Strife in Sokara - A solo game for Brother Shatterstone

Lunging forward, Ged tries to bring his sword to bear against the undead, but flinches in agony as his ruined shield twists against his wounded arm. The blade goes wide, and Ged falls back a step, keeping Hestia behind him.

The undead seems to have lost interest in Ged however, now turning its attention to Brystasia. The jaws snap shut again, almost closing around Brystasia's arm. Even with her nimble dodge, the back of her hand is deeply scored by a protruding fang.

Determined to finish this, Brystasia thrusts with both her blades. The undead steps to one side to avoid the lightblade, but this movement puts it fully into the path of her thinblade. It stiffens as Brystasia pulls the blade from its throat, and drops to the wooden floor of the hallway, its distended jaw shrinking back to a normal human form.

Ged collapses back against the plastered wall, sliding to sit on the floor. He unstraps the splintered remnant of his shield from his arm, tossing it down the hallway. Hestia kneels at his side, her panic now replaced with deep concern for the holy warrior.

"Gods, what was that thing?" She asks, her voice breaking as she start to cry. Ged puts his good arm around her shoulders, silently trying to comfort her.


(OoC: Ged missed on his attack, rolling a 3. Brystasia takes 3 points of damage (after DR from her armour) from the almost-bite, and dealt a further 7 to the undead creature, returning it to the more natural state of death. The map remains as it was last round.)

Bryastasia Purelove: Half-Nymph/Female (Gestalt:Holy Warrior/Rogue)

Brystasia face twists in pain but she gives a small comforting pray as she tires to forget about the wound on her arm. Feeling ashamed and realizing that Gab is still hurt worse than she is she turns to her companions.

Walking over and kneeling next to Hestia Brystasia makes eyes to eye contact with the beneficent sister. Speaking in a soothing voice as she wipes the tears from Hestia’s dark eyes with the cleanest part of her tunic, “Hestia, you did fine and where all going to live to the are goddess’s work for another day so please be strong for us. Me and Gab cannot do this without you and that’s the honest truth.”

Brystasia lets go of the tunic as she finishes cleaning up the her face with a reassuring smile and a understanding grin she continues, “You can be strong for us, right?”

Hestia nods, half-smiling as Brystasia wipes her face with the sleeve of her robe.

"I'm sorry, I've just never seen anything like that... thing before." She glances fearfully at the fallen corpse, but it shows no sign of further movement.

"In all my training, such a creature was never mentioned to me." Ged agrees, shifting to a more upright seated position against the wall.

"All Faithful Sons are taught to recognise the forms the undead may take, and if I were to hazard a guess as to the nature of our foe, I would have said it was a zombie." He explains to Brystasia. "But never have I heard of anything being able to bite through wood and steel like that."

"Oh Ged, your arm!" Hestia says, horrified at having forgotten the wound. She quickly recites a fervent prayer to Morwyn, and again white light flows into Ged's limb, knitting the skin back into an unbroken, unblemished whole. Relieved to see Ged's arm restored, she looks to Brystasia, spotting the blood dripping from her hand.

"And you're hurt too. Oh, I am sorry, I should have kept my head. Do you want me to heal you?" She asks, mortified by her earlier panic.

Bryastasia Purelove: Half-Nymph/Female (Gestalt:Holy Warrior/Rogue)

Brystasia nods her head in agreement with Ged but doesn’t comment on the terror they just witnessed as she tries to cheer up Hestia.

Brystasia gives a reassuring smile to Hestia as she lightly brushes her face hoping the touch will help soothe and her tone his firm but also soothing and reassuring, “Hestia, you did just fine you applied your healer’s touch in the middle of combat.” She brushes a stray locket of brown hair from the cleric’s eyes, “Honestly. what more could we have asked from you?”

