Renkar smiles as he finishes his plate
“You don’t strike me as the sort to worship any power too fervently. I find living in the realm of powers tends to weaken their grip on one’s imagination. Although, they are a quite impressive lot, especially if you see one of their avatars on the move”
"Aye, I pledge fealty to the Battle God of my world Tempus.
I do not call upon his name with frequency, verily even in chains and being walked to the Drow I did not for how can a battle God aid an unarmed man?
When I die, I shall hope that my battles will have attracted enough of his attention that he will bring me to his Realm where I shall battle for all eternity. And if not, so be it.
Many of my tribe worshipped, Yeenoghu, for we are after all the Hyena tribe and he is the God of the Gnolls. We have feasted and fought with that race for as long as I can remember.
My Mother claimed to have worshipped a Nature God as Druidess and Shaman of our tribe. Though I have come to understand before I ended up here that the God she worshipped was much more sinister. It was my intention to confront her on this as well as on the death of my father but...
I sit here with you instead. So that conversation will have to wait.
I have seen a God die, at least I believe him to be dead. A five headed Dragon came from the sky to cover him in all five elements and so he did get bitten by those five heads!
Until I spent time in the pits of the Drow that was the most terrifying thing I had seen. Or was it the dead world?
There is more to behold that can terrify man than even what lay in my imagination. But that fear, turned to rage, fuels me and I have much fuel now for my rage fire".
The Barbarian looks at Renkar warily, eyes narrow, "What enchantments do you place upon me? This is more than I have spoken at once in some time..."
Renkar chuckles
“You are a quiet warrior, but even those like you snd I like to trade stories with men of similar mien. Few can understand the code we live by. “
Renkar looks reflective
“My code was more from the city than the plains, but it was a rigid code of honor and duty nonetheless. My people came from a doomed world, one that dissolved in chaos and destruction. That was centuries ago. We found refuge in Sigil, and we swore to fight those forces. We still honor it, even though many of our people now are rulers of this city. We have never forgotten how greed and arrogance doomed our world”
He looks at Hamar
“I have been to Tempus’ realm of Warrior’s Rest. It lies in Limbo, among the swirling clouds of chaos there. Imagine a battlefield where the strong willed can create terrain by force of will! Such titanic battles to be had there!”
He smiles
“If you wished you could visit before your death. It is best, after all, once you die it is unlikely you will ever be allowed to leave. Petitioners are bound to their deity’s realm”
Hamar looks puzzled, "How can it be possible to visit the Realms of Death while living? Should not such places be barred?
There is too much to be known from this place... though I suppose to the opportunity to see God face to face would be tempting to many".
Hamar looks puzzled, "How can it be possible to visit the Realms of Death while living? Should not such places be barred?
There is too much to be known from this place... though I suppose to the opportunity to see God face to face would be tempting to many".
Renkar nods
"It seems fantastical, but this entire Great Wheel we inhabit are the homes of the gods. They are built out of the life energy of mortal beings from the Prime Material Plane."
Renkar fetches three different-sized bowls from the breakfast plates. He turns over the smallest.
"These are the elemental planes. These planes represent the root 'being' of the elemental forces - Earth, Water, Air, Fire, positive and Negative Energy"
He places the next bowl on top of it
"This is the Prime Material Plane. Where the various worlds exist: Toril, Oerth, Athas, Golarion, Arcaia. It is the melding of the elements and where intelligent life arises."
He puts the biggest bowl over the other two
"This is the Great Wheel. The Outer Planes. They came into being as constructs of intelligence. Living creatures give off an energy. Some call it mana. When you worship a power, you are transferring part of your innate mana to that being. If a being has enough mana flowing to them, they become godlike in power."
He pauses
"I do not know if your culture has folk heroes, but they are the initial stage of gods. A noble warrior or wise sage dies, and stories are told of them. Then perhaps over time people begin to ask for their help and protection. They might build a shrine in their memory. Over the course of millenia, as the mortal being's memory fades, the construct of stories and miracles arises as a new being, like a pearl from a grain of sand."
