Dungeon Master Forum

Sir Farel nods to Westian's benediction, though seems no less guity about deserting the group. He warmly agrees with Ameena to hopefully meet again soon outside, Ardur's eyes open wide as he is addressed by both Ameena and Haynuus, for different reasons. Similarly, his eyes get a watery for different reasons. Dir Farel bows to Ameena's words, and again reassuringly grips his squire's shoulder, also orienting him towards the exit.

Both of the grak-graks that leave shift into Farel's somber face as the door closes. The grak-grak that picked Soorec up to allow him to easily close the door also takes on Farel's appearance, and hovers close to Falkor as Soorec walks away.


Luckily most of the scrolls and items on the Vi altar have fallen to the floor unheeded when Haynuus places his torch. The group, for the most part, have some peace and a nice light to rest to, a single sweetly smelling scroll burning nicely in the background.

Falkor rested, his eyes were heavy, as was his soul... again, the depression was fighting back, he was worried that perhaps the Gnome was right about him, perhaps deep down he was evil. He left the thoughts at the forefront of his mind and drifted in and out of consiousness - not a very settling rest.

When he awoke he felt slightly refreshed, but the burden continued, he looked around at the group at each person he was now calling his friend. As he looked at each one, it occured to him, what was in place to stop Soorec from 'replacing' one of them with one of his grak graks... he could kill him, and the rest of the group may be none the wiser... this was very unsettling, he had no answer to this quandry - but he knew that when the group were finished resting he would be focusing intently on each of them, their traits, things they say... he didn't like the thought of one of them being 'replaced'...

Westian sat down on the floor in order to chat to the murafu more easily. A confused expression crosses his face when she began to talk about helms and about how Westian and the others "found each other again".

"Ameena, we did not separate from each other. Falkor, Haynuus, Aurek, Farel and I have travelled together since we separated from you and your friend. Do you remember?" Some concern flashes over his features as he scans Ameena face for any hint of recognition.

"You left with a human named Helm" - the last part was barely a whisper, he just hoped that Ameena had good hearing. "You both planned on leaving the dungeon. In fact I am surprised to see you back here. What happened to you both in the meantime? And why does that damn gnome keep calling you a Seer?"

Haynuus dropped to his haunches, near Westian. He rested his head on his knees, and looked horizontally across to the Murafu. She talked in riddles at times but whether it was to deceive, to hide something or she simply spoke tangentially to the rest of them he didn't know. She did have good intentions, however, and she had reappeared this time around more than willing to stand out for those in the group. If only Haynuus could be so eloquent.

He too wanted to know what happened to them. He was concerned for Helm. The human had been beaten to the edge of death by the soldiers, and he wondered if it was a good idea that they all separated. Patiently he waited for an answer to Westian. He hoped that it would not be bad news.

Ameena listens to Westian's words, her confusion growing somewhat. Before she answers him, however, she glances over toward the nearby half-orc, unable to contain herself.
"Hello again, Haynuus." she says, moving over to crouch next to him and rub up against him. Then she shifts back toward Westian again, to continue the conversation. And just in case Haynuus has forgotten about murafu behaviour during their separation - people seem to have forgotten all kinds of things, after all.
"I don't know what a "Seer" is." she says. "I can see. We all can, can't we? I don't know what he means by that, but...he's not really very...I mean, he...lies a lot, doesn't he?"
She says the word in a slightly lower tone of voice, as though it's somehow...unclean.
"And...what do you mean, I planned on leaving?" she asks, again confused. "I mean, we all want to leave eventually, don't we? But why would I try to leave you all behind? I..."
She pauses a moment, as though trying to remember something. Shadows of images seem to pass through her mind, but they're vague and jumbled - they could be anything.
"We're all here till we're done." she says, after giving her head a quick shake. "Until we've...done what we have to do. You don't remember us being separated? And..."
Ameena runs through the list of names in her head, the names Westian has just mentioned. Then she runs through them again.
"Who's Aurek?" she asks. Then she glances over at the black-armoured human standing nearby and lowers her voice, speaking quietly enough that only Westian, and Haynuus (if he tries hard enough) can hear her. "And who's that? Has he...joined us? I suppose not all the soldiers are the type to want to kill us straight away, but...or is he one of those? Is that why you're in disguise? Does he think you're a soldier too? I mean...I can't think why else you would wear their armour. Especially after the way they keep talking about...souls..."

