The Winding Road II (The Narrow Path)

[Diful Takveh]

Anna hears a voice, not belonging to Arthur, nor Elastial, nor any of the others who would have that understanding yet youthful male voice, "Anna, why are you giving my present to Arthur? Don't you love me anymore?" The voice belonged to Lyle, and though she couldn't see him, she could hear his voice from the direction of the doorway. Soon, strong arms of some entity she cannot see wrap around her, and a voice whispers in her ear, "Anna, please, I love you."

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Elastial can see what is going on, at least somewhat. By the bed is a small figure, almost invisible save that the light that passed through it was slightly dimmer than that around it, and that figure continues to brush its hair with a physical hairbrush. When he hears the voice in the door, he turns to see yet another of these figures who proceeds to run over to Anna and wrap his arms around her.

[Saskia]

There's nothing that can be done about a quasi-material thing she can't see. She knows it's not actually Lyle, anyway. Just more fuel for Saffron and Arthur's forced psychosis. Anna kneels beside her betrothed and steadies both of them with her strong hand, though still her voice trembles. Seeing him in pain is suffering itself, but somehow, this is so much worse. Whether it's the confusion and not knowing what to do, or only being able to guess who's done this, or why, or the temporal proximity to having lost everything else she's not sure, but she's not going to leave here until he's safely, and sanely, in her arms again.

"Arthur, say something, please. You're drying your eyes with the very handkerchief I used to ward Rachel's necklace. I gave it to you when we split up so you would have something to hold when you felt lonely or hopeless and know that I love you, and that I've always loved you, and I've never loved anyone else. You promised you would give it back to me when everyone was safe, but you're not even making an effort now. Rachel isn't here, Arthur. She's in danger, and I need you. Not just for me, Arthur. I need you so I can protect Rachel. The real Rachel, not this illusion of a feigned happy life." She takes his hand and kisses it before placing the comb there.

Silently she offers her beloved goddess a simple prayer. Please, Loving Dark-Eyed Lady, please let me have him back. Let me give him the happiness he deserves, and grant me the wisdom to save Arthur, and even Saffron from this horrible imaginarium. In Your Holy Name, I humbly beg Your favor.

[Diful Takveh]

It is not long before Caitie and Fle find enough wood and kindling for a decent fire, and after that, not long before they have a nice little fire, the perfect size for keeping warm. By now, it is about as dark as night becomes, and the fire is necessary for the halfling to see that which is around him.

Spoiler: OOC

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Hansi heals 2 more NL.

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Arthur grabs Anna by the collar of her cloak and lifts her to her feet, "Stop lying, Anna. If you want to be miserable, then be miserable, but don't you dare use that as an excuse to keep lying to us about how I loved you and how we were happy together." He looks at the comb in his hand, "And if this is some symbol of that imaginary love, then--" He doesn't finish his statement with words, but by dropping the comb to the ground, and he punctuates it with a series of hard stomps.

The man is only stopped when Saffron grabs his leg, and he once again kneels down next to his supposed wife, "I'm sorry, dear, did I scare you?"

[Saskia]

No, Arthur, you can't... She staggers back and stares at the pieces of his and Rachel's gift and falls to her knees again; crying, confused, and terrified of losing everything she loves.

[Bladehunter217]

"Excellent, now let be off, fire attract unwanted in night. Not go far, want be close case get too cold and want know when bad catch up." Fle looked to the surrounding area, hoping to find a series of trees or bushes they could hide behind.

Spoiler: My worst yet most useful skill

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spot: (1d20-2)[10]

[Diful Takveh]

As Anna cries, she can feel two small, cold hands on her face that lift her head up so she can see the concerned face of Rachel as she asks, "Why are you crying Miss Anna? Even if you don't have Arthur, Lyle's still here and he loves you ever so dearly. Isn't that enough?" Rachel, as she is, stands there in her white festival dress, but her entire form is slightly darker than it should be as if she were standing in a darker room. Besides that, though, the girl is still Rachel in appearance, save her hair which is worn in the same fashion Anna had after receiving the ribbons from Saffron, complete with a set of matching ribbons.

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As far as Sin Je can tell, the entire house is magical, but it is too difficult to pinpoint exactly what kind of magic is being used.

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A few minutes after the fire is lit and the group hides behind the trees, Blaire wakes up shivering in the night air which Fle doesn't believe is cold enough for shivering, but humans are strange after all.

[Bladehunter217]

"You were poison, has it start work out blood? Mule man not yet wake." Fle asks, thinking that sometimes people are cold when sick, maybe poison can do the same. "You can use Fle's cloak, but is small and not for human. He is careful to speak quietly, hoping that she would realize that they are currently hiding and not make too much noise.

