The Council of Mythos IC II

[NeoSeraphi]

The evil frozen fey Chylais the Cold Rider of Gluttony stands before the two mages. His home has burned. His men have all been killed. Everything he has known or loved for five hundred long years, burnt to ash in a single instant. He looks up as the vampire raises a cloaked finger. Suddenly, the inside of his body begins to rot. His veins spasm and his muscles atrophy. He sinks to the ground, already more dead than alive, when the armored man steps forward.

The cold rider stares up at the blade's glistening tip. "Do you...do you know if there is ice in the Abyss?" he asks his executioner.

The Black Knight angles his sword. "It's a landscape of nothing but lightning storms and poisonous swamps. But at least you'll be able to feel warm again."

Chylais chuckles. "Warmth, huh? I like the sound of that." He closes his eyes, just in time for the blade to fall.

The Lord of the Dead looks around. "Well, it's done. What a pain in the ass that was. Hey, are you okay Black Knight? You haven't been yourself today."

"Frankly, I feel like you've treated me more like a courtesan." The Black Knight looks down at the corpse wordlessly.

Orion lifts his hood and shakes the man. "Hello? Earth to Arios?"

The Black Knight starts and glances down at the vampire. "I-it's nothing. Fey magic gives off a really strange aura, doesn't it?"

Orion looks around, nodding. "You're right there. It's so...cold. And angry. To be honest it feels..."

"Just like Lamashtu, I know." The Black Knight finishes, looking around. "Well, we should go back and report."

"Great. You got a teleport spell ready?"

The Black Knight blinks and looks down. "D-do you not?"

"That's just great. Guess we're going to have to take a nap here. In the middle of this pile of ashes and rotting flesh. Oh well. Should give you something to look forward to when you get home, am I right?" Orion asks, smiling.

"I hope when you return that you will treat me like the proper lady I am." The Black Knight sighs. "Yeah. Can't wait to get home."

The two mages find a spot on the ground and lay down, getting some sleep.


------------------------------------------------------

Davis, Tiana, Taalia, Fenlaen, Syn, and Nissa all sit around the table eating beef and vegetable soup, avoiding the uncomfortable discussions like Fenlaen stealing a dragon egg from its parents or Tiana's home being stolen or Davis's daughter still being super dead.

[TheEmperor]

Davis thought right back to the spider lady, and angrily shuddered in annoyance. All that jazz about no free will, and being the god the world. What the bollocks that was about, he had no clue. Probably the delusions of power-crazy mage, and everyone else simply went along with it to avoid getting blasted.

"If you want, I could dig some old case files, see if there's a precedent for all this. The law always has loopholes, you know." he said, in an attempt to be helpful.

[Diachronos]

"Don't worry about it. Mys'Tai's laws aren't worth the hassle of getting around." (Elven) "At least they were willing to let Tiana take her belongings with us when we left. Bad enough that she's lost her only direct family and her home." She started eating, wondering whether she should tell her mother about the fact that she'd been disowned and labeled a Sky. For a moment she considered revealing that she was pregnant, but decided against it. Sora would be the first one she told about that.

[NeoSeraphi]

The group finishes their meal (which is quite delicious) and Tiana goes off into her room for a minute. She comes back out and smiles. "Big sis, Sora is back! He's at his house right now. Want me to ask him to come over?"

[WindStruck]

Fen raises an eyebrow. "Sora, hmm? ...Is there any problem if I refer to him by that, or would someone else here want to blast my face off with fire?"

[Diachronos]

Nissa jumped up when she heard Tiana's news. "No, just tell him I'll be over as soon as I can. And that I've got some exciting news for him." She rushed upstairs to change and pack an extra set of clothing, then came down almost as quickly as she'd gone up. After giving her mother and sister a hug and kiss each, she was out the front door and on her way to Sora's

[NeoSeraphi]

Nissa arrives at Arios's house and knocks on the door. He opens it and looks at her. His expression is a mixture of depression, exhaustion and confusion as he eyes the color of her hair. "Er...um...Lady Revane! Such a pleasure to see you again," he says, clearing his throat. "Won't you please join me in the sitting room for some champagne?" He lets her inside and shows her to the couch, taking a seat in an armchair across from her rather than his usual spot next to her. The living room looks completely different. Where before it seemed to be a large mess of war shields from every country on every continent in the world, all of them dirty and a few even blood-stained, the room was now empty, save that Jazi coat of arms shield, newly polished, still resting proudly on the mantlepiece. Arios opens a bottle and fills two wine glasses with it, then hands Nissa hers and sits down, smiling at her while still looking very uncomfortable.

Arios is speaking, very awkwardly, in Varisian, which is the dialect of Common that Nissa speaks (because her father is the person who taught her Common), and is spoken by the nobles in every major human city in the world. Arios's normal dialect is Aklo, which is spoken by the working class, the servants and the poor, and the criminals, and is the basis for Thieves' Cant.

[WindStruck]

Fen waves Nissa off. "So, Mr. Davis.. you said something about To'ko? Someone wants you, me, and Nissa to go there, but you don't even know why?"

[TheEmperor]

Davis shrugged, and said "I know why we're going, but not why this benefactor of mine is actually helping us. It's certainly an issue, and I've tried looking into it, but quite frankly, it is very difficult for me to look into, since there's hardly a trace left by, every time I've been contacted..."

[WindStruck]

Fen frowns. "You know why? Is it because of that black sun? Who's to say this 'benefactor' isn't actually a part of that and is deliberately sending you somewhere unimportant? Imagine if you left yesterday with Nissa. Then she wouldn't have been able to save High Priest Highmarch from turning into a cold rider. I doubt you can fully trust anyone who doesn't wish to reveal their identity. Has to mean they're up to something."

[TheEmperor]

Davis laughed, and said "I know it's not unimportant because my benefactor, whoever he or she is, wasn't the one who told me that the second in command of the Black Sun is in To'ko. I found that out myself, and quite frankly, I'm not going to trust my benefactor. I'm going to To'ko with preparation, and hopefully it'll be enough to not get killed if it's an ambush. Plus, it's been on my mind to grab an emergency teleport scroll in case it's a wild goose chase. Although... doesn't Nissa have that ability? She teleported with me to Mullmoon..."

[NeoSeraphi]

I'm going on the assumption here that Fenlaen isn't a jerk and is translating the gist of their conversation to Syn

Syn speaks up. "Oh, a scroll of teleport? I know a scroll maker in this town. I bet he could make you something like that on short notice! Probably have it ready by tomorrow, if you like."

[TheEmperor]

Davis perked up, as the other fey that was around spoke up about the scroll. He said, in fluent Sylvan, "Oh, really? That would be amazing! I've been putting it off for too long, so getting that done would be quite nice. Thank you!"

[WindStruck]

Fen nods. "Yes, Nissa has something like that. And apparently it works several times each day."

[TheEmperor]

Davis frowned, and realized they'd been talking in Common the entire time, leaving Fen to translate everything. "(Sylvan)Oh, I'm sorry, it was very rude of me to speak in Common like that. We can speak in any language you like, since I know all the ones that I can think of... I can't believe I was being so rude. In any case, I'm not sure if I should ask Nissa to help me in that case, since it's a limited resource, and it's not the most polite thing to just ask like that... I think."

[Diachronos]

Nissa shifted awkwardly as she took in the new look of his sitting room. It didn't take long after recognizing his dialect to know that this was because of what Elaina had made her say a few days ago. Of course... at least part of it had to be because Sora still saw her as a noblewoman in some ways after all these years.

After a while she sighed and set down her glass, and reached up to untie the band keeping her braid held together. "Sora, I think we need to talk about... about what happened the other night. I said some very hurtful things to you, but I want you to know that none of it was true. Well... aside from my first time being the night before the tournament."

She folded her hands in her lap. "I'm not cut out to be a noblewoman. I never had the drive or the patience for it, and I don't want you to feel like you have to change yourself just because of how a lady is 'supposed' to be treated among the upper class. Besides... A Sky can't really call herself a lady, can she?"

[NeoSeraphi]

"A Sky?" Arios repeats, looking surprised. "Heh. So you lost your name too? Though for a different reason, I guess. But, why would you lie to me? If I upset you and made you angry enough to just say whatever you could to hurt me without it being true, I don't see how that's any better." He frowns.

[Diachronos]

"Because Elaina attacked both of us that night. Up until she started trying to control you, she was settling for threatening to hurt you if I didn't do as she said. Then after Orion saved you from her, she got a strong enough hold on me to keep me from saying or doing anything that she didn't approve of, and then before I knew it she was making me spout off all that garbage about you 'treating me like a lady'."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "The only thing you've ever done to hurt me was to teach my father that summoning ritual, and I'll start worshipping Lamashtu myself before I hold a grudge against you for that."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios relaxes a little. "That's a relief. I'm glad I didn't come off the wrong way. I mean, I have been a bit lenient with the way I touch and kiss you since that night, and I guess part of me was kind of worried you'd take it the wrong way. So when you said that you were offended, I didn't think to question it. I was sort of expecting it, but that didn't make me feel any less bad about it."

He rubs the back of his neck. "Look, I may have a fancy title and a lot of money and power now, but I'm not a fancy guy. I don't like expensive food, I can't speak as properly as you and I don't know how to cook. Today was the first time I've cleaned my house in two years and the only reason I did it was because I thought you were upset with me. I mean, I'm trying here, I really am Nissa. I want to make you happy. I just don't know what you want from me."

[Diachronos]

Nissa chuckled and stood up, coming over to him and sitting down in his lap. She curled up against him, her arms around his neck. "I know you're a man with simple tastes, Sora. And that's why I chose you over all the men that my parents tried to match me up with."

She looked up at him. "You really want to know what I want from you? I want you to keep being the man that I fell in love with. Don't let your position or my... former position make you feel like you need to change for my sake."

[WindStruck]

Fen shrugs. "Oh well. I guess you'd have to convince either me or Nissa to want to come along anyway, and if she did agree to come with, I don't know why she wouldn't want to take you along to teleport you back..."

Fen takes out the book Cassandra created out of thin air for him and sets to studying it carefully. At least it wasn't long and only had essential information. But it was kind of hard to understand. Right now he was looking at what he thought was a section on dietary needs...

"Ugh, what the Hell is this language? It looks like Common, but it's like a six-year-old wrote it and purposely made grammer mistakes everywhere..."

[TheEmperor]

Davis shrugged, and let the fey do his reading, although he thought that most books on etiquette said that leaving a conversation like that was highly rude. He leaned over, just to check what he was reading, and was delighted to find it was in Undercommon! "(Sylvan)Ooh! Undercommon! If you want, I can quickly translate that for you. It's a rather un common language... and rather guttural. Also it's speakers tend to be scary..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios blushes and laughs. "Such a simple request! Guess we really were made for each other after all." He kisses her happily and wraps one arm around her waist, pulling her against his chest. "Well, I guess you want to know how work went. I took out Chylais with no real problem, though we lost all of Orion's golems. Oh, and the forest itself. That was kind of unplanned collateral damage. But at least it didn't turn into another portal to the Abyss. How have you been? Been keeping busy while I was gone?"

----------------------------------------------------

Syn tells Davis the name and location of the scroll crafter in Mys'tai. The shop is close by, Davis has noticed it a few times while he was in the Market District but never thought to enter because of its pretty mundane appearance. If Davis leaves now, he can get there before the shop closes.

[WindStruck]

"Oh, Undercommon! ...huh. Yes, please do so, Mr. Davis. I want to make sure I don't get any of this information wrong... then again, it's only a backup plan I suppose, until we can find a gold dragon. But still, I have a feeling it will already hatch before we do."

