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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7135603" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>Session 16 (139) - Part Two: Leone, the Lich and the Snowglobe</strong></p><p></p><p>While they discussed what to do next they rested up. Uru proved not to be quite so adept at fixing Xambria as he had been with Conquo. The fine mechanisms created by the Clockwork Count were too advanced even for him, and in his attempt to brazen it out, he screwed up Xambria’s workings. They fell to bickering and issuing threats, while the others listened in amusement.</p><p></p><p>During this time they released the rest of the prisoners. They told them to hide in the mines while they investigated the lich. Some of the dwarves who had been here the longest warned them that the lich had been diverting the flow of the drainage pool in order to free itself from the ice, and they had formed part of detail whose task it was to carve a second pool in front of the lich, to keep the water away from it. Sometimes it talked to them when they slept and promised them riches if they found a way to free it. They tried to dissuade their rescuers from approaching it, but obeyed their injunction to hide when their words fell on deaf ears. Kvarti went back to the waterfall to keep watch on the rift for any approaching giants.</p><p></p><p>And so they picked their way down a steeply sloping passage into the tall, gloomy chamber that housed the towering frost giant lich. There it was, embedded in a foot of clear ice, like a hideous, grinning specimen.</p><p></p><p>At this point they summoned Grappa from the absurdist web. Grappa was still in control of Quital, having been placed in stasis at just the right moment. He suggested that one of the others touch the ice, the better to commune with the lich. (He did not want to do it for fear of waking Quital.) Korrigan placed his hand on the ice. At once, the lich’s eyes began to glow brightly. Its rasping voice echoed throughout the chamber, demanding to know what they had come for.</p><p></p><p>Grappa haltingly reminded the lich of their bargain, and the lich told them to press the victim’s head against the ice and say his name. He said they would need a crystal to hold the torn soul, but a piece of ice would do. They followed the creature’s instructions, and the whole chamber began to shake. The frosty touch of the wet wall of ice caused Quital to come to his senses at the very last second. He began to scream in bewilderment and panic, lashing out with his magnetic powers despite the damage inflicted by the mage cuffs. But the lich worked quickly, Quital slumped to the ground and the shaking ceased. The lump of ice Rumdoom had pressed to Leone’s head had turned jet black.</p><p></p><p>Grappa groaned, bonked his head a few times to clear it, then smiled at the party and thanked them. He suggested they dispose of Quital’s soul by breaking the ice crystal, but Leon decided to keep it in the absurdist web just in case. Grappa was critical of this decision but accepted it.</p><p></p><p>Next they needed to bargain with the lich to gain knowledge of the mortal possession ritual. The lich wanted their solemn vow to release it once the ritual was theirs. Last-minute jitters led to a hasty conference. Korrigan asked the lich what it planned to do when it was released. Somewhat taken aback by this direct question, the lich admitted, “I have all these hideous plans to march into the frozen wastes and awaken the Lost Riders who will sweep across the land carving out a new domain for me to rule over, etc. etc.” They decided it would be prudent to lie, and Leon made the solemn ‘vow’ on their behalf. The lich was convinced and said that whoever wanted to learn the ritual should lay their hands on the ice as Korrigan had done to begin their communion. No one apart from Grappa was willing to do so – Leon said he wanted nothing to do with such a ritual, and so Grappa stood forth alone and was granted the knowledge they sought.</p><p></p><p>The lich then demanded to be released. They ignored him. The creature issued forth threats and caused the ice to shudder and groan and crack. But at length it subsided and its eyes grew dim and its fading energy was spent.</p><p></p><p>At once they began to discuss what to do next. Grappa was concerned to ensure that the Ob bought into ‘Quital’s’ story that he had escaped from the unit. They decided to use the captured Ob operative to collaborate their version of events, should the Ob leadership choose to investigate. Before they could do so, Kvarti returned and said that some giants were heading towards the waterfall. They needed to move fast. Keeping the slaves out of sight, they played dead, and augmented this with an illusion from Leon, creating bleeding wounds and severed limbs. Then Grappa released the Ob researcher from the absurdist web. She was bewildered and terrified, still bound in Uru’s webs too. Grappa freed her, told her who he was, and that he had succeeded in escaping from and killing the Risuri foes who lay before her. They had already freed the giants’ slaves and sent them through a portal ‘who knows where’. Then Grappa – who turned out to be a dab hand at mind magic – filled her with fear and sent her to greet the approaching giants with the news that their Khangitche was dead. “Tell them to stay away from this place for now. I bought my freedom with the help of the lich, and he will consume these bodies.”</p><p></p><p>The researcher scurried away, and the unit jumped to their feet. Then they used Leon’s quick portal to return to the <em>RNS Impossible</em> along with the freed slaves and Kvarti Gorbatiy. They told Captain Smith to take Grappa, Leon and Uru, the slaves and Kvarti ashore, and sent two sendings – one to Matunaaga who awaited them in Mirsk; one to Stover Delft. Matunaaga was told to travel south and meet the Impossible. On the way he would visit Hildegaard in Trekhom, and tell her the truth in case she heard any upsetting rumours. (Hildegaard bore this with her usual stoicism, and volunteered to wear mourning weeds for Rumdoom ‘yet again’…) Stover Delft was told to leak the rumour that the unit had been killed in action. The rest of the unit teleported at once to the Hidden Valley, where no divination could reach them. (Matunaaga made his way there too, once the <em>Impossible </em>had taken him to Flint.) Meanwhile, Leon and Uru – whose association with the Unseen Court protected them no matter where they were – followed Grappa in disguise to support his attempt to pass himself off as Quital, and pick up operations where Quital left off. </p><p></p><p>All being well, in a few weeks’ time, ‘Quital’ would begin meeting the Ob officers as he originally planned. Then