Shattered Star

"Sounds like a fair trade," Anastasia nods. "We already met the tiefling, and the kobold's guts are currently strewn across the floor. There's you, and of course Flynt. Anyone else in your crew?"

”Emile is the only other,” the woman replies. ”He is a cat man and a former pirate. He’s good with a rapier and possesses some amount of bardic talent. I do not know where he might be. Presumably locked up somewhere else.”

At that, Cade blinks at the iron bars separating the woman and the party.  "...On that note," Cade begins while adjusting his glasses, "why is it that you are imprisoned?  Apart from the lone Derro we dealt with in the previous room, I struggle to see how you could find yourself in this position."

”There’s a magister here,” the woman replies. ”And a hole to the depths. A large group of Derro came in. We were overwhelmed.”

"A Derro magister..." Cade parrots with concern.  "They are known to be more resilient and able arcanists than their more common kin," he elucidates for the rest of the group.  "For those unprepared, they could pose a challenge, especially for those who rely on magicks."  Turning back to the group proper, Cade continues "Though we have yet to encounter this supposed magister, I see no faults with her claims or information.  I say we free... Miss, er..." Cade pauses before turning back to the woman in the cell.  "M-My apologies, we've yet to introduce ourselves," he admits sheepishly.  "You may call me Cade, while your name is...?"

"I am Vera," the woman replies.

"... Vera?" Anastasia cocks her head. "Huh. I didn't recognize you, what with the..." She gestures vaguely at her own face and hair. "You and Flynt used to run in the same crews. Didn't think someone would toss aside that kind of history to save their own skin."

"He will get over it," Vera replies. "You are Anastasia, yes? It would not be the first time my pragmatism has trumped our friendship. He knows what to expect from me. You probably should have known what to expect from him."

"Funny thing about knowing someone for years but never really working with them," Anastasia replies in an irritated voice. "They've always got some surprise up their sleeve. I won't be making the same mistake twice."

"Fool me once," Vera replies. "So are you going to get me out of here now?"

Anastasia pulls out her pick set and gets to work on the door, popping the lock open easily.

More explanation reveals a carrion golem. Anastasia shouts to everyone to hold their breath before she and Ali charge in, weakening it so Meliora can finish it with a well placed arrow to the head.

Yet more exploration leads to more derro and a wererat with a cat person tied to surgical tables. Naomi blesses everyone before Ali and Anastasia split to each of the rooms. Ali gets injured pretty good but Naomi heals her well. Meanwhile, it seems like a stalemate with Ana and the other two derro. However, once the rest of the party's attention is turned back to them, they fall easily.

When the party ascends a staircase in the large chamber of the sewer, they come up into what looks to be an elaborate laboratory. Shelves are lined with odd samples and specimens. Tables are covered in tools and alchemical equipment. Several Derro are milling about the room, seemingly occupied with scientific tasks. A taller Derro stands at the back of the room, supervising the mess. As the party enters she laughs and speaks aloud in strangely accented common. "I have been gifted with yet more subjects. Oh how wonders never cease. Welcome to my laboratory my lovely new test subjects!"

Then Cade hears in undercommon "Keep these ones alive. I want to do some vivisections!"

The magister leads with a vial full of viscous acid that smashes into Anastasia's face. She wipes it quickly away as Naomi presses a hand of healing magic against her back. She gives her friend a quick smile over the shoulder before rushing into the fray alongside Ali, Sarenrae's holy light gleaming in her blade as it comes down on the magister. Meliora peppers the other derros with arrows and Naomi and Cade support with their magic from the rear, flames flying and positive energy bursting through the room. The derros rush to the corners of the room, freeing the captives, but Anastasia, seeing one go for Flynt, snarls and rushes to intercept. She's able to trip the derro, keeping it from freeing the thief, before quickly backhanding him in the nose to knock him unconscious. Meanwhile, the magister continues kiting Ali, who is doing an admirable job keeping up and laying down the pain, but she focuses her fire on the back, specifically on Naomi. Anastasia turns, ready to rejoin the main fight, when the healer takes a gambit and bestows a blessing upon the party. Unfortunately, it doesn't pay off, and a well placed acid vial strikes Naomi squarely in the chest. It's plain to see, as the girl falls to the ground, the acid eating through her ribcage and dripping directly onto her heart, which hisses and shrivels as it dies.

Anastasia's own heart stops. She watches as her friend, someone who she had thought lost to her, that she had only just reconnected with, one of the few people from her childhood who could bring back happy memories, falls over, dead. And then she loses control.

It isn't like the stories say, blacking out or losing oneself to a frenzy. Anastasia is perfectly aware of what's happening as it happens. It calls to mind her first atrocity, the very first act of genuine evil she ever performed, one she had striven to atone for every day since. Her body moves without her blessing, striding with purpose towards the magister even as her blade whips down at the derro at her feet for daring try to stand. She reaches out, narrowly missing the magister's collar and eating another acid flask to the shoulder without flinching. On her second attempt, a fluke, a trick of the wind in a room with none brings the edge of the magister's coat into her reach, allowing her to grab it and yank her forward. While the others clean up the remaining trash, Anastasia pulls the magister, feebly attempting to escape, into a modified hammerlock, lifting her up by the back of the neck with her other hand, and sinks her teeth directly into the magister's shoulder. The magister screams as she drinks from the little cretin, struggling futily, and the part that clinches it, the part that turns this from an act of passion to an inexcusable act, is that though Anastasia is aware, she makes no attempt to regain control, no attempt to stop it. The rational, logical part of her mind watches as animalistic passion and the desire for vengeance drives her body, and simply does not care. Not about the morality of the act, not about the consequences, not about Sarenrae or her redemption or... any of it. She drinks freely and without compunction, and in that same instant, a searing pain courses through her veins, which light up with a fiery glow visible from outside her body, and when it finally fades, the gleam of the scimitar dies with it.