[TheEmperor]

Davis thanked Syn, and told Fen "Sure! Hand me the book after I get back, I'll get it done as quickly as possible! But first, I'd better hurry to the scroll makers shop, or it'll close, leaving me without one until tomorrow."

[WindStruck]

Fen nods and says, "Alright. There's no rush. On my end that is." he giggles.

Then he turns to Syn. "I wonder what we should call him. Or her. Ugh, how will we even be able to tell if it's male or female?"

[Diachronos]

"Well, the past couple days have been... interesting, to say the least. I was so upset after we split up the other night that I ended up using the last wish in the ring Davis found at Elaina's apartment and ended up switching bodies with Sakura. That's an experience I don't want to go through again... I have no idea how she lives with that kind of urge..."

She proceeded to recount the story of how Sakura had dyed her hair and gotten a tattoo while in Nissa's body, how they'd gotten switched back, and the events involving Castle Revane and Highmarch's rescue, leaving out the bit of news that Cassandra had given her for free.

Finally she sighed and nestled against Sora, her head on his shoulder. "I hope things are calmer when we can start living together like a normal couple. It's going to be hectic enough with two children in the house... We are still going to let Tiana live with us until she's old enough to strike out on her own, right?"

[TheEmperor]

Davis turned around, and left the house with a long "Thaaaaaaaanks!", quickly hurrying for the scroll maker's shop, so as to not get there after it closed.

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios chuckles. "You switched bodies with Sakura? And she got a tattoo? Bet you smacked her in the face for that one," he comments, smiling. "Yeah...you get used to it, being around her. I mean, we were together for a while, and during that time she spent as much time sleeping with other guys as she did just being near me. It was like I had to share all of her attention and time with every other male in a ten mile radius. Not an easy thing to do."

Listening to the news about The Black Sun, and Lord Highmarch, Arios frowns and rubs his chin. "That means this Black Sun organization must have connections with a powerful fey witch, if they were able to create a cold one on such short notice. After all, the stag's heart has to rot for at least a month before it is able to freeze a man's body. This was a planned, orchestrated attack. And so soon after their move in Jazi too. To coordinate like that, I guess there must be a lot of people in on this movement."

When she mentions that Cassandra is squatting in her home, he nods. "The official name is now Castle Mythos. Much as I hated Jacob Revane, one of my duties when I was in Mys'tai was getting him to include Cassandra in his will and leave her his estate. It took a bit of convincing, but once he found out that I wasn't a kid anymore, he was scared to death of me. I showed up once in my armor and told him that I was going to break everything I could break in that house, starting with his toes and ending with every mirror...over his face. He signed the will almost without reading it."

He smiles as she cuddles closer to him, stroking her hair. "Of course we can let Tiana stay with - wait, two children?" He backs up and looks down at her, confused. "Oh, are you counting Fenlaen? You know, I'm a pretty lenient guy when it comes to you but I really don't want that guy in my house..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn responds to Fenlaen's question by launching into a thirty minute instruction about how to sex a wyrmling dragon. He draws charts and detailed pictures of both gender's genitals and how to distinguish between them at a young age.

-------------------------------------------------

Davis arrives at the shop, The Tattered Page, where he finds a muscular half-orc standing behind the counter. "Welcome to The Tattered Page," she says. "I'm Cretia, the owner and operator of this establishment. What can I get for you today, sir?"

[Diachronos]

She nodded in agreement as he mentioned the Black Sun's movements. "Cassandra said that they're not working with the Seven, though, so at least we can take some comfort in that." Nissa couldn't help laughing at the mention of her father being tricked into signing over his estate upon his death. "Oh, I wish I could've been there to see the look on his face when you told him that."

His comment about Fen drew a frown, though it was soon replaced by a smile. "I really hope you two can find a reason to not be at each other's throats all the time... But to answer your question," she reached up and grabbed the hand that was stroking her hair, slowly guiding it to her stomach as she gave him a meaningful look. "No, I wasn't talking about Fen."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios looks up in shock. "Y-you don't mean...it's only been three days, how could you possibly know that?" His expression is not one of joy, anger, or sadness, just pure shock.

[TheEmperor]

Davis nods, as he comes in, and says "Ah, hello! I would like to buy a scroll of teleport, as soon as it can be available, please! I'm going to be leaving for another continent in a few days, and I'd like to have one as a backup emergency way home, if you don't mind!"

[Diachronos]

"Cassandra told me last night." She looked a little worried at his reaction. "You're... you're not upset, are you?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Cretia frowns at that. "I'm a bit reluctant to make and sell scrolls of teleport, considering that they do not always work. You must understand before I agree to this that I will not refund you, even if use of my product ends in your horrible physical injury or death?"

---------------------------------------------------

Arios gently lifts Nissa up and sets her down, standing up. He whispers something under his breath and then turns and smiles at her. "Upset? Not at all! This is wonderful news! I...don't know the first thing about raising a child though." He looks a little nervous, but otherwise happy.

[WindStruck]

The subject is extremely dry, but Fenlaen manages to pay attention to all of it. He stuffs the diagrams into the thin book.

When Syn starts going into differences between hormones and their physiological effects, Fen says, "Uh, I think I've got enough information for now. But what are we going to do if it hatches before we can find a proper parent? Ugh. I mean.. I probably shouldn't even be saying 'we'. It's all my problem I guess, and I'm sorry for dragging you into this..."

Fen sighs. "I don't know draconic though. Do you think... would it be a terrible idea if the first language it knew was Common? Or Sylvan?"

[TheEmperor]

Davis nodded, and said "I understand perfectly. If you want, I'll draft you up a contract you can make people sign when you sell them a scroll of teleport, for free. A bit unreliable, though, aren't they? I wonder whats the difference between it, and the teleport's that always are on the spot. How much will it cost me?"



I'm going to go get some work done, really. I'm low on funds as it is.

[Diachronos]

Nissa hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I don't either, but... I'm sure my mother would be happy to give us some advice." She rubbed the back of her neck as she started thinking about revealing the news to her mother. "After she's done lecturing us about having a child before we're married, at least..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios flinches and then grabs Nissa's hands suddenly. "L-listen, I've been putting this off, because I didn't want to move too fast, but I need you to know something. I love you. I love you so much and I'm going to take responsibility for this so, erm, that is...if you..." he looks around left to right, searching for the right words.

Dragonair flies in from the bedroom and lands on his head, smiling at Nissa. "Master wants you to be his wife!" he chirps and Arios's face turns bright red as he swings one hand at it, knocking the pseudodragon off him. "Shut the hell up you damned chicken!" he mutters.

----------------------------------------------------

Syn blinks. "I think if the creature learned a language other than Draconic first it would ruin its identity. You should either seek out someone who can raise the child properly, or let Davis teach it how to speak."

----------------------------------------------------

The half-orc frowns. "That? Er...if you want a scroll that will absolutely get you where you need to be, with no error, then sure, it will cost you 2,450 gp. I actually keep one of those in stock, since I don't need to worry about people getting mad. You can take it with you tonight if you're willing to pay. Say, can you even use this scroll?" she asks, looking him over.

Since you need a Charisma score of 17 to use this scroll, your UMD check would need to be 32 at least, unless you have a 17 Charisma already.

[TheEmperor]

Davis frowned, and said "I can, but I'll be willing to bet it'll be a bit difficult for me. I've got some experience using them, yeah, but I'm hoping it'll only be a last ditch anyways. Here's the gold" and then handed over a bag of gold coins.

Wow, I'd better get some work. I've spent far more than I should over this stuff.


+15 to UMD. It's a 'if everything goes wrong' measure, any ways. And I'm hoping the others will come along as well.

[WindStruck]

Fen sighs. "Ruin its identity? ...maybe. How can one even quantify that, though? Isn't an identity what you are as opposed to what everyone else thinks you are supposed to be based upon your race? And the baby's original parents are held in the worst kind of captivity imaginable. At best we could find a pair of other gold dragons completely willing to take on a child. And then it will have a life of.. I don't know, sleeping on a pile of money and jewels all day. Ugh, I don't even know what dragons really do, but is that really for the better?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn crosses his arms. "As opposed to what? A life of danger running around with you while you kill monsters and steal treasure from dead bodies?" he points out.

---------------------------------

Cretia nods and hands him the scroll, taking the gold. "A pleasure doing business with you then."

[WindStruck]

Fen looks rather affronted. "Hey! I don't just run around willy nilly killing things and taking their stuff like some .. I don't know, some thuggish murder-hobo! And besides, there's no way I would want put a baby in any danger!"

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn nods and sighs. "If you say so, but with the way danger seems to follow you, I'm not entirely convinced that you wouldn't end up endangering it anyway," he comments drily.

[TheEmperor]

Davis took the scroll, thanked the lady, and headed back

God dammit. My PC crashed

[WindStruck]

Fen sighs. "Yeah, well, I have an idea. There's a mapmaker in town that's been just about everywhere in the world. I think if there's any gold dragons on this continent or maybe somewhere else, he would know it..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn nods. "That's a great idea! Why not go ask him tomorrow?" he suggests.

[WindStruck]

"It's what I plan on doing. We might have even found the information we were looking for at Castle Revane but... you know. Now it is occupied by an incredibly powerful being..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn shrugs helplessly. "Those with power kind of do whatever they want in this world, unchecked. The Seven, The Council, The Black Sun, they just act however they like and no one has the courage to stand up to them. It really does make me afraid that they're going to destroy the world at some point."

[TheEmperor]

Davis reached the Manor once more, and knocked on the door. He was a bit tired from that walk, and he honestly felt that it was tad bit cold, so he pulled his coat closer.

[WindStruck]

"I'll get it! It's probably Mr. Davis," Fen says in Elven.

He opens the door for him, allowing him inside once more.

[TheEmperor]

Davis entered the house, and said "Thanks a bunch! I got the scroll, and although its complicated, even for me, but it'll have to do in case of an issue. Any ways, where's that book of yours? I'll translate it for you right away, although on what I didn't think of it. Maybe Mrs. Marx will be gracious to lend us a paper and pen?"

[WindStruck]

Fen says, "Oh, it's right over there. Got, erm, a few drawings of some dragon anatomy on paper now too. Maybe you could use the back if you want? Though I probably don't need a full, written translation, just.. maybe if you'd help me read it so I know I'm not misunderstanding anything?"

[TheEmperor]

Davis shrugged, and said "Sure, I can do that. How do you propose we go about it, then?"

[WindStruck]

"Uh, just read it out loud? Elven or Sylvan should do so Syn can also understand.."

[TheEmperor]

Davis leaned forward to grab the book, instead of walking all the way there, and said "Alright, here we go. Better remember this stuff well, then."

He then read it out loud, in Elven, since he was better at Elven than he was at Sylvan.

[NeoSeraphi]

As I said before, Common and Undercommon are not so different that Fenlaen couldn't understand the basics of what he was reading. Davis's translation makes a few things slightly more clear, but Fenlaen does not learn any new information.

[WindStruck]

Fen thanks Mr. Davis for his reading. Though he admits, he didn't really learn anything new, he was grateful it was made clearer and more certain.

"Anywho, it is starting to get a bit late... care for a drink? There is a nice tavern I know of near the docks, and if you're lucky, you might even get to meet a nice and attractive Nymph!" Fen winks humorously to the man.

[TheEmperor]

Davis raised his eyebrows, and said "Sure, although I'm going only for the drinks. Its terrifying to deal with people attempting to be sexual with me, so could you handle that, though?"

[WindStruck]

"Handle it? Er, I guess? I don't think she would do anything if you're not interested though..." Fen just shrugs.

[TheEmperor]

Davis nodded, and said "Thanks. So, should we get going? I can probably tell a few bar room stories when we reach there..."

