Planescape: Center of All - IC

[Cavir]

Avakuss puts up the hood of his cloak. He would have preferred a warmer climate but the rain didn't bother him. He squats, leans back against a sturdy tree, and meditatively listens to the world around them. Is the noise coming closer?

"This seems a good spot to keep to ourselves for a while.

Spoiler: OOC

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Steadfast Perception, 7PP, 190 minutes

Listen (1d20+10)[12]
Spot (1d20+25)[43]
See Invisible

83/202 PP left.

[kinem]

You soon realize that the sounds get somewhat louder then softer, as if a group of things is passing by.

[Toliudar]

Ash

Ash looks around, and as soon as there are no immediate threats, sends to her colleagues.

*I'm going to try to get a sense of where we are, geographically. This will take a moment.*

Ash raises her face to the sky, enjoying the rain after so much time on planes like Sigil. She begins a slow chant, and her arms begin a strangle, convoluted rotation.

Spoiler: ooc

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Ash casts Lay of the Land, giving her information on settlements, rivers, lakes, etc within 50 miles.

[Archmage1]

Not seeing any significant terrain, nor stone that she might use to craft a shelter from the rain, Eilyra keeps quiet as Avakuss and Ash take their time assess the nearby area as well.

[kinem]

Spoiler: Ash

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Ash's spell reveals that there are numerous towns within the 50 mile radius that the spell gives information about, with the largest being a large city about 10 miles south - which may be the direction that the noise-making things are headed. There's a river which flows roughly southeast and passes through that city.

[Toliudar]

Ash

After a moment, Ash crouches down. With a gauntleted hand, she quickly scratches into the earth the learnings of her divination. X marks of various sizes for groups of people. Lines and circles for rivers and lakes.

She taps briefly on the largest X, and points toward the rumbling noises.

*This is the largest city in the area. It's tempting to assume that it's Aelcliffe, but that would only be a guess.

*I will attempt to scry on the hall where the Avatarist was two days ago, but it's a long shot. This will take about an hour. Whether I'm successful or not, I also have the ability to magically chart a path for ourselves to Aelcliffe, but not necessarily transport us there immediately. We would need to travel by other means. I would suggest wind-walking to get us there in a few, but given Bavia's investment in vehicles that fly, this may bring with it it's own challenges.

While I am scrying, may I suggest that you attempt to come to some consensus as to whether we would like to travel to Aelcliffe, in order to our expand our range of information gathering options to include things like talking with people who might know who the avatarist is, or even learning their name.*

She quickly unfolds the entrance to her home and descends the small staircase to the room where the mirror is stored. She uncovers it, intending to use it not for any of its soul-stealing purposes, but simply as a reflective surface.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ash will cast Scry Location, attempting to scry the meeting room in Aelcliffe most closely associated with the wooden avatarist they had met two(?) days ago.

Caster level check: (1d20+22)[35]

[Archmage1]

Eilyra takes another look around, and shrugs. "Despite the rain, and the nearby noise, it seems clear enough for the moment. I think that, for the moment, rather than try diving right in, we just cast our spells, and then assess. If we find clear evidence that launching an assault right now is the right move, then we do. Otherwise, we take the slower route, and take the portal. I would, however, suggest that we move under the cover of those trees" She points towards the edge of the clearing, further away from the mechanical sounds, even as water drips from her fingertip. "Rather than simply casting in the open. Statistically, we're likely several hundred miles away from Aelcliffe, and we don't know how large it is in any event. Let's just cast our spells, and see what we find."

After relocating to a less rainy, and more sheltered location, Eilyra looks over at Avakuss and Taric. "This is likely to take a bit over an hour, and will, with a bit of luck, give us some useful information. That said, please, stay alert."

With that, she casts Comprehend Languages, before she reaches into her bag, and pulls out a rather hefty looking finely crafted silver mirror, decorated with images of elves and demons working together, and marked with an unknown sigil. Then, she starts to chant, casting Scrying against the lich.

Spoiler: OOC

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Casting Scrying, Eilyra has met the subject, and has both a possession(Cloak of Charisma +6), and a body part(Finger bone) of the lich.
(1d20+22)[30] Spell Resistance(If relevant)
DC 26 will save to negate, but the lich gets a -14 penalty(-19 if killing someone counts as knowing them well.)'

If she succeeds, she will follow it up with detect magic(Or arcane sight, if it is similar enough to detect magic to work through scrying.)

[Cavir]

"Taric, while we wait staying alert I suggest you get used to your new balance and movement. When you are ready we can spar too."

If agreed, Avakuss will find some sturdy branches of various lengths for when they get to that point. For himself, he wouldn't want to give up his form as one's unique skin pattern is important to goliaths but the idea of trying out different forms temporarily and studying their pros and cons intrigued him. If the magic was available enough, he could even implement that as part of the school's training program.

Spoiler: OOC

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Noticed that Taric has +23 in Tumble from items/abilities but zero ranks. Next level I'd suggest taking a rank so the skill is Trained. Avakuss would be glad to help.

