[4e] Sins of the Feyborn (IC)

eblue562 · Jan 27, 2010

Sins of the Feyborn

A lone eladrin limps through the darkening alleys of the Commons, his long gait cut short by an old expedition injury. Though he should be resting comfortably in the Hall of Arms near the Castle, the eladrin instead lives a life of poverty and want. His grey eyes wearily scan the darkest recesses of shadow, watching for a potential thief or bored assassin. It has been years since ate a good meal or slept in a warm bed, but it was just as well. He had a job to do.

Increasing his strides made the man move faster, but his limp was easily noticeable, and the last thing he wanted to do was attract attention from man or beast. He was approaching The End now, where the protective gate stood shattered from battles long ago. Wards and magical binding spells kept the Fey creatures out, but this eladrin did not think to worry about the Fey beasts. Instead, he concerned himself with what the Fey fled from. Slowly, he made his way to the tattered blocks of the wall. He pulled his hood down from over his face, revealing scars from past wars and conflicts. The eladrin reached down and pulled out a short sword from it's sheath, stopping momentarily when his hand brushed up against a small pendant he kept close to his side. He whispered the verse kept inside the pendant as the sword came free;

"Kesthan, my love, fight not with the fear of losing, but with the courage to return home sooner to me."

With a sigh, Kesthan deftly jumped on top of the rubble and looked out. Feydorwin was most often on top of a large hill, and very easily defend-able, and tonight was no different. The Mists of the Fey shielded Feydorwin, though most Eladrin knew where this city was if they were attuned to it's Magic. If not for his status, Kesthan would have wanted no more than to study the intricate veins of Magic. It was as if the Corellon himself built the city. Standing on a dull stone he overlooked the valleys of the Feywild, but his eyes grew wide with what he saw beyond.

"The Fey," a small, dark voice whispered from what seemed like all sides of Kesthan, "departs from your Magical City. Your God will be dead soon, as well as you." Turning nearly 360 degrees, Kesthan listened for the darkened voice again while his eyes scanned every nook and cranny. No signs of movement, no indications of life. He was still alone.

"You are wrong, Beast," Kesthan said, his eyes returning to the growing unnatural storm just beyond the valleys in the Fey. Magical lightning arched from corner to corner of billowing black clouds which seemed to move at a rapid pace but stand completely still at the same time, "A Pact will soon be formed."

***********

Beld tapped his foot nervously against the stone floor. The air in here smelled like a combination of dead rat, undead flesh, and a faint hint of rotten vegetables. He wondered how the mages in here were able to work at all with that Stench. He must have made a disgusted face because one of the mages looked over at him and laughed.

"When you want some work done "under the cover of night," Beld, what did you expect? You wanted us to go into the Feywild?" The wizard said, chuckling as he continued his work. Beld shrugged, he expected nothing less from the conclave of wizards and mages he had gathered from the Arms. All of those left that were still loyal to him and the Governance were here. A pang in his heart reminded him of losing his friend Centiri just days ago. With a sigh, he looked around.

The underground cathedral was over 200 feet wide and nearly circular in shape. It stretch about 50 feet high and was decorated by 5 pillars covering the perimeter. On each pillar hung an animal of the Feywild, dead and stripped of its fur, with arcane symbols emblazed on the hanging carcasses. From the base of each of these pillars stretched a line covered in that was made with white chalk. These lines extended into the center of the room, where a multitude of arcane markings were carefully etched into the stone floor, culminating in a summoning circle about 20 feet across. Along the sides of the circle were four mages, and at the head, nearest to one of the pillars was Gorun. He had a gleeful smile on his face.

"After all these ages, these fruitless trials and tribulations, I finally have a chance to activate it!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Bled figured he might as well give the old geezer his chance.

"How does it work?" He asked, leaning back against the wall as Gorun took a big breath and began to explain his greatest work.

