Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Sagiro's Story Hour Returns (new thread started on 5/18/08)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Sagiro" data-source="post: 26445" data-attributes="member: 726"><p>Here's the rest of last Sunday's session:</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 137b</strong></em></p><p></p><p><strong>Wednesday, July 17</strong></p><p></p><p>Traveling by night in a dark sky illuminated only by stars and a sliver of moon, Morningstar spends nine long hours of <em>wind walking</em> to reach the city of Kallor. A bit after three o’clock in the morning she wafts silently over the walls of the City of Twilight and reforms herself into a solid shape. She heads quickly toward the Temple of Ell, and as it’s the middle of the night, it’s busy and full of active sisters.</p><p></p><p>She is met politely at the door, but the door-guards become a bit cool when Morningstar introduces herself. They are taken aback by her immediate desire to speak with High Priestess Rhiavonne on an urgent matter, but Morningstar’s name carries some weight, even if it’s in an adversarial fashion. She is escorted inside the darkened halls of the Temple of Ell. No lights burn anywhere inside, but the sisters move about with a comfortable lack of concern. The walls are all intricately carved, and the sisters occasionally allow their hands to trail along the walls, experiencing them as tactile art.</p><p></p><p>A priestess is sent away into the upper floors of the building, and comes back soon after with an announcement that Rhiavonne will be able to see her in half an hour. In the meantime, Morningstar is seated and kept comfortable. After she has waited a few minutes, a young novice comes up and sits nervously down next to her. "Hello," she stammers. Morningstar nods politely in greeting.</p><p></p><p>"Can I ask you a question?" asks the novice. "What’s… what’s she like? Amber, I mean." </p><p></p><p>Morningstar smiles, thinks for a moment. "She’s extremely devoted," she says. "Amber serves the Church as well as any sister I’ve met."</p><p></p><p>"I hear… I hear she doesn’t approve of us at all. That you… that she thinks we’re not following Ell in the right way. That she thinks her way is better."</p><p></p><p>"That’s putting it much too strongly," answers Morningstar.</p><p></p><p>The novice starts to ask another question, but Morningstar is spared the onus of answering as a priestess approaches and announces that Rhiavonne will see her now, and could she please follow up the stairs.</p><p></p><p>Rhiavonne’s office is small, not like the grand and ornate quarters of Priestess Milanwy back in Tal Hae. And Rhiavonne herself is small, not any higher than five feet. She is old and wrinkled – at least seventy years lie on her – and motions Morningstar to sit in a chair before her desk. Morningstar sits nervously, here in the presence of one who she knows looks on her with disapproval. She fears what Rhiavonne will say or do.</p><p></p><p>"It is good to meet you," Rhiavonne says. "I’ve looked forward to this moment. I have much to say to you. But you have saved me the trouble of sending for you. Your news must be extremely urgent, so tell me, what has brought you to me?"</p><p></p><p>Morningstar takes a deep breath. And then she tells Rhiavonne everything. That is, all about the Black Circle plans to merge two Primes and bring forth an army. All about her <em>commune</em> spell during which Ell told her the Black Circle ritual was happening here in Kallor. All about Grey Wolf’s role in the cosmic events. And all about her suspicions that Black Circle agents have possibly infiltrated the Ellish church here in the city.</p><p></p><p>Rhiavonne interrupts her at various points. She knows what the Black Circle is, and how they operate. She even mentions that Morningstar’s own party may have been compromised, specifically Dranko, whose own church of Delioch is known to have been infiltrated by the Circle. And she wonders aloud that the Archmagi must certainly be aware of the problem, and isn’t Morningstar and her "team" supposed to be dealing with these sorts of crises? </p><p></p><p>Also, in the middle of their discussion there is a knock on the door, and a tall, nervous priestess enters. </p><p></p><p>"Yes?" Rhiavonne snaps, annoyed at the intrusion.</p><p></p><p>"I’m sorry, your Holiness," she stammers, looking nervously at Morningstar. "I just wanted to make sure you were.. all right… and that you didn’t need any assistance… or anything." She keeps looking at Morningstar, as if she expects that an Illuminated Sister might try anything at any moment.</p><p></p><p>Rhiavonne looks at the newcomer sternly. "They don’t bite, Stersa," she says, and the woman blushes. "We’re fine. If I require anything, I will send for it. Now please excuse us."</p><p></p><p>Rhiavonne apologizes, and Morningstar finishes her story. "My chief concerns," she concludes, "are that there may be Black Circle agents here, and that if an army does invade, the city itself will be in great danger."</p><p></p><p>Rhiavonne is quite attentive, and takes all of Morningstar’s story seriously. There is no sign of her dislike or mistrust of the Illuminated Sisters, and she offers that the sisters of the temple will search for signs of the Black Circle, and start preparing against possible physical consequences of two planes converging with Kallor as a focal point. She doubts that the Ellish church has been compromised, but accepts the possibility.