OOC - Ameena has plenty of other questions but I'll leave it at that for now, so you don't have to write a lengthy essay in response .

There was a horrifying screech from the other door to temporarily interupt the intense discussion. The reason was soon seen, as one of the janitorial grak-graks took a messy heap of roots and moldy green fungus and slapped it down in a spare side of the room - temptingly close to Haynuus. Finally, he could get his screamer slices! The grak-grak, now looking like Haynuus, eyed his double for a moment as if suspicious. Still, the grak-grak then went back to cleaning.

Only a month later, screamer slices for all! Well, maybe three four slices for any who wants them.

Hopefully the noise had not awoken Falkor, for the grak-grak close to him - currently not really watching anything - didn't look quite right. 'Farel' blinked with his entire eyesocket, and any time he opened his mouth it was too wide top and bottom, with teeth visible. Whereever Soorec was just now, his concentration was waning. Still,

The above were for flavour (in both cases), carry on with your discussions without concern!

Haynuus fell over.

He really didn't know what to say. Ameena had been talking quieter and quieter so he'd leaned a little closer, closer, a liiiittle closer... And they still didn't know what had happened to Helm. Uff... So he'd lost concentration and became unbalanced. He heaved a heavy sigh as he lay on the cold flagstone floor. This was all a bit bullshit really. With his old orc comrades you KNEW that they were lieing, thieving scum, that they'd stab you in the back as soon as smell you - which was often. But with these other races you could never really tell. He'd all found it a bit confusing. He could intuit a lot of the time if they were deceiving or hiding something but didn't possess the intellect to work out why. Their motives were mystifying.

At times he didn't even trust himself. He could have been an evil despot before he woke up down here. Whoever he is it was probably why this Gholst guy wanted him. But it didn't matter - You are what you do. And while the gnome or anyone else questioned Falkor's character or made assumptions on who Ameena really was he had to take them each one of them at face value.

"At least you are safe and sound, Ameena. It's good to see. You were very brave back there." He give her a tangentially angled smile. He really appreciated the rubbing that Ameena gave him.

OOC - Bugger, Beo-got-there-first

While still on the floor, Haynuus streeeeched out to reach for a screamer slice like a snake. Just the small one, as he was sure that no-one really minded. Breakfast already! Woo-hoo!

Westian watched with a disgusted fascination as the half-orc picked up, from the dungeon floor, a lump of what looked like blue/green slime and proceeded to tuck in with relish. It took a few seconds of staring before he was able to tear his gaze away and return to the more pressing matter of Ameena's memory.

"Okay Ameena, I am going to tell you some things, in the hope that they will jog your memory. You, Haynuus, Falkor and I woke up in a cell upstairs, some time ago." Westian's sense of time underground was not very good, though he imagined it could not have been much more than a day ago. He proceeded to tell Ameena some details - the encounter with the mummy, the capture by the soldiers and subsequent meeting with Aurek and Farel, the ambush that spilled a lot of blood...if that did not get some memories going then nothing would. "You then left with Helm, while we continued on. By the way the other "soldier" is Aurek, we took their armour. It is well made, durable, and...wait what did you say? Souls? What about souls?" Suddenly Westian's confidence seemed quite shaken.

Re-focusing on the story at hand he took a deep breath and began. "It seems you have an alternative, though incomplete, set of memories. Perhaps you are remembering the time before we woke up in that cell upstairs...I have no recollection of what happened in that time period. Maybe if you tell us everything you remember about this dungeon we can piece the two separate threads together. For instance you said we are all here until we've done what we have to do. What do we have to do?"

