Vision of Suffering - IC Thread

[Stasgard]

Thandor, the City of the Faith. The founding site of the Church, once a place of quiet reflection and philosophy has become a place of physical power, being the largest city left standing in the wake of the invasion, and of judgement. A crowd gathers in the central square, civilians, soldiers, priests and even magicians amass around six figures on their knees, chained and gagged. Behind them stands a humanoid figure, seemingly made of smoke surrounded by guards at the ready and a small girl, chained like the others.

The Archbishop moves forward from his men and walks in front of the prisoners. He holds his hand into the air, and in an instant the murmur of the crowd dies to complete silence. The silence is almost painful in its intensity, as if not only the crowd had ceases to speak, but the world itself had frozen at the Bishops whim. The Bishop clears his throat, and begins to speak with an ease and comfort that betrays that he has said these words time and time again.

“Gathered before you stand the marked; those who have defied the will of our Lord and Saviour. They are betrayers to the Faith, cowards on the field of battle and foul servitors to the forces of darkness. These transgressions, as you all know, are punished by banishment to the plane beyond. Those who defy our Lord, our creator, are not fit to walk this plane. That, good people is the law he has passed unto us. Let the trial commence.”

The crowd shifts uncomfortably, clearly wishing to speak, to let out some noise, but no one dares to interrupt the Bishop, lest his judgement be passed upon them too.

“These six are some of the deadliest threats to our way of life, and our safety that have ever been brought before me. Each of them a force to be reckoned with in their own right. They come from all walks of life, and have never met before this moment, but they are here because of the common chain that binds them. They have each betrayed the faith, and pose a threat to us all. Look upon the figure of this woman Ezra, and take in the black magic that sustains her. And do not be fooled by this child’s appearance, it is but a disguise. This beast is nought but a foul guardian of the woman Ezra.”

“And look also upon one Lincusto, corrupted by the very demonic magic that we worked so hard to destroy! In this man lingers the presence of the Demon Lord Varyn, I can feel his corruption even now. Look upon this being of smoke, good people and SEE the last remnant of Varyn upon this plane! But the threat is not always obvious, my good people. The man here, Jonas, he is a foul servitor of the darkness. He willingly allows a demon to harbour itself within him, and uses the foul magic as he desires. How long until the demon takes complete control and this man becomes a mindless beast?”

“Ah, yes. Samus, the witch. A man who calls upon dark forces to destroy all whom oppose him. His dark magic melts the flesh and boils the blood, he is an affront to all that is good and holy! But not all of the marked are servitors of darkness. Some, were even once upstanding members of the church. Ethelina, once a mighty soldier and crusader for all that was good. But now, she is a traitor. The murderer of the good Colonel Fairman, may his soul find rest. And last, but certainly not least, Caius. A powerful man, and perhaps still a noble man. His failure to defend the city of Marrakesh lead to thousands of deaths. And it is for that, he stands trial.”

“What say you, Marked? Allow the good people to hear your defence, we shall not have you banished without the chance to clear your name. Remove the gags.” With that, soldiers move forward and remove the gags from your mouths, giving you the chance to speak.

[hydroplatypus]

Caius lowers his head, looking at the floor. He sighs and says Why bother defending myself, you have already deemed me guilty despite my attempts to make up for my failure. Nothing I could say would make you give me a chance at redemption.

He then looks up at the Archbishop, glaring at him. He then angrily yells This ritual was given to us to punish the worst of the world, yet you use it on us? This is absurd. I may be a failure, but I hardly qualify as one of the worst possible offenders. Elthelina may be resoponsible for the murder of a superior, however that hardly justifies what is happening, especially as you imply she has faithfully server Daeron for years.

He then shifts his head as far as he is able, in order to address the crowd. And Ezra is being condemmed solely for the magic she emmitts. In my studies of the arcane I have seen that sometimes those that are sustained by the black arts have no choice in the matter. Yet you don't tell of anything evil that she has done. You say nothing of a betrayal, and yet she is condemned.

With such flimsy justification for us, I doubt that the others here today are really as guilty as you tell us. You are abusing the ritual, and as such spit on Daeron's name. How dare you!

With that Caius quiets down and goes looks to see who will speak next.

