The Winds of Oblivion

[Pent]

Zeph nods and agrees with Storms. We'll hold onto this piece of evidence for now. It could be useful in turning the village against Alana if played at the right time.

"Agreed, lets get back to town."

[AlphaLuke]

The men and Kalinda make their way back over the muddy, windy path. They move without speaking, and the silence is an unsettling shade on Rolland. He stares blankly ahead, still clearly in shock.

Our adventurers ponder disturbing thoughts too. Someone is trying to kill them. Presumably Alana, but perhaps her over-ambitious brother. That creature either ate or absorbed townsfolk. Men and women who were healed by Alana. Alana brought a man back from the dead . . . but at what horrible cost? Is this man sealed to the same fate as the others? And what of the Apparition? Will the shore party be able to get the needed supplies back to the ship? Or will they meet the same grisly end as the poor souls who met the Gibbering Mouther?

In altogether too short of a time, they begin to see the outbuildings at the north of Boatswain's Rest. The townspeople seem cheery, if slightly apprehensive of the crew. Many seem more than a little astonished by Rolland's silence.

[Pent]

Zeph leads the group to the home of Alana. He remembers the house well from the night prior.

[AlphaLuke]

The group makes their way back to the main meeting house of the town. The sucking mud has mostly been cleared from the wooden planks covering the streets, but it's still a dreary slog.

When they arrive, they're greeted by both Jayen and Alana, standing at the top of the steps looking down to the street. There's also a conspicuous number of fishermen carrying the tools of their trade gathered about. All looking completely uninterested, of course.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms comes to a halt. It seems things were escalating faster than they expected... and he knew he didn’t have the people skills to de-escalate the situation, or the armaments to match it. Damn it, he needed his hammer! Storms quietly gulps and hopes Zeph and Kal can talk their way out of this, because he’s not at all certain they can fight there way out of it.

[Pent]

Something bothers Zeph about the gathering of fishermen. It's midday. Why aren't they at sea? And what are they even doing. Just...loitering. Zeph takes a second to examine them all.

Spoiler

Show

(1d20+16)[35] Zeph Perception

[AlphaLuke]

As Zeph observes the fishermen, he notices that they are loitering without apparent purpose. The carry tools they aren't using. Examine fruits at stalls but don't buy. Some even make a point of chatting with each other, but their conversations are vague and pointless. They're watching. Waiting. It would seem that they are here in case they are needed, but have been instructed to not be overly hostile or imposing. They're security, presumably for Alana and Jayen.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms looks up at Alana and says ”Well, we’re back.”

[Pent]

"And not without incident...unfortunately. Before we could get to the logging site we were attacked by Harpies. Nasty things. They put quite a shock into Rolland here. I'm sure you heard the thunder. I don't like calling down that much power...but I wanted to keep Rolland safe.

I would think that you of all people would understand that, Alana? A willingness to call down terrible power to protect our own? But really, all we want is to be left alone? Are we the same?"

Zeph slowly approaches, palms down and out. "I think the rest of this conversation would be a lot easier for all of us if we continued in private."

[AlphaLuke]

As Zeph moves forward, Alana stiffens her posture slightly. Like she's preparing to fight . . . or flee. When Zeph mentions the fight with the "harpies" she spares a glance toward Jayen, who looks forward stoically, showing no visible surprise.

So . . . Zeph thinks. She didn't send the Mouther. And she didn't know that Jayen had. Interesting.

Calling attention to Rolland causes Jayen to speak. "Rolland!? Where is Quinn?! I specifically asked him to - " Alana's gentle hand on his shoulder calms Jayen to silence. When she speaks, it's with exaggerated calm. Still, somehow, her voice carries.

"We thank you for the defense of young Rolland. It is truly a blessing of Kelinahat that you were sent to us. Harpies are a scourge that our sailors know all too well. Blessed be she that brought you upon her Ebon Wings."

A general murmuring of "Blessed be she" can be heard from the crowd at large.

"Young Rolland. Are you injured? Anything that requires our Lady's ministrations?"

Rolland breaks his silence for the first time in over an hour, "N-no! No - please - thank you - m-my Lady."

Alana purses her lips slightly before nodding. "Off with you, then. I'm sure Master Johnston is missing his apprentice. And if you see Quinn Miller, tell him to come see the Mayor. I'm sure his absence has a good story behind it."

