Dark Rumblings

[Anastasia]

"Icerime Cathedral. Built atop the highest mountain in their known world, it looms above the clouds and is forever coated in sheets of ice." An image of it appears, a vast cathedral rimed with ice and balancing on a far too narrow peak, yet it does not fall. It is tall and classical, even the gargoyles frozen over completely.

As you watch, you see them. Vermin of all kinds, crawling across the icy cathedral, horrid and ugly things, swarming. "The center of the cathedral has been profaned, as the yugoloth who lead them was too strong. Vermin infest the heart of the cathedral and spread throughout, adapting to the cold. Additionally, the wound has weakened the dimensional boundaries there, allowing fiends to infest and take over the cathedral utterly, along with what forces the yugoloths left behind."

A blink, the image of a face less thing of hate and malice. You feel its hate, you feel it's nothingness. Emptiness. Void. A thing wrapped in robes and with a longsword. "Allema, the unique fiend who did this. A yugoloth by choice, it has converted his dark cabal to serve Shar. His presence caused those wounds and his actions ensured mortals will not be able to reach the cathedral anytime soon, risking the weakened boundaries becoming a greater planar rift. The only passage for all but the most exceptional mortals there was a spell circle, one which was thoroughly destroyed on both sides. Unfortunately, there are few exceptional mortals this generation, as wars and then famine lead to what they call the Great Catastrophe - a roughly 30% loss of all the races there. Those that are focus on rebuilding and holding back any opportunistic foes."

[Ebiris]

"Ah," Alicia says as she digests that. "From your message I'd assumed something rather more subtle. This is a very brazen provocation, isn't it?"

Since she may need support on this one she checks in on how her two proxies are currently doing.

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=97 ]{97}

Ebony is sitting in Aurora's cafeteria, drinking rather deeply of her wine. Here people celebrate and drunkenly sing - lead by Baleruk of all people.

"For they're our heroes!" he sings.

"For they saved us with zero!"

Canderella is nearby, visibly amused and drinking along with Ebony. You catch an image of Prince Westwind, laughing away and joining the chorus.

"Zero clothes but plenty of guts!"

"They kicked those vampires in the nuts!"

"Alicia preserve me," Ebony mutters, cheeks red.

Meanwhile, you check on Marie.

She's in a tavern, working her routine as normal right now. It hasn't been too long, so one can imagine she's doing all the needed setup work for that.

Her singing is far better than Aurora's, fortunately.

[Ebiris]

She should be able to get hold of both of them at little notice, though depending on how fatigued Ebony may be she might still have to sit this out and rest.

I'll do my best to preserve you Ebony, but I may need your assistance on another matter soon. Do you have much left in the way of spells after that battle?

Marie is similarly alerted that she may be required soon but she keeps up her Honey Belle routine for the moment.

[Anastasia]

'I am capable if you need me. Only my dignity is exhausted.' A beat, 'Lives saved or not by truly urgent need, the timing was...unfortunate.'

[Ebiris]

I remember my friend Demedais once had a suit of armour he could summon onto his body with a word. A similar concept for clothes may be worth investigating...

"You mentioned yugoloth that remain. Has the book been spirited elsewhere while forces linger at Icerime to strengthen the spiritual wound on the world?" she asks Mystra.

[Anastasia]

"Correct," Mystra says, "In addition to saving the cathedral, information on where the Warrior's Spelltome has been taken should be able to be found there, one way or another."

[Ebiris]

"Fine Allema, find the tome," Alicia surmises. "Do any faithful yet live in the cathedral, or were there no survivors?"

Meanwhile back on the prime Honey Belle pauses in her act to get a drink, only to come over a bit sickly afterwards. Excusing herself to those who'd been enjoying her company, she departs the tavern in order to return back to the inn where she's staying. Once there she teleports into the desert and then through a gate into Sylica provided by the real Alicia.

As for Ebony, she gets her own marching orders. If you can prepare yourself and leave Aurora now I will open a gate for you. Yourself, Marie, and my avatar are required to quell a yugoloth disturbance on the prime that threatens to escalate into a major planar rift at an inaccessible cathedral of Mystra.

[Anastasia]

"We don't think there are any survivors," Mystra shakes her head, "If that's wrong, save them, but do not expect it to be so."

'I will be ready,' Ebony calls back.

[Ebiris]

"Are there any wards against teleportation surrounding the cathedral, or other defences that the yugoloths might have repurposed?" she asks, thinking of what other useful information she can gather before they commence their attack.

[Anastasia]

"Yes," Mystra says, "Simply a ban against extradimensional travel. There is no ban to flying there, but few mortals can endure the flight and know the location. It is remote, which only adds to its seclusion. The one advantage is that the weakened boundaries is fraying at the teleportation ward, though it will take some time yet to fail unless it is further provoked and taxed."

[Ebiris]

"And we don't really want that, no," Alicia agrees. "How far out does the ban extend?"

[Anastasia]

"Roughly a thousand feet from the cathedral all around, except down, which has supporting wards that block it for nearly a mile. As there is nothing but empty air there, normal teleportation there is impossible."

[Ebiris]

"No problem for a gate at least. Alright then," Alicia rises to her feet. "I'll take my two proxies and see to it. Together the three of us should be more than sufficient against any force they can muster."

[Anastasia]

Any prep then before I work up spoiler blocks?