Shackled City - Chapter II

[Majin]

OoC: Zeric healed 11 points.

~

Suddenly, and enormous spherical creature appears in the middle of the room. It has a stony hide, a large central eye, a toothy maw, and a crown of writhing eyestalks. It fixes its many eyes upon you and begins to speak in common.

"I have come for Terrem Kharatys. That boy should not have been taken from Cauldron. I intend to see that he is safely returned to his orphanage. You can keep the others. They are of no consequence. Come, Terrem--you will be safe with me."

 

[Verbatim]

As Althron's eyes widened, Zeric turned around to see what the dwarven priest was looking at, but never in his life had Zeric seen a being such as this.

~Cuthbert's cudgel! What manner of demon do we face now?~

Reaching out for his weapon, Zeric's fingers had barely touched the handle of the morningstar when it spoke to them. Its deep voice resonating easily in the room.

"I have come for Terrem Kharatys. That boy should not have been taken from Cauldron. I intend to see that he is safely returned to his orphanage. You can keep the others. They are of no consequence. Come, Terrem--you will be safe with me."

Standing up straight, Zeric willed his voice to stay strong as he addressed the multi-eyed creature.

"We have been charged by the church of St. Cuthbert to deliver all the taken souls from this hellish place. How many others are here that you care nothing about?"

While Zeric had no doubt that the creature could easily dispose of him without much effort, he hoped the creature's insolence could be used to their advantage.

 

[Majin]

"I know not and care not, humanoid," the creature says, centering a few of its eyestalks on the fallen body of the slaver.

"It appears Kazmojen is incapacitated at the moment, by your doing no less, so the reward for the boy shall go to you," he bellows, repositioning all of his eyes on the party. A human woman, hovering a few feet off the ground materializes not far from the beholder's side. She wears black robes, a tall black headdress and a veil covers her face. In one hand she clutches a slender crystal wand and around her neck she wears a pendant shaped like a tiny silver cage. She glides over to Zeric and presents a purse from her robes.

"Fifty pieces of platinum is what is owed and shall be paid," the orb explains, eyeing the party and their reaction.

 

[Verbatim]

"I know not and care not, humanoid," the creature says, centering a few of its eyestalks on the fallen body of the slaver.

"It appears Kazmojen is incapacitated at the moment, by your doing no less, so the reward for the boy shall go to you," he bellows, repositioning all of his eyes on the party. A human woman, hovering a few feet off the ground materializes not far from the beholder's side. She wears black robes, a tall black headdress and a veil covers her face. In one hand she clutches a slender crystal wand and around her neck she wears a pendant shaped like a tiny silver cage. She glides over to Zeric and presents a purse from her robes.

"Fifty pieces of platinum is what is owed and shall be paid," the orb explains, eyeing the party and their reaction.

As the woman extended her hand towards Zeric, the hexblade waved the blood money away from him. Too many times had he witnessed a similar transaction at the camps dedicated to Hextor and he was not about to begin walking down that path.

"If you are truly taking the boy back to the orphanage, give the coins to the halfling woman who runs the orphanage. Perhaps with the coins she can afford a better lock to keep the children safe."

While Zeric did not know the thoughts of his companions, he did not care at the moment if their desire for coin was greater than their desire for what was right.

Breaking his stare away from the veiled woman, Zeric pointed his weapon down towards the fallen slaver.

"What do you mean incapacitated? Does his fiendish heritage heal wounds that would kill mortal men?"

The thought of having to face the deadly blade of the slaver prompted Zeric to turn quickly to Althron.

"Bind his hands stoutly priest, we must not allow him to reach his blade if he is merely playing us as fools."

 

[Majin]

"If you are truly taking the boy back to the orphanage, give the coins to the halfling woman who runs the orphanage. Perhaps with the coins she can afford a better lock to keep the children safe."

"Very well," the beholder replies, slowly. The veiled woman gives a curt nod and returns the purse to her robes and returns to the side of the beholder.

"What do you mean incapacitated? Does his fiendish heritage heal wounds that would kill mortal men?"

The creature laughs at the shock and alarm in Zeric's voice. "He is part trollkin human. He will recover from the wounds he has been dealt without further intervention," the beholder explains, frankly not caring whether the slaver lived or died.

 

[Manzanita]

Raven

Raven is stunned by the sudden appearence of these alien beings. She crouches, ready for combat, but doesn't attack. In no position to prevent these beings from taking the boy, she doesn't try to stop them.

"Uh. Excuse me, spherical one. We're heading back to the orphange, too. We could take the boy and save you the trouble." She takes a few steps towards the fallen armored man, ready to smash her axe into him if he tried to rise.

OOC: He is taking one of the kidnaped boys?

 

[Majin]

OoC: Yep.

~

The beholder shakes his massive form at Raven's proposal. "That will not be necessary. I wish to make sure the child is returned properly and I can arrange this quicker than you can return to the surface," the creature says, with a hint of finality in its voice.

 

[kirinke]

Though Alinis has never seen such a creature before, raw instinct tells her that it is dangerous. Anything that can levitate on its own and obviously, that is the only way it can move, is something she doesn't want to tangle with. Especially since they all suffer from wounds of various sorts.

"We apparently have no choice," she said heavily, mentally memorizing everything about the sphere and vieled woman, including any identifying marks so she can find out who they are later. "We will be notifying the local church of what has happened though," she said.

Whatever they are, the church is better equipped to deal with them than we are at the moment. she thought regretfully.

 

[hippocrachus]

Orpheus pops out of his musical trance just in time to offer a rebuttal to Zeric's refusal of the beholder's payment.
"If the foolish man will not take due reward, forget him," the bard says to the orb in Undercommon, knowing few of his companions will understand him. "I will take it."
One cannot live on honor alone.
While waiting for the beholder's reply, Orpheus walks over to the stricken Elyas and begins to play a soothing tune on his lyre.

[sblock]Cure Light Wounds[/sblock]

 

[Verbatim]

Zeric kept his muscles taunt as his companions tried to reason with the creature before them. However, as the dandy approached the creature and the female that stood beside it, Zeric's eyes narrowed with thinly masked anger.

~What is this fool doing? What was it that he told it?~

As Raven moved closer to the still unmoving body of the slaver, Zeric turned to face the child that the creature had came for.

"You will be okay, make sure that the coins reach the Madam Gretchen. See to it that she tells the Cudgels we will be returning soon, and we will not be returning alone."

Hoping the child would pass on at least a portion of the message, Zeric turned to face the floating creature.

"If you are to take him, then do so now and let us deal with this trollkin and free those who you leave behind."