[4E] Zeitgeist: The Gears of Revolution

[Tukka]

In Character Thread
[Link to OOC Thread]

[OOC: Go ahead and read the spoilered info for your group. After that, you may interact with the rest of the party and specify your actions. You may want to start with some IC introductions and an explanation of what the hell you're doing on the island. For Saradoc, John and Aurora, everything up to the the third to the last paragraph in your spoiler should be old info, but you may want to read it for a refresher.]

The Exploits of Aurora, John and Saradoc

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The royal constables Saradoc Montajay II, Kintaro, Mikal, Ialia Verankht and John Tinton were tapped to provide security at the launch of the RNS Coaltongue. That night, the Duchess of Etheyln of Shale -- King Aodhan's sister -- attempted to assassinate her brother by sabotaging the new warship. The constables were able to heroically avert disaster and captured a two of the conspirators -- a halfling assassin posing as a pastry chef, and the Duchess's handmaiden, a rare eladrin female named Sokana. The Duchess herself escaped on some sort of enormous sea monster, which only Mikal and Saradoc were able to catch a brief glimpse of.

During Sokana's short interrogation (Principal Minister Harkover Lee insisted on having experts in Flint carry out the full interrogation), she warned the constables against trusting the rival nation of Danor and further distancing Risur from the traditions of the Old Faith that had appeased the archfey for so long.

In the days that followed, the constables were taken off the case and given other routine work to do, and King Aodhan made a brief speech in which he announced that in the interest of further normalizing relations with Danor, that a peace summit will be held in one year's time, and that to seal the new treaty he intends to marry a Danoran. The announcement was controversial, but vocal dissent was subdued, partly as a result of a rise in patriotic solidarity in the wake of the Duchess's treachery.

Days later, the constables were called into a meeting by their boss, Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft. Also present was Danor's Minister of Outsiders, Lya Jierre. The two informed the constables of a development that had not yet become common knowledge: after escaping the Coaltongue, Duchess Ethelyn had mounted a successful invasion on a Danoran-held territory in the Yerasol Archipelago called Axis Island. In order to maintain the fragile peace between the two countries, the constables were tasked with a mission to assist the Danorans in retaking the island from the Duchess and her rogue forces.

Specifically, the Flint constables were ordered to assist a more experienced RHC team from Slate (dubbed "Team A") in the primary mission of infiltrating the Axis Island fort and opening its sea gate so a Risuri naval force could move in and overwhelm the rebels.

The Flint constables ("Team B") were given the secondary objectives of finding and capturing the Duchess Ethelyn if she is present, and preventing her escape by any means necessary (Saradoc, as a spirit medium, would interrogate her in the event of her death). Lya Jierre also made a personal request of the constables: that they find and protect her younger cousin, Nathan Jierre, whom she insists is a defenseless innocent. She fears the Duchess may be tempted to make Nathan a target of her wrath simply because he is a tiefling.

Though Minister Jierre was quite forthcoming about the military installations present on the island, after she left, Delft told the constables to be wary, as he suspects the Danorans are still hiding something. Then he sent the constables off to the quartermaster to receive some special mission-critical supplies (material components, and scrolls of Animal Messenger, Water Breathing, Passwall and Pyrotechnics).

Unfortunately, tragedy befell Team A early on in the mission -- an underwater cave-in resulting from a planar fluctuation killed all of Team A with two exceptions: Burton, the team's resident surgeon and infiltration expert, whose leg was crushed beyond use, and Aurora, a skyseer and druid who was attached to Team A for training. Team B arrived at the site of the cave-in, and Kintaro was knocked unconscious by a secondary cave-in.

Team B and Aurora brought the incapacitated constables into the mine that Lya Jierre had previously informed them of, but the party was attacked by a jittery Danoran foreman named Nicolas Dupiers. Dupiers was assisted by a pair of elementals (one of earth, one of shadow). After taking a few hits, the constables were able to convince Dupiers that the Risuri forces that had attacked the islands were a rogue faction, and that the RHC had been sent to help return the island to Danoran control.

