GM Kiora's Wrath of the Righteous

Game Master Kiora Atua

Xanderghul rolls his sleeves up and kneels on the ground beside the bedridden man. "Alright," he says. "I'm going to go into his mind and talk to him. I want to see if he knows anything about what might be happening to him."

"While I'm out - search his room? Maybe he picked up something poisonous, or maybe he's carrying a cursed item. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Then he focuses on the unconscious man and casts create mindscape, sending his mind and the ill man's mind into an illusory demiplane. To be honest, a big reason that he was doing this in the first place was that he wanted to experiment with this spell.

He shapes the demiplane into something pleasant. A grassy knoll, a picnic table complete with striped parasol and a few finger sandwiches with cups of lemonade. A chair for him and a chair for the man. Below, the sound of the ocean washing up against a sandy beach can be heard, and the laugh of children playing in the surf. Their parents sit on towels on the warm sand, totally still and watching their children play - although the children's play is off if one watches them too long - they repeat the same 20-second loop of games. The sun shines brightly, and there is not a cloud in the blue, blue sky. The wind is soft and not too cold. It is an extremely pleasant day.

He appears in a chair sipping a cup of lemonade and causes the man to appear sitting across from him. "Hello," he says. "We are in a shared dream. I am here to speak with you."

Isilme watches Xanderghul with interest as he begins to prepare his spell to create a mindscape. It would be interesting to see inside, but impossible to accompany him. "The Song of Spheres guide your footsteps," she says, even though she knows Xanderghul isn't much for that sort of thing.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17

Isilme looks at the necklace, but cannot make out what it is other than the fact it happens to be magic. "Markus, can you tell what this necklace is? It appears to be magic."

"It appears to be enchanted with a spell that makes the wearer resistant to diseases," Markus replies to Isilme. "A relatively weak effect."

K(Local) Anevia Aiding: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

"Thank you Anevia. Keep an eye out for us. I'm very grateful to know that there isn't a hag around." Ary says, nodding to Anevia.

"Yeah, good call, boss. With a changeling here that seems likely." Anevia says with a conspiratorial wink. As Markus says that the necklace resists diseases, Ary frowns, looking to Isilme.

"Like a Heartstone. There are... too many coincidences." Ary says with a sigh. "We faced a creature that haunted people's dreams and slowly killed them. It targeted Valaria and later Isilme." Ary says, by way of explanation. "The night hag had a necklace similar to yours, but a different stone, that allowed her to change realms... and this echoes that thoroughly. I apologize for the secrecy earlier, but I needed to get some people in here to get a better idea of just what was going on. Anevia can, presumably, see Night Hags... so there isn't one here now."

Yanai stands up, looking at Ary. "Night Hag...?" she says. "You mean like... little green witches, who live in huts and fly around on broomsticks?" She frowns."And you think maybe that's what happened to Andreas?"

She swallows. "I... I'm sorry for keeping secrets, but... this has happened to me before. When I was younger... there was a boy. He confessed his love to me, and then he went into a coma and died soon after. I-I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to think I hurt them..." She covers her face with her hands to try and hide her tears. "But maybe it is me...Am I just cursed?"

Everything told her that the woman was not directly responsible. She was confident enough in her ability to read people that it was unlikely the girl was lying. "I can understand your concern, most people would immediately suspect you in this case due to your heritage. A friend of ours went through a similar situation in Dawnton. We simply wish to save Andreas. Had you found that necklace before meeting that boy? Had Andreas also professed love for you before he fell sick?"

Yanai frowns. "Andreas... no? Maybe... I-I liked him." She grasps her heart-shaped necklace. "This? I've had this since I was a little girl, I told you that already, are you not listening to me?!" she says, growing angry and belligerent. "If you think it's this thing, I don't want it anymore!" She rips it off her neck and throws it to the ground. "愚かな呪われたもの!"

