Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

[Morcleon]

Furude Setsuna

Blinking in confusion, Setsuna looks at Selena. "Oh, we aren't talking about the Binding spell. I'm referring to Bands of Steel. It's just that 'banding' doesn't really convey the proper meaning."

She pauses and chuckles. "Also it sounds really stupid. Which is why I'm calling it 'binding'."

[Snowbluff]

Seraciel

"Okay, so far we have my AMF
Coquika's fist, apparently
Selena's Glass Strike
Furude's Anchor and 'Banding'
Drisae, Atareth, can each of you come up with a strategy? Assume I will lead with dispels."

[Toliudar]

Dot glanced up from her book.

"There are more variables in this situation than can reasonably be planned for. I happened to see one lich and some mummies, in a small portion of the complex. For all we know, the complex contains ravening hordes of allips, captive solars, poison gas throughout, or four more liches. With the rubies, we have the ability to communicate instantly and at a distance, in response to changes in the situation. Locking ourselves into a set response would be limiting.

"Still, in combat situations, Zippy and Tasha should be able to assist in keeping some of the servants distracted. I myself have access to a variety of minions and elements of destruction, and could contribute the, ah, what did you call it? The "lock" portion of a lock, bind and kill strategy."

[Snowbluff]

Seraciel

"Yes, but we should be prepared for every contingency, including diplomacy, if need be. I could even work to fend off the hoarde, though I would much rather test my skill versus a powerful arcanist. "

[The Great Skenardo]

Coquika
Retreating once more from the conversation, she returns to the pile of vellum sheafs that serves as her spellbook. She had had some gift with diplomacy once, but she wouldn't call herself persuasive; not any more. It was hard to really address the expectations and problems of other people when you found yourself thinking, "if I wait fifty or sixty years, then they won't be a problem any more."
Instead, she devotes her attention to selecting spells that may help against undead. Honestly there wasn't much there. Since completing her ritual, she had regarded them as hated foes, to be sure, but not ones that really bore much thought. Instead, she settles for swapping some of her more mind and body-affecting magic for tactical and universal spells.
Coquika listened with half an ear to the chatter back and forth. She was keeping her head so far, but honestly it was very annoying having so many chatty strangers in her personal sanctum. She was used to the quiet here, and had it been a normal day she would have already been through two sets of her exercises.

[Morcleon]

Furude Setsuna

"Ah, but Dot-san... While preparing for everything is impossible, preparing ourselves to handle the most likely solutions and then also having more universally applicable reserves to deal with the unknown is the best strategy, is it not?"

"And don't worry about any hordes senpai. You know I can deal with those. Just focus on what you're best at, 'kay?" Setsuna stretches and sits back down on the bench, leaning her back onto Sera as she stares up to the eternal night above.

[Kalirren]

Seeing Dot's determination, Melinda simply nods. There was no way that she was going to let anyone get away with less than their best on behalf of Dot. Thankfully, the Fellowship's support seemed to be most forthcoming. "A rendezvous with Clylious Foulisar can easily wait."

Tactics are just not Melinda's realm. She keeps only a cursory tab on the progress of that conversation. But she contributes what she can. "I can use some vocal techniques capable of acting upon the weave of magic itself and disrupting the process of casting. It's selective - I can block them but not us. But I can only really project the effect to a small field around myself, and maintain it for about as long as I can hold one breath. I think it would still be useful as a redundant measure, or if there's more than one major spellcaster."

"Okay. Let's do this. I'm calling Elise to help with divinations. After our first round of divinations and research, which I hope will take no more than two hours or so? ...a group of us will go and try to find Kasia Rynar's temple and see if we can use or trade what information we divine here to find out more specifics about this location and its defenses. We should be back before morning. Sound good to everyone?" She looks left and right. "Drisae, you wanted to come, right? Who else wants to come drink with burglars?"

[Toliudar]

Dot rolls her eyes at Seraciel's platitudes.

"My point was that it is not in fact possible to prepare for every eventuality. You might as well tell me to 'expect the unexpected' or 'be ready to give 110%' or some such nonsense. I understand that we will be facing a capable and dangerous foe. If you find an opportunity to try to engulf him in a dead-magic field, more to the good. We'll see how that goes. We'll have several ways of dealing with that one foe, and if the Three are willing, we'll have the resources of dealing with the other challenges as well."

At Melinda's open invitation to join in a conversation with the thieves, Dot waves her off with a small hand motion.

"Forgive me. I'm not feeling very chatty. Hopefully, the images and information that I've given you will suffice. Take Clyde, if you need help in travelling."

She glanced at him, and the burly servant rose and nodded curtly to Melinda.

