Dream With Me
GAME: Telamon rolls Wisdom: (11)+1: 12
GAME: Lysa rolls wisdom: (18)+2: 20 GAME: Rune rolls wisdom: (18)+2: 20 GAME: Simony rolls wisdom: (13)+3: 16 GAME: Harkashan rolls Wisdom: (8)+4: 12
It's late in the evening as one by one people begin to filter into the tavern's back room. You know why you are here. There's important things to discuss. Answers to be had to the many questions that are on your mind.
The back room is empty at first save a woman who arrived early. The table ladened with food. The woman is elvish by nature, her hair the color of newly fallen snow and her eyes silver. She's familiar to everyone gathered here. Like a friend whom you haven't seen a long time. She waves you to seats that have offerings of food laid out on them.
Everyone knows where to sit by the food set out before them. Glasses of favored wines, cups of ale that smell of scents almost forgotten. Meals that bring back memories of joy. Each in their proper place. It might have seemed odd really, perhaps even suspicious, but you know everyone here, and it doesn't seem strange at all.
It wasn't long ago that Harkashan first walked into one of these kinds of meetings, feeling so entirely out of place. Not knowing half the people there. Listening to things he had no knowledge of. Yet now, he steps into the tavern back room with a sense of confidence.
"Good evening." He bids to the elfin looking woman with a strange sense of ease, before turning a seat around so he can sit into it, settling in at a meal that is... very basic in nature. Sizable. Bringing him memories from before he even Awakened.
"Peace upon your Nest. I see the Hunt today was good." He remarks with such ease to the pale haired woman and takes a drink from the clean waters in his cup
The Goblin is initially confused. Dinner was only just a short time ago. She'd gone to sleep.
Simony opens her mouth in a tiny yawn, her arms raising up to stretch. Tilting her head left and right has her vertebrae popping and cracking. It doesn't take long for her to find the food for her... "CURRY!"
The Gobbo settles in, giving Harkashan a wave.
Inclining her head, Lysa takes a long moment to sweep her gaze over the gathering place. She moves to the indicates seat without really thinking about it. It's like she is doing so absently, as if a part of some oddly discorporate memory.
But as she does sit, she lifts both brows and places her hands on the table. Her white armor gilded with golden highlights polished to a high shine and kept perfectly clean for now. The sword on her back would normally be removed before sitting, but not tonight. It's just leaning against the side of her chair.
"Perhaps you will be being telling us why we are being brought here?" she asks the woman. She is trying to be polite about it, but at the same time... direct as she reaches for a goblet of mead.
So much on Telamon's mind of late. So it seems perfectly normal for his steps to carry him here, to this place, to this room. But there are familiar faces: Simony, Rune, Harkashan, even Lysa -- indeed, she's the one he's least familiar with but he does remember her. And their host... his starry eyes move back to the silver-eyed elfwoman. His brow furrows, but...
Shaking his head, he sits down next to Simony, he offers her a grin, before pouring himself a measure of wine from one of the bottles. "Good eve, all of you. I hope it finds you well."
Fingers trail along the hallway wall, leading to the back room. When Rune lifts them from the wood, she rubs her fingers together and seems to look at them curiously. This initial introspection gives others a moment to step ahead, allowing her to follow at a slower pace.
This is very, very different from what Rune is expecting. The crisp scent of Sildanyari wine, the mouth-watering aroma of Makari-seasoned meats. It's enough to leave her mouth watering as she steps in, offering a small, uncertain smile to the ... somehow familiar woman.
Then, it is largely familiar faces that surround her. Well, certain ones are less than others, but the feeling lingers, regardless. "Good evening." Her mouth opens to ask something, but it seems Lysa has beaten her to the point. So, grabbing a glass of wine and making her way closer to Harkashan and Simony, she seems to wait for an answer.
The Room. Well, a room that is familiar enough to Verna in the context of meetings concerning current events. "Good eve," she greets all present as she enters. That she is not covered in Mourner's robes is notable, and moreso that her attire consists of a starkly bright yellow sundress with a pattern of blue flowers upon it. Between that and her sandals, there are conspicuously no shades of gray present... aside from her complexion.
As Simony steps in and settles in for her food, Harkashan bows his head. "Hey Simony." He answers her. "How are you feeling after... you know?" The situation in the sewers. Something that no doubt will be sticking by the little artistic Goblin for a while. "Have you been sleeping well?" He wants to make sure.
He doesn't know Lysa as well, but his mind just skips right over that. "Hey. Good to see you again." Harkashan bids to her without pause, then looking to Verna; "Hmm, this is more colorful than usual." The woman arches an eyebrow at the question and smiles patiently. "There are questions, so many of them, and I think if we put our minds together that we can find the answers to those questions." She seems amused. "Even if we can not, it is always pleasant to enjoy a meal with those that you care about is it not?"
Nodding her head with a bit of a wry smile. "Were it being a real meal, aye." says Lysa. But she takes a sip of her mead before continuing, "It is being good to see you all here as well." That said, she reaches for a loaf of rich brown bread, tearing off a hunk before dipping it in the bowl of stew before her, and then she takes a bite of that while letting the others do some speaking.
Simony peers at Harkashan for a moment, her expression confused briefly, before she shyly nods. "I am well, thank you. How are you, Harkashan? And you as well, Rune?" Telamon is giving a broad grin as he settles down beside her, and the Goblin becomes a little more animated. "Hello Tel! What did you get for dinner?"
She spares the 'host' of the gathering a look, and then to those who are still joining. Perhaps familiar faces, even if they are unknown to the Goblin.
