His lips move soundlessly for a moment, before he nods and the spell ends.
"She says that teleportation may not be an option. She will contact me via dream tonight with more details. We should ask Jade if she knows of a way for you all to join in the conversation. Her expertise with Dreams and the Ethereal far outstrips mine." he says, standing and belting his rapier around his waist.
"I don't suppose anybody knows where she is at the moment?" he asks.
"Unfortunately, no. Still, if teleportation isn't an option, it would be best to know what our options are before going in blindly. Shall we look for her?"
Kallant looks around wondering how to add value.
"Yes. I need to do a walkthrough of the community anyway, this week is scheduled for spot-checks..." he mumbles, leading you out of his manor-fort. From there it's a ten or fifteen minute walk north to the village proper.
The village is small, you confidently judge less than a thousand, and probably not more than eight hundred. It is orderly and well maintained though, with a single paved road leading from the manor, through the center of the village, all the way to the mine in the north. It is mostly surrounded by a winding half wall of stone, probably excavated from the salt mine, with two guard towers, one to the west, and one to the east. Most of the houses have small, surprisingly flourishing gardens shared between neighbors. You see a few women or older children tending them.
Lord Vezivo stops and speaks to several villagers, asking brief, to the point questions about any problems or needs they might have. Aside from the village blacksmith, who seems to be very short on raw materials (and very irritated by such), nobody has any complaints, and so the conversations go quickly. The clockwork drake runs off with a group of boisterous children who are still too young to be put to work.
He briefly stops in the eastern tower, which has a small garrison who report nothing untoward happening, then he goes back north towards the mine. Before entering he pulls a full-face mask from a large bin by the entrance, pulling it over his face and gesturing you to do the same.
"Salt mines are problematic because of ambient salt dust. It will dehydrate you extremely quickly. I have to have a druid or priest with each team casting create water just to keep up operational efficiency. They also gouge me on lesser restoration wands," he half-shouts grumpily as you step into the mine.
It is surprisingly bright and open inside, lights mounted at regular intervals on the walls and ceilings. He leads you out of the main cavern and down a short but winding tunnel to a much smaller hollowed out area. You occasionally have to stop and brush off the salt-dust from your mask to keep it from obscuring your vision. You see Jade talking to someone who is sitting at a desk.
"Ah, there you are," he says to her, then turns his attention to the person behind the desk, whom you assume to be the foreman. They talk just briefly, as Jade seems to have already gone over most of the pertinent information. The man hands Lord Vezivo a thin book, which he pockets, then he nods and leads you back out of the mine.
Outside you all take your masks off and take a deeper than normal breath of fresh air before following Lord Vezivo back to his manor. It is a mostly silent walk, with Jade not saying anything, and Lord Vezivo only occasionally pointing out some person of interest or commenting on how well the druids have been doing on growing the nearby forest in an orderly fashion.
Eventually you all return to his study and get all the salt-dust shaken out of your clothes and armor.
"So Lady Nought is going to communicate with me via dreamscape tonight. I was wondering if there was any way you could arrange things so that the Hellknights might be able to join in on the conversation?" Lord Vezivo asks.
"Ugh. Yeah, but it's going to be a pain with this many people..." she complains, tapping her chin and thinking.
"And with both you and her there, you all are going to light up the dreamscape like a beacon. Not saying you all can't handle yourselves, but I imagine a bunch of hags are going to hinder conversation. I think it'd be best to tunnel it..." she trails off, thinking. After a moment, Lord Vezivo clears his throat.
"Tunnel it?" he prompts. Jade refocuses and sighs.
"Yeah. So typically, what I would do is just use dream travel to pull them into your dreamscape. The problem is, like I said, you and the Lady are powerful enough that you're going to attract a lot of attention. And dream travel means that they'd be there physically, not in a dream body like you would be, which isn't very safe. So I think what I'm going to do is have them sleep in a mindscape, and do the dream travel from there. That way only their astral body would be present in the dreamscape, so even if something big and bad does show up, they're not going to get eaten. It's a method I use sometimes when I have to go somewhere in the dreamlands that is dangerous even for me. It will inhibit a lot of what you can do, but at least you don't have to worry about dying."