</p><p></p><p>She also addresses Morningstar’s suspicion that the Black Circle plot is related to the general feeling of unease among the people of the town. </p><p></p><p>"I have investigated that," says Rhiavonne. "We still don’t know the cause or the source, but we know this: that it affects practitioners of the arcane more than any. People with strong ties to the divine are affected somewhat less, and those with no magic in them are only slightly troubled. But with time, all people start to feel it, even the plainest beggar in town. And it has been months now since the first breath of gloom was felt in Kallor."</p><p></p><p>Morningstar lastly brings up the matter of Alstott’s death, and the possible connection with the Black Circle. Specifically she is worried about its connection with the Church, insofar as the wizard was planning an attack on the temple, and that the evidence has been locked up on orders of the church.</p><p></p><p>"Ah, I have named Stersa to head up the investigation… that was her who came in to check on us. She is a trusted member of my inner council, and I’m sure she’s doing a thorough job."</p><p></p><p>Morningstar asks to speak with Stersa, and the priestess is summoned before the two of them.</p><p></p><p>Stersa says that, yes, she has done extensive investigation into the death of Alstott. Although she is still unsure of the cause of death, she thinks that the man must have been mad. "After all, he was planning a single-person attack on the entire temple! He had sketches of the buildings, and lists of spells he was going to cast. It never would have worked. Alstott must suffer the mental degradation that sometimes happens to the very old. Anyway, it’s a sensitive subject, and I have the evidence safely kept down at the constabulary. We continue to study it, hoping for clues."</p><p></p><p>Morningstar asks if she can see the body and the evidence. Stersa is reluctant, and balks, but Rhiavonne insists. Stersa is discomfited, but agrees. "But we won’t be allowed in until I consult with the guard captain, Cobb, and he’s probably asleep. Give me an hour to make the arrangements, and then I’ll come back to escort you."</p><p></p><p>An hour passes, and Stersa does not come back. A second hour passes, and then a third. Somewhere outside the walls of Kallor the sun starts to rise, and a faint blue-gray light starts to filter into the city. There is no sign of Stersa. Morningstar fears that someone has waylaid her en route, knowing her plans. She could have been followed from the temple itself. Once more she asks to speak with Rhiavonne, and again is granted an audience. When Rhiavonne learns that Stersa has not come back, she writes and signs a letter to be shown to Cobb, giving Morningstar full rights to examine all materials relating to Alstott’s death.</p><p></p><p>"No need to tell you to be careful," she tells Morningstar. And then she adds: "There still much I wish to discuss, concerning… other matters. But all of that can wait until this current business is taken care of. Good luck, and let me know if we can help you further."</p><p></p><p>Before she leaves, Morningstar decides to cast a <em>sending</em> to Dranko, but realizes that he’s probably still asleep. She drops into a trance, finds his dreams, and starts to alter it. Suddenly Dranko is dreaming that he really must wake up at once, and with a great effort of will, wrenches himself awake. "Huh? Wh.. ? Who…" Then he gets the <em>sending</em>, that Morningstar is about to head to the Constabulary for a look at the murder evidence, and that the rest of the party should join her there. </p><p></p><p>Morningstar sets out into the dark gray early dawn. She keeps an eye out for signs of Stersa (or of a recent struggle), but sees nothing out of the ordinary. (There are very few people out on the streets at all, at that hour.) When she arrives a few minutes later at the constabulary, there are no guards posted outside, and no sign that anyone has been here recently. Instead of knocking or going in, she decides to wait for the others, and melts into the shadows on the opposite side of the street.</p><p></p><p>And that’s when the creatures attack. For one brief instant she feels a terrible feeling of foreboding, and then three black shapes emerge from the shadows around her. They are humanoid but featureless, and slightly blurry around the edges. They make no noise, and flail at her with black, fog-like appendages. Where they strike, Morningstar’s skin is left with a horrible, stinging black smear. Wounded, she takes a step back, calls loudly for help, and attempts to cast a <em>flame strike</em> that will envelop all three of these strange attackers. But their wildly flailing limbs cause her arm motions to go awry in mid-casting, and the spell fails her. They launch another assault, their black arms ignoring her armor and leaving more painful black smears. Enough is enough. Morningstar turns and runs in the direction she expects the rest of the party to be coming from, shouting loudly for help the whole time.</p><p></p><p>The black shadow-creatures keep pace. She can feel waves of horror rolling off them, like a nausea of the mind. After a minute, huffing and panting, she becomes aware that there are pursuing footsteps behind the creatures, and a human voice cries "stop at once!" But the creatures do not stop, and so neither does Morningstar.</p><p></p><p>Back at the Moonspell, Dranko has woken the rest of the party. Aravis still needs another hour of sleep before he’ll be able to prepare spells, so he stays behind, and Kay stays with him. The rest of them get hastily dressed and head out into the cool morning air to meet Morningstar at the constabulary. After a few minutes walking the streets of Kallor, they see her up ahead… fleeing in horror from something behind her! </p><p></p><p>"Help!" she gasps.