"Only friends can betray us." Ulf speaks with a grim finality. He remains still a moment, studying Alavin, hoping the man is being loyal, but not naive. He shrugs. Not my job any more. "The ability to find us and know our plans are the greatest threat to us. Our first target must be Omniscience."
He bends down to study the map closely, his scarred and weather beaten hands moving carefully over it as he takes in the details. He looks for areas with which he might be familiar, trying to determine the best route, and safe places to camp, and the likely threats. He commits anything new on the map to memory and after a time he turns to Alavin, "What resistance can we expect? Both on the journey, and at the place itself. Tell us what you know...or what you might expect based on what you found when you first came to Sanctuary."
"How do we plan to travel?" Ramiro asks. "We are too big of a group to trek unnoticed. Are there any ways of teleportation? That would, of course, speed up our journey greatly."
Thalia smiles, and shakes her head lightly. "My grove is not a wild place. It is special, unlike any other in all of Mera." Her smile fades a bit, and she finds herself looking anywhere else. "I do hope to make it back there, I know this is an extreme risk but. Well. I've made no plans to die on this journey." She laughs as the other two take jabs at one another, tactfully remaining silent and neutral while they do so. For her, it was going to be nice to have such light-heartedness in company. Outside of her comfort zone, she had a tendency to steer towards morose.
Though attentive while Alavin instructs them, she finds herself glancing to other group, the ones that seem to know each other, from time to time.(Does anything seem particularly special about them?)
When the middle-aged man concludes, she'll nod, eyeing the mountain range on the map. "If there isn't a passage through the mountain range, it is possible we could fly over...Possibly anyway." She says, looking over the others to assess their weight. "No one is afraid of flying or eagles I should hope?"
Making a point to stay out of the exchange between the gloomy figure and Alavin, Aiden instead followed down the hall quietly. As he listened to the general plan with rapt attention, he realized that this was all thrown together rather shoddily. Which was fine for him, anytime he tried to follow a plan it failed miserably. Such was life in a chaotic world.
"I think Omniscience is the right way to go as well. If we can hide ourselves, we can go after larger targets more freely when trying to undo his influence on the world." Thinking he might have an idea of what the cleric was suggesting, he spoke up. "I can help on that front, for a time anyway. Lighten the load for about an hour a day. It would certainly cut down our travel time."
"Flying about the mountains may be difficult though. The air can get rather thin."
Those that Ulf noticed during the breaking of the Seal of Righteousness did not appear to be one monolithic group, rather just a smattering of individuals who didn't seem pleased one way or another. Ramiro's spider familiar follows some of them outside, but none seem to be gathering. As the large group of people that was in the main hall leave, some do stand just outside the temple to chat, but nothing screams suspicion. Most of the rest split off in different directions, heading to the particular locations they had chosen as quarters while staying in Sanctuary. After a bit of this surveillance, the spider returns to Ramiro, telepathically imparting to him the impressions of what it saw and heard.
"I'm of a similar opinion, but ultimately the choice is yours." Alavin says, referencing the discussion of choosing the Seal of Omniscience first. "Expected resistance? Well unless any of you are wanted criminals, the Absolute's servants shouldn't find you particularly suspicious on the road."
"What lies in wait for you should you choose to attempt crossing the Dreadreach Mountains...Well I have no crystal ball. There are ways through, but they're treacherous. It's hard to separate rumor from truth. Tales of eyeless beasts that have bore out the interior of the mountains to make their lairs, grotesque chimeric monstrosities created during the Divine War, and even angels chained to the mountainside as punishment, driven to insanity by thousands of years of torture." The man gives an almighty shrug, "myself nor anyone I've personally dealt with will claim to have seen these things, but that range didn't exactly get its name for being a pleasant place to go hiking."
"It would save you quite a bit of time, particularly if you could fly. That isn't a guarantee of safety though."
