Cult of Evil IC

[LordChaos13]

Over the past years you have roamed and been yourselves, performing acts of worship to your imprisoned Gods but generally trying to stay under the radar, knowing that to do anything large would invite scrutiny from the 6.
While you may be vile atrocity-committing monsters you have some self-preservation and lack any protection from a God wiping you from the map.


But lately, lately something changed. Visions from Vida, orders from Panli, Hegumi whispering thought of slaughter in your ear if you would only go to a certain place at a certain time.
Well that time is here.

The 5 of you (and any attendants you bring) approach a small clearing centred on an eerily still reflective pond.
As you draw closer the water flows and shapes, rising up into a mirror
"Greetings our Devout." Comes the sibilant charismatic hiss of Panli, his demon red eyes peering from the shining mirror
"Our most faithful" The slitted green eyes of Hegumi looking remarkably snakelike despite only being glowing eyes
"Our best followers. Our Chosen." Vida intones, her purple eyes between Hegumi and Panli
"You have been chosen to receive our greatest gift. The gift of Power and of Stealth. Should you choose we can imbue you, and through you others, with the ability to hide from those who Imprisoned us long ago.
While our true power is bound the millennia we have been trapped has allowed us to worm a small morsel of it free, to reach out and touch you, to contact you. And now, in this spot we can free more.
If you accept what we offer you will sever all ties to the Free Gods. No contact, you shall be hidden from them completely. You could stand in front of Gendurin himself and he would see through you, no prayers to Bemola, no being scryed on or hit with a bolt from the blue. You 5 shall be immune to the God's Fury and through you your followers.
If you accept step forward and place a single drop of blood on this Anchor. In the pool it will mix and corrupt, destroying the Anchor and releasing the power necessary to hide you." All three speak, one after the other before the mirror shimmers and collapses back into the eerily-still pool

[Roguenewb]

Azathanil

Azathanil shifts side to side quickly, staring into the purple eyes of Vida, then the sky, then back to Vida. I want that. Want it so much. Finally, something for me. What I deserve! He thinks. He quickly scampers to the pool, hands tight against his sides, and uses his binding knife to cut a drop of blood free and let it spill into the pool.

[Luca]

Abzu's tail twitched impatiently from side to side, drawing patterns in the dirt behind him, mad collections of runes that hurt the eye to decipher. He gets halfway through a reversed word of nurturing before he realises what he's doing and scours it with his boot. Tutting at his own distracted nature he mentally derides himself, he should be calm and collected, showing up these specimens in front of their gods. Instead here he was clearly nervous, ill at ease, hardly befitting his nature. He couldn't help it, those voices were unmistakable their tones dripping with everything the tales had described. He exulted in their tones, voices promising so much to whoever could take it from them.

Impatient creature Abzu thought, watching the scampering figure of Azathanil, in truth he was just as eager to make his sacrifice. Better to not be first, to not seem desperate. He only had so many cards, and only an idiot showed his hand first. Once his.... fellow cultist had finished he sauntered over, wings flicking slightly where they lay furled behind him. Standing in front of the pool he gazed at his reflection, wondering if his crimson scales were being warped by what lay within, whether those caged gods sought to show him a being other than himself.

Whatever deceptions, real or imaginary, were presented to him were soon dispelled as he bit into his own hand savagely. Strong sharp teeth tore into his flesh and one talon picked up a small part of it and flicked it as close to the center as he could aim. Murmuring to himself as he returned to his previous position his wound knit shut, the excess blood licked clean as he watched the others.

[Aldurin]

The tiefling and aasimar stepped toward the pool with a tiny shadow dragon hovering above them. The tiefling stepped forward and drew his drop of blood, throwing it in the pool.

"Vida, we are here-""-to serve, we will -""-take this gift and bring about-""-the destruction of your enemies and your prison."

