Dungeon Master Forum

Ameena doesn't entirely agree with Petal's words on death and evil.
"The thing people call 'evil' can change depending on the person talking about it." she says. "Sometimes, someone will call someone else 'evil' because they've done something they didn't like, but the 'evil' person might think they were doing something 'good'. It depends on your point of view. The Muraf never think that kiling something is a good idea. If it's a predator, we'll scare it off or maybe just hurt it a little until it sees that we won't let it eat any of us, but we won't stop it from living its life. No-one should take the life of anyone else, even if that person took someone's life themselves - if you kill them because they did that, it makes you the same as them, doesn't it?"
When Petal reaches out to touch her, she doesn't flinch but actually leans into the contact. It's not exactly the way murafu show their affection, but it's probably the closest she's come since she's been down in this dark place.
Her attention is strongly grabbed, however, by a word now mentioned by Deephold.
"Soulstone?" she repeats, moving closer to the dwarf and looking up at him. "That's the...what we had to find. Yes, I remember - we had to find it, but I think something happened...wait...did we find it? I...I think my head is a little...I mean...I'm not sure i'm remembering everything the way I was before...before this..."
She gestures with her left forepaw to the stone embedded in her side and looks miserably down at it. She wonders how long it will be before Deephold will have a chance to try and do what he said he'd try to do and remove it from her.
Then she remembers that Haynuus noticed some kind of noise from down the corridor. She moves over to stand a little behind and off to one side of the half-orc, though keeps a wary distance as he lights a torch and drops it to the ground, then uses her nose and ears to try and discern what might be approaching, though she's already realised it might well be Garax.

OOC - Perception = 18 (8+10).

Petal could sense the power of the stone before the dwarf recovered it. Able to concentrate better on it - or perhaps amplified by someone it was actually attuned to - it did not seem to radiate anything worrying. The song of it was hard to understand though, it was so complex as if to be alive. It seemed to be a disjointed song though - as Deephold had pointed out, the stone was only part of a whole.

The delay for recovering the stone and the indecision on what action to take seemed to cost the party dear though. Haynuus could spot with his darkvision the armoured figure approachng. It was being less subtle, perhaps takign the thrown torch as a challenge - especially when thrown by the powerful half-orc.

"I see you," came the voice of Garax. While perhaps trying to hide in the shadows, he was visible to Haynuus, and eventually Petal could pick him out too, although she had been distracted by her speech wit hthe others, and with investigating the stone.

Ameena smelt the human coming close on the slow movement of of air in this otherwise stale place, even though she could only guess where he was standing for now.

Deephold joined the group, his own mace firmly in his hand, and his flask clutched in the other. "Can we escape before he draws soldiers to us?" asked the dwarf.

There was a faint jingle of metal on metal. Ameena could perhaps imagine the man's strange many-bladed weapon being slowly spun and turned in the darkness as Garax sized up the group. Haynuus did not need to imagine, he could see the black and white ghost of the dance with his own eyes.

For Deephold and Petal, who had not seen the strange soldier fight before, the odd shadowy blades visible might well be confusing, and certainly the way they moved would give pause to assume an easy victory could be secured.


Hey, you guys are standing in a DM grouping! Fighter and 'ninja' near the front, wizard and priest at the back I don't think we've had that before, or certainly not for a long while.

Anyway, you have a second in command of the soldier army (healeda little, but by no means not fully) stalking towards you. He's about 50 - 60 feet away, at the edge of Haynuus's sight, and in the dim region of Petal and Deephold's sight.

Thanks to Haynuus's perception and actions, at least you guys aren't trapped in the upper part of the I-section of the map. YOu still have the option to fall back towards the invisible wall (although Garax can see you, and Deephold/Petal have no idea of its existance) or go right or left at the junction.

Petal knows where the right hand junction leads, and could estimate that Haynuus or Deephold might find it a dead end.

Haynuus has a chance (give me a knowledge (nature) check for how good his sense of direction would be when he was conscious and being carried earlier) to realise that going by the left passage is leading back to where they first encoutnered Garax!


Anyway, that seems to be where you are at. Good luck! A nice sit by a waterfall and cooked meal are only a combat/avoided combat away. UNless you are forced to go through other, more dangerous paths!