</p><p></p><p>Flicker is first to react. He launches a sling-stone at one of the creatures, and where it strikes there is a puff of foul black smoke. Dranko then unwinds his <em>Whip of the Searing Tongue</em> and uses it to fire a <em>searing light</em> directly at one of the creatures. The beam flies true, hits the black monster – and passes harmlessly out through the other side of its body. Dranko utters a disappointed oath. Ernie and Step run forward, clanging in their armor, to engage the things and get them away from Morningstar. Morningstar herself stops running, takes one step away from them, and tries <em>turning</em> them, hoping that they are undead. No such luck; holy power fills her Ellish symbol, and she flings it outward toward the creatures, but they do not flinch. Step runs forward and takes a mighty swing with his flaming greatsword "Firebrand," and executes a perfect swing right through the neck of one of the attackers. But the sword passes harmlessly through the creature, and Step can feel the sword become awkward and unbalanced as it passes through the thing’s body. Ernie tries casting <em>dispel magic</em> on the creatures, but to no avail. Morningstar continues to be pummeled by the creatures, and now much of her body is covered with painful black smudges. She tries swinging her own weapon, but with no more success than Step. And a guard from the constabulary, who heard Morningstar’s cries and has been running in pursuit, finally arrives and takes an wildly errant swing. "What in Ell’s name…?" he cries.</p><p></p><p> But Flicker fires another pair of sling bullets, and again when they strike there is a tangible reaction. Black puffs of vapor fly from the points of impact. But why is the sling working, when all spells and better weapons aren’t having any… ah! The creatures must be immune to all magic, even magic weapons! Once they make that realization, the battle turns quickly. Dranko produces a non-magical mace from his magical <em>haversack</em>, and Ernie (after healing Morningstar) uses his gartine sword. Although the creatures have an easy time hitting (their attacks are all touch attacks), and Dranko and Morningstar both end up badly pummeled, the foul beasts are also easy to hit with the right weapons, and don’t last long. As each is dispatched, it dissipates in a cloud of black smoke, leaving no trace save a lingering feeling of doubt and anxiety. But the wounds they caused have turned the skin of their victims the color of tar. As the party heals up, the blackness fades, but they purposely don’t heal fully, in order to leave patches of skin that can be positively matched with that of Alstott.</p><p></p><p>The guard escorts the party back to the constabulary, where they demand to be let in to see the evidence of Alstott’s murder. When the guard balks, they show him the letter sealed with Rhiavonne’s insignia. </p><p></p><p>"Look, I’d better go get Cobb then. He’s asleep, but he’ll get up for this."</p><p></p><p>The guard goes inside to grab a traveling buddy (what with weird creatures roaming the streets) and leaves the party hanging around outside for a few minutes. The pair of guards comes back a short while later with a third man – Dranko recognizes him as the captain he saw the day before, but doesn’t betray the fact. </p><p></p><p>"What’s all this then, and who are you people?" demands Cobb. He’s a serious, non-nonsense man, and a still, silent <em>detect thoughts</em> from Morningstar shows him to be on the level. But while he’s mildly upset at the commotion and being woken up, he gets downright mad when he reads the letter from Rhiavonne. For a moment he looks fit to burst, but then he takes a deep breath, and grumbles: "Ok, I’ll let you inside. But I’m going to be right there with you. I want to get a good look at the evidence too."</p><p></p><p>There is some momentary confusion. Hasn’t he seen it already?</p><p></p><p>"Not such that I’ve gotten a good look," he says. That woman from the Ellish temple in charge of the investigation, that Stersa, she ordered everything locked up tight. Heck, she wanted to destroy it all, something about it being a security risk. I told her that just isn’t how things are done, and that Ellish priestess or no, she’s not about to get me to destroy the evidence before a proper investigation. In the end we reached a compromise; that I’d keep it locked away and no one would touch it, for just a couple o’ weeks. She said the security risk wouldn’t be a problem after that."</p><p></p><p>All of which now strongly points to Stersa being a traitor, and probably a Black Circle agent.</p><p></p><p>The party is led in and allowed to examine the evidence. There is a pile of papers, most of them burned and illegible, but one sheet of parchment on top is conspicuously unblemished. On it is a rough sketch of the Ellish temple buildings, and notes scrawled in the margins, planning an assault. The handwriting does match that found in a large book on the table, partially burned but still readable. The book is packed with tiny writing and detailed diagrams, harmless notes on spell theory and research. Behind the book on the evidence table rests a rack of potions, each labeled. They correspond with notes made on the attack-plans: <em>invisibility, darkvision, non-detection, spider climb</em> and <em>gaseous form</em>. </p><p></p><p>By this time they figure that Aravis has gotten enough sleep, and they send for him and Kay to join them at the constabulary. Soon all are assembled there.