Adventures in Sigil - IC - Part III [4E]

[Orsik Vondal]

"What else do you know about these devils, troll? They took a friend of mine, and I need to find her." Ash gets up close and personal with the troll despite the rancid smell of putrid meat and alcohol. If I set him on fire, he would probably explode. But he doesn't know that. Asheroth snaps his fingers and a small flame plays in the center of his palm. He brings it close to the trolls face."Y'know, fire is very unpredictable. You never know where it might spread to. What else do you know!?"

[Orsik Vondal]

Intimidate-(1d20+21)[41]

[Hzurr]

DM Post

The troll looks at Asheroth for a long moment before bursting into tears. "I DON'T KNOW!!!! DEVILS COME IN AND OUT OF THERE, BUT THAT'S ALL! PLEASE DON'T BURN ME! PLEASE!! The troll falls to the ground, sobbing, and wraps two long rubbery arms around Lucan's legs. "Please, you've got to help me! D-Don't let him b-b-burn me! AAAAAAAHHHHH!" The troll's wimpering breaks down into gasping sobs as he clutches at the bard's legs, too terrified to even look at Asheroth.

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick stands watching Aramil for a second, then follows the eladrin's gaze to notice he is carefully examining the door's hinges. "Oh, come on. There are other doors, no reason to break this one. Let's go." Pavick takes off heading toward the inn's back door to bring them out close to where the window would be. Once outside, he carefully looks around the area for signs of the drow woman.

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Perception - (1d20+11)[21]

[Hzurr]

DM Post

Darting out into the street, Pavick glances up and down but sees no sign of the woman. The streets in this area are fairly busy, and you struggle to get high enough to get a good view of the nearby crowd.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

"All right, I won't let him burn you," Lucan says, wondering if he could stop Ash if he really wanted to. "But, you must be able to tell us something more. Did you see the key they used for the portal? Did they say something, make a gesture, carry something? Do you know anyone who might know?"

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Diplomacy - (1d20+21)[31]

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain is silent for a long moment before he gives a long-suffering, patient sigh and looks at Eilistraee with an expression of slightly disappointed pity.

"Child, is your faith in Corellon's love for you truly that weak? Can you truly believe that he would ever, even in a moment of weakness, curse an entire group of his children forever? Would you truly claim that Veldrin out there is doomed to an eternity in the Demonweb Pits because in the course of doing his work for the Order in infiltrating Lolth's temple to save his brothers and sisters, he has falsely claimed to be a follower of her? Surely you cannot have heard this from Corellon himself. Whoever did tell it to you was mistaken. Surely you cannot have spent any amount of time here with the Order without hearing for yourself all the stories of your brethren. It seems more to me that when you died, your heart must have been full of doubt, and without faith, Lolth was able to lay claim to one who had long followed her and had perhaps not fully turned. You may have believed yourself unworthy of Arvandor, and thus found it closed to you."

He places a hand on Eilistraee's shoulder and gives it a quick comforting squeeze before wrapping an arm comfortingly around Zyrr.

"Don't worry, Zyrr. You died still believing in Lolth, didn't you? I know last year you told me your thoughts on the matter. It's only natural, then, that you went to the realm of the goddess you still believed in and hadn't given up on. Naturally, if you don't place your faith in Corellon, he'd have no claim to your soul."

[Orsik Vondal]

Asheroth tosses the ball of fire back and forth between his two palms eyeing the groveling troll. This bard catches on quick. A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. If I need to find information, take Lucan along. Duly noted. I wonder how he is with disguises? He makes a show of bobbling the fire almost dropping it. "Oops! Almost lost it there..." I sure hope he has something we can use. Otherwise, this may have all been for naught.

[Mando Knight]

Taking one last look at the door and deciding Pavick's right, Aramil follows the wizard outside. Seeing that there aren't any immediately obvious clues, he leans over to talk to Pavick in a low voice. "If your familiar has any kind of improved senses, I suggest you use him. I'm going to see if I can spot anything from higher up."

