Shadows of Anmer IC

[mucco]

The man is white with fear. He stares at you for some moments as if he were about to die, then he replies through the mindlink. <I- I- I was sent here by our Seeker, Horatio. We were told that you were a threat and you wanted to destroy us, and that you worship the Old Gods and you have been sent after us. We had to stop you or you would try to end the revolution.

It was easy to find you. Our allies just had to ask a couple questions in town. It's a bit unusual these days that adventurers pass by, and you were very close with that priest. It was natural to be suspicious, it was highly likely you were paladins of some sort. We discovered you really were looking for information about us, a book I think? I don't know much about that operation. It was totally important to stop you at this point! So the Seeker sent some mercenaries which never came back, and he had to sent some of us. You are very strong, I think the Seeker might come himself to kill you next time.

We were just told you were enemies! Please don't kill me! I don't want to die, I have a family! What will they eat without me!>

[PersonMan]

Seeing the man's terror grow ever greater as Melchia communicates with him via thought, Selia seeks out the mental link again, a light shiver running through her as she finds the place in her mind where his power has created a bridge across space - a direct conduit for thought.

<Melchia, perhaps you should reduce the level of whatever intimidation you're using. It looks like this man might be on the brink of just passing out...What have you learned so far?>

[CockroachTeaParty]

Selia can feel Melchia's mental reply, curt, cold, unconcerned.
<Give me a moment more, Selia. He's divulged little we couldn't have guessed ourselves yet.>
The rest of the group, seeing Melchia gaze intently and silently at the terrified man, are no doubt unnerved. He whispers aloud, "Hold on."
To the cultist, his mental plying returns.
<I can appreciate the desire to destroy a potential problem before it comes to fruition, but you would likely be embarrassed to learn how little we actually know. I can assume your cell is up to no good in town if you are attempting to assassinate us, but all our group possesses are disparate pieces of the puzzle; not even I have attempted to form a coherent image, to extend the metaphor.
What is your cult up to, degenerate? Why the secrecy? Why the murderous intent? What does this have to do with the Pelorite priest, or the boy Zadsa, or the gypsies? Are you in bed with the drow? What of the goblin attacks? I hope to whatever foul deity you serve you are not just some ill-informed goon. Ignorance at this juncture would do little to improve my mood.>

[mucco]

<Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I know nothing! I only know the priest! He is evil and a follower of the evil Old Gods! Who are these other people? Drow? I know nothing please don't kill me! Our leader sometimes sees some goblins but I don't know why! Please! Please...>

You feel the man's mental strength fade away as he loses consciousness for the fear.

[PersonMan]

The communication by thought thing was something Selia felt she was getting used to. It was pretty useful - certainly a worthwhile type of power to have.

<So, em...did he reveal anything vital in those last few moments before losing consciousness?> Selia asks through the link, her tone betraying slight amusement. Even in the situation they were in, having just fought these two men, it was humorous for one to pass out while Melchia was questioning him. <If he doesn't, it's probably because they work in some sort of team where only one partner knows much of anything...in this case, the one the sniper took out probably did.>

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia sets his jaw in what must pass for frustration. He lets out a sigh, and stands, speaking aloud, still quietly.
"I learned little of use. Horatio is the leader of this cult. He gave the order to assassinate us, apparently because we were interested in acquiring the book that shady character in town informed us of. They tracked us since we left town, assuming we were paladins or other devoted servants of the gods and justice. To be honest, this cult seems to think we know more than we probably do, or else believes we are close to uncovering certain key clues. Whatever they are up to, it can't be good, or at the very least in our best interests."
As he speaks, Selia hears a message in her mind.
<I think we can relax our vigil on Otrino. It does not seem likely he is a spy.>
The young telepath keeps his loaded crossbow in hand, scanning the gloomy foliage.
"Well, we best be on our way, yes? I haven't the foggiest what to do with our prisoner, here. He seems of little use. If left to his own devices, he is likely to rejoin his fellows, and may very well make another attempt on our lives. It might be safer to kill him now, and lessen the number of enemies we've accumulated."

