The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide

[Dr._Bob]

The commotion outside (and inside) Callos' room wakes those of you who had decided to sleep in.

Several of you had awakened early and had the opportunity to visit the castle's armory. You were given your pick of any weapons and armor. No money is accepted - the equipment is a gift of the huhrong you are told. The weapons and armor are plain but of high quality. Additional gear, such as oil flasks, is provided as well when requested.

Elthan attempts to converse with Anika, only to have her test out her ring in his general direction. Nothing dramatic occurs, though as she continues to twirl a dagger between her fingers, she begins to do so in ever more intricate patterns, surprising herself with her increased dexterity. With the flick of a wrist, her dagger disappears from view, then reappears as she enjoys her augmented coordination.

Khazrael and Adalmar are eager to finish their breakfasts. Both have urgent matters to attend to outside of the keep. Before they are leave however, Grynde waltzes into the dining chamber, fingering his ring and muttering to himself.

As he does so, the ring leaps off of his finger, growing in size until, in an eyeblink, it has become a full sized brass dragon. The dragon is an adult, enormous. It rears its head back and extends its wings, as if working out a kink in its neck.

Inadvertently, the dragon crushes a heavy oak table under its foot. The dragon picks its foot up gingerly and snorts in chagrin.

The dragon steps carefully, trying to avoid smashing any more of the tables around it. The arched chamber is large enough for the dragon to stretch to its full height and wingspan. The effect is quite impressive.

The dragon blinks and looks down at Grynde. Snaking its head forward, it sniffs the half-elf appraisingly. Exhaling suddenly, the dragon shakes his head, as if repelled by a noxious odor.

In another eyeblink, the dragon has collapsed back into the form of the brass ring. The ring clatters to the ground and rolls to a stop in the center of the oak flooring.

Those in the dining hall and those who ran to the doorway upon hearing the commotion, stand amazed for a moment. Only the smell of sulfur remains to verify that a dragon had been standing in the room only a moment earlier.





OOC: Equip yourselves as you wish (with any mundane item up to masterwork quality). The items are gifts and do not need to be bought.

Khazrael, Anika and Adalmar (and anyone else) should post in the Private Conversations thread when they leave the keep on their different "missions". Each solo excursion will be dealt with separately.

You may want to resolve the Grynde ring problem first however.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian's eyes go wide when the dragon interrupts his and Retay's conversation. His two daggers fly into his grasp, and he drops into a protective crouch. When it converts back into a ring, he immediately stands up straight and looks right at Grynde, the daggers slipping smoothly back into their sheaths. All casual demeanor is gone from him, and he immediately straightens up authoritatively. "Grynde, don't move, don't touch the ring, and don't say anything unless you want to accidentally become dragon food."

[Matticus]

Grynde

Standing still, mouth open to a mind-boggling degree, he stares at the ring with a comical expression of shock on his face.
HOLY FRIGGIN' CRAP!. He looks over at Damian, a little smug, but fear in him too, not well hidden, at how the dragon had been repelled by him. No worries...I hope...
He moves towards the ring, crouchnig near it but not touching, and begins to talk to it.
Hi...Ring? I'm Grynde. Er...I don't often speak to rings...Except you're a dragon...Don't often speak to dragons, either...Do you even understand my words? Gah, I feel like an idiot. Look, er, dragon-ring he pauses here, trying to produce something to say to an inanimate object that was just very animate, and then speaks again. Look, er, you chose me. Or I chose you. I was a little, er, a lot drunk at the time. But you're the coolest ring ever. Can I pick you up?
He waits awkwardly for a response from the ring, reaching slowly and cautiously towards it with one hand, ready to pull said appendage back quickly if it snaps at him.

[Dr._Bob]

The ring hisses in warning.

[barawn]

Damian

"Grynde, I said don't say anything, and don't touch the ring! Just stand there, and shut up, until we can get some people here who can figure out what's going on without the possibility of you getting eaten. I can understand when you're stupid enough to challenge a gnome and even me, but even I cannot believe you're stupid enough to challenge a dragon."

He turns to the gnome - most likely still in shock from the dragon. "Fizahn, can you go get Callos? Quickly? And can anyone cast either a spell to identify the ring, or something to allow Grynde to understand and speak draconic?"