[BananaPhone]

Danica Talos


Danica watched as three others moved forward to accept the graces of the unholy avatars before them, the anticipation for their blessing palpable in the night air.

For several long moments the raven-haired woman regarded the spiritual manifestations that hovered above the lake - the promises that they made and the consequences turning over in her head. Personally she did not much care for their adulation as much as their presence back in this world - the violence and the conflict that they inevitably generated an over-due necessity to shake the populations out of their complacency.

Moving forward and kneeling next to the pond, Danica unsheathed a dagger and pressed its sharp point against her finger tip. A small bead of red quickly emerged from the depression the metal made, and carefully the woman reached forward to play her fingertip upon the pond, granting it a drop of her blood. Once complete, she stands up and returns to her position.

[LordChaos13]

The 4 drops of blood mixing with the pure waters of the pond, expanding out and filing the entirety of the water. As you watch it begins to swirl into a vortex, the soft clay bottom visible right in the epicenter as it radiate Divine energy.

Thunderclouds forming above you as Gendurin's attention is drawn inexorably to the Anchor, his gaze upon you readying a divine attack to destroy you all

[BananaPhone]

Danica Talos

Peering up at the sky, Danica afforded a smirk as she beheld the relic himself.

She gave a little wave, twiddling her fingers.

[Luca]

Abzu Redsands
He gazed upwards as his brain quickly flew through his options. He could outrun a lot of things in the air, but hardly a lightning bolt. The three imprisoned ones would be little help in the face of genuine attention by Gendurin so seeking help in the pool was meaningless. No words could save him here, in the old tongue or any new one. His only option was to trust that the dark three had spoken truly.

How he hated relying on others, no better choice here though.

[Roguenewb]

Azathanil Casimir

"No! Not now! Go! GO! GOGOGOGOGOGO!" Azathanil snarls, and then screeches, at the sky. His hands tighten and twist until they seem almost as claws. Hi legs sink into a slight crouch, eyes turned skyward with a seething energy behind them. What to do? How to fight this usurper god? How to slay a diety unchecked? Its hopeless. Again I shall be betrayed by fate...

After moments of snarling, he falls to his knees, and starts to flicker with greatly renewed intensity. "Cold darkness. Tears of the king. Hunter of wills. None shall save. Let the Void Before The Altar walk no more. Good riddance to you, cursed life," Azathanil spouts, mouth and arms jumping with each disjointed sentece. The look of strain on his dirty face is partially concealed by the lanky, greasy hair laying across it as he stares into the dirt.

[LordChaos13]

The vortex erupts into the sky, a crimson waterspout splashing into the sky, forming a pulsing red forcefield right as a bolt of lightning strikes it sending sparks coursing through it
Completely contained in the red dome the 5 of you rising into the air propelled by unholy force.
What remains of the pond turning into ruby and shattering completely into shards, the biggest only as large as a finger

Red, Purple and Blue energies shimmering into existence wrapping around you all. Warping your souls and bodies, your tarnished metaphysical vessel overflowing with vile Evil energies before being siphoned away again to form a glittering shield around you

Slowly, gracefully, you descend and the dome fades away, revealing the thunderous sky
A bolt of pure white energy launching down at you, before you can react hitting the pond's remains and vaporizing it completely. The wave of force passing over you and through you, though you feel nothing.


"It is done our Chosen. Though the Gods have noticed the breaking of the Anchor so I would suggest fleeing before any Champions arrive. Or stay to defend, though nothing lies here for you anymore."

[BananaPhone]

Danica Talos

When she lands, Danica looks at her hands, observing her fingers and twiddling as if she were recovering in the wake of an electric shock.

She smiles. She and these other...fellows, were to be scions of the malign entities. Acting as a conduit, they would ensure that their bleak masters returned to this world once again.

Moving down to the evaporated pond, Danica uttered several words and held out her hand while opening her pack with the other. Each shard beneath the purview of her limb shook softly before being lifted off the ground. Carried upon an invisible force, quantities of rubies flew into her open pack. Further funds would be useful.

