The Winds of Oblivion

[DeathbyFlossing]

The Varisian scans the room with a somewhat haughty expression on his face, before he spots Zephyr and his eyes light up. As he walks toward the table, it becomes immediately obvious that the second he saw Zeph, everyone else in the room was dismissed as irrelevant. He saunters over and grabs Zeph’s hand and earnestly shakes it, excitedly exclaiming, ”Sarenrae’s marvelous tits, a real, live, Shory! Oh I have so many questio-OW! JIMOTHY!” He then reaches into his shirt and pulls out a hedgehog that glistens like silver, who promptly... coos something to him in a language that more resembles singing than prose speech.

“Ah, yes, sorry Jim, right. Ahem, Zephyr Leornan, Jimothy Prickles here has asked me to deliver a message to you on behalf of his matron, Sarenrae.” The Varisian pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to Zeph. It reads: Zeph, do not mourn for me. I died in battle against a worthy foe, and have rejoined my clan. They’re all here. My mother, my father, my old best friend Arrow-Catcher, everyone. They do not blame me, Zeph. They recognize that I was a stupid child who made a stupid mistake, and spent the rest of my life paying for it. Never in my wildest dreams did that possibility even occur to me. I thought I would have to kill the evil I unleashed just to have a hope of forgiveness, but they do not view me as the one who needs forgiving. They lay the blame on my elders, who failed in their duty to keep curious children away from a place they knew was horribly dangerous.
I am, at last at peace. Thank you for being my friend; I only wish we could have known each other longer. I hope you find the truth you seek.

Oh, and since I need no longer hide from that beast, being already dead and judged and all, I suppose it is safe to tell you my real name.

No longer Storms-As-He-Walks, I, Azghat-Blood of Lyrune-Quah, bid you fond farwell.

“Right, Now that that’s done, do you think you could spare a moment to talk about aeromantic theory?”

[Pent]

Zeph quickly down a drink. It's strong, and has an immediate effect on him, making him feel flippant, a little rebellious. Better than the other feelings he's had the past week.

"If you know all that about me...and you're keeping such a close track of time, how many minutes have you earmarked for all my questions? And were these questions part of your equation?"

[AlphaLuke]

Euphonia doesn't bat an eye. "And there is the first set of questions. Yes, Mr. Leornian, I have input variables for the questions you will . . . have . . . are asking. This is a variable and not a constant because you would, invariably, change the value if I were to disclose it."

[Pent]

Spoiler: a note to Sean

Show

JIMOTHY. ****ING. PRICKLES?!

LMAO!


Also, I didn't mean to ignore your post when I did mine. I think we happened to post at more or less the same time.

[Pent]

Zeph discontinues his conversation with Euphonia in favor of the new, loud, arrival.

He's the new cremember, right?

He sobers as he hears the message of the almost-friend that he got killed.

"Mr. uhm, Ghalmont was it, would you mind if I kept that letter? As a keepsake? As a...reminder?"

Zeph recieves the letter, pockets it carefully.

"Thank you for delivering that message from a friend. Now, what would like to discuss about aeromantic theory? Did you have a specific question in mind? Or is there a new article released for peer review?"

[DeathbyFlossing]

Marcellano is about to reply when Jimothy nips him again, and, when Marcellano glares down at him, burbles something that makes Marcellano go pale, whereupon he suddenly turns to Euphonia and mutters, ”Ah, sorry, sorry, don’t let me butt in! Don’t want to throw the schedule off! We’ll discuss it... some other time!” and immediately begins backing away, before turning and running for the bar as if his life depended on it.

[Pent]

Zeph blinks as the exit boor swings close.

He looks down at his drink. He looks at Euphonia, doing calculus about not even he knows what.

He looks at Archie. Who is looking back at him.

"Archie, what the hells is are we drinking?"

