Soulriders 5.0: Legend of the Unending Games

Okay, refresh me on the plan, you two.

Plan

1. Go to Water
2. Get Padisha to give special water
3. Profit

I meant details. Who is going, any prep and all of that. Just so we're all on the same page here.

To get it out of the way, Moore will talk to Bubbles about appropriate attire, should he bring a gift, that sort of thing.

He will also check the library for anything that will give him a circumstance bonus, perhaps!! He'll use all sorts of fun magic (Biblioteca Arcana, Greater Improvisation) on either K:P for 104 for or K:L (Water) for 89 it. He'd also want to know if his pact with Crystalle will give him more clout or possibly be looked on negatively, he can ask Bubbles or just look in the library for that.

Tryll can assist Moore in his research, and Calleigh will make sure her dress from Bubbles will fit properly and not do weird stuff when wet.

Also in case it somehow never came up, Moore would let Tryll and Calleigh know about the adamantine blocks.

Okay, first of all. Crystalle is a bad idea, since he's strongly tied to Earth and Water doesn't like Earth. That's simple enough to figure out in research.

A bonus is easy, as Afina did it. The gift to the Padisha never hurts. Otherwise, come, be respectful, known the proper forms and manners and make a good impression.

So it's likely he'd need to figure out a way to apologize for being marked by Crystalle, would that be fair to say? Going by that, is there anything maybe in a gift that he could offer that might show a sign that he recognizes that it's a problem?

Ah dang I forgot about that. Huh.

Not really - it's just a handicap you have to work around, really. You're gonna stand out to anyone who picks up on your position.

Okay. His plan will be to bring some water from Lunia as a gift, unless research would indicate that may not be the greatest of ideas.

Your results would suggest this is a poor idea. The Padisha is chaotic neutral, she has no particular use or interest in Celestia. Though at least it is water.

Maybe some water from Arborea, then?

More acceptable, yes, especially if it's something unique or powerful.

Would a cursory look through the library give us anything on unique or powerful sources of Arborean water? Perhaps a water mantle fey?

DM mode here a sec: Please keep Vastwoods in Vastwoods. Lost Realm has crossed over - and was designed with the possibility of it being a Balmuria crossover. Vastwoods isn't. Thanks.

The best bets offhand are various sacred elven springs in Arvandor, if you want to investigate that angle.

Any good water sources Calleigh would know? She's been around a while.

So noted.

It's reasonable. First of all, what Knowledge skills does she have access to?

K:Planes & K:Nature

K:P with a +10 circumstance bonus.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+51 : 9 + 51, total 60[/blockquote]

You have a few options.

If you can find it, Evergold's waters are superb. It's the spring Hanali Celanil, Sune and a few other deities of love and beauty bathe in, and occasionally mortals find their way there.

The Silent Spring is good - a spring surrounded by magical silence, waters that can purge any illness or madness in a single sip. The location's a closely guarded secret, but you've heard that if you take a right past the third tree near the Arvandor border, head along awhile and watch out for it, you can find it. As you recall, there's something sacred about the spring, so despite its powerful properties, it is little known and rarely accessed.

It's said Queen Morwel has many magical springs in her personal gardens, though of course the trick is finding those gardens in the first place. You can't really unless she wants you to.

Moore would suggest the Silent Spring and, if something happens to guide them elsewhere, they'll just have to deal with that.

Let's go for the Triple Crown, and see what happens!

Next move then?

Aurora Gate to the Arvandor border and take it from there. Use the arch and all that before they go and get interplanar telepathic bond from Tepen or Vul'lath.

What he said.

Were you still bringing Westwind since you're going to Arborea now?

We'll wait on that and grab him once we go visit the marid.

Okay, so are you three going alone then?

To Arborea, yes. We're aiming for the Silent Spring first.

Arborea is vibrant, warm. The forest is full of noises as you step out of the gate, the noises of nature unleashed. The faint buzz of insects, the song of birds, the rustle of leaves.

Nothing is immediately around, forests thick but not too thick, paths winding through the woods.

Moore looks around first to get an idea of where they are. "Hmm... All right, so how in the world do we determine what the 'third tree' is near the Arvandor border? Maybe it'll be more obvious when we get there exactly...?"

"Yep yep! Let's go spring hunting!" Calleigh says, "I can find the way! Maybe!"

Moore nods.

Are they currently -at- the border? If not, then let's head in that direction if possible.

Sure. Survival checks, all.

Take 10 for 46

Tryll & Calleigh will choose to Aid Another, because neither of them have this skill. They don't need it.
Tryll: Taking 10 for 16
Calleigh: Taking 10 for 12.

It's hard going but Moore's quite good at natural lore. He leads the way carefully, soon coming to something unusual - a twisted and broken pine tree, a single pine amid a forest of broad, leafy trees. It's also right in on the border, where things get shimmering like a heat reflection and you feel as if things switch between the wilds one moment and more refined, elven lands the next, back and forth constantly.

Moore tilts his head. In a place like this...

Take 10 for 61 on K:N, this is mostly a "I'm curious about this".

"Let's see, this is the first one, so we just need to find two more." He says as he continues along!

Make K:L (Arborea) instead.

Then that's going to be 46!

You recall an old story about a dryad in Arborea. Her name is lost to history - usually told as Bethany or Silvae, but many names are used - who fell in love with a wandering elf ranger from Arvandor. The elf's name is likewise varied, but most sources agree it started with an H. Haspar is the most common named used.

In particular, the elf rested at the dryad's tree one day and she came out to greet him. One pleasant evening of conversation turned into two, and then more as they lingered. They fell in love, yet the elf could not stay forever. With a heavy heart he left, yet the dryad did not give up. While she could not move far from her tree, she nonetheless tried. Every day she kept trying, trying and trying and trying. In the end, a miracle happened - lightning struck the tree and destroyed it, yet the dryad survived and was freed, able to go rejoin her lover at last.

That's the story, anyway. It's an old Arborea folk tale, told in both Arborea and Arvandor.

Aww. Well, anyway, it's time to continue on, so he'll look for another tree similar to this one... but is that even possible? Hmm...

Just keeping your eye open for one?

Yep!

Sorry, I passed out at like 4 pm. Does this tree that we've found give any indication of being a third tree?

It's a tree along the Arborean/Arvandor border. Looking carefully, you don't see any signs of it being a third tree.

Right, moving on then.

> roll 1d100
<Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d100 --> [ 1d100=48 ]{48}

The two of you wander for another twenty minutes or so. It's then that you all hear soft rumbling - no a growl. Decidedly a growl, coming from a ways behind you.

Moore lets out a breath and turns to look at Calleigh and Tryll. "I leave it up to you."

Stalking the party is a black panther. A large, powerful great cat, about 50ft away and steadily following the three of you. It pauses when you look at it, sitting down and watching.

"KITTY!" Calleigh cries.

'Hello.' Tryll reaches out to the large cat.

At this the cat steadily advances towards all of you, tail up as it slinks forward.

Take 10 for K:L (Arborea) for 46, are animals here usually intelligent enough to understand people?

Usually not, no.

Moore will just wait for it to approach them, if it tries anything dangerous, well...

The feline approaches all of you, settling her gaze on Tryll and sitting before him.

"...Well, that's interesting." Moore helpfully states the obvious. "Maybe it knows where this spring is."

'Well, it's certainly not a normal jungle cat. It appears to be able to see me quite clearly.' Tryll remarks.

Calleigh approaches the beast, making non-threatening motions and cooing at it.

The cat butts its head against Tryll - it's quite able to touch you, then trots ahead and turns to the three of you, looking long at you before beginning to go off into the forest.

"It would seem we're being invited." Moore again helpfully announces as he shrugs and goes after it!

Calleigh latches onto the cat as it passes, reaching up to rub its head fur. "Kittyyyyyyy..."

'We may as well follow. It's unlikely to mean us true harm, given where we are.'

The cat does not object to Calleigh.

As you walk, "I owed Ithea a favor," The cat finally speaks, "You will be taken to the Silent Spring. May the Mother of Cats guide your quest for your world." It's a decidedly strong male voice.

"He talks!" Calleigh cheers, "Hi!"

'You have our thanks for your aid, nonetheless.' Tryll replies.

Moore smiles. "Please give my regards to Lady Risdell if you happen to cross paths with her."

"Hello, courre," The great panther says, walking along. "I will do as you say, and your thanks are accepted."

"Lady Sharess has been a great ally to Aurora. Although Ithea isn't here right now, I intend to continue her work of diplomatic endeavors with the Lady of Cats." Moore says as they fly along.

Calleigh responds with ear scratchies!

'There's always work to be done.' Tryll concurs, 'With what's coming, there will be no true rest for us until the battle for Lifasa's soul is done.'

Aaw, kitty. Calleigh has a kitty.

"Yes," The cat says, "There is, so follow me. I want to go back to my nap."

Is he just being ignored by this cat? Oh well, you can't have everyone like you. He soldiers on.

Calleigh is perched on the big cat's neck, and Tryll floats on.

It's a walk. Not a terribly long one nor a short one - but you know you're somewhere when all falls silent. It's more forest but your cat guide stops. A flick of his head knocks gently knocks Calleigh off as he gestures ahead with a paw briefly, then turns around and goes back the way he came.

"Aww, bye Mister Cat! Have a good day!" Calleigh waves at the retreating feline.

Calleigh speaks but her words make no noise.

Calleigh starts making silent faces at Moore.

Is it actually silent or can they talk?

If they can Moore is going to cast a spell here, so I just need to know if that's not possible first.

It is silent. Spells with verbal components are a no go, unless you have silent spell and use that.

'Shall we proceed, then?'

Take 10 on Spellcraft for 66,  I am presuming permanent detect magic can still be used!

Moore nods to Tryll as he goes forward.

Yes, as that's active and doesn't require casting.

Then he's going to use it and do spellcraft on the magic! And also the magic at the spring itself if possible.

There's a powerful silence effect blocking all sound. You don't see the spring ahead (yet) so you can't analyze that right this moment.

