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Into the Moral Darkness: (Now a Completed Story!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3718523" data-attributes="member: 35788"><p>Rhema quickly found Charis in the water and feigned helping her to the shore in order to keep the dock guard under her influence. The disguise of helping her reach solid ground kept the dock guard out of danger from the Yrraxeans for the time being. As they swam, they could hear the confusion on the ship behind them.</p><p></p><p>Semeion and Ophee helped get Rhema, Charis, and the dock guard out of the water as quickly as possible. They had been alerted to the impending danger by the sudden splashes of water. As he and Ophee helped get their friends out of the water they could hear a few of the Yrraxeans leaving the boat and walking along the dock. The party hurried to the small storehouse that they had been using as cover for the night. Rhema was able to convince the dock guard to come with them in case Charis needed assistance.</p><p></p><p>As they entered the storehouse, Rhema took a look at the assassins that they had managed to defeat earlier this evening. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“We’ll need to keep them quiet until our pursuit looses interest.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis ignored Rhema’s comment and interrupted with her own concern. <span style="color: Orange">“Well, to be honest, it isn’t going to make much difference how quiet we are. We’ve left a bit of a water trial from the dock.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion turned to his wife and gave her a bit of a kiss on the forehead. <span style="color: Plum">“I can take care of that.”</span> He turned back to the water and spoke softly while gesturing a sign of dismissal. <span style="color: Plum">“Pazuhs Umaam.”</span> The water appeared to vanish as soon as Semeion spoke the words.</p><p></p><p>Charis turned back to her husband and smiled. <span style="color: Orange">“You know a spell to evaporate water?”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion shook his head. <span style="color: Plum">“No, but I do know a spell that will alter the appearance of small things. I simply made the dock appear to look dry. But the water is still actually there.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema pulled Semeion inside the storehouse and closed the door quietly. She turned to Charis and a look of panic appeared on her face. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Okay, so what happened to Ischarus? Please tell me that he’s safe and alive.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis looked away, knowing that Rhema had done a good job of keeping her composure up until now. However, it pained her to think of the emotional turmoil that she was about to spring upon her. <span style="color: Orange">“He was alive when I left. The conversation we were spying on ended much more suddenly than we thought. I was able to make it to the stairs, but he wasn’t. Instead of getting to the stairs, he jumped down into the hold of the ship. Considering that everyone in the room charged up the stairs after me, I’m assuming that they didn’t know that he was down there.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema didn’t offer up a response. Her face paled as she thought of Ischarus trapped aboard the ship. She turned to the dock guard and mustered as much charm as she could offer. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Thanks for looking out for me. The thing is that the people aboard that ship are planning some pretty evil things. To keep you from getting implicated in their plan and spending the rest of your life in jail, I wanted to bring you here and keep you safe. I wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to you if you didn’t know what you were getting into.”</span></p><p></p><p>The dock guard looked a bit confused as the sudden revelation seemed to blindside his life, but Rhema’s mental charm continued to work on him. He didn’t respond, but he did sit down upon the ground and stare at the tied up assassins. He nervously smiled at the rest of the party, wondering about his own fate.</p><p></p><p>Semeion turned back to Rhema. <span style="color: Plum">“You know, if we wait out the Yrraxeans, we could return to the temple. We’ve made good use of the rings of teleportation before. I don’t see why we couldn’t use them one more time to get into the hold of the ship. We could be in and out without them knowing about it.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema breathed in slowly. She was clearly unhappy with the situation. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Unless they have the ship protected.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis smiled and gave Rhema a loving embrace. <span style="color: Orange">“They won’t. They don’t know about our tactics. They didn’t even know that the wizard in Eberdeen had been destroyed. We’ll get him, so long as he is willing to stay put and not try anything heroic.”</span></p><p></p><p>They stayed in the storehouse for several hours, keeping everyone quiet. They hadn’t heard the Yrraxeans pass by their location, which was for the best. Had the Yrraxeans passed near their hiding spot, they might have stepped on the wet spots and potentially ruined Semeion’s illusion. As it was, they remained undiscovered.</p><p></p><p>After several hours, the party decided to head back to the temple. They decided to leave the assassins in the storehouse while they made their way back to the temple. If the assassins were discovered, it wouldn’t hurt their situation. If they weren’t discovered, they would return for them the next day after they had apprehended Allyssa.</p><p></p><p>When they returned to the temple, Brandt gave Rhema two of the gold rings. <span style="color: Lime">“Go and get him. There’s no point sending all of you in. If he’s there, you can give him the spare. If they’re expecting you because they’ve discovered him, it’ll be easier to rescue two of you than four.