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[Dark Fantasy] The Old Ways


Aphrodite Pandemos

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Silhouette nodded.

"I'm not thrilled about this either...but we're clearly dealing with something powerful. Strange that it should choose to use it this way, but we won't learn anything more hovering in this...whatever it is."

She gestured, indicating the tavern around them.

"Lets go see what this thing wants with us."

Her smirk could be heard in her voice then, if not seen. "Though I admit, I have a perverse impulse to explore a bit, and see how far its willing to let us go before snapping the leash back."

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Ryoma nodded. "I'm Ryoma.." He trailed off, stopping from adding anything beyond that, and nodded to Djane. "Walking's fine. My horse is outside, Though if we're all simply walking, I'll do the same."

"I will ask, beyond the illusion we saw, what is everyone capable of in a general fashion? Nothing innately specific mind, just something so that we don't go into this with nothing but each other's names."

He looked at them. "As you can tell, I am a warrior, generally, a mercenary by trade."

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Djane gestures towards the door. "I'll tell you once we're walking."

Once the group is on its way, Djane sighs. "All right. I have magical powers that come from being bound to raw elemental chaos. I can change things. Make them appear out of thin air. Turn people into frogs, that sort of thing. I live inside that ring." She nods to Ryo's ring finger. "Silhouette probably knows more about what I am than I do, honestly."

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So it was going to be like that? Just announcing their skill sets to the world, were they? Alright, if they really wanted to know. Batshit Redcoat stabbed stuff for a living, that was a stretch to believe. Redcoat's Genie was still a genie, nothing new there. On the favorable side of things, they were on their way to Castle Doom to meet whoever the hell they were going to meet. Not the best of plans, and certainly not the most informed, but it was the best that they had at the time.

"That's not really inspiring much confidence there, cuteness, but I figure you'll be good to have along"

Kor'ki had managed to pick up a few provisions on the way out. Some quick meat and bread bits, some decent alcohol (the kind that wasn't laced with horrible flavored gold) and some candy looking things that he hadn't been bothered to try yet.

"Well, like I said back there, I'm Kor'ki. As for what I do, I channel the forces of life and death in such a way that bends the fabric of reality to the point where the rules of the world stop mattering. Vengeful dead rising from the grave, bandit camps wiped out to a man, forces from beyond the world brought forward to serve at the mercy of their new master. You know, standard stuff."

Kor'ki indicated Redcoat's Genie.

"A lot like what's going on with you, except for you seem like a pretty decent sort. Whoever did you was a real shit. The ones I slap around would just as soon eat your spirit as look at you. They deserve everything they get"

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"Well, I know some illusion magic, as you've seen," Silhouette offers as they walk along. "I can handle myself in a fight. I can break spells other people cast. And I know a few decent defense invocations. I'm actually pretty handy to have around, and much more personable than an army of the dead."

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  • 5 weeks later...

As you walk outside you see the town is covered in a light grey mist. It's cold, even if you haven't felt cold in a while or know what cold even is, you feel it. The tents and few buildings around the town are barely visible. Some of you may notice that the barbarian witch is now missing. Those that do get a message in their head. The two girls from before speak in your head, "We'll be borrowing her for a while."

The trek though the city to the edge of town, while shrouded, is eerily quiet. It sounds like NO ONE is around! As you get to the edge of town the fog tapers off. the surrounding area is quite clear. And you are greeted by a fresh path that wasn't there before. Should you follow it? It's your choice.

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Before they got too much further, Ryoma let out a whistle. In a few moments, a Jet black horse trot up to them, Which He took hold of the reigns and pulled himself up onto the saddle. The horse wasn't like most, which was obvious, due to the massive black-feathered wings at its side.

Ryoma looked to the others, and looked to the path. "Oh this bodes so well, one down and we're not even to the job offer yet."

He shrugged, looking to Djane, "Come one if you want to come Djane. This will take us where we need to go, I believe, or not. It beats the ghost town, at any rate." He offered her a hand up onto the pegasus, ready to head on down the path.

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Kor'ki was seething. The Drone Twins were quickly reaching the top of his "People to have their souls ripped out and their husk bodies skullfucked till I get bored, raise them, and send them to some unknowable corner of the earth" list.

It was a fairly short list.

They had taken Naive Rookie away, they had taken bartender away, and they had taken Rape Bait away. What the hell was he supposed to do now to pass the time en route to Castle Doom? Redcoat's Genie was going to be on the pegasus the whole time, so no getting to trail behind that one, and Masked Darkie frankly wasn't his type.

