Mara smiles at them
“If you want a quick trip to Sigil, I can get us there”
Ramuah looks around. "I don't know this Sigil. Is it your home? As I seem to have lost mine, as well with the reasons how or why I ended up here, I would be honored to follow you there. I owe a debt of gratitude, and would be pleased to assist you further. Doubly pleased to leave this place."
“Hey don’t forget to scoop up some of tall dark and granular for later. Vampire dust is a valuable commodity in the alchemy world. “
Merle stuffs a bunch of dust into her pocket much as she can fit
"Yeah, did NOT see a vamp going dusty so easily in this realm. Interesting. I think all of what we have fought so far have been (fairly) intelligent undead,... perhaps the necro-clouds are a manifestation of the desire NOT to pass on. Maybe he wanted to go?" Justin shrugs, and moves that train of thought to the spot in his mind reserved for less stressful, more appealing surroundings.
Taking Memnon's advice, he opens a couple of small, empty belt pouches and dutifully fills them with the Vamp-ash remains. He grimaces only slightly as he does so.
Mara smiles at them“If you want a quick trip to Sigil, I can get us there”
Justin gives Mara a small grin.
"Personalized Planar Travel is SO much more convenient than hiking through undead-infested cities to the not-so-nearest portal." He says cheerfully."Um, No offense." He adds, glancing (Subtly?) at certain persons in the room,...
Justin waves an arm, indicating the citadel in general,
"What about, all of this? Do we dare leave without making sure that the masked ones aren't capable of bringing about the return of the 'Forgotten one'? Or do we hope that by following this new clue we put a stop to their attempts once and for all?"
"Don't get me wrong, Nobody will be happier to see THIS place behind them than me! But once we leave, I want to make sure we don't have to come back. EVER."
Mara grimaces
“I inferred from the vampire’s speech that Lord Tenebrous isn’t in stasis. He said we should go because he will return soon. That sounds more like he’s popped out on a mission. I don’t think these masked minions are capable of much mischief, but the spectre of a slain god?”
Mara shudders
“I am a connoisseur of suffering and I want no part of that encounter.”
Justin waves an arm, indicating the citadel in general,
"What about, all of this? Do we dare leave without making sure that the masked ones aren't capable of bringing about the return of the 'Forgotten one'? Or do we hope that by following this new clue we put a stop to their attempts once and for all?""Don't get me wrong, Nobody will be happier to see THIS place behind them than me! But once we leave, I want to make sure we don't have to come back. EVER."
"I care not about the shades of dead gods, or where you choose to run, so long as I may have my chance grind the lich-lord's skull into powder."
Mara grimaces“I inferred from the vampire’s speech that Lord Tenebrous isn’t in stasis. He said we should go because he will return soon. That sounds more like he’s popped out on a mission. I don’t think these masked minions are capable of much mischief, but the spectre of a slain god?”
Mara shudders
“I am a connoisseur of suffering and I want no part of that encounter.”
"It's good to know one's limits." Justin agrees politely. "And that's an excellent and astute observation. Consider my concerns addressed." The wizard adds, suddenly looking vaguely nervous.
"I care not about the shades of dead gods, or where you choose to run, so long as I may have my chance grind the lich-lord's skull into powder."
Memnon turns towards Alessia at this, and his eye-lights dim briefly. You get the impression he is blinking. Then the crystal skull takes the floating equivalent of two slow, deliberate steps backwards.
Justin gives the violet crystal skull, now shielded by Ramuah's armored form, a wry look. He clears his throat gently.
"Yes. Well. Far be it from me to stand in the way of good, old-fashioned, undoubtedly well-deserved revenge. Power's know that I have that one, special someone on MY Winterfest's Card list. But unless you happen to know where, exactly, your particular Lich-Lord is right now? Well, Sigil IS as good as place as any to begin looking."
"Well, I suppose the prospect of fighting this undead god in it's own fortress does seem rather daunting, but as for short cuts, does everyone forget we left one of our own back at that temple? We have to go back to retrive her body so we can return her to the Cage for burial. Could you transport us from there Mara?"