[Matticus]

Grynde

Please he says, emotion in his voice, What have I done wrong?
He looks at the ring for a few moments, his eyes a little watery for a second, but he blinks twice quickly and is back to his old self.
Right. Yeah. That's right, don't pick me. Judge me, eh, like all those other people did. I don't need anyone, not this lot or you or any of the other people. I don't need anybody he reassures himself, before standing up and looking at the ring in disappointment.
........It...Doesn't like me. Draconic? That's the language dragons speak? I don't know if it'd do any good... I also don't think it can do anything unless someone says Dara- Well, er, that word again. He frowns, staring wistfully down at the ring, but doing nothing more.

[Naleh]

Retay

((slightly out-of-time))
The barbarian stands to his full height, towering over Damian.

"You don't know what I've seen."

He pauses for some time, staring at the wall. When he finally opens his mouth to speak again, he is rather rudely interrupted by the sudden appearance of a large dragon.

"What the--" Retay hefts his axe, but the creature does not come near, and even this barbarian is reluctant to charge at a grown dragon.

This is well out of Retay's area of expertise, so instead he retreats into a corner and tries not to get in the way of the bustling spellcasters.

[namo]

Adalmar

Bleary-eyed, the ranger is stuffing piece after piece of sausage in his mouth when a dragon appears... Wait, a dragon !?

He swiftly rolls away from his seat and ends up in a crouch, a sausage in one hand and a fork in the other. He begins to curse his misfortune... Cr*p, no weapon. Never would've expected trouble here ! ...when the dragon disappears.

Since he had his own preoccupations, he missed most of the events of the day before surrounding the ring. Approaching Khazrael : "Uh, can you fill me in on what happened with that Grynde and that ring ?"

Spoiler

Show

Koji : no need to repeat the story, just say "K fills A in"...

Darius : let's transfer the conversation to the Private Conversations thread since it's in a different time frame.

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael sits in his chair, chewing on a bit of food. The display was simply too bizarre, and he does not react until Adalmar approaches him.

"Uh, it was...Grynde's ring turned into a dragon, I think..."

He completes his story with similar hesitance, not seeming to believe what he has seen.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn stares in disbelief at the dragon. Brass Dragon... One of the good guys, right? Hell, I don't know. I only learned their language so I could plead for my life if necessary. He jumps a little as Damian commands him. "Callos. Yes. Good idea. Then maybe Elthan too, and Achkby, and that Tanner man, and the Rashemi lady." Fizahn quickly hurries out of the room, his hangover not forgotten, just temporarily being ignored. He runs as fast as he can up to Callos's room. He doesn't even bother to knock and just swings open the door. He blinks as he sees Tiriel with Callos, who is presumably getting dressed. "Hey, lovebirds, Grynde's ring turned into a dragon for a second, and the dragon didn't like him, and now it's a ring again, and we require magical consultation and all that."

[blackfox]

Elthan

Elthan watches the juggling with quite some curiosity, leaning on his pile of spears a bit as Anika finishes her display. "That is... quite impressive. I wonder how long it took to learn that, but, what do you mean by that? Do you mean that you feel prepared, or are you still upset that my ring makes me invisible?"

(OOC: Quoted from previous page)

Anika

While still spinning her dagger, Anika says, "Interesting. I don't know why I thought this would work on a target... After all, at least three of the other rings, yours included, worked on the wearer... and this one obviously does too. I wonder what effect this would have on my dancing and acrobatics..." She stops spinning the dagger and points it at Elthan. "Why are you here? Were you going to try to talk to me about something?"

[Darius]

Tanner Gondsman

After finishing his conversation with Adalmar, Tanner does his best to rest. He wakes early to restock his supplies and re-equip himself from the Rashemi stores. Upon his return, prays dilligently - ignoring the noise that is caused by Callos' 'guests'. Tanner then packs his gear and takes it with him as he walks breaks the night's fast in the dining hall. He is seated eating when Grynde's 'ring's' grand entrace has everyone clamoring about with awe and shock.

Immediately, Tanner's instincts kick in. He flips his table on its side to provide him with some cover and quickly ***** and loads the crossbow from behind the table. He then pops up and levels his loaded crossbow at the scene. His first instinct is to aim the weapon at Grynde, but is perplexed when Grynde is just as mystified as everyone else. Just as he is about to fire, Tanner recalls that the metallic dragons are on the side of good and will most likely not attack unless attacked themselves. He raises the crossbow so that it is pointed in the air and not at either Grynde or the dragon. Much to his amusement, Tanner can not help but like the dragon, for it seems to have made a sound judgement on Grynde. Tanner says under his breath, "I wouldn't want to eat him, either."

