Too concerned about the events pending, Dalton was not much phased by the congratulations they received upon their return to the councilors. He looked on Krokar cordially and Heff with distaste. Yet Alia he respected. Her worry worried him.
He gave a shallow bow before her, a contrast to his previous quibbles. We must prevent a unified front to prevent Raul from forcing a chink in our armor.
"Wise Alia, forgive me if I have overlooked a piece of the puzzle, but how is it you know of Acera's understanding of this doom relic? Given your description, it seems quite likely things are as you say, yet take this enforcer for example." Dalton pointed at Raul. "A lycanthrope strongman willing to turn his back on his master?" He knew this was likely to upset Raul and quickly continued, talking over him if necessary; an indirect insult wasn't his point. "Even his agents have a level of sophistication I wouldn't have suspected." And perhaps an indirect compliment would balance that.
The wizard put his pieces together. "It's possible she is being used by some force from beyond the veil as well, is it not? For if there is some fog of doubt as to the happenings in the Abyss, perhaps she is merely a pawn in a more sinister scheme. Then, even if she does not know the true end of her actions, they may be guided by a defter hand. Certainly a deadlier one."
Dalton took a moment for the weighty words to sink a bit - not for Alia, but for the others with less-nimble minds. But that is enough bad speculation. He broadened his statements' scope to be more approachable for the others. "In any case, such guidance would have to be remote and not in power yet; she worked under Targ for a reason and certainly was caught unaware here - both the lot of us and Raul were opponents in waiting under her own banner. Much of my energy is spent, but it then seems the element of surprise may be our greatest asset here and swift movement the strongest. I am certainly no tactician, but that would be my two coppers."
In all of his talk, the transmuter very completely avoided discussing a particular incident during his travels. Sometimes the best bargaining points are left alone in plain sight.
Once they're inside in the coliseum and reasonably secure, Bjorkus breaks away long enough to visit Orgru's supply cache and return his borrowed blade.
"Didn't end up needing it", the bull explains as he offers the weapon up. "But I was glad to have it with me."
"I don't suppose you mind keepin' her handy? I don't know that I trust our little alliance to last 'till this thing is done."
"Didn't end up needing it", the bull explains as he offers the weapon up. "But I was glad to have it with me."
"I don't suppose you mind keepin' her handy? I don't know that I trust our little alliance to last 'till this thing is done."
"You bring her back with no wolf blood? Bah, you shame me!" He punches Bjorkus on the arm but has a faint smile. "If you are worried about the wolf-man turning on you, keep it for now. Return it to me when you no longer have need of it, not when you think you don't."
"Wise Alia, forgive me if I have overlooked a piece of the puzzle, but how is it you know of Acera's understanding of this doom relic? Given your description, it seems quite likely things are as you say, yet take this enforcer for example." Dalton pointed at Raul. "A lycanthrope strongman willing to turn his back on his master?" He knew this was likely to upset Raul and quickly continued, talking over him if necessary; an indirect insult wasn't his point. "Even his agents have a level of sophistication I wouldn't have suspected." And perhaps an indirect compliment would balance that.
"During recent struggles she has had to direct her attention away from her concealment spells, allowing me to finally pierce through her magic. Your pressure exerted on her allowed me to do this. However she soon realized her mistake and again directed energy towards concealing herself, which is why we were able to turn this city-wide battle to our favor."
If Raul was offended by Dalton's comment, he doesn't show it.
"It's possible she is being used by some force from beyond the veil as well, is it not? For if there is some fog of doubt as to the happenings in the Abyss, perhaps she is merely a pawn in a more sinister scheme. Then, even if she does not know the true end of her actions, they may be guided by a defter hand. Certainly a deadlier one."
"That is certainly a possibility. You are wise to be wary of this. Either way, through her would be our gate to the higher power."
"In any case, such guidance would have to be remote and not in power yet; she worked under Targ for a reason and certainly was caught unaware here - both the lot of us and Raul were opponents in waiting under her own banner. Much of my energy is spent, but it then seems the element of surprise may be our greatest asset...
"Yes, the sooner we strike the better. The more time we give her to regain her strength the smaller our chances of success. Before you leave, remind me about your spent spells."
