(IC) Festival of Heroes - Fenris Howls - Main

[paladin_artea]

"I agree to asking Kasidra for help. I've worked with her recently and she's proven to be a valuable ally.," Markas chimed in on the mercenary's behalf

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear smiles, wiping the powder from his lips. He opens a pouch speaking into it.

Spoiler: undercommon

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"Queue, pass up the cloak I made for that horny boy I told you about"

A stone hand comes out of the bog holding some cloth. Umbear takes it with a smile and pulls out a set of robes that would fit Kest.

Spoiler: undercommon

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"Thanks queue. Here Kest. I made this, I figured you could use some augmentation. If you've got about 60,000 gold to cover the cost of its creation, that'd be great, so I can keep making things for the defense of the city like you and the others. "

[dysmorphia]

Surprise flitted across the priest's face, followed by a brief flush at horny boy, and upon hearing he had a cloak with augmentation made, he let himself smile.

Spoiler: Undercommon

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"Really? What does this do? What kind of augmentation? Yes, I have the gold, I was sent here with plenty of funds. Thank you. I did not expect this..."

Kestejoo reaches into his backpack to pull out his coin bags, giving the ogre six bags each containing ten thousand gold coins.

Spoiler: Undercommon

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"What gave you the idea for this? I don't think we've had much chance to talk..."

[Erealyn]

Jaylyn walked down from the her room, making her way to the dining hall. Her ears twitching a bit, "Oh come on, another one!" She said combing carefully around the back of her right ear with her hands until she found what she was looking for. "I took a bath, cleaned my clothes, shifted forms several times and STILL finding pieces of that forsaken building in my fur..." Jaylyn finished with a sigh, taking the piece of the building and crumbled it into dust before wiping her hand on her dress.

Jaylyn finally turn the last corner before the dining hall, she saw Umbear and Kest talking. "Heya guy...guy...ah...ahh...ACHOO!" Jaylyn started, before quickly grabbing her hankie and sneezing into it, quickly blowing her nose and sighing. "Oh man and I thought I got all the dust and rubble out of my nose during the flight back to the castle...my apologies." She said to the two as she walked closer to them.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear smiled at Kest's reaction.

Spoiler: Undercommon

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"You want I should speak to Arurora for you?"

He chuckled for a moment.

Spoiler: Undercommon

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"Well, Im trying to make sure everyone our group defending the city is receiving upgrades as we go. This is a Summoners Robe that also Augments your wisdom. I have gear that lets me assess another persons magical gear in almost a glance, What time I have seen you, has been more than enough to see what you need.

Umbear smiles and takes the coinage, placing it into his own bags.

Spoiler: Undercommon

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"its my job to know stuff, though I suppose im not great at keeping secrets so Im no good at being an info broker.

Umbear looked up to see Jaylyn and grinned.

"Oh! a dusty Vixen it seems! good morning Jaylyn, heard you were fighting cultists, still up for our mission today?"

[Erealyn]

Under different circumstances Jaylyn would have chucked at the 'dusty vixen' comment as it would have been something she would have heard several times. "I WISH it was just dust... no it's what's left of forsaken burning warehouse that fell on me this morning." She said with a bit of disgust, finding yet another bit of rubble and removing it, grinding it to dust between her fingers like before. "Yea I think I managed to confuse three of them in the same warehouse that collapsed on me. Not before they got a good several hits on me first though." She said with a renewed disgust, "As for the mission... yea I have some pent up frustrations that I need to get out, as it were." she finished calming down a bit. "But before that I want to get some food first, plus you two look like you was having a private conversation, and I don't want to interrupt."

[dysmorphia]

Kestejoo nodded and folded the cloak into his pack, deciding to look it over further later, especially as the fox sorceress had just joined them.

"Good morning, Jaylyn. No interruption... we are concluded," Kestejoo said, though his Common was slow and careful. "Do you two need aid? Feeling... less useful. Perhaps I come?"

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear breaks a huge smile when Kest Nods. His eyes wide with glee. He gives Kest a wink.

"Oh we are done with private talk now.... now its time for public talking, Come on in, I have breakfast to eat, and secrets to share."

