Last Bastion of Evil (IC)

[Lochar]

The city of Kyon, Continent of Pyros.

What drew you to this city was an nearly undeniable feeling, pulling you towards each other.

What kept you together after that, was the fact that no blade, spell, or poison used against the other struck true. Hannah even made fun of it, creating quite the feast for the others, finding it funny that spider venom wine and nightshade stew didn't even get to the indigestion stage.

What has kept you in Kyon these past weeks was that while apart you only sense the others, together you can feel shards of power that do not echo with a soul. Power that you can taste, that of the god of Evil, shards that call out to be claimed.

And here in Kyon is the closest one. Likely in the possession of Commander Abera, possibly the secret to his ability to throw off the attacks of the armies of Light with few losses.

And so, after subtly encouraging the owner of a rather nice home to leave, the four of you find yourselves in possession of an eight room home complete with three slave girls who are magically bound to the home.

Armed with your wits and your steady hand, and a fair bit of godly power, will you rise or fall as the last bastions of Evil?

[GryffonDurime]

Parijat sits in repose, his incandescent blue-green plumage being tended to by one of the servants. This has become a daily ritual: the application of certain perfumes and unguents, giving the dour acolyte a rich, earthy musk with just a hint of ash.

"I'm not saying that I don't feel it. I certainly can, and the Commander is almost certainly in possession of it, whatever damned form this nebulous power has taken. But is it really in our best interests to take it from him? Whatever it is gives him strength enough to be a bullwark against the Light. Means I don't have to strut around town dressed all in white," he adds, flipping the page of his hymnal.

"Not that I wouldn't love a fine chance to wring some necks and sow some discord among the Blind, but isn't it ever so refreshing to have our own beshadowed sanctuary?"

[Cardea]

Gravon sits, his chair backwards to the table, him facing it. He slides a knife against the back of his chair, chewing up the wood slowly with grooves and notches. Something to do with his hands, rather than... someone. He looks over at one of the slave girls with a bored look on his face. The knife digs a bit deeper.

"But that is almost. That is not certainty. A possibility that it is somewhere just close by, rather than inside him. If it in the Commander? We leave be. But if the shard is under a stone somewhere, I would be disappointed if the servants of Light found it because of our negligence. Is like child who forget one toy, and has sibling stomp it to pieces."

[Toliudar]

Arranger sits at the table, holding two bottles of red wine in his hand. The small man has changed into a simple robe, and there are slippers on his feet. He has been trying for several minutes now to decide which to open this evening. As he listens to the others' points, he picks out one and gestures absently for one of the slaves to open it for him.

"Well, it shouldn't be too hard to confirm that. Abera isn't always in Kyon Keep. We find out his plans for a day. We split up and wait close to the Keep. If, when he leaves, our sense of this fragment moves with him, we have our answer - at the very least, we'd know that it is within his immediate entourage."

When the slave returns with the bottle and a glass, he accepts it with a faint nod.

"Our host had a pretty god eye for the southern reds. This Rhillian is only six years old, but quite lovely. Anyone else want a glass?"

[The_Snark]

"And what if he does have it?" Hannah demands from her perch on the edge of the table, kicking her feet idly back and forth. "We just leave it with him? That's so boring! I don't see the point of knowing where these things are if we're never gonna do anything about it."

Today she's chosen to present herself as young, with braided hair and oversized clothes that would be nice-looking if they weren't dirty and stained. Too-large boots knock against the table leg in a manner designed to drive parents and authority figures crazy: knock, knock, knock. The serving girls avoid her eye; she in turn ignores them utterly.

[GryffonDurime]

"If he has it, then we have a decision to make, because if this...shard is the source of his victory, then taking it today may weaken this little bastion tomorrow," he says, closing his hymnal and setting it solemnly in his lap. "We must approach this with the utmost in good hedonism, friends. To maximize pleasure and minimize pain, all that matters is that the shards we find are of use to us. Protecting Kyon from the Light serves our interests, increases our pleasure. But I think Arranger has the right of it. We must know more."

Pairjat stands, brushing aside the servant with a simple gesture and approaching Arranger. "I wonder if it would even intoxicate me, if you're the one offering to pour me the drink? Poisons and all." he asks brightly. It was still a wonder to him, their unique condition.

