"I've no real idea, Jareen. I've never seen or heard of anything like it."
Honesty seems the best policy here.
She greets Safier serenely, and hopes the newcomer can help more with the identification of the mystery object.
'Kal watches the others ponder over the magical items. Understanding that is not his role in the clutch, he trusts that the smarter members will figure it out. Instead, Th'Kal does his best to stand guard for the group without being obvious about it.
Genetically, Th'Kal finds it tough to sit and relax with his fellows; his clearly uncomfortable stance gives away his anxiety...
Jareen peruses the scrolls:
Irivis scrapes around for any clues for anything she might have heard about this or similar orbs.
Between them, the group work out what the items they have collected do.
This gossamer veil conceals your features and augments your glamour.
Power (Illusion) Encounter (Minor Action) You assume the appearance of a member of any humanoid race of the same size category as you. Your clothing and equipment alter appearance as you desire. The illusion doesn't alter sound or texture, so a creature listening to you or touching you might detect the illusion.
Power Daily (Free Action) Trigger: You make an attack roll using an encounter or daily attack power that has the charm or illusion keyword and miss. Effect: Reroll the attack roll and use either result.
Carved from a dragon's tooth, this dagger can strip away a creature's elemental defenses.
Enhancement Bonus: attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 damage per plus
Property On a critical hit the target loses its resistances (save ends).
Power Daily (Free Action) Until the end of the encounter, sorcerer attack powers you use through this dagger ignore the resistances of any enemy within 10 squares of you.
When you draw on life energy to power your magic, fiery veins just beneath the surface of this black translucent sphere glow and pulse.
Enhancement Bonus: attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 damage per plus, +1d8 damage per plus when you use a power with arcane defiling
Property Whenever at least one ally takes necrotic damage from your use of arcane defiling, you gain temporary hit points equal to twice the orb’s enhancement bonus.
Power (Necrotic) Encounter (Free Action) Trigger: You use arcane defiling. Effect: One enemy within 20 squares of you takes necrotic damage equal to half your healing surge value.
"So, that orb's pretty nasty. Wonder what our bosses want with it."
"To destroy it, they say. I'd agree with that, but I want to see the destruction myself. If they're sincere, then taking it to them in pieces should be just fine. If not, well, at least we're not handing them an instrument of defilement."
Irivis's voice is slightly muffled as she chomps on a dried locust snack.
"The question is, do we trust them to destroy it, or do we think we may have to fight to make that happen?"
Arakan scoffs, "I didn't trust them in the first place. I really don't with something like this in their hands. We need to know what they intend to do with it, and if they say they're gonna destroy it, we need to be able to ensure that they do."
"Let's just break it for them."
"I'm good at breaking stuff. Arakan, you gotta make up a story though; you're more the gift of gab type.
I don't know why, but everybody always thinks I'm fulla crap."
"I don't really know them that well, but that thing seems dangerous in any hands. I don't think any good could ever come from it."
"Jareen?"
Irivis takes a leaf from Arakan's book and quirks an eyebrow at the only person likely to know more about their patron's motives.
"Do we have the resources to destroy it?"
"I was just planning to drop rocks on it from a distance."
Irivis takes the scroll from Jareen (rather rudely) and scans it for information.
"Probably best to have some idea what we're doing. It would make a change at least."
"I agree. I would also like to know if this Hedriann is one of those who asked us to steal it, or some other faction before we do anything."
"Who's Hedriann?" Furio grabs a fistful of locusts and stuffs them in his mouth.
"And,......well, I'm prone to giving them the thing, because they were going to give us money, right? I like money."
"Do we have the resources to destroy it?"
"You got me. It looks kinda breaky."
"Who's Hedriann?" Furio grabs a fistful of locusts and stuffs them in his mouth.
"And,......well, I'm prone to giving them the thing, because they were going to give us money, right? I like money."
"He does make a very valid point. And if they do do something bad with it, someone would probably pay us to kill them."
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"Perhaps, but I seem to remember them saying they wanted it to destroy it. I just thought we'd save them the effort and still get paid. Also, who is Hedriann and should we know him?"
