Vel, ignoring Whiteclaw except for a bit of swearing, approaches the hut and attempts her illusion once more. Her orb flashes, and the crone is hampered by what she believes she sees.
Rubbing her shoulder Vel lets off steam by hurling a spell at the old crone. The ancient falls back as something appalling only she can see appears before her eyes.
Kia tuts loudly as Vel casts her spell at the old crone and turns her attention to Whiteclaw.
"Whiteclaw, put the flail down. Right now! Hroaldr would not be impressed."
Intimidate v Will to sort out Whiteclaw (1d20 8=18)
Kia smiles smugly as the cloud of illusion lifts from Whiteclaw's face.
"Now then, if we'd all just stay calm and stop casting spells at each other we might be able to sort this out."
She moves briskly towards the hut to see if she can clear The Rogue Knight's delusion.
"Now then, if we'd all just stay calm and stop casting spells at each other we might be able to sort this out."
Vel's jaw drops. "You're joking. She ensorceled us!"
DM
Reason
You are correct - even though I forgot to mention that you picked one up post orc.
Arianwyn looks in an almost loving way at the old woman.
"Cease." he says quietly.
Arianwyn lifts one elegant finger and white jets of fey magic encircle the ancient woman. Lifted off her feet in embracing flame, she looks momentarily ecstatic before pain takes hold and the white turns to a blaze and shrivels her already withered form. The caressing doom sweeps her into a pile of carefully accummulated bones and she collapses, arms scrabbling to salvage her meagre possessions. She is looking extremely battered.
"Not the maps. I beg. Not the maps."
Reason enters the hut, feverishly chanting invocations to Ioun.
"You were in error to toy with us, Grandmother." Arianwyn says sternly. "I suggest you start pleading for what passes for your life. And you will tell us what you know of our mission."
As the spell lifts from her, Whiteclaw looks to Vel. "I'm sorry." she says and then turns back towards the old woman with a growl, her eyes angry.
For Rev
TRK
Not a problem. Let me know when things ease up for you.
Reason's divine power added into an already heady mix is too much for the piteously misguided eladrin woman.
Weakened by the numerous spells cast at her, seeing hideous visions and being thrown around her hut like a rag doll seems to drag the crone back to lucidity. Looking directly at The Rogue Knight, she closes her eyes and murmurs "Thy will returns."
As the beguilement leaves him, she crawls off the bone pile, both arms held out in a gesture of surrender. "No more. I have been too long alone. No more."
The Rogue Knight trembles as his actions become his own once more. Faint memories of earlier domination in his service to Kord leak into his head and he sinks weeping to his knees.
For Kruelaid
** spoiler omitted **
Kruelaid
Whiteclaw growls again, but makes no move to attack the woman. It's hard for her to resist the urges to attack, but she fights down her gnoll nature and stays where she is.
"Not your fault," Vel mutters to Whiteclaw, but does not attack.
Rev:
Kia strides into the hut and glares down at the crone.
"Now then, if we've all quite finished hurling magic around, why don't you just show us this map you mentioned and tell us some more about what kind of bargain the old kings made. If, that is, any of this ancient history is remotely to do with our task. If not, then please be quiet, and we'll be on our way."
"I would also be interested in any lore that you might have about either bargain, the one made by these ancient kings or the one made by my people."
Arianwyn sits with the old woman.
"Ah, you know so much, do you not? Give the telling unto us, and be unburdened."
With a small sigh, the crone slumps to the floor, carefully avoiding the gaze of any of the companions and begins her tale.
"I cannot tell if the fall of Bael Turath took the same road as the fall of the savage kings. At least in part, their paths must have been as one. They sought power did they not, your people of old? So too did the kings. Power and long life. More than long life, eternity. My grandsire was a mage to the kings in those days. He was young then and wanted some little of that power for himself. Why not? We are a long-lived race, we eladrin, and length of days has called us always."
Lucidly and with precision, she tells the story. At first the obsession with eternal life lead the people to build tombs to draw back their honoured dead in future times. Then later kings made a pact with a demon lord in exchange for the secrets of eternal life. She tells of how the pact was corrupted and the kings sent mad. How at last all that remained was the last king who with his mage challenged the might of the demon and broke the bondage. In desperate rage, the king and his army cast down the demon and its body sank back into the earth.
Not all was well however. The spot where the demon fell was known as the Maw and for long centuries it was forgotten. Alas, when the demon was banished from its body, not everything was destroyed. The skull was too strong and too evil and was lost. Without its destruction, the Maw would awaken if fed with blood.
"To close the Maw, you must find the skull. Find the skull of the demon and return it to the Maw. It lies in the ancient tombs of the old kings. My army would have taken that path. My army that fears nothing. But my power is broken. Corrupted by time like the ancient kings and my own grandsire." Bitter tears course down the crone's face.
"Take my maps. It may be that you can succeed where I and my warriors shall surely fail. The world has moved on and changed. But you must act. The Maw is awake and the Maw is greedy. The corruption will spread."
With loving care she pulls a map from the pile of bones and hands it to you, pointing out certain areas she has identified and marked in an antique hand.
Arianwyn looks grim during her story and then smiles at the end. He kisses the old eladrin's forehead gently.
"Rest now, Grandmother." he says softly.
A hungry look comes to Reason's face, and a stream of questions spill from him.
