Eastern Tarthenol [IC]

[0nimaru]

Aughs head pitches back and he laughs loudly. He has apparently abandoned all stealth following the battle with the Slaad.
Ha Ha. No Gasp, I'm not an unthinkin' deadwalker. I probably pass as a "devil" if ya think about it, but I'm not fully sure. I broke plenty of rules when I came through and ended up joining the Highgates. I'll tell you about it as soon as we can though, and I don't need no healin'. Just a scratch, and I'll put some salve on the claw-holes later. Disgustin' Slaad are diseased with the worse chaos y'can imagine.

Augh breaks off a leg from one of the chairs and sets it alight.
This wood won't last very long, but it means I can take the lead. Follow close behind me.

You travel up the stairs behind Augh. Along the similar stone floors there are new stains that were not there on the floors below. The flickering light of Augh's "torch" doesn't illuminate them well, but the stains appear to have been black liquid before they dried, running down from the upper floor. Augh attempts to avoid stepping in the stains, but near the top steps it becomes impossible, and the fresher stains on the steps are slightly sticking and cause your boots to cling to the surface. There is a simple brown wooden door at the top which Augh quickly pushes aside.


Like all of the others, this floor is completely open and lacking dividers or pillars to separate rooms. There are three windows which show very little, as only a few feet outside each is the twisting spoked metal of the tower's exterior. At the center of the room there is a dais about 2 feet high. Its material is impossible to tell, as it is completely black, as is most of the floor of the room. Surrounding the dais are three bodies perched like upright scarecrows on wooden crosses. Their naked bodies are covered in black liquid that flows from their nose, mouth, and tearducts. Their eyes stare blankly at the floor.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar does a slight double take in surprise at the scene in front of him and Auugh.

"Huh. Well how about that."

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Knowledge(religion) (1d20+9)[24]

Explain to Auugh if there is any relevance

Gaspar walks slowly around the room, inspecting things as he moves, attempting to determine anything of note or value other than the corpses.

[0nimaru]

You reach into your thoughts of the recent research you had done regarding religious rites and foul sacrifices. While crucifixion and sacrifice are fairly common in darker religions, you have never heard of something describing the black pitch flowing from the orifices of these bodies. The dais is plain, and there are no markings you can see etched into the stone. If there were marks painted on to it, they were long since coated in the black material and are unreadable. You do have the sense that the bodies are still alive, although possibly in a suspended state of "life".

Augh listens to you speak and carefully looks at all three bodies.
Well... it doesn't look like they're movin', and I don't see how we can call the job done while they muck up the place.

Augh walks forward and pulls one of the bodies off of it's post. There is a shrill scream as the mouth of the creature gapes wide in a pained O.

...then the shape falls limp across Augh's shoulder. He seems satisfied and walks towards the window and pitches the body out. It remains tangled in the barbed shell for a moment before a piece of masonry, thrown by Augh, strikes it. You hear the body strike the ground outside with a small 'thud'.
Oh, I do like throwin' stuff. Do you want one of the next ones Gasp?


Your search of the room finds a small chest behind the dais. It is locked and slightly larger than a loaf of bread.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar gives Auugh a long hard look, and then laughs.

"Auugh, look at me. Do you think I could hurl one of those bodies? Help yourself to them."

He turns back to the box and tries to pick it up, carrying it over to Auugh.

"Other than this, I see nothing of noteworthy value in the room. So after you're done with your fun, I don't see anything left to do but a great deal of scrubbing."

[0nimaru]

After happily chucking the remaining bodies out the window and making sure no large pieces were still clinging, Augh comes over to you.
Guess you're right. If you want to head on out to the wagon and see how the repairs are goin', I'll finish up here. I guess I'll drop the box on the bottom floor.. I don't think anybody from the Highgates will want to be in this room no matter how much we clean it.

Augh travels with you through the now quiet tower, the remains of the slaad and orcish creature lying where they were slain.

If you linger behind

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On the first floor, Augh walks to the center of the room draws an object from his hip pouch. Onto the floor he places a small cube before backing up several steps. Each facet of the cube is a different, brightly painted, color. As you and Augh watch, the faces of the cube expand and pop apart at the edges, and a small orb of light is seen to be contained within. The orb expands into a dome which passes through you with a sense of immense weight which nearly drags you to your knees. The dome fills all but the upper corners of the room and the tip seems to melt into the roof above. Satisfied, Augh walks towards the door, leaving the cube behind.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar stays behind out of curiosity, what the coveted box he has is for, and after seeing that feels there are more questions now than answers.

"And... what was that exactly?"

