Okay, so you just came off a chat with Seira. Doing anything immediately in response to that, Moore?
Let's see about setting up a meeting with the Padisha. Last time we did it was a little before we became any sort of real divinity, so I'm not sure what the protocols here are. We can send a nice letter to ask her to meet us if that's still proper decorum.
Sure. Going to mention why you want to meet her or anything like that?
Yeah, it'd be rude to surprise her about Shar, so we'll basically say 'We wish to speak to you on the subject of Shar and influence she may be trying to make within the elemental planes'
Sylvie and Xandra can come along if they'd like.
You receive word you will be granted an audience.
Any prep for this?
Nah, we'll just head over.
You are escorted in. This is all familiar, you've been here before. You even meet the Padisha amid a great many waterfalls as before, where she sits on an ornate throne of sea green at rest. With a simple gesture of her hand she greets you.
"The Godsrush," she begins, "As if Creation was stalled for so long and now many arise at once. As if a dam has given way to the fury of the river."
"The needs of Creation respond to dire circumstances." Moore affirms. "I wish you well in greeting, Maharaja of the Waves." Moore says. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with us again. I am sorry we are meeting to discuss such a distasteful subject as Shar."
"Two of Aurora's does not surprise me," The Padisha goes on, "Even if they were not the two I would guess." Her head rests on her hand, as if at a mere, casual rest. "But still better than that devil. Speak then, Moore, what of the currents that brought you here?"
Xandra stays back and ready, and glances at Sylvie. The two share a look and a nod before Sylvie steps forward.
"Don't play dumb," Sylvie says, "No one would ever mistake you a fool so ignorant as to not be aware of Shar's many plans and plots. You know well we are her enemy." Sylvie spreads her arms out, hands open, "Any Sharrans you know about you doubtlessly have under watch, forces ready to arrest them in a moment if a plot or move against you is imminent."
"Sylvie." Moore says gently as he turns to her with a smile and then turns back. "She speaks bluntly, but true. We believe Shar is making moves across all the Elemental Planes and we wish to act against her - though we have little to go on besides an assumption at this point."
Give me a Sense Motive check before anything else.
Take 10 for 123.
The Padisha smiles slowly before, "Of course you are. But do you lack anything firm at all?"
"We've had reports of agents of Shar's in the court of Grumbar." Moore says. "If they were seen there, then I think the likelihood of her agents finding themselves in other courts is higher."
"In any court, but this is old news," The Padisha waves her free hand, "So nothing solid then."
Moore nods. "It hadn't really been on my radar until very recently, so I haven't spent much of my resource allocation on further investigation." He says.
"Then come to me when you do," The Padisha waves her hand again.
"Should I take that to indicate that the agents of Shar, at least within your sphere of influence, are not any threat to you?" Moore asks. "Actually, do you have any contacts within the Mercane? I thought to at least investigate any of their larger consortiums, if I could."
"Tell me honestly, Moore," The Padisha smiles and crooks one finger, beckoning you closer. "What is it you want from me? You seek to curry my favor openly."
"I simply wish to find Shar's plans and put an end to them." Moore says. "I truly do not wish anything else. I'm rather boring in that regard, I think. I think, though, that she's already infiltrated certain places that may be unseen by most."
"Oh," The Padisha says sweetly, "You don't need to hide behind denials. You're here for me," Her voice is ever so alluring as she says, "It's only natural, every divine male with any sense attempts to come for my beauty."
Sylvie grins. She doesn't hide it, doesn't even try.
Oh Moore. Moore, Moore, Moore. What would everyone else think?
Xandra smiles slightly herself, but seems content to let you undo that particular problem yourself.
If he were gay, would this be such a problem?
Moore bows his head slightly.
"Padisha, you are one of the most beautiful people I've ever had the pleasure of speaking to." Moore says. "But my heart sings for another. Even then, I think our ideals are too different." He says. "But it is truly an honor to be spoken of so highly by one such as yourself. Truly."
Diplo check, pixie.
Take 10 for 136.
Daring.
With a rich laugh the Padisha says, "Oh, well then," she agrees, eyeing you. "You really came here only for the matter of stopping Sharrans?"
"Yes. You have long been a true ally to me, even before I ascended. I treat our relationship with the utmost respect." Moore says.
The Padisha takes some time to consider those words before, "There's nothing serious here right now," She finally says.
"Thank you. Know that I am ever your ally." He says with a bow. "Would you mind if I ask Prince for some Mercane contacts? If Shar was to try and have any influence somewhere, I think she may make attempts with them somehow."
Raw Charisma check here, +2 bonus.
[11:49] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+56
[11:49] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d20+56 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{59}
You get a long look before with an imperious wave of her hand, "You may."
Moore nods and offers another bow.
"If we can be of any assistance to you and yours, do not hesitate to reach out to us." Moore says. "Thank you, Lady Padisha."
With a gesture, Moore returns home with Sylvie and Xandra, where he lets out a long breath.
"Some people." Is all he says with a slump of his shoulders.
"I know." Xandra kneels next to you, "Her actions were disgraceful. There is more decorum to be had than she showed."
Sylvie magics a comfortable chair from nothing and sits, "Moore, bitches are bitches. There's no sense letting them drag you down, or you'll spend forever miserable since there's so many of them."
He snorts at that.
"If we were lesser types, I'm sure we could raise some sort of formal objection about the way she handled it." He says. "But there's no sense in worrying about it. Do you both think it's worth investing any of our actual time in this? I can just have Melia investigate the Mercane for us and we can put our attention somewhere else."
"There's no formal way to protest her being a bitch," Sylvie waves it off, "Leave them be for now ,there's better avenues to approach the Mercane without dealing with her. Try again once her mood's cycled."
"Time may heal that wound," Xandra agrees, "Or perhaps Sylvie is right, it will make her less of a bitch."
A smile grows on Sylvie's face, "Exactly, Xandra. Why not ask Crystalle the favor? He could show the slightest interest and he'd have a few hundred Mercane ready to give entire nations of treasure to get access, or ready to betray virtually any secret. Let me disguise myself as one of Crystalle's deputies in this and handle it. I know Seira's had an interest in them as well for some time, so if we hit something big, we can pass that along too."
"Oh, sure, we can go that angle." Moore says with a nod. "Sylvie, if you'd like to arrange it with him I'll give you my full support."
"I can, but it'll take time so I'll be busy for awhile," Sylvie explains, "They'll be protected against mind reading to the hilt, so odds are I need to get anything out of them the hard way or with brute force that'll be too obvious."
"I think it's worth the investment." Moore says. "Worst case, it may lead to other potential for us."
"Then I'll get it started," Sylvie says, "Contact me if you need me in an emergency."
Moore nods. "In the meantime, let's see if there's anything else we can get involved in." He says to Xandra.
There's not a lot else on his plate for right now.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d100 : 79, total 79[/blockquote] Have a d100 for no reason whatsoever.
Prayers. Beautiful things, fragile hopes and radiant dreams. They glow brightly your mind as you deal with them, each one a moment of hope. A moment where one stands out, for it isn't the person you'd expect.
Canderella.
'No time, Moore. If you can hear, I'm in Gith ship on Astral. Trapped. Communications mostly blocked. Can't contact Talos due to hostage. Help me.'
That's it when it simply ends, abruptly. It's not a normal prayer, but a twisted and flickering sending.
So here's a technical question - since she prayed to me, do I know exactly where she is on the Astral?
No. As noted it's a twisted and flickering sending. She was pretty far off label you suspect.
Okay. I wasn't sure if it was capital S sending like the spell so thank you for the clarification.
Moore summons the others in an instant, already preparing to go.
"I don't think we need to send everyone, but we need to know exactly where she is." Moore says. "Xandra, can you help pinpoint her? I don't know if regular divination magic will work, but we can try it."
"I could," Xandra says after a moment, eyes closed.
Silence as the others watch.
Kaja awaits while Cresiel stands, armored and ready. Jetina is grim-faced as Xandra works, "I have an area," Xandra's voice is strangely distant, "I am closing in. "
Moore will let her work and meanwhile take a moment to prepare himself.