Dalton does as he's bidden, listing the spells in reverse order from when they were used. The recollection reminded him of the anomaly which occurred during the encounter with Targ. After reciting the list, he described the encounter in terms as best he could.
"Perhaps there was some ward Acera placed about Targ which interfered with my incantation's effects; never before have I breached anything of the sort, in terms of magnitude of power nor type of effect. Those potent unpredictable effects might prove ill about this relic. Then again, they worked for our benefit then."
Krokar and Heff look to each other, clueless looks on their faces as Dalton tells of his...encounter. Älia listens silently, and after a significant pause of nearly half a minute she nods. "With your permission, I would search your mind for your memories of this event."
Bjorkus snorts unhappily. Between the present company and the apocalyptic implications, this was turning out to be a meeting he'd wished he had missed. For a moment he's reminded of the vision he had when Targ's weapon was remade and put in his care.
"Earlier today after the priest magic'ed this weapon to better fit me I had a vision - voices in the dark. They were speakin' the dragon-tongue and claimed I'd free 'em. Any of that make sense? My ancient history isn't so great but didn't the dark elves and the dragons fight some kinda war ages ago?"
Älia turns her head slightly to Bjorkus. "The dragons have left this land long ago. The dark elves were involved in the Great Dragon War, but so were the rest of the races. They were punished badly for their actions by the metallic dragons."
"As you wish. It is a touch unsettling though."
"Clear your mind. Do not resist me." Älia faces Dalton, and she remains that way for a few minutes.
Älia relives the memory through your eyes once, then watches it once more before gently exiting your mind.
Älia speaks very suddenly with no motion or tell that she was done. "You were visited by a manifestation of Arcanotheign, Herald of Nethys. You should consider yourself blessed that she turned her attention to you. But you should know that she finds us mortals curious creatures; I doubt this will be your last visit from her. And take care, for her intentions are as predictable as the weather."
After what they had gone through the past few weeks, the presence of another mind in Dalton's wasn't as disturbing as it might have been.
"My thanks; your revelation and warning are much appreciated."
Such topics weren't able to be learned about until after Dalton's life as a servant was over, and they hadn't been on his list of priorities. Now, he would do better to research the workings of the gods - at least the Lord of Magic.
He awaited input from the others, realizing he had been quite the hog with the floor thus far.
As the party walks back to the Coliseum, Rilka thinks, I hope this truce isn’t my biggest mistake since that lead box incident. Nearly killing Gabriel with the collapsed column was bad and definitely not one of my finer moments, but there’s something about that lead box that keeps biting at my thoughts. Not fighting Raul doesn’t feel like a mistake. At this point at least.
She accepts and returns the cheer from the other Aestherics as they arrive. It’s good for morale, she rationalizes. She grins when Krokar suppresses their small celebration and follows him into the room under the stands.
The halfling crosses her arms and listens politely to Älia as she relates what she learned about Acera. Have I ever seen her this angry? The Egg of Lolth raises a sensation of shame and regret in her stomach. This whole situation would be different if they hadn’t given up the lead cube. She makes a fist. It’s not often when a mistake can be fixed. Now they had an opportunity to do better! At the mention of Arcanotheign, Herald of Nethys, her eye brows lift, and she studies Dalton. Impressive...and potentially dangerous like a thunderstorm.
Once Älia and Dalton finish their exchange, Rilka steps forward. ”Do you have any practical suggestions about fighting drow? Also, are there tunnels to the Underdark from here? Meaning could she have reinforcements or use that as a means to escape. Our companion Lindale has disappeared. Do you think he could be an agent for Acera? I’d be suggesting it even if he weren’t a drow,” she shrugs. ”But it does sound racist. I hope you don’t think less of me. Since Acera’s magical protections are diminished have you found the district where she is hiding?”
"Most drow were stripped of their spell resistance long ago, but some of very old blood like myself still retain it. The best weakness to exploit is our weakness to sudden bright light. It can temporarily blind us."
"Any entrance to the Underdark is long lost or forgotten, and best kept that way. I am aware of no such way to get there without planar travel."
