We are taking a temporary break from our normal storyline to get back into the swing of things. The following takes place at some indeterminate time that really doesn't matter as it doesn't actually effect any of the long term story at all and is just about having fun. Because much like the students at Avalon, sometimes the players need to just be silly for a while too. :)
So, without further ado, in a SIM room somewhere in Avalon Academy a bunch of students (and guests?) gathered for a bit of fun and competition......
Tyrrin jumped up onto the machine as soon as the roof was open, her face set in determination as she looked up, calculating the necessary trajectory. ::I love you too,:: she said to Ghalen, not daring to look around because she was afraid that she would lose her nerve if she actually looked at him. And then she gathered power until she was literally glowing with it, using it to send the machine shooting up through the roof and up and up towards the stars. It hurt more than she expected, going through the atmosphere. Her magic protected her a little, but the force involved was massive. She was surprised at how calm she was. She didn't want to die, but she couldn't fail to act. Not with the whole world at stake. And then it was so quiet and so cold and she could see the stars so clearly. She reached out to her brother and grabbed his hand, holding on as tightly as she could as she released all the power of the stars on one tight point, blowing the machine into tiny bits.
In the lab all they could see was a bright streak and the tiniest shower of sparks, too far away to really see the explosion. There was a moment of silence as the reality of what just happened started to sink in.
That moment was interrupted by a very loud boom as something streaked in towards the lab at high speed. The something separated into two parts as it entered through the open dome, a battered but alive, if only barely, Tyrrin dropping to the floor and lying there in a heap as the streak of dragon shifted into a more human form before slamming into the wall with bonebreaking force.
Tyrrin blinked, the scene before her suddenly snapping into clarity as adrenaline rushed through her system. "Then open it," she snaps, her voice cracking, as she does. "Open the roof and I can take care of this." She doesn't say how. She can't afford to waste time with arguments. She glanced briefly at Jaiye. Then at Ghalen. They would definitely argue. "You can't switch places with Ehos because he's tied into the wards and you aren't. It's....look, I just need you to trust me, okay? There isn't time to explain everything."
Ace:
There is a strong sense that he should do what she's asking. Not a compulsion, but definitely a nudge.
She smiled, but the expression seemed off on her. Like watching a crocodile smile, or a large cat. "As we knew you would. Things will begin moving again soon. Be prepared. And remember.....choices, champion mine. Choices are important here. If you fail to follow the proper thread, all unravels. You must steer things to their proper course." And with that she faded away, leaving Ace standing in blackness for a moment before he's back where he began.
The music continues to fill the chamber and glancing up, Ace notices that the roof was designed to retract. Presumably there was a switch or something around here somewhere to make that happen. He glanced down at the chancellor's body and the pool of blood spreading across the floor, realizing that he was once more wearing the chancellor's form. And that he knew exactly where to find the lever to open the roof.
"We are Fate," the girl, Atropos, said with a nod of acknowledgement. "And what care we for reputations? It is easy to jump to conclusions when you see but a tiny corner of the tapestry. We see all, beginning, middle, and end. It is our nature." She tilted her head, lips pursed as she considered him. "Is that a yes?"
The scene faded away and Ace found himself standing in the middle of nothingness. The young girl was still in front of him, but the loom was gone and so were her scissors. "You are currently at a nexus point," she said, walking across his field of vision, her feet leaving glowing footprints behind her that slowly faded away. "A moment of decision between one course of action and another," the middle aged woman continued, walking across his field of vision from the other direction once the girl had stepped where he could no longer see her. Her footprints also left a glowing trail behind her. "One path leads to disaster and one leads to tragedy, but it is clear which one must be chosen. You need to act to make sure that it is the right one." She passed out of view and the old woman continued. "We offer you power, mortal child, and in exchange you would act to further our interests, to keep things on track for their proper destiny." The old woman faded away and the young girl appeared once more in front of him. "All you have to do is say yes."
The old woman laughed, throwing her head back and howling with amusement, changing into the middle aged woman as the spinning wheel shifted back into the loom as she got control of her mirth. She chuckled a little bit as she shook her head. "Oh, no, ducky, you've got it all wrong," she said, her eyes twinkling. "Not that I blame you bit. Clotho likes to be mysterious. It's not at all uncommon for folks to get mixed up when she starts talking. No, no, this reality is ending no matter what you do. That's already been decided. No way to change it. We already know that." The middle aged woman faded away leaving the young girl with her scissors who looked gravely at Ace as she spoke. "No, we just need to make sure it's a clean cut so that the new one can be properly grafted on." She held up her large scissors. "A clean cut is very important. It avoids mess. Life is messy enough already. No need to add to the trouble."