Petal shrugs at the murafu's words. She seems to appreciate them, if perhaps not understand. "Idealistic, that way is. Nice to see, it is. Every Way is good, of thinking. Not all fighters, are people. Key correct to fighting choice, is when so great is evil, fighting not, more pain to innocent it would cause. Then, blood of innocent be on hands of those idly stood by did. Never good is killing, right never. Sometimes, less of two evils, must choose." She seems ready to say more, but instead peers off into the distance at the voice of Garax. "The man armor wearing, that. Was with mage say you called Fax earlier. Ideas, any of you have? Here we fight, or run? Know not place of here, I. Know not go where to away from him get. To fight, I am willing, if needed."

OOC - I have no idea where we are on the map right now (once I searched back a few pages to find it and look) - all I know is we've gone through the door out of the area we were in before (with Dolo's cell and the room with the patrolling armour), but no clue how far we got before we found Fex's body.

BIC - Ameena sniffs in the direction of Garax. She can't see him, but she can certainly smell him through the blood, and when he speaks he reveals even better how far away from the group he is.
"Everyone seems to like fighting so much." she says wearily to that area of darkness, though her comment isn't entirely aimed at Garax. "You fought with myself and Haynuus earlier, and I think we nearly defeated you. And now there are more of us. We're just down here looking for something, you know. If we don't find it I think something very bad will happen for everyone. Everyone everywhere...ever. That is, you as well, and any friends you might have. I suppose you won't help us because...because of whatever reason you have for hating us so much, but maybe you could just...leave us alone?"
She realises she probably doesn't have much hope of success with this suggestion, but she has no desire to see any more blood shed - she has enough of Garax's on her as it is.

OOC - Diplomacy = 16 (8+8). Obviously, Ameena isn't really expecting Garax to just throw down his weapon and walk away (or anything else nice like joining the party), but she really doesn't want another fight. I suppose delaying things by trying to talk through the problem is just gonna give more time for reinforcements to arrive, but...well, like I said, she really doesn't want to do any more of that fighting stuff right now .

Haynuus was once more faced with a group of chatty companions who ought to be fleeing instead of talking. He was getting very nervous.

"Escape..." He replies to the dwarf. "Quick through the secret wall" he hissed to the rest of them, forcefully pushing them back towards the exit. "Move at speed, Ameena show them the way." And with that he scooped up the torch once more to aid them with their travels. He hoped that they wouldn't gape at the illusory wall to wonder how it worked so that they could just pass through it as quickly as possible.

OOC - Obviously if you guys don't want to move then Haynuus will stand at the 'front' and reserve another reserved action of smiting Garax (dropping the torch!) (1d20+12=23, 2d6+4=15).

You already had the previous roll, but since this one seems better, I'll take it

Deephold seemed confused at the talk of a secret wall, looking around.

"I've killed stranger and more numerous thigns than you," came the voice of Garax as the soldier stalked closer. However, perhaps Ameena's talk of the previous fight, and the fact there were more of them, caused him to consider his actions for a moment.

Yeah, takes a DC20 to get someone actively hostile to just wishing you ill, but at the very least the roll and woprds can buy you guys a little hesitation in his malevolence! After all, you guys did almost take him out with half the numbers

Anyway, now or never - run or fight. Also, I will need initiative rolls from all of you.

OOC - Ohh, on the note of a secret wall, I had no idea at all that there was one here, Ameena having been kind of unconscious the last time she passed this way . The last time she was near one of those (that she knew of) was back in Soorec's room, as far as I can remember.
And Initiative = 5 (2+3)...bleh, lol. I'll wait a bit before I make another IC post, though, in case it turns out Ameena does know about this secret wall for some reason (though I don't see why she would - I can't even see the original Garax room on that map) .