After the situation had been defused, the constables had a few questions for Dupiers. He explained that unusual magical phemonana like planar fluctuations are known to occur on Axis Island, and that their structures (such as the excavated portions of the mine) are reinforced with iron, which prevents the fluctuations from occurring. The constables were also curious about a hand-sized golden medallion that was embedded in a fragmented pillar at the center of the chamber where they had fought. Dupiers is in possession of two similar medallions, and he attributed his control of the elementals to the objects. Dupiers had "secured" the two medallions from a safe to prevent them from falling into enemy hands, and was on his way to the chamber to claim another elemental protector when the constables arrived.

Dupiers instead surrendered the third icon to the party, which revealed a small air elemental. John (in the guise of a Risuri primalist named Tin Tau) inspected the icon and determined that its magic would only function in the vicinity of the island, and that it has the added benefit of allowing its bearer to make incredible leaps with ease. The engravings on the icons and the pillar in which the third icon was embedded looked quite ancient. Aurora was able to determine that the party's medallion depicts The Eagle constellation, which is said to have influence over the plane of Avilona.

The constables then decided to move on, leaving Dupiers to tend to Kintaro and Burton. The constables emerged from the mine, greeted by a deserted battleground. Trees were scored by swordstrikes and arrows, and were partially uprooted. Also, the ground around them had been recently overturned. The constables did not linger, and set off to the north, moving in the direction of the Axis Fort.

Along the way, they heard the sound of something massive moving through the forest. Aurora went to investigate, and witnessed the cause of the commotion: a decapitated iron golem, blindly plodding away from the mountains and dripping a strange black oil with motes of white light suspended in it. Aurora collected a small sample of the strange substance, then returned to the party.

About an hour later while making their way over the rugged mountain terrain, the party was gripped by a sensation of vertigo as another planar fluctuation warped reality around them. The black sky is replaced with an eerie purple, and the ground below them is a gray muck.

A wind blows heart, and a vicious gust knocks Ialia and Mikal off their feet, sliding down the hill into what looks like a puddle -- but when they make contact with the surface of the puddle, it stretches and pops like a slimy membrane, and the two constables disappear a pit of indeterminable depth. The other constables struggle to reach the pit while being taunted by the cacophanous croaking of yellow frogs. The winds turn against the against constables, and the world soon begins to flicker darkly around them again.

Then Saradoc, Aurora and Tintau (John's alias for this mission) find themselves back in the normal world, with Ialia and Mikal nowhere to be found. The party reluctantly continues towards their destination. They make it through the mountains without further mishap and enter a forest and move north towards the fort.

While traveling through the forest, a gout of flame issues from the forest, some hundred feet away. The constables move to investigate. What they find are another three constables, but not the ones they set out on this mission with...

The Exploits of Aeric, Leif and Taral

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Thirteen days ago, the constables Aeric Silverspur, Leif Haust and Taral Kasha boarded the RNS Goshawk, setting out on a mission to patrol the Avery Sea to the west of Flint. The mission was intended partly as a follow-up to some arrests the constables made that revealed the names of couple ships suspected of carrying contraband Drakran military-grade weapons, and partly as an opportunity to round out the constables' training with some maritime experience.

Four days into the journey, the constables were sailing in the vicinity of the city of Shale, when the ship's lookout spotted a fleet of ships sailing north. The Goshawk's captain ordered a change in course of intercept. The fleet were identified as friendlies -- Risuri Navy vessels. The lead ship, a galleon, signaled the Goshawk by aldis lamp, and indicated that it should join formation. Shortly thereafter, the ship received a confirmation of orders detailing the ship's grim change of mission.

It turns out that the fleet had assembled in response to fresh intelligence indicating that the Danorans are engaged in a military buildup in the Yerasol Archipelago on Axis Island, which is within spitting distance of Shale -- a city which nearly fell in the last war. The plan was to confront the Danorans and demand that they allow an inspection of the island to occur, and to take over the island by force if they refuse.

Unfortunately the Danorans refused, and the battle began -- a battle that everyone feared might by the first in the Fifth Yerasol War. A few hours into the fight, the Goshawk was blasted by Danoran cannon fire from, and all three of the constables were badly injured, and the crew was forced to abandon ship.

The Risuri attack was successful, however. The Danorans were forced to abandon the island's most fortified position, the Axis Fort, and the constables were moved into an infirmary within the fort. The concerned Risuri medics refused to allow the constables to leave the makeshift hospital for two days while they recovered, but on the third day, the party received an unexpected summons from the Duchess Ethelyn of Shale.

