Volcano's Land - Mercury Morn

Game Master Miner Cotren

"I think you're wrong entirely. Moon and Dark are opposite, yet both have disregard for Elenity. Moon sees us as slaves, and Dark, as best I can tell, sees us as hosts or food. White obsidian... it was supposed to be a miracle in the war against Dark. A small bit of it can decimate the toughest of darkspawn. A medium bit of it drives Sylphs moon-crazy. A large bit of it summons Moon."

Samen groans and sits down, weary and wounded. He covers his head with his hands. "I know how to defeat Moon, at least in principle. It comes at a cost, perhaps one too unbearable even for me. We must feed Light to the Dark."

wait... Drives sylphs crazy? Did that not happen to the inquistors who where making shadowdancers like myself? During my short departure... to handle my condition, i entered a dream state. Someone in that dream told me the white obsidian would both cure my condition and make me stronger.

"Not stronger. More strongly aligned to Moon perhaps, like the mad Sylphs. It's possible it could remove the darkness from you, but it sounds like you experienced something akin to an Efreeti temptation. You are you, Gabriel, not what elements touch you. Your unique connection to the Dark may be necessary to fight Moon."

Phon breathes heavily after being slammed into by the golem, and eventually catches her breath. She was happy this place was full of thick, watery air.

"You need to be who you are Gabriel. I wouldn't trust anyone with altering your inherent being." That's all she was going to say on the matter for now, it didn't seem important while Gabriel held some information about her cousin.

"Either way Samen, you think this blasphemous process will actually work? I don't know how to feel about it, nor do I know how the gods feel about me pursuing it." She lets the words linger, hoping for some kind of divine providence, but she knew not to expect it. "Theoretically, if you were right, how would we even go around to doing it? I'm not the most adept at putting together magic, only taking it apart."

Sorry holidays and hospitals are slowing me down a lot. Its becoming difficult to keep up.

"This wouldn't be magic, it'd be something far more vexatious. Politics. We would need to convince the Northern tribes and the Ifrit military to cut off all supply lines to Light and cease all efforts to hold back the Dark in those areas. "Best" case, Darkness swallows Light, worst case, all of Moon's efforts must be spent on holding back the Dark instead of invading Hearth.

But are we even willing to sacrifice an entire city?"

"Great warriors!" A few of the undine workers come around the corner, smiling and waving at you. "You have prevailed!" They come bearing trays of bread, cheese, and apples. Others have decanters of clean water.

you realize it may be better to talk about such heavy subjects in the safety of your camp

As Samen prattles about killing cities and being boring and not talking about the Fey, Krz says to Gabriel, "Hey! Sneaky guy! That old warlock doesn't know everything about everything, you know. Maybe white obsidian can help you if you get just the right amount!"

perhaps... It is not a matter of who i am but who to trust and where i place my blade of vengeance Gabriel says plainly stating his intent, If this material can cause insanity then i do not trust it, the dark, if confusing, has always been direct with its intent and... For lack of better term pays it's rent on time. It is the light that has always been the one to wrong me. With that Gabriel pockets the Ring and Bottle's to be analyzed later.

Samen gets up off the ground and spritzes himself with some acid, and, after tying him up, hits the inquisitor with a ray of frost to stabilize him. "We'll need to interrogate him, but not here. We should get back to camp, but we should check if there's anything we need to desecrate here."

Spellcraft or Knowledge Planes: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20 (Desecration check)

With Samen looking around the room for more things to break, Abby sniffs at the magic of the inquisitor, creamy like milk and full of alcoholic madness fumes. Just a sniff. Sammy will let her have a few fingers. If she is patient. Which she will be.

Samen, it takes you a moment to process, but...the room is already desecrated, taking away Moon's power. You see on the northern wall what started as River imagery was scrawled over with crescents and signs of slumber, which would have made the scene belong to Moon. These markings are old.

But there is evidence of recent tampering - you see the corpses of the undine assassins (defeated before you went into the dreamlands) have been dismembered. Upon the walls: a symbol of eight undine arms, spread radially with hands pointing outward. The crescents and other Moon symbology has been blotted with dark blood. You do not know who this new scene is dedicated to.

up to you if you want to desecrate what has already been done here, but someone has already been through here during the two candles you spent in the dreamlands.

inquisitor is stable, tied up, still uncons
same with assassin

you also have undine workers that are part of Kylen's retinue that are attempting to grovel to you

Phon Vos lets most of the conversation roll off her shoulders. There is time for more discussion at camp, after the captured and the wounded are seen to. Despite her injuries that scream as she stands up from crouching, she does not mentally group herself with the wounded.