Mara shrugs
“It matters not where I open the portal. Lead on!”
"Okay," Karrin says to her group, "Guess we got to decide if we're gonna finish exploring or make a tactical withdrawal, I guess I should hear people's opinions before making a plan. Now would be a good time for everyone to speak-up."
"I would very much like to go home. And I don't think we're going to learn much more here. So I vote for tactical withdrawal."
"If by tactical withdraw you mean get the hell's out of her then yeah lets do that."
"Hm. Tactical Withdrawal, and stop the reincarnation of an erased death power without having to face him directly, or stay here, and face more undying undead that turn into clouds of soul-sucking necro-rage when finally pummeled to a pulp. Yeah tough choice." Justin says dryly. He raises one hand.
"Tactical withdrawal for the win."
"This place literally makes my skin crawl so I'm good with anywhere but here." Blayze answers.
Mara takes out the gleaming golden cube the party had seen before. She runs her fingers along its surface and various pieces emerge out of the surface. It is an elaborate puzzle box. She twists several of these into a different configuration. Suddenly a portal appears before the party. Through the rippling surface the familiar bulk of the Mortuary looms above Ragpicker’s Square.
“It seems unanimous, and I’ll add my vote to the tally. I have no idea how long I’ve been gone, and I need to touch base with my faction and my employers. “
Karrin reminds the group of Rhiannon’s body. Mara turns the portal off
“Ok, where’s this body, and how do we get it?”
"Justin," Karrin says, "You've made the map, you lead us out. We got to float through a void again, but our friend is in a tomb to some long forgotten half giant priest. When we get her we can go home"
"Leaving, t'was my vote when I first met all of you, I'll not be against it now.
I shall lead us out as I led us in".
Perception
Stealth
Justin nods.
"Works for me! Lead the way Hamar. I'll just,... check my notes." Justin says, as he pulls out his parchment scrap with the notes of their Death Temple explorations scribbled on it.
"Hm,... If I knew what system that device used, I maybe could deduce the correct spatial/dimensional coordinates and we could take a shortcut. Hm. better not. With MY luck I'd be off by a mere city block, and we'd end up in the middle of an undead nest. Or worse." The wizard murmurs as he examines his notes and gets in line to follow Hamar back the way they came.
Justin also seems possibly unaware that his musing are audible.
Mara looks over at Justin
“I could pull the memory of the place from you, and use it to gate us there. I would just need to rest my hands on your head.”
Justin raises his eyebrows, obviously intrigued by the suggested transference of information. He starts to speak, then pauses.
"Just to clarify, You would be reading my memory? Or taking my memory? I don't mind sharing, but I'm rather fond of most of my memories. I'd rather not have any holes in them." Just asks, cautiously polite. He gestures to the building around them.
"We've seen what too much of THAT leads to already!" he smirks.
Mara laughs, tossing her raven hair back. It’s so easy to forget that her form is a glammer
“No, I merely need to read, not to take. You’ll have a very vivid recollection of the place as I observe, but you won’t forget it.”
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"Justin stop being a scardy cat and let the creepy lady read your mind already."
"The sooner we can get home the sooner we can get back to the business of beating people up."
Blushing faintly, Justin clears his throat nervously.
"Yeah, well, when you put it like THAT,..." He mumbles, glaring daggers at Merle.
(He wouldn't glare daggers at Karrin on a dare!)
"All right, all right, I volunteer as tribute." The wizard finally resigns to the inevitable and holds his hand up in surrender.
Despite his misgivings, Justin is clearly intrigued by the prospect, (He's never had his mind read before. At least not willingly.) And he DID ask for it. Sort of.
Justin steps before Mara and pauses, shrugging his shoulders. "Soo,... do I need to do anything in particular? Just, think about the temple?"
"The sooner we can get home the sooner we can get back to the business of beating people up."
Hamar's ears perk up, "People pay you gold for that? My friends and I always just did it for free..."