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema snatched the rings from Brandt’s hand and slipped one on her finger. She didn’t need any explanation on how they worked; she’d used them enough before. She twisted the ring and immediately thought of the ship’s hold. Since she was able to bring up a vivid image of the ship, the ring’s magic worked perfectly. A second later she appeared in the cargo hold.</p><p></p><p>The hold was darker than the outside world on a starless and moonless night. There was no light whatsoever flooding into the hold from the floor above where Ischarus and Charis had crouched outside the doorway. However, Rhema’s biology didn’t require her to have light to see in the dark. She could make out several stacks of boxes, although her ability to see them only allowed her to see them in a light shade of gray. </p><p></p><p>Even though she could see, Rhema didn’t want to risk making any noise by stumbling around in the ship’s hold. She simply whispered in the dark. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Ischarus?”</span></p><p></p><p>The hold was silent for several seconds, so she spoke a little louder. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Ischarus, it’s Rhema. I’ve got a ring that will get us out of here. Are you still down here?”</span></p><p></p><p>She waited several more seconds before she heard a soft noise from the other end of the ship. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Rhema? I can’t see you! Where are you?”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema swallowed hard. It sounded like Ischarus, but she realized that it could easily be a trick. With her heightened vision, she scanned the room again but couldn’t see anyone struggling in the dark. She decided to risk shedding a bit of light into the hold so that Ischarus could find her. She reached into her pocket and removed a match. With a single strike, she caused the match to flare up in flame.</p><p></p><p>She could hear Ischarus chuckle, and then whisper. <span style="color: LightBlue">“I’ll need a bit more light than a match, Rhema.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema was now beginning to doubt his voice. He should have known that she could see in the dark. She smiled and focused her thoughts on the flame before it burned the whole way down to the end. The flame increased in size until it rivaled the size of a flame dancing upon the end of a torch.</p><p></p><p>Rhema heard a bit of movement from the direction of Ischarus’ voice. She used her mind control to cause the flame to leave the match and float through the air in the direction of the noise. As soon as the flame moved, she saw Ischarus’ head pop around one of the crates in the ship’s hold. There could be no doubt that it was her husband.</p><p></p><p>Out of excitement, Rhema forgot about the flame as soon as she saw Ischarus’ head. Since the flame had been feeding off of her mental energy and not the wood of the match, it winked out of existence as soon as Rhema stopped focusing on the flame. The hold of the ship was bathed in complete darkness once again.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus stopped short and whispered once more. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Rhema, I need light to come to you.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema walked cautiously towards Ischarus, trying to make as little noise as possible. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“True. But I don’t need it to find you. Stay put.”</span> Within seconds Rhema had met up with Ischarus.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus received her into his arms as she reached him. After they hugged for several seconds, Rhema pulled back and slipped a gold ring into his right palm. She gave him a simple piece of advice. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Put this on and think about Brandt’s office.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus didn’t need any more help than that. He slipped the ring on and gave it a twist. Rhema watched his gray form vanish and gave her own ring a twist. In a matter of seconds the party was once more reunited in the temple of Reah. Ischarus stood with his hands over his eyes. After several hours in the darkness of the ship’s hull, his eyes couldn’t take the brilliance of Brandt’s office.</p><p></p><p>Brandt smiled. <span style="color: Lime">“Well done. I doubt they even knew that you were there in that short of time.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Well, I’m just glad that’s over. I wondered how long I was going to be in the hold of that ship. I didn’t want to leave, because I didn’t know if I would have to fight my way off.”</span></p><p></p><p>Brandt motioned to the seating area in his office that was becoming like a second home to the party. <span style="color: Lime">“Care to sit down and tell me what you all learned?”</span></p><p></p><p>The party wandered over to the chairs, but the truth was that they were tired after the activity of the day. Charis began to tell the tale. <span style="color: Orange">“Well, the truth is that we don’t know much. We know that there is going to be an attempt on Lord Ironblood’s life tomorrow.”</span></p><p></p><p>Brandt looked to Charis. <span style="color: Lime">“That’s all that you learned?”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis continued, noting that Ischarus was still a little overcome with the experience. <span style="color: Orange">“Yeah. We confirmed a bunch of things that we had already guessed. And we learned that they really don’t know what happened to the wizard. And we know that it is the Yrraxeans that are behind the attempt. But as far as the immediate plan, all we know is that at some point tomorrow Allyssa is going to assassinate Lord Ironblood with an Ephistaemi dagger. Their hope is that the Ephistaemi are going to be blamed so that the Yrraxeans can come into power. But that part at the end we learned from the wizard.