[IC] Secret Societies of Apocrypha

[RaggedAngel]

The Secret Societies of Apocrypha

Chapter One: Life and Death

The group reconvenes after a few minutes, and the staggered comings and goings of those that wish to properly arm and prepare themselves gives everyone a decent chance to eat, more or less. The food is excellent fare, but the conversation dies down heavily after the weighty proclamations and announcements. The idea that the Society of the Dead, one of the serious powers in the world and arguably one of the most directly lethal was plotting something grand and sinister was a grim idea indeed.

A quarter hour passes, and the group stands assembled at the door. Aenor finishes saying something to Abah, gripping the solid older man's shoulder once, before turning to the group at large. His cloak has been drawn back, and the gleaming mail underneath speaks of a lifetime of conflict, despite meticulous cleaning and care. A young lifetime, though, especially compared to many of the members of the party.

"Alright," he begins, "if there is nothing else to be said, I think we should be off. Transport has been prepared, and I believe-" There is a smashing sound outside the door, cutting the bard off before he can say another word. A man's indistinct shout can be heard from the hall, and there is a general clamor that rises for a moment. Aenor's sword appears in his hand in a blink, and throughout the entire group there is a general ripple of preparation for action.

The sound reach right outside the door, which thumps once, a loud, booming sound. The door thuds again, louder, and then the handle shakes rapidly, violently. Once, twice, and on the third shake it flies open, revealing... a rather scraggly, scrawny wolf. Or a lanky dog; it's hard to tell. The animal looks up at you all, weapons drawn and spells readied, and it seems to shrink back on itself. After a long, long second, the wolf opens its mouth; and it speaks.

"Um. Right. I. Uh." It has a disturbingly high pitched, feminine voice, and it sounds like it is on the edge of tears. Or like it would be on the edge of tears, were it human. In the hallway, the gold-clothed manservant appears, and he looks down on the wolf with immense distaste. "There it is, the beast! Forgive the intrusion, I'll oust it at once!" He leans toward the animal, which crouches, preparing to bolt.

"Stop." Aenor's voice breaks through the air like a whip, though he speaks softly. Both the manservant and the wolf freeze in place. "Reginald, please, give pause. Er. Wolf. Continue what you were saying, if you would."

Reginald seems affronted, but the wolf nods slowly, looking at the assembled heroes and powers-that-be with wide eyes. "T-thank you, mister. I, uh." The wolf seems to be chocking up with emotion, but it continues. "My mistress was killed, sirs, ma'am. Bellemorte was murdered, and I barely escaped with my life. She told me to tell you with her last breath, sirs, ma'am."

With the last word the wolf sinks to the floor, its utter misery palpable. Reginald looks to the room, his eyes wide, before silently leaving and closing the door behind him.

[TekHed]

Aemon looked non-plussed, though it was difficult to say with his elaborate costumery and dragon half-mask.

"With her last breath you say? Hardly. It must be decades or more since that woman has drawn a breath that wasn't for speaking..."

[Toliudar]

The stout captain was up like a shot and at the wolf's side. He ignored Aemon's attempt at humour and gave the wolf a once-over, looking for injuries.

"Thank you, and rest easy now. You've done your duty. Can you tell us what happened?"

if there seems to be anything wrong with the wolf, other than simplefatigue at running to us, Abah will use opportunistic piety to heal damage (about 30 points, I think - I'm away from books ATM).

[Fireheart]

Morgase hurries to the wolf's side.

"The Light shine on you. What is already woven cannot be undone. You have been through much to carry your mistress's words to us."

She lays a companionable hand on the wolf, offering comfort.

OOC: Waiting to see what the wolf says before responding further.

[OMG PONIES]

Elie harrumphs and keeps his eyes on the wolf, waiting for its response to the questions of the others. Even after everything he had seen--all the magic, good and bad, that he had experienced at the hands of the wizards--one thing that still left him unnerved was the idea of a talking animal.

[RaggedAngel]

The wolf has been, as best Abah can tell, bludgeoned with something very large and heavy; that said, she also seems to be healing very quickly, and there is no serious damage. The wolf settles back on her flanks, shooting Aemon a dirty look before continuing.

"My mistress was going to come to this meeting today, but she got a message from... someone before she could. It came via imp; he just flitted up, dropped a folded letter on her, and flew away before saying anything. He was ugly, too. But she read the letter, and said that we needed to stop by and meet with an old acquaintance."