With that, Aramil looks at the rooftops, picks one, and teleports to it.

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In case it matters (i.e. there won't be a short rest before the next fight), I'm using Armathor's Step for the teleport.

Also, Perception - (1d20+12)[22]

[Hzurr]

DM Post

----------------Aramil and Lucan------------

Reappearing on top of a nearby shop, Aramil finds himself next to a pair of svirfneblin on the roof of the show. The two svirfneblin are in the process of stealing some of the wooden tiles off of the shop rooftop, no doubt for the fairly lucrative wood black market in Sigil. When Aramil appears next to them, they both freeze, as if the Eladrin won't notice them if they don't move.

Looking out into the crowd, Aramil struggles to see through the gray haze over Sigil (standing on the rooftops, you quite literally have your head in the clouds). However, the elevation gives you a good view of the immediate street, and the throngs of people milling about. Had you not moved up here to get a better view, and had your target not been blind, you doubt you would have been able to pick her out. But there, at the end of the street, you see her moving through the crowds of creatures on the street. Some, she dodges and steps around lithely, while others she runs into and bumps off of. You barely have a chance to take note of her before she turns a corner onto another major road, out of sight. She appears to be headed towards the temple district.

OOC: Does Aramil and/or Pavick wish to give chase?

--------------- Eltain and Zyrr------------------

As Zyrr responds, a smile forms on Eilestraee's face, and she reaches out to clasp her fellow drow's hand until Eltain's voice stops her. Eilestraee takes a step back. "You call me child? How dare you. I've been serving Corellon longer than you've been alive, and you have the GALL to say I didn't have enough faith? This isn't something I made up, or pulled out of the air. This I heard directly from the Azure Bride, Corellon's voice on Arvandor. She told me what my fate would be, and when I was struck down by an assassin, I woke up in the demonweb pits, just as she said."

Eilestraee leans back, a half-scowl on your face. "Just because you don't like what I have to say doesn't give you the right to question my devotion or my faith." Abruptly, she stands. "I have work to do, so I must take leave of you. Zyrr, I'm glad we are on the same page. Hopefully one day we will rejoice together in Arvandor." She gives a smile to Zyrr, and a nod to Eltain before walking out the door, nearly knocking Veldrin over in the process.

Religion DC 23:

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The Azure Bride, an Eladrin who was raised as Exarch of Corellon after discovering the Misty Isle, is often referred to as Corellon's voice since she carries the decrees and words of Corellon across Arvandor and to various holy sites.

Religion DC 31

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Before ascending to the position of Exarch, the Azure Bride was a member of the House of Flowers, renown throughout the feywild for their ongoing hatred and war against the drow.

--------------- Asheroth and Lucan ------------------

The troll, still sniveling and looking at Asheroth in complete fear and continues cowering behind Lucan. The massive troll attempting to hide behind the half-elf is a truly pathetic sight, and Yuri has stuffed a hoof into his mouth to keep from laughing. "Th-th-they had a um... he stops to blow his nose on his arm, and you can see the vibrations pulsate through the troll's rubbery body. "- One of those nut things that those tree people drop. And...and...and they whistled a song." The troll puts his lips together and tries to blow out a tune, but struggles to complete it in-between shakes and sobs

Insight DC 26 to figure out the tune

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan -- Half-elf bard

"Does it sound like this?" Lucan asks, whistling a few bars of There's a Drow in the Kitchen. When the troll agrees, Lucan says, "Very good. That makes me happy. And when I'm happy, my friend is happy. Right, Ash?"

Once the troll is gone, Lucan says, "We should get the others. Even if we had an acorn, we shouldn't go alone."