[PersonMan]

Selia shakes her head at Melchia's suggestion of executing the surrendered cultist.

The execution of prisoners is a great sign of weakness. We've beaten him once, we could do so again. Besides, with the way they killed the other man they sent, it's possible that they will just kill him themselves when he returns to their enclave and they discover he told us something.

[zimmerwald1915]

"That's as good a reason as any to keep him along," says Otrino, surprised that the others have reverted to verbalizing. "This mission we've accepted would seem, at least to me, to have little to do with his cult's goals, and if he can see for himself that we are not working against his fellows, maybe he will no longer want to name himself among our enemies."

Otrino shrugs, his formerly injured shoulder popping as though it hadn't been used in a while. "Maybe I'm naieve, but that's how it looks to me." He turns to Melchia. "Do you remember what that book was called? I might like to take a look at it once we've communed with the Black Guardian."

[CockroachTeaParty]

"I don't think we ever learned the title; it is not in our possession."
He looks down at the unconscious man again with distaste.
"Bringing him along would be tedious, and he may disrupt our work once we reach our objective. I am fine leaving him here, if none of you can stomach the thought of killing an assassin. I just hope we don't come to regret the decision when he's swinging that strange weapon at our throats again."

[Overlord Rion]

"Does anyone have a small dagger on them? If you're worried about the weapon, I can simply take it and give him something to defend himself with." As he speaks he gathers up the weapon in question, intending to keep it. If no one objected, he was simply going to leave some money with the man and move on.

[zimmerwald1915]

"Alternatively, he could become a powerful ally if disabused of the notion that we are meant to be killed," says Otrino, beginning to pace. The hem of his robe kicks up a few fallen leaves in its wake. "Whether in direct combat or by providing more insight into the mind of Horatio and the other Deep One cult leadership. It would seem a shame to waste the opportunity to learn more about the people who want us dead."

Otrino stops and turns to look at Melchia, adopting a cold expression to mirror the psion's own. No trace of the half-smile or the grin that usually adorns Otrino's features can be seen. He seems thirty years younger."As for your judgment, it is erroneous. We simply see things differently. I, for instance, have a problem with ending the life of someone who is merely misled in cold blood." He goes to stand by the unconscious figure. "If we do keep him prisoner, I will take responsibility for him until we can either trust him to go his own way, or can hand him off to someone who can manage him better than we can."

[Overlord Rion]

"You would take responsibility?" Rubido's features hardened for a moment in thought. "All right, be it on your head." The man was new, but Rubido liked him.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia shrugs.
"Whatever you wish, let it be quick. I am impatient to examine these strange pylons."

[mucco]

After having taken some safety measures, you determine that the sniper isn't watching anymore, stand up and prepare to continue the journey.

You tie up securely the human and throw him on your mule. He is still unconscious. As the forest is still extremely quiet, you resume walking. The thick vegetation hampers movement a lot while the tall, leafy trees block the rays of sunlight. Noon was several hours ago; the light is a bit dimmer now, under the trees. You wouldn't call it 'dark', yet, but with the many immobile shades and the few glimps of sunlit plant patches you surely wouldn't call it 'bright' either.

You walk for hours without interruptions. As the sun starts going down and the Dark Wood falls into deep darkness, you realize two things. The first is that you lost your trail, and now are completely lost. The second is that you see something, in the darkness. It's a faintly glowing cyan aura, at a short distance.

When you follow the glow, you reach a tree whose bark is partially covered by a strange moss that glows with this blue hue. The light emitted is really faint, so it's hard to spot it when there is any other light source. From this place, you can see a couple other trees with this glow in the distance.

[PersonMan]

Selia turns to the others as she sees the lights. "Maybe this is the Black Guardian?" she wonders, looking first at Melchia before turning to the other two.

EDIT:
OOC:

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We did buy those seeds, right? On page 16, about halfway through.

Man, this is getting so long I keep having to go back and reread stuff to remember why we're doing things.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia studies the phosphorescent lichen with interest.

