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

[trebond]

[ int check 17. ]

G-N-O-S-I-S.

[ She whips her head around, watching Jordan walk for the door and LOOKS VERY STARTLED THAT HE KEEPS GOING (wis 14 to be like hmmm genie bottle maybe not a gr8 idea). Leaving Faith to do the legwork with researching this shit, she grabs her sword out of the trunk and bolts after Jordan. ]

Oi! Not so fast with that thing.

[moonheart]

[ thanks alanna gurl. faith does some frantic googling (research 17), and i guess... relates her findings to adi, congrats. ] That's what I thought - there's no known artifact or holy item in the Mystran church called the Starry Gnosis.

Whatever this is, it has nothing to do with Mystra. [ actually concerned, she goes to get her stuff out of her trunk - most notably fiona's bottle, which she wraps up in a sweater of hers to hide. ]

[mining]

[ Adi who's distracted by Alanna's valiant attempt to intercept Jordan, but Faith gets his attention when she starts explaining. Now that the situation's been spelled out (literally), he casts a concerned glance after their zombie-walking companions. ]

Maybe we should hit them.

[ wis 15 for that sure-fire plan. Meanwhile, he's getting his belongings, which aren't much, or particularly impressive. ]

[wishuponadjinn]

[yeah, jordan is not stopping at alanna's words, not even acknowledging them. he is to go to the stairs behind the altar. duh.

and if someone does reach for his bottle, he will be putting up a fight. a glittery, genie fight.]

[trebond]

[ oh goddess. alanna gives up when she notices him blind to her, tipping her head back and cursing the great gods for landing her in this. gathering her wits, she bolts back to the room, rustling up her pendant and looping it around her neck. never take off a trinket from a bloody goddess, coram would have told her. that's like to be the time you'll need it. and it may shed some light on whatever magic is bewitching them.

looking up at adi and faith, alanna pulls her sword from her belongings, drawing it. ]

Great! Hitting. [ she nods, encouraging. ] Hope you've got a good fight in you. Our blessed genie isn't waking up, and I've no intentions of allowing Fembrys one in his employ. Look alive.

[lionbrave]

[Jaime keeps on trucking with that armor. It's even more awkward when he's carrying it, not wearing it, especially with his dex check of 9, so there's a clatter and a clang as he drops something and has to reorient so he can get it all up together again.]

[missindependent]

[ fiona's following jordan, now, her backpack slung over one shoulder. she looks s-so excited to find out ALL THE SEKRITS, and there's a skip in her step as she, too, makes her way back to the altar. ]

[moonheart]

[ faith hesitates at the idea of hitting them. she knows exactly how powerful her two djinn friends can be, and the thought of provoking them into a fight... well. she can't see that ending well for anyone. she puts a hand on adi's arm, quietly saying to him and alanna: ] Maybe we should wait for a better opportunity. Pretend to all be affected, see where they take us. If we can't get them to shake this off... Well. I wouldn't want to fight both our friends and the bad guys at the same time. They'll definitely hear a scuffle if we start something here.

[trebond]

[ Alanna looks, well, conflicted. She glances up between Faith and the exit where the others are filing out. Pressing her lips together, fussing, she gathers up the remainder of her belongings, carrying them in a manner that's all too clear: she's signing up to try and bluff their way through this. ]

If either of them come anywhere near handing those bloody lamps over, we're through. I'll cut down every priest in this bloody temple if I have to. [ Having deadlines is important, ok. ]

[moonheart]

I've got Fiona's. [ she gestures at the rolled up sweater ] She lets me hold onto it, just in case.

[missindependent]

[ definitely best not to let the evil priests get their hands on a genie's bottle. good thinking, team. unfortunately, fiona won't be much assistance to their cause, but at least faith has possession of her bottle, at current.

so... what's behind the altar?? ]

[trebond]

Splendid. Off we get, then.

[ Following! ]

[moonheart]

[ behind the altar is a door that's been opened to a set of steps, that leads down to a wide landing flanked by two dark statues, both apparently carved of coallike stone, roughly depicting a female human. soft white light spills from the south stairwell below. they move down quietly towards an indoor stoneyard. a flickering, starry light clings to the statue of a woman in the center of this chamber. the rubble of broken statuary, burned scriptures, and smashed holy vessels is piled about the central statue and elsewhere throughout the chamber. anyone who makes a knowledge religion check dc 10 would recognize all these things as devoted to mystra.

five doors allow egress to the area, in addition to the steps behind them. fembrys scowls at the statue as he passes it, moving to the door opposite the steps.

"Come along, come along." ]

[trebond]

[ knowledge: religion ... 7. nope.

She trudges through the doors after Fembrys, making sure she catches up to Jordan. He's not to get out of her sight. ]

[lionbrave]

[Jaime's knowledge check of 9 means he's got nothing too, but that could be because he's still a zombie. He keeps moving blankly forward.]

[wishuponadjinn]

[Jordan doesn't glance at Alanna as she sidles up next to him, and doesn't spare a glance for the broken remnants of Mystran worship either, instead following fembrys faithfully as commanded.]

