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

[Hzurr]

double phantom post?

[Mando Knight]

"That should be acceptable. From there we can get you to safe haven in Sigil, if you will not trust my family's estate."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

The drow woman looks to Pavick. "Good enough for you, dandelion-eater? Can you get us out of here?"

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Spoiler

Show

Insight - (1d20+11)[31] Not that I expect this to turn anything up, with Pavick's poor mod to this skill, but he would be looking for signs of duplicity. The rest of this post assumes he doesn't catch any signs, if he does, let me know and I'll rewrite.

Pavick nods. "I suppose that'll do."

He looks over to where Lucan and Shep had (presumably) been destroying the hut. He takes a moment, using prestidigitation to light various things around the room aflame, hoping it will catch the rest of the building.

"Okay, let's go." Pavick waved his arms around in a large circle while muttering under his breath. A shimmering circle appeared before him in the air, it's edges wavering slightly. Pavick stumbled back a few steps and dropped to one knee, the arcane energies involved in this spell were hard for even him to control. He forced himself to stand back up, and moved up to the edge of the portal where he slowly traced the sequence of runes in the plasma-like energy at the portal's edge. As he did so, a million different possible exit points seemed to swirl through the portal, before finally settling on the Printempest Estates. "Everyone, go. Now!" Pavick said hoarsely.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

Yuri goes to work like a bull (unicorn) in a china shop, once Lucan turns him loose, and Lena is a tiny whirling dervish of destruction. Lucan accompanies his companions with a bit of lightning and thunder, and soon the three of them have wreaked more than their fair share of havoc. When Pavick's portal opens, he sounds the retreat, and he and his fellows beat a hasty retreat.

You should see what they do to the nice rooms at the inn.

[Toric]

The mountain man slings Zyrr's body over his shoulders like a dark-furred goat that wandered from the flock. Two strides of his long legs bring the Shepherd across the cottage to the portal, and he silently steps through to follow his apparent partner in crime.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

As Pavick listens to the drow's voice, he doesn't get the impression that she's lying, but there does seem to be something she's not saying, and a teleportation sigil outside the city seems a bit...odd.

OOC:Do y'all still want to journey through the portal?

[dariathalon]

Spoiler

Show

Yeah, Pavick will still create it and go through. But we may need to do some more questioning before he teleports the group to the sigil sequence she gives us.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

You would think at this point in their career, the guards at the Printempest Estate would be used to strangers bearing Drow stepping through the teleportation circle, yet again you have the joy of spending the next several minutes convincing the nice guards with the halberds to back down.

Even though many of you were present for the battle, the view as you arrive is still shocking. The great tree that made up the center of the Printempest manor has turned black, dead leaves hanging on to branches that are little more than cinder. The ancient stone walkways that had stood for centuries have split and cracked under the grasp of twisting, thorny vines and the field of wildflowers is gray and barren.

Still, a few of the small huts remain, and a handful of Eladrin move about clearing the debris and working to remove some of the curses that the Bramble Queen placed upon the ground. As you stare, and older eladrin hobbles up to you. "Ah, Master Aramil, it is good to see you again. Welcome. The old servant Iain gives a warm smile, as he motions to the devastation behind him. "Isn't it wonderful? Look how much progress we've made!"

"I'm afraid we can't offer you your old rooms, but I think we can find a spare cot for you. Your father and sister are at the Winter front, and I believe your cousin is working with the Coral Courts. Tell me, what brings you here?" He eyes both the blindfolded Cerzei and the lifeless Zyrr, but says nothing.

[Toric]

The Shepherd places the fallen drow on the ground, as though that is explanation enough. He then glances around at the damage wrought upon the place and scratches his chin for a moment. "......A few goats would work miracles on those vines."

[Hzurr]

The older eladrin looks down at the body that Shep set in front of him. "Oh my..." He leans over to check the wounds, and winces a bit. "Have you tried bringing him back? We have the necessary reagents, but I don't believe there's anyone here capable of it..."

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

Lucan looks at Zyrr's body sadly. "I'm afraid not," he says. "We have the ability, but not the reagants or the time, until now."

[Mando Knight]

"Not yet, he's been dead less than an hour. The woman is Cerzei, a seer whom Pavick has convinced to help us, as she says she has information on a pending Drow attack on Senaliesse. She has expressed understandable discomfort with staying here, so unless she changes her mind in the meantime, I was going to have her brought to Sigil for safe haven once we are ready to depart again."

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick, the last through his own portal, came out breathing heavily from exersion. He leans against a boulder, trying his best to catch his breath. Wait, there weren't any large rocks near the Printempest gate, had the spell gone astray? He turned around taking closer look at the large rock. That was odd, rocks weren't nearly this muscular, and didn't tend to wear sandals. "Oh. Shep... Right." he muttered to himself.

Once he'd caught his breath he turned to Cerzei, "Alright, we needed to get out of there, so I brought us here. Something about what you said about that other teleportation gate didn't hold much weight with me though. What's wrong with it? Will it be spitting us out in the middle of a mind flayer's lab or something?"

[Hzurr]

DM Post

Cerzei's mouth twists slightly. "You're not completely wrong. We lost Nihiliaa nearly 150 years ago to the Illithids, but I've heard they've mostly abandoned it." She gives a slightly encouraging smile.

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

"Wonderful," Pavick grumbled. "We'll have more questions for you soon, but first we should get Zyrr back on his feet." He turned back to the eladrin. "Can you have the components brought here? We'll perform the ritual as soon as possible."

Once the components are on their way, Pavick turns to Lucan. "I think you'd better do the ritual. You're better with these healing sorts of things than I am. I've picked up the basics along the way, and can help if you want, but you'd better take the lead." Pavick looks down at his own toes which are shuffling in the dirt.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

"I've never tried to raise anyone before, though," Lucan admits. "But I suppose there's always a first time."

