Aaah, sleep at last. Moore returns to Aurora and gets a good night's rest. He awakens and sleepily goes to his closet, fluttering over to get dressed for the day. On opening it, he finds 27 in there, staring right at him. The slaad-badger promptly shoves a loaf of bread into Moore's hands before bolting away, to the door and out of the room.
Moore has little reason to do much besides groggily take a bite out of the piece of bread.
"I really should ask Ithea about him..." Moore murmurs to himself.
It's bread. Not bad for what it is. After taking a bite, you notice there's writing on the top. Looks to be Common on a glance and it reads, "Casino."
Casino...? Moore shakes his head and decides to get dressed.
Any major casinos that jump out at him? He'll take 10 for K:P if that'd be it for 45. Planar Casinos?! I'm guessing maybe Brightwater but you never know.
The main ones that come to mind are in Lliira's quarter of Brightwater. As the patron of luck and chance, her quarter is full of them.
Interestingly, Mechanus has a few but only non-natives play. All the natives know the odds and refrain. It's mostly a logic trap for gullible visitors, though the rare one that gets a lucky streak is said to drive them to insanity.
Mammon's layer of Hell has casinos, in case you wanna go somewhere you'll get damned for all time.
Various other places have them, mostly lower planes and nastier places.
Oh! This is a perfect opportunity.
Moore will take his new coin out.
"Does 27 want me to go to the casinos in Brightwater?" He'll toss the coin up. It's -probably- going to land on its side, but...
Yep, right on its side.
Hmmm. "Does 27 want me to go somewhere specific?" He'll toss it again! Oh, yes, he was told that chaos doesn't tend to work very well with it, so this is probably not going to ...
Perhaps Moore is learning, since it again ends up right on its side.
"I suppose it makes sense that you can't predict what a slaad wants." Moore reasons.
"Elena? Is anyone planning a trip to a casino in Brightwater to your knowledge?" Moore asks while he finishes getting dressed and fixing his hair. He has a feeling good hair is going to be important today...
Elena pops into being before you, "Not that I know of. I haven't heard of any Brightwater trips today." She's dressed up like Afina's jellyfish outfit today, down to the hat.
"Let me know if anyone plans to go. Or if you hear anything about any casino trips." Moore says, grinning. Either way, he should go get something to eat, so that's his next goal.
The cafeteria's packed. People are getting meals, both to sit down and on the go. A din of conversation is all around Moore as he looks about. You notice Cresiel's eating with Canderella, the two in a quiet conversation over some fruit and bread. Vivantha's sitting by herself, gaze far away as she occasionally sips a glass of wine. Mirima and Adrian are also together, meals done and the conversation going on. As you watch, Morniel drifts over there, joining the conversation.
Moore will fly over to Vivantha!
"Miss Vivantha, right? Ah, do you mind some company?"
Vivantha startles, wine sloshing out of her glass and eyes going wide. "Ah! You startled me!"
"I'm sorry!" Moore says, backing up a bit. "I didn't realize you were that deep in thought. I'm terribly sorry."
Vivantha sighs, a little bit of magic cleansing away the wine spill. "Accepted," she says, "But what's done is done. Sit," she says, wineglass tipped towards the seat opposite her.
Moore will take a seat! "Sorry again." He'll smile a little. "You're a songcrafter too, right?"
"Yes," The glass of wine is put aside, "All lillend are."
"Oh, I see." Moore nods. "I wonder how many pixies dabble in songs... Ah well." Moore shakes his head. "I've been thinking of trying to find some ways to bolster our abilities -- I see people like Sir Tepen and Vul'lath pulling all sorts of magical things out of nowhere... surely there's got to be a way to do the same sort of thing with music, right? I mean, I know there are some spells to enhance things a bit, or to maintain the songs for us, but... well, magic can basically do anything, so why not something like combining different melodies into one?"
"Ah, I can already do that," Vivantha smiles a little, "Have you heard of the path that seeks songs, who follows the magic of the sung word to its utmost conclusion?"
"Oh! The types that kind of use your music to do rather unique effects outside of what normal bards do, right?" Moore asks. "Yes, yes, that's always been very intriguing to me. Perhaps I can try and learn some of that, it might inspire --haha.. it might help in what I'm trying to do outside with pure magic."
"I've never offered lessons, but now may be the time." Vivantha says, "Would you like to learn?"
"Adding to my repertoire is something I try and do in every aspect of life." Moore says with a smile. "I'd be happy to."
"Do you know where the Sylican Phase Spiders lair? Meet me there at night fall, as Aurora measures it. Elena can tell you the time on request." Vivantha says, "We'll practice there each night."
Moore nods. "Certainly."
He considers for a moment. "Miss Vivantha, How'd you get wrapped -- ah...ha... ahem. How'd you find yourself part of Aurora?"
Vivantha smiles - a sad, wet eyed look. "Muirfinn saved me. Events from there lead me to Aurora."
Moore smiles at that, not quite as sadly but still somber. "All the more reason to make sure we don't let him down."
"I know." Vivantha says, "I believe it's breakfast time by local Aurora time, so you have a day to pass until we begin."
Moore nods. "All right, I'll find you later then, Miss Vivantha." Moore smiles and bows once. "Sorry again for interrupting."
He won't be going anywhere with it, but he'll spend the day doing research on the Samgan Empire, that place Makim was from.
Very good, anything or just fishing for info?
If there's any current information they have he'd go for that. His intention is to eventually go there himself so he'd like to be up on the current events as much as possible.
Day 2 of information about the Samgan Empire proceeds apace. Now that you've found out the basics, you rove Aurora's library for more. You find one thing - while Aurora's library is massive and great for obscure subjects, planar lore, magical theory and dozens of other things, it's relatively weak for current Prime events. There's so many and they move on a much faster scale than planar affairs.
By early afternoon, you take a break and rest your head on your arms. As you do, Elder Magi Tepen comes by. "Ah, Moore," he murmurs, keeping his voice down. "Vul'lath mentioned you've been gathering information about a mortal empire?"
Moore nods to Tepen. "Elder Magi." Moore responds quietly. "Yes, it's... mm. I found a place during what happened in the Deep Ethereal. I've been trying to figure out how to return, because I've been led to believe that the person I met there could be an ally to us."
"Aaah," Elder Magi Tepen sits next to Moore, resting his staff against the table. Brushing back a bit of his brown hair, "This library has many strengths, but one of them is not Prime esoteric. There's too many of them and they change too fast." Tepen says, then pauses, "Spoken like a true spirit. To the point, you'd be better served with divinations or research elsewhere."
Moore nods. "I've been getting that impression. My previous divinations on the subject led me to believe I needed to find 'the lost island Algorand,' which was apparently a legend told in this particular place. Perhaps I should just ask the higher powers who in that place could lead me there to cut out some busy work." Moore says with a quiet laugh.
Tepen rubs his chin, "I'm normally loathe to trust divinations too much," he admits, "They're a powerful tool, but you can grow too reliant on them. Determination and common sense can be just as potent, if you don't forget they exist. However, this is the situation where you want to consider a divination. The knowledge is too specialized to a single Prime."
Moore nods. "It seems like it's a situation where I'm going to have to invest some resources, so it's best to take it slowly. There's no need to rush this particular matter." Moore nods to Tepen. "I think I'll see where I get with it today and then figure things out from there."
"Good fortune," Elder Magi Tepen says, then snaps his fingers. "Actually, Sylvie's just finishing up a project. Would you like her help?"
"Oh, Miss Sylvie? Yes, she'd be an excellent person to help!" Moore says with some excitement, but he manages to keep his voice low. "I've never worked directly with her, but I've heard a lot about her."
"I'll send her over," Tepen promises. Soon enough she comes on over, blonde hair tied back. Her pace is quick as she settles in next to you, "So you're trying to research information on a mythical island?" she asks.
Moore nods. "Yes, it's called Algorand." Moore takes out a piece of paper that he wrote his notes on. "I received a divination to find 'the sealed gate in Algorand' which is how I'll find my way to where I need to go." Moore will show Sylvie his notes, which mention the Samgan Empire and the story related to Algorand.
Sylvie looks over them before nodding. "We'll give it a try," she says.
Just going to keep looking in the books here?
Yes. He'll try and save them time with Scholar's Touch as usual and he'll keep a Divine Insight up in case it's needed.
> roll 1d20+66 (+22 inspiration, +10 lore of the gods, +15 library)
<Kobot> Infinite_Ko_Loop rolled 1d20+66 (+22 inspiration, +10 lore of the gods, +15 library) --> [ 1d20=7 ]{73}
With Sylvie's help, you plow into the library anew. She quickly finds the information you've found and a little more - a mention of the same myth in slightly different terms. But not a lot else, hours passing. Sylvie leans back in her chair, pushing a book aside, "I think you need to look somewhere else," she says, "Or use magic."
"Tepen suggested trying more divinations. I think he's probably right about it." Moore says. "I think that'll give me more to go on. If I find anything about it, would you care to pursue it if you're not already busy?"
"Sure," Sylvie says, "Good luck."
What are your divination plans here?
I'll use the Divination spell, Divination a few times. I'll do it in Selune's temple (Note to self: Add to do list to have something similar for worship of Mount Celestia to be built) like usual.
Put a todo to talk to Morniel about it, he has relevant info there and you'd be guided to him anyway.
What's your divination question?
Also note to self: Moore needs to talk to Crystal about the Yggdrasil Fruit.
Moore will prepare as he usually does to ask his question: "Can someone in the Samgan Empire lead me to the sealed gate in Algorand?"
Probably should add all that to pending stuff so you don't forget.
The answer you get is simple, "Yes."
It was on there, I just... forgot to look. Oops!
He'll follow up with a more specific question: "Who is the most reliable and trustworthy person to guide me to the sealed gate in Algorand from the Samgan Empire?"
The answer is, "Seek the Buried Prince."
Hmm. One more for the road.
"Who from Aurora would be best to accompany me to find the Buried Prince?"
"Seek the Princess." Is your answer.
Moore nods, satisfied with that for now.
I'll deduct the 75 gold. He'll go find Crystal now to get that done.
Crystal's found in her room. You knock on her door and after a short delay, "Yes?" Crystal's voice, sleepy-sounding.
"Hi Crystal, is now a good time to talk about that fruit?" Moore calls out.
The door opens a few moments later. Crystal's there, hair messy and a robe worn. She's just finished tying it closed as she opens the door, "Don't mind this, Her Majesty had me attend a function that ran against the grain of my normal slumber hours, I'm still indisposed as I adjust to the change."
Moore smiles. "I'm not used to seeing you, ah... casually." Moore says, bowing his head a bit. "I can come back later if you'd rather."
"No no, it's fine," Crystal says, waving you in. "If one cannot show themselves to their allies at their most vulnerable, they who can they show themselves to? Besides, I reckon you come with a task from Her Majesty or a matter of business, both of which are best dispatched now rather than delayed to another time."
Moore chuckles. "It's nothing quite so demanding as that, I just wanted to talk to you about that fruit we were given by Queen Titania." Moore explains.
"Oh yes," Crystal goes to sit down, discreetly yawning into her hand. "Pardon. I believe I understand that we both want it?"
"The more I think about it, the more I think you should have it." Moore says. "While I'm very curious and think it might be something to put an olive branch between Queen Titania and Celestia, I think it makes more sense for you to have it. You've been with this court much longer than I have."
"Thank you," Crystal nods to him, "Your graciousness is noted and lauded, for it is easy to take and hard to give away, no?"
"I think it will suit you more anyway." Moore says with a smile. "Let me know what it does, won't you?"
You get a nod from Crystal.
Now what? Loot post coming next with affects of the fruit.
It's probably time for Vivantha? If not, he'll talk to Morniel about both the Celestia Worship Station and/or about Aurora Fundraising.
We'll do Morniel first, mostly for the sake of getting things done.
Morniel's found in the library, tucked away in a corner of it. Several books are before him, one open as he takes notes. "Moore?" he asks as you approach, and on your question, "We could make one. Celestia's forces are trained to hold all they need within, for sometimes we cannot count on a church or altar. We are trained to be sufficient, but your ideas has great merit."
"It feels... disrespectful to Selune to use her place of worship for prayers to others." Moore explains, but nods to Morniel's acceptance. "I appreciate your agreement. I'm actually going to go out and do some fundraising for Aurora, so this could be part of that. We have a lot of people who will pledge their services, but sometimes it really does just come down to monetary resources."
"It's not standard," Morniel admits. He marks his page and closes the book he's on. "Informally, higher powers of one patron of good can use another patron's temples when needed. It's not always honored and not always acceptable, but it does happen. Still, we have imposed on Selune's good will for some time."
Moore nods. "I'm hopeful that in my attempts to raise some funds for us I can donate something special to Her as my way of showing appreciation from those of us who have utilized Her place of worship." Moore scratches his cheek at that. "I don't want to further impose on Lord Crystalle right now, as he's been most gracious with regards to our alliance, so is there anywhere you'd suggest I try and go or anyone in particular you may not have had a chance to reach out to that you think may be of some benefit to us?"
"That depends on where Crystalle's influence reaches," Morniel says, "You need to know that first."
Moore nods. "I can always ask him or one of his adjutants." Moore considers for a moment. "How about Brightwater itself? Are we allowed to go there to petition anyone for aid, or is that frowned upon by the denizens?"
