Caerth looks up, a flash of anger in his eyes disappearing immediately as he looks at Aureus. The half-orc smiles awkwardly.
"Right," he says softly. "I only need a moment."
Tearing off the smelly cloak, the druid takes out the coins and then wraps the heart in the cloth tightly. The coins and the package go into his backpack. Then with one hand on the stone floor and the other hovering above the wooden symbol still around the corpse's neck, Caerth mutters softly and focuses the power of nature all around him to take apart the very fibers of the wood, releasing what once was part of a tree from the restraints of its current shape.
The symbol falls apart in tiny twigs.
While Aureus waits for him to finish, she gives young Brutus some encouragement. "It's okay now," she says calmly. "The rooks have fallen. The danger is past. Just fight through it. We're going to need you."
The half-ogre youth tears his eyes away from what Caerth is doing and focuses on the hutaakan rogue's words. He takes a few deep breaths and finally stops shaking after a few minutes. He stands and nods to her.
"I- I'm ready to keep going," he says.
Timmins cuts some vines growing on the old tower's walls and ties up the rook that surrendered. You can tell this Roobite is in sorry shape after Phar's
fireball spell. (A strong breeze would likely knock the rook over.) His body is covered in burns and he winces when Timmins binds his clawed hands and feet.
"While I'd rather not gag you, we can't have you making that cawing sound," Timmins says to the rook as he stuffs some moss in the rooks mouth and ties a vine around its head to hold it in place. "Sit... or crouch down here and don't cause any trouble and maybe we'll heal some of your wounds." Timmins points to the short wall that divides the rest of the circular room from the alcove with the stairwell.
He looks at Brutus. "Soldier, are you up for some guard duty? I need you to watch him while I help look for Gareth."
Brutus nods. He is soon staring down at Roobite with a harsh glare.
"Quinten, the Rooks have been, slain," he hesitates over this last word with a worried glance back in the direction of Caerth. "Their power should be broken soon and the fear will leave you. It is an effect they have, not true fear on your part."
It takes a few minutes for Quinten to snap out of the fear affecting him. He blinks and looks at Phar. He shakes his head as if he's waking up from a bad dream. "Phar, I don't know if I should be here. That was the worst thing I've ever felt." He holds his temple as he gets to his feet. "I succumbed so easily."
The young archer looks back up the stairs with uncertainty but a look from Phar tells him 'there's no going back now'. He follows the elf wizard back up into the tower. They find Brutus standing over the rook prisoner while Quinn finishes digging through the remains of the dead rooks. The gladiator doesn't seem bothered by the smell of the dead rooks, which is awful.
Phar remembers that smell from the first time he and the others faced off against these flying beastfolk. It's worse in the confines of the tower and the burnt flesh doesn't help.
"Ooh, that smell is going to stay with me," Quinten jokes, halfheartedly.
Aureus and Caerth prepare to lead the way up the stairs to look for Gareth with Timmins. "Brutus will watch this Roobite creature," Timmins says to Phar. Wieland went downstairs looking for Meridith. Hopefully she is just huddled up in a corner somewhere shaking off the fear."
"Aye, I was," a female voice rises from down the spiral stairs. The two cousins come up the stairs with Meridith in the lead. She is glaring with anger. "Please tell me that you gutted all those things?"
"One of them
surrendered," Aureus replies. She puts herself in from the young human to make sure Meridith understands that the fight is over. "We need to find Gareth. He has come back yet and there might be more rooks above. He could need our help."
"Brutus will stay here and watch the rook," Timmins adds.
"I'll stay with him to watch his back," Quinten offers.
"Good lad," Timmins says. "And keep an eye out for anything else that might try to come in here. but call out if you need help."
Quinten nods.
The rest of the group heads up the stairwell to the next floor. It's hard not to remember this floor. The ooze attacked your group here the first time. It was a tough fight. Beyond the alcove is a short hallway that leads a long corridor that runs along the center of the tower from west to east. The western half ends with broken dumbwaiter while the eastern half has four doors.
The first door on your right is the tower's old chapel where you had taken refuge after the fight with the ooze. You remember that its altar has a permanent
sanctuary spell on it. The door is as you left it, closed and unlocked. The door across from it on your right was locked, and you never investigated it after the ooze attacked in the corridor. Checking it, you still find it locked. The second doorway on your right doesn't have a door anymore. It is the room where you had climbed up from outside, originally. The door across from it on your left is closed and locked. Aureus had tried opening it before the ooze attacked, with no luck.
You don't find Gareth on this floor. Hopefully he didn't climb out the hole and run off to somewhere else on the rocky islet. It isn't until you reach the next floor up, the old armory, that you find the aged fighter. Instead of finding him curled up, you find him sitting on an old turned-over barrel trying to catch his breath. The scene would be hilarious if the old armory wasn't so dank and creepy.
Gareth looks up and then coughs. "Gods, I'm out of practice. I barely remember running up here. Did we lose anyone?"