The wolf looks down, pausing before continuing. "She went to this old building, on the edge of this town. It looked like a warehouse or storage place or something, and it was a little run down. She didn't like the looks of it, and I certainly didn't, but she went in anyway. I went in first, sniffed around, didn't smell anything. And then she followed, and...

They were invisible, but they were big. I know they were big, because they hit me, and it threw me ten feet through the air. And they got a hold of her, before she could do anything. And she told me to run, and I wouldn't, and then she commanded me to run, and I didn't want to, and then they started rip-"

The wolf pauses mid-sentence, and she lowers her head. The room is very silent; silent enough to hear the familiar's heavy breathing.

If anyone's curious, she isn't lying. Or if she is, no one in the room has a good enough Sense Motive to tell.

[PersonMan]

Kel observes the wolf's entry silently. He keeps his gaze on it as it speaks, only the faint sound of wind swishing through his ragged cloak breaking his otherwise perfect quiet. As it ends its explanation of the destruction of its master, Kel turns to the others, waiting on their response. As usual, no sign of emotion is visible - if there's any, it's blocked by the dark helm surrounding his head and the shadows that still cling to him.

[OMG PONIES]

As the wolf mentions that the attackers were invisible, Elie curses under his breath. "I'll need to call upon the Repentant Rogue to deal with them." he mutters. The old man pulls back from the group and crouches to the ground, drawing a quick sign in the dust on the floor with one of his gnarled fingers. After a minute of intense sketching, Elie stands back from the symbol. The old man closes his eyes and sighs with resentment. "Chupoclops," he mumbles from behind his protruding lower jaw, "Harbringer of Forever."

[roll0] to use the Expel Vestige feat on Chupoclops (DC 25).

A gigantic spider leg springs forth from the ground in front of the old man, lashing out inches from his face. As it finds a foothold, it pulls itself from the ground until an overly-large arachnid head protrudes from the seal. Staring at Elie, it growls deeply. Unfazed, the old warrior spits on the ground. "Your drider magic is no longer of service today. Back to the nothingness you deserve." As he speaks, his jaw regains its normal composure and his tusks start to recede.

"Not so, mortal," the spider calls out in an eerily human voice, "one cannot simply shake himself free from my web." Elie's tusks grow again, and from the look on his face it's clear that the process is not painless. "All these years, and you buy into the illusion that any of this is your choice...foolish boy, it is I who set the rules of how my strands stick to your senses, not you. Forget that again, and I shall crush you underfoot as the vermin you are. You and the other six think you defeated me, but you remain forever tangled in my grasp." The spider retreats slowly--confidently--back into its seal on the ground, leaving the old man clutching his jaw in pain.

[roll1] check to bind Andromalius is invalidated since Elie failed to expel Chupoclops.

"I'll not be able to bind Andromalius today," he says as he tries to ignore the pain (and the implications of what just transpired). "A right pain in the arse he is, but that juggler could have helped against invisible creatures. If they're living, Chupoclops will still let me sense them but I may not be able to pinpoint them. It's the best I can do, I suppose." The warrior regains his morose demeanor, adding "I don't know why I expected anything different...things never seem to work out my way."

[TekHed]

When the spidery creature crawled forth from the netherworld, Aemon took a step back, withdrawing a dagger from one of his elaborate gauntlets, as well as drawing the hellfire pistol at his hip.

Seeing that the Binder had things well in hand he relaxed slightly but frowned when the vestige bit back. Still he said nothing by way of reproach.

"Invisibility will not be a problem."

[Toliudar]

When the spider emerges from, and then re-enters, Eli, Abah looks on with horrified fascination. All of them were more than human, in their way, but also less. Perhaps Eli most of all had traded away some very important bits for the immortality and power he enjoyed. Clutching his barbed spear just a bit more tightly, Abah turns back to the wolf.

"What are you called, wolf? And are ye willing to lead us back to that storage place? I suspect that if this group isn't able to protect ye from massive invisible giants, nothing can."

[PersonMan]

Kel watches Ellie's struggle with the spider-beast with what seems to be intense fascination (but, with his helmet it could also be mild interest, it's hard to tell), looking down at his opened right hand, shifting his gaze from the old man's binding struggle to it. Of course, the Scimitar of Dark Soul's Reaping rested in the light grip of his left hand, deep in the shadows around him, so if the thing were to try and break free it would quickly find itself under attack from him, as well.

As the clash of wills ends, Kel takes his hand from the Scimitar of Dark Soul's Reaping, taking another long look at his right palm before looking back to Abah as he starts speaking.