She falls on Andreas' chest in a sobbing heap. "I just want Andreas back!" she sobs. Klarah moves instantly over to her, hugging her around her shoulders and trying to sooth her. "Hey now... it'll be alright," She glances back at the others and frowns. "You're just upsetting her, leave her alone, please..."

Did they sleep together again after he got better?

Maybe she's Poison Ivy.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

"For what it's worth, I did immediately suspect you." Ary says with a small shrug. "But if none of these guys thinks you're a hag, then you're either way out of my league, or... you're not a hag." Ary says, looking back and forth between the woman and Xanderghul.

"Didn't say she wasn't a hag, boss." Anevia whispers into Ary's ear, "Would only be half-true." The news causes Ary's lips to thin visibly. It wasn't good news. She slumps back heavily against the doorframe. That meant that likely there was a hag and it was nearby, unless of course Yanai was somehow accidentally stealing souls. And Ary really didn't like the idea of that even being a thing.

How would Ary even explain either of those things to the young woman..? In the meantime, that seemed to matter less than simply assuaging a scared girl's fears. She crosses the room to place her hand on the girl's shoulder "None of this is your fault, at all. Even if it's all happened before, that doesn't make you to blame." Ary says calmly, "That makes you one of the victims, too."

Ehren had hoped to spend some quality time with Hinagiku after her duel with Shu Lien, but it seemed that another matter demanded their attention, one far more important than the last. Never one to ignore a person in need, he accompanies the others to Southbank with the hope that his own skill in healing could be of use. Unfortunately, after hearing the exhaustive list of treatments that have already been tried on Andreas, Ehren realizes that there was little else he could contribute. From a medical standpoint, Markus had explored just about every available option. Even their past experience with the likes of Mesamorga did not seem to be of much relevance to the situation, despite the undeniable similarities.

He smiles at Yanai's mention of Shizuru and Tsukiyo, but it is a sad smile, filled with sympathy for the young lovers. Merely being apart from one another was hard enough. But to be utterly helpless while the other was at death's door? Ehren glances at Hinagiku with a frown. There was a time like that, once.

Once Xanderghul declares his intent to enter Andreas's mind, Ehren decides to try something fairly simple. Ehren blinks and opens his spirit sense, filling his eyes with silvery white light. Not much could get past Anevia's sight, but there were a few things that only he would be able to pick up on. The druid does a quick scan of the room, sensing the extraplanar essence within Isilme, Valaria, and Xanderghul, as well as the peerless glow of Hinagiku's spirit. He then turns his gaze to Yanai, and lastly Andreas, searching for anything that might hint at what is causing his affliction.

Sorry for double post, I write whenever I can... and well... no one else is awake except Xanderghul in between those time.

Hiding the pain she's in, Hinagiku moves toward Klarah and Yanai and leans in toward the later.

"柳井さん、私の同伴者が鈍いことをお詫び申し上げます。彼らの不審な性格は不快かもしれませんが、過去には役立っています。どうぞ来てください"she motions toward the next room where a bench lays. "彼らがあなたの友人の病気の原因を調査している間誰もが周りにいなければそれらはより効率的になるでしょう。そして、彼らが早く行われればされるほど、早くあ なたはアンドレアスの側に戻ることができます。"

On their way out, Hinagiku bends down to pick up the medallion, suppressing a cry of pain while she does so. She helps the woman sit and continues speaking to her to calm her down.

"I was more thinking that someone was going after people you care about to get to you," Val admits. "But that doesn't make you cursed. That means that there's someone out there who wants to make you hurt. And anyone who has the guts to move out to Drezen while we're still in the middle of rebuilding is definitely tough enough to make it through."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (4) + 18 = 22

"You thought I was a hag?!" Yanai gasps out between sobs. "Why would you think I was a hag?"

She calms down considerably when Hinagiku and Valaria move to comfort her, though. She lets the kitsune lead her out into the shrine proper, where they sit down on a bench. Her eyes and face are still all puffy from crying, but she's reduced to just sniffles. Milenko stops working on his pew to sit next to them too.