Clearing her throat, she addresses the undine workers in a dry voice. "Thank you. I'll take some of that water." After a long drink, she says, "Much better. Can you lead us out of here again?"

The workers nod.
they are ready to go when you all are

Satisfied that the room is sufficiently de-consecrated, Samen starts putting big chunks of the golems into his bag, as much as he can carry. "This is at the very least evidence, if not worth a great deal. Let's get back to camp."

The undine workers sing the way forward, filtering out the worst filth of the sewers as they lead you back to the surface. They give you food and water and compliments as you require, obviously used to dealing with Kylen and his demands.

***

In the wake of broken mirrors and fogged dreams, the skein of reality still strains thin in the now-empty chamber. Appearing suddenly from nowhere and landing with a plop heard by no one, a soft object hits the stone floor. It is pale, like the hand of a ghost.

Chapter Seven. Acceptable Sacrifices.

It is seventeenth candle. Dinner time.
you are back in your camp at this point, unless there is any specific RP you want to do out of sewers, in town, etcetc

Sorry, been traveling and AFK for a bit, back now!

"I know that we do not all trust my newfound allies in the Young Elder. However, we should tell them what we have learned here. The news will spread anyway, and it would be both prudent to be the ones who bring it to their ears, and wise to tap the knowledge they might have. And I should speak to Samen more about Abbygailiwy. The interest she seems to have taken in me, and the promises I have made to her... I would avoid both discord or harm to any in our party, myself included."

"Prudence, yes, wisely said! And wine, too!"

Samen grunts agreement. "Could we do it in the morning? I need a few hours in the healer's tent after that fight."

I'm traveling a little over the next few days, so let's say all the PCs go their separate ways for the evening/night. Feel free to RP your dinner, errands, tasks, prayers, healing, etc. I'll post on Monday.

I'm just posting a little scenery as we go, still feel free to RP yourselves to bed, etc

It is a strange sight to see so many ifrits climbing, like a Volcanic eruption in reverse. Even the least athletic sylph can effortlessly keep up with the best of Volcano's people, so why even bother?

But this is the Wargames, and ifrits can make whatever rules they please. The soldiers and players of Guerragioco do all their competing in scale mail, which tilts the odds away from the fragile sylph race.

Throughout the city they climb everything in sight: the city walls, brutbreve pits, siege engines, and of course the Temple itself in the culminating event for the day. You hear the shouts and curses of the crowd as they urge on their favorite players- you hear the name 'Corde' frequently. You smell spiced sausage and yellowish ifrit beer.

I could enter these games and probably win. Or better yet, find an unlikely challenger and elevate them to victory. Abnaki smiles a little at this, indulging briefly in the daydream of helping a poor, down on his luck contestant find victory, fame, fortune. But it was short lived. He was battered, broken, and almost tapped out of magic power for the day. Tomorrow was going to be perhaps even rougher than today. Not least of which because he had to work with Kylen again. And he had to find out exactly what he had promised to Abby.

"Krysztoff, how exactly do you work? Can you report back to the Young Elder for me, either by mental communications, or by delivering a letter? Or do I need to schlep myself over to make a report before I get to sleep?"

Perhaps... it had been a long and rough day, and he had become much more keenly aware of his own mortality after meeting Phon's new traveling companions. Perhaps he would seek out Gethis and talk with her. He grabs a particularly juicy pair of sausages and does his best to find the sylph.

I'll also be gone until after New Years. I should be back to normal starting after then!

There is a long moment of silence. You think that Krz might be pretending to be asleep. But then he says,

You are a...good person, Abnaki. My body is still in [i]Wrozkadom, and I can do as you ask. What would you have me report?[/i]

Taken slightly aback at the unexpected compliment, Abnaki pauses for a moment. Is everything alright Kryz?
.
.
.
In terms of of what to report, tell them everything that happened. Tell them about Samen's ideas. The dream-quest. Ask for their advice and guidance. There was much to consider tonight. Much was learned.

Everything is fine, Abnaki. When I was chosen for this...partnership with you, I was expecting a greedy fool or an arrogant ass, like they tell in the tales. You are not that. I wonder if all elens are this boring.
I will take the warlock's insane, destructive notions to the Council, among other things if that is what you wish.
I will be back by morning.

