Tales of Crimson Darkness II

[whiteflash]

Page five read says ''day 29''. Page six says "day 28"

Day 28

The orc I hired, Hopk, reported to me twice today. He confimed Brek-Shall is still in the area, but I did instruct him to not ask or mention that name at all. I did doubt he would leve after seeing me. He could find no mention of Myrsirim or Phalnirr in the local gossip. He did find Krysalis, at the Mad Orc Inn room one. I sent him back to see if he could by chance learn anything else of use. Graatch has kept watch on Tlukkah, but he has not otherwise reported back.

After dark, hired a hand of orc thugs and went after Kysalis. The fight was fierce, and she got away. I spent the time until dawn looking for a trail or sign of her, but did not expect to find one. I'm unsure on how to proceed, as I don't see her as important enough to devote any more time too. I await your commands on this matter, master.

"Another mention of 'Brek-Shall.' It sounds like Yuuta Mori was afraid of this guy, whoever he is. There's other names on this page too. Myrsirim and Phalnir: Hopk couldn't find them. Krysalis: she'd rented room one at the Mad Orc inn, and Yuuta Mori gathered some thugs to attack her. They didn't manage to kill her, but they did manage to drive her off. They weren't able to track her, though. Yuuta was uncertain how to proceed, as he didn't think she was important enough to pursue. You already said 'Brek-Shall' isn't ringing any bells, but do you recognize any of the other names? Myrsirim, Phalnir, Krysalis?"

Hissra sighs. "Another important takeaway: it's becoming increasingly obvious that Kabhsenuf Tantawi had some means of reading this journal remotely and sending orders to Yuuta Mori in response. Presumably the last one was accomplished by a telepathy spell; it's probably Sending, which allows you to give a short message to someone you're familiar with and receive a short response. As for reading the journal, my guess would be that he was using a spell to locate and observe Yuuta Mori, and that Yuuta Mori left the paper out for his master to read. At least I hope that's true, because if it's anything else I have no guarantee that this paper isn't going to lead Kabhsenuf Tantawi's minions right here. But after I'm done with it I should probably scan it for magic anyway, just on general principles."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me not know Myrsirim or Phalnir names. But me know Kysalis name. She is orc seer that can look into crystal ball and tell your future. You know division magic. She used to have a shop, but it burned down couple weeks ago. I thinks she just works out of taverns and inns now.

"

[whiteflash]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me not know Myrsirim or Phalnir names. But me know Kysalis name. She is orc seer that can look into crystal ball and tell your future. You know division magic. She used to have a shop, but it burned down couple weeks ago. I thinks she just works out of taverns and inns now.

"

"Hm. Well, we know how her shop burned down, I guess. Or maybe not: if this journal started when Yuuta Mori arrived he wouldn't have been around long enough for that. Still, though, if she was working from an actual shop Kabhsenuf Tantawi wouldn't have needed a spy to find her; he could have just looked for a shop with a crystal ball on the sign. (Although that does make the unsafe assumption that she only has one person who wants her dead.)"

"And... does Kysalis actually claim she can tell the future?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I'm going to make a Spellcraft check to know what sorts of Divination spells for that exist, and how limited they are. Edit: Or would that be Knowledge: Arcana? I forget. Anyway, it's the same number. (1d20+13)[23]

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Yea, sure she does...like I said she uses magic."

Spoiler: Spellcraft

Show

The spells Augry and Divination can both get hints about the future, maybe even details.

In a general sense, all divination is limited, and there are no easy quick answers and spells that tell all. But a lot of spells can give a lot of hints that can be put together to find out things.

And a lot of divination spells can reveal a hidden clue. But to really see the future is rare and much more then just a spellcaster.

[whiteflash]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Yea, sure she does...like I said she uses magic."

Spoiler: Spellcraft

Show

The spells Augry and Divination can both get hints about the future, maybe even details.

In a general sense, all divination is limited, and there are no easy quick answers and spells that tell all. But a lot of spells can give a lot of hints that can be put together to find out things.