"The energies of the Fey are transferred into these carcasses, giving them spiritual life!" They then go out into the worlds and travel the planes, finding those whom the spirits deem them as worthy, and when they are prepared, the spirits take them, back here!" Beld blinked as Gorun finished his speech, half expecting another three hour lecture to spring from it. Instead, Gorun blinked back and smiled.

"The seems so, simple," Beld stuttered.

"It is, it is," Gorun agreed, "Because it uses the natural arcane energies of the animals connected to the Fey to bring The Pact together! We must begin the ritual!" Gorun turned to his work and began chanting furiously, the mages looking at each other and joining in.

"I hope this works, you crazy old mage..." Beld whispered, the chamber beginning to glow a light blue as the energies contained within the drawn and etched lines begin to come alive. The head of the Governance looked on nervously as the energies began to swirl around the room, the arcane symbols on each of the carcasses pulsating along with the chanting. With a sudden rush of air, spiritual energy poured out of the dead animals and into the center of the summoning circle. A small portal opened and the energy spilled into it at an alarming rate. Beld looked underneath the portal and saw a large grin on the face of his friend Gorun. He yelled over the crackling energy and sparking magic, "What do we do now?"

"Wait!" Came the strained, but happy, reply.

____

{OOC: Welcome to the Sins of the Feyborn IC! For the sake of continuity, please make sure that at the end of your post, you end up speaking with the spirit and you are enveloped in darkness. You are free to be as creative as you want (IE naming the spirit, what type of beast it is, etc.) Once everyone has posted their initial posts, I will make another post and then the real RP fun can begin. You are also welcome to make any skill checks that you feel appropriate, and I will post the results. If you have any questions before you post, please use the OOC thread (you can find it in my signature if you don't want to dig through everything [but you should have a subscription!]). Happy gaming!}

Voda Vosa · Jan 28, 2010

Fang Khan walked at slow but continuous peace in the frozen wastes. He was used to the cold, to the wind and the snow, to the ice and to the few creatures that inhabited the area. His steps on the falling snow were soon covered by it, leaving no trace of the old sage walking through the place. His book was floating behind the man, who kept his hands hidden inside his sleeves.

From the snow, bursting out from hide, a group of snowmen bandits tried to assault the wizard, but the elder man defeated them one by one with his bare hands. When the snow settled down, the bandits laid on the snowy ground. But there was something amiss. Fang narrowed his eyes and turned.

An ethereal shape, like a snake of white light shimmered in front of him, almost blending it's shape with the surrounding snow.
Thinking, although not much certain, that it was an undead specter, Fang vociferated.
"Begone foul spirit! I have no quarrel with you!"
"Your destiny awaits man of ice, there is no way to avoid destiny, nor turn away from it." the snake replied with an otherworldly voice
Perplex, Fang dropped his offensive posture.
"True enough spirit." he stated, still confused by the talkative apparition.
Before Fang could say another word, the spiritual snake began to shine stronger.
With a flash of light, Fang found himself transported to a remote location

hero4hire · Jan 28, 2010

Somewhere under a lost and lonely hill of grim and foreboding aspect lies a labyrinthine crypt filled with terrible traps. A lone cloaked figure skulking through the Halls stops for a moment and unfurls some parchment bearing the etching of a gem-encrusted skull.

The Tomb of Acererak certainly has been living up to its reputation. Chai thought to himself as he stared at the picture. I barely was able to circumvent that pit-trap and those false entrances surely would have been lethal if I had fallen for them. However the Gith's reverie is interrupted as he senses that he is not alone. Spinning on his heels he unsheathes his massive sword with the same fluid motion. But what he saw was not some ancient undead guardian but something...different.
It was a strangely glowing Beast, not unlike a Panther, but with extra set of limbs and two tentacle like appendages that ended in thorny rows of spikes. Morever the thing not only glowed but was transluscent!
HOLD WARRIOR! STAY THY BLADE! the thing spoke, more in his mind then outloud. Chai lowered his blade slightly but did not sheathe his weapon.
"What are you Spirit?"
I AM CALLED UMBRA. I HAVE BEEN SENT TO COLLECT A NOBLE SOUL WHOSE SKILL MATCHES THEIR COURAGE. YOU CHAI-ZEN ARE THAT SOUL.
"Collect me? For what reason?"
ALL ANSWERS WILL BE REVEALED.
Then suddenly and without warning everything went black. Not just a darkness but an absence of light, sound, all stimulae was gone for the Gith. For a moment Chai knew the perfect harmony of emptiness. Then as soon as it came his Nirvana was ripped away again and he was no longer in Acererak's Tomb of Horrors but someplace...else.

