Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

[lostsole31]

She matches the glare at the child in front of her (and most of the entire rest of the big monologues will be at Dennis Leary rant-speed), "Un-asked for? Against the assassin, sure. That was definitely a suicide mission. But find me someone in Kethiria who's going to help you with that level of clerical magic that is allied to your cause?

"Don't look to Elinon Darasis-Domar, High Priestess of Lysindra. You're going to see her and you need a show of strength for the Battle Queen. Can you imagine what a f***ing loss of face you'd have to desperately plead for the quest when your first impression is asking your main face and primary hope of diplomacy to be raised without any loss of life force using one of the most powerful spells in existence? [ooc]Outside of epic spells...[/ooc] Good luck finding anyone else in Kethiria. A handful of warmages or the like, maybe, but not clerical.

"Or, you could run back to Mommy and Mommy and Mommy and annoy the s**t out of them. I hope in Pando you don't do that all the time things go awry. Dahlver-F***ing-Nar that would get exhausting to your patronesses no matter who you're supposed to be."

"No, and to answer your questions," she now looks to Melinda, "Dalcar sent me to help if I could since there was information that you were in danger. That's why I didn't also ask for the standard fee of 1530 gp - minimum - for such a service. I took the order, but material costs are a different matter. But now that there is a large debt owed .... congratulations, the answer to your second question is that I will be your black-skinned shadow here until I am paid.

"And are you f***ing kidding me? Dalcar sent me to keep you alive when she found out (just a little too late) about the attempt on your life and here I am. I am no replacement for that so-called 'Emissary.' She's a pumped up, preening, overweening bitch that is so hopped up on living on her beguiler skills that she learned as a succubus that if she thought she could get away with it she would try to enchant the new Goddess somehow. She's not even [I]any kind of priestess! Ha! And you ... what ... trusted her to take care of negotiations among the faiths?!? Well, I have to say this for her, she's a credit to those in her career path."

She takes several deep breaths that she failed to take in her high-speed rant. Then, an almost eery shift in personality to being cheery (not sweet). "That was exhausting. Who wants coffee? Don't get fooled into going into the Blue Champion Cellar. Once we question the Less-Than-Victorious Victory Follower, Let me show you where real coffee and grog is served ... the Little Orc Tavern."

Then, in a more calm, business-like manner (disregarding the fact that she has no tact) she observes Dot's spell. She looks around (landbound, not up) and then at Dot.

"Y'know, invisibility has all the chance of working in town you'd ever want. But out here in 'The Zone?' You'd better call him back, drop the spell, and go in without pretenses. We're constantly getting battered by monsters and marauders ... strangely, it's usually the second Thursday of each month, almost like a bowling league ... and the City of Battle Magic has wary, wary eyes on this entire area. Someone saw the assassin fire, saw Melinda go down, and saw Melinda revived. Maybe they don't have sound, maybe they do .... but eyes are upon us, and they see what I can't.

"I might not be beloved here by the more uppity regulars, but I've made my service and if you walk in with me? Well, instead of getting blasted on sight, you might enjoy some knucklehead wanting to duel someone. Though if they travel one person, another friend might take the challenged's place.

"Oh, and by the way, if a challenge happens? Don't give them the 'I don't have time, I'm on a mission line.' You won't have a single friend here from any walk of life, you will be branded as cowards, and Lysindra herself wouldn't give you the time of day (let alone Elanon) as your mission here crumbles into a sure ruin. Chatty Cathies like your absent-and-ambitious 'diplomat' are helpful, but in this place real 'diplomacy' is in your ability to fight. That is the real currency in politics in Kethiria, not old people haranguing young people about legal fine points. You don't have to be epic warrior-casters, but you have to at least be competent ... and that means proven in a duel, not in a 'presentation' of weapons form and spellcasting at boards, dummies, and open fields.

"One on one is standard, but group-to-group is only good if there are an equal number of participants unless predetermined by each party. Though spells are allowed - as Lysindra is the Goddess of Battle Magic - it nonetheless is still bad form to kill outright. We lose enough good warriors from whatever gods-damned moral and ethical outlook against external threats that we try to curb open death duels ... though it still happens.