"You can petition away," Morniel's lips twitch into a smile, "Getting money from them can be an adventure into itself. Often they view things as investments, especially Waukeen's flock."
Moore nods. "Do we have any local contacts there I should start with that you're aware of?"
"We have some," Morniel says, "I know more in my personal dealings. Though you can also do it the hard way if you want to find new sources."
"Nothing was ever gained doing things the easy way." Moore says with a smile. "All right, I think I'll start with anyone within Lord Crystalle's circle and then branch off to Brightwater after that. If I get stumped anywhere I'll come back."
"Good luck," Morniel says.
What's your plan now?
Meet with Vivantha and then take on the money-grubbing tomorrow.
You find Vivantha at the phase spiders. She's singing softly, all of the arachnids lying about on webs and being still. A scattering of troops is there as well - an earth elemental and a firre eladrin, a human soldier and a war hound. She's singing in Celestial, a sad song of longing.
Moore flies in and listens quietly.
He does speak Celestial if there's any special meaning.
No special meaning that Moore can detect, it's just a pretty song.
Moore will just sit and listen, as is the proper thing to do for someone else's performance!
It finally winds down, the assembled people clapping. Vivantha smiles to them all and then beckons Moore over. "The path of the song seeker is not an easy one, but it is a rewarding one. You will need to pour your all into it."
Moore nods as he flies over. "So I've seen. You have to be willing to let yourself get carried away, but also control it, right?"
"Yes," Vivantha says, "You have to be the song, live the song."
Moore nods. "Yes, that makes sense. Miss Ebony and I talked a bit about her unique way of singing as well, it seems... similar, but there are marked differences."
"Yes, now...." Vivantha begins her lesson, explaining the basics to Moore. As someone versed in bardic music and theory, it's not terribly hard to follow. The basic principal seems to be applying music together on the fly, combining types of music as one coherent whole. It's merging them on the spot, a talent that suggests a great deal of skill.
Moore nods along with Vivantha, not having too much trouble keeping up with the general idea. He can do that, eventually!
I'm fine with skipping along if you want to.
Yes, this is fine but will take time and effort to go anywhere, be it by taking class levels in that PrC or using it to help develop spells.
Going alone to Crystalle or bringing anyone?
He'll ask around if anyone wants to go but otherwise will go himself if they don't.
Realistically, his next level will be to finish Fatesinger anyway so it's a moot point for the short term.
"You're going to Brightwater?" When you ask Moonlight, who is moping about the courtyard, she perks up immediately. "Heck yes I'm going with you!"
Moore smiles. "Of course you're welcome to come. I'm going on a bit of a fundraising mission for Aurora. Do you have business there yourself?"
"No, I'm bored!" Moonlight huffs, "I was going to go with Afina to bash a lich's face in, but a spiritual wound in a ley line cluster was a bad idea."
Moore smiles a bit sadly at Moonlight, then laughs. "All right. Far be it from me to cause you any further disappointment. You can help be our ambassador if there are any followers of Lathander there."
"Alright!" Clapping her hands together, "Let's go!"
Moore nods. "Yes, let's go then."
This is technically the first time he's used Gate, so he might need someone to instruct him on how to precisely manage it -- he doesn't want to just make one that goes to Brightwater and then end up in the entirely wrong place.
As you swim outside, "First time with Gate?" Moonlight asks, "Don't worry, I have this. I can't cast it myself, but Lathander makes all of his upper servants know how to manage it."
Moore nods. "Yes, I wanted to stop bothering everyone inside so much. That, and it's a useful tool to get back in case of an emergency." Moore smiles. "All right, so Brightwater, Positive Energy Plane, right?" Moore confirms, before he'll get to the utilization.
"Think of a location and be precise as possible," Moonlight says ,"If that place can't be gated or teleported to, it'll fail. Some places route you to teleportation points, such as Brightwater. In these cases, they're designed by whomever rules the plane as points to funnel visitors to," Moonlight explains, "So just aim at Brightwater and you'll be fine. As for the calling feature of it, Aurora's magic is hooked up to allow us to summon allies from Aurora should we need them."
Moore nods. "All right, here we go!" With that he'll envision Brightwater and aim the gate that way!
One gate later and you're in Brightwater. It's the same arrival point that you've seen before, bustling and busy. Moonlight stretches and looks about, "So are we going to work in Waukeen's quarter, or maybe Lliira's casinos? We could try stopping by Sune for some romantic money or Sharess for...cat money?" She scratches the side of her head, "I don't think money can be hedonistic. Oh, or Empress Sulia for that matter."
Moore nods to Moonlight. "I think they're all worth investigating. The best thing to do first is probably to spread word we're here and what our intention is, so that we don't offend any of the people in charge. Then see where it gets us."
"Sure," Moonlight says with a relaxed smile. "Let's go!" She grabs Moore and hurries off, going into Brightwater.
Moore-napping aside, what's your plan for that? Just spread word to people or...?
Do some GI to find people that are willing to lend an ear to our cause first, then see if they're willing to offer up anything (this can be in return for favors) or have any leads on people we could ask.
So basically GI first, talk to whoever we find, follow leads from there and see where it goes. We'll tackle the other things as they come along. There will be a copious amount of magic involved either way, I'm sure.
Okay, make GI.
Taking 10 for 48 (this is with Divine Insight)
> roll 1d20+9 Moonlight aids
<Serith> Kowork roll for Serith < 17 > [d20=8]
You find a few leads.
- There's a group called the Silverbrow Consortium. Apparently they've had dealing with Aurora before.
- There's a Selunite celestial who apparently has ties to Aurora as well.
- A well known Aurora general has ties to Rapture and Sharess. Apparently she has favored owed over there, maybe?
We can go into more if you want, but you wanted to them as they came, so.
We'll go in order. Moore will throw up another Divine Insight and Glibness in case he needs to bend the truth any.
Finding the Silverbrow Consortium isn't hard. The person you hear it from, a human with starkly silver hair, remarks, "I work for them on the side," he says. The three are in a comfortably, dimly lit bar. Quiet, casual and removed from the bustle of the city outside.
"I'll get straight to the point and not mince words." Moore says. "I'm looking to find ways for us to raise money for our forces. Do you have any suggestions on how to do that? We're, of course, willing to perform operations if it means we can be further funded -- we're always willing to deal with devils and their ilk and that sort of thing."
"I've heard one of your number's made contact with the Consortium," The man says, "Muirfinn, I believe. He would be the most expedient."
"He's... not available." Moore says with a bit of a frown. "However, in his stead, I'd be happy to speak to them if you think they'd be willing."
EDIT: Taking 10 on K:P (?) for 45 to identify them and any pertinent information that might help us.
K:A would be more apt here.
Good news, the number is the same!
The Silverbrow Consortium is a merchant group owned by Sisatar. They are notable for having a beautiful base of operations on Windfall Street and having ties to gem dragons.
Is there anything we could bring them that might endear them to us?
Tricky, since they've had dealings with Aurora, which could color things and you aren't privy to how those went.
Okay. Either way, Moore will see if he can meet with them then, so it sounds like he needs to go to Windfall Street.
Turns out its Windfall Avenue, not Street. Who knew?
Windfall Avenue has streets of gold. The buildings here are tall and loom over you in dozens of stories, yet not a single one casts a shadow. All is bright here, and above the sky glitters like bright diamonds. As you step onto the street, a voice is heard in your mind. 'Welcome to Windfall Avenue, valued fey visitor. As you are certainly already aware, Windfall Avenue's skies are forbidden territory past the rooftops. Please do not fly above them. Thank you and continue your business, valued guest.'
He can't really respond mentally, so he just nods! He'll make sure not to fly too high. He'll look about for any signs that lead to the Silverbrow Consortium.
The building you're looking for isn't hard to find. After all, it's not every day you see a imposing, dozen story tall behemoth of a building with a front of pure amethyst. The light from the golden streets reflects up into it, turning the impossibly large slabs of gemstone to sparkle a bright, pale purple. A grand door big enough for a great wyrm dragon to pass through is open, as if to invite any and all to come in. But it's hard to see inside, your eyes constantly sliding over what's inside and not registering it at all. Above the door leading in is a dragon's head carved of amethyst, fit for a a town-sized dragon. It's open in an eternal, silent roar.
Moore's eyes widen a bit, but, as he's been to Mineral, something about it just doesn't catch his eyes as much as it would normally. Impressive craftsmanship, though.
He'll fly inside and look around for an entry desk or anyone to greet him, as he doesn't want to just zip around and make his first impression bad.
Ahead is a plaza bigger than most castles. There are fountain there that spew purple water that becomes amethysts as it rains down. There are purple and black plants all over, pruned and grown into miniature dragon-shapes to decorate small gardens. These gardens have stone-wrought benches with supports of beautiful women, the stone carved to absolute perfection. In the back there's a huge wooden square that serves as a desk, big enough for a dozen pretty women to stand within the center and have lots of space to spare.
"Well, they have the theme down, at least..." Moore says to himself. He'll fly towards the wooden desk to see if he can spot anyone.
You pass fountains of amethysts and many little parks before reaching ot the desk. Each woman has brightly colored hair in a rainbow of colors, natural and otherwise. Each wears a well-cut dress in the same color as their hair and lots of jewelry with matching gemstones. A redhead with pouty red lips who virtually drips rubies bows as you approach. In flawless Sylvan, "Sir fey and companion," she greets. "Welcome to the Silverbrow Consortium."
Moore bows his head and smiles. "Good day to you, madam. My name is Moore, of Aurora. This is Moonlight, also of Aurora." Moore says with a smile. "We are here to request a meeting with anyone from the Consortium, preferably anyone who has spoken with us in the past. I believe the most recent contact was Sir Muirfinn, but he is... not available as of currently to be here." Moore says, trying to hide some sadness in his voice. "I realize this is rather short notice, but I hope we're not inconveniencing anyone too much."
"I am Ruby," she says, coming out and leading you on, "Come with me, we will discuss this somewhere privately."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ruby." Moore says as he follows dutifully along.
You are lead further within. Past all the wealth are an array of doors that blend into the wall. One is opened and you step through. Stepping through is like free-falling for a second, teleportation taking you elsewhere.
You stand in a room full of giant crystalline structures. Giant gemstones and crystals surrounded by velvet ropes are all about, each one having a small wooden sign floating just besides them. Occasionally cozy tables and chairs are besides a particularly impressive set. You are lead to the nearest table, "Growing Wealth, a restaurant," Ruby announces as the chairs pull themselves out for you. "If you take the time to watch them, you can see the gems growing before your eyes. It's most interesting, but please refrain from touching the gems. They are part of Mister Sisatar's hoard."
Moore nods and takes a seat. Well, he might just stand or keep flying, depending on the size. Either way, he smiles and will glance at the gems. "You all seem to have a real... hmm... artist's focus with gemcrafts." Moore says with a smile. Oh, maybe they'd like to see that pressed gem... he'll hold onto that for now.
A seat and table shrink before your eyes, adjusting to pixie height. "Have a seat," Ruby says, snapping her fingers. A spectral, half visible man-shaped force appears. An unseen servant, Moore can tell that much. "I'll have brined crystals and peppers. Would you care for anything," Ruby asks.
Moonlight whistles as she looks around, "Chocolate flavored cream cake, if you have it. Nice place, by the way. Mister Sisatar's a dragon, since you mentioned a hoard?"
Moore smiles and takes a seat. "If you have any dried fruit, that would be excellent. Ah... no crystals, please."
The servant hurries off. "Now that we're past the awkward parts," Moonlight says, "How about we get down to this?"
"Yes. Mister Sisatar is a busy man," Ruby agrees, "Let us get down to it."
Moore nods.
"As stated, we are here to petition for aid, in whatever form we can have it, for Aurora." Moore says. "I'm sure you've heard of our accomplishments in the recent weeks, especially with the rift and battle that transpired in the Astral. However, I'm not so naive as to believe that we can simply ask and not expect to do something in return. We most recently formed a pact with Lord Crystalle of Mineral after performing some actions with him and even have the blessing of the Great Padisha of Water." Moore explains.
"I cannot speak for what any previous people from Aurora had agreed to or worked with you on, but I am certain that they came through on your requests, just as we will again if we can come to an agreement." Moore says.
He's trying to upsell but that's about it.
Your food is brought quickly. Dried fruit for Moore, a slice of chocolate cake topped with chocolate cream and a bowl of what looks to be little crystal bits. Moonlight tucks into hers and asks after a few bites, "Under the circumstances of Muirfinn's situation, we're a bit on the back foot," she admits.
Ruby doesn't touch hers yet. "You have good relations with Lord Crystalle?"
Moore smiles. "Yes, I think he was impressed with the fact that we were among the first to come to Mineral not to plunder, but to speak to its denizens and show our respect."
The crunch of a crystal being eaten is quite loud. Ruby eats one, popping it right into her mouth. Her teeth have no problem with it at all, somehow. "That's a rare feather in your cap," she admits, "Few visitors to Mineral can both resist and make a good impression."
Moore bows his head graciously. "You are too kind, Lady Ruby. I think it speaks to Aurora's overall attitude and our morality." He takes a bite of the fruit. "We stand by our words and our promises. I think we've garnered enough good faith from across the Planes to at least be known as such, but it's always welcome to hear compliments, so thank you."
