Bael Hunt (Closed)

[Yorick]

"AH, SON OF A --"

Yorick fell into a fit of coughing as pain began to flood through her body, especially her side. And what was with all the webs? She was wrapped up against that fist fighter, in a cocoon. This wasn't fun. She couldn't get to her weapons. It was literally as if she'd been cast in plaster. She could barely even wriggle. The thick strands of web were everywhere!

"What the hell is going on here? Get me out of here! My side hurts like --"

More coughing wracked the woman's frame, and she gasped for breath for a while before trying again to free herself, to no avail. Finally, Yorick simply gave up and relaxed her muscles, laying in her sticky prison and releasing an almost unending stream of obscenities from her mouth.

In fact, she had no intention of stopping her vulgar serenade, except that it took too much energy to keep cursing those damned bugs and their adhesive excrement. Especially when she felt like she'd been hit with a couple of bricks. This was an awful situation. So she reluctantly fell silent, sighing at her misfortune and cursing those DAMN SPIDERS once more. What had even happened to them, anyway? Everything from when she was bitten was a fuzzy blur. She couldn't recall much. But damn, she was thirsty. Too bad there was no way for her to reach her flask... Wait, what about antitoxin? She'd been bitten! She'd probably die. This was bad.

"Ajari! Can you reach my side? I got bitten, and I think it needs antitoxin... I don't want to die."

[Duma]

Everything seemed to be going horribly wrong. Everything was catching fire, the spiderwebs, the cave, the baels, when the original intention was just for the one bael to catch on fire. The good news is that with the fire the baels would most likely die. Few things survive being burned alive. Especially critters covered in flammable hairs and exoskeletons. Duma was still unconscious and weaponless.

Brother! A voice in his head cried out. His sister. Hang on i'll fetch a healer. Oh gods don't move don't touch your face! His eyes moved slowly. As his mind began replaying the events that led him to have his scar. But those involved with that memory were replaced by the small group he had taken this job with. He heard another voice yell his name. Then felt the touch of someone. Slowly he opened his eyes. Everything appeared to him in a blur. His head was pounding in pain, his chest burning, and his back throbbing in agony. The familiar taste of blood was in his mouth.

He tried to make out things in the haze. The scent of smoke and ash filled his nose, and he coughed. His body shot with pain at each cough. Oh gods.. now I remember. I fell off that damned eight legged beast.. He quickly checked to make sure his toes and fingers could move. They did. Good.. I know i'm not paralyzed. He recognized Vincent.

"How bad.. is it?" He could barely say that. The pain in his chest made it hard to breathe, let alone talk. The smoke was not helping at all. He could feel blood trailing down his face from somewhere on his head. Think I cracked a few ribs.

Despite this he did everything in his power to get onto his feet. He barely heard Vincent reply. His head was still throbbing in pain, made it difficult to hear.

"Nn..where's the bael?" By now his words were starting to sound like a garbled whisper. He felt the darkness creeping from the corner of his eyes. No.. I can't.. pass out again. Concussion.. worsens.. like that.

"Must.. away.. baels.." He tried to speak that with clarity. He took one step forward, then another one, and one more until he fell onto his knees.

"Hang in there You lot!" A voice cried out in the distance. It was Oglaf, with a small group of his fellow lumberjacks from the village. Several large burly men approached those outside of the cavern and assisted with escorting out those who were damaged.

"HAHA bet you didn't expect to see us here. We got worried when we saw smoke billowing out the mountain. Ye all been making a fine mess of these beasties!" Spoke Oglaf. The large man started to cut away at the webbings on Yorick. Another of his men began doing the same for Ajari. Duma didn't even register what he said. He'd fallen unconscious again.

"Oy! Lay the sword master down in the wagon. Keep him awake till the healers get alook at em. Get the others out of the smoke! Hurry it up you maggots!" Oglaf kept shouting to his men in the distance. Within moments Vincent and Kyle were being escorted out of the immediate area by two more of Oglaf's men.