And a lot of divination spells can reveal a hidden clue. But to really see the future is rare and much more then just a spellcaster.

"Even among magic users, truly seeing the future is a rare skill. Some Divination spells can give you small hints, or help you converse with a being that might know what the future holds, but that's not quite the same thing."

"If she can really do what she says she can, or really anything like what she says she can, I think we want to meet her. Maybe she knows some way we can make our problems with Kabhsenuf Tantawi disappear. She clearly has reason to try, considering." Hissra glances back down at the page he's already read, and rereads the bit where Yuuta Mori describes her escape. "Actually, given that we know she can hold her own in a fight maybe she can help us do that in ways other than Divination. If we can find her. But we'll work on that once we've handled everything we've got a real plan for. Hey, who knows, if she really can do anything like what she says she can she might find us."

"For the other two, maybe we can try asking Grazus or someone else to cast a Divination spell to try and find her. But since that's resisted by the target's mind, I'm not sure I'd bother trying it on Kysalis. Anyone who can do high level Divination would probably have a mind strong enough to block it. But... maybe we can learn more?"

Hissra turns back to the journal and flips the page. I think page seven's next?

[Darth Ultron]

Day 27

"Not much to report today. I stayed in my room. The orc I hired, Hopk, did not report into day...but I did tell him to take a day or two to search. So he should report in tomorrow. Graatch has kept watch on Tlukkah, and did stop in for a quick report at dark. Unfortunately he did not have much of substance to report, just mundane details. Still, it is a start, and such things do take time. I'm patient. "

[whiteflash]

"The only thing of interest on this page is that Graatch really did pass some actual information on Tlukkah, even if it wasn't anything useful. The way you describe the priesthood of Gruumsh makes me think it might be enough to enrage him, though." Hissra sighs. "It's a shame we can't try to pass that information along to Tlukkah, but still: I see your point that it's way too dangerous."

Hissra turns to page eight.

[Darth Ultron]

Day 26

I spent the morning going over the set of scrolls Graatch brought me yesterday from the vault. As far as I could tell, they had nothing of value on them. No codes or secret messages or anything else.

After lunch I hired an orc, Hopk, to do some spy work around town. He is not all that bright, but he is a perfect toll. I gave him a basic run down of what I was looking for, without too many details, and sent him off.

When Graatch swooped by at night fall, I gavee him back the scrolls to return to the vault. As they were only gone a couple days, I doubt they will have been overly missed.

[whiteflash]

"This might be interesting or might be boring. I'm not sure yet. Among other things, it covers the day he hired Hopk."

Hissra reads it over again. "This page also says that Graatch stole scrolls from a vault for Yuuta. It doesn't have any real hint as to how many scrolls were taken, except that it uses the word "scrolls" rather than "scroll." It also doesn't say which vault it was stolen from or where the vault is, but there's no evidence yet that he was assigned anywhere but to Tlukkah at any point, so it's a fair bet that this vault is related to him: my guess is it's either a personal vault or one owned by the temple of Gruumsh. He also said that he didn't find anything useful in them. No secret codes, no secret messages, no anything else. I assume that also means there were no spells on them."

"He said they were stolen the previous day, and that he returned them. So it's no wonder we didn't find them... or did we?"

Hissra takes out the bone scroll cases they'd found among whatever Yuuta Mori had reverted into at death. "I really hope these aren't duplicates of two scrolls that Yuuta Mori never found anything useful in. I was hoping for a couple of new spells." He opens them to find out.

[Darth Ultron]

One bone scroll case is full of nine blank scrolls.

#2-is a bunch of common words, next to a bunch of orc words.

#3-Does look like three scrolls with magic runes.

[whiteflash]

"Well, these might be useful later." Hissra puts the blank scrolls aside.