[Saskia]

Anna stops crying immediately at Rachel's voice and reflexively jumps to her hands and knees with her flaring maternal instinct. No, it's an illusion, of course. Come on, Anna, stay with it. Remember, this feels real to him. She reaches to touch the faux-Rachel, wondering if she's really even there, or how much.

With her other hand she takes off her flaming skull medallion and holds it to her chest. "Loving Lady, light the way." Maybe it's a stretch, but maybe she can dispel, or at least suppress the appearance of these shadow people with the Stern Lady's light. If nothing else, a more brightly lit room would make her feel better and maybe offer some more perspective. Even if she's grasping at straws she needs to find a way to fix this.

Spoiler

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Casting light on her holy symbol medallion.

[Diful Takveh]

Blaire pulls the cloak tightly around her, "Thank you, Fle." With Blaire taken care of for the moment, Caitie walks over to Fle and sits down next to him, "Fle, if something... happens to you, how should I take care of the twins and Mrs. Whitebirch?"

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Anna touches Rachel, stroking her cold face with her hand. The Rachel shadow was most definitely a physical entity, but it had none of the warmth of life and even as Anna called forth her light, it remained, and remained just as dark as it had been. With her focus on the shadow of the girl she had sworn to protect, Anna doesn't realize Saffron approaching until she feels her arms around her, one behind her back and one behind her head. "Anna, I'm sorry. Arthur can sometimes be a little overprotective. Do you think you could forgive him?"

[Bladehunter217]

Fle blinks in surprise, confused by the question. "Fle not know how care for human's children. What advice Fle offer? Keep moving, there not be faces for you with money."

[Saskia]

She remains silent for a moment. Ruby had told her many, many times that a primary responsibility of a Karuth is to always be aware of the creeping creatures of chaos and the spirits of the dead. This thing isn't behaving like Saffron. It's blind. It's using shadow illusions. Anna you stupid girl, what are you thinking? This isn't Saffron at all! If she weren't so wrapped up in desperation she would be rightly embarrassed.

"He can be overprotective. That's part of what I love about him." She looks at Arthur and answers more directly. "I can always forgive him." She unties the ribbons from her hair and throws her arms around the creature who she no longer believes to be Saffron and holds her tightly, and takes a handful of her comb. She reacted poorly to Saffron's ribbons. Maybe she'll react to the comb, too, even in its current state. It's at least worth a shot.

"Arthur and Saffron belong to me. Give them back and I can even forgive you." She holds the Saffron-creature securely with the comb pieces and the ribbons against her, hoping it will break her focus on whatever magic she's commanding.

[Diful Takveh]

Caitie smiles, glad to have the small man's input, especially after he had saved the entire group from the two bounty hunters. "But now we just wait?"

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"Anna, you're warm." Half to herself, she continues, "But I thought Arthur was the only warm one." With her thoughts back in the moment, she tells Anna, "I knew something was different when I brushed your cheek earlier, but..." She doesn't get any farther before she bursts into tears and holds Anna for support.

As she does this, the shadow versions of Rachel and Lyle fade out of existence.

[Saskia]

It is Saffron? Did she just pull off her first successful exorcism, then, or was it just magic? The thought briefly touches her mind, but she brushes it aside. She lets go of the ribbons and wood and hugs Saffron like she were her own daughter, if perhaps a rather older daughter than she could possibly have, and kisses her hair. "Yes, Saffron. I'm warm. I'm real, and you had me scared to death. I need you, and I need Arthur. I can't bear to lose anyone else. Tell me you're okay now, please tell me you remember what happened."

[Shinovar]

Elastial starts to move towards Arthur as as he roughly treats Anna, but he stops himself from directly interfering, knowing that she can handle herself and would be much more upset with him if he hurt Arthur than if he let her be handled a little roughly.

As Anna moves on the Saffron, Elastial watches intently, still not knowing what he should do. His only thought was to try to lay hands on them, hoping that Pelor would extend his blessing of healing to their minds, and not just their body, but something Anna is doing seems to be working. The shadow beings have disappeared, which couldn't be anything other than a good sign. Hopefully the two entranced people would not respond to coming out of their situation with reckless behavior. Elastial had seen one of Lord Grimly's servants once woken from sleepwalking, and he attacked those around him until he could be restrained. Perhaps this could be similar? Elastial wished he was more familiar with magic than he was, but the only supernatural powers he truly understood were those that stemmed from Pelor.