"If, for some reason, no one challenges you? Make a challenge. I doubt anyone of your caliber is going to face a real threat, but learn to read people as capable but not a touch challenge so much as an interesting fight, [ooc]Sense Motive, via CAd[/ooc] and challenge them. That way, within five minutes of walking through the front door, you're not the outsider that people stare at suspiciously. If you make a really good showing, Elanon will hear of it even before you walk into the Bastion."

She shrugs as she pulls out an apple from her purse, takes a bite, and talks while crunching on it, with apple spit sometimes coming out, "But, hey, your wisdom, guile, and intellect got you this far, so don't feel you have to listen to some backwater local. I'm sure you'll do just fine with whatever you'd done until now. Just don't let Melinda die .... I don't have another diamond like that, and she still owess me the first one."

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

A kiss was not what Tali expected immediately after Melinda's revival, and it shows. "I, uh, heh. Missed me the last few minutes?" She smiles and helps the bardess to her feet. "Seriously, though, glad to have you back."

***

Dot and Drisae's bickering wears thin on an already annoyed Taleira after a few moments, spurring her to intervene. "SHUT! UP!" She rounds on Drisae first, since she's the root of the issue at hand. "You want money now? Fine." Tali digs through her bag, producing the requisite amount. "Take it." She tosses the money to the drow, followed immediately by a full-strength backhand. "But do not think that you get to just pop in here and insult my goddess or my friend, or that you can just make demands with impunity. There are exactly three reasons I tolerate you right now. One is standing right over there," she indicates Melinda, "the second begins with 'D' and ends with 'alcar,' and the third is that you actually might be helpful."

Turning to Dot, Tali continues with significantly less venom in her tone. "Dot, arguing with her isn't going to help; she wants attention as much as the actual money. You have to ignore her or take away her excuse. Or put her to work, I guess."

"And you!" Taleira whirls towards Atareth, since she's on a roll and the deva is the reason she was already angry. "You are a pompous, arrogant, self-righteous c***! How dare you call a Nocticulan priestess a 'blot' on the next world in the same breath you name Her an ally?! Oh, and let's not forget that it 'pains you' that a demon do something so simple as carry Melinda! What else 'pains you'? Go on, tell me! Let's just get it out of the way now so I don't have to listen to any more of your snide commentary."

[Debbie_D]

The aerial reconnaissance shows no enemies or other targets within view. The city gates are about 15 minutes away to the east.

[Kalirren]

Stop right there. Don't bury her...

"Well, what are you waiting for, then? Go for it. I'd like to know where her lookout is hiding." Melinda nods approvingly. Her attentions turn to telepathy. Oh, no, Dot. Don't worry, this isn't old. I'd never seen or known of her before she killed me.

But now that there is a large debt owed .... congratulations, the answer to your second question is that I will be your black-skinned shadow here until I am paid...

"Do you want your payment in paper, in specie or in kind, hm?" Melinda poses, with snarkiness creeping into her voice. "The first is easy if there's a branch of the Church of Alatia here. Is there one? (And are you the type of person to hold an account?) If not, you're just going to have to wait anyway, because I'm not putting our mission on hold to go teleport to Varstok. Specie will be hard. And if you want an actual diamond, well, I'm sure you know as well as I do how much work that actually is. You have to find the right dealer, hope they have one, edge out the previous client, not overpay, take the time to administer a few favors for the discount, and then make them forget everything afterwards so you can do it all again the next time..."

She's not even any kind of priestess! Ha! And you ... what ... trusted her to take care of negotiations among the faiths?!? Well, I have to say this for her, she's a credit to those in her career path...

"You say that as if you have to be ordained to represent an idea," countered Melinda. "Of course I trusted her. I trust Lil to be her usual ambitious, brazen, and narcissistic self, which is perfect for the job. I see you know her well, or at least have watched her well. Ever noticed how her presence irritates others around her into idealism?" Wary of interruption in the form of an answer to her rhetorical question, she continues, with a quick gesture of her pointer finger to clear the conversational right of way.

"What a useful trait that is. Her job was to 'open the dialogue of integration.' That's really just a fancy way of saying, 'dragging the Tishtinite and Sabrinite outsiders kicking and screaming to the negotiation table.' If the outsider higher-ups don't think it's proper to consort with mortals like me, then they'll just have to deal with her instead. And frankly, that bitch is a picture-perfect example of what will happen to the whole faith if they try to plug their fingers in their ears and deny the changes the Prophecy will bring. The more pissed they are at her for existing as she is, the more successful she'll be at what I sent her out to do." She ends her little diatribe with arms akimbo.

