I really had to get out of Baldy's head."

I look to see if Mauve is awake. I think she can hear me.

"Even in her sleep, she keeps comparing me to those hell-spawns! I kept telling her the commonality ends at their being winged and female, but even as she hacked away at the big one—even when it stabbed her… it's not like she didn't see Darin's throat getting slit, or that the harpy was targeting you, Mauve.

"Anyway, I didn't wake you up so you could listen to me complain. I wanted to thank you both for making my job easier. And… Mauve, there's something I want to say to you." I look at Cadell. "You can stay. It's not a private matter, and some of what I want to say is best heard by more than one witness."

I look at Mauve again. I think she's awake but… I better wait until I have her full attention.

 

[Nihal]

Cage's room

I doze off a couple of times, exhausted. Transformations and cold water, the song, the lizard's spell, my final trick and attack; I don't feel like fighting any more today—this if we're still in the same day.

Someone calls my name. I resist at first, then opening an eye to see who wants what. "Oh. Hello." I yawn and stretch, my idea of keep sitting to not fall asleep doesn't seem the brightest now.

I hear her intently and answer, "You can say it." I doubt she knows anything that would put me in trouble with them.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Cage: Baldhart, Cadell, Mauve, Nissa

I see Mauve is attentive.

“Baldy and I don’t agree on everything. Not just her misplaced remorse, but something else. Her seventh sacrifice, Mauve. The one she made in the form of a vow on your behalf. I tried talking her out of it.” I face her, but maybe before I had become a Valkyrie, I’d stare at my toes. “I’ve never been so pleased to be wrong.

“Baldy said things would be better if you were treated right, and I can’t not see it. You’ve proven to be great on the battlefield and good as a person. You’re the reason Baldy’s attempt to bring Alin into the fight worked, you’re the reason Darin could be saved, and what you did for Baldy just now… even when I saw the change in you, I couldn’t have predicted such kindness.”

I look at Baldhart sleeping like a baby. A very big baby.

“Her heart is too big.” I look at Mauve. “You wanted to know, right? It’s her oversized heart that will kill her. The muscles in her chest will crush her heart, and… I’m hoping she’ll be asleep when the time comes.”

I give time so Mauve can get a word in, or Cadell if he wants… but my mind is already on what I really want to say. Looking them over, it hits me that these two have no loyalties to any god or goddess, do they? I suppose there’s no harm in passing on Brynhild’s words to them, but just to be safe,

I won’t betray your trust, Boss. They don’t have to know the words came from you. Same with your gift. I’ll be truthful, but no name-dropping. I promise.

 

[Ireth]

When Nissa speaks of Baldhart's too-large heart, I think for a moment that she is using a metaphor, that perhaps her kindness and compassion will get her into trouble. At the realization that it is her actual heart, I look at Baldhart in confusion and pity. So that's why she said she'd be lucky to reach twenty-five years.

"Maybe she will be fortunate enough to die in battle first?" I look at Nissa again. "That is what she wants, after all, is it not? To become a valkyrie, like you."

 

[Nihal]

Looking away from the small woman, I feel a half smile twisting my lips when she talks of her disagreement with Baldhart; it stays even when she talks about change.

You were right for the wrong reasons, Valkyrie. A change, uh? I'm not afraid anymore, that's the change. What a dire world, where lost and afraid people aren't worthy of others' consideration, but a strong one is, no matter what kind of person she is.

I knew it already, didn't I? I was just afraid, fragile and soft. It won't happen again.

I face her when she talks of Baldhart's disease, the stupid smile finally leaving my face. "I knew it, she talked of her demise with too much conviction. Can't anything be done?"

A wish can. Not mine, if I ever get one—no, I must stop thinking about it.

 

[Steerpike]

Prior in Time

Darin checks the door leading from the main corridor to the circular room. Satisfied that it is fully closed, he heads back to the cavern. "That door opens outward, into the hall. We cannot barricade it, but I still believe the lizards are afraid of this place. I doubt we'll be disturbed, but we best set a watch when we rest."

He looks up at the ledge, straining to hear. Every so often there is a faint shuffling sound, but no other noise. "Something's up there." He looks at Keitsumah. "You mean to conjure it down with that flute? Or maybe the tall man" he cocks a thumb at Algernon "can give Aliron a bit of a boost. I'd rather not settle down to rest until we see what's making that noise."

Meanwhile, Rydh is shuffling through the pile of bones. A smaller cage is nearby, much like the one that held Keitsumah. Two forms are crammed inside, completely motionless. One is small, and Rydh can just make out the scaling of reptilian skin. The other looks like a small human at first, but the slight crest at the tip of the ears tells Rydh it is a half-elf.

The bone pile itself is a source of much of the smell in the cavern, and it is covered in insect, both crawling and flying. As Rydh pokes through the pile he sees scraps of leather and the remnants of metal armor. There is a mace, though the wood of the handle is largely rotted through. Just as he is about to give up on the pile, however, he sees something strange about one of the bones. The ends of the bone have been sawed off to make a long, tube-like structure. A cork protrudes from one end of the bone, pressed so far in to the bone that it is scarcely visible.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Cage: Baldhart, Cadell, Mauve, Nissa

"Maybe she will be fortunate enough to die in battle first? That is what she wants, after all, is it not? To become a valkyrie, like you."