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Would any Knowledge skills apply to this stuff?

On the way over, Melchia drank a potion of Cure Light Wounds to patch himself up a bit: (1d8+1)[5]

Also, where are we at on experience?

[Overlord Rion]

"I'd be inclined to agree with you, but there are other trees nearby with the same lichen on it. I'll bet he is around here somewhere though. See if there is a bigger tree than the rest around. Important trees are usually bigger."


OOC

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I know, right? This is the longest running PbP I've ever been in...and we have barely gotten anything done. I'm going to vouch for speeding things along later.

[mucco]

Knowledge

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Melchia can roll Knowledge (dungeoneering) for the glowing moss: (1d20+4)[24]

Melchia recognizes the moss as one of the rare species you're trying to find seeds of. From the looks of it, you determine it's some kind of fungus, and you've seen with similar mosses that there might be a single plant producing pollen, which then flies and attaches to the barks. If it is correct, the pollen might be enough of a "seed" for the purposes of the offering.

You wander for a while, following the faint lights in the night. As you go from tree to tree, the bark surfaces covered by the moss increase more and more, and the trees with the moss are more frequent as well. The larger patches let a fine glowing dust fall to the ground, all around the trees.

With some time, you end up in an area where trees are fully covered by moss, and all of the soil is covered by this azure glowdust. In some places the dust lands on a branch or a patch of grass on the ground, and there it sprouts more moss. When you step on the moss, it stops glowing for a little while before returning normal. It is not dark at all now, with this blue light all around you. Some of the glowdust rains from the tree branches and leaves above you, and lands on you, outlining your figures.

After a while, you discover a small clearing in the forest, with a lovely pond with some water lilies. Tiny glowing sparks of blue light float above the water. The silence is total here.

Suddenly, a very high-pitched, fast-talking voice breaks the sacred silence of this place. "Hi! Welcome! Why are you here, intruders? Wee waant to know!"

You turn around, but you cannot pinpoint the origin of the voice.

OoC

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also reminding you guys that the Black Guardian is outside of the Dark Wood and it should be a place with lots of black menhirs around. You see nothing of that sort here.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Melchia had just put away another sample of the glowing moss in his belt pouch when the voice was heard. Inwardly, he was wary, for he was low on psionic power, and this was exactly the kind of eldritch grotto that some mischievous fey would make its home.
"We are travelers, seeking a mystery beyond the borders of this wood. We mean you no harm."

[mucco]

"Ooh, explorers, are we? This is so exciting! Please, do tell us all about your mystery, intruders. We liike mysteries. They are veery taasty. Explain!"

The source of the voice keeps shifting position in the air.

[zimmerwald1915]

Otrino had held near the back of the group as they marched through the forest. He wanted to be near at hand when the cultist roused himself, so he could apprise him of his situation. As the spores from the lichen began to thicken on the ground, he took out one of his phials of ink. He looked at it wistfully for a moment, then dumped it out on the ground and washed the inside out with water from his skin. He waited to collect some until they came to somewhere with a thicker coating, so there was less chance any sample would be contaminated. He noticed Melchia doing the same thing, but that was all to the good. If one of their offerings managed to placate the Black Guardian, the other could be kept for sale or to see if it could be useful in formulating any new spells. It was when he finally stooped to collect a sample that the voice spoke for the first time.

He tipped the spores in his hand into the phial, stoppered it up, and slid it up his sleeve. He then gathered another handfull and withdrew that hand up into his other sleeve. Prometeo slithered down his leg and onto the ground, leaving a trail in the fallen, glowing spores. As Melchia talked to the voice, Otrino looked around for its origin, seeking a spot where no spores seemed to fall. And if there was no such spot, maybe the spores in his hand could mark out the creature to whom the voice belonged if he disposed of them properly.

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Spot: (1d20+2)[17]
Listen: (1d20+2)[21]

Prometeo will be scenting for unfamiliar creatures as well. And here are his spot and listen:
Spot: (1d20+6)[25]
Listen: (1d20+6)[9]

To buy time, Otrino tried to answer the voice's question. "A friend of ours is cursed, and we know not how to break it. We've been told the answer may be found beyond this wood, so we are headed there. This is your home?" Otrino hopes that if the voice were to talk about itself, it would stop it from interrogating, and perhaps becoming upset with, them.

