Realm of the Thousands IC

[qwertyu63]

You are all in the small city of Barlaam. It is early morning, and it is snowing. Where you are in the city is up to you.

[Zolkabro]

Allaytos is in the form of a small ice elemental, wandering through the snow in the silent streets, bathed in early morning starlight, enjoying it's icy cold feel.

[Vedhin]

Lin is enjoying the snow, as it is much more comfortable than the usually hot (for her) weather.

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

The small ratfolk exemplar finds himself in the presence of the poorest of the poor, yet this is of his own choice.

Having only arrived at the city of Barlaam the previous afternoon, he had spent most of the remaining evening getting to know the city's layout. His goal had been to find just this place, where poverty was at its worst and he could do the most good even with a brief stay.

To that extent he had come early and with a quickly called upon air elemental had removed the snow from a larger patch of dirt and earth. Then, when the people came to distrustingly look at what was happening, he had called upon the earth to present its bount, vines breaking through the frozen topsoil and in seconds sporting large inviting fruit, which he then invited the onloookers to partake in.

In an attempt to further prove his goodwill, he himself ate one of the fruit first to show that they did not hold any poisons or similar.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh

Snow didn't bother the demoness in the revealing clothes; it sizzled into steam as soon as her deceptively delicate feet touched it. At least it did when the silver-haired woman focused enough to make it so. Farideh snorted. Of course they would think her a demoness. What other kind of being would be seen traveling the streets all night in so sheer an attire, horned and with red-tinted skin and a thin, long tail swaying as she took dancelike steps that tempted most men (and quite a few women) ? The warlock was enjoying herself immensely. Most of these people didn't really know what real demons looked like and even when they thought they knew what she was, they didn't know what to do about it. It wasn't as if the local drunks or even the average city watch patrol could do anything about a major demon; so much better to say nothing and just watch. She was so scantily clad after all!

Of course, pretending to be a demon in so obviously nonthreatening and yet blatant way served a point beyond having fun. Immediate gratification was good; shaking up lawful authority and those prissy so-called holy men in their temples was better. Freedom was the very point of life - freedom of thought, expression, speech and other little things far too many people took for granted. Well, this city at least would embrace such freedoms. Or be forced to - either way worked for her.

And if the "holy" men in their temples disagreed? Farideh would bet she had more good deeds to her name and fewer things on her conscience than any of them. Besides. It wasn't as if exorcism, smiting or burning at the stake would work on her.

[qwertyu63]

The sky takes on a subtle red tint. Most folks seem to have not noticed.

Only those with 13+ hit dice can see the tint. There aren't a lot of those in this city.

[Vedhin]

'Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in the morning, sailor's morning. Bad weather must be coming. Nobody else seems to see this, however.' Lin muses, confused by the change. "I'd better be wary."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh


The horned warlock smiled at the changing sky and danced a little jig. Red moon ascending, slaughter unending. Red moon departing, the End Times are coming. She laughs. At least, that's what my mother used to say. Let's see who else can see this and how much trouble we can make for lawful authorities. And with that she starts walking around the city, talking to passersby about the weather, trying to see how many have seen it. And because this is a good opportunity to play a good prank, when she gets close to drunkards, thieves and other unreliable characters she whispers in their minds that they should start telling random people in the streets that the sky is green today. Or yellow. Or purple with pink dots. And that doing so was their own idea - if anyone in authority should ask, they heard a rumor the sky was red tonight and decided to start their own rumor about their preferred color...

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

Intrigued by the sudden shift in general ambience, he renews the vines, providing enough food for 16 more people, then ascends into the sky while reinforcing himself.

Once at sufficient height to overlook most of the city, he attempts to spot the source of this change, if one exists.

Cast 'Shield'
Spot check - [roll0]

[Zolkabro]

Allaytos frowns at the sky, and leaps into the air. As he jumps, he transforms into an eagle, and soars up into the sky, and looks around at this odd red glow.

As he does so, he notices what looks like some kind of filthy, ugly human flying not too far from him. As he flies closer, he recognises it as some kind of rat/human hybrid, a Ratfolk, he thinks they are called.

"Hail!" the eagle calls out.

Spot:
[roll0]

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

'Talking Eagle, a Druid?'

Somewhat surprised at the sudden appearance of the talking bird, Sliver nonetheless answers.