"Common-to-orcish dictionary? Really could be useful."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I realize I should have asked this a while ago, but are Explosive Runes obviously magical even before the person who triggers them reads them? Or could anything Hissra just finished reading have been a magical bomb just as easily as those obviously magical runes on the scrolls could be? Or do I need to roll a check for this question?

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me already know common and orc."

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Explosive Runes are not obviously magical. They are made to be a trap after all. There are plenty of 'trap' type spells, and any of them could have been on the papers or the scrolls.

[whiteflash]

"Yeah, but I might need it myself."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

A bit late to worry, then.

"Anyway, this third one..." Hissra takes a look through the scrolls.

[Darth Ultron]

Scroll 1 Infallible Servant

Scroll 2 Lesser Planar Binding

Scroll 3- Arcane Eye

Spoiler: Scroll 1

Show

Infallible Servant


Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Cleric 3, Sorcerer 3, Wizard 3, Druid 4,
Components: V, S, M,
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Target: Creature Touched
Duration: 1 hour/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates; see text
Spell Resistance: No

You rub dung onto your minion's brow, intoning dark words to bind his life to your cause.

With a touch, you give a target a powerful motivation to avoid failure. If the target is captured by non-evil creatures or is slain, his body dissolves into foul sludge. The target is utterly destroyed and cannot be affected by any spell or effect that restores life (such as true resurrection) or a semblance of life (such as animate dead) short of miracle or wish.

When the target dissolves, all creatures within 30 feet must succeed on a Fortitude save against the spell's DC or become nauseated for 1d4 rounds.

Material Component: Dung from an evil creature.

[whiteflash]

"Okay, two of these might be useful. One's a scr... well, what it does is let me see from some distance away as though I was there myself. It's called scrying, and I've wanted to learn a spell that does it for a while. Another lets me Call an outsider and negotiate for its services, like summoning only with different limitations."

"Hm. If Yuuta Mori could cast this, he'd have the power to compel service from beings with traits consistent with what little we know about this 'Graatch.' But he couldn't force them to avenge him, and if anything a creature bound by this spell would be glad to learn what we'd done... But that's just speculation. Back to what we know."

"Unfortunately two of these spells are more difficult than I can handle at present, and the third one is a necromancy spell. That's a school I have no... talent... wait."

Spoiler: "Infallible" Servant

Show

Does Hissra figure the "foul sludge" a failed Infallible Servant would become could be chunky, like what's left of Yuuta Mori?

[Darth Ultron]

The foul sludge does sound a lot like what happened to Yuuta Mori, except you don't recall being nauseated, so it can't be the exact spell.

Snagazod the Sneaky waits.

[whiteflash]

The foul sludge does sound a lot like what happened to Yuuta Mori, except you don't recall being nauseated, so it can't be the exact spell.

Snagazod the Sneaky waits.

"This necromancy spell, Infallible Minion... it dissolves a target into goo when the target dies or is captured by morally upright individuals, and prevents necromancy of any sort from working on the target. I think it's meant either to punish minions who fail, or prevent defeated minions from being questioned. Maybe both."

"The result would be kinda like what happened to Yuuta Mori, except that the goo resulting from this spell sickens people who are standing too close to the target. I didn't feel anything like that. So this exact spell can't be what we saw, but... a similar spell could explain what we saw. That means that the strongest evidence we had that he wasn't an orc suddenly isn't as strong. Still, he described orcs as a people he wasn't part of..."

Hissra picks up the journal again, and turns to page nine. "Well, maybe it'll make sense when I get to the end of this journal."

[Darth Ultron]

Day 25
I arrived at the orc town today, Scorn, in the vile orc speech. As I'm well disguised as a traveling merchant, I had no problem getting into the town. I took a quick stroll around to get a view of the town, but did not want to stay in the open long.

I found a simple roadside place to stay, the type of place my merchant cover would stay at.

I sold nearly all of my merchant things at the market. I was glad to be rid of the donkeys. I sold the stuff cheep, and several greedy orcs bought it quickly.

