[ scaled fingers curl into the waistband of karlach's pants, forcing the taller tiefling to rest her weight on the dragon's shoulders — heat of the engine be damned. ]
Just a few more steps.
[ everything's been hell since the group took their first steps into the shadow-cursed lands. it's cold, a soul-killing freeze that swallows everything that wanders into the dark. it's a cold that doesn't allow any warmth to kiss the skin of any traveller: not fireplaces, not torches, nothing that emits any light could permit any heat. nothing except karlach's engine that is. cold as these lands are, karlach still burns bright and hot as ever, her own curse scorching back the shadows.
unfortunately, as it turns out, not pushing them back enough.
the undead shades that slink through the dark are bad on their own, but nothing prepares the group for the larger brambles turned sentient by vile magic when they come down upon the adventurers, flinging thorny vines at whomever they can reach. flesh is shredded, holes punched through armor and scales and sinking deep into whatever bare skin they find.
their barbarian is bleeding out; she can barely walk. the searing heat of hellfire eating away at the warlock's body wasn't enough to keep thorn away from karlach's side, determined to help her back to camp. even with her summoned armor of agathys, an elixir of fire resistance, and dousing karlach with a spell of create water hasn't been enough to stop sweat from pouring down thorn's scaled back in an attempt to even out the temperature between them. she's panting — hard — as the two women stumble their way back toward karlach's bedroll. ]
Lay down, okay? [ a shift of weight now, and thorn steps back to help karlach take her place on her back. ] I'll get — [ gods, it's still so hot ] — some potions, maybe Shadowheart's got something we can use.
[ karlach was certainly not ready for this fresh layer of hell. after avernus, after the nautiloid, and then again after all that bloody messing about with goblins and cultists and druids, she'd been so stoked on herself and her companions, certain that they were each ready to take on whatever the world had to throw at them. the cruel winds of fate had to be out of cards by now between the seven of them, surely.
turns out they had one banger of a hand in store for this merry band of malcontents. these lands are truly dreadful, even without the impending gloom; it is more ash than soil, more kindling than trees, more darkness and cold than karlach has ever known in her entire life. it was already unsettling before the gnarled, twisted shapes of the forest began closing in around them, but that was nothing compared to the absolute horror show that followed. it seemed like no matter how karlach ran or jumped or swung her axe, they had her pinned with twisting vines and those sawing, relentless thorns. it was just like trying to fight in the midst of a nightmare.
and then things happened so quickly. karlach's world became nothing but darkness, throughout which she kept her focus on declaring that she was just fine to keep fighting, even long after the battle had resolved. there were flashes here and there, full of color and sound: the grim brilliance of an eldritch blast, the jostling motions of someone lifting her off the ground, the sound of labored breathing in her ear. ]
Wait... You can't... I'm just fine...
[ she's murmuring as she drifts in and out of consciousness, tensing in thorn's grasp whenever her senses kick in with a flashing strike of vertigo. it's a wonder that they make it anywhere at all, but a huge surprise when karlach feels the familiar softness of the furs laid out over her blanketroll, now tucked beneath a body that feels cold and oddly removed from her condition.
it's alarming enough to get her to crack open one eye, which holds on thorn and widens when her words click in her mind. ]
nursed back to health.
[ scaled fingers curl into the waistband of karlach's pants, forcing the taller tiefling to rest her weight on the dragon's shoulders — heat of the engine be damned. ]
Just a few more steps.
[ everything's been hell since the group took their first steps into the shadow-cursed lands. it's cold, a soul-killing freeze that swallows everything that wanders into the dark. it's a cold that doesn't allow any warmth to kiss the skin of any traveller: not fireplaces, not torches, nothing that emits any light could permit any heat. nothing except karlach's engine that is. cold as these lands are, karlach still burns bright and hot as ever, her own curse scorching back the shadows.
unfortunately, as it turns out, not pushing them back enough.
the undead shades that slink through the dark are bad on their own, but nothing prepares the group for the larger brambles turned sentient by vile magic when they come down upon the adventurers, flinging thorny vines at whomever they can reach. flesh is shredded, holes punched through armor and scales and sinking deep into whatever bare skin they find.
their barbarian is bleeding out; she can barely walk. the searing heat of hellfire eating away at the warlock's body wasn't enough to keep thorn away from karlach's side, determined to help her back to camp. even with her summoned armor of agathys, an elixir of fire resistance, and dousing karlach with a spell of create water hasn't been enough to stop sweat from pouring down thorn's scaled back in an attempt to even out the temperature between them. she's panting — hard — as the two women stumble their way back toward karlach's bedroll. ]
Lay down, okay? [ a shift of weight now, and thorn steps back to help karlach take her place on her back. ] I'll get — [ gods, it's still so hot ] — some potions, maybe Shadowheart's got something we can use.
💕
turns out they had one banger of a hand in store for this merry band of malcontents. these lands are truly dreadful, even without the impending gloom; it is more ash than soil, more kindling than trees, more darkness and cold than karlach has ever known in her entire life. it was already unsettling before the gnarled, twisted shapes of the forest began closing in around them, but that was nothing compared to the absolute horror show that followed. it seemed like no matter how karlach ran or jumped or swung her axe, they had her pinned with twisting vines and those sawing, relentless thorns. it was just like trying to fight in the midst of a nightmare.
and then things happened so quickly. karlach's world became nothing but darkness, throughout which she kept her focus on declaring that she was just fine to keep fighting, even long after the battle had resolved. there were flashes here and there, full of color and sound: the grim brilliance of an eldritch blast, the jostling motions of someone lifting her off the ground, the sound of labored breathing in her ear. ]
Wait... You can't... I'm just fine...
[ she's murmuring as she drifts in and out of consciousness, tensing in thorn's grasp whenever her senses kick in with a flashing strike of vertigo. it's a wonder that they make it anywhere at all, but a huge surprise when karlach feels the familiar softness of the furs laid out over her blanketroll, now tucked beneath a body that feels cold and oddly removed from her condition.
it's alarming enough to get her to crack open one eye, which holds on thorn and widens when her words click in her mind. ]
Why? Is it bad?