Heroica RPG - Quest #159: An Unexpected Return - Sewers

[Kintobor]

24 minutes ago, Asphalt said:

Now that we have escorted our charges here, what is our next move?  If the Paladin have one again become an oppressive force in this city, perhaps I would better counter them if I once again too up that mantle.  Those not of the yellow need to know that not all would call them fiend and that there are Gods who would welcome them.  

He looks at his companions.  Mistress Karie, my sword is once again at your side.  How would you have us proceed? 

 

"It's up to you how you want to face the Paladins. Having some healing support would be beneficial, but I've heard of the power vindicators wield." Karie responds, turning to Vindsval with her back to Ulric. "I won't say no to either, Vindsval. My only stipulation is that we proceed forward as a group, as a team. I've lead enough parties that nearly tore themselves apart. You remember Immortalis, Vind? Gods, I'm surprised that group kept itself together.

As for how we proceed, it'd be wise to get our facts straight, or as straight as we can get them, before going forward. Let's answer the questions we can now and make sure everyone's on the same page before we decide to do anything. Whatever we do, we need to keep the citizenry in mind. We need their support if we're ultimately going to take back this city." Karie looked over the editorial she managed to snag from the Eubric Herald back at the Lady Luck's Locale. She wondered who the mysterious  Frustrated Flying Filly was, and whether they could help.

"If you got questions, let's hear them. Perhaps some of us can answer them."

[KotZ]

"Alright, so we have a powerful Vindicator on our side against Paladins. I hope Vindsval can stay with us to right the wrongs on this city, but we can't force him. The Paladins are being, well, not helpful. Vindsval, taking up their mantle might not help, but I don't know. I've never been close to those people. Ulric, are you not able to spare some forces to help us?"

She then takes a step back, just to give herself some space to think. Then her eyes light up. An idea, something possibly that could help, she hopes. "The Fae One. I met the Fae One. Diana did too, I believe. We could ask the Fae One if we knew where to go or look, right?"

[Palathadric]

"Well, if anything helps us find the Fey One, it would be this Magic Compass," I say. "I doubt any person could help us for a task like that."

[Asphalt]

You speak true, I have great power as my Lord's avenging right hand.  But the cost.  IT pulls the Beast from inside me.  That which I have kept in check for so long that I might be seen as man not monster.  Every time I use the power of the seal, I find the red haze coming sooner and lasting longer.  If this final fight is to indeed save the lives of its residents and the soul of this city, I must keep my own.  I will walk beside all of you, this I pledge.  But to do so I must have my control.  

Master Fox, Would you lend me your guidance once last time?

Edited January 30, 2018 by Asphalt

[Waterbrick Down]

On 1/26/2018 at 10:55 PM, Kintobor said:

"Thanks." Karie looked over the photo again, grinning and nodding to herself as her suspicions were confirmed. "Just as I thought. The Fae One's missing from this group photo. I find it suspicious that all the veterans return to retake the hall except the Fae One, which begs the question: where are they?"

"Good catch, which brings us to why I asked Kukulkan and Jacqs to bring you down here. You'll want to take a look at this."

Ulric removes a polished white stone from a leather satchel. Glowing glyphs cover all sides of the rock in the elaborate Metasimian script.

Quote

Blinding light now over-run
A dark seed planted below the sun
Where once was joy and never glum
The flower grows, take care They come

-Byblos

"Well below here there's catacombs to some ancient temple, they got buried a while back but my men still patrol near the area. This was found maybe a month or so ago. Skrall mentioned, this Byblos fellow was pretty close to your organization."

On 1/28/2018 at 7:45 PM, KotZ said:

"Alright, so we have a powerful Vindicator on our side against Paladins. I hope Vindsval can stay with us to right the wrongs on this city, but we can't force him. The Paladins are being, well, not helpful. Vindsval, taking up their mantle might not help, but I don't know. I've never been close to those people. Ulric, are you not able to spare some forces to help us?"

"We're pretty spread thin at the moment. But Skrall and Kukulkan have a group of orcs, goblins, and other greenskins that we could maybe spare. What did you have in mind?"

On 1/29/2018 at 7:19 PM, Asphalt said:

Master Fox, Would you lend me your guidance once last time?

"Aye son, do you wish to once again walk the path of the Paladin?"
 

