In this land where gods seemed to more directly interact than in his previous life, Serill decides it wise to undo the desecration, though he leaves the room to throw up at least once.
"They deserve a proper burial. Can your soldiers find some shrouds?" He asks Joe and helps with moving the bodies and using prestidigitation to clean away the filth. Perhaps this place would one day be used for its proper purpose.
"That's a LOT of graves for the enemies of Avalon, Serill. These orcs were part of The Red Horde, who decimated Avalon about three years ago, nearly wiping out an entire generation of Avalon's biggest and brightest. We are disposing the bodies for healthy reasons. If you wish to discuss burials, I suggest you speak with Jellena" Joe discussed with the new wizard, rubbing his tired eyes.
The orcs from around the side have all been manacled and will be taken to 'prison'. The soldiers have them in captivity.
The mutilated bodies that are in the alter room look to be mostly human males. From what you can see you would guess these were soldiers that were stationed here. They could have been the Red Horde's prisoners.
with the army assisting, to destroy all the dead bodies.
This would likely take at least a few days. With the emphasis on the army doing most of the heavy work.
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Through out the day if you stay up, you can hear distant forays as the soldiers come upon more clumps of goblins, orcs, gnolls, or what not.
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As most of the group leaves the desecrated alter to leave the grisly deed of pulling the bodies down and cleaning the room. Delman, Jellena, and Serill pull down the bodies first. Once that is done Jellena pulls out what looks like a veil and once it is over the body, the body vanishes. She would continue to do this as she has done so many times this night already. Delman and Serill use prestidigitation to continue to clean the temple.
Delman would lay his hands upon Serill to restore his fatigue and his own. As Jellena pulls out her book to do pray to the Mistress. Unfortunately for her it is past midnight and she would have to wait another day before she would regain her spells. As would all of those that serve the Mistress.
The process of cleaning the temple would take easily until noon.
Renewed by Delman's mercy, Joe helps Delman, Serill, and Jellena clear the bodies in hope the altar can be reconsecrate. To have the God of Hunting's blessing on Avalon will go further to safeguard it's food supplies and prosperity. While he works, the paladin king thinks about ways to show his appreciation to the soldiers who fought along side him and are now assisting in clearing/cleansing the keep.
King Joseph calls for Sir Lancelot and orders his soldiers into sleeping shifts, while a few take the magical portal back to Camelot to report their findings and request water and rations for the troops.
Joe notices Merlynn still around, walking the keep. He'd love to ask her lots of questions, but must focus on the task at hand.
Brandon turns into his black pug form and plays with Ed once and a while.
John helps with the labor. It was good to test his new limits, he still wasn't entirely sure exactly what his body could do yet. It gave him time to process the memories that he had wished for as well. There were quite a lot of them after all.
Serill thanks Delman as they continue the tiresome work with Jellena. "Do your Mistress and Erastil get along?" He asks Jellena, wanting to learn more about the gods in this world and to distract a little from the fatigue.
Niversal finds men to help with cleaning the temple that worship Erastil.
Serill should have no fatigue, Delman fixed that at least for you.
Those cleaning the temple: Serill, Niversal, Joe, Delman, Jellena.
You all gain a +1 to Dex, permanent bonus.
She went out into the wilderness by herself and enjoyed the freedom that she had enjoyed before the others had adopted her. She brought back a fresh deer kill over her shoulders. She nodded to the soldiers as she passed them enjoying the longing looks.
By now the whole hall had been cleared of bodies and mostly all the gore.
Walking into the temple she asks, "What do you think, should we bleed it out upon the alter?" Some blood had already bled from its throat down on her shoulder and down her side and you could see a few droplets hit the freshly cleaned floor.
"That's a heck of an idea!" Joe exclaimed, and looked to the oracle. "What do you think, Jellena?"
"A fresh hunt. Perhaps Erastil will be pleased that his altar is being used properly again." He will offer to assist Ryada. What's a bit of deer blood compared to the gore he had already dealt with today.
King Joseph tries his best to clean and prepare the altar in an Erastilian fashion.
The relics of the Erastilian faith were very basic. Upon the alter lay a dagger, a silver bowl, and a bow. With those tools cleaned the rite could begin. The soldiers of the faith would help setting up a frame to let the deer's blood drain into the bowl. Some of them went to get logs to make a fire in one of the braziers.