OOC - Having already been privately informed as to the potential results of my Will save, that means I'm able to post straight away. Woot . But umm...Ameena herself may be a little less enthusiastic...

As Ameena listens to Westian's story, she experiences further images (OOC - And for the sake of wanting to reveal Ameena's actual knowledge only in IC, some of these details I shall withhold for now, until Ameena has a chance to actually tell someone about them), each coming faster and faster, as though someone is shoving various pictures into her mind. This "picture show" culminates in a final, terrifying image, with all the emotional connotations she has come to associate with it, and she freezes in horror, just for a moment.
Westian's next words and questions are completely lost on her as she then half-crumples to the ground, despite already being in a crouch, clutching at her head with her wounded forepaws and making scared little squeaking noises. She backs away, then half-panics and bolts for the nearest person not trying to barrage her with horrible memories - Haynuus.
She darts over to him and crouches close against him (on the other side from Westian, so that Haynuus is between them both), huddling up as close as she can get and shivering in terror, eyes scrunched shut and claws digging into her head.

OOC - Looks like her spammage of further questions will have to wait a bit longer, you wicked nasty half-elf, you...

Since I'll be out most of tomorrow, for the sake of speeding up the game a little I'll post Westian's reaction now...I sorta know the ways Haynuus can go, but will wait for a will save and reaction and hope they come early-ish tomorrow..


Westian might have had a chance to react to the murafu's startlingly strange and erratic behaviour to his pressing tale of her previous actions, had he not sudden felt incredibly dizzy himself. Not the usual dizziness that had apparently passed a while ago, dizziness that led to recollection of runes. This feelt external, as if it was generated from under his feet somewhere.

There was an image of a crack, white and burning in his mind. And then his mention of knitting memories from before the party's waking up stirs an echo in his mind - Westian recalls once more being in his room in the order. It is a week or two before he set out for Anaias...

And there is nothing except a thin crack of memory, a nothingth wide but infinitely deep, that separates that memory from him waking in the stone room a few hours ago.

His mind rebels at that notion, for he has two weeks' worth of recollection leading up to the hazy end of memory infront of Anaias. And some floodgate burst, and there is a bewildering set of images that not only take him up to Anaias but into it and through it. There are flashes of his companions, and he thinks Farel too at one point, and perhaps Deephold although there is some odd flick of emotion there. And he sees a brief flash of Soorec, although for some reason the gnome doens't recognose him, and then there is a flash of Theron - his back being broken.

The memories trying to crowd into the infintesimal crack are far, far too wide and Westian feels as if his head is going to explode.

However, a final mental image and a sense of warmth comforts him - he sees himself, as he dimly recalls from his dreams when 'dead' - holding firm to a strand of thread between the two of them. Somehow, his other self moves Westian's grasp onto a flapping end of thread...

Westian manages to recover, a dull ache in his head already fading. It would, perhaps, be easy to shake off the fading images and sensations except for two things. The first is that the memory of a glowing white crack in a celing is still in his mind, causing terror from some unknown place.

The second is it is not Westian's body - the ground is actually shaking.

Anaias rumbles for a second, and then is still.

"Did...did anyone else feel that? Not just me?" The voice comes from the corner. Out of the wall, a gnomish head and chest appear. One is understandably naked, the other less acceptably so. There is also a flash of bare ankle to scandalise.

The grak-graks all around have slipped into their natural form, although they stand around dumbly, slowly looking left and right. In lesser creatures, in creatures not undead, the bahaviour could be attributed to...fear.

Slowly, the grak-graks return to normal mockery of the party's form, and afetr a moment of concentration Farel's form returns to the grak-grak nearest Falkor.

"Surely nothing, yes...I'm sure it's nothing... all rock solid," says the gnome. He pats the wall reassuringly for him, although of course to the party all they can see is his hand disappear into the wall. Those not quick enough to avert their gaze area treated to a quick flash of the gnome's naked rear as he disappears back into the wall.

Slowly, perhaps, the room returns to normal.