He looks at Hamar
"Warrior's Rest exists because many believe it does. It is constructed of the faith of millions over time, fashioned into place by Tempus, who likely was a great warrior of ages past who over time became a god. He has so much power that he can send some back to his priests as spells. "
Renkar re-rights the bowls and stacks them for Ramona
"When a sentient being dies, their mana becomes a petitioner. They drift towards their proper afterlife, mostly by what they expect. Certain religions have them judged and then sent somewhere. That petitioner dwells in their deity's realm for a long time, but eventually the deity's realm will absorb their uniqueness into itself. Thus petitioners become part of their afterlife"
He looks at Hamar
"When we talked of the Lady, I mentioned her powers within Sigil. In these powers, she is much as a god. In fact, in some ways more powerful. But a power in their own realm is absolute. In a way, a power and their realm are one and the same. "
He lights a pipe and puffs thoughtfully
"When a god loses their worshippers they can die, like any other being. You all just travelled to Zess' Forge in the Astral Plane, correct? That forge lies in the Graveyard of the Gods. In fact, it is built upon the very corpse of some forgotten nature deity. The corpse of a god is a strange conglomeration of whatever is left after all the mana dries up and fades away"
O.L.L.I looks at Justin with those large cartoonish Modron eyes
“I apologize friend and fellow adventurer Justin. This task will be impossible due to Insufficient data”
Justin sighs, and gives O.L.L.I. a small smile. He does not even bother to stress or pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah. I figured as much."
Justin thinks for a moment. Just looking around at the modrons 'office'.
"As best as I can tell, being informed of the name seems to bring back the memories and information that one may have, or should have, known, heard about or picked up. I have NO idea how that knowledge affects documents or artwork yet. Might be an interesting experiment. I mean, we ARE in possibly the greatest library on the WHEEL right?" Justin asks the modron casually.
Justin considers,
,... the being in question is almost undoubtedly 'reborn' already, or so close that preventing that is nigh impossible.
,... So finding and destroying his artifact becomes the utmost in importance. In order to prevent the being from wreaking COMPLETE and utter chaos on a mostly-unsuspecting Planescape.
"So, providing the name to the ONE being in all of Sigil who can most likely find the answer to 'HOW to destroy an artifact?' becomes a no-brainer, right?" Justin finishes aloud.
Justin looks around, and finds a book with dust on top of it. He traces the sigils for the name in the dust.
"Friend and fellow adventurer O.L.L.I., May I respectfully suggest that you do not say this name ALOUD? To anyone? The LAST thing we want is to annoy 'She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' by drawing the attention of 'HE-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' to Sigil. Am I right?"
Justin holds out the book where the modron can see what he scribbled in the dust on top.
O R C U S
"What can you do with that my friend?"
The mage snaps his fingers.
"OH! And as partial payment, and to aid in your research, I can ALSO provide detailed information on a fortress that we encountered, floating in the Negative Plane, where several aspects and pieces of,..." Justin taps the book, ",... seem have been gathered. Most likely to assist in his returning. HOW did I forget to include THAT in my provided information? I'm getting old."
O. L. L. I. Looks at the word. Then something odd occurs. He freezes, his body becoming completely motionless, his eyes dimming. Justin waits a few moments, but O.L. L. I. doesn’t move
"Um,... O.L.L.I.?"
Justin slowly, carefully, reaches out and taps the modron lightly, making a soft ringing sound.
"oh. Shards and Shells. I broke him."
Justin glances at the book in his hand, and hastily wipes the dust from its cover, eradicating the sigils he had written.
"Some knowledge really IS too dangerous!"
After waiting a full five minutes, O.L.L.I still hasn’t so much as twitched. His ‘office’ is a desk in a side alcove of the large Lady’s Library alcove. O.L.L.I does much of his research and copying jobs here. A pile of books, stacked biggest to smallest in near order sits on a side table. Justin suddenly hears a bellow
“OI! SUITCASE! Where did you scarper off to, you sodding prat?”
Justin sees the large form of Shactal stomping towards him. The constantly-inebriated ice devil swivels his insectile head about
"I'm going straight to the seventh layer. And I'm going to be escorted there by a drunken ice devil,... Oh. Joy."
Justin peeks around the corner and sees the lumbering form of the inebriated ice devil. He looks back over his shoulder at the immobile O.L.L.I..
