The Sea of Starry Night II [IC]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Phasm

Lissa

As the group settles down to wait, the gnome sighs and fingers her new holy symbol. I can't put this off any more. If I do, there's a good chance I'll end up like Sedryn. She moves to a position where she can see everyone at once.

"All right, people. I've got a spell to cast... and hopefully it'll shed some light on certain events." Lissa's expression turns hard. "I'm finishing what Sedryn started." With that, she touches the medallion with one hand and begins chanting in Celestial. "Baravar, reveal any evil within my sight!"

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Lissa's eyes shine with determination as she casts her spell.

Her medallion glows faintly as her heart begins to fill with dread. There is evil, and it is nearby, very close.

As Lissa concentrates, she realizes that something is wrong. The images of her companions before her begin to blur and fade. At first, she thinks that her dancing lights are fading, but soon she realizes that it is her sight, not the illumination, that is failing.

Before she can get a fix on the evil aura, Lissa is blind. Her eyes stare sightlessly as she cries out in distress ...




OOC: Previously The Sea of Starry Night. The OOC thread is here.

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

A cry shatters Achkby's comatose euphoria. A cry from a voice he knows well. Lissa

"Wha?! Wha? Lissa?"
He flounders into wakefullness, slow to come down from his otherworldly high into the nightmarish reality that has trapped him for so long.

What's happening? Where is she?

Lissa

"AAAAAAAUGH!" Lissa's head whips about from side to side, eyes staring off into space. "I can't see! There's evil, close by, but I can't see it! I can't see anything!" Her voice goes higher and higher with panic as she talks. "If some son of a fiend cast a blindness spell on me, so help me Baravar, that spellcaster will regret it once I can see again!" Lissa's hand is clenched tightly around the hilt of her rapier; her expression is a mixture of panic and anger.

I'm blind! How can I shoot if I'm blind? I can't even see to stab an enemy's weak spot! How am I supposed to pull my weight here if I CAN'T SEE?! Oh, Baravar, please let this wear off soon, or let one of the other casters be able to cure it!

Callos

As he slide down to a stop at the bottom of the cliff he grinned and brushed the dirt off of his long purple shirt. A little rough but non too dangerous. When he heard the gnome's plan about detecting evil a relieved smile came to his face. Finally! Djital and I will be cleared off all charges and we can move on with this insane journey! A lopsided smile came to his face then as she began to cast but when she cried out he looked startled.

"Whats wrong gnome?"

Hajih, Human Ranger

Putting his hands out, Hajih approaches Lissa slowly "Lissa, its okay, I'm coming over, just sit down and it'll wear off eventually." Hajih starts to look very worried "I mean, it did with Sedryn...gods rest his soul."

Elthan II

*Elthan, who until then had been sleeping up agaisnt a rock, shakes his head awake at Lissa screams.*

"Ughh, uh.. What in hells name is the screaming about, huh? I was having a most curious experiance when some squell ran through me."

Elthans snake takes its usuall place upon his right arm, slinking up and back to sleep after the shattering vibration.

Lumpy, Half-Orc Warrior

Lumpy glances up from where he's slumped on his bedroll, propped up against his back and armor. He wasn't really sleeping anymore.. just trying not to move too much, sort of like a basking lizard (though the lizardman could probably do a better job of it).

With a growled sigh, the stout orc pushes himself up, loosely snagging the archer's sword as he comes to his feet. This he rests flat against his bared shoulder delicately, shuffling towards the commotion. He gives the scene a good looking over, glancing around for a threat. Finding nothing, and apparently not having bothered to listen very well, he growls irritably, "The Hell's all this yapping about? Some of us like ta rest in quiet, ya know."

Lizardkin Druid

The lizardman sits up with a start. Partly because of a shriek from Lissa, partly because Lumpy had stepped on the end of his tail when he grabbed his sword and moved. Dreams of summer were as distant as the sunlight was now.The throbbing in his tail fully bringing him back to the present. Rubbing a sore tail, Ssathiya blinks the sleep out of his eyes and stumbles towards Lissa with a glance to Sheyra. Contemplating kicking the orckin, Ssathiya instead promises himself to vent his wrath on whatever Balance-forsaken aberration disturbed his sleep. His stomach agrees with a few growls of its on.

OOC: Hungry Lizardfolk ARE difficult to reason with ;D

Soon every member of the party is awakened. They gather about the distressed gnome, concerned.

Unlike Sedryn's collapse at the darkstone altar, Lissa's affliction does not appear to be temporary. She remains completely blind, and the blindness shows no signs of wearing off, even after several minutes.

Elthan II

*After recieving a short explination during the minutes of wait, Elthan introduces his thoughts to the group.*
"This is not good. At most, if an aura is too powerfull for the caster, it would stun them for a few seconds and then thier back to normal, like Sedyn. Blindness is not a usuall symptom for this spell. Something else is the cause of this, but what?"

