Start of #Odal buffer: Wed Oct 07 21:04:39 2009 [18:16:45] * When last we left our heroes, they had just returned to the cathedral of Ioun, and conferred with the ghost of the priest that Xan had killed months previous. We resume where we left, with few clues as to the identity and location of the Orcusine necropolis. [18:16:51] [Session start] [18:18:57] "Tabitha, where would Ivorgard's graveyards be? If this city is being a reflection, it might be here as well." [18:24:03] * Tabita pauses, and then pours a little bit of her waterskin out on the disc of force beneath her feet. She crouches and begins drawing a pattern of water on the force below her, tracing out a rough oval. "Granted, I've never been to them myself, but there are a few large ones to the north and southeast of the city. The north's the commoner's graveyard. The southeastern one is where they buried the rich folks." [18:24:50] * Eve_Kasnora steps back to give her room, then crouches down to see better. [18:25:04] * Eilenia has a look [18:25:07] * Eve_Kasnora hrms in thought. [18:25:30] "These orcus cultists... did they mention anything that might indicate what social class they were from?" [18:25:56] "Bringing low their oppressors, or wiping out the unclean, or something" [18:27:35] * She shakes her head. "Honestly, I've kind of spent most of the last few days trying not to pass out from hunger. If I had to guess, they sounded fairly educated. [18:28:05] Taking down oppressors sounds awfully mundane for Orcus worshippers. [18:28:28] * "Plus, if you think about it, if you were going to set up shop in a graveyard, it'd probably be the nobles' necropolis after the guards are gone, wouldn't you? I mean, that's where all the graves worth hanging out in are," [18:29:30] I suppose that makes sense. [18:31:20] * Eve_Kasnora nods. [18:31:49] "True. I guess I am having problem thinking like vile demon worshiper needing a sword through my skull." [18:32:07] "Lets be going to noble's graveyard." [18:32:33] * Eve_Kasnora claps her hands and rises from her crouch, heading toward the stairs leading down. [18:33:06] * Eilenia follows Eve. [18:34:06] * Tabita furrows her brow, and begins wiping the water off of the force with the sleeve of her acolyte's robe [18:34:52] * Eilenia looks to Tabita curiously. "Do you travel between the planes often?" [18:35:19] * "Hardly at all, and only accidentally. Why?" [18:35:50] You must see the Feywild. I think the Bright Beauty may do you some good. [18:38:59] "I enjoy the planes. I'm not actually from limbo." [18:39:03] * She smiles. "Maybe. But there's work to be done, and if it's done well, I might be lucky enough to lose the chance to end up there." [18:42:17] * Xan looks to Eve. "Do you feel as if you should return home soon?" [18:42:20] Oh, I know a few ways to put you there even without this convergence. [18:42:23] * Eve_Kasnora leads the way through the dilapitated city, swords drawn and her grandfather's glowing radiantly against the gloom. She looks back to Tabitha for directions every so often. [18:42:43] * Eve_Kasnora looks to Xan. "You mean... the world, or Tsavarogorov?" [18:44:07] "Both." [18:44:57] "Well, to be answering, I am wanting to be back in my own plane very much. As for Tsavarogorov being, I am not inclined to ever return to that city of hypocrits." [18:45:36] "The planes are so large..your world is so infentesmally small, that your regions on the prime are like tightly packed neighbors that share the same bed." [18:46:35] "That is nice." [18:46:47] See, to you this seems unbearably crowded...but making it farther apart? Sounds lonely to me. [18:46:54] * "That's a curious metaphor." [18:48:51] "It is a very crowded place..you often cross paths with your fatebound, and you may never even see them." [18:49:24] "Fatebound?" [18:50:01] "People you are tied to, whether you like it or not. Like you and I, Eve." [18:50:07] * Xan nods. [18:50:23] Oh, you two are bound by fate? [18:50:44] "That is... a more romantic notion than I am used to hearing from you, Xan." [18:51:51] * Paera raises an eyebrow at Xan. [18:52:58] "You don't understand. We all are." [18:53:27] "Those you choose to travel with when you have always traveled alone have import, whether I like it or not." [18:55:31] "Oh, I am getting it. I did not take you for one believing in fate and destiny though. Those are being more romantic notions than pragmatic." [18:56:12] * Eve_Kasnora turns to Tabitha for direction again, as she continues to lead the party through the dilapitated streets. [18:57:07] "Pardon, but I'm a planar monk who was posessed with a mind parasite." [18:58:11] "Yes, but you were allowing yourself to be possessed for pragmantic reasons, yes? Power, and such. Not destiny?" [18:58:26] * Tabita continues directing Eve through the streets, keeping aware of her surroundings [19:03:57] * Eilenia steps along. [19:05:27] So... what were you doing before we found you, Eve? [19:05:30] "It was like a dream, some performance of my own life in which I was not myself." [19:05:54] "And I could not change my own path. I could not struggle. I