"Billy, did you see a pixie in the Great Hall?" Dram scratches his cheek. "I haven't even had the sherry."
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Dramiil slaps his forehead. "I completely forgot! My head has been in cloud cuckoo land for some time now, I fear. I think a sherry would be fine, perhaps then second sherry, followed by something hot in a mug."
"Billy, do you really think your music resonates to this demiplane?" Dramiil is particularly amused. "Ms. Prendergast, a prea--er, a pleasure. Did I hear something about locking up the wine cellar? I think we might want to celebrate our rendering of a rather obstinate dragon to the realm of slumberland--for a short time, that is. They'll be all right, and probably incensed. I mean angry, not smelling good. They didn't really smell that good at all--sort of like lightning-ozone and halitosis." He looks at the Mind's Light Circlet and then pulls out his Pendant of the Occult. "Hmm...I think I'd better sell this." Dram turns to Billy again. "The Juggler is a lovely card, but generally speaking, I carry nothing in my hands. I tell you, though, I should be using The Big Sky, and we should consult The Carnival more often. It could tell us about these various annoying creatures we find ourselves up against. They won't all be flammable plants...I hope."
"I think that a small penalty to remind Sedisserax not to just attack anyone could serve as a reminder. We could leave a note: 'We only needed to borrow the key; however, as you were rude, we will be exacting a fine. The next time people come by to parley, it would serve you well to grant them an audience. Yours, The Harrowers.'" His eyes twinkle. "We just need a bit of parchment."
Dramiil furrows his brows and cups his hands, one facing one way, the other the opposite direction, building up a ball of blinding light, and then fires it at Sedisserax.
"Well, perhaps we can resurrect her later if we kill her," says Dram grimly to the kobold near him. He moves near Nubnonk and casts a truly demoralizing spell--visions of the end of entire universes flicker into being briefly and flow into the dragon's mind.
"Slick, Nubnonk. Remember that clarity of purpose allows the mind to relax as one strikes," says Dramiil cryptically, as he advances near them. "I'm going to make a tunnel over to the other side in a moment." He steeples his fingers and tries to peer into the cave.
Dramiil casts Amplified Guidance upon Nubnonk, but something about the aura of his spell is different...waves of soothing energy deflect back upon the psychic, attempting to remove the horrible cloud of dread that has overcome him.
He then exudes a burbling casting from his fingertips that ripples the air in with something that seems strangely slow and turgid, like clear honey, or a waterfall slowed down. "We're not here to take any lives!" he shouts, although his voice still quavers. It streaks towards the dragon and seems to encase her in a rippling shell that distorts image and sound.
Dramiil focuses on the Stars card drawn a while back, visualizing it in his mind.
"Well, is it any good, Nub? I would have thought you'd want it flame-broiled," says the psychic, easing the kinks out of one shoulder. "Thanks, Billy. I feel somewhat sewed back together again."
Dram takes a minute to Scour the Library to see if he can gain an advantage on his attack. He then zaps at the plant with another sizzling, elusive Phase Bolt
"We really ought to invest in ear plugs," He grumbles. "And smoked lenses. We'd look like proper Lirgeni space explorers."
Dram's tattoo pulses again.
"Plants and fire, plants and fire. This is more like the Yarrowing than the Harrowing," says Dramiil, keeping alert for more creatures, but aiming at the last plant. Before he unleashes his spell, though, he notices he is substantial once more and clucks his tongue, casting Ghostly Shift once more. "Ooops, darn sustainable spells." He then points a finger accusatorily and unleashes a Phase Bolt, which winks in and out of existence.
"Hello, I must be glowing," says a rather insubstantial Dramiil. "Billy, I'm afraid I'm terrible at being a flank buddy." The psychic, indeed still glowing, float-walks away from the dangerous plant and zaps it with a torrent of radiant inner light.
In addition, his tattoo heals up his various wounds, a bit.
Dram, despite being deafened, still reels from yet another punishing wave of sound, leaving blood leaking from his ears and nose. He fumbles for his tattoo of Enveloping Light, his body shuddering with pain.
He then mutters to himself, wincing as he speaks quietly.
The psychic reels and clutches his head.
”You just have to make the dragon fall out of the sky, Slick," says the psychic. Dramiil shrugs. ” Nothing specific.”
