Captain Spatha's Solo Adventure [IC]

[JNAProductions]

The building is actually built for human-sized folk, and you see a friendly-looking elvish shopkeep behind a counter. There's various salves, ointments, and the occasional potion on display, along with woodcrafted tools. "Lelcila! How have you been, sweetie?"

"I've been... Decent, I guess, Mrs. Gembright," she says. "This is my, erm, friend? Captain Spatha."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Captain!" she says to you. "Are you here to chitchat, buy, or just visiting family?"

Lelcila chuckles a little. "Straight to the point, huh? Family-is she awake?"

"I think so-you two can go right on up," Mrs. Gembright responds.

You both head up some stairs in the back, quickly climbing to the third floor. It's a little more cramped for you up here, but manageable. You see a drowsy-looking gnomish woman, with a clear family resemblance to Lelcila, drinking some water in the hall. "Oh! Lelcila, I didn't expect to see you."

Lelcila looks pretty sheepish. "Hi, auntie. I, um..." she stammers out, not really prepared to explain the situation.

[Pyrophilios]

Spatha greeted her with a salute: "Captain Spatha, Ma'am, formerly of his Majesty's royal forces. Now on special mission. Your niece is assisting me. We are currently investigating potentially very dangerous dark forces, trying to manipulate mortal summoners.
May we come in and talk?"

After the usual pleasantries, Spatha cut to the chase: "We encountered an incorporeal undead in the barrow, where your niece was conducting her research. She mentioned that she knows of a ritual to speak with the dead, that you own. We need your expertise to find out what could have caused a shadow to appear instead of the spirit of the dead person to be questioned."

[JNAProductions]

"Lelcila?" she says.

"Yes, auntie?" Lelcila replies.

She fixes a level gaze at Lelcila. "Did you think? At all?" Lelcila blushes hard, while her aunt sighs. "Tell me everything that happened-and be honest, please."

Lelcila relates what happened, with you filling in some details she wouldn't be privy to, and occasionally prodding her to make sure she tells the WHOLE truth. Her aunt nods and such as you two tell your tale, but refrains from commenting. Once the divulging of facts is done with, she turns to a voluminous tome on a desk. She begins to flip through it, eventually coming to a stop on a pictureless page. "Mauta the Black. A vestige of a long-passed god of death. Not the pleasant kind, either-the kind that actively tries to bring death to all. An all-consuming void of darkness and damnation. Here, read some of the descriptions of those who've encountered it-tell me if it seems familiar."

She passes the book to Lelcila, who frowns as she reads it. "It... It feels right. Well, not RIGHT, but... Accurate."

[Pyrophilios]

Spoiler

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(1d20)[12]+2 Religion

"I am afraid, I haven't heard of this one yet. What is its abilties and portfolio - and most important, how does it gain power? Does ist catch servant one by one with open ended contracts, or is it more the cult creating type?"
Spatha replied.

[JNAProductions]

"Mauta has, in times past," Lelcila's aunt says, "done both. It favored a few powerful individuals, indebted to it, but it also had cults, as all malicious gods tend to do. I've not heard of anything or anyone recently who trucked with it, current situation aside, but the fact that Lelcila heard it without seeking it out is... Concerning. Let me copy the information I have regarding Mauta," she starts to do so on some fresh parchment, "and you might want to go to the temple ward. Even if they don't know anything more, it's worth a shot."

As she copies down the information, Lelcila eventually grows brave enough to speak again. "Auntie?"

"Yes dear?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't... I didn't want to cause trouble," Lelcila says.

Her aunt sighs. "I know. You're a good girl, Lelcila-you just need to think things through, sometimes. But I love you-we all do."

Lelcila seems happy to hear that.

It takes about twenty minutes to copy all the information down, and then just a minute or two to let the ink dry. "Here you go, Captain," she says. "Lelcila can guide you to the temple district. Good luck-and keep my niece safe!"

[Pyrophilios]

"Thank you, I will do so. And Mauta will be forgotten again if I have anything to say about it."
Spatha got up and bowed slightly to the aunt.

Once the two of them were back on the street, he says: "Your aunt is very pleasant. You could follow worse examples. Now, let's go to the temple before we have to look for a place for the night - unless you'd prefer camping out again."

[JNAProductions]

"Yes sir," she replies.

You head for the temple ward, Lelcila leading the way, as late afternoon passes to early evening. There's only about four proper temples, but you see many acolytes of varying types within. The largest temple has, out front, a statue of an androgynous humanoid holding up the sun, studded with crystals and faintly glowing.

Spoiler: OOC

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So, how did you want to level up Lelcila?

[Pyrophilios]

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I'll let her take Fighter levels

"Time to try our luck inside. I hope Lathandar's servants can be of help here."
Once inside, Spatha looks for an Acoluth to take them to the Archpriest or whoever wields the supreme authority in there and once again introduces himself, Lelcila, his mission and how they suspect the Vestige Mauta to be up to no good.

