Expedition to Castle Ravenloft - IC thread

[Corvinus]

Seeing the skeleton, and having heard enough to gather that more undead are coming, Ela takes out the lesser undead with a shot to the spine, severing it in half, and freeing her companions to prepare for the next assault. Andur has a spell in mind, but must focus, ending his combat stance, the flow of adrenaline slacking. Miri opts to simply blast the hallways as soon as the door opens, roasting the undead and lighting the front of the church on fire.

The girl emerges first, her wispy hair all burned away, what's left of her dress, torn away at the belly, now smouldering too, her red eyes burning all the more intensely. "I said stay!" she points at Miri, and the aasimar feels her body go rigid. Next comes the larger, pale abomination. A humanoid, male, for whilst the curse of undead has taken patches of his skin it has left his pride intact, much to his good fortune. He stands 8 feet tall, knotted muscles sometimes visible, pinkish through the weak skin, bulging at the shoulders to be nearly a foot thick, whilst in other places black ichor boils across his body, dripping and drifting into the air around him, but quickly becoming burned up. Patches of stringy brown hair adorn his crown, and his shrunken lips result in a perpetual, toothy grin of large, stained teeth. "Right, let-" he begins, only for Andur to cast his spell. Oil bubbles up onto the wooden floor of the church, and the undead slips. His rises, spitting in anger, and flashes his gaze towards Andur, but no, Mirri burned him, twice, she is his target.

Ela: 24 - Uninjured
Andur: 8 - Slightly Injured
Miri: 7 - Slightly injured, paralysed
Dead Witch: 6 - Badly damaged
The Son: 4 - Badly damaged

Spoiler: Miri

You are paralysed. At the end of your turn you may repeat the save.

 

[Devastator325]

Ela'nyya Aefnee'al, The Silver Arrow

Ela peeks up over her cover a bit hastily, revealing her presence and cursing in her mind at her clumsiness. regardless the trained elf is quick to let fly another arrow, aiming for the spellcaster in the back for now, relying on her skill and fine bow to overcome the difficulty of the shot, a small smirk coming to her lips when she realizes she hit the woman.

She then slinks back into the mist, heading for another of the windows to prepare a surprise follow up shot

(20 stealth)

 

[Pervy]

Andur Estevan, The Unwilling Hero, Tag: DM, companionz Initiative: 8 Ac: 18, Buffs: -- HP: 56/71

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Andur chuckled. The sight of a large, undead abomination of flesh falling on his spell was more amusing than he cared to admit.
His amusement waned with the smell of burned, undead flesh, and he lifted his hand.
"You know, I bet you were pretty in life. It's a shame. We could have shared a drink together or something, but right now, the greatest respect I can pay you is.." Andur leaned forward, whispering into his lifted palm. "Agnor. Ignis. Raeven major ignis, fandur, ashvar!" Some questioned why he didn't bring bow or crossbow. Surely, a man of his station could afford such. The truth was, he didn't need to.

And he unleashed his flame. It was not as powerful as Miri's magic, without doub.. and far less stable.. slamming against the wall next by the undead and scorching it in a display of apparent failure.. only to ricochet back onto her! "Be freed in flames."
He declared.. even if his fire-magic was weak compared to Miri.

But he was not done yet. His sword drawn, he stepped forth to confront the undead, his sword raised and at the ready, he actually stepped past the undead, placing it up against it's shoulder, threatening it in a calm voice. "Leave the lady be and surrender." He said, not even bothering to look at the undead, thinking to himself.. oh yeah, I look so damn cool. I bet they are totally fantasizing about me, right now.
"Your attack is going to fail." He declared, confidently.

(Fire bolt for 15 to hit, rerolled. 3 Fire damage, Move behind the undead, then Using my Portent to set his next attack action to 3. )

 

[Aenon]

Miri Evenwood, the Helping Hand
HP: 22/38, AC 16 (Mage Armor), Passive Perception: 16
SP: 2/6 Spells: 1st Lvl: 2/4; 2nd Lvl: 1/3; 3rd Lvl: 0/3
Active Effects: Mage Armor, prone
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Recovering from the witches spell, Miri looks around...but the elven rogue had already disappeared, as swiftly as she had appeared.

