The party makes it to the side of the house without further incident (except for the fact that Dabid has run around the back side of the building and hasn't returned).
Zeton notes that there are nice, neat entrance and exit puncture wounds in Gemma's thigh and the tibia has been cleaved in twain. The projectile (or whatever it was) went through the limb like a red hot poker through a wax candle.
Lirassa insists her injury is "only a flesh wound", but she lets Ham have a look at it. Indeed, the projectile (or whatever it was) ripped a gouge in her thigh but doesn't seem to have hit anything vital (though there is more than a little blood). Ham puts a celluplast on it, and that's that.
Pru still seems rather freaked out over having had her arm healed completely by Bina. Her jacket sleeve has a nice hole on either side of it and is soaked with blood, but she is far more interested in the fact that there is no longer any trace of the injury.
Bina herself seems forlorn and pensive, rubbing her hands and looking anywhere except at anyone else.
Mey'Luskar, who was suddenly concerned for Bina at the end of the battle, moves away from the Hergoth without a word and starts looking about the side of the house. Betham follows a similar course but keeps his distance.
Nekshi finishes up her programming, still virtually oblivious to the fact that Granite Spear has half led, half dragged her along to the house.
Mon'Fargret is the last one to arrive at the house, popping a new power pack into his pistol as he continues to glance about warily.
Widjgleeby is standing at the top of the short stairway leading down to the door, her ultra-sensitive nostrils going.
The house itself has walls of a reddish-brown ceramic material. Its main section appears to be of a squarish layout with a tower on each corner. The bottom floor is half underground and, judging from the design of the windows and door, of a more utilitarian nature. The main floor sits on top of it about a meter and a half above the ground. The main section has one more floor above that. The lights of the veranda show that each of the corner towers has one more level above the main section terminating in a Hergoth-style spired dome. The central tower, also capped with a spired dome, has two floors above the main section.
A dim, flickering, reddish glow can be seen in one of the windows of the top floor of the central tower.
"Brrrrr!" says Mey'Luskar, shuddering and hugging herself. "This place gives me the creeps!"
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Nekshi looks around rather confusedly. "Oh bother, did I miss something?"
She gently untangles herself from Granite's sub lateral tentacle.
"Thank you for the conveyance, and the protection. Did you say something about a Poldite?"
Granite nods. "One of our attackers was a Poldite, no question." She points at the ground, "Probably more of them in the tunnels, you think?"
[Regarding the new gun - can Granite tell how many shots are left? Does it take a standard power pack, or something funky. I don't want to get caught with an empty gun...]
Granite will try to get Ham's attention. "Something made my leg tickle a bit earlier. Can you take look?"
Zeton, speaking in Her-Galad, gently addresses Gemma, "Well, unless I"m mistaken, this looks like the end of your role as our guide. I've treated your leg as best I can, but you need to visit a Geishana temple to have your leg healed properly. Is there any way the folks back at the apartments can come get you and take you to see a Geishana?"
[@Dewkid - There's really no such thing as a "standard" power pack, though the one in this gun may or may not have a Confederation "standard" interface (which is by no means universal, trust me). There's also no way Granite can see to tell how much power is left in it. None of the symbols on it are of any language she knows.]
[I'll have to assume that Granite Spear's talk with Nekshi was in Zorlan and therefore unintelligible to anyone else in the party.]
Bina suddenly turns hurt eyes to Mon'Fargret and says, "Aloud, please! We have no right to talk that way!" Then she looks at Gemma and says, "I can try to heal her...if she's willing..."
Gemma seems uncertain, even a little resentful, but she cries, "If you can take my pain, by the Entity, DO IT!!"
Bina quietly assumes a prayer position and starts chanting again.
Granite grumbles a bit as she examines the gun a bit more. "Nice and violent, but I can't be sure it will continue to fire. Confounded alien-tech!"
Mon'Fargret flushes a bit and stammers, "Try to thank somebody and you pay the price."
Recovering himself, he asks "Where the heck did Dabid go?"
He looks around the corner for a clue.
Mon'Fargret walks over to the other corner tower (which also has a door like the one by which everyone is gathered) and peers around to the back of the house. The light from the front veranda lights doesn't reach back there, and neither does the faint glow from the city, so it's pitch black, but Mon'Fargret's multispectral visor reveals a faint and fading heat trail leading up some stairs.
Nekshi says to no one in particular, "Its probably not a good idea to stand clustered like this where a well-aimed grenade can wipe us out. Let's spread out and investigate."
Bina continues to chant. For at least a minute or two nothing happens. Then, as before, the three different-colored points of light appear on her, quickly spreading and mingling into a reddish aura. It expands slowly.
