Decent Into Darkness

[Prince Herb]

Moonshadow sighs.   "I'm afraid he's beyond healing ; I can try to bring his soul back from the dead, but that's always a risky thing, and it takes time."   Nonetheless, the elf takes her scroll of resurrection from her backpack and looks to the party's leader.

[Trunkyboy]

Rackham growls menacily at however had the gall to throw something at him, he would rend them from limb to limb... It was Nirae's daughter.  With a shuddering breath, he wills himself from the Rage, from the Fury, from the sweet thirst of battle and blood.

[Priss]

Lain pauses and glances back, taking in the scene over her shoulder.  A single slender brow raises above her eye as she gazes upon them.  When she speaks, her voice is cold.

"Those fool enough to be taken into death's embrace without ever knowing their assaliant are best to remain in her cold grip.  Not only that, but he never made even the barest attempts to defend himself in the battle, merely standing about doing his best impression of a village idiot at a fair.  Such a fool is of no use to me."  Her eyes turn back to the path ahead.

She continues on a few paces then speaks again.

"If you wish to waste your resources attempting to regain such fool, do as you will.  I do not command your actions.  I doubt even that I could claim to command what others may call your loyalty. "  She shrugs, a single shoulder raising and falling.  "It matters not to me."

[CyMage]

"Well, we can't just leave him here.  Even if you don't want to give him a decent burial, someone could track us somewhat because of the corpse." Ailith looked at the others.  "But whatever we do, we can use his equipment.  Or at least some of us can."

[Priss]

Lain pauses, sighing slightly, then turns to look full upon where the others gather about the corpse.

"If you wish to bury the fool, then be my guest.  But do be advised, though the beasts that were here have scattered, they won't stay gone for long, and they may just bring a more vicious sort or help when they return.  As well, there are scant few hours left in the night, and far yet to travel."

She steps over to where Rackham's goggles lay upon the ground and crouches down.  Lifting them from where they had fallen when Rackham tore them from his head, she looks them over to be sure they are not broken then wipes the lenses off on a scrap of tattered cloth, that is realtively clean, from a nearby goblin corpse.   Standing again, she looks over to Rackham.

"Oi.  Uncle.  You dropped these."

She holds the goggles out until he looks her way then tosses them to him.

[Prince Herb]

"Well," Moonshadow says, "I suppose that's that."   She puts the scroll away in her pack again.   "It wouldn't do to let the goblins get hold of his equipment, though.   He could have all kinds of nasty weapons on his person, the which might be used against us."

Moonshadow looks to Ticha and Ailith for the leadership that Lain won't provide.   "What do you people think?" she asks.

[Figment]

Glancing around at the surrounding darkness, Ticha eyes the corpse for a moment.

"Strip him. And make it quick, we aren't going to be alone here for much longer."

[CyMage]

Ailith recited another quick incantation and stared at the corpse.  Within seconds she started pointing out magical items on the corpse.

[Prince Herb]

Moonshadow stripped the corpse down to its black silk boxer shorts, placing the valuables and magic items to one side for the others to pack up as she went along.   "I hope being eaten by wild animals or goblins is an acceptable form of burial for his religion," she mused.

[Trunkyboy]

Rackham catches the googles absentmindly, and puts them on.  He breathes deeply, the Sweet Lust took much out of him.  But oh, it wasn't Sweet for nothing.  Hardly worthy oppenents, but it did get his blood racing.

[Priss]

"If you are truly worried that the fool's religious concerns do not include being eaten..." Lain carefully removes a small vial from a pouch at her side. "I believe that fire is acceptable in most religion.  This would be sufficent to destroy the corpse down to ashes if you wish."

She holds the small vial up.  Those who could see and recognize such things would recognize a tiny portion of dragon's blood in the vial.

"I would be _quite_ careful in it's application though.  I sincerely doubt that the forest would appreciate being burned to the ground from mishandled fire."

[Prince Herb]

Moonshadow takes the phial from Lain, and uttering a brief prayer to whatever god will take the dead man's soul to the afterlife, daintily applies a little of the dragon blood to the corpse.

"Gods of fire, gods of the wood, I commend this man's spirit to your care.   Let him speedily cross to the afterlife, and let his sufferings be at an end."

[Priss]

The conflaguration is brief, but virilent.  The body of the foolish misadventurer is quickly devoured by the greedy flames leaving barely even a few ashes to scatter in the brief wind that blows through the clearing.

"If all is in readiness... perhaps we should move along."  Lain finally says, after a short moment of silence, taking her vial back from Moonshadow and replacing it in the pouch at her side.

[Figment]

Moving quickly, Ticha kneels by the pile of stuff and swiftly makes it disappear into her belt.

"We can sort and distribute this stuff later," she says before standing and glancing at the others. "Let's be off then."

[Prince Herb]

Moonshadow nods.   "I suppose it would be foolish to ask whether he had a family."   She makes a mental note to deal with this issue later, after the fun is over, and then stands by Lain, waiting to see where the crazy elf leads them.