"Ghost town is an interesting choice of words. Not quite accurate, but it gets the feeling pretty well. At any rate.."

Someone was going to pay for this. In gold. Fuck bank notes.

Kor'ki drained one of the closer to empty bottles that he had less than subtly swiped from the bar. As he the last drop went down his throat, he raised the empty bottle above his head.

"Adventure!!"

Hurling the bottle at the tavern's outer wall a relatively safe distance from the nearest remaining person, he watched it shatter into a few dozen pieces before drawing a second bottle and pointing its corked top down the path.

"Let's get this show on the road"

And so the grand and epic journey of Kor'ki and his quest for gold, ass, and sweet sweet payback began with the elf striding down the path with purpose.

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Ryoma shook his head. "He's not going to be able to carry four of us." Watching Kor'ki, he shrugged. "Ahh well come on then let's follow him, else we'll never figure out what's going on. "With that he clicked his tongue a few times and the Pegasus began trotting behind Kor'ki.

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Djane nodded, swirling into smoke and settling on the pegasus' back. She wrapped her arms around Ryoma's midsection for support... perhaps a little too firmly.

... he's cute. She shook her head. Oh Host Above, is this a side effect of him having the ring? Ugh. Just keep your head on straight.

"I don't know what I'd do with my share of the job, if we take it," she said, to pass the time. "Unless it's in precious gems... I kinda need those."

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He nodded. 'There's no telling. Still I believe in equality in compensation." With her arms around him, she felt more like a real woman than a genie. He mused happily that perhaps she was just as she said, a normal girl trapped by circumstance. If that situation didn't hit home, few would.

He turned his mind to the road. "His Name is Kuronicht. He was a gift from a former employer."

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Silhouette considered pointing out that the genie was technically an extension of Ryoma, but decided against it. She seemed unusually free-willed. There was plenty of time to haggle over lucre when and if they discovered lucre was to be had.

Instead, she examined the world around them as they walked. It looked the same...but the differences intrigued her. No people. Cold fog. Sense of forboding that had nothing to do with legitimate causes of alarm.

She was fairly sure that, at some point, she and the others in the group had been drawn into an alternate plane of existence...perhaps a temporary projection, or a demiplane created to exactly mimic the real world. It could also be a portion of planar intersection; a place where the material world and some other world lay close together. Strange she hadn't sensed the spell to pull them across...but such things could be hidden by the adept.

The real question in her mind was...why would something able to do magical feats on this scale need their help? The power needed to do this was well beyond any of them, she believed. Either the entity behind this had special limitations it could not transgress against...or it needed cannon fodder.

At the moment it seemed, there was little choice but to go onward, or remain in this pale purgatorial echo of the real world...which was not even an option.

She set forth on the path, willing to see what this all led up to before making up her mind what to do.

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The scenery along the path was generally pleasing to the eye. The sun was shining. The grass was green. Though if you look back to the town the oppressive fog is still there. It seems to be a warning of sorts. Though some of you guys take warnings as a challenge, don't you? Though that path is calling your name.

As you talk amongst yourselves (or just stay quiet) you see a broken down caravan ahead. Even THAT looks perfect? Depending on your outlook on life this could be aesthetically pleasing or potentially creepy.

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Kor'ki watched Redcoat's Genie squeeze up against Batshit Redcoat. The whole master / slave relationship thing was adorable. They likely thought it was something resembling affection. Silly people didn't quite get how magically enforced slavery worked. It wasn't all shackles and screaming. Well, some of the time it was, but... anyway.

Kor'ki looked ahead and saw the broken down caravan before his group. Well wasn't that just quaint. He quickly double checked his intangibility and strode forward. A corona of sickly green and black energy arc'd around his fingertips as he drew closer.

"Oi! You around the Caravan! If you're bandits I recommend giving up right quick and just coming on out! If you're not, I recommend giving up right quick and just coming on out! If you don't do that in the next say, 15 seconds, I'm going send the whole fucking lot of you to the hereafter! I don't want to kill anybody today so I really want you to pick the cooperate and don't get blown apart in.... 15 seconds... well, 10 seconds now option! Thanks!"

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Ryoma sat back and waited, his hands guiding Djane's to the reigns for a moment so he could have his free should he need them to draw his weapons.

"Let's hope it's nothing." He kept an eye behind them, in case it was an ambush.

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Silhouette rolled her eyes.

"I can see a subtle touch won't be needed with him around."

Her image flickered as she turned herself invisible, quickly replacing herself with an identical illusion standing in the same place.