The girl's smile grew wider and more predatory, an expression that seemed at odds with her age. "We don't need souls you know," she said in her sing-song voice. "We have them all already, in a manner of speaking." The middle aged woman was back and she clucked her tongue. "Don't be too concerned with Atropos. She's a bit....bloodthirsty. It's her nature. She ends things. But I know it can be a bit off-putting at times," she said, barely glancing up as she guided the shuttle through the tapestry, adding rows. It became more and more obvious as she worked that there was going to be a problem with the weaving soon as warp threads appeared to be disappearing before she could get to them. "You're a smart child, I'm sure you can figure out the problem without too much trouble. We're running out of reality. All stories end. It's the nature of stories, but this...." she clicked her tongue in disapproval again. "This is messy. And we despise mess," she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. The loom faded and turned back into the spinning wheel, with the old woman expertly creating thin, smooth threads. She looked up at him and grinned toothlessly, her eyes still sharp for all that they were clouded with age. "You're young yet," she rasped, sympathetically. "Like Atropos. More of a destroyer than a creator. But there are times when that is what is needed. Now is one of them. This is the time for closing a chapter so the next one can open. The question is, will you help us do it?"
The guard that Jaiye was threatening whimpers and wets himself as he watches his boss get eaten, his eyes wide with fear, but he doesn't move. The others simply stayed put, trying not to be very noticeable to the monsters that just ate their leader. This was way above their pay grade. Way, way above.
Ace:
Ace's mind is flooded with the chancellor's memories and feelings. Pride, a rigid belief in the system as he had always known it, disappointment towards his family who couldn't possibly meet his exacting standards, convinced that he was better than everyone else, barely concealed contempt for weakness in all forms..... and then there is a sort of schism. A before and after moment. The flipping of the world, finding out that they were one small world in a universe full of other such worlds, the existence of the Empire, the threat they posed....Fear. Fear ruled all. The chancellor woke up with nightmares every night. And in his panic he did what he had always done, turned his clever mind to find a solution, some way of imposing order back onto the chaos of this new world order. The High Seers couldn't be trusted. They were being led astray, lied to by the Avalon scum. Seer Denulia had sent her children to them to be corrupted after the disaster at her son's concert, all the death. It was an omen. The children were tainted. They could not be allowed to gain power. Not ever. The paranoia continued to eat at him day in and day out and he came up with a plan. A machine. A way to take down the wards. If they followed the rebels' lead then they were all dead. But what if they didn't? What if they turned the rebels, the dragons, the ones who brought chaos and death...they could turn them over to the Empire. If they did that, then they would be allowed to live. Better to be a living servant than a dead leader. Being privy to all of the information necessary to the security of the realm it didn't take him long to find out that the High Seer's children were tied to the power of the planetary wards and thus the machine was born. It was meant for them both, but truthfully even Ehos alone was enough, the power he channeled being redirected into attacking the very wards it was drawn from. And until the wards came crashing down there was no way to stop the machine once it started. Why build an off switch? He was sure of his actions, committed to his path. There was no need to waste time on indecision.
Ace, part two:
Ace very abruptly finds himself somewhere else. He was standing in a field, rolling green hills underneath a cloudless blue sky stretching out as far as the eye could see. In front of him was a small thatched cottage, its walls spotlessly whitewashed and smoke curled up from the chimney. In front of the cottage an old woman in a ratty, shapeless grey dress, her face a mass of wrinkles and her wispy grey hair falling limply across her face, stood at a large spinning wheel, setting in motion with one hand with a practiced motion while the other hand expertly twisted the wool tied onto the distaff tucked under her arm into fine thread. She looked up and gave him a toothless grin. "Welcome, Casilkasheyith," she said warmly in a voice like dust. At this point he realizes that he is himself again and not wearing the form or personality of the chancellor. When he looked back towards the old woman she was gone. A plump middle aged woman sat in front of a large loom expertly guiding the shuttle through the threads.[/I] "Not to worry, ducky," she said, clicking her tongue. "You're not really here, you know. It's sort of a between place. Between seconds, between heartbeats, between realities....however you like to think of it." Her form blurred and she looked up again, a young girl with golden curls tumbling down her back, her clear gaze containing neither malice nor mercy. She held a large pair of metal shears in her hand and she snipped a thread from the tapestry with care. "We have an offer for you," she said in a clear soprano voice. "An arrangement for mutual benefit, after a fashion," she added with an enigmatic smile.
Ghalen moves over to the Chancellor, and becomes visible with his sword drawn, an anger bordering on madness in his eyes.
