Heroes, Inc., Day 2: Goldenight

[frostrune]

Timrin blinks the stars from his eyes as the effects of the teleport wear off. He leaves his mount standing in the courtyard and strides briskly for the infirmary, entering a few seconds after the priest of Tyr.

He enters and halts abruptly at the sight of the newcomer.

Timrin readily recognizes the symbol of God of justice and greets the priest before addressing his friends, "Greetings High Justicar. You were to be my next stop but it appears you have already heard the ill news. Thank you for coming."

Now turning to Fin and the others, "I was halted in the strrets and sent back by one of the masked lords of Waterdeep. He bade I muster our company and await further instructions. He said others would be joining us soon. We must make haste."

 

[kirinke]

Alethia turns to Timrin, eyes now glowing with silvery fire. "Then let us go,"

You get the distinct impression that the only way to stop her would be to knock her out. And even then, as soon as she woke, she would be following.

 

[Falkus]

"So, somebody's weaven a spell to entrap Peirigon's soul. I can't imagine and more evil thing to do," Dyria mused, stepping up to Alethia and Timrin.

 

[DM_Matt]

Fin nods. "We'll send a messenger - if they're willing to come here, so much the better... otherwise we'll take your father there right away."

OOC: Other things on the to-do list:

1. Cancel the cheque!

2. Check to see if Goran's ship is still in the harbor.

A fast-flying company scout reports that where the ship had been there is a whole lot of driftwood and what is perhaps a mast poking up. It seems the boat has sunk overnight.

3. See about getting exploding-girl raised.

The cleric examines the body with his ghostly hand, and frowns. "This woman died of old age. She shows signs of extremely rapid aging. I believe that some powerful necromantic magic -- of which there is much residue -- delayed her aging, then ended, causing it all to happen at once. If it is any consolation, that method of death probably has sent her to her god."

7. Submit a report to the City about Goran, and see if we can get reimbursed for expenses.

Something to take up with the Lords.

8. Do some background checking on Mr Z.

His story checks out. He was in fact of House Drakkenmere, but as the youngest in his family he left to find his own fortune since his inheritance would not be that large. All the stories of his childhood seem positive. He was smart, athletic, and popular, known to be an excellent swordsman and keenly interested in learning lore regarding demons and necromancers and how to defeat them.

9. Feed cats.

Takes a while, but you've got a system.

10. Do some research on Kurin Manyblades.

11. Set someone to repairing our new ballista.

It clearly was magically protected against fire when it was created, since it is reasonably likely that its volatile ammunition might threaten it. The magic is entirely intact, and the physical damage can be repaired by a reasonably competent engineer. Your company would have one on retainer if none of the followers have that capability.

"So. That is the vampire's plan then. Aleena was not the true sacrifice after all. Her father is. That is why they took the bone. So they can have a physical piece of him to control and through that a way to torture and corrupt his soul." her voice is full of tightly controlled rage.

"Yes, perhaps. Or maybe they simply want him permanently out of circulation, which simply killing him could not accomplish."

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When you gather outside, You are all suddenly teleported to a large, darkish room. Each of you is bathed in blue light, and you can see numerous dark and identical silhouettes behind raised podiums, each with a small amount of blue light behind them. You cannot see how large the room is, because the light is not diffuse enough to reach the walls. You each find a chair in front of you, and a long, semicircular table. You see that there are others besides you nearby that you recognize. You see Admiral Westwind, Lieutenant Kiran, a couple military folks whose names you don't know, but one of whom was present at the naval base, one of the guardsmen who was helping guard Aleena who was wounded in the attack, and Aiden Zarun

One of them speaks, in that same commanding male voice as the first Lord that Timrin met.


"Thank you all for coming. We have convened this meeting to investigate the matter of the events of the past night. Hidden Shield representatives, please begin your account."

 

[Hypersmurf]

One of them speaks, in that same commanding male voice as the first Lord that Timrin met.

"Thank you all for coming. We have convened this meeting to investigate the matter of the events of the past night. Hidden Shield representatives, please begin your account."

Fin glances about at the others, then takes one step forward.

"Fin Caisson of the Hidden Shield, Lord," he introduces himself. "Our company was hired to provide a security detail for Lord Peregion and Lady Aleena last night. Both details were attacked. Lady Aleena was abducted by a being subsequently identified as Lordes Lucifer, a fallen Eladrin now working for the Unseelie Lord Zura. Lord Peregion fell into a prepared ambush, carried out by a group of some form of vampire spawn, apparently masterminded by the vampire Kurin Manyblades. That attack was beaten off, and in the process Lord Peregion was subjected to a necromantic spell that seemed at the time to have no effect."

"Some of our people were approached earlier in the evening by a man calling himself Goran. As far as we can tell, he was also somehow under the influence of Manyblades, and in all likelihood has been dead for a hundred years and possessed by some form of undead hellwasp. We observed one of his people being torn apart by such creatures from the inside when she started to shake off the domination. Goran informed us that he had for sale a book containing a prophecy predicting an attack on this city by an ancient demon; against the chance it was a true prediction, and with the time limit he described, we felt it wisest to purchase this prophecy ourselves, despite the exorbitant price, and bring it to Lord Peregion's attention."