[0nimaru]

Augh begins walking through the dome towards you and the doorway. When he reaches the entryway, he turns around and says slowly
I'm not the one to give you a good answer for that, Gasp... but well, the boxes, cubes, whatever, they emanate an anchoring field. The planes are pretty chaotic, and even some of the biggest mages out there can't just hop around em how they want. Us Highgates are practically just ridding the tides, trying to chart out what we can and blundering through what we don't know. We drop these anchors, and they are like... like how a compass works on the Prime. We chart em down and can navigate the planes in some crazy way that the wagonmaster understands. The more reference points, the easier it is.

Also, the fields keep out all but the meanest underscum that walks around here, so they're good camp spots in the future. If'n ya need to know more, I'd ask somebody arcane though, but hopefully that gets you the idea.

Outside, there are some wood shavings on the ground around the wagon, and the damaged sides seem to have been repaired. There is a small crackling blaze thirty feet back and you make out a few bodies silhouetted against the flames. The elf grins at you from the side of the wagon as you return, and you note the halfling sitting on the roof facing the flames.

The wagonmaster greets you hurriedly,
Well, is it done? Have you and Augh cleared out the tower? I want to get out of here as fast as I can. This is a terrible gate I'd say, and I've seen a lot of them.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar nods understandingly as they exit the dome and head toward the wagon, absorbing the information for reference later as they're hailed by the wagonmaster.

"Yes, its cleared out, and not a moment too soon. Some foul creatures were inside. Also, this. And... this."

Gaspar motions toward the chest he's holding by one handle, and then with his other hand unzips his hip pouch and produces the amber potion.

"Anything you can do about either?"

[0nimaru]

Maybe, but it doesn't really matter. You and Augh did the legwork, so you get to keep the spoils in this case. Check with Fidd about the box, he's good with things like that. And this is for the potion, just sprinkle a bit over it.

The wagonmaster tosses you a small brown felted bag. You catch it and can feel sand-like material within. Peering in as you loosen the strings you see a light opal-colored dust shining within.

Fidd approaches you and reaches out his hands momentarily before losing patience and nearly jumping into you to take the box out of your grasp. He pulls two copper marbles from his pocket and taps them lightly on the box. The marbles shift oddly revealing cavities within. Small metallic legs extend, and the marbles begin running around the box with quick deft movements. More cavities appear and more limbs protrude until the marbles find the lock, where they begin probing rapidly in jerking motions. There is a click, and the box pops open. Fidd collects two normal marbles from the ground and hands you the box.

Inside the box is a plain silver ring with an empty gem setting and a black collar of tooled leather.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar's eyes light up as the leather collar and ring come into view.

"Shinies! Alright! And now for the potion."

Gaspar sprinkles the powder onto the potion, collar, and ring, as the wagonmaster instructed, waiting for the information as he looks to Auugh.

"Anything catch your fancy so far, Auugh?"

[0nimaru]

As the dust drifts over each item a small whirlwind swirls around them and the dust drifts slowly towards your eyes. You see a vision of each item's use.

Collar

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Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis
Standard to activate: Functions for 10 minutes per day, spread as you wish.
Grants you the Dark template.

Dark: +10 ft/round to all movement forms
Cold Resistance - 10
Colored Darkvision 60 ft
Hide in Plane Sight
+6 Stealth in shadowy conditions

Ring

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Ring of Deflection +2
+2 Bonus to AC

Potion

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Domain Draught: Luck
Grants access to the Luck Domain for 24 hours.
You gain the granted power and can cast those spells as though you knew them.

Granted Power - Roll all attack rolls twice and take the better of the two.
Spells 1- Entropic Shield, 2 Aid, 3 Protetction from Energy, 4...

Augh looks over the items you are investigating,
No.. I don't think any of it interests me. Jewelry doesn't interest me, and I'll not wear a collar again in this lifetime.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar nods as Auugh tells him he won't wear a collar and hesitantly puts it on himself, activating it momentarily to get used to the motion.

"Hm... this will take some getting used to. But I'll handle it"

Afterward he looks at the potion warily and then pockets it.

"I'll probably sell this, if you want to split it, Auugh. I can't see any way a god would deal with me. Magical allowance or not."

And finally, Gaspar slips on the ring, feeling the deflection magics take effect almost immediately.

"...Hm. Well, at least now hopefully I won't be quite so useless, right Auugh?"

Gaspar smiles and then turns to Fidd.

"Thank you, Fidd. I appreciate your help in picking the chest. That's an interesting trick you have there with the marbles."

[0nimaru]

Fidd looks at you for a moment before scurrying away. He tucks the marbles into one of the countless pockets surrounding his body.

Alright, Alright. Strap yourselves on. We've got hours left before we hit the gate back to the Prime, and linger here is draining all my good cheer.
The wagonmaster tucks away a set of charts he was regarding and a third that he seemed to have been writing on with a quill. He picks up the reigns and begins a slow trot forward.