"Good, looks like that's all of ye. But where are the beasties?"

[Ajari]

"Yorick, calm yourself. You are injured, though you've been exposed to anti-toxin. You'll be fine, Ajari said in a smooth and level voice. No sense getting worked up now. Ajari was about to call for Vincent to uncut them when the lumberjack from earlier came up the mountain. They'd moved fast.

After the men successfully freed Ajari and Yorick, she stood and shook her hands out. Sticky and disgusting from her encounter in the cave, but the webbing had taken off the worst of the ichor and blood. "The mother was seriously injured when the cave lit up. I cannot speak for the male. They might not be dead yet. We should ensure that they will no longer be a problem. Also, we need to ensure that the eggs are destroyed before they can hatch. Ajari looked around at those gathered there.

"Three of our company are no longer able to fight. At least two of them were exposed to the toxin, even though they should be out of danger. Oh yes. Yorick, make sure they clean your wound. There... uh... might be some broken glass in it," Ajari admitted sheepishly.

"Vincent!, she called. "We need to verify that the creatures are dead and finish off the eggs. I assume the injuries, combined with the fire and smoke, have dealt with the large ones, but we need to finish this job. Are you healthy enough to continue?"

Walking into the smoking cave was dumb, Ajari knew that. Still, they couldn't just leave this place on assumptions. They needed to be sure that this creatures were destroyed, and that no traces remained. She turned back to the lumberjack. "I assume you will take the others to a safer place while we finish up? I don't see there being a lot of trouble.

[Vincent]

Just keep crawling Vincent, that is your one way out of this alive. Vincent kept low to the ground in a low crawl staying below smoke as he moved for Duma. He saw someone? rush past covered in webs escape the cave. Oh good, the girls made it. Now just Duma. Vincent made it over and with some effort returned to his feet. If he could just move slowly and support off of Duma the two would be just fine. Vincent called out to him again in an attempt to get him up and slowly he stirred.

The two men stumbled along with Duma muttering incoherently. Before long Duma fell to his knees and the situation turned from grim to hopeless. Vincent was tempted to just leave the man but... if he could still be saved he would act. Vincent was growing dizzy from smoke and the weight of Duma's collapse dragged him down too. At least... at least the job was done. He though.

Upon almost succumbing to the dark he heard a faint voice giving him hope. The lumberjack? Vincent blurry-eyed saw a man taking Duma and soon felt himself being scooped up like he was a kitten and taken to safety. Fresh air flooded his body and he began to cough relentlessly. He was out, he was saved, and no more spiders. He waited a moment for things to return to proper perspective and noticed someone tending his leg. He offered a low thanks before being helped to his feet once more.

Ajari called on Vincent's aid. Was she insane? She wanted to go back in there? He felt his weight on his leg. It hurt but so long as he took it slower he should be fine to help. He wasn't ripped open like the other three."I should manage I think. Are you sure you want to go back in though?" Vincent would follow but he did not want to do it all the same. Then again he did need his sword back. It was a gift after all.

[Kyle]

When Kyle next woke up he found himself being carried. Carried away by other people? Why was he being carried away? He began to flail wildly until he broke free from their grasps and landing face down on the ground. Ow. The people that were carrying him helped him off the ground as though he never shook free from their grasp. Once he was on his feet he began to brush the dirt off of him self, all of his muscles still felt kind of numb. But he wasn't going to cop out now; He didn't even know if the job was finished. The job MUST be finished before he left. He would make sure of it.

Ajari seemed to take control in this end situation and was trying to get Vincent to go back in with her to help smash the eggs. "I'll help." Kyle said as he began to walk towards her, almost falling once, slowly getting a feel for his numbed down body. He didn't care if the others were taken out early, he was intending to finish the job. It was what he was being paid for after all, and he would not want to disappoint them by having spiders come back later and kill them all. That would be bad for everyone. He took a deep breath and ripped off the rest of his shirt, revealing a long scare across his chest. His shirt was just getting in the way now with how loosely it was hanging off of him and if it caught fire that would be bad. He turned and walked towards the cave a bit before stopping and looking back. "I'm Kyle by the way."