"Do you fellows have any centre of refuge?" she asked.

"I have a small house in Nachtheim, the population centre of this kingdom - but if either of you possess something more secluded and private, now is the time to tell me."

Very soon, her sack was filled to the brim with rubies as she returned to stand upon the banks and await a response.

ooc:
Using Greater Mage Hand to shovel 40 lbs worth of rubies a turn into her Handy Haversack, filling it to the brim: should be about 75 lbs worth of rubies.

[LordChaos13]

OOC: didn't notice the "Pond gets vaporised" bit did you.
You summoned glittery dust

[Luca]

Abzu Redands

"There is a temple in the eastern deserts, with proper humility you could be allowed entry. Of course the center of a desert is useful for little other than solitude... Regretfully we must tear their world apart from within. Even if that means exposing ourself to their... culture."

[Roguenewb]

Azathanil

"Forget the human. She, as most of them, know nothing. These scum will crumble easily before me know. I will reave it into kindling and rule the skittering bugs of humanity, as is the Elven Right. My Birthright. Not hers." Azathanil speaks quickly, in a biting tone just above normal speaking volume. As soon as he mentions his birthright however, his voice drops into a honeyed drawl, honey with an underlying taint of poison. The final word is filled with every shred of disdain that can be mustered.

"First, to the nearest town, the nearest hive of the usurpers. There, we can subjugate and feast on their gathered trinkets. Their stolen, misbegotten dishes. But first, I have deals to make..." As he speaks these strange speech, his voice drains of emotion, all while acquiring a manic pace. He only calms down when he speaks of making deals.

Azathanil walks under the covering of the nearby trees, unrolls a black sheet of strange vellum, marked in gold, and begins to draw. "Focalor, Prince of Tears, curse my heart, and spoil my pleasures so that I may know true feeling!" he intones, eyes drifting into a half-lidded trance.
Use binding seal, make binding check to bind focalor. [roll0]

[Roguenewb]

Azathanil

Words finished, Focalor manifests slowly, appearing first
as a single tear that drops from thin air to strike the ground.
Next his weeping eyes appear, and gradually his whole body
becomes visible. Focalor looks like a handsome human male
whose face is twisted by grief. He wears no clothes, but he
cloaks his body in the griffon wings that grow from his back
and shudder with each of his wracking sobs.

Azathanil stares into the vestige, letting the terror and sadness rolling off this strange being sink into his soul. He basks in it. "My prince. You have come, just as always. Today I have need of you, but I must torture you. I must extract the power of your desire to see the world, and punish your heart for wishing to feel. Suffer for me, my prince, and I will suffer with you. Let us suffer and thus make the world suffer for us." For the first time Azathanil's voice is clear and strong. Power backs his voice, and he delivers the ultimatum like a proud hero. Despite this, Focalor twists and shrieks, screaming into the wind, and finally dives into Azathanil's chest, who begins to pour copious tears and lets a mask of true sadness cover his face while he weeps.
Attempt to exploit vestige, giving up water breathing. Failed. Sign is crying, under the influence, which is sadness and depression.

Once Focalor is bound, and the area is quite, Azathanil exchanges the mat on the ground for another, and begins to pray once more, "Tenebrous, the Shadow That Was! Be again! Beshadow the world of the false gods once more! Appear to me and let us darken the sun and let hope die!".

Upon completion of the rite to summon Tenebrous, the summoner’s shadow shifts to fall across the seal. Even if the rite occurs in
complete darkness, the shadow is visible as a darker spot
in the blackness. Once the shadow crosses into the seal, an
inky humanoid form—impossibly gaunt, holding its limbs
at disjointed angles—rises from it. The voice of Tenebrous is
a whisper in the wind, almost impossible to hear, yet laden
with unmistakable meaning.

