[Planescape] Coils Within Coils

[Shoel Sweeny]

Ronthias grimaces at Halidon's words. "You speak of knowledge and history, child, but these things mean little to the Trancendent Order. Return your thoughts to the now, to the here. Clear your mind of the distractions of what you think you know."

The master takes a strip of silk from his belt and ties it around Halidon's eyes. "Let us try and take a lesson from poor Vash, shall we?" Once the blindfold is ready, Ronthis steps back. "Take up your blade, Halidon. Feel the Cadence of the Planes. Let your pluse beat in time with it." As he speaks, Ronthias gently spins Halidon around. "There is no randomness, only the densely weaved tapestry of a pattern we do not see. Let your body and sword flow through this pattern, to find the point at which it should be."

Ronthias steps back to the entrance of the room, letting the boy continue to revolve slowly. After a few moments, Halidon comes to a rest, his sword pointed confidently at one of the greenish words scrawled onto the wall. Ronthias looks up at Rhys. "If my intuition was correct, this shall give us a strong current of guidance."

Rhys looks down at the old man. "And if not?", she asks.

The master grins up at his former student. "Heh, well, then we'll try something else."

The blade comes to settle at a rune which shines fierce green and reads

Katandach

 

[Dog Moon]

Saelya pauses for only a moment to consider the exchange rate between one hundred thousand coppers and gold and decides that the standard fare is more benefical. She shakes her head at the painting, "I'll take the gold," she says as she steps up to the portal entrance and enters properly.

 

[ByteRynn]

"Katandach...So master, what do you feel is our next course of action?"

 

[nonamazing]

"Katandach..."

Ronthias rubs his beard gently. "Hmm...is it the name of a place? Or is it the name of an entity, perhaps one somehow connected to this lost god?"

"Hrumph! Loathe as I am to admit it, we must seek out help, young Halidon. A scholar or sage who may recognize this name."

Ronthias turns back to his pupil and grins. "Luckily, Halidon, I believe I know where such a sage may be found. There's a little restaurant not far from the Hall of Speakers where I may still have a contact or two."

The master turns and bows to Rhys. "Lady Rhys, I'll report back to you the moment we learn anything of significance. Come, Halidon! From here we make our way to The Imaginary Meal!" With these words, Ronthias sweeps out of the room.

 

[Kafkonia]

Aki watches Saelya head for the portal, then turns to the bauir.

"Ay, I'll take the painting if you don't mind," he says. "Always did fancy myself a right connoisseur."

With his newly-won artwork, he then goes through the portal after Saelya.

 

[Shayuri]

Despite her schooling, an expression of relief briefly crosses Mei Ying's face on entering the Imaginary Meal. This was, despite its strangeness, a far more congenial atmosphere where the differences were wondrous and worthy of exploring rather than hideous and threatening. When her name is called, she turns and nods to acknowledge the accosting, then makes her way across the strange tavern to the place Durnquist had set for her.

With an understated smile, she says in her mellifluous voice, "Thank you for seeing me. Your foresight and wisdom in providing a guide were invaluable. I confess, I underestimated this...place, and it's confusions. I am Mei Ying, a follower of the Mind's Eye." Even seated, she manages a bow.

 

[ByteRynn]

I suspected we'd need help...

After Ronthias turns his back, Halidon allows himself a small smile

"Coming master..."

 

[Shoel Sweeny]

"I could not fathom to decline an invitation from so exquisite and gracious a Lady." He bows his head in a moment of genuflection before smiling broadly, his gaze flicking impartially over whatever is bound to the table. Whatever it was probably deserved its fate, one did not cross the King of the Crossroads.

Climbing up beside the arcanaloth, he resides upon the platform for a moment of silence.

[sblock]OOC: Crosstrade, it's a cant term which refers to illicit and or illegal acts. Blackmail, theivery, espionage, all are acts of "the Crosstrade". You can look up this and other Cant here [/sblock]

The smell of rouge and brimstone is slightly stonger atop the table, so you don't entirely blame The Marauder for the *Ahem* she gives her mooks, causing them to scurry from the table top as Colook gently sets down her mirror and moves to his mistresses side, placing two careful fingers against Shemeska's muzzle, presumably where her nostrils lie. The tables contents are massive and writhing under a black thatch shawl, large enough to spill over slightly even its thirty by twenty foot wide expanse. Without so much as a "watch this" Shemeska waves at her toadies, signaling them to reach up and take one end of the shawl and throw it upon the floor.