Umbear turns and goes back inside. Grinning ear to ear at Aurora, almost not breaking eye contact with her before sitting with his food and looking away to begin eating the remainder of his breakfast.

[Erealyn]

Jaylyn notices the big grin on Umbear's face. 'Ah crap, why do I have a bad feeling bout this' Jaylyn thought before looking over to Kest. "Umm...uhhh...sure, I have no objections to you coming along, having a bit of healing could be useful should any of the miners get hurt." Jaylyn said somewhat distracted by the last few moments. "You might wanna get back in there before the Ogre says or does something you might regret." She finished before walking in herself, despite having a bad feeling bout what's to come, she wasn't about to miss this for the world.

[dysmorphia]

As soon as he noticed Umbear's unbearable grin, the priest had a sinking feeling. Did he do something? Say something? Lord of the Chained, give me strength.

"Umbear-" Kest started, but the ogre disappeared into the dining hall before he could get much more out. "...this not good, is it?" he asked quietly, glancing at the kitsune as she went into the dining hall herself.

A sigh passed his lips and the centaur made his way into the dining hall as quietly as he could. The shackles and his huge hooves, however, completely ruined that. He had no idea what he was in for.

[Wolfykins]

Aurora looked at Umbear quizzically, unsure what his canary-eating grin was all about. When Kest came back in, she made her way over to him, still casting side-eye at Umbear.
"Are you alright? I saw you choking a few minutes ago. Have you fully recovered from that?" she asked.


Malaika studied Markas with a carefully neutral expression in silence for a moment. Then she nodded and smiled.
"I am glad that you are able to look past her unusual features to see her value!" she said. "Although," she shot a glance at Captain Bramwell, "I suppose you have had some practice."

[EdgeGrinder]

The Princess smiled at being referred to so informally. "Yes, General. I was hoping you'd take this on. Do what you can to crack the cultists. I wonder if the cult and the Abyssal hordes are somehow working together. That alone makes this a military issue." She continued to eat her breakfast. "Should the holy powers of Freya be necessary, I will make myself available for assistance." She offered.

After a few moments, Grand Chancellor Unwin slunked into the dining hall, looking worse for wear. He was a Lashunta of typical male stature for his race at 5 feet tall. He work a dark overcoat and a pair of silver spectacles with his antennae peeking over top of them. His short black hair was shiny and well combed. His jaw line was rounded and his nose was small. His black eyes had a gleam to them. He could be considered unusually beautiful by those outside of his race. He appeared to be frowning with a serious look in his eyes. Dark circles around his eyes were the telltale signs of lack of sleep.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. I'd like to apologize for being... indisposed yesterday. I had... a lot of salvaging to do."

The Princess looked at him with scrutiny and nodded briefly.

The Grand Chancellor looked to Gorrun next. "I would like to also apologize to you and your people, General. I was frustrated at the situation which was eluding me and I took it out on you and your soldiers. It is very unbecoming behavior of the Grand Chancellor."

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

No apology necessary Lord Unwin. I'm sure you've been quite busy. Gorrun answered. A professionality in his tone that had been shelved recently, due to the turn of events and may be slightly striking to those who have been in his immediate company the last few days.

[Wolfykins]

Malaika's eyes narrowed at Unwin and she folded her lips between her teeth to keep herself quiet. She shot a look at Gorrun that made clear she had questions for him later.


Aurora tilted her head curiously at Unwin's entrance.
"Lord Chancellor, if I may be so bold as to ask, what were you able to salvage? Can you tell us anything about what happened to the Alchemist Tower? Any idea where in the tower the breach might be, or how far under it if it is beneath?" the oracle asked, her tone as gentle and kindly as usual, but with a slight edge of tension detectable by those who knew her well; her brows just ever so faintly pinching in worry.
"The disruptive energy of the breach seems to be growing stronger. I have grave concerns about what might happen if we don't figure out where the source is, and how to get there, and very soon!"

[EdgeGrinder]

Unwin smiled gravely and nodded to the Princess and the General. "Thank you both for your understanding." He sat down at the table and took a deep breath. "Most of my data and paperwork either was copied and stored in the castle via magical or mundane means. Any magical items or potions left in the tower are unreachable and most likely corrupted. Turns out, at least three of my staff are unaccounted for." He looked to Aurora. "So the breach is indeed a breach the Abyss or a very similar plane. The breach is most likely from a conditional Gate spell from an object stored away in the tower basement. I have an inventory we can go over to find which item it is specifically. The Gate is wide and seems to be widening, hence the energy spreading." Unwin explained.

