The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

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Damian

Though he appears engrossed in studying the ring, Tiriel's comment excusing Callos catches his attention. "Tiriel, it should be noted that Callos's disgruntlement with the growing number of people may not be that misplaced. If I remember correctly from Anika's speech, you've already had a case where you left something important with someone you thought you could trust, but in the end, could not, though it was clearly not by her choice. Certainly with a larger group, it's harder to trust everyone's motives. Your smaller group alone already has members whose motives you do not fully trust."

"Callos doesn't seem to need a reason to be irritable - as far as I can tell it's his natural state." Tiriel's eyes turn cold at the allusion to the affair with the kris, "And I hardly need you to remind me of past mistakes Damian." The foul mood that'd been dispelled by the dragon has returned and she finds herself leaving the hallway. Eventualy she snaps out of her mood long enough to restock some of the items that had been lost along the way.

[ooc: I'll try to get a list soon ... oh and if Callos still needs money, well good luck getting it from Tiriel buddy ]

[barawn]

Damian

During the day, Damian slipped down to the armory and picked up a set of masterwork daggers (5) and crossbow to replace the simpler ones he had managed to save from the avalanche.

He spends most of the rest of the day wandering Immilmar, but his thoughts keep turning back to the others back at the palace even as he nominally scouted the city looking for people of influence. What's gotten into me? I'm here. I should be looking for an employer. The Iron Lord's sufferance to allow us to wander the full city should give me an ideal opportunity to find someone. No one's hired me. I shouldn't even be considering going back.

When he glances around, however, his eyes notice the ring on his hand. Huh. I forgot to return it to Callos. Perfect. Sometimes life gives me the ideal excuse. He hurriedly returns back to join the others, only to be greeted by Fizahn. He breaks out laughing when the gnome drops the bolts to him, and nods at his question. "That's fine by me. You're too small a target, anyway. Takes too much effort. I'll think of something simpler next time," he says with a grin.

Casually, he walks over to Callos and slips off the ring. "Looks like in the commotion with Gala's arrival I forgot to return this to you. Doesn't seem to have a problem with me at all. I don't know if that should worry me or not. Have you seen your good friend - Shiny, was it? I think she mentioned something about possibly hiring me for your hunt for Sethra."

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn lingers around a little longer as Damian talks to Callos. He smiles as Damian offers the ring back. "You know, you should probably keep it. I'd imagine it's worth a lot. There's also a necromancer that needs killing. No Tiriel, it's not Callos, don't touch that sword. You said you do your best work against spell slingers. We could give you that ring as payment as well as lessons in Gnomish, and a cut of the loot. That sound like a good deal? I mean, if it were me, I'd do it for the Gnomish lessons alone, you know, assuming I didn't know Gnomish. It's truly an amazing language."

[Aveda]

Gala

Nodding to Khazrael, Gala takes the glass and has a sip. It occurs to her that tonight's probably not going to be a good night to be tipsy--she wants to make a good impression on these people (especially since she's not sure she's even been accepted yet into the group), and her normal drunken evenings of singing crude Lavigueran drinking songs likely wouldn't do it. She puts down the glass with a sigh. "Thanks. As for following along, well, I've never claimed to be all that smart either." She grins at Khazrael and continues her earlier conversation with Anika, eager to learn what she could. "Most of what I know about the Army is what I learned from fighting them, and other survivors I met didn't know much more. They disappear from the land and pop up somewhere else and strike quickly. Who knows how. I've heard rumors that the Baneson has rose to power, but no one I've talked to knows for sure. From what I heard of your earlier conversation--something about a necromancer?--there's a lot more to it. I'd be glad to finally know what's been causing all this trouble."

[barawn]

Damian

Damian's eyes widen significantly when Fizahn jumps in. The gnome offered. Unbelievable. Life continues to surprise me. "I'd certainly accept that, if it's yours to offer. As for my own talents, yes, I work best against those who cast spells. I could render Callos as powerless as a child in less than a minute. Well, if he wasn't trying to defend himself, that is. But you get the point."