[Dudu]

Selena hears Melinda invitation with a smile and promptly offer to join the visit to Kasia Rynar's domains.

"Count me in, Mel. Can I call you Mel? I'm eager to chat with the masters of robbering anyway. Oscar, you can come with me, but remember, since we're in a diplomatic mission, you HAVE to shut your mouth, for everyone's sake.
Ly'kalia, I wonder if your presence might disturb people with less than good opinion about your kind. So maybe it's better that you stay with lady Peridot for a while."

Oscar's been giving his own opinions about a strategy to defeat the Lich for a while. But since his strategies were completely pointless, I didn't bother to write them down.
In a nutshell, most of his strategies involve some display of his powerful (and non existant) kung fu abilities, most specificaly, the "Manly Parrot Style", which is just as non existant as almost everything else he said.
Now he seems gives his opinion about the diplomatic mission, sparing everyone's patience from his absurd claims of martial skill.

"Diplomatic missions? Booooooring. Let's kick some undeads asses already."

"Oscar, this isn't playground. We have a dangerous foe ahead and powerful potentially allies, who we better assure they be rather allies than enemies. Just be a good familiar and try to be out of trouble... and deliver the touch spells when I need it."

"'Stay out of trouble' followed by 'deliver the touch spells for me'. I take it you're not trying too hard to be coherent, Nena."

[The Great Skenardo]

Coquika
Coquika shakes her head, determined to stay here and prepare for the combat ahead. She didn't think she could really contribute where the group was going in a temple of thieves and robbers.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

"I'll come along, seeing how I've been deemed irrelevant in slaying liches. Might even be fun."

[PSinger]

Seraciel

Sera gives Atareth an exasperated look.

"Excuse if I am mistaken, but can you not fly?!"

Atareth does not return the exasperation but says, "I can fly, and that isn't lost on me. However, I don't name flight as a definite possibility. We are going underground. Most underground forays .... so I've been told, mind you ... don't really allow for a lot of headroom for flight. If I were an air elemental that would be one thing; but I still need room to wheel, climb, and the like."

[lostsole31]

She [Melinda] looks left and right. "Drisae, you wanted to come, right? Who else wants to come drink with burglars?"

"Sounds a LOT better than playing poker with the undead. I might be from the Underdark, but you'll notice I ain't living there now."

[Snowbluff]

Seraciel

"Taliera you seem like the last person who needs a plan for slaying anything. From what I've heard about you and that blade, this sort of thing should be a cakewalk for you."

When Sera hears what Atareth has to say, she places her palm against her face. It didn't occur to her that people with non-magical means of flight would have to do something like maneuver with wings. Atareth must have a 20 foot wingspan, how could she not see that?

"I'll add an addendum to the AMF plan. Have someone disintegrate Atareth some flying room."

[Kalirren]

I'll come along, seeing how I've been deemed irrelevant in slaying liches. Might even be fun.

Sounds a LOT better than playing poker with the undead. I might be from the Underdark, but you'll notice I ain't living there now.

"...Wait, wait. Are we having a misunderstanding here? Going to Kasia Rynar's temple (or wherever we do end up going for information) isn't a pass out of helping to free Harlan. We're going there to try and stuff some aces up our sleeve."

(Where -is- Kasia Rynar's temple, anyhow? Is it even a place you can walk up to?)

**

Public tepe to Elise...and Zanthia, I suppose, it would be wise...

We finally put together that the H who must be freed is a priest of Sabrina named Harlan. (Yes, I know how rare that is.) He's been imprisoned by at least one of Telgar's lich-priests in a complex under the Komath mountains, so it looks like we'll be going tomb-robbing. Dot had known him personally before his disappearance, so she was able to locate him.

Elise, I wanted to request some divinational firepower, and Zanthia, I would appreciate your advice. She sends the mental images that Dot has sent. My plan was to go straight to the experts on breaking and entering and pay Kasia Rynar's temple a visit, to see if they had happened to case out this joint more extensively. Elise, I need some background information to make sure we get our money's worth. I'm not trading favors for basic questions. Zanthia - Kasia Rynar was just the first on my mind. If we end up only having time for one stop, do you think we'd be better served going somewhere else?

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

"No, I got that. I didn't miss the hint I'm not welcome in this conversation, either. Given that and the fact I don't exactly have to do a lot of preparation, I might as well be with the embassy." After a moment, Tali adds another thought. "On a marginally related topic, what are we going to do about Carlita in the meantime? I daresay she'll be awake in half a day, and likely very confused."

