Countess Sorsha's page

Countess Sorsha reappears and briefly shakes her head to the awaiting guards. They move off through the moonlit trees.

The Countess dismisses a couple of spells, having concluded her murmured conversation with another place, then gives a prearranged signal.
Moments later, a crack between the worlds just the size and shape of herself flares up, as the gate briefly opens up once more, then with a soft pop she is gone, and all gates to the Realms of Dream stand firmly shut once more.

The woman's voice goes silent.
And she's about to pop back home.

Countess Sorsha wrote:

As a courtesy, Her Majesty offers your daughter, Arielle, shelter and protection at her royal court for the next twenty one year's of Arielle's life. This offer is something I am empowered to offer you only the once, only with regard to your daughter, Arielle, and only now.

Her Majesty is otherwise much occupied at this current moment, with enemies you might consider to be mutual, and is unable to otherwise directly assist you in a more practical manner by breaking the siege as you have at the Eyrie where you too sit amidst a sea of foes.

She was silent for a long while. "It is a...generous offer. Thank her on my behalf. But I must decline. We wish to keep our daughter here with us. Like everything in life, it is a risk, but one that we are prepared to make."

"If it is permitted, tell Eiboria that I wish her well, and that I have not forgotten her. And in addition to my thanks, tell Her Majesty that I wish her swift victory against her foes."

I shall convey your words. It may be a while before contact of any sort is possible once again. Such windows of travel are rarely available at times like these.

Countess Sorsha wrote:

lynora-Jill wrote:

Countess Sorsha wrote:

The soft whisper of a magical communication from some remote point reaches Lynora's ears. (As if a very long range variant of message spell.)

Lady Lynora?

She looks startled. She signals for quiet before she responds.

"Ye-es. Who is asking?"

Countess Sorsha, emissary of Her Majesty, The Elven Queen. Rumours that Her Majesty has it within her gift to permit people for very brief moments to slip in out out of particular gates to or from the Realm of Dreams, even when the that place is otherwise cut off absolutely from the rest of the planes, have some truth in them.

"...I see. And what can I do for you, Countess?"

(edited, phrasing/grammar tweaked)

Countess Sorsha wrote:

The soft whisper of a magical communication from some remote point reaches Lynora's ears. (As if a very long range variant of message spell.)

Lady Lynora?

She looks startled. She signals for quiet before she responds.

"Ye-es. Who is asking?"

Countess Sorsha, emissary of Her Majesty, The Elven Queen. Rumours that Her Majesty has it within her gift to permit people for very brief moments to slip in out out of particular gates to or from the Realms of Dream, even when that place is otherwise cut off absolutely from physical transitions with the rest of the planes, have some truth in them.

The soft whisper of a magical communication from some remote point reaches Lynora's ears. (As if a very long range variant of message spell.)
Lady Lynora?

Having paused to get her bearings, the emissary works several spells, including some defensive abjurations.

There is a crackle of power in the air, in one of the forest's stone rings, and the emissary from the court of the Elven Queen steps forth from the Realms of Dream.

Incoming!
Is there anything to prevent magical sendings to Lynora-Jill at present?

Under heavy guard of faeries, in the depths of the Wildwood, Sorsha approaches a circle of standing stones and in the instant when for a moment this particular gate is allowed open a crack, slips through into the world beyond.

I can't think of many dragons likely to be that size. I'm out of here, in case it decides to come back.
Sorsha hurriedly departs.

Almost anywhere. But it's guaranteed that if you try to break into one of his active lairs to steal something, that that's where he'll be.
He has a number of lairs on this world, from what I've heard.

Was there anything else? If not, I'll be off.

We seek to bargain for the return of the stars, but we're not sure how or what to offer."

Why does he want them? You have to offer something which, in that context, to him is even better than them - and which he can't take from you or anyone else by force either. If he wants them because they're the prettiest and rarest gems he's ever come across, you need something even prettier and rarer. If he's collecting them to create some sort of arcane experiment, you need to offer him the chance to create an arcane experiment even weirder and more wonderful.

I don't think you can make him do anything. I've never even seen him - only heard about him - and that he's almost as powerful, arrogant, and willful as a dragon can get, although for all that he fears or at least respects something in the branches of the Wildwood at the heart of the Realms of Dream.
I don't know; how do you get someone like that to do something? Very carefully? And respectfully? Why's he collecting the things anyway? Does he want to bring her back, too, or to make his own personal slave goddess?

Countess Sorsha wrote:

She makes a face.

Tell me about it.
There's at least one dragon desperately trying to get out of the Realms of Dream right now, anxious to come after the Giggler. Possibly one of Kobold Cleaver's aliases.
Plus there are the usual comings and goings and politics between the various rulers.
And the borders are... oh, hmm... well in response to an apparent threat, as is occasional with the Realms of Dream, things have got rather difficult for physical or magical travel in and out.

