Then reaches into his bag and tosses a small sack at Ax. When Ax catches it it's far heavier than it has any right to be. "That's Curium Ununtrininium mixed with common metal filings. Don't ask where I got it." When the party looks confused at him he sighs. "It's hyper-real. Pulls the ghosts from their plane toward ours. It'll hurt them if you throw it."
Geas - from the Gingerbread Cottage
It contains an old letter of appointment and an address - Balda: The Retreat, Thirsk.
"For some reason the questions he asked; were not the ones he should have. It wasn't too good for him, the revolution or 'the disappearance of Amelie LaCroix'. But he did say that he would create it for the information." her eyes glint in the mischievous way the faes can.
She looks at Danny thoughtful, "Yes, he might welcome the information. Tell him - Maria (his lover) joining the Revolution will kill her. Amelie might be found but not returned whole. And that he should look to the Holy Island - for there lies the beings that will destroy the country."
Greetings Kobalos, far from from our homeland are we not? I bear not hatred nor emnity; for proof; share in my flask of spirits and sustanance
Kenneth watches Axe carefully, a puzzled look on his face, What is he daeing? Cannae he see the darkness in that thing, how it poisons and dominates, where mortals should be inspired?
As Axe steps forward, Kenneth whispers to the others, "That thing be a kobold, a dark and evil thing, ye ken. It can possess folk with its words, the lies and half-truths giving it sway o'er their minds.... It could certainly darken a man's soul 'til it's blacker than a coal miner's lung... and drive it to murder... or many of 'em."
He reaches into his sporran, and draws out a small pouch, smiling as he does, At least, this time, I hae what I need... The acorn o' one of the auldest trees in bonny Scotland, mixed with a sack of yew roots an' holly, and a tangle o' wire... Never hurts tae be prepared.
He says to the others, "I can root the black bastard tae this world."
The dark reptilian creature flicks his eyes to the bearded fellow one last time, then he looks at Aximeus; "Oh, poor orphan, how kind that someone as lonely and under-appreciated as you would offer me hospitality. Your friends just want to rid me from this world."
It's eyes flick to red, a slow smile tears it's way across the face. "You know it needs me like it needs you. Without me what would be your purpose, I am but a small house-hold sprite." his clawed hand beckons the Greek man onward.
Jericho steps forward toward the kobold. A Faerie... good. Then I don't have to worry about the First Law. I don't have to hold back. The grin on his face was scary through the metallic mask. "I'm going to say this once Kobold. Release your hold on the man and answer every question I have of you, and leave this city, never to return, and you will live the rest of your long, long existence in peace. Or," His grin widens and his arm lengthens into a long metallic spike and subtly readies it to fire through the rope holding the man to the ceiling. "My friend keeps you in this world and I lock you in a cold iron coffin and throw you in the river until something digs you up in a few hundred years."
The Kobold shows it's razor sharp teeth in a rictus grin. "Good, try to use fear to cow-tow me. Embrace the hatred as you have the metallic skin, it will be as brittle as any armour." It looks back to it's victim red-faced eyes streaming with tears.
"You wish me to be destroyed? Destruction is good, but are you all so keen to watch another place be ruined." his throaty voice cackles. "I'll release him..." he turns to the man; "You wish to be released, you know what to do." the kobold implies.
The man gets ready to step forward...
To the group
I dont understand why you are all so upset after all the things we have seen; this little guy, sure can be troublesome but hey; some people are buttheads and deserve it; I doubt him and his buddies are sacrificin children or the root of all the problems we see growing, why borrow trouble, we dont know if this hanging man was decent or a seriel murderer, this creature can bring you misfortune to be sure...be glad it isnt a Puck or Hob.
to the Kobalos
so, what is this guys story? Why is he hanging here, did he offend your clan or do something unwise or what? Seeing him here angers me; but missing kids anger me more as do would be conquerers. Some would be conquerers been breaking into places with old stuff like this. I am looking for such. Some kids been missing too and somebody will pay for that, seen any of that maybe?
Jericho throws his hand out, his spike of metal flying from his hand as he expends his will to try to hit the extremely small rope from so far.
