013.1 "Brightwater, the city of gold."

[Corwin]

[20:00] <Kotono> Before you, Brightwater is the city of gold. Waukeen's realm often glistens with gold of all types, luminent as a heaven. Myriad shops cater to everything, joined at times by street vendors and little nooks. You see creatures of all types - humans and elves, dwarves and smaller things, humanoids and beyond. Outsiders of many stripes and types are about, as well as stranger things yet. But one
[20:00] <Kotono> drives them is all one thing - money. Having taken care of shopping, Jaela and Afina are free for the moment. OOC: Go ahead and declare/discuss your intentions.
[20:02] * Afina actually looks faintly worn out from the experience, if somewhat relieved that they've finally acquired the currency needed for Aurora's most vital repairs. "Is this what cities on Lifasa were like?" she asks Jaela, fluttering beside her. "It's so exhaustingly busy!"
[20:03] <Jaela> "Yeah, actually," Jaela agrees, after mulling over it for a few moments. "Kinda sorta. Only the reall ancient capitals, so maybe a couple over the whole world?"
[20:06] <Afina> "It feels like it could just swallow you up completely," Afina breathes in deeply, "But at the same time it's intoxicating, with so much all crammed in so close together, everyone rushing and hurrying to their business. It's a completely different kind of liveliness from the forest."
[20:08] <Kotono> As you talk a pair of humans brush by in a hurry, barely a look at you. They're followed by a green, scaly, stomping humanoid, dressed in rich finery. To your other side a trio of dwarves stomp by, animatedly talking about shale and sandstone and granite prices.
[20:09] <Jaela> "It's... nice. All the people, and none of them with a care in the world. Well, I guess they have their worries or whatever, but it can't be too horrible if they have time to shop and have fun." She tilts her head in consideration, before voicing, "You know what places like this always got? Rumors. Wanna check out a bar together? Maybe devils are stirring up some bullshit across the planes again, and we could hear about it. We can't be just leaving all the targets to Tannin."
[20:10] <Afina> "Yes, lets," Afina nods, if nothing else it'll be a change from the slightly off food and drink of Aurora. "If not that then maybe something else that can help us. Lead on?"
[20:14] * Jaela takes a moment to spot any drinking establishment that seems frequented by the more exotic types, far clearer as planar travelers than they are petitioners or people on vacation. And if it's one that seems passed on by others who barely notice its existence, even better!
[20:16] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[20:16] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 4." [1d100=4]
[20:17] <Kotono> Tucked away is a small little tavern or some such. It has stairs leading down into it, a cellar of some sort. It simply has a sign of grapes and a tankard to advertise it, almost impossible to spot amid the splendor of everything else.
[20:17] <Jaela> "Let's give that one a try?" Jaela suggests, making her way down the stairs. "My luck's shit, though, so maybe it's a demon hideout or somesuch."
[20:18] <Afina> "We could have fun with that, too."
[20:19] * Jaela grins back at Afina over her shoulder before she opens the door and heads inside.
[20:21] <Kotono> Within you find a long bar, stretching out farther than you can see. The bar stools are about half full, at least the ones you can see are. They're inhabited by various creatures, drinking up. The wall behind the bar is full of wine bottle niches, barrels and kegs and shelves full of bottles. Oddly, there doesn't seem to be a barkeep at all.
[20:22] <Jaela> "Yo, barkeep!" Jaela calls in an attempt to summon one, slapping her hand on the counter upon approach. "What've you got?"
[20:23] <Afina> Not that different from the one on the astral where she met Jaela, so Afina feels comfortable enough in landing on the bar next to where Jaela slaps it, sitting down and looking around.
[20:29] <Kotono> He appears before you. He is an older gentleman, whip thin and with graying, full hair. His face is wrinkled, yet his ears have a slight point that suggests elven blood. His eyes are a glossy metallic gray, a rag in hand. He starts to clean the bar before the two, "Everything. What would you like?"
[20:30] <Jaela> "Surprise me. Something I never drank before that won't kill me or creep me out."