Inspire Courage and Inspire Heroics for everyone.
Immunity to charm and fear effects and a +24 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls
+20 morale bonus to saves and +20 dodge to AC
They are immune to any spell or effect that would inflict negative emotions, such as fear or the effects of symbol of hopelessness. they gain fast healing 14 and gain damage reduction 14/-
Okay, let's just hit that all now so I can do it in between sessions: Any prep besides that?
Xandra works away, "Yes, I see it," Xandra says, "It's approaching some manner of fortress in the Astral."
"Well, won't they see a surprise." Moore says.
Jetina can cast Celestial Valor, CL37
+8 sacred vs fear and emotion effects that would sap the will to fight, +4 sacred to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, armor class and saving throws, weapons count as holy (30m)
Then we hit up the Blessing Stone for the following:
Epic Mage Armor (CL24), Mind Blank (CL17) and Afina's Perfect Sight (CL27).
Whoever wants to go can come with, if we want to make a fantastic showing we can all go, but I don't think that's necessary. We'll Gate there.
Xandra's going since obvious reasons. Jetina will go as well.
Okay then, Xandra will take you over. Ready?
Yep.
The timeless Astral Plane is chilly. You appear in the silver nothingness, as in the distance, a great Astral Ship flies. Farther ahead lies a perfect cube of unrusted iron, where a fortress is built atop it. A fortress of the same iron, reaching up and curling towards the sky with narrow towers that terminate in razor sharp blades.
[spoiler]
Immunity to charm and fear effects and a +24 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls
+20 morale bonus to saves and +20 dodge to AC
They are immune to any spell or effect that would inflict negative emotions, such as fear or the effects of symbol of hopelessness. they gain fast healing 14 and gain damage reduction 14/-
Jetina can cast Celestial Valor, CL37
+8 sacred vs fear and emotion effects that would sap the will to fight, +4 sacred to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, armor class and saving throws, weapons count as holy (30m)
Then we hit up the Blessing Stone for the following:
Epic Mage Armor (CL24), Mind Blank (CL17) and Afina's Perfect Sight (CL27).
Xandra
HP: 871/871
Negative Conditions:
Aura: Menace 20ft (-2 attacks, AC, saves; DC 37), Divine 20ft (various)
Bonuses: Attack+0, Damage+0 AC+0, Saves+0, Skills+0, Checks+0
Resources: Smite Evil 10/10 Domain Smite Evil 2/2 Lay On Hands 28/28 Servant of the Heavens 1/1 Sudden Empower 1/1 Sudden Enlarge 1/1 Mysticism Domain 2/2
Spells Used:
SLAs Used:
Spells Active: True Seeing (CL38)
Notes: Has bardic music in the rare event Moore can't cover something.
Jetina
HP: 873/873 (fast healing 5)
Negative Conditions:
Aura: Courage 10ft (+4 morale vs fear), Positive Energy 10ft (1 hit point healing/round), Divine 10ft (various)
Bonuses: Attack+0, Damage+0 AC+0, Saves+0, Skills+0, Checks+0
Resources: Smite Evil 7/7 Smite 7/7 Channel Energy 17/17 Emergency Healing 10/10 True Believer 1/1 Blinding Speed 25/25 Charity Domain 1/1 Life Domain 1/1 Nobility Domain 1/1
Spells Used:
SLAs Used:
Spells Active:
Notes: Divine Vigor is +10ft land movement and +2 temp hp per hit die. Divine Shield is Cha mod to shield bonus to armor class.
Since I can see it, K:P for 124 to identify either thing?
The fist is an Astral Ship, almost certainly run by the Githyanki. A rather nice and large one too, so likely well manned.
The other you haven't heard of, but you do know a cube from Acheron when you see it.
Moore will simply proceed to try and catch up to the ship!
Movement speed in the Astral then? Remember it's your intelligence score * 10.
390 for Moore, 320 for Xandra, 260 for Jetina.
You zip ahead and take the lead, able to keep up and close the distance, as is Xandra. You see Jetina's falling a bit behind, not able to quite keep up pace, however.
'Go on without me,' Jetina sends, 'I'll catch up!'
Well, he can at least raise his voice so the ship can hear them even if they're not quite there yet.
Githyanki ship. My name is Moore of Celestia.
I will give you one opportunity to stop and explain yourself before this reaches hostilities.
As you approach a loud, reedy voice shouts back, "We are under the protection of Queen Vlaakith!" You can see him - a taller gith in armor, yellow face seen thanks to a open face helmet, a red plume coming from it.
Then you will explain to me why anyone on your ship was captured, as they are allies to both Celestia and myself.
That gets a laugh, "A fucking dem-" A few words brought up short abruptly. A scowl on his face, deep.
Will I need to contact Queen Vlaakith myself about this or will you explain it to me now?
Hit me with that terrifying Diplo you do.
Take 10 for 155
"She is guilty of spying and theft," Is the answer, "She will be properly judged by Queen Vlaakith."
I would like to speak to her to confirm these accusations. I will not impede your destination if they prove to be true. Is this acceptable?
A growls before, "Fine." he says, peering over at you.
The other gith quietly murmur.
"That's Moore...?"
"I've heard of them...?"
"I hope she doesn't blast the ship and the other one doesn't heal us to death..."
"Aurora is bullshit..."
Wonderful!
He will wait for Xandra and Jetina to join him before he lands on the ship proper to wait to be escorted, or for Canderella to be shown to him.
The gith regards the three of you as you land. A brisk nod and he begins to lead you deeper on board the vast ship, towards one of the stairways going into the guts of the vessel.
As you do, "The succubus proved to be a powerful sorcerer, as some of them are. Proper precautions were taken to ensure she would not be any danger to us."
Jetina's gaze tightens slightly, and in words of power and a slight flare of her divine aura? Explain, now.
"You'll see." The gith's voice stays sour, but his posture is ramrod straight. "It was to protect my crew."
Canderella is a friend of Aurora, a friend myself and a friend of Moore. If you subjected her to barbarous treatment, there will be a reckoning.
Xandra sighs softly, "You'll see momentarily."
Down you go. Down three levels and into a dimly lit corridor, little fireless lights providing illumination. The doors here are all solid steel with only a tiny slit to see in. The third one on the right, "She's in here," is his answer.
Moore approaches it and opens the slit!
"Canderella?" Moore calls out to her.
K:A for 124 and Spellcraft for 119. Arcane Sight for the door / room / Canderella herself to see what's going on.
Canderella is against the back wall, slumped down. She wears a bloodied sack cloth tunic, long enough to keep her decent. Her face is puffy and bruised all over, eyes covered with a black blindfold. She opens her mouth to try and speak, but only sounds come out - no tongue. Her arms are chained to the wall, hands badly mangled and broken. Her legs are chained to the floor as well, one broken and both badly bruised and bloodied.
'M...moore...not having...great day...' Canderella manages, her mental voice sounding exhausted and far away.
The captain's voice is stiff, "Unavoidable precautions to prevent a powerful spellcaster from harming us further or escaping. Unpleasant but practical."
Jetina's gaze is rather arctic but she says not a word. At that, as if encouraged, the captain goes on.
"It's not even a loss - all we took was her tongue, and she has telepathy. She won't miss a beat." The captain goes right on.
Moore turns to the captain.
"Please open the door." Moore says. "I will assure you she will not cause harm to you or this ship." He says. "The three of us can cause more damage anyway. I intend to honor my word." He adds.
Take 10 for 155 on Diplomacy
The captain unlocks the door without comment and scoots well away.
Moore opens the door and steps in, over to Canderella and floats down to cast Heal on her, as well as a Miracle'd Regenerate.
He evokes his divine will to ensure they can't be monitored in case they have some sort of telepathic sensor.
'Please do not blow up the ship as much as we both want to. Tell me what happened.' He says to her mentally.
As Canderella's body begins to knit itself back together Jetina stays out with the captain, her gaze on him. Xandra follows you as...
'Stumbled on a ruined tower in the Astral, decided to salvage. Didn't get far in, there was still a lot of ambient magical energy active. Then they arrived as I was working on that, called me a thief and did something to active the tower, which discharged all of its energy in my direction. I survived but was in no shape to fight them.'
