Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

[Debbie_D]

Bea bounces down from her perch and accosts Casandra, hand outstretched. "Necklace!"

Casandra smiles at the somewhat abrupt nature of Bea, but does give her one of the necklaces that was entrusted to her by the party. At the same time, she gives a similar necklace to Ireth

"How do we free the Two Who Must Be Freed?"

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Vision; Caster Level [roll3] vs DC 30

Bea's vision is incomplete, however she does "see" the party breaking a gem, and seconds later, helping a man to leave a pit. No other details can be seen, and no identifiable landmarks could be seen to say where or how these actions occured.

[Toliudar]

Dot smiles faintly at Bea's compliment, backhanded though it was, and continues to focus on the task at hand. She notes Bea's display of divinatory grace with a silent nod.

"You get used to the demons, honestly. Remember that, if you're sincere in wanting to work towards a unification of the Three, then demons are just as much a part of the package as angels. All is love."

She removes the heads of Morgaz and Dantilus from her display, and shrinks Orithon down. That left Kotep and Rohdan.

"Yes, Tallesin, apparently we did fight the followers of Rohdan. I wish I could remember what happened down there. Kotep seems, in terms of his areas of influence, to be most directly connected."

She glances over at Melinda and Lia, eager to hear if additional resources might be brought to the table in that way.

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Dot's Spellcraft is an auto-succeed to identify spellcasting (and any spell-like abilities with visible effects, probably), so I'll just assume she knows what Bea was casting, if not the result.

[Kalirren]

Melinda shakes her head. "Yeah, I wish I could remember too," Melinda confesses, "I remember the misogynists, I remember the sword. And I remember fighting the monks too. But I don't remember -anything- about how we beat Kotep's priests." Intoning a mantra in an attempt to recover the memory, she frowns as her spell fails. "Did we even beat Kotep's priests? If we did, I don't remember it. And if we didn't, then one of the other groups must have. Which means we really ought to check and see if the monks remember anything. I'll see what I can do about contacting Kareth..."

She stops mid-sentence, gets lost in her own thoughts for a second, and emerges with a maniacal glint in her eye. "Oh now that's interesting. Why do I know Kareth's name?" She explains to the others. "He was one of the monks. Kareth of Varinn, I think. I remember looking for him in the final fight, only to suffer a spell he threw. But that doesn't explain why I know his name."

Her attention returns to the two new Tishtinites. "I think that brings you all up to speed," she finishes simply. "You're welcome to get involved in any way you feel best, sisters. Whichever way this goes, I need to head for Kroy very soon to assume my new duties. I assume none of you are interested in following me there," she quips.

"I'll attempt to contact Kareth of Varinn again in what time I have," Melinda offers, hearing no objection from Lia. "So while the rest of you are in Rennador, or whereever else you might decide to go after that," and she taps her necklace, "Update me. I'll definitely keep in touch. And call if you need aid. I'll do my best to come."

[lostsole31]

Lildorrinene shrugs and says to Melinda, "We forget what happened in the actual Tournament grounds ... but not the prelims with all of the introductions. I remember Kareth, but from that - not the tournament. Still, it is possible that you have been granted a faint light of memory that was not stopped by the Powers That Be. Fare well in your correspondence."

She looks to Dot. "Well, Dot? You're the one with most of the answers from which we can proceed. And going to Rennador is a trip best done with as close to full party load as possible. Shall we take respite where none is to be had?"

[Toliudar]

Dot squints in thought for a moment.

"Respite where none...Do you mean in Rennador? Well, I'll leave the poetry to those of you who have a gift for it. Sure, I can lead us there, and introduce you. I still don't see it as our most likely lead.

"I was going to suggest an effort to infiltrate the temple of Kotep. It's insanely dangerous, and would require extraordinary skills of disguise and negotiation."

She smiles over at Lil and Tallesin.

"Know anyone like that?"