they would bring the others from the Hidden Valley using the <em>absurdist web</em>…</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 7135603, member: 79141"] [b]Session 16 (139) - Part Two: Leone, the Lich and the Snowglobe[/b] While they discussed what to do next they rested up. Uru proved not to be quite so adept at fixing Xambria as he had been with Conquo. The fine mechanisms created by the Clockwork Count were too advanced even for him, and in his attempt to brazen it out, he screwed up Xambria’s workings. They fell to bickering and issuing threats, while the others listened in amusement. During this time they released the rest of the prisoners. They told them to hide in the mines while they investigated the lich. Some of the dwarves who had been here the longest warned them that the lich had been diverting the flow of the drainage pool in order to free itself from the ice, and they had formed part of detail whose task it was to carve a second pool in front of the lich, to keep the water away from it. Sometimes it talked to them when they slept and promised them riches if they found a way to free it. They tried to dissuade their rescuers from approaching it, but obeyed their injunction to hide when their words fell on deaf ears. Kvarti went back to the waterfall to keep watch on the rift for any approaching giants. And so they picked their way down a steeply sloping passage into the tall, gloomy chamber that housed the towering frost giant lich. There it was, embedded in a foot of clear ice, like a hideous, grinning specimen. At this point they summoned Grappa from the absurdist web. Grappa was still in control of Quital, having been placed in stasis at just the right moment. He suggested that one of the others touch the ice, the better to commune with the lich. (He did not want to do it for fear of waking Quital.) Korrigan placed his hand on the ice. At once, the lich’s eyes began to glow brightly. Its rasping voice echoed throughout the chamber, demanding to know what they had come for. Grappa haltingly reminded the lich of their bargain, and the lich told them to press the victim’s head against the ice and say his name. He said they would need a crystal to hold the torn soul, but a piece of ice would do. They followed the creature’s instructions, and the whole chamber began to shake. The frosty touch of the wet wall of ice caused Quital to come to his senses at the very last second. He began to scream in bewilderment and panic, lashing out with his magnetic powers despite the damage inflicted by the mage cuffs. But the lich worked quickly, Quital slumped to the ground and the shaking ceased. The lump of ice Rumdoom had pressed to Leone’s head had turned jet black. Grappa groaned, bonked his head a few times to clear it, then smiled at the party and thanked them. He suggested they dispose of Quital’s soul by breaking the ice crystal, but Leon decided to keep it in the absurdist web just in case. Grappa was critical of this decision but accepted it. Next they needed to bargain with the lich to gain knowledge of the mortal possession ritual. The lich wanted their solemn vow to release it once the ritual was theirs. Last-minute jitters led to a hasty conference. Korrigan asked the lich what it planned to do when it was released. Somewhat taken aback by this direct question, the lich admitted, “I have all these hideous plans to march into the frozen wastes and awaken the Lost Riders who will sweep across the land carving out a new domain for me to rule over, etc. etc.” They decided it would be prudent to lie, and Leon made the solemn ‘vow’ on their behalf. The lich was convinced and said that whoever wanted to learn the ritual should lay their hands on the ice as Korrigan had done to begin their communion. No one apart from Grappa was willing to do so – Leon said he wanted nothing to do with such a ritual, and so Grappa stood forth alone and was granted the knowledge they sought. The lich then demanded to be released. They ignored him. The creature issued forth threats and caused the ice to shudder and groan and crack. But at length it subsided and its eyes grew dim and its fading energy was spent. At once they began to discuss what to do next. Grappa was concerned to ensure that the Ob bought into ‘Quital’s’ story that he had escaped from the unit. They decided to use the captured Ob operative to collaborate their version of events, should the Ob leadership choose to investigate. Before they could do so, Kvarti returned and said that some giants were heading towards the waterfall. They needed to move fast. Keeping the slaves out of sight, they played dead, and augmented this with an illusion from Leon, creating bleeding wounds and severed limbs. Then Grappa released the Ob researcher from the absurdist web. She was bewildered and terrified, still bound in Uru’s webs too. Grappa freed her, told her who he was, and that he had succeeded in escaping from and killing the Risuri foes who lay before her. They had already freed the giants’ slaves and sent them through a portal ‘who knows where’. Then Grappa – who turned out to be a dab hand at mind magic – filled her with fear and sent her to greet the approaching giants with the news that their Khangitche was dead. “Tell them to stay away from this place for now. I bought my freedom with the help of the lich, and he will consume these bodies.” The researcher scurried away, and the unit jumped to their feet. Then they used Leon’s quick portal to return to the [I]RNS Impossible[/I] along with the freed slaves and Kvarti Gorbatiy. They told Captain Smith to take Grappa, Leon and Uru, the slaves and Kvarti ashore, and sent two sendings – one to Matunaaga who awaited them in Mirsk; one to Stover Delft. Matunaaga was told to travel south and meet the Impossible. On the way he would visit Hildegaard in Trekhom, and tell her the truth in case she heard any upsetting rumours. (Hildegaard bore this with her usual stoicism, and volunteered to wear mourning weeds for Rumdoom ‘yet again’…) Stover Delft was told to leak the rumour that the unit had been killed in action. The rest of the unit teleported at once to the Hidden Valley, where no divination could reach them. (Matunaaga made his way there too, once the [I]Impossible [/I]had taken him to Flint.) Meanwhile, Leon and Uru – whose association with the Unseen Court protected them no matter where they were – followed Grappa in disguise to support his attempt to pass himself off as Quital, and pick up operations where Quital left off. All being well, in a few weeks’ time, ‘Quital’ would begin meeting the Ob officers as he originally planned. Then they would bring the others from the Hidden Valley using the [I]absurdist web[/I]… [/QUOTE]
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