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<blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 4632677" data-attributes="member: 2323"><p><strong>[PLAIN][Realms #462] Elsewhere on the Astral Plane[/PLAIN]</strong></p><p></p><p>"So, we're on an Astral Plane... or is it THE Astral Plane?" Morier asked, surveying their surroundings such as they were. It didn't take long. "I don't mean this to be as ignorant as it probably sounds, but are there... things here?" He regarded his companions hoping for some clarification. Noxin just shrugged</p><p></p><p>"Don't look at me!" the half-giant said, letting out a bewildered chuckle. "Hey, I heard there IS an Astral Plane... but that's about it. I never took no interest in it. I don't think this place has much treasure, after all."</p><p></p><p>"Not as such, no," Saelus said and scanned around, and when he did so the other two saw that his eyes had taken on a bright, emerald green color and his complexion had changed as well. It now had a pale, greenish tint dotted with sandy freckles. His hair, it seemed, had become even darker, being the brown of freshly-turned earth. But where it had previously hung lank, it now seemed much more vibrant and healthy. His mustache, too, just seemed to stand so much stronger, nearly shrouding his mouth entirely with its lush growth. He sighed expansively and the fronds waved in the breeze. [1]</p><p></p><p>"I should have payed more attention to the planar classes when my teacher was talking," he admitted. "I was always more interested in alternative summonings, like our <em>Sandstorm</em> cover. Morier? Any idea which way to go now?" He looked back at his companions and smiled at their curious expressions. "What are you two staring at?" he asked, bewildered and for a moment neither man answered him.</p><p></p><p>"Nothin', Colonel," Noxin said at last. "You just look kinda... green in this weird light is all." Saelus nodded and gestured widely to take in the whole of the plane.</p><p></p><p>"Yes. Well this place will take some getting used to," he agreed before turning his attention back to Morier. "But as I was saying, does your connection tell you where to finish this tale, Morier?"</p><p></p><p>Morier carefully took inventory of himself and heard an echo of a voice - "I am with you" - coming from somewhere deep within, but the constant presence of the Pull was gone. For the first time in moonsdances he had no idea which way to go.</p><p></p><p>"No," he admitted, his eyes drifting around in their sockets looking for something... anything... to give him an indication of which way to proceed. But he saw nothing save his allies, two virtual strangers to him. Rather lamely he said, "I guess checking out our immediate surroundings would be the first order of business then..."</p><p></p><p>"I think I see a rock floating over there," Saelus said, pointing. "Let's get to that, regroup, take inventory, and see where we will go after that."</p><p></p><p>"Well, it seems as good a plan as any," Noxin said, anxious to put something solid beneath his feet.</p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>The rock turned out to be quite little indeed, with just enough space on a single side for the three companions to sit or stand without pressing against one another. It was generally ovoid in shape, flattened on two opposing sides and jagged around the circumference, as if it were a piece punched out of a larger wall of stone. It was fairly close, though far enough away to determine that Saelus was the fastest flier amongst them. Morier did not lag far behind, but Noxin could only muster a speed half what the war-wizard could. He seemed made of lead.</p><p></p><p>Still they all made it to the drifting bit of stone, and settled onto it gratefully. They sat in silence for a time, each man taking inventory of himself and his place in the current situation. Presently, Noxin took up a position as guard, hammer at the ready in two huge hands as he stared off into the silver void, happy to have something to do. Saelus, occupied himself examining the depleted Unity sword, having scooped up the sabre before the demiplane collapsed and deposited them on the Astral. Morier sat and looked sadly at the scrap of paper on which Huzair had scrawled his last words. After a time, he picked up his dead friend's <em>Haversack</em> and opened the polished brass clasps.</p><p></p><p>"I would like to take possesion of the mage's spellbook," Saelus said at once and Morier glowered at him. "Not to be greedy, you understand. But I need some spells out of it, and Huzair and I did discuss giving each other access to our spell repertoires."</p><p></p><p>"Huzair's ashes haven't even hit the ground yet, Colonel," the albino spat, color rising unnaturally to his cheeks. The intensity of his glare made Saelus blink.</p><p></p><p>"I am willing to give it back to the party afterwards if that is what you all want..." he placated. Noxin huffed.</p><p></p><p>"It don't matter to me," the half-giant said over his broad shoulder. "Unless it's a book o' treasure maps I ain't all that interested."</p><p></p><p>Morier's face softened and he sighed and held up a hand. "Just... Just give me a moment to look through the bag. Okay?" Saelus nodded and gave the eldritch warrior the time and space to do so.</p><p></p><p>After a time that may have been a minute or an hour - it was difficult to judge - Morier called to the mage.</p><p></p><p>"There's two books in here," he said and produced a pair of traveling spellbooks. One was bound in black leather and adorned with silver studs. The other was green and cut in a maple leaf design favored by elves. "One of them's Huzair's original, but the other I think, belonged to a friend of Shamalin's. Huzair was working out the spells in it. I'll let you have your choice of one."