[mucco]

Otrino easily manages to harvest a good chunk of the moss and some dust. Melchia does point out to him that neither the dust nor the moss should contain any spores, if his guess about them is correct - the Psion describes floating single seeds able to fly for large distances, not unlike common dandelion. The dropped ink is absorbed very quickly by the terrain, which promptly returns blue just a few seconds afterward.

The voice, hearing the mage's response, becomes excited and speaks even faster. At times, Otrino is able to follow the movements of the voice with a certain precision thanks to his keen hearing. However, he fails at spotting any kind of source.

"Ooowow! You bring noble hearts to us, do you not! This is indeed a very generous day for us! We all are veery thankful to you, intruders! Rejoice!" At the last word, the dust and moss flashes a bit brighter for an instant.

The voice keeps talking. "We aare the fathers of the Dark Wood, cute intruders! Our child sometimes brings us some of you! But they are green, and ugly. Yoou aare veery noble. Wee like you! This is why we will help you! Listen listen to our words..."

The light dims for a bit, and then resumes. "You are all Graylings. Graylings rarely manage to escape the Dark Wood, once they touch the Cyan Cleansing! It's the blue dust, you all have been touched. You can try, yes! It is very amusing for us to watch you try to run! But only a few did it. Only untouched Graylings and True Souls can find their way easily in the forest. Usually! Hahahah! It's veery fuunny!" The voice loses itself in laughter for quite a long time, about half a minute, before resuming.

"Hahah... haha... huh, oh, yes! Okay, will do! *Ahem* Intruders! You are welcome to try to run away from here, none of us will stop you. But you are touched Graylings, and you can't cleanse yourself of the Cyan until you bathe in the sun outside the Wood. So, either you try your luck, or you become True Souls. All of you, beacuse you say you are noble. Minus one! One of your group must stay with us. You five choose which one. I promise, I promise! I won't hurt anyone! Purposefully, of course! And then the others can go away!"

The voice continues, its source still fluctuating left and right without pause. "The one who stays will have the soul bound to this place. As a sort of... insurance? Sixty-six days from today, the soul will be recalled from the body, and the memories will be looked at. We will look for a memory, of a certain event in this time. If we don't find it, we will keep the soul which will join us! If we find it, we will happily return it to its body! And no more hearing from us. Hahahah!"

The voice starts circling you very fast as it laughs. When it stops swirling, it concludes its speech: "This is all of the deal, cute intruders. I will not say more! Yoou liike it? Or yoou doo not?"

Silence.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Rubido, and for the first time, Otrino, can feel Melchia's cold mental contact pry at their thoughts. Silently, he communicates at the speed of thought.
<I cannot be certain if this voice is bluffing, but if it is serious, we could leave the cultist. I care not for his fate, and he would be of use as a ticket to freedom.>

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Only 1 power point left now, oh no!

Speaking of which, Sense Motive on the voice; a hunch is a DC 20 at the very least: (1d20+5)[13]

[mucco]

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The voice seems to be honest.

Also, get used to being low on PP. I seem to be good at making my PCs burn them

[zimmerwald1915]

When Melchia's cold iron consciousness touches Otrino's own, Otrino is reminded most of his own limitations. Mind-to-mind communication is beyond him: the closest he can come is letting another hear his subvocalizations, and even that's subject to evesdropping. Melchia's gross control over his psyche must also have taken years of discipline, and it shows. Still, the content of the message is something Otrino had come to expect, and he had prepared an answer. <There is a problem here,> he thinks, massaging his jaw so it won't move out of habit. <'We five' are supposed to decide. Whoever's soul we bind to this place, we must all have input into the decision if we are to follow directions. And I think we have to: someone who can bind souls to themselves is not to be trifled with.>

Keeping this in mind, Otrino lets the Cyan Cleansing he'd been holding in his hand fall, and smudges the residue on his robe. He then goes back to the prisoner and motions that they should try to wake him up. <A volunteer would be ideal. Incidentally, if there are goblins disappearing from their tribes, I think we've just discovered where they go.>

Aloud, he says "Fathers of the Wood, can you tell us more about what being a True Soul means? Can a True Soul do more than pass through your realm in safety, as great a boon as that is? Have you recognized True Souls in the past, and are their names related in Greyling histories?"