Walking Dad · Jan 28, 2010

CS:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/5025216-post3.html

Strolling through Under- and Feydark alike, Kildrak searched for his newest prey.A group of troglodytes had killed most of the pech community outpost he had traveled through. Good thing I was there... Maybe this was no isolated raid, but the trogs worked for THEM...
Nearly subconscious, Kildrak drew upon the power of his totem, His eyes with the aid of the spirits piercing the utter darkness...
What was this?
His form quickly scattered to a swarm of insects, all black and green chitin with just a hint of red.

Then he saw the shape...

"I searched you, Harbringer. The death that makes room for new life. Your assistance is required." The insect spirit screeches.

"Required by whom?" The rolling cloud of insects asks back. "I already have prey to hunt!"

"The truth will be revealed soon. But I promise we can bring you directly to your enemy... after you have helped. Enter the darkness between spaces and follow me!" The crystalline spirit answers, before it disappears, embraced by darkness.

After thinking only for a moment, the Swarm that Devours the Wicked followed...

renau1g · Jan 28, 2010

Duriel walked along the streets of Eltabbar in shock, his former companions were now all dead or dead-ish. Quaylar had been killed in a test of strength with another Kordite, the other lost himself in battlelust and slew the female warrior. I paid a great deal of gold to a wizard in Waterdeep to attempt to scry on Moriel, but wished I hadn't. I saw firsthand the torture chambers of the drow society, Moriel must have been caught and was now being punished. They quickly realized we were looking in and dismissed the spell.

Finally, I decided to travel here to Thay, although the rumours of what lay here almost prevented me from coming. I arrived in Eltabbar and found out that Vintex was part of a group that had tried to stop Szass Tam's evil plot to make himself a god. He was surprised that she would do that, but then again, she was not someone to trifle with. The cleric turned his thoughts to himself now, he was alone here, having lost Avandra's touch, but somehow still was granted divine gifts. Duriel was worried about where these powers came from.

He was more concerned about the rumours of the Witchking Zhengyi in Vaasa and the return of his castle. Duriel had hoped to gather his allies to stop this threat and plunder the castle also, but now was lost. Could he find others to aid him? As he contemplated these thoughts, a growl from a nearby alley broke his reverie. Duriel looked and a shadowy form was standing there, taller than himself by a good two feet or so. He reached for Cutter when the thing spoke, "Hello human, I am Telios. I can feel your thoughts, you are lost, confused and in need of aid? I can provide that. Step closer." the creature says. As Duriel moves closer, he can now make out the shape of a massive bear, standing on powerful hind legs, although it was insubstantial, like it was here, but also somewhere else.

"You will aid me? What can a creature of shadow do to help me?" the cleric asks

"You shall see, you have fallen cleric, lost your way. I can also help with that, set you back on the path of righteousness and the light. You must trust me though. I mean you no harm" Telios says.

Duriel considers for a moment, and then sighs, "Well, I guess I don't have anything to lose"

"Good, come here and stand next to me" the bear-spirit replies.

Duriel complies and the bear wraps its massive arms around the human, completely enveloping him. The world looks hazy, like looking through a dirty window. It begins growing distant and suddenly darkness surrounds him, Duriel can't see anything and begins to panic. Just as quickly as it began, the darkness pulls back...