Augh deftly climbs to the room and the two other guards take up relaxed positions, sitting down on the lip extending from the wagon. The fires behind you are now only cinders, and you can see the glow inside the tower entrance until the angle blocks your view. Rounding the tower you see three fragmented bodies lying facedown on the ground. Small black pools have leaked out of them and slowly flow across the marshy ground.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar jogs up beside the wagon and hops back up into his seat same as before, and leaning over toward Auugh.

"So, Auugh, before we were... rudely interrupted, you were telling me about the fact you're from the Blood Wars?"

[0nimaru]

Augh moves over towards your side of the wagon and leans over the edge to look down at you.
From the blood war... ? Nobody really comes from it so much as gets put there and never gets to leave. What did ya want to know? Nothin' about demon summonin' I hope. I saw you pull up a few skeles, but theres a difrence between the mindless deadwalkers and the things that suffer Below.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar shakes his head and reiterates.

"Goodness no. As I said before there's a great difference between enjoying something and embracing a talent. It quite simply sounded to be quite the tale. You even mentioned you were close to being a devil, and that you broke all kinds of rules just coming up. It sounds very interesting, to say the least."

[0nimaru]

Augh furrows his brow and briefly looks like a bear who has just sat upon a thorn.
I don't know if I was nearly a devil... or fully ... or what you'd classify it as. I wasn't a scholar in my past life and I'm still not one now, but I can tell you what happened and you can make of it what you want.

I had been in the war for a few centuries. Most of that time was on the border between the first realm of Baator and the pocked Abyssal First, land of endless portals. Eventually our legion had pushed back the horde around us and separated a group of the demons. They fled, and we chased them, mindless with our orders. Y'see, they'd just commanded us to rush into battle, and hack enemies apart. We weren't set to hold points or.. capture territory, just kill and die. So we killed, and we chased, and they killed us. Our harassment pushed us far away from the normal fighting, but there is always more distance to cover in the lower planes... eventually they were reinforced by a wandering group and pushed us back.. and then we found reinforcements who joined us and we continued to harry them. Onward we pursued.. I'd say it was about a mortal year or so.

Finally... well, it's kind of funny really. The Highgate Traders were just getting started, and every portal they'd taken before was some peaceful scenic stroll that saved them loads of time. Imagine their shock when they end up in the lower planes with two standard road guards? The wagonmaster was a brave man though, he just knew the exit portal wasn't far and just barreled his way straight through. Well... I'd been out scouting and half-hidden in a ditch when I hear an awful racket. I look up and a wagon hits me in the face and runs over me. I got dragged underneath it all the way out of the exit.

Well.. the rest of its technical stuff, but they knew they'd need better guards if some of the portals were like that one, and this one we're in. They worked out a deal and got some transformation magic put on me that changed me back to the closest thing I could remember, and its really helped me focus my thoughts. In my old form its hard to separate what you want.. and what you are ordered to do. But there.. so now I keep workin' for em. The pay is good and you get to see interesting places. And honestly, the guild has some pretty heavy people hanging around it.. I'm not sure if theres some power out there that'd try to drag me back if I wasn't around them once a month.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar lets that sink in and nods before slowly answering.

"That's... quite a story. I imagine you count your blessings every time you wake up. Hopefully I'll be able to find equal amounts of success working for the Highgates. It'd be nice to have a reliable paycheck while I continue my research."

Gaspar pauses as they hit a bump in the road and continues.

"Here's hoping you never have to return, and I never have to experience it myself."

[0nimaru]

The wagon travels on across the marsh landscape. Compared to the start, the next five hours are very relaxed. You spot the occasional humanoid creature drifting slowly through the thick undergrowth, but nothing pursues the wagon. The air around you develops a hum that rises in volume as you travel. By the time the wagon comes to a halt,

Will:Success

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you have an aching headache. You keep your wits about you, but you feel an ache as though you'd gone days without rest.

Will:Failure

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you could swear that you hear voices beneath the hum. You had considered you may hear voices on the planes making you promises, but what you can hear from these are only helpful suggestions. Some sound less than useful, as they advise you on the care of creatures and fabrics you've never heard of.

The wagonmaster climbs down from his perch and begins leafing through a tome he digs out from behind his seat. You hear the other guards hop down from the wagon and stretch kinks from their sore muscles. Augh lands lightly next to you and nods towards the front of the wagon.
We've got to open up the exit here. These portals are twins normally, if you didn't come in the IN one, you can't open the OUT one. Normally we can do it while we ride.. so something must be resistin' the wagonmaster.

