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Graded [Overgrown Marshes] The Hag of the Overgrown Marshes

As the Swamp Ent’s thorn-filled bulb detonates in Clarice's vicinity, she raises her arms to protect her face, principally her eyes, from the shrapnel. Had she the opportunity, she would have dropped prone with her feet facing the bulb to minimize her exposure to the shrapnel and protect all of her vital organs, but the vines that had constricted her severely limited her ability to improvise. Moreover, she half-expected the bulb to belch poison or spray acid all over the affected area. It seems Lady Luck, stingy though she was, had dissuaded Mother Nature from arming her adversary with chemical weaponry, much to Clarice’s pleasure.

Nevertheless, the unconventional grenade wounded Clarice, Scylla, and Abha. That was more than apparent after Clarice absorbed the impact. She got lucky, escaping with a score or two of thorns embedding in her arms and legs, but the other two did not fare so well. Clarice spotted the blood streaming down Scylla’s side and the holes peppering Abha’s armor. In comparison, her wounds were trivial, and though she felt weak and useless, she steeled herself for a counteroffensive. The Swamp Ent was targeting their back line, but if she could split off and draw its fire -

That was when Clarice spotted the second bulb shooting toward Scylla. Having sized up the situation, she made a split second decision. Her body began to move as if of its own accord.

Scylla is important to Clarice. What’s more, Clarice recognizes that Scylla is marked by destiny. She has the power to change the world for the better if the cruelties of this world do not prove her undoing.

Clarice is fairly ambivalent about Abha. She understands that Abha has good intentions, but her means and methods are wholly deficient. Like Lord Byron, she seeks glory - or perhaps redemption - through death. She is foolhardy, not brave, and her mission is of little consequence to Clarice. Still, her survival is crucial to the party’s survival as both Scylla and Abha are capable combatants.

And in truth, they stand to lose considerably more than she does if the party loses this fight.

This logic, cold and brutal, drives Clarice forward like the hammer of a revolver when the trigger is pressed.

[Action 1 - Movement + Feature: Thought Process Acceleration] If Scylla’s gust does not alter the bulb’s course, Clarice will launch herself at the bulb with grim determination, attempting to wedge it between her torso and the mucky earth. With any luck, her backpack, littered with random items, will not permit any shrapnel to escape.

If she miraculously survives, Clarice will pick herself up, spare a glance toward the heavens (as if searching for some guardian angel), nod, and run toward the nearest animal (within 10 feet if possible) or, lacking that, in the direction she last saw animals.
 
The Overgrown Marshes – Death's Roots
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Mentions: Baharius Develius Develius | Scylla RavenSong RavenSong | Cayde The Last Curse The Last Curse | Kesh Skyhunter Skyhunter | Clarice TheSimianMind TheSimianMind | Nissa saxon saxon

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Baharius, with no concern for his own safety, gave Kalina the go-ahead to go all out. It wasn't like she hadn't done so already, but at least it was consensual now. Baharius would only have to take two steps before being back at the end, barely enough to start sprinting, as the Ent had already moved in Baharius' direction as well. It was in for a nasty surprise. Targetting the weakened leg with a buffed up Broad Dune Swipe worked well enough in toppling the giant tree, as it crashed down and missed Cayde by an inch. The Saurian managed to follow things up by a Lunging Pierce into the Ent's chest, but it didn't seem to harm the Ent too much, as whilst it tore through vines and corpses stuck inside of it, it didn't sever anything vital.

One the one hand, Cayde would've gotten the scare of his life. On the other, the toppled-down Ent made it very easy for Cayde to throw a Molotov directly at the corpses lodged into the Ent's body. That was doing a lot more than the sword had done, as the the sounds of snapping vines and breaking twigs was hurt from them being burn through. With the corpses themselves aflame, the Ent was losing his materials to regenerate as well, making it all the more dangerous. The second bottle was tossed with less care, only hitting the Ent's hand. Although it caught fire, the effect wasn't nearly as strong as that of the first throw.

Scylla's wind affinity (along with other spells) managed to divert the trajectory somewhat, but the affinity wasn't strong enough to alter its course drastically. Without noticing that she hadn't been able to change its course well enough to avoid it, Scylla was about to step forwards when Clarice suddenly jumped past her and managed to barely shield Scylla from the projectile with her own body. That said, Clarice would realise that this bulb was different than the first. It wasn't an exploding one, but one that was thrown to incapacitate through the force at which it was thrown alone. With her reduced vitality, it meant that the thorns on its outside easily made their way through cloth and skin alike, burying themselves deeply into her body. The force also knocked the air out of her lungs and cracked two of her ribs while at it. Although she survived the impact, she'd be in too much pain to move and her sight would be a fair bit blurry. A few of her organs had been punctured, but the gods above had somehow been on her side, as they didn't puncture anything that'd instantly kill her. [Conscious, but mostly incapacitated. Can make 1 more action (that doesn't rely on physical strength) next round before passing out.]

Meanwhile, delirious from blood-loss, pain and panic, Scylla had made her way onwards towards Abha and Kesh. Kesh managed to heal a fair share of the wounds on Scylla, but those were all the lesser cuts and bruises. In the end, two major wounds remained that were very dangerous. Both were from the earlier hail of thorns; one in her upper-left leg and one in right side just above the waist. The two wounds, other than still bleeding badly and hurting a lot, had the additional problem that the thorns had wedged themselves deep into Scylla's flesh while she was moving around. It was clear that if those thorns weren't removed and the wounds wouldn't be held under pressure, seared shut, healed or closed somehow, she'd first lose conscious from the blood loss (the next turn) and risk further harm from the thorns inside of her.

After healing up Scylla a little bit, Kesh turned to towards the Ent instead, as she stopped directly behind Nissa. The fallen giant made for a very easy target to shoot at, which Kesh did with the last torch, before the contraption gave out on her. It hit the Ent in the head, where it managed to start smouldering and eventually burn.

Abha Roshan
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Abha was in serious pain, but watching the bleeding Scylla stumble past her and seeing Clarice be hit in what seemed to be a fatal manner through her own blurry eyes was a lot to take in and sent a shock through her system. Luckily enough, she kept her breathing steady. If she'd lose herself, they'd only be off worse. “I'll live... it should start to heal...” Abha uttered, making sure they would concern themselves more with those that'd need her aid a lot more. She looked around, trying to make sense of the situation. The Ent had fallen and was burning, which was good. Clarice might be dead. Scylla looked dying. She couldn't spot Kalina or Cayde, but she noticed Baharius was fighting the Ent. Nissa and Kesh were also on it... what could she do? She didn't have her weapon and she was in no condition to use her magic right now... That's when she noticed the Nixie that had put out the fire on the Ent before. The little trickster spirit was fighting it out with the other 'Scylla', but neither seemed to be winning. That's where she could help. “Now!” She shouted towards Scylla as she used a simple light spell to surround the Nixie in a bright light.

Nixie
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Luck had saved the Nixie from being hit by Scylla's first arrow, but agility had saved her from the next two. Sadly enough, her own water bolts weren't doing much to her opponent either. They'd fought themselves to a stalemate. That's when she saw the Ent topple and set on fire. She knew she had to put him out soon, if she wanted him to kill the nasty folk that ruined her fun, so she prepared to fire another water bolt at him, only to suddenly hear someone shout 'now' and to be blinded by a strange light. Scylla immediately took her chance, finally being able to shoot an arrow at a target not ready to dodge. It hit its mark, piercing the tiny Nixie and sending the little body to crash into the ground. The Nixie was still alive, but barely so. At this point, it was safe to say only her inherent magic was keeping her going, for however long that'd be, as her body was clearly in dire states from being hit by the projectile and crashing into the grounds afterwards.

Chandra Jarmil

With Cayde managing to burn the Ent from within after Baharius toppled it, Kalina could see the creature was really, really close to being defeated. They just needed that little extra push. Sadly enough, she couldn't do much in the current situation. She sent three more bolts, oiled up and set ablaze, into the Ent, hitting its remaining leg. [Attack x3] The three attacks combined managed to get it to smoulder and eventually burn, which brought a smile to her face. It shouldn't be much longer now...

B Grade Cooldowns: (1/4)
D Grade Cooldowns: (1/2)
F Grade Cooldowns: (0/0)

Swamp Ent
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The Ent was absolutely furious. Using what little corpses he could still reach through his vines or in his body, he generated his burning right arm. If he was to die here, he'd take as many of them with him as he could. With his burning hand, he suddenly grabbed Baharius, who'd been close to the Ent and fire with little regard for his own safety. Vines from within the hand were trying to encircle Baharius, trying to tie him up further, but the fire burned them as quickly as the Ent could produce them. However, that same fire would burn Baharius' skin all over, getting (E-grade] burn wounds yet again, but this time across all of his body, not just his face. If he wouldn't retreat soon, those burn wounds would get even more serious, as whilst the Ent's hand was burning a lot, it didn't seem to be burning up just yet.

