Guardians: Oath Breaker (IC)

[Snowbluff]

The Guardians. Preservers of lost knowledge both ancient and modern. These mages are the best in their field, true practitioners of the arcane arts. Your backgrounds are diverse, your skills many, and your practice varied. Many of you might know eachother, while other may have never heard a whisper in the great distance that typically separates Guardians. Indeed, past your training it is often a solitary, gaunt work, with rarely so much as a single other mage to partner during treks into the jungles, deserts, and swamps of Terra.

But not so today. You have received orders to work under a Tier 2 mage, one of similiar rank and ability as your old masters, in Umbria city, the capital of Frontiera and a bustling center of trade on the continent. The mage is called Diael, a greyhorn nephilim with a reputation due to his arrogance and incredible talent. The others only spoke of him rarely, past that they haven't worked with him in several years.

You arrive by train, the primary mode of travel between cities in Frontiera, as the elevated tracks do their best to stay out of the Black Forest that consumes the lost cities below and past the walls that protect from the wild growth. The terminal is busy, but, seeing the Guardian's coats you wear, the civilians give you a wide berth and curious stares. Diael himself is nowhere to be seen. There is a beautiful, tall catfolk orange hair and black stripes on her tan skin, wearing a uniform akin to your own. She spots you, and shoves past some of the people to get to you.

"So you are the Guardians sent to help my Master?" she asks, her tone respectful but her posture apprehensive. She looks over you with her hazel eyes. This must be Tora, Diael's new apprentice and the first catfolk slated to be a Guardian. Of course, less is known about her than even her master, except that she obviously is very conscientious of her appearance. Despite the normally chilly weather this time of year, she's wearing hot pants and thigh highs under her coat, flashing a few inches of thigh every time her movement disturbs the length of the coat. Her hair is kept impractically long, but not a single split end is to be found. Her nails are long, but the black polish is likely of the magic resistance moth oil, at least. This is not a practical person.

Spoiler: OoC

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Feel free to make some knowledge checks if you have any questions.

[LairdMaon]

And you must be Tora! Was Master Diael not able to make it to greet us himself?

With a bow and a smile Fender continues, ?You may call me Fender Stonebreaker, on orders to serve under Master Diael. And it is a true pleasure to meet such a fascinating creature as you.

[NeoPhoenix0]

"Hello, my name is Melanie." She introduces herself with a smile, staring curiously at Tora.

[BilltheCynic]

Grundi pulls his cloak closer around him, more out of reflex than to keep out the cold. As usual, his appearance his disguised by his magical cap, though he changes how exactly the disguise looks frequently. Though he keeps the guardian cloak obvious, the rest of his body is altered to a man who looks like he has dwarf blood: short and squat with a swooshed face and fiery red hair and a full goatee, wearing a wide-brimmed hat that matches his guardian cloak.

Grundi stares at Tora, recalling his theories about her. The first catfolk guardian: it seems the new catfolk queen had finally decided she wanted access to the organization with all of the powerful mages and magical items. Most likely the guardians had been deliberately stonewalling the catfolk from joining specifically to bar them access from that magic. Until now, that is; Grundi wondered what deal the catfolk had made to gain access to the Guardian's monopoly. Regardless, she was who the catfolk had chosen as their first envoy, so she would almost certainly be extremely competent and dangerous. She might make a good ally in Grundi's quest to uncover the true nature of the Guardians, even if they would have different end goals. Best to play nice with her.

Grundi looked over her apparel with approval. Everything about it screamed impracticality, which would lull observers into a false sense of security and make them underestimate her. She might have actually gone a bit overboard, as it was incredibly obvious.

Grundi nods respectfully to her. Yes, but don't know what help Diael needs with. You fill us in? Guessing you're Tora. Grundi Enochole. Good to meet you.

Spoiler: OOC

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Using Detect Psionics on Tora (52 - 1 = 51 pp)

Spoiler: Psicraft checks to identify (rolling 10 in order, discard unnecessary ones)

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(1d20+7)[21]
(1d20+7)[22]
(1d20+7)[19]
(1d20+7)[27]
(1d20+7)[23]
(1d20+7)[22]
(1d20+7)[26]
(1d20+7)[23]
(1d20+7)[24]
(1d20+7)[25]

Knowledge (History): (1d20+7)[17] What does Grundi know about the Southern Catfolk Kingdom and its queen?
Psychic Knowledge: (1d20+15)[26] Same as above
Knowledge (History): (1d20+7)[17] What does Grundi know about Tora specifically?
Psychic Knowledge: (1d20+15)[35] Same as above

Is Tora visibly bothered by the cold?