"Oh dead god, oh shadow of divinity, embrace me. Darken your own sight so that we may darken the sight of the gods" Azathanil speaks clearly again.

Attempt to exploit vestige, total DC 25, [roll0] Either way, show the sign, which is looking like I'm in shadow. If I fail the roll, than I also feel great sadness and abandonment, and must delay in combat till someone else goes first

[BananaPhone]

Danica Talos


Danica watches the elf with an impassive expression, before turning away from him and addressing the others.

"So, I know one amongst us has an IQ hovering beneath the level of a rock - but what of the rest of you? The champions of dvinity and benevolence will be searching for us, these pompous deities won't let their reign go unchallenged."

As she said this, the elf garbled and chanted in the background.

"So I suggest we afford a network that will enable us to coordinate our efforts and communicate. If we go our separate ways even the mewing wretches of the benign will eventually overwhelm us. "

The scream of the griphon-winged man lurched up in the background.

"We have a potential temple - could we clear it out of worshipers and use it as a joined base of operations, even temporarily?"

[Luca]

Abzu Redsands

Abzu shakes his head slowly... they were both right of course, at least in regards to the other's idiocy. "I see I shall have to spell it out for you. I said there was a temple, I said nothing about residents. You will absolutely not 'clear it out', you will beg me for entry and you may reside there. I fail to see the strategic advantage of a desert however unless one here is capable of teleportation. Feel free to speak up, it rather does change strategy."

He wraps his draconic wings around himself like a coat, more to ward off the others unconsciously than because he was cold. "Now, discussions of our relative intellect aside, we will acquire a suitable base of opperations and then I would suggest an initial trial of our abilities. It would be presumptious to head for any major target just yet, but I will not waste my time on trivialities. As such I would ask what our objective is, infiltration, subjugation or destruction?"

[BananaPhone]

Danica Talos

The raven-haired human sighed, and brought her hand up to massage the bridge of her nose with an index finger and thumb.

"...you don't see the strategic importance unless one of us can teleport..." she uttered under breath.

Taking her hand away, "Allow me to spell something for you out," she said, her demeanor calm. "I can transport us across vast distances, thus why I asked.

Infiltration should be our method, with displays of opulent strength in situations only when we can guarantee no witnesses. We'll need to consolidate both the resources and expertise to free the Dark Ones. If I am the only one that can translocate us across space, then it would be best if we acquired territory in the rural areas where the vigilance of the Prime Deities is thinnest, unless anyone else has different idea?"

[Roguenewb]

Azathanil

Azathanil finishes his final binding, linking The Shadow That Was to part of his soul. His mind is a pit. Sadness and loss echo through the blackness. All he has left to hang on to in the whirlwind of depression and agony is a simple mantra: They will fall...they will fall....they will....they...they...they...

He saunters back across the clearing to the others. "Take us then, take us now, and let us see what is to be seen, Human." Azathanil says, in a barely intelligible garble, not much above a sob. "We must be away. The costs are too high, the price too steep, to dally now. I do not wish to let the Watchers of the Anchor find us, who, or whatever, terrible beings they may be. We may be free of the gods, but we are still frail, frail flesh. We still suffer the trials that flesh is heir to, and our death will be niether pleasant nor quick if we are caught. If the dragon doesn't wish us to visit this temple, then your home is poor a place to start as any other."

Azathanil turns, walks a handful of steps away, and looks up and towards the sun. He mutters, barely audibly, "When starting on an endeavor as poorly concieved as defying the gods, it is important to start from a poor starting point, else you have nowhere to go but down." He laughs, once, mixed with a sob, and is still.

[Aldurin]

Xander gave a dismissive snort, and just when Rendax was about to indicate support for Danica's plan, he raised his hand to stop the aasimar. "You're thinking too hard about this, we don't need a base of operations, and such a thing would be a liability anyway. Especially if we holed up in the first place the champions would investigate right after here."