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion shrugged. <span style="color: Plum">“Well, then, it seems like we don’t have much choice. We have to follow Lord Ironblood around tomorrow and hope we get lucky. We already fell for the Ephistaemi dagger rouse, and we fell for it hard. I’d expect the people of Tongra to do the same.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema shook her head. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“No, there is something else we can do. If we can convince Lord Ironblood to allow himself to be replaced with a doppelganger then we might be able to do a bit more.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis wrinkled her forehead as she tried to make sense of Rhema’s suggestion. <span style="color: Orange">“Doppleganger? But we don’t have access to that kind of resource, do we?”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema laughed. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Well, if you mean someone who can quite literally change their appearance flawlessly, then not that I am aware of. But we can use a little magic to make an effective disguise.”</span></p><p></p><p>Brandt nodded. <span style="color: Lime">“I think that may be our best choice. If we can get Lord Ironblood and his people to agree to the plan, it is likely going to be our best chance at ensuring no harm comes to the lord. I’ll handle those details while you all prepare yourself for the morning.”</span></p><p></p><p>[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]</p><p>Rhema quickly found Charis in the water and feigned helping her to the shore in order to keep the dock guard under her influence. The disguise of helping her reach solid ground kept the dock guard out of danger from the Yrraxeans for the time being. As they swam, they could hear the confusion on the ship behind them.</p><p></p><p>Semeion and Ophee helped get Rhema, Charis, and the dock guard out of the water as quickly as possible. They had been alerted to the impending danger by the sudden splashes of water. As he and Ophee helped get their friends out of the water they could hear a few of the Yrraxeans leaving the boat and walking along the dock. The party hurried to the small storehouse that they had been using as cover for the night. Rhema was able to convince the dock guard to come with them in case Charis needed assistance.</p><p></p><p>As they entered the storehouse, Rhema took a look at the assassins that they had managed to defeat earlier this evening. “We’ll need to keep them quiet until our pursuit looses interest.”</p><p></p><p>Charis ignored Rhema’s comment and interrupted with her own concern. “Well, to be honest, it isn’t going to make much difference how quiet we are. We’ve left a bit of a water trial from the dock.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion turned to his wife and gave her a bit of a kiss on the forehead. “I can take care of that.” He turned back to the water and spoke softly while gesturing a sign of dismissal. “Pazuhs Umaam.” The water appeared to vanish as soon as Semeion spoke the words.</p><p></p><p>Charis turned back to her husband and smiled. “You know a spell to evaporate water?”</p><p></p><p>Semeion shook his head. “No, but I do know a spell that will alter the appearance of small things. I simply made the dock appear to look dry. But the water is still actually there.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema pulled Semeion inside the storehouse and closed the door quietly. She turned to Charis and a look of panic appeared on her face. “Okay, so what happened to Ischarus? Please tell me that he’s safe and alive.”</p><p></p><p>Charis looked away, knowing that Rhema had done a good job of keeping her composure up until now. However, it pained her to think of the emotional turmoil that she was about to spring upon her. “He was alive when I left. The conversation we were spying on ended much more suddenly than we thought. I was able to make it to the stairs, but he wasn’t. Instead of getting to the stairs, he jumped down into the hold of the ship. Considering that everyone in the room charged up the stairs after me, I’m assuming that they didn’t know that he was down there.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema didn’t offer up a response. Her face paled as she thought of Ischarus trapped aboard the ship. She turned to the dock guard and mustered as much charm as she could offer. “Thanks for looking out for me. The thing is that the people aboard that ship are planning some pretty evil things. To keep you from getting implicated in their plan and spending the rest of your life in jail, I wanted to bring you here and keep you safe. I wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to you if you didn’t know what you were getting into.”</p><p></p><p>The dock guard looked a bit confused as the sudden revelation seemed to blindside his life, but Rhema’s mental charm continued to work on him. He didn’t respond, but he did sit down upon the ground and stare at the tied up assassins. He nervously smiled at the rest of the party, wondering about his own fate.</p><p></p><p>Semeion turned back to Rhema. “You know, if we wait out the Yrraxeans, we could return to the temple. We’ve made good use of the rings of teleportation before. I don’t see why we couldn’t use them one more time to get into the hold of the ship. We could be in and out without them knowing about it.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema breathed in slowly. She was clearly unhappy with the situation. “Unless they have the ship protected.”</p><p></p><p>Charis smiled and gave Rhema a loving embrace. “They won’t. They don’t know about our tactics. They didn’t even know that the wizard in Eberdeen had been destroyed. We’ll get him, so long as he is willing to stay put and not try anything heroic.”</p><p></p><p>They stayed in the storehouse for several hours, keeping everyone quiet. They hadn’t heard the Yrraxeans pass by their location, which was for the best. Had the Yrraxeans passed near their hiding spot, they might have stepped on the wet spots and potentially ruined Semeion’s illusion. As it was, they remained undiscovered.