"Later investigation showed that the book was created by one of Goran's people under the direction of Manyblades. Goran's ship has since been destroyed; whether he still exists is unknown at this time."

"Nevertheless, following the clues in the book seemed the only lead towards recovering Lady Aleena; we proceeded with Lord Peregion to the City Lighthouse, where Aleena was being prepared for sacrifice by Aurilite priests. We prevented the ritual from being completed, at which point Manyblades himself put in an appearance. The spell he had cast earlier on Lord Peregion came into effect, and the vampire stole the Lord's soul in the form of a single bone from his arm. At this point, Lord Zarun arrived and drove Manyblades away; it seems likely, however, that the vampire escaped."

"Lady Aleena is recovering at our compound; Lord Peregion is unable to be raised at this time."

 

[Ranger Rick]

Kaarlo, absently nods his head to all ot the points mentioned, thinking to himself, he has nothing to expand on.

 

[kirinke]

Alethia sits down as the others do and as Fin finished his account, she spoke up. "We have Lord Perigeron's body Saer," she said, using the general honorific for those whose rank is unknown, but whose nobility is not in doubt. "Can we use that to locate the soul?" she asks the spokesman of the lord's council.

"If nothing else, we still have the Lady Aleena safely in our hands. Through her is a direct link to Perigeron's spirit. We can most likely use her, if she is willing, to track her father's soul to where it is imprisioned."

 

[DM_Matt]

Alethia sits down as the others do and as Fin finished his account, she spoke up. "We have Lord Perigeron's body Saer," she said, using the general honorific for those whose rank is unknown, but whose nobility is not in doubt. "Can we use that to locate the soul?" she asks the spokesman of the lord's council.

"If nothing else, we still have the Lady Aleena safely in our hands. Through her is a direct link to Perigeron's spirit. We can most likely use her, if she is willing, to track her father's soul to where it is imprisioned."

One of the Lords says "That will be her decision. However, I doubt that even his own body will be all that useful in tracking him. Doubtlessly his prison renders him undetectable. The best way is to track Kurin himself. Regardless, we suggest that Lady Aleena remain under your protection until such time as we determine that there are no additional plots layers onto this one."

Another Lord pipes in, and says "What of Goran and his party. Where did they come from? Where are they now? Are they still a threat?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Another Lord pipes in, and says "What of Goran and his party. Where did they come from? Where are they now? Are they still a threat?

"Our information about Goran is... suspect, since much of it came from Goran himself," Fin explains.

"He and his party appear to have befallen some accident a century or so ago. Goran himself bore the emblem of the Blue Bear tribe, destroyed these thirty years. They appeared withered and old under the perception of a True Seeing spell. When Goran approached us, he and his fellows wore assorted paraphernalia of Mulhorandi origin."

"He claimed to have retrieved the book from the 'Lost City of Tell-Maru', from the 'ancient necromancer Al-Hulath'. It spoke of a demon lord named Garax, and contained a prophecy and a binding ritual - we purchased the book for the sum of fifty thousand in gold."

"One of Goran's associates subsequently confided to us that she questioned her memories of defeating Al-Hulath, and thought the date to be 1280 - fifteen years after their quest began. Around that point, she exploded, courtesy of the hellwasps I mentioned earlier. The high priest of Tyr examined her body, and pronounced her dead of old age."

"Object Readings performed on certain items revealed that the book was scribed by another of Goran's associates, who registered to the Reading as both Lawful and Good at the time. It should be noted that all those associates showed as strongly Evil when we met them. The Reading also revealed Kurin Manyblades present during the scribing of the book."

"This morning, Goran's ship has been destroyed; his whereabouts are unknown."

 

[DM_Matt]

One of the Lords says..."Tell-Maru? Interesting. It is legendary among the followers of Anubis. It is a lost and holy city that they believe holds great magical power from ancient days and from other worlds. Al-Hulath is a familiar name. But I forget why..."

Lieutenant Kiran raises her hand and waves energetically. A Lord points to her.

She continues, rambling "Al-Hulath was an ancient wizard who experimented with fortifying undead creatures by infusing them with demonic power. His goal was controllable and mass-producable undead with the magical prowess of planer beings and the strength and resilience of demonflesh. Supposedly he failed, but more interesting than his research is what spawned it -- He began as a groundbreaking expert on vampire physiology. He discovered that the creation of a vampire occurs when the spawn drinks the sire's blood. In that blood, an "egg," adapted to the spawn with stolen soul energy from the victim, is passed to the victim and travels to the heart. It emits negative energy as it grows, burning away the creature's body and infusing its soul with negative energy, which ties the body together. Al-Hulath was trying to keep the negative energy from harming the physical body as much, and tried to add demonic energy to the equation, either replacing the negative energy or adding to it, and altering the seed to provide demonic powers. He probably experimented with Slaadi and other similar demons. "