[Toric]

Zyrr can only keep a forced smile as Eltain and Zyrr alternately argue theology and profess the wonders of Arvandor. Well that makes TWO who want me to join the Corellon bandwagon. Once the door slams to announce Eilistraee's departure, he claps Eltain on the back. "You have a way with women, my friend. In her defense, the only three people to tell me Corellon has had anything but scorn for us have been you, her, and a sphinx I drank under the table one fine Sigil evening." Returning to the main hall, eyes skyward, hand brushing past Veldrin as he walks, Zyrr breathes in the invigorating essence of this open shrine to drow/eladrin harmony and etches the sensation into his mind. "I have to admit this has been inspiring, all things considered. We should probably get back to the others, though. Veldrin, a pleasure to meet you. Keep practicing the trade. Oh." Zyrr pivots, mask donned over a mischievous smile and hand holding a carved piece of bone. "And here's your wand back. Good day."

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain sighs as Eilistraee storms out.

"Longer than I've lived, yes, and still so much doubt..." He frowns, staring at Zyrr as something suddenly comes to mind. "I've heard of that person, come to think of it. She was originally from the House of Flowers. You know, the ones who want to kill you and every other drow. Not exactly a reliable source..." He frowns, then snorts. "Another person to add to my hit list," he says jokingly. "...Sadly I actually kind of do have one. You've been a wonderfully bad influence on me, Zyrr, over the last year I've assassinated several people. Corrupt officials, mostly. We tried to win them over but they refused to listen. Disgusting business, but they had to be gotten rid of." He sighs again and chuckles at Zyrr's comment.

"Well, I've given up chasing them anyway. There's someone else I'm interested in..." He fails to meet the drow's gaze. "Well, she's not the head of the Order here anyway, Veldrin is. Let's get with him and get this business taken care of."

-----

As Zyrr hands Veldrin back the wand he took, the other drow smirks and holds up a piece of paper that Zyrr had just stolen along with the wand, which proves to be the note Eltain had originally come with.

"Granted, I've already read this, but come now!" He winks, grinning.

"I assume you overheard everything?" Eltain asks, smirking at the exchange of thievery between the two drow.

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OOC: Poor ignored Veldrin. Typical Eilistraeean, shoving males aside in her female arrogance, even though he's both actually part of the Order and the leader of the Sigil branch.

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

(This post assumes that Aramil points her out to Pavick. If not, I'll have to change it.)

Pavick once again missed Shep's presence, if for no other reason then he was always willing to give a gnome a boost. The crowds were just too tall. As Pavick was about to start asking around, he noticed that Aramil has already teleported to a rooftop and spotted Cerzei. Pavick followed his gaze down the street, eventually locating the woman.

Pavick decided to follow the woman covertly. He paid careful attention to Cerzei's path, watching especially the people that she avoids without difficulty. He darts down the street behind her, trying to stay close to those individuals, hoping she wouldn't notice his magical signature mixed in with the others, effectively treating them as cover.

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Stealth - (1d20+16)[27]

Edit: I deleted a couple of duplicate posts, this was the first of three attempts to post this, and I got rid of the other two.

[Orsik Vondal]

"Agreed. As much as I want to help Lu, it would be suicide to go alone. Let's get back." He gives the cinder doorway one last look before he turns and leaves with Lucan.

[Mando Knight]

Aramil gestures toward the direction of Cerzei, before following, mostly on the rooftops if possible.

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This is definitely Assassin's Creed-style freerunning.
Perception - (1d20+12)[14]
Athletics - (1d20+17)[22]

[Hzurr]

DM Post

--------------- Lucan, Asheroth, & Aramil ---------------

Lucan and Asheroth make their way back through the winding streets towards the inn, a blur of motion overhead causes them to glance up and see Aramil leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Unfortunately, some of the streets are a bit wider than they appear, and Aramil's path ceases to be a straight line along the streets and more of a zig-zaggy meander across the smaller gaps and side-streets. By the time Aramil reaches you, whatever he was chasing after is long gone.