The scent which had maintained only a presence before blossoms out from under the cover like a high tide on low coast. The stench is sulfur, choleric, and lust sweat; and it comes from the creature held under restraints upon the huge table. The things is relatively human shaped with two legs, two arms and a head, but that's where the resembelance ends. Its head is earless, wide, thick, and neckless with warts and calusses in swaths across its temples, chin, and brow like a great swollen toad. It complection is a swirl of plauge flesh pink and green but muddy yellow where its thick coating of rouge is worn away. The eyes are sharp yellow and slitted like a reptiles, and its grossly obesse body (wider then it is tall) is constricted inside a black leather dress stretched tight as a Carcerian baloon.* It's arms are long and powerfully muscled, but the fingertips are raw and bleeding from recent wounds and a newly aquired lack of fingernails. Where its legs should be are desiccated stumps, lastly a thick strip of leather marked with eldritch runes is tied around its bloated head and constricts its mouth. With the grace of true showmanship the prima donna fiend gingerly descends the ladder onto the table top, careful not to touch her captive. Colook follows after her, somehow managing to cover her nose as they move.

"This my dear binder is Julecaoth. What exactly "is" Julecatoh? Well your guess is as good as mine. We found it, and trust me when I say it, you don't want to examine "its" gender, wandering outside of the Wasting Tower in Kihn Oin. It sprang forth fully formed from the waste like a hordling, accosted a number of us and attempted to provoke a battle, even slaying number of fools and idiots who were attempting its capture. According to our divinitations the thing has no origion, no hisotry, and no idea what it is other then its name. Julecaoth has a vast intellect for a non-yugoloth and a powerful will for the malicious certainly, but no idea of its own origion. We believe it has been affected by amnesia or is a cruel joke of Hades itself, but we have had no success in putting it into the right state of mind to torture knowldedge from its deplorable head. I was close to giving up hope and simply cutting the ugly brutes throat and casting speak with dead, but then I noticed this-"

A tiefling that remained on the table top moves to the captives chest and peels away a strip of leather from the captive, the ugly yellow flesh is painted in puckered in signs and runes you immeadiately recognize as the eldrictch language of binders.

"Certainly you can imagine my pleasure at finding a piece of the puzzle so obviously linked to your kind. I want you to tell me what you know about those symbolys, name any price you'd like"

[sblock]OOC: Knowledge: Arcana or Knowledge: The Planes should work. Think of the symbolys like Druidic in that someone could have a huge Knowledge nature score but still not know druidic. Shemeska has more knowledge about the planes then any thousand scholars in existence, but binder language is unique to binders only.[/sblock]

 

[Ferrix]

Magnus - Somewhere with Shemeska

Magnus' nostrils flare at the impertinent stench, by sheer force of will he forces aside the distraction and focuses upon the creature laid out upon the table. Intriguing. He will climb down from the podium and step onto the table to get a better look at the runes, each step measured to ensure he does not come into contact with this "Julecaoth".

[sblock=OOC]Knowledge: Arcana +9, Knowledge: The Planes +9; To decipher the script and additionally to see if he recalls anything about the name Julecaoth in relation to vestiges and binder lore.[/sblock]

 

[Shoel Sweeny]

Saelya pauses for only a moment to consider the exchange rate between one hundred thousand coppers and gold and decides that the standard fare is more benefical. She shakes her head at the painting, "I'll take the gold," she says as she steps up to the portal entrance and enters properly.

Aki watches Saelya head for the portal, then turns to the bauir.

"Ay, I'll take the painting if you don't mind," he says. "Always did fancy myself a right connoisseur."

With his newly-won artwork, he then goes through the portal after Saelya.

The portal closes behind Aki with a zwoosh, neatly depositing the remaining members of the expidition after the two. The primewalkres guild HQ are located in a squat mud colored adobe on the edge of the lower ward, and it says alot for the fortuitous luck of the new guild that the location of their third job sits right on the edge of their Sigil location. The night is smoky, hazy, and completely invisible from your arrival point from Prophayats as the portal places the waery explorers into a small broom closet. The interior of the guildhouse, after you remove yourself from the closet, is much similar to the outside as the guild has done little to establish itself within Sigil. A few bark and wool couches decorate the lobby, and the meeting hall is little more then a large room with a mundane podium at the north end.

After all are accounted for the guildmaster of the City of Doors chapter of the Primewalkers leans into the podium, and in a hoarse dull accent offers a small and tedious speech for the noble sacrifice of those primewalkers who had sacrificed themselves in the name of discovery (which isn't exactly true, only one of the devoured bunch could actually be called plucky, three were in it for the money and another was only there to impress a certain fae-touched, but as usual these facts escape the esteeemed audience) After a touching and almost (emphasis on the almost) tear-felt moment the guildmaster asks all explorers be they members in good standing or not, and believe you me the guild is looking for all the new members in good standing they can aquire, to attend a party in honor of the guilds Sigil Chapters real first success that's being hosted in "The Imaginary Meal" by one Victor Trollusk. Free meals and mead are are a matter of course.

Those wishing to immeadiately vacate the presence of their esteemed colleagues may of course recieve their payment with the receptionist in the Lobby, and then are free to do as they choose.

[sblock]OOC:Feel free to do whatever you like in Sigil, it won't be long till the action starts. If you have any questions about what there is to do in the city feel free to ask. The grand bazaar would be a great place to spend coin or sell goods, if one finds oneself inclined.[/sblock]