"Very well. Is that acceptable to you?" he asks, turning to you.
Urashu frowns, his thoughts spinning rapidly as he tries to keep up. He finally shakes his head. I really need to study divination more.
"How limited would we be? While I don't wish to risk our lives needlessly, if we are unable to do anything to defend ourselves, that could be problematic."
"Very. Your access to most magic will be cut off. Anything that uses your soul or your body won't work. Only purely mental things will. And even that is difficult. The upside is that pretty much nothing will effect you. There's a few esoteric spells that can banish you, but that's pretty much it. This method is really only useful for scouting and messaging," Jade explains.
Kallant shrugs and looks around wondering how to add value, beyond being a passenger/witness.
Kizziar waits, trying and failing to follow the magical explanation.
"I'm fine with this arrangement. I'll do my best to guide the rest of you through the mindscape," Melii says, no stranger to the occult.
"Hmmm...since we only need messaging, I believe this is acceptable. How big of an issue can we expect any interference to be?"
"Hmmm...since we only need messaging, I believe this is acceptable. How big of an issue can we expect any interference to be?"
Jade shrugs.
"It depends. The biggest threats would be a nightmare dragon or a hag coven. There's none in this area of the Ethereal, but the Dimension of Dreams is a totally different matter spatially. I can't patrol that in any reasonable fashion, since it's so fluid, so I have no way of saying what might be around. Typically if you need to guard your dreamscape you use a spell or get someone who can focus on just your dreamscape specifically," she stops and thinks.
"Really even a hag coven probably wouldn't do anything. The Lady's dreamself is scary as f$%%. Only something as prideful as a dragon would willingly mess with that," she muses.
"Ultimately I'm not too worried. You're basically untouchable, Mal can take care of himself decently well, and the Lady is practically a demi-goddess."
"I'm fine with this arrangement. I'll do my best to guide the rest of you through the mindscape," Melii says, no stranger to the occult.
"Excellent then," Lord Vezivo nods, "I shall see you all tonight then."
Night eventually falls, and Jade enters your suite.
"Time to go. Everybody ready?" she announces. You all nod your assent. You each lay down in your bed and one by one Jade casts a spell on you. A dull crimson glow fills your vision then clears.
It is now dark. Not enough to impede your vision, just enough to make lots of shade. Other than that there are no features of significance, just the dim gloom expanding infinitely outward.
"This is just a quick one I made up. It's only going to last a couple hours before it fades," she explains once you all arrive.
"Now it's time for dream travel. It's going to be weird, so stay close to me or her," Jade jerks her thumb at Melii.
"I'm very very good at this, but there's always some chance something might go wrong."
Her eyes glow a glimmering yellow as shapes and symbols crawl through the air around her. After a few seconds they snap into some larger esoteric configuration and the world twists and blurs around you.
"We are ready. Let us begin."
Once they are within the dream, Morvan takes a moment to adjust his senses, and then says, "When you are ready, we shall proceed."
The trip is surreal and hazy, like you are slightly buzzed and dissociated. It takes over an hour, and you travel through well over two dozen different dreamscapes. You see all manner of horrors and paradises and everything in between. You see things that would make even the most hardened Hellknight turn away in real life, and see beauty that would captivate even the most depraved of devils. Just as many though are boring and mundane, but the sheer gamut of different dreams makes you distantly glad for the emotional protection that the spell provides.
It takes about an hour, but you finally reach your destination, and you can feel the bubble of protection that Jade's spell provided almost audibly pop as you enter Lord Vezivo's dreamscape.
The dreamscape itself is interesting enough. A burning house blazes in the midnight background, as indistinct figures rush around trying to put it out. Where you are though is brightly lit and pleasant, some sort of courtyard or pleasure garden. Lord Vezivo and the Uniila devil are seated on a bench, discussing magical theory with a hoard of indistinct, whispy spirits. Behind them stands another man, indistinct and dark, wearing all black and a full face mask made of fire.