"I wanted to meet you constables personally, to impress upon you the importance of the mission I am about to give you," she began.

"The Danorans are up to something here. I have received preliminary reports of strange factories in the villages. We need to find out what the Danorans were up to here, but I have few trained investigators at my disposal.

"Our forces are about to make a push into the heart of the island. You constables will be embedded with Firbolg Company, but I want you to avoid the front lines -- I need investigators more than foot soldiers right now."


The Duchess goes on to explain that your mission is to investigate any factories or anything else unusual that may shed light on what the Danorans are doing on the island. The constables don't have to stay with the company at all times, and warns that if they get separated, Taral in particular might be in for a rough time if he's separated from a group of soldiers that know his face -- given most of her peoples' feelings towards tielflings.

The party does as the Duchess asks, and begins a week-long expedition into the island's interior. The company encounters pockets of Danoran resistance over the first few days, but towards the end of the week, the Risuri forces begin to find Danoran settlements and installations that have been abandoned. The constables get the sense that many members of the company are uneasy.

"This is a playground of the fey," claims one soldier, "but nobody here respects them with tribute, so they run wild and play cruel tricks on anybody who dares set foot on the island.

One such trick is the fact that compasses don't work on the island -- they simply spin on their axes, hence the name of the island.

The company's First Sergeant, Elrik Ryan mentions that he fought here in the war and he saw things that made him hope he'd never have to return, but he doesn't offer specifics. A druid attached to the company explains that the island is "lies too close to the land of the infernals," that it's at the periphery of "the curse of the Malice."

Among the constables' discoveries were a pair of firearms factories, as well as another factory with the purpose of refining gemstones into adamantine. The factories were not powered by firegems or traditional steam power, but instead seemed to utilize some sort of localized arcane power source.

Other discoveries included a mine with walls embedded with iron spikes at regular intervals -- approximately 30 feet apart, as well as what appears to have been an archeological dig site, with eroded pillars and walls stone, carved with primitive depictions of humans and animals.

The dig site appeared to have been hastily abandoned. The constables wanted to explore the site a bit more thoroughly -- the three constables could cover ground faster than the company, so stayed behind to finish up their investigation of the dig site, and to catch up with the company down the road.

There, the constables discovered one particular item of note -- beneath one empty crate, the party found a map that looked to depict the island, criss-crossed with different colored lines that intersect at a handful of points across the island. After collecting the map and taking a rubbings of the carvings, the party moved to catch up with the company.

After traveling about a half mile up the road, the constables came upon a gruesome sight -- the corpses of most of Firbolg Company, scattered along and beside the road. The bodies were soaking wet, and appeared to have drowned, in spite of the fact that there were no bodies of water in sight. The captain's body and about a dozen others were nowhere to be found, and a search of the immediate area turned up nothing.

Hours later, after night had fell, the constables were returning to the fortress to report the loss of Firbolg Company and their other discoveries, when a gout of flame issued from the forest, a couple hundred miles away. The party moved to investigate, and unexpectedly encountered another trio of constables...

[Falconknight06]

The slaughter of Firbolg company weighs on Aeric's mind a bit, as he is not much accustomed to death, except in the stories his parents told about the war. But he steels himself to do his job, moving silently towards where the burst of flame was, walking a bit ahead of the group to scout a bit for the group. As the stealthiest member of the party, he felt that this was his job.

He was unprepared to see another group of three making their way towards the odd sight. His hand moved instinctively to his pistol, which he drew and approached the other group saying Halt in the name of the RHC! No funny business, I have a gun. Aeric's accent, no matter how light, marks him as being from Ber. Any who look at him see a green-eyed half-elf of a little over five and a half feet tall with short brown hair, in leather armor and a dark green shirt. He sports a red cloak, and he is holding a well-made, highly decorated pistol. Any of a religious bent might recognize the holy symbol of Sehanine embossed on his pistol.

