Soulriders 5.0: Legend of the Unending Games

Word spreads through Aurora like a lightning bolt: Morniel has returned. All of Aurora's commanders and powerful figures gather in the meeting room. It's packed, everyone coming to hear the announcements and Morniel's information and plans.

In one corner stand the ladies of the Graceful Blow. Misalea and Mirima are deep in conversation amid themselves, while Canderella stands nearby with Ebony. Those two aren't talking, but instead waiting. Sitting at the table are Stille and Balyss, a muted discussion of Selunite liturgy passing between them while they wait. Balyss is tense and almost terse, while Stille is smiling and at ease. He waves at people as they enter, occasionally pausing to share a few words with others.

Arrel and The Jarl take up a hunk of space to the side, joined by Tannin. It seems he's returned, hanging back and sharing occasional, lazy barbs with the two. A little past them sits Queen Ilsenine, flanked by Crystal and Lady Skye. Crystal stands at attention, in her armor and with weapon ready. Lady Skye is the opposite, seemingly defenseless and leaning in to listen to Queen Ilsenine's quiet commands.

Vivantha sits alone, face steely and unyielding. Gone is her look of joy, the beauty that could inspire as a muse muted by a slow burning fury. 27 kneels next to her, occasionally being petted by the lillend. A few seats down, Hanna and Mirajane sits next to one another. Priest stands behind them, solemn and waiting for things to begin. Sylvie sits next to them, doing her best to look at anyone but Balyss - who returns it, the two quickly looking away the one time they catch each other's gaze.

As other filter in - Mei going to join Hanna and Priest, Drena to come in and hover near the ceiling, Kascha to sit against Arrel after murmuring something into his ear - the mood is anticipatory, waiting for Morniel to arrive.

Go ahead and intro yourselves, PCs. Note that I may not post for a day or two, depending on how this cold goes. I'm getting this up ahead of time if you want to chat and to give you a chance to set the mood further.

Before anyone asks, the Lathander reinforcements are first on the agenda.

The last time he was in a room with everyone, Moore didn't really think he fit in very well -- the mood was a lot different then, too, wasn't it?

Either way, he will fly in and move to stand slightly behind Crystal and to her side -- not closer to Illsenine. He figures this way will show some solidarity for now. He'll do his best to follow Crystal's example and look expectantly forward, inwardly wondering if he should try any of his new spells after this to get guidance on what's to come.

For now, he'll wait for the others and listen to what's going to be said.

Calleigh flits like a moth, zipping from person to person and doing her best to get everyone to lighten up just a tiny bit. She cheerfully chatters with Tannin a short while, speaking with Dana and Rosa, marveling at Arrel, and staring at 27.

Those able to see his true form see Tryll placidly floating above them, tentacles gently waving as though underwater. His form reacts physically to no one in particular, though he converses telepathically with any who address him directly.

Jaela smiles at Mirima as she walks in the room. She passes next to her family, lingering by Mirajane for a few moments with a murmured greeting and a pat on her shoulder, before settling into the chair by Vivantha's side.

Afina is here as general of Aurora rather than baroness Devilsbane, so she eschews the company of her fellow fey to sit by Ebony and Canderella. She doesn't disturb their silence, merely waiting with an air of predatory anticipation.

Ithea grabs whatever open seat catches her eye as she enters the room, sitting down and giving a small wave to the others present, in particular Stille who's waving at all the others still filtering in.

Iddy's extremely waylaid by work right now, so I'll add Surraruthru so we can get this moving.

Surarruthru enters and takes a place, floating near Kascha for now.

Adrian and Elder Magi Tepen come through the portal, joined by Sage Vul'lath and Morniel. The Master slips in right after them, smoothly taking a position against the wall. Meanwhile they all take a seat, save for Morniel. He looks about, nods and turns to address the assembled. "I return with glad tidings and good news. We know where to hit Lixer to make him hurt. Know that all the seers predict fierce battles, for he knows we are coming." He leans forward, placing his hands on the table as he looks about. His gaze is relentless, "Know that this will be no trifling matter."