[bindin garoth]

Lincusto stays silent as the Bishop goes on his rant. Surely the man loves his own voice than his so called 'faith.' Did he really believe that this would stop all evil? Surely it would not. The oppression would eventually anger the people, and in a few generation, a riot would occur. But that wasn't his problem now. They were about to banish them from this plane.

As these thoughts continued in his head, his anger built. 'Probably from the demon' he thought. But at this point the anger from it was enough. A sudden wind howls throughout the wind, scattering any litter laying around. The temperature suddenly seems to drop, and dark clouds form overhead as lightning strikes nearby. A black wind suddenly appears out of nowhere and wraps itself around Lincusto, as if trying to offer him protection from this ritual.

Spoiler

Show

For the fun of it, creating my spellforge armor. Even if I am in an anti-magic field, it still works with a will save. He doesn't actually attack though. It's just a manifestation of his anger through the demonic energies within him.

[Hazuki]

Ezra's head stands lifted where she kneels in her chains, her arm exposed for the entire crowd to see as she is prepared to be banished. She sits almost motionless as the Archbishop announces their crimes, knowing she cannot turn her head to see Kulaas who she had gotten into this by association. She was resigned to her fate. Mostly.

She listens carefully to the words of the Archbishop; she knows why she is here. But with the tear brought by Caius' words comes the suspicion that the Archbishop may not be entirely forthright. Ezra clears her throat where she kneels, raising her head as she begins to sing softly but clearly, a melody meant to bring sorrow for the evening, to mist the eyes of those present and to serve as a memory of her being here.

Spoiler

Show

Taking 10 on Perform Sing for 31, with the -3 from the removal of her Circlet included. No Bardic Music because she's likely in antimagic too.

Also going to use Trap of Words from Master Manipulator on the Archbishop. It'll only work if he's rolled Bluff, but I think he might have or will.

Sense Motive: (1d20+17)[29]

If Ezra believes he has lied, Ezra will manipulate the lyrics of her song in order to get him to slip that he lied and why he lied. If her Diplomacy Check beats his Bluff check, she succeeds in doing so.

Diplomacy: (1d20+25)[42] Still not including the Circlet.

[Sir_Chivalry]

Ethelinda kneels quietly. When the bishop asks her if she has anything to say in her defense, simply looks back at him, locking eyes with him one last time and not breaking eye contact.

Intimidate: (1d20+23)[34]

When Ezra begins singing, Ethelinda joins in on the mournful song

Aid antoher: (1d20+4)[22]

[BelGareth]

Samus knelt on the dirty cobble stoned floor, his knees bleeding slightly from the rough guards who had shoved him down grazing his shins and cutting his skin.

He fell down like a rag doll and had to be forced back up to kneeling by two guards, they had beaten him into the posture, it had only taken one blow to force him. And now he knelt before the archbishop being rebuked from this plane for atrocities he did not do.

His mind was somewhere else, as the archbishop began to talk he looked up in a daze and his eyes widened.

His daughter was standing next to the archbishop.

But...Your...

She moved with the bishop, a pretty little smile on her face, he watched her with rapt attention, his mouth agape in a mixture of horror and bewilderment. And then his son appeared next to her, walking out from behind the archbishop.

His sweet smile warmed his heart, a tear formed at the edge of his eyes and slowly fell as his head turned to regard his lost family as they moved with the archbishop in his diatribe.

I thought you were...

And then his wife walked out from behind the man.

Not being able to take the visions of his family he started to weep, openly before everyone. Raising his bound hands up towards them.

His family stood and looked at him with smiles on there faces, clean and well kept.

I thought you had died! Wha...what is going..

And they would burn right before him, there flesh would melt of their bones, hair would catch on fire, clothes would smolder until all that was left were three emotionless skeletons.

Nooo! Oh gods!

And then the skeletons would fall down, turning into dust taken by the strange wind that had whipped the area suddenly.

Anger, rage. Something deep inside Samus stirred and the fire of his soul burned with an unnatural luster. He wanted to unleash the pain he felt unto the people here. He no longer cared, take these people away from him!

Suddenly yelling out he screams "Damn you, damn your church, damn your world, and DAMN DAERON!"

[Stasgard]

Ezra:

Spoiler

Show

Even with your suspicions and ability to read people, the Bishop appears to be truthful in his words, and sincere in his belief

Sir_Chivalry:

Spoiler

Show

You can tell immediately that your attempts to assert authority are succesful. The Archbishop removes his gaze from yours and not once looks at you again directly.

