Mega-Adventure Prologue--The Council and the Fellowship

[InVinoVeritas]

"The High Mage's name has been obscured from common knowledge to protect his descendants and disciples from the ill intent of dark forces seeking to weaken the spell, so it is known only to a chosen few. A threat, if it occurred, would result in a united elven front releasing a warning that should actually be believed. Until then, you can just go home and ignore this."

"Go home and waste away my gift with pointless trivialities? No, I think that is not for the best. I might do something else. But I certainly understand your position. It would be an extreme waste of time and effort for you to mobilize all our people over something so doubtful. Now, if some young wandering elf of no station or consequence were to try to find the Phoenix Shard--not out of some phantom threat, but on a soul-searching quest to understand his place and hone his skills--that would allow us all to continue to do what we are best at, no wasted time, no wasted worry on imaginative ramblings, yes?

Then again, it is supposed to be in the Desert of Fire. Perhaps I should just go home."

 

[Velmont]

Rinaldo asks Rayne. "If they don't want to listen to you, do you think the delegate that seems to resist to that idea would listen to Gundar. I was thinking we could prepare a question that would gives no reason to doubt of your story. A question like 'Will the Lichwyrm, also known as Vildaxaranthus, will become a serious threat to this world in the next decade?' Using a divination and asking that could help to convince them. Also, I was thinking we might cast an Augury to see if that would gives some result. But I don't know if all the protection and the wards in this sanctum would prevent Hogarth to cast such spell."

 

[ethandrul]

Hasin- Dwarver Ranger 1

Hasin approaches his friend Quozan- who is talking with Rayne


Well Met esteemed beaurocrat!
I am Hasin, a ranger from the fire lands. I respect that you are skilled in the way of sorcery, and talkin' to dead gods and such- but perhaps in your greatness you have missed the most effective form of divination... Talking.
You see, a large number of people in the desert live a nomadic lifestyle- and every day they stare up at the sky they see everything that happens- even 20 miles away! when caravans meet there might be 2 or 3 days of chatter before they continue on. Have you sent people to discuss matters with MY people? With Quozans people?
We may not know that some shard was taken from some hidden tomb- but we will know of
a band of hooded pilgrims headed toward an ancient obilisk who shares water but does not share gossip.
So basically- why not send a few of us home to ask around?

 

[jaker2003]

"The histories don't speak to the exact identity of all the treasure, but there was a large empty treasure room there," Rayne confirms, "It included a pedestal that, by its inscriptions, was certainly the one that held the shard."

Jace presses on, So, once the council ends and you have people commited to this cause, what shall we do other than throw ourselves at the dragon-lich in an attempt to slow him?

OOC: Hasin, I'm talking with Rayne, Quozen is talking to the pointy-eared *SS from Rivenblight or something like that.

 

[ethandrul]

Jace presses on, So, once the council ends and you have people commited to this cause, what shall we do other than throw ourselves at the dragon-lich in an attempt to slow him?

OOC: Hasin, I'm talking with Rayne, Quozen is talking to the pointy-eared *SS from Rivenblight or something like that.

oops- got you guys confused there

 

[Bison]

Droggle rouses himself from a slumber on the bench he until recently shared with his cousin Hasin. All this talk about shards, and dragons, and liches and the end of the world, was fascinating at first, but Droggle has no experiences, education, or intelligence to offer in the planning, and most of the conversations seem to just pass by his ears.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Go home and waste away my gift with pointless trivialities? No, I think that is not for the best. I might do something else. But I certainly understand your position. It would be an extreme waste of time and effort for you to mobilize all our people over something so doubtful. Now, if some young wandering elf of no station or consequence were to try to find the Phoenix Shard--not out of some phantom threat, but on a soul-searching quest to understand his place and hone his skills--that would allow us all to continue to do what we are best at, no wasted time, no wasted worry on imaginative ramblings, yes?

Then again, it is supposed to be in the Desert of Fire. Perhaps I should just go home."

"You can go look for it if you want, but you see, that would be trusting where the mongrel claims it should be. And that would truly be a waste of your time. So go relax, find a nice girl or curl up with a good book. As for me, I'm going to go see why they haven't started up yet again. Seriously. Even if I was for this insanity I would think it was a bad idea to pause this long without continuing."