Yeah, so, I had warned Ameena and now I'll warn you guys too. Bad things can happen if you learn about the origins of your weird memories in the wrong way

Obviously I need money's, ian's and preferably LB's actions (and rolls if necessary). However, out all of tomorrow, so hopefully at least OB and Ameena can carry on with the wacky stuff I've just given them. OB's is of course out in the open here, Ameena's will no doubt soon come out in IC, and in OOC posts by me in the next few days.

Exciting times! This isn't necessarily a good thing...

OOC - Will check (1d20+3=20)

Haynuus watched Ameena bolt as if she'd been hit by lightning and move to his side. Did his screamer slice really taste that good? "If you want you can have some..." then the rumbling started and Haynuus immediately assumed that Ameena, a seer, had predicted the earthquake. A mixture of shock and awe crept in to Haynuus' mind. "Cool" he whispered to her. What caused the quake he would never know, but he'd seen some of the animals he'd been raised with detect the tremors before the rest of the orcs. Perhaps she was hyper-sensitive to this stuff too?

He gently rested his hand on her shoulder, as an act of it's ok.

It was then he got a glimpse of gnome-ass. It was Haynuus's turn to shiver with fright.

Wow, what's with all the decend will saves all of a sudden? Oh, that's right, Ameena's middling to good will saves went into the toilet just now. Her loss is your gain

Haynuus's eyes slightly cross, and he suddenly sees an odd image in his mind as if there were a broken area in the ceiling that glowed. He blinks as its like the image is on his retina.

Then there is a heavy, painful sensation as if someone has smashed his head with a club. Haynuus blinks, looking around and wondering why he is in a strange stone cavern, with a small rat shivering against him, and some oddly attired warrior infront of him.

Take two non-lethal damage, Ian!

However, Haynuus's mind was used to occasionally just losing track of things. Everyone seemed to be acting as if they knew him and he wasn't in the way. He blinked for a while, until his mind grabbed some strange memories from a weird parallel set of memories. He grabbed the ones that seemed to fit best to the situation, and everything seemed to make a kind of sense again.

There was an odd tug on his mind downwards and the image of the crack again, but he shrugged it off as best he could. The screamer slice helpd. It was both dry and slimy, filled his nose with the sensation of being blocked, had odd bitter and sweet areas to it, and for somethign so squishy seemed to take forever to chew and swallow down. It was perfect.


Heh, I'm letting Haynuus's intelligence of 5 and good will roll provide some shielding, but not complete shielding. Haynuus will occasionally forget little things about the past adventures with the companions, though he can probably recall them if pressed. I'll leave you to have the fun of roleplaying which things slip his mind. Also, while he'll recall the stuff he's done with the group so far, there'll be an odd little disconnect as if it could have been just a weird dream. And there will be conflicting little odd flights of fancy, like you've done some of these things before, met people you haven't, and that everyone should know each other a little better and be a little bit better at their skills than they are. I'll leave you the fun of RPing that too, juggling these potential states of 1) the status quo, 2) not knowing the group, and 3) knowing them better aswell

Wow, what a time to be distracted. Hope this all comes god when it's revealed!

Westian refocused on his surroundings. Could the physical shaking of the room have really been caused by the conversation? Those memories, could they really be so powerful? Maybe it was a coincidence. Still, Westian did not partake in any more reminiscing, for the moment at least.

He looked at the murafu crouched behind Haynuus (who, incidentally, was not looking in the best shape himself). “I am sorry if I awakened some unpleasant memories, Ameena. I really am. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. It is just that…I do not know…we are missing so much information, so many memories, that I thought we needed to access. Maybe I was wrong, maybe the past is sometimes best left buried.”

If only Brother Sigmund were here Westian thought to himself. He had been known to deal with people who had been through the most traumatic experiences, and carefully allow them to explore the past in a safe fashion. Clearly Westian lacked that particular skill. “Anyway, we can focus on some things we do know. We are in this together. We are going to find Brother Deephold, and perhaps we have some other goal” he carefully eyed Ameena as he spoke. “But we continue forwards. That is all we need to know for now.”

