*As Storold discovers the newcommers to the room he turns and bows deeply to Connor and AnnaLee*
Sorceror Connor and miss AnnaLee, I am glad to see that you answered my calling. Hopefully you can help in identifying the true nature of these stones and either get them to a safer place or dispose of their magic in a safe way. I do not have much to report on the workings of the stones myself, I can only tell that they are not from here and that they might pose a threat to the public if they were to fall in the wrong hands. So I have done my best to ensure that no one could find them and that they were not activated from some other Pit.
Having grown increasingly reliant on Connor's support down the hall, Anna is in the room only a few moments before she goes limp and crumples to the floor.
*Vrebel watches with a grin as Connor and Anna enter the "stones area". He temporarily lays down his card game that he was playing with one of the Rofireinite cooks and smiles at the interchange between Storold and them.*
"Glad you all arrived. Hope the gaurds out front weren't too much trouble. The new commander don't take too kindly to outsiders if you know what I mean. Anyways have a look at the stones and get her *motioning to Anna* some water while yer at it."
Foresta arrives back in time to see a group of guards discussing some sort of 'what if' scenarios about half elves. Listening in as is her want - she believes these particular 'what ifs' don't seem to end too well for the guards. She shrugs and is moved to spend a little time with the guards in case any of them are encouraged to consider a career change at this troublesome time.
"You see how dangerous objects draws dangerous people, and these two are just the start - it is like some great circle of life...have I talked to you about the circle of life....no..how remiss...let me explain." She starts off engaging them in one of her ready sound bites that finishes up some considerable time later talking about a much more tranquil grove recently planted not so very far away.
A cook scuttles by in search of water on some urgent errand. She turns to Magnus "As sure as a thorn in the wild is better than two in the thumb - that spells trouble. I wonder what'll happen next...or mybe I should say who!"
*Aesthir smirks a bit upon Storold reply to the newcomers apparently had not acknoledging his presence, but doesn't make any more remark to him on that , as this happens he instructs the Vehl Guard to go and look for the captain, to see if he has a spare moemnt to talk, once he has finished then he speaks*
- Its indeed of dire importance that the nature of the stones be determined, as far as for moving them it would become problematic, since other circunstances had entered to the game, I am bound to inform to the Captain that the stones has to remain here for the time being, since Vehl guard has taken them into custody, and this has been put into me as a burden to carry on with this. There is of course my desire to have this stomes to put more people into danger. And so .. there are other ways we could persue to do things smoothly. I do hope to have your cooperation in this mater, i do think that something can still be done about this guard claim. But of course i may need your help. -
*He looks upon Vrebel as he comes closer, then as Anna falls to the ground he is ready to help, but of course being Connor the one that is closer, he doesn't get in the middle for him or Storold to help her first, *
Connor has enough time to nod in acknowledgment to Storold before Anna collapses. He's able to slow but not prevent her descent, and he kneels down to the floor with her. Knowing Anna as he does and seeing her still conscious though limp, he breathes a little easier. "Let's get you out of here," he says to her quietly before starting to gather her up.
"She needs to be away from these," Connor says more loudly to the others in the room and to no one in particular. "Is there somewhere she can recover?"
*When the cook rushes in with the flask of water Vrebel grunts revealing his Ark'Neth creature card and dumps the rest of his cards on the table. He sighs a bit frustrated but takes the flask and walks over to Connor and Anna.*
"Guess either the stones or the ale got to her." *He bends down helping Connor with Anna as he talks* "I ain't real sure whats safe but seems we need to get her outa here. Maybe we could use Captain Vercilaas' tent."
*Vrebel offers Connor a questioned look with a bit of a smirk and then hollars toward some monks to help them with directions*
Anna jerks under the force of Verbel's volume and drags her arms up protectively over her head, the movement limp and mostly ineffectual. Her form curls inward somewhat.
Connor politely shakes his head a little. "No, thank you, but she doesn't need water," he says while gathering her to him and starting to stand. "She needs to move."
He looks down at Anna as he begins to walk back out of the room. "Let me know when you feel better," he says to her quietly.
*Hands on his hips, Vrebel stares down at Anna briefly and then watches as Connor leaves the room*
"Your welcome." *a quick nod to Connor* "Let me know if ya'll need anything else"
*He gazes around the room and sets the water flask on a table nearby Anna. He then heads back to his card table and takes the cook's mug of ale and swigs it*
*Storold frowns deeply as Connor and Anna starts to leave*
I am sorry that I could not keep the influence of the stones more contained. I hope that miss Anna will have a speedy recovery and that we can remove or contain this powerful magic in time before someone uses it against the people or even worse against magic. I will help do whatever is nessesarry in order for these stones to be dealt with in accord with the desires of Lucinda.
