Adventure: Echoes of O

[JoeNotCharles]

"Oh, yes, the sacrifice ritual! Sorry, I was reading the fundamentals of ritual magic. This book has a good overview, but I will need a more detailed work to grasp the theory. And some practical examples. The mathematical concordances are fascinating, though - very different from the maps I am used to."

"Um. Sanguinuum. Yes. That is most important now." Rabbit flips madly, and guiltily, toward the back of the book.

[sblock=OOC]
Arcana check: what types of rituals are powered by sanguinuum? And is there a hint of which ritual in particular is being prepared for? (For instance, does sanguinuum from different types of sacrifice have different properties that might narrow it down?)

I'd like to take 10, for 18, if I can. If not, my roll is 16. (Yes, I decided to take 10 before making the roll...)
[/sblock]

 

[dimsdale]

Kruk, stirs a bit and then wakes up. "How long have I been out. I haven't slept like that since...the carriage." Kruk, notices that there is food still on the plates. He gets up, leaning heavily on his great axe, and walks over to the food and begins to inhale it. Some of the food looked like it had already been sampled by the rest of the party. He doesn't care. After his gorging and shaking away the crumbs hanging on his beard, he walks over to 7-Rabbitt, who has his head burried in a the book.

"Anything interesting Mr. 7-Rabbitt?" Kruk pauses for a bit as he looks at the graphics of the pages 7-Rabbitt is reading. "I...I get it now. If you take the cubed root of the mass of that moon and divide it by the square of surface area of that moon over there, and then multiple by the the 6th number of the 15th row of Pascal's triangle, added to 12th term of the Fibonacci sequence, you then get the short leg of a Pythagorean triple. Take that and..." Kruk starts foaming form the mouth and his face turns pale. He collapses and suffers from a short seizure, then regains his composure.

Laying on his back, looking up into the concerned faces, he states "I'll leave the research to the spell caster." He sighs and then asks for a hand to prop himself up. "Thank you." Kruk then checks his armor. Satisfied, he pulls out a wet stone from his pouch and begins to sharpen the blade of his axe.

 

[Don Incognito]

While the tome does not give any specific rituals that can be performed with the aid of sanguiduum, it does several broad examples, including (but not limited to) long-term mind control, the binding / possession of various planar beings (demons, devils, etc), the creation of greater undead, and the transmutation of flesh into weaponry (demonic grafts and such).

In the morning, there is a gentle knocking at the library door, and Maitre'd enters, carrying your breakfast.

"Good morning, adventurers. I come bearing news. First, Allip has convinced Borius that you will have earned your pay if you return with the head of the one responsible. Allip will be able to be tell from the...er...remains whether or not it belonged to the one who performed the ritual on Rebekkah. Second, Allip has regrettably informed me that he was not able to obtain any information based on the fur sample you retrieved from underneath the bridge. And thirdly, you have a visiter."

Maitre'd opens the door, and in tumbles a very, very dirty man. He stumbles forward and collapses onto the floor; apparently he had his ear to the door and was listening in to the conversation. His clothes are unremarkable, except for a green piece of cloth tied to his right forearm.

"Ye gods, this is a big house! Why, had I a heart for thievin', I could gather up some guys and it would take us weeks to pick this place dry! Not that I have a heart for thievin', though. 'Course not."

The tiny man coughs up what appears to be a handful of dirt, looks at it in disgust, and wipes it on his filthy rags. He then extends that same hand toward Raiyek.

"Yer Raiyek, right? The elf? I was told that you were the guy I'm a'spossed to talk to. The name's Fat Tom (although just between you and me, I'm not really all that fat, iffn' you catch my drift). Marley sent me to give this to ya, then to show you the way back to his flat."

Fat Tom reaches into his rags and pulls out a sealed letter, which he then hands to Raiyek.

[sblock=Letter]Dear Adventurers,
My sincerest congradulations! Word out on the street is that you were able to solve the problem that some of the drifters have been having beneath the Northharrow bridge. I confess, I had heard that the area was no longer safe, but you wouldn't have gone if I had told you that, would you? Besides, I sent Ash to ensure that you wouldn't get hurt.