And with that, your Fey partner recedes into the very back of your mind, dormant.

Samen, you feel Stof surreptitiously seep back into the woodcut. There just might be a whiff of gratitude beneath the familiar stench of bilious hate.

After getting his wounds patched up, and having a dinner of contemplating whether or not he's willing to throw Light under the Pagona cart, Samen makes good on his earlier promise.

"Whoever wants to see a star, come gather around."

(Casting planar inquiry, calling Samoon's star)

Although Abnaki would love to see a star, he's probably going to go flirt with his interest while there aren't any strange outsiders that might get the idea to wear them like a coat hanging around.

Samen,

You call to the fragile white light that Samoon once called 'Shama'...

I actually want to do material components for once, more for RP than anything. Instead of 100 gp / HD though, let's just say ~100 gp of appropriate materials to lure / entice / pay respect to the being you are calling. RP as you will, but let me know if you have any questions.

Gabriel watches the game from afar, Studying. Trying to think of a way, any way to rebalance the odds of the game... He has little kinship with his own kin or really anyone, what mattered was your actions and intent. Quietly he turns to see the commotion of his new group.

He the get's an idea, maybe inspired by his new surroundings and goes to the Wargames to see if he can... cheat the system of change the rules on his own less than legal terms. Well, maybe legal he is an Ifrit regardless of appearance.

Samen gathers up materials for an offering for Shama. Silver shavings, diamond dust, and glittering gold. Scintillating baubles for a star's pleasure. He spreads it out over a black mat and hangs a torch over it for light and shadow to interact and sparkle.

"Come, Shama. I have questions for you, and new friends to meet."

Gabriel, if you are considering ways to cheat at the Wargames, the climbing event would not be ideal. Instead, as you watch and listen, you hear a few possibilities: tomorrow will be a day of riddles, acrobatics, and chess. Let me know if any of those appeal to you, and what yuor plans are.

Samen,

Judging from the instantaneous response that your spell garners, you guess your offering was well-chosen. The glittering cloud of mortal riches that you laid upon the ground now shimmers with bright new life, like the silver and diamonds and gold all breathe.

Faint tones in the language of Eleme circle lazily about your ears,
harmonies of icicle pianos,
isolated and lonely,
the words toll.

ኢሌን ከሩቅ እያወራ

ጥያቄ ወንድም ካርድ አጫውት።

Samen, you can easily take 10 on this, take your time and get the meaning from the Eleme phrases this star elemental is using. If I'm not mistaken, you do not currently speak Eleme fluently.

Abnaki,

You follow your nose to the smell of alchemical work. Close to the edge of camp, you see several bubbling cauldrons in greens and purples. You see Beautymark the witch hunched over one such brew, muttering to herself.

Nearby, you also spot Gethis, the red highlights in her dark sylphan hair unmistakable. She looks up from her lab equipment and notes, a smudge of ink across her cheek. "Hey, Abs. Put a stopper on that flask, would you?" She points at a flask a few feet away, bubbling merry and blue.

Phon Vos, it has been a long day, and the truth spell still rubs raw upon your palms.

what do you do with the remains of the day?

Samen's heart warms a little as he sees the familiar sparkle, and thinks of days long ago.

"First, I'll update you on what's new here. We have successfully negotiated an alliance with the non-gem Fey and at least a détente with the Salamanders. Gem is working with Moon. Moon inquisitors are seeking to teleport an army of golems here through the Dreamlands, which we've at least temporarily thwarted. Wamblee and Iniga have gone North to rejoin the tribes."

"As for why I called you, what is going on in Light right now? Is it torn asunder, dead and asleep, or building a war machine? We need to know if our fight is just with Moon, or with all of Light."

"On a more personal note, did Mar make it there okay?"

Gabriel is interested mainly in screwing over the Ifrits knock em down a few pegs, so he'll see what he can do with those, starting with the Riddles

Gabriel, are you trying to enter the riddle contest legitimately, or are you trying to find a way to cheat first? (find the riddles ahead of time, or even find the answers, or the identities of the riddlemasters, etc?

Find the riddles ahead of time and give the answers to sylphs who seem like leaders among their people. and or the riddlemasters

Samen,

the gold and silver shine on and off like lost fireflies as you continue your conversation.

ቀይ ፀጉር ቀይ ብርሃን
ከጦርነት በኋላ እዚህ ያርፋል

--
After delivering the news of your sister, the star is silent and dark for a minute or two. Then,

የምትጠይቀውን ተግባር ነው...

