Safire and Diamond

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Ronkk is seen in the streets of Daring Heights, looking mildly panicked, dragging what appears to be a slumped female elf draped over his shoulder. He sees a face he recognises in the perturbed, and slowly parting hustle and bustle as he goes...
"Oi, Kalla! S'at you!?"

"Oh, hello Ronkk". Calla looks the goliath up and down, noting his grim cargo. "Ignoring the corpse for a second, I must say that it's genuinely impressive to hear a mispronunciation on a name that a) is, at its most approachable, in Espruar, and b) I've already shortened significantly from my full first name, expressly to aid pronunciation. Yes, I know, the original's in Seldruin. But practically no-one up here reads it, so what's a girl to do. That aside..." Calla narrows her eyes. "Can I help?"

Ronkk looks blankly and confused by everything Calla says, but then snaps back to the moment at the question. "Maybe? We went adventuring, see. A group of us. And this one 'ere..." He shakes Safire a little before continuing, "she got like... made dead. I fink. I'm not actually certain she is dead. But a big spider thing punched a hole in her chest, and I think I can see like a bit of heart or sumfin'... so probably dead. Anyway, you're all magic an' shit... can you bring her back?"

"Ah, I see". Regrettably though, Calla could not help Ronkk. "Sadly I'm a mere student of the clerical arts, not what one would consider a full practitioner. I am a devotee but I'm more interested in the facility of divine magic than a life of faith, largely because I am, as you so accurately state 'all magic and shit'."

Calla executes a little bow, as if being recognised for some kind of achievement. "Regardless: I do know someone who probably can, in fact, 'bring her back'. How long's she been gone?"

"Fucks sake. She's actually pretty heavy. Been draggin' her round for a day since it happened... who's sat then?"

"Mmm, I'd take her off your hands but my home isn't exactly reliable for the dead," Calla reflects.
"But Mendal. A priest of Moradin, I think, although I've never seen him go even close to any temple. He's generally happy to help though, especially if you have the requisite diamonds. Which... I'm assuming you don't?"

"Mendal eh? Can't say I've heard of 'im... but yeah, I'm a bit short of... a diamond. I do have gold though, Saffire 'ere 'ad 350 on her person, and I don't mind footin' the rest. Reckon this 'Mendal' will go for it?"

Calla smiles a thin smile and produces an obnoxiously large diamond from thin air.
"He likely will with this in hand," she nods upwards at Ronkk, towering above her. "I'll take 500 gold for the diamond, which is its worth, escort you to Mendal, and make introductions as needed. For this service I'll not leverage a further favour, merely remind you of your current debt, and scale it appropriately. I'll not make any charge against your companion, although it is your prerogative to issue her as a factor, should she consent once awake".

Calla takes a breath as if to add further, but reconsiders mid-thought. "These terms are extremely favourable, I take it they're agreeable?"

"A freebie!?" Ronkk rather optimistically assumes.

"That's not what I said, but low interest. And not even compound".

"...more 'favours?'" Ronkk looks genuinely concerned.

"The same as you already have, plus a little bit."

".............wot?"

Calla vanishes the diamond, puts out her hands about two feet apart, and widens the gap by two to three inches.

Ronkk... stares... blankly.

Calla's eyes narrow again. "I feel like I should remind you that you've literally been inside my skull, so I have a pretty good sense of what you can and cannot comprehend, that Elves don't die of old age, and that I adore the transmission of knowledge. If I have to teach you basic numeracy to conclude a deal, not only will I, I'll enjoy doing it - no matter how long it takes". Calla’s suggestion was to be taken as something of a threat for Ronkk, but something that she herself would not mind. "I suggest you accept the terms as they stand and we get to Mendal. Time waits for no-one, and especially not the dead".

"...... so we gonna meet this Mendal then?"

"Excellent. Yes. Lets."

A House in the Dwarven Quarter

Not long afterwards, Calla knocks neatly on the gate of the residence that Mendal shares with Archie and Kavel.

It was a short trip from where Ronkk met Calla to Mendal’s home, which was fortunate for Ronkk, who is wheezing a little. Though a goliath, Ronkk’s weight carrying capacity is surprisingly less impressive than the average adventuring goliath.