"As for the ruins themselves..." He leans forward with his hands pressed against the table, sighing. "We've only been able to scout out the upper levels. That's where we found hints that there may be something deeper within that can help us. We suspect it goes deep under the earth - and something terrible has made its home there. Anyone we've sent beneath the second level hasn't ever come back."
Looking the other group over, they seem about as remarkable as anyone else in the room. They carry a variety of weapons, and some without any visible. Certainly look formidable, at least as much as you. You do notice a linking tattoo between all of them, each in a different place. It is nothing particularly flashy, merely a pair of vines twirling around another, sprouting flowers along the length. As you take curious glances, one of them, a lanky young man with tanned skin and shaggy brown hair steps forward. "If it's all the same, we've long since had plans for an act of..." His lips curl into a smile as he seems to search for an appropriate word, "...Sabotage." He vaguely gestures at the rest of you gathered "while all of you go deal with this Seal of Omniscience...We will begin weakening the Absolute's hold on this world."
"Sounds good, yes?" The young man looks to Alavin questioningly, who nods in response. "You all know your capabilities better than anyone else. And you've certainly managed to avoid detection so far."
Eleriel surveys the other group and shrugs, 'it's your death wish,' she thinks. "Crossing the mountains is quicker, but more dangerous. Going around is slower and less dangerous. There's the Inquisition to deal with, but as you said."She glances briefly at the others before continuing, "We haven't done anything wrong yet."
"There's no deadline we need to beat. It sounds like going around is the right option."
Ulf grunts, "Depends how long it takes the other lot to get caught and tortured for destroying temples, I guess." He looks at the map again, "Best nothing is done until Omniscience is destroyed. We should all work together on the first task. Or they should wait, and try again if we fall. Or if we succeed, then they should go about whatever business they have in mind."
"The road sounds most prudent, but if they do intend to go ahead anyway, then the less we know about each other's plans, the better. Unless they are waiting for our success or coming with us, then we should speak no more of our plans."
(( Ulf looks at the other group, and their strange tattoo, and he tries to recall what they said when they spoke on the stage. Does he know anything of them? ))
Ramiro allows his spider to crawl back up under his sleeve. He receives the findings from his familiar silently, his countenance unchanged as he does a discreet hand signal between him and Ulf that meant “all clear”, tacitly without looking at him.
“Don’t be so uptight.” Ramiro says, “What’s the worst that can happen? The Inquisition catches onto us, hang us upside down with a hook down our ass while drilling the others’ plan out of our brain? Oh wait.”
“I am fine with either the road or the sky.”Though the sky is much better - a lot less walking.“But tell me again how do we fly across?”
Ulf closes his eyes when Ramiro asks about flying, his head shaking slowly, "Perhaps we can plan later..." he glances in the direction of the other group.
(( Assuming we either (a) persuade the other team to delay, or (b) find a more private location later to plan, then: ))
"If the others are truly set in their ways, then I think we should consider the fastest route possible, and we most certainly do have a deadline, for once they make themselves known so forcefully, they will not be long for this world. And as night follows day, we will soon follow -- unless Ixarus can be denied Omniscience."
"On the plus side: They may well provide a welcome distraction for us to do what we must..." he shrugs. "So, yes, Thalia and ... Aiden ... was it? Tell us how we might be able to fly: Even if only for short distances, we might avoid traps, ambushes and choke points in the mountain trails as well as further shortening our journey."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
I assume this was what you were going for with the torture talk. Ulf Intimidation(w/help from Ramiro): 26
The man shares a knowing look with his comrades, before turning back to Ulf with a smile on his face. "We've done plenty right underneath your nose, Hunter of Heretics." He holds his arms out to either side, gesturing to his friends behind him. "We are the Thorns, the most successful saboteurs you've never even heard of."
"You worry about your own task, after all, it would be a terrible shame for the Inquisition to lose one of its most prized champions." He makes no attempt to hide the venom in words, and after a respectful bow towards Alavin, motions for his companions to leave the room. "We'll leave you to it."