The rites were simplistic in dressing the deer, cooking the meat, skinning the deer, and then passing out the parts to later be made into tools.
Finally the meat was cooked. By then a table and chairs had been brought in with mess kits, wine, ale, cheese, and bread.
"Great Erastil. Please accept our offering upon your cleansed altar. And bless those here that fight the evil ones who did this. And the wise king who leads them." Serill gives a makeshift prayer as everything is prepared.
Brandon, arises from Joe's shoulder, to take his true helmeted cassissian angel form, and flies above the altar.
"Greater Hunter of Heaven, please accept the offering given by these mortals to re-dedicate your temple, and bless those who partake in your feast." The celestial said in Truespeak.
If you have a bow upon your person three arrows appear before you.
The character gains three greater slaying arrows. The designated creatures for each of these three arrows is gnoll, giant, and dragon. The magic of these greater slaying arrows vanishes if they are sold, but they can be given to others in trade for goods or as a gift. If a worshiper of Erastil fires one of these greater slaying arrows and misses, the arrow vanishes and a slaying arrow of the same type appears in the gifted character’s quiver. If this regular slaying arrow is then fired, only to miss its target, it has a 50% chance to be lost, as normal.
Everyone also gains 1d10+10 temporarily hp. They will stay on you until you are hurt.
Also a swirling wind of leaves descends upon Niversal. The happening seems to empower you with new understanding.
Many of the soldiers who had bows and the arrows appear before them they give praise to Erastil and move the arrows to their quivers.
King Joseph bows deeply to the altar.
Joe asks for Sir Lancelot to give him a progress report of keep clearance. "Lancelot, you've had a good idea of the keep's grounds and location. Do you think it we should temporarily leave a contingent to guard the keep. Or would this fall under the preview of the local nobility, whom ever they may be?"
Sir Lancelot offers humbly to Joe, "My mission was to reinforce the guards here. My mission holds that my men will hold this fort. It may take another day but we hold two sections of the wall and the fort proper. If your elite force would clear out the pass, that would be helpful. My scouts think they saw fire trolls."
"Then that is what The Night Hawks will do, Sir Lancelot", Joe said, straightening his posture. Turning to his party members, old and new, King Joseph pronounces, "Night Hawks, and friends, I hereby order that we all get some sleep. Some of us may not be tired yet, but if we are to finish our work here, we must make sure we are not exhausted if are to meet further resistance. Find as quiet a place as you can to sleep. If you can, donate your bedroll to someone who doesn't have one."
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Niversal will nod and organize the soldiers again and do a search of the castle for bedrolls and mattresses as well as usable hay from the stables that is no good for feed bit can be used to pad sleeping areas. Niversal will also look for all rooms with fireplaces and suggest to the command that they bring all the soldiers into the castle who have not left and work in shifts to prepare it and see up the barracks and sleeping areas. In the meantime Niversal will inspect the kitchens, water supply, and food storage and then bring back an inventory before sleeping.
The leadership of the soldiers thanks Niversal as they see him helping with one task or another.
Easily each of you track down a bedroll. With Niversal's added help extra hay is moved for beds. Also fireplaces lit for sleeping. One room is set aside for your group the captain's bed chamber. It has a large bed, several lounge chairs, area rugs, and a couch.
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The next day what do you do? Sir Lancelot says, "the trolls are on the far end of the pass and all have been ordered to retreat if they advance. Take the day off or whatever you do. If not then we could use a hand with some stubborn orcs that are holed into one of the towers."
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With that information she gives suggestions at breakfast, "I am going to go back to New Faces and collect some incense for my 'level up ritual'. If anyone else needs to do the ritual you should come back with me. Also most of our Anti-Troll stock was never purchased, so we need to make sure to get acid items that will be helpful."
King Joseph sighed. It's not what he wanted to do, but these level-up rituals ate up a lot of his already-dwindling spare time.
"Sir Lancelot", The paladin king stated to the King's Knight. "I will be making an unexpected journey to New Faces, perhaps start some diplomatic work there. I shall endeavor to return as quickly as possible. You have command until I return. Please send a note to Camelot, letting them know of my whereabouts."
"Merlynn, will you please stay to assist Sir Lancelot, should he need it?" The King of Avalon asked The Magician.
"Yes that was the plan. I was not going to leave here until those fire trolls are dealt with and I will should they go over the pass." She states in agreement with Joe.
