Hi guys! Vretiel is back form revolutionary cuba. I'll catch up on what has been happening and will post something accordingly this weekend.
I imagine nebten won't be reading this until he's back, but hope you have a nice trip =)
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@Nebten: sorry, I didn't have the time to write nor to plan future purchases this weekend. If you absolutely need to know, the best I can give you for the moment is that Vretiel would buy a few scrolls and one or two magic items, depending on how much money he has. As for downtime activities, I think he would travel around a bit, running errands for his patron (that most likely involve attending nobility feasts and similar things, so he's not slaying monster and getting XP) and contacting the Outsider's Pepper people so they can have an exclusive with Maff. @Haruf: hmmm…I can imagine. though, hey, it's likely your contribution to society will be deeper and more long-lasting than artsy exhibitions always attended by the same 10 people. See you all in 10 days!
Cheers, Haruf. It's a "design" masters, quotation marks due to the fact that it's taken in a very broad artsy sense and one basically does whatever one wants. Like, a girl's final project was handing out massages in her graduation exhibition.
Vretiel, clearly disapproving of Calli's choice, hugs her anyhow. "You know, if you ever need anything like, I don't know, , just let me know. Yell my name thrice at the moonlight and tell whatever creature is summoned to fetch me. Be well, my angel." --- When they reach the manor, the elf smiles pleasantly. "Oh, nobility outside of Oppara is so charmingly quaint. To see a small beacon of civilisation is like sparkling wine to a parched throat. Or regular drinking water anyhow—" Vretiel is interrupted by Once the Lady of the house presents herself, Vretiel gets up and bows in typical courtly fashion. "Your Ladyship. My Lord." He waits until he's given permission and then continues "I am Vretiel Vaneldra, your humble servant. I deeply thank you for this most pleasant feast; we are not worthy of Your Grace's kindness. I have recently joined this fine group of adventurers, and must commend your wise decision in arranging such a variegated and efficient party." Smiling, he glances at Kale to see if she will take the lead in the official business; in case she doesn't, he gives an extremely detailed and colourful report of the group's findings at Hunclay's manor, with many moments of poetic freedom and flourishes.
Hey everyone, just a heads up: next monday I'll be travelling to Cuba for my master's and will stay there for 10 days. Though I will definitely try to check in and post, I cannot really promise anything at the moment since these will be quite intense days and that it's unlikely that I will have a reliable internet connection whilst there. Feel free to deal with Vretiel however you please on those days. Bot him, ignore him, make him leave on a picnic with Anastasia, etc. Also, sorry about the silence on the past few days. Chaos, terror, fire and brimstone manifested themselves at work =(
"It's my pleasure, darling. Maff, honey, your knights in shining armour are here!" Vretiel yells. He takes off one of his gloves, opens the pouch, closes his eyes and starts smearing the dust in the most irregular way possible, not realising he's taking twice the time that he reasonably should. With all the packets empty, he smiles "Ah, the satisfaction of a job well-done…is definitely not as good as the satisfaction of a job well-done by a servant whilst I sip Qadiran sparkling wine, but, oh well. Who shall do the honours of freeing our lovely shae?"
Oblivious to Kale's glare, Vretiel grabs the remaining pouches of dust and shakes his clothes out of any debris and leftovers of the zombie. "On we go, then!" As the group leaves the room, he takes a last look around the cave, searching for anything they might have missed. He leaves immediately afterwards, relieved to be going back to something less muddy and with less mosquitoes.
"Humans and their short life spans…one would think that having so little time you'd use it to live well," Vretiel says distractedly whilst feeling the weight of the pouch he removed from the chest. "Actually, we might need all of these dust packets. That was a very big wall of light, after all. What was your agreement with your patron? I mean, not only is this outside the manor premises, we actually need it to finish cleaning up the house."