Jack holds up the chess piece with his left hand, while drawing his sword with his right. "Seems the darkness releases different shades this night, be gone from this place of your own accord, or be banished..."
The man steps forward off the steam engine, into mid-air he seems to stay there for a moment (not supernatural - just flavour) and then starts to fall. Jerichos spike of metal flies from his hand, whistling as it slices the air. Straight as a die it takes the rope - before the man's bodyweight snaps down upon his neck. The hemp cord tears easily with the soft sound of tearing silk.
The despairing man lands heavily upon the ground with a thump and the noise of a stick snapping. Quiety he sits there sobbing.
The Kobold stands atop the engine, a fixed vicious grin etched upon it. He looks to Aximeus; "The man well he lost, we played a game and he is a loser." the words seem to send a convulsion of grief through the mans' near catatonic form. "See your companions hate me, as they may come to hate you or anyone different. I'll not be jailed or banished, so I think to take my leave of you."
"As for conqueror's or child abusers, I know naught. Maybe it is to one of your 'friends' you should look? I trust them not. I just travel the realities challenging and taking my rewards for others failure." his malevolent words hold barbs.
Seeing the beast about to flee, Kenneth throws the rooting mixture at it. "Ach, dinnae go. We hae more tae discuss, ye ken."
Danny's eyes go wide at Jericho's tearing off of the door and unexpected shout.
"I think someone has issues?" He murmurs.
He holds out his hands in a protestation of innocence at Letitia's stare.
"What?! Ripping a bloody big door off it's hinges is likely to come back and bite us in the tush! Just sayin'!"
Danny is confused by the appearance of the dark imp, and the man who seems ok with hanging himself, and is caught completely by surprise when events explode around him. But as his mother didn't raise no dummy, he immediately dives for cover.
He peeks back up as Kenneth takes a shot at the escaping creature,...
He crawls over to the fallen man and checks to see if he is ok,...
Letitia looks to Danny; 'Tush?!' then glances down at his.
The fiery eyes boggle as Kenneth casts the powder.
Danny dives over to the base of the steam engine near the wheels, keeping out of the way of the radioactive powder, the man stares into space and surely legs aren't meant to bend that way.
Dano, reality check; is all this kinda weird out of of place or is it me
Axe looks at the man on the ground being checked out and thinks about the actions of others and the wee ones comments.
A seed long forgotten in the chimney of the industrial age train, breaks open as Kenneth throws the serum of Rooting Powder in a white burst, flecked with emerald and brown. The seed grows a long magical vine that whips out and entwins the creature.
The vines of natural magic spider-web across the kobolds body as it screams a curse, thrashing against the will of the Celtic Goddess. "Help me!" it screams
Stress Phy OOO/ooo A:2
Mental OOO
Social OOOO
Powers: incite emotion, at range, extra emotion, & potent W4 - deceit attack +2 for maneuver or create block; defend Discipline.
Supernatural Toughness: Catch - *****
Insubstantial!
By Miverva's Boots; what are you doing? Are ya nuts, attacking the wee people; do you have no idea how many they are and what they can do to your lives, your family for generations. Even Hera-Kales didnt kill them when they stole is goods while sleeping. I bid you stop this foolishness! We dont know the right or wrong of this incident! Oh Mother! what to do!
"Then a bargain? I think I'd rather deal with them in our world, than bargain with them, I've studied law, but the sidhe, they make our laws look like they're written on swiss."
The creature thrashes wildly a blur in the darkness as the verdent green ropes bite into it's translucent flesh. Where it touches the creature becomes horribly substantial, a smell of decaying matter is a miasma around it.
All make a Alertness or Investigation (ie. Perception) Check.
Dano, reality check; is all this kinda weird out of of place or is it me
"Oh, I think our reality check just bounced!" Danny snaps back from behind the train wheel.
"I also think, this guy might be dead. Cuz he should be cryin' right now,..." He gulps as he peers at the fallen man. He peers in horror at the sight of the man and his backward-bending legs.
'What can cause a man to want to kill himself like that?!? Even guys who jump off roofs are really wanting someone to stop them. What did that thing DO to him?!?'
