A Simple Sigil [IC]

[Niezck]

Word has come to each of you through different means that Sigil has gone. All attempts to reach the city, regardless of how fruitful they once were, have failed. The people within can still be seen, scried and contacted. They all say the same thing however - the Lady of Pain has gone.

And so it falls to you, the servants of the greater powers, to locate the Lady for your respective causes. You have each worked together before, got to know each other and ultimately adventured together, so the prospect of working together once more should be delightful. But it isn't. You each have your own interested party encouraging you to locate the Lady and you each know that the others have theirs. When the Lady is located, will your loyalty to your friends overcome that of your masters? Can you trust your companions not to betray you to their masters? Both good questions and both ones that will need answering, but not yet.

For now you find yourselves gathered together in the Wordshaper cabal. Through the powers of Wordshaper Yerath you have each been summoned, will you take up this challenge?

[The Antigamer]

The ridges on his mirrored face where eyebrows would go raise as Frithchaithreamh surveys the room. The other beings are reflected in his mirrored face as he turns his head, a faint impression of an upturned curve above his jaw. The line splits open as he speaks.
"And so, here we are, all after the same thing. We might as well divulge any information we've gathered on our own yes?"

[AmberVael]

Shakti, looking like a normal human at the moment due to her concealed sigils and nature, gives a little shake of her head.
"There is little to share."
She says quietly.

[Eldan]

In the interest of his Mind over Matter (and Matter from Mind) philosophy, Yerath has kept much of his personal demiplane, Logos, in a state similar to the raw astral, a weightless plane where magic is easy and the strength of the mind becomes the strength of the body.

He has invited his old acquaintances into the small council hall, instead of the bigger one intended for the full gathering of his many hundred cabal members. The room is a sphere of stone, marbled blue and silver, but in the interest of the comfort of those not used to this environment, a table and half a dozen chairs, made of clean, unadorned wood, have been brought in, and gentle gravity introduced to the entire hall.

"There is much to share, actually, at least from my side."
Yerath, with a flair for the dramatic he could never quite remove from his mind, is only now hovering into the room, blue and silver robes trailing far behind him in the weightless environment.
"Planar trade has all but collapsed. The upper planes remain joined by the Oceanus, the lower by the Styx, but there are only so many ferrymen to transport them. Isolated communities on the elemental planes are starving. The Norse Pantheon might make a grab for even more total power, as they control most of the pathways leading to Yggdrasil and from there to the prime and planes everywhere.
And Sigil, of course, is still gone. What do you propose we do? Planar trave, in the conventional sense, has always been impossible into Sigil, even to me."

[The Antigamer]

Frithchaithreamh nods from his precarious seaeting on the top of a chair.
"My people know we can travel to the base of the Spire with ease, but we have never traveled through Sigil's mirrors, using only the official portals, for fear of The Lady's wrath. We could attempt my way of travel, I know of several mirrors in Sigil I could tap into."

His thin line of a mouth twitches into a smirk.
"Of course, we all know of the rumors of this "artifact," don't we?"

[Chambers]

Garandou

Looking the same as the last you saw him, a well-muscled human of average height and weight, dressed in his vest and loose shorts, Garandou sits on a chair next to the table. One hand lays flat, resting on the table, the other plays with the cloth of his belt.

"I tried to walk into Sigil." He glances up at the smooth ceiling of the sphere and follows the curvature back down to where he's sitting. "The Spire is as tall as they say - infinite. I do not know for how long I climbed it...but the ring was always just beyond the next cloud." He makes a small circle with his finger. "It's not like this room, where if you walk far enough you'll get back where you started. After some time I stopped and jumped back down."

He shrugs. "If we're getting into Sigil we won't be walking in. That is what I know."

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Sorry, missed this thread.

I don't know how much time as passed since Sigil has been closed off, but he doesn't need to eat, sleep, or breathe, so it's possible he was climbing the Spire for hours, days, or weeks. He taps the climb DC for perfectly flat vertical surface (without the bonus from magic items) and has (Ex) Slow Fall Any Distance, so I figure it's no big deal for him. It's mostly just something for him to talk about anyway.

[Matar]

"It is quite the conundrum, isn't it?" Christopher is setting cross legged in a chair with the same constant smile on his face. "I can only imagine how difficult it would be to enter Sigil."

Giving a soft laugh Christopher uncrosses his legs and continues.