Critias comes in fashionably late. Or so he hopes. He looks around at those already here and offers a small nod and a smile to anyone he knows. Which for a change includes most. Progress! He's not such a stranger anymore! Ahem.
Telamon sips at his wine, smiling at the sweetness, as he relaxes a little. At Simony's inquiry, he says, "Grilled chicken and spring vegetables. A simple meal, but one I enjoy." His eyes wander back to their host, but he says to Simony, "I'm glad you're feeling better. A good night's sleep can help when nothing else seems to do." He rubs his chin.
When Verna arrives, he beckons to her, smiling. "Hello, Verna! It's good to see you too, sister." His eyes are warm and fond as he looks at the Mourner.
"Honestly, a little confused." Rune replies to the white Goblin. She motions a hand as if encompassing the room, "This... isn't exactly normal for me." It may very well be hard to tell what she's referring to about it, even as she scoops herself some of the food. Even if it isn't real, she's going to take advantage of it, anyways.
Her eyes shift to Lysa again. That blue gaze lingers a bit longer than normal, with an expression that speaks: 'I know, right?'
But, rather than break the strange calm of the rest of those gathered, Rune seems to play along, for now. "Though, it's been forever since I had a good Makari roast. You can't find the same spices in Alexandria that you do in Am'shere." She bites into a piece of some sort of questionable meat.
"It is good to see you as well, Telamon," Verna returns the greeting fondly before nodding to Magpie, Harskashan, Rune to greet them by name before acknowledging others she is less familiar with. She then moves to acquire herself a drink of non-intoxicating sort.
Harkashan tilts his head at the woman for a moment as she remarks on questions and answers. Slow-blinking with his nictating membranes for a moment, listening to Lysa mention meals not being real. There's just a moment of confusion, before he eats a bit of his meat once more.
"Hmm? I am well." Harkashan answers Simony upon her inquiry. "Glad to hear you are okay." He adds, before raising a hand to greet Critias upon entry.
"See, if you came to Am'shere with me, we'd be able to get all kinds of spices for trade." Harkashan notes to Rune in a friendly and off-handed manner - before leaning over and stealing some of her meat; the Sith-makar share. Looks like he's not noticed what's truly going on yet.
"So what are we meeting on?" He then asks the elfin woman. "The corrupted Spire in the Felwoods? The practical army of Werewolves running an establishment of alcohol? The giant red wolf stalking the lands of Alexandria? The 'puppet' Demon walking the Sewers?" There's a lot of things splitting Harkashan's mind.
"Yes Rune, I feel similarly as you... But, let's see where this goes, yes?" Simony glances to Telamon, and then leans against him, her arm going around his back to squeeze him in a side-hug. "Yes, it was wonderful, and I will never have such luxury again, so thank you very much for that." The Goblin looks up at his eyes. "Cor'lana couldn't make it?'
Her gaze goes to the 'host' now. "You have questions, then, for us? Or are we to pester you with questions?"
The woman - who's name impossibly escapes everyone though she is wholly familiar - smiles warmly at Rune. "I am glad that you like it. Everyone should have a meal that brings them joy now and again." She seems to be allowing them all to settle in. There are in fact exactly enough seats for everyone - even the 'fashionably late' Critias.
Harkashan's words draw her attention now, and it seems at last that someone is asking a question - or at least quite a few of them, and her silver eyes draw a bit dark. "Yes, there are many things troubling the land - or so it seems. Yet so many of them are connected."
The woman has an empty plate in front of her, an empty cup, but this too doesn't seem precisely odd. More as if she simply has chosen for the moment not to join in on the eating. She laughs gently at Simony's question. "I think that if we all talk, that we will find that we all might have answers and questions. Such is the way of things."
Telamon chuckles softly. "I hear that a lot. When I first showed it to Lana, she was absolutely flabbergasted -- and delighted." He pats Simony, before focusing his thoughts a bit. "She's working out some of the new renovations for the house. I'd be an idiot to not let her have input. I suspect we're going to rearrange some things to make it easier for the garden pixies to grow things inside."
His eyes meet their host's again. "Indeed. A lot of this is interconnected. Still... not all of it is terrible. Micha Kamyar and his lover have escaped Seraquoix's grasp. While the ... facility under the city is active, the creature patrolling it, while daunting, is a shadow of what it appears to be. According to Sir Seldan it -can- be destroyed."
Critias half-crosses his arms. One hand strokes his short beard in thought. "I've been doing my best to listen for the questions, and even ask my own," he admits. "I'm afraid I don't have much to show for it thought. Very few answers." He seems slightly embarrassed. Then he cheers up. "Yet!"
Lifting a hand, Rune offers a greeting to Verna and then to Critias. That one feels even weirder to her. Like one of those times that you see a face you've seen once before in a place you don't expect to see it.
Then, she looks over as Harkashan makes off with part of her meal. She makes no objections, quite used to Makari customs. "We're not talking about that right now. I'm not even sure we /are/ talking right now." It's a very odd statement.
At least Simony seems to be feeling just as odd. "Good to know."
Of course, it's just at the moment that the woman speaks to her that Rune that she had gone in for another bite. Chewing and then coughs once. She sniffles. It's quite spicy. "It's... appreciated."
Then, she's looking towards Telamon, "Wait, what facility, what creature?" Yep, she's missed something, that much is certain.
