The Nature of Prophecy (IC)

[MikelaC1]

Daciana pushed herself up from the bed where the sleeping form of Captain Mika still lay. A smile crossed her lips, she had spent time training Mika (at the Captain's request) in the social graces and arts that she knew so well, and their relationship had just sprung from that. Natural to her as an amazon of Tishtina, it had become just as natural to Mika.
Making her way up onto the deck of the Amazonian, she give a good morning wave to Araon, the last remaining member of the Zodiac team, ostensibly accompanying Daciana to the amazon lands and the City of Gardens, but more likely interested in exploring any sort of relationship that might develop between him and a certain amazon paladin of Klintina. Araon had not truly understood the position of Klintinian church when it came to such things, but Daciana's goddess granted insight when it came to matters of love told her that the two of them would have a long and happy relationship.
Even though Daciana could have just teleported herself to the City after the Zodiac mission had ended, she did not do so. Teleporting uninvited into the City was just something that was not done, not only was it terribly rude, it was also rather dangerous as such traveling without expressed permission of the Queen was not permitted....and those who tried to do so would end up with problems. While of course Daciana would be able to smooth things over quickly, being a Tishtinian amazon witch, it was not the way she wanted to start her visit and it still was a social faux pax. Besides the lazy journey had been an enjoyable break, after the frenetic pace the Zodiac mission had entailed. Now approaching the city of New Kroy, thankfully at high tide so the ship could actually make the docks, Daciana was ready for home.

[Ridai]

Daciana stretches in the warm morning sun, breathing in the fresh air. She has come to love being at sea as much as walking upon land, chuckling to herself when she remembers her first few days aboard the ship. Even the prospect of getting anywhere near New Kroy does not sour her mood (though she still wishes that settlement wasn't what would always greet travellers on the way to and from the City of Gardens). It has been a welcome rest after the chaos of the Zodiac.

The amazon had considered teaching Araon a few things, as a little surprise to his future wife, but considered against it. Not because her fellow amazon wouldn't understand, but rather because Araon just isn't that type of man. He is meant for his future love and Daciana does not want to do anything that might create doubt or guilt. That and she knows from personal experience that his future wife will teach him all he will need to know (and if they want to spice things up, they could always invite her later on). Instead, Daciana enjoyed pleasant conversations, reflections and exchanging stories with the paladin, glad to have made such a true friend, also subtly fanning his desire for his future wife by sprinkling in a tidbit about her here and there.

But Mika has perhaps been the most wonderful surprise. During the quest against the Zodiac, the witch had to cut back on her activities to avoid distracting the group, or worse, cause jealousy and other unwelcome things. Daciana had admired her since soon after they met, finding her to be a truly remarkable and accomplished woman, and teaching the Captain what the amazon knows best has been a true joy (and the first one she has been with after the formation of the Tri-Fold Goddess). It is true that Daciana has been with many women who were more attractive or more skilled in the sensual arts (and she is about to return to the place filled with both), but Mika is a welcome reminder that raw beauty and skill are not all there is to a relationship and the pleasures of one. The fact that, despite being so close to home, the amazon's thoughts drift back to her newfound lover should be ample evidence (much to the chagrin of the crew with the Captain keeping the amazon witch mostly for herself). Fortunately, there are still several days until the City of Gardens is reached.

Leaning on the railing, Daciana considers her journey and how she will talk and sing about it to her family, her friends, and her queen. And there is also the change in their collective faith and their very own goddess. There is much to get to. But all that lies in the future for now. And unless something happens in the next 10 minutes on deck, Daciana grins, fetches a bit of drink and fruit and heads back down to see if the sleepyhead needs a little wake-up call.

[MikelaC1]

As Daciana heads back, she encounters Mika bounding out of the cabin, already shouting orders to the crew and taking control of the wheel herself. It is impossible to approach the docks of New Kroy at low tide, but just because its high tide doesnt make the journey easy. The sand bars are still treacherous, and perhaps even more so because they are less visible, and because the locals know the ships can only come in at certain times, they are more likely to congregate. It takes only a look from the Captain for Daciana to know that she would like her to handle at least the initial greetings to what passes as port dock workers, although Araon also joins her, just to make it clear that if sweet words do not do the trick, there is some cold steel on this ship as well. Introductions will certainly be needed, as already a crowd is forming, drawn by the appearance of the Amazonian, a ship much grander than the usual vessels that come to New Kroy

[Ridai]

As she watches Mika sprinting into action, Daciana laughs, not at the Captain, but rather with the whole world. Things are never boring aboard the Amazonian. The amazon responds with a wink to the unspoken request, something Mika by now is intimately familiar with. My pleasure.

Getting herself ready and her clothes having formed to fit the warm weather, Daciana fetches Araon and fills him in. She also has a few new tricks since she has last been here and she is quite interested in seeing the effects (namely Improvisation on Diplomacy/Sense Motive, with more powerful enchantments coming into effect if things get rougher). And thus, the amazon stands ready in plain sight as they enter the harbor.

[MikelaC1]

Many captains try to steer around hazards as they are spotted, but the more experienced Mika realizes she has to take a longer ranged look, understanding that water flows where the ship is right now are set by currents further up the river and she charts herself to avoid problems that will arise, as well as the immediate ones. Plus, she uses the strong incoming tidal flow and a favourable wind to drive the ship right into the mouth of the Amazon River, figuring that the powerful outflow of this river will do more to clear the sand bars than anything else. At the last moment, she makes a hard right turn, bringing the Amazonian into the nearest dock, where the longshoremen (at least, maybe they are longshoremen) pull the ropes thrown to them to tie the ship up. One man steps forward (he might be a harbourmaster, or at least a self appointed one) and addresses Daciana.
Hunnerd gold docking fees, and me's men can give your crew shore leave by taking positions
Daciana has been in enough ports to know that 25 gold is the upper end of most dock fees and they were at considerably better facilities than this.

[Ridai]

Daciana smiles dazzlingly with Araon beside her, not needing to check to know all eyes are on her. "My good, good man," she purrs. "such a generous offer to have such fine gentlemen watch over us. Such handsome fellows surely would even stand watch at the end of the pier to ensure the ship, crew and cargo are untouched if we lopped off a zero from the price, would they not?" She looks to the assembled men with the same dazzling smile and just the right shift of posture, words laced with charm person II for added effect, subtly putting pressure on those who don't agree.

I am really curious what this kind of social force will do. Going by the basic rules, a 50 in Diplomacy could make someone currently hostile helpful.

Diplomacy [roll0] (includes Improvisation)
Charm Person II [roll1] targets, DC 27

[MikelaC1]

Daciana's magic and personality overwhelms the weak wills of the thugs and ruffians who are confronting her, as they are suddenly falling all over themselves to be helpful. Mika tosses a bag filled with silver coins to the "harbourmaster" so that he can divide up the money more easily while the longshoremen either set up a perimeter or help the crew start to unload the cargo, although there is not much of that. This journey was mostly for Daciana and Araon, and besides, there arent many customers in New Kroy.

[Ridai]

"Much obliged," Daciana adds with a feigned curtsey before going back onto the ship, doing a little flourish once there as the conclusion of her little performance. As the sailors work, Daciana leans on the railing beside Mika. "Once we are there, do you have any plans? How about a nice vacation in the City of Gardens? Warm weather, many sights to see, free lodging and wonderful people. I'm sure your crew would worship the ground you walk upon." The amazon gives a winning smile, but she remembers the last time. Mika is made for the sea, through and through. Perhaps a day or two might be fine, but it would be downright cruel to keep her locked onto land for longer. The past weeks flew by and the thought of having that time end was not exactly the happiest.

[MikelaC1]

Yes, my crew would love it...but probably too much. I might not get any of them back.
As for me, you know Im made for the seas. This ship was given to me by Elinon to hunt pirates and other villains of the ocean and thats what I have to with it. Ive loved our time together and will never forget it, but I think this is where you and I part ways

[Ridai]

Daciana smiles with both happiness and sadness. "I knew you would say that. You now know that Tishtina's followers and amazons in particular know many kinds of love, and the love I feel for you would never allow me to keep you from your destiny." Without a second thought, the amazon pulls Mika into a tender kiss, one she shall always remember. "You are a wonderful woman, Mika, and I will always cherish all we experienced together." Leaning in for a moment, she whispers "And if you find your way to a temple of Tishtina, don't hesitate to have them relay a message to me, and enjoy yourself."

With that, the amazon leaves the ship along with her shining knight, heading out of New Kroy and towards home.

[MikelaC1]

The docks for the ships that work the river are separate from those that handle the ocean going vessels and so Daciana and Araon are forced walk the streets of New Kroy to travel to them. New Kroy is much as it always is, lawless and chaotic, fights breaking out over nothing and no one out to protect those lesser than themselves...unless of course they were spoiling for a brouhaha anyway. The buildings are broken down and barely standing on their own, except for those owned by people with money and those are heavily guarded.
At one point, Daciana and Araon pass an area where two streets intersect, and the block defined by those two streets holds only one building, just as run down as the others. Araon doesn't seem to notice it, even when Daciana draws his attention to it. No one walking past in the city seems to look at it either, and when Daciana tries to approach the building, she finds she is able to, but if she tries to take Araon with her, he seems to just wander at an angle carrying him past the building whenever she tries.

[Ridai]

"Araon, could you wait here for a moment? Whether intentional or not, I've been made aware of a phenomenon and would like to see if it is something we need to be concerned about or not. If I am not back in one or two hours, get a map of the river and follow it to the City of Gardens. Please trust me in this." Daciana smiles encouragingly to the paladin and kisses him on the cheek before heading to and possibly into the building if the door is not locked.

(Mage Armor is in effect, as is Shield)

[MikelaC1]

Daciana enters the building, the room she enters into appears to a kitchen of some kind, and there is a young amazon in there. From what Daciana can see, she cannot tell if she is one of the followers of the three goddesses and which one if she is. At the moment, she is preparing a light lunch for herself, and looks up when Daciana enters.

Greetings, can I help you sister?

[Ridai]

"Greeting to you, too. Sorry for the unannounced visit, I just noticed the effect hiding this house and got curious." Daciana flashes a smile. "My name is Daciana Solaya, pleased to meet you. If you'll allow the question, what makes you live in New Kroy?"

[MikelaC1]

The girl laughs at Daciana's comment...Yes, the wards of the goddesses are powerful, only one of the faiths can even notice the house is here or even approach it, the home has been designated a shrine by the faiths. You now stand in the home where Cassiopia actually wrote the whole prophecy, all those hundreds of years ago. I don't really live here, not permanently anyway, Im just the current caretaker of the home. Not that its a difficult assignment, as no one can approach or menace it, although when I venture outside it can be uncomfortable.
So what brings you to New Kroy?

[Ridai]

Daciana looks around a little, appreciating her surroundings, ramshackle as they may be. "You don't say. That explains the welcome subliminal atmosphere and I'm glad this is a safe haven for us. As for why I'm here, I am on my way home and just arrived via ship with a companion of mine." The witch gestures out of the window, towards Araon. "Tishtina guided me to help stop a great threat to the world and ultimately, we were successful. Well, I should be on my way, but before I go, may I know your name?"

[MikelaC1]

My name is Xenobia, and Im glad to hear of your success in the world. Personally, I follow Sabrina, but we are all one now, are we not?

[Ridai]

Daciana nods. "And I am glad we are now." The witch also asks if Xenobia minds if she took a quick look around, never having been in here before. If she doesn't mind, Daciana gives herself a quick tour, then heads outside to Araon to continue towards the City of Gardens.

[MikelaC1]

As Daciana moves through the house, she can feel the touch of something in the house, she partially recognizes it as the touch of her goddess, but there are other components to it, components that she has never felt before. Slightly thrilling and also slightly tempting, she decides against exploring them further.
Moving upstairs, she finds two rooms, one of which is the bedroom and the other, some sort of spare room. She pauses for a moment, and suddenly a vision fills the room, a young woman working at a desk, writing feverishly. Daciana can see the ghostly face, staring at something she can clearly not comprehend, trying to find the words to express what she sees, all time trying to write it all down.

[Ridai]

Daciana watches the historical moment that ultimately led to the three goddesses becoming one. The amazon moves a bit closer to get a good look at all that is happening and though it is just an echo of the past, Daciana still wishes she could soothe the frantic Cassiopia.

(If nothing else happens, Daciana heads back out and onwards to the City of Gardens)

[MikelaC1]

As Daciana comes back down from the upstairs, Xenobia is waiting for her

So did you see anything interesting up there?

[Ridai]

"A ghostly figure who I am assuming to be Cassiopia from what you told me, writing frantically and staring at something unseen and incomprehensible. Why?"

[MikelaC1]

You must stand high in the esteem of your goddess. While all of each faith are welcome here and can stay as long as they wish, few see Cassiopia in the process of seeing the prophecy unfold and trying to document it in words we could understand. She's gone, of course, part of the prophecy was to release her soul from imprisonment to her final resting with Tishtina...but the afterimage of what she did remains for those who see it.

[Ridai]

"It is good to know she is finally at peace and can enjoy the love and pleasures so long denied to her. Honestly, I am pretty excited that our faiths have come together, even if there are still differences in beliefs. But what is more important is what we have in common, so not why enjoy that together?" There is an ever so slight shift towards the mischievous in her voice, eyes and body language, partially to tease Xenobia a little in good nature (and also to see her reaction). "However, I do wonder why Tishtina would show me Cassiopia's work... Perhaps I will ask her once I am home again. For now, I wish you all the best, I need to get back to my gentleman friend before he worries himself sick."

[MikelaC1]

Daciana takes her leave of the birthplace of the prophecy and finds Araon waiting patiently for her outside of the building. The two of them do not get menaced in the rest of the walk to the inner docks (although Daciana draws plenty of dirty looks) and they manage to charter a boat with the least disreputable looking captain to take them upriver.
Daciana and Araon remember their first trip on the Amazon, filled with monstrously huge vermin of all kind dropping in on their ship, and while they still see signs of the creatures most that would dismiss as myth and tales, none of them actually fall on the ship. Its as if the earlier voyage had to be challenged by the beasts, perhaps because of the grandeur of the Amazonian, perhaps because there were too many non-amazons on board, perhaps drawn by the concentration of magic...or perhaps directed by the mysterious Lord Zodiac. Whatever the reason, the trip is much calmer, one or two much smaller vermin do drop in, but they are easily dispatched by Araon, and when the bodies are kicked over the side, the always present piranha put on their usual blood display.
Its been about a week of travel, the captain saying little to the pair, Daciana feels his eyes often following her, but the cold steel of Araon is a reminder of what will happen if he makes unwanted advances, not to mention Daciana's own magic which would redirect his attention. At about noon, suddenly three arrows fly overhead, all of which stick into the main sail pole of the ship, followed by a female voice from the riverbank, although try as she might, Daciana cannot see the figure who speaks.