Gabriel,

It is simple enough the follow the main activities of the festival, listening to drunken boasting and the curses of foiled gamblers. You silently, patiently listen until you are sure you know where the preparations for tomorrow are taking place.

at this point, we can do a stealth skill challenge. Give me 2 stealth checks to start with please.

"No rest for the wicked, eh?" Abnaki says as he stoppers the flask. Still damaged from the days activities, as well as having undergone a rather dramatic transformation, he waits for Gethis to actually take note of him being there, as opposed to just noticing him. "Busy day?"

stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20
stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

"Eventually, yes, though I do enjoy your company and would enjoy a tale I could share with my Fey inclined friend."

Abnaki,

Gethis grins, showing her dimples, and says, "Who's the wicked one, me or-"

And now she truly sees you. Physically battered, mentally bruised, and covered in purple flowers. The scent of the Fey in your sweat.

"Uh, you." she finishes absently. She stands up, beaker forgotten, and says, "You. You look very different, Abs." She takes a few steps toward you, curiosity and another emotion you cannot place simmering in her gaze.

Samen,

Shama asks,

ታሪክ ህልም ነው
ያየነውን ብቻ ነው የምንናገረው

Gabriel,

Traipsing about the Temple Courtyards amidst long breadlines and even longer sermons, you have finally overheard where the majority of the riddles are being kept- scrolls in a rude little stone shack in an obscure corner of the Courtyards. You are surprised at how little security there is, but apparently the ifrits think that honor will keep would-be riddle-stealers away.

Honor, and a locked door. You wait a few candles, and as you expected there is a change of guards. Using your oldest and favorite technique, you time it with absolute perfection and walk in the door directly behind the guard, nearly toe-to-heel.

You are in a small stone room, about twenty feet on a side, with another door leading off to a lavatory. There is a wooden chair to sit in for the guard; a table of bread and cheese and water ; and a large steel box that is chained to the floor.

What do you do?

Okay so where am I right now? Otherwise I might do something at night here to advance Phon's character...

The spell of truth sat in her hands, and the talk from Gabriel awoke memories of her beloved. It had been a hard few days, dealing with Moon and all of the revelations that were coming at her.

She had wondered about this ability to bring those back from the dead. She wondered if it was possible, and like some divine providence she was given the tools to do so. The undine had known much in her time, but this knowledge seemed forbidden... and in some ways worse than some of the alternatives.

I would be a fool to let Hien stay dead... But is he even alive? Would he want such a black existence?

Phon stared at the hand in front of her, taking the gauntlet off to get a better look. It wasn't outside the realm, she could learn the truth about the profane ritual... She shook her head.

The gods have given me their blessing. I can't just forsake them for this. This truth... Clasping her locket, she took a breath, "I need to let you go, you're gone and this temptation will never bring you back. This temptation is nothing but trouble for my faith."

She held the hand up in front of her face and placed it on her chest, "I wish to know the truth... Will I be able to heal without him? Will I be able to move forward?"

She discharged the spell and hoped to know what her future held.

Many emotions vied for dominance within Abnaki. He was too tired to keep them from showing on his face. He settled on a simple, "Yes." After a second, he sits groaning on the ground near Gethis, leaning forward heavily on his spear/banner.

"This is the best time I have to talk. I have some time... alone. This change," he says, gesturing at all of him, "is not just physical. I have a watcher now. Not entirely unlike Samen's spirit, I think it sees through my eyes, although I hope different in several key ways. But it's not worth risking... Nevermind." He cuts himself off.
"We-I, lost Osna today. While in the land of dreams. While hunting Golems tainted by Moon's influence. I don't know what fate befell him, but I'm going to find him if I can." Another pause.
"The city's changing. Things keep getting stranger and stranger. I think I may have made it all the more dangerous. I was trying to do good, bring a peace between my brothers and sisters of ifrits and oread, but I may have just redirected them. Undine cultists in the sewers, portals to the Dreaming, being courted by both Gem and Fey, it's all too much." He looks up at Gethis.
"This is selfish of me to ask. You're a member of the Swords as well, and a warrior in your own right. Far stronger than me in many ways. You've a right to choose how you want to live and die, but... please leave Hearth. Tonight if possible. I fear that Moonfall may occur tomorrow. I don't want you to be here if it happens." He drags himself back to his feet, looking at Gethis.