Xanderax flew around Danica and muttered to Rendax in celestial, "Don't heed the advice of this one, you wish to control yet you will only be controlled if you let her lead you around."

After the shadow dragon finished, Xander spoke again. "I say we go find the nearest village and destroy it, the residents will become our first sacrifices and the charred ruins will serve as better terrain than here to fight any holy champions if we have to."

[Luca]

Abzu Redsands

As the others began to bicker he was content to listen for a short while, in truth he was mostly ignoring them as he strategised, digging through mountains of information as he attempted to select a starting point. A gout of fire erupts from his mouth, burning a small patch of ground between them all to naught but ash. The flash of heat and light little more than to catch their attention, an interruption to the arguments.

"Human, if you are capable of transportation then do it. You may waste your time arguing once we are in a secure location, currently the window of safety is growing ever smaller."

He strides closer, wings slackened a little so as not to appear too defensive. "You will transport us and then proper advise and strategy will be used. I cannot tolerate any further pointless bickering"

[BananaPhone]

Danica Talos


"This endeavour will surely be a test of my patience." Danica uttered to herself, the five other aliens within her purview as she considered the situation.

Slowly she reached into her pack and retrieved a map of this kingdom, her eyes scanning over its face and spotting hidden clues that only she could decipher.

She took her time to read this, getting across the point that she was the one that was not only deciding where they were going but that she was the adjudicator as to when they would depart - not when ordered to by a bipedal reptile.

"Right, I am ready to leave now," she announced, straightening herself out and holding out her gloved hands. "Come now, be cooperative gentlemen and form a circle," she gestured for the others to come forward and take each others hands.

"We are going to a hut upon a cliff overlooking the halmet of Redriver. It is a safe-haven that several of my acolytes have used and Redriver itself is a small population fit for any appetites you may wish to indulge." she said the last sentence at Xander.


With that, unless there were any last second objects, Danica uttered several words of power and the joined circle of humonoids dematerialised.

oOo

Hundreds of miles away upon a rocky out-cropping that was elevated well above a small hamlet that was nestled along a river, the group flashed into existance - the clearing they occupied decorated with tree's, grass and a single, inconspicuous hut.

[Roguenewb]

Azathanil

Fresh land. Perhaps too fresh, wouldn't want it to fight back. Not that it matters, we will either perish or we won't, not too much point worrying....

Azathanil looks around the clearing, looking for some clear way forward, "Is this where you intended to bring us? If it is, its as poor as I could ever have hoped it would be. Which way to the dreadful little town you spoke of?" His last words are sputtering as rivulets of tears drip into his mouth.

[Tacitus]

Cassius Riker

The appearance of an angel is at first disconcerting, a servant of the gods at such a profane meeting could only spell doom. Until, of course, his disguise falters. Brilliant white wings tarnish as the illusory magic falls away and streamers of silk twined with his hair, wings, and armor fill out into sickly yellow-white tentacles. His golden, gleaming skin pales and takes on a greasy pall. A small angelic form glides down from the skies after him, quickly shedding its divine cast to match the features of his Lord. However, instead of sickly tentacles he bears wicked claws, ready for rending flesh.

Upon being asked to give over a drop of their blood Cassius is the last to step forward, having spent time trying to mentally calm his obviously agitated little friend. Finally an intense psychic pressure fills the air between the two and the clawed creature suddenly falls silent, his personality subsumed by his Lord's. He stepped forward and presented his hand, letting it hover over the water for a moment before his third tentacle rose up to pierce the center of the palm with a wicked stinger. A drop of blood too light to be human fell into the pool. A moment later he stepped back, his eyes focused on the small puncture, which quickly vanished.

While the others discuss a starting location he seems to be conferring with his lesser self. When asked to join hands he does so, with his tentacles rather than hands, which are entwined in his lesser self's hair, pulling firmly.