With the Ent's other arm, he lashed out at Cayde. The alchemist might end up being the death of the Ent, so he was desperately furious to at least try to crush him as well. Cayde would have to attempt to defend or dodge a C-grade heavy pummel attack coming at him, as whilst the Ent was laying down, it wasn't able to exert its full force, but still a considerable amount of it.

As the Ent was burning, he tried to use the vines again, but failed. Too much fire. In a desperate attempt, he tried growing more bark armour to slow down the fire or to cut the burning inside of him off from oxygen. The latter worked somewhat, as it saved his life for now, but he was still burning in many places and hadn't been able to get up. At least he was hoping to bring some others down with him...
 

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Injuries: | Burn Wounds [E-grade] | Superficial Wounds (Arms) [F-Grade] |

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Mentions:
| Elvario Elvario (Swamp Ent & Abha) | Skyhunter Skyhunter (Kesh) | The Last Curse The Last Curse (Cayde) | RavenSong RavenSong (Scylla) | TheSimianMind TheSimianMind (Clarice) | saxon saxon (Nissa)

Keeping his bulwark stance against the staggered ent, Baharius braced himself as the rest of the available party proceeded to unleash everything they had against their mighty foe. A number more molotovs from Cayde and Kalina would be thrown and shattered across the sheer broad of the giant, burning oil seeping further into the crevices within his bark and engulfing it in sheer flame and smoke. The former alchemist would cause the creature's right hand to severe. Even a lobbed fiery stake from the crossbow, launched by Kesh, would make true with its mark before the makeshift contraption would brake apart from the stress. It was a worthy sacrifice for such a glorious moment. The tree-beast's furious moans in its desperate attempts to rid itself of the blazing inferno raging around him was music to the saurian's ears; encapsulating the fact that they were finally getting close to finishing it off.

Even so, Baharius felt as if he was expecting a bit more from this final assault. Where was Scylla in all this? He thought she would be around to produce several more fire vortexes upon the ent and quicken its death, sundering its already charred form to ash. If only had he known of the plight the witch endured and the injuries that caused her to fall incapacitated. Nonetheless, it seemed as their efforts were just short from achieving an immediate TKO. All they needed now one final hard push to finish this long brutal fight. They weren't willing to give up now; the stakes were just too high.

And that's when the ent would initiate one last ditch effort of its own; not wanting to go down alone. Regenerating the right arm that Cayde had helped lobbed and sucking the last bits of the fibrous lashes attempting to wrap around his entire body and limbs, wanting to take him down with them in utter desperation. He even felt them trying to hogtie his tail. Yet all of it would be in vain; for the rushing, roaring fire would soon burn them to ash as quickly as they formed. But they wouldn't be fast enough to spare berserk general from going aflame himself. Once again, the blazing flames licked and lashed upon Baharius' entire hide, as visions of his initial strife on the day prior flashed before his very eyes.

But this time, the general was prepared... no, he expected this.

That didn't mean he was in hellish pain, not at all. Baharius could feel himself roasting alive in a pain far greater than when it was just concentrated on his head. He snarled through the utter agony that coursed through his flesh, with thick dark smoke now bellowing from his back. He wanted so desperately to roar as loud as he could - to scream, to cry - to have any kind of relief against the hellfire that once again brought ruin to his body. It was purely unbearable; but his determination outweighed the consequences of his actions. And yet, he wasn't foolish. This wasn't intended to be a self-sacrificing moment. It was too soon for that.

Baharius' schedule had no room for a deathly departure... not here; not now.

If he didn't get out now, he would be a smoldering carcass at best, and a charcoaled skeleton at worst.

But before the general would make such an effort, he took one last look at the ent's seething head. It was his last shot; his final chance to deal the killing blow. Shrugging off the burnt sinews from the vines, Baharius approached the ent's head with purpose; locking eyes with his opponent's with loathsome ire.

He did not say a word.

And with one final primal screech, the saurian winded up his great-sword [Super Strength F] and brutally swiped at the ent's eyes, attempting to hook the sharp end with the farthest right orifice and rip through the other. Regardless of the results, Baharius' next course of action was to high tail out of there and head for higher ground. There was no time for anything further dramatics; not that they needed to be at this point. Escaping the inferno behind him, he clamored out a short distance away* before collapsing on the ground in both pain and exhaustion, watching the scene unfold.

He hoped this was enough... for the sake of he and everyone within this party.

*(N, 13)
 
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Cayde could only describe the scene before him as exhilarating and terrifying. Watching the ent burst into flames was satisfying, and so was the knowledge that its defeat was right around the corner. But on the contrary, Baharius' swing nearly gave Cayde a heart attack, and the fact the ent chose him as its final target was equally frightening. One last screw you before it finally kicked the bucket. "Of course, you would!" He mumbled indignantly, turning and attempting to run out of the way of the ent's attack (C,12). It was only a matter of time before he could call this a victory - there was no room for dying.

However, as his sprint stopped next to the tree, Cayde realized he couldn't say that for everybody. The newcomer, which he could vaguely describe as some pixie, was lying hidden in the shrubbery before him, struck down with an arrow. 'Scylla' had got them, and he didn't know how to feel. He should've been thankful, but wasn't this the impostor? The one who'd duped him into doing its dirty work? The same impostor that damn-near blew Baharius' face off? Or was this fairy the impostor? But then, why was that other impostor posing as Scylla and... Cayde shook his head, "Don't. You're going to get an aneurysm trying to figure this out." Or just by being in this swamp for any longer. Revelations and 'wishes' could come later; all he wanted now was a soft bed and a nice cup of raspberry tea.

Maybe after killing the ent, though. It'd pulled so many tricks before, and Cayde felt it had yet another up its sleeve. Or, perhaps that was just his paranoia talking, but he'd already turned around, his last Molotov in hand. At this rate, chucking the liquid alone probably would've hastened the ent's burning. Nevertheless, he held fast, awaiting the monster's next move. If it had one, he couldn't be sure of anything in this god-forsaken swamp.
 
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Fairly quickly Scylla, realized she couldnt manage to divert the bulbs trajectory. Her staff would fall to the ground as she loosened her grip upon it. She closed her eyes, and extended her arms at her sides. It seemed she had given up, and in the final seconds before impact she could only think of being back home. Eating. Delicious. Cake.

Then a breeze seemed to suddenly brush her face, opening her eyes she saw Clarice on the ground. “C-clarice?” She stuttered, her eyes welling, as she collapsed to her knees from not just physical pain but emotional now as well. Holding Clarice’s head on her lap, she brought her close, as tears came streaming from her eyes. “No.. no.. why.. how could you-“ Her tears blurred eyes as she looked over Clarices wounds, “..how am i supposed to make you feel better..” her voice breaking, “..when you're doing hero stuff like this?!”

Scylla, starting to feel the effects of blood loss, would lay down Clarice’s head gently, before making her way to Kesh for her healing. Although, alot of the wounds inflicted were recovered, she still carried two gashes that continued to bleed quite profusely. Weakly sitting back down on the ground, the witch recalled some basic information on closing wounds. She pushed back her hat full of holes, from her face. Although she never thought it would ever be necessary, and since she didn’t carry anything in the form of thread and needle. It left her with the last possible action.

Looking at Abha and Kesh she was beginning to struggle to keep her eyes open, “I.. need one of you to.. help me with.. something..” She’d then lay on her side, pulling up her shirt ripped shirt revealing the bloody gash. “I.. must.. help Clarice.. theres a thorn.. in this wound.. take it out.. no matter how much of a cry baby i am about it..” A groan would escape her.
 
Nissa
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Nissa saw as the giant lizard toppled the ent with is, starting to struggle as it was now on fire. It would seem that they are not as useless as I took them for. Well then I suppose a final push should finish, though they are still all stupid well the only interesting one of the lot is Clarice and even then its because of her ability. Nissa thought as she gripped her sword and moved up to jump on the ent as well (H17).

Jumping up at the creature she would strike it with her sword using draining strike once again as she quickly followed up with another strike of her sword. With the creature extinguishing some of the flames that the party had started she smirked as he could tell it was only a matter of time now. She was eager to leave the swamp and never return and this creature was one of the few things keeping her in this place before she could leave.

mentions:
Elvario Elvario RavenSong RavenSong The Last Curse The Last Curse Skyhunter Skyhunter TheSimianMind TheSimianMind Develius Develius
 
Kesh

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Kesh wasn't able to hear Scylla's pleas as she had raced away already, looking up at the Ent, or she ignored her when Clarice was mentioned. With Kesh's contraption falling apart in her hands, Kesh saw her fire had started again which caused the Ratkin to hop in the air in excitement and joy. Although she saw Baharius get wrapped by the Ent, Kesh's eyes widen in fear as fire enveloped the vines, burning the Saurian. Kesh felt a bit guilty and began to race her way over to the large reptilian beast that was able to free itself. " Balthazar! " Kesh called, the Ratkin raced over to him, (N,14. 1 action) The Ratkin hopped in front of Baharius and looked over his charred and mangled body, feeling bad for the reptile, she knew she couldn't heal his burns, but his arms looked good enough for her to heal. " Arm-things! I can heal-mend arm-things! " Kesh stated as she hopped onto his body and used her ring that glowed. " Heal-Ache! " She called as an aura enveloped his arms to heal them. [Heal-Ache! F]

  • Heal-Ache! - F - Healing F: Using her knowledge, Kesh is able to help heal minor aches and cuts. (0 Post Cooldown)
Afterwards, Kesh smiled, " Help-assist I want to! " Kesh had a hand on her hip with her other in a thumbs up pointed at Baharius, showing her need for approval and camaraderie. The Ratkin looked around and saw Cayde, her heart fluttered as she was happy her master was still alive! Kesh looked up at the Ent, " I want the fruit on tree-canopy! " Kesh called at the Ent. She then raced at the tree hopping up onto the tree bark, she wanted to get the fruit for her master Cayde. " For Master Clyde! " She called attempting to climb up with her claws. She seemed to disregard her own safety as she wanted to fulfill her own master's wishes.
 