Dramiil scratches one of his shoulders. "I'd hate to have to hurt a dragon. She broke statues and relics, eh? That must not please Balumbdar much. We'll happily retrieve this key...I am sure a large key would help in unlocking an, er, a large juggler." He nods as if this makes complete sense. "I thought cloud dragons were from an elemental plane," he muses to himself. "Nothing seems to stay on its own plane these days...including us..."
"Forgive me, I'm not hungry," says Dramiil apologetically. "My name is Dramiil Rau. We have been tasked with retrieving cards of this deck, as my friends have stated. May we convince you to part with it?"
"uh...rear guard it is," says Dramiil, and pulls out his Everburning Torch. "No one told me about all these goggles."
Dramiil sits down with his own Fine Harrow Deck and pulls two cards to replace his used Star card. "You came in handy," he says to the card, shaking his head. "Nagas with paper on their faces." Restore Omen to get a new card.
Dramiil chooses the deuce of Shields and places the Books card back in the deck.
"I agree. Let's explore the knowns before we wander off into the unknown. The Silent Hag truly does not sound fun."
"We would be delighted to return, when this mystery has been solved and the unknown danger has been abated," replies Dram, shaking hands all around. Dram waves as they make their way through realmspace.
Dramiil nods after Nubnonk explains. "It is as my friend Nubnonk says. We don't know why we have been tasked to retrieve these, but something is happening--something that spans continents and possibly worlds, that involves these cards of fate. I think you will be out of danger for now, but beware of signs and portents." He glances at his own unmarked robes. "Such is the way of the close range warrior, Slick. At least you weren't eaten," he says, flashing a smile.
Dramiil lets his spell drop harmlessly once Slick delivers the coup de grace, his form no longer glowing as the magic releases and dissipates. "I thought they were supposed to hop, not fly," he says, gazing at the impaled naga. "So...do we bury him in rice? Permanently?"
Dramiil breathes through his phial of Bottled Air. He begins to glow as he gathers power. "Step back if you can," he says to the Scaleseed behind him. Inner Radiance Torrent, Heightened, 2 rounds
Dram's hand lingers for a moment near his dagger, before he shakes his head and curses a short streak of invectives against himself, Nethys, Irori, and anyone else who might listen. "That's for carving things, you dolt," he concludes, "Like very soft balsa wood. With a cleric nearby." He strides to get a clear shot at the twisted, vampiric naga, and unleashes a bolt of psychic energy that crackles out of existence for a brief held breath, and then rematerializes as it crashes into Kannijo
actions: Stride, Phase Bolt Amped
Dramiil focuses on the mystical energy of the Harrow Cards to alter his fate.
"Well then. Not Slick, as he'll be two-handed wielding his sword..." Dramiil waits to see where he can send the bottle. For now, he uses it for himself.
"...I just had a realization. Whomst among us wishes to be invisible?" Dramiil pulls out his phial of Bottled Air. "I think that the jiang-shi must be seeing the exhalation of breath. If you inhale from the bottle and exhale back into it, though...you might be unseen. If you only breathe through your mouth."
Dramiil moves up near Nubnonk. "These things will probably smell like burnt cabbage when I do this, fair warning," he says out of the side of his mouth, and casts a psychic spell.
"Burn them? You need one of those fire and ice psychics for that sort of thing! I don't even know why they're considered psychics," grumbles Dramiil. "Sounds more like some new thing, like these 'kineticists' I heard about. More like unruly elementalists, if you ask me. Oh right. Dram. Nobody asked you," he reminds himself. Dramiil casts Dimension Door almost imperceptibly, and taps Slick for Guidance. "I'll blast it as I can in a moment," says the robed caster. "Brr, it was much warmer inside the walls of force with the rice. Someone should use that spell to make a nice cozy tent."
Dramiil makes some odd gestures and inclines his head in different directions, and the landscape warps in four distinct cubes around various rice plants. "The should confuse any assailants...I hope," he says, slightly muffled through the walls of force.
Dramiil looks to the rice near him and does some quick calculations. "I can only save two. Little plants, I'm going to do what I can to keep you alive. Dream of the paddy fields and a warm summer day." He weaves magic from his mind and unspools an invisible wall around him and the rice stands, towering twenty feet into the air.
"Hmmm...if it's just one opponent, the best thing to do is to keep it pinned down. Do we have anything that can be used as a net?" Dramiil steps towards the Scaleseeds' work to see if he can assist. Just in case, he taps himself for Guidance.
