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

[missindependent]

[ with a nat 20 knowledge religion check, fiona speaks up as she pulls a robe over her head ] Chauntea? The goddess of summer, farming, crops and that sort of thing? Yeah, people get pretty fanatical when it comes to food.

[lionbrave]

There was a Mother Goddess in Westeros as well. One of the Seven. [He finishes putting on his robes and looks down at them, grimacing. He might be too vain for this look.]

[trebond]

Oi, watch it! [ Throwing down a name for Her is still very jarring for Alanna!!! ] Anyway. She's more than that, to us. She's ruler of the gods; Mother of Mountains and Mares, and the Wave-Walker. She's beautiful. [ She pulls her hair out from under the robes, smiling at the thought. ] Appears to all sorts; sometimes she's a young maid, or a crone, but mostly she's a mother, lovely as you can imagine. [ She nods to Jaime. ] We've Seven, as well, though we don't call them that, and there's all sorts of lesser divinities below them.

[missindependent]

What do you call them, then? If you don't call them The Seven, or whatever, what do you call them? [ don't mind fiona over here, jaime, admiring your attire as well, but sad the robes will be covering all those muscles now :( ]

[trebond]

The Great Gods.

[ not super unique here. ]

[missindependent]

[ fiona shrugs because i guess that makes sense, and begins searching around their quarters for nothing in particular ] I hope we get to learn all sorts of new magic and stuff... even if this is a sham, they should at least know that much to maintain a decent cover, right?

[mining]

I wouldn't get your hopes up. I doubt they'll teach us anything useful in the course of a few days.

[ Debbie Downer. He kicks back on the bed he's perched on in the meantime, staring at the ceiling and leaving her to the random searching. ]

But there's got to be a great light show, right?

[ Because money. Also because he's pretty sure there was something about weird lights in the report?? ]

[lionbrave]

That's about all most religions are, so I'd hope so.

[Welcome to why Jaime is not a cleric.]

[missindependent]

Huh. Well, at least that's something, I guess. [ she gives up her searching for now and slumps into the bunk nearest faith ] So, what's next on the agenda? Ghost stories by flashlight, or...?

[trebond]

I imagine they're like to throw us all out if we attempted to learn more while we're meant to be ... praying.

[ Her lips purse a bit, souring around the word. Not her favorite activity. She's just throwing it out there, though. It feels like there must be something they can do to learn more, and yet. And yet. ]

[mining]

Maybe we should've gone the direct route.

[ A slightly sideways glance towards Jaime. ] You had an idea about putting their cleric skills to the test, yeah?

[wishuponadjinn]

[and we'll say jordan finally comes wandering in from changing into his own set of robes, his clothes hanging from one hand and a fancy bottle clutched in the other. he tosses his clothes into the trunk at the end of the bed he chooses, but tucks the bottle beneath his pillow.

conspicuously, though the priest had said to remove all jewelry, he is still sporting a thick band of silver around both wrists. he looks around, sheepish at realizing he's missed most of the conversation.

taking a seat on the edge of his bed he attempts to catch up.]

[trebond]

You're like to be kicked out for those, you realize.

[ She makes a nod to Jordan's cuffs. ]

I've my share of trinkets I'd rather not remove, as well, but we have little choice.

[missindependent]

Uh. [ fiona flashes hers as well ] They don't come off. Which they realized pretty quick after attempting.

[mining]

What are they? [ So much for chilling. He's curious enough to prop himself up on his elbows, at least, trying to get a better look at Fiona's cuffs. ] Is it magic?

[wishuponadjinn]

[ yeah Jordan just looks even more uncomfortable now, but also knows his teammates should understand what they are dealing with. He sighs, putting both hands in his lap causing a faint clanking sound as the two bands connect. ]

I uh, guess you could say it's magic. I'm- [ he cuts a glance at Fiona ] we are Djinn. Genies. They can't come off, they're part of us, our skin.

[lionbrave]

[Yeah, those aren't a thing in Jaime's world, and he clearly has not watched Aladdin (knowledge 8).]

Your species comes with jewelry?

[trebond]

Shackles, some might say.

[ nat 20 knowledge check??? i guess she paid attention during aladdin ????? ]

[wishuponadjinn]

Yeah, that's... pretty close. [his shoulders shrug as he looks around at them, landing on first faith, then fiona. ]

It's more a curse than anything.

[lionbrave]

[Jaime looks over at Alanna, clearly surprised that she... knows what these things are. Then turns back to Jordan. His expression has a surprising amount of sympathy in it for once.]

What sort of curse?

[trebond]

They're bound to servitude. [ Specifically, as she understands it: ] To the Grand Caliph, and to whatever mortal possesses their lamp.

[ Her eyes fall on Jordan's pillow. ]

But you've your own. Because of Wynn?

[ It seems like a valid reason to pledge their fealty willingly. ]

[missindependent]

More because we're kinda royalty around there ... Well, not kinda, we actually are the offspring-ish of the Djinn king or whatever. I guess the Grand Caliph must be his other name or something? Honestly, I don't know much about genies, though I'm sure I must have researched them a million times. [ she looks down at her hands bewildered for a moment, but shakes her head and grins again ] I forget a lot, so no surprise there!

[wishuponadjinn]

[there is such a pained look on his face as he watches Fiona speak it's hard to tell if the emotion is from her words or from the conversation.]

My sister and I are bound by different rules than those the other Djinn must follow, but yes that is the general idea. [ it's clear he's speaking about Fiona as he answers Jaime, though the two of them look nothing alike. Whereas Fiona is very clearly a drow, Jordan looks like a normal human, aside from the unnatural brightness to his eyes and the bands binding his wrists. ]

Seeing as though our father is The Jareth means no man nor woman has possessed our lamps. Not that it can't happen, but most young Djinn have been in servitude to a mortal for some years by the time they are our age.

[trebond]

That seems like the sort of thing you ought to remember ...

[ She looks concerned and confused for Fiona. ]

[moonheart]

It has to do with wishes our parents made, before we were even born. Fiona's mom wanted her to be happy. [ she shrugs, looking over at her friend ] So she doesn't really dwell on stuff that's not.

It's just how she is.