The Overgrown Marshes – Death's Roots
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Mentions: Baharius Develius Develius | Scylla RavenSong RavenSong | Cayde The Last Curse The Last Curse | Kesh Skyhunter Skyhunter | Clarice TheSimianMind TheSimianMind | Nissa saxon saxon

If someone didn't know better, they might be inclined to think they saw an arch-demon march. Baharius, thanks to his super-strength and Nissa's draining strike, was able to drag himself to the Ent's head even with the Ent's hand still wrapped around him. He was a walking blaze, as the burn wounds got even more severe (C-grade by now) due to them burning deep into the underlying flesh to the point he even lost some feeling due to it burning through the underlying nerves. However, in turn, his attack at the Ent's head wasn't just a sword, but all the fire he dragged along with him burned into the Ent's head as he slashed through the tree's eyes. Only then did he manage to break free and indeed collapsed onto the ground. He probably would need to try using his last energy to roll and tumble get the last few flames out that were licking away at his flesh.

Cayde didn't get off scoff free either. He managed to turn away fast enough to be flattened, but he could still feel a branch from the Ent's hand scratch across his back, leaving a deep and nasty cut (E-grade) from top to bottom.

Scylla suddenly snapped back and realised what had occurred to Clarice, but managed to keep herself together well enough to know what to focus on and instead asked to be helped in geteting rid of the thorns.

Nissa, meanwhile, decided to attack again as well. Her decision to jump on top the Ent meant that some of the flames burned her skin (E-Grade burns) as the flames were spreading faster through the Ent than it could extinguish them. Her draining strike aided Baharius in fighting the Ent's grip, but her regular attacks didn't do anything considerable to the Ent.

Kesh managed to heal some of the wounds on Baharius, managing to get the cuts and bruises as well as some of the lesser burn wounds on his arm (although the major ones would remain). Kesh too, however, would receive considerable burn wounds (E-Grade) as well upon climbing across the Ent to look for a fruit that didn't exist.

Swamp Ent
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With Nissa and Kesh still upon him, the dying Ent desperately tried to summon his force to go out with a last bang, to get this vermin desecrating his body before he'd even perished, but he was fresh out of options. Except... realising he was going to die anyhow, he figured he might as well try to burn those upon him along with him. With his last strength, he summoned all his vines towards him, trying to restrict Nissa and Kesh into the burning pile that was his corpse. Although he persisted soon after, Nissa and Kesh would have to figure out how to get out of the blazing Ent's remains as soon as possible whilst burning vines had been pulled up all around them to block them as best as possible from getting away from his burning corpse.

Chandra Jarmil

Kalina witnessed the Ent parish, but was shocked to see Kesh and Nissa climb onto him. “Get away from there!” She yelled, trying to figure out how she could help them... She gritted her teeth. They really needed a lot of water, but they didn't have any. The best she could do was to risk her own well-being, it seemed, so she did just that. Rushing at the Ent, she made her way through the blaze and tried to hack away vines to give Kesh and Nissa an easier time breaking free. As the flames licked at her skin, she didn't even notice the pain and wounds were eating away at her Alternate Identity and that she accidentally ended up dropping it in the process.

Kalina Chivernu

“Over here!” She called out at Kesh and Nissa, upon having managed to open up a way through the vines. She was fairly burned herself as well, by now, (E-grade burn wounds). It looked like nobody was going to get out of this unscathed.

Abha Roshan
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Abha was finally starting to regenerate a little, as her back started to slowly recover from the many thorns that had riddled it. She was still bleeding a fair bit, but she'd recover. A little woozy, she looked around and checked herself realising that'd be the worst of it. The rest wasn't as well-off. “Oh....” She mumbled. Worst off was Scylla, directly in front of her. “Alright. I'll try.” Abha said. She couldn't use healing magic, but she could try to get those thorns out. She didn't really have any great tools though, so in the end... the best she could find was a fork. “I'm sorry in advance...” She said, taking a piece cloth that'd been torn off from her clothes and handing it to Scylla. “Bit down on this.” The girl would need it, as Abha set to work. She quickly used a torch across the handle of the fork as a make-shift way to sterilise and then stuck it into the wound in Scylla's leg. As one might expect, that action hurt a lot. The hot fork did manage to sear shut a bit of the wound, but not before the bunny, with surprisingly [Steady Hands] managed to wiggle out the thorn. She managed to repeat the procedure with the second wound. She then proceeded to tear off some more of her clothes to use as make-shift bandages. “If this can't stop the bleeding, you'll have to try using your fire magic to try sear it shut.” It wasn't ideal, but that'd be their second-best option. For now, Scylla's bleeding hat stopped and she'd stay conscious, although the wounds caused her considerable pain.

Meanwhile, the other Scylla was having a lot of fun. “Hahaha! Burn you big bastard!” She laughed at the corpse of the burning Ent. “I thought that rabbit would be the one to finally slay you, but here you get burned by these folk! May you rest in hell!” For as odd and unsociable as Scylla was, she was nice enough to check out on those that made it possible. “That's a nasty gash, mate.” She said to Cayde, spotting the cut on his back. “It'll fix itself though, if you keep it clean. Oh, for all of the crispy ones, there's a fair bit of Frog's Fountain growing over there. It'll sooth the burns quite well.” She told the Alchemist, assuming he'd know what she was talking about (he would). “I'm sorry for misunderstanding, by the way~ I totally thought you were going to ritualistically sacrifice the bunny when you nearly killed her and I really hoped she'd lay this fucker to rest, but I guess I was wrong!” Unless Cayde (or anyone else) would stop her, she'd head towards the fallen Nixie and put the dying creature in her pocket, turning back around to yell “Bye~” at them, before vanishing into the swamp again.

OOC: Combat is over. Actions are no longer limited, movement is free (except for those wishing to move out of the scene altogether, that'd be too far in a single post). This round will be spent on giving everyone a chance to patch up and recollect themselves, as well as for Kesh and Nissa to get out the fire. Unless more drama ensure between the PC's, we'll have a few (perhaps two) more rounds afterwards to wrap things up with the final reveal of this RP.
 

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Injuries: | Burn Wounds [C-grade] | Superficial Wounds (Arms) [F-Grade] | [Healed]

Mentions:
| Elvario Elvario (Swamp Ent, Chandra/Kalina, Imposter Scylla & Abha) | Skyhunter Skyhunter (Kesh) | The Last Curse The Last Curse (Cayde) | RavenSong RavenSong (Scylla) | TheSimianMind TheSimianMind (Clarice) | saxon saxon (Nissa)

Still feeling several embers and flames upon him, Baharius proceeded to quickly roll through the damp mud that acted as a cooling dampener to cover his scorched hide from the utter agony racking through him. He could hardly hold his grueling concentration, let alone his sanity, growling and snarling to keep his mind occupied and in control. His eyes - rendered bloodshot and tearing up feverishly - could hardly see through his blurry surroundings, and his ears rang constantly with a droning that would make any person go mad if it was to persist for even an hour. Every movement; every twitch of his muscles; even the very act of breathing, became a significantly laborious task. Only a few places on the saurian's body, the nerves being so badly burnt that they were, would be numb to any sort of feeling at all. He had certainly been through hell; hell that was of his conscious making.

He did not regret it.

While the ent burned in the distance, Baharius rolled back onto his belly and gave a sigh of relief. A toothy smile emerged from his swollen lips. The fight was exhilarating. The general hadn't felt this animated since his younger primer days, leaping and slashing away like the legendary raptor packs back home. Had it not been for Abha's buff, this fight would've most certainly have gone a whole lot differently. The hulking saurian was already strong in his own right, but this was just the boost needed to ensure victory and reclaim his lost honor as a truly mighty force to behold. He'll surely gain a few new additional scars, no doubt some burn marks staying permanent even once he gets fully healed, but each told a story... a story of many things. Some spoke the marks of strength, some of courage and perseverance, and some bore of loss. But these wounds, like most upon Baharius' war-torn body, would be known as true marks of triumph.