Haynuus forcefully shoved his fists into both eyes in a vain attempt to punch out the pain that was coursing through his mind. His head really hurt and once more he was confused... And in pain.

He looked around him, and people were... Familiar. Ameena was cowing by his side, but did she feel that too? Or was his head shaking?

"I feel... Dizzy" he lied. He couldn't express what was happening to him. "I keep forgetting stuff, and new things keep popping into my head in the wrong place" he intoned to himself.

However, Haynuus was a survivor. He pretended to shrug the whole experience off and shoved the remnants of the screamer slice in his mouth. "Good vintage" he muttered "it must have grown up on a really humid cavern wall." How many had he eaten now? Was it five? Less? There were more and no-one else seemed to be reaching for them. Indeed the cleric guy... What was his name?... Westlothian? He looked kind of busy too, talking about his mission he thought. Yeah that was it, although he didn't really know what was going on. He picked up another one, and looked for some escape from all of the confusion by concentrating on filling his stomach.


OOC - Got family down from Sat to Tue so updates will be patchy

With the intense pain in her head now compounding her other assorted injuries, Ameena is now barely aware of her surroundings. She huddles closer to the familiar-smelling bulk of Haynus, taking the weight off her paws and lying on her side as she curls around into a rather miserable ball of fur, barely even bothering to shift her cloak about as she would normally. She's in pain from several areas at once, both mental and physical, she's hungry, thirsty, and utterly exhausted. Let everything happen without her, for now - she's too far gone to worry about it any more. Maybe she'll die and won't have to face it all again. Let it pass her by - she's just one murafu. She can't do much good. Murafu aren't meant for things like this - they want to explore the world, talk to it, play with it, not have it turn against them and end up fighting with it.
About the only comforting thought she can find as her mind wanders away from her is that at least she isn't alone.

OOC - Haynuus better not go anywhere till Ameena's back with it a bit more . Even though mechanically she's still nearly at half health and doesn't have any ongoing conditions like poison or whatever, RP-wise I figure she's gonna conk out sooner or later, and that last mental barrage she took due to Westian's descriptions of past events was about enough to do it . So yeah, more-or-less asleep/unconscious murafu currently now lying all curled up in a ball tight against Haynuus. I've been putting off/forgetting to have her eat/drink for ages now, but it looks like it'll have to wait a bit longer. Murafu tend to sleep for about an hour, but I think she'll manage significantly (for a murafu) longer than that, if given the chance. Which she probably won't be. But she still has plenty to tell/ask the rest of the party, some more than others. Umm...just, she might be a bit edgy around Westian for a while in case he tries to cave in her brain again .

The half-orc felt the Murafu curl up even smaller. He knew how she felt. If only she'd have tried one of these screamer slices he thought that she would feel better. He heaved a sigh and cast a glance over to the cleric.

"I've got a broken brain" he told him. "Stuff goes in, but it seems to fit in the wrong place. Other stuff I forget." He looked at Ameena once more. "You know what's going on dude? I hope so." He returned his look to Westian. "I'll trust you to do the right thing." He felt vulnerable with his lack of understanding of his situation, yet with others he felt better. Even his falchion offered some relief, as he lied down next to it for some rest.

It was then he pssst to the cleric, with his eyes closed.

"Westiun", he mispronounced his name. "The next time we have to fight those grak-grak's and one of them is wearing my face..." he then tilted his head, and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "...Hit me. It'll be great to see if you chop my head off or one of those monsters." He sighed, resting now. "Don't worry about it if my theory was wrong."

And snoozed a little.

Falkor was drifting in and out, but the mention of Helm caught his attention, Westian had raised some good points and clearly something was not right... He continued is slow breathing, and focused his attention on the conversation between his companions... Will Save (14).

OOC: Not sure where this leaves me, but once I know whats happening to my charactor as a result I'll endeavour to post update ASAP.

