Doomed to Die on a Floating rock

[redfeline]

You have made your way deep into the capital city, a city sized castle that extends in all directions, the literal center of the world. The four of you are among the most powerful beings in all of existence, and yet oddly not noble. You now stand just outside the grand hall of the emperor, however today you meet with Secretary Evergreen, an older gnome. This is not uncommon, as she is the advisor directly to the emperor and in charge of all magical dealings of the Empire and thus each of the 5 kingdoms. Clearly something magical was afoot and you are meant to stop it.

Greetings, I am glad all four of you could make it. Unfortunately I bring you dark tidings. The gnome reaches to a belt pouch and pulls something out. Putting it in his mouth he crunches the amber stone loudly. You are all aware his addiction to maple flavored candies. I need you to travel to Te'wo, and investigate the town of Dwarka along the inner sea. Royal informants believe a cult is there seeking to feed our world to its dark lords. Unfortunately I do not have more to provide you with, but I believe you possess sufficient skills and magics to find more evidence.

[Thokk_Smash]

With a bow strapped across his back larger than he is tall, Rorik Bjornson considers the gnome's words seriously. Anything that warrants the summoning of him and the others present must be dire indeed. Stroking his beard idly, he considers what he knows of the town of Dwarka.

First roll(s) of the game, baybee.

Knowledge (Local) on Dwarka, like is it a small or large town, what is it known for, any potential hotspots of horror, or whether any new cults have popped up; assuming Local would cover it: [roll0]
Knowledge (Religion) on possible cults that may be around Dwarka that would be possible leads to investigate: [roll1]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Ah, that's always sad to see," bemoans an aged halfling with her hair in an uncomfortably tight bun. "I'll clear my schedule. Is there a contact in Dwarka who we should meet when we arrive?"

Margo dressed for the meeting in an official-looking blue robe, worn over the silvery bodysuit that constitutes her rumpus gear. With a snap of her fingers and an unintelligible word, a quill pen and a small stack of church stationery appear in her hands. She starts writing down the notice to her acolytes of her impending absence, but stops halfway through the first word. "Speaking of informants, is this meant to be a secret mission?"

She's casting Quickened Minor Creation twice. Using powerful magic for mundane tasks is a thing we can definitely expect from Margo.

If one can assist with knowledge checks, then Margo will do so. She has a bunch of copies of Expert's Insight and can take 10 on any skill she's trained in. She likes to know exactly how her actions will turn out, and so will try to use this ability pretty much all the time.

Knowledge (Local): 61, to assist Rorik's check when he brings up the subject.

Also Perception: 61 and Appraise: 73, just to notice things about Evergreen's candy. You don't get to 40 ranks in Perception by only focusing on what's obviously important. :smalltongue:

[redfeline]

The gnome looks down at his feet. "We don't have a contact there any more." Evergreen looks up at Margo. "This mission has already proven lethal, that is part of why you are here. I would suggest keeping your location or at least your purpose secret. I fear things may become more dangerous if you do not. However under no circumstance should you reveal that this cult is a credible threat to the entire world."



Dwarka is a small town inhabited mostly by elves and half elf fisherman, and a few lizardman traders. It is only a few centuries old and is the result of migrants after a fire destroyed much of the nearby town Gullwing and polluted the river.

[paradox26]

Brak stands eye to eye with the gnome. His robes is plain and well worn, though made of good quality fabric. It is, however, strangely, not magical. In fact, to magical detection, virtually nothing he wears is magical. It is possible that he is merely hiding his magical aura, but it is also possible that he is what he appears to be, a simple blue goblin. However, he stands calm and confident in this gathering of the finest the world has to offer.

"I can travel there, and have some ability to gather information, minor as it may be compared to others of my kind," he says, leaving it unsaid as to exactly what he considers himself to be 'his kind'. Blues tend to be psionic, but are not necessarily renowned for their power.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Why would I say that?" Margo pipes up regarding the 'credible threat to the entire world.' "It would be a lie. Whatever they may have done with our agents, their credibility is far from established."

Even so, she rewords her note accordingly, hoping to discourage rumors without giving anything away. She then opens up some invisible river through spacetime and sends the message to the desk of another cleric in her convent.

"That would be appreciated, Brak. Asking around does seem like the most straightforward path at this stage," she says, assuming from idiomatic connotation that he means the mundane, skill-based sense of information gathering. "Though, knowing what happened to our operatives who tried that, I don't like the idea of going anywhere alone. What's your mode of transportation? Can you take the group with you?"

[redfeline]

I am very sorry I do not have more information to give you. I have arranged for an airship to take you there. You will find it at the north dock.

[Thokk_Smash]

"Then let us be off," Rorik declares. Fitting deed to word, he begins to make his way towards the north dock.

For future reference: Rorik will constantly be taking 10 on Perception for 73.

He has Blindsight out to 60ft, but only for the purposes of things that have moved within the last round. Anything that hasn't or doesn't move while within 60ft of him is not detected.

He also has Blindsense out to 400ft, Tremorsense out to 200ft, and True Seeing out to 100ft.

He can also see Invisible creatures as long as they are within his line of sight.

[paradox26]

"I can do a psychic version of teleportation, and I could take the whole group with me. But I am unfamiliar with the area we are going to. So it might be safest if we travel by airship, as suggested. It will also give us a lower profile than travelling by dint of my powers," Brak says. "Shall we depart? I have all I need already with me, so unless one of you has need of further time, we should go as soon as possible."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"True enough," Margo nods. She turns to Evergreen again. "I believe we are ready, Secretary. Do you have a ship that you think would be better for this trip than mine? Particularly if time is of the essence?"

Evergreen probably already knows about the baroque metal contraption that the old priestess created. It clocks in at roughly twice the speed of a wild roc: pretty fast, albeit not quite on the level with some things ancient magic could accomplish.

[redfeline]

if you are comfortablewith your own ship, you may take it. I did not know it would be ready with supplies for such a journey.

The trip will mostly be downward decent with some travel south east. Expect to take 2 weeks.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

“It was thoughtful of you to prepare it,” Margo says, “but the trip should not be too long, and I can keep everyone fed in any case.” She smiles reassuringly. “Also, it where I keep all of my maps, and I’d rather they stay organized. I hope you understand.”

As Margo’s adamantine ship resides in the same guarded dock as the empire’s fleet, this doesn’t constitute much change of plans. It’s big enough to house the crew and their supplies and equipment, with space left over for a small chapel to the Sculptor that she uses for religious functions abroad.

She gathers the group in the small windowed room that constitutes the bridge. Either wall is decorated with meticulous maps, organized and dusted with a stylized pin on the capital dock as a you-are-here marker.

“Alright, as we’ve noted, teleportation directly to the small town would be problematic. Ship travel directly there may be an issue as well, as they likely do not have a dock. As such, I propose we to dock in a nearby city and walk the rest of the way…”

[redfeline]

The airship is teleported a few times until it eventually arrives near greatfall port. A rather large port near the largest water fall of any continent exists. A giant cascade of water falls from the sea deep down into the abyss far bellow. Once a year the continent of Erifu passes under it seeding a number of temporary oases miles bellow. From there the group gets an accurate description of a large city not far from your destination and teleport to it. Now is the last chance of the group to interact with a large city life before they walk to the remote fishing village.

[paradox26]

Brak has little interest in the city, since it is not anywhere near as fascinating as Capital City. So he starts to head towards the small fishing village. He doesn't waste any of his powers, in case people can detect the use of psionics, which would blow their cover.