Mainly Nyx, one Tav PoV

The party made their way towards a place known as 'The Blighted Village' according to the dilapidated, outdated map that someone back at the Druid's grove gave to Tav. It looked more like a hastily hand scrawled piece of parchment than a map to Nyx. However, her own archive didn't include ones of this area of The Sword Coast so they'd to make do with it unfortunately.

There were no misgivings about who the official-unofficial leader of this hap-hazard collection of would-be adventurers was. Tav strolled in front of the group alongside Lae'zel, discussing potential locations of the Githyanki creche as per Tav's map as they went.

Shadowheart and Gale were lagging behind, Gale listening with keen interest. Nyx had been trying to keep a particularly duplicitous pale elf in front of her at all times. So that she'd be able to keep an eye on him. Hoping he'd give himself away eventually, but she gave up on the notion a while ago. It's almost as if he'd had the same idea, because he'd always managed to casually manoeuvre himself somewhere behind her instead. She was trying not to be paranoid about it and abandoned the covert dance.

She decided to chat to Wyll to distract herself from overthinking. She tried to pry as much information from him without the conversation becoming like an interrogation. He was more than willing to update her on what they knew of this area so far. He described their initial plans of asking the druids for assistance with their mutual parasite infestation problem. They were advised to seek out the High Druid, Halsin - who had not returned after setting out to find some 'artefact'.

Gale had become distracted with some herbs, Nyx and Wyll passed him by. Wyll elaborated on the initial goblin attack on the grove and the dire straits of the refugees inside as the druids planned to expel them by way of this 'Ritual of Thorns.' It didn't sound very druid-like to Nyx, to which Wyll agreed and described how they 'acted upon these very same suspicions'.

Apparently, while Tav and Gale were keeping everyone engaged in the Grove's inner sanctum, Wyll and Astarion were going through the Second Druid's things and discovered a covert letter. It alluded to a secret meeting that happened somewhere along the beachfront at the other end of the cliffs. They wanted to investigate further as it might shed some light on the disappearance of the High Druid by searching the area.

Impressive, Nyx had to give them that. All of this new information was also making Astarion less of a candidate for being one of her agents. It's not like one of her agents would be wasting their time with such 'errands'. So that leaves both the 'vampire' and 'fellow runaway' cards on the table.

Him being her agent is not entirely ruled out. But how am I going to determine which one he is?

Gale's statement-question brought Nyx out of her scheming, "I think you bag is broken. Or is it sleeping?"

"Broken? Sleeping?", she asked and looked over her shoulder at Gale. He pointed at her back to Clive. "Oh!", Nyx snorted in understanding started to laugh freely. Gale seemed rather amused that he could be that funny. She continued, "Don't mention the 'broken' part to his face though. He'd rip you a new one, worse than Astarion." Astarion scowled out of the corner of her eye.

Gale agreed, "Yes, that seems rather treacherous. I'd do well to avoid such a spectacle. I've been trying to get his attention, but there's doesn't seem to be anyone there."

"Getting his attention?", Nyx made a puzzled face.

Astarion spoke, "He's been waving at it and pulling faces. All rather moronic if you ask me", he explained and Gale ignored him.

Nyx gave another snort. "Alright, lemme put it his way so we can avoid unnecessary 'spectacles'."

"That would be most fortuitous", Gale smirked.

"Firstly, he's a backpack of holding. Don't call him a bag."

"Noted.", Gale confirmed.

"Secondly, he's not always 'here'.", she gestured in the air.

"What do you mean by that?", Gale frowned.

"He." Nyx paused trying to get the right words, "Possesses, err, no that's not right. Inhabits the backpack like one would a home. The way he explained it was all rather complicated about the flow of magic in the astral plane, or lack thereof, whatever. Doesn't matter, I don't understand it all anyway."

She thought on it a little more, her index finger on her lip. "Essentially, he has several 'homes' across the different worlds that the astral plane can touch. In this one, he's a backpack of holding."

Gale caught on, "So, is he also a backpack of holding in the other's as well?"