[Kintobor]

50 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Good catch, which brings us to why I asked Kukulkan and Jacqs to bring you down here. You'll want to take a look at this."

Ulric removes a polished white stone from a leather satchel. Glowing glyphs cover all sides of the rock in the elaborate Metasimian script.

"Well below here there's catacombs to some ancient temple, they got buried a while back but my men still patrol near the area. This was found maybe a month or so ago. Skrall mentioned, this Byblos fellow was pretty close to your organization."

"Yes, they mentioned you had information on Byblos and-" Karie stops as the glowing white stone is displayed. Despite leaving her pickpocketing days behind her, Karie couldn't help but be attracted to the stone and it's glyphs. "Well that riddle's certainly ominous. I've heard of ruins being beneath the city, even pocketing the sewers. What do you know about this temple?"

[Palathadric]

"Temple below the city? I believe some heroes went there once. I recall a tale of...Namyrra, I think it was, she was eaten by an archdemon there, though they escaped in the end. I know Byblos well. Quested with him on one of my last quests and he was...taken up into the void, to seal a portal or something of the like. I wonder how old this is."

[Waterbrick Down]

13 hours ago, Kintobor said:

"Yes, they mentioned you had information on Byblos and-" Karie stops as the glowing white stone is displayed. Despite leaving her pickpocketing days behind her, Karie couldn't help but be attracted to the stone and it's glyphs. "Well that riddle's certainly ominous. I've heard of ruins being beneath the city, even pocketing the sewers. What do you know about this temple?"

"The temple was to Zoot, apparently it was built back in the days of Nu Mercution. Quite a few of us were down there when we dealt with Wren and another expedition explored the area with Hybros the imp. After that last expedition most of the area was cutoff due to cave-ins. However we've still got patrols that skirt the area every once in a while."

6 hours ago, Palathadric said:

"Temple below the city? I believe some heroes went there once. I recall a tale of...Namyrra, I think it was, she was eaten by an archdemon there, though they escaped in the end. I know Byblos well. Quested with him on one of my last quests and he was...taken up into the void, to seal a portal or something of the like. I wonder how old this is."

"At least a month old, least that's when the patrol found it. Said there was some weird portal type magics going on in the area when it popped into existence. Don't really think its from this plane."

[Palathadric]

"A message from beyond, in a sense. I wonder why he couldn't speak plainly as he used to. Several things come to mind when reading this, but I suppose we will need more insight to know what Byblos was really referring to here."

[Duvors]

(OOC: I'm back now. I'll be picking up where I left off shortly.)

[KotZ]

On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 9:58 PM, Waterbrick Down said:

"We're pretty spread thin at the moment. But Skrall and Kukulkan have a group of orcs, goblins, and other greenskins that we could maybe spare. What did you have in mind?"

"We need to keep the guards and town watch distracted, while also getting citizens to safety if things go wrong. That would leave an opening for all of us former Heroes, and the leadership of the Wolf Gang, to get to the Founders to get a nice sit down with them."

[Waterbrick Down]

2 minutes ago, KotZ said:

"We need to keep the guards and town watch distracted, while also getting citizens to safety if things go wrong. That would leave an opening for all of us former Heroes, and the leadership of the Wolf Gang, to get to the Founders to get a nice sit down with them."

"So you mean a suicide mission? While they could potentially keep the guard and some paladins occupied, that white haired lady brought a dragon and a bunch of other wyrms with her, not to mention this Miracle Worker you keep referring to that sounds like can raise the dead. A frontal assault is a quick way to get yourselves killed."

[Palathadric]

1 hour ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"So you mean a suicide mission? While they could potentially keep the guard and some paladins occupied, that white haired lady brought a dragon and a bunch of other wyrms with her, not to mention this Miracle Worker you keep referring to that sounds like can raise the dead. A frontal assault is a quick way to get yourselves killed."

"That is what I myself was trying to tell them...do you have any plan for you and your men right now, Ulric, considering what the city is passing through?"

[Kintobor]

On January 30, 2018 at 3:45 PM, Waterbrick Down said:

"The temple was to Zoot, apparently it was built back in the days of Nu Mercution. Quite a few of us were down there when we dealt with Wren and another expedition explored the area with Hybros the imp. After that last expedition most of the area was cutoff due to cave-ins. However we've still got patrols that skirt the area every once in a while."