 

[Rystil Arden]

"If they don't want to listen to you, do you think the delegate that seems to resist to that idea would listen to Gundar. I was thinking we could prepare a question that would gives no reason to doubt of your story. A question like 'Will the Lichwyrm, also known as Vildaxaranthus, will become a serious threat to this world in the next decade?' Using a divination and asking that could help to convince them. Also, I was thinking we might cast an Augury to see if that would gives some result. But I don't know if all the protection and the wards in this sanctum would prevent Hogarth to cast such spell."

"I've tried that one. The answer is going to be 'Maybe' or 'Unclear', I'm afraid."

Well Met esteemed beaurocrat!
I am Hasin, a ranger from the fire lands. I respect that you are skilled in the way of sorcery, and talkin' to dead gods and such- but perhaps in your greatness you have missed the most effective form of divination... Talking.
You see, a large number of people in the desert live a nomadic lifestyle- and every day they stare up at the sky they see everything that happens- even 20 miles away! when caravans meet there might be 2 or 3 days of chatter before they continue on. Have you sent people to discuss matters with MY people? With Quozans people?
We may not know that some shard was taken from some hidden tomb- but we will know of
a band of hooded pilgrims headed toward an ancient obilisk who shares water but does not share gossip.
So basically- why not send a few of us home to ask around?

"Bureaucrat?" Rayne laughs, "By the stars, may I never become one! I did talk to the local people, and they mentioned meeting some people, but the descriptions were extremely vague, and at least a few of the people described turned out to be corpses within the ruins complex--in fact, there were a bunch of corpses from around the same time that the Phoenix Shard was lost, and far more that the people hadn't seen than that they had."

 

[Velmont]

"I was thinking more of a divination then a commune with Gundar. He doesn't answers with a simple yes or no, but rather with a Riddle, like the one who has brought me to you in the first time." explains Rinaldo.

"And while I think of it, why is Earling not represented?"

 

[Rystil Arden]

*Headmaster Umbryn Albion raps his staff on the ground three more times.*

"Hrrm? Hmm...oh yes. We must assemble again. Hmm, it is time to continue at last, hrrm? But we shall do so in an orderly fashion, yes?"

"Rayne Liore...hmmm....explain the proof of your claims, hrrm?"

"Yes Headmaster," Rayne agrees, "I have cast numerous Divinations, including Contact Other Plane, that have informed me that the Lichwyrm's cult has achieved more power and come closer to waking him now than ever before. Though the future is not yet clear, as it is what we will make of it today, the gods see at least one future where Orussus and Fallon are in ruins, the whole Silverwood engulfed in flames. Furthermore, I went on an expedition into the depths of the Lands of Fire, and I found the original resting place of the Phoenix Shard, but it was gone, stolen from its pedestal. My lords, since as I said the shard itself was stolen, I don't know if any harder evidence could exist than what I have said. If you do not trust me to perform any of the verifications I mention, then I will be happy to give you the details to independently verify their truth."

"Very well. Each delegate will make an initial response, in turn. We will proceed clockwise starting then with...Monemvassia."

*Frump gives a slight grimace and looks around at all the other representatives, then gulps slightly before beginning.*

"I...err...we...err..." he straightens his robes, "The esteemed people of Monemvassia are not convinced by this evidence..." he begins, but then quickly adds as he feels many eyes on him, "But neither are we completely inclined...to disbelieve. We await...further revelations. Yes...that's it. Uhh, thank you? Is there any food here?"

"Rivenblight."

"Thank you. Fellow representatives, there is no danger such as this creature speaks. For milennia, the elves have held the evil in check that this mongrel wishes to credit to the Medibarians, and it is clear that all of her so-called 'evidence' is a matter of fabrication. She offers no proof for your eyes but an illusion, a lie weaved of magic. She proclaims this far-away tomb because she knows that no nation that cares for its people would waste the effort, time, and lives to send people all the way through that dangerous land to check her facts. And since her statements are false, that begs the question: Why? Why go to all this trouble then to organise the Council? She will tell you that she wants to protect you, but since you are, in fact, safe, it can't be that. So think. She told you a story about seven shards. The first one would start the Lichwyrm's Awakening but was not sufficient to completely free him from his bonds. Clearly she was going to ask you to help her gather the shards. Now, when the shards are all safe and the Lichwyrm is in no danger of breaking free, who would be the only person who would have it in their interest to recover the shards and 'protect' them herself? Why, a cultist of the very Lichwyrm, of course! In helping this monster, you would be causing the very apocalypse her flimsy velvet lies seek to convince you that you are preventing. That is all," he sits back down.

"Orussus."

(OOC: Rinaldo speaks here)