"Now you might say that Nocticula's faith will stand worse for my having sent Lil as the icebreaker. Maybe in the immediate future, you're right." She folds her arms across her chest. "But I don't think that Nocticula's leadership in this aspect of the faith will ultimately suffer at all - especially not if Lil is as much of an object of derision among Nocticulan outsiders as we both suspect she is. I suppose that would be the difference in thought between a Nocticulan priestess with Dalcar's agenda and a Nocticulan priestess with mine."

"Incidentally, I'm not having this argument in public with you for no reason," she says, turning towards the challenged Atareth. She enters the situation with calm. "I don't know what went on here, but I have a pretty good idea. Atareth?"

Melinda looks up at the deva with her best teenage-girl-next-door look, complete with big Bambi eyes and hopeful, innocent smile. Then she lets the facade visibly fall, element by element, until she is shaking her head with a growing, knowing smirk on her face. "Let it go."

Atareth

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I'm sure I only have a vague idea of how strongly you feel against those whose natures are opposed to your own. But even if you're unwilling or incapable of letting those feelings go at this time, you should at least let me go of whatever notions of purity you have for your own sake. As I recall, it's only been two days since this unholy piece of corrupted flesh I inhabit has last slept in the defiling embrace of a demon queen goddess. It probably hasn't even worn off yet.

[Toliudar]

Dot's attention drifts in and out during Drisae's tirade - she ends up focusing more on adjusting the details of Tasha's disguise. Taleira's gentle reproof, though, draws a chuckle and nod.

"Well put, Taleira. I'll keep that in mind for the future."

There is a soft thud as Zippy lands and becomes visible again. He picks up the assassin's corpse. Dot's brow furrows as her mind spins out what she's been thinking about.

"Right then. We seem to be undisturbed at the moment, and are still far enough from the walls that we're little more than specks to them. The archer had nothing on her except a magic bow, some people-killing arrows, and a couple of magic items designed to increase her accuracy. This has suicide mission written all over it.

"She went after Melinda specifically, suggesting that she knew about her newfound significance. Not that she wasn't significant already but...you know what I mean. The assassin didn't try to escape using any form of teleportation, which suggests that that wasn't an option for her. That means that she got that information in the last twelve hours. She somehow anticipated that we were going to be teleporting RIGHT HERE, when no one except me knew that five minutes ago. Plus, she was able to position herself in a place where we wouldn't see her coming.

"Any individual capable of all that on their own would be a user of magic so powerful that using arrows to kill would be ludicrous. The only inference I can make from all this is that this assassin was a pawn in some larger scheme, either by the actual church of Silescia, reactivating the Angels of Death, or perhaps by some other faith masking their actions by pretending to be Silescians. It is the identity and motives of these people who did all of the planning necessary for this that I am most interested in at this time."

[PSinger]

Atareth's muscles tense as she's more than ready to--and then she inexplicably stops and backs off.

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After Melinda asks her to mentally.

[lostsole31]

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Post PM w/ Telasi and Debbie, Retcon (please don't interrupt because of the speed, and assume people spoke as they did because of defusing of the situation). We'll let you know when the high-speed scenario is complete.

She tosses the money to the drow, followed immediately by a full-strength backhand.

With either the training of magic or outstanding skill, Drisae pulls two daggers out of her bandolier, halting the backhand. Both daggers are of fine quality (and very likely magical), and because of the uniqueness of the material, the lead dagger is obviously made of cold iron ... of particularly bane to certain demons. Such as succubi.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Taleira's hand stops short as the demoness recognizes the weapon for what it is. She looks the drow in the eye as she withdraws her hand, her expression suddenly deadly serious. One hand snakes back over her shoulder, loosening her own blade in it's sheathe. She watches Drisae closely as she circles slowly to the right, inching her sword from it's place at her back.

[lostsole31]

Drisae's eyes begin to follow the weapon up as slowly as the succubus brings it out of its scabbard ... in one what seems like an increasingly dangerous eternity for the drow with her little daggers.