[DeathbyFlossing]

Spoiler: Message to Pent

Show

Sorry about abruptly ducking out like that but you were in the middle of talking to the Exposition Fairy and about to net us some sweet sweet lore. I’m more interested in that then in introducing Marcellano. He’ll wait till you’re done with Euphonia.

[AlphaLuke]

Spoiler

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Sorry for the unplanned and unannounced hiatus. Depression's a hell of a drug.

Archie grabs Ghalmont before he's able to leave. "No need to rush off so soon, lad. We've got a drink for you."

Leading Marcellano Ghalmont by the arm, he sits him down with Zeph and Euphonia. Calling to the bar for six strong whiskeys, he downs three whiskeys himself and sets the remaining three in front of his companions. Euphonia's sits untouched. She scribbles something in her journal.

"We're in the timeline where Mr. Archelos gets very drunk before challenging that Qadiran to darts . . . "

Archie looks over his shoulder to where Euphonia indicates. "Huh. Do I win?"

Euphonia begins to do some serious calculation. "Unclear. Too many variables are still unaccounted for."

Archie downs another whiskey that he acquired from the-gods-only-know-where, "Well, I wouldn't want to upset your charts, 'Phony. If anyone needs me, I'll be playing darts."

Euphonia winces slightly at the nickname, the first sign of true emotion that she's shown yet.

Zeph sees Marcellano discussing something in hushed tones with the hedgehog on his shoulder. Euphonia speaks. "Mr. Leornian. I understand that you are a bona fide Shory Windmaster. Please, for academic posterity, do you know the exact time when the Shory Empire invented the Aeromantic Infadibulum? Texts on the subject remain frustratingly vague. Including those written by your kin. Please tell your adoptive father that the scientific community needs more than year and location for serious academic inquiry."

Zeph is left dumbfounded. Both by the words used and the bluntness of this woman.

Marcellano seems engrossed in a philosophical debate with his Erinaceous friend.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Marcellano argues exhasperatedly with Jimothy, “What did I do wrong THIS time!? I was a bit crass introducing myself, I admit, but-”“But you were excited to meet a living Shory, yes. That was not the problem. The problem was that you handed him a letter from his dead friend, whom he had watched die right in front of him less than a month a go, and then carried on with the conversation as if you had not just dropped an emotional trebuchet stone on him. It is not every day a person gets a literal letter from beyond the grave, and you should have given him a moment to process, that. Then you should have asked him about the fellow, show sympathy for his loss, that kind of thing. Does that make any sense?” Marcellano opened his mouth to argue, then realized this was another of those ‘care about people’s feelings’ things that are so dang obtuse to him. Dammitall! Why am I the only person in the world who doesn’t get this stuff!

[Pent]

Zeph bristles at Euphonia's rebuke of his father.

"My father is no fool. Whatever discoveries he's made that were undocumented, including the exact day, and month of his discovery, would have been published. Which of your calculations show the result where you asked him why he didn't share more? Perhaps there are reasons, reasons more important than the unknown benefits armchair academics can imagine, that would lead to him being purposefully obscure."

Zeph grabs a drink from the half-maniac next to him, downing it while he argues with a rat.

"I'm not a messenger boy. I'm a navigator. You want questions, write a letter yourself. And when you do, tell him I said I'm doing well."

[DeathbyFlossing]

Marcellano and Jimothy Prickles continue to converse in Celesial. ”Look, Marce, imagine that someone had handed you a message that caused you a major emotional upheaval, and then rather flippantly carried on as if nothing had happened; as if your emotional turmoil was completely meaningless to them. How would you feel?” ”Awful, because I’d be in emotional upheaval. But that’s not their problem, so why should they-“ ”IT IS their problem, Marce, because they caused it, and have an obligation to respect that fact.” ”Ok, so causing problems for other people gives me an obligation to- this is the same situation as that poor barmaid in Helliax two years back, isn’t it?” ”Cheliax, and yes, almost exactly.” ”I told you before, I’ll dignify that country with its proper name only only when it pulls its collective head out of its collective a- ahem, what I mean is, when the country stops choking on its collective head and realizes the whole ‘Hell serves Cheliax’ bilge for the lie that it is and ousts the whole infernal lot. I was able to figure out what a bad deal that was, they shouldn’t be having so much trouble with it.”

