Eye of Profane Truth

[silentspace]

Rhakzan listens silently to Moreth's exchange.

Everyone's a god, or so it seems...

 

[Nephtys]

"You... you seek audience with the Triune? Then I would advise you to be more respectful of them. They are gods and should be treated as such, no matter how much power you think you have. Finding them is easier than you think, for they walk amongst us; but they are busy, and you cannot expect them to see you for no reason."

"Go west, into the jungle - our settlement should be easily found; it is not hidden by illusions as it once was. Ask the priests at our temple. Perhaps they will deem you worthy."

Moreth sighs, Even when I seek to befriend the helpless they offer insults in return.
"Then tell me, for I am indeed new to this world, how does a wordly Emperor have the power to bend Gods to his will? Why do your Gods, powerful as they no doubt are, cower at the threats of mere Humans? Is it the Legion they fear or does the Empire have other resources of relevance? For surely its mundane armies are of little consequence."

 

[Rkhet]

What I want from you is the allocation of a guild research team and sufficient resources to continue my research without constant survalliance. That way I am free to serve you as best I can without having to worry about it.

"You shall have it, then. In fact, as senior member of the guild, it was well within your authority to initiate such research. But perhaps you do not wish to worry about the beurocratic details. I will have someone contact them with your requests."

"As for a place to stay..." the king opens a drawer and rummages through it. He finds what he was looking for - a pair of small, golden keys. He gives one to you and the other to Lessa. "The Threndith manor is empty at the moment. It is yours."

Lessa shakes her head, "That is not quite right, but probably close enough for our discussion."

"No, but the power of the Eye is the most likely cause."

"Yes, exposure to the Eye leaves some rather unfortunate side-effects, so I hear. I suppose you have already tried your magic, to no avail? I will have the Guild do some research on this also. I cannot promise you a cure right away, but we will certainly spare no effort. Ultimately, once the Empire is no more, we could search its vaults and libraries for anything that will reverse the effect - I hear that they have accumulated many strange artifacts over the centuries. Or, perhaps, we and the Wyrmslayer could come to an agreement."

"At any rate, surely it is better to have the full force of Vinecastle behind you than to search alone."

I know you probably have some sort of well thought out plan, but all I need is a "sacrifice" of sorts in which to get this body up to speed.

"I suppose you could go and destroy the Cult of Ascension, if you wish. That doomsday cult has been making a nuisance of themselves lately."

"But I invited you here with something else in mind: I need you to start a war."

------

Moreth sighs, Even when I seek to befriend the helpless they offer insults in return.
"Then tell me, for I am indeed new to this world, how does a wordly Emperor have the power to bend Gods to his will? Why do your Gods, powerful as they no doubt are, cower at the threats of mere Humans? Is it the Legion they fear or does the Empire have other resources of relevance? For surely its mundane armies are of little consequence."

The old elf shakes his head sadly. "Who is to say? Our gods are powerful, but even they have their limits, though it pains me to think so. Perhaps this is fate. Perhaps destiny has marked this age the age of humans. Before the Wyrmslayers, who would have thought that a handful of mortals could slay the Dracolich herself? And who would have thought that the Empire's greatest hero would become its worst nightmare? History is a strange creature, my friend, and I am just a slave. Even before I was sent here, I was but a silversmith. Truth to tell, I know little of the Empire or its ways, save what I was taught by the priests when I was but a whelp. You will have to direct your questions elsewhere. "

"But nevertheless, we revere the Triune not because of their power, but because of all that they have done for us. To disrespect the Triune is to disrespect the Estheran. If you wish to have dealings with us, then you will need to pay homage to them."

 

[Albedo]

"Hmmm, a war you say? Now thats something that will interest me. Providing of course, that we can get the ball rolling quickly. My thirst for destruction is growing."

 

[Nephtys]

...
"But nevertheless, we revere the Triune not because of their power, but because of all that they have done for us. To disrespect the Triune is to disrespect the Estheran. If you wish to have dealings with us, then you will need to pay homage to them."

"Homage, perhaps. Respect, certainly. They are, after all, what holds elvendom together in these evil times." And I need them united to wield them against the Empire. He smiles sagely.
"Farewell then, brave martyrs. I pray that your hour of freedom is soon to come."

He steps back trough the gate (together with Rkhazan, probably) and closes it after them. "Well, this could be useful. It certainly reveals a lot about the morality of our probable enemy... Perhaps there are greater rifts in the Empire than we suspected. A society that both uses Angels to wage their wars and openly condones racism and slavery has to be fractured. The treachery of Cann's King is just the most obvious sign of its decay."
He smiles, and changes back to his own Human form.
"We have arrived at the dawn of a wonderful new age."

He keeps watching the elves for a few moments then begins to move the sensor in great random leaps to the west (dozens of miles every second), searching for the Elven jungle.

 

[Pyrex]

"But I invited you here with something else in mind: I need you to start a war."