He'll have to tell Mei about this later.

Either way, he continues forward!

The party advances in silence - until you see it. A bubbling spring surrounded by reeds, serene. The waters are crystal clear, no hint of impurities at all. The air seems purer here, a silent energy filling your bodies.

Calleigh flits up to the spring, looking about. Tryll proceeds more sedately.

Take 10 again for 66 on spellcraft if he can identify anything about the water.

The pool radiates overwhelming conjuration (healing). A single sip should purge just about any illness, poison or disease as well as mental problems.

Moore looks around. How much is too much? Huh, would this work on Styx water...?

He holds up a finger to Tryll for a moment before he puts his hands together in prayer.

He's making a prayer to... hmm, probably Titania (unless someone else comes to mind) on how much water he's allowed to take. He doesn't want to offend anyone here!

You can reply to Tryll, Moore. Telepathy is a two way street.

'I will collect a few samples of the water, and I can collect more if you desire some.' Tryll sends to Moore.

Wis check, Moore.

[13:10] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+6
[13:10] <Rei-chan> Nephrite rolled : 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{23}

Moore doesn't feel any sort of guidance here.

How many samples are you getting, Tryll?

I was gonna grab three. If you think I should get more, you should tell me IC.

It's your choice, just needed a number. Post those three in loot for reference.

In the lack of guidance, the best thing to do is be prudent. He still has that steel box that got used for the Styx water (although he did clean it out, so...) so he will fill that up with the water.

'I don't think it'll be a problem if we take more. I have a feeling that as long as it's being used for a good cause, no one will mind, as long as we don't try and take the whole spring.' Moore sends to Tryll.

Post that in loot as well, Moore.

Getting the samples of spring water go without incident.

Ball is in your court.

'If we've got what we came for, I can return us to Aurora and we can prepare for meeting the Padisha.' Moore sends.

I don't suppose Calleigh found anything particularly interesting?

Whoops. Make Search, Calleigh.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+2 : 8 + 2, total 10[/blockquote]

It's a very half-hearted search.

Calleigh doesn't find anything special, besides the magic spring water, anyway.

Ready to move on, then.

Awesome. Next move?

Let's find a suitable glass or crystal container (regular potion sized, I'm thinking?) to put some of the water in. Grab Westwind and then check with Bubbles on the best way to actually get an audience. We don't want to just show up on the doorstep of the palace and demand, right?

Before we leave we'll do magical preparation.

Okay, waiting for Yuth here since this is his baby.

Yeah, that's good.

Tryll and Calleigh would have just shown up and barged in, which is their nature. As a player, I know this is not good, but I'm trying not to metagame here. That's why I wanted a cooler head or two around.

From a player standpoint, an advanced announcement of an intent to visit and meet would be good.
A set of decorative and water-themed containers for the spring water would be a good idea.
Consulting with our resident elemental-aligned folks is a solid plan, too. We want to make sure we're not stepping on toes as well as presenting ourselves well.

Sounds solid all around. Okay, whoa re you meeting with here? I know Westwind, nay others?

Bubbles is our best bet on the information we need to find out.

Bubbles is fine

Bubbles and Westwind meet with the three of you over lunch in a private room deep within Aurora and...

The ball is wholly in your courts on how to talk to them and approach this. Go ahead.

"So to recap what we're hoping to do here, Tryll would like to get a source of pure water from... a fountain, right?" Moore asks with a glance over. "At any rate I thought it best that we announce our request to meet with the Padisha and bring her the gift of water from the spring we found in Arborea. Hopefully, admittedly, I can do most of the talking. Ah... no offense, you two, I just know diplomacy isn't your focus." He smiles and shrugs helplessly.

"I know my mark from Crystalle may not go over so well with the Padisha, but it is entirely likely she may just not mention it. If it comes up, then I think I can spin it into being able to impress even the most immovable of beings such as the Archomental of Mineral." He says. "So I guess what I'd like to find out is should we send an advance notice to the Padisha or whomever is appropriate to request a meeting first and wait for a response? I'd like to do everything by-the-book on this one, if we can manage it."

'You're correct, Moore. While I am somewhat skilled at emergency diplomacy, actual courtly work isn't an area of focus for me. As for Calleigh...'

Calleigh is currently attempting to balance a rubber ball the size of an apple on her much-smaller head while also flying and appears to be experiencing moderate success.

'...well.'

Westwind and Bubbles share a look. A rather long one, then Westwind clears his throat. "Yes, well. Calleigh is coming with this, hm?"

Moore decides to let Tryll handle that one!

"We're a pa-ugff!" Calleigh loses control of the ball and it rolls down her face. "Blech!"

'We're a package deal.' Tryll says, 'I can keep her occupied and quiet if needs be, though.'

"Sugar, please do," Bubbles says, "It's useful in case she rubs the Padisha wrong."

"Splendid," Westwind says, "I have friends in Water and in the Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls, that should speed things along. Getting in won't be that hard, the trick is to succeed on the audience."

"I think it best if we frame the audience as a request to make Tryll stronger so that he can better destroy devils." Moore says. "I heard through the grapevine that the Padisha had Afina kill a devil while she was there, so I think that's the best bet. Oh, Bubbles, is it expected that you have magical aid for talks with the Padisha? I don't know if she'd be impressed with or bored of my attempts at avoiding them."

"It's usually best to avoid too much," Bubbles says, "It's relative and she's a bit mercurial at times, dearie. I suggest that if you don't need them that you refrain or exercise caution."

Moore nods. "Then I'll just use what I wear and leave it at that. It'll be a bit weaker, but it would be worse to come off as impolite. All right, so we're agreed on the particulars and what we're asking for. I remember she has quite a few titles that you're intended to use, can you refresh our memories on those?"

"More than you can shake a puddle at," Bubbles chortles, "Maharaja of the Oceans, though Waves is used as well. Great Padisha, Keeper of the Empire, Pearl of the Sea, Parent of the Waves, Emir of All Currents, Princess of Coral and Queen of all Marid are all also used. Sultana is technically correct, though this particular Padisha dislikes that title so it is not used. There's other titles as well that are trotted out at her will, but those are this Padisha's preferences for titles."

Moore nods again. "I think we can handle that. All right, then I think the only thing left is finding something suitable to put the water in to present it as a gift and then we'll be good to go. Did you want to come with us as well, Bubbles? You're welcome to if you want to visit some friends."

Bubbles considers and...

> roll 1d100+10 this is a luck check, +10 penalty due to previous bad dealing with Calleigh and Tryll
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 25 > [d100=15]

"I suppose I can," Bubbles finally says, "Honey, so long as you don't offend the Padisha it should be fine," her gaze is right on Calleigh when she says that.

"If that happens, I don't think any force beyond the Archomental of Water is going to help us much." Moore laments with a smile.

Okay, let's find a suitable container. Something blue crystal-y? They can probably check with Filbrez on it, something in the 100-150 gold range is sufficiently ritzy, I think?

Calleigh raises her right hand. "I promise not to pee in the water!"

"Charming," Bubbles drawls.

Up to you two, how much do you two want to spend on this?

Tryll can create nearly any material given enough time, so really it's all just up to the skill of the craftsman guiding him into creating the item desired. Telepathy and mind reading can allow Tryll to theoretically copy images from minds.

I think the container itself is less important than the actual item we're delivering, but whatever works. Moore can magic up himself Profession: Glassblowing or something if needed.

Sounds good. Gimme the gold you're putting on this and a rough sketch of what you want.

Could drop in up to 5k for a good crystal amphora.

Is there such a thing as water-aligned crystal?

It's difficult but yes, there could be such a thing, sure.

Is it something that can be crafted, or must it be found naturally?

Either.

For reference, Moore can BS a Craft check in anything. Take 10 for 58 on whatever it'd be, I presume Craft: Glassblowing or Crystal-shaping or something.

Tryll can aid crystalshaping.

Fantastic. How much money are y'all spending on this? Tell me and make a loot post about the expense. You said up to 5k but I'd like something decisive here so we can make the debit and get on with this.

I'll let Tryll handle that specific.

I'm sorta leery about just throwing money at something and seeing if it sticks. I want an estimate. How much does this stuff cost? How much material are we going to need?

Baseline materials for the size you need is about 2k gold at the minimum, 5k would buy you a bigger and nicer one, as well as better quality crystal.

There we go! That's what I wanted. I'm fine spending 5k then. Posting in Loot.

Cool. Yuth or Neph, gimme a quick description of the bowl and we'll move on. This will matter here since it's diplomacy.

It's an amphora. Not a bowl. An amphora is an upright vase-like jar in a Roman or Greek style.I'm thinking a blue-tinted crystal amphora with water-related imagery worked into it. Fish, waves, etc. We could decorate it with inlaid pearls or something, to wink-and-nudge at one of her titles. Will pay extra for pearls as needed.

Yuth, could you remove the image from your post? It was sincerely helpful, but I'm not sure if all those cocks are against SR's rules. I'll run it by Drac, check some things and get back to you on that.

Soon enough you have your amphora. Bubbles and Westwind lead the way in Water, soon enough the four of you in a waiting antechamber to see the Padisha of the Marid.

This is a chance to set up - any spells you want to have cast, protections and so forth, as well as any scene setting or the like.

Moore will cast Greater Improvisation and Divine Insight on himself. He's banking on showing the Padisha he has the capability to use them but is not planning on actually using them at all and hopes that might impress her.

I edited the link to something more relevant. No more ancient Greek wing-wong. I honestly didn't even notice they were there. Google's SafeSearch let them through. Tryll and Calleigh will upgrade their Mind Blank to CL 29, and Tryll will Bend Reality for a Divine Insight as well.

In the interests of honesty and the Padisha probably being able to see him anyway, Tryll will remain visibly manifested for the duration of this encounter, unless specifically stated otherwise. I'm not expecting any surprise encounters, so having the detriments of a larger form shouldn't necessarily affect anything.