"Be that as it is, are you offering to be an intermediary to Crystalle for the Consortium?" she asks.
Moore smiles at that. "I would be happy to pass any messages along and to see if he would be willing to work with another of our allies."
"That is an offer of no small value," Ruby remarks, "Elaborate on what you would desire in return."
While he has his own thoughts, would there be any particular K check I could use to think of what would be reasonable, specific things to ask for in a situation like this?
No. Appraise could help, as well as a relevant profession skill. Have either?
I can technically do anything! The only profession skill I have is Motivational Speaker, which I doubt qualifies. I'll take 10 with Appraise which gives me 46.
A monetary fee is standard but not absolute. Favors can be traded or goods, as well as services. At this level, money isn't the absolute and only currency.
"Miss Ruby, given what you know about Aurora, what do you think would be the most beneficial gift to our forces? As I said, we originally came here for monetary-related reasons, but I am certain the Consortium is well-connected in addition to that." Moore says, folding his hands on the table with a smile.
Ruby spreads her hands, "That is a question I can't answer. It is your Crusade and you know your needs best." She nabs a little more crystal and eats it, popping right on it.
"I say we just go for the money. That's the point of all this, right?" Moonlight says with a shrug, "Why complicate it?"
"Mm... while I would normally agree, how about this." Moore says, remembering his dealings with Crystalle. "You have many gems here, I can tell... how about you agree that any gems that you find unusable or otherwise that you would discard, you donate to Aurora? In return, I promise that I'll always be available for any conversations or liason work that you'd have me for."
"Unacceptable," Ruby says right away, "First of all, Mister Sisatar finds use for any gem. Secondly, such an open ended agreement is bad for business."
"Fair enough." Moore taps his chin. He really thought that was a good one, too! "Then I'll simply ask for this -- regular leads on other groups that could be of benefit to us, or perhaps locations where we could find items that we could utilize. While you say you may not know our needs, I think reliable allies that can be called on are always in short supply. So I suppose the end of the agreement would be for information, if such a thing would be acceptable. My offer still stands with regards to what I would give you."
"That is an offer I can present higher up, but it requires more. Clarify by what you mean by groups of benefit. What benefits you?" Ruby inquires, "What are you needs, your desires, your current issues to be resolved?"
Moore considers this for a good while. "Forces willing to fight devils and demons and stand with us on the field of battle. Individuals or groups willing to fund our Crusade, either through simple money or information, or even goods and services. More ways to improve our crafting facilities and expand our libraries." Moore says, listing each one with a nod, as if agreeing to it himself.
"I will relay this offer to the interested parties," Ruby promises. "Is there anything else?"
Moore shakes his head. "I will add that if they require more from us that we can certainly agree, if the terms are sufficient."
"Return in two day's time," Ruby says, "You will have an answer then. You will be contacted via sending if this changes."
Moore nods and stands, bowing deeply. "Thank you, Miss Ruby. We look forward to hearing from you."
We'll head to find the Selunite, unless something else comes up.
Ready to move onto the next one?
Certainly.
Make a quick GI to try and find him.
Take 10 for 33
One problem: He's not in Brightwater right now. Apparently he's off in the Gates of the Moon. Fairly routine, all told, being a Selunite.
Hmm, that just leaves Rapture... hmmmmmmm.
Moore turns to Moonlight. "Do you know much about that part of town?"
"It has a lot of cats." Moonlight says, blandly. "Also it's hedonism from top to bottom. Great if that's your fancy. You can be outside and see a bunch of cats sunning themselves, then go inside and get anything from a massage, to a great meal to a sensual adventure."
Moore clears his throat, his cheeks turning a slight shade of red. "Then I suppose we should avoid any of the darker alleyways. But there's no harm in asking around."
With that, he'll head towards Rapture!
Intent is to head there and ask around about this general who he's PRETTY sure he already has identified, but he'd like to find out who'd be a good person to talk to on that side of town. He'll amp his GI up to 48 for it.
> roll 1d100
<Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d100 --> [ 1d100=14 ]{14}
You reach Rapture. It is a maze of shadowy alleys and sunsoaked streets. You wander the streets, cats everywhere. Napping, playing, hunting, watching.
Make GI.
Taking 10 for 48.
You end up talking to a snow white cat, sunning himself on a porch. "Mmm," the cat answers like it's normal for him to talk, "Oh, you mean Ithea? She's a general of Aurora and the Great Cat Mother likes her."
"Ah, I thought as much." Moore says with a smile. "Well, we're friends of hers... we're from Aurora also. I'm Moore and this is Moonlight." Moore offers a small bow. "We were hoping to talk to anyone who might be willing to offer our crusade some aid."
"Hiya," Moonlight greets, going to pet the cat. He rubs up against her and purrs loudly.
"Um, the big folks are better at that, or the Great Cat Mother." He says, "If you need the Great Cat Mother, she'll find you sooner or later."
"I wouldn't want to impose on Her with such a mundane request." Moore says with a bit of a smile at the purring. "Which of the big folks do you think we should try and talk to?"
"The big ones with six wings," Snowy purrs loudly, "Everyone listens to them!"
Moore nods. Angels of some sort, he surmises. "We'll go find some, then." Moore says with a pat to Snowy's head. "Thank you. Say, what's your favorite color?"
"White, like me! I'm Snowy," The cat exclaims.
Moore produces a gold coin and through some magic (Prestidigitation), turns it snow white, then he leans down to put it in front of Snowy. "It won't stay like that forever, but next time I come I'll bring you one that'll stay white. Thanks, Snowy." Moore smiles and will head off to find one of these six-winged beings!
"Oh, that's so nice," He rubs the coin with his face and then shivers, "Brr, it's cold!"
Moore laughs. "I'll see you again, Snowy!"
Good to move on.
Make a GI check to try and track 'em down, say.
Take 10 for 33.
You end up in a tavern, as these things seem to go. A quiet and dimly lit one, where couples and sometimes more drift to secluded, semi private booths. A few glances quickly convince more that eyes are best on your host and not on the patrons. Said host is a catfolk, easily identified because of Ithea. A male, clad in a tight tunic and loose pants. He polishes a tankard with a cloth, flipping the top open to get under it. Meanwhile Moonlight glances a few times and generally keeps an eye out.
"Six wings? You're talking about solars," he remarks, "Yeah, there's solars around Rapture." His voice is like liquid silk, his voice almost dropping into a purr with every word. "Solars who serve Sharess usually take care of whatever she needs to be done but mostly matters in running Rapture and diplomacy with the other parts of Brightwater and beyond. See, her favored worshipers continue to serve her after death and she sends those out for recruiting. Well, the ones that don't turn into cats. They tend to nap and play instead."
Moore smiles at that. "Yes, I'd imagine so. Is there any one in particular you think we should try and find, or will any of them do? I mean, it can't be that hard to find one, they probably stick out a bit!"
"You'd be surprised. Rapture's full of hidden alleys and secrets pathways, as well as tunnels between buildings," The barkeep remarks, "Not to forget they can teleport. You're not a native here, so let me explain. Rapture's about mystery and engaging in pleasures. But it's not out in the streets. It's in intimate places, where it may be you alone or only a few others. It's about secret meetings and shadowy comings and goings. Anyone can be nigh impossible to find if they don't want to be."
Putting down his tankard and going for another now that one's done, "Ask around, talk. It'll serve you better that way. Make connections. The cats are good at it, if you can get them to stop playing or to wake up long enough. They can all talk, though some of them prefer not to. You'll find the way eventually."
"Without all the hedonism, please," Moonlight pipes up with a cheerful smile. "It's your afterlife, but we're just visiting."
"Then definitely stick to the cats. Oh, and if someone doesn't take no for an answer, feel free to knock them out. Sharess doesn't approve of people not taking no for an answer." The barkeep shakes his head, "She'll punish you for it or make you guard a tree out in Ysgard for a few centuries instead."
Moore nods along with the information. "So wining and dining, except with cats. I think we can handle that." Moore looks to Moonlight. "Or perhaps cat and mouse is a slightly more apt metaphor. Well, how do you want to handle this? Should we start low-key and work our way up, or see if we can make a flashy entrance into the --" At this Moore raises his fingers in air quotes, "'Seedy and mysterious underground organization known as Rapture'?"
"Don't be a mouse in Rapture," Moonlight says quickly, "That never ends well for the mouse. I say we talk around, play it quiet. After all, that works best with Rapture's mood."
Moore nods. "All right, then we'll start with that and see what happens."
Intent will be to do some poking around for cats and see about things as they come.
Make with GIing again.
For now he'll leave it at default and take 10 for 33.
You wander the streets, enjoying the sunshine and finding cats who are willing to talk in between naps and other activities. You eventually find a huge cat - he must be twenty pounds if he's an ounce, unruly fury going every which way. He perches on a flat rock that sits besides a building, grooming himself as you ask him questions. "The solars?" His voice is gruff, 'Yeah, I heard where one is, 'least as of this morning."
"They get around a lot, huh?" Moore asks, leaving the petting to Moonlight since she seems to enjoy it. "Anything special going on where it was, you think?"
Moonlight keeps busy with that, petting the cat and smoothing its fur. It doesn't seem to mind. "She was heading to the Courtstones. Heard someone got in trouble last night."
"Hm, Courtstones? Is that as... literal as it sounds?" Moore asks.
A loud purring follows. The cat's tail thrashes about slowly as Moonlgiht lavishes attention on him. "Human, you have nice hands," he murmurs. "It's where troublemakers are judged and sentenced."
Yep, that's what he thought. "All right. We'll head over there and take a look. Thank you." Moore smiles. He'll let Moonlight finish to her satisfaction before he'll go poke around to find the Courtstones. It can't be that hard to find, can it?
> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=54 ]{54}
You begin to wander down a sunny streets. As you dodge cats, Moonlight says, "I'm really glad I went here with you," Moonlight says, "Most men start thinking with the wrong head here." She makes an exaggerated EW face. "Last time I stopped in, I had to brain some sense into my companion. Just because they are triplets doesn't mean it's worth it."
Moore laughs at that. "I think it's a pixie thing." Moore says, looking thoughtful as he rubs his chin. "Since we have... you know, forever, there's no need to worry about something like that. That and nymphs usually take care of that, um... aspect of things. And Satyrs, I suppose." Moore says with a shrug. "I'd think for Lathander this sort of thing... you know... that stuff, it's probably supposed to be something special and not quite the ah... casual nature you find around here, is that right?"
"Mmm-hmm," Moonlight murmurs as you walk along, pausing to dodge cats lying here and there. She weaves through them without breaking her stride. "Romance is important. Relationships build families, not one night stands. Well honestly, one night stands can lead to children, but it's usually not the same thing unless the man's honorable about it."
Moore nods. "Yes, agreed. It has to be something special for both parties. That's the best way. I realize it's different for mortals, but... well. Either way, it's like you said, a strong foundation leads to happiness. Not that everyone needs romance, of course!" Moore laughs, flying along and trying to keep his eyes straight forward so as to not linger and find something unsavory.
Just as well, yes. You soon reach the Courtstones - a series of sun drenched white stones dotted about a field of grass. Right now there's lots of felines sunning there but little else. It's surrounded by the backs of building on all sides, not a one nor a window pointing towards this clearing.
"You think we missed it?" Moore asks.
"Yeah, looks like it's already done. Go bug a cat to tell us," Moonlight pouts a bit. "I wonder how they do trials here? Do all the cats meow or hiss for innocent or guilty?"
"I guess it depends on the situation..." Moore flies over to a cat that doesn't look particularly asleep or otherwise busy to ask about the solar!
It's a gray cat, watching you approach. "Yes?" He asks in a deep, cultured voice, "How can you help me?"
"Moonlight, would you care to show the good sir what we're offering?" Moore asks with a bit of a grin.
Moonlight squats down and starts petting him, "Mmmmmm," The cat purrs lightly as Moonlight scratches under his chin, "Oh yes, right there."
Moore chuckles at that. "I'm glad you came too, I'm not sure I have your petting expertise. So, anyway, good sir, we're looking for the solar that was here earlier...?"
"Mmmm, Sunstone...mmmm...." The cat purrs louder, "Judged someone who wouldn't take no for an answer. Holy lightning and everything, smited him into a pile of dust. Went off to take the convict's possessions to Altry's shop."
"That must've been quite the sight." Moore says, actually a bit sad he missed it. "Altry, huh? Okay, we'll go look for it. Thank you for your time."
Moonlight pets him a few more times and falls in with you, "Straight to the smiting. Not the type of solar I'd expect Sharess to value."
"From what we've gathered so far, she seems to value order -- which seems odd to me -- more than anything else. Or perhaps it's not 'order' so much as... Well, this bit about 'not taking no for an answer,' seems like a special exception. Perhaps a better way to look at it is she seems to value the rules she's set for this place. Or maybe the person's crimes were just that bad...?" Moore wonders aloud. "I suppose we could always ask, since it's already been adjudicated."
"That's not a question of order, that's a question of justice. You do know what they were implying, don't you?" Moonlight says, her smile slipping away. "Anyway, do you know where this shop is?"
"It's not hard to figure out." Moore replies, then shakes his head. "No, but I figured it has to be pretty close by..."
> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=67 ]{67}
Altry's shop is a cozy little place just off a dark alley. It has only a few high windows to let in light, no hints as you go inside. Turns out it's a rambling, disorganized shop. "Hi ho," A voice calls from somewhere within the piles of junk. "Find something you like and I'll quote you a price. No responsibility for cursed items, though the natives'll help you for free if you explain the situation."
The man that stumbles out isn't a man, but about a four foot tall figure with a big white beard and a bit of a gut. He wears tunic and hose, filling them out. "Oh, you two are one of the stranger couples I've seen this week," he greets. "Twenty percent off anything romantic! All proceeds go to Rapture."
Moore turns to Moonlight and then just starts to laugh. "Haha, sorry to disappoint you, Mister Altry, I presume? We're actually looking for someone who came in here recently -- a solar?" Moore then adds to Moonlight, "Not that I mean to say that you're not a good pair for me, or anything, haha!"
Moonlight throws her head back and laughs as well, "I like my men taller than me." she gets out before losing it.
"Oh, oh. Too bad," He says. "My name's Altry, Altry the gnome. Been running this shop for I don't even know how long now. Feel free to look around, there's great bargains everywhere. Anyway, a solar? Sunstone stopped by and contributed somethings today."
"Oh, the name is Sunstone, that's what the cat meant." Moore nods to that. "Do you have any idea where they were headed?" Moore does at least give a quick browse of the shop, looking for anything that might be unique or of interest to him. He can get most anything in Aurora, but you never know without looking!
Roll 1d100 and then make an appraise check.
[14:22] <Nephrite> roll 1d100
[14:22] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=34 ]{34}
Taking 10 for 31.
You find a few things, but nothing worth more than 1,000 gold. Some jewelry, a couple of minor magical items, that sort of thing. You could inquire for prices if you want.
Hmm. Getting a souvenir wouldn't be a bad idea, but he never bothered to ask what Illsenine's favorite color is... hm. He'll have to wait on that.
"I'll be back another time once I decide what I'm looking for. Any idea where Sunstone might've headed?" He asks.
"He said he was going get a drink at a bar. Oh, it's the one with a catfolk bartender. A man, he wears a tight tunic." The gnome snaps his fingers.
Hm, had they already been there?
Moore nods to Altry. "Thank you for your time sir, I'll be back in a few days." He nods to Moonlight to head out.
If that wasn't the bar they were at originally, they'll ask around about it. Take 10 on GI if necessary for 33
It's easy enough to find the bar again - it is that one, and you come back in. The barkeep nods to you, "Funny," he remarks dryly, "You just missed him."
"It's going to be one of those days, I think, Moonlight." Moore comments with a smile. "Did he mention where he was off to?"
Moonlight just smiles as the barkeep says, "Back to the Courtstones. He wanted to ask one of the cats there something about the trial. Why I don't know."
"Well, at least we know the way." Moore says with a grin as he turns to go back, but then stops. "If you happen to see him again, can you ask him to stay here? Thank you!" With that said, he'll head back towards the Courtstones.
> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=44 ]{44}
As you walk back, "Since we're almost done, I guess I can tell you now. It's a Rapture tradition to do this. Cats hunt, and thus we must hunt to find our prey. At least for new visitors." Moonlight says, "My first time here was worse, we spend over a day chasing down one half elf."
"Oh, yes, I already caught on to that. There's no way someone would go to a bar and only spend a few minutes there." Moore says with a smile. "Or only spend a few minutes haggling with someone. It doesn't add up." He shrugs at that. "It's important, however, for an actor to make sure he plays an appropriate role, even if it's just one of support, you know?"
"Always on the stage, always performing the last dance," Moonlight idly comments as she walks along, sidestepping more cats.
"Some people have a difficult time moving from that starring role to a supporting one." Moore says as they go along. "But in life, it's important to be flexible."
"It is, and I'm sure a lot of the people here would agree - for all sorts of reasons." She laughs a little after that. Soon enough you return to the Courtstones. The cats are still here, but amid them sits an angel. They cluster around her, several on her lap and being petted. As you watch, an overwhelming sense of peace and harmony overtakes you. Concerns and cares slip away, and the thought of curling up and napping in the sunshine appeals.
The solar is tall and fair, a woman with hair of fiery red and features far too beautiful and perfect to be anything mortal. She wears armor of gold and carries a shining greatsword on her back, along with bow and arrows. Light dances around her in a halo.
Ah, he should've known it'd be a female!
Moore slowly approaches, Moore staying a respectful distance away. He bows gracefully. "It would seem you allowed yourself to be found, Lady Sunstone."
Moonlight does the same, "Moonlight of Lathander," she greets.
The solar looks over you with a gentle smile, "The hunt always ends eventually," she replies, "You seek me?"
"We are of Aurora." Moore explains. "I have a feeling you already know us from this, but nonetheless, I am Moore. I follow Erathaol." He clears his throat. "We've come to seek aid for Aurora, hopefully in the form of ways to add to our coffers. At the end of the day, no matter how good our cause is and how righteous we are, I suppose Waukeen's will must be honored." Moore says the last part with a smile.
"We understand that General Ithea does have ties here, which would of course make sense... I do not mean to ask for any favors on her behalf -- they are hers to ask for, not ours. However, we wish to exhaust all possibilities when it comes to requesting aid for our forces. Leave no stone unturned, as they say." Moore explains.
"In other words, we're fundraising," Moonlight adds, tapping her lips with a finger, "Or begging, if you want to be blunt."
Sunstone continues to pet the cats on her lap, who provide a backdrop of loud purring. "I would expect Ithea to come. She has the Dancing Lady's favor. Why you instead of her?"
"We heard about the relationship." Moore explains. "I went around asking about possible leads and that's how we ended up here. As you say, if it's Ithea that is owed the favor, I would prefer that she be the one to redeem it. However, that doesn't mean that we're not willing to work to be owed a different favor, or cannot be of some benefit to Rapture in some way." Moore says. "We're happy to do whatever we can to further tighten the bonds between ...ah..." Moore's cheeks turn a bit red as he coughs. "Ahem. We're willing to do whatever we can to see further fruitful relationships between Aurora and this place outside of General Ithea."
Sunstone smiles a little bit but holds her peace until you're done. "My price is simple," Sunstone says, "You must bring two together into true love or avenge a love wronged."
Moore turns to Moonlight. "Do you have a preference? The first is probably more rewarding, the second is probably easier."
"Not really, I'm along for the ride," Moonlight says, "Both could be fun."
Moore nods. "Then let's plan for the first and see what we can gather. Maybe we can do the second as a bonus." He says with a bit of a laugh. "You'll hear back from us soon, Lady Sunstone. Thank you for your time."
Seems like an easy enough task to just go around and gather information on both subjects. Moore will finagle things in his favor to get Take 10 GI to 48.
On her potential tasks? Elaborate a bit on what you're GIing here.
They're going to look around for any couple who maybe are trying to get together but are having complications (either Romeo and Juliet style or something else) or maybe just see if they can find someone who's really trying to get with someone else but isn't having success doing so. On the other hand, they'll also look for anyone who's been spurned or otherwise been wronged in regards to love. Perhaps someone who cheated?
Okay.
Thing is, the first doesn't really happen here. The natives tend to keep themselves busy, and if one combination doesn't work, other ones quickly become apparent. But on the other hand, you hear of the Lonely Hearts, a tavern where those who have lost love across the planes gather - to forget, to heal and find new pleasures. It's apparently a hotbed for that sort of thing.
Moore will head towards the Lonely Hearts then and stick around there with Moonlight, listening in until something comes up.
"Maybe we can solve a few and really endear ourselves?" Moore says quietly. "This isn't what I came here to do, but... well, fate works mysteriously sometimes, or so oracles want people to believe." He adds the last part with a grin.
"Heh," Moonlight says, "Run with coincidence and claim you saw it coming?"
Moore nods. "I don't know how Erathaol really does it, but I think I take a bit of a more direct approach with things... it's been working out pretty well thus far."
"Seers do what seers do. I just bash in the face of wizards," Moonlight shrugs lightly, "Do what you're good at, right?"
Moore nods. "There's always room for some deviation, though." He smiles at Moonlight as he looks around for the correct establishment. "Do what you're good at, but leave room for trying new things, I think."
Finding it takes some time, but soon you're there. It's a shadowy, quiet bar down a side street. Few cats are here and you can hear gentle, soothing piano music from within.
Moore listens to the music for a moment, silently judging the quality of it as he moves his finger to the melody he can hear.
"Shall we just find a corner and listen in?" Moore asks. "I have a feeling something will come about in time."
It's pretty good. Above average to great on a listen.
Perform check of around 30. Really good by mortal standards, average by planar ones. Splitting the difference.
"Yeah," Moonlight says.
Moore nods and will head inside to get a look at the place!
Inside it's quiet. The center is a long bar, an island where all the booze flows from. The walls are lined with quiet, secluded booths, curtains available to provide privacy. It's dimly lit inside, casting everything in soft shadows. People sit about here - mostly mortals, but odder things yet. A mercane at the bar, a slaad in one booth, a crystalline creature with no head in another.
"Want anything to drink?" Moore asks. If she doesn't, he'll give a raised hand in greeting to the barkeep before he flies towards a corner table.
"No thanks," Moonlight shakes her head as the barkeep nods to you. A young woman, pretty and blonde. Once you settle in...
Just going to listen and wait?
Yes.
Listen check for reference. Won't matter much here, but it might.
Take 10 for 43.
You listen. It's mostly muted conversations - heartbreak and loss, you can tell right away. People mourning lost loves. Moonlight begins to look melancholy, "His name was Richard," she says, "It just couldn't work out. He was mortal, I wasn't, and he served Gond. He was the strongest and most assured man I ever knew. I felt so safe and comfortable with him.' She bows her head, "I still miss him whenever I think of him."
Moore glances over at Moonlight. ...Is it something in the music?
He does a quick magical detection of that particular nature.
Taking 10 on Spellcraft for 45.
"I'd think there were ways around each of those hurdles." Moore says. "Ah... unless there are other reasons something came between you?"
There is. Powerful and extremely subtle, weaving its way through your protections like they aren't there. Based on the sheer skill and complexity, it's like the work of epic magic or even Sharess herself. It's bringing out her lost love(s).
"He was a cleric of Gond. To be a real cleric, to give yourself completely to something, places that above everything. Even someone you love. I serve Lathander, he serves Gond. He chose to serve Gond over me."
Moore makes a face at that. Wait, then is he not being affected because...? Or maybe he is? Hmmmmmmmm....
He shakes his head, turning his attention back to Moonlight. "Even putting Gond and his faith above all else doesn't mean he couldn't find room for other things." Moore says. "I bet even now, he's feeling like he's missing something in his life, something that his faith can't fill. Have you ever thought of finding out how he was doing?"
"I did. He lost his memories after death." Moonlight shakes her head, "He was a good man, but not an exceptional one. Not like that."
"Hm." Moore nods. "Sometimes new beginnings can be disguised as rather painful endings. I don't mean to say you need to forget about him, but... I think it's probably time you start to let go of the pain and burden you still carry deep inside."
"I'll always carry it because I don't want to forget him." Moonlight says, ever so quietly. "The worst thing I could do would be to forget him."
"You can remember fond memories of someone without carrying the pain." Moore says, leaning over the table. "The two aren't tied together."
Moonlight sighs and buries her face into her arms, "Yeah."
"You don't sound like you believe me." Moore says, putting his head down on the table to be level with her. "How about this, I'll help you find some new memories -- not to replace the old ones, but to add to them."
Moonlight looks up, blushing, "Are...are you offering to make new memories with me?"
Moore blinks. Oh, is that part of the music too?
"Yes and no. I mean that I'll help you find something to be happy about. You already said I was too short for you, remember?" He laughs quietly at that. "But that doesn't mean we can't be good friends."
"Yeah, friends," Moonlight smiles, "I'd like that."
Moore nods. "Good. I'm sure Lathander wouldn't mind." Moore smiles at that and then leans back to start listening again. Well, this surely doesn't count for Sunstone, but he did a good deed nonetheless.
You can hear people around you talking. Lost loves, regrets, that sort of thing.
"If only I hadn't chased her away..." One voice laments, "I never appreciated her."
"He was the only light in my life," A woman mourns, "He's gone now and what do I do?"
Moore taps his chin. No, those aren't the sort of things Sunstone wants them to reconcile -- she was quite clear on the avenging the wrong part of things. He'll keep listening for now. Although this would be a good place to return to sometime to offer some people some hope and motivation on how to resolve these problems.
You listen longer. At last you hear one interesting, "She took everything," The man's voice is broken, "She left me and took everything. Stabbed my brother in the back, raided the vault and even poisoned the damn dog!"
Moore points at Moonlight. "Bingo." He looks over in that direction. "How do you want to approach this? Just be up front and honest and say we're doing good deeds in the name of love?"
Moonlight nods, "Sounds good. Heh, warriors of love. Not what I expected today."
Moore just smiles at that and starts to head to the poor soul who ended up in this situation.
You find him two booths over. A middle aged half-elf with a rugged black beard and tired features, a shot glass of something brown and strong-smelling held. He guns it down before looking over at you, "A fey, a sidhe?" he asks aloud.
"That's me." Moore nods. "I'm going to skip the frivolity and cut to the point. My companion and I --" He gestures to Moonlight, "Are from a place called Aurora. I'm Moore and she's Moonlight. We're currently here to help solve some problems in Rapture. It sounds like you have someone who wronged you -- we'd like to set that right."