After it disappears in a poof, Tanner says, "Sorry about that, folks. It is force of habit that I have developed, and my reaction time has increased this past week being with you." Tanner then rights the table and benches and begins picking up his breakfast. He smiles as he does so, for the look on Grynde's face will keep him warm at night for quite some time.


Edit: Naughty word was supposed to be more than one rooster but something one would do to a weapon like the crossbow to ready it.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian looks over to Tanner as he apologizes for flipping the table over. "It's the same thing I would've done if I had been behind a table. Any ideas on a spell? I think the best idea is to try to have Grynde talk to the dragon... ring..."

A light flashes in Damian's mind. Why was he trying to have a way for Grynde speak to the ring? The headstrong half-elf had shown plenty of times that he didn't have any gift for diplomacy. So long as Grynde needed someone to translate for him, that same person could also round off Grynde's harsh edges.

"I guess we could always translate for him. That might be the best idea in any case. Grynde, can you repeat exactly what we say and the way we say it?"

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

Unsure how he got back to his room last night, Aeroz makes his way to the armory where he peruses through the assorted weaponry, trying to find a replacement for the magical rapier that he had lost. Settling on a pair of fine crafted cutlasses two new daggers.

Walking into the eating area, Aeroz notes the surprised looks on everyones faces.

"Did I miss something?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

He could have responded, he had the time to, but the impact of what she had just said actually hit home with him hard. Callos really had been dragging down everyone else with his problems, and that made it hard to find a good witty retort to strike back with. Luckily Fizahn chose that moment to burst into the room and he blinked owlishly at the gnome before nodding.

"Alright, lets hurry before the half-elf manages to get himself eaten by his own ring." The necromancer said numbly as he turned his back to the gnome and dropped the wet towels to the floor. It didn't take very long to grab his clothes and spell book and, against his better judgement, he left his skeletal arm unwrapped. The shadowstuff shirt may obscure some of the limb from the sleeve but one could still see the skeletal appendage at the very end.

"Do you know anything else about the whole thing?"
He asked curiously as he straightened his clothes and hurried out of the room. A very very tiny part of him said to wait for Tiriel but it was outweighed by both anger and innate curiousty about just what was going on with that ring.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"All I know is that Grynde was muttering to himself. The dragon appeared. It was a brass dragon, which I believe is a good dragon. I don't know much dragonlore though, I just learned the language so I could plead with any dragon about to eat me. The dragon sniffed Grynde. It didn't like him; he hadn't taken a bath in a while. It once more became the ring, and it's in the middle of the mess hall and won't let Grynde pick it up. I think that's kind of odd. Didn't you say that the ring chose him? Why would it choose him if it was just going to reject him? Anyway, people sent me to get you because you're pretty much smarter than everyone and had the rings first." Fizahn grins at Callos, and hurries into the breakfast room before him. "Everyone, may I present Callos, master of the rings. He has agreed to help you foolish children solve your pitiful little problems related to the ringbearer known as Grynde." He smiles at Callos once more. "The whole situation's getting crazy, and I felt you needed an equally crazy introduction."

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel's a little peeved that neither Fizahn nor Callos waited for her but under the circumstances, she kind of expected it. She manages to catch up to them by the end of Fizahn's speech.
Well at least he's dressed now. She thinks giving Callos a glance.
"Where's the ring?"

ooc: better late than never...

[Koji]

Khazrael

"Well, I speak draconic, and it didn't seem like it wanted to talk. At least it didn't kill us. Let's take it outside and try calling it again. I'll ask it what it wants."

[Matticus]

Grynde

Eyes locked on the ring, his limited capacity for thought turns to: Why.
Why would the ring suddenly change it's mind?... He ponders this for a moment, before speaking again.
It's not as if much has changed... Although it hadn't exactly met me last night...My memory is blurred. It accepted me fine before, correct? Then either I'm poisonous he gives a pained smirk or something has changed. But nothing's changed...Maybe it only likes me when I'm drunk?