As the seed tendril bursts from the antique steam engine it is accompanied by a scream of tearing metal. And possibly a scream from Danny as well. He scrambles away towards another rail car for safety.
Kenneth says, "That wee hackit beastie is stuffin' men's souls full of evil like a tattyboggle! So, I made sure we could hae a bonnie word with it and caught it in a fankle, rather than let it leave."
He turns to look at Axe and says, "Your tales about such a beastie seem different than mine, but I ken that it's a killer, and I cannae truck with those that hunt the innocent."
He slides his claidhbeag from its sheath and uses it to point at the wretch still wrapped in his noose, "Hoo many hae this one killed for it? An' hoo many other wretches came afore this one? Nae, Axe, if ye willnae act 'gainst this evil, tail-less monster, then I will."
With that, he turns back toward the trapped beast and says, "Losgadh", his sword bursts into righteous flame.
Danny sees that the man is breathing shallowly.
The creature is nearly immortal it can be bound though, cold iron or a similar metal from a nearby metal smith could work. The only way to actually 'kill' it is destroying the item that binds it too the world - then it can never return here it will stay in the Never-Never.
With that Investigation roll, the tail seems to be crawling away out of the shed - probably towards the item that allows it to be anchored to the plane.
With the Lore Kenneth knows enough to uncover the Kobold spoiler above, if you want to see it's quick stats.
"He's alive?" Danny murmurs, peering closer at the fallen man.
"Hey Guys! He's alive!" Danny calls out. Seeing that the imp is caught in Kenneth's snare-plant, the singer leaves his cover and dashes to the stricken man. He slides to a stop on his knees next to the victim.
"Okay,... don't move him, might make it worse,... Hey mister? Can you hear me? Hang on. Help is on the way!" He says fervently, gently touching the man's shoulder. He fumbles for his cell phone as Kenneth's oversized knife bursts into flame.
'Fat lot of good this will be with all that hocus pocus flying around!' Danny curses inwardly, trying to remember the foreign equivalent of '911' in his adrenaline-fueled state of mind.
Investigation 2:
Kenneth says, "We cannae kill the thing in this world, only bind it with cold iron or metal.", emphasizing the last words for the Ferromancer. "Though I do ken that the sacred flames of my goddess can sure hurt it."
As he speaks, he walks toward the crawling tail while keeping his flaming sword trained on the kobold, as if looking for a better flanking position with his allies.
Only when he gets close enough to the tail that he's sure it won't quite get away does he add, "But we can remove the hackit thing by panning the anchor it uses to reach our world. We dae that, it cannae ever return tae our world and its evil stays safe on the other side.... an' I think this wee piece of tail here is tryin tae reach the anchor e'en now."
Grillan had been silent at the house, observing the group and their conversation silently as he sought to determine how much he should share with them, and when. Will they run if they know what we face? I've half a mind to myself...
In the end, he'd made his decision to keep silent because of his injuries, and how quickly they had decided to go haring off too follow the chess piece. If he shared everything he knew with them immediately, his thoughts went, than they might have gone racing off after the Armored Bastard (as Grillan had mentally dubbed his foe)... and in his current condition Grillan was fairly certain he wouldn't survive another encounter with the man. Not without a large amount of preparation.
It was the same reason he'd held well back going into the Museum they'd been led to. Long enough to determine that this wasn't going to be a knock down drag out affair like the party, at least, and determine there weren't any surprises of the nasty sort protecting those who would enter.
"Hrm..." He surveys the kobold curiously, thinking about what he's overheard. "A radical idea, but what if we offered the scamp a job instead of banishing and threatening it? His powers are ideally suited to a Sphinx-esque guardian role, and it occurs to me that we could likely come up with a thing or three in need of that sort of protection. They'd be all the safer if the guardian couldn't actually be killed by any who overpower it, and therefore would be able to report and let us know such had happened."
Jericho sweeps up toward Rill with rage in his eyes. "This thing may have taken my entire life apart. Even if it didn't it works with or for the evil bastard who did. I will have my due." He turns away, the matter settled in his mind.
