"He can't be too major," Siel chortled. "I've never heard of him. It seems the destruction of our gods is, as yet, incomplete."
Dakashi says, "He is the lord of the gem dragons... mostly worshiped by those of his kin or those who practice mind magic. Would the DragonStar empire destroy a Dragon God?"
"If the Unification Church has its way, they'll try to subvert your faith," Tocrhor replies.
"Try to use your god as a tool against your own worshipers. That is, if they feel so inclined."
Responding only with a nod, Shazer'a responds to Dakashi's question, "that is more complicated a question than we can probably answer. The Unification Church of the Empire teaches that there are only 12 gods, throughout the universe. It is they who created all the sameness we see. Why there are humans on all worlds, and elves, and halflings who make the same dishes across the stars. Local dieties are called aspects and comprise a combination of two of the twelve to make a deitype. This dragon god you speak of, if he is worshiped by the gems of your world, would likely be made of the Magus and the Smith or perhas the Magus and the Mother as she is of earth. I do not know how he would fare from an attack by a true Aspect from the Unification church, which it apperas your Ao was, but likely not well."
"Yes, there are many lesser Aspects in the Unification Church that could be called upon to challenge this Saridor and take his divine essence by force." Tocrhor says to Dakashi,
"I doubt one of the greater Aspects would come for your god unless he proves a difficult challenge. Dozens of lesser Aspects could come one after another, however, as long as a Divine Sphere has a foothold in your solar system."
Hall of Wonders. Tools from an ancient age. Silhouette felt her fingers itch.
Ahh, if only it hadn't taken an invasion from beyond the stars to open this door to her! But then again, if the invasion WAS fought off, it would still shatter kingdoms, break empires, and send much of civilization tumbling into chaos. That chaos could be a ladder, to one prepared to climb it.
"I would very much like to see this Hall of Wonders before we depart, there should be some time to get our things together before we get on the march." Pipping in Nelalwe adds, "I will stay with this Haspur and see that he is cared for and protected Lord."
Idriane returns with the key and leads Silhouette, Shazer'a, and Tocrhor (and anyone else inclined to follow) to the Hall of Wonders. {ooc: continued below}
Dakashi and Hadyri stay in the temple of Gond and try to commune with Saridor. The results they get are strange. Dakashi senses that the god is there but he refuses to speak to the elan devotee. Hadyri hears the sound of hissing, which Dakashi does not hear.
Kethrendil works with Nelalwe to tend to Haspur. The man remains unconscious, completely exhausted. The sun elf and air gnome find him a comfortable spot on a wagon that is loaded with other wounded outside the temple. The people preparing the wagon promise to help Nel with the Chosen.
Soumral works alongside Rodan to help the citizens that are gathering at the temple. The one wagon is soon joined by many other carts and wagons, as well as dozens of horses and mules with packed saddlebags. Members of the Flaming Fists work with the two companions. Foodstuffs and water are brought to help feed those that need it and the rest is stored in a ironclad wagon normally used for transporting prisoners.
Keth leaves Haspur in Nel capable hands and heads back to the Blade and Stars where he finds that G'axir's body is where he left it. The inn is abandoned, as the staff has already fled. He does find another body upstairs in one of the rooms. An old halfling has died in his sleep, it seems. With the aid of several Flaming Fists, he has G'axir's body escorted to the man's home for burial in his family crypt. The halfling's body is taken to a public crypt along with many other of the city's dead.
With his old friend taken care of, Keth starts his search for a scribe to pen the letters for the Hill Council and House Symbaern. Several hours have passed and the streets are emptying quickly. The Fists are working hard to move people out of the city. It is a hard process and many refuse to leave, if when threatened.
Then Keth hear it (they all do). A sound like distant thunder echoing from far away. Looking up, he sees a flash of what first appears to be red lightning in the distance. But then there is another and another. A rhythmic echo of destruction. Fire is burning through the sky from somewhere above the clouds. He can see it to the northwest and to the southwest. And then there is a flash of white light that streaks from the heavens and hits somewhere far off to the northeast. The boom that roars through the air to his ears is surprisingly loud.
"What in the Nine Hells is that?" a member of the Flaming Fist, a young man named Neven, says in fear.