</p><p></p><p>Morningstar goes first into the room with Alstott’s blackened corpse, and casts <em>thought capture</em>. The though she picks up is of someone experiencing something very unpleasant: "Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!" And the mind is familiar. Oh, no… She turns to look at Kay, who looks sheepish, and then at Dranko, who looks even more so.</p><p></p><p>"Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew?" says Morningstar, eyebrows raised, and starting already to become angry. "I thought you were going to be discreet! What happened to just asking to be let in? What happened to asking subtle questions? What happened to our hours of planning just to avoid this sort of thing? Don’t you realize the jeopardy you put me in, put my whole church in, by risking raising an alarm too soon? Yes, things worked out okay, but that was just luck! I’m <em>very</em> disappointed in you." </p><p></p><p>Dranko starts to mutter excuses, about how it all would have worked so smoothly if not for the <em>alarm</em> spell and the lantern that detected invisible things. But in the end he straightens himself up, and says "Morningstar, I’m all about honesty. And honestly, I was a bonehead." Morningstar is quick to agree.</p><p></p><p>Dranko tries to <em>speak with dead</em>, but to his surprise and dismay it doesn’t work. Perhaps the anti-magic nature of the black creatures is such that even things killed by them are immune to spells. But that proves not to be the case, since the next spell he casts does work: <em>dead man’s eyes.</em> This lets him see the last five minutes of Alstott’s life, through the eyes of the wizard himself. Dranko’s eyes roll up into his head, and suddenly he is in a small but cluttered study, just closing a large book in front of him. Dranko doesn’t catch what he had just written, but does remember the page. Alstott shakes his head, puts down his quill, stands slowly, then walks over to a shelf full of knickknacks and baubles. He takes one down, gives it a shake, and watches as it lights up. He does the same with a few more, and then puts them all into a bag. With a lighter step he walks down stairs, grabs a quick bite of bread and a mug of water, and then steps outside into the gloomy shadows of Kallor. Suddenly a black shadow fills his field of vision, and he is knocked back. He holds his arm up to his eyes and sees a sickly black smear across it. Quickly he takes a step back, and sees over half a dozen black featureless figures advancing toward him. He waves his arms, casts a spell, and the black creatures are engulfed in flames. But the flames quickly clear, and the creatures are left unharmed. The rush him, surround him, arms flailing…</p><p></p><p>…and Dranko breaks off the spell, not wishing to share the actual moment of death. Grimly he relays the details to the others. Ernie sniffs. "Didn’t someone say that Alstott used to hand out trinkets to children in his retirement? I’ll bet that’s what he was on his way to do. And then…oh, that’s horrible!"</p><p></p><p>Dranko goes back to the evidence room, and flips through the book. It’s all notes and sketches, but Dranko turns to the page Alstott had just been writing before his death. Down near the bottom, in writing that would typically go unnoticed but which is a tad larger than the rest, is the following note: "Divination sink in the silent quarter, protects itself. Almost certainly connected with cultist activity. Unease caused by null shadows?</p><p></p><p>And that makes even more things clear. The silent quarter is a large neighborhood in Kallor occupied mostly by wealthy retirees. There are city ordinances prohibiting loud noises, and the streets are well patrolled. If the source of the unease is centered there, it would explain why it seems to be more of a "rich folks" problem. What "null shadows" are seems obvious. Now the Company has a decent lead to follow. But what is a "Divination sink?" </p><p></p><p>There is one last place to investigate, and that is Alstott’s home. As they walk over there together, Cobb explains that when he arrived with a team of guards after word of the murder had spread, Stersa had just arrived herself. She was walking down from the upper floor of the house "having been doing some investigation herself." Since the day that the evidence was removed, Cobb has had guards stationed at the door to make sure no one got in. But when the party arrives, they find that although the guards have seen no one enter or leave, the upstairs study has been entirely emptied out. Damn! Morningstar blankets the room with <em>thought captures</em>, and receives an assortment of uninteresting thoughts of Alstott and Cobb, along with one from Stersa that thinks: "It’s going to be tough getting this stuff entirely disposed of, but I’ll bet I can get it locked away for a couple of weeks."</p><p></p><p>Finally Morningstar goes back to the Temple of Ell to give Rhiavonne the news about Stersa. By this time it is getting on to be mid-morning, and so the High Priestess is asleep. The duty-clerics are loathe to wake her, but Morningstar insists. "It’s on your head then," they say, and they instruct Morningstar to wait in the foyer. A few minutes later Rhiavonne comes clumping down the stairs in a black robe, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Morningstar tells her all that she has learned, particularly the apparent treachery of Stersa. Rhiavonne is obviously concerned; Stersa was deep in many of her counsels. And now it makes sense, that Stersa was eager to volunteer to investigate the murder on behalf of the church. Rhiavonne thanks Morningstar for all of her help, and reiterates her offer of assistance should Morningstar desire it. Then she goes back to sleep, leaving the Company to continue their plans for finding and stopping the Black Circle.