*Storold seems to also completely ignore Aesthirs comments about the stones being in custody of the Vehl guards*
Connor stiffens a little and a chaotic series of events begins to unfold…
The three remaining stones in the monastery room flair to life. Their dull surfaces shimmer and white spider-like glyphs, invisible to the naked eye before, crawl across their surface. Two Rofirein Knights who had been standing guard inside the room clamber over each other to get out and begin drawing weapons. Their cries start a general alarm and a “call to battle stations.” Storold is jerked out of his interaction with the other adventurers, and Aesthir is stopped abruptly as he was starting to respond to Storold’s last comment. Vreeble’s cards fly out of his hands as he reacts in lightning speed to a flash of light from the room housing the stones.
----------
Storold – A PM is being sent.
Connor – A PM is being sent.
//OOC Except for Vincent –
Vincent was riding down the road after a delicious campfire breakfast and a cup of hot coffee. The morning was beginning to warm up and he was making good time, whistling a low tune to himself while he contemplated what he was going to say when he arrived at Moraken’s tower.
In a thunderous flash, his horse reared and threw him; it then bolted off the road into thick underbrush and disappeared, clods of dirt kicked up in its fear fueled run. He thought lightning had struck nearby, but as he sat up he saw Dalianavera rushing toward him, panic in her face. She hissed, “My little Vincent, you must go now! You must stay hidden until I come for you!” She grabbed his wrist and with her free hand flung a dozen silver balls the size of grapes into the air, white glyphs already beginning to crawl across their surface. In one fluid motion, still grasping Vincent tightly she squatted and slapped the ground. All Vincent remembered was another flash of light accompanied by thunder and a glimpse of a sack over Dalianavera’s shoulder. If anyone would have been watching they would have seen the man and the silver balls blink out of existence.
Vincent stumbles as he seems to appear out of thin air on a small hillside overlooking the town of Center. Dalianavera is nowhere to be seen. He feels a little dizzy, his stomach in knots, as if he had fallen from a great height. The silver balls she had thrown into the air were nowhere to be seen.
//OOC for everyone –
Within seconds of Vincent and the small silver balls disappearing there is a second crashing sound that echoes over the roadway and reverberates into the surrounding hillsides. Dalianavera rotates on the balls of her feet like a cat, a grimace showing a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth, and red electrical energy cascades from her outstretched hands as she strafes the roadway with a torrent. Stone melts and vegetation is vaporized. The newcomer, a short black-haired woman looks very similar to Dalianavera, small bat-like wings and a reptilian tail protruding from her custom made clothing. She winks out of sight, and then appears nearby… avoiding Dalianavera’s brutal attack. The newcomer looks to the side for a brief second and grins as she snaps her fingers and disappears with a thundering crash and flash of white light. Dalianavera quickly slaps the ground and disappears in a similar manner. Silence then envelopes the surrounding area. No birds chirp and no animals move about for a long period of time.
In 12 places throughout Layonara, many of them in Brelin and Co’rys, small silver balls appear out of thin air and drop onto the ground. They hum faintly and bright white script flows over their surface.
On the snowy island of Krashin, one such ball falls into a barbarian camp on the beach of a long and deep fjord. Their longboats were pulled ashore and they were preparing for a long fishing trip. One of the large fur clad men saw the sphere drop to the ground and he bent over to pick it up, a puzzled look on his face. As he straightened up, two pit creatures winked into view. The explosive concussion of their arrival blew him into the cold water near the longboats and many of the other men onto their backs, and they quickly began scrambling for cover and what they hoped would be safety.
The shorter of the two fiends shouted “You have betrayed your Emperor and our Order sister! How could you have fallen so low! You have conspired against our brothers and our Way!”
Dalianavera grimaced, “No! It is you my sister who have committed the sin of betrayal! You… and our Emperor!”
Few places on Layonara have seen the magnitude of the battle that then ensued. The energies unleashed were near cataclysmic. Time stopped. Fire fell from portals high in the air. Trees were stripped from the surrounding mountain sides in gale-force wind shears. Lightings composed of positive and negative energies crossed paths. Anti-matter met matter in displays of total annihilation. In the end, one of them fell.
Dalianavera knelt next to her fallen sister as she lay dying, and the mortally wounded pit fiend spat, “I curse you my sister. In another life I will find you and destroy you. Was this child you carry in your belly worth it?” She chuckled and blood ran from the corner of her mouth as she saw Dalianavera look to her stomach. “Yes… I know. I can sense when another of our kind is conceived. Why did you do this?”
Dalianavera frowned again, “I did it because I must. Nearly nine centuries ago our powers were harnessed by our great emperor to wage war for the sake of law and order. New worlds were opened up… new frontiers. We served The Golden One…. the Great Dragon of Law. Over time, conquest became nothing more than conquest, a tool of chaos. We have burned worlds. Committed genocides. Enslaved nations. It is time to restore order.” With a quick and fluid movement Dalianavera severed her sister’s head from her neck with a long curved dagger and deposited it into the sack on her shoulder… with the two others already contained within. “His mandate to rule has ended. It is time to make right what has become so wrong.”