"You will fix this, or you will die."
1d20+37 Intimidate
"Fix it?!" The Chancellor laughs hysterically. "You fools! That's exactly what I am doing! I am fixing things! Fa'elwiir, take your knife away from Lady Tyrrin's throat at once! We need her for the machine to function optimally!" he snapped to the overly nervous guard. "Do you think you scare me, you band of ruffians?!" he shrieked, returning his attention to Ghalen and sweeping his eyes over the rest dismissively. "Our entire planet is facing certain destruction! Think bigger, you nitwits!"
Noting that the barrier is now down, and Jaiye was chomping at the bit to strike, Ace grins at the guard holding Ty.
"You're about to have a really bad day. I would strongly suggest laying down your weapon."Spending a Moment of Inspiration to add my Factotum level on my Intimidate check. 1d20+30 Intimidate
Aargh! I swear I replied to this! But this does explain why there was no reply to my apparently nonexistent reply.... :P
The guard looked panicked as he glanced around at all the foes around him, but gripped Tyrrin tighter and started slowly backing towards the machine. "You're just going to kill me anyways," he squeaked, fear driving his voice up a couple of octaves. He's shaking and that represents a real danger to Tyrrin as his knife hand is not steady and the blade is pressed against her throat.
Seeing one of the guards holding Tyrrin fall to the floor, Fei presumes that both Casilkasheyith and Ghalen are now in the chamber.
With Jaiye waiting on him to win through the barrier, the young monk unclenches the fist he slammed against the magical wall. Splaying his hand out, he absorbs its remaining energies to take it down.
Apologies for posting out of turn. I know this will technically occur after Ghalen finishes his actions, but I will be on the road for the weekend and do not wish to cause delays by my absence. (^-^)
The barrier flickers and disappears as Fei absorbs the energies.
Meanwhile, the second guard stumbled as Tyrrin fell from his grip, but he rights himself and draws his blade, holding it against Tyrrin's throat. "That's enough!" he growled.
Ghalen moves over to the control console and tries to discern how to shut it off..
He hasn't attacked anyone, so he should still be invisible...
The last few commands are visible on the screen, and it appear that someone has already engaged a failsafe that prevents the machine from being shut down barring actually smashing it. Which would kill Ehos, and most likely everyone else here because the compulsion that makes him sing would not wear off fast enough to prevent massive sonic damage to the room and everyone in it.
Does Gahlen thing a silence spell would suffice to hinder the effect for a bit? Is the power source of the device visible? Does he think cuttingthe power would stop it with out killing anyone?
A silence spell would stop you guys from hearing the singing, but wouldn't alter the effect. Ehos is the power source for the device. That's why the singing isn't insta-killing everyone in the room.
The machine appears to be tapping into Ehos's nervous system directly. Ripping him out would most likely kill him. Touching the machine would most likely kill him. Removing him from the machine would most likely kill everyone here because the thing you notice the most as you enter the room is the sound. The entire room is filled with the most beautiful singing. And it only takes a second to realize that this is Ehos singing. The machine is both forcing him to sing and using the effects of his powers to fulfill its intended function. In short, the machine is attacking the wards that surround the planet through the connection between Ehos and Tyrrin and the wards themselves
Ghalen dimendion doors over to where Ehos is, and attempts to discern if he can be removed fro mthe machine safely.
What skills?
Knowledge engineering, knowledge arcana, perception, disable device (for purpose of analyzing it rather than actually disabling it in this instance). Any or all of these will give you info.
Timing it just right, Ace teleports in as soon as Fei does his superman punch, landing next to the two guards dragging Tyrinn. "Excuse me, but she's with us."
Lyn, initiative? Attack rolls? Etc? lol
We don't use initiative. Just let everyone have a go before you take your next round is all. So, yeah, attack rolls, you have surprise on these guys.
Lyn, is there a way to tell if the field prevents teleportation, aside from just attempting to teleport in? Detect Magic and a spellcraft check or if it's tech based, the Technomancy spell(which, I imagine students capable of casting magic learn in engineering class?) and a Engineering check?
Teleport will work. It functions as a wall of force. This is a basic spell craft check so I'm just giving it to you. :)
The Chancellor screams at the sudden auditory attack and the guards who were moving Tyrrin towards the device pause in confusion, looking towards their master as he struggles against the nanite bindings. Then they notice Fei as his blow shakes the forcefield surrounding the chamber. It doesn't quite break, but it shakes like a bowl of jello from the force of the blow.
"Should I attempt to take any of these insurgents out? I'm guessing Ghalen can handle rescuing Ty on his own." Ace asks over the comm.