"Greetings to you as well. I don't suppose you are the one creating the red luminescence?"

[Zolkabro]

"I'm afraid I was about to ask you the same question," Allaytos says with a rueful smile. "Have you been able to discern anything?"

He stops suddenly.
"Sorry, I didn't even introduce myself. My name is Master Katara. And you are?"

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

"The name my accidental creator gave me was 'Sliver', I have not found a reason to distance myself from it, so that is likely what you may call me. Well met Master Katara.
Since neither of us two is the reason for this effect, perhaps something else in the city can be found to be."

That said, he appears to concentrate for a moment and three Balls of light near as large as he is tall appear around him, then disperse to different directions after a quick command.

"There, perhaps the Archons can find the source of the disturbance. Though it was strange. I had to specify to look for things that don't belong. Apparently they were unable to percieve the redness."

Summoned three Lantern archons and set to search mode.

[Zolkabro]

Allaytos raises an eyebrow at the lantern archons. Well, he certainly seems powerful. Now to ascertain whether he is equally trustworthy, I can't have somebody of his calibre running around unchecked...

"Shall we go somewhere a little more comfortable, and talk? Drinks, perhaps? On me, of course."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh


Seeing that her campaign of pranks has little effect on the city, the striking woman with the demonic features shrugs. Such things need time and she never had much patience. If she did, she'd be a devil-scion instead and probably queen of the whole world but as things stand, she never liked politics or running anything nearly as complicated as a kingdom.

Abandoning the attempt, she jumps. Instead of falling back down like normal people do when jumping, she continues rising straight up towards whomever it is she saw patrolling the sky. A few moments later she's there, scant but supremely elegant clothing flowing as she rides the wind upon her own innate magic and nothing else. The red tint in the sky makes the crimson tint in her own skin even more pronounced and her delicate horns and flexible tail strike an impressive pose indeed as she approaches.

Hey, everyone! she says with a cheerful smile when she gets closer. Anything interesting up here?

[Vedhin]

Seeing yet another being rising into the sky, Lin decides to follow suit, the red light sending purple-tinted reflections scattering off her armor. Upon nearing the gathering, she states "So I presume you also can see the redness of the sky?"

[Zolkabro]

The eagle turns in surprise. "Ah, more of us?! Well met, friends! My name is Master Katara, and this is Silver."

"So, you too can see the red light? ...Fascinating. Say, Silver and I were just about to go and get drinks and talk about all this. You in?"

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh

The name is Farideh the scantily clad demoness says with a small bow in mid-air. Anyone with enough familiarity with the denizens of the Abyss can see she is only a quarter-blooded demon but her Abyssal essence seems to have been drawn out, fueled and coaxed until it evenly matched her mortal blood. But the inhuman qualities she possesses are polished and presented in such a way as to make them the most alluring, like a courtesan would display platinum-forged jewelry to great effect. And I am always up for a good party! she says with a wink.

[Vedhin]

"I shall come as well." replies Lin.

[Zolkabro]

"Excellent!" Allaytos smiles. "I know a rather nice place. Quite small, but good food, and nice and quiet. Called the Dragonfly Inn, have you heard of it? Anyway, follow me."

The eagle dives gently towards the ground, before transforming into a handsome elf, who lands lightly on the ground, before looking up and waving the others after him. Once he is sure they have all followed, he enters the Inn.

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

Somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden influx of strange people, Sliver doesn't forget his true work.

"I am aware of the location you speak of. I shall join you there soon, but for now I must attend to those less fortunate as I had planned."

With a quick apologizing nod, he floats back down towards his vines and renews them. Alowing a steady stream of people access to enough food for the day. Once they have accepted that his food brings no ill to them, another quickly summoned air elemental blows free some more areas, allowing a staggered approach for faster access as he cycles multiple vine placements, growing new fruit while allowing the people access to the ones just before.

16 people every 6 seconds, 160 people per minute, nearly 10,000 people in an hour.

[Zolkabro]

Well, feeding the poor en masse? He certainly seems trustworthy. And the knight seems okay, but I have to say I'm worried by the Demoness. Well, only one way to find out...