Ahahhahahaha at that edit. I honestly don't care and think it's fine, it's just not my call to make. Call it an overabundance of caution.

Okay then.

As the five fo you wait, "Are there any last questions?" Bubbles asks.

"I don't think so." Moore answers. "I think this is all up to how she's feeling."

"Yes, so best foot forward," Bubbles says, "Dearies, don't be afraid to deter to Prince Westwind if you need to. He's something of a diplomatic shield, as politics mean the Padisha won't lightly cross him or his companions. It's not impossible if you offend her, but one doesn't treat genie royalty in such a way."

"If it comes up, I'll do what I can to deflect things." Moore agrees.

"Yes, I'm fine with that," Westwind says, "Not even the Padisha would so dare. Such an insult would stir the Whirlwind Throne against her. Worry not and cling to me as needed, but try not to need to. Should she choose foolishness, we may not be around to appreciate the fallout of her mistake."

"Hey, I lived through the Whirlwind Throne once already." Moore says with a smile, then a small frown. "Sorry about all that trouble, on that note. We'll get it fixed, one way or another." He turns to look at the door to where they're waiting. "For now, though... another trial to overcome."

"We'll just have to make her feel better if she's not happy!" Calleigh is all smiles.

Moore gives Tryll a smile at that as they continue to wait.

The door opens, several marid coming out along with a face Calleigh and Tryll know. Duke Martinet strides out, surrounded by a guard of scimitar carrying marid. He is a tall, classical devil perhaps 6 feet tall. He is handsome in a way that draws the eye and keeps it on him, his body lithe and athletic. His entire body is fire red, including his barbed tail, long horns that curve up from his head and the huge wings furled at his back. He wears red and black clothes of the finest quality, fit for a mortal emperor, and covered in various diabolic symbols. The unholy symbol of Asmodeus is prominent amid them.

The Duke pauses a moment, "Ah, Aurora," he says smoothly, voice casual and condescending, "My business with the Padisha is concluded, you may pursue yours as you see fit."

Take 10 for 89 on K:P if appropriate, since Moore never met him before.

You'd know all the general stuff about him the party does. Do you need an OOC refresher or do you know it already?

"Duke Martinet." Moore regards with a polite smile. "As it should come as no surprise, Aurora needs not Hell's permission to do its work. You must be very busy right now, though. The tireless work of diplomacy." He leaves the rest unspoken, because it should be entirely obvious what he's even talking about.

Tryll checks out the guards.

Do they look like they're escorting Martinet or escorting him out?

Martinet smiles glibly as he walks by, "Yes, diplomacy always keeps you busy. Talking is where you excel, rather than command?"

Tryll and see the guards are escorting him out, yes.

Calleigh looks unbearably smug and clearly looks like she wants to say something, but manages not to.

One of Tryll's eyes follows Martinet as he is marched past the group.

Obviously we're waiting on Moore here, hopefully he's back with power soonest, but we'll see. Stupid hurricanes, hope he's okay.

"Yes, one must understand where they excel and where they falter. Why, it just simply be awful to have to clean up someone else's mess." Moore simply smiles and return his attention to the doors.

HE'S ALIVE!

No more banter, the devil leaving.

Westwind watches him go, "Ah, Martinet. I wondered why I felt like I had a pustule on my ass."

"I admit curiosity as to why he was here... maybe an agreement not to interfere with Lifasa?" Moore wonders aloud. "I'm not sure it's within hour right to ask."

"Well, we could ask the Padisha if we care to push it,d earies," Bubbles says, "But best do so carefully."

"Let us see how our original request is received." Moore says. "We can take it from there."

'It's unlikely he was successful. He was being lead out, not simply escorted. He may have offended the Padisha.' Tryll supplies.

It's not long until your names are called, the door opened wide and...

Go ahead and describe how you all are going to present yourselves here and all of that. This matters, so act carefully.

Would you mind describing what we're seeing here, so I know how to react? Tryll & Calleigh have never been here, so they don't know the area.

Moore has some ideas of how to handle royalty, but he's still mostly winging this. He will fly in and move to kneel first before he announces himself.

please forgive if I use the wrong term here it's hard to look up the old names.

"Lady Padisha, Maharaja of the Waves. I am Moore of Aurora. I have with me this day Tryll and Calleigh of Aurora, Prince Westwind of the Whirlwind Throne and Lady Bubbles, ally of Aurora. We come to you this day with a gift and a request." Moore says before he gestures to the amphora.

"A gift of water from the Spring of Silence of Arborea. We hope you can find a use for it. Our request is likewise- a source of pure water from these sacred halls. Tryll is to use it as a component to become a paragon of his kind, such that no mere devil would be able to stop him." He looks to Tryll to see if he has anything to add.

moemto

ayup

Tryll schools his squidly features, ensuring he is visible as he squeezes into the throne room with Calleigh bringing up the rear. They move to flank Moore, with Calleigh dropping into a full curtsey mid-air and very carefully not saying anything.

Tryll rises up like a breaching whale, showing nearly the entire length of his underside before abruptly bending in a very elaborate full-body bow. The mass of tentacles that make up the majority of his form snap smartly as the undulation completes. Broadcasting to the room, Tryll says, 'Greetings to you, great Parent of the Waves. You have our gratitude for making time to see us.'

Fair enough, Tryll.

From an earlier thread: Here the Padisha sits. She has green hair tied back into two ponytails and wears a clingy black dress. Standing behind the throne is the Tsunami Lord, silent.

The room you are in is a great hall - dozens of marid guards stand at attention or kneel before the throne. A throne where the Padisha sits, awaiting you.

Waiting on reply in case that changes anything.

Edits made. Nothing major. Carry on.

Diplo check, Moore. +5 for the gift, Tryll can aid.

Take 10 for 75, not using Divine Insight / Greater Improvisation.

Does that include Tryll aiding?

Taking 10 for 57

Also take it easy, Dune. Gimme a chance to respond. It's not like I'm sitting here and hitting F5 over and over with a post ready to go at all times.

I believe that makes it 77, then. Ironic.

All good, I just got it out since I knew I was spending 10-20 minutes on n Afina and Jaela combat post, that's all. Good odds I miss your next check that way otherwise. Not trying to be a ball buster, just keep things moving while I manage rooms. <_<

The Padisha looks on at your amphora of Silent Spring water, and in an instant it is in her hands, crossing space without crossing it at all. "We are amused," The Padisha begins, "Had Afina come, we would have given to her with little thought, for she has pleased us. We are in agreement about the trifling nature of devil kind. Yet you come bearing gifts and bearing a scion of the Whirlwind Throne."

"You are too kind, Great Padisha," Prince Westwind bows deeply, "We would do nothing less than honor your kindness."

"In that we are in agreement, cousin of wind," The Padisha says, the waters within the amphora rising up, twisting into various shapes and patterns. They move and change constantly, the Padisha's eye on them. "Yet you are not of concern here. What are you, creature?" Her eyes turn to Tryll, "You do not seem as an aboleth, even a mutated one."

Moore smiles a bit and bows his head in recognition. This is Tryll's show, so he lets him speak!

'I am D'ln's-k'r-Tr'll, one of the last surviving members of a race called the irrigo. Our resemblance to aboleths is disturbing, yes, though not intentional. They are no friends of mine. I can explain my origins further, though I would ask your leave to use visual aids if you so desire such an explanation.'

"Do so," The Padisha commands, "You have permission."

big post, gonna be a bit

Cool, do as you do.

Uses of Control Sound, Ghost Sound, Percussion, Prestidigitation, Dancing Lights, and Silent Image.

'Roughly a million standard years ago, give or take a few hundred thousand years, my people inhabited a Prime mostly composed of water. From hindsight analysis, I've determined that we were on a world with a global ocean with very few land masses above water. Those that were, were volcanically active and bare of life.' A ball of blue appears in the center of the chamber, between the group and the throne. It is covered in swirling white clouds, and turns slowly.

'Our race was created by a three-faceted god we called The Triune. As far as I can tell, it has no relation to the modern usage of the term beyond its divinity. The theme of threes can be seen in our forms,' Tryll's tentacles and tendrils flare, demonstrating their clusters of three, 'as well as was evident in our art and construction. I could spend hours on this topic, but I don't believe you would appreciate me dominating your schedule. Even so, everything is lost. I will be as brief as I can.'

The image zooms in to the ball, quickly becoming an undersea scene of seaweed, artful stone structures, and fish. The large forms of other irrigo drift by on various errands. 'My people were the only intelligent race on our plane. We had no competition for food or resources, and the lack of need for shelter made territory significantly less valuable to anyone but bottom-farmers, miners, and artists seeking media. Many, many irrigo were nomadic by choice, following schools of fish and plankton. Major established cities were rare, though they did exist.'

The image follows a pod of large irrigo as they roam across an endless sea. Occasionally the group will meet other wandering irrigo. The scene ends as they approach a great volcanic spire, thousands of shapes in the distance milling about it.

'This is important, because we were soft. We had no experience with war or violence, and we were only very peripherally aware of other planes. Visitors were excessively rare and brief. Our forms are alarming to most humanoids. Interplanar travel for us was very rare, as we were not amphibious. Nor, rather, were we built for combat. I myself was a file clerk in that particular city. Things were good. We were content.' A tendril gestures to the scene, which changes to a shimmering disc-like portal filled with dark shadows.

'There were many theories about how it happened. Many minds sought to find a way to undo or a reason for it all. I personally think a wizard did it. Whatever happened though, someone managed to open a portal out of our plane and into the foul demesne of an aboleth. Perhaps they were seeking to understand something similar. I don't know. What I DO know is that there was not just one single aboleth, but a whole city full of them. A nation. A world, maybe. Through that portal hundreds of aboleth poured in a mere day, and thousands upon thousands more in the weeks to come.'

The image changes as he speaks, the fishy forms of aboleths darting quickly through the portal in tens, hundreds, then a blur. The scene changes to darkness, and then to one of war. Aboleths sending their slaves against irrigo, enslaved irrigo fighting other irrigo, and everywhere those free irrigo constantly losing ground. Water-logged sounds of battle fill the room, distant-sounding thumps coinciding with explosions and lances of power and magic.

