Renew the Pact: The Hand of Asummit, P9
Log Info
- Title: Renew the Pact: The Hand of Asummit, Part 9
- Emitter: Whirlpool
- Characters: Cesran, Seldan, Cryosanthia, Serene, Karelin, Merek
- Place: Cesran's Mage's Magnificent Mansion, Sea of Mana
- Time: Tuesday, June 29, 2021, 8:57 PM
- Summary: Everyone has been resting in the Cesran's Mage's Magnificent Mansion, unless they were preparing, pacing, visiting their child. The damage from the previous battle is restored, and Cesran has worked out a plan using a telekinetic sphere. They will teleport into the Sea of Mana, which will be like navigating down greased rapids, and the Archmage will attempt to steer around problem. Everyone else should pray the sphere doesn't break apart. Yes, pray. The group gathers, spells are cast, and they are in for a bumpy ride. The Sea of Mana is bright, blindingly bright and full of colours. And dark, empty streaks, the holes that were warned about. A close brush takes several inches off the sphere's barrier. There's nothing anyone can do except hang on and panic in their various ways, as Cesran attempts to find a way through. Which, he does, thank all the gods. They halt, no more forward motion is possible. In front of them is a towering creature of the void, alive and forced into the sea of mana. Nothingness, with awareness.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in Order =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Cesran 6'1" 185 Lb Human Male A tall dark-skinned man
Seldan 5'11" 187 Lb Human Male Ginger-blonde human in armor wearing Eluna's symbol.
Cryosanthia 6'9" 291 Lb Sith-Makar Female A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman.
Serene 6'2" 175 Lb Eldanar/Charn Female Glacier meets granite meets strawberries.
Karelin 6'2" 256 Lb Human Male Tattooed Korite warrior. Tall, dark and scarred.
Merek 5'10" 215 Lb Human Male A black-haired, dusky male with golden eyes.
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-=--=--=--=--=--=--= NPCS of Note =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
Griva Brassbringer Khazdi Female Head of the Alexandrian Chapter of the Resurrection Society
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-=--=--=--=--=--=--= As the GM =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
Whirlpool 5'0" Otyugh I am stinky!
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With the mansion summoned and everyone resting, Griva Brassbringer is locked in solemn meditation. As for the others...
GAME: Cesran rolls knowledge/The Planes: (10)+27: 37 GAME: Cesran rolls spellcraft: (9)+41: 50 GAME: Seldan rolls knowledge/the planes: (6)+12: 18 GAME: Seldan rolls spellcraft: (6)+18: 24
It's getting towards the end of the Mansions time and Cesran is in the foyer making sure he has everything ready. He's been doing research in the library that's at the Mansion as well as drawing upon his own knowledge. He's waiting for the others and has his spellbook open and is reading it as doing to helps him to focus his mind for the tasks ahead.
Seldan had spent some time drawing, but shortly after his conversation with Cryosanthia, had withdrawn to a bedroom and cast himself into sleep. Now, though, he is awake, his gear put together, and has come down to the foyer area to work on getting his armor on. This takes some time, and goes better and more quickly with someone to help, but he hasn't asked yet, instead patiently working through it.
Cryosanthia has a room. She has been told to rest, and a flight to Alexandria and a late one back left her exhausted, so she should have. Except there was conversation, and following that, thoughts. Like a child in anticipation of a birthday party the next day, she's been unable to sleep. Except there will be no joyful presents, and if she's unlucky, it will be the opposite of a birthday.
She lay in bed. On her stomach because she has wings now. Stomach down is fine, but she prefers on her back. She laid there trying not to think, her mind going in circles and the room getting progressively cooler. The Mage's Magnificent Mansion giving up on regulating it, and letting her anxiety set the temperature. It's high, so it's low.
At some point she got up, took off all her things and emptied her haversack and went over each item in detail, cleaning it, and making sure it was with her.
Then she passed out, amongst and on top of her things.
Then she woke up, late, and rushed through her morning routine and getting dressed. She arrives in the foyer with an armful of scrolls which she's rapidly reading then stuffing into scroll tubes, which make their way into her haversack.