[Debbie_D]

@Melinda

Spoiler

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OOC, Im not comfortable having Elisa casting spells for you, as I dont have her sheet anymore. She might not have even been a cleric, I dont remember her exactly. I dont really want to have her doing stuff to affect the campaign. Lia is a different matter, I know her PC, and she is connected through ruby-net, whereas Elisa had quit the campaign before the rubies

You are welcome to try the Goddess of Robbers, but I would be inclined to take anything they say with a grain of salt. They arent openly hostile to us, but they have no reason to help us either.

at this point, a woman named Desiria cuts in, Melinda knows her to be Zanthia's #1 assistant

Im not sure if there is a "high" temple of Kasia, but I do have contacts with her highest ranking priest in Varstok and can give you an introduction to him. Whether or not he is the highest priest in her hierarchy is beyond me, and since the faith is shrouded in secrecy, theres no way to tell for sure

[Morcleon]

Furude Setsuna

With a sigh, Setsuna looks around. "So we don't even know where Kasia-sama's temple is, or even if it exists in the sense we would think of it as?"

She turns to Taleira with a questioning look. "Carlita? Who's Carlita?"

[Kalirren]

"No, I got that. I didn't miss the hint I'm not welcome in this conversation, either. Given that and the fact I don't exactly have to do a lot of preparation, I might as well be with the embassy."

"Oh," Melinda says, shrugging. She too had felt a bit left out, but she'd attributed her sentiment to some sort of arcanist's clique effect. "...I think we just came late to the conversation."

Count me in, Mel. Can I call you Mel? I'm eager to chat with the masters of robbering anyway.

"Actually, I'd rather you call me Linda," responds the bardess. "That's actually my given name. Linda became Melinda when I first took a vow of itinerancy." She slides Taleira an appreciative grin. "You hope they're your sort of people?"

I'm not sure if there is a "high" temple of Kasia, but I do have contacts with her highest ranking priest in Varstok and can give you an introduction to him. Whether or not he is the highest priest in her hierarchy is beyond me, and since the faith is shrouded in secrecy, there's no way to tell for sure.

All right. On what sort of notice would he be available? Dot's planning on leaving to rescue Harlan in just under twelve hours. We can be back in Varstok in minutes.

She turns to the others assembled. "Well, it sounds like we're going back to the Golden Rose. Maybe for a referral to a regional guildmaster, who knows...

"As for Carlita, I want someone to be there for her. Really, I'd wanted to be one of the first things she saw when she woke up, but that's not an option." Melinda's lips are a straight, tight line. "Unfortunately, taking her to Varstok might send the wrong message. A discern location will show just the city, and they'll think we've jailed her..." Melinda shakes her head. "I think, honestly, that this is a good place for her to be."

"We'll visit her before we leave. If she's still there, I'll leave her a note, I guess. She may be fallen, but I hope she has the wisdom to recognize that for the moment she's a free agent..."

[Debbie_D]

Im on good enough terms with him that I can set you up as soon as you get here. Its not like a priest of robbers does the normal sorts of things a priest does. Just come to the Golden Rose, and we can go from there.

[Dudu]

"GOLDEEEEEEEN ROOOOOOSEE!!!"
Shouts the annoying Macaw, excited as hell.

"Not so boring of a mission now, eh, Oscar? Well, I don't think we have sparing time to chat with the folks at our brothel.
We're travelling by what means, Desiria? Teleportation?"

[Snowbluff]

Seraciel

"Is there going to be a problem, Taleira? You are free to contribute to this conversation as you see fit, as long as you don't resort to passive-aggressive behavior. I would like to avoid litigation and altercations while being hosted by my colleague."

Upon hearing the macaw, she takes a swipe at it.

"You tasteless turducken! Keep it down while yo-"

She forget that Furude was lying against her. When she moved to swipe at the bird, Furude nearly. Thanks to her well trained reflexes, she was able to prevent her from falling. No thanks to her other traits, she caught her friend in a malapropos manner.

[Morcleon]

Furude Setsuna

Setsuna freezes for a second as her mind begins to comprehend what had just happened. A small squeak of... embarrassment? ...or maybe pleasure? escapes from her open mouth and a deep blush begins to creep up onto her face. Although, she doesn't move at all, nor does she seem to even want to move.

"Hauu... s- senpai...?"

[Kalirren]

Melinda is more than willing to oblige Setsuna with an answer. "Carlita was the priestess of Silescia in charge of the temple at Kethiria. She ordered me killed. In retribution, I ...well, we... abducted her and made her fall from her Goddess's grace. That's all I wanted. She's at the Star, where I assume she's safe for a few hours..." Then a look of dread appears on her face and she lets out a horrified gasp. "Although I'm beginning to question if that was a safe assumption. Tali, could you go check on her? Her room has a window. There's reason to worry."