I can't remember if the High Seer is in communication with us or not, but if she is, Ace will direct this question to her.
"Try not to kill them, if possible. Incapacitate them and if lethal measures are necessary then you have my blessing. Just save my children," the High Seer said tersely over the comm.
He nods, then watches their flank as Fei does his thing.
Does this mean Ghalen has come inside and changed back? He wouldn't fit through the hallway as a dragon. Just making sure I know who is where and in what form. :)
"Well, I guess then we just need to go ask the head of security for admin access privileges and ask Adon about any stylistic and interface related preferences" he puts his hand on a wall to find out where to go to find the head of security, while his other hand is used to see if he can contact her via his tablet computer
"I will try...we are coming to you now. Get ready to extract them as soon as we can take it down."
Hoping that Ghalen saw his signal, Fei proceeds into the hallway. Some of his nanites from the threshold race ahead of him along the ceiling and walls, slightly enhancing the corridor's polished look by lightly scouring their surfaces for replication material.
When they arrive at Casilkasheyith's location, they form a ring around the edge of the forcefield (without touching it), quickly trying to ascertain if it just covers the opening, or is a sphere that surrounds the entire chamber.
Jaiye follows closely behind when Fei heads into the hallway, dragging the demon behind her.
The nanites are able to tell him that the forcefield is a sphere around the entire chamber. It appears to be solely magical in nature.
Ace makes his way down the hallway unseen. The wooden walls have been polished to gleaming and the natural grain of the wood has been used to determine the direction in which it curves around. It would be tastefully artistic in other circumstances. Now it just makes for an obstacle. Not the only obstacle though. The hallway eventually opens up into a larger chamber. The chancellor is standing there in front of some sort of console made from wood and crystals. In front of him is a large machine of some sort. It was a large sphere made of interlocked rings of metal and wire. There were crystals set throughout the device as well. Ehos was already strapped into the sphere and a pair of guards were dragging along a seemingly unconscious Tyrrin towards the machine. Between Ace and the scene in front of him was a forcefield of some kind. It blocked access to the room before him, also blacking out all sound from the room.
"Well, I guess then we just need to go ask the head of security for admin access privileges and ask Adon about any stylistic and interface related preferences" he puts his hand on a wall to find out where to go to find the head of security
The arrows seem to be confused at first, pointing one way, then another, then spinning in circles before starting again, almost like the building was having a debate with itself. Eventually they settle on a direction and lead Arthur to the door of a teacher residence.
One of the guards pointed a shaking hand at a door across the courtyard, slightly to the left and smaller than the other doors.
The young monk nods and steps to one side, motioning with one hand to the center of the courtyard.
"Gather over there please."
Once they do, Fei's nanites then quickly work to restrain them (though much more comfortably than the drow, in quiet acknowledgement of their cooperation).
As the nanites do their work, Fei scans for the Chancellor's presence in the indicated direction to confirm the guard's information. He also reaches out one more time with his Champion abilities for Tyrrin and Ehos to verify their conditions before they enter.
Fei senses the chancellor's presence. Tyrrin and Ehos are near as well. Ehos's courage signature retains the sense of wrongness that it had before. Tyrrin is in a state of panic.
Between the frightful presence of the dragon circling overhead, and now this, the guards break. One of them actually starts crying. He gets a disgusted look from his fellows, but they still drop their weapons and put their hands in the air. Whatever these people are, it is well above their pay grade.
Fei nods at their conflict-free choice, inwardly relieved.
"Thank you. I need to know where the Chancellor is on this compound. Tell me, and you will not be harmed."
One of the guards pointed a shaking hand at a door across the courtyard, slightly to the left and smaller than the other doors.
Ace chuckles at his friend's question. "Of course I do!" He replies confidently, walking up to the wall, which suddenly opens up on it's own.
"Or Fei can do all the work, and steal my fun." He says with a fake pout.
He steps inside, staff at the ready, and peers around for any guards or other trouble. 1d20+32 Perception
The compound seems oddly deserted. Not so odd, perhaps. Almost everyone had been at the festival. Perhaps the chancellor sent his followers away to make them harder to track. Or they deserted when the dragon arrived. Hard to tell for sure. Across a large courtyard there is a central building carved directly into a large tree trunk. Fei is standing in the doorway.
The compound seems oddly deserted. The nanites find a few hiding elves, but there is almost no one here. At least outside the central building. There is a squad of soldiers stationed just inside that, but they are not making any move to defend against imminent aerial attack.
Fei sends half of his nanoswarm towards the western wall to consume material for replication and make an entrance for Jaiye and Casilkasheyith. The other half quietly precedes him to the doors of the central building in order to comporomise their hinges. As he walks toward the building, he sends a transmission to his two allies outside the walls.