</p><p></p><p>After several hours, the party decided to head back to the temple. They decided to leave the assassins in the storehouse while they made their way back to the temple. If the assassins were discovered, it wouldn’t hurt their situation. If they weren’t discovered, they would return for them the next day after they had apprehended Allyssa.</p><p></p><p>When they returned to the temple, Brandt gave Rhema two of the gold rings. “Go and get him. There’s no point sending all of you in. If he’s there, you can give him the spare. If they’re expecting you because they’ve discovered him, it’ll be easier to rescue two of you than four.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema snatched the rings from Brandt’s hand and slipped one on her finger. She didn’t need any explanation on how they worked; she’d used them enough before. She twisted the ring and immediately thought of the ship’s hold. Since she was able to bring up a vivid image of the ship, the ring’s magic worked perfectly. A second later she appeared in the cargo hold.</p><p></p><p>The hold was darker than the outside world on a starless and moonless night. There was no light whatsoever flooding into the hold from the floor above where Ischarus and Charis had crouched outside the doorway. However, Rhema’s biology didn’t require her to have light to see in the dark. She could make out several stacks of boxes, although her ability to see them only allowed her to see them in a light shade of gray. </p><p></p><p>Even though she could see, Rhema didn’t want to risk making any noise by stumbling around in the ship’s hold. She simply whispered in the dark. “Ischarus?”</p><p></p><p>The hold was silent for several seconds, so she spoke a little louder. “Ischarus, it’s Rhema. I’ve got a ring that will get us out of here. Are you still down here?”</p><p></p><p>She waited several more seconds before she heard a soft noise from the other end of the ship. “Rhema? I can’t see you! Where are you?”</p><p></p><p>Rhema swallowed hard. It sounded like Ischarus, but she realized that it could easily be a trick. With her heightened vision, she scanned the room again but couldn’t see anyone struggling in the dark. She decided to risk shedding a bit of light into the hold so that Ischarus could find her. She reached into her pocket and removed a match. With a single strike, she caused the match to flare up in flame.</p><p></p><p>She could hear Ischarus chuckle, and then whisper. “I’ll need a bit more light than a match, Rhema.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema was now beginning to doubt his voice. He should have known that she could see in the dark. She smiled and focused her thoughts on the flame before it burned the whole way down to the end. The flame increased in size until it rivaled the size of a flame dancing upon the end of a torch.</p><p></p><p>Rhema heard a bit of movement from the direction of Ischarus’ voice. She used her mind control to cause the flame to leave the match and float through the air in the direction of the noise. As soon as the flame moved, she saw Ischarus’ head pop around one of the crates in the ship’s hold. There could be no doubt that it was her husband.</p><p></p><p>Out of excitement, Rhema forgot about the flame as soon as she saw Ischarus’ head. Since the flame had been feeding off of her mental energy and not the wood of the match, it winked out of existence as soon as Rhema stopped focusing on the flame. The hold of the ship was bathed in complete darkness once again.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus stopped short and whispered once more. “Rhema, I need light to come to you.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema walked cautiously towards Ischarus, trying to make as little noise as possible. “True. But I don’t need it to find you. Stay put.” Within seconds Rhema had met up with Ischarus.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus received her into his arms as she reached him. After they hugged for several seconds, Rhema pulled back and slipped a gold ring into his right palm. She gave him a simple piece of advice. “Put this on and think about Brandt’s office.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus didn’t need any more help than that. He slipped the ring on and gave it a twist. Rhema watched his gray form vanish and gave her own ring a twist. In a matter of seconds the party was once more reunited in the temple of Reah. Ischarus stood with his hands over his eyes. After several hours in the darkness of the ship’s hull, his eyes couldn’t take the brilliance of Brandt’s office.</p><p></p><p>Brandt smiled. “Well done. I doubt they even knew that you were there in that short of time.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled. “Well, I’m just glad that’s over. I wondered how long I was going to be in the hold of that ship. I didn’t want to leave, because I didn’t know if I would have to fight my way off.”</p><p></p><p>Brandt motioned to the seating area in his office that was becoming like a second home to the party. “Care to sit down and tell me what you all learned?”</p><p></p><p>The party wandered over to the chairs, but the truth was that they were tired after the activity of the day. Charis began to tell the tale. “Well, the truth is that we don’t know much. We know that there is going to be an attempt on Lord Ironblood’s life tomorrow.”</p><p></p><p>Brandt looked to Charis. “That’s all that you learned?”</p><p></p><p>Charis continued, noting that Ischarus was still a little overcome with the experience. “Yeah. We confirmed a bunch of things that we had already guessed. And we learned that they really don’t know what happened to the wizard. And we know that it is the Yrraxeans that are behind the attempt. But as far as the immediate plan, all we know is that at some point tomorrow Allyssa is going to assassinate Lord Ironblood with an Ephistaemi dagger. Their hope is that the Ephistaemi are going to be blamed so that the Yrraxeans can come into power. But that part at the end we learned from the wizard.