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Stealth roll to see if they hear me coming up behind them before he gets there
(1d20+7)[17]

And Intimidate if needed
(1d20+3)[9]

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

Muttering to Leif beside him, "Sure, he sneaks around all stealthy like, then shouts out who we are, and that he has a gun. We ran across two Danoran weapons factories, and his pistol is intimidating. This is a promising start. I'm going to get myself shot on sight, aren't I?" He slips a pair of soft boots over his feet, he tries to circle around in the other direction, trying to flank with Aeric.

Shouting out is a deep, full voice, he bellows. "And so do I!" Taking a few more steps, he alters his cadence. "Ya know what, me too!" A few more steps deeper into the woods, in a gruff tone "Why, it seems that I'm also obscenely well armed!" Attempting to sound like his own battalion, he shouts out again, this time with a feminine voice, "Looks like we all have big guns boys. Perhaps you three would like to make your intentions clear, before we use your skulls for target practice. My boys have been a bit trigger happy later, and I don't see much reason to deny them their pleasure."

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Bluff (1d20+14)[15]

[Infernally Clay]

"They are so not going to fall for this..." Leif sighed as Taral tried several different accents to fool the mysterious group.

Walking firmly into the open, between her two allies, Leif spoke plainly, "Just show yourselves before these two make us look any more incompetent."

Standing in a naturally imposing way, Leif's green eyes seemed to glow with confidence. Her hand rested upon on the sheath of her weapon, a simple gesture that said quite a lot. Even if she thought Aeric and Taral were being foolish, she wouldn't hesitate if they were proven right.

[mullensmd]

Perhaps it was the fact that she'd just left two comrades on another plane- or perhaps she just didn't like the tone of the elf- but so it was that this 5' 11: shifter, without waiting to confer with the others, stepped forward and faced the trio of strangers. She glanced at the woman, pulling herself to her full height having learned that such things often impressed or intimidated others more than claws or teeth - and also knowing that men were men no matter the species, perhaps a good distraction from her hide clad hide would give the others a chance if things went sour. She spread her hands, empty, her staff still across her back.

"I am Aurora, Moonspeaker and Skyseer. Tell me, is the armed waylaying of strangers part of RHC training where you are stationed? It is not for my troop. Put away your weapons- it is clear that you have lost comrades as have we. Let us talk and then, if you are good, I might play with your big guns."

She smirked at the gnome.

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

The ruse clearly failing, and it turning out not to be needed, Taral removes his slippers, and marches into the clearing. He keeps a respectful distance, aware that his 6'2" body, bright red skin, pointed tail, and back sweeping horns, made him a threaten figure to anyone on alert for Danoran troopers. His shield strapped to his back, he rests his hands on his belt, palm lightly on his rapier's hilt.

"The comrades we lost were an entire troop we were attached to. We have been sent to investigate, and we have found many troubling things. And yes, I am a member of the RHC, despite my appearance. I am know as Taral, though I doubt you'd have knowledge of me."

He manages to refrain from making a comment about the druid's clear double entendre. He had played along with one bad idea tonight, he wasn't going to do it again. Fully visible, his golden eyes flicker with energy, the lack of pupil slightly disturbing to those unfamiliar with seeing his race up close. His tail flicks back and forth, waiting for a response from the new trio. His team did have them at a positional advantage, but it was clear they had training that outstripped his in the area, not to mention far better cohesion.

If things turned sour, especially if they were as well armed as Taral had pretended to be, this could go very bad, very quick. His best chance was to keep them talking, keep them off balance. Working as many undercover operations as he had, he was keenly aware that when people were talking, they tended to not be killing at the same time.

"We saw the torrent of flame spiral into the sky, and as investigators, we investigated. We've already found two arms factories, and with our company in the dirt, we are a bit jumpy, and finding you here after these series of events, you'll forgive our brusk reaction. Is this good enough for you, Aurora, or is there something else you'd like from us?" He ends the question on an open note, being minimally threatening. Those that feel they have the upper hand, tend to wait to use it.

Edit: As he finishes his last sentence, he draws his rapier. With it, he quickly looses a few branches from a nearby tree, and using that blade and his tail he quickly assembles them before him in the middle of the blast crater. Sheathing his blade he retrieves flint and steel from his pack, using it to start a small fire. Most of the boughs being quite green the fire was weak, but the flickering light cast foreboding shadows across his scarred visage. Using his bare hands, he poked and prodded the embers until he felt confident that the fire would sustain itself.