Jericho smiles and steps carefully forward toward the caught creature. "You chose poorly, Fae. Now you have one last choice. Answer my questions, and I leave you in a cold iron coffin here, where someone will hear you scream, and find you, and you may escape within the next few days. Or you remain silent, and the coffin becomes airtight, and goes into the Foss, and you get to stay there for however many years it takes for some lucky fisherman to drag it from the depths." Jericho steps another step forward and then gestures. "Kelepce." The voice was cold and dark as two nearby rails clamped cold iron onto the kobold's legs. The hissing of it's flesh as it met the Bane was audible and Jericho took one last step forward. "Trust me. You don't want to be locked in there for any longer than you have to. Now... Three years ago I lived in the mortal city of Philidelphia, and a string of murders using slivers of metal occured in the early fall. The killer left one of these," Jericho pulled out an old, weathered Chess King, black, which he'd carried with him since he'd run. "at each scene. Was it you? If not, who? Give me answers Fae." Jericho pulled his Father's Guantlet into a spike and pointed it toward the creature. "You don't want me to ask again."
"Or it may have been working against whoever did." Grillan offers quietly, his hands held up to placate Jericho for a moment. "Even in the most complex of chess variants, black and white are on opposite sides of the table. Or at least that's how it was back in the Fifties. That hasn't changed, has it? It was always one of the basic rules and those don't usually move around much..."
Jericho's fire falters for a moment, his mind processing information he hadn't considered. Could he be against the killer? But he then considered for a moment the man hanging from the rafters. "Then he'll tell me what I need to know and then be punished for his other transgressions. If I determine him useful to finding the Killer I will let him free. So he'd best get to convincing me."
Danny looks up to see Jericho's eyes almost glowing with rage as he 'questions' the creature.
"Um,..." He says cleverly. He wishes fervently that he could think of something to say to calm this situation down. But it sounds as if Jericho has a personal history with this creature, or someone it works with?
"Um, guys? He's alive. But he's hurt. And I'm a singer, not a healer." he says calmly into the silence that stretches after Jericho's last statement.
Letitia looks worriedly at Jericho, but understanding passes over her visage and she stands silent. Her fingers white knuckles around the hilt of the sabre.
The creature smiles a cruel laugh; "A good guardian am I, able to teach and influence with only a few choice words. I love language so contortable. Don't worry I'll answer the question, [i]My ." he cracks into a chuckle. "Ask me thrice and receive the truth, but I will tell you proudly. How profound the actions of a few individuals has upon your life."
"Pawns killing pawns, losers like him." pointing at the injured man Danny protects; "Play a game with me and I will give you your desire - revenge for the victor?" his words slow and steady. "See the great dragon understands, everything is simple.
Letitia touchs the metallic skin of Jericho; [b]"I am of the Grey, we are not meant to act in such... emotions."
Kenneth moves to block a large doorway, in front of him is a wriggling snake... no it's the tail of the Kobold!
Kenneth says, "Shottie! The beastie lies e'en now -- it takes Cold Iron to bind him, not simple steel."
Of course, the power of the gods works too..., he thinks, as he begins to spin his sword around the tail. He begins slowly to establis the pattern, but then begins picking up speed such that the blade itself becomes a bit of a blur, and the shine of the blade and the flames start to blend together, forming a fiery cone around it. With a deep breath, be brings the blade down slightly, the enchanted sword biting into the floor slightly, leaving a perfect circle, into which he wills the Fire of Hearth, sealing it.
Kenneth is creating an Epic (7) Binding Circle.
This would normally have a complexity of 7, exceeding his Lore, but he's going for strong, rather than long-lasting, effectively climbing down the time chart from "an afternoon" to "half-an-hour", which should be long enough for Kenneth and the gang to find the kobold's anchor without worrying about the tail. -3 shifts brings complexity to 4 (Great), which is equal to Kenneth's Lore, meaning he can cast the spell without needing preparation.
Further, the spell only needs 4 shifts of power, which is within Kenneth's Conviction (so, no auto-stress).
"Now, let's see where that wee bit of you was going off tae.."
Grillan makes his way over to the man that Danny is standing over, considering for a long moment as he kneels down and begins fishing through his own pockets. After a moment he pulls out the beaten up flask of spirits and offers it towards the fellow. "What's your name?" the words are not ungentle, but still a command. After a moment his gaze moves to the Kobold as well. "And what's your name as well, kobold?"
