#she seems very friendshaped..d....

[2bloved]

Yeah, ngl, Beelze, to me, looks like a working grandfather who has grandkids so, my brain said to me: "Dude, you gotta make a non-canon granddaughter for this guy" and out popped my Hypno's Lullaby FNF version OC named Joulesbub or Joules for short (that and she doesn't like the bub at the end of her name) she's a sweetheart and a stubborn hotheaded bitch. The absolute opposite of Beelze, if that simplifies it. Also she has more healthier skin than Beelze but she's 10, so... ~Strike anon~

HOLDING JOULES IN MY PALMS VERY GENTLY RN.

[blackjackkent]

Having trotted through a large collection of smaller conversations, we finally reach the central area of The Grove, where some tieflings are having it out with a group of the druids.

"Let my daughter go - right now!"

"She's a thief, hellspawn. And you will wait for Kagha's judgement. Now get back!"

"Argh. Let me through, mragrashem, or I'll rip your damn throat out!"

She looked ready to go through with it too, until the druid on the left straight up turned into a fucking bear, at which point the tieflings scarpered right quick.

I def need to play a druid so I can also do this.

If not friend, then why so friendshaped?

Friendshaped aside, these people are super skeptical of us. The lady in the center would have booted us out on our asses except apparently "Kagha" wants to see us.

Starting to explore the grove and talking with the other druids, we learn that Kagha is not the druid's leader, as I assumed. But she is the one behind the plan to eject the refugees. Halsin (who is possibly the leader I think?) was the one who welcomed them in in the first place, but he has currently disappeared, possibly held prisoner in the goblin camp. And he's likely the only one who can resolve the dispute in time to save the tieflings.

This sounds like we're probably gonna end up chasing down the goblins, but one step at a time.

Kagha is inside the stone structure that rings the grove, and she seems like a highly unpleasant person, as she is currently chewing out the tiefling child mentioned above with very little compassion.

"She stole the idol of Silvanus. She must pay the price. We will imprison the thief under guard of my serpent. When we cast out the rest, she may join them. Let the devil be an example. We will tolerate outlanders no longer. The grove will be made safe. The circle will be closed!"

You sound fun and like a paragon of nuance.

"Please! I'm sorry!" the tiefling girl pleads, her glowing eyes wide with fear as the snake circles her.

One of the other druids is trying to reason with Kagha.

"This is madness, Kagha! She's just a..."

"A what, Rath? A thief? A poison? A *threat*?" She glares down at the child with unmasked disdain. "I will imprison the devil. And I will cast out every stranger."

Hector finds he can't keep his mouth shut at this blatant, fear-driven cruelty. Why is he finding this so common in the world? He has been terrified every moment since he woke on the nautiloid ship, and it has not stopped him from being kind.

"Imprison her?" he says sharply, hearing his voice echo a little in the high-ceilinged cavern. "She's just a child."

The druid rounds on him, eyes flaring.

"She is a parasite. She eats our food, drinks our water. Then steals our most holy idol in thanks!" She looks at her companion imperiously. "Rath, lock her up. She remains here until the rite is complete." She pauses, and then the mask of leadership slips for a moment, and a flash of malice goes through her eyes as she looks down at the child. "And keep still, devil. Teela is restless."

The serpent hisses eagerly, eliciting a sharp squeal of fear from the girl.

The woman's force of personality is impressive - but Hector isn't going to let this go without an argument. This seems to be his standard operating procedure at this point - he really doesn't have a lot of experience with the conflicts of the real world, so he simply identifies the right and wrong of the situation in his opinion quite firmly and then pursues the right (usually to the benefit of the innocent, even at his own expense) until he runs out of options.

I was hoping for him to be more overwhelmed with the world but to be honest the game doesn't really support that as an option (unsurprisingly, really - it's not exactly the average background), so we're adjusting on the fly. :D The problem is often more that he doesn't always know the right thing to say to appease any particular person, there being a lot of nuance to the wider world that he is not familiar with, or sometimes he just biffs it because he's kind of awkward sometimes. :P He may be handsome but his charisma score is middling at best.

"You act rashly," he says firmly, mustering the air of spiritual guidance he learned in the temple. "As a cornered viper would. Free the child, or more tieflings will interrupt you."

In this case, he gets lucky - he's hit on the right note. Kagha hesitates, then scowls.

"Tsk. A gathered herd of the devils would indeed be disruptive." She lets out an irritated sigh, then shrugs. "It is as you say. Ssifisv - Teela, to me!"

The snake twists, then slides along the ground past the child, eliciting a whimper of fear. It comes into a coiled position at Kagha's feet and hisses angrily.

Kagha glares at the girl.

"Out, thief. My grace has its limits."

Hector turns to watch the girl scurry out of the cave - and in doing so, he notices Shadowheart convulse with a sudden noise of pain. Something on the back of her hand is glowing with a pale purple light.

"Nnggh. It hurts..."

The other druid - Rath - steps forward slightly, placatingly. "Thank you, Kagha. Master Halsin would--"

This name seems to rouse even more anger in Kagha than the child did, and she lashes out in the man's direction viciously.

"Halsin isn't here. Keep his name off your tongue, lest Teela pierce it."