"Klarah speaks really highly of the Lord-Commander and her advisors... so I think everything will be okay. They'll figure out a way to save him."

Perception (Aiding if someone else comes to search): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

"Because it's my job to assume the worst, and react in the best way that I can." Ary says, knowing fully that it wasn't the answer the girl was looking for. "The crusades have interacted with a lot of creatures that could appear to be nearly anything... in order to protect people we have to work under the assumption that anyone can be anything. In particular, one of my friends was stalked by a 'Crusader' who was in fact a hag, and it nearly killed her... this situation reminded me of precisely that." she adds with a huff, "But it is important you know the lengths we go to for such things, because I want you to at least feel like we're doing something. Which room is his?"

"Speaking of which... Ehren, will you doublecheck everyone else? And then come meet me in his room?" Ary says, moving out into the main area, "Anevia, stay in the room with him and let us know if anything shows up... a whistle, I think, should be best. I'll go look through his room to see if there's anything odd in there. Isilme, would you like to come with? Your eyes are much better than mine, and you can detect magic. May we enter your room, Yanai?"

As she enters the room, she shuffles some things around, moving things that would ordinarily be far too difficult for someone to move with ease, and checks for things higher up in the room, allowing anyone else accompanying her to look in strange places and generally keep to eye level and lower. "I don't like pretty much anything about this."

Ehren closes his eyes and sighs, shutting off his spirit sense. He is disappointed, but is as usual, not really surprised. If solving this conundrum were that easy, Yanai and Andreas would already be in a much happier place. Not ready to give up that easily, he looks over at Ary and nods.

"I'll let you know if I find anything," he says before leaving to scan everyone else in the chapel. Obviously the method was not foolproof, considering he could not necessarily differentiate between hags and say, tieflings. Still, if someone that shouldn't possess a spiritual aura has one anyway, then that would be a red flag. He thinks back to "Illayna," and how he might have been able to expose her deception much sooner had he pressed the issue. He would not let something like that happen again.

Anevia joins Ary in Andreas' room. They had combed through both of the young clerics' rooms, but found nothing out of the ordinary. "Yeah, so, you think it's another night hag?" asks Anevia.

Xanderghul opens his eyes in the real world. He inhales deeply and stands up. "Well, he didn't have much in the way of useful information," he says. "Save this: He's been having terrible dreams lately, always where he is pursued by a group of three horrible women."

What Do I Know About Hag Covens?: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18 and up to +8 depending on the Knowledge skill used.

"Did I say you thought it was hags? What do you all know about hags?"

Isilme wishes for me to ask if hags can identify people based off of their... I dunno, soul's smell or something, or whether we can fool them by disguising somebody's appearance only.

Hag Covens

"Not a lot other than the fact that night hags suck," Val says dryly.

Knowledge Nature Aid: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 Wow

Xanderghul raises an eyebrow. "So why do you think it's hags then?"

Markus' crimson colored eyes flit over to Xanderghul. "Before we were sent to reclaim the Sword of Valor, but after the events in Kenabres, Ary was promoted to Captain over myself, Annabelle, Isilme, and Anevia. Ser Jorsal, or I suppose I should say Arastrax, was our superior. He sent us off on a mission into Storasta - in retrospect, it was likely an attempt to kill us all - and along the way a night hag named Mesamorga found us and started tormenting Valaria and Isilme in their sleep. Night hags have the ability to enter peoples' dreams and suck their vitality into their necklaces, which are called heartstones. They are difficult to kill because they can flit between the Ethereal and Material at will, and can also take on the forms of mortals. Thanks to a gambit devised by Isilme we were able to steal her heartstone, which is the source of a night hag's power, and slay her."

"The case does feel similar, but this boy has faded far faster than Valaria or Isilme did."

Knowledge (nature): Hags?: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31
Knowledge (nature): Covens?: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

After reporting his findings (or lack thereof) to Ary, Ehren returns to the room where Andreas lies just in time for Xanderghul to wake up. His brow furrows when he hears the wizard's own report, which while informative, was not quite the breakthrough he had hoped for. For a moment he quietly reflects on what he knows about hags, which in the grand scheme of things, was not a whole lot.

