Crystal Hearts Part 4

[TCELESBHSUP]

The lizardfolk doesn't even dignify Alena's orders, not caring in the slightest. Drawing a knife from its belt, it would shove past Alena, walking towards the right passageway, its eyes blank at this point. It had fully fallen under the spell by this point, it seems.

[Meep Meepersons]

Amzmer placed a hand on Alena to get her attention. "He is under my spell. I command him. There is but a tiny, tiny chance he could break free, but such a chance is so small it is likely not to happen. He is weak minded. If he does turn, you'll notice. At that point, destroy him. I doubt he even knows where Kathryn is. However, he is our best lead at this point." With that, she turned to address the rest of the party. "We WILL encounter more of them, when we do, try to keep any alive who seem like they know magic, or wearing robes and such! I know how much you all wish to simply splatter their innards about the caverns walls, but we need information. Volcanic caverns can be tricky like mazes with no real way to navigate them easily and the sooner we find the farm girl, the better. I think we can all agree on that." She explained, walking along with the group. *assuming everyone is walking.* (Btw, which way did the lizman go? Left or right?)

[Kuragari]

Alena growls as the bard's idiotic spell after everything was already said and done causes the lizardfolk to fall into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Perfect, now the thing is useless as an information source until the bloody laughing dies down. "Sir bard, might I suggest reading the flow of battle before recklessly throwing out spells next time?"

The bard ignores the naga's venomous glare, and ends moving to the side, muttering to himself about what a stupid move that had been, and how he could have possibly not realized that things had ended. He wasn't actually doing so quietly, and if one was to be listening it would likely sound like the bard was actually having a conversation with himself. He at several points blamed a few of the gods he had recently annoyed in one way or another for the silly move.

He quickly followed after, wondering if he should even bother following after them with that botched move, or if he should even bothering to bolster his 'allies' in the next encounter. He thought about it...and decided that if nothing else, doing so was likely to end up with miss Alena strangling him or doing something else otherwise painful and lethal.

At the High elf's statement, Caryn nodded. "If keeping some of them alive will better suit our purposes, I can certainly endeavor to do so. Perhaps this time I will be able to better contribute to the fight, past mistakes notwithstanding."

He sent a glance towards Alena, giving her a smile as he made a show of examining his new lute* and humming a few of the tunes of the song he had used to aid them in the previous battle. A reminder to the irked priest that despite his mistake, he could still be useful, and that more importantly, his presence could end up meaning the difference between an enemy dead or a friend lost.

*

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

I figured at one point or another he and sasha fixed their instruments.

[TCELESBHSUP]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Yes, you did repair your instruments. That happened during my forcible skip.

As the lizardfolk lead the party, the chanting would get louder and more... Ominous. Enough to unnerve everyone in the party. What was happening, deeper into this volcano...? The chanting ceased, and a scream echoed throughout the cavern suddenly- a woman's scream, specifically. A blood-curdling, horrific scream that managed to further shake up the group. Your guide seemed entirely unaffected, however, gripping its knife tighter and walking faster towards the source of the noise.

(Party is shaken; –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.)

EDIT DEMANDED BY THE MIGHTY MEEP! All of a sudden, Marisa felt something- a rushing of fluids from her lower regions. Her water just broke without any warning whatsoever!

[Sanaki]

Marisa's eyes widened as she felt tell-tale signs of her going into labor, her tentacles straining to keep her upright before ultimately giving out and dropping her to her knees, a muffled cry escaped her hand-covered mouth trying not send any of the group into panic, they were on their way to fight a dragon to save their friend or die trying, the last thing they needed to worry about was her giving birth in the middle of a volcano.

Trying her best to not look or sound distressed she called Azmer over to her hoping she could explain what was about to happen softly and as quickly as possible seeing as Azmer was the only one who could teleport her children somewhere safe, in the back of her mind she hoped she was still on good enough terms to afford such a request.