Drisae gulps just a little as she looks up at the length of the falchion and without even looking at Taleira, equally slowly (though far less surely) puts her daggers away. She looks at Taleira with a weak, half-hearted, more breathed out "Heh" and a wan smile.

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I'm almost thinking something along the lines of Indiana Jones when suddenly something doesn't go his way.

Taleira, your go ...

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Tali smirks, finally letting her own weapon slide back into place once Drisae has disarmed.

[lostsole31]

Drisae backs away (with the cash-sack, of course) very slowly, with very long backward steps and a shrugging, somewhat subservient smile.

And we are back in real time.
.......................................
Re Melinda's quote about burying the assassin, Drisae will wait until the rest of the tirade's and Dot's mental analyses and will then pipe up.

"Speak with dead takes me 10 minutes to cast, and will last about half again as long. So before I cast it, we should get an idea what we are going to ask. Obviously, some answers - especially if bizarre - yield interesting results that lead to more questions. But here are some standards ...
* 'Why were you sent to assassinate Melinda?'
* 'Who tasked you with this mission?'
*** 'How did they task/ contact you for this mission?'
* 'How were you notified to attack Melinda on such short notice?'
* 'Are you truly a follower of Silescia Domar?'
* 'Have the Angels of Death been reformed?'
* 'Are you a member of the Angels of Death?'

"Again, improvisation is your best best with this spell, but these are guidelines. The rest is up to us (mainly you) to determine what to ask the corpse. Also, there aren't many bones post-carrion from a recent attack, so I'm guessing the vultures and coyotes are getting edgy. Burying her is so unfair to the animals. Circle of life and all that."
............................................

Melinda's remarks on payment are moot since Taleira already paid her.
............................................
She equally waits for the end of everything, and the above - but before the spell - to say (not meanly, despite the cursing ... it seems that cursing is like breathing to her), "Okay, okay, chill the f*** out. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that she was that cool after all. Most of the girls at Dalcar's temple gossip in the worst way about her, so I figured that it was true, especially the one time I passed her in a hall and she did act like such an imperious itch-bay. But, alright then ... if she has your vote, she has mine. Jeez."

Regarding Dot's analyses:
Unobserved ... "Probably trying to figure what you're about first. 'The Zone' isn't just protected by the naked eye. Pretty sure that the vaguest bit of movement have clairs, scrys, and others sense-patrolling and homing in."

Logistics of Assassin ... "Well, you haven't been here before, have you? If not, then you ported blind to a general area. Sure as s*** that's a headscratcher to have set that up. Or, you have been here before and you remember a specific point .... and your mind has been compromised to readers. Let's hope not. I can't answer that stuff.

"What I can tell you is that for someone to arrive here - however they arrived here - and have chosen the perfect spot? I'm pretty damn sure that she wasn't a outside contractor but a local, likely even a scout. I joke about the second-Thursday-of-the-month, but we get pretty regular attacks here. The scouts have an intimate knowledge of the lay of the land. It's a kind of knowledge that I'm guessing you just can't get from a spell. Even someone guiding them to a point isn't the same as knowing how to use it. Just cause someone gives you a magic weapon doesn't mean you wield it expertly. You are all experts, right? She still got the drop on you. I'm saying local.

"Also, don't let my clerical magic fool you, I didn't study religious theory and philosophy. But most people have a fair knowledge of the basic gods, and everyone in Kethiria not a half-wit knows who Silescia Domar is. Lysindra is the patron goddess of the place, but just as I'm the top bitch for most of the underworld and pretty powerful with my magic, so we have plenty of other priests. As the goddess of victory, even I've said a hello-please-and-thank-you when things get tight on the walls during a major attack. No different when anyone of any faith smartly says a little prayer to the Sea Deity before an ocean voyage.

"So, we have plenty of Silescians here. Waaayyyy too stuffy. Disciplined, but terrible at adaptation if something spoils their plans. So it stands to reason again that the assassin that probably works as a very capable scout. Skills like this don't just happen. Her knowledge of this area and capability doubtfully means she moonlighted as a washerwoman in the Axenotch ghetto.

"Oh, and seeing as she/they were well-informed not only of your comings, no doubt they were well-briefed on you, Peridot. I don't know if you possess the hubris of many of the other kind of your profession, but most of your detection spells that see through everything - most notably true seeing - really don't account for rot when magic isn't used, but just incomparable skill. I don't know if you had anything going on or not at the time, but just be careful with that funny eyeglass thinking that you'll picks up thieves and assassins that depend more on skill than on fancy gear."

