Volcano's Land - Forged in Blood (Inactive)

Game Master Miner Cotren

Samen attempts to condense their news into the briefest possible report. "A new elemental god named 'Moon' showed up in Light and took possession of all the Sylphs. Last we saw, the place was burning itself out in madness."

Iniga warmly embraces Margherita "Its good to see you too as well, its been a little while. A drink sounds very welcome, why don't we sit down somewhere and you can update me on what happened in the city while I was away."

The ifrit beer is weak piss, but at least it is cheap.

Margherita returns the embrace, a few hard, friendly pats on your back. She sits down, takes swig of the champagne-colored beer, grimaces at the taste, and lets out a loud breath.

"Well, I'll start with the big points. [b]"The Blessed came in here like a storm, defeating some darkspawn that had been growing in the Temple's own basements. They were groomed by the inquisitors, but there was some kind of disagreement. Lots of stories about exactly what happened, don't know if I believe any of them. " She shrugs her broad shoulders.

"There are three of them now - a sylph named Ibinu. He...is a Champion of the Cauldron Lady. Scary as hell. Horns. Another sylph named Inam, who serves the Warrior." She shakes her head. "She has a phoenix from the gods!"

She waves her hand toward Wamblee and Samen. "The last is an oread ele, but I can't remember what tribe or anything. Sorry. No one talks about her much."

Samen strokes his chin in thought. "Hmm, sounds like they have elementals of their own. What about the other changes? The giant tree, the missing steam, and the exploded brutbreve pitch? Are those other acts of elementals?"

"Let's see. Nobody that I've talked to knows exactly where the tree came from, but this Elder has some kind of self-proclaimed king leaving inside it, down in the roots. He could be an elemental, but I wouldn't know."

"The Steam went away right about the same time the Tree started growing. Best connection I've heard is that maybe when the Elder was planted, it absorbed the moisture and water to fuel its own growth. Nobody has claimed either act though, so it's all just guesswork."

She taps her chin in thought. "Brightfield was a weird case. I read in the papers it was just a big alchemical explosion, nothing to do with elementals. They said whoever did it was burned up by their own explosion."

"Oh, and there's a dragon on the city Council. But he looks more like an el with a big crocodile head to me. They say that the Blessed brought him back from Igniscoeli, the plane of fire! I saw him in the Temple courtyards once. He was...eating a big pile of burning wood."

Samen narrows his eyes in distrust. "A dragon, you say? We've had bad experiences with 'dragons'. Any signs of people acting strangely?"

Know Planes: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18 Do I know anything about fire-plane dragons?

"Great, two of them blessed by the gods - maybe they can finally tell me why I'm having weird prophetic dreams occasionally" Iniga remarks, folding her arms slightly, thinking on what she has heard.

"Alright, so at the same time as the Inquisition is homegrowing darkspawn, Inquisitor Locatelli is sending off Saggezza Grico to intimidate the oread tribes into falling in line with the Hand, while setting up an ambush to potentially trigger an all our conflict between the Ifrits and the Oreads. Meanwhile the oreads are being corrupted via Gem Magic from the Fey, while being influenced by someone or something with a creepy laugh. Then the Sylph's get corrupted and a gigantic face in the sky appears with an evil laugh and then a self proclaimed oread king appears in the city as a big ass tree starts growing."

Iniga huffs slightly for a moment trying to sort all the mess out. "I think we can join the corrupted oread thing and the corrupted sylph thing together. That seems to be a common connection. You can argue the Efreeti Tango thing is an attempt to corrupt ifrits but thats a little bit of a stretch. I don't know how the oread king thing fits in though, and the darkspawn inside the Temple makes no sense."

"Margherita, are Inquisitor Locatelli and Mr. Abacus still in the city? What about Saggezza Grico? He seemed to think he was in danger from Inquisitor Locatelli although I think hes more likely to retaliate against me. Are there any ifrits actually left on the Council at the moment? I don't imagine many ifrits are happy being ruled by 2 Sylphs, an Oread, and a Dragon anymore than the oread tribes would like being ruled by a couple of ifrits. I'm sure that the Blessed are doing an ok job - at least the city seems stable considering everything has happened - but it doesn't sound like there is much ifrit representation there...What is the position or situation with the Army right now? Any renewed tensions in light of the Temple / Inquisition thing or as a result of the changes the city has seen?"

Lets hope Moons corruption thing toward Sylph's doesn't extend to the Blessed now or in the near future or we are potentially kinda boned.

Samen - nothing about mind control with fire dragons: strong, flying, fire-breathing, and typically grow very large. Haven't been seen on the equal plane in hundreds of years

"This dragon sounds incredibly suspicious. At the very least, we need to understand whether it is one - and what threat it poses."