And he couldn't have done it without the help of everyone within this party, despite their rocky beginnings.

As Baharius continued laying in the mud, his glance would fall within Cayde's direction, where he'd see the familiar visage of Scylla conversing with the alchemist. Though the fact that she seemed unscathed and more chipper than usual in this moment immediately told the general that this had to have been the imposter. He could barely hear their conversation, but their movements and muffled tones seemed to indicate that she was not here to cause trouble. He was catch something about a "Frog Fountain" that could heal their burns. He'd especially love that. But just as the figure was about to leave the premises, the saurian rose his body with his wobbling arms in her direction. "WAIT!" the saurian bellowed, nearly losing his balance. Regaining his composure, his struggled gaze shifted straight at the imposter witch and asked, "Just... Just who are you?"

Upon gaining this closure, his arms would give out and he'd collapse to the ground with a thud.

Just then a familiar rat-kin would once again come to the general's aid. While he was too weak to raise his head considerably for the moment, Kesh's voice was unmistakable. An audible groaned chuckle beckoned from Baharius throat, as he welcomed her presence. "Ah... Kesh." the saurian groaned weakly with a smile, "You don't need to...". He tried to pull himself up with his scarred arms once again - riddled with burns and cuts - before falling again. This would be the second time she would heal him, and while it wasn't strong enough to heal his burns, the saurian would feel the lashes and minor burns on his arm begin to heal and soothe with a soothing sensation. A smidge of energy would also begin bubbling in his arms. She had done already so much for him, as Baharius nearly found himself hating her unrelenting kindness. Nonetheless, Kesh told the beast her brief reasoning and gave a thumbs up; a sentiment approved similarly by the generals own thumbs up.

"Please... you must rest too..." the saurian asked the rat-kin, still concerned for her overall health and safety. But before he would have a chance to finish, she rushed off to continue her duties - rushing towards Cayde in ecstatic joy. Their reunion would be short-lived, as he then saw the ratkin rushing back to the burning ent to retrieve one of its fruits. Baharius' heart sank, his eyes widening as he tried unsuccessfully to reclaim his strength. "No! Kesh!" he bellowed helplessly, before slumping back on the ground. Both Kesh and Nissa - being still atop the blazing tree beast - would be victim to one last-ditch effort by the dastardly foe to restrict both of them to burn with him. Yet it would be Chandra who, in the nick of time, would attempt to save the two from becoming casualties of the flame. As his vision began slowly returning to normal, he swore that the mysterious' woman was beginning to change form... dawning an appearance unbeknownst to him

The saurian general could only hold his breath for their safety.
 
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Nissa
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Nissa felt the fire leave burns on her skin, grincing in pain as she could tell the fight was almost at its end. What she didn't expect was the Ent doing his last-ditch effort. As the vines wrapped around her as she heard the familiar voice of Kate from the other side of the flames. She started to hack away at the vines before the woman arrived and cut a path by herself through the flames. "You look different now Kate," Nissa replied as she didn't linger too much on it. Once Nissa was free she quickly moved away from the fire before she could get stuck in the flames.

Tch saved by that women, well but that change in looks is strange a disguise I suppose? She thought to herself looking down at the burns that were on her skin. She moved behind a some cover that wasn't on fire before setting the pack down on the ground. Pulling out one of the jars of blood, she opened the top, no doubt those with a sense of smell would be able to smell blood, though she wasn't sure if the smell of burnt flesh would mask it.

Opening the jar she downed one of the jars knowing that that blood would heal her wounds over time, though she didn't want to let the wounds fester. Though she was already undead but, she didn't like open wounds. It was a clear give away if she didn't want to give them more things than she already had.



mentions:
Elvario Elvario RavenSong RavenSong The Last Curse The Last Curse Skyhunter Skyhunter TheSimianMind TheSimianMind Develius Develius
 
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“Wait..” She hesitated, as the bunny lady pulled out a fork, but quickly took the rag and with trembling hands bit down, the witch nodded, before a series of high pitched shrieks exploded from her muffled mouth. Resisting the tendency to recoil and squirm, which only made the pain worse. However, there was no other way but to go through the excutiating pain. The bunny paladin Abha, was very quick in her hand movements, and very precise which she silently appreciated in between her screaming.

After the first wound was done, the procedure would continue on for the second one at her side.

Once it was over, she was no longer into the idea of going through any more pain. Panting, weak and exhausted, her gaze rested upon Abha, “T-thank you.. Abha.. please dont let me take you.. the others might need you..” once she felt a bit more able, she wouldn’t dare push her luck further too rashly and slowly made her way to Clarice. “Clarice? Can you hear me?” She asked, poking her shoulder, albeit with bloody hands. “I dont know how much my minor healing spell could help.. but i’ll do so anyway..” A bit delirious, she’d place her hand on Clarice’s forehead, casting a healing spell. [Mending Stream]

“I’m going to find help..” getting up she winced, her wounds were still fresh but now with the thorny shards out, it wasn’t as excutiating and no longer losing her vitals. “..uhm.. just wait right there.”

She managed to get closer to the others, her eyes with astonishment at the sight of the fallen Ent. “Y-you guys did it!” She exclaimed, albeit weakly. But quickly she realized they were in quite the bit of trouble, as Kesh and Nissa were now within the clutches of the treefolks snare. She would move as quickly as she could, limping a bit. But not before Chandra ripped through the debris and got to them as best she could, suffering from fiery afflictions herself.

She was about to call out, when the sight of someone who wasn’t Chandra revealed herself. Nonetheless, she got closer, casting [Mending Stream] on each of them, making her rounds to the injured party. When she got to Nissa, she felt a little weird, as the witch probably reeked of blood and well, vampires at least the ones she read about became uneasy around it.

Then coming around to Kalina, she froze for a moment, "So.. clearly.. if you're not Kate, w-who are you then?" She hesitated but casted her healing on her as well, "..and how do I know this if this is the real Kate?"

- Healing E - Magic Range F - Spell Duration F - Energized E- A pulse of divine energy emits from casters focus, taking the form of a white, stream like cloud at the casters hands before it's directed towards the target. -Grade E- 0 Post Cooldown [Energized E]
 
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As he watched the ent combust in the distance, Cayde felt the adrenaline rush of a well-fought victory course through his veins. They did it! They'd finally defeated the ent! With a smile, he inched forwards, already forming a list of what to do next: check up on the others, question the fake 'Scylla,' and get rid of this terrible itching on his back. "Something probably bit me," He thought dismissively, reaching back to prod at the supposed bug bite. When his hand came back into view, slick in a sticky, scarlet substance, Cayde realized it wasn't just an insect that got him. Red, searing hot talons of agony tore at his nerves in confirmation, and his legs wobbled uncontrollably. His lips tried to form the word help, but his knees had already buckled, and soon enough, the alchemist collapsed.

Cayde heard 'Scylla' say something beside him, but he was too busy controlling his breathing to reply. Although he found their chipperness not so infectious, the knowledge of Frog's Fountain growing nearby eased him just a bit. He could use that, especially if there were crispy ones. Unfortunately, the impostor was long gone before he could give pained thanks, so he slowly rolled onto his side, attempting to witness the full damage done to his team. The act alone had already sent jolts of pain soaring through his body - the sight made his heart drop.

Baharius looked like a complete mess, riddled with burns and cuts all over his body. Scylla was just as cut up, though much to Cayde's relief, she wasn't covered with burns. In the distance, he could see that Abha appeared relatively okay, but Clarice was out cold. He'd seen Nissa run off somewhere, but there was no sign of Kate, only a vaguely familiar form silhouetted against the flames. Kesh was nowhere to be seen either.

"She's just invisible somewhere," Cayde assured himself, "Just get up." He tried and failed, his back searing in protest. "Just. Get. Up." He'd heard Kesh's voice just a few minutes ago; she couldn't have gotten far. He swore the ent hadn't seen her, but she'd yelled about fruit earlier, which could only mean she - "Getupgetupgetupgetupgetup-"

Miraculously, he did. Whether it was because of another burst of adrenaline or the effects of Scylla's healing hadn't dawned on him, but Cayde was already at the nearest Frog Foutain plant, gathering as much as he could [Harvest]. He rushed over to Baharius first, produced another flask of his painkiller, and mixed the slimy liquid with a good helping of powdered aloe vera in another. "You've taken way more than your fair share of hits for us, Baharius," He smeared the soothing concoction on the saurial's most severe wounds and handed over the nerve-numbing medicine, "Just please take it easy, okay?"

Time was of the essence, so Cayde hurried up to Scylla, another flask of his medicine in hand. His face was already contorted in horror, and seeing the blood staining her hands sent more chills down his spine. Still, he urgently pushed the painkiller into her hand, "Scylla! That'll help with the pain," A remorseful sigh left his haggard face, "I should've never left you guys back there! Now you're all cut, and Clarice is..." His words trailed off as his gaze lingered on Clarice's unconscious form. There was no point in barraging Scylla with sorrow and apologies - those wouldn't revive her companion. And neither would it get him closer to finding his. Cayde looked back to Scylla, "Clarice is going to be okay, I promise. I just need to take a look at her!"