[barawn]

Damian

"Khazrael, I think there's the strong possibility it either will or can only listen to the owner of the ring. I don't think the ring necessarily chose you, Grynde. Sorry to break any hopes you had there. You touched it first. Then, if I had to guess, when you summoned it, it took a... disfavor to your, shall we say, lack of moral compass." He stepped over to where Grynde was standing over the ring.

"Grynde, listen very, very carefully. Draconic's an old language. The pronunciation's very important. So try this, very calmly. Hello."

Damian (prudently) steps a few steps from the ring as Grynde prepares to butcher one of the oldest languages in front of one of its originators, towards Callos. "You wouldn't happen to be able to use a spell to identify that ring, would you?"

[Dr._Bob]

Getting down on the floor, you creep toward the ring cautiously.

Although now in the form of the brass ring, with its tail in its mouth, the dragon is still very much "awake". You can see it eyeing you and blinking. Looking very closely, you can see that it is even breathing.

It raises an eyebrow at Grynde's greeting, but does not deign to respond. It appears that now that the dragon has been "activated" (for lack of a better word), it seems to be extremely picky ...

[King_of_GRiffins]

(OOC: Quoted from previous page)

Anika

While still spinning her dagger, Anika says, "Interesting. I don't know why I thought this would work on a target... After all, at least three of the other rings, yours included, worked on the wearer... and this one obviously does too. I wonder what effect this would have on my dancing and acrobatics..." She stops spinning the dagger and points it at Elthan. "Why are you here? Were you going to try to talk to me about something?"

Elthan

She dances?, he thinks to himself, wandering off in his mind for a moment trying to grasp a picture of that. It wasn't far fetched at all that she might be able to, but there just hadn't been as many view the parties dancing abilities. Just as well, seeing some of the parties members, former and current, dance may have been partially traumatizing.

He clears his throat and points out, "I doubt a ring who's activation is 'thief' would do anything to a 'target', unless you planned to steal a bone, or maybe on organ.

"But yes, I came here to talk to you. I," he pauses for a moment, running through his head one more time what he had thought would be best to say, "I know that you said you worshiped Selune, and I thought I should perhaps say this to you first. I know that because of your worship I may have offended you the most of anyone by my actions, and, I want to apologize for that to you. There is nothing I can see that I can do to deserve your forgiveness, so I will only ask for now."

Elthan bows his head, awaiting her judgment. He swallows before finishing, his speak making many pauses, "I am sorry, Anika. It was the worst decision I could have made. I deserve to be seen as despicable in your eyes for the rest of my days, but how you see me is for you to decide."

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

She's not sure if Callos is focused enough to be able to work past what had just happened between them, So Tiriel decides to play it safe.
"Callos or Khazrael, ask it if it'll let someone else pick it up. We don't have to touch it if it doesn't want. But we should at least get it off the floor."

[Darius]

Tiriel

"Callos or Khazrael, ask it if it'll let someone else pick it up. We don't have to touch it if it doesn't want. But we should at least get it off the floor."

Tanner Gondsman

Tanner finishes cleaning, and the cleric snorts out a laugh and says, "I doubt the most ancient and intelligent of races would care to have any of us lesser mortals touch it. We are but sand in the hourglass compared to such a magnificent creature. Our fleeting lives pale in comparison to a dragon's magnitude. I can only be thankful enough to have laid eyes upon the brilliance of this brass beauty that I will cherish to the end of my meager days. My only hope is to aspire to be as grand as such a magnificent creature. My apologies for my earlier actions."

As Tanner speaks, he slowly walks toward the dragon ring and then kneels down as a sign of humility shown to royalty. He has learned that honey, not bitters, attracts the fly.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel eyes Tanner as he preforms his genuflections and represses a snort of amusement.
"Well I'm guessing that the magnificent creature doesn't much like being a ring, much less being a ring on the floor where anyone who's careless could tread on it or kick it."
Tiriel thinks back to Yix, who wasn't really a dragon, but was close...
"Wait a second, can't dragons speak other languages? I probably don't need a translator!"

[ooc: yeah, no diplomacy or knowledge skills makes Tiriel a very silly person sometimes.]

[barawn]

Damian

"I'm not sure. He - or she, for that matter - definitely speaks Draconic though. Let's find out if it will even talk to anyone else. Grynde's greeting gave at least a response."