Rolland nods hurriedly before scurrying off into the crowd. Jayen looks after him with a sour expression before turning back to the adventurers. "Well, s'no use standing out here in the cold to talk about lumber. C'mon in and you can tell me how you liked the stock." The two usher the adventurers back into the same meeting room where they sat before. The crowd outside disperses.

[Pent]

Zeph heads over to the table in the middle of the room.

"Someone here is playing with forces beyond the rules of nature. Beyond even sanity. And possibly, beyond their own control."

Zeph pulls out the pocket knife, lays it carefully on the table.

"We weren't ambushed by any harpies. It was a lesser shogoth. A mouther. Its dozen mouths screamed sense out of poor Rolland."

Zeph lays out the inscribed gold ring.

"It was targeted at us. A creature from another realm summoned here to attack your guests, and their host."

Zeph lays out the ivory pipe next to the other two items. He steps back from the table and motions for Alana and Jayen to examine them.

"Upon its destruction, it left these three items. Rolland recognized the items as belonging to people of this village. One of you has been summoning these unnatural for your own gain for years. I'm grateful that you agreed to meet in private, because I'm sure the innocent townspeople would just as soon lynch all of us for being even tangentially involved in this matter. So none of us are leaving this room until this matter is settled."

Spoiler

Show

(1d20+1)[16]
Sense motive

[DeathbyFlossing]

Behind his mask, Storms-As-He-Walks blinks. He was... NOT expecting Zeph to lay their cards on the table so brazenly. This could break bad and hard. He needed to be prepared for anything at this point.

[AlphaLuke]

With every item placed upon the table, Alana's eyes grow wider and her face grows paler. In stark contrast, Jayen's eyes narrow and his face slowly shades red. By the end of Zeph's display, a vein visibly pulses on his neck.

The room is still and nearly silent for a torturous few seconds, with only the steady *toc . . . toc . . . toc* of the mantle clock breaking the sheet of murderous quiet.

Then, the clock stops.

It doesn't sound like it stops. It stops. Everything stops.

Zeph and Storms feel a silence unlike anything they have ever felt before. Suffocating. Enveloping. Absolute. They thought they knew silence. They were wrong. They suddenly realize that they can't hear their own heartbeats. Their breath. Desperately, the strain to clutch their chests, to scream, but they are paralyzed. Their arms just as stuck as the arms on the mantle clock.

Then, they see it. Something wrong and writhing, slipping out of the space between space. The time between time. It emerges from the shadows of the room like pus from a wound. The thing doesn't have skin, only depthless and infinite void. And within its shapeless mass shine the pinpoint lights of thousands of stars. It moves, undulating, across the room, bending the space around it, toward the frozen beet-red face of Jayen. Then, with surprising ease, Jayen turns to the writhing wrong. The only other thing moving in the room. In the universe. He smiles, and his face grows calm. His eyes grow distant, filled with the darkness punctuated by stars. He holds out his hand and touches the void. Then, as calmly as a spring breeze, he's gone. He and the void both. They don't pop out of existence or vinish like a teleportation. They simply stop being.

The explosion that follows causes both Zeph and Storms to clap their hands over their ears. They curl into balls on the ground, unable to endure the pain of thunderous boom after boom. Only after a few seconds do they realize that they aren't under attack. That the massive pounding that has sent everyone in the room to the floor is actually the steady *toc . . . toc . . . toc* of the mantle clock.

Alana, shaking and deathly white, begins to pick herself up from the floor. "Oh . . . oh gods no. Please, gods no."

[Pent]

Zeph's voice is shaky and hoarse. "It wasn't you. I thought it was you. But it was him. Playing dumb. But you had to know a little. You had to know something. You live together (weird as that is). You're not a cleric. Not of Kelinahat. But you didn't know what forces Jayen was using. Tell me. Tell me what you know. You're brother may not be able to be saved. But you, these townspeople can be. Please, tell me everything so we can help them."

[AlphaLuke]

Alana stares at Zeph. Stares through him. Slowly, shakily, she begins to stand.

Doctor al-Aruni moves quickly to her side and gets her into a chair. Faster than should be possible, he has a steaming cup of tea in the pale woman's hands. She holds it in both hands, taking shaky sips every few minutes.

"H-he . . . he's gone too far. W-we promised . . . *a long pause*"

Doctor al-Aruni steps forward to refill her tea from a small kettle he's pulled from his satchel. "Perhaps, we should start from the beginning, madam? Where does your healing come from? I am, as you know, a doctor, but your skill is beyond anything I've ever seen." After the shy and unassuming Thuvian steps back, Zeph notices him stow a small clear vial in one of his voluminous sleeves.