------------------ Eltain & Zyrr-------------------

Veldrin takes the wand back, a pauses for a moment before he hands Eltain back his shoe. Glancing down, Eltain realizes that what he thought was a shoe was actually a leather sack that had been tied around his foot. "I heard enough. Honestly, I don't really think it matters too much if you're right or Eilestraee is. It doesn't matter if we're cursed or not, with Lolth holding dominion over the drow they'll never be truly free. So if killing her will break some curse or if it'll only give the drow a chance to take a look at other gods for the first time, I'm happy with it." A wry smile crosses his face. "And if you die horribly in the process, I'll make sure that I come up with an appropriate limerick for your funeral."

------------- Pavick -------------

Through the crowds and streets, Pavick is able to keep pace with the blind woman, jumping behind magical creatures or hiding behind small carts filled with enchanted amulets whenever the former priestess glances back. As Pavick keeps pace, eventually you pass into the temple district, and Cerzai appears to be making a beeline towards the temple of Lolth. The streets here aren't as crowded, and several drow guards stand in front of the temple watching the area

OOC: Pavick will need another stealth check or some form of magical invisibility to follow Cerzei to the temple.

[Toric]

Zyrr's gaze drifts from Eltain's shoe... to the piece of paper he'd just put back into his pocket. "Oh you're good."

He bows in respect to the fellow thief and gestures to the letter. "If you make a limerick about me, do use my full name. Zyrr'delin has such better rhymes than Zyrr. In the meantime, yes, you've seen the matter that brings us here. Drow are all but abandoning their cities. A refugee just told us that the reason is they are mustering an army to the Feywild, to battle the Spring and Summer courts in a classic case of drow diplomacy. Our source was a drow, and you know we can always take the word of our kin as truth. The fact that the drow are gathering their forces to begin with should make it easy to send some volunteers into this army and confirm that everything is just as she said it was."

The drow alchemist removes his mask in what is either a dramatic display of sincerity or a subdued effort to wave a spider off it. "If we make the wrong decision about the drow forces and their intent, we could see the rise of a drow-controlled section of the Feywild with all its resources that lasts for the next century. Can we count on your men to look into this for us?"

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain sighs and puts his boot back on, re-doing the laces as he speaks.

"It does matter, Veldrin. That blasphemy she's spouting, and you know it is, look who she claims she heard it from, is actively harmful to our cause. It's hard enough as it is to convince people that the drow aren't all monsters worthy only of destruction. I don't know when she started deciding that she ran this Order, but she doesn't, and she needs to be kept from spreading that nonsense lest she destroy everything we've worked for. She just basically claimed that you're damned because you've claimed to be a follower of Lolth before. You! You were born on the surface, for Corellon's sake. You've never actually worshipped that bloated spider a day in your life." He frowns and paces, grabbing his chalk back from Veldrin and his reading spectacles form Zyrr as he does.

"I'm not saying she's evil or anything, but she is misguided and despite her protests she does lack faith. The Order is founded on the knowledge that our father Corellon loves us all and accepts us all equally. The racist madmen who run the church claim the Azure Star is a warning to the drow to stay where they are, but we know the truth, that it is a promise that Corellon watches us all and those who follow his tenets will be welcomed back with open arms. Indeed, worst of all, she paints Corellon as a liar! If that were true, in any way at all, Corellon would make certain that we knew about it. He'd never allow you to be damned by any curse. And yet she claims exactly that. She has to be watched, Veldrin, because she's dangerous. If people start believing what she says, it will ruin us and everything we work for."

"And further, she has no place or business trying to send other people to slay gods. I hate Lolth as much as the next Corellite, more than most, but this is ludicrous. It's practically impossible, and something of that order of magnitude I would not dare presume to do unless ordered to by Corellon himself." He sighs. "Serving Corellon longer than I've lived, and she still acts exactly like a priestess of Lolth, ordering around what she perceives as 'lesser males' and refusing to act herself. Gods, look at what she did when we came in here. Shoving you to guard duty. You!"