In the name of Queen Casandra, I order you to halt. Who dares trespass uninvited into the Amazon's lands, we were not told to expect any visitors

[Ridai]

Though Daciana is quite used to being gawked at and lusted after, she is still glad to leave New Kroy as soon as possible. The week upriver is made more bearable by Araon, using the time to tell him of their lands and culture (and, naturally, subtly preparing for life with his future wife), but the closer they come, the longer the hours feel. When the arrows fly, the feeling is almost euphoric and Daciana steps to the very bow of the ship. "One of your fellow sisters, Daciana of the Solaya family, accompanied by Araon Garwick, a champion of Klintina Bindar, returning from a quest Tishtina guided me to and through." Her musical voice cannot help but carry the excitement to be home again.

Diplomacy [roll0] (not really for persuasion, more for infectuous joy)

[MikelaC1]

Why were we not advised of your coming...and why are you travelling on a ship of New Kroy?

Daciana can tell that the amazon believes her...but is disappointed that she wont get to make a pincushion out of the ship's captain

[Ridai]

"I've been at sea for quite a while since the ending of our quest and since then, there was no mage available for a sending. As for the ship, there were no better alternatives available once I reached the New Kroy harbor. The only other way would have been teleportation, and that's not how I want to kick off my return home." Something in Daciana's voice conveys I know how you feel.

[MikelaC1]

Daciana's ears arent quite good enough to hear a bowstring relaxing, or perhaps its slight rustle of leaves as the amazon changes her stance from drawn weapon to wary guardianship.

Very well, the docks are 15 minutes further upriver. I offer you welcome back to our homelands, sister.

[Ridai]

"Thank you, sister." Daciana smiles gratefully towards the voice and once they are at the docks, she prepares to make her case for why Araon should be allowed entrance as well.

[MikelaC1]

The rest of the trip to the docks is uneventful, and does take the 15 minutes predicted. There are several amazons on the docks when the boat arrives, as well as several splashing in the water. They all take a hand in bringing the boat into the docks, the ones in the water pushing it along and the ones on land taking the ropes when offered. One extends a hand to Daciana to pull her up, but before she can even say a word, the young amazon paladin that Araon had spoken to so extensively in his first visit comes rushing onto the docks, and pulls him up out of the boat on her own. It appears as if acceptance by one implies acceptance by all.

[Ridai]

Daciana is delighted to see the couple reunite, the witch herself embracing and kissing her nearby sisters, happy to be home again. The more she is away from home, the more Daciana loves it and its people. The captain of the boat has already been paid and is sent back to New Kroy. Celebrating the moment, she begins to sing one of the amazons' most beloved songs as she heads to meet her queen and personally report the defeat of Lord Zodiac (though Casandra will already know). Tishtina and Casandra inspired Daciana time and time again, and the amazon wants both to know how thankful she is for their support and them believing in her (that and Daciana's heart beating faster at the thought of meeting Casandra in person again).

Perform [roll0]

[MikelaC1]

Casandra and many of her sisters are out to greet Daciana as she moves into the village, and gives an order for a grand feast and celebration in honour of the victory and Daciana's return. While the others scurry off to prepare what is needed, Casandra brings Daciana into her dwelling to hear personally of the quest and Daciana's role in it.
When Daciana enters the hut, she sees a second woman in there. Now, in the mortal world, it is said that if 100 men were to give a list of the 10 most beautiful women in the world, you would get 100 different lists from 10 to 2...and then Casandra would be on top of each one. But if ever there was a woman who could challenge Casandra for that spot, this would be her.

[MikelaC1]

Although Casandra looks like she might be interested in continuing what Katarina started, the sounds of the party starting along with the aroma of some food cooking are slowly touching the senses of the two amazons and given that Daciana (along with Araon) are the guests of honour, it wouldn't do to be late.
Casandra quickly makes herself presentable (although that's up to the amazon standards, high society would be scandalized) and then with Daciana at her side, she heads out into the burgeoning festival, escorting the young witch to her place in the celebration.

[MikelaC1]

Amazon celebrations differ greatly from human celebrations in that singing, dancing and displays of the arts are far more prominent than eating and drinking. Food and wine are part of it, no doubt, but they are not focal point. As well, amazon fare is quite different, while a human festival would probably have 7 different types of meat based foods (with a lonely vegetable platter off in the corner getting ignored), the amazons have many different vegetable dishes and a wide variety of fruits (given the rainforest nature that they live in). There is meat yes, but its almost more of a side dish than main course, and amazon wine tends to light and cleansing, without a hint of dwarven based ale.
Singing and dancing take up most of the activities, but there are also other displays of art. Amazon festivals usually have a painting contest in which several contestants are chosen and given the length of the festival to create their latest works, which are always themed to the reason for the party. Given that this party is in celebration of the defeat of Lord Zodiac and Daciana's role in that, she is prominently featured in all of the paintings along with stylzed renderings of the creatures of the Zodiac. Seeing as none among the amazons have any idea of what Lord Zodiac looked like (and truth be told, most of them were more interested in the Zodiac forms than the mysterious leader), he doesn't show up at all. There are also some poetry sessions with new creations unveiled and featured. While the singing and dancing is mostly impromptu, there are some small competitions of them, and there is also an archery contest off to the side, as amazons consider themselves the equal of the elves when it comes to the discipline of the bow.

[Ridai]

Daciana dives right into the celebration, so to speak. She started wild, then gradually became more serene as a person. Now, Daciana feels she is finding back towards a happy equilibrium. At the feast, she finally meets her family again: her mothers Tesia and Marianna as well as her younger sisters Zoara (who has grown into a stunning, petite sorceress) and Felicia (now an athletic woman of considerable grace who recently became a priestess of Tishtina as a Favored Soul, able to use her charm, physical prowess and divine aptitude). Naturally, her best friend, first lover (not that they ever stopped being that) and former mentor Ila is also there, as are Daciana's many friends and lovers.

Catching up with all of them is just what the witch needs right now, telling stories, chatting, sometimes singing. She also becomes aware of how much she changed, especially in the eyes of others, her beauty and grace and her voice being remarked upon many, many times, and especially the young witches trained by Ila hang upon her every word, looking at her with longing (and Daciana suspects Ila has implied that Daciana might help with their training from time to time in the future).

Having been at sea for so long, Daciana's appetite is also impressive (though those who know her are quite aware that she has always been able to put away a lot of food and drink with hardly any effect on her) and she is more outgoing than before, pulling her fellow amazons in, laughing and celebrating with them, wanting everyone to have the time of their lives, and if there is opportunity to dance, Daciana relishes in it.

[MikelaC1]

In her conversations, Daciana discovers that Zoara has also chosen to follow the faith of Sabrina, and has received some tutelage from the high priestess Zanthia. Felicia spends a lot of time in the archery competition, ending up with the silver medal, just behind Calista, a follower of the triple goddess. The painting competition is won by Iliantas, surprisingly a follower of Nocticula (Nocticulans not usually known for painting skills), her painting of Daciana using the ring of the ram to slay Aries is a stunning rendition. The impromptu dance contest is won by Shesala, a follower of Tishtina, and as each woman wins, they honour Daciana who awards the top medal. Ila rarely leaves Daciana's side, proud that her star pupil has accomplished such a world saving quest, and on a few occasions, Daciana can see Nyrala on the edges of the forest, content to merely watch the festival and the proceedings.

[Ridai]

Perhaps things would have been different before the goddesses became one, but Daciana does not think back to those times anymore. She wholeheartedly supports Zoara's decision to worship Sabrina, happy that she embraced what her heart told her. Felicia proceeds to wow Daciana and the rest of her family, and while the witch cheers for all contestants, no one is upset that she cheers on her little sister a bit more. To win the silver medal among some of the finest archers of the world is reason enough for a celebration of its own, Felicia quickly getting group hugged and kissed by her family after the results are in, her eldest sister so very proud of her. Each of the contest winners is rewarded not only with a medal from Daciana, but also a passionate kiss (followed by a whisper promising another reward that sweetens their victory even more). To the witch, all paths of their goddess are equal (even if outside of the City of Gardens, their differences might be much greater), and she voices her feelings to everyone at the awarding ceremony.

"I cannot thank you enough for what you all have done for me, but perhaps the greatest gift you, our goddesses and their high priestesses have given me is that we are all one now. To see followers of Sabrina, Nocticula, the thrice-fold goddess, and Tishtina celebrate together is more than I could ever have hoped for. Thank you, all of you, for this moment, and may many more of these follow this one."

Of course, Daciana waves to Nyrala. She will visit the nymph and her fey companions very soon (most likely with her family), as there is much to share (and enjoy) together.

[MikelaC1]

After several days of getting reacquainted with all her family and friends, Daciana happens to be sitting around in the sun the next day, when she is approached by her sister Felicia and the amazon that bested her in the archery competition, Calista. They both appear to be carrying a small piece of a scroll, the pieces might even fit together.

Calista and I, separately, came across these scroll pieces during our patrols in the forest a few days ago. We made a deal that whoever won the archery contest would get both halves of the scroll, but since it was so close, we have decided to share. It appears to be a map she lays both halves down on a table, and they do indeed join and to Daciana's eye, it does appear to be a map of some kind And we wanted to know if you were interested in coming with us to see what it leads to

[Ridai]

Daciana smiles inwardly when she sees Felicia and Calista together and when the map is presented, the witch studies it with great curiosity. "How could I say no to a good ol' treasure hunt? Plus, I'd get to see both of you in action, so that is an added bonus." The witch's eyes light up with excitement and she goes to fetch her gear, just in case (though she is already wearing most of it as part of her usual outfit, and what she doesn't hardly weighs her down).

Once ready (also letting her family know where she is going), Daciana takes a good look at the map with the two master huntresses to see where to start.

Intelligence (with Improvisation bonus) [roll0]

[MikelaC1]

Studying the map carefully, Daciana eventually recognizes the starting point of the map as a spot she has seen before, although the course away from it is one she has never followed. The start point is beside a forest pool that the witch has actually bathed in a few times, but the course follows the stream that feeds it for some time, which is why she had never ventured off in the direction. The pool will take an hour to walk to, although if she can teleport people with her, that time can be cut out completely.

[Ridai]

Daciana fondly remembers several occasions at the pool with fey and Ila, picturing it clearly. Sliding her arms around Felicia and Calista, she says "Shall we?" and teleports with just those words to the pool.

Once there, the witch tells them where they are and comments "Come here in the twilight of dawn and with a Solaya around, you might enjoy a bath with a cute dryad or nymph." Explaining that their path leads upriver, Daciana heads that way with the two huntresses, also chatting with them along the way, asking them how their patrols have been these past weeks.

[MikelaC1]

The map leads them along the stream for some time, and then finally veers off, and leads to a clearing. In the clearing is a dilapidated castle, outside the area that the amazons would define as 'their' forest. There is only one visible entrance, and it is guarded by two humanoid figures. The distance to the figures is farther than Daciana's magic range, and there is no cover, anyone trying an approach would be a sitting duck. The two huntresses look to each, silently pointing to each figure in turn and then drawing their bows. Before Daciana can even blink, both have fired off 4 arrows, and the figures suddenly sprout an arrow to the heart, one to the throat and two to the head, and both topple silently to the ground.

[Ridai]

Daciana's eyebrows raise as she suddenly sees the huntresses' handiwork, and mimes silent applause. The amazon huntresses are legendary (as far as she is concerned), and that lofty reputation is well-earned, so Daciana trusts their superior senses as well as their judgment in this matter. To make herself useful, the witch whispers to them, turning all of them invisible (3x invisibility) and placing a hand on each of them as they begin to walk towards the castle. Touching the other amazons is for Daciana's benefit, as she imagines Felicia and Calista know how to operate together even without eye contact and they can probably sense each other's presence either way (not to mention Daciana's, who might as well be a bull rampaging through a china shop compared to them).

[MikelaC1]

With the cover of invisibility and the guards neutralized, the approach to the castle goes off without opposition and the group is soon standing at the door, wooden but banded with iron. Aged along with the castle, the door doesnt look like it would be any sort of obstacle to being opened, although there might be magical or mundane traps on it.

[Ridai]

Daciana whispers a detect magic, but has nothing to detect mundane traps (or ways to deal with magical traps), and she communicates as such to the huntresses as well as her findings.

[MikelaC1]

Daciana does not detect any magic, and lacking any abilities themselves, Felicia just opens the door normally. Rusted and aged hinges screech terribly as the door opens, and all three feel like everything in the universe must have heard the sound. When the door opens, the light from outside reveals a small room that must be the entrance room to the complex, with doors leading out on all three of the other sides.

(vision sources as you enter?)

[Ridai]

Daciana cringes at the extremely loud sound (and also does a quick search of the bodies in case they have anything useful like a key). Inside, a simple light spell provides vision and lacking any other information, the witch opts for the left door.

[MikelaC1]

The bodies provide no useful items, and once inside the door, the light spell provides the needed illumination...although a globe of light bobbing down a hallway in a dungeon is going to tell someone that there is an invisible foe around. The hall goes for about 30 ft and then ends with doors going left, right, and straight ahead.

[Ridai]

(I am getting the impression that you are expecting Daciana to be a sorcerer/rogue instead of a witch)

Daciana goes left.

[MikelaC1]

The left door opens easily and the 3 amazons see 5 figures, human shaped but wrapped in cloth, that begin to shuffle towards them.
Daciana up.

[Ridai]

Daciana makes an educated guess that these are undead and quickly applies a quickened heroism to Felicia and a heroism to Calista.

[MikelaC1]

Both of the amazon archers target the same mummy and fire arrows. The mummy gets hit each and every time (thanks to the heroism bonus on 2 of the shots) and with a low moan, it drops to the ground. The attacks negate the invisibility for the two of them (although Daciana is still invisible) and the mummys attack. The beasts are still slow and ponderous, and most of their strikes miss, except for one which catches Calista. Both amazons drop their bows and ready blades, determined to counter attack.

Daciana up

[Ridai]

There are just too many mummies. Demanding the undead to stop, Daciana unleashes a chained hold monster (DC 29) on the mummies, punching through their natural immunity with her recent epiphany.

[MikelaC1]

Daciana breaks out her latest witch ability, her spells now can now affect the undead when she powers them up, and 3 of the remaining mummies get held by her spell. With only one opponent now left, the two amazons can gang up on him, and he cannot stand to their blows. 2 of the mummies are now down and dead, and the 3 remaining ones are held. Looking around the room, Daciana doesnt see any other exits.

[Ridai]

"Finish them off quick." As the amazons do, Daciana retrieves her wand of Cure Light Wounds and heals Calista. "I don't know about you, but as someone who exclusively deals with living things, I feel underprepared for this crypt. The trick I did will maybe work two more times, then I'll be virtually useless in here. And since we don't have scrying, darkvision or an idea where we are going, we'll stumble into way too many undead that'll grind us down slowly."

[MikelaC1]

While Felicia finishes off the held mummies, Calista checks the door, and turns back to Daciana with a troubled look on her face. We may have a bigger problem on our hands.
Standing aside to let Daciana see, the amazon sees that instead of the end corridor that they walked down, the door now leads into an L shaped intersection.

[Ridai]

"It's that kind of maze then..." The witch turns to the huntresses. "Girls, it is important that we stay together now. No scouting ahead, no leaving a room alone. Teleportation will not get us out of here." With that, Daciana whispers a detect magic and heads into the corridor with her companions, staying close together and also touching the walls at the intersection to check for illusions (if they don't show up on the detect magic, for some reason). If nothing is found, they follow the path.

