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Miles does little for the start of combat, apparently preoccupied trying to be sick across the inside of his mask as he freezes up resisting the urge to tear the silver chains hidden under his robes from his body. But through focusing his magic to his torso instead of his legs and a quick surge of will he is able to resist the pain. He then moves up while chanting a spell and taps his hand against Dunia's arm, causing her to vanish... shoulder trident and all.
On their approach to the summit Miles is quiet, just a blank body following behind until Dunia approaches him. His attention shifts slightly towards her, the unsettling still mask regarding her. "Conflicts occur. I still feel this was a poor decision, but I made my opinion known and the others heard my case. There will be no punishment for me when I return home... beyond normal debriefing requirements. They will be angry with the Society, but understand my limitations." He's silent for a while longer. "But I appreciate the sentiment, my sort don't get it often." As they near the top of the summit he casts several spells in preparation, ending with his own shadow twisting up from the ground to form into a great sword in his hands. When the actual conflict begins he chants one final spell, increasing his own internal vigor and he moves after the others with haste, shadow blade at the ready.
He nods his covered face to Herr. "You speak eloquently and extensively, but ultimately to say you would rather place the knowledge first. I understand your point, however these sorts of breaches do not stay contained. They grow quickly and it will not stay confined in the mountains simply because it started here." "It will spread, and it will destroy. If we fail to stop it, or simply choose not to people will likely die, and they will not be recovered. Knowledge can be discovered again. You do need to remember also, Cheliax will not be pleased with the decision to abandon the society's deal with them. That could cost us the chances Heidmarch herself stated we would gain to access many other sites and opportunities if your primary issue is what the Society will gain." "And they stated they wanted the information in the archive vaults because it would be safer there then here. It would be equally as safe and non-threatening if it gets destroyed." He offers a faint shrug. "I will argue no more, I have said my opinion on the matter and we clearly do not agree. If the others all share your opinion I will go and hope we do not return to eldritch horrors crossing the land. May the heavens not damn us for the choice."
Miles casually points at Karva. "That is my superior in the Order of the Gate. And I think they are planning to summon things more akin to that which peels flesh, and not the infected animals we saw before. Something considerably more dangerous, as these things tend to grow exponentially in strength as they increase their foothold." "Ultimately it is a group decision and I will defer to the group majority, since I am here as an agent. But my vote is to deal with the threat to life over the threat to an old rock. Iomedae would be displeased with me if I chose the opposite."
"I agree with Karva. While the temple is important and why we are here, we should deal with the problem at the source before it gets out of control. Learning information from one site will do us little good if the horrors of the abyss start spreading across the land." Miles is slightly biased, of course, but he feels like his duty should be first to stop threats to the land and the people before saving an abandoned temple. "We are still fully capable of exploring and reporting on this summoning site, even if it is not what we were sent here for. And the Venture Captain wanted us cooperating with our hosts, who think the priority is whatever they are bringing here."
Miles listens to Dunia's interrogation silently impressed, as she milks the orcs for information rather easily. When they mention the plans he approaches the rune free group and kneels down close to them, staring at them with his masked face. "When are the plans to be completed? And why does he want the runes destroyed so badly he cannot wait? What sort of ritual is it and when will they complete it?" Miles wracks his brain for knowledge of this creature they named and glances at the others in the party. "We will likely need to stop these horrors from spreading across the region, the results could be rather problematic."
Miles is once again confident in the overwhelm ferocity of the front line and feels no need to draw a weapon. Instead he moves himself behind the two massive warriors and casually reaches out to touch Obtrivi while speaking out a spell. The ifrit finds himself even more resistant to fire on top of his natural ability to heal from it. "Enjoy big guy, now when they pop you will not even notice it. Destroy all these things, please."
Miles wanders over to the runic circle carved into the ground and squats onto his haunches. He reaches an hand down towards one of the symbols, but draws it back after a moment so he never quite touches anything. "This... was made to bind creatures from the Abyss. Far down where Qlippoths reside, and I think they used the animals to become hosts for them. It is reasonable to assume this is the source of the host we fought before." His eyes wander over the ground for a moment longer and he scoops up a wiggling worm between his fingers to bring close to his mask. It stays there as he examines it, then finally crushes it in his hand before letting it fall back to the earth. [b]"Everything here is mutated. Worms with stingers and claws. Those changes can happen when the taint of powerful outsiders are summoned. These orcs are up to something larger than we may have anticipated." And finally he steps over to the orc leader's body where he can examine it, roughly pushing aside bits of armor and gear to getting a better view of his skin. "They have been writing their own history into their bodies in Abyssal, talking about their crimes they have committed. They have also rotted." There's a cough behind his mask as he gags slightly on the smell.
Miles observes the summoning and inquiry with moderate interest, but takes the imp's words with a grain of salt. He gives a look to Dunia. "They tend to do that, I would not worry. And ambiguous is good, it never said who will die." After a moment he adds. "Though I suppose that could be bad news for us as well. While on the watch with Karva he's moderately surprised to realize she's a woman. The Hellknight armor tends to hide such things better than he expected, but thankfully his own mask hides his expression of surprise. "I was sent to work with them for experience and training initially. They tend to get involved with dangerous and chaotic things often. It was a chance to hone myself. I continue to do so now, but it also offers liaison opportunities. While some members are..." He cocks his head towards Obtrivi a moment. "Difficult to manage, they're usually well behaved, useful to have around, and have access to considerable knowledge and experience that can aid the Gate." "This is my responsibility... and I am fond of a few of them."