OOC - Stairs? The last time they came down stairs was umm...well, I think there may have been some stairs just before they got to Garax's room, possibly (can't remember if there was a fake wall near there and like I said, I don't see anything resembling that room anywhere on this map)...otherwise it would've been back near Soorec's room (since the waterfall cave, though it had levels, wasn't accessed through stairs but by various people jumping/climbing/falling off ledges ). And since Ameena was unconscious for the entirety of the journey from Garax's room to Dolo's cell, there is no real reason she has to recognise any of where she is right now - she might not be able to do it by smell since she was being carried above the ground and so couldn't really have left any kind of scent to follow since she wasn't touching the ground.

OOC - Lol no, I know we didn't go back to Soorec's room - I was just mentioning it as the last place I can definitely remember there being false walls around. Since we hadn't had that much map visible before (when we came this way the first time), I didn't recognise it, and also for some reason had thought the other door out of Dolo's room was on the other side from where we came in, or something. So all we've got to do is retreat a few steps and get back through that wall and then it's just a plain run back upstairs to the waterfall . We'd better come up with some way to prevent Garax from noticing where we've gone though...

OOC - You know, I was about to sort of jokingly suggest something OOC but then I thought "ooh, actually, that's an idea that might potentially work..."

BIC - Feeling around in her pouches for something which might help, Ameena finds something and has a sudden thought. However, she doesn't enact it straight away.
"And how many of those strange things could throw fire at you?" she calls down the corridor, by way of a hopeful means of keeping Garax where he is for a moment longer.
Then, reaching up, she finds one of Haynuus's hands and passes the end of a piece of string into his grip. As she does so, she stands up as high as she can and whispers to him urgently.
"Hold this and put the torch out!" she tells him. "I'll keep the other end - I can smell where we are now. He won't be able to see where we go from all the way over there if we have no light, and if he makes his own it won't help him because it'll be where he is, not where we are. I'll lead you out and the others can hold onto you."
Not really expecting Petal and Deephold to be able to hear her words, quiet as they are (and herself never entirely sure how good the hearing is of other creatures such as these), she glances up at each of them, attempting to catch the eye of each of them in turn and flick her gaze toward Haynuus in the hope that they'll understand and move closer to him.

OOC - And now the big scary murafu attempts an Intimidate to hopefully convince Garax that moving further forward might not be too great an idea right now...Intimidate = 18 (that's it - I have no bonus as it's cancelled out by my Charisma penalty). Now hopefully that'll work, and Garax won't come any closer. Hopefully Haynuus will get what Ameena wants. And hopefully the others will be able to keep close enough that they don't trip over/fly into anything they shouldn't, and together the four of us can all sod off back through the nearby wall without too much hassle. Umm...I suppose I'd better roll Stealth for that...no good trying to sneak away at the volume of a stampeding...umm, thing that stampedes on cute little pitter-pattery feet . Though I won't roll that now in case someone comes up with a better idea, or Garax decides he's gonna come charging forward anyway, or something .

Petal looks at the murafu. She sees her hand the ugly human a piece of string while keeping hold of the other end.
What couldd be the purpose of this? She moves closer to the ugly human, as if to examine the string. As she moves, she hears the murafu say something quietly. She picks out the word 'lead'. Ahh, so that was the plan. She hovers close, not wanting to get lost.

Haynuus hears Ameena speak, and is happy she has a plan that doesn't involve getting chopped up like onions. Quickly he shoves the lit torch into the floor, stamps on it, then remembers that if he just shoves it into his backpack it'll go out with a sisss anyway as it's full of moisture in there.

With string in hand he reaches out for the dwarf to grab a hold of it, and Petal seems already in on the action at this point. "Gooo" he whispers to them and somewhat bodily and forcefully pushes the party towards what would be the ultimate sniffing engine otherwise known as Ameena's nose. Or at least that's what they're following now. He could already see that combination of scent and touch (whiskers!) working their way towards the way out. He assumed that Garax would know that there was an exit there, yet it was fascinating to think that people without any kind of infravision would hop through the illusion without realising it.

No light at all. Petal's dagger has a slighty glow she can disguise well enough given the distances. Which I am going to assume she does, though Raixel can correct me on that or not.


"Those who can do not run from the undead, and those who would do not waste air speaking. Give me the key!" Garax is in view to all but Ameena, to Ameena he is a dim shadow. And then, to eveyone but Haynuus, he is gone when the torch is extinquished.

