Heroes, Inc., Day 2: Goldenight

[Hawkeye]

Shando steps forward, bowing at the waist, his forarms covering his face, as though his wrists were bound together, palms facing up. Whoever is truly behind the attack on Lord Piergernon and Lady Aleena very carefully planned their attacks. They knew where they would be and who would be guarding them. Their attacks were designed to disable many of us in the fastest way possible. They were able to attack us a points of strenght for them and weakness for us. In the case of Lord Piergernon, they were able to conduct this attack on a crowded city street and were able to lay in ambush without being detected by the Watch. Whoever is behind this has studied this city very carefully. There is the possibility that they have spies some where among the Watch or the Guard through magical or mundane means. There may be spies in the Bueracracy of the City or a faction of Guilds or Nobility bent on taking over the city. There may even" Shando grimaces at the thought as though it leaves a bad taste in his mouth and continues "There may even be a spy on the Lord's Council. We have no evidence of this, but I feel it is a possibility, given the way events unfolded last night. Our opponent may even have deeper desires than that, but the only one who knows what they are at this time, are our enemies."

Hawkeye

 

[frostrune]

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. "

Timrin has remained respectfully silent and listened attentively throughout the meeting... until this last remark by Lt. Kiran. His head snaps violently to the left fixing his fiery silver gaze upon the young naval officer.

"Lt. Kiran you mentioned 'stolen soul energy'. We are also dealing with a known vampire and an unseelie fey with connections to the Abyss. This can hardly be a coincidence. The strivings of this 'Al-Hulath' must be important. Can you better explain his work that a layman might understand? Can you speculate what the soul of a paladin might add to he equation?"

 

[Hypersmurf]

"Can you speculate what the soul of a paladin might add to he equation?"

"Or, alternatively, the soul of a Lord of Waterdeep," Fin adds. "Even rarer than paladins, those."

 

[kirinke]

Alethia pales as Lt. Kiran and the others speak. "Whatever it is, we know it is going to be quite vile." she taps the table restlessly thinking. "Don't we have something of this Manyblade's fellow? Shards of his knives perhaps? We can use that to track him. I'm sorry, but that's all I can think that will help. We can do little until we find these undead and demonic scum."

 

[Hypersmurf]

Alethia pales as Lt. Kiran and the others speak. "Whatever it is, we know it is going to be quite vile." she taps the table restlessly thinking. "Don't we have something of this Manyblade's fellow? Shards of his knives perhaps? We can use that to track him. I'm sorry, but that's all I can think that will help. We can do little until we find these undead and demonic scum."

"Throwing stakes - weapons he carved himself. Plenty of connection there for scrying," Fin replies. "Lord," he adds, turning back to the original silhouette, "Manyblades referred to 'his lord' at one point. Given the context - a blood-drinking ritual similar to that described by the Lieutenant - it seems possible that the lord he mentioned is this same necromancer."

 

[DM_Matt]

Timrin has remained respectfully silent and listened attentively throughout the meeting... until this last remark by Lt. Kiran. His head snaps violently to the left fixing his fiery silver gaze upon the young naval officer.

"Lt. Kiran you mentioned 'stolen soul energy'. We are also dealing with a known vampire and an unseelie fey with connections to the Abyss. This can hardly be a coincidence. The strivings of this 'Al-Hulath' must be important. Can you better explain his work that a layman might understand? Can you speculate what the soul of a paladin might add to he equation?"

"Thats what doesn't fit. I don't think it would be useful at all. He discovered the method by which humans can be turned into vampires, and he applied that knowledge to try to add other characteristics by the same method. But his method involved turning humans into what reflects the components he put in. I don't see how a paladin's soul helps. Besides, drained energy only is useful in ensuring that the seed properly matches the target."

 

[DM_Matt]

Shando steps forward, bowing at the waist, his forarms covering his face, as though his wrists were bound together, palms facing up. Whoever is truly behind the attack on Lord Piergernon and Lady Aleena very carefully planned their attacks. They knew where they would be and who would be guarding them. Their attacks were designed to disable many of us in the fastest way possible. They were able to attack us a points of strenght for them and weakness for us. In the case of Lord Piergernon, they were able to conduct this attack on a crowded city street and were able to lay in ambush without being detected by the Watch. Whoever is behind this has studied this city very carefully. There is the possibility that they have spies some where among the Watch or the Guard through magical or mundane means. There may be spies in the Bueracracy of the City or a faction of Guilds or Nobility bent on taking over the city. There may even" Shando grimaces at the thought as though it leaves a bad taste in his mouth and continues "There may even be a spy on the Lord's Council. We have no evidence of this, but I feel it is a possibility, given the way events unfolded last night. Our opponent may even have deeper desires than that, but the only one who knows what they are at this time, are our enemies."

Hawkeye

A Lord:

"They know much, but it is extremely unlikely that there is a traitor among us. Certainly, however, they must have help from well-connected individuals."

 

[Hypersmurf]

"Thats what doesn't fit. I don't think it would be useful at all. He discovered the method by which humans can be turned into vampires, and he applied that knowledge to try to add other characteristics by the same method. But his method involved turning humans into what reflects the components he put in. I don't see how a paladin's soul helps. Besides, drained energy only is useful in ensuring that the seed properly matches the target."

"Fallen Eladrin..." Fin mutters to himself. "I wonder... what if this Lucifer is not representing Zura in this matter at all? Lord Oberon's servant told us that he still holds to a code, like an echo of his former goodness. Perhaps he sees Al-Hulath's work as a chance to regain his celestial status... by leeching the goodness from a paladin's soul into his own?"

"We know that someone who is infected with vampirism is corrupted and evil, no matter how pure their soul prior to their rebirth. Perhaps Lucifer believes that even the vileness of raping a man's soul will be wiped clean, as long as his acts of evil are concluded before he takes on Peregion's aspects...?"

 

[DM_Matt]

"Throwing stakes - weapons he carved himself. Plenty of connection there for scrying," Fin replies. "Lord," he adds, turning back to the original silhouette, "Manyblades referred to 'his lord' at one point. Given the context - a blood-drinking ritual similar to that described by the Lieutenant - it seems possible that the lord he mentioned is this same necromancer."

A Lord:
"I agree. We need to track down Al-Hulath. Lieutenant Kiran, do you know where he lived."

She answers "Not exactly sure, sire. Probably in the Sarkara Island Chain in the Inner Sea, near Mulhorand. Or perhaps deep in the desert in Mulhorand. The fact that those adventurers returned in a ship implies the former...They could have used one of the pricey teleporting toll gates between the Inner Sea and the Sea of Fallen Stars. Many of the islands are uncharted, however, and others are inhabited by some pretty sinister characters...Scary archwizards, evil cultists, strange creatures..."

 

[Hypersmurf]

Fin remembers something, and produces Alath's garage-door opener from his satchel.

"This is part of a device Goran claimed to have liberated from a Mulhorandi pyramid," he explains. "We haven't yet performed an Object Reading on it... but if their Mulhorandi artifacts were in fact supplied by Al-Hulath, it may provide a scrying link back to him..."