On the second floor of the Yaleson house...
Morton, seeing how he's being assaulted on the thinnest of pretexts, doesn't stand for this kind of treatment! As well as anyone can stand up to this kind of treatment while being bashed into a wall, that is.
"What-" *thwack* "-was handed willow-" *crash* "-boiled it-"" *thwack* "-gave it to you-" *thwack* "-no idea-" *crick* "-oh dear-" *crack* "-please, stop!"
He tries to shove Master Scott off him! After all, even the most loyal butler shouldn't take open abuse lying down!
"Please restrain yourself sir! I did nothing of the sort, why would I, and for what purpose?! These travelers just said they could fix Master Gary!"
[Morton vs. Scott: 2 vs. 4-1]
He tries and he tries, but to no avail! Scott has clamped down tight on his throat! He does seem to pause in his brutal violence for a bit. It's replaced with unsubstantiated reproach!
"YOU DIDN'T TASTE IT FIRST?! Even if you were an expert in botanical and horticultural pursuits, one ought to check their ingredients before having them handed to your master."
Scott points at Erin.
"If this man-"
There is a slight chuckling on the mages' part.
"Shut it, Bernie!"
"-fails in his voluntary task, I will end you. For now, I shall cripple you."
[Grapple: Scott vs. Morton: 3 vs. 5]
Scott tries to force Morton into an arm lock, but the movement on his part to accomplish this gives Morton the opportunity he was waiting for, allowing him to shove Scott away with both of his free arms! Scott stumbles back and slumps up against a wall, slightly off-balance. Morton, now free, makes a stuttering reply!
"Y-you're insane, s-sir! I-I-I've tried to help you, and t-this is how you repay me? I understand y-you're under stress and bereaved b-by your Husband's illness, but I won't stand for this! I've obviously m-misjudged your character, if this is how you shall treat me I'd rather t-throw my lot with the road!"
The mages cheer!
"Yeah! You tell him, butler man!"
"Should we take 'em now?"
"Nah, wait for it. I want to see what happens."
Niklas can't help but add his own two barbarian units of currency to the household feud.
"You should come with me, butler. I am going to shatter the world ... stage with my cooking!"
He, being a great multitasker, then decides that he probably needs to find that special protective suitcase he got for his knives from a passing mage. He fetches it from the closet and stashes his razor sharp utensils within. He is back in no time at all to watch the proceedings and hear Morton's reply.
"Sounds more pleasant than procrastinating around here to have my legs and arms shattered, Chief Niklas." he comments to the zombie chief, before retorting once again to the once-master, stutter replaced with the pent-up, righteous anger only a man who has served others and pushed down all those times could feel burning inside him. "I was even fine with you hitting my head against the floor! I knew you were angry with what happened, I understand that you are in a tough place and scared, but even with me telling you that your husband could be fixed from all of this you only insisted on violence instead of your husband! Do you even care about his health? He was ill with horrible sickness and you wanted to give him a-a pain reliever instead of searching for an actual doctor who could help, and now that one is on our doorstep you ignore such offers in favor of petty anger? I was coming up to give you some tea, but I see now you don't deserve it, don't deserve it at all."
There is a collective gasp from the mages! Well, except the black-robed woman. She just remains unimpressed-looking. Scott, meanwhile, recovers from his unstable state. Well, his physically unstable state. He is still plenty unstable mentally.
"Please, explain to me how I am to take a situation where our butler, you, instead of doing his duty has decided to assassinate his master with a paste that corrupts the flesh! He then tells me 'Oh, don't mind that, here is a complete and total stranger you should trust with your husbands life!'"
"How can one decide what one doesn't even know?"
"How in the worlds would I know that boiling the willow bark would do that? I thought it was suppose to ease pain, not cause decay, I probably wouldn't even of noticed if I put it on myself! You have it on your teeth and mouth, yet there I see nothing. I used the good water, boiled it right and made sure to not over boil or under boil it, and used willow bark. How in the hells could boiled willow bark even do such a thing? Niklas was there, I did nothing else, everyone else can confirm that I indubitably went straight to you afterwards."
"Why don't you explain to me why I would ever want Master Gary dead? If he died, I'd die! You, sir, would die! Kevin would die, as would Niklas! What purpose would I have in a dreadful mass murder-suicide? I don't hate living, on the contrary I've been dead once and don't quite plan on being again any time soon, that's why I'm ecstatic at any chance of Master Gary living. I've been thankful every day when Master Gary brought me back from the dead, why would I want to go back? Trusting strangers is better than doing nothing at all, which we have been doing, and Master Gary has assuredly not been in glowing health as of such. We'd at least be doing something."
Morton sighs after he's done. Some days, it just seems like this is a madhouse of some kind.
"Someone killing someone? No. I do the killing. If anyone kills anyone, I'll kill them AND their victim for getting killed!"
And Niklas isn't really helping matters, to be honest. However, Scott seems to be calming down.
"Was it you who collected the bark? Could you identify what you put in the water as willow?"
"Was it... me? No, I was boiling the water as to get ready for the bark. Kevin told me he would get it, to aid me in my endeavor to serve. I'm quite positive what I put in the water was willow. It looked like willow to me, and gave off a medicine like smell when I boiled it. But I don't see why Kevin would want to do this truly dreadful thing to Master Gary, it just raises the same issue! Why by all that is tea would he? Kevin never seemed like that type, he always wanted to make people laugh... What kind of bark even eats away at the skin like that when boiled? I know it was bark, I handled it myself, but while I wouldn't call myself an 'expert in botanical and horticultural pursuits,' I don't think there is bark that would have such horrifying effects so quickly."
He looks over at... wait, where has Kevin gone? Oh well.
"Alright, I suppose you ladies have come to an agreement or something. Let's get to it, then!"
Erin strolls up to Gary, closes her eyes and extends her hands above him.
[Erin magic roll: 2]
And nothing at all happens.
"Bad form there, Erin! It's all in the posture!"
"I just thought it'd look more impressive this way, ya know? Well, guess I'll do this the boring way, then."
She loosens up, limbers up a bit, then makes a rapid movement of her hands!
[Erin magic roll: 1+1]
Still nothing, though.
"You're embarrassing yourself, man! Get yourself together!"
"Oh, gods, will you quit that already!" she yells, impatiently waving her arms at the infirm man.
[Erin magic roll: 1]
Suddenly, there is a burst of white light that envelops Gary! When it dissipates, the infirm necromancer is gone! Disappeared into thin air!
"What did you do, Erin?"
"I most certainly did not just disintegrate him into the very tiniest component particles, no sir, and I will debate endlessly with anyone who says otherwise until the issue is sufficiently muddled and confused!"
The undead look on in surprise and slight horror. Bernie carefully looks at them.
"Wait a minute, wouldn't these guys be falling over in horrible agony if that were the case? Something isn't right here."
Out in the woods...
Mark, meanwhile, continues his fungal odyssey as he tries to persistently remove the mushroom while trying to move in the direction of the house.
[Fungus removal roll: 3]
Yeah, it's not coming off that way, that much is certain. Mark runs back to the house, only to find the jester on the first floor making a shushing motion at him. It looks like there's some sort of commotion upstairs.
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 565339 times)