"Now, back to the actual task at hand. Yes, we need to find out what's going on, and I'm not exactly the person to send for that." He sighs as he grabs a stocking back from Zyrr and his tunic back from Veldrin. "You two are impossible. What's next, my underwear? And that is not a challenge."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

--------------- Zyrr and Eltain ---------------

Veldrin frowns at Zyrr's words. "Hmm...I'd heard that the armies were moving, didn't realize that they were headed to the feywild. I can try slipping in a few spies & see what they turn up. But you're right, if we judge this wrong, it could be very, very bad."

Turning to Eltain, the drow cracks his knuckles, and thinks for a few seconds before speaking. "Eltain, our views on Corellon are nearly identical. I've bet my life and my soul that Eilestraee is wrong, so that should show you how committed I am. But let's say, for argument's sake, she's right. What changes for us in our day-to-day lives? Absolutely nothing. We'll still work on rescuing drow, on undermining the church of Lolth, and giving praise to Corellon. One mistake by Corellon hardly gives us reason to go back to that Spider-bitch."

He holds up a hand "Of course, that's assuming that she's right, and I don't think she is." A wry smile crosses Veldrin's face. "But I don't mind letting her think that she is. She's got a reputation, and has influence with the church. While she traipses around here, the church of Lolth's eye is fixed upon her, and ignores a lowly male like myself. That makes it much easier for me to do my real work." He stops, looks around, and lowers his voice. "Look Eltain, we've had more success and grown more in the last year than we have in the last decade. We're no longer underground, we've got our own shrine." He motions to the room behind him. "But the Corellite church's protection will only extend so far. If the Lolthites finally decide to move against us in force, you and I both know that we'll be completely crushed. It's not a matter of "if" it's a matter of "when." We're too few, and they're too strong."

He sighs "Eilestraee is insufferable sometimes, but she brings a portion of protection from the church, which we desperately need. And while I disagree with her reasoning, her end goals align with us." He places a hand on Eltain's shoulder "If we have any hope of surviving and growing, curse by Corellon or no, we have to stop Lolth. That's why I say it doesn't matter if we're right or Eilestraee is. In the end, if we don't stop Lolth, we're dead."

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick stood in the side street off of the main temple square. He looked forward, watching Cerzei continue down the street. Then he turned back, noticing he'd lost track of Aramil. He glanced back at Cerzei as she climbed the steps to the temple. He wanted to continue to follow her, but a nagging voice in the back of his mind reminded him of what happened last time he went off on his own. "Zyrr... I'd better get back to the others or else I might get myself killed this time, or Aramil. Can't let that happen," he muttered quietly to Slick.

Pavick paused long enough in his hiding place to make sure that Cerzei did in fact enter the temple, and then turned back to find the others.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain nods, troubled.

"You aren't betting anything, Veldrin. We both know she's wrong. And don't assume we have no allies in the mainstream church other than her. Not everyone with sympathy to our cause is in a position to join the Order, or militaristic enough about it." He sighs. "Just... Be careful with this, OK? I don't want to see any branch of the Order corrupted."

"And yes, we'd appreciate it if you could get operatives down there. The more we know about the situation, the better we can plan how to deal with it." He gives a wan half-smile and gives Veldrin a warm hug, thumping the smaller drow on the back, before mounting Frank, who's been waiting patiently in the main hall the whole time, fascinated by the Kobolds, who have been equally fascinated by him.

"I'll keep in touch." He pauses and looks around, grinning. "It is incredible to see something like this, though. Come on, Zyrr. As much as I'd like to stay here all month, we have other work to attend to, unfortunately." He gently nudges Frank, who turns and trots out of the shrine.

[Toric]

Zyrr bows to Veldrin once again before he departs. "It's been a pleasure, sir. May we both live to play this game again. Good day." As he turns and walks away, he tosses a coin purse over his shoulder to the drow leader. Upon catching it, Veldrin tosses him his spider-shaped gemstone amulet.

Once back on the streets, Zyrr remarks quietly "You should very careful about what you speak of as knowledge. For instance, I knew until very recently that when I died Lolth would give me a knowing wink before sentencing me to eternal torture in the bottomless ale keg. Just as I knew growing up that all surfacers I met would want to kill me on sight. So does Eilistraee now know the current situation of the drow. It's belief that contradicts your Order's, yes, but at least she had the prudence to share this 'knowledge; with us and us alone."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

------- Pavick -----------

After watching for a few moments, Pavick sees Cerzei approach the temple and speak with the guards for several minutes before finally being allowed in.


