Hamogan is found in the forges. He watches quartz crystals melt down in a cauldron over a crackingly hot fire, the metal somehow resisting melting in spite of the intense waves of heat that come from it. Occasionally he gestures, stirring the crystals or otherwise moving them about.
Go ahead, Tryll.
'Hamogan. You called?' Tryll greets.
Calleigh is very interested in the melting crystals.
"Yes, I will be leaving for a few days shortly," Hamogan says, "A personal matter I cannot delay. Do you need any psionic items made before I depart? I expect to be back within 3 days time."
'I'm afraid not. I seem to be caught up on my shopping list, for the most part. At least for now. Do you need assistance?'
Hamogan shakes his head, "Thank you, but no. A friend is choosing to join with Arborea and I wish to say goodbye. It is his time to move on."
Calleigh turns, "Oh, yeah. That's always...uh, sorta weird."
'Yes. Well, we are preemptively sorry for your loss, Hamogan, and hope your friend finds peace. Please feel free to reach out if you need anything.' Tryll replies.
"Thank you," Hamogan says, and quieter, "Living forever means losing people forever, no matter how seldom. I will return stronger for it afterwards."
'I'd like to say that it gets easier after your first million years or so, but it does not. You simply learn to prioritize. Value assignments, as applied to people. That, and remembering that most mortals will eventually die.'
"Yeah, sorta! I've only been around for a few thousand years or so, but seeing good people die is always sad." Calleigh pipes in, "Sometimes you can visit them in the afterlife though. And I've died! A few times! And it's not fun! Tryll hasn't, though. Sorta?"
'And with some preparation and a bit of luck, I never will.' Tryll affirms, 'Go on, Hamogan. Things will be fine, here. Please remember to return when you can, I think your services will be sorely needed as our timetables have been moved up significantly.'
'Actually, a thought. You wouldn't happen to have any contained quintessence, would you?'
What do you mean by quintessence?
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/quintessence.htm
Yeah, it would be. The flavor of it would be different to be less time-related due to campaign conflicts with temporal powers, though. Bear that in mind.
"I do," Hamogan replies, "Do you need something preserved?"
I actually sorta need the time-related aspect. Was planning on using it as a reagent to represent timelessness in the ritual. Your thoughts?
What are you planning on using in the ritual? If it's for that, I wouldn't hold not having that against you in any way, just let me know about it.
I'm making assumptions about the ritual here because I have no point of reference. You haven't described it, so:
I'm assuming candles, magic circles, chanting, virgin sacrifice, etc. You did say that I need things that represent who and what we are, so I'm accumulating things that represent who and what we are. Pure water for Tryll's birthplace. Quintessence for Tryll & Calleigh's timelessness. Something that represents their sense of humor. Etc.
I'm really just winging this since I don't know what's needed, or if any of this is really necessary.
Oooooh, I was wondering where you were drawing this all from. I told you that you needed a few things, right? I thought it was pretty straight forward there. Do you need a refresher on that?
Let's clear things up and please explain how you think the ritual should go in detail, because very clearly I have no idea after reading your explanation several times.
Gladly and apologies for any confusion.
It's coming in the next post.
- The ritual is complex. It will require a great deal of work to set up. It requires the following: 50,000 gold in reagents, a bit of blood from the creature (or similar bodily fluid if the creature does not have blood) and one week of preparations and purifications.
- The ritual itself will require several K:A, K:P and Spellcraft checks. Failure results in the ritual failing and the reagents being wasted. The person conducting the ritual does not need to be the person seeking to become a paragon.
- The goal of the ritual is to define yourself as a paragon. As such, you must have what you represent as a paragon prepared and distilled to its utmost.
- The ritual is not guaranteed to work. Even if you succeed on everything, the question may not be sufficiently meaningful to your race. Alternately, there may be another paragon who already covers this. If so, you will learn the name of the paragon and the plane he is on. Finally, sometimes the ritual simply fails for reasons the author isn't certain of. It's hard to tell if a proposed question was not meaningful enough or if an unseen factor did it, after all.
- If they are available, taking levels in a racial paragon class (such as human paragon) helps somewhat, but it does not guarantee success.
