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<blockquote data-quote="Zad" data-source="post: 3565689" data-attributes="member: 90"><p><strong>The Test of the Smoking Eye - Chapter 2</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>The Test of the Smoking Eye – Chapter 2</strong></p><p></p><p><u>OOC Notes:</u></p><p>10th level gets 1400. 9th level gets 1600.</p><p></p><p><u>This Week’s Adventure:</u></p><p>Kaurophon took a few moments to orient himself, scanning the strange landscape. “The first of the three tests is within the Cathedral of Feathers. It lies about one hundred miles that way,” he said, pointing. </p><p></p><p>“And what is within the Cathedral? What is the test exactly?” Maris asked</p><p></p><p>“I do not know. The Proctor would not let me enter,” he replied.</p><p></p><p>“A hundred miles? Well we’ll have a few days to think about it,” Elizabeth quipped. </p><p></p><p>“Days?” Kaurophon asked, confused.</p><p></p><p>“I believe it will take about four days to walk there, yes. Unless you have some other means of transportation?” Elizabeth said. </p><p></p><p>Kaurophon stammered. “I thought … that is to say I assumed you had some means to fly there.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t know that spell,” Maris said unapologetically. </p><p></p><p>“Why would you assume that, Kaurophon?” Elizabeth said, sensing a disturbing level of unpreparedness in Kaurophon.</p><p></p><p>Kaurophon had no response. The Blue Tygers began walking in the indicated direction. Glyph had been silent, quietly working out a formula. Eventually he said “I believe I can conjure some illusionary steeds to speed things up considerably. However this place is very oppressive and I’m not sure how successful I’ll be trying to improvise like that.”</p><p></p><p>Kaurophon nodded. “There are… fragments of this place that are strong with Celestia. You will find it far easier to use your abilities there. The nature of the plane shifts often and I cannot say where one might be. We should proceed in this direction and hopefully we will find one.”</p><p></p><p>Kris had another idea, holding up a finger. “The wind’s blowing this way – I say we go this way.”</p><p></p><p>Nobody had a better idea and off we went, hoping to find a holy site.</p><p></p><p>And we did, hardly an hour into our journey. The spongy flesh that passed for ground (that we’d even seen thunderbeasts eating) gave way to something more like real dirt. It wasn’t quite so damp and quite so smelly (so I’m told). As we entered the area, there was a rush of movement as something leapt towards the sky. A serpent with feathered wings in rainbow colors hovered above us, hissing in irritation.</p><p></p><p>“Turn back demonss. There is no plassse for you here.”</p><p></p><p>“The Blue Tyger Legion are no demons,” Astrid declared flatly. Everyone was standing tall and unafraid, secure in the knowledge that we were not, in fact, demons. Everyone but Glyph that is, who was prostrate on the ground bowing before the creature.</p><p></p><p>The couatl was slightly surprised by such simple confidence and looked us over more carefully. “Interesssting. That one,” it indicated Kaurophon, “iss evil. But the rest of you do not seem ssusspect. What brings you here?”</p><p></p><p>Kris shrugged and said “The wind.”</p><p></p><p>The couatl swooped in close, less puffed-up and more curious, its eyes changing color as it scanned him. “Ah, a follower of the wind god. You may enter this holy plassce. Once a temple, it now holdss evil at bay. The one who travelsss with you – if you bring him on thessse groundsss, you are responssible for hiss actionss. I shall trust in your wordss. Pleasse pardon my reception. My name is Sarisss.”</p><p></p><p>We entered the grounds and Glyph began his preparations. Elizabeth was fascinated but saw a possible source of more information. “If I may, Sarisss, what do you know of the Test of the Smoking Eye?”</p><p></p><p>“Who asskss?” it said.</p><p></p><p>“My name is Elizabeth,” she said.</p><p></p><p>The answer seemed to carry great weight for the couatl. “The tessst. Created by Adsmarcusss. Seek you such a tessst?”</p><p></p><p>She nodded, and the couatl relayed what it knew, which matched up with what Kaurophon had told us. Glyph did ask “Who exactly can take the test?”</p><p></p><p>“Any can take the tessst, ssshould they have the will, shining one. Though some, such as those who are marked, may have greater chances. I sssee more than one of you bear sssuch a mark.”</p><p></p><p>“More than one?” Astrid asked. “We knew only of one.”</p><p></p><p>The snake waved its head at Bellsin. “That one bears the mark of the damned – you are one of the shackleborn. You have the blood of Carceri running through your veins – an unfortunate legacy you bear. Somewhere in your line, an ancestor suffered taint of the plane of prisons, whether by force or choice, and since then his line bears the mark. Ever with chains on his soul.”</p><p></p><p>“And that one. Marissss, I see the haunting that casts over you. The mark of prophecy. The touch of the burning wing about you. What it means I cannot sssay.” Then it added “Sshould you encounter the one named Saureya, he may be able to cast light on your quessstions about the Ssmoking Eye.”