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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7595172" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>Session 223, Part Two - Third or Fourth or Fifth Time Lucky</strong></p><p></p><p>Once again they stood on the shoreline of Odiem, looking up at the lighthouse/chapel. The Family had got them to Sid Minos with a teleportation circle; Fourmyle Jaunting and Leon’s portals had got them the rest of the way.</p><p></p><p>Who among them was the least happy to be back here? This was only Gupta’s second visit, though the last had been a confusing palimpsest of memory events, so it seemed like many more. Leon had come here twice before as a member of the unit, but in other lifetimes, timelines or dreams, he had come twice more – to rescue unit B from Gorago; and then again with Lavanya to divest Gorago of the bloodstone ape. This was Uru’s third visit, but he hated Ashima-Shimtu for her treachery. She and Tokoloshe had much to answer for. Uriel had come here as Malthusius, as Uriel before his memories returned, and as Cardinal Tadeo, seeking answers about Nicodemus. Quratulain had spent five-hundred years imprisoned in this place, another five-hundred trapped in sea ice thanks to the magic of Ashima-Shimtu. Now she returned at the behest of her king, but he was not here to bolster her resolve</p><p></p><p>Korrigan and Rumdoom had left for Trekhom. Vlendham Heid had secured a meeting with the upper echelons of Drakr, and they had chosen to prioritise international diplomacy. Their goal, of course, was to avert an Ob invasion. So Korrigan was relying on the rest of the team to retrieve the biography of Triegenes. “You may need to defend him, too. Harkover needs me in Slate.” He put a hand on Leon’s shoulder. “When I was last in the Vault of Heresies, I made a promise to the angel Linia that I would free her. If at all possible, I would like you to keep that promise for me.” Leon said he would do his best.</p><p></p><p>As for the biography, they consulted Ken Don, who confirmed it had been branded heretical and sealed in the vault of Heretical Texts. Uriel recalled that this vault had been heavily looted, and was concerned that the biography may have been taken elsewhere, but Quratulain knew it was still in the Crypta Hereticum. She didn’t know how she knew, she just did. Uriel would have to use some of Malthusius’ old tricks to find out where it had gone.</p><p></p><p>One of those old tricks came to mind now on the shoreline; a niggling sensation that something about this place was worth investigating. Uriel cast location loresight, a spell that enabled him to see important events that had happened here. Last time, courtesy of the Arc of Reida, he had seen the unit arrive three years earlier; Nicodemus & Kasvarina arrive five-hundred years before that; his incarnation Cardinal Tadeo come a few hundred years later; and unit B come in pursuit of Gorago. Location loresight filtered all this out, and showed him something he had not seen back then – the arrival of Grandis Komanov and her cronies. They were met by clergy defenders who had come to protect the vault from further intrusion; they murdered them all, cast them into the sea, and the rest withdrew, leaving Komanov’s simulacrum to masquerade as a priestess.</p><p></p><p>While Uriel was seeing all of this, he and the others began to hear a familiar voice:</p><p></p><p>“Deception and foul deeds were long the domain of Ashima-Shimtu. Perhaps the visitors to her prison wonder if she enjoys the suffering and death of the pious in Alais Primos. The religion that imprisoned her is shattered. She senses as blood flows through the city’s canals, but though she provided the hammer, it is not her hand that swings it.</p><p></p><p>“Alas, it seems all of Ashima-Shimtu’s plots to ensure her release have come to naught. Should the doors to her prison be opened, her sentence of the oubliette shall become the scythe. Execution awaits her, yet these visitors might prove her salvation. Though it may be revealed as hypocrisy, she demands a favour be repaid. She beckons her visitors, come and speak in person.”</p><p></p><p>Everyone who had entered the pool beneath her with an open wound – so, everyone – felt a compulsion to enter the vault and make haste to her chamber.</p><p></p><p>Before they could act upon this, a trumpet-bearing angel appeared atop the lighthouse. Uriel knew him to be Aezusat. He proclaimed, “None shall attempt to enter the vault, lest they face the wrath of the gods. All within is suspect. We cannot allow the evil here to leave, so if you open those doors, we will not stop until this isle is cleansed. Do you come here as thieves and looters, or do you also wish to purge the unholy?”</p><p></p><p>Uriel demanded to know what power had summoned the angels to this place. Aezusat said that they came in answer to old summons that could not be answered until now. For centuries, the hierarchs of the faith had performed rituals around the vault of heresies to ensure those within could never escape. Among their prayers were pleas to servants of their gods to come and defend the vault should any intrude. The nature of the Axis Seal prevented angels from answering those summons, but now those restrictions had been lifted. Aezusat then repeated his first question. Leon replied that they had come to join in the purge. Aezusat blew on his trumpet and the sky glowed brighter than it ever did when there was a sun.