</p><p></p><p>…to be continued…</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sagiro, post: 26445, member: 726"] Here's the rest of last Sunday's session: [I][b]Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 137b[/b][/I] [b]Wednesday, July 17[/b] Traveling by night in a dark sky illuminated only by stars and a sliver of moon, Morningstar spends nine long hours of [I]wind walking[/I] to reach the city of Kallor. A bit after three o’clock in the morning she wafts silently over the walls of the City of Twilight and reforms herself into a solid shape. She heads quickly toward the Temple of Ell, and as it’s the middle of the night, it’s busy and full of active sisters. She is met politely at the door, but the door-guards become a bit cool when Morningstar introduces herself. They are taken aback by her immediate desire to speak with High Priestess Rhiavonne on an urgent matter, but Morningstar’s name carries some weight, even if it’s in an adversarial fashion. She is escorted inside the darkened halls of the Temple of Ell. No lights burn anywhere inside, but the sisters move about with a comfortable lack of concern. The walls are all intricately carved, and the sisters occasionally allow their hands to trail along the walls, experiencing them as tactile art. A priestess is sent away into the upper floors of the building, and comes back soon after with an announcement that Rhiavonne will be able to see her in half an hour. In the meantime, Morningstar is seated and kept comfortable. After she has waited a few minutes, a young novice comes up and sits nervously down next to her. "Hello," she stammers. Morningstar nods politely in greeting. "Can I ask you a question?" asks the novice. "What’s… what’s she like? Amber, I mean." Morningstar smiles, thinks for a moment. "She’s extremely devoted," she says. "Amber serves the Church as well as any sister I’ve met." "I hear… I hear she doesn’t approve of us at all. That you… that she thinks we’re not following Ell in the right way. That she thinks her way is better." "That’s putting it much too strongly," answers Morningstar. The novice starts to ask another question, but Morningstar is spared the onus of answering as a priestess approaches and announces that Rhiavonne will see her now, and could she please follow up the stairs. Rhiavonne’s office is small, not like the grand and ornate quarters of Priestess Milanwy back in Tal Hae. And Rhiavonne herself is small, not any higher than five feet. She is old and wrinkled – at least seventy years lie on her – and motions Morningstar to sit in a chair before her desk. Morningstar sits nervously, here in the presence of one who she knows looks on her with disapproval. She fears what Rhiavonne will say or do. "It is good to meet you," Rhiavonne says. "I’ve looked forward to this moment. I have much to say to you. But you have saved me the trouble of sending for you. Your news must be extremely urgent, so tell me, what has brought you to me?" Morningstar takes a deep breath. And then she tells Rhiavonne everything. That is, all about the Black Circle plans to merge two Primes and bring forth an army. All about her [I]commune[/I] spell during which Ell told her the Black Circle ritual was happening here in Kallor. All about Grey Wolf’s role in the cosmic events. And all about her suspicions that Black Circle agents have possibly infiltrated the Ellish church here in the city. Rhiavonne interrupts her at various points. She knows what the Black Circle is, and how they operate. She even mentions that Morningstar’s own party may have been compromised, specifically Dranko, whose own church of Delioch is known to have been infiltrated by the Circle. And she wonders aloud that the Archmagi must certainly be aware of the problem, and isn’t Morningstar and her "team" supposed to be dealing with these sorts of crises? Also, in the middle of their discussion there is a knock on the door, and a tall, nervous priestess enters. "Yes?" Rhiavonne snaps, annoyed at the intrusion. "I’m sorry, your Holiness," she stammers, looking nervously at Morningstar. "I just wanted to make sure you were.. all right… and that you didn’t need any assistance… or anything." She keeps looking at Morningstar, as if she expects that an Illuminated Sister might try anything at any moment. Rhiavonne looks at the newcomer sternly. "They don’t bite, Stersa," she says, and the woman blushes. "We’re fine. If I require anything, I will send for it. Now please excuse us." Rhiavonne apologizes, and Morningstar finishes her story. "My chief concerns," she concludes, "are that there may be Black Circle agents here, and that if an army does invade, the city itself will be in great danger." Rhiavonne is quite attentive, and takes all of Morningstar’s story seriously. There is no sign of her dislike or mistrust of the Illuminated Sisters, and she offers that the sisters of the temple will search for signs of the Black Circle, and start preparing against possible physical consequences of two planes converging with Kallor as a focal point. She doubts that the Ellish church has been compromised, but accepts the possibility. She also addresses Morningstar’s suspicion that the Black Circle plot is related to the