"Who else knows, or perhaps even knew about this temple besides the Wolfgang and those of us now present? I assume some members of Heroica do, but I have no doubt in my mind that Byblos's message and the Founders arrival is no coincidence. We know they intend to resurrect people, perhaps Zoot cultists might be what they intend to resurrect? If that's the case we can certainly convince the Paladin Order to back off and remove their support from this Council."

1 hour ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"So you mean a suicide mission? While they could potentially keep the guard and some paladins occupied, that white haired lady brought a dragon and a bunch of other wyrms with her, not to mention this Miracle Worker you keep referring to that sounds like can raise the dead. A frontal assault is a quick way to get yourselves killed."

"He's right. If we're going to be taking on the Founders, it's going to have be through means other than a direct confrontation, at least for the time being." Karie thought about the next course of action, now that she'd obtained Wolfgang support. Her mind raced back to the stone, things she'd heard of around the hall, tales told to her as a child. Something Kiray said earlier began bugging Karie.
 

On January 28, 2018 at 8:45 PM, KotZ said:

She then takes a step back, just to give herself some space to think. Then her eyes light up. An idea, something possibly that could help, she hopes. "The Fae One. I met the Fae One. Diana did too, I believe. We could ask the Fae One if we knew where to go or look, right?"

"Kiray, you said you met the Fae One. Was it in the Faerie? If so, can you describe it?"

[Asphalt]

On 1/30/2018 at 12:58 AM, Waterbrick Down said:

 

"Aye son, do you wish to once again walk the path of the Paladin?"
 

The decision weighs heavy upon me.  I cannot yet decide which path would prove the best for the people of this city.

I agree that a direct assault against the founders would be a poor decision for any.  Nor do I think that sending the Wolfgang to cause a distraction would be wise.

It would seem our Path leads to two places, either this temple or the trail of the far one. 

[Waterbrick Down]

On 1/31/2018 at 3:39 PM, Kintobor said:

"Who else knows, or perhaps even knew about this temple besides the Wolfgang and those of us now present? I assume some members of Heroica do, but I have no doubt in my mind that Byblos's message and the Founders arrival is no coincidence. We know they intend to resurrect people, perhaps Zoot cultists might be what they intend to resurrect? If that's the case we can certainly convince the Paladin Order to back off and remove their support from this Council."

"As far as I can think, only other heroes. Not aware of any cultists of Zoot in Eubric lately, Wren was summoning chaos beasts last time we were down there, no cultists."

[KotZ]

On 1/31/2018 at 1:39 PM, Kintobor said:

"Kiray, you said you met the Fae One. Was it in the Faerie? If so, can you describe it?"

"It was," Kiray said, reaching far back into her memory for this. Acteaon, Siercon, dragoons, Denerii. Diana. "We were transported there after a battle in a forest back in Dastan. The Fae One was the one who brought us. We met Euflear, and the granddaughter Hope. We talked of Lorothos Eldar, one of the first members of Heroica. We met in the Faerie. It was a confusing place where time passed differently. Six weeks had passed in our world. Six. It was ethereal. It was there and it wasn't."

[Kintobor]

6 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"As far as I can think, only other heroes. Not aware of any cultists of Zoot in Eubric lately, Wren was summoning chaos beasts last time we were down there, no cultists."

"Well, it's good to know that we probably won't have to worry about cultists. Still, that temple bothers me. I think our best lead is to investigate this unholy site and see if anything weird's going on." Karie replies. She wondered how beneficial going to the Temple of Zoot would be, but it was the group's only lead so far. "Speaking of leads, Ulric, do you have any informants in the Eubric Herald? There was an editorial written in tonight's paper by someone going by Frustrated Flying Filly. It was a pro-Heroican article apparently lambasting the city for forgetting about us. You wouldn't happen to know who that is, would you?"

4 hours ago, KotZ said:

"It was," Kiray said, reaching far back into her memory for this. Acteaon, Siercon, dragoons, Denerii. Diana. "We were transported there after a battle in a forest back in Dastan. The Fae One was the one who brought us. We met Euflear, and the granddaughter Hope. We talked of Lorothos Eldar, one of the first members of Heroica. We met in the Faerie. It was a confusing place where time passed differently. Six weeks had passed in our world. Six. It was ethereal. It was there and it wasn't."