Inside the house, Mendal is walking past the entrance as he hears the knock. Normally the dwarf insists on Archie or Kavel answering the door, which he achieves by simply making himself available to do so. This time however, both friends spotted him near the door when they all heard the knock. Mendal resigns himself to answering the door.

Unlatching the door and opening it, Mendal looks up to see his friend Calla, and then looks up higher still, to see his friend Ronkk who is carrying the body of an elven woman, and looking rather tired from doing so. The body has another distinctive characteristic to it. The body appears dead to Mendal’s eyes.

"Hello you two!" Mendal says greeting his friends. He then points at the taller of the pair, saying, "and why are you carrying around what looks like a corpse, Ronkk?" Turning his head back into the house, Mendal yells, "Kavel! Come meet Ronkk and give him a hand - I think it's a corpse!" Mendal then adds one more request, "Archie! Tea for five, maybe six please!"

Mendal turns back to the guests at the door, "you better come in then!"

Ronkk is the first to respond, and some confusion follows. "Hello Kendell! I ain't really got time to explain, but basically Kalla says there's like, a REALLY powerful cleric who lives 'ere somewhere called Mendal, and we need him to save my friend 'ere who might be a bit dead... perhaps. So wivout wantin' to seem rude. Would you mind making way for now, and I'll tell you all 'bout it later?"

Mendal stares up contemptuously at the goliath, and then shares a look with Calla before returning his gaze back to Ronkk. In an attempt to reassure his goliath friend, Mendal says "... yeah this Mendal's great for sure - great cleric and craftsman too. But don't worry, your old pal..." Mendal resigns himself to saying it, "Kendell has you covered. Come on! Let Kavel take your friend in, let's go to the courtyard."

“Hello Mendal, lovely to see you again. I have the diamond, if it’s needed,” Calla interjects, aware of the spell component’s requirement, assuming correctly that Mendal will need to cast Raise Dead.

Ronkk, however, looks confused. "Where is 'e then, this Mendal? WAIT! ...IS HE INVISIBLE!?”

Calla points at Mendal, whilst looking at Ronkk, blankly.

Ronkk looks down at Mendal for a while doubting himself.

Calla nods.

"M-mmmm.... Mendal!?" Ronkk says reaching a conclusion.

Calla continues to nod.

Ronkk looks at Mendal annoyed. "YOU BEEN LETTING ME CALL YOU KENDELL THIS WHOLE TIME!?"

A greater contemptuous look than before covers Mendal's face as he stares up at his tall friend, who is, to Mendal's great disbelief, unjustly indignant about a problem the plonker, which is to say, Ronkk, himself is entirely to blame for! Mendal considers saying a number of things before settling on, "before saying this has been my bloody fault, you ought to check if you've been calling our eladrin friend, you know, Yin-yangis, a.k.a Yinmaris, by his actual name. Now!"

Mendal turns around and begins walking towards the courtyard. "Follow me, please. And Ronkk, let Kavel here carry your friend's corpse, he'll take good care of her."

The other, taller and more muscular goliath, who is now at the door, gestures politely for Ronkk to pass the body to him, as a walking Mendal now several feet away shouts, "Calla, Ronkk; this is Kavel. Kavel; Calla, Ronkk!"

"O'right" Ronkk agrees.

"Good to meet you finally. I've heard a lot of good things," Calla says, to Kavel in response to Mendal’s quick introductions.

"Can we chat and stuff la'er, can we mend Saffire first?” Ronkk says with urgency in his voice. “She's been all not alive for a good bit now!"

"Of course comrade." Kavel replies to Ronkk in agreement, as he gently takes Safire's body from Ronkk and carries her with ease. To Kavel, a mighty strength enthusiast first and adventurer second, the elven body of Safire weighs no more than a kitten.

As they walk to the courtyard Kavel pays a compliment back to Calla, "It is good to meet you too. I have heard you are very talented at many magical things and you made your own armour. Mendal says it's really good - this is a big compliment from him."