Haynuus is able to see Deephold hesitating, and grab the wayward dwarf easily. Petal and Deephold can still just about see in the very faint light given by Petal's half-hidden glowing dagger. Hopefully, the strange diffuse glow will be much harder for Garax to read from where he is.

The group move as quick as they dare forwards, and through the wall that led them to this place. Deephold takes an indrawn breath as the group just walk through the wall and into the strange stepped rocky area beyond.

Ameena has already experienced the strangeness that is light not being perceived through an illusion, and Petal already has enough knowledge to know about it. Therefore, the glow is less of a concern. Deephold and Haynuus perhaps had more reason to feel concerned, except it was quite clear that Garax was not advancing forward.

In a way, you could not blame the soldier. He had found himself trapped in darkness, with unknown enemies that had apparently defeated the priest and his minions, and had now disappeared into a darkness that the 'freaks' could probably negotiate with ease. One could almost feel sympathy for the man, trappedin the dark not knowing whether to advance forward and fall into a trap, or stay where he was awaiting a coming doom.

Almost, but not quite. Still, as long as they were quiet, the group could probably escape now before Garax changed his mind, or something with better dark vision came to the soldier's aid....


And there we go, as simple as that to escape. Luckily the wall is right beside the bend, so the disappearance of the glow would probably seem like retreating aroudn the corner. And poorhuman sight is not great, so Garax really would have no confidence he wasn't going to be jumped. A little bit of intimidation mixed with common sense and the fear of losing sight works wonders.

Anyway, pat yourselves on the back for finally escaping, take a breath, have a reaction, and then wonder yourselves IC back up to the top of this place and back to the waterfall rear cavern

OOC - I think the torch was already on the floor (Haynuus having chucked it there a couple of posts back when he drew his sword as he noticed Garax approaching), so Haynuus didn't need to drop it again . And yaaaay, my plan worked (at least for now).

BIC - As Haynuus stomps on the torch and Ameena starts to whiskerfeel her way easily toward the way out of this area, she experiences a strange feeling that she's done something like this before - leading someone along who couldn't find their way because they had no real way of navigating in darkness. However, it is a passing thought and she's soon distracted from it by the sudden change in terrain as they reach the stairs. She tries to move quietly, not wanting to risk Garax, or anyone else unpleasant who might be nearby, hearing where the group has gone. She supposes the human may well already know about this path, but he might not know that they know about it. He might assume they've gone around a corner and are hiding there, or trying to run away, or...or maybe waiting, like predators, to pounce on him as soon as he comes near. She supposes, given his apparent nature, that he will most likely assume the latter. Well, at least it will hopefully mean that he won't simply come charging toward the point where they disappeared from sight.
She wonders what he'll do, anyway - he had demanded that they return the key and Ameena feels glad that she only technically knows where it is - who knows how deep that crack was which she dropped it into? Anyway, if Garax needs the key, that must mean that he has no other way to let...that other person...and the other mummy...out of the room they're in. She rather hopes that the mummy won't try to attack the elf, because then it might kill him and she supposes then that bad things might happen to her, as Deephold suggested.
Still, for now, she focuses on getting up and out of this area, and back to what she feels as being the safety of the waterfall cave. She keeps her ears out for anything she might want to take notice of...like trouble ahead, or Garax following them again.

OOC - Not sure if the stepped tunnel is lit or not (can't remember from when we came down here). If it's not, assume Ameena continues to lead the group. If it is, assume she bundles up the string and puts it away, then trots on in front (since that's where she'd be anyway from leading them).
Bleh, lol - once again I had to go downstairs adn dig my d20 out of my dice box which I'd put in my bag 'cause I have club tonight. You'd think that I'd have thought of that by now and kept the important dice out till I leave the house in case I need them for rolling on here .
Sooo anyway...Stealth = 27 (13+14), Perception = 20 (10+10). Btw I only realised this morning that the next level-up is quite pants, isn't it - we don't even get any skill points .
And a final lol - imagine if someone (with night-vision or something) were to come along Garax's corridor and just see him standing there peering at nothing - "Hey, what are you doing there?", "I'm trying to work out where those creatures are.", "Umm...what creatures?" .