"Hurry up!" screams Gemma. "Hurry up!"
"Give her time," says Betham in a low voice, putting a hand on her arm. It seems to calm her.
Bina continues to chant.
Granite nods in agreement. Speaking in a language that is universally acceptable to everyone in the near vicinity... Yangae? (sorry if the language thing still trips me up - God Damned Americans!!) "Maybe we should split up, and secure the front and back." Granite will slide along the wall of the house with her gun drawn, and begin moving towards the front. "Who's with me?"
(For the record, Yangae is the only language usable to a reasonable extent by all the party members. Most but not all are also proficient in Her-Galad, though some prefer not to use it.)
"Where does he think he is going," mutters Mon'Fargret as he runs off after Dabid.
Zeton watches in awe as Gemma's wound is healed. He can tell Bina seems to be tiring, so Zeton gets some water to offer to Bina once she is finished. After Bina has either accepted or declined the water, Zeton will quickly check his pocket computer to see if the battle has attracted any unwanted attention. Little Brother will be in full effect.
After another minute of chanting, as before, Bina seems to pull the glowing aura into her hands and then channels the energy into Gemma.
...or tries to, at least. The energy doesn't concentrate and sink in as it did with Pru. Instead, it loses its consistency and wafts away like smoke.
"Oh!! Can't you do this right?" moans Gemma.
Bina takes a breath and resumes chanting.
As Mon'Fargret circles around the back of the house and Granite Spear around the front, Lirassa follows Mon'Fargret. Ham follows her in turn. Widjgleeby starts to follow Granite Spear.
Curious, Betham starts to follow Mon'Fargret but turns around and comes back, heading in Granite Spear's direction.
"Oh, where is everybody going?" whines Mey'Luskar.
"Lady, I think she's losing it," says Pru, nodding toward Bina.
"What?" snaps Mey'Luskar. Then she moves toward the disgraced priestess carefully, avoiding Gemma as if she were radioactive. "Come on, Bina," she says gently. "Don't lose faith!" She reaches out a hand without thinking but stops short before touching the red aura. Withdrawing the limb, she adds, "I believe in you!"
Bina's eyes suddenly open very wide. The aura seems to grow more intense. It also brightens, looking more orange. Bina immediately gathers it into her hands once again and tries to channel it.
As before, it fails to focus and starts to dissipate again.
Gritting her teeth and straining, Bina focuses the energy with one final effort. About half of it is lost, but the rest is recovered and channeled into Gemma.
Gemma gasps and clutches her leg just as Bina collapses.
OK, if Mey begins to comfort Bina and take care of her, Zeton will check on Gemma. If Mey seems reluctant to touch Bina, Zeton will carefully make sure Bina is not hurt, prop her head up and try to make her as comfortable as possible. As before, he'll have water at the ready for either Gemma or Bina.
Mey'Luskar doesn't move a muscle. In fact, she is staring blankly into space with a look of pure shock on her face.
Gemma moves her injured leg uncertainly, utters a small yelp, and then crouches down next to Bina. As Zeton approaches, she touches Bina and says, "Dear sister, are you all right?"
"Your leg?" asks Bina back weakly, raising herself to a seated position with effort.
Gemma touches it. "It still hurts, but not as much."
Bina sighs and gratefully accepts water from Zeton. "I couldn't heal it completely. Without the circle I'm just not...strong enough. I'm surprised I...If I hadn't...It was..." Then she glances at Mey'Luskar, who is still frozen. "By the Entity!" she whispers, jumping to her feet and very nearly toppling over again.
Pru gets there first. "Lady!" She snaps her fingers next to Mey'Luskar's ear. "Oy! Snap out of it!"
Mey'Luskar shudders and makes a comical sound as her eyes snap back into focus. "Wow..." is all she says.
"What happened?" asks Pru, throwing a wary look at Bina.
"...I..." starts Mey'Luskar. Then she glances around. "Why the sod are we still out here? Let's get indoors!"
"Mey, if you'll help Bina, I'll help Gemma." Zeton makes sure he hasn't left anything behind, (this includes any garbage or packaging from the med kit), and then helps the rest of the group inside.
Right now the "rest of the group" that Zeton is able to help inside other than Gemma consists of Nekshi and Pru. (Ham and Lirassa followed Mon'Fargret around the back of the house, and Betham and Widjgleeby followed Granite Spear around the front.)
Gemma is walking with a limp (and some gnashing of teeth) but is able to move. It's clear that her broken bone has been partly fused back together, though it's not fully healed. She heads straight for the tower door, muttering to herself as she carefully eases her way down the short staircase. Then she glances at Zeton and says something about that door never being locked.