"The island. We . . . I mean . . . my people . . . we've always benefited from the magic of the island. In small ways at first. Good fishing. Calm seas. Fair winds. Long life. No disease. The old forefathers said it was Kelinahat's blessing that cradled us here. Kept us safe. But . . . but when I was elevated to the rank of high priestess I knew that something was wrong. I felt no blessing from her. She answered none of my prayers."

"My grandmother, the previous high priestess, explained that Kelinahat was a . . . a lie. Something we used to explain what we experience here. Perhaps the first of us were genuine followers, but for generations the goddess had been silent. Being a minor goddess of secrets, it is easy to explain why she'd be quiet. Why her teachings were sometimes shadowed or inconsistent. Truth is, the island is what gives us our power. In exchange for our fortune, we'd occasionally lose a man to what we call "the Song". Something called them to the island to the southeast. The one with the ruins. Never more than one man a year, and never anyone with a family to care for. They were old, ready to sail away, and ready to keep the community alive. It was their time, and they usually went quietly and with a smile upon their face. We'd never even questioned it, not until a little over a year ago. The Song . . . it got louder."

She takes another long sip and the doctor refills her cup. "And what changed, a year ago? What happened?"

"The seas grew rougher. The fish grew smaller. And people started coming down with the chills. Suddenly, the Song was singing almost every week. The men it took were younger, more hale, and more important to the town. That's when a mysterious stranger sailed into our port. Sköll. We almost sent him away, but he was able to tell me everything about us without missing a single detail. He said he knew where the Song came from and he could help us return things back to normal. He was so charming. So . . . intimate." She flushes slightly.

The doctor calmly refills her cup again, placing a gentle hand upon her shoulder as he does. "What did he tell you? What did he show you?"

"He took me into a cave near the pond and led me down a series of passageways. We walked for what seemed to be hours before finally seeing daylight again. When we emerged, we were on that island with the ruins. And there was something else. Like a . . . an emptiness. I know it sounds mad, but there was a nothing there."

Staring forward, eyes unfocused, she continues.

"We stayed there for days. He showed me the stars in that place. He showed me how to drink from the waters there. How to listen to the island. Hear what she wanted. How to work with her. But she wanted more. Ever more. Always hungry."

"I begged. Reasoned that there could be no more. That we needed to return to the way things were. The way things had been when she only took what she needed."

"But she refused. She said that the time of sleep was over. That the time of wakefulness was upon her and she needed to be full and ready to receive the Stranger, that she might make him pleased."

Alana continues, almost in a daze.

"Sköll taught me the ways of how to make her full. That she might return the fish. That the storms might calm. He taught me how to make it so the Song only affected those I chose. Those who were wounded or elderly. He taught me of the false Order he once served. Told me that they'd come for us. Kill every one of my people if they knew what we were. What we had been benefiting from for generations. He taught me so much on that island."

She shakes her head slightly, like she's trying to clear it. The doctor moves to refill her cup again. "And your brother? What has he to do with this?"

"Jayen . . . after days of being gone he grew worried. He followed our path through the caves. To the island. He saw the nothing. Sköll tried to reason with him, but he wasn't ready. He saw only power. With the power of the island, we could stop hiding. She could supply us with an army. She could raise our dead. We could stop living the meager lives of wind-beaten fishermen. We could return to the home of our forefathers and punish those who'd exiled us."

"I made him swear to secrecy and patience, upon our bond as blood. And so, I thought he was staying true. But it seems I was deceived. I have no doubt he has been returning to the island and communing with the nothing. I'm sure he's brought forth more than that lesser shoggoth. Please . . . please. Spare us. My people . . . they have no idea. We just want to live in peace. It was never supposed to come to this."

[Pent]

"Why a tunnel?" Zeph blurts out, feeling better, trying to keep up with all the thoughts racing in his head. "Why not just sail-" Then he remembers how he tried to fly over hte island, but was mysteriously redirected every time during his scouting mission. "Its enchanted." He answers for himself.

"We need to go to that tunnel, right now. We need to stop this. You need to come with us to show the way. The quicker the voice is ended, the more of your town is safe. Have our weapons brought to us at the cave. If you want to keep us escorted out of town, that's your prerogative. But as I comprehend it, the only one in danger from us has fled. Have your people Continue with the lumber operation as planned."

Zeph gets down on a knee in front of Alana. He reaches out to put a gentle hand on hers and holds eye contact. "I understand why you'd fear us. Truly. But none of the good people outside this room know anything about the outsiders, and are therefore safe from us. We need your help to put a stop to his as quickly as possible and let everyone else resume their normal life. Please?"

