Lost worlds and civilizations sometimes equals worlds rejected by the multiverse. And where do the rejects of the rejected gather? Avalon Academy, where we reject the term reject. Avalon Academy is now accepting applicants. Financial aid available for those that qualify. No one rejected. Hehe
You guys sure have a knack for imagination. *theatre clap*
Hmmm, a realm of history lost in a sea of time. Dead realms living, Forgotten Realms reborn. Endless possibilities. The castoffs of history have a chance to reclaim their lordship of the multiverse. and the multiverse weeps. All thanks to a little tampering. Hmmm...
I figured we would just 'handwave' the activities of Group 2 and use them as a plot vehicle for information, then have Group 1 get around to acting on that info when they finish with the initial encounter with Chan.
Works for me, but I didn't want to step on any toes there either. :)
Feel free to beat up on any of my creations. No strong ties there. I'm not recovered enough to go back n forth on a story, only enough to creep you foolish mortals out. ;)
"Hmmm. Despite the rather macabre appearance, it doesn't appear to be evil. It seems to have a lot of white necromantic energy tied to it. Something tells me we probably need this to help get out of the mess we're hip-deep in now."
He sighs.
"Time to test the waters I guess."
Tam opens the collar of his flightsuit and removes a necklace from around his throat. He then puts on the amulet.
As Tam tries to place the amulet around his neck, it shifts in his hand. Despite his efforts, the amulet 'refuses' to be placed around his neck.
"Oh that's so sad," she whispers, tears streaming down her face. "But what happened to the poor baby that it never hatched? They were so sad..."
Mornin' All ;)
Tam puts a hand on Aananda's shoulder, assuming his thought was at least close to the mark, given her reaction.
"Here - let me see it for a moment."
He wants to make sure her eyes go back to normal when she lets go of the amulet, but is also going to hit it with a detect magic / identify to see if there's anything more to it.
Conjuration, Transmutation and Necromancy. Very Strong.
Aananda can't take her eyes off of the amulet. Something about it draws her, but she doesn't know why. She picks it up and holds it to the light, examining it. Her eyes transform as she does, her irises expanding and her pupils elongating.
"What is it?" she asks fascinated.
Aananda:
Spoiler:
As Aananda handles the amulet a picture comes to her mind. She sees two humanoids; half-dragon/half-human, standing over a table in a darkened room. Flashes of fire and lightning outside of the chamber are the only sources of light, almost piercing in their brightness. They grow brighter each time they return. Dark or light, Aananda can still see the couple. On the table a silvery egg is held straight up by a waddle of silk. They seem frozen, until the male reaches forward towards the egg. The distinctly female dragonkind grabs his forearm to stay his action. She looks into his face, streams of tears rolling down her own. Tears flow from his own face as well, and they embrace. The sounds of their voices are muffled. Finally, they turn together and face the egg once more. The male holds the egg in hist left humanlike hand, and raises a single taloned finger of his right. He traces the talon across the top section of the egg, slicing a razor thin outline, and lifts the top gently. With tears still fresh on their faces the two dargonkind look into the egg.
Agartha, email the results if you don't want to post them here. If it's what I think it is, it shouldn't take an hour. ;)
Spoiler:
Blood. Dragon blood. Mithral dragon blood. The amulet is part of a mithral dragon skeleton. Blood and bone. Purpose - Idea stage. It just popped into my mind. Chan would luv to get his hands on this. Would kill to get his hands on this. As would the BBEGs.
"I know it's not ideal, but we really can use as much help as we can get. The alternatives...Well, it pretty much amounts to turning the prime material into a subdivision of the abyss."
"I'll go see if he can brew something we can use then. Who knows? He may push things in our favor."
Ryo stands and leaves the room, heading in the direction of the door Addy slammed.
As Ryo heads to the room, he notices the slammed door has left a crack in the wall. A crack that forms a straight line then turns sharply. Investigating the crack reveals a section of the wall had been patched over at some point in the house's history. A small, dusty lead-covered box lays inside. There is no keyhole.
Spoiler:
Inside the box an ancient mithral amulet of a dragon's claw is found. It has one gem at the tip of its claws, as if the gem were dripping from them; a deep red ruby. The ruby seems to be hollow, and some sort of liquid lays within its facets. The links of the amulet's chain look like a smaller version of a creature's spine. Looking at the piece as a whole it seems that the claw is bordered by two miniaturized mithral rib bones. There is no visible seem on the jewelry itself, only the gem itself differs from the rest. The detail is exquisite, and a bit unnerving.
