Quinn is feeling pain for the first time in a long time. He felt the cloud of poison drain away a part of him, to the point of a bit of color of his skin had paled. But the rest he had in an actual bed, a comfortable bed like that given to the champion gladiator, had allowed his body to fully recover it vitality overnight.
He draws the scimitar, "Cruel Justice" and he gives a respectful nod to the naked adamantine blade, "good morning, blade of the stars. We have justice to meter out today, The duergar has broken his solemn vow. By the law of the land, that is a sentence of death. May I be the one who wields you to administer this justice? And to bring justice to the boy, Brutus' murder?"
Its not a prayer, but an honest question for the weapon to consider. As for an actual prayer, he moves to a window and faces to the grove and gets on his knees in supplication, "Those of you have smiled on us and given us this victory, I thank you. I do not know your names, but my companions do and I thank you for protecting them and I. We have further work to be done and I humbly ask for your favorable gaze to continue to smile upon us in our endeavors."
After a short moment of silence he stands and dresses to prepare for the day - Food being one of the first .. .. ..
"Brutus gave his life as a soldier of Carnell, Sir Quinn. We must not forget that he fought with honor. Is it murder to be killed in combat?" Cruel Justice replies.
"But, you are right that the duergar broke his oath to a lawful trial and must be punished for fleeing. While the other one swore no such oath, he also must be brought to justice by any means possible. It is unlikely either of them will surrender a second time. We should not accept such a surrender without good cause."
After Quinn says his prayer to the gods of the shrine, these North Gods, a solitary raven lands on the ledge outside the window. It hops up and down on the ledge and then peers at the gladiator-knight. It caws and flaps its wings, almost as if dancing. Then it seems to bow to Quinn and then takes to the air. It flies high above Carnell, dives down to the Grove of the North Gods, and then flies south along the coast until it is out of sight.
Maur nods "Galzadar will have to wait then."
And think to himself "They had a necromancer in the town. It would be better the body is only looted."
"We may have a way of freeing Galzadar spirit too, lady. But it will take some time. Time we don't have if we're going after the ring."
"We can hold him in the manor," she replies.
"He isn't much a threat without a spellbook." She pauses.
"Even if there is a way a freeing him from this curse placed on him, the senate will still want him to face some sort of justice. He will have to find a way to repay the families of those he killed." She sighs.
"I do not think the citizens will accept him in any form, even if he is cured and repents. Maybe... maybe if they witness his redemption with their own eyes."
"Lady Pendour, I came here to tell everyone I have the third component for the cleansing ritual for Galzadar. And if Caerth prepares Atonement today, we can do it immediately.
I already prepared spells needed to locate the fugitives. I can also call celestial allies and send them after them while we deal with the elf. Xander might be too strong for them, but not necessarily. And Eike almost certainly isn't.
I have Consecrate in case we want to do the ritual away from the sacred grove. I prepared things to protect him and us from evil...it will take about 2 hours total so we can still start tracking."
"I believe yer friend Phar still has the duergar's spellbook, so Xander probably won't be able to sling any spells at ye," Mabon says. "But I wouldn't underestimate him or that other one either. They made off with a lot of stuff that could help them in a fight. There were few old potions in the chest they broke open. A couple of minor healing draughts and a strange brew I never had identified. It had a stylized-sword symbol on it."
"I doubt the two fugitives will be able to take on all of them at once," Lady Pendour says to Mabon. She looks at Maur.
"If you feel you must help Galzadar first, I have no objections. After last night, I trust your judgment. All I ask is that you do not wait too long to go after them. Who knows what they will do with my husband's body."
Neurotic said:
He looks at the group
"I am loathe to let the killers go, but they can be tracked later and Galzadar is a threat in this state."
Lady Pendour muses for a moment.
"Galzadar was a good friend to Peregrine and if this ritual can return the elf to his former self, I know it would please my husband's soul, and while the ring is important, it is not more important than a living soul that could be saved."
"And you shouldn't leave that demon flitting around here," Mabon says. "It's presence is making the people nervous."
"If we lock Galzadar up in the manor, I will not allow it inside," Lady Pendour insists.
"I have been told it is sitting in a tree near the grove, but it cannot stay there either. I suggest you tell it to leave. It has no place here even if Galzadar is redeemed."
The lady tone is firm and doesn't allow for any dissent on the matter of the quasit's presence in Carnell.
Phar spends a long night in Elven reverie in the grove. He has much to ponder. He is much taken by the valor he witnessed this past day, but burdened by the losses this little place has suffered. Why must their be such evil in the world that takes good people from their homes and families in untimely death. Their spans on this world are short enough as it is.
But these same questions have troubled the rest of Elves for thousands of years and no answers have been found even by the most knowledgeable of Sages and the wisest of Elders. Phar is not so vain as to think his meager accumulated experiences are enough to give him the answers so many have sought.
The new day has new and immediate problems that must be solved. He studies his spell books carefully as soon as it is light enough to read them. He must prepare for the ritual and for the bringing of justice for the crimes of Xander and Eike. He takes a moment to consider the companions he has found. They are a stalwart lot and overcame much in yesterday's fighting. He is thankful for each of them.
Eventually, he closes his book rises and seeks out his companions, nay his friends...
Phar senses two presences nearby as he is studying his spellbook.