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion shrugged. “Well, then, it seems like we don’t have much choice. We have to follow Lord Ironblood around tomorrow and hope we get lucky. We already fell for the Ephistaemi dagger rouse, and we fell for it hard. I’d expect the people of Tongra to do the same.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema shook her head. “No, there is something else we can do. If we can convince Lord Ironblood to allow himself to be replaced with a doppelganger then we might be able to do a bit more.”</p><p></p><p>Charis wrinkled her forehead as she tried to make sense of Rhema’s suggestion. “Doppleganger? But we don’t have access to that kind of resource, do we?”</p><p></p><p>Rhema laughed. “Well, if you mean someone who can quite literally change their appearance flawlessly, then not that I am aware of. But we can use a little magic to make an effective disguise.”</p><p></p><p>Brandt nodded. “I think that may be our best choice. If we can get Lord Ironblood and his people to agree to the plan, it is likely going to be our best chance at ensuring no harm comes to the lord. I’ll handle those details while you all prepare yourself for the morning.”</p><p>[/Sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nonlethal Force, post: 3718523, member: 35788"] Rhema quickly found Charis in the water and feigned helping her to the shore in order to keep the dock guard under her influence. The disguise of helping her reach solid ground kept the dock guard out of danger from the Yrraxeans for the time being. As they swam, they could hear the confusion on the ship behind them. Semeion and Ophee helped get Rhema, Charis, and the dock guard out of the water as quickly as possible. They had been alerted to the impending danger by the sudden splashes of water. As he and Ophee helped get their friends out of the water they could hear a few of the Yrraxeans leaving the boat and walking along the dock. The party hurried to the small storehouse that they had been using as cover for the night. Rhema was able to convince the dock guard to come with them in case Charis needed assistance. As they entered the storehouse, Rhema took a look at the assassins that they had managed to defeat earlier this evening. [Color=PaleGreen]“We’ll need to keep them quiet until our pursuit looses interest.”[/Color] Charis ignored Rhema’s comment and interrupted with her own concern. [Color=Orange]“Well, to be honest, it isn’t going to make much difference how quiet we are. We’ve left a bit of a water trial from the dock.”[/Color] Semeion turned to his wife and gave her a bit of a kiss on the forehead. [Color=Plum]“I can take care of that.”[/Color] He turned back to the water and spoke softly while gesturing a sign of dismissal. [Color=Plum]“Pazuhs Umaam.”[/Color] The water appeared to vanish as soon as Semeion spoke the words. Charis turned back to her husband and smiled. [Color=Orange]“You know a spell to evaporate water?”[/Color] Semeion shook his head. [Color=Plum]“No, but I do know a spell that will alter the appearance of small things. I simply made the dock appear to look dry. But the water is still actually there.”[/Color] Rhema pulled Semeion inside the storehouse and closed the door quietly. She turned to Charis and a look of panic appeared on her face. [Color=PaleGreen]“Okay, so what happened to Ischarus? Please tell me that he’s safe and alive.”[/Color] Charis looked away, knowing that Rhema had done a good job of keeping her composure up until now. However, it pained her to think of the emotional turmoil that she was about to spring upon her. [Color=Orange]“He was alive when I left. The conversation we were spying on ended much more suddenly than we thought. I was able to make it to the stairs, but he wasn’t. Instead of getting to the stairs, he jumped down into the hold of the ship. Considering that everyone in the room charged up the stairs after me, I’m assuming that they didn’t know that he was down there.”[/Color] Rhema didn’t offer up a response. Her face paled as she thought of Ischarus trapped aboard the ship. She turned to the dock guard and mustered as much charm as she could offer. [Color=PaleGreen]“Thanks for looking out for me. The thing is that the people aboard that ship are planning some pretty evil things. To keep you from getting implicated in their plan and spending the rest of your life in jail, I wanted to bring you here and keep you safe. I wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to you if you didn’t know what you were getting into.”[/Color] The dock guard looked a bit confused as the sudden revelation seemed to blindside his life, but Rhema’s mental charm continued to work on him. He didn’t respond, but he did sit down upon the ground and stare at the tied up assassins. He nervously smiled at the rest of the party, wondering about his own fate. Semeion turned back to Rhema. [Color=Plum]“You know, if we wait out the Yrraxeans, we could return to the temple. We’ve made good use of the rings of teleportation before. I don’t see why we couldn’t use them one more time to get into the hold of the ship. We could be in and out without them knowing about it.”[/Color] Rhema breathed in slowly. She was clearly unhappy with the situation. [Color=PaleGreen]“Unless they have the ship protected.”[/Color] Charis smiled and gave Rhema a loving embrace. [Color=Orange]“They won’t. They don’t know about our tactics. They didn’t even know that the wizard in Eberdeen had been destroyed. We’ll get him, so long as he is willing to stay put and not try anything heroic.”