The very air itself seems to weigh down heavier as the sorrowful song rings out throughout the air. Several people in the crowd begin to cry, almost instantly upon hearing it, and many more appear to be caught off-guard by it's power. The Archbishop takes two steps backwards, and seems somewhat pained by the sound. He motions to the guards behind you, and manages to choke out the word, "Put their gags back on those two."

As the guards approach, resilencing you, the Bishop turns away from you and wipes his eyes and continues to face away for a few moments before turning back towards you. "Your words sting deeply. I am afraid you two cannot be allowed to continue speaking. I should have known better than to allow you to speak with your ability to manipulate others Ezra..."

The man holds his head in his hands for a moment, seemingly trying to think of words. It is clear that he had practiced this moment, and it had gone heavily against his expected path. He turns towards Lincusto, seemingly noticing his armour for the first time. "I know not how you have conjured this... thing, but it shall do you no good... Shaman."

He turns towards Samus for a moment, and looks at him unsurely. After a moment, he decides not to bother attempting to deal with this man. "He is surely mad." He mutters under his breath. After several moments the Bishop seemingly draws up the courage to face Caius. "Know this, Brother, that this was not what I wanted for you. If I had the authority to overrule the decision of the rest of the men on the Council that was making these decisions, I assure you I would." The Bishops eyes appear to wet as he speaks, but he fights back the tears. "These are dark times, Caius, and the people are scared. Surely you understand the need for safety in regards to the rest of those that are gathered here today, but I promise you Caius, I will fight tooth and nail to ensure that no one such as you is subjected to this again."

The Bishop turns away and hangs his head.

[hydroplatypus]

Caius raises his head, and says quietly so that only th bishop will hear Hopefully next time you will have more success. Goodbye old friend.. He then turns and says to Ezra That was beautiful, and it seems to have moved the crowd. Maybe next time they will be more selective in who they banish.

He then quietly starts muttering prayers to Daeron, asking for protection and guidance on this new plane.

Spoiler

Show

No spells being cast, just a general request for aid.

[Hazuki]

Ezra's singing grows quieter until she is gagged once again and her eyes rest on the ground. It worked...and that was enough. The Bishop would try to stop anything like this from happening again. It would not help her where she was going, but the memory would remain. She nods at Caius' words, and gives a gentle tug to her chains. She wondered if they would come with her in the banishment; their history would surely be interesting.

[Sir_Chivalry]

Ethelinda accepts the gag at first, but bites the hand that puts it when given an opportunity. Assuming she gets knocked about after that, she tries her hardest to pray, something that never came easy to her. She just wants it to end.

[bindin garoth]

Lincusto stays still. He sees no way to stop the ritual or to convince them otherwise. He does, however, keep his armor of black wind upon him, as a small token of resistance against those banishing him.

His elemental, on the other hand, decides to taunt him
'I could help you, you know. All you have to do is give in, and I'll do the rest.'

'No!' He tells the demonic entity mentally. He, at this point, was ready for it to end.

[Savannah]

Jonas does not respond when the gag is removed, still kneeling, eyes on the ground, his ragged hair shielding his face from the crowd. He rocks back and forth slightly, hands clenched until his fingernails bite deep into his palms.

[Stasgard]

As Ethelinda bites at the guard another rushes forward and deals a blow to the back of her head, and finishes gagging her.

Spoiler

Show

Mechanically, no damage taken.

The Archbishop continues to look away from you for several more moments, remaining silent the whole time. Without a word, he looks towards a group of Cleric’s, standing to the side and motions towards you. The guards behind you at this motion replace the gags as the clerics slowly advance towards the group and begin the preparation for the ritual of banishment. One by one the ritual is preformed, beginning with etching a circle of runes around the target, and then the Archbishop and two other clerics begin to chant a spell. After a minute of chanting you feel yourself begin to tingle all over, and then a second later everything instantly becomes black.

Caius:

Spoiler

Show

Before the second, verbal, part of the ritual begins, the Archbishop leans in and whispers into your ear, so that only you can hear him. "Farewell, Brother. May Daeron preserve and keep you."