[Snowbluff]

Tora confidently flourishes her hair, proudly smiling with her eyes closed. "Well, one does hope to get by, beyond being 'exotic'," she says. "I am Tora. Indeed, my master had to attend to the bureaucracy of the current situation. We've had a license for an excavation in the area for a while, but it's not until recently the researchers dug up something juicy for us to find," she continued. It's not uncommon for the Guardians to have purchased or bargained for the opportunity to explore buildings and facilities abandoned by corporations due to the Black Forest. Lower level Guardians are often tasked with sifting through data and contracts to see if there is anything useful or particularly interesting to check out, and their determinations are used to prioritized expeditions. "We can probably intercept my master on our way to the mansion. He texted me a few minutes ago that he was almost done."

Spoiler: Grundi

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The Queen has a bit of a habit of playing coy. The Catfolk kingdom has several interesting site, more of the "ancient" kind rather than the "modern laboratory" variety. Angling a mutually beneficial agreement between her kingdom and the Guardians was a priority, which is why Diael was stationed there for the past year or so.

Luka would often joke that the reasons why Diael was chosen for this assignment were "he spoke catfolk" and "knew, like, one catfolk growing up."

As for Tora herself, knowing you'd be meeting with Diael and his apprentice gave you the opportunity to look into her a little. She was a ranger in the Catfolk Kingdom military, with good marks in marksmanship and notably magical ability. Her name isn't catfolk, however. Usually, Catfolk named translate from their native tongue into something inane in Common, like "Coconut Milkshake." However, Tora is aquan, and probably a pseudonym at that. It's likely she isn't actually from the Catfolk Kingdom initially.

Speaking of Tora, she has a couple of transmutations, a divination, 2 abjurations, and two conjurations showing. The magical christmas light rule is in full effect here. She does seem a little bothered by the cold, though.

[LoyalPaladin]

Elspeth Winslow

Winslow shuffles off the train, seemingly a little agitated and arguing with a four armed robot. "I'm not saying you're a grunt. I'm just saying it'd be nice if you helped your siblings out once in a while!" The robot throws all of its arms in the air. "Siblings?! You call thos-" Winslow lifts her hand up. "Later."

She sizes up the cat folk. "I see your fashion sense is almost as good as mine." The artificer admits. "It's no wonder you're slated for guardianship- hold on." She turns around and shouts at the train. "Barbarian, Paladin, Ranger, Winston, get a move on!" She turns around and shrugs at Tora as three effigies and a dedicated wright emerge from the train with various bags and boxes. "Sorry about that, I had to transport my lab and the like. Short notice and all..."

One small grunt and she turns to the other guardians. "Oh ho ho! Well, this is an interesting group. Are you all a part of my team?" She shakes everyone hand, if they let her, starting at Tora and ending with Grundi. Her hand shake is awkward, overly zealous, and she uses both hands to everyone's one. "I'm Elspeth Winslow, but you can call me Winslow. Dr. Winslow, if you like. I have a PhD in bio-mechanical engineering, theoretical arcanics, and advanced alchemy. I also minored in planar theory and dabbled in just about every useful craft I could find."

[Sjlver]

As she sauntered off the train, Tassy's bells jingled congenially. She couldn't help but smile at Winslow. "It's good to see you haven't a bit since I last saw you." She pats her friend on the shoulder. "As for the rest of you, I'm Tassy and it's a pleasure to be here."

She shoots a curious look at Tora and pleasant smile. "Can't say I've ever seen a catfolk in person. We don't get a lot of those where we come from." She reaches out a hand. "How do you do?"

[LairdMaon]

Fender happily shakes hands with Winslow and turns to greet all the newcomers. "My, what a group we make here! May I offer to carry all of your bags? I see no reason that we should all be burdened as we walk."

He looks over at the robots, "Er... Aside from what they are carrying anyway. They seem to have their loads well in hand."

