Time passed, and without anything to provide indication of such, Aranwen lost track of it. But just because she lost track of it didn't make her complacent. She kept the cell she was in about as tidy as she could manage, kept herself in as good of a condition as she could manage. Her eyes always distant as she followed the training that had been drilled into her for decades, seeing a forest in her mind's eye that she wasn't sure she would see again. Even without a steel blade, she went through the motions in practise, and she exercised as much as she dared. With merely a trickle of whatever sustenance was provided them, she knew she had to be especially wary of overexerting herself. But as she kept sharp her mind, she likewise she knew not to allow her body to fail.

No harm.

But that didn't mean they had to keep them alive. They didn't need to put the effort in for torture if they let the darkness corrode at them.

So, that's the game they're playing, Aranwen had thought to herself, Have to keep my heart's blade sharp... have to keep going.

But the darkness did hold within it things Aranwen did not want to see. Over and over and over again, a replay of her choices that had led them here. Why hadn't she drawn her blade on Garn when he broke formation and walked past her to the rear? Why was she so sure of the path that failed them? Why had she been so naive?

Aranwen was so focused on the rhythm, the pattern that she had set for herself, that she was starting to lose herself in the past. The sudden flashes of burning orange light staggered her, causing her to blink rapidly.

"Burn, fiends! By Therassor, you'll leave or burn!" Gib was shouting, "Begone! Fetch your masters!"

Moving from the spot she had been exercising to the door, Aranwen saw what Gib had seen. The ghouls lurking, hungering for death... and whose cell they were standing by.

"No. Ch'dau? Ch'dau!" Aranwen called, to no answer.

Clenching one hand white, she held the other to her eyes, shielding them from the light Gib was wielding. If she had been more aware of the present... well, what could she have done? The unspoken question burned in her heart, and her mind raced.

"If they come and are amenable, they may ask a price in exchange for his life," Aranwen observed to the others.

Will this be an opportunity to take advantage of? Aranwen thought, Or a situation for them to take advantage of us?

She dearly hoped the former.

I believe I'll have a post ready when I get home 

Might not change much but it'll be there anyway  

.. At Kithran's logic - Morgana knew Aranwen's name, therefore Aranwen knows about Morgana. 

If that predicate was true, Kithran would know about Morgana because she also knew Kithran's name  

Of course, Kithran's truly annoyed because she didn't get to buy overpriced perfume

Maybe next time...

After the fact, with the knowledge that she was a doll, the pushyness becomes so much more sinister, doesn't it?

Also glad to hear you are feeling better,  Eol

I haven't looked at this particular ingredient list so I don't know how well this may work, but whenever I make my own chili, I usually just freeze a bunch of it for later Split up the batch into smaller containers so I can just thaw out a portion at a time.

Sunday Gamma was relieved of their shift by Monday Alpha just prior to the time of the transmission  

Dunno about 2e but I was just thinking along the lines of

Initial effect: drowsiness

Secondary effect: sleep

Failing to resist initially just means it got in your system, get drowsiness. Have to fail again after a minute to actually fall asleep. At least if going by that. I left it vague so it was more up to you two how to handle the effects on your characters  

The shopkeeper doll is not a combat one. She won't pursue. 

In a way what she did was to get Kithran, Ch'dau and Mosic out of the store so she could lock it up and start repairing the combat puppet. If they happened to be susceptible and fall quickly to the powder's effects, that was more a bonus than the intent.

She steps outside of the apothecary briefly, about a minute after letting the group leave uncontested, to flip the sign to closed and going back inside the apothecary, presumably locking the door afterwards  

It read as though he was, in my mind. That definitely flavoured the reaction post. I'll need to let my head clear and then make a new one

That's not good

Do the cages have bars across the top of them, or is it just that each cell has floor to ceiling bars? 

Ch'dau isn't naked, just fuzzy

Hmm... Just had the thought that if Aranwen got more strips of cloth, she could stuff them into her right bracer and throw the bracer at Ch'dau to supply a few makeshift bandages.

Just a thought anyhow

... About 180 years is probably long enough for a person to have a sense of practicality being much more important over modesty, especially in this kind of situation

Aranwen will wear her armour again after checking that the makeshift bandages seem to be working. It'll chafe, but will still offer some level of protection at least. 

"Everyone, find the cleanest parts of your clothing. Rend it. Create bandages and clean out your wounds. Use your own spit for there will be nothing cleaner in these cells. We must do the best that we can to fortify ourselves from infection and gangrene if we are to patiently wait for our opening."

"Good call, I'd grown too accustomed to the care given by you and Cedric to think about it," Aranwen replied. 

Out of her armour she made something of a makeshift table to place her things. Unabashedly, whether due to the dark or desperation, she tore the whole of her undershirt into makeshift bandages. Treating her own injuries as prescribed brought with it a sense of nostalgia to the Sylvari. 

"If only I were closer to see to yours as well, Ch'dau" she murmured to herself, "... History does like to repeat, it seems."

Once she had done what she could for herself, Aranwen looked back over to Gib, feeling more reassured about her decision.

"Thank you, Gib, but I don't say such things lightly - I would not doubt them to make us suffer. In such suffering, it is natural to lash out. But in this place, lashing out at me is perhaps the best option - if they believe our unity lost, that's something else we may be able to hold in our favour," Aranwen explained. 