[MikelaC1]

The detect magic picks up the background radiation of magic from the whole castle, however it also picks up a powerful emanation of magic from one level above where the group is located now. The only question is how to get there the quickest.

[Ridai]

Daciana shares her findings and examines the room and corpses for anything out of the ordinary, also testing whether closing the door and opening it again reveals a different corridor. If nothing is found, all that's left is heading down the corridor in hopes of new findings.

[MikelaC1]

Each time the door is opened and closed, a new hallway appears to the eyes of the amazons, there doesnt appear to be a sound when things change so its not a case of walls shifting, at least physically.

[Ridai]

Daciana opens and closes the door repeatedly, always marking the ground of the new hallway with an increasing number (should none be there already) and trying to see what hallway layouts reveal themselves.

[MikelaC1]

3 or 4 different hallway setups reveal themselves but on the last opening, the revealed hallway looks very much like the one that the group came down from the entrance room.

[Ridai]

They head down the corridor and if they arrive at the entrance, Daciana opens and closes the two doors they haven't been through yet, trying to see whether the hallway they've just been through shows up.

[MikelaC1]

The door opposite the one the party went through before opens to reveal a variety of corridors, however the one that leads forward deeper into the castle seems to open to the same passage each time, one that goes straight forward about 40 feet and ends in a door.

[Ridai]

Heading down that long corridor, just before they head through the far door, Daciana imbues Felicia and Calista with a displacement spell and herself with sirine's grace (she now has mage armor and sirine's grace active).

[MikelaC1]

Daciana's choice would seem to be a good one, when the door opens, she sees a set of spiral stairs leading up in the middle of the room. The only bad thing about the room is the presence of 3 spectres in it, and the undead seem to be unwilling to let the party just pass peacefully past them

[MikelaC1]

Recognizing the real danger that the spectres pose, both archers concentrate fire on one of them and it immediately sprouts 6 arrows and falls to the ground dead. (Well, it already was "dead" but now its really dead) There are now only 2 spectres left.
Daciana up.

[Ridai]

Like the huntresses, Daciana is acutely aware of the danger spectres represent. Much more than that, the thought of these things draining the life energy of dear Felicia and Calista is something she absolutely refuses to allow. Fiercely commanding them to stop, a chained hold monster (DC 29) punches through their natural immunity. Perhaps this is an unwise decision in the long run, but she is willing to risk this if it means her little sister and her friend/lover never need to experience such a thing.

[MikelaC1]

The hold spell works like a charm (which isnt surprising, since it is one) and both of the remaining spectres are held where they are.

[Ridai]

Once the huntresses have finished off the spectres, Daciana adds "I'll have to reserve that last trick for whatever the source of this evil is, unless we run into another group as dangerous as this one."

Nothing left but to head upstairs, hopefully soon getting to that big source of magic (checking with a detect magic).

[MikelaC1]

The big source of magic is indeed just above them and with both buffs still in place (due to how short the spectre fight was), Daciana and the huntresses ascend the staircase. At the top, the steps open into a vast throne room, it looks like the entire top floor is nothing but this room. All the usual accoutrements of a throne room are there, the group has emerged into the middle of the room and right at their feet is a red carpet that stretches all the way to the throne. Seated on the throne is what at first might be regal looking figure with his vestments and jewelry (crown, orb, sceptre, robes, etc) but as the group draws closer, they realize that the figure is long dead, as the head and hands are clearly skeletal. At the moment, there are no foes present.

[Ridai]

Wasting no time, Daciana heads towards the skeleton. "If you are undead, I'd appreciate it if we could skip the reveal." She scans the room, starting with the skeleton, for the big source of magic, trying to learn what she can.

[MikelaC1]

A red dot of light flares in each socket and one skeletal hand tightens on the staff as Daciana speaks. Very well young amazon, we shall skip the big reveal and go right to the question of why you have invaded my castle and no doubt slaughtered many of my minions.
(the skeletal figure is the source of the magic)

[Ridai]

"Simply put, we came to explore as we found a map leading us here, and were unaware this was anyone's domain. Finding undead so close to our homeland and ourselves in a maze was quite alarming to boot."

[MikelaC1]

Yes, the trees, the jungle, the children of Tishtina. So full of life. Disgusting. So glad that they chose me to drain it of all its lifeforce

[Ridai]

"Then the course this will take is quite clear."

Initiative [roll0]

(Are the buffs still in place?)

[MikelaC1]

(the buffs are in place)

Both of the huntresses fire on the lich, but this time, only one of them actually hits and sticks, the lich barely seems to notice it. In return he gestures and huge fireball explodes amid the group dealing 60 points (REF for half).
Daciana up.

[Ridai]

Reflex [roll0]

Daciana needs to buy them time and do it quick, acutely aware that she herself is the weak link here. Focusing the power of her voice, she improves her accuracy and then channels the most powerful spell she can muster.

(I just saw that I never wrote down that Daciana now has level 8 spells. She quickens Improvisation and then uses Irresistable Dance with her remaining Witch Secret use, caster level 16
Touch attack roll [roll1])

[MikelaC1]

The sight of a dancing, capering lich is one that almost no adventurer will ever see, only a witch has the power to overcome the undead resistance to such a spell (not only the undead immunity to charm, but Otto's specifically says living being) and the lich before them starts shuffling and toe-tapping. With the lich now a much more easy target, the archers continue to fire, a few more arrows now find their mark, but the lich resistance to weapons is working against them. He cant fire off any return shots due to the spell on him, which is a good thing because despite avoiding the worst of the flames, Daciana still took 30 points, and is now up for action.

[Ridai]

Daciana works as fast as possible to give them as much of an edge as possible.

First round: Greater Heroism on Felicia, quickened Greater Invisibility on Felicia
Second round: Greater Heroism on Calista, quickened Displacement on Daciana
Third round: Greater Invisibility on Calista, quickened CLW on Daciana [roll0]

If there's a fourth round of acting while the lich is still dancing, Daciana casts true seeing on herself and quickened CLW on herself [roll1]

[MikelaC1]

Buoyed by Daciana's spells, the archers continue their barrage of arrows on the lich, who is unable to fight back. More and more of the arrows find their mark as the spells take hold but the lich hasn't fallen yet, and Daciana is not sure if the lich's ability to take damage will outlast the supply of arrows and the time of the dancing spell.
When it looks like just a few more arrows will get the job done, the spell affecting the lich comes off. The lich is clearly weakened to the point of being able to be knocked off but a forked bolt of lighting suddenly crackles through the roof of the castle, one bolt hits the lich and finishes him off, while the other fork hits a chest in a corner of the room, destroying it completely.
With the lich gone, the magic that was holding the castle together unravels completely and the 3 amazons are unceremoniously tumbled to the ground in what is now an open meadow (5 points, falling damage)

[Ridai]

Felicia and Calista can hear Daciana's startled exclamation, followed by a groan as she picks herself off the ground after that fall. Soon after, she heals what bruises and burns are left on her and as the huntresses reappear, she heals whatever wounds they sustained (if any). "You girls were absolutely amazing. I would have been dead so many times over without you." Then, she embraces them both, glad they are alive and well. "This is serious, Casandra must hear of this." Taking them by their hands, Daciana teleports as closely as is allowed to the City of Gardens with them, hurrying to report what just happened.

[MikelaC1]

Daciana and the huntresses are able to get back to the City without incident, and soon enough a meeting with Casandra is arranged. When Daciana comes into to see Casandra, a second woman is present. This woman is almost the complete mirror image of Casandra, however her hair is dark, as is her beauty. Knowing the history of the amazons, Daciana knows that can be no one other than Dalcar Sontin, the elder sister of Casandra, and high priestess of Nocticula.

[Ridai]

(Goodness, Daciana is meeting all the cool folks of all the cool goddesses)

Daciana bows, not out of formality, but because these women deserve such respect. "Thank you for meeting us this quickly. We encountered something rather disturbing. Felicia and Calista independently found pieces of a map and invited me on a treasure hunt, so to speak. I deciphered the map and it brought us to what seemed to be an castle ruin just outside of our forest. The whole place radiated magic, it was filled with undead and a magical maze. A lich controlled it, sent by some unknown master to drain the life of the jungle and the, quote, 'childen of Tishtina', unquote. Felicia and Calista managed to almost destroy it before a lightning bolt came through the ceiling, destroyed the lich and a chest in his throne room. My theory would be that its superior sent said lightning bolt to destroy evidence and traces. With the lich destroyed, the castle ruin disappeared, no longer magically maintained. We hurried back immediately after." Daciana waits a moment to let the information sink in and to let Felicia and Calista add anything.

"I wish I could provide any more information, but other than the lich having a regal appearance and accesories like a sceptre, orb, crown and so forth, I know nothing more."

[MikelaC1]

Casandra and Dalcar both look thoughtful as Daciana explains the events, and wait until she is done.

You are probably right, the superiors were out to destroy evidence, and that chest likely either held or was the lich's phylactery. There are many of the evil gods that have yet to accept the trinity
Some of the lawful ones as well (Daciana heard that an agent of Silescia assassinated the nascent high priestess Melinda
and we may be seeing another round of attacks. My guess would be either Dantilus or Morgaz, they are the gods of death, with the possibility of Rohdan or Kotep.

[Ridai]

"What can I do to help? Whoever is doing this not only opposes the trinity, but wants to eradicate anything relating to it and that cannot be allowed, no matter what path of our goddesses they follow."

[MikelaC1]

Go about your adventures normally, but be vigilant for attacks that seem directed at the goddesses and not just you. Particularly by those agent we just mentioned
But dont be a heroine about it. Warning us about a plan or a series of attacks is more important than trying to disrupt it on your own and failing.

It seems like Dalcar is more about doing things on your own, whereas Casandra favours a team approach.

[Ridai]

Daciana nods. She had hoped for something more concrete, but hardly anything is known, so that is understandable. Still, adventuring... the witch has nothing on her plate right now and she's only been back for a scant few weeks... No, protecting her people and her goddess (Daciana notices that she wanted to think goddesses, not just goddess, and she is unsure what that means in terms of her faith) is more important.

Daciana bows again and adds that it was nice to meet Dalcar face to face (even if that mention will draw mockery from the high priestess), before excusing herself and leaving. The witch will need to listen for new opportunities to go to work (hopefully something where she can put her witch talents to use).

[MikelaC1]

Before Daciana can actually leave, Dalcar takes her leave, telling the two that she will try to work on things from her end, to see if she can unearth some more information on who faces them. Meanwhile, Casandra settles herself, looking to Daciana with a smile.

Its been some time since you were last here, but I do remember your private song and dance performance as being quite special. I imagine you have picked a few new moves since then. Why don't you show me what you have?

[MikelaC1]

Several days after her performance, Casandra comes to see Daciana, she is accompanied by three other women who Daciana doesnt know.

First, I need to make introductions here, this is Xenobia and Glenir, two priestesses of Tishtina and Kashta, a warrior of Tishtina. I would like you to join with them and go as a delegation to the dwarven lands, the kingdom of Iron Hall. We need to reopen relations with the dwarfs.

Background: The dwarfs of Iron Hall and the amazons always had good relations, and the dwarfs sent most of their trade goods through the amazon lands. That was up until an incident occurred during the quest to unite the Goddesses in the Trinity. The prophecy spoke of a number of ruby necklaces, and in the course of the investigation, it turned out that the dwarves had mined the rubies many years before and after determining that the rubies were somehow important to the amazon way of life, had chosen to hide them from them. Even when the prophecy came to prominence, the dwarves did not reveal the rubies to the amazons and Casandra had finally authorized an operation to steal the rubies back from them. Ever since, there have been no relations between the dwarfs and the amazons...the dwarves view what the amazons did as pure theft, while the amazons view it as taking something that the deities had meant for them to have all along.

[Ridai]

Daciana smiles and bows towards all women present. "Of course. I have a few questions about this task. While we know why it had to be done, that does very little for the dwarves directly. They are still short several precious rubies, gained nothing and were slighted by an ally. What kind of worth are we talking about here and can we offer anything to mend relations? What can we point towards that has improved since or because of the formation of the trinity and is there anything this has given us that the dwarves could benefit from? They are a material people in many ways, so we need more than ephemerals."

(Are there a predominant alignment and deity among the dwarves of the Iron Hall? What did the former relations between them entail? Simply being on good terms? Trade? What kind of trade? Services?)

[MikelaC1]

The rubies themselves were of little value Casandra displays a ruby necklace to Daciana, although she is not a trained jeweler, she has seen treasure hordes in the past and knows this gem would be lucky to fetch 100 gold. There is a magical nature to them but only when worn by an amazon AND a worshipper of one of the trinity, they allow telepathic communication. For an amazon of, say, Glendira, they don't work, or for a human follower of Tishtina, again, nothing. So for the dwarves, they weren't worth anything and they weren't interested in selling them, to anyone, they had locked them away so they weren't even being bartered. We only found out about them because of a dwarf who had discovered their hiding spot and the ancient legends that had caused the dwarves to lock them away centuries before the prophecy was even written. From what he told us, they would not have even entertained the thought of selling them to us, many of their highest nobles didn't even know they existed.

(The dwarves of Iron Hall are entirely lawful, most L/G with a smattering of L/N. In the past, the dwarves shipped their gold and gems through the amazon lands to Matalla to be shipped around the world and sold, with the proceeds coming back through Amazonia on their way to the dwarf lands. The amazons took no percentage from this, only allowing passage for free.)

[Ridai]

"Do you know those legends that led to the gems being locked away?" Daciana asks, trying to estimate the cultural significance involved. Given the free passage in the past and the low worth of the gems, the amazons are in a fairly good position to get relations back on track with some overall small-ish reparations. "I feel the most important thing is to be patient and not be as thickheaded as dwarves can sometimes be. Ultimately, we did steal, we have to acknowledge that, but we also gave them access to a good and protected route for their wares, something they'd never get anywhere else for free. Address the issue, try to make amends, then one step at a time towards both sides understanding one another and returning to how things used to be." After summing up her thoughts on the matter, Daciana waits feedback from her queen and the other amazons.