After they leave, Alavin blows out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. "Well that went about as well as expected. As you might imagine, you don't have a great many fans here Ulf. Galain is...Particularly opinionated."
"They are more than capable of handling themselves, and I have faith in their abilities, but I'll talk some sense into them later. At minimum to give you time to find the Divine Veil first." He looks towards the door where they left briefly, then adds. "Just let him cool down first."
Ulf Insight: 27
Their contributions to the ritual were very concise, and gave nothing in the way of information. They disavowed the mad god, made their vows of his destruction, and passed on.
Even after the name drop, you don't really recall anything specific about it. Thinking back to your time working for the Inquisition however, you do remember a series of instances of sabotage that have gone unsolved. Prisoners freed, supply stores raided, officials kidnapped. Never doing something large enough to draw the ire of the Absolute, but enough to be a thorn in the Inquisition's side. It has never attributed to one group or individual - up to this point they've been treated as separate and unrelated incidents. After Galain's comment however, you're fairly certain they would have been involved.
"Another one of your admirers." Ramiro remarks to Ulf after the other group has left the room. He pauses for a second, seeming to be pondering deeply for something very important, then shakes his head regretfully. "Not very cute though. I wouldn't."
Thalia's eyebrows raise straight up as the tone turns acidic from the one called Galain. She gives a passing glance to Ulf before addressing the group at large to answer the question of flight. "I've learned many things in tending the grove, as I presume Aiden has in his own endeavors."
"One of those things is a transformation spell of sorts. It's what I used to travel here most of the time. In our case there's a species of giant eagle I could use. I might even be able to carry all of you when Aiden is unable."
"'Might' be able to carry us all, that's very reassuring."Though uncomfortable with heights, Eleriel knows very well there's no logical reason to not shorten the trip with flight, and so doesn't try to argue counter. "How deeply hidden within the Vale is the temple then?"
"They are more than capable of handling themselves, and I have faith in their abilities, but I'll talk some sense into them later. At minimum to give you time to find the Divine Veil first." He looks towards the door where they left briefly, then adds. "Just let him cool down first."
Ulf nods, "Thank you." He shakes his head at the confidence and bravado of the other group as they leave. "Like me, they have evaded detection, and have never felt the full force of the inquisition's gaze."
"Can't believe I'm saying this..." Ramiro says, obviously incredulous of himself for suggesting a counter-point to flying, "But the transformation only lasts for a short period of time. Even if you expend all your spells on it, we will make way for maybe five or six hours a day. If we ride out on horsebacks, we can make way 16 hours a day. And the journey will be dangerous, it isn't fair to ask you to exhaust all your magic for our travel."
"Has anyone considered teleportation?" Ramiro asks Alavin, "It would speed up our mission greatly. Surely we will be able to find someone in the Sanctuary capable of such."
"Going through the mountains lets us avoid civilization, even if we aren't flying the entire time."Aiden chimes in, leaning over the map. "I know we've no reason to be suspected, but I would still feel comfortable being as out of sight as possible." He glances up to Alavin however, equally interested in Ramiro's suggestion. "Teleportation would make things much easier though."
Alavin shrugs apologetically, "I'm afraid not. We have some folk that can use a teleportation circle, but we haven't had enough time to set a permanent one up in the Vale. That temple was a recent discovery."
"Of course, if you haven't already we can show you the circle here, so getting back will be easier. If you want to travel by steed, we can supply those for you."
"Do you currently have anyone stationed at this temple? And does it perhaps have a name?" Thalia asks curiously, before or after Alavin shows Ramiro the teleportation circle.
The teleportation circle is located at the top of the tower attached to this temple, up a narrow set of curved stone stairs. After allowing Ramiro to note down the appropriate sigils he leads him back down to the room with the others, answering Thalia's question. "A few, they stay on the top level and scout the surrounding area. We don't want anyone stumbling onto this, so they engage in a little misdirection from time to time." To the second part of her question, he says with a grin, "Well we've taken to calling it the Halls of Eternity. You'll see why."