general feeling of unease among the people of the town. "I have investigated that," says Rhiavonne. "We still don’t know the cause or the source, but we know this: that it affects practitioners of the arcane more than any. People with strong ties to the divine are affected somewhat less, and those with no magic in them are only slightly troubled. But with time, all people start to feel it, even the plainest beggar in town. And it has been months now since the first breath of gloom was felt in Kallor." Morningstar lastly brings up the matter of Alstott’s death, and the possible connection with the Black Circle. Specifically she is worried about its connection with the Church, insofar as the wizard was planning an attack on the temple, and that the evidence has been locked up on orders of the church. "Ah, I have named Stersa to head up the investigation… that was her who came in to check on us. She is a trusted member of my inner council, and I’m sure she’s doing a thorough job." Morningstar asks to speak with Stersa, and the priestess is summoned before the two of them. Stersa says that, yes, she has done extensive investigation into the death of Alstott. Although she is still unsure of the cause of death, she thinks that the man must have been mad. "After all, he was planning a single-person attack on the entire temple! He had sketches of the buildings, and lists of spells he was going to cast. It never would have worked. Alstott must suffer the mental degradation that sometimes happens to the very old. Anyway, it’s a sensitive subject, and I have the evidence safely kept down at the constabulary. We continue to study it, hoping for clues." Morningstar asks if she can see the body and the evidence. Stersa is reluctant, and balks, but Rhiavonne insists. Stersa is discomfited, but agrees. "But we won’t be allowed in until I consult with the guard captain, Cobb, and he’s probably asleep. Give me an hour to make the arrangements, and then I’ll come back to escort you." An hour passes, and Stersa does not come back. A second hour passes, and then a third. Somewhere outside the walls of Kallor the sun starts to rise, and a faint blue-gray light starts to filter into the city. There is no sign of Stersa. Morningstar fears that someone has waylaid her en route, knowing her plans. She could have been followed from the temple itself. Once more she asks to speak with Rhiavonne, and again is granted an audience. When Rhiavonne learns that Stersa has not come back, she writes and signs a letter to be shown to Cobb, giving Morningstar full rights to examine all materials relating to Alstott’s death. "No need to tell you to be careful," she tells Morningstar. And then she adds: "There still much I wish to discuss, concerning… other matters. But all of that can wait until this current business is taken care of. Good luck, and let me know if we can help you further." Before she leaves, Morningstar decides to cast a [I]sending[/I] to Dranko, but realizes that he’s probably still asleep. She drops into a trance, finds his dreams, and starts to alter it. Suddenly Dranko is dreaming that he really must wake up at once, and with a great effort of will, wrenches himself awake. "Huh? Wh.. ? Who…" Then he gets the [I]sending[/I], that Morningstar is about to head to the Constabulary for a look at the murder evidence, and that the rest of the party should join her there. Morningstar sets out into the dark gray early dawn. She keeps an eye out for signs of Stersa (or of a recent struggle), but sees nothing out of the ordinary. (There are very few people out on the streets at all, at that hour.) When she arrives a few minutes later at the constabulary, there are no guards posted outside, and no sign that anyone has been here recently. Instead of knocking or going in, she decides to wait for the others, and melts into the shadows on the opposite side of the street. And that’s when the creatures attack. For one brief instant she feels a terrible feeling of foreboding, and then three black shapes emerge from the shadows around her. They are humanoid but featureless, and slightly blurry around the edges. They make no noise, and flail at her with black, fog-like appendages. Where they strike, Morningstar’s skin is left with a horrible, stinging black smear. Wounded, she takes a step back, calls loudly for help, and attempts to cast a [I]flame strike[/I] that will envelop all three of these strange attackers. But their wildly flailing limbs cause her arm motions to go awry in mid-casting, and the spell fails her. They launch another assault, their black arms ignoring her armor and leaving more painful black smears. Enough is enough. Morningstar turns and runs in the direction she expects the rest of the party to be coming from, shouting loudly for help the whole time. The black shadow-creatures keep pace. She can feel waves of horror rolling off them, like a nausea of the mind. After a minute, huffing and panting, she becomes aware that there are pursuing footsteps behind the creatures, and a human voice cries "stop at once!" But the creatures do not stop, and so neither does Morningstar. Back at the Moonspell, Dranko has woken the rest of the party. Aravis still needs another hour of sleep before he’ll be able to prepare spells, so he stays behind, and Kay stays with him. The rest of them get hastily dressed and head out into the cool morning air to meet Morningstar at the constabulary. After a few minutes walking the streets of Kallor, they see her up ahead… fleeing in horror from something behind her! "Help!" she gasps. Flicker is first