"When you put it that way Iniga, it's hard to not think it's all connected. Ky La had found a way to Moonify himself and was worshiping it. If I had to guess, there was a faction of inquisitors who had been corrupted. They spent their time and energy working to corrupt and destabilize Hearth, Light, and the Oreads. I'd bet similar shenanigans are afoot to the South and in Forge.

We need to decide if this elemental-ruled government can be trusted to be invited to the 'tribe of peace'. I'm going to go out on a limb and vote no."

Just for fun, I've updated my profile pic while in smoke form

Samen, to answer your other question, there's been no wide spread "weirdness" in Hearth like there was in Rokerenge. This seems a completely different species of dragon than the deformed thing you met in the mines.

Marg nods at Iniga's summation. "The Sagezza is here, heh. I told him very clearly he would get special attention from me if he didn't stay where I could find him. He would like to keep his tongue, so he stayed in town." Her voice goes deadpan. "He's as wise as a priest I tell you." A broad smile, more bravado than malice.

"I don't know about Locatelli or any other inquisitor. They all skipped town, or at least went into hiding, since the Blessed started killing the High Inquisitors. There was a great sign above the Temple in the shape of a phoenix, hell of a thing..." She shakes her head, remembering.

Another swig of beer, another grimace, and a loud breath, ahhh.

"Abacus is in the city, yeah. It's ah, him, Ibinu, Inam, the oread Blessed, the Archpriest, and the Captain of the Temple Guard. Those last two are ifrits for sure. I think the people are too much in awe of the Blessed to do much complaining - Inam is healing the sick, and there is no fear of the Inquisition anymore. You know what I mean?"

She thinks about your final two questions. "You know, the Army hasn't really said anything...the general feeling has been...hope. Hope that the Blessed will come to the Fronts and make everything alright." Another shrug. "But you know army life. Too cynical to hope too hard."

"And yeah, there's tension, but not as much as how bad the Inquisition could get sometimes. Now, let's be honest, things might get worse if things go bad under the Blessed, but for now nothing has gone catastrophically bad for a few rites. What more can you ask for, eh?"

Iniga shrugs slightly. "Its three sylphs, an oread, a dragon, and two ifrits. Council of Seven, with the Blessed holding permanent majority. Token ifrit representation maybe, but no real political voice - heck, there are more Sylphs on the Council than the native population. No matter what, its bad optics, and sooner or later its going to cause problems"

Iniga crinkles her brow for a moment before frowning "Wait, Abacus is still part of the Council? That means that the Blessed didn't purge the Inquisition due to Efreeti Tango but for some other reason...or maybe they are working with Efreeti Tango. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt - killing darkspawn always gets into my good books - but I do find it interesting that Efreeti Tango escaped the purge. I agree Samen, this chaos could be another step in their plan for the city."

Brooding for a moment, Iniga lets various calculations run through her mind. "I'll need to speak to Sagezza at some point. If nothing else, he could tell me some haunts of the Efreeti Tango - hopefully anyway. For our next move though, I think we should meet the Council. I want to get a read on them. I'll be honest, the purpose of the Tribe of Peace was an alliance between oreads and ifrits (initially but not exclusive). With the limited ifrit representation on the current Council at present, it doesn't matter if the Blessed agree or not - the alliance wouldn't give ifrits a fair voice on the matter which could lead to problems down the road. Lets go have a chat and see for ourselves who these Blessed are."

Worth noting that with no Inquisition, there is no need for Red Tongues, ergo Iniga has basically lost her current job as well as a lot of her personal drive / goals / character conflict. I guess she can pursue her political interests a little earlier than expected but thats about it.

"For once, I'm not trying to be a nay-sayer, but how exactly are we going to get on the Blessed's calendar? Do you think bringing accurate news of what happened in Light will be sufficient to gain an audience?"

"If not, what would?"

"Its a good point Samen, and I think ordinarily, there would be bureaucratic red tape to go through, but considering the state of the city, with established norms shattered, I think we can probably gain a quick audience especially considering our urgent news"

As a resident of the city (and politics hopeful), Iniga probably knows how to submit to the Council / processes involved / shortcuts etc

Iniga, as a v'Breda your own travels as a Red Tongue, you have connections within the city and the Temple, certainly. For a favor like this, you can either try a social check (diplomacy, bluff, etc) or you can expedite the process with say 100 gp.

Also, to put your mind at ease I hope about Iniga's motivations/goals, you will quickly find that the essential bureaucracy and nature of the Temple remains, even if the High Inquisitors are gone. The Blessed can only change things so much, despite the current composition of the Council.