[Cardea]

"Question. Who is to be saying this Commander is not like us? What if we cannot harm him. And what if he is like us further, where he knows about shard? What if he's in the same line of things as we are, and does not even know it?" Gravon says, taking the knife, and lightly jabbing it into the air towards Pairjat. "Could be ally. Could be enemy we just can't beat down. Any of you meet him in flesh?"

"Is nice to have respite, suppose. But not much to hunt here. Can't hunt people without causing big scare. Dogs and cats are too easy. But still is nice. I enjoy the sleep. Probably will not get a lot in future."

[Toliudar]

Arranger smiled, signaled for another glass, and poured for Parijat himself.

"I'm not suggesting in the slightest that taking the shard is our first course of action. The best hunter does not simply lunge at the prey. We might, once we know what it is and where it is lodged, save it for last."

He paused to reflect.

"As for poisoning you...I believe that our only experience so far is that we are unable to harm each other."

He glanced over at Hannah fondly, remembering how he had first discovered this.

"Not that we are unable to affect each other. If that were the case, we might well not even be able to hear each others' words. For some of us, words are weapons, remember. And if you choose to regard this sprightly Rhillion as 'harm', well, I will be ever so sad."

He glanced once more at the label, then sets it down.

"My assumption had been that there might be ways to affect someone without harming them. But I suppose that that bears some experiment? Do I have a volunteer? I promise that it won't hurt."

[Cardea]

Gravon smiles at Arranger's words. He puts the knife in his arm sheathe, and looks at Arranger. "Claws are not Gravon's only weapons. Be good to see what can affect one another, yes? I volunteer."

[Toliudar]

Arranger nods, and stares at the handle of the knife Gravon has just slid into its sheath. The man's eyes flare with blue and purple light for a moment, and then he closes them. Arranger opens his eyes again and gazes at the knife handle.

"Try drawing it again."

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Arranger will attempt to use Grease to coat the handle of Gravon's hunting knife, and then use prestidigitation from his bracelet to turn the handle white.

[Lochar]

The handle of the dagger greases before changing color once more. Gravon draws the dagger, his hand sliding through the grease gingerly, but he holds it steadily. One, two, three tosses between hands, and on the third catch his hands overly greasy now from tossing the dagger back and forth, sending the blade skittering across the table.

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DC 18 reflex save for Grease, Gravon made it three times before finally rolling a 2.

[Toliudar]

Arranger shrugged slightly, and the glint of the coating on the knife disappeared.

"Useful. I was able to affect things close to Gravon, associated with him. Let's try something more direct. Gravon, think of a number between one and ten.

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Trying to read thoughts on Gravon. Will DC 19 negates, although I'm hoping that the shifter will voluntarily fail the save.

[Lochar]

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I'll let Cardea answer, or you can assume he does so Toli, but so long as he fails his save (and he can choose to), it'll work.

[Cardea]

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Sorry. Headache has been killing me today. Failing the save intentionally.

Gravon crosses his arms in front him, leaning on the back of the chair. "Pink."

[Toliudar]

Arranger's eyes go blank for a moment, then snap back, and he glances over at Gravon with a half-smile. He replies first to Gravon in his mind.

"Well, an idiosyncratic choice, but fair enough."

He turns to take in the other two.

"So...it would seem that we are able to affect each other, simply not harm each other. The exact limits of that distinction, I'm not particularly eager to explore further. Regardless, it suggests that if the fifth shard remains inside our commander, it will be something of a challenge to dislodge it. Not to mention the difficulty that we have no idea how to do so. Or even if it's possible..."

His voice trails off, and he takes a sip of the wine. A smile returns.

"So...triangulation to source the remaining shard. What else is on our busy-bee agenda."

[GryffonDurime]

"Mayhem, most likely," Parijat says, not sure whether to take comfort or alarm in the fact that their bond at least allowed for some measure of influence over one another. "I suppose we should away...loathe as I am to go skulking about like some common crow-spawn."

[The_Snark]

Hannah brightens at the prospect of mayhem to come. "That's okay, I can do all the skulking! You're no good at it anyway. Too colorful." Her taste in clothes (and plumage) runs strongly towards the muted and the monochrome.

On the matter of hurting and sabotaging one another she is silent; she has ideas, but doesn't want to test them in case they work. Her shadow can't eat the others, which means her best (and most entertaining) weapon is gone. Maybe she'll have another go at it later, but for now she wants to see where the others can take her. They have big plans, even if they're really slow and boring about it sometimes.

"So are we going to find this this Abera guy? I bet I could sneak into his keep and look around."