[Bladehunter217]

"Now you sleep." He. shrugged again, surprisingly calm considering the situation they were in. "Fle will wait for mule man to wake, if tired you wake."

[Diful Takveh]

Continuing to hold Anna tightly, Saffron lets the words come rushing forth from her wounded soul, "I've been so selfish, Anna. I lost Mom and Dad and Olivia and Lyle and-- and everyone else, and I just wanted everything to go back before, and for everyone to be happy, but I haven't even done that. Oh, Anna, I thought this house was a dream come true, that I could make any dream of mine come true, that I could bring back those happy days we used to live, and all I would have to do is give up my sight. I thought I was being brave to make everyone happy, but all I made is a mess, and you're not happy, and Arthur--" Saffron hugs Anna tighter, if that is even possible, "Anna, I don't know if Arthur can forgive me for this because in my selfishness, I've caused him to hurt you. I never meant to hurt anyone Anna. I just wanted everyone to be happy... I'm sorry."

As Saffron pours out her heart, the colors of the room begin to dull as room and furniture seem to age almost immediately. The bed rots to nothing almost immediately, leaving the room empty save for the walls which expand in addition to aging such that the entirety of the house joins together into a single room empty save for a bookcase at one end and an eye drawn across the entirety of the floor in white. There are two windows on each of the front and back of the room and a single door between each pair of windows.

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Fle and Caitie wait for a long while before Hansi wakes up, but in that time, no hunters have come to scope out the fire. Hansi has no idea where he is, nor of what happened to him save that his head ached more than when he had woken up the morning after he had challenged a dwarf to a drinking contest. By all accounts, he had won, and had earned prestige for that noble art of business which ends with one or both parties under the table. Of course, that doesn't matter now, and he had to figure out exactly where he was, why he wasn't indoors this late at night, why a little girl was staring at his face, and why she was upside-down. The answer to that last question came when Hansi looked up to see the ground and realized he was hanging off Piers.

[Saskia]

Anna casts a concerned eye at Arthur, desperately hoping he's well again. She wants to tell her how badly she's hurt. She wants to tell her how angry she is. She wants to scream and shout and cry. But, if she's admitting she's entirely wrong, Anna would be so incredibly wrong to scream at her for it. The entire purpose of mistakes is to learn, after all, and with time she might even be able to let this episode go. Instead she just holds the girl in a tight embrace. "I know it, darling. It's hard on all of us, I know. I won't lie and say I'm not hurt, but I do believe your heart was in the right place, and I do love you. It'll take some time for me to get over this, but never doubt that I love you, and I will never abandon you. You're never alone, Saffron, and I'm going to do everything in my power to rebuild a new life for us. For all of us." And quite critically, keep her eyes out for a dashing, good-hearted young nobleman looking for a beautiful girl to care for, and get the little wench out of her hair.

Part of her hopes Arthur would hold a grudge, but she at least recognizes that as part of her primitive and animalistic territoriality, and she's slightly repulsed by the thought of wishing for a schism between the two. They've known each other for so long. It may well be a long while before she can trust Saffron with him again, but for now, it's alright. She can ask about the house and its powers and determine what to do with it later. She knows there's a strong chance she'll determine it's best to commit it to the holy flames anyway, but that's to be decided with the others when she knows what's left of her life is secure again. She kisses Saffron's hair again, and gently lets go to stand up, and takes a tentative step toward Arthur. "You're okay, right, Arthur? You love me again? We're okay?"

[Diful Takveh]

As Anna continues to comfort Saffron, Arthur looks around, taking in the single room of this house he has never before seen. After a few moments of looking around, his gaze shifts to Anna and Saffron. He's glad that they had found the younger girl as it was most definitely not a good day for her to be running about in the wilderness as she had.

As Anna walks over, Arthur stands, and as Anna asks him about his status, he gives her a tight hug and responds, "Anna, you know that I've never stopped loving you, and no matter what might happen, I'll continue to love you throughout eternity." He adds on with a whisper as he starts to stroke the back of her head, "Yes, Anna, we're okay."

[sparky9042]

"Ow...uh...Fle?...Uh...Where's my sword?" Hansi pauses for a while, taking in his surroundings. Dropping his rapier was one of the last things he remembered doing. "Where are we, for that matter? And is Blaire alright? Can someone get me down from here?"

Hansi pauses, then thinks back to the earlier events that led to this...the wanted posters! "Did anyone think to grab one of the wanted posters?"

[Bladehunter217]

"Fle not grab, ask woman. The Blaire woke first, some reason was cold and now has Fle's cloak. Were in rush, woman heard more bad." Fle looked at hansi and snickered, remembering that he was still on the mule. "Fle not lift humans."