[20:31] <Kotono> "Very well, ma'am," he answers, then to Afina, "Yourself?"
[20:33] <Afina> "Milk and honey," Afina asks, eager to have some of the real stuff after being teased by Aurora's selection.
[20:36] <Kotono> Two glasses come. One is a tall white porcelin thing, presented to Afina. The other is a slender glass, full at the bottom and thin at the top. Within is a jiggling green-red liquid, occasionally sending green sparks up and into the air.
[20:36] <Jaela> "Cheers!" Jaela gives her sparkly drink a try as soon as it arrives.
[20:37] <Afina> "Thank you," Afina nods, picking up her glass in both hands and raising it to her lips, drinking it straight down. Licking her lips afterwards, she sets the glass down and rubs her slim belly in contentment. "How's yours?"
[20:38] <Kotono> It tastes like lime-flavored booze, with a distinctly spicy-lime aftertaste. The barkeep watches the two drink before saying anything else, "You two extra planars?" Meanwhile Afina's tastes like milk and honey together - it blends together smoothly, flawlessly.
[20:39] <Jaela> "Limey," Jaela muses, before nodding at the barkeep. "Sure thing. You get a lot of others like us?"
[20:40] <Afina> "We come from a... ah, prime, world," Afina replies, stumbling a bit over the terminology. It's always Lifasa to her, after all. "Lifasa."
[20:46] <Kotono> "Ah, the Mortal Coil," He nods along with that, polishing a shot glass with his rag. "Heard of it. Shame about what happened." After that he sets the glass down onto the bar, "Yeah, get all your type."
[20:47] <Jaela> "Shame, that's one way of putting it." Jaela snors. "We're fighting them, or trying to. So they won't get any footholds elsewhere."
[20:48] <Afina> "We'll take our world back," the pixie swears quietly, looking down, "Or else make the devils who took it into an example for the rest."
[20:48] <Kotono> "G'luck," The barkeep says, "Met a big devil once or twice, ain't fancy you all, ladies." With an obvious shiver, "Arrogant son of a bitch as I ever met."
[20:50] <Afina> "Not a customer here, I hope?" Afina asks, glancing around and fondly recalling the last time she met devils in a tavern.
[20:52] <Kotono> "Yeah, actually. Diplomatic immunity," With a frown as he busies himself cleaning the bar again, "Big high ranker, called himself Martinet. Said he had business with the Golden Lady. I don't know about that, but I do know he had a hell of an escort and all the celestials managed to tolerate him and respect his so called diplomatic immunity."
[20:53] <Jaela> Cursing, Jaela downs the rest of her drink in one gulp.
[20:54] <Afina> "That's the way it works, isn't it?" Afina muses sadly. "The great wheel keeps its own balance, and worlds get crushed under its tracks."
[20:56] <Jaela> "Always with the bullshitty agreements," Jaela mutters. "What's the fucking point if they only protect the devils?"
[20:56] <Kotono> "Poetic," The barkeep nods back to Afina, "Known a few who enspouse that philosphy. For every victory for good, a triumph for evil comes into the balance." He puts his rag down after, "Another round?"
[20:59] <Afina> "Go on," Afina gestures for another. "I hear people say the heavens and hell are eternal and always have been, but that's not the way we fey remember it. Few recall the old ways, though, and nostalgia doesn't help restore what's been lost."
[20:59] * Jaela taps the bar with her knuckles. "I'll give the honey and milk thing a try."
[21:01] <Kotono> Drinks are refilled, "Can't answer that one, I'm afraid," The barkeep says, "Though, I do know at least a couple of layers of Hell have trade. According to more than a few merchants I've served, they have goods just like anyone else. The Golden Lady is the Goddess of trade." After that and a hum, "Don't hear that said much. Heard a whole lot of stories about what's been and what will be, but
[21:01] <Kotono> the fey one isn't one that gets a lot of rumor. 'course, I never had a surplus of fey to serve."
