The Starsong. (A Diabolical Campaign)

[expirement10K14]

Erevmil

"What is going on is the fire we helped put out, we heard the bells and came to try and stop it. There was a doppelganger that attacked us, but he ran off.

[Bandededed]

"You know what? We were helping. Took you lot long enough to show up," Odin says to the man. "This guy," he points to the warrior, "Is all yours now. Don't let him die, he's your only link,"

[Sucrose]

Ruyake

"To clarify," Ikhnaton adds, "this man is an accomplice to a burglary here. I, and I think some of my colleagues, believe that he and the mastermind set these fires to serve as a distraction.

He prevented us from stopping the doppelganger mastermind, but we at least managed to capture him. Thus far, he's been cooperative, and he has a fair bit of information that you could stand to learn. He has the time to tell it to you, and I do not. I have a long-delayed meeting with a pillow to attend to."

With a slight bow, he turns back to the inn that he had been forced to leave, planning to get some sleep, and begin his investigation when the rest of the town is awake.

[DiabolicalFurby]

The fireman listens to everything and while Aldrok is opening the sack he walks forward to get a better look at the warrior.

"He looks to have better nights." the man says, looking over the horribly scarred warrior. "If you hadn't helped my men put out these fires I might not be believing you right now but you did and though this all sounds a little far fetched..."

His words trail off as his eyes turn to Aldrok as he finally manages to rip open one of the heavy burlap bundles.

Inside, curled in a ball, is the body of a human woman in her late twenties Her flesh is a cold gray and completely covered in runic paintings. A small crystal vial is sewn into her chest while the bag is filled with a mix of herbs and incense.

The fireman just stares at the corpse, mouth agape, for a long moment before he says. "How many of those were in the buildings?"

[Jokes]

Aldrok

"There were several in the house over there, probably more in all the houses. It would probably explain the smell. Any idea who they could be?"

[Dhavaer]

Aelenrian

Aelen kneels down beside the bundle, pouring over the runes and sniffing at the herbs and incense.

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Arcana: 8+11=19

[Bandededed]

Ignoring the fireman, Odin joins Aelenrian next to the corpse, eyes alert for anything suspicious.

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Aid another arcana - (1d20+8)[22]

[Jokes]

Aldrok

More interested in the vial, Aldrok prods and pokes at the body, trying to pry the vial out.

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arcana:(1d20+6)[16]

[DiabolicalFurby]

The runes are laid in swirling, maddening patterns across the corpses flesh and through your deduction and knowledge in the area of the arcane you can puzzle out some of their meaning.

Two spells are etched on the corpse flesh and the maddening way in which they are laid out is a result of intent. It would seem that whoever prepared these bodies intended to release something with the first spell. However, the second spell is geared towards binding something to whatever is released from the first spell and the burning corpse.

It is perhaps slightly confusing to you, the spells don't seem to make much sense in arcane terms and the way the spells were rote upon the flesh is something new. You do know that the herbs were to serve as a catalyst for the binding spell. For it would seem that once the body burned and the spell of release was complete, the herbs would trigger the spell of binding.

Aldrok manages to pry out the small crystal vial from the corpses chest. The small vial is etched with a tiny pattern that is far too small to discern the details of with the naked eye. The vial itself is filled with a small amount of fine powder the color of silver that seems to give off a faint radiance. Aldrok immediately recognizes the powder for what it is... Residuum.

[Bandededed]

"Well..." Odin begins, crouching and sitting back on his heels. "This is not good. What, were they trying to create some kind of magical item that was bonded with whatever they were summoning?"

He tilts his head sideways, thinking. Suddenly, his eyes go wide. "We got to these before anything happened, but what about the others? From what we've seen, there was probably one in every burning house..."

[The Demented One]

Not understanding the magic at work, David offers his speculation. "Could they have been using a human sacrifice to fuel that fire? Sick bastards..." He stares off into the distance, not fully comfortable with the corpses at his feet. "Or could this have something to do with the celestial anchors the mercenary mentioned?"

[Dhavaer]

Aelenrian

"They were trying to take her soul. Trying, or already have. I'm not familiar with the spell's mechanism... I can't be sure, but it's possible the vial was intended to hold the soul once it was free, in which case they would be intending to return."