"Most of them. I do remember him mentioning being a barrel, once, somewhere.", Nyx said with all seriousness and Wyll chuckled.

"How does he decide when to 'visit' or do you just - I don't know - speak his name and he's back?"

"He does as he likes. Neither do I know when he'll leave here, nor when he'll be back. He doesn't really respond when I call his name."

"So do you just wait until he show's up to get something out of him?", Gale scrunched his face, "Why does that sound awfully wrong in this context?"

Nyx smiled at Gale's remark, "His, um, 'holding' functionality works whether he is here or not."

"And, what does he do in those other worlds?", Gale mulled up at the sky.

"I dunno, ", Nyx shrugged and thought of the most likely scenario. "Insulting people until they cry.", she offered with a shrug and a flourish of her hand.

Gale and Wyll barked with laugher. Astarion pulled a disgusted face.

The group stopped as they approached the bridge that led to the village in question. Tav stopped to eye a dead boar remarking that it looked to be a healthy animal, implying it shouldn't be as stone dead as it were. Uninterested in the boar, Nyx surveyed the area, committing key landmarks to memory.

"Look over there.", Wyll pointed to something at the bottom of the cliff to their left. Nyx and Gale moved to join him. Another mind flayer pod came into view, which had been thrown clear from the Nautiloid. It was propped up against the cliff on the level beneath the bridge not far from the stream itself. There was a large circular scorch mark on the ground around the pod.

Wyll exclaimed and hurriedly looked for a way to reach bottom of the wide gully, "That must have been Karlach's! It reeks of the hells."

Nyx's brows furrowed. "Who's Karlach?", but Wyll had already marched past her, spotting a way to get into the gully by descending from the opposite side of the bridge.

Gale summarized, "A tiefling agent of devils.", and added when he noticed her confused expression, "He has contract to fulfil by capturing her."

"Ah", Nyx said, still not quite sure what exactly was happening. She and Gale followed Wyll towards the stream, the rest of the party at their heels. Whatever discussion there was about the boar had been forgotten.

Nyx reached the bottom of the bridge and admired its arch, spreading across the stream. Wyll continued to march onwards on a footpath underneath the bridge to reach the pod on the other side. The scent of soot and smoke filled Nyx's nose. Suddenly she was back on the Nautiloid, a roaring tornado of flames threatening to engulf her. She blinked the unpleasant memory away and decided to stay put where she was.

Shadowheart also held back and paused just in front of her. The two of them were joined by a sauntering Astarion. They watched as Tav, Lae'zel, Wyll and Gale went to inspect the pod. Nyx turned her attention to the stream, its waters splashing against rocks then they darkened under the bridge. She spotted something in the gloom, something was lodged in the rocks, obscured by the shadows of the arch. She squinted; it was a coffin. It stood upright, jutting out from the rocks, lid torn off by the hinges.

How odd, Nyx frowned and remembered a certain pale elf standing not too far from her.

Ooh, I wonder if I could test Clive's vampire theory. Maybe I should ask?

She was imagining the conversation in her head, "So Astarion, loose something?", while she hooked a thumb at the coffin.

She smiled to herself and snickered mentally at her own joke. She amused herself by subsequently imagining his potential reaction. She made a chocking sound at the escalating hilarity in her head to prevent her laugh from manifesting in the real world. Astarion and Shadowheart turned their heads towards her.

Astarion asked lazily, "Something the matter, my dear?"

"No, nothing.", she answered far too quickly, laughter shining in her eyes, failing at hiding her grin.

He regarded her for another moment, glanced at her neck and hastily looked away.

Nyx narrowed her eyes at him, Interesting.

She was resisting the urge to ask him about the coffin when she met Shadowheart's eyes, who was watching her with mild amusement. Nyx decided against it.

The hunting party returned, backtracking Karlach's trail that led over the stream towards the opposite bank. All of them proceeded to cross the stream at Wyll's beckoning. Some crossed more gracefully that others, much to Nyx's amusement. They waited for Wyll and Lae'zel to pick up Karlach's trail again, but froze when they heard a faint whine.