[Saskia]

For the first time, Anna tenses when Arthur holds her. She doesn't resist, but she doesn't reciprocate, either. It's not true. He called the love they shared imaginary only seconds ago. Even if he's back to normal, what then? If Saffron could take him away from her without any magical powers of her own, who else could come and take him from her?

No, Anna. Just deal with it later. After a moment she wraps her arms around Arthur and closes her eyes. This has been more taxing than even Hillingshire. At least then she knew what her goal was and how to attain it. And because she had help from people with both the knowledge and the resolve to help, it succeeded. This, though, all she could do was cry and flail about until something happened, and it was far more draining than spending a night swinging her mace. Now all she really wants to do is fall asleep snugly beside Arthur, where she belongs. Even so, she'd happily stand like this with Arthur as long as the others would tolerate it if she wasn't convinced Sin Je and Elastial would be far too polite to make the call to leave. She releases Arthur but in her unwillingness to let him go wraps her arm around his own.

"Saffron, tell us how this place operates. If it's too dangerous we can't leave it unattended, I shouldn't think, but I'd rather not put it to the torch when it could be guarded and studied under the eyes of the Jasidin."

[Diful Takveh]

Caitie comes over and helps the bard off his mule, "I brought your sword; it's right here." The girl pats the scabbard and blade within which hang down from Piers's saddle. "I didn't think to get one of the posters, though. I'm sorry if you needed one, but I could only think about keeping you and Blaire safe. It's what Anna would have wanted."

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Anna's inquisition of Saffron is cut short by an army of voices speaking some language unknown to all coming toward the back of the house. Out the windows, those tall enough can see that the voices belong to a band of at least 50 goblins were unarmed and unarmored, but their numbers would still pose a challenge to those gathered who were drained emotionally, by the long journey of the day, or both.

The goblins themselves were coming from caves in the cliff face that stretched behind the house, something that none of those gathered had noticed, or if they had, they were in too much of a hurry to explore them. What was more troubling, however, was that the group did recognize one of the words the goblins were using, one they were using quite often in fact, "Anna." The goblins would soon be at the back door of the house.

[Gem_Knight]

He turned back to Bran, "Time go, now, get wolf." Sin Je rushes into the room with Anna, "Lady Anna- trouble!" was all he bothered to say, lastly he heads towards Elastai(sp?) "We must go, warriors or not, we are minority without reinforcement, traps, or any precautions."

(On the assumption Sin Je basically used two move actions and three 'free to talk' actions xD)

[sparky9042]

Hansi takes his rapier. "It's fine. The most important thing is that everyone's alright. I would've liked to get a hold of one of those posters as evidence of what's against us...this is a confusing situation and it's almost certainly being played as a powergrab by some very powerful people in the capital. That raid on Hillingshire, I'm convinced, was definitely not the work of cultists of Erythnul. I'm worried now...there are going to be more like it, and as long as we're alive... We're going to get blamed for it. What were those bounties? 1500 for Anna and myself, 1000 for you and Sin Je, Fle? I expect those to go higher soon. Those bounty posters told me so much..." Hansi rubs his temple, in part to relieve the throbbing ache in his head, in part to think of their next move.

"Alright, now...Anna knows a couple people in the area, one of whom is the main cleric of Pelor, one Valencia Cassidy. I'm...not sure how to approach her, but she does typically hand out bread to people in the morning. I figure if I walk up to her and start talking things will happen. There are probably worse ways to go about it. Now...where should we sleep for the night?"

[Saskia]

Anna nods. "Yeah, if they want me then it's worth it as long as all of you get away safely. Arthur," She kisses him hard, but a thought strikes her. "If they want me but didn't bring weapons or armor I can't imagine they mean us any harm, that would be suicide. We do need to be careful, though. With only Tai'shar and one wolf not all of us will be able to outpace them. I'll talk to them, but be ready to leave quickly."

With reluctance she lets go of Arthur and embraces Saffron to kiss her hair once more, and moves toward the door. The group needs to get to Bentwood and make sure the others made it okay, and Anna needs to finally get some rest. She does not welcome this distraction. She adjusts her armor and cloak and takes a deep breath to prepare herself before opening the door and taking a confident stride outside.

"I am Anna Whitefield, Karuth and enemy of discord. You've come to me unarmed and unarmored, offering due respect to the Guardian of Death. What is your purpose here?"

