"I'd pay real copper to see that!"
*shakes head*
Typical Abadarian... ;-)
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Glee looks at the guards for a moment, then softly shuts the door and climbs back down the ladder, all as quietly as possible.
"Tch." Seth flicks his tongue in and out, tasting the air, but to the half-elf it looks like a snakey reproach. You're right, friend, I'm being silly. There's nothing here. I'll take a quick glance in the basement and then re-join the others. No reason to be so paranoid, and anyway this goes rather a bit beyond my typical threshold for 'exploration'… She glances down each of the halls as she goes, just to see if she's missing anything obvious, then cruises quickly to the bottom of the stairs before proceeding more stealthily past the 1st floor and down into the basement.
Glee arches an eyebrow. Interesting... She climbs up the short ladder and checks the door for any sort of traps or wards. If none are present, she tries to open it. Slowly, and carefully.
Glee looks at the door for a second, considering, but then continues up the stairs. Lessee if I can get to the top and work my way down. With that thought, the half-elf starts lightly trotting up the stairs, seeking to get to the very top. She keeps her eyes and ears alert for guards.
Glee moves forward quietly, stopping to listen at two of the doors, but only briefly and surreptitiously, not really expecting to hear anything suspicious, not so close to a dining hall and reception area.
She gazes at the tapestries as she goes along, and thinks to herself what her next move should be. Downstairs is probably dungeons, barracks, danger and secrets. Oubliettes. Things to be hidden and forgotten. Upstairs...yeah...upstairs is where they always put their valuables...closer to the heavens, I guess. Upstairs it is. Trusting the elven half of her blood to allow her to see clearly in the dim light of the stairs, she approaches quietly and starts up the steps, to see what may be above.
Once away from the table, Gliressa sticks tight to the shadows and corners, listening and watching closely for any approaching guards she might need to bluff. She has no interest, currently, in stealing anything or breaking anything or -- she gulps -- escaping, but she is keeping her senses as open as possible to anything out of the ordinary. What could have such clearly noble people acting so strange; exposed riches? Arcane knowledge? Caged beasts? Maybe it's nothing...a girl can hope. Seth winds nervously around her neck a couple times and hisses, flicking out his little tongue in a marvelously accurate reflection of his mistress' mood.
After standing and bowing politely, Gliressa sits back down, then nods at Mayve's assessment of things. "They just wanted to be on their way, and we were able to assist in encouraging them, though of course your own guards helped matters along by being reasonable and obviously great judges of character." She smiles lamely at her own joke.
After a bit of discussion, the half-elf stands and excuses herself. "Heh. Sorry, be right back. A lady's gotta powder her nose, you understand."
DC25 Sense Motive:
Gliressa is lying. Whatever it is she's doing, she's not going to the ladies' room. Everyone in the group:
Glee is sending you the secret message via Bluff (she can't miss the DC for a secret message of any sort) that she is gonna snoop around a bit. Once away from the table, Glee does her best to orient herself in the place and sets out down a random hallway to get a look around the castle.
Let's have a bit of a look-see around here, huh? Irina's right to be a bit paranoid, I think, I don't like all the furtive looks and hidden glances going on in this place...
Gliressa nods in agreeance with Rhane and the others; their quest should indeed remain a secret. As they make their way to the dining hall, Glee steps forward and walks side-by-side with Lord Boughart, speaking loud enough so the whole group can easily hear. "Lord Boughart, I and my companions thank you again for your hospitality. It is a fine thing that Sir Blackwood knows the north so well; we five are acting as a deputation on behalf of Plaeton and other free cities, trying to scout ahead for good homes for refugees, and if possible a source of these disturbances. Tell me; what is the capacity of this city to either house or at least facilitate the movement of the refugees currently outside, and are things worse to the north? Do the disturbances continue?" Glee hopes the rest of the group will pick up on the half-truth she's slipping so they can all be in on the story. She does not feel good lying, even a little lie such as this, but until she understands the nobleman's allegiances she figures Rhane and Mayve are right; it's better safe than sorry.
Gliressa shrugs at the others and follows the nobleman on. "Thank you, Lord Boughart. A meal would certainly be welcome. Plaeton is in rather dire straits right now, if you haven't heard, which is why so many refugees are moving across the countryside. Last night the city was struck by some kind of interdimensional cataclysm; incursions of the planes of air and earth brought...unpleasant elemental presences into our midst. Huge cracks in the ground, earthquakes, storms. Who knows what else. We helped as we could before getting on the road ourselves."