could not question." [19:06:13] "I was protecting your town's walls from kobold sabotours." [19:06:46] * Eve_Kasnora looks to Xan with a nods. "But you did struggle. And you won." [19:06:49] "She fell into a hole." [19:06:57] * Eve_Kasnora LAUGHS [19:07:24] "I didn't win..they just didn't find me efficient." [19:07:30] "Ahahaha! Yes! Tricky little reptile men and their holes." [19:07:35] "I..I had to persuade them that I was not." [19:08:02] "Was I ever telling you about the time I tricked a kobold into helping me out of one with his corpse?!" [19:08:10] * Eve_Kasnora continues chuckling. [19:09:00] * Eve_Kasnora shakes her head at Xan. "You used your wits, and got what you wanted, freedom. I am thinking that is being a win." [19:10:25] * Xan grunts. [19:13:17] * You progress through the town, and finally, you get to a large expanse of wall. Tabita pauses, unsure of where to go, and then notices a storm drain grate that, presumably, leads outside the city. [19:14:26] Do we have to go down there? [19:14:32] * "Unless you want to go out the west gate and circle around, looks like that's out way out. But I'd be careful, there's basically nothing good that's ever lived underground." [19:14:51] * "Or unlived, for that matter." [19:15:11] * Xan nods. "I'll take point. I am good with areas like these." [19:17:53] Exercise restraint, Xan. [19:18:09] * Xan nods. [19:18:10] * Eve_Kasnora nods. "Yes, please. Don't be wasting your life on oversized rats." [19:21:56] They might be evil oversized rats. [19:23:34] "Still not worth dying little by little for." [19:23:37] * The storm drain's grate is easily lifted out from its fitting, albeit weakened, seemingly from years of neglect. As you drop down, Xan takes point, leading the group through the wide tunnels, flooded with brackish water. The trip is largely uneventful, with only a wrong detour and a trivial fight against a next of skeletal rats before Xan and Eilenia notice the acoustics changing, indicating an opening in the distance [19:24:01] That's true. [19:32:25] * Around one last corner, you can see the bright light of the world. Tabita curses and shields her eyes, clearly not used to a plane where the sun isn't permnantly obscured by heavy clouds [19:33:17] "...Uh oh." [19:33:25] * Eve_Kasnora looks out behind her. [19:33:37] "We were going to look for the cult in the Shadowfell first..." [19:33:50] "We're here." [19:33:53] "I am guessing we can burn this now, though." [19:34:24] * Eve_Kasnora finds a dry place to dump Coldheart's corpse. [19:34:32] "Lets get cremating." [19:36:10] * Eilenia points at the corpse. One part of the clothes ignite. [19:36:19] * Eilenia pauses. [19:36:24] Will that burn the flesh too? [19:37:59] "I have never tried to burn a body before. Tabitha?" [19:39:14] * Tabita shrugs. "Don't look at me, I never did a funeral before." [19:40:06] * Slowly, the fire spreads, and begins to consume the fey noble. He doesn't burn as a mortal might, but almost seems hollow, crumbling inward as though he were made of paper, or melting as though he were ice. [19:40:56] That seemed simple enough. [19:41:15] * Eve_Kasnora hmphs. [19:41:49] "That was not granting me as much peace of mind as I was hoping." [19:42:59] * Eilenia walks onward. "Why is that?' [19:43:32] "We didn't get answers." [19:43:47] "I was hoping to see him dying like normal person. So he would not be empowered by his body's demise." [19:44:12] "I am not knowing what was just happening to his corpse." [19:44:35] * Eve_Kasnora shrugs. "Anyway being! Let us continue to noble's graveyard. Maybe cult is in the world afterall." [19:45:51] At least we're rid of him. [19:46:32] * Eve_Kasnora rubs her neck. "Telling me..." [19:47:48] Do bodies normally burn like that? [19:49:30] * Tabita leads the group over a rise, covering her face with a pale hand, and squinting out from between her fingers. As if by memory, she leads the way over a rise, where a walled compound, nearly a city in and of itself, sits in the near distance, The walls look nicer than the city's, though they're clearly decorative and not intended for defense [19:50:24] "That... is definately being a necropolis." [19:50:39] What gives it away? [19:50:59] "It is being almost a city. Of dead people." [19:51:14] "That is what a necropolis is." [19:51:42] * Eve_Kasnora heads towards it, but stops and puts a hand on Tabitha's shoulder. "Are you being alright?" [19:53:17] * "This plane sucks. I don't get how you can deal with it being so bright all the time." She speaks through clenched teeth, clearly having something of a headache [19:54:01] What do you mean? It's uncomfortably dim. [19:54:19] * Eve_Kasnora glances back at Elena, then leans in to Tabitha. "Maybe you should best be avoiding portals to the Feywild." [19:54:59] "Also, be glad it is not winter with fresh snow on ground. Snow blindness is being a bitch!" [19:55:23] * Eve_Kasnora laughs good naturedly, and then leads the way to the necropolis's gates. [19:56:13] I certainly don't intend to stay in the World in the long run. The occasional visit, perhaps, but I don't know how long