(CSDGH) Demon with a Glass Hand [IC]

"Someone did knock over the wall. Mighty rude of them wasn't it? And yes, I'll mind your equipment. If for no other reason than to make sure it's not used against me."

After everyone makes ready however they intend to, the huge guard captain leads you down into the castle. The path winds around numerous different towers, up and down different paths. You walk on top of a causeway, then end up circling around and coming through just ten feet below on another. You sometimes can look out and see the city, formed of dusty stone and flowing marble. The buildings here are generally domed, some with blooms around the edges.

The guards seem to leave you in bits and pieces, a few breaking off from the formation at each turn. Eventually your left with only 10 guards and the captain. The remaining group are all armed in bronze and gold decorative equipment, though it looks like they keep a steel weapon and shield with them.

After ten minutes of wandering around in what seems like a loop, you arrive in a huge open room, roughly two-hundred feet square and fifty feet high, with huge columns forming an inner ring. Here you can see numerous braziers lighting the room, most dangling from the columns. Lantern archons seem to fly about the upper reaches of the room almost randomly, always moving at full speed from place to place.

The guard captain calls to his men, "You boys are dismissed. The priests can take care of themselves." With that, the decorative soldiers turn about and make their way back in the direction you came from.

Two figures approach. The first is a huge female creature bearing four arms, each holding a blade. Her blueish skin and massive horns are definitely unusual. She is adorned in a hundred different holy symbols, each from a different ancient tribe. She wears a belt of gold and many different bracelets of equally precious metals.

[sblock=knowledge_(the_planes)_(DC_30)]If someone rolls it, this will include information on the race of this character.[/sblock]

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The second figure is much more mundane, if only because she is human. Her skin is also tinted blue, though much less dramatically. She wears a meager gown of linen and nothing more, her only sign of wealth is the symbol in her forehead.

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The guard captain speaks again, "These are the keepers of the holy word. Know that they are subject only to the governance of our lord."

He then turns to the two figures. "These people came here with the blessing of our lady, but I know not why. They wished to speak with someone here with some authority, so I present them to you."

The human woman steps forward. "We were informed that you would be coming, but our lady did not tell us why. She only asked that you were ushered in. I fear we are quite busy as of late, and cannot greet you as expected company. Who, pray tell, are you? Why have you come?"

As they encounter the lantern archons, there is a moment of hesitation- for within one mind there is a wall, resolute and unyielding. As her new companions reply, however, there is realization, and a nod of greeting. "I am Suvarion, a companion chance-met on the road, joined to these folk in search of answers." Even in a voice like the wind, she still sounds formal and stilted.

Once the group reached their landing point, however, her patience was tested- her yearning for answers exceeded. With a courtly bow to the "captain", she stepped back. "While I have no ill will, I have faced terrible things- some well-cloaked in courtly or friendly guise. I shall await outside- those terms, while they might be necessary or even wise, are not ones which I will endure without complaint." Her cloak belled like wings, and she swept up and back a few paces distance. "Haros, Shard, Thalnil- I shall wait for thee."

OOC: Unless it has been more than 14 hours, her Overland Flight is still active (and some other things), even without the wind walk. Her Mind Blank would be up regardless- and she has no particular personal trust of the Virtues; she will wait outside so as not to cause an incident.

I assume you can act as the retainer for thier equipment that's left behind while they go below.

Creamsteak said:

I assume you can act as the retainer for thier equipment that's left behind while they go below.

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OOC: If they would like, Suvarion will gladly "watch the stuff"- either at that spot, if the guards permit, or storing it in her haversack and waiting elsewhere.

VERY, VERY OOC: She even promises not to grab the whole pile of loot and head for the open desert to start her own city...

The human woman steps forward. "We were informed that you would be coming, but our lady did not tell us why. She only asked that you were ushered in. I fear we are quite busy as of late, and cannot greet you as expected company. Who, pray tell, are you? Why have you come?"

--

Shard goggles openly at the jewel on the woman's forehead, then reaches up to rub the stone set in her own.

"You have a...thing...like mine!" she blurts. "Only yours is blue. I'm called Shard by the desert people but I don't really know who I am? We came because we think Seto wants...oops, I said his name...we think he wants this item we found, and we didn't know what else to do with it."

"Thank your lady, for us? For letting us in."

The obvious, "What item?" follows from the huge four armed woman.

Haros introduces himself calmly. "I am the chamber priest and envoy of the Virtues, Haros. I hail from Claire, though of late I have returned from a caravanserai where I hoped to negotiate on behalf of the Virtues."

"As to what item... it was a gauntlet adorned with a ring with an inscription in an infernal tongue which we have yet to decipher. The caravan was destroyed by a cadre of demonic creatures bent on its recovery, led by an animated creature who proclaimed he acted on behalf of the Death Proxy. It was only by virtue of the actions of a number of talented warriors and wielders of power psychic and arcane, some of which stand before you," Haros says, motioning to his companions "that they did not come to possess it this day. It waits outside with another of our companions."

The huge horned woman responds, "What sort of animated creature? What sort of power did it weild?"

Then the human responds, "So the proxy of death wished for something found in the wilds of the desert and was denied? My lady will be very pleased. Her knowledge of the raven haired one goes back to her mortal life, and slowing or stopping his efforts is something to be exhalted. Guard captain, go retrieve the other envoy and welcome them here. Please be kind and do act with some haste, I wish to see what it is that Seto was after."

With that, the guard captain heads upstairs to confront anyone that stayed behind. This will take about ten minutes, so there's a bit of time before they reach the waiting party. Supposing Haros and Shard want to continue their conversation with the two priests during that time go ahead.

Else, in 5 minutes, the guard captain arrives at the Urn of Noble Purpose. "You can come down with your wards and equipment. The priests have granted you such permission, and I'm not one to oppose them. Follow me and I'll take you down to the temple below. Bring the others equipment as well, there's something among that they want to see I think."

Creamsteak said:

The huge horned woman responds, "What sort of animated creature? What sort of power did it weild?"

Then the human responds, "So the proxy of death wished for something found in the wilds of the desert and was denied? My lady will be very pleased. Her knowledge of the raven haired one goes back to her mortal life, and slowing or stopping his efforts is something to be exhalted. Guard captain, go retrieve the other envoy and welcome them here. Please be kind and do act with some haste, I wish to see what it is that Seto was after."

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Regarding the horned woman, Haros amplifies on the information about the Dark Figure. "He claimed to serve Seto, but be ignorant of what the object of the search was. The being was, it appeared, animating the body of a soldier who had fallen, but took on a different appearance... almost as if it were more akin to a lich reshaping a new vessel than a mere animation. The creature was able to become ethereal, and hurled a potent mind blade at me before it was defeated," Haros offers, rubbing his side that was a painful injury mere hours earlier.

"Sister, do you think it could be one of his knights?"

"It is a distinct possibility. Haros, what happened when the creature was defeated?"