Lae'zel pointed with her chin, "Sounds like it is coming from the trees over there.", drawing her great sword.

The rest of them followed Lae'zel's example and Tav gestured that they spread out in a more circular formation towards the sound. There were nods of confirmation and they cautiously made their way into the shadows. They crept closer, keeping each other in view.

"Chk!", came a disapproving rasp from Lae'zel at the front. "It’s only an animal.", she stated and stowed her weapon, disappointed.

Wyll elaborated, "It's a dog", voice inquisitive. Tav moved ahead to investigate.

Tav gestured for everyone to hold back as she approached the dog. He stood over a body on the ground and from the way he reacted to Tav approaching; he looked to be guarding it. Tav asked the dog whether that was his owner, it growled back. After some standoff, the dog seemed to yield and sniffed at Tav's proffered hand. Tav told the dog that its owner was dead, and that he could join them once he's ready. Tav returned to the group.

Shadowheart asked without her usual snark, "Another recruit?"

Astarion replied with his usual distaste, "Another stray you mean. A literal one at that."

Tav looked between them and announced, "I would worry about him out here all alone. I hope he makes peace with the death of his owner quickly, and hopefully we'll see him again soon." Shadowheart seemed pleased and Tav added. "He's name is Scratch."

Wyll raised his eyebrows at Tav, "You can actually speak to animals then?"

Tav shook her head in the negative, "No, I saw his name on his collar. But still, I hope he understood."

Lae'zel and Wyll searched for more tracks, but found none and backtracked to the stream. Tav glanced back to Scratch and joined the rest.

The two trackers continued their search as the rest of them loitered about for a few moments. They found the trail anew and continued up the embankment to the bridge once more. For all practical purposes, the group had crossed the bridge and found themselves a stone's throw away from their original destination. The shambling wall of the village towering before them.

Wyll gestured to Tav, "Looks like the trail leads into the village.", and she nodded in response.

Gale remarked looking back towards the bridge, "Are those more bodies? Poor saps. Looks like the goblins got them."

Wyll observed and moved towards the bridge proper, "Not before taking down a few with them."

They inspected and searched the bodies for anything useful. After pocketing a handful of supplies, they made their way back to the entrance of the village.

Nyx squinted. Moonhaven, the plague read. Everyone was looking up at the towering walls.

Lae'zel declared, "Ambush.", and the rest hummed in agreement.

Tav said, "I don't like it either. I'm not keen on setting foot in there without knowing what's waiting inside."

Nyx surveyed the walls on each side and spotted a tree not too far from the towering wall. The top of the tree could prove a vantage point inside the village. She reached into her backpack and retrieved a pair of gloves. Pulling on the gloves, she started to make her way to said tree mapping out a route to the top in her head.

Shadowheart's incredulous comment came from behind, "You're planning on climbing that?"

Nyx was aware that an average climber would likely not be able to. Nyx briefly looked over her shoulder at Shadowheart and smirked. The others were also watching. Nyx double checked that her throwing knives and hunting knife were securely held in place. Two sets of three throwing knives strapped to her outer thighs, a set on each side. Check. A hunting knife horizontally nestled in the small of her back. Check.

 --- --- ---

Tav watched with interest as Nyx shook out her limbs. There was a brief distortion around her feet and Nyx jumped from the ground onto the lowest hanging limb, which was quite high up all things being equal. Her feet barely made contact with the limb before another blur carried Nyx to the next branch. Tav's mouth was slightly ajar while Nyx traversed the rest of the tree limbs with a combination of graceful moves. She could make out her form deftly moving around either side of the tree trunk above, keeping out of view by peeking out from behind the trunk to inspect the village below.

Nyx made her way down in another series of jumps and swings. She landed softly on the ground below with one final blur buffering her legs so that she barely had to bend her knees before she approached them. Nyx was pulling off her gloves and stowing them in her backpack. Tav half expected her to have a mightily pleased expression on her face after showing off like that, but Nyx's wheels were turning instead.