"A pleasure to meet you, m'lord." Glee bows politely to the nobleman. "Of course we will join you, and our pleasure to do so. How long have refugees been gathering here, if I may ask? Is this just since yesterday? Also...'creatures taking flight'? What flying things have you seen? Small ones, I hope? Like...cute little birds, maybe?" She gives him a hopeful smile.
Curious, Gliressa catches the official's eye and asks after his visions, wondering if he's seen anything maybe they might have missed while they were in the academy. "Sir, what signs have you been seeing in the sky? What portents?"
"That's a truth..." Glee says quietly, agreeing with Irina. She leads her mount across the bridge, waiting for a clear space when she can get back up in the saddle.
"Mayve, I, uh, I'm not sure this is working, exactly." Glee looks around nervously, then puts two fingers in her mouth and lets loose an amazingly loud and piercing whistle.
"LISTEN EVERYBODY! FALL IN LINE AND DO THIS IN AN ORDERLY MANNER! DAMMITALL YOU NEED TO COOPERATE OR NO ONE IS GOING ANYWHERE!" the half-elf yells at the top of her lungs, hoping to get folks to just settle down and help so she and her companions can be on their way.
The half-elf slips down off her horse and catches up with Mayve... Diplomacy: Gliressa is torn. On the one hand, she really wants to see refugees like this get to safety, and get new homes. But on the other hand, she's certainly sympathetic to the guard's position; if a city lacked necessary infrastructure, then letting in refugees just risked making things worse, possibly adding even more refugees to all move on to yet another town. She bites her lip worriedly as she listens to Rhane's suggestion, then seems to come to a decision. She yells up at the guard: "My friends have a plan! Could we let in a few at a time! Small groups! These people have no place to go, my lord!"
Glee arches an eyebrow as Mayve bulls her way into the crowd. She looks up at the guard and realizes he's trying to get folks to turn back, but apparently is failing miserably. She shakes her head, then turns to Irina. "Irina, if you and Tzay can fly over and try to get that guard to open the gate, that might be a more direct route. Seems he could get that done, and he's the one currently trying to get the people to push back. I'm going to try to help Mayve." The half-elf slips down off her horse and catches up with Mayve, also speaking loudly to everyone, trying to get them to move. "Please, everyone, we're here on Academy business, on city business, let us through so we can try to get these gates open for you. Please, I'm sorry, please, I know you're tired, I'm so sorry...let us try to help you out." The soft-hearted halfbreed is having a hard time keeping her cool surrounded by people in such dire straits.
Glee smiles back at Rhane. "Well, if I don't miss my mark, the East Gate is going to be the clearest route based on what I can see of the damage." She looks sadly around her, the smile fading quickly from her face. She sighs. "I suppose from there it's a turn north, towards the cold, and eventually the tower. Eventually..." The half-elf nudges her horse forward.
Glee rises, stretches, does a bit of exercising to get her blood moving before having breakfast, and is happy when she walks outside to find that Rhane has already collected the mounts. "Ah, hey, thanks Rhane. Owe you one." As Seth glides up to his customary spot around her neck, she double-checks her supplies and waits for the others, noting with dismay the tremendous destruction all around her, the quiet of the streets, the hanging dust cloud and gloom. She shakes her head sadly.
"Oh this is excellent, Headmaster, thank you for your generosity!" Glee watches as the others distribute the scrolls to the appropriate spellcasters. "I can't help but hope this will be a painless journey, even though I know it's probably utterly foolish to do so." she sighs. "A tower, stuck in time. Amazing. I mean, if that's what it is." The half-elf stands and stretches. "Okay, well, at dawn then, yes? I'll see you all in the morning. The journey begins..." She then heads off to lay down and try to sleep among all the bedlam happening all around in the city, as the world tears itself apart.
"Yeah, this is one of those times I hope I'm wrong." Glee says, grinning ruefully. "But if Chronomancy is involved -- that guy mentioned a Chronomancer, I remember it clear as day -- then who knows, it's as likely as not. It could also be that we've already gone to the tower, and whether we will it or no, we're going to end up there. We may as well get underway there and save the universe the effort of concocting some ridiculous scenario to get us there."
Glee taps her teeth. "I think...hmm. The guy at the inn, when I asked him about these bracelets, Rhane, he seemed to imply they were a way to find the tower. Then he said 'is this the first time we've met?', like we should have met...before...somehow..." The city-scourer goes quiet, then, thinking to herself. Her familiar slithers down from her neck and takes up residence around her wrist, extending himself along her index finger, tongue flicking in and out.