"The western wall will be compromised momentarily - the compound is all but deserted, except for some soldiers I am about to engage inside a central building. Be ready for a trap."
Stopping at the doors, the young monk then quickly senses for the Chancellor and the Denulia siblings again to better lock in their locations based on his now-closer position. With that information in-hand, he knocks on the doors to the building.
Thanks to the nanites' work, the result should be that the doors fall off their (now consumed) hinges with a thud, hopefully to the surprise of the soldiers within.
As the lines of energy along his nanosuit begin to glow more brightly, he addresses the assembled troops in elvish, quickly and succinctly.
"Hello...Yield."
Intimidate Check: 1d20+25
Badass movie moments, FTW. Pretty sure one of the guards just wet himself. ^.^
Between the frightful presence of the dragon circling overhead, and now this, the guards break. One of them actually starts crying. He gets a disgusted look from his fellows, but they still drop their weapons and put their hands in the air. Whatever these people are, it is well above their pay grade.
With a silent prayer to the Morninglord, Fei calls the rest of the unused nanoswarm back to him, then invokes his Champion abilities and teleports to a position just inside the eastern perimeter of the compound.
Once there, he disperses the swarm again to feed information to him and potentially provide further distraction to the defenders (presuming that the tree Ghalen is currently terrorizing is the same one he is now under, of course). (^-^)
The compound seems oddly deserted. The nanites find a few hiding elves, but there is almost no one here. At least outside the central building. There is a squad of soldiers stationed just inside that, but they are not making any move to defend against imminent aerial attack.
From above it can be hard to tell that there is a city there at all because of all the trees, but there is one particularly large tree with others arranged around it in a circle that looks to be in the right area to potentially be the chancellor's compound.
Ghalen does a wingover, and flies toward that group of trees. He hovers in front of it when he gets there, and roars, then begins circling in a much tighter pattern, close to the tree, using his frightful presence to unnerve it's occupants, while he looks over the place with detect magic.
150 ft. radius, DC 28 vs Fear or be shaken, panicked if they have 12HD or less.
A couple of small figures can be seen fleeing from the outskirts of the compound. There is no other signs of movement that you can see from above.
Once all three have responded, Fei updates them with what he has discovered.
"The siblings are also on the north end of the city - nearby to the Chancellor, but not in immediate proximity. I do not think they are in good condition, but I cannot quantify that until we get to them."
"We will close on the location momentarily, but let me update the High Seer first and confirm Casilkasheyith's suspicions about any significance to the location. Standby."
Ghalen looks to the north, and decides to take flight. As he takes his dragon form, his rage becomes manifest as the air shimmers around him from the heat his form now radiates. With a powerful downbeat of his wings, he leaps into the sky, gaining a better vantage point from the air. Again looking north, he looks for any large buildings someone of the Councilor's status would occupy, then begins a slow, wide circling of the city.
From above it can be hard to tell that there is a city there at all because of all the trees, but there is one particularly large tree with others arranged around it in a circle that looks to be in the right area to potentially be the chancellor's compound.
"I'm nearing that area already, just point me in the right direction!"
"I am working on that now. What we are approaching is the Chancellor's residence, and he has fortified both it and the surrounding neighborhood into a compound that may be difficult to enter. Standby."
narrator wrote:
"It is where his residence is located," she said, concerned. "I believe that he has formed a sort of compound there by having the surrounding dwellings occupied by his followers and allies."
Fei brings the High Seer over to the channel with the others so they can all communicate at the same time.
"High Seer - I have the others on this channel with us. Do you have any ability to 'See' a discreet way into the Chancellor's residence to avoid the bulk of his forces?"
"If not, I can arrange for a....distraction to allow the others to enter without notice. There may be....structural damage as a result, however, so I would ask for your consent before doing so."
"It doesn't take magical powers to see that you have your distraction already," she said dryly, spotting the red dragon flying above the trees. "And don't worry about structural damage. Houses can be repaired. Children are not so easily replaced," she said, firmly. "Just rescue them."
Once all three have responded, Fei updates them with what he has discovered.
"The siblings are also on the north end of the city - nearby to the Chancellor, but not in immediate proximity. I do not think they are in good condition, but I cannot quantify that until we get to them."
"We will close on the location momentarily, but let me update the High Seer first and confirm Casilkasheyith's suspicions about any significance to the location. Standby."
The young monk then opens a separate channel to the High Seer, not yet certain if an 'open dialogue' on this subject would be appropriate.