His eyes narrow and he looks at the gnome straight on. "Let me be clear, Fizahn. If the others agree, you'll have my services, and my loyalty, no matter what, until Sethra is defeated."

There is surprising depth and intelligence to this brash gnome. Amazing.

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

Aeroz had been spinning his new ring on his finger for most of the day, in which he took a short trek through the area trying to familiarize himself with the new surroundings. When he returns to the others, he stays uncharacteristically quiet. He hadn't tried out his ring's power yet, and he was eager too, but the thought that they were something more sinister, like the rapier given to him by Prozen kept surfacing in his thoughts.

[Dr._Bob]

Fizahn:
He looks around for anyone before pulling it off and inspecting the band for any writing.

The gold ring with three inset rubies has a draconic inscription on its inner surface - svent, - "kill."




OOC: Everyone done with their characters?

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Pleased with her findings, and satisfied that Callos is not some walking embodiment of evil Tryntha nods politely to him and excuses herself from the hall.

For Dr Bob:

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After this display of strange magics and learning more about the party, Tryntha makes her way to the enclave dedicated to the Hathrans here in Immilmar. Making the proper respects to her elders and superiors she endeavors to report to them the strange happenings that have been surrounding this group of outlanders including the ordeal with the rings from the previous night and the dragon this day. She requests to be assigned to the group as an advisor.

If you want to play this out, just let me know and we can take it up into the private conversation thread.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

The necromancer suffered through the woman's tests on his arm, though he winced internally when she started casting healing magic at it to see a reaction. Mostly cause he didn't know what'd happen. Theoretically his arm might have been a different entity with the animating magic and her spells might have blown it clean off, but it hadn't and he did let out a sigh of relief. In either case he was rather impressed with her knowledge of healing and gave a short nod to her as she finished up before raising to his feet.

"Thanks for not casting judgement on necromancy." the man said dryly as he took hold of his cloak and wrapped up his limb once more. If he was going out into the city, then exposing his arm would not be in his best interests. "In any case, do you know where I may find the other hathran or possibly a place to barter magical goods? I have some business in town that I must complete...."

As the ethran walked away from him, Callos scowled and shook his head.

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Callos is going to brave Immilitar looking for someone to buy his gem of brightness for however much he can get for it. Then he's going to find (hopefully) somewhere he can research spells at and get command undead and vampiric touch (Total of 500 gold there). If he has any gold left after that, he'll attempt getting a familiar or possibly going shopping but I don't know if he'll get that much.

[blackfox]

Anika

"I don't know anything for sure about the Baneson, but I do know that a necromancer called Sethra has allied with the demon lords leading the Army, apparently so he could rule part of the world if they managed to conquer it. The Army is mostly made up of demons and dark elves, as well as the undead Sethra and his cleric followers created. We think they're using the Underdark to strike quickly and disappear the way they do--we met one of Sethra's cleric friends, the Lady Valentine, in the Underdark."

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala stares intently at Anika during her explanation, fixing it to memory. Afterwards, she sits and thinks. The Underdark...I should've known, that explains a lot. Looks like this army's even more dangerous than I thought. Looking back up at Anika, and the others in the party assembled in the hall, she asks, "And you guys are going after them, right?" To Gala, this is all that really matters. "It's been suggested before, by a few of your companions, but if you're going to fight this Sethra and Lady Valentine, I'd like to go with you. You're the first people I've met that have any real idea of what's going on, and I'd rather go after the head of the beast than fight whatever I can around here. That is, if you'll have me."

[Koji]

Khazrael

"I'm not exactly the boss around here, but if you're willing to jump in the fire, I say why not?"

He smiles and sips his wine, enjoying the powerful effects of the stuff.

[namo]

Adalmar

The ranger comes into the common room, clean-shaved - now that is a big change ! - and perky like you've never seen him before. The reason behind that mood is pretty clear to the members of the old group : his hawk is perched on his right shoulder, placid as ever. Kir is back !