---
This was meant to be fairly inclusive and not get into a lot of details. My apologies if this wasn't clear, I figured the price on reagents was sufficient and then it was a huge derail since oh yeah, blood's a real problem for Tryll. The 50,000 in reagents is meant to be encompassing over what you need to perform the ritual.
Quote from: Anastasia on June 14, 2017, 03:58:28 PM
- The goal of the ritual is to define yourself as a paragon. As such, you must have what you represent as a paragon prepared and distilled to its utmost.
This part right here what's it mean? This is what I thought I was supposed to be doing. Gathering items that "distilled me to my utmost."
Explain!
EXPLAIN! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYqjcHYTQgQ)
Oh. Oooooooooh. I assumed you'd do that as part of the ritual rather than making that big a deal about it. I thought you were just trying to boost it up a bit and invest in it.
Clearly there was a serious breakdown in communications here, or that or I was more tired and out of it during that session than I thought.
Ok. So what exactly do I, the player, have to do for this ritual? Drop the gold and do the thing OC? Will there be questions? Riddles? An exam?
I'm all for gathering materials to enhance it. Does it matter?
Get the money together, do the week of purifications and get to it.
Obviously time is a factor, so gathering more materials could reduce the purification time and help you not be on the shelf. This is advisable.
It couldn't hurt and see above about it helping with the purification.
'I need it for a ritual, actually. Two portions in containers, if you don't mind.'
Let's get rolling then!
"I will have it delivered to your room," Hamogan says, "It will be yours as a favor."
'Very kind of you, Hamogan. I'll leave you to your preparations, then.' Calleigh manages not to destroy anything as the pair leaves.
Let's return to Bubbles, then. Time to play dress-up, I think.
Sure. Strike through this on your todo list, one task down.
Bubbles isn't in her room for once. She's training, a dagger in hand as she practices against Mirima. They're practicing in the Courtyard, near the Graceful Blow's tower. Mirima's largely avoiding her strikes and pointing out counters, even as Bubbles attacks blindingly fast. A small crowd watches them, while others spar nearby.
After a moment, Calleigh starts shadow boxing along with Bubbles' movements, juking left and right and throwing clumsy punches and kicks.
"Ooof!" Bubbles steps back after Mirima lightly taps her stomach with the flat of her blade. "Your win, dearie."
Mirima lowers her blade, "Keep on that. You have potential for speed, don't go to bigger weapons. Stay small and use your aim rather than trying to overpower enemies like a brute. Calleigh has the right idea," she glances over at you, "What are you doing?"
"Helping!" comes the reply.
"How," Bubbles asks, turning and wiping her brow clean with a kerchief. "Honey, I didn't know you were good at boxing."
"She isn't, her form is terrible," Mirima says, "Throw a punch like that and you'd break your hand. Keep your thumb outside of your fist, not tucked in."
"I've never punched anybody in my entire life!" Calleigh seems proud, "Or my afterlife! But! I've exploded guys before!"
"Charming," Bubbles remarks dryly, "I'm practicing for the coming battles, it's no time to slack around. Are you joining us, Calleigh?"
"Nope! But I was hoping you could still make that dress!" Calleigh says, "We've still gotta go see the Padisha, only now we need to go as soon as possible!"
"A rush job?" Bubbles folds her arms under her bosom and regards you, "I could certainly rush. How fast do you need it and what for?"
"The Padisha has access to some of the purest water out there, and we need some for a ritual. We've never met him, so we wanna make a good first impression since we're asking for a favor!"
Bubbles look at you for about two seconds and then throws her head back. She laughs long and openly, "Oh dearie. Dearie, dearie, dearie. Oh, this is going to be a rush job and a crash course. I need to beg off for now, Mirima."
Mirima nods slightly, gesturing with Woven Gold, "Go. We'll be here when you want to practice. For Lifasa."
Calleigh waits.
Bubbles escorts you back to her room. Once you're in there - the same as before, half finished dresses and clothes all about - Bubbles takes a seat. "Dearie, I feel I must inform you of an important fact. The Padisha is a woman, not a man."
"Ohhhh. That's important?"