Gale mumbled, "Fascinating. I wonder what else her magic allows her to do?" He continued, "Definitely not psionic though.", as to waylay any further suspicions with his expertise in that regard.

--- --- ---

While gesturing to the relative locations of the village, Nyx explained where she saw several goblin sentries on rooftops. She mentioned that another handful were gathered in the plaza and admitted that there may be more that were out of view. 

Shadowheart queried Tav "You think they might be part of this, 'Absolute' group that the goblin prisoner mentioned back at the grove?"

"Probably." Tav nodded.

Nyx frowned. "Absolute?"

Shadowheart explained that they encountered a captured goblin; imprisoned after the initial attack on the grove. It spoke of a 'new all-powerful Absolute' goddess. Nyx rolled her eyes, she cared little for the so-called 'gods' and their vain attempts at self-importance by recruiting gullible people to their causes. Those same people were only to be used as cannon-fodder for whatever 'righteous' cause the gods thought up next, which mostly ended in senseless death and destruction. Especially, when the gods thought it justice to pit their own followers against another gods’.

Nyx regarded them and suggested, "Let's assume that they are hostile and plan accordingly. Fortune favours the prepared."

Tav and Shadowheart nodded in agreement and with the rest of the group, they discussed a strategy.

Tav asked Nyx, "Can you scale the walls?"

Nyx gave the walls a brief once over, "No, not enough purchase."

"What about over?"

Nyx laughed, "I can't jump that high."

"Any good with a bow?"

Nyx grinned at her, "If breakfast was any proof."

Tav nodded and Nyx pulled a scary looking black longbow from her pack. Followed by propping up the quiver on her back, not removing it wholly from the backpack, but enough so that it just peeked out of the pack.

Shadowheart observed, "Convenient."

After some more discussions, Tav explained how they are to split into two teams. "Myself, Shadowheart, Lae'zel, Gale and Wyll will be the ground team. We'll announce ourselves and see what extra info we might get from them concerning the Absolute or Halsin. If things go belly up then we'll take them head on." She faced each of them in turn, "Nyx and Astarion, you'll be team rooftop. Once we're inside, find a way to make it to good vantage points and -", Tav gestured with her fingers as though she were shooting arrows and finished with, "Make it rain."

Nyx eyed Astarion and said to Tav, "Good hunting then."

Tav, at the head of the ground team, stood at the entrance of Moonhaven. She declared, "We know you're in there. We've come to talk.", and proceeded to walk into the village.

A scratchy voice belonging to a goblin sharp-eye remarked, "Oh, the tall-porks are out for a walksies with their long shanks? What do you want?" It stood in a window on the top floor of the building at the entrance to Moonhaven.

Nyx surveyed the rooftops, as the conversation continued, and she spotted a few disinterested sentries. Astarion caught her eye and signalled to her using thieves’ cant.

Most. Kills. Wins.

She blinked at him both in surprise and confusion. She's a bit rusty with thieves’ cant, but pieced together her memories of its hand signals.

She signalled back. Not. A. Game.

Something dark passed behind his eyes and he gave her a wicked grin. Is. To. Me.

She watched as he disappeared into the shadows to the left of the group.

Yikes, she thought at his casual approach to murder, not much unlike Lae'zel's.

She stood there for a few more heartbeats and discretely made her way to the shadows of the building on the right-hand side. She traversed the crumbling building and slid onto the roof. She could spot two goblins on her roof alone, three more on Astarion's and a handful in the plaza further away.

She shimmied up to the chimney's shadow and glanced at the ground team below. She couldn't hear what was being said, but by the looks of the tension in Lae'zel's face, it probably wasn't going well. One could read Lae'zel like a book. The goblins must have taken notice too and become suspicious. One of the goblins called out, "Oi! Where're your other two maties then?"

Before Tav could finish asking about 'what other two maties'; a swoosh from an arrow and the ring of Lae'zel's great sword sounded the start of battle.