Glee nods. "Much as I'm comfortable in cities, this is scarcely recognizable as such anymore, and is only going to get worse. We could help here, but that strikes me as being copper-wise and gold-foolish; both the crabby guy in the inn and the half-mad sot I encountered on the bench seemed quite sure we did...something...we, us here..." - she indicates the group with a circular motion of her hand - "...apparently caused this and/or are the only ones who can stop it. These bracelets Rhane and I have I guess are somehow key." The half-elf takes a gulp of tea. "Anyway, yeah. I'm all for getting on the road as soon as possible. I can't imagine we'll get any more answers here."
Glee helps out where she can, but feels largely useless around so many skilled healers and powerful arcanists, and in the midst of a group where so many seem already to know each other from past encounters. She sneaks a peek here and there at what books she can, as she has on her past infrequent visits to the Academy. It's a sad reminder to her of the current state of things when there are no clerks to shush her away from this or that "sacred text" when she pulls one down from the shelf. Feeling bad, she polices herself and puts it back.
Glee, on hearing Mayve's words, stops. She arches a dubious eyebrow at the rubble-strewn streets and leaning towers, then shrugs. "If the Academy still can support guests, I'll not say no to staying in the city a bit longer, especially if it lets us collect ourselves and decide on the best course of action."
Glee takes a moment to clear her head, then looks around at everyone. "Okay. Some of you I've met, some of you not so much. This group doesn't seem to be one really for introductions so I'll just say 'hey'. I'm Gliressa, you can call me Glee if you want." She sort-of waves at everyone. "I'm going to go the white tower. I'm not happy about this, but it appears to be where I need to go, because of this." She holds up her left wrist, displaying a plain bracelet that fits her perfectly. "Rhane has one, too. Anyway, if any of you want to come, I sure wouldn't complain. I don't like being out of cities and I get the feeling I'm gonna have to be in the wilds a lot if I wish to visit the tower, and every bit of help will be quite welcome." The dark-skinned and athletic half-elf adjusts her pack and looks ruefully to the north, wincing a bit at the strange lightning caroming about the sky, then starts walking in that direction, going slowly so as to avoid falling into any of the recently-appeared fissures and crevices that are around; there appears to be a lot of 'em.
As soon as Sev's arrow hammers into the elemental and reduces it to rubble, Glee sheathes both her swords, one on each hip, in a single smooth motion. Breathing heavily from exertion, she calls out thanks to the warrior. "Nice shot Sev! Great work, you guys, great work..." Even as she thanks her newfound (she hopes) friends, the half-elf quickly works her way over the rocks and rough ground to Rhane's side. Kneeling down next to him, she speedily wraps him in a blanket from her bedroll and rolls him back and forth, extinguishing the flames on him. She then lifts his head and pulls out one of her healing potions. "Awright, c'mon, Rhane, you don't get out of this that easily. We've got a temporal whatchamajigger to do something about and we're gonna need your help." She pours the magical liquid down his throat and waits for a reaction, waits to see if it's enough.
Glee, seeing Irina coming in to help Rhane, tries to concentrate on bringing the elemental down so they can focus on helping their new companion. Unfortunately, even though she executes two excellent strikes, both her blades slicing into the thing, she's unable to pierce its stony hide. "Dammit! Someone with more firepower's gonna have to do this! I'm sorry you guys, I guess I'm just not cut out for fighting living rocks." She continues to weave and glide past her opponent's swings as she mutters blackly under her breath.
"" Glee calls out as she twists her torso back and narrowly avoids getting clobbered by one of the elemental's massive burning fists. "Okay you bastard!" she yells at it, "I have had about ENOUGH of you! I TOLD you we would destroy you, and you picked the wrong day to test my prediction!"
"Ahh, you're right, Rhane, of course!" As Irina's magic takes hold and slows her enemy down, Glee executes two precise strikes with her shortswords, each blade hitting home this time and taking a shred of stony flesh with it. "Heh. There we go! The power of positive thinking. And magic. Can't forget magic!"
Well, obviously, you know I'm around. :-)
As she dances and jukes to avoid being hit, Glee notices the other elemental go down. "Guys! Um. I know we don't all really exactly know each other, but Rhane and I could sure use some assistance over here if any of you could spare it. Okay, okay, actually, the truth is that I could use some assistance. Rhane seems to be doing fine."
