The Necromancer's Pact VI: Lake of Tears [closed]

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

At first Callos couldn't begin to comprhend what was going on when the sword tip erupted from between Linda's breasts but when it finally hit him a dumbfounded look came to his face. Was that it? Was Sethra really...? WOMBAT! The necromancer's eyes darted around anxiously even as his hands moved once more in arcance patterns that would open the mind of others to them if they couldn't force him out.

With a look of steel hard determination on his face he spun for the door and stormed up to the nervous officer. A look of rage and possible hardened unto his scowling face.

"Thats not important right now, so get out of my way you peon! If you want to do something useful then you make sure that woman with the chest wound is really dead and search for a fire opal! If you find it, crush it! But you better move so I can make sure Sheyra is alright or Mystara help me I'll reduce you and your friends to cinders where you stand, are we understanding each other Lieutenant? I have to make sure Lady Sheyra is safe so move it!"

((EDIT: Oh yeah I should proably post the spell. Detect Thoughts.)

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

The burly orc skids to a stop, looking more than a little disappointed. Lowering his flail, he slowly picks a few more careful steps forward, moving to place himself between The guards and his companions. He casts a glance backwards over his shoulder, growling softly,

"Check and see if she's dead or not. and try and find that gem, but don't touch barehanded it if ya don't gotta. Who knows how it works... And someone knock some sense inta that stupid dwarf. Knock him cold if ya hafta."

Straightening himself out, he turns himself fully forward to face the lieutenant. Lumpy was painfully aware that he wasn't a very impressive figure unarmored, especially since the officer was taller than him, an had a cadre of guards to boost his confidence. Still, he needed a little bit of awe to keep them from mucking things up more than they already were. The necromancer's outburst evokes a wince, because that was exactly the sort of thing he'd thought about trying himself. But since that never seemed to work for him, mabye a different approach would. He follows in the wizard's wake, rumbling softly in the most reasonable tone he could manage.

"No, no, no. Ain't a person in the world who can answer that question. We ain't rightly figured out what's going on yet, but we're getting there. Now, I know ya got some vested interest in the outcome'a all this," He waves a hand at all the singed guards on the floor, "And yer probably getting some real good ideas about how ta help, and all, but.. What ya need ta do right now, is make sure the girl's safe, and more importantly, be somewhere that ain't here. There ain't no guarantee here's safe right now, and more people'll just make it worse."

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

"Good job Sheyra..."

Darius takes a few steps, then remember the pain in his back. He winces, peeling off the scraps of his tattered shirt that have stuck to his flesh.

"Could somebody please help me out here? And a new shirt would be nice if that's possible."

[Dr._Bob]

Callos' mind is overwhelmed by the number of minds and intensity of thoughts he is reading here in the room.

The guards seem to be generally confused, and some of the younger guards are genuinely terrified. There is much pain and anger among the wounded, and grief for the dead.

By the gods! So much blood ...

Is that Lady Sheyra? No that's the white haired witch.

I will not pass out. I will not pass out. I will not pass out ... I think I'd better sit down.

Ugh. Can't. Ugh. Breathe. Ugh. Breathe, dammit!

Where am I? What's going on?

No! Brannon! Don't be dead. Don't be dead. Please don't be dead ...

Moradin! What's going on? How did I end up on the ground? Where's Linda?

Callos also "hears" a small voice, just at the limits of his perception.

It is done ...

[hr]
A guard checks Linda's body and shakes his head to indicate that she is gone. He points to a necklace that had been hidden under her robe. A blood red gem dangles from a fine gold chain. The gem glows softly.

Other guards tend to their wounded, carrying them outside where other guards and servants are waiting to tend to them.

The lieutentant, who now finds himself in charge (since his superior officer was one of the casualties of Linda's fireball) seems a bit unsure of himself and doesn't seem to know whether you can be trusted or not.

"Lady Sheyra will be fine, but none of you are going anywhere until I get some answers. What happened here?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

At the torrent of thoughts both terrified and disgusted flooding into his mind the necromancer's knee's buckled and he fell to the ground. Hands clutched at his head and grabbed his hair in tight handfuls. Teeth gritted together as his eyes squeezed shut.