"You will stay here...forever!" she shouts to the witch, but Andur finishes her, just before that.

"Scorching Ray!" she turns to cast at the remaining zombie....but missing most of them. She then rushed away from the creature...no doubt she had it's attention. Finally, she commanded the whip to press on the attack, on their final enemy...

 

[Corvinus]

First the arrow catching her in the chest, the Andur's flame bolt, the once girl goes down, granted rest, now only the son remains. "You! You killed her! I'm going to rip a hole where your cock was so you can replace her!" he lifts a threatening fist at Andur, not even noticing Miri's own flames or the the translucent whip, even as his skin continues to burn, as if mildly flammable. The first punch misses Andur entirely, the strike is lazy as if the undead abomination expected him to run into it. The second smashed into Andur's shoulder, but the force gives him all the motivation he needs to dodge a rather devastating looking bite, the jaw unhinging, until it can threaten to engulf the whole head, were Andur not as quick to bob and weave in melee. "Na bad," the clicks back into place, "You have a warding charm on ya? I'll rip it off your corpse,"

Ela: 24 - Uninjured
Andur: 8 - Moderatly Injured
Miri: 7 - Slightly injured
The Son: 4 - Badly damaged

Spoiler: Andur

You take 11 points of bludgeoning damage and 8 points of necrotic damage from the fist. Make a constiution save.

 

[Pervy]

Andur Estevan, The Unwilling Hero, Tag: DM, companionz Initiative: 8 Ac: 18, Buffs: -- HP: 37/71

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"Oh geeesh oh fuck.." Andur made, his eyes widening as his shoulder was punched against the wall, his expression shifting in pain... his companions would not have seen him hit this badly often, if ever and he gritted his teeth, one hand holding his shoulder with a less than pleased expression. He felt that.. and he did not want to feel that again. Nor did he want any of this Jaw. His expression was clearly intimidated.. but a glance to the females he was with steeled his resolve.

"Haah... . haah... to be clear, I didn't kill her. She died a long time ago. .. also.. owww.. what did they feed you? ... actually, don't answer." He panted.
"Just FALL!"He declared, before, raising his blade, strong shoulder first.. well, with the creature before him, he didn't have to struggle to aim... And as the creature stumbled forwards, from the impact of an eye to the back of it's head, it also ended up thrusting it's very neck against Andur's blade.. Reminded of a moment, long ago, that began his ..career as hero, Andur growled and, with the undead unbalanced, defensive flesh and muscle already burned off, he pushed his blade forward, lopping off the creatures head.

After that, he sneezed.. "Achoo.. I feel a little feverish.. that strike was nasty.. hrmn.. no.. no I'm fine really.." he noted.

Then, he would wait for the grease-spell to end, requesting of Miri: "Can you borrow me your glow-ball?" Before checking the side-room.. indubitably, the Lightbringer-zombies had been defeated by Miri's magic.. but he'd make sure.

(Attack: 23, Damage: 13, Cons save 17. )

 

[Devastator325]

Ela'nyya Aefnee'al, The Silver Arrow

"Focus, trust in your natural instincts" The assassin thought before she took a deep breath and stealthily peeked over the edge of the window, drawing back her bowstring and aiming straight for the skull of the malformed creature. She waits just a scant second for she releases, following the arrow's trajectory as it goes straight for his eye, Ela once again happy with her trust in her natural abilities.

If the creature is still standing Ela will repeat her routine, circling to a different window to ready another shot from the safety of the mists

(Crit Success 47 dmg 22 stealth)

 

[Aenon]

Miri Evenwood, the Helping Hand
HP: 22/38, AC 16 (Mage Armor), Passive Perception: 16
SP: 2/6 Spells: 1st Lvl: 2/4; 2nd Lvl: 1/3; 3rd Lvl: 0/3
Active Effects: Mage Armor, prone
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Is everyone all right?" Miri asked, checking closer to see if the corpses would come back to life or something.

"Sure...Daylight." she replied to Andur's request, giving him the orb. This light was stronger than the normal light spell, illuminating everything as if it was sunlight.

Then she looked towards the paper the priest had thrown down, picking it up. Perhaps it held some answers....or maybe one of the corpses did. They would have to investigate the church thoroughly.