[RaggedAngel]

The wolf looks around the group, her eyes wide, before continuing in her light soprano voice. "My name is Tilly, sir. And I hope you're right, but I hope even more that those things are gone. I mean, they didn't chase me, so they can't have been too smart; I was able to come here, wasn't I?"

Aenor looks to the group, his eyes, narrowing. "Tilly has a nice point, but I'd like to turn it on its head. If whatever ambushed and attacked Bellamorte was powerful enough to kill her, it would be powerful enough to catch and stop her familiar. This absolutely reeks of a trap."

He looks to the timid familiar, and then he rests his hand on the dagger at his hip resolutely. "But I'm a fan crushing traps with overwhelming force and aggression. It's a traditional military tactic with a wonderfully dramatic flair; more or less perfect, in other words. Now then, let's get to this warehouse and see what our next move should be. Lead on, Tilly."

The wolf nods, and silently leads the group out of the meeting room, and through the halls, where the staff of the facility do an excellent job of getting out of your way. Clothed in magic, shadow, light, and steel, the six of you make for an impressive tableau. Once outside of the building, the wolf familiar breaks into a quick run that none of you have trouble keeping up with, and the group swiftly leaves the Academy and enters the outskirts of the adjacent township that provides the more mundane needs for the prestigious institution. A man may not be able to survive on bread alone, but he'll die far more quickly without it.

After twenty minutes of silent running (and for some of you, hovering) Tilly slows her pace, before finally stopping. You're near the river, and there are a few large stone storehouses in sight. One of them is roofless, and char marks and busted glass indicate a fire was the culprit. Based on the weathering of the building, the fire was sometime in the last few years, but no one seems to have had the impetus to restore the place.

"Here it is," the wolf murmurs, looking on with fear in her eyes. "That's where they told her to meet them, and that where they attacked. I just wish I knew who they were. I just wish she could come back to me."

I noticed that Dread Necromancers cannot, in fact, have a wolf as their familiar. I'm going to go ahead an let you guys know my personal stance on homebrew: I like as little as possible, but if it's a straight down-grade or purely flavorful I'll usually have no problem with it. I'm also usually cool with a little homebrew to help out the systems that get a lot less book support; incarnum, binding, truenaming, and to a much lesser degree martial maneuvers.

Also, I apologize again for how long this took. Let's be off!

[Toliudar]

Abah

For all his girth and somewhat advancing years (nowhere near Eli, of course, but still), the sailor does an admirable job of keeping up with Tilly. This is especially true when, just before they leave the Foundation building, he quickly barks a few magickish syllables and goes all misty and murky. Thereafter, although he pushes forward with the same fervour, it doesn't seem to matter so much if his feet touch the ground.

Abah is, nonetheless, a bit winded when they finally arrive at the half-burnt-down storehouse. He checks that the chain joining his spear to his belt is in place and secure, then turns to the others.

"Straight in, then? If they're skilled enough to set a trap for one of us, it seems dangerous to send any one in alone as a scout."

[TekHed]

Aemon scanned the area, looking for any trace of invisible foes. Slowly he drew his dagger in one hand and his hellfire pistol in the other.

"Hardly. Let's take an unexpected approach."

Invoking a word of power, Aemon seemed to burst into flames, his skin charring into ash before floating up and into nothingness. Where the man once stood was now revealed a creature of draconic countenance, all crimson scales as burning red eyes.

Activating a protective spell around himself, Aemon's cloak flew back as he unfurled his massive leathery wings, with a span easily 6 meters across.

With a prodigious flap, Aemon took to the skies to get a better look in the building through it's burnt roof.

Using a charge of Protection from Evil from one of m wands, then dropping Humanoid Shape as a flavor action before moving up to the rooftop.

[Toliudar]

Abah tilts his head in confusion as Aemon transforms and leaps into the sky. He did indeed seem to be angling to head directly towards the storehouse.

"So, I guess that that's a yes to 'straight in', then?"

Hefting his harpoon, the sea captain takes to the air trailing after the dragon-lord. The big bird on his shoulder digs in all the tighter.

[PersonMan]

Kel tilts his helmet back, looking up to watch Aemon fly into the air. How unusual...he had checked to see if anyone was around as if being sneaky, then simply blasted off into the sky.

Again, the opaque helm around Kel's head keeps any reaction to Aemon's sudden change from being visible.

[Fireheart]

Morgase shrugs. "I suppose that could be considered straight."