As they reach the courtyard, Archie has a set of tea cups and saucers ready on a table, and a kettle he is boiling with the Prestidigitation spell. He has used the spell to additionally clean the stone floor in the centre of the courtyard where Mendal is standing.

"Right here Kavel!" Mendal orders, pointing at the ground for Kavel to place Safire's body where Archie has cleaned.
As Kavel walks forward, Archie uses his telekinesis to place a couple of cushions from the outdoor chairs on the floor for Safire's head.

"I'll have that diamond, please, Calla," Mendal says, extending his hand.

Ronkk watches Kavel carry Saffire with ease. "Yep! Good to see another strong'un round these parts. Ya know, I carried her around the city for a day just before bringing her here!"
Ronkk says, trying to subtly flex as he speaks.

Kavel does as instructed and gently lowers Safire’s body to the ground and cradling her head onto the cushions provided. Kavel then goes to stand next to Ronkk. The more muscular goliath is perplexed. Ronkk if anything appears emaciated by Kavel's standards. But, Ronkk nevertheless cuts an intimidating presence, and Kavel doesn't doubt what the fellow goliath told him. "You must have great strength endurance, comrade. A corpse is literally dead weight. Carrying one around for a day is not for the weak. Good job. You are a good comrade as well."

“Yep! All mighty and stuff me…” Ronkk boasts. “Anyway. What's next Kende... Mendal?"

Calla passes the diamond to Mendal, and he gives Ronkk his answer, "you all stand back, and I, with the divine power that Moradin has blessed me with; get to work."

A Diamond for a Safire

Ronkk is watching now with immense concentration. Quite unlike those who know him are used to seeing. He is watching Mendal's movements and casting very closely.

Mendal takes a good look at the diamond and appraises its value. He approves. It could even be worth more than 500 gold by his jewellery crafting expert eyes. "Seems a shame, but that's what the Raise Dead spell requires," he comments flippantly.

"That's what I got it for,” says Calla, “I was expecting a different target, but I'll find another."

Mendal begins casting the spell. Mendal holds the diamond in both hands and squeezes it as if he's trying to crush an apple in his palms. "Lord Moradin - you are used to me using my divine talents to forge. Today I need your divine blessing to help me produce one of the greatest holy fucking miracles your godly might can enable me to do!"

As Mendal squeezed the diamond, radiant light shines from the diamond and his hands.
The diamond sets alight with radiant flame, glowing and giving off radiant heat.
Mendal begins chanting a dwarven prayer as the diamond erupts in his hands in a controlled radiant explosion causing his hands to produce a constant stream of radiant sparks, and the diamond vanishes in the process.
With both hands emitting tremendous radiant sparks, Mendal kneels down to Safire's body, and places one hand hovering over her chest, and the other hand hovering over her belly.

Mendal comes to the end of his prayer. He closes his eyes and breathes in deep.

"Did you do it?" Ronkk says, expectantly.

Mendal opens his eyes and gives a side on glare at Ronkk, "hold your bloody tongue! No!"

Mendal looks down at Safire and announces, "Right! Someone's getting impatient and is bloody annoying. So! Safire! Come back and RISE ANEW!"

With Mendal's pronouncement, he transfers the radiant sparks from his hands into Safire's body covering her in radiant sparks that light healing radiant energy around her entire body. Colour comes back to Safire's body and the wound in her chest closes up leaving barely a visible mark of the fatal injury that once was. And then the radiant healing flames vanish.

A flicker in Safire's eyelids can be seen.

Safire’s eyes then open a little as she breathes in deeply gasping for breath.

Ronkk, requiring clarification asks, "wha' bou' now?"

"Of course she's fucking alive now!" Mendal responds at the end of his tether, and having finished the spell.

Annoyance gives way for triumph though in the dwarven cleric. "I did it!" Mendal says, pumping his fists in the air triumphantly. "Praise be to Moradin! And praise be to bloody me as well!"

Back in the Game

Ronkk turns to Calla. "Do me a favour. Let Saffire keep 100gold for herself. Just take 250 from her, and I'll settle the rest. Err... which would be... err... what 'sit?

