"No I will go with you. I want to see it and I can handle myself if it comes to that." she says motioning to the rapier at her hip.
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"Very well," Devyhn replies with a nod.
He retrieves the spiral pendant and holds it aloft. "Each of you place a hand on me," he instructs the group. Once everyone is in contact with him, he gives the pendant a spin. He says in a solemn tone: "In the name of Pharasma, Goddess of Birth, Death and Prophecy, bring us to the Eternal City of Axis."
Bleyz does as bidden and lays a hand on Devyhn gently.
"I'm ready."
Everyone touches Devyhn and he summons the power of the spiral. Unlike the portal however the transition is not so smooth. You feel like a cloth being twisted to drain the water out and then slowly untwisted. The world around you blurs and slowly becomes more clear until you find yourselves in the largest city in existence.
The Eternal City of Axis.
The City of Axis exists among the planes of the Outer Sphere as the personification of universal law, a shining example of perfect order and harmony rising out of the churning Maelstrom. Within the plane's golden barrier walls, the streets are perfectly ordered and clean, the buildings appear as paragons of their respective architectural styles from virtually every culture within the multiverse, and the natives strive to live in orchestrated harmony. Of course, some would label the plane's perfection hollow or its beauty verging on sterility, but given the eternal city's violent history and perhaps precarious present standing, its gods and outsiders alike dismiss such criticism outright. Rising out of the city is a giant spire atop which lies the Boneyard, where Pharasma judges the souls of the dead.
Looking around a bit bewildered Lyaro looks at the spire. "Wow it seems we shall meet two gods this day"
"This place is a bit disconcerting and oddly comforting at the same time. I like the orderliness of it."
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Devyhn raises his his reverently towards the top of the Great Spire.
I am here, Mistress. You need but command it and I will come before you. Otherwise, I will continue with your mission as you have instructed.
He takes a deep, steadying breath, the looks to the others. "I suppose we should start looking around and asking questions."
When you appear Naila falls to her knees and throws up.
"That...was unpleasant" she says talking about the plane shift.
"Oh my this city is amazing." she says looking around.
Suddenly there is a crack of a whip and a conglomeration of Devils escorting some humans in chains walks down the path coming your way.
Naila is unable to contain her surprise "Slaves?!? Here but I though this was a righteous place!"
There is a laugh as an Ice devil steps forward "Righteous? You must be new here. This place is the domain of Law. We are the rightful owners of these souls and as such we have broken no law. Now you are blocking the path, move out of way mortal." he says.
Lyaro looks at the demons with an intense dislike, especially so after it speaks, he places his hand on his blade.
"As you say beasts we are breaking no laws either by standing here, go around!"
"Obviously the laws of this place are not in furtherance of the cause of good, but we have no quarrel with you, nor is our business with you." Bleyz says with a gentle hand on Lyaro's arm, he speaks low. "Let's not start trouble not already on our agenda... In this place, they are bastions of law, let's just let them pass. We have our own business to attend to." Then Bleyz moves out of their way, though he scowls at the idea of slavery, there is nothing inherently unlawful about it. It is simply a fact of life in many places.
Erik waits behind Devyhn to see how the devils react to their motley band.
"This is none of you business but they are those who lost their souls as part of a contracts with my kind. Now they belong to us." his scorpion like tail reaches out and grabs one around the neck lifting him up and he shows him to you as a fish merchant showing his wares.
"Want to buy one? This one is a minor noble from the material world, the cost is five hundred gold."
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"A lesson: one should always read the fine print. A lesson some learned too late, it seems," Devyhn replies blandly.
He gives the devil a courteous nod, and a wave indicating he has no interest in buying today. He slows his wave just enough to allow the mark of Pharasma on his palm to be plainly seen.
The demon shrugs rolling it's shoulders and waves we procession forward.
The demon group is gone and you find yourself in a mostly deserted street somewhere near the outer edge of the city. The godmind is supposes to be in the centre.
Lyaro starts whistling and starts walking down streets towards the centre
Heads toward the center along wiht Lyaro and Achren...
Erik follows behind Devyhn.
After some searching you do manage to make your way to the inner circle of the city. You make a request to meet the Godmind and while it does take some time you are eventually granted access. While it took a few hours this is unusually fast. Normally applicant to have to wait weeks or months to have contact with the Godmind.
The Godmind takes the form of Three golden glowing pillars that surround an auditorium. Many golems stand guard all around the room. The godmind is a conglomerate of all the greatest mind of axis fused together into one operating on the three pillars of Law, Logic and Order. It rules Axis, controls the Inevitables and is devoted to spreading law and order to the universe.
You enter and stand in the auditorium and the godmind speaks sounding like a hundred voices speaking in unison.
"What is you request?"
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Devyhn approaches bows respectfully to the area between the pillars. He raises his marked palms towards the light and speaks.
"We seek knowledge for the sake of justice," Devyhn replies. "A soul has been stolen at the very moment of its mortal death. As such the soul did not come before Pharasma for judgment. She has charged us with the recovery of the soul and the punishment of those who committed this blasphemous crime. We ask the assistance of the Godmind in understanding how such a crime might have been accomplished and insight into the likely nature and whereabouts of the perpetrators."
"We are aware of the theft. It is most likely the work of a Protean but we do not know the purpose of the theft. This desecration of the natural order will not stand however. Cabalast the Thunderer is already on the case he is gathering information from sources in the city then he intends to travel to the scene of the crime." replies the voices.
A Protean?
Bound proteans seek to find a way to achieve this goal even when bargaining with those who dare summon and bind them (A very difficult and often foolish feat binding a protean is several times more difficult than binding a demon or devil). Proteans are immune to acid and have resistance to electricity and sonic. Their amorphous anatomy grants them immunity to polymorph effects and to critical hits and sneak attack damage. They are protected by a continuous freedom of movement, as per the spell.
