Metropolis (Slaves to the City) - Chapter Two

[Phoenix]

Ru gapes at the amassed knowledge in the room, but quickly recovers at the goblin's prodding.

"I'm looking for a reason why the bodies of men would refuse to die. Not just the usual necro spells to raise them once, but what might cause them, no matter how much damage they take, to simply keep moving. I don't know if it's the right term, but I keep coming back to distinguishing it as not undead, but undying."

The goblin sighes a little, taking a stool near the door and relaxing.

"Now, Mr...whatever your name is. The specifics of death and undeath are very complicated and can be strange to people like yourself. Now I know that what you saw was probably quite strange, something that you are not used to, but let me be the one to tell you, undeath is a thing that we all have to live with."

"You say these people were not undead, but if they were not alive, then what were they? The medium between life and death is undeath, there are no grey lines that allow partial life and death situations. Unless you have more for me to go by, I'd be inclined to tell you to go back and you'd find evidence of necromancy somewhere."

 

[jkason]

Ru finds his patience wearing thin. Between the priest and the librarian, he's had quite enough of people talking down at him. Perhaps it's part of that street rat pride he's been carrying from his youth, but all of this 'you're too simple' talk has struck the wrong nerve. Ru crosses to the goblin.

"Last night, I killed a member of the Killi-Kelli-hek. I smashed his skull open, and he fell, only to rise again." Now Ru takes a step closer, pointing out his blows on the goblins own body, never breaking eye contact as he continues. "I broke his jaw off its hinge, smashed first his right kneecap, then his left. I remember the crunch of his spine, the twisting of his neck backwards. He was little more than a broken pile of flesh. And he kept moving. My men did the same to three other Killi-kelli-hek, to the same result.

"We threw one of them into the river, weighted down such that he should never have returned. He dragged himself out of the scummy water." Again, coldly, Ru uses the goblin as a model for all the physical punishment he can exert, though he never touches him. "I smashed his nose in. His leg bones were shards. I collapsed first his left ribcage, then his right. The only thing on his body that was not shattered and gore-ridden were his fingers, and he still used those to try to drag himself after me.

"Later still, I watched two men gut each other, fall, rise, then gut each other again. And again. And again. Three separate areas of the city. No other people in attendance. This time, I had a high view of the scene. No one touched the bodies. No strange materials or smells that I could detect. Just two men killing each other over and over and over again."

Here Ru backs away. Remembering the events in such detail is draining, slightly frightening even as he tries to use them as an implicit threat. Ru opens his palms to the ceiling and shrugs, out of details and options.

"If this is necromancy, it's on an order I've never heard whispered about. If you know the necros who can manage it, spreading their magic out over three districts of Metropolis at the least, raising men without having to even take an active hand in the process, then please, point me to them, and give me what I need to stop them from doing it again."

 

[Phoenix]

"If this is necromancy, it's on an order I've never heard whispered about. If you know the necros who can manage it, spreading their magic out over three districts of Metropolis at the least, raising men without having to even take an active hand in the process, then please, point me to them, and give me what I need to stop them from doing it again."

[sblock]Gnome Knowledge - religion check (DC 30) +32 - Success[/sblock]

The gnome steps back, obviously shaken by Ru's display. He steps back gingerly towards the door, though his expression betrays that he is only partly frightened, and partly considering this strange man's words.

"Such a thing is not possible. The very structure of undead creatures, at least minor ones, dictates that should enough damage occur to the framework, or spiritual essence, of the being, then it will fall like any other creature. The stuff that these creatures are made of still have metaphysical laws unto which they must adhere. These creatures cannot simply continue on with no regard to laws of nature, it is simply impossible...unless..."

"Should the souls be barred entrance to the afterlife, through no fault of their own, then the spirits must reside somewhere until utterly destroyed. Psychologically it would make sense that they would return to what they knew, their dead bodies. Once killed again they would have nowhere to be banished to, and so constantly return to their former bodies to continue their unliving, undying, state."

 

[jkason]

"Should the souls be barred entrance to the afterlife, through no fault of their own, then the spirits must reside somewhere until utterly destroyed. Psychologically it would make sense that they would return to what they knew, their dead bodies. Once killed again they would have nowhere to be banished to, and so constantly return to their former bodies to continue their unliving, undying, state."

Ru flounders mentally. At least he finally had the gnome on the same page. But still...

"How do you bar souls from the afterlife en masse?" he said, half to himself, then he turned his full attention to his librarian guide. "I mean, it's not like there's a single door to the next life sitting around that you could just throw the lock on."