The wizard repeats this process several times as his mind comes up with and discards several stories and diversions in rapid succession.
"Shards and Shells! Trying to reason with a drunken, short-tempered Ice-devil is never a good idea on a normal subject. Trying to explain something that short-circuited a MODRON to one is a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, HOW much trouble can I get into trying to help a friend who is obviously in distress, right? Right!"
Justin turns places a hand on O.L.L.I.'s metal frame. He chants a soft but distinct phrase in an arcane language. The scene shifts and blurs around him and the Modron.
The blur reforms and solidifies around them. Justin blinks and releases his breath when he realizes that the spell worked. He looks around the familiar training/meeting room of the Silver Rose.
Justin sees no one in the room, but a couple of used towels in the corner tell him that someone was here recently. The wizard pats O.L.L.I. gently.
"Hang on just a sec. I'm going to get you some help." Justin tells the Modron, then dashes for the door to the front of teh offices.
"Renkar? Hanalai? A little help here?!"
Hanali comes into the exercise room
“Justin, what is the matter? How did you…”
She states at O.L.L.I
“What is that?”
"THAT is O.L.L.I.. He's a friend. He works at the library. He's having a little,... problem. I brought him here for help. So,... is Renkar around?"
Justin smiles at Hanali. He looks over her shoulder, presumably to see if he can spot the mentioned Boss-man behind her.
“Renkar is at the Cauldron having breakfast with Hamar. “
Hanali’s eyes narrow
“What is wrong with … him?”
"Oh, O.L.L.I.? He shifted paradigms without a clutch. He'll be fine. I hope."
"Ah, I was asking him for help with information on how to destroy an artifact. You know, for our 'Big Case'? He insisted that he needed more data."
Justin grins innocently.
"I, MAY, have underestimated the rigidity of the Modron-mind-set. JUST a teensy bit." The wizard shrugs.
"Sooo,... Renkar's at the Cauldron? Would you mind watching O.L.L.I. while I run and get him? Or, would you rather get him while I watch O.L.L.I.? I can watch the front for you,..." Justin trails off, his face a masterpiece of innocence and lack of guile.
The Barbarian returns to his normally silent self, merely listening to what the wise and knowledgeable Renkar has to say.
Hanali looks skeptically at Justin
“I will keep an eye on your … friend”
Renkar finishes his breakfast
“All this philosophical talk has gotten me hungry! Ramona! Could I get a bowl of Bess’ oat and sugarberry porridge?”
He looks at Hamar.
“We have a few hours before the others wander in. Do you play darts?”
Hamar nods, "Not well but I engage in any competition freely, this is how we sharpen ourselves".
Hamar and Renkar walk over to the dart area. They begin to play a game called Grig, involving getting threes of the numbers between 15-20 as well as three bullseyes
As the breakfast hours wane, the Cauldron begins to empty. It is not known as a heavy-drinking establishment, so its busy times revolve around meals. The Allgood family bustle about prepping and cleaning for the upcoming Peak rush
.
"Thanks Hanalai! Be right back!" Justin says quickly, already three steps towards the door before the adventuress has time to change her mind.
Justin dashes out the door of the Silver Rose offices,....
,... In the Copper Cauldron, the door suddenly slams open as Justin comes flying through it,...
(Literally, his feet are actually NOT touching the floor due to his long-duration flight spell)
,... and Renkar's perfectly aimed dart goes awry as he is startled by the sudden slamming of the door, His dart almost sails into the large fireplace instead of the intended, more obvious target.
Justin slides to a more-or-less graceful stop inside. He grimaces bashfully.
"SORRY! Sorry! That was me. In too much of a hurry." The wizard waves at Ramona.
"Oh, hey Hamar. Renkar! Hi! I have an, um,... situation,... Yeah. I was hoping you could help me with? You got a minute?,..." Justin asks cheerfully, pointing with a finger from both hands in the general direction of the Cauldron front door/Silver Rose Offices.
Renkar frowns as he retrieves his wayward dart. His pet faerie dragon Mercutio stirs from the rafters and peers down with his cat-pupilled eyes.
“What situation are we dealing with today, Master Case?”
Justin glances around the mostly-empty but still-occupied main room of the Cauldron. He makes another small pointy-gesture towards the door.
