[Epic D&D] Forgiveness is Divine (Prologue)

[Mordane76]

OOC -- It's a border watch-keep/bastion, so it should be fairly rural.

"It is as if my mood is reflected in the sky," pondered Iuris. "Perhaps I should inquire on this when I reach the Pure Eye -- it may be just coincidence, but the sky appears smoke-laden."

Turning to face his destination, Iuris pauses for a moment, and then opens his will, vanishing in a brief flash of white light.

OOC -- Normally, I would make this trip unarmed, but with the recent incident with Xexir, I will go armed and girded. If the Pure Eye is on the same plane as I am, I will use my greater teleport to travel to its (since I'm not sure exactly what the Pure Eye is) abode (but not directly into its presence -- that's just rude). If the Pure Eye is not on the same plane, I'll transport to the nearest Portal to its home plane.

 

[Someone]

(Anaet)

Khaldru is standing before a large pool of water encased in an upraised well of crafted stone. He has several of his lesser commanders around and they are gazing into the pool with awe, whispering among themselves.

"It is just gone," Khaldru says to you as he looks up and notices your arrival. "This pool has been our eyes and ears on the Prime for centuries, it has never failed us before."

All eyes in the room turn to you expectantly, hope on their faces that this is just a minor occurrence.

"What appeared in the pool before it went blank?" asks Anaet while inspecting the water. "You said 'we´ve lost the prime' and that alarmed me, so please enlighten me about what did you mean."

"In any case, artifacts of old doesn´t fail from one day to another, and can only be stopped by powerful magical energies. This must be investigated.

 

[Wrahn]

It may be a long day indeed, Blaine thought to himself. He had intercepted Shelpar, one of his friends delivering a message. Shel hadn’t had time to talk, but had told him that the mortals had opened an uncontrollable gate to the Lower Planes.

Blaine walked back to his small cluttered room. He was outside of the loop because he generally operated without official sanction. He dealt with “situations”, problems that Naristan didn’t wish to get officially involved in. On days like today, however, being out of the loop meant he was seriously short on information and only had his own resources to rely on.

He opened the door to his room and was greeted by a “Crooak”, from a tremendously fat toad sitting on a stack of books. Prince his familiar.

“Don’t start with me, we don’t have the time.”

“Roack?”

“A freely transversive continuous transdimensional rift from the Prime to somewhere in the lower reaches.”

Prince rolled his eyes and plopped down onto the bed. Blaine, in the meanwhile, was busy changing clothes, “I can’t imagine that that is all though. Such things have happened before and never elicited this level of alarm.”

Blaine changed from his robes, the expected garb inside the library, to his more serviceable travelling clothes. He took a black piece of cloth from the pocket of his recently worn robe and spread it out on the floor. Pulling forth items of magic power, from the hole that now existed in the middle of his room, he began girding himself for the inevitable violence that would surely be coming.

He donned his equipment with practiced ease, then began drawing runes of power on his left arm, chanting in ancient tongues. The room filled with arcane energies, warding and enhancing, as he continued to draw power into himself and his equipment. Fifteen minutes later he drew forth a large mirror, setting it against the wall. He folded up the hole, tucking the dark cloth in a slot in his backpack.

“Croak?”

“I am thinking of contacting Teluva, she and I are on reasonably friendly terms, she is on the Prime, will probably have some idea what is going on and may have a spell for sealing gates I can trade for. Besides, I know her bedroom pretty well.”

Blaine held out his had as Prince jumped into it. Placing Prince inside a Familiar Pocket, he waved his before the mirror concentrating on Teluva’s bedroom.

[ooc: Casting Blaine’s usual allotment of self buffs: Create Magic Tattoo (+1caster level), Mark of Death, Mind Blank, Divine Favor, Divine Power, Enhanced Senses, Greater Magic Weapon and Familiar Pocket.
Added NPC Shelpar and Teluva, if this is a problem let me know.]