"Peace! Morning! Do you need help Seldan? Can you wait a moment?"
Aside from setting aside time for rest and reflection, centering her mind and spirit in prayer and restoring her available blessing of the day, Serene has been wandering the halls of the mansion. One might even say aimlessly, though that would certainly be out of character for her. Every once in a while, her hand strays to the hilt of the sword at her hip before she jerks it away.
Her visage remains grimmer than usual as well. The events of the past day, the loss of Kravar, the dark future that the party's copies represented and suggested... the involvement of Asumit. All of it weighs heavily upon her. She speaks little, visiting people long enough to get a sense of what they are doing, but not doing so far as to bother Cesran in his research, or interfere in Seldan's preparations.. especially considering Cryosanthia's offer of help in that area.
Cesran looks up, "Peace on your nest Cryosanthia." He closes his spellbook and puts it away in his pack as he stands up. He holds out his hand and his staff appears although the dragon head is down like Ral-sara is still resting. "Don't worry we still have some time before the magic wears off. Did you have something to eat yet?" He asks as he's happy to play host as he doesn't get to do it very often. "Or if you are all ready. I can share with you what I have learned and what I know about traversing the Sea of Mana." He offers as he leans on his staff as the dragon head gives a yawn, 'Time to go all ready?"
A pauldron across one shoulder, pinned by a muscular hand, Seldan looks up at Cryosanthia's greeting, eyebrows lifted towards his hairline. "Peace on your nest, Cryosanthia. Yes, aid in this will make this go more swiftly, and secure it better besides. I would welcome such." The others get nods, Serene a long look, but he keeps his own counsel, instead turning his attention to Cesran. "I have a few thoughts, but would hear your words."
"This one hasn't eaten." Cryosanthia says, distracted. She's reading a scroll, slowly enough she can focus on each word, fast enough she's barely retaining any of it. She gets to the end, rolls it up tightly and slips it into a scroll case. "This one doesn't like eating a heavy meal before a fight. Except, we might not be, at least, not soon. I guess I should eat something."
She shakes her head at the sleepy staff, "I'm not ready, Ral-Sara."
Instead of moving to the next scroll she sets them all down and joins Seldan. "These are all much bigger than Faran's. Which piece is next?" She looks at Cesran, staring, clear membranes nictating across her eyes. "What are your thoughts?"
Serene meets Seldan's look with a gaze of her own, though she breaks this by pinching the bridge of her nose. A fatigue that no amount of rest can completely deal with. She turns away from him and Cryosanthia, dropping her hand so she might regard Cesran. "Please, tell us what you have learned."
Cesran has some of the mansion's helpers bring out a light breakfast for all of them and set it up at one of the tables. He then takes a deep breath to help center himself before he starts, "I've endeavored to find a way for us to travel as safe as possible. The Borders Ethereal is something that can be traversed and the Sea of Mana permeates it. Its' going to be a rough journey, but it's doable. It's going to be like going down a river that has fast moving rapids only those rapids are covered in oil and are very slick. As long as we take out time and are smart about what choices we make when we are in there, we should be able to traverse it with little problem. It might take a while, but it is possible to do it safely."
"This one." Seldan gratefully releases the pauldron and nods to another piece. "There are buckles I cannot fully reach," he explains. "The armor is sized to the wearer. Faranmidahn is much smaller than I," he observes impassively, working on a buckle he _can_ reach while he waits for the sith-makar.
The armor itself is definitely not steel - it is far too light for its size to be steel, and Seldan handles it without difficulty. It is exceptionally well-made, without smudges or sharp edges.
Cesran's description, though, elicits a boyish grin. "An exciting journey, to be sure."
Cryo assists Seldan with his armour, looming behind him like an icy shadow. Her wings make her seem much taller, and their slight movements circulate cool currents. She's careful, yet her hands are large and scaled, with thick nails masquerading as small claws. She's having trouble with the buckles and straps, her fingers keep slipping. Pauldron, chest piece, back plate, arms, sleeves and elbows. Sometimes a piece slips out of her hand, she flinches and catches it, lightning quick. "She has a big heart."