Chewing and swallowing her large bite of stew and bread, Lysa takes a moment to wash it down with more mead before she clears her throat, "I have been being dealing with fiends that have been being worming their way into temples and noble houses." A pause and she shrugs her shoulders, "In all honesty, I have been being the muscle while Sunguard Andelena and Inquisitor Dolan have been being doing the lion's share of the work."
"Any other situations discussed are not being of my knowing right now."
Verna nods with mentions of so many things awry, and again at Telamon's mention of Micha (even if it is information she is just recently received). She takes a sip of her water through the now-frown... and nearly chokes upon it. Fortunately, most of the mouthful exits mouth and/or nose back into the glass.
"What is this of fiends in the sewers? Facilities under the city?"
"Alright... I guess we just... talk?" Harkashan rumbles, looking to the others. "So, we know that there's summoners from Charn currently working on bringing fiends in to leverage. We know that Marsward Seraquoix is still trying to start things here in Alexandria - and that he's a Witch who can force Were-creatures into their forms. Be they Werewolves or Weretigers."
He then moves his hands across some of his food, and kind of food-mashes together the shape of a bug that just... 'comes' to him. A Scarab. "Given powers through his familiar. Look for a beetle that looks like this." He points out.
He then looks to Telamon; "Can you explain the matter of the totems and what they hold back?" He then asks. He would try to explain the demon down below, but in all earnesty, that's best explain by someone of a more sorcerous or spellcrafting nature than himself.
The woman notices that there's quite a lot of talking now, and she nods as information becomes available and then gingerly lifts a hand. "Harkashan has the right of it. It would be wise of us to begin at the beginning." She looks at those gathered and waves a hand, an image appearing above the table. It is an image of a great black beast made of shadows. A thing with glowing red eyes but little of reality about it though just its image brings a rile of fear to everyone.
"In the beginning there was Caracoroth. He was bound with chains that had form in the mortal realm. Each god made one; Good and Evil, to bind the beast lest he make his way free." The image resolves to show chains holding the beast, but the beast quickly fades out of view to show an image of a twisted statue figure.
"The werewolves that you have faced are not the first to try and use these chains to their own ends, but they are the first to come together in such threatening numbers. The first in eons to awaken the Red Maw. A beast which is a part of its master; so much so that they share a name." An image now of a wolf of pure black and glowing red eyes forms. "This beast comes from Corocoroth's realm, and must be returned there. Much we do not know indeed; the reason that Dace Zinkas and Marsward have chosen to rise now. What their intent is."
GAME: Telamon rolls wisdom: (11)+1: 12 GAME: Harkashan rolls Wisdom: (16)+4: 20 GAME: Rune rolls wisdom: (15)+2: 17 GAME: Lysa rolls wisdom: (17)+2: 19 GAME: Simony rolls wisdom: (8)+3: 11 GAME: Verna rolls wisdom: (9)+7: 16
The Goblin sighs and takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
"It's taken a big of running around, and referencing multiple people. I won't bore you with my having to run back and forth. There's also some time travel involved, but I didn't ask, because I don't want to know.
She steeples her fingers together. "Okay, so... you know why the wards of the city are in place, right? Well. There is a city-sized summoning circle underneath Alexandria. Yes, it encompasses the city. It /IS/ the sewer system. A demon, by the name of Eclavdran, was tied to it, trapped here by a fae, Salina."
Simony appears to have lost all interest in her dinner, pushing it away from herself. "The circle was broken. Eclavdran has been slain. The fae? No idea where she went."
"Except... when attempting to find out how certain cultists were getting into the city, I had a chat with the Archmage Mithralla. The circle is big enough, powerful enough, and so much a part of the sewers that it couldn't be fully destroyed. The archmage said that due to the fact that it's so huge and powerful... it's still usable.
"So a few of us went to have a look. Long story short: the circle is whole again, encompassing the entire city, can probably summon or teleport things INTO the city. Eclavdran's echo, some timey whimey remnant of him, chased us off. We uh, have a pretty big problem, possibly."
GAME: Critias rolls wisdom: (5)+4: 9 GAME: Harkashan rolls Knowledge/Religion: (20)+5: 25 GAME: Lysa rolls knowledge/religion: (1)+8: 9 (EPIC FAIL)
Telamon places a hand on Simony's shoulder. Nodding to their host, he begins, "My belief -- and I admit this is based on conjecture -- is that Zinskas and Seraquoix seek to harness the power of the Red Maw to their own ends. How far that goes, well... I don't know. I do know that we must close the portal it guards, and banish the Red Maw, because not only do they draw werewolves from Caracoroth's own domain through it, I can't believe they'd turn away any fiend seeking to pass through as well."
"Simony is on the mark. It's not that the summoning circle is -in- the sewers. The problem is that the summoning circle -is- the sewers. Needless to say, this complicates deactivating it immensely. The echo of Eclavdran... as bad as it is... is a single foe, one Sir Seldan believes can be defeated. The sewer system, though... that's vital to the city, just as a man's guts are vital to him living."
It doesn't take long for there to be information shared that starts to fill in pieces that Rune already knows, and some very important gaps in that knowledge as well.
The visual shown by the strange woman has her lowering the piece of meat, setting the plate aside and steeling herself for further conversation with a deep drink of wine. "So that's what it looks like..." She whispers. The demon beast had only ever been described to her before, living briefly in imagination.
Rune's eyes shift from ominous image to the woman who summons it, staring for far too long to be comfortable under normal means.
She doesn't have long to figure out why the woman feels quite so odd to her, and instead is forced to look towards Telamon and Simony. "When did all this happen?" She had talked to Telamon and Cor'lana not long ago, and Cor'lana even more recently than that, but this seems a recent turn of events.