"I was struck down in battle, but I died years later in bed next to my father. The Valkyrie who took me brought me to my mother first." I look at Mauve. "She's up to here on you." I press her nose. "Not all Eisenberg woman were tall."

Facing Cadell, I continue, "Anyway, it's a misconception. Valkyries see to those who die in battle, but one who becomes a Valkyrie need only prove her worth in battle. Baldy won't be cheated from this life if she's successful. If I'm successful."

"I knew it, she talked of her demise with too much conviction. Can't anything be done?"

"What you're doing now. Be kind to each other.

"It's the quality that matters most to a Valkyrie. Everyone knows we're not strangers to battle, pain, death, and we face these things without fear. But kindness matters most. No one wants to be escorted to the afterlife by a bitchy Valkyrie."

More to say, but I wait. It's nice to be alive, and they don't treat me like an outsider…

 

[Sparkie]

Again, A Few Hours Earlier...

I pick up the bone-and-cork tube and inspect it. This is bizarre. Why would someone do this? For now, I stow it. I'll open it later when we rest.

I walk over to the cage and see the half-elf and reptilian thing. I gently poke the bodies to insure both are dead...

((If these two are dead, Rydh will try to get into the cage and search the bodies.))

EDIT: ((Forgot this part!))

I look up to the ledge and nod at Darin's words, but I have no idea how I can get up there. I left my rope back at the entrance to these caverns. Baldhart has a grappling hook, but I'm not going ask her about it.

 

[SeverinR]

"I figure if the little beasties charm me, I go limp and fall down. I think I can survive the fall. I have my grappling hook, I will drop a line, then we can decide what to do with them."
I slowly and carefully begin to climb,

 

[Ravana]

Algernon agrees to stand below you and catch if you fall. ((As if that will work: if you get charmed, he probably will too. But, hey, he doesn't know that.))

 

[Keitsumah]

I look down at the flute in my hands, then sigh. I guess it was worth a shot.

Now . . . how did that song go again? Maybe if i mimic the harpy, i can get any young to come out.

I swallow at the image that comes to my mind and my hand goes to my throat, "Someone get a bow, shoot them if they reveal themselves."

Then, before i can talk myself out of it, i put the flute to my lips and blow:

[1d20+3]= 14
((whew))

The notes flow out as if I was a copy of the harpy, and relief is clear as the magic flows easily through the notes, echoing through the cavern. It soothes, beckons. For whatever reason is not needed. The call was clear: come to the source of the song.

Hopefully it will calm the young ones and get them to come quietly.

 

[Steerpike]

Rydh inspects the bodies in the cage, finding that both are in fact dead. One is a lizard identical to the many you've fought thus far. The other is indeed a half-elf. Much of the flesh has been stripped from the corpses, including flesh from the thighs and buttocks, leaving a grisly scene. More disturbing, perhaps, is the fact that both corpses have had their eyes gouged out. The wounds look older, though, and have healed over somewhat, which couldn't have happened after death.

The only thing of note on the bodies is on the half-elf. One hand is covered by a steel gauntlet with spikes formed where the articulated joints bend to form knuckles. The metal looks to be in decent shape, if somewhat tarnished, but the leather that holds the gauntlet in place is old and cracked.

At the ledge, Aliron begins his climb as Algernon waits below him and Keitsumah plays softly on her flute. As the music starts, Aliron hears a soft voice answering from above. It is a pretty voice, but soft and though it stirs warm feelings in his heart, it it does not compel him. Continuing the climb, he peers over the top to find a flat area covered in feathers and heaps of cloth - bedding, most likely. The edge of a metal strongbox is visible beneath the cloth.

Huddled at the end of the ledge farthest from Aliron is what might be a four-year old child, were it human. It is a young girl, unclothed and dirty. Wings that don't look powerful enough to hold her aloft protrude from her back. There are dark brown and flecked with white, rather than the darker color of the two dead harpies. The child's face is not ugly, though the bone structure that will eventually give her the appearance of an adult harpy is already visible. Brown, knotted hair falls from her head to hang over part of her face. In her hand, she holds a doll, tattered and torn. Based on its appearance, it once belonged to a human child. The young creature is singing softly to the doll when Aliron peers over the edge. The girl's eyes flick toward him, moist and shining with fear, and there is a hitch in her voice before she turns back to the doll and continues to sing to Keitsumah's song.

 

[Sparkie]

The sight of the bodies and the smell of rot are enough to make me feel a little sick. I pull the spiked gauntlet off of the cadaver's hand and leave the area of the cage. I'll speak to the half-elf in a few hours, if the spell works like it should.

The gauntlet looks interesting. It needs relining and repair, but it should make for a good off-hand option. I'll have to remember to ask the dead half-elf about it.

Keitsumah plays, Algernon and Darin look on, and Aliron makes it up to the ledge. I call up to him.

"Hey! Anything dangerous up there?"