[/Color] They stayed in the storehouse for several hours, keeping everyone quiet. They hadn’t heard the Yrraxeans pass by their location, which was for the best. Had the Yrraxeans passed near their hiding spot, they might have stepped on the wet spots and potentially ruined Semeion’s illusion. As it was, they remained undiscovered. After several hours, the party decided to head back to the temple. They decided to leave the assassins in the storehouse while they made their way back to the temple. If the assassins were discovered, it wouldn’t hurt their situation. If they weren’t discovered, they would return for them the next day after they had apprehended Allyssa. When they returned to the temple, Brandt gave Rhema two of the gold rings. [Color=Lime]“Go and get him. There’s no point sending all of you in. If he’s there, you can give him the spare. If they’re expecting you because they’ve discovered him, it’ll be easier to rescue two of you than four.”[/Color] Rhema snatched the rings from Brandt’s hand and slipped one on her finger. She didn’t need any explanation on how they worked; she’d used them enough before. She twisted the ring and immediately thought of the ship’s hold. Since she was able to bring up a vivid image of the ship, the ring’s magic worked perfectly. A second later she appeared in the cargo hold. The hold was darker than the outside world on a starless and moonless night. There was no light whatsoever flooding into the hold from the floor above where Ischarus and Charis had crouched outside the doorway. However, Rhema’s biology didn’t require her to have light to see in the dark. She could make out several stacks of boxes, although her ability to see them only allowed her to see them in a light shade of gray. Even though she could see, Rhema didn’t want to risk making any noise by stumbling around in the ship’s hold. She simply whispered in the dark. [Color=PaleGreen]“Ischarus?”[/Color] The hold was silent for several seconds, so she spoke a little louder. [Color=PaleGreen]“Ischarus, it’s Rhema. I’ve got a ring that will get us out of here. Are you still down here?”[/Color] She waited several more seconds before she heard a soft noise from the other end of the ship. [Color=LightBlue]“Rhema? I can’t see you! Where are you?”[/Color] Rhema swallowed hard. It sounded like Ischarus, but she realized that it could easily be a trick. With her heightened vision, she scanned the room again but couldn’t see anyone struggling in the dark. She decided to risk shedding a bit of light into the hold so that Ischarus could find her. She reached into her pocket and removed a match. With a single strike, she caused the match to flare up in flame. She could hear Ischarus chuckle, and then whisper. [Color=LightBlue]“I’ll need a bit more light than a match, Rhema.”[/Color] Rhema was now beginning to doubt his voice. He should have known that she could see in the dark. She smiled and focused her thoughts on the flame before it burned the whole way down to the end. The flame increased in size until it rivaled the size of a flame dancing upon the end of a torch. Rhema heard a bit of movement from the direction of Ischarus’ voice. She used her mind control to cause the flame to leave the match and float through the air in the direction of the noise. As soon as the flame moved, she saw Ischarus’ head pop around one of the crates in the ship’s hold. There could be no doubt that it was her husband. Out of excitement, Rhema forgot about the flame as soon as she saw Ischarus’ head. Since the flame had been feeding off of her mental energy and not the wood of the match, it winked out of existence as soon as Rhema stopped focusing on the flame. The hold of the ship was bathed in complete darkness once again. Ischarus stopped short and whispered once more. [Color=LightBlue]“Rhema, I need light to come to you.”[/Color] Rhema walked cautiously towards Ischarus, trying to make as little noise as possible. [Color=PaleGreen]“True. But I don’t need it to find you. Stay put.”[/Color] Within seconds Rhema had met up with Ischarus. Ischarus received her into his arms as she reached him. After they hugged for several seconds, Rhema pulled back and slipped a gold ring into his right palm. She gave him a simple piece of advice. [Color=PaleGreen]“Put this on and think about Brandt’s office.”[/Color] Ischarus didn’t need any more help than that. He slipped the ring on and gave it a twist. Rhema watched his gray form vanish and gave her own ring a twist. In a matter of seconds the party was once more reunited in the temple of Reah. Ischarus stood with his hands over his eyes. After several hours in the darkness of the ship’s hull, his eyes couldn’t take the brilliance of Brandt’s office. Brandt smiled. [Color=Lime]“Well done. I doubt they even knew that you were there in that short of time.”[/Color] Ischarus smiled. [Color=LightBlue]“Well, I’m just glad that’s over. I wondered how long I was going to be in the hold of that ship. I didn’t want to leave, because I didn’t know if I would have to fight my way off.”[/Color] Brandt motioned to the seating area in his office that was becoming like a second home to the party. [Color=Lime]“Care to sit down and tell me what you all learned?”[/Color] The party wandered over to the chairs, but the truth was that they were tired after the activity of the day. Charis began to tell the tale. [Color=Orange]“Well, the truth is that we don’t know much. We know that there is going to be an attempt on Lord Ironblood’s life tomorrow.”[/Color] Brandt looked to Charis. [Color=Lime]“That’s all that you learned?”[/Color] Charis continued, noting that Ischarus was still a little overcome with the experience. [Color=Orange]“Yeah. We confirmed a bunch of things that we had already guessed. And we learned that they really don’t know what happened to the wizard. And we know that it is the Yrraxeans that are behind the attempt. But as far as the immediate plan, all we know is that at some point tomorrow Allyssa is going to assassinate Lord Ironblood with an Ephistaemi dagger. Their hope is that the Ephistaemi are going to be blamed so that the Yrraxeans can come into power. But that part at the end we learned from the wizard.”[/Color] Semeion shrugged. [Color=Plum]“Well, then, it seems like we don’t have much choice. We have to follow Lord Ironblood around tomorrow and hope we get lucky. We already fell for the Ephistaemi dagger rouse, and we fell for it hard. I’d expect the people of Tongra to do the same.”