Once Jarrith opens his eyes, he can feel invigorating energy flowing through him as his remaining wounds close. He notices Ashlyn shakily getting to her feet a couple of meters away. As she carefully gets to her feet, she turns her head towards Jarrith and it seems as if an invisible burden settles its weight about her shoulders. She quietly steps towards him and in a heavy voice laced with sadness she speaks "Good to have you back Jarrith"
stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. I [IC]
James Heard
Explorer
Bear-Janis asks the Bear if there are any others approaching as a way of not engaging the somewhat more bizarre relationships that she holds with her two-legged companions.
As a cold breeze whishes by him, the Stalker feels the chill on his body... a chill that is at once unexpected. He slowly raises his head to see that his bloodied body lies naked upon the forest floor. His eyes immediately look up and search out the others around him, pained and questioning. Jarrith sees Lady Ashlyn get unsteadily to her feet and begin walking over to him, and his modesty demands that his hands go to cover himself up in her presence.
The Stalker's questioning eyes narrow even further, as he is incapable of understanding what it is the Lightbringer means. "What? Good to have-- I'm... sorry... Lady Ashlyn... but what do you mean? Where are my clothes? Has something happened--?"Ashlyn said:
James Heard
Explorer
"<Are you sure?>" Bear-Janis grouses unhappily.
Maybe we should run off anyways, just to keep everyone on their toes.
Maybe we should run off anyways, just to keep everyone on their toes.
James Heard
Explorer
Shrugging in return, Bear-Janis curls up to go to sleep.
Ashlyn takes a blanket from her bedroll and offers it to Jarrith before she sits down across from him and looks directly into his eyes, her voice eerily quiet as she speaks "I imagine your clothes are where you left them, though I would not be certain that they are still in usable condition ... I'm afraid you changed Jarrith, changed into one of those that we fought earlier today."
The invisible weight on her shoulders seems to weigh heavier by the moment as she continues, "You were a fearsome foe Jarrith. More dangerous than any creature I have faced before ... and I must ask that you allow me to keep an eye on you, particulary on that strange bruising apon your chest that has not properly healed. I fear the bite of those creatures we faced earlier carries some strange contagion that surely caused your change."
As long as Jarrith does not protest, Ashlyn will lean over and, once more, examine his wounds.
[Heal check +10 (on Jarrith)]
Ashlyn then stands slowly once again and walks over to Tessa to confer with her. She discusses Jarrith's condition (What she knows from the heal check) and then asks quietly, "What was it that you did that bought Jarrith back to us?"
The invisible weight on her shoulders seems to weigh heavier by the moment as she continues, "You were a fearsome foe Jarrith. More dangerous than any creature I have faced before ... and I must ask that you allow me to keep an eye on you, particulary on that strange bruising apon your chest that has not properly healed. I fear the bite of those creatures we faced earlier carries some strange contagion that surely caused your change."
As long as Jarrith does not protest, Ashlyn will lean over and, once more, examine his wounds.
[Heal check +10 (on Jarrith)]
Ashlyn then stands slowly once again and walks over to Tessa to confer with her. She discusses Jarrith's condition (What she knows from the heal check) and then asks quietly, "What was it that you did that bought Jarrith back to us?"
Wrapping himself up in the blanket, the weight of what Ashlyn says to him, hits him flat. "I... became... one of them? No... that's not possible... my soul is too strong for that. I wouldn't allow that to happen. It's not--"Ashlyn said:
He glances around to the others and sees the looks on all of their faces... and he knows that this is no jest. They believe what it is she says. And Jarrith has to face the fact that he was not himself... was seperated from the Voice... for the first time in his life. Couple this with the black mark upon his soul where Danovich's journal is eating away at him, and the Stalker's mind spins out of control. The feeling is revolting.
He stumbles to his feet and staggers away from the group... crunching through the small bushes and overgrowth... and finally he drops to his knees and begins to retch. Unlike the sickness he acquired from the zombies that made his stomach turn over several times, this is not a physical illness... it is spiritual. And the agony and nausea that overtakes him can in many ways be considered entirely psychological... but it is there nonetheless. And the sounds of wet and dry heaves echo through the night for several hours.
**********
The next morning, when the group gets up to continue on... they find that Jarrith Bronns is gone.
