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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 7885371" data-attributes="member: 7015827">When Isyio had finally ceased his chanting, he turned and looked toward Aerikoth with distant and otherworldly eyes. Unruffled, the mage asked the first question: “The creature known as Ashnakzeroth, does he or those who serve as minions to him reside in the location known as the hills of the lost gods near the city of Westgate?” Isyio then mouthed Aerikoth’s words silently and, in a distant and hollow voice, answered “No.”Aerikoth narrowed his eyes and continued in a neutral tone: “Does the creature Ashnakzeroth or the ones that serve him dwell in the Dark Woods near the village of Turnton?” The diviner, after a similar pause, answered “No.” Aerikoth tilted his head and stared intently at Isyio for the third question: “Does Ashnakzeroth have any influence or is the undead force corrupting the temple of Mask within the city of Westgate?” In a deep, hollow voice the diviner replied once again, “No.”Before asking the fourth and final question, Aerikoth arched an eyebrow and glanced at Brok-Tul briefly before returning his gaze to Isyio: “The prophecy that Veran, a monastic of Kelemvor, continues to speak of, is that prophecy concerning the return of Ashnakzeroth to the lands of the Dragon Coast?”As Isyio began to mouth a response, a look of horror came over his face and his head swiveled to face Rahnee. Brok-Tul’s eyes widened in shock at the change and he placed his hands on his holy symbol. Isyio’s eyes turned jet black as he stared at Rahnee, whose hand went to her sword hilt, while nearby Veran paled visbily. An eerie, hollow voice rang out from Isyio‘s mouth, saying in measured cadences: “An enemy will guide you. A friend will betray you. A bond will be broken. And you will see the face of death." With that, Isyio's eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to the temple floor.Despite their shock and consternation, the companions immediately saw to Isyio‘s needs, Brok-Tul kneeling down to confirm that the diviner was still breathing. After a few moments, Isyio slowly rose to his feet, appearing to have aged ten years. He apologized for having blacked out at the end and said he remembered nothing of his last answer.Looking in the mirror and running a hand over his face, he commented that he had on occasion suffered similar effects, which had then disappeared after a week or two, although this was the first time he had contacted the Negative Material Plane. To Isyio, it had seemed the most appropriate, given the nature of the problem. Brok-Tul in a well-meaning gesture passed Isyio a flask of Tangyr Stout to help shore up the diviner, who still looked somewhat hollow as he sipped the drink. Brok-Tul offered to declare the diviner “Helm’s Hidden Ward” and promised to provide him with any help he needed in the future, for service and friendship.Isyio then asked Aerikoth, Rahnee, Brok-Tul and Veran to stand on the symbols at the corners of the room. Following a whispered word, he gestured and the party found themselves back on the ground floor of the Temple of Azuth. The priest smiled at them, as if teleporting around his temple was nothing out of the ordinary, and then went to check on the faerie dragon Pixilator. Rahnee, still shivering slightly as they materialized back on the first floor of the temple, felt the need to feel the sunlight on her face, and she pushed open the door to step outside, the others soon joining her.Outside the temple, Rahnee leaned against the wall to soak up its cool support and was reviewing the diviner’s words with Brok-Tul when Jokull appeared. Brok-Tul, clearly upset by the implications for Rahnee of what had been said, decided to go off and clear his head, prompting a question from Jokull as to what was going on. Rahnee, although obviously still shaken, was able with the help of the others to provide a rough outline of what had happened. Part of what had upset her the most, she said, was that the last question had been answered by a voice sounding like that of her murdered brother Khael, who had been a novitiate of Tymora. In response to a question from Rahnee, the others indicated that none of them had heard the voice of a loved one during the diviner’s spell, she evidently being the only one.(A dramatic encounter with the diviner, especially for Rahnee. Yet it was a frustratingly unhelpful one, unless the last answer truly had something to do with Ashnakzeroth. The matter of Brother Veran's prophecy also remains a puzzle. While I hesitate to say that I would have done better in this situation, the first three questions asked by the group seemed to yield little information, although the answers at least ruled out some of the previous speculations about the abomination. --C)</blockquote>

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