"I could always ask my dear family for ideas, if you wish me to. I honestly planned on doing so if no one had any other ideas, but I'm not sure about what kind of information I could learn."

[Niezck]

Shakti, Yerath:

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A shadow creeps across both of you and you feel a terrible chill down your spine, as though your ultimate fear stands above you.

As you sit in the room, you hear a very strange, distant whispering. "Look to the old texts, magic cannot save me."

Christopher

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You begin to sense a strange ... urge. An irresistable pull almost, to talk to your family. It's as if the countless voices of the Realms are screaming out to you, but through a pane of glass, muffled.

[AmberVael]

Shakti places a hand on her head, fingers sliding over the magic crystal affixed on her brow, as if to ensure herself that it was still there. Its unyielding presence reassures her, and yet unnerves her at the same time.
Her eyes flick over the others as she attempts to discern if any of them heard what she had.

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Sense Motive!
(1d20+57)[68]

She'd just ask, but that would be too forward of her.

[Cardea]

Thognaught sighed audibly. Waiting around... talking... not hitting things... life got boring. So while they talked amongst themselves, Thognaught sulked, playing with his Hammer. He stood away from the others, and tossed the Hammer from one hand to another. It took a bit of effort to make sure that it didn't slip from his hands once he caught it, an- he missed. The Hammer fell to the ground, fracturing the floor on touch. Embarrassed, he picked up the Hammer, and began playing with it again. "Just throwing out. Why all help Sigil Lady? I come to work with friends and have good time. I doubt is same for others."

[Eldan]

Yerath steeples his fingers and leans forward in his chair.
"A very good question from our meathead here. Save for a very basic concern for a fellow sentient, I couldn't care less what happens to the Lady."
He frowns, looking at the floor and concentrates for a second to make the cracks disappear.
"She was useful to keep Sigil peaceful. It was a convenient place with a high concentration of services, so I did not have to hunt down whatever I needed piece by piece.
The trade may have been useful for some as well.
Now, however, I can travel wherever I want myself, and therefore, she has become entirely unnecessary.
No, what I want is the city. It is a magnificient site. Whoever holds it can go anywhere. No secret is safe from them, no location barred. If succient control could be established, one wouldn't be far from total control of the planes."

Shakti:

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Yerath only has +12 bluff, so go ahead and assume you find out

[The Antigamer]

A thin smile mars the smooth lower half of Frithch's face.
"So you have heard the rumours, of an artifact capable of controlling Sigil."
He leans forward intently.
"The Mirror Lords certainly have. They want it, to take the City for their own, and control how the Multiverse travels."

[AmberVael]

"I would not be averse to following this route."
Shakti agrees quietly, as she considers what she heard.

Old texts? Save me? Who, Lady of Pain? Surely not- if she could still speak so clearly, why were things a mystery? And since when did she talk so openly at all?
Surely it was someone else. Sigil itself? Hopefully not... perhaps someone trapped within it then.

For now, she dismisses what she heard. It was too vague and nonsensical to piece together at the moment. Maybe in time...

[Matar]

Shakti

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Christopher is, as always, practically unreadable. You know that he hears voices screaming into his head, but whether or not he heard the same thing you did... you have no idea.

"Well, I could always attempt to gaze into the future to see what exactly might go on and what we might do. That could prove helpful, perhaps. Unless you all have another idea."

Christopher pauses for a moment and adjusts his tophat.

"And no worries about my interrupting any of this 'rulership' stuff. I only need this artifact for a short time, really. After that, well, it doesn't really bother me who has it so long as they're not all... 'Death to everyone' with it. That would just be such a bother."

[Niezck]

As you each stand talking, a letter *pops* into appearance above Shakti's head and slowly floats down to the floor. It's a piece of fine parchment with gilded writing on it, though too small to read from your current position.

[The Antigamer]

If Frithch had eyebrows, they would have raised as the letter floated down.
"Were you expecting that Shakti?"

[Matar]

"Well that's wonderfully interesting." Looking over the letter Christopher blinks. "Were you expecting that?"

[AmberVael]

Shakti says nothing, but swiftly uses her innate sorceries to retrieve the letter and draw it towards herself and scan it.

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She's not going to touch it, but instead will use TMaster of Physics (essentially the Telekinetic Sphere spell) to pick it up.