She pauses, looking at the food, Cesran, nodding. "I used to swim rapids in Am'shere. I doubt that will help us much. How are we travelling?"
Serene folds her arms across her breastplate, nodding at Cesran's analogy. "And if we are not careful, or events push us to be bold?"
Griva lets out a sigh and then rises to her feet. "I believe passing into the border will be easy, but turbulent en route. It may well allow us to reach the source of the poison: if we're very lucky, Asumit himself."
Cesran hmms, "Well I had some thoughts on that. I can put us in a resilient sphere and move us telekinetically only we'd be like a bubble moving on that rushing river, but magic might not have the desired effect because the plane we'll be traveling is basically saturated from the sea of mana. It could work fine or not work at all or create a bubble that would crush us all together or put us in our own bubbles. The effects would be unpredictable, I'd suggest against casting any spells. If we are not careful or events push us to be bold we might be lost in the sea of mana forever or we get spit out on a plane that's not our own. We should be very very careful and pray that the White Magician will watch over our journey."
"The Sea of Mana is Hers," Seldan remarks, continuing to work through his armor piece by piece with Cryosanthia's help. He makes no comment on slippery fingers nor does the chill she exudes seem to bother him in the slightest. "Indeed should we pray to Her to shield us as we do Her work." The smell of the food, though, attracts his attention, and his eyes wander that way. As soon as he is done with the armor, he promptly moves to retrieve his own breakfast, and a significant amount of it.
"There isn't... some experimental artifice bathesphere made out of nethercite... we could be using?" The whitescale asks, grabbing her scrolls and reading rapidly through them. Breakfast is also had, with one hand. She smiles cheerfully, "Like, not casting useful spells, that I can do! But... praying it all works out...?"
She shrugs shoulders and wings, "It's not like they listen to me. Ceinara is just going to say break a leg."
Merek of course was asked to prepare with Griva, he doesn't sleep and when he is back it's right to work and preparing. The man takes the time to put that dark attire on in addition to the hood which he wears, while he checks the belt along that waist. Potion there, he still seems to be thinking about what he saw within the timestream. "Right. I've said all I'm going to say in prayer and everything else, all that we need to do is take care of Asumit." There's a nod, "Alright!"
Of course some spells were cast in preparation.
GAME: Seldan casts Magic Circle Against Evil. Caster Level: 16 DC: 21 GAME: Cesran casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 20 DC: 23 GAME: Merek casts Restoration. Caster Level: 15 DC: 18 GAME: Merek casts Break Enchantment. Caster Level: 14 DC: 20 GAME: Merek casts Break Enchantment. Caster Level: 14 DC: 20 GAME: Merek casts Break Enchantment. Caster Level: 14 DC: 20
Restorations to restore the injuries to constitution and wisdom Cryo, Cesran and Serene suffered, as well the physical damage they took.
Cesran makes a prayer to Eluna to watch over all, and changes changes into his brown robes.
And even more spells are cast.
Griva takes in a breath and then proceeds to begin utilizing her magics. She has numerous items that she's set aside for planar travel, it seems, and the sphere encasing the party seems to be helpful in getting her to relax. Planar acclimation and adaptation spells are prepared and cast, and then, finally, the gate itself is erected.
...the next thing you know, you feel like you're skipping stones on a river.
... except you're the stone, and the river is everything, a blindingly white and torrential sense of power and movement, everything everywhere that suffuses everything around you and within you.
GAME: Cesran casts Telekinetic Sphere. Caster Level: 20 DC: 32 GAME: Cesran casts Gate. Caster Level: 20 DC: 31
Cesran starts to cast his spells after a prayer to the White Magician. He constructs a Telekinetic Sphere around the party and bids it to rise off the ground a bit. He waits until Griva's preparations are done before he starts to cast Gate. He holds it open and then moves the party through via Telekinetic Sphere. He takes a deep breath as everyone crosses over. He is glad he readied himself as he feels the bubble being skipped like a rock. He keeps his focus on where they want to go as he feels a rush of exhilaration at being able to do something like this. "Everyone okay!?" He shouts back towards the others in the bubble with him.