[AlphaLuke]

Euphonia doesn't really react to Zeph's outburst, other than to tilt her head slightly to the side and gaze at him like some interesting chemical reaction. She lets him finish before speaking.

"Interesting." She scribbles something in her journal without breaking her gaze on Zeph. "You misunderstand me, Mister Leornian. I hold your father in very high regard. His research is the most thorough and complete Shory account by any academic reckoning. I was simply wondering if you had any additional knowledge."

Finally, she looks away and begins writing very quickly. "But it is good to know that I have your permission to reach out to him for further inquiry. I'll make sure to send your regards."

She continues writing when suddenly Archie let's out a ululating whoop of victory from the dartboard.

Without looking up, Euphonia scoots her chair about three feet to the side. "This is the timeline when Mr. Archelos wins against the Qadiran. I would advise you to use non-lethal force."

Jimothy stops talking to Marcellano and looks up at Euphonia. "Wait, did she just say -"

A bottle flies through the air, crashing into a pillar precisely behind where Euphonia was previously sitting. Archie squares off against three angry Qadirans with naught but a dart in his hand. A fourth man moves to flink the Pilot from behind.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Mercellano sips his drink, blinks a couple times in a rather appropriately owlish fashion, then leans turns to Euphonia and asks, ”For clarity, ‘Mr. Archelos’ is the lactically-challenged lush over yonder, yes? I shall return anon, then. Jimothy, mind my drink if you please. Oh, and apologies in advance.”

Marcellano then stands up, and casts a spell, making no attempt to hide the spellcraft. Upon verifying that the Qadirans have noticed, he immediately breaks into an incredibly off key rendition of the Taldan propaganda ballad, “the camel lovers.”

The original version, from the days of Taldor’s repeated wars with Qadira, every second stanza of which consists of a joke along the lines of the type arrogant city people make regarding rural hicks and their sheep, but with camels replacing the sheep and the entire nation of Qadira replacing the rural hicks.

It also includes several borderline blasphemous criticisms against Sarenrae, Qadira’s primary god, but Marcellano, seems to be ad-libbing replacement lines that instead contain outright and blatantly blasphemous insults directed against Asmodeus.

[SPLOILER](1d20+6)[8] Bluff check to piss of the Qadirans to come after Marcellano instead. The spell I cast was Levitate.[/SPLOILER]

[Pent]

Zeph may have drank (drunk?) a little too much.

Still, he has to help Archie!

Zeph casts a Gust of Wind at the one sneaking up on his crewman.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Marcellano sighs. ”You know what? I had a whole plan to piss you boys off, lure you out side, and then levitate beyond your reach. Deal with the problem without anybody getting you, you know? But screw it, you dunderheads aren’t worth going that much trouble for.”

With that, Marcellano begins chanting in Terran while running his hands through a set of gestures known as the Earth-God Beckoning Mudras.

Spoiler

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Marcellano casts Summon Monster 4 to summon (1d4+1)[5] Small earth elementals

[DeathbyFlossing]

Spoiler

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(1d20+2)[14] initiative for Marcellano, (1d20-1)[10] (1d20-1)[16] (1d20-1)[15] (1d20-1)[19] (1d20-1)[0] for earth elementals. The plan is for the elementals to grapple the Qadirans so that Archie can get clear, freeing up Marcellano for his area affect spells ( all of which do damage; somehow I never thought about what he’d do about a friendly in the middle of a crowd when picking his spells )

[AlphaLuke]

The fourth man, sneaking up behind Archie, is immediately stopped by a solid wall of wind. It blows his turbin from his head and snuffs all the candles in that half of the tavern. It causes all four Qadirans to break off their advance on the inebriated Syrinx and stare at Zephyr. Attacking a drunk owl man four-on-one is one thing. Attacking an angry wind mage is another matter entirely.