'We will be accompanying you to your destination and will see to it you get back safely.' He says. 'Don't worry.'
He turns and steps out of the room and shuts the door. "I'm not sure what your customs are with regards to this, but from one side of the story this looks to me like an unprovoked attack on an ally of ours. Since, surely, that's not actually the case, who is best equipped to explain the full situation to me?" He asks.
With a growing scowl, "I am," The captain declares, as Jetina smiles. It's not a kind smile. You feel Jetina all around you, like a momentary warning as the captain pales.
"You're a brave man, but a foolish one. Do not forget what you stand before, even if we are new." Jetina declares.
The captain's color turns paler by the moment.
"Then please explain what was stolen or why you accuse her as such." Moore says. "At present, I only know she came across a random tower and was attacked. If the githyanki lay claim to that place, was it stated somewhere?" He asks.
"She was in a tower of ours destroyed without provocation and had taken objects from it." Is the answer, "And in subdual she did not hesitate to use her magic to resist."
"Did you verify she destroyed the tower?" Moore asks.
He already knows the answer, but he may as well make him say they didn't.
"It was obvious she did," Is the answer.
Jetina's expression is far from amused.
"How did you verify she destroyed your tower? In fact, let's go one step further; what thief blows up the mansion they're about to rob?" Moore asks. "It wouldn't look good if we get there and it turns out you let the person who did this go free, would it? Why, I can already see Her Majesty's reaction to something like that!"
A narrow look, "It seems it may be best...to let this incident...be forgotten," His voice is sour, "Her possessions are in the next room," He gestures towards it then goes to unlock. "I'm going to go take a ten minute break." Off he goes, leaving you be.
"Let's take our chance and get her out of here," Xandra goes and tears away the chains with her hands and a bit of magic.
Moore smiles as he follows Xandra as he flies down to help Canderella stand up.
Canderella stands and pulls away the blindfold. "Next room over," she agrees, walking slowly. It's not hard to go over and she promptly gets her gear. "This ship would do far better split in half by a lightning storm," she declares.
"We're going to do better." Moore says. "Let's find the real culprit and track them down. Can you take us back to the tower?"
Canderella dusts herself off, "Yes, but...more healing first and something to drink."
Jetina obliges on the first without comment.
Canderella's battered body restores itself, further injuries gone.
Didn't she usually like tea? He produces some in a nice rose-themed teacup with matching saucer.
It is taken and drained in one gulp. "Now let's leave this place before a storm hits. It's getting likelier by the moment."
Moore will head out and off the ship back to the Astral outside. "What Talos decides to do about this isn't anything we have anything to do with." He says with a bit of a grin.
Quick question since I need it for another thread: Have you mentioned the entire Mask debacle with other nodes? Mask came up in Alicia's thread.
He mentioned it to Erathaol and they were investigating on the Celestia side. He hadn't mentioned it since it wasn't a sure thing.
Thank you.
You head out and take to the air, the gith giving you a wide berth. Once up and away from the ship, "What a miserable stroke of fortune that was," she declares, "I wasn't aware I insulted Tymora that badly."
"Well, I'm glad we could help." He says. "That guy's probably going to get executed when Vlaakith finds out or hears about this." He says.
A shrug and a shake of his head. "Why were you even out here, anyway?"
"Couldn't happen to a better gith," Canderella's expression is all sharp smiles as she flies along with you. "Portal mishap, but I wasn't in a hurry to get back," she explains, "And it seemed like easy salvage or at least interesting. I still don't know what happened at that ruin."
"It'll be easy enough to find out once we get there." Moore says. "We might even be able to turn this to a further advantage for you - if we find who did it you can use that as some leverage against Vlaakith or something if you want. Well, not to mention we'll just beat them up probably and make better use of their stuff."
He glances at Xandra as if expecting her to say something, "That's just a blunt way of me saying 'we'll liberate their valuables and put them to good use,' but I think you know that." He says with an added smile.
"It is obvious," Xandra says, "What remains after all of that."
A bright smile as he nods to Canderella. "Lead the way. If it's easier, we can go back to Hope's Landing first then come back here." He suggests.
"It shouldn't take us that long, I've been there," Canderella says, flying on.
d100.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d100 : 53, total 53[/blockquote]
You fly.
As you do?
Hello, Moore.
The voice whispers as if close, and you can almost feel hot breath against your neck.
Hello, Shar. What do you want?
A sour look on his face as they fly.
'We may have to get out of here.' He says to the others. 'Keep going for now.'
Even doing so, he notifies Cresiel and Kaja to be ready in case of shenanigans.
'What's wrong?' Canderella asks, as the others already prepare.
I see you've failed again. All that bluster and yet you cower, unwilling to go forth.
'Shar.' Is his response.
What in the world are you talking about?
That fortress that has what you so desire, and yet here you are instead.
There's a saying that begins with 'fools rush in,' you know.
I will go there when I feel we have sufficiently prepared for the myriad of things that we both know are waiting there. Why, it wouldn't be any fun for you if we just bumbled in and immediately died, now would it?
Oh Moore, do you think me so callous as not to enjoy your crushing failures?
Oh, and here I thought I'd been doing so well, too.
Don't worry, I'll make sure to keep your attention when I go there.
I grow weary of waiting. Do not think my patience for you is unlimited.
Your warning is taken to heart.
There is no answer to that, only Shar's words lingering in your mind.
'I think we're okay for now, just her usual nonsense.' He says to everyone as they continue.
"What did she say, Moore?" Xandra asks instead, "Nonsense or not, her words can't be disregarded entirely."
"It was a warning about not delaying to visit her awful Cathedral." Moore says.
"Great." Jetina's scowl is out in full force, "Or, I assume, something terrible will happen?"
"She made no specific threat on that. We will deal with it after this." He says.
"Soon," Xandra agrees, as...
d100, pixie terror. Sorry about the delay, back needed icing.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d100 : 41, total 41[/blockquote]
The trip is uneventful. What's left of it is a burnt ruin - lots of rubble about on a slab of damaged land. Whatever was once here is mostly debris now, you can tell.
"Did they destroy it when they used it against you?" Moore asks.
Meanwhile he casts Hindsight to see what happened here!
Assuming it was destroyed recently Hindsight ought to show him what happened and who did it.
Sure. Do you want to go to what happened first, or what happened when Canderella was here?
lets go in order, so what happened to the tower and then what happened with Canderella and anything after that might've happened after she was captured
The tower is there - tall and made of smooth metal and brick. As you watch you see that cracks begin to form on it, before an explosive force erupts from within. It deals considerable damage, devastating it. Nothing from outside, what ever happened here was internal.
The second part is about as Canderella described. She goes to the ruin, pokes a bit, ship shows up and things go all wrong for her.
"It blew apart from the inside." Moore says as he travels to the approximate epicenter.
How long ago did that happen?
Hard to tell with the Astral, since time doesn't flow normally here. Within the days function of hindsight, though.
Moore casts it again once he's close enough to the center to see if Hindsight, which he casts again, picks up on any names of what might've caused this, if it was a creature, in the radius.
CL check.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+45 : 4 + 45, total 49[/blockquote]
There's interference from the incident when you look that close, but you can see something. A great array of magic circles, spinning in tandem and all routing towards....towards...a glass jar? Not glass. Diamond? You can't really see, it's too distorted, but it's definitely going to it.
Then the jar vanishes and everything erupts in an explosion.
"There was something here that was stolen via magic. I think they blew up the tower to cover their tracks." Moore says as he looks around - if it's been days there likely won't be much magic left, but something that severe must leave some kind of trace...
Arcane Sight, K:A for 123 and Spellcraft for 118, can he pick anything at all up? If so he'd like to identify the caster.
Canderella looks about, "Blow up an entire tower? I like his style."
Meanwhile you look about. There's indeed magic yet. Universal - a mix of all schools. There's a great many auras all tangled together. There's dozens and dozens of casters - all various githyanki names, including Vlaakith on one.