He stepped into the pub, and strolled up to the bar. This particular form was familiar to the bartender, he often came in here wearing it, so he knew he'd get a warm welcome from recognition.
"Greetings, friend. I'll have a glass of wine, if you will." He cheerfully ordered.
"What about you guys?" he asked, turning back to his companions.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh

The tiefling woman looks at the bounty of fruit created by the strange man and winces. Charity is evil. she warns him. I've seen devils destroy a city by feeding it for free until people no longer need to work for their food, become dependent and lazy like spoiled children and leave the fields to rot. The destitute being given bounty for free and then hard-working folk thinking it's easier to beg than work hard and thus joining their ranks. The rich wanting to control the city then hiring guards to control who can go to the charity and criminals stealing the food to then sell it. And all of it together leading otherwise thriving cities with a bit of poverty into total ruin.
She shakes her head.
Power and leadership should demand compensation for what it does. You spend an hour feeding the people here? Then demand payment for an hour's work from everyone - they'll still get the food much cheaper than normal but not for free. You don't want or need money? Good for you - still demand an hour's worth of compensation. Make each person you feed get off their lazy, beggar ass and do an hour's cleaning on the city streets, an hour's worth of repair for the city landmarks or an hour's worth of doing chores for others.

She points down there at the gathering swarms of poverty around his created food. You have the attention of hundreds, perhaps thousands. If you really want to do good, have them work to do good themselves. It's the duty of power to use it correctly and a thousand beggars are still a host of two thousand hands.

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

"Perhaps, but as I am a wanderer my influence is at best fleeting, and a brief respite from hunger and cold can do wonders for self-worth and motivation of the unfortunate.
I do not aim for sustained active help, I am merely an enabler, one who helps take care of the most basic needs, those being food and shelter."

With that last sentence he provides an example as he sweeps his arm towards the cracked and partly broken wall of a nearby house. A crackling sound can be heard as the holes in the wall are filled with brickwork, first crudely, then conforming to the rest of the wall until it is unbroken.

"I could ask for recompense, but what use do I have for it? I can see the wisdom in your words, but it is skewed. Those that have no means to work or training to do so would not be liked to be seen attempting it. How often have you seen the downtrodden be chased from any attempt of gaining work simply due to their low status, the more fortunate projecting their insecurities and fearing thievery or incompetence?"

[Vedhin]

"I will have water." Lin requests. Upon receiving it, she turns to Farideh and Sliver and joins their conversation. "I believe that both of you have part of the truth. While long-term efforts at charity can indeed lead to ruin, Sliver is right in saying that his wandering nature prevents that rot from setting in. If he keeps traveling, he may not help meet the needs of the poor himself, but he gives them hope for a better future, and the strength to keep going. And charity also depends on where you are, as well. For examplae, most desert cultures reject charity; the desert is too harsh to give away some of what you produce for free. But in the desert, water," Lin says holding up her glass, "is given to any who ask, as long as they do not squander it. For in the desert, water is life, and you give to your neighbor that he may give to you in your time of need. The land where I come from is cold and unforgiving, and our culture is much like that of a desert-- only instead of water being freely given, we share our fires and fuel with those who need them."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh


The tiefling laughs. Wisdom? That is a point of contention for philosophers and priests. I'm talking leadership and influence, power. She points at the others, including herself in the gesture. We're all obviously powerful and thus influential. With that comes the duty to employ such power and influence and urge others towards the same. As far as I've been able to tell in my life, every single act that ultimately increases the power of others is good. And every single act that diminishes it is evil. It's as simple as that.
She shrugs.
If you think I'm generalizing, think of murder, slavery, theft, charity and deception as opposed to motherhood, freedom, property, compensation and teaching. Kill one and you take from him all power for anything. Enslave him and prevent him from using his power for himself. Steal from him and take the means and gains of his power, give him wealth undeserved and destroy his will for using his own power for his benefit, lie to him and control his power for yourself. Whereas raise a child to grow strong and healthy and capable, free one to make his own choices, allow him the means to increase his power through property, urge him towards improvement and perfection through compensation, teach him how to employ his power better and more effectively.
Farideh's eyes flash with crimson fire, like windows to a vast furnance.
The world is simple. Intentions -good or bad- and subjective morality merely complicate things.


The tiefling gestures at the barkeep.
A bottle of your strongest liquor, please. My new friends and I are bantering on the nature of good and evil while waiting to see if the recent signs point towards Armageddon. And that's thirsty work.