'We'd never contested over territory, and never fought a war in the traditional sense. We were artists, scholars, philosophers, and scientists. While naturally psionic, most of us did not work to develop these abilities into some form of combat. There was nothing to combat. There were so very few among us who could have been counted on as warriors in the traditional sense, that they may as well not have existed at all. We could not hold lines, and could not prevent the tide of evil from overtaking us. We were caught completely unprepared, and lost at every turn.'

The scene of lost battles shifts to scenes of floating cephalopod corpses and the slimy creatures enslaved to aboleths. A second shift to a grotto, a handful of free irrigo clustered together.

'Within two months, nearly the entire world had been overrun. A complete rout. Countless aboleth invaders held our cities, our families, our children. Most of us were only free by pure luck. Fleeing at the right moment, or use of illusions or other magic to avoid capture or destruction. Lost, we prayed to the Triune for salvation, and to our great surprise, we were answered.'

In the darkness of the grotto, three giant eyes appear, glowing with golden light.

'The Triune spoke to us all, all at once. For a brief instant, every irrigo, free or enslaved, was connected. For a brief moment, we were all free, and we saw the Triune's plan. Salvation would come in painless death, the souls of the irrigo instantly separated from their bodies and called to their final resting place. Immediately following, the Triune would visit justice on their oppressors and smite the aboleth armies to less than dust. The vast majority of irrigo agreed immediately and instantly ascended, their bodies slain. Five of us, including myself, resisted the call. I can't tell you why or even how, because I don't truly know. Perhaps I wasn't ready to go yet. Perhaps my resistance was planned. Perhaps all of it was planned.'

'Our bodies and those of our friends fell around us, and only the five of us remained. We knew what was coming, and did our best to mount an escape, but it came on too fast.'

The final scene is a tremendous pillar of golden light rising from the seabed into the sky as the water and earth vaporizes around it. A thin, indescribable noise is in the air for a brief moment before fading.

'This is the last I saw of my home before our desperate directionless Plane Shift threw us in all directions across the Planes. I have since come to believe that it was the Triune physically setting foot upon the plane, and eradicating it entirely. Attempts to return failed utterly, and it appears the Prime is gone, completely erased from Creation.'

'I am one of the very last of my kind. With any luck, I am one of five remaining. I am a creature of pure will. My mind and soul hold each other together, so that I may still continue some semblance of life. My companion, Calleigh,' Calleigh gives the Padisha a very large grin for such a tiny face and wave, 'is both familiar and friend. She keeps me from getting depressed, and makes sure I have a direction to point myself in. Lately, we've aligned with the Aurora and have seen firsthand the atrocities they are willing to commit on Lifasa. And so that brings us before you, asking for a boon.'

The Padisha listens to your tale, head resting on her hand, a lazy smile as you weave your story. When it at last hands she slowly claps thrice.

"Thus do Primes fall, as it is the nature of the mortal world to crumble - passing kingdoms and momentary empires that are ultimately dust on the wind, until all passes from that world in the end. Only Water is truly eternal. Your request amuses me, D'ln's-k'r-Tr'll."

You note she speaks your name flawlessly and with a perfect accent, as if it came from a mind or a mouth suited to speaking it.

"I will trade you the waters you seek, in exchange from some of your own body's waters. Your incorporeal nature is of no hindrance to this goal, not to us."

'I agree to this. Actually, the process requires a bit of my own blood, and I've been a bit stumped as to how to acquire it without actively slicing parts of myself off. If you're amenable, I would appreciate learning this technique.'

The Padisha merely snaps her fingers - and pain fills you for a moment. Bright red blood flows from your body, gathering together in your amphora, the Silent Spring water flowing out of it and hovering around the Padisha, forming intricate patterns in the air, ever-changing.

You take 100 damage from that.

"I am the Queen of All Waters," The Padisha's tone is lazy, yet your ghostly body aches with pain from the injury. "Do not presume you can match me." Then the amphora splits in two, the second one filled with clear, transparent water. They fly to you, hovering in the air. "You may take them."

Well, that's one way of doing it.

"Queen of All Marid, if I might impose a question on you." Moore says, he takes a respectful tone -- then actually shifts his language to High Aquan. "We know that the Emir of All Currents is no friend to devils or devil-kind. Yet, we also know with Hell's own breaking many rules of The Competition lately, that they may find themselves in places one would not suspect, such as these very halls. If the Pearl of the Sea would be so willing as to share what Duke Martinet was asking for from this land, Aurora would appreciate the information."

I think there's a High Aquan, anyway. If not, some fancy-pants version of Aquan would be fine, if such a thing exists, or even a tongue for marid only.

Barring the fact that she's now got my sort-of blood, 100 damage is a pretty fair deal.

Tryll's form briefly twists in pain before straightening. He bows again, 'I appreciate your kindness, Great Padisha. I too admit that I am curious as to the brazenness of Duke Martinet, entering your realm when they are clearly not welcome.'

High Maridi, Afina knows it.

The Padisha considers, "A matter personal to me, unrelated to your troubles," she says dismissively, sharply. "In the past, servants of the Lord of the Fifth kidnapped a favored servant of mine, Martinet spoke of that."

"I am certain that Aurora would be happy to retrieve them and ask you for no favor or in trade of it." Moore says with a look of complete certainty. "We need not have any reason to do a kind act for an ally, especially one that involves dealing blows to Hell. However, as it is a personal matter, I will leave it there." He offers a bow afterwards.

If she wants to ask them to do it she always can!

Waiting on Yuth here to be clear, since anything Tryll or Calleigh says will matter.

In case you were assuming I'd reply right back, Neph.

fuck that guy

Be nice.

Yuth is awesome enough for at least 4 fucks before you add that guy.

Like fuck fuck fuck fuck that guy, y'know?

FUCK that guy he posts pictures of dick jars

Feeling the love here.

How scary. Anyway, that's enough OOC babble, let's wait on Yuth unless he wants to talk trash back.

Neph, I know you're on phone and basically IRCless, so if you need to chat a bit feel free, but for anything more serious just use nagging for it and let me know.

'It would be a pleasure to blacken one of Hell's eyes in your honor.' Tryll adds. 'Calleigh and I are rather skilled at spywork and extraction, if you require our services.'

Also, Neph are you legit mad at me?

The Padisha chuckles, "Then you will find out more once you are done with Hell and Lifasa," The Padisha says, "WE are not so churlish as to occupy you in your hour of need."

No. My apologies if it seemed that way. I am trying to bring levity in a time of strife.

Moore nods. "Thank you. Do not hesitate to let us know how we can better assist our allies in Water should the time come." He glances at the others to see if they have anything further to add.

Last chance to add anything, either of you. Or Yuth since Neph already bit at that apple. Just relaxing until then.

Neph: Oh, ok. Cool. No, I just wasn't sure. Text is a bad medium for conveying emotion and I'm having a very uncomfortable day.

I'm sure your day isn't any better, but.

Tryll keeps his peace out of deference.

"You are dismissed," The Padisha says, and like this you are escorted out. Once out of the throne room, "Whew," Prince Westwind exhales. "That went as well as I could have hoped."

"I think bringing her a gift put her in a good mood." Moore agrees. "Good job to you too, Calleigh." Moore grins in her direction. "Tryll, what else is there that you need to collect now?"

"Yay!" Calleigh exults as soon as they're out of the throne room. "We need uhhhhhh...tag!"

'Yes.' Tryll sends to the others, 'We currently are half way through our list. We still need essence of good, essence of humor, and essence of squid.'

"Hm..." Moore rubs his chin. "Lliira's area in Brightwater is probably the best place to find something like the essence of humor... Uhh... I'm not really sure where you find the essence of squid, unfortunately..."

'I was thinking that we could take a bit of good-infused wood from Arborea. Lliira is a good source for humor, I hadn't thought of that. As for the squid...'

"We were thinking about hunting down a kraken!" Calleigh says.

"Ah, a kraken hunt!" Prince Westwind says, "Tell me, are you a hunter?"

"It probably has to be a really strong one... like... the Jormungandr of krakens." Moore reasons. "...Or something like that, anyway." 

"Hey! Doesn't the Aurora have some sort of deal with him? Or one of his kids? I remember hearing the turtle men talking about it." Calleigh says.

'I'm not a hunter, your highness. I could learn, though.' Tryll replies.

"It's something like that. I never really pursued that, but perhaps after the matters of Lifasa we can make it an adventure." Moore says with a smile. He glances over at Westwind and Tryll. Hmm, is there some notorious kraken out there already??

An Astral Kraken, maybe?

Okay then, which of these is next, Tryll?

We'll do the kraken last. Let's head to Brightwater and get Calleigh some candy check out Lliira's House of Party Games.

Moore is fine going with them (Tryll et al.) if Bubbles and Westwind want to go home.

Everybody is welcome!

Alrighty then. Any other prep or good to move onto Brightwater?

nope!

Our arch buffs should still be good but I doubt any devil is going to be dumb enough to attack us in Brightwater, although I would love to see them try.

Stranger things have happened, but it is indeed unlikely. The only attack I know of like that is the Father's decision to say hello to Muirfinn.

The Father was also a son of a bitch.

Ah, Brightwater. The cheerfulness of Lliira's realm is without compare. The streets are well lit, nighttime as people celebrate all over. Dancing in the streets, drinking, laughing and more. All is bright and merry as...

Ball is in your court, y'all.

"We may as well just see what we find by looking around." Moore suggests as he starts forward. "At least, that's how it usually ends up here."

"Ah, a good time! I'll just call..." Westwind begins, but then his face falls.

Moore lets out a bit of a breath at that. "Come, now, Prince Westwind, you can have a great time with just us and the people in their own revelry, right?" It's a bit of a long-shot to get his mind off of it, but hey, it's worth a shot!