Ameena feels the half-orc move beside her. The pain in her head is lessening somewhat, but she still feels the ache. It's as though something inside her just isn't right. She wants to sleep, but she finds it difficult with multiple parts of her now apparently protesting their very existence. She reaches into a pouch, then another, feeling around for something that might help. Then her paw finds a smooth, cool surface and she remembers the potions she picked up before. She uncurls enough to pull out the flask but finds it empty. Whoops, no, not that one. She puts it back and rummages around until she finds both the flasks containing potions. These she places on the floor, then looks over at Westian.
"Maybe...these...can help someone." she says, blinking a lot to try and push away the pain in her head. "I don't know what they are. But you know potions, so maybe..."
She leaves the sentence unfinished, knowing that Westian will understand what she's getting at (unless, of course, his memory has been damaged worse than she thinks it has) and also feeling rather too tired to continue.
"We still need to talk about...things." she adds, then thinks of something else and speaks again, quickly. "But maybe you shouldn't talk about...whatever you were talking about before. It...hurt. A lot. I...think maybe I should tell you what I remember. But maybe that will hurt you. I...don't know. I can't really think properly at the moment..."

OOC - Attempting to continue the conversation before Soorec comes back or whatever - there's still plenty that needs to be talked about. And while Ameena wouldn't ask, can you give me a heal please, Mr Cleric - it's your job, after all .

The half-orc opened both eyes wide at once. Potions!

He rummaged in this backpack and place three swirly brown potions on the floor. "Psst. Quickly sniff out these three before the guy with the dirty hairy brown ass comes back..." He then glances at Ameena. "Ohh, no offence."

OB, a single knowledge (religion) check will suffice for checking out the potions. Ian, roll me a survival check too once OB starts on the potions too, would you?

As Falkor drifted in and out of sleep, he had odd dreams. He dreamt that Westian were speaking of some odd train of protracted events that actually happened, and the dream was so vivid that he could really imagine it happening, even to the point he felt guilty about those choices ansd self doubt! He was still half awake, and he had that odd sensation where the dream was still somehow real. After all, they had trapped Soorec, why was Falkor imagining the gnome was still alive and a threat, and indeed threatening to kill Falkor?

Suddenly Falkor was forced awake by twin pains. There was a pull in his head as if someone were trying to rip his head off while it was still firmly attached to his head. For some reason, he recalled the room they first met in, and the strange cold blackness beyond the grating that Haynuus had tormented with his torch. Meanwhile, his stomch cramped, and he felt as if a leaden weight was in his belly. For a moment he felt like his stomach was cracked - and then he felt as if he could even see the crack, glowing in his imagination. Then the crack was just a crack in the ceiling, and then he shrugged off the ridiculous dizziness from these flights of fancy. Perhaps he was simply overly fatigued from some magic use?

Falkor on instinct tried to cast a proper light spell, but for some reason the three runes - OH, IR and RA - would not quite settle in their familiar grooves as he tried to invoke them. Perhaps he must be more shaken than he thought. Certainly, there was an odd sensation as if the dream reality was still in his mind, and he felt physically and emotionally drained. Falkor tried to concentrate on what was being said and wake himself up - as task that was all the easier when he realised the ground had been shaking.

Money, you take 4 hit points worth of non-lethal damage (that's just damage that floats alongside your normal hit points score, and if it equals your current hp, you fall unconscious. Healing of any kind will also remove an equal amount of non-lethal damage.

The good news is, subtly your brain now will recall the OH and ZO rune. At the very least, you will be able to cast ZO, and your other offensive spells lightning and poison cloud. I think poison bolt too. You'll still find the higher level runes he doens't know yet still escape him (notibly BRO).

Other good news - Falkor's memories are now slightly scrambled. All this self doubt and guilt about his past actions will seem like some foolishness attached to an odd dream he can't quite shift. Feel free to play Falkor as a lot more confident about his decisions and actions now, since after all he and the rest of the group have fought side by side and done many heroic things. He can also choose to completely ignore that Soorec wants him dead, although of course will also be weirded out that Soorec is still allowed to walk free. I'll leave this to you whether Falkor is either surprised at the gnome but happy, or recalls the gnome is alive and that's he's under a death sentence. Falkor should be able to come out from under his cloud and feel an unjudged part of the group!