"Ela....we may need your eyes. Good job everyone, by the way. But keep your guards up." she said, reading the piece of paper.

 

[Corvinus]

Ela's arrow takes out an eye, blood and rotten fluid pouring out of the socket. The attack leaves the son reeling, and then Andur cuts him down with a practice swipe. The rotting, bubbling body, pale flesh and black ichor falls the to the ground heavily, causing the floorboards to creak.

The trio brace themselves, none willing to believe the fight is really over, but the abomination doesn't move, and then Andur observes the feeling of fever already gone. The church falls quiet, save for the soft splutter of candles, and the gentle crackling of the front area of the church ignited by Miri fire. The aasimar picks up the text, looking at it. A scroll, the magic expended, but written with an expensive inch, crushed onyx mixed in with other rare and dark reagents.

 

[Devastator325]

Ela'nyya Aefnee'al, The Silver Arrow

Ela deftly hopped back into the church and walked over to her companions, recovering a few of her spent arrows that were in good condition as she surveyed their work. "Hm, we did better than I expected" Ela said while looking down at the corpse of the hulking monster that seemed to be the center of all this chaos.

"You needed me Miri?" The elf asked as she walked over after putting her used arrows in her pack to clean later, eyeing the paper Miri had recovered curiously before letting her gaze flick back up to her face. She had a feeling there was something more to this, and that they had only uncovered the tip of the spear, why had an undead horde sprouted here for instance? This would require some investigation.

 

[Aenon]

Miri Evenwood, the Helping Hand
HP: 22/38, AC 16 (Mage Armor), Passive Perception: 16
SP: 2/6 Spells: 1st Lvl: 2/4; 2nd Lvl: 1/3; 3rd Lvl: 0/3
Active Effects: Mage Armor, prone
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"A scroll, it's spell used. Not the cause of all of this. Yes, we need to put out the fire while we can, then we need to investigate what actually happened here." Miri explained.

"Then we need to take care of the corpses. If left as they are, the priest will wake up as an undead, I bet, with or without a body."

"As for the others...they are Ashley's friends. Lets do this..." Miri finished, starting with the attempts to put out the flames before they got too big to handle...and then to search the place, and take outside the corpses.

 

[Corvinus]

A few rough lungfuls of smoke and some unpleasantly toasted skin, but with the aid of the alchemist jug the fire is brought under control without incident. The bodies can then be attended to, and searched for valuables. The priest, the only human corpse, does not rise as undead. Perhaps since his son was the source, family consideration spared him the infection. His hide armour is badly savaged, it will need to be mended if it is to have any value. A simple mace hangs from his belt, and in the corner they find Chauntea's holy symbol: a bronze sheaf of grain, scratched repeatedly, caked in dried blood, the chain broken. Upon the alter is a gold plated chalice that should be worth quite a bit of money, and two pretty silver bells. There are also several dozen candles, and two healing potions. The son has nothing on him save a charred leather shirt, a metal worker's hammer and a lump of deformed clay that was a necklace. The woman, she was an elf when she lived, has even less, the torn skirt, now reduced to cinders, the components pouch fairing little better, though one things has survived, the tooth of a wolf.

The two undead hunters are better equipped. Splint mail and half-plate, well made they weathered Miri's fire. The pair also carried a healing potion each, and one a scroll of restoration. The greatsword is likewise well made, the blade imbued with silver, the pommel fashioned to resemble a rising sun. Spilled out from a burned pouch is 75 silver and 6 bronze, they did not bother with copper apparently. Down below are the dark secrets of the church. An alchemy table, fully stocked with enough supplies to produced 700 silver worth of goods, not just alchemy, but divine scrolls too, or a zombie. Sure enough, further pages of the forbidden tome are also found, detailing how to bring back a loved one, though the whole book is yet not found.

 

[Aenon]

Miri Evenwood, the Helping Hand
HP: 22/38, AC 16 (Mage Armor), Passive Perception: 16
SP: 2/6 Spells: 1st Lvl: 2/4; 2nd Lvl: 1/3; 3rd Lvl: 0/3
Active Effects: Mage Armor, prone
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After they had finished all their tasks, and after Andur confirming that there were no magic items around, it was time to discuss what they would do with the things they found.