Karie took Kiray's words in. They were helpful, but not decisive. Perhaps she should've been more precise in her questioning. She replies to Kiray, looking grim. "Kiray, take a look at the stone. The first line reads "Blinding light now over-run". Would "blinding light" be a good description of The Faerie?"

[Palathadric]

"I would still like to pass by the marketplace...I'm uncertain how these changes would have affected them, but we had better stock up on our needs before anything happens down...er...up there."

[KotZ]

On 2/2/2018 at 12:26 AM, Kintobor said:

Karie took Kiray's words in. They were helpful, but not decisive. Perhaps she should've been more precise in her questioning. She replies to Kiray, looking grim. "Kiray, take a look at the stone. The first line reads "Blinding light now over-run". Would "blinding light" be a good description of The Faerie?"

"Very bright. Blinding. You think The Faerie has been over run? Perhaps we need to get to The Faerie and solve the problem there to solve our own debacle?"

Edited February 3, 2018 by KotZ

[Kintobor]

On February 3, 2018 at 2:51 PM, KotZ said:

"Very bright. Blinding. You think The Faerie has been over run? Perhaps we need to get to The Faerie and solve the problem there to solve our own debacle?"

"If the Faerie is run over, I doubt the Fey One is still alive. I don't even know how we'd get to the Faerie, let alone how we could stop an army of demons. 

Besides, I think whatever is going on has to do with this sunken temple. "A dark seed planted below the sun" means that whatever's happening is taking shape beneath the ground. I don't want to get into a full on fight, but some reconnaissance work to investigate if the temple of Zoot is indeed the site of something going on might be beneficial, unless anyone else has any other leads?" She looks at Ulric, hoping to hear his opinion on the matter.

 

[Palathadric]

"You speak well, Karie. I will follow you to the temple."

[Waterbrick Down]

On 2/2/2018 at 12:26 AM, Kintobor said:

"Well, it's good to know that we probably won't have to worry about cultists. Still, that temple bothers me. I think our best lead is to investigate this unholy site and see if anything weird's going on." Karie replies. She wondered how beneficial going to the Temple of Zoot would be, but it was the group's only lead so far. "Speaking of leads, Ulric, do you have any informants in the Eubric Herald? There was an editorial written in tonight's paper by someone going by Frustrated Flying Filly. It was a pro-Heroican article apparently lambasting the city for forgetting about us. You wouldn't happen to know who that is, would you?"

"She's written quite a few articles in the past concerning the Hovels, don't quite know who she is, but her commentary would suggest she's someone high of station. The Herald would probably have details."

9 hours ago, Kintobor said:

"If the Faerie is run over, I doubt the Fey One is still alive. I don't even know how we'd get to the Faerie, let alone how we could stop an army of demons. 

Besides, I think whatever is going on has to do with this sunken temple. "A dark seed planted below the sun" means that whatever's happening is taking shape beneath the ground. I don't want to get into a full on fight, but some reconnaissance work to investigate if the temple of Zoot is indeed the site of something going on might be beneficial, unless anyone else has any other leads?" She looks at Ulric, hoping to hear his opinion on the matter.

"If you're going to try and get to the Faerie, your best best might be the Ziegfried's, they're the only ones with any sort of plane manipulating forces."

[Asphalt]

17 hours ago, Kintobor said:

"If the Faerie is run over, I doubt the Fey One is still alive. I don't even know how we'd get to the Faerie, let alone how we could stop an army of demons. 

Besides, I think whatever is going on has to do with this sunken temple. "A dark seed planted below the sun" means that whatever's happening is taking shape beneath the ground. I don't want to get into a full on fight, but some reconnaissance work to investigate if the temple of Zoot is indeed the site of something going on might be beneficial, unless anyone else has any other leads?" She looks at Ulric, hoping to hear his opinion on the matter.

 

It is decided then, the temple will be out next destination.

Vindsval moves over to speak more closely with the Fox.

Master Fox, I fear I truly do not know which Path would best serve my companions and my adopted city.  The Protection of the Paladin would aid us greatly, but our resources are low.  The power of the Vindicator could tip the balance in a battle, but would leave us broken and bleeding.  Tell me, you must have once battled without the magical protections of the hall.  Which Path would you walk this day?

[KotZ]

"The temple seems to be the best bet."