...

Kithran: *being sneaky sneak and risk taker*

Saina: Hiiiii, are you being robber?

Kithran: Ack! Where did you come from?!

Saina: I want to play too, who is being cop?

Kithran: Uhh, that annoying guy I can't shake

Saina: Leave it to me *waits and trips him and blows raspberry before running away to be a distraction*

* * *

Present Kithran: ... Wait... That girl seemed familiar. Nah, couldn't be.

Good thing I am some level of proficient with Shadowrun 

Just have to deep dive, apply marks to access the device, and then retrieve the file before the fire can cause critical structural damage...  

(No but really if you don't post it I will bug you until you do because I want to seeeeee )

I'll have Saina show up out of nowhere and bother Kithran in the past if I need to

Generally speaking, Morgana's puppets and dolls go on a scale of combat to non combat. There are exceptions, but those are  unique.

For the humanoid scale, it goes like this:

On the fully combative side, there's the puppets that Aranwen has seen - proportions are outside that expected of humanoid, generally longer and thinner arms, magically reinforced in strength and durability, and its movements are incredibly shifty and jerky; no effort is made to conceal its nature, aside wearing a cloak or other loose clothing about it. Let's call these the alpha puppets.

Midway between combat and noncombat is the puppet Ch'dau and Kithran just fought - proportions match any of the races, depending on the specific puppet design. More likely to be overlooked in a crowd because the shape is right, and it generally moves in the right way, but it is still ball-jointed and can move in unusual ways. Sometimes she reinforces the deception with an illusion, to better disguise this kind of puppet in a crowd, ie disguise self type effect, but usually she just has them with cloaks or other loose clothing. Let's call these the beta puppets.

Finally, there's the noncombative dolls - they blend in extremely easily with people, aside the aforementioned traits - dull/distant eyes, always with a gemstone at their forehead, typically disguised by jewelry, and colder temperature than normal. Morgana often hides their eyes in some way. These are her crystal dolls. She does not have many of them.

Morgana does have and play with smaller felt dolls, usually for her own amusement.

By all accounts, the shopkeeper does seem human. Short sleeves show visible skin, no visible ball joints, smells human, and seems to be breathing. She wears an apron as well as part of her outfit, her face obscured by a white veil.

Mosic commented noticing the sparkle of presumably jewelry underneath the veil, but definitely not a black mask.

This kind is the most lifelike of Morgana's dolls. They generally have no particular combat advantages, but are particularly effective at subterfuge. The most identifying trait for them is the jeweled circlet they wear, eyes that seem oddly dull or distant and unfocused, and being colder to the touch than might be expected. 

Psh, that's what higher con is for

Is what I would say to be silly  will make a post for Aranwen following Gib's advice later

I just realized I didn't actually write the shopkeeper's presence in that post; made a minor edit showing her posture afterwards 

I am really liking Asovil, and you've really made the entire science department feel alive.

Makes me want to take notes in the event I were to cover science in a future game

I did take a few liberties with the beginning of that interrogation, but Morgana was stalling and I figured someone would be like 'why don't you talk already?'

Felt like Kithran would be the most likely one to do so given she asked the questions in the first place

I hope that was okay

The puppet fell away from Ch'dau once Kithran's dagger had severed the threads that held its leg to its torso, causing the ball joint there to fall apart. The threads it was weaving faded into the aether, and the puppet collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

Tch. Almost.

The puppet lay lifeless, unmoving, as the three loomed over it.

"It appears I've won, actually. You do not seem like one of the slitch's goons. Who are you? How do you know who we are?" Kithran asked it.

Morgana did not answer. Just about the only sound in the apothecary now was the sound of their own breathing, and a soft grinding sound, almost like the puppet was breathing as well. The silence was almost deafening in its completeness.

"I asked you a question!" Kithran poked the wood of the puppet with a dagger tip.

I'm in no state to answer. I'm a bit in pieces, as you can see. Morgana gave a hollow chuckle.

"You sure talk just fine."

But as everyone was breathing, the air almost began to feel heavier. Quite suddenly, a bowl landed in the middle of the group, breaking on top of the wooden torso of the puppet, scattering powder into the air. A glance to the source of the bowl revealed the shopkeeper with a hand over her lips in surprise, as if to say 'did I do that?'. The powder dispersed into the air from the impact, directly in the faces of all three intent on interrogating the puppet.

I am Morgana, and you are my prey.

The miasma of airborne sleeping powder slowly spread outward from the point of impact. In the enclosed space of the apothecary, it would not be long before it saturated the breathable air inside.

Despite the fact that the shopkeeper would also be exposing herself to the same powder, she remained standing behind the counter, seemingly unaffected as she watched the group around the broken puppet. 

It was only after I had posted Morgana's grapple of Ch'dau that I realized that actually was a good opportunity for the shopkeeper to do a thing. I could add that in now...

Especially now that Kithran is in range...

Eol had a post that he was working on though so I will wait and see for the moment

Looks like level 5 with how there's fewer third levels than the others

You get a spell slot you get a spell slot everyone gets a spell slot

Okay not quite like that but 5e really reduced the frustration of preparing the wrong spells

Also infinite cantrips

So annoying to run out of magic when you're only magic without that...