katoomba ♔ while I formulate denials of your effect on me

[moonheart]

♬ Watching You Go - Ghosts

WHO || Alanna, Jaime, Faith, Fiona, Jordan, Adi [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a shady temple of Mystra.
WHERE || Katoomba, Australia
WHEN || July 24th [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

The Knights take off for Katoomba, Australia, to investigate a tale of a temple to the goddess of magic Mystra that was erected very suddenly and mysteriously, seemingly unknown to other Mystran clergy in the world.  A bizarre tale of a cleric being chased out with gunfire, and a missing bookseller with a connection to the church have left Wynn worried about what might be going on within the walls of the temple.  It is constructed a short distance from the actual city proper, up the river.  

Comments

Flight Threads

[moonheart]

[ any and all flight interactions should go here! the flight time is 21 hours and 30 minutes which is almost an entire day on this plane together, time to make fucking friends. ]

ota

[trebond]

[ alanna is learning how to work an ipad!!!

be proud of her.

it's already hooked up for drakenet purposes so she's just navigating it and working on settings and fucking with the camera at this point but it's going to be so handy to have for the next 22 hours ok. SO HANDY. and she's actually doing a pretty good job of it (computer use 19) which is hilarious because she has a fucking magic sword tucked away in a napsack in the seat beside her — which is the window seat, and she's at the aisle, because she demands space — and a normal sword at her hip.

yep. definitely 100% congruous. ]

yO

[mining]

Is that an iPad?

[ Basically a rhetorical question. Adi's on the other side of the aisle, and he leans over his armrest slightly to get a look at what she's doing. He's been around long enough to know what the device is, but he's never actually bothered to use one.

Things he also hasn't used: airplanes. Distract him from the airplane, Alanna. ]

pounces

[trebond]

Yes, it's this incredible device that — [ sorry adi her wisdom check of 8 means it doesn't occur to her that if he knows the name he probably knows how it works. she leans across the aisle a bit. ] Well, that does a bit of everything. You can access your bank, your messages, take photographs, even play games. [ like candy crush which is now being pulled up as she hands it to him. ] Here, have a go.

[twinfucker]

[Jaime has finally gotten the courage to get up and make his way to the bathroom despite the fact that moving around on a machine hurtling through the air faster than a dragon in flight seems like an INSANE IDEA as does peeing while on said machine, but he's managed. Gold star for Jaime.

He pauses as he passes Alanna. His pride is still wounded from both her victory in their duel and the fact that she of all people was proclaimed mission leader. But he's very confused by the shiny thing in her lap that's showing her face (knowledge 9).]

...your magic mirror's faulty.

[trebond]

I suppose it would be, were it a mirror—though I imagine a magic mirror would make a far worse distraction for the times ahead, so I'm lucky it's not.

[ She lowers the iPad and looks up at him like excuse me bitch did you want something ?? ]

[moonheart]

What's in the big bag? [ yeah that shit could be a tommy gun or something cool, we just don't know ]

[trebond]

Just a bit of equipment. My shield — it's a bit of a hassle to carry around constantly, but I thought I might have want for it if we do find ourselves at odds with the temple owners.

[ She pulls at the fabric of her bag, exposing a bit of a bright red shield with a lioness rampant painted across it. Her hand falls away after just a moment. ]

And a bit of magic of my own. If they aren't as dangerous as I fear, my hope is that the Mystran priests could perhaps give me answers on the subject of a blade that came through the Veil with me.

[ Even if the ones in the temple are useless, perhaps Wynn's contact won't be afterward. Worth checking. ]

[missindependent]

[ sword at her hip, you say? right out in the open? well, fiona's just suddenly there, looking over her shoulder at the ipad, but much more interested in the uncommon. ] How long have you wielded a sword?

ota

[twinfucker]

[Wow does Jaime ever hate flying. For the first hour or so he'll be sitting looking like he's gonna wet himself, occasionally glancing out the window before quickly shutting the shade because WOW PLANES ARE FUCKING TERRIFYING (will 8).

After a few hours of the plane not crashing down despite the fact that CLEARLY IT SHOULD BE, he calms down a little. He can't spend a whole day in a state of panic, thankfully. That's the point where he puts headphones in (possibly with help) and tries to watch the in-flight movie. For all of his general mistrust of technology, he finds movies and television a whole lot less frustrating than trying to read when letters tend to move around the page and swap in his mind.

He probably eventually sleeps too idek go bother him.]

[moonheart]

[ yeah faith notices him fumbling with his headphones and tries really hard not to laugh ] Need some help there?

fiona ♔ ota

[missindependent]

[ fiona's surprisingly quite calm for most of the flight. that is, when she's free from faith distraction. open in her lap is a large tome specifically dedicated to the mother of all magic, herself. in the seat beside her sit a few more books, in many different, and some ancient, languages, and still more written in mainly only the language of magic, itself.

she seems quite content pouring over her studies, eyes scanning the pages furiously, and she's scribbling notes in a pad on her tray table in between chewing on the end of her pen. ]

[moonheart]

Soooo, what do you think might be going on in this place? [ faith leans over to look at her notes, head on her shoulder ]

Jordan; ota

[wishuponadjinn]

[jordan can be found doing various activities during the flight, all of which he doesn't seem to mind being distracted from.

for a while he plays some sudoku, listening to an ipod and humming along (perform: sing 22). some of the time he is found reading a college level mathematics book, quickly jotting formulas and the like in a beat up binder. some of the time he passes sleeping, some just gazing out the window he sits next to, eyes lost in the clouds.

come bug the nerd, you know you want to.]