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"Only friends can betray us." Ulf speaks with a grim finality. He remains still a moment, studying Alavin, hoping the man is being loyal, but not naive. He shrugs. Not my job any more. "The ability to find us and know our plans are the greatest threat to us. Our first target must be Omniscience."
He bends down to study the map closely, his scarred and weather beaten hands moving carefully over it as he takes in the details. He looks for areas with which he might be familiar, trying to determine the best route, and safe places to camp, and the likely threats. He commits anything new on the map to memory and after a time he turns to Alavin, "What resistance can we expect? Both on the journey, and at the place itself. Tell us what you know...or what you might expect based on what you found when you first came to Sanctuary."
"How do we plan to travel?" Ramiro asks. "We are too big of a group to trek unnoticed. Are there any ways of teleportation? That would, of course, speed up our journey greatly."nvm. Need to figure out the map scale first.
Thalia smiles, and shakes her head lightly. "My grove is not a wild place. It is special, unlike any other in all of Mera." Her smile fades a bit, and she finds herself looking anywhere else. "I do hope to make it back there, I know this is an extreme risk but. Well. I've made no plans to die on this journey." She laughs as the other two take jabs at one another, tactfully remaining silent and neutral while they do so. For her, it was going to be nice to have such light-heartedness in company. Outside of her comfort zone, she had a tendency to steer towards morose.
Though attentive while Alavin instructs them, she finds herself glancing to other group, the ones that seem to know each other, from time to time.(Does anything seem particularly special about them?)
When the middle-aged man concludes, she'll nod, eyeing the mountain range on the map. "If there isn't a passage through the mountain range, it is possible we could fly over...Possibly anyway." She says, looking over the others to assess their weight. "No one is afraid of flying or eagles I should hope?"
Making a point to stay out of the exchange between the gloomy figure and Alavin, Aiden instead followed down the hall quietly. As he listened to the general plan with rapt attention, he realized that this was all thrown together rather shoddily. Which was fine for him, anytime he tried to follow a plan it failed miserably. Such was life in a chaotic world.
"I think Omniscience is the right way to go as well. If we can hide ourselves, we can go after larger targets more freely when trying to undo his influence on the world." Thinking he might have an idea of what the cleric was suggesting, he spoke up. "I can help on that front, for a time anyway. Lighten the load for about an hour a day. It would certainly cut down our travel time."
"Flying about the mountains may be difficult though. The air can get rather thin."
Map w/ruler
Those that Ulf noticed during the breaking of the Seal of Righteousness did not appear to be one monolithic group, rather just a smattering of individuals who didn't seem pleased one way or another. Ramiro's spider familiar follows some of them outside, but none seem to be gathering. As the large group of people that was in the main hall leave, some do stand just outside the temple to chat, but nothing screams suspicion. Most of the rest split off in different directions, heading to the particular locations they had chosen as quarters while staying in Sanctuary. After a bit of this surveillance, the spider returns to Ramiro, telepathically imparting to him the impressions of what it saw and heard.
"I'm of a similar opinion, but ultimately the choice is yours." Alavin says, referencing the discussion of choosing the Seal of Omniscience first. "Expected resistance? Well unless any of you are wanted criminals, the Absolute's servants shouldn't find you particularly suspicious on the road."
"What lies in wait for you should you choose to attempt crossing the Dreadreach Mountains...Well I have no crystal ball. There are ways through, but they're treacherous. It's hard to separate rumor from truth. Tales of eyeless beasts that have bore out the interior of the mountains to make their lairs, grotesque chimeric monstrosities created during the Divine War, and even angels chained to the mountainside as punishment, driven to insanity by thousands of years of torture." The man gives an almighty shrug, "myself nor anyone I've personally dealt with will claim to have seen these things, but that range didn't exactly get its name for being a pleasant place to go hiking."
"It would save you quite a bit of time, particularly if you could fly. That isn't a guarantee of safety though."