[BilltheCynic]

Grundi tilts his head at Winslow's curious greeting of Tora. A coded phrase, perhaps? Perhaps these two have a previous connection that they are trying to hide from the others. Grundi would have to keep an eye on that. As Winslow starts going around shaking hands, Grundi cringes but tentatively reaches his out as well. He was trying to play nice, after all.

"Yes. Interesting group. Should be fun.

[Snowbluff]

Tora shakes hands with Tassy and Winslow. She seems unsure how to take Winslow's backhanded compliment or how to react to being the first Catfolk that Tassy met. "Hahaha, that's enough now. Excellent, so we're all here then, and a few extras. Robots? Golems? Shall we get moving, then?" she asks. Of course, she snaps around and gestures for the others to follow as she sashays to the exit, her tail gently swinging in contentment.

You exit into a suburban area, far from the city enter but close to the Black Forest. The sky is grey, as usual for this time of year, but the leaves have changed their colors, giving a splash of color to the neighborhood. Now that you're outside, the Catfolk pulls her phone out, and checks it quickly. "Okay, if we take Harrison we'll bump into him."

[LoyalPaladin]

Elspeth Winslow

"Tassy!" Winslow exclaims, giving an exaggerated hug and patting her on the shoulder. "It has been too long. You never answer my calls. Don't you blame it on Vrock Wireless! I told you to switch to Terrasque Mobile a long time ago!" She scolds, shaking her finger. Hearing her friend hadn't seen a catfolk in person before, Winslow reaches into a box that one of her effigies is carrying, pulling out a pen sized metal object and leather bound book.

"Catfolk are interesting!" She pulls on one end of the metal object, revealing it as a telescoping pointer. She opens the book and places it in Tassy's hand. "As you can see from the diagram, catfolk can have their age deciphered by the graying around their nose." She gently, but carelessly, boops Tora on the nose with her pointer. "Judging by Tora's lack of graying, she either dyes her fur or is a young lady." She then taps her rib cage with the pointer. "But judging by her proportions and lack of bone visibility, we can say she's young and doesn't dye her fur. She's but a kittenfolk." Winslow chuckles and puts her things away, pulling out a sucker and handing it to Tora. "I'd be a shameful doctor if I didn't keep suckers on me at all times."

As they depart, she smiles at Fender. "How kind of you! Likewise, I will offer Wizard as a suitable baggage transport. Don't let his name fool you, he is quite strong and only has a 15% chance of totally failing to live up to his namesake!" Grinning, she follows Tora.

[NeoPhoenix0]

Winslow's Greeting snaps Melanie's attention away from Tora, as she begins to follow Tora she asks Winslow, "Are all of those really degrees?"

[LoyalPaladin]

Elspeth Winslow

"Every last one of them." She nods to Melanie. "I can show you my degrees when we arrive at our residence, if you like. I was offered a professor position, but the Guardians pay better and fund my research so..." She trails off. "Also, I failed my public speaking course." She shrugs. "What do you do? They gave me last minute notice on my teammates and location, probably to prevent me from studying my colleagues and surveying my destination for weeks in advance." She shakes her fist at an imaginary person in front of her. "Curses!"

[Sjlver]

Tassy's smile widens at the greeting from her friend. "Well you know how crappy signal can get when it comes to intercontinental communications. I'll try and switch when we're done here. I will admit though, it has been too long."

After listening to her lesson about catfolk, Tassy ponders for a moment then speaks up. "I probably didn't need a 101 on catfolk but I appreciate the lesson none the less."

[LairdMaon]

The new city is neat and all, but Fender finds himself having much trouble focussing on the sights around when there are far more interesting sights close at hand.

"I, for one, enjoyed the lesson greatly!"

Fender gestures to the greathammer slung over his back. "I am here, I think, provide a more hands on and physical style of combat support. Though I'll admit a bit of skill with the post-living magics."

[LoyalPaladin]

Elspeth Winslow

Winslow smiles at Tassy. "Knowledge is powerful. Did you know, that there is a plant on the eastern continent that, when properly distilled, produces a positive reaction similar to dopamine or other natural stimulants when exposed to catfolk? In fact, it effects 66% of them." She is excited about this news. "I ordered a plant and brought it with me... it also has positive effects on white nephilim, though not nearly as well pronounced."

She snaps her attention to Fender, as if ripped out of a trance. "Necromancy? Believe it or not, there is a lot of parallels between effigy building and necromancy. Very nifty stuff."