"Would killing one of them get their attention? Or maybe I can slip into one of them, the one with a pretty phoenix?"

Bluff / Intimidate (add +3 if trying to conceal motives or improving attitude): 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 13 + 2 = 23

Aha, that makes sense. So its not a complete purge, just that removal of the High Inquisitors. I'm sure that's brassed some people off

'At least she is asking first' Iniga thinks to herself, grinding her teeth at Abby's remark. "Abby, if you attack, kill them, or slip into one of them they are going to see us as enemies, and undoubtedly take hostile action against us - and that includes Samen. So I would request that you not interfere least you make things worst for your one true love. There is no need to antagonize them until we know who they are and what they stand for."

I will post tomorrow, but for tonight I will say you have succeeded - you will meet with the Council near the end of their session (early evening)

Samen laughs at Abby's suggestion. "I like your moxie, but Iniga's right. Sometimes swift and brutal violence is the best solution, but other times it just complicates things."

Just minor spell preparations then for the Council Meeting. I'll cast Heightened Awareness and Heroism before hand. I'll also cast Assumed Likeness (because I *think* it works like Disguise Self in that they require physical interaction to break the illusion so I don't need to worry about its low DC) if possible. I'll also trigger Spell Kenning to cast either Raiment of Command (If Assumed Likeness doesn't work like I think it does), or Glibness (if Assumed Likeness does work like I think it does).

Wamblee tenses slightly at Abby's suggestion then relaxes as his kin talk her out of her idea.

Hopefully.

Before the meeting, Wamblee takes a dust bath if he has the opportunity and time.

Wamblee finishes his dust bath, then seeks out his kin.

"A buzzing cloud arose from my bath and tried to kill me. That was troubling."

Samen raises an eyebrow. "Either Stof is getting more active, or some other dust elemental is asserting itself."

"Don't suppose that was you trying to kill my brother?"

"Maybe you smelt really bad" Iniga remarks in a deadpan tone, not altogether sure what all the drama was with dust elementals but not really wanting to miss an opportunity to poke fun.

Do you want to investigate the Dust thing before we go see the Council?

Wamblee starts to move to give himself a cursory sniff, then realises what Iniga intended.

"Ha, ha. If any of you want a look, I left the debris in the bath. It may be swept up by now though."

We should probably investigate. Wamblee is solid at gauging people's emotions and spotting stuff. Not so much at actually piecing together clues.

"Yeah, I'll take a look, but I imagine whatever was animating it is long gone by now."

Going back to the bathhouse and using Detect Elementals

Samen, there is an elemental signature in the shape of the Smiler in your Sight. Then Stof laughs in his choking, gravedirt-basso voice.

it was definitely Stof, being enigmatic and murderous

"Hmm, there's definitely evidence of Moon activity, but the causative agent was absolutely Stof. His reach and power have increased lately, just like all the other elementals."

Samen detects Iniga's confusion and tries to clarify. "Soon after Abby... ehm... introduced herself, we attempted to communicate with the rest of the elementals. When I first tried to contact him, Stof conjured some dust mephits to kill us, presumably for his own amusement. Stof makes Abby look like an innocent school girl by comparison. If she's indifferent about murder, he seems to delight in it. I asked him a question about preparing hosts for elementals and he gave me directions to kill myself."

He sighs heavily, unsure what to do about the malicious elemental. "On the other hand, it was by his power that we made it out of Light and the Breathless Valley. I'm not sure we have the strength to overcome and dispel him, and we might someday be desperate enough to need his help again."

He turns to Abby. "What do you think? How did you four come to be imprisoned in those trinkets anyway? Should we keep putting up with his deadly pranks or seek to send him home?"

Wamblee nods at Samen's explanation and then pays close attention to Abby's response to that pertinant final question.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

"I do not remember how we came to be in those...prisons. As for Stof, do not poke at him. He would be much more dangerous if he thought you would banish him."

"Yeah, that's kinda what I thought. Any recommendations on managing him such that he stops trying to kill us?"

Wamblee stares at Abby.

"I believe you about Stof. I do not believe you about the prisons. How did you come to be in them?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Samen looks back and forth between Abby and Wamblee. One, stubborn as a rock, and the other an Oread.

"Hmm. If she's lying, she must not trust us yet. We should probably ask Obdurate whenever we have an hour or six. I really need to get him a host. Next group of people we need to kill, remind me to save one of them for him."

