Auromar: Light and Dark (IC 3)

[Toliudar]

Reid

Through concern for his friend, Reid does his own quick analysis of Hist's state. As he checks the angel-born, he can't help but shake his head and murmur.

Bold, crazy and clever. I should have known.

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(1d20+11)[19] heal check.

He looks up at the senior priest.

Thank you. Thank you.

[Lochar]

Reid:

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He's unconscious but breathing easily. He does show signs of overchanneling energy.

[Toliudar]

Reid

Looking up at Dothen and Grazys, Reid reports.

He has sent an excess of energy through his body. He should recover in a few hours.

Reid does what he can to make Hist comfortable, and gestures to the people on the pews. He looks at the senior priest.

Do you have any way to communicate with them? Can they even see us?

[Lochar]

Reid:

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It's been over time on Pelor's Light, you're out for the day.

The priest nods at the second part of Reid's question. "I think they can see us, because in using the prayer for true sight, the first time I made motion to them the person motioned back. I still cannot understand them, and I have yet to figure out a way to communicate with them. They fade away with the sun fades, so we cannot even utilize the curse to contact them."

[Greyen]

Dothen

Dothen looks at his fallen comrade, he speaks kindly, quietlyAh, the crazy headed insanity of you. You better learn before you breakyourself my sleeping friend.

He looks up and around at the priests, Reid included. If the guardsmen were brought here asleep, during the day would the spirits have a chance at getting their bodies back? His eyes are intense and he obviously is not at all happy with the guardsmen.

[Toliudar]

Reid

The priest frowns.

I am only learning the very basics of this curse, but my understanding is that, without some way to heal the bond between soul and body, these poor people can't reconnect.

He smiled wanly.

It's...good to see that you're reconsidering the thought that, once separated from their body, one is out of luck. We are all of us victims of the curse, each in our own way.

[Greyen]

Dothen

Ya got me wrong there Reid. Once a person has be killed, the body no longer is breathing, then they are outta luck. But these folk jus' had their bodies stolen by some ******* guardsman. That goes against my grain in more than one way. First, I got a natural dislike for guards, police, whatver. Second taking someone's body is bad mojo. Third, not letting the soul pass on to their rewards is bad mojo too.

I dunno how it works but I think I may just have to collect us an unwilling volunteer to try and see if we can get one of these guys back into their body.

Lets wait for Hist to wake up first. You sure He's going to be ok?.

[Toliudar]

Reid

Reid shakes his head.

My friend, your ability to parse the rights of victims would honour a sage. These souls -

He gestures to the pews, where even though he cannot see them, he believes that the severed souls remain.

- are worthy of life again because their bodies remain alive elsewhere. While the Father's spirit, here, should go on to rest because his original body is gone.

He smiles sadly.

I wish my choice of paths were as clear. I apologize for misrepresenting. But I would rather focus on finding a way to release the curse, rather than focusing on the plight of these souls, at the moment.

I fear that, even if we do excise one guard's spirit and find a way to rejoin spirit and form, that rejoined form is still vulnerable to all of the other spirits still circulating. And short of sending that individual out to fend for themselves in the middle of a dead land, I don't see a way around that.

Dothen's question takes Reid's focus back down to Hist.

I believe so, but the nature of his energies is elusive. And he did just absorb...well, suffice to say that there are multiple variables.

[Lochar]

"We have cots in the back, if you wish to lay him there until he awakens." The priest smiles at Reid.


Greymist:

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You know, you could come back into town when it gets dark. Guards aren't out then, and you could run right for the temple. I doubt any could catch you.

[Toliudar]

Reid

Nodding gratefully, Reid gently lifts Hist and brings him to a cot in the back.

I' hoping we'll be safe here for the time being. If nothing else, I suppose I'm a potential augmentation to the town's food supply. Imagine their excitement if they knew of your cooking skills, Dothen!

[Greyen]

Dothen

Feeling especially spiteful and morose, Dothen balls his hands up nea rhis face liek a child and veritably squeals with feigned glee Oh googy gosh, and shucks! I think I'll make belladona marinated black ring mushrooms! Dothe drops into a deadpan yet sarcastic tone. Sure to clear out any problems the living might have in this town. He stops and breathes for a moments.

back in a more normal tone Reid, I'll cook for you guys, maybe the priests but I'd rather not cook a bite for anything that the guards will be putting in their mouths, unless you want them leaving with muddy britches. I need to take a walk and clear my head, I'm too angry to think much rationally. He turns on his heals and steps out side, dissappearing from sight just as he opens the door.