"Do not fear of racism, child. You are long from that. This is the first I have heard of Lindale's departure. I will look into it."
"I had her location an hour ago, and that was underground in the northern district adjacent to the wall. But she protected herself and I haven't been able to locate her since."
Raul suddenly speaks up. "That's where she takes her personal prisoners and slaves. It's where she does most of her magic. She's spent days down there, I bet there's a good chance she's still there. I know where the entrance is, but I've never been inside."
"She's a proud creature, vain. I think at least, from my meeting with her." Gabriel pauses briefly, eyes flickering over those assembled. There were a lot of them and it was as if he was suddenly realizing this. But he continued only a heartbeat later, sounding more confident. "However brief it was those were the impressions I got. And she thinks she's smart too. My bet is, she believes you'd assume she move once she'd been found or perhaps hoped her underground location would confuse any scouts you sent to look."
There was no point in ignoring Raul's advice. No point in accepting it at face value either, but what he said made sense, and let Gabriels mind pull out what he just had. He glances down to the map, then sighs a little, "I'm told the underground is a maze of collapsed and forgotten tunnels. Going inside could mean trouble. But we have an advantage. At least until she realizes what having Raul working with us means."
Gabriels eyes look to the dwarf Toramin briefly, wondering where that elemental his friend had was. "More over, if that is her location we might be able to flush her out instead. We don't need to find her, we just find the general area and flood the tunnels with a couple nasty things. Do we have anything like that prepared?"
"Flood the tunnels? I think calling an ocean is even beyond Älia's abilities." He shakes his head. "If there's people down there like Raul says we don't want to just kill everything either."
"I don't think we need to. This terrain has already done the work for us." Dalton approved of Gabriel's choice of diction. "If Miss Featherfeet can muster a sufficiently large explosion to disrupt the structure of the tunnel they are in, a flood of sand would be a perfectly nasty thing. Of course, this goes back to us being able to locate her first. If that doesn't work-out, I unfortunately am not a master of pyrotechnics, so I doubt I could blind her. A more skilled alchemist, however, probably could." Dalton was quite clearly intoning the last statement to refer to Rilka.
Gabriel snaps his fingers, "I was thinking gas of some kind but that definitely works. And we have plenty of sand to work with too. As far as confirming her position, Acera is hidden, but what about the egg? It's magic of some kind right? If it has some kind of magic hiding it, wouldn't that make it harder to confirm if it was the real thing? And if there was a way to confirm can it be done over a distance, now that we have a general location to search?"
He pauses as he thinks about those down there, "You're right about that though. If there are prisoners down there attempting to save them would be best. But perhaps that just works hand in hand. Send a team down, have them confirm she's there, rescue the prisoners and then get out and collapse everything on her. Though that would require a very stealthy team."
"That still leaves us with the problem of civilian casualties."
"First we need to learn if there are actual civilians down there. If there aren't we can take a much more direct approach, less danger on our men."
"The Egg has very distinct magical properties. It is not hard to detect, but Acera is somehow obscuring it right now."
"I like Gabriel's plan. However your group has been known to not be the stealthiest."
Krokar was correct. "Such a dangerous relic demands a call for our very best to prevent its utilization. If stealth is a concern," Or lies and backstabbing to boot, "Heff would seem to be the master here."
Heff leans back, folding one arm over his chest and resting the other on it in his familiar fashion as he strokes at his beard. "Recovering this artifact is our number one priority. Krokar needs to remain in charge of the troops, and Älia needs to continue to watch if Acera shows up anywhere else or if there are any other massive magical abnormalities. This is probably the most important thing I could help with right now." He nods, standing and giving a grin as he throws his arms around Gabriel and Bjorkus. "We get to go on a mission together boys!"
Gabriel frowns at Heff, not out of distaste for the man personally, simply for the physical contact. The tiefling was already a little nervous with this many people he didn't know or trust around. "I'll bet Acera will be keeping watch, so its more then just Stealth that's needed. We need to provide her with a distraction. Right now, she's angry. Her plans have been dashed, her pride hurt. I'll bet she's shaking with rage, not fear, despite her normal calm. We give her something she can't resist lashing out at, but something that also has some significance. Something that can hold her attention long enough to distract from a stealth team. And as Krokar said, our group is definitely not suited for stealth. But we can certainly attract attention."