While not nearly as obsessive as the Hellknights in preparing for the evening, he does make efforts to build a campfire for food, pulls out a bedroll, and goes through the motions of preparing for bed. No one actually sees him move his mask enough to eat, but at some point when you aren't looking and then turn back his meal is gone. On his watch he sits by the dimmed fire, disturbingly still except for the slow rise and fall of his chest. The only thing that stirs him is signs of a threat or someone asking him a quest.
Miles' posture doesn't even shift as the ground softens beneath him or blood rains from above to stain his clothing. It's all rather villainously dramatic while the heavy rains work to rinse him clean. There's no sudden attack against the new monster as he's unarmed. With the threat so close he holds out his hand and the shadows cast by Dunia and himself curl up into his hand, coalescing into a darkened metal great sword he holds at the ready. "Deplorable, I agree."
Miles shrugs one shoulder at Dunia. "They appear to be infested by Cynthigot Qlippoths. It is the taint of the dark tapestry. Chaos at its most vile, but we shall overcome it as long as we stay focused." He then lifts one of his wands up before him and softly speaks a prayer to Iomedae. A flash of holy energy engulfs everyone present, Hellknights included. "You all seem very capable on the front line, I shall provide support for now." He glances briefly up when the spray of acid crests the ridge. "I think they are having fun up there."
"I find this option an acceptable alternative to Signifier Karva's recommendation we scale the unsafe cliff face ready to drop several tons of mud upon us." Miles stares up towards the ledge silently for a long moment, then turns his mask to Crios. There's a soft cough before he speaks. "I'm not up to my usual standards, I may need assistance descending the other side."
Miles doesn't seem to notice the behavior of the other Hellknights, or simply refrains from commenting on it. "I have to agree with the rest of you, I'm not not exactly one for the wilderness, but even I can ascertain that things are very... off here. We should stay ready, but try not to wear ourselves out being overly alert." After he speaks he pauses to cast a spell, a piece of bone flying up from beneath his robes to float lazily around his body. Then a wand drops into either hand, holding them loosely until he needs to utilize them. "It's troubling things have spread so... chaos works quickly."
Miles turns his attention to the casting Hellknight, then glances back at the rest of his party, the mask turning to regard Obtrivi as he resists rubbing his forehead. "Either case is not agreeable. The taint of chaos will be removed before it becomes a greater issue. We will find you things to break, Obtrivi." He nods slightly to Dunia and looks back to Karva. "Yes, are we hours or days from where you believe the source is? And when are we departing?"
Miles will inform the party to the basic workings of the Hellknights as the preparations for their departure are made. Once they arrive and they're greeted by the expedition he turns his blank mask to Obtrivi. "The scary red cloak mask man can tell you when to break things." So says the other scary red cloak mask man. That done he takes a step forward and slaps his fist across his chest plate in salute to Karva. "Sir, I am Signifier Miles, reporting as ordered with additional support from my fellow Pathfinders. I am ready to fulfill my duties, and my fellows are, as you can see, more than capable of handling themselves. Could you elaborate for us what we're expecting to find out here? Details were sketchy."
The masked man walks up to the much, much larger Obtrivi and holds out one of his armored hands. "I'm quite competent with... mmm, healy sticks. I will make you a deal. I will use your healy stick, if you take this yuck bottle." Miles produces a small potion vial from a pouch and offers it out to Obtrivi. "This is my medicine, if I fall down you need to give that to me, and not anything else. No healy sticks. Deal?" Obtrivi likely can't determine what it is but the hard way, but it's labeled inflict moderate wounds and has a hastily drawn skull and crossbones on it. "The same goes for you others, if you please. I have an abnormal... aversion to traditionally holy healing."
The Hellknight in question stands calmly at Zarta's side during the briefing. It's hard to tell much about him beyond his above average height, for all of his features are hidden within his armor. He wears standard Hellknight plate covered in the swirling pattern that denotes membership in the Order of the Gate and the disturbingly blank mask of a Signifier, it's only features the pair of large horns protruding from the forehead. His armor has several unique touches, in that the colors of the swirling metal are silver and white, and the voluminous cowl and cloak that wrap about him are more the red of courage than blood. One that looks closely will see a symbol of Iomedae fashioned unobtrusively onto the center of his chest. His only apparent weapon is a worn, rusty great sword attached to his back. "I regret that I have been given no real briefing on my order's needs. I was simply contacted to request aid as I am a convenient bridge between our two groups despite previous..." His mask shifts slightly towards Zarta. "Misunderstandings." When she mentions the silly contract he clears his throat. [b]"Based on my opinion we shouldn't break the contract unless absolutely necessary. I am, of course, biased. But doing so will create additional bad blood when we're trying to mend bridges. I agree with Heidmarch." "Ma'am, do you have any additional information about what this Temple of the Sky is or who made it?"
PFS#: 104845-11
Weird Stuff: He's a Hellknight Signifier, so that's going to impact character interaction, and why I chose him for this scenario. =) Also, this character has the Hellbound Corruption boon active on him. He will be sickened for the adventure, and once during the scenario at any time you choose I need you to force me to make a fortitude save, Yoga. |