[WindStruck]

So, Fen gives his goodbyes to Taalia, Tiana, (and commander Marx) and leads Syn and Mr. Davis over to the Rabble Rouser.

[NeoSeraphi]

Fenlaen takes Davis to the outside of The Rabble Rouser, which Davis has heard is the place that the second head of Black Sun hangs out, as well as the place where he got tasered by a cleric.

[WindStruck]

"Here we are! The owner, Gragas, is really nice!" Fen leads Syn inside, waving to the dwarf, before turning around wondering where Mr. Davis is.

He looks back out the door. "Are you coming in, or would you rather look at the exterior?" Fen shrugs. "Eh, well, whatever you want to do..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Meanwhile...somewhere else...

A little human girl dashes through a large city. She pants as she runs as fast as her small legs will carry her. Her ears perk as she hears the footsteps of her pursuer on the pavement behind her. She dashes into an alley, looking for a shortcut to the temple, or to the barracks...somewhere that would help her! She opens her mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. She is too frightened. The end of the alley...a dead end. She turns around and backs up against the wall, looking in fear as the human male approaches her. She whimpers and squats down in fright. "P-please...don't kill me!"

*BANG*

The human girl drops to the ground, lifeless. The human male opens the barrel of his revolver, pulling a spare bullet from his ammunition pouch and reloading it, giving the barrel a nice spin before holstering his weapon. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a match, and some alcohol, dousing the girl's body before striking the match against the wall. As the flame lights up his face, he whispers, "Welcome to the City of Fire." and drops the match on the girl's lifeless corpse. She burns to ashes, leaving no trace or hope of resurrection as her killer walks away into the city.

[Diachronos]

Nissa's heart skipped a beat at this revelation. She felt a joyful tear run down her cheek as she hugged him. After a second she looked up at him. "Nothing would make me happier than being your wife, Sora."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios looks startled. "I-I didn't even propose yet!" he exclaims, looking both confused and a little annoyed. The pseudodragon flies into his room and returns with a box, nestling on his head and handing it to him. "Here you go, Master!" the dragon chirps. "Now don't say I've never been helpful!" He swings one arm and the dragon flies away again.

Arios grits his teeth and kneels down before her. "Nissa, we've known each other since we were kids. I've learned all about you over the years, and you know all about me. And when you came back into my life, the whole world seemed to light up with color again. I've been angry and depressed since my parents' deaths, I admit, but you gave my life joy and purpose again. Even before we met, I was working hard to be strong, for you. You were the driving force behind all of my decisions since I was young. I'm devoted to you, in body and in soul, so please, will you marry me?"

He opens the box and Nissa looks at the most beautiful emerald ring she's ever seen before. It completely matches the color she uses when she dyes her hair normally.

[Diachronos]

"Yes, Sora. I will." She smiled at him and knelt as well, moving in to kiss him.

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios kisses her back and slides the ring onto her left ring finger. He looks up at her and blushes, then scoops her into his arms and carries her into the bedroom. He throws Dragonair out of the bedroom and shuts the door.

[Diachronos]

Nissa blushed and held onto him as he carried her to the bedroom. "I take it we're picking up where we left off the other night, then?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios shakes his head as he lays her gently on the bed and then climbs on top of her. "This isn't a continuation. This is the start of our new life together." he says with deep conviction, and the look in his eyes tells Nissa that he will never leave her. He leans in to kiss her.

--------------------------------

The next morning, Nissa wakes up. Arios is sitting in the corner, preparing his spells for the day. It looks actually a little intense, as he holds three different books and reads each one, focusing hard. Nissa figures that high level spellcasting must be pretty hard to memorize, and it might not be a good idea to disturb him right now.

[Diachronos]

Nissa smiled and curled up under the covers as she watched him prepare his spells. It was probably a good thing her parents had given up on trying to steer her toward arcane magic. She'd lacked the patience to learn even simple spells, and from seeing the effort he was putting into this now she was sure she'd have given up long before reaching his level.

[NeoSeraphi]

After a few minutes, Arios closes his books and rubs his temples. There is a knock on the door and Arios stands up, walking to get it. "Oh, hey. What's up?" Nissa hears him say. There is a shuffling as the person enters the house and Arios walks past the open bedroom door to start making some tea, Dragonair on his shoulder.

"This city is full of scum, income inequality, prostitution and crime," Nissa hears the visitor declare. "Such imperfection is disgusting. I don't know how you tolerate living here."

"Well, you'll get used to it," Arios replies, walking back into the room with a pair of glasses of water. "And please keep it down, Nissa is sleeping in the other room." He stands up to close the bedroom door.

"So I take it she told you the big news then?" the voice continues.

"It was a bit of a shock," Arios admits. "but I couldn't be happier. I asked her to marry me."

"You WHAT?"

"Shhh! Come on, man, that's rude. How can a person who is so perfect not respect when a guest should be quiet for the sake of others?"

[Diachronos]

Nissa sat up as the bedroom door closed, and began to quietly get dressed with the spare clothes she'd brought. For a moment she considered leaving the room to join Sora, but the guest's reaction to their engagement made her stop. She pressed her ear to the door, hoping to hear more of this conversation.

[NeoSeraphi]

The guest's volume lowers, but now that Nissa is actively listening she can still make it out. "In your line of work, you could drop dead at any moment. Not to mention, one of your colleagues wants to use you as a sex doll and another carries a torch made out of phoenix fire for you. And then there's The Prestige..."

Arios groans. "Come on, Justin, it's too early in the morning for me to think about Max. Don't bring him up."

Justin replies, "If you would take a look at my analysis, I've compiled a full seventeen pages of notes on Nissa Sky and why she is a terrible girlfriend for you."

"I'm not interested in your science, Justin. She's my fiancee now, like it or not. And that means I'm done."

"Y-you what?"

"I'll go speak to The Almighty today. You guys are going to need a new Grandmaster of Abjuration. I have everything I want in my life now, and you're right, this job is going to interfere with all of that. I'd much rather be a simple traveling adventurer than a scholar with the weight of the world on my shoulders."

"A-after everything you and I have been through together? Kai'zhal, Su'lesti, THE MOON? You're going to drop it all just like that? For her? Why?!"

"Well, you took seventeen pages of notes, I'm sure the answer's in there somewhere." Arios replies coolly.

[TheEmperor]

He frowned, and told Fen "That's a terrible place to be. Just yesterday, I was nearly killed by the barkeeper for asking him about the Black Sun. He's likely an associate, and I don't want to confront him again, just yet."

[Diachronos]

Nissa's eyes widened at this revelation. Sora was really going to leave the Council after all the effort he'd put into it? For her sake? In a way it upset her that he was doing this just for her, but at the same time she was happy. He was going to be safe now, at least safer than he would have been dealing with the Seven and whatever other monstrosities the Council dealt with.

And Justin's comment told her what exactly he'd been doing with that constant writing the day before. That was a report she'd very much like to read...

[NeoSeraphi]

There is a long moment of silence.

"This is...what you've always wanted," Justin admits. "I'm not sure why, now that I've seen the girl for myself, but you spent ten years trying to become as strong as me so you could impress her. So, fine. If that's what you want to do, then go ahead. You've earned a vacation. But. If she dies, I expect you to come back."

Arios scoffs. "That's not going to happen. I'm protecting her now. But sure, I'll agree to that."

There is the sound of the two coming into contact, probably a hand shake or bro-fist or something similar, before both of them walk out the door.

[Diachronos]

Nissa came out of the bedroom and saw that they'd both left. She let out a small sigh and headed to the kitchen, hoping to at least get started on breakfast for them both before Sora returned.

[WindStruck]

Fen frowns. "He nearly killed you? Maybe he thought you were working for them."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios teleports back into his kitchen around twenty minutes later, looking like hell. "Oh, Nissa! You're up." he smiles and kisses her on the cheek. "Have a good night's sleep? Sorry I didn't leave a note. I had to go out for something important. I quit the Council of Mythos. I am a free man now. I am just Arios Heartshield."

[Diachronos]

Nissa smiled. "I heard. Justin didn't sound too happy about that. Or our engagement." She frowned a little when she saw the state he was in. "He didn't give you too much trouble about your decision after you two left, did he?"

[NeoSeraphi]

"No, that was Cassandra. She stung me with her stinger. Said it was her way of marking her territory. I'm fairly certain I'm poisoned right now," Arios replies, touching his forehead. "Yep, that's a fever."

[Diachronos]

"She what?!" Nissa stood up and felt his forehead, then led him out into the sitting room and laying him down on the couch. "Why would she do that? Was she angry with you for wanting to leave?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios firmly moves Nissa's hand off him. "Leave it. She said I was acting outside my fate, that this was 'something she didn't foresee', or something like that. She attacked me out of anger for ruining her plans. If this is my punishment for leaving them, then that's fine, I'll endure it. I don't need to rest, nor do I need any medical help. We have more important things to do, like go see your mother. Aren't you worried about Tiana after all?"

[Diachronos]

"Are you sure?" She was worried about Tiana and telling her mother about what they were doing, but it wasn't as great as her worry that Sora had just been poisoned. "I thought that she'd built her plans around fate and that she knew everything that would ever happen... how could she have not foreseen this happening? And what could her plans possibly be if you leaving the Council could ruin them?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios is silent for a moment, before replying, "That has nothing to do with either of us anymore. I owe Cassandra my life, I won't doubt that. And she is still my Goddess, but worship does not mean blind obedience. I will make my own fate, with you. Together." He takes her hand and grips it firmly.

Nissa notices the spot where Arios was stung, with some blood leaking through the front of his robe. It's on the left side of his chest.

[Diachronos]

Nissa sighed and gently squeezed his hand. "I guess even the Omniscient can't see every possibility." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Are you sure you don't want someone to do something about the poison, though? Is her venom life-threatening?"


Perception to notice the wound: [roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios shrugs. "If she wanted to kill me, I'd be dead right now. The others still obey her every command, and I couldn't stand a chance against seven equally powerful mages coming at me all at once. I'll be fine. Now come on, Taalia will definitely want to hear this." He tugs her hand and gives her a warm smile.

[Diachronos]

"Okay, then. Will you at least let me heal the wound?" Without waiting for him to answer she pressed her hand to the stab wound. After healing him she helped him up and went back to the kitchen to put away the things she'd gotten out for breakfast.


Cure Moderate: [roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios winces. "O-ow. That stings." he mutters.

It looks like Nissa has made the wound even worse.

[Diachronos]

"S-sorry, I didn't mean for it to." She helped him up and over to the door.

[TheEmperor]

Fen frowns. "He nearly killed you? Maybe he thought you were working for them."

Davis said "Possible, but I hardl- you know what? Why not? Let me try it again, with you around. He's your friend, you say? Well, let's try it."

He then decided to move along with Fen inside.

[NeoSeraphi]

Fenlaen and Davis head inside The Rabble Rouser, where they see a bloody sight. Seven men, all with blood smeared over their bodies, lay on the ground. Teeth marks and blood splatters mark their faces, necks, severed limbs, and crotches. And standing in the middle, is a nymph with her arm around Gragas Mineflooder, Esq.'s neck, choking him to death. She notices the other two enter and grins, sinking her teeth into the dwarf's neck and ripping out his jugular, then dropping him to the ground.

"Hi there Fenlaen...did you bring me a snack?" she asks, her eyes glowing as she licks the blood off her lips.

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios rubs his shoulder and nods. "Just let me change out of these robes..." he heads into the bedroom and emerges a few minutes later in his armor. "Sorry, not the best thing to be greeting your mother in, I know, but the blood is seeping through all my good shirts, even though I sealed with lots of gauze. Well then, shall we?"