[MiscChaos]

(Just a quick note, I was never told the effects of Alena using Cure Serious Wounds on herself to recover from the last battle)

Alena's eyes narrow at the sound of the bloodcurdling scream, confident at least that she would realize if it were Kathryn screaming. That's about the only thing she's confident in though, shaken slightly by the scream in the first place. She looks over the lizardfolk in front of her, trying to determine just how effective Azmerelda's control over it is and how likely it is to turn on them when they reach its fellows. Admittedly, however, she's not used to the effects of mind control so she can't really make that judgment call. One thing she is able to make a call on is the effects on the party being similar to being under the Doom spell. Worse come to worse, she can attempt to cast it over the ones who caused it in the group and have everyone be on even ground. So caught up in her thoughts and surveying the lizard for signs of betrayal, she doesn't pay attention to anything going on behind her.

[TCELESBHSUP]

(Just a quick note, I was never told the effects of Alena using Cure Serious Wounds on herself to recover from the last battle)

... Alena healed 26 HP!

[Lynxy]

Though the sounds on tortured screams echoing through stone halls was nothing new to Camilla, this time it was significantly more disturbing to hear. Perhaps the fact that the cultists responsible probably weren't going to be indifferent to her presence made all the difference. Perhaps a few years away from all that had made her less callous to the sound. Either way, a shiver ran up her spine and she moved to the center of the group as they continued through the halls.

[Meep Meepersons]

Despite herself, Azmer was a little shaken from all the eerie noises. Bad memories rose in her mind and the fact she was not entirely confident in her current groups ability to handle a mature adult dragon as well as it's young and cultists all without resting didn't help matters. "H-hey, I think the bards sh-should sing for us, softly of course, but I think it would really help..." She said with a shaky tone. She was pretty good at hiding her current state, but it came out obviously in her words.

[Kuragari]

Despite herself, Azmer was a little shaken from all the eerie noises. Bad memories rose in her mind and the fact she was not entirely confident in her current groups ability to handle a mature adult dragon as well as it's young and cultists all without resting didn't help matters. "H-hey, I think the bards sh-should sing for us, softly of course, but I think it would really help..." She said with a shaky tone. She was pretty good at hiding her current state, but it came out obviously in her words.

While Caryn was bothered by the screams and chanting, he knew letting it get to him would do no one any good. When he heard the little Elf's words, he put on the best smile he could and said "You need not say anymore Azmerelda." Taking in a breath, he softly pulled a string on his lute, and began to sing a song of the high elves, a song about their many triumphs, even against terrible odds. Though he was singing in elven, he had noticed in the past that such songs didn't need to be sung in a language one could understand-music was something that everyone could grasp in the depths of their soul.

[Meep Meepersons]

Azmer finally registered Marisa's request, and approached the woman. She noticed right away what was wrong with Marisa. "Come child, lets rest over here." She examined the poor girl and sighed. She then looked to the group. She waved down Kon and told her to stay behind with her and Marisa, and that they three will catch up to the group later. "Go onwards without us, this may take some time. Kon will keep us safe, she is a more then capable enough warrior to fend off a few Lizard men." With a smirk, she began to tend to Marisa, pulling out various things for birthing from her suitcase*of holding* She handed Marisa a vial. "Drink, it will speed up labor time, we've not a second to spare here. It will be a bit more painful though, nothing you haven't dealt with before~" She cooed comfortingly, placing a hand to Marisa's to comfort her, even though Azmer wasn't usually one to comfort anyone.

[Kuragari]

Azmer finally registered Marisa's request, and approached the woman. She noticed right away what was wrong with Marisa. "Come child, lets rest over here." She examined the poor girl and sighed. She then looked to the group. She waved down Kon and told her to stay behind with her and Marisa, and that they three will catch up to the group later. "Go onwards without us, this may take some time. Kon will keep us safe, she is a more then capable enough warrior to fend off a few Lizard men." With a smirk, she began to tend to Marisa, pulling out various things for birthing from her suitcase*of holding* She handed Marisa a vial. "Drink, it will speed up labor time, we've not a second to spare here. It will be a bit more painful though, nothing you haven't dealt with before~" She cooed comfortingly, placing a hand to Marisa's to comfort her, even though Azmer wasn't usually one to comfort anyone.