OOC: Morgase is going to prep some magic/manuever's here but our joyful capricious proxy is letting me into GITP but not Myth-Weavers. I'll try to edit tonight but if Ragged needs to post just assume she casts something protectiony. :)

[OMG PONIES]

Elie

The oldest earthbound member of the group mumbles something under his breath, then looks around to the others.
Best not to question his methods," he says. "Might seem crazy as a bat out of...well, you know...but in all my years I've never seen him fail to deliver results. Maybe we should cover him?" With that, the elderly man hefts his weapon over his shoulder and walks toward the warehouse, mumbling all the while about "the kids these days."

[RaggedAngel]

From the skies, the warehouse seems to be as mundane and boring as can be, if one ignores the extensive fire damage. The roof had been burned off the rectangular, blocky building, but a couple massive tarps have been affixed in place, making a dirty, moldy makeshift roof that probably kept out more sunshine than it did rain. For all that, however, it seems to stymie an aerial approach; there is nowhere to land, and attempting to punch through the tarps would likely bring them all down, completely ruining whatever evidence or information may lay inside.

The front two doors of the warehouse are shut, but they do not seem to have a lock on them. A brief inspection shows that they are not trapped or warded with any kind of magic, and there do not seem to be any other entrances to the building, magical or otherwise.

Aenor looks up to the flying members of the party, waving them down into speaking range. Once everyone is assembled, he keeps his eyes on the door while speaking. "We could just punch in the "roof", I suppose, but I'd like to see what the hell happened in there, and bringing down a hundred and fifty square feet of damp cloth sounds like a terrible way to accomplish that.

As for just going in the front door, I think we can make a better show of it than just walking in. I've got a pile of illusions I can layer over us before we go in, as well as a few combat spells I don't mind expending before any action starts. I think it's safe to work under the assumption that something's waiting for us; and even if it's just a messenger, we should be prepared for something powerful. Bellemorte was a powerful necromancer, and she was killed right here.

So put on your game faces, and don't worry about conserving spells for later today. This isn't a dungeon, we're a half-hour's easy walk from the Academy; so let's pull out a few stops to make sure no one else dies today."

Time to buff. Aenor will go "last", then we'll open the doors unless anyone has a clever way of getting inside. If you don't/can't/won't cast or do anything to prepare for a potential fight, please make an IC post saying so.

I've decided to use old-fashioned randomization to make sure that I'm not pre-planning Aenor's actions. I won't know exactly what's going to happen myself until after he's pre-buffed; the spells he casts before a fight are much more situational than his actions during, which is why I'm making the extra effort for fairness.

[Toliudar]

Abah

Drifting over the large tarp, Abah thought about all of the things that might be on the other side. When he and Aemon land again and receive Aenor's briefing, he nods thoughtfully, then added.

"I think that I can move us through the tarp, if we still want to take the topside route. Aemon, can you carry someone else with you when you fly? If even a couple of others can do the same, I can shift you through the fabric, then join you a moment later. Acceptable?"

If we have 3 flyers who can carry the others, I can fly up adjacent to the tarp and then use Regroup to teleport the rest of you to the other side, and follow up with Dimension Hop on myself. I agree with TekHed that an alternative to the front door is a very good thing.

Or Abah can support one other person, and we can have two people dimension door the lot of us in under the tarp.

While we're discussing approach routes, Abah will buff with Resist Energy (each of Acid, Cold, Electricity and Fire) and Cat's Grace.

[Fireheart]

Morgase looks at the party.

"The Light Willing, I have a few spells that would help. The Telapathic Bond of Rary, as well as an invisibility spell that should cover us all if there is a way we can all enter?"

"If not, I can get myself into the room if there are enough shadows."

OOC:

Morgase will buff with Spell Turning and See invisibility. She will use a swift action to move into the Iron Guards Clare Stance.

If they decide to use it: Rary's Telepathic Bond and then Mass invisibility.

She can use shadow walk to get herself into the building, trying to place herself in a position to flank someone else if not carried over?

Also, the joys of Crusaders.

Readied Manuevers:
Defensive Rebuke (1), Flanking Manuever (2), Radiant Charge (3), Order from Chaos (4), Clarion Call (5), White Raven Hammer (6)

On her inititive, 3 of the 6 will become active, I'll roll for randoms and Inititaver in the OOC once Ragged calls for it.

[OMG PONIES]

Elie

The old man doesn't take his eyes off the front door, but simply harrumphs as the others discuss tactics. "Here we are," he laments, "undying protectors of all that's good and right, and we're stymied by some glorified bedsheets?" At this, he fades from sight and pops back into existence a few seconds later. "Why don't we just hop onto the Ethereal Plane and come in through the walls? Your precious magic has taught you at least that much, I'm sure?"