[TheEmperor]

Davis very nearly screamed in terror resorted to his impulse of immediately running away, but managed to keep his calm, and immediately drew his rapier. He stared at the Nymph, taking in the scene, and very calmly analysed her body and stance. If he was going to fight, he was going to fight intelligently.

The weak guy draws his rapier. How very scary. You're going to get killed, you ass.

He slowly said to Fen "Do you know this crazy axe murderer, Fen?"


Move action to use Studied Combat, gives +1/2 Inv levels to Attk and Dam

[Diachronos]

She nodded, though she had honestly hoped that he wouldn't have to wear something so imposing to meet with her mother. "It's okay, Sora. As long as you're not wearing the helmet it should be fine." She chuckled as they headed out the door. "Although... I'm kind of hoping Lars isn't there. Apparently you terrify him when you're in work mode."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios and Nissa head over to Marx Manor. To his credit, Arios carries himself quite well, still managing to look as powerful and imposing to the nobles they pass as ever, though with Nissa's particular keen eyes she can see the slightest limp in his normal gait. He appears to be concealing some level of pain that her magic did nothing to heal.

When the two arrive at the Manor, Arios knocks on the door and Taalia opens it. She gasps in surprise. "Grandmaster Heartshield! What a pleasant surprise! Nissa talks about you all the time, but you're never over here. Please, come in come in!" She steps out of the way and urges the two of them inside.

Tiana sets her flute down and comes over and hugs Nissa's legs. "Big sis! Listen, I think I've got the opening to this song figured out!" She picks up her flute and plays a beautiful melody that Nissa vaguely recognizes from her days in court, but can't quite place. It does sound very lovely though.

[Diachronos]

Nissa chuckled and patted Tiana's head. "You're learning the flute a lot faster than I could ever hope for. It sounded really nice." She looked at her mother and smiled. "We, um... we actually have some news that we thought you'd want to hear. Don't we?" She looked up at Sora with a wide grin. It then occurred to her that he'd been declared dead five years ago, and he'd gone by the name Arios Heartshielf for the last five; how exactly was she supposed to refer to him now?

[NeoSeraphi]

Taalia looks up, curious. Tiana as well.

Arios rubs the back of his head. "Er, well, Nissa and I, we're getting married!" he declares awkwardly.

Taalia drops the dish she was cleaning and it shatters in the sink. She looks over at Nissa with daggers in her eyes. "Is that so?" she asks in a nice voice, laughing a bit.

Tiana hops up, her face red. "Big sis! You're getting married? Can I be the flower girl pleasepleaseplease?"

Taalia smiles and walks up, patting Tiana on the head. She grabs Nissa's arm and looks over at Arios. "Excuse me, but I'll just be borrowing my daughter for one minute." She drags Nissa into her bedroom and closes the door, turning around and staring at her in disbelief. "He asked you to marry him? And you said yes? You've only been dating for four days!"

[Diachronos]

Nissa crossed her arms and met her mother's gaze. "Dating, yes. But I've known him for most of my life." She sighed and gestured toward the door. "You probably don't even remember Sora Lightcard, but... well, that's him. Arios Heartshield is the man he's become after the past ten years."

[NeoSeraphi]

Taalia's arms stay crossed. "So, you knew him as a boy, before he lost his parents in a fire, before he joined an organization that acts shadily and does things like curse a whole city and lock them inside their own minds, and before he went on a crusade to kill all the fey in the Forest of Despair. Is this man Arios really the same boy you knew growing up? And even if he was, is that really the person you want to spend the rest of your life with? Raise your children with?"

[Diachronos]

"Yes, he is. He might act like a different person, but he's still the same person inside. The whole reason he's taken the path he chose is so he could better himself. So he could become the kind of man you and Father wanted me to marry."

[TheEmperor]

As he was studying the woman to search for any lack in her style, his eyes were overcome by an intense aura of brilliance, which seemed to sear his retinas, and felt like he'd gazed right into hell. What even was she?

But as he realized that the blindness was not going away, he thanked the heavens for his alchemical talents, and attempted to forage around his longcoat to find a potion of his that would allow him to return his ability to see. Or at least, something similar, temporarily. He really needed it.


Not sure how to describe, but I drink a potion of Echolocation if I can.

[WindStruck]

Even if I tried that potion trick to seal a neck wound, I don't think it will work with an entire chunk of his neck/jugular ripped out!

...will it?? heal: [roll0]

Fen was utterly shocked to see this. Had someone begun to mind-control her too now?? But why? If it was Elaina, for instance, what possible motive would she have to make a random Nymph start biting peoples' necks off??

"Natasha?? What in the Nine Hells are you doing!?"

[NeoSeraphi]

You have a 50% chance of drawing the wrong extract and drinking it. Also she beat your initiative so this action has not happened yet.

-------------------------------------------------

Taalia sighs and leans back. "If you say so. I trust you to make the right decisions, baby girl. Congratulations." she smiles and gives her daughter a hug.

[Diachronos]

"Thank you, Mother. I know he seems different now, but... deep down he's still the same man. And he's even left the Council of Mythos, so their business isn't going to be putting him in danger anymore." She returned the hug and looked back toward the door. "I guess we should go save Sora from Tiana, shouldn't we?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Taalia and Nissa head back into the living room, where Tiana is playing a song for Arios while he listens and claps happily. Nissa sees that Arios really does seem to love spending time with Tiana and finds her very endearing, not annoying. Maybe he will be one of those dads that is great with kids. As Nissa enters the room, a voice echoes in her mind.

"Oopsie! Someone forgot to pick up her staff today, didn't she? Let me change your mind!"

Will Save, DC 23, to resist Elaina's mental control.

[NeoSeraphi]

Yeah, no, Gragas is in negatives and bleeding out fast.

Natasha smiles. "Oh, Fenny, this mean man was making me drink something that made me stop feeling so jealous all the time! I felt happy and relaxed instead! He was drugging me!" she kicks the dwarf in his side. "But now that my mind is clear, I'm free to do what I like again, and what I like is to punish men for looking at any woman other than me! Fenlaen, please tell me you only have eyes for me!"

She gazes at Fenlaen with such allure that the pixie is shocked still.

Fenlaen needs to make a DC 25 Fortitude save or be stunned for [roll0] rounds.

[WindStruck]

Fen would probably act or say something so that she might not want to rip his throat out, but of course the Nymph didn't even give him a chance to respond...

[NeoSeraphi]

With Davis blind and Fenlaen stunned, Syn floats forward and tries to cast protection from evil on Natasha. However, as soon as he gets close enough to enter her square, she attacks him.

Claw: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Syn loses his spell and falls back.

[Diachronos]

"Oh, dammit Elaina!" She braced herself for the inevitable assault on her mind, praying that she'd be able to resist it this time.


Burning a Hero Point, so that'll boost Nissa's Will save up to a base 16. Hopefully the die roller will give me at least a 7... [roll0]

Are you f***ing kidding me?

[NeoSeraphi]

Elaina takes the reins on Nissa's mind and turns to smile at Taalia. "Mom, can you do me a favor and watch Taalia for just a bit longer? Sora and I have somewhere we need to be."

Taalia's eyes brighten. "Th-that's...that's the first time you've called me 'mom' since you rescued me...of course, honey, you take all the time you need!" She beams happily.

Nissa grins. "Thanks! See you later!"

She takes Arios outside and bites her lip, looking at him. "L-listen Sora, I...we need to talk." she says, rubbing her arm uncomfortably.

Arios looks worried and nods. "Of course, my dear. What's wrong?"

"It's just...with Tiana and everything, and I still have a lot of adventuring to do...I don't know if I can keep this baby." she says, looking up at him sadly.

Okay, so this is majorly against Nissa's character, so I will allow Nissa another Will save with a +4 bonus to resist her control at this point (but you lose that +8 unless you spend another Hero Point, sorry. :smallfrown:)

[Diachronos]

Nissa managed to force herself free from Elaina's control and turned to him, a determined look on her face. "Okay, I don't know how much time I've got before Elaina tries to control me again. I need to get my staff. If I say anything before I get a chance to put its mind blank effect on myself, assume that it's her controlling me." She grabbed his arm and started pulling him inside, heading toward her room so she could retrieve the staff.

Burning that Hero Point in a heartbeat. And Nissa's burning Elaina alive the first chance she gets.

And now to actually make the roll! [roll0]

Ha! F*** you, Puppeteer!

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios's face goes from one of shock to one of anger. He nods and follows her inside. Nissa grabs the staff and draws in its power, protecting her mind. She hears Elaina's quiet laughter in the back of her mind, and then a whisper, "Careful dear. I'm always watching, always waiting. And you and that kid are the ticket I need to break that man's heart in half."

[Diachronos]

Nissa sighed and sat down on the bed, burying her face in her hands. It was hard not to break down and start sobbing; her life was finally taking a turn that she could be happy with, and now Elaina kept coming along and threatening to destroy it all.

She finally looked up at Sora. "Where does Elaina live?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios holds her tight while she cries, and when she looks up, he frowns. "Elaina lives in the Ma'hal Sector. It's on Rip'maj. What's the common name? Um...I think it's To'ko, the City of Fire."

[Diachronos]

Nissa clenched her fists. "Then it's a good thing I was already planning on going to To'ko with Fen and Davis. I guess it's up to us to do the Council's job for them."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios places his hand firmly on Nissa's shoulder. "I'm coming with you. As long as Elaina is alive, I am not letting you or that baby out of my sight." he says, looking at her with fierce eyes that dare her to try and stop him.

[Diachronos]

Nissa put her hand on his and smiled. "Glad to hear that. I figured you of all people would want to have a hand in putting the Puppeteer in her place, after all the grief she's caused you."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios nods and sits down with her, helping Nissa calm down after the wild night and morning she's had.

Gonna break and wait for the others to catch up now.

[NeoSeraphi]

Natasha closes her eyes and touches her chest, and her skin visibly hardens, appearing like tree bark.

[TheEmperor]

Davis cursed, and realized that she was probably casting a spell of some kind, something he'd have to pay more attention with better eyesight if he had to figure out what kind of spell it even was.

He whispered to Fen "She's blinded me, and I've managed to restore my method of seeing, but it's only temporary. I'm not a fighter, I hope you are! Hold on, I'm gonna try and get closer, and not die."

He removed a potion from his longcoat, once more, and drunk it, which allowed him to disappear without a trace left. After he'd drunk the potion, he moved quickly towards the woman, but dived to her side, hoping she'd not notice him. He looked around as he moved, trying to see if there was something he could use instead of directly confronting her.


Standard Action to drink potion of Greater Invisibility
Move Action to move up to her, but five feet away, and right of her, not in front.
Perception to see if I can use anything around me to take her down indirectly. Anything of use in here.
[roll0]
Stealth? I've never done this before, and my attempt to look up the rules on this is not turning up anything.
[roll1]

[NeoSeraphi]

Davis doesn't sense anything nearby that could be used to take out the creature before him.

[NeoSeraphi]

Fenlaen is still stunned. Syn growls and lands next to him, casting invisibility. Fenlaen vanishes from sight.

The nymph chuckles, and seeing as both her prey are gone, she teleports outside and starts looking for more men to kill. Before Fenlaen and Davis can catch her, she finds a young couple outside kissing happily and screeches in anger, breaking the woman's head across the brick wall of the building and seizing the man, kissing him deeply before biting his tongue off and leaving him to choke on his own blood.

[WindStruck]

Fen is still dazed -- or stunned, rather. He barely continues hovering in place, dropping in altitude a bit, and looking totally out of it. He doesn't register what Mr. Davis says. Something like he's blind, he's not a fighter, and he's doing something stupid.