[NeoPhoenix0]

"Similar to dopamine? I don't think I've heard of a plant that works on white nephilim and not other people." Melanie says full attention on Winslow now.

[BilltheCynic]

Behind his mask Grundi narrows his eyes at Winslow, though his illusionary form still seems calm. This one would be both incredibly helpful and dangerous if her tendency to dig into even seemingly trivial matters was any indication. Good for helping him learn stuff, bad that she might learn too much about him.

At Fender's mention of why he's here Grundi whirls on him. "Combat? We expecting fights here?"

Grundi nods at what Winslow says about knowledge. "Agreed. Specialize in information gathering. Good to know what you're dealing with. You...brought some Nepeta cataria? Why?" Grundi hoped his inquiry sounded innocent enough. The scientist bringing a drug that almost solely affects catfolk was curious indeed. A goodwill offering perhaps?

[LoyalPaladin]

Elspeth Winslow

"I believe it's the first of it's kind. You see, when on holiday, I noticed this particular plant gathering attention from butterflies and cats, so I plucked some and did some harmless experimenting." She stresses the word harmless. "I'm studying the possible medical uses of the plant, but so far only catfolk and white nephilims register the effect. It may be too strong for catfolk to use, though. They go crazy." She chuckles.

She brightens up when Grundi recognizes her plant. "I think I can harness its properties to make a suitable anxiety medication, so long as the dosages are followed." She looks Grundi up and down, analyzing him. "You're sure sharp!"

Looking back at Melanie, she adds. "White horns must have just a smidgeon of correlating genes with moths, or perhaps partial ancestry with a creature in the lepidoptera order? Tell me, do you have any relatives that may or may not be an insect?"

[Snowbluff]

Tora's tail thrashes suddenly, and she turns around to face Winslow. "Okay, can stop it with the catfolk comments! I am my own person, and beautiful and magnificent in my own right," she protests. She snatches the candy, demonstrating her cat like reflexes. "Am I to assume that you laced this with your drugs?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"That would lead to an interesting situation," a voice with a signature growl to it says. Behind Tora is a nephilim wearing the signature coat of the Guardians, but the coloring is much darker than normal and he has several extra swords and magical objects hanging from the belts on his waist, as well as pauldrons that match the arm guards he is wearing under the sleeves. Poking from under his blonde hair are six horns, three small ones on each side. These eyes are a dull grey, matching his eyes. This be Diael.

"Hey, this is your new apprentice, right?" asks a young lady's voice.

Tora snaps around again, and points the sucker at the lady. "Okay, I had enough of-" she stops herself when she sees the person she is addressing. It's a woman in her late teens, 18 or 19. Her blonde hair is tied into a pony tail, but enough is leftover to frame her face. She's fair, and her blue eyes are bespectacled by wire frame glasses. She's wearing a government jacket over a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, and a small spellbook is strapped to her hip. "Oh, hey. And you are?"

"Tora, meet Edinah. She's an intern at the site office. I offered to walk her home after my meeting with William Owens, the officer in charge. We met back before I went to the Catfolk Kingdom, since this is the same duo I had to work with back then. " Diael says. Edinah extends her hand and Tora timidly shakes it. "And I take it you are the team that was sent to assist me with the site?" Diael asks the team.

[LoyalPaladin]

Elspeth Winslow

She opens her mouth in feigned shock. "What sort of doctor would I be if I laced my suckers with drugs!" She provides no answer whether she did or did not (she didn't), but she is slightly offended nonetheless. "Why, here I am attempting to harness the pow- oof!"

In the process of winding herself up to explain why it would be a terrible decision to mix candy and catnip, she lapses in attention and runs smack into Diael. "Excuse me s-" She looks up and begins to almost drool, her pupils widening as her eyes make their way to his horns. "Wizard, catch me, for I am about to faint! I must study this occurrence!" She pulls out paper and a pen from her satchel.

[NeoPhoenix0]

"hello Diael, I believe we are the team sent to assist you." Melanie says, taking his measure, "Are all those swords necessary?"

"Winslow, I am fairly certain there aren't any insects in my family." She replies distracted by Diael's swords, intensely looking at them.

[LairdMaon]

Fender looks at Grundi in all seriousness, "My friend, I always anticipate combat. It's a habit."