"As for the ruins themselves..." He leans forward with his hands pressed against the table, sighing. "We've only been able to scout out the upper levels. That's where we found hints that there may be something deeper within that can help us. We suspect it goes deep under the earth - and something terrible has made its home there. Anyone we've sent beneath the second level hasn't ever come back."
Looking the other group over, they seem about as remarkable as anyone else in the room. They carry a variety of weapons, and some without any visible. Certainly look formidable, at least as much as you. You do notice a linking tattoo between all of them, each in a different place. It is nothing particularly flashy, merely a pair of vines twirling around another, sprouting flowers along the length. As you take curious glances, one of them, a lanky young man with tanned skin and shaggy brown hair steps forward. "If it's all the same, we've long since had plans for an act of..." His lips curl into a smile as he seems to search for an appropriate word, "...Sabotage." He vaguely gestures at the rest of you gathered "while all of you go deal with this Seal of Omniscience...We will begin weakening the Absolute's hold on this world."
"Sounds good, yes?" The young man looks to Alavin questioningly, who nods in response. "You all know your capabilities better than anyone else. And you've certainly managed to avoid detection so far."
Eleriel surveys the other group and shrugs, 'it's your death wish,' she thinks. "Crossing the mountains is quicker, but more dangerous. Going around is slower and less dangerous. There's the Inquisition to deal with, but as you said." She glances briefly at the others before continuing, "We haven't done anything wrong yet."
"There's no deadline we need to beat. It sounds like going around is the right option."
#edbd00 - Gold
Ulf grunts, "Depends how long it takes the other lot to get caught and tortured for destroying temples, I guess." He looks at the map again, "Best nothing is done until Omniscience is destroyed. We should all work together on the first task. Or they should wait, and try again if we fall. Or if we succeed, then they should go about whatever business they have in mind."
"The road sounds most prudent, but if they do intend to go ahead anyway, then the less we know about each other's plans, the better. Unless they are waiting for our success or coming with us, then we should speak no more of our plans."
(( Ulf looks at the other group, and their strange tattoo, and he tries to recall what they said when they spoke on the stage. Does he know anything of them? ))
Ramiro allows his spider to crawl back up under his sleeve. He receives the findings from his familiar silently, his countenance unchanged as he does a discreet hand signal between him and Ulf that meant “all clear”, tacitly without looking at him.
“Don’t be so uptight.” Ramiro says, “What’s the worst that can happen? The Inquisition catches onto us, hang us upside down with a hook down our ass while drilling the others’ plan out of our brain? Oh wait.”
“I am fine with either the road or the sky.” Though the sky is much better - a lot less walking. “But tell me again how do we fly across?”
Ulf closes his eyes when Ramiro asks about flying, his head shaking slowly, "Perhaps we can plan later..." he glances in the direction of the other group.
(( Assuming we either (a) persuade the other team to delay, or (b) find a more private location later to plan, then: ))
"If the others are truly set in their ways, then I think we should consider the fastest route possible, and we most certainly do have a deadline, for once they make themselves known so forcefully, they will not be long for this world. And as night follows day, we will soon follow -- unless Ixarus can be denied Omniscience."
"On the plus side: They may well provide a welcome distraction for us to do what we must..." he shrugs. "So, yes, Thalia and ... Aiden ... was it? Tell us how we might be able to fly: Even if only for short distances, we might avoid traps, ambushes and choke points in the mountain trails as well as further shortening our journey."
I assume this was what you were going for with the torture talk.
Ulf Intimidation(w/help from Ramiro): 26
The man shares a knowing look with his comrades, before turning back to Ulf with a smile on his face. "We've done plenty right underneath your nose, Hunter of Heretics." He holds his arms out to either side, gesturing to his friends behind him. "We are the Thorns, the most successful saboteurs you've never even heard of."
"You worry about your own task, after all, it would be a terrible shame for the Inquisition to lose one of its most prized champions." He makes no attempt to hide the venom in words, and after a respectful bow towards Alavin, motions for his companions to leave the room. "We'll leave you to it."