[Toliudar]

Dot's face scrunches up, pondering Drisae's deductions. Absentmindedly, she slides the monocle back into its pocket and replaces the spectacles.

"Your questions for the remains seem excellent to me. Because we have the possibility of having Tasha step in for her, at least briefly, it would be useful to find out the assassin's name and what she was meant to do upon the completion of her assignment.

"I see no need to leave the remains anywhere. Just as Drisae was able to revive Melinda in a few minutes, there's every reason to believe that her superiors would be able to locate and raise our assassin.

"The location was indeed selected from my previous visit, but it's extremely unlikely that anything short of direct divine intervention would have gotten the information directly from my brain. It's more likely that someone used some sort of prediction of the future to find Melinda's future location.

"Drisae, am I to understand from you that anyone who approaches the city for the first time from this direction is summarily killed at a distance? That would seem to make it difficult for, say, travellers, traders, reinforcements, diplomats...awkward indeed. Am I misunderstanding?

"If the assassin is indeed a local, though, then your information network as, erm, Chief Bitch of the underworld here will stand you in good stead. I'm assuming that you'd be able to draw on your sources to find out more about her once we get into the city?"

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Sadly, Lostsole, I'm failing comprehension on what "funny eyeglass thinking" means. But unless there's a houserule I don't know about, the hide skill does nothing against blindsense.

[Debbie_D]

"Speak with dead takes me 10 minutes to cast, and will last about half again as long. So before I cast it, we should get an idea what we are going to ask. Obviously, some answers - especially if bizarre - yield interesting results that lead to more questions. But here are some standards ...
* 'Why were you sent to assassinate Melinda?'
* 'Who tasked you with this mission?'
*** 'How did they task/ contact you for this mission?'
* 'How were you notified to attack Melinda on such short notice?'
* 'Are you truly a follower of Silescia Domar?'
* 'Have the Angels of Death been reformed?'
* 'Are you a member of the Angels of Death?'

Remember that Speak with Dead does not have a duration, it has a limit of one question for every two levels of the caster, meaning you have about 8 questions. And once a corpse has been the subject of the spell, it cannot be used again on it for another week.

"The location was indeed selected from my previous visit...

"Drisae, am I to understand from you that anyone who approaches the city for the first time from this direction is summarily killed at a distance? That would seem to make it difficult for, say, travellers, traders, reinforcements, diplomats...awkward indeed. Am I misunderstanding?
?"

From your last visit Dot, you would know that someone new to the city and approaching from this angle would not be summarily killed at a distance, but your very approach would be noted, and monitored to see if you posed a threat. A bunch of travellers walking up, no response. A horde of axe-wielding hill giants? Somewhat more....

[lostsole31]

Answering Dot, "Well, that'd work just dandy. I'm a little too well known in this town, and I always felt the best mask is your own. That way, when you do a little subterfuge, they either don't expect if from you or have expected it so long and so much that an ironic ... complacency? ... means their guard is lessened.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, especially if your friend there is going to pose as her.

"Now that is really out of thing. Sure, I can pray for divinations and the like, but it's never really been my strong point except for here-and-now s**t.

"Okay, okay, maybe I made it sound worse than it is. But we get attacked often enough that we have what people might call a 'siege mentality.' No, of course we welcome resupply, stories of the outside - better from a bard's mouth than pronouncements from diviners, and best of all are reinforcements. But spies and such are not unknown, and Kethirians have developed itchy spell fingers.

"But unless Dalcar's briefing was incorrect and your buddies there are also demons like the one the succubus, then I gotta ask. Can they do it naturally? Because that might get them through. Or, are spells required to hide them and you don't have any way to mask them? 'Cause unless you want to raise the alarm for sneaking demons into town, you better make damn f***ing sure you show 'em for what they are, or you will be blasted.

"Battle magic takes many forms, and one of those ways is binding servitors for defense. There are a few nutters called 'malconvokers' that'll bring anything in, but as long as they keep their 'pets' on a tight leash and are willing to bring those same to the service of the town under attack, folks won't be happy but might leave you alone. You might be better off having your friends chill out somewhere unless you need to call on them. As with all magic, you are responsible .... you can't blame things on servitor creatures any more than you can blame alcohol for accidentally fireballing a fruit stand if you're drunk.