The only spells I know of only temporarily blind. This development is very disturbing...

Lissa

Lissa is now looking more scared than angry, although she's still got her hand on her rapier. "You mean I could stay this way?! No, there has to be something we can do! Can't somebody dispel magic or something?" She shivers, drawing her cloak closer around her. "And, um, while this lasts... if anyone's going to come up next to me, for the love of the gods please say something! After what happened to Sedryn, and now this, I think it's safe to say that somebody has it in for clerics. And I'm vulnerable. So if I hear anyone near me who doesn't announce themselves, I'm going to assume I'm being attacked and react accordingly."

Elthan II

"Well, the key-word here is may, depending on either mundane or magical means where used to blind you. If magical, it won't be too hard to find a dispel magic somewhere, but if it was some alchemical substance, I won't expect there to be much hope, but knowing Sethra, its probally magical means which caused this.
Tell me, while you where casting did you hear or see anything strange from anyone or anywhere? Did anyone else?"

Fizahn:

Fizahn is obviously concerned about Lissa's blindness. He warily eyes each of the group. Who could produce such an evil aura. I have to find out! Once I have an idea, I'll act upon it, and once I have proof, he'll be dead. Wait... When Achkby was casting detect magic on all of us, no one checked him... I wonder... Fizahn sidles over to Achkby as everyone confers with Lissa. He quickly slips his hand into any pocket Achkby has, looking for a gem or such.

OOC: Sleight of Hand 21(13+8)

Calllos

"If this blindness is magical then...we have a problem. I know of a spell that blinds and it does it permenatly. I'm sorry gnome. Unless we can pay for someone to break this enchantment then I'm afraid this is permenat."

There was a look of sympathy on Callos's face as he told the gnome this. Being in the Underdark where one couldn't see in the darkness was bad enough. Knowing you couldn't see at all had to be worse.

"If..if you need help getting around or anything. I would be glad to help you."

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Idiot! Dammit, why did he have to mention that?!

Achkby lashes out and kicks Callos in the leg. He makes a sharp gesture of opening his palms upwards, plainly asking 'why did you have to go and do that?'

"I've heard of recovery, Lissa. I'm sure we'll find some way to fix this once we're out of here."
Wait... that could be a while from now.
"Or maybe even sooner."

He starts to approach her, but eyes her rapier warily.
"It's me..." he says, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Poor girl. The intermittent darkness has been bad enough. I have no idea what caused it...

Sheyra

It's just one thing after another, isn't it... Sheyra thinks, looking rather upset by this recent development. "Just so you know, Lissa," the young monk begins, "The offer to carry you still stands. If it's not too insulting or anything."

Elthan II

*Backing up from the rest of the group.*

"Honestly, do you have to worry her to death like that? Magic is as permanent as a stain. It's there until you can wash it out. With this most recent turn of events, I want to do another detection search. We've had the addition of a few more members and I think it would be best to check them out as well."

(OOC: Will ask everyone to line up, and then cast Detect Magic)

Lumpy

Even the dour orc's expression conveys sympathy for the poor blinded gnome; he'd learned to appreciate the predicament since coming down here, magical darkness being the first time his exceptional vision had ever failed him. Lumpy holds his tongue otherwise, accentuating his silence by thunking the flat of the sword against his shoulder absently. This was all beyond his ken anyway, magic and priests, and all the cloak and dagger stuff. Sure, he was smart enough to understand the general concepts, but he held no illusion about his ability to come up with a solution before someone more specialized would.

He shrugs at Elthan's instructions, "Do what ya gotta, if ya think ya'll find something."

Lousy Underdark.. There's always something going wrong..

Callos

"I wasn't trying to worry her, I merely spoke the truth. Also..after the elf is done I think I have my own way of searching out what happened. When the elf is finished I'll do my own search. That is if Djital will keep an eye out for me while I do."

Still the mage did as one of the twins asked and got in line next to the half-orc. Blinking a little he turned to look at Lumpy and he blinked.

"Er...Hi there."

Darius

Darius has been sitting silent throughtout the exchange, he gets up to be searched. "Damn... whenever we get close to our goal something bad always seems to happen."

((Sorry I haven't been posting frequently, I bought World of Warcraft on Friday, it's kind of addicting.))

Lizardkin Druid

With a cold glare at everyone he's suspicious of, the lizardman shuffles into line. Even after assimilating all the facts, he could not understand what was going on. He merely knew that shamans who tried to look at the nature of things end up hurt. Trusting the witch to explain more , he stands beside her and engages her in low conversation. Linda in her kind manner explains slowly to the lizardman about good and evil and what was going on.