"Uh, those pages...filled with false hopes. We should burn them. Make sure not one was left behind, and burn them all." Miri suggested.

"This crafting equipment and the supplies is too good to be left behind however, even if we can't use it ourselves."

"The armor can be salvaged, and it should...maybe it can one day save a life." she continued, casting a mending on the hide armor. This cantrip was probably one of her most used ones, since she would use it to repair the clothes of those who were too poor to afford new ones.

"Andur...the mace should be good to use against skeletons, if you wish to keep it. But even a wooden club would do I guess..." she mused. If it was her, she wouldn't like to keep an item with such a grim story behind it...

"I doubt this church is going to need gold chalices or that they somehow did it any good. It always puzzles me why churches keep those things. Lets consider those our payment. You two each should keep one of the potions on you...you never know when you will need it."

"The lightbringer's items...I think we should let Ashley return them to their families...if they have any." picking up stuff from dead enemies was ok in Miri's book - even the church didn't escape from looting if she thought it would help 'the cause'. However looting allies felt wrong. Still, if the others wanted to keep them, she wouldn't argue about that too much.

"As for the holy symbol...lets leave it to get burried with the priest. Maybe it will help his soul find comfort..." she herself found little comfort in holy symbols. She only felt good when she helped others be happy...and when she found herself despairing and alone, she had her guardian angel to guide her out of it.

"He is together with his son now..." she sighed, looking at the body of the priest, lying next to his son's remains.


As for the bodies, Miri would suggest to leave the burial or burning for the paladin...not mentioning two of them were her friends, she would know better on how to deal with the corpses.

 

[Pervy]

Andur Estevan, The Unwilling Hero, Tag: DM, companionz Ac: 18, Buffs: -- HP: 37/71

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Andur, encouraged by his successes had smirked at Miri's suggestion of putting out th fire, producing his alchemical jug and sighing. "See, I wanted to use it for celebratory Wine, buuuuut if you really prefer Sea-water to solve this issue.."
Andur, unless anyone objected, snatched up the Silvered Greatsword, nodding to himself. Also, at least two of the healing potions, lacking natural healing himself.

"I oppose the burning suggestion.. or rather, let us not do it now.. Looking at what these pages have wrought, they can not be destroyed fast enough, but look closer.. they are incomplete.. There is more yet of them, and if we know what we are dealing with, perhaps, just perhaps, more tragedy can be avoided. I will take the pages and the greatsword, for knightly duties alone. Take the other weapons, we don't want them in the wrong hands, the villagers can make use of them perhaps." Andur nodded, collecting the pages.. they could be burned later, either way.

"We should leave it up to Ashlyn to decide upon the armors and bodies, yes. I will take the weapons.. so no other can. Feel free to take the gold or supplies." He also leaned down, picking up the wolf's tooth form the remains of a once elf and pondering.. He decided to keep it as a trinket, sliding it in his poket. He'd told the elf her goodbyes.

"We should deliver the good news to the defenders.."
He noted, cracking his neck, before stepping outside the church, producing his crab as well. On his way back, he'd keep his eyes open to see if any further undead were still creeping about.. He also touched his left shoulder with one hand.. geesh that was a punch.

"It's us, it's us, don't shoot." he chuckled, raising his hands and playing as if the elfish scout on the roofs had them at their mercy, giving her the slightest of winks along the way..
Then, he rushed foward, Cartwheeling over the barricade with ease and landing on his feet with almost playful ease... only for his ever so slightly smirking, teasing expression to shift as he approached Ashlyn, before reporting.:
"The Village-priest had gone mad, using a tome of forbidden necromantic knowledge to revive his son... but not as he was. He was the source for this plague. I believe the priest drew your companions into a trap. Two of the undead we found had some serious damage on them, so know that your companions died fighting. By your permission, I shall be honored to carry their sword and duty, a silvered weapon might aid me in the task of securing this village.
The priests blasphemy is no more, and the source of the plague is gone, but if you require aid in securing this village, I will lend my aid.. first however, I'll need rest and healing, the undead abomination we faced was far mightier than expected.

And there is the matter of just who send the letter.. I hope the Burgeomaster son can assist there."