We've even had a fly over by one particulary nasty dragon recently, possibly named Daelemos. We're trying to get some info on that one, as he seems to be in possession of other stars like the ones you delivered. His name sure seems to make people nervous. Especially nervous."

Oh Daelemos wouldn't fly over somewhere without letting you know it was him, and possibly burning the place to the ground, and, huh, look, suddenly exceedingly defensive, if you have some sort of bone to pick with him, then just leave me out of it. I can't help it. I didn't have any say in it. And practically everyone who comes from a race which doesn't reproduce by some sort of weird cloning or parthenogenesis has a mother and father.

She makes a face.
Tell me about it.
There's at least one dragon desperately trying to get out of the Realms of Dream right now, anxious to come after the Giggler. Possibly one of Kobold Cleaver's aliases.
Plus there are the usual comings and goings and politics between the various rulers.
And the borders are... oh, hmm... well in response to an apparent threat, as is occasional with the Realms of Dream, things have got rather difficult for physical or magical travel in and out.

To Jack Hammer:
Oh she was worried she might not be able to hand them over personally, so insisted that they be personally delivered by me.

That sounds about right. The Princess Eiboria sends you her jewels, which she apparently promised to you.
The woman hands over the box to Arielle.
Inside it dozens of stars have been set in a pair of bracelets and a necklace, and a few 'unset' stars are lying loose in it too.
With the exception of one star 'off the radar' in the Wildwood which is going to be awkard to part with, Arielle and Daelemos now have the rest.
Oh, my name's Sorsha, and I'm a Countess, but I'm not really terribly important.

And your name, Princess, would be?

Arielle and Lynora-Jill are acutely aware of the siren song of the stars from within the box.
The woman looks about somewhat nervously.
I have a delivery from the Princess Eiboria.

As a 'heads up', to true-sight like abilities, I seem somewhat strange, being sort of an overlapping and mixing adult silver-dragon and succubus, both at the same time, making it difficult to be certain what or which I am.
Being part-succubus I have the chaotic and evil outsider subtypes, which is almost certainly going to be picked up by detect alignment like effects.
For the record, if any means of determining such exists, as an outsider I am native to the Realms of Dream.
Deprived of her gossip companion, the flame-haired woman enters the grove, an ornate wooden box tucked under one arm. She wears a shiny red-silver dress and cloak and is shod in boots of dark leather.

On the edge of the grove, Sorsha pauses to exchange a few pleasantries with Yames' companion, Tangessa.

Arielle has a sense of stars which for a long time had been missing from her senses, suddenly back and approaching.
Sorsha is arriving with Eiboria's 'jewel' collection, from where they had been 'off the radar' in the Wildwood in Dream.

Something unlooked for occurs in the Elven Queen's designs - a flash of something resembling guilt - and she reluctantly dispatches Sorsha on an errand.

Sorsha leaves, relieved not to have earned the Elven Queen's displeasure.

Sorsha shivers.

Ma'am?
After lengthy travels, Sorsha has returned from the fringes where the cave which interested Kytania was located.
She proceeds to deliver her report.

Seeing that her words have apparently had some impact on the woman, giving her such pause for thought, Sorsha hurries to apologise.
I'm sorry if I have speaken too freely and given injury. Sometimes my tongue just runs away with me.
Since the horrors you work for don't seem to be the ones that the Elven Queen worries about, I'll leave you to get on with your quest, but be careful. She shivers. I think that one way or the other, your love will be the death of you.
She plods off down the slope, and out of sight, leaving Kytania to her doings.

Ah. You're saying that love is insanity, and that your love has driven you insane?

Oh, that's okay. It's just that apparently there are other places and things outside even the interthereal sea, which the Elven Queen isn't very happy about. If they're from the interthereal sea, then they're relatively native, so that's fine.

Oh, I'm Sorsha. I'm new at the court of the Elven Queen.
She frowns.
Umm, by Far-Realm you mean the place where the aboleth deities hang out, and so forth?

No. I mean who are you?

Countess Sorsha wrote:

Would you mind explaining to me, please, who you are and what you're doing here? I've been sent to find out, and I really don't want to blow this mission. The person I take orders from really won't be that happy if I don't have anything to report back.

The chained being turns and laughs sprightly

I am here to free my love from bondage, is there no greater quest?

I don't know, she says completely seriously.

The dark form hisses in laughter as the Gugs swarm Candle Lighter.

Now time to add a bit of fun to the fight ...

The form waves a hand and rusty chains spring forth around Candle Lighter, binding him fast

These chains are highly resistant to magic or fire, so Candle Lighter should be stuck for a bit

The cruel barbed chains sink deep into his undead flesh

"Excuse me please."