"That's not the main issue, though. I doubt in Elanon's presence you will find any sympathy for the cause for trafficking in demons. The natural question to raise is why you wouldn't conjure or bind something that isn't so inherently dangerous. I'm guessing you feel safer as some type of binder or conjurer for having them about, but I'd trust your allies as your protection. She will probably be at her limit dealing with Taleira, but she's one of you Chosen Sisters. But a whole pack of demons? No, not a f***ing chance. Doesn't matter if they're bound, conjured, summoned, or somehow redeemed, and as I said before, pretty words will mean little where such a bevy of Abyssals are concerned. Better have them - in fact, including the one you mentioned can take the form - go hang out somewhere you might use magic to call on them.

"Taleira here could do probably be more effective than your succubus, but it's up to you how you want to play it. But as before, you should really have her on mission rather than trying to bring her into the Citadel - openly or hidden.

"By the way, Taleira, I called the unknown goddess that guided me 'Beautiful Bitch' long before I got to the surface and actually learned her name was Nocticula because I didn't know what else to call the goddess in my dreams. She's been answering my calls just fine ever since. See, other people say it and they usually mean it in a bad way (especially when it comes from males). But as long as you mean that she really is the most beautiful and kick-ass Bitch that ever lived (or, I guess, existed). Maybe that's something only we mortals deal with, and you immortals are under stricter guidelines. Still, I not only didn't offend, but I usually only use that term when I really, really need something important. A name is a name, even for a deity, but a title and the intent behind it is what really sells it, kind of like most deity's have titles like 'Lord of This,' 'Creator of That,' and so forth. But remember, all of you, until such time as the goddesses merge, I don't think anyone other than me and Taleira - maybe Melinda now, hard to tell - have any right to refer to her that way.

"To your final question, Dot. Top bitch for most of the underworld relates to my nature, not any sort of title or responsibility. I'm not chief of anything, and I never want to be. I protect the prostitutes (male and female), the runaway girls that don't want to be with the other gangs, and the like. But that's it. I'm a protector, and I'm best in a manner that doesn't roam around asking questions. I can point you to those that might be the best sources ... a facilitator, if you will ... but I'm no information broker. That's on you to interface with them. I'll hang back, but you better be ready to put coin forward."

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"Funny eyeglass thing" referred to your monocle.

In the open, yeah, blindsense is a killer. In a crowded city where you can't distinguish who or what is whom with your blindsense and someone might still be out of range? A whole new world. That's one more of many reasons why the urban jungle hosts more rogues than any other 'terrain.'

[Toliudar]

Dot nods, taking in Drisae's suggestions.

"Ah, so as long as I assume responsibility for their actions, we should be fine. As you've said, there is a history of the use of fiends and such for a larger purpose. And while there may be detection magic at the gates, it seems unlikely to me that everyone in town will automatically know of Taleira's nature, for example, so a widespread panic seems unlikely. I appreciate the warning, and the advice."

She glances around at the others with a weary smile.

"Ladies, we are, to coin a phrase, losing the light. Let's ask this body some questions and tuck her away for further consultation in a week, if we need to. Here-"

She fishes in yet another pocket, coming out with a plain red wooden bead, woven with gold thread. She offers it up to Drisae.

"-hold this for a moment. Its power unlocks new potentials in your mind. It should have the effect of adding on a couple more questions to ask the assassin."

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It's a Bead of Karma, from the Strand of Prayer Beads. It will increase Drisae's caster level by four for the purposes of casting the Speak with Dead.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Taleira looks irritated when Atareth doesn't take the bait, but doesn't press the issue for Melinda's sake. Hearing her name come up in in Drisae and Dot's conversation, she turns her attention back to the pair. "I could be more effective at what, now?"

Tali nods, accepting the drow's explanation for her unorthodox mode of addressing their mutual deity. "Fine, fine. As long as She puts up with it, so will I. Oh, and nice move with the knives."

[lostsole31]

Drisae acknowledges Taleira before getting to business. "Thanks. This one?" she says, noting the cold iron dagger. "Her name is Envy. It's not often that I need to bring her out, but on the rare occasion I need cold iron ..."