The first is the Soldier of Iron, Aries Zeidan, who keeps vigil over Galzadar from just outside the grove. The man isn't a worshipper of the North Gods, but he respects them, it seems. He is praying to his own god, Oaldir, while keeping one eye on the cursed elven wizard. Phar has heard of the god before, but Oaldir is an obscure nature deity that has few worshippers in the northern lands. Oaldir is more popular in the warmer southern lands, but there is a small following in Aries' homeland, the Kingdom of Stonn, and other lands of the Jagged Peninsula.
The man has quickly endeared himself to the people of Carnell and Lady Pendour. He has been more than willing to tell all he knows about the Cult of Malotoch. He also told them that when the necromancer freed Eike and Xander, the duergar had hesitated, if only for a moment. Reynold had insisted that Xander either go with Eike or be left behind to face Tarrak's wrath once the heroes were slain. While Xander hadn't been convinced that the ghast lord would win, he decided to take his chances with the cultists rather than the wrath of Lady Pendour and Phar and his friends.
The second presence just outside the grove is the quasit, Eutharic. The tiny demon has no need to eat or sleep, so it was able to keep watch over its master all night. The creature is still worried about Galzadar and Phar can sense the demon is getting impatient. Phar senses a sadness in Eutharic. The quasit knows that if the ritual is successful, Galzadar will likely reject him as his familiar. This will leave the tiny demon without the protection of a master, and it could easily be banished back to the lower planes. It doesn't take magic to know that Eutharic has no desire to be sent back to the Abyss.
Once Phar is done with his spellbook, and rises to his feet, it doesn't take long for him to find one of his friends. Aureus meets him on the path leading into the grove. She smiles at her oldest friend.
"I'm glad to see you're rested. The others are gathering near the smithy. Caerth already has Eike and Xander's trail. There's still some debate on whether we're going to hunt them first or perform the ritual." She yawns.
"I'll be back once I pray for my spells. I'm going to concentrate on healing today."
She notes Aries praying at the edge of the grove.
"I see he's still around," she whispers.
"Lady Pendour has given him her blessing to leave. He will not have to face any sort of punishment. Not that he should. He told us the truth, it seems." She studies the Soldier of Iron.
"Maybe we should ask for his help. Those two stole some of his gear too... I'll ask him."
Aureus lets Phar continue on to find the others while she heads into the grove and begins to pray to the God of the Hutaakans, Vaflar.
Caerth is moved by Lady Pendour's revelation, and despite his gruff appearance, tears form in his eyes.
"He was a good man," he says simply, locking eyes with the noblewoman. He can see the understanding in her eyes, as she must realize that Caerth, too, grew up without his actual parents. And like Brutus, Caerth inherited a bloodline that is seen as monstrous by most of the villagers, which made them both outsiders of sorts.
"We will get the ring back," the druid promises.
Abruptly, he turn his eyes away when she starts crying. He is uncomfortable with tears, and he ignores his own; instead, he merely looks away and happens to see Phar walk over.
Phar makes his way to the smithy and finds the others talking with Lady Pendour. He can sense that Caerth seems to be upset about something and all of them have serious looks on there faces. Could something else have happened?
"Magus Phar," Lady Pendour says as the paragon elf wizard approaches.
"I was just tell your friends about Brutus and my husband." She retells the tale of Brutus's life, his dead parents, the missing ring, and her husband's missing body.
Quinn arrives in the middle of her retelling of Brutus being her husband's brother's son. She goes into detail about the boy's wish to leave some of his personal items to Sir Quinn, but that the ring and axe must go back to Pendour Family. Cruel Justice speaks after she is done.
"Yes, Lord Pendour would want the boy's axe to placed on the wall of the Great Hall next to his blade," the intelligent blades says.
"He told you," Lady Pendour says.
"He did not have to, dear lady," Cruel Justice replies.
"The bond that connected us meant that there were no secrets between us, but, it was not my secret to reveal... to anyone." It pauses.
"Yet, Sir Quinn's natural connection with the boy was influenced by that old bond. It wasn't a conscious act by me on him."
Lady Pendour nods and then turns back to Phar.
"Maur believes you all can help Galzadar before tracking down the fugitives. I have consented to let the ritual be performed first. But, it must be done quickly and then the villains who stole my husband's body must be hunted down. You do not have to bring them back for trial. The justice of the sword is what they deserve."
"And that is what they will get," Cruel Justice insists.
"And I have been asked to help by Aureus and have agreed," a voice says. "If the rest of you will allow me to come with you to catch them."
Aries comes down the dirt and stone street towards the smithy. He is dressed in the same chainmail armor he wore on the island, but it looks like he's spent the morning cleaning it. He has trimmed his beard and cleaned the dust and grime of the Temple of Malotoch out of his clothes. He carries an old, large wooden shield that was lent to him by Mabon. He has his mace tied to his belt and his magically goggles sit atop his head. He wears the amulet that Angus returned to him and he thanks the Harqualian centaur again for giving it back without a first blood match. His magical cloak and gloves were taken, so he only wears a light plain cloak.
"How's that old shield, Ironknight," Mabon says.
"It is sturdy enough," Aries replies. "I thank you for your kindness, and please, you do not not need to call me by that title. It is an old honorific used by my Order that I don't particularly care for. Too stuffy and outdated."
Mabon shrugs but relents.