You're staying with Borius Gand, are you? I had my people follow you after your little stint at the bridge. I wonder, what is his connection to my dearest Rebekkah? Perhaps we can discuss this at our meeting. I believe I have a lead on who took her and where she is being held. Fat Tom is very, very dirty, but he can lead you through the slums to my flat without encroaching on any other gangs' turf. Meet me there so we can discuss our next move.

M[/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]You all get 72 exp for fighting the Echoes under the bridge. Each one was worth 60 exp, and there were six of them, so 360 divided by five = 72. Everyone who isn't Ash also gains 83 exp for a month of playing. So, in short, 72 exp for Ash, 158 for 7 Rabbit, Raiyek, Les, and Kruk.[/sblock]

 

[PierceSG]

"Hey there Fat Tom, guess you have not yet have found your bar of soap huh?" grins Ash. "How's Marley holding up? I supposed he already heard of what had happened to Rebekkah." Ashurn's expression turns grim.

 

[Lord Sessadore]

When Borius knocks on the door, Raiyek awakes. He doesn't move more than to open one eye - he's slept in the chair the whole night. With a satisfied groan, he sits up and stretches. "Mmmm, I haven't had a sleep that restful in a while," he says.

As Fat Tom enters, Raiyek stands, and is once more back to his firm posture, positively exuding discipline. When the man extends his hand, Raiyek looks at it, curious as to what it's intended to mean. He can tell something is expected of him, but doesn't know what it is. Apparently they don't have handshakes in the Imperium.

"Yes, I am Raiyek. Thank you, sir," he says as he takes the letter. He subtly brushes some dirt off of the paper before opening it, then reads it. He doesn't read it aloud, but passes it along to any of his companions who want to read it. When Ash mentions "what happened to Rebekkah", Raiyek gives him a stern glance that seems to say, "SHHH!"

With a sigh he says, "If you'd just give us a few moments to prepare ourselves, Mr. Tom? We will be with you promptly." The elf kindly ushers him through the door so they can make themselves ready. Once the man is gone, he talks to Ash in a low voice, so Tom might not hear. "I don't see how Marley could know what happened to Rebekkah, unless he has eyes and ears inside this very house. Other than you ... you didn't inform him, did you? I'd prefer that either he didn't know, or that he find out from all of us so he doesn't think we're hiding anything from him. I'm just not sure how he'd handle the full picture ... the letter seems to indicate that he still thinks Rebekkah is alive. How much should we tell Marley?" The final question is addressed to the group in general.

As they discuss their plans, Raiyek proceeds to don his armour with the same practiced attention as he removed it the night before. Fully armored and equipped once again, it seems he's become a different person than the plain, tired man who flopped in the chair last night.
[sblock=OOC]Just to be clear, I'm not actually lecturing you, Pierce - Raiyek is lecturing Ash. What Ash said sounds exactly like something someone would say to an old buddy. [/sblock]

 

[Lord Sessadore]

[sblock=OOC]Much as I hate to say it, doesn't 72+83=155, not 158?

Closer, closer ... just another 300 XP [/sblock]

 

[Dawn Raven]

Les had spent the night in one of the mansion's guest rooms, preferring that to a mass slumber party in the library with all men. She enters the room slightly behind Maitre'd, following the massive platter of food with a pleased smile on her face.

After Raiyek has received the letter, she gives a scathing look to everyone in the room. "Ashburn. Did you notice anyone following us and choose not to tell us? I had expected this to happen, but I would have expected someone to notice." She scowls at where Tom has exited the room. "We have no reason to lie to Marley at this point. And if we do so, and his...friend...here tells him later, we will simply be in trouble. Let's keep his group on our good side."

[sblock]
Ahem, Sessadore, it is 299 experience not 300! haha..
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[JoeNotCharles]

As people return to the common room, 7 Rabbit stiffly raises his head from where it was pillowed on the book and cracks his back.

 

[Don Incognito]

[sblock=OOC]Am I correct in assuming that you are going to follow Fat Tom back to Marley's flat?[/sblock]

 

[Dawn Raven]

[sblock]
Yes, we're ready to move on! let's see what else you toss at us XD
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