Crown Jewels of Daystor (IC)

[Macha]

"Hold on... WHAT?"

Macha shoves aside Zekka, handing him the circlet almost absentmindedly, and stares at the sword. She stares, and stares, and stares. The astonishment on her face is almost palatable in the air around her, and she draws one of the weapons on her back, poking it tentatively.

"This shouldn't be here. This was destroyed, completely. How is this here?"

Turning to the others, she has lost all face of her normal strange-speech, and she speaks slowly but deliberately.

"We've stumbled across something far larger than we thought. Have any of you heard of the God's War?"

[MikelaC1]

As Macha speaks to the party, all them hear a strange crackling in the air, the sound of a teleport spell arriving. A blue-white bolt of lightning crackles overhead, and they turn to see the new arrival.
Its a human, although almost a parody of one. He almost seems to be a stick man, too little skin stretched over too many bones, and if there is an ounce of muscle or fat on him, youre hard pressed to see it. He shakes his fist at you, angrily snarling.

YOU SEEK TO CHEAT ME OF MY PRIZE BUT THIS ISNT OVER YET, NOT BY A LONG SHOT

He disappears again in a puff of teleport magic...none of you have ever seen the like. Except for two. John and Zekka. The sorcerers name, is Juan Furcan.

[Ridai]

As Zekka stashes the circlet, he gives Macha a somewhat quizzical look. "You mean... the current gods replacing the old gods? Yeah, I think, a friend mentioned something like that on-"

At that moment, Juan Furcan happens. And disappears once more. "...and that was Juan Furcan. No, he isn't into stage magic." He has gotten that question a lot based on that name, somehow.

"I guess that is an artifact of that time then, given your and Furcan's reaction."

[Macha]

"Indeed. This is the Prince's Sword, one of the Crown Jewels of Erandor. It was destroyed during the God's War, but it rests before my very eyes."

Slowly, almost reverently, she picks up the sword, examining it with wonder and dread in her eyes.

"It was erased from this world, yet I hold it. Incredible."

[Ridai]

"That's great and all, but we should get back and also deliver these clowns to the authorities. That mage wants that sword and that's bad."

[Battlechaser]

Let's interrogate them first, they might know something more. Jurian stepped over to the wizard and slapped him a few times on the cheek to wake him up.

As soon as the wizard is alert, the paladin plainly states. If you try anything, I will break your neck. It was no threat, just a promise. Now tell me why you were ordered to steal the diadem. How did you get the sword? And what the hell has Juan Furcan to do with it? At the last question Jurian lifts up the wizard by his throat and brought him up to eye level. Don't lie. I'll know.

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intimidate (1d20+31)[32]
Sense motive (1d20+23)[35]

[MikelaC1]

What sword?
What diadem?
Who are you, where are we?

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Hes not lying.

[Kazyan]

John stomps around, angrily ranting under his breath to himself, before finally speaking up.

"So Juan wants the Prince's Sword and the circlet. Or one of them, at any rate. Looks like we're in deep with stick-figure all of the sudden. Which is fabulous." John groaned and thwacked the ground with his sword. "He's power-hungry, if you can't tell. Maybe he's off getting reinforcements."

[Battlechaser]

Bah! Jurian let the wizard down. He's speaking the truth. Probably some sort of mind control.

[Macha]

"We should move, then."

Hefting the sword over her shoulder, she gets ready to leave.

"We should report back to the Lady, maybe we can find out more."

[Thokk_Smash]

Or maybe they truly do not know who hired them, Iago says, shrugging. In my experience, the higher-ups don't tell the grunts the whole plan, or even a fraction of it. I agree that we should return to our employers immediately with the circlet. Perhaps they will know more.

[MikelaC1]

Getting back to Natasha and the office at Amazon is easy enough to do...any of the bandits that might try to stop you have all been KOd. As before, the guards seem to know you were coming and you get ushered into Natasha's office quickly.

So, did you recover my circlet?

[Ridai]

Zekka places the circlet on the table in answer. "We also found something else and saw one Juan Furcan because of it."

[MikelaC1]

Natasha exchanges a look with Zanthia, and then turns back to you.

I am not familiar with Juan Furcan, but go on....

[Macha]

"This."

She draws the greatsword, holding it point to the ground.

"Tell me, how much do you know of the Crown Jewels of Erandor?