[TheEmperor]

Davis yelled something along the lines of "Friggin weirdos! I can't wait till I can retire!" as he felt her run out of the bar. He looked at the body of Gragas (or felt, you get the idea), looked back out, and then cursed again. There was no way of him being able to chase that damn woman with his condition. He tried moving back to Syn, and said "(Sylvan) Can you bring back my sight, in any way? We need to catch that damn creature, and I'm blind beyond forty or so feet!"

[WindStruck]

Oh for the love of the Gods and all that is good and holy...

Was this what Natasha was really like? Or was it just that vice aura? The nymph was mad, going on a killing rampage, and they had to stop her!

Fen takes a tanglefoot bag out of his satchel and throws it at the nymph.

We've already chased and caught up to Natasha. Same initiative, so my turn now?
Attack roll: [roll0] (with +2 invisibility bonus)
ranged touch attack

It will be sticky for: [roll1] rounds.

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn shakes his head. "I can't help you there, sir! Next time you see a nymph, try not to examine her cleavage so closely!" he chides in a lecturing tone.

Fenlaen and Syn chase after Natasha who is hundreds of yards ahead of them. She stops and examines herself in a mirror, glancing back as the fey gain on her. She locks eyes with Syn. "Stop chasing me!"

Syn's Fort Save: [roll0]
Stunned for [roll1] rounds.

Syn freezes in place.

[TheEmperor]

If Davis could have rolled his eyes properly underneath his closed eyelids, he would have. But since he couldn't, he simply cursed, and returned to Gragas's body, and told the other two to get after the girl.

He looked at the dwarf's body, and said "Damn, I'm not sure about this... You really should listen to people before you kill them." He then tightened his eyes, and attempted to make noises around himself to help his echolocative sight, and attempted to stop the bleeding.


[roll0]
Gotta stabilize him!

[NeoSeraphi]

Davis does his best, but as he fumbles around in the dark, doing his best to locate the wound, he can't apply enough pressure and Gragas bleeds out.

Fenlaen tosses a bag at Natasha and misses. His attack breaks his invisibility and Natasha smiles at him. "There you are Fenlaen.."

Make a DC 25 Fort save or Fenlaen is stunned for [roll0] rounds.

[NeoSeraphi]

Natasha is tangled up for 6 rounds, and Fenlaen is stunned for 7 rounds.

During each of Natasha's 6 rounds, she will gaze at Fenlaen again, and since Fenlaen cannot move, he cannot avoid it.

Six Fort saves. DC 25 each.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]


After the tangleroot bag wears off, Natasha will walk away. Syn is unable to stop her.

[NeoSeraphi]

Natasha frees herself from the tangleroot and walks on, smiling as she looks for more victims. As soon as Fenlaen can move, she is 180 feet away from him.

[WindStruck]

Fen finds a silent rage forming inside him as the Nymph continues to use her powers on him. When he gets fully in control of his senses, he turns himself invisible, retrieves the white sphere Arios gave to him, and flies after her.

"C'mon, we've got to stop her! Make sure you are prepared before you catch up!"

Greater invisibility + balanced rage.

Then pulling out the sphere and flying after her as far as I can this round. I will attempt some kind of combat maneuver next round. Will it be possible or will I need another round to catch up?

[NeoSeraphi]

Fenlaen charges forward as fast as he can. Syn can't keep up, or see him, so Syn returns to check on Davis.

Syn flies into the bar and asks, "How is he doing?

---------------------------------------------

Fenlaen catches up to Natasha, who smiles and stops a guard. The guard turns to look at her and instantly falls victim to her blinding beauty. She sinks her teeth into his neck.

Guard's Fort save: [roll0]
Natasha's attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[TheEmperor]

Davis sensed the arrival of Syn into the bar, and he stopped leaning over the body of Gragas. After a few seconds of hesitation, he said "(Sylvan)He's dead, Jim my friend. I tried, but when you're blind, and your patient is missing his whole jugular, it's pretty hard to win out... Bollocks."

[WindStruck]

"Natasha, stop it!!" The child-like voice yells at her from very close by.

With the white sphere in hand, he wrestles with the Nymph, trying to force it firmly into her possession.

CMB: [roll0] I put a +2 bonus to the CMB for invisibility here as well. That ok?

[NeoSeraphi]

Natasha takes hold of the orb. It shines in her hand and she glares at him and goes back to biting the guard in the neck.

Okay, so you gave her the orb...that doesn't give her a new save against the effect that's already going on.
Remember, the sphere does not grant immunity to the vice aura, it negates the -4 penalty fey take against it.

[WindStruck]

"Grr... I'll make you stop!"

Fen unsheathes his axe, holding it the wrong way and strikes her in the back of the head with the blunt end.

attack: [roll0] remember no dex for her.
damage: [roll1] nonlethal
sneak attack: [roll2] lethal

[NeoSeraphi]

Natasha doesn't even feel Fenlaen's attack as she bites into his neck.

She has DR 10/Cold Iron.

[NeoSeraphi]

It occurs to Fenlaen that he is acquainted with a professional demon hunter named Lars Marx who has an office only about ten minutes away.

[WindStruck]

A 10 minute trip -- and more importantly, a longer than 10 minute trip back and having to find the blood thirsty Nymph -- was not the best of options. He pulled out a sack from his satchel and began to closely follow her.

should have like 6 rounds of greater invisibility left. Any more potential victims for her in sight?

[NeoSeraphi]

Natasha starts walking again, humming cheerfully to herself.

No, there was no one in sight. It's pretty late and this isn't the best city to be out after dark in. There was a serial killer nymph a while back, you know.

[WindStruck]

Ok, trying to stuff a bag over her head and give another random guard a fleeting chance to run her through probably was a stupid idea, but Fen was pretty sure he wouldn't even have the chance to do that now, and she would be thoroughly pissed with him by the time that was up and eat him alive.

Instead of trying to go to the barracks and finding Commander Marx right away, Fen goes back to the Rabble Rouser to get Syn first.

sprinting... should only be like 3-4 rounds to get back?

[NeoSeraphi]

Fenlaen arrives at The Rabble Rouser in 2 rounds. Syn does not look up as Fenlaen is still invisible.

[WindStruck]

Fen notices the thoroughly dead corpse of Gragas. He felt sick to his stomach. He dismisses his invisibility, as it would completely wear off by time he got back anyway.

"Syn! What kind of spells can you cast!? Anything that may be of use at all?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn thinks for a moment. "I suppose I could shape the earth around her to trap her movement. I don't think she should be able to teleport like she did more than once per day, so that's an option. I can also try and knock her down with telekinesis, but that's not much. I'm sorry, Fenlaen, I'm not a warrior, I don't have a lot of spells with combat usefulness."

[WindStruck]

"Do you have anything that could be used to communicate or make some kind of marker or flare others can see? Any extra uses of Fly? I fear I'll have to get help, but it is about 10-minutes away as it is! So anything that can be used to expedite getting there and getting back to Natasha would also be immensely helpful!"

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn thinks carefully and then gasps and nods. He looks around and finds a piece of metal on the ground. "Minor creation!" The metal reshapes itself into a small handheld firearm. "Th-this should send up a huge flare, like a giant firework!"

[WindStruck]

Fen sighs and says, "Alright, here's what I want you to do... she's still going that way, down the road," he says, pointing back toward the trail of blood and bodies. "Just... just try and follow her, but trail behind her a ways, maybe along the rooftops so she's less likely to see you or come after you? Try not to let her notice you."

Fen grimaces and says, "Now, I don't know if you can stop her from killing her next victim, but if she does grab someone and start ripping their neck out, that could be your chance to sneak over to her and trap her with your earth-shaping spell. And if that doesn't work..." he lets out an exasperated sigh. "Just... keep following her along the rooftops, and maybe try to knock her over with your telekinesis right before she grabs someone else. After about 15 minutes, shoot that firework thing up into the sky, alright?"

Looking around, Fen asks, "Mr. Davis, are you still here? Any other way you might be able to help?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn nods and heads out to deal with the issue at hand.

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn fires the gun and a whole host of experienced hell knights, as well as two hell knight commanders, show up. Marx looks furious, but he doesn't hesitate. He kills Natasha easily, even while most of his men are looking at her with reflective shields and mirrors to avoid being blinded. Natasha only has one thing to say before the sword falls. "I...I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, right Commander?"

Marx turns and hefts his greatsword onto his shoulder, glaring at the hooded figure standing in the alley. "This is your fault, Heartshield!"

Arios lifts the hood back and steps forward. The rest of the guard back up in fear but Marx stands firm. He lifts his sword and points it at Arios threateningly. "Your foolish experiment delayed the execution of a mass murderer, and then it failed and now even more are dead. I will hold you accountable for each and every one of them!"

The Black Knight chuckles. "You? Hold me accountable? You can't even hold your sword!"

Marx gasps as he feels a huge weight in his hand. His greatsword, which has served him faithfully for twenty years on the force, now feels like it weighs 500 pounds. His arm drops to the ground and he releases the handle, looking at it in disbelief. Then he glares up at the grandmaster.

"Oh no. Such a scary face you're making. Look, I made a mistake. Accidents happen. Besides, the only reason you even let me experiment on her in the first place is so you could afford to buy your wife that nice pearl necklace she was eyeing." Arios points out coldly.

The guards gasp. Obviously, corruption is common among the higher ups, but for someone to confess to bribery so openly?

Arios raises his blade. "I don't see a failing here, by me or by the Council of Mythos. I see a poor hell knight commander who couldn't protect his city from a woman he knew to be dangerous. And that's the story you're going to tell everyone else, right? Unless you want the whole truth released?"

Marx grits his teeth. A scandal about him accepting bribes would call into question all of the honest arrests he had made over the last year, at the very least. His head hangs in shame. Arios scoffs. "Hah. That's what I thought. Maybe next time you have a fey in your custody, you'll skip the trial completely and execute her on the spot!" He raises his hand and a portal of darkness appears behind him, which he steps into.

[WindStruck]

Fenlaen looks down at Natasha's body in sadness. A lot of it was covered in blood that was not her own.

"What experiment is it you are talking about? She mentioned being drugged or something! She seemed so sweet and innocent before... How in Asmodeus's Nutsack did she turn into... into this?!"

[NeoSeraphi]

Marx looks upset as he turns to face Fenlaen. "Fenlaen, thank you very much for asking your friend to shoot off that flare. Who knows how many more victims she might have gotten on this side of town before a commander stopped her. I'm guessing this is yours?" He picks up the sphere from her body and hands it to him.

"Yes, I've heard reports that Natasha was acting different. Sweet, happy-go-lucky, a bit of a wild streak. None of that matches her original personality. She was imprisoned about two months ago for killing a bunch of men, and Heartshield approached me to tell me that it possibly wasn't her fault, that maybe she was being controlled by something called a Vice Aura. He told me that executing someone who may have been magically compelled was a crime in and of itself, to which I heartily agreed. He asked if he could have a few days with her to experiment and see if he could suppress the aura, and apparently that involved using some kind of drug. It seemed to work over the last week and a half, as far as I can tell. I guess the solution wasn't as permanent as he would have liked."

[WindStruck]

Fen takes back the sphere. He at least noted how it glowed in her hand but otherwise seemed to do nothing.

"Yes, this was some kind of item Arios gave me, which he claimed might protect a fey from such a vice aura. Though I suppose it did nothing for her if she was already under the influence..."

He continues to listen to Commander Marx and frowns. "No one ever told me anything about this... Believe me, an experiment to look for a permanent cure is a good cause. But if she was so dangerous... she should have been put back in a cage or something when taken off it..." Fen sighs and shakes his head. "That idiot. And I guess now this gives him every reason to believe it's a lost cause..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Marx looks confused. "Of course no one told you...why would they? You're neither a police official nor a mage who could potentially help in the experiment."