</p><p></p><p>Glyph had prepared four illusionary horses which would carry five of us. As for the others, the plan was that Kaurophon could enable them to fly and we would drag them behind, the horses being far faster than the flight spell would normally permit. The indignity coming off Kaurophon was palpable but he did not object. Before departing, Glyph asked one final favor.</p><p></p><p>“Blessed one, may I take a piece of this place with me as a touchstone?”</p><p></p><p>“Yesss. Your people are blesssed here,” the couatl said.</p><p></p><p>“How so?” Glyph asked.</p><p></p><p>“He whom I ssserve is greatly impressed with the massstery of the languagess and the lettersss and the wordsss.”</p><p></p><p>“Boccob?”</p><p></p><p>“Indeed.”</p><p></p><p>“Is there anything you can do for Sir Alek? He is a paladin fallen in the fight against evil.”</p><p></p><p>Sarisss inspected the body. “He isss beyond my ability to help. But should you find yourself trapped here, return to me. I can sssend you back to your plane.”</p><p></p><p>The offer was something that gave visible comfort to more than one of the Blue Tygers, I noticed.</p><p></p><p>With farewells said, we set off to the Cathedral of Feathers. Aside from an attack by flaming spirits that left several of us weakened, the journey was reasonably calm. (Given we were on the Abyss, I was expecting to be fighting every step of the way.)</p><p></p><p>After several hours at a pace no mortal horse could match, we crested a hill and saw another cluster of celestial rubble. This area was far larger though, spanning a large depression in the ground. Sitting askew was a white marble cathedral that was most certainly not from this plane. It was largely intact though large cracks could be seen even from this distance. </p><p></p><p>“The Cathedral of Feathers,” Kaurophon said solemnly. “The test awaits us inside.”</p><p></p><p>“So where are the feathers?” Elizabeth asked, shattering the moment. </p><p></p><p>“What?” Kaurophon said, still plagued with the look of a man confronted with something that was not what he expected.</p><p></p><p>“The feathers. It’s the Cathedral of Feathers? Why? Where are the feathers?” Elizabeth repeated. The question was far from inane – the answer might offer a hint at what was waiting.</p><p></p><p>“They’re inside,” Kaurophon answered curtly.</p><p></p><p>The front doors were closed, and due to the lean of the building were difficult to open and did not at first want to yield.</p><p></p><p>“Where is this proctor you mentioned?” Astrid asked.</p><p></p><p>“He’s inside,” Kaurophon answered.</p><p></p><p>Astrid grunted, throwing herself against the door again. “How did you get in last time then?” </p><p></p><p>“The doors were not shut then.” That should have been a warning.</p><p></p><p>Finally with most of the group pushing, one of the large stone doors finally groaned and moved inward. Beyond was a large chamber that was the foyer of what once must have been a beautiful cathedral. Remnants of tapestries covered the walls, and another large set of doors lead further into the church. As we approached them, the room was suddenly filled with sticky webs and a lightning bolt cracked out with a blast. Along the ceiling, two driders appeared, their invisibility now undone.</p><p></p><p>The scene was not pretty. The driders were obviously spellcasters of some skill, prepared, and were hovering out of reach. The girls pulled out bows and started firing even as they worked their way out of the webbing. Maris started throwing her own spells while Glyph tried to dispel their protections. But their plan really started having trouble when Bellsin, unnoticed, threw his spear at a drider. As the weapon connected, he tugged on the arcane threads woven around the creature, and unraveled the levitation and the drider fell to the floor with an unceremonious clatter. Glyphandar then dispelled the webbing, and Elizabeth charged hard, driving Alakast like a lance through it. It smashed against the wall and crumpled. </p><p></p><p>The second drider was under fire from Maris, Kris and Astrid and one last spell made it slump unconscious, still floating in the air. Bellsin giggled a little giggle, and floated up on his stolen levitation and began extracting spells from the unconscious drider until it finally died from blood loss.</p><p></p><p>“Clearly someone else beat us here,” Astrid remarked.</p><p></p><p>“Clearly,” Kaurophon said. “Might I suggest we use a silence spell before attempting the next door. These might have just been the sentries.”</p><p></p><p>Everyone agreed that was wise. And appropriate, as it turned out – the second set of doors were as stubborn as the first. The effort of opening them would surely have attracted attention had the spell not muted the grunts and groans.</p><p></p><p>Beyond the doors was a vast chamber. Piles of rubble smoldered on the floor, dotted near sweeping buttresses, some smashed to bits. At the far end was a statue of Orcus – the subject was clear even across this wide cathedral. On the statue, dwarfed by its sheer size, Bellsin could see a demonic woman. She was looking intently at something in the statue’s hands even as her body gyrated and ground against the statue. She hadn’t noticed our entry, though whether that was because of the silence spell or her… preoccupation… was hard to say.