[Kazyan]

John waits in his chair, familiar outside just like last time. He doesn't have anything to add to the conversation--the more knowledgeable people of the group likely had a handle on this already--but he appears a bit impatient.

[MikelaC1]

Natasha does not seem surprised by the sword, exchanging a glance with Zanthia.
It seems that the rumours were correct
She sighs, and turns back to the party
By way of explanation, I need to tell you a bit of history. She points to the bar
Help yourself, theres some of the worlds finest ales, liquours, whatever there, this could take a while.

The history of the Gods

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Several thousand years ago, the pantheon of Daystor was cluttered with a huge number of gods. Zeus, Odin, Thor, Ra, Ishtar, the list went on and on. There were heros aplenty and finally one of them completed the rites of divine ascension, and became a god himself. That was Daren Philisar, who you now know as the supreme god of Daystor. In time, many others completed the same rites, Klintina, Lysindra, Silescia, Endolin, all the gods you know. As these new gods ascended, the Elder gods lost followers to them and thus became less powerful. The last such hero to ascend was Melias Bindar, and he was the straw that broke the camels back. A war broke out, a war between the Elder gods and the new gods. The war raged for years and years, the entire world of Daystor was devastated by it. Many of the landmarks you know today are actually the remanants of those titanic battles. Daren Philisar forged the new gods into an alliance, despite their differing alignments, and they fought as one against them.
The Elder Gods had waited too long and lost too much power. As well, the Elder gods could not stop fighting among themselves, and thus they were slowly pushed out. In the end the Elder gods were banshed from Daystor forever.

This is the news that everyone knows, common knowledge among everyone. What almost no one knows is what I tell you now

The History of the Crown Jewels

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The Crown Jewels of Erandol were the most fabulous of the day, as Erandol was the most powerful city/state of the time. Three times they had established an Empire that ruled the world. The Crown Jewels were the symbol of the royal family and not only were they beautiful, their long association with the royal family had imbued them with magical properties. Several months into the war, an unlikely alliance of the Elder Gods stole the jewels, and took them off for a master plan. Worried about what they were up to, Philisar dispatched his best spy, Syndra Keldith, to find out what they up to. Syndra managed to impersonate one of their servants and spied out what they were up to, as well she managed a few acts of sabotage to keep them off balance. When she managd to figure out that they were attempting to put power into them to destroy gods at a single stroke, Philisar ordered her to wreck the operation. Syndra forged some of their notes, giving them the wrong instructions and during the final ritual, the spell went awry, and a huge explosion resulted, supposedly destroying the jewels

She waits to let this sink in, and then continues

The Jewels Effect

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But in fact, they were not destroyed, merely scattered the length and breadth of Daystor. And their greatest influence was still to come. Months after, Philisar was engaged in a battle with Kali, trying to force her out of the Prime. At one point in the fight, Kali knocked his sword from his grasp with one of her blades and tripped him with two others. As he scrambled back desperately, his hand landed on another sword, it turned out to be the Kings Sword. With no other choice, he snatched up the blade, and used it on her. To his surprise, with one hit, Kali was destroyed, and not only that, locked away unable to return to Daystor. Philisar quickly realized that somehow at least some of the power had infused the Jewels, and he quickly told all the other gods to seek out the Jewels, and use them. A war that looked like it would last for uncounted more years actually ended in months.

Natasha takes sip of her wine, and gets ready to continue

The Betrayal

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At the end of the war, the subject of what to do with the Jewels came up. Philisar argued that they should be returned to Erandol, as they had always been theirs to begin with. Because it was his nature to disagree with everything Philisar said, Rohdan took the opposite view and said they should be shared out among all the cities, with most going to his favourite, Rennador. A battle broke out between them, the other gods came in on various sides, and the power of the jewels was brought into play. No one is quite sure what happened, but another tremendous blast occured, likely because the jewels power was unstable, and the Jewels were destroyed. Or so, everyone thought

For over 5000 years, the world thought the Jewels were destroyed. Then, a couple of months ago, Zanthia and I heard a rumour, that an old item of the Elder gods era had survived. Our enquiries proved fruitless, but Zanthia persisted, lead on by visions from her goddess. Thats when we began to learn about the real fate of the Jewels. We concocted a story that my circlet was actually one of the original pieces, and made sure it was heard in several shady quarters. Two days later, it was stolen. We sent you to get it, hoping that you would find evidence that the Jewels are, in fact, still in existance, and being collected. Now, we know its true.