[kinem]

Center doesn't seem bothered by the rain, but holds out his hands a bit and also opens his mouth and tastes it. "Seen rain before but not often" he explains.

Spoiler: Eilyra

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Eilyra's Scrying attempt doesn't work. It didn't seem like the lich resisted the spell, so he is probably either still dead, or shielded from divination.

During the long wait while Ash casts her spell, there are a few occasions when you hear some sort of mechanical noise from something passing overhead, but you don't see the source, which must be flying rapidly above the clouds.

Spoiler: Ash

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Your spell succeeds. What you end up seeing is a large room, which contains several tables and chairs, but you see no creatures there.

[Toliudar]

Ash

Ash takes careful note of the specifics of the furniture and walls of the meeting room before ending the spell.

She follows up with another, much faster spell, to provide options. She climbs back upstairs and closes up her home again.

Back outside, she nods to her four colleagues, and smiles in sympathy at Centre's enjoyment of the rain.

*Well, I managed to see a meeting room in Aelcliffe. It's unoccupied at the moment. I could teleport us there. Or, if we prefer to not get so close at this time, Aelcliffe is that way, about 220 miles away, and there are decent roads between us. Wind Walking would get us there in a few hours, and in this rain we could probably get there unobserved.*

She points.

*We can travel closer to Aelcliffe by other means, and hope that we find other ways to gather more information. But remember: we don't have any evidence that the avatarist is still there, or has any strong connections there. My preference would be to get there now and investigate, at least to eliminate this as an avenue of further investigation.

I'll use a miracle now to augment your cloak now, Eilyra, if you're ready for that to happen. And I'd like to hear what you all think we should do next.

Spoiler: OOC

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She casts Find the Path to chart the best route to the meeting room she's just scried, then covers up the mirror, closes up shop and rejoins the others.

[Archmage1]

While Ash gives her report, Eilyra wipes her mirror off, before putting it back into her bag. After Ash finishes her report, Eilyra speaks up, her voice reserved. "It seems that the lich is either protected against divination, or has not yet reformed. Which does raise an opportunity, but also a risk. The question is whether we can find two mostly unknowns in a plane that is unknown to us. To be completely honest, my preference would be to employ more local talent to find them. Our investigative abilities are relatively limited." With that said, she looks straight at Ash. "You said you were scrying a meeting room? What would you expect us to discover by visiting it? There is certainly a time for boldness, but, at the same time, I have misgivings about how effectively we can follow through without local support."

[kinem]

Spoiler: Ash

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The spell reveals that the meeting room is about 220 miles from here, mostly west, slightly north. There are relatively straightforward roads that go there.

[Toliudar]

Ash

Ash nods at Eilyra's summary.

*Well, yes. I suppose I should have been clearer.

*I'm suggesting we teleport to the meeting room. It's the only location lead we have for either of them. So my hope is that when we leave the meeting room, we are at least closer to people who may know who one or both of the lich and the avatarist are.

*My hope is that once we get there, by learning more about the location, both through direct observation and conversation, we learn more about both of these individuals - at the very least, who the avatarist is and where they might have gone after we destroyed their remote minions. How exactly we go about doing all of that will of course depend on the specific circumstances we encounter.

*We could be teleporting into any of a number of different circumstances - a room in a tavern, the middle of the avatarist's stronghold. The fact that there were no flags or insignia on the walls suggest that it wasn't some kind of government-associated room. Beyond that, I'd suggest that we leave ourselves open to the reality that presents itself.*

[Cavir]

Avakuss

"Let's think this through. Do we have enough teleports for this change of plans to get us all the way back? We teleport to the meeting room and hope no one has entered since. Are there any windows? That would be useful to look out through to get an idea where we are, the general sitation, and through it I can Dimension Door us a few hundred feet away if need be, to perhaps a rooftop. Is there just one door? Was it closed? Assume we are in the room safely. We open the door and hope no one is within sight. Once we leave the room, what is our plan once we are seen? I am not looking to go slaughter those that may not have anything to do with our goal. It all makes a difference if we are trying to stay unnoticed and not the target of more divinations. I'm fine with going once we have an understanding among ourselves."

[Archmage1]

Eilyra nods, slowly. "Since I haven't see the room, and I imagine that a meeting room is probably going to be fairly similar to any other meeting room, I won't be able to teleport us there. I don't have a sense of that specific meeting room. That also means that I can handle getting us back to Sigil. As for the rest of your thoughts... we don't have the information to assess that. If it is a secure room, then there are probably no windows, but we can likely scout the building."
She pauses, and looks around, at each member of the party in turn. "The problem, as I see it, is that I don't think we gain much, if anything, by visiting this meeting room. It is likely a rented spot, similar to the room we have been borrowing from Joel. At most, I think we will be able to confirm that they were there. Which we already know. I don't see it pointing us in the direction of their base, and as Avakuss pointed out, there are significant risks to going there. I think we'd be better off leveraging the Mercane's information network, as the pair are likely notable individuals, thus, the Mercane's network may have information on them." She pauses for a moment, before continuing. "Now, the other option is that the meeting room is in their home fortress, in which case it is highly likely to lead to us fighting the Avatarist and the Lich. There may be wards against teleportation in place, but, honestly? I'd really rather not fight the Avatarist until after I have a defense against getting Frozen." She pauses for another moment, for effect. "Again."