[Duma]

Fortunately for Duma, a healer had accompanied Oglaf and his crew. The holy man seemed to be relatively new in the craft. But this did not stop the youth. From the young man's staff the faint glow of a healing magic coursed outwards in a warm blue light. The warm feeling coursed through the sword-master's body and slowly began undoing the damage done to his bones. The gash in his head mended until it was nothing more then a large angry bump.

A foul smell of oils and herbs assailed Duma's nose. Bringing the man back to consciousness. Duma's head was still in throbbing pain but at least he was awake.

"What happened?" Duma spoke in a partially incoherent tone. The young priest simply smiled for a moment before checking Duma's eyes and asked the sword master to speak his name.

"I'm Duma." Duma replied. His voice slowly regaining clarity.

"Good. You seem to be fine in the head." The young man spoke softly. Then he gently poked the Sword master in the chest. Duma winced and grabbed the holy man's hand before he could poke him again. The monk wriggled his hand free from Duma's weak grip.

"However your ribs will still need time to mend. Do you feel numbness anywhere?"

Duma replied with a blunt no. He could still feel various amounts of pain, not numbness. Duma took a moment to look at his surroundings. He was in a wagon. How the hell did I? Duma began stitching together the pieces of his memory after playing Bael rodeo. Gods, that was a dumb idea... He then had a moment of sudden realization, as everything came together.

"The others? The Baels! The fire!" Duma suddenly jumped out of the back of the wagon. Bad idea! Duma tried not to wince as he curled over in pain on the muddy ground. He got back up. The priest cautioned Duma from moving any father. He needed to rest and recover. Only part of the damage was healed. Duma didn't care. He wanted to finish this job.

He began walking towards the group. Oglaf was with them and he had his men bring out a few caskets of oil.

"Brought some more oil. Since, ye be eagar to run into the cave. Light the whole thing on fire, blow it up! We will dig a new mine, but these beasties need to be deader then dead."

Duma managed to rejoin group. He looked awful and that was being generous. He tried his best to hide the pain he was in.

"Going. To. See. This. Finished." He spoke each word with one breath. The sword master was doing his best to hide the pain he was in. Gods each breath hurts. No.. ignore the pain. Ignore it. We need to see this through.

[Ajari]

Ajari's gaze was torn from Vincent to the archer, who finally introduced himself as Kyle, and then Duma rousing himself from his stupor. They were brave, and persistent without question.

They were also full of the stupidity that came from a young life.

"Absolutely not. Besides the fact that you two have nothing you can add in your current condition, what would happen if part of the mine failed? I have to save myself and the two of you? Or would you place that burden upon Vincent?"

She spoke with a blunt truth, one she'd had to use several times before. She was quite glad that Yorick seemed to be the intelligent one, admitting when her body had reached its limit. "Your bravery is commendable, but your wisdom is lacking. We must strive to exceed our limits, but that first requires that we acknowledge them. Ignoring the limitations of our body and mind is a fantastic way to end our growth prematurely," she lectured.

She took a large casket of oil into her arms, hefting it easily. "Return to the village, or at least let them treat you before you compound your own injuries. Vincent, guard the cave entrance. If they try to follow, stop them." She had every faith that Vincent, inexperienced as he was, could stop either Kyle or Doma from entering the cave if it really came to it.

She heard no noise as she approached the cave, suspecting that the creatures had actually died. The one she'd attacked, certainly. That had been a maiming strike, and it would bleed out in time. The other one had fallen into the fire, and she passed its charred corpse as she descended into the mine. She paused a bit further into the mine, taking a half step back. This was about thirty feet further than where she and Yorick had been, and the scent was unmistakable to her. Explosive Gas. More common in deeper mines, but perhaps these creatures were drawn to it? It snuffed out all other life, so it ensured that they would be the only things living here. Perhaps they produced it as a byproduct of life, a way to remove competition from nesting grounds? Ajari didn't know for sure, but she thanked her lucky stars that she and Yorick had not tumbled further into the mines.