elfification takes. [19:56:25] * Eilenia frowns. "Perhaps I should find out just to be safe." [19:57:54] * As Eve approaches the necropolis gates, she notices that the large iron doors have chains hanging limply from them, large iron rings hanging form the ends. As she moves further in, one of the chains snaps out towards her, and the spectral visage of a slavering hound appears, its neck through the ring. [19:58:20] * Eve_Kasnora rears back, swords at the ready. [19:58:42] "Well. Looks like there is being only one way in." [19:58:54] "Through those." [19:58:57] * Eve_Kasnora charges. [20:01:49] Wait. [20:02:10] * Eilenia throws a sack of skelerat bones to see if the dog cares [20:02:44] * Eve_Kasnora stops her charge just out of range of the dog's chains and turns to Elena after she throws the sack of bones. "...really?" [20:03:31] * One of the dogs begins gnawing on the rat bones. Necrotic energies cause the inanimate skeletons to wither, but only slowly. Thin ropes of ectoplasm begin sliding out of the corners of the ghost hound's mouth [20:04:45] Fascinating. [20:05:15] ... [20:05:26] * Eve_Kasnora hedges closer to the hounds as they gnaw on the bones. [20:05:39] * Eve_Kasnora tries to siddle her way between them to the door. [20:06:36] * One of the hounds fades back into view and growls lowly at Eve as she attempts to move up. [20:07:20] Oh dear. [20:07:26] Perhaps we should have given Coldheart to them. [20:07:32] "Are you having any more bones?" [20:09:16] * Paera eyes the dogs nervously. "I think this is the first time I've wished we had a dead body lying around." [20:09:16] Oh, yes. [20:09:30] * Eilenia pulls out another small sack and tosses it to the other dog [20:10:48] * The other dog snaps at them, and begins gnawing on them [20:11:16] After you. [20:11:51] * Eve_Kasnora glances at both of them and then nods, inching between them and toward the door. [20:18:14] * Eve manages to progress between the dogs, and makes her way to the door [20:18:22] * Eve_Kasnora remains light on her feat, ready to spring through the door if they turn towards her. [20:19:02] Absolutely splendid. [20:19:51] * Eve_Kasnora shrugs and looks around inside the door for a moment before turning back and making sure the rest of the party gets through, swords at the ready to defend them if need be. [20:25:26] * Eilenia follows Eve through. [20:26:10] * Eve opens the door to find a group behind it, apparently alerted by the growling of the dogs. A few young men and women stand, dressed in what appear to be grave goods looted from the crypts of the necropolis, clad in ornamental armor and weilding decorative, albeit sharpened weapons. Behind them, a group has gathered. While their clothes are eclectic, it seems as though they share a common thread to their appearance. [20:27:06] * Namely, each one is wearing, somewhere on their clothing or armor, some form of heraldry. While all of it is doubtless unfamiliar to you, they wear it down to the last of them. [20:28:00] "...Hello." [20:28:21] * Eve_Kasnora 's sword starts glowing brighter, though she mades no threatening move. [20:30:25] * One of the elders standing behind the guards nods. "Hello. Why do you intrude on the dead city?" And, indeed, looking at it from the inside, it is a city. It seems as though estates have been built, almost in miniature, along with libraries and public gardens. [20:31:03] "We are looking for cultists that would despoil such places." [20:31:23] * Eve_Kasnora remains silent on whether she wants to join them or kill them. [20:34:39] * The elder nods. "Perhaps you might find them here. I don't intend to be coy, though. They seem to have been popping up, despite the wards." [20:34:54] What sorts of wards? [20:35:26] * Eve_Kasnora nods. "I will honor your straightforwardness with my own. We are being here to destroy them and their plans." [20:36:28] * Paera lets out a relieved sigh, realizing she's been holding her breath since she entered the room [20:38:34] * The elder nods. "Then you may enter." He motions for the guards to move aside. "But be careful. The wards did not turn you aside, but you're not welcome yet. There are those other than necromancers and ressurection men who want to enter the dead city with ill intent." [20:38:54] "Ressurection men?" [20:41:01] * "They haven't been a bother recently, but there were scholars in the town who trafficked in the dead. And unlike the pauper's cemetary, our bodies do not rot." [20:42:33] "I am not sure I am understanding, but I am greatful for your warning. We will only be staying long enough to stop the cult and be leaving." [20:43:01] * Eve_Kasnora nods her thanks and walks furhter into the necropolis. [20:43:07] That went rather well. [20:43:11] * Eilenia follows Eve. [20:45:17] * The group heads deeper into the dead city. Tabita seems somewhat amazed by the opulence around her, even as many of the people at the gate begin to filter back to the houses of the dead, locking the doors behind them as they return to what must be their homes [20:45:25] [Session End] End of #Odal buffer Wed Oct 07 21:04:39 2009