[MikelaC1]

To call what we did theft is not entirely accurate, although the dwarves would not acknowledge such. To be perfectly correct to what really happened, we only liberated a sage from the dwarves, who told us the story of the jewels. This was his story.
First of all, when I said the mountains rarely give us rubies, I was being generous. In fact, only once have rubies been found in the mountain, and they were all found within 100 yards of each other. Hundreds of years ago, a group of miners were working a particularly rich vein of mithral, when they unearthed them. As more and more of them came out of the rock, the miners became very concerned with the situation, rubies were unknown in the mountain, and finding 60 gems, in such a small area was completely unnatural.
And the story only became worse. As soon as the first one was cut and polished, it began to pulse with a reddish glow. Magic was detected in it, even though no wizard had worked an enchantment on it. An order was handed down to work 3 more in completely separate locations, to see if it would happen again, and to no one's surprise, it did.
The king of day, Everon Greybeard II ordered the gems locked up until further studies could be done, two days later the vault they were in was broken into and the gems stolen. The city was turned upside down to find them, but nothing could be found....until after a week, when in the middle of the town square, there they were, sitting in a huge pile on top of a table. All of them were pulsing with magic, but none of them bore the crafter's initials as proof of their work.
Dwarves do not like mysteries, they dont like magic and they dont like theft, even if the property is recovered. The gems were triple cursed by those events, even moreso by the manner of their discovery and the dwarves did not like the portends that were associated with them. The king ordered the gems destroyed, and since there was no one to claim them, no compensation was deemed necessary.
The first hammer blows failed. Even more powerful hammer blows failed. Finally, the kings own warhammer, wielded by the king himself, and empowered by the most powerful spells to aid him, were brought to bear on the gems. He didnt even leave a scratch on them. At that point, the dwarves used their contacts among their customers, and eventually made contact with the most powerful wizards they could find. The wizards used the most powerful spells known to man in attempts to destroy them, or at least unravel the enchantments on them, but obviously since you found them, you know that didnt work either.
Through all of this, the gems had been quiescent, which is not surprising, given that gems arent usually in the habit of fighting back, but as the last of the spells hit the gems, instead of just failing, the magic was warped, twisted and finally reflected back on the mages. They in turn managed to deflect it back on the gems, although they were badly damaged by the blasts, and when the gems tried once again to rebound the magic, a huge explosion resulted. The mages were obliterated, and when the smoke cleared, to everyone's consternation, the gems were not only not destroyed, they had now somehow been remade into necklaces.
Well, you can imagine the uproar that caused. Dwarves are not ones to petition their gods about every little thing, but this seemed way out of the ordinary. The priests were brought in and divinations were made to both Moradin, the leader of the dwarven pantheon, and Dumathoin, as the god of mining and crafting. The message came back the same from both of them, lock them up, hide all the evidence of their existence, and make sure no one ever gets them out of the control of the dwarves.
But once again, fate intervened to 'save' the jewels. This had all happened at the time that a smuggling ring had been operaing through New Kroy, and while the jewels had been in royal custody, somehow the smugglers got to them and put them in the smuggling pipeline, before the royal council could put the gods edicts into effect. They searched everywhere but couldnt find them. It turned out to be the last run for the smugglers as well, no one knew why, but suddenly, it just stopped. The dwarves didnt actually destroy the records, but locked them up, it was my exploration of these ancient records that landed me in jail. And thats where the records of the dwarves ends.
After the questors heard this story, they went in search of the missing ruby necklaces as they had been mentioned in the prophecy as something we had to possess, and they were able to recover the lot of them. Of course, the dwarves still regard them as their property and so they consider what we have done to be theft. Not to mention liberating the sage, who gave up what the dwarves probably consider "state" secrets.

[Ridai]

"Ah, pride and divine edicts. That will complicate things a lot. Still, I will do my best to mend this situation."

[MikelaC1]

With all the rest of the preparations taken care of, the other amazons are ready to depart with Daciana. There are several established routes from the City of Gardens to dwarven hall, and so the group is able to make good time and not have any mishaps, especially in the mountains. Amazons move with speed and grace through flat surfaces but rock climbing is not one of their fortes.
After a few days of travel, the group manages to arrive at the gates of Iron Hall, which is guarded by several dwarves.

Advance and be recognized, amazons, and state your business

In short order, the other amazons introduce themselves, along with Xenobia (who seems to be leader), saying the group has an appointment with King Gorvan Greybeard. The dwarves finally turn to you.

(with Daciana's sense motive, she can tell that the dwarves seemed a little cool to the amazons at first, but got even stiffer when the group started claiming allegiance to Tishtina)

[Ridai]

"My name is Daciana Solaya, an aide in said appointment. Nice to meet you," she introduces herself with a little bow. The best Daciana can do is to be consistently friendly and courteous. Actively trying to charm and convince them that they are wrong about them could very well have the opposite effect given past events.

Diplomacy [roll0]

(Insights like that due to Daciana's Sense Motive are much appreciated :smallsmile:)

[MikelaC1]

Again, Daciana's sense motive tells her that these dwarves would rather toss all of them back over the cliff and be done with it...but they are diplomatic envoys and such things cannot be done. Besides, these are powerful priestesses, not to mention Daciana and the warrior and its not likely the guards would stand much of a chance. Grudgingly, they open the door and give the party directions to audience hall of the king.
Walking through the streets, Daciana is struck by how different a dwarven city is. The buildings are all made of stone, in many cases simply carved out of the mountain itself rather than built in a spot, and thus look incredibly solid. The streets are orderly and clean, cleaner than even the finest cities of Daystor and there does not appear to be any signs of poverty. There is no open air market filled with vendors hawking their wares, only well kept and low key stores that offer their products in a low key way. If you want or need something you'll come in to buy, theres no need for flashy and eye catching displays. Everything is just the way the dwarves like it, solid, unpretentious, and no signs of chaos. Its actually a little unsettling to the nature-attuned amazons.
At the audience hall of the King, the formalities are observed, and the group is informed that the King is not receiving any more visitors today, and that they will need to come back tomorrow. Directions are given to the Iron Horse Inn, where the group is told the lodgings are safe and comfortable and the food is excellent. And of course, some of the finest dwarven ale.

[Ridai]

Like a true ambassador, Daciana remains courteous and friendly, observing the laws and decrees. The witch heads to the Iron Horse Inn with the others, trying to secure them lodgings and food.

Diplomacy (if needed) [roll0]

[MikelaC1]

The group arrives at the Inn, and finally see what passes as dwarven chaos, the common room of an Inn. When the party enters, they see a celebration going on that could put any human display to shame. The room is filled with rowdy dwarves, all with several huge flagons of ale on the tables in front of them, and two roaring fires with big roasts of some undetermined animal cooking over them. Dwarven waitresses weave through the crowd, taking orders and dropping off more tankards, while the crowd is either singing, arm wrestling, shouting out impossible tales in loud voices, or generally just carousing. The entrance of the group is noted by many, and since dwarven women are not noted for their charisma, there are many hoots, hollers and wolf-whistles at their appearance.
The request for lodgings, food and drink goes well, although the barkeep does ask about what sort of ale they want.

How strong of ale do you want? Little fruity girlie drinks? Something more suited for a human? Or are you willing to try Dwarven Prime Reserve?

[Ridai]

"More human-suited, but I am going down the path of terrible regrets and opt for one mug of Prime Reserve." (and if the priestesses can bless her in any way or detox her afterwards, that would be much appreciated)

And shortly after Daciana finds out that she really should have gone for the stuff that doesn't make the eyes water.

[MikelaC1]

Daciana has never been one for powerful ale and the taste of the Dwarven Prime hits her like a hammer, and the alcohol content is very potent. Fortunately, she is blessed with a strong constitution and although not drunk, she is feeling the effects. Right about now though, she is glad she didnt try to take one of the dwarves on in a drinking game.

[Ridai]

Daciana is (inwardly) amazed that things went this well. And hey, maybe it'll earn her some sort of respect among the dwarves (who no doubt expected her to keel over). No more drink other than water tonight, though. And no staying up late either, and if the others have nothing else planned, she does use being tired and having had enough for now as an excuse to retire to her room (having Kashta accompany her).

[MikelaC1]

The alcohol itself actually didnt have as much of an effect on Daciana as the actual taste of the brew itself. More accustomed to the lighter fare of the amazons, the taste initially had a potent effect on her, the first taste making her think the potable would finish her off. But blessed with a strong constitution, easily the equal of any average dwarf, she was able to handle it.
The next morning, the party is ready to go once again, and after cooling their heels for about half an hour, they are ushered into the presence of the dwarven king, Gorvan Greybeard. As they had in front of gate, the amazons introduce themselves, and state the purpose of the mission, re-establishing more normal relations between the dwarves and the amazons. The first, Xenobia, then goes on to detail all the peaceful and mutually beneficial co-operations the dwarves and amazons have had in the past, including twice repelling invasion attempts by SPELL and others, along with the amazon patrolling of the great forest which could in time have given birth to foes that would have troubled the dwarves eastern flank. The second, Glenir goes on to detail the current benefits of the relationship, including access to the lucrative trade options available in Matalla along with not having to ship their gold and jewels to the west, along the treacherous western half of the mountains.
As the two of them finish, the dwarves look to Daciana to see if she has anything to add to this negotiation.

[Ridai]

"First off, I realize what has been done has been a breach of trust. Your people did not owe us, and we took without consent what was of greatly sensitive nature to you, even decreed by your deity to be locked away. I do not seek to downplay this, as such a thing is not what you and your people deserve, for we have been trusted allies for a long, long time. We are Tishtina's people and we were standing at the precipice of a paradigm shift for our deity and for us amazons, which is why we took the gemstones. Tishtina is an integral part of our lives, we feel her in every breath we take and all the love we share. She does so much for us and to turn our backs on her at such a moment, the thought is just... Our goddess is of little importance to you, I understand that, the same goes for the newly formed trinity, but we want to make amends. We don't want this one conflict to end our friendship forever. We never asked for anything in return for our aid and letting your people travel our forest in safety, because we recognize the goodness of your people, that despite our differences, we share values important to both our people. Values we based the friendship between our people on, a friendship because of which we fought together to protect what we hold dear. So please, my lord, let us make amends and return to how things used to be, for we still value your friendship and both our people benefit from it more than if we stayed apart." Daciana bows and steps back to stand side by side with her sisters, hoping she has conveyed that them taking the gems was not done out of malice or greed, rather to aid their goddess, something the dwarves perhaps can identify with regarding aiding Moradin and being Moradin's people.

Improvisation, greater heroism in effect

Diplomacy [roll0]

[MikelaC1]

The dwarves are a stoic race, and its always very difficult to read them, but Daciana has always had a persuasive personality, and dwarves have a hard time resisting a charismatic woman. The king and his council ponder her words for a time and then he rises and speaks.

What you say is very true, we have been allies for a long time, and perhaps you thought you were justified in what you took. However, the jewels were hidden by the command of our gods and you took actions to find them, even if they had already been stolen by other agents. We are open to the idea of amends, what sort of amends would you propose?

[Ridai]

"We could offer you precious things, but that would miss the point of this matter, I feel. What caused this was an action, so an action should make up for it. Thus, I propose that a service in the name of Tishtina is provided to you. Dwarves and amazons have talents that complement each other, so an amazon could prove her people's worth and dedication to you not merely by word, but also by deed. What service that is, I am not arrogant enough to suggest, for you know your people's needs far better than we do, and it is something that can surely be discussed to find how we could apply our talents the best. Also, I would like to volunteer. I am neither a priestess of Tishtina, nor can I claim to have the power of her greatest champions, but I desire to close the rift that has been created for the sake of both dwarves and amazons."

Diplomacy [roll0]

[MikelaC1]

One of the elder dwarves leans over to the King, and they have a quick conversation. When finished, the King turns back to you.

I believe there is a task that might be right up your alley. As you probably know, almost all of our trade goods are shipped off of Amazonia by the port of Matalla, as we have no wish to deal with the issues presented by New Kroy. Almost all. Due to a long standing tariff arrangement, any goods bound from Amazonia to the South Enicom city of Kroy however, must pass through New Kroy. The tariff was set when Kroy attempted to establish the colony of New Kroy, it was meant to give the colony a steady revenue. We have a shipment of gems and jewels that is targeted for Kroy, and there is only one captain we would trust with a shipment of this value. But he is reluctant to deal with dwarves. You will take this shipment to New Kroy and get him to transport it to Kroy, taking no percentage for yourself and we will consider this incident closed.

[Ridai]

"As you wish, your majesty," Daciana says with a smile and bows. As much as she is dreading returning to New Kroy and dealing with a New Kroy captain (and perhaps crew), if she can do away with the rift between the dwarves and the amazons with a bit of persuasion and enduring some hardship, that is a very small price to pay.

[MikelaC1]

The dwarves make preparations while the other amazons return to the City of Gardens to report on the success of the mission. Soon enough, several dwarves show up with 3 large, and firmly locked, iron trunks. Daciana has no idea of just how much wealth is contained in each one, but knowing how ornate a dwarven crafted piece of jewelry can be, its got to be considerable, and if this shipment is bound for Kroy, the gambling mecca of Daystor, they have to really special.
The group consists of 4 dwarves along with Daciana, and its clear the dwarves will do all the heavy lifting while Daciana will do all the talking. They move the shipment down the mountain to the beginnings of the Amazon River and set sail for New Kroy, aided by the current carrying them along. The pass through the City is uneventful, the amazons having been informed of their passage, and although the dwarves probably dont see them, Daciana is pretty sure she sees some amazons marking their passage from the trees. Once out of amazon lands, the jungle becomes a lot more menacing in its looks and oppressive in its heat.

(does Daciana do anything special?)

[Ridai]

Daciana wishes they had more protection with them, but she will have to do what she can as she leads the dwarves through the jungle as safely as possible.

(Nothing special yet)

[MikelaC1]

The trip downriver is much the same as Daciana remembered from her trip with the Zodiac companions, huge vermin dropping onto the ship at random intervals. The dwarves are very efficient at dealing with them with axe and hammer, and with the aid of some well timed hold spells from the witch, they are able to clear the enemies....and the piranha are more than willing to clean up the carcasses. It takes about 4 days to get back to the city, aided by the current, and as they pull into the river docks, the lead dwarf addresses Daciana.

The ship captain that we trust is named Dolgur, and he can be usually found in Sea Scoundrel Inn, you will have to contact him there and see if you can convince him.

The dwarf gives you directions, and then sets his men to guard the boxes until your return. As Daciana walks through the town, she notices that the hostility that is usually present towards amazons seems multiplied. Most of the people are openly hostile, some make signs of warding as she walks by and a few brave souls even spit at her...although no one is quite brave enough to get in her face physically or throw things. She makes her way to the Inn and enters, there are a few patrons there, who pointedly ignore her, however one man seems quite interested in the entrance of such a stunning young woman

[Ridai]

Daciana hates being in this place either way, but this change is alarming even for such a hellhole. Even with things getting worse, she does not lash out at people, not wanting to give them actual reasons to hate amazons. At the Sea Scoundrel, she walks to the one man who doesn't seem hostile to her (even if he is instead a lecher like New Kroy men usually are), asking him "You don't happen to be or know Dolgur, do you?"

Sense Motive (with Improvisation) [roll0]

[MikelaC1]

You'e looking right at him. Can I buy you a drink and what can I do for you? Although given the way this town is, Im betting you're looking for transport out?

(Sense Motive, hes not lying)

[Ridai]

Daciana favors him with a dazzling smile, seating herself next to him, talking in a more quiet voice. "No drink, but I appreciate the notion. Transport out is spot-on, but not for myself. But before that, are you a local? Could you tell me what's going on here?"

[MikelaC1]

Not actually from around here, but I know New Kroy well enough. Anything here does wrong, its always the amazon's fault. Fish aren't biting, blame the amazons, it rains on your big day, blame the amazons. Right now, the tides are very low, even at high tide, many ships cant make it out of the harbour and that's all the amazons fault. Ive been stranded for 3 days now, but hoping the next rise will have enough water to float the Salt Mistress

[Ridai]

There is a slight nod Dolgur recognizes as clearly as if the amazon said that she has heard a lot like that from folks around these parts. "Why don't we go somewhere more private to discuss business? The bar doesn't strike me as the best place for that. Your ship or room, perhaps?"