As Rhane dismounts and clobbers the elemental, Glee sighs and grits her teeth. "Okay so maybe this was a dumb plan anyway. Nice shot, Rhane!" The half-elf then attacks with both her magicked short swords, her spinning and graceful combat style obviously inappropriate against such a bruiser of a creature. Nonetheless, she lands one shot on the thing though she barely damages it at all, just nicks its stony hide. Glee quirks an eyebrow at her pitiful damage compared to the mighty rend Rhane caused. "Ugh. Talk about a journey of a thousand steps." she mutters to herself.
As Rhane thunders by and takes a huge chunk out of the elemental, Glee takes advantage of its pain and distraction to execute two hands-free cartwheels, drawing her short swords at the completion of the second one and standing with the blades in a fighting posture, a threatening gleam in her eye, and she again yells an threat in the creature's native Ignan. "Iy' kaa? Iy' rorryd arar ryd 'k, 'ryma 'a kdnyga od 'ymm! Maora ry'! Nad'nr dy dra aondr orj vyna vnyz 'rarra iy' roza cavyna Y kga'an iy'n zymdar raond orj mad zi ryzkoryyr n'r iy' vmod 'ydr ryk rynka!" Translation: You see? You cannot even hit us, while we strike at will! Leave now! Return to the earth and fire from whence you came before I skewer your molten heart and let my companion run you flat with his horse!
Alright, he's seen me anyway, obviously, and I guess at least this keeps him from going at the inn... Gliressa, seeing the mage take to the sky, Irina's accuracy with the bag, and the combat preparations of Sev, Rhane, and the big lizard man, gets an idea. After taking a second to steel herself, she steps boldly out of the shadows and strikes a defiant pose, not even bothering to draw her weapons. Pointing at the nearest magma elemental and yelling at it in its native tongue, she unleashes a stream of invective and intimidation as Seth stares beadily out at the thing as well, his twin tiny eyes a strange visual punctuation. "K'c-rnaod'na! Y ryzzorj iy' dy maora dryk kmora, makd iy' zaad o dannycma orj vnygar jyyz od y'n rorj! Myyg od dra zokyrk 'a ryzzorj, vmiyrk orj jykokkaonyrk, zyryrk ok 'a 'ymm! Km'k y'n 'onnyynk rora zokyr 'aokyrk drod ona yzz'ra dy iy'n raod orj ror kyanra iy'n kdyri ryja ok aokymi ok kyvd kyym. Ky! Ky corg yrdy dra zokzo vnyz 'ryrr iy' roza! Y 'ymm RYD 'onr iy' okoyr!" Translation from Ignan for anyone who speaks it: Sub-creature! I command you to leave this place, lest you meet a terrible and frozen doom at our hand! Look at the magics we command, flying and disappearing, moving as we will! Plus our warriors have magic weapons that are immune to your heat and can pierce your stony hide as easily as soft soil. Go! Go back into the magma from which you came! I will NOT warn you again!
@Irina: Would you have included Gliressa in the healing spree? Need every hit point I can get. :-/
Gliressa, confident she wasn't seen, detaches herself from the darkness long enough to dance lightly over rubble and spring across the fissures in the ground, finishing her movement next to the remains of a shop front, where she again disappears from sight, blending seamlessly in with her surroundings.
"Oh no! The Inn! The wounded!" Gliressa chuffs out a sharp exhalation and sprints forward, towards the inn. Executing a pair of flips to vault over fissures in the ground and a handspring over loose rubble, she lands at a spot just out of the nearest elemental's reach and then rolls and vanishes silently into the shadows behind a pile of cobbles and dirt left by the heaving ground. No sense yelling from here; nobody's gonna hear me. I gotta get a lot closer.
Glee does her best to assist any who might need it, climbing back down to street level.
Glee finishes clambering to the top of the rubble pile in time to see an upper door open and a giant lizard-person step cautiously out. "Watch that first step, friend; it's a doozy." She smiles lamely as she looks back down the rubble pile she just ascended to get here. "Anyone else in here? I believe the building will hold for now but we should really get everyone out, pronto. Oh! And I'm Gliressa, by the way. You can call me Glee if you wish. Most do. I figure we can do proper introductions later but names are always useful." Glee stands and catches her breath for a moment while waiting to see who else might come out of the room.
Gliressa ducks behind whatever cover she can find in the rubble-strewn streets and tries to take stock of things. "Okay, um, maybe we need to scratch the plan of visiting the wizards' academy. Yikes!" She bites her lower lip and shakes her head, then, saying "Never mind, I can't just let this happen! Hang on, Seth…"
She trots forward and vaults over the fissure, flipping neatly in mid-air and hitting the ground running. Arriving at the base of the academy, she surveys the damage, trying to discern the level of structural integrity left.