[Kalirren]

"Is that really worth the risk?" Melinda asks, horrified at the thought of the challenge. "This is not my specialty. I leave the judgment to you. But from what we've seen, I would think it would be easier to infiltrate the Head Misogynist's church than Kotep's, and we know He has targeted us in the past."

**

Despite having given her valedictions and best wishes to the rest of the group for the time being, Melinda can probably be found lurking around Varstok for some time more, a day or two even, before she leaves.

Spoiler for the GMs...

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...in which Melinda's other actions in Varstok, and the actual distribution of the bulk of her winnings are detailed - others may be privileged to this information at some time, with investigation, or by her divulging of it:

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First, I'll just reserve myself 500Kgp of the winnings and think about how to spend it. As much as Melinda hates doing so, she admits she's an assassination target now, just like every one of the questors. I'm horrible with items.

Melinda sends Terry with the news that she plans to spend however long it takes in Varstok to find a first decent set of young ladies to take to Kroy. Is there a preferred deadline when he's going to announce the new collaboration to his Board, and we have a show to put on? What sort of talented people does she scrounge up by then? How eager are they? How much does it cost her to attract them for the duration we discussed?

For good form and profit, she'll open a brokerage account at Alatia Domar's Temple of Wealth and buy some stock in Benedict's company (before it presumably goes up). Insider trading FTW. How much can she buy without Alatia's clergy sniffing in on the matter? Does the answer change if she tips them off on the collaboration, essentially enabling their bean counters to secure Alatia's church a cut and an interest in the project? A divination may be in order if Zanthia expresses no strong opinion on the matter.

Also to discuss on the agenda with a representative from Alatia's church is an idea Melinda has to fund a special program whose aim is to provide credit for women entrepreneurs who wouldn't otherwise have access to it. Business-wise, these are targeted loans on a lower-risk market of business ventures, businesses which are owned and operated by women and their families, and are more likely to succeed for that dedication. Religiously, it's a logical institutional extension of Sabrinite fellowship, and a use of money that is consistent with a Trinity that could easily end up being dedicated some time in the future to globally advancing the interests of women.

If we need to zoom in on any of these details, we should probably move to PM.

[lostsole31]

As Dot smiles over at Lil, she instead sees a greasy, ill-looking man. He could've been quite handsome, were it not for an eternal sneer painted on his face. He looks like quite the wannabe intimidating wizard type.

"What do you have in mind, Dot?" says the man with a nasal voice.

[Toliudar]

Dot shrugs at Melinda.

"What is the cost of a prophet's soul? The principle is the same, regardless of which church we start with. I'm happy to leave the decision with those who are involved with the infiltration."

She smiles at Lil's abrupt transformation. Ah, perfect.

"Since this took place centuries ago, we can't rely on living memory for any of the mortals - indeed, there's no guarantee that mortal worshippers were even involved. It's just an assumption that I'm making.

"We need to access private church documents, to look for evidence of involvement in capturing Cassiopia's soul. So, disguising yourselves as priests, or perhaps travelling sages friendly to the church in question, would be a reasonable starting point. If the latter, I'm assuming that money for bribes isn't really an issue. I'd assume that we'd fabricate a cover story to deal with what we're ostensibly looking for, and, in times of privacy, look around for further information."

[Debbie_D]

The high temple of Kotep would be located in Vardune, on the continent of Novaya. It happens to be the official religion of the city, owing to the fact that the queen of Vardune, Casia Nydelin, happens to both the Queen and the high priestess.
Remember as well, the religion of Kotep is all magic based, they despise fighters above all things. That explains the religion and the gods hatred for Lysindra, whose cult is based on using magic to improve fighting abilities.

[Vulaas]

Ireth

Still mildly confused by the going-ons, the nymph politely stands to the side, trying to absorb all of the new information as best as she can.

[Toliudar]

Dot nods.