As Ryo heads back into the chaos, he finds a much different scene. Where the priestess knelt over the bodies of the 2 children, he finds a young mother planting flowers with her 2 childen. Instead of flames licking the walls of the buildings, flower vines in full bloom draw him in with their aroma. A group of men cheer on as two men wrestle, and shopkeepers hawk their wares for passersby. 4 dogs growl over scraps in an alley. A cat sits on a windowsill, ignoring the dogs completely. The scene is idyllic, intoxicating, and totally out of place with his recent memory. Doubt begins to fill his mind as he continues forward. What is illusion and what is real? What is history and what is make believe? A young girl peddles mugs of cider. He takes a cup. She has a sweet smile. He looks down at the cup. It's filled with blood. He starts in surprise, and looks at the smiling young face. He looks again at the mug. It's normal cider.
No matter how hard he looks Ryo can't find evidence of the battle they fought, no smells of scorched earth or flesh, no ozone from lightning, nothing. But he can't fight the feeling he's being watched. measured.
The guards and mages do their best to track down the attackers, only to find themselves chasing illusions. Behind the veil of her scring bowl the demoness smiles. Those guards are well known for their memories, and now the hunted have become the prey for more hunters. Their images will be spread far and wide. Her grasp has just widened. Her eyes shift to the destruction 'they' have wrought. She smiles as she focuses on the bodies of the two children. Perhap she should raise them and take them as her own? Jiminy might like siblings. She sighs. No, one of Jiminy is more than enough.
The sight of a Cardcaster gives the Mage Guard pause, but they have a job to do. Apprehending mages. Two of them disappear. The priest is trying to stabilize the wounded, letting the mages do their work. Two more enter via their portals, one mage and one cleric. The 1st priest on the scene directs them.
"There's one mage that killed two little children flying off, invisible. There's a renegade cardcaster that just lobbed a fireball into the crowd. I'll help the wounded. You and the guard take them down, by any means necessary."
The new mage takes to the sky, whilst the 2nd cleric casts a True Seeing. The guards, unable to follow Tamrin, form up and head for Ryo.
As Ryo's rain begins to fall, the demon whispers words thru the mouth of the mage he shares a body with. Thru the scrying bowl, the rain falling on the townspeople begins to turn to acid.
Blocked by the Wall of Force the squad disperses and finds its way around it. Seeing Tam cast a spell at the guardsman the priestess tries one of her own
Hold Person, DC 15
EDIT: Oh yeah! Tough guard
Shrugging off the spell, the guard swings at Tam as he tries to escape. "See! He is a mage!"
1d20+6
Boo!
"Oh will you just quit it already!!" as Tam slams a shell home as ha puts some more distance between him and the guard and fires at the priestess.
Resilient Sphere, Reflex DC 18.
He then turns his attention back to the guard, firing another shell right at him.
Rainbow Pattern, Will DC 19. Hopefully that will shut up quite a few of the folks around here for a few rounds.
Blocked by the Wall of Force the squad disperses and finds its way around it. Seeing Tam cast a spell at the guardsman the priestess tries one of her own
Hold Person, DC 15
EDIT: Oh yeah! Tough guard
Shrugging off the spell, the guard swings at Tam as he tries to escape. "See! He is a mage!"
Ignoring the chaos, two non-descript men watch. Mirroring them on the other side of the street, two more appear. Hearing the horn of the approaching reinforcements one moves off. As the squad approaches the last man is touched on the shoulder. He touches the shoulder of the man in front of him, and so on, until the sergeant is touched. The sergeant shouts to his men.
"The one we seek is a mage. He wears a long traveling coat. Do not give him time to talk. Cut him down. He has attacked our men and murdered two children. He has a hunting cat familiar that is currently terrorizing the civilians, though it is covered by an illusion. Cut it down as well."
The squad shouts in agreement and charges around the corner.
Torn between chasing Tamrin and defending the priestess the two remaining guards opt for the latter. One guard holds his broken nose with one hand and drops his polearm. He draws a cudgel. The guard that missed chases Tamrin, the business end of the polearm leading the way.
A horn sounds, signalling the near arrival of reinforcements.
The streets are in chaos as people try to flee, some unintentionally in the same direction Tamrin chose. One gets cut by the pursuing guard's blade. The woman that first identified Tamrin calls out as she flees.
"Demon mage! Child Killer! Murderer!"She disappears into the crowd.
The priestess looks at Tamrin as he tries to escape, memorizing as much as she can about him but not pursuing.
The crowd screams as the roar drowns out their cries for justice. The priestess and the guards turn to see the demonic shape of a large hunting cat approaching.
"He's called his familiar!"
One guard tries to strike the back of Tam's head with the blunt end of his polearm
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Your call if it caught you flat-footed. Subdual attempt.
The crowd flees in panic. The cleric casts a Protection from Evil, and tries to shelter the bodies of the two dead children.
A full squad of guards is 3 rounds away. The sounds of the panic push them to run to the disturbance.
"Lady - these people don't look very civilized to me," as he waves his hand around the jeering crowd crying out for his death. "If you don't get somebody here right now to give them some answers, you're going to have a riot on your hands as they try to get their hands on me. That blood is on your conscience if you don't start thinking outside the box, stop judging me like I'm already guilty despite only circumstantial evidence at best, and do the right thing. Or I will."