[Cardea]

Gravon

"Could always flush out out Commander. Make him fearful? Make him angry? Make him do something stupid, like attack next-in-command?" Gravon says, reaching for his knife. "Or even say something outlandish or even make riot go wild, make him do something desperate. I am all for drawing him out. Must admit. Curious to know how blood of a shard holder tastes."

[Toliudar]

Arranger smiles tightly.

"I only wish that I could oblige, Gravon, but sadly I am using all of my blood at the moment.

"As for provoking a response from Abera...that presupposes that we want to move against him. First, we don't know if he's actually got the shard. Second, there is a very real chance that moving against him now removes our safe haven here."

He smiles and stops speaking, realizing that he is coming dangerously close to lecturing a trio of very capable quasi-deity sociopaths.

"So...shall we go?"

[The_Snark]

"Yes!" Hannah hops down from the table, oversized boots improbably silent as they strike the wooden floor. "Who do you think I should be? Oh! And where are we going, anyway? The fort? The market? I think we should try the fort first. Or are we just gonna walk around and see if we can feel where this thing is?"

[Toliudar]

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Lochar - Making stuff up here. Feel free to stomp/correct as desired.

Arranger pauses and nods.

"Well, if we're up for the triangulation idea, then getting fairly close to the commander is a first priority. If we're a bit spread out when we get an audience, it should make it easy to tell if the shard is actually in him, with someone nearby, or...not. I think that our resident holy man might be able to arrange an audience - perhaps offering up some sort of vague vision or portent about the near future. Unfortunately, there's also the difficulty that getting that close might mean that we come to the attention of whoever has the shared at the same time."

He paused, weighing options and probabilities.

"There is a place along Processional Road, the most likely route that Abera would use in leaving the keep. About two blocks from the keep, and with taverns on both sides of the road where it crosses the Avenue of the Moon. If two of us linger there for a few hours, watching the road, we can monitor any change in our sensation of the shard, and also watch for him coming and going. It's less interesting, but also much safer."

He shrugged elaborately.

[GryffonDurime]

"I would be more than willing to make first contact with the good commander. One would think that he would jump at a chance to meet a true scion of the Dead God," Parijat says, holding up a wicked amulet of smooth obsidian: the holy symbol of Evil. "Surely, he wouldn't attack a humble mendicant and his fellow wayward travelers? Besides: I tire of waiting. There is as much folly in patience as there is wisdom."

[The_Snark]

Hannah nods enthusiastically to this last sentiment. "'kay! You guys go have an audience. I'll snoop around and see if I can find something while he's all distracted. That way we're more spread out," she adds, just to prove that she was listening to Arranger. (Mostly.)

[Toliudar]

Arranger spreads his hand in surrender to Parijat's idea, smiling broadly.

"I would be delighted to support you in your audience, then. And of course Miss Hannah will have an excellent idea for detail that others might miss. Shall we?"

[Lochar]

Getting an audience with Commander Abera is more difficult that just showing up and asking for one, of course.

With Parijat leading Arranger and Gravon, the three are initially rebuffed until Parijat expends some of the divine energy he holds in the form of a Cure wounds spell, which immediately gets the attention of the bureaucrat that stymies them.

The three are told to wait for a moment, leaving you in a sparse waiting room for no more than twenty minutes before several people return.

Three men wearing heavy plate armor and already wielding broadswords step into the room, and another man in light mail follows behind. He tosses a scroll at Parijat. Looking at the scroll, it is a divine scroll of cure light wounds, written as a benediction of Evil, to allow the one healed to continue fighting. Parijat recognizes the cursing of all that is Good that it contains.

"You claim you are still empowered as a scion of Evil. Prove it. Cast from that scroll, that you are not the toy of the two behind you, a false front to try to kill the Commander."



Meanwhile, Hannah skulks through the shadows of the fort, her small form and skill allowing her to be unseen as she moves from room to room.

Hannah:

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Currently, you've snuck past the guards that were protecting the bureaucrat and followed him. You've gone down a fairly long hallway, taken the second hallway to the left, and had to hide as he had a conversation with another man, who summoned three guards in heavy armor and they left. The bureaucrat went through a door further down the hallway.

The hallway is stone, lit by sconces that throw bright light in most places, but leave a five or ten foot level of shadowy illumination between them. All doors are within the full light. From where you are now, there are two doors in this hallway, three back the hallway you were in.