Ajari could smell the fumes before they became dangerous, but she knew that most people could not. A bit further and it could have been the end for one of her companions.

"There is gas here, that is why the webs burned so quickly and easily. If I throw an oil vial down there, it could bring down half the mountain, depending on how deep this goes," she called back to the others. "I would recommend getting clear! This will not be pretty."

After giving her warning, Ajari counter to three hundred. It should be adequate time for them to get far enough away. Theoretically, the cavern should collapse inward anyway, she just wanted to be sure. Using the casket she brought in with her, she began making a makeshift fuse by pouring a stream of the oil. It continued down the cave, into the darkness. After a moment, Ajari realized that she had forgotten a flint stone. With a small grumble of annoyance, she then slammed her fist into the solid stone of the cave floor.

The 'fuse' lit up instantly, vanishing into the darkness like a flaming snake. Ajari didn't wait around for long, running out of the cave and quickly leaping a good twenty feet down the path. A resounding explosion ripped through the air while she was still in flight, nearly making her miss the landing. She stuck it, however, clinging to the earth as soon as she touched down to steady herself.

Thankfully, little besides pebbles and the smallest of debris had made it to where she was. She leaned down against the rock she was hiding behind and released a deep breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding.

[Vincent]

Vincent watched as all the others gathered. In truth they looked like men possessed. Kyle was it then? He ripped the remains of his shirt from his body as he advanced looking half conscious. Then there was Duma. The man seemed to be the definition of a human cockroach. If it was possible Vincent was half convinced the man would keep marching on holding his guts if he needed to.

Vincent watched as Ajari went deeper into the cave. Watch the front easy enough. "I think you two should hang back here. Especially you Duma. You don't look good at all. Vincent looked back at the cave. This Ajari woman was something else. There has to be some sort of secret to her ability. No one can move like that, let alone do more with fists than blades. Could they?

It was then that Vincent remembered something. "My sword!" Vincent turned and quite easily found the charred husk that was once the bael. "Good riddance." Vincent found the back leg of the creature and yanked his blade free. The body crumbled like burned charcoal and no residue was left on the blade. Strange, despite the intense flames and burning the silver sword still retained its fine sheen.

Vincent then left the cave. His throwing knife, could stay. He would just buy a new one. "Do you two think she'll be alright in there?" Vincent's leg was throbbing to stand on it but, at least he could stand on it. "I have an elixer if either of you need it?" It was plain they needed something.

[Yorick]

As a healer approached her, Yorick's brief adrenaline rush faded, and she collapsed weakly down onto her knees as the woman went racing into the cave again.

"Glass... Broken? Antitoxin?"

As the soothing blue light began to work on her wounds, Yorick watched in numb and mute fascination as shards of glass and chunks of strange sharp things began to push themselves out of her wound. This healing magic was quite the strange stuff to watch, since it was almost like natural healing, except much faster. As the foreign bodies pushed themselves out of her deep punctures, she saw something very interesting -- a large fang. It seemed it had broken off and embedded itself. Taking the fearsome mandible, she stowed it in a crude pouch under her armor for later, wincing at the pain of glass cutting its way out. At least the cuts would heal themselves afterward.

Soon, everything was sealed, and Yorick stood up, collecting herself and regaining her composure. Unhooking her axes and freeing her other weapons from the tangle of web, she prepared to charge -- er, limp -- her way in after Ajari. Suddenly, there was a flash, a flying person, and a huge explosion.

Her first thought was to drop and get cover. That was followed by a string of expletives as she landed on her bruised and newly sealed wounded side. And then, after she'd recovered from that exceedingly stupid reaction, she had another strange thought.