You feel yourself floating, free from your chains in an endless blackness for what feels like an eternity. Time, space and any means of quantifying this place are completely removed, there is simply nothing in this place. An unknowable amount of time passes and then you see a figure in the distance walking towards you. As he approaches, you get a better look at him: He is tall, and may have once been handsome, but now his skin has gone unnaturally pale, his pupils are red and his eyes are bloodshot. His straight black hair is long, coming halfway down his chest, and rests gently against his clothes. They are orange and red, and very luxurious, the kind you would expect Lords to be wearing. He walks right up next to you, looks you straight in the eyes and smiles. He turns and walks away.

You awaken with the all the others set to be banished lying around you. You are all freed from your chains and gags, and you find all your equipment lying in the centre of the circle which you form on the ground. As your eyes adjust again, you find yourselves atop a mesa of grey stone, only as big as a houses living room. A circle of stone pillars, etched in some foreign runes surround you. Looking out passed the mesa you see nothing but a black mist below it, a single path of stone leading into it and nothing but an empty black sky above. There is enough light to see, but where it comes from is unknown.

Having gotten your bearings in this new plane, you all start to notice a sharp pain on the palm of your left hands. When you check your palm you notice that someone, or something has carved into your flesh, seemingly a long time ago as the wounds has healed, but left a very visible scar. Someone has carved a single word into your palm.

“Tethal”

[hydroplatypus]

Caius looks at his hand, but decides that that issue can wait for later. He immediately goes and picks up his possessions from the pile. When he picks them up he looks around at his companions, and wonders what their real stories are, and what they actually did to get banished.Looking over the group he says:

Well that was certainly unpleasant. Now that that's over I think we should tell each other why we are really here. I doubt that pathetic excuse for a trial actually told us the truth, but there must be some reason why we are all here.

He attempts to be calm and not show his feelings, however he cannot keep a slight nervousness from creeping into his voice. He fears that these people, no longer bound will attack him for his connection to the church.

[Savannah]

Jonas lies on his back for a long moment before moving. He slowly unclenches his fists and raises his hand to look at the word, slightly distorted by the red semicircles his fingernails left on his palm, then lets his head and hand fall back to the ground.

Spoiler

Show

Knowledge (the planes) please? (1d20+13)[16] (And arcana (1d20+7)[26] and religion (1d20+4)[6], just in case )

[Sir_Chivalry]

Ethelinda stands up slowly, checking for wounds. If she finds none, she begins going through the pile of equipment for her stuff.

[Hazuki]

Ezra opens her eyes slowly as the feeling returns to her body, looking around herself and paying only a cursory glance to the scar carved into her hand. This place was far different from what she had expected...and that man was quite the strange one. But that wasn't important right now. The bard gets to her feet, and is immediately met by the small arms of Kulaas wrapping around her waist, head nestled into her hip. A smile come to her lips before Caius speaks. "Kulaas, let's get our things."

Kulaas nods, walkling serenely over to her small pile of valuable equipment and beginning to put on the shiny rings, gems, and cloaks with a smile on her stark white face.

Ezra picks up her gloves, looking around for any loose objects on the mesa that are loose. "What the Archbishop said was true. But it is the perception of me that they fear; rather than what really is." She stretches out her arm of bone, wiggling the fingers in Caius' direction before pulling the glove over it. "I never asked for this."

She slips on a sterling silver circlet, embedded with jewels, over her mane of white hair, followed by an amulet emblazoned with a griffon that rests atop her prisoners' outfit. "As for Kulaas...she is a little girl. And she is no beast. She's just not human." She wraps a white belt made of tightly woven cloth around her waist, pulling on a ring with a song engraved across the inside and out with her free hand.

"What matters is she protects me, and has sworn to do so." Ezra finishes, as she attaches a simple silver anklet with gems hanging off to her ankle, followed by a smooth movement to put a black beret atop her head. She picks up a heavy black cape, swinging it around her form. It shifts in the air for just a moment before disappearing onto the bard's body; becoming an elegant black dress made of silk and a light black cloak hanging from her shoulders, reaching down to the leather boots adorning her feet.

She throws the outfit she was wearing for the banishment to the side. She held no fear of judgement from the other banished people; this was the worse fate that could be given by the church. They could deal no worse without acting the fool.