He reported and nodded. "I'm afraid the duty of burial falls upon you. The church might be better razed to the ground and rebuild than remain a monument to the memory of this. Also..." He pulled out the vile writing of the tome, presenting it to Ashlyn. "This seems part of a greater whole.. it is what the priest used.. does any of this writing feel familiar? Where could it come from?" He asked, further.

(There's four potions btw. I think. If yes, dibs on two, if no, grabbing one
Athletics check vs barricade: 26)

 

[Devastator325]

Ela'nyya Aefnee'al, The Silver Arrow

The elf stood next to the bloated corpse of the deceased Son, looking down on him with a measure of pity, it wasn't like he asked to become a monstrosity. The Father was sympathetic as well, losing loved ones wasn't an easy thing...

Her brow furrowed and she let out a sigh. she knew she had to help kill these twisted people, but unlike her previous quarry she didn't feel good about it, they were not inherently evil people before this happened. "may your misbegotten souls find rest in the afterlife" She said in elvish.

She then made her way over to the corpses of the fallen lightbringers, she was happy that Andur would likely bear the burden of delivering the news to Ashlyn. She crouched down and at least made sure their eyes were closed if they still had eyelids, if not she would pick up the healing potions and the currency, she would offer them back to Ashlyn when they returned to the square.

After that she would set off after Andur back to the town square, raising an eyebrow at his shenanigans of raising his arms as if he was surrendering.Along the way she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of undead activity, not knowing if they had fully dealt with the problem. This time Ela needed no assistance to climb the barricade, approaching the leader along with Andur. She kept quiet through his recap but at the end she interjected. "I recovered two potions and their currency, I brought them to return to you"

 

[Aenon]

Miri Evenwood, the Helping Hand
HP: 22/38, AC 16 (Mage Armor), Passive Perception: 16
SP: 2/6 Spells: 1st Lvl: 2/4; 2nd Lvl: 1/3; 3rd Lvl: 0/3
Active Effects: Mage Armor, prone
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sorry for your loss. They fought bravely, and we recovered their bodies - along with everyone elses." she touched the paladin's shoulder comfortingly.

"I would like to be there....when they are buried. We didn't know them, but...those who die fighting for the greater good, deserve everyone's honor." she explained.

After letting some time pass, for Ashlyn to recover, Miri would also explain about the equipment they found in the basement. Maybe Ashlyn knew someone who would be interested in such a thing?

 

[Corvinus]

The bodies are dragged outside the temple, to be dealt with later, buried or otherwise. As Andur leads the way down the hill, he spots something on the path: a painted card, depicting a bare-chested man leaning on the thick sword he wields in an idle stance, a generous bulge between his legs. It is the card of the Big Hero, and he recognizes it from a unique tarokka pack he has before. She was there, she saw the fight, and either couldn't or chose not to intervene. Maybe she guessed correctly that the trio could handle on their own, just about. Some more questions though for when they next meet, perhaps among some other things.

No undead emerge from mists on the way back, and the houses are quiet, no shuffling or scurrying. As Andur vaults the barricade the half-elf guard jumps down from her perch, not quite as impressive, but with a whiff of the elf's innate graceful. “Is it gone, is the plague over?” she yells at them from across the square. “Lady Ashlyn said she felt an evil pass. It was you, wasn't it?” the chance of meeting the heroes is enough to draw her away from her guard post, but she stops when she sees Ashlyn approaching, granting the armoured knight a respectful distance whilst she converses with them.

“You did it,” the tired woman forces a smile, “Then, my companions, no, pray do not tell me...I see you carry Mathilda's blade, use it, to slay undead. You will please her soul, looking down from the Celestial Peace, to see it used so. The burial, yes, I can see to that. So far from home, but it is the spirits that matter, and the memories of them in life. This armour, it will do that. It will be displayed in our Order's headquarters, as a testament to the sacrifice our duty can entail, and the importance of it. If they will not rise as abominations, you can assure me that? Then I can delay, and then once the town is cleared, I will see that they are burned in a pyre. It is the best I can offer them here, in these strange lands,” she is speaking half to those in front of her, half to herself as she tries to secure the heavy metal armours to her backpack, unwilling to leave it as much as they burdens her. She looks up to see Ela'nyya offer her the two potions, “Thank you...fair one, I am sorry I did not catch your name,” she secures the clay bottles and coins to the pouches of her belt.