"Well this is the secret to success in this world Hamar," Karrin says, "Find something you're good at and then find someone else who's willing to pay you to do it. Thankfully ours is a high demand profession, as long as there's still two people left in the universe somebody is going to want somebody dead, so lots of choice, lots of people looking to hire, but that also means a lot of competition and some of the folks are just in it for the money, absolutely no sense of style or pride in their work. I mean they rough someone up and it's all about beating about the head and shoulders, whereas someone who's been at it a while will take the time to punch the kidneys, liver, you know the soft tissue stuff, make sure they remember it and don't just get knocked out cold. But worst of the worst in our line of work are the guys who just need an excuse to hurt people, they're toxic. I mean they're giving away for free the sort of thing we charge extra for."
Justin makes a strange face at Karrin's last statement, either she surprised him, or he ate something that disagreed with him, and is trying to eat him back!
Justin puts on a (slightly) strained smile and nods at Mara.
"OK,... when we left the temple to enter the portal, it looked like,..."
And Justin furrows his brow slightly as he concentrates to remember the details of the 'Temple of the Forgotten Power',...
"I mean they rough someone up and it's all about beating about the head and shoulders, whereas someone who's been at it a while will take the time to punch the kidneys, liver, you know the soft tissue stuff, make sure they remember it and don't just get knocked out cold. But worst of the worst in our line of work are the guys who just need an excuse to hurt people, they're toxic. I mean they're giving away for free the sort of thing we charge extra for."
"A noble sentiment, truly," Alessia deadpans. "Personally, though, I prefer to kill quickly and efficiently. It keeps them from doing too much screaming or begging, or worse, making long-winded speeches."
"Whoa whoa whoa, killing? We're mercenaries not assassins. We don't kill people unless we got no other choice. Too much paper work otherwise. Heck, even in battle, we try to maim rather then kill other mercenaries as a professional courtesy, really you should only kill people that are willing to die for a cause, and that's usually because you got no other choice with that lot. Like most of the undead here are really what we'd term as fanatical, and fanatical can't be reasoned with, but generally killing is what we'd usually term as a permanent solution and you don't get much repeat business with that generally."
At the mention of the unreasoning of fanatics and the killing of undead, Blayze nods, her eyes once again flickering over to take in Alessia.
Hamar nods at Karrin, "I suppose my friends and I just found ourselves involved in events beyond our comprehension and felt pulled along. Much how I have felt arriving here by some foul magic".
He leaves his thoughts there, the barbarian has so long been just surviving in this place he has not given much thought to what he would do once he actually escaped from it, especially considering before he met the Silver Rose Company, his hope for doing so seemed quite dim.
"Well, life in general is usually outside of our control Hamar, not sure how you're going to handle the cage, it's very "beyond comprehension" and there's a fair bit of being pulled along, also a lot of being pushed, but when you get used to it you'll be fine, place almost feels like home to me these days, but there's lots of gates and portals and stuff and people who know things there, you might even find a way back where you came from somehow, but if not I think the Silver Rose is always hiring, and you seem pretty solid in a fight and you're a smart and fully capable scout. That's stuff we need. Our last scout stole a treasure box, not the treasure, but just the box, which was highly trapped and complex and intricate and stuff (and thus more valuable then what was inside), and she retired with her share I think. Heck Renkar hires all sorts, maybe the rest of you can find work with us? I mean I'm not the front office type, I'm more front line, and I'll leave the thinking to the smart folks, but the boss usually takes my recommendations so if you folks need a job I might be able to get you one."
Ramuah was listening carefully. "I don't understand quite everything you're saying, I think, but I expect to have to earn my way wherever I may land, and my strong arm has been bent to such a purpose nearly as often as I have used it to prevent harm or attempt good. Thus far I see nothing to suggest that I should not be pleased to do so in your company." Her lips quirked with a hint of self mockery as she sketched a quick bob of her head toward her rescuers.
"[G]enerally killing is what we'd usually term as a permanent solution and you don't get much repeat business with that generally."
"That sounds inefficient. And ineffective. It is a good thing that I was never a mercenary."