Brushing past her, Cayde rushed over to Clarice's side. His finger went to her neck, and despite her grievous wounds, he felt the faint semblance of a pulse. But, sadly, that was the only relief he'd be able to get. The cuts and thorns adorning her were far too severe for his mundane potions to treat. That still hadn't deterred him, however. "Abha, come here!" He called out, rummaging through his pack to craft a substitute for smelling salts as well as two more bottles of painkillers, "Hold this under her nose, and when she wakes, don't let her move. Give her some painkillers when she wakes, and take some yourself." He did his best to stem any bleeding and bandage whatever wound he could, but Cayde knew it wouldn't be up to him to decide Clarice's fate.

Finally, he jogged up near the stranger, but their similarities to Kate hadn't stopped him from gazing despondently into the roaring flames ahead. "Have you seen Kesh?" He pleaded, not even realizing his hands were gripping his head, "Oh, God, please tell me she's not in there. Please, please, please, please..." His knees felt wobbly again, and his heart threatened to beat out of his chest. "KESH! Please! For the love of God, get out of there!"


  • Harvest - Survival E, Medicine D, Nature E, Alchemy D- With his knowledge of plants and animals, Cayde can identify and collect potentially useful materials from them. These materials can then be used to craft potions, medicines, and poisons. - Grade D - 2 Post Cooldown
 
Kesh

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Kesh would grit her teeth as she cried painfully as she was burned while being constricted, her fur was singed away and burned through Cayde's jacket as the Ratkin had to retreat, looking defeated as this wanted this nonexistent fruit. She could hear Nissa nearby but ignored her as she was rude and she didn't like rude people. Although a new figure appeared, coming for her wearing a strange new attire while wearing a hat. " What the heck is that!? " Kesh yelled through the pain while trying to point at Kalina. She raised a weapon and Kesh's eyes widen just before she tightened them shut, she would feel some sort of movement and the screams of telling her to move and get out.

Kesh quickly used her claws to slash whatever vines were wrapped around her left and moved out of the vines as she tried moving to escape the Ent. " The fruit...! I want the fruit-crop! Master Clyde wants it! I'll offer you myself! " Kesh called. " Or that Clara! " Kesh stumbled out of the fire and fell onto her hands and knees, her body smoldering with burns. Kesh looked up, her entire body was burned, Cayde's jacket was destroyed as Kesh tried to get up, looking at Kalina who had now revealed herself. " Wait. You're that one weird girl...! I knew you were a liar! " Kesh smiled weakly as she fell forward and rolled onto her back, hissing in pain as she closed her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the pain began to settle in. " Skitterer! Please end this pain-hurt! " Kesh'd entire body was covered and wrapped in burns, her face luckily wasn't touched but the rest of her body was. It was so bad that she couldnt move as her tears streamed down her cheeks. And with the swamp water around it could lead to infection. Kesh looked up at Kalina " help me! Help me heal myself! I don't want Master Clyde seeing me like this. " Kesh pleaded to the vampire desperately and a bit pathetically.

Kesh was still new to this adventuring thing, she hadn't experienced pain like this before.
 
The Overgrown Marshes – Death's Roots
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Mentions: Baharius Develius Develius | Scylla RavenSong RavenSong | Cayde The Last Curse The Last Curse | Kesh Skyhunter Skyhunter | Clarice TheSimianMind TheSimianMind | Nissa saxon saxon

Just as Scylla was about to leave, she heard Baharius call after her. “Who? I'm Stella, of course~” She answered, after which she stuck her tongue out and jogged off as intended. With everyone wounded and not really paying too much attention to her otherwise, she'd be able to get away without too much trouble and nobody seemed to care she'd pocketed the near-dead Nixie either. All in all, it was quite a good day for her, as she left the scene humming a little tune.

Nissa, having considerably less strength than Kalina, would be able to hack away the vines, but were she to try escape before she'd end up burning too much, she'd best cooperate and take the already cut-away route. Either way, she ended up being able to get out of the blaze with considerable burns, of which the blood only healed the more superficial (F-Grade) wounds. Some more severe (D-grade if going by what Kalina cut out, C-grade if trying it alone) burns would remain, covering most of her body.

Kalina Chivernu

Kalina herself, being a lot more sturdy and having been in the fire for less long, managed to get off with (E-Grade) nasty burn-wounds, but nothing too severe. She was tired and hurt, but now that she realised her disguise had failed her, she also realised she could at least stop the act altogether. There was no need to act like she was in any way scared or angered by Nissa's existence. “It was getting a little hot, so I figured a change of looks was in order.” She'd reply to her fellow vampire.

Abha Roshan
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After the emergency operation on Scylla, Abha's hands started to shake a little. She'd kept them very stable up until that point, but right now she gave a big sigh of relief. She'd not really been trained for these acts, after all. That said, she wasn't sure how to help or who to help next. Instead, she figured she'd just try to support Scylla, hoisting Scylla's arm over her shoulder so she could support the witch as she went around to use healing magic on everyone.

Kalina Chivernu

When Scylla stopped in front of Kalina, she wasn't quite sure how to react. “I'm still just Kate, I only look different. Don't worry, focus on saving Kesh.” She said, as she pointed to the Ratkin she'd dragged out of the flames along with Nissa only moments ago. If anything, helping the panicking Ratkin out of the fire had probably caused Kalina herself the most burns, but now that she was looking at Kesh, she felt oddly bad for her. “Just hold still for a bit, alright, we'll have you patched up in no-time.” She said. She'd grab Kesh's hand or cover her up, but with all the burn-wounds being in the way, it was best not to do so. After all, with Kesh's already more fragile state (G vitality), she'd suffered the worst from these flames, being left with (B-Grade) burns all over her and having lost the feeling in multiple places, whilst others only hurt all the more. She indeed couldn't move as a result, but laying still was probably the smartest move right now regardless. The only thing Kalina could do was gently pet Kesh' head, the only thing that wasn't covered in blisters and burns.

Cayde had his work cut-out for him. Harvesting the Frog's Fountain, as it was indeed where Scylla had pointed him towards. There was easily enough of it to cover everyone, although he might need to make a few trips, especially considering Baharius' size. That said, Cayde's medicine and Scylla's healing did wonders. They couldn't cure the muscle ache and tiredness that most would feel by now, but working together, they healed up the burns well enough to no longer be threatening to their well-being.

Abha Roshan
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Abha, who'd been following along with Scylla, didn't have to come from far upon Cayde's call. She did as instructed by the alchemist, although she didn't take any medicine herself. Instead, she used one paw to hold the smelling salts under Clarice's nose whilst she held the girl down with the other, in case Clarice would otherwise jerk up upon awakening. It'd be enough to get Clarice conscious again, upon which Abha would immediately speak. “Stay down for now, you're in a rough shape. Don't move too much to make sure the wound's won't open up more. Everyone else is alright.”

Kalina Chivernu

Kalina only had to point besides her, as the panicked Alchemist was still staring into the flames. “I managed to get her out, but she's not in a good shape.” That said, with Cayde's medicine and Scylla's healing, even Kesh would mostly recover. She'd still be in some pain yet feel numb where the burns had severed some nerves, predominantly her left leg and the right side of her waist, but if she was careful, she'd be able to get up again. It wouldn't be pretty, but in time, things would be able to heal up fully, if she didn't do anything careless.

Just as everyone was managing to gather themselves again, at least to some degree, they'd suddenly spot yet another creature of the swamp. She was standing directly in front of the burning Ent, yet try as they might, they hadn't seen her her walk up to there. She just suddenly 'was' there. To make matters worse, there was something about her presence that made it difficult to even move or talk.

Hag
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As she looked at the Ent's corpse, she raised her staff. She spoke in a language that none of them was able to comprehend fully, although parts of it were similar enough to infernal for Clarice to get at least a few words. “...deal made... body … price paid … ” It sounded a lot like the stereotypical hag deal.

Upon finishing the words, the fire on the Ent's body died down immediately, yet equally quickly did the Ent's body further rot and wither. In its stead, however, a plethora of herbs and flowers grew. Before the rest could act, the hag walked up and picked a few of them, all plants that would be unknown to even Cayde. Satisfied with only a portion, she'd turned to face the rest. “I have no need of the rest.” She declared. Both Scylla and Clarice for their academy as well as Cayde and Kesh would be satisfied by what was left, as there was more than enough rare flora of value to them. They'd just need to figure out how to split it all. (Notably missing was an Ent's Fruit, however, that one had indeed been a lie all along.)

Just as it looked like the Hag would vanish as quickly as she'd appeared, Abha found the strength to call out to her. “The Ent's roots... please tell me who took them and cursed my city!”

The hag only squinted her eyes at first, but suddenly gave a toothy smile and replied. “Look for a cardinal in the Paizu mountains. He'll have your answers.”