[Tukka]

Taral's campfire puts out about as much light as a torch, casting flickering red-orange light on the faces of those gathered around -- enough to recognize the faces of some of your fellow constables from the RHC office in Flint. A nearby hill, some trees and brush should screen the light to at least some extent. (There is no crater nearby that you can see, though you could dig out a small pit.)

The small fire also provides enough light to reveal that some of the trees here have been lightly scorched. Apart from that, nobody notices anything out of the ordinary.

[atomiclemming]

Tintau stays back a bit watching the exchange. He pulls back his own hood revealing bright blue eyes features that could pass for that of a half-elf.
"Yes you look familiar. we have seen you before once or twice.
but why are you here. We were told two teams not three. Who sent you to the island?"
He stands calm his hands down beside his robes as he shifts the bag strapped to his shoulder slightly to allow him easier access to the contents if need be

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

"Yes, I do suppose around our office I'm hard to miss." He runs a finger along the scar on his right cheek, up to his horn, then continuing backwards, a few stray strands of purple hair having fallen out of place. His long tail flicks to the other side of his body as he shifts his weight, preparing recount their recent adventures.

"Duchess Ethelyn of Shale embedded the three of us within Firbolg Company, under the command of Elrik Ryan. We have been investigating Danoran arms facilities, strange goings on in a mine delayed us, and when we caught up with the troops, we found most of them to be drowned, despite a lack of a body of water nearby. First Sergeant Elrik Ryan, and several others', bodies were missing. We were on our way when we saw the tower of fire spout into the sky. As investigation of the bizarre is our task, we came to discover what was the cause. This island has already claimed the lives of good men in unusual ways, I'd like to find out way and put an end to it."

He shifts back, tail flicking again, his arms crossed across his chest. He had been responsible for the deaths of men before, but they had always been bad men, and the causes never so unusual. It was unsettling, having no explanation of the cause, nor a reason for the slaughter. There was concern of infernals this close to the Malice's curse, and the Fey were always an issue, and given the bizarre precautions the Danoran's had taken, there was certainly something odd afoot.

[Falconknight06]

Oh thank goodness Aeric will say as he recognizes his fellow RHC members and quickly putting his pistol away. I'm really sorry about the holding up. I've been a bit on edge after what we found of the troop we were traveling with. I believe the term "a bit rattled" might be the best way of putting it. I haven't had to deal with death on that scale before, and I wasn't thinking. Apologies. Aeric's voice cracks a bit as his nerves come tumbling out at his apparent anger causing actions. The earlier events of the night clearly confusing the young RHC member.

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The odd wording is supposed to belay where Aeric is from, and that Primordial is not his native tongue.

[atomiclemming]

Tintau tries to keep his face impassive at the sound of the Duchess's name but a look of worry crosses his eyes
"I agree some strange things have been occurring here at the island. Primal majiks and the like. How long ago did the Duchess send you here..
Had word of the HMS Coaltoungue reached your company in slate before you left?
If not I will tell you happened."
Tintau looks down for a minute lost in thought

[Tukka]

For Aeric, Leif and Taral

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You've heard some of the RNS Coaltongue in the news. It's a warship -- the first Risur has built that relies entirely on steam instead of sail for locomotion. As you recall, it has a wooden hull but iron plating, and features some arcane innovations as well. A christening and launch ceremony was to be held a day or two after you all left on your own mission at sea.

All of that is common knowledge in Flint, however. It seems as though Tintau is speaking of something more specific, and ominous.

An image of the RNS Coaltongue, which you might have seen as an artist's rendering in the Flint Tribune:

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[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

"She gave us our orders a little over a week ago, we left before the scheduled date to leave port, and we haven't exactly been kept up to date on such matters. If I recall it had some advanced engines, and other state of the art accoutrement. Metallic sheath on the hull, arcane modifications...

From your tone, I take it you know more pressing information than technical specifications?"

[mullensmd]

Aurora will leave the telling of what happened to the Coaltongue, since she had not been present for the launching. Instead she approaches Aeric, takign his arm gently, going back to a more natural posture and tone of voice.

"On our mission I have had to watch as a cave in crushed all of my team save one- who is badly injured and not with us now. I've had to watch as two of my new comrades were sucked into a pit on another plane- just as we blinked back here."