[/Color] Rhema shook her head. [Color=PaleGreen]“No, there is something else we can do. If we can convince Lord Ironblood to allow himself to be replaced with a doppelganger then we might be able to do a bit more.”[/Color] Charis wrinkled her forehead as she tried to make sense of Rhema’s suggestion. [Color=Orange]“Doppleganger? But we don’t have access to that kind of resource, do we?”[/Color] Rhema laughed. [Color=PaleGreen]“Well, if you mean someone who can quite literally change their appearance flawlessly, then not that I am aware of. But we can use a little magic to make an effective disguise.”[/Color] Brandt nodded. [Color=Lime]“I think that may be our best choice. If we can get Lord Ironblood and his people to agree to the plan, it is likely going to be our best chance at ensuring no harm comes to the lord. I’ll handle those details while you all prepare yourself for the morning.”[/Color] [Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section] Rhema quickly found Charis in the water and feigned helping her to the shore in order to keep the dock guard under her influence. The disguise of helping her reach solid ground kept the dock guard out of danger from the Yrraxeans for the time being. As they swam, they could hear the confusion on the ship behind them. Semeion and Ophee helped get Rhema, Charis, and the dock guard out of the water as quickly as possible. They had been alerted to the impending danger by the sudden splashes of water. As he and Ophee helped get their friends out of the water they could hear a few of the Yrraxeans leaving the boat and walking along the dock. The party hurried to the small storehouse that they had been using as cover for the night. Rhema was able to convince the dock guard to come with them in case Charis needed assistance. As they entered the storehouse, Rhema took a look at the assassins that they had managed to defeat earlier this evening. “We’ll need to keep them quiet until our pursuit looses interest.” Charis ignored Rhema’s comment and interrupted with her own concern. “Well, to be honest, it isn’t going to make much difference how quiet we are. We’ve left a bit of a water trial from the dock.” Semeion turned to his wife and gave her a bit of a kiss on the forehead. “I can take care of that.” He turned back to the water and spoke softly while gesturing a sign of dismissal. “Pazuhs Umaam.” The water appeared to vanish as soon as Semeion spoke the words. Charis turned back to her husband and smiled. “You know a spell to evaporate water?” Semeion shook his head. “No, but I do know a spell that will alter the appearance of small things. I simply made the dock appear to look dry. But the water is still actually there.” Rhema pulled Semeion inside the storehouse and closed the door quietly. She turned to Charis and a look of panic appeared on her face. “Okay, so what happened to Ischarus? Please tell me that he’s safe and alive.” Charis looked away, knowing that Rhema had done a good job of keeping her composure up until now. However, it pained her to think of the emotional turmoil that she was about to spring upon her. “He was alive when I left. The conversation we were spying on ended much more suddenly than we thought. I was able to make it to the stairs, but he wasn’t. Instead of getting to the stairs, he jumped down into the hold of the ship. Considering that everyone in the room charged up the stairs after me, I’m assuming that they didn’t know that he was down there.” Rhema didn’t offer up a response. Her face paled as she thought of Ischarus trapped aboard the ship. She turned to the dock guard and mustered as much charm as she could offer. “Thanks for looking out for me. The thing is that the people aboard that ship are planning some pretty evil things. To keep you from getting implicated in their plan and spending the rest of your life in jail, I wanted to bring you here and keep you safe. I wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to you if you didn’t know what you were getting into.” The dock guard looked a bit confused as the sudden revelation seemed to blindside his life, but Rhema’s mental charm continued to work on him. He didn’t respond, but he did sit down upon the ground and stare at the tied up assassins. He nervously smiled at the rest of the party, wondering about his own fate. Semeion turned back to Rhema. “You know, if we wait out the Yrraxeans, we could return to the temple. We’ve made good use of the rings of teleportation before. I don’t see why we couldn’t use them one more time to get into the hold of the ship. We could be in and out without them knowing about it.” Rhema breathed in slowly. She was clearly unhappy with the situation. “Unless they have the ship protected.” Charis smiled and gave Rhema a loving embrace. “They won’t. They don’t know about our tactics. They didn’t even know that the wizard in Eberdeen had been destroyed. We’ll get him, so long as he is willing to stay put and not try anything heroic.” They stayed in the storehouse for several hours, keeping everyone quiet. They hadn’t heard the Yrraxeans pass by their location, which was for the best. Had the Yrraxeans passed near their hiding spot, they might have stepped on the wet spots and potentially ruined Semeion’s illusion. As it was, they remained undiscovered. After several hours, the party decided to head back to the temple. They decided to leave the assassins in the storehouse while they made their way back to the temple. If the assassins were discovered, it wouldn’t hurt their situation. If they weren’t discovered, they would return for them the next day after they had apprehended Allyssa. When they returned to the temple, Brandt gave Rhema two of the gold rings. “Go and get him. There’s no point sending all of you in. If he’s there, you can give him the spare. If they’re expecting you because they’ve discovered him, it’ll be easier to rescue two of you than four.” Rhema snatched the rings from