Ah, you're here, the devil floats over to you.
"He not lucid yet?" Jade asks suspiciously. The devil shrugs.
Until Lady Nought arrives, I saw no need to interrupt his rest.
"Uh huh," Jade grunts dismissively. She apparently agrees with the devil's logic though, as she merely sits down and watchs Lord Vezivo as he teaches the increasingly diverse group of spirits.
You're not entirely sure how much time passes before Lady Nought arrives, but you all notice immediately when she does. Lord Vezivo hurriedly stands, and the dreamscape alters drastically. A slight flicker, and you are suddenly standing in what appears to be the burning interior of a star. All around you is light and heat and pressure, and while it doesn't harm you, it is disorienting and vaguely intimidating.
What is even more intimidating however is the Lady herself. She is heavily tattooed with luminescent symbols and designs, some of which you think might be arcane runes, but others seem to be little more than lines and dots. Her head is shaved bald, and atop it is a slim band of darkness, the crown so dark and slim that it's hard at first to tell that it's not just another tattoo. Peering out of the band are another set of eyes. She is similarly garbed in loose robes of darkness, though the light from her tattoos pierces them, and they seem to hover around her, as if gravity does not affect them. A rainbow aurora surrounds her form, contrasting with the dark clothes like the rainbow in a sheen of oil. If flares and spikes and waves slowly, outlining but not obscuring her form.
Her face is set into a perfectly neutral expression, and her voice, when she speaks, is a curious blend of low husky seduction and curious innocence.
"Lord Vezivo, I am glad to see you again," she says warmly, voice contrasting with her neutral expression. Vezivo doesn't bow, but fully kneels, his face (what you can see before he lowers it) expressing a deep reverence. She then turns to you.
Urashu marvels at the world around him, even the horrors. His mind latches onto the various oddities and reviews them in his mind continuously. He is caught off guard when Lady Nought arrives, and is just pulling himself out of his revery when she turns her gaze to him.
Melii tries to stays focused on the task at hand. She can sense the hierophant spirit inside of her steeling her resolve and heightening her senses, but the dreamscape can still be quite disorientating.
As Lady Nought turns her attention towards them. Morvan attempts to steel himself, against that gaze. He attempts to notice as much of her as he can - although his first impression of her is quite an impressive one.
Kallant follows orders to stay close and lives in the moment absorbing the awe full visions.
Kizziar is mostly unfazed by the dreamscapes, though quite impressed by Lady Nought’s apparent power. He tries his best to keep a level head and watch her closely.
You each feel the presence of Lady Nought hit you like an avalanche. With the exception of Morvan, you each kneel, a mingled love and terror of her gaze overwhelming you. After a brief moment, the feeling fades but does not leave, feeling like a solid pressure in the back of your mind. You carefully stand back up, but are cautious about looking directly at her again.
Lady Nought's gaze lingers on Morvan a moment before addressing you.
"I... apologize. I have yet to figure out a way to turn that off," she admits with the air of someone desperately trying to trivialize something that is realistically more than trivial.
"As I'm sure Lord Vezivo has already told you, I am Jacqueline Nought. I trust that you are the force Vicarius Torchia sent to rescue that Hellknight that Hellion abducted?" she asks.
Morvan notes the surroundings behind her as she enters - grey, metal restraint tables and bright lights. A prison of some kind? Perhaps she had a captive with information.
The only one to remain standing, Morvan nods and says, "We are. I am Maralictor Morvan Fellis. I understand we may be able to work with you to enter the facility where he is being held?"
She nods her head.