Damian walks over to the ring, near where Tanner is prostrated and Grynde crouches. "Hello. Will you speak to others, or just the half-elf?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"Not to be a wet blanket, but do we know for sure the dragon is actually brass? That may simply be the metal of the ring since I figure it'd be mighty hard to get a ring made out of 'red' or 'black'." Callos said flatly as he watched the Gondsman approach the ring and pay his respects. Certainly the blacksmith knew how to treat a dragon, but he just hoped it was the right sort of dragon to be doing it too.

What was it I heard once? 'Dragons are magnificent beings to observe...from a field...several realms away...actually it's best to simply observe them on tapestries and works of art.' I don't like this situation very much...

"Wyrm, you should not be cautious of us, we are...mostly good people and seek not to try and harm you. Please, tell me your name and how you came to become a ring in our possession so we can...discuss this curious state of affairs."

[blackfox]

Elthan

She dances?, he thinks to himself, wandering off in his mind for a moment trying to grasp a picture of that. It wasn't far fetched at all that she might be able to, but there just hadn't been as many view the parties dancing abilities. Just as well, seeing some of the parties members, former and current, dance may have been partially traumatizing.

He clears his throat and points out, "I doubt a ring who's activation is 'thief' would do anything to a 'target', unless you planned to steal a bone, or maybe on organ.

"But yes, I came here to talk to you. I," he pauses for a moment, running through his head one more time what he had thought would be best to say, "I know that you said you worshiped Selune, and I thought I should perhaps say this to you first. I know that because of your worship I may have offended you the most of anyone by my actions, and, I want to apologize for that to you. There is nothing I can see that I can do to deserve your forgiveness, so I will only ask for now."

Elthan bows his head, awaiting her judgment. He swallows before finishing, his speak making many pauses, "I am sorry, Anika. It was the worst decision I could have made. I deserve to be seen as despicable in your eyes for the rest of my days, but how you see me is for you to decide."

Anika

Although Anika's expression shows no hint of it, her mind is near to panic. She had intended to pray to Selune for guidance on the very issue that Callos had brought up, but she had not had a chance yet today to go into the city, on the off chance that there might be a temple to the Moonmother under another name. She had to make her decision now...

She looks up from the dagger in her right hand, which she had been unconciously spinning again. "You killed Evendur to gain power. You killed him as a sacrifice to Shar, to gain power. Perhaps if he had attacked you, say, for worshipping Shar--which is not so farfetched for a paladin, by the way, because Shar, is an evil deity of darkness, forgetfulness, and loss--it might have been excusable."

She stares Elthan in the eyes. "But you killed him for power. To gain Shar's favor. You were unprovoked, and, if I remember correctly, he was unknowing and unarmed. There is no excuse for that." Anika continues staring at Elthan until he leaves the armory.

[namo]

Adalmar

He had hoped that feeling of being outpaced by the events would remain dormant for a while... but the dragon puts that new conundrum firmly out of his league again.

Sighing, he attempts to finish his breakfast while listening to the suggestions coming from every side. Those not in draconic anyway.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

[ooc] oops, forgot i was going away for last weekend and then was travelling to Germany on tues/wed. very very sorry all, dont want to fall out of this game. [/ooc]

Tryntha did not think a discussion of religion between a Rashemi "witch" and a self-proclaimed necromancer was the best idea at a table full of drunkards who were already arguing about various topics. Seeing a perfect opportunity to extricate herself from the situation, she brough the passed out girl to a guest room. Gathering her things, she went off the to enclave for the hathrans to discuss her recent experiences with her peers and superiors. She also wished to find out about their fallen sister, if possible.

The next day found her carrying a bundle under her arm and looking for Callos. Not finding him at his chambers, she wandered until she heard the commotion from the main hall and she arrived at the strange scene as it finished unfolding.

Surprise and horror alternated on her features as she gripped the bundle tightly to her chest. Her eyes were focused on Callos's hand...or lack thereof. Realising her mouth is hanging open and she is acting quite unbefitting one working her way through the hathran ranks, she gathered he composure with a few deep breaths and mildly mentioned,

"Callos, I have brought some supplies with me. I see you are busy at the moment, but I would still like to look at your wound."

The last word is said as more of a question.

She begins taking in the scene and tries to make heads or tails of why the group would end up standing around looking at the floor chatting away at what she thinks she recognises as draconic.