[Toliudar]

Abah nodded at Elie's demonstration.

"All right. There's some tactical merit to coming in in different ways, in different places. If we use Morgase's mind-link, then we should all be able to go in at the same time, in whatever way we choose. If anybody needs a 'ride' in, go with Aenor. If I remember right from that time at the pier, you can bounce around through space with a few friends, right?"

So that's Eli using etherealness, Abah dimension hopping. I'm not sure what Morgase has in mind. I'm hoping it's not the Shadow Walk spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shadowWalk.htm), because you're likely to end up somewhere in the next block. I'm guessing it's some Shadow Walk power that I just don't have details on. If Aemon is a warlock, he probably has Flee the Scene. I don't know incarnum very well - if Kel doesn't have a way in on his own, perhaps he can dimension door in with Aenor?

Mass Invisibility and Telepathic Link would be most welcome to Abah, Fireheart.

[RaggedAngel]

Aenor nods in agreement to Abah's plans, but something seems to be bothering him. "We do have a variety of extradimensional travel available to us, and it would be foolish not to use it. I will say, however, that I'm slightly hesitant to Dimension Door into the middle of a building without any knowledge of what may lie inside; it's nearly as bad as just opening the door, in my opinion. Does anyone have a way of peeking inside before we jump in with our eyes closed?"

[TekHed]

"I could kick the door in if you like..." Aemon replid, alighting softly and folding up his wings. One of his taloned scaled hands moved towards the grip of the arcane pistol slung at his hip.

[OMG PONIES]

"Or we could use an alternative approach, sir." Elie addresses the elder member of the Foundation with the proper respect. "Walls aren't ethereal, so I can take a look without moving in." Assuming none of the others provide a dissenting opinion, Elie fades from view once more. As the trappings of the Material Plane fade away, he focuses his gaze on any ethereal contents of the building in question.

[PersonMan]

Kel says...nothing. What a surprise. When the discussion turns to entering the building, he doesn't do anything that could really be interpreted as an attempt to communicate. Apart from a slight moving of his helm towards whoever is speaking, there isn't really much movement from him at all.

Then the helm jerks upwards, ever so slightly. It's a movement that would be fairly easy to miss if he hadn't been essentially motionless before. Kel looks from Morgase to Aemon, then pats the (barely visible with all the shadows around him) sword on his hip.

OOC:
This is the point where I think "why did I put ranks in Bluff?" and have a fridge brilliance moment.

[roll0]

If I meet or exceed 20, Kel will communicate the concept that just blossomed in my mind.

...Ok, +21 means I'll definitely hit it, but I want to see how much those 19 ranks are going to change this scene.

EDIT: Not bad.

Anyways, Kel managed to get a message of "Aemon flies Morgase up, she turns them invisible, then they cut a peephole in the sheets to look through. If it's clear, he can phase through with others, still invisible, until we're all inside.

If there is a possibility of invisible enemies, I can detect them. Plan can be modified with further information from Elie and Aemon/Morgase." across.

Precisely how the guy did this with two nods and by patting his sword, you have no idea.

[Fireheart]

Morgase blinks as Kel seems to communicate an entire conversation with a few flutters of smoke.

"So, we wait to see what Elie comes back with in terms of the inside description. Telepathy and then in?"

[OMG PONIES]

Elie

The old man nods once and simply says, "Aye." He trudges over to the wall, presses his face against the cold stone, and disappears.

[RaggedAngel]

Elie feels a tingle as his face enters the wall, but it's nothing more than the usual sensation he feels when ethereally passing through the echo from an object on the prime material. He looks around the warehouse, and though there are few details on the ethereal side he can tell that the building is as grungy spiritually as it is physically. It is a wide open, mostly empty building; it is about three stories tall, and there used to be a floor between the first twenty-foot tall story and the area above it. That floor was destroyed by the fire, and only a ring of unsteady platform remains around the outside of the large interior area.

In the center of the floor is a spot that is stained pitch black, though you suspect the staining is not a physical mark. It looks like the mark of a violent and painful death. Nothing more about the room is apparent to Elie's eyes.

[OMG PONIES]

Elie

The old warrior returns, a sad look in his eyes. He gives those assembled a physical description of what he saw, but leaves the dark circle for last. "Nothing but death," he says with a heavy sigh. "Story of my life. Looks like it was a painful one, at that."