[21:07] <Afina> "We keep to ourselves..." Afina seems about to stop there, going for her glass, but then decides to go for it, shrugging as she reaches her decision. "There are many worlds, all born as seeds from the great World Tree. In the beginning the fey were the first people to grow and nurture these worlds, followed by the dragons, the dwarves, the elves, the humans, all the other peoples of the mortal
[21:07] <Afina> realm. Everyone belonged to the cycle - they would die and their souls would go to the World Tree to be reborn again in another world. But the younger races dreamed, and their dreams held power - dreams of hate and avarice, dreams of love and hope, dreams of duty and justice, dreams of freedom and exploration. All of those dreams grew to such power as to become the heavens and hells, and their
[21:07] <Afina> lure was such to draw souls into themselves, away from the cycle." Looking down now at the bar and closing her eyes, "Now fey are the only ones who still reincarnate through the cycle, while the souls stolen away by dreams given form have grown powerful enough to destroy and enslave the fruits of the World Tree."
[21:10] * Jaela scratches at her cheek. "That's a cooler Creation story than what I've got."
[21:10] <Afina> Jaela's irreverence makes Afina smile a little bit, looking up even if she does feel lingering sadness over how far things have fallen from their beginning. "May as well share?" she offers.
[21:12] <Kotono> "It's a fine creation story," The barkeep tops off Jaela and Afina's glasses as he listens, "Usually I hear a couple with local variations, or a single-world one that's specific to a Prime. You all have heard the one about Shar, Selune, Mystra and all of that?"
[21:13] <Jaela> "Yeah. Plenty creepy, that one," Jaela agrees. "As for the one I've got, it's pretty much about how the gods made Creation and then devils stole a part of it. Doesn't really explain the demons but they're freakish like that."
[21:14] * Afina shakes her head, not having heard any other stories of how things came to be other than a general sense that Gods claim credit for it according to most people. She knows the truth, even if educating others serves nothing.
[21:22] <Kotono> "Mm. There are hundreds of variations and wrinkles to this story, but at the root of it is this: At the begining there was nothingness. The One Above All, Ao, made Creation to fill this void. From this act of creation Selune and Shar were born. Selune was said to represent this Creation, while Shar represented the nothingness displaced by it. The two came to wage war on one another, and in this
[21:22] <Kotono> conflict other deities were born. Which ones are a matter of considerable argument. I've heard that Selune made Chauntea; another says that the essences of Shar and Selune mixed in battle, creating Mystra. Another claims that Lathander willed himself into existance to counter the dark of Shar and give light to Selune. Others yet claim that the Elf-Father sired the elves, and in turn they made
[21:22] <Kotono> humans, who believed so much that the Gods were created from them. Ask any devil and they'll tell you Asmodeus lied and tricked his way into things, and even had a hand in making Creation. Got a thousand others like that."
[21:25] * Jaela nods as the story is told. "From what I heard, elves and fey were cousins of something. Not sure how Corellon did it, but sounds like he did."
[21:25] <Kotono> "Probably," A nod, "Heard one person who claimed elves were the children of humans and fey, at least where he came from." With a chuckle as he looks to your glasses, "That started quite the brawl. Another round?"
[21:26] <Afina> Afina abruptly looks up at that last part. "Asmodeus? If he did a trick when Lifasa was young it might explain how the devils could suddenly appear everywhere all over the world that day."
[21:27] <Kotono> The barkeep stops his motions and gives Afina a look, "Sounds like a devil. This is just the stories I've heard, don't got a clue if it's true."
[21:28] <Jaela> "Got any more recent stories, by chance?" Jaela asks, opting to be direct. "We're always happy to hear about devils doing something they shouldn't be."
[21:29] <Kotono> "How recent?" The barkeep asks right back. "Served a lot of customers in my day."
[21:30] <Jaela> "Recent enough we can do something about that."
[21:49] <Kotono> "Let's see. First of all, I've been hearing that agents and moguls of Dispater have been making a play to corner the iron market. Happens every few millenia." Hands behind his back now as he speaks, "It makes the price of iron rise as they try and buy up sources, but it's never works. That one mean anything to you two?"