"It will be difficult. Both Hellion and the Technic League are doing their best to interfere with my magic, and I have only myself and a few dozen people to run interference. I am afraid that interplanar travel will be difficult at best. But I do understand that time is of the essence. I know of a ritual that will allow you to travel via ley line. While Numeria is warded against all the standard forms of teleportation, knowledge of the druidic method of ley line travel is exceedingly rare, and I have never heard of a way to block it. It is however quite difficult, and thanks to the Worldwound, has become tainted and moderately dangerous. I would not pressure you one way or the other, but I do want you to know the dangers. There are only a few places in Numeria where the ley lines flow close enough to the surface for you to arrive, so I will know where to look for you at least if you do not arrive exactly where you desire, though depending on how events continue playing out, I cannot guarantee a helpful response time. But now that I know your minds, I can keep an eye out for your dreams."
"Can you tell us more of what Hellion is, or perhaps how they are interfering with your magic? Will the same effect occur with our magic?"
"Hellion is an artificial intelligence. Think of it perhaps as a soulless ghost, that can only exist by possessing certain objects. Last we fought, it inhabited a robot. Not overly dangerous in and of itself, but guided by Hellions will it proved a significant threat. I do not know if it has since changed platforms though. Obviously, the more powerful the host it possesses, the more dangerous it becomes. However, it's main weakness is it's instability. It is overwhelmed by anger and hatred, and so has little capacity or desire to focus on any but the most basic and instinctive of its powers. That is honestly the only reason I am still alive. I think however, given events lately, it has found someone or something to shore up its magical weakness, as it now has impeccable wardings that even I cannot reliably pierce. And that worries me greatly," she sighs, then continues.
"As for the magical disruptions in the area, they are caused by multiple events, some of which are my own fault. The Technic League, Hellion, and I are all playing a long distance game of subterfuge, and we all have various levels of divine empowerment. I believe that the constant back and forth of wardings and disjunctions used to counter the scrying and teleportation tactics we've been using have slightly warped the arcane field in this region. It is close to devolving to a primal wasteland. The schools of divination and conjuration in specific tend to trigger instabilities when not cast carefully. And Numeria was never the most stable place to begin with," she explains.
Morvan pauses, thinking for a moment as he processes this information. "So, you are telling us that if we encounter Hellion on this mission, we are likely to fail at killing him, and that once we have located our lost Hellknight, we will be unable to teleport away. Summoning spells will also likely not work correctly. How long ago would you say Hellion acquired this method of shoring up its magical weakness?"
"Yes. Direct combat with any but the most basic and frail host that Hellion controls will be very likely to end badly without overwhelming numbers or some way to neutralize his divinity. There are several spells which can do this to various extents. If we ever meet in person, I can attempt to teach you," she says, cautioning you but also giving you a bit of hope.
"You can still cast your spells, it is just possible that it will go wrong or have adverse effects. I cannot predict how bad a specific area might be. I have heard of certain wizards who have developed a metamagic alteration to stabilize primal magic, but I have not had the time nor resources to develop such myself," she continues, a tiny note of annoyance finally coloring her normally neutral voice.
"It has been very recent, less than a month. He disappeared completely for a week or so after I defeated him the first time, and the next time I encountered him, he had definitely acquired some source of magic. I very strongly doubt it was his own, most likely he dominated some spellcaster, though that is suspect too. The power behind some of the spells I examined on it was considerable. A mage capable of such would certainly be highly difficult for Hellions fumbling abilities to overcome. I simply don't have enough information to speculate accurately, I apologize."
"If such a mage were heavily distracted, would that make it easier for him to overcome them?"
Urashu frowns and glances at Melii. This doesn’t seem to be shaping up well for the casters. He’ll have to remember to try a few basic spells before unleashing anything g two powerful, lest it warp and hurt his team. He dares not ask a question of magical relevance to Lady Nought though, sure that the gaps in his arcane knowledge will be apparent.
A thought does pop into his head though. “Lady Nought, i wouldn’t mention it otherwise but i am trying to seek a connection, does Helion display enhanced electrical capabilities?”
"If such a mage were heavily distracted, would that make it easier for him to overcome them?"
"Technically yes, but I still find it difficult to believe that Hellion increased in skill that much so quickly. Perhaps if the mage had been unconscious..." she frowns.