"You are the focus of their anger. Removing you from the area will allow us to restore order."
The guard goes to place the shackles on Tamrin. He speaks softly, "You're lucky she showed up. I'd be inclined to let the crowd deal with a child murderer. Accident or on purpose, those were children!"
"Cast the detection spell here, Sister. You want to stop a riot - give them some proof right now that they can't refute. If you just cart me away, they're just going to get even more wound up since they only have some information."
"You do that here, and I'll do what I can to help you find who actually did this."
"One, I can't do that. Here or anywhere. Someone else has to. Two, we are a civilized land and the investigators will search out the truth of this. While you wait their findings in jail. Pray that you are found innocent."
"The street was empty for a moment, and it was just HIM and the 2 little ones running past him. Your 'bomb' is over there in the gutter, red as the burns on their little faces."
Two more guards show up. One checks out the ball, the other takes up position on Tamrin.
He holds up the ball. "Just a ball. Scorched."
As the crowd gets louder, the original guards say, "We should get this one to the magistrate before this crowd lynches him, and us if we try to stop them."
"How about you just get a duly-ordained cleric of whatever god of law and order you have out here and cast a spell to see if either of us are lying? Problem solved. Otherwise, I'm not to keen on the idea of dealing with mob justice in a city I've only just arrived at. Call me crazy. How about cooler heads prevailing here, okay?"
"The street was empty for a moment, and it was just HIM and the 2 little ones running past him. Your 'bomb' is over there in the gutter, red as the burns on their little faces."
Two more guards show up. One checks out the ball, the other takes up position on Tamrin.
He holds up the ball. "Just a ball. Scorched."
As the crowd gets louder, the original guards say, "We should get this one to the magistrate before this crowd lynches him, and us if we try to stop them."
As the guards keep Tamrin still, the first witness to the calamity rushes to the bodies of the children. She checks them to see if they are alive, but to no avail. The small red ball rolls out from the hand of the little girl as she is moved.
"Burned. He...He burned them..."
"They were just children! You butcher! Your magic killed them! they just ran past you and then they caught fire!"
The crowd gathers. A couple of other women check the bodies, and weep loudly.
"They're Bessie's and Kent's children. Someone should go fetch them..."
As Tamrin explores the city, two children run around the corner, chasing a small ball. One boy and one girl. They don't see you until it's too late, and you are almost overrun by them. They pass quickly. You are about to move on when you hear a yell of surprise from behind you...a cry of a woman. She has the look of terror on her face, looking past you. You turn, and see the two small children lying still on the ground, not 10 feet from you. The fading sizzle of a fire trap signals the cause of their demise.
"Murder! Murder most foul! Guards! Guards!"
The street begins to refill, and more cries form into a chorus of anger as windows are opened and more people see the two small dead children and only Tamrin in proximity.
Four men leave the estate, their cloaks fluttering in the breeze that isn't there. The servants shy away from the uneasy sight, forgetting within moments what their eyes just witnessed. The men break into pairs and head out into the small city.
Before too long one pair spots Tamrin, walking alone. One sniffs the air.
"Yessss, that one has seen him. Shall we follow, or grab him now?"
"The mistress instructed us to take him, so that is what we shall do. If he resists too hard, we kill him."
"I hope he resists. I like his coat."
With no call to do so the street seems to clear itself of bystanders.
Four men leave the estate, their cloaks fluttering in the breeze that isn't there. The servants shy away from the uneasy sight, forgetting within moments what their eyes just witnessed. The men break into pairs and head out into the small city.
Before too long one pair spots Tamrin, walking alone. One sniffs the air.
"Yessss, that one has seen him. Shall we follow, or grab him now?"
"The mistress instructed us to take him, so that is what we shall do. If he resists too hard, we kill him."
"I hope he resists. I like his coat."
With no call to do so the street seems to clear itself of bystanders.
The attempt at calming has an unexpected effect. As the blue serpent coils around little Jiminy Sunwake the skin it touches changes. It becomes blue and scaled. Jiminy's eyes flicker between those of a human and the cold slits of a serpent. Jiminy's mood flickers as well. The human side calms, but the serpent grows agitated. The effects strengthen with each touch. Jiminy doesn't seem to be aware of the change. Or he chooses not to care.
"Glee," Tam mutters as Jiminy disappears. "Vampire siblings, psycho baby fiends, and posessed dragons. No wonder this place was 'lost' - it's a frakkin' asylum." :)
The Weather Consortium provides a balanced environment to all the regions. Providing, of course, that they pay their dues on time. If not, then well.......
I'm sure the druids are happy this...[/sarcasm]
Maybe the Druids run the Consortium? MWAHAHAHA!
Enforced by their Legions of Dire Squirrels. Cover your nuts!