</p><p></p><p>Saelus took one and Morier returned the other to the traveling bag with a surprisingly heavy heart. He laughed sardonically at that thought and pressed his hand against the gemstone half-embedded in his chest.</p><p></p><p>"What's so funny?" Noxin asked, grinning but Morier shook his head.</p><p></p><p>"Nothing," he said and got to his feet. His face was once more serious as he began, "Okay. Now that we have the heart, we need to reunite it with the body. Which, you will remember, had been 'cast into the void'."</p><p></p><p>"Remember?" Noxin snorted, his own smile gone. "Seems to me, I'd have to know it first to remember it, wouldn't I? You've been playin' things pretty close to the vest, so far, Morier."</p><p></p><p>The albino looked up at him, appraisingly and nodded. "That was not entirely by design, Noxin," he said and fished a small scroll from his belt pouch. "I am not the most trusting of men, I'll admit, but we've not had a lot of downtime since we first met either. A single evening is not enough time to grasp the whole of our quest."</p><p></p><p>"We seem to have some time now," Saelus suggested, gesturing once more to indicate the entirety of the Astral Plane.</p><p></p><p>"I agree. And here's the important information about our current path," Morier began, unfurling the scroll and reading what he'd written there. "Aphyx ripped Dridana's heart from her chest and imprisoned its essence inside a gemstone of immense size... Her body, the goddess of filth cast into the void where it drifts still... Once the heart is reunited with the body, the Fruitful One will be reborn. And great and terrible shall be her wrath."</p><p></p><p>There was silence for a time after that as Noxin and Saelus pondered this information. At last the barbarian shrugged.</p><p></p><p>"I wonder if her wrath will be towards those who put her back together?" he considered, his brow furrowed as he thought.</p><p></p><p>"I would suspect not," Morier said. Then his face darkened a bit and he added, "But nothing would really surprise me."</p><p></p><p>"So, we are looking for a great floating corpse of the Goddess Dridana?" Noxin observed, looking around as if it might be drifting by at that very moment. It wasn't.</p><p></p><p>"Yes," Morier told him. "Unfortunately, I've been relieved of the Pull that guided me this far, so we really just have to fumble our way into information. Unless anybody sees a road sign pointing the way." He smiled at that and Noxin returned the grin.</p><p></p><p>"Ah, but information is where i come into the picture," Saelus said, holding up one thin finger and tapping the side of his head. "I have a great ear for listening in on details about what we are trying to find."</p><p></p><p>"Well, I am pretty well known in my tribe as a treasure seeker, and finder of clues... and... stuff... too," Noxin frowned as his assertion lost momentum. He looked away.</p><p></p><p>"So, where Noxin has a detailed eye for oddities, I have the ear for it," Saelus said, utterly oblivious to the fact that the half-giant was exaggerating his own abilities. The wizard smiled. "We complement each other that way. It seems good to me."</p><p></p><p>"Even so, we are sorely undermanned right now, especially when you consider what the cost in lives has been in getting us this far," Morier reminded. "We've no healer among us, and while the three of us may well swing hefty swords, we are fighting some serious evil, and we're going to need help. The sad fact is that everyone I have met since I left Hillville Junction is either dead or can't seem to reconcile themselves with being here doing what we're doing. Somehow or another, we have been provided for every step of the way. Balance has been assured by replacing each departure with a new arrival, but I can't possibly presume to know how long that's going to last. And looking about the ground we're standing on right now, I don't expect a lot of help to come walking up to us prepared to join our fight."</p><p></p><p>"That does seem unlikely," Saelus observed, peering once more into the distance.</p><p></p><p>Noxin pointed at Morier's chest and bluntly asked, "That thing give you any abilities?" Morier took a step backward and nearly went over the side of their little island. His hand immediately went to the spot where the gem protruded from his sternum.</p><p></p><p>"What?" he stammered. "I don't-"</p><p></p><p>"Come on, Morier! You think we can't see it?" Noxin laughed. "All I'm sayin' is, I know your group carried those swords around for a while an' never figured to fuse 'em together... Maybe this gem gives you an ability as well." He shrugged. "Huzair talked to me about his trip to the Astral Plane. He said he tricked people into thinking he was more powerful then he was. Maybe you could do the same... That gem, in your chest, maybe it will alter other folk's perception of you. You know, if they use the Weave to try and tell things about you. That'd be somethin' at least." Morier considered the barbarian's words, his hand still pressed to his chest.</p><p></p><p>"Maybe," he admitted at last. "But Huzair was a far more powerful wizard than any of us really gave him credit for. And you can't either discount the fact that he might have been the best con artist there ever was. So his experiences here may prove to be far different from ours... In fact what he told us of his experiences here may have been far different from reality too."</p><p></p><p>"Well, you knew him better than me," Noxin said. "But we should get movin' on... to somethin'. Sittin' in this void ain't my idea of fun."