A pause, Morniel bowing his head. "The Lord of the Ninth stirs. His son's prestige has been marred and he cannot stand it. Those who study the Pit assure me that it is so and auguries support this. We will face Hell's mailed fist, from legions of common devils, to elites, to the Necrolytes, to Nessians and other threats yet undreamed of. The coming battles can only be described as apocalyptic. Destiny itself opposes us in the guise of Duke of Destiny, while the shadow of Gathgorian and Bel looms over this battle. Even The Lord of the Sixth cannot be discounted, for to succeed where her brother failed would be a great coup for Glasya."

"But we do not fight alone. As I arrived, I found Lathander has sent reinforcements. He has sent squads of astral devas to support us and a leader to command them. They will bolster us at a time where we sorely need it."

"What's the target?" Jaela asks into the pause Morniel leaves for exactly such questions. "Do we know if Lixer will be there in person?"

"Targets, hopefully," Afina says, emphasising the plural. "Attacking on multiple fronts gives him less room to work with. But," and here her voice hangs heavy, "If Taelfagn is to take the field we cannot attack without a counter to his powers of Destiny."

Moore looks over to Afina and nods, but doesn't say anything. He has a feeling Morniel will have something to add about Taelfagn.

"It'll be targets," Adrian confirms, arms crossed as he listens. "We'll have no shortage of battles ahead."

"Good, bring them on!" The Jarl calls over, "I'll send the dead back to sleep." He slams one huge fist into his hand, the slap of it loud as thunder. "This time, they won't get back up."

Morniel holds a hand up, silence returning. He stands and addresses all, "All the information I've seen suggests that Lixer will not. In general, fighting a devil of his stature directly is rare. While he may not have avatars or aspects like the Lords of the Nine, he is noted to have the ability to puppet the creatures he creates. I do not expect him to face Aurora directly when they are on the attack, nor do I expect the Lord of the Ninth to allow him to do so."

A few mutters at this, Mirima's mutter of, "Coward," the loudest.

After clearing his throat to get silence once more, Morniel continues. "I do not deny that, but all of my sources remind me that even facing the Duke of Destiny directly was surprising. For Hell's true nobility to face combat, save for those on the frontlines of the Blood War, is extremely rare."

"It should be, and I doubt he'll try it again right away. 21 destroyed his chains as easily as anything else evil." Sylvie speaks up, "If we do face him directly, I'm confident he can't do anything about 21, no matter how he tugs on fate."

"Precisely. In the event we do face him again, 21 will be our trump card for now." Morniel turns to Afina at this, "All I consulted with did not consider it likely the Duke of Destiny to do so again, moreso after seeing 21's light first hand. So while it is a concern, it is not our most pressing one. Now-" Morniel pauses as another figure comes on through the portal.

She's rather short, barely over five feet tall. She has an unruly head of bright red hair, unreal with its sheer intensity. She wears full plate armor colored white and decorated with golden suns on the breastplate and joints. "Hi, sorry I'm late. I'm Moonlight," From her non pointed ears and generally human appearance, she doesn't look like an elf, despite the name. As if sensing that, "No no, my parents just thought elves were neat. I have a brother that got named Oak Tree. Yeah." She claps her hands and smiles, "Considering who I serve, that made my name really ironic. Anyway, Parai had something come up so I'm taking this position instead."

"Ahem," Morniel coughs into his hand, "Please have a seat. Introductions will be after the briefing."

"Welcome to Aurora," Afina says to Moonlight but doesn't make a big to-do about it when they're in the midst of planning. "We'll want Sylvie to be present at wherever the most pivotal battle is just to be safe, but we can leave the first embers for a little while longer in that case. What targets do you have lined up for us?" she asks Morniel.

Moore nods to Moonlight. He has a few questions, but for now he'll wait until the end of the briefing to ask.

"How many of his creations can Lixer puppet?" Jaela asks. "At once, and one after the other? Are there any limitations, Morniel, as far as you've been told?"

Calleigh zips toward the newcomer, flying roughly a foot and a half before jolting to a halt. She hovers a moment in the air, wings motionless and looking thoughtful, before nodding and taking off on her own power at a more sedate pace. The entire event is silent, and Calleigh says nothing. Instead, she hovers over 27's head, sneaking glances at him and Vivantha.