Spotting the newcomer, he makes his way over to her.
[OOC: quoting the old description because I'm too lazy to come up with a new one.]

You see a short and stocky man, dressed in the green, brown and gray outfit that marks an official ranger in the Great Dale. He sounds Damaran and his green eyes mark him so, but obviously has some Rashemi blood, as his thick black hair show. He is not exactly ugly, but there is some mismatch in his proportions - easy to see, hard to explain. Arms too long, slightly prominent nose... Still, he manifests a certain force of will in the set of his jaw, softened by the calm look of consideration in his eyes.

Extending his right hand, he grins at her : "Hi, I'm Adalmar, from the Great Dale. Are you here to join us ?"

[Darius]

Tanner Gondsman



ooc: For Gala's reference...
A cloak with a snowcat pelt rests upon his shoulders, covering the fine breastplate of this short bearded human. He wears his dark brown hair short and he may be considered ruggedly handsome. One may mistake him for a Rashemi if not for the accent in his voice, his quick smile, and the carved wheel cog holy symbol around his neck.

ic: Tanner is not surprised with Callos' lack of response. 'Tis better this way, Tanner thinks to himself, for I pray to Gond that he sees the error in his ways.

Tanner then excuses himself from Tiriel and Callos and approaches his new friend, Adalmar and the newcomer, Gala. He smiles and says in the joking manner of warriors, "It appears we have another new comer." Tanner slides his gloved finger down the freshly shaven cheek of the ranger and says, "You look vaguely familiar...have we met?" Tanner's smile widens, and he chuckles with his friend. His laugh is contageous and helps to clear the impending gloom that seems to plague the group. "Adalmar - 'tis good to see you. I hope you have slept well. This smile you wear befits you. From the looks of your...friend, I can imagine that your chipper mood comes from more than a restful night in a fur bed. Your raptor is beautiful!" Tanner's admiration of the bird is genuine; although unneeded, the approving comment gives Adalmar a feeling of pride. He turns to Gala and says with a wink, "Watch yourself, Gala, this one can charm more than one type of bird - the red-tailed hawks are his favorite." Tanner's jovial comment draws attention to the auburn locks of Gala.

Tanner's smirk remains, but he turns to business when he says indicating his buckler and crossbow, "I have picked up a few things before breakfast; I can help steer either or both of you towards the right places since I have resided in Immilmar for many years now." He looks around at the carnage of the room caused by barbarian and brass dragon. "If you don't need any help, I could use some - cleaning up after everyone else's mess."

Tanner then will continue clearing the broken tables. Although the mess he had caused was cleaned up, those that watch Tanner's example of doing the right thing feel a pang of guilt...provided they have a conscience, that is.

[blackfox]

Anika

((OOC: Oh yeah, character descriptions... Anika is 5'4", curly blond hair, thin pointed features, bright green eyes.))

"I don't think anyone's really sure about what we're going to do. I, for one, want to go after Lady Valentine, but it seems to me that if we really want to make a difference in the fight, we'll have to go after Sethra himself. Someone's going to have to go after Sethra... like you said, he'll just get more followers if we kill them off one by one." Anika shrugs. "You can come along with us. As long as you don't kill people indiscriminantly, lie cheat and steal, or scream at everyone that annoys you in the slightest way, you can stay. Even if you do kill, steal, etc. we probably won't do anything to you. We haven't done anything to the people who have yet..."

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala takes Adalmar's hand and smiles. "Hi Adalmar, I'm Gala. Yep, looks like I'm throwing my lot in with you guys." The Great Dale...he must be homeless just like I am. Tanner's lightened mood and jokes, rather than making her blush, put a grin on Gala's face. Practically growing up in the barracks of Laviguer, she was used to the men's jibes and horsing around. She grins and raises her glass in response.

[Dr._Bob]

The day is spent resting and equipping yourselves as best you can for whatever lies ahead. Tryntha disappears for most of the afternoon, though when she returns to the dining hall in the evening, she looks puzzled. She has not been able to make contact with her order.