[mucco]

The voice instantly answers, excited as usual. "Ooh, but we make True Souls! They become cyan inside, so our child recognizes them and helps them! We have made True Souls many people in the past! Be a True Soul as well, they say it's fun! The green ugly ones never want to be True Souls, except for one or two. Your people usually do! Because it's fun! Oh, but it's fun for us anyway. Come on, make your choice or I'll miss my midnight tea! And then I'll get angry".

At the last word, the pitch of the voice dropped and the tone became tremendously intimidating and loud. The blue light flickered as well. Then the voice resumes as usual.

"Just kidding... hahah!"

[CockroachTeaParty]

Those in mental contact with Melchia can feel the beginnings of what must amount to irritation.
<Let us give this thing the cultist and be done with it. This entity seems capricious and infantile; likely a fey of some kind. They cannot be reasoned with. Not only do I tire of its antics, but I am on my last reserves of psionic power; I am in no condition to fight. Assuming it ceases to harass us once it has its sacrifice, I would chalk up our walking out of here alive as a victory.
For what it's worth, I am not going to volunteer to become a 'true soul' or whatever it's babbling about. We can waste time with democratic process, or we can exercise our power and right as victors and let this cultist reap whatever bizarre fate he's sown. Need I remind you that they were trying to murder us a few hours ago? Whatever reservoir of squeamishness or half-baked mercy your sentiments towards this unconscious tool of evil in the shape of a man is coming from, I suggest you put it aside for now. Nature seems to operate under a much simpler but effective rule: survival of the fittest.>

[PersonMan]

Selia considers the strange voice's words. She had expected Melchia to create another mental link by now - it seemed like the obvious thing to do. After all, they wouldn't want whatever beings lived there to overhear their entire conversation. Perhaps he had done so, only chosen to exclude her this time, instead of Otrino? She didn't want to give away the possibility of such a link to the grove's inhabitants by trying to find out, but knowing whether or not her allies were communicating without her knowledge rather than simply standing around not knowing what to do was...important, to say the least.

[zimmerwald1915]

<You seem to have missed the point,> thinks Otrino. <which is that because the voice sounds capricious, it is better to follow its directions as exactly as possible, lest we provoke it. We have been told to make a decision as a group of five. If we do not, we get to test whether or not the being to whom the voice belongs can kill us all. For me, that's fine. I've lived my life, done my work. You want to push the voice's buttons, that'd be your business if you were alone or if we two were alone together, but I feel obligated to try to keep the friends you made before me from the consequences.>

He continues. <And there is an even more serious point you seem to have missed regarding the nature of the 'sacrifice'. Unless my understanding is very far off the mark, the designated person does not stay here. They still travel where they may and experience what they do along the way. After two months, their soul is recalled to this place for examination, and if it passes it is released back to their body. Even if we were to go with your plan, we would not be unburdened of him, and unless we all plan to embrace lichdom someday, would pay later for consigning him to eternal imprisonment without his consent.>

OOC @ Mucco:

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Sometimes I read too far into things, so I'll ask: is this understanding close to the mark?

OOC @ all:

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I plan to continue this post once I get an answer from Mucco to the spoiler above.

[mucco]

While you're standing there, without saying a word to each other but looking very concentrated, the voice speaks again. "Ooh, right! This is not a decision to take alone! Because we will either make you all True Souls, or none! We tried transforming only one person of a party once, and it really was not fun. So we are not doing that again! All or none!"

OoC (All)

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Otrino pretty much understood it correctly. And I had to point that last thing out, just in case. :D