Luminary Diael, it is good to meet you. Edinah, the same. I'm sure a speak for all of us when I say we are at your service." Fender gives them a bow.

"If you are feeling faint, Dr. Winslow, I am willing to carry you. It would seem the large man has a sense of humor as he gives Winslow a wide smile.

[Snowbluff]

Diael moves into action upon Wislow's, catching a woman is not falling. After a second he remembers himself and removes his arms from around her. "My apologies for grabbing you so brusquely. I was afraid that you falling," he says, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Were you referring to one of your golems?" He asks, doing his best to ignore Winslow's expression.

He examines the group again. "A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Melanie. Bander told me to offer you any aid or special accomidatioms, if your require them. Well, she told Ms. Owens to tell me," he says, chuckling and shaking his head.

He returns Fender's bow with a respectful nod. "How well mannered you are, Mr Stonebreaker. I am glad to receive your aid."

[LairdMaon]

'Ha ha! My manners are little more than an act! This takes no small effort for me. I chose to try to make a good first impression. Didn't figure you'd like much if I came in with bodily noises and stone-cutter's language." Fender replies with remarkable candor.

[NeoPhoenix0]

At hearing Bander mentioned Melanie looks up at Diael with a surprised blink. "I don't think that will be necessary, Diael. Thank you for your hospitality while we assist you in this matter." She says with sudden politeness.

[Sjlver]

Tassy reaches out a hand to Diael. "Glad to make your acquaintance. My name is Tassiel Rivers but my friends just call me Tassy for short." She giggles slightly at the theatrics between Diael and Winslow, making a mental note to give Winslow some flak later for it.

[BilltheCynic]

Grundi gives a sidelong glance at Edinah. Young, new to this assignment, yet works for the government and the guardians and carries a spellbook. Nepotism? Possibly, but such people were often groomed for underhanded politics and dealings. Need to be careful around her. And around Diael, of course. Still, the nephilum seemed to have a weakness for flattery. Should indulge it, if only to put him at ease.

"Luminary Diael. Good to meet you. Curious about the site, what it is and what we'll do."

[LoyalPaladin]

Elspeth Winslow

Awkwardly clearing her throat and brushing herself off, Winslow explains. "Ah, yes. Wizard is the four armed one. He casts spells... with only a 15% failure rate!" The last part she says proudly. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the failure rate that low on an effigy?!" She reaches out a hand. "Elspeth Winslow, call me Winslow. Doctor Winslow, if you like. I've got three PhD's.... you know what, you've probably read my file."

[Snowbluff]

Diael shake's Tassy's hand. "A pleasure, Ms. Rivers."

He also shakes Winslow's hand with his own gloved one. "Indeed, your reputation precedes you. It certainly is an impressive machine, but it lacks a certain je ne sais quoi."

"And, yes, I do find the swords necessary," Diael tells melanie. He touches the one on his left hip, which is a particularly battered specimen with a guard that looks like bird wings, as he stares into some far off place a hundred miles away. "Of course, in our line of work, you never know when we will engage in hand to hand combat with all sort of magical beasts and persons." He looks towards Tora. "Finally, the sword is a symbol of status and power, and has been traditionally carried by Guardians for this reason. It's a nobleman's weapon," he finishes, and Tora nods in reply.

"That being said, I do applaud the Herculean effort taken on my behalf," Diael tells Fender. "It takes a level of nobility and respect to act as you do. That almost makes it more admirable. It has been said tha-" Diael's pontificating is interrupted by Edinah tapping him of the shoulder.

"Hey, I have to go, but it's been fun! We'll talk later," she says quietly. Diael nods and she waves goodbye. Diael nods and she walks off.

"And yes, the site. It's a biotech research facility located about a klick and a half from the wall. It's a fairly large facility, over run by plants an animals. In particular, there was research being conducted to bring back the dead. Now, I don't mean simple reanimation of the body through necromancy, but actually retrieving a person, in whole, from death. It sounds far fetched to me, and incredibly unhealthy for anyone to attempt, but orders are orders," Diael continues, and he shrugs. "Of course, I will give credit to our research teams. There was a lot of data to look through for this project. Unfortunately, specifics were lost after some point. It may have been possible to reverse engineer what they were doing from the files, but our researchers believe that someone might have intentionally destroyed some information.