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"Would Calabast be amenable to working with us, since our goal is the same? We have already examined the scene of the crime and if he is willing to share what he has learned on this side, we will share what we learned at the crime scene with him. This would improve all of our chances of staying close on the perpetrator's trail."
"Meet him in the Three Rules tavern in the middle district. We will inform him of your arrival and he will aid you in finding the one responsible for the theft." replies the godmind.
Erik follows Devyhn's lead a dips a slight bow.
He then makes ready to leave.
Lyaro simply follows Achrens lead as he's not quite sure if it's wise t do anything else.
He does keep looking around as he is leaving though...
You go the Tavern mentioned by the godmind and find it being quickly evacuated by everyone inside.
You peek inside and find a towering giant pinning a drow to the wall.
"YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!" says the giant.
"I told you I don't know what you need!" replies the drow.
The giant is an Inevatible a Marut.
Behemoths of onyx and golden armor, maruts shake the ground when they walk, each thunderous step ringing a death knell for those they’ve come to take. Rarely seeming to hurry, a marut’s onslaught is deliberate, purposeful, and relentless. Its quarry may impede it or flee, running for decades or centuries, but from the initial meeting onward, the target must always look over its shoulder with the knowledge that, like death itself, the marut is ever at its heels, slowly but surely approaching, bringing balance through inevitable oblivion. Maruts primarily target those mortal souls who have artificially extended their lifespans beyond what is feasible for their race, such as liches and other powerful magic users. Extraordinary but natural means of cheating death are sometimes also punished, such as the magistrate who murders an entire starving town to save himself, or those who foresee their own deaths via divination magic and are therefore able to avoid them. Although they are capable of speaking eloquently in any language, and frequently gather vast amounts of information from those who are intimidated by their mere presence, maruts rarely engage in conversation or strategic alliances with mortals. Even on the battlefield, the juggernauts prefer to remain silent, knowing that their targets are already aware of their own transgressions and that all mortals secretly harbor dreams of immortality.
"A Marut.. usually they are silent, but they can talk in man languages and make strategic alliances on occasion"
The drow is terrified and seems earnest in his reply.
The marut puts him down.
"CHECK WITH YOUR CONTACTS AND RELAY ANYTHING YOU DISCOVER TO ME. GIVE ME SOMETHING USEFUL AND I WILL MOVE YOUR NAME LOWER ON MY LIST." says the giant.
The drow is visibly relieved. "Of course near the bottom I hope."
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Achren steps forward and bows.
"Cabalast I presume? We wish to speak with you concerning the theft of a soul at the moment of death. We have been investigating this from the scene of the crime and believe it would be in both our interests to share our discoveries and see if it will yield a better understanding."
Knowing nothing of the planes Erik keeps his mouth shut.
His hand rests on his sword hilt and he watches carefully.
"I AM. I AM AWARE OF YOU AND COOPERATION HAS BEEN APPROVED. I ASSUME YOU MEAN VERIFIED THE SCENE OF THE MURDER. I AM HOWEVER MORE INTERESTED IN GOING TO THE SCENE OF THE KIDNAPPING." says Cabalast turning around as the drow makes a quick exit towards the back.
"My method of travelling the realms is personal. I trust you have your own? Meet me in the Inner court."
after you confirm with Cabalast you can travel there he vanishes in a flash.
You use the Spiral again and once you regain your senses you find yourselves standing in what seems to be an endless graveyard stretching in all directions and there seems to be no sign of Cabalast.
This is the graveyard of souls, the outermost area of the Boneyard were the atheist, agnostic and blasphemers are buried. This place is plagued with restless spirits and the occasional Daemon come to feast on them so one must beware. Oddly enought you had meant
While most people imagine the Boneyard as one giant graveyard, there is a great deal more to it. It is a vast disc, hovering high above the perfectly ordered and lawful city-plane of Axis, whose elegant geometry can sometimes just barely be seen in the distance. Most of those who seek the Boneyard ascend from Axis, climbing the thousands of stairs of Pharasma's spire up towards the Inner Court of the Boneyard. The spire is surrounded by the flow of the river of souls the means by which souls arrive in this realm.
The Inner Court is a massive courtyard filled with Demons and Angels and all sorts of other outsiders, attempting to persuade mortal souls to join their home plane in the afterlife. At the center lies Pharasma's palace, and while most judgements are passed long before the soul actually reaches the boneyard or worked out through deals in the inner court, she personally presides over the most difficult and complex cases.
Beyond the inner court, the plane is divided into eight courts, each dedicated to an outer plane, where souls who's judgement was already determined end up. They tend to resemble the plane they are devoted to, though with much more decoration and celebration to tempt those who haven't already decided. At the far end of each is a portal to the plane it represents, allowing each access to and from the Boneyard.
The one exception to this is the Devouring Court of Abaddon, plane of daemons and death and pure evil. It is entirely barren, aside from the miserable souls that shuffle their way to damnation, and the occasional daemon who guides them to their doom. The largest and outermost section of the disc is called the graveyard of souls, endless fields of graves and catacombs as far as you can see and beyond. While some souls devoted to Pharasma remain here as guards and guides, the souls of those who rejected to gods and refused to move on also remain here, still angry and often hostile.
Also worth mentioning is the massive skull-faced moon-god, Groetus. He is clearly visible from all sections of the plane, even from the upper half of the spire beneath. He watches and wails and draws ever closer, waiting for the time to come for him to end reality as we know it.
"We had best make haste. I don't think this is a place the living should linger."