To the Southern Continent

[Jack Rothwell]

"This is an evil thing." Leli declared, staring at the Ralkin's staff that the group had brought back to the village, Tamina shuffled her feet self-consciously, glad to be back home but fearful for her travelling companion.

"Thought it might help."

"It may. But first we need to have a look at your friend."

OOC Might expand this later. Just wanted to move the action to the village./OOC

[Sareth]

"That'd be nice," Jamie slurred. She was sweating profusely and having to be supported by two others to remain upright. "Th' voices are gettin anoyin..."

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina and Leli exchanged meaningful looks and gestured for the young merc to sit in the open space that only a few hours before had contained a captured feral. Tamina helped Jamie down while the elder picked up the Ralkin's staff with every sign of distaste and tentatively channeled to assess its power.

"Anything?"

"I'm not sure. There's strong magic woven into its design, did you see him use it?"

"Controlled the sick Killakah with it. Formed packs in front of him." Tamina sat down next to the sickly teen and held her hands to stop them from trembling. "Need to help Jay-me first, don't want to have to lock her up."

The elder nodded aknowledgement and sat down opposite her pupil.

"We might be able to help. She's not gone yet and there's two of us this time."

Tamina smiled gratefully, even though the anxiousness showed in her eyes.

"Don't let your emotions get the better of you, keysha gah*. Focus, I need your help."

The kobold nodded and prepared to channel.


*pretty cub

[Sareth]

"This gonna take long?" Jamie shivered. "Cause I'm really starting to feel... *hurp*... unpleasant."

[Jack Rothwell]

"Hang on Jay-me."

The tribal mages performed the same action they had on the feral, placing their hands on the teenager and concentrating.

"We've got to put a barrier around the spell." Leli said. "Follow my lead."

"Will it work?"

"Hopefully. For the time being at least."

The examination was, thankfully, a lot easier the second time around for the young native. The fact that her companion's body was in a much earlier stage made the spiritual navigation considerably easier. Tamina followed the trail of her teacher as before, reinforcing the elders efforts whenever she could.

The whole process took only twenty minutes but to the people involved it felt like a lifetime. When they were finished Tamina could see in her minds-eye the silvery strands that marked the beginning of the plague's possession held immobile by the faint glow of the shield they'd created. The strands pulsed, seeming to push against the foreign force, and then lay still. It would do, at least for now.

"Ok. We're done."

Tamina let out a relieved sigh and collapsed gently backwards until her head rested on the wooden floor of the hut. She stared at the cieling with depression and fatigue on her face.

"How long will it hold?"

"A day, maybe less." Leli met the young mercenaries eyes with a sorrowful expression. "I'm sorry Jamie, that's the best I could do."

[Sareth]

"So we have a day. Then what?" Jamie smiled. Clearly she was feeling better, even if it was only temporary. "You've given us time to figure it out. So let's kick some butts!" She stood and marched to the door, grinning from ear to ear, then paused. "Um... You wouldn't know which direction the butts needing kicking are in?"

----

Jasmine swore. The town was a mess, things had gotten insane, she was running low on ammo, and all the chaos had caused her to lose track of Jamie. Sighing, she reached out and grabbed the first passerby she could.

"Hey!" she put herself nose to nose with the startled man. "Where do the local kobolds all live?"

The man looked at her like she was crazy. "Lady, after all this, you want to go visit their village? Do you have a death wish?"

Jasmine cocked her rifle.

"That way!" the man squeaked.

"Thank you," Jasmine replied with a smile.

[Graybeard]

"Will healing madic do anyting againt dat plague?" Keyes asked. "I'm not real good at dat tuff, but I can try..."

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina and Leli shook their heads at both questions.

"Heal magic won't touch plague." Tamina supplied. "Only stopped the spread for a while."

"Our patrols haven't reported anything yet. The rest of the Ralkin are somewhere in the area, that much we know, but if we can't track them down soon they'll be no-one left to look for them."

Tamina drew her knees up to her chest and made a mewling sound, by her side, Arcelius' staff glinted dully as the sun sank into the horizon.

[Sareth]

"Well, no time like the present then," Jamie quipped from the doorway. "We need to get off our kiesters and get moving. We're on a deadline here."

[Jack Rothwell]

"Yeah-yeah. Gotta stop them."

Leli shook her head. "We don't know what direction they reside in, and its getting dark besides." The sun chose that moment to dip below the horizon as if to illustrate the elder's point. The warm glow of campfires began to penetrate the hut.

"Can see ok." Tamina countered, pushing herself to her feet.

"Not well enough to distinguish between a feral and a kobold. No. We need to know where to go first." Leli pointed to the staff the native had liberated from the dead Ralkin earlier in the day. "But that might be the clue we need. If that staff can extert control of the ferals then it must contain part of the original spell. It's possible we could use it to figure out where our quarry is."

"Got to hurry."

"Yes gah." Leli sighed, wiped the sweat fro her brow and picked the evil-looking weapon up. "Give me a little time. I'll see what I can find out."