While he works assiduously, he ponders the jiang-shi and what their weaknesses might be.
"Nubnonk, O Knower Of Things, what can you tell us about these types of vampires? Do we throw the rice at them? What else can stop them?"
"Well, I don't really require any tribute," says Dramiil graciously, or pragmatically, as the case may be, gazing with a smirk at his empty hands. "I'd probably launch the spikes right into my face." He chuckles. "'Big Sky' is a very vague name, but I'm sure we'll know it when we see it, or rather, people who know of it will know to tell us...ah, anyhow, let's go defend against Mivanians. Possibly by making them bleed, Nub. We don't always need to be so brutish in our methods." "...Skawnak, what should we know about these demonic forces? Are there areas we need to avoid? Do we know of their weaknesses?"
Dramiil does the same as Billy, unleashing nine magical missiles. His look different, of course.
"More like Teng-don't, eh Billy?" quips the psychic. "Ok, ok, I'll keep to the psychic magic and lay off the puns..."
Dramiil snarls in anger. "You'll pay for that, you gobermouching spike-monger," he says rather zestily.
A swirl of psychic debris sparkles around him as he unleashes his psyche, and his Blood Vendetta activates, causing the tengu captain to bleed from multiple karmic spots, mirroring Dram's own blood loss.
He then unleashes a Phantasmal Calamity on the captain and all of the soldiers.
"We're facing a demonic theocracy, friends. Deal with them accordingly. Funnel them in." Dramiil casts a Wall of Force in front of the fallen trees.
Doh! Gotcha.
Dramiil waves to the tengu. "I am Dramiil, companion of Nubnonk and Billy." He surreptitiously observes them, trying to recall anything of tengu in Arcadia that he has read about.
He raises his hands to show he isn't holding weapons (his usual state of affairs). "We mean you no harm whatsoever. We are simply searching for an artifact. Can you tell us the name of this place?"
Imma take Shields. Also hi, I haven't had to take painkillers all day (no idea why not :P)
"Oh Baines, you deserve a vacation, but we will be keeping you busy for a while yet," says Dramiil rather gaily as he deposits a robe. "I did my best to stay out of direct trouble, which is what a psychic does worst, as it were--direct trouble. Or rather, I try to direct trouble at others." "Slick--great job. None of us could have sprinted that quickly. Well, I mean, unless we cheated," says Dram with a wink.
Dramiil's jaw tightens as the stage area is engulfed in a raging inferno, threatening to consume everything in its path. Dramiil's eyes dart from one distressed stagehand to another, sensing their fear and desperation.
With a determined resolve, he raises his hands, summoning his psychic powers to create a tesseract tunnel, a gateway that can transcend space and time. He amplifies it so that it does not require any physical motion on his part, but steps through it anyhow, appearing on the stage. "Billy, let's get these folks through. Hello, I'm Dramiil. Please step this way."
Leading the way, Dramiil guides the stagehands and the precious linnorm costume through the shimmering portal. The world around them distorts and bends as they navigate the interdimensional passage, but Dramiil's unwavering focus keeps them on course. Each step brings them closer to safety, away from the peril that looms behind them. "You finally got on stage in Cheliax, Billy!" shouts Dramiil to his compatriot behind him.
my very own bot!
"...I was going to suggest that you just join the play, Billy..." Dramiil relaxes slightly, ready for the performance. "Contingency plan?"
"Alangus Thrune and the..."" Dramiil pauses. "Well, I can't quite recall the name, but he was a controversial House of Thrune fellow who rescued the Ulfens from the fire-breating linnorm named Bandraguzun. Now...the libretto is controversial because a, we don't know if Alangus existed, b. why he went Northward to the Linnorm Kings, and if c. if Bandraguzun is fictional as well. Presumably Northward expansion is a reflection of Chelaxian influence in Varisia and beyond, but who knows? It could all be a metaphor."
Dramiil heads with Slick to Absalom, then blinks as Slick starts walking off. "Goodness, that man has legs of adamantine," he says as he flags down a camel-drawn coach. He heads to the The Laughing Sword in the Ivy District to purchase a shadow signet. He examines the portals once he returns to the group's demiplane, pondering. "I'd save Chelaxian high society for later," he comments to Billy. "How about Arcadia or Nagajor?"
Dramiil can get a Shadow Signet, which is pretty neato. There was a rune I could use for his robes, right? I forget which one it was.
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