"Hi," Moonlight slides right in opposite him, "So someone did you wrong?" She gives a little wave as she settles in and flashes him a smile. "We overheard. She even poisoned your dog? That sounds terrible."
The man puts his empty glass down and sighs, looking down at the table. "I don't know how it can be right. I loved her...no, I love her. Broke my heart, killed my brother, emptied out the vault of our guild and poisoned my pet dog. She took everything and left me nothing."
"Well, the most obvious thing to do is to find her and find out why." Moore explains. "There are a variety of possibilities... but we're the types that like to get to the truth of things. Can you give us any information on where and when this happened? Any information about her as well would be helpful."
The half-blood looks down and says, "Yeah...yeah, why not?" He says. "Me and my brother Arne ended up in a Brightwater orphanage when we were kids. Don't remember our parents, happened real young. Think they were from the Prime and stumbled in a portal through an accident. So we grew up and decided to make our fortune as an adventurer's guild. He's the favorite of the Golden Lady and I know my way around a sword. The two of us could take care of anything...'till I met her."
Moore nods, taking the information down mentally. "Of course. Go on at your leisure."
"Her name's Alurae," He pauses closing his eyes. "Beautiful. Hair just like the bards say, like sunlight and honey. She smiles so warmly, it makes my legs turn to jelly. An elf, like the bards sing that they are at their height. For some reason she liked me and joined our guild. I talked my brother into it, then...then...after a little time she betrayed us all. Took everything."
Moonlight scowls, "She sounds like a black widow. She left you alive and slew your brother, though? Why?"
"Don't know. He had Waukeen's favor, so she may have feared it. Maybe she shouldn't have, since she wouldn't grant her clerics the spell to resurrect him. He's out there somewhere in her quarter now, probably some minor spirit or another that doesn't remember my name." The man still looks down, lost.
"Don't worry anymore." Moore says, flying over to offer a reassuring shake of his shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of it and put things right. We'll come back here in some time, so don't lose your hope yet. Oh -- what's your name, by the way? It'll make it easy for us to find you later."
"Mill," He answers to you, "I...how are you going to do it?
Moore just smiles. "You leave the hard part up to us." He nods and backs up a bit. "People from Aurora can be very determined to find things that are difficult to find."
"We have this," Moonlight promises, leading Moore away. Out of the corner of her mouth as you go, she murmurs, "So how do we do this?"
"The most direct way is a divination to find the person." Moore says with a smile. "Then we go from there."
Okay, so are you returning to Aurora for these? If so, what spells are you casting?
It's probably best that they do it in Brightwater since Moore's only got 1 more Gate use for today, unless that sort of thing is frowned upon or they couldn't find a good place for it. I'd be using the spell 'Divination' specifically. If they need to go back to Aurora then they can do that and then we can go on the actual trip the next day.
There are actually generic holy places run by Waukeenites available for rental. It's Waukeen's domain, what do you expect? They run about 500 gold per hour, paid hourly. Varies a little depending on who owns it and who's trying to undercut who on any given day.
Moore will pony up the 500 gold, because what's 500 gold when you're doing a good deed for a good person? Besides, considering a Waukeenite died, it might give him more of an oomph for tracking down the killer. Or not, since Waukeen didn't want him resurrected. We'll see!
Deities are fairly stingy with resurrections and may deny them for reasons completely unrelated to how much they like the target in question.
Okay, deduct the cost and component in loot. What's the question?
"Where can we find the individual who went by the name Alurae who betrayed Mill?"
He's guessing that it isn't her real name, so he's hoping that he can use that as a substitute.
Your reply is, "Between right and wrong, where all comes to formlessness."
He was -really- hoping for somewhere specific...
"Between right and wrong, where all comes to formlessness." Moore relays to Moonlight. "Any idea other than 'somewhere after you die', which wouldn't do us much good anyway?"
Any K checks relevant for trying to puzzle that one out?
Not really.
"Where all comes to formlessness, somewhere between good and evil," Moonlight says, "You can figure a riddle out if you walk it through, a piece at a time. What's between good and evil?"
Moore folds his arms. "I guess neutrality?"
"Okay, and so what's formlessness? Somewhere where something loses form." Moonlight says, "Ideas?"
"Hmm..." Moore looks down, thinking of particular planes where people lose their forms or are otherwise hidden. "Maybe a plane of shapeshifters?"
"Could be," Moonlight says, "Or a plane that's particularly morphic?"
"Do you know of any like that?" Moore leans back to think on it himself, hoping some luck will come his way on the matter.
Take 10 K:P for 57.
Moonlight sighs then. Leaning against the golden wall of your rented, sanctified place, "What place can you change with your mind, and has no regular form?"
"Limbo is the only place that comes to mind... ...Wait, Limbo? But that doesn't..." Moore frowns. "Hm... no, maybe it does make sense."
"Yeah, I thought it was obvious," Moonlight says with a bit of a blush, "Wasn't it? I thought you were testin...oh wow."
"I was overthinking it." Moore admits with a smile. "All right, well, I'd rather not just Gate us to Limbo with no easy way back... so do you want to return to Aurora and wait until tomorrow?"
Moonlight scratches and her cheek and looks away, "Ah, yeah. Yeah, let's go do that. Tomorrow's good. So on something else altogether, how about we get back?"
Ready to move along?
Yar.
A night's rest refreshes you. You meet with Moonlight again, and after a quick meal, "So Limbo. Do you have an idea of where on Limbo?"
"It didn't specify, but..." Moore smiles a little. "I have a feeling I'll be able to find her without too much trouble. Worst case, I can just do another divination while we're there. I mean, sometimes you just have to trust that you'll be guided the way you need to be."
"Yes, but it's a huge plane," Moonlight points out, "She could be anywhere there, or not even there anymore.'
"Mm, I suppose in that case we can narrow it down." Moore agrees.
He'll borrow Selune's temple to ask another Divination, specifically "Where should we Gate to on Limbo to find the one who called themselves Alurae who betrayed Mill?"
No good. You can tell there's interference - something is blocking information on Alurae's location. It might be where she is, it might be a spell on her or it might be the intervention of a powerful entity.
"Hm." Moore leans back after he's finished. "Something's protecting her... but it could be a variety of things. I really doubt she's being protected by anyone in particular, so my guess is it's either local conditions or she's using magic herself. Hm... I'm not sure what we do about that, or if there really is anything to do."
"There's not a lot. We can try stronger magic to crack it," Moonlight says, "See, I know how to kill mages. If you stop something a mage needs to do and can't just maneuver around with a different approach, they have to try the same thing with more power. Like if a wizard can only beat you with a fire spell and you stop fireball, they might rely on meteor swarm instead. Might work if it's a location, too."
She giggles a little bit, Selune's temple quiet right now. Balyss and Stille are both absent, though you can hear the normal noise of the courtyard outside. She takes a seat and waggles a finger, "Or we could go to Limbo and hope to get lucky, but that's really rolling the dice. Limbo does what it wants, and it might help you as easily as it hurts you."
Moore takes his new friend the ancient coin out: "We would be better served asking Tepen for help." He throws it into the air!
He is intentionally being vague here!
The coin comes up tails.
Moore raises his eyebrows at that. "I think trusting in some luck is how we solve this. Worst case scenario, I'm sure we'll find something interesting while we're there."
"Trusting in luck?" Moonlight tilts her head to the side, "You serve archons, not eladrin, right?"
Moore smiles. "I think Erathaol himself would say that sometimes you have to trust your gut instinct when left with a predicament." He takes a breath. "Hmm. Let me try something. We'd be better served by trusting in luck to guide us today." Moore throws the coin again!
What's your question?
He's asking in general if they should just trust in luck/fate/whatever today rather than follow anyone's guidance. A specific question would be: Should we trust in luck to guide us today?
The coin lands on its side. Moonlight cracks a grin, "To quote Tymora: I protect everyone who relies on luck, sometimes. At least that suggests it's an option."
"I say let's go for it. You don't get anywhere in Limbo following the rules, right?" Moore says.
"You do, but usually trouble. Sometimes." Moonlight quips.
Just going to gate to a random Limbo point?
He's going to go with his gut instinct, so yes.
> roll 1d100
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 46 > [d100=46]
You appear in rocky land, where fire and ice swirl around you. Everything's shaking like a bowl of jelly, distortions passing through the air rapidly. It's Limbo, alright.
Go ahead and describe how you intend to search and move forward in general safety.
Moore will cast Lay of the Land before setting off anywhere, using that to get a good idea of what's around. He'll also cast Safety, just to make sure he knows where to go if there are any problems.
General idea will be to fly high enough to avoid any ground-based problems and anarch power away anything that seems to cause a problem. He has contingency plans in case of emergencies.
Moore casts the spell, concentrating amid the roaring chaos all around him. Quite predictably, there's no major landmarks. Only ever-changing chaos all around him. At one point a mountain begins to rise to his senses, only to start turning into a flock of seagulls and daisies.
Find the Path relies on landmarks to work and to give you a heads up. It just doesn't work well in an inherently chaotic place like Limbo, unless you get to a part of it that's relatively stable.
You said Find the Path but I used Safety!
Oh wow, I meant Lay of the Land failing and I just missed Safety. Thanks for the correction, I failed pretty hard. So noted on Safety.
So noted!
Moore nods, starting to fly in a random direction. If there seems to be any particular chaotic areas, he'll try and use his anarch powers to at least let them get by safely.
Just going to go in a direction and fly along and see what happens.
> roll 1d100 Moore trusting in chaos, huh
<Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d100 Moore trusting in chaos, huh --> [ 1d100=44 ]{44}
You fly for a half hour. Nothing so far - only chaos stuff and ever-changing terrain, your anarch powers taming the more difficult ones.
> roll 1d100 Moore trusting in chaos, huh
<Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d100 Moore trusting in chaos, huh --> [ 1d100=40 ]{40}
As another half hour passes, Moonlight follows by skipping on rocks you create with your anarch abilities. "Maybe we can run into the githzerai?" she suggests, "A monastery might know more."
"It's certainly possible." Moore says. "I'm sure we're bound to find something... or some -one- soon." He says as he continues along.
> roll 1d100 Moore trusting in chaos, huh
<Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d100 Moore trusting in chaos, huh --> [ 1d100=14 ]{14}
Another half hour and nothing too interesting. Some strange bird-rabbits fly along, but they stay away and ignore you, before becoming consumed by spontaneous lava.
> roll 1d100 Moore trusting in chaos, huh
<Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d100 Moore trusting in chaos, huh --> [ 1d100=49 ]{49}
Another hour down. You pause on a stone slab you create, a moment of peace and serenity amid the endless creation of Limbo. Moonlight stretches, "Nothing yet," she says, "Sometimes you'll get lucky and find a stable pocket of something precious, like gold ore or mithral. Hopefully stable enough to last long enough to mine some and get it off plane."
Moore decides to try Lay of the Land again. Perhaps there's something more interesting in the locale they're in.
"We'll try for a bit longer. If we don't find anything then we'll go back and tackle this another way." Moore says. "Or I suppose I could just try... well, we'll keep going first and see."
What mental protections and scrying protections do you have right now?
The ones from the Mission Readiness Arch: mind blank (CL17), fortunate fate (CL15), planar tolerance (CL7) and greater mage armor(CL5) -- although to be entirely fair I didn't specify we were using it, so if you don't think it's fair to provide them then I'll say nothing barring SR as far as I'm aware.
Make a Will save, +10 bonus for mind blank. It's something capable of pushing through that, though you still get a bonus from it.
<@Nephrite> roll 1d20+45+10 Will save
<Rei-chan> Nephrite rolled : 1d20+45+10 Will save --> [ 1d20=3 ]{58}
As you begin to cast Lay of the Land, you feel dizzy. Momentarily disoriented, shaken about like an ice cube in a glass of water.
"Oof." Moore shakes his head, stopping for a moment to rub at his forehead. "...Hm, something is around here that I don't think appreciates being found."
Moonlight hops on over, looking over, "You look alright, no nose bleed or signs of evil. What happened?"
"I tried to get some bearing on where we were, you know, that spell that lets you see for miles around?" Moore explains. "But there was... something that seemed to shake me. I wonder what it was, exactly... I don't want to upset anyone, but... well, at the same time, if there's some force of evil here, we should probably investigate. What do you think?"
"If there's evil here, we'll smash it with the light of the sun." Moonlight says, "Even if it ribbits at us."
Moore takes a breath. "All right, then, in that case, I'm going to try again." He casts some preparatory spells first, then tries to cast Lay of the Land again.
He is casting Improvisation and Tyche's Touch before casting Lay of the Land.
This time there's no trouble. There's one solid spot a good ways 'above' you. Several miles, but some sort of solid landmass. A temple of sorts, yes, with pond and places to farm.
Moore rubs his chin afterwards, but looks in that direction. "Nothing that time, maybe it passed by... hm. There's something up there -- seems to be some kind of temple." He takes a breath. "I don't think anything is in it, but just in case, we may as well check it out." He'll start to head in that direction.
"Probably a githzerai monastery," Moonlight says, "Most creatures aren't desperate or suicidal enough to make a home in Limbo. Slaad excluded."
"Well, either way, we may as well investigate. If there's nothing there then all we've lost is some time." Moore says as he starts to head in that direction!