"My thanks. Well, what do you think? Kotep seems the most likely candidate for soul-stealing shenanigans, but is also the most likely to have the resources to outwit a disguise - at least, a magical one. It might be safer to start with the gynocidal maniacs."

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Taleira skirts around the edge of the crowd to reach Ireth, resting a hand on the nymph's shoulder to get her attention. "You look confused, so I'll explain a bit. What everybody's referring to is the recent Cup of the Gods. Some of us - Melinda, Lildorrinene, Lia, me, and some others - participated for the three goddesses we collectively represent. You probably know Kotep Arasin; he's the god of magic. His team was there, but I can't recall having any real dealings with them. Melinda's misogynists are the Melias/Morgaz/Rohdan team, though Melias dropped out for some reason on the day. Morgaz/Rohdan had some kind of trick for stealing souls that they'd used on our sisters the previous Cup, a big sword. Nobody remembers the details, but we got our girls back and probably broke the sword doing it. Now it's been suggested that Cassiopeia, the prophetess who predicted this whole thing, is trapped in similar fashion. Hence the discussion on known soul stealing and other possible candidates. Does that help?"

[Debbie_D]

Rohdan's main temple is in the city of Shadra, deep in the North Enicom forest of Foresta, located just south of the city of Rennador. There, Starwyn Korivar, accounted by many to be the best mortal warrior, conducts his never ending war with the elves of Foresta.
As a choice to infiltrate, its probably a better option. Although I called it a city and a temple, its not like what you probably think of as city and temple if you hail from a city yourselves, its more like the City of Gardens. As well, Koteps love of discipline and regulation makes it harder to intimidate your way past people, whereas Rohdan's might makes right philsophy allows you to punch out people who challenge you with impunity, provided of course that you end up the victor.

At this point, Darya enters with Sword. For now, she continues to hold the reins, but very loosely in her hand.

Although I have enjoyed my time on the quest, Tishtina has called me to a different path. With the prophecy moving forward, Tishtina fears more and more attacks on the City of Gardens by our enemies to disrupt us, and has called back more of her best warriors to defend it.
Sword however has expressed a desire to remain with the quest. Although he is a paladin warhorse, he is also the horse of the prophecy and was never really mine, any more than the necklaces we now wear belong to us. Perhaps when this is all over, he will return to me, but for now, he will work with you.

She turns to Ireth.

You seem to be the person in the party most connected with nature now. You are probably the best qualified to be Sword's mistress, such as that title would mean. Will you take up his reins?

[lostsole31]

Lindor (Lildorrinene) says (in 'his' manly voice), "Well, I don't want to have wasted the effort. I agree that Rohdan's stronghold is a good option right now."

Lindor looks at Darya. "It's a shame you can't come with us. I was just starting to run out of insults for paladins in my notebook. I was in real danger of actually liking you or some upstart revolutionary thing like that. Oh, well. May the Goddess guide you on your journeys, and perhaps we'll see each other again."

Lindor looks at Ireth, "A fine companion for one such as yourself, and more than capable of helping you in physical combat if you should be pressed for some reason. The finest specimen in horseflesh I've ever seen, Ireth. If you don't know how to ride .... learn. He's worth it."

[Ason]

Tapping his cane to drive home his point, Tallesin says, "Well then it seems our basic plan is before us. While Melinda attempts to connect with a possible ally, the rest of us shall venture into the belly of the beast. I concur with Peridot and Lildorrinene: Rohdan seems the easier of the two targets, given that his followers will likely have fewer divinations than the worshipers of a god of black magic. Magical disguises will take us farther in Rohdan's city, I wager." As he finishes that sentence and taps his cane, Tallesin's clothes change from an elegant court outfit to something more fitting for a follower of Rohdan- rough, simple and militaristic. His features likewise change, becoming weathered and scarred, and the battlemage now looks like a grizzled veteran, not a posh wizard.