[Toliudar]

Ash

Ash answers all of Avakuss' questions about the room, and smiles.

*We are facing a chicken and egg problem in which we don't know what to do because we don't know anything about these people. I think that caution is fine, but if we don't try something, we will not move forward.

*As with all things, what we do will depend on what we encounter. How we react to a small child bouncing a ball or an innkeeper delivering blankets is very different than how we respond to a wooden statute, or a group of soldiers. If you would like to propose a set of guidelines, I'm quite open to that.

*As to getting out if we need to, I believe that either Eilyra or I can shift us off of the plane on a moment's notice.*

[kinem]

The meeting room that Ash describes is about 50' on a side, with no windows, doors on two of the sides, and dark.

Center says "What about stealth? If we could become invisible, most humans would not see us. Anyone have a spell for that?"

[Cavir]

Avakuss

"Good idea Center, if we have that option. I only have one potion of it and it wouldn't last long. With both of you being able to get us back here let's go, staying close for a quick exit. If we're discovered we just teleport out."

[Archmage1]

Eilyra nods. "I can make three people invisible for three minutes. and it would significantly reduce the risks. That being the case, and Avakuss, with your potion, I suggest that I make myself, Center, and Taric invisible. That way, if we are caught, Ash, you have the best chance of talking our way out of it, and if that doesn't work, we'll either retreat, or fight." She pauses for a moment. "Do note that we all have to be touching for planeshift to get us out."

[Cavir]

"Let's go as is, keeping invisibility in our pocket. If there is someone in the room when we get there then our story is we were randomly teleported there while exploring a dungeon and that we'll be on our way back. Like Eilyra said, stay close."

[Archmage1]

Sensing that she was outvoted, Eilyra shrugs. "If this explodes in our faces, I will say I told you so."

[Toliudar]

Ash

Ash beckons her four colleagues together, her cold hands briefly enjoying the others' warmth.

*And on that happy note, away we go.*

She nods, and engages her most powerful magic to whisk them off to the meeting room she had just seen. Immediately upon arrival, she extends her mental senses, and telepathically shares what she learns with her colleagues.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ash uses Miracle to duplicate Greater Teleport.

[kinem]

The Teleport is successful, depositing the group in the 50' square room that Ash had described. It's dark, but darkvision works fine. There are chandeliers on the ceiling that look a bit odd, with glass balls where oil lamps should be.

Spoiler: Ash

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In the general direction of one of the doors, about 20' beyond it, you do detect two minds that seem to be of humanoids of average intelligence.

[Archmage1]

Arriving in the darkened, abandoned room, Eilyra looks around, taking in the strange, probably magical lights, the chairs, and the table, before quietly looking for more details.

Spoiler: OOC

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Taking a quick, quiet look around the room, to see if there is anything of interest(Loose papers, writing on walls, piles of gold coins, things of that nature.)
(1d20+19)[24] Spot
(1d20+16)[33] Search
(1d20+15)[17] Move Silently

[Cavir]

Avakuss quietly searches the room too. If there are windows, his focus is more on what is seen through them without making himself obvious to others outside.

Spoiler: OOC

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Spot (1d20+19)[32]
Search (1d20+2)[11]
Move Silently (1d20+4)[21]

[kinem]

There are no windows here. A search of the room doesn't reveal much of interest, except that there are a couple of small white levers protruding from small rectangles on the walls. The inch-long levers are currently angled down at about 45 degrees.

There are also a couple of smooth baskets with no handles and made of a strange, almost rubbery material, but they are empty.

[Toliudar]

Ash

Ash completes the teleport and closes her eyes for a moment. Somehow, even in complete darkness, it helps her focus elsewhere.

*There are two minds, humanoid, not far from that door.*

She murmurs a simple spell of divination, and goes to see whether there's a lock engaged for the door that's not close to the two humanoid minds.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ash is casting Locate Creature, seeking out the nearest animated wooden statue (using the ones that we fought in the library as a mental template) with a range of about 1,200 feet.

She'll then check out the door farther from the humanoid minds. Search: (1d20+37)[54]

[kinem]

Spoiler: Ash

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The spell does not reveal any animated Wooden Soldiers within range.

The door has a handle and a small lever. It appears to be locked, but made so that simply moving the lever would unlock it from this side, while from outside the room it presumably would need a key.

[Archmage1]

Sensing that this trip was indeed a bust, Eilyra turns from her search, and looks at the door as Ash approaches it.

[Toliudar]

Ash

*Shall we have a look around? I'm not sensing any of the avatarists animated statues around, so it's certainly possible but not definite that they're not currently here either. Which gives us a golden opportunity to talk with the people who ARE here and find out something about him or her.*

Barring any objections, Ash leads the way out of the room using the door that she has NOT already investigated, and begins to try to navigate toward the humanoid minds that she senses.