And to make things even more interesting, after about six seconds of rhythmic chanting and geometric hand movements, five cat-sized vaguely humanoid figures made of mud and grit squelch through the floorboards. They take up defensive positions around Archie and reach their thick appendages toward the Qadirans.

Two mages.

That fact alone is enough to give pause to even a well-prepared thugs or bandits. When a group of drunk and ill-equipped merchants is confronted with two angry men who can bend the elements to their will . . . well there's a little more brown on the floor that has nothing to do with Marcellano's elementals.

All four men immediately turn tail and run from the tavern with all available haste. They also happen to leave the betting pool they were using for cards and darts untouched on the table, and several small satchels filled with their personal effects.

[DeathbyFlossing]

”Well, that was fun!” Marcellano says, dismissing the elementals with a wave of his hand. He walks back over to the table and sits back down. Taking a pull on his drink, he looks around the table. “So, what were we talking about again? Right, Jimothy and I were talking philosophy, and Zephyr and Euphonia were discussing... whatever they were talking about.” he drains his cup and shakes his head. “Euphonia I have a feeling we should get to the point of this meeting before we end up to drunk to remember what is was.”

[Pent]

Zephs moves to Archie to check on him, albeit briefly. Zeph also congratulates Archie on his "winnings", before taking his seat and hearing what Euphonia has to say.

[AlphaLuke]

As Archie sits down to count out his ill-gotten gains, Euphonia scootches back to her original place at the table before sighing contentedly, the first real show of emotion she's had this entire time. "Ah, synchronicity. Feels like setting the last gear in a clock." She sips her pale wine. "The point of this conversation, as you might have guessed, is introduction and transition. Now that you all know each other, Mister Ghalmont, you are to be transferred, effective immediately. You will join the crew of the Apparition in Time under the command of Captain Morales."

She hands a sheaf of papers over to Marcellano. "Your transfer orders. I'm sure you recognize the seal." Marcellano does. A single open eye on three interconnected triangles. These orders come from the Oracle herself.

"It would seem that your time on the Chivalrous has ended. Your performance has been adequate. You have the gratitude of the Captain for your service." She checks her pocket watch. "I must go. There are eventualities that are undesirable if I do not." She stands, places a silver coin on the table for her drink, and without further adieu, walks out of the tavern.

Archie leans over to Ghalmont. "Don't worry, lad. 'Adequate' is about the best praise one can get from ol' 'Phony'. Welcome to the family." With a clap on the back, Archie places a small bag in front of Marcellano. "Good to know you already have my back." The bag contains what looks to be a small amount of riches purloined form the effects of the Qadirans. Archie tosses a similar bag to Zeph. "Now the real question. Do we drink until dawn, or noon?"

Spoiler

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Both of you gain 250gp from the encounter with the Qadirans

[DeathbyFlossing]

”Actually, Archie, if it’s all right with you I’m going to track down the captain and give him my transfer papers. There’s a couple of things I want to talk to him about, anyway. Mr...Leornan, was it? You’re welcome to come along, or stay and drink, either’s fine with me.

[Pent]

Zeph agrees to accompany his new shipmate.

"Maybe after you meet the Captain, you can help me carry a whole lot of treasure that we've acquired in our last mission?...Oh, but that'd be awkward, because none of it is technically your share? Umm.... sorry..."
"..."

Zeph makes a mental note to discuss selling loot with the Captain. Is that handled by Mr. Gent, the Quartermaster?

As they continue towards the Apparation, Zeph asks Ghalmont about how unbearable life on a small ship with Euphonia must be.

[Pent]

Spoiler: Oh **** we had Loot!!!

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I've updated our loot list, found in my character sheet.

After removing the stuff Zeph rolled "need" on, the total sale of items for the entire away mission from the lesser shogoth fight to the final battle is worth...

