The Theocracy

[Insight]

Caul Vanchar smirks at the priest's death. "I suppose it's the lesser of two evils," he says, "Shazool eats the Priest of the ONE or eats one of us. Lucky for us Shazool had a priest handy for a snack."

Caul and Nathira skirt the edge of the room, staying well away from Shazool.

 

[fenixdown]

Van glances at the priest's body, then at the party's own cleric and back to Shazool. He opens his mouth to comment, but thinks better of it and says nothing.

option 2: "You gonna finish that?"

 

[WarlockLord]

"I WAS EXPECTING YOUR APPEARANCE. NO APOLOGIES ARE NECESSARY."

"I KNEW ABOUT THE ATTACKS. YES, ATTACKS PLURAL. ALL BASES OF THE RESISTANCE HAVE BEEN UTTERLY DESTROYED. HOWEVER, I DO HAVE A PLAN. IF MY PLAN IS SUCCESSFUL, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BANISH THE one FOR 10,000 YEARS: ENOUGH TIME TO WIPE OUT WHAT IS LEFT OF HIS FOLLOWERS. ARE YOU WITH ME?"

 

[Shayuri]

"What's the plan?" Ilshana wants to know, clearly impressed. "How do you banish a god?"

 

[Mista Collins]

The thought of a plan for destroying the one thing in this world that Hunter would go to any lengths to get rid of intrigues him. He listens to what Shazool has to say while trying to keep all thoughts out of his mind, knowing the Illithid's tendency to read the minds of those near him. Hunter has learned in a prior encounter with Shazool the punishment if he discovers some of this wilder thoughts.

 

[WarlockLord]

"I CANNOT REVEAL ALL OF THE PLAN IN HERE. FOLLOW ME." The caped aberration leads gestures towards an extradimensional pocket. You follow him in.

"I WILL PRESUME YOU KNOW THAT IN TIMES OF DIRE TROUBLE, THE PRIESTS OF THE one (descriptive adjective censored by DM) SUMMON AN ASPECT OF THEIR GOD TO AID THEM. THIS IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE. WHAT IS NOT SO WIDELY KNOWN IS THAT, WITH THE AID OF CERTAIN MAGICAL ITEMS, WHEN THIS ASPECT IS DEFEATED, THE DEITY IS BANISHED. THE ITEMS I SPEAK OF ARE ARTIFACTS, AND THERE CURRENTLY IS NO SITUATION OF DIRE TROUBLE. THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN"

"THE PROVINCE WE ARE IN -WELL, THE PROVINCE OUTSIDE THAT DOOR - HAS A LARGE STANDING ARMY. THE RULING CLASS HAS THE ABSLOUTE LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE, AND, UNDER MY INFLUENCE, THEY HAVE GROWN MORE HOSTILE TO THE THEOCRACY. THEY NEED A FINAL NUDGE WHICH I CANNOT GIVE THEM.

"THE RULER OF THIS PROVINCE, HIGH LORD MARCUS, HAS BEEN HAVING TROUBLE WITH A SMALL CULT OF ALIENIST SUMMONERS. HE HAS PROMISED LAND AND PEERAGE TO ANY WHO CAN RID THE LAND OF THESE 'VERMIN' (NO OFFENCE, ARAST). IF YOU CAN INGRATIATE YOURSELVES, YOU CAN BEGIN AN OPEN REBELLION.

"BY MY ESTIMATION, THEOCRACY FORCES ARE UNPREPARED FOR THIS EVENTUALITY -I HAVE CONSUMED MANY RESOURCES, PSIONIC AND MAGICAL, TO ENSURE THIS - AND WILL FALL QUICKLY. THIS WILL FORCE A COMMUNION. WE CAN DEFEAT THE FOUL ASPECT AND BRING ORDER TO THIS WORLD!!!! WHAT SAY YOU?"

Suddenly, you notice a clattering. The cleric you captured and brought along has an expression of horror on his face. With suddenly renewed willpower reserves, he runs for the door. Before you can react, there is a puff of smoke Mr. Cleric is stung by a winged, reddish, batlike creature and crumples.

"MEET MY FAMILIAR: CRAXTON!"

"Howdy," says the imp.

 

[Shayuri]

"Nice reflexes," Ilshana compliments the imp, then looks back at Shazool skeptically.

"Alright, so we deal with this cult, gain the cooperation of the lord and use that to start a rebellion. The priests summon their god...and what? You have everything you need already? You just do your mojo and bam, he's banished? What kind of artifacts are these?"

 

[Insight]

"I am intrigued with this plan of yours, Shazool," Caul says. "I have myself been attempting to sow seeds of dissent from within the aristocracy, to varying degrees of success. If what you say is true, we have little to gain acting on our own, so I believe the wisest course of action to be to infiltrate this summoner organization and enact Shazool's plan."

 

[WarlockLord]

"THESE SUMMONERS ARE NOT MANY, AND THEY DO NOT TRUST OUTSIDERS. THERE ARE ONLY THREE OF THEM."

"AS FOR YOUR QUESTIONS, ILSHANA, IT ISN'T JUST 'DO YOUR THING.' NO, THE ASPECT WILL HAVE TO BE DEFEATED IN COMBAT. AS FOR THE ARTIFACTS, THEY ARE NOT IN MY POSSESSION. THEY ARE

-A SWORD
-A CUP
-A KEY

I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO, BUT THEY ARE WHAT MY GOD CTHULHU (Ooc: Lovecraft Rip-off!!!) HAS SHOWN ME. I BELIEVE YOU FOLLOW AN ASPECT OF HIM, ARAST. YOU KNOW HOW HE IS."


"THE SWORD IS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE DEATH KOBOLDS. THESE KOBOLDS GATHER THE BODIES OF THE DEAD, AND PRESERVE THEM IN HUSK GLOBES SO THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW ALL KNOWN TO SAPIENCE. IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE THE OTHER TWO ITEMS MIGHT BE, IT WOULD BE ONE OF THE KOBOLDS. HOWEVER, IT IS ALSO HARD TO FIND THEM."

 

[ethandrew]

Latham looks quizzically at Shazool, "So in order to defeat this avatar of the ONE, we need these three artifacts, one of which these Death Kobolds posess, and they at least contain the knowledge of the other two? Or at least are the ones who are most likely to know where to retrieve these? And then we need to rid the land of these alienists and in doing so garner the support of the army, who will lead a revolt and give us access to the ONE's aspect? Interesting."

Looking at the destruction of Caul's pet cleric, Latham looks over at Dehg and smirks sadly. Now he will have to find someone else to turn into a puppy in order to appease the big lug.