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

Once the poor are fed and some repairs to their homes made, Sliver joins the others, catching Farideh's last words.

"Good of you to bring us back to the thing of immediate importance. I assume all of us saw the red sky? Does anyone have any knowledge of what such an effect could be?", he asks the others, parsing his own knowledge for such effects.

Knowledge Arcane, since this does seem magical.
[roll0]

[qwertyu63]

Sliver

Once the poor are fed and some repairs to their homes made, Sliver joins the others, catching Farideh's last words.

"Good of you to bring us back to the thing of immediate importance. I assume all of us saw the red sky? Does anyone have any knowledge of what such an effect could be?", he asks the others, parsing his own knowledge for such effects.

Knowledge Arcane, since this does seem magical.
[roll0]

Know (the planes) is the skill you will want here.

[Zolkabro]

Allaytos gestures for everyone to sit at a table, and leans back. Fascinating. The Demoness seems to share my goal of personal freedoms, but perhaps for herself more than anyone else. I'll have to keep an eye on this one.

"Yes, sorry, got distracted," he smiled to Silver. "I have to say I'm really not sure. Let me think..."

[roll0]

[Vedhin]

"Well, I can't say I know too much about this kind of thing..."

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

"I believe it may have to do with the elemental plane of fire. Perhaps a confluence, one that is only beginning at the moment. This would explain why those with less attuned senses seemingly cannot sense it."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh

The tielfing woman sips little by little the tavern's strongest drink until the bottle is half-empty. Well beyond the point where the average human would have drunk himself to unconsciousness, she presents no ill effects.
Well, if the Elemental Plane of Fire wishes to join the party, they're welcome. I hear the Efreeti make a nice strong drink out of Black Lotus - much better basis than grapes, I'd say. She frowns prettily for a moment as she reconsiders.
Oh wait. Merging with the Plane of Fire is going to lay waste to quite a few towns and cities, isn't it?

[Zolkabro]

"You know, thinking further, I have to say I find this extremely vexing. It's related to the plane of Fire, I'm sure of that, but further than that I could not say, other than reiterating its danger. Something really seems wrong with this..."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh

The tiefling shrugs. When in doubt, go on the offensive. She downs the rest of her drink with practiced ease. I say we jump over to the Plane of Fire and ask the usual suspects on the other side.

[Vedhin]

"Ah yes. And who would be the 'usual suspects' for spearheading a breach between the Elemental Plane of Fire and the Prime Material? It's not a common occurance. I'm not to fond of the plan myself, for obvious reasons. Lin states dryly, gesturing at her ice armor as she finishes speaking.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh


By the "usual suspects" I mean "any powerful authority figure that is corrupt and/or evil". She smiles. You don't interrogate the usual suspects because they're directly connected with what's going on. You interrogate them because they have their hands in all sorts of pies and far more contacts and informants than you do. Plus, being evil means that by removing them from authority after the interrogation you also do good by stopping the evil plans they had brewing, irrelevant to the main concern though they might be. Last but not least, you get to divide their ill-gotten gains in three equal portions; one for the poor, one for investment in goodly organizations and other causes of good and one for yourself.

[Vedhin]

"Ah, but it is not as clear-cut as you seem to think. For example, take the Grand Sultan of the City of Brass. He would qualify as one of your "usual suspects". But it would not be wise to accost him. First, he has built up a sizeable base of power. One does not go into an enemy's territory and issue ultimatums, unless they can back up their threats. Second, toppling the Grand Sultan would be foolhardy even if it succeeded perfectly. Unless you have some new system of government ready to be established immediately, the City of Brass would fall into anarchy as the various factions warred for the throne. After the fighting ended and a new Grand Sultan was appointed, the City would be back approximately where it started; with the exceptions of many slain slaves and a new and possibly unpredictable ruler. If one wishes to meddle with affairs on a grand scale, they should be certain to consider all the possibilities first."

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

"Perhaps one of the easiest approaches for now would be to summon a denizen of the plane and see if they are willing and/or knowledgable about what is going on? Perhaps a Fire or Magma Elemental."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh

That kind of big bad is probably too strong for us, true. Farideh shrugs. On the removal of evil governments though, why the laziness? If one is powerful enough to beat the greatest evil in the city, they are powerful enough to tell all the lesser evils to shut up and sit down, or else. She glances at her glass, sees it is empty and goes on. Free the slaves and warn the slavers you'll be back later and if you find any slaves again, they're goners. Hell, if you find any equipment or facilities that can be used for slavery, they'll also be goners; that will prevent them from simply disposing off their slaves if you come calling and then claiming they didn't have any.