---------------- Everyone ---------------

From the various corners of the city, you all make your way through the drizzle and fog of Sigil back to the Inn. By the time everyone is caught up on the various goings-on of each other, the day-workers have finished their jobs and the inn has filled with the usual after-hours crowd. Even now, Edgren is giving significant "I need to use this meeting room" looks towards the group.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain chuckles at Zyrr and Veldrin's antics, then turns serious at Zyrr's chiding.

"The Order of the Azure Star has been around far longer than she has, though. And you'll notice I'm not spreading it around. Well, technically, yes, because it's the truth we preach, but I'm not spreading her story around, just the truth of our message. Besides, I've heard that the head of the Order has also been dead, and that he went to Arvandor when he died. Mind, I haven't asked him, but I trust my feelings and what Corellon has put in my heart more than sudden tales of curses." He shrugs and sighs. "I know she's your friend. She was mine, too, and perhaps if she comes to her senses and stops being angry at me she will be again. But I know you're not damned." He gently squeezes Zyrr's hand and looks deep into the drow's eyes, his conviction plainly written on his face.

-----

Back at the inn, Eltain frowns when he learns of Cerzei's escape.

"Well. I don't like that at all. It's too bad I didn't know she'd escaped, we were right by the Lolthite temple. Didn't you try to stop her? For all we know she was using you guys to get out of where she was and pass a message along to the temple here..." He bites his lip.

"I don't like this. I don't like it at all. It's worrying. Well, everything is worrying these days, isn't it? The drow, the devils and demons, kidnappings, the war..." He sighs. "There's only one group of us, and so many problems. Oh, by the way, Eilistraee wants us to kill Lolth for her." He snorts. "I wish Shep were here. Even just for the sake of one his mad bits of goatly wisdom. I could use the comfort of that right now." He frowns.

"Well, what should we do first? Besides obviously not killing Lolth. Honestly, as much as I'm worried about the drow, we don't know enough yet to act there. I've asked the local members of the Order of the Azure Star to look into it for us, but it'll take some time." He frowns. "I think we should go to the Elemental Chaos. See what we can do about that barrier, and see if we can figure out what's going on with the fiends."

[Toric]

Zyrr smirks when he hears Eltain's suggestion. "Your first choice is to open up the Prince of Frost for a kill? You have taken after me. As for my opinion, I'm not thrilled with the concept of going back to the Undercity just yet, we've got feelers out for whatever plan the drow have so I think we can shelve that issue for now, and if we end this war before they can strike they'll back off if they're intelligent. I'm with Eltain. We work on bringing down that wall, and if we just happen to find out anything about this demonic war, well, all the better."

[Nai_Calus]

"Not kill, help. Well, at least try to. I still believe he can be helped. I know you don't think he can be, Pavick, but I still think it's worth it to try, though I want to ask some of the archfey for information first. We'll want to make sure our allies know what's going on first so they can prepare, anyway."

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick begins pacing back and forth. "If you want to try, that's fine. I honestly hope that it works. Unfortunately, I don't expect it to work. If he could be turned, he will become a powerful ally. We need to be ready to stop him, kill him if it comes to it, before we make the attempt though. I don't want to storm his fortress, smile and say 'hey we were hoping maybe you'd want to put a rest to all of this strife and be a nice guy' and then have no chance of defending ourselves when he turns whatever power he used on Tiandra against us." Pavick stops and turns toward the party. He hold his hands palm up in front of him and an illusion of Lucan's terrified face frozen in ice appears projected before him, stressing his point. "Search your feelings, Eltain. You will know it to be true. He could destroy us."