"High Seer - I have located Tyrrin and Ehos. They are located on the north side of the city, in the general vicinity of the Chancellor. I...think they are injured in some fashion, but I do not yet know how," he says to her, his voice remaining measured and calm to keep the flow of information as swift as possible.
"Is there any reason why the Chancellor would choose this area of the city to relocate to? Does he have a residence there, or is there something else in the area that could be of use to him if he were staging a coup against you?"
"It is where his residence is located," she said, concerned. "I believe that he has formed a sort of compound there by having the surrounding dwellings occupied by his followers and allies."
She nods. "A communicator is good. Presuming we can get the jamming field down quickly enough. Don't worry, I will deal with the prisoners. I thank you again for your help, and ask for continued assistance. Please find my children. Before those who have taken them do anything...drastic," she said tightly, keeping control by a supreme force of will. It's obvious where Tyrrin learned the skill of keeping her emotions in check.
Forgetting himself for only a few seconds, Fei's features soften in empathy at Faelwen's amazing stoicism in the midst of all of these crises. Even if he could somehow ignore the fact that these were his friends that had been taken, he knew he could not fail in returning this mother's children to her.
Failing to hide this from her with a nod to her approval, the young monk calls down some of his nanites and has them form another brooch-type communicator. Shaped as a simple sunburst, he politely offers the device to the High Seer.
"If you need to reach me, just press the center disk - I will do my best to end whatever is causing the interference. And we will do everything we can to find them."
With one last bow he steps back, and nods to Casilkasheyith as he prepares to join Jaiye.
"Good luck - may we have good news very soon."
Fei then recalls some of the nanoswarm back to him, then uses his Champion abilities to teleport to an open, high point in the center of the city. From there, he tries to sense the siblings Courage signatures again, and also verify whether or not the jamming field was just along the perimeter of the city.
The jamming field does indeed seem to be around the city, not in it. The nanites are pointing him to a location on the north side of the city. That is definitely where the chancellor is. Finding the courage signatures is a little more complicated. Tyrrin's is faint, and there is something terribly wrong with Ehos's. They are near the chancellor, but there is some distance between them.
Fei bows respectfully, and tries to answer the High Seer's concerns as best he can:
"Jaiye still has the demon with her, yes."
"The...restraints I created are now 'set'. They will not change their shape again unless I instruct them to do so. That being said, arranging secondary confines for them would be a sound precaution. I am sure assistance with that could be arranged from Avalon, if needed."
"With your permission, I can leave you with a small communicator that will be able to reach us directly when you have...
She nods. "A communicator is good. Presuming we can get the jamming field down quickly enough. Don't worry, I will deal with the prisoners. I thank you again for your help, and ask for continued assistance. Please find my children. Before those who have taken them do anything...drastic," she said tightly, keeping control by a supreme force of will. It's obvious where Tyrrin learned the skill of keeping her emotions in check.
"I did not authorize the installations of any kind of jamming devices," Faelwen says, frowning. "This is very concerning. It suggests that this attempted coup has been going on for quite a long time and involves more people than I would have thought possible. I shudder to think of the casualties we might have faced today if not for your timely help. You have my gratitude," she says, nodding to them both. "That said, my first priority is finding my children," she says grimly. "Does Jaiye still have the demon she captured? The demon might be able to locate Ehos, although getting it to cooperate will not be easy. The wretched creature has caused enough trouble already, that it ought to at least be a little bit useful to make up for the trouble," she said, making a frustrated face."Will the prisoners remain restrained if you leave to go after Ehos and Tyrrin?" she asks Fei, concerned that the fight with the drow might resume if she sends him away. "If so, then you should both hurry and do what you can to find them before it's too late. I will see what I can See and send word to you once I have anything useful." She sighed, just for a moment looking very, very tired before snapping back to command mode. "I suppose I will have to try and ransom them back to their commanders," she muttered, looking at the drow prisoners, hands on hips as she considered the logistics of what to do with them. "I can't possibly keep them."
Hey Lyn, I want Ace to keep track of roughly how long he has until the teleport trail for Ehos goes cold, if that's possible. I can make an Int or knowledge check if necessary.
As the conversation with the High Seer continues Ace will actually focus his minor telepathy(for once!) and scans her guards surface thoughts, to make sure they aren't traitors. He leaves her out, of course.
It's only been five to ten minutes at the outside, so he still has quite a while before the trail goes cold if he can track up to an hour after. Ehos and Tyrrin were taken at the same time in roughly the same way.
The guards appear to be clean. These are all legit personal guards of the High Seer, loyal to their leader. Presumably the traitors took off during the fighting.