"Does this map detail the location of this "Maw" or the tomb or both?"
"Do you believe the skull and the Maw are at the same location?"
"Does this path lead to the area on your map?"
"Do you have documents about the fall of Bael Turath, or maps relating to that kingdom?"
"What other ancient knowledge is stored here?"
"What price do you place on obtaining copies of your lore?"
He finally stops for a breath, allowing the crone time to answer, and his companions to interject.
Leaning towards the map, aged fingers point out a few salient features. "This map shows only the tomb of the king. It lies deep in the rock and it will test you - for so it was designed. Its purpose is to return the greatest of the savage kings in the time of most need. The skull will lie within it. Where, I cannot say, but it will be guarded as a treasure. Be warned. The skull still lives. What it may have done to the working of the tomb I cannot guess."
"The Maw and the tomb are different. To reach the tomb, you must follow this cliff to the east. A day's journey, perhaps more. The Maw cannot be missed. It is corrupted ground. Return to the road you left to journey here and go ahead. It lies before you. Someone has wakened it. I see the growth of blight all around me."
The old woman looks hard at Reason. "Be very sure you wish to know more of Bael Turath. Take heed of what has happened here and if your soul truly desires to know after you have seen the Maw, return to me. My price is simple. Do not blame me for what you may discover."
"Are we done here?"
Reason sighs and looks at the accumulated scrolls, "I suppose we can't camp here?"
Reason
I have huge sympathy for Reason. If I was confronted by what's essentially a smelly library, nothing would get me out before I'd at least worked out what was in there, even if I couldn't read it all.
"Stay if you wish. My army will warn you of any approach." The crone curls herself into a protective huddle on the floor, nursing her wounds once more.
"My name is Cian Hamaka. I have remembered."
"Please allow me to help you, sage."
"Now perhaps you could tell me about your organizational system... I would be happy to help you improve it, or restore things to their proper place....."
Arianwyn touches Reason on the arm, "Mayhap now is not the time to be organising the accumulation of several centuries?"
"Hmmmm? ...oh." Disappointment crosses Reason's features. "Are we not staying here? I'm sure that I could help organize during my watch..."
"I should be grateful for your aid in healing. For the rest ..." Cian Hamaka looks around the hut in some bewilderment, "I know where all my lore is written and placed. Forgive me, it is long since I spoke with so many of the living. Truly, I grow weary. What do you seek? In the morning I will find you scrolls to help in your quest."
She reaches up then and places a hand on Arianwyn's face. "There is something of my grandsire in you, for good or ill."
Reason's balm heals the worst of her burns and she falls into a light meditative trance.
Reason
Isn't D&D wonderful? One minute you're all trying to blast the old girl out of existence, the next you're offering to help with the filing.
Reason ** spoiler omitted **
DM
Oh, and I'm the same as you when it comes to libraries, or worse, second-hand book stores.
Reason
"We should camp here but outside. She used magic on us, we should not trust her." Whiteclaw opines.
Arianwyn bows to the old woman.
He says in Elven, "Amin autien rath, yaaraer; Elen sila lumenn omentilmo."
Very softly, in elven
"Quel esta. Llie wethrine amin. Llie naa belegohtar."
Translation
"Rest well. You deceived me. You are mighty warriors."
The night passes without incident and you are greeted in the morning by Cian Hamaka's skulls singing an invocation to the new day. She emerges from her hut with more offerings to help you. Another map and a scroll which she gives reverently to Reason.
"This may be of use to you. I had thought to keep it for myself, as my days are numbered now, but now it is my thought that you may have greater need. When my time comes, I shall go gracefully."
For a fleeting instant, you catch a glimpse of the heartbreaking beauty she must once have been.
Prior to resting, Reason spent some time circling the campsite, chanting and gesturing.
Arianwyn takes her hand.
"Thy gifts are as welcome as the sweet rain to a summer drought. You shall not be forgotten."
With that he kisses her.
Cian Hamaka shakes her head gently as Arianwyn kisses her again.
"You flatter my years. Ascarer, uuma ma' ten' rashwe, ta tuluva a' lle. As you well know."
Translation
Impetuous one, don't look for trouble, it will come to you.
"Lady, is there aught you can tell me about this Forge you have indicated on your map?", Reason asks.
To the others, he says, "It appears that the simplest way to proceed is to return to the bridge and cross there."
"Alas, I can tell you but little."
She touches Reason on the arm and beckons him closer so that she can whisper to him.
Reason
"I would not say so in their hearing, for fear of giving them offence, but my most recent heads have not the wit of their predecessors. Tis partly this that tells me my powers are waning. They spoke only of Kyleth, Queen of the Forge. Indeed," she smiles wryly, "they would say little else. The words seemed almost to be a charm to them."
"Do we not need to go east to find the skull first? We should go east first, I think then throw the skull into the Maw when we have it. It's amazing how simple things can be when you have a little help."
Kia nod's respectfully in the direction of Cian Hamaka.
"Oh, and does the name Kyleth mean anything to you?"
"My heads speak of her. "Queen of the Forge" they call her. She came but recently, with orcs and others for protection."
"She inspires a fervent passion in her followers. Know you aught else of her?"
"I am somewhat skilled in beguilement and know well the effects. I should surmise this Kyleth is likewise talented. Beyond that, I can offer you little."