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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tellerian Hawke" data-source="post: 7461706" data-attributes="member: 6790669">Dame Clare Makes Contact With RespenDuring the last month of the party's downtime, Respen receives a mental message from Dame Clare.[sblock=Dame Clare's Mental Message to Respen]"I have been working on a spell lately, which has consumed much of my time. That is the reason I have been out of contact. I noticed that you are in a location that cannot be scried by normal means, so I invoked the power of the Orb; your hostess, Lady Abigail, is quite impressive. She must be ancient indeed, to be so beautiful. The humanoid forms of metallic Dragons get more comely with age, and judging by her angelic appearance, I would surmise that she is no younger than 2,000 years in age. Take my advice, learn all that you can from her, she is a powerful ally to have. And do not tell her than I am able to fully scry her domicile through my connection with you; she might not take too kindly to that knowledge. She knows of the Orb, but it is probable that she does not know the extent of its powers, else she would have banished you from her tower."Dame Clare pauses briefly, before continuing: "Things in Shalistaurimon are heating up. We've had an incursion by the Illithids recently, which resulted in one of the High Daughters of Lolth being taken captive by them. The fiends are demanding either a million pieces of gold, or a thousand male Drow slaves, for her safe return. I suspect that no Drow male who is not an only child will be safe from the Dark Sisterhood; they are loathe to part with wealth, but they will gladly give up expendable resources on behalf of a sister."Dame Clare chuckles lightly, before moving on to the next subject: "Serindak is in trouble. He sent me a mental message about a week ago; he is helping me find an item of extreme importance, which I must have at ALL costs. All of my plans hinge on finding it. It is an artifact known as the Helm of Selreen. Serindak went to seek the aid of a Sphinx known far and wide as Khubsheth The Prophet, hoping he might know something about where the helm could be or about who could have it. Khubsheth attacked him, forcing him into gaseous form. Serindak slipped past the Sphinx, and discovered that the statue that he rests in front of conceals a hidden passage, which leads to some sort of tomb. Serindak decided to explore the tomb, in hopes of finding something there that might be useful. The last mental message that Serindak sent to me was that he no longer cared to seek Khubsheth's advice, when he could have the counsel of the Dark Queen. Then, I suddenly lost contact with my childe, and have not heard from him since. I can feel that his essence still exists, that he has not been destroyed, but also that he is no longer on the web of blood, i.e., I can no longer feel his thoughts, nor his blood connection. It's as if he no longer has a physical form. I am not sure what to make of that, except that it cannot mean anything good."Dame Clare pauses again, before finally coming to her point: "I know that Abigail wants you to return to the Steading, and destroy Brunk and the other minions of her rival, and to find the Key of Krigala for her, but finding the Helm of Selreen is a far more important task, one that cannot be put aside. I would like for you to seek out this Khubsheth, and find out what happened to Serindak. I doubt he would attack one so amiable as you. I think Serindak probably fell victim to the prejudice borne of his eight-legged form. In that regard, I would surmise that you could succeed where he failed. The priority is to discover whether or not Khubsheth knows anything about the Helm of Selreen. If he does not, then your second priority should be to ask him about the tomb below the statue, and inquire as to what fate Serindak might have met by venturing into that place. The Perch of Khubsheth is at the base of a large, sandstone statue, in the Kingdom of Ull, in the hills just south of Kester. The statue is a remnant of a fallen kingdom; it is a depiction of the Sphinx Queen, Ankharet. I suspect that she might be the Dark Queen that Serindak was referring to, which probably means that she is some form of powerful undead being. Finding Serindak will be a dangerous undertaking, but it must be done, because Serindak is too important for me to simply abandon him. YOU MUST DO THIS FOR ME. You will be generously rewarded if you succeed; your party is now large enough that a few of you could split off to do my errand, while the others return to the Steading. Or perhaps you could talk all of them into helping you. Those matters, I will leave to your clever little mind."Dame Clare continues, giving Respen more relevant information: "I have been scrying the Steading. There are a few things you should take note of. The Orcs were non-plussed to find most of the inhabitants dead upon their arrival. The entire force has left the canyon, and is heading Southeast, into the Stark Mounds, where there are known to be large tribes of Hobgoblins. My guess is that the Orcs are less of an attack force, and more of a recruitment force. They are carrying extra weapons and armor, which they could no doubt give as gifts to potential allies, and there are many expert soldiers among the Orcs who could train potential allies in the areas of weapon use and battlefield tactics. They're laying the groundwork for something big, and the Giants were only a small part of their overall plan."Dame Clare's tone becomes more serious as she moves on to the next topic: "The three Drow Clerics in the Steading are gearing up for some major rituals. They are preparing to resurrect Delliak, Darris, Nosnra, and Kraven, along with three of the Hill Giant Commanders, but not in their original forms; having failed Lolth, they will likely all return to life as giant-sized Driders. They are also casting many divinations, and asking a lot of questions about the Lady of the Hool, which I believe to be a very old Black Dragon, from the way they talk about her. I'm not sure what they want with a Dragon, but it cannot be good for your newfound allies. YOU SHOULD USE THIS INFORMATION TO GAIN THE SUPPORT OF YOUR FRIENDS. Tell them that these rituals will require a lot of prep time, and that I will aid you in their defeat, if you will do this thing for me FIRST. And like I said before, all of you don't have to go; but some of you must. YOU YOURSELF MUST GO, FOR SURE. It would be wise for ALL of you to go, although I doubt that all of them would agree to act in my service. I must return to my spell now, but I will contact you later. Act in haste, my little Elfling, and do NOT fail me."[/sblock]RESPEN: What do you do?</blockquote>

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