Scorched Campaign

14: Communication

.^^ Mazel ^^

— Cassidy —

I felt a little bad for my sister, who had never really seen combat, as she realized she'd brutally murdered nearly the entire population of an entire city of less-than-innocent people. I didn't like it, but seeing as the people who were dying were willing servants to what Glade swore was the true incarnation of Evil, I steeled myself against the sounds of their terror and pain, and led her back inside.

The sound was blocked out as we entered, and both younger girls stood up quickly. "What's happening out there? Did it work? Did it kill them all?" Iris asked eagerly.

I glanced at Sandy. "Up to you, Lover. It's pretty gruesome. I've seen some shit, but that's a new one. I'll probably have nightmares of that one, and I know Tommy will." I said softly, and settled Tommy in Glade's lap, where she cuddled into him slowly.

Iris tilted her head. "Is it that bad? It's just a bunch of Duergar, isn't it?"

Sandy snapped her head to her before I opened my mouth, and dragged the two girls outside without hesitation. Around a minute later, they returned, eyes wide and haunted, and she sat them both down next to Glade forcefully. "Think before you speak." She commanded sharply.

I hummed, and looked at Glade. "A little music to make them sleep wouldn't be amiss."

He nodded, and pulled out a pan pipe, playing a deep, soulful tune which put the girls and Tommy to sleep almost instantly, obviously magic of some kind.

"I've got first watch on the river. Glade, you watch that tunnel the dragon made." I gazed at it warily.

He nodded and sat down near the tunnel, cleaning his sword, while Sandy sat next to me. "I'm going to get some sleep." She said softly, and leaned against my back, snoring softly almost immediately.

I kept watch as the people that remained in the city were rallied and corralled into a building that somehow was untouched by the acid, in the middle of the city. When they reemerged in pairs or alone, a few minutes later, their hideous wounds were gone.

The bodies of the dead were tossed into a large pile, but with no cloakers left to eat them, (and in fact the cloakers made up half the pile,) but someone had the idea of throwing the bodies into the acidic lake, where they dissolved quickly, leaving only Bones.

In the center-building, a small tower with about four levels, I could see movement as people prepared for retaliation, perhaps. Letting them prepare was a mistake, but my comrades were less capable of stomaching something like this than I was, so getting everyone up and attacking wouldn't be possible, at the moment.

I checked the other grenades in Tommy's launcher, and pulled a few out, cracking them and tossing them into the river one by one, to increase its acidity and get rid of those bones. I didn't want a necromancer getting ahold of them and building an Eldritch Beast for us to fight.

I spent the rest of my watch looking at my staff, practicing making different two-handed weapons with it, finding that it could do everything from a Claymore to a Scythe, if I commanded it. The staff was now encased in the same crystal, and heavier than before, heavier than the wand and staff together, which was a physics question about conservation of mass, but for another day.

I smelled a few invisible scouts, and moved Sandy and I back into the cave gently, deciding to leave them be for now. They patrolled the entire city, it seemed, then walked down the tunnel as far as they could go before the walkway disappeared, returning and leaving us in peace.

'Anything on your side?' I contacted Glade mentally, or tried.

He didn't move for a moment, before glancing at me. 'Were you trying to contact me?'