With Merek's curative magic fortifying her once more, Serene settles into place within Cesran and Griva's magics. Not that the sphere leaves much to hold or brace oneself against. She opts to keep her words to herself, so as not to distract those in control of this journey.. and she avoids letting her attention fall on what lay outside the sphere for any length of time as well. That way lies madness. Of course, there are madnesses and then there are madnesses...
Cryosanthia has eaten. She has read all her scrolls and put them away. She has paced back and forth. The restorative spells that Merek cast have helped her greatly, but resolved her fears.
And then, they're skipping like a stone through a river.
"I think I want a Calm Emotions spelle!" Cryo says breathlessly, responding to the sensation of movement and power. There is no wind, there should be wind. She laughs, "This is amazing! If this is the last thing I feel it's a crazy way to go out!"
And some are more easily swept up than others.
Merek of course will easily be guided into the sea of mana in the sphere which he travels along with the others. The man seems to let his entire being relax, like he did when he went to the Halls. Well, he's been spirit once before, really more times than he would want. He knows what it's like to surf upon the ethereal. He doesn't mind any madness that might worry Serene, he seems to observe, watching the way the sea of mana seems to transcend all around them.
The man lifts up a hand while he seems to consider, then he places both hands to his pockets. People can only imagine what might be actually going through that mind while he waits.
GAME: Cesran rolls perception: (4)+24: 28 GAME: Merek rolls perception: (2)+25: 27 GAME: Serene rolls perception: (3)+25: 28 GAME: Cryosanthia rolls perception: (10)+8: 18 GAME: Seldan rolls perception: (8)+7: 15
It's hard to miss the streaks of blackness that show up against the pristine white of the sea of mana, though it must be noted it is not 'white' so much as it is 'this is just how it LOOKs to us'. It's... more than that. It is everything together at once, and nbot. The black is more ... a sense of something out of place on the edges of your vision. Streaks of it, sure, but more an *absence* than a presence, like where the sea has been forced away, showing gaps of nothingness between it.
When you skim too close t one, the edge of the resilient sphere surrounding you sort of ... breaks away. Grows more slender.
That's ... not good.
"Detect Magic would be bad to use right now. We need to detect the lack. Um... I don't have any ideas except maybe some Dancing Lights way out front, and if one goes out we steer away from that." Cryosanthia says, all forms of excited that land between panicked and ecstatic. "How do we steer?"
GAME: Cesran rolls reflex: (4)+18: 22
...as Cesran attempts to steer, things are getting ... nauseating. AVoiding the ... nothings is advisable, and let's just say that it's easier said than doine.
Cesran has to steer hard to avoid the streaks of nothingness, but he over corrects and has to go back the other way. He sets the sphere wobbling back and forth and he ughs softly as he burps, "Sorry about that. Maybe we should have just skipped breakfast." He looks around as he tries to stabilize the sphere so that they won't hit another patch of nothingness.
Karelin draws his knees to his chin, making himself as small and inert as possible. Be the calm you don't feel inside. "What happens if the sphere fails?"
Serene is.. not amused by the erratic course corrections. Of course, she's rarely amused to begin with. She remains as braced as she can be within the sphere, eyes closing. One might think meditating, except her features are anything but calm. Her gauntleted hands are very deliberately gripping her knees.
Cryosanthia is holding on, attempting to roll with the sphere as it wobbles. "I said I usually skip it if I know something bad is coming." It'll stay down, be calm stomach. Keep the wings tucked in. "Bad things Karelin. I don't know. Maybe we turn into the things that popped out."
Yes, the whitescale can see it now. This is exactly the chain of events where getting absorbed by Merek is a way of being saved. She attempts to keep spirits high, cheerfully saying, "Let's hope it doesn't happen! It's praying time!"
"Ceinara, I hope you're enjoying the show. Please let us get to intermission." Prayers to the Drama Dragon are so weird.
Merek says, "I could cast Anti-Magic field."
Cesran says, "That's a bad plan. Let's call that Plan Z."
"What if I treat the sphere as a person and cast Spell Resistance on it?"