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: OOC

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Make me a Persuasion check, to see how quickly you're able to get an audience.

Especially low rolls will mean you fail to get an audience with the big high ups, but otherwise, it'll just be to figure out how long it takes.

[Pyrophilios]

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(1d20)[8]+5

Spatha tried to be as polite, but urgent as he could be...

[JNAProductions]

Unfortunately, the more learned priests are rather busy, but one of the acolytes is able to promise you a meeting early in the morning with a deacon.

[Pyrophilios]

Spatha grudgingly aknowledged the delay and instead turned to Lelcila: "It seems we have to wait til tomorrow. You look like you could use a soft bed. Let us take lodging for the night and return here at the appointed time. One room will be enough - I'll stand watch."

[JNAProductions]

"You sure? I mean, I'm sure you can handle it just fine," she says. "But Edinborough's not a hard place. You can rest properly, if you need to. I don't really know about your needs, though, so... I guess you decide."

Regardless of your answer, Lelcila leads you to a quiet inn. You get a meal and a room for her, and settle in for the night.

In your rest, you do receive... Not a visitation. Nothing that grand. But you get the calming sense from your patron that you're doing things well. You might not be perfect, but you're moving in the right directions.

Come morning, you awake Lelcila for some breakfast, and meeting with the deacon. Back in the temple ward, it's much quieter, being too early for most folk to bother awaking. You see the acolyte from yesterday yawning and cleaning some of the pews. As you enter, he turns to face you, saying "Good morning-oh, hello there! Erm, let me just finish this, and I'll get the deacon right away."

It's a few minutes of cleaning and waiting, but soon enough, a slightly grumpy half-elf man is brought towards you. He dismisses the acolyte, and turns to face you both. "Good morning, my children. How may I be of service?"

[Pyrophilios]

"I don't sleep - but thanks. It saves the fare for a second room."

When they are finally talking to the deacon, Spatha once again introduces himself and Lelcila and then cuts to the chase:
"... and her aunt was able to identify this entity as a Vestige called Mauta. I fear that it will try to subvert others and also create cabals dedicated to summon self replicating undead. Left unchecked, we could face a very serious undead pandemic within a few short weeks.
Something must have changed within the last few weeks that enables this vestige to exert its will upon this plane - we must find the source and erradicate it."

[JNAProductions]

The deacon seems unmoved. "You honestly expect me to simply believe this? Who's to see you aren't aligned with some cabal yourselves? Trying to lure us to the darkness... No, we've no time for your tricks."

The acolyte nearby seems nervous, and when the deacon turns to face him, practically spooks out of his pants. "Why on earth would you have brought these heathens to face me?"

"Sir, I-"

"What drove you to such idiocy? How could you-" he continues, launching on a tirade against the acolyte, who tries his best to shrink into the ground.

[Pyrophilios]

Spatha replied in calm yet icy words: "You dare to call me a liar? Are you not a priest of a god of law and light? Are you incapable of invoking the divine to determine the truth?
I don't fear truth nor judgement, for I am a true servant of the Lady and I will stand trial to proof it if necessary.
Or am I talking to a pretender that has lost the grace of his Lord?"

Spoiler

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(1d20)[19]+5 Intimidation/Persuation

[JNAProductions]

"I will not have you speak ill of me in my temple! Begone!" he says.

At this point, the commotion has attracted various other acolytes and a few of the guards of the temple ward. The guards seem unsure, but you're pretty certain that they'd side with the deacon over a stranger if it comes to a conflict.

[Pyrophilios]

"So be it - either you are impotent to invoke your god's powers to ascertain the truth or you are an enemy of the truth. In either case you are of no help to prevent the undead threat we face.
May your god show you mercy."
Spatha got up and nodded towards Lelcila and turned to leave.
"We will find help at a place where piety reigns."

[JNAProductions]

You leave the temple, unintentionally dramatic. Shortly after you leave, you see some of the acolytes moving to the other temples-they look a bit guilty, or ashamed.

When you attempt to meet with priests from the other temples, you are told that they have been warned of you. It seems the deacon holds no small amount of sway over the ward as a whole.

Spoiler: Perception DC 14

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As you continue to move, you get the sense someone is following you.

[Pyrophilios]

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(1d20)[20]+2 Perception

"It seems we have to turn to other sources."
He suddenly turned around and said: "You there, I assume you have a different opinion than your deacon."

[JNAProductions]

You see a short woman-probably mostly human, but looks just dissimilar enough to be a mutt, perhaps. She chuckles a bit. "He's not MY deacon-but I did hear the altercation. And he certainly doesn't speak for all. Do you mind if we talk somewhere private, or outside the temple ward?"