Well, a summoning circle the size of the city is far more concerning than fiends possessing a noble family before being driven out. Lysa lifts both brows and looks to Simony for a long moment. Then she looks back to the woman and inclines her head. Another bite of stew is taken as she contemplates. Memories seeping in. Memories of her being nine years old and having just finished sewing up one of her father's many wounds... that being the last obligation for the night before she was able to bundle up under her blanket and stare up at the night sky. The rolling of the boat rocking her to sleep, but the full moon in the sky making it almost as bright as dusk.
As her eyes drifted closed in the memory, she opens them here with a smile on her face. "I can be being looking into the matter of the fiends later. This circle is being more concerning."
Critias moves from stroking his chin to full-on pacing now. "It sounds like the summoning circle might be difficult to stop. It's been tried before, for just such a reason. The other options would be to stop the summoned. Or..." Only after a few trips back and forth on one side of the room, does he seem to realize what he's doing and stops. "Or the summoners. If they're bypassing the lawfully enacted ward, they're acting as criminals."
Harkashan appreciatively nods as the mysterious woman speaks.
Simony's information is quite new news to him, as she introduces it. "The circle is made whole again?" He asks, "That's... not great. I assume that will overpower the wards that exist?" He inquires with her.
There's a pause then, before he looks to Telamon.
"A summoning requires sacrifice. I'm sure that Marsward isn't too concerned with the lives of his Werewolves and the like. What if he intends to commit mass death within the city to overwhelm the wards... and the death of those werewolves is just one part of it all? There's got to be a reason he's now within the city. Especially with the Circle now whole again."
He then quiets a bit as he beholds the woman heading the table. His scales running red for a moment, a glow passing over them. For a moment, there's this shimmer visible to Rune. This subtle presence of something else there, practically looking over his shoulder. Like she has astigmatism and getting double vision, his head there twice.
There's a quiet knowledge there. A recognition, and no doubt, in that moment, their host would know that Harkashan recognized her. Normally, he might bring attention to this. But... Rune is here.
He looks aside to Rune for a moment. Considering her. If he brought this up, if he brought up this situation, would she drift away? Would she freak out?
So instead, he pointedly looks to their host for a moment; "Thank you for inviting us here to help us." In a tone that says 'I know who you are', before he looks to the others and then glances to Rune. Trying to impress on the rest not to say her name.
"Indeed, Eclavdran is slain," Verna concurs, though with little force, "and yet he continues to malinger and spread chaos. Still more. Again." The cause of her lack of proper swallow before may be the contents; she now sets aside her water to acquire herself a glass of wine. "As dire as he was, and might still be, the use of the circle is more dire, I agree."
She pauses for a sip of wine before noting, "Unless the mechanism of the circle in the sewers has altered, the sacrifice required is minimal." She does not expound more just yet, instead segueing to, "Caracoroth and its minions are the larger concern. The lycanthropes, as a whole, would seek to free The Nightmare. Should that occur, all of Ea would cease to be as it is now. Should it not, I witnessed Its servitors arriving through the portal at the rate of several per minute. Were that to continue for hours or days..."
"They undoubtedly do." The woman responds to Telamon. "The question however is... What ends do they mean to use such a thing to, and dare we allow them to continue knowing?" She shakes her head, suggesting the answer to such a question. Then she turns her full attention on Harkashan. She says nothing as the recognition mounts, only nods her head politely to the sith-makar's words of gratitude. She says nothing however. Though her eyes do briefly land on Rune as well. Some thought passing through her silver eyes but they are unspoken and difficult to discern.
She then allows Verna's words to draw her eyes and she nods. "Thankfully the latest attack on the portal has continued to slow the summoning of such creatures. Still, their numbers grow with each passing day."
Simony leans against Telamon, standing up in her chair to whisper something right into his ear.
"These threats are not being those that I have been being dealing with. I am happy to be being helping in the future however." suggests Lysa in her weird combined accent / dialect. She's been working on it, but when she isn't consciously aware of it, it stays nice and strong.
"How can a Sunblade of Daeus be being of assistance to you all?"
"Everything around that - seems to be circling towards Alexandria. From my understanding, this has happened before in the past. A push in towards the city." Harkashan rumbles, taking note of the look towards Rune for a moment.
A shake of his head. She is not ready.
If it were not for <the situation> they are in, no doubt Harkashan would be a bit more freaked out than he is.
"What about the Totems? We've gathered quite a few of them. But the werewolves have more of them. Do you think they will have brought them into Alexandria? Surely, they will try to target the people that hold them right now." Harkashan asks of Telamon. "Did Micha or N'thain give us any hints on where we might find the ones that have already been taken by them, so we can retrieve them?"
In her peripheral vision, Rune just barely catches that shift in color. It draws her eyes to Harkashan, except there is not just a Makari, but something else, something unfocused there for a blink of an eye before it is gone. Her brows furrow, likely wondering if what she is seeing is even real.
Then, she looks from him to the strange woman, brows furrowed. Rune doesn't question what is happening there, though. There's far too much else at stake.
Then, it is to the others that her attention turns, "So there really /is/ an army." She had suspected as such, but recently it seemed as if the werewolves were fewer in number than that. Perhaps things are more dire than first suspected there.
Anxiously, Rune draws out her necklace and begins fiddling with it, the nervous energy not really letting her sit perfectly still in a meeting like this, especially with the stakes being so high as to threaten all of Ea.
"I was going to ask something along those lines. Do we know how many totems are left and any clues on where we might be able to find the ones still in enemy hands?"