"That being said, we should enter with a very clear plan and exit as quickly as possible, since we will effectively be surrounded by enemies during our visit. So to confirm, our objectives in this would be: a) learn what we can about the fate of Cassiopeia's soul and b) cause havoc among outspoken enemies of the Triune faith [though not so much that we can't sneak back in if need be]. Anything else we should accomplish while we are out there?"

A note on Tallesin's appearance, for everyone

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By this point, Tallesin has been travelling with the party long enough to be considered "acquainted with and friendly" to them, so I must reveal a secret about his appearance. Though Tallesin currently appears as a military man to casual observers, the party can still see him normally. The wizard's everyday outfits now appear different too. His gear is just as mismatched and worn/dirty as any other adventurer's: his fashionable and color-coordinated clothes must be the result of magic. Similarly, the meticulously clean, blemish-free and properly made-up face Tallesin had at first glance now appears to be an illusion as well; underneath it he is a still handsome but much less foppishly done-up man.

Make of this what you will.

[Vulaas]

Ireth

With a smile towards Taleira, she nods, "Yes, thank you very much for putting it so succinctly for me."

At Darya's speech, though, the nymph looks over at the fine horse and immediately perks up and walks to it, talking low and affectionately to it, rubbing its ears and finding a small lump of sugar in one of the pockets of her robes to offer up.

Spoiler if you speak Druidic:

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"Oh, but aren't you a lovely, healthy horse? I can hardly wait to get to know you better, if you'd have me. You would allow me to be your keeper, wouldn't you?"

Wild Empathy: (1d20+34)[48]

She looks back to Darya with happiness plain across her face. "Well, if this is what Sword wants, I would be happy to keep him safe for you, and tend to him as best I might while you are off with...Well, that is none of my business I do suppose."

[Debbie_D]

Sword bends his neck to give Ireth better access to his ears, he clearly enjoys the attention he is getting. When the lump of sugar is offered up, he eagerly takes it, making sure Melinda does not have a chance to come between it and him, and smacks his lips afterwards with another look to her. Moments later, Ireth feels an empathy touch her mind, and when she opens herself to it, she experiences the connection that she thought only possible for a paladin and her horse.

I do hope there will be more races in our future. That was fun

[00110111]

"Break gem like nut." Bea murmurs slowly. Her brow furrows, and her eyes rove through the air as if following an elusive invisible bumble bee. At any moment, she might lash out with a sticky tongue to catch it.

"Why is man in pit?" she queries without warning, having just returned to the present. She starts for a second then revises her question, "What is misogynist?"

----

Bea produces a fine mirror, which she places flat on a table so that everyone can view its image. "Show area around main temple of Rohdan, city of Shadra, North Enicom forest, south of Rennador."

Bea feels Sword's mane absentmindedly while she searches for an out-of-the-way place for the group to arrive via teleportation.

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Vision (1d20+15)[21] vs DC 30 on "Why is man in pit?"

Scry Location (Complete Scoundrel p102) (1d20+15)[28] vs DC 25 (second-hand knowledge) on area around main temple of Rohdan.

[Debbie_D]

The mirror swirls a bit and then focuses on a temple in the middle of a forest. As the vision pans back, the group sees a settlement that is part bandit camp, part city, part forest retreat. The buildings range from tents and rude huts all the way to buildings made of wood that might even have a second floor to them, and all manner in between. The temple is no where near what the party is used to when speaking of a high temple, but it is probably the nicest building in the area. Unlike the amazon city however, the camp/village/city is not made to be a part of the forest, it is hacked from the forest and nature is brutally suppressed in the living space.
The occupants of the city seem to be the same sort of ruffian-type that the group dealt with in the tournament, all of them seem to be warriors and 90% of them are battle scarred. Very rarely, you see someone who does not appear to be a warrior and by his accoutrements, you would suspect they are priests, of Rohdan, of course. Even rarer are those types who are not warriors or priests, and you would guess they are wizards, most likely warmages, given the surroundings.
Most of the people in the city are men, there are some women and from what you are able to see, the treatment of them is very callous. The women are quite obviously slaves, and do not have weapons or armour, and in many cases not much in the way of clothes either. The only sort of "protection" the women has is if they have a jealous master who is not interested in sharing. One or two women seem to have been able to rise above this level and are armed, but their authority is clearly limited, they can order other women around, but not a man.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Taleira nods in response to Ireth's thanks. "Helps if you know what's what. We're in the big leagues now; there's people who want us dead or worse just for what we represent." Oh, and anyone who's looking would notice her smile a bit when Ireth speaks to Sword.