Theroc · Jan 29, 2010

Sulos once more found himself within a frozen lair of a sorcerous Wyrm, who was long since rumored to be deceased. While those claims were not something Sulos was certain of, he was confident that if it was still alive and he could not make friendly terms with the being, at the very least he could survive long enough to escape it's grasp. The frozen halls crunching with each step, Sulos looked diligently for any items indicating arcane lore to bring out still more of the Draconic power which flooded his veins.

"Is there nothing here? No traces of Draconic magicks? Blast it all with a glacial meteor!" He grumbled to himself before forming a frozen sphere of ice, arcane energies hurling it down the hall where he heard it thud harmlessly against the wall, leaving a small impact crater in the thickly packed ice. Unlike many caves, this one had been carefully crafted by arcane energies to strengthen it's stability, so that such impacts meant little. Sulos sighed, before spotting something in a nearby doorway. As he approached, a veil of ice formed to block his path. Irritated, the Dragonborn slammed his fist, dagger in hand, through the barrier, channeling the arcane might of a dragon's flame through his hand, melting it slowly before he passed through the warmed but quickly freezing tunnel.

"Finally, perhaps something worth my time!"

As he examined the treasures, he heard a crackling flame erupt in the room while he was attempting to search for a tome or other artifact to study. Whirling, before he even paused to think, a sphere of Dragonfrost formed within his mouth which spouted at the source as he found it. It appeared much like a cat... save it's eyes almost appeared to be aflame. Sulos's blast passed through harmlessly, and Sulos frowned, clearly disliking this result.

"What are you, and why do you interrupt my studies!?" He growled, inwardly debating with himself. If that attack truly did not harm it... can I even harm it in that case? If I cannot, can it harm me?

"I am the calling of the Fey, Whelpling. Your frozen breath is needed. The Fey now call the aid of the Dragons of Old. Heed the call or be consumed in flames!"

As it finished the cat-like being expelled what appeared to be a conflagration, igniting the entire chamber in flames, including Sulos Rothym himself. Feeling powerless and frightened, the Dragonborn unleashed a blast of frost in hopes to shield himself from the blast, but even as he did so, the world turned black as he vanished.

The cave remained mostly undisturbed, besides a pair of impact 'craters' from the Dragonborn's presence.

eblue562 · Feb 3, 2010

The arcane magic swirls around you as the blackness that quickly envelopes you also fades just as fast. You find yourselves standing in the middle of a large, oval shaped room, nearly two hundred feet across. Humming and chanting fill your ears as your vision gets adjusted to the blue arcs of light that you now see. In five spots along the walls of the room there hang the carcasses of five animals. A feline of sorts, a large bear, a singing emerald scorpion, a nightpanther, and a large snake are the victims, their bodies covered in arcane markings and sealed with their own blood.

As you come into being you notice four master mages near you, with who appears to be the GrandMaster also behind you. The ritual completes without a (visible) problem, and the mages hurry to remove the four animals from their pedestals. A voice from behind you comes weakly;

"My experiment...worked!" An eladrin mage breathes heavily from the floor. He struggles to get to his feet but has a large smile on his face, "By all the Gods of Corellon and his half-assed..."

"That's enough, Gorun," another eladrin quickly cuts the mage off. He clears his throat and says, "You'll have to excuse Gorun, he seems more worried about his summoning circle than what he actually summoned. In case you were wondering, we," the Eladrin points to the mages as he continues, "have sent for you through this ritual. I am Beld, head of the Governance of the city of Feydorwin, a large Eladrin outpost in the northern sections of the Feywild, at least for this time of year." He turns and walks back to a small desk near what appears to be a small table while he continues.

"You are undoubtedly wondering why I have brought all of you here to this place. In truth, I am wondering this myself. You see, as far as Gorun and I can tell, this ritual brings people here who are supposed to be here. We are in dire need of adventurers who would help us, and all of you look to be more than capable. There are rewards, of course, if you fancy that sort of thing. Gold, magic items, wenches and women, whichever you prefer are all available." Beld looks at you expectantly, a faint glimmer of hope and fear mixed in his eyes, "will you help us, My Lords?"