", let us out. I'll tear thee eyes out, kill all you love." the creature raves.
"That was rather rude, Mr. Finley." Grillan scolds with a small sigh. "You'll have to forgive them being so excitable... Mortality does that, it seems. Now, what are your names? Calling you both you would be simultaneously rude and confusing. You don't want me to have to ask a third time, do you?" Grillan asks the Kobold and the man again.
To Jericho and the others, he adds. "There's a far more direct path to the truth of things."
The mortal continues to weep and fail to answer, and Grillan frowns, his brow furrowing with irritation, before stepping forward and hitting the man full in the face with the flask. It isn't a gentle blow, coming right at the man's mouth so his lip will split and blood well up to run down the man's chin. The dragon holds the man's head in his non-injured arm while using his sprained arm to manuever the flask so it can catch the blood as it falls. "Next time you should take the hand of friendship when it is offered." He mutters as he stands back up.
He drops a handkerchief on the man's lap as he steps away to work, removing a gold pocket watch he was wearing and lifting it to his eye critically, before placing it on the floor and kneeling near it. A platinum collar stay is removed, so he can begin scratching out a set of Cyrillic symbols in a triangle around it. The blood from the flask is used to wet one the symbols at the vertices of the triangle, while another points directly at the kobold. Grillan himself sits along one of the long sides. "The chess piece, if you please." He looks at Jack.
Grillan kind of wants to figure out what sort of game (and for what stakes) the guy was playing with the Kobold... mainly to determine if he wants to rein Jericho and the others in, or not (or even help the Kobold get what he's owed... Because Grillan isn't entirely human and does understand where the kobold is coming from, somewhat). I was originally going to have him use Psychometry, but recalled that the power was limited to reading objects, and that Grillan really wants more detail than a standard psychometry would supply (also, he's not particularly good at it due to my not building him right, but c'est la vie. I'll fix that at the milestones.) It strikes me that Thaumaturgy is ideally suited to this purpose, but it's the first time I've ever handled a thaumaturgy casting, and the process looks a bit complex.
So, what he's attempting to do is use the Thaumaturgy to read the past for the truth of the man and kobold's interactions (he's conscious of the Warden being present, and doesn't want to upset her sensibilities by directly raiding the man's mind). He also wants to share what he learns with everyone there, in the form of projecting the information both visually and audibly because a) He's hoping the truth will help calm every one down a bit and b) He's in the mood to show off, hoping it will get him back everyone's respect after getting so throughly beaten.
Mechanically, I guess that means he's attempting an assessment (in reading the man's past), and simultaneously using a manuever to declare the aspect Yes, you see what I see over the zone. The second part is the easiest to figure out: An uncontested declaration would be worth 3 shifts of complexity on the spell, and spreading it over the zone would need another 2 shifts of complexity, so the spell is at five already. The assessment portion would presumably be possible through skill rolls over time (like psychotherapy treatments, or extended interrogations). As such it should require a number of shifts of complexity equal to the best defensive rolls the man or Kobold could make (their skill +4). So if we presume the Kobold's deceit is the skill it would be defending with, Grillan would be looking at another 9 shifts of complexity to get beyond it, and probably another 4 or 5 shifts of complexity to get by the man's defenses (I'm presuming the man isn't all that strong willed or anything).
Overall, I'm guessing the complexity of the spell falls somewhere around 19 or so. This is well beyond even Grillan's impressive lore, so some preparation will have to be done.