"There are several," Morniel begins, "There is Castle Crumbling on the Negative Energy Plane, as well as Negation on Nessus. We do not believe that attacking Castle Crumbling again will be productive, while Negation is far too secured to assail. That leaves us with these options. First is the Empty Crypt, a fortress hidden in the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Vacuum. Here he deals with the strange entities of that realm and experiments with undead that are so empty they can feel nothing, or so the sages say. But the main purpose seems to be diplomacy with the natives of Vacuum."

"Secondly," He goes on from here after a brief pause to marshal himself, "Is a secluded station on Earth. The details of this are unclear, though it is suspected he mines precious materials there and has an accord with Ogremoch or another powerful entity of Earth to do so with impunity. The name of the station isn't known, though the general location is thanks to the interrogation of captured devils. "

"The third resides in Gehenna's layer of Krangath. There is a city there known as Hopelorn, where a cabal of liches commit unspeakable atrocities. Only the living dead are welcome there and the living are mercilessly exterminated there. But in recent times, it seems Lixer has gained the favor of The Adversary, the new ruler of the Siege Malicious. Interrogated fiends suggest that his intercession has allowed Lixer to establish a research laboratory there, known as Finality. All shudder at what blasphemies may be invented there to further strengthen Lixer and the yugoloths."

"Finally, we have Lethe. We know almost nothing of it, for somehow Lixer has made the details of it anathemic knowledge. What we do know is that it is hidden in the Deep Ethereal and that rumor suggests there...there..." Morniel pauses, a murmured prayer spoken aloud, "Oh Zaphkiel, bringer of light, turn away this darkness."

> roll 1d20+33
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+33 --> [ 1d20=9 ]{42}

"Rumor suggests," Each word is a struggle, but Morniel continues. He begins to glow, a golden-white radiance, his words coming softer but clearer. "That Lixer has diverted a tributary of the River Styx there. To what ends are not known, but it may be part of why Lethe is anathemic knowledge."

Morniel looks about now, beginning to slowly pace. He gestures at the right times, meeting the eyes various people as  he walks. "We have four targets to choose from. Four, the number of death. An ill omen when facing one such as Lixer, but we must ensure it is not our death that the numbers foretell."

Moore rubs his chin and clears his throat to speak up. "I'm not sure I have a lot of say in this, but... logically speaking, he'd expect an attack on this Lethe place the least of all of them, right? I don't know if that helps much, but... I mean, all of those things sound like places we'd want to go..." He trails off, shaking his head.

> roll 1d20+76 (+22 cunning knowledge) Sylvie K:P
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+76 (+22 cunning knowledge) Sylvie K:P --> [ 1d20=6 ]{82}

As people digest that, Sylvie speaks up. "Lethe and Finality are both hard targets. Anything with anathemic knowledge is a hassle, let alone whatever forgetfulness comes from the Styx. We'd have to go hunting and Oghma only knows what troubles we'd find before we found it. As far as Finality goes, Hopelorn is on the fourth layer of Gehenna. That's deep in and right in the seat of the yugoloth's power. It's more the General of Gehenna's backyard than the Oinoloth's, but either way it's bad."

> roll 1d20+35 Kascha K:P
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+35 Kascha K:P --> [ 1d20=11 ]{46}

"Vacuum sounds the easiest. Isn't it just empty?" Kascha says, "But no one really goes to Vacuum on account of that. There's little point."

> roll 1d20+24 Adrian K:P
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+24 Adrian K:P --> [ 1d20=16 ]{40}

"That's why I'd say that one's dangerous as hell, right up there with Lethe," Adrian glances over at Kascha, "What the elementals and natives of Vacuum can really do's a good question. We'd run into surprises there as surely as with that snipe hunt in the Deep Ethereal. I don't like going in that blind. With Earth's little mining operation and Finality, we at least have a good idea of what to expect."

"My worry," The Master speaks up, "Is that Lixer is an enemy now forewarned and roused. He knows retaliations are coming and can prepare. With Lethe, we would hope his ego and defenses would persuade him not to take steps. Were it a yugoloth or a demon, I would say we have a good chance. But devils scheme."

Would all those locations fall under one K:P check?

I did for Sylvie, but in her case it was because her modifier's high enough that a roll's not really needed. Make K:P checks for anywhere you're curious about.