I did try to mix with the orcs and hang out to see what rumors and gossip I could find.....but I found it hard...impossible...it fit in with them. I think it might be better for me to simply hire an orc or two to do this sort of thing. I will see about finding some orc tomorrow.

Graatch has kept watch on Tlukkah, as he flew into town several days ago on his trail. I sent him a message to let him know I was in town. He sent back a quick reply acknowledging that, and asking for message quiet. I assume he is close to Tlukkah and fears discovery if we communicate too much. He is a good spy, so I know he will slip away and report to me when he can.

[whiteflash]

Day 25
I arrived at the orc town today, Scorn, in the vile orc speech. As I'm well disguised as a traveling merchant, I had no problem getting into the town. I took a quick stroll around to get a view of the town, but did not want to stay in the open long.

I found a simple roadside place to stay, the type of place my merchant cover would stay at.

I sold nearly all of my merchant things at the market. I was glad to be rid of the donkeys. I sold the stuff cheep, and several greedy orcs bought it quickly.

I did try to mix with the orcs and hang out to see what rumors and gossip I could find.....but I found it hard...impossible...it fit in with them. I think it might be better for me to simply hire an orc or two to do this sort of thing. I will see about finding some orc tomorrow.

Graatch has kept watch on Tlukkah, as he flew into town several days ago on his trail. I sent him a message to let him know I was in town. He sent back a quick reply acknowledging that, and asking for message quiet. I assume he is close to Tlukkah and fears discovery if we communicate too much. He is a good spy, so I know he will slip away and report to me when he can.

"I've reached the part where he arrived in Skorne. And there's two pages left. That his journal goes on past this point might mean that I'm getting close to the things I really wanted to know... or the fact that it only goes on two more pages might mean that they're not here. Well, we'll find out soon."

"There's also more diatribe about orcs and the orcish language..."

"This does offer some new information, though. To wit: my theories on what Graatch was (or is) seem to be out. He wasn't working directly under Yuuta Mori, so he can't be his familiar or a creature Yuuta himself bound using the Calling spell I found. And Kabhsenuf Tantawi probably didn't bind him with that spell either, since he's an established enough servant to have a reputation for competence and this spell doesn't last very long. With those out: maybe he's a mephit, brought to this plane however my friend Foppo was?" Hissra chuckles darkly. "If I'd known he was going to wind up dead, and I was going to wind up fighting the wizard who'd Called him, I might have asked about that instead of what he did for fun."

"Yuuta Mori also seems to have been capable of magic on his own, since he's supposed to have sent Graatch a message, the circumstances imply there was magic involved, and we didn't see any magic item that should have allowed it on him. Good thing we killed him so quickly. That could have ended badly otherwise."

Hissra rereads the page once or twice, and then looks up. "Has... Tlukkah been out of town recently? This journal claims that Graatch 'flew into town several days ago on his trail.'" Hissra smiles his devilish smile. "It also says that Graatch fears discovery. So we know that this is the form of spying where you sneak around after someone, rather than pretending to be their friend or a harmless bystander and watching them that way. I... see your point about coming into direct contact with a priest of Gruumsh, but if I just used my magic to broadcast a message to Tlukkah telling him there's a flying spy watching him while I stayed well hidden, I'd be safe, right? And Graatch would suddenly be much less so..."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me not know Tlukkah every move....but sure, guess he could have left town. Like days ago?

Me still think we should stay clear of him. But maybe we could find Graatch? If he watching Tlukkah, maybe we can spot him?"

[whiteflash]

"He doesn't make it clear where he is for his flock the way some human priests do, then?"

"As for how we handle Graatch without coming to Tlukkah's attention: I agree that one thing we don't want is to come into direct contact with an unpredictable priest of a god who glorifies violence. But unless he uses divination (which I thought you said most orcish priests don't,) we should be able to get the message across without him knowing who we are. All I have to do is use Ghost Sound to create a voice close to where he is. I can create it up to forty feet away from myself, so when the priests come to investigate they're looking in entirely the wrong direction. And if we make ourselves hard to see beforehand and make sure to be gone as soon as we see how it ended..."