@Lochar

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Going to go find a nice deserted part of town, climb around, exercise some frustration off, etc. Dothen will also try to figure out the goggles, if they are magical or what and if they do anything.

UMD (1d20+7)[15]

After a bit he will return to the church.

[Lochar]

Dothen:

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As you slip the goggles on over your eyes, you notice that everything around you gets just a little sharper, just a little clearer. It'd be much easier to find little objects around you, should you look.

OOC:

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Goggles of Minute Seeing

[GimliFett]

Grazys Senneker

Quiet since his outburst with the guards, Grazys stands and walks over to the Pelorite priests. "Reid! If tha spirits fade as tha sun fades, what d'ya think 'bout a sun spell or somethin' along those lines? Like the ones that hurt vuln'rable undead? Just brainstormin', here, but what if we can simulate actual daytime here in tha temple o' tha Sun God? Maybe even temporarily it'll bring 'em a bit more into our area of existence an' allow proper communication?" Clearly empassioned, the binder grins his lop-sided grin.

[Toliudar]

Reid

Taken a bit aback at Dothen's outburst, Reid focuses instead on Grazys' suggestion.

I can certainly try that tomorrow - although my brightest light is as as a dim and cloudy reflection of His true majesty, and may not be sufficient.

Perhaps I didn't sleep long enough - sorry. I'm a bit unclear as to your intent. If you are talking about the spirits in the church here, it would seem that the sun effect might bring them back for a brief period at night, but if so, wouldn't it also cause any of the cursed spirits here to fade away? And even if they do find a way to speak with each other, we still can't talk with either group. Well, not without...doing things I'd rather not do.

He glances around, to check to see if Dothen has returned. Or, at least, has visibly returned.

I do have one other thing to try, although I consider it an unlikely remedy. If the guard-spirit's usurping of a host body is akin to a possession, then it's possible that an enchantment I have could remove it. It's also possible that, although unlikely, that the most powerful of my healing prayers could mend the link between host and spirit. If we were to, well, do as Dothen said, and bring a guard here and try this on him, there's a chance that we could reunite the original spirit with their body.

He shakes his head.

Or...nothing could happen. Or we could end up with a dead body, the soul of the guard imperilled, and no way for the original sould to re-establish the link with its form. Feh. I should have studied more in seminary.

[GimliFett]

Grazys Senneker

"Look, I dunno what'll work either. I just thought we could try ta gather these poor souls," Grazys waves his hand around the temple, "underneath some form o' sunlight effect. It might open a line o' communication or heal 'em or some other effect. I dunno. It just seems odd ta me that some souls fade away with tha sunrise and others fade with tha sunset. Seems excessive for a coincidence, dontcha think? Sounds purposeful ta me." The binder shrugs. "If nothin' else, we can let Dothen kidnap a coupla guards an' try an' restore the souls o' those evicted from their own bodies." He grins broadly, suggesting he's not entirely serious.

[Toliudar]

Reid

Reid's chuckles shake him, and he sits down on the cot next to Hist.

Sorry. I just got this image of Dothen, bathed in bright light, trying to splice together two severed lengths of soul-cord as if it were rope, and blaspheming to the heavens as he did so.

He glances up at the older man.

We are indeed fortunate in our companions.

[Greyen]

[B][Dothen/B]

Sometime later Dothen reenters the church, his saunter is back as he pulls his hands from his pockets (where the goggles are for now). Anything interesting going on? We going to scoop up a wayward ars--ahem...guard?

[Lochar]

After a few hours of anxiously watching over Hist, with a groan the Aasimar wakes up.

[Moral Wiz]

Hist

Somewhat grogally, Hist comes too. He groans slightly as he blinks. His vision (which before, had started searching for the arcane) relaxed, letting his blurry eyes clear

Wha...

With a groan or two, the Aasimar strugeled to his feet, one hand having to hold the temple wall to steady himself.. He looks hard done by, exhausted, and no where near his best, but with an effort, stands upright.

Did.. they leave?

[GimliFett]

Grazys Senneker

Grazys smiles broadly at the aasimar as he sits up. "Glad ta have ya back amongst tha conscious. Ya okay, mate? And yeah, they're gone."

[Moral Wiz]

Hist

Hist smiles at Grazys words.

Yes, I'm fine. Though that didn't...

Then something seems to dawn on him. His smile drops from his face to be replaced by an expression of utter confusion, turning into a set expression of worry and irritation (though in his eyes, just a hint of intruige

That whole business was... interesting. I think I may have discovered something either worrying or useful. Or both.