"Yeah, the things I encounter tend to stay dead." Blayze, chimes in, the irony of her agreeing with Alessia not escaping her.
"Yeah, the things I encounter tend to stay dead." Blayze, chimes in, the irony of her agreeing with Alessia not escaping her.
"Yes. Well, welcome to the lovely Negative Plane!" Justin smiles wanly.
"Where our inhabitants just keep coming back for more!"
Karrin munches on her never ending rations.
Mara places her hands on the sides of Justin’s head
“Just think back to what you saw in that room”, she intones, her voice pleasant and low-pitched
Justin feels himself remembering the dry spicy smell of the tomb, the huge form of the demonic mummy, the sickening crunch of Rhiannon impacting on the floor. It is vivid, better realized than any memory or dream he’s had, as if he was reliving that awful fight. Then ....
He’s somewhere else. A dim room, the smell of mold and dead things rank in his nostrils. He sees a young woman , dressed in leather armor approaching a Dias in the center of the room. A golden cube like Mara’s sits atop it , shrouded in cobwebs. The woman bears a faint resemblance to Mara in her human seeming only much more scarred and businesslike in her demeanor. She inspects the Dias, then, obviously finding nothing amiss, reaches a hand for the cube. As she touches it, the cube begins to whir and unfurl like a clockwork toy from one of the shops in the Gear Run. A dozen golden barbed chains whip out from the unfolding device, pinioning the woman in place. A blur of knives and reticulated metallic tentacles emerge from the now casket-size cube. The woman is drawn within it, screaming as the knives begin to cut into her flesh. The scene fades as the cube closes around the woman, hiding her from sight
Justin comes to with a gasp as Mara takes her hands off his head
“I have the proper coordinates “, she says, moving towards the rear of the room ”Shall I engage the portal?”
Gasping, Justin takes a half step back, catching his balance.
"Wow,... Uh,... Whoa." he mumbles (semi) coherently.
The wizard's eyes are opened wide, as in surprise, but he doesn't seem to be looking at the scene in front of him. Or maybe he is,...
"Great. Yeah. Sure." Justin mutters a feeble affirmative.
The wizard blinks and shakes his head once. His eyes seem to refocus.
"Sorry. Mind-magic isn't my specialty. That was,... educational. Thanks." Justin says, not quite able to meet Mara's gaze directly.
Justin makes a vague gesture towards the open space in the middle of the room.
"Go ahead. Open Sesame, or whatever. Let's blow this Creepy Place."
And somehow, you can hear the capitol letters Justin used in 'Creepy Place'.
"Well great, let's get this show on the road then!"
Nari gently touches Justin's shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asks, concern in her eyes.
Justin looks to Nari, and for a moment she can see something she hasn't seen in his eyes before, through all that they have seen and done together.
Genuine Fear. Also with a capitol "F".
And then Justin glances at Nari's cheek out of old habit, breaking eye contact before it could become a full-blown wizard-soul-gaze.
"Yeah. Sure kiddo!" Justin replies, his usual sly smirk back in place.
But the haunted look is still there, hiding in the corners of his smirk.
"All good. That was just, unusual is all. Let's get out of here." Justin continues, sounding more like his usual self.
But Nari notices that Justin's eyes glance of their own accord over his shoulder, towards Mara.
Mara reaches into her bag and extracts the golden cube. Justin shudders just a bit as the abstract rune-graven faces twinkle in the dim light. The cube twists and arranges itself into an odd asymmetrical shape. An oval of black fire appears on the wall. Mara strides towards it
“Come along. This portal won’t remain up long after I head through.”
Justin shrugs.
"Sounds like a cue if I ever heard one!"
And he strides towards the portal of black fire.
After the much better armed and armored Karrin. Or Hamar.
Or both.
Merle gives justin a look but otherwise keeps her mouth shut "Yeah lets get going already."
Checking her gun, Blayze follows the others with a shrug.
Karrin will follow Mara, weapon at the ready, on the off chance that she's being lead into a trap.
Hamar steps through after Karrin, scimitars at the ready.