She stood up, looked around briefly, and then warped space and time in her usual manner and teleported away.
A severely injured man crawled from the rocks at the edge of the shore where he had wedged himself. His body was burned and broken. He grasped a small silver ball in his hand. His eyes saw nothing though, as the bright lights had taken his vision. He heard the discussion between the two strangers, but the language was alien. He did not understand what was said. He sobbed, as he knew in his heart there was no way his family had survived what had just occurred.
* This plot line will soon be scheduled for an online session to tie things up. Expect this thread to remain open for another week or so. Thank you all for your steady involvement*
Foresta had barely uttered the words "I wonder what'll happen next." when Vreeble’s cards fly out of his hands as he reacts in lightning speed to a flash of light from the room housing the stones. She smugly turns to her audience of potential converts with a well developed but overused - I told you so and see what happened type of shrug.
However as the seconds tick by she considers that her usual course of action - lets just wait and see how it all ends up, is going to leave her firmly in a dangerous place. She makes herself scarce, this time in inoffensive cat shape.
*Two bugbear bezerkers and a heroisom card....a sure fire win most of the time. Vrebel, almost in slow motion, watches as the cards are in mid air. Another frustrated grumble and then he intinctively draws his greatsword and rushes to the flash of light in the temple room placing himself between Anna and the stones.*
"Brace yerselves folks! Anything comin' out of these stones gonna getta Layonora welcome thanks to my blade!"
*He assumes a defensive posture and concentrates on the stones and for....anything...that may come from them*
The stones continue to glow and a slight hum can be heard… which stops every 30 seconds on the spot, there is a slight clicking sound, and then the hum continues. There is no evidence of a planar rift, gate, or other disruption in frequency.
Vincent found himself on his hands and knees, horseless, breathless, and in his heart of heart he sensed he was faraway, though below him he could see a rudimentary community, something not fully developed....Center he suddenly grasped.
Vincent gave himself a shake, checked his belongings, and started to regain something of his dignity. Travelling in such a manner of course was not unknown to him. He could teleport, he had been to the pits - he was a specialist was he not.
“My little Vincent, you must go now! You must stay hidden until I come for you!” was ringing in his distressed ears. He routinely shrouded himself with invisibilty all the time suspecting it was going to take a lot more to stay..hidden. He moved off to where he could watch both Center below, and the place he had suddenly materialised only a few moments before.
He watched, wondering why here, why back at Center...he considered further travel likely pointless for the moment.
*Storold seems a little worried at first but soon calms down*
I don't think we will have any problems here... However this activation of the stones seems rather strange. Can you see why they are acting up like this Connor?
Connor pauses from the assault on his senses caused by the rapid string of events, though he manages to keep his wits about him. He sets Anna against the wall where he is, quietly asking her to stay put and that he'll be back. He returns to the room with the stones with a slow, purposeful walk. His expression is one of concentration and seeking, some of which does not appear to be oriented toward the stones.
He pushes past whatever people are in his path or milling about along his way to the stones and comes to stop just in front of one of them. He kneels down and turns all his focus to one of the stones, peering at the rune-covered surface that's visible to his senses.
"You can stand down," Connor says without urgency in the general direction of people on alert before looking to Storold. "These are incomplete. They were activated as a group...or responding to something else, but there is one missing, and so they cannot become fully active."
Once more he addresses the room. "The danger is not here; it is elsewhere," he says. "Brelin, mostly...and Krashin somewhere...and elsewhere in Co'rys, but not in this place"
Mangus trailing considerably behind Foresta is seen jerking about spasmodically as if some other entity controlled his arms and legs and that entity was being tossed off a fleeing horse drawn cart in the middle of the Battlehelm moors.
Only apon closer inspection could any viewer notice that the source of his strange motions was simply a butterfly that he was persuing clumsily.
He freezes in his bouncy tracks when he hears a comotion comming from the Monestary.
"What the?"
With a will he charges the Cloister
As Vincent sat and watched from his hidden vantage point he pondered all that had happened to him recently. It was a lot to take in and absorb… even for a “Specialist.”
The activity around Center seemed normal. He did not note anything out of place. But why here? His right hand picked a small stone out of a depression in the ground next to him. He flicked it away watching it skip off of another rock… and he continued to watch.
The butterfly flapped away in an erratic pattern as Mangus ran towards the monastery. An alarm bell had begun ringing and men hurried to pre-appointed battle stations. It was not long before the alarm ceased. Swords remained drawn though and mounted knights cupped lances at the ready. Mangus arrived at his post a little disheveled and out of breath, but happy they were not being overrun by demons. He squinted his eyes as he peered into the surrounding countryside, watching intently like all of the rest of his comrades.
//I’m going to set the date for the final in-game portion for this plotline. Watch for the calendar post. Please continue to post in this thread to reflect any actions to be considered IC before the quest date. You’ll have approximately 2 weeks from today.
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Topic: End Game (Read 6796 times)