[MikelaC1]

The gleam in Dolgur's eye is impossible to miss, even if it disappears almost as quickly, and he rises from the table.

It just so happens that my ship is only a block or two from here. Shall we?

He pays his outstanding bill and leads Daciana through the distance, to his ship, the Salt Mistress. Daciana isn't a great judge of ships and its clear this one isn't in the class of the Amazonian but few ships are, and this one outclasses all of the other ships in the harbour. He leads to you his stateroom, offering you a drink once again, and then settles in chair.

So, whats your business and whats your offer?

[Ridai]

"A fine ship indeed," the amazon compliments the Salt Mistress. Daciana accepts the drink at the ship as she settles into a chair as well, crossing her legs and taking a first tasting sip. "Now, the offer I have is quite lucrative, but I am also extending it on behalf of someone else. Please hear me out on this one, as the clients are the dwarves of the Iron Hall. They want to get a shipment to Kroy, but said you'd be hesitant to deal with them. I'd like to learn why that is... and perhaps find a solution everyone will be happy with."

Diplomacy (with Improvisation, Seducer's Eyes) [roll0]
Sense Motive (with Improvisation) [roll1]

(edit: Daciana's charms are strong against this one)

[MikelaC1]

Let me say this first, I have nothing against dwarves, their craftmanship is top notch, their metals are stronger than any and they are straight forwarding in dealing with you. The issue I have is that their stuff is so good, it attracts unwanted attention. You ship dwarven jewelry, anyone gets word that you are doing it, and the thieves will be on your trail.

Watching Dolgur's reactions and body language, Daciana can tell she is really getting to him.

[Ridai]

"It can be so hard in the vicinity of the Kroys, can't it? They gnaw at you, New Kroy more directly. But we can't let them wear us down. The dwarves want no one but you for this job, they know you are far better than any other captain in these parts and possess true character as well. This very ship tells me of a brave, skillful man guiding it, one fit for this challenge, and one deserving of the rewards." Daciana looks deeply into his eyes as she leans forward and places a hand on his. "Don't let New Kroy make a lesser man out of you. You have desires like everyone else, but you haven't become degenerate about them, and that tells me a lot about you. I know it will be difficult, but it is worth doing. Besides, until the tides rise and carry you towards Kroy, you will have companions to help you, in the forms of the dwarves... and in the form of me." She smiles encouragingly.

"What do you say, Dolgur? Are you ready for a true challenge and reap the rewards?" Daciana could charm him, but she needs the conviction of his waking mind at full capacity, not something short-lived and intoxicated, ready to cast off a burden once the rush is gone. Her beauty is helping things along, sure, but she wants him to want to work with the dwarves, for the benefit of both of them. Once that is achieved, certain other things can be turned towards.

Diplomacy [roll0]
Sense Motive [roll1]

[MikelaC1]

Daciana's words penetrate right to the heart of Dolgur's character, and put a challenge to him to be better than New Kroy (which he already is).

You're right, lets do this. Lets go see these dwarven friends of yours, and these sorts of low tides are actually a biannual occurrence, people here just don't bother to remember things like that. Rather just blame someone else instead of doing something to dig out the harbour so low tides don't shut it down.

[Ridai]

If there is something you can trust on in most cases, it's a man's pride. Though she used it to achieve her goal, everyone involved profits from this, short-term (well, except Daciana in this case) and long-term. Daciana favors him with a quick kiss. "I know a good man when I see one," she praises him, then whispering into his ear "And if the circumstances allow, perhaps we will have time for more than just business."

With that, Daciana leads Dolgur to the dwarves, explaining he agreed to transportation and that the low tide will delay things and they will need to protect or hide the shipment until then. The witch conjures an invisibility sphere to safely get the cargo to the ship.

[MikelaC1]

The dwarves and Dolgur haggle back and forth over price for about 15 minutes, but Daciana can tell its not acrimonious, its just business. In the end, a price in gold is set, along with 2 of the dwarves and Daciana going on the ship voyage as guard. Its a bit disconcerting for Daciana to be included in the guard detail without consulting her opinion, but she remembers that Dolgur is just assuming she is coming along because she is the one who initiated the shipment and the dwarves consider her service to the King to include this.

[Ridai]

Daciana feared as such, but she reminds herself that it is for a good cause. Casandra put her trust into the witch and she is not about to disappoint her beloved queen. As such, she ensures the cargo is stored in a way very few have access to (optimally with only one point of entry), and disguises it with a permanent image to blend in with the surrounding objects to look like normal cargo, telling only the captain and the dwarves about the location and appearance.

[MikelaC1]

Its simple enough to arrange the cargo as they wish, and the dwarves set up how they will guard the cargo. The captain offers Daciana part of his stateroom as quarters, and even puts up a sheet so that she will have some privacy. As he predicted, the next tide sees a return to more normal levels of water, and the Salt Mistress is able to leave the docks and pull out into the Klintas Ocean. New Kroy lies pretty much directly due west of Kroy even though they are on different continents. Dolgur tells the group that it will be about 3-4 weeks of travel if the winds co-operate, and the ship's routine begins to fall into place.

[Ridai]

Daciana gratefully accepts the offer. The next few weeks will be a test of sorts for Dolgur, spending this much time around a stunning amazon who also sleeps in the same room as him (with the occasional shadow on the sheet outlining Daciana's curves adding a certain tease), with Daciana also offering head and shoulder massages to the tired captain as they chat in the evening. She needs him to stay focused and vigilant, also considering this part of the challenge she raised to him (unnecessary as it may be, but it does increase his sense of self-worth), but if things become too much for him, the witch is ready to step in (and really, she wouldn't blame him). Besides, once the delivery is done, there will be more than enough opportunity for quality time.

Throughout the days, the amazon endears herself to the crew, surreptitiously investigating any tendencies to steal the dwarves' cargo.

If Glendira's Charisma Enhancer can be used without the other being aware of a spell having been used, Daciana does so twice throughout the day

In addition, with Seducer's Eyes, Greater Heroism and Improvisation
Gather Information [roll0]
Sense Motive [roll1]
Diplomacy [roll2]
Bluff [roll3] (with added Silvertongue to hide the intent of her inquiries as well as to help charm the crew)

[MikelaC1]

Daciana discovers through her investigations that each member of this crew was handpicked and vetted by Dolgur personally, and not one of them was from New Kroy. Interestingly however, Dolgur himself was, although he left at a very young age and it doesnt seem like the city ooze infested him.
The captain accepts the massages gratefully, captaining a ship like this is hard work, the wind and waves often try to take the ship where he does not want it to go, and fighting the wheel is a tiring task. The captain stays respectful to her, Daciana's sense motive tells her that he would love to take their relationship to the next level, but hes not about to force himself on her.
The dwarves settle into a routine of guarding, although it becomes clear that while the crew is a bit curious about the cargo, they are not about to try anything criminal, the sharp axes and poweful hammers of the dwarves being one deterrant, and the fear of the captain's discipline being another.

One week passes

[Ridai]

Keeping an eye on the curiosity of the crew about the cargo, Daciana passes the time by enjoying the feeling of being at sea, as well as entertaining the crew with the occasional song and dance (though keeping it relatively chaste as to not fuel their lust too much; on the Amazonian, she could be sure that her dalliances would have no negative effect, given the caliber of the crew and their captain, but here, she first needs to get a sense of the men (and women?) present). By now, she knows everyone on a first name basis and she continues to build good relations. Also, she can feel Dolgur's desire, as well as his restraint. The amazon spends time with him, nurturing their relationship, getting to know him more, his likes, his dislikes, his past and present, and his dreams, all while giving him a bit more intimacy, extending her massages to most of his body, yet keeping them deeply relaxing and non-sexual.

[MikelaC1]

Several days into the second week of travel, Daciana is still in her stateroom, when she suddenly hears the ship's bell ringing furiously. Coming up on deck, she sees the ships crew in a state of furious activity, battening down hatches and securing all the deck materials. Looking off to the distance, she sees the source of all the consternation, a line of black clouds. Having lived through a storm out on the Marilitas, she doesnt need a second look to tell what is coming, and since she has no power to affect things, she just heads back down to the room to weather things out.
Within 10 minutes, the full fury of the storm hits, and its easily as bad as the one she was in before. As well, the Salt Mistress is not the ship the Amazonian was, and Dolgur, while a great captain in his own right, isnt quite in the same league as Mika. As before, Daciana feels the ship going up and down, crashing back and forth in the waves, and soon hears the sound of breaking wood and smashing poles. Soon, water is pooling around her feet and it seems like the Mistress is not weathering this storm well. Its impossible to hear what orders Dolgur is shouting, seeing as she is below deck, and all she can do is to try and ride it out.
Five more minutes pass, and suddenly there is a sickening crashing sound, accompanied by a huge lurch in the ship. A second and third follow, and its clear the ship is disintigrating around them. No longer content to remain in the stateroom, which would now become a watery coffin, Daciana heads up on deck, Its next to impossible to see anything, and hearing is just as bad, but she does hear a call in Dolgur's voice of ABANDON SHIP. At the same moment, he is beside her, pointing into the distance and Daciana can just make out a darker shape in the storm. Seconds later, a huge wave crashes into the ship, smashing the last bit of it and sweeping the two of them overboard.
Many amazons are very capable swimmers, unfortunately, Daciana never took any sort of lessons in that regard. She tries bravely to make towards the shape Dolgur pointed out to her, but the crashing waves and her own lack of skill work against her. Just when she is about to give up hope and sink, she feels a strong hand pull her up in the water, and drape her across an old wooden board. Its not enough to get her out of the water but its enough to float with and she feels the board being propelled through the water. Shes not sure how long it takes, but she becomes aware of something under her feet, and moments later feels the board beginning to run aground. The hand keeps her going, stumbling up the beach to finally drop and ride out the last of the storm's fury, eventually collapsing into sleep.

[MikelaC1]

Warm sun is shining on Daciana as she slowly comes to, finding herself on a sandy beach. In the distance away from the ocean, Daciana sees a line of trees, and as her gaze turns out towards the ocean, she sees the ruined remains of the Salt Mistress about 15-20 feet off shore, what remains of her is caught on a reef. Several of the crew are still on shore, Dolgur among them, directing activities. Only one dwarf can be seen, he is still passed out, but somehow, he managed to maintain a grim hold on the cargo box and drag it ashore. That in itself is a testament to the strength and stamina of a dwarf, not to mention the stubborn nature of the race.
Daciana is only slowly coming to her senses, but she can see another issue that the crew is either unaware of or incapable of dealing with. There seems to be a faint green glow about the whole island and as far as she can see, it stretches off into the ocean, certainly past the reef. Daciana isnt able to cast this sort of magic, but she has seen the effect before, cast on a single person, a Dimensional Lock.
Daciana puts it all together, she has been trapped on island with no way off and no way to contact the outside world and its going to look like an amazon just stole another shipment of gems and jewelry from the dwarves.

[Ridai]

Daciana picks herself off the ground, a reflexive prestidigitation drying and cleaning her clothes and body. She needs a moment to steady herself, the storm's aftereffects still in her bones, then she heads over to Dolgur and the crew. "Are there any wounded? And who saved me?" she asks, also checking what of her possessions are still on her.

(Does Daciana still have her staff?)

[MikelaC1]

All of Daciana's possessions are still on her or have been salvaged from the ship, ready to be claimed. When she speaks to Dolgur about the wounded, a troubled look comes over his face. Those that actually made it to shore are all fine....but less than half of the crew made it. Only one of your dwarf friends, but at least that one managed to save his cargo.

[Ridai]

Daciana embraces Dolgur. A captain losing his ship and part of his crew, many who might have become friends, is a pain she does not know, never having been in his position. But she lets him know and feel that she is there for him and that she will do everything she can to bring them home.

"Someone did this to us and intended this island as a prison for the survivors. But something here must power a magical effect of this scale. If we can find and disable it, we can get help."

[MikelaC1]

At least I was able to save you...but why did they do it? Sure its some expensive stuff the dwarves made, but they didnt even take that. Unless they intend to starve us into nothing.

[Ridai]

Daciana kisses Dolgur passionately after he mentions rescuing her, uncaring of the people around them. "That was just the first thank you for saving my life," making it rather clear that he has seen nothing yet. After he continues, she shares her impressions. "The delivery also had the goal of restoring relations between the dwarves of the Iron Hall and the amazons. Someone seems to be out to harm us amazons, and I am rather startled that they are willing to go to such lengths. All the more reason to get off this island as soon as possible and to Kroy. I never would have guessed that something like this might happen and all I can do now, other than find a way to get everyone here home, is to ask for forgiveness." The amazon bows deeply and sincerely, wishing she could have done something to prevent this tragedy.

[MikelaC1]

One of the crew comes up to Dolgur, and gives a report to his captain...

From what I can see Captain, the island is not inhabited by any sort of humans now, but it might have been at one point. There are some small signs that people were once here but not on permanent basis. I can take you to what looked like it might have been a camp. There is the usual signs of wildlife, but there doesnt appear to be anything supernatural, or at least they arent letting us see them.

[Ridai]

"That might be a good point to start. If we are in agreement, please lead the way. Also, any indication how large this island is?"

[MikelaC1]

We didnt explore that far, but its not a huge one

The crewman leads the way back up the beach and a short distance into the forest. About 10 minutes in, he comes to a clearing. The clearing looks natural, but after you look a bit closer, you can notice that a few trees around the edge of the clearing were felled, to give just that much more space to work with. And theres the smallest indication of the centre of the ring of a blackened mark which might have been some sort of fire pit

[Ridai]

Daciana looks around at the clearing, namely for any signs of age, any objects that might have been left, and a path these people might have taken deeper into the island. She also does a cursory scan with detect magic. "Any idea how old this is?"

[MikelaC1]

The tree stumps show signs of weathering, so the cut happened quite some time ago, more than 6 months I would say. This camp pit, they took care to try and hide its presence, and its been weathered as well. Whoever was here is long gone and hasn't been back for some time.

Spread out and see if you can see any signs of them moving off, its been a long time but this forest is thick, they would have had to cut a path and even with stuff growing back, its still going to be less dense on that route

Daciana does not detect any magic with her check, other than the ambient magic of the Dimension Lock that blankets the island, however she does find an old sheet of parchment, cracked and withered, blank on both sides.

[Ridai]

Daciana picks up the piece of parchment. "Used spell scroll, most likely. Whoever made this trap has been preparing for quite a while." Sadly, the scroll is of no use to her with its magic and writing burned out.

[MikelaC1]

Captain, over here. The crewman calls out, and when Daciana and Dolgur come over to investigate, they discover that while the vegetation has grown back in, there is clearly an area that is less overgrown than the rest of the forest right beside it, at some point, someone went through here, and didnt really bother to hide their progress.

[Ridai]

"Let's see where this leads," Daciana suggests, following the path with the others if they agree.

[MikelaC1]

Dolgur leads the way with Daciana safely in the middle of the pack. Daciana is not an expert in such things, but she's pretty sure this trail is following the curve of the island, not progressing in much farther. The group spends about half an hour progressing through the forest, until they come to another clearing. Investigation reveals a situation much the same as the last one, a few extra trees cut to give more room, a possible campfire spot that has been brushed over, and another sheet of parchment, wrinkled and cracked, blank on both sides.