"...This doesn't make any sense." Moore says quietly. "There's dozens of spellcasters and spells here, so I don't know if I can untangle this to figure out which one led to this jar."
He shakes his head. "Let me try, though." He murmurs as he takes time to try focus.
He'd like to, if possible, just start following each strand - or maybe do that backwards actually - can he try and follow the magic that he 'saw' go to the diamond jar away from it? Rather than try and follow all of the various ones going to it, can he try and follow the magic from the jar that touched it right before it vanishes?
Sure, give me another Spellcraft check to see.
Mega boring take 10 for 118.
You're getting closer and closer as...
What spell are you using to detect magic?
Arcane Sight.
You manage to get a name: 'Kel'und'.
Take 10 on K:P if appropriate for 123 to get some information on that name. If that's not the right Knowledge let me know since I have all of them. Even Underwater Basket Weaving.
It's K:Q.
What in the world is that? It's 103 for him in that case, but I don't actually know which one that refers to.
Oh sorry, K:A. Typos happen.
It's fairly obscure you know something. Kel'und is a githyanki from a long time ago, destroyed utterly by Vlaakith. Barely a note on the cosmic stage, only known to you by his role in some arcane research rather than anything else. It's the only Kel'und that could fit. The name's usually given to warriors rather than wizards, and the exceptions haven't ever been remarkable.
I was really confused!!!
"Interesting." Moore says. "It looks like we have another 'was thought to be dead and is now back' name to investigate. So the long and short of this is that someone Vlaakith destroyed eons ago somehow caused this... which means she obviously didn't actually get him." He explains. "There are an awful lot of those types that keep popping up lately..."
"Well, Celestia's acting like a bigger candle in the dark than usual," Canderella points out, airily. "It's drawing out all the...unusual types."
Xandra's expression is far from amused, but instead? 'Events move towards a climax. We shouldn't be surprised by that.'
Jetina meanwhile adds into the conversation. 'Well, our goal is to improve ourselves, so this works to our gain.'
Moore grins a bit at that. "I think there are several that would be very happy you'd use that type of metaphor, Canderella." He says. "Well, from here we can keep investigating since this is probably going to require some more divinations and figuring out where this person is hiding. We're no friends to Vlaakith, but... with people like this, they're usually small fish that you need to dangle out to catch bigger ones." He says.
"I don't want to tell you just to go home as if you can't help." He adds rather quickly to her. "This was your find first, after all."
"I'll tag along for now," Canderella decides, "At least to see where this goes. It's personal now, and it leads to Vlaakith?" A smile, one entirely full of malice. "Well, then things will happen."
Moore nods.
We'll spend a few minutes making sure there's nothing else of interest in the wreckage and then head back to Hope's Landing. I'd rather not linger out here if we don't have to.
Once we get back Moore would try and do some digging into what that diamond jar might've been.
Perception. You're the highest here so +4 for Xandra and Jetina aiding you.
Take 10 for 128 in that case.
Nothing noteworthy is intact after it all, you're pretty sure.
"All right, let's head back." He says as he gestures and returns them to Hope's Landing!
NOW he will investigate what the diamond jar could perhaps be. If nothing comes to mind from a K:A or other K's of 123 we'll resort to the Commune with Knowledge spell.
Nothing immediately comes up. It's likely some sort of energy jar from context, but nothing you can say with certainty. You have the classic problem of not enough information.
"A moment." He says as he digs into his magical divinations!
Commune with Knowledge, I get 19 questions. I probably won't need that many.
'What was the diamond jar I saw with my magic?'
A receptacle to hold magical power and concentrate it within, which leads to further refinement.
'Why does Kel'und want it?'
He may not get an answer, but it's worth a try.
No answer.
'Who can tell me the most about the jar that can be identified by this spell?'
Sage Vul'lath.
'Who can tell me the most about Kel'und that can be identified by this spell?'
Sage Vul'lath.
'What question can I ask this spell that will provide me the most information about the location of Kel'und?'
Unknown.
'What question should I ask this spell pertaining to this investigation that can provide me the most insight into it?'
Why did this happen?
Will that work? Well, he'll try.
'Why did this happen?'
The tower's defenses were sabotaged.
'Who sabotaged the defenses?'
He doesn't expect an answer, but at least it's more information.
No answer, indeed.
Moore dismisses the spell.
"Canderella, can you please summon Sage Vul'lath here?" He asks.
"He hates to travel," Canderella says, "But fine, I'll go get him. I'll be sure to work out his grumpiness for you before he gets here."
"I'm sure he'll appreciate me not ruining his library with my presence." Moore says with a smile. "Say Hi to Elena for me as well. She's welcome to visit too."
With that Canderella goes. Any prep before the Sage gets here?
Moore will have Grias set up a nice set of snacks and drinks that he remembers Vul'lath enjoys.
Grias works away as soon enough Canderella returns. Sage Vul'lath is with her, "It is not often I get a summon like this, and it isn't someone upset at me."
Moore smiles and gestures for him to sit. "Please, have a seat, both of you." He says. "I wouldn't bring you here if it wasn't important... but I will admit to you that I do not know how important it is, but my information suggests you can help." He explains. "The long and short of it is that due to a rather severe misunderstanding at a tower, Canderella and I are working backwards to figure something out. The issue is that the tower apparently housed some sort of diamond jar that concentrates and refines magic... do you know what that might be?"
Sage Vul'lath listens and holds a hand up, "Tell me more before anything else."
"Let me start at the beginning." Moore says. "I received a message from Canderella..."
Moore will recount the story of the githyanki Astral ship, the captain, her release, taking Canderella back to the tower and his subsequent Hindsights as well as the information he discovered via his spell to lead them back to where they are now.
Vul'lath grunts once it's done, "A wise man would..."
A pause, a gimlet eye on you. "You are wise and powerful enough for this," he says, reluctantly. "Queen Vlaakith has her plots and plants, you see. You've stepped right into one of them."
Moore blinks. "So you're saying the sabotage and everything about this is just a ruse for her?" He asks. "To what end, do you think?"
"I'm not quite saying that," Vul'lath disagrees, "I am saying that in one way or another, the Queen's business is the Queen's business."
"Then, is it your suggestion that we simply inform her of this and to allow her to do her own investigation?" He asks.
"It's the simplest and the safest option," Vul'lath agrees, "But there is greater glory and gain if you risk the other path."
"I'd like to know if someone betrayed my trust, I think." Moore says thoughtfully. "But at the same time, if the person had good intentions, I couldn't fault them for not telling me until the matter was finished."
A small breath out - he doesn't need to, but he still does out of reflex. "We don't do this out of need for glory, but if there was some force behind the actions of this Kel'und that is a greater threat, we may have the resources to deal with it, and they wouldn't expect someone who wasn't of the Queen's group to do so, I think." He ultimately says. "I think it's worth pursuing, so long as we can capture him at the end and bring him to Queen Vlaakith ourselves so she may do with him as she wishes."
Sage Vul'lath nods, "Also, it is possible he is less morally objectionable than Queen Vlaakith, and had good reasons for doing what he did. Not all gith are like her."
"It's possible." Moore says. "To that end, do you have any suggestions as how we might go about finding him? He covered his tracks rather well with his magic, so traditional means for location are out." He says. "For whatever it's worth, we're not aiming to just go and kill him, if you have any reservations about sharing anything you might know - we just need to understand the truth."
"I have an idea," Vul'lath says after a long moment, "I don't know entirely what's going on, but try Valdosus."
Take 10 on K:P for 123. I am guessing that's a place and not a person.
It's an old place. An old gith fortress, formerly the fortress of another race but it was cast into the Astral, that drifted out of the Astral and to another plane. You remember reading that it was the Quasi Elemental Plane of Lightning.
"Assuming we just show up there unannounced, I am guessing we may need to explain ourselves." Moore says. "Do you think there's any merit in reaching out to Kel'und first?"
"That I don't know," Vul'lath admits, "Do so at your own decision and at your own risk."
Moore nods. "Very well. We have an advantage that we probably shouldn't squander, I think." He says. "Well," He turns to glance at Canderella. "If it was you, what would you do? I think you deserve some say."