Whilst the half-elf waits patiently for her turn to talk to the heroes, not everyone displays her nervous manners. A young man with shoulder length brown hair approaches, dressed in a leather jacket with polished wooden buttons and finely cut boots. “Excuse me, you saved Barovia, and for that you have my thanks. I am Ismark the Lesser. My father was the Burgomaster of this village, until he died. I would ask your aid, for whilst the plague may be gone, there is still the matter of his murder to attend to. Me and my sisters would like to see justice done for that, my sister in particular, she has not left our father side as she watches vigil on his body, waiting for the plague to end so that he can have a proper burial. Will you help us? But I hear it was my father who brought you here to begins. But that cannot be,” he accept the letter offered, from Andur “This is not my father's handwriting,” he declares, offended that someone would impersonate his dead father, gripping the letter tightly in one hand.

Ashlyn by now has recovered, and accepted that she cannot carry the chainmail and half-plate with her, and so gives it to one of the villagers for safe keeping. She draw her own weapon, a longsword likewise silvered, blinking tired eyes. “Let's patrol the village, make sure it truly is empty, before we let the villagers return to their homes. This place is small, two dozen buildings, no more, we can clear it quickly. Alchemical stuff, hidden in a church basement? I would destroy it, if it created such a vile undead, it was likely assembled on instructions from this tome fragment you recovered,” she shrugs at Miri's question.

Spoiler: Ela

"Fair-folk" is an honorific for elves used by humans who don't know much about elven culture but want to be respectful.

 

[Pervy]

Andur Estevan, The Unwilling Hero, Tag: DM, companionz Ac: 18, Buffs: -- HP: 37/71

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Andur had picked up the card with a mental and half audible note of 'I'll add this to me spank-list', no matter how lucky he was, always, that son-thing had hurt nastily.

"..." Andur hesitated, towards Ashlyns question, before smiling at her: "Your companions souls and blessings were strong. They resisted the plague's effects. Hah, unlike me, I almost felt feverish when that large abomination hit me, guess I just got lucky" He lied.
"They wont rise as undead."
Raising his hand to change topics after his response he nodded.:

"Greetings, Ismark.. so neither the messenger nor the proclaimed author of this message invited us. Do you know of any who'd dare such? And I think I am right in that the plague happened long after your fathers death, so the priest is unrelated.. hmnn.

Perhaps he is not.. What happened to the priests son?" Andur questioned, before glancing over to Ashlyn.

"I can keep going, although a little healing would do me well. The alchemical ingredients could be used for good, I have the pages that hold their dark secrets. But there are still questions to answer.. how would the priest of Chauntea happen upon such vile writing... close to the time where The Burgeomaster of this village is slain. These two might be coincidences, but they are suspiciously close together, two strikes at this village..." He more mused than asked by now.

 

[Devastator325]

Ela'nyya Aefnee'al, The Silver Arrow

"I am Ela'nyya Aefnee'al, though I am better known as The Silver Arrow" She replied to Ashlyn, a bit hesitant to give her name but she saw no reason not to be respectful to the holy woman. Her face stayed a bit neutral and Ela seemed a bit uncomfortable, she didn't like large crowds or a lot of attention.

The Elf made sure to listen in on Andur's conversation with Ismark, making her own musings on the possibilities, though she did not share them aloud as Andur had.

 

[Aenon]

Miri Evenwood, the Helping Hand
HP: 22/38, AC 16 (Mage Armor), Passive Perception: 16
SP: 2/6 Spells: 1st Lvl: 2/4; 2nd Lvl: 1/3; 3rd Lvl: 0/3
Active Effects: Mage Armor, prone
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Miri had to look away when Andur tried to lie about them not becoming zombies.

"People are judged by what they do in life." she noted. Not particularly helpful in covering Andur's lie...but Andur wasn't the best liar anyway.


"Take me to talk to your sister, Ismark...and start preparing the burial. This matter can not be delayed any longer." Miri asked. The poor girl should have been shocked, and the Burgomaster had died two weeks ago...keeping the body around certainly wasn't healthy. She would have to comfort the girl, she would probably need it more than the purple cloaked paladin...