[Jokes]

Aldrok

"How much residuum do you think they'll need?" He holds the vial up, estimating it's value. "We should be safeguarding any that are found, to stop whoever did this to get them back."

[DiabolicalFurby]

The group huddles around the corpse of the woman, inspecting her markings and the vial sewn into her chest as the fireman watches, seemingly speechless.

Aldrok is probably not the biggest expert on the distilled magical essence that is residuum but he would guess that there is roughly one hundred gold pieces worth of the powder in the small vial. A staggering amount, especially if one were to assume each bundle contained a corpse with a similar vial.

The fireman steps forward rubbing his chin and looking at the party with eyes that mirror his exhaustion. "If you helped us fight the fire I would have you all arrested on suspicion of... whatever this is." he says, gesturing towards the corpse. "I am afraid I'll have to confiscate everything until it can be seen by the Justicars. I'll give the tower your descriptions, you should speak to them in the morning."

He waves a few men forward who move to take possession of the other bundle, the woman's corpse and the vial in Aldrok's hands. "Until then I suggest you get some sleep."

[Bandededed]

"I guess you mean 'If we hadn't helped,' but you're right, I'm too tired to care. Faugh! And this place stinks," Odin shakes his head and reverse sniffs - a technique he himself created to get smells out of his nose.

He begins to wander back in the direction he came from, muttering "Now, where was that bloody place again?" with every intention of hitting the nearest bed and making like a log until the sun rose.

[The Demented One]

"Wait, hold on a moment." David says, as the guard takes away the residuum. "We have skilled mages in our number, familiar with such matters. If you were to leave the residuum with us, they might be able to use their magic to trace it, discover who created it." David says, not entirely sure whether this is entirely true. "You see, we are not just random passers-by, but an elite band, hand-picked by the Duke to combat a menace that I believe is one in the same with this diabolical plot. Rest assured, friend, that we will see justice is brought down on those who have done this."

OOC

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Okay, maybe I'll do well on a Diplomacy check for once...

Diplomacy
(1d20+6)[7]

EDIT: Damn.

[Dhavaer]

Aelenrian

"Sorry, David, I don't think we can. Residuum is residuum, it's the same the world over and beyond. If it had been bound into an item, we might have been able to tell something by the style, but as it is it's just magical dust." Aelen pauses and waves her hand; her soot-stained armour becomes as clean as the day it was made. "That having been said, we have come in answer to the Duke's call for aid, and we will see that Ahgrulak's cultists are made to answer for what they have done."

[DiabolicalFurby]

Odin begins to head back towards the Dwarven Inn and is quickly followed by nearly the rest of the party as David and Aelen stay behind to converse. It is not long before the group finds themselves heading through the stout oak door of the inn and descending the steps into the common room, which is now much more subdued as many of the Inn's patrons are either in their rooms or asleep at the tables, having imbibed too much of the taverns ale.

"Was wonderin' if ya'd come back." comes the tired, gruff voice of Garim the innkeeper. "That was a great thing ya did, rushin' to fight da fire whilst all these sods and meself cowered here." he adds, gesturing to the common room. He takes a seat to rest his rather weary looking self for a moment, faced turned up to view the heroes.

"I'll give ya each a room fer the night, cost ya nothin'." he says pulling quite a few keys out of his deep pockets, having obviously come to this decision some time ago and had the keys waiting for when your returned. "Down the stairs, to the left... The entire wing is yours. Get some sleep, looks like ya need it." He takes another long look at the no doubt soot covered heroes before heading back towards his bar.

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Just like to apologize for the delay in posting. Thanks for your patience.

[Bandededed]

"Thank you, Garim, and good night," Odin says, his typical sarcasm drawn away by the man's kindness and his own weary body. He moves tiredly down the stairs and quietly enters his room. One loud thud later, he is asleep in his bed, having barely disrobed before his fall.

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No problem, real life can be a real wench sometimes

[Jokes]

Aldrok

Thankful to be out of the chill air once again, Aldrok heads straight to the room, not even glancing at any other patrons. Not tired enough to sleep, he plays through the day's events in his head. Doppelgangers, residuum, runscribed corpses. Celestial anchors. The anchors left him puzzled. He would have to ask Aelen in the morning. As he slowly drifts off to sleep, the vision of the doppelganger's eyes kept playing in his mind.