With a thin smile, "Bring the storm, what else?"
A nod and smile. "Very well, we'll simply show up there and see what happens." He says. "Thank you, Vul'lath." He adds with a turn to him. "I'll try and cause you the least amount of headaches with this possible."
"Good," Vul'lath agrees right away, "Is that all?"
Moore nods. "Yes, thank you for your time." He says.
Thus he goes and...now what?
"A moment." Moore says.
He's going to cast Moore's Marvelous Invisibility on himself, and then see if he can Greater Plane shift himself to Valdosus - I will guess it's blocked in some capacity, but he wants to try that before they do anything.
Fortitude save.
[14:29] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+67 mettle
[14:29] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d20+67 mettle --> [ 1d20=13 ]{80}
You feel a nasty jolt as it fails - as if your insides just tried to become your outsides.
Good thing you can easily quash such magic and ignore it.
"There's definitely a teleportation block in place there." Moore says. "A moment again."
He will try two miles out, then five.
Then ten if needed.
The area around you after your two mile out spell is bleak and black. As if you fly in a stormcloud, lightning crashing all around you and winds howling. No sign of ground or gravity, you float safely in empty space. No sign of anything else either, just the fury of the storms all around you, intense and relentless.
Since I can see four miles out, can I see the fortress at that distance or is it blocked by whatever I seem to be in?
Conditions are terrible, so no, you can't see that far.
Moore casts Lay of the Land!
How about now, smart guy??
The only land mark here is a small spatial distortion from where something was before. A fortress, but now gone in the blink of an eye. Otherwise it's empty stormlands.
Moore will return to Hope's Landing.
"I can't say if they may have been spooked by my trying to go there directly... but it seems the entire fortress is gone." He says. "There's a spatial distortion where it should be, but I didn't get close enough to check. I think we may as well go and see if we can trail it or figure out what happened." He explains.
"You're the divine one," Canderella points out, not arguing it as...
Who goes and any prep?
Canderella, Jetina, Xandra. Unless one of the others objects.
Moore will throw up Inspire Heroics for +20 dodge to AC and +20 morale to saves before they go, as well as the Blessing Stone for Epic Mage Armor (CL24), Mind Blank (CL17) and Afina's Perfect Sight (CL27).
Modify message
Jetina will point out energy immunity for lightning and sonic only makes sense, as well as freedom of movement.
Easily enough done!
You return into the storm, winds howling around you. All of you hold your ground as Canderella smiles - sharply. She begins to fly ahead fearlessly.
Moore will follow along, trusting in Canderella being in her element!
'It's about two miles ahead.' Moore says to them.
Give me Perception here, -40 penalty.
Take 10 for 83.
You fly on. It's dangerous, but when none of it can harm you, it's far more bearable. Through windy and lightning filled storms, through to this distortion. A little twisted space, the air curling in on itself and about the size of a human's head or so.
Take 10 for 123 on K:A and 118 on Spellcraft with Arcane Sight. What's going on here? Is it just temporarily moved or is this a result of someone very powerful moving this entire fortress?
It's someone or an extremely powerful magic that just moved it. But it's moved, alright.
Can I tell where it went from here? Same checks, 123 and 118.
Also, is there any other magic around here? Scrying, etc?
Elsewhere on Lightning. There's no other magic of note around here.
"They went to Lightning." Moore says with a bit of a chuckle. "That seems somehow appropriate. But that doesn't give us much to go on."
Moore turns to Xandra. "Do you think you could help me get within about three miles of it? I can use our teleport blocker to keep them from leaving this time."
"We're already on Lightning," Canderella points out. "It's probably blinking around the entire plane."
"Easily," Xandra agrees, "Merely say the word."
"Oh, good point." Moore says with a nod. "All right, let's go, then."
Going somewhere then?
We'll use Xandra's guidance - let's just Plane Shift to Hope's Landing and back - two miles out again.
You again appear within storms, thunder and lightning a cascade around you, of bright white and thunderous noise.
Moore takes out his Teleport Blocker, which is good for three miles and activates it.
Then he casts Invisibility on it and surrounds it with a small wall of force so it doesn't get hit by any lightning.
"Let's go pay them a visit." Moore says with a smile.
Off they go! It shouldn't be able to leave this time, so they'll see what happens.
There's no ground remember, so how is not falling? A trivial thing for you but it matters in case someone stumbles on it.
I forget there's gravity.
He can just divine magic up fly or something so it'll float there, I imagine? Or a floating disc or something along those lines?
Any of those would work fine, just go with one and we can move on.
We'll go with Fly since it's easier and it can just float invisibly there.
Done. Perception.
Take 10 for 123.
Onward you fly. You can begin to see it in the distance - a storm wracked fortress of stone, lightning momentarily illuminating it semi constantly. Tall and blocky, well built but without grace. Only the strength of stone rather than anything else.
"It kind of reminds me of Aurora." Moore says. "I mean... without the charm." He adds as they continue on. "Let's see if anyone comes out to greet us."
"Without-" A crash of lightning cuts off Xandra's reply, after which she shakes her head and points on.
You come closer - are you making any effort to hide?
Nah, not at this point. He was covertly checking earlier but will be in full view now.
"If they don't just outright attack us we'll knock on their door." He says.
As you approach lightning strikes about 100ft away. A massive bolt that leaves a roughly humanish mass of stormclouds, far larger than any of you. A Storm Elemental, a creature you can recognize on sight.
Jetina readies herself but doesn't advance, while Canderella says to you, "Storm Elemental. Exactly what it sounds like."
He may as well try and just be direct...
We are not here to fight. We come in peace to speak to the master of this fortress. My name is Moore, of Celestia. It was I who triggered your teleportation earlier.
Diplo, pixie horror. You said a magic word.
Take 10 for 128.
A single word carries on the storm, delivered by thunder and illuminated by lightning.
"Why?"
We wish to understand the truth of what happened and why it happened.
Another word, brought to you with the storm and fury.
"Elaborate."
If you wish it speak of, then so be it. The jar.
The Storm Elemental beckons you forward, and then begins to fly towards the fortress.
'Do you think it's actually an elemental, or just some sort of elaborate construct he's controlling?' He asks as they go along.
"An elemental," Xandra says with conviction, confident. "Useful and simpler to train one than to build something for it."
Moore nods and will follow dutifully along!
You are lead within. The fortress has a large, oval shaped entryway blocked by a stone wall, which slides aside as you approach. Within the noise of this plane is silent. A simple, plain hallway that leads further within. To a comfortable dining hall, with good wood chairs and paintings of the natural world on the walls. Here unseen servants scurry to lay out a great feast of grand foods, of roast pig, of sides of beef and lamb, of vegetables and soups, of fresh bread and gravy. Fried potatoes and mushrooms, delicate, multilayer cakes of fluffiness and body that suggest only magic could be behind them.
At the head of the table sits a gith. Youthful, young, sharp eyed. His skin is barely the yellow of their race, almost flesh toned. His gaze is calm, a small, polished stone in one hand that he constantly attends to. He polishes it without pause. He wears a wizard's robes but his head is bare.
Without a word he gestures at the feast before, "Even here I've heard of the Godsrush and the Aurora. Help yourselves, you must be famished."
Moore nods and will fly over to take a seat.
"Before anything else, I realize you can only take my word for this, but we are not allies of Queen Vlaakith." Moore says as he seats himself. "Honestly, it was... more of a coincidence we even got involved in this, so you can look at it as just being very unlucky, if you'd like." He offers a small smile at that. "I already introduced myself - this is Xandra, and this is Canderella. I am going to guess you're Kel'und?" He asks.
He pauses after that to look up and down the table. "You didn't have to go through quite this much trouble, unless you're expecting other guests? We're the ones imposing ourselves on you, after all." He asks with a bit of a smile.
Jetina also smiles, "And I'm Jetina."
You all seat yourselves. "I know what you are," The gith says plainly, "I'll not be accused by the divine of poor hospitality!"
Whoops, my bad on missing her. Getting old.
Moore smiles and nods his head. "Of course. Your hospitality is appreciated." He says.
