🌶️ To live on the edge of insane [Maddyn]

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Oh dear, the collateral damage really was rather unfortunate and unexpected. But Sliucha supposed there wasn't much to be done about it now - save continue to reinforce the magical wards that protected herself and her compatriots, to ensure that as this matter progressed, there wouldn't be any harm that befell them.

And to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Stay Calm!

Also, if this parasite thing wouldn't mind... going back where it came from? Pretty please?

 

[Maddyn]

Calm!

Where the creature from the Plane of Shadows was struggling, where when it fed from fear and terror, being forced into tranquility? Akin to throwing salt upon a snail, writhing and screaming aloud as Dorin and canine’s about the Spear and Skull Inn and Tavern dropped to the ground. The protective wards that Sliucha had raised being systematically brought to ruin, eating through the spells with its extra-planar properties alike.

Blood trickling down Sliucha’s nose and running down her ears… the sensation familiar as tears of blood wept, of her once Brand of Zygra so long ago…

And then…?

There, the Dark Dwarf on the ground. Malnourished, its flesh withered and skeletal, but breathing faintly still. And not a shadow to be seen within the entire room. No presence of the Parasite from the Plane of Shadow. Nothing remained beyond Calm.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

...ugh!

With all due respect to the dwarven survivor? Sliucha's first priority would be - well, herself, one imagined. The healer had to be healthy in order to be able to heal the others. Running diagnostics on herself to get an idea of how bad the damage was, and then making sure to heal herself accordingly.

Then, the next priority? Uh, definitely her packmates. The dwarven survivor was definitely rather low on the list at the moment, as Sliucha made sure to tend to everybody as best as possible. Checking in on them, making sure that everybody was doing all right.

And lastly, the survivor, who had been through an ordeal. Make sure that they were stabilized - could Sliucha get some help getting them back onto the bed so that they could lie and rest properly?

 

[Maddyn]

Triage! Couldn’t help others if she herself was also down and out for the count, and so? Heal!

Minor damage, the equivalent of scratches and bruises of the psyche, but fundamentally? The creature’s dying screams had been almost entirely warded off by Sliucha’s magics. The protections servicing quite well against the Extraplanar Entity - though, with it? There seemed to be a dulling, an absence of some of the synesthesia aspects of her body’s ‘wiring’ was now seeming coated in a protective layer.

It was going to take some really good drugs before Sliucha would be able to ‘taste’ chocolate cookies when listening to a well made musical piece again.

Packmates?

Their hearing was where most of the damage was done, and even after the wounds were worked over? There was a lingering presence of tinnitus with a dull buzzing left behind that was yet to go away.

Dwarf of Dubious Wellbeing and Sanity? Alive. Much, much more internally damaged - and raw. The Mad Dwarf’s mental landscape too looked now as if all of its insulation, all self-restraint, all ability to control and separate emotions had been undone. It was a complete mess that would have made the average Meephosian positively giddy.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Everybody good?

Well, it was definitely more of a relative term when it came to the state that the dwarven survivor was in. Perhaps that was something that Sliucha would be able to figure something out for, in time. But, maybe it was wise to take a bit of a break from further experimentation when it came to mysticism, considering the fact that all of this had come about because of her previous attempt - and she still wasn't entirely sure why that had happened, or even what had happened.

That was just extra-planar stuff for you, though. How was it supposed to make sense, when so much of what you knew was grounded in the Material Plane?

Right now? Sliucha decided the priority was going to be trying to tend to the others about the inn who'd apparently been inflicted. She'd ask for some of her packmates to continue to keep watch over the dwarf for now. The rest? Accompanying her as she went about making sure that everybody else in the establishment was healed up and looked after!

 

[Maddyn]

No casualties, as the more localised damage assessment? Uncomfortable, some lingering side effects of the Extra-Planar entity, but all in all? They’d had worse and trusted that any harm would be undone in time. Perks of an Archmage Thaumaturgue an premier Doctor on hand? One really tended to run on the premise that physical harm really wasn’t all that likely a consequence to be felt.

Where even the loss of an arm or a leg really was just a matter of ‘just a flesh wound!’ So long as Sliucha was in proximity.

Keep watch and do the rounds!

Where the damage? Worst amongst those with a better than standard human sense of hearing. The pitch and frequency one that hit Elves somewhat, and Katta and Dorin - leaving behind a bit of blood and a sense of tinnitus - but otherwise? All well within Sliucha’s purview to patch up on a whim! The bruises from falling down tending to be the more severe of the harm, and nobody within the Spear and Skull Inn and Tavern having had the misfortune to be holding anything hot in the kitchen or working with knives or the like and making for an unexpected additional risk of bodily harm.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Just remember to grab said arm or leg and keep it present for re-attachment, yeah? One of those things where, unfortunately, regeneration wasn't on the books anymore these days...