Though Tryntha has been treated politely and with respect, the Rashemi warriors in the Iron Keep and the citizens of Immilmar shake their heads or shrug their shoulders when she asks where she can find a hathran to report to.

You wait patiently until you are summoned for your audience with the Iron Lord.

[barawn]

Damian

(ooc: this assumes that no one violently objected to Fizahn's hiring of Damian)

With the gnome's surprising offer, Damian seems notably uplifted. For those who've been traveling with him since the snowfall, he had gotten progressively more brooding since the arrival in Immilmar. On the trip to see the Iron Lord, he had maintained a relatively bemused mood when not in combat, with the exception of a few outbursts and the general frustration with the Rashemi.

When evening approaches, upon arriving in the dining hall, Damian walks over to Gala. "Sorry. I didn't have time to introduce myself previously. My name's Damian. Gala, right? I heard most of your introduction, though it may not have seemed it. The dragon's arrival grabbed my attention for a while." The greeting is amicable - at least, moreso than she may have gathered previously - but still lacking in any random platitudes. To Gala, Damian is a relatively tall (well, among this group) human, with close-cropped dark hair, colorless grey eyes, wearing a black cloak and a black shirt, with a bit of a gleam of mithral near the top. Two daggers are situated clearly in his belt, and a crossbow is strapped on his back. His origin is hard to place from appearance and demeanor - his accent is relatively generic.

When the rest of the party is waiting, Damian takes the time to ask about a long-standing puzzle. He walks over to Elthan, and sits beside him. Keeping his voice relatively low, he looks over to the spellcaster. "So why is it that the rest of the party distrusts you? It almost borders on hate. And should I have that same opinion as well?"

[Naleh]

Retay

During the day, Retay finally takes up the offer of a bath. He spends an hour soaking, and when he comes out, he still smells of dirt and animal hide.

At the dining hall in the evening, the towering bearded man settles himself some distance from Callos. Curious, he listens to Damian's query and Elthan's response.

[namo]

Adalmar

Adalmar, who doesn't have Tanner's easy way with words - and women ? - blushes slightly and stammers a bit, but he takes it all good-naturedly. He asks a few questions to Gala about where she's coming from, what brought her here...

For one evening at least, it seems he just wants to forget about it all and enjoy smalltalk. If he sees another member of the group lurking around, he'll gesture him/her over.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan had re-entered the dining hall several minutes before, taking little note of the new arrival and taking a seat to himself just slightly distant of the others. His distance is not so much out out of the current ill feelings his friends still harbored, but a desire to take a bit of time to observe any habits his new bird might have. Patiently, Elthan broke up bits of bread and fed it to the caged raven one at a time.

The raven tilts its head curiously as Damian comes to question Elthan, Elthan himself setting down the bread and turning in his chair slightly to address Damian. He takes a deep breath and explains, "If you're going to continue to help us, I might as well say. I killed one of our group in order to progress my research at the worst possible moment. I think it's not so much having killed him that has bothered them all, but how incredibly stupid it was of me to carry it out. I wasn't feeling entirely like myself then, and honestly, I still do not.

"Let preference be, is a motto of sorts. You're opinion is left to you, whether it is the same as theirs or not. I don't want you to distrust me either, but all I can say is that I would not go through with such again."

[Naleh]

Retay

The barbarian picks at his fingernails a little, and then quietly pulls his greataxe from its sheathe on his back and begins examining the blade for damage. He keeps an eye on Callos the whole time.

At Elthan's words, Retay starts, and turns from his watch to stare at the sorcerer. It isn't a hostile stare, though; it seems almost... compassionate.

OOC:

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If you're wondering, translate it into barbarian concepts. It sounded to Retay like Elthan 'raged' and accidentally killed someone, and is now being excommunicated from his 'tribe'.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn spends most of the time up in his room. He makes a brief appearance at supper to grab some food. He doesn't talk to anyone after the dragon encounter was finished. Instead, he seems to be deep in thought.