His question wasn't answered, though...
"I have several questions, as you might imagine." He says, leaning over to take a piece of bread - he won't be the type to refuse the food of someone who's offered it, after all, "But I'd like to just understand the facts before I dive too deep into them, so would you please just answer this: what is the jar and why did you see the need to take it in such a way?" He asks.
The food's quite good. Definitely a cut above most mortal fare, whomever made this is skilled and has good ingredients. That or magic.
I need to know for something: Did you lie there at all?
Every word was truthful as far as Moore is aware. He knows other people have sense motive or magic for detecting lies!
Instead of an answer, a question. A thoughtful one as he helps himself to a bit of cooked beef, while Canderella goes for a beef, onion, mushroom and cheese melt over bread. Jetina gets a drink from another servant, some sort of blended juice.
"What would happen if Vlaakith grew more powerful?" The gith asks you back instead, "As is her reach is far and she presumes to rule over every githyanki, no matter if they wish her to be their Queen or not." He keeps his tone polite and respectful, "Is it not the duty of any free thinking man to see the denial of power to her as a morally mandatory and righteous act?"
"This is good," Jetina murmurs, "Complements to your chef." She sips deeply and then helps herself to the fried potatoes and mushrooms, as well as pork. "But you also didn't answer the question." Jetina smiles just ever so slightly, a moment where she is more. A sense of Jetina fills the air, and in an entirely pleasant voice, "Is it not the duty of the divine to gently correct those who seek to play at sophistry and misdirection?"
"Not that we disagree with your sentiment," Xandra continues as she goes for Canderella's choice as well, "But let not one truth distract from other truths. We're quire good at seeing within the blinding light of the truth."
For a moment the metallic clank of silverware is your reward, the sounds of a meal shared. "A message," Is the gith's answer after a contemplative few moments, "Simple, pointed and direct. Those gith who have no use for her will not sit by and let her play at divinity. With the Godsrush, any dreams she has of apotheosis have to be larger than ever. I don't doubt she suspects me as one of the few who could do it. She may even have discerned I did already. With that, the message is delivered."
Moore nods throughout the discussion, listening and snacking.
"I think I understand." Moore says. "This is a lot more complicated than we certainly thought, but it makes sense. You're also supposed to be rather dead, aren't you?" He asks. "If I'm not mistaken, Vlaakith personally took care of it... quite some time ago, if the stories are to be believed. I imagine there's quite a story in that as well." He adds and then waves a hand as if he's dismissed the thought.
"If you don't mind me being direct, is that your goal in all of this? To become divine in order to challenge her in some capacity?" He asks.
"When has death stopped anyone before?" The gith remarks as he eats, "My goal is my freedom. Leave divinity to those who dream of it, those who can't or won't find a limit to their ambitions."
"Hm." Moore taps the table once. "I think I understand. This is a lot larger than we originally thought."
Take 10 on whatever knowledge is appropriate here, do I have a basic idea of what diplomatic relationship Celestia has with Vlaakith, if any?
Yes. There's not a lot a lot of diplomacy, some basics and that's it. Fundamentally, most planar policies on the gith boil down to this: No one really wants one side to dominate the Astral. Vlaakith fundamentally keeps things within acceptable tolerances and prevents a massive planar war over the Astral, so she's become an acceptable steward of it as long as she keeps things open. Not many people like it, but it's seen as more or less bearable to prevent a far bigger problem.
As a side note The Cauldron's recent emergence in the Astral has mostly evened out for now. It hasn't changed that calculus there, really what most everyone wants is a neutral transitive plane since the Astral's so critical to planar travel.
OOC I'll note this came up a few times for Seira this game and was part of the calculus of politics there.
"There's a lot here." Moore says after a few moments. "But is your goal to overthrow her if she won't accept some sort of neutral way to deal with what you and the others want?"
You wouldn't call it a hesitation. Your host eats instead, a natural lull in the conversation.
"If needs must?" He answers at last, "Then I trust an agent of Mount Celestia such as yourself would understand the moral necessity of this."
"We do." Moore says. "We also understand that sometimes, greater evils can lurk behind this sort of thing. Can you say, as a witness from Mount Celestia watches you, that you intend for a better future than the one Vlaakith is providing?"
With the slightest smile, "I do. After all, it's hard to do worse than Vlaakith."
Moore nods. "Well, I won't lie - I don't know how much we can do to officially provide you support. However, my plan from here is to speak to the Hebdomad of Celestia and ask how we might be able to help you, if you're at all interested in having that support." He says.
"If it comes to that, I would be," Is his answer, a sip of his drink. "If it comes to that." With a slight smile, "But if Vlaakith understands this and doesn't push, as is overwhelmingly likely, then nothing more needs happen."
Moore nods. "Very well. I will leave the matter to you before I speak any further about it to them, then. Should it become something that you wish to have, please contact me." He says.
"Now, was there any other reason for this visit?" The gith asks, kindly.
"No." Moore says with a smile. "We happened upon a mystery and have followed it to its conclusion. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some curiosity about the jar, though. But you're under no obligation to share that right now - perhaps should our paths cross again and we've done you some favors, we can speak of it again."
A toast to that as the meal goes on. Is there anything else you want to bring up?
Nothing on my end, the others are welcome to chime in if they'd like though.
As you all eat, "Now what I'd like to know is this," Canderella speaks up, leaning forward with a sensual, alluring smile, "Why did this happen in a way that drew me in?"
With a polite glance that makes Canderella grimace, the gith goes right on. "Your bad fortune? Even if you're one of Talos's tame succubi, you must have a lot of sins attached to you." A chuckle, a slight one, "Blame yourself or blame Tymora, as they say."
Xandra smiles faintly at that as she enjoys her meal.
Canderella looks like she just bit into something dreadful. Her expression is a mix of disgust and pique, all leveled at your host. He merely smiles as if unbothered and goes on, "I like to believe that beyond our final judgments at the end of mortality, our deeds good and bad influence our fortune. Would all of you agree?"
Jetina looks up from getting seconds and considers this a moment. "I wish I could say yes, but beyond the natural flow of those deeds, no. However, such deeds and that natural flow does a great deal to achieve what you desire."
"In other words," Xandra goes on as Canderella's grip on her fork grows tighter, the slightest warping and bending of metal, "It's all Canderella's own fault and she should blame herself?"
Moore listens to the back and forth. "Considering how many times I've run afoul of what I always thought was Tymora's anger, I don't know that either way is correct. I think good and bad things can happen regardless of... well, anything." He says with a smile.
"So, I guess my take on it is, at least regarding your luck in all this, Canderella?" He says as he stabs a fork into some beef, "I honestly just think you ran afoul of circumstances completely outside of your control."
Xandra and the gith share a warm laugh as Canderella turns away, a hard ignore as she focuses on Moore. "At least someone here has good sense," she remarks, "The past is the past. The price for the past is having lived it."
"Each day another stone on the back of your soul?" Jetina reckons, "One my childhood tutors adored that saying. That in the end be you human, elf or immortal, the weight of ages will accrue until it is irresistible."
"Oh, I wouldn't be that fatalistic about it," Canderella goes back to her food, "There's plenty of ways to lighten your load and a true immortal can carry all they need to without limit."
"On that we agree," The gith says, "Is it not fascinating and telling that our souls are eternal and free of such constraints, if we but have the wisdom and will to realize it?"
"And indeed, Canderella just lightened her load regardless," Xandra says, still smiling.
Canderella's expression is stormy. Literally. Lightning dances between her eyes as she says, "Oh really?"
"You have a fond nostalgia for your past that you can no longer claim," Xandra goes right on, "A carefully cultivated nostalgia for the good old days in the Abyss, as perverse as that entire premise is." A pause for a drink before, "Now, even if you get nostalgic for, say, torture, will you not remember this instead? Yes, you suffered unjustly. Let that memory be a shining light to polish your soul, not darken it. Let that light nurture sympathy and compassion within you. Let it...blow away any instincts otherwise."
Canderella lets out a gusty sigh, "That isn't the fir-" A stop. Her eyes narrow. "Blow it away?" she repeats slowly.