She wasn't going to assume every last wagon was an enemy, but that didn't mean one shouldn't take precautions. Especially when forces like these were afoot.

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While everyone hears a sloshing noise coming from the caravan as they approach closer to the caravan, Kor'ki hears a familiar female sound underneath it, but you've never heard her whimper before, have you? "Save me," she says, "I don't think I can hold it in any longer."

After that the caravan bursts open with a sick green and red looking thing. A monster made of every body fluid known towers over the group.

Roll Initiative.

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Silhouette manages to hold onto her illusion, but just barely. She's not squeamish, but what she's seeing now goes far beyond the pale. Even so, her sense of self-preservation keeps her from freezing up as she quickly works out what she wants to do...besides fleeing, that is.

[salmonMax] 11:23 pm: Silhouette Initiative

SalmonMax *rolls* 1d20: 11+4: 15

[salmonMax] 11:24 pm: Baboom. I shall post it.

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The fifteen foot tall mountain of unsightly fluidity saw the group and roared at them. You ever hear a giant nasty thing roar? It's not a pretty sight OR sound. Imagine everything you've used to excrete something from your body happening all at once. The Disease Elemental catch sight of Silhouette casting a spell and morphs into a giant snakeesque tube to go after her. Luckily for Silhouette, her illusionary decoy worked.

OOC
][Mistress] 11:26 pm: well then, my turn to roll init

[salmonMax] 11:26 pm: Mala, that's got it. Thanks!

Mistress *rolls* 1d20: 20+8: 28

[Mistress] 11:27 pm: SNAP

Monster 28

Ryoma 27

Kor'ki 16

Silhouette 15 (higher init mod)

Djane 15

[Mistress] 11:34 pm: 1 Ryome, 2 Korki, 3 Silhouette, 4 Djane

[Lobby]: Jordan has left at 11:34 pm

Mistress *rolls* 1d4: 3: 3

[salmonMax] 11:35 pm: Hee hee

[Mistress] 11:35 pm: booooo

[salmonMax] 11:35 pm: Here's to an illusionary decoy.

[salmonMax] 11:35 pm: And hoping it can't see the real me.

[Mistress] 11:36 pm: what's the perception on that?

[Mistress] 11:36 pm: vs you stealth i'm guessing?

[salmonMax] 11:36 pm: Insight DC 17 to realize the illusion's false. Silhouette's invisible to normal vision...no perception check to see her. I shall roll stealth to set a DC versus hearing though.

SalmonMax *rolls* 1d20: 4+9: 13

[salmonMax] 11:37 pm: Hah! So there!

Mistress *rolls* 1d20: 2: 2

[Long6] 11:37 pm: she's not very quiet

[salmonMax] 11:37 pm: She's a little nervous

[Lobby]: Malachite has entered at 11:37 pm

[Mistress] 11:38 pm: so the monster is going sto smack fake Sil

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Ryoma had Kuronicht move off aways even as he nodded to Djane. "Take the reins, keep us steady and ready to move if needed." He held his hands and a large Eldar bow of Gleaming metal appeared in his hands, with an eldritch arrow forming as he drew back on it.. "Let's see how it likes this."

He loosed the arrow hoping it would fly straight and true, and end this quickly.

blast 10 penetrating

Long6 *rolls* 1d20: 7+10: 17

[Long6] 1:42 pm: goddammit

Damage dc 25 if it hits

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The large monster is confused with the disappearance of Silhouette, not knowing it was just a decoy. It forms back into a giant humanoid looking glob of a creature. It had arms legs and a head, but the sickly thing had no features, just all encompassing nastiness. As it turns it 'head' in Ryoma's direction it is met with a magical arrow to the face. The arrow connects and what was a head is a head no more. The nastiness spreads all over the place. Anyone within 10 feet gets showered with all sorts of bodily fluids. Though the head problem seems to not be a problem at all. It starts growing back!

OOC
[Mistress] 10:12 pm: this is response to ryoma's attack...

[Mistress] 10:12 pm: PBBBBBT

[Mistress] 10:12 pm: I maen..

Mistress *rolls* 1d20: 2+15: 17

[Mistress] 10:12 pm: ...

-1 on toughness checks. Dazed until next turn.

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Fucker.

Fucker.

Shit demon.

Dammit

Kill it with fucking fire!

No, wait, that's bad.

Rape Bait is in there.

Demon ate the naked chick!

Who the fuck does that?

Fucker.

Why?