She shows the other dagger she pulled out, which you noticed has an alchemical silver sheen so well polished it suits its name, "And this one's name is Vanity, for when I really need to hone in one those that would hide themselves from our shared beauty."

She takes the red beads, nods to Dot, then looks back up to Taleira. "But they mainly are special purpose for particular opponents. For GP I have Lust and Desire."

She has a suggestively (not overtly) lascivious smile, "Maybe if you're good, I'll let you see my Lust and Desire. You have a name for that executioner's blade of yours?"

She begins casting focusing Nocticula's power into the beads that she holds to her symbol in one hand, and with her other hand over the forehead of the recently deceased.

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Might as well focus on the already recommended standards ...
* 'Why were you sent to assassinate Melinda?'
* 'Who tasked you with this mission?'
*** 'How did they task/ contact you for this mission?'
* 'How were you notified to attack Melinda on such short notice?'
* 'Are you truly a follower of Silescia Domar?'
* 'Have the Angels of Death been reformed?'
* 'Are you a member of the Angels of Death?'

Assuming the assassin was not CE, then it gets a Will DC save 21 to resist.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

"Maybe after the business at hand." Tali smiles innocently back, pretending not to have heard the innuendo, before answering Drisae's question about her sword. "Dancer-in-shadows. I found her in a dragon hoard, already named. My companions at the time thought it was funny, so she's mine now. I'm told it's a line from a song. 'Dancer-in-shadows/She weeps as she dances/Dancing unmaking the shadow-born bands.'" Tali sings the lines, then shrugs. "I don't know the rest. Bards, hmm? Tell you just enough to get you interested, but they've forgotten the rest."

[PSinger]

Before Drisae gets too involved in spellcasting, Atareth says, "That's your thing? I mean, after clerical magic which I admit is powerful .... but knives. That's all. Your fallback is a bunch of tableware. Huh."

[Debbie_D]

Might as well focus on the already recommended standards ...
1 'Why were you sent to assassinate Melinda?'
2 'Who tasked you with this mission?'
3 'How did they task/ contact you for this mission?'
4 'How were you notified to attack Melinda on such short notice?'
5 'Are you truly a follower of Silescia Domar?'
6 'Have the Angels of Death been reformed?'
7 'Are you a member of the Angels of Death?'

1) She represents the goddesses of debauchery
2) Carlita
3) I was summoned to the temple
4) We have operatives waiting near the high temples of Lysindra, Glendira and Ailena. We knew you would contact one of them, long before you, we deciphered the riddle
5) Yes
6) We were never disbanded
7) I am

[Toliudar]

Dot watches intently as the dead woman's mouth creaks back into action. Always a little creepy, this spell.

"Fascinating. And the angels have escaped detection all these years."

She glances up at Drisae.

"You should have a few more questions left. Could we find out her name, what her orders were for after the assassination, and where she is staying here in the city?"

[lostsole31]

Continuing on, Drisae asks ...

1) What is your name?
2) What were your orders for the assassination?
3) Where were you staying inside the city?
4) Who is Carlita?

[Debbie_D]

Continuing on, Drisae asks ...

1) What is your name?
2) What were your orders for the assassination?
3) Where were you staying inside the city?
4) Who is Carlita?

1) Jayzan Korash
2) Kill Melinda
3) Im not from Kethiria, I reported to the temple in the city
4) High Priestess of the temple in Kethiria

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

"Am I the only one inclined to pay Carlita a visit? It would definitely send a message, and I'd love to hear what she might have to say about this."

[lostsole31]

Drisae says to Taleira, "Bad idea, but I feel ya. Silescians are too important to the defense of the city, phenomenal at battle planning and engineering reinforcements. You take her own - with or without success - your big mission's gonna' fail. No one will help you.

"Just because someone tried to assassinate you, doesn't mean you have to take immediate retribution. Sometimes the best action is not even letting on. Makes the other side impatient and want to try again and make a bigger mistake as they commit more, or back off.

"Any other questions for the late Miss Korash?"

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

"Of course they are," sighs Taleira. "Waiting it is, then."

[Kalirren]

Taleira's hand stops short as the demoness recognizes the weapon for what it is. She looks the drow in the eye as she withdraws her hand, her expression suddenly deadly serious. One hand snakes back over her shoulder, loosening her own blade in it's sheathe. She watches Drisae closely as she circles slowly to the right, inching her sword from it's place at her back.