Confusing? Perhaps. Join me in the OOC thread were I give you guys a little bit of a reality check to help you all

Westian looked at Haynuus as he spoke. The half-orc claimed to have a broken brain, Westian did not know what to say to that, so he just looked at him with an expressionless face. When Haynuus elaborated, and said that stuff went into the wrong place, Westian idly wondered if he was speaking about his mental state since birth or just since the seismic activity in the room.

"Um..no, I don't really know what is going on. I have some ideas though, and those ideas were somewhat confirmed after I died in this room. You see, I think we may have all died before. I think we came through this dungeon - each for our own reasons - but we came together. And we fought, and we died. And then we woke up in the room near the entrance and started again. I don't know who brought us back, or why. When I was in the ethereal plane I saw threads that connected - " suddenly realising that this level of information might be too much for the half-orc he let it drop.

"Also, I saw the ghost girl again. Karna-dee, I think she was Theron's sister. Maybe that is why Theron united himself with Gholst, to try and get the power to bring her back."

Haynuus then outlined his plan for fighting the grak-graks. It was smart, and worth a shot. "All right, I can try that next time. Anyway, if you need sleep get some now. I will rest soon too, I am tired and I need to gather mana before I can cast again. But first I better see if anyone is is urgent need of attention."

He stood up and walked straight over to the murafu. He examined the potions that had been laid before him, and then examined any physical injuries. He rubbed some water from his pouch onto her mouth to try to prevent or treat any dehydration, ready to repeat if she drank. He also opened his ration pouch in front of her nose, in case she needed food. He proceeded to wash the most obvious wounds out to prevent infection. "Rest now Ameena, you are among friends".