As far as she can tell, things look solid enough to climb up and in. She scrambles over the rubble, looking for a door in, all the while calling out "Is anybody in there! Hello! You've got to get out, everything's going to hell!" She makes a face as another spray of magma shoots up into the air, her mouth a bloodless hyphen. "...literally..." she mutters.
"Ugh." Glee shakes her head. She takes the bracelet and slips it onto her left wrist, then pulls a spare kerchief from her pack and ties it around the same wrist, covering the bracelet.
She then takes a deep breath and ties her hair back up. "Sev, Irina, simmer down. Remember no one else can see him but us. We look like a buncha loonies right now." She pauses for just a beat, then adds "I mean, if you care about that sort of thing." Having helped as much as she can at the inn, she steps lightly around the wreckage and rubble and makes for the door. "I'm going across the street, if any of you are interested. Gonna speak with those in the academy, see if they know anything about this, see if I can use their research materials. Then I'm heading for the tower. I wouldn't mind company, of course, but I'll understand if you've your own paths to take." With that, the half-elf heads back out into the night.
Gliressa dodges another spray of flung magma. "That's what I'm hoping to find out, Sev. I'm sure he's speaking of the White Tower, and this is the second time it's come up in the last hour. This bracelet is related somehow, I'm sure of it."
Glee's eyes narrow at the Observer's words. ...the tower...again... She stands and fishes the bracelet out of its pouch and holds it up for the Observer to see. "Can you tell me what this is?"
Glee is ducking before she even knows what's happening, deeply-ingrained reflexes taking over and saving her from the worst of the damage before her forebrain can get in the way and mess things up. Nonetheless... "Owww! The hell?" Shaking herself, she strides over to the edge of the pit, looking to see if anyone is trapped. If not, she'll try to help those in the room who are hurt. Looking up at the man as she rushes about, she speaks loudly enough to be heard over the din of crumbling stone and wailing victims. "Who are you?"
Gliressa looks down at Irina's hand, then up at her. She laughs. "A minute ago I was a waitress, now I'm your friend? You work fast." She smiles wryly as she takes a drink of her ale and removes the bracelet from the table, placing it back in a leather pouch on her belt. She nods significantly at Rhane.
Rhane only:
Glee mouths the words "we'll talk more later". No one else sees this. Leaning back, Glee awaits the man's response to Irina's hurled questions. She may be rude, but she did have a point; if this guy really was an extraplanar entity and was also proclaiming some kind of doom to this plane, that would definitely be worth learning more about. Maybe the bracelets were related somehow?
*blink blink* Glee's jaw literally drops. "A-a twin? There are more of these things?" she looks from Rhane to Sev and back again. "W-when? Where? I share your discomfort with the coincidence of two of them suddenly appearing. We gotta go get it before someone else finds it! Who knows what these things could do, or be." Her interest in finding the bracelet is plain. She pushes her ale aside and fixes Rhane with an earnest look. "Is it far? How soon are you comfortable leaving? Because I've no business here that can't be put off until we solve this riddle."
Glee looks up and smiles as Sevram rejoins them. "Hi Sev. Yeah, I can see the guy. Some fella doing a bunch of scribbling, right? Do you know him? I saw you speaking with him. What's he writing over there? I admit I'm curious." The half-elf then turns to Rhane, her face bearing a troubled look. "Some poor old drunk, homeless guy gave me this. I was just doing my usual rounds, helping out, you know, when he starts cackling about...stuff. Said 'my friends' and I must go to the White Tower. Said he'd seen it. He was...wearing this, then he took it off and tried to give it to me. At first I first I thought he was just some sot trading me costume jewelry for water or medicine, but when I left I cast a divination spell on the thing, to find out if it was magical, and it just about took my head off with the force of its aura." Glee's familiar hisses mildly at her neck and she gives a warm little chuckle. "Seth's too." She looks questioningly back up at Rhane. "You ever seen anything like this? Because I'm stumped. Of course, now I can't wait to figure out what it is." she says this last with a wolfish grin.
DC36 Sense Motive: Glee is pretending not to notice Rhane's look of surprise, or his hand hovering by the pouch on his belt.
Glee gives Irina a pained look, then just shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Right. Hilarious." She goes back to idly scanning the room and nursing her ale. At the moment, the man in the corner isn't really of any interest to her. Something seems to occur to her, then, and she takes the bracelet out and sets it before her on the table so she can get a better look at it in brighter light, see if there's anything she missed.
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