OOC - Wasn't there a T-junction up from here? We ignored a noise just to go directly to our objective.
Just noticed that I have a 'OM VI Potion from Westian' in his backpack. Didn't he use that one up with Garax before? Can you remember off the top of your head, Beo?

The half-orc was satisfied that noone was following for now, and so started muttering to those members of the party who could not see in the darkness. "Move left a little Petal" in case she damaged her wings on the walls, and "Good job you're short, Deephold. You just missed a rocky ledge above you." He still nervously looked back from time to time, and wondered when it would be safe to light the torch once more.

He reached into the backpack and then pulled out the hammer. It was then shoved down the front of his trousers. Should Garax return looking for the key, he could try a ruse to throw it in a dark corner somewhere creating the sound of metal on stone and attempt to distract the fighter for just one moment. It might be enough.

OOC - Remind me where Haynuus got that hammer? I don't remember him having one, off the top of my head - did he pick it up in Soorec's room, or something? And I wonder what Garax will do if he ever catches up to the party again and then finds that, actually, they don't have the key at all. I don't know whether Haynuus or Deephold saw what Ameena did with it - she didn't show off that she was disposing of it, just found a suitable crack and dropped it in, though I suppose the tinkling sound of metal as it slid away from both sight and reach might have been a bit of a giveaway .
I have also considered, btw, the thought that in the mechanics of DnD, unconscious creatures (or at least unconscious player creatures can die eventually if left untreated for too long and fail the Death Saving Throw or whatever it is (I don't exactly die too often in order to know the specifics, and anyway not sure what differences there are 'tween this version and 4th edition), which might prove a bit of a problem if the last-seen-unconscious Dolo decides to cop it while Ameena's still got that stone wedged in her. Still, we're nearly back at the cave now - hopefully something can be done about it there (if its presence doesn't piss off the elementals too much or something) .

Hey Beo. How good is low-light vision in here now? Petal has her dagger in the rope harness and her dress wrapped around it, so it is shedding minimal light. Definately not good enough for a human to see, but it may help others.

Petal appears touched by the ugly human's concern for her. She smiles at him. "Go where we do?" she whispers quietly to the group. "Cannot see in dark, can humans. Make maybe distraction of noise? Think we are somewhere else, human does?"

Then she looks again at Haynuus, who she is flying near. "You can dark see? Magic you have? Or different human kind, you are? " she asks him in a tiny whisper. She looks at his tusks. "Big teeth, have you. Seen I have not on human ever."

She seems content to fly along with the group, going where they lead. She keeps peering back in the direction of Garax, listening and watching closely to make sure the human is not approaching.
Perception (1d20+4=18)

OOC - Haynuus got the hammer right near the start, over a year ago now, in the room on the first level where the trolins trashed. It's the same place where we got the backpacks, the tarpaulins, the wooden stakes, rope...

"We'll go back to the waterfall and wait for Westian. He's a half-elf priest, and one of the good ones like our Deephold here." He glances back once more behind him and then he remembers to pull out the empty flask that Westian had given him only back then it was happily full. "Here, Mister Deephold. You could do great things with this." He didn't think to ask Petal if she were capable of creating magic potions as well, after having seen Falkor throw fireballs yet not create the potions.

"Humans can't see in the dark. I am half human, half orc." He pauses for a moment. "At times I really can't decide which side I'm most embarrassed of." He loves watching Petal dexterously hover and swing around the party with a slight buzz. She reminded him of Ameena a little bit. She seemed very inquisitive, and fragile yet place a high value on life. These types of people he likes a lot, just like the halflings he had met before. It seemed a long time ago now.

"So tell us about the soul stone, err. Deephold. It's what Westian was looking for?" He looks at Petal "but it's broken? I know nothing of magic, and can't see it's power."

OOC - Ahh, that would be why I don't remember it then .