King Joseph bows silently in a courtly fashion to Merlynn as a sign of respect.
Before he turns in he requests an audience with Merlynn if she isn't too busy and asks her what she knows about the lore of the dragons in this land.
If Joe is awake when Serill goes to bed he asks, "So that's Excalibur? Did you have to pull it out of a stone?"
He is very tired but sleeps fitfully in a strange bed in a strange land.
He wakes early, mostly refreshed and studies his spell tablet, learning as much as he can and preparing his magic.
"I suppose I should go with you Jellena. What is New Faces though?"
If Joe is awake when Serill goes to bed he asks, "So that's Excalibur? Did you have to pull it out of a stone?"
Joe grins. "Those are two very loaded questions." The paladin invites the new wizard a piece of wall to sit against, as Joe unsheaths his magical sword and sets it between the two men.
"His name is actually Escalavar. I found out this sword is a sister-sword to the famed Excalibur. You see, before our brush with Morgana le fey, Escalavar was a much more talkative intelligent weapon. For the majority of our partnership, Escalavar lead me on thinking it was the more legendary sword, even though it talked and had a ravenous obsession with the destruction of undead. It wasn't until we set foot in Avalon, that Escalavar dropped the ruse."At this point, Brandon hops off Joe's shoulder and transforms into his black pug form, sitting in Joe's lap as the paladin absentmindedly pets and scratches the former crow.
"Now in this instance, I was rewarded Escalavar before I pulled him from the stone. I knew I wanted to be a paladin when I came to Arcanium. Loved playing paladins in role-playing games and MMOs. Became a Knight Templar through The Masons. Knew all about Camelot, Arthur, Lancelot, Merlynn. So if I was going to be a paladin, I'd ask for the best sword for paladins, a holy avenger. And I got more than I wished for with Escalavar!"
"Now, when I came to The Lady of the Lake's.. lake, the stone was waiting for me. The spirits of Avalon told me to plunge Escalavar into THE Stone, where his sister famously rested. At first, both me and Escalavar were reluctant; what if I couldn't draw Escalavar back out. I overcame that reluctance and plunged Escalavar into The Stone. I was then directed to draw Escalavar out again. By doing that, in the eyes of Avalon and it's subjects, my claim to be King of Avalon was legitimate."
"I became King of one of, if not the largest countries on Arcanium, instantly becoming a world leader and power! A magically-rich land that radiates the power of legend out into the universe, supplying imagination and wonder to countless other worlds. And though my reign has been short so far, I've been working hard to make myself worthy of that responsibility." Joe chuckles. "But. You know. Not pressure or anything."
"The Lore in these lands about Dragons! You are kidding me right?! The Lore about dragons here is everything from all of your cultures from Earth and more. There is every different kind of dragon. Tiamut, Bahamut, Io and that is just one pantheon of dragon gods that comes to mind. Pleaese ask more direct questions... I feel that you haven't even learned the title of apprentice yet, then again like I said I don't have the time." She says a bit heatedly and then calms herself down. After sighing she points out, "Its not your fault you don't know. Afterall you are just a babe."
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"Let me tell you all about New Beginnings. It is the town and temple you are suppose to start in. Though for one reason or another you were placed in our hands. You pick up simple quests and slowly build up your abiliites. Perhaps the Mistress thought it better that we have more allies... as it looks like Frank our main damage dealer is off galavanting and Artemis seems to have flown the coop too with that strange looking man. C... c... Corry... no that is not his name... but they are both gone. I know where Artemis is with my ring and he is likely off troll hunting. He has a sniper rifle and likely is the best one to start widdling them down. Anyways back to New Faces. It is a town with harder quests. It also has better rewards. It is also the place all us humans would normally go to change your race to something else. I became a half nymph, Artemis a half devil I think, Joe a Seelie, Frank a half dragon and such. Ryada is actually from here and naturally an elf though that has brought plenty of problems between her and Joe. They were an item for the past few months. Anyways, what other questions did you have... oh wait you asked about religions before correct? Let me tell you about them..." For a half hour she points out that almost all religions are here and that each has its own physical representation too.
He responds to Merlynn with a nod, "I am 1 day old here. I apologise for wasting your time." He leaves with much to think about. There must be somewhere I can easily research more.