____

{ OOC : The MAP of the summoning cirlce has been posted. Please follow the link in the previous sentence. I have labeled all relevant positions and people.

This is what I like to call "Open-RPG" mode, where players are allowed to interact with the NPCs and the environment as they wish. Just a few simple rules here:

1. If Player A is taking some sort of action against a Mage, please wait until I have resolved all the actions before Player B commits the same action. I will update the IC with responses to questions and NPC actions as well throughout the talking process interaction process.

2. This is not a "combat" scene, so players are able to post as many actions that they wish, unless something they do triggers combat (open a door, attack someone, etc). At this point, we will leave Open-RPG and go into Combat.

3. Feel free to interact with the PC's as well, get to know them and who they are! After all, if you're lucky, you'll be adventuring with them for a while. Again, if you have any questions at all, please post in the OOC thread and we'll get it resolved. Thanks, and have fun! }

Voda Vosa · Feb 3, 2010

Being an elder himself, Kang finds himself piting the mage on the ground. Apparently, the eldarins only cultivated one aspect of their lives. These could be expert arcanist but their bodies weak and fragile. His own body had endured many things in his live. Coldly, he assessed the situation, as he strokes his long snow-white beard.
"In dire need of help you are... I can see that from your faces. Tired, exhausted, afraid... And desperate. Performing this kind of ritual could have brought further ruin to you. A little miscalculation, and the spirits of these creatures would have brought the complete contrary of what you searched for." Fang emits a slim lascivious smile.
"Besides it consumes your wizards. Bringing a powerful foe into your debilitated stronghold could have compromised your survival. So my humble conjecture is that you are in great despair, not just needing help..."
Fang Khan smiled again, waiting for the eldarin to acknowledge the fact that he'd use that in his favour.
"I'm the monk Fang Khan, of the Gentle Snow. If you are confident on your power to acquire whatever I desire, then I am at your services and at the service of your people. However, I warn you: I can be a dread enemy, so do not disappoint me, be sure to have what I desire."

hero4hire · Feb 3, 2010

"Feydor---." Chai-Zen's voice trailed off in surprise. "So the legendary city does exist. Very interesting." though his stoic tone no longer showed any emotion the Gith was excited at the prospect in looking around the city he had only read about.
He stepped forward and bowed slightly; a sign of respect. Though the ascetic still stood ready. "I am called Chai-Zen. I am a...Explorer. You say your need is urgent. How so?"

eblue562 · Feb 4, 2010

Beld gives a short and nervous bow to the elder monk. Gorun, on the other hand, waves off Kang's pitied look.

"This ritual took me and my mages centuries of perfection, every ounce of strength we needed to reach through the planes and pull each of you from..." the mage sinks again towards the ground, as one of his mage assistants comes to make sure he is ok. Beld gives his old mage friend a worried glance, then speaks.

"Your power seems strong, Monk of the Gentle Snow, and we can use your skills," He stops quickly as another one of Them begins to speak.

"Chai-Zen," he says after listening to the Explorer and waves to the rest of the adventurers, "and you are the ones that were chosen by the spirits of the Fey to help us. Recently..." he stops and winces in pain, "we lost a friend to a mysterious disease. No one knows who originated the disease, and it appears to target only specific people. As of a few days ago, we knew only of one person to have died, a member of our Council. But since then, other members of the Council and those of Greater Feydorwin have also started dying. The ones who have died from it are in terrible pain, so much so that we have dubbed the name of it..."

"Dear Agony..." Gorun stutters, trying to stand.

"We have done some research, yes, but our clues are few and our resources are not infinite. We do not wish to scare the population of Feydorwin with this 'problem,' so we have summoned you powerful warriors to investigate." Beld looks at the others who have joined them, "What of the rest of you, warriors?"

_____
{OOC: The MAP has been updated again with a small update. Others are welcome to continue posting!}