Bubbles takes a long look at you and rises, going to a little cabinet and coming back with a shot glass of booze. She takes a sip, "Yes, that is important. What happens when you call a normal woman mannish or mistake them for a man? Let's magnify that by all the power, pride and ego the Padisha has. Sugar, what do you think happens to you when you make that mistake to her face?"
"She turns new colors!"
A longer sip of her drink, "That, or your body and soul are turned to water as punishment for your faux pas, while Tryll spends a few centuries as seaweed. Dearie, the Padisha is not evil, but she is vain and self centered. She is not kind or merciful, not like your eladrin rulers. I've seen it happen when fools openly antagonize or insult the Maharaja of the Waves."
Calleigh grumps. "Fiiiine. I'll be good."
"I'm serious," Bubbles drains her drink and puts the glass aside, "Don't make us have to come and negotiate your freedom or lives. Now then, do you know anything else about the court?"
"We got thrown out of court a lot! Even by tulani!" Calleigh sounds proud. "So we know what not to do! Probably!"
Bubbles slowly sighs, "Elena, is Afina available? I may need her help."
Elena pops in, still clad in winter furs. "I'll find out!" Then she's gone.
Calleigh nods, "She's probably a good person to ask, because she's so courtly."
Bubbles gives you a look, gets up and brings the bottle back with her this time. She pours another shot glass worth and sips it, "If nothing else, she may be able to put it into a way you can better understand, or at worst she won't drink as much of my booze as someone bigger, hon.'
"Booze is gross!" Calleigh makes a face, "It makes people's breath all smelly!"
"Do people routinely drink when dealing with you?" Bubbles asks, "Sugar, I'm just wondering."
Meanwhile Afina comes on in, seeing the scene around her. Bubbles is drinking and Calleigh talking.
"Sometimes! Other times they throw things or yell! Sometimes, when we're really on our game, it's all three!"
"Hello Bubbles, Calleigh," Afina greets as she flutters in, going to give the nymph a quick kiss on the cheek before she glances at the bottle and glass. "Do you think you'll need to pour me one as well, then?"
Bubbles flashes you a smile and pours you a glass. "Dearie, Calleigh wants to Padisha of the Marid to help her. She thought the Padisha was a he and didn't understand the response that sort of insult would provoke. Apparently she makes a habit of being thrown out of courts, and celestial courts are much more forgiving than marid ones."
"The last time I saw the padisha was when she gatecrashed a party I was at. She brought along a devil spy she wanted me to interrogate for her and after I was done had me execute it with a soul-stealing trident in front of everyone," Afina says so Calleigh can have more of an idea about the sort of person the Padisha is. "She is absolutely not someone to trifle with."
Oddly enough she's a lot like the old version of Queen Ilsenine, so there's a sort of comfortable familiarity for Afina there.
"Ohh. Okay. So like super not-nice. Not just, you know, stuffy." Calleigh nods. "We were hoping to get a sample of pure water from her. How would you suggest going about that?"
"Offer her something of equal value," Afina suggests the obvious. "She enjoys flattery and the unconventional, but she's quick to take offence to the overly unconventional. I gave her a gift of emeralds last time as I heard she was fond of them, and while she took it gladly she had some sharp words about being offered a gift of Earthen nature. So something like pearls or corals might be safer... or she might get offended because such things belong to her by default," she smiles thinly and drinks out of her glass. "Such are the problems in dealing with someone so mercurial and powerful."
"Dang. We don't have anything to give away. Everything is being used to get ready for Lifasa, or toward the ritual. We might need to find another source." Calleigh ponders. "It's not like she's the only source of pure water, just the most likely."
"You must understand she is a creature of chaos, as are all the marid," Bubbles says, "But that does not mean she will tolerate insubordination or insults, lover girl."
"Well yeah, I'm not gonna actually do that. It's all fun and games until someone get's turned into a tree or something."
"You could offer her your services for a quest or something, perhaps deferred until after our deadline with Lifasa is settled one way or another," Afina suggests. "She already contributed forces to our cause," Bubbles gets a pat on the wrist there, "So we know she's sympathetic. Just make sure to approach her very respectfully."