The Princess nodded at the Grand Chancellor's explanation.

[Andrew Markham]

Aurix turns to look at Gorrun and raises an eyebrow.

Spoiler: Gorrun Only

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Aurix's voice sounds in Gorrun's mind, "See, this is more the reaction I would have expected. Do you believe him?"

Aurix studies Unwin as he speaks, assessing his body language and tone for honesty. He adds, "...Did you have more than one conditional Gate object in your basement? What are the possibilities here? In any case, we should also go over the list to figure out what items of power the demons now have access to."

Spoiler: Sense Motive

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(1d20+39)[50]
If botch, activate Second Chance: (1d20+39)[45]

[EdgeGrinder]

Unwin turned to Aurix. "At least three, I believe. I really don't know what would happen if multiple Gates opened on top of each other. Not sure what the conditions, if any, are for the other two. I would expect them to work differently." Unwin replied.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear lifted his head from eating.

"You mean like creatures from Hell, the Abyss, and the Negative energy plane all rushing into a nexus point, say the basement of that tower?"

He shrugged before going back to eating.

[EdgeGrinder]

Geiravor's eyes widened. Unwin nodded. "I see. So you're saying maybe all three Gates are open. If three Gates really are open, all Hel is about to break loose."

[Andrew Markham]

Aurix holds up a warning hand. "Let's...limit our speculation for the moment. I've found that it has a tendency to influence your assumptions in the wrong ways. Let's go over the list at some point and examine the properties of these items. We'll see if they could be used together in that way. Thank you, Lord Unwin, and my sympathies for your losses."

[dysmorphia]

When Aurora asked after his health, the stallion nodded, though he remained silent to allow the others to speculate and go over possibilities. He didn't think any of this really concerned his mission, but he listened intently. Perhaps something he'd learned would help here?

Spoiler: knowledge checks

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knowledge arcana: (1d20+20)[29]
knowledge history (maybe it's happened before?) (1d20+11)[25]
knowledge planes: (1d20+20)[39]
knowledge religion: (1d20+20)[29]

His eyes gazed about the room, attempting to figure out what was going on here.

[paladin_artea]

"Look around us, Malika," Markas gestured to everyone in the room, "There are people of many races and walks of life in this very room. I've always valued diversity among my friends and allies. Especially when dealing with a major problem like the one we are facing."

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Spoiler: Aurix

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I personally dont trust him any further than I can throw him, but I'm willing to hear him out for the sake of completion if nothing else.

Gorrun listened to the Chancellor recall his story he studied his tone, his inflection, his choice of words, and any gestures and body language displayed. He hoped his fears were unfounded, but was not willing to let his guard down. (1d20+28)[46] SM

[Erealyn]

Jaylyn walked into the dining hall, greeting each person as she passed them going to the kitchen. after a few moments she came back out with a plate of sausages, some fruits, and some sweeten bread. she sat down with the rest of the group, she began eating while listen to the talk of the gates and what-not. Jaylyn began to ponder bout some possibilities.

Spoiler: skill checks

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Knowledge planes (1d20+3)[15]
Knowledge arcana (1d20+13)[28] to figure out if having three different gates open as the same would produce the effect seen at the tower

[Wolfykins]

Aurora frowned, the furrow in her brow becoming more pronounced. "You think the rift is getting wider? I had just assumed the increased energy was the standard seepage of a planar breach! If you're saying that's not the case, but that the breach itself is growing, then we have a very big problem! Hervir's barrier should be preventing the tear from widening further! If it is that unstable, then we have two problems! First, the demons and devils coming through the breach will soon not be limited to the tower as their sole egress into the city. And with the tower's basement connecting to the sewage lines, we will very quickly lose control of where we fight them! And second, a breach so unstable as to be continuously and rapidly expanding has unidentifiable ramifications! I've rarely heard of rifts that expand on their own. My old master spoke of only one time in his long life that he ever witnessed such, when he was youth himself, and that his master took a grueling, fast-paced journey that nearly cost him his life to reach the site and close it as quickly as possible, saying uncontrolled expansion of a rift could spell the end of the material plane! He did not explain how that might occur, but his certainty and his obvious terror was so great that it traumatized his young apprentice, and my master still carries the fear in his heart to this day!"