For preparations, he's first going to try and make a small host of declarations so he can tag their aspects to reduce the complexity:
-Rapport (on the Man) to Declare Can't You See I Want to Help You? (I'd like to think his offering the man a drink and actually speaking to him, as opposed to ignoring him like (nearly) everyone else should be sufficient to back this up) Failed
-Rapport (on the Kobold) to Declare We're More Alike Than You Might Guess (I think the Kobold has already laid the seed for this one, when he said Grillan understood him) Succeed
-Burglary to declare I've Got a Piece of You by having him steal a bit of the man's hair when the man takes the flask Failed
-Scholarship to declare I know the symbolism related to the chess pieces. Succeed
-Contacts to declare I already know Part of the Story by virtue of his being plugged as deeply into both the mortal and supernatural communities of the city as he is. Whatever they were up to had to have had some impact on one or the other (manifestly true, since the chess piece led us here) Succeed
-Resources to declare It May Not be Silver, But Platinum Should Work. The likelihood that Grillan would have things on him which can be improvised to be useful for this sort of scrying with him seems rather good, as long as you're looking for more expensive than usual things. Succeed
-Discipline to declare I'm Immortal; I can Afford to be Patient as he waits on responses to his question. Succeed
-Lore to declare I Honor the Old Ways as he is patently giving the kobold the chance to answer willingly about his name, rather than forcing it out by asking three times. Succeed
-Stealth to declare You'll Never See this Coming when he goes to hit the man and get his blood for the ritual to work. Succeed
-Weaponry to declare But I'll Have a Piece of You, One Way or The Other on the man, when hitting him with the flask. Succeed
So of the nine attempted declarations, only seven were successful, but that still gives him 14 off the complexity of the ritual, bringing it down to a much more reasonable 5.
I found it interesting that the two failures were thematically related to the mortal, so I decided to build off that, having the mortal's reticence make Grillan decide to be slightly less kind, resulting in him hitting the mortal to make up for it.
Still the complexity is too high, so Grillan will also tag his No Power But Mine aspect for another 2 shift reduction to the complexity, instead of inflicting enough of an injury on the mortal that he could use it to power the spell. This drops the complexity to three, which will be manageable.
Grillan will try to channel all the power quickly, before things can get out of hand, so he's attempting to handle it all in one exchange. He is successful, with a shift to spare (useful if I misjudged how strong the Almost Hung Man's resistance might be).
Presuming I've done this all right... if I haven't, lemme know.
"Oh? No. I don't think so." Danny replies calmly. He nods to Grill, and stands up, leaving the dragon to tend the fallen man. He steps slowly towards the bound creature and Jericho.
As he walks he listens, the ping and popping of the stressed metal of the engine, the rustling sound of the still-growing vine, the stressed breathing of the wizard, all are part of the music to Danny's ear. His own breathing subtly alters, joining the rhythm. In his mind's ear he can hear a tune, as if remembering a lullaby from his childhood. He relaxes, and he can hear the tune, clear as a bell. He begins humming softly, picking it up and getting into the rhythm. There is a brief but definite look of dismay (near to panic) that crosses the face of the kobold.
The kobold struggles but the vines tighten and the circle shimmers. Calling upon the magic and the blood begins to boil and a black smoke bubbles out of it, the chess piece at the centre of the symbological circle starts to glow. It projects light onto the dark cloud, the twinkling of light is amplified as the steam trains bull-lamp shines into the darkness. A crescendo of sound as the steam train starts chuffing - this resolves it into an image and noise.
Two men are sat at a table in a dark backroom, between them is a board crafted from the oaken table. There is the bleedng man on the floor, but he looks younger, less worried, as if the weight of the world has been lifted off him. A small smile flicks across his face; "Check!" he happily exclaims.
The figure sat opposite is a drawn older man, his fingers rapping on the table in a staccato rhythmn. The eyes flicker for just a second showing a black evil prescence. The Kobold is possessing him! He moves a piece exposing his track-marked arms, counter-checking the game.
The first man falters for a moment realising that he is in danger of losing. "Hey, it's a good game. They said you were the best.... I concede."
The emanciated man picks up the King knocking the other one over, with a sigh. Slowly he slumps to the floor...DEAD. The first man's eyes darken as the Kobold takes him, possessing him. He stands up takes a thin knife from the dead mans pocket - then piercing his eyes which leave slivers of the metal on his face. "I will find him and get my retribution, if all these humans have to fall I will destroy him."
The image fades back to earlier as the chipper Duncan Fordham, walks into the dark room to speak to the emaciated man.
"Hey, I heard you were the best player out there. How about we give 'the big game' a go?" Duncan pops down a wad of $10k. The thin man croaks; "Those are interesting stakes, how about this... I win I am the best man. The winner is dominant." he puts down a stack of 1 million Yen.