"Short of mending his soul again and keeping watch overnight, I am not certain of what else we can do," Ehren admits, not terribly comfortable with the idea himself.

Bardic Knowledge(Nature) - Loremaster: 20 + 6 = 26
Assuming I can get an aid from Ary or count Xanderghul/Ehren as aids

"Three women pursuing him in his dreams? It most certainly sounds like what Val and I experienced, except we only witnessed one. That three appeared suggests that three are involved, which is precisely the right number to form a coven. I have heard of such things before. They have access to significantly more potent magic than individually, including incredibly powerful illusion magic, like veil."

Isilme stops to think, bending over briefly to pick up the lesser heartstone that Yanai had thrown to the ground. "Klarah, have there been any other regular visitors to the temple, especially visitors that might have come in a group of three? And Markus, you mentioned requisitioning the strongest restoration you could get. Did you attempt one using the lower tier of components?"

Will accompany Ary after getting these questions answered.

Isilme goes to grab the heartstone only to find that it is no longer on the floor.

Markus raises an eyebrow. "Why would I commission both? That would be a horrible waste of resources, and redundant, besides. Our funds are not infinite."

Klarah is back in the temple, sweeping up dust. "Oh, I mean, people come to Sunday services all the time. But...oh!" She blinks. "Group of three... there is a group of three old kellid women who come from time to time. They don't talk much, maybe they don't speak Common? But they're lovely dancers."

Isilme remembers just as she goes to look for the heartstone and finds it missing that she'd caught Hinagiku grabbing it out of the corner of her eye. She would need to go talk to Yanai in a moment to help the others comfort her.

"Agreed, it would, but the lesser version would be sufficient to deal with the effects of a night hag," she offers by way of explanation. When Klarah mentions the three kellid women, Isilme looks at Xanderghul and Ehren knowingly. "Can you think how recently they started coming? And when the most recent visit was?"

It seemed to Isilme that at this point they might have solved the mystery. The only question was whether they would be able to bait the Hags into a trap.

"OK." says Xanderghul. "Anevia confirmed that no one is here, yes? Then I have a plan."

He raises his index finger. "First, we send the sick man to Nerosyan via Ehren. He can get restored again so that he doesn't die, and if it's hags, they can't get him if he's many miles away and they don't know where he is."

He raises his middle finger. "Second, we use Isilme's shapeshifting ability to disguise her as a man roughly approximating this man's appearance. We wrap her up in clothes and put her in the bed. We use misdirection to disguise her aura as another neophyte Sarenrae cleric."

He raises his ring finger. "Third, we keep watch in nearby buildings. When the hags visit to kill Isilme, we ambush and kill them."

"Thoughts?"

"It is a sound plan, and I am willing to play the roll of Andreas," Isilme responds after thinking for a moment on it. "But we need to be prepared for all three of them to be ethereal. How do we keep them from merely escaping our ambush, as the Derakni almost did?"

Klarah thinks. "Ummmmmm..... I know they were here last Sunday. They're pretty new, they probably showed up within the month, but I don't remember...sorry."

other thoughts on xander's plan? anyone else agree?

"A thought occurs to me. The coven may be operating out of a building nearby. The hags must sleep during the day, meaning that if we were to find their hideout, we might be able to ambush them directly. It may be glamered with mirage arcana, and if so we might be able to spot the building accordingly. Ehren and I could scout the area quickly while it is still daylight, and if we fail to find it, we smuggle out Andreas immediately and prepare for tonight."

"We need to go to Nerosyan anyway, I believe," says Xanderghul. "Why not divide our efforts? You search for the supposed lair and Ehren takes the sick man to the capital. We will need scrolls of blink or ethereal jaunt for anyone but Anevia to attack ethereal foes."

"That is a chore that is likely to take some time, right?"