"Delicately and with diplomacy," Bubbles confirms, "Dearie, have I told you the story of the fools who got turned into waves by the Padisha? I mentioned it to Calleigh and it's a sobering tale."
Afina looks at her glass, shrugs and tilts it all the way back to her lips and sends the liquid down her throat. "Tell us a sobering tale, then," she invites, leaning on Bubbles' side.
Bubbles pats Afina then looks at Calleigh, "This is not a story with a happy ending. So I suggest you listen well so it doesn't happen to you."
Calleigh is listening!
A smooth interruption, Elena popping in. "Hi," she says, still winter geared. "We have a potentially troublesome interested party heading to Aurora. Adrian's handling it, but he wants you to be advised. A succubus claiming to be free from evil is interested in Aurora, but its location in Elysium makes approach difficult. She is being sponsored by the Silverbrown Consortium, who has had dealings with Aurora before."
"Canderella worked out fine, didn't she?" Afina says. "I don't see any problem unless she's cursed or anything like that. Do we have a name?"
"Adrian's being oh what's the word? Prudent," Elena says, "That's it. Her name's Lucy." She then gives Bubbles a wink, "Maybe she'll be competition for you for Afina's delicate heart?"
Bubbles gives Elena a long, cool look and then smiles. "Oh, I suppose it may be. You poor thing, you must be so jealous, Elena."
Afina rolls her eyes indulgently at Elena and Bubbles' banter as she tries to recall hearing of such a succubus in the past anywhere...
[19:36] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+41 planes for Lucy succubus knowledge
[19:36] <Serith> Ebiris roll for Serith < 58 > [d20=17]
Elena whirls on Bubbles, hands on her hips. "And what does that mean?!"
Ah, no, you don't recall a succubus with that name and fitting what you know of her.
"Oh, I know you must crave passion, darling." Bubbles smiles like a cat with a mouse in claw's reach. "Since your own live is so lacking in it. No man in sight and doing everyone's footwork all day and all night. It's okay, perhaps I can get you a date."
"Galariel's around," Afina feels compelled to say when Bubbles mentions Elena's lack of a man in her life. "Also I've never heard of this Lucy. She might be unimportant or she might be using an assumed name. We'll see, I suppose."
"Who cares!" Calleigh leaps into the air, "Succubus! Not evil! Let's have a party!" And she takes off.
"Hmph!" Elena blushes, turning her normally blue color red. "Fine, be like that! You can find your own things, Bubbles." With another hmph! of displeasure, Elena vanishes. As she does, "I'll also have you know that Galariel is amazing!"
Bubbles gives where Elena was a less than amused look and clears her throat, "Regardless, where were we?"
"You were telling us about people being turned into waves, but I think Calleigh left," Afina mentions, leaning over to refill her glass.
Oh wow, I managed to miss that part somehow. Hate when that happens. Okay, lessee. Tryll, are you following? I assume yes. Okay, you two into a new room.
Bubbles does the same and drinks deep, "Some impudent mortal wizard came along and wanted a meeting with the Padisha. He eventually got it and was rude over the wait. I seem to recall hearing later that he worshiped Cyric, so that's probably expected. So there he is, five feet of wizard standing before the Coral Throne. He demands an apology from the Padisha's 'mannish face immediately'."
"Some people are just tired of living, I suppose," Afina says, scarcely able to believe someone could be so foolish.
"It happens once in every great while," Bubbles says with a twist of her lips into a frown, "It is not a kind thing to see, even if deserved."
"Perhaps not, but those on the throne can't afford to have their authority impugned or they'll soon lose it," Afina says, draining her remaining drink. "Anyway, I better return to the forges. Had a big rush of requests come in today, unsurprisingly."
"Naturally," Bubbles voice is dry. "Don't spend every hour of the day in there. I get lonely."
"I'll find you for dinner later," she smiles at Bubbles, fluttering up and giving her a quick kiss before she flies away and back to work.
Great, refresh me on your to dos.
Attack Lifasa!
Right now I'm waiting till Jaela's ready before we go attack Yian's former holdings using the Bahamut intelligence.
Hold then, it shouldn't be long.