Its too many! Too many! I can't focus on specific thoughts when theres...WAIT! That one! That one just might be the right one! Come on Callos get up to your feet and focus! Lives could depend on this!

A desparate hand grabbed hold of Lumpy and he used it to pull himself up with his eyes still closed. Eyebrows furrowed in constertation as he struggled to weed out the other thoughts in his mind, even as he whispered to Lumpy.

"I don't think Sethra is dead yet. Listen to me there's a thought out there that sounds suspicious to me. I have to be able to follow it and determine the source!"

All the while he spanned the cone of thought reading magic back and forth trying to get a lock on the mind.

[Zeal]

Hajih

"Damn Sethra, he and all Necromancers can rot in whatever dark hell-pit is waiting for them" Hajih grimly proclaims after hearing Callos' revelation.
Realizing what he had said, Hajih adds hastily "present company excluded."

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn is genuinely surprised at the entrance of all the guards. That's horrible. They should have been here earlier or not come at all. Being here now won't help much. What happens to Linda now that we killed her body? We need to find a magic expert who can tell us exactly how to stop Sethra.
Fizahn ignores the guards and lets the others deal with them. He quickly walks over to Callos so he can share his ideas. "Sethra could have taken control of Sherya's body in the hopes that we would smash the fire opal and kill her. He also seems to have a fetish for possessing girls."

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

*Thokk gets up, shaky and looking around with blank eyes before they focus on the scene before him*

"Ach, by the gods it feels like my head is an anvil. What the blazes just happened?"

*Thokk looks around some more, from the charred guards to the icy ground to the blood on his sword...*

"What evil has visited itself upon us...?"

[HempRope]

Here I am!

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Achkby shivers on the floor, trying to scrape the ice from his face and rub some feeling back into his extremities. He tries to stand, but his frozen legs give out and he slides back to the ground. Slowly scuttling to a patch of gound with less ice, he rips the sleeves from his robe. Shivering a bit more, he tears them into strips, and ties them tightly about his freezing feet. He begins slowly massaging some feeling into his aching thighs and calves. As they turn red, a painful tingling consumes his fingers, but it is better than the numbness that had inhabited them before.

He staggers to his feet, and slowly limps over to his companions, clustered about Linda's limp body. Ignoring the tardy arrival of the guards and explosive reaction of Callos, Achkby stares numbly at the dead woman for a while.
Is this is?

As the necklace is revealed, he slowly casts a spell, deliberately working his stiff fingers through the simple motions that accompany the elementary incantation whistling softly from between his chapped lips.
The neckalce slowly slides from Linda's neck, and rises to float a few feet from Achkby's head.

"Where's Aeroz? Aeroz... what do we do with it?" he asks dispassionately.

[OOC]I decided to go crazy with details. Too much, me thinks.[/OOC]

[Phasm]

(OOC: I'm sorry! Will attempt to explain absence in OOC thread.)

Lissa

Lissa looks down at the corpse of her former comrade, seemingly dazed for a few moments. Evidently the fact that she just helped kill a friend is sinking in. (OK, so the friend was possessed by Ancient Evil, but still...) Then she shakes her head, showering those around her with drops of water and bits of melting ice, and glares at the exposed pendant. "Fizahn, Elthan, is that it? Somebody smash the accursed thing if so, I'm not strong enough!" She looks up at Lumpy. "Think your flail will take care of it? Or maybe a good hard stomp?"

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Nodding slightly in response to Callos, before turning to face the officer again. He rolls his eyes unconsciously, drawling out another response impatiently,

"[color=Blue]Alright, ya asked fer it. We gotta body jumping bastard-son necromancer going absolutely nuts here. He, in the form of her," He waves a hand at Linda, "evidently thought it'd be a riot to blow the tar out of everyone in hopes of killing the girl, for whom he harbors a gurdge that spans centuries."

He flicks another glance at Callos, before narrowing his gaze upon the lieutenant,

"Naturally, we paid back in kind and all, but my esteemed colleauge here informs me that we might not be rid of him just yet. Ergo, ya need to move so we can track it, else ya wait til he finds yer girl again in a more vulnerable spot and does the job right." He shrugs, "Or not. Whatever."