When with Joe, "Wow. That's quite a story. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this. I guess you've been through that too. So Excalibur is just somewhere out there then."
"Change your race? That explains a lot. Is it difficult to do?"
"There's a bloody ritual for leveling up? Sheesh. I guess against my better judgement I'll take another level in rogue, according to this app on my phone, and my RPG experience, it may be sub-par, but damn does it speak to me. Also, I seem to have a new app on this thing, never was one for using my phone much..." John seems somewhat oblivious to the fact that no one else seems to have internet, especially with Serill's tablet.. "Lotta good information in this here app too, lots of stuff about the world physics. Little bit dry, but hey, that's system crunch, right?" He scrolls through the app. "Ooo! Butterfly Sting! Maybe I'll pick that up, what do you think Joe?"
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She politely explains, "Yes Serill, in New Faces the first change is free, of course only the base races, then you have to find a vendor. It costs 2,000 gp for anything with 2 hit die, 9,000 gp for three hit die, and so forth. There are events which can grant you racial change too at no gold cost but threat to life. If you want to research your options you can use my phone anytime you need it."
John's words peak her interest and she walks over, "You mind sharing? What do you have on your phone? What is that app called... no luck in the store. You mind sharing the app to my phone?"
"Wow. That's quite a story. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this. I guess you've been through that too. So Excalibur is just somewhere out there then."
"I honestly don't know," Joe admitted, as he sheathed Escalavar over his shoulder. "The legends says Excalibur was returned to The Lady of The Lake after Arthur's death. It might still be there. Or maybe it was buried with Arthur, like so many treasures that get buried alongside the dead."
The paladin's face grew grim. "I don't know what would happen if someone came to Camelot, actually wielding Excalibur, and sought to become king.""There's a bloody ritual for leveling up? Sheesh. I guess against my better judgement I'll take another level in rogue, according to this app on my phone, and my RPG experience, it may be sub-par, but damn does it speak to me. Also, I seem to have a new app on this thing, never was one for using my phone much..." John seems somewhat oblivious to the fact that no one else seems to have internet, especially with Serill's tablet.. "Lotta good information in this here app too, lots of stuff about the world physics. Little bit dry, but hey, that's system crunch, right?" He scrolls through the app. "Ooo! Butterfly Sting! Maybe I'll pick that up, what do you think Joe?"
The paladin king looks over John shoulder and reads, then rereads the feat's description. "Wow. That might be the most generous, teamwork-building feat I've every seen! That might be a nice feat to get, but I'd question when to use it. If you don't have flank on an opponent, but a teammate goes and your attack is a crit, your teammate who's flanking your opponent would be able to use that feat to the party's benefit."
"But as a rogue, your class is build around your getting flank on opponents and sneak attacking for large damage. If you get flank on an enemy and crit on it as well, I'd rather you doing all the extra damage." Joe rereads the feat description again. "It's your choice if you wish to take that feat, as an generous option to your fellow party members. But there might be a better feat that fits your talents better."John's words peak her interest and she walks over, "You mind sharing? What do you have on your phone? What is that app called... no luck in the store. You mind sharing the app to my phone?"
"Yeah, John. Jellena once used a wish allowing our electronic devices to work perfectly on Arcanium, and they never need to recharge." Joe showcases his fact, but pulling his ipad from his backpack and showing the rogue the online icon on the screen. "I haven't use it in such a way, but you could read news articles online to see how Earth is doing. But Jellena says there is a distinct difference in time between Earth and Arcanium, so who knows."
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Through all the talk Niversal leans against the wall and says soldiering is soldiering and I know how to soldier. Funny though, last night I dreamed "perhaps Apollo let Icarus fall and kissed his wings with his sunsoaked lips that he might be burnt into legend so that we and He might hold him forever." I woke with a start remembering being young in Greece with my hand in the wine dark sea and looking from the sea up the hill to Athens and talking to the fisherman I was with who said Apollo God of oracles and prophets, of music and poetry, archery and healing protected the young and wore a branch of laurel on his head with the bow and lyre on his back. The orb that Ed returned to me was gone.
"Nah, says here that sneak attacking is precision damage, and not multiplied on a crit. Unlike smiting evil, which is multiplied! Crit's are kinda not super useful for me. Maybe I'll learn how to use a kukri!"
Joe quizzically at John. "So what type of rogue were you think about pursuing?"