GAME: Merek rolls spellcraft: (18)+26: 44
Casting spell resistance on anything right now would be a colossally bad idea.
Cryosanthia says, "Would a dancing lights indicator bumper work?"
It's bright! So bright even coloured lights would get washed out. It's a problem of too MUCH colour.
Serene says, "I think our best bet is to trust in Cesran to navigate the course, offer up the prayers to Eluna, and failing that... Have Seldan ready with that scroll."
"I don't know what to do." The whitescale admits.
Perhaps in response to Cryosanthia, perhaps something else entirely, Serene's lips begin moving though she doesn't vocalize anything higher than a whisper.
Cesran continues to try to steer the bubble to their destination and avoid the nothingness the best that he can. He tries to keep his eyes peeled and to steer the bubble away from any strands of nothingness that look like they might be coming close.
Merek will keep watching while things seem to zoom by, the man taking the time to think to himself. "I don't know, I don't think that I like the weather. It needs a little more rain." It's difficult to know what he means by that. "You know, the weave patterning."
... and then there's a ... sensation of falling. You aren't actually falling as there's no top or bottom. Hell, there doesn't even necessarily seem to be a sense of gravity. But it FEELS like you're falling, now, and then like something is grasping onto the bottom of the sphere, slowing your roll. Literally.
The motion sickness itensifies and a struggle to hold onto breakfast, lunch and dinner is engaged in, but now there's a blackness in all directions, like gaps in the sky and the ground reminiscient of swiss cheese.
... if swiss cheese was a portal into ever lasting darkness, anyway.
Karelin says little, trying to hold into his trail mix. "Found something."
Serene, fortunately, hasn't eaten anything in years.
Cesran grits his teeth as he feels the sensation of falling and the feeling of nausea becomes stronger. He tries to keep his eyes open as he struggles to look around in the darkness, hoping to find something that he can steer the bubble towards. He forges on, his resolve clear as he holds the spell together moving it forward with his will power. He will deliver his companions to safety.
Serene's hands slide from her knees to slam into the energy of the sphere at her back and her eyes open as she looks about sharply, her whispers dying with the coming of the unpleasantness. "Cesran. Where have you taken us?
Her wings spread as the bottom drops out. Cryo's instinct is to 'lev on' her boots. Falling! That would be ill advised. She wills herself not to activate them and leans into the dive.
Into Nothingness. Into Holes.
It's a little too much for the white Sith'Makar. It always seems there is no escape. It always seems she needs magic beyond her. "Merek can you come back to the plane where we're about to die and look for something that helps Cesran steer!"
"I don't see anything! Cesran, are you trying for the spaces between the holes. What helps?" She cries out. Looking frantically, everywhere.
"Ceinara this is not a good ending to the story. What... right. Make the best of it. Right." Cryosanthia stares, then starts singing. "Ninety-Nine Holes in the Sky and the Ground, Ninety Nine Holes in the sky. Miss one bound and slip right around..."
"Ninety Eight Holes in the Sky and the Ground!"
It's cheerful, at least.
"Fuck it. Embrace the nothingness. That's where we'll find our fights, isn't it?" Karelin is /not/ helpful.
Cesran doesn't look back at the others as he continues to direct the sphere through the darkness, "I'm following the path that the cyst would have traveled on. This is the way that we have to go to reach the source of all of this. I will protect you all and get you their safely. Please trust me. I won't let anything happen to any of you." He says as he guides the sphere as it's slowing, "We are getting close to the source of all this, just a little further."
Serene stares hard at Cesran for a moment, then another, then lets her breath out between pursed lips. "That... does not help, Karelin," she tells the man before closing her eyes. Shortly her lips begin moving again... a careful observer could be forgiven for thinking her lips are moving in time with Cryosanthia's song.
In retrospect, it might have been easier for the whitescale if she'd put on her Mask of a Thousand Tomes and tried to read something. She'd be blind and only have to contend with the motion sickness. She did not, so she stares ahead, her underwater eyelids snicking down and staying down. "Ok." She acknowledges Cesran.