[Niezck]

Shakti:

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The letter reads:

"Dear assorted powerful beings,

We know what you're doing. And we know what your goals are. Consider this your first and only warning - the secrets of the Lady will be ours and nobody elses. Stay out of this or die.

-Paymasters"

[AmberVael]

Shakti

Quietly, Shakti lets the sphere containing the letter rotate, displaying its succinct contents.
"Perhaps we could do with some more thorough wards."
She remarks softly.

[Matar]

"I wish I could say that this is the first time that I was threatened by some unknown force..." Christopher pauses for a moment and laughs a little. "But it's not. Not that that makes my family worry any less. Regardless..."

Christopher stands up and tucks his cane under his arm.

"I hope you don't mind me breaking down a wall for a moment, friend." Christopher nods to Yerath. "But I think my dear family might have some advice to offer us." Saying such Christopher unlocks the self-imposed bindings on his body and the world around him... changes. It's not something you all are unused to; traveling with Christopher for even a short time makes one used to such things.

But it still rather... jarring.

Colors seem brighter and more vibrant. An indescribable smell fills the air, so weak that it ought not be there at all yet still smells... wonderful. Every now and then you see eyes in the corner of your vision, yet the moment you notice them they seem to vanish. Your body feels lighter and more comfortable, but you know for a fact that you weigh the same and that your clothing has no changed. Finally, odd scrawling appears on the surface of nearby objects, written in some unknowable tongue, which vanishes the moment you try and read it.

All in all it's not unpleasant, just... odd.

"Ah, now. That's much better!" Sighing softly Christopher nods his head. "Now where was I? Oh my, right. Dearest Brother!" Pulling his hand back for a moment Christopher then thrusts it into the air in front of him. His hand, along with a sizable portion of his arm seem to vanish, as if he was reaching into another world.

Which was exactly what he was doing.

A moment passes and Christopher pulls back. Around his arm is a... person. Or something that looks like a person. It has no face and its clothing is very "blank". As if waiting for a role to be assigned.

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Summoning a False one with my Tethered from Outside Breach.

"Why, hello dear brother. I know you must hate being here longer then necessary, but I do believe the rest of our family wanted to tell me something. Mind telling me what it was?"

[Niezck]

The strange creature appears - a strange mockery of a man dressed neatly in a suit and tophat similar to Christopher's. Were a child to see a man through mist and draw him, this would be the result.

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((Other Slender Man images would suffice too.))

It opens its mouth and emits a low shriek, loud enough to agitate you all but not enough to truly frighten you. Were you of any lesser stature, it probably would.

Christopher:

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"The Lady of Time wishes for your presence brother, she seeks freedom from her captors, yet wishes not to end in the hands of those descended of her jailors. Beware the Paymasters brother, they seek the end and none would wish for it. I must leave now, the family is calling."

A few moments later and the strange creature vanishes, even the memory of it fading from your minds a little. A few seconds pass and you can't quite picture what it was you saw, simply that it just wasn't right.

[The Antigamer]

"That was...decidedly odd," Frithchaithreamh says, shaking his head. "Did you learn anything, or should we try my mirrors?"

[Matar]

"My dearest family told me that the Lady of Time wishes my presence and freedom from her captures, whoever they are. My dearest family also warned us to beware paymasters. Which I ams sure will come in useful."

Christopher shrugs his shoulders and keeps on smiling.

"So now what?"

[Eldan]

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Who or what is the Lady of Time?

Knowledge: the Planes, Arcana, Nature, Psionics, History and Dungeoneering:
(1d20+48)[61]
(1d20+48)[66]
(1d20+48)[56]
(1d20+48)[51]

[Niezck]

Yerath

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You seem to recall something regarding an ancient God of Time, perhaps even a Lady, written about in the oldest libraries of the multiverse - those of the celestials, the fiends and the illithids. Even some of the more knowledge-loving gods might have texts about it. By your memory, the God of Time was a terrible and mighty god, cruel and spiteful for the sake of it. The fact they are no longer present seems to indicate they were defeated, perhaps imprisoned even as the far realms creature would suggest?

All

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Just to clarify, you can all read the letter that Shakti received. At this point it's lragely down to you guys, I've given you a few leads, so it's up to you what you want to do with them. You can pursue the Paymasters, find out who they are, that kinda thing. Or you can research the God of Time and who they might be. Or something entirely different. It's very much opening into sandbox mode at this point; you do what you would like to do and I'll work with that.