@Fenwick:
Cardack crosses his arms over his chest in indignation as you make your toilet-based threats. “Well! I never!”
You proceed to asking him about the pages turning themselves, but he merely responds to your query with a sneer before asking Hestia to bear him away from “that horrible, ungrateful toad!”
Cleo sighs heavily. “He’s as petulant now as he ever was. I don’t know why he is so bloody sensitive. As for Faran, he’s in a room down the hall. He’s with Jonas now. Hestia says that he may wake soon.”
@Faran:
Jonas leans back in his chair and the piece of furniture creaks under his massive form. “Only a few hours. Hestia did a fine job of seeing that your bits were covered again, but not all the layers have reformed completely. It could be a few days yet.”
Right on cue, Hestia enters the room with a bowl of warm water and an armful of fresh bandages. She smiles warmly as she crosses to Faran’s side. “I’m glad to see you’re awake! You’re skin is healing quite well, but we’re going to want to bandage you up a bit to help you avoid infection. You might not die from such a thing, but no one wants to walk about smelling like moldy cheese.”
Jonas chuckles, a deep rumbling sound that shakes his large stomach. “I will leave you to it. I think I would do well with a bit of fresh air.” He makes his way towards the door of the recovery room and pauses in the threshold to look back at Faran. “I will return soon,” he assures.
Hestia kneels beside Faran and begins the arduous task of cleansing the newly reformed layers of skin and bandaging them while they heal. Despite the pain that Faran is currently in, every place that Hestia touches is absolved of any sense of agony. Whether it is some kind of spell or some innate ability remains to be seen. What is certain, is Hestia is a woman that is exceptional at her job. She works in silence, her focus only upon the task at hand.
After some time, she smoothes the hair from Faran’s brow and presses the warm, damp cloth against his forehead. “Though I know why Jonas showed you that, I lament that you needed to encounter such evil so soon. I recall the first time I saw the Forsaken at work, and it was a sight that I will never forget.”
Hestia’s countenance becomes filled with sorrow. “That was also the last day I ever saw my husband, Aldin. He was a brave and courageous man, albeit chivalrous to a fault.” She smiles sadly. “He held the path while I aided the women and children of the village in escaping.” Hestia shakes her head, as if dispelling the memory. “But that was a long time ago. At any rate, it is important for you to remember that the Forsaken will do all that they can to weaken you. You will experience pain. You will experience loss. However, in the end… I know you will triumph. You’re a strong young man, Faran Beshral, and with Jonas by your side, I know you will become stronger. He may be a stern teacher, but he is a good man.”
Hestia is silent for a moment. “However, I will caution you. Do not allow Jonas to channel those powers too often. In showing you what he did today, it could have killed him. Jonas is a bit of a rarity amongst us. He is an empath, which allows him to experience the feelings of his allies. It allows him to sense their motivations and discern things about them.”
“However, this ability is both a punishment and a curse. It is not my task to divulge Jonas’s story; that is something known only to a precious few, and only he can do it justice. But know this, Faran… Jonas’s blessing can also be seen as a curse. He has a death wound, just as we all do, but there is a second way that Jonas may meet his end. Should his empathic abilities overtake him completely, I am not sure if he would be able to endure it. The Divine works in unusual ways. I can only guess that this is his penance for his past.”
“At any rate, take care with him, and do not allow him to overdo it. I would consider it a personal favor if you were to ensure he does not exceed his limitations.”
@ Depheir:
Dethys quickly tracks down Hestia, who informs him that you should be fine to go about your business. The mage leads you back to his clockwork mansion and into his laboratory. The sheer amount of tomes on the walls and magical spell components before you are daunting. There are jars of specimens, beakers filled with foul-smelling liquids, and several open books strewn about the room. Given the mess, it is quite apparent that Dethys has been hard at work.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think that a spell is going to do it this time. We need something that will cause a more lasting effect. I don’t know how long you will have to be undercover, so we need something that will endure indefinitely,” explains Dethys.
He leads you to a table near the center of the room. Upon the table, a large mortar and pestle rest and Dethys begins to grind the contents within. After some time, he dumps the mixture into a nearby beaker that is filled with an odd, green liquid. He uses a long, glass rod to stir the components, then hands you the glass.
“Bottoms-up.”
As you drink the liquid, you feel a strange, tingling sensation in your throat.
“Well?” asks Dethys.
You belch in reply, but immediately notice something is amiss. A gout of flame erupts from your lips and nearly burns Dethys’s eyebrows to a crisp.
“Well… I guess that formula is not quite correct.”
@Sembas:
Archer’s feet move lithely as you lead her around the dancefloor. Her steps are quick and well-executed, and though her movements are a bit more refined than your own, she does not complain when you nearly stomp upon her foot.
Across the room, you see Besnik and Faile perched upon either of Bran’s shoulders. The two bobble and bounce in unison, but after watching you for a bit, they decide to join you and your lady upon the floor. Bran seems quite grateful that the two fouls decided to depart and breathes an audible sigh of relief to be free from Faile’s watchful eye.
Besnik and Faile swoop around you and Archer in wide circles. Besnik dips low, nearly sweeping his talons upon the floor, while Faile arcs upward, giving you a playful sweep of her wing across the back of your hair as you continue to dance about with Archer.
When the song eventually ends, you and Archer are greeted with a room of applause as every person in attendance applauds your dance. That is, save for Sig and Blood who are apparently in the middle of a heated argument.
From somewhere in the back of the room, you hear a voice call out to you. "OY, LAD! That was pretty good! But I bet you I can do you one better!"
Smith makes his way to the center of the room and politely bows to Archer. "My dear lady." It appears that he is about to show you how to cut a proper rug by dancing with Archer, but instead, he turns to you and takes your hands in his. "Alright then, hot stuff. You lead."
@Sig:
Your insult has the desired effect and Blood bristles. Her face flushes a bright shade of crimson and you are quite certain that she is about to seize you from across the table and pulverize you into a bloody smear upon the floor.
“You dare to make such an attack on my honor? Very well. Let us settle this appropriately.”
The series of bouts that would follow would be talked about for years to come, and would serve as a testament to both Blood’s stubbornness and Sig’s resilience.
However, Blood, being a truly honorable person, would allow you to name the contest that would determine who was the superior warrior.