OOC: Knowledge was 4 + 6 = 10
Heal was 19 + 5 = 24

Ameena keeps still as Westian looks her over, and laps up the water he offers. She winces slightly as he washes her injuries, and wonders whether he has any of those nice healing potiosn available. But maybe he doesn't have any at the moment - maybe they've all been given to people who needed them more.
To the cleric's words, Ameena responds.
"Among friends, yes. For now. But he might come back." She nods briefly in the direction Soorec disappeared. "I'd better tell you...what happened. What I remember. In case I forget. Or something."
She settles herself into a more comfortable position, lowered onto the ground, no longer curled up but lying on her front with her legs beneath her (OOC - basically a four-legged crouch with her belly on the floor). She looks up at Westian and speaks quietly, in the hope that her words won't reach unfriendly ears.
"I remember we travelled together. All of us. That is, me, you, Haynuus, and Falkor. We were in this underground place...dungeon. We...did things. I can't really remember what, but we were together. We met Ardur and Serfarrel and they were with us for a while, but then we parted ways. We met...soldiers. Those ones in the black soul-armour, like your disguise. And lots of...strange creatures. I can't really remember them. And Soorec. Yes, we met him. And his grak-graks. Then we met...Theron. Gholst. I think they were...together. Somehow. In the same...room? Or maybe...hmm, I'm not sure. And there was the other mage. He was...he wore grey robes, I think. Or maybe black - I can't remember. And his eyes were blue...or maybe red. And...I think he looked like an old human. Did he?"
She pauses as she tries to remember.
"Unless I'm thinking of someone else. I think maybe he wore a helmet, and we couldn't see his face. I think I remember...maybe...he had...horns? But something happened. Theron...or Gholst...did something. Gholst is...was...bad. The other mage...something happened and he became very angry. Very angry. He...did magic, I suppose, and it threw us all across the room. It threw us all apart. That was how we were split up. At least, that's how I remember it. Then I...I woke up, I suppose. I was just...in a corridor, near a door. And there was a...crack...a crack...in the ceiling. Just a crack. But it was..."
Ameena pauses again and gives a slight shudder at the remembered emotion.
"I was...scared of it. But I don't know why. It was just a crack in the ceiling, but I couldn't even look at it. I couldn't even go near it. And I couldn't remember most of what had happened to us. Just...bits of it. Pretty much everything I've just told you - that was all I remembered. So I supposed that something the mage did when he threw us must have affected my memories in some way. Hopefully they'll come back. And then I met one of the rat-creatures, but she was smaller than the ones I remember us meeting before. She...attacked me. Here."
At this point Ameena gestures with a forepaw to show the bite marks.
"I couldn't persuade her to stop attacking, and I was cornered, so...well, that's about the only time murafu will fight. So I did. But I hurt her badly - I didn't mean to."
Ameena's tone takes a sort of downward turn as she speaks of her actions with regret.
"She became...scared of me. But then I tried to help her, and she let me. There were some soldiers nearby - we had to go through some not-walls...there was a place that...a corridor, something to do with...snakes. We passed through it before, but I can't remember any more than that. Something to do with snakes, yes. And then up some stairs. That was where the soldiers were. I had to...umm...well, yes, I suppose I don't need to give all the details."
At this, Ameena gives a slight whisker-quiver of amusement.
"You're not murafu - sorry. We like to give details. But I remember - other species tend to just prefer the main parts. Umm...so, yes...eventually the soldiers came down the stairs and they fought something and I ended up managing to take a healing potion from one while he was looking the other way, which I gave to Small-Small and made her better. Oh...the rat-creatures, they speak Rattish. Sort of. I could understand, but it was...vague. Sort of...umm...not many words. I think the word you would use would be...primitive? That. So...I asked her what I should call her and she said Small-Small. So she is. And anyway, we went up the stairs again while most of the soldiers were still downstairs, and Small-Small ran away because I think that was where she lives, and so they didn't see me as I ran past. There was a room there, a room I remember which has water in, but I didn't stop because the soldiers might have found me. Then I went down some different stairs and along a corridor, because I was following your scent. Everyone's scents. Because I'd found the trail by the room the soldiers were guarding...the one with the water in. So I followed it, along that corridor and I found Ardur, hiding there and very scared. And then I went on a bit further and I found...well, this."
Ameena gestures to indicate the room they're now sitting in.
"And that's about everything I remember since we were split up by that mage. Umm...since that Theron person came in here and spoke to us, I think that mage might have been the...Grey Man? No, sorry...the other word. Whatever it is. Like that...Larr-ee-thee-an...the one you talk about a lot. Grey Person. Mage. At least, I think he was grey. Maybe he was two people too..."
She trails off for a moment, then thinks of something and quickly speaks as though to finish up her story for good before Westian can start speaking in return.
"Ohh yes, one more thing I remember...we had to do something...with something...to do with the Grey Man-Mage-Person. And if we don't then something very very bad will happen. So we have to do it, because there isn't anyone else."
And with these last words, Ameena lapses into expectant silence, wondering whether Westian will remember what happened to them all now that she's reminded him. The pain in her head has lessened somewhat now that she's got her thoughts back into order - speaking over her memories has helped to sort of solidify them in her mind and she's feeling more confident about them once again. She pushes away the thoughts that Westian put into her mind, involving bad things happening and that...image...in her mind. No, she doesn't want to go near that again. Best to stick to the things that won't cause her to panic just by thinking about them.

OOC - Out of interest, if Westy doesn't have any spare healing potions (or can't identify any of these new potions as being a healing potion), how much hp would Ameena recover by sleeping? Well, that is, if she gets in a full sleep (of about an hour...at least that's what it would be for a murafu - whether that's affected by some kind of game mechanic I don't know). I imagine if her sleep is interrupted in some way, that would interrupt the healing and cause her to recover less hp, yes?

OOC - I followed all of that with interest, Ameena. Nice!

"...We have to do something...With something...?" Haynuus asked. He'd follow Westian around as that was his job but he instinctively knew that the cleric would end up trying to save the world. It was what those types do. Albeit with a mace and shield at times. "Wow. You've seen a lot of stuff, Ameena."

OOC - Survival check (1d20+4=7)