[21:50] <Jaela> "How diabolical," Jaela deadpans.
[21:51] <Afina> Afina shakes her head, "Never heard of that."
[21:56] <Kotono> "Drives the iron traders up the wall, though it usually makes them money since the price rises. They never do like the attempt at putting them out of business," With a dry note in his voice as he goes on, "Heard there's some war booty from Avernus on sale at Blueglow Emporium and Magistry. Someone got lucky in the Blood War and made a clean getaway with loot, or so the story goes. Heard he made
[21:56] <Kotono> a tidy sum selling it, too. That one mean anything to you two?"
[21:57] * Jaela is the one to shake her head, now. "Not really, no."
[21:58] <Afina> "We haven't heard much since we just got here," Afina adds to excuse their ignorance. It all seems fairly trivial to her, anyway.
[21:59] <Kotono> "Right." After that he goes on again, "Heard another world like yours," He goes on from that, "Ever heard of a realm called Benfal? Heard a big devil got his claws into it."
[22:01] * Jaela grimaces. "Same deal? Survivor scattered everywhere?"
[22:03] <Kotono> "I don't know. Had a patron get drunk - really drunk. He started talking about it." Thoughtfully tapping a finger on the bar, "The straight of it, close as I heard, is that some devil muckety-muck named Semyaza took over. Got the impression he was doing something about it, but he didn't get into details before he passed out."
[22:03] * Jaela glances at Afina. "What do you think? Maybe these guys are organizing too?"
[22:04] <Afina> "At least it's not Bel?" Afina scowls. "We should definitely find where they're organising, see if we can work together."
[22:05] <Kotono> "Careful with that. There's three things I'd never cross - Shar, Demogorgon and devils." Lowering his voice a little, "Keep your heads up and be careful. Heard too many stories of devils winning, or mkaing a victory hollow."
[22:06] <Jaela> "Yeah, that's fine. Lots of people do that," Jaela says, returning her eyes to the barkeep. "Any idea where they could be organizing? Or who?"
[22:06] <Afina> "They've already conquered our world," the fairy gives him an incredulous look, wondering what he thinks could be worse.
[22:10] <Kotono> "I'm afraid not. It could be any of the Heavens Above or a more secluded location." After a few moments of pause, "Heard Helm's been throwing his weight around the lower planes, had his forces take a run in one of the 'loths planes a few decades ago. Could be one of the two upstats I've heard about, hear they're active. Could always be Lathander, stories and rumor says he's always up to something.
[22:10] <Kotono> Mmmm, can't count out ol' Sharess. Lady Bast has claws, though most forget she does. Could be the angels or eladrin or archons, too. Just guessing here."
[22:11] <Afina> "So yes, could be anyone," Afina cheerfully summarises from that, taking a drink of her refreshed beverage. "We can ask around our own sources."
[22:11] * Jaela slumps. "No kidding. Man, the troops will go nuts before we actually find any devils to beat up."
[22:12] <Kotono> "If you want to fight devils, go to any of the lower planes that have the Blood War," The barkeep says, "If you just want to kill some, you can always go into that."
[22:13] <Afina> "We're not lacking for targets," Afina neatly agrees.
[22:13] <Jaela> "Yeah, but that shit's pointless," Jaela responds with a grimace. "They're killing each other just fine down there. It's where they're uppity with their invasions that we have to kick them in the head."
[22:15] <Afina> "Still good practice. And we might find staging grounds or clues to their weaknesses and plans, any number of things," the pixie points out reasonably.
[22:18] <Kotono> "Yeah," The barkeep adds, "Another round?"
[22:19] <Afina> "No, think we've lingered enough," Afina pushes herself up to her feet, trusting Jaela to settle their tab since she's big enough to easily carry their vast sums of currency.
[22:19] <Jaela> "Sounds about right," Jaela agrees with Afina. "How much do we owe you?"
[22:20] <Kotono> "Five gold," He answers right back.