[moonheart]

[ the far door leads to a hallway where familiar-looking statues flank a central path down the wide passage. like the ones on the step, they are carved from a coal-like stone, and rough depictions of a female human. fembrys gestures for them to stop here, and there's the sound of the door on the far end being unlocked.

a strange looking woman emerges, pocketing the key. her long black hair trails behind her, a long, ugly scar running down her face from over her eye to her chin, leaving that eye clouded and blind. she glides forward, looking between them all as fembrys bows his head slightly in respect.

"Good work, my Fembrys." he seems to lap up the praise like a dog, his eyes brightening with pride, and shoulders squaring a bit, but her lips pull down as she actually examines the gathered. her voice is somewhat raspy, and she adds: "Although we shall see how much use this lot is." she paces in front of them, looking each one from head to foot. "How many of you are spellcasters? Speak the truth."

fembrys nods, encouraging those under his thrall by adding: "Yes, do as Lady Arthas orders you, as if I had asked."

faith manages to avoid the urge to glance at her comrades, lifting her chin and saying in a dazed, unaffected voice: ] I am. [ nat 20 bluff B) lady arthas looks to her, pursing her lips and humming to herself thoughtfully.

"Good. Very good. Any others?" ]

[missindependent]

[ with a knowledge: religion check of 22, fiona recognizes the vandalized statues as former effigies to mystra, and she smiles as she considers them, moving to run her fingers along one of them as they pass. she seems oblivious to the idea these sculptures where purposefully defaced, rather assuming this is just the work of time and poor, damp storage conditions. ] It's a shame, they must have been so beautiful. [ she mumbles to... no one in particular.

as they file in and stand in front of the scarred woman, fiona continues glancing around curiously, as if the mysteries of the universe must be in this very room. when faith speaks up, fiona eyes her uncertainty, but, luckily for faith, she can not recall whether faith really is a spellcaster, or not (wisdom 6).

she shrugs, turning her attention back to the lady arthas, instead. ] Me! I'm a spellcaster, as well! A self-educated sorcerer, but a powerful one, nonetheless. [ she, too, is beaming up at the woman proudly as she speaks, and then she turns expectantly to the only other member of their team she knows is a spellcaster: jordan. ]

[wishuponadjinn]

[Jordan is looking at Faith pretty much just like that, but he says nothing, instead smiling as he looks over to Fiona first, then to the Lady Arthas.] I too wield magic, my lady.

[moonheart]

[ "Ah, wonderful." her eyes glint darkly as she turns to regard jaime, alanna, and adi. "And you others?" ]

[mining]

[ Adi vaguely recognizes the various items (religion 13). Although his brow furrows in thought, he keeps quiet, distracted by Fiona's absent musings. When they finally come to a stop and Fembrys introduces Lady Arthas, he doesn't bother to hide his interest; they're supposed to be enthralled anyway, right.

He briefly considers lying, but thinks better of it by the time her gaze settles on him. Jaime might take care of that, anyway. Adi considers her a moment, curious, then nods. ] I am.

[trebond]

And I as well, my lady.

[ Noticing Fiona's glance, Alanna decides it's probably safe for her to look at Jaime now. Except rather than the expectant look of considering another caster, she seems to be searching for whether the compulsion Fembrys laid on them extends to Arthas' demand of the truth. ]

[lionbrave]

Not I. [Jaime intones, sounding disappointed. He's never particularly wanted to do magic, but he feels like he's letting Fembrys down. He wants to be useful!]

[moonheart]

[ "Nor I," comes a mini chorus from those other npc petitioners. arthas looks at all of them with a dissatisfied frown before snapping her fingers at fembrys.

"Very well," she says. "Those who are, you're to come with me, to receive the next level of Mystra's Sacred Trust. The rest of you - I dispose to Fembrys' care, to do with what he will." she turns, and opens the door behind her, moving into the hallway beyond. fembrys rubs his hands together, looking strangely gleeful and follows, expecting them all to do the same.

faith casts alanna a concerned look, mouth pursed together. this was not a part of the plan. 8(

the wide, utilitarian hall beyond is flanked by several doorways, and the two on the north wall are particularly large. two torches burn in iron sconces, one on the north wall and one on the south, providing the only illumination here.

the south end of the hall contains a great circular disc of darkness - bordered by deep purple stone. despite the light thrown off by the torches, the disc seems to reject any light whatsoever - as if it were a void that were devouring any of it that came nearby. characters looking on it can make a knowledge (religion) check... faith certainly freezes in place when she sees it, shoulders tightening, and an unsettled look appearing in her eyes. ]

[trebond]

[ Her lips part, Jaime's name ready on her lips. Rather than reveal herself, she closes her mouth, looking away from him and to Faith instead, communicating her worry soundlessly. They can't leave him like this.

Moving down the hall with the others, she glances back over her shoulder—so frequently that she notices the great disc last. Turning back towards it, Alanna's violet eyes grow wide with instant recognition.

Shar.

This is no temple of Mystra at all, not with something like that buried inside of its walls. Her hand twitches and tightens on her sword, but she does not draw it. Not until she knows what they need the petitioners for. ]