His voice, when he finally speaks, carries two tones. The main voice that chimes through is melodic and sings of his celestial ancestry, but the one that comes behind speaks of darker things with a bass rumble, "Not a village We have been to, We think not. No spawn lie in wait to join this struggle, yet. If this assembly could subdue the entire village We could assimilate even the buildings and then leave them under the care of a Node, loyal directly to Us."

[Luca]

Abzu Redsands

Abzu regards the not quite angel for a short time, assessing its being, comparing it with prior experience and to his surprise coming up with precious little. "You will explain, brief them on the details of this node. While you are doing so I shall make myself comfortable, you will accompany me."

Without waiting for permission or even a reply he begins walking calmly towards what he would call for lack of a better term a house.

[Roguenewb]

Azathanil

Azathanil stirs, taking a half step before stopping himself. "Can you really...No, yes...perhaps. I wish...I don't know what I wish, but I wish to see you do this strange action on this villiage." Azathanil says, drifting in and out of appropriate volume. Azathanil considers whether or not an angel is an appropriate choice for the current leadership. Perhaps, perhaps not. I shall be expunged from reality eventually. Sigh. The elf puts his hand to his head, mutters something and rubs his other hand on the pouch containing his spellbook.

Finally, he speaks, "Earth Nodes are a powerful method of power, and an adroit caster can create intense metamagical constructs based on node magic, yet fundamental instability that often manifests as mental dissociation followed by self behavior focus resulting in negative antisocial tendencies and 'evil'. This is often a problem among Drow adjacent communities and illithid resistant undergound havens often exposed to node metamagic." Azathanil pauses, seemingly surprised at his words, which are clear, concise and strong, "This is unlikely to be a problem for our current endeavor."

When he finishes, he places his hand on his mouth, and follows the angel and the dragon.

[BananaPhone]

Danica Talos

Dancia rose a slender, dark brow at the elf's crazy ramblings as to whether this was where she had intended to bring them.

"No, this is the other hut upon a cliff over-looking a town." she uttered quietly, walking over to the cliff face as she did so.

Upon reaching the end of the rocky protrusion, she stopped and peered down into the valley below and the palm-shaped collection of torch-lights that outlined the town at night. Through its centre ran the shimmering, liquid darkness of a river in the moonlight, while upon each flank of the hamlet was a forest of tree's that walled them in.

"We are several hundred miles from Nachtheim, where the vigilance of the Prime Deity's mortal agents is thinnest."

The wind picked up, causing her voluminous, dark purple cape to plume out to her side for several seconds before it settled down.

"Indulge whatever little delight requires satisfying," she said to the elf and the angel, turning away from the cliff-face.

"But avoid becoming gluttonous: we will neeed to retain some prisoners as an offering to celebrate this auspicious evening."

With that, she started to move towards the hut. She stretched a hand up and unplucked the door with invisible forces before she reached it.

[Tacitus]

The angel smirks at the dragon, "We will brief you, for clarity not because you wish it were so. A Hive Node is a being who has been evolved to serve as a nexus for Our consciousness and remain with Us no matter the physical distance. In addition to being part of a group consciousness under Our guidance they can also lead small numbers of assimilated individuals in a manner similar to the greater hive mind."

The angelic guise returns for both the man and his companion, the latter of which swells until it is large and takes on the appearance of a larger angel, "We will attempt a peaceful conversion. Do not follow Us with slaughter. Make sure none escape Our gift at the outskirts of the village." Both Cassius and his companion lift from the ground and make their way down toward the village, resplendent in their angelic guise, aiming to descend from the heavens near the center of the village.

Mutable Form, changing my six floating Evolution Points to give my sting a Fort DC 18 2d4 Wisdom injury poison and make my two tentacle attacks nonlethal.
My Swarmling's claws become nonlethal and he grows two size categories to Large.
+4 Str, +4 Con, -4 Dex, +2 NA, natural attacks are now +19/+19/+19 for 2d6+10 Nonlethal +1d4+4 Acid