Whoa. Ajari had come soaring out like a bird.

[Kyle]

Kyle gritted his teeth as the woman tried to prevent him from finishing the mission. "I'm aware of my limits, and you will NOT stop me from finishing this mission, especially since you are not my employer." He was mad that she even dare try to stop him, what right did she have to say that he couldn't finish the job? None, that's what. He wouldn't be stopped from finishing this, even if he had to fight his way through Vincent and Ajari. If they hindered him they were just as bad as the Baels and they should be stopped themselves.

As Kyle moved past Vincent towards the cave however, the big one armed man from the tavern put his hand on Kyle's shoulder. "Oy lad, te job be done, only one person needs to go in there, go back to the wagons."

He wanted to argue back that he should be the one to go in there, but that was an order from his employer, and an good mercenary listens to his employer. He was nothing if not a good mercenary, so he listened. He kinda slowly limped over to the wagons, letting himself partially relax. He was a bit mad that he wasn't finishing the mission but as long as it was completed and they were payed there wasn't really anything he should be mad about. At least people like Near or Orcleous weren't here to mess this job up like almost all the other ones he went on. That was one reason he had to start his own guild, that way he could almost always have a group of people actually able to finish jobs. That would be nice.

After a little bit people started moving away from the cave for some reason, did he miss something? While he was blocking others out he must have blocked out something important, so he decided to move away with everyone else. Only moments after everyone had moved a giant explosion came from within the cave as it collapsed upon itself, and just like that the job was done.

[Duma]

Duma was perfectly fine where he was. Even when Ajari gave her comment on having him stay put. Did she just question my experience? He tried to reply back but Ajari was already off and running with a casket of oil to blow the place to kingdom come. Of course I'm not dumb enough to run into the cavern! I know I'm injured! I just wanted to watch the end of this, with my eyes. At least that's what he wanted to say. He wanted to shout it out. But it was really getting hard to breathe. The fog and smoke were starting to affect him.

He gritted his teeth. He was surprised he even made it up the path to this point with out keeling over again. He saw Vincent quickly run forward or limp forward, Duma couldn't really tell at the moment. The light-haired youth vanished into the smog for a moment only to come back out after a bit with his sword. The sword from earlier. Ha! I'm surprised it survived the flames in such a good condition. He was starting to cheer up a bit. Oh wait MY SWORD! Crap.. guess I can get a new one with the reward money.

"Oy, swordsman!" Duma heard Oglaf's familiar voice. Duma looked over at him.

"I. just. wanted. to. watch." He barely spoke out.

"Aye. Not often we blow up a mine. But you best head back to the wagons. Yer paler then a ghost." The large man commented.

"Worry not! I'll describe it to ye in glory at the tavern!" He let out a laugh before affectionately patting Duma hard on the back. Duma could not let out any words. The pain was overwhelming. Oglaf noticed his reaction.

"Oy! Someone help him back to the wagon."

Duma barely managed to regain himself. He took very slow hesitant steps back towards the wagon. Oglaf's men assisted Duma the short distance back. He was carefully aided back into the wagon. Duma was sitting down and staring out into the distance where the cave was. There was a large explosion a short while afterwards. Duma looked up at the sky, the job was over. Everyone better be at the tavern. I'm going to enjoy the hell out of that drink. His vision was getting dark, the adrenaline was wearing off. All of well everything was hitting Duma all at once. He was going to spend the wagon ride resting.

[Ajari]

Ajari had no response to Kyle's tantrum. The boy clearly didn't understand how much danger he would put everyone in by being blinded by ego. One day he would grow up, or perhaps meet his end before he had the chance. Whatever choice he made, that wasn't her concern. She had to help people in need, but that required them accepting that they needed help.

Duma had wanted to at least stand strong until the end, which was respectable. He shouldn't have pushed his body, but he was just offering a token appearance more than anything else. A bit egotistical, but reasonable at least.