Nyx had an arrow nocked and a target already in her sight. He stood to her left and she shot him down before he could even register what was happening. He toppled off the roof. The clamour of battle was coming from behind her and she turned to shoot another on the opposite end from her hiding place. She wrapped a small bit of her magic around the arrow, driving it forward. The goblin flew back with the force of the impact, and dove backwards over the roof edge. She turned around to face the battle below.

Lae'zel took point, pushing the advance down the street, cutting down goblins who Gale and Wyll either set on fire or Eldrich blasted, respectively. Lae'zel was a right menace, felling goblins on her own as well. Tav was singing and pot-shotting goblins who appeared in windows and holes from the top floors. Shadowheart bludgeoned any remaining goblins who landed and hadn't died by Tav's bolts or the subsequent fall. Nyx spotted Astarion sprinting toward another goblin on his roof, daggers flashing, leaving two others in his wake. The goblins splayed in the pools of their own blood.

Nyx moved to keep up with the ground team and helped clear the way forward. As she sprinted along the roof, a goblin Booyagh rounded one of the buildings ahead. It chanted, magic gathering when it lifted its staff in the air and let off a fire ball towards the ground team.

Nyx shouted, "Incoming!"

Lae'zel and Wyll successfully dove out of the way. Gale wasn't fast enough to dodge and took the fireball directly onto his mage armour. It flung him back over Tav and Shadowheart. He landed somewhere behind Nyx in the street below.

Nyx let off another one of her force arrows, adding more magic too it - carrying it past all the other goblins and straight for the Booyagh. The arrow met the goblin mage between the eyes, its head rocked back. It sagged to the floor then Gale yelp behind her.

She turned and sparks were flying off Gale's shield while a goblin brawler pummelled it repeatedly with a crude spiked club. The shield wasn't going to last much longer as the brawler intended on mincing Gale where he lay. There wasn't enough time to nock another arrow. With her free hand, Nyx drew the three throwing knives on her right side in one motion using her magic. They hovered in the air for a split second, and she sent them flying with an outstretched hand. The knives impaled the goblin in several different places on its back. None lethal though.

The time it took for the goblin to recover, Nyx had taken better aim and sent her remaining knives after the others. All three found their mark in the back of the goblin's neck. It gurgled and sank forward. Gale yelped again when his shield snapped out of existence and the dying goblin threatened to fall on top of him. Nyx flitted from the roof and landed next to Gale while he rolled out of the goblin's way. Nyx extended a hand towards Gale and helped him up.

He said, "Much appreciated", taking her hand.

Suddenly the tadpole in her head squirmed and she saw the village from another angle. It was Astarion's viewpoint, and he was staring down at a bellowing ogre. It came barging through the broken walls from another building next to the plaza. The vision was over in a flash, and she saw the same bewildered expression on Gale. With haste, Nyx retrieved her throwing knives with two swift movements. One to pull them from the goblin and another to stow them away while Gale retrieved his staff. They broke into a sprint to join the others. The ogre barrelled across the plaza in front of them from left to right.

Nyx entered the plaza where Lae'zel and Wyll harassing the ogre up close to her right. Tav's blazing hair ducked behind a well not too far behind them, shooting at it with her hand-crossbows while she sang. Shadowheart gliding between Lae'zel and Wyll, managing their injuries and buffs.

Another bellow drew Nyx's attention to the left. A second ogre had come out of the same building as the previous one, hurdling rocks onto the roof where it had Astarion pinned down behind a chimney. Mortar and pieces of bricks flinging off the chimney wall with each head-sized rock making contact.

The others had the first ogre under control as it swayed on its feet. She turned to the second intent on making a pin cushion out of the ogre using her arrows, drawing its attention away from Astarion. Gale joined her with shots of fire and flashes of lightning. Nyx was making a wide arc around the creature, nearing the building from whence they came. Nyx could hear Lae'zel and Wyll coming up behind her. Together they were driving it away from Tav and Shadowheart, down some stairs.