Cryosanthia also continues to sing, a little more quietly, but still steadily. "Eighty Six Holes in the Sky and the Ground, Eighty Six Holes in the Sky. Miss one bound and slip right around..."
"Eighty Five holes in the Sky and the Ground."
Karelin looks over at Serene. "You need a break?" Hands flex.
"..I think we must be close. We're not moving anymore," says Griva. "Cesran, we're safe enough. Let the sphere drop. We're not going to get anywhere like this."
And it's true. You're just ... not.
Serene's eyes open again and her whispering stops as she looks at Karelin. At his hands. Several moments pass while she weighs his question and implied offer... before ultimately shaking her head. "I believe I am still best equipped to contain it...." she finally says to the warrior, and though the words could be taken as a brag, something about her tone ought to indicate otherwise. "And I am the less terrifying option if it were to take over."
Cesran slows the sphere to a stop and he looks to Griva, "All right." He looks to the others, "When everyone is ready I'm going to drop the sphere. I'm not sure what will happen, but let's try to stay together." He waits until everyone is ready before he goes to drop the sphere.
Karelin blinks his eyelashes at her. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Serene." He cracks his neck. "The other option is that if we find something we cannot handle, it would make a lovely epic." He looks up at Cesran, and nods. "Ready."
Merek looks along and nods to Cryosanthia, "I think we will be ok, like the song," the man notes. Then when all of them will come up to the place, then he seems to think about it, "Alright, I am ready and all."
"You should give me Discord if that's a worry, you'll have such a laugh." Cryosanthia says, making a connection. She's not sure how she should prepare, or stay together, "Like... all hold onto a rope? Or hands? We could hold hands."
She glances at Serene and Karelin, tilting her head, one eye-ridge raised. Is that the stay-together plan? "I was joking about the sword..."
"But..." Sapphire eyes stare at glacial blue ones, "Discord is the only thing left from our other-selves experience. Something in the sword may have an answer we need."
"So... listen, but don't listen." The whitescale holds out her hands, "I'm ready Cesran."
Serene unfolds to her feet, checking upon the sword in its makeshift baldric upon her back. Her true sword. Satisfied that it is secure, she gives the nod to Cesran while telling Karelin, "We shall see what comes." She pauses to listen to Cryosanthia, smiling faintly at one point, then nodding, all seriousness once again. "I understand what you are saying, Cryosanthia. But the sword seems of one purpose. I do not believe anything it says can be trusted. But I will listen."
Cesran nods, "All right if everyone is ready." He says as he holds onto his staff tightly as he lets the telekinetic sphere drop so that they'll now be floating in the darkness.
The mist begins to part.
... there is a great void before you, now, that you stand dangerously close to. Were you always here? Or did you move without realizing it?
... in the center of the great void sits a tower, of sorts... no, wait. That's not a tower. It's a pillar ... no .. it's a ... thing.
Very much a thing., A great, disrorted *thing* of blackness and shadows, of tentacles and teeth. A monstrosity of nothingness.
An entity of the Void, half-emerged into the sea of mana itself, as if something had deliberately weakened the wall between it and invited the Void inside.
Non-existence is here. It doesn't seem to have noticed you.
Yet.
... but it's *alive*. Towering into the sky above you.
As the mists part and reveal the path ahead, Serene narrows her eyes. Lets her breath out. "I suppose our destination has been revealed to us."
Cesran stops in his track as he looks at the tall Void Tower, "Yes I'm pretty sure that's where we have to go."
"Oh." Cryosanthia says, staring. Her underwater eyelids remain down, and she blinks. Otherwise, she doesn't move. "Would... anyone like a candied cricket?"
Her mind feels as blank as the nothingness she faces. "That's like the last curtain call, right? Go in there and you never existed? It's not something we can fight?"
"Is it?"
OOC
<OOC> Whirlpool ahahaha. :D GLad you noticed that the blade was the oinly thing that didn't dissolve
<OOC> Cryosanthia was really bugging Seldan about it in the In-between log. :)
<OOC> Cryosanthia says, "Do not grasp tail. The tail is not an acceptable appendage for holding. It will come right off!"