[barawn]

Damian

A bit of confusion shows on Damian's face when Elthan describes what he did. "What do you mean 'research'? The only research I can imagine which involves killing someone would be necromancy, and you don't seem to be one. What exactly are you?" With that querying glance, his eyes flash blue for a moment, and then settle back down to a blue-tinged grey, as he glances over Elthan.

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Yeah, a waste, because it's not like he can see if Elthan's a spellcaster, but it's late in the day anyway, and what else is he going to use it for? Detect Magic, second time/day (1 remaining). Presumedly Elthan's got a fair number of magical items on him, anyway.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan lowers his eyes to Damians', glaring at him out the top with a patient scowl, missing the slight change in his eyes. "I am a necromancer. Maybe not as studied as Callos, but I do my best to stay up to date with my reading material. I haven't had much luck with books as of late though. And no, I did not kill him for any kind of research, only to be able to proceed with research. As I mentioned, it was a poor action on my part."

Your vision picks up what it might have expected; A few items radiating aura's on his person, of no surprise the ring included. What is strange is that the half-elf himself does not seem to exist according to your Detect Magic. While there might usually be some indication of a persons connection to the weave with the spell, Elthan has none.

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Elthan has not been the luckiest half-elf in faerun, and only has a few items. His ring most likely registers Faint Illusion, and his cape Moderate Conjuration. He has a scroll in his pocket, but I don't think those are detectable...

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"Not all of us hate him by the way." Callos said heavily as overheard snippets of the conversation and moved his chair over closer towards the duo, pointedly ignoring the wary look that was making his shoulder blades itch like an ant farm had been emptied unto them. With a sigh he started to speak again..."I can understand the motives behind what he did back then but he did do it a very tricky time and it was a highly reckless act. This of course is aside from the fact that he broke an oath to me that he'd tell before doing anything like it."

Ahh...I wonder if I can really take Elthan at his word anymore...he didn't exactly seem to hesitate before killing Evendur and didn't so much as drop a hint that he was a Shar-worshiper...

[Koji]

Khazrael

In no particular hurry to do anything productive, Khazrael spends the evening cooling his heels and enjoying more of the excellent Rashemi wine. Inwardly, he curses not having found a familiar or any tobacco, but resolves to let the matter slide for now.

[Darius]

Tanner Gondsman

Tanner continues to clean up the common room. He watches his friend Adalmar with a smile on his face. He sighs and shakes his head as the ranger blunders through his introduction like a bull in a ceramics shop. "Ahh, well," Tanner thinks to himself, "at least I tried."

When done cleaning, Tanner loudly says to himself sarcastically, "There. Finished. It certainly went quickly with all the help." Tanner then will join Adalmar and Gala and make more small talk - emphasizing Adalmar's skills with the bow and his bravery in the face of the enemy.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel wanders back into the keep (??) late in the afternoon. Spending time outdoors had helped dispel most of her foul mood but she's still not having one of her better days (for obvious reasons). She too spends most of her time in her room repacking supplies, caring for her armor and weapons and wondering what the coming audience with the Iron Lord will likely entail.

(ooc: I started writing a post on Saturday and closed my browser w/o posting it. Whoops.)

[barawn]

Damian

Damian grins a bit as Elthan asserts himself fervently, chuckling slightly. "Don't take offense, Elthan. I just figured you weren't a necromancer because you weren't as depressing - or moody, for that matter - as Callos was. Apparently, that's just his personality. The grin vanishes in a moment as he continues. "But I think you're still avoiding the question slightly. Trust, for me, is not a question of what you have done. I don't particularly care what you have done. It's what you will do that matters. And for that, I need to know why you've done things. That's the reason I don't trust Grynde in the least. I'm not sure it's possible to know why he does what he does."

The amicable tone in his voice vanishes when talking about Grynde, and for a moment, his body language is cold, emotionless. Someone who thinks only in terms of risk assessment, contingency plans, and escape options - and not about the morality involved with any of them. It quickly disappears when he turns his question back to Elthan.

"I don't doubt you won't make the same mistake twice. It's what new mistakes you'll make that concern me. That's why I was asking why you killed him."