Malaika's eyes narrowed at Unwin and she couldn't hold herself back.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! You had an item... capable of creating a gate... to the Abyss... and you weren't keeping it in an anti-magic box?! Why the hell not?!" the shobhad demanded sharply.

[EdgeGrinder]

Unwin looked to Malaika. "The spell, Gate, does not work this way at all. How could I have known such an object could hold the kind of magic to sustain a Gate such as this? This is a problem I inherited. This leads me to wonder what might be under the Mage Tower or what other ancient weapons might be in this Principality." He speculated.

Princess Geiravor looked down at the table.

[Andrew Markham]

Aurix stands up and puts his hands out towards Malaika and Unwin as if to separate them. "All right, this conversation needs to slow down- right now. We don't know that it's one of these items, and if it was, there's a long chain of logic that leads to it being activated, up to the possibility that there may have been cultist infiltrators in the tower that could have bypassed any defenses. So let's not start throwing stones until we actually know things."

"What we need to do is start getting intelligence from inside the tower. We can't penetrate the energy surrounding it, but perhaps Lord Unwin knows- or can learn- of alternate entrances?" Aurix looks at Unwin and laces his words heavily with suggestion. "Meanwhile, if we review this list of magic items, we can make educated guesses" Aurix lets those two words hang in the air for a moment, "About what those items are capable of, in any given permutation. AND- with enough information about the missing clerks, we can attempt to scry on them and gain some actual intelligence about what's going on in there. Heck, we could just go get a spyglass and look through the giant hole they just made in the side of the damned wall!" Aurix snaps, pointing his scaled finger at the tower.

The Champion gestures towards Aurora. "Meanwhile this is the second warning Aurora has delivered about the enemy potentially circumventing our defenses. If there's ANY chance she might be right, because it's expanding or the cult is working to expand its influence, we need to start our backup plans RIGHT NOW. General, this is your strong suit. We've committed our bulk to a single field, and that's a tactical decision they can exploit. We need a Plan B and a Plan C, and we can't wait. We need to study the sewer system and the cracks extending out from the tower to look for potential points of exit and set up there in some form or fashion, and then evacuate citizens from those areas. This is gonna be like keeping ants in an anthole after a while, but the longer we last, the more time we have to research a permanent solution to this- and never forget, THAT'S our goal here. We can't kill the enemy dead; they just go home. We have to close that breach."

Aurix takes a deep breath and sags some, looking sheepish. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to turn into a speech. But we can't get caught up now. We have to stay focused, and we have to stay ahead of the enemy."

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear pulls out a piece of paper and pushes it out to the group.

"Rough map of the sewer system and how it touches the crack's of the tower passing through them"

Umbear stops to ponder.

"There are individuals that are in the sewers that are uneffected by the abyssal energy, or if they are effected they dont show signs of showing it."

[Wolfykins]

Aurora looked at Umbear quizzically again.
"Wait, what do you mean? People were coming and going from the tower underground?"

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear held up a finger and reached into a pouch to pull a small earth elemental out, A shapely figure of sandstone, black Onyx hair, and Saphires for eyes. He pauses between mouthfuls to speak.

"Queue, tell them what you saw underneath the ground around the tower"

Queue looks back to umbear and nods. They begin to speak as a combination of grinding noises and cracks comes forth, but it seems to translate into a common language, laid over its own speech.

" The breaches expand outward underneath the ground, similar to as they do above ground. "

She points to places on the map

"When I got near these breaches, I started feeling sick and avoided them. But when I peeked in the sewers that intersected with the breaches, there were people that were present that did not seem visually affected by the energy that comes from the breach. I was only collecting information for the mapping of the sewers and how it interacts with the breaches, so the people was a side note that umbear seems to think is something of importance. If there are people that can be near the abyssal energy, then their may be people who can enter the tower. at least thats what umbear has shared. "