(pause for effect)

52,435 gp
5 sp
9 cp

uh..holy **** that's a lot. Assuming we decide to take Storm's share to fund our new recruit, and we're fair about giving to Dr. Al and Alessia, both Zeph and Marcellano get

13,108 gp
8 sp
9 cp

and now I'm going to read up on learning from another wizard's spellbook, let's say I did in the week it took to get to Almas.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Marcellano purses his lips in thought. ”Trying. I Don’t understand her powers, her lack of social graces is even worse than mine. That’s saying something, by the way. I’m not a particularly nice, person, though I’m trying to be better. And before you ask, I’m not allowed to elaborate on that until I speak to the Captain. My situation, while hardly unprecedented, is nonetheless... unusual. But enough about me,” Marcellano says, perking up a bit, ”Could you tell me a bit about this Storms-As-He-Walks fellow? It’s not every day Jimothy Prickles has me play messenger boy for Sarenrae. Guy must have been special somehow.”

[Pent]

One week prior, when Zeph Copies the spells from that other guys spellbook into his own.

Spoiler: SPELLBOOOOOOOOOK

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First, decide what spells I want. I copied all the spells from the spellbook, then deleted the ones I didn't want. Maybe I can sell the half empty spellbook? Ask Luke.

Rules:
Spellcraft check DC 15 + Spell level. +2 on Air

Spell Level Writing Cost
0 5 gp
1 10 gp
2 40 gp
3 90 gp
4 160 gp


Okay, here we go.
Level 1:
DC16
Total 10 spells = 100 gp.
– Air Bubble (1d20+13)[32]
– Burning Hands (1d20+11)[23]
– Charm Person (1d20+11)[18]
– Cultural Adaptation (1d20+11)[14]
– Detect Secret Doors (1d20+11)[22]
– Floating Disk (1d20+11)[23]
– Interrogation (1d20+11)[16]
– Shield (1d20+11)[22]
– Silent Image (1d20+11)[28]
– Wizened Appearance (1d20+11)[27]


Level 2:
DC17
Total 8 spells = 320 gp.
– Bull's Strength (1d20+11)[17]
– Cat's Grace (1d20+11)[29]
– Darkvision (1d20+11)[22]
– Levitate (1d20+11)[28]
– Protection from Evil, Communal (1d20+11)[21]
– Spectral Hand (1d20+11)[20]
– Web (1d20+11)[12]
– With The Wind (1d20+13)[18]


Level 3:
DC18
Total 4 spells = 360 gp
– Fireball (1d20+11)[26]
– Halt Undead (1d20+11)[14]
– Tongues (1d20+11)[23]
– Water Breathing(1d20+11)[30]


Level 4:
DC19
Total 3 spells = 480 gp
– Dimension Door (1d20+11)[13]
– Remove Curse (1d20+11)[21]
– Wall Of Fire (1d20+11)[25]


Total gp all spells = 1,260

[Pent]

Zeph nods to Marcellano. "He was very motivated to fight our enemy. I think it was his sole purpose left in life. He approached every task with a fearful, single-minded purpose. I'm lucky to be alive because of him."
"Tell me about you. How did you meet Jimothy?"

[Pent]

Spoiler

Show

Trying this spellbook thing again.

This time, Matt realizes that it's not one hour per spell. Its one hour per spell LEVEL. Duh.

Also, spells disappear from scrolls when copied, not spellbooks. So I need to calculate the retail value of this mammajamma....next post.

Okay, copying spells.

Rules:
One hour per spell level.
Total available hours on this week - 56.

Spellcraft check DC 15 + Spell level. +2 on Air
If my Spellcraft modifier is +11, then I have the following chance to fail these spells:

1: 15-11=4 20/4 = 4/20 = 20% chance.
2: 16-11 = 5. 5/20 = 25% chance.
3: 17-11 = 6. 6/20 = 30% chance.
4: 18-11 = 7. 7/20 = 35% chance.