Zeph looks to Kalinda any sign of approval or disapproval.

[AlphaLuke]

Alana looks fearful at the prospect of going to the caves.

"I . . . I do not know the way. It was shown to me only twice. Once there and once back. I have not returned to the nothing since."

She looks cautiously toward Kalinda, and her gleaming sword in its sheath. "Y-your weapons are in that cupboard there." She points to a small coat cupboard at the side of the room.

Kalinda grabs the items and distributes them to their owners. She then looks to Zeph with a grim expression. "She's tainted. She cannot remain where she could flee in our absence. Either she comes with us as a prisoner or . . ." she lets her sentence trail intentionally.

[Pent]

Zeph closes his eyes in pain. Nods, and looks back to Alana.

"Please. You know what we have to do if you stay. If you come with us, you might be able to do more good and help your people."

If you don't, we have to kill you, and fight a whole town off, steal its lumber.

[AlphaLuke]

Alana seems to breathe in the implications of her situation. Then, wiping her shaking hands on the front of her dress to smooth it, she raises her chin. "I will do what I can for my people. If you would ready yourselves, I'll lead you to the cave. From there, I will follow, but mind that I'll be just as blind to its turnings as yourselves."

[Pent]

Zeph retrieves his crossbow.

He reviews his spell book...after the mouther he is not as prepared as he would like. Though the trip through the caves sounds like its not a quick jaunt, they might have to camp in an alcove overnight.

He looks to Kalinda. "Please update the Captain, and please be clear that anyone who knows anything will be out of town."

Zeph recalls what he's read of de-flooded cavern passages, and how explorers would keep from getting lost. Pick a side, stick to that wall, mark your routes with chalk. Do I have any chalk? Does someone in this town? Maybe they have paint we can bring with us....

Even if he did, clearly this is no normal cave system. Powerful spells, most likely of an aberrant origin, are guarding their destination. Did Skoll get through because he was an agent of the outsider? What hope do they have?

Better question - what other options do they have? After a second of pondering, with no brilliant ideas, he shares his concerns and his final question with the group.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms-As-He-Walks takes up his hammer, greatly comforted by the feel of his old friend in his hands. ”I’m ready whenever,” he says as his holsters it on his back.

[AlphaLuke]

He looks to Kalinda. "Please update the Captain, and please be clear that anyone who knows anything will be out of town."

"Aye, sir." Kalinda replies immediately. She, without any attempt to hide it, pulls her notebook and begins scribing away in her small, neat hand.

Zeph recalls what he's read of de-flooded cavern passages, and how explorers would keep from getting lost. Pick a side, stick to that wall, mark your routes with chalk. Do I have any chalk? Does someone in this town? Maybe they have paint we can bring with us....

Doctor al-Aruni rummages around in his satchel. "I have some talc. I grind it into a desiccant powder when needed, but it should do as a marking chalk. Here." He hands over three small sticks about the size of Zeph's forefinger.

Even if he did, clearly this is no normal cave system. Powerful spells, most likely of an aberrant origin, are guarding their destination. Did Skoll get through because he was an agent of the outsider? What hope do they have?

Kalinda, finishing her note to the Captain, looks up at Zeph's ponderings. "We have an agent of the Dominion. Right there." She points to Alana. "Even if she's repentant, she'll likely be tainted enough to help us move through any barriers that may have been erected against us."

"And if I am not?" Alana asks, obviously trying to be strong but with more than a hint of fear.

"If you are tainted, but of no further use to us, you'll be dealt with. You aren't blameless here. You have been feeding your people to this nothing you saw. You may not be as power mad as your brother, but you aren't the victim here."

Spoiler

Show

If everyone is ready to go, we can start to move toward the caves. After that, it'll be scheduling for another online session as you guys go through your first, honest-to-god dungeon crawl in a while.

[Pent]

Spoiler

Show

Shiny. Let's go be bad good guys.

[Pent]

Wounded, bloody, burned, tired.

Zeph enters an almost meditative trance.

For now, I am not my body. My body is just a vessel for my mind. My mind is uninjured and whole. I will learn these spells.

He's only vaguely aware of magic spells being cast upon him to heal his wounds as he focuses on this strange spellbook.

Zeph casts Read Magic, and studies the book intently.