[WindStruck]

Fen looks a bit annoyed at Marx. "That may be, but I have a vested interest in the outcome, as you may be able to guess. I just would have liked to help. And if I had known she was so dangerous and on some kind of drug, I would have kept a closer eye on her.. Fen sighs. "If anyone, I'm not blaming you, I'm blaming Arios..."

"Anyway, we first found her at the Rabble Rouser, a tavern near the docks. There's a bunch of dead guys over there, including the owner. She literally just bit a chunk out of his neck... I imagine there's victims on the way there. And from the tavern, possibly to her house? Oh Gods, when I last saw her a few days ago, she claimed to be with 17 men. At once." The pixie looks as if he turned a shade green.

[NeoSeraphi]

Marx nods. "We'll send someone to check her apartment immediately, and you two, come with me we're going to walk to the bar and examine the damage. Also, you shouldn't take offense at the Grandmaster not telling you anything, Fenlaen. It's a great testament to your character and his respect for you that he's interacted with you without killing you. He hates fey." He nods to his men and they all move out.

Syn walks up next to Fenlaen. "Looks like this Vice Aura was a lot more serious than we thought."

[WindStruck]

Fen nods, both to Syn and Marx, and follows. He also keeps an eye out.

going out a bit

perception: [roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Syn and Fenlaen get back to The Rabble Rouser, where Davis is pulled out and the guards seal the place off so they can investigate the crime scene. Syn looks at the other two. "L-let's just go home, okay?"

[TheEmperor]

Davis frowned, as they left the place, and sat down on a chair, and waited for the rest to return. He waited, for Fen and Syn to return, and he kept glancing at the dead body of Gragas, and he kept wondering, what was the man's connection to the Black Sun? He had very little time before his potion's effects ran out, and he was left totally blind.

He decided to take a look around the place, and find anything that could seem like it was out of place, but since he couldn't actually read or anything of the sort, he had his doubts if he'd 'see' anything. There could be ledgers around, but he'd be unable to read them

[roll0] Perception

---

After Fen and Syn returned, and he'd been told to get out, began to feel his echolocative sight fading out. He said "Sure, but I need to get to a temple really soon. This is ridiculous. I really hope it's not permanent."

[NeoSeraphi]

Davis feels lots of stuff is out of place. There are tables knocked over, broken bottles everywhere, and dead people where there should just be floor.

------------------------

Syn helps Davis get to the Temple of Asmodeus, where the priest sees the poor man has been blinded. When the group explains that it was a crazed nymph attacking the town who did it, the priest decides to wave his normal fee and heal Davis's eyes for free. He touches Davis's forehead and Davis is able to see again.

[TheEmperor]

Davis blinked multiple times, as his eyesight began to return. He thanked the priest immediately, and then mumbled something about crazy axe murderers and how it wasn't a Friday, before looking at Syn, and saying "(Sylvan) Thanks, Syn. You've been of good help, and if you ever have time, stop by my place for a cup of tea or something that you like. Same to you, Fen. I'm growing too old, and I never had the ability to fight for this ****."

He then decided to head back home, get some sleep, and maybe not wake up until it was late in the morning, unless the two had other plans.

[NeoSeraphi]

The next day, Davis wakes up in his bed and stretches. After the events of last night, it's anyone's guess whether he'll be blinded or killed horribly today, so he better think carefully about where he goes. And what was up with that freak in the black robe that he was wearing over spiked full plate, like a crazy person?

[TheEmperor]

Davis walked up to the window in a bath robe, sipping on a cup of very shoddy coffee, having just taken a rather long shower to alleviate the bruises of yesterday and the day before yesterday. He was irritated about his longcoat having been bathed in blood yesterday, and to no effect as well. Slightly traumatic, the whole experience, but he was used to death by now, after over a decade of work. And he simply hadn't learned anything, had he?

He readied his potions for the day, changed, and decided to leave for the day. He took his usual five minute session with the photos of his family, and his daughter, and left the house, this time wearing his newly bought armor underneath his new longcoat.

He was unsure of where to go, but decided to spend some time going to the library, and finding any economic records that he could, there, so as to get some progress on his case. He didn't like the fact that he was putting off the trip to To'ko, but he had to let those fellows think their plans through. He'd spend an hour and a half, max, anyways, and then head to the Marx Manor.

[NeoSeraphi]

There is a knock on the door. Taalia opens it and calls, "Nissa, your friend Davis is here!"

Arios and Nissa both stand up and walk into the living room, where they greet Davis.

[NeoSeraphi]

Meanwhile, somewhere else

"Th-The Omniscient...did not order this!" Elaina screams, staggering back in pain.

The Immortal pushes his glasses up his face. "Destruction," he whispers, snapping his fingers. Elaina screams as her body is covered in unholy fire. "Implosion" The woman cries out as her organs internally burst, one at a time. She collapses, blood leaking out of her mouth.

The Immortal shakes his head. "Too far, witch. You're lucky I can't kill you without authorization. But you're going to be under my personal supervision for the next week."

[Diachronos]

Nissa smiled at Davis when she saw him. "Oh, hello. I take it you found some more information about To'ko or the Black Sun?"

[TheEmperor]

Davis nodded, and frowned "Not much at all, but hello. Me, and the pixie, as well as his friend went out for a small drink last night, and ended up fighting a crazy axe murderer woman who apparently knew how to blind people. In the Rabble Rouser, a bar apparently run by another member of the Black Sun, or at least affiliated, since he deigned it necessary to taze me a few days back. He died in the woman's hands."

[WindStruck]

Fen apologized to Syn for all the commotion and then went "home", finally. After showering and washing his clothes, he took the dragon egg out and laid it nearby where he slept...

The next day, he figured Syn probably would want to stay in, so he just asked that the brownie keep an eye out on the place (you know, the normal thing) and make sure the dragon egg is safe.

His first stop was to see Benlaen. He had another potential map he might want to purchase as well as questions about other dragons he knows about.

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios growls. "Natasha, damn. I was afraid of that. Oh well, I did my best to try and beat that vice aura, but it didn't help." He frowns.

-----------------------------

Fenlaen arrives at Benhael's. Benhael is back to work on his map of the ruins.

[WindStruck]

"Ah, hello, Benhael!" Fenlaen says, noting the map he's working on. Seems like those ruins he mentioned earlier. "How is life? Did you hear about that crazed Nymph that went on a killing spree last night?"

Probably wasn't the best subject for small talk, the more Fen thought about it. Natasha was, after all, the person he wanted to meet... ugh, this was bad...

[NeoSeraphi]

Benhael waves his hand airily. "I'm more than used to it in this town. Devils, demons, fey, we have evil monsters running through the streets all the time in Mys'tai."

[WindStruck]

Fen chuckles nervously. "Heh... well, I hope I'm not in that group..."

He decides to change the subject. "Uhm, hey! So, I think I might be going to To'ko soon. Well, I'm not sure when, but if I do travel to another continent, it'll probably be there first.. you have a nice map kind of like that last one I bought?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Benhael walks over to the wall and pulls off a small map, opening it up. "Here you go, a map of Rip'maj!"

The continent of Rip'maj looks only about half as big as Ash'tai, with a few caves and a forest, but mostly a plains landscape. "It's 75 gp."

[Diachronos]

Nissa looked over at Arios. "What do you mean? Was she an acquaintance of yours?"

[WindStruck]

"Thank you! I'll take it!" Fen pays Benhael the 75 gold pieces.

After he puts it away neatly rolled up in its case, he asks, "...Uh, could I also ask you about gold dragons? You see, it's also kind of important... do you know of any that might be nearby?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Benhael chuckles. "Why, what do you mean? High Regent Cor Te'zhan is a gold dragon!" he exclaims.

----------------------------------------

Arios shakes his head. "She was a serial killer who was affected by the same aura as the other fey in Olivia's forest. I bargained to have her temporarily pardoned while I tried to suppress her aura with magic, and it seemed to work. She acted, well, like a nymph would act. But I needed to know how long the dosage was, so I ordered her to be taken off it to see if the effects were permanent. That was two days ago. In just two days, she did this?"

[WindStruck]

Having absolutely no ranks in knowledge (arcana), and probably still not going to in the future, Fenlaen blinks and says, "Erm. Come again?" He looks at Benhael as though afraid the dwarf might have fallen ill.

[NeoSeraphi]

"High Regent Te'zhan. He's a gold dragon with the ability to change his shape. He remains in a humanoid form so that he can rule over Mys'tai," Benhael explains.

[TheEmperor]

Davis grumped a small bit, and then said "Ah, hello Grandmaster. In any case, we've got a dead dwarf who was probably affiliated with the Black Sun, a murderer Nymph held ba- wait, hold on a moment. Did you say dosage? Did you attempt to drug her with something?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios shrugs. "Not me. The dwarf was drugging her. So she killed him too. That's unfortunate."

[TheEmperor]

He frowned, and said to the Grandmaster "I am quite skilled at alchemy, so if you'd allow me to take a look at the serum he gave her... I could theoretically make it permanent. It might be beyond my skills, but I'm confident I can achieve some kind of progress."

[WindStruck]

Fen tilts his head curiously. "...oh... I did not know dragons could do that... just curious, is this common knowledge, or is it just some other formality that he has to look more like a human to be the regent?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Benhael shakes his head. "Pretty much everyone knows our city is run by a gold dragon. You mentioned that you were running an errand for him because he wouldn't take your gold? That's likely because he's a dragon, his hoard is the city of this city on its own. A few more thousand pieces won't mean much to him."

-----------------------------------

Arios chuckles and raises an eyebrow. "Knock yourself out," he replies, reaching into his pocket and tossing a vial to Davis.

[TheEmperor]

Davis caught the vial, and looked at it with extreme precision. He opened it up, and tried to mess around with it, noticeably keeping his eyes, mouth, nose, and skin away from the liquid inside it.


CRAFT alchemy to identify
[roll0]

[WindStruck]

Fen nods. "Well, this is good news! I think? Either way.. you see, since he is a dragon and all, I do have some important information and an, uh... an 'asset' he might be very interested in. It's not that giant ruby though. Thanks so much! I gotta go and tell him!"

Fen waves happily and heads out the door, hurrying over to see the regent again.

[NeoSeraphi]

Fenlaen returns to the palace, where the High Regent is sitting on his throne. He smiles when he sees Fen walk in. "Ah, Sir Valir! Perhaps we were fey-ted to meet again!" he chuckles and looks up. "I've been trying to pixie out my outfit for tonight's ball, but I can't seem to decide. I'd ask for your help, but that would in-valir-date my royal tailor!"

The royal tailor brings out a group of suits and Te'zhan stands up, looking them over, keeping his ear open for whatever Fen wants.

---------------------------------

The alchemical solution is entirely unique and does not seem to share any properties with any spell or extract Davis has ever encountered before.

[WindStruck]

Fenlaen chuckles and shakes his head. "It's good to see you too, High Regent. Hm, there is a ball, though? Perhaps this is a bad time..."

After a moment of silence, he sighs. "Look, I can't think of any puns. They're probably not appropriate anyway. I've got quite a serious subject matter to discuss with you. But I'll give you a choice. Would you like to hear it now? Or... perhaps, after this ball?"

[NeoSeraphi]

The High Regent notices the look on Fenlaen's face. He waves his hand and the tailor drags the suits out and closes the door.

The High Regent steps forward. "Please, young knight. Don't be afraid to speak your mind in my presence. Of course, if I don't like what you have to say, I am fully capable of having you executed for no reason."

[WindStruck]

Fen grimaces and groans. "Ugh... Lord Te'zhan... erm, how do you feel about children? I know it's personal, but it is entirely relevant. Have you.. had any, even?"