“Lady Nought, i wouldn’t mention it otherwise but i am trying to seek a connection, does Helion display enhanced electrical capabilities?”
"Not that I know of, though I'm not sure what you mean by electrical capabilities. Magically speaking, I highly doubt he knows any electrical spells. I know he does have some weapons that can produce electrical effects, but they do not seem to be any more potent than others of their kind."
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"Umm. If Hellion is overwhelmed by anger and hatred, is there any particularly sensitive topics that trigger him? Like insulting his mother or intelligence?" Kallant offers what he could while surrounded by whole lot of magical expertise.
Surprised by his flicker of empathic connection with Vespartius, Kizziar takes a second to rise to his feet and float up into the air. Hesitantly, he informs the rest of the party. Ah.... I believe I just felt a bit of my connection with Vespartius again, though only briefly. I think it may have had something to do with Ms. Nought. I'm fairly sure that Vespartius was aware of the connection as well, but beyond that I couldn't discern anything about his condition.
He listens quietly as Morvan questions Nought, slowly beginning to connect the dots. With growing trepidation Kizziar addresses Morvan telepathically. Regrettably, it seems likely that Hellion's magical support is coming from Vespartius. Should we ask Lady Nought her opinion of the possibility, or would you rather keep that quiet?
"Umm. If Hellion is overwhelmed by anger and hatred, is there any particularly sensitive topics that trigger him? Like insulting his mother or intelligence?"
"Incidentally, yes. Most of his anger is directed towards an entity called Unity, which is the being that created Hellion. Hellion's primary goal is to destroy Unity."
Urashu frowns at Lady Nought’s response, but his other theory is confirmed by Kizziar’s comment. He had guessed wrong it seems. He lets the others continue the conversation and turns his thoughts back to Vespartius, and his magical abilities. Kizziar probably knew it better, but every bit of information would probably be helpful.
Morvan returns Kizziar's telepathic thought. Indeed, that's what I was beginning to suspect. I am more interested, however, in how it is that your connection with Vespartius should briefly resume at her appearance. Let us keep this to ourselves right now.
Out loud, Morvan says, "Ms. Nought, I assume you know the precise location our Hellknight is being held. Could you give us that information, as well as how close you are to that location, and the closet point to emerge to either if we travel by ley line, since you said planar travel and teleportation were unstable?"
"Roughly. I believe he is located somewhere in the northwestern Sellen Hills. I believe in Sunder Horns territory," she grimaces.
"I am located three or four hundred miles southwest, between the Seven Tears and the Daggers rivers. The main ley line of the area runs directly through my territory. There are three other branches of significance. One runs near the Sellen River near Chesed. One runs through the Plain of Ten Thousand Swords. And one runs near Castle Urion."
She gestures, and a map appears in the air.
"Well, I've friends in the Plain of Ten Thousands Swords for what's it worth. Don't know how much help they'll be in the Sunder Horns, but we can ask." Kallant offers.
"Hmmm...so our closest ley line point to where our Hellknight is also puts us furthest from any allies. I was hoping for a much closer proximity..." Morvan trails off as he studies the map.
"Is there any other information you can impart to us, Lady Nought?"
She thinks for a moment.
"I would strongly suggest using electrical weapons and spells, most of the robots have weaknesses in that regard, as well as Hellion himself. And be very careful about attracting the attention of the Technic League. Their power is significant and far reaching. They are not the worst dangers, but they are the most pervasive. Numeria in general is not a hospitable place. Be prepared to be mostly if not entirely self-sufficient. Supplies can easily be lost, stolen, or corrupted," she thinks a bit more.
"Until you reach me physically, I don't believe I can do much more to aid you. I am under a great deal of pressure, I will not always be able to allocate time for you like this. But I will help as I can."
She turns to Lord Vezivo and nods at him, her eyes flashing. The Uniila devil glowers at this, but otherwise just continues to hover by his side.