Verna nods to the familiar-yet-not-wholly-recognized woman. "The portal was still dormant from our attack, when last I observed it. It does and shall recover, however. It is kept from complete destruction by an artifact of great power; possibly one of the totems. Beyond whatever it brings directly, it also empowers The Red Maw. It is its conduit between Caracoroth and Its avatar upon Ea. Until the portal is closed, The Red Maw cannot be banished."
She then looks to Harkashan. "The lycanthropes only possess one of the remaining two, to my knowledge. Likely in the hands of Dace Zinskas. The other was held by the devil Jal'goroth. If they vie for The Red Maw's power or Caracoroth's boon, I believe it should be removed. Close the portal. Banish The Red Maw. We remove great foes and disempower others."
"Ultimately, my lady, the answer is that it does not -matter- what Seraquoix and Zinskas want." Telamon's eyes flash. "Seraquoix is a manipulator, a destroyer of lives and ruiner of souls. And I will see him dead." There's something terrible in his voice, a throb of reverb, as he takes a deep breath.
"They only possess three of the totems. Micha was bonded to one for a brief time, enough to give him a vision of myself. Seraquoix would've taken it from him afterward -- Micha did not have it when I rescued him, and N'thain did not have one when he was found at the Defense. No, I suspect they are being very careful with who knows where those totems are."
He pauses, listening to Simony, before giving her a small headshake -- evidently tabling what she said for the moment. Instead, he looks to Lysa. "Keep doing the right things. More than anything else, our foes hate us for that. Someone once told me even archfiends fear the good that good people do."
"That's still three too much then." Harkashan listens to Telamon and Verna. The three biggest players still have totems. "Still, it sounds like those should be our next targets." He points out. "So, if we were to go after them... where do we go?"
"So far, I am to understand, we've largely been reactive." He doesn't even know where this portal is that Verna speaks of. "Can we not..." He shakes his head, motioning a hand.
Do what?
Go after a werewolf army of thousands? How do you even deal with that?
Nodding her head, Lysa shrugs once more, "I can be being doing that. But should you be being needing my blade on the front lines, then it is being yours. You have but to be being asking." she states simply.
The woman straightens suddenly, just a little, an odd glow coming about her. "There are three in the possession of what might be considered enemy hands." She says a little uneasily. "It is uncertain where they are however, as seeing where they are is a thing that can not be done. This was to protect them - even from the gods who might try to subvert the power of Corocarath."
She looks at Telamon and arches an eyebrow at him. "The motives of ones enemies does not matter Telamon?" She sounds amused but understanding at the same time. "Even if you mean to destroy them entirely - knowing their purpose is to know where they will attack, where they will move - next. Know the mind of man and you know his heart. Though..." She sighs here. "There are none who can truly know the actions that come from the will of any.
At last she nods to Harkashan's words. "That is what we must do above all things. It is why you are here. Because if you let them lead you, you will only be reacting when they bring destruction upon this world. You will fail and fall. You must act. You must do. Let them not guess or know your will; surprise them and _move_."
Simony is starting to look decidedly unhappy. "Okay, it keeps coming back to this then... we need to act. Soon. Now. But... what and where and when? May we get off the merry go round?"
The idea of action is an easy one, but having the intel to act intelligently is an entirely other matter. Rune opens her mouth to say something, but then Simony seems to sum it up quite well. There is a soft exhalation of breath. "Right."
She presses one of the edges of the necklace against her thumb, "We need to figure out a next set of steps, and a plan."
"Well, Seldan is presumably putting together a team to remove the lethal 'Puppet' Demon presence beneath the city." Harkashan rumbles; "So there's one item, that will free us up and allow us to touch the circle beneath the city."
He furrows his brow a bit. "We know that the Werewolves are involved in the supply of Blue Moon Ale, so that means we know where they work. But if we get the Kingdom involved - there are nobles who are in bed with the Charnites - so this may be on us to figure out..."
He looks to Telamon. "Are there multiple facilities, or just one? We don't have the resources to raid them all. But we could make things uncomfortable for them if there were more than one facility. As you said, Micha was able to be convinced. So presumably not all of them are on the side of Marsward. You are... remarkably convincing. We could get the equivalent of a covert operative in there and learn more. Draw them out in smaller groups and deal with them like that... it won't stop the problem at large, but it should draw Marsward out to try and intervene. He's clearly hands-on."
Telamon stares back at the woman, and then raises his hand to his eyes, as if to brush away something. "It... is a mistake to try and delve too deeply into such minds, my lady," he says after a moment. "But... it is true we need to take the fight to them."
He rests his hands on the table, staring at his wineglass. Then he looks up at the hostess. "If you have counsel I will welcome it. But I am of one mind with my sister by bond; we must break the portal. Weaken the Red Maw, cut off their reinforcements."
GAME: Lysa rolls perception: (4)+10: 14 GAME: Rune rolls perception: (12)+15: 27 GAME: Harkashan rolls Perception+2: (9)+5+2: 16 GAME: Telamon rolls perception: (11)+23: 34 GAME: Critias rolls perception: (6)+25: 31
"It is the question of 'where' that I believe is most confounding at present," Verna offers to Simony. "We do not know where the lycanthrope encampment lies, else we could strike at Dace Zinskas or other leaders for them and their presumed totems. We do not know where the item lies that powers the portal, or how to readily close it, ere we could act to do so. I seek The Harpist's insight concerning both. Should I glean information, I am prepared to act upon that information." She then looks to all. "I will seek and welcome aid from any and all in that endeavor."