[Ridai]

"We would likely find more sites like these at the same distance to the center around the island. Finding more of these probably won't help us, unless there is something at the center of this circle and a path leading there."

[MikelaC1]

The group progresses through 4 more sites, making 6 in total, each one of them the same as the others. At the last site, there are two paths, one that leads back towards the beach, bringing the group about 10 minutes west of where the ship ran aground. The other goes deeper into the forest, however since night is falling, Dolgur calls a halt until tomorrow.

[Ridai]

Having a clear goal for tomorrow, Daciana provides magical light and helps set up camp (also looking at the surviving dwarf and how he is doing). The amazon also asks Dolgur if he would mind sharing his resting place (whatever form it might take) with her.

[MikelaC1]

Most of the work of setting up has been taken care of, but Daciana's help finishes things off. The surviving dwarf is okay, although a bit shaken up by the death of his comrade and the interruption of his mission. Once Dolgur has his tent set up, he is willing to have Daciana share the shelter.

[MikelaC1]

The next day, Captain Dolgur is a changed man, full of vim and vigor, ready to take on the world and win.
So in your opinion, if we follow that path that leads deeper into the forest, we should find some answers about whats going on? And if you think that this is an attack against you, do you have any idea as to who it is, and what they have done? How many men do you think we'll need?

[Ridai]

"Sadly, I do not know who is after us, but they are powerful. They sent a lich after us not too long ago which was defeated by two amazon huntresses and myself. I am not going to lie, it could get dangerous. Take your most able men and always be careful. Let the others recuperate here for now."

[MikelaC1]

At the talk of a lich, several of the men get nervous and uncertain, and Dolgur quickly gives them a pass on this mission. Theres also the need to care for the wounded and defend what little of a base camp the survivors have, and in the end, Dolgur and three of his crew (including the one who keeps finding the trails) are to go with Daciana. They return to the final camp they inspected, the one with the path leading deeper into the forest.
Any actions in prep?

[Ridai]

Daciana gives words of encouragement to the brave men accompanying her, imbuing them with Heroism (also imbues herself). Also, she creates an invisibility sphere, explaining how it works to them, in order to hopefully provide them with additional protection if anything dangerous is lurking further towards the center.

(Daciana's own mage armor is already up, her other one cast on Dulgor already, unless he is wearing armor)

[MikelaC1]

Protected by the power of Daciana's invisibility, the group travels the path deeper into the island. Even the local fauna is not able to penetrate the protection she provides, so battles with several streaks of tigers are avoided. After about 2 hours of walking, the group finds yet another clearing space, exactly the same as all the others. And once again, there is a path leading out to the side. Following it, the group finds 3 more concentric circles, the smaller radius of the inner part seemingly giving less space between them all. And in the last circle, a path leads even deeper inward.

[Ridai]

If the magics need to be renewed, Daciana does so, before heading further inward.

[MikelaC1]

With the magics renewed, the group progresses inward. This time, there are 3 concentric circles as the distance around the island shrinks on the inner part. Once again, the last circle provides a way into the island, and by the looks of things, they are drawing close to the center.
Coming up the path, Daciana realizes that this is indeed the middle of the island. Here the circle is much bigger, although the signs of human presence are no less muffled. The scufffed and covered over fire pit, and the cut down trees, although in this circle, there appears to a stacked pile of wood, the trees here being cut properly for firewood.
The other difference is there is not a discarded piece of parchment, however instead, there appears to be a very solid iron trunk. Even from the edge of the clearing, Daciana can see a padlock on the clasp of the trunk.

[Ridai]

"Can any of you open the lock?" Daciana also scans the chest with a detect magic.

[MikelaC1]

Daciana does detect magic inside the chest while she waits, and finally one of the crewmen shuffles his feet and with a sheepish look at the captain, speaks....I..uh..have a little...experience with that sort of thing. Not after I joined your crew, captain.

[Ridai]

"We understand, dear, and none of us are judging you. Please try to open the chest, but be careful. Let us know if there is any sign of danger and don't take any risks you aren't confident in." Her voice imbues the man with Greater Heroism.

[MikelaC1]

With another guilty look at the captain, the crewman approaches the chest, and does a preliminary check of both the chest and the lock. From a small pouch on his belt, he produces a set of tools and sets to work on the lock, a couple of minutes later, the lock pops open and he backs away from it.

[Ridai]

"Just to be safe, please step a bit away." Once the men do, Daciana opens the chest and checks its contents.

[MikelaC1]

When Daciana opens the chest, she sees a large number of scrolls, she would have to empty the chest to count how many, they appear to be pretty much the same as the discharged ones she had found earlier. There is also a rolled up piece of paper, it does not radiate magic, unlike the others that do.

[Ridai]

Daciana reads the nonmagical scroll and also analyzes one of the magical scrolls in hopes of finding a way to find a way to end the dimensional lock and find a way off the island.

[MikelaC1]

Reading the scroll, Daciana finds that it is instructions on using a scroll in each circle, to spread a Dimensional Lock all over the island. The scroll further details how the scrolls are enhanced by divine metamagic in order to make the spell last longer. Unfortunately for her, the scroll is vague on which deity is responsible for the creation of the scrolls and how long the spell will last. Analyzing the scrolls, she can see that that they are all Dimensional Lock spells

[Ridai]

Daciana runs the numbers for a moment. The spells need to have lasted at least six months and given that multiple applications of lengthening metamagic are additive, not multiplicative, in terms of the factor used for lengthening the duration, even a powerful caster must have expended substantial power solely for the duration. On the one hand, this is bad, as this is another indication of the amazons' enemies being extremely powerful and affluent. On the other, she might have a way off the island now, as there would not be much power left for heightening.

The witch takes a dimensional lock scroll and tries to use it to counterspell the local instance of the spell.

[MikelaC1]

Unrolling the scroll, Daciana forces herself to speak the words of it, words that she is fully unused to saying. However, strange and unknown magic is sometimes second nature to a witch, and she is able to master the most of it, and like the sun rising on a new morning, the strange green glow of the Dimensional Lock fades away

[Ridai]

"It's odd. Why would they leave these scrolls here, all but handing us the keys to this prison?" Daciana sighs, hoping she didn't somehow step into a trap within a trap. "We should head back and gather the men." To Dolgur, she also secretly whispers "And I'll need your help with contacting my goddess and her high priestess." Since witches lack any sort of long-range communication and the commune spell only gives yes/no answers to questions, it's the only way she has left in order to hopefully get some amazon mages to come and teleport all these people (and the dwarven crate) to Kroy.

The amazon protects the group once more with an invisibility sphere.

[MikelaC1]

Heading back to gather the men is easily enough accomplished, and Dolgur, who already has first hand experience with how he has to "help" Daciana contact her goddess is more than eager to agree.

[Ridai]

Once done, Daciana heads back to the men with Dolgur, telling them the news and that they now just need to be patient for help to arrive.

[MikelaC1]

And the help is not long in coming, with the sudden appearance of a dozen amazons, lead by none other than the Queen herself. The manner of the appearance of the amazons, not to mention their looks, is enough to turn the entire crew into a bunch of slack jawed yokels, who clearly hope that their rescue can be delayed, just by a little while.

[Ridai]

Daciana bows deeply before her queen. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming to our aid." Never ever would she take such a thing for granted. She turns around and though they can probably guess who Casandra is, Daciana introduces her. "This is Casandra, high priestess of Tishtina and queen of the amazons."

Turning back to her queen, she gestures to Dolgur (and Casandra no doubt knows what Daciana unlocked in him). "This is Dolgur, the brave captain of this here crew, who also saved my life in the storm our enemies destroyed the ship with." She also introduces the surviving dwarf and shows her the cargo chest.

Thus, Daciana readies everything to transport to Kroy and finish the delivery.

[MikelaC1]

For saving my daughter and the cargo of the dwarf and thus the reputation of the amazons, you have my eternal gratitude also favoring Dolgur with a smile that would melt a glacier. (Daciana's sense motive tells her that Casandra specifically gave her gratitude in the order she did). Quickly girls, lets get organized and she sets about getting the crew and cargo ready for the teleport. (anything else?)

[Ridai]

Daciana can't help but blush and smile a little when she realizes exactly the order of importance Casandra gives. The witch whispers to Casandra as the others prepare "Dolgur's life is sailing the oceans, he loves it above all, but his ship was destroyed. Once the delivery is done, I'd like to help him get a new ship of his own, as I feel that would be the best way to show my gratitude. I am just not sure how to manage that yet. I will detail the attack on the ship later, if you'd like."

(Ready.)

[MikelaC1]

When amazons choose to be efficient (which admittedly is not all that often), they can usually get things done quickly. The crew and the cargo is rounded up, and the teleports go off without a hitch, bringing everyone to an agreed upon location in Kroy. The dwarf immediately makes arrangements to deliver his cargo to the buyer in Kroy, Daciana and Casandra accompanying him to make sure the deal goes down as proposed, and the amazon "debt" to the dwarves is repaid. The jewelry is quite impressive when the dwarf opens the chest, even Casandra who has seen some of the best pieces in the world, marvels at the beauty and craftsmanship and in the gambling mecca that is Kroy, there is no doubt they will fetch top dollar. With the sale completed, the dwarf offers his hand to Casandra, they shake on it, and the dwarf/amazon "feud" is put to rest

[Ridai]

This is more than enough reason to celebrate with the sailors and amazons for Daciana. Not only does she pay for drinks, she also ensures that the sailors and Dolgur have a nice place to stay until they can get back on their feet. Generosity has always been a big part of the witch and it shows right now. During a more quiet moment, she details the attack on the ship to Casandra, namely the storm and gigantic wave, then getting stuck on the island that has been prepared as a sort of prison a long time ago (but strangely enough leaving behind the means to undo the dimensional lock).

Another thing on Daciana's list is finding a way of finding and financing a ship for Dolgur and his crew, knowing he would not want to be in someone's employ, and she discussed such with Casandra, if she has the time.

[MikelaC1]

The next morning, Casandra leads Daciana and Dolgur down to the docks in Kroy. There are two sets of docks in Kroy, one of them for all the pleasure yachts of the moneyed crowd that vacation in Kroy...and one being the merchant docks. There is the smallest area where the two of them are almost merged, making it a spot where the best of the merchant ships (almost warrior class level) are docked. Many of the ships there seem to be able to fulfill either role, and Casandra walks up to one of them. It looks like it has yet to take its maiden voyage, there isnt a mark on it, and everything on board is sharp and in perfect position. Without a word, Casandra walks along the dock to where the back of the boat can be seen and in gold lettering is the ship name...Salt Mistress II

[Ridai]

Casandra never ceases to amaze. The witch does not need words to express her gratitude to the high priestess as she embraces and kisses Dolgur. "Congratulations, captain. And thank you once more for all you have done for the amazons, and for me." There is a short pause as the amazon lets go of him. "And I guess this is farewell. I hope we meet again someday, and I will always cherish the memory of you and our time together, but it would be more than mean to keep you from what you love most." And the amazon makes a sweeping gesture towards the ship and the open sea.

[MikelaC1]

This is not a completely free gift of course. For the first year of your voyages, 1/5 of what you profit, after expenses of course, will be tithed back to the Tishtina temple in which your journey ends. As well, for the first two years of your voyages, any shipment that is made from or to the amazon lands will be done on an expenses only term. And there is a lifetime bond that this ship will not be used for any act of piracy. And in this, Casandra is referring to the more generally acknowledged term of piracy, that of criminal activity on the high seas, instead of just sailing under no flag. Your first ship was lost in service to us and because you got caught in a struggle between the amazons and our unnamed foe, which was not of your doing, so its only right that we do something to make it up.
Naturally, Dolgur agrees to these terms, and sends messages back to his old crew to rejoin them (if they want to) on their new vessel and also goes about arranging to hire up enough new crew to replace the losses in the shipwreck. He bids farewell to Daciana and Casandra, thanking them both profusely, and then goes about inspecting his new vessel.

[Ridai]

Daciana smiles as she sees him go before she turns to her queen. "I guess it is time to head home? If there is anything I can do to help against this threat to us amazons or... in general, please let me know."

If nothing else is there to be done, Daciana teleports back to Amazonia (with Casandra?).

[MikelaC1]

Casandra sighs a bit, Daciana is under the impression that she really doesnt want to say this...While I am heading home and would love to have you join me, but I think that your path will lead you elsewhere. For better or for worse, it seems like this threat has latched on to you as its opponent, and I think you need to face it. As well, I have had a request for you to visit with the temple of Nocticula in Erandol.

[Ridai]

"Ah," Daciana responds when she hears she is not heading home. "...I understand. Hopefully the rest of the amazons won't be targetted. I just wish I had some kind of clue or trace."

When the witch hears about who is summoning her, she blinks twice, frankly quite caught off-guard. "I will go there if you wish, but... why do they want me there?"

(Feel free to move Daciana to Erandol, or on the way there)

[MikelaC1]

Asking why Dalcar and Nocticula do what they do is something I no longer even try to do. I think half of what they do is just totally random to throw people off guard. Maybe they have some idea of who is going after us, I have no doubt they know all about what transpired on the island.

[Ridai]

"Very well, I'll go at once. And... thank you once more. Hopefully, this threat will be dealt with soon."

(Time to leave)

[MikelaC1]

Erandol. There is simply no city, no empire quite like it in Daystor. At least three times, the Erandol Empire has ruled almost all of Daystor, sometimes good, sometimes evil. Varstok is sometimes thought of as the city of commerce, yet more business goes through Erandol, maybe just not as much per capita. Rennador and Terkaton are thought of as the cities most prepared for war, yet Erandol armies top both of them in size and those two cities never ruled the world. The world's two largest battleships (the Daren Philisar and the Lady Klintina) are the two mainstays of the Erandol navy and yet no one thinks of Erandol as the greatest naval power in the world. Perhaps its just because they do everything so well, that it is considered the worlds most powerful, and it also the world's most populous.
One would expect that the headquarters of a demon worshipping cult would be hidden away and very innocuous, but the temple of Nocticula is anything but. Its almost cheeky in its openness, connected as it is to the prestigious magic guild of Erandol, the influence that they have over this guild is always maximized by its detractors, and minimized by its supporters. Its also not as open about its brothel nature than the temples of Tishtina or Sabrina, but that aspect is not hidden either, although using the brothel services of this temple is only for those seeking a dangerous thrill and well able (at least, they thought they were well able) to afford it.
Thus, Daciana is easily able to find her way to it, and is greeted by a young acolyte, who asks her why she is here.

[Ridai]

Daciana greets the acolyte with a dazzling smile. "My name is Daciana Solaya, and I was told my presence was requested. Would you be so kind to check?" The witch is quite openly an amazon of Tishtina, she does not hide the fact, but neither does she act all superior nor does she act like she is accusing everyone present. She simply treats Nocticulans with the same respect as everyone else. But Daciana is still curious about the acolyte's reactions, as well as those of the others here. Even with the differing paths of faith, Daciana had several positive experiences with Nocticulan amazons of the City of Gardens in the past weeks ever since the unification of their deities, but she has yet to interact with non-amazon followers.