"It's, ah, probably just easier to SHOW you instead of trying to explain? It has to do with our 'Big Case'."
Justin smiles, but it is with clenched lips, clearly not wanting to say too much.
The wizard's eyes flicker from Renkar to the door and back again. Still smiling,...
Renkar sighs
“Very well. Hamar, do you wish to accompany us or would you rather wait here?”
Hamar grins as the dart goes awry, "And now I can say I won a game!
Well done Wizard!"
Hamar nods to Renkar, "If the Wizard is in trouble, again, then I may be needed. How this one's head is still attached must be because of magic".
"Yep!" Justin says cheerfully as he heads to the door.
The wizard stops suddenly in his tracks, allowing the others to pass him by.
"Hey!?!" Justin exclaims to the backs of Renkar and Hamar. Then hastens to catch up as they exit the Cauldron.
"What was THAT supposed to mean?" Ramona can hear the wizard demand in a hurt tone as he pulls the door shut behind him.
The sharp eared Barbarian hears Justin's protest but merely suppresses a grin in response.
"Oh hey what you all doing?" Merle as she arrives at the door just as the group are exiting.
"Nothing!" Justin replies all-too innocently and entirely too quickly.
"Oh alright then you wont mind me following along to see this nothing?"
The group troops back to the Silver Rose office. In the dojo where Renkar and Hamar had their bout, there is now a frozen square creature. Hanali watches over it. Hamar has never seen anything quite like it. It looks like a steamer trunk with spindly limbs and overlarge eyes. Some sort of censer dangles from a pole on its top side. Its hide is metallic, and looks to be enameled red. There is a sigul of the Harmonium on its front and an odd symbol of interlocking gears on the other side.
"Why is there a dead........whatever the hell's that thing is here?"
"Dead? Was it ever alive?"
"Oh alright then you wont mind me following along to see this nothing?"
Justin forces a grin over clenched teeth.
"Of course not. NO reason to mind. NO reason at all."
"Why is there a dead........whatever the hell's that thing is here?"
"Dead? Was it ever alive?"
"THAT is O.L.L.I.. He's a Modron. And a friend. He works at the Great Library. Karrin introduced us. And YES he's alive! I hope! He seems to have had a,... seizure? I brought him here hoping to get some advice from Renkar on how to help him?"
Justin looks at Renkar innocently.
"I was researching how to destroy a certain powerful artifact on the Plane where it is hidden. O.L.L.I. needed more information. SO,... I showed him 'The Name'."
Justin waves a hand in vague motions towards the immobile Modron.
"He,... Didn't deal with it as well as the rest of us did when we heard it." The wizard finishes lamely.
"Welp you broke em. How badly is the Libary gonna take you doint that to one of them?" For once Merle sounds pretty serious.
"It's not the Library I'm worried about." Justin replies absent-mindedly, still looking at the Modron doing an impression of a pigeon roost.
"It's Shaktal, his assistant. He's a bad-tempered Ice devil. Which is saying something for Ice Devils. Doesn't help that he's drunk ALL the time,..."
Justin blinks, and his head snaps to look at Merle.
"Waitaminute! I Didn't 'Break' him!" The wizard protests vehemently.
Renkar stares at the immobile Modron
“I have no idea what to do here. I am not a doctor, or artificer , or cleric. I don’t even know where to start”
He gives Justin a narrow side eye
“You seem to be fairly cavalier with that name. You do realize that Modrons are a hive species? Like bees? Your friend here might have immobilized himself to keep that information from spreading throughout the planes via the Modron Collective. If it had, and that name became common knowledge again, He Who is Now Unnamed would be named again. And likely worshipped. And infinitely more powerful. “
He looks sternly at Justin
“ Stop. Speaking . That. Name “
"It's not the Library I'm worried about." Justin replies absent-mindedly, still looking at the Modron doing an impression of a pigeon roost.
"It's Shaktal, his assistant. He's a bad-tempered Ice devil. Which is saying something for Ice Devils. Doesn't help that he's drunk ALL the time,..."
Justin blinks, and his head snaps to look at Merle.
"Waitaminute! I Didn't 'Break' him!" The wizard protests vehemently.