Nyx caught movement out of the corner of her eye and a pair of large hands reached out from the oversized darkened doorway - belonging to the same building with a seemingly endless supply of ogres. She dove out of the way, but not quickly enough. A hand seized her leg. She yelped as she was bodily hurled into the air. Then she went tumbling through the air.

Again!, she instinctively balled up, clutching onto her longbow and wrapped herself with her magic.

She made contact with something and Shadowheart cried out. Whatever it was broke some of her spinning momentum. She uncurled trying to re-orientate mid-air. The same leg that got grabbed by the ogre, buckled on landing. Pain shot through her body and she flailed, but managed to keep upright. Shadowheart was sprawled on the floor where the third ogre had thrown Nyx into her. She glared at it, Abyss take you!

The second ogre was being felled on the stairs by Wyll and Lae'zel far behind the third. Gale and Astarion were pelleting the third with more arrows and magic. One of Astarion's arrows pierced an eye and the ogre bellowed out in pain. It started to swing its club in wide arcs, hitting the buildings, rotten barrels and broken carts that littered the street. It sent brick, wood and other debris whirring at them from all directions. No one would be able to get near it like this. As it turned itself away from Astarion's rooftop towards her, Nyx decided to follow Astarion's example.

The ogres' clubbed arm swung at anything in reach, while its other hand was still shielding its injured face. The ogre's remaining good eye locked with hers across the plaza and it bellowed in rage. It apparently took issue with her aiming another arrow at its face, and it started to bare down on her. It had some ground to cover before it could reach her, but it gave large gaping steps and would reach her sooner rather than later. She needed it to lower its hand from its face for a clear shot.

Nyx could feel Tav's familiar magic song wrapping around her feet, up her legs and down her arms as Nyx stared down the charging ogre. She held her breath, waiting. One heartbeat. The ogre's running gait shook the ground. Another heartbeat. It lifted its hand from its face to clutch its club with both hands. Nyx released her breath, and her arrow flew - reinforced by both her and Tav's magic. The arrow stuck true into the ogre's beady eye, going straight through its skull. It dropped its club and swayed on its feet. Gale and Astarion restarted their ranged assault anew while Lae'zel and Wyll caught up with the dying ogre. Nyx didn't watch as they tore it down, but instead turned to Shadowheart.

She extended her hand to Shadowheart, who was on her back. Shadowheart simply shook her head.

Suit yourself, Nyx withdrew her hand. "You alright? Sounded like I collided with your pretty hard back there.", Nyx asked concerned, nonetheless.

"I'm fine. Deflected most of the impact with my shield.", she said while climbing to her feet and brushing off her hands. "You?", she gestured to Nyx's favoured leg.

"Nothing I can't heal myself, thanks.", Nyx replied genuinely, adding a smile for good measure.

"Oh, so I take it that it was you, who attempted to heal yourself at the crash site too?", Shadowheart motioned to turn. Nyx heard her add, "I wondered whose sloppy work that was."

Nyx chocked as she walked away, Wow.

Tav sidled up next to her, "You good?"

Nyx nodded. Tav returned the gesture and moved towards the others.

Tav said over her shoulder not waiting for a reply, "Great shot by the way."

Nyx grinned at Tav's back and turned her attention to her leg. She grimaced. She closed her eyes concentrating, and pulled on the little healing ability she had. Afterwards she tested the leg.

See, good as new, she remarked to Shadowheart in her head. Speaking of which, she heard Shadowheart's voice when she addressed a bloodied Lae'zel. "Either I heal you or you bleed out. Your choice, but I won't mind the latter."

Double wow. No love-lost there, Nyx watched a disgruntled Lae'zel begrudgingly agree to being healed by Shadowheart.

---

Tav was assessing the situation and organized the group accordingly. Astarion strolled over to Nyx from across the plaza. She groaned inwardly when he signalled to her. How. Many.

She decided to play dumb. How. Many. What.

He rolled his eyes. Kills.

Did. Not. Count.