"Huh? What happen?" Calleigh looks confused.

Westwind sighs, "I should have my loyal servants joining us, bringing merriment to all. Now though?" He shakes his head, "Let's focus on your goal, Tryll, rather than my regrets."

Calleigh realizes she's hungry.

Well. There's only one way to solve the Sadface Prince Dilemma.

Control Sound

Calleigh takes a deep (tiny) inhalation, then belts out, "HEY EVERYBODY! STOP! THERE'S A WINDY PRINCE HERE WITH A SAD FACE! HELP ME FIX IT!"

It carries very well.

That doesn't stop the partying, oh no. However, you're rapidly surrounded by partygoers. Drinks are pressed into your hands - even pixie sized ones for  Moore and Calleigh - and attractive men and women take your arms. One, a pretty elf woman with a smirk, "A djinn," she says, holding Westwind's arm. "How fanciful! Let's dance!"

Another, a smiling she-pixie with flaming red hair, giggles and pulls at Moore's arm, "How about we go have some drinks, handsome?"

A rather buxom, brown haired human woman even comes up to Tryll. "Aren't you the strangest thing I've ever seen? Let's go get some drinks and share some stories!"

"Actually, I'm here to help my friend find the very essence of humor." Moore says to the fiery-red pixie. "Perhaps you could suggest a good place to find some laughs for him?"

"Success!" Calleigh cheers, "Now who's got pies!?"

'Hello.' Tryll replies, allowing the woman to lead him off.

"Oh, anywhere will do. Everywhere's fun here," The pixie says, clinging to Moore's arm. "Just go have fun!"

"Well, well," Westwind laughs, "Things are looking up!" He and the elf go off, as...

What happens next will depend on what Moore does here, since Tryll's going off with someone.

Reminder that Tryll and Calleigh are in constant contact no matter what, so if Moore stays near Calleigh the party isn't necessarily split up.

"It would be rude of me to not enjoy myself." Moore says with a smile. "But I do have to make sure they don't get themselves into too much trouble. Actually, a pie does sound rather good..."

"Yeah!"

"Pies!"

"And dancing!"

"Do you think there will be dancing pies?"

Cool.

From here fun is had. Fun and joy, laughing, dancing, singing and more. Hours pass...

The next thing all of you know, it's morning and you're gathered around a large table in an outdoor cafe. Food and drinks is there as you recover from a night of fun - and somehow, Tryll isn't really sure how, you have a glowing bottle of whitish-gold that you're certain is the essence of humor.

"It's better to not worry too much about the how." Moore recommends. "The Lady of Joy is a stalwart ally in many ways."

'I have no complaints.' Tryll replies serenely.

Calleigh is not awake. She is snoring loudly, held aloft on a pillow confiscated from some random party-goer's cast-offs. The bottle is stored neatly away with the others.

'So. Westwind.' Tryll's tone is dry, 'How was your evening?'

"Faaaaantastic," Westwind gulps down a mug of watered down wine and then another, "Yours?"

'Pleasant.' Tryll replies. 'I met a very pleasant conversationalist.'

Bubbles sips her drinks and squints, "I lost track of several hours. That usually means I had a good time, honey."

"Well then," Westwind guzzles a third drink and rises, "What next?"

'Arborea, unless you have a better source of concentrated goodness.'

Okay then, what's your plan?

Arborea, unless you have a better source of concentrated goodness.

Moore would suggest Mount Celestia if he was interested in going there.

Up to y'all.

It's his thing, he can decide!

The potential lawfulness of the good is less desirable than the chaotic good, in this instance.

Superb. Where in Arborea are y'all starting at?

We need to see if Queen Morwell will talk to us anyhow about the Chalice, so might as well start at court and work our way outward.

Thus Tryll and friends gate to wild Arborea. You appear in forest, the breeze cool and the leaves just starting to turn colors, a first hint of fall.

Ball's in your court on getting to the court, as you can't just planeshift or gate in.

Tryll and Calleigh set out, rising into the air above the trees to better navigate to the court!

Okay then. In this case, roll 1d100, Tryll or Moore. Whichever of you sees this first is fine.

[13:14] <Nephrite> roll 1d100
[13:14] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 36 > [d100=36]

The party wanders a few hours.

"...so then," Westwind finishes, "I said, 'That's not a sultan, that's an air elemental!'"

The five of you are wandering through the forest, Bubbles leading the way with a natural ease. As you pick through a dense bit of forest and come out on the other side, you all can suddenly hear giggles above you.

Moore will look up!

Take 10 on spot for 63 if needed. Also please note he has True Seeing.

About 100ft up in the branches are dozens of courre, sparkling and happy little things. They are all covered in honey and laugh, "HONEY ATTACK!" they cry, sending a great rain of honey globs down at the party.

I'll make an attack roll if y'all attempt to dodge.

The worst case scenario is that this is some sort of extremely sticky honey that is going to be hard to get out.

He has magic that can fix this sort of thing, so there's really no harm in being bathed in a honey shower.

Dreadfully sorry, it's been a day.

"HONEY!" Calleigh shouts back with glee, flying toward the newcomers.

Tryll is incorporeal, and unconcerned.

Bubbles looks up and sighs, "Dearies," she says in a single word, as honey rains down all over you. It's an assault that covers all of you as Calleigh flies up.

"You know as well as I do that we should respect the rules of someone else's home." Moore says as a glob gets him in the forehead. "I'll clean everyone up afterwards, just... don't tell Afina, okay?"

'Why would we not tell Afina? Why even mention it?' Tryll says placidly as drops of honey pass through his form.

Above, "HI!"

"I'd rather not have to try and explain why Bubbles had honey thrown at her." Moore says, simply.

'The answer is courres.' Tryll explains, 'They are harmless.'

"Hi! Oh wow that's a pretty dress, you have to tell us about it and is he your boyfriend, he's cute and is he a bard, I bet he's a bard because bards get all the ladies or even the men if they like that, and that nymph there with you looks nice too and who's the green guy, he's taking it well."

Meanwhile, on ground level, "Amusing," Bubbles drawls, "But hardly our ticket to the court."

"We could always just ask them." Moore helpfully suggests. "They might know."

"Well then, go work your bard charms, dearie," Bubbles says. "I'm sure they'd love to tell you. Don't worry, I won't tell Ilsenine."

Calleigh mingles! "He's not my boyfriend, he's dating a queen! I think. Hey Moore, are you dating the queen? I think he's dating a queen of fairies. Maybe. We're sort of looking for the court. Can you guys show us the way?"

"We are close." Moore answers, simply. It's really too much effort to correct her on what Illsenine is...

"Ooooh! He's dating a Queen!" Words go through the courre, rapidfire. Amid this one calls out, "The court! The court! THE COURT! Go hang a left, go under the dreaming willows and through the door! I bet you'll find it there!"

"Thanks! Oh!"

A quick few powers from Tryll has the honey gathered up into an orb, which floats up to the courres.

"Take this and use it again!"

A few Prestidigitations later and the honey is cleaned off of everyone.

"Thank you. Have fun." He smiles and gives them a wave before he heads off with the rest of the team in tow in the direction he was given!

"Thanks! Catch!" One courre calls, tossing a small object at Calleigh. Catching it, she finds it's a wooden ring sized for a courre, average quality and with leaf and branch engravings.

"Have fun with your Queen!" Another calls to Moore, "Be a good King!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" He calls out as he departs.

Bubbles falls in next to you. "Marrying up, hm?" she asks with a little smile on her face.

He lets out a breath. "Does that even work?" He smiles with a bit of a shrug. "I suppose if Her Majesty decrees it, who is going to argue? It'd be the same for the Padisha, right?"

"It depends," Bubbles says, "I'd have to ask Ilsenine how she runs her court, dearie, but I know the Padisha is sole and sovereign. She may have a husband if she desires, but they will only be a Shahzada."

"That may actually work out a bit better... I wonder what King Oberon does." Moore muses. "You only ever really hear about Queen Titania, with good reason of course, but... I just wonder if he has other affairs he attends to, like diplomatic matters or something like that. Huh, I guess we are here, maybe I could just ask."

Westwind falls in with you as wel, "What was that about husbands now?"

"Oh, I was just musing on what the better half to certain deities actually do." Moore explains. "Like King Oberon -- you never really hear much about what his involvement with the various courts actually is. What are things like in the Whirlwind Throne?"

"It hardly matters," Prince Westwind says, "The Whirlwind Throne matters more than who sits on it, or anyone they may be married to. At least to most djinn, anyway."

why is bubbles asking if Tryll is getting married??????

She was speaking to Calleigh.

I mean Moore. Bleh, typos.

Calleigh flits over to beside Westwind's head and asks innocently, "What am I a princess of exactly?"

Okay. Please for my sanity don't do the "you" stuff in multi-person threads.

Moore wants to ask a few questions about that, but... later. Definitely later.

"I suppose that makes sense." Moore nods. "When you're in that sort of position, the details really don't make that much of a difference."

I shall try to remember, sorry about that.

"Well," Westwind says, "What do you want to be a princess of?"

"Candy! Is there wind candy??"

"Of course, you see..."

Good to move along?

yar

Alrighty. Survival check, whomever has the highest mod here.

Take 10 for 46, The only other person with Survival is Calleigh's +2.

You wander through the forest a time, following the directions. Which go nowhere, until you feel a cool breeze. Ahead is a door, an arched door closed shut. It simply sits in the forest, as if it was always there.

So the same rules that apply in Mount Celestia apply here, hm?

Oh dear, is he going to blurt that out without noticing again? Oh well.

He will go to and try and open the door!

Would Calleigh be familiar with this door? She's been to the Court before. Numerous times.

Yes, it looks like one type of entrance to it.

"This is definitely the place!" Calleigh nods. "I've seen this door before. Maybe. But it's the right type of door! Door! Open! We gotta see the Queen about a thing and it's super important!"

The previous action for opening stands!!!

You open the door and see the night sky ahead, full of stars.

Tryll and Calleigh immediately head through!

