Urn Your Pay (Rae judging)

[Halford]

Erf hurries over to the grig and attempts to keep it alive,

"I think he'll live." The forest gnome announces after a moment, tousling Fenenn's hair as the big dog approaches and sniffs at the grig.

"Great job guys! I don't know what he did te ye exactly Ter-raen, but I'm sure ye'll be back te normal in no time. If he'd been powerful enough te do somethin' longer lastin' I think we'd been toast."

He turns to Kshatrya,

"Thanks fer yer help Kshatrya, I'm just sorry te 'ave te give ye the bad news. Any idea what ye'll do now? Or what ye want te do with these vill'ns? We need te finish searchin' the place its our quest, but afterwards if ye wanted we could escort ye somewhere, and like I said Sister Anemone just los 'er apprentice..."

He trails off into silence and looks back to his companions.

Fenenn meanwhile - happy to have his assumptions about litle green people confirmed moves over and pointedly proffers the back of an ear to the Nixie for scratching.

[sblock=Rolls]Heal check on Grig (1d20+3=18) Speelcraft on Reduce Person (1d20+7=16) [/sblock]

 

[serow]

Ter-raen moves over to retrieve his spear, glad that the danger is past, for now. He is amazed again as his spear shrinks to "normal" size, and watches it expand again into "big" size as he lets go of it. Shaking his head, he mutters, "crazy magic..." under his breath.

 

[covaithe]

[sblock=ooc]There's actually some debate about whether things shrink that you pick up while reduced, or whether it only affects things that you had on you at the time the spell was cast. I'm inclined toward the latter interpretation, though it seems unlikely to matter this time. 16 spellcraft is enough to identify Reduce Person, so Erf can be confident that the effects will pass within a few minutes.
[/sblock]

Kshatrya turns away from Erf and the crumpled grigs and slumps to a sitting position at the edge of the pond. She stares fixedly at the chalice, still glinting in the sunlight, and tears run down her face.

"I don't know, Erf. I don't know anything anymore. I thought I had found my purpose. I was happy. I would happily have spent the rest of my days serving.... And it was all a lie. All along, a stupid lie, and I fell for it like some gullible tadpole swimming into a net. I'm too stupid to be a priestess, Erf. Why would Sister Anemone want me as an apprentice? Surely she would require her apprentice to be reliable and disciplined and not so gullible." She collapses into tears again, burying her face into Fenenn's ruff. The poor dog gives a confused whimper, not unlike the noises Kshatrya is making.

 

[Halford]

Erf looking striken moves to Kshatrya's side and moves to place a hand upon her shoulder, but draws it back at the last second.

"Kshatrya ye did nothin' wrong. Ye weren't stupid te put yer faith in somethin' they were stupid te trick ye like they did. Yer goddess knows ye care, and she knows what these wretches 'ave done. Ye can do one of two things, give up and count this time as a waste, or ye can realize that the gods work in mysterious ways - if this brought ye onto the path ye were meant te follow then ye've only gained. Yer not stupid, yer trusting, and thats a good thing in a priest. There's no shame in being fooled so long as ye let yerself see it when ye can, and don't continue bein' blinkered. Ye saw it and ye took action."

Biting his lip nervously Erf finally summons up the courage to pat the Nixie awkwardly on the shoulder.

"Kshatrya yer brave, a crackin' shot, 'n' ye have real faith, its a rare combination. Sister Anemone 'd be lucky te have ye, anyone would. I am sure ye'll do the right thing."

 

[serow]

Ter-raen leaves the gnome alone to console the nixie. There were some kind words he could have said, an experience or two he could have shared. But he wasn't sure if he could get his message across in a more eloquent way, so he just shrugged his shoulders and let the gnome do the talking. Looking at his palm-up hands, he recalls that Erf said this shrinking spell would only last a few minutes. He looks at the crying nixie, and decides that the next few minutes might be better served letting her cry it out a bit.

 

[covaithe]

Kshatrya rests her hand on top of Erf's, welcoming his comforting touch. "Faith... I guess that's the question, isn't it. I thought I had faith, that the goddess had found me worthy to be her servant. But I also thought that stupid cup was a shrine. I thought I knew so much about the goddess, but now I find it was all a lie. I don't know anyting about her, and I don't know what to think any more. Erf," she turns to the gnome, trapping her hand in hers and pinning his gaze with her enormous violet eyes. "You've proven yourself trustworthy. What do you think? Is... is Galatea a good goddess? Is She someone I could be proud to serve? And... would She value my service, or am I just a silly girl?"

Gildrim rolls his eyes and mutters something unintelligible into his beard, and absents himself behind a clump of trees to clean off the splattered snake blood as best he can.

 

[Halford]

Swallowing a lump in his throat Erf, exchanging a look with Fenenn, sighs heavily.

"I can't tell ye if ye goddess is worth followin' or not. But its clear that ye feel a connection with 'er, ye owe it yerself te see if that's real I'd say. Thing is ye can try now learn 'n' leave if thats what ye choose, but if ye don't try I think ye'll regret it, sort of thing."

Erf pauses and looks thoughtful,

"Persn'lly I'm a follower of Verdante, because I love the green, and I believe that everythin' needs te change or wither 'n' fade. From what little I know about Galatea she's a fine goddess 'n' with yer connection te the waters she seems a fine choice. Why don't ye think things over fer a while? This isn't a decision te be taken lightly. We will be here until morning so ye don't need te rush."

Obviously feeling awkward Erf's foot again begins to revolve slowly, Fenenn licks Kshatrya reassuringly - perturbed by her tears.

 

[covaithe]

Kshatrya nods slowly, shoulders slumping just a bit. "Of course you're right, Erf. This is a big decision, and I shouldn't have tried to pass it off onto you. I will think it over, but I think I will not do it here. I have spent too much time here, and I need a good swim. Could I meet you at your camp in the morning?"

 

[Halford]

Erf smiles gently and nods,

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Watch out for crocodiles though, we nearly got eat' ourselves, though I think that was likely the doing of our new friends 'ere. We need to finish our quest in anycase. If ye don't decide te come with us stop by so I don't worry would ye? Take care Kshatrya..."

The forest gnome flushes deep green again and steps back calling Fenenn to him with a gesture.

 

[covaithe]

Kshatrya smiles weakly. "I've been swimming these waters my whole life. Don't worry about me. And yes, I'll come see you even if I decide not to go with you. Don't leave without me. And take care of yourself, too, Erf." She stands, hesitates for a moment, then leans forward and gives Erf a quick peck on the cheek before darting to the wall and scampering up a nearby tree. She turns to wave from the top of the wall, then drops down lightly and is gone. Fenenn whines a bit, then gives Erf's face a great wet sloppy lick.

After a few moments, Gildrim's rusty bass comes from out of the trees. "Be it safe t'caume ite yet?"