Ace will drag, bodily if he must, magically if possible, the dark elf commander that he captured and interrogated, along with them.
Upon the High Seer's arrival and subsequent request for information, Ace will shove the commander towards her, "I captured him attempting to flee. It didn't go so well. Apparently, someone fond of 'ostentatious dress' helped them with this attack. Fei seems to have an idea who that is."
"Hmm," she said, not giving any outside clues to her personal feelings on the matter. "Any information you can provide would be of use."
Fei is in the process of using his healing energies on the wounded they came to assist, the silver-white light casting a somewhat clinical illumination over the area. At the sound of the High Seer's voice, he bows as respectfully as possible without interrupting the work on his patients.
Before he speaks, he scans the guards' uniforms to see if any bear the leaf pin of the traitorous faction.
Not as single one of the High Seer's guards wears the leaf pin. Presumably the ones who did tried to put themselves out of harms way, or stayed near those who had their allegiance. Or they've wised up enough to take the pins off. Without the pins there's no real proof that they had backed the traitorous attack.
Shaking his head at his own forgetfulness, Fei quickly sends an encoded transmission from his neural lace back to Doctor Zeppler at the Avalon Infirmary summarizing the situation (as well as what guardsman to trust), and requesting a medical team to come here as soon as possible.
"I am trying to get to the High Seer to apprise her of the situation, Jaiye."
"Casilkasheyith - you and I will treat those six injured people now. I just contacted Avalon, and we should have assistance here in a few minutes."
Diverting course only briefly to inform the guardsmen they aided earlier about the incoming aid from Avalon, the young monk then races to the pavilions to begin healing the critically injured there. As he does so, he uses the nanites he sent to monitor the High Seer's condition to send her a brief message:
** spoiler omitted **
I will assume that betweeen the two of them, these six people can at least be stabilized, if not outright healed of their injuries.
That is a safe assumption, yes.
The High Seer responded by meeting them in the medical pavilions over the objections of her personal guards, who looked clearly annoyed. Faelwen did not care two pins what they thought. "Tell me what you've found out," she ordered.
They had to adjourn the meeting for a while. James took Fieri back to the school. Sorchan was left to try and restore order as best he could with the help of the Elders. Much as it pained him to have any contact with them knowing what they had done, he did go and give his condolences to Lord and Lady Soleil. However depraved they were, they had just lost a child, and it was the decent thing to do. They weren't taking it well. That was an understatement. Lord Soleil just sat and stared into the distance muttering about how their house was dead now. Lady Soleil wept and screamed in turn and would not be comforted. A healer gave her a sedative to prevent her from hurting herself.
It took the better part of an hour before order could be restored. The mood was even more solemn than it had been before. It was Eleadora who got everyone to come to order, at least enough to elect a temporary council to make decisions about resettlement and also to sit in judgment over the trial. It was spelled out clearly that the council would only stay in power until the resettlement was complete or six months from now, whichever came first, when they would all have a chance to vote on a more permanent arrangement. This being agreeable enough to pass, things quickly moved on to debating who would serve on the council. It was decided that there would be six Elders and six younger firebirds, and each would have an equal say. The Elders were decided by rank among themselves, which meant that Eleadora and Aidan were joined by four others and the younger firebirds debated for some time about who to elect to the council for their side. Sorchan was nominated, but declined as he reminded them that he was a teacher now which didn't leave him time to also be a politician. Magmus, Lord Phoebus, Lord Niyambi (really it was Lady Niyambi who was chosen, but given that she was unwell, they decided that her husband could serve in her place), Jehanna (who had been in charge of the schooling of children who were not part of a noble house before the destruction of the sun), Lord Svarog, and Sezanne, who had been the leader of the council's guard before the troubles. This provided an equal number of nobles and non-nobles which was considered to be a good compromise. Especially since so many noble houses had basically collapsed. Helios was gone. Soleil was gutted. Surya had gutted itself so badly that it had no influence left. And del Sol was basically over as the heirs seemed to be bound and determined to renounce their status. That was more than half of the old council gone as it was. With the new temporary council elected, there were two orders of business that had to be attended to. Choosing a settlement site and trying Aithne and Aine del Sol for their crimes. The trial was set for the next day and the new council left to begin debating over where to live. Weary and heartsick, and looking forward to the next day even less, Sorchan headed home as the sun was setting.
She hadn't got very far before she found something concerning. About halfway between the pavilion and the city she found a guard with a knife in his back and Ehos's data pad on the ground beside him, screen cracked.
She swore, and whipped around so fast that the weight of the demon she was dragging around nearly pulled her over. She stumbled and then picked up the semi-broken data pad.