Moore looks around as he heads through as well. For some reason he straightens his clothes up a bit, also.

Thus you step through and into the night sky. Stars glow all around you as you stand amid them, glittering brightly.

Below, you can hear beautiful music, drifting up. A lake is below you, the waters still and serene. The music comes from the lake, you think. The sound of a harp, gently played.

Does any of this look familiar to when Moore and friends passed through some time ago and met with Oberon and then went to Yggdrasil?

"I think it's down there." Moore says as he heads in that direction.

Either way, they're clearly being invited somewhere.

"Yep!" Calleigh says, the pair having not stopped and thus leading the way.

Not precisely, Moore.

"Interesting," Westwind begins to descend down, "From the sky to the earth."

As you descend down, you notice a stairway just barely jutting out above the surface of the water, as if to lead you into the lake directly.

Hmm, is this Her capricious nature at work?

Moore will head for the stairs! He's used to diving into random lakes on various planes anyway.

Calleigh goes incorporeal and heads in, with Tryll placidly keeping pace.

Down you go. The water parts as you walk down, the path soon enough leading you deep into the lake. Here a stone table sits, atop it a simple wooden chalice full of water.

Detect Magic, Taking 10 on Spellcraft for 79

The water is faintly magical. It is pure chaos and good in distilled form, made into water.

"Ah. That's what you're looking for, Tryll." Moore says with a gesture at the cup.

'Convenient.' The water is carefully sampled and stored away. 'However, not the entirely what we were after. We seek an audience with the queen in regards to another matter.' Tryll replies

"You drown in good fortune and favor," Westwind remarks, "One does not simply get treated like lightly."

"I don't know, I think it's refreshingly pleasant," Bubbles retorts, "No run around, waiting or tiresome quests."

'I'm not referring to it that way. I am grateful, but our personal quests are ultimately second to the other matter. We have information for the Queen that we would prefer to share personally, though it's entirely possible she already knows it. Either way, diligence demands that I confirm she has this information. Additionally, we have a vague idea of how to accomplish the goal.' Tryll explains, 'I speak of the fabled Lost Chalice, and we now know its true nature and wish to discuss a means to recover it with the Queen.'

"Noooooow," Westwind drawls. "What did the water come in, Tryll? It could be a coincidence, but that sounds like it says something that we found it in a chalice."

"Or you've spent too much time amid immortals who think they're too clever by half," Bubbles rolls her eyes. "If you mean something, say it."

Tryll peers at the cup. '...an excellent point, Westwind.'

"Whoa, yeah. We got bamboozled!" Calleigh adds, cross-eyed.

'Very well. We've learned that the Chalice is not an object. It is a person. A daughter of Torm, stolen by Dispater. He keeps her in the top of the tower in Dis. So far, nobody has been able to free her, as Dispater is, well. You know. Dispater. So, we went to talk to Morniel about it, and he explained that nobody's even been able to climb to the top of the tower. We proposed to steal it instead.'

"Wait. What?" Westwind blinks, then turns to Tryll and stares. "You want to try and steal the Iron Tower of Dispater? Did I hear that right?"

"Nobody will see it coming! Nobody!" Calleigh cackles.

'Morniel had much the same reaction. I expect it's the first time anyone has proposed it. And not all of it. Just the top. We don't need it all. Or want it, really.' Tryll replies.

"It's because it's completely  mad. You can count me in," Westwind says, "Just have one hell of an escape plan."

'Of course. We'll need one hell of a distraction.' Tryll says.

"Like moving the Blood War very suddenly from Avernus to Dispater!" Calleigh nods. "Not permanently, of course, but a tide of demons flowing into Dispater would probably even get him to leave the Tower! Maybe even the whole city!"

'And that's what I wanted to discuss with the Queen. See if she had ideas.'

 "Are you planning on trying to fit this in before Lifasa?" Bubbles asks, "Sugar, that's audacious if nothing else."

'Oh no, that's a bit too much even for me, but planning should start as soon as possible. Something like this will require a great deal of work to pull off right, and nobody wants someone else to wind up Dispater's permanent guest.'

Calleigh knows it without knowing how: Return when Lifasa is freed. The time will be right then.

Calleigh blinks. "Whoa! Okie-dokie, boss!" She gives a jaunty salute at nothing in particular. "Right! We're done here! Time to go!"

"Reallyl" Bubbles asks, tossing her hair back, "Well then, let's get moving. What's next?"

"Yep! Queen sent me a message! Not the time! Ask again later! Buh-bye! Next is squidstuff!"

"That one... hmm." Moore rubs his chin. "The most logical place to find something like that is probably somewhere in Water itself or maybe Eldath's realm."

"Well, let's decide on something, dearies," Bubbles smiles, "Shall we return?"

Plan?

"Yep!"

Option 1: Find friendly squid, obtain essence.
Option 2: Murder unfriendly squid, obtain essence.

Okay, where then?

Manifesting Divination to find a likely squid!

Great, what's your question as per the spell's wording? Specifics matter here, so I'm not just being pedantic.

Where can we find a squid that will provide us with the high-quality essence we're looking for?

Your answer is: Seek the placid depths of the River Oceanus, where all darkness becomes light.

"Oceanus! Let's go!"

Okay, the River Oceanus covers all the Heavens. Where are you visiting it?

Moore would suggest Lunia, since that's the lowest point of Mount Celestia, and closest to the 'depths' as they were.

Tryll agrees with Moore.

Thus, the five of you appear in Lunia, standing knee deep in the wine-dark waters that surround Mount Celestia. High above the holy mountain rises, light shining from the heavens.

Ball is in your court here, y'all.

"BEACH PARTY!" Calleigh cries, splashing into the water.

"Ah," Bubbles says, stretching in the waters. "Sugar, shall we get swimming?"

"Let's go!" Calleigh cheers, treading water with tiny limbs.

Tryll sinks silently into the water as though it were not there, which it might as well not be.

Okay, any water breathing spells (for Moore) or other water assistance spells going to be cast?

Not by us! We haven't got em!

Cool, we wait on the dread pixie then.

Would Avoid Planar Effects/Planar work to breathe water if he used it as if they were going to Water?

No. That only works on a water dominant plane like Water.

Then let's plane shift to Lunia. Moore thinks The Mountain will provide what they need when they need it.

That's not where we are now?

I missed that!

Moore will go and fly into the waters -- may as well have faith!

Thus you all descend into the waters.

Moore quickly realizes he has a problem - he has to breathe, after all.

Unless you have one of those necklaces that helps or can breathe water naturally.

haha I forgot I do actually have the necklace for air breathing. Celestia provides again!!!

Down the party goes. It's wet but not dark, no sign of the light fading as you descend into the waters.

> roll 1d100
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 89 > [d100=89]

You're not far down when you see it. Sitting about 40ft beneath the waters and a ways away from land sits a village, made of shells and seaweed. Here sea elves swim about, along with schools of fish, seahorses large enough to be ridden, dolphins and other such creatures. It's bustling and spread out, plenty of elves about. There's a scattering of celestials as well, as well as a few sea elves with celestial features or wings.

Moore swims down towards the village!

Maybe this is where Filbrez's new assistant came from?

"Is this where we're looking?" Bubbles says in Aquan, the words easily working despite having a mouthful of water.

"We should at least ask." Moore responds in the same watery language.

Just going to ask around for giant squid then, huh?

may as well!

Yes please.

Can I haz squid?

Sure, GI check. One person leads and up to two others assist.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+37 : 6 + 37, total 43[/blockquote]

Cool, who is assisting?

Depends on how good Moore's modifier is!

Moore Takes 10 for 37 for aiding

You two chat around town, along with your friends. The best leads you get boil down to this: There's giant squids, but much further out from here, and deeper too.

Then it's back into the Oceanus they go!

Waiting on Yuth here, mentioning it since I know you can't be on IRC today.

No problem

ONWARD

> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=11 ]{11}
> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=92 ]{92}
> roll 1d100 subtable
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 subtable --> [ 1d100=91 ]{91}

The party wanders for a few hours, going deeper and deeper. Yet even as the seabed deepens, it grows no darker. In fact, the waters stay a deep, rich wine-dark purple, suffused with ample light to allow easy vision.

It is perhaps two and a half hours in that Tryll is the one to notice it. The muddy seabed has occasional bits of things that glitter. Some are a rich gold color, other a shiny silver or smooth, gray metallic shade.

'Oh look, everyone. There's-' Tryll is cut off.

"SHINY!" Calleigh dives for the riverbed.

"Is that what I think it might be?" Bubbles says, "How fortunate!"

Calleigh goes down. It's surely gold! Gold! Silver! Platinum! Solid, unrusted iron!  Nuggets and hunks of it peek out through the mud, as if just waiting for someone to grab them.

"Princess Calleigh," Westwind calls in Aquan, carrying in the strange waters, "Exercise wisdom. Does greed profit any in Celestia?"

Moore can't help but laugh. "You're not wrong, Westwind -- at the same time, the fact that we're finding this means we're meant to find it. I don't think it's greed to take what has been lost and discarded and put it to a truly good cause."

"I'll pass on it," Westwind gestures below, "But if you want to, that's your choice. Besides, I have more at home than this. Much more."

Moore nods and will fly down... actually, maybe he can get an idea of why this stuff IS here. Is it intended as donations to deities? Hmm...

He's going to cast Hindsight and see if he can ascertain if this stuff maybe just got pushed here by the river itself or maybe came down from above -- He's using the 'weeks' version, which will go back 27 Weeks. If that doesn't turn up anything he'll go Years and then Centuries if needed.

Exact specifications of the spell: http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20030103a

Moore looks back in time. You see it happen over the years and centuries. Occasional nuggets of precious metals rise up or sink down, the movement of silt, mud and seabed doing so naturally. Every once in awhile you see and occasional passerby harvest some. One or two things happen:

In some cases, those who gather them store them away, only to become increasingly encumbered. They sink into the mud and silt, never to be seen again by your eyes.