She smiled a bit. "Your apology is accepted- and not needed. Believe me, I've felt like attacking the first person I saw as well- just to relieve the uselessness I feel now."

Edit: Her eyes flicked to the big Tiefling hearing his words, then returned to the elf with a more watchful cast.

[Falconknight06]

Well, even if not needed, I apologize anyway Aeric will say, allowing his arm to be taken. I am also sorry for the loss of your teammates

[atomiclemming]

Tintau nods." I suppose that makes sense then. We were assigned first to protect the launch and keep any troublemakers quiet and then upon the coaltoungue itself. It was indeed a fine pice of engineer. The engineer was a tiefling and had built a breathtaking combination of the arcane and the technological. I wish we had been given more time to study her. Such a beauty.... until she was sabotaged in attempt to kill the king...
She was infiltrated by a group working for someone close to the king. Very close. She had her own agenda apparently and now seeks to destabilize the relations between Danor and our kingdom. We are what's left of two groups sent to apprehend the traitor. She seems to have some truck with the primalists and is no stranger to magic either."
He waits for some reaction from the new group and then continues,
"I am sorry to inform you of this but by following your current orders , you have unwittingy been a pawn in all of this mess."

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

Letting out a heavy sigh, Taral pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head with closed eyes. This was not the first time that misinformation had let him to doing things had he would have to fight against later on. Pulling his head back but leaving his fist were it is, that hand shakes, emphasizing the points he makes. "Then it follows to reason this traitor was the one responsible for drowning our company in the middle of dry land. The Duchess suspected that there was something up on this island, suspicious of the Danoran's. We have found similar sounding devices in the abandoned foundries, engines powered by localized arcane energies."

Dropping his fist back to it's normal resting place on his rapier's hilt, he continues. "It would seem that there is certainly trouble, either the Danoran's are up to something and they are using this traitor to weaken us before an assault, or there is some faction within our government that seeks to start a war with my people and they have used this traitor and my allies to further that goal.

There is something rotten in Shale." He shifts his balance yet again, his tail quivering at the mention of my people. He was certainly loyal to the RHC, and disagreed heavily with the reckless developments in war technologies. But despite all of his reservations and disagreements with those in power, he still felt a connection to those that had his horns and tail. Maybe someday there truly would be peace between the people he loved and the government he supported.

[atomiclemming]

Tintau nods , " Yes, misinformation, lies decict. I thought you might guess who the traitor was after all she is the one who sent you here. perhaps even to stir things up for her own ends. The duchess is who we were sent to bring in for her crimes. We saw her with our own eyes and her haindmaiden Sokana. Sokana and her henchmen used magic to ovverride the safeties on the ship and then attempted to cause it to explode. Wouldnt be surprised if it got blamed on the Danorians.. I hope she isnt tracking you right now.. we could all be in danger. She probably has eyes and ears everywhere.. watching.. "
Tintau pulls his cloak around him hiding is head as best he can , eyes darting back and forth looking for watching shadows

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

His hand tightens around his weapon, frustration at being someone's puppet, again, visibly irritates him. He furrows his brow as he focuses his mind, searching for any trace of a seventh presence. "I did not take anything from that meeting, nothing she could have enchanted. I don't believe either of my companions did either. If she is tracking us, it must be by different means. We haven't reported in for a while, in fact we are overdo. I suppose she won't be getting us to do her dirty work any further." He relaxes his clenched hand, and let's out another sign, this one smaller, a practiced mediative technique to allow him to move past his anger, and focus on the task at hand.

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Arcana for anyone watching them. (1d20+6)[21]

[Tukka]

For Taral

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Arcana for anyone watching them. (21)

You don't detect anything you'd attribute to a divination spell or ritual, nor anything you could attribute to magicks of concealment, but you do sense something odd... it seems like a strong flow of air mana stirring somewhere above you.

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

He glances upward at the night sky, peering at stars overhead. Taral runs his fingers over the star burst scar in on his left palm, a permanent reminder of a dark day in his past, that changed his live drastically. Blinking, he refocused his eyes to a wide, closer view. "I can't sense anyone watching us, but there is something about the air overhead, it's full magical energy. Possibly a leftover from the torrent of flame that drew us to this location." Tilting his head back down, he looks at the more experienced agents. "You wouldn't happen to have any ideas about the case of that fire, would you?"