Lissa

Lissa bites her lip as she hears that the blindness could be permanent. Now she's definitely looking scared. She lets out a shuddering sigh and leans her head on Achkby's shoulder. "Well... we can't see too well in the Underdark anyway, right? And we're going to Telflamm; that's a fairly big city from what I hear. There has to be someone there who can take this spell off. I've got some magic items I could sell or maybe trade to pay for it." Lissa turns toward Sheyra's voice, evidently able to get an approximate location by sound. Her brown eyes are staring somewhere off to Sheyra's left, though. "Thanks for the offer, Sheyra. If we get into another situation like with the ooze, I'll take you up on it, but for now I'd kind of prefer to keep my feet on the ground." And not be any more of a burden than I already am.

Once Elthan announces that he's going to detect magic, Lissa lets Achkby guide her to a place in line. She feels around her belt for her pouch, then digs around inside until she comes up with something small and hard. Displaying the object to the group, she asks, "Is this a small green gem? I think so, but it's kind of hard to tell by touch. I managed to pick it up from the stuff around that undead thing's throne while we were running. I've been meaning to ask someone whether or not this thing is magical anyway." Lissa thinks for a moment. "As for what I have that I know is magical... um, there's my handy haversack, my cloak, several scrolls inside the haversack, and I think that's it. Unless Thokk's brooch is magic."

Aeroz

"You would think being the son of a mage, I would be packing a little more magic heat, but all I have is a few potions, thokk's sword, Sedryn's holy symbol and mace, and I beleive Lumpy needs to give my bracelet back..." Aeroz comments as the spell scans him.

"Don't worry Lissa. Remember when I got turned to stone? We got that fixed didn't we? And then there was this other time I was polymorphed into a...bad memories deserve to stay buried..."

Hajih, Human Ranger

Hajih turns to Trinark "Drow, you can fix poison. What about blindness? either mundane or magical."

Lumpy

Lumpy half-turns to Callos, looking up (for the short orc does in fact have to tilt his head back) to make eye contact with him. His jaw gapes a bit, baring his fangs with a throaty growl, "Don't push yer luck."

For a moment, he looks like he's thinking of something more to add, but his attention is diverted by Aeroz's comment, "I ain't even got it anymore, someone else used it on the cliff. Far as I know, I ain't got a damned bit'a magic on me."

Linda moves closer (in a non-threatening way) to Lissa to offer her sympathies. "You are always welcome to lean on my arm or staff until you get your sight back," she whispers gently.

[hr]
The two Elthans stand facing the party, their arms crossed suspiciously. The rest of the party members stand shoulder to shoulder, meekly allowing themselves to be scanned for magic items.

Aeroz is carrying a variety of potions and Thokk's magical sword. Sheyra has a few potions and a magic ring. Achkby's wand, potions, and scrolls are magic of course. Lissa's bag is magical, as is the brooch she took from Thokk. Her green gem appears to be valuable, but non-magical.

Lumpy is surprised to find out that he is radiating magic, then he remembers Thokk's amulet around his neck, which radiates faint transmutation magic. Darius' bow is magical of course, and he carries a magic potion. Linda's ring and Trinark's newly found sword are magical.

Fizahn's cloak is magical, but there is an unexplained faint aura of conjuration emanating from his closed hand.

Only the lizardman, Hajih, Callos, and Djital are completely free of magical auras.

Djital

"You know I didn't... listen, I meant useless against the ooze. There's no such thing as a useless spell."

He sheepishly avoids looking at the cliff face and the rope, and rubs absentmindedly at his black eye as the Elthans scan for magical auras. He is noticeably silent and withdrawn after Lissa goes blind, lost in his own thoughts. When he finally speaks, it is markedly different from the verbose style he adopted when arguing for his life and escaping his bonds.

"I've only done a sea journey twice in my life. First time out, the ship scraped a reef and filled with water. Five of us were in the dinghy I got into, and one drank seawater and went mad. He tried to overturn the boat, and we killed him.

Because of that we had just enough water to make land.

You've got a madman in your boat."

He clears his throat.

"Worse, actually."

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

"I think, to be thorough, I ought to scan you two again, as well," Achkby says to the twins. "Don't take it personally, but from one arcanist to two others, I think it needs to be done."

[OOC]With their permission, I will use Detect Magic on them. If they refuse, I open the floor for debate ;)[/OOC]

Elthan II

"Well Lissa, I'm sorry to say, but that gem is not magical. It's just an ordinary valuable ornate gem."

"As for being searched myself I have no objection, but I would like to know what object it is that is in Fizahns hand."

He didn't have anything like that last time. Where did he get it, but much more what is it?

The Elthans submit to Achkby's scan with a shrug. They have multiple protective items but nothing suspicious. The Elthan clone is carrying the coins of illusion, the bracelet of levitation, and his head is orbited by an ioun stone - otherwise, the two Elthans have identical dress and gear.

[hr]
Fizahn has no choice but to open his hand. A plain silver ring lies in his palm.