"I like the plan. It sounds like another one of our little con jobs. Haven't had a chance to pull one of those in a while. But I also like being able to hit things. It's possible only one of them is a night hag, but even that is enough to be a major pain."

"Very well then, I will begin searching the area immediately. I will enlist Külə's aid to speed up the search. You may wish to leave someone or something convincingly Andreas-like in the bed until I can return. They might awaken and decide to see if he is still there."

Walking out, Isilme informs Ary that they have a likely cause and a plan, then takes a moment to speak to Yanai.

"I apologize for upsetting you earlier Yanai. Due to the urgency of the situation we were less delicate than we should have been in investigating. But take heart, we may have a way to save Andreas. I will return soon."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (9) + 28 = 37

Heading out, she quickly tracks down Külə and informs him of the situation. "We must search the area surrounding the temple, my friend. We are looking for any building within roughly a thousand feet that shows signs of magic cast upon it," she explains as they head back towards the temple. Once they are there, they split up, Working outward together in a spiral so they can stay within 150' of one another, allowing them to message back and forth.

Variska stretches idly out in the main temple. She didn't feel of much use to the others investigating, and while she had learned lots of stuff in the recent days, she
didn't have much to offer here about mysterious diseases or night hags. "Alriiiight. Well, let's do this!"

If you want to buy things whilst in Nerosyan, you need to list out exactly what you want to buy.

Before Isilme (and anyone else who wishes to join her) leaves, Yanai nods glumly to the azata. "It's okay. I understand... just please, help Andreas."

The nearby buildings here are nearly all residential, and are occupied by private homeowners, though most of them would be crusaders. At some of the homes, their residents are home - either home-makers are dwelling there, or the types of people who work late-night shifts, but others have their doors locked, as their owners are out at their respective jobs. In addition to the residences, there is the shop Fine Fittings which is owned by the Loumises. How does Isilme "search" these buildings?

Specifically we're looking for exterior signs that a building has been glamered. For most buildings detect magic should reveal the presence of magic most anywhere within the building that's not underground. At the moment it would be inconceivably difficult to do a door-to-door search for the coven.

Isilme and Külə walk around the nearest buildings, scanning them for mirage arcana with detect magic. While a coven could make themselves nigh unfindable, any buildings they glamered would not be. However, they wind up empty handed, not finding any magical auras of note.

Meanwhile, Ehren takes Andreas and walks the lines to Nerosyan, where he drops him off at a crusader hospital for medical attention.

That night, Isilme shifts into the form of a human man, and rolls herself up in blankets in the infirmary.

If you wish to properly disguise Isilme you will need to use appropriate magic (like disguise self) and roll a disguise check as no one has a disguise kit.

Who is casting misdirection?

I have updated the map on Roll 20. Everyone needs to log on and place their token where they wish to go. I have temporarily disabled line of sight so you can see the whole map to place your token while you stake out, but it will be enabled later on. The conditions are a cloudless night, so everything will be considered dimly lit, unless it is indoors with no windows. Isilme's token has already been placed in the Infirmary as a point of reference.

Everyone must state if they are having their cohort stake out (if you do NOT explicitly state they are coming for a given mission I will NOT assume they are there, from this point forwards).

Finally, everyone must state any pre-stakeout considerations they'd like to make. Buffs, or any preparations done beforehand should be posted now.

I will not advance until all 6 of you have checked in.

Xanderghul accompanies Ehren to Nerosyan, bringing a purse of the group fund with him when he goes. When he arries, he goes immediately to buy some things - two scrolls of blink, and a small pouch of diamond dust for the clerics in the Crusader infirmary.

850gp spent on blink scroll x2 and 100gp of diamond dust.