No! =( I mean, yes, of course, but it's very sad to hear that, Calli. Though we have played for a relatively short time, it has been a big pleasure. I wish we could have seen you grappling that mutant dire bear with shark head and laser eyes. Really, all the best. I hope things get better and that our paths cross again in the future =)
"Oh, pumpkin, very good idea! See, I told you it was impossible for me to compete with your talents and quick wits!" As the chests are opened, Vretiel's eyes shine. "So, what were we supposed to do with all of this coin? I mean, officially it's out of the manor grounds, no?" He painfully remove his eyes from the gold and examines the tomes and items inside the bigger chest with more attention "Well, one of these packets should be enough to free our shae fellow back at the manor," he pockets one of the dust of darkness pouches, "and these books are…oh, gods, a cure for insomnia. Iskra, dove, we might need to brush up on our Aklo."
I second Iskra and Kale, Calli. Hang in there and my sympathies to you and your family.
Vretiel cuddles a now calmed Anastasia whilst speaking to Iskra. "Honestly, I'm jaded by now. I wouldn't bat an eyebrow if we discovered that the whole manor was a mimic summoned with a scroll Hunclay bought at a store called 'The Dark Tapestry' and all of this mess was caused by him having lost their contact details after being afflicted with buyer's remorse. I need to get in touch with the 'Outsider's Pepper', they have bounties for this type of juicy info, you know!" He paces closer to the chests. "Speaking about mimics…who wants to open these? Shall we scan them for magic, my dove?" The elf asks the wizard. He repeats his usual gestures whilst humming a little ditty.
Vretiel rolls his eyes at the disappearing devil "Ungrateful simpleton. After all this preparation, really, it's just very impolite. Oh, well." The elf turns to Kale, admiring her moves. "Darling, that is just terrific. Now, if we can just do this…and then this…and then…yes, this!" The elf says, poorly mimicking the warrior's moves and finishing the last motion slinging another cloud of powder (this time silvery). Kale and everything she's wearing and wielding grow to twice their original size and Vretiel laughs in delight.
Vretiel beams a delighted smile at the zebub. "How wonderful of you to join us. Just in time too, I was about to make this party so much more fabulous! Anastasia! Some sparkles, please." The viper inches its tongue outside Vretiel's clothes and drops a couple of bright scales on the elf's hand. He claps for a second whilst yelling "Glitter!" and a cloud of bright coloured dust explodes above the zebub and the undead creature, completely covering both. "Oh, this is so much better! Bringing a bit of festiveness to this dreary cave! Onwards, my darlings!"
"Anastasia! Control yourself! It's just a walking corpse! Now, where was I…oh, yes, waiting for some of these brain boils to pop!" Vretiel puts his hand against his ear again.
Vretiel hears the skittering rumour and the sounds of fighting and enters the room. He opens his mouth to ask what is all the ruckus about, but for a few seconds he is completely speechless. The elf looks at the trembling bundle of scales near his neck and says "Anastasia, I do hope you have higher standards than that. I mean, look at it; these brain zits seem like they're about to pop. I guess it would be a shame for it if it happened…" he trails off, putting a hand next to his ear, waiting for a popping sound. ______________________
Vretiel, both his ego and his clothes cleaner now, fondles Anastasia, tranquillising the scared viper. "Well, thank you for that, my dove. Shall one of our brave leading ladies take the…lead?" He fixes Kale's armour for a second. "There, now you are ready for anything and everything, dear. Forward you go, with us coming right behind you. Remember, no summon is unkillable." He gives a pat on the shoulders of the monk and warrior.
Vretiel is for once caught flat-footed, not expecting a reward from farm peasants, and tries to deflect the hunks of meat without success. Puffing up his chest and thinking of a happy place, he passes the pieces to his companions. "Oh, how lovely! Bloody chunks of meat for all of us, my friends! This is too much, I need to share this burden. Actually, I am not worthy, since you did all the work, I mainly stood around making a fool of myself," he says, darting Iskra a glance that is a scream for help. He spends most of the way back to the town cleaning himself.
Vretiel sighs when they arrive at the ranch, having had enough of nature for the day. Looking away for a moment he inhales deeply and, when he turns to the farmer, puts on a beaming smile splattered over his face. "Well, good evening, sir! I am Vretiel Vaneldra. It is so nice to make your acquaintance," the elf says with an elaborate bow, "you probably know my dear associates, friends of poor old Hunclay! Well, we just wanted to drop by to let you know that we have taken care of your little problem with the wolves. Rest assured, the pests shan't give you and your picturesque ranch any further problems!" His accent comes off strongly, lending a soothing and mellow tone to his usually shrill voice.