[Chilingsworth]

Bryan mixes himself a drink of spiked berry juice.

Sounds like the items have the power to falsely convince people of their destruction.

[Macha]

"So you're saying that these are god-slaying, or if not slaying, sealing weapons?"

Macha blinks a couple of times, and downs the rest of her small glass of wine in a one go, before shaking her head vigorously.

"Nrghh... well. This is quite the find. What are we going to do with the Crown Jewels?"

[MikelaC1]

As Macha asks her question, a man steps out of the shadows, startling everyone in the party just a bit. You can feel the power radiating from this man, and it imparts a certain sense of calmness to you.

A fair question, from you. Hopefully, you will assist us in this endevour. You see, these jewels represent a huge threat to Daystor. If someone foolish enough were to gather enough of them together, or perhaps even a couple, Im not sure how many it would take, they could undo the bindings that keep the Elder Gods out of Daystor. We....or more rightly you, if you chose, must gather them up, and bring them back to Natasha as you find them. She will be able to pick the gems out of them, smash the gems and melt down the pieces, destroying their magic forever.
You will be well compensated for your troulbes, of course, and you will be doing not only a service to the gods, but the world itself. If the Elder gods were to return, the devastation they would wreak, the vengeance they would seek, it would destroy Daystor utterly.
And already, there are people working to collect them. You already saw one, Juan Furcan. There might be others, and we believe that he is being assisted by devils as well.
Will you take up this mantle, will you do your world a favour that can probably never be repaid in full?

[Kazyan]

"It's a big task. What will you do when we fail?" John asks glumly. There's not even a question in the 'when', not 'if', of his statement.

[MikelaC1]

Failure is not an option. Failure would mean the Elder Gods would return. That...would be a disaster

And that's why we are here to help you. I cant give you free magic, but if you have the money, I can ensure you can get whatever magic you are looking for.

Its also why we choose you. The doings of mighty wizards or clerics are always watched by their opposing factions. But you, you don't attract the same level of attention. You can do things, and not have everyone wonder what you are doing.

[Chilingsworth]

Bryan nods in understanding.

I see. Well, you have my abilities at your service.

*he bows*

But, are you sure these artifacts can be destroyed? What if one of their powers really is to falsely convince people of their destruction?

[MikelaC1]

I will pluck each and every gem from each one that you bring in. I will then separate them from each other, and smash them individually. Finally, the piece will be melted down with the gems removed. That should take care of it...their power will be nullified if they are picked apart before destruction.

Natasha appears to remember something, and takes out several bags. She slides one to each one of you.

10000 gold, as agreed.

She takes out some more bags, and again, slides one to each of you.

25,000 gold, in payment for the first Crown Jewel.

[Chilingsworth]

Bryan nods.

Thank you, Lady. I'll put this to good use.

*bows*

So, what's our next step?

[Thokk_Smash]

Iago absorbs the information in silence. This is leagues beyond his comfort zone, but he understands well enough that it is a matter of grave import. Do not think in terms of "when" we fail, John, he lightly admonishes with a grin. Between the lot of us, I'm sure we can muddle our way through this.

He bows deeply as he accepts his allotted payment. I would be honored to aid in any way I can. Do you have a lead on any of the other jewels?

[Macha]

"Just to be clear, wouldn't destroying the jewels release the Elder Gods? If the magic sealing them is in the jewels... I might have it backwards, however."

She accepts her payment nevertheless, thinking over what would happen. Does the sword function as a sort of soul-binding magic? That would be different, however; gods are far different than mortals, when it comes to biology and other little things; little being a very subjective term.

[MikelaC1]

The Elder Gods are not bound within the items. Binding a god would be beyond the power of any mortal created item. Rather, the items served to banish the gods from this aspect of the multiverse, and what they have the power to do, they have the power to undo. We destroy them, no one can use them to break that banishment

[Kazyan]

John eyes his two bags of loot hungrily, but quickly snaps out of it to look at Iago. "Yes, you guys are here, aren't you. I'll avoid being completely incompetent, I suppose," he says, as he grabs the larger bag.

"I take it you can't just throw divinations at the Crown Jewels until you find them, otherwise this task wouldn't so hyped. What's the deal with finding the next one, then?"

[Macha]

"I'd imagine they have protection against divinations; to not do so would have been extraordinarily foolish of the creators."