[RaggedAngel]

Aenor muses for a moment, looking towards the old building with suspicion. "We already know that Bellemorte's attackers were invisible, and as far as I know, that would still protect them from being viewed from the ethereal side of things. Actually, unless I'm mistaken, normally visible attackers can still be invisible from the ethereal side of things under a lot of circumstances.

So, we know the layout of the building better; mostly empty beside some refuse, one big three-story room with a ring of broken floor around the edge twenty feet up. A hundred yards long, twenty yards wide. Does anyone object to two or three of us cutting a hole in the top, and the rest of us Dimension Dooring into the other side of the building?

Personally, I'm going to go through the doors. Or, an image of me will. A spellcaster won't be fooled, but from the description anything waiting for us is going to tend towards the more brutish side of things.

Any objections, or shall we begin?" He look to each of you with a raised brow, clearly wanting to avoid too much haste in the approach; not to mention avoiding stepping on anyone's toes, metaphorically.

[Toliudar]

Abah

Nodding at Elie's report, Abah waits until Morgase's telepathic link and Aemon's blessing are in place. With a nod to the others, he floats back up to the tarp and then disappears through to the other side, timing his actions to coincide with Aemon going through the front door.

In the interest of expediting...once the telepathic bond is cast, Abah will fly up to the middle-ish of the tarp and then Dimension Hop inside.

[TekHed]

ooc: Whoa...two ninjas in the time of one post...


"Before we enter, I must perform a ritual over each of you, that you will be neither scathed nor hindered by my Hellfire..."

Speaking a few syllables in ancient fiendish Draconic, Aemon traced an arcane symbol above the head of each party member, which lit the air on fire with a briefly glowing glyph.

"Now...shall I kick in the door?"

Endure Exposure for everyone...

[Fireheart]

Morgase takes a deep breath after casting the telepathic spell.

"Handy isn't it" Her voice reaching them though to all appearences she is simply smiling.

Then aloud, she adds,"Right, so Dimension Door for me it is. I'd rather not have to try to come in from the top. Flight is not my specialty."

[PersonMan]

Kel nods to Aenor as proposes his plan. When Aemon comes to inscribe the rune over his head (he stands about a head over the armored figure), Kel neither says or does anything, apart from observing the process of glyph-tracing.

As the telepathic link connects them all, Kel indicates nothing with his posture. There's no reply from his end at Morgase's first communication. As she speaks aloud, there's a...not really a message. It isn't some kind of emotion, either, it's like active silence. As if someone turned on a microphone or similar device but didn't say anything. This continues for a second or two before Kel slowly nods, the conspicuous silence ending with the movement.

[Fireheart]

In a manner that is clear she is talking to Kel through the mindlike, Morgase looks him up and down,

"Taking the Tall, dark and silent to a bit of an extreme, don't you think?" She softens the barb with a smile.

She takes a deep breath and draws her whip and rapier. With a flourish, the activates the magic of the rapier as flames flicker up and down the elegant blade. A crack of the whip and lightning streaks down to the tip.

She smiles. "So shall we go see what manner of creature was foolish enough to kill one of our number?"

[OMG PONIES]

Elie nods, adding only "Either foolish or formidable. We move." With that, he waits for his allies to take their positions and then blinks back to the Ethereal Plane.

[PersonMan]

Kel responds to Morgase through the mindlink with what could be described as loud silence. He shifts his shoulders and the silence fades again. As Morgase readies her weapons, he follows suit, drawing an elegantly curved scimitar from its sheath in the shadows around him. The blade seems impossibly sharp even from a distance, edged with shadows and engraved with flowing carvings along its flat edge. He holds it in one hand and after a moment it becomes clear why: the armor around his other arm isn't more ornate, he's actually carrying a shield on it, one with similar flowing text carved into it, set with onyxes and of craftsmanship that is breathtaking for the normal people of the world.

[Toliudar]

The sea captain drifts steadily up to the tarpaulin. He slides a battered wooden shield out of his smaller-than-the-shield backpack and holds it close to his face for a moment, crooning a snatch of sea chanty. The shield springs from his hand, darting around of its own volition. The albatross, seemingly startled by this, takes flight from his shoulder and settles on a twisted rib of roofing.

Almost as an afterthought, Abah reaches back into his pack without looking, pulls out a slender wand, and taps his chest with it. Satisfied, he replaces the wand and takes a firm two-handed grip on his silver harpoon.

"Right. Enough talk. Or not-talk, as the case may be. Let's do this."

[OMG PONIES]

Elie nods gruffly, ready for action whenever it was ready to come his way.