As he made it within hearing range, he smirked, "Humour me. Do try to remember, darling."

Strange sense of humour you have. But sure, whatever. She pressed her lips together while recalling. Two goblins on the roof, the one that tried to mince Gale, and the Booyagh.

"Four.", she concluded.

He smirked again and started to walk away. He showed her his fisted hand behind his back, unfurling his fingers one-by-one to show five. Nyx rolled her eyes, of course he'll have one more than she did. She decided that she's not playing his game again.

Nyx walked over to the others; bloody goblin corpses strewn everywhere. Tav was taking stock and seemed happy with the outcome. Injuries are overall minor, all things considered, but they did use up a good deal of healing and potions. She instructed them to look for more after everyone had a break.

Gale eyed Nyx and made his way to stand by her.

"I have been meaning to ask you about your magic.", he said crossing his arms with his one hand stroking his beard. "If you don't mind", he added when he seemed to remember himself.

She could almost see the rest of the group's ears perk up. She was more than willing to answer his questions, but she may not answer them fully.

"Ask away."

"Marvelous.", he was very pleased to her agreeing. He paused for a moment formulating the questions. "So, it seems either telepathic or force based in nature. Where did you learn it?"

"I've always had it. I never went to any school of magic, if that's what you're asking."

"I see, and what of your parents? Did they have it too?"

"No, not that I recall.", Nyx didn't want to discuss her parents.

"So, neither inherited nor taught. Then who taught you how to use it?"

"I taught myself how to use it out of necessity.", she's not too fond of this line of questioning.

"How so?"

"A life-or-death type of situation as a child.", she was unwilling to elaborate.

He paused again, probably picking up on her purposeful vagueness. She could see that the answers were less than satisfactory to him, whatever he was trying to work out from it.

He continued, "How does it work?" Now that she can talk about at length, but he'll need to be more specific.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Like, if it where telepathic, I'd assume you'd be able to manipulate anything."

"Ah. No, I can't manipulate living creatures, such as plants, animals, or people.", she paused briefly. That's not entirely true., she thought on it some more.

She continued with a footnote, "Except, myself. For some reason I can apply my magic to my own person with little effort. I can also manipulate inanimate things. Like you saw with my knives."

She ended by absently patting her knives on her one thigh. Gale's eyes shone with interest while he stroked his beard, most satisfied with the level of detail she was providing.

He remarked casually, "And a huge chunk of metal so I heard."

Nyx eyed the others, who succinctly avoided eye contact, Bunch of gossips.

She looked back at Gale. "Smaller objects are easier. The lighter and more aerodynamic, the better. Large objects drain me too quickly. It's unsustainable in the long run. It keeps my reserves depleted. If that makes sense."

Gale nodded sagely, "Indeed it does. And yet you could hurl this huge chunk of metal at a mind flayer while being grievously wounded at the same time."

And that sounded like an accusation of some sort, Nyx wasn't going to be goaded. She shrugged. "I was practically at death's door and decided that I should at least bring one of those bastards along with me. I would likely have died there if it weren't for Tav and Shadowheart."

Nyx was fully aware of the dire situation she was in, although she probably would have managed not dying like she always had. It usually involved dumb luck more than anything else. Similar to the dumb luck of them stumbling on her at the crash site. It didn't seem like it was the answer he expected though.

Tav interrupted before Gale could ask any more questions. She volunteered the uninjured and able to search for supplies, while Shadowheart, Lae'zel and Wyll continued to rest. Nyx was relieved to be rescued from Gale's scrutiny. They did a quick search of the village, returning to the plaza with anything valuable.

As Nyx made her way back, Lae'zel and Wyll returned with newfound energy from their quick Karlach tracking project and reported back to Tav. Tav was scrunching up her face at the 'map' again as the rest of the stragglers made their way back. After they redistributed their bounty and everyone was mostly restocked, Tav turned to them all and said, "We need to decide where to go next."

Footnote

Thieves' cant hand signals: A set of secret signs and symbols used to convey short, simple messages used mainly by rogues.