In other cases, those who gather take some, store them away and leave.

Interestingly, your spell seems to consider those to be noteworthy events, even in the view of centuries.

Moore nods after a moment. "It is as Westwind says. Take what we need and not more than that." He advises as he flies down. it isn't really about the value, but more about the lesson of greed. At the same time, none of them are taking any of this out of greed... Maybe this would be a good donation for the Aurora fund.

He shakes his head. He'll pick up some and put them in his bag.

He's going just pick 21 random things and put them away. He doesn't really care about the value of any of this so isn't trying to appraise them as he grabs them.

Cool. Waiting on Yuth here and will resolve both at once, since what happens here matters big time.

OK

"But...we need a LOT! The more money we have, the better we can equip our soldiers and the more likely they are to survive the retaking of Lifasa! They're good people who deserve to get their home back! From devils!" Calleigh protests.

'She's right. It's rare we take things out of greed, and this is especially true since we joined the Aurora. Any gold that does not get used to build our project will be funneled into outfitting our rank and file.' Tryll says, 'It's something we've been thinking on a great deal as of late. Our personal needs are very small. Calleigh and I often lived at the sufferance of others in Brightwater. We were essentially homeless, though that has different meaning for those like us. The simple accumulation of wealth is something for mortals and dragons. We recognize the need for money on behalf of others, though. Frankly, the better equipped our soldiers are, the more likely they are to survive when we invade. Soldiers that live longer can kill more devils.'

FYI, this is legitimate feeling. I've been planning to donate all of the remaining gold from the golem project as well as Tryll's personal money to the Aurora, so long as it is used to improve the survivability of our troops. Plan is to donate it to the Aurora with sufficient time to craft or purchase the difference in bulk.

Noted. I figured it was.

"I agree," Bubbles says, swimming down, "Let me help you gather that."

Westwind stays up, "Well if all of you are wrong, I'll buy you splendid crypts," he calls, "Try not to be wrong."

"I'll eat my hat if some angel comes down and tells us we're being too greedy." Moore says as he puts another piece in his bag.

Okay, Moore's grabbing 21 pieces. How much are y'all gathering?

Calleigh stuffs rocks and nuggets into her bag of holding, Tryll tossing more her way as he picks around the area. 'Look at it this way, Prince Westwind: We are good people on an extremely righteous course. I would be stunned if the River wasn't at least somewhat sentient, given where we are. It likely knows the strength of our character and the value of our deeds. We're not invaders or looters. We're defeaters of tyranny and liberators of souls. The salvation of Benfal is an excellent example.'

We'll take what's in the immediate area. No digging, though. That's just rude.

Loot post.

All of you save Westwind gather up precious nuggets. Nothing else happens, fortunately.

Moore says a prayer of thanks as he moves on. Let's find that squid!

> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=21 ]{21}
> roll 1d100+20
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100+20 --> [ 1d100=79 ]{99}

You wander a time - until you see them ahead in the brightly lit waters. A school of giant squid, faraway and swimming away and to the left of you.

Moore will let Tryll handle this!

Tryll swims ahead! And by that, he really just floats!

Easy enough. You soon begin to catch up to the squid and...

Ball's in your park.

Tryll attempts diplomacy first! 'Greetings!'

Still a ways away, a school of giant squids turn to you. They have a faint metallic gleam to them as a voice sound in your mind. 'Greet? Strange?'

'Yes! Strange, too! Hello!' Tryll replies, cruising up to the group and stopping a reasonable distance away. Just in case.

'Strange. Danger?' The voice asks back, as the squids start to creep away.

'I mean you no harm!' Tryll replies. 'No danger. Friend?'

'Friend? Subject of King?' The squid stop retreating, starting to advance towards Tryll instead.

'King?' Tryll asks.

'King Squid. Ruler.' The squid sends back.

Meanwhile, Moore is having a fascinating time watching these (apparently) telepathic squids.

Bubbles settles in next to you, "Dearie," she remarks, burbling along in Aquan. "Do you ever feel like you're missing a conversation?"

"You know, I thought once I was given the ability to speak all languages, that I really wouldn't feel left out anymore." Moore says with a grin as he responds back in Aquan. "I'm a little surprised, to be honest!"

Bubbles laughs at that, "Hon, never underestimate the ability for strange creatures to surprise you."

Moore smiles. "Yes, you'd really think I'd have learned that wisdom by now. Hey, Bubbles, while we're waiting, what's the most scandalous story you know from the Padisha's Court? Surely there must've been something amazing."

Bubbles takes a long glance at Calleigh, "One that I don't think her innocent ears should hear, sugar. It involves gross perversion." After a moment she leans in, and in the barest whisper to you, "It involves one who did not wait for noble flowers to blossom before plucking them. The Padisha's mercy was a short, sharp execution. Of course, that is hardly the story, but..." A long look over to Calleigh again.

Calleigh is very obviously not paying attention to Bubbles. Very obviously. Yet keenly interested.

'There's a King Squid?' Tryll is intrigued.

'Yes. King. Our king. Ruler.' The squids send back. 'Good king. Fair king. Wise king.'

Moore puts a hand to his mouth. "I'm honestly surprised she even gave them that much of a courtesy." He shakes his head.

'Ohhhh, I see. No, I work for Queen Morwell. I'd like to meet your king, though!'

Calleigh very subtly leans closer to Bubbles & Moore.

"He was nobility. Certain formalities had to be observed," Bubbles says quietly. "I'm sad to say it's hardly a light hearted or amusing tale, but..." Here Bubbles sighs, a water little burble. "Justice was done, and thank the Padisha for it. She ensured he is beyond the reach of resurrection."

Meanwhile, the squids move a little closer, strange and alien bodies quivering. 'Queen? A Queen? King has Queen. King takes visitors. Come.'

"She seemed to be quite a force to be reckoned with. Is that all...mm..." Moore bobs his head back and forth as he searches for the right word. "I guess my question is whether the station itself comes with power, or if it's her natural talent?"

'Yes, of course!'

"We're moving!" Calleigh says abruptly to Bubbles and Moore. "Gonna go see a Squid King about some squid!"

"Natural talent, though none without power and talent has ever taken the mantle of Padisha," Bubbles continues on. "Sugar, to survive the marid court and rise to that station and take the position requires great skill. One does not become the Padisha without the skills to make it that far."

"Ah, then let's go," Westwind pipes in, "Lead on, Tryll. Let us meet this Squid King."

Tryll follows the metal squids.

"The squids here don't sound like they're used to language." Calleigh says to the group as they trail along behind Tryll. "Very, uh, single-word kinda guys. You didn't miss much."

Just going to follow, y'all?

Yup

Yes, Moore and Bubbles will continue to be the Ashleys from Recess

You are lead along and down for several hours. The sea bed keeps on getting lower, but it never gets any darker. Longer, longer and longer yet you go, until you see it on the horizon. A wide open temple-castle, classical, pillared architecture with no walls, only vast, open and water filled spaces. Squids are everywhere here, going about in singles, pair or packs.  The stone used for it is a dull green-blue color, yet has the occasional large, shiny bit of metal stuck in it. Mostly gold and silver or at least things colored like it, but other colors are noted on occasion.

K:P relevant for possibly pulling some information on what these things even are?

Sure.

K:L (Celestia) would be easier, if you have that.

K:P[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+34 : 2 + 34, total 36[/blockquote]

I can bullshit anything~~ In that case, Take 10 for 61 on K:L (Celestia)

Tryll draws a blank - this is awfully obscure.

Moore recalls something - stories of undersea kingdoms, where enlightened sea creatures hold court in perfect peace and order. Given greater intellect by the heavenly touch of celestial power, they mimic the ways of Celestia and create kingdoms guided by a single powerful ruler, advised by the most capable of the kingdom as well as celestial advisors. These kingdoms are said to be peaceful and prosperous.

You've heard rumors that a few of these kings are paragon creatures, but it's hazy rumor at best.

"I can't really add much more than the obvious, but these creatures have been touched by the wisdom of Celestia. Their leaders should be quite wise and willing to aid you." Moore offers.

"Awesome!" Calleigh replies. Tryll swims on ahead.

The party is lead within. There's really no throne room - just a various spaces, little interior design. Instead it's all flowing waters until you are lead to him. He sits in a large space, big as a squid with a few Hannas attached. His skin is solidly gold and several squid pass by here and there.

In Aquan the king speaks, "Visitors? It has been a long time. Air breathers?"

"Oh boy! Hello!" Calleigh waves.

Meanwhile, Tryll realizes he's not entirely visible and elects to manifest in all his squidly goodness. 'Hello, Your highness. I am Tryll, and this is Calleigh.'

"Your Majesty, my name is Moore, of Aurora. I have been blessed by Lord Erathaol's wisdom and guidance. This is Bubbles of the Marid and Prince Westwind of the Whirlwind Throne. We are honored to make your acquaintance." Moore says, offering a bow.

"Yes, visitors. Long away visitors. Uuuuuglupgulp," he says, turning to a passing squid, "Bring Radance."

The squid merely bobs in the water before swimming off.

"Visitors welcome. Wise visitors and strange visitor. Aboleth?" The king looks right at Tryll. "Sea tyrant?"

'Irrigo. Similar in shape, though different in ability and temperament. No slaves. No rampant horror and murder.'

"You sure do get compared a lot to those." Moore remarks.

"Understood. Purpose here, my friend?" The king asks. "You haven't lied? Squid do not know lies, but I do."

"We're used to it. Occasionally we get blasted. It's a thing." Calleigh shrugs. "Hanna tried to axe him on day one. Was pretty funny."

'Lies complicate matters, and should only be used against your enemies. My purpose here is to make a request of you. Calleigh and I are on a hunt for components to augment a ritual that allows a creature a chance at becoming a paragon. We're down to our final component: The essence of squid. Divination directed us here, and so I ask for your aid.'

"Essence? Squid juice?" The king says, "Want squid juice, make squid juice for you?"

Bubbles puts a hand to her mouth, lips twitching.