GAME: Verna rolls perception: (18)+29: 47 GAME: Simony rolls perception: (5)+10: 15
Rune's attention never seems to settle in one place for particularly long. Looking down, she just so happens to realize that her mother's necklace is glowing faintly. It's enough to have her lift it slightly, turning the puzzle device slightly in her hand.
As she does this, the rogue realizes that there is another source of that same light in the room, and does one of those double-takes. Strange woman - necklace - strange woman. Her brows furrow and Rune just stares with a questioning expression.
That's the point when she starts looking around to see if anyone else has noticed this particular happening.
Nodding her head, Lysa states, "I am beginning to catch up with Dolan and Andelena, helping them in their mission. I am merely helping and following their lead." and she has forced herself to try to overcome that accent here and now, concentrating to be easier to understand.
"Yet I can still be of aid and service to you all as well."
"Where is this portal located?" Critias asks. "It might be a place for me to start. While magical scrying and divine wisdom are the best, there's no reason not to try more mundane means at the same time."
The woman being addressed by Telamon looks at him. "My advice-" She starts to speak and then shivers slightly, her eyes flickering to the side and she changes whatever it is that she'd been about to say. "You have good ideas. A solid set of them to work upon."
She seems to be offering a certain amount of reassurance and she sighs. "If you wish to leave. I will not stop you. If you wish to turn back from this calling; that is a choice that you can make. However it is my most powerful hope that each of you will continue."
Here her gaze meets each of yours for a moment. Silver eyes seeming not to weigh upon each person, but rather to ask if they are willing to bear such burdens. It's a gentle request. Not a demand. "My advice would do you little good without the reasons I would give it. Would you understand?"
The room is darkening around the edges. The dim light seeming to have little effect on the encroaching of the night. The woman lowers her eyes.
Harkashan slowly turns when Rune lifts her necklace and begins to look at it. That gaze slipping towards the woman in that moment, has Harkashan reach out and put a hand on her shoulder in a rather 'meaningful' kind of way.
"You going to be okay?" He asks, thinking she may be understanding more than Rune immediately is putting together. Then... touching his hand at the back of hers. Looking to take her hand. Afraid she might disappear if he doesn't hold onto her in this moment.
Harkashan then looks to the woman and nods his head; "I have no intent of backing away from this. This threatens too many lives, including that of my friends." He expresses. "Please." He then offers.
The Goblin makes an unhappy sound at the dimming of the room, despite being well equipped to deal with normal darkness.
"Despite the risk of being torn away from someone I have just... just found... I will stay on the path I find myself on."
Turning her blue eyes back to the hostess, Lysa smiles. "How could any Sunblade be being turning down such a noble quest?" she asks. Then she takes a breath and focuses. "I am not abandoning this."
Telamon seems unfazed by the darkening of the room. He straightens, looking back, his expression resolute. "I will not turn back. I will not leave. This threatens all of us, and I would set this right, not just for my sake, or my wife's, but for a future I have only glimpsed in dreams."
He offers a smile to the woman. "Perhaps a foolish stand, but I can do no other. If nothing else, I would not want to disappoint an old friend, the next time she comes by for a fish dinner."
"Any willing can be of aid," Verna assures all. As a scholar, she is generally observant and perceptive, and she has not yet overly-indulged from the wineglass in hand. Still, it is Rune's action that is noted first, then the light, then that of the woman just before she speaks. Her eyes linger upon her as the other woman's lower.
"Advice is aid, and any aid is welcome," she reiterates. "Hope is no small boon, wished, provided, or carried. I cannot guarantee I would understand, yet I would endeavor to. If there is concern that I would turn away from this, I would not. Cannot." In the context of The Nightmare, there is no alternative aside from oblivion. In the context of all that could be risked or lost, she has already wagered and expended too much to fold. "Please, continue."
That confusion lends into uncertainty as Harkashan asks if she is okay. Obviously, there are things that have happened tonight that Rune isn't yet understanding. "Huh?"
As if she might get back to that later, Rune turns to the woman and shows look of determination. "I'm not backing down. I may not know why I was brought back, but this seems as good reason as any I've seen." Her head nods once, hand closing over the glowing portions of the necklace.
Even so, as the room seems to darken at the edges, Rune's fingers slip between the clawed digits of the Makari. If she will stand, she will stand besides each of these others, both friends and strangers alike.
Critias turns his eyes to scan the room and the others before looking back at their host. "It appears we're all willing to go on," he observes.
Oddly, the woman offers Telamon a shy smile, and to each who offers to remain a nod. Firm and full of hope. "Then I will leave you in good hands. With good advice. If you know My name, then know Hers." The woman glows more intently. "Tanithariairisixchel, come to Me."
The darkness does not fade, but rather grows darker and more oppressive, more fearful. Then into the center of the table appears a tiny golden dragon no bigger than the size of a cat. She looks around the table with interest and then to the woman last with a little nod. "Hello peoples!" She offers brightly, her voice light and cheerful.
The woman is glowing full-on now and she looks at you as a group. "I can not stay, as My presence will bring eyes you do not wish upon you. She is a sign, She is your aid. Treat Her kindly Children, for She will help. Won't You Dearest One?"
The little dragon nods and flashes teeth. "I will help!"
The woman nods one last time and whispers. "Wake. Wake Children. Rise with the dawn and remember."
It seems as though she says more, but she's fading. Fading. Gone.
The darkness encroaches.