 

[Arknath]

(Xer'Tai/Blaine)

The library alarms cease suddenly. [ooc: since both of you are in your own rooms, the goings on outside will be unknown to you]

*****************************************
(Blaine)

You gaze into your mirror and will it to look into your longtime friend's bedchamber. After a few moments, nothing but a gray mist swirls inside your mirror and you feel as if the mirror has encountered some sort of block against scrying devices.

*****************************************
(Anaet)

Khaldru looks back into the pool and wrinkles his ample brow. "We were monitoring this ceremony the mortals were having, they were opening a gate to the Abyss."

"They have done this a number of times over the last few mortal years," says another creature present, a hound archon by the name of Gala. "It was only too late when we realized where their travels were taking them."

Khaldru looks to Anaet, "The demons could not cut off our link to the Prime though, could they?"

******************************************
(Theron)

Maddirn looks to you, "Aye, it's be'n a-consistent e'er since then." then he looks back to the wall. "But maybe we should ask the Khagarn himself?"

As he speaks this, he notices you trying to locate the khagarn and shrugs to himself.

"The Khagarn isn't t' be bothered with at this time," the voice of a young dwarf responds over the bond, "What's yer message?"

*******************************************
(Iurus)

Iurus teleports to the Citadel of Truth, the home of the oracle known as the Pure Eye. As always, the adamantine walls of the keep shine in the silver light surrounding the citadel itself, giving it an awesome aura that even celestials gaze in wonder at.

The guards, Inannen and Baduain - both solars, know you well. Innanen nods her head and bids you to enter, to gain the knowledge you seek. You feel their sight bore into you as they gaze into your heart and soul. They seem satisfied with their findings and return their vigilance to the surrounding plane, ever-ready to protect the keep.

Walking into the halls of the citadel you are reminded of some of the greatest moments in Equitas' long history. Murals surround the entrance that tell the tale of Equitas' humble mortal beginning and end with the day of his ascension to the heavens. It fills you with pride to know that the god you serve, even if once mortal, is one deserving of the title "Lord of Justice".

You turn a few corridors and come to a familiar set of ornate copper doors that bear Equitas' symbol on them, a silver-colored scale gripped in the middle by a mailed hand on a blue background. The spirit keeper of the doors sizes you up, again to test your will and your heart as you come to the chamber of the Pure Eye.

The doors open after your inspection and you are granted a sight at the object of your travel. A bright blue aura, floating approximately 20 ft. off the ground surrounded at the bottom by bags of offerings from recent visitors, and even a few praying beneath the aura.

"Approach and pray, my son," a voice in your head whispers, it is female. "I have the answers you seek."

 

[Rino]

[very ooc: when is my character writen in to the campaign, i see the rest of the characters as far as i can tell but not mine. please tell my if i'm out of the game or writen in later on]

 

[Someone]

(Anaet)

Khaldru looks back into the pool and wrinkles his ample brow. "We were monitoring this ceremony the mortals were having, they were opening a gate to the Abyss."

"A gate to the...!?" says Anaet. "What were they thinking?"

"They have done this a number of times over the last few mortal years," says another creature present, a hound archon by the name of Gala. "It was only too late when we realized where their travels were taking them."

Anaet shakes his head. "Pride is a dangerous emotion when associated with ignorance of one´s abilities."

Khaldru looks to Anaet, "The demons could not cut off our link to the Prime though, could they?"

"They certainly would be able." replies Anaet. "I know of magics that can cloud scrying devices, and I have power to bring some of them. However..."

Anaet thinks on his possibilities for one minute. Scrying the place would be probably impossible. Gating there is out of place, unless he wants to risk an attack from a demon, and also he doesn´t know where exactly to go. However, he knows for sure that an invasion of the prime breaks the balance between the planes. He, himself, needs advice.

"This looks serious, not like a solitary demon rampaging through the Prime. We have to know first the magnitude of the problem, and then devisea way to deal with it. Can any of you commune? If not, I´ll have to do it myself."

