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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 2913486" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #345] A Message from Beyond the Grave[/PLAIN]"There's a body," Lela said, gesturing at the bed. "A woman." She looked sick but Huzair just stepped forward and pulled back the sheet to reveal the monstrous corpse."Shararizod's beard!" Karak swore upon seeing the defaced body once more. The dwarf lowered his had and muttered into his beard, "May this little one rest in your arms, me Queen.""Who is she?" Huzair asked. He was less disturbed by what he saw than were the others. During his youth in Freeport he'd seen many men with unsavory tastes and the wealth to feed those desires. None of the debaucheries he'd seen equalled this level of madness, but a few had come close, and Huzair was not one to be surprised by men's capacity for depravity."I think she was a local girl stolen an' transformed into the dark wizard's plaything by the looks o' it," Karak grumbled, casting another withering glance at the dead man slumped against the wall."Flor have mercy!" Shamalin cried upon entering the alcove. The blood seemed to drain from her face as she stared at the ravaged corpse. At her side, Ayremac's demeanor was one of shocked silence. His face was a grim mask, his lips pressed in a tight white line."What's with the stitches?" the mage went on, examining the work with clinical detachment. "Really weird...""Where have we seen that stichin' before?" Karak asked. "What do you all think it means?" At first, no answers were forthcoming, but then Lela spoke up."It seems clear that the red thread is significant," she said, softly at first, but her voice growing in volume and conviction as she went on. "Red makes me think of blood. The fact that the eyes and mouth are stiched shut makes me think of not being able to see or speak. So they are taking away people's abilities to see and speak. Why would Aphyx want that?""I don't know," Morier admitted."Ayremac, have you ever seen this before in your travels?" Karak asked the newest member of their group. The Officer shook his head without uttering a word.Lela took a deep breath and fluttered down to stan beside the woman's shaved head. "I can't stand the thoguht of leaving this body so defiled," she told them as she began to undo the stiches around the woman's eyes and mouth. "Someone, please help me wrap her in this sheet.""Wow, I wonder if this would have happened to you if we had not come along," Huzair asked Shamalin in a conversational tone, rubbing his hand over his own bald head to indicate the similarity between this woman and the state that the cleric had been in when they'd found her in Miller's Pond.Shamalin's response was low and certain. "I'm sure it would have," she said and then went about the business of helping Lela.Karak scowled at Huzair and poked him in the ribs with the haft of his waraxe. When the mage turned angrily around the dwarf lit into him in a harsh whisper. "For a wizard ye ain't very smart!" he told the dark-skinned man. "Only a great fool'd say a thing like tha' to the lass!""You really do not look so tough right now, dwarf, after what the wizard did to you," Huzair sneered pushing the waraxe away from himself with relative ease. "So mind your tongue.""Mind my-?" Karak sputtered. "Why I've a good mind to-" But Huzair cut him off with a dismissive wave."Now would not be the best time to settle our petty squabbles, especially for you," Huzair said looking disdainfully at the way Karak was sagging under the very weight of his own armor. "I do not see why at every possible chance you seek to belittle my abilities. I recall our introduction; You pointed your blade in my face, even though I was with Morier. You are a bully and a racist. I have been a victim of that most of my life and I will not continue to tolerate it... Let's focus on the task at hand.""Now that be the raven calling the crow black, wizard," Karak sighed and shook his great head. "You insight dissention with your offhand comments and yet complain about settling squabbles. Alas, I have nae belittled your abilities, but have merely noted the boastin' of your abilities all the while, yet, when it's time to use them abilities, ye disappear.""I do not boast, dwarf, I only state facts and comment on possible improvement," Huzair replied hautily. "My buffing does last for hours and with an Endurance spell, so does my loving."Karak harrumphed and stepped slowly forward. "Now you callin' me a racist and a bully... why that I take exception to. If'n I be a racist then why would I be traveling in this merry band, I ask ye? An' if'n I be a bully then why was it me that pulled you off a helpless, bound prisoner, I ask ye?" Huzair had no answer and Karak thumped a thick finger into the wizard's chest, peering into Huzair's face with one angry eye."Now I do agree with one thing ye said though: to focus on the task at hand," Karak sighed, "To start you could stop barkin' up everyone's boulder and help out with these abilities of yours. Like searcing the wizards belongings and tellin' us of anything useful and magical.""What