He etches a circle around Zyrr, and then settles down to play. Taking out his flute, he implores the Raven Queen to return Zyrr's soul, summoning him back with his music.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

As Lucan plays, the music takes on a haunting, discordant tune. The etched circle begins glowing a pale yellow, and soon fills with a thick black smoke. A faint caw is heard as thousands of black strings seem to leap from Zyrr's body, stretching out into the ether. The strings go taut, as if they had latched onto something, and slowly begin pulling back towards Zyrr's body. The smoke grows thicker as the etched circle glows brighter and brighter, only to dissipate with a a peel of thunder as Zyrr's eyes flutter open, and the drow begins gasping for air.

[Toric]

Zyrr groans as he sits up, patting himself over the body. One pat in particular is followed by the glint of a thin blade being drawn from a hidden pocket. The drow blinks the dirt out of his eyes and looks around at the fey grounds and fey guards and three fey adventurers and a rock.

"This better be the real thing this time." his voice scratches out.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

"This time?" Lucan asks. "Are you saying that there were others?"

[Toric]

"For the third time, yes this has happened before! By Corellon can nothing else be the first thing to come out of your mouth!?" He bangs his hand against the ground, the metal of his knife scratching the stone. This startles him, and after taking a moment to look down at the knife he takes a deep, calming breath.

"Tell me something I don't know."

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf Bard

"Well, if I'm saying the same thing," Lucan says slowly, "and I'm responding to what you're saying, then that means that you must be saying the same thing." He tilts his head to consider. "Since I don't know what I'm supposed to say in order to be different, maybe you should say something different."

[Mando Knight]

One of Aramil's eyebrows rises.

"And what do you mean by this happening before?"

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

"Hmmm... Something you don't know... Aha! You don't know much about magic. So how about this: when you're weaving together arcane energies, one should never make this gesture and this gesture in succession." The gnome waves his left arm palm down as the fingers on his right hand contort in a complicated pattern. "Oh wait. Sh*t!"

There is a puff of green smoke around the gnome that smells vaguely of sulfer and banana pudding. Pavick steps out of the cloud waving the fumes away from his face. As the cloud disperses, Pavick carefully looks around. "That particular combination is well known to have some unexpected consequences. But it looks as if no long-term harm done," Pavick says, unaware that his own eyebrows are now a brilliant shade of hot-pink.

[Toric]

Zyrr can't help but smirk at the now highlighted gnome. "I'll admit, that's a new one to me. I might have to sneak it into a few drow spellbooks."

He turns to address Aramil, now propped up on his elbows. "What I mean is that this is part of my punishment. I'm dead, remember? ....Or I was. Maybe. I get chased along the infinite strands of the Demonweb Pits, try to find a way out, fail, and die. Then I wake up." He waves to all present. "With you all present. Eltain was here last time. We all have a lovely conversation about how good it is for me to be alive again, then something triggers your horrible deaths. Either you're eaten from the inside out by spiders, a drow hunting party springs an ambush on us, or a horde of demonic sheep descend from the heavens to breathe lightning on us and feast on our charred corpses. Never doubt the imagination of a goddess. I watch you die, then I die, and I wake up back in the Demonweb pits."

Zyrr looks around and sighs, weighing the breath. "I'd have expected the tragedy to happen right about now. ...Or we would have all caught on fire when Pavick did his absolutely harmless magic trick. And Lucan is more... well... Lucan than usual. Right, I'll call this real. I can only be disappointed, right?" He holds an opened hand forward, an exhausted smile on his face.

[Mando Knight]

Aramil takes Zyrr's hand and pulls him up.

"Not to get all existentialist on ourselves, but I believe we are as real as we can be."

[Toric]

"Fair enough." Zyrr wipes the dirt off his clothes, and frowns at the massive bloodstain. "But that's enough about me. What did I miss? Did you save the ex-priestess - Oh that must be her." He pats Aramil on the shoulder, then walks past him to the blind drow woman. "So you're it, then? After all this mess, you'd better be a woman worth dying for."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

The blindfolded drow looks in Zyrr's general direction (she seems to be having trouble pinning down exactly where he is) and smirks. "Dozens have died for me, so don't think yourself special." She turns to look at Pavick. "Can we go now? You didn't tell me we'd be stopping to resurrect males too stupid to live."

[Nai_Calus]

"Ah, but you have no idea how special he is. And it's hardly the time for insults when you obviously expect them to help you," interrupts a gentle, familiar voice accompanied by a soft winter breeze as a pair of guards forcibly escort a tall, platinum-haired, pale-skinned half-Eladrin in the robes of a Corellite high priest into the room. "Though, what's this about dying? Are you alright, Zyrr?" He narrows his eyes in concern as he looks at the drow assassin.

One of the guards gives a smart salute and glances at the prisoner in disgust. "Lord Printempest, this Winter filth came through the teleportation circle. Shall I execute him, or do you want to interrogate him first?"

"Aramil! Good to see you again! The rest of you as well, I've missed you so much! Ah, but do you mind horribly asking your guards to let me go?" The newcomer gives a warm, slightly embarrassed smile that quickly turns into a boyish grin.

A year has changed him, making him taller and more mature-looking, and it's odd to see him out of his familiar plate armor, but there's still just no mistaking Eltain for anyone else.

[Toric]

"Well said, sir, well said. I'm glad somebody here knows..." The river of words coming from the drow's mouth finds itself dammed once he lays eyes on Eltain. Zyrr stares at the man that is escorted in, silently scrutinizing him. "Now I know I'm not dead." he finally says, "It never occurred to me that I'd have to look up at you one day. Or that I'd be standing a free man in the Feywild while you were treated like a criminal. My, how things change in a year."