</p><p></p><p>A flaming pyre was visible behind her – then it moved. The slithering rhythm gave the impression of the burning salamander far better than what little could be seen of the flaming outline.</p><p></p><p>I could hear in Astrid’s mind –</p><p></p><p><em>Is she doing what I </em>think<em> she’s doing?</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zad, post: 3565689, member: 90"] [b]The Test of the Smoking Eye - Chapter 2[/b] [b]The Test of the Smoking Eye – Chapter 2[/b] [u]OOC Notes:[/u] 10th level gets 1400. 9th level gets 1600. [u]This Week’s Adventure:[/u] Kaurophon took a few moments to orient himself, scanning the strange landscape. “The first of the three tests is within the Cathedral of Feathers. It lies about one hundred miles that way,” he said, pointing. “And what is within the Cathedral? What is the test exactly?” Maris asked “I do not know. The Proctor would not let me enter,” he replied. “A hundred miles? Well we’ll have a few days to think about it,” Elizabeth quipped. “Days?” Kaurophon asked, confused. “I believe it will take about four days to walk there, yes. Unless you have some other means of transportation?” Elizabeth said. Kaurophon stammered. “I thought … that is to say I assumed you had some means to fly there.” “I don’t know that spell,” Maris said unapologetically. “Why would you assume that, Kaurophon?” Elizabeth said, sensing a disturbing level of unpreparedness in Kaurophon. Kaurophon had no response. The Blue Tygers began walking in the indicated direction. Glyph had been silent, quietly working out a formula. Eventually he said “I believe I can conjure some illusionary steeds to speed things up considerably. However this place is very oppressive and I’m not sure how successful I’ll be trying to improvise like that.” Kaurophon nodded. “There are… fragments of this place that are strong with Celestia. You will find it far easier to use your abilities there. The nature of the plane shifts often and I cannot say where one might be. We should proceed in this direction and hopefully we will find one.” Kris had another idea, holding up a finger. “The wind’s blowing this way – I say we go this way.” Nobody had a better idea and off we went, hoping to find a holy site. And we did, hardly an hour into our journey. The spongy flesh that passed for ground (that we’d even seen thunderbeasts eating) gave way to something more like real dirt. It wasn’t quite so damp and quite so smelly (so I’m told). As we entered the area, there was a rush of movement as something leapt towards the sky. A serpent with feathered wings in rainbow colors hovered above us, hissing in irritation. “Turn back demonss. There is no plassse for you here.” “The Blue Tyger Legion are no demons,” Astrid declared flatly. Everyone was standing tall and unafraid, secure in the knowledge that we were not, in fact, demons. Everyone but Glyph that is, who was prostrate on the ground bowing before the creature. The couatl was slightly surprised by such simple confidence and looked us over more carefully. “Interesssting. That one,” it indicated Kaurophon, “iss evil. But the rest of you do not seem ssusspect. What brings you here?” Kris shrugged and said “The wind.” The couatl swooped in close, less puffed-up and more curious, its eyes changing color as it scanned him. “Ah, a follower of the wind god. You may enter this holy plassce. Once a temple, it now holdss evil at bay. The one who travelsss with you – if you bring him on thessse groundsss, you are responssible for hiss actionss. I shall trust in your wordss. Pleasse pardon my reception. My name is Sarisss.” We entered the grounds and Glyph began his preparations. Elizabeth was fascinated but saw a possible source of more information. “If I may, Sarisss, what do you know of the Test of the Smoking Eye?” “Who asskss?” it said. “My name is Elizabeth,” she said. The answer seemed to carry great weight for the couatl. “The tessst. Created by Adsmarcusss. Seek you such a tessst?” She nodded, and the couatl relayed what it knew, which matched up with what Kaurophon had told us. Glyph did ask “Who exactly can take the test?” “Any can take the tessst, ssshould they have the will, shining one. Though some, such as those who are marked, may have greater chances. I sssee more than one of you bear sssuch a mark.” “More than one?” Astrid asked. “We knew only of one.” The snake waved its head at Bellsin. “That one bears the mark of the damned – you are one of the shackleborn. You have the blood of Carceri running through your veins – an unfortunate legacy you bear. Somewhere in your line, an ancestor suffered taint of the plane of prisons, whether by force or choice, and since then his line bears the mark. Ever with chains on his soul.” “And that one. Marissss, I see the haunting that casts over you. The mark of prophecy. The touch of the burning wing about you. What it means I cannot sssay.” Then it added “Sshould you encounter the one named Saureya, he may be able to cast light on your quessstions about the Ssmoking Eye.” Glyph had prepared four illusionary horses which would carry five