"250," Calla replied

Ronkk gives Calla 260 gold, as well as Saffire's 350 in her pouch, and then turns to Mendal. "Honestly... MENdal... that was actually pretty bloody good tha'. You are a powerful cleric. I've never seen that done before."

"Few people do, and even fewer who can afford it,” Calla notes. “It's a genuine miracle."

Taking a cup of tea that Archie poured for him, Mendal remembers, "now she's alive, but really weak. Give her time. She'll be really bloody confused when she's gotten over the surprise of waking up and out of breath. I should heal her up a bit actually. Give her a better restart and all."
Mendal pauses to sip some tea and changes his mind about something. "Bugger this Archie, can you get me some of my dwarven brandy instead?"

"Just a sec." Archie complies, and as he walks off to fetch the brandy, smiles and nods at his wizard colleague Calla who he hadn't addressed until then.

As Safire lays on the floor, and consciousness slowly returns, she hears the new and old voices around her before suddenly jolting up - literally.

As the power of the storms returns to her very being, a static fills the air around her and lightning can been seen at her fingertips.

And she screams.

Lurching back and reaching her hand to the now closed wound.

"Wakey wakey?... eggs and bacey." Safire hears from a familiar voice she associates with a goliath who, from her perspective, was fighting side by side with her very recently.

Frantically looking around, Safire's eyes settle on Ronkk who had just spoken. "Ronkk! The spiders... the spiders... what happened? Where are we?"

"Spiders? dead. Spider Lady? dead. Big Baddy Spider? ...dead. Spider Ronkk? Fucking alive as shit! Yeah!"

To those who weren’t part of this fight, there is confusion. But, they gathered that a fight did take place, and of course; a fatal one at that.

Safire looks confused for a second before breaking out an uneasy smile and laughs slightly to herself. She throws herself down on the pillows kindly laid out for her and covers her face with her hands.

"That thing really fucked me up didn't it? I can't catch a bilge-sucking break!"

"Yup. It was pretty traumatic to be honest,” Ronkk respinded. “I dunno what exactly ya remember, but it like punched one of its really spikey, jagged legs like righ' through ya chest, like. It was well gross. Then like it got a bit caught when it was pullin' it back out, probably on some o' ya innards like, and then you like fell over, and stopped moving and stuff. Pretty scaring stuff that.”

“Anyways…” Ronkk announces. “Got ta go. See ya around!"

Ronkk begins to walk out the room back towards the house entrance, waving cheerfully as he goes.

"Oh... oh well... thank you!" Safire says sitting back up again. "Enjoy the house. Guess I've lost my stake in it... damn..."

Ronkk pauses.

"We di'n get the house neither, some legal stuff bout spider lady not bin dead... well earlier."

"What!? That's ridiculous! I die and you guys don't even get the mansion!? You should sue! Or take it anyway! Commandeer that shit!"

"It was a bit of a kicker. If you see Sterling around, I wun' mention it to him. He weren't impressed."

Then, turning to face Mendal, "'Ere Mendal,” Ronkk spoke, with some discomfort as he was getting used to Mendal’s actual name, “any chance you'd be willing to show me the basics of how you did that spell sum time?"

Glass of brandy now in hand, and standing side to side with Archie, Mendal almost spits out some brandy hearing Ronkk suggest he wants to learn the Raise Dead spell. Instead of responding to Ronkk, Mendal asks Archie in a surprisingly quiet voice for Mendal, "what do you reckon big brain? Surely there's more benefit to him knowing that spell than not, right?"

"I should think so," the elderly human wizard responds, "it's not like he could cause trouble by raising people long dead."

"Alright then Ronkk!" Mendal shouts back to the goliath who has one foot in the courtyard and one foot outside. "Much to my consternation, I'll help you with that spell."

Calla turns to the newly arisen Safire and hands over a coin pouch. “If it helps lessen the blow your oversized friend did tell me to give you this. Even if he is right there and could have done it himself.”

"I was plannin' on leavin' a'right? She got up quicker than I was expectin!" Ronkk replied from his half in half out position

“Annnd here’s your change”. A platinum piece floats over to Ronkk.

"Change? But I paid wot you asked." Ronkk says, still very much confused about the entire transaction.