The good news? Relatively minimal collateral damage, all things considered. The bad news? Well, it was still a little unfortunate and embarrassing that it'd happened, of course. But in any case, Sliucha made sure to go through the entirety of the establishment and offer assistance to everybody that'd been afflicted. Healing spells! Doctor stuff! The people beyond the room hadn't had the benefit of any sort of magical warding, after all.

Was it probably responsible to do at least a quick check outdoors as well? For sure. After all, there was no telling exactly what sort of range the extra-planar entity would have had. Make sure nobody had collapsed in the streets or anything!

Thorough! Helping!

 

[Maddyn]

Considerable damage robbed of its potential and rendered minute, where almost all harm was mitigated by Sliucha’s respective wards against physical and mental harm alike. Where even if the Extra-Planar Parasite had been able to damage them, unfold damage that had bypassed some of what had been set in place? Most of what had actually been done to those not the Mad Dwarf in particular - had been based upon the sound frequency rather than anything strictly magical in nature.

Healing! Doctor Stuff! And a quick check outside?

The radius, extending just a little bit beyond the Spear and Skull Inn and Tavern - but not too far. Enough that the stables had been impacted, where a few guard dogs and the horses and donkeys showed signs of injury. Stable-hands and a Human beggar in the alleyway behind the building that had been trying to sleep the day away before everything had gone wonky. But all told? Nothing of the Parasite’s harm extended more than ten feet away from the building itself.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

...okay!

Sliucha would do what she could for anybody she found that seemed to have been afflicted. It only seemed reasonable, at the end of the day. For folks who wanted an explanation? Uh... shrug! She was the healer coming around afterwards, wouldn't offer much more than that.

Once everything felt settled? They'd go back for a check-up on the state of the dwarven survivor.

Ideally, they could perhaps try and do something about the dwarf's mental state... but that was something that Sliucha could think about later. (And again, having just tried to do so, and obviously having created some unintended consequences? Not keen to leap right back into it.) Once again, it was going to just be a matter of monitoring the dwarf's physical condition, and verify that in the aftermath of everything that the survivor had been through?

They were, uh, doing all right. What a day, huh?

 

[Maddyn]

Welcome to town!

Where with the bulk of the midday largely spent dealing with the side effects of their unwelcome visitor that had hitched a ride back to civilisation along with the Mad Dwarf?

There still of course remained the catch-up with the Thane of the locality, along with whether the representatives of Clan Ironfist were intending upon actually collecting the Mad Dwarf and taking him into their care.

Eventful, and not quite done as the hours had been ticking on by. But with each passing hour, the odds of the local Dwarves coming to collect the Mad Dwarf appeared increasingly unlikely as he remained within Sliucha and her bodyguard’s care.

Physically? Whole. Mentally? Fragmented and a Meephos’ dream candidate! Mad as a hatter!

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Right, well.

What time was it, anyhow? Was it about time that they should be catching up with the local thane, or did they still have some time to work with?

Now that Sliucha had managed the immediate aftermath of... whatever it was that they'd just been dealing with? Well, it'd be nice to at least try and help out their dwarven acquaintance here - especially since it seemed like it was a problem that the other dwarves were dragging their feet at being handed the responsibility of.

Probably not worth snubbing the local thane over, but still. Worth an attempt if/when they could find the time!

 

[Maddyn]

Time? Early evening? Precise measurements of time tended to be difficult given the wide stretches of desert and the Great Mountain’s tending to make for long, long sunsets.

Time for the evening catchup with the Thane? Maybe.

Maybe not. There was a level of plausible deniability to be had where so long as one didn’t actually wait until the suns had dipped truly over the horizon? Then it was quite within the timeframe of acceptability. It was hardly as if anyone within the West was ever going to be taking Sliucha to task in matters of punctuality as it was - but even with standards maintained by the individual? An hour-ish to take advantage of seemed about right.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Hmmmmm.

Ultimately, Sliucha decided that it was probably best to try and tackle this when there was an appropriate amount of time that felt like it could be dedicated to the matter. For now? Weaving together something to help keep the dwarf sedate and asleep, so hopefully they wouldn't get up to trouble in the meantime.

It felt like it made sense for at least some contingent of her bodyguards to remain behind for now and look over the survivor. And should the local dwarves come around, they could be informed that Sliucha's preference was to be present for the handover due to 'delicate handling instructions', and to let them know she was currently meeting with the local Thane. (Specifically, Nadir's.)

The rest? Could accompany her to said meeting with the Thane.

Let's try and be punctual. Onward!