Maybe it was the Killi-kelli-hek's talk of Keys and hearts of cities, but a baffled look crossed the man's face as he asked, hoping it was as ridiculous as it seemed in his head, "There isn't, is there?"

 

[Phoenix]

Ru flounders mentally. At least he finally had the gnome on the same page. But still...

"How do you bar souls from the afterlife en masse?" he said, half to himself, then he turned his full attention to his librarian guide. "I mean, it's not like there's a single door to the next life sitting around that you could just throw the lock on."

Maybe it was the Killi-kelli-hek's talk of Keys and hearts of cities, but a baffled look crossed the man's face as he asked, hoping it was as ridiculous as it seemed in his head, "There isn't, is there?"

"Well technically and spiritually speaking, yes. The afterlife isn't some place that you can simply walk to, it involves a great deal of prowess to transfer from this world to the next, something that most people don't have. That is why Zsath shows them the way, he is the guide into the next world, the Key you might say, using your metaphor."

"If anybody had the power to bar souls from the afterlife en masse, then they would have to contend with the soverignty of Zsath, a Deity in his own right. Few mortals are foolish enough to challenge the gods, and fewer have the ability to even try."

 

[jkason]

Ru puzzles it for a minute, then, not at all pleased with what he's come up with, he presents his hypothesis to the gnome.

"So, correct me if I'm missing something, but then the options are 1) Zsath's decided to take a jaunt and let us all rot, 2) Another god is keeping Zsath from doing his job, or 3) There's a person or group out there with the power to down a god.

"I have gotten far too good at getting in over my head the last few days," he mutters afterwards, but then adds a new line of questioning.

"Wait. Don't a god's priests have some sort of direct line to the god? Isn't that where they get the power to work their miracles? So if anything's changed with Zsath, the priests should have ... felt it, shouldn't they?"

 

[Phoenix]

Ru puzzles it for a minute, then, not at all pleased with what he's come up with, he presents his hypothesis to the gnome.

"So, correct me if I'm missing something, but then the options are 1) Zsath's decided to take a jaunt and let us all rot, 2) Another god is keeping Zsath from doing his job, or 3) There's a person or group out there with the power to down a god.

"I have gotten far too good at getting in over my head the last few days," he mutters afterwards, but then adds a new line of questioning.

"Wait. Don't a god's priests have some sort of direct line to the god? Isn't that where they get the power to work their miracles? So if anything's changed with Zsath, the priests should have ... felt it, shouldn't they?"

[sblock]Sense Motive check (DC 17) +19 - Success[/sblock]

"Well, yes, and no. It's difficult, but I can tell you that nothing has changed with Zsath. He's still servicing the needs of the people, both alive and dead."

There was something about how the gnome said it, how he rubbed his holy symbol nervously, looking around the room trying to avoid Ru's eyes. Was he lying? Was it all a lie?

 

[jkason]

Clearly the gnome had something to say, though he was reluctant to say it. Ru suspected it wasn't so much that the gnome was lying as that he was talking around the truth.

Ru crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"My name is Ru Brike, and I wasn't born any time in the last week, so let's just stop pretending that's the case, shall we? Nothing has changed with Zsath? Alright, then, given we agree something is wrong, then clearly something significant has changed with someone else. How about you tell me what's changed, and with whom?"

 

[Phoenix]

Clearly the gnome had something to say, though he was reluctant to say it. Ru suspected it wasn't so much that the gnome was lying as that he was talking around the truth.

Ru crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"My name is Ru Brike, and I wasn't born any time in the last week, so let's just stop pretending that's the case, shall we? Nothing has changed with Zsath? Alright, then, given we agree something is wrong, then clearly something significant has changed with someone else. How about you tell me what's changed, and with whom?"

[sblock]Diplomacy check (DC 17) +6 - Failure
Intimidate check (DC 24) +25 - Success[/sblock]

"I told you sir, nothing has changed."

With a stern look while standing over the small gnome, Ru gives him 'the eye'. Staring at the much taller Ru, the gnome stummers for a moment, trying to act innocent, though failing miserably.

"Ok, ok. Look, some of the Zsath priests have been having...trouble...with their prayers. Some of their spells haven't been working as they should, the rituals have been failing more often than not. Something is definately going on around here, but whatever it is I really don't know."

 

[jkason]

"Ok, ok. Look, some of the Zsath priests have been having...trouble...with their prayers. Some of their spells haven't been working as they should, the rituals have been failing more often than not. Something is definately going on around here, but whatever it is I really don't know."

Ru nods his head, letting up on the grizzled enforcer routine a bit.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it? I don't suppose there's a priest around here who'd be likely to share specifics with an outsider, is there? Or a historical precedent for this kind of thing listed in your big old library here?"