Yorick had been the smart one. Perhaps she was still delirious, but she had allowed herself to be treated and hadn't insisted on charging back in like a raging bull.

And then there was Vincent. The boy had been scared, obviously, but his fear hadn't paralyzed him. He fought on, continuing the battle even when it was very obvious that he understood how dangerous it was. He wasn't ignoring the danger, he was accepting it and choosing to stand against it. He didn't do it for pride or fame, he did it because he had to. That was commendable, and he should be told as much.

"Are you all right, Vincent?" she asked, standing up and walking over to him. "You handled yourself quite well back there. Excellent work," She could have praised Yorick as well, which she would do once the latter had regained her senses, but she doubted Yorick needed to hear praise from a stranger. Vincent was obviously quite green, and some reassurance that his contribution was vital would do him good.

"We should head back to town, now. Even uninjured, this fight was quite trying. We should allow our bodies time to rest." Ajari made to climb into the wagon when she realized that they had three people who needed to ride in them anyway. They weren't in mortal danger, but the venom had sapped much of their strength.

"Perhaps you three should ride in the wagon. Myself and Vincent can walk well enough, and we wouldn't want to overload the horses," she suggested, unsure if any of them would even take the offer. It didn't matter now. She wasn't their mother, and if they wanted to be self destructive for the sake of their pride, she would let them.

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However people decided to make the trip, the wagon pulled back into town close to sundown. The sky was growing dark as the sun inched its way over the horizon. They arrived back at the bar they'd all met at that morning, suitably exhausted and a bit the worse for ware.

"After a day like that, a bit to eat and drink sounds like a welcome relief," Ajari said, nodding to her employer before stepping inside of the inn. It seemed that accounts would be settled once they had all gotten themselves inside and relaxed.

[Vincent]

Vincent could feel the blast of the exploding mine blowing everything sideways and his hair with it. It carried a foul stench but it was also a sign of victory and being done with this job. Never again would he fight monsters if it was avoidable. A skilled swordsman could already be tough enough without them being eight legged exoskeleton poisonous spiders.

It was humorous to watch everyone limping and relaxing in wagons after all the confidence and fighting they had. He found himself smiling like an idiot. Despite the pain and near death they all experienced this was something he found joy in. Fighting alongside others and finishing a tough job successfully. Just like he always told Neil. ...Neil... his smile faded as he thought of it. He did not have time to be messing around here with spiders and comrades. He needed to find Near and learn how to combat against assassins.

He had sheathed his blades when he noticed Ajari coming over and speaking to them collectively. She doesn't miss a beat does she? Blows up a mine and back in time for supper. She struck him as that type. If she kept herself active he had no doubts he'd start hearing legends about her popping up with time. Actually, any of these guys could. They were certainly tenacious enough for it. On the verge of death and they all kept fighting. They didn't waver.

"These are the type's worthy to wield you aren't they?" Vincent thought to his blade.

"Perhaps but do not forget you bear the crest. I am yours. Though power I will not yet share to you. If you ever need a sword then perhaps I can offer myself as a plain albeit fancy substitute."

"Really?"

Breaking him from his surprise was Ajari. "Are you all right, Vincent?" He looked up nodding before she praised him for his bravery. It did not go unappreciated, in fact it seemed to coincide with knowledge his blade gleaned to him but why just him? She didn't offer praise to the others. They were equally tried as he. Duma even rode the beast.

"I'll be fine to walk." He regretted it but it was true. He got slapped around but never poisoned. Something he was grateful for. Still the down hill trip was rocky and shifting earth did not help his ankle feel any better than it previously had.

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The town was in the distance and Vincent found new vigor in the fact. He doubled his pace and hurried forward to reach the gates. It did him no good as it was Oglaf that let them in. Still, the prospect of them all gathered around for food and drinks to celebrate success was rather appealing.

Just outside Ajari remarked about food as if speaking his thought for him. "Agreed." Vincent moved inside to follow and quickly found them a table for around 8.