Safire accepts the coin pouch from Calla and seems to notice her for the first time and points. "Hey, you're that neurotic book girl from that weird library!"

Calla’s mouth tightens into a line. “Those are all facts, yes”.

The coin in front of Ronkk, gripped in a spectral hand, pushes itself into his chest and Calla then addresses Ronkk, “if you want to avoid an impromptu lesson in mathematics, you should probably just trust me.”

Looking back at a now sitting Safire, Mendal is reminded that his post Raise Dead care is incomplete. "Hold on Safire. I'm Mendal, I'm your cleric for today. Take it easy, and let me just add some more divine healing into you."

With the final word of the sentence 'you' being spoken, Mendal casts the Healing Word spell, and bolsters Safire's constitution.

Mendal then takes a swig of brandy. "There you go. You're getting better, but don't be taking on any deadly big spiders for at least a week! And if you do go off on an adventure; be less active, if you can."

“I’ll help you out of here and get you somewhere you can rest up. Don’t worry, the big lug has born the debt,” Calla says reassuring Safire about the cost of the spell performed on her.

Mendal approaches Safire. "Before you do go, and feel welcomed to have a cup of tea and a biscuit - but just have a look your formerly fatal wound on your chest."

The centre of Safire’s chest where the former wound was, is barely concealed. This is because the spider's leg pierced through Safire's clothing as it struck her. With the clothing opened, the adventurers could see where the wound was. There is barely any scarring or evidence of a life-ending wound. However, there is a thumb-sized mark, almost like a tattoo, but with the appearance of a branding. The mark is that of the symbol of Moradin; an anvil with a flame on top.

"Just a little reminder of things; is that mark." Mendal says beginning his clarification of the mark. "A reminder of two things! One; you were dead! And two; it was Moradin's holy power that brought you back to live."

Ronkk, who has long been ready to leave, begins anew his walk out of the house, and yells back to Mendal as he does,
"ok! Well, see you tomorrow, Mr. Teacher!"

Ronkk leaves. Mendal urgently wants to make Ronkk wait, but Safire addresses him before he can do so.

"Mendal." Safire repeats."Pleased to meet you."

Safire offers her hand for a shake, before realising its still cackling with static and lightning. She withdraws it, shakes it off, and offers her hand again. Only a little bit of static remains.
"Thank you. And thanks to your god... Moradin... was it? Sorry, I'm more familiar with sea deities."

“Moradin, that’s right! And you’re welcome,” Mendal says, accepting Safire’s hand. “When you’re ready you can leave. You and Calla can stay for some tea in the meantime. A bite to eat even.”

“I’m actually going to catch up with Archie for a moment or two. Have a quick chat about contingencies,” Calla says as she walks over to the elderly human. “Safire, come get me when you’re ready.”

"Oh yes, splendid," Archie responds delighted to hear Calla has plans to learn the Contingency spell.

Kavel, content he is no longer required, says his goodbyes to the guests and his friends, and walks through a magical door in the courtyard that doesn’t appear to connect to a room that could exist on this plane.

The courtyard’s occupants watch the muscular Goliath leave.

"Oh someone have a word with Ronkk when you next see him," Mendal says, addressing the remaining companions. "It's good he's finally saying my name corrently, but NOW he thinks he can control my schedule and then just leave!"

Mendal is quite used to having full control over his schedule, to the point that he tries to avoid temple duties when it suits him. "Who does Ronkk think he is telling me what’s on my schedule? Does he think he’s Head Cleric of a temple?"

Safire eyes up the brandy in Mendal's hand in acceptance of the tea she was offered. She shoots a "Will do" to Calla before heading over to the table in response to her suggestion to come get her when she’s ready to leave.

“I think I’m not doing any more favours this year. And certainly no more good deeds!” Mendal announces to everyone, and in particular to Archie. “I mean come on! Raising someone back from the dead has got to be a year’s worth of good deeds, right?”

As Calla vanishes with Archie she shoots Mendal a smile, a knowing look, a rare moment of acknowledgement that Dwarven labour and Elven favours are maybe closer than either would say aloud.


Question:
Title reference? Probably needs to be explained in the write-up somewhere. What is it?