to react. He launches a sling-stone at one of the creatures, and where it strikes there is a puff of foul black smoke. Dranko then unwinds his [I]Whip of the Searing Tongue[/I] and uses it to fire a [I]searing light[/I] directly at one of the creatures. The beam flies true, hits the black monster – and passes harmlessly out through the other side of its body. Dranko utters a disappointed oath. Ernie and Step run forward, clanging in their armor, to engage the things and get them away from Morningstar. Morningstar herself stops running, takes one step away from them, and tries [I]turning[/I] them, hoping that they are undead. No such luck; holy power fills her Ellish symbol, and she flings it outward toward the creatures, but they do not flinch. Step runs forward and takes a mighty swing with his flaming greatsword "Firebrand," and executes a perfect swing right through the neck of one of the attackers. But the sword passes harmlessly through the creature, and Step can feel the sword become awkward and unbalanced as it passes through the thing’s body. Ernie tries casting [I]dispel magic[/I] on the creatures, but to no avail. Morningstar continues to be pummeled by the creatures, and now much of her body is covered with painful black smudges. She tries swinging her own weapon, but with no more success than Step. And a guard from the constabulary, who heard Morningstar’s cries and has been running in pursuit, finally arrives and takes an wildly errant swing. "What in Ell’s name…?" he cries. But Flicker fires another pair of sling bullets, and again when they strike there is a tangible reaction. Black puffs of vapor fly from the points of impact. But why is the sling working, when all spells and better weapons aren’t having any… ah! The creatures must be immune to all magic, even magic weapons! Once they make that realization, the battle turns quickly. Dranko produces a non-magical mace from his magical [I]haversack[/I], and Ernie (after healing Morningstar) uses his gartine sword. Although the creatures have an easy time hitting (their attacks are all touch attacks), and Dranko and Morningstar both end up badly pummeled, the foul beasts are also easy to hit with the right weapons, and don’t last long. As each is dispatched, it dissipates in a cloud of black smoke, leaving no trace save a lingering feeling of doubt and anxiety. But the wounds they caused have turned the skin of their victims the color of tar. As the party heals up, the blackness fades, but they purposely don’t heal fully, in order to leave patches of skin that can be positively matched with that of Alstott. The guard escorts the party back to the constabulary, where they demand to be let in to see the evidence of Alstott’s murder. When the guard balks, they show him the letter sealed with Rhiavonne’s insignia. "Look, I’d better go get Cobb then. He’s asleep, but he’ll get up for this." The guard goes inside to grab a traveling buddy (what with weird creatures roaming the streets) and leaves the party hanging around outside for a few minutes. The pair of guards comes back a short while later with a third man – Dranko recognizes him as the captain he saw the day before, but doesn’t betray the fact. "What’s all this then, and who are you people?" demands Cobb. He’s a serious, non-nonsense man, and a still, silent [I]detect thoughts[/I] from Morningstar shows him to be on the level. But while he’s mildly upset at the commotion and being woken up, he gets downright mad when he reads the letter from Rhiavonne. For a moment he looks fit to burst, but then he takes a deep breath, and grumbles: "Ok, I’ll let you inside. But I’m going to be right there with you. I want to get a good look at the evidence too." There is some momentary confusion. Hasn’t he seen it already? "Not such that I’ve gotten a good look," he says. That woman from the Ellish temple in charge of the investigation, that Stersa, she ordered everything locked up tight. Heck, she wanted to destroy it all, something about it being a security risk. I told her that just isn’t how things are done, and that Ellish priestess or no, she’s not about to get me to destroy the evidence before a proper investigation. In the end we reached a compromise; that I’d keep it locked away and no one would touch it, for just a couple o’ weeks. She said the security risk wouldn’t be a problem after that." All of which now strongly points to Stersa being a traitor, and probably a Black Circle agent. The party is led in and allowed to examine the evidence. There is a pile of papers, most of them burned and illegible, but one sheet of parchment on top is conspicuously unblemished. On it is a rough sketch of the Ellish temple buildings, and notes scrawled in the margins, planning an assault. The handwriting does match that found in a large book on the table, partially burned but still readable. The book is packed with tiny writing and detailed diagrams, harmless notes on spell theory and research. Behind the book on the evidence table rests a rack of potions, each labeled. They correspond with notes made on the attack-plans: [I]invisibility, darkvision, non-detection, spider climb[/I] and [I]gaseous form[/I]. By this time they figure that Aravis has gotten enough sleep, and they send for him and Kay to join them at the constabulary. Soon all are assembled there. Morningstar goes first into the room with Alstott’s blackened corpse, and casts [I]thought capture[/I]. The though she picks up is of someone experiencing something very unpleasant: "Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!" And the mind is