"Well your the one who mentioned 'they who shall not be named' Actual name to em."
"I,... did NOT know that." Justin replies to Renkar seriously.
"I mean, I knew the basics,... But I thought, he was independent of all that? A rogue modron? Independant-minded? Yeah. I shoulda checked."
"Well your the one who mentioned 'they who shall not be named' Actual name to em.""It's not the Library I'm worried about." Justin replies absent-mindedly, still looking at the Modron doing an impression of a pigeon roost.
"It's Shaktal, his assistant. He's a bad-tempered Ice devil. Which is saying something for Ice Devils. Doesn't help that he's drunk ALL the time,..."
Justin blinks, and his head snaps to look at Merle.
"Waitaminute! I Didn't 'Break' him!" The wizard protests vehemently.
Justin's head falls backwards and he groans at the ceiling in deeply-rooted frustration.
"I didn't SAY it!"
" I wrote it. Silently. But I didn't SAY it!"
The wizard throws up his hands in surrender.
"Alright! Alright! I get it! Stop sharing! I was JUST trying to get information on how to destroy the 'Big-Bad's' stupid artifact! I figured O.L.L.I. was our best bet for,... Infor,... mation,..."
Justin stops. He blinks. He looks at the immobile Modron. He looks at Renkar's disapproving scowl. He looks back and forth a couple of times.
Finally Justin snaps his fingers and points at his employer.
"Information! You may not be an artificer or a cleric. But You ARE a genius!" Justin declares excitedly.
"IF you're right, and O.L.L.I. went into a seizure to prevent the spread of the information through the hive-mind,... A fairly terrifying thought. Now that I think about it. All we have to do is ERASE the information! Dangit. I'm not a mind-mage. We need a spell that erases recent memory. The sooner we get it the less time we have to erase from O.L.L.I.'s memory! Presuming that he's still actually active in there, hearing everything we're saying right now. Otherwise it would only need to erase the last few seconds before he shut down? Better safe than sorry."
"Most Wizards steal books, you've stolen the librarian". Hamar ponders this development for a moment.
Hamar clasps Justin on the back, "Well done Wizard! A worthy feat for an inexperienced thief!"
"Dont encourage him Hamar He's suppose to be a roll model for Seph not knocking out and kidnapping people."
Renkar’s frown deepens
“I am no wizard either. That is why you are a member of this team. I expect you to clean your mess up”
He sighs
“I was hoping to have a quiet meeting over lunch, but that seems unlikely now. “
He turns away and starts walking towards the exit
“I will meet the others and have them come here instead”
He dons his cloak, opens the door and exits into the dark rainy morning .
"Wow I think he's pissed." Merle after Renkar leaves. turning back she looks over O.L.L.I "Uh have you tried poking him with a stick or something?"
Justin is appropriately embarrassed by HAmar's remark.
At Merle's statement Justin s l o w l y turns his head to gaze flatly at the feline sorceress.
"Thank you. Captain Obvious. Yes. I think he's,... unhappy."
'I can't, really, blame him at the moment. For a 'genius wizard', I have been making some elementary, bone-headed, Apprentice-stupid mistakes lately.'
Justin closes his eyes and is silent for a moment. Probably counting to '10'. He opens his eyes.
"Please, do not poke my unusual friend with a stick. He wouldn't like it any more than YOU would." The wizard says calmly.
Justin shakes his coat pocket. The one containing the bag with remaining coins from the Khassta incident. The pocket jingles satisfactorily for the usually-broke wizard.
Justin looks at his frozen friend one more time, flicks a gaze to Merle through narrowed eyes, and nods his head in affirmation of whatever he is thinking.
"Please keep an eye on O.L.L.I.. It's time for me to clean up a mess. I'm going to get a scroll."
Justin raises the hood of his Rose cloak over his head, and stalks towards the front door. He exits, closes the door behind him, and launches into the air. The wizard makes straight for the street where he tends to find the most unusual scrolls and spells when he needs them.
"Hey hold on a sec I'm not a......" Merle unable to finish the sentance before Justin leaves "Hmph Wizards always making a scene...."
Merle slowly begins reaching for a broom handle to poke O.L.L.I with before seph's paw bats her hand away "Yeeeesh fine I wont poke him."