</p><p></p><p>--------------------</p><p></p><p>[1] Saelus received the half-plant template found in Green Ronin's <em>Advanced Bestiary</em> from his experiences on the demiplane imprisoning Dridana's essence. Noxin had the same opportunity but his player declined.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jon Potter, post: 4632677, member: 2323"] [b][PLAIN][Realms #462] Elsewhere on the Astral Plane[/PLAIN][/b] "So, we're on an Astral Plane... or is it THE Astral Plane?" Morier asked, surveying their surroundings such as they were. It didn't take long. "I don't mean this to be as ignorant as it probably sounds, but are there... things here?" He regarded his companions hoping for some clarification. Noxin just shrugged "Don't look at me!" the half-giant said, letting out a bewildered chuckle. "Hey, I heard there IS an Astral Plane... but that's about it. I never took no interest in it. I don't think this place has much treasure, after all." "Not as such, no," Saelus said and scanned around, and when he did so the other two saw that his eyes had taken on a bright, emerald green color and his complexion had changed as well. It now had a pale, greenish tint dotted with sandy freckles. His hair, it seemed, had become even darker, being the brown of freshly-turned earth. But where it had previously hung lank, it now seemed much more vibrant and healthy. His mustache, too, just seemed to stand so much stronger, nearly shrouding his mouth entirely with its lush growth. He sighed expansively and the fronds waved in the breeze. [1] "I should have payed more attention to the planar classes when my teacher was talking," he admitted. "I was always more interested in alternative summonings, like our [i]Sandstorm[/i] cover. Morier? Any idea which way to go now?" He looked back at his companions and smiled at their curious expressions. "What are you two staring at?" he asked, bewildered and for a moment neither man answered him. "Nothin', Colonel," Noxin said at last. "You just look kinda... green in this weird light is all." Saelus nodded and gestured widely to take in the whole of the plane. "Yes. Well this place will take some getting used to," he agreed before turning his attention back to Morier. "But as I was saying, does your connection tell you where to finish this tale, Morier?" Morier carefully took inventory of himself and heard an echo of a voice - "I am with you" - coming from somewhere deep within, but the constant presence of the Pull was gone. For the first time in moonsdances he had no idea which way to go. "No," he admitted, his eyes drifting around in their sockets looking for something... anything... to give him an indication of which way to proceed. But he saw nothing save his allies, two virtual strangers to him. Rather lamely he said, "I guess checking out our immediate surroundings would be the first order of business then..." "I think I see a rock floating over there," Saelus said, pointing. "Let's get to that, regroup, take inventory, and see where we will go after that." "Well, it seems as good a plan as any," Noxin said, anxious to put something solid beneath his feet. The rock turned out to be quite little indeed, with just enough space on a single side for the three companions to sit or stand without pressing against one another. It was generally ovoid in shape, flattened on two opposing sides and jagged around the circumference, as if it were a piece punched out of a larger wall of stone. It was fairly close, though far enough away to determine that Saelus was the fastest flier amongst them. Morier did not lag far behind, but Noxin could only muster a speed half what the war-wizard could. He seemed made of lead. Still they all made it to the drifting bit of stone, and settled onto it gratefully. They sat in silence for a time, each man taking inventory of himself and his place in the current situation. Presently, Noxin took up a position as guard, hammer at the ready in two huge hands as he stared off into the silver void, happy to have something to do. Saelus, occupied himself examining the depleted Unity sword, having scooped up the sabre before the demiplane collapsed and deposited them on the Astral. Morier sat and looked sadly at the scrap of paper on which Huzair had scrawled his last words. After a time, he picked up his dead friend's [i]Haversack[/i] and opened the polished brass clasps. "I would like to take possesion of the mage's spellbook," Saelus said at once and Morier glowered at him. "Not to be greedy, you understand. But I need some spells out of it, and Huzair and I did discuss giving each other access to our spell repertoires." "Huzair's ashes haven't even hit the ground yet, Colonel," the albino spat, color rising unnaturally to his cheeks. The intensity of his glare made Saelus blink. "I am willing to give it back to the party afterwards if that is what you all want..." he placated. Noxin huffed. "It don't matter to me," the half-giant said over his broad shoulder. "Unless it's a book o' treasure maps I ain't all that interested." Morier's face softened and he sighed and held up a hand. "Just... Just give me a moment to look through the bag. Okay?" Saelus nodded and gave the eldritch warrior the time and space to do so. After a time that may have been a minute or an hour - it was difficult to judge - Morier called to the mage. "There's two books in here," he said and produced a pair of traveling spellbooks. One was bound in black leather and adorned with silver studs. The other was green and cut in a maple leaf design favored by elves. "One of them's Huzair's original, but the other I think, belonged to a friend of