The next thing Anastasia knows, she's being pulled off the magister by Ali, struggling, snarling and spitting as her mouth drips with fresh blood. The magister makes one last pitiful attempt at victory with another acid flask before finally being downed by a pair of arrows from Mel. With the fallen corpse of her current object of hatred lying prone in front of her, Anastasia sinks in Ali's grip, her will to fight gone.

Ali gently lowers Ana into a sitting position on the floor. They sit with her, arms wrapped tight in what could be called a hug. Ali looks to the corpse of Naomi. They had lost allies before but not friends like this. Still, she had to be strong. Strong? Was she strong enough to protect Naomi? No. Strong enough to protect Anastasia? No. What good is strength if it can't hold what's dear to you close? It's only then the gnoll realizes she's crying.

Cade pants feverishly as adrenaline courses through his frame.  His glasses, fogged by exertion and stress, have been ripped from their perch and hang from his fingers.  He watches as the blood of the magister seeps into the low waterline of the room, then glances to Naomi--her body motionless and the faint sound of acid sizzling against flesh a grotesque backdrop to the unsettling scene.  Running his hand through his hair, he turns back to Anastasia, still held in Ali's grip.  Her face is unnervingly expressionless, and her teeth, lips and chin are stained a deep, rusty red.  "...Gods..." Cade mutters under his breath.  "...We... we need to leave," he manages to croak out, his voice bereft of any authority.  "We need to report to... to Mrs. Heidmarch and--the Shard.  Grab the Shard a-and..." he stammers, while stumbling through the pooling water to the magister's body.  "then we... we can--" as he approaches the body he falls to his knees, splashing water and blood into the air as his hands land onto the magister's small frame.  Clumsily, the wizard rifles through the derro's effects while muttering to himself and finds the relic--still pristine and remarkably unblemished by blood.  His hands tremble as he holds the relic, though the sensation of wonder and curiosity are the furthest from his mind.

Cade stays kneeling before the magister, his robes slowly staining with blood as his mind races to catch up with his actions.  With some difficulty, the wizard pulls himself upright.  Hands still trembling, the wizard stows the Shard into his pack and staggers to Ali and her prisoner.  "...We need to leave." Cade whispers.  "We can't... stay here.
Ali," he motions limply, "can you bring her."  Though it was a question, his voice belied his unwillingness to discuss the matter further.  "Meliora and I need... we should discuss how to... take care of the others."

"Wh-what about N-Naomi? She needs t-to be brought back too. I don't w-want to le-leave her here t-to rot or worse" Ali manages to say through tears, their voice raw. They swallow hard and then looks back to Flynt. "And...him. He must answer for his sins"

Cade takes a deep breath, trying to keep what composure he has left.  "That was what I meant," he clarifies.  "Flynt appears unconscious and Nao..." Cade's voice trails off, his head refusing to turn beyond his shoulders, "Naomi is... we need to know who will bring them both.  You..."  he motions wearily to the gnoll, "you need to... guard Anastasia."  Despite his frayed state, Cade does his best to carefully choose his words.  "Ensure that she... stays safe until we return."

Ali stays quiet for a while before answering. "I'll take her...for her sake"

With the fight over, Meliora blanches at the sight of Naomi's body, especially now that there isn't a target to distract her. With her exposed ribs and acid melted innards, Meliora can't help but feel a wave of nausea come over her, and she rushes out of the room to be sick.

The trek back to the boat and ensuing boat ride are long and silent. Any sense of victory or triumph seems completely lost in the tragedy of what just occurred. When the group returns to Heidmarch manor, Sheila wordlessly escorts the group to a large room that seems to serve as a sort of med bay. She tells the group to make themselves as comfortable as possible given the circumstances. After a short while she comes back with a cleric.

”You don’t go as long as I have in this without being prepared for the occasional unexpected death,” Sheila states.

The cleric steps up to the body. ”Grisly, but I can save her. I’m going to start with a speak with dead. I like to make sure Souls are willing to return before I use time and resources on this.”

With a nod from Sheila the man begins chanting a spell incantation. Within a few seconds the spectral form of Naomi appears above her corpse.

"Oh good, you all made it out," The somewhat-surprised seeming image of Naomi says, a wide smile on her face as she reaches out towards the group with one of her notably unburned arms. "I'd hoped, since I didn't see any of you in line, but... I just couldn't be sure." She adds. "Is... is everything okay?"

Naomi's question is met with grim silence.  Cade, propping himself up against his simple staff, casts a weary glance at Anastasia.  She has yet to make a single move or utterance for the entire journey here.  "...W-Well," Cade mutters, awkwardly breaking the oppressive stillness, "We've... managed.  It was not without difficulty, but... but we found the Shard.  We've brought you to Lady Heidmarch's manor," Cade continues, explaining the situation, "and she has found a cleric to bring you back.  We can explain what happened after you... you left once you've returned.  Are you ready?"

Naomi's smile turns sad, sorrow touching her eyes. "I... think I should probably just stay here," She replies, one hand absently rubbing the unburned skin of her other arm. "You never really realize how much a constant pain bothers you until it's gone. And besides, I had a good run of it. It didn't work out in the end, but it was good and I think I made a difference."