When they return to Kenabres, Xanderghul does his best having a hand in the preparation of the ambush scene. He asks another Sarenrite cleric to sit in with Isilme in the infirmary room as the "attending nurse". Then he casts misdirection on Isilme and the Sarenrite, linking the auras of the two. Next he retires to a nearby store-room to hide out and wait for the call.. He's asked Variska to be there, as she needs experience fighting the sorts of truly terrifying otherworldly foes that they are sure to face later in the war. Before the battle, he gives her a quick rundown on what they know about the foes that they supposedly face and then casts mnemonic enhancer to call extra battle spells into his mind. Hearing that they may face incorporeal foes, he calls three magic missiles into his mind.

Use 2 MP to cast misdirection on Isilme before nighttime - it lasts 11 hours. Then cast mnemonic enhancer to memorize three magic missiles. I am bringing Variska. I am still waiting for the map to load, but I will be in a nearby building. Also, we should maintain message, but Xanderghul does not have it prepared right now.

If you are casting mnemonic enhancer you need a 50 gp focus component (an ivory plaque to scribe the spells on), which should be included into your purchases.

Who is casting message if Isilme will pretend she is asleep?

Need to get spells from Nerosyan and need a disguise kit Isilme will use the kit plus alter self to disguise herself.

As it begins to get late in the day, Isilme heads by the Loumises to pick up some things to augment her disguise. She could get somewhat close with her ability, but not enough to directly pretend to be Andreas. With a bit of mundane help, however...

Once she returns to the Temple, she asks Külə to stay nearby and enters Andreas's room. She then swiftly changes into as close as she could get: A human male, roughly the same height, hair color and complexion. Grabbing some of Andreas's spare clothing, she changes and then begins fixing her hair and applying makeup to correct for the differences between the two of them. While a hat of disguise would likely be the most effective way to do it, Isilme enjoyed having the freedom to actually play around with a mundane disguise. She augments her disguise with magic, drawing upon it to provide further inspiration in preparing and correcting imperfections in it until she is satisfied.

Using heroism and gallant inspiration to boost the results of the disguise check.
Disguise(Disguise Kit, Heroism, Gallant Inspiration): 1d20 + 22 + 2 + 2 + 2d4 ⇒ (2) + 22 + 2 + 2 + (3, 4) = 35

Book keeping:

Isilme has misdirection and heroism active.

Heroes spend 50 gp on a disguise kit, 50 gp on an ivory plaque, 850 gp on a blink scroll x2 and 100gp of diamond dust. - added to loot lists. 950 gp deducted.

Waiting On: Ehren, Hinagiku, Ary, Valaria

OK: I actually spend 900 and I'll put that on my sheet.

One scroll goes to Isilme and the other scroll should go on someone who is with Anevia and can cast it.

Also! I will have Xander study the Lymirin Discourses to gain +1 Will and +1 Spell Penetration.

Gotcha, Xanderghul gains "2nd Act" buff also. Moved one scroll of Blink to Isilme.

Anevia and Ary are both hanging out. It'd be weird for Anevia not to be if they overheard the fact 'Anevia can see them', as a bonus! Anevia can only know four moves and wants to learn Ghostwalk. She has forgotten Deflection shot and learned Ghostwalk. Duroo doo doo, dooroodududu dududu doo! Clever Anevia who can totally see hags is sitting vigil over his bedside, no way that they can get in! Do we have any source of message other than Isilme?

K(Nature) Aiding: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25 I gueeeessss you can have an aid on that check 20 posts ago.

While Isilme and Kule go on ride-about within the town, Ary instead moves to her crusaders, asking if they had seen the three women that the Sarenrites had referred to, giving approximate descriptions to the guards who regularly maneuvered within the area. While it would be impossible for the group to canvas everything, the group also had an Army and guards that were beholden to them. Seeking them out directly with said guards was unreasonable, but the probability that someone had seen where they lived at some point was actually quite likely given how few Kellids lived within the city.

Hinagiku kindly gives the medallion back to Yanai before she accompanies Andreas and Ehren back to the menhir for their trip to Nerosyan. She then spends the remainder of her time waiting for their return and then in the temple. Finally, when the night comes, she finds a nice little corner next to the building in which to hide.

”I’ll be right outside, just call for me when needed.” she says to Ary right before leaving.