BIC - Ameena glances back at the mention of the Soulstone, though keeps the majority of her attention on her movements, taking care not to accidentally brush against something which might make noise enough to show Garax which way they've all gone.
"It's important." she says. "It's really important, but...I can't quite remember why. I think we have to find it...but then, I think maybe we did already. I think we may have to fix it, too, but then, I think we might have done that as well, in which case I suppose it's been broken again. It's all a bit...hazy..."
She starts wondering about that. She's certain she knew these things for sure not very long ago, otherwise surely she would have wondered about them then? But now she isn't sure what kind of things have happened and which haven't. Could she have experienced some of it as a sleep-vision? But how could that be possible? Unless...
Given that her thoughts have become this strange mess since the Darkstone was put in her, she supposes that either it is responsible for her being unsure of things by messing up her thoughts, or it's put some of her own into her head which she now feels are strange memories of things she's actually been through herself.
She decides that the only way to be sure will be to have the thing removed and see what happens to her after that.

@Ameena: Unconscious creatures don't die if left unaided. Dying creatures (those with less than 1 hit point) are the ones that can die. The mechanic is similar to 4th ed, except it's a d100 roll, and they lose 1 hit point each time they roll more than a 10, and die at -10. Dolo was reduced to 0 hit points luckily by Haynuus's blow (so not dying, just), and so Ameena's non-lethal damage rendered him unconscious without him being under the dying condition.

@Raixel: The dagger light will still be such that to low-light people, you can at least make each other out and your footing. There is no natural light.

Ameena should be the worst place, relying on her smell, however I've realised something that does make her the best guide after all...


Ameena led the group up the stairwell. Deephold and Haynuus could see their path well enough, Deephold by dint of the very dim glow from the pixie. While she had holstered her dagger as best she could, in the pitch blackness around it was obvious illumination. Still, Petal could hear no sounds of pursuit. While it might have been an idea to make a distracting noise, it might also be better that the group simply disappeared. In that way, the soldier would have no definite evidence of being tricked into following a path.

And besides, the only logical course was to go towards the clanking armour that the soldier himself had left Petal to. It might serve him right to have a taste of his own medicine.

Although the rest could see well enough, the rock face back up was a confusing mess of shapes and cracks. It was hard to tell exactly where the group should go. Although Ameena went slower with her whiskers guilding her way, her sence of smell could also detect the traces of fresher air and moisture with unerring certainty. And besides, the slow movement ensured the group made less noise. It seemexd a certainly Garax would only be able to follow them if he litereally fell through the wall tripping over himself.

Deephold accepted the flask readily, apparently anxious to allow his mana to regenerate enough to create some potions to heal the group properly from their aches and wounds.

"The soul stone, yes," said Deephold, apparently taken from a revelry by the mention of it. He took it out from where he had hidden it, and the glow of it added further illumination to aid their movements. He looked nervously backwards, but seemed confident they had covered enough distance it should not be an issue. "This stone was a gift from my order, connected to the Grey Lord, and allowed him to journey far from the mountain without worrying about the magics bound to him in this place failing because of his absence. My order could feel when it was shattered, and we feared the worst. Either the Grey Lord himself shatttered this stone, or the Grey Lord was tricked to leave this place and then someone else shattered the stone so he could not feel what took place. The third option - someone had the power to kill or imprison the Grey Lord - is not an option I wish to think upon."

Deephold paused, concerned about the strange comments of Ameena. In the better light, he looked around to see if the murafu were making sense to anyone else. "If the Grey Lord were merely absent," said Deephold carefully, "then theoreticaly if we could reassemble all the pieces then the Grey Lord would know what afflicts this place. However, if he has done this himself - reassembling the parts would let him know instantly." Deephold looked ot the stone speculatively, and then ignored it, coming back to Ameena.

"Ameena, if this place at the waterfall is safe, I think we must act against the stone, yes." Deephold paused in concern. "The stone will not like this. The elf priest will feel if something happens to the stone aswell. There will be magic to break that is binding the stone." Again the pause. "The actions we will need to take must be powerful in order to be fast and sure enough to destroy the accursed thing before anything can react. I fear such powerful actions might harm you. I also fear the backlash to power by the stone might also harm you. Might harm you very badly. Are you prepared for such consequences?"


While the question hung in the air, there was sudden;y an odd gust of wind that whipped around the group. It took a moment for Ameena and Haynuus to recognise the presence of the air elemental that had left them earlier.