If/when she's prodded to explain her sentiments -

Imagine you're an Angel of Death, and a high-ranking priestess has been abducted. Your order is a fanatical order of victory-worshipping assassins, and your closest brethren relish opportunities to take holy orders and murder people for street cred. You want a holy war to kill foes of the faith. But your own faithful come first, right? So first thing you do is you find the missing priestess.

You scry. You find her asleep, her soul's been drained, she is fallen. And no one else knows.

Now you have a decision to make. What to do? If she lives, things might get complicated. But if she dies, though, so what? She's renounced the faith. She's an apostate. But no one knows but you.

So you murder her yourself, and implicitly pin the death on her abductors by force of presumption. Then you call for holy war once her soul isn't even found among the faithful dead.

I take back what I said earlier. Carlita's not safe anywhere -but- Varstok. The only narrative more compelling than straight-up murder is ransom.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

Seraciel

"Is there going to be a problem, Taleira? You are free to contribute to this conversation as you see fit, as long as you don't resort to passive-aggressive behavior. I would like to avoid litigation and altercations while being hosted by my colleague."

"My only problem with you, Seraciel, is a fairly minor snub. I don't mean to make anything more of it."

Melinda is more than willing to oblige Setsuna with an answer. "Carlita was the priestess of Silescia in charge of the temple at Kethiria. She ordered me killed. In retribution, I ...well, we... abducted her and made her fall from her Goddess's grace. That's all I wanted. She's at the Star, where I assume she's safe for a few hours..." Then a look of dread appears on her face and she lets out a horrified gasp. "Although I'm beginning to question if that was a safe assumption. Tali, could you go check on her? Her room has a window. There's reason to worry."

I'll call if there's trouble. Given the nature of the request, Tali teleports immediately.

[Telasi]

Taleira Ulharvyth

She looks okay from here. Still asleep, still breathing. Want me to go in and have a closer look?

[Toliudar]

Dot

Dot glances up from her books to join the mental conversation.

"Assuming that Coquita is maintaining her protections here after we leave, it might be useful for us to bring Carlita here. Failing that, I could always leave her as a guest in my creche. I'd rather not, since she might have the means to leave and return of her own accord, and that could become inconvenient. But if need be. How certain are you that she's going to remain friendly to us? Tali's charms notwithstanding."

[Dudu]

"Excuse me, concerning Carlita. Have you ever considered... binding her? I know it may sound disturbing, but I have the means. I'm talking about actually casting 'Bind' on her. I can put her in comatose status for years, she won't need to eat or drink or anything while sleeping. It's one hell of a nap. She won't really suffer in this time and I can dismiss this effect anytime I see fit. We can then put her in a safe room. Since she don't need to eat or drink, we only need a room with some fresh air and that's all. Maybe some abjurations can protect this room from being found."

"Alternatively, I could cast 'Geas' on her and force Carlita to follow us in our quest for roughly 16 days. However, unlike 'Binding', I don't have this spell prepared for today."

"What you girls think?"

[PSinger]

Atareth looks to Selena. "Geas to force a high priestess of another faith to follow us? No. Better to end her life and send her to what end awaits her. We don't get to judge what end that is, but to make her a puppet is a little much to me.

"But I believe binding, from your description, is best. We don't have to be executioners, we don't rob her of free will, and by the time she awakes the damage (as in the merging of the goddesses) will have succeeded or failed by then. It will be then up to her how she wants to continue.

"I honestly don't think her fall from Silescia's grace will last long once she's fully in command of her senses. Maybe an atonement, but remember that she was under a powerful magical duress. Then again, Silescia may see that Carlita was not victorious in her struggle and remove her favor."

[Toliudar]

Dot pondered Selena's suggestion.

"I suppose it depends what Melinda would like to do with Carlita. While she might, upon waking, move through an epiphany that she has been limiting her experience of life overmuch, and seek a new and more peaceful path, I'd suggest that what's much, much more likely is an advanced case of buyer's remorse.

"The human mind is immensely capable of holding multiple mutually-exclusive ideas simultaneously. Thus, Carlita could awaken with both a remembrance of having kissed Taleira and enjoying it tremendously, and also come to with a redoubled desire to see all of us dead, particularly Taleira and Melinda. Indeed, if it were anyone but Melinda who might be seeing Carlita through any sort of awakening, I'd consider her a lost cause. Either she'd be too powerful and intractible to hold onto, or else it would require the kind of blunt-instrument magics that would render any newfound friendship of no real value.

"I'd be fine with your suggestion of a binding, as long as the binding were for sleep of a few days or less."