Spoiler

Show

Taking 10 on Sense Motive for the guy that appeared, for 27. Assuming in this game, Sense Motive can be used for sensing somebody's motive and reading them. Rather than only being a built-in lie detector.

Taking 10 on Spot for 12 for any loose items on the mesa.

[Stasgard]

Jonas:

Spoiler

Show

Your first thought, with the planes emptiness and blackness is that this is a Negative Material Plane. However, that thought is squashed from the realization that you cannot feel the effects of Negative Energy here, leaving you at square one and zero idea what this plane is.

Ethelinda:

Spoiler

Show

The back of your head is a little sore, but other than the scars on your palm, you are uninjured.

Ezra:

Spoiler

Show

The man is something of an enigma, even with your normally good read on people. He appeared to be be simply curious as to who you were, and simply wanted to get a look at you. The smile however... that is tricky. The mans appearance betrayed a malevolent entity, but his mannerism appeared friendly. You cannot narrow down his feelings towards you.

Glancing around the mesa, all you can see is the rest of the Marked's equipment. No sign of plant life, no loose rocks. Simply... nothing.

[hydroplatypus]

Still a bit nervous Caius starts to pull objects out of a bag he picked up. As he pulls objects out he listens to Ezra's speech. While putting on a cloak he replies

How did your arm come to be so? I have heard of those touched by negative energy before, but your case is peculiar. I have studied both the arcane and divine magics, so maybe I will be able to help.

As he is saying this Caius tries to remember if he has seen anything similar in his studies of magic.

Spoiler

Show

knowledge arcana: (1d20+22)[34]
knowledge religion: (1d20+20)[21]

[Sir_Chivalry]

Ethelinda removes the clothing she has on and begins to dress in her usual clothing of dark leather and wool. Once she is dressed, she begins collecting her hair into a bun.

Once she is prepared, she snaps her fingers and mutters. Her armour rises up as she puts her arms out, attaching itself to her and securing its straps.

[Stasgard]

Caius:

Spoiler

Show

Never in your study of the Divine have you heard of anything quite like this, raising the dead, sure, but never melting the flesh of the bone. In your study of the Arcane however, you have heard of a few cases of especially sadistic Necromancers marking their targets by stripping flesh and muscle from a persons bones.

You have yet to have heard of a way to reverse the effects of it, nor have you heard any specifics of how it is done. From the best of your speculation on the subject, Divine magic may be able to reverse it, but the caster would need to match, or surpass the power of the Necromancer who cast the original spell.

[Hazuki]

Kulaas walks to Ezra's side with a smile, now that she's in a colorful dress and a strange mechanism is attached to her torso. She smiles around the area, looking over everyone present while Ezra talks to Caius.

"My brother;" Ezra begins, not bothering to hide the disdain in her voice. "Is a Cleric. He was called to assist a town that were having necromancer problems. We got there too late and I ended up captured after they incapacitated dear Bael with ease." She turns to face Caius as she finds nothing to pick up.

"The necromancers took me as their prize and began to melt the flesh from my arm." She resists the urge to twitch at recollection; the day was stressful enough already. Perhaps time to rest would be available soon. "Luckily a friend was called by the charm I wore around my neck. A Fey creature by the name of Lyrinilel. She destroyed the necromancers and saved me from...everything. But that's irrelevant."

"The damage was done."

[hydroplatypus]

That is a terrible story. All this time you have been persecuted based on something entirely not your fault. If I could help I would, but I don't know of any magic that would counteract this. It should be theoretically possible, however it is beyond me for the moment.

At this Caius looks sad, hoping to have been able to help. He then looks at Kullas, and says You don't seem nearly as bad as the other priest made you sound. You seem much nicer than they were certainly.

He then addresses them both, saying You seem to have been the target of great misfortune. I hope that you will accept my apologies for the acts of my fellow priests. You seem better people than me. I am here for my failure to defend Marrakesh as the bishop said. The blood of ten thousand are on my hands for my failure. At this his eyes tear up, which he takes a second to wipe away. He continues in an uneven voice.Those people trusted me and I let them down. 10 000 innocent lives condemned to whatever punishments the demons dealt out, because I wasn't good enough. At this tears start to run down his face, and he turns away from Ezra, in order to hide this from her.