Duncan is puzzled at the response, but replies "May the best man win."
The images goes through a series of people, a long line of people. Gamblers all.
It seems the Kobald beats them at a game takes them over and burns their life essence. He has some periods of immobility, Duncan has been possessed for less than 6 months and already he is mentally and physically tired.
Grillan nods slowly as the spell finishes, glancing at the others to see their reaction. His voice, when he speaks, is soft. "They each chose to play his games of their own free will and motivated by their own greed. The reward was worth the risk, in their mind, and if the risk was not fully understood by them, it was their failure to ask. A person can not be protected from the consequences of their own choices... not if their freedom to choose is to have any meaning."
Axe mental def
Discipline
The creature thrashes wildly a blur in the darkness as the verdent green ropes bite into it's translucent flesh. Where it touches the creature becomes horribly substantial, a smell of decaying matter is a miasma around it.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **All make a Alertness or Investigation (ie. Perception) Check.
** spoiler omitted **
Alertness
Look you guys, we have been played, expertly. I think this just a carefully planned diversion, tactics...not the game you see. Here we are just chasing shadows weakening our position and likely to draw the emnity of creatures not commited in the battle. This was unwise, our greater goal is slipping farther away. What you do to this one will be done back to others of our kind, blow for blow, insult for insult, prison for prison, even eye for eye and tooth for tooth. Creatures as these are never alone, always seeking to test your resolve and I believe we have wavered, thus we have lost this round, but gains may stil be had..... Well played, you have won, but I cannot aid you, it is not my purpose
Danny; your sight is keener than mine and more able to peirce viels, check the windows and places high and low; we are being watched I know it, by whom will tell us more than this creature
well spoken Grillian
Kenneth looks at Grillian and Ax, "Truly, you think that that a body what enters a game with one that can manipulate emotion is doing it purely of its will? Bargained well and done? You ken what he can do, how he can manipulate -- so you're blaming the victim for making a poor choice when his emotions are more tangled than a briar patch. Do we do the same for White Courters, then, and blame their victims?"
The stories I remember all pretty much say that those who mix with Fairy get thier just deserts and usually not a good thing and usually from a mans own weaknesses and desires and his inability to face them. Know they self and to thyself be true! If it be a troll or ogre rampage or a fae lord seeking human skins I will fight right fast enough, but this smells more a trap. Who is this man and is our saving him part of the plan I wonder, whose tune are we dancing to now on strings of the puppetter
The cloudy cinema scene slowly changes;
'A man standing above the prone body of a dead woman, a pool a dark viscous blood spreads from her. A cruel smile upon his face, he throws the blade into a nearby cat and drops a White Chess piece between their 2 bodies. His eyes flicker with the serpentine Kobolds' hatred...'
The vision centres on the eyes revealing another vista:
'A forest dark and vicious, the trees seem to grow into unnatural shapes. There is an almost palpable aura of hatred and bitterness, a small pool of inky oil is left in a glade. It's obvious that nothing healthy could live or survive here. Nature has turned on this horrific dell, sat beside the liquid is the small Kobold holding a small statue.
A hunting horn sounds and the creature snarls. Into the clearing comes the Erkling a group of goblins beside him and some people flank him - they are not immediately obvious. The Kobold snarls an oath and throws a goblin into the pool, the viscous liquid bubbles. "STOP, FOUL CREATURE YOUR MASTER WILL NOT RETURN!" the Erkling says the power of his voice clear even in the faint shadow vision.
The oil bubbles, forming a tentacled monsterousity which tears into the goblins and removes the Erklings helm - engaging him in a struggle. The figures behind the Erkling, humans that are helping 'the hunter' rid the forest of the defilement. Four figures, one is obscured, a tall blond Scandiavian man, a woman, and a man that resembles Jericho but with a decade or two upon him.
They set upon the creature rescuing the Erkling with blasts of magic and axe and power, the kobold flees vowing revenge.'
Jericho stops, his face falling slack. "What... is that..." He looks at the image, unable to process for a second. "I'm not crazy right. That... that has to be..." Jericho can't even finish, and his eyes are wet and misty.
I was wondering; do you see this.....scene also?