He sighs. Beating around the bush with an awkward line of questioning wasn't going to work. So he blurted out, "I happen to have an egg in my possession. I rescued it from the Wyrmslayer Clan..."

[NeoSeraphi]

The High Regent raises an eyebrow. "A dragon's egg, you say? Hmmmm...well, now, that is intriguing. Very well. You drive a hard bargain, but I do want children, and this is a rare opportunity." He snaps his fingers and someone walks into the room, handing the High Regent a diamond. He examines it, before offering it to Fenlaen. "I trust this will be a sufficient payment for the egg?"

[Diachronos]

Nissa frowned as she looked at the vial. "So you were already working on a possible cure when Fen mentioned it?" She thought for a moment. "...Do you think Dragas had any assistants with his research, or if he might have left any research notes?"

[WindStruck]

"Uh. Uh... really?? You'd take care of a baby that wasn't yours?" Fen looks a bit relieved, but also taken a bit off guard by the offer of a diamond.

"I don't know... I hope you don't misunderstand me. I didn't come here looking to sell a baby. I came looking for a suitable parent..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios shakes his head. "It was this odd theory of his that he could use the way dark fruits, something that grows in the Underdark, ferment to weaken the mind's resistance to being magically manipulated, that way his potion (when mixed with the alcohol) would overcome the vice aura's inherent resistance to being dispelled or negated. At least, that's how he explained it to me. No assistants, no notes."

[NeoSeraphi]

"Adoptions cost money, and I'm sure it was no easy feat to retrieve that egg from those lunatics. Please, take the diamond. I insist. That is, as long as the egg is genuine..." his eyes darken. "Because if you think that my sense of humor involves finding you build up my hopes to become a parent and then yanking it out from under me funny, I'll tell you a hilarious joke about that one time I used a pixie as a garnish."

[Diachronos]

Nissa sighed and rubbed her temples. "So we need to bring him back somehow if we're going to find out how he created theserum. I hope it's possible... It at least works for a limited time, so that's one step in the right direction at least."

[TheEmperor]

Davis shook his head, and said "I've never encountered a spell of the like which this is emulating. Can't be too sure."

[WindStruck]

"I assure you, High Regent, this is no joke. The thing that troubles me, however, is that this egg is just one of... dozens. Scores. Maybe a hundred or so. And I must be honest, I did not even know you were a dragon until 20 minutes ago. I notice you have called those 'people' lunatics. Quite an understatement if you ask me. Had you any plans to stop their ... their savagery? I fear rescuing one egg is not enough. Every day is another day of captivity, torture, brutality, and murder."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios sighs and shakes his head. "None of this matters! I am not putting the hypothetical chance of saving 5% of the fey population from extinction over protecting my future wife from being mind-raped into aborting our unborn son! Let's get to Rip'maj already." he says, looking expectantly at Nissa.

[NeoSeraphi]

The High Regent shakes his head. "Those people live well outside Mys'tai's territory. They are not subject to our laws or regulations. Any attempt by a ruler here to impose his will on another culture would constitute as an act of war, and I cannot declare war without a military, or permission from the Senate. Neither of which I have."

[Diachronos]

Nissa's cheeks turned bright and she looked over at her mother. She still hadn't broken the news of her pregnancy to Taalia, and this was not how she'd intended to reveal it. "Um... yeah, that... that can wait until we're done in Rip'maj..."

[TheEmperor]

Davis nodded, and said "It's not like its any of my concern any ways. Its not like the fey are gathering to attack us, and nor are we doing the same. So, why would you want to go to Rip'maj? Actually, nevermind, I know why."

What kinda guy would leave his girlfriend to go to a dangerous new continent without his own involvement?


"Wait, what? You? You fellas are engaged? And she's pregnant? Congratulations, you two" he said, bewilderment appearing on his face, but he wiped it away with a small amount clapping.

[NeoSeraphi]

Taalia gives her daughter a very disappointed stare. Arios goes and picks up Tiana, putting her on his shoulders and letting her ride way up, which she enjoys immensely. "I'll take care of Tiana. Go find Fenlaen and meet me at the port," he says, heading out back to his house.

[Diachronos]

Nissa waved to Sora and Tiana as they left, before turning back to her mother. "Uh... l-look, Mom, I... it was the night before the tournament, a lot of memories and emotions came up for both of us, and..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Taalia smiles and hugs her daughter. "Oh, I'm just too excited about getting a grandchild to worry about that." She steps back and gives Nissa a serious look. "Though that does not change the fact that my daughter has apparently grown up to become a shameless tramp. But still, you're at that age where this kind of accident is a happy accident."

[Diachronos]

Nissa was quiet for a moment, her gaze down on her hands. "...Is that what you think of me?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Taalia sighs and shakes her head. "No. I think you're a wonderful, passionate woman who let her emotions get the best of her and apparently also did not think to ask for protection. But that kind of thing happens in the heat of the moment all the time. It just makes you human, sweetheart, it doesn't make you bad. And it honestly doesn't matter, right? After all, you want to spend the rest of your life with this man. And if you're really, one hundred percent sure of that, there's no reason you should wait for anything."

[Diachronos]

"I'm sure. He's the only man I want to be with. The only man I've ever wanted to be with." She sat down on the couch with a sigh. "It was my first time. I... I didn't even consider the risks, or what might happen." She let out a small laugh with no joy to it. "I guess living in the wild for 10 years didn't do anything for my reckless streak..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Taalia sighs and puts her hands on her hips. "Well, you're going to have to be more careful. Especially if you're pregnant now. Ghellin, you take good care of her, you hear?"

The deinonychus bares his fangs. Taalia smiles and turns to Nissa. "So, it sounds like you're leaving. You're welcome back here any time, love. I'll make sure Lars knows you're gone, so go ahead and get on the road before it gets dark."

[Diachronos]

She nodded and stood up, giving her mother a tight hug. "Someday you'll have to teach me your secrets for balancing everything in your life, because I have no idea how you manage it." She smiled and said her farewells before heading upstairs to pack. Once she had everything, she'd head into town, using her find quarry spell to locate him if he was within range.

[NeoSeraphi]

Between Nissa's spell and her tracking expertise, she is able to track Fenlaen to the palace, where she is told the High Regent is currently in a meeting and she will have to wait her turn.

[WindStruck]

"And I suppose what those people do on a daily basis -- forcing dragons to breed just so they can slaughter them, all for the purpose of 'training' so they can kill the others that are not in their captivity -- that isn't considered an act of war against all dragon kind? Or is it just that the military and senate here couldn't give a damn?"

Fen sighs. "Call me an idealist or a bleeding heart or someone who doesn't respect other cultures... But I know blatant, gratuitous acts of evil when I see them."

[NeoSeraphi]

The High Regent chuckles. "And? This city is evil. Its people are evil. They don't care, as long as it doesn't affect them. And a city guard is not the same thing as a trained militia. I am not the chieftain of Mullmoon. My men are not prepared for war, especially against professional dragon slayers."

[WindStruck]

Fen scoffs, "I must admit I haven't seen them in action, but if all they do is murder little hatchlings and battle others that have been caged up for a few years, I would think their skill as professional 'slayers' is a bit lackluster... anyway. I just want you to know.. anything you might want done which is beyond the law, I am willing. But I can't do it alone. And..."

Fen chuckles a little. "It was a silly notion, but I had almost wanted to try raising the baby myself... still, like I said, silly, isn't it? I had almost forgotten the whole reason for my endeavors in the first place. I shall return with the egg at once. A friend of mine said it might be about two weeks 'till it hatches. Then I will accept your gracious offer... and then... I could have my niece back, I hope. We'll both be busy raising young ones, and I imagine it would be better this way."

[NeoSeraphi]

The High Regent nods his approval.

Fenlaen leaves and finds Nissa outside waiting for him.

[WindStruck]

Fen looks pleased to see Nissa, then curious. "Ah, Nissa! Are you here to see the Regent? Or... you aren't looking for me, are you?"

[Diachronos]

"Yes, I was. We're supposed to meet Sora and Tiana at the pier to catch the ship to To'ko."

[WindStruck]

Fen raises an eyebrow. "What? Now?? Look, I can't. I really can't right now. And also, I'll need to borrow your teleport boots. Please? Otherwise it'll be weeks before I set foot on any ship, believe me."

[NeoSeraphi]

Meanwhile, somewhere else...

"Ten hut! Company fall in line!" Alicia Volutia yells angrily, slamming her whip into the ground. Her army of summoned creatures comes to a screeching halt and all of the gather around her. She turns to the forest behind her. "Inside these woods is our target: Ali'sumi, the Erkling of Wrath. He and his forces are deadly warriors, and he leads an army that rivals ours in strength and number. He also has the advantage of defending his homeland, where we will play the invaders. But it matters not, for we will crush this force and lay waste to this forest, and we will bring home the erkling's head! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"SIR YES SIR!"

"Company charge!" She yells, drawing a bayonet and pointing it at the forest. Her army yells its war cry and charges into the forest, where the erkling is waiting.

The once great and powerful king of the forest is now old and decrepit, looking more undead than warrior. His eyes shine with a lust for battle and he raises one finger. His voice is raspy and it carries in the wind. "Hunt them all down!"

His hounds charge forth, trapping elementals in trees or catching giants between boulders. Everywhere that Alicia's army could be caught out of position, they are. The witch gasps in horror as the men she has spent years assembling into her private militia are systematically torn down one by one, as this genius commander outmatches her every strategy.

After ten minutes, Alicia has lost over half her forces, and the erkling's side has yet to suffer a single casualty. Alicia is loyal to Cassandra, but she is more loyal to her men. She fires a signal flare into the air calling for a retreat. The army sees it and starts to head back to the exit where they came in...but it's an ambush!

Alicia covers her mouth in horror as seven fox demons jump out of the trees and sink their claws and fangs into the summoned creatures' bodies.

"LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER!" Ali'sumi declares, as his army starts to move out of the forest. Alicia staggers back. She came here with an army of seven hundred, and she doesn't have a single man left. All she can do now is run. She teleports away, her mission, a failure.

[Diachronos]

"Why can't you leave now? And why do you need my boots?" Now that she thought about it, Sakura had mentioned something about Fen needing her help with something... "Is it really something that can't wait?"

[WindStruck]

"Well, considering it is something I would want to do preferably before shoving off to a completely different continent... yes." He tilts his head at her, somewhat annoyed.

"Right now, the High Regent would be more than happy to take that dragon egg and raise it, even giving me one of those diamonds in exchange. Apparently, he is a gold dragon in a humanoid form... With that diamond... then I could, perhaps, take it to Father Yassir and resurrect my niece. Although..."

Fen sighs, trying to rationally think through his options. "...she isn't even an adult yet. And she's very sweet, much like Tiana, but not so formal... So, what, with this business in To'ko, we are hunting down those Black Sun guys, huh?"

[Diachronos]

"Well, that's good news. At least the egg will be raised by one of its own kind in a safe place. And no, this isn't just about the Black Sun... not anymore. Elaina lives in To'ko, so Sora and I have even more reason to go."

[WindStruck]

"Elaina...? What, has she done something else now? If she lives there, why would you even want to go there?"

[Diachronos]

"Because she keeps taking control of my mind. Because she keeps threatening me, Sora, and our child. And because the damned Council of Mythos won't do a single thing to stop her from doing these things, even though she nearly started a war with Jazi! Someone needs to stop her, and if the Council won't then Sora and I will do their god-damned jobs for them!"

[WindStruck]

Fen nods. "Yeah, I realize that, but she can just do whatever the hell she wants, can't she? What do you plan on doing to stop her? Kill her? How well do you think The Council will handle that?