[BelGareth]

Samus awakens to the dark and dreary sky, his hand throbbed and the image of a strangely beautiful man haunted his mind. Faint, but dark recollections assaulted him, but he could not recall much.

Turning his vision to the scene laid out before him, Much has changed he thought to himself.

Leaning up on his elbows he looks around, seeing several of the people who were bound and gagged with him up and about he sighs, realizing the ceremony was complete and his banishment was unfolding.

Slowly standing, he stretches his joints, they felt as if he had been asleep for a while and were stiff with the coldness of the void. Seeing his equipment he reaches down and begins to garb himself.

An image runs through his mind, was it his daughter? Was he being visited by the dreams of his family? or were these images bought to his minds eye by the power of the vestiges he bound to his soul? No, they were under his command and would not affect him, although he sometime wandered about that, he always felt the stirring deep in his soul, but he had always managed to shunt it aside and command the strange powers to be.

And then he recalls his actions before being banished, Oh gods, did I do that?

Picking up his spear he twirls in it a flourish, Ah, that is better The cold steel shaft secured him somehow, it grounded him that this was all real, but he was still who he was and he could change things, as least here.

Looking to the others he speaks for the first time since he awoke "Eugh..." The word comes out garbled and his tongue was almost completely dry, he had always had a penchant to sleep with his mouth open. His mother had said it would be the death of him, exactly how many spiders had he stomached he did no know.

Coughing away the dryness of his throat he grimaced, "It would seem the banishment was successful." he says simply.

Looking down he see's the image of his daughter, Rai'lee, and smiles I will not lose my composure again, my sweet child.

Walking to the edge of the Dais he looks down the path leading to them, his eyes scrutinizing anything that would seem odd. His daughter moved before him and motioned towards the others with her hand silently, shaking his head he smiles again, a warm beautiful smile in contrast to his dark image. of course, I will, but it will take time.

Spoiler

Show

Holy cow you guys blew up this thread, give a guy a chance to post!

[Hazuki]

Kulaas approaches the edge of the mesa as Samus does, peering over the edge and looking down into the mist below. She shoots a look back at Ezra before jumping off of the edge of the mesa. Ezra keeps an eye over the edge as she steps closer to Caius and places her left hand on his shoulder, squeezing it softly. "There will be time for despair when we can secure a haven." She tells the man softly.

Spoiler

Show

Mulaas will use Cloudwalk to walk on the mist.

[Sir_Chivalry]

After securing her magic items, Ethelinda will pick up her weapon and walk slowly down the path, intent on checking what is there.

[Stasgard]

Kulaas:

Spoiler

Show

Your blindsense reaches out, when standing atop the mist, but you feel nothing but empty space beneath you. Either you are very high up, or the plane ends below the mist.

Ethelinda:

Spoiler

Show

As you walk down the path, you are soon engulfed by the mist. When inside it, it strangely seems to part, giving you vision for a few meters in each direction, but the mist is impenetrably thick beyond that. If you continue, you wander for a few minutes heading further and further down, but still not finding anything but more mist and the path.

[BelGareth]

Samus follows the woman into the mist, spear held casually with one hand at his side.

As he walks into the mist behind the woman, the area around him instantly burst into flame, a dark flame tinged with a brakish green hint on it's edges. It seems to dance irregularly, but in the midst of it all a solid deep red flame stands out and dances it's own fiery dance.

Spoiler

Show

Activating Aym's Halo of fire and Holocaust Cloak stance.

Halo of fire -
Attackers receive 1d6 fire damage (half vile)

Holocaust Cloak -
Attackers receive 5 fire damage (half vile)

[Hazuki]

Kulaas walks across the floor, treading hard on some parts of the mist to see its effect before her form shifts into that of a hummingbird, flying back to the Mesa before turning back into the form of a little girl. "Nothing there..." She whispers loudly to Ezra, who is watching the other banishees leave silently.

"Not a very friendly bunch, are they?" The bard mutters to Caius.

[Hazuki]

Kulaas walks across the floor, treading hard on some parts of the mist to see its effect before her form shifts into that of a hummingbird, flying back to the Mesa before turning back into the form of a little girl. "Nothing there..." She whispers loudly to Ezra, who is watching the other banishees leave silently.

"Not a very friendly bunch, are they?" The bard mutters to Caius.