[If no one can cast commune, then Anaet casts Limited Wish to duplicate commune. The first questions are the following; of course, some of them are irrelevant depending on the answers to former questions:

-Does the problem with the pool´s functioning relate to the presence of Demons in the Prime?

-Has been a gate or breach allowing the pass between the Abyss and the Material Prime plane been stablished for a long duration?

-Do we, the people present in this room, have the ability to close the gate on our own?

-Do we, the people present in this room, have enough power to defeat the demons currently present in the Prime on our own?

-Are there other powerful servants of non-evil, non-chaotic gods aware of this problem and preparing to deal with it?]

 

[Pyrex]

OOC: Yer gots a minor spelling error there Ark. Khagam is h-a-m, not h-a-r-n.

(Theron)
"The Khagam isn't t' be bothered with at this time," the voice of a young dwarf responds over the bond, "What's yer message?"

Theron scowls a bit as he responds to the young dwarf.
"The War Tapestry 's gone dark. That'll make it hard for the Zirak-kuldar* to perform their duties. The Khagam should know of this!"

Concerned, he ponders...
"What could have caused the Tapestry to go dark? If the Khagam is busy I'd best look into it."

Theron looks from the now-dark wall to Maddirn
"Who among the Zirak-kuldar is most recently returned from the Prime?"

*Zirak-kuldar: The Zirak-kuldar (trans: Silver Warriors) are those of Clan Silverbeard who are 'on-duty' to be called by mortal priests of Dehagadast casting 'Summon Monster' or 'Planar Ally' spells.

 

[Wrahn]

Well, that isn’t good Blaine thinks to himself as he fails the second time to penetrate the scry blocking. He begins to attempt scrying a different place on the Prime, when the alarms cease. It may be nothing, but better safe than dead he begins to refocus the mirror to the location where the alarm can be “turned off.”

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Curious. Xertai thinks as he gets up from his meditation posture, grabbing the staff that was previously lying in front of him. The monk let's out a contented sigh, that reverie he was in had brought great calm upon him, and now he was sensing something else in the air.

Without hestitation, he removed himself from his quarters, and went to inspect the going-on's outside.

(OOC-Xer'Tai has the benefit of +6 insight bonus to AC, and +4 insight bonus to saves from Foresight and Shield of Prudence, as well as Remote View Protection, which helps vs. abilities similar to scrying)

 

[Arknath]

[Rino: OMG!!! A million and one apologies!!! I thought I had gotten everyone in that I needed in at this point but I missed you. Here is your update! Sorry again!]

(Nen)

Over the constant din of Acheron, the plane of war, in a place called the Face of Death, anyone who stands near would hear the ringing of a tower bell. To a visitor to the plane, this may come as a strange sound due to the constant cries of battle and the ringing of steel on steel, but to Nen it was merely the beginning of another "day" in his god's stead.

It marked the time each day when the new souls from the Prime would arrive and be tested for their faith in a deity or put to work for the Lost Legion, a morass of creatures and spirits that prayed to no deity. Nen's job was that of gatekeeper, to make sure that recently dead souls were to be allowed into the gates of his master's land. Were it not for him, the whole of Acheron would make a battlefield of this peaceful place.

It was amongst this particular "day", if time could be measured in such mortal terms, that Nen encountered a strange occurrence. His job was usually quite simple: acquire the name of a soul standing before the gates and, if they were on his list, have them lead to the Hall of Judgment where Lord Xess would damn them or send them home, based upon their lives lived on the Prime. It usually took a small amount of time before he was finished and could proceed with his other daily duties of keeping the grounds free of undead and testing the barriers so that no Acheronian could enter Xess' home.

Today was different, however. A veritable HOARD of souls arrived at the gates this day. In fact, most were already standing OUTSIDE when Nen arrived to receive the daily lists. Upon a quick glance at the gathered spirit crowd, the aasimar saw that there were many unexpected deaths this day. Of course, Xess never called a soul home unexpected and this was, most certainly, unexpected.

[ooc: I will double-check my notes to make sure I've gotten everyone.]