"Mn." Xandra has another bite of her food and smiles ever so slightly, yet doesn't hide it at all. "Perhaps demolished it would be a better turn of phrase?"
Lightning dances along Canderella's fork, arcing between the tines as her gaze is pure white electricity. "What is your game, archon?" Canderella asks, voice crackling with lightning - and stops. A laugh. Startled, "You're provoking me! I never thought I'd see the day an archon tries to so blatantly manipulate like like a catty succubus!"
"And now you'll remember this lesson because of that, no matter how hard you try to forget it," Xandra concludes.
Canderella's laugh dies out, a foul word uttered beneath her breath. You can hear it with your exceptional hearing, "Fuck, she's right!"
"You have to be careful around Xandra." Moore says with a bright grin. "She says the truth in such a way that you realize it's almost too true to be true. But I think she's right about this, this was a great and learning experience for all of us. It was bad luck turned to good fortune for all of us."
As Canderella grumbles softly, Xandra says, "And I must say, it wasn't bad meeting you," she smiles back at the gith. "Though you never did outright tell us your name."
"I shouldn't even bother to hide when I have guests like this," The gith says, "I was afraid I was transparent."
"As glass," Jetina pipes up amid her meal, "But I have to admit it's been a lovely conversation even with that."
"Well, even if you're not really Kel'und and he simply asked for you to stand in for him to watch from elsewhere, the spirit of greeting and your hospitality is accepted." Moore says with a smile. "I do not mean to insult you by my words, I understand there are always good reasons for the actions of those in situations like this. Know that should you need us, you are welcome to reach out - you and yours are welcome in Hope's Landing should you ever need a place to come."
The gith stands and bows, then, "Still, my lady," he says to Canderella, "It wouldn't be proper for you to endure all of this without recompense."
This gets Canderella to perk up, "I'm listening."
A snap of the gith's fingers. Another unseen servant comes in, carrying a tray. On it is a diamond encrusted tiara, bracelets, necklace and rings. The rings are topped with large stones, while the tiara and necklace have what must be hundreds and hundreds of smaller stones on them. "We offer these to you with glad tidings and good hopes."
Then another comes in. This one carries another tray, this one with a heavy diamond pendant. Beautiful, with a center stone of vast beauty, a clear blue diamond, deep and lustrous, and many white diamonds around it. However, as Canderella smiles and picks up the tiara offered, this one goes to Xandra instead. "And I offer you this one, Lady Xandra, because I would like nothing more than to meet you again. A token of my esteem."
"Can you count this as an offering, Xandra?" Moore asks with a bright smile.
Xandra takes the diamond pendant and puts it on. "Yes, I do believe I can," she says in a soft voice and with a happy smile on her face. "Until next time," she rises and goes, Jetina following after her right away.
Canderella takes hers, now nothing but a teasing look on her face, "Your apology's accepted," she says, gathering up the goods and going.
"Until then," The gith promises.
"Thank you again for your hospitality, and my apologies for any concern we caused you and yours." He says. "Give us about three minutes to travel and you should be able to move the fortress again should you wish to."
A small bow is given our of courtesy as he follows his companions back to where he left the Teleport Blocker invisible!
Thankfully he has a good memory nowadays so he doesn't have to wonder about it...
The trip to it, beckoned by thunder and lightning, is without incident. It's where you left it.
Moore takes it back, deactivates it, and will return back to Hope's Landing with the others!
Once there, he nods to Canderella. "I admit, I wasn't expecting how that would go, but hopefully this has been a worthwhile investment of your time today." He says with a bit of a grin. "I'm sure Ebony will be at least a little jealous."
"Not likely," Canderella answers, "But I'll take my gain and gracefully bow out of this matter."
"We're always here if you need us." Moore says. "No matter the politics."
With that Canderella goes.
Jetina promptly turns to Xandra and says, "Well?"
"I liked him, he was what he appeared to be," Xandra explains, "I see good fates that come from his actions, and...for a gith, he's pleasant. Very pleasant. It's hardly love, but I have no objection to a meeting."
"We shall see if Vlaakith has the same reaction." Moore says. "We may be able to invest some political capital into this, much like Seira did with Fire to the benefit of all, should we need to." He says.
He turns to Jetina as he seems to remember something. "Oh, I sensed some folks from Sylica come by, what was that about? No emergencies, I hope?" He asks.
"Oh, they gave me some deadly, horrible diseases," Jetina smiles widely, as if pleased by that.
"Hah." Moore says with a small nod. "I understand. Actually, that reminds me - if you two want to come with me, I'm going to have Will see if we can do something with those three pieces of the Wheel."
"Oh yes," Xandra falls in with you, as does Jetina. "What are you aiming for?"
"If I can get it to do what I want... teleport the last piece to us." Moore says. "If this thing truly works the way it supposedly does, I think that should be within its power."
"There's a lot of optimism there," Jetina points out, "Considering who has the last piece."
"Optimism and hope go hand in hand." Moore says as he heads to where Will is.
You soon reach Will, who...
Go ahead.
"Will, I'd like you to look at these pieces." He says as he puts the three pieces out in front of him - they float around him slowly. "They're three pieces of something that has one more part. Before anything else, what can you tell me about all them?"
"The parts of the Wheel?" Will asks back, after an examination.
"Yes, that's correct." Moore says. "They make up something known as Temman's Wheel, which is an artifact that supposedly allows for teleportation in otherwise blocked places. I was hoping you might be able to verify if these pieces can do that - and possibly help us fill the gap of the missing piece. Ultimately, what I'd like to try and do is use the three pieces and your ability, combined with my divine power, to bring the fourth piece here and complete it." He explains.
"Where is this other piece?" Will asks as he works.
"On Earth." Moore says. "Within the body of a creature there."
"I will try, but I do not know of success," Is the answer.
"Well, maybe we can try something else first?" He asks. "Would that help?"
"Possibly," Is the answer, "Possibly."
"One moment." Moore says as he plane shifts himself to a random part of the Astral and creates a magical knife there, that he then enchants with Fly so it'll stay where it is.
He then returns back to Will a moment later. "Okay. I can give you a specific place on the Astral to bring something to us." Moore says. "Ready?"
"I am ready," Will responds plainly.
Moore nods. "Then let's try." He says, as he invokes his own power!
He's also going to cheat a little and boost himself (and Will, maybe) with Inspire Competence and Inspire Excellence (Charisma) on himself.
DvR check?
Go for it.
[21:53] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+4
[21:53] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d20+4 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{21}
What a specific number.
No need to counter roll, the opposition can't fail the check due to strata bonuses.
It's like you ran into a brick wall - something powerful is shielding the area, personally. There's only one being in Earth that you know of that could do that: It seems father protects son.
Oh, I thought we were testing if it worked at all before anything else by bringing back the knife from the Astral.
I mean technically even if we did succeed he'd still try to do that anyway, but still. Just want to be clear.
The divine rank question threw me, I assumed you were going right to it. The astral summon would work fine.
Okay, no worries.
"So even like this, it's still not got the power to bypass teleportation blocks..." Moore says. "Is that what you think too, Will?"
"I do not think it can override a deity's will on their homeplane, in the case of active shielding," Will points out, "At least unless you can win that conflict."
Moore nods. "Regardless, it does seem to work to bring things here." He says. "We at least have that ability."
"It is a start," Xandra speaks up here, "We still must address the problem head on, however, it seems."
"It does. I don't know how to approach it except that way." Moore says.
"He's covered his defenses well," Xandra continues, in thought. "We may have no choice but to excise the poison that infects his court."
"It does seem that way." Moore says. "But my plan had been to use this to get out of Shar's clutches if we needed it... but maybe we should simply go there now and challenge ourselves."
"It may be time," Xandra says, "It may well be time. Do you feel prepared for it yet?"
"No." Moore says, honestly. "But I don't think I ever will. If she sends an avatar of herself there... I think we can deal with it, but we have to be careful. I honestly doubt she will send an avatar, she's arrogant but not foolhardy. She only attacked us when we were trying to find Mask because she had an advantage there. I think the five of us can handily deal with her if she decides to show up. I'll also be asking Selune for some insurance should she send something more after us."