</p><p></p><p>Lances of light plunged into the surface of the island, each a divine creature – angels, archons, and the like. First to arrive was Hezophiel the Reaper, a black-clad figure with broad white wings, who stood ten feet tall and wielded a scythe. Moments later a smaller angelic figure landed beside him, and then in a ring fourteen more celestials arrived, most carrying swords but two hoisting trumpets. The lances of heavenly light continued for a minute more, each bringing a flock of critics – swarms of angels, each small enough to fit on the head of a pin. Hezophiel invoked a holy forbiddance across the island, preventing any further creatures from teleporting or being summoned onto or off of the island. Then he ordered the heavenly host to destroy everything within the vault.</p><p></p><p>Leon the Surprisingly Trustworthy reiterated his claim to have come to join the purge. Hezophiel bellowed that he knew not the context of this vault, only that centuries of prayers had suddenly ascended to the heavens. The wards that once made this place impregnable had failed, so he has been charged with eliminating the evil within before it could escape. He could not open the doors himself, though; that must be done by a mortal. Leon said he would do so, and asked only that his group be granted the right to destroy the Biography of Triegenes. He also told Hezophiel of the angel Linia, and how they hoped to free her. Hezophiel boomed that it was unlikely that Linia would have been interred here by mistake; the heavenly host would purge her too if she had ‘fallen’. Leon then tried his luck, explaining that they would also like a moment to converse with the demoness Ashima-Shimtu. Hezophiel stared silently at him for a moment, then said, “I have heard much of this mortal ‘sense of humour’. That was a good one, I think.”</p><p></p><p>Without further ado, Uru shadow-walked through the vault entrance, and Uriel followed in incorporeal form. Hezeophiel watched them go and then turned his pitiless, querulous gaze upon Leon. “They are very zealous,” Leon said, by way of explanation. “Keen to get started.”</p><p></p><p>“As am I,” barked Hezophiel. “Will you open the door?”</p><p></p><p>“A moment,” said Leon, and knelt for prayer. He kept it going as long as he dared, to give his friends a clear head-start, then he opened the vault. The angelic host swarmed inside.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 7595172, member: 79141"] [b]Session 223, Part Two - Third or Fourth or Fifth Time Lucky[/b] Once again they stood on the shoreline of Odiem, looking up at the lighthouse/chapel. The Family had got them to Sid Minos with a teleportation circle; Fourmyle Jaunting and Leon’s portals had got them the rest of the way. Who among them was the least happy to be back here? This was only Gupta’s second visit, though the last had been a confusing palimpsest of memory events, so it seemed like many more. Leon had come here twice before as a member of the unit, but in other lifetimes, timelines or dreams, he had come twice more – to rescue unit B from Gorago; and then again with Lavanya to divest Gorago of the bloodstone ape. This was Uru’s third visit, but he hated Ashima-Shimtu for her treachery. She and Tokoloshe had much to answer for. Uriel had come here as Malthusius, as Uriel before his memories returned, and as Cardinal Tadeo, seeking answers about Nicodemus. Quratulain had spent five-hundred years imprisoned in this place, another five-hundred trapped in sea ice thanks to the magic of Ashima-Shimtu. Now she returned at the behest of her king, but he was not here to bolster her resolve Korrigan and Rumdoom had left for Trekhom. Vlendham Heid had secured a meeting with the upper echelons of Drakr, and they had chosen to prioritise international diplomacy. Their goal, of course, was to avert an Ob invasion. So Korrigan was relying on the rest of the team to retrieve the biography of Triegenes. “You may need to defend him, too. Harkover needs me in Slate.” He put a hand on Leon’s shoulder. “When I was last in the Vault of Heresies, I made a promise to the angel Linia that I would free her. If at all possible, I would like you to keep that promise for me.” Leon said he would do his best. As for the biography, they consulted Ken Don, who confirmed it had been branded heretical and sealed in the vault of Heretical Texts. Uriel recalled that this vault had been heavily looted, and was concerned that the biography may have been taken elsewhere, but Quratulain knew it was still in the Crypta Hereticum. She didn’t know how she knew, she just did. Uriel would have to use some of Malthusius’ old tricks to find out where it had gone. One of those old tricks came to mind now on the shoreline; a niggling sensation that something about this place was worth investigating. Uriel cast location loresight, a