[Pyrophilios]

"Sure, lead the way." Spatha replied - and just to be sure, he sent out a pulse of divine energy to see if this was indeed a woman and not a fiend or undead in disguise

Spoiler

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Using Divine Sense

[JNAProductions]

She's clear. You get a faint sense of something from Lelcila-the barest whisper of something sinister, likely from her contact with Mauta.

The woman leads you out of the temple ward, and into a raucous tavern not far from it. The people are loud and seemingly unaware of it, tanked as they are. You think they may have been partying through the night and not yet realized it's morning. She sits down at a table a small ways away from them, and leans in to talk to you two. "So-want to tell me what happened with the deacon? I heard parts of it, but..."

You and Lelcila explain what happened with the deacon, with her nodding as you do. "Yup, sounds about right. The deacon... He's not an evil man, I'd say... But he's not a nice man. Nor a good one. He pays lip service to the gods, but asks for massive tithes and donations, and rarely shows any moral authority. If I had to hazard a guess," she says, "he's worried that you'd be able to get the common folk to want him to do something. Something he can't, or won't, do." She frowns. "Goddamn greed... It'll be the death of us all, someday. I'm Nerissa, by the way-and unlike the deacon, I think our goals actually align. You mentioned Mauta. I've not done any in-depth research on that particular bit of nastiness, but I know enough to know it's bad news. My partner and I are currently in the middle of something else-she's handling part of it on her own right now-but we can help with some information and whatnot."

[Pyrophilios]

"That sounds good - I welcome any help I can get. What is it that you do - or know for that matter. I have to admit, that I have no idea where I can find the source of this incursion.
Also, what is this something else you are talking about? Beggars can't be choosers, but I would prefer it if you were not involved in a criminal endeavor."
Spatha replied, still a bit suspicious about finding help on the street.

[JNAProductions]

"In this case? It's an exorcism. I'm not really of the magical bent, so I can't do a ton to help," she replies. "Like I said, I haven't studied much of Mauta, just enough to know the name is bad news. Can you share anything you know about it?"

Lelcila provides the notes that were copied from her aunt. "Ah, perfect. Let me just study these a bit..." Nerissa says, eyes going over the words. After finishing, she hands it back, and waves down a server. "Something not too strong, but tasty!" she asks for, then turns to face you two. "For a vestige like this, it's tricky to deal with. Ideally, it'll just fade-without any power or worship, it'll shrink back to virtually nothing. But, if it's already gained power in some fashion, leaving it alone would just let it come back. The trick to dealing with a vestige that IS gaining power is finding the source-and if you can't do that, making the source. Despite being a dead god, they've not much power-they can channel others' abilities, but their divine spark is... Poof. Gone. Vanished. It's the kind of thing you can confront and win. It's not easy-but it's possible."

[Pyrophilios]

"An exorcism? I'd gladly offer my help with that."
Spatha listened to the explanation:
"Am I understanding you correctly? If we can't find the source that made her come back, we should try to build a shrine ourselves, offer Mauta an avatar and then kill the avatar once she takes possession?
That would be pretty convenient if it would work. Still, I'd prefer finding the original reason for the resurgence. Maybe an oracle or a high priest that actually believes in his god could help us find it."

[JNAProductions]

"Nah, she's got it handled. This is easy stuff," Nerissa says. "And that's the gist of it, yeah. I wouldn't go building any shrines yet-if you can find the original source, it'll be much easier to handle like that, as well as diminishing Mauta's power before facing it down."

As she talks, you see a tall woman-just shy of seven feet-come into the bar. She's strongly built, and has a large sword strapped to her back. "Nerissa! There you are," she says, striding over.

"Hey Celina!" Nerissa says. "Celina, this is Lelcila and Captain Spatha. You two, this is Celina, my partner. How'd the exorcism go?"

Celina shakes your hands, with a firm grip. "It went fine. And a pleasure to meet you both-judging by the situation, I'd guess that you're in need of some assistance?"

[Pyrophilios]

"Yes, pleaed to meet you. Though I am curious - what kind of excorcism did you perform? Giving pain to the flesh until the evil spirit leaves - or did you employ faith magic?

In any case - you wouldn't happen to be an expert in divination to find the location where a Vestige called Mauta has dug its claws into this world?"

Spatha replies

[JNAProductions]

"Ceremonies of faith," she replies. "And I'm afraid I lack talent at divinations."

Nerissa nods, adding "But... I used to work at a mage's college. That's where I picked up a lot of my know-how, even if I can't cast myself. It's about three days north, kinda in the middle of nowhere. I'd be happy to write you a letter of recommendation, to get you in. They should have some people experienced enough to track the source."

[Pyrophilios]

"That would be most helpful. Thank you.
Are you two offering your services for hire? Once I have the necessary information, I might need your assistance. My temple has given me some discretionary funds for such an eventuallity."

Spatha replied.