| Tiona Daughtry |
After Sparky left the bugbear leader in shreds, and one of the other bugbears with him, hit by a coruscating bolt of black energy, the companions hardly had to threaten the remaining bugbears to stay put, and stay reasonable. Of course, Meranthryl's new 'ally' was still largely a gibbering mess of both shock and lack of mental fortitude (Why is it that frightened enemies tend to fall under charms so easily?). Looking over the chamber that they'd entered, and posting a gnoll to guard each of the other two entrances, Venisa went through pockets and poked around the ill-furnished chamber. She collected various coinage, including a surprise, as the leader of the bugbears had actual platinum on him, not much, but certainly worth something. There were two other things of interest, though. One was a belt, that, upon close examination, seemed to be able to cure wounds on occasion. The other, though, was far more interesting. Venisa didn't want to touch it initially, as it was an amethyst prism that had been knocked free from an amulet worn by a man in tattered grey half-robe and trousers, lying dead in one corner. It detected as magical, so she was cautious, though she detected no trap from it. With a little work between Meranthryl and Majet, they determined that it seemed to be the focus of a fairly powerful spell, and, furthermore, that the spell was unusual. It was a divination intended to communicate with other planes of existence. What made it very odd was the fact that it was the focus of that spell from another plane. Someone from a place variously named the Outlands or Concordant Opposition was trying to bespeak someone in the mortal realm.
More interested in the fact that it was a magical gemstone than anything else, Sir Lee reached out and picked it up, trusting that his dwarven affinity for avoiding magical troubles would serve him. Almost instantly, his eyes shifted to a place beyond him, and what he sensed, no one else did.
Before Sir Lee was a woman of indeterminate age, a little short for a human, dressed in dark grey half-robe and trousers, with her black hair pulled up to be held in place by a pair of diamond rods. She seemed to be Baklunish in origin, and possessed a mien that was both serene and troubled. Speaking to him, she commanded him to seek to find out where her servant was trapped. She gave a name, one that the dwarf didn't recognize off the top of his head, a Zuoken, and merely that he was trapped somewhere, and that his followers might be able to help him find the other. Then, strange as it seemed, she lifted her legs, moving into a lotus position floating in midair, before what seemed to be a giant lotus blossom appeared and closed up around her. As she vanished, the dwarven bard managed to shake his head and clear his mind.
A little consultation with the others around him revealed who the woman had to be, a reasonably powerful goddess, one whose nature was cloaked in shadows, Xan Yae, Mistress of Perfection, and also a goddess who worked very subtly. No one knew what was going on with regard to her missing servant, Zuoken, though there was an odd comment, almost unnoticed out in the hallway beyond.
Tasha, who had thus far managed to be almost disturbingly unnoticeable, murmured something that made no sense. "I had no idea that he was still there." She looked embarrassed and said no more, but what she'd said was enough.
(Note, I decided to draw my intrigue variant off of the Temple of Elemental Evil--using pathfinder rules-- to include many other sub-plots throughout the Flanaess. I also found that it was far more amusing to see what the party did when encountering a spell cast in a very different manner, hence a contact other plane spell cast by a deity to communicate with a mortal).