"Are you not already at war?"

 

[Rkhet]

"Are you not already at war?"

"The Empire is at war. For now, we're just watching."

"There is an elven settlement west of here, deep in the jungle. They call themselves the Estheran. In the past, they have accounted for much of Vinecastle's prosperity, keeping up our slave trade. But they, too, have their ambitions. My spies tell me that they are preparing for war. If I war against the Empire, they will likely strike me in the back. This needs to be taken care of."

"What I need from you is a way to make them strike early, when they are unready. The Empire has asked me for troops. In a few days, I intend to provide them. In fact, I intend to provide so many that the city would appear vulnerable. I need you to make sure that the elves take advantage of this opportunity."

---

He keeps watching the elves for a few moments then begins to move the sensor in great random leaps to the west (dozens of miles every second), searching for the Elven jungle.

The jungle is easily found. In fact, it was impossible to miss it - it covers the entire western flank of the city, an imposing wall of green that seems to stretch on forever.

The outer forests seemed quite normal, but it is far less pleasant further inside. It is dark; the thick foilage has blocked out the sun. The trees are older here, gnarled and almost sinister, growing to impossible sizes. The thick undergrowth would have made travelling by foot almost impossible. You see no moving creatures save for huge swarms of strange insects, but you cannot shake the feeling that you are being watched.

Scrying is more and more difficult as you go deeper, and finally you find it impossible. This does not seem to be a man-made effect; rather, the jungle itself is resistant to your divination. You speculate that it may be why the elves chose to make their homes there.

 

[Nephtys]

Moreth guides his sensor deeper into the jungle, until he finds if impossible to scry anything at all. Then he moves the sensor under ground, (ooc: so that it cannot be detected) changes shape into a Spectre, opens the portal and steps trough. Rising to the surface, he looks around and drains the life out of some minor life-forms to see what they taste like.
After that he changes shape into an Elder Air Elemental, rises a couple hundred feet and begins to search the jungle for signs of habitation.

ooc:
Spells active:
Shapeshange
Mindblank
Deathward (?)
Greater Arcane Sight (?)
Protection from Energy (Electricity) (?)

 

[Albedo]

Cann strokes his chin thoughtfully, "I see three basic ways to accomplish this task. The fist is the most obvious. Pretend to be an Elven simpathiser and gain their trust enough to betray them. Or we could pretend we were promoted to being one of our dear king's generals and put ourselves into a situation where we can be captured, interogated, and able to pass on the false information. The last option is my favorite. Make the knowledge of your forces going away a secret, one that is hard, but not impossible, for the elves to get on their own. At the same time, spread news of reenforcements coming from the army to lockdown the city and start a total genocide of the elves. Say something like "the elves have betrayed us all and must be punished", and then state that you will be holding an information ban and seal this area off. The elves will want to get back to their own people, rather than waste the time to confirm yoiur facts. Then all you have to do is make a couple day gap between when your "supposed" re-enforcements get here to solve the problem and when your own forces are going away. This will seem like a closely hidden weakness, and the elves will feel they have to strike. Complicated, I know, but as long as you can find an excuse to give to everyone outside this affected area, it should work. What do you both think?"

 

[Rkhet]

Moreth:

/ooc: Shapechange and Mindblank is active. The rest have worn off.

seeing nothing alive save for plants and insects, you reach for a fat catepillar on a branch beside you. You close your grip around it, and is startled when thousands of tiny spines shoot out of its body, impaling your hand. Fortunately, being incorporeal, you are unharmed.

The catepillar screeches furiously as you drain its life away. The spines shiver in the air, oozing a yellowish liquid from the tips, possibly poison.

Its life-force is unusually strong for a creature of its size, filled with a mad primal urge to kill, consume, and mate, but tastes every bit as vile as the creature looks.

You search is fruitful; half an hour later you chance upon a trail, which eventually leads to the elven city. You cannot shake the feeling that you are being watched, however.

The elves have made this place much more pleasant than the jungle outside. The city is a mixture of Human and Elven architecture; some of its buildings are living wood; giant intertwining trees hollowed out by magic. Others are the no-nonsensical stonework favored by the Empire. Beautiful, living sculptures of wood and marble lined the streets. The jungle seemed to thin out and become more subdued around the city, the trees smaller and straighter, losing much of its menace while allowing the sun to shine through its foilage.

/ooc: need actions from Rhakzan here...


Cann:

"Killing a large number of slaves would be shooting myself in the foot, for elven slaves are in demand all over the Empire and, as I have said, account for much of Vinecastle's wealth. The elves know this as well as I do. Also, the elves too have their diviners and spies. While there are ways of hiding the movement of large forces, it is prohibitively expensive. Therefore moving my troops to the north would be immediately obvious to them, as would a ruse of reinforcements."

"The elves will have reasons aplenty to attack me; all I need from you is the hair that will break the camel's back - without making it look like a trap."