[20:11] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+63 K:P for Empty Crypt (Improvisation and Divine Insight)
[20:11] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d20+63 K:P for Empty Crypt (Improvisation and Divine Insight) --> [ 1d20=7 ]{70}
[20:11] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+63 K:P for the place on Earth (Improvisation again and a second Divine Insight)
[20:11] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d20+63 K:P for the place on Earth (Improvisation again and a second Divine Insight) --> [ 1d20=3 ]{66}

Moore can recall what was already said about the Empty Crypt. He also recalls hearing about empty ghosts, spirits that use their emptiness to siphon the life and soul out of the unwary. Something hideous, only whispered of in passing.

As for Earth, Moore recalls a story of diabolical mining operations there. Some sort of agreement with the dao or Ogremoch - probably Ogremoch. The elementals there leave the devils to mine rich deposits in exchange for aid against the good-leaning forces of Air.

Do the Denizens of Mineral have any dealings with those of Earth? Would he think there might be a way to find out by asking Crystalle?

As Mineral is attached both the Positive Energy Plane and Earth, yes. One could try that.

"If no one has any objections... I'd like to petition Lord Crystalle from Mineral for aid in locating this place." Moore says with a look around to see if anyone immediately looks disapproving of that particular plan. "I think we made a very good impact with them and I think getting rid of the devils in their proverbial backyard would go a long way to furthering our relationship."

Calleigh gnaws on a small hard candy she's pulled from...somewhere, watching the proceedings.

"I like it," Stille replies, "There's also Entemoch and Sunnis, but..." His gaze travels to Ithea, "I daresay we still have business with them, no?"

Balyss hums at that, "I will petition Selune for insight, of course. The dreams of the Deep Ethereal touch on her responsibilities, so perhaps she knows the answer."

Moore nods. "I'm sure Erathaol would be happy to provide us guidance. I can ask him, as well."

"How many attacks do we want to launch?" Jaela voices. "I don't think Aurora is well-suited for travel to Earth, but a strike team could reach it well enough on their own, especially if they have local support. And in the meantime, Aurora could be taking out one of Lixer's outposts on a hostile plane, if we're willing to split our forces." She glances over at Morniel, adding, "Of course a coordinated attack like this may not matter if Lixer can puppet several of his creations simultaneously."

"We just don't know," Morniel says, "I've not heard him controlling many creatures or if he can do it across planes, but precious few survive battles with his puppets."

The Blade of Endings could deal with anathemic secrecy, but even if she still had it the price is too high... dwelling on that for a moment Afina shakes it off and focuses her mind to the task of planning. "I think we should attack the other targets with small strike teams, then leave Lethe for last to assault with Aurora directly." She looks around the others at the table, "Call it vanity if you like, but I'm not willing to risk Aurora without our generals and elites present, and those are exactly who we need to be leading those strike teams. So we go in and hit those other places hard and fast, wipe out the defenders and raze or plunder all Lixer's assets, then regroup for a mass assault on Lethe. Either Lixer will think we don't know about it and pull back his most vital minions there, or he'll expect an attack and place his strongest. Either way it gives us a chance to massively erode his support base and send a clear message even if we don't kill him personally."

"As for the strike teams, I think we can be fairly flexible in regards to the Empty Crypt and his base on Earth, but given the situation on Gehenna we should send our best infiltrators - make it a clean strike straight at Finality without rousing the other natives. Or else we're going to be sat around this table again in a few months deciding how we're going to punish the Adversary after he gets his revenge for us messing up his city."

Adrian nods slightly, "I can support that," he says, "A three fold strike and then a finisher against Lethe at a later time. We do need to leave a reserve force at Aurora, in case Hell tries something while we're away."

"Are you implying they might get wind of it? Misalea murmurs, "Like there is a spy?"

"No." Adrian cracks a smile at her, gesturing, "Just in case they get lucky, or have good oracles or whatever reason may lead to it. No sense wearing good armor and leaving the back exposed."

"Such is only prudent." Morniel declares, "Myself or Gisfal can lead Aurora while the elites see to this plan."

"Yeah, and I can help out," Moonlight calls, "I know we've just met, but I'm good at standing there and dealing with it. Some filthy devil spellcaster cries something and WHAM!" She mimes a punch, "Right to the face!" She giggles after that, "I'm very good that. Smite them in the name of Lathander and leave them rubbing their sore ass when they reappear in Hell."