On the subject of the divination at hand: "Y'know, I thought I had plenty of reason to not like these guys already. They just had to give me another one. If you're going in there, count me in too. You'll want someone with my skillset if something goes wrong anyhow."

[00110111]

Bea's manic cackle cuts the proceedings as her voodoo eye manifests above Rohdan's base. The foundations of the room echo and quake with spellpower.

Her lips curl ferally on sight of the desecration of the land and her abused little nieces. Her fist crushes the table in outrage. (1d3+25)[28] "Bastards!" her eyes spark. "Let the Crusade begin." she seethes.

"More Plan:

1. Disguise as Man-Priests. Go Invisible if we can.
2. 'Port atop the temple. Public does not see.
3. Break in from roof. Find missing person.
4. Go outside. Remove disguise. Show Rohdans how angry women fight."

Meanwhile, the flesh of Bea's body skitters and morphs to that of a man in his thirties. She amalgamates common racial and societal features, including a healed-over gash to the back of his head and a bushy black beard. She disguises herself as a brawler, one who fights with bare fist or bottle.

"Ready?" she urges. She delays until the majority of the group assents, when she teleports the group to an out-of-the-way spot on the temple rooftop with cover from both upper-level windows and casual view from the ground.

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Quake: Quickened Ghost Sound
Table Crush: Unarmed Strike damage plus Power Attack
Disguise: Alter Self
Teleport: She teleports herself plus 5 medium characters. Her ferret familiar shares the teleport spell (range is personal), taking along 5 additional medium characters.

Bea plans to use a Vision when she arrives. Location at the time of casting matters. One more hint at the missing person's location will be nice.

[lostsole31]

Lildorrinene and (Lok) decline the port, looking at the rest of the group and the fact that Sword already is worth several 'people' on a 'port ... and is not likely to be to happy to end up on a temple roof. (Where Lil and Lok will NOT go .... if anyone else even does at that. Dot alone might be needed to spend a lot of 'port-power just getting Sword to the site while Bea takes the majority ... and likely to a spot that is NOT a frickin' rooftop.)

[Kalirren]

"You can't be serious," Melinda objects. "Last time we teleported into the City of Gardens without warning, an entire battalion of archers was staring us down when we arrived," she points out. "And Your Majesty was expecting our return from an expedition. I would assume Rohdan's wards and readied defenses against us are at least as strong. After what happened at the Cups they must be itching for Round Three."

"Let's not gamble all of our initiative on an element of surprise we're not even sure we have. At least make the final approach overland to avoid tripping anti-teleport wards, and share intelligence with the elves first," she suggests. "A better plan might present itself. And even if we then decide to execute a similar plan, it won't be too late to do so."

[lostsole31]

"Who knows," says Lildorrinene, glad she didn't have to be the one to state the obvious, "we might find some allies in the elves. But, yes, Melinda is right .... dropping smack-dab in nutter central is doomed. You might make your mark in blood, but the better warriors - who would have you surrounded - would have you cut down in short order. The better warriors - even though usually not mages themselves - are well-equipped against those things they don't understand: divinations, enchantments, illusions ... and other subtleties. Having infiltrated and upset the alliance before they began the Tournament, I can attest that mundane prowess often must overcome brute force magic ... even brute force 'subtle' magics.