This is the more socially correct version of what was going through Kor'ki's head at about this point. All the while, fueled by some combination of anger at having his toy broken, not being bandits or caravaners, and the sheer improbability of fighting a shit demon with an exploding head, Kor'ki's actual arcane focused brain was working.

He cracked a smile. Poor demon had just made the wrong guy angry. Funny thing about necromancy, it deals with death. Funny thing about death, everything fucking dies. Including 15 foot tall monstrosities that look like they came out of some sort of orgy gone horribly wrong.

The pale elf lifted up off the ground, necrotic death sparking across his hands.

"I swear to myself you oversized sweat stain, if there's even one sagging tit on that chick when we get her back, everything fucking dies!!!"

Kor'ki had shifted a few things around. his first instinct was to leave a half mile wide crater where this monster used to be, but where was the fun in that? (Also, naked chicks are naked and more fun to look at than the rest of these bastards).

Shifting the energies around to the point that they were focused on such little things as bacteria, viruses, diseases, pretty much everything this little bastard stood for. Also, being that he was still a sorcerer and not retarded, he was aware that at the end of the night this thing was bound and fueled by some sort of arcane link, he figured what the hell. While he's blowing stuff away, might as well get that too.

Linking his hands together in a not-too-comfortable looking position, he channeled a force of necrotic death from his arms in a solid arc, crashing into the elemental with as much spite and hate as he could possibly muster.

Part of him realized that on some level, if this effect were used on something other than a shit demon, this might actually be considered a "healing" act.

Pish, that's stupid.

Healing...

Bah.

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The elemental cries out it's anger as the 'healing' energy courses though it slime-filled body. Unfortunately, after the spell had runs it's course, the elemental is still standing and in one piece. Much to the consternation of an angry necromancer.

'OOC
[Mistress] 10:52 pm: Max, you're up in DF after i respond to Korki

[Mistress] 10:52 pm: Of which this is a roll

[salmonMax] 10:52 pm: Goodness, ok

Mistress *rolls* 1d20: 13+15: 28

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Though the second part of Korki's magic had not taken yet. The sickening monster began to bloat. More and more, beigger and bigger. Sickly streams of fluid flailed everywhere in the immediate vicinity, seemingly reaching out for those who were not covered. It was angrily shouting for one more moment to live. And then, the biggest nastiest explosion of bodily fluids went without with a bang. It covered everyone in the area.

,,

Where the Disease Elemental stood was now a pile of bodily waste and refuse... along with Jysala. She weakily smiled as she saw the group, as if to say thanks. The happy greeting was followed by a violent wretching to get everything out of her flooded system. She looked like she'd been knocked down and drug out. Pulling herself to her feet, she found she was without her spear. "I need to wash," she said weak, but sternly.

,,
OOC
forgot the secondary effect on Kor'ki's Alternate effect ,,

[Lobby]: Hyoseph has entered at 11:40 pm
[Hyoseph] 11:40 pm: Huh, first indication that I was out of chat - I get a PM that says I had left
Hyoseph curses Flash.
[envoy] 11:40 pm: you're back. yay!
[Mistress] 11:40 pm: heh
[Mistress] 11:41 pm: so now we roll
[Mistress] 11:41 pm: you first angry elf
[Hyoseph] 11:42 pm: 1d20+15 for the Nullify vs 1d20+???(effect rank) for the elemental bond
Hyoseph *rolls* 1d20: 2+15: 17
[Mistress] 11:42 pm: right
[Hyoseph] 11:42 pm: Reroll via Lucky
Hyoseph *rolls* 1d20: 8+15: 23
[Carver] 11:42 pm: I need to sleep.
[Carver] 11:42 pm: Night, all.
[Hyoseph] 11:42 pm: 8, +10 (see lucky) = 33 total
[Mistress] 11:43 pm: hm, cant beat that
[Mistress] 11:43 pm: even with a 20
[Hyoseph] 11:43 pm: 20 would probably do it, I think
[Hyoseph] 11:43 pm: Since 20 = crit = +5

,,

[Mistress] 11:45 pm: hell, i might get a 20 and beat it
[Carver] 11:45 pm: And night, all.
[Mistress] 11:45 pm: let's try
[Lobby]: Carver has left at 11:45 pm
Mistress *rolls* 1d20: 17+10: 27
[Hyoseph] 11:46 pm: Aha, kk
[Hyoseph] 11:46 pm: Night Carv
[Mistress] 11:46 pm: nnnope

,,

We're out of combat, post at will

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(OOC - Doh...wasted a crit rolling before I came here and saw I didn't need to! :( )

,,

Silhouette reappeared standing not far from where the monster had slammed through her double, shaking off her cloak with an expression of distaste.