"Yes." Morniel clears his throat, "Be that as it may, then the next step is to determine what qualities each team needs. Finality will need stealthy warriors who can deal with the undead as well as magic. The Empty Crypt will need people who can survive Vacuum's conditions as well as redundancy in case magic is relied on and those means are dispelled. The ability to strike ghostly creatures is also a premium there. Finally, for Earth, the local conditions alone suggest at least one person able to travel well through Earth's rocks, or someone capable of making unlimited and swift tunnels for travel."

"I'm good for Vacuum, all of that I can do." Adrian says, "As for the rest..."

Assuming no one objects, that means 4 groups to make. Three assault teams and a team to lead whomever stays on Aurora. You don't have to put any  PCs on a particular team, though it does leave the results out of your hands.

"I'll take charge for Gehenna then," Afina says. "This'll probably be a smaller squad than needed anywhere else, but I'll want everyone we've got who's skilled in stealth. That'd be Sylvie, the Master, Tannin, and Surraruthru," she says, looking at each as she names them to make sure they're up for the challenge.

"Vacuum and Earth are probably going to call for magic and melee focused groups respectively. Ithea should probably take charge for Earth - she's familiar with it and 27 can burrow. Take the shredstorms as well, they can serve as excavators in a pinch, and the other golems are all well suited for battle in those conditions. That leaves Jaela as best suited to lead the assault on the Final Crypt. Any thoughts on who you'd want to take?" she asks her fellow generals after volunteering them for their assignments.

"I like this plan," Jaela agrees, nodding curtly at Afina. "Moore's got some useful contacts and could help Ithea with Earth, like he said. That leaves Vacuum to me. I kinda wanted to kill some liches, but if you want a stealth team that's how things are. I agree with your reasons, anyway."

She considers likely candidates for her own strike team, before saying, "It's best to stick with groups that have great teamwork, not just skills. I think our family could handle it with a few volunteers. Candy? Vivantha?" Not dwelling on the specifics right now, Jaela adds, "I do think a person in each group needs to stay in telepathic link, with each other group and with Aurora itself. And a second one to keep each strike team connected between themselves."

Just stating for the record Moore would like to do a Commune and Divination (if needed afterwards) on the Mineral angle.

Duly noted, Moore. We'll cover that after the meeting, probably in that group's thread.

"That can work," Adrian says, looking about and waiting for Ithea or the others to comment.

Basically leaving the floor open for comments right now.

Surraruthru hums to himself in consideration, staring at Kascha.

"... Well... I guess it's technically far harder for Kascha to die without my being around to guard her... I'll go if it's what's needed. I am stealthy, but I'll need time to memorize the correct spells to deal with the undead, though. This will be my first real fight against a force like this, so I'll have to read a bit on them."

Quick note: Due to group sizes, I'll likely be assigning NPCs for PCs to control. Do bear this in mind and note if there's someone you'd prefer to run.

"We can do stealthy! And Tryll can make magic users very unhappy!"

"Alright, you two will be under me then," Afina nods to the smaller fairy-like creature.

I did like the two PCs per team setup but it's good to go with where your skills fit best. I hadn't considered the benefits of incorporeality in stealth and was looking at it from a mirror match vs ghosts perspective/

I liked the nice symmetry myself, but Yuth makes sense. We can always mix and match on the second wave, when Aurora attacks Deep Ethereal. In any case, let's go ahead and add Mei and Mirima to the Vacuum group to bring us up to 8?

Quote from: Anastasia on February 02, 2016, 02:23:09 PM
Quick note: Due to group sizes, I'll likely be assigning NPCs for PCs to control. Do bear this in mind and note if there's someone you'd prefer to run.

If there's anyone relatively simple, I can do it, but I'd rather not have any casters assigned to me. I have enough trouble keeping track of all of my spells as-is.

"We do," Ithea says in reply to Stille's earlier question, and then muses Afina's suggestion. Though a part of her wants to note that she's skilled at stealth also, there really wasn't a need for her in that team, and she'd definitely fit better as part of the Earth team as Afina suggested.