"That should be everything you need to know to conduct the ritual. Good luck," she says, before fading from view, the dreamscape returning to it's original incarnation. Lord Vezivo rubs his temple absently.
"Well," he says, taking a deep breath, "If that's all, I'd like to get some real sleep. I'm too old for this type of excitement anymore."
Jade seems to find that amusing, and laughs.
Urashu wakes early and has trouble shaking the drea from his mind. He reviews it several times before pulling out his spell book and looking through it. He does have several options for electric spells, and he prioritizes those.
Kizziar amuses himself by flying around invisibly, levitating small objects while he waits for the others to prepare.
Melii awakens early to perform her seance with her fellow Hellknights. The spirit of the hierophant had departed during the night, but her body would not be an empty vessel for long. She calls to the familiar spirit of the champion, feeling its lust for battle suffuse her soul.
Once the ritual is complete, her eyes flash with steely resolve. "Let's do this."
Kallant feels invigorated and ready to bust some heads after that seance.
After a morning spent doing both mental and physical preparation, the everpresent Jade finds you just before lunch, and brings you all to the main gate of the manor, where Lord Vezivo and another man wait for you along with a donkey and wagon. The mans appearance matches Saren's description of Damian, down to the cigarette hanging from his lip.
"Good morning. The ritual that Ms. Nought shared with me is difficult, and we will need help. It also needs to be near a specific ley line, so we've got a bit of traveling to do. I have taken the liberty of collecting supplies for your journey. The ritual will not allow something so large as a wagon though, you'll have to carry what you want. But until then, this wagon should suffice."
After a bit more fussing with the wagon, you, Lord Vezivo, and Damian depart, while Jade stays behind. She watches you briefly before disappearing back inside the gate.
Surprisingly, Lord Vezivo walks beside the wagon with you, rather than ride, as his clockwork drake and Damian are doing. Though you wouldn't have taken him for much of an outdoorsman, he seems quite knowledgeable when he points out various flora and fauna, explaining the work he does with the local Green Faith druids to keep the region healthy and protected.
Damian, for his part, mostly just drives and smokes, responding only when directly asked a question, though you occasionally catch him eyeing Kallant's swords with a subtle smirk on his face. Less than an hour later you arrive in a small clearing. Damian parks the wagon and hops down to stretch out his legs.
"The druids should be here soon," he says. True to his word, a group of four druids, three women and a man, walk into the clearing just a few minutes later. They greet Lord Vezivo with a surprising amount of warmth, and then introduce themselves to you.
"They desire to get into Numeria, in hopes of providing what minor aid they can in stabilizing the region," Lord Vezivo explains, "And as I'm sure you know, the region is becoming warped. I have received a ritual, similar to the Transport via Plants spell, that should hopefully allow them to arrive safely via ley line travel, rather than normal teleportation. Do you think that is worth your aid?"
The druids nod and confer a moment before turning back to Lord Vezivo.
"We know the currents. We agree that it will be more reliable, but it is still not without it's dangers. The Worldwound corrupts the current near it, and there are many many unquiet spirits in that land," one woman says sadly.
"Know you where you wish to go?" the man asks. You see that one of his eyes is filmy and clouded, and surely must be blind.
"As I've said, I'd prefer to head toward the Plain of Ten Thousand Swords. It's been a while, since I've seen Rothgar. The Blades would help us." Kallant suggests again.
Melii nods in agreement with Kallant. "We should try to make use of as many allies and resources as we can."
Urashu frowns. “Will the Blades help us? Do they have any investment in this situation? I think our most helpful allies are Lady Nought and her team, though i would ask the same question of them, will they help us? Lady Nought was non-committal when she talked to us. ”
Morvan looks at Kallant. "If our goal is truly in Sunder Horns territory, it is on the other side of the country from the Plain of Ten Thousand Swords. Are you sure the Blades would be willing to cross that much land to aid us? They would have to cross the territory of the Technic League. If the only aid we will get is supplies, we may be better off just arriving closer to our destination, and save ourselves the need."