Indeed, it opens right up.
"The party room!" she says with a solemn grin. "At least this is where we sometimes crash when we party here." She turns and steps inside.
Bina and Mey'Luskar seem to be bickering quietly, but eventually it reaches some kind of conclusion. The two women follow after the others heading into the tower.
[Hey, we found Heckart Lodge!]
I thought I was headed down the stairs.
(You were till I had to invoke Gamemaster Override. No one else was coming with Widjgleeby, and the only movement was the two groups separating to go around the sides of the house, so I rolled to see what Widjgleeby would do. She decided to see what Granite Spear was up to. You can have her go back to the tower door if you like [but check your e-mail first].)
Nope I'm good. I think I'll take out my knife.
[That's not a knife!]
Zeton, Pru, Bina, and Mey'Luskar follow Gemma through the door as she reaches over and turns on a small lamp. The room inside is apparently an apartment. (Actually, "dorm" is probably more appropriate, though it's reasonably spacious.) The circular expanse of the tower has been divided into two main sections, a living/dining room with a tiny kitchenette, and a bedroom with a closet and a small toilet enclosure. There's one regular bed in the bedroom and one portable cot. There's a lot of stuff (mainly trash) all over the place.
Gemma tosses some stuff off of a loveseat and eases herself down with a grimace.
"This...is the party room?" asks Mey'Luskar with distaste.
"We sometimes crash here," replies Gemma with a pained grin. "When we party with Gol'br'in and the others, I mean. Or when someone comes. I guess you could call this the hotel!" She chuckles.
Pru huffs and gestures disbelief as she goes into the bedroom and looks around.
Gemma's grin vanishes. "Look, if it bugs you so much, why don't you just leave? I know what this is, but it's all we have now, and it's a lot better than nothing! We also have each other!"
"Maybe there's more than you think," retorts Mey'Luskar ominously. Turning a suddenly haunted look to Bina, she says, "Tell me what I'm feeling!"
Bina sighs and replies, "Something happened here. Something terrible. There's a lot of fear in these walls!"
Just at that moment, the sound of someone running can be heard from above.
(I'm sorry...I forgot to mention that Nekshi followed the group into the tower, too. My bad!)
[Is the sound from aboove of someone running away, or running towards the group?]
[The sound is clearly moving away, further inside the house.]
Zeton gazes at the ceiling at the sound of the fading footsteps, "So, Gemma, any idea of who that might be?" Turning to Nekshi, "Can you send a message to Granite alerting her about the person, or people above us? I wouldn't anyone outside surprised by someone taking pot shots at them from a window."
Gemma looks puzzled. "Whoever it is is really scared," she says.
"Gemma, is Gol'br'in the gentleman we spoke with back at the apartments, or is that someone else? I suppose if someone watched the firefight and saw us advance to the main building here, they may feel fear... Could the person be running to the room at the top of the tower with the light in it?"
"What?" says Gemma, massaging her leg and grimacing. "In the apartments? That was Bessin! Gol'br'in is probably up in the tower. He's always up there. That's what he does. Or so they say. I've never been up there."
"Oh, that's right, Bessin, I'm sorry." Zeton fishes around his med kit for pain medication and offers Gemma something to help her. "So, what can you tell us about Gol'br'in? How long have you known him? "
Gemma gratefully accepts the pain medication. "I've haven't been here that long," she replies. "Just a few months. At least I think it was just a few months. Time isn't the same, you know. I've only seen Gol'br'in a few times. Kind of different, you know." She giggles. "Well...I guess we all are! I mean, I wasn't before I...um...anyway, he does his own thing. He's smart, you know. Knows a lot. His talk is different. It's always 'the flow' or 'the balance' or 'the elder visions' and stuff like that. Freaky stuff. But he always seems to know what's what."
Just then, everyone whose wrister, comm, etc. is on and tuned to the party link hears Granite Spear's talk box saying, "I think I just saw Dabid in the house. I'm going in. Watch your crossfire!!"
"Wait a minute..." Zeton, using his com device contacts Mon'Fargret, "Can you see where GS is entering the house? We just heard footsteps above us in the tower we entered, moving at a running pace. Could that have been Dabid?"
I assume I'm still following Granite Spear?
(Yep. I assume Widjgleeby is on the patio right outside the door. Is she going to follow G.S. inside?)
Mon'Fargret speaks into his wrister, "I am pretty sure we are just hearing each other. We are the ones upstairs. Nonetheless, stay alert. We'll be down shortly."
Si. I am going to follow her into the house with my knife at the ready.
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