Diplomacy [roll0]

[MikelaC1]

Oh yes, we've been expecting you. Follow me please
The acolyte leads Daciana through the temple grounds, from what she can see, all the occupants are amazons, or at least very beautiful women. If there are some less attractive members, they take care to hide them well. Daciana gets some idea of the size of the temple, it is considerable, although there are a lot more members than there is living space, so some of the inhabitants must live off temple grounds.
The journey leads Daciana upstairs, and into an office room, where it does appear like Dalcar was indeed expecting her. Dalcar is there, along with another woman, but its Dalcar that gets Daciana's attention first. Daciana has seen Dalcar in the past but even if she hadnt, there would be no doubting of who she was. A virtual twin to her younger sister Casandra, except for the black hair, Dalcar is every bit as alluring as the Queen, however her allure has a "forbidden fruit" vibe to it, a drawing of the moth to the candle.
She stands as Daciana enters...I welcome you to the temple of Nocticula, this is my associate, Princess Witch Selinda Torvyn. Daciana is familiar with the term Princess Witch, in the Nocticulan hierarchy, this signifies that Selinda is second to only Dalcar in terms of witch power in the religion. The name Selinda is not entirely unfamiliar to Daciana, she has heard it mentioned once or twice, but she really doesnt know much about her. As she looks at Selinda, theres something about her, an arousal generated just by her presence, almost as if a magic was being used, although Daciana does not sense as such in the room. She moves over on the couch, just enough for Daciana to sit beside her...there does not appear to be any other chairs in the room, other than the one behind the desk that Dalcar was using.

[Ridai]

Daciana smiles and bows to both in greeting. Though she hides it well, Selinda does prove to be quite... distracting. To say this is unusual would be a vast understatement, given the fact that she is in the same room as Dalcar and no magic is used. The skill of a high priestess is beyond what Daciana can fully grasp, but subduing their presence this far to let another "outshine" her seems.... hard to believe. With Selinda making space for her, Daciana's heart skips a beat, at the same time oddly thrilled and worried, not knowing what is awaiting her. Still, the amazon gracefully walks to the couch and seats herself beside the Princess Witch.

"So... what can I do for you?"

(I am assuming Selinda is also an amazon? What does she look like? I am assuming she, too, probably vastly outpaces Daciana in terms of power/charisma?)

[MikelaC1]

The last time we met, in the City of Gardens, you had just returned from some sort of lich's castle, which we think was a part of an ongoing plot against the amazons and by extension, the trinity. And now, you have just returned from another trap, an island in the Klintas Ocean that was set up as a trap with anti-teleport defenses. What more can you tell me about that trap, the scrolls or anything else you saw. Anything you saw, no matter how small a detail, might help

Despite Daciana having her guard up, the soft purr of Dalcar's voice is already relaxing her, putting her at ease. And despite Daciana thinking she had enough room to sit beside Selinda without making contact, she is now rather aware of the fact that Selinda's leg is touching hers.
Yes, Selinda is an amazon, and given that she is the second most powerful witch in the Nocticulan religion, yes, she is more powerful in terms of level.

[Ridai]

In this situation, there is no way Daciana can do anything. Both are vastly more powerful and skillful than herself, in comparison just a little pretty girl with a few magic tricks. Thus, she begins to recount what she remembers:
"About one and a half weeks after leaving New Kroy, the ship was suddenly caught in a massive storm and eventually destroyed by a huge tidal wave. Some of us managed to reach the shore of the trap island, entirely covered in a dimensional lock field, even extending out a good distance into the ocean. The island was not very big and not that far from the shore, a circular clearing was made and last visited at least six months ago, with a fire pit in the middle and a used up magical scroll. The clearing was part of a large circle with equal distance to the center of the island, with five other clearings of the same nature. From one of the clearings, a path led further inward, and we found four more concentric circles with clearings, the radii getting smaller with each, naturally. Then, at the center of the island, there was another clearing, though much bigger, with a locked chest of dimensional lock scrolls in the middle, most likely for periodic renewals. There was a note in the chest, detailing usage of the scrolls and that they were strongly enhanced with divine metamagic in order to lengthen the duration, but I couldn't determine how long exactly the duration would be or what deity granted the power. I then dispelled the dimensional lock with one of the scrolls and called upon Tishtina to contact Casandra. Sadly, that is all I know."

(If the circles had a differing number of clearings each, then Daciana mentions that as well.)

[MikelaC1]

Think about everything you saw...just concentrate on the island, the smells, the sound, the vision...just relax, concentrate on it and listen to my voice...just let yourself relax...feels good to relax...remember the island, thats all that matters...listen, relax, remember

Daciana is also suddenly conscious of the fact she is lying against Selinda as Dalcar continues to purr in her hypnotic voice

DC39 (Will) vs. hypnosis

[MikelaC1]

Actually, that isnt it Selinda's voice is now as cold as ice but since you seem to lack the appreciation of what a skilled student of Nocticula's arts can do for you, we'll just go back to Dalcar and see what she has unearthed for you. Although you probably wont appreciate that either. Without another word, and without getting dressed either, Selinda leads Daciana back through the temple to Dalcar's office. Despite the way she feels about Selinda, she cant help but admire the way her rear moves as she walks, feeling just a little turned despite herself.
In the office, there are now two or three other chairs, Selinda sitting herself in a solitary one, pointedly as far away from Daciana as possible. Dalcar gives no visible reaction to your appearance, and just pulls out some sheets of paper. The human mind often sees many things it does not process, the smallest detail being recorded by the sub-conscious but not registering with the conscious mind. That was what my hypnosis was designed to unlock, and I think you might be interested in the results.

[Ridai]

"I can very much appreciate what you did just now. Though I ask you if you would be thrilled to have your entire life rifled through without warning by a stranger? You could have told me what you would do and why, you could have asked me, instead of kicking down the door, walking over me and telling me how to feel afterwards." Daciana is legitimately angry, something that does not happen often. "Is that so much to ask for, from one worshipper of the trinity to another?" The witch would have preferred a peaceful relationship with Selinda and Dalcar, but with how riled up she is right now and how little the other cares about that, it can't be helped right now.

On the way, anger subsides and just turns into a sinking, depressed feeling. All she can do is to swallow her feelings and be sent to the next step of this frankly unwanted quest. In the end, they are in the right, even if the witch doesn't like the way they went about it. No right to complain, no expectation of anyone understanding. Nothing.

At Dalcar's, Daciana seats herself. There is no worth in antagonizing anyone any more than has happened already, and in hindsight, it might just lead to more trouble down the line, but only for herself. "Just... please tell me that upfront if there ever is a need for something like this again." She sighs in a resignated way. "What did you learn?" she responds, giving the expected answer, hoping it will lead to protecting the amazons.

[MikelaC1]

If Dalcar sees the tension between the two (and frankly, with her level of sense motive, how could she not?) she says nothing about it. She places one of the sheets of paper on the top of the others, and addresses Daciana. Casting that many Dimension Locks boosted by a deity is going to be draining, even with the aid of a scroll, and whoever did the castings must have laid down for a rest afterwards. While he slept, whatever symbol he was wearing must have made an impression on the sand. The fact that your subconscious even picked it up is a testament She holds up the paper, on it is a depiction of a flaming pentagram. Do you recognize this symbol? (Know: Religion DC15) There is intaked hiss of breath from Selinda, and its not difficult to recognize it as being in anger.

[Ridai]

"Figures."

[MikelaC1]

You recognize the symbol of Orithon, good. There is the slightest note of respect in her voice. We have had numerous issues with him in the past, and while Tishtina might not have, theres no love lost there and by striking at the trinity, we have common cause against him.
I have sent this information to Casandra and by using that as a frame of reference, she was able to confirm my suspicions and that the scrolls were written by Baron von Straschburg, who we know to be the high priest of Orithon. We have never actually moved directly against him, content with harassing him and keeping him off balance, but now we need to take him out. Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies.
I want to send a small strike force to deal with him, you would be on it of course and...I would like to include Selinda as well. Which brings us to the issue of what happened between you two. First of all, I want to tell you that the hypnosis I did on you was to reveal who our enemy was, and as for the second, thats just standard for us. As for your tryst with Selinda, that was partly her idea in order to give me time to research the information and I thought you would enjoy it. Having someone take the lead is usually more enjoyable and thats what Nocticulans do best.

[Ridai]

Daciana ponders for a moment and takes a deep breath. "I was startled when you searched my life as well. The island I could understand and was fine with, but moving beyond that without warning and without giving a reason was not welcome. However, I also do not know much about Nocticula's rituals and procedures, no thanks to the divide between our faiths for so long. If you say it is standard, that it wasn't out of ill intent, I believe you. I have said it since the formation of the trinity that I want to learn more about all paths of the trinity and build bridges, and I still mean it. Hopefully, in turn, you can see why I acted how I acted, and why I felt how I felt. A failure to communicate on both sides." Even with the reason behind their actions, both Nocticulans should be able to comprehend those feelings, perhaps they would have felt the same in Daciana's place if they didn't know it was something normal. And despite her feelings, she is the one to take the first step to solve this problem. "And I'd like to start fresh, put this behind us."

The witch suddenly stands up and walks over to Selinda. "As right as it might have felt in anger, I am sorry I insulted you, Selinda. What you did for me was more than wonderful and I would be lying if I said I didn't see you as an amazing woman, no matter how different our faiths and methods are." Daciana holds a hand to Selinda, with her palm facing up. "Let's start over and do this right this time around." She smiles mischievously as she adds "I do would like you to take the lead again, as you are, in fact, the best at it, just like we Tishtinians are best at being partners."

(Crossing my fingers for some mutual understanding. Really would like to overcome that apprehension and, well, the Tishtinian does have to have her exceptionally charming sides, even in the company of the two greatest Nocticulans)

[MikelaC1]

Selinda smiles mischievously as well, all of that alluring warmth back to her...and I think that adding the third member of our little strike force would help out immensely. And at that point the door to the office opens and a woman walks in.
Daciana has actually lead a bit of a sheltered life, sure she had heard of the legendary demons of lust, the succubus; she even thought she had battled and bested one. When this succubus walks in, or rather, slinks, she knows that the stories did not do them justice, and that the fiend she had defeated must have been one of their poor cousins, the alu-fiend (or half succubus). Casandra is the most beautiful mortal woman in the world but then again, succubi arent mortal. Words dont really exist to describe just how exquisite this woman is, and just like the sailors who were left slack jawed by the amazons, Daciana is a little like that with this woman, although she recovers quickly enough.
This is Linteshar, and if its not obvious, shes a succubus. And she promises that everything she takes, she'll put back...except of course, some of your innocence. Linteshar just smiles, and its almost enough to make Daciana's knees buckle.

[MikelaC1]

Okay are you ready for this mission? We know where the temple is, and our plan is to kill as many of the hierarchy as we can get our hands on. This is not a mission of half measures or sending a message, we aim to crumble their organization. When we find the high priest, neutralize but do not kill, we have a plan in store for him, one that will both cripple their faith and send a message. Any questions?

[Ridai]

"You don't have to fear half measures from me. People who worship a god of war and try to commit genocide of an entire people for absolutely no reason don't deserve respect. We are defending ourselves, plain and simple. The only thing I am asking for is that we stay focused on our targets and kill them quick, as we aren't savages, unlike some of them." Daciana feels the mixture of good and evil within herself. The followers of a god of war are despicable and she has no qualms about ending them, but at the same time, she has no desire to draw out suffering, torture or kill innocents along the way. This is for the sake of all amazons and all followers of the trinity, the vast majority of whom are doing much, much more good in the world than harm, and pretty much all of them have done nothing to deserve being vilified and hunted by fanatics.

(As I can't estimate the world's reactions through Daciana's eyes: wouldn't there be the danger of such an act uniting other faiths against the trinity out of fear? I am assuming that the message will include all the god of war has been doing against the amazons and was planning, but just wanted to ask)

[MikelaC1]

Torture serves no purpose, unless someone is attempting to extract information Her tail waves in the air, and she cheekily adds and this outperforms any sort of rack or other device

[Ridai]

Daciana smiles sweetly (and knowingly) and kisses both Selinda and Linteshar. "Then we are as one. Let's get to it."

[MikelaC1]

Linteshar takes the hand of Daciana and Selinda, and there is the lurch of a teleport. The group arrives in a run down section of a city (Selinda telepathically informs Daciana that this is Keltor) outside of a run down building. There do not appear to any outside guards, there is one door entrance on the bottom floor, but several window entrances on the first and second floor. Selinda turns to Daciana...lets hear your view and why

[Ridai]

"I prefer a quiet entry. The less opportunity for a fight we give the enemy, the better. If they don't see us coming, great. If at the point we are discovered we have already killed or taken over several of them, even better. Generally, we move quick, don't give them time to adjust. Because of that, I favor the upper windows. By necessity, the front door is the most watched and the area around it the most likely to be a chokepoint with people swiftly converging any attackers, especially with followers of a god of war and thus military strategic tendencies. Since we have access to teleportation and, in case of dimensional anchors, flight, that eliminates the threat of height, still giving us a way out in case of emergency. The upper floors are most likely to contain rooms of key figures as well as bed chambers and such, so there is a chance we can take out a few more major players before anyone knows what is going on. Perhaps we can even use a few charmed higher-ups to lure in more victims or throw them further into disarray. We should stay relatively close, though, at least once the fighting begins proper. They have numbers on their side, even if we can quickly turn numbers against them. Linteshar, I hear, is quite the fearsome warrior, so with her holding off and ripping apart enemies, we can concentrate fully on taking over their minds and bodies."

Daciana looks to the others. "I am an amateur at such things, sadly, so feel free to provide and go with a better plan. If you can scout by divination or etherealness, that could also provide us with an edge before things get started."

[MikelaC1]

The upper floors are most likely to contain rooms of key figures as well as bed chambers and such, so there is a chance we can take out a few more major players before anyone knows what is going on. Perhaps we can even use a few charmed higher-ups to lure in more victims or throw them further into disarray

As she hears this part, Daciana nods her head in appreciation. Good, good. Getting to the Baron before the coward runs is the most important. Even if we only get to him, we deal them a blow

Selinda touches Daciana as she intones a spell and then repeats on herself. Now we can fly..make your choice.

There are 3 windows on the top floor, Daciana can choose left, right, middle.

[Ridai]

This part is the most down to luck, but Daciana still tries to consider her options. She does not know the layout, but she can trust in greed of others. The Baron will most likely take the biggest room available and with a little luck, said room is smack-dab in the middle, rather than being pushed into a corner. If the middle is not the right room, they still have the most options available where to go next from there, so Daciana boosts herself with Improvisation for at least a little stealth and directs the group towards the middle, carefully trying to get a peek into the room.

[MikelaC1]

Hovering outside the middle window, Daciana can see into the room, seeing a man lying on the bed. The room appears to be a standard bedroom, the man might be asleep or he might just be lightly dozing. Its impossible to tell from this angle if its the Baron or not as the face is in shadows and turned away from the window. The window appears to be made of glass, but Daciana can see that its got a lock on it, albeit a simple one.