"Well, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve…especially if we need to escape," says Vretiel, laughing. "But I would never object to moving away from danger, going back to the city and having a nice cup of tea." Anastasia seems to vigorously nod in agreement.
Vretiel gives a quick shoulder massage to Alex "Relax, pumpkin, relax. Who doesn't throw up a spider or two every now and then?" He wrestles with a few mosquitoes until he feels Anastasia moving inside his clothes. He is about to admonish her when he sees her eyes and starts screaming "Baby! My sweet, sweet baby! Do not worry, you will be safe! There are brave, strong women like Calli and Kale to protect us, my dear!"
"Oh, but what…is it that I hear? Hissing? Are there snakes inside, Anastasia? Is it an old lover, you sneaky little vixen? We have barely been here for two days!" The viper glares and hisses at Vretiel "Ok, ok, no discussion of private matters in public! Anyway, I don't like these sounds at all. Can barely contain my joy to discover what else your wizard friend has summoned…"
Seeing the alpha wolf dead and the other running away, Vretiel turns to the swarm and starts shooing it away with both hands. The spiders disperse shortly afterward and he turns to the group with a forced, impatient smile "Is everyone ok? You all did splendidly. Anyone need some healing? Shall we continue in getting things done and then getting the hell out of this gods forsaken place muddy place crawling with low quality, ambulant fur bags?"
Still giggling, Vretiel takes out a small handkerchief and cleans his mouth from a bit of webbing and spit that was still glued to his face. "Alex, sweetheart, take a step back to allow passage to these little creatures, will you? They won't bite if you are not standing on them." The elf takes a step to the side and seems to be followed by the swarm, which is now again scuttling around the wolf's paws.
Vretiel swoons at Calli's gesture of protection. "I honestly feel so loved at this moment! My own personal gentlewoman in shining armour! Bless your heart, my dear," he says. Seeing the failures of the wolves in damaging Kale, he bellows a sinister laughter. The elf then takes a step over the dead animal carcass and puts his hand over his nose "Oh, gods, the stench…I'm going to be ill!" To everyone's surprise, it appears he is not exaggerating, as his complexion goes from pale pink to pale green. With a sonorous "Ugh!" he bends down, vomiting what first seems to be black bile. As the dark mass hits the ground scuttling, it fragments in a swarm of spiders that flow towards the wolf close to Alex. "Oh, dear! Forgive my manners! I have a very sensitive sense of smell," he apologises whilst the writhing swarm of spiders engulfs the wolf.
"Oh. Lovely. The great outside, ever so charming," says the elf, staring at the wolves. He gives a resigned sigh and yells at the animals, shaking his arms, "Shoo, shoo! Stop asking, we don't want your fur! Go become someone else's new coat! Especially that big, gross one."
Vretiel approaches the bodies and darts a quick glance at them before turning his head with a shudder. "Well, I will trust our healer on those matters. Perhaps someone should–" the elf shakes his fingers in another vague gesture – "check their pockets? Or perhaps look at their faces? Calistria forbids, but it could always be someone you knew."
Whilst the others are approaching the bodies, Vretiel uses his rapier to remove some mud from his boots. "Ah, nature…ever so pleasant. Buzzards, mud, dirt, decomposing corpses…I bet we'll shortly have mosquitos drinking our blood," he says, looking around with an unambiguous expression of contempt.
Vretiel helps Iskra standing up, removing the dust on her clothes with quick hand movements "Ah! If only the servant were here," he looks at Haruf, "I agree, in any case. Iskra or I getting on that chair before we deactivate that trap is completely out of question. Trust me, getting shocked is fun only for the first couple of times!" Then, turning to Alex, he giggles. "Oooh, I suddenly get the feeling that I'm stepping on someone's toes! Don't worry, sweetie, I am sure you will get plenty of opportunities to use your talents which certainly exceed this lowly, lonely courtier's by far," he says in earnest, but also clearly enjoying the opportunity to tease the half-elf.