[mullensmd]

Aurora listened to the story that J- er Tintau told the Tiefling with almost as much interest as he. Sure, she had heard the official report of what had happened while her team- her original team- had been off chasing the wild geese and getting into ambushes, a side action designed by the Duchess to draw security away from the Coaltongue

She let her gaze follow the tiefling's upward, wondering what he gazed at when he looked to the stars. She stopped herself from settling in to her own stargazing- plenty of time for that later. She couldn't help but chuckle at his words, though.

"At the moment I have plenty of ideas about this fire- all of which are bad for us. Hopefully in the morning the stars will have cleared my sight on the matter."

She will then smile at Aeric and pat his arm before, finally, releasing it.

[Falconknight06]

Aeric will return Aurora's smile and look around on the ground. He will also think on what Tintau had said, looking for his sincerity.

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Insight roll time!
(1d20+10)[16]

Please don't be terrible!

[Tukka]

Aurora seems sincere.

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

Looking around the group, he takes the pulse of the situation, and decides it's time to move out. "Then I would suggest we get away from it. We left the Duchess not that far from here. Perhaps it is time that the three of us return to report our findings of the Danoran's activities. And while we do that, it would give you time to get into position, so that once she incriminates herself, we can all sweep in, cutting off any escape routes."

With a swift curved motion, he draws his blade and slices another set of branches from the nearby trees. Kneeling, he picks up some branches from the combusted trees, and uses the try and wet wood to craft several impromptu torches, using the small bonfire to light each one, then pass them around to the group. "To Axis Fort we go. It's time to make the Duchess to pay for having our men killed. I haven't needed to proper clean this blade in too long."

He marches off, holding his torch in his shield hand, using his rapier to move branches out of the way as he walks away from the pit and towards the fortress. The drowned faces of the men he had worked with flashed before his face as he walks through the darkness. Remembering what he knew of each solider, he began to wonder what happened of company's First Sergeant, Elrik Ryan, and the few others whose bodies had not been found. Had they been kidnapped by those that killed his company, or had they been the instigators themselves? Whoever was responsible for that massacre, Taral would gladly slide his blade through their chest. Murder was not his preferred way of dealing with problems, but in this case it was warranted.

There will be blood tonight!

[Tukka]

On torches

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Make a Nature check to determine the number and quality of your improvised torches.

[Tegu8788]

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Oh I'm gonna burn my arm off. (1d20+1)[17]

And that is one of the best rolls I've made in a few months.

[Frothingslosh]

Saradoc shakes himself out of his thoughts.

It's good to have more of the RHC at our back again. This island has a perplexing ability to remove my comrades.

To Axis Fort is right, Taral. However, the Duchess must come second. Our primary responsibility, now that our first team is incapacitated, is to open the island for the fleet to retake it. We must fulfill our duty to the RHC and Risur, before completing our more entertaining tasks.

[Falconknight06]

I'm fine without the torch, makes me a target. The stars and moonlight lets me see fine thanks to my Elven heritage Aeric will say when offered a torch. He will then turn to Saradoc saying how do we open the island as it were? I've felt a bit of a magical dampening, but it seems that shouldn't prevent the steam ships from retaking the island. What is the plan?

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

"Aeric, my eyes are just as good as yours. We can use the torches until we are close enough to see the lighthouse. There is no need to be sneaky when there is no one that can see us. And we can cover more ground with sure footing, instead of trusting that shadows aren't rocks. And besides, we don't all have such good sight at night."

Using his sword, he moves a branch over his head, catching it with his tail so that it doesn't smack the person moving behind him. "Do you know if the soldiers manning the fort are traitors, or have they been manipulated like my team? If they are loyal, we can take out the poisoned head and have them assist us, but if they be traitors, then working around them, relying on the invasion force to give us the muscle we'd need to retake Axis."

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I'm assuming, from previous post about it being so dark we could barely see each other, that it's so dark that even those of us with low-light vision need the assistance.

Can you give us any information that we would know about the fort's defenses, it's layout, the kind of things that would need to be done to open the island.