Hoping that by allowing Hestia to heal her that she will bring some comfort to the young lady Brystasia tenderly moves her arm up so that she can see and grasp it easier. She gives a witty smile and winks at Hestia as she continue to try and lighten her mood, “I guess I’m still to young to have a scar but if you want half my suitors I guess we could let it scar up…”

"I suppose." Hestia replies a little doubtfully to Brystasia's reassurances. Taking hold of her hand, Hestia invokes another healing spell, filling Brystasia with a pleasant warmth akin to a seat close to a fire on a cold day.

"So it's true what they say, then? Half of the city pleads their suit with you, while the other half is jealous?" She teases with a more confident grin. "Maybe I should have let it scar, just to give the rest of us a chance."

"What should we do now?" Ged asks, looking slightly uncomfortable at Hestia's words. "We seem to have dealt with that creature, but I worry that there may be more. Thanks to Hestia's skill, and our Lady's blessing, I am fully restored, so I advocate that we make a thorough search of the building. However, if either of you has another suggestion, I am at your disposal."

Bryastasia Purelove: Half-Nymph/Female (Gestalt:Holy Warrior/Rogue)

Brystasia grins as Hestia calms down some as she nods her thanks at her healing and she giggles at the joke she hope Hestia would make and she winks as she replies, “You needed scar me to have them as I will simply give you your choice of them as payment. Deal?”

Her smile turns to awkward when Hestia’s asks about her suitors are mentioned, “I’m not really sure if that’s true or not most of them fail to make it through Aymara’s doors as my goddess protects me from such things but it’s something that a simple girl from the forest isn’t accustomed too.”

Brystasia stands up as Ged speaks and a serious look returns, “I agree we should press on as where there is one of those foul beast their could be more. Shall we try the room that this one came from fisrt?”

She lends Hestia a hand in helping the brown haired girl up, “Do you still have Morwyn’s blessing to heal today?”

Brother Shatterstone said:

“I agree we should press on as where there is one of those foul beasts there could be more. Shall we try the room that this one came from first?”

Click to expand...

"That's a sound idea." Ged says, picking up his sword from the floor. He flexes his previously wounded arm, and seeming happy with Hestia's healing, makes for the door.

Taking Brystasia's hand, Hestia gets to her feet.

"I still have almost a half of the energy with which Morwyn has entrusted me this day." She brushes off her robe, covered in dust from where she was kneeling, as she speaks. "But let us hope I need not use it again..."

Ged kicks the door fully open, looking into the room beyond.

"It's empty." He says, sounding both relieved and slightly disappointed at the same time. He steps into the room to give Brystasia and Hestia and unobstructed view.

From the large mirror fixed to one wall, you guess this to have been a dressing room for the Compass' actors. The smell of rotted flesh is nearly overwhelming in here, the undead having obviously been in here for several days. Ged holds his sleeve over his nose, pulling a disgusted face at the stench.


(OoC: Hestia's still go 2 of her 5 spell points for the day.)

Bryastasia Purelove: Half-Nymph/Female (Gestalt:Holy Warrior/Rogue)

As Brystasia’s nose wrinkles in disgust as the tainted smell assaults it she forces the gagging feeling back down as she replies, “Lets move on then. We can search for clues after this room airs out.”

Her face green Brystasia gives Hestia a small apologetic smile as she quickly leaves the room for the reality freshness of the hallway.

Feeling better after a few deep breaths Brystasia looks towards the previous door, “I have no desire to be surprised on the way out. Lets take the doors in order.”

"You've got a soldier's mind." Ged agrees approvingly with Brystasia's suggestion. Letting Brystasia take the lead this time, he falls into step behind her and Hestia.

The door opens easily, revealing another dressing room. This one looks untouched since the theater was abandoned, with several small jars of dried out grease paint in a row on the table in front of the mirror. The gleam of metal catches Brystasia's eye in the torchlight, coming from the floor at the far end of the table.


(OoC: A roll of 17 for Brystasia's Spot check.)

Bryastasia Purelove: Half-Nymph/Female (Gestalt:Holy Warrior/Rogue)

Brystasia doesn’t know which she feels happier about, not finding another undead beast or not having to deal with their stench, “It’s empty but what’s that?”

She gracefully and carefully walks though the room as she approaching the glinting metal.