Feeling a little encouraged, Kalina decided to speak up as well. “Please, tell me, how did I come to be this way?”

One again, the hag squinted her eyes. “Find the Countess of the Dead in the north of this continent, or the Hunters of your kind in the south of the other. They'll hold the keys to your past and future.”

The Hag looked at the rest. “I tire of this. I shall grant you one more answer for having made it this far, but after that I'll demand a deal in return.”
 
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Injuries: | Burn Wounds [C ---> E-grade] | [Partially Healed]

Mentions:
| Elvario Elvario (True(?) Hag, Chandra/Kalina, & Abha) | Skyhunter Skyhunter (Kesh) | The Last Curse The Last Curse (Cayde) | RavenSong RavenSong (Scylla) | TheSimianMind TheSimianMind (Clarice) | saxon saxon (Nissa)

With the combined healing efforts of both Cayde and Scylla respectively, Baharius' burns would once again begin to subside to a far more bearable state. It wasn't enough to fully heal him from his pre-battle state, but it was more than enough for the general to start moving and breathing normally again. He'll have to find additional treatment at the village to fully patch himself up; save for a few torched scars perhaps. He nodded to the both of them graciously, albeit silently. They've already done so much for him and the entire team for him to verbally repeat his thanks for them. Besides, he was already exhausted from this entire ordeal... and he was very much ready to leave this cursed place.

Prior to his departure, the saurian general would see Chandra - or Kalina/Kate whatever her true name was - emerge from the burning tree-corpse to retrieve both the ratkin and vampire. Both had been considerably burnt, but Kesh no doubt suffered the worst of it. It was horrible. Every part of her body was smoldering and charred, save only for her precious head, to the point where she couldn't even move. It looked to be even worse then what Baharius had suffered, and he was right in the thick of it during the battle. Why did she do it? It was without a doubt a foolish errand to try and enter a flaming wreck to retrieve a false fruit... but he knew her intentions were in the right place. Was it ignorant? Yes. Was it selfish? ...No. No it didn't seem like it. The expressions were all real. A mix of hope, eagerness, fear, and pain... and given all that she had done for not only him but everyone else here.

He suddenly felt a single tear drip down the scarred side of his scaly face... followed by a solemn guttural groan.

When Kesh was presented to her master, Baharius planted his large hand upon the alchemist's shoulder. "Her intentions..." the beast hesitated briefly, blinking away another round of crocodile tears, "Seemed to be in the right place." He paused to glance at the bonfire beyond before glancing back. "She's a gem, that one." he finally said again, more sincerely, "As wild and unpredictable as she can be, I've met very few who're as devoted and pure-hearted like herself. Your bond with her... is quite special. Treasure it. Teach her all that you know. Given time, her experiences will make her a true character; more so then she already is. This... I can assure you."

With a pat on Cayde's shoulder, Baharius turns to glance at the rest of the party nearby.

"It has been an honor fighting alongside everyone here." he called to everyone in an honest tone, "While we certainly had our issues, we were able to make it through his cursed ordeal alive and in one piece. You've all fought valiantly and courageously. I hope everyone here has safe travels... and may we, or may not for some, see each other again."

The very first thing Baharius was going do once he gets out of the cursed marshes, perhaps out of the entire Dark Continent itself, was to take some much needed rest and time for himself. His mind lingered on the idea of heading to a spa, a place to cover himself with healing mud as he'd bask in the sun, having not a care for the world for a good couple of hours. He felt like he earned this much before he'd go on his next adventure...

But before the general would have the chance to leave right at that moment... a craggily figure silently emerged from the fog to observe the flaming ent. Baharius turned to look, a curious eye creeping over him.

There she was. The real hag of the Cursed Marshes. Alive and in the flesh.

Her appearance was wholly unexpected, looking far different compared to the imposter hag they've met in the beginning, but otherwise befitting the image. And to top it all off, she had answers, or the very least the directions to said answers. But she only had room for three... with two already accounted for.

It was now or never.

Baharius, glaring at her intently, seized the initiative.

"Were YOU responsible in orchestrating this event from the very start?"
 
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It'd been minutes, and Cayde still hadn't seen Kesh emerge from the fire. He could feel his fingernails digging into his scalp as his eyes frantically searched for the slightest image of her. Cayde didn't understand: Did she get stuck? Did he need to get her himself? Did she get hurt? Kate brought the answer soon enough, and the tears came immediately. He didn't even know if calling the person lying before him his apprentice was possible. Only the head belonged to Kesh. The rest was utterly devastated.

Even the reassuring hand of Baharius did little to snap him out of it. Cayde had tried so hard to nod at the saurial's sentiments, but how could he? Kesh would've never gotten like this if he had kept her close, away from the temptation of the fruit, away from that ent, and away from that conviction that she needed to impress him. She didn't need to earn his admiration - the fact she'd been by his side through thick and thin was all he ever needed. And it would continue to be. He'd make sure of it.

Rubbing the tears out of his eyes, Cayde slowly moved over to Kesh and inspected her burns, wincing at the charring flesh. He'd never seen such shocking wounds; not even Baharius' injuries were so grim. But, just like treating the giant lizardman, he'd be able to do something for Kesh too. Preparing some cloth-made bandages, a painkiller, and a generous amount of his Frog's Fountain mixture, Cayde began. "Y'know, Baharius, that was spoken like a true leader," He sniffled, covering some wounds here and slathering some medicine there, "You're right. Kesh might be unpredictable and might be a little crazy too, but she's my apprentice. I'm far from leader material, but I can promise you, with every fiber of my being, I'll make her one of the greatest alchemists you'll ever see. That's the least I could do to thank you."

He quickly turned to exchange a thankful nod with everyone in the group, "As for everyone else, I also give my deepest thanks. I know we all had our ups and downs, me especially, but despite all that, we all pulled through. I don't know if I'll ever see some of you again, but I hope we don't try to kill each other again, yeah?" He applied the last bandage with a slight chuckle, "Seriously, I'm gonna miss you guys." That said, it was time to dish out the remainder of his medicine. Nissa and Kate looked to need some of his burn treatment, so he'd have to hand them over to those two.

That is, if his body hadn't suddenly locked up. Or if the real Hag hadn't made her baleful appearance. Cayde noticed she'd brought gifts, shifting the smoldering carcass of the ent into a bounty of exotic herbs. However, as tempting as they were, the plants weren't the only thing that got his heart racing. Scylla and Clarice could take what they needed - ingredients were the last thing he came to this continent for. He was much more interested in listening to what the Hag had to say to Baharius' question.
 
Kesh

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Kesh stared at this Kate as she patted her head, " your hand is cold. " Kesh stated, complaining a bit but also having this weird smile on her face like she was happy like she had figured something out. Kesh stared at the canopy of trees around them. She could see the towering figure of Baharius close by and she slowly turned her head to look at the large lizard, she heard his compliments as he talked to Cayde and she teared up, blinking rapidly to try and get rid of the tears. Those were nice words. She hasn't had many nice things said to her besides by Cayde really. " I fought a god and helped beat it. I even jumped on his hand and small a ball! " Kesh tried calling to Baharius, she had a smile on her face, a weird claim but she has never been one to lie so far. Kesh was pretty touched by the Saurian's words to say the least.

Then Cayde appeared and Kesh looked away a bit ashamed in her actions that had lead to this. " Kesh is sorry that she climbed the tree. " Kesh tried covering her almost naked body up but it was hard to do it while burned almost everywhere, she couldn't even move really. Kesh had a sad look on her face, she felt like the biggest idiot. She climbed that tree for Cayde, to present him with the fruit. But that ended up with her only hurt and burnt badly. She could hear Cayde's sniffles like he was crying which Kesh turned her head to look at him. He began to speak on how she was his apprentice and he wasn't the best leader but besides that he would help her become the best alchemist. Kesh smiled hearing the words. She tried rising up to her feet but wasn't able to with her hissing in pain. Although Cayde's medicine helped and worked. The Ratkin was able to become limber enough and numb to the pain to touch Cayde's hand. " Master Clyde. I'm sorry I messed up. I wanted that fruit for you. To make my master happy. He helped me and I want to help him. " Kesh looked saddened and ashamed again. " But I got hurt. Kesh is sorry and will improve. I want only Master Clyde as my master. " The Ratkin even managed to hug the alchemist, despite her whimpers and cries of pain, she wrapped her arms around Cayde weakly before laying back down with a deep hiss.

She looked to see the hag appear once more, Kesh turned her head to look at them, they looked different now! " Old woman! " Kesh said almost happily, while everyone was rude. Baharius asked his question just as Kesh was about to. " No fair! I want to know if I can have the Ent fruit for master Clyde! " Kesh called out to the hag. " Can i give Clara to have the fruit for Master Clyde? " She ended asking while pointing at Clarice.
 
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Scylla nodded, when Kalina mentioned to help Kesh, she was much too traumatized at the moment to think clearly, much less begin to question and suspect about anyones identity.