"Do you wish me to stay as well Madame Azmerelda?" He asks, pausing his song as he noticed them breaking away. He had been singing mostly for the High Elf's comfort rather than anyone else, so he wasn't sure if she still wished to hear the song or not.

[Meep Meepersons]

Azmer waved at caryn. "That wont be necessary young bard, stick with the group. They will need you more then we will."

[TCELESBHSUP]

Meep/Sanaki: Marisa drinks the contents of the vial easily, and the birthing process is quicker than normal- though it still takes quite some time, and is very painful for the poor halfling. However, once it's over, she had given birth to five children in total- two male, two female, and one a hermaphrodite. (17 non-lethal damage taken.)

Group: Proceeding further into the cave, the chanting once more resuming. It was getting hotter and hotter. Apparently, this lizardfolk was leading you all deeper into the volcano. Made sense, really- where else would a red dragon lay? The problem was that it seemed more and more voices were joining the chanting as it grew louder... Just how many were ahead? Was it possible to fight all of them?

[Kuragari]

Caryn had to admit, the growing volume and depth of the chanting was bothering him a bit. Sure, taking on a Dragon and some hatchlings, that shouldn't be too difficult. But an entire Dragon Cult to boot? He was no coward, he was not going to turn and run, but he headed up the line to whisper to the dragon hunter "We might want to try and be as careful as possible, we may need to reevaluate our strategy."

[Lynxy]

Camilla was getting uncomfortable as the voices rose all around them. "Hey, gecko. Is this the most secretive path to our destination?" she whispered loudly to the lizard man leading them. She wasn't sure if he would follow directions from anyone but Azmer, but she was going to at least try and make sure they weren't too easy to find.

[MiscChaos]

Alena sighs as it becomes hotter and hotter along their path. She supposes this isn't necessarily a bad thing since it must take them closer to the dwelling place of the dragon, but after so long in that damp, chilly cave the different is a bit jarring. And then there's the question of the cultists. Taking on a small army of them is suicide and she has no intention of dying while Kathryn is within their grasp. Still, they do need to be taken care of at some point or else they'll interfere with the slaying of the dragon. It'd probably be best to have some measure of what they're dealing with, so she begins attempting to Detect Magic, studying any aura in the area long enough to get a feel for how strong the aura of magic around them is.

[Motoko]

Sasha looks around nervously, shiny new bow drawn and ready for action, she watched the others of her party curiously, stepping carefully she would refocus her attention to the path ahead of her....Though she did stray closer to alena as they walked...

[TCELESBHSUP]

Kura: Lene scoffs at your suggestion, taking a tighter grip of her bastard sword. She simply shook her head, looking somewhat offended that you doubted her. "We'll be fine. Trust me on that. A few lizardfolk're nothing before a Soryana."

Lynxy: The 'gecko' ignores you entirely. One look at the cavern, however, lets you know that there's no other paths forward. Grand.

Misc: As you cast Detect Magic, the whole cavern seems to light up! The entire place was filled with magic, it seemed, emanating from those crystals. You can't tell what exact school their magic was from, but you can tell that they're filled with strong, albeit a bit strange, magic.

Group: As you continue, you come to a T in the cave. From one path comes that horrible chanting and an incredible heat as it winded towards the center and base of the volcano. The other was utterly silent, devoid of any crystals or life from what one could tell at a glance.

[Kuragari]

Kura: Lene scoffs at your suggestion, taking a tighter grip of her bastard sword. She simply shook her head, looking somewhat offended that you doubted her. "We'll be fine. Trust me on that. A few lizardfolk're nothing before a Soryana."

"I was not doubting your skill, only suggesting that we make sure not to rush blindly in. If we can get a better grasp of the situation, we can adapt our tactics to better ensure our success." Was all Caryn said in response.

Group: As you continue, you come to a T in the cave. From one path comes that horrible chanting and an incredible heat as it winded towards the center and base of the volcano. The other was utterly silent, devoid of any crystals or life from what one could tell at a glance.

Caryn wasn't sure which path they should follow, but decided to leave it to the lizard. If it came down to it, they could always double back and explore the other routes.