a good idea, Karak. Using your brain instead of your brawn. Impressive." The wizard smirked and punched the dwarf on the arm. The sound of knuckles on dwarven plate echoed painfully and Huzair grimaced. To Morier and Ayremac he said, "Search the room and watch the doors. Who knows what lurks under the bed..."While Huzair cast his spells, Karak sidled up to Shamalin. She and Lela had just about removed the stitching from the dead woman's eyes and mouth. The Sprite glanced up as Karak approached and muttered, "I believe being in this foul place is causing dissention among us. I mean more than usual! Let us focus.""Aye, wee one. Ye speak true," Karak admitted with a nod. Turning to Shamalin he asked, "Lass, how does the sight of this room take ye? I bet this is the likes of what you saw and went through, eh lass? Do you know why they stich the faces like that?" Shamalin said nothing, didn't even look away from her work with the crimson thread. She just shook her head, no."It disturbs me," Karak sighed into his beard, looking reluctantly at the dead elf's marred beauty. "Do nae worry, though. You lived through it then, and you'll live through it now. You are a brave one. I did nae see your back in this one. Just remember, not swinging a sword does nae mean you aren't effective in a battle. There are others ways to help the fight. Me brother was a full blown Cleric, and I never seen a braver soul. And, if'n you really want to use that long poker, I'll show you some dwarven techniques instead of those airy-faery elven ones." He winked at her and she smiled back."I'll hold you to your offer, if we ever make it out of this place," She told him, but, despite her smiling mouth, her eyes were dark and fearful.Huzair had collected the few items of magic in the room - the naked man's bracelets, the amulet, and his earrings - and done his best to determine what they were without actually trying any of the items on. The earrings radiated feint Abjuration and Transmutation magic, the bracelets were enchanted with a moderate Conjuration effect, and the amulet was powered by a moderate Transmutation spell. He could guess that the wide bracelets were probably Bracers of Armor, but the other two items were beyond him.He stepped up to Ayremac and whispered, "I know this sounds really nasty, but I wonder if this was some sort of attempt to impregnate a dead body in some way?" The holy warrior blanched at the suggestion and Huzair could see the muscles bunching in his jaw as he considered this affront to the dead."Nasty doesn't quite cover it," he hissed and the wizard nodded."I know," he said. "I wonder if we should pierce her womb to kill anything growing in there? I hate to say that to the others for of obvious reasons, but you may understand or have a better idea." Ayremac looked stricken."That's an abhorrent idea," he snapped but reconsidered after a moment. "But none the less, I have always felt that the gods guide our thoughts so maybe whomever you pray to is trying to tell us something.""We will NOT be piercing this dead woman's womb," Shamalin said behind them and they turned to see her regarding them both coldly. "Flor will allow me the power to Speak With Dead. Perhaps in death the woman may help undo her captors' evil.""That's a great idea, Shamalin!" Lela chirped brightly."Aye," Karak nodded. "That is a fine idea. Speak with her; anything she can tell us would help, I figure.""The rest of the junk in here isn't telling us anything!" Morier cursed, yanking down one of the obscene tapestries with a single violent motion.Shamalin prepared herself and the body and the others gathered around her as she chanted and gestured and traced divine symbols invisibly over the woman's brow. The invocation seemed to go on for a very long time, but the room grew silent at once as the corpse's mutilated eyes snapped open. The left eye had evidently been pierced by the needle during the stitching process - it was a sightless orb of blood - but the other glittered like a sapphire as it stared up at Shamalin.The cleric almost jumped out of her skin as the dead woman stared at her expectantly, but she maintained her concentration and asked in elvish, "What are they protecting here and where can it be found?""Vectors," the woman answered, her mangled lips making even the musical notes of the elven speech sound gutteral and harsh. "Vectors in the pit."Shamalin blinked back a tear and asked her second question, "Can you tell us anything else which might aid us in the fight against Aphyx?" The corpse turned away for a moment as if it were thinking and when it turned back its eye was awash with fear."The lord of this place is strong in both limb and magic," she said. "Do not let him take you alive." And then the body shuddered and lay still."It is over now, little one. Your spirit is free," Shamalin said over the body. "May Flor's mercy guide you home."In response to the dead woman's comments Lela looked sardonically at Huzair and said, "Huzair, don't worry. If they capture you, I will kill you." He looked dubious."Thanks," he replied. "That's very comforting."</blockquote>

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