When noticing Kesh’s injuries, she couldn’t help but gasp a bit, the burns were quite severe, but she wouldn’t hesistate before casting her healing spell [Mending Stream] on her. It’d feel like a cool almost icy sensation that would begin from her touch and spread all across her body.

When Cayde walked up to her, she smiled a bit through her pale face. “It’s.. not as bad.. as it looks.” She said, trying to hide the pain as she winced. Taking the medicine in her hand, she took it right away. “Oh, dont worry about it..” She smiled weakly, “..the important thing is that you helped defeat that.. twisted tree monster. And we’re alive. Well.. barely.”

Then, still supported by Abha, she started off towards Clarice. The bunny, upon being beckoned to assist did so, helping Cayde while the witch managed to get closer on her own while the bunny paladin helped.

Supporting Clarice’s head on her lap, she brushed her hair a bit with her fingers. “Please, hang on Clarice..” When she’d wake, she’d hold her as still as she could, “..rise and shine.. Cayde has medicine, come on.. take it. I'll take no stubbornness from you.”

Before Scylla could even chuckle, the Hag, out of seemingly nowhere appeared. The witch gulped, knowing full well they were in no place or condition to fend off yet another opponent, but to her pleasant surprise the old crone had delivered on her agreement.

Scylla, a bit anxious, took the flowers a bit hastily from her cold hands. "T-thank you.." a bit taken aback by the sudden turn of events, but then a grateful smile overtook her weakened and pale complexion. While the others spoke among themselves and the hag suggested one more question, Scylla, in an attempt to likely comfort her dear colleague brought the prized herb to her face for Clarice to behold, "See? Told you we would get what we wanted, wasn't I right?"
 
Nissa
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Nissa looked at the woman for a moment, trying to see if she was serious or not. Letting out a sigh, she drank some more blood out of the jar. Nissa could tell the woman was just like her by a glance. After all, if you are a vampire you probably know how to tell if someone is a vampire at the very least. "Well then I suppose that new looks fits you better than your pervious one," She smirked standing up and placing a hand on her hip. She knew that she was going to have to replenish her stock eventually, blood only stayed good for a certain amount of time.

She watched as the woman walked over to the rat of all people and started to rub its head. Now that is particularly disgusting, that rat can barely think without drugs. Not to mention the manner in which it speaks is even more tragic. If I had my way simply putting the creature done would be the best option. Nissa thought to herself as she waited at the others were busy doing their own things.

Looking around she watched as the Hag appeared again, and saw at the ent's body disappeared.
Still so many questions that I have about this place, had I come more prepared I might have stayed in this swamp for a bit longer. Maybe I could find something interesting here but I feel like I'm pushing my luck on that matter. She thought to herself putting the blood away.

"Since you are granting boons, would it be possible to restock my special supplies?" She inquired waiting for the Hags response as the giant lizard now spoke as she waited for a response. Though she had no desire to run into many of these people again she found them weak and not willing to do what they had to do to survive. Though she kept that to herself.

Now turning to Cayde she let out a small sigh, "I make no promises alchimst, though I would remind you to ask others before you act." She replied as she was handed the medicine though she knew it was a waste on her and Kate. Ignoring the others she walked over to Kate whispering to keep her voice low. "If you open the pack on my back you will find something that will help, try not to use it all at once," She concluded.


mentions:
Elvario Elvario RavenSong RavenSong The Last Curse The Last Curse Skyhunter Skyhunter TheSimianMind TheSimianMind Develius Develius
 
Clarice responds poorly to Abha's ministrations. She wakes, as intended, but she strains against Abha's paws. So too does she attempt to right herself as Scylla holds her. Her reasoning goes unstated, though it may have something to do with bacterial infections, the insalubrious environment, and, quite possibly, a general aversion to leeches.

When Scylla leaves her side to gather herbs, Clarice struggles to her feet. She stands, haggard and broken, surveying the party's condition. Slowly, painfully, she discards her swamp water drenched tunic and steadies her breathing. Although it hurts when she breathes, which isn't a good sign, gentle prodding, accompanied by a grimace and grit teeth, reveals her fractures are not compound. Clarice understands that Scylla's magic likely staunched any internal bleeding resulting from her injuries, but her physical condition is terrible nonetheless. Reviewing the extent of her injuries, and her ability to stand, Clarice determines this body will not die from these wounds, at least not immediately. More worrying is the condition of the party as a whole.

The failure of her party to work as a cohesive unit - the absolute chaos and dearth of strategy that colored their battle, their willingness to relinquish the advantages the terrain and party composition afforded and, quite literally, toss themselves onto funeral pyres, and their continued antagonism of each other - has earned them a failing grade in her book. This isn't entirely unexpected; they were coerced into working together under the threat of death, after all, with no promises of pay and life-imperiling risks. There wasn't even glory in their work, for what they accomplished would quickly be forgotten. That they would be at each others' throats was a foregone conclusion. That they were unable to correct this, to think rationally and use their combined strengths to survive their trails, is what troubles her. She might not be able to complain openly, as she had little to contribute to the conflict, but at least she understood the importance of defending the fire-wielding mage when trying to burn things!

The party's performance could be likened to Handel's Messiah, namely the song, "All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray." Everyone turned to his or her own way. Ultimately, their battle plan amounted to "hit everything really, really hard." It worked, but only because Abha had an ace up her sleeve. An ace she hadn't told anyone about...

No, their survival is the result of dumb luck, not pluck or guile or skill, and anyone who thinks otherwise should be chucked into the sea!

With a sweeping motion [Telekinesis (F)] Clarice pulls a bundle of letters from her pack. As she sorts through the stack, the others might notice that each letter is addressed to one of them. She takes Kesh's letter and throws it into a fire. Two of Cayde's letters follows. Pointedly ignoring the hag (she has had enough of hags for one adventure) Clarice hobbles around distributing the letters. She doesn't smile or feign any niceties. She doesn't hide her distrust of these people or her desire to never work with most of them again.

If Abha opens her letter, she will find a cryptic note regarding how the weretigers of Hermetic Order of the Twilit Wedjat effectively use their power and assurances of additional information if she visits Clarice within the next two months.

Baharius, Nissa, and Chandra's letters discuss freelance work, at length, and note that, if they are amenable, other agents of Clarice's unnamed patron may reach out to them with job offers in the future. Chandra's letter contains an extra segment in which Clarice suggests that some of this work may involve countering demonic incursions by disrupting cult operations.

Scylla's bulky letter contains a pressed flower and the magical gem Clarice recovered earlier. In a very informal tone, the text of this letter recounts how Clarice purchased the flower prior to their journey so Scylla wouldn't return to empty-handed. Oddly, Scylla's letter also contains what Scylla might recognize as a key to a teleportation circle, though there is no indication of why she has provided it.

Cayde's letter would have stated that Clarice cannot, in good faith, offer him a recommendation for the Ryken Academy and, perhaps, offered him something else, but Kesh just had to try to offer her to the hag. Clarice withdraws her outstretched hand and the letter she grasps and glowers at the prone ratkin.

If this creature was not so dear to you, Cayde, I would be obliged to kill her for her attempting to sell me to a hag. As it stands, I shall simply withhold what I prepared for you, though I would be happy to divest her of her drugs if you'd like a more sober companion until she recovers enough to cook more. Perhaps you could wean her off of them so she doesn't shoot trees in situations that call for stealthy approaches or leap into fires of her own volition.
 
The Overgrown Marshes – Death's Roots
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Mentions: Baharius Develius Develius | Scylla RavenSong RavenSong | Cayde The Last Curse The Last Curse | Kesh Skyhunter Skyhunter | Clarice TheSimianMind TheSimianMind | Nissa saxon saxon

Hag
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Baharius' question at the hag was met with a short moment of silence. It was a highly interesting questions, but it had some fatal flaws. Not only was it a yes or no question, it was also a little too specific. Was she responsible in orchestrating this even from the very start? “No.” Her answer was simple. These events started when the Ent decided to leave The See and venture into the Dark Continent, where he'd allow himself to be corrupted in a search for power. She'd only been part of the events after he arrived, so not from the very start. She did take a little bit of pity on the creature, perhaps remnants of her Fae half, so she added just one more line. “Yet these events were not beyond my estimations.” She always crafted her deals carefully. She had answered the third question and had no more business with them. Nissa's and Kesh's questions went ignored as a result. Especially as, in the Hag's mind, she was merely sharing scraps, not granting boons. She took two steps away from the Ent's corpse, but just as she was about to take the third step, she was gone as suddenly as she'd arrived. No flashy show or needless words, just a quick trip to cash in on a deal and giving a few answers out of the 'kindness' of her heart. If they wanted to really make a deal with her, they'd likely have to make their way to the centre of the Swamp (which would need magic Affinity B to follow the right threads) to meet her there and prove they had something to offer her, as right now, her impression of them had inspired pity more than anything.