[Ridai]

Not wanting to take risks, Daciana whispers a charm person II spell (DC 29, doesn't get bonus because of being an enemy), targetting the man. If she feels she has succeeded and he awakes, she lures him to the window, gesturing to him to stay quiet and open it. If he doesn't stir, she quietly asks if Linteshar can teleport them inside, not wanting to risk fumbling with the lock.

[MikelaC1]

Dominate Person would be better as it doesn't rely as much on the power of your voice

Daciana is able to dominate the man, using him as a tool to get up and unlock the window, allowing access to the group to enter without a sound. Now that he is up, the group can see it is not the Baron, Selinda identifying him as the #3 man in the Orithon hierarchy.

[Ridai]

(I completely forgot I had dominate. That spell was usually never needed or unacceptable.)

"Be a sweet and tell us what's on this level and especially where the Baron is." Daciana whispers to him.

[MikelaC1]

Charmed by Daciana's spell, the man obediently starts listing out the occupants of the second floor. The Baron is on the other side of the building, in the middle room, and there are at least 3 other high ranking members of the cult. As the man mentions names, Selinda holds up fingers, #4, #6 and #7. Its a pity that #2 and #5 are out on quests, but they are still going to be able to cripple the organization, along with as many flunkies as they choose to take out downstairs.

[Ridai]

Daciana gives a secret look to Linteshar as she distracts the man, asking the succubus to kill him silently. Once that is done, she whispers to the others. "I suggest we head out the window, fly to the other side, get a visual of the inside of the Baron's room and teleport inside. Like you said, if we can take out the Baron first, the rest will fall much easier."

If they are in agreement, Daciana enacts the plan with them in order to do a quick surprise attack on the Baron.

[MikelaC1]

Linteshar was already coming up slowly behind him, and with one quick slice, she slits the man's throat, sending him to a quick and quiet death. Selinda agrees with Daciana's analysis (and the way Selinda is approving of Daciana's actions fills her with a sense of pride), and the 3 women silently fly around to the far side of the building, finding the middle window that the man identified as belonging to the Baron. Looking inside, its a little hard to see, shadows and such. There is a man in there, there might even be another, its hard to say. Theres no reason to think its not the Baron, the man was well and truly charmed, so he might be having a visitor.

[Ridai]

Daciana asks Linteshar. "What can you see with your darkvision?" At the same time, Daciana does a quick sweep with a detect magic.

If she can see the Baron or at least identify who is standing where, Daciana begins a silent countdown. At the end of it, Linteshar is to teleport them all inside, Selinda and Daciana immediately cast their most powerful enchantments to charm, hold or otherwise incapacitate any targets present.

[MikelaC1]

With her darkvision, Linteshar identifies three occupants, the Baron and two others. The countdown goes off without a hitch, and all three of them arrive in the room. Selinda knows how resistant priests can sometimes be to enchantment spells and so she targets one of the other occupants, while Linteshar moves to engage the priest hand to hand.
(Does Daciana target the other occupant or the main priest?)

[Ridai]

Daciana does not want to take any risks, she needs those others to not interfere. Immediately, she whispers a mass hold person (DC 31, CL 16). Mainly, she wants to ensure the other occupant cannot do anything, not even make a sound. If she can also enchant the priest, that would be even better. If, for some reason, the occupant targetted by Selinda does not fall under her spell, he gets to try and resist the hold as well.

[MikelaC1]

Daciana and Selinda's spells go off, Daciana sees a blissful look come over the face of the person targeted by Selinda, and moments later, both him and the other person go completely rigid as Daciana's spells hit them both. The priest shrugs off the effect of the spell, but something he cant shrug off is being sliced and diced by Linteshar's blade. He pulls out a mace and starts to retaliate.

Action?

[Ridai]

That already was a very powerful spell, so Daciana quickly needs to change her plans...

(If Daciana can't tell whether the Baron is outright immune to enchantments or if she can tell he is immune)
With attacking not being an option, Daciana quickly imbues Linteshar with Greater Heroism as well as a quickened displacement.

(If Daciana can tell the Baron is not immune to enchantments and knows he resisted her spell)
Daciana turns herself invisible (quickening invisibility) and moves to place an Irresistable Dance (or rather, on accident, her new version of said spell) on the priest.

Melee touch attack (against the flatfooted priest) [roll0]
Rounds [roll1]

[MikelaC1]

Daciana is not sure how the Baron resisted her spell, but she knows priests are usually among the hardest to charm, having a double resistance to that sort of spell. The flash of blade and mace is not something she wants to get involved with, but her spells on Linteshar have a double effect, increasing the efficiency of her attacks and turning her into an impossible hit defensively. The priest gets sliced four more times, he is clearly out of his league, and Selinda slits the throat of the first person.

Daciana hears the sound of at least one or two people coming to the aid of the priest.

Action?

[Ridai]

Daciana readies a spell she has never used before, Sabrina's Puppet Army. The moment the door is opened, she unleashes it on whoever will stand on there, ordering them to close the door, stand with their backs against it and try to touch anyone who comes into their arms' reach (thus propagating the spell, in turn making the new victims increase the tight mob around the door).

[MikelaC1]

Its a powerful spell and the moment the door opens, Daciana unleashes it, taking control of the person who enters. By the looks of his equipment and body, Daciana would guess warrior, possibly with wizard talents thrown in to make a proper gish opponent. Willpower tended to less forceful than those of the priests, and thus her spell was able to take him down.
Meanwhile, Selinda slits the throat of the second person held by Daciana's spell and Linteshar is having her way with the priest, Daciana's combined buffs making her nearly unstoppable. From what Daciana hears, there is no one else coming (yet), and the one man is firmly under her control.

Actions?

[Ridai]

Daciana makes the warrior close to door and guard it on the outside in order to reduce the noise as well as to maybe have unsuspecting victims touch the guy standing in the way.

[MikelaC1]

With Daciana holding the door as a choke point, Linteshar changes the grip on her sword just a bit and proceeds to use it broadside on the priest, knocking him cold. She steps back for a moment, letting Selinda step in to heal his wounds. She then embraces the man and begins to apply her energy drain kiss. Lost in ecstasy, the priest does not resist (having regained consciousness as a result of Selinda's healing) and moments later is a 0th level commoner, never able to regain levels again. A sting of Linteshar's tail and he is blissfully asleep, dreaming of the glorious succubus.

When he wakes up, he will find his own personal power completely gone, and his stupid temple obliterated. What do you intend to do with that one?

[Ridai]

"Right now, scouting and blocking the way, possibly spread the puppet army if anyone comes. If no one comes, well, nothing, just dispose of him so we can quietly off as many people as possible." Daciana concentrates to tap into the warrior's senses for a moment, trying to gauge if an alarm was raised or anyone is coming. If the coast seems clear, she orders him inside the room to have him killed.

[MikelaC1]

A scan of the warriors senses reveals that no one else is coming, or at least not to his knowledge. With that in mind, Daciana brings him back into the room and without another word, Linteshar applies a coup de grace to finish him off.
Selinda opens the door back into the hallway, the group can go left or right.

[Ridai]

The basic strategy is to go from door to door, quietly open them, charm the occupants if they are awake and kill them, then head to the next. If they come into the vicinity of stairs before they are done with the rooms, they head to the rooms they haven't been in first. The game repeats until the floor is cleared or until they are discovered.

[MikelaC1]

The group turns to the right, and quickly comes across another door that leads into a room beside the room of the high priest. Opening it, they see a bed that was just recently slept in, likely the room of the gish.
Backtracking to the left, there is another door with the same sort of set up. The group open it, as they do so, the occupant is alerted, waking up as they enter. The room is dark, but there is enough light to see the figure is female.

Action?

[Ridai]

"Ssh," Daciana calms the woman with an added charm person II (DC 26). If Daciana isn't able to charm her, hopefully the others are. If the woman is charmed, the witch has her companions identify her.

[MikelaC1]

Still a bit groggy from being unceremoniously awakened, the womans will is no match for Daciana's charm and she relaxes back down into the bed, with a smile on her face. Selinda and Linteshar enter the room as well, Selinda whispering, Katalla, the #6 and unless I am mistaken the gish was Erthon, the #7 Even whispering, the woman hears Selinda and bobs her head in agreement.

[Ridai]

Daciana gently converges on the bed with Linteshar, not trying to distract her to have her killed, given her acute senses. Instead, she draws Katalla into a kiss, at the same time judging if she might have the potential to be a Nocticulan. Killing the whole hierarchy is one thing. To have one of the top members completely converted would add insult to injury and add a new valuable ally, kept in line by witches and priestesses as she slowly is shown a new way.

Of course, if she does not have what makes for a good and successful Nocticulan, she just invites Linteshar along to give her a quiet, blissful death.

[MikelaC1]

Concentrating on Katalla, Daciana cant really see Selinda, but if she did, she would see a smile of approval on the senior witch's face, Daciana proving to be a perfect Nocticulan. Katalla is joined on the bed by Linteshar and Selinda, who deepen the charm that Katalla is under. Converting her right now is not something they really have the time for so they'll just bring her along for the rest of the mission, who knows, seeing the #6 in tow with the women might cause some confusion in the enemy ranks.

[Ridai]

"You are safe with us, sweet Katalla. We'll bring you to a better place, filled with pleasures these brutes denied you, where you can embrace your true talents and finally be who you really are." Daciana kisses Katalla again, with the temptation of a Nocticulan and the love of a Tishtinian. Sure, she could try to convert her to a Tishtinian, but given she is already evil, Nocticula is a better fit. In the end, the trinity is one, so the final result is the same in Daciana's eyes, even if most followers of the trinity might think otherwise. But who knows, maybe Katalla eventually embraces more than just one path, like Daciana is doing.

With Katalla in tow (Daciana even holding hands with her to further add confusion for the enemy), they search the rest of the floor, before moving downwards.

[MikelaC1]

The group explores all the way around the outside of the upper floor, finding nothing else but empty rooms. It becomes obvious however that there is a big space in the middle of the upper floor and since there is only one door in, it makes sense that it is the actual "temple", the worship hall of Oriton, and that supposition is confirmed by Katalla. She tells the group it is possible that Rynack, the 4th (and last high ranking player present in the temple) is inside, but she doesn't know for sure. The door does not appear locked or trapped in any way.

[Ridai]

Daciana looks to Linteshar, buffing her with displacement and greater heroism. "Would you be so kind to teleport us inside?" Same procedure as with the Baron: hit him fast with a coordinated ambush, Daciana firing a hold person (DC 26).

[MikelaC1]

Katalla stays Linteshar's attempt to teleport...the temple is warded against that, you'll have to just enter the old fashioned way

[Ridai]

Then they enter the old-fashioned way, with the same plan as before.

[MikelaC1]

The door opens and the group sees the temple room of Orithon, and just as they suspected, it is occupied. One man is standing, by the regalia he is wearing, one would assume him to be Rynack. Two men are kneeling in front of him, presumably supplicants or perhaps initiates of some sort, and three men are seated in pews, watching the ceremony.
As the group enters, all the men turn to look at them, with Rynack saying...Katalla, what are you doing, what are you thinking, those are the enemy, have you gone stupid?
This gives the initiative to the group, who does Daciana target and with what?

[Ridai]

"All of this is unnecessary, but you sadly brought it upon yourself." The words are laced with a mass hold person (DC 28), targetting all men.

[MikelaC1]

Rynack and one of the initiates manage to resist Daciana's spell but the other 4 go rigid, the men sitting continue to stay seated, and the initiate topples over. Selinda targets the other initiate with a charm spell that he cannot resist, but she leaves Rynack to Linteshar, who attacks him with her sword. Rynack only has a scepter in hand that he was using to perform the ceremony, he waves ineffectively like a cudgel in attempting to hold off her, its almost comical in its futility. After his first attempt he discards the "weapon" and appears to be casting, moving forward to touch Linteshar, likely with some sort of wound infliction spell. The tactic proves to be very unsound as it just leaves him wide open to be grappled by the succubus since he already touching her, and before he knows it, he is locked in a passionate kiss, all thoughts of resistance fleeing his mind. Unlike the head priest however, Linteshar doesn't stop at level 0 and moments later, the man goes rigid and then slack, a look of total bliss still on his dead face.

[Ridai]

Daciana asks Katalla "Can you tell me who these men are?"

[MikelaC1]

Katalla rattles off a list of names, the men in the pews are just low ranking peons, and the two initiates were just that, initiates not yet accepted as full priests.

[Ridai]

Which means that they, too, have to go. As they are killed, Daciana asks Katalla how she felt being one of the few women among the followers and how she was seen and treated by the others. Afterwards, they head downstairs, continuing their sweep of the building, which probably is about to go loud. But with the top people taken out (one way or another), most of what is left is cannon fodder. Ideally, they would start to see the error of their ways, no longer worship their god and do penance for what they have been involved in. But Daciana doubts such a luxury would happen.

[MikelaC1]

Katalla tells Daciana that she was, in fact, the only woman in the building, and was seen as little more than a camp follower for a god of war. Her own power kept it from becoming a nightly rapefest, but she was not viewed as a "real" priestess by upper echelon, and while she had enough power to keep the peons in line, the ones above her had no respect for her.

[Ridai]

Daciana shakes her head. "Despicable and typical. You are too good for them. You made it this far in an environment entirely hostile to you, it is about time you get to flourish in one that is much more rewarding, where your talents and accomplishments are appreciated."

[MikelaC1]

The group heads down the stairs, but just before they get to the bottom and before they can react, they see two guards at the base, one of which blows a loud horn, while screaming Intruders!
The hall that the stairs lead into runs left/right away from the steps, so if the party can get down there, they can establish a position where the defenders can only come at them from one side or the other, with them able to have two people paired to block each passage. Of course, there is the issue of the guards before they can get to the set position.

Actions? Selinda is starting her casting, while Linteshar is drawing her blade.

[Ridai]

"Oh, that makes things rather simple," Daciana recognizes, putting a quickened charm person I on both men. She quietly directs both of them to each side of the stairs, as if they were taking cover from the enemies above. The witch then makes the group invisible with an invisibility sphere. And now they wait for people to pile up on both sides.

[MikelaC1]

The charm person takes effect and then the group is able to get in between them, readying for the attack of the priests. It doesnt take long, as 3 people come from each side of the hall...even though Daciana has covered the group with an invisibility sphere, it seems as though they can see them

Action?

[Ridai]

Daciana casts charm person II (DC 27) on the masses.

[roll0] targets

[MikelaC1]

Daciana is only facing 3 opponents that she can target, and her spell takes down 2 of them as they lower their weapons with a smile. Meanwhile, Katalla standing beside her casts a hold and snares the last of their opponents. On the other side, Linteshar is standing to guard Selinda as she casts, and suddenly all of their opponents are fighting each other, victims of her confusion spell.

Orders for the charmed victims?

[Ridai]

"Be so kind and drop your weapons, stand against the wall, face towards it and eyes closed," she orders, then places a peck on Katalla's cheek for the help. "How does it feel?" she asks the woman, meaning both turning against those who despised her as well as the kiss.

If the confused men get out of control (or aren't immediately cut down by Linteshar), Daciana charms them as well, but otherwise she is on the lookout for reinforcements.