"Did I not say? Most of these scrolls are not spells, they are letters. It would seem our bandit friend was literate. Most of them are from a person named Hedriann who alludes to being in Tyr. They discuss their plans a little but nothing that get's us anywhere except some reference to "friends from within the wind". It occurs to me that Hedriann may have been double crossing the bandit and we are the pawns in the way. If this orb is the elemental thing they were searching for beneath the spire, which I hope it was, then there may be some connection to air elementals as this has a connection to cold elementals it would seem. This is just my conjecture."
Looking at Gart, Jareen says "It may look like a piece of glass, but I doubt this would break if you dropped it from a high tower. Of course, if you want to give it a try?"
"Do you know what might happen if we just smashed it? I'd like to know if they'll still pay us. "
Component Cost: 25 gp
Market Price: 250 gp
Key Skill: Arcana
Level: 5
Category: Divination
Time: 1 hour
Duration: 5 minutes
You see images you wish to see related to an object you hold at the completion of the ritual. Your Arcana check result determines the number of images you see that are associated with the object’s past. You might choose to see a sword’s last owner, the creature that forged it, and the last creature it killed.
Arcana Check Result Images Displayed
9 or lower ......... 1 image
10–19 .............. 2 images
20–29 .............. 3 images
30 or higher ....... 5 images
"Did I not say? Most of these scrolls are not spells, they are letters. It would seem our bandit friend was literate. Most of them are from a person named Hedriann who alludes to being in Tyr. They discuss their plans a little but nothing that get's us anywhere except some reference to "friends from within the wind". It occurs to me that Hedriann may have been double crossing the bandit and we are the pawns in the way. If this orb is the elemental thing they were searching for beneath the spire, which I hope it was, then there may be some connection to air elementals as this has a connection to cold elementals it would seem. This is just my conjecture."
Looking at Gart, Jareen says "It may look like a piece of glass, but I doubt this would break if you dropped it from a high tower. Of course, if you want to give it a try?"
"Maybe it counteracts Arakan....y'know, all that hot air...."
"Perhaps, but I seem to remember them saying they wanted it to destroy it. I just thought we'd save them the effort and still get paid. Also, who is Hedriann and should we know him?"
"If they pay us to destroy it, we're golden!"
"Well, if it's as powerful and as much as a threat as they think, we may not be able to destroy it ourselves. If they want it so they can destroy it, we don't know that they will and not use it for themselves instead. What if we collect the reward for finding it, and bringing it to them, but make sure they know that we wish to be the ones to destroy it. That way we know it's destroyed, and they have reason to tell us what we need to do in order to do so."
"He does have his uses."
Irivis nibbles another locust.
"Yeah. Let's do what Arakan just suggested. I'm full of crunchy locusts now. I want money."
"Let's give it a try. After all, we can always resort to violence."
"Violence is the first resort of the awesome!"
"I've always found a well placed staff between someone else's toes starts things off nicely."
"Exactly. And for that you're called unimaginative, or incompetent, or worse. I tells ya, the violently inclined get a bad rap."
So I guess we should be off to go see our employers.
*nods agreement*
"Agreed," says Gart, smiling at the antics of the gregarious mul.
"That does seem like the most sensible course of action. One of these scrolls will help us see some of the history of the thing, but I'm struggling to find a way that will help us destroy it."
With that the adventurers, still dusty from their travels, head to find their mysterious patrons at the tavern. It is getting dark by the time they arrive but the drinkers are still there and torches in sconces provide a flickering light.
"Straight upstairs I think."
"After you,...." Furio heads up the stairs first.
As Furio heads for the stairs, the muscular barmaid the others saw at their last visit intercepts him. She scowls and blocks his path, arms folded. "Private function. You can't go up there," she growls.
"It's OK, let them up." Kamzar, the group's mul contact, emerges from the shadows at the top of the stairs. "I heard you made it back to town. Come on up."
Furio grins at the barmaid;
"if it's okay with you, ma'am;"