"Oh! Oh! My precious dove! Are you alright?", yells Vretiel. "Get out of this chair right now! Come, help me," the elf gestures at whoever is closest. With a flick of his wand, he touches Iskra, generating a couple of glittering puffs of smoke.
"Now, can we make sure that the chair is not a torture implement before someone else sits on it? Haruf, dear, you seem like the most mechanically inclined of us," says the pompous courtier. "Perhaps there's a switch somewhere? Behind the chair? Oh, these pesky wizards and their little murder contraptions; I swear, it would be delightful if only it were slightly less deadly"
Vretiel looks at his gloved hand. "Well, if you have explored everything here, it might be good to do one last swipe to search for the devil, look at this seeing machine and then we can try go to the cave? Oh, Anastasia, I have a feeling we are not going to like there…thanks to Calistria there is no dwarven blood on either of us!" he says, the snake suddenly writhing beneath his clothes and putting its head out.
Vretiel giggles "Oh, I love that! So luxurious: 'I dislike this tower. Remove it from my sight immediately!'" The elf stops moving around the room and says "But Calistria bless your heart, Mathezic. You are absolutely right, these caves must be simply crawling with all manner of outsiders and arcane whatnots! We will visit them soon and keep an eye open for the other servants!" He turns to the group "So, any other questions? Should we go to Hunclay's living quarters? Mathezic, dear, any information regarding whatever is upstairs? Besides screaming locks, I mean?"
Vretiel tilts his head and clasps his hands together, firmly touching Mathezic's shoulder in attempt of calming the servant: "There, there, darling, take it all out…we have all the time in the world…you are safe now." After giving the man a moment to compose himself, the elf continues, now walking around the tiny room, always lovingly staring at Mathezic's eyes: "But are you sure you have told us everything? I'm sure you would never keep information from us, but perhaps there's something you forgot, that slipped your mind? As poor, poor Hunclay's example shows us, hidden knowledge can be such a dangerous thing."
Vretiel rains compliments on Haruf's initiative "Oh, that is such a creative solution to our problem! Very good job, dear."
Upon entering, the room, he immediately sees the covers moving and takes a step back, outside the room. He yells: "We see you hiding! Get out of the bed and tell us, friend or foe? Follow my order and think very well about your reply, else there are five fearless adventurers and myself here!"
Vretiel shrugs "Oh well, can't blame me for trying and –" he looks at Kale in an almost puppy-ish manner "you can't blame me for taking a bit of…poetic license with reality." He distances himself from the door and continues speaking "Anyhow, I am not really sure of what to do besides…shoving the door," he spins his left hand as if that could somehow represent violently hitting a door. "This is a kitchen and thus I doubt any magical artefact will be on the other side, but I agree it feels rather thuggish. Any other ideas?"
Vretiel joins Iskra, a hand on his chin. "Well, before any of our strong men and women start pushing this around, we can try to be polite, no? ", yells the elf, knocking on the door.
Vretiel, cleaning sticky fingers on a dirty cloth laying on the kitchen counter, nods in agreement with Alex "Yes, I very much agree with you, pumpkin. Let us try and get this door open now, shall we?" The elf gives a pat on the back of whoever takes initiative, smiling innocently as his touch send some shivers down that person's spine.
Vretiel follows his companions upstairs, apparently still entertaining the idea of a comeback filled with demon meat. Entering the kitchen further fuels his fantasy. "Oh, marvellous! Qadiran sandworm eggs, leviathan caviar…I almost think that your wizard friend was summoning guests for a grand feast!" he goes on, a certain trill on his voice reflecting his original elven accent. He goes to the stove, attracted by a jar of conserves; container in hand, he raises an eyebrow "When did your friend leave you again? The stove has been clearly used recently…perhaps a faithful and rather fearless servant?"
Vretiel opens his eyes wide, saying "Are…are you actually biting that thing, Haruf?" and then, slightly less shocked "Is it any good? Why, having deep fried Schir meat could just be the best idea for a comeback ball in Oppara!"
Vretiel laughs delighted, clumsily clapping his hands whilst holding the bow. Giggling in his peculiar way, he takes a step forward and taps Kale on the shoulder. "Sorry, you had a bit of dust over there!", he says, imbuing the warrior with eldritch energy.