"Guys? I've got a problem here," she says, using the communication app and hoping the others pick it up. "A dead guard and Ehos's data pad in less than pristine condition. He wouldn't have left this behind if he had a choice. I can try tracking him by scent, but I'm dragging around a little extra weight right now. I can't shift, so that's going to hamper my efforts. I'll let you know what I find."
As Fei replies to Jaiye, he opens the encrypted comm channel so Ghalen can also speak with them.
"Ghalen and Tyrrin were just ambushed as well. Tyrrin was taken with teleportation magic by the turncoat guardsmen. And the Laerenites may have adopted some form of jamming technology - there is something at the city's border that is blocking my nanites from communicating with me while I was trying to track the Chancellor's location. I suspect his hand in this matter now."
"I am trying to find Tyrrin in a....different manner now. Hold your position for a moment and I will try to locate Ehos as well."
The Champion of Courage broadens his 'search' to now include Ehos' unique courage signature, as well as those of the Chancellor and the High Seer. While Tyrrin will still be the easiest for him to locate, he realizes now that he needs to cast a wider net to find his friends before something worse happens...
It is difficult to narrow in on their signatures. They seem to be coming from everywhere at once.
Spoiler:
[ooc]Reminder than Ehos and Tyrrin are both magically tied into the wards surrounding the planet thanks to an 'accident' (*cough*time travel kinda accident *cough*) which both gives them more power than they should have/can handle and as you just found out makes them hard to pinpoint
The general concentration of their unique signatures seems higher inside the city, but it's difficult to get any more specific directions than that. It might be easier to track them closer in, but you can't be sure.
Edit: The High Seer however is easy to locate. She is still nearby, in the pavilion where they had waited earlier, so as to be out of sight enough to not be an easy target, but still able to give orders to her troops.
The Chancellor is harder to locate as courage is something he has very little of. He is almost a blank spot in your senses, but you can find him near the northern border of the city.
I will explain...no, that would take too long....I will sum up.
I shall assume this is our 3 rounds' worth of answers from the spell then (^-^)
narrator wrote:
The drow blame the surface elves for ...well, pretty much every bad thing ever. They make very convenient scapegoats. Everybody wants somebody to blame. Hey, look! Let's blame those guys! They're different than us! So this was in their minds a revenge mission. Also an inside job. Somebody on the surface elf side made a pact with them. They weren't planning on honoring their side.
Their contact gave an obvious false name, and they don’t know what he looked like. All those guys look the same to them. But they know he had a penchant for ostentatious dress.
"I may have an idea about who that is."
While not the most qualified judge of elven fashion on Agartha, Fei makes an educated guess about whom the commander might be referring to. He quickly tracks the location of the nanites still on the Chancellor to ascertain the haughty elf's location...
There is a sort of blank spot in Fei's senses that begins at the edge of the city proper. No sign of any damage to the nanites themselves. Like some kind of signal jammer around the city. At this distance it is hard to tell if the jammer is functioning along the perimeter or blanketing the entire city.
Ace nods. "Right then. This isn't going to be fun, for you at least. But I will have my answers, one way or another." With that, he casts a spell that lays bear the commander's mind, as Ace seeks the knowledge of what happened and why.
First, spending 2 Moments of Inspiration to use Cunning Breach, ignoring any spell resistance, then casting Mind Probe with a DC of 31.
I will explain...no, that would take too long....I will sum up.
The drow blame the surface elves for ...well, pretty much every bad thing ever. They make very convenient scapegoats. Everybody wants somebody to blame. Hey, look! Let's blame those guys! They're different than us! So this was in their minds a revenge mission. Also an inside job. Somebody on the surface elf side made a pact with them. They weren't planning on honoring their side.
Their contact gave an obvious false name, and they don’t know what he looked like. All those guys look the same to them. But they know he had a penchant for ostentatious dress.
When they were near the city, but not quite inside its protection, Tyrrin and Ghalen were attacked by a group of guards wearing leaf pins and wearing masks, which made sense as soon as they threw down a smoke bomb.
Make a DC 25 Fort save vs poison. If you make the save then these guys have no chance. They are in way over their heads. Feel free to narrate how you wipe the floor with them.
Tyrrin is doubled over coughing and cannot seem to get a proper breath.
1d20+25
/facepalm
Ghalen turns to face the mob with a grin, which becomes a grimace as he begins to cough as well.
Ghalen is nauseated as the poison works its way into his system.
Unless dispelled the effect will last three rounds
Seeing that her bodyguard is incapacitated, the guards surround Tyrrin. One of them grabs her arm and teleports away with her. The remaining guards retreat now that they have what they came for.