> roll 1d100
<Rei-chan> Kowork rolled : 1d100 --> [ 1d100=86 ]{86}
You rise up and soon make it to the monastery. It's a quiet pocket of Limbo, a great slab of earth with a sturdy building of stone atop it. It's a walled building, with a dome covering the outer courtyard and closed gates leading within.
Moore will cast Detect Magic before going any further, as he doesn't want to be surprised by some sort of terrible trap!
Taking 10 for 45 on the Spellcraft.
There's magic here, but fading magic. Magic to keep away Limbo, starting to crumble but still effective. Something happened to destabilize it. If not restored, wild chaos will consume this place in a few day's time.
"...That's weird. They must've used this as a base or something, had magic to keep the forces of Limbo out... but I guess they're not maintaining it anymore." Moore says as he goes forward towards the front to see if the door is open.
You find the gate is not locked. As you get close, you can hear the sounds of ...eating? Tearing flesh, gulping, devouring.
Moore wrinkles his nose. "I think it might be time for that smiting thing you're so good at, Moonlight." Moore says as he casts a quick spell to create some duplicates of himself before he moves in the direction of the sound.
Mirror Image, +8 extra images, 23m.
It's past the gate, which would require opening it. Are you?
Why yes.
You open the door. All about you find bodies - bodies of githzerai. Some are skeletons and others are intact. A few are being eaten by tall blue slaad. They're covered in shadows, and as they see the two of you, one offers out a gith's arm. "Hungry?" It asks in Common. "Arm for arm?"
Moore shakes his head slowly. "No. We're not interested in that. Did you... kill all of them?" Moore asks, knowing the answer already, but wanting to hear it. "If so, why?"
Behind you Moonlight braces, as blue slaad amble on out. Over two dozen, no three dozen. At least 40. It smacks its lips. "Hungry."
Moore frowns at that. He glances towards Moonlight. "Odds don't really look to be in our favor on this one. What do you think?" He asks, voice rather wary.
"We don't have a choice, we have to do something. There might be survivors," Moonlight readies her mace.
"Well then, let's see if this works." Moore says as he takes on a much more serious tone as he looks at the blue slaad.
"You and your friends will leave. Now." Moore and all his images command.
He's going to try an Intimidate and use his anarch powers to do something threatening, like... I don't know, thunder... no. A booming voice from Mechanus to reinforce his message.
Anarch check first of all.
[13:37] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+5
[13:37] <Rei-chan> Nephrite rolled : 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=7 ]{12}
No love on that, so just make a straight Intimidate check.
[13:45] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+12+11+15 Intimidate
[13:45] <Rei-chan> Nephrite rolled : 1d20+12+11+15 Intimidate --> [ 1d20=17 ]{55}
> roll 1d10+20+12 slaad pack (the odd roll is due to chaotic feats in play)
<Rei-chan> Kowork rolled : 1d10+20+12 slaad pack (the odd roll is due to chaotic feats in play) --> [ 1d10=5 ]{37}
One slaad stares and then clutches its chest. "Oh, I am slain!" It declares, before falling face down. It's still breathing, though. Another continues eating a leg, "Terrified," It says dryly, in perfect Draconic. "Food's important that fear. Especially crispy food."
However, the majority recoil, some even stopping their meal and falling back.
"I think they don't understand the circumstances they're in, Moonlight." Moore and his images say to her. "Any of you who don't want to die today should leave." Moore says.
He'd like to cast Improvisation, but considering things I'm not sure if he will have the time to do so.
Most of the slaad quickly run past you and flee, leaving only three. One's still eating, disinterested. Another is watching you with beady eyes, "Two and three, two and three, tow and three," he constantly mutters, two more and more often becoming tow. The last rises and claps, "Bravo, good sir. Dinner AND entertainment. A classical production so rare as to be avant garde. I award you full honors and stars, my friends!"
"So, which one of you feels like explaining why you're even here?" Moore asks. "Or maybe we should just skip past to the part where you're not here anymore because you're dead, just like everyone else you apparently killed."
Make another Intimidate check.
[14:54] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+12+11+12 Intimidate
[14:54] <Rei-chan> Nephrite rolled : 1d20+12+11+12 Intimidate --> [ 1d20=18 ]{53}
That seems to do. The last three slaad scream as one. Two flee, but the last keeps clapping while screaming. "Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!" Then it bows and sinks into the ground like water, gone.
"Split up or stay together to look?" Moore asks.
"Blue slaad aren't that tough," Moonlight says, "Unless there's a death slaad bossing them around, we should be fine to split up. What could possibly go wrong?" She says this with a big grin, "Nothing, that's what."
"Well, there's a good way to find out, I suppose." He fishes his coin out -- "Is there a death slaad here?" Then he throws it up! Considering they're in Limbo, he's really not so convinced it's actually going to work, but hey, it's no fun to never chance fate.
Amazingly, the coin that doesn't handle chaos well comes up on its side in the realm of absolute chaos, when asked about an exemplar of chaos. Who would ever guess that?
No one! So Moore looks around for any hallways or ways to go.
Ahead is the main monastery. The gate is open and somewhat damaged, so getting in won't be difficult. Alternately, you could explore the outer courtyard at your leisure.
"Let's just check inside for now." Moore suggests as he goes forward past the gate.
Within leads directly into a center room. A bell hangs in the center of the room, a big, full sized bell. Slain githzerai lay all about, some half eaten and some intact.
"If any of you are alive, please raise a hand! The slaad are gone!" Moore calls out. He doesn't have time to check them all, unfortunately, so he'll have to trust that they can hear him.
If there's no response, he'll simply look for another way to explore and listen for any calls from Moonlight or from deeper in.
Searching the place? Make a Search check.
Taking 10 for 46.
You search around. You find a lot of dead githzerai, bedrooms, storage rooms for supplies, a meditation room, a small library and a locked door in the back. You can search any of these further if you want or do something about the door, if you wish.
Moore frowns. They were really thorough...
He'll search the rooms in order, presuming Moonlight doesn't call out for anything. So, bedrooms, then supplies, then meditation room, then library in that order. He's looking for anything that might indicate what this place was for (and why in the world it was in Limbo) and then possibly a key to that door. In the supplies room he'll look for anything of any note (read: magical).
Bedrooms are largely unremarkable. Spartan, but there's personal things here, including somethings of value like coins, gems, jewelry and potions.
The supplies are entirely non magical. Mundane ones like rope, food, wood, nails, clothes and all the other things you need to run a monastery.
The meditation room has packs unused incense that you could take if you like, as well as a golden brazier.
The library has books, about two dozen. None are magical, but you could sit down and read them if you wanted.
Alternately, you can take anything you want. The gith don't seem to need them anymore. No sign of a key.
Moore will cast Scholar's touch to go through all the books. He's primarily looking to see who these gith might've served religion wise if anyone, and maybe see if there's any info on what the place is.
After that he's going to go look for Moonlight!
It's a collection of books on githzerai culture, meditation and magic. Probably worth some coin, interesting but nothing immediately relevant to your situation.
Moonlight's found in front of the locked door. She's twirling a key on a leather strap around her finger, "Hey," she says, "Look at what I found!"
"On the one hand, I'm glad you found it. On the other, I don't know if I should ask -where- you found it." Moore says. "But let's see what's back there."
"One of the githzerai had it," Moonlight says, going and unlocking the door. Ahead is a large room. It's empty save for a steel chest against the back wall.
"Oh, there's nothing at all suspicious about this." Moore says dryly. He casts a spell to detect magic!
Taking 10 for 45 on the spellcraft if there is, in fact, magic, in the totally mundane room with the one treasure chest.
No magic.
"...Really?" Moore says, actually completely shocked. Either way, he'll cast a few more spells before he goes to investigate the chest!
Improvisation and then Find Traps, so he'll search the chest for traps (I actually typed that backwards at first... yes, let's search the trap for chests), taking 10 for 56
The chest is not trapped.
"...You know, it still seems weird." Moore says as he opens the chest. "Maybe I've just been on too many adventures."
"Not everyone is paranoid," Moonlight smiles, "I doubt the githzerai were expecting this much of an attack."
Moore nods, looking to open the chest. "Once we're done here, I'd like to try and figure out what to do with them. It doesn't seem right to just leave them all here to be eaten. Maybe... hm. I'll do a Sending to Vul'lath and ask for his opinion. I'd like to at least give everyone here a proper sendoff of some nature... they deserved better." He adds with a bit of sadness. "Perhaps we can donate something we find here to whatever religion they followed, also."
There's a good deal of coinage in there. Mostly gold, but some silver and copper, as well as some platinum.
To be on the safe side, Moore casts Detect magic again. But he'll take everything and put it into his haversack.
"There are some books here too I'd like to bring back to add to the library." Moore says. "Actually, I think I'll contact Vul'lath now. Would you mind waiting with me in that meditation room? It feels safer to do that there."
The coins and the books as well? Anything else?
Nothing else yet. He doesn't like just taking from the dead! Unless they're evil!
Sending will be as such, believe it's 25 words: "Found temple with githzerai in Limbo. Attacked by slaad, seems all are dead. Would like to give proper burial but unsure how. Lots of corpses."
Do me a favor and post the books + coins in loot. Thanks.
Sage Vul'lath's reply is short and to the point. 'Cremation. Do not burn the temple, only the bodies.'
"Well, this should make you happy -- the best way is cremating them. Does Lathander have anything to say about taking the effects of the deceased?" Moore asks. "It feels... well, it's basically theft, but... on the other hand, I think we can put it to better use than the slaad can, don't you?"
"It depends," Moonlight goes to lean against the wall, sighing a little bit. "If you defeat evil or the wicked, you're entitled to what they had, so long as it isn't another person's. Like if you kill a Banite and you know the gems he has were stolen from another, you return the gems. His enchanted sword that you don't know anything about it fair plunder. Looting from tombs or the slaughtered isn't acceptable unless they were serving evil or it eliminates a greater threat. Such as taking something that would turn the dead into an undead over time."
Moonlight looks around, "Take what is precious and seal it in this room. Leave it for the githzerai when they come to reclaim this temple."
Moore nods. "All right. Let's get to it then, although this won't be pleasant -- it's the right thing to do." He agrees.
Plan will be to basically search all the gith for anything that that fits the bill as valuable (He'll detect magic as necessary and appraise as needed) and do as Moonlight suggested.
> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=100 ]{100}
> roll 1d100 uh oh
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 uh oh --> [ 1d100=79 ]{79}
You begin to gather the bodies and search them. Goods are put aside. You set them ablaze, watching a funeral pyre burn. As you...
Will save, Moore. Any protections from scrying up?
I'd still have Mind Blank from the arch.
[13:05] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+45 Will Save
[13:05] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d20+45 Will Save --> [ 1d20=12 ]{57}
+10 to that then for a total of 67.
You feel momentarily disoriented, off balance.
Moore stumbles for a moment as he falls back onto his rear, then he frowns and looks around. "There's that uneasiness again... There's something either near here or ... here. Did you feel anything?" He asks.
"Nothing." Moonlight looks around, mace in hand. "Hello, anyone here and waiting to be smited for being nosy?"
"Maybe it's because I'm an anarch...?" Moore says as he pulls himself back up to fly again. "Yes, hello? If you're curious, just... come out!" Moore calls out amidst the burning, which somehow he's forgotten all about.
The only reply is the crackle of the burning githzerai.
"Well, we've got someone's attention... or I do, anyway." Moore shrugs. "I guess there's not much we can do about it. It isn't terribly fruitful of an experience, but I suppose we should put the money back too, if we're hoping some other gith come along to check on what happened. I'll leave a note too, so there's no... ...hm. You know, I could find out exactly what happened here... but I don't know if it's worth the investment of time to do so." Moore says with a sigh. "The result's the same no matter what."
"There's no point. Slaad don't have reasons." Moonlight comes over and pats you on the shoulder - more of a thump due to the size differences. "All you can do is chase them off and move on."
Moore nods.
He'll take all the valuables and the coins and put it back. He'll also write a note that explains he came across it while exploring and any interested parties can contact Aurora for more detail. I will update loot accordingly.
Very good. What's your move after all of that?
Since it seems like I've raised something's ire or attention somehow, let's just scrap the rest of the trip in Limbo for now. Moore can consult with Tepen or someone back at Aurora on finding the person, maybe ask Tannin instead if they're being magically protected from scrying.
Done.
Your trip back to Aurora is uneventful. Moonlight goes off to do her own thing while you go to catch Tepen. You find him in the courtyard, watching Aurora's various forces practice.
Go ahead.
"Elder Magi." Moore greets him. "I have a question regarding scrying protections, if you have some time."
"I do," Tepen says, walking away. Once you're away from the noise, "They are?"
"I was trying to locate an individual with some scrying and divinations." Moore explains. "I know they're in Limbo, which I realize presents its own set of challenges. However, when I tried to be more specific about -where- in Limbo, I felt... a haziness, I suppose. I know it's either an area of Limbo that isn't conducive to divinations, but... to me, that seems unlikely. I suppose it's possible this person knows, but I wouldn't really think that'd be a reliable hope to pin yourself on. Going beyond that, I think it's either some spell or magic to prevent divination attempts against the individual, or someone powerful protecting them." Moore explains.