After they leave, Alavin blows out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. "Well that went about as well as expected. As you might imagine, you don't have a great many fans here Ulf. Galain is...Particularly opinionated."
"They are more than capable of handling themselves, and I have faith in their abilities, but I'll talk some sense into them later. At minimum to give you time to find the Divine Veil first." He looks towards the door where they left briefly, then adds. "Just let him cool down first."
Ulf Insight: 27
Their contributions to the ritual were very concise, and gave nothing in the way of information. They disavowed the mad god, made their vows of his destruction, and passed on.
Even after the name drop, you don't really recall anything specific about it. Thinking back to your time working for the Inquisition however, you do remember a series of instances of sabotage that have gone unsolved. Prisoners freed, supply stores raided, officials kidnapped. Never doing something large enough to draw the ire of the Absolute, but enough to be a thorn in the Inquisition's side. It has never attributed to one group or individual - up to this point they've been treated as separate and unrelated incidents. After Galain's comment however, you're fairly certain they would have been involved.
"Another one of your admirers." Ramiro remarks to Ulf after the other group has left the room. He pauses for a second, seeming to be pondering deeply for something very important, then shakes his head regretfully. "Not very cute though. I wouldn't."
Thalia's eyebrows raise straight up as the tone turns acidic from the one called Galain. She gives a passing glance to Ulf before addressing the group at large to answer the question of flight. "I've learned many things in tending the grove, as I presume Aiden has in his own endeavors."
"One of those things is a transformation spell of sorts. It's what I used to travel here most of the time. In our case there's a species of giant eagle I could use. I might even be able to carry all of you when Aiden is unable."
"'Might' be able to carry us all, that's very reassuring." Though uncomfortable with heights, Eleriel knows very well there's no logical reason to not shorten the trip with flight, and so doesn't try to argue counter. "How deeply hidden within the Vale is the temple then?"
#edbd00 - Gold
Ulf nods, "Thank you." He shakes his head at the confidence and bravado of the other group as they leave. "Like me, they have evaded detection, and have never felt the full force of the inquisition's gaze."
"Can't believe I'm saying this..." Ramiro says, obviously incredulous of himself for suggesting a counter-point to flying, "But the transformation only lasts for a short period of time. Even if you expend all your spells on it, we will make way for maybe five or six hours a day. If we ride out on horsebacks, we can make way 16 hours a day. And the journey will be dangerous, it isn't fair to ask you to exhaust all your magic for our travel."
"Has anyone considered teleportation?" Ramiro asks Alavin, "It would speed up our mission greatly. Surely we will be able to find someone in the Sanctuary capable of such."
"Going through the mountains lets us avoid civilization, even if we aren't flying the entire time." Aiden chimes in, leaning over the map. "I know we've no reason to be suspected, but I would still feel comfortable being as out of sight as possible." He glances up to Alavin however, equally interested in Ramiro's suggestion. "Teleportation would make things much easier though."
Alavin shrugs apologetically, "I'm afraid not. We have some folk that can use a teleportation circle, but we haven't had enough time to set a permanent one up in the Vale. That temple was a recent discovery."
"Of course, if you haven't already we can show you the circle here, so getting back will be easier. If you want to travel by steed, we can supply those for you."
"Much appreciated." Ramiro says. He will go with Alavin and note down the sigil for the teleportation circle.
"Do you currently have anyone stationed at this temple? And does it perhaps have a name?" Thalia asks curiously, before or after Alavin shows Ramiro the teleportation circle.
The teleportation circle is located at the top of the tower attached to this temple, up a narrow set of curved stone stairs. After allowing Ramiro to note down the appropriate sigils he leads him back down to the room with the others, answering Thalia's question. "A few, they stay on the top level and scout the surrounding area. We don't want anyone stumbling onto this, so they engage in a little misdirection from time to time." To the second part of her question, he says with a grin, "Well we've taken to calling it the Halls of Eternity. You'll see why."