GAME: Simony rolls will: (20)+9: 29 (CRITICAL SUCCESS) GAME: Rune rolls will: (10)+4: 14 GAME: Harkashan rolls Knowledge/Religion: (11)+5: 16 GAME: Verna rolls will: (16)+24: 40 GAME: Telamon rolls Will: (20)+15: 35 (CRITICAL SUCCESS) GAME: Critias rolls will: (14)+19: 33
The Goblin looks nervous as the darkness starts to encroach. Then she suddenly sits up straight, and looks to Telamon. "OUS HAS ONE OF THOSE TOT..." Simony vanishes with a pop.
Telamon actually laughs, a merry sound. "Good to see you again Tanith, even in these times." He focuses, then realizes he'd better tell the little dragon something. "If you need to seek me out, you can find us at Mourner Verna's," he nods to his sister, "Or at your mistress's temple!" He grins impishly. "I'll buy tuna steaks!" Then he flickers, and is gone.
The wonder of what Rune sees left behind by the strange woman and the golden dragon only lingers momentarily as she is called to wake.
One by one, allies seem to wink out of the dream and Rune starts to feel that rising panic. This had not been like her dreams, not like the ones that plagued her each night, waking her in a cold sweat, screaming and trembling.
Yet, as the darkness starts to encroach, it starts to feel more and more like one of those dreams. Her pulse quickens, her breathing picks up, and her hand clings to Harkashan. "I... I can't. It's not working."
Maybe, this will be /exactly/ like one of those nightmares.
Tanithariairisixchel, aka Tanith, is an unknown to Harkashan. Yet, it tugs at the mind's strings. The name at least echoing its draconic history. Still, he repeats it, as the little golden dragon - the size of a cat - appears all of the sudden. "Greetings." Harkashan answers in his usual growly tones to the little thing full of light and cheer.
He nods his head as the woman begins to glow and indicates she cannot stay, and looks to the little Golden Dragon. He will remember this little thing. Asking them to wake.
But in that moment, he looks to Rune, as the Darkness encroaches. She is having trouble waking. He can tell. Dreams, nightmares. Normally, she is always dealing with them alone. But this time...
"I am here with you, Rune." Putting one hand over hers. "Unlike your Nightmares, this time, I am here for you." He tells her, as a spell begins to run up her body. A soft sweet glow pervading through her body. Almost silvery in nature for a moment.
"Look into my eyes." He tells her, "And hold onto your necklace. Focus on it, and then close your eyes. Count back from five. When you open your eyes, you will be back where you fell asleep. With me. Five..."
GAME: Harkashan casts Owl's Wisdom. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16
There are suspicions... or, rather, hypotheses, and then Tanithariairisixchel appears. The golden dragon is enough to crack Verna's neutral-towards-frown countenance to a semblance of smile. As they are bid wake, all is further rationalized. Namely, that she is dreaming. With that gained awareness, she then fades from the dream.
Critias raises his eyebrows at the sight of Tanith. He's blissfully unaware of anything unusual, but the instruction to wake seems to have registered without conscious thought. He pops out as well.
The reality around them begins to crack and twist. Harkashan can only feel cold where he touches Rune. To her eyes, blood begins to drip from the stone between his horns. Dripping down on his head and spilling downwards. His claws on her are too warm. Hot. Burning things. All around them the world is darkness. Something growls in that emptiness. A horror unseen. The world splinters again and Harkashan is standing beside himself. Another pair of hands touching Rune. But this vision of him is that of a creature dead. A mindless Forgotten beast with teeth twisted and breath smelling of death. Rune stands beside herself. Dead. Pale without blood to beat through her. Holding Harkashan's claws. Her eyes empty of the life that once filled them.
"This is all there will be." The visions whisper in echo. Talking to their opposite. Whispering a promise of a future.
GAME: Rune rolls will + 2: (6)+4+2: 12
The thud of her heartbeat pounds in her ears, sounding like cannon fire. It beats as if trying to force out of her chest, pounding against her ribcage. The dream twists in a way that feels too familiar. Rune rarely remembers the nightmares, only the feeling that they leave her with when she wakes.
Harkashan's words find her ears in a way that seems dulled, distant. Instead of the living person she knows, when Rune's eyes open, there is blood dripping down from the lava stone, from his eyes, from his mouth, hollow eyes of death staring at her as she feels the heat of his claws on her skin.
Her eyes flick back and forth, one vision to the other, a tremble taking on her form as she tries to struggle away from Harkashan, away from the nightmare, away from the horrors that play out before her.
The Forgotten. Death. Everything comes back to that. Horrific ends over and over and over again. Tears pour down her cheeks as she fails to follow any of Harkashan's advice, the dread and fear that the dark whisper brings is omnipresent as the darkness that surrounds them.
Unescapable.
A violent chill runs down Harkashan's back as the vision begins to warp. As Dream turns to Nightmare. He cannot see what she sees, but he can see the second of Rune that begins to appear. Dead, pale.
His nictating membranes close for a moment, as if this would make the vision disappear before his eyes. But he's seen this before. A pale, dead corpse. He's held it. He's carried it for thousands of miles. Caring for it, until he could deliver her to her father. There's a pained shudder in his chest, in his breath. A croak of his voice as he tries to bite down.
The vision whispers. Promises of a future that Harkashan refuses. "Rune. Focus on my words. You are strong."
A pause, as she drifts away from him. He steps forwards, only to see her cower. He cannot see what she sees. But he knows it must be horrifying her.
"Rune. You once said that you would follow me to the Fire Planes if I asked you to." Harkashan bids to her. "We do not need to go there today. Take my hand. Let us return to whence we came instead. Follow me."