Westwind laughs, "No, my good sir, essence!"

"Essence?" The figure that swims in is celestial - a hound archon, though thankfully you don't smell wet dog. It has thick black head fur and a muscled body, wearing a short pair of pants and nothing else.  "A courre, a nymph, a djinn, a pixie and whatever you are," he says in Aquan, "I am Radance, what in the name of the Holy Mountain is going on here?"

"Friend. Radance, explain please. Outsiders want strange things."

"Sir Radance. My name is Moore, of Aurora. I am under Lord Erathaol's wisdom." Moore explains. "This is Tryll and Calleigh of Aurora, as well as Bubbles of the Padisha's Court and Prince Westwind of the Whirlwind Throne." He gestures to each in kind.

"Tryll is here because he needs the essence of a squid to perform a ritual in order to become a paragon of his kind. He hopes to gain strength to use against the forces of Hell. If you need an example of this essence, we have obtained others from other planes." He explains.

"Wandering heroes. It would explain the group," Radance says, "That would help, show me."

Calleigh digs into her bag and pulls out a bottle of Good, and a bottle of Humor. "Like these!"

"I have no idea what those are," The hound archon says. "You, Splararuuuu, get Wizard." A passing squid burbles and bobs in the water before going off.

"Radance doesn't know? Great secret indeed!" the king adds. "Wizard knows everything. Wizard smartest squid!"

"Well, we didn't exactly expect you to identify them on-sight, no." Moore says with a smile. "I'm not exactly sure how you explain what they are, though..."

"Oh."

'They're components for a ritual to possibly cause the caster to become a paragon.' Tryll explains.

"Well, even explaining it that way doesn't necessarily tell anyone what they -are-, you know?" Moore says. "I did expect someone from Celestia to be able to identify the essence of Good, though, I admit..."

"Then we wait for Wizard," Radance agrees.

Wizard is not long - a squid with a belt attached to his body, studded with pouches. A short cap rests atop his squid head as he approaches, speaking in Aquan. "Ah! What a strange group. Your Majesty, this is what you need my help with?"

"Yes," The king says, "They speak of things Radance does not understand."

"Please," Radance swims back a bit, getting out of the way.

'Hello. I am Tryll and this is my companion, Calleigh. With her are friends Moore of Erathol, Prince Westwind of the Whirlwind Throne, and Bubbles of the Padisha's Court.'

Calleigh waves.

'We are collecting components for a divine ritual. I seek the true essence of what it means to be squid-like. We have already collected other essences of various other parts of our natures. Divination pointed us to Oceanus, and providence has led us here. Are you able to assist?'

Moore takes a deep breath but Tryll explains everything, so he deflates somewhat. He does offer a bow.

"Oh! I know this! Barren the Bold is working on this! Radance, get Barren the Bold!" Wizard declares.

The hound archon just nods slightly and swims off to do exactly that.

"Excellent!" The king says, "Wizard is smart again!"

Calleigh claps politely.

"Do you have a special area of study, Wizard?" Moore asks while they wait.

"Magic! I can manage the third circle now," Wizard says, "No squid has ever reached so far. I have even breathed air with magic. What a strange thing you surface creatures breathe." He takes one tentacle and points at Westwind, "What a strange thing you are!"

"Air is air and air is life," Westwind retorts, "Without the wind, water would not move and dry up, never to return without air."

Moore smiles and nods. "Well, maybe I'll come back and tell you all some stories of the surface then and see if I can teach you some other magic."

Barren the Bold is a sea elf. He swims along, body long and lithe, tinged blue. He takes one look at all of this, "Adventurers," he sighs, "I got away from everything to avoid your kind. But you seek me out. No matter." He goes upright, gesturing through the waters as her burbles at the two of you in Aquan. "What is this about squid essence?"

"Oh my gosh a blue elf you're so pretty!" Calleigh squees.

Tryll gestures at Moore with a set of facial tendrils. 'Your turn, Moore.'

"You know, I'm starting to sense a theme with the people who are down here." Moore says. Even with that, though, this guy really needs a talking-to...

He takes a breath. "My name is Moore, of Aurora. These are my comrades, Tryll, Calleigh, Bubbles and Prince Westwind. I would appreciate it first of all if you'd not turn your nose up at us and refer to us as 'adventurers' with such a distaste and disdain in your tone. We didn't come all the way down here to bother you. I see you're still learning the wisdom of Celestia." He says that last part with just a small bit of reprimand.

"We're here because we need squid essence. How you define that is up to you, but we need the physical manifestation of what it is to be a squid." Moore explains. He takes the vial with the essence of good in it to show Barren. "This is the essence of good we obtained from Arborea. Tryll, here," He gestures at him, "Needs these in order to perform a ritual to better himself and become a paragon so that he can better fight the forces of Hell and we can liberate a prime from them."

"Yeah! Devils are bad! Adventurers are neato!" Calleigh chips in.

"I can do it," Barren the Bold says, "I already have some in my lab, I've been researching this. Just give me 1,000 gold coins to cover the costs of creating a new batch."

"Oh. That's easy!" Calleigh says, reaching into her tiny bag of holding and pulling a disproportionately-large bag of gold out. "Lemme count it out for you! One, two, three, five..."

Hit the nail on the head, did he?

That seems like a fair price, if nothing else. He looks to Tryll and then to Calleigh.

He covers his mouth with a hand and coughs.

"Four," Bubbles corrects automatically.

Okay, going to pay him and get the essence?

"Oh, right! Four, six, seven, nine..."

Tryll is blatantly quiet.

Yep. We'll get there eventually.

"Patience is something that one has to learn through experience." Moore helpfully adds.

Soon enough the gold is finally counted and you are given a bottle of essence. It's like the other essences, only squiddish.

Next move?

Calleigh stores away the bottle. "Thanks, elfy!"

I believe that's everything I was after, so we're all done unless Moore has anything he wishes to accomplish here?

As a side note, establishing a friendly relationship with the squid and creatures here wouldn't be a terrible idea. More help from any angle is always welcome.

Moore's business was helping Tryll, he doesn't have anything else to do here unless something calls his attention when they're leaving.

Okay then, do you two want to spend time here trying to set that up or move along? Making friends and allies with them, that is?

It's probably best for us to get back and save this for after Lifasa. i mean, they're not going anywhere!

Great, you're all done with gathering. Now what?

I presume Tryll is going to do that ritual thing. If Moore can help out with it at all he will, otherwise it's probably high time for that golem to get built.

We need to visit Lathander for that first, I think. We need a bunch of his power to make it work right.

I'm ready as I'll get for the ritual.

Awesome. Paste me the low down you have on it real quick? (You did have one, right? I want to make sure neither of us is forgetting anything.)

On the golem or the ritual plan?

Whichever you're doing next. Your last line confuzzled me a bit since I didn't realize you were talking about two different things.

Okay.

Plan Ritual
Tryll and Calleigh both plan to undergo the ritual, as there don't seem to be any drawbacks to the ritual's failure. As far as I can tell, it either works or does not.
Depending on how the ritual is set up, the essences will be introduced at the appropriate times.
Tryll: Squid, Chaos, Good, & Water
Calleigh: Good, Chaos, Humor, & Color

With any luck, the additional work put in will allow either for better success, increased power granted, or both.

Quote- 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 doe snot guarantee success.

In addition, the ritual will cost 50k in reagents and a week in prep time. Normally we would write this off, but time is rather valuable right now, so it's not something we can hand-wave anymore.

I don't know what the check DCs are, so I'll either need to borrow Moore's Knowledge Crystal or acquire one of my own. Seeing as how I only have 57k at the moment (before loot), I'm a bit short. Surru owes me money though, so there's that.

Plan Golem
So while we have the materials for the golem, there's still two pieces we absolutely need.

1. The work being put in. It'll take multiple people and it's frankly far too large for even our resident megapixie to do all on her own. MY hope is to recruit Latha and her forgers to aid us in working it.
2. It's gonna need goldenfire. Lots of it. And the only place we're gonna get it is Lathander. And I'm pretty sure Latha is the go-to person for working with it at this point.

The point of the golem is

1. Big hulking machine bent on destroying evil
2. Being a big ol target
3. Being infused with goldenfire, it is a direct conduit for Lathander's power. Lifasa hasn't seen Lathander's touch since Hell invaded. The ultimate point of the golem is for it to physically bear Lathander's power back onto Lifasa, allowing him to spread his power over the plane once again. Even in a limited capacity, this would be huge.


It would probably be wise to get the golem started first, as it'll take time. The entire golem project hinges on Lathander's cooperation, or else it loses a huge amount of power and has to be reworked. I could do it, but I'd rather have it be an awesome Lanthander engine of the sun.

Moore can help out with the checks also if needed / wanted. He could also go to Lathander's realm while Tryll does his preparations.

Looks good. So upshot is that golem first?

Yeah, golem first. Construction will take significant time, and we can be in a week in downtime for it.

Okay. Where are you at on that mechanically?

The golem? How do you mean? Like how the creature's stat sheet is done?

I don't think there was ever a consensus on the Dune version of the golem vs. the Yuth version of the golem.

Yeah, that. If you're gonna build it you do need a stat block.

Let's hash it out tomorrow then.

Worst case scenario we can probably proceed with meeting Latha and explaining that we need goldenfire IC while the details for it are hashed out in nagging or wherever.

We could do stuff like that, yeah. Waiting on Yuth here.

I'll hash out a final draft of it today, but it'll probably take an hour or two. We could do the roleplay in the mean time.

In addition, see Nagging. Looks like the ball was in your court when we last visited the topic, Dune.

I'll look at that later. For now, what did you want to roleplay out?

Let's go meet with Latha and see if we can get Lathander's attention. Also Calleigh wants to talk to him about a certain rainbow slaad.

Okay. You coming along for this, Moore?

He'd like to make sure there's no trouble, so yes!

Okay, you all have basically used up your daytime and the others are a day head, so I'm closing this one and making a new topic for day 84. Locked.