[Vedhin]

"I believe Sliver's reminder is right; now is not the time for us to debate philosophy. Perhaps later." Lin says, before turning to Sliver, "I believe it would be wiser to summon a smoke paraelemental. It should still be knowledgable about the Elemental Plane of Fire, but will not be immediately involved in whatever is happening."

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

"A good choice, yet their rmoteness may also cause them to simply have no direct knowledge of what is happening. I am however willing to try. While I am not powerful enough to call upon the eldest of them, I can call one of the ones usually categorized as greater examples of their kind."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh


Binding any sentient creature without dire need or to oppose evil does not sit right with me. Perhaps we could call it unbound instead? The young-looking woman frowns. If we called it beyond city limits, we could probably handle it without magical restraints without collateral damage. Besides, we probably need to get out of the city anyway; calling creatures even partially fire-aspected in a place packed with wooden buildings seems like a recipe for a barbeque rather than information-gathering. A barbeque the people of this town will not appreciate.

[qwertyu63]

When you step outside, the sky is no longer red. It is a greyish-white.

This new color is connected to the plane of air.

[Vedhin]

Looking up at the sky, Lin smiles, "Well, we seem to be spared the Plane of Fire for now. This is proabably Air or Water."

Knowledge (The Planes): [roll0]

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

"Well this is interesting. It seems we were potentially on a completely wrong path. Now we have a potential confluence with the plane of air. This might mean a general weakening of the borders, perhaps a diminishing of the astral plane, leading to a closing in of the planes relative to each other."

OoC:
Shameless stealing of Gamershaven Wizard's College plot as a hypothesis.

[Vedhin]

"In that case, we can assume the other Elemental Planes will show up. If we have a neat rotation going, next will be Water. Anyway, it looks like we ought to summon up two kinds of paraelementals then. The eligible pairs would be Smoke and Ooze, or Magma and Ice. I can summon one of them, and you can summon the other."

[Zolkabro]

"I think that would be wise, but not at the same time, thank you." Allaytos agrees with a slight smile. "Trust me when I say they do not get along."

"But if this is multiplanar, travelling to the Astral Plane and looking around there may be our best option."

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

"If you can facilitate such a thing. I have never spent much thought on staying in the plane and I only have a very limited ability for moving through it as well."

[qwertyu63]

As you stand discussing the topic, the sky turns a pitch black color.

It is the plane of negative energy.

[Zolkabro]

Allaytos gives a short bark of laughter as the sky changes again. "So much for only the elements! Hm, what's this one... Negative energy, I would say."
"Look, there's a limit to how many elementals we can summon, and this might cycle through every plane in existence for all we know. We need a new source of information."

[qwertyu63]

The sky transitions to blue.

Plane of Water

[Zolkabro]

"Ah, back to normal!" Allaytos smiles broadly, raising his arms, spinning and laughing up at the sunny blue sky.
Then he stops suddenly, and frowns.
With a sigh, his arms drop back down to his sides. "Nope. Plane of water." he sighs. "Ah, false hope..."

[Re'ozul]

Sliver

"It is highly unlikely that whatever is happening is caused by one of the planes we have observed so far, considering that it simply seems to be cycling through them. That leaves the glue that is holding them together, the astral plane. Which brings me back to your suggestion to go to it Allaytos. Do you have some way to facilitate that?"

[Vedhin]

"I can get myself there and back, but I'm afraid I can't take anyone along."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Farideh



Anyone, or anything? the fiendish lady asks. Because there was this dragon that once turned his mate into a rock before using magic to teleport; dragons being rather enormous, his magic simply didn't have the power to take her along - but he could carry the rock just fine. Of course, this was a Bronze dragon we're talking about; he managed to drop the rock in mid-flight one day and while the rock didn't break, it took a little bit of searching on the dragon's part to find it amid a whole mountain's worth of rocks. Farideh snorts. Like two decades worth of searching.

[Zolkabro]

"I too can travel there, and could accompany Lin, but anybody who can't shift planes on their own, we can't take with us.