"Oh, you are absolutely right, Anastasia! It is a Schir demon! Darlings, it is a very annoying demon, resistant to heat and cold, immune to venoms and electricity. But, the real question is, are we sure it's not suffering from a streak of bad luck, hmmm…?" says the elf in the same dark tone of voice, which does little to mask his annoyance.
"And here I was, hoping for another civil discussion," complains Vretiel. He calmly strolls closer to the fray, drawing a red longbow and speaking at the same time he walks. "But, you know, that was a rather nasty gash there, wasn't it? Wouldn't it be just terrible, awful if this bad luck continued?" His voice takes a very dark tone as he mentions bad luck, a chilling dark omen accompanied by his creepiest smile yet. "Now, Anastasia, do you recognise our new mangy outsider?" he wonders out loud, still smiling.
Vretiel hums for a bit, looking around with his hands extended. After a few seconds he says "Well, there's quite a bit of magic all around. Same thing, Hunclay's own adaptations of Osirian summoning, references to the abyss and other planes. I can definitely sense some energy coming in from the other side of the gate, to the east. Perhaps there's someone over there? "
The elf turns his head to try and hear any replies. After a few seconds of silence, he turns to Kale and shrugs: "I guess not. Now, we can either throw something inside since it worked so well last time. Otherwise, let me just fix something for you!" Saying that, Vretiel adjusts Kale's belt and dusts her armour . Once finished, he smiles and says: "Done now! Off you go! Make us proud!"
Vretiel looks at the antechamber "Don't you just love when something requires arcane sigils and two heavy gates to be contained? It just screams "friendship and happiness". I am guessing the symbols are akin to a summoning circle: we can safely ignore it, but it's stronger than mithril cage to the outsider." He looks at his nails and polishes them against his coat "So, anyone want to take the first step inside this lovely little pen? Here, let me just see if I can feel any magic inside…"
Vretiel jerks his head to Calli, his hand hovering a symbol: "Oh, it's more like Osirian inspired than actual Osirian; most of it seems to be your friend's original research. What does matter to us is, in any case, is that this seems to be a sigil to imprison summoned creatures, dearie."
Vretiel goes to the runed door and looks at the symbols. His face, initially carrying his typical sardonic smile, changes in a flash to a slight frown, his lips a thin straight line. "Iskra, my dove, can you come over for a second? This one here, with the bit pointing upwards. Doesn't it remind you of Osirian style summoning sigils, but…heavier?"
Vretiel comes rushing out of the freezer room with a wine bottle in hand to find Haruf screaming "I wasn't me, I swear! … Oh! Wizards and their traps. Perhaps you can try, I don't know, waving the bird's charm in front of the door next time?", he finishes more calmly, waving his left hand in circles when making his suggestion. Looking at Haruf, he says "Well, no use dwelling in the past! Let me just fix this for you…"[/b]. The elf leaves the end of the sentence hanging and takes a small stick of carved wood, "♥︎Calistria♥︎" written in one of the ends. With a flick of his wrist, Vretiel touches the half-orc with it. A small puff of glittery dust erupts whilst some of Haruf's wounds close.
Vretiel's eyes widen at the sight of the wine. "Such a nice collection! Uh-huh, such good taste. Let's come back here when we're done and celebrate! I bet Maff could use a drink." The elf walks around the rooms, half checking the bottles and meat, half scanning both spaces and the door for traces of magic, ignoring the obvious huge magic ice wall, making small interjections every now and then.
After a few minutes carefully going though the wizard's journal, Vretiel moans: "Ugh, nothing useful here. How long to these caves of yours, my prettiest little dove? If it takes too long I'd suggest we first finish the manor and find that little escaped devil…for an interview."
Yes, but, since it's a fantasy world, the stories could/would just be over-sexualised, melodramatic, exaggerated versions of "reality". The image that keeps coming back to me are those tabloids in Men In Black that turn out to be the best source of information on alien stories. So, for example, the story on the gnome sorcerer and the fomorian (who might be just really good friends, mind you) would contain important details on how to actually summon a titan in the middle of the whole sensationalist narrative.
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