Spell Level Writing Cost
0 5 gp
1 10 gp
2 40 gp
3 90 gp
4 160 gp

So here we go. First up are the two Level 4 spells I want. and one buffer for a total of 12 hours, and 320 gp.
Dim door: (1d20+11)[28]
Remove Curse: (1d20+11)[16]
Buffer for failure: (1d20+11)[31]

Then, level 3.
4 spells + buffer = 15 hours
360 gp.
- Fireball (1d20+11)[26]
– Halt Undead (1d20+11)[28]
– Tongues (1d20+11)[18]
– Water Breathing (1d20+11)[24]
Buffer for failure: (1d20+11)[31]

Sub total is 520 gp, used 27 / 56 hours.

Level 2
8 spells, 2 buffers = 20 hours
320 gp
Protection from Evil, Communal (1d20+11)[24] - really really need this spell. I'll override any other spells and both buffers to get this.
Buffer for failure: (1d20+11)[30]
Buffer for failure: (1d20+11)[22]
With the wind: (1d20+11)[24]
Web: (1d20+11)[18]
Darkvision: (1d20+11)[24]
Levitate: (1d20+11)[21]
Spectral Hand: (1d20+11)[24]
Bull's Strength: (1d20+11)[23]
Cat's Grace: (1d20+11)[27]

Subtotal
47/56 hours used (9 remain)
840 gp spent

Level 1:
8 spells, 1 buffer
Last 9 hours
80 gp
Air Bubble (1d20+13)[17]
Charm Person (1d20+11)[28]
Cultural Adaptation (1d20+11)[14]
Detect Secret Doors (1d20+11)[25]
Floating Disk (1d20+11)[30]
Interrogation (1d20+11)[29]
Shield (1d20+11)[16]
Silent Image (1d20+11)[28]
Wizened Appearance (1d20+11)[15]
Buffer for failure: (1d20+11)[18]

Grand total= 56 hours, 920 gp.

[Pent]

Zeph flies a sky ship!

Spoiler: Kn Geo

Show

(1d20+8)[9]

[DeathbyFlossing]

Marcellano grimaces, a haunted look flickering across his face ”I’m a bad person, Zeph. Not as bad as I used to be, but I am very much a bad person. I don’t like that about myself and I’m trying to do better, but there was a day when I reveled in it. When I was monster, and proud of the fact. Jimothy came to me in answer to my prayers when I pleaded with the gods to show me how to be a better man - and I need to be shown, because not being an utter bastard is so utterly counterintuitive that I nearly damned myself twice just trying to figure out what this ‘moral behavior’ thing was the paladins kept bitching at me about before I drowned them in piss.”. He looks Zephyr dead in the eye. [COLOR="#FF0000"]“And yes, I have drowned multiple paladins in piss. Also blood. When I say I was a monster, I mean attends-services-with-Lamashtu-cultists-so-I-can-get-laid level monster, not garden variety I-kill-innocent-people level monster. I was Evil, with a capital E, and the only reason I’m not anymore is because I was made painfully aware of what awaits men like me when we die, and tried my hardest to reform. But it turns out men like me, aren’t very good at being good. Selfishness is so baked into my nature that... that it isn’t just that I don’t care about other people, it’s that, even though I know that’s what I need to do to escape damnation, I hadn’t the faintest bloody clue how. So I prayed to Sarenrae with all that I had to show me- and my feindish hawk, Eyelicker just... burst like an overripe melon, and there was this shiny little silver hedgepig, introduced himself in in fine Celestial, and said Saranrae had sent him in answer to my prayers, and my first task was to meet up with a certain ship. That’s how I found the Order. And he’s been teaching me ever since, trying to sculpt a monster born and bred into something like a real person.”

Marcellano falls silent for a moment, letting the magnitude of his confessions hang in the air. ”There’s more to the story then that, but the Captian’s got to be there when I tell it.”