Pavick waved away his illusion then crossed his arms and resumed his pacing. "First, I think we need something to defend ourselves with. That was the mission we were on when we got sidetracked. Only once we have that will we be ready to venture to the elemental chaos to open his fortress. While we're there I'm sure we'll get embroiled in whatever has all the demons up in arms, so we may as well kill two birds with one stone. Then we come back and see what we can do about ending this damned war."

"We'll have to leave our allies to deal with the drow attack for now, unfortunately. I'll send out messages to everyone I can think of later tonight. There's just no way to be in so many places at once to deal with this ourselves. Which brings me to your news Ash. I'd love to help you find your friend, and maybe we eventually will be able to. Corellon knows we find ourselves in the middle of every other problem, but right now we've got to focus ourselves elsewhere. Though it is interesting news, and I've got a very bad feeling that this might be related to what's going on with the demons."

Pavick finally climbs up into one of the chairs, but his legs continue to swing under the table irritably.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain sighs at the gnome.

"Pavick, where do you think I've been this last year, and what do you think I've been doing? I know that, for Corellon's sake. I'm from the Winter Lands. I've been leading a rebellion there. I'm not a fool, and you know that. I've seen people I've known far longer and love more than Lucan frozen, murdered and worse." He sighs. "I know, and possibly more than you four do. I've spent every hour of every day this last year working against the Prince, working to save people from this horrid war. I've seen the horrors, I know what he's capable of, do you really think I plan to go in unprepared for battle? I know it's mad, I know that. But I choose rather than to give up on something before even trying it, to believe instead. I believe there's a chance. If anyone can do it, it's us." He frowns and stands, pacing.

"Lucan's a Bard, I know he hit it off well with at least Hyrsam the Satyr, if anyone can find out about things we can use to remind the Prince of who he used to be it's Lucan, especially if he uses his contacts. Old songs that mean something to him, anything about the fate of Sharea and her lover, and speaking of preparing, even if we can't snap him out of it with those things, we can still distract him and perhaps weaken him." He sits back down and looks haunted.

"I'm a murderer, Pavick. An assassin just like Zyrr. I've killed people in cold blood, people who didn't even know I was there until my blade pierced their hearts or slit their throats. People who were committing or even simply aiding atrocities in the name of the Prince of Frost and the Winter Court, but went home each night to their families. Do you know what it's like to have to explain to an eight year old child why you just murdered her father? I do." He bites his lip to stop tears, twisting a fold of his cloak about in his hands as if trying to find absolution in that, before looking Pavick straight in the eyes.

"And yet you look at me as if I'm a friend and someone who doesn't deserve death in the eyes of many. Is it really so impossible to think, to hope, that others who have committed terrible crimes might also have the potential for that? I'm tired of killing nearly everyone I meet. I want to at least try for a different option for once. He was a good man once, Pavick, brought down by jealousy and betrayal, and gods know I've felt jealousy myself and known betrayal. There is still good in him. I can feel it." He frowns.

"Tiandra is safest where she is, honestly. Sure, she's trapped, but she can't be harmed while she's frozen either. This is our battle, Pavick. Not hers. If you want to help her, if you want to see her freed for certain and make sure there's no chance of her being re-imprisoned, we need to take care of the Prince of Frost first. One way or the other."

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan looks back and forth between Eltain and Pavick. "Why do I keep getting frozen?" he asks. "I think I agree with Pavick. We should finish what we started. It might even help with what you want, Eltain. Tiandra probably knows more about the Pince of Frost than anyone." He pauses as Lena starts twittering in his ear. "Really? I hadn't thought of that. Do you really think . . ." Lena is quite emphatic, and Lucan says, "Lena wishes to point out that Tiandra is safe enough for now, as Eltain has said, and the war in the Feywild's at a standstill, and our allies can handle the drow, but Ash's friend is in danger right now, and the devils are in the middle of something big right now, and we could come back from the Underdark or the Elemental Chaos to find that they've already made their move, and Sigil, the Feywild, and everything is under their sway. In light of that, maybe we should do something about the devils should be our top priority."