----------------------------
In the Hall of Wonders (
beginning two hours previous)
Idriane opens the locked door to the Hall and opens it for the trio to enter. A quick scan of the hall's main room shows that there are unique things, to be sure, but nothing that would be considered advanced technology to Shazer'a and Tocrhor. Silhouette notes a small handheld flintlock that is beyond anything she's ever seen. It looks complicated to her but Tocrhor doesn't seem interested in it.
"What about this secret room of relics you mentioned?" Tocrhor asks the cleric of Gond.
"Yes, this way," Idriane replies while motioning them to the back of the hall. Shaz notes that the artifacts on display are a great history of technology on Toril, but most of it would be of little use against Imperial Legions.
The Gondite cleric leads them into a old storeroom and opens a secret door that leads down a ste of spiraling stone stairs. They come to a stout iron gate with no discernable lock. She mumbles several divine words and a keyhole appears on the wall. She puts in the key, takes a deep breath, and turns the key.
At first, nothing happens. Then the gate fades away into nothingness and the dark room beyond is suddenly lit by a central brazier. Here, the trio finds many odd things that are beyond what Toril has in its present day. The two offworlders see an old computer that looks archaic. It has a stylized apple on it. It's not familiar to either Shaz or the hobgoblin.
"Elminster of Shadowdale brought that from another world," the Gondite cleric says.
"He called the place Terra. The high Artificer told me that a few of these devices came from that world. Where it is, i do not know. I don't think the high Artificer has been there either."
"I see something useful," Tocrhor says in surprise.
"Shazer'a, your help, if you please?"
The two offworlders pull an old tarp off a large mechanical device that looks lie it could be an old castoff from a starship.
"A teleport suppressor," the hobgoblin says with a grin.
"If we can find a way to power it, it could give us an advantage."
"This is from your empire?" the cleric asks.
"It's old, maybe three or four generations behind what is used in the Dragon Empire today, but it looks intact. I can hardly believe this is here!"
"It was found in a deep cave in the Forgotten Forest, near Evereska."
"Amazing! It's in really good shape."
"There were other things there too," Idriane says.
"Most of it was destroyed or so big that we couldn't move it here without attracting attention. Well, at least that's what the High Artificer told me."
"Did he bring anything else?" Tocrhor asks.
"I'm not sure," the cleric muses.
"Wait, I asked him about a strange cylinder I was studying, and he told me to put it back and never touch it again."
She goes to an alcove and pulls out a metal cylinder that is roughly a foot long. She hands it to Tocrhor and he nearly drops it.
"Wow, this is old," he says with teeth bared in a twisted grin. He looks at Shazer'a.
"A sunsword!"
The hobgoblin steps back and tries to operate the blade. It does nothing. He pops out its old energy cell and roots around in his pack for a new one that could fit it. The last cell fits it and he presses the button again. From the end of the cylinder erupts a brilliant blade of silver-white energy that hums as it passes back and forth through the air. Idriane gasps.
"Amazing! it still works!"
"I- I can't believe it. All this time it was here," the Gondite exclaims.
Tocrhor powers the blade down and hands it to Shazer'a.
"I trust you will use it wisely."
Over the next few hours, the four of them go through every inch of the hidden cache. They find several archaic datachips and dozen of old electronic devices that appear to be Imperial in design.
"The Empire was here," the hobgoblin says plainly.
"That could be good or bad depending on how things are interpreted."
Just before the loud booms roar in the sky outside, Shaz finds something, odd. It is a device that is more complicated than anything he's ever seen before. It is spherical and at first he thinks it's an ansible, but it much smaller and is covered in weird writing that he doesn't recognize. Its metal is cold to the touch and as he holds it in his hand, he has this sense that the world is vibrating all around him. And then, it stops.
And then the
Centurion opens fire on the world of Toril.
OOC: Sunswords (Imperial Supply, p. 50) are going to be rare in this campaign. The standard sunsword is consider to be a weapon for use by the most trusted servants of the Dragon Empire. It isn't mass manufactured. Standard sunswords are still martial weapons but older sunswords, like this one, are considered exotic weapons that require a feat to use properly. An old sunsword does twice the damage listed in Imperial Supply and they are always masterwork and most of them are enchanted. Each one is marked with the symbol of an Imperial House. This one is marked with the symbol of House Sarava.