spell that enabled him to see important events that had happened here. Last time, courtesy of the Arc of Reida, he had seen the unit arrive three years earlier; Nicodemus & Kasvarina arrive five-hundred years before that; his incarnation Cardinal Tadeo come a few hundred years later; and unit B come in pursuit of Gorago. Location loresight filtered all this out, and showed him something he had not seen back then – the arrival of Grandis Komanov and her cronies. They were met by clergy defenders who had come to protect the vault from further intrusion; they murdered them all, cast them into the sea, and the rest withdrew, leaving Komanov’s simulacrum to masquerade as a priestess. While Uriel was seeing all of this, he and the others began to hear a familiar voice: “Deception and foul deeds were long the domain of Ashima-Shimtu. Perhaps the visitors to her prison wonder if she enjoys the suffering and death of the pious in Alais Primos. The religion that imprisoned her is shattered. She senses as blood flows through the city’s canals, but though she provided the hammer, it is not her hand that swings it. “Alas, it seems all of Ashima-Shimtu’s plots to ensure her release have come to naught. Should the doors to her prison be opened, her sentence of the oubliette shall become the scythe. Execution awaits her, yet these visitors might prove her salvation. Though it may be revealed as hypocrisy, she demands a favour be repaid. She beckons her visitors, come and speak in person.” Everyone who had entered the pool beneath her with an open wound – so, everyone – felt a compulsion to enter the vault and make haste to her chamber. Before they could act upon this, a trumpet-bearing angel appeared atop the lighthouse. Uriel knew him to be Aezusat. He proclaimed, “None shall attempt to enter the vault, lest they face the wrath of the gods. All within is suspect. We cannot allow the evil here to leave, so if you open those doors, we will not stop until this isle is cleansed. Do you come here as thieves and looters, or do you also wish to purge the unholy?” Uriel demanded to know what power had summoned the angels to this place. Aezusat said that they came in answer to old summons that could not be answered until now. For centuries, the hierarchs of the faith had performed rituals around the vault of heresies to ensure those within could never escape. Among their prayers were pleas to servants of their gods to come and defend the vault should any intrude. The nature of the Axis Seal prevented angels from answering those summons, but now those restrictions had been lifted. Aezusat then repeated his first question. Leon replied that they had come to join in the purge. Aezusat blew on his trumpet and the sky glowed brighter than it ever did when there was a sun. Lances of light plunged into the surface of the island, each a divine creature – angels, archons, and the like. First to arrive was Hezophiel the Reaper, a black-clad figure with broad white wings, who stood ten feet tall and wielded a scythe. Moments later a smaller angelic figure landed beside him, and then in a ring fourteen more celestials arrived, most carrying swords but two hoisting trumpets. The lances of heavenly light continued for a minute more, each bringing a flock of critics – swarms of angels, each small enough to fit on the head of a pin. Hezophiel invoked a holy forbiddance across the island, preventing any further creatures from teleporting or being summoned onto or off of the island. Then he ordered the heavenly host to destroy everything within the vault. Leon the Surprisingly Trustworthy reiterated his claim to have come to join the purge. Hezophiel bellowed that he knew not the context of this vault, only that centuries of prayers had suddenly ascended to the heavens. The wards that once made this place impregnable had failed, so he has been charged with eliminating the evil within before it could escape. He could not open the doors himself, though; that must be done by a mortal. Leon said he would do so, and asked only that his group be granted the right to destroy the Biography of Triegenes. He also told Hezophiel of the angel Linia, and how they hoped to free her. Hezophiel boomed that it was unlikely that Linia would have been interred here by mistake; the heavenly host would purge her too if she had ‘fallen’. Leon then tried his luck, explaining that they would also like a moment to converse with the demoness Ashima-Shimtu. Hezophiel stared silently at him for a moment, then said, “I have heard much of this mortal ‘sense of humour’. That was a good one, I think.” Without further ado, Uru shadow-walked through the vault entrance, and Uriel followed in incorporeal form. Hezeophiel watched them go and then turned his pitiless, querulous gaze upon Leon. “They are very zealous,” Leon said, by way of explanation. “Keen to get started.” “As am I,” barked Hezophiel. “Will you open the door?” “A moment,” said Leon, and knelt for prayer. He kept it going as long as he dared, to give his friends a clear head-start, then he opened the vault. The angelic host swarmed inside. [/QUOTE]
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