"...you survived, as all things of earth are want to do. And you found another earth dweller..."

The air elemental did not sound too happy nor impressed about the recoverey of Deephold. However, it then whipped around Petal, apparently noticing her ability to fly. "...ah, a child of the air!" it said, and it was perhaps the first time the two companions would have heard the normal joy of the air elemental in this particularly dour specime. "Why do you play with these devotees of the earth! You should be playing in our halls, and telling us stories of the world outside!"


Anyway, so basically you guys are fine. You can feel free to react to the air elemental here, or simply say hi then run on up to the waterfall that will be clear of any danger, though sadly also clear of Westian!

So yup, level up when you like. Danger - for now - is passed.

OOC - Ameena doesn't rely only on her smell to get around in the dark - what do you think those great long hair-looking things are that stick out each side of her face? The lack of light should really make little difference to her unless she's charging along so fast she hits something before she has a chance to feel that it's there and stop.

BIC - Ameena listens to Deephold as he describes the possible consequences of attempting to remove the Darkstone from her.
"Well, I did think it might hurt a bit." she says. "You did say you might have to use your mace on it, after all. And that is a weapon...and I'm not exactly big and strong. I was wondering whether you might accidentally just squash me with it. Would it just hurt when you try to remove the stone, or will it do...magic things to me? Or...things inside my head?"
She pauses a moment, and looks around at him anxiously.
"Will it make me try to hurt you again?" she asks. "Maybe Haynuus should hold on to me so I can't move and try to bite you or anything."
At the arrival of the small amount of talking Air, Ameena perks up slightly and pushes her immediate worries to one side, or at least, as best as she is able to do so. She looks up and isn't particularly surprised to see that the Air is happy to meet a winged creature.
"Yes, what's it like flying?" she asks Petal. "I have wondered sometimes, looking at birds and things. But...ohh, hello again!" she calls, turning her attention to the Air, whom she decides she'd better greet. "I've been looking forward to meeting you again, and getting back up to that cave. I think...umm...do you think the Water would mind if I had a bit of a wash?"
She glances at her blood-covered fur and hopes the Air will understand what she means. If she's about to have something horribly painful happen to her, she might as well have done something pleasant beforehand to remind herself what normal murafu actions feel like.

Haynuus slumped to the floor for a moment. "I'll light the torch again." He shuffled things around in his backpack and realised that it would be better to light the other torch that he had. The first one was a bit damp if not gooey.

He was already feeling better from just a little rest. The air elemental made him feel safe, and that had the effect of already recouping some energy. While the others chatted to the air elemental, Haynuus concentrated on his circlet that was whispering many secrets that it must have learnt over time. It was curious. Like a feedback loop it would sometimes return more information on the subject was already thinking about. It took some getting used to but Haynuus was already going over his previous experiences with the screamers and their attacks previously, and the circlet was offering a few suggestions. Inhale pure alcohol fumes to cure their itchy spores on the throat! It was an interesting thing to relax with.

When Haynuus tells Petal he is hallf-orc she thinks on this for a second. Now that he has said his heritage, she can see the orcish features more clearly. But to her, orcs and humans look much the same. "Ah, orc. Strong. Is good, that." she tells him.

As Depphold talks, Petal listens to what he is saying. She realizes the murafu has a stone similar to the one the mage was carrying stuck in her! The pixie flies over to Ameena and adresses her. "When in safe place, us. Mind you if stone touch, I? Wish to hear its Song, I do. Perhaps to able help, out of you, I can get it."

The murafu asks her what it is like to fly, and the sorceress thinks for a minitue before answering. "For me, is way of being. Cannot tell you, like it is. However, say I that to fly not, for adult pixie, very disturbing. Trapped feeling. Young pixie, not fly. Wings develop not yet. Land-bound. First Flight, fly learn. Is natural, that. Feel trapped not, until joy of flying free known."" Then she smiles at Ameena for a second before saying "Notice, I , land-bound never up look!"

Petal feels the whisper of OH mana in the air and looks around. She senses the presence of an air elemental nearby. It seems happy to see her. She sings the Song of OH to it in greeting, the whispering sound gently flitting through the passageways.