[Diful Takveh]

At Sin Je's warning, Saffron starts up and, glancing at Arthur for only a brief second, makes her way to the front door of the house, head hung down. Bran is the next to go after he gives a nod to Elastial; if nobody else took care of the girl, he would. The rest stayed in the room, hoping that they wouldn't have to flee so soon after arriving, but knowing that outcome was probable and preparing for it.

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Caitie looks away, "But who would do that? I know Erythnul's cultists will do it just for the destruction, but to purposefully kill almost everyone in a village for power?" She turns back to Hansi, "Sir, do you think it would be better if Blaire or I went in your stead? There were no wanted posters for either of us, so people wouldn't come after us."

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Anna steps outside to see that a semicircle of goblins has formed, and now that they all stand together, she realizes they all wear the same thin white robes. With the cleric outside, the center goblin steps out and lowers to one knee, bowing his head to the servant of Wee Jas, and all of the goblins follow suit. He speaks something in an unknown tongue, but Anna can hear her name mentioned more than once.

As he continues, he stands up and bows before turning behind him and calling someone forward with his hand. Another goblin, much older than the one who had given a speech about Anna, steps forward and bows. The first goblin puts his arms on the older goblin and starts speaking again and holds up the pendant around the older goblin's neck, a wooden carving of an open book with a sword where the pages joined.

After some sort of explanation, the older goblin bows again and walks as though to enter the house while the first goblin lowers back down to one knee.

[sparky9042]

"Hmm...How about this. Tomorrow morning, we all go out to the temple district. There, we go begging. That will give us a chance to both get food and talk to Valencia. I know sending me in there is risky given the bounty posters, but...I think I can work something out. Plus, I don't want to put you in harm's way."

[Saskia]

Frustrating. Still, if she chastises herself for only skimming parts of certain books she'd never be able to enjoy learning again, and only when it becomes arduous does learning stop and the individual descend into ignorance. "I think they're alright, not like a lot of goblins at the very least. The way I understand it their religion is something of a mix between Heironeous and Boccob." With a bow Anna continues speaking. Obviously they respect her, though for what she's not entirely sure, But if that's the case then one or both of the leaders at least should have magic to comprehend the speech of those they couldn't normally understand, even if they couldn't replicate it. Or, maybe she was just foolishly speaking to a bunch of people who couldn't understand her. "Forgive me, but my companions and I are exhausted. We've had a horrendous several days, and we need to regroup with the rest of our posse." She hesitates, waiting for the goblin to do or say something she can understand but unsure if there's a point in doing so.

[Diful Takveh]

Caitie gives Hansi a smile, "Thank you for thinking of my safety; it means a lot to me, especially with Anna gone, and I know that you'll take care of the twins should anything happen to me. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go help those two get ready for bed and then probably do the same for myself." She walks away to where the twins are playing, leaving Hansi standing next to Piers as he continued to formulate his plan. The trip to the village hadn't been quite as easy as expected, and now that he and Fle knew they were wanted criminals, Hansi knew it was going to be even harder to continue with Anna's plan.

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As Anna tries to talk with the leader, his head very slowly tilts to the side. Maybe she didn't understand them. Maybe he needed to think of another way to communicate. He finds a stick and starts drawing in the dirt, first a circle, no a face with long pointy ears and no eyes. He then draws a square with a triangle on top of it, a building, and he points to the house behind Anna. He uses the stick to point at the face while gesturing to the goblins with his other hand and following it up by closing his eyes and putting his head on his hand and making some sound that was some cross of snoring and purring. As he does that, he drops the stick and holds his hand above his head as though grabbing something and then points to the house once again.

When he has done all that, he looks back at Anna, and ever so clearly, the goblin says, "Maria, please don't leave me, I love you." While the goblin's expression and stance remain the same, his voice is emotionally charged as though he were afraid to lose whoever this Maria person was. The other goblins understood what the chief was trying to do and copied his action, speaking things that were viable grammatically, but made no sense in the current situation.

"Shh, shh, don't worry. Mommy's here, you're safe." "Help me, Will, I don't know what to do." "Don't you dare speak to my sister that way!" Anna could make these out, but most of the things they were saying were lost in the general speech of the crowd. The chief turns around and holds up his hands to quiet the crowd as a young goblin walks up to Anna and says, "Why are you crying Miss Anna? Even if you don't have Arthur, Lyle's still here and he loves you ever so dearly. Isn't that enough?"

[Bladehunter217]

"In morning, Fle have look at town, grab poster, Mule-man meet with mother-weird's friend." He smiled and patted down the ground for comfort. "Fle stay awake for while, not good to all sleep when not know what is out night."