A sigh. "I want to work on finding a way for us to enchant Kaja's weapons or create a weapon for him that can hit her more easily - something like an improved version of that spell that enchants weapons against Sharrans, but specifically designed to negate her ability to use shadows to dodge things." He says. "But I don't know that we have time to devote to that right now."
"We'll also want Sylvie back for it," Xandra adds, "Though I do not think matters will take her that much longer on Mineral."
"Yes, that's a good point. Perhaps in the meantime I can speak to Selune about my idea against Shar and see if she has any ideas." Moore says. "We may be able to be a bit more prepared for this than we thought."
"Then go," Xandra encourages as...
In that case, next move?
Lady Selune, good tidings on this day. I was hoping to come and speak to you at your earliest convenience. This is not an urgent matter of any nature, but your expertise as always on this subject is appreciated.
Her voice is in your mind, a question posed. 'What subject?'
'Everyone's favorite - Shar.'
'You have my attention. Speak of what you need.'
'I am familiar with your Shardread magic and was hoping you may have either been able to devise magic or a type of weapon to counteract her love of shadow dodging.' Moore says. 'I've been thinking of a way to limit her ability to evade as well as she does - I think that she relies so heavily on it that the rest of her defenses are not as strong, thinking that her shadows are impervious. I have not searched any wisdom within Celestia for this answer, but if you've any familiarity with this matter I would humbly request your advice.'
'Her shadows go stronger and to pierce them is not easy. I fear no mortal magic will do so easily now.' Is Selune's answer.
'Well, then it's a good thing we have things that go beyond that, I suppose.' Moore says, smiling. 'The best thing to counter a shadow is light so bright that shadows cannot be cast - I know where I must seek my answer. I will share the information should I find anything.'
'Good hunting,' Is Selune's answer.
Now what?
Moore simply turns up to the light of Celestia.
"Xandra, if you'd like to come with me you are welcome to - but I'm also fine on my own." Moore says as he starts to rise up.
His intent is to find light that can banish any shadow - even if just temporarily. Whether that be in the form of a weapon, of magic, or of something else.
Maybe even just the light that hope sheds itself is the key.
Xandra falls in with you, "Sylvie's tongue would be acidic if let you go wandering by yourself."
"Are we so worried I'll be accosted in Celestia?" Moore asks as he rises further.
"Not at all," Xandra admits, "But is it prudent to risk Sylvie having a reason to say she told us so?"
"I'm glad she got the opportunity she deserves." Moore says as they continue up. "I know if she could she'd do everything the same again, because she felt it was necessary and wouldn't want anyone else burdened with her destiny. Even so... I don't think she'd ever express that she wanted to be saved."
"She never would," Xandra mentions, "What a curious friend you made with her, and perhaps you were the one person who could have saved her."
"I cheated a little bit." Moore says as they go. "Since I met her after everything, I didn't have anyone to know except 'the person chained to 21,' so it became a real focus for my attention there. I'm just... glad that it was another example of having hope and never giving it up." He says. "I think it's what helped me when we were Out There and all that... ...other stuff happened."
"That's a poetic way to say your stubbornness saved you," Xandra quips as you ascend further into the light.
"Perseverance and stubbornness are more or less the same thing." Moore replies with a smile as they go.
Give me a Charisma check here, pixie.
[15:12] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+36+16
[15:12] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d20+36+16 --> [ 1d20=15 ]{67}
You wander a little time, in the light. Higher and higher. When you come out you are on Mertion, the 5th layer of Celestia. Below you is a quiet farm, small and sized for just a few people.
"I've always had a thought," Moore says as he starts to descend, "That these are just representations of things - ideas and so on - and aren't really farms, or whatever it is I perceive."
"Oh?" Xandra asks, "Why wouldn't you find farms here?"
"Because Celestia is a place where you'd think that sort of thing just... happens. Food just... appears, you know?" He says with a smile. "I actually - honestly - didn't realize until I came here a while ago that so much food was produced here and in Venya."
"In truth, spirits don't need food. In truth," Xandra gestures, "You could merely seek food and find it. It's not about the food, Moore. It's about the effort and the life you make." Her arm sweeps out, to encompass all the farm.
"Don't worry, I figured that out after a few more trips through here." He says with a smile. "It's like why Grias is still a lantern archon."
"It's good that you understand, Moore," Xandra goes to the farmhouse, "Let us look around and see what lies here."
He smiles and goes to look inside and see what he can find!
"I had to tell a story once to get into Xiranthador." Moore says as they look around. "I think it was a pretty good one, I mean... they -did- let me in..."
Inside a rustic farm kitchen you find...Erathaol, who sits at the table with a book. A steaming warm bowl of soup sits by him along with a chunk of crusty bread.
Erathaol turns the page, puts the book aside and has a bit of bread. Only then does he answer, "The soul that lives here is currently out," he explains, "But the book you're looking for is in the next room."
"Were we that transparent?" Xandra asks, a moment to look abashed.
"Not at all, but do not fear merely asking - you need not spend time on these matters like a mortal unless you wish to," Erathaol states.
"Even so, it doesn't feel right to do that sometimes." Moore says. "I have to ask Celestia every now and again." He adds with a smile. "Even if the will of Celestia is the same as Lord Zaphkiel's."
"A wise lesson to learn," Erathaol picks his book back up, "Continue on, Moore."
Moore nods and will do so and go find the book he's been told to find!
It sits on a table here - a plain tome, but one that seems to glow with a slight radiance.
Moore moves over and picks it up to open it!
The book is written in a glowing script. It has no title, but begins to talk about the light immediately.
Moore sits down to have a read!
Give me another Charisma check.
[22:21] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+36+16
[22:21] <Kobot> Nephrite rolled 1d20+36+16 --> [ 1d20=4 ]{56}
+4 for 60.
You begin to read. It looks to be a reverent study of the light of Celestia - as much a prayer as anything. What in particular are you looking for?
Light to banish even the darkest shadows.
There is insight here, spells and lore. You believe you could learn from them with an effort.
OOC this means I don't get to cheat with Biblotecha Arcana to learn them, yes?
You suspect that would be the case, yes.
Moore stands up. "This will take some time, but there's exactly what we need here." He says. "We will borrow this for a while and return it after."
"Then let's go," Xandra agrees, "I presume all matters have been taken care of to borrow it."
Moore will return to Hope's Landing with the book to peruse it!
Okay, another Int check and a Cha check.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+56 : 12 + 56, total 68[/blockquote] Charisma
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+34 : 11 + 34, total 45[/blockquote] Int
Congratulations. You got a high enough score. You wanted a spell, right? Go ahead and write one up (subject to DM approval). A few notes here.
1. Spells can counter spells, work against supernatural abilities and so on. They generally won't overcome SDAs, and I mention this since Shar is a greater deity so you can't rule this out.
2. As powerful as the light of Celestia is, remember that it isn't omnipotent (if it was, you'd already have an Answer).
Will post in nagging, this post just here as an acknowledgement
Running late this morning due to RL so covering a small thing as you work.
As you read away? You look up as Sylvie calls, "I'm back," she says.
"Welcome back!" He says as he rises up. "How'd things go?" He asks.
With a slow roll of her neck before she sits, rubbing the back of it, "A festival of barely restrained avarice, a celebration of greed and the equivalent of gross foreplay for who knows how many rich mercane."
"I imagine that was rather difficult to maintain composure." Moore says. "Though I imagine that means they were also too engrossed in their own worlds to notice the information they were supplying."
"A few kept it together, but it wasn't hard," Sylvie agrees, "Most were willing to be nudged in the right direction."
Moore snorts at that. "I can see it now, pouring them another drink while asking them deeper questions." He says. "So what did they spill out?"
DM notes.
Paused just before Sylvie expositions about that Mercane operation on Mineral and the details she got there. In this case it'll likely flow right back into it to warm up.
Sheet work looks good.
Check Jetina's node goal when we resume.
When we do resume, it'll be with new topics as I recenter and focus, so I'm going to lock this one.