Brandt’s hand and slipped one on her finger. She didn’t need any explanation on how they worked; she’d used them enough before. She twisted the ring and immediately thought of the ship’s hold. Since she was able to bring up a vivid image of the ship, the ring’s magic worked perfectly. A second later she appeared in the cargo hold. The hold was darker than the outside world on a starless and moonless night. There was no light whatsoever flooding into the hold from the floor above where Ischarus and Charis had crouched outside the doorway. However, Rhema’s biology didn’t require her to have light to see in the dark. She could make out several stacks of boxes, although her ability to see them only allowed her to see them in a light shade of gray. Even though she could see, Rhema didn’t want to risk making any noise by stumbling around in the ship’s hold. She simply whispered in the dark. “Ischarus?” The hold was silent for several seconds, so she spoke a little louder. “Ischarus, it’s Rhema. I’ve got a ring that will get us out of here. Are you still down here?” She waited several more seconds before she heard a soft noise from the other end of the ship. “Rhema? I can’t see you! Where are you?” Rhema swallowed hard. It sounded like Ischarus, but she realized that it could easily be a trick. With her heightened vision, she scanned the room again but couldn’t see anyone struggling in the dark. She decided to risk shedding a bit of light into the hold so that Ischarus could find her. She reached into her pocket and removed a match. With a single strike, she caused the match to flare up in flame. She could hear Ischarus chuckle, and then whisper. “I’ll need a bit more light than a match, Rhema.” Rhema was now beginning to doubt his voice. He should have known that she could see in the dark. She smiled and focused her thoughts on the flame before it burned the whole way down to the end. The flame increased in size until it rivaled the size of a flame dancing upon the end of a torch. Rhema heard a bit of movement from the direction of Ischarus’ voice. She used her mind control to cause the flame to leave the match and float through the air in the direction of the noise. As soon as the flame moved, she saw Ischarus’ head pop around one of the crates in the ship’s hold. There could be no doubt that it was her husband. Out of excitement, Rhema forgot about the flame as soon as she saw Ischarus’ head. Since the flame had been feeding off of her mental energy and not the wood of the match, it winked out of existence as soon as Rhema stopped focusing on the flame. The hold of the ship was bathed in complete darkness once again. Ischarus stopped short and whispered once more. “Rhema, I need light to come to you.” Rhema walked cautiously towards Ischarus, trying to make as little noise as possible. “True. But I don’t need it to find you. Stay put.” Within seconds Rhema had met up with Ischarus. Ischarus received her into his arms as she reached him. After they hugged for several seconds, Rhema pulled back and slipped a gold ring into his right palm. She gave him a simple piece of advice. “Put this on and think about Brandt’s office.” Ischarus didn’t need any more help than that. He slipped the ring on and gave it a twist. Rhema watched his gray form vanish and gave her own ring a twist. In a matter of seconds the party was once more reunited in the temple of Reah. Ischarus stood with his hands over his eyes. After several hours in the darkness of the ship’s hull, his eyes couldn’t take the brilliance of Brandt’s office. Brandt smiled. “Well done. I doubt they even knew that you were there in that short of time.” Ischarus smiled. “Well, I’m just glad that’s over. I wondered how long I was going to be in the hold of that ship. I didn’t want to leave, because I didn’t know if I would have to fight my way off.” Brandt motioned to the seating area in his office that was becoming like a second home to the party. “Care to sit down and tell me what you all learned?” The party wandered over to the chairs, but the truth was that they were tired after the activity of the day. Charis began to tell the tale. “Well, the truth is that we don’t know much. We know that there is going to be an attempt on Lord Ironblood’s life tomorrow.” Brandt looked to Charis. “That’s all that you learned?” Charis continued, noting that Ischarus was still a little overcome with the experience. “Yeah. We confirmed a bunch of things that we had already guessed. And we learned that they really don’t know what happened to the wizard. And we know that it is the Yrraxeans that are behind the attempt. But as far as the immediate plan, all we know is that at some point tomorrow Allyssa is going to assassinate Lord Ironblood with an Ephistaemi dagger. Their hope is that the Ephistaemi are going to be blamed so that the Yrraxeans can come into power. But that part at the end we learned from the wizard.” Semeion shrugged. “Well, then, it seems like we don’t have much choice. We have to follow Lord Ironblood around tomorrow and hope we get lucky. We already fell for the Ephistaemi dagger rouse, and we fell for it hard. I’d expect the people of Tongra to do the same.” Rhema shook her head. “No, there is something else we can do. If we can convince Lord Ironblood to allow himself to be replaced with a doppelganger then we might be able to do a bit more.” Charis wrinkled her forehead as she tried to make sense of Rhema’s suggestion. “Doppleganger? But we don’t have access to that kind of resource, do we?” Rhema laughed. “Well, if you mean someone who can quite literally change their appearance flawlessly, then not that I am aware of. But we can use a little magic to make an effective disguise.” Brandt nodded. “I think that may be our best choice. If we can get Lord Ironblood and his people to agree to the plan, it is likely going to be our best chance at ensuring no harm comes to the lord. I’ll handle those details while you all prepare yourself for the morning.” [/Sblock] [/QUOTE]
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