"Bah, if she can find me it's my own fault. Couldn't hurt to weasel her out though. Have something in mind?"
"Not so much worried about you as I am about us Heff. I can't speak for the others, but I at least would have you found within a minute it I tried to sneak into her base." Gabriel doesn't wince at speaking this honest truth, though he did wish he were better at things like that. "And yeah. Right now, the most easily recognizable group that's had an impact on this battle is ours. If any of you have a way of determining where she's looking, we can move into the area, Ares in the lead, and make a big show about having a way to stop her."
Gabriel paused to consider what else they could do. "If we mention the egg or the like, make a few vague statements about the truth of her nature, we may be able to convince her we actually have something figured out. I don't know if she'll come out herself but she'll probably send what she has left after us, clearing the place out for easier scouting and rescue goals and focusing her attention on us."
Gabe turns to look at the magical members of the group, "Is her magic still working on Targ's head? Any chance she can pick things up through it, or that one of you can reactivate it to send her a message? Perhaps... Can you work out a fake ritual that would theoretically disrupt the egg? Doesn't have to work, it just needs to look like it could work."
"Fair point; In this instance I will be separate from you, scouting far ahead. I like that plan, but you should be cautious about provoking a cornered animal." Heff grins. "Brilliant idea! I'll only need a few minutes with Älia to get such a ritual set up."
Gabriel knew very little about magic. He expected his suggestion might actually be quite difficult. All he understood about magic was that it had some rules, but those rules changed the rules of everything else. And unlike the power he earned from his faith it was really up to whoever worked it. Dalton he trusted. The man had put his life at risk time and again, never showing himself a coward or cruel, and was often quite smart about his application of force. Heff and Alia, he thought that was how her name was pronounced, he did not. But both seemed at least worthy of respect.
"So we have our distraction, and hopefully Dalton can perform the fake ritual leaving Heff to do what he needs to. Now we just need a way to get her to pay attention to it." And them. The dangerous part. Heff's warning made sense to Gabe but he had already considered that part of the risk. "We also need to choose our staging area carefully. Raul, know you a place we can hold of a large force of undead, as you had done back at your base?"
Bjorkus snorts unhappily again when Heff touches his shoulder but otherwise remains silent.
"The entrance is inside a stone building that was well built. The opening to the building is a choke point, only wide enough for three to fit side by side. The entrance itself is only big enough for one to fit at a time."
"That would require a backdoor for Heff to escape through, though. I understand the tunnels are quite extensive but can we be certain such a door exists in her lab? Aside from the one she's no doubt reserved for her own escape?"
Heff chuckles. "Aww, you're worried about me! I'm touched. Don't worry kiddo, I can take care of myself."
"You, the prisoners, and the egg. Yes, you can say I am quite worried about how you'll get out. If you're that confident... though before you leave I do have a suggestion Krokar asked me to pass along." Gabe looks to the others in his group to see if they had any additions. He had, perhaps unintentionally, volunteered Dalton for the task of the fake ritual. Would he be against it? Was Gabe out of line for suggesting it? Did the others have other ideas? These thoughts and worries seemed so odd considering the direness of the situation, but pushing them aside only made them seem to grow, so he took a moment to breath and simply let them go instead.
"What do the rest of you think?" Gabe asks of all there. The party as well as those they worked for, and even Raul from the glance he gave the man.
"I don't much like bein' the bait but at least this time we know we're bein' used", Bjorkus adds.
"What's the plan if the witch shows up in person to stop Dalton's 'ritual'?"
Heff arcs an eyebrow, nodding at Gabriel.
Älia nods. "Simple, but effective. I support this plan of action."
"As do I. As for Acera showing up, capture her if you can, kill her if you can't. I would rather have her dead than escaped, but captured for interrogation would be even better."
"I have just enough power left to help with that. If she's anything like Calios, though, killing her won't be easy... or perhaps even possible. I wonder if she'd live on if we just took her head?" The tiefling cocked his head to the side at this idea as if briefly considering the dark thought. Then he shook it off. "We won't know for certain until we find her I guess."