"The main downside is that this way, Tlukkah will know someone's taking an interest in him, and Graatch will know someone is on to him. Graatch might even be able to guess who I am and how I know about him. That'll make it harder to do it silently if we still need to. Maybe I should have the spells ready for either plan tomorrow, and we can decide which one when we get there? If we have a clear shot, I unload on him and we run like an angry god was chasing us as soon as he stops moving. If we don't see him, or a priest of Gruumsh is standing too close for us to go after him, we can try using Ghost Sound."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me not really go for all this people stuff. But illusions sound good and sneaky. "

[whiteflash]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me not really go for all this people stuff. But illusions sound good and sneaky. "

"Okay. That means we have two plans for this. At least one should be workable. We'll figure out which one is tomorrow. And now let's see what else is in here."

Hissra turns to page ten.

[Darth Ultron]

Day 24

I traveled along this day as an orc merchant. The donkeys and trade goods made the travel slow, more so over the poor road. Still I though it best to conceal my movements. I carry little of value, and no notable or powerful magic. To any onlooker, or even scan, I will look like an orc merchant. I sent Laaz Vando with the magic off to find a good hiding place, something like a cave. He will stay out of sight. I told him to not contact me, and I will only contact him if the need is dire.

I am glad to be rid of Laaz. I work better alone. I would ask, master, if after this task is done to your satisfaction I might work alone? "

[whiteflash]

"Okay, Yuuta Mori had a whole bunch of magical items, but he hid them to avoid detection. They're guarded by someone named Laaz Vando."

"We're... probably going to have to find that guy before he finds us. He's supposed to be living in a cave or someplace similar, probably outside town." Hissra pauses. "Okay, you said some buildings in this town have entrances into the cave system under this town? If he's lucky he might be able to find a way to sneak in that way. In fact..."

Hissra looks around to see if there's any basement door in Gretreo's house, or if the floor is such that one could be hidden from sight. "I should have done this a while ago."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Hum, Lazz? Me doubt that orc name...me guess he whatever Yuuta was?

And yup, caves is an orc thing. Like the temple we went to was all underground.

This house kinda simple, so nothing on the bottom."

The floor of the house looks like normal dirt and ground. There is no basement or cellar that you can see.

[whiteflash]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Hum, Lazz? Me doubt that orc name...me guess he whatever Yuuta was?

And yup, caves is an orc thing. Like the temple we went to was all underground.

This house kinda simple, so nothing on the bottom."

The floor of the house looks like normal dirt and ground. There is no basement or cellar that you can see.

"We really need to figure out what he was sometime."

"Yeah, I'm starting to see that orcs like caves." Hissra turns back to Snagazod. "Hey, a few hours ago, you said you didn't think they were all connected. Are... there any that are, that you know of? Or any that have entrances both inside and outside the town walls?"

Hissra looks back down towards the pretty clearly caveless ground. "That there's none that lead directly in here is a mixed blessing. We could have used one, but so could Graatch, Laaz Vando, and who knows who else."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me not know too much about caves and underground. Me outside wild orc. I like just know the caves are there. Me know it dangerous down there. "

[whiteflash]

"I see." Hissra blows out a breath. "It's unfortunate, but I'm hardly one to blame you for staying out of danger. Still, it'd be a good thing if we had some idea what's down there and where it goes. Unfortunately, the people who know best are probably the people we should trust the least and who have the most cause to conceal the extent of their knowledge, so trying to buy a map would be risky. And I believe you when you say exploring them ourselves is dangerous."

"Maybe this is something to look into when I get good enough to cast that scrying spell we found." Hissra shrugs. "Anyway. Last page." And with that, Hissra reads it.

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me kinda doubt there is any maps. Maps is not like an orc thing."


Day 23
Today was an uneventfully day of travel. As my cover is an orc merchant I have stuck to the common road and traveled slow.