of us. As for the others, the plan was that Kaurophon could enable them to fly and we would drag them behind, the horses being far faster than the flight spell would normally permit. The indignity coming off Kaurophon was palpable but he did not object. Before departing, Glyph asked one final favor. “Blessed one, may I take a piece of this place with me as a touchstone?” “Yesss. Your people are blesssed here,” the couatl said. “How so?” Glyph asked. “He whom I ssserve is greatly impressed with the massstery of the languagess and the lettersss and the wordsss.” “Boccob?” “Indeed.” “Is there anything you can do for Sir Alek? He is a paladin fallen in the fight against evil.” Sarisss inspected the body. “He isss beyond my ability to help. But should you find yourself trapped here, return to me. I can sssend you back to your plane.” The offer was something that gave visible comfort to more than one of the Blue Tygers, I noticed. With farewells said, we set off to the Cathedral of Feathers. Aside from an attack by flaming spirits that left several of us weakened, the journey was reasonably calm. (Given we were on the Abyss, I was expecting to be fighting every step of the way.) After several hours at a pace no mortal horse could match, we crested a hill and saw another cluster of celestial rubble. This area was far larger though, spanning a large depression in the ground. Sitting askew was a white marble cathedral that was most certainly not from this plane. It was largely intact though large cracks could be seen even from this distance. “The Cathedral of Feathers,” Kaurophon said solemnly. “The test awaits us inside.” “So where are the feathers?” Elizabeth asked, shattering the moment. “What?” Kaurophon said, still plagued with the look of a man confronted with something that was not what he expected. “The feathers. It’s the Cathedral of Feathers? Why? Where are the feathers?” Elizabeth repeated. The question was far from inane – the answer might offer a hint at what was waiting. “They’re inside,” Kaurophon answered curtly. The front doors were closed, and due to the lean of the building were difficult to open and did not at first want to yield. “Where is this proctor you mentioned?” Astrid asked. “He’s inside,” Kaurophon answered. Astrid grunted, throwing herself against the door again. “How did you get in last time then?” “The doors were not shut then.” That should have been a warning. Finally with most of the group pushing, one of the large stone doors finally groaned and moved inward. Beyond was a large chamber that was the foyer of what once must have been a beautiful cathedral. Remnants of tapestries covered the walls, and another large set of doors lead further into the church. As we approached them, the room was suddenly filled with sticky webs and a lightning bolt cracked out with a blast. Along the ceiling, two driders appeared, their invisibility now undone. The scene was not pretty. The driders were obviously spellcasters of some skill, prepared, and were hovering out of reach. The girls pulled out bows and started firing even as they worked their way out of the webbing. Maris started throwing her own spells while Glyph tried to dispel their protections. But their plan really started having trouble when Bellsin, unnoticed, threw his spear at a drider. As the weapon connected, he tugged on the arcane threads woven around the creature, and unraveled the levitation and the drider fell to the floor with an unceremonious clatter. Glyphandar then dispelled the webbing, and Elizabeth charged hard, driving Alakast like a lance through it. It smashed against the wall and crumpled. The second drider was under fire from Maris, Kris and Astrid and one last spell made it slump unconscious, still floating in the air. Bellsin giggled a little giggle, and floated up on his stolen levitation and began extracting spells from the unconscious drider until it finally died from blood loss. “Clearly someone else beat us here,” Astrid remarked. “Clearly,” Kaurophon said. “Might I suggest we use a silence spell before attempting the next door. These might have just been the sentries.” Everyone agreed that was wise. And appropriate, as it turned out – the second set of doors were as stubborn as the first. The effort of opening them would surely have attracted attention had the spell not muted the grunts and groans. Beyond the doors was a vast chamber. Piles of rubble smoldered on the floor, dotted near sweeping buttresses, some smashed to bits. At the far end was a statue of Orcus – the subject was clear even across this wide cathedral. On the statue, dwarfed by its sheer size, Bellsin could see a demonic woman. She was looking intently at something in the statue’s hands even as her body gyrated and ground against the statue. She hadn’t noticed our entry, though whether that was because of the silence spell or her… preoccupation… was hard to say. A flaming pyre was visible behind her – then it moved. The slithering rhythm gave the impression of the burning salamander far better than what little could be seen of the flaming outline. I could hear in Astrid’s mind – [i]Is she doing what I [/i]think[i] she’s doing?[/i] [/QUOTE]
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