Melinda's intuition keeps her from throwing her presence into the middle of things the way she typically would have. So this is what Kethiria was like. Seeing a local and a former local spontaneously go at it was worth more than all of Drisae's patter.

Drisae backs away (with the cash-sack, of course) very slowly, with very long backward steps and a shrugging, somewhat subservient smile.

"Ah-ah ah?! Aren't you forgetting something, Drisae?" Melinda jerks a finger at Tali's coin purse. "She paid you. Where's her receipt?"

**

"Yes, we're going to have to pay Her Eminence a visit," Melinda concords in a seething deadpan. But oh, was the temptation great to misuse that visit. "And we should take Miss Korash's body back when we do, if it results in even one more second of hesitation from the other Angels in town. She's worth nothing to us dead." The bardess shakes her head. "If we don't deal with Carlita first, no one in Kethiria is going to give us the time of day, and I'll personally have to pass away before we'll ever get Lysindra's support. Carlita sent this fanatic to kill me because to Silescia's church, I represent Sabrina, and those aspects of Temptation that are opposed to Victory. But if what I now represent is Passion, which is far less so opposed, then I must at least make her contemplate, if not understand, the degree to which she is now mistaken."

"Drisae, ask her how many other Angels she believes are in Kethiria right now."

[Debbie_D]

OOC: Im pretty sure she is out of questions. Level 16 = 8 questions, plus the prayer string = +4 levels = 20 = 10 questions. In fact, I think she went over by 1.

[Toliudar]

"Yes, we're going to have to pay Her Eminence a visit," Melinda concords in a seething deadpan. But oh, was the temptation great to misuse that visit. "And we should take Miss Korash's body back when we do, if it results in even one more second of hesitation from the other Angels in town. She's worth nothing to us dead." The bardess shakes her head. "If we don't deal with Carlita first, no one in Kethiria is going to give us the time of day, and I'll personally have to pass away before we'll ever get Lysindra's support. Carlita sent this fanatic to kill me because to Silescia's church, I represent Sabrina, and those aspects of Temptation that are opposed to Victory. But if what I now represent is Passion, which is far less so opposed, then I must at least make her contemplate, if not understand, the degree to which she is now mistaken."

Dot seems dismayed at the prospect of returning Korash to her masters.

"Melinda, I'd point out that what we gain by not returning the body is threefold. First, we deprive them of a skilled assassin. An assassin that could in fact be raised and sent against us again. Second, we have the possibility of sending in our own Jayzen Korash. If a full-scale assault is a disproportionate response to an assassination, surely a little infiltration isn't. Finally, if we do decide to negotiate with this Carlita, then the body's return is a bargaining chip, just as holding onto the staff after another assassination attempt lead directly to information about Cassie's whereabouts."

She shrugged and opened up a bag, into which Clyde slid Korash's once-again-silent remains.

"If they sent an assassin after one person in a group, AND dressed the assassin in the garb of a long-hidden order clearly associated with their church, then Carlita should be expecting a reprisal. I agree that we shouldn't give her what she's expecting. Let's go on with our initial mission, and see what her next move is."

[lostsole31]

Drisae says, "Spell's done. Nocticula was so interested in the answers herself, she even gave me an extra one. But that's all I have."

She stands and pats the dust off of her. She then smirks. "Of course, if you really want to send a message, make it subtle but also a warning, and be about a merry way ... I say if Korash had any extra special arrows .... Hmmm, break them. I know, I know, there's money in the selling, but think how greater the value of we break them and drop the fletched parts - the ones that might be recognized - on the doorstep wrapped in Korash's scarf with her blood on it." (Or belt, or whatever might have identified her).

She looks to Dot, then the others. "For Dot, we do go about our merry way and focus on the mission. For Melinda, we have dealt with Carlita ... for now. She will now have to sit back and reassess us as a threat. Korash here must've been top-notch. They don't grow on treants. She has to make damn sure next time or she's throwing away ripe talent for little gain. For Taleira, f***ing hell, we just get the satisfaction of imagining Carlita's face when she sees our little cat's present on the doorstep.

"But I guess it wouldn't hurt then, all things said, to try to get her to infiltrate," she ends, pointing at Tasha.