"...wait. When you say 'our child', are you talking about Tiana?"

[Diachronos]

"No, they can't. And it's about time they learned that. As for how the Council handles it... Well, her death is a possibility they should've started considering when they gave her free reign to mind-rape whoever she wants." She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Was the egg the only business you had before we left?"

[WindStruck]

Fen sighs. "No... I want to bring back my niece and just settle down somewhere with her, so she can at least grow up in peace. Or what kind of peace she can possibly have with her home and parents gone. And besides, there's hardly a damned thing I can do about anything anymore. The Council is wiping out all the Fey in the world, there's no hope to cure them, no one willing to free those dragons, and I'm sure Arios will be able to handle that little thing with Elaina just fine without me. That is, of course, until the other council members swoop in and annihilate you. I don't want to be a part of that stupidity, and I don't want to endanger my niece."

He sighs wistfully once again, failing to even make eye contact now. "Look, Nissa... we've had a good run, with the time we've known each other... I guess I shouldn't be asking you for help anymore or to borrow anything if I'm just going to 'ditch' you. So, I don't know what else to say... Good luck fixing that problem you have with Elaina? And it's been grand, fighting along your side the few times we have."

[Diachronos]

Nissa stared at Fen. "So you're leaving to do your own thing, then? Well... I guess there's nothing we can do to stop you. You're free to leave if you want. And... I agree, it was fun while it lasted." She sighed and looked back toward the pier. "....Don't give up on a cure for the fey, Fen. Gragas was onto something, and I think with the right support we can finish what he started."

[WindStruck]

"I never knew he was working on a cure... at least, not until last night when Natasha went on a killing spree." Fen shakes his head. "Apparently Arios was working on a cure. Never told me. That's nice, but now that this happened, I am surprised he even wants to see me again. And I bet he isn't going to try anymore."

[NeoSeraphi]

"Ah, good morning Nissa," comes a male voice from behind the half-elf. She turns to see Commander Lars Marx standing behind her. "Sorry to bother you, but I need to speak to Fenlaen." He steps past her and smiles at Fen. "Thank you once again for your assistance with the arrest last night, Fenlaen. I'm relieved that you weren't hurt. We did a full investigation of The Rabble Rouser last night, from head to toe, and we found two objects that look like they might be interesting, but we aren't sure what they are for. I thought you might be able to make sense of them."

He reaches into his bag and removes two items. The first is a key. The key is painted black, but otherwise looks like any normal key. "It doesn't go to any of the doors in The Rabble Rouser. I have no idea what it's for." Marx explains. He holds out the other item. It's a group of sheets of paper clipped together. Long descriptions written in Draconic cover the page, along with several places where words are scratched out, other words are written over top of them, and even some mathematical equations.

The page is written in Arios's handwriting.

[WindStruck]

Fen carefully examines the items as best he could... "I honestly didn't know Gragas THAT well... no idea what the key is for... you checked around where he lives? As for these papers... I wonder if it's part of that 'cure' he was working on?"

[Diachronos]

Nissa looks at the papers in Lars' hand before her eyes widened, and she grabs them from him. "Wait a second.... This is Sora's handwriting!" She looked at the pixie. "That means he had some part in figuring out the serum! Between him and Davis... I think we might be able to figure this ouf!"

[NeoSeraphi]

The commander shrugs helplessly. "It appears he lived inside the bar. We found a clearly lived-in bedroom in the back."

[NeoSeraphi]

Nissa is surprised to see a white orb suddenly appear before her. It looks vaguely familiar, but then it pops and a sound comes out. "Big sis! Sora and I are at the pier but they won't let us board. Apparently there was a murder on the ship! Tomorrow."

There is a sound from behind them and the guards gasp and bow as the High Regent Cor Te'zhan steps forward, outside of the palace. He smiles as he greets the two standing there. "I apologize for interrupting, but Fenlaen, you make a very good point. I can't officially help you stop the horrible captivation and slaughter of my people, but I don't want you to think I'm not on your side. Here. Take this."

He presents Fenlaen with a beautiful jeweled rapier that is the same size as Fenlaen, as well as a stout metal shield that looks like it can take some hits. They are both Small sized, and the shield has the symbol of Mys'tai (a devil and a human shaking hands) emblazoned on the front. "It doesn't matter if you are a dragon or a fey or a human, there are just some acts that are too horrible to describe, and if you are the kind of person who is willing to step forward and deal with those acts, then you deserve my respect."

---------------------------------------------------------------

As Davis makes his way to the pier, the strange man appears before him again. The same one who gave him the ticket. "Glad to see you're on your way. Here's the info on what your benefactor wants you to investigate while you're there. Don't worry, he knows you're going there to deal with the Black Sun, but he hopes that you will be gracious enough to deal with this problem in advance. And here's your payment."

He hands Davis first a dossier describing a series of kidnappings and disappearances of small children in the city. The suspected culprit, known as "The Boogeyman", is said to be a human male who lures children away from their parents while they are out shopping or something, and then does...something with them. No child has ever been found, not even a body, but they have been missing so long they are all presumed dead.

The payment is a ring. After studying it, Davis is surprised to discover that when worn, it allows a person to use his inner strength to shake off any harmful conditions...as often as he can muster it. An invaluable object, Davis suspects he would not be able to sell this at any store.

-----------------------------------------------------------------


The commander turns to Nissa. "Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention this, but I got you a little gift. It's from me and your mother, to celebrate your engagement. I..I honestly don't know what you see in that man, but if anyone has the power and money to make you happy, it's him." He hands Nissa a bow that is carved not from wood, but from animal bones. Tiger bones, from Nissa's extensive knowledge. The weapon appears to be enchanted as well.


The rapier is a +2 shocking adamantine rapier and the shield is a +1 arrow deflection heavy steel shield.
(Arrow Deflection: This shield protects the wielder as if he had the Deflect Arrows feat. Once per round when he would normally be struck by a ranged weapon, he can make a DC 20 Reflex save. If the ranged weapon (or piece of ammunition) has an enhancement bonus, the DC increases by that amount. If he succeeds, the shield deflects the weapon. He must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed. Attempting to deflect a ranged weapon doesn't count as an action. Exceptional ranged weapons, such as boulders hurled by giants or acid arrows, can't be deflected.)


As long as you wear the ring, you can use Iron Heart Surge at will as a standard action. :smallcool:

The bow is a +2 composite longbow with a Strength score of +1 (so it lets Nissa add her Strength bonus to its damage rolls). Additionally, by holding the bow and using the command word, Nissa can charm animal, call animal, hold animal or dominate animal. Each one of these SLAs can be used once per day, with a caster level of 11 and a DC equal to 13+effective spell level.

[TheEmperor]

Davis left for home, hoping to pack up all his necessary stuff for his trip. He quickly arrived at home, and was easily able to grab all his stuff, before he left the home, heading for the docks with the tickets in hand.

When he was apprehended by the man, he simply nodded in response to his words, and took the ring, and headed out again, with thoughts on how he'd confront this 'Boogeyman'.

[NeoSeraphi]

Davis arrives at the docks to see Grandmaster Arios Heartshield along with the young girl that is always with Nissa standing and waiting while the guards tell them off. Arios looks annoyed. He glances in Davis's way and his eyes widen, and he quickly draws Tiana as close to him as possible. "Hello. If you're trying to board the ship, then I'm afraid it's not possible today. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow, it seems."

[Diachronos]

Nissa sighed when she received Tiana's message, but still sent her response. "Fen has some things left to do before leaving anyway. I'll check with him tomorrow to see if he's coming. Meet you at the pier."

She looked to Fen. "Well, it seems there's been a murder at the piers so all boat departures today have been canceled. If you still want to come with us, we'll probably be leaving tomorrow."

Nissa accepted the bow from Commander Marx, handling it carefully and running a hand over the smooth tiger bone. She opened her mouth to say something, before shaking her head and stepping in to embrace him. "Thank you, Lars. I know you and him have a bit of a history, but I'm sure things will change for the better with him. After all, he's left the Council of Mythos so he could be with me." She smiled as she slung the bow over her shoulder. "I don't know if you knew Sora personally before the incident at Castle Revane ten years ago, but deep down the only change in him is that he's become a better man."

With a quick farewell to the Commander and to Fen, she started for the docks, hoping to consolidate her plans with Sora and Davis if they were both there.

[NeoSeraphi]

The commander looks surprised. "So that's why you've gotten so close to him so quickly. Fair enough. Don't get hurt."

[NeoSeraphi]

Nissa meets up with Arios, Tiana, and Davis at the docks. Tiana smiles and hugs her sister, while Arios is speaking to one of the guards.

[Diachronos]

Nissa returned Tiana's hug before approaching Sora and Davis. "Have they said anything about when the boats will be able to leave again? Or about what happened on the ship?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios turns around and sighs, shaking his head. "They won't tell me anything. At the end of the day, I'm just another civilian to these people. They did say that the boat will be open for business in the morning though."

[TheEmperor]

Davis threw up his hands into the air in frustration, and said "Absolutely amazing. Stellar. With all the chances of it happening, it happens today. At least I'll have something to do, since I can go look around, and see if I can help the fellows with their investigation a bit." and attempted to find an official.

[Diachronos]

Nissa shrugged. "Probably better if we don't get involved anyway. That would just be one more problem to handle, and we've already got our hands full with Elaina and the Black Sun..."

Then it occurred to her that she had a couple of things to share with them. "Oh, that reminds me... Lars and his men found a couple of things at the Rabble Rouser." She pulls out the black key and the notes that had been found at the tavern. "The key, neither he, Fen, or me know anything about, but seeing as the Rabble Rouser was apparently the base of the number-two Black Sun member I figured you might have some clue about its purpose." She holds it out to Davis, before turning back to Sora. "The notes... apparently Gragas left them, but what I find more curious is that they're apparently written in your handwriting, Sora."

[NeoSeraphi]

There are plenty of officers standing around, they're the ones preventing people from boarding the ship. One of them looks up as he sees Davis wandering around. "Can I help you with something, sir?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Look, that was a little pet project of mine from way back before you and I saw each other again, I honestly didn't feel the need to tell you about it. These pages are my attempt to recreate the vice aura through magic. I've done extensive testing and I've figured out the way to create the aura with a spell I created. I thought that might help Gragas figure out a way to couter it."

[TheEmperor]

Davis nodded in response to the officer, and said "I am Kyras Davis, and I've assisted in a few cases over the past few years, and since I was about to board this ship earlier, I felt I should help with the investigation, until I am able to leave once more."

[Diachronos]

"Sora, it worked. Maybe not permanently, like you or Gragas had hoped, but it's a start." She smiled and put a hand on his arm. "I know, I know, it shouldn't be our #1 priority right now... but once all of this business with To'ko is sorted out, maybe we can find someone to help us find a way to cure the fey that aren't too far gone."

[NeoSeraphi]

Arios draws his sword and looks down at it. "Save them? ...Heh. Maybe. Whatever, I may have left the Council, but that doesn't mean I have time to sit around and wait for a ship to be cleaned. I'll see you in the morning. Be a good girl Tiana."

The little tiefling waves slowly as Arios disappears.

The officer frowns. "Certainly, Mr. Davis. Victim is a 32 year old half-elf male. Name of Vincent Lightcard. Cause of death: strangulation. Victim was discovered at approximately seven AM."

[Diachronos]

"Sora..." She watched as he walked away, a pang of guilt in her heart. Pressuring him into finding a cure for the fey's vice aura issue wasn't the way to go about this... No, she'd need to pass the information along to someone who was both able and willing to help with this. If Sora wanted to help, then great, but she had no right to force him into this.

She sighed and looked down at her sister. "Do you want to go home with me and Sora for now, little sis?"