GAME: Harkashan rolls Diplomacy: (16)+11: 27
"Peoples should be waking up." A little voice offers from above. A glint of gold in the darkness.
The world is splintering all around them. Harkashan, rent limb from limb. Harkashan, bloodied from the wounds of a thousand bites. Harkashan, Harkashan, Harkashan. Reaching for her. With claw, with blade, with word.
It splinters around Harkashan as well. Showing Rune after Rune. Which one is the real Rune? The one that is limping, asking why he would attack her? The one that smells of ash and flame, and looks burned from her beautiful hair to slender foot?
The low growling is growing, an image in the shadows of the splintered-glass worlds rising. A pair of red eyes and black fur. Stalking them through each and every reality that they can see.
GAME: Rune rolls will+2: (15)+4+2: 21 GAME: Harkashan rolls Will: (7)+9: 16
It feels like razor wire on her heart as Rune forces herself to look back at the vision of Harkashan that is speaking to her. Yet, his voice and his pleading draw them none the less. "Harkashan, I..."
She can feel the shattering of the dream world around her. Like the feeling of stepping down onto a plane of glass. A thousand reflections, each darker than the next reaching out to pull her under.
Rune shuts her eyes, blocking it all out. "Fuck it. Fuck all of this. I'm going home. I'm going ho--"
And then there is nothing where Harkashan's hands had previously held Rune. She is gone.
"It will be... alright... Tanithariairisixchel." Harkashan aches, trying to convince himself more than the golden little dragon, as he himself tries to wake the moment Rune begins to dissipate from this Nightmare. Only for the splinters to remain. He can't tell which one is Rune. Hands reaching out. Burnt ones, limping ones, dead and alive ones. Blaming him. Shouting at him. Casting doubt.
Did Rune leave yet? Did he protect her yet? He looks into all of the Leirunes' eyes as they reach out. As they flee. As they yell and blame him. His heart going fast. "Rune, are you still here with me?" His voice cracks, fear starting to overcome his mind. His heart.
The splinters cracking further. Red eyes. Black fur.
The Red Maw is coming. Or perhaps even Caracoroth itself. The cracks begin to form further. Warping the vision before him. The growling around him has Harkashan answers with one of his own. A deep guttural tearing growl coming from deep within his throat. But it too cracks.
The world resolves around Harkashan, as if his mind finally chooses one of the Rune's as real. Focuses on it. The others vanish and leave only one remaining. She's dying. Attacked by something while he was trying to decide which one was real. She's bleeding, gasping for air and spraying blood instead.
There's tears on her face as she looks up at him. "How could you not know... it was me?" She whispers, managing words somehow, her face pained; betrayed. She beckons him closer, reaches for him and her fingers tear into his arm. It doesn't hurt half as much as watching her dying.
Again.
"Come..." Her eyes are starting to fade. "With... me..." A gasp, the last of her breath dying in her throat. She's going too soon!
Rune is still here. Harkashan's reality warps, slipping through his fingers for a moment. It focuses on one of them. His eyes managing to finally find focus. The dream 'slips away' from his mind and instead the moment turns into 'now'. This reality.
Harkashan rushing forward when he sees her bleeding and gasping for breath. "Rune!" He quickly runs to her, sliding down to his knees, his heart beating out of his chest. "Rune!" Grabbing her hand, looking down at her.
Tears in the girl's eyes. Betrayal. "Hey, no. I..." He remarks, his voice getting stuck. His heart anguishing. Tears making the entire vision before him wash out. Nictating membranes closing, wicking it all away, as he touches a hand to her chest, trying to send a wave of healing through her!
"Rune, don't go!" He begs of her, /begs/ of her. "Rune no! You're supposed to travel with me! Don't leave me behind!" Harkashan's voice cracks. Unlike others, Harkashan is one who holds the cihuaa bond more dear. "It's... it's too lonely to be alone!" Another wave of healing energies, trying to heal her. "Where are you going!? Don't leave me."
GAME: Harkashan casts Water Breathing. Caster Level: 5 DC: 17 GAME: Harkashan rolls 3d8+5: (15)+5: 20
The healing does nothing, its too late. She's already gone. Somewhere, there's someone talking to him. A little voice in the back of his mind? Something. But how can he hear it? How can he listen to anything but his own ragged breathing as the magic fails to repair the damage that _he_ has done. He knows. He knows exactly where she's gone.
To a place that there's only one way to follow...
GAME: Harkashan rolls Will: (14)+9: 23
There are thoughts. Thoughts that are alien to the Sith-makar. His hands shaking. Covered in blood. Lifting them slowly. Seeing Rune's body beyond his fingers. Trembling. Shaking.
He could just follow her... he could continue...
His markings glow once more. A searing sudden pain across his body. As if something... someone... were interfering. Reminding him that he still has a duty to fulfill. The searing is something bearable at first. Shocking him.
Harkashan's hands land to the ground, panting from the first searing shock across his markings. Panting. A Deathsinger holds Death sacred. The consideration of following her slams into a wall of mental strength.
Then, a far more painful heat. A searing pain drawing along his back, forming deeper. Further. Elongating some of the already existing lava patterns. Almost like a claw being drawn onto his shoulder. Saliva drools from his tongue in that moment as pain brings him back to where he truly is. A dream... Rune!
Rune needs him.
And in that moment, as the pain forces his eyes to close at first...
He opens them again, gasping for air, jumping awake - in the midst of Rune trying to shake him awake. Wet beads over his scales coming from her.
-End