You guys were there. Did you see anyone try and do anything.... oh, I don't know, anything unusual? Just before I went down?

[Toliudar]

Reid

Standing by Hist to help steady him, Reid grins, simply pleased that he is up and about.

I saw nothing in particular, until your collapse. And I believe that Pelor's light would have revealed any things that were trying to remain hidden. The guards were annoyed, certainly, but not violent, and I saw none of them gesture in a...a way that suggested bringing in additional powers.

Why? Did you too have a vision, here in the temple?

[Moral Wiz]

Hist

I wish.

Hist laughed bitterly, then continued.

Well, to make the idea of a faint more convincing, I thought it might be best to add Pygas' power to the mix. I needed to get rid of it, and this seemed to ideal time. It made the energy look even stronger than it would have been alone

Only... well, something there... reacted to it. It sensed Pygas' power somehow, and was trying to control it

He holds his head.

I'm sorry. It's all a bit... blurry.

He seems to be trying to focus himself, then smiled

None the less, I fear that whatever it was ended up trying to draw on my own energies as well. I couldn't control them sufficiantly, it was that that ended up knocking me out before I could knock myself out.

[GimliFett]

Grazys Senneker

The binder ducks his head. "Sounds like our friend, tha Scholar, ta me," he says, then adds as an idea occurs to him, "Reid, why dontcha ask the priests if they're familiar with Gr- Um, the Scholar's works?"

[Moral Wiz]

Hist

But that's what's interesting. The Scholar didn't catch it.

The more I think about it, the less sense it makes. That energy wasn't in a form he could use. There was a lot of it, yes, but it... was broken down. It basically went as I expected. Not even the scholar could do anything with that. It's just divine energy, such as Reid uses every time he casts a spell. Not even particularly unholy.

Hist is silent at that. He seems to be thinking hard.

[Toliudar]

Reid

It does complicate things. Your story, Hist, suggests that the Scholar is finding a way to draw on even the diffused bits of curse-energy that is associated with each of the souls. So killing one...strenthens him.

Nodding grimly, Reid ensures that Hist is ready to stand on his own, then goes in search of the senior priest.

Father, I'm afraid I need to share with you something in confidence, something that may put your own troubles into a larger context.

Back in Eras, we discovered that there is a being, a powerful daemon, who is trying to draw on all of the repositories of the One's energies that remain here in Auromar. His designs on this energy are related to conquest. If he succeeds, it could be the rule of the One all over again, and worse.

Two of my companions have, well, some sensitivities to that energy, and Hist has just felt, for lack of a better term, a "tug" that we think that may be indicative of that being's awareness of this place.

Stepping over to the wall, he slowly traces with a finger letters that spell out the Scholar's name - at least, the name they know him by.

Have you heard of this being? Have you heard or felt any presence that might suggest another active force here?

[GimliFett]

Grazys Senneker

"Ssshh!" Grazys holds a single finger up to his lips as he looks at Hist. "Don't tell him that!" He grins and winks, letting his friend know he wasn't serious. "Right then. Second guess, given our location...Pelor."

[Greyen]

Dothen

Dothen listens to all of this stuff intently. He stands rubbing his chin, brow furrowed. A thought wars its way across his face before emerging haltingly Um okay. I'm going to walk through some steps to make sure I understand. HIst draws curse energy off of whatever. He then changes it to be generic divine energy right? Maybe 'Holy Hist' energy? Then in an effort to channel this energy to somewhere, you faint because something else was trying to suck it up?

What would happen if you tried channeling the 'Holy Hist' energy into Reid, and possibly Pelor with Reid as a conduit but that's beside the point, to fuel Reid's magics? Like maybe a sun magic to bring these fallen spirits to the light?

[Lochar]

The priest thinks for a moment, attempting to recall anything. "I'm not certain. If this were before, there would have been a large library on such planar creatures. But now the books have deteriorated into nothing, along with any information held in them."

"Thinking about Histantos' words, could something mortal have taken it? I remember discussing that the clerics left, but did they all? Releasing power like that, could it be accepted as prayer magic?"

The priest stops suddenly, the other spirit inside in giving him pause. "I... don't know. We do not know how the gods truly work, and especially how the gods might bequeath their power to us in prayer."

[Toliudar]

Reid

Thank you, both of you.

He turns to Hist.

I don't know if you have language to express what the energy feels like inside you. Does the curse-energy transform into a different kind of energy, or does it simply remain inside you? If...

The weight of many possibilities pushes on Reid's shoulders.

Ah, if only Anura were here. She had a head for such things.