Abby turns her attention to Samen, batting Krissa's eyelashes. "I can help you lock up Stof very well, if you get your brother to drop the annoying questions."

she seems to be telling the truth about this offer

feel free to finish with Abby, but I'm also moving forward like I promised...probably 4 days ago.

From the King's Corner, you go west, toward the Temple and away from the skeleton of Brightfield Arena. You walk down...what would have been a street filled with steam--as it had been for centuries--just a few rites ago. Now, you stand in the shadow of a Quiet Elder that grows in ifrit lands, in an ifrit city.

Iniga,

You pass by once-prosperous specialty boutiques that grew exotic flowers or spices or perfumes in the Steam. Most of them are boarded up. There are very few guards here, and you see many groups of ifrits on the northern half of the neighborhood look south toward the Elder with frowns on their faces, muttering discontent.

Now into the courtyards, the gray domain of stone, obsidian, and faith that the Temple calls home. You are set to meet your contact at an ashbread line near an old, copper-green statue of a dying efreet.

And you see him. Tomas Crosso. The healer that failed to heal, when it mattered the most. The faithless priest. That old, ugly night wells up in your mind for a moment, Alizeh hurt and this weak-chined, bespectacled ifrit boy blubbering that his healing magic was gone-

He looks older now, worry lines around his boyish features. The same round glasses, him seem ready to weep. His voice is carefully neutral. "Hello Iniga. It's quite a favor to see the Council on short notice...but then, there's quite a weight on my conscience, still." He does not look you in the eye. "Did you have any questions, about what the members are like or anything? I don't actually know the Blessed at all - I've only served the older members."

Samen laughs at the flirtation, though he is not unaffected by it.
"In his defense, I was the one who asked the annoying question. Trust isn't built by forcing issues. You'll tell us when you're ready, or you won't. It's even odds you were imprisoned to save the world long ago, and I get why you might not want to tell us that. You're free and star-boy is essentially inaccessible, so it's not like we'd be able to revert things to the way they were before.

Whether that's the truth or not, you have your reasons for being evasive, and I'm inclined to leave it at that. Let's go size up some 'Blessed'."

Iniga might not be pleased with Tomas, but she didn't bear him any direct ill will. He had tried, after all, and sometimes that was all you could do. She let Tomas think he owed her big though, because honestly, it helped to have favors from people within the Temple - a rarity.

'Its good to see you Tomas. If you have a moment to give me a quick rundown on the Council, and what happened in the Temple, I'm all ears. A bit of information is always useful."

Technically as an ex spy from Hearth Iniga probably knows who most of the existing Council members are already - its the new members recently added to the Council she might not know much about.

Earlier...

"I will not press the issue either."

***********************

"The Elder drinks deep and happily this day. I hear his roots.", notes Wamblee as they pass the giant tree.

He stops, watches, and listens carefully as this Tomas speaks.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

Tomas nods, and gives you the same information Iniga knows of old. Abacus and the Archpriest are nothing new, bearers of the status quo. Captain Dove, head of the Temple Guard, is said to be shrewd. The dragon--a very young specimen, basically elen-sized--is very temperamental. Ibinu, the follower of the Cauldron Lady who bears horns upon his brow in Her name, is the de facto leader of the Blessed.

After he finishes the brief summary, he adjusts his spectacles. He is about to show you up to the stairs, when a runner approaches him, cheeks red from the cold and the exertion. The ifrit boy speaks a few words to Tomas, then jogs off again, away from the Temple.

Frowning, baffled, he says, "They left. They, ah, found a mage that knows how to teleport, and they left."

who? where did they go?

"The Blessed. They left to go investigate Light." He shrugs. "Last time, they went to Igniscoeli and brought back the dragon. I wonder what they'll drag back this time."

still want to meet the council? there will be replacement/secondary members in their stead

Wamblee: Tomas is sincere, and telling the truth when he speaks. He is guilty, and wants to help Iniga.

They must be scared of us :D

Yes, there is still a reason to meet with the Council providing that the Council can still make decisions with the Blessed away. I'll still precast my buffs before we enter.

Tomas casts a brief blessing upon himself, and squints at your lingering spells. (detect magic)

"Umm, they won't allow any enchantments inside the Council Room. Same thing with magic items." He sees you about to protest, and adds, "They won't take them or anything. You just have to go through a big hallway of dispelling magic. It'll wipe away any spells, and suppress your magic items for about an hour." He looks at each of you. "Okay?"

In response to talk about dispelling, Abby says, "What's the word again? Oh yes. Vulc that, if you please. I'd rather go eat a sandwich with tomato sauce and enjoy the taste on this disgusting thing you elens call a tongue. Coming Samen? All that talking will be boring anyway."