"I'm fine with navigating Earth, and as for team members...well, if we're trying to improve the intel through Mineral, I'll definitely take Moore. I'd like to take Balyss and Dana as well, other than that...Crystal, Mirima and Rosa would probably work well with us?" Ithea muses outloud. "27 isn't an option, he died on Earth once. I can scout myself and I have means to earth glide though. The shredstorms will be useful, so I'll take them too. Baleruk or Stille are probably the only other ones I can think of as potential members. And that's assuming we could even drag Baleruk away from his hoard."

She still wasn't sure on who to take besides Dana, Balyss and Moore.

Crystal, Mirima, Rosa, Baleruk and Stille all had pros and cons, but Baleruk was the one she felt most uncertain on, as he would add a significant amount of firepower to the team, but he wasn't exactly subtle and she didn't want to give the devils even more time to prepare. She hadn't been joking (much) about concern with dragging him from his hoard either. Lastly...she admittedly felt uncomfortable taking a team with both pixie and dragon to deal with a devil outpost again. The parallels in place? Just the thought of it left a terribly bad taste in her mouth and she struggled not to show signs of unsteady nerves. Not here.


"Can the both of you fly?" she asks Mirima and Rosa both, trying to drive her thoughts towards something more useful to the matter. The two were the ones she had the least experience working with, for all that she thought they might work well together. Everyone else she had named as potential members in her team at least she knew had means to do so. "There's a lot of times where the ground is not as steady as you might think, the landscape may change on you at any moment, and sometimes the only way to travel forward is to go down some chasm. It's not absolutely necessary to be able to fly, but it can help a fair bit."

"I can cast fly," Mirima speaks up, while Rosa shakes her head.

"Obtaining such means would be logical before we go." Rosa says.

Also, quick DM note. If teams are settled, say so and I'll move y'all along to individual threads. Also list the teams and where they're going. Thanks.

Seems like:
Gehenna (6) - Afina, Surraruthru, Calleigh, Sylvie, Master, Tannin
Vacuum (8?) - Jaela, Adrian, Hanna, Mirajane, Candy, Vivantha, Moonlight, Mei, Mirima (?)
Earth (7?) - Ithea, Moore, golems, Balyss, Rosa, Stille, Dana, Mirima (?), Baleruk (?)

Ithea's bothered by the idea of taking Baleruk, but probably will take him if others insist on it rather than bring up her reason for disliking the idea. Mirima got brought up by both Jaela and Ithea so could go either way.

Resolve those two points and seems all three threads are ready to go. *sleeps*

Party's fairly n eutral about Baleruk. Adrian's against bringing him, Hanna's slightly in favor for more firepower. Up to y'all. I'll bounce this question to your thread when I post it, unless you post before that.

Mirima'll go with Jaela.

I know if we have Baleruk back on Aurora, we don't need to worry against a serious attack on it. Let's hold him back since Merc is wary too. The rest works. I think we can go for it, and Merc can choose who to take instead of Baleruk and Mirima.

Dune: You can start the others' threads meanwhile if you want, no reason to delay the others besides Moore on me.

As for who to take in replacement of those two...*looks through Tablet* Jarl and Arrel? I don't even remember who the heck Finnegan is. Everyone else is a caster, though that's fine too. Moore, you have any opinions?

Sure. Someone post final teams (besides Ithea's adjustments) and I'll go start threads.

Quote from: Merc on February 03, 2016, 10:04:29 AM
Dune: You can start the others' threads meanwhile if you want, no reason to delay the others besides Moore on me.

As for who to take in replacement of those two...*looks through Tablet* Jarl and Arrel? I don't even remember who the heck Finnegan is. Everyone else is a caster, though that's fine too. Moore, you have any opinions?

I don't have any strong opinions other than If I have to NPC anyone I'd be bad with casters I'm unfamiliar with.

Gehenna (6) - Afina, Surraruthru, Calleigh, Sylvie, Master, Tannin
Vacuum (9) - Jaela, Adrian, Hanna, Mirajane, Candy, Vivantha, Moonlight, Mei, Mirima
Earth (7?) - Ithea, Moore, golems, Balyss, Rosa, Stille, Dana, Baleruk (?)

This topic is locked, new topics will be going up. Thanks, y'all.