[The Demented One]

David

David retires to his room, stripping off his armor and laying it aside, after he has given it a good polishing for a few minutes. He sits cross-legged on his bed, his blade laid across his lap. "Quite a day that was..." he says, with a wry bitterness. "This song must end."

Unable to get to sleep, he pulls a piece of wood and a carving knife from his pack, and continues the whittling he's already done on it. "A few more nights like this, and I'll have a fistful of flutes." Within a few minutes, though, he lays them aside and goes to sleep.

[Dhavaer]

Aelenrian

Aelen stumbles into her room and flops down on the bed, pupilless eyes staring at the ceiling. After a minute she stirs and pulls off her armour, folding it up beside her on the bed with her sword resting atop the pile. She sits resting against the back of the bed, staff lying across her lap, and reaches her mind back to the feywild. She can almost smell the cool lake air of home...

[Sucrose]

Ruyake

A second loud thud later, and Odin is sleeping on the floor. Ruyake manages to get back to sleep reasonably quickly.

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I don't intend for this to slow the story down much, just letting all of you know that I'm still here.

[DiabolicalFurby]

The group, exhausted from their earlier efforts and the days travels, find themselves shuffling down the narrow steps leading to the their rooms, each nestled snugly beneath the ground, expertly dug out and walled with solid masonry.

The rooms are rather spartan, each containing a long, wide bed with a chest at its foot. Next to the bed is a small table containing a lit oil lamp. A massive wall hanging rests on the south wall of each of the rooms, each hanging a simple geometric design that fits well with the Dwarven aesthetic.

You each fall into your respective beds and the trance comes as easily to the Eladrin as sleep does for those of you who require it.

The only thing that comes faster than sleep, would be the next day. For it seems that each of you had barely closed your eyes/began the evening trance before a loud knock resounds on each of your doors, rousing each of you from your slumber.

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Sorry for the bleh post (not really happy with it myself) but I didn't have time for much else.

[Bandededed]

A loud sound breaks the sleeping Odin's peace. A few quick twists later, he finds himself on the floor, quite literally tied up in knots.

"Son of a...! Mmph! Stupid bedding!" He pulls himself free, with only minor damage to the sheets, and replaces them on the bed in a large ball.

Like every other time, he mutters, "That's it. Never again with the bedding," and dresses quickly, storming out of his room a moment later. "What is it!? The sun is barely up!"

[Dhavaer]

Aelenrian

Aelen is remembering playing with the fey panther cub a favourite great-grandfather had kept as a pet when the knock comes. She calls to mind the memory of when the panther was older and it chanced to pass a kennel of hound, and reinforces the snarling image with her magic.
"Come in." She calls, ready to hurl the illusion should her visitor prove violent.

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Ready to cast Illusory Ambush if attacked.
Attack: 4+17=21 vs Will
Damage: 4+1=5 psychic

[Jokes]

Aldrok

"Arghm, fmf mr mnmf." came the muffled reply from somewhere under Aldrok's pillow. Realising he probably should get up, he rubs his eyes and calls out. "What d'ya want this early?"

[Sucrose]

Ruyake

Wiping his eyes a few times, Ruyake calls out to the visitor,

"And what would you want, sirrah?"

While waiting for the reply, he begins straightening his clothes, and putting his combat gear on for the day.

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Changing my color so that it's different from Aelenrian's.

[The Demented One]

David

David's been awake since a half-hour past dawn, stretching and suiting up in his suit of armor. "Good morning, good morning. No chance there's a pot of coffee to be found in this tavern?"

[DiabolicalFurby]

Your doors slowly open, the creaking of the wood accompanied by the sound of rattling chain as they do so. Standing before each of you is a human member of Valorin's city watch, their tell-tale cloaks marking them for what they are. Each steps forward and bows their head respectfully before deliver unto each of you the same message.

"Excuse us, but the Lord Justicar requires you to attend him at once, in light of last nights events. We are to escort you to him as soon as possible."