[Kyle]

Well, the job was finally over so he could relax. He was completely alright with Ajari suggesting that he, along with the other people who got hit during the battle ride in the cart. Truthfully he was starting to feel a bit woozy again as the adrenalin began to wear off and the spot where the Bael got him began to hurt more again. And he was still shirtless. Almost as if on cue a girl, probably one of the villagers, walked over and handed him a new shirt while blushing. Crap, he completely forgot that there were other villagers around, he probably seemed so unprofessional now. Blushing himself a bit. he accepted the shirt with a thanks and quickly put it on. It was loose but it worked well enough to cover his body. He was ignoring everything else the others were talking about and just laid out on the wagon, deciding to sleep until they got to the village. Trying to be efficient was tiring, especially when you were getting poisoned by spiders, at least this group succeed in their job; That made him happy, even if he couldn't complete it to the end himself. He wanted to make a guild like this group, gets the job done no matter what. He just kept thinking about how he wanted his ideal guild to be like as he fell asleep aboard the wagon.

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Kyle woke up with a start, immediately into an upright position as they had just gotten back to town. He felt a little groggy, probably an after effect of the toxins but he was fine for the most part now. Now all he had to do was wait until he was paid so he could move onto his next job and maybe he could recruit more people,. But they need to be good, or at least wanting to improve, like he was. It would be no easy task, but he would see it through.

Since there was going to be a wait of some sort and the mission was over Kyle let himself relax slightly, it felt weird actually completing a mission with a group. All of his other jobs had ended badly for one reason or another, and CERTAIN people were there for all of them. But he should really start talking to people, sure most out there were probably like Orcleous and Near, but there might be more out there Like Locke.People he didn't hate, but there was only one person he could really relate to in any way right now, and that was Vincent.

As people from the group started to go back inside the tavern he moved up to Vincent and sat next to him at the big table he had picked out, now to think of the best way to open up the conversation. . . "Hey, you need to watch where you are running in battle, you kicked the anti-toxin out of my hands when you hit me." Perfect opener, maybe. Time to get to the real part. "Are you okay? After meeting Near that is." he said in a hushedtone that could barely be heard over the din of the inn. That's what he wanted to ask about earlier.

[Duma]

Duma was treated by a small group of Oglaf's men and the healer from before. After a few hours back in town he was up, and sharing a drink with everyone in the tavern. Granted his chest was now covered in an array of bandages but he was alive and mobile. Oglaf found a replacement blade for his old iron sword, which was a newer iron sword. Well that was just perfect.

Oglaf made good on his promise and bought everyone a round of drink. After all the group was successful in killing the baels and their brood and made the mountain a safe place again. Well as "safe" a mountain could be. Payments were made out to the group as was arranged. Duma was mostly silent for the celebration. His ribs were still in a rather delicate shape, and he didn't want to push them farther then they already were. He should be resting not partying. But he figured if he can keep his movements to a minimum he should be alright.

He struck up a conversation with them. He was a sucker for swapping stories and the group looked like they had plenty. He really wanted to know how Ajari came out of the explosion relatively unscathed, and her freaky strength only raised his interest into learning where she came from. He had already suspected that the woman wasn't entirely normal.

And then their was Yorick. He wanted to swap stories with her. As fellows who noticeable scars of battle he wanted to hear what she had to say. He was certain someone wanted to know where his scars came from. He wanted to ask Vincent where he obtained his sword and talk about swordplay in general. And Kyle, to see if he was well. And to ask if he was a man of the guild, what story could he tell?

Oglaf raised his frothy mug of mead to celebrate, and Duma did the same. He then drank the contents of his mug in it's entirety. Duma managed to speak enough to thank them, and perhaps one day they could meed again for another job.

"Probably one that doesn't involve spiders."

After all was said and done. The party ended and everyone went off to their own lives. Duma remained in the village for sometime to recover, before setting off out on his own again.

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