"Good plan, Melinda."

[Toliudar]

Dot also declines Bea's kind offer of teleportation, with a slight shake of her head.

"If I recall, watching the images roll past in the mirror, there was a clear-cut area of the forest, about half a mile from the city proper. If we head there, it gives us time to get our bearings before we head in.

"And regardless of our feelings about the oppression of the sisterhood, may I suggest that the correct answer to 'how angry women fight' is 'when they absolutely have to'. Remember that we don't even know for sure whether the Rhodanites are responsible for the soul-snatching. No point in kicking off a religious war if we can avoid it."

She glances over at her menageries. Tasha shrugs, and her amazonian form morphs into that of a burly barbarian man, all bulge and swagger, his ponytail back in a braid and still wearing the same greatsword. Zippy quickly transforms from little girl to a rather gangly and earnest-faced young man. Clyde shrugs - his current disguise, that of a paunchy thuggish man seemed pretty much perfect. Dot herself shifted, her robe transforming into a long coat and her overall looks into that of a boy of perhaps seven years of age.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Tali just shakes her head and mumbles a spell, changing her form into that of a compact, lithe man with short black hair and brown skin, with creme robe and brown shirt to match. The overall effect is that of a roguish type, dressed and armed in the style of a desert nomad. That done, she shrugs her sword loose and looks around. "So, pop in at the forest, then what?"

Bluff: (1d20+31)[37]

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Tali's "spell" isn't actually a spell. She's going through the motions to cover something else.

[Ason]

"Milady Bea, while I certainly admire your boldness, I must agree with our comrades. Your initial scouting is most favorable for our journey, but a rendezvous with these ghastly men's elven opponents could tilt the scales further in our favor. And as an abjurer, I should note that there are several quite nasty anti-teleportation spells whose effects I would rather not experience firsthand. We should be an iron gauntlet in a velvet glove. For now they shall see the velvet, though they may taste the iron soon enough."

"To the forest and then the elves, I suppose, Milady Taleira. Perhaps those gifted in stealth sneak a peak around the edges of the encampment where security is weakest. I may send out some spy devices of my own, if the risk is worth it. Then, if we think there's a good chance of finding the prophet or more information on her, we strike hard and quickly. If we leave no witnesses, we may even be lucky enough to do it all without causing a war." With an ironic smirk at his last sentence, Tallesin adds, "One can hope..."


[OOC: Between Bea, Peridot and Tallesin [any others?], the party should now be set for group teleportations for life, even with the horse. Go team!]

[Toliudar]

Dot turns back to Taleira, experimenting with re-pitching her voice to be convincingly that of a young boy.

"Given the nature of the encampment, there might still be holy scrolls or stories, but the tradition might be oral as well. In which case, it's crucial that we actually try to talk to a priest, and find out the lore about Rohdan's glorious subjugation of the other gods, yadda yadda. If we play our cards right, all it takes is the right words from an especially silver tongue -"

Again, she glances at Tallesin and Lil.

"-and we find out what we need. The rest of us coming along would strictly be backup to support whatever story we concoct, and to be handy in case of trouble."

[Kalirren]

"Best of luck with that disguise, Dot," Melinda chuckles as she advances upon Tali. "Runaway misogyny often leads to a perverse appreciation for young boys. You might have some opportunities..." The bardess gives the amazon a parting kiss on the corner of her mouth. As she pulls away, her brow furrows minutely with intrigue, and her hands pressure Tali's shoulders a bit more insistently than usual. Melinda visibly declines to ask her a question.

"Stay safe, sisters," she instead says, gathering her person and preparing to leave the room. "Don't stick me with organizing a rescue mission," she jests. "I'm not up to that task."

[lostsole31]

Lok, for his part, turns into .... himself. A powerful vrock in all his hideous physical glory.

Lil will look to Dot when it's time to 'port. Lok will port with the main group on the rear guard.