Kalina Chivernu

Kalina was a bit caught off-guard when the rest suddenly started to get emotional, starting with Baharius. “Likewise.” She hoped at least that, despite her latest 'change', she'd be included in the 'may we' and not the 'may not' part of the seeing each-other again.

Cayde was a bit different. “For what it's worth, I personally think you kept yourself together the best, most of the time we've been trying to work together here.” She genuinely had started to like the alchemist a lot. Plain as he tasted. Who'd have thought there was something other than taste that'd draw her to someone? She politely declined the burn treatment. “Save it to use on Kesh again later. She'll need a second dose and I'll make do, for reasons you should know by now.” Her regeneration would take care of the burn wounds soon enough.

Kesh was a different case. The ratkin made her sigh. “Yes, the cold hand of a strange and suspicious lady. Although the fire I dragged you out of warmed it up a fair bit~” If having been suspicious from the start made the Ratkin this happy, Kalina figure she might as well play along by now.

Nissa was clearly onto her, but Kalina didn't quite care. She only laughed at the comment abou her new look. “Thanks, I'd been saving it for the right occasion~” If felt like quite the relief to no longer have to act so darn serious all the time. However, Nissa's suggestion took her by surprise. She smiled as she whispered back, although she'd make extra sure to guide Nissa away from the sharp-eared rat. Even wounded and on the ground, she was weary of Kesh's ears. “Don't worry, I've had Cayde offer enough to have me last. I'll warn you though, he tastes plain as a raw potato.”

She was a bit surprised when Clarice suddenly handed out letters, despite looking half-past dead. “Thanks?” She asked, a bit questioningly. She did have to agree on something. “I'm not sure how her species is, but I have to agree with Clarice. You might want to get her to lay off on the drugs.”

Abha Roshan
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Abha was feeling conflicted. She was sent elsewhere yet again, in her quest at finding out what had happened to her city. Oddly enough, the Paizu Mountains weren't even that far from the Holy City of Vegard. Had she travelled all the way to this continent and lost some friends only to learn the answers were kept that close to her home? It was a bitter pill to swallow. On the other hand, there was a lead, even with the Ent himself dead.

She too, replied to the others becoming more sentimental. “Thank you all for helping me bring the Ent down.” That creature's death was a big relief. “Once my mission is finished, I'd gladly invite you all to come visit the order of Virtus in the Holy City of Vegard. Well, those that wouldn't have any troublesome things show up at the scanning orbs when they're checked by the bridge guards.” She glossed over Nissa, Kalina and Kesh at the latter part, the three most likely of having [monster] or [criminal] titles show up.

She pocketed her letter for later, figuring Clarice had written them because the nature of its content was private. “Thank you.” She said, without even knowing what she was thanking her for yet, but assuming the girl hadn't wasted her time penning down insults.


Aftermath.

Baharius stuck to his honour and managed to escort Abha out of the swamp, travelling to the village along with her. The rest was free to tag along if they so desired (especially as Clarice could need someone to support her on the way back and they all could use Scylla's ability to read the threads to get out of there without taking too many detours). Upon making their way back to the village, they were able to split up in their own directions. Abha would set course to the Paizu Mountains. Kalina wanted to take some time off to settle on what clue she'd go after. Clarice and Scylla would have some nice plants to bring back to the Academy. Cayde has some interesting new herbs to experiment with. Baharius would be off to find a place to relax and recover. However... one person didn't make it out of the swamp. Kesh, at some point, had vanished in the swamp, just before it looked as they had found the safety of the village. Try as they might, they wouldn't be able to locate her.

The End.

Baharius
Title - Dino Daddy – Despite size and appearance suggesting otherwise, the character has shown to have reliable protective father instincts towards smaller characters. Will make it easier for them to trust them.
Title - Commanding - Character is capable of using their size and intimidation to come across as a authoritative and commanding.
Title - Toasty – Character has been burned multiple times. You'd swear a hint of smoke follows them wherever they go.
Asset - Abha Roshan's Friendship E – Character is connected to Abha Roshan, a wererabbit Paladin of Virtus from the Holy City of Vegard.

Scylla
Title – Pastry Scoffer - Character has a talent for scoffing down cake.
Title - Hugger - Character is a destined hugger of anything cute. Anything small and cute better run or accept their destiny. Might occasionally hug hostiles into pacifism by the power love.
Asset - Magic Tether – Once every three posts, the magic tether can add Magic Range B to a single spell.
Asset - Abha Roshan's Friendship E – Character is connected to Abha Roshan, a wererabbit Paladin of Virtus from the Holy City of Vegard.
Asset – Rare Marsh Plants – A collection of rare plants for the Overgrown Marshes that would make for excellent research materials at the Ryken Academy.

Cayde
Title - Group Therapist - Character has gone through great lengths to try reconciling and keeping together a group of hostile folk. As a result, people are more likely to come to them with problems to try sorting them out with words rather than violence.
Title - Patient - Character has shown themselves to deal with the antics of characters that most mortal folk would be driven crazy by long ago. Their mental fortitude is recognized by all who get to know them.
Asset - Abha Roshan's Friendship F – Character is connected to Abha Roshan, a wererabbit Paladin of Virtus from the Holy City of Vegard.
Asset – Rare Marsh Herbs – A variety of rare herbs from the Overgrown Marshes that can be used in various alchemical concoctions.

Kesh
Title - MIA - Character went missing in action.
Title - Drug-blooded - Character has taken so many drugs that they've developed a resistance to them.
Title - Shameless - Whether it be criminal acts, odd speech or partial nudity, the character has shown they don't exactly care much about how others perceive them.
Asset - Abha Roshan's Friendship F – Character is connected to Abha Roshan, a wererabbit Paladin of Virtus from the Holy City of Vegard.
Asset – Marsh Zaza – Strong enough greens to get even the most drug-resistant species high as a kite.

Clarice
Title - Critical - Character has an easier time finding fault with anything and anyone. They are less likely to be caught speechless or without an opinion.
Title - Emotional/Analytical Switch - Character occasional manages to switch from emotional reactions to analytical responses at the flip of switch.
Asset – Rare Marsh Plants – A collection of rare plants for the Overgrown Marshes that would make for excellent research materials at the Ryken Academy.

Nissa
Title - Provocative - Character has a talent for getting under people's skin in order to annoy or anger them. Can be useful to draw people into making rash decisions.
 
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Isekai Hell RP Grade

Alright, Marshes was a great RP to be a part of, I felt like pacing was off a lot of the time and this could have been divided into separate rps along the way. Interactions was good and seeing characters at each other's throat was a pretty cool thing to see. Story was okay, at times it felt like, in my opinion, we weren't really getting anywhere but that did help with character interaction. The use of mapping was a huge help to everything and visualization. Thanks Elvario for allowing me in and using Kesh by the way. Now onto the rewards!

Kalina (GM) - 105 Points

Baharius - 73 Points

Optional title acquired [Dino Daddy] – Despite size and appearance suggesting otherwise, the character has shown to have reliable protective father instincts towards smaller characters. Will make it easier for them to trust them.

Asset - Abha Roshan's Friendship E – Character is connected to Abha Roshan, a wererabbit Paladin of Virtus from the Holy City of Vegard.

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Scylla - 73 Points

Optional Title Acquired [Naive] - Character is prone to acting and speaking in a way more experienced individuals would call foolish. Character is also mostly likely to find the chance or hope where none were.

Asset - Abha Roshan's Friendship E – Character is connected to Abha Roshan, a wererabbit Paladin of Virtus from the Holy City of Vegard.
AssetRare Marsh Plants – A collection of rare plants for the Overgrown Marshes that would make for excellent research materials at the Ryken Academy.

---

Cayde - 73 Points

Optional Title Acquired [Patient] - Character has shown themselves to deal with the antics of characters that most mortal folk would be driven crazy by long ago. Their mental fortitude is recognized by all who get to know them.

Asset - Abha Roshan's Friendship F – Character is connected to Abha Roshan, a wererabbit Paladin of Virtus from the Holy City of Vegard.
Asset – Rare Marsh Herbs – A variety of rare herbs from the Overgrown Marshes that can be used in various alchemical concoctions.

---

Kesh - 73 Points

Title Acquired - MIA - Character went missing in action

Optional Title Acquired - [Drug-Blooded] - Character has taken so many drugs that they've developed a resistance to them.

Asset - Abha Roshan's Friendship F – Character is connected to Abha Roshan, a wererabbit Paladin of Virtus from the Holy City of Vegard.
Asset – Marsh Zaza – Strong enough greens to get even the most drug-resistant species high as a kite.

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Clarice - 73 Points

Optional Title Acquired - [Emotional/Analytical Switch] - Character occasional manages to switch from emotional reactions to analytical responses at the flip of switch.

Asset – Rare Marsh Plants – A collection of rare plants for the Overgrown Marshes that would make for excellent research materials at the Ryken Academy.

---

Nissa
- 73 Points

Optional Title Acquired [Provocative] - Character has a talent for getting under people's skin in order to annoy or anger them. Can be useful to draw people into making rash decisions.
 

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