[moonheart]

[ faith is actually just leaning her head back on her seat, rolled to the side to stare at him openly as he sings, looking a little starry-eyed. when he finally takes notice, she smiles at him widely. ] You've got a great voice.

[wishuponadjinn]

[a slight blush steals over his cheeks when he notices her watching him, and the color deepens at her words.]

Uh, thanks. I uh, wasn't being too loud, was I?

temple of mystra

[moonheart]

[ after finally arriving, the gang gets a Knights vehicle delivered to them (thanks australia branch) and faith gets a nat 20 navigate check and rolled a 19 to drive them out there wooooo.

a cobbled stone path gradually ascends the low hill toward a steep-sided bluff, behind which runs the river. the path leads to the flat rampart of the whitewashed temple wall built right into the bluff. to the left of the open doors stand a large, stylistically simple statue of a woman. a smaller, freestanding stone building stands to the south of the temple. a spot check of 15+ notices two guards walking the top of the walls surrounding the outer courtyard that they glimpse between the doors. ]

[trebond]

[ Well, Alanna's spot check was 12 so no. She's carrying her shield on her arm, two swords at her hip, and a bag over her shoulder in leather armor. She's not so much worried about not looking adapted to the modern world when it's a temple of Mystra ok. ]

As long as we can manage it, we should lead the temple clergy to believe us tourists. They'll believe Jaime, Adi and I to be from Faerun—it should draw no attention for us to seek out such a temple.

[twinfucker]

Not the first time I've used such a ploy. [I could pretend that Jaime being in full plate armor was thought out at all, but no, this is just casual friday for him. His spot check of 17 means he notices the guards.] Be wary, though. We've got company on the wall.

mystra's sacred trust

[moonheart]

[ the priest is inside the courtyard, along with about 8 visitors, participating in a service to mystra, which involves looking at, naming, and revering many of the stars and constellations cast by a silent image spell that seems a bit ostentatious to those familiar with mystran services, but not out of place. as he finishes up, he spots them coming in, and comes to greet them.

"You've returned! Wonderful. With your donations, I trust?" ]

[trebond]

Aye. It's all here.

[ In this large bag. ]

For the lot of us. What'll it be getting us? You don't have a program, do you?

[moonheart]

[ "The sacred trust is a 3 day rite, wherein through prayer and meditation, you will draw ever closer to the goddess." he leads them to the main doors into the temple and gives a specific knock. moments later, there's the sound of the doors being unbarred.

the large room within is closed off from the sky, but tiny points of light glitter on the otherwise oil-black ceiling. the floor is tiled with obsidian slabs, and three rows of square pillars march across the chamber from north to south. torches are ensconced on the east and west surfaces of each column. a plain stone altar stands alone near the chamber's center. two guards flank the room, and a taciturn and dour priest waits for them.

"Have you paid your fee to Shan Thar?" he asks, nodding to the priest from outside. shan extends his hand to them to collect the fee. ]

mystra's sacred trust ♔ days 2-3

[moonheart]

[ during the next three days, the knights are fed barely anything, must bathe daily in the room called 'mystra's rain' where they have to stand in a group shower in their underwear, attend nightly ceremonies, and participate in daily chants.

the gist of the ceremonies is difficult to disentangle from the religious iconography and symbology, but a DC 15 Int or Knowledge (religion) check garners the following: Mystra is born between stars, as Mystra's symbol shows - the stars are known points of magic, but the space between the stars holds far more, knowledge that Mystra reveals only to those who show special promise.

taciturn and dour, the priest fembrys generally refuses to speak at all, except when leading the chants and ceremonies. temple guards rotate duties, feed the petitioners, make sure they're following the rules, but otherwise keep to themselves.

by the third morning, they're a little light-headed from the lack of food, but are woken by the guards and told to prepare for fembrys to come gather them for the final ceremony - the 'starry gnosis' ]

[trebond]

[ knowledge (religion) 18! alanna did pick up on the nuances of the worship services. she's caught routinely muttering snarky comments out of turn about fembrys because she doesn't know how to shut her mouth, but she plays along over the course of those few days.

perhaps more noticeably, her already short temper grows even shorter over the course of those two days. it's basically a snickers commercial. so, when they're woken by the guards, alanna is snappish. ]

About bloody time we see an end to all this.

once more in the right place oops

[mining]

[ Adi's on the same page as Alanna (nat 20 knowledge check), but he's substantially less irritated about it. He's quiet throughout most of the ceremonies and quiet about being woken, only speaking up after giving Alanna an even look. ]

I thought meditation was meant to have a soothing effect.

[ He says it like it's an idle observation. Totally not a super obvious joke re: Alanna's current mood. ]