The big orc turns in response to the discussion about the gem, "Smash it? Prolly. Would that break whatever magic we're dealing with?"

[Dr._Bob]

As Callos closes his eyes and attempts to isolate the various thoughts swimming through his mind, he detects a familar essence. Furrowing his brow, he focuses his attention on just that single mind, blocking out all external frustrations.

What happened? Am I dead? It is Sheyra. She is scared and confused, but very much alive. Callos sighs with relief, then opens his eyes.

[hr]
The fire opal hovers in mid-air, held aloft by Achkby's magic spell. It glitters darkly in the dim torchlight.

Even more guards enter the room, clearing out the wounded and the dead. You can overhear their whispers ...

"... an attack on Lady Sheyra! Garent is dead!"

"... she killed the assassin herself!"

"... the Houses are mobilizing ... We might be under attack!"

[hr]
The sound of horses and shouting men can be heard in the courtyard outside. The attack on Sheyra has the entire embassy on high alert. The lieutentant waves his men towards Elthan's body. They approach him with a stretcher.

"I assure you, Lady Sheyra is safe for the moment. I will need to ask you to clear the room. The authorities will be here shortly and the room must not be disturbed further."

He looks pointedly at the floating gem. "I am afraid that you will need to leave the necklace ..."

"My men will escort you to your rooms. We will send healers to tend to your wounds."

He steps aside and indicates the doorway. A half dozen nervous guards wait to accompany you back to your chambers ...

[Erikkin]

Fiazhn:

Fizahn looks dumbly at the guard who asks them to leave. Do they not comprehend the importance of this situation? We need that opal dead. "Give us a bit more time please Mr. guard. We'll leave the amulet, don't worry. The question is whether we'll leave it in pieces or not. I don't know if smashing it will work. Callos, could you possibly detect a thought coming from it? I don't really care if smashing it will work, but I'd feel better if it were smashed, could you do that please Thokk?" Fizahn grins at the guards and doesn't make any moves to leave.

[HempRope]

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Achkby closes his eyes for a long moment.

Lords. No decisions for me.

"Aeroz. What do I do with the opal?"

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

"I dunno. Fiz, what should Achby do with the opal?" Aeroz responds dryley as he goes to check on Callos.

"So, Callos, what's your prognosis? Is Sethra dead? Did he retreat back into the opal? Come on, tell me."

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

At those odd thoughts that where coming from Sheyra, Callos once again furrows his brow and shakes his head. Clear thoughts were not was what he was getting and clear thoughts where what he needed to act upon. Turning the cone of his spell towards the opal Callos sent out the mental magic towards the hovering magical item.

"I'm not sure yet. Sheyra's confused and and is wondering if she's dead, as well as doesn't know whats going on. And all of these guards continue to mull over their comrades. Its hard to focus on individual things with them still thinking too."

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

"I think we should just smash the damn thing before anything else happens, it'll be better than letting these fools take it." Darius says with a glare at the guards.

[Dr._Bob]

Four guards gently carry Elthan's body away. Elthan follows behind, shaken, and barely aware of what is happening next to Linda's body.

[hr]
Achkby lets the fire opal sink gently to the ground next to Linda's bloodied and acid scorched body.

"Smash it!" someone whispers.

Callos continues to concentrate. Sheyra's thoughts float in and out of his mind. She is close by, but does not seem to be in any immediate danger. Her thoughts are confused and fragmented however, as if in shock over the recent chaotic events ...




OOC: OK, we need to move on. Either leave the stone, smash the stone, steal the stone, whatever ... the guards are going to escort you back to your rooms and this "episode" will be over.

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

Darius sees his friend put down the stone, and then brings down his boot on it as hard as he can, attempting to crush it under his feet.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn nods as Darius crushes the necklace. "I've seen what I came here to see. Good job everyone. Next time try coming as soon as you hear battle, oh noble guards. And for all the gods' sake Thokk, don't try to kill us again! That's almost as bad as when we fought our mirror images. If I hadn't figured that out, you'd all be dead!" Fizahn leaves and allows the guard to escort him to his room. He makes small talk with the guard about the mansion and how a poor country gnome like him hasn't ever seen anything so gargantuan. He proceeds to talk about the layout and the defensive advantages of it.