"The individual went by the name Alurae and betrayed someone named Mill who was a follower of Waukeen. We're investigating it as a condition of one of the guardians of Brightwater to bring aid to Aurora. Moonlight and I went to Limbo to look for her, found... well, a strange church that githzerai were using. To make a long story short, we had to give them a fiery sendoff as the slaad had invaded the place. But while we were there, there were two times I felt... very dizzy. I don't know what it was... but I think I caught someone's attention. Ah... sorry, that's a bit of a rambling story, but I thought it was important to mention anyway." Moore says with a sheepish smile.
Tepen takes ten on an K:P check here for a total of 62.
"Before anything else, you're wrong on an important assumption. Limbo's chaotic nature makes scrying more difficult, and it can spontaneously manifest to redirect, blur or corrupt scryings. Of course, it may just as easily not interfere or make scryings easier. The greatest mistake you can make with Limbo is assuming something is unlikely or not a factor there, because it can be at any whim."
Tepen clears his throat after that, "That said, protective magic is more likely. What divinations did you emply to find her? It is possible she is employing some sort of counter measures, but if you went through Afina's new arch, then this Alurae is a foe of terrifying ability."
"Just the standard Divination spell. ...I really wish that was called something else, it can get confusing sometimes." Moore says with a bit of a smile. "I could try something stronger, but I wanted to get advice before I did anything else. What's odd, and may get more to your point about something I overlooked, the first Divination I did to tell me where we could find her was successful without any issues at all -- just when I was more specific, it didn't work."
"That is strange," Elder Magi Tepen remarks, strolling along. He looks up in contemplation, "Unless you had the unusual luck to catch her between protections."
Moore nods. "I suppose that's certainly possible. Considering it's Limbo, I wonder if 27 would have anything useful to tell me on the matter." Moore laughs at that after he says it. "Well, in his own way, anyway. I'm not sure how else to approach this other than maybe asking Tannin if he can do some digging for us. I almost wonder if non-magical means is the best way to go."
"It's worth consideration. Tannin's gifted at his profession," Tepen says.
Moore nods. "Thank you, Elder Magi. Please let me know if I can be of any service to you in the future."
With that, Moore will call for Elena to ask where Tannin is!
"He's just gotten back," Elena says, directing you to the courtyard.
Tannin's there, all muddy, dirty and beaten up. Bloodstained too, but he waves it off, "It's the other guy's," he says as he strides through the courtyard, the hood of his outfit badly torn and hanging limply behind his head.
"Sounds like you either found who you were looking for or found someone who knew where to find them." Moore says with a bit of a smile. "I can wait until you ah... freshen up, if you'd like, I have a request for you."
"Yeah, I need to meet Jaela first anyway," Tannin says, "Just finished up a nip of business for her."
"All right. Just catch me when you're done then." Moore says with a smile.
There's not much for him to do except wait since his pending business on Brightwater with the Consortium isn't until tomorrow. He doesn't really have anything on the agenda for the rest of the day so he's free for whatever.
You're just waiting on Tannin, so let's have you pause a few. He needs to talk to Jaela IC real quick, then he'll be back to you.
OK
Tannin's not long and meets you after getting cleanedup. You're sharing a meal in the cafeteria and he asks, "What do you need?"
"I'm looking into someone who I think is much worse than face value would lead you to believe." Moore explains over some porridge. "Her name, well, one of them, is Alurae. We're doing some good deeds in Brightwater and heard about her -- stole a fortune from a man and killed his Waukeen-following brother for some reason. Apparently got to Limbo somehow. Divinations don't seem to work very well on her, and while I was in Limbo something tried... some sort of mumbo-jumbo-magic-y stuff on me twice. I can't be sure if it was related." Moore adds, taking a bite of his food.
"Long story short, I don't know what this person is, or if she's just a demon or what... but it didn't seem like magic was the way to go with her, if that makes sense." Moore says.
"Alurae? Right, I can look into it," Tannin says, "How fast do you need results?"
"I would prefer you take your time. If she's more dangerous than we've thought, I don't want to put you into harm's way ... er... you know, more than you probably already do on a regular basis, anyway..." Moore says with a smile.
"Gimme a few days then, toss some things around," Tannin says, "Sounds like a succubus off the top of my head, but could be a whole bunch of things."
"That was my general thought as well. It seemed odd that divinations worked but then didn't." Moore says. "Let me know if I can be of any help to you, by the way -- I realize I'm a bit unique in why I'm here, but I think I can partner pretty well with anyone."
Tannin grins and raises his mug to you in salute, "You can do one thing for me. Tap that Queen, I hear she has it for you baaaaaad."
Moore sputters and fumbles with his spoon. "W...what?!" He hisses out, leaning in closer. "What are you --... Illsenine!?" Moore whispers, looing around to see if anyone is trying to listen in.. "Oh, I didn't even... ...I didn't even notice..." He slumps back against his chair, thinking back. "No wonder she... ...of course. Augh, and she probably can't even talk about it because of her station... I've put her in such an awful position." He rubs his forehead at that, then takes a deep breath. "Well." He clears his throat. "I apparently have some research to do then."
Tannin's eyes go wide and he laughs, throwing his head back at that reaction. Fortunately, no one seems to be paying attention to you. "You mean you didn't realize? I heard that it's obvious as the sun rising in the morning."
After that, Tannin leans in and keeps his voice down, "Well, you're in a spot then. Look, you didn't hear it from me, but I hear Ilsenine was a piece of work back on Lifasa. You know General Afina? She started as Ilsenine's court jester, performer and assassin. Heard the Queen gave Afina a good amount to do. Now here I am, hearing Queen Ilsenine's calmed down on that, but a woman scorned is worse than a berserker cornugon, let me tell you."
"No, no..." Moore shakes his head. "She's an incredibly charming woman." Moore says, his voice quiet. "I... didn't really expect to find myself in her good graces like that, but... well, you play the role fate has in store for you, right?" Moore says with a small smile. "I'll just have to continue to provide exemplary service so no one questions her judgement when it comes to me, right?" Moore laughs quietly at that.
"Good luck with that." Tannin says, "You're going to need it. You might want to make a few offerings to Tymora and Sune."
Moore smiles. "Perhaps. This puts a lot of things into perspective, though... whew. I can't believe I was the only one who didn't know..."
"You're in for it now," Tannin says, "No wonder you aren't spending more time with her."
"Well, that wouldn't do." Moore says with a bit of a shrug. "Maybe it's different for humans, but with a court you have to... think of it like a play or theater. You have to know when your role is up and how to play it properly. Besides, if a princess were smitten with you, you'd have to be careful and not just barge into the castle, right?" Moore asks. "Although maybe you'd just sneak in."
"Ah, I had a princess interested in me one time," Tannin kicks back, "Scurried up her tower to see her. Problem was her other suitor had the same idea and well...things went quite wrong and I ended up hightailing it out of that kingdom all together, with a brigade of knights after my head."
"Yes, see, I'd rather not have to go back to Venya in a casket." Moore says dryly. "It was odd enough the first time. Pretty, though."
"No kidding? Isn't it the one before that where you might wake up in a casket or a grave? Mercuria, yeah." Tannin remarks, "Heard Domiel's big on that sort of symbolism."
"One of these days I'll figure out how I got there." Moore says, sounding rather resolute in that. "But for now it isn't that important. But, really, if you need my help with anything, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm trying to work with everyone if I can."
"Nah, I'm off to find out about your woman," Tannin stands up, "G'luck with Queenie."
"Yes, thank you." Moore says.
I'm good to move along if you want. I know technically tomorrow (which is hard to keep track of, I realize) is the Consortium thing and I think we're now at 7 days to get back to the dragon?
Yes. What do you want to move along to?
I suppose Moore can check in around Aurora for the rest of the day to see if anyone needs him. Barring that, he'll just wait until tomorrow to go back to Brightwater for the Consortium business.
> roll 1d100
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 14 > [d100=14]
Aurora's quiet. Refresh me on your Consortium business?
We'd offered to be a liaison to Crystalle for them or other matters and Ruby said to return in 2 days.
Okay. Going solo or taking anyone with you?
He'll ask around if anyone wants to go, otherwise he'll go himself.
Asking around nets a person - Vivantha. When you ask, "The Consortium? Yes, I think I'd like to go this time."
"Of course. You'd be more than welcome." Moore says.
He'll stop by the arch and then Gate them to Brightwater.
You meet back with Ruby in the Consortium, greetings exchanged and all of that. Once it's done, "Mister Sisatar is interested in your proposal."
"Oh, how wonderful." Moore says with a smile. "Then, how would he like us to proceed from here?"
"At the moment, we're assessing our options and liabilities," Ruby replies, "We do not expect an offer for about a week's time. In the meantime, as a show of good faith,' Ruby withdraws a slip of paper and passes it to Vivantha, "Condolences," she adds.
Vivantha takes the paper and nods slightly, "Thank you," she replies and opens it up, reading.
Moore blinks and looks over at Vivantha, figuring if it was something he needed to know about she'll explain it!
Make a Fortitude save, Moore.
Oh goodness!
[21:59] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+39 mettle if it matters
[21:59] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 56 > [d20=17]
You feel a wave nausea rip through you. It's sudden and followed by a deathly chill, but somehow you shake it off. It passes in a few seconds, leaving you feeling dirty.
Moore holds a hand up to his mouth to cover it, suddenly feeling sick. What in the...?
He looks around for some possible source, but then looks to Vivantha again to see if she's exhibiting similar signs of anything.
They both look fine. Ruby looks to you, "Moore, are you unwell?" she asks, "Do you require a healer?"
Moore frowns to Ruby's question. Why is he the only one...? "No, I believe I am fine. Just a sudden... chilling feeling for some reason." He forces a smile at that. "My apologies for worrying you. Ah, well, if there's no pressing business that you or Master Sisatar, then please feel free to contact myself or Lord Morniel if you have a request of us before a week's time. Otherwise I will return then."
"Be well," Ruby says, giving you a long look.
"Of course." Moore nods and will leave with Vivantha!
If there's no pressing shopping Vivantha wants to do they'll go back to Aurora, and Moore's first thing to do will be to go find either Tepen or Vul'lath, whoever is less busy.
> roll 1d100 Moore-chan
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 23 > [d100=23]
Your return is unremarkable. You find Vul'lath off duty, as it were. He's in the cafeteria, eating a plate of greenish-white cheese. You can smell it from here - gwah! It's like someone boiled feet and sprayed it all around.
Moore breathes through his mouth as he approaches. He's not much of a epicurean...
"Sage, may I bother you for a moment?" He doesn't want to shock him like he did Vivantha that one time...
With a hint of a smile, "Yes, yes you can. Help yourself," he invites.
"They say not to judge a book by the cover, right...?" He leans in to try some. Hopefully he doesn't die.
"I'm not entirely sure where to start with this, so let me explain from the beginning." Moore says.
"Moonlight and I were in Limbo, and twice while we were there, I felt a strange sensation -- dizziness, like something was... ...I don't know. Basically like someone had grabbed me and shook me like a doll." He says. "This happened twice. While Vivantha and I were just in Brightwater, something similar happened... it felt like a wave of... ...ill. Just pure ill -- it left me cold and... ugh." He shivers at that. "I don't think I'm sick... but I think something is doing it, but I have absolutely no idea what, and... quite frankly, I have no idea where to even start." He looks down at the cheese. "...I think I feel like that smells on the inside."
It's worse. Erathaol, it's worse than it smells!
As you struggle with that, "Sickness? Get analyzed for disease and a remedy to disease before anything else. Eliminate that possibility."
Moore does his absolute best to hide how bad it tastes.
[23:03] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+12+11 perform (this cheese really doesn't taste that bad)
[23:03] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 29 > [d20=6]
He swallows harshly nonetheless.
"All right. Once that's out of the question, what would you suggest? I'd say divinations myself, but... I don't know if self-diagnosis is necessarily the right way." Moore says.
He takes 10 for 15 on Sense Motive. Your score smokes his.
"It depends. It could easily be something trivial or a trace of illness, or a hundred other innocent things." Steepling his fingers together, "We are in a business where coincidences are the sign of enemy action. Some divination is only prudent."
"All right. I'll eliminate the mundane and come back if it turns out it's more than that." He nods. "Thank you, ah... ...but I don't think this is my type of culinary... treat." He smiles and goes to the healing ward to get checked out for mundane and boring things! Oh, how he hopes it's mundane and boring...
It totally isn't going to be, he just knows it.
Balyss is the one you see. She looks you over most closely, even having you strip down to your underwear and giving you a complete examination.
> roll 1d20+39 (+5 healer's vision)
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 44 > [d20=5]
"There's nothing wrong with you," Balyss announces, "Selune knows I've seen the sick and suffering, you're not one of them."
"I thought as much." Moore nods. "Thank you, Miss Balyss. Ah, besides yourself, is there anyone else proficient in divinations?"
"Uh uh." Balyss puts a hand on your shoulder, making you sit down. You're in Selune's church in Aurora, in a room in the back. Private, quiet and sharing space with some barrels full of supplies. "That doesn't mean something else isn't wrong with you, then you mentioned the D word. Selune's mercy, Moore, you're setting off the alarm."
"I think it's only natural to be worried when you have three different... weird things happen." Moore says with a sigh. "It's like something's out to get me, but I have no idea what."