After a few moments of consultation, the driver claps the book shut and begins a low chant. As he does this he pulls a white powder from inside his jacket and begins tossing it in front of him in an ungainly fashion, leave temporary clouds that look like flour drifting around him. Then, the clouds thicken and merge into one another, together forming white solid poles 10 feet apart. Between these an energy builds and inexorably slow stretches between the poles.

A tap on your shoulder and a pointed finger towards the rear of the wagon draws your attention to a lone figure standing 40 feet away. A lone woman, naked but for the heavy mud coating her head to toe, stands with her hand outstretched, beckoning in a frightened manner.

[Winged_Immortal]

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Will (1d20+2)[17]

Gaspar is slightly surprised by the clearly female figure slowly approaching and looks to the others for their reaction.

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Knowledge (Religion) (1d20+9)[14]

Tell them if anything can be mentioned about it

"Well... that's... an unsettling thing to see. And certainly the last thing I expected to see here."

[0nimaru]

Lothos and Fidd stare at the woman, apparently as surprised as you are.

Well... I'd say she was a nature spirit of some sort, but I don't really know how that would translate on this plane. This is a new route as far as our trading goes.. so I have no idea. Generally though, I'd avoid extra-planar women, even if they are beautiful.

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The woman has no religious links you could think of. Only filthy orcs and goblins roll around in the mud as religious rites, and they're stupid.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar turns to the wagonmaster.

"Is she the reason we aren't able to leave?"

Gaspar's hands wander down, one touching his blade, and the other unbuttoning the pouch containing his wand.

[0nimaru]

The wagonmaster interrupts his chant to shout towards you from where he is still preparing his spell,
She? Who? Quit bothering me. There's no person keeping us here. It's the ambient energy of the plane or something. Now quiet, I'm working.

The woman does not approach any further, but continues to beckon towards you. Her features look forlorn, and her physique seems rather frail. You feel her eyes directed on you, although at this distance it is hard to tell.

[Winged_Immortal]

"If she isn't stopping us, then lets leave her unless she gets closer. Its not our business to help people here. For all we know its some kind of creature tricking us."

Gaspar leans his back against the back of the wagon and looks among the others, his hand still on his wand, but otherwise relaxed.

[0nimaru]

Alright, the exit is opened. This should drop us next to, or maybe into, a field about a few hours north of Killek. We can rest near one of the farm houses and travel into the city tomorrow.

Fidd and Augh hastily take their positions, strapping in with the leather restraints. Lothos gazes at the beckoning woman wistfully for a moment .. but pulls his attention away and takes his position. He pointedly does not return his stare to her direction.

Hurry up and get on Gaspar. I think we've all had enough of this place.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar hops on, looking back curiously at the woman as they leave through the portal.

...Curiosity killed the cat.

[0nimaru]

The wagon trundles through the portal at a cautious speed. You catch a last glimpse of the sad figure sinking out of sight before your body passes through the exit. There is a horrid lurching feeling as you feel yourself spinning in place, and then everything is still but for the slowing of the wagon.

You look around you to gain your bearings and for a moment.. you consider that the portal may have failed. But no, the sky is the black of night, not the red streaks of Carceri and you are clearly no longer in marshland. The moon is in the sky and you recognize the dots of constellations proving this is your Prime plane. The land around you, however, is scarred and black. A few feet off the road is the broken remains of a fence that once protected a field. The field itself is now only matted down stalks covered with black debris. The only upright objects in the field look to be scarecrows, but there are far more than any field should have. Dozens of downturned faces in simple clothing hang on perches throughout the landscape.

Your companions do not appear as though this is what they were expecting, and the wagonmaster attempts to control the horses as they rear back and whiny as though scared.
What in the hell.. the charts say we should have arrived north of Killek in the grain fields. These charts are only 6 months old and I haven't heard of any famine or plagues.. what happened to these fields?

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar shakes his head and looks a bit more carefully at the bodies around the farmlands.

"How close are we to Killek? I heard in the market the day before I joined the Highgate Traders that there was a problem with the ale shipments from Killek... this might be why."

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Spot (1d20-1)[15]

on the corpses

[0nimaru]

The wagonmaster says slowly
We're in the countryside of Killek... these fields produce their famous ale. I've never been here... but we should only be about 2 hours north of the city... this is mad.

Maybe we can.. investigate some of those farmhouses off that way and find somebody to question.. or some information. It's going to be hard to unload our goods if the city is under siege or has been sacked.

He turns the wagon slowly around on the road and begins driving towards the nearest house. The surroundings as far as you can see are desolate, and you get the odd feeling no matter where you look that something... is moving just out of your vision.

[Winged_Immortal]

Gaspar follows the wagon cautiously as we approach the house, and as they approach, steps forward, ready to enter along with anyone else as we search for survivors.

"I'm sure we'll find someone that can tell us what's happened if we look hard enough. Although I have to ask... how long ago was this request sent?"