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

'Ach, by the gods, Destroy the damned thing! Is has already brought us enough trouble and pain!'

[Dr._Bob]

Darius crushes the gem underfoot.

The lieutenant opens his mouth, as if to protest, then changes his mind and says nothing. You are escorted back to your rooms and told to wait for "the authorities".

[hr]
After stewing in your rooms for an hour or two, you are interviewed individually by representatives of the Houses. Although they are suspicious of you at first, eventually they seem convinced that Linda acted alone.

Whether or not they believe that Linda was "possessed" by an ancient necromancer, they seem satisfied that the rest of you were acting to oppose her rather than aid her in her attempt to assassinate Sheyra.

[hr]
When dawn breaks, you gather in the dining chamber for a somber breakfast of bread, fruit preserves, and strong coffee.

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

Darius seems calm now, he eats his food quietly, then pauses...

"So, this is the end then.... What happens now?"

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Lumpy looks up from his breakfast, a single loaf of bread from which he's been tearing chunks and dipping in coffee. he snorts belligerantly, irritable over the questioning he'd been made to put up with in lieu of sleep.

"If ya ask me, it ain't over. That was too easy, and if I know anything about mages, there was some trick ta last night we ain't gotten yet. Unless the necromancer's also an utter moron, why would he risk a straight fight with all'a us at once when he could'a jumped the girl alone pretty damned easy." He shoves another hunk of steaming bread into his mouth, continuing to talk around it, "I ain't staking anything on the odd chance he's gone fer good so easy-like."

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn eats his breakfast with the others. He eats slowly, savoring the free meal. "I agree with Lumpy. I don't think it is that easy. I think that Sethra is still alive somewhere and I'm going to stay with Sherya a while just to make sure. If she doesn't want me, I'm probably going to look for a job somewhere." That was way too easy. I gave my vow to the druid that I'd guard Sherya until Sethra was destroyed. I assume he was destroyed, but I'm not so sure. I'll stay to protect her as long as I get free board. I'm sure I can make myself useful and repay her for putting me up. If I see the lizardman, I'll tell him he can go back to his own people. Maybe I'll even accompany him there. Then we can probably raid Sethra's crypt and destroy all traces of him, not to mention keep anything valuable.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan, who seemed paralyed in shock yestersay, seems almost normal today as he walks to breakfast, though very quiet. He avoid the coffee, taking only a few pieces of the fruit.
"Agreed here as well. Breaking the fire opal was probally a good idea. If that was really what he used to jump around, I don't think he would confine himself to possesing only one."
It could really be over, or we could end up having to break every gem in the area. At least we'll have a reprieve from ancient necormancers for a short while.

I wonder how the lizard will take it...


(OOC: I am officially takeing over the original Elthan, though I'll continue useing E2 stats because I'm both lazy and Dm approved. Praise cylon-style downloads!)

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

"Yes, you may be right... that gem could've been a decoy, it's not like there's only one fire opal in the world. Perhaps we should stay and help Sheyra, especially since she has other enemies... probably more powerful than the one we just faced..."

Then again, I have no obligations to stay... but also nowhere to go. And I am finally free. I think the beast in me is gone... or just lying in wait...

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Lumpy continues rambling, downing bread as he goes, rather noisily,

"The problem here is mages." He glances at the assorted wizards and sorcerers around the table for a moment, shrugging as he growls onward ,"All offense intended, they gotta go and make things way too complicated. Through all the militiawork I done in the Dales, campaigning in the north, and bounty heads I collected in the south, I made it a habit not ta mess around with mages. _This_ is why. Ain't no profit ta be had what's worth the trouble."

[Dr._Bob]

While Lumpy is speaking, servants enter the chamber, each one carrying a small box.

One box is given to each of you.

"Lady Sheyra wishes to thank you for your companionship and assistance. Please accept these tokens of her appreciation. You are free to go."

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan, not being very hungry in the first place, stops eating and begins examining the package. He shakes it to hear if anything is inside, judges it's general weight, and generally tortures himself over what could possibly in the box for several minutes before setting it down on the talble in front of him and stareing at it intensely.