"A fake ritual?" Dalton frowned. "Illusions are not my specialty. Far from it. Yet if Alia can compose such an orchestration, I should be able to conduct it."
Gabriel tilts his head to the side, considering that. "Do you mean illusions in regards to a type of magic or illusions like those card tricks I saw in the street's of Hielra. There was one man who managed to get quite a fair amount of gold from..."
He pauses and looks around him, then quickly shakes his head and clears such thoughts from his mind. "I'm confident in your skills Dalton. So far you've managed to change the tides of every battle here, from Targ to the Zombies."
"Both. I prefer what's real instead of lies and deceit." The wizard sighed. "My specialty is a school called transmutation, where actual changes - temporary or permanent - are created in the world - hopefully for the better. At my age, ruses and the like are most often put on by youngsters yearning to get some quick fix of mischief in a prank. They are shortsighted and bothersome, and most skilled in that particular area of magic generally fall in the same category." He reflected a moment. "The few who do have the discipline to delay their gratification were less so in annoyance. But perhaps quite a bit deadlier as we see in this unfolding scenario. In any event, I may be able to perform this function, but it will not look as masterful as done by an authentic illusionist." He shook his head a tad. "If any additional schemes will be concocted later, please note I am also less skilled with enchantments."
Gabriel's vote of confidence went over well with Dalton, though he deflected the praise, lest it make him blush. "Please. Without you lot, there wouldn't have been battles to begin with. I am a shopkeeper, not a soldier."
Rilka listens to the plan form under the direction of Gabriel and Dalton. She’s smiling as a course of action becomes clearer. Her neck is craned high as she follows the conversation.
”Let’s talk about a contingency,” Rilka says stepping forward. ”What if Acera isn’t fooled by our ritual? What then? I could prepare black powder for creating bright flashes or to cause some destruction, like you suggested Dalton. I need to get some black powder anyway for my pistol. So the ingredients will be handy. But we don’t want to kill any civilians so we can’t just blow everything to rubble. However I think creating a new entrance in the stone building wouldn’t be too risky to innocent loss of life. Going through a choke point should be avoided as we can all agree.
”Gabriel, did you see if she had any special minions? Undead, trained spiders...fellow Lolth worshippers?”
Gabriel blinked and looked over to Bjorkus, then Raul a little sheepishly for a moment. Calm and collected one second, a bit young and nervous the next. This desert hadn't changed Gabriel completely it seemed. "I was in her study for about three minutes. And I mostly remember getting hit a couple times for talking outloud. Whitecloaks were protecting her at the time, or at least running errands for her. Although..."
He thinks about what he had seen in her study. "I remember a lot of books. One was so old turning the pages would have probably caused trouble, if I hadn't been careful. It was written in several languages and was about dragons. Odd, they keep popping up here as a topic. I don't think it was important though unless she was bluffing... Alright, it might be important, but I have no idea how."
"No favored servants that I saw", Bjorkus rumbles. "And I can't imagine many warmin' to her."
"Targ did." Gabriel pointed out, "And it seemed like he had a thing against magic... Heff, I'd be careful about any prisoners you encounter. Their minds might not be entirely their own."
Rilka nods in understanding as Gabriel and Bjorkus tell her of their time with Acera. She looks at Toramin. ”Could your elemental companion be able to create some indentations in the stone where we could place the black powder? We could do it with a hammer of course. It’d be safer and easier to create a new entrance by containing the blast.”
Why must every damned tale about dragons involve deceitful or destructive ends?" No expert in the magical reptiles, Dalton nonetheless had read his share of fiction to sieve out the facts. When they were mentioned, bad events followed.
It did not escape Dalton's memory Heff's true (er) form fit the generalization well.
"Probably for the same reason that stories about disputes with nations are never really kind or peaceful, Dalton. When things get that big, that powerful, it tends to increase the scale of everything. The stakes, the damage, and so on... Plus a story with a dragon that ended peacefully probably wouldn't be as popular." Gabriel grinned a little at his joke, but shook his head and turned toward Toramin. The Dwarf was the only one not to weigh in and he definitely had one of the most useful allies for something like this.