familiar. Oh, no… She turns to look at Kay, who looks sheepish, and then at Dranko, who looks even more so. "Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew?" says Morningstar, eyebrows raised, and starting already to become angry. "I thought you were going to be discreet! What happened to just asking to be let in? What happened to asking subtle questions? What happened to our hours of planning just to avoid this sort of thing? Don’t you realize the jeopardy you put me in, put my whole church in, by risking raising an alarm too soon? Yes, things worked out okay, but that was just luck! I’m [I]very[/I] disappointed in you." Dranko starts to mutter excuses, about how it all would have worked so smoothly if not for the [I]alarm[/I] spell and the lantern that detected invisible things. But in the end he straightens himself up, and says "Morningstar, I’m all about honesty. And honestly, I was a bonehead." Morningstar is quick to agree. Dranko tries to [I]speak with dead[/I], but to his surprise and dismay it doesn’t work. Perhaps the anti-magic nature of the black creatures is such that even things killed by them are immune to spells. But that proves not to be the case, since the next spell he casts does work: [I]dead man’s eyes.[/I] This lets him see the last five minutes of Alstott’s life, through the eyes of the wizard himself. Dranko’s eyes roll up into his head, and suddenly he is in a small but cluttered study, just closing a large book in front of him. Dranko doesn’t catch what he had just written, but does remember the page. Alstott shakes his head, puts down his quill, stands slowly, then walks over to a shelf full of knickknacks and baubles. He takes one down, gives it a shake, and watches as it lights up. He does the same with a few more, and then puts them all into a bag. With a lighter step he walks down stairs, grabs a quick bite of bread and a mug of water, and then steps outside into the gloomy shadows of Kallor. Suddenly a black shadow fills his field of vision, and he is knocked back. He holds his arm up to his eyes and sees a sickly black smear across it. Quickly he takes a step back, and sees over half a dozen black featureless figures advancing toward him. He waves his arms, casts a spell, and the black creatures are engulfed in flames. But the flames quickly clear, and the creatures are left unharmed. The rush him, surround him, arms flailing… …and Dranko breaks off the spell, not wishing to share the actual moment of death. Grimly he relays the details to the others. Ernie sniffs. "Didn’t someone say that Alstott used to hand out trinkets to children in his retirement? I’ll bet that’s what he was on his way to do. And then…oh, that’s horrible!" Dranko goes back to the evidence room, and flips through the book. It’s all notes and sketches, but Dranko turns to the page Alstott had just been writing before his death. Down near the bottom, in writing that would typically go unnoticed but which is a tad larger than the rest, is the following note: "Divination sink in the silent quarter, protects itself. Almost certainly connected with cultist activity. Unease caused by null shadows? And that makes even more things clear. The silent quarter is a large neighborhood in Kallor occupied mostly by wealthy retirees. There are city ordinances prohibiting loud noises, and the streets are well patrolled. If the source of the unease is centered there, it would explain why it seems to be more of a "rich folks" problem. What "null shadows" are seems obvious. Now the Company has a decent lead to follow. But what is a "Divination sink?" There is one last place to investigate, and that is Alstott’s home. As they walk over there together, Cobb explains that when he arrived with a team of guards after word of the murder had spread, Stersa had just arrived herself. She was walking down from the upper floor of the house "having been doing some investigation herself." Since the day that the evidence was removed, Cobb has had guards stationed at the door to make sure no one got in. But when the party arrives, they find that although the guards have seen no one enter or leave, the upstairs study has been entirely emptied out. Damn! Morningstar blankets the room with [I]thought captures[/I], and receives an assortment of uninteresting thoughts of Alstott and Cobb, along with one from Stersa that thinks: "It’s going to be tough getting this stuff entirely disposed of, but I’ll bet I can get it locked away for a couple of weeks." Finally Morningstar goes back to the Temple of Ell to give Rhiavonne the news about Stersa. By this time it is getting on to be mid-morning, and so the High Priestess is asleep. The duty-clerics are loathe to wake her, but Morningstar insists. "It’s on your head then," they say, and they instruct Morningstar to wait in the foyer. A few minutes later Rhiavonne comes clumping down the stairs in a black robe, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Morningstar tells her all that she has learned, particularly the apparent treachery of Stersa. Rhiavonne is obviously concerned; Stersa was deep in many of her counsels. And now it makes sense, that Stersa was eager to volunteer to investigate the murder on behalf of the church. Rhiavonne thanks Morningstar for all of her help, and reiterates her offer of assistance should Morningstar desire it. Then she goes back to sleep, leaving the Company to continue their plans for finding and stopping the Black Circle. …to be continued… [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Sagiro's Story Hour Returns (new thread started on 5/18/08)
Top