Shamalin's. Huzair was working out the spells in it. I'll let you have your choice of one." Saelus took one and Morier returned the other to the traveling bag with a surprisingly heavy heart. He laughed sardonically at that thought and pressed his hand against the gemstone half-embedded in his chest. "What's so funny?" Noxin asked, grinning but Morier shook his head. "Nothing," he said and got to his feet. His face was once more serious as he began, "Okay. Now that we have the heart, we need to reunite it with the body. Which, you will remember, had been 'cast into the void'." "Remember?" Noxin snorted, his own smile gone. "Seems to me, I'd have to know it first to remember it, wouldn't I? You've been playin' things pretty close to the vest, so far, Morier." The albino looked up at him, appraisingly and nodded. "That was not entirely by design, Noxin," he said and fished a small scroll from his belt pouch. "I am not the most trusting of men, I'll admit, but we've not had a lot of downtime since we first met either. A single evening is not enough time to grasp the whole of our quest." "We seem to have some time now," Saelus suggested, gesturing once more to indicate the entirety of the Astral Plane. "I agree. And here's the important information about our current path," Morier began, unfurling the scroll and reading what he'd written there. "Aphyx ripped Dridana's heart from her chest and imprisoned its essence inside a gemstone of immense size... Her body, the goddess of filth cast into the void where it drifts still... Once the heart is reunited with the body, the Fruitful One will be reborn. And great and terrible shall be her wrath." There was silence for a time after that as Noxin and Saelus pondered this information. At last the barbarian shrugged. "I wonder if her wrath will be towards those who put her back together?" he considered, his brow furrowed as he thought. "I would suspect not," Morier said. Then his face darkened a bit and he added, "But nothing would really surprise me." "So, we are looking for a great floating corpse of the Goddess Dridana?" Noxin observed, looking around as if it might be drifting by at that very moment. It wasn't. "Yes," Morier told him. "Unfortunately, I've been relieved of the Pull that guided me this far, so we really just have to fumble our way into information. Unless anybody sees a road sign pointing the way." He smiled at that and Noxin returned the grin. "Ah, but information is where i come into the picture," Saelus said, holding up one thin finger and tapping the side of his head. "I have a great ear for listening in on details about what we are trying to find." "Well, I am pretty well known in my tribe as a treasure seeker, and finder of clues... and... stuff... too," Noxin frowned as his assertion lost momentum. He looked away. "So, where Noxin has a detailed eye for oddities, I have the ear for it," Saelus said, utterly oblivious to the fact that the half-giant was exaggerating his own abilities. The wizard smiled. "We complement each other that way. It seems good to me." "Even so, we are sorely undermanned right now, especially when you consider what the cost in lives has been in getting us this far," Morier reminded. "We've no healer among us, and while the three of us may well swing hefty swords, we are fighting some serious evil, and we're going to need help. The sad fact is that everyone I have met since I left Hillville Junction is either dead or can't seem to reconcile themselves with being here doing what we're doing. Somehow or another, we have been provided for every step of the way. Balance has been assured by replacing each departure with a new arrival, but I can't possibly presume to know how long that's going to last. And looking about the ground we're standing on right now, I don't expect a lot of help to come walking up to us prepared to join our fight." "That does seem unlikely," Saelus observed, peering once more into the distance. Noxin pointed at Morier's chest and bluntly asked, "That thing give you any abilities?" Morier took a step backward and nearly went over the side of their little island. His hand immediately went to the spot where the gem protruded from his sternum. "What?" he stammered. "I don't-" "Come on, Morier! You think we can't see it?" Noxin laughed. "All I'm sayin' is, I know your group carried those swords around for a while an' never figured to fuse 'em together... Maybe this gem gives you an ability as well." He shrugged. "Huzair talked to me about his trip to the Astral Plane. He said he tricked people into thinking he was more powerful then he was. Maybe you could do the same... That gem, in your chest, maybe it will alter other folk's perception of you. You know, if they use the Weave to try and tell things about you. That'd be somethin' at least." Morier considered the barbarian's words, his hand still pressed to his chest. "Maybe," he admitted at last. "But Huzair was a far more powerful wizard than any of us really gave him credit for. And you can't either discount the fact that he might have been the best con artist there ever was. So his experiences here may prove to be far different from ours... In fact what he told us of his experiences here may have been far different from reality too." "Well, you knew him better than me," Noxin said. "But we should get movin' on... to somethin'. Sittin' in this void ain't my idea of fun." -------------------- [1] Saelus received the half-plant template found in Green Ronin's [i]Advanced Bestiary[/i] from his experiences on the demiplane imprisoning Dridana's essence. Noxin had the same opportunity but his player declined. [/QUOTE]
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