[AlphaLuke]

__________________________________________________ _______

The entire party breathes hard in the steady, drenching rain. There is no more thunder. No more thrum of eldritch energy from the obelisk. Just a steady, soaking staccato of rain on limp, lifeless bodies.

Jayen is gone, atomized and disintegrated by a flurry of lightning. Alana lays motionless at the base of the impossibly dark obelisk. The prawn-like creature that slithered out of her ear and to the stones, crushed at her side.

The creatures summoned by Jayen occasionally twitch or spasm in their dismembered state, but pose no true threat.

The obelisk remains floating in the space nearby, somehow seemingly untouched by rain or ambient light. It hangs there, motionless and horrifying in its own special way.

[Pent]

The enemies are dead. Zeph doesn't have to kill Alana to keep knowledge buried. So why does he feel so hollow?

He looks down at the ground where Jayen used to be, now the only trace of his prior presence is a black scorch mark and a faint red stain two meters in diameter.

That was me. I atomized him. ... And that's why I feel depressed. I don't think I like violence.

And yet, I forsook my curiosity in order to rush up here and do this, didn't I? I never got to see what was behind those big doors. I wonder if we can investigate them on our way back through the caves.

Surely I'm in no rush to go back to the town, without Alana. Or with Alana's corpse.

And hey townspeople, don't hurt us, your two leaders are dead, we can't explain why, just trust us that we're not a threat to you. And we can have our lumber now? kthxbye

Yet he's not sure what he would have done differently. Not really. He rushed through the caves with the hope that it would save Alana's life... If only for a day before the Order did its job.

He breathes out one long breath. And with it, all his current anxieties.

Take the next step, Zeph.

Examine the obelisk, get back to town, bring Alana's body if you can. Get the lumber, leave.

Zeph looks around at his team, and adds a new task to his list, and prioritizes it first.

He goes around to each member, to see how they are feeling, and how he can help. He starts with the Doctor, who will be the most helpful in stabilizing his team.

[Pent]

Zeph inhales for a count of 5, and exhales for a count of 7.

Its a subtle change in him. Slightly different, a little more distant from the events that just transpired a blink ago.

He gets control of his mind, and focuses it on the tasks at hand.

First, the ashes of our foe,

Spoiler

Show

Perception: (1d20+16)[24]

Then the obelisk.

Spoiler

Show

Knowledge check Arcana : (1d20+10)[28]
Spellcraft: [roll]1d20+11]/roll]

Then, anything else I can learn about what kept me from flying to this island.

Spoiler

Show

Knowledge check Nature: (1d20+10)[28]
Knowledge check Planes: (1d20+10)[11]
Knowledge check Geo: (1d20+8)[19]

[Pent]

Spoiler: tpying si hrad

Show

darn you left bracket!
Spellcraft: (1d20+11)[27]

[AlphaLuke]

The good doctor nods that he's alright, and begins to examine any wounds his two friends may have sustained.

Zeph kicks through the ashes of what was the Mayor of Boatswain's Rest. The poor man was completely atomized by Zeph's called lightning. Nothing could have - Zeph's boot finds something buried in the ash. A medallion? No, an amulet. Rubbing the ash of the piece, Zeph notices that it has a strange Osirian design with a glowing citrine in its center.

The obelisk continues to float silently at the center of the island. Its black surface is etched with runes, formulae, and charts, some of which occasionally glow with strange colored light. It radiates a strong hum of conjuration and divination magic. The formulae seem to indicate some kind of location? Maybe a calendar. Perhaps both?

The winds around the island have palpably shifted since they arrived. A strong updraft was previously preventing any air travel to this place, but that updraft has since disappeared. Its almost as if the atmosphere was leaching into space at this point, like a hole in a bladder of air. Something stopped the leak. Zeph can only surmise it was his group.

[Pent]

(What else went through the hole, other than air? The pressure imbalance on the other side of the hole to cause such a vacuum... )

Zeph sacrifices a Vanish spell for an Identify spell, and takes another look at the amulet.

Then, he takes out a pen, and sheets of paper, and begins copying the marks of the obelisk for further study with more resources at his disposal.



(divination and conjuration...divination to identify the time and place, and conjuration to create a portal?)

At one point, a drop of blood falls onto a fresh sheet he's copying on. The pain he feels from the battle reemerges, taking over his curiosity for a moment. He could take a potion...

or...

He tears off a small chunk of the now-ruined sheet and sticks it to the wound. He pulls out a fresh sheet and keeps copying. The pain disappears from his attention like the wind, and conversation of his teammates as he focuses on getting each angle of each rune exactly right.