,,

"Jysela," she murmured...gladder for her mask now than ever..."you're alive." She looked around, eyes narrowing even behind the mask slits as she scanned for signs of anyone else nearby.

,,

"Who did this to you?"

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Jysala shook her head at Djane, "Don't do that. This is made from my life force. Any damage that comes to it may come to me. And besides," she points over to a pristine looking lake. "I don't know how any of this happened," she answers Silhouette without looking at her as she walks over to the lake, "the last thing I remember is being approached by two young black clad girls. They told me to relax and I had no choice in the matter. When I woke up i was unbound from that thing." She looks over to Kor'ki with a bit of a muffled grimace for a second to see his reaction. She doesn't linger on it though. She throws off her leather apron and wades into the warm and inviting lake, diving in when she gets deep enough.

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"Ah, huh." Djane turns away, out of respect for a privacy that Jysala didn't seem to cherish. "So the twins did this. The same twins we're working for. And we're just going to... to continue working for them, is that it?" She shook her head. "After this, I vote no. I'll go along if you say yes, but... I say no."

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Ryoma looked to Djane. "We really seem to have little choice. We can turn back and return to a town with no one there, and possibly leave... or continue. If we don't play along, they could do the same to us as they did to her. I would prefer that not happen, so once she finishes, I say we continue."

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"We were playing along," Silhouette says darkly, "And they still did this. My concern is no longer what they want us to do, and more how we can stop them from preying on us. Firstly, I suggest we stick together. No one goes anywhere alone. We don't know what the limits of these things are, so we should assume they have none for now. Secondly, I suggest we proceed towards the location on the map. Since it marks what they want from us, finding it will give us information about them, and their goals...information we must have if we're to fight them."

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As the group of miscreants that he found himself traveling with discussed and debated courses of action, Kor'ki already knew his course of action. He was going to find his way to the Drone Twins, get paid for his troubles, and then shortly thereafter, he would have himself a new pair of boots and some pants. The Drone Twins would have to find a way to live without their skin, but that was largely their problem. Little bastards wanted to play games, they would find that games were his especiality.

,,

Taking a few minutes at ground zero of where the disease elemental had combusted, sending bits of foulness in every direction and making Kor'ki quite happy to be incorporeal, Kor'ki looked over the grounds, attempting to sense the magical energies around him. He didn't have any particular means of analyzing such things beyond his own knowledge of the art, but there were certain resonances one was just attuned to. He was going to make damn certain that the kids paid dearly.

,,

"Hey! You! The naked one! Where's your spear?"

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The water was inviting and clean. Jysala just wanted to wash all this gunk off. Sure it was, in some way, her gunk, but she didn't want to be covered in sickness. Her blessings allowed her the ability no not be bothered by things like breathing, so she stayed in the clean little lake for a while. It was like a watery cocoon for her. She knew she had to surface and reluctantly did so. When she came up for air, she heard Kor'ki's voice.

,,

Her spear, where was it? She looked around. Nowhere here. "Maybe in the cart," she yelled out in the harsh low elven dialect, "I'll check when I get out." She quickly jumped out and headed towards the ruined caravan, searching high and low for her spear.

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"Would that work on you?" Silhouette asks curiously as she goes to the water to wash as well. Unlike Jysala, she stays dressed, just sloshing the worst of the gunk off of her hood, gloves and mask. "I had read once that the Djinn were not the same flesh and blood mortal creatures are." She dunks her head underwater briefly, then shakes it as she pulls it forth again.

,,

"But then again, the man who wrote that was killed by Djinn...so he was perhaps not the best of sources. In truth, little is known of your kind."

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"I guess I'm not flesh and blood. Not any more. But - look, the twins cleared out an entire town. They turned Jysala into a who-knows-what-that-is. I dunno if it'd work on me, but if magic didn't work on me at all, I wouldn't be in the situation I'm in where I can't get a country mile away from that." She pointed at the ring on Ryo's finger. "So you got me."

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"You sound like you have an interesting story there," Silhouette muses as she puts her accoutrements back on and emerges from the water, dripping like she'd just stepped in out of a downpour. "But it's safe to say that even if that particular spell wouldn't work on you, there are others that would. As for what the twins did or didn't do...a trickier question. They may just be puppets for something greater. Regardless, we have their attention now. I don't think just walking away is an option."

,,

"Jysala, come here for a moment. I want to see if I can still sense the spell they used on you. Maybe it will give us some idea of how to block that magic if they try it again."

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