"Sit down, I'm going to go try my hand at this," Balyss declares. "Take a rest, cleric's orders."
"Yes ma'am." Moore says as he tries to lay back and get comfortable.
Balyss goes off, trying her hand just as she promised.
> roll 1d20+25 caster level check
<Serith> Kobrb roll for Serith < 30 > [d20=5]
When Balyss returns a little bit later, she closes the door. "It's strange," she says, "You're familiar with divination, as in the spell?"
Moore nods. "Yes."
"Normally the spell's straightforward, right? You cast it, you get the information or not." Balyss goes to lean against the wall, her armor silent as she does so. Not the barest peep of iron. "It was odd. I got information, but I swear there was a moment's delay on it."
"Almost like something replaced the information with something else?" Moore asks.
"I wouldn't go that far," Balyss admits, "The only reason I noticed is because I've cast the damn spell so much for everyone."
Moore scratches his head. "What do you think it meant?"
Any Knowledge or spellcraft checks that might be relevant?
K:A.
Take 10 for 60.
Moore can think of a few possibilities.
Firstly, it could be a one off fluke. Spells are powerful but not always precisely consistent. Maybe local planar conditions, movements of the planes, free energy, what spells Balyss had active on her or a dozen other things could've caused a momentary delay.
Secondly, it could be her imagination or her expertise working against her. Perhaps she's so fine tuned to the spell that the slightest variance seems noteworthy to her, or a tiny thing is blown up by circumstances.
Thirdly, it could be enemy action. The sort of spell to not only stop a divination but intercept it and replace it could theoretically exist, but it's most likely epic magic. It's not impossible, but if it is, it's most likely someone powerful enough to cause problems. In that case, the simplest answer is getting the information face to face rather than relying on spells.
Fourthly, it could be the actions of greater unique entities or even a deity. In that case you're basically SOL without more information, since such entities rarely disclose what they can do. Such knowledge is a hodgepodge of observations and speculations, to this doesn't narrow it down beyond the though that it's really bad news, whatever it is.
Moore rubs his chin as he thinks of some possibilities. "Well, let's start with this: What did you ask and what was the answer?"
"I asked how how to treat what was wrong with you." Balyss says. "The answer was time."
Moore folds his arms and looks down. "Hm. I don't want to just go back without a reason, but... I think I should." He takes a breath and looks up. "I was just there recently, but if there's truly something wrong -- or if something is trying to somehow do something to me, then I should at least try and figure it out. If time is what I have to wait for, then that's fine, but... I think a trip to Celestia is probably in order." Moore says. "There are far too many things that it -could- be that are concerning."
"Alright then," Balyss says, "Good traveling. Take someone with you, just in case."
Moore nods. "All right, I will."
While I'm sure Cresiel -would- go, he's going to ask Ebony if she's interested. The more I think about it the worse idea that probably becomes. He'll ask Cresiel first.
Sure.
Cresiel's found training, stopping when you explain what's going on. "Very well. Where in Celestia?"
Moore smiles at that. "I know better than to try and tell Celestia where I should go. Considering the circumstances around this particular trip, it's probably best if I simply see where Erathaol will guide me."
"Then we should be off immediately," Cresiel agrees, wrapping up his training and going to get his gear.
Ready to hop along?
Yes, but as you can probably tell I'm spotty today. Feel free to prioritize other work.
Soon you stand on the beaches of Celestia. The waters of Lunia lap against your ankles as you once again stand before the holy mountain.
Ball's really in your court here, so decide what you'll do - be it trying to rise to a higher level, wandering or whatever else.
Moore takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He opens them again and starts to proceed away from the beach, towards the holy mountain itself.
"Thank you for coming again," He says. "It's important to know your own limits and what you're good and less good at, you know?
He's going to heard in Mount Celestia's general direction, but anything else is fair game.
Okay.
> roll 1d100
<Rei-chan> Kobrb rolled : 1d100 --> [ 1d100=94 ]{94}
You walk the beaches. Ahead lies a stereotypical dwarf, in heavy armor and bearded. He lies against a rock, groaning softly. An axe lies besides him, well used.
Moore will fly over! "Are you all right?"
He doesn't really wait for a response, looking for any obvious signs of injury. Hard with the armor, but not impossible!
Take 10 for 41 on the Heal check if necessary.
He's suffering from a terrible fever. It's taken his hearing and sight from him, leaving him virtually helpless.
So when you get no reply, you can at least understand why.
Would he know if Heal would resolve the condition?
The spell or the skill?
WOW. I forget these things. The spell, sorry.
Yes.
It's a trivial K:A check for you to know this, you can't fail it.
He briefly considers why someone's here in this condition -- is it punishment? Did they fight someone... no, it doesn't make a difference why.
He casts Heal on the dwarf and gives him some space so the first thing he sees isn't a pixie right in his face.
The dwarf shudders. Pus and blood pour from his eyes and ears, a thick cough as wellness returns. He blinks slowly, "Eh? Eh!" he taps his ears, "I can hear! I can see!"
"Goodness. Hello sir." Moore says and offers him a bow. "I'm Moore, of Aurora. This is Cresiel, of the same." He gestures to him. "Are you all right? What happened to you?"
"Barnath Griggerson," He introduces himself, slowly standing. "Don't know. I was sick and lost in umber hulk territory, passed out and then I'm here. Couldn't see or hear a damn thing, I was completely lost."
Moore looks to Cresiel, as if questioning that particular story.
"Well, it's good that fate saw to it to see you restored." Moore says with a smile. "If you don't mind my asking, what were you doing... er... you said umber hulk territory? Were you there for some reason...?"
"You are safe now. Fate has seen fit to take you to a greater place," The solar says, nodding slightly to Moore. "You were lost and blind, now the truth is revealed. Go now," he points, "Wander. The Father of Dwarves lives in this realm and you have been called here. The way to that realm will open to you. No doubt Moradin has plans for you."
"Scouting, but it went wrong. Unit got ambushed," The dwarf says curtly, then with widening eyes as Cresiel speaks. "Moradin!"
Moore nods to Cresiel then smiles at Barnath.
"Yes, take some time to get your bearings and then look around. Perhaps one day you'll come to Aurora -- if you do, let me know." Moore smiles a bit more at that.
The dwarf wanders off, dazed and shocked. Once he does, "I believe it is clear now." Cresiel says, looking upward.
"Yes." Moore nods. "Still, I'm glad we found him so he didn't have to suffer alone." He smiles a bit at that. "Shall we continue on?" He asks before he continues himself.
"We must. A point has been made about your divinations," Cresiel takes to the air, "We are blind and deaf now, and we must strive to find the cure before it is too late."
Moore blinks as he follows Cresiel. "Oh... oh... I didn't even... that was somehow both incredibly blunt and yet subtle at the same time." Moore says quietly as they go.
"One must learn to see the will of Celestia in everything," Cresiel says, "Come with me. I will fly us to an ally who can aid us further."
Moore nods. "Understood." He follows Cresiel nonetheless!
You fly up and soon find yourself over quieter fields, where grand tombs sit. "We have passed into Mercuria," he says, as you see rolling hills that glow with golden light, everything here tinted with it. "Quickly and without difficulty. I expect we are desired to rise higher up."
"Ah, this is Lord Domiel's realm, correct?" Moore asks. "The most logical place I can think of to go is back to Xiranthador, of course, logic isn't really... well, you know." Moore says with a smile. "Where does your ally reside?"
"Venya," Cresiel looks back, "Where else to go for when the mind's eye is blinded?"
Moore smiles. "I wonder if it's someone I met during my first time here."
Cresiel doesn't answer and the three of you fly up.
Yes, three.
As you ascend higher, you find a lantern archon flying with you, humming a pleasant ditty.
"Oh, hello!" Moore greets the lantern archon.
"Whee, flying!" A childish laugh comes from her, definitely a female. "Come with me! Let's race over here!" It darts on ahead and up.
Moore continues to fly, but keeps his pace steady with Cresiel for the time being. "She certainly has a lot of energy."
"Yes, and we've attracted the attention of another," Cresiel says, "Matters are serious if such an obvious ploy is used to draw us along."
"I'm worried now what I've done to cause something like this." Moore says with a frown. "But I suppose we'll find out soon enough." He continues along, trying to at least enjoy the view more than he did the last time.
You fly up. On the mountainside is a small building carved right out of the mountainside. A simple, blocky building with an open door to admit anyone, the lantern archon flying right on in.
Moore will take the invitation and fly in, but stop right beforehe crosses the threshold. "Hello!" He'll call in first to announce himself before he goes inside.
You wander inside. It's all a series of small rooms with glass chimes hanging in them. Light curtains separate the rooms rather than doors. A trail of chiming leads you along, the lantern archon causing them to tinkle as you head further within.
What bardic music feats do you have, Moore?
Melodic Casting
Haunting Melody
Words of Creation
Song of the Heart
Doom Speak
Epic Inspiration
The music the chimes make is beautiful, but you don't recognize it. You're taken to one of these small rooms, where a young girl sits. No more than ten years old, blonde hair and wearing a dirty peasant dress. She looks like a commoner child fresh from a day in the fields.
"Do you hear it?" she asks quietly, focused on you. "A moment, oh radiant one. The child of Titania must answer first."
Moore smiles, offering a bow to the girl nonetheless.
"I hear beautiful music, but... I can't quite place it, I'm afraid." Moore says quietly.
"It is a revision of the discordant music of the outer spheres," The girl says, looking up at you with sad, hopeful eyes. "To make the aberrant whole once more. The spheres sing of discord and poison for nine days now, of creeping rot. Rot is in you," Her eyes stare at you. "I cannot see. A veil comes over, a funeral veil to block out life."
"The harmony of order speaks of malice, a song of hatred ripples through. A captive world where the poison of one suffering soul flows." She looks down again, "They couldn't defeat Medicant last time, so they resorted to discord, strife and betrayal."
The young girl rises, reaching out and taking you in both hands. The movement jostles the chimes, with sent a crystalline trill of music through the room. "Save he who is lost or drown in poison. Evil never learns, never changes. It always degenerates. The devils repeat themselves. Do you understand? Save him or drown in poison. End his suffering, give him the rest a hero deserves."
Moore frowns.
Strife and... ... ... ... betrayal? The only -- oh no...
"...Yes, I think I understand. I've been... told as much by the one who probably understands this song better than anyone in Aurora." Moore says quietly. "But how can I save him? Is it this music -- can this music allow his soul the respite that it needs?"
"All I can see is that this cannot happen in any of the Hells," The child says, looking right at you, "You must pierce the veil. You must not do it alone, but it is not Cresiel's task. Solar, your fate does not intertwine in this task. You must be vigilant at Medicant."
Cresiel simply nods, "It will be as you say, honored seer."
"The Queen of Aurora's court must go,'" The seer continues, "She has the will and power to resist the longest of Lifasa's court. Without her, you will fail. She should be surrounded by those she trusts with her life."
Moore takes a breath in and nods.
"Of course. But... I'm sorry -- where are we... pierce the veil? You mean to say we must go beyond the planes?" Moore asks, still quiet.
"No!" All the chimes suddenly ring, a terrible and discordant sound that overwhelms you. "Never! Never go beyond the Outer Planes!" The child's voice is stern, terrifying. Fear comes to you as she holds you tight, "Never go to the realms beyond Creation, never speak of what lies in the Beyond!"
Augh!
"A--all right, all right!" Moore cries out. "You have my word -- I won't go there, or... even think about it!" He affirms. "I'm sorry, I meant no offense... I'm just... will we know where to take Her Majesty?"
"The one place above all to your kind," she says, "One of your number suspects she knows where it is and she is correct. You must visit the Yggdrasil."
Moore nods. "I... I can't say I completely understand, but I will ensure your message is relayed and we go." Moore says, firmly. "I'm... sorry that you've been burdened with the task of knowing what you must know and needing to hope other people will accomplish it." Moore adds, but then he smiles a bit. "However -- I'm happy too -- happy to be able to do this, to be able to save someone who's been... used like this. I hope once this is over, I can learn this music that's been so meticulously revised."
"Until that day comes," The young child says, "I will listen to the harmony and pray that I hear relief and joy."
Moore nods. "You have my promise I will see it through."
Anything else to do here, Moore?
Just one.
"Do you mind -- may I have something to call you by?" Moore asks, since it seems it's about time for him to go.
"Xandra," The child says, "Call me Xandra."
Moore smiles. "Lady Xandra." He nods his head and bows, lower and more politely this time. "I hope to return to learn your music. Please look forward to such a time."
OK now he's done
Next move then?
If this wasn't the person Cresiel was talking about then let's go find them. If it was then I suppose it's time to go back and start talking to some people.
Cresiel is waiting for you once you leave. "That wasn't who I had in mind," Cresiel says, "Celestia had other ideas."
Moore smiles a bit. "I think I know what I need to know, although I wouldn't mind a second opinion." He chuckles quietly at that. "I think Lady Xandra would be offended if I did that, though. Was it another seer?"
"Yes, but it doesn't matter. The will of the holy mountain has been made clear," Cresiel says, "I must return